A Word to the Waiting: Living in the Present

Waiting for labor to begin is like waiting for a package to arrive, without a tracking number; you never know when it's going to arrive, yet you spend every day anxiously sitting near the door waiting for it to come.

The days surrounding my due date, August 13, were basically torture! Not because I was having a hard time sleeping, or dealing with serious back pain, or any other typical pregnancy symptoms; the worst part of waiting for Baby Wesley to come was just that: waiting!

I often found myself saying things like, "I can't wait to meet my baby" or "I'll be happy when I finally go into labor". While it's not bad to anticipate and look forward to big events, I realized that while I was awaiting the arrival of my son, I was forgetting to live in the present; I was forgetting to be grateful for the wonderful things that were happening right then!

My due date came and went, with no Baby Wesley to speak of. In fact, I waited 5 days past my due date before things really got going (I'm working on writing up Wesley's birth story right now, so that is forthcoming). But with my new-found realization, I was able to look at my situation with patient eyes and find things to smile about and appreciate while I waited:

• I found happiness in dancing in the kitchen to my Pandora station. 

• I enjoyed having my husband work from home so that he and I could spend more time with one another. 

• I appreciated having time to emotionally prepare for labor, even if I started bawling/going into laughing hysterics after watching What to Expect When You're Expecting on Netflix one day. 

• Our daily walks on sun-drenched days were a delight, especially getting to stop and smell the roses along the way. 

• Matthew and I spent some time playing one of our favorite games, Dominion, during his lunch breaks. 

• Having time to myself, just reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was a luxury! 

• And....amidst the anticipation of becoming parents, Matthew and I were even able to get out on a few last minute dates and dessert runs. 

Even though being patient is a difficult task, I hope we can all learn to find joy in the journey NOW! Eventually, the baby DID come, but it took a few days longer than I had originally anticipated. While I waited, I was able to find joy in living in the present, not just anticipating some future event.

Great advice, Dove chocolate! :) 

I fear that many of us get in this same rut, even if we're not waiting for a baby. We spend so much time thinking "Things will be better when _(fill in the blank)_ happens" or "I'll be happier when _(fill in the blank)_", and forget to say "My life is great just as it is now!" or "I can find joy in the journey, not just the destination".

So, shouldn't we all spend more time focusing on the happy things we have now rather than just waiting on something more to come?

Yes!

My word to those who are waiting (which, in all reality, is all of us--we are always waiting on something) is to live in the present, to stop and smell the roses, and find joy right now. The "baby" will come in its own due time, but the wait will be much more bearable if you find things to appreciate along the way.

Thanks for reading!

#GDRecipes: Crockpot Split Pea Soup

#GDRecipes: Split Pea Soup

Since being diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes (GD), I'm trying new recipes that are filling and flavorful, AND that fit within my cap for mealtime carbs. I'm allowed 45 g of carbs for dinner and I felt that this soup really hit the spot and filled me right up for just 15g of carbs! You can serve it with a green salad and freshly cut cantaloupe on the side, or perhaps a fresh relish tray with sliced bread; there are so many options when you have a budget of 45g carbs for consumption at dinnertime! 

Here's the recipe and instructions for a tasty split pea soup, found via the Whole Foods Market website! (I halved the recipe from the original because my husband and I didn't need as much soup as the whole recipe makes; thus, the recipe below serves only 4 people).

Ingredients

• 8 oz (1 cup) dried green split peas (I purchased these from the bulk section at Sprouts, and it only cost me about 60¢)
• 1 cup diced ham (I used pre-cooked turkey ham, but you could also use ham hocks or a meaty ham bone)
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1-2 ribs of celery, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf, whole
• 1/8 cup chopped fresh parsley, or 2 tsp dried parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups chicken broth
• cheese (to top completed soup)

Serves 4.

Directions

1. Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given, adding the broth last. Do not stir ingredients. 
2. Cover and cook on high 4—5 hours or on low 8—10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off the bone (if applicable).
3. Remove the whole bay leaf from the contents and throw out. 
4. Stir remaining contents of the soup, serve with cheese on top, and ENJOY! 

Nutrition Facts

Of the entire recipe (4 servings)

Calories: 586

Total Fat: 7g

Total Carbohydrate: 62g

Protein: 40.5g

Fiber: 20.5g

Per Serving Size (about 1½ cups soup, or a fourth of the entire recipe)

Calories: 146.5

Total Fat: 1.75g 

Total Carbohydrate: 15.5g

Protein: 10g

Fiber: 5g


My pregnancy with Gestational Diabetes is quickly coming to a close, so I'll probably be taking a break from my #GDRecipes posts. But, I'm going to continue to record my food successes here; perhaps (as a new mom) I'll find some great, quick, and easy crock pot recipes and freezer meals that I'll share here!

So, if you have any great, new-mommy recipes up your sleeve, be sure to share them with me so I can test them out; I'm gonna need all the help I can get over these next 18 years. :)


Thanks for reading!

White Onesies, or The Sky's The Limit

With plenty of down time these past few weeks until the baby comes (now it's only 2 more days until Baby Wesley is due!), I've taken to a fun new project! I had originally purchased some white onesies for him and decided that decorating them could be really enjoyable! 

The best part about blank, white onesies is how much freedom one can have in decorating them! I decided to do some hand stitching and patchwork to turn these boring white onesies into works of art (mind you, works of art that will soon become original Jackson Pollocks, thanks to Baby Wesley). 

Hold me (it's a fermata, for those non-music nerds who don't know), as well as a play on the Google homepage

A cute lil' Yoda, as well as a tribute to Italia (since we LOVE Italy)

How To: 

Wondering how I went about creating these onesies? Well, here's a little 1-2-3 of the process, at least for the Yoda onesie:

I also did some simple stitching of text to create the other three onesies. Again, it all started with

Here are a few more of my Pinterest inspirations for this onesie decor project

Pinterest where I found some very unique onesies. Then, I decided which ones I wanted to make (that was a hard decision because I only had a few onesies to decorate!). Next, I printed out the designs straight from Pinterest on regular computer paper, making sure that it was the right size for the onesie. Those papers were then placed inside of the onesie so that the design showed through the front. I was then able to pin the design pattern to the onesie and sew away! After sewing, I simply ripped off the paper pattern and smiled at the beautiful design I had created!!

Now that I've successfully completed all of my sewing projects for Wesley, I'm kind of out of things to do. So, hopefully in the next few days I'll find other things to do with my time while I await labor and delivery. I've got a few books I can read, and of course I always have Netflix. :)



Thanks for reading! 

The Meaning of Life

Let's be honest: when you are anticipating being a stay-at-home-mother and currently your only responsibility is that of housewife, you often find yourself with lots of extra time (at least I do!). So, amidst getting things ready for Baby Wesley's arrival, as well as doing the house chores and making dinners, I have a lot of time during the day to waste.

My most recent "time-waster" has been Netflix. Oh, Netflix--what a blessing and a curse! I've spent a few days lazily relaxing on my couch, doing nothing more than just watching shows on Netflix. Luckily, I've justified this by the fact that I am also currently making a baby inside of me, thus I need as much rest as possible; lazy days are okay when you are just days away from delivering a child, right? :)

No matter the reason I've found myself watching a plentitude of Netflix shows and movies, one show recently got me thinking, which is the real reason why I've decided to blog about my semi-addiction to Netflix online streaming.

On an episode of Everybody Love Raymond titled "Talk to your Daughter", Raymond (the main character of the show), "armed with research and much preparation, is ready to speak with his daughter Ally about the facts of life (the birds and the bees), only to find that Ally's interest has changed from where babies come from to the meaning of life."1

So, as her father tries to provide a sufficient answer to the big question, Why are we here?!, the rest of the family pitches in on how best to go about telling little Ally.

You can watch what goes down, directly from the episode, you can view a 6 minute segment HERE. 

Or, if you'd prefer to avoid the crazy Barone family discussion, here's a summary of everyone's two cents on the matter: 

Frank, the all-knowing grandfather, suggests that life is no more than work and cannolis: "You're born, you go to school, you go to work, you die. That's it, that's all. Cannoli, Marie!"

Debra, Ally's mother, has a much more humanitarian outlook on the subject: "God put us on earth to help each other. It's simple, it's direct, it's a good way for her to live her life." 

Raymond, the father, isn't much help as he mocks Debra's response and (imitating God) says "I'm gonna put some humans on earth so they can help each other."

Robert, Ally's uncle, takes a much more skeptical and existential perspective on the meaning of life as he contemplates what happened before time and why we are here: "Where are we...where are we in the big scheme of things?"

It's Marie, the grandmother, who at least turns to the Bible for her answer, although what she finds is limited: "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth..."

While Marie is on the right track, looking to the Bible for answers to life's big questions, it saddens me that these characters had such a hard time determining what the real meaning of life is; even at the end of the episode, no real conclusion has been made. 

The reason this episode got me thinking is that I have never really had to struggle with such questions. In my adult life, I have always known the answers to life's big questions, and I owe that to my parents, church leaders, the scriptures, and personal revelation. While I may not have known these things or understood them 100% as a child, I have come to know them for a fact now! So, it is with great pleasure that I share with you my testimony of these things so that you, too, can know of a surety where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. 

Where did we come from?

Life does not simply begin at birth. Before each of us came to this earth, we lived in the presence of our Heavenly Father who created each one of us; but, we did not yet have a body, so it was our spirits that dwelt in His presence. While we were there, we were happy. We were taught about God's plan of salvation and happiness, His plan for us to receive a mortal body and return to live with Him one day. God knew that we couldn't learn all of life's lessons, couldn't progress spiritually unless we left His presence for a time and received bodies. So, it was He that allowed us to come to earth to experience both the joy and pains of a physical body and mortality. 2

Why are we here?

In short, we are here to gain a body, experience joy, and do all that we can to return to live with our Father in Heaven. In the Book of Mormon, it states the following: "Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they might have joy". 3  Just like Adam and Eve came to this earth and received bodies, we too have come to receive a body of our own. With this body, we are then given the agency to choose right from wrong, hopefully making choices that bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. When we choose to do the right, we in turn experience joy. But, when we do things that are contrary to the will of our Heavenly Father, we experience pain, sorrow, and unhappiness. 2

As we go through our lives, we learn and grow from our good choices, as well as the mistakes we make. We come closer to Christ as we study his gospel and follow his example. We come closer to our Father in Heaven when we strive to do our very best, accepting Jesus Christ (His only Begotten Son) as our Savior; as we take advantage of Christ's infinite atonement, we repent and become better people, becoming worthy to return to live with our Heavenly Father in the hereafter. 2

Where are we going?

Ultimately, we all die. But, we are not bound to spend eternity six feet under. "Our physical death isn’t the end, but rather is a step forward in Heavenly Father’s plan and a time of indescribable joy for the person making the transition." 2

When you or a loved one die, there might be a lot of people who are saddened by the prospect that they will never see you again. But, because of the knowledge we have of Jesus Christ and his atonement for each one of us, we know that at some point our spirit will be be reunited--or resurrected--with our mortal body. With this knowledge, we should be comforted in knowing that we will indeed see our loved ones again, even after they have left this mortal world. 2

Each one of us, by virtue of coming to this mortal earth and receiving a body, will indeed be resurrected. God will judge each of us fairly, according to the life we have lived. And, based on the life we live, our Heavenly Father will seek to reward us accordingly; He will grant to us a place within His kingdom, to live there eternally. 2

My Challenge

I encourage each and everyone of you to pray about what you have read, to ask your Father in Heaven if these things are true. If you have doubts or further questions, you can study it out in the scriptures, or using the references I've included at the bottom of this blog post. 

Armed with the answers to life's big questions, you will find that your life has greater meaning and your perspective will be widened. You will find peace in knowing that this is not all there is, that there is indeed more to this life after death.  I know that these things are true, that the meaning of life comes down to Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness for His children; I am one of those children, as are you. I assure you that your Heavenly Father loves you and wants you to know that you originate from divinity and thus have divine potential here on earth, as well as in the hereafter. This, I testify. 



Thank you so much for reading! 

References: 

1 http://www.tv.com/shows/everybody-loves-raymond/talk-to-your-daughter-129548/
2 http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation
3 2 Nephi 2:27

Other Resources: 

https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/the-plan-of-salvation?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/content/english/manual/missionary/pdf/36950_the-plan-of-salvation-eng.pdf?lang=eng

Baby Bumpdate: Second-Hand Sewing

Everyday, I turn on my desktop computer and it pulls up a countdown for Wesley's due date; today it says 5 DAYS! That's pretty insane because it just seems that time has flown by. Yes, I know that most first babies don't come on their exact due date, but my doctor said she doesn't want me going too far over my due date (because they anticipate Wesley will be pretty big!). So, I basically have between 5 and 13 days before I will definitely be induced for labor!

Other than that, here's a bit more about how I've been doing recently:

How far along am I? I'm currently 39 weeks and 2 days. The due date is just around the corner now!

How much weight have I gained? 34 pounds

What food do I crave? Pears. They have been on sale lately at Sprouts Market, plus they are really tasty and juicy during this time of the year!

How's Wesley doing developmentally? As far as we know, he's still a big baby but he is completely on track developmentally. At the last ultrasound, we even got to watch him as he practiced breathing.

How is my GD affecting Wesley? My blood sugar levels are completely managed, so I've been given the thumbs up from my nutritionist--Wesley shouldn't be negatively affected by my GD diagnosis after all.

What have I been up to lately? Besides just patiently waiting, I've tried to keep busy with a few more craft projects. The biggest of those projects was a quilt I wanted to make for Wesley. It's not necessarily a "baby" blanket--in fact it's very large--so it will most likely be used for when he gets older. But, while I had the time during this pregnancy I decided to put it together!



It all started with a request from Matthew: he remembers having a large blanket in his childhood and wanted Wesley to have one of his own, too. While my mother already made Baby Wesley an AMAZING baby blanket (check it out HERE, it really is awesome!), I decided to design a 5 foot, square quilt for him to grow into over the years.

I bought all the fabric for the quilt at Savers, a second-hand store, for only $15--that means that the quilt is made up entirely of repurposed pillow cases and a duvet cover. Then, I purchased a thin quilting batting on sale at Michaels for only $7. A couple spools of thread later, and the total cost of the quilt was only $32! I was pretty happy that it didn't cost too much in materials.


But, what I didn't spend in money, I definitely spent in TIME! I cut out and sewed together 162 triangles to make the quilt front. Then, I put everything together using a top stitch (stitching "in the ditch")--that was another 36 straight seams! After all of that, I sewed on the green trim by hand and....VOILA! The quilt was done!


I'm happy that Wesley will have this momentum to use throughout his life. Hopefully this can become a tradition for any future kids I might have, as well.

Thanks for reading!