Black Daddy

Has anyone else seen "The Electric Company"? It's a pretty big hit in our house. The kids like the silly story lines and I'm always impressed when Lin-Manuel Miranda performs. (Although I think it's pretty sad that I'm much more familiar with "Silent E is a Ninja" then his work on "In the Heights".) Anyway, EVERY TIME the music man segment comes on, both of my kids point at the screen and yell "Daddy! Look mommy - daddy is on this show!" This is the music man:

So many things about this boggle my mind. My husband is bald. And white. Well, Hispanic, but you'd never know it from looking at him. I also feel that I should point out the Lou does not have a round middle. Usually you only see the music man from the head up, so my kids probably didn't take that into consideration. If I take away the Afro, maybe I can see it a little bit.. 

Why I Suck as a Parent...

Is it because prior to typing this I was playing fetch with my 2 year old? (Seriously, I was trying to type an e-mail and he kept handing me his ball. I would throw it across the room and he would run after it and bring it right back. Who needs a dog?)

Nope.

Most of you know about my current issues with Micah and his “failure to thrive.” He’s not a great eater and he’s super active, and when we went for his two year check up his pediatrician was concerned about his lack of appropriate weight and height gain from the last visit. So, while I had subscribed to the “this is what we’re eating and you can take it or leave it” method of mealtimes, apparently my kids just don’t care if they starve. They are content to live on Cheerios and drinkable yogurt. Is this why I suck? Nope.

Since that fateful visit, I’ve pretty much let him eat whatever he wants, whenever he wants. I still try to get nutritious foods in him at mealtimes, but the rest of the day is a free for all. 

Globs of peanut butter in a bowl?!? Sure! 

Extra Chick-Fil-A waffle fries AND a milkshake?!? Yup! 

Shots of whipped cream from the can?!? Of course!

I still haven’t reached the point in this little story where I have an epic fail in parenting skills, so here it is.

Micah has been eating much better. It seems the more I let him choose to eat between meals, the more he would eat during meals. This was not holding true for Gabbi, so I thought I would try to motivate her in a different way.  About a week ago, after she ate two bites of her dinner and declared herself done, we had this little conversation:

Me: “Gabbi, do you know how Micah needs to gain some weight so he can be healthy?”

Gabbi: “Yeah.”

Me: “Well, if he doesn’t gain the weight the doctors will have to take some blood to make sure there is nothing else wrong with him. If you don’t eat your food, you might get too skinny, and the doctors might get worried about you too.”

Gabbi: “I don’t want the doctors to take my blood.”

Me: “Well, then you need to eat a good dinner, and maybe try a veggie or two.”

Fail.

After every meal (and sometimes just at random), Gabbi says “Mommy – I don’t want to be skinny! I don’t want them to take me to the hospital and take all of my blood!” I have managed to plant the seeds of an eating disorder at the tender age of 4. Twenty years from now, if you see 400 pounds of poor Gabbi on the Biggest Loser, it’s my fault. 

And that is why I suck as a parent. (This week, anyway.) 

 

Chocolate Peanut butter hearts?!? I'll need at least 12 of them, or else I might get too skinny...

Expecting:Haiti

For those of you that are praying with me, go to this post. Names, pictures, and due dates are up!

The funniest thing I've read this week..

...was this post. I think this might be me in a few years, and it's a very good example why homeschooling is not in my future. Myriads of children dodged the bullet when I decided to switch out of an education major.
Speaking of funny, this was the card I picked up for Lou for Valentine's Day.

 Pretty generic, right? Then I opened it up...
 

...and it looks just like our family (minus the dog). I'm not sure if this means that we're the typical bald-dad-brunette-mom-two-child-white-bread family, or if some creeper saw a picture of us on the internet six months ago and decided to make a Hallmark card. Thoughts?

Cheesy Potato Goodness

Here is the much requested Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole Recipe. This is a great brunch recipe, but I could eat this morning, noon, and night. 

  

Ingredients

1 (10 ¾ ounce) can cream of chicken soup
8-ounces Colby cheese, shredded
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup margarine, melted
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
42 ounces frozen country-style hashbrown potatoes

Directions

 1.  Preheat oven to 375º.

2.  In a stand mixer, place soup, cheese, onion, margarine, pepper and salt. Mix on low speed for one minute. (I don’t have fancy kitchen gadgets, so I just used my hand mixer.) 

3.  Add frozen shredded potatoes. Mix on low speed for one minute. (Make sure that the potatoes are slightly thawed and not in one giant frozen clump, especially if you’re using a hand mixer. I learned this the hard way.)

4.  Spray 13” x 9” pan with food release spray.

5.  Place entire contents into sprayed pan, loosely spread casserole to fill pan at even level.

6.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

7.  Serve hot and enjoy!

Super easy, and it tastes just like what they serve at the Crack. Let me know what you think if you end up making it. Enjoy the weekend!

Who Loves Preggos?!? Part 2

 Expecting:Haiti 

        My first experience with Haiti was right after college. We went on a cruise that was supposed to take us to Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Thanks to a wicked hurricane, we were diverted to Haiti and Jamaica. (Not the tourist Jamaica. The roosters running wild/men peeing in the street/do-NOT-take-a-taxi-without-a-red-license-plate-because-you’ll-never-be-seen-again part of Jamaica. But that’s a story for another day.) In Haiti I bought this awesome soapstone carving of a woman holding her baby. (Unfortunately it was somehow decapitated in my baggage on the way home, hence the glue necklace). 

Anyway, since that trip, Haiti lodged itself in my brain heart. A few years ago, Compassion began the Child Survival program. This program helps mothers and babies in impoverished countries like, you guessed it, Haiti. (It’s an awesome program. You can read more about it here.) So I decided that I should throw some support their way. Maybe that would be the end of it, and it was. For awhile. Then the earthquake happened. And my friends started adopting. I started reevaluating certain things. And suddenly it’s not enough for me to just donate some money every month. I really, really want to adopt from Haiti. (Siblings, preferably.) It seems that God has other plans for the moment though. Lou is not totally on board – he’s not against it, but he doesn’t feel strongly that it’s something we’re called to do right now. Also, to adopt from Haiti, you are required to have been married for 10 years, and we’ve got a few years to go. So I’ve been thinking about what else I could do to shut-up quiet this voice in me that keeps telling me that Haiti and I aren't quite finished yet. (Notice I said “thinking about” and not “praying about.” It never dawned on me to pray about it. I wonder how much simpler life would be if I just would pray before I thought.) 

Last week I came across this blog. That’s right, click and read. Right now. I’ll wait.

Can you imagine? 

I.Must.Do.Something. 

Thankfully, God impressed the same thought on Marla Taviano’s brilliant mind.  (I know you guys are probably tired of the hyperlinks, but it’s totally worth the read.) In a nutshell, Marla wrote a book called “Expecting” that helps you pray through the forty weeks of the baby’s development.  This next part I copied directly from her blog:

“What if WE women here in this online space, we women who CAN read and have the luxury of time and money and safety and access to health care and know Jesus, what if WE could do something for these women and their unborn babies?

What if WE could hold a copy of Expecting in our hands and pray the prayers for a God-breathed womb-baby down in Haiti as he or she develops inside of Mama? What if we could pray for a Haitian girl BY NAME, pray for her THROUGH HER PREGNANCY, and then get to rejoice with her when her baby is born?

I get chills just thinking about it.

I e-mailed Heather with my idea, and she was so gracious, so thankful that there might be some women who would care enough about these women in Haiti to pray for them once a week, or a couple times a week, or every day.

She’s going to get me a list of names of mamas-to-be along with their estimated due dates. Some will be early on in their pregnancies. Most will probably be later on. And you can do however much or little God lays on your heart.

You can choose one name to pray for. You can pray for the whole list. You can pray for a handful. You can pray once a week or more than that.”

I am super duper excited about this. I have a book on the way. If this is something that God is laying on your heart, but you can’t afford the book, you can still pray! Who’s with me?

Who Loves Preggos?!? Part 1

If you have your hand raised, or just yelled “Me! Me! I love pregnant women!”, then this post is for you. (Notice that I did NOT say “Who loves being preggo?!?” as I’m sure that statement would have been met with much less enthusiasm.) I have two ministries that I’d like to highlight;one today and one tomorrow. I had originally put them all on one post, but it was super long, so you have to come back tomorrow for part two. And today's preggo-friendly ministry is:

Choices of the Heart 

Most of you know that I have been involved with this ministry for a few years now. Check out their website here. Choices is our local non-profit crisis pregnancy center. It offers confidential guidance and support to those who face an unplanned pregnancy. This pregnancy resource center supports both women and men who are looking for assistance in any of the following areas:

• Abortion information
• Pregnancy counseling
• Pregnancy testing
• Sexuality information
• Post-abortion syndrome
• Financial assistance
• Medical referrals
• Ultrasound screenings
• STD information

There are a number of ways you can help support them:

          The Baby Bottle Campaign -  I give you a baby bottle, you fill it with your loose change, you return it to me and the proceeds go directly to the ministry. Easy and painless.

          Clean Out Your Closet – Get a jump on your spring de-cluttering! Choices has just opened a thrift store. Instead of dragging your clothes and/or other stuff you no longer use to the donation bin near Wal-Mart, drop it off at Choices. They will resell your stuff and all proceeds will benefit the ministry. You get more closet space and they benefit from your old stuff. Everyone wins.

          Volunteer! – Choices is currently in need of volunteers, especially in the Burlington Mall location.  As a former counselor, I can tell you that counseling is not always easy, nor is it within the comfort zone of most people. However, I think that God can’t use us too well when we’re too comfortable. I’m pretty sure that He wants us to rely on what He can do, despite ourselves, rather than thinking that we’re skilled or qualified to “help Him out” in ministries. If you fell like God has been calling you to this ministry and you’ve been dragging your feet, or hemming and hawing about it, then consider this a swift kick in the butt from the Almighty. (And, did I seriously just use the phrase “hemming and hawing”? Where did that come from?)  
     
     Pray about what role you're going to take. And make sure you come back tomorrow because I'm going to share something that I'm super duper excited about. :-)