mariasimoneidejhs

Friday, March 28, 2014

Dear Judah: Week 2

Dear Judah,

Has it already been another week already?! You are laying here beside me on the rug in your room. You and I are having a few minutes of quiet time together. You are alert and looking towards your abacus even though it's too far away for you to focus on. You have the hiccups. You have those a lot these days and you had them a lot when I was pregnant with you too. And you are waving your little quivering fists around and making little baby sounds every now and then. It's precious and I love this time with you, especially these quiet moments where I get to soak you all in. I could stare at you all day.

You've been having a growth spurt these past few days and everyone can really tell. Me, Daddy and Grammy have all commented on how much bigger you look in just the past 48 hours even. I can tell too because you've been wanting to nurse almost constantly, sometimes every hour! It's tiring but it's my job to feed you 24/7 and it's your job to grow so that's what we are doing together this week. You are totally worth it. You are my most important job these days.

Our growth spurt was actually confirmed at the doctor's office today when they weighed you and you weighed a whopping 9lbs 3 oz! They said you were looking great! You are peeling like a little lizard this week too. Before you were born your body created a little barrier on your skin protecting you from the water you were floating in and now you're shedding it. It's kinda cute.

We've done some tummy time this week which you don't seem to mind but only if Ariana is there to entertain you. She loves cheering you on. You impressed us with pushing your head and upper body up at only 10 days old. You are getting so much stronger. When we burp you, propped up on our shoulder, you push yourself up to look around. Even your legs are getting stronger and push up on us when we hold you. You still do that sweet newborn thing though and curl your legs up when we pick you up. I love it every time you do that, it makes you seem extra cuddly, which you are!

I think you are most happy with a milk beard. Not a milk mustache, but a full on milk dribbling down your chin, all over your cheeks, milk beard. And you look up at me in your milk coma and you just look so content. I'm addicted to you! I'm addicted to your little toes and your little nose. Your pretty baby blue eyes and your peely little soft baby knees. I love the way you hold my hand and stare out the window when we all ride together and I ride in the backseat between you and your sister. I'm addicted to your soft fuzzy head of hair and your little dimple on your cheek. It's like a sweet little secret that you've shared with me. Those tiny little lips that turn up in the corners, and that you poke out into a little pout in your sleep. I'm addicted to your sweet baby smell. I'm addicted to all of you. Addicted I tell you!

We discovered that you don't really seem to like to be swaddled anymore. A few days ago we noticed that when we would start to swaddle you (at bedtime), you would cry and fight us. We've stopped swaddling you at bedtime and you seem happier. We only use the sleep sack now. You've been waking us up every 2-3 hours at night. You're on a pretty good schedule.

Most of the time you are calm but you can go from 0-100 in 2 seconds and you can be very loud too! You definitely know how to make your voice heard. I may be biased but it's a pretty darn cute cry though.

I just know you are smart already. There are times when you cry during a diaper change and when we are finishing up we tell you "all done" and I just know you are learning that those words mean we are about to pick you up and you calm down. Yes, sweet Judah, you are a smart one. I can't wait to see your personality emerge and watch you learn and grow.

I can't wait to see your sister teach you all the things that she knows. She's a great teacher and she loves sharing her knowledge. You are going to be her little student and I bet you'll look up to her and want to follow in her footsteps and do what she does. Seeing the two of you together is so sweet, it makes my heart burst with pride and happiness. I find myself smiling, and getting choked up just looking at the two of you together. I'm so in love with both of you!

This week you've been to Ariana's kindergarten, the commissary, the BX, the doctor, the Gartenshau, and your first German festival (Hitscherhof Farm festival aka the pumpkin festival). You slept through them all but we were happy to have you there. To be a family of 4. To be doing things as a family of 4. We love having you in our family and we just know that you love being in our family too.

We are all so thankful for you sweet boy! I'm blessed to be your Mama. You amaze me each and every day. Keep growing!

Love,

Mommy

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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Egg Nog Cake {Recipe}

I thought it was about time I posted a Christmas recipe. I know a few people that really want this recipe! This blog post is especially for you!

This is Egg Nog cake from our old family friend, Lori. She gave us this recipe 6 years ago, when we first got married and I was putting together a "Friends and Family" cookbook with everyone favorite recipes.

Egg Nog Cake Recipe:

Cake:

1 package yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1 carton heavy whipping cream (1/2 pint)

1/3 cup oil

1/4 cup Rum

1 Tsp. Nutmeg

Glaze:

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup butter

2 Tbs. water

2 Tbs. Rum

1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg

1. Mix together cake mix, eggs, whipping cream, oil, Rum and Nutmeg. Beat for 2 minutes.

2. Pour into tube pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

3. Meanwhile, mix sugar, butter, water, Rum and Nutmeg for glaze.

4. When cake comes out of the oven, pour half the glaze around edge of cake while still in pan.

5. Cool for about 5 mins.

6. Take cake out of pan and pour remaining glaze on cake.

It's so yummy and perfect for the holidays!

If anyone has some favorite holiday recipes they want to share, feel free to email me at AFCat84@aol.com and we can do a swap!!

xo's

Cat

Monday, March 24, 2014

Textured Buildings

Today, I'm focusing on textures. I've been noticing a lot of little things lately.

(I love everything going on in this picture)

(stucco maybe)

(peeling paint and rusting metal)

(peeling paint on wood)

(clay)

(glass)

I took these photos from my village of Steinbach and also the village of Schonenberg Kubelberg here in Germany. I love all the textures these villages have. I saved my doors and windows shots for another day and also I have some pretty awesome shots of my favorite house there. I added a little sneak peek in this post. It's the second photo from the bottom with the red and green, but I'm saving the best for later this week.

All of these were taken with my 50mm.

I'm linking up with Macro Monday

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Return of the Macro!

I got my macro back the Monday before I flew to Florida on that Thursday. If you read this post you already know the horrible sad story of my broken marco and how happy I am to get it back in time for my trip. Here are some of my first shots from my newly repaired lens in Florida.

I loved finding these little lizards. I believe they are a brown anole also called the tree anole but I'm not a biologist so I'm not certain. It may take some more research. But they were cute lizards with a white stripe up their back and yellow around their eyes. They were all over the plants outside my mom's porch.

And then I found this white caterpillar with black spikes which I'm pretty certain is a Heliconius charithonia and grows to be a Zebra Longtail butterfly which is the official butterfly of Florida! Awesome!

This is my photo of the Zebra Longtail from our trip to Flamingo Gardens in Florida last year.

I'm VERY happy to have my macro back on my camera, especially now that we're in Florida and I can capture those little lizards up close!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The Story of How I Burned My Arm + A WARNING!

WARNING: Cleaning with vinegar could be dangerous. I learned this the hard way.

This is the story of how I burned my arm cleaning with vinegar.

Not long ago I decided to clean my microwave. The usual way I do this is to take my 2 cup glass measuring cup and put some water in it, nuk it for a little while, and let the steam loosen the gunk. Then I wipe it clean, done. I had heard that adding vinegar to the water would help get rid of any odors so I thought, why not, I'll give it a try. Bad idea.

Like usual, I put some water in my measuring cup, then I added in a little vinegar and started microwaving it. (I think I set it to 2 minutes maybe). After the timer went off I opened the door and took the water out. Just as I got out it popped (like exploded is more like it) and splashed the scalding water/vinegar all over my arm (and even on my face). It was lucky that Ariana wasn't right there because I screamed and threw the measuring cup down.

It started burning so I ran it under some water. I started turning a bright red and you could see where the splash landed. It wasn't pretty. I had planned to go out with some girlfriends that night for a dinner and a movie for a rare girls night out. But since I burned my arm less than 2 hours before I was suppose to meet them, I had to cancel and stay in. I put aloe gel on it and wrapped it up. Took some pain relievers and had a glass of wine and the pain subsided.

I have never heard of vinegar and water causing a weird reaction like this when microwaved. In fact I had read here, here, here, here, and here (to name a few) that it was a good cleaning method. None of them had a caution warning. I don't know if this has happened to anybody else or not, but it happened to me so I'm sharing this story.

Please be careful. Please share this information with others.

The photo above was taken 4 hours after it happened. Luckily for me my arm has healed pretty well. My skin was red for a while and then a month later it finally peeled and healed completely and you can barely see where it was now.

P64: Tan

When I was about 12 my Girl Scout troop when horseback riding and I fell in love with horses for the first time. I took on again off again lessons on Casper, Mocha, and others, and went riding with a family friend on a sweet dapple girl named Leia.

Have I ever owned a horse? No. Do I still dream of owning a horse? Yes.

Yes, I still would love to own a horse. Kind of a crazy dream for a girl married to the military moving every few years and living in different countries. I can't imagine the cost to ship a horse back to the states. Maybe one day though. The truth is, I don't know how to take care of a horse. I know general care but not the real ins and outs of life with a horse. And I don't have anywhere to keep it. Plus, horses are expensive. I get all of that. That is why I don't have one. I can still dream though.

We saw some pretty tan colored horses on our walk in Bavaria. I'm linking up my first picture to Project 64. The color reflecting off his coat is just perfect for the color match. I added the other photos just because I love them, with the light on his mane and rimming the whiskers around his nose.

Such a pretty sight with the mountains behind them. What a view!

Find other tan photos in the linkup here:

Monday, March 17, 2014

Beach Painting

Ariana and I are finally starting to feel settled in at my Momma's house, and I've had some time to get artsy!!

My mom has pretty much given me her entire dining room to set up my temporary art studio. I have my Etsy stuff in one corner and my paints and supplies in another. I have so many family and friends here that I stay pretty busy. On top of being a full time mom (my absolute favorite job in the world!) of course which constantly keeps me busy! I've had a few nap times free to squeeze in a little "me time" though.

Here is one of my new paintings. It was inspired by the beaches in England. Watching the water wash up on the pebbles was so pretty.

It measures 16x20 on a gallery wrapped canvas. It would be a beautiful piece to have in a beach house or seaside themed room. I haven't decided whether or not I'm selling it yet, if I do, I'll let you know when I post it in my shop. I'm really proud of this one because I'm still learning my way around a canvas and this one turned out EXACTLY how I wanted it too!!

I've also been working on a NEW painting series as I mentioned before which will be released on August 1st!!!!

My birthday is almost here! I'm a Leo (rawrs in her head hehe!) born August 5th. I'm excited to spend it with my family and friends and we have some fun things planned already!