On Nyla's Birthday

This weekend we celebrated Nyla's second birthday. For her first birthday party, we had a lot of people over with a lot of food, but for her second birthday we decided a while back that we wanted to keep it lower key and let Nyla have a little more breathing room. We kept the guest list to our parents, siblings, my two living grandparents, Nyla's church friends and Sunday school teachers. Unfortunately, 2 of her little friends were not in town, but Nyla and A still had a great time playing together.


Ginny and I, even before her first birthday, made the decision that we ask people NOT to give presents to Nyla. There were a few reasons why we did this.

1. We did not want Nyla to associate her birthday with presents. Yes, I know this is typically what birthdays are supposed to be about, but we would rather Nyla remember the good times with friends and family rather than presents.
2. We have blessed beyond measure by my mom and Ginny's parents with clothes and toys. Our family and friends have also passed down toys and books for the girls as well. Simply put, she doesn't need any more toys beyond what we've been given. Ginny has written before about wanting to be more minimal and living simplistically. That fits in here, too. Again, we would rather Nyla remember the experience of the party, not the toys.
3. Rather than Nyla receive gifts, we want to teach her the value or helping others. That's why when she's older we will go through old (and new) clothes and toys and teach her about giving those away to people who need them. Life is not about taking whatever you can. It's about giving to others what you are able to give.

Last year, we asked that in lieu of gifts people donate money to our church's playground fun. The playground was built and now is home to many smiles and running children on Sundays and Wednesdays. This year, we wanted to do something similar. And that led us to Kiva. What is Kiva? Well, see the letter we included in the invitation. It will explain things well.... (more after the jump)

2 Years of Nyla

It's really hard to believe that our sweet girl Nyla is now two years old. As I reflect back on two years of having her around, there are a lot of moments that come to mind. With that, here are some good (and even bad) moments.


-Her birth. The one moment that I still think about to this day and will for the rest of my life. She had just been taken over to the "cleaning station" to get wrapped up in a blanket and all the other things done to newborns. She was upset, as one could expect going from warm, dark, and wet to cold, bright, and actually breathing air. I was standing there, just waiting to hold her, when I said, "Hi, Nyla." At that point, Nyla stopped crying and turned her head toward me. (More proof for moms and dads to talk their child in the womb.) Soon after, I got to hold her for the first time, and my world was forever changed.

-Sleep troubles. By no means was our girl a terrible sleeper, but that first week at home she threw us for a loop one day, basically staying wake for 9 or 10 hours. Talk about confusion! Thank goodness my cousin's wife provided words of wisdom to guide us through. She quickly became a fairly good sleeper, until she was 5 months, when she all of a sudden woke up between 2-4am. Not knowing any better, we would give her a bottle. Again, my cousin's wife came to rescue and said, "If you could wake up in the middle of the night, get snuggles, and some warm chocolate cake from your favorite person, and get cooed back to sleep, wouldn't you?" Now she is an excellent, only occasionally stirring at night from what I assume is a bad dream.

-Milestones. First smile. First laugh. First crawl. First steps. Those are the usual big milestones. I also think about her first road trip to see her great-grandparents in Georgia when she was about 3 months old. She did great on the car ride there and back. (Of course, Daddy in the backseat with her helped, or so I tell myself.) I remember her very first bath after we brought her home. I remember my first experience of being thrown up on by her. First shots. First time in my mom's swimming pool. All of these milestones. So much fun. (Even the throw up.)

-Her laugh. I love her laugh. I love tickling her to uncontrollable laughter. One of my favorites now is when she gets herself laughing at seemingly nothing. If she does something silly with her lovey or animal, she'll just start laughing about it, which in turn causes me to laugh at it. Nyla giggles and Naomi giggles are the best sounds in the world.

-Her love and our love. Let me just say this - I love both our girls equally. I don't have a favorite. But the love I have for Nyla is different than the love I have for Naomi. I guess unless you have more than one, this will be difficult to understand. I'll try to explain. Nyla is our first child. She's the one we're going through all of these new experiences with. We're cutting our parenting teeth on her. Each milestone she hits is our first milestone as well. The love I have for her is different, not better, than my love for Naomi. Nyla and I have spent several nights rocking and singing in her chair. We've spent time playing in the floor, the bed, the shower, the pool. She has taught me more about love in the last two years than any Sunday lesson or sermon ever will. One of my favorite things currently is when I pull into our carport, the side door swings open, and Nyla runs as fast as her little legs will take her to my door. That's love.

Nyla is our sweet girl. We wouldn't her to be anyone else, or anyone else's.

-D

Baby's Bedroom Bonanza (From the Archives)

This is another post from the archives, written July 10, 2012 - three days before our sweet girl made her grand entrance. Here we take a grand tour of her room. Of course she and her sister share a room, for better or worse (mostly better). Enjoy!

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Well, dear readers, it's a week overdue, but finally the time has come to show off the beautiful room for our still lazy, stubborn baking Baby Nyla. Since I feel like this room could be featured at the Showcase Showdown on the Price is Right, I'll need to get my announcer voice ready to go. Give me just a minute...
(Clearing throat...)
We start our tour of the beautiful baby's room with pictures of these... LOVELY modes of transportation! The bus, car, truck, and train all look quite cute with their vibrant colors and lettering.
As we progess around the wall, we stop and admire this... CUTE bow holder. This lovely canvas is dotted with circles and highlighted by this fantastic letter N. Five custom-cut ribbons provide support for all the hair bows your little girl could EVER need.
Immediately below the bow holder, we find this... LUXURIOUS glider! The neutral color allows for colors around the room to stand out and brighten your day. The comfort of this glider is perfect for those 3am crying and feeding times. The curtains are hand-made from a blanket, and the stuffed animals bask in the warmth from the double window. The window seat will see plenty of action when your little girl begins reading.
What room would be complete without... THIS HUGE WALK-IN closet?! Yes, your little girl will have hundreds of outfits to wear for all seasons, and you can find them all easily with the wire shelving and baby coat hangers.
And what sort of baby room would it be without... THIS SPECTACULAR crib?! Assembled by the loving hands of Daniel, this crib is sturdy and will provide hours of sleeping for your little one. The hand-made bedding brightens the room and lets everyone know that a cute little girl sleeps 20 hours a day in there.
To sparkle the wall over the crib, we've added these... ADORABLE pictures! Hand-painted flowers by Ginny bookend this beautiful centerpiece of colorful lines and boxes with a cursive "Nyla" in the middle.

Lastly, your giant baby needs clothes to wear as she leaves the hospital. That's why you'll love... THESE PRECIOUS outfits! Already worn before by Ginny and her sister, these outfits are precious and tell everyone that your little bundle of joy is coming home from the hospital to begin the rest of your lives as a family of (for the next few years) 3!
All of these items can be yours if YOU'RE having a BABY in 9 days and live in our house!
(Clears throat)
Phew! That game show announcer voice stretches my voicebox to the limit. I think I need a Hawaiian punch 5-calorie drink mix. That is all for now,
contestants friends and family.
Remember to help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered!

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There you have it! More this week on the story of our Little Giant Baby Nyla.

-D 

Fun in the Cabinet

When Nyla was just starting to crawl, she often found her way into the closest kitchen cabinet to her. After work I would come home to find approximately 1,254,097 pieces of Tupperware strewn all over the floor. That was ok. She was exploring and having fun. Now that Naomi is mobile, she has found that same cabinet. What better way to spend your day than playing with all of the plastic and formula cans?! Who needs real toys when you have a cabinet full of noisy cans?! Oh yeah, they BOTH crawl into the cabinet. But hey, look at those smiles!

I hope everyone has a great Independence Day!

-D

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

I've definitely been on a pizza kick the past 3 days. We had pizza Friday and Saturday night for dinner and Sunday for lunch, at least they were all different. Here's my latest creation in pizza making. Enjoy!

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
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Ingredients:


Alfredo sauce: This sauce makes enough for 2 medium-size pizzas or 1 large pizza (I do 2)
1/4 cup butter
about 1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4-1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Pizza:
1 pizza crust
1/2- 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (depending on the size of your pizza)
4-6 slices cooked bacon, chopped
1 cup mozzarella cheese
optional items: 10-12 spinach leaves, chopped green onions, extra cheese

Cooking Instructions:
For sauce: Melt butter in small/medium saucepan or skillet. Add cream and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add parmesan cheese and spices. Take off heat and set aside.

For pizza: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Roll out pizza crust, top with alfredo sauce, then chicken, bacon, optional items and then cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes, check at 10 minutes.

Freezer Friendly: 
Follow all directions up to baking. Place on a cookie sheet, flash freeze in the freezer for about an hour. Take out, wrap well with plastic wrap, label and put back in the freezer until ready to use. To bake: preheat oven, leave pizza in oven until ready to bake and bake as normal; see above baking instructions. Yes, it's that easy!

Verdict:
This was a hit with Daniel! He loves alfredo sauce so when I mentioned this he jumped on the chance to try this out. I planned on dividing the sauce into 3 pizza's and portioned it that way; it looked like so much on one pizza. When it baked up the sauce soaked in too much so we decided halving the sauce between 2 pizza's would be best.

Crawling into the Camera

From fussing to nearly eating the camera, our little Naomi runs the gamut of emotions.

Menu Plan-July 1

Can you believe it's already July? July is a big month in our home, our oldest girl turns 2 this month and we can't believe it! I may cry all day just like I did last year when she turned one. I know she's doing what she's supposed to be doing, growing up, but it's gone by SO fast and it's just hard to believe she'll be two. I feel like I just had her! :) Here's our menu for the week.

Sunday- chicken alfredo pizza {new recipe}

Monday- buttermilk herb chicken breasts {new recipe} with brown rice and vegetables

Tuesday- cheesy chicken bundles {new recipes}

Wednesday- lunch with Daniel's mom and dinner at my parents

Thursday- chicken quesadillas (from the freezer)

Friday- breakfast

Saturday- pulled chicken sandwiches (one of Daniel's favorites)

The new recipes are from my new cookbook, Don't Panic- Dinner's in the Freezer and I'm very excited about trying them. I hope they're good!
What's happening in your kitchen?