7 weeks

Anna is practicing her cheers for the Super Bowl

As I mentioned before, this has been an unusual week. Monday night and Tuesday brought ice and snow to Abilene. Four inches of snow! By Tuesday afternoon, we had some lovely icicles on our house. According to Debbie (see below), we win for the best icicles!


Yesterday, Debbie of Pure Photography came to our house to take pictures. You might remember that Debbie took pictures of Emily at 6 weeks and at 1 year. I just love her pictures! Debbie was such a good sport and let Emily "tate pitures" with "Mommy's tamra."


Emily also snapped a few shots of Anna. This one was pretty good!


After lunch, Anna fell asleep hard enough for me to get a few pictures for her birth announcement. Here are a few of my favorites. One made it to the announcement. I'll let you figure out which one!

Snow days!

As most of you know, we've had a few snow days this week...this is #3. Thankfully, Pearlie came over yesterday and today to help keep the sanity in our house. Emily is just so much better behaved when someone else is around! Plus, I was able to do 5 loads of laundry and 1 load of diapers yesterday...very difficult to keep up with if I'm distracted with my own stuff!

Tuesday, I let Emily go out for a few minutes. I couldn't play with her very well because I had Anna strapped to me (inside my coat), but she didn't want to stay out very long anyway. Good thing we had the snow suit! Made going out much easier.


Anna had her own warm outfit too! Unfortunately, it's a 6-12 month size so it really swallowed her. Her feet didn't even come to the leg holes!


Just a couple cute pictures.

(So glad we had this sleep sack. It kept Anna warm Tuesday night when we lost power for 4 hours and had no heat. Plus, it's so cute!)

That afternoon we made Brown Sugar Cookies. Phillip said they're one of my best so far. They were pretty good, if I say so myself.

Yesterday, Pearlie came over and we made banana bread in the morning and not a whole lot else for the rest of the day.

This morning, so far, we've managed to not really accomplish anything, other than 1 load of laundry. Emily did show off her new hairstyle to Aunt Jenni on Google chat, but that's about it. Emily had her first ponytail last week, but Pearlie didn't get to see it because she was sick. So, I decided to do it again today and take better pictures so Aunt Jenni could see it too.


Yea! Now, if we can make it through tomorrow, we'll be good. Unfortunately, like the thousands of other people in Abilene, we'll have to go to the grocery store before the Super Bowl!

6 weeks

This week has been fairly "normal" for us. We had MOPS on Monday and I'm getting used to being the last one to leave because of needing to take care of Anna before we leave.

Recently, Emily has liked to take off her clothes. She generally won't put her pants back on after her nap and I'm okay with that. The other day, she and Papa came in and this is what she looked like.



Wednesday, after Pearlie had suggested it on Tuesday, I put Emily's hair in a ponytail for the first time. She looked so different! I didn't get a shot of her facing forward, but you can see how grown up she looks from the side!



Finally, Anna turned 6 weeks today. She still eats and sleeps well and is starting to follow things with her eyes. Her neck is getting so strong and soon we'll be able to pull the Bumbo out!

5 weeks

Anna's fifth week was fairly uneventful, but it was not our typical week. Monday, we met Phillip's parents and grandparents at Bogie's for lunch. While there, we saw some friends from Coleman who had the day off and decided to come eat lunch. So good to see the Paynes and the Paynes!

Thursday is our normal shopping day, but it was terribly cold (in the 30s all day) so we stayed in and played. Friday, however, we went to HEB and Emily insisted that we go to Bogie's for lunch, like we usually do after grocery shopping. The Virginia City was very tasty!

Also on Thursday, Anna took a nap on her back for the first time. She had a hard time going to sleep, but eventually did and slept for a while. It seems that her reflux is much better, as she doesn't spit up every time I feed her or every time I lay her down. Yea!

Another first on Thursday was Anna's first bottle. We wanted to get her used to the idea of milk from a bottle. Since I had some in the freezer, it was convenient. Phillip fed it to her and, while it came out much faster than she's used to, she did okay. She took about an ounce from the bottle. So, we'll keep trying that on occasion when it's convenient, just so we have that option.

Yesterday, Anna went clothes shopping with me and my mom while Emily went shopping with Papa and Grandpa. It was a long day, but nice to be out and about.

That's about it for now. We get back into a routine of MOPS this week. Yea! I've missed the girls at my table!

Sunday afternoon

Random Thoughts

A couple weeks ago we started using cloth diapers. I'm seeing this in the house a lot! I use the dryer a little, but mostly I just let them line dry. I love using the sun as a bleach to get out poop stains so some go outside for that. Mostly, though, with this cooler weather, I'm letting them dry inside.


I waited until her cord fell off and have been using them ever since...even when we're out. They're just as easy as disposable, though they do take up more room in the diaper bag. But, it's so nice not to have to pay for diapers every time we go to the store!


Each month, I'll take a picture to put in the frame we bought from Time Frames. I got Emily's at a consignment sale and, wow, it was a lot cheaper! But, we wanted to continue that for Anna, so we spent the money. This wasn't this month's winning picture, but I wanted to share it anyway because it was just too cute!



Once again, I've been reminded how much Emily and Anna look alike. Any guesses on who's who?

1 month

One month old. Anna is one month old. Wow, where has the time gone? Seems like she's been here forever, and yet not long at all. In this short one month, she has gained 2 lb 13 oz (yes, she's 9 lb now!) and 1". So, as much as she spits up, she's keeping something down! That seems to be better today, though. I even put her down for a nap on her back today and she didn't spit up. She didn't sleep well, but she didn't spit up!

4 weeks

Anna always has a question!

Has it really been 4 weeks? It's hard to believe how much our lives have changed and yet not changed. Anna continues to grow as we manage her reflux. Yes, it's still there, but I don't notice it too much most of the time because we never lay her flat on her back. She probably has a couple "episodes" a day where her spit up seems painful to her. Other than that, it's not too bad.

She doesn't always nap well in her pack n play, but will nap really well in my arms! We're working on that.

She starting to hold her head up really well and is starting to follow us with her eyes. She can also stand a little if you're really holding on to her. It's so neat to relive all these moments!

Emily & Papa sharing a tea party with her new tea set, courtesy of Laurie (Thanks, Laurie...she loves it!)

I know this picture looks similar to the first one, but I just had to include it to show you the shoes she's wearing. They're just a couple inches long and so cute. They're made for 0-6 weeks. Yes, weeks!! She's wearing them to church until they don't fit!

3 weeks

Anna is 3 weeks old today. It has gone by so quickly! So many people have asked if Anna & Emily look alike. I wanted to show you just how much they do!

Emily

Anna

Just a fun picture I wanted to share with you. The dress was Emily's, but the leggings are all Anna's!

2 Weeks

My first official post about Anna...

Today, she had her 2 week check up. She weighed 7 lb 6 oz and was 20.5" long. (Birth weight was 6 lb 3 oz and length was 19".) I think they measured her length differently from the hospital because I really don't think she grew 1.5" in 2 weeks. Oh well. As long as the doctor's office is consistent from now on, we'll be okay.

I asked about her reflux and it's not bad enough to do anything special about. Just keep doing what we're doing...keep her elevated after eating, limit how much she eats...and she should outgrow it in a few months, hopefully.

Another good thing, she's caught up with the rest of the world and is now cordless! Yea! Now we can start real baths and cloth diapers. I hope our diapers fit her!


Chillin' on the couch with Mommy & Papa. Until now, we've been a little hesitant to put her in the bouncy seat, as she spit up when we put her in it the first time. But, I've used it today (after letting her stomach settle for a little bit) and she's been just fine. Yea! I don't have to wear her all the time (though I think I still will a lot because it will keep Emily's hands off her!).

Anna Pearl Ratliff

We've been busy settling in, but wanted to share a couple pictures. Anna Pearl was born on December19, 2010 at 8:40pm. She weighed 6 lb 3 oz and was 19" long. We're all doing good and are learning to deal with Anna's reflux. Hopefully we can resolve that in short order.


Have a merry Christmas. I'm sure we'll be back after the holidays!

Updated Prayer Request

A couple days ago, I requested prayers that the baby would come before the 26th. Well, after our doctor visit today, the baby will definitely be here by the 20th! If it hasn't come before then, we'll go in for an induction at 5am on December 20 and have a baby sometime that day. Yea!!!

Prayer Request

As many of you know, my due date is December 21. While we certainly don't want to have to induce labor, timing is an issue for us. My doctor is out of town until Wednesday, so we don't really want the baby to come before that. However, if the baby hasn't come before Christmas, we have another issue. Phillip's main helper at work will not be there the week after Christmas, so Phillip will not be able to take off work. If we had to schedule an induction for the week after Christmas, we'd have to close Bogie's for a day.

So, all that to say, we really want this baby to come before Christmas. If you could say a prayer about that, we'd really appreciate it.

On another note, if you want to help send a Christmas book to a very sick little boy, please go here. You could win a copy too!

Christmas Traditions

Today was a fun day of Christmas traditions for our little family. Last year, we began the tradition of making Christmas cookies. While I won't say that it was a failure, last year was not especially fun. So, we took cues from last year and did things a little differently this year. Isn't that the point of traditions? You make them better each year?

Yesterday, I made the cookie dough (it has to refrigerate for at least 2 hours anyway so overnight wasn't a problem) and the icing...a tried and true recipe, unlike last year where I tried a new recipe.

This morning, Emily and I rolled out the cookie dough and she helped decide which cookie cutter I should use each time. (We only gave her 4 choices so it wasn't too hard! And, Phillip was videoing the whole thing so that's why he wasn't helping here. I'd put it on here, but it's almost 20 minutes and no one wants to watch that!) Baked the cookies and waited for them to cool. Then, Phillip and I iced the cookies while Emily shook sugars on them. She had a ball and, I must say, the cookies turned out pretty good.


We went out for lunch, courtesy of Phillip's grandparents. They often slip him some cash when they see him and this week was no exception. :-)

Supper was a December traditional meal...sausage balls and poached eggs (with runny yolks!). We only get it in December because we only make sausage balls for our Christmas party. And, it's so yummy!!

After supper, we drove through Christmas Lane and Emily oohed and aahed over the lights then wanted more. So, we wound through some neighborhoods on our way home to look at more lights.

It was really an enjoyable day and it could be the last Saturday we have as a family of three. I just hope that next year is as enjoyable, with a three and a half year old and a one year old. It will certainly be different, but probably no less enjoyable.

Meal Plan Monday

With baby coming soon, I'm starting to either double or not half recipes in order to have some meals already in the freezer. Yes, I know people will probably bring food, but if I'm cooking now anyway, why not stock the freezer at the same time?

Thursday-eat out...no real reason, just a treat for all of us
Friday-I have a Christmas party to go to, Emily will be at my parents' house and Phillip will be enjoying some much-needed and deserved alone time. I have a feeling pizza will be involved. :-)
Monday-Chicken Spaghetti, green beans, garlic bread
Tuesday-Tater Tot Casserole, broccoli, rolls
Wednesday-spaghetti

On another note, I mentioned here that our adventure in potty training was beginning. I am proud to say that Emily is in big girl panties all the time and hasn't had an accident in a week! She's even gotten to the point where she'll go in the bathroom by herself and close the door and not let us in until she's finished! Such a big girl!!

The adventure begins tonight!

(Emily's sitting on her new potty, in case you couldn't see that part.)

Pizza in a Bowl

I had a request for this recipe, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it instead of waiting until next week. It was really good and the 6 serving recipe made enough to freeze one for later!

Pizza in a Bowl

6 servings (4 servings)

2 C dried rotini (1 1/2 C)
3.5 oz thinly sliced pepperoni (1.75 oz)
1 lb ground beef (12 oz)
1/3 C finely chopped onion (1/4 C)
15 oz pizza sauce* (8 oz)
8 oz tomato sauce (4 oz)
6 oz tomato paste (3 oz)
1/2 t sugar (1/4 t)
1/4 t garlic salt or onion salt (1/8 t)
1/8 t black pepper (dash)
2 C (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese (1 1/2 C-6 oz)
2 T grated Parmesan cheese (1 T)

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt; drain well. Cut half of the pepperoni slices into quarters; set aside.

In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender; drain off fat. Pour into cooked rotini pot and add pizza sauce, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, garlic salt, pepper, and quartered pepperoni slices.

Spoon half of the rotini mixture into a greased 2 qt casserole (9x13 would also work); sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Top with Parmesan cheese and remaining pepperoni slices. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

For four servings, use a 1 1/2 quart casserole.

*I made my own pizza sauce using 2 8oz cans of tomato sauce, 2 t Italian seasoning and 1 t Worchestershire sauce.

Enjoy!!

Meal Plan Monday

No real reasoning behind this week's plan. I guess, just trying to use what we have instead of spending money. I'd say it's a pretty good plan for just using up stuff!

Thursday: blueberry and sour cream pancakes (They were so good the first time around, I really wanted them again. I'm sharing the recipe below in case you'd like to try them! I left out the nutmeg because we just don't like that and they still taste great.)
Friday: date night!!!
Monday: chicken & dumplings, some kind of veggie
Tuesday: pizza in a bowl, some kind of veggie
Wednesday: spaghetti, garlic bread


Blueberry-Sour Cream Pancakes
Kathy Grashoff, Gooseberry Patch: Made from Scratch

1 1/3 C all purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 T brown sugar
1/2 t nutmeg
1 T cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1 C sour cream
1 C milk
1 C blueberries (I used frozen and dredged them)

Stir flour, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon together thoroughly. In a separate bowl, combine egg, sour cream and milk; add to the dry ingredients, stirring just enough to moisten. Carefully add blueberries, stirring gently to mix. Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot greased griddle. Cook until the surface is covered with bubbles; flip and cook until done. Makes 12-14 pancakes.

Meal Plan Monday

No real reasoning behind this week's plan. I guess, just trying to use what we have instead of spending money. I'd say it's a pretty good plan for just using up stuff!

Thursday and Friday: I was in Dallas so Phillip and Emily were on their own
Monday: chicken nuggets, tater tots, french fries, peaches, broccoli (maybe strawberry pineapple salad instead of the peaches)
Tuesday: steak, Delmonico Potatoes, strawberry pineapple salad, chocolate peanut butter pie
Wednesday: Italian Crescent Casserole, some vegetable to be decided later

Birthday wishes

It's so nice to be loved! This morning, I opened my email and found the following companies wishing me a happy birthday. (Okay, so I signed up for their emails and told them when to send me coupons for freebies, but still!)

Cold Stone Creamery
(free Like It creation)

Jason's Deli
($5 off--probably won't be using this one...I might get shot by my husband!)

Red Robin
(free Gourmet Burger)

IHOP
(free Rooty Tooty Fresh & Fruity)

Fazoli's
(free dessert)

Taco Bueno
(free cheesecake chimichangas--one of my favorites!)

Looks like we'll be eating out some in the next couple weeks!

Meal Plan Monday

This is a week of using up. We don't have much grocery money left so I'm trying to maximize the use of the stuff we already have. In fact, we didn't even go grocery shopping last Thursday like we usually do!

Thursday: breakfast supper leftovers from the past few weeks
Friday: salmon, corn casserole, broccoli
Monday: broccoli, rice, chicken & cheese casserole, pears
Tuesday: bierox
Wednesday: spaghetti

Pumpkin Patch

Whew...we made it to the Pumpkin Patch on the last day! I wasn't sure it was going to happen. Next year we'll have to plan a little better! Didn't get great pictures because getting a two-year-old to sit and pose is quite difficult. But, we did get a few good ones so I thought I'd share them here for all of you. Enjoy!

Meal Plan Monday

I realize that the blog has become little more than a post a week about what we're eating. Right now, it's just not a high priority and I'm trying to maximize my use of naptime for settling the house and other things I feel NEED to be done. However, in the next week or so, I should have some pictures from the Pumpkin Patch. For now, you can enjoy one of the six shots Emily let me take today at our MOPS playdate. Needless to say, we'll be going back!



Thursday: blueberry sour cream pancakes
Friday: southern "fried" fish, cauliflower, green beans, purple juice salad
Monday: chicken pot pie, garlic parmesan bread, salad of some kind, peanut butter swirl bars
Tuesday: club steak (from the 1/4 cow we bought from Jenni's company), new potatoes & gravy, broccoli
Wednesday: spaghetti

Mommy's Little Helper

Today has been a day of Mommy's Little Helper. My aunt is coming to town tomorrow and something spurred me on to clean up the house a bit more than usual and actually bake a dessert! (Could have something to do with the fact that I'm now 7 months pregnant!!)

This morning, we baked Peanut Butter Swirl Bars. I wanted to make something Emily could help with, but that didn't require me to do a lot of "Mommy has to do this part." This allowed us to work together to make the batter, then just pour it into a pan. I'll let you know how they turn out!


Then, it was time to dry mop the floors. First, let me just say, I really dislike hardwood floors. Some people think they are much cleaner. But, that's only true if you spend time every day dusting them and frequently mop them, neither of which I do! So, once in a while, we dry mop the floors. We've done it before and it hasn't been exceptionally fun for me because Emily wants to help. This time, I had the brilliant remembrance that I had both a large floor duster and a Swiffer. I used the large floor duster and let Emily use the Swiffer. Brilliant! She could do her thing while I actually got the floors clean!

Before Emily napped, I mopped her room. Only as I was starting did I remember that the floor needed to dry before she could actually take a nap in there. So, we went and mopped the playroom. Then, it was naptime.

Now that I've mopped the whole house (first time since we moved in), I'm thinking it won't happen again anytime soon. It is a lot of work and, while I love the smell of Murphy's Oil Soap, I don't love it enough to do it as often as I should!

Meal Plan Monday

Nothing special this week. Just trying to use up Angel Food before we get our part of the 1/4 cow we bought from Jenni's company. Woohoo!

Thursday: pancakes
Friday: leftovers
Monday: sweet & sour chicken, rice
Tuesday: hamburgers, chips, fruit
Wednesday: spaghetti

Goals Update

Back here, I talked about my goals for the year. I took a break from tracking them this summer due to moving and settling. While I'm not going to track the percentages anymore, I thought I'd let you know how I feel I'm doing on them.

Do my household cleaning chores each week, 80% of the year: yes, probably so

Follow my to do list each week, 80% of the year: yes, probably so

Exercise (walk or Wii Fit Plus) 4 days a week, 80% of the year: absolutely...if I don't walk in the mornings, my back really starts to hurt in the evenings

Meal plan each week, 80% of the year: yes, I am finally doing this again!

Be under budget on groceries (food and household items) every month: this is a toughie! with moving and settling, we haven't been under budget, but I hope to start this one again in October.

Thanks Lane & Lila!

Thanks to Lane & Lila for these adorable "Watch Me Grow" snapsuits. I can't wait to start taking our month pictures with them!

You can check them out here and here.

Meal Plan Monday

(I seem to remember having issues posting this so that's why it's late. So sorry. I know all 2 of you look forward to it!)

This month, for the first time in about a year, we participated in Angel Food. If you haven't heard of it, you should try it! Each month, you can order a box of food that costs roughly half of its value. (I did the math one time and it really is that!) It's open to anyone. There are no income requirements. Since we started participating 3-4 years ago, the program has gotten so much better. You now have more variety in what box you choose and there are far fewer fried foods than there used to be. I'm thankful for that. We got the $41 box this month so I'm hoping to spend far less on groceries because we've already got a month's worth of food! (They say that the box can feed a family of 4 for a week. I'd say, you have to eat a LOT at each meal for even a family of 4 to eat it all in one week!)

Go check it out. I'd love to hear from you if you try it! Here's what we'll be having this week.

Thursday: Biscuits and Gravy
Friday: grilled pork chops, broccoli, spaghetti squash w/ garlic butter
Monday: sweet & sour chicken, rice
Tuesday: Pot roast with veggies (casserole from Angel Food), cornbread
Wednesday: spaghetti