2 Banana's & 1 C. Oatmeal Cookies

Have you guys seen this picture floating around on Pinterest? 

 

 

Well, my own little chef Carter made them a couple of nights ago- BY HIMSELF-.

They are awfully simple to make.  Seriously 2 banana's & 1 C. Oatmeal.

  He randomly added these things from the cupboard, using his tiny little hands: chocolate chips, coconut, & raisins. 

I put them in the oven at 350 for 14 minutes, they probably only needed about 12 min.  Anyway, they were wonderful & he was SO  proud of himself!  What will you let your kids bake today?

 

Use this LINK to get to the original recipe.

My Fears Through Pregnancy, Labor, Delivery and Recovery.

Fear.
It's been a year since I found out I was expecting our 3rd baby.  We tried, cried, and prayed for this baby for y.e.a.r.s.
Each time a friend would get pregnant while we were trying to conceive I would feel joy for them, but not as much as the sadness I felt for myself.   Believe me when I say I felt like everyone I knew was getting pregnant.  I felt broken.  I didn't understand why things weren't working according to my plan.
In Gods time, friends would gently remind me.  Yes, I knew it would happen in His time.  That didn't make it any easier.

Even though we had tried for years to conceive another child, when I got the positive pregnancy test,
there was a thought in my mind.  It was a thought so strong and so deep that at time, it was debilitating. It was an intense thought of what if something goes wrong.
What if merely getting pregnant again was enough to kill me, what if something happened to my unborn child. What if she was handicap (don't judge me), or still born.  What if I died giving birth.

There were days that I would lay on the couch sobbing because the fear was so overwhelming, and my hormones were raging.

Before I even knew I was pregnant I knew there would be something wrong in my next pregnancy, I knew that there was a chance I could lose my child or myself.
There weren't any major medical reasons predicting that this might happen.  But I felt a nudge from God to be prepared.

I guess I'm just trying to talk this all out so I can finally let my fear go and know that everything turned out okay.  Whatever okay is.

My pregnancy was tough.  It was really hard on me this time around, but the labor went quick and the delivery was over in a blink of an eye.
The delivery was so quick that I didn't have time for the drugs that I had thought I wanted.
 My mind was clear.  I was right there.  I felt every little pain and movement.  I felt it all, and I took it all in.  I knew exactly what was going on when my little girl came into this world.
 I didn't experience that the last time that I gave birth I was too uneducated, doped up, and didn't have a clue which way was up.
This time as my daughter entered into this earth I took a look at her. She was blue.  I was prepared for the worst.  I took a deep breath.  I looked across the room and saw a nurse give me a soft, sweet smile.  She was familiar, I thought she was my angel, coming to take me to meet my creator.  My mind was so free, and I was thinking so fast.  Everything was so fast. 
I took another breath, and so did she.  My baby that is.  My baby breathed, screamed, and her color came quickly.  "Praise you, Jesus!", I said out loud. 
 I didn't realize just how a newborn looks hot off the press.  My last baby was bathed, dressed, wrapped in a blanket and wearing a sweet little hat before I even remember really looking at him (we had a tough time, but that's all in the past now).
My daughter was okay.  I was okay.  We lived!
 That beautiful nurse handed me my baby girl and kindly asked "are you going to be nursing?".  I sheepishly replied, "I'd like to, but I don't really know how".    She gave me that same sweet smile and put my baby to my breast. Instantly, I was feeding my baby.  I felt total bliss.

.

 

Fast forward a couple months.  We did find out that our daughter has a heart defect.  She has a problem with a valve and an artery.  She is okay, but we don't know if she will continue to be okay as her body grows.  This tears me up inside.
Her cardiologist described it as a house getting bigger, but the door staying the same size.  We love her with all our hearts, and we will keep on loving her.  That, and pray, is all we can do.  I believe in healing prayers.  I believe that our daughter will be healed.  I'm not frantic feeling, or angry with God for my daughter having this problem.  He prepared me to know something was coming.  Of course I wish it weren't this way.  But don't we all have something about us that isn't perfect? ;)  And we're all, okay.

My daughter's name is Grayson. She was named before she was conceived, because I knew, that through this all, I would need to be reminded to have GRACE. 

Product Review: Medela Pump In Style

When you're a mom you get to try out all sorts of gadgets and products.  When you're a nursing mom you get to try out even more! 
I really love trying new products, who doesn't love new things, right?  But one that I wasn't so excited about testing was my breast pump.
You see, I had this idea that I was going to nurse my baby and we wouldn't need a pump, bottles, formula, etc.  I had visions of nursing her in all sorts of places, and until she was well over a year. 
However, between my PCOS possibly causing low milk supply, my daughter being tongue tied & having a heart condition that physically made breast feeding difficult for her, we've been forced to rely on the pump. 

At the suggestion of the Therapy Shoppe employee, I purchased the Medela Pump In Style, back pack version.

The Pros:

• The back pack is awfully handy, especially when we're traveling somewhere and my hands are already full of baby gear.
• The bag is black, so no one knows I'm lugging around a breast pump.
• The pump isn't terribly loud (see below). But my mom can tell when I'm pumping while we're talking on the phone.
• The suction has been great so far.
• The pump is built for daily use.  I was using it up to 10 times a day for about 2 months straight.  More recently I've used it 2-3 times a day.  There has been no change in the quality of the pump over 4 months time.
•  Easy to clean.
• Comes with 4 bottles, ice pack, & cooler.
• Amazon sells a car adapter so you can pump in your vehicle if necessary.  I bought one, but haven't used it yet.  It's winter here in Iowa, folks.  I'll gladly awkwardly pump in other peoples homes than sit out in the cold van. haha. 

The Cons:

• The pump isn't terribly quiet.  Since I mostly pump at home, this isn't a problem for me.  Don't get me wrong though, this really isn't a huge deal.
• It only comes with medium flanges.  You can't specifically swap out for another size without purchasing a pair separately.  For most people, this may not be a problem.  But for me it was, and having the wrong size flanges caused for less milk to be pumped, and the whole process to be less comfortable.  Again, you can get those on Amazon too.

I've used it for about 4 months and I can honestly say, I would recommend this product to a friend!

The boy, his half birthday

This past Saturday our family celebrated something special. Even though we didn't celebrate in the way we normally do, because we were busy cleaning and taking care of household things we were still celebrating. The celebration was marking 5 and a half years of the Carben1 comedy tour. Yes it's hard to believe it just 5 half years ago we welcomed our son into this world. He & I got off to a rough start as I learned how to be a mom to a newborn.  But now 5 and a half years later I can tell you I am wholeheartedly enjoying this boy so very much. There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't make me smile and laugh and sometimes do one of those rolling on the floor laughing things everyone post about online. I mean, do people really do that after they read something funny? Doubtful.
But just spend a day around this sweet little boy and you too will be rolling on the floor laughing. So Jesus, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for my little boy, my joy.
I know that someday he will grow up to be an amazing husband, like his father is.  He will be a wonderful father to his children and he will make all of his friends laugh just like he does for me now. And when that day comes I have no doubt in my mind that he will still love his mother very much, but I know so much of him will be with his own family then and so these days I have him so very close I will cherish.

Reflections

Please know this is written in a very light hearted tone and only as a personal reflection on my personal experience.  You might not be able to relate to this post at all.  I'm sorry if that is the case, I will try better next time. ;)

I hate realizing too late that a few friendships & even neighborly friendliness has faded big time.  But even more so is knowing it happened because of someone else's deceit & no matter how little they are in my life now, they've still accomplished what they were after- sabotaging my friendships for their selfish gain.  And clearly they decided to do this before we even officially met.
I should be a good enough friend to fix it, but I'm not.  & the truth is, that's okay with me. 
If someone is so easily influenced by someone else's opinion of me, that's their weakness, not mine. 
I have the best friend I could ask for in my husband & my family, & my true friends.  I'm blessed to still have my mom (my first best friend), I talk to one of my brothers a couple times a week & I have an incredible extended family.  Above all, I have God's love.  & as the song says, love is all you need. 
Or is it?  You decided (for yourself, not me, my mind is made up).

School Days: Independent Practice

This sweet boy is independently practicing his 3 letter words.  He doesn't have a clue  that I'm standing behind him eating the very last Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie that Gpa sent home with us after the Super Bowl party.

We use a large oil drip pan from Wal-Mart (about $10) to attach our kid magnets to.  I like this way better than getting scratches on the fridge.  The magnets nicely fit in a tote when not in use, and the oil pan can easily slide behind a piece of furniture. 

Product Review: Fibber Board Game

Today I'm going to review for you, the board game Fibber.
My oldest daughter was gifted this game for Christmas from her cousins. 
This game is ready to play right out of the box.  The instructions are easy enough that the boy (5) can play it too, & actually keep up.
I will say though the name of the game is Fibber, which means lying.. something my 5 year old didn't know how to do yet.  So we actually had to teach him so he could play the game with us... So far it seems that he has only used this technique in the game, Thank God.
The board itself is kind of cheap, but it just sits on the table and doesn't do much, so that's not a problem.  The glasses and nose pieces are made of a nice hard plastic.  They seem durable.  Around here we need durable! 
We have played this game several times and taken it with us when we have gone places. 
The kids haven't gotten bored with it, & my niece asks to play it each time she visits.  I'd give it 5 stars!  Great game!