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Friday, June 29, 2012

Anniversary Tradition

This past March 28th, Craig and I celebrated our 3 years of marriage. SO much has happened over these past 3 years and we have lots to be celebrate.

We celebrated our first anniversary by redeeming some sweet birthday discounts Craig received at a few chain restaurants. That afternoon my water broke and just minutes before midnight Abigail was born. How do you beat giving your husband his first daughter as a one year anniversary/ birthday gift!?
Bringing Abigail home from the hospital
Anniversary #2! We celebrated birthdays the weekend before our anniversary date and actually went out ON our anniversary (something we don't think will happen in the future sharing Daddy/ Daughter birthdays). My Mom sat for Abigail and Nathan (confused as to why we suddenly had two kids by our two year? Read that story here) while we hit up the town of ManchVegas! Okay, we went out to 900 Degrees for some DELISH flat bread-wood fired pizza! Think Bertuccis, but locally owned.

A little bit of my love language was celebrated by going on a coffee date to one of my favorite Cafe's in town - REPUBLIC . It is everything I have ever wanted in a cafe/ restaurant. They support local, organic/ fair trade as much as possible, their desserts are amazing and they make a mean cappuccino... in fact, they ACTUALLY know how to make a cappuccino and not just a latte that they call a cappuccino. I hear they have amazing food as well, but it has been my go-to spot for a "nicer" coffee date with the hubs or a girl friend.

The rustic atmosphere and preservation of the old buildings that both of these restaurants are in is totally my taste and style for decor.

Anniversary #2 at REPUBLIC
Anniversary #3 came the day after our actual Double-Birth-Versary. We weren't in the greatest spirits due to the day before as Abigail spent her second birthday having tests done. The results were looming the next day, but we found our reasons to celebrate so many things anyway.

The church we used to attend met above Gaucho's, a Brazilian Steak House. Craig always wanted to go there, but if you have ever been you know it is pricey. We found a local website that sold gift cards for half off, so we jumped on that! It was a fun and yummy experience that I would love to do again!

Afterward, we walked about half a block to, Guess where? REPUBLIC! We even had the same bar tender that served us last year and he even remembered our fun story about our Double-Birth-Versary.

Anniversary #3 at REPUBLIC
Two years in a row and pictures to prove it! Craig, let's declare going to REPUBLIC an Anniversary tradition!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Who Is He?

I have been caring for children my whole life. I was 7 when my first nephew, now 18 years old, was born. I carried him around like I carried my dolls. By age 12, I was getting paid to baby-sit peoples children. At 25 years old, married and with a daughter of my own, I still baby-sit and get paid to watch peoples kids.



Baby-sitting/ nannying/ child care isn't just a means of extra income to me. It is an opportunity to minister to kids and love on them. Ever since I was 12, I have kept my routine tucking in kids, singing a song and praying with them. Most of my life, I baby-sat for families from church, but now it is all from reference.

Maybe my routine sounds normal to you. Maybe you are a bit stuck by one thing I just said, perhaps even offended.
 I pray with these kids.
I pray over them as I tuck them in. Out loud, so they hear it.

Several months ago now, as I tucked in a sweet elementary aged boy, he asked a very simple question. After I prayed for him he asked,
 "Who is Jesus and why do you want me to know him?"

When I first met these kids I mentioned something about my church and they asked, "What is church?" I knew then that they had no knowledge of Christ and my prayers became a little more specific. It goes something like this "... Jesus I pray that ____ may know your love and that he may come to know you one day..."

These kids don't know the Gospel, but they know me and I pray for them even when I am not tucking them in at night. I pray that these precious moments when I pray over them may be stored in their hearts and that it might create a desire in them to learn who Jesus is.

Hey, it's been a year and I haven't been fired yet.

Luke 18:16
But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

We're Going Camping

Our 2nd Family Camping Trip.

Well... that is mostly true. I was about 10 weeks pregnant with Abigail and 5 months into marriage when we went on our first camping trip.

Now, Abigail is sleeping and napping the best she ever has and we are doing it! We are camping outside in a tent for two nights with a 2 year old. Heck yes!

Our first camping experience was incredible. Up in Acadia/ Bar Harbor, Maine on a nice September weekend. My champion former boy scout husband did all the cooking.

I can't wait to eat meals fresh from fire-cooking and toast marshmallows while swatting mosquitoes (okay, minus the mosquito part).

We are a plaid wearing family
The best part is, there was only ONE vacancy where we are going... when I booked it a week before our weekend getaway. I didn't procrastinate, I just didn't want to camp if it was raining ;)

This month has been busier than expected with Abigail's surgery/ recovery, Craig ran into some demo set issues that took him away for repairs and we decided to move... next month... two weeks after my sisters wedding. And there is also that, a wedding in 10 days.

Needless to say, we need a break. Not just from our schedules and life demands, but our heads need a break. It has been a rather emotional month for us (because apparently I thought my daughter recovering from surgery would be like coming home from a check-up, not two weeks of emotional stress and her dealing with lots of fears and anxiety over what she went through) We need a rest, our whole selves need to rest. I want to be mentally present for my sisters wedding, and I need to be emotionally present when my friends need me. Jumping from one big life event to the next and onto another demands  rest.

So we are resting this coming weekend. As a family, just the 3 of us. No phones, no internet, just us and our camping gear. And all without taking a long drive far off to the mountains. A little camping trip not even 30 mins away is just what we need.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Meal Planning Pt. 2

Last week I eagerly shared my new ventures into (intentional) meal planning. You can read that weeks meal ideas here. I have since been inspired to start working some more gormet-style meals in occassionally so that I can tap into my Creative Kitchen side more often. We are typically trying to eat on the cheap and healthy, so a splurge for some fancier home-made is totally acceptable especially when we rarely eat out.



This is what I have been working on for my two week meal plan/ grocery shopping trip. Much of this was created out of what I already have in my cabinet/ freezer. So some things, like cream of chicken soup that I buy like once a year, needs to be used up NOW. I don't want to be moving canned goods next month.

Couscous with Garbanzo Beans (Let's EAT that can of garbanzo beans and random 2 year old box of couscous)
Split Pea Soup (again with the bag of peas purchased months ago + my 5 lb bag of carrots in the fridge)
Chicken bake (with cream of chicken soup + Lipton onion soup packet, over brown rice, stuffing, cranberry sauce and cream style corn... the only thing I need to purchase for this comfort food is the chicken!)
Chicken Enchiladas (SALE on tortillas, enchilada sauce and green peppers last month!)
Rice Pilaf with Fish and fresh veggie
Loaded Baked Potatoes (with sour cream, bacon and chives)
Lasagna (a whole box of lasagna noodles waiting to be used up!)
Shake'n Bake pork chops with red skin potatoes and Lipton Onion Soup Seasoning with fresh veggie
Fish Tacos
Salad with Chicken and Black Bean Salsa
Frozen spinach and cheese ravioli with vegetable saute
Pizza Pasta Bake
Chicken Gyros
Pizza Stromboli

How is that for 14 meal ideas? Some may sound delish and others you may turn your nose up at. I'm trying to be creative with what my cabinet already contains. THAT is what we are eating the next two weeks. Feel free to share you meal ideas, whether it is one meal or a whole week menu! The more suggestions the better.

More to come on my gourmet experiments. I'll be working on some fun ideas for my next shopping list ;)

Monday, June 18, 2012

He Turns it into Praise

If you were reading last week, I posted a few entries on Abigail's surgery. It was a rough two weeks as we received a rather large sum of medical bills just days before her surgery, adding to the stress and worry in my heart.

I heard about, looked into and prayed about a potential part time job this summer to help pay for those bills. The day before her surgery, as I prayed some more about this job I just really felt God pressing it on my heart that I was pursuing this out of anxiety and not seeking God's provision. I don't believe that we should sit around and wait for God to provide and not be willing to work, so this was a moment of revelation to me. Taking this job would add such stress to our family during this already busy season of our lives and I would be sacrificing our ministry along the way. I don't believe that either my family or ministry has any room for sacrifice right now, especially when we are working so hard with events and support raising.

That all being said, I didn't understand why God was saying "no" but I needed to trust Him. 

The next week was filled with Abigail's surgery and recovery. And receiving yet more medical bills (why insurance doesn't process things at the same time, or why we (were) paying SO much for health insurance that hardly covered anything baffles me... we have since transitioned our family to MediShare, a Christian Health-Co-op. LOVE the model of this organization and their firm Biblical practices.)

Last Thursday, as I carried a mud covered 2 year old up from the car, we picked the mail out of our mailbox to find a letter addressed to Craig and myself with no return address. There was a note inside, with no signature. And a bank check was enclosed. Craig came home just moments later. I told him he better sit down before opening it.

This was the scripture reference written on the note:


Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
     his understanding is unsearchable.
29 
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31


I didn't understand why God was saying no to me taking a part time job, we NEEDED the money. I don't understand His goodness and why He chose to bless us by using one of His children to anonymously bless our socks off. He always provides. He is SO good.

The craziest part is this- several weeks ago I had a dream that we received the EXACT amount that our anonymous giver gifted us. I thought that my dream was meant for our support raising. I realized days after we received this gift that the vision of my dream had been fulfilled.

Sometimes, it is easy to let our hearts be filled with jealously when we read a story like this. I know. My sin-heart can get the best of me when I hear that someone was able to raise full support in just a few short months. The truth is, our Father is a GREAT GIVER and He LOVES to bless this kids and blow their minds  for His glory. The way He shares His provision looks different. If I dwell on all the craziness (both good and scary) of the past few months I can find my mind wasting away. I need to read this story over and over again myself, to remember how good He is. It's too easy to forget.


Thursday, June 14, 2012

Meal Planning

One of my most common quests online during downtime has been Meal Planning.

It has taken the stress out of "What am I making for dinner?" or "What do I need to buy at the food store?" and made it rather enjoyable.

I'm on a budget too, plus with moving, I have been trying to eat out my freezer and pantry to make use of that random bag of beans or 10 frozen bananas.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you will see I mostly Pin recipes. Doing this just before bedtime can leave me feeling hungry and cranky, so I'm trying to avoid this time of day... it just all looks SO good!

My sister out in Washington state has 3 kids 6 years and under and an 18 year old, plus her and her hubby that she feeds. We try to share ideas, including our hope of coming up with semi-regular meal planning to blog our ideas to help YOU. I am all for Meal Sharing and Meal Plan sharing.

My sister Andrea & I in Washington
Almost 2 years ago we ventured out on Meal Sharing with another couple. One meal a week we would swap. So one night a week I would double our dinner and exchange it for a yummy surprise dinner the next day. Our family has grown and our friends moved away, but it was a lot of fun!

Today, our more practical way of Meal Sharing is Meal Planning. I'm trying to do it for two weeks in advance just to help cut down on shopping.

So here it goes.

It's naptime here and our food supply is running low. Monday will mean a trip to the store and with a busy weekend ahead, I got a head-start on our Meal Planning/ Shopping list. It can vary some when I get to the stores based on meat sale stickers. I can't promise recipe links, but I'll work on basic ingredient lists and you can find your favorite recipe. My head is full of them, so I don't use too many recipes, I just search for pictures of meals to get my creative juices flowing and write out a Meal Plan.

Week of June 18-24
Monday- Loaded baked potatoes (baking potatoes, bacon, sour cream, chives (garden), cheddar cheese)
Tuesday- Chicken Gyros (pita, greek yogurt, cucumber, chicken)
Wednesday- GRILL- Burgers, grilled potato "chips", grilled veggies *Grill chicken for weekend meals
Thursday-Pulled pork sandwiches with homemade BBQ sauce IF I can find a sale cut.
               Plan B- Homemade pizza/ calzone with various veggies
Friday- Cwtrials Event
Saturday- Lunch- Cwtrials Event
                Dinner- Fish Tacos (Tortillas, avacado, onion, tomato, fish)
Sunday- Lunch- Grilled Chicken (from Wed. grilling) salad wraps
             Dinner- Father's Day dinner out at  Hubby's favorite restaurant

An old pic, but how CUTE are they? Craig loves his BBQ. We miss Famous Daves in Manchester!
Our personal goals for food spending/ budgeting per month- $300 groceries and $80 eating out/ date nights/ coffee, etc. We are really trying to cut our groceries down to $300 and meal planning has been THE WAY TO GO in saving money on food. (Hey Mom! You were right! Making lists DOES make for being more productive and saves time over all... and in this case saves money!)
We don't eat out too often but with this season of life we are in with traveling, our eating out budget was raised. I try to find coupons/ deals, etc. for a planned eating out event.

To help with this, I follow two local food stores, Market Basket and Hannaford for their weekly sale items. I also take a quick peek on Coupons.com to see if I can find any coupons for items I am already going to buy. I'm not a big couponer/ stock piler. We don't have a pantry, just a tiny cabinet. In the future, as our family grows and our next home allows, this may be something I will venture into. I am also taking advantage of my parents garden area and growing a bunch of fresh veggies to share with them this summer! Fun!

I hope this was helpful!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Forgiving an Institution

I never labeled my bitterness as unforgiveness. I wasn't angry at any "one" person, I was infuriated with the whole network- the hospital that we dealt with for months when we first learned of Abigail's urinary reflux/ kidney issues.

After seeing 12 Doctors and specialists, switching to another hospital network, we remained in "their" care for Abigail's kidney health. Her Nephrologist won my heart. He listened to our concerns, respected and supported our health care practices (and they aren't that radical). I love this Doctor for showing such detailed concern for our daughter, taking his time to talk on the phone to explain hard news and what the next steps were. He didn't grow impatient when my shock went on repeat asking the same questions hoping for differently worded answers, easier to swallow. 

His care and professionalism was redemptive. 

One time, Abi slept through her entire appointment in her Daddy's arms.

He stopped by to visit Abi at the hospital and just check in. 
It was after he left our room that I realized that I needed to let it go. Two years was long enough Karissa. It is time to move on. I'm thankful for the care he has given our daughter and am thankful he isn't into hospital politics, he's into patients and giving them the best care he can.

Our recent stay at the hospital for Abigail's surgery (which you can read about here, here and here) was fantastic- filled with supportive and caring staff. We met about 12 Doctors, several nurses and a handful of really enjoyable hospital staff.

  It was time to move on. I don't say this easily. My sinfulness still tried to bubble over and spew out the venomous story of all our bad experiences. But really, how many good Doctors, staff, visits and hospital stays will it take to redeem my heart of bitterness... all toward an institution. 

I mean really, look at that face. 
It's over. Two years old. Move on, forgive that no-face institution and embrace the life they have given my daughter. She is alive and well and has a fantastic team supporting her. 

I'm moving my heart from bitterness to thankfulness. 
Can I just tell you how refreshing it feels to not carry that burden anymore. 






Abigail PostOp

We rested in the "Hope Garden" at the hospital knowing that we were about to reach the "hard part" of our day- Abigail coming out of anesthesia. Our first experience of this was on March 28th (you can read about that here) it was rather traumatizing for all of us. The Doctors said she would most likely come out that way again. 

This was taken at perhaps the hardest point, but it was so precious all at the same time. She did really well coming out of anesthsia... did I mention this was my BIGGEST fear/ stress/ anxiety over the whole ordeal? (Evidence of God's goodness and prayers answered #2)

We got in the room moments before she woke up. I helped her take her oxygen mask off and she whispered asking for her "pacie". I snuggled her a bit before she made her second request "Daddy snuggle in chair." 
Melt his heart. 

Her third request was for her "bikicle." So her and her Daddy watching trials biking videos on his phone. 
Melt her Daddy's heart. 


After about an hour and a half of "recovery", we were moved up to the room we would stay the night in. She was awake from about 4-8pm while nurses checked on her, we watched movies, fed her some broth and crackers and snuggled.


Good morning! She slept through the nurses coming in, medication being given orally, our weird anti-bed sores bed moving all the time and beeping going off... a typical hospital stay.

She was awake for two hours in the middle of the night just talking away to me. Asking if we could go to Mimi's house and eat pancakes, asking about her cousins, talking about farm animals and babies. 
The saddest part was when she said she was "scared." She never knew that word (or the meaning of it) before now. Since then, she will wake up in the middle of the night and cling to me saying she is scared or I will wake up to her sweating and having nightmares. It. is. so. sad. At one point during our night in the hospital I prayed over her and her fears. Afterward, she prayed for Curious George.

These are my most precious people. Daddy feeding her jello to get some liquids in her while she drew pictures.

They took her catheter out and she didn't pee for 8 hours. After 6 hours and checking her bladders fullness they became concerned. She has stitches on her bladder and they didn't want them to rupture if she CAN'T pee. Two hours later they put a catheter in her that drains into her diaper. We will go in Wednesday to have it removed, giving her bladder and incision time to heal before being stretched. 


Saturday morning Mimi stopped by with donuts and a playhouse for Abigail. I think they helped her heal. That girl was back to her mostly-normal self Saturday morning. After a 4 hour nap that afternoon, she had about 3 Xs the energy that Craig and I had, combined. It was exciting and nerve racking to see her mobile after not walking for almost 2 days. She was able to move around without pain and  really only complains about pain when she coughs, grabbing her lower belly.


A few nights of sleeping in Momma & Daddy's bed, one night refusing to take Momma's socks off. 
This girl is so precious to us. 

Abigail's PreOp

The night before surgery we wanted to treat Abigail to some ice cream. 
She is her fathers-daughter and LOVES her ice cream!


Morning play time at the park. We left about 9:30am so we could have time to play, stop for a shared ice coffee and make the 1 hour 15 min drive to Lebanon. She fell asleep reading her book before we hit the Hooksett tolls. One of our biggest stresses leading up to this day was that she had to fast until 1pm. A hungry Abigail is just sad. Thankfully she really only asked for food once. (A big answer to prayer and evidence of God's goodnes #1)
She was pretty excited to put these "jammies" on! She was little joy when we got there and spent about an hour playing in the playroom with dollies and farm animals.

Only one of us could be with her during the anesthesia so "Doctor Daddy" put on a jumpsuit and got to hold her while she fell asleep talking about animals. 


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Our 2012 Double-Birth-Versary

Here we are, over two months past our special March 28th day. Two days before Abigail's surgery I finally have the courage to post about her kidney function test.

The nurses greeted us with birthday gifts for her at the hospital!
I'm the one who scheduled her appointment. The day started with guilt as my two year old had to fast on her birthday, on her Daddy's birthday, our anniversary. We had some reasons to be concerned about her left kidney again, so I eagerly took the next appointment available which had been a last minute cancellation. Otherwise we would wait and things may get worse.

We didn't know then what we know now. We didn't know that her left kidney was failing. We found out about the reflux in her ureter when she was two weeks old with a soaring fever, spending her 3rd week of life in a hospital. It was so scary. We just got her, could we lose her already? 

The birthday kids!
Months of countless appointments with about 12 doctors went by and things were starting to look up. A year and a half went by with regular kidney check-up appointments and we were confident she was healed. 

We were not angry when we found out that she wasn't healed. We weren't questioning our prayers and God's faithfulness when we learned from her kidney function test that her right kidney was performing like a rock star to make up for the little life being held up in her left kidney. It shrunk. The tests came back confirming that the upper part of her left side double-kidney was almost non-functioning and dragging the second half of her kidney into the pit of death as well. 

You can live with one kidney. You can live a perfectly normal and healthy life with just one kidney.
Craig and I had found out the month before that we were not a kidney match for our friend who was in desperate need of a match. We were warned that we shouldn't even entertain the idea of donating a kidney with our daughters "possible" condition. 
Our God is bigger than transplants. Bigger than being a kidney match. And bigger than healing our daughter of reflux and her strange double kidney/ double ureter issue. 


Our friend's wife is his match and they will be doing the transplant June 19th. June 7th, our daughter with undergo surgery to re-route her left simies-connected ureters (plural) to the other side of her bladder with hope that there will be no more damage to the kidney and the tubing will be long enough to allow regular flow. We are praying passionately for plan A. Because we want her to have two HEALTHY FUNCTIONING kidneys and plan B would require removing part of her tiny body- her left kidney.
Her Daddy and I will be with her into the next day when we can come home. Her Heavenly Daddy will be there during the whole surgery when we can't. He will be able to hold her so tightly and bring healing into her body the way that we can't. 

So pray for her on Thursday afternoon? It is a 3 hour long process and her Doctor will be doing two other surgeries that morning. Pray he is rested and wise. Pray for us, her parents. It will be a long 3 hours for us and helping a two year old come out from anesthesia is sad and scary... we know. 

This is our Abigail (Hebrew for Father's Joy) Charis (Greek for Grace) and that she is. Our joy and grace. The most wonderful gift God has given to us, her parents.  



Saturday, June 2, 2012

Cake POPS!

This past week my Mom, Abigail and I took on a challenge making 50 cake pops. This "fun" baking experiment took about 4 hours longer than I hoped, making our baking extravaganza a two day event. When it was all done and I saw our beautiful display of these cake pops, I decided it was worth the learning hassle. (Cooking and baking come easy for me, so I was a bit put off when this became a "challenging experience".)

Ta-da! 

For the past year or so Cake Pops have been all the craze, on blog posts for party ideas, on Pinterest and even in the Starbucks display case. While they are cute and fun to eat, I'd rather make and eat cupcakes over cake pops any day. Dare I say... they are a bit too sweet for me? Well, Craig loved them and bringing him home a bag of Cake Balls (same thing, without a stick) was the way to his heart.

For your pleasure- a dorky picture of me finally enjoying one of our creations. 

As if you can't look up about 100 recipes on your own like we did, here is what worked for us. This will make about 75 regular sized cake pops. I'm a make-it-from-scratch kind of gal myself, but everywhere I search, they suggested using boxed cake mix/ frosting.

3 boxes same flavor cake mix (we did Chocolate)
1 1/2 tub of frosting (we chose cream cheese)
1 package almond bark
Sprinkles

Make the cakes as the directions on the box say for a 9x13 pan. While still fresh out of the oven, crumble the cake with forks (or as my Dad said when he walked into the room during this part "What did the cake do?") Let cool and combine them in a big bowl with your hands to make a fine mixture, adding in the frosting until it "holds" together. Stick it in the freezer for at least 20 mins, or refrigerate until later use. We used a melon baller/ cookie scoop as our measure for size and rolled them with our hands until they were firm.

The crazy part- figuring out how to coat them. Dip the sticks in your melted chocolate and stick them in about 1/2 -3/4 of the way through the ball. They took a while to set so we stuck them in the freezer again for about 20 mins. Melt your almond bark (we had success with this over melting chocolates) in a double boiler and I suggest just working from your stove top to keep it warm and workable. Holding the stick, twirl the balls in the coating and use a spoon to assist in coating it all over. Sprinkle with decorations and let dry by sticking the stick in a colander so the balls don't smear. It is trial and error the first few. Good luck!