Addicted to Craig's List

I find myself checking Craig's List A LOT throughout the day checking baby items and minivans (probably too much).

Here's one of my latest finds that I am so excited about...an Ergo baby carrier. Or as you can see, it can also carry a pretty big toddler (up to 40 lb).

Cooking Ahead

Now that I am not working, I am enjoying being at home more & more & more. It really can be a full time job to keep up with everything! I have been working on having a better meal plan every day & being better prepared with shopping and such. This week, I spent one morning for a couple hours, just cooking & the results were wonderful! I want to do more of this & I have really been inspired by Crystal in the blog world (www.moneysavingmom.com , www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com , www.momoflittles.com - yes, she writes ALL of these). I get so many ideas from her about saving money, shopping, meal planning, activities for little ones, daily scheduling at home, and recipes! She just had her third baby and did a great job posting about her list of things she baked/cooked ahead to freeze for after the baby's birth. Well, it motivated me!

I ended up making a few dishes and some sweet tea for our community group that night & a couple make-ahead recipes including a triple batch of waffles for the freezer and the beginnings of a quiche for dinner tomorrow night.
The waffles turned out GREAT and the recipe was one of the easier I have seen (which is typical of moneysavingmom, recipes are easy, simple, healthy, & cheap!)

Here are the recipes I used:
Waffles
Quiche

And if you want to look further, here is the master list that Crystal had for her freezer with lots of links to recipes.

I would really LOVE to get to the point where my freezer is full of meals and such for after Landis comes!

Getting Organized

I'm trying to take advantage of my 2nd trimester energy with getting organized, having a more consistent routine at home and with Karis, and getting projects done around the house before Landis is born. (By the way, if I haven't told you, that is her name...Landis Alethea Lanier - my home town :) & the Greek word for truth.)

This new chalkboard wall in my kitchen is really helping me! It's chalkboard paint with a frame around it and I love the way it turned out! I realize more and more that I am an "out of sight-out of mind" kind of person with tasks (not people.) So, having a calendar with dinner plan, a To Do list, and a shopping list right in front of me all the time really helps me stay on top of things better. It also really helps me & Dee communicate & stay connected about what's going on in our family (& he likes seeing what's for dinner!).

And here's my big list titled "Before Landis Arrives"

• safety latches: kitchen & bathroom cabinets, china cab drawers?
• chalkboard wall in kitchen - DONE
  
• curtains & pictures back up (all done except master bedroom curtains)
  
• buy toddler bed - DONE (with an offer to borrow one from a great friend!)
  
• re-do closet shelving
  
• organize kids' clothes (Karis' done)
  
• carpet cleaned
• garage cleaned out???
• buy garment rack for guest closet
• make play area in guest room
• clean out guest dresser drawers
• painting ceiling in kitchen
• painting trim at entry, hall, & guest
• dig up garden
• get "material" for under swings
  fix gates on fence
  re-organize dee's closet
  new pediatrician?
  new insurance
  reorganize appliance cabinet
  get laundry sorter??

You know sometimes it helps just to make it public. I keep adding to this list in my head. I know my energy won't last long...I am 25 weeks into the pregnancy this week and I am starting to feel tired again. But I have a wonderful husband who hasn't minded all the projects and great friends who help me a lot!

When I was in full-time ministry, I struggled with the pride of believing I could change people, sinfully thinking if I could just get enough time with them and say the right words, they would live differently, think differently, be different. Lately I feel almost the exact opposite. The circumstances that people around me are in are so heavy and they seem so deep that I feel inept at speaking to it at all. Some of that is an appropriate growth in my heart and understanding that only the Lord brings change in people and their lives and some of it points to the severity and depth of the situations I am around right now. All I feel confident to do is pray and wait and love them through it. It's so hard.
From friends stuck in sin and addicted to their idols to young students living in such destructive lifestyles to marriages being ravaged by infidelity to abusive relationships to a friend losing a baby at 18 weeks in their pregnancy and having to go through labor and delivery to a friend going through the grief of losing her mom. There is so much pain, seen and unseen. What do you say? What do you do?
Pray...love...wait, and trust that only the LORD can speak to places of deep sin and deep pain.