Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Magic of Autumn


I used to not be a fan of autumn. Now I'm not sure why I wasn't. I love it now. There is just something magical that seeps into the air when fall time rolls around. *Sigh* It just makes me want to take a deep breath and *sigh* a million times. Love it. Although, I do have to say fall is different in Texas. September and October still completely feel like Summer, but finally in November I started to feel some of that fall feeling in the air. *Deep Breath* *Sigh* Love it!
 

When you have a baby you visit the pumpkin patch right? Well we did. Too bad Enok didn't enjoy it too much. He did like the straw though, but he was pretty grumpy while we were there. At least we're starting to make memories right? Now, it's time for picture overload. And yes, I purposely put Enok in his overalls for the trip to the pumpkin patch. Just seemed like the right thing to do =)







Funny story, we didn't actually buy a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch... we just went and walked around and took pictures. Pumpkins were $3.88 at Kroger and the same size at the pumpkin patch would have been like $20..... Obvious choice for us.

We celebrated Halloween Super Man style this year. And by that I mean we dressed Super Man style. We didn't really do too much for Halloween except Trunk-or-Treat for church. And yes, we did use Enok to get candy =) Oh, and thank you print-on iron-on transfer paper! And 40% off at Hobby Lobby! Homemade shirts on the cheap! Pretty much the easiest Halloween costumes ever and we think we all looked pretty cute together =) Super Mommy, Super Daddy, and Daddy's lil' Sidekick! BTW, the shoes were a random, miraculous find at Ross =)












And I made this batman bib for Enok like forever ago and he never wears it.... but I figured Halloween would be the perfect day. His facial expressions are the best =)



Oh, and I just thought I would add that Enok likes pumpkin chocolate chip cookies =)





Happy Autumn everyone!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

8 Favorites at 8 Months

Enok is 8 months old today! I can't believe that in 4 more months he will be one year old! I used to feel like that day would never come, but now it seems like it will come all too soon!

Here are Enok's 8 favorite things at 8 months old:

1. Eating. He loves eating. Baby food, puff snacks, his sippy cup, and his bottle. He can down 8oz of baby food at a time like its no ones business. I only let him do that at dinner though. He eats 3 'solid' food meals a day and then has 2-3 bottles as well. And he always gets some puff snacks, which he can now feed himself. As of this week he will even eat veggie baby food! [He used to only eat fruit/cereal/or 'main dish' baby foods.] And he figured out how to drink from his sippy this past week too! Yay!!! I don't think we will have any trouble weening this boy when it comes time. He hardly ever wants his bottle anymore.




2.Bath time. When Enok was first born he didn't like bath time so much. But we started a bed time routine with him at about 2 months and started giving him a bath before bed every night and soon enough he started to love bath time. And it is definitely still one of his favorites!


3. Outside. Enok LOVES the outdoors. Ever since he was a tiny tiny babe if he was throwing a fit all I would have to do to get him to stop is step outside. This is still the case. It's hilarious. He won't just chill in his carseat if he is inside, but if he's outside he totally will. He won't play in his exersaucer inside anymore, but if its outside he totally will. He stays happy/content outside like a million times longer than he will with the same activity inside. All I know is we gotta get ourselves a yard. And soon.



4. People. Enok likes people. He is a social little fella. And such a flirt. He sure knows how to turn on the charm around the ladies, especially the older ones ;). It's probably cuz he is stuck at home alone with mom for the majority of the time, but he thrives off of being around other kids. And he loves all attention to be on him. He also loves babbling. I'm hoping he stays outgoing and doesn't turn shy.




5. Paper/Plastic. He likes to crinkle it. And try to eat it. He has eaten some paper before I could stop him before. Only a little bit though. Whenever we get the newspaper ads in the mail I let him play with them before we toss them and he has a ball. And don't worry, playing with plastic bags is closely supervised, he just loves it so much I can't say no!





6. Laughing with mom & dad. It seems like every day there is some new thing that he thinks is hilarious. And if you can figure out what it is he will just laugh and laugh and laugh. And lots of times if I just start randomly laughing he just starts laughing too. It's hilarious.





7. Standing. He loves to stand. Sometimes I have to force him to sit down. He hasn't started standing and holding on to objects yet, he just holds onto me when he stands. Hence me having to force him to sit so that I don't just have to hold him standing all the time.




8. New objects. All new objects are infinitely fascinating. Anything that he hasn't seen before he wants to touch and taste. Remote controls, straps on bags, empty plastic containers, my hairbrush, the cord hanging from our ceiling fan to turn the light on/off, a ruler, basically anything. He gets bored of his toys a little too fast these days...







I feel like Enok has grown and developed so much in the past two months especially. He is infinitely easier/more managable now than he was four months ago. He plays by himself quite a bit, he feeds himself his bottle and puff snacks, and he has figured out how to deal with teething a little better. Four months ago he just wanted to be held all the time. Unless he was outside, then I could put him down.  And sleeping and naps are so great now too. He generally sleeps from 7pm-7am (sometimes 6am) and he used to wake up once a night, but recently he hasn't been any more. And he takes 2 good naps a day. And when we put him down we just lay him in his crib and leave, for bedtime he never cries, but at naps he will cry for 5 minutes about half of the time. But he is getting better at going to sleep for naps too.

There are some things he isn't doing that I thought he would be doing by 8 months. He isn't crawling, pulling himself up on things, or pushing himself up from laying down to a sitting position. He does try to climb onto things, but can't really manage it yet. I figure these things will come when they come, and for now I will enjoy the relative safety he lives in since he cant move himself around too much yet.

I sure do love my little man.





I love his huge shadow =) 











Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Paradox of Comparison

Comparison.

We all know it's the game you can never win. It's a game without a winner. 

We know its bad for our sanity, our happiness, and our humility. Yet, most of us are addicted to it. We play it again and again and again. It doesn't matter how many times we lose, we keep playing the same game over and over and expecting a different outcome. Hoping to 'win' so that maybe we will feel better about something. Or maybe we keep playing because we are looking for a reason to explain why we feel so terrible.

I don't know. But I know that I play this game far too much. And I always lose.

We compare everything in life. Our looks, our possessions, our families, our situations, our abilities, and even our levels of spirituality. And the list doesn't end there.

Some people fool themselves into thinking that they sometimes win the comparison game. I know I've been fooled before. If you think your winning the game, it's only because there's someone else out there who you haven't compared yourself to yet.
Comparison is the only game that is won by simply not playing it.

There is such paradox in comparison.

At least there is for me.

A couple examples....

If I compare my looks to someone who I feel looks better than myself, then I feel bad about myself and wish I looked better. So if I compare myself to someone who I feel looks worse than myself, I should feel better right? Wrong. Instead I wish that I hadn't done my hair, or put on makeup, or been so vain, and I still end up feeling bad about myself.

If I compare my living situation (house, belongings, budget, etc) to someone who I think has a better living situation than me, I feel bad about myself and my situation and I get depressed. So if I compare myself to someone who I feel like is in a worse living situation than me (as in I think I have a nicer couch, cuter house, more money being spent), then I should feel better right? Still wrong. Instead I feel bad for caring about my living situation, I feel worldly and prideful. I still end up feeling horrible.

Either way, I lose. Either way, I feel bad, and my happiness decreases. And all simply from thoughts that only exist in my head.

Obviously I could write a million more examples of how to lose the comparing game. But we'll stop there.

It's the age old saying, you don't have to put someone down to feel better about yourself. And oddly enough, most of the time you'll put them down and drag yourself down even further.

To go up, you have to raise others up and go up with them. Or raise yourself up and bring them with you. And you can't do that by comparing.

I don't know a magical solution for comparing. I don't know how to stop it. I've been trying to stop it for years, and I'll keep trying, even if I don't always succeed.

It's the game I'm going to learn how to win because it's the game I'm going to unlearn how to play. 


Side note: This rambling makes me think about pride. So many people think they aren't prideful because they lift others up by putting themselves down. But that is still a form of pride because you are still focusing on yourself. You're only humble when you stop thinking about yourself so much, in good or bad ways. Probably my solution to stop comparing too, stop thinking so much of myself.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins


 Love these. I was first introduced to chocolate zucchini bread at a ward recipe exchange and now I make them as muffins.... Yum!
Chocolate = Love
Zucchini = Feeling Healthy = Love
Muffins = Bite Size Goodness = Love
Need I say more?

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

2oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup oil
1 cup chocolate chips

Melt unsweetened chocolate. Mix all ingredients except sugars. Add sugar to melted chocolate and combine with other ingredients. Line or grease muffin tins and fill each 2/3 full. Bake for 30 minutes in a 325 oven. Makes 24.

Tips:
- Substitute 2oz of unsweetened chocolate with 3tbs of butter, melted, and 6tbs of cocoa powder
- Line baking tins with squares of parchment paper if your out of muffin cups
- Can make as 2 bread loaves baked for 45-50 minutes in a 325 oven

Enjoy!

Btw, I tell myself its healthy since it has zucchini, but after eating a couple muffins I have to remind myself that its really not....