Our Baby Charlie

Hooray! Our boy arrived!

Since Charlie's birth, our life has quickly become more interesting and segmented, divided into 3-4 hour intervals. After coming home from the hospital, we had a couple rough nights, but things seem to be getting better as we've all become more acclimated to the routine.

Of course, Charlie mostly eats, poops, and sleeps, but we see more of his personality every day. His dad loves to tickle and tease him, a mild form of torture that Charlie tolerates exceedingly well. And it's a good thing he can take it, 'cause as Charlie gets older the teasing will only get worse. And of course, Charlie loves his mom. He's met all her hopes of being a great cuddle-buddy, and they thoroughly enjoy taking naps snuggled together.

Charlie likes to keep his hands balled into fists up by his face (which his grandpa takes as evidence that he'll be a great boxer), and it reminds me of when we went to get our ultrasound. The technician had a very difficult time getting a picture of his face because his hands were constantly in the way.

I wonder what other habits from the womb will cross over!

Waiting

So for the last couple days, I've been feeling like I should write something—after all, it's been over a month since my last post. But nothing's really happened. Everything's about the same. I'm more pregnant, but I'm still pregnant so that doesn't count. I feel like I'm just playing the waiting game.

I did have a fabulous baby shower, so now I'm pretty well stocked with all our baby needs—at least I think I am. It won't be long after the boy is born that I become fully aware of just how ignorant I am, but I'm gonna have to wait for that, too.

So we wait. We go to our doctor appointments. We do what we can to "prepare." We live our lives . . . waiting.

Maybe in another month I'll have something more exciting to write about. Or maybe I'll still be waiting. We'll see.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

1/2 cup fresh pumpkin seeds
2 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.
2. In a small saucepan, combine seeds, water, and salt. Bring to a boil; let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
3. Pour olive oil onto a baking sheet. Spread the seeds on the baking sheet, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack until seeds begin to brown, 10-20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool completely before eating.

Photo courtesy of simplyrecipes.com.

This is a fun and festive recipe for the fall season. Jennifer and I tried it using the seeds from some pumpkins we carved. (See my fabulous pirate pumpkin below.) These toasted seeds made for a tasty snack!

What’s in a name?

So, Chad and I are trying to figure out what to name our little boy, and it's a really intimidating task! Luckily most of the pressure is on Chad instead of me, because he decided that he gets to name our boys and I get to name our girls. However, my opinion is still important, but I have very few veto rights—apparently. Anyway, here are a few of the names (both first and middle) we're thinking about:

Charlie
Ulysses
Doran
Laslow
Reginald
Alvin
Peder

Our plan is to wait to "pick" the boy's name until we see him; we want to make sure his face matches his name. (But how does that really work?) Personally, I'm hoping that once we take a look at him, we will somehow magically know. Maybe that's weird. Maybe I'm trying to avoid the responsibility of picking the name by hoping God will somehow tell me what it should be, but He very rarely just gives out easy answers; He seems to like to make me work for it.

Nostalgia

The past month has been hectic and crazy.

It started out great, with our first wedding anniversary. We didn't do anything special, we just spent the entire day doing whatever we felt like doing at the time. No schedule to follow. Nowhere to hurry to be. No one besides ourselves to please. Just a simple, relaxing, fun day.

Then things started to change.

We had been working on packing up our stuff to move out of our apartment at the end of August, and all that had been going fairly well. But then the moving our stuff began. Moving is not fun, and I have yet to discover a way to accomplish it without getting stressed out.

Then, on top of that, Chad's parents announced their final decision to get a divorce. That was a sad day, and we've been working through our feelings ever since.

Which brings us to the present. We are successfully moved into Chad's dad's house. Chad is working a job he's not too fond of. I'm trying to finish my last college class via independent study while finding freelance editing jobs. And we are trying to prepare to have our first baby, although we don't really have a clue.

Then today I got an email from my friend who took our wedding photographs. She had some questions about which photos I'd like to order. (Yes, it's been over a year, and I have yet to order my wedding photos. I am a master procrastinator.) So in an attempt to finally end my procrastination of this task, I looked through a slideshow she had sent me to pick out which photos I wanted.

It was wonderful.

Thus far, my wedding day has certainly been one of the happiest and overall best days of my life, and taking the time to look through all those beautiful photos and remembering how I felt back then was like a soothing balm to my worried mind. It was a wonderful day and a wonderful time in my life.

I need to remember, through the crazy and hectic months to come, to look back on the good times—to focus on the good times—because I can count on having more good times in the future no matter what's going on now.

White Chip Lemon Streusel Bars

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
2 cups (12-ounce package) white chips, divided
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups regular rolled or quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup toasted pecan pieces*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon shortening

*To toast pecans: Heat oven to 350°F. Spread pecans in thin layer in shallow baking pan. Bake, stirring occasionally, 7 to 8 minutes or until golden brown; cool.

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Combine sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon peel in medium bowl; set aside. Measure out 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup white chips; set aside. Add remaining white chips to lemon mixture.
2. Beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, oats, pecans, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, blending well. Set aside 1 2/3 cups oat mixture. Add egg to remaining oats mixture, blending until crumbly; press onto bottom of prepared pan. Gently spoon lemon mixture on top, spreading evenly. Add reserved 1/3 cup white chips to reserved oats mixture. Sprinkle over lemon layer, pressing down lightly.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack. Place remaining 1/4 cup white chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 30 seconds or until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Drizzle over baked bars. Allow drizzle to set; cut into bars.

Photo courtesy of hersheys.com.

This recipe is DELICIOUS! It's a sweet, lemony, refreshing summer treat, and I highly recommend it. PS—I think toasting the pecans makes a big difference.