Stockings

My new project is making stockings so that we all have matching stockings (as well as future kids). So, opinion time...I'm trying decide if I should put just the first letter of our names on the stockings or figure out a way to write the full names across the top of the stockings. Thoughts?

Cooking

Kathryn has been really into "helping" me cook this last week. Every time I go into the kitchen, she drags a chair across to the counter saying, "I want to see" (well, it's more like "Ah seeee"). Then she pulls all of the measuring spoons out and "cooks" with me. I try not to think about kitchen sanitation as I put all the spoons she's sucked on back in the drawer. :) She's also been very into wearing an apron, which is so funny. I think I'm going to make her one for Christmas.

These are actually some of my sweetest times as a mother. I hope that Kathryn always wants to cook alongside me...I love having a daughter and hope the future brings lots of time in the kitchen together. What sweet times these are.

Playing

Well, I'm a little sad to see the beautiful weather turn into being quite cold outside (I know, it's not THAT cold compared with a lot of other places, but I've quickly become used to Southern climate.) We enjoyed a few days outside last week while the leaves were still pretty on the ground. And now more of our time has been spent inside, like trying out the new Elmo coloring book I got Kathryn at Dollar Tree. That is a great place to go for "art" stuff for 2 year olds, by the way. I love how concentrated Kathryn looks in this picture...I think she gets that furrowed brow from her mother. :)

6 Month Picture

Getting quite the pooch!

New Recipe

I like to try new recipes every now and then, and it seems like a lot of the ones I've tried recently have not gone over super well. But I think I found one that's a keeper. We had it for dinner 2 nights ago, and it was delicious! Healthy, too, which is always a plus. AND most of the ingredients (with the exception of the multigrain pasta) can be found at Aldi, even a bigger bonus!

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

1 1/2 c. multigrain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz) fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (I used two small chicken breasts to save meat)
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 jar (14 1/2 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. Neufchatel Cheese, cubed (could also use cream cheese)
1 c. (I used a little more) part skim Mozzarella cheese
2 T. parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375.
Cook pasta, adding spinach to boiling water for last 1 minute.
Cook and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 3 min.
Add sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil
Simmer 3 min. or until chicken is done.
Stir in Neufchatel cheese
Drain pasta mixture; return to pan.
Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 c. mozzarella (I used 1 c. for this), spoon into 2-qt. baking dish
Bake 20 min. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 minutes.

Pregnancy Update

It's hard for me to believe that this week I'll be 6 months into this pregnancy! Did I say it's flying by? I'll wait til the end of the week to take a belly picture, but thought I would write a blurb about it first. Physically I've been feeling great, for which I'm very grateful. I think I'm nearing the end of running days for a while, but meeting Jeanie 3 days a week has been very motivating to get some exercise. I consider the second trimester the "glory days" of pregnancy for me, when I am not tired or too uncomfortable. So I've been enjoying this nice little window. :) Kathryn is kind of getting the idea of a baby in my stomach...we talk about it almost every day, although I'm sure she has no idea of how much her life will change in a few months!

As far as anxiety about the baby or about the transition to 2 kids, I feel like there's been much grace from the Lord on this front. I remember with Kathryn worrying a lot about whether she was going to be healthy or not, and I thankfully haven't found my thoughts going down that path very often. More and more, I'm just getting really excited to meet this little peanut inside of me, and although I know life will dramatically change, I have a feeling that it may be an easier transition for us than going from 0 to 1. I may be totally wrong about that, but it's been nice just trusting that God will give us wisdom and strength to handle adjustments as our family grows. We go in for an ultrasound tomorrow, and as of now we're not going to find out the sex. I'm actually kind of excited about waiting until March to know (sorry, I know it drives everyone ELSE crazy.) But we may have finally picked out our names, which is fun. And those will have to wait until Spring as well. :)

Baa Moo Farm

Our "playgroup" took a fieldtrip to Baa Moo Farm, a cute farm with lots of animals about an hour away. This outing led to an interesting outlook on how I handle such little trips. First of all, it probably wasn't wise of me to plan a long morning out on a day that I teach in the afternoon. Secondly, I already know that Kathryn doesn't really like getting close to animals, so I shouldn't have expected a farm to thrill her. And thirdly, I learned that I need to prepare myself on these outings to be armed with extra patience and understanding (and snacks for K!), as I am uniquely tempted to impatience in big outings like these. I'm still glad we went, and every morning since then, Kathryn has "talked" about the animals we saw (partly from my prompting). The one thing that cracks me up is when she's talking about the sheep, she'll say "BAAAA!" and then pretend like she's chewing, since the sheep we saw were eating. I continue to be amazed at the little things one-year-olds notice and can communicate in their own way.

CJ, Avery, Alathea, Savannah, Kathryn, Andrew, Wesley

Looking for an egg in the henhouse

"I'll just look at it from back here, okay?"

Fun with Hayden

Last weekend I went to Wheaton with Kathryn, partly to visit my family and partly to play at Credo's 10th year reunion. For those of you who don't know, Credo is a Christian chamber music program that my former viola teacher started. I loved having the chance to play so much on Saturday, although my arms were quite tired at the end of the day. My viola chops aren't as in shape as they used to be! I enjoyed a nice visit with my parents, although the house felt very empty with just Kathryn and me staying there...I'm used to a lot of activity when everyone is around for Christmas. Kathryn and her cousin Hayden kept each other company on Friday and Monday. Here are a few shots of the cousins at play. They are only 3 months apart.

"Giddiup, Horsey!"

My mom and I took the kids to the shoe store, then on to the park. It's fun that the kids are old enough to really play together.

"Promise you won't tell anyone!"