Homemade

Last night for dinner we made some pasta, chicken and a salad. I made my first loaf of bread from scratch without using my bread maker. It actually came out really good and we got two loafs from the recipe which is nice. I used a recipe in an English cookbook I have. The bread is Oatmeal Bread and it has a slight sweetness to it, with very full flavors. I have to admit I'm pretty proud of it. Also, a few nights ago I made latkes from scratch for the first time. They tasted delicious but I didn't take a picture since they weren't the prettiest things I've made.

Oatmeal Bread

Our Complete Meal

Christmas Cards

So, I've been working on writing out our Christmas cards this year. I'm just sending out some store-bought cards I got last year after Christmas for a really good deal. We're writing a little note in each one, and also sending a picture of us from B and K's wedding. Jack is such a cutie patootie!!

Merry Christmas from Our Family!

Errands

Today I got an email from the library that the book I had sent over from another branch was in. Jack and I went and picked it up, then headed over to Kohl's to get some goodies. What book? (you may ask) The book is none other than Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth.
I've heard, and read rave reviews about this book and let me tell you, I'm willing to try anything at this point. I love my boy, but he's 5 months old now, and I'm ready to sleep through the night. I must admit, he's gotten a bit better the last week or so. He's been sleeping about 6 hours between feedings, but unfortunately still wakes up every couple hours for his pacifier. If he didn't sleep in our room I would probably just let him fall back asleep without it, but Tom has to work early in the morning and if Jack's screaming it will keep him up. I'm looking forward to hear what the Dr suggests, and not only want good sleep for me, but also the babe. I will write a review after I finish reading it and put some of his suggestions into place.

Today is my youngest brother's birthday!! He's 17 today and unfortunately lives in AZ with my Mom and stepdad so I can't celebrate in person with him. Happy birthday Alex!! Also, Jack is doing much better today. He isn't as congested and isn't having as difficult a time breathing while nursing.

Today when Tom came home from his lunch break I had him help me take Jack's 5 month picture on our front porch. Jack was actually 5 months last Thursday but with Thanksgiving and the wedding, we didn't get a chance to take a picture. Since I've done this every month, but just started this blog I'll post all the monthly pictures here so you can see his growth. Enjoy my cute boy! :)

One Month Old

Two Months Old
Three Months Old

Four Months Old

Five Months Old

Sick baby

Today I woke up to a congested little boy struggling to breathe through his nose. :( He's been such a snuggle bug all day which has been nice for me, but I feel so bad for him. He's actually in a surprisingly good mood considering even on days when he's not sick, he's pretty restless. Today we took it easy and stayed home all day in our jammies. When Tom got home from work I went to the store to get some meds for Jack, but everything is for kids 4 years and older. Dimetapp, which I know we took when we were kids, said to not give to children under 6 years of age! I ended up not getting anything, so I'm hoping lots of sleep and the humidifier heal him tonight.

So much going on!

This past week was crazy for us! It began with Jack and I heading downtown to the LA flower mart to pick up the flowers for Brandon's and Kari's wedding on Wednesday morning. Jack was so good and didn't fuss at all. I think he actually enjoyed it, he had so much to look at down there. I made the bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres and the flower girl's kissing ball for the wedding, so I started working on those as soon as we got home from Los Angeles. My grandparents came into town Wednesday evening and I made my easy carnitas tacos for them, which they loved (recipe to follow).

Thursday morning my grandparents came over again and helped me make the boutonnieres, (which I had 10 to make) while I finished the bridesmaids bouquets(6) as well as the toss bouquet, corsages(4) and the kissing ball. I threw together the green bean casserole that I was bringing and he headed out to our first Thanksgiving feast. There were about 50 people there from our family, Kari's family and her sister's in laws. Kari's older sister Karla and her hubby Vince hosted it and did an amazing job. Everything came together well and everyone enjoyed each others company.

The Matron of Honor's Bouquet

Our huge Family

Our Little Family

Chatting with Each Other

Next we headed off to Tom's family's Thanksgiving. It was a nice surprise that his Uncle and cousin from northern California made it down since we weren't expecting them. We ate massive amounts of food and ended the evening chatting while the boys went outside and smoked their pipes. We got home around 11:30 and I got straight back to work on the flowers. I finished wrapping the bouquets in the ribbon, which takes so much longer than people realize. Then, I made the groom's boutonniere and the bride's bouquet. Everything came out just the way I had hoped it would. We went to bed at 3 and got as much sleep as we could before the big day.

Jack and his cousin Joey

Tom and Jack with Uncle Lance and Evan

Friday morning we got up and ready to be at my Dad's house for the girl's pictures. Kari loved the bouquets and so did the bridesmaids. After the girls finished their pictures, we all headed over to the church. The ceremony was gorgeous and of course I cried. It's my baby brother getting married, so it's understandable right? The couple looked stunning as always. The reception was at my Dad's house and we had cake and champagne with everyone and later in the evening dinner with the family. They had a table of cupcakes as their cake and while I was in the bedroom nursing Jack, somebody (I won't say who) knocked over the table with the cake on it and they all went crashing to the floor. Brandon and Kari took it with grace though and laughed it off. My stepdad saved the day and went to Vons and got them a couple cakes so they could at least have their wedding cake tradition.

The Gorgeous Couple Relaxing at the Reception

The Siblings

My Beautiful Sisters! ...Note their bouquets :)

Kari and Savannah

Me with my Mom and Jack

The Ladies

They're SO Excited!! :)

Saturday my family all came over here and we had the whole day to hang out and visit with them. It was really nice to not have any plans and just enjoy the day and the time together. Sadly, my out of town family had to leave Sunday morning so after we had breakfast with them at their hotel we said our goodbyes.

Carnitas Recipe:
Pork shoulder (last time I got 3 lbs)
Jar of green salsa (whatever spicyness level you prefer)
6 cloves of garlic
water
1. Put pork shoulder in crock pot
2. Empty jar of salsa over meat
3. Place whole, peeled cloves of garlic on meat
4. Cover with water
5. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 6-8 hours
6. Take out meat and shred to remove fat
7. Serve with tortillas, guacamole, salsa, chips and whatever toppings you prefer
ENJOY!!

Hike at Mishe Mokwa Trail

We went on a hike over the weekend on the Mishe Mokwa trail, near Malibu. It was so beautiful and definitely worth the drive up the windy canyon (which made me sick). We hiked to Split Rock and back so it was about 4 miles roundtrip. Jack got really tired and couldn't fall asleep in the backpack, so Tom ended up carrying him so he could snuggle and sleep.

Jack looking out at the view on the way back

Tom and Jack

Balancing Rock

Some Pretty Flowers

Some sort of Fungus

Moss on a rock

A Gorgeous View

UPDATE: My step-dad is back at home and has an appt with a cardiologist on Wednesday. They still don't know what happened to him.

911

My step-dad is in the hospital right now. While working yesterday morning he started vomiting and his arm went numb and had chest pains. He called 911 himself and the paramedics came and took him to a large hospital that has a good cardiac unit. They've done 3 blood tests and so far he doesn't have the enzyme showing up in his blood that would signify it was a heart attack. Right now we're just praying the doctors figure out what happened. It's also possible he has a viral infection in his heart. Which although sounds terribly scary to me I guess would be better than a heart attack. He's feeling like maybe he shouldn't have even called 911 because he's alive and doing seemingly well now, we're just happy he's in good hands and whatever happened can be prevented in the future.

I didn't get along with my step-dad at all when I was a kid. It wouldn't have mattered if he was the King of England, no one was good enough for my mom in my eyes. The Father's Day before I got married I was no longer living at home and I felt like I should thank him for being a second dad to me since I was ten. It was with that card that our relationship began to change. He looked at me as an adult, rather than a snotty little

kid, and I saw a man that gave up his bachelor life at a pretty young age, to be a husband and dad of 4 kids. We have respect for each other now. I am so happy that he was able to call 911 yesterday and that the doctors are trying to figure out what happened. I would hate for something to happen to him just 7 years after I finally started to give him a chance. :)

My very young family 16 years ago at my Mom and Step-Dad's wedding.

Morro Bay

A few weekends ago Tom took us to Morro Bay for my birthday. It was such a relaxing trip and it was so nice spending uninterrupted time as a family. We bought a beautiful succulent to add to our collection. Here are a few pictures.

Our succulents at home

New succulents

The new one from Morro Bay

Iceplant

Montana De Oro

Foggy Day

Jack with Daddy

Rainbow

What makes our life succulent?

In one word... family. My husband Tom and I have been blessed with an abundance of riches. Not necessarily monetarily, but a life that is full in every since of the word. We both come from large families that are very much a part of our daily lives. We've been married for 7 years and God made us parents to our son Jack almost 5 months ago. Up until then we thought we knew what self-sacrificing love was. We experienced it from our parents, and had been taught our whole lives in church that it was the type of love that God has for us, which is why he sent us Jesus. I'll be honest, I thought I had it down, then June 25 rolled around and I gave birth to a little boy that changed my life drastically. Our life is richer now because of this little guy. He is a wild child and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am a stay at home mom and although I'm happy to care for Jack all day, I needed some sort of outlet. This blog is that outlet for me at this point in life. As this blog progresses I hope to share what is important to me as well as things that I'm interested in. You'll find that I'm a woman of many interests, but haven't perfected any of them yet. So let's carry on with this life of succulence and continue to enjoy all that it hands us.