Been so long...

Been awhile since I posted last...sad, I know when I'm home all the time now...
Anyway, I had to post a recipe that I saw today on the food network & that I made for dinner...it was so yummy!

I saw this this morning when I was watching the food network while feeding the bubs:
Mojito Chicken with Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 2 bunches asparagus (2 pounds)
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 pound cut-up skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup rum
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup couscous, cooked according to package directions

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Arrange asparagus on baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Season with salt and black pepper. Roast 10 minutes. Top the asparagus with almonds and roast 5 more minutes, until fork-tender and almonds are golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and sugar and cook 3 minutes, until soft stirring with wooden spoon. Add chicken and saute 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown on all sides. Add lime juice and carefully, off the heat, add the rum. Return to the heat and add lime zest, salt, pepper and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes, until chicken is cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes. Serve chicken, garnished with mint, over couscous with the almond topped asparagus on the side.

IT WAS REALLY YUMMY...very citrus-y, but in a very good way! If you like Mojitos...you will likely enjoy this!

Brr...

So, the little weather tracker on my computer (down in the task bar) is reading -6 degrees right now & it is the middle of the day. The sun is shining here - thank the Lord for that - it makes it more tolerable! This is crazy. My main goal to day is to just keep Eli from being too chilly...so far so good. He's fitting in bigger clothes now - the last two days I was able to put him in some 3 month clothes, and we've got a few that are really warm looking, so that is good. Right now he is bundled in a swaddle blanket and in his crib sleeping...aah the "morning" nap.
Speaking of sleeping...he sleeps through the night now...it is so wonderful! I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I'm so happy for this progression! Last night he was pretty wound up at like 9:30 and to calm him down I finally swaddled him and then he fell asleep in my arms. At 10 when I usually feed him & then put him down for the night he was dead asleep, so I put him in his crib and got all the rest of the "going to bed" stuff done...filled his vaporizer, picked up the room, etc. and he was still out. Knowing that I had NOTHING going on today and if I had to get up at 1 am to feed him I would survive, I just let him sleep...and he slept until nearly 6 am. Of course I had to get up to check on him at 5:30 when I woke up and realized he hadn't stirred yet. He's taking a nap now...went down at 11:30...which was nice, I was able to take a shower (I usually wait until he's down for his morning nap) and make the bed, and catch up on a few things & blog! I've found that it is hard to blog while holding him...I'm not so good with the one handed typing.
Anyway, in my simple world...Eli's sleeping, eating, and bodily functions occupy most of my time & unfortunately my thinking. Sad, isn't it?

Airing grievances

Holiday Recap

Last week was a busy one for us...I realize that for most folks it will sound tame, but I'm finding things with a 6 week old baby are always just a bit more complex. Oh well...this time will pass too soon I know.

Anyway, Monday I was able to get out and finish up the Christmas shopping...and the shopping was a bit insane, but we managed to get everything and get home without any incidents! (There was an "incident" the week before when I tried to shop...let's just say we were out too long and before I knew it I was leaking quite a bit...so much so that both Eli & I got wet before it was all over...I was hoping to avoid that in all future outings!)

Tuesday the weather was total poop! Debbie Ohm & Beth Krooswyk were hoping to come down to visit, but had to cancel due to the weather. I didn't go anywhere...it was just too gross! Plus, Eli was a total cling-on. I ended up holding him all day. Anytime I put him down for even a moment he wailed. Not sure what that was all about, but I guess that was a good day for him to be cling-on...gross weather meant we stayed in anyway!

Wednesday...I tried to finish up things that had to be done before the holiday...as we were off to Grammie's to spend the night that night. We spent Christmas Eve & Christmas Day in Monticello with the Stephens clan. It was nice & went smoother than I had expected. I was so glad about that. I was hoping that Eli wouldn't be a total crab while staying in someone else's house.

Thursday night we were back in our house, but not for very long...Friday we headed out in the late morning to head up to Dyer to be with my family for two days. Our VanderWall party was Friday night & then we had a big Fennema gathering on Saturday. So we spent the night @ mom & dad's and then headed home from the Fennema party on Saturday night. In the meantime we got to spend lots of time with family, it was great! We even got over to see Great Grandma VdW...so she could see Eli again. She saw him on Thanksgiving and knew she'd want to see him again!

Yesterday we were WAY off schedule...and so spent the day trying to recuperate and get back into the swing of things. Eli really only wanted me, which was a shame on a day when Larry was home with us...

Today we've been total slugs...but we had no wheels so we couldn't go anywhere anyhow...the Saturn wouldn't start this morning for Larry, so he had to take the Toyota.

Well, I just wanted to say a public thank you to those who got us gifts this holiday...we were once again showered with good things from people who love us. That means a lot! I was happy that we got to do the same for friends & family!

Well, a little boy is now sleeping, so I think I will try to take a shower while he sleeps and before my hubby gets home! Love to all in the new year! xoxoxo

Last night I told LD that Eli sometimes looks like the boys from Family Circus...then I found this comic...what do you think...does Eli look like the little boy? Oh, and I thought it was a very appropriate comic for us anyway! :)

MIlestones...

I am so happy to report that I just got an actual 5 and a 1/2 hours of sleep without being woken up by a hungry baby! In my world this is HUGE! We've been able to go for 5 hours between the "night-time" feedings, but what that means is that we maybe get 4 hours of sleep without being interrupted. I've been told that isn't so bad - after all Eli's only a month old, but I really love my sleep and am certainly used to getting more than 4 hours in a night...so right now I feel great! I'm only hopeful that this continues!

Of course I had to get up to pump before Eli woke up to be fed...that kind of stinks. But thankfully Larry is a real trooper and was "on call" to feed Eli his bottle when he woke up! And as I sit here typing (& pumping...TMI?) Eli did wake up and Larry is feeding him. So the next hope is that Eli will not be SUPER alert post bottle and will go back to sleep for a little while longer so we can go back to sleep for a little while longer...but I'm not holding my breath on that one!

Other milestones...Friday Eli was one month old!
He's changing a lot...growing - chunking out!
He also is on the verge of smiling...he's teased both Larry & I with a smile each - fleeting as it was, but it totally gets you & you keep looking and hoping for more!
He also has shed some tears now. Yesterday he was totally wailing about something (I don't know that I ever figured out what it was) but he had tears in his eyes and on his upper cheeks. It kind of breaks your heart when they have tears like that.
He's also had his 1st trip to Chicago...last weekend we were there staying in the Condo in the Hancock Building...He did really well!
He's fitting into more of the clothes that we have for him...it was kind of annoying me that we had gotten all these really cute things to put on him and very few of them actually fit...the arms were too long or the legs were too long or ???, but now he's starting to fit into some of the 0-3 month outfits we have for him and it is really kind of fun. I can only imagine that he's thinking I needed more dolls growing up to dress them instead of messing with him!
Lastly, he's getting ready to take his 1st airplane ride! We were hoping to have checked that event off earlier...we thought about it for Thanksgiving, or the following weekend, but since we had as much stuff to haul with us that didn't happen. Yesterday we had hoped to take Eli to KY to visit the other Eli - Papa Eli Stephens, but the winds were too crazy to take him up for the 1st time. Hopefully next weekend is better...we need to get this guy down to KY to meet his Papa & Gigi!

Well, I guess that is it for now...can you tell how much smaller my world became 4 weeks ago? But I'm loving it! :)

My thoughts while wearing my baby...

this post might be a bit ramble-y...usually I start with a title and go from there, but today I can't think of a title and so I'm just going to type what comes to mind.

I'm sitting @ my computer with a baby strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn...1st time I'm using this. I think I like it! Thanks to Erin Mattson who passed this along to me! Hand-me-downs are awesome!

Thanksgiving was interesting...we spent Wednesday night at my parents...that went OK although it was pretty chilly in their house in the dead of the night. We pretty much just holed up in the downstairs bedroom for all our feedings that night...which meant that Daddy had to wake up for each one too...sorry Babe! But Daddy is a trooper...he gives most of the bottles to Eli when he can.

Which gets me onto another subject...I'll come back to Thanksgiving in a minute...breast feeding is hard! We've been trying it and Eli is not so good at latching on. They had me use a breast shield in the hospital and I still have to use it get him to latch on to me...then he nurses for a long time and is usually still hungry when he finally pops off. Very frustrating to me...so we're doing a lot of pumping and giving him a bottle with breast milk in it. As Larry reminds me...the breast milk is the most important thing...the delivery method is not as important. When I pump I certainly get more than enough milk for Eli, so that is good and he does really well with the bottles, so that is his primary way of being fed. I feel a little guilty about it...like I'm not such a good mom because I can't get him to nurse properly...or like I gave up too soon on getting him to nurse, but our current method is working well enough and he's growing and he's happier...so I just have to be content with that. I guess it is all good considering I NEVER thought I'd ever breast feed anyway...until Eli came around.

Back to Thanksgiving...we were able to attend church with my parents at their Church...which was nice...we got to see loads of folks who were excited to see little Eli. We got a kick out of it...we even got presents there! It was really sweet! So many people who are excited about this little guy! After church we took Eli to go meet great grandma VanderWall. She was VERY excited and surprised to meet him and he was so good when she held him...he just checked her out and then fell asleep in her arms. At 94...she was happy to finally hold a child of mine in her arms. I guess she went on and on to my mom later about just how perfect he is. :) Cute.

After seeing great grandma we went back to mom & dad's church to have dinner in the fellowship hall there. The celebration was with mom's side of the family and there were nearly 70 people there! I have 16 1st cousins on that side of the family and nearly all of us are married with kids now! Just in '08 there will be 8 new additions to the family...Eli was #7...one more to come and then another in early '09...so the family has grown by leaps and bounds recently. My grandma now has 30+ great grands...and the number is nearer to 40 than it is to 30 now!

As you can imagine...Eli got passed along quite a bit, and he really did pretty well considering. He slept a lot...that seems to be his defense mechanism when he's got too much going on in his world. When he did get riled up a bit he puked on me...and then he really got riled up when Nana & Aunt Sharon tried to get a tracing of his hands for the quilt on Great Grandma's wall. From there on out he was pretty well done.

We headed home to Champaign somewhere around 6 pm and he usually sleeps in the car, and he did some of that...but he also would wake up every 30 minutes or so this trip to wail for a few minutes. Then he's pass out again. It made for an interesting ride home.

We have to go back up that way this next week again...I have to be a judge on Friday for the Center for Civic Education's We the People IL state competition in Chicago, so we'll sleep at Nana's and Nana will watch Eli on Friday. I think she's pretty excited about that & it will give Larry & I some time in the city on Friday...that will be nice! We will have to spend 2 nights @ Nana's...Thursday & Friday...so we'll see how that goes! Saturday afternoon is a birthday party for all the December birthday's in the VanderWall family...all 5 of them! It will be fun to just be with our immediate family...it has been a while!

Well, that is all for now, I think! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

As you can imagine...one of the things I'm very thankful for this year is Eli Wayne. Having this little boy to care for and love is pretty amazing. Oh, he's giving me a run for my money some days (or rather nights as it were) but I wouldn't trade him for anything!
I'm also very thankful for my amazing husband! Larry is awesome...if you didn't already know that! He's helped out so much with things with Eli...as he keeps telling me, I'm his top priority, so he's going to do what he can to help me so that I can relax or sleep or do what I need to do, etc. I knew he'd be a great dad...which he is, but I'm so thankful that he's still my husband first & daddy second! :)
I'm also very thankful for supportive friends & family...so many people have reached out to us in the past few weeks...and it has been wonderful! We've had meals from folks @ church; we had my parents here for a few days to care for us; we've had Grammie come & take care of Eli; we've had Aunt Mandy & Uncle Luke doting on Eli (not to mention their kids...); we've had numerous friends either come over to visit or dropping off gifts and well wishes or both; it really is amazing how loved this child is and in turn how loved Larry & I feel.
Lastly, I'm most thankful for having a heavenly Father to turn to as we rejoice in the happy & healthy birth of a son; the speedy recovery from a surgery; and the beginning of this new phase of our family. It is also so comforting to turn to Him as we struggle to do what is best for our family and our son; as we cope with little to no sleep; as we wonder if we are being good parents; and all those struggles that have become part of our world these past few weeks. My prayer life has gotten so much deeper and stronger since Eli arrived on the scene. I find myself rocking him and just praying; feeding him and praying; watching him and praying...it really is hard not to worship God while I attend to my son...since he is such a good gift from God!

I hope that everyone who reads this blog has a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and that you take a moment or two to pause and contemplate the many good things in your world!