Miscellany Monday {15}: Birthday and Cinnamon Roll Edition

People, I made the Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls on Saturday.  One of the better decisions of my adult life.  I bought her cookbook this summer when Border’s was going out of business (although you can find the recipe here as well), and I’ve been wanting to make these for months. 

They are holy- cow-is-this-for-real-get-outta-town good. 

We ate four between the two of us and then had to freeze the other pans immediately, or they would have been gone last night.

I’m also planning on trying her mac ‘n’ cheese recipe this week. 

In other words, just roll me into the New Year, baby.  I’ll be taking gifts of elastic waist pants for Christmas.

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So, I turned 27 on Wednesday.  Chris made me feel better by telling me that really 27 is closer to 25 than 30, since you can round down, at least until June.  I’m allll about that.  In all honesty, though, I had one of the best birthdays I can ever remember.  Seriously.  Through the years I’ve had school on my birthday, then in college I often had finals and/or vocal juries, then one year when I was teaching I actually had to conduct TWO concerts on my birthday (not scheduled by me, clearly). 

This year, Chris was able to take off work (there was a whole big issue with him not getting his original vacation days, but this part of it I was okay with!).  We went out to breakfast (my fave), did some errands together, came home for the afternoon and then went back out after dark to get Starbucks and look at Christmas lights (I had a free coupon from Starbucks for my birthday….any size….I ordered a venti, baby.  First time ever!  I was milking that free coupon for all it was worth! lol)

When we came home we watched The Help.  I laughed, I cried.  Absolutely loved it.  I highly recommend it! 

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This is what I’m getting for my birthday and part of Christmas.  I have been wanting a big wall mirror for months now, and I looked on every conceivable website to find one that I liked.  This one from Kirkland’s won out.  I waited until it went on sale and then ordered it.  It shipped last week so I am anxiously awaiting it to get here!  I want to put it above our head since we don’t have a headboard.  Except I have visions of it crashing down on us in the middle of the night and both of us going blind.  So we’ll see.  When I went to the website just now to grab the photo, I noticed that it’s out of stock!  Whew – made it just in time! :)

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When we water our tree, it smells more piney.  Isn’t that so weird?!

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Our Christmas cards are in the house and mostly addressed and ready to go.  I was definitely getting a claw hand yesterday afternoon – wishing I had coughed up a few bucks and ordered address return labels a month or two ago!  How many Christmas cards do you all send out?  I do 50, and that’s my max.  Just because.  lol

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If I can get my act together, I will give you a tutorial this week on how to make an ornament garland.  If I can’t get my act together (much more likely), I can at least promise you that I will be back for two parties later in the week:  The Nester’s Christmas Tour of Homes on Thursday (it’s like Fall Fashion week for home bloggers), and then 320 Sycamore’s Favorite Things party on Friday (I have participated the last two years – see 2009 and 2010.) 

I loooove both of these parties and seriously look forward to them every year.  I love to sit down with coffee or hot chocolate and browse through the links.  You get such great ideas! If you’ve never joined before, you definitely should this year!

 

See you then!

P.S. Chris actually has tomorrow and Tuesday off (hooray!), so we are going to watch Elf tonight.  I love that movie.  I actually saw it on my first date ever with Chris!  Except it wasn’t a date, because we were “just friends,” but he planned it and paid.  So…..basically yes, a date.  :)  It’s on sale this week at Target for $7.99!

Our Fun Weekend

What a fun family weekend we had together! 

On Saturday morning, I made pumpkin pancakes for all of us (Luke calls them “caycakes” and they are one of his most favorite things to eat.  Plus I love hearing him say that, so it’s a win-win.  lol)

(My boy is always in motion.)

Then we loaded up in the car and headed for the tree farm!

We had decided that we weren’t even going to mention the animals there to Luke until after we got our tree (see last post!), but unfortunately he heard some of the dogs barking before we got down to the field.  Pretty sure he said “Doggie!” about 17,000 times while we were looking for the right tree.  Luke may or may not have gotten spanked in the Christmas tree field.  Yay for happy family memories!! haha (But hey, you try finding a run-away toddler in a a giant field of trees!  He kept trying to run away to the dog, even after we told him “not yet” repeatedly – unfortunately it had to be done.)

We did let him play with the dogs and see the chickens after we paid, though. (He calls chickens “chichens” right now.  So cute.)

 

After we got our tree, we decided to go to Five Guys for lunch since we were starving.  My husband loooooooooooves that place (burgers and fries and root beer are his love languages), and one recently opened up somewhat near our house. 

Not gonna lie, girls…..I enjoyed every last bite.  I got mine with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, and barbeque sauce.  Delish. :)

We came home and set up the tree while Luke took his nap.  I listened to Harry Connick’s Christmas cds while I put on the ornaments.  It just feels sacrilegious to NOT listen to Christmas music while you decorate your tree, doesn’t it? 

We had leftover chili for dinner and then after Luke went to bed Chris humored me by watching The Family Stone with me.  I looooove that movie.  I’ve seen it probably 5 times now…and it just.never.gets.old.  I love movies that can make me laugh AND cry.  Chris asked me why I love it so much…I love the beautiful New England house, how crazy the family is, how much they all love each other, how it’s funny and sad at the same time, how it’s about Christmas time, how it stars Rachel McAdams……do I need to go on?!  (Chris calls her my “girl crush” lol).  We turned off all the lights and I made hot chocolate and we sat there together.  And of course I cried at the end. 

I told Chris he was allowed to play a game on his phone as long as he sat next to me so I could lean on him.  hahaha!  He did play a game for about the first 20 minutes but then he turned it off and watched it with me.  :)

Yesterday we stayed home from church because Luke’s nose has been really nasty and runny lately so we certainly weren’t sending him to the church nursery.  I was contemplating going by myself so that I could go to choir practice, but I keep waking up with a really bad sore throat in the morning (??) so I decided not to go either.  We just had a lazy morning together, playing with Luke and organizing the playroom some more.  It was great.  This afternoon I did run a few errands by myself though – I went to 9 stores allllll by myself!  It was glorious. 

I did a little bit of all different kinds of shopping (groceries, home stores, etc.) – I stopped at Michaels to get ribbon for our tree topper and some pretty glittery berries to make garlands out of (like my fall garlands here).  I am really into glittery reds, greens, and whites this year.  (Doesn’t that ribbon totally make you think of Dorothy’s ruby slippers?!)

 

I popped into Hallmark to find Luke his yearly ornament.  I ended up finding this George one – perfect for my boy!  It only ended up costing me $4 and change after coupons.  I let him hold it when I came home AND it’s already broken.  Yup.  Hopefully hot-glueable, though.  Just keepin’ it real!

I also stopped at Home Goods and ending up spending my birthday money from my grandmother there.  I picked up this giant corkboard frame:

 

Isn’t she SO pretty?!! I have been wanting something for the empty space above our phone and answering machine.  I know what you’re thinking:  Why wouldn’t you just make one? 

Well truth is….I just don’t feel like it.  hahaha!  I love this color and I love how heavy and solid it is.  I wouldn’t be able to spray paint well for a few more months since it’s cold outside and spray paint doesn’t set well when it’s cold like this.  I love it, I had the money to spend, I bought it, the end, amen.

Today I think Luke and I are going to spend a day at home.  I intentionally plan on at least one day a week to be at home (both to save gas and to give Luke a break and to get stuff done).  I always schedule it on days when Chris isn’t working overtime, though….because otherwise mama starts to feel a litttttttle bit crazy by 5:30! 

Have a great day, everyone!

Christmas: It’s Not All-or-Nothing.

I am a first-born child who grew up to become an elementary teacher.  To say that I have issues with perfectionism is putting it lightly!  lol As a kid, though, I was waaaaay more high-strung than I am now.  God has worked in my heart a lot over the years to realize that perfectionism isn’t really the best way to go through life.  I find being laid-back to be a LOT more fun….plus people seem to like you more!  haha :)

 

One area I still struggle with, though, is with events and family traditions.   I love making memories and having yearly things to look forward to and I make a big deal out of holidays and birthdays (and yes, the actual day on the calendar is SUPER important to me). 

I tend to build up certain days and events so much in my head…and then when one part of the “perfect plan” goes wrong, I am crushed.  My sweet husband has coached (?) me through this a lot over the past 7 years that we’ve been together.  I’ve gotten a lot better about letting things slide and finding the  joy in the unexpected.  I really have. 

However.

It has been TWO YEARS since I have been able to decorate for Christmas – not to mention that we have never, in all the years we’ve been married, spent a Christmas morning together alone as a couple (we’ve always been visiting in CT, and thus staying with my parents). 

So, needless to say, heading into this season, I’ve had a LOT of expectations on the line.  (Pinterest, while I am more than obsessed, definitely doesn’t help with that.)  But God (and my husband!) have really been working in my heart the last few weeks as I’ve been thinking about the upcoming season.  And you know what I realized? 

The great thing about Christmas is that it comes every year. 

That perfect photograph of the three of us that I wanted for my Christmas cards that didn’t happen because my toddler didn’t get the memo about photo shoots being happy? 

Another year!

The gorgeous Advent calendar I was going to make to help us celebrate the season, before I realized that my 2-year-old could care less about things like that right now?

Another year!

I can go on. :)

Tomorrow we are going to get our Christmas tree from the tree farm my family always went to when I was a kid.  I love it there – it’s so pretty, there’s animals, plus the nostalgia-level is basically overflowing for me. 

I have visions that we will get coffee/hot chocolate on the way over, our son will laugh delightedly over the animals, we will get a gorgeous tree and also get some awesome shots of us at the farm. 

In reality?  Luke will probably cry when we have to leave the animals to get the tree, and odds are he won’t want to be in the picture with us because all he’ll want to do is go back to the animals. 

But two out of four isn’t bad!  hahaha

You see my point?  It’s never going to be perfect, and those ridiculous expectations I have rob me of the joy of living in the moment.   

At some point, I will have a 10-year-old who will understand how to smile nicely for the photo….but he won’t giggle when the chickens run away from him. 

At some point, I will have a beautiful Advent calendar made for my child(ren) to enjoy….but I won’t have a toddler who is fascinated by the very presence of our resident Elf-on-the-Shelf. 

Christmas will come and go every year….and each year there will be new things to enjoy and new things to experience with my family. 

It’s not all-or-nothing, and I don’t have to do everything, every year.  What a freeing thought!

My Thanksgiving Table Décor {Better Late than Never, Right?!}

First, let me say thank you so much for all of the offers of prayer and support (and some helpful resources, as well!) in regard to my son’s issues that I talked about in my last post.  We have still not heard any word on the referral, but his doctor did warn me that it could take up to a month, especially with the holidays.  I am trying to stay patient.  :)

My son did, however, touch pizza dough last night as I was rolling it out!  I know that sounds absolutely crazy but for us it is HUGE and I wanted to write it down here so I would remember.  He was very hesitant and only touched it with one finger at first, but he eventually touched it with more fingers at the same time.  And he was actually smiling!  He didn’t want to touch it for long, but I’ll take what I can get! :)

Anyway, – big subject change here!  lol - onto the Thanksgiving tablescape.  You might remember that I mentioned we hosted Thanksgiving this year.  I absolutely LOVE this holiday and was so excited to host it for my family.  Thankfully, it was a really small gathering (we missed my sister and brother-in-law SO much!), so that took a lot of pressure off of me, mentally.  The turkey didn’t dry out and nobody keeled over from food poisoning!  Success!!! :)

I wanted to go for peaceful and rustic….not too cluttered.  I hope it doesn’t sound snotty to say that I was really happy with how the look of the table turned out! (The reason you don’t see any chairs on the one side is because we have a bench there – it came with the table.)

I found that cylinder at Goodwill and filled it with white beans and an orange candle – both of which I already had.  The branches are from the backyard, the mini pods are from Michael’s (you can see them in this post, as well), and the walnuts are part of the centerpiece from my cousin’s wedding last year. 

 

 

I have my mom to thank for the napkins; they are from Hobby Lobby and she got them when she went to visit my sister in Nashville this fall.  We are going to visit my sister in April and I swear I want to bring a completely empty suitcase so I can fill it up with all the stuff from the stores we don’t have up here, like Hobby Lobby and World Market!

 

I took some oak-tag and used a punch I found at a yard sale a few years ago to make the place tags.  Then I used some stamps that I found at the Dollar Spot in Target years ago and used brown ink to make everyone’s name.  I wrote “2011” on the back and had everyone write one thing they were thankful for.  “Luke” was a popular answer.  :)  I plan on adding these to our “Thankful Tree” next year! (Oh and for Luke’s I wrote “milk” for him.  haha)

 

 

This picture (above) is a little blurry, but it shows the chargers.  I really wanted something other than the typical shiny gold or red ones you find in a lot of stores.  These were pretty brown with embossed acorns and leaves all over them.  They were from the Better Homes and Gardens line at Wal-Mart.  It cost me $20 for 8 of them (on clearance!), and normally I would have flinched at that price, but I love Thanksgiving and hope to host for many years to come.  I think we will certainly get our money’s worth out of them!

 

A view from the other direction…

 

And a last one from above. 

I already had all my white dishes…I picked up the largest serving platter at Goodwill just a few days before Thanksgiving to finish out what I needed and it was great for holding the turkey!  That’s the great thing about white plates….you can use them over and over and over!

Tomorrow is DECEMBER FIRST, people!!! I’m kinda understanding what people in the South must feel like at Christmas right now.  It is (relatively) warm and sunny here and not a drop of snow to be found.  It doesn’t feel like December at all! I am only a fan of snow before January 1st…after that, I’m totally over it!  haha

One last thing: Elf on a Shelf is on sale for $29.95 this week at Target, with a $5 gift card back upon purchase.  This is the best retail price I have ever seen for this! (I haven’t looked on ebay or anything like that.) I bought it yesterday and Luke keeps staring at it because it is sitting on our window pane!  lol Chris and I were getting a big kick out of watching him last night.  I think tomorrow he will start making his daily appearances around the house….. ;)

The Beginning.

On November 17, 2008, I stood in my bathroom and almost passed out when a second pink line actually appeared on the pregnancy test. 

On November 17, 2011, I sat in a room at a pediatrician’s office and bawled my eyes out to my son’s doctor. 

It’s crazy what can happen in three years’ time.  None of us really have any idea what is around the bend of life at any given moment, do we? 

I haven’t been around much lately on my blog because my heart has felt so heavy and my thoughts have felt so clouded and I just haven’t felt like me…at all.  For about ten days, I felt like I was walking around with a dark cloud of heaviness over my head.  Everything felt black…and foggy…..and sad.  I thought for sure I was getting a stomach ulcer, I had no appetite, I felt like I couldn’t think straight, and the tears just kept on coming.

I’ve shared a little bit on here before about my son’s food struggles since we moved to Connecticut about 15 months ago.  What we thought at first was maybe super-picky eating, maybe stubborn-ness, maybe do-we-just-need-to-be-tougher-parents? has slowly and surely proven itself to be much, much more than any of that. 

Our boy has come to the point where we can’t help him on our own anymore.  We’ve done everything we can do.  Saying that sentence out loud at the doctor last Thursday was what really got the tears to flow. 

Simply put – and it’s anything but simple to live out day by day – our son has some moderate to severe sensory issues.  These issues really come to  a head with food, because Luke has to eat three times a day and the issues come frequently to the surface there.  But it also goes way beyond food.  It’s crazy to look back at the baby journal I kept for him and realize that all the little things we thought were “quirks” of his add up to a big picture of a sensory disorder.  Things like…..inability to breastfeed, freaking out when a sticker or band-aid touched his hand, intense fear of grass on bare feet…the list goes on and on and on. 

Add to this innate “sensitivity” (maybe genetic, even?) a major life change during a crucial point in his development, and you basically have a recipe for some serious issues. 

My sweet boy frequently gags on food, frequently spits out things he can’t process with his tongue and can’t swallow, and occasionally will vomit it all up.  He screams in fear when a new food even gets on his plate, never mind trying to put that scary thing in his mouth.  His tolerance for new foods and textures is getting smaller, not larger.  Where most kids at almost two and a half are slowly eating a wider and wider range of foods and textures, my son is  losing foods all the time that were once previously enjoyed.  My son now eats 17 foods (TOTAL), plus milk, water, and juice.  We recently lost two more of his favorite foods. 

Chris and I have been researching and reading like crazy people.  I can’t explain it but about two weeks ago something finally “clicked” that this all was really not.normal. 

I don’t have the brain power/mental strength to fully explain all that’s really going on with my sweet boy right now.  Over time I will be documenting his story here so that others can hopefully find help and information in my posts.  There is a serious lack of information for parents going through this….and by “this” I mean any number of things that he could be diagnosed with: food neophobia, sensory food aversion, pediatric feeding disorder, and sensory integration dysfunction are four of the possibilities. 

His pediatrician, after two visits, agrees with me that there is some serious stuff going on here.  Luke, thank God, has been referred to the pediatric feeding team at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.  There is a group there comprised of a occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a dietician, and a behavioral psychologist that all work together as team to help each child.  I truly believe those people can help my son.  Now we wait for the referral to be processed….and wait to see if insurance will cover the evaluation and subsequently weekly therapy sessions. 

Last November, I cried and cried because we were living with my parents and there did not seem to be a house in our near future. 

This November, I have that long-prayed for house, but I’ve been crying and crying because I just wish my son would eat yogurt…..or spaghetti…..or pizza…or eggs…or applesauce….or really just something – anything!!!! – new or old that he used to love.

What a difference a year makes.

 

So what am I left with? 

Life will always throw curve balls.  Life will almost always present sadness in some form.  And there will almost always be the death of certain dreams and hopes and expectations. 

I can choose to bawl my eyes out over the fact that there is not ONE Thanksgiving food that my son will allow himself to eat on Thursday. 

I can choose to let myself become overwhelmed with despair at the nutrients my son is most likely lacking in and the long, long, long road of therapy ahead of us that may not even by covered by insurance and also (potentially) may not even end up working for him. 

I can choose to be overcome with jealousy when I hear parents talking about the great foods their kid eats or see a toddler happily scarfing down normal food at a restaurant. 

I can choose to be overwhelmed with sadness and fear at the thought of Luke’s future – how will he go to birthday parties when he won’t touch pizza or hotdogs or french fries?  How would he go to summer camp? What if we keep losing foods?  What if he continues to eat less and less?  Will he always be tiny, even as an adult, because of the nutrients he’s not getting now as a toddler?  What if, what if, what if, what if.…….

BUT.

A normally-developing toddler, for whatever reason, is simply not the path that God has chosen for our family – at least not at this present time.

I wish more than anything in the world right now that it was, but it’s just not.

SO.  What can I possibly do?

 

I CAN CHOOSE to “fix my eyes on Jesus” – as my wonderful husband reminds me so often to do. 

I CAN CHOOSE to put my faith in my amazing, all-powerful God and not my faith in Aetna Insurance and the pediatric feeding team at Connecticut Children’s.

I CAN CHOOSE to count my blessings – a house that meets our needs so well, a beautiful, happy boy that brings so much joy to us and to others, a beyond-amazing husband that provides me with so much laughter and incredible spiritual advice, the hope of heaven and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I CAN CHOOSE to be thankful for the health that my boy does have – we have several friends whose kiddos will be struggling with health issues for the rest of their lives, and it is definitely possible that with therapy Luke can be “normal” (I use that word loosely) someday. 

I CAN CHOOSE to make the best of the situation….and realize that my blog can hopefully be a platform to help other mommies and daddies out there who feel like they are going crazy and at their wits end over what to do when their sweet kiddo just doesn’t eat like all the other kids do. 

I CAN CHOOSE to look beyond tomorrow….and when those dark thoughts enter my mind and make my stomach churn…thoughts that this will never change and Luke will keep getting worse and that he’ll never have all the nutrients he needs….I CAN CHOOSE to renew my mind and replace the bad thoughts with good ones.

It’s definitely not easy, but I am not stuck in despair.

 

This week of Thanksgiving – my favorite of all holidays in the year –

I CHOOSE JOY, and I CHOOSE JESUS.

Because without them, I am nothing.

Money Saving Mom’s Book and NEW Freezer Cooking Book

It’s been a crazy week here (more on that another time!) but I wanted to pop on because Crystal Paine, aka Money Saving Mom, is offering a free freezer-cooking e-book and I just couldn’t resist taking her up on it! 

All she is asking in return for the free e-book is that you blog, tweet, FB, or pin about her new book (to be released in January), The Money Saving Mom’s Budget.

 

You guys, I had an opportunity to read a draft copy of this book, and it is FABULOUS.  I will have a full-review coming soon, and an opportunity for one of you to win a copy, but let me encourage you to think about pre-ordering it, as well!  ALL proceeds – did you hear that?! – ALL PROCEEDS from the book go to Compassion International.  Love it. 

Anyway, hop on over to her book’s Amazon page to learn more info and to pre-order, if you’d like.  And remember, if you’d like to help promote her amazing book in some way, you’ll get a free 45-page e-book in return!  Not a bad deal. ;)

Why You Should Sign up for Recyclebank

Have you heard of Recyclebank yet?  It’s a new (to me) site where you enter points and then redeem the points for dozens and dozens of different items.  You can earn the points a variety of ways – sometimes there will be short movies or quizzes you can do on the site, or you can enter codes from products you buy. 

The reason I am LOVING it is that the points are high-value, and the rewards are low value.  I’ve been entering my points at Pampers ever since Luke was born, and a big package of diapers might only get you 60 points….and a magazine subscription can need upwards of 1200 points.   (Not knocking the Gifts to Grow program…I’ve gotten a lot of Starbucks gift cards that way!  I’m just saying that it takes a lot longer.)

But on Recyclebank?  So many of the rewards are super low in point requirements.  For instance, just this week I got a magazine subscription to Better Homes and Gardens (115 points), and with just a few more points I can earn one for Martha Stewart Living (230 points)!  Magazines are such a splurge for me – I love to read and I love getting something happy in the mail, don’t you?  I currently get 4 magazines in the mail that I didn’t have to pay for, thanks to deal sites, and now I’ll be getting two more!  Hooray!

I’ve tried different survey sites before, and I can’t stand when you take 10 minutes to do a survey, only to find out you’re “not qualified” for the “real” one.  Ahhhh!! Drives me bonkers.  Recyclebank is easy.  There’s no qualification or long, lengthy surveys.  The videos might be 2-3 minutes long, at most, and several give you 25 points.  A survey is likely to be one question long, and give you 5 points or more. 

The way I’ve been getting lots of points is by redeeming the 50-point codes on the inside of my Kashi organic cereal boxes.  (So are you doing the math?  That’s less than 3 boxes of cereal to get a free year-long subscription – and that’s if I ONLY entered cereal box codes and did nothing else.) 

Seriously guys, it’s so easy!  Give it a try! :)  I’d love it if you could would sign up via my my personal referral link.  I get 10 points for every person that signs up under me.  Then you can share it with your friends and start getting points yourself! 

 

Now go get those free magazines! :)

 

P.S. Do you subscribe to Money Saving Mom?  She often lists on her site when new videos are available to watch on Recyclebank so you don’t have to constantly check the site.