My sweet, smiley Casper is 4 months old. And all of a sudden we are starting to play. And, this is huge: he's more interested in the ground. He's been laying on it for long stretches (if I'm with him) and standing on it with my help. He's learning how to hold toys and trying to roll over, too. Not a huge fan of being on his tummy yet. He also seems super interested in his sister. He's constantly watching her and laughs the hardest when it's right in her face. The other day when Hadley started crying, he was watching her so intently and then his own lips started pouting and quivering. It was so precious! I have to remind Hadley to give him space, because she loves to come bounding up and smother him with kisses, hugs, head pats, and her crazy (but awesome) hair. Every morning this week we've been turning on some music and camping out in Hadley's room (because she has carpet) and he'll just watch Hadley and I throw the ball and do puzzles for a little bit. Then he's ready for us to talk to him and sing and make noises and read books above his head. Also, he's teething. Oh, Lord help us get these teeth out without too much trouble! :)

As I start out on a new year, I’m loving these radical thoughts: 

If death were the end of the matter, what makes sense is middle-class moderation to maximize earthly pleasures. But it's not! Does the hope of the resurrection shape my life? Do I make decisions on the basis of gain in this world or gain in the next? Do I take risks for love’s sake that can only be explained as wise if there is a resurrection? — paraphrased from the Solid Joys app

I'm guilty of putting comfort as my priority so terribly often. I want my life to be more than this. More than maximizing earthly pleasures. I'm praying that my deepest delight will be found in Him- in loving Him, keeping His commands, and living like Jesus did.



Some birthday pics with my babies! Ohhh, their little faces. This is true life. And I love it. I'm keeping these forever and ever!

And a couple pics from the night time celebration with Daddy and cake and presents. Grant had class that night, but we still snuck in a quick candle-lighting before the kids went to bed. (Not pictured is the ice cream I ate after the kids were asleep.) And Hadley sang Happy Birthday to me all by herself!

"Are you having fun being a kid today?" -- this is what I'm trying to ask her daily, as a mental cue to myself to relax (for goodness' sake!) and stop expecting perfection. I was looking over my "No More Perfect Moms" notes again today and found this gem of conviction: "We can't stand the thought of them (our kids) being less than perfect. We jump into the picture to smooth their rough corners because we fear that anything less than perfect reflects poorly on us... Don't make it about you." Yes. That lesson is for me. // Hadley instagrams from the past couple weeks

Unloading a bit from my camera roll. Not as much blogging going on this past month, because my normal day is super full of the basics: making food for my family, washing clothes, teaching manners and just about everything else, and wiping little bottoms. But each week I find a pocket of time that wasn't there before to take a shower, read a bit, write a bit, bake, or something else that recharges me. And good news! Very, very soon the shop will be full of 50 Promises again!! Here's what we've been up to...

1 | Watching March cycle through. Melt, more snow... melt, more snow. We've been enjoying some blue skies, cold sun, and cookies & cream fields.
2 | Watching Casper grow! He weighed 13 pounds at 2 months, which is quite a bit bigger than his sister was. He's eleven weeks old now and wearing 6 month clothes.. speaking of which, H&M just delivered a bunch of goods to our house for a certain little boy!
3 | Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house at Camp Shetek.
4 | Enjoying daffodils and the bouncer lately. Both Grant and my mother-in-law brought me a bouquet of daffodils in the same week! It was crazy exciting.
5 | Long winters call for casseroles. I've been loving this one at least once a week. And sometimes I throw in carrots, mushrooms, or asparagus.
6 | Casper lights up when we smile at him and he's proficient in baby-speak now. He loves to talk and squeal back and forth with me. It's so fun and once we get started, I don't get anything else done for awhile!
7 | More daffodils :) And do you see that water color that says for baby Casper? I remember the morning Hadley painted that and I wrote "For Baby ___" because we had no idea who was inside me! Crazy.
8 | Hadley plays so great by herself these days. She loves to pretend cook- you will often find her making soup, pancakes, cutting apples, or carrying around a honey pot. She is also into her tiny farm animals, Minnie Mouse & Daisy, Easter eggs, and doing puzzles.
9 | Eating our breakfast at the toy box while baby brother naps. We are so thankful for farm eggs! And Hadley has discovered that she loves hot oatmeal for breakfast, too.
10 | Grant is deep into his schooling for acquiring his principal's license and now has also started his year-long internship. So, he's squeezing in a lot of extra hours of paper-writing and school business. Thank you for working so hard, Grant! The time he gets to spend just hanging out at home with us is so precious.
11 | A snow dump last Thursday, when our backyard looked like a real-life snow globe. Happily, we had rented Frozen the night before and were perfectly content to be inside and sing/dance along. Hadley is obsessed with a couple of the songs- and she's pretty sure she's singing all the words, too :)
12 | A few weeks ago Hadley and I started a new routine of cleaning up right after lunch and bringing a stack of books to the couch. We read together until her nap time and we both love it. I'm so excited that she's getting old enough to appreciate stories and waiting to turn pages!



And lastly, I leave you with such an easy lunch idea. The name is way fancier than it deserves. But, why not make it sound as wonderful as it tastes? :) I didn't use arborio rice, but I guess technically, "risotto" just means rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency, so I was pretty excited when I realized, wait, what I just made, that's risotto?! Yummy!

Sausage & Kale Risotto
(more of an idea, than a recipe with actual measuring, you guys don't mind do you?)

1/2 an onion, chopped
several stems of kale, cut away from the ribs and chiffonade 
1 cup chopped grass-fed beef sausage or pastured pork sausage (I used grass-fed beef hotdogs)
1 cup uncooked jasmine or basmati rice
3 cups (roughly) of chicken broth
sea salt to taste
optional: 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
coconut oil or ghee, to taste

To a soup pot add the chopped onion and sausage, kale, and rice. Pour in broth until everything is just covered by liquid, stir, and salt it well. Add mustard, if using. (I love the combo of mustard with the beef sausage.) Bring to a boil, then cover and turn down to low. Let simmer until kale is soft, broth is absorbed, and rice is starting to get a bit creamy, about 17-20 minutes. Feel free to simmer longer, the more the flavors mingle the yummier it gets. If there's too much liquid, take the lid off and turn the heat up a bit and cook for a couple minutes more. Also, this dish just gets better as leftovers. Serve warm, with a big dab of coconut oil (or grass-fed butter, if you do dairy) on top.

A mish-mash of what we've been up to lately. Mostly for my own record-keeping and remembering. :)

1 | This year Grant got me the expensive jar of pickles for Valentine's Day! They're amazing. Since we have a brand new baby this year, we opted for a simple stay-at-home Valentine's. I made our favorite new dinner and we rented a movie that turned out to be less than awesome (it was The Butler).
2 | A snowy window and Hadley playing with her tiny farm animals and tractor. Yesterday she asked me to go outside... sorry, babe. It's still blizzarding. (I wasn't sure she'd even remember playing outside. It's been that long.)
3 | Hadley goes potty in her little frog now! Something clicked for her in the middle of February and now she's wearing Minnie Mouse undies. Yay!
4 | Measuring her baby's height. She got this idea from a movie, she's in this stage where she loves to mimic everything she sees happening in the movie- the food they eat, the words they say, the way they dance. Right now her favorites are The Emperor's New Groove and The Incredibles.
5 | Banana bread cooling. Other favorite snacks lately: apples and almond butter, clementines, chips and salsa, daddy's sweet and spicy kettle corn, coconut milk ice cream, and these oatmeal cookies.
6 | Casper asleep in his favorite spot (and mine). He has been laughing in his sleep sometimes lately! It's the best.
7 | Hadley fell and knocked her forehead on an end-table. Poor thing! That goose egg was pretty huge. But she was a trooper, especially once I brought her a clementine.
8 | Grant did my hair :) It's getting crazy long.
9 | Dandy Blend = my new favorite tea/coffee. I've been drinking this daily all winter. So yummy.
10 | The anatomy of a nursing spot. My corner of the couch is pretty cozy and lived-in.
11 | Daddy-daughter juice making team. They are the pros around here. Our typical juice blend: cucumbers, celery, carrots, cilantro, radishes, an orange, an apple, chia seeds.
12 | A happy Casper. This is the spot where most of his smiles and "talking" happens.
13 | Still loving this southwest chicken and cilantro lime rice meal. Like, a lot.
14 | You know you live in a small town when you buy everything on Amazon. Everything! Even toilet paper. ;) (the teeny grocery store here in town is expensive!)
15 | Hadley and 1-week old Casper.
16 | Hadley and 6-week old Casper! Getting nice and solid/squishy :)                                                                                      

Casper's life right now:
Eating, sleeping, hiccuping (all the time!), making fists, flapping his arms around, outgrowing all of his newborn clothes (he's so long!), not hating diaper changes as much, trying to look around and keep his head up, recognizing Mommy more, always wanting to be bounced on the ball, liking white noise, the sound of the vacuum and running bath water, only waking up twice during the night usually, and melting me with a few surprise smiles each day. He's so awesome!

We've been giving him probiotics daily and can really tell that they have an effect on his digestion- in a great way. Good digestion means good sleep! Hadley didn't take naps until she was a few months old- her tummy was so uncomfortable all day long that sleep was hard for her- but Casper will take long naps during the day (especially if he's swaddled) and then is ready for nighttime sleep around 8. We usually sit on the couch and hangout/nurse every evening after dinner. He's either nestled in my arms or perched on my bent legs while we watch the Olympics. These are the days I dreamed of starting way back in June!


Life as a family of 4 has been incredible already. Casper fits right in and it's so fun to see Grant being a dad to two. Hadley is such a sweet sister, always wanting to know where Casper is as soon as she wakes up, talking to him, giving him kisses and laughing at his hiccups, bringing Mommy the ball when it's time to bounce him, and making sure she tells him goodnight. She also has a sudden interest in being swaddled again, because she wants to be just like her baby brother :)

Lately I've been enjoying life as a mom of 2. Wow, it feels good. I have kids. What a gift! And I'm learning how to multi-task again. (Aka shoveling a bowl of oatmeal in my mouth while nursing.) Babies help you do that.

Lately we've been sleeping downstairs in our guest room. We moved down there after Casper was born so that I wouldn't have to be going up the stairs, and we've just stayed there ever since. It's been so fun! And by fun I mean convenient and easy to clean (our clothes are all upstairs!), except for making the bed. Making a corner bed is one of my pet peeves. Anyway, Grant says it sort of feels like we're on vacation. He's right! It totally changes the tone of home life and it's helping me love this funny stage where we don't have an alarm clock, except for our new baby.

Lately I have claimed a corner of the couch as my nursing spot. It's there that I drink my water, do my bible reading, scroll through Instagram, read your emails, etc. Oh, and stare, stare, stare at my adorable son. :)

Lately, I cleaned out my email inbox. I feel free as a bird!

Lately, I love my husband. These first weeks with our new baby have brought us even closer together. At the end of the day I don't even want to go to bed because I just want more time to hang out with him.

Lately, I'm folding lots of tiny blue boy clothes and loosening up about keeping everything clean. Tidy up is my goal. And it's good. And somehow there is a moment (or two!) in each day when all of the dishes and toys are put away. I think this is the Lord's special gift to me and my order-loving mind.

Lately, the Lord is serving me up so many little nuggets of wisdom. Every day. From all sorts of places. I love it. I feel like there's hardly time to dwell on them long enough, let alone write them out. I'm a terrible journal-keeper, but I do keep this blog. I'd love to store them here under my lessons to myself  label... hopefully some day. I appreciate so much these seasons of life where it's so obvious that the Lord is teaching me. Today. He is teaching me. Motherhood is without a doubt, the greatest way He works on my heart.

Lately we have been watching the Sochi Olympics and remembering how fun it is to watch figure skating. It makes me reminisce about the days when I'd watch it with my sisters and we'd dance around the living room trying to mimic the skaters. Also, we watched this 30 for 30 on Netflix about Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Super interesting. I feel like this was kind of an epic moment in my childhood. I was only 6 years old, but I remember it so well!

Lately the kitchen is my creative place. While I sit and nurse Casper, I dream up the next meal that I want to make, and by the time dinner rolls around I am so ready to get in there and create. Grant watches our little babies while I put my hands to work making something yummy. It's such a refreshing time for me in our daily routine.

Guys, just wanted to pop in and share something that is currently all the rage at our house.

We're loving our moses basket so much. It's such a cozy spot for Casper. We've been using it throughout the day and at night. But here's what is making it even better: we started putting a heating pad in the basket a few minutes beforehand and then turning it off or taking it out when we lay him down. It makes the transition from mommy's warm arms to his bed so much easier.

What kind of baby tricks do you guys have up your sleeves?

When I found out I was pregnant with baby #2, I was so excited to have a second chance at the newborn stage. That rough, sleepless, selfless stretch of days and nights that rock you to your core when you first become a mother. I wanted to do it over again, and do it so much better. But mostly, I wanted to simply enjoy it. This time around, with God's grace and my husband's help, with experience under my belt and perspective to keep in my head, I'm able to appreciate so much about this first month with our new baby. He needs me so much, and it's all going by in a blink.


We just finished our first week at home with Daddy being at work and we're finding out what this new normal looks like. Right now it looks a lot like this: nursing, grabbing snacks for Hadley, eating one-handed while nursing, changing diapers, a little dishwashing and vacuuming, all while wearing the same clothes as yesterday :) and with a soundtrack of Daniel Tiger episodes and Harrison Ford movies from the 90's. I'm not getting a lot done, but I'm definitely breaking in our couch cushions. And there's nowhere else I need to be. Simple days. Happy days!

If you have a little one of your own, you know that each week brings some kind of change. Grant and I are constantly telling each other, "All of a sudden this week he/she is doing this." (insert something to do with sleeping, eating, teething, talking, etc.) Then, by next week, that stage is over and they're on to something new. My goal with this new normal, and all the weekly transitions ahead of us, is to enjoy every stage. As we're laughing about the latest cool thing our kids did or troubleshooting the latest issue that popped up or I'm sitting down on the couch to nurse again, I want to be aware that this is our stage. Right here. It's happening! And not let it go by without being grateful for it. I'm starting a new hashtag on Instagram to help me record parts of each stage and be thankful for them. If you guys want to join in, tag your photos with #enjoyeverystage. A quick photo really helps me realize the awesomeness of the moment.

ps. Speaking of which, Hadley is saying some fun things nowadays. She calls Casper "Chaus" and when he's crying she says, "Mom! Chaus cry-ee!" She's also been emptying the dishwasher and grabbing stuff to change Casper's diaper. And she's been answering every question with either "Um, of course!" or "No, no, thanks."

Casper could not have come at a better time.
This has been the motto around our house for the past 2 weeks. We just cannot believe how it has all turned out so awesome... Grant being able to get almost 2 weeks off of work, plus blizzards and snow days to keep us all cozied in at home together, etc. We've been watching movies and making easy meals and getting our taxes done and writing papers (Grant) and sneaking naps/showers. And I have been putting in major hours of nursing, of course. It's been way better than I could even imagine. We thought for sure our baby wouldn't arrive until the end of January, but the Lord has a different plan. And His timing is perfect. I know this is true, but I've never seen it to be more true in my own life than right now. Thank you, Lord! You always know.


Also on my mind: January is normally such a strange, stalled month, but now the new year is all about bringing in this new life. I love it. There wasn't any time to be sad about Christmas being over, and now January is consumed with purpose. I wish it could be like this every year! Any time is a great time to have a baby, but seriously, all my babies could come in January and I wouldn't complain a bit :)

These are my kids. They're pretty cute. I'm loving that we have a brother and a sister in this house now. And pink clothes and blue clothes. And lots of big brown eyes.

Grant is at school right now, and that means that today is my first full day all by myself with two littles. (!!!) I prayed about this day a lot. And it's been going great. There have been lots of snacks and tv, but the diapers are getting changed and I got breakfast and lunch for all of us, and both my babies are sleeping at this very moment! So.... yay! Success. Thank you, Lord! It's been very blizzard-y in our town all week long, so we're kind of in an awesome "can't go nowhere and nowhere to go" mode. I think I'll just be hanging out here at home until spring. See you guys next week! I'm posting some yummy, one-bowl gluten free blueberry muffins that you won't want to miss. Happy Fri!

Hello, everybody! I cannot believe that I'm back already with our baby news. I was so sure my due date would come and go without anything to report! But the Lord's timing is perfect. It's a boy! Meet Casper. He arrived at our house on Sunday afternoon, January 12th (the due date!) and both of us are doing so great. Praise Jesus! You guys, he is amazing. I'll give another update soon, but basically the news for the next while is going to be that I'm on the couch cuddling my son. In the meantime, hugs all around and I've got some recipe posts all pre-written and ready to go for you! Back soon!