Welcome Back.

It's hard to believe that my last post was in 2009.  But then again, it's not.  I have to say, that when  the 3rd baby boy came, I rarely ever thought of blogging.   And just like that, all blogging stopped.   Since I started this blog to keep track of our family life - let me give you a very brief summary of the past four years:

March 2010 - Benjamin was born into our family.

2011 - I am the mother of a one year old Ben, a three year old Sam, and a five year old, Liam.

September 2011 - Liam starts kindergarten.  We decide to give homeschooling a try.

September 2012 - Liam starts First grade.  I don't have a peace about continuing to homeschool.  We enroll into public school.

March 2013 - I start working outside of the home at Sam and Ben's preschool.

I now have a 3 year old, 4 year old, and and a 6 year old.

Early April - My dad suffers a heart attack and has a double bypass. 

April 22, 2013 - I suffer a stroke.  

Much much much has been left out of that summary.  The past four years have been hard.  There has been times of isolation and desperation, weight gain and depression. The past four years have been rich. There has been walking through the hard and seeing light on the other side, discovery of what it means to be a mom of boys, and finding a home church and community. There is so much hard.  There is so much joy. 

In the past three months, our family's life has been turned upside down.  God has shown up - in the pain and unknowns of the stroke - change has occurred.  I have a lot I need to process.  And, as I've thought of all the ways that that could be done, I decided to blow the dust off of this web address, log in and give it a try.  Writing has always been my favorite way to process.  I do know that in the past few years, that has gone silent.  And yet, we are promised that He makes all things new.

Book Review

Ahhhh reading. A love of mine - a love that, unfortunately, these days gets little or no attention. Sigh. I am surrounded by books that call to me. However, I am also surrounded by two toddlers, hubby, housework and laundry...and well, lets just say, life. When I find a pocket of time to read - it's a treasure.

However, I love it when I find a book that captures my attention and makes me find time to read it. That's how it was with this novel, The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Being a girl who has no Southern roots, this book was very eye-opening for me. It has given me a deep, deep respect for African-Americans that I can honestly say I did not have before reading this. It has left me thinking about certain issues, weeks after finishing the work. Excellent.

In addition, Kathryn does an superb job in using three different voices throughout the book. I was very surprised to learn that this is her first book! I felt that I was reading a well seasoned author - and hope there will be more to come!

So, now I feel like I'm one of the kids in Reading Rainbow, looking at the camera, ending my book recommendation with: "so get to your local library and pick up this book!"

Our Little Orange....

Today we had our first OB appt - yes, it was the first, (with this baby) and yes I'm 18 weeks today! I stalled making that first appointment because I was in a bit of denial about baby number 3. Then, when I knew that I knew and called to make my appt - the soonest they could get me in was a month a week away! What?

My doctor's practice has grown a lot in the past year - the first time she saw me with Baby Brother I was able to come in the next week. She was also in the process of starting her practice - and her office was being built...so I had all of my OB visits at a Emergency Clinic. All of the labs and ultra sounds had to be outsourced to other practices. Today, I went into her new office, with all the bells and whistles - and it was lovely!!! She wheeled the ultra sound machine into the room and did the sonogram right there. She has nurses, and two receptionists....(at the Emergency clinic she had one nurse who was also the receptionist). Things have changed a bit!

So, everything looks great. We saw our baby and heard that sweet heartbeat. The baby is measuring at exactly 18 weeks today, making the due date March 31st. It will be a scheduled C-section. We will find out the gender the day before Thanksgiving - and I am excited.

The baby weighs 7 ounces - Hubby headed to the grocery store to find a piece of fruit that weighed 7 ounces. He sent me at text that said "It's an orange!" :)

A Lovely Autumn Morning

I am loving autumn here in Austin. I am discovering that it's more like our summertime - lovely days, and cool nights. It's so nice that the temps are not hovering in the 100's anymore! On a recent Saturday morning, I took advantage of the nice weather and set up our breakfast table outside. I had fed the kids earlier, so it was just a nice meal for my hubby and I, while the kids played outside.

I enjoyed puling out and using my nicer plates and tableware - something I need to do more often!

Baked this recipe -and they didn't last very long... sooo yummy!And made Colorado Quiche - a recipe I haven't had in years. This too is so good, but there's a reason....butter, cheese, whipping cream, bacon....need I say more?

Colorado Quiche

1 prepared 9 inch pie crust in pie pan
1 c sliced fresh mushrooms
1 T. butter
1 c grated cheddar cheese
1 10 oz pkg. frozen chopped spinach thawed, squeezed very dry
3 eggs
1 1/2 c whipping cream
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 c Parmesan cheese

Cook mushrooms in butter until soft. Drain and set aside. Sprinkle cheddar cheese into bottom of pie crust. In large bowl, combine spinach, eggs, cream, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, garlic, onion salt, pepper, mushrooms, and bacon. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Enjoy! :)

The Sweet Berry Farm

Yesterday we headed out to the Sweet Berry Farm - and had a great time. We went last year, but had a completely different experience this year. Last year we pretty much had the farm to ourselves - this year, it was very crowded - but still lots of fun.

Our Big News

Yes...it's true. Our sweet Baby Brother is not going to be Baby Brother for much longer. We are going to have another little one at the end of March!

I know it's been pretty silent around here - and this pregnancy being one big reason. The first trimester was pretty rough. But we made it through and I'm singing the praises of second trimester glory!!! :)

Love,
Rebecca