Pun'kin Patch!

Before we had the little Mr. JC and I would totally go to festivals, tree farms at Christmas, and little farms to pick fresh fruit, etc. We would always say we couldn't wait to have little ones to bring with us one day and do family things like this! So thankful that this year we totally have a cutie pie to take with us. Granted he will remember none of it, I was so excited to get pictures of him! I took a lot, here is just a few! :)

I think his eyes, minus the eyebrows look like my dad in this pic!

His face in this one cracks me up!

We had a really good time. No it wasn't chilly at all. Boo. Come on cold weather, please come and visit us!

I love my serious little toot. I should totally do a post of the "many faces of Westin!" ha!

Year Six

It has been that long. Six years ago, life was pretty good! I had met this wonderful man who had been orchestrated into my life at the most perfect time. We were in love and inseperable. With years of my family life not being entirely interesting. My life suddenly had gotten so different.

I don't like to think of this time in particular. Mainly because it's hard. Six years ago my dad entered heaven. With all of my heart, I believe Jesus excepted him with open arms that day. No one likes to remember, for good reason, the time of life when you lost someone so precious to you.

Certain songs bring me back there. Particular places spark a thought and suddenly there you are in the midst of that awful moment again. A moment that you were so unprepared for. A moment that changed everything.

It was hard. Life was confusing. Life was getting really good and suddenly everything that I knew became so blurry. My focus was shot. Even those of us who are strong, break and become weak.

The Lord was there though. Through the entire process. I can remember feeling a peace that I couldn't understand why I had during such a heart breaking time. Why? Why am I not crying and losing it as much as everyone else? Not that I didn't. I can remember driving my dads truck the night of his passing back to our house. Screaming. Litterally. At the top of my lungs. Tears. Me violently shaking while, driving. Definitely probably shouldn't have been driving, now that I think of it. But, my world had been shaken to the core. I had never before experienced anything like this. Ever.

But, somehow in the midst of it all I could see the Lords face. I felt His presence ever so near to me. I cried out and He was faithful. Was it hard? Yes. Life became different. You see and feel things differently when things like this happen.

I can look back now and see the blessings that came from it. I can see how the Lord was with me. He gave me my husband. Poor guy had NO idea what to say or do. But, all that he did was perfect. I can't imagine what or how I would have handled it, would roles have been reversed. He held me as I cried into his arms not sure how to respond. He cried with me. He was a big source of Joy in my life at that time. That was Gods blessing to me. He knew that I would need his freindship and love.

The Lord comforts us during hard times. He is always faithful. Always. Even with six years being passed. I still miss my dad. I miss hearing his voice. I hope that I never forget what it sounds like. I miss the way he would walk by and reach out his hand, just so I would grab it. I miss his goofy laugh. I miss his tender heart and the way that he would cry when he was proud of me. I miss that he wasn't able to walk me down the aisle at my wedding. Now, I miss that Westin never got the chance to know his little Frenchmen of a Grandpa. My dad was a good Grandpa. I miss him. That will never change. Each year as this time comes I am reminded of a dad who loved his kids with all that he had. A man who was genuinely kind and funny. A man who really was a good father. I am also reminded that God never leaves us or forsakes us when we need Him the most. He is always there waiting to embrace us.

Love you and miss you dad!

Four Months!

Westin you are four months old! This past month has gone by so quickly, my son.

Some of your stats:

Weight: 14 lbs and 4 oz 49%

Height: 26.5 Inches! (you grew 3 inches in 2 months!) 90%

Head: 15 7/8 inches 50%

Eating: This month we have (finally) gone up to 5-5 1/2 oz per feeding. Sometimes you will eat 6 ounces, but that is it. You are still soley on breastmilk except for one feeding. You are not the biggest eater, you never have been. Sometimes this makes me a nervous wreck because I want to make sure you eat all that you need to. The doctor says you are perfect though and gaining just as you should. You just don't have the biggest appetite. You typically don't even cry to tell us when you are hungry. You eat every 3-4 hours. Except at night of course. We can introduce rice cereal if we want to, but because you seem satisfied with the breastmilk, I am not in any hurry to.

Sleep: Oh, glorious little sleeper you are! We have finally really got into a good groove this past month, hallelujah! Bedtime is 8-8:30. You go to bed no later than 9. This month I am seriously considering seeing if I can push up your bedtime to 7:30. We shall see. You typically wake up between 6-7 am for your morning feeding. You are all smiles when we come to get you up! You are also a good little napper. You usually will talk yourself to sleep which is by far the cutest little thing to hear!

Play: We still do plenty of tummy time. I think you love this more than anything. You can roll from your back to your side, almost all of the way. But, when you are on your tummy-you always roll on to your back. When you first started doing this you would get mad! You didn't like it at all which was funny! You grab at EVERYTHING! When I am holding things, you want to see it! You love to look at your little teether books. You sit in your bumbo and also play in your excersaucer!

Personality: I can truly say that as a mom, this is my favorite thing to see! I love that your sweet personality is coming alive! You smile all of the time now! All I have to do is look at you and grin, and you will give me one right back! You are super tickleish. You giggle and grunt with a big smile when I tickle you. You get so excited when daddy or I come over to you. You kick, throw your arms around and get big happy eyes! You also jibber jabber con-stant-ly! If I am in the store, when you are tired, when you play, sometimes when I am trying to feed you, you will look up and just coo like you need to tell me something at that moment! I.love.it. : ) You have become so social lately. I hope it grows even more! I want you to love everyone! You still love you some bath time. You will kick and splash now. I can already see the future and in a couple of months I just know that we will be completely soaked after baths. ;)

You truly are the sweetest baby. You typically don't cry, unless you are irritated with something. When you are mad-you.are.mad You can get a little att-ti-tude at times. Not sure who you get that from! ;) You really are easy going baby though. I love being your mama. I love seeing you grow and learn. But, at the same time it makes me sad to think at how fast it truly goes by.

We.love.you.more.than.you.will.ever.know.

Hello there Mr.Turtle.

Three Months!

Westin you are three months old! My has time seriously flown by! You are the sweetest boy and each day my love for you grows even more!

This month you have started sleeping so good! Up until this week you were still getting up once to eat around 3-4am. But, this week you surprised mommy and slept til 8:30-5:45am! I was shocked and so excited! The next night you did it again and slept till 5am! Last night, you got up around 4 again. So, you are still trying to work it out. But, progress has been made and I couldn't be happier! You still sleep in the co-sleeper next to our bed. We have bath time every night around 8. I lotion you up, put you in your PJs, feed you and you are in bed usually by 9. I can lay you down wide awake and you usually never make a peep. You know it is bed time! I have started putting you in your crib during naps and you really are doing great! I give all credit to the sound machine we have. I must mention that after we give you your early morning feeding, you go back to sleep. I have to wake you up every morning! I swear you would just keep sleeping if I let you!

You love tummy time still. You can be tempermental sometimes about your play mat. I think you have a love hate relationship with it. :) You love your bouncy chair. I am not sure what we would do with out that thing! By far my favorite must have mommy item. You sit in it everyday so mommy can get a shower, fix her hair and get dressed. Thankfully you love to listen to the hairdryer. However when I put on my make up, you always start fussing! Typical man.. ;) I guess I am taking too long to get ready!

You started to sit in your Bumbo chair. You only last about 5 minutes or so, then you are done. You love to be faced out when we hold you, so you can look at everything. You are still fascinated at Maggie. You always just stare when she comes near you. I am not a fan of the doggie kisses all over baby thing, so mommy usually doesn't let her get too close. I know eventually I will have to get over it though, because you will be chasing her. Sigh. Maggie really loves you though!

You have gotten much better about eating. You don't take forever to eat anymore, which is great! You are still at about 4.5 ounces per feeding every 3-4 hrs. I have tried to offer you more and you are not interested. You will roll the bottle on your toungue and act like you have never used one before! That is how we know you are full. Your new thing is you have started to squeal when it is time to burp in the middle of feedings. You get so mad at us! You just want to keep eating!

You look SO much like your daddy. :)

You sitting up in your Bumbo! You look so big already. :(

You were also dedicated this month back to the Lord!

Westin we absolutely adore you being in our lives and can't imagine you not in it! We love you little man!

Love,

Your Mama

Taco Pizza!

mmmm...

Image via Pioneer Woman

This is "our" new go to recipe! I just decided on it, ha! The other night I wanted to make something uber easy. With an almost 3 month old, time is of the essence these days. I found this recipe by the Pioneer Woman and it is SO good and easy which is just what I need! It is also fairly healthy! This is a great meatless dinner, so no laying out meat and hardly any prep needed!

To make this scrumptious dish you need:

1 can of black beans

1 pkg of Taco Seasoning

Pizza dough (you can make your own or use a pre-made)

Bunch of lettuce chopped thin

Fresh tomatoes diced

Bunch o' Cilantro!.. For me, the more the better!

Tortilla chips...She made fresh ones...I'm lazy ;)

Shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt which is what I used

Tabasco or hot any hot sauce

Make your pizza dough or get out your pre-made one and spread it out on your pan.

Get your undrained black beans and cook them on medium heat in a sauce pan.

Once heated through, smash them all up!

Mix in the taco seasoning and let them cook a little longer until they are a "refried bean" texture.

Dice up your tomatoes, lettuce and cilantro.

Mix up some of your sour cream and hot sauce

Spread your black beans evenly over pizza crust and sprinkle on the cheese. Bake in oven around 400 degrees. Her recipe said 500 degrees, but mine started burning, so I lowered it a tad. :)

It's done when the crust looks golden brown and cheese is melted.

Put on your lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro and tortilla chips.

Then for my favorite part...drizzle on the sour cream or plain yogurt hot saucey goodness all over it!

Lastly..eat all of that yumminess up!!

I have been trying to really eat clean and healthy lately and this recipe is truly scrumptious!  You can make it even healthier by using the plain yogurt in place of sour cream and even using a wheat pizza crust. I also used the blue corn tortilla chips which worked beautifully as well.

Seriously soo good!

Happy Pizza Eating!

Mommy Insecurities...

I know that I am not the only one who has struggled with these feelings. I have taken care of babies my entire life. When my little brother was born, I was 8 years old. My mom used to call me and my older sister, Josh's "little mothers". It is still weird, mind you, when I look at him now almost 19, and think I used to change his diapers. Weird. I feel old.

Anywho, taking care of kids, changing diapers...nothing new to me. But, when you have your own? All of these simple tasks feel so daunting at first. Did I put his diaper too tight? Is the baby too hot? Too cold? Did he get enough to eat? Does he have gas? Is he hungry again? Why is he crying?

Oh, to remember that first week. Pure Joy. Annnnddd. Pure stress. Now? I am glad to say that I think, I got this mommy thing down. Hardy Har! ;) It is definitely a learning experience. I love that for the most part, just by looking at my little man, I can tell what he needs. Not all of the time. But most. I can tell when he is tired and needs some mama time. (I secretly love that sometimes he just wants his mama!) I can tell which cry means what. Irritated cry? Bored cry? Tired cry? Plain just ticked off cry? Yeah, when you are with them all day...you just know.

These days, I am still learning about my boy daily. But, I think of the future. The kids of this generation seem like they are dealing with a lot more trivial of things than we did as kids. No? I stress to think of the things he will face as a young person. All of these things which I cannot control, get me thinking.

With all of these fleeting thoughts. I have to remember that the Lord chose me and JC to be Westin's parents. I am the best mom for Westin. JC is the best dad for Westin. He thinks we are capable. With His guidance on everything, He thinks we got this! I am so thankful that I don't have to try and figure things out on my own, you know? Now, I am sure challenging times will come. Scratch that. I know they will come. But, it is good to know the Lord is on our side. He brought Westin in this world for His purpose. It is JC's and my responsibility to help lead, guide and prayerfully parent Him back into the arms of the Lord. When I was pregnant with Westin. I felt the Lord show me some of the ways He might use him. I can't wait to see the man of God He will become. I look forward to the moment when He asks for Jesus to become a part of his heart. That will be the BEST day!

In the mean time. Even with all of the newness of being a mom. Trying to figure it out and still becoming confident in the mom that I am. I must remember. God felt that I am the best mom for Westin. In that, I am honored. In that, I am confident. :)

Thankful Thursday...

I am so thankful for a very supportive husband. He is such a good dad to our boy.
I am thankful for morning coffee and fat free French Vanilla creamer.
I am thankful that finally after 5 years of marriage, I am being serious about menu planning.
I am thankful for my vacuum. No matter how dirty the house is, if I vacuum, I feel like it's clean.
I am thankful for daily outings. Even if it's just to go to Sonic Happy hour.

And finally...I am thankful for this sweet boy. He brings pure joy to our little family.