Ephraim is 7 months!

Delilah is 3!

Three years ago today, I didn't know it yet, but I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the most hilarious, spunky, brave, and stunningly beautiful little girl that I have ever known.  On that day, she changed my life, but in a way that was different that having my first baby.  I had a whole new set of challenges - and I mean so much more than learning how to juggle two sets of needs.  I had to figure out how to fight my maternal urge to shelter my little girl forever and to teach her how to be strong and independent.  I was giddy with the thought of dresses, Mary Jane shoes, and braiding hair.  My stomach knotted at the thought of PMS and broken hearts.  I fought back tears as I thought about shopping for prom dresses and a wedding dress.  And then my heart swelled as I thought about watching my little girl parent children of her own.  Yes, I did realize that I was getting way ahead of myself as I rocked my newborn baby to sleep, but there is just something about the bond between a mother and her daughter.  And in an instant, I could feel the lifelong bond.

Delilah is such an anomaly to me.  It is just amazing to me that she can be so different, yet so much the same.  Put her in a line-up with her brothers and some people would wonder if she was actually related to them.  She stands out with her light hair and sky blue eyes, compared to their dark hair and darker eyes.  But, put her with her cousins and she mixes right in - and she's not even related to half of them by blood!  She is just as head-strong, brave, and loud as Jameson is careful, sensitive, and laid-back.  But, they are two of the most loving individuals that I have ever met.  When Delilah was a baby, I was really sensitive to people comparing her to Jameson.  Jameson was a VERY easy-going baby.  I felt like people were saying that Delilah wasn't a "good" baby (for the record, ALL babies are good babies).  I would, however, say that Delilah was born a diva.  She was a fairly happy and easy going baby...unless she was upset about something.  Then she would screeeeeeeam at the top of her lungs.  We would laugh that she had two volumes - silent and top of her lungs.  She's still kind of like that.  :-)  My favorite story of when I was pregnant with her was that when I would brush my teeth, every time I would lean over the sink to spit or whatever, she would push back against the counter.  It makes a lot of sense now that I've met her!

I know I may be a bit biased, but I think that Delilah is brilliant!  She has so much personality that she can light up just about any room.  She can hold her own with the older kids so well that I often forget that she's "only" 3.  She's very excited to start preschool in the fall.  She already knows how to spell her name, she can recognize all of the letters and numbers.  She knows the days of the week.  She is working with Jameson on counting to 100.  She will go down any slide with no fear.  She loves to climb, run, and jump.  She can do a somersault.  She is a genius with comedic timing.  She is so nurturing, whether it's with a real baby, such as her brother or the babies we watch or when she's tucking one of her baby dolls under a blanket for a nap.   She can quote some of her favorite TV shows.  She likes to run very, very, VERY fast!  She likes spinning in a circle until she falls down.  You can see the pure joy in her when she gets so excited about something and she has such a zest for life that it's hard not to join in the fun when you're around her.  She is so incredibly beautiful, with her curly, dark blonde hair and clear blue eyes.  And my very favorite part, her angelic little voice - especially when she's saying something very thoughtful and deep...or something totally naughty (like "see ya, suckers!")

Happy 3rd birthday, Baby cakes!

{Loved}

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  It seems odd to say this with my husband out of town, but this may have been one of my best Valentine's days ever!  First of all, look out world, we are raising a true Casanova!  Jameson is going to be a real catch in the romantic department!  He tells me almost on a daily basis that I am beautiful.  He will often find something specific to compliment me on - such as my hair style.  So adorable!!!  But on this particular morning, he woke me up and handed me an envelope.  "Open it," he says excitedly.  I open the envelope to find a green piece of construction paper folded up inside.  On the paper he has drawn two stick figures.  "It's your 'balentine.'  I drew a picture of me and you.  Oh and look, the paper is your favorite color!"  Oh yes, I melt into a giant puddle right there.

Then we talk about what he's going to wear to school.  Over winter break, he went to an at class at school and they painted shirts.  Delilah was also enrolled in this class, but couldn't go the day they painted shirts because she was sick.  So, Jameson decided to paint a picture of Delilah on his shirt.  This in itself is adorable.  But, today Jameson informs me that he wants to wear his shirt with Delilah on it.  I asked him why.  He says "Because I wuv her and she's my balentine."  Oh my gosh, where did this kid come from??  I just love how much they love each other!

As if that wasn't enough, then my daycare kiddos start showing up.  Not only did my kids get spoiled by our daycare families, but I also got a little something from one family.  They told me that I deserve a little pampering.  So sweet to be thought of when I can't be with my Valentine on Valentine's day!  Then I notice that I have a little message from the hubby on my FB page.  This is very out of character for him because he's not a big fan of FB PDAs.  But he stepped out of his comfort zone a little bit to make me feel special.  In addition to that, I also received several sweet text messages today!

Now, I'm sure one of the reasons that I had such a wonderful day was that I had very low expectations.  I'm not saying this to be a jerk, but history has taught me that although my husband may have good intentions, his follow through can sometimes leave something to be desired.  (I will say, however, that when he gets it right, he definitely gets it right!)  :-)  But, I can't even describe my shock when I spy a woman walking to the front door carrying a GORGEOUS arrangement of flowers!  Let me just tell you that Russell has NEVER sent me flowers and I'm fairly certain that I haven't received anything floral from him for Valentine's day since high school.  I was expecting just a phone call today and I was showered with Valentine's day surprises all day long!  

Though we've definitely seen our share of ups and downs, as we navigate this roller coaster of life.  I can honestly say that today I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.  I am so grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful people who made today a very special day.  I am definitely feeling loved today!  Although, the bar has now been set very high for future Valentine's days!!!  :-)

I think it's safe to say that a good day was had by all in the *B* household today!  :-)

Super Salad!

Okay, so the title of the post is from a little family joke that we have.  One day My Dad, Step-mom  Brother and I were out to dinner.  My brother ordered and the waiter asks "Soup or salad?"  My brother answers "Yes."  The waiter asks again "Soup or salad?"  My brother responds a little louder "Yes."  This happened so long ago that I can't actually remember how long this went on, but you get the idea.  But, eventually it got resolved and my brother told us that he thought the waiter was asking if he wanted the "super salad," so that's why he kept saying yes.  So, there you go.  A funny little story from the Perkins history that really doesn't have much to do with this post aside from the fact that it's about salad.  :-)

Instead of a super salad, I'm talking about my adventures in mason jar salads.  A while back, when I still worked outside the home, we had some training sessions and one included a talk on wellness.  Now, the guy who spoke ultimately was trying to recruit everyone to use his chiropractic services, but aside from that, I really liked what he had to say.  His philosophies were pretty much in line with my own - eat healthy, non-processed foods, eat as organically as you can, eat grass-fed meats, and use heart-healthy oils.  Love it!  Most of it was review for me, but I really do enjoy when people reinforce my beliefs.  Haha!  But, there was one thing that he said that I had never considered before.

He talked about all of the different nutrients in foods (protein/fat/carbs/etc.) and how our bodies use them.  He explained that carbs give us energy and the average American diet has it all wrong.  We eat super carb-heavy dinners and then go to bed shortly after that.  We don't use much energy in the evening or while we sleep.  He said that the way we should be eating is to have our carbs in the morning and afternoon, when we need the energy and our dinners should be low carb.  I had never thought of it like that before!  But, it made a lot of sense!  So, I discussed this with Russell and we decided that we should start eating salads for dinner (since that would be something easy for him to take to work).

Enter Pinterest where mason jar meals are running rampant.  I even have a Pinterest board devoted to mason jar meals.  I am, however, not so keen at following directions.  I often take a recipe as inspiration and then put my own twist on it.  The problem is, very rarely do my creations turn out the same twice.  Ask my college roommate, Kellie.  I once made this delicious concoction out of the leftovers from taco night.  I do remember that it consisted of rice, cheese, sour cream and taco meat.  We scooped it up with Doritos (hey, this was college, remember?) and it was freaking AHHHHH-MAZING!!!! Sadly, I have never quite been able to recreate it.  (That really doesn't have anything to do with salad, does it?  Oh well.)

Anyway, I read up on the basics of the mason jar salad.  You put the wet and sturdier ingredients on the bottom, like the dressing, the meat, fruits and/or veggies.  Then you put the things that need to stay for the most part dry at the top, such as the lettuce.  Then I put the things that you want to stay crunchy in a baggie - like croutons or nuts.  Then I perused the menus of some of my favorite places to get salads (like Panera, Runza, or Green Belly) and used that as a starting point.

My first go at this mason jar salad thing was two weeks ago:

#1 is an Asian salad - toasted sesame dressing in the bottom, chicken, green onions, Russell's had mandarin orange (or clementines, maybe?) segments, & greens. You can see the rubber band on that one, that held a baggie of chow mein noodles and slivered almonds to it. 
#2 is bruschetta on the bottom (tomatoes, garlic, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette) and lettuce. I did an Italian-style breaded chicken breast cut up and I made some croutons out of a leftover piece of garlic bread. 
#3 is poppy seed dressing, chicken, blueberries, strawberries and the "7 super foods" salad mix from Costco. 
#4 is buffalo chicken, blue cheese, diced celery & carrots, and salad. I added some ranch on the day of. 
#5 is chicken with a Thai peanut sauce, red bell peppers, cucumbers, green onion, salad mix and the day of I mixed in cashews and chow mein noodles.

I was quite pleased with the results!  The jars actually kind of sealed themselves!  You had to pop the lid off to eat them.  It was nice to just grab a jar, dump it in a bowl and dinner was done!  Plus it looks so pretty and colorful in the fridge.  I ate the last salad like a week after putting them in the jars and it was just as fresh as the first one...seriously!  I love, love, love this!  And my second go at it was much less cumbersome than the first one.  :-)

I do have a couple of repeats this week:
#1 Asian Salad, like above.
#2 Bruschetta salad, like above, but I forgot that I did the breaded chicken last time, so I added diced chicken breast.
#3 The poppyseed dressing with berries, like above...except Costco didn't have the "7 super foods" salad mix, so I just used lettuce.
#4 Once I realized that I was going to have extra Italian chicken, I threw together a Caprese salad (fresh mozzarella  basil, balsamic vinaigrette) with some lettuce and I'll add the chicken and homemade croutons on the day of.
#5 Salmon in balsamic vinaigrette and spinach.  On the day of, I'll add walnuts and dried cranberries.
I made 2 of each (I at one for lunch, leaving 9.  :-)  I should be set for the week!

And then, because I'm a show-off, you can see the smoothies that I have for breakfast on the right.  In case anyone is wondering, that includes: frozen berries, Greek yogurt, tart cherry juice (I SWEAR by this!!), and a scoop of protein powder.  I used to add either chia seed or flax seed, but I ran out and keep forgetting to get more.  So, there you go!  My adventures in mason jar salads!  I have a whole list of recipes that I want to try, so I'll keep you all updated!!  :-)

Ephraim is 6 months...and 7 days

 Oh man, I am even further behind on this than I was last month!  Anyway, so much has changed in just a month!!  As you can see, Ephraim can now sit up.  He was pretty wobbly at first, but now he's pretty dang sturdy...unless one of his siblings bowls him over!  He doesn't do so much rolling anymore.  He flips on to his belly and then that little bugger drags himself all across the room.  He wants so badly to keep up with those bigger kids!

Ephraim got his first taste of solid food.  His first bite was of avocado.  Although he made a face, he gobbled it up!  He has pretty much done that with every food he has tried - made a face and scarfed it down!  Come on, does this look like a kid who does like to eat?  So far, he has tried avocado, squash, apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes.  He broke out into a rash the day he tried banana, but I'm going to have to try it again before I'm prepared to rule that he's allergic to it.  This kids now thinks he's ready for steak dinners.  You have to watch him because he'll dive after any food within reach.  He also likes to hold the spoon and really tries to feed himself!

He still adores his big brother and sister.  He'll make little noises to try and get their attention and he's always flashing them his big goofy smile.  They are MUCH more likely to get him into a fit of giggles than his mommy or daddy.  Ephraim is starting to babble.  He's quite the little talker.  Big brother, Jameson, tells us that he's talking already "[Gasp], did you hear that?  He said Jay-Muh-Son!"  I don't hear what J hears just yet, but I doubt it's too long before he's chiming in with the other two!  Oh and Delilah is convinced that he should be talking because he now has teeth - Ephraim has cut 2 teeth already, BTW!

Happy half birthday, Ephraim!

Life.

I know it's been quiet over here.  Sometimes life can just get in the way.  I needed to take a little time for myself.  But, I'm back!  (I think, anyway.)  I plan to get caught up starting tomorrow.  A special someone turned 6 months old and we had a fun-filled weekend last weekend.  If I post this, then that means I HAVE to update tomorrow, right?  :-)