Carroats, Sweet Potoats, and Pearoats

We have been introducing Jeremiah to solids recently, and most days it's a lot of fun! We started with oatmeal, and then tries carrots. Well he didn't like the carrots by them selves. And then he didn't like oat meal. But he did like carrots and oatmeal together. Thus the carroats.

Sweet potatoes he loved from the beginning, especially when we mixed them with carrots. And he loves butternut squash and peas, and sometimes bananas.

Yesterday he had is six month check up. Weighing in at 15 pounds even and 26 and half inches long, that puts him the the 9th percentile for weight and the 57th for height. The doctor said he looks healthy, but we need to focus on high calorie foods to help him gain weight. So I headed to the grocery store to look at baby food jars (because our baby food is homemade) and find out which ones have the most calories. Of course sweet potatoes were high, but higher still were bananas and pears.

So I made up a big batch of pears,  only to find out he doesn't like them. I tried them every meal, and he just spit them out. This morning I paired pears (he he!) with oatmeal. He ate every single drop! For lunch he refused sweet potatoes, until I mixed in oatmeal.

Apparently this kid loves oatmeal.  So caroats, sweet potoats and pearoats it is.

Our 2012!

As one year as come to a close, and another just begun, I thought it would be fun to look back at what we accomplished in 2012. So here we go...

January: We kicked of the year in our cozy little duplex in Cedar City, UT with Lawrence, Jen and little Olivia, who was just about to turn 1! They drove out to our place from California, and we had yummy snacks and spent the night playing games and catching up. We also started school at Southern Utah University, and we had most of our classes together. It made it really nice when it was time to buy our books, because we got to share! The world was just finding out that we had a little one on the way as well!

February: We hiked Angel's landing in Zion National Park, at four months pregnant it was a really good work out for me! If I was any bigger there is no way I would have made it!

March: Spring break never comes soon enough! We took a trip to Tehachapi, California to visit Lawrence and Jen at their place. It was so fun having them close enough we could drive one day and see them! And we found out we were having a boy!

April: Is school out yet??? By this time we knew were moving up to Ogden and we couldn't wait for school to be out! I was also very visibly pregnant at this point, and was so excited to start "nesting" but I had to wait until we moved!

May: Moving day arrived, and it was not very much fun. We had too much stuff for the little trailer Daniel rented, but thankfully my mom was driving down to pick up their dog, so I was able to send a few things with her. Daniel drove truck with the trailer and put the chickens in the cab. I drove the car and Congo (our dog) rode up front as my co-pilot. I felt bad for Daniel having to ride with chickens at first, but then Congo had diarrhea in the car, right as I was pulling off the freeway to let him out. Yeah, didn't feel bad for him all after that! Pregnant, alone, with stinky dog diarrhea, 30 minutes from new home, puking on the side of the freeway due to enhanced sense of smell.

June: All settled in the new place and nesting was in full swing getting ready for that baby! Daniel was working at Home Depot to keep us afloat until school started again, and was very pregnant and dying in the heat. Finally we broke down and bought an air conditioner for the window. Best. Purchase. Ever.

July: Surprise! Baby Jeremiah arrived 3 weeks early! Due the 24th and born the 7th, I was in shock, but sooo happy he decided to join our family early! I spent most of this month learning alot about being a mom, and being really really thankful for all the people who brought us dinner.

August: Mom and Dad Matthews came to visit for a whole week! I loved having them here with us! Jeremiah was blessed, and we had lots of family support there! School also started back up. Daniel went full time in nursing pre-requisites, and I started online Microbiology.

September: For  some reason I really don't remember anything big in September... perhaps that's because I was running on very little sleep. I was helping coach the 9th grade girls volleyball team at Mount Ogden Jr High and having a blast with that!

October: I turned 23 on the 23rd! and Daniel spoiled me:-) We were going to go to a corn maize on my birthday, but there was a rain storm and it was closed :-( bummer. My birthday was still awesome.

November: Jeremiah started eating solid foods! In the beginning it was kind of boring, just oatmeal, but now it is really fun! I love watching him chow down on butternut squash and making faces at plain carrots. After I introduced carrots, he didn't like them with out some oatmeal mixed in. And then he didn't like plain oatmeal any more. just carroats.

December: Change of plans! Are you surprised? No more college for right now! Daniel started work as an electrician apprentice for Copper Mountain Electric in Salt Lake. We both finished out the semester strong though! Daniel is now working on a career, and I'm making a career as a stay at home mom, just what I've always wanted! That's not to say I won't be going back to school at all, I still plan on finishing one day, after our kids are in school. Yes, I said kids, plural. We plan on having more soon, just not right this minute, and there are no surprises in that plan yet. Thank goodness!

So that's our year! Maybe next year I will actually blog a little more often and you won't have to sit down and read about an entire year in one sitting. Or not.

Camping With a 5 Month Old

Daniel got a new job, which he started Monday. Once his school semester was wrapping up he decided before he went to work and didn't get a vacation fr a year, we needed to go on a little trip.  His first idea was to our land in Colorado, where he would finish the roof our little shack. To that I said, "It's too cold in Colorado for Jeremiah this time of year, and it's too long of a drive (like 12 hours too long) with a baby, but you could go yourself if you want."

He didn't want to leave me and the baby, thank goodness, so he suggested St. George. A two night camping trip, to a place were it is warm during the day, and half the length of drive for baby. "I'll take it!"

Jeremiah was very good on the way down. He started to fuss about the last hour of the drive, but I don't blame him, my butt hurt too. By the time we got to Snow Canyon State Park to pitch our tent it was dark, and the baby was tired, so Daniel did all the set up. That night wasn't bad, Jeremiah woke up once to nurse like he always does, and then he and I slept in while Dad made breakfast in the morning.

When the sun came up it was a Beautiful day! We started off with a little hike to a geocache, and by the time we where heading back for lunch I was sweating. Daniel reminded me, "It's December, by the way, just in case you forgot." Oh my! I wish December was like this everywhere!

We planned on gong into town for lunch, but when the time came we didn' feel like undoing the tent (which was a covered wagon style in the back of the truck), so we pulled out our 72 hour kits and ate our ravioli, saving the can for hot chocolate that night and oatmeal in the morning. It was time to replace the food anyway... the beef jerky was crunchy and the dried apples were soft and sticking together.

After a bike ride and another brief hike we decided to settle down camp for the night. Just as Daniel started the fire, Jeremiah started freaking out! He was screaming and I knew he was tired, but he really only likes to sleep in his crib. He would fall asleep in my arms only to wake up screaming a minute later. We tried putting him in his car seat, laying him on the air mattress, bouncing him up and down, going on a walk, nothing would calm this child down! We decided the only thing left to do was put him in the car seat in the truck and let him cry himself to sleep. That lasted about 10 minutes before I just couldn't take it anymore. Finally he fell asleep when I picked him up and remained sleeping until he woke up to eat before bed. I loved being in St. George, but when that baby started to cry I just wanted to be home!

I spent that night squished between my two favorite people. Daniel was no just touching my back, he was pushing into it, and later informed me that was because the place where my pillow and his pillow overlapped was the perfect comfort level and he was not going to give that up under any circumstances. And no matter how many times I moved Jeremiah over, he always slid right back next me. Squished as I may be, it's my favorite place to be!

The worst thing about the trip, in a close second to the two hour screaming affair, is the fact my camera is now no where to be found. I wish I could post the cutest picture of Jeremiah playing in the sand for his first time, but I don't have it. SO you will just have to imagine the cutest baby you've ever seen (Jeremiah of course!) sitting up by himself with bare feet, grabbing hand fulls of red sand...

Adding Variety to Breakfast!

Do you ever get bored with breakfast? I mean how many times a week can you have waffles or pancakes (which are pretty much the same thing!)?  I was tired of having the same things... waffles, eggs, pancakes, cereal, oatmeal... so I decided to try something new, and this is what I came up with.

Stuffed Biscuits!

 

 Just in case you, too, were bored with breakfast I decided to blog about how to make them. There are probably a million ways you could do these... okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but there are several ways you could change up this recipe to meet the needs of your family, or use left overs...

 

 

You need:

 

Biscuit dough (I used homemade wheat biscuit dough, but refrigerated would work perfect, get the big ones!)

eggs ( I used 3 and made 4 biscuits, adjust for the number you are making)

a little milk

a little pancake mix

breakfast meat (I used sausage left over from our homemade pizza! bacon would be yummy too!)

CHEESE!

Hash browns might also b good in this, I just used scrambled eggs though...

 

First get out your biscuits and spread them thin...

Then make your scrambled eggs.  I used three eggs, added a dash of milk and about 3 tablespoons of pancake mix to make yummy, fluff eggs. Scramble over medium high and add your meat, and some grated cheese. Stir, and add more cheese!  Yum!

Divide your egg mixture for the number of biscuits you are making spoon it on top of your biscuits.

Stretch the biscuit over the egg mixture and pinch together.

Flip your stuffed biscuit over so the pinched together sides are facing your baking sheet.

Pop in the oven at 450 for about 12 minutes.

Top with  more grated cheese and enjoy!

I think this would also be tasty with some sausage gravy on top.  You could also make a bunch of these and freeze them to zap in the microwave when you a quick yummy breakfast! Enjoy!

 



Diapers...

OK, I know a bunch of you thought I was crazy when I said I was going to use cloth, but I really, really love it! Here are some reasons I love my cloth diapers...

1-) They are sooo much cuter than disposables! He has airplanes diapers, so cute!

2-) He has less diaper rashes. In fact Jeremiah has only had one diaper rash since we started using cloth.

3-) If he decides to poop or pee right after I change his diaper I haven't wasted 15 cents, I can just wash it and use it again.

4-) Yes my water bill was $7 more last month, but I washed about 360 diapers, which would have cost about $54 dollars. That's a savings of $47 dollars every month... so my diapers will pay for themselves in about 4 months... AWESOME!

5-) I only have to take the trash out of Jeremiah's room about once a month. When we were using disposables it had to be emptied at least once a week. (that means we are saving money on trash bags too!)

6-) I can choose how absorbent I want his diapers to be. Just add a prefold or a doubler and I don't have to worry about leaks when he sleeps 11 hours at night.

7-) I love how the sun takes the stains out. Its been 3 months and we still have white diapers.

8-) I like feeling a bit "old fashioned." Or maybe it's just that I don't like following the crowd. how many mom's do you know that grind wheat, bake bread and use cloth diapers?

9-) His pants fit better. Jeremiah has a really long body, but short legs and a little bum, so his pants look huge when he wears disposables, and sometimes they fall down.

10-) I was trying to think of ten reasons, and I'm sure there is one more somewhere in my brain... but for now 9 will have to do!

Coming soon is a "how to" post for cloth diapers, and which ones are my favorites!

Jeremiah Daniel Matthews

                With just less than three weeks left of pregnancy I had a lot to do.  Friday, July 6^th, Daniel went on a hike with my dad and brothers to the top of Ben Lomond Peak.  I spent the day with my mom and Chris.  We ate lunch at Javier’s and spent the afternoon walking around Ikea, which is probably me favorite store.  The boys returned home really late, around 10:30 pm.  Daniel was exhausted from spending all day on the mountain, in the sun, and he had to work early in the morning. I went to bed with a to-do list in my head for Saturday.  My mom was throwing me a baby shower Saturday evening and I planned on picking up my nursing garments, a package of newborn diapers, and pad for the changing table before going over to help her set up for the shower.

                I was having trouble getting to sleep in our hot bedroom, regardless of the three fans we had going.  Suddenly I felt a trickling and thought I had peed my pants.  I laid there stunned for a few minutes and decided I better go check and change my underwear.  I got to the bathroom, noting there was still liquid running down my legs. I sat there for a good 15 minutes thinking, “This can’t be my water breaking. I haven’t even felt any contractions! The baby shower is tomorrow. Is this really happening?!”

                Once I realized it was real I decided I better wake my exhausted husband. It was about 12:30 in the morning. I shook him awake and told him I thought my water broke. “What do you need me to do? I’m calling your mom.” He said. She didn’t answer when he called, so I tried calling. She told me to call the doctor, who told me to go up to the hospital, and call her back.  My doctor also told me she was on vacation, but was in town till morning. I couldn’t stop laughing on the way to hospital. This wasn’t really happening; I still had three weeks to go…

                By the time we got to the hospital and all settled our room it was about 1:30 in the morning and I still hadn’t felt any contractions. The nurse hooked me up and said, “You are having a contraction, can you feel it?” It barely felt like a tense muscle. I was dilated to a 3 and they decided to give me pitocin to help labor progress.   By the time they got back with the medicine (about 2:30) the contractions were strong enough I wanted my epidural.

                It took about an hour for the epidural to work on both sides, at first only my right side was numb.  I thought it was pretty cool that I could hear on the monitor when a contraction was starting and not feel anything! About 4 o’clock when I was finally all numb the nurse checked and I was now dilated to a 5. Thinking I had a ways to go I decided to take a nap. About 20 minutes later I was about to call the nurse because I stopped hearing the baby’s heartbeat on the monitor. I heard running footsteps and the nurse burst into my room.  She tried moving the monitor to find the baby and then started to check. Her next words were, “We have a head, don’t move, don’t do anything, I’m going to call the doctor.”

                Since I was numb the nurse had to tell me when to push. Two contractions and 5 pushes later little Jeremiah was here to greet us. The placed him on my belly while Daniel cut the cord. I couldn’t believe it! This little baby I had been waiting just over eight months for was here, and he was so beautiful!

                At 4:39 am on July 7, 2012, we welcomed Jeremiah Daniel Matthews to our family. Weighing just 6 pounds and 3 ounces and 18 inches long, he was to most beautiful thing I had ever seen. We are so blessed to have this little guy in our lives.

 

Our Colorado Hideout

As soon as school was out for the summer we took a trip to our land in Fort Garland, Colorado. Ever since we purchased the land about a year ago, Daniel has been making and revising plans for building a cabin for our retreat.

This is what our land looked like when we arrived to start build our get away place. Our land is almost completely covered in sage brush, so Daniel had to do some land clearing before he could begin building.

My job consisted of lounging around camp

reading the infamous Hunger Games series waiting for Daniel to tell me he needed help, which wasn't very often. That's me and my 30 week pregnant belly holding a wall while he put braces on to support it. Bellow is me chopping up veggies for our chicken kabobs. Daniel was very accommodating to his pregnant wife, always making sure I was comfortable, in the shade, drinking water, and that I had plenty of snacks :-)

Almost there! This is close to the end of the first day of building. Just one more wall to put up!

Here is Daniel working on the roof. 

While he was busy on top of cabin I started painting as high as I could reach.

And here is the almost finished product! Next time we go out we need to finish up the roof, but we were able to sleep in it our last night in Colorado.

This is our awesome fire pit that Daniel constructed from tire rims. The grill wasn't cooking very fast so we ended up dumping our kabobs into a frying pan and having stir fry instead.

Can't wait to go back out and finish up our Hide Out!