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.
And lately, I've been craving this sweet potato chili. I make it and make it again, and I'm not tired of it yet. I'm just going to keep eating it until Spring arrives. (Have I mentioned that we've had like 60 straight days of below zero temps or something crazy like that?) Anyway, yum! Hadley and I have probably had it for lunch every day in the month of February. :) Thank you to my awesome sister-in-law Julie for introducing me to this toss-everything-in soup that's just what I need right now. I love the simple combination of spices and the subtle sweetness from the sweet potato.
Sweet Potato Chili
adapted from this recipe
1/2 large onion, chopped
1-2 anaheim or poblano chili peppers, diced
2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potato
1 can black beans
1 can tomato sauce
2 to 3 cups broth or water
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 T. chili powder
1 pound of ground turkey, browned with onion
OR
2 chicken breasts (can be frozen when starting)
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Then lower heat to simmer and let cook until sweet potatoes are soft and, if using, chicken is cooked through- about 40 minutes. Tastes even better as leftovers for lunch the next day!
I also had a little leftover brown rice in our fridge that I tossed in the pot at the end. Yum. We ate our chili with avocado and crushed tortilla chips on top. It would also go great with some maple cornbread.
6 comments:
it's funny because we also swapped bedrooms recently thanks to our baby and are now in a room with the bed up against the wall! i like it though, and it does make our home feel completely different.
i'm going to have to try this recipe, do you think it'd work without the meat (i'm vegetarian)?
Ha! I was just watching ice skating today and remembering Tonya and Nancy. What a formative event that was for so many people, I imagine. Ice skating will always have that memory tied up in it for me.
I have my 'spot' on the couch, too! I'm pretty sure there's going to be a permanent body outline from all these hours I've spent nursing.
I understand relishing in having 'kids' now. For me, it's the realization/shock that we're a family of of 5 now...my little Sara is about 3 weeks older than Casper :)
How time is flying! I'm still not back in the kitchen yet, but I can't wait to start.
We are still working on a few nursing issues so every couple days I find a new spot to try around the house. I keep going back to the couch though with the fireplace nearby turned on.
Being a new mom has been so challenging for me... God certainly has been showing me things about my own heart I never knew before. I'm grateful for all of it though... Hard times and good.
I made this for dinner last night. And am eating it for lunch today. Oh..my...goodness. Thank you for my new staple.
@Gaby Yes! It would totally work without the meat.
@Jenna Lou I could not understand better! Totally! If you ever need to chat- email me! :) I wasn't back in the kitchen until Hadley was like 3 months old.
@twinsontherun oh my goodness! So fun that we have kids so close in age again! :)
@Britney Mann YAAAAAY!!