What a Difference a Year Makes

A year ago today, on November 29, 2011, Brent and I were nervous wrecks heading to our doctor appointment.  We had an ultrasound scheduled to confirm that our baby was 1) growing in my uterus, and 2) that the heartbeat was present and strong.  The first was a concern after our ectopic pregnancy in 2009.  The second was a concern after our miscarriage the spring of 2011. 

We were overjoyed to see our baby for the first time, just a little peanut on the screen, with a strong heart beat and growing appropriately in my uterus. 

The rest is history, Nora's story, and our lives will never be the same.   

Terrific Kid

We already knew we were beyond blessed with our little man, Luke, but he received affirmation at school yesterday with the Kiwanis Terrific Kid Award for Safety (one of the school's core principles). 

 

The teachers made it a surprise which was extra fun too:)  The first and second graders filed into the gym and none of them knew who was getting an award.  I'm sure they had an inkling once they saw their parents in attendance;) 

 

The video below is of Luke receiving his award from his principal.  (Others in the line next to the principal: vice principal, Gibbs Penguin mascot, three Kiwanis members).  There were a few kids from each class who received the award this month.  I believe they do these assemblies each month and recognize different kids each time for participating in the school's core principles:  Respect, Responsibility, and Safety.

 

We are very proud of our little man!

 

 

 

Certificate, Pencil, Magnet, and Sticker

Life

I was reminded very clearly today all that life entails.

We celebrated the life of a friend today.  She is a beautiful, healthy, vibrant 30 year old, whose husband loves her dearly.  So much so, that he threw a surprise birthday party for her in honor of her golden birthday.  They are expecting a long-awaited baby in a few months.

We rejoiced in the first giggles of our baby girl today.  The joy her smiles and giggles bring to our lives is immeasurable.

We learned that my Grandpa has cancer today.  He is 85 years old and, until very recently, he was a strong, healthy, and very capable man.  When I saw him a week ago, he had lost too much weight too quickly and was in a lot of pain. 

Life begins as our friends await the birth of their baby.

Life grows in our baby girl as she learns and develops.

Life continues as our friend celebrates her milestone birthday.

Life endures as Grandpa learns his diagnosis.  

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn." ~ Romans 12:15 

Four and a Half Months

Little Miss didn't have her four month doctor appointment until she was four and a half months and she's still growing strong!

 

Weight

15 lbs 2 oz

74%

 

Length

25.25 inches

72%

 

Head Circumference

16 inches

89%

 

As you can tell by that belly, she's eating well:)

Getting stronger when sitting up (propped up of course)

Newborn Picture Comparisons

I've been meaning to compare our newborn pictures to Nora's for a while now.  I was extra motivated after seeing a lot of my family for Thanksgiving and hearing several times how people thought Nora looked like me as a baby, especially her eyes. 

 

You be the judge...

 

Luke & Nora

 

 

Brent & Nora 

 

 

Jen & Nora

 

 

Brent & Nora a Few Months Old

 

Jen & Nora a Few Months Old  

High Five for Friday

1. I was reminded twice this week how blessed we are to have my dad watching the kids in our home on the days I work.  Monday evening, I got home from work a little after 5pm and Nora had just laid down for a nap a little before 5.  This meant she got to have an uninterrupted nap and Brent, Luke, & I got to have dinner without juggling baby:)  If she had been at daycare, she probably would have woke up while being packed up to head home.  Wednesday morning, Luke was still sleeping when I left for work.  I was able to let him sleep in a bit since Papa was at our place and could get him ready for school after I left.  So wonderful!
2. I was able to volunteer in Luke's class for the first "official" time this year.  I have helped some with the first grade classes as a group, but not yet in his class specifically.  I love being able to put faces to the kids Luke talks about and to see there first grade lives in action:)
3. We celebrated Brent's 31st birthday this week.  We're not big birthday celebraters in our house, but birthdays always remind me how grateful I am for the birthday boy/girl.  There are SO many reasons I'm grateful for Brent...maybe that will be a future blog post:)
4. Last Sunday we dedicated Nora at church.  I mentioned a bit about this in her 4 Month post.  It was a good reminder of the spiritual element of parenting in the midst of the everyday physical and emotion needs we meet for our children.
5. Last weekend I was able to attend the Hearts at Home conference in Rochester.  It's a conference for moms with children of all ages to come together to be refreshed and to learn from the large variety of speakers on tons of topics relating to parenting, motherhood, marriage, etc.  Brent was the wonderful POD (parent on duty) while I was away Friday evening and all day Saturday which allowed me to recharge at the conference:)

Labor of Love

WARNING - This post may be TMI (too much information) for men folk.

I've been thinking recently that breastfeeding is really a labor of love.  I'm SO grateful that I'm able to breastfeed Nora ("breastfeeding our future baby" was on my bucket list after all:)).  I think my experience last weekend truly cemented breastfeeding as one of the ultimate labors of love...

I was at the Hearts at Home Conference in Rochester.  It's a conference held each year at the Mayo Civic Center that I've attended four or five times.  This year, however, was my first time attending as a breastfeeding mom.  I knew that babies were not welcome to attend, so I knew that I would be pumping in the provided "lactation lounge".  Little did I know that the lactation lounge was nothing more than a conference room with outlets to plug in our pumps.  The room was about the size of my bedroom with no privacy to speak of from the other moms using the space to pump.  Now I don't know if any moms were completely turned off my this set up, but I do know that MANY moms used the room, so many that I saw a line outside the door at one point.  The first time I came into the room, there were maybe four moms using it.  By the time I was done, I could hardly find a path to get to the door to exit!  There were literally 20 women in that room!  The experience made me think that there are few things I wouldn't do for my children.  I was willing to pump in a room full of other moms, with little *ahem* coverage, and made the best of the situation all in the name of providing for my baby.  (Please note, I am not telling this story as a "super mom" story looking for glory.  I simply found it hilarious and heartwarming what all of us mommas were willing to do for our babes:))

No doubt, a labor of love:)

Breastfeeding, while convenient in many ways, also has its draw backs in trying to accommodate baby's eating schedule.  I have a wonderfully functional and beautiful nursing cover (thanks to my dear friend, Liz) to use while feeding Nora, but I also try to take others' comfort levels into consideration when I decide when and where to feed Nora.  I never know if I'm a table away from someone at a restaurant who is uncomfortable with the idea of me breastfeeding in such close proximity. 

Here are some of my other random thoughts on breastfeeding recently...

• I'm certainly benefiting from the calories burned by nursing.  I've been doing Weight Watchers since early September and I have not been nearly as strict with myself as I have in the past, but I continue to lose! 
• I also enjoy the excuse to take a break at work to head to the comfy lactation room in the building.  Mayo provides clean, private (nothing like the Hearts at Home conference:)) lactation rooms that even have a hospital grade pump for our use.  All we have to bring are our own attachments to use.  SUCH a blessing! 
• I get an excuse to take a break at home every 3-4 hours as well:)  I like to be productive and sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I'm doing that I forget to take a break.  But, it's not hard to remember to take a breather when I have a baby demanding to be fed!;)  It is also a good reminder to slow down and enjoy the sweet baby face that I know will grow up far too quickly.
• It's FREE food for my baby.  No other time in my child's life can I say that I'm providing 100% of her needs without paying a dime!  It's also simply amazing how God has created our bodies as women and given us the ability to provide for our babies.
• It is a labor of love in the time it takes.  Brent did the math of a 24 hour day minus being at work, sleeping, and breastfeeding time and it left me with about 4 hours.  That doesn't leave much time on Mondays and Tuesdays.  THANKFULLY I am blessed with a half time schedule and an amazingly supportive husband!  (More props to the full-time working mommas who breastfeed!!!)
• Of course there are also health benefits, etc, etc that everyone always note when advocating breastfeeding:)

All in all, I am SO grateful for the opportunity to nurse Nora and that it has gone so smoothly for her and I.

Four Months Old

At four months our little sweetie is:

• Loving her hands and her feet and grabbing at and sucking on all of them:)
• Grabbing anything and everything.  She pulls on her shirt, grabs toys, and attempts to bring them all to her mouth. Obviously this is demonstrating her ever increasing coordination.

Grabbing and sucking on toys

• Sucking on anything and everything. She sucks her thumb some when she sleeps, but when she is awake it is normal to see both of her hands in her mouth...and usually at the same time:)  This in turn produces a lot of drool:)  She is often changed into multiple outfits throughout the day as a result of excessive drool, spitting up, or leaking out of diapers.  Good thing she has been gifted many adorable outfits, sleepers, and hand-me-downs! 
• Trying SO hard to roll from her back to her stomach, but it hasn't quite happened yet.  I'm sure that will be coming soon!
• Sleeping well at night. She typically eats between 8:30-9:30pm, goes right to sleep after eating, and gets up between 5:30-6:30am.  We're so grateful for these longer nights which allow mom and dad to get to bed early if we want/need and the opportunity to sleep without interruptions!
• Showing her familiarity with certain people.  She is very comfortable with mom, dad, Luke, and Papa Beckmann (who watches her while mom works), but she is not so comfortable with some others.  We have yet to determine if it's anything specific that is upsetting her, so we're just assuming it's that she is less familiar with some of the other people???
• Eating every 3-4 hours, more often 3.5-4 hours, during the day.  She's still eating breast milk exclusively and we plan to wait to introduce solids in January. 
• Still napping inconsistently. She takes 3-4 naps a day and usually has two good naps a day. The other nap(s) are shorter and/or interrupted (fussing in the middle).  She stays awake about 2 hours after she eats and then is ready for her next nap. 
• Not what I would call a serious baby, but she is for pictures:(  And, we have yet to hear her laugh/giggle for real.  We're anxiously waiting to hear those giggle and to know what she finds funny so we can hear them often:)

Grabbing for her feet and showing a
little personality even if it's not a true smile

Not sure why she's in the laundry basket:)

Sweet big brother reading to baby girl

Brent and I dedicated Nora at church today, meaning we publicly shared our desire to raise Nora in the church and to teach her about God.  The life verse with chose for her is Proverbs 18:15:  "The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out."  Our hope for Nora (and Luke) is that they will seek out truth, wisdom, and love in their lives and that they will be discerning in their pursuit. 

We are beyond grateful for the blessing and opportunity to be Nora and Luke's parents:)

High Five for Friday

1. Last Saturday Brent and Luke went to the Michigan vs. Minnesota football game at the TCF Bank Stadium with all of the Picker guys.  First Michigan football game for Luke, first time to the TCF Bank Stadium for Brent and Luke, and I'm guessing the first of may Michigan football games for Brent and Luke together.  This is not one of my high fives exactly, but I know it was a fun experience for my guys:)
2. An extra hour of sleep after "falling back" with the end of day light saving time.  I was extra grateful this year that Nora still had a good night sleep, so we actually got to enjoy the extra hour:)
3. A low key week with my family.  We are enjoying our last full week "off" before basketball starts for Brent two nights a week.  I love quiet evenings home with my family:)
4. Thanks to Ruth & Kerry (Brent's parents), Brent and I were able to grab dinner out last night.  It had been a while since we'd had the chance with our busy schedule, so it was nice to be out of the house without the kiddos.
5. The Hearts at Home North Central Conference is this weekend in Rochester.  First of all, I'm grateful it's in Rochester, because I probably wouldn't go if it required travel.  Second, I'm excited for the speakers and workshops on being a mom, wife, etc.  Tonight was a couple hours of fun at the Moms' Night Out.  If you get a chance, check out the improv group we saw: 321 Improv.  They were very entertaining and my cheeks are still tired from all the laughing:)  Third, I'm grateful for my husband who is willing to hold down the fort while I'm out.

Coming to a Thanksgiving Table Near You

I'm not sure what motivated me to pick up a cookbook I've never used before, but I'm sure glad I did!  I was given Crock-Pot 5 Ingredients or Less Cookbook either last Christmas or the Christmas before and I had yet to try a recipe from it.  Honestly, I get more recipes online these days.  I gave the Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe below a trial run today for a potential Thanksgiving potato solution.  I'm sold! 

Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

2 lbs baking potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp butter, cut into 1/8 inch pieces
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup milk

Place all ingredients except milk into crock pot; toss to combine.  Cover; cook on low 7 hours or on high for 4 hours.  Add milk to potatoes.  Mash potatoes with potato masher or electric mixer until smooth.  (I left them in the crock pot on warm after mashing.)

Makes 5 servings


I was very surprised how only 1/2 tsp garlic powder was enough to fill my house with a heavenly garlic scent and only 2 Tbsp butter were enough flavor that we could eat them without any additional butter to taste (and I like buttery potatoes).

I'm excited to try out some more recipes from this book now! 

High Five for Friday x2!

We have been busy little beavers here at the Picker Palace, so since I missed last week's High Five, I'm making this week a double! 

1. Red Barn Learning Center - We met up with my good friend, Liz, and her family at the new Red Barn Learning Center between Stewartville and Hayfield.  It was a beautiful day to tour the little farm, take in the sights, and enjoy time with friends.  It is a cute little place if you ever find yourself in the area.  I saw on Facebook that they will be open through this weekend.
2. Cousin Time - MEA weekend brought all of the Picker grand kids together, including the two newest additions (Nora and Alaina) for the first time in a while.  The boys got right down to business playing, the dads enjoyed a Michigan football game (and a win), and the babies were cuddled and enjoyed:)  Luke, especially, simply cannot get enough time with his cousins.
3. Beckmann Family Meal - It is a tradition in my family that we go out to eat for each of our birthdays and that the birthday boy/girl gets to pick the location.  Well, this year I decided to request a home cooked meal from my mom instead of heading to a restaurant.  My mom had a week off work, so she spent the day with Papa and Nora at our place then made a wonderful meal.  My request was porcupine meatballs and baked potatoes, but my mom doesn't make a meal for our Beckmann clan without options.  She also made a roast in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots, turkey meatloaf, corn, and apple crisp for dessert.  It was fabulous!  Wonderful food and sweet company:) 
4. Swimming Lessons - Luke started swimming lessons at the RAC.  These are his first swimming lessons in a few years and the first ones he's done without Brent or myself in the water with him.  He's doing well, having fun, and even told me this week after lessons that he wishes they were another hour longer:)  Our hope was that he would get more comfortable in the water and get some basic swimming skills.  After just two lessons we're seeing progress!
5. Book Fair - Luke's school had their book fair, one of mine and Luke's favorite events!  Luke picked out a few books, Nora got a book, and we bought a couple from his teacher's wish list for their classroom.  I'm not sure what it is about the book fair, but I love it:) 
6. Spirit Run - The Spirit Run was my run-with-a-goal-in-mind run for the fall:)  I wanted to get back to running after Nora was born, so I picked a 5K from the Rochester Track Club calendar for October 27.  After training in September and October, I felt ready for the run.  Apparently my body had other ideas though.  I was able to run two and a quarter miles before getting so nauseous that I had to walk.  After crossing the finish line, the nausea won out:(  I have never been sick like this before while exercising, so I don't know what happened???  "Why is this on your High Five if it didn't go well?" you ask?  It was still an accomplishment.  My plan and hope was to run the entire 5K (3.1 miles), which didn't happen, but I still did the training and ran what I could the day of the run.  It was also a fun morning because Luke ran the kids' 1K with two of his friends and two of my friends and Brent also ran the 5K.  It was a nice morning to get out for a run, even if it didn't end as I'd hoped:) 
7. Council Bluffs - Last weekend we made a quick trip to Council Bluffs, IA to visit our friends from Baltimore who were in IA for a family wedding.  It was a short trip but well worth the chance to see our dear friends:)  Our kids did GREAT on the car ride down (4.5 hours in the car) and our first night as a family staying in a hotel went well too.  We enjoyed beautiful weather while in Iowa too.  The guys got to play some football Saturday and the kids played outside Sunday afternoon.  All in all a great weekend!
8. Halloween - We had a great first Halloween as a family of four.  After picking Luke up from school, we headed to Brent's office with the kids in costume.  His office is pretty serious about their candy, so Luke already had half a bag of candy to start out Halloween night:)  We invited grandparents over to see Luke and Nora, then Luke and Brent went out trick or treating the neighborhood.  It was beautiful weather for trick or treating and there were TONS of kids out in our neighborhood. 
9. Christmas Shopping - I like to start Christmas shopping early and to think about what gifts I'd like to get people early too.  This week Brent and I decided on our Christmas budget, so let the Christmas shopping begin! 
10. Thanksgiving - I decided to brave cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year.  We will have a small group at our house so I thought it would be easier to try out my Thanksgiving cooking skills:)  I'm excited at the idea of planning and cooking for the holiday, which I've never done before.  Wish me luck! 

So, do you believe me now?  We've been quite busy:)  I'd love to add pictures for each of the items above, but that would be redundant.  Check out our Shutterfly site for the MANY pictures from October:)

A Soup A Week, Just What The Colder Weather Ordered

I shared my resolution to make a pot of soup a week for the rest of 2012 on Facebook and had a couple requests for recipes, so here goes!

Ham & Wild Rice Soup from Live Better America but I can't find it on the site anymore - One of our favs that I've made a couple times for events/friends already in October

2 c diced, cooked ham
3/4 c uncooked wild rice
1 med onion chopped
1 lb thawed/drained mixed vegetables
14 oz chicken broth
1 can cream celery soup
1/4 t pepper
3 c water
1/2 c fat free half and half

Mix all ingredients, except half and half, a crock pot. Cover and cook on low 8-9 hours.  Stir in half and half and increase heat to high.  Cover and cook 10-15 minutes.

Taco Soup - I've made this one with and without meat and it can be made in the crock pot or on the stove.

1 can black beans, undrained
1 can corn, undrained
28 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can pinto beans, undrained
1 lb ground beef or turkey, browned
1 pkg ranch dressing dry mix
1 pkg taco seasoning
1-2 c water

Add all ingredients to crock pot and cook on high for a few hours.  (Can also cook on stove for one hour.)  Serve with sour cream and cheese on top and cheese quesadillas or chips to dip.

Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking

Curried Chicken Corn Chowder from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking

Chicken Tortilla Soup from Live Better America

• I don't make the tortilla strips, seriously, you can buy them or just use chips:)
• I also like to add corn to the soup

Zuppa Toscana (just like Olive Garden's) - I got this recipe from a friend at Bunco last year:)

White Chicken Chili from Live Better America (I don't add the zucchini)

Makeover Baked Potato Soup from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking

Do you have favorite soups?  I'd love to hear about it!  Brent and I love soups in the winter and they are great for left overs too!