A Note and an Upcoming Series

If you have not realized this yet (because I did not even put it together until recently), I really enjoy writing series! And they always pertain to things I am currently reading. Well, for Christmas, I received four books on homeschooling that I am really enjoying and my attention has been turned away from food for the time being. I will try to come back and finish out the Food, Naturally series sometime soon, but I give no guarantees. The marriage series has definitely lost its place in line by now, but I do hope to come back to it as well, eventually.

So, if you cannot tell, my new series will be about education. This, unsurprisingly, is something I mentioned when I started writing again last year. It is amazing that I have not even referred back to that post, and yet my topics stayed within that list all year! Those topics are very dear to me and I have a passion for writing about and educating others on the important truths of our faith and life.

I hope to finish this new series before baby M comes. I have a feeling I will not have time to write for a while after her birth between a newborn, toddler, everyday wife and mothering duties, packing, moving, and getting settled into a new area!

So, please pray for me and my family and look out for my new series. I will begin writing and posting soon!

Just FYI

I am quite sure that all of you regular readers (and my few one-time readers) have noticed, my blog is often neglected. This is due to the fact that blogging for me is strictly a hobby I enjoy in my free time. If I do not have free time or if I choose to read, research, or craft in my spare time, my blog will most certainly be lacking updates for a while. If this bothers you, I do apologize, but the only benefit I gain from my blog is the enjoyment of writing. I currently make $0 from this blog (and have never made any money from it). In other words, it is just for me ... and if you benefit from reading when I can post, I will get satisfaction knowing I can help others while I am enjoying myself!

So, with that said, here is what has been keeping me busy lately besides household chores and errands:

Handmade felt baby shoes
From this pattern
Note: I think the pattern is on the small side. Measure your baby's feet before using this pattern. You may have to use the larger pattern or even enlarge it with a copier.

Handmade felt Christmas tree
Came up with the idea and "pattern" myself. Undecorated: I will have to improvise, as my plan to glue on shiny Christmas-colored pom-poms doesn't work.

Baby quilt
... just started, but here's a sneak peak

A New Post ... Finally

It has been almost two months since I have published anything on here. For those still checking in, I thank you for your patience. My computer was being "worked" on for over six weeks before they finally just gave us a new one. Pretty disappointing and definitely frustrating, but I finally have a usable computer now.

I hope to start writing here again soon, but I cannot make promises as to how often it will be. I am so much busier since we moved! I am not sure when I will be able to start writing my marriage series again. I haven't been able to read or write anything related to it thus far. But I will try to post something interesting for the interim!

My next post will be about what I am learning about food. It is very interesting. I have been trying to get and keep my family healthy for a while, but these books I have been reading just take the cake. Be prepared for some shocks unless you have already done your own research on real food!

Taking a Break

Well, after all this waiting, I have finally decided that I can't "do it all" right now. I have been so busy and/or tired lately that I barely even have time to get online to check my email, let alone spend hours reading, researching, and writing posts.

I have a feeling it will only get worse from here, because I'm already in the second trimester and my fatigue is not letting up. Nursing while pregnant apparently takes a lot out of you.

When I finally get to sit down for long periods of time (whenever that may be), I will once again resume my blog series. I was so anxious and excited to write it and now I'm just too tired to get it done. I have plenty of ideas in my head and hopefully some day soon they will make it down on "paper".

For now though, I need to announce a break. I hope to be back soon.

Thank you for visiting.

God bless,
A Bird on Her Nest

Another "Sad" Update

Well, yesterday my DVD drive decided to die, so my main computer (with all my files) is now being sent in to be fixed. Sadly, this leaves my series behind for about the tenth time in two weeks. I have my files backed up, but they are not on this computer yet. I will try to move them tomorrow so that I can work on my posts. If all goes well, my "Between Man and Woman (Only)" post should be up later Wednesday or Thursday. And I will try to get one posted for Friday as well.

I am doing my best to stay on task with everything here at home and I think we have finally finished everything including our move paperwork (which was so continuously put-off that if we hadn't been given a miracle today, we be out quite a bit of money).

Needless to say, I have now learned packing, moving, unpacking, and settling in is not the greatest time to start a new series, especially when I slacked off after finishing my Open to Life series three weeks early. (Yes, I had them scheduled to post that far in advance!)

For anyone who is still with me, I thank you for your wonderful patience.

Family Day

I have family visiting today and I am still way behind on my posts. I normally have them scheduled one to two weeks ahead, but I have only written the introduction so far. Things around here have been busy from unpacking, running errands, etc. I have a series post scheduled for Monday and I will try to work on more over the weekend (and certainly before Wednesday) so that I can continue to post on time. I apologize for this interruption, but thank you for your patience.

We're on the Move

We have left our home in Washington and are heading back East. It is going to be a long journey, but the scenery is beautiful. Here is a picture from our trip out here.

An Update (Not) Worth Reading

I know it's been a long time since I've written anything. Let me assure you, I have not been too busy. I was putting it off because I wanted to save all of my previous blog posts to my computer before I started writing anymore so that I could have a "backup" without adding more posts to back up! Now that I have that finished, I am actually going to try to write again. I have some topics floating around in my head:

• Women in the Home
• Divorce
• Education
• Eugenics
• Food & Health (eating naturally... not "nutritiously")
• Truth

All of them inspired by Chesterton. We'll see how many of them make it onto "paper". If you have never read Chesterton, you should. Robert randomly picked up a book by him up at the library one day in Quincy and we will both forever be grateful for that working of God. He is a wonderful 20th-century philosopher, theologian, and prophet who literally wrote about everything. Hope you look forward to reading these truth-inspired ideas as much as I look forward to sharing them with you!

A Bit of Randomness

Well, it's almost a new year and my blog is sorely lacking in updates. It kind of went to the wayside (along with house cleaning) after Robert came home. It seems like I have more time to do things when he's gone (or working) than when he's home all the time!

I am finally back into meal planning -- and hoping/praying that we can finally stick to our budget this year so we can save more money. Saving has (sadly) been a lower priority lately with all our eating out, buying Robert some new clothes, and purchasing our lovely piano (more about that below)!

It's amazing how much money you can save when you go into the grocery store with a plan and a list instead of just thinking of "meals" (if you can call them that) as you go. Our first planned meal was last night - homemade ham and bean soup (using dry beans). Very delicious. Robert loved it. I made homemade corn muffins to go along with it, which was a nice compliment.

I made some sandwich bread yesterday as well - but I think I took it out of the oven too soon, so I'll have to try again next time. I want to start making all of our bread again. I bought some wheat gluten, hoping that will help the bread become less "crumb-y" ... hoping anyway. I might try a small amount of bread flour if that doesn't work, because my italian bread recipe turns out so nicely.

I would also like to start making all of our desserts from scratch. I made some wonderful butter toffee, caramels, and candy bar treats with the help of my mom when my parents were visiting earlier this month. We still have some toffee left over but everything else has been eaten. The candy was so rich and so delicious. I can't wait to make the caramels again to try to improve on them. (They were a bit hard, probably from boiling too long.)

And I've even started making cinnamon rolls from scratch. I've made two batches now (the second was much better), but they are delightful! And they are made with baking powder, so they're fast and easy. The link is on my recipe page.

And last but not least, my new piano! Well, I should say our piano. Robert and I have been eyeing pianos since before Benedict was born (maybe for almost a year now). We considered one, but they were a little out of our price range. I was set on buying a full sized keyboard if we were going to spend the money. There's no use buying one (in my opinion) if I can't even play all my favorite songs on it! So we finally broke down and bought one as our Christmas present to each other this year. It came with an attached stand, pedals, weighted keys, and a bench. I'm so thrilled with the purchase!

Well, if you're still with me, I'm going to try to update once every week or two from now on so that I have a little motivation to stay on track, but also to share with you what I've been up to in the kitchen as well as any new updates with Benedict.

My "new" Cloth Diapers

So, I made a big deal a while ago about how I "hated" my old cloth diapers. I even asked for opinions ... and was told to go to disposables -- HA! Never. Anyway, that being said, I thought I would mention that I found the best cloth diapers ever -- FuzziBunz!! (Isn't it a cute name?)

1. It only takes one cycle to dry these (as opposed to 3 with the bumGenius and Kissaluvs).
2. They come with two inserts so I don't have to buy any extra if I need more absorbency. I do have to stuff them ("insert" the inserts), but that's why they dry so fast, so I don't complain about that part.
3. They go on with snaps instead of velcro - so now I don't have to worry about velco tabs staying closed in the washer/dryer and they also don't have the stiff velcro piece across his stomach which I felt was hurting his stomach when he was sitting and would be even more of a pain when he started leaning over like he does now.
4. They are "one-size" which I was totally against because I thought all the snaps to change the size looked tacky ... but my favorite part (the number one reason I love these so much) is that you change the elastic to make these looser/tighter (instead of snaps on the front).

See ... there's buttonholes in the elastic and to make it shorter/tighter around the legs you would pull the elastic through and "button" at a higher number. Which means that I can make the legs loose -- something he greatly needed with his little "chunk" thighs! (There's also elastic around the back that you can change.)
5. They are softer than the bumGenius and other cloth diapers that I tried (Kissaluvs, Thirsties).
6. I have only had one or two leaks with these diapers since I bought them in September.
7. Just to add another reason - I love these colors. They are so bright and vibrant compared to the other brands I've seen out there.

So, with all these reasons to love them, I wasn't opposed to the fact that they are one of the most expensive cloth diapers out there! (There are a couple brands that I saw were more, but not by much.)

GO FuzziBunz!!!!!

Update

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted on here! I wonder if you've all given up looking (hoping) to find something new ... I would have by now!

Between the news of Robert, having him home, spending time with him, taking care of the endless household duties, and taking care of my beautiful son -- I haven't even thought of a new post in quite some time (as you can obviously tell).


We have so many unknowns at the moment, and a small (flexible) plan. We're not sure how everything will play out or when it will happen. As many of you know, I need a plan, so this waiting game is killing me!

But I'm trying to get the house in order for the inevitable move coming up. I'm trying to get rid of anything and everything that I don't like or don't want. I don't want to move anything that won't have a place in our new home, a home that we will hopefully be staying in for a while.

During the transition, and this crazy time in my life right now, it's easier for me to put mini-updates on Facebook then to try to write a long post on here. I hope you all understand.

Addition

I added a Favorite Links page to the top of my site today. If you're looking for anything from cheap books to information on NFP - I've got some great links there. These are my favorite websites that I use often.

2010 Goals Update for May

It's been five months since I made my goals. And I feel I'm doing pretty well in some areas (like parenting) but completely horrible in others (like everything else...) I guess it shows where my priorities have been this year! I deleted the goals that I have accomplished and posted about in previous "goal" posts. Here's my progress:

Parenting:
** I've been done with the reading list for a while but my midwife suggested a couple books at my last appointment, so I'm going to be reading the one I just bought yesterday - Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery (My midwife looked over my birth plan (more in the appt. post) and Robert and I have been discussing what his "job" will be in the delivery room, so I feel pretty prepared and ready right now.)
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day (I think I've missed a few since Robert's been home.)
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying (I thought we were done with this goal ... but apparently not. We've spent like $400 since last month. But most of that was the crib I just purchased.)
** Attend Le Leche League meetings every month (I went to the May meeting. I will probably go this month and then skip next month since Robert should be at home then.)

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals - instead of eating out (We spent a few hundred dollars on eating out in the two weeks after Robert got home ... even though I had meals planned. - This is the only reason to look forward to deployment -- we can't spend so much money then!)
** Follow my daily chore list (Well, I haven't been doing well with accomplishing something every day, but the house does stay clean, so I guess that's all the counts.)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!! (I'm doing pretty well with this. I think Robert understands that I have to have things a certain way, b/c he didn't fuss with me at all when I was putting in the car seat or putting together the toy storage shelf or deciding how the room should be arranged.)

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday (I've really been struggling with this. I don't know how to do it, exactly .... so I'm kind of at a roadblock for now.)
** Set a prayer time - even if it's just once per week (Definitely haven't been doing this either. But I have read a few pages in my pregnancy prayer book. So I hope that counts. )
** Start reading the Bible - again... (I have not worked on this at all. I did a little bit with Bible study, but now that it's over, the Bible seems to have found its way back on the bookshelf!)

Personal:
** Finish scrapbook pages (I still haven't bought the scrapbook paper. I have a feeling this isn't going to get done before the baby comes ... which means it may never get done!)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET (Well, we don't spend over our monthly income. We're just not saving as much as I'd like. So I guess we're actually doing okay with this goal.)

2010 Goals Update for March & April

It's been four months since I made my goals. I forgot to write an update for March so this is things accomplished in two months. I deleted the goals that I accomplished in February. Here's my progress:

Parenting:
** Done with the reading list! There's still two books on my shelf to read - one about discipline and one about potty training, but I might read those later this month or when Robert's gone.
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery (still on target for drug-free, intervention-free)
** Take baby classes (didn't learn a whole lot, because I read so much, but I'm glad Robert got a lot out of them -- even if I did have to "drag" him!)
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day (still doing well)
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying (we stayed on budget and we're finished buying everything ... until after he comes!)
** Attend Le Leche League meetings every month (went to the March and April meetings)

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals - instead of eating out (We eat out a lot when Robert's here, but I'm going to stick to my guns on this in May and June because we need to get on track with the budget!)
** Follow my daily chore list (I kind of fell off the wagon a bit with this, but I've been making daily goals for a week and doing really well with that!)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!! (I think I was a little "hard to handle" when we were putting up the shelf, but I'm trying!)

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday (Since Lent is over, I've certainly faultered with this goal. I'm going to have to try to get back with this.)
** Set a prayer time - even if it's just once per week (see above!)
** Start reading the Bible - again... (been doing a little bit with Bible study, but not as much as the last session)

Personal:
** Finish scrapbook pages (was going to work on it this past week, but realized I didn't have any scrapbook paper so I will have to postpone this until I can buy some)
** Finish Robert's uniforms - so we can donate them (FINISHED & donated!!!)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET (When Robert's gone, we do fine. When he's here ...... We're still working on this!)

Pregnancy Update

This picture was actually taken 2 weeks ago. I don't have anything more recent yet.

So exciting -- I entered my third (and final!) trimester last Monday!! Exactly three months to go as of yesterday. I've completed week 27 and am feeling great!

It's actually exciting to me for people to tell that I'm expecting and ask me about it (without me mentioning anything). Although, I have gotten multiple comments on how I'm not very big, but I'm not worried! : ) I know everything is going well.

I've been so busy and "out and about" since Robert's been home, that I must be putting Benedict to sleep a lot because he's not as active as he used to be! He moves around quite a bit in the early morning though (about the time Robert gets up for work) and sometimes when I'm laying down to go to bed at night.

One thing that I wish I would've known before I got pregnant is: you are so emotional! The weekend that Robert came home, I cried four or five times in one day over the smallest little things (so small that when I was trying to remember what they were, I hadn't a clue!).

2010 Goals Update for February

It has now been two months since I made my goals. I deleted the goals that I accomplishd last month. Here's my progress:

Parenting:
** Finish/read all baby books on my list (I had 9 books to read, and I read 5 in February. I crossed the other 4 off my list because I decided I didn't want to read those anymore, but I do have some other parenting books that I would still like to read I will post about that later)
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery (still on target for drug-free, intervention-free; I asked quite a few questions at my last visit and feel confident that I can have the L&D that I want)
** Inform myself as much as possible about drug-free labors (I've read two books solely about L&D and 3-4 others that had labor information in them)
** Take baby classes (the baby feeding class is in March and baby care class is in April)
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day (still doing well)
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying (staying on budget with baby stuff)

** Continue attending Le Leche League meetings every month (went to the meeting in February, will go again in March)

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals - instead of eating out (need to stop eating out so much...)
** Follow my daily chore list (been doing well, getting chores done throughout the week)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!! (haven't noticed anything yet...)

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday (doing well with my Lenten praying)
** Set a prayer time - even if it's just once per week (praying almost daily throughout the week with my Lenten "challenge")
** Start reading the Bible - again... (been reading the Passion in the Gospels for Bible study)

Personal: (really need to start working on these goals...)
** Finish scrapbook pages (not started yet)
** Finish Robert's uniforms - so we can donate them (not started yet)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET (if we stop eating out, it wouldn't be a problem!)

2010 Goals Update for January

It's been one month since I made my goals and here's my progress:

Parenting:
** Finish/read all baby books on my list (I added four to the list and finished 7 along with continuing my weekly/monthly chapter in my pregnancy books, so I'm down to 11 yet to read (9 without the pregnancy books that won't be finished until I'm due))
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery (still on target for drug-free, intervention-free; going to ask LOTS of questions regarding this at my prenatal exam this month)
** Inform myself as much as possible about drug-free labors (finished reading my Lamaze book last week and put a hold on two others at the library)
** Sign up/take all free baby classes offered (they no longer offer the free baby care classes so I signed up and took the budgeting class, which is free, and signed up for the feeding and newborn care classes at the hospital - not free but fairly inexpensive)
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day (been pretty good with this)
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying (buying a couple things this month, I'm going to hold off though because my Bible Study group asked if they could throw me a baby shower!)

** Continue attending Le Leche League meetings every month (this is a new goal, I went to the first meeting Jan 14th)

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals - instead of eating out (started, and going okay - still needs some work)
** "Deep clean" the whole house while Robert's gone (finished all within the first week)
** Get back into following my daily chore list (been doing well, not necessarily following the daily tasks, but getting them done throughout the week and that is what's important)
** Go through all magazines -tear out articles I want & recycle the rest (finished the first week)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!! (haven't noticed anything yet...)

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday
** Set a prayer time - even if it's just once per week (I've been reading a prayer book I bought, Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine Month Novena, about once a week)
** Start reading the Bible - again... (this is probably going to be pushed back until I finish all/most of my baby books, but started Bible study so that will include some reading of the Bible)

Personal:
** Finish scrapbook pages (not started yet)
** Finish Robert's uniforms - so we can donate them (not started yet)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET (not so good for January, but most of it was because of the vet bills for Snowflake and that needed to be done)

Another Boring Update

Wow, is this all I can come up with lately? ... I hope things pick up soon around here or you might get bored of me and never come back again! "Gasp"

So Robert FINALLY got me the schedule yesterday for next year. The dates are tentative though, but it's looking like he should definitely be here for the baby's birth! YEA!!! And also, that it's going to pretty much be the way it was before the shipyard - gone a lot. So besides the Bible Study (which I believe is starting in February), I'm going to have to come up with something to do while he's away, because right now, I get bored when he's gone for just one night!

Thanksgiving and an Update

Well, I've missed two of my usual post times already. This pregnancy is frying my creativity (or something ...)! I never feel like I have anything to write about. Maybe that's because I never do anything. I've had so little energy and nausea that I haven't even been able to keep up with the housework lately.

I haven't been cooking much (if at all) because nothing sounds appetizing to me and sometimes I can't even look at food. I don't want to cook a big meal for Robert and then not eat it with him. So everything's just been grab and go or fast food (really healthy, I know). Hopefully, I'll start feeling better soon -- with LOTS more energy.

Tomorrow is Robert's birthday and we're going out to eat. Then Thursday, Robert has duty - so he's eating the Thanksgiving meal on the ship and I'm having Thanksgiving dinner with a woman (and her family) from church. We will have our traditional Thanksgiving meal Friday with:

Turkey (I just got another little breast this year)
Green bean casserole
Mashed potatoes
Turkey gravy
Homemade noodles (leftover from our last chicken and noodles)
Crescent Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Homemade whipped cream

Looking at it in black and white - there's a lot of starch in that menu! Oh, well. It's only one day of the year, right?!

Seeing how I can never come up with anything to write about lately, I think I'll probably take the rest of the week off (but don't worry, if something does come to mind, I'll post it). I'm almost out of my first trimester (10 weeks last Sunday) so hopefully things will pick up soon.

Some Randomness

Seems like there's nothing to talk about lately. So these are just some random things from "life" lately.

We had a good time last night. We went to Golden Corral for the free veteran's meal and invited a friend Robert used to work with. She just had a baby six weeks ago - so precious. We sat and talked for about two hours. I hope we do something again soon.

My menu plan hasn't changed because we have so many leftovers (and days eating out) that we're still eating what I planned for (and bought) one month ago. I did add Tuna Noodle Casserole, Beef and Noodles, and Beef Stroganoff to the mix though, but I haven't made them yet. I will post recipes for the two beef dishes sometime this month.

I haven't been keeping up on my reading or my goals. ... Hmmm, seems like I'm slacking. All I've been doing lately is cooking (sometimes), cleaning (most days), and watching movies with Robert when he gets home. Hopefully, I will have something to write about tomorrow since I have my first appointment with the nurse. We'll see.

Side note: This bread looks absolutely delicious!!!!!