on a roll

Tristan has changed so much in his seventh month! The biggest development is that he is cutting three teeth....THREE. Now I'm just waiting on that fourth one to poke through, won't that be fun? Actually he is doing really well with teething and is just a little grumpy. Tristan is also saying "mama" but will only say it when he is tired or upset. He can also self feed now, yesterday he was sitting happy as a clam in his high chair eating yogurt bites all by himself! As I write this he is trying to climb up the stairs and yesterday he started pulling up on things and climbing onto anything within reach. He can push himself into a sitting position but will not crawl yet. I guess he is so efficient at scooting that he doesn't see the need to crawl. It is kind of funny to see him with teeth and pulling up on things when he hasn't crawled yet. Maybe crawling will come during the 8th month :)

A Lesson in Faith

Sometimes you feel like you are never going to get a break. Sometimes life gets harder instead of easier and sometimes you feel like you want to just give up. But, somehow it always seems like when these moments come God nudges me and reminds me to have faith. He has always taken care of us and we have never wanted for the essentials. We have never resorted to fighting and bickering with each other or with family because of the stress. God has kept us together as a family unit to get through tough times together and our extended family has always been a bigger blessing to us than they will ever know. I had to tell myself earlier this week to take a leap of faith. Our apartment HAS to be sublet and Jake HAS to start his job in South Carolina on the 22nd. So, we took the leap knowing that God would provide and rented a storage unit, moving van, and paid the deposit on an apartment. A guy is coming today to fill out the application to take our lease. Us moving depends on him passing the application process. But, even though it is all up in the air I know in my heart that if for some reason he doesn't pass the application that it will be okay and someone WILL come along to take our lease. Even if we don't move this weekend I feel like I have learned a valuable lesson. I know that when I get stressed out and feel like there is no hope I am just being silly. God doesn't leave His people, He takes care of them even if taking care of them means teaching us to rely on him by giving us hard situations to get through.

moving on

Thats right, soon we will be moving! Our destination will be Greenville, SC and I am excited to find a new place to call home. Of course it will be sad leaving family and friends and we are moving further away from my parents, but the opportunity really is too good to pass up. As a family we have prayed that God would give Jake a job that would take us to a better place financially and also a job that would help advance Jake's career and give him more opportunities. After many many months a position in Greenville opened up at the PD and they really like Jake and have offered him the job. Can't say how excited we all are as a family! Jakes dad does live in Greenville and of course my brother and sister in law are near Charlotte so they will be close by. I will probably try to blog a little bit more in order to keep grandparents and friends updated once we move out of town and of course there will always be lots of pictures of Tristan on facebook for you all to see him grow. We are going apartment shopping this weekend and if we can get someone to lease our apartment in Durham then we will be moving around the end of this month!

food snob

My child is a food snob. Tristan no longer likes baby food unless it is sweet potatoes, carrots, or butternut squash. He used to love bananas and peaches but lately he has decided to boy cot fruits because he likes them better if they are fresh. I mean who can blame him really? Baby food bananas have a weird tart taste to them and the peaches are oddly orange and also tart. I have been using a mini food processor to puree his fresh fruits and he loves it. His favorite has to be peaches! What I do is start with a super ripe peach that is slightly soft to the touch. I wash it, peel it, and cut off the fruit leaving the area around the seed as a snack for me. Then into the food processor it goes for a quick pulse. The summer peaches I have found at the grocery store are so soft and juicy they don't need to be cooked or have any water added to them. Tristan would eat the whole processor full if I let him. I discovered he also likes zucchini. I just peel it, seed it, boil it on the stove with a tad bit of water and then puree it up. He ate it yesterday and I think he is in love. If you have a baby at home make sure to take advantage of produce sales or produce from your garden this summer. It is so much better to feed baby fresh foods and they love it to boot!

Tristan @ 6 months

Today my baby boy is 6 months old! I never believed how fast time flies until I had a little one. Tristans ear is healing nicely from his surgery a little over a month ago and his personality is really starting to show. Here are a few things about Tristan at 6 months:

- he loves to be tickled

- he can push up onto his hands and knees but doesn't crawl yet

-he is a master at scooting around on his belly

- he LOVES tasting popsicles

- his favorite baby foods are bananas, butternut squash and sweet potato

- he doesn't like apples, peas, or rice cereal

- he hates nap time

- he likes swimming in the pool

- he thinks dogs are hilarious

- he has started to teethe (lucky us!)

- he is a ham! He loves to giggle and smile and loves it when he is praised or if you clap your hands for him

Totally worth it

On Wednesday after waking up at 12:30, 3:30, and then 6:00 I thought for sure Tristan would nurse and fall back to sleep for another hour or two...Nope! He was ready to play at 6am and did not want to take a nap or nurse. I was a little frustrated so I groggily made a pot of coffee (makes everything better at 6am!) After I fixed my cup of coffee I sat down in the floor to watch Tristan play while I drank my much needed caffeine. Before I knew it Tristan was scooting towards me and when he reached my leg he held on and rested his little chin on me. Luckily the camera was sitting right on the table so I was able to get a few pictures before he went back to playing. It was like he knew mommy needed a little cuddle at 6am. His personality is so sweet, it makes even late nights and early mornings totally worth it!

scrumptious squash casserole

Squash casserole is one of my favorite summer dishes. This week I found yellow squash on sale for 79cents a pound, so squash casserole went on our menu! This recipe is easy and delicious, but know it is not really a low calorie dish :) I adapted this dish from my moms recipe which is amazing. I wasn't sure her exact process but i knew all the ingredients. Here is how I put it together and it ended up tasting great! You can also add cheese to it if you like, but I like it without.

4-5 small or medium yellow squash washed and cut into slices or cubes
1/2 large onion diced
1 bag herb seasoned stuffing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup chicken broth (home made or low sodium)
80z sour cream
salt and pepper

First saute your onions and squash in a large non stick skillet until they start to turn soft. Once they are getting soft add 1/2 stick butter and salt and pepper to taste. Next mix soup, chicken broth, sour cream and 1/2 stick melted butter together in bowl. Add the bag of stuffing mix and mix well. If it is too thick and you need to add more chicken broth you can do so(if you add too much liquid you can add an egg or two to help it set up as it bakes). It should be a thick mush consistency, but not too dry. Mix this with your squash and onions and add to a large glass casserole dish and sprinkle with pepper. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 20-25min or until golden brown.