Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

Obviously, we are very excited and thankful about our new addition. There is a lot more to this story though, and a lot of things I haven't been able to write about here. Back in the fall we decided that instead of pursuing another IUI, we really felt called to adopt. We had been doing lots of reading and thinking about adoption and were excited to move forward. Because it is so easy to know exactly who we are and where we live from reading our blog, we didn't want to write about the adoption on the blog until everything was finalized which is why this is the first time we've written about it here.  We attended our first informational meeting with Bethany Christian Services in November and then had our training with them in early December. Then we found out we were pregnant. Surprise! Then we found out the pregnancy was ectopic . The ectopic pregnancy didn't change our feelings about adoption so we proceeded with our home study, finally getting approved and go...

Or yet another reason why I've been slack blogging over the 10 weeks or so....

I felt like making a good breakfast today to celebrate everyone being back home. I spied this recipe for buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake on pinterest a while ago and thoroughly enjoyed making it. Anyway, I did make a few changes. First of all, I felt a little guilty making cake for breakfast. I love cake and all, but to make it a wee bit healthier I swapped in 1/2 c. of whole wheat flour. This gave it a nice crunch in addition to adding some extra fiber. I got some fresh local peaches this week that were getting soft, so I added about a cup of peaches and decreased the amount of blueberries slightly. I also swapped in orange zest for lemon since I didn't have any lemons here. I loved this - I would say this is very similar to a muffin in consistency. The sugar sprinkle on top gives it a nice crunchy top. Dinner tonight was nice, too. I had some pizza makings in the fridge (leftover from my girl's night). I made Jeff his usual favorite - pepperoni. I recently spied (a...

Both of my boys finally made it back home yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure Judah missed me at all - he still wanted his Nana to get him out of the car when we got home. Jeff got home a little later from the conference he went to. My house, which had been clean all week, rapidly deteriorated with toys, train parts, and rice on the floor. I have never been so happy to have a messy house. Today, I made a delicious breakfast and savored the toddler giggles I overheard as Jeff played tickle monster with Judah. It is good to have things back to normal.

Since I was working this week and Jeff had to go to a conference, Judah is staying with my parents. It's been a very strange few days. Very quiet. Last night, I enjoyed having a few girls over for a girl's grill night at our house. We grilled pizza and then I grilled fruit to serve with ice cream for dessert. It was fantastic. I'm debating between getting take out tonight or just eating cereal. Maybe I'll rent a movie.... I miss both of my boys, but I have loved how clean the house is staying with no one at home to mess anything up. I'm looking forward to having them all back home this weekend.

Here's my sweet boy talking.

I'm sure I have mentioned before that Judah has a somewhat larger-than-average noggin. Ok, ok. When I say "larger than average" I really mean "at the 99th percentile for kids his age," but whatever. You get the picture. Since he just got a cool new tricycle (Thanks, Mom!) he also needed a bike helmet. (Although I am a fairly laid back mom about almost everything, I have seen too much to allow any of my kids to ride a bike without a helmet. ) I picked one up at walmart. As I was standing on the bike helmet aisle, I perused the options before settling on one that was labeled for kids 5 and over. I knew that the two year old helmets wouldn't fit him, but surely the five year old helmet would be fine. I brought it home and.... it barely fits. It might even be slightly too small, but I can get it on his head, so I decided that's what he'll use for now. I accidentally left said helmet at my parent's house last weekend. He wanted to ride his trike...

I feel like we waited for Judah to start talking for kind of a long time. Now, it feels like he's trying to make up for all the lost time. For example, we drove up to my parent's house for a quick overnight trip on Friday. As we were leaving town, I stopped by Sonic and got a diet coke for the road. I decided that Judah would love a small cup of ice. He did, in fact, love the ice, but the 25 minutes he was eating the ice were the only time during the entire hour and 20 minute car ride he wasn't talking. Here is a summary of the monologue emanating from my backseat: "Nana. Papa. Nana house. Papa house. Nana, hold you. Nana, hold you. Nana, hold you. Papa house. Papa boat. Tractor. Nana. Papa. Nana. Papa. Nana house. Papa house...." You get the picture. My kid loves to talk. My kid loves his grandparents.

1. My current favorite snack is ranch dip made with nonfat Greek yogurt and a packet of ranch seasoning with either veggies or lime tortilla chips. I wish I could say I liked it better with the veggies, but the lime chips are super delicious. Sadly I ate all of the lime chips yesterday so today I could only eat it with veggies. 2. I am very, very happy to be back in good tomato season. Our tomatoes are still green, but since we know lots of people with bigger gardens we have been given some delicious, garden fresh tomatoes. And good tomatoes mean that I can again eat my favorite ABC (DE) LT sandwiches. 3. My current favorite words that Judah says are: 1. "Yawg" = log. He has a log loader on the train set he got for his birthday and loves to talk about picking them up. 2. "Bofe" = both. He says this whenever he is holding/looking at more than one similar item or if he wants Jeff to rub both of his shoulders. 3. "Wabbit" = rabbit. He's just so caref...

I'm finding it rather difficult to keep up the ole' blog here lately. And I kind of miss it. Back in high school and college, see, I spent lots of time writing. I was editor of the high school literary magazine and worked as an assistant editor on the college one. I actually did an entire independent study during college of nothing but creative writing. But between work, motherhood, and everything else going on here, I'm having a hard time. Right now, though, I think the biggest problem is that when you have a husband in the midst of a job search, there is not very much you can write about. There have been various interviews and visits and phone calls, all of which we are thankful for and excited about. But of course until we actually have a job offer that is signed on the dotted line, I don't really feel that I should do much talking about any of it. That said, we have been much more encouraged lately by all the things that have gone on. Over the winter no one was ...

Judah these days....

I'm not sure why we've never made it a priority to go, but Judah and I finally checked out the Children's museum in Greenville. It was excellent, and I'm sure we'll be heading back there soon. Here are a few of the highlights: The cars and crains were clearly going to be a big hit.      My favorite part might have been the giant light brite. I could have played with this one a while. Judah liked it, too.    Water table!!    Farmer Judah pushing the wheelbarrow.  Playing the marimbas   There were so many great exhibits we didn't even see them all.  I'm often somewhat hesitant to do things like this with a younger toddler, but I can definitely say that there were fun things for kids of lots of ages. We'll be back!

I'd pat myself on the back today in thinking about some of the very tasty items I made this week, but then I'd have to remind myself that tonight both Jeff and I ate cereal for dinner. Thankfully, I'm married to a man who appreciates the occasional cereal dinner and I didn't feel like cooking. But if you feel like cooking, here are a few of the tasty items I've made this week: Baked Pork chops . These have a homemade breadcrumb topping with garlic, herbs and cheese. I found some thick cut chops on clearance and they were awesome. Sort of like the old school shake-n-bake, but about 1000% better. Mushroom and herb macaroni and cheese . I do not make homemade mac and cheese often and I'm having a hard time remembering why. Now, I will admit this ain't my Grandma's macaroni. Those of you who knew her would remember her delicious, but very traditional southern macaroni and cheese. I have to say that I like this better. It made a huge pan that we ate wit...

The most bizarre or maybe interesting aspect of our overnight in Greenville had to do with John Locke. I was never really a fan of Lost, although I did borrow a friend's copy of season one and watch my way through most of it. That was about as far as I got. Jeff didn't like how intense it was, and I mostly just found it confusing. John Locke (known in real life as Terry O'Quinn ) was a major character on that TV show. When I was first checking into the hotel on friday night, I had to walk by a gentleman as he was getting out of his car. It took me a minute to recognize him, but then I realized who it was. Living in Greenwood, we don't really see celebrities very often ever, so it was a little bit exciting. Apparently there was a celebrity charity tournament in Greenville last weekend and he was there to play in it. We got checked in, then walked across the street to dinner. As we were lead to our table, we walked by a table and I again saw the same guy. I pointed h...

First up, at the playground. He could have cared less about the slide, but loved walking back and forth in the sand and tossing it into the air. And here is my son, sitting in the back of the car, on his potty. Wearing a bike helmet. For whatever reason, he has been wanting to wear my helmet a lot lately....

I did not, in fact, fall of the face of the earth this week. Although my lack of posting may have made it seem that way. Instead, I was working and then we were gone for the weekend. We're back now, but we had a great weekend. Friday night, my mom kept Judah and we had an awesome overnight date. Jeff got us a hotel room in the same hotel we stayed the first night of our honeymoon. It was delightful. We walked around downtown Greenville, had an amazing dinner at Soby's , and then a tasty cupcake dessert. Saturday morning I got to run around downtown Greenville and then we ate breakfast at the Farmer's market that was set up right outside the hotel. It was delightful. I was reminded that we need to do that more often. We have not been very good about regular date nights, but I realized (yet again) how thoroughly I enjoy my husband's company and how much I love talking to him. Being out by ourselves means much better conversation.

For the second time in his rather short life, I let Judah get locked in the car again today.  Last time, it was a rather odd fluke that occurred, but this time I was just foolish. I let my kid play in the car with the keys. I'm cringing even as I'm writing it. I had the back door open so he wouldn't get locked in, but then I shut it while not really thinking or checking to see if the doors were all locked. They were. Jeff went inside to find our other set while I tried to coach Judah into pushing up on the automatic lock button. Let me tell you, he can flat out push that button down. He doesn't quite get the concept of pushing it in the opposite direction. Although he tried really hard to do it. Jeff and I traded places after a few minutes but I wasn't able to find them either. I went back outside to see Jeff shouldering our big garden pick. I convinced him to one more quick round of searching. Judah had by this point started crying and was getting really, re...

It never ceases to amaze me how certain patients just will not do what their doctor tells them. For instance, I have a patient who is on thyroid replacement after she had a thyroid cancer removed. Well, I should sAy she is supposed to be on thyroid replacement. Several times when I try to check her levels the results indicate she isn't taking the med. I ask her if she is taking it and she says she is. I stress to her that she will feel much better if she takes it, that it is bad for her health when she skips. It doesn't seem to help. She has occasionally taken it, because her labs have come back normal a few times, but then it seems she just stops. Sigh. I had a similar situation in a much younger patient I saw this morning. She is only 22, and has been hospitalized 3 or 4 times because she has very irregular periods that are also so heavy that she bleeds enough to require transfusions. She also is hypothyroid, which makes your periods irregular and can make your blood clot...

I love being a mother. Today, though, I enjoyed mother's day by working an easy shift, coming home to a quiet house, and resting on the couch. Thanks to MY mother, I was actually child free today until after 7 when Jeff picked up our boy. I enjoyed having a brief break from feeding, pottying, and entertaining our recently more-clingy-than-normal 2 year old. I also enjoyed the irises and tulips a certain someone had delivered.....