Neighborhood Races

Every morning about 6:00 or 6:30 am, Briggs and I head out after his breakfast with the jogging stroller. Here is a picture of the company out there with us on the walking course (sidewalks of our neighborhood). Briggs and I do anywhere from 2-4 miles and just recently had to step up our game. As you can see, Ms. Timmie (with the walking sticks) is pretty serious but not too much of a threat because she doesn't do the same route as us...but the other guy...


See how he is making his move in the picture (above)..gotta watch that kind...
Briggs and I used to just take a nice little stroll at a moderate pace...well since we have new competition, we have had to get us some exercise beats to keep our pace consistent and quick. As you can see (below), he is "chasing us down" as they would say at the XTERRA races.
You gotta stay focused (notice Briggs with his hands clasped and eyes closed..concentrating on the prize...more milk) or you might get passed :)

Some of my favorites

Everyone has been asking for pics and updates on Briggs. I wanted to share a few of my favorites from when our photographer friend, Allison Lewis, came to document Briggs' birth. I never imagined I would be "that girl" who would want a photographer in the middle of all that craziness. I mean I was the one having a "talk" with all the nurses to make sure they keep me covered up during the birth as much as possible. I even talked to my FABULOUS doctor about it. I thought she put it perfectly..."I'm just there to do my job and take care of you and your baby...I wouldn't remember what your bottom looked like if I saw you in the mall one day". A.W.K.W.A.R.D...but, I'm just quoting her. I do think that's a good lesson for all of us with doctors and health care in general...they are just there to do their job and help you. They aren't staring at your "goodies" no matter who it is...male or female.

Anyway, most of you read Allison's take on the day from her perspective on her blog. But we didn't know each other before this day except through email. Man what a first impression she got when she walked into the delivery room and this little guy was literally on his way into this world. Talk about perfect timing.

I love this picture...He is so stinkin cute!

This was the moment I first got to meet Briggs. You do all that work and then they keep your baby over on that table getting him all wrapped up and weighed and all that. I could barely stand it. I was about to jump off that bed to get to my baby!


This is Doctor Swindle. I just love her! I talked about it before I think in an earlier post...but she kept coming down and checking on me all day while I was in labor. Every time she came I would tell her I wish she was delivering for us. In the end, she stayed over an hour late just so she could deliver Briggs. When she came down at the end of her day and I was dilated 8 cm, she told the nurse "I'm going to stay, I'll be upstairs working on paperwork so yall page me when she is ready". I thought I was going to cry right there b/c that was one of my prayers is that she would be the doc to deliver him...and she was! See how precious she is in this picture. This doctor truly cares about her patients and I think this pic captures that.


Here is our baby weighing in at 7 pounds, 7.6 ounces but his official birth weight was 7.8

I still can't remember what we were laughing at, but I thought this was a precious picture of Justin and myself. I will never forget that day when our first baby boy came into this world. What a special time and I honestly couldn't have done it without Justin by my side. He was such a great coach, helped me get ready for the contractions coming, talked me through everything, kept cold rags on me and was my biggest cheerleader during it. I felt bad for him in a sense b/c he felt so helpless and I could tell he didn't know what to do to help me sometimes, but he was AWESOME...I couldn't have asked for a better coach, husband, father, and best friend.

Tasty Tuesday - Lemon Freeze

Who doesn't like a summer dessert. Thought I would share this one with yall. It's quick and very easy to whip up for a summer get-together.

Lemon Freeze

1 can lemon pie filling
1/2 C lemon juice
1 can eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
2 C graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter
1/2 C sugar
cool whip

Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar for crust, spread in bottom of dish. Mix lemon juice, pie filling and sweetened condensed milk. Spread over crust. Top with cool whip and enjoy. Can be stored in freezer or frig.

Lots of people have been asking for more updates and pics of Briggs. I will work on a post in a few days of all that's been going on with him and us. So stay tuned.

Arts and Crafts

I wanted something cute to hang on the door at the hospital when we had Briggs. I'm not a huge fan of the wreaths at the hospital, or at least the ones I had seen in the gift shop. And then I saw what my friend, Brook Taylor, made for her door and I attempted this project myself. I actually reached out to a store to see if they could make me one and we kept playing email tag, so I just decided to get the stuff and do it myself. Thank goodness I did b/c this was completed the weekend before we had Briggs (like finished on a Sunday and we had him on that Tuesday)

Here are all the materials you will need...

• wire frame ( I got mine from Michael's)
• spray adhesive
• ruler
• pinking shears
• tulle
• 2 yards of 3 types of fabric
• a letter if you want one on your wreath and paint if you want to paint it
• a husband who is willing to cut all the fabric for you :)
  

First take the 2 yard pieces of fabric and use the adhesive spray for the fabric with patterns so it's the same on both sides. The solid blue I just cut without spraying.
Next...I can't take credit for this part. Justin cut all these strips of fabric himself. There must be a machine or something out there to do this b/c if you made these to sell..you would spend all your time cutting and would have a permanent hand cramp.
Anyway, cut the fabric in 2x6 to 2x8 inch strips. Justin just kind of guestimated (is that a word)

I did all the tying...just take the strips of fabric and rotate them on the different wires. I kind of had a pattern I did. Tye each piece in a knot. Once I got all the fabric on there, I cut the tulle into strips and used it as filler.

And this is the final result...I thought it turned out really cute and thank goodness Briggs was a boy b/c it was a lot of blue. I would have made the polka dots pink or purple if it had been a girl, but we didn't have to worry about that :)

Warning Labels?

We know there is no instruction manual but what about the warning labels? Well I have one to add...

WARNING: Baby has umpredictable wizzer (as Justin calls it) located in diaper that may squirt you, the wall, window blinds, linens and may even squirt your baby in the face. It is most likely to happen in the middle of the night when you are less alert and your reflexes are slower.

But I mean look at that precious little face...no returns in this house...just wanted to make others aware in case their precious little one has the same warning label or should I say needs the same label :)

Tasty Tuesdays - Slow Cooker Italian Chicken

Who doesn't like a new dinner idea? I thought I would try to start sharing a recipe every now and then to add to all of our dinner menus. Here is what I'm cooking tomorrow and with it being summer and busy schedules, sometimes it's nice to have a crock pot meal that is easy and ready at the end of the day with minimal prep time.

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken

1/4 C butter
1 (.7 oz) pkg Italian salad dressing mix
2 (10.75 oz) cans golden mushroom soup
1 (8 oz) container cream cheese with chives and onion
1 C dry white wine (or chicken broth)
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Melt butter. Add dressing mix. Stir in soup, cream cheese, and wine (chicken broth). Stirring constantly until cream cheese is melted. Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. Pour butter mixture over chicken. Cook on low 4-6 hours and serve over pasta.

Enjoy!

Blessings

Sorry to let everybody down..don't know that it's practical for me to be posting daily on our blog but I am going to shoot for 2-3 times a week.

From having time to slow down and gather my thoughts over the past few weeks...it's helped me to reflect on some things and I thought would be neat to share.

First of all...I will start with a question...
When was the last time you just sat and took time to be still and quiet and LISTEN?

Everyone has asked me how bedrest was...I would tell people..just try to sit on the couch for one day. And when I say sit..I mean sit...only up for bathroom breaks and meals (to sit at the table, not cook it). I had 3-4 bags of stuff sitting around me b/c I wasn't suppose to just get up every time I thought of something I needed. So there were days I thought I was going to go crazy and was tired of just sitting there, but there were more days that it was a blessing in disguise. The whole bedrest experience forced me to sit still, be quiet and open my heart and mind to what was to come. Looking back on it, it was definitely a blessing and I can come out of it saying I'm thankful.

During that time I did a lot of praying and preparing my heart and mind for what was to come...one day, I even wrote in my prayer journal some specific requests for the Lord. I don't do that often, but feel like maybe I should be. Just wanted to share some of those with yall.
-delivery, for it to be smooth, no epidural or c-section...ANSWERED
-No NICU for baby P (Briggs, now that we know who he is)....ANSWERED
-The right nurses to assist with deliver...MORE THAN ANSWERED!
-Doctor Swindle to deliver Briggs...ANSWERED
-Timing of delivery and birth...ANSWERED
-physical recovery...BEING ANSWERED

Now I know those may not be huge things to all of you...but with nothing but time on your hands..it's easy to let those specific things I listed to make you a nervous wreck. With this being our first baby and everything, there were so many things I was anxious about, this time helped me to turn them over to the Lord and let His will be done.
That verse...And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. Matthew 21:22.
Now I'm not saying if some of these things didn't happen that it would have made me doubt the Lord's plan and power, but I am saying that the Lord heard the desires of my heart and was faithful to answer them very specifically. Reminds me of another verse (my favorite actually)
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart Psalm 37:4

My heart is overflowing at the moment with love for our precious baby boy and pure joy. What a miracle to go through a pregnancy and birth and come out with something so perfect. I can't stop looking at him during the day and just kissing his little (fat) cheeks. Briggs has already been such a blessing to Justin and I and everything we went through to get him here was worth every second.
I mean who wouldn't want to eat those fat little cheeks up!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17