Christmas Crafts

I have been feeling more crafty the last month than I have all year. I don't know if it's the Christmas spirit, or finally feeling like we have an awesome routine with Roy and work and school, or just going stir crazy after not being creative for so many months, but I have enjoyed doing these crafts lately.

This isn't really a craft, but we got our first Christmas tree! Since we'll be at our home for actual Christmas day this year, I really wanted a tree. It's just a little one, with a few gold and silver decorations from Walmart (plus a Spiderman makeshift tree topper!), but it makes me so happy.

I have an amazing stocking that my mom made when I was a baby, but Shenli doesn't have the same one, and mine is at my parent's house. So I made us some simple ones. I used the best tutorial ever from Craft Passion, and I love it. I still haven't decided what to do for our names on the stockings, and I think I want some other decorations on them eventually, but I am taking little steps. This may have been my cleanest sewing project to date. I cut carefully and even ironed in between every step. And I am so thrilled with our little stockings! Now to find something to put in them for Christmas....

I also made a few snowflake window clings from puffy paint. I loved this craft! I printed out two different templates (here and here), and cut up big Ziploc bags to use as the plastic to put the paint on. I let them dry 24 hours, and then peeled them off - they stick right to the window! It's a simple craft, and I can't really see them from inside anyway, but it makes me so happy just knowing they are on our window for everyone outside to see.

Bacon Potato Chowder

This is one of our new favorite meals. I made it, totally thinking Shenli wouldn't like it, since it's a soup and the only meat is bacon. But he loved it! I've made it three times in the last month, and I make the full recipe each time - and even then, there's only usually the tiniest bit of leftovers!

Potato Corn & Bacon ChowderIngredients1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. butter
1 c. whole milk or half & half
4 c. or (1) 32 oz. box chicken broth
3 slices of thick-cut bacon, cooked until crisp and diced
½ c. medium-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3 russet potatoes, rinsed, peeled (optional) and cubed into 1″ chunks
2 c. fresh corn
½ of a yellow onion, diced
1 leek, rinsed well and diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. sea salt + a pinch for sweating
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¹⁄₈ – ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, depending on personal taste
DIRECTIONS:1. Set a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add butter and melt. When butter has melted add onion and leek. Add a pinch of salt to help the onion and leek sweat and cook for 4-5 minutes until tender and transparent. Add garlic and corn and cook for 3 more minutes.
2. Sprinkle in flour and whisk. Slowly add chicken broth and then milk. Turn heat up to medium-high, then add potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Once the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened, turn heat off. Add in cheddar cheese and stir until incorporated. Spoon into individual bowls and top with crisp bacon pieces. Serve immediately.
Stephen + Natalie via Life Made Simple | Makes approximately 4-6 servings

Roy's First Haircut

Everyone we knew told us not to cut Roy's hair. But seeing it every day, it was driving me crazy! My doctor told me many people give their babies buzz cuts as early as two months old, so I wasn't too worried about cutting his hair. My sister Alexis held him while I used our trimmer (6 all over, then a 3 on the bottom and around the ears to get rid of the mullet :D). He screamed the whole time and so I didn't spend enough time making it even. But I think it looks a million times better! It took some getting used to, but now he looks so grown up and adorable. Gone is the CRAZY hair! When I look back on pictures, especially the one below from right before we cut it, I can't believe we even let it grow that long. It was insane, but now I love it!

Before 

After!

He wasn't too thrilled

Finally big enough to wear the onesie I made for Shenli!

Thanks Becca for the adorable onesie!

Roy is 3 Months

The first two months with Roy went by so fast, and now it has taken forever it seems to get to month 3! Roy is becoming more and more enjoyable every day. Here are some fun things about him this month, and of course a whole bunch of pictures!

• He weighs just over 10 lbs, and is in the .85th percentile for weight (yep, less than 1 percentile!). He's such a little guy. He weighs less than any of our friends' babies, even the younger ones. But he's healthy and happy, and still growing, so I guess it's okay!
• He sleeps through the night every night - about 10 hours. He does wake up at night and cry, but he always puts himself back to sleep.
• His hair just keeps getting better! I think we'll cut it soon, I'll have to post those pictures too. :)
• He can sometimes roll over from his tummy to his back. He tries to do it every time we put him on his tummy, and he gets really sad if he can't make it all the way over.
• He coos and smiles all the time now, and it's the best. We spend all day trying to make it happen.
• He stays awake for 1.5 hours at a time, and then sleeps for 1.5 hours. He does get a little grumpy toward the end of being awake that long, but he is happy again if we hold him.
• He is formula-fed 100% now. Of course there are pros and cons to every kind of feeding, but we are loving the formula! It is so nice to make sure he's growing and to take less time feeding him.
• He is learning so much these days. He follows things with his eyes, he is starting to reach for things to grab, and he wants to stick everything in his mouth!
• And last but not least, just one funny story. The last two nights, when he wakes up in the morning (or last night when he woke up at 5am and was crying so loud that I went to check on him), he has turned himself around in his bed 180 degrees! His head gets stuck under the changing table part of the pack n play, and his feet are where his head was! It's so cute, and I guess we need to start giving him a little more room in his bed. It's strange he never moves like that while he's awake, but it's just adorable to see when he's asleep. :)

Orange and black for halloween

Halloween spider hat - face #1: Scared

Face #2: Curious

Face #3: Happy!

Visit to the doctor for some shots 

Learning to sit up, with some help from pillows

Three-month pictures

He almost always has his hands in his mouth these days - both of them!

Chicken Stir Fry

This is the best stir fry I have ever had. I love stir fries of all kinds, but this is the best! The recipe is from Shenli's mom, and I wrote it down when she taught me how to make it, but at the time I remember thinking "I know this is a terrible place to write it down, but I'm sure I will remember it later!" And...I have no clue where I wrote it down now. So I'm trying to recreate it from memory!

The cool thing about this stir fry is that you can make it with chicken for a full meal, or leave out the chicken (just start at the part where you put in vegetables), and have it as a delicious side dish for any other Asian meal! Also, I am not putting exact measurements for most of the things below. It can be made as big or small as you need, and you can use as much or as little of everything as you think tastes good.

Chicken Stir Fry
Recipe: Alicia Lund (adapted by Eliza Lund)

Chicken breast(s)
Corn starch, for chicken
Oil, for the pan
Minced garlic
Soy sauce (Alicia recommends Kikkoman for cooking, but La Choy for eating)
Oyster sauce
Sesame oil, optional
Cornstarch mixed with water (about 1 tsp cornstarch in 1 cup water)
Additional water
Vegetables - broccoli, carrots, pea pods, bell pepper (I prefer red), zucchini, etc. Anything is possible!

Cut the chicken breast into thin, long slices and coat with corn starch (about 1 tsp for 1 chicken breast - it doesn't have to fully coat the chicken). Heat 2-3 tsp of oil in a large fry pan to medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stir constantly to fry the chicken until it is cooked through.

Cut up the vegetables. Alicia cut up the broccoli into small pieces, but left the stems fairly long. The carrots get cut into thin thin slices, cut on the diagonal. Pea pods can be left whole or cut in half for smaller bites.

Add the vegetables, garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil to taste to the chicken. For enough food to feed two people, I usually use about 1 tsp soy sauce, and 1-2 Tbl of oyster sauce. I don't usually use sesame oil, but it will give it more depth of flavor. I also use about 1 clove garlic. But as Alicia taught me, tasting it is the most important, and you will get better at knowing how much sauce you need to get a good flavor. Also add the cornstarch mixed with water to thicken.

Stir fry the vegetables and chicken until the vegetables turn bright and the sauce thickens. The vegetables will still be crisp. If you need to, add more sauces for flavor, or more cornstarch/water to thicken, or more water by itself to thin the sauce. You want the sauce to be slightly thin still by the end. Once everything is to your liking, serve immediately with rice.

Here are some additional things that can be done, that I don't do every time. It just depends on if you need to:
-You can add the vegetables in order from what cooks slowest to fastest. Broccoli is considered a fast-cooking vegetable, by the way, since you want it to still be crisp.
-If the vegetables aren't cooking fast enough, you can put the lid on the pan and steam them for a bit. This will help the vegetables finish cooking without drying out the chicken or burning the sauce.

My Happiness Project

If you haven't read The Happiness Project, I highly recommend it! I am not usually into self-help books or nonfiction, mostly because a lot of self-help books to me seem similar, and I am either doing many of the things in the books already, or else I am not ready to make some of the other changes!

But this book is different. Or maybe it just really clicked with me. Either way, I loved it! I loved that anyone could benefit from asking themselves what truly makes them happy. Since reading it, I find myself asking the question "what makes me more happy?" or "do I do this because it makes me actually happy?".

For instance, with eating right vs. eating pizza and brownies all day. Which one makes me more happy? I am still wrestling with that one though...so let's move on to some easier ones. :D

When my mom was in town, somehow the topic of napkins came up, and I mentioned that I only use napkins on special occasions. Clearly I have issues. But anyway, she said "Well, today is a special occasion!" and we used the napkins. Now I'm not saying that I never use napkins ever. But, for instance, if I cooked bacon and wanted to put it on a napkin or paper towel to remove the grease, I would take a napkin and rip it in half to use less. Because clearly I need to save those 97cent napkins so I don't have to buy them frequently!

Since my mom made that statement, I have now found myself considering every day a special occasion for many things. For instance, I now allow myself to use more plastic wrap, instead of reusing kind that is clearly meant for the trash. I run the dishwasher before we run out of dishes (I used to use random tupperware as bowls for my breakfast cereal, to save...dish soap I guess?). I do laundry more frequently. I wear my favorite clothes and shoes instead of saving them for some "special occasion". And here are a few big ones:

-I throw away bobby pins that are sharp because they have lost their plastic coating. Um hello, why would I put myself through pain of bobby pins rather than just buying new ones?!
-I buy makeup supplies. I had one makeup brush that was broken, so it was just the tip with the brush on it left. Why not just buy another!

Some might say, and I've pondered this myself too, that I am just being less conservative now, and becoming more wasteful. And sure, that is the case. BUT it is making me more happy! Having clean dishes makes me happy. Even more than the 'joy' I received from conserving water and dish soap.

I have some other happiness goals I want to tackle from this book, but that was the main one. To make myself happy by using up things. I highly recommend everyone read this book!

Baby Roy Turns 2 Months

Two whole months! It sure doesn't seem like a long time, especially since when I look at Roy, I swear he's at least several years old. Apart from the not moving much and not talking much, he feels like he understands enough to be quite old! I am sure all parents think that about their kids. They just seem so smart! Here are some fun things about Roy this month:

-He has a giant head. Okay, we knew it already (50th percentile for head circumference at birth! And combine that with only 3rd percentile for weight...it looks pretty cute and funny). But we recently got together with some friends who had a baby, and Roy really looked like he had a big head then!

-He is starting to make noises and smile. And it is the cutest darn thing! We spend so many hours each day trying to get him to coo at us, or smile. Shenli is the big winner in that category - he blows in Roy's face and Roy closes his eyes and gets a big smile on his face.

-I think he will roll over any day. He lays on his back and rocks side to side so violently. And he has been able to roll from tummy to back a few times, but not consistently.

-Nap time is turning into fool-the-parents time. He will be silent for a long time, and then start crying in his bed. As soon as we crack open the door to check on him, he will look directly at us and stop crying. He sure knows how to get us to pay attention to him!

-He is so content, we can take him anywhere! In the last week, we have taken him to church, some friends' house, and a baby shower. At all three places, he was totally content as long as we held him (which we, or someone else, did constantly!). Even if he is tired or hungry, if he is being held then he will just sit and watch the world go by.

-Next week, he gets his 2-month shots. I am excited to see how much he has grown, and for him to start really interacting with us!

He is learning to smile now!

His hair is an adventure every day

He loves Grandpa, but not so much the spider hat.

At night he enjoys taking off his clothes while inside his swaddler!

He looks so big now!

Roy's Baby Blessing and Our Miracles

We blessed Roy at church when he was six weeks old on Sunday, September 28th. There were three baby blessings that day! Two of my sisters and their families were able to come and be there with us. It was such a wonderful blessing! Roy was blessed in the white blanket that my Grandma Bonnie made that belonged to me. When Shenli held up Roy after the blessing for the congregation to see, there was an audible whisper that ran through the crowd. Roy's hair always causes quite a stir! We had moved into this ward just a few weeks before I had Roy and so we haven't been to church much at all. So now it is fun to get to know ward members with our new baby!

There have also been some wonderful miracles in our life lately that I wanted to record. The first was on Roy's blessing day. My dad's favorite hymn was #194, There Is a Green Hill Far Away. Since it is a Sacrament hymn, we sing it quite frequently of course, but throughout my life I have noticed that I tend to sing it in Sacrament meeting on important days in my life! Back at BYU in the ward I met Shenli, I gave a talk one Sunday early in the semester, and I was so nervous - but we sang that song and it calmed me. Shenli remembers noticing me during my talk, and so the hymn was there with us as we began our friendship and eventual marriage! The same thing happened on Roy's blessing day - Hymn #194 was our Sacrament hymn. I was nervous that day too, since we hadn't taken Roy anywhere for 3 hours before, and I was worried he would cry the whole time. But he was so wonderful at church, and I am grateful for my dad's favorite hymn being there with us.

The other miracle I wanted to mention was that the Lord always knows what we need and what we can handle. About a week ago now, I had a particularly stressful day. I have been working from home now and that sure takes up a lot of time and energy! I was in a grumpy mood from work, household chores, and Roy demanding so much (I know I know..he's not even 2 months! But sometimes it just gets to me...). At the end of the day as I was being sad, Shenli asked what I needed. I said "honestly, I just want to sleep 8 solid hours for once in my life again!" There was nothing Shenli could do about that of course, but it was the first thing that came to my mind. So I went to bed at 9pm that night, just after we put down Roy. And then...Roy slept until 3:45am! It was the first time he had "slept through the night", and I got almost 7 solid hours of sleep before I had to wake up. Since then, Roy has followed that same pattern - and although I don't go to bed at 9pm every night, I can get a solid chunk of sleep before Roy gets up to eat! The Lord truly knows what we need, and when we need it. Although it was just a little thing for me to get more sleep (and I'm sure that 8 solid hours is still a long ways off for me :D), the Lord blessed me in my hour of need. And I am so grateful!

Roy will be two months this week! I am sure I will write a little more about him, with some of the fun pictures he's taken lately! And I still have a few recipes up my sleeve, don't worry. I just need to make them again so I can get good pictures!

Baby Roy Turns One Month Old

Well, we're parents! It's kind of surreal to say that. Sometimes it feels like Roy still hasn't even come yet, and other days it feels like he has always been here with us. Having a baby changes so much! I don't even have much to say, so this will probably just be a photo-dump for now. Maybe someday I'll write about his birth story, or recovering, or things we've learned with a newborn, or anything else...but I'm not sure I am ready or have really learned enough to write about that yet.

And maaaaybe someday far into the future, I'll resume writing about new recipes we try, desserts I make, and crafts, but in the 4 weeks thus far, I have made exactly 1 dinner, 1 breakfast, and 1 dessert, so I am not sure how soon I will get back into the cooking/crafting world. :)

Here are some stats about Roy as a 1-month old.
-He weighs over 7lbs. I'm not sure how much, but at this 2-week appointment (which actually occurred when he was 2.5 weeks old), he weighed 6lbs 14oz. Third percentile for weight! :) But he is growing and healthy, so third percentile sounds fine to me.
-He is still in newborn diapers and newborn clothes. But just this morning I had to put away the first outfit that no longer fits him. It was just a newborn sleeper, but I think it was smaller than the other ones we have. He has started wearing some of the smaller 0-3 month clothes as well!
-He wakes up to eat about every 3 hours at night. Sometimes 4 hours. So he usually gets up twice before being up for the day around 7-8am.
-We are finally starting to really push to get him on a schedule. Now that he's a month old, I'm excited to start a routine of eating and naps.
-He has the most adorable hair that anyone has ever seen. :)
-He has an awesome case of baby acne. Apparently there is nothing much we can do, and it doesn't bother him of course, but it sure makes taking baby pictures hard. I think he's cute, but the pictures sure don't do him justice.
-At first he couldn't stand taking a pacifier. He doesn't like the hospital ones, which are supposed to be the ones most babies like! But we found out he does like one specific kind of pacifier, and now that he has discovered that pacifiers are fun, he won't go to sleep without one.
-For his one month birthday present, we cut Roy's fingernails (we are such cool parents...), so now he doesn't have to wear hand mittens all the time!

Baby Car Seat Cover

I only showed one picture of the nursing cover I made, but I wanted to show a few more of this car seat cover. I had always just planned to buy one of the ones online with the minky that you can get for free and then just pay shipping. But there were only a few color options that I thought were boy-ish enough, and $13 for shipping was still a lot to me! So I already had this fabric below - the light mint circle one on the inside of the cover - so I just bought the outside fabric and the yellow for the straps, and made one myself! It was SO easy, I will probably do it for a girl in the future, and maybe even for gifts and things.

I used this tutorial from The Ribbon Retreat. I loved how simple it was. I didn't even have to measure fabric, I just had to put the top and bottom pieces on top of each and even them out. It can be as big as the fabric will allow it! And using a plate to make the rounded corners was genius. Even though mine doesn't have fancy ric-rac or bows (someday I will do that when I have a girl!), I think it is just perfect. 

I know the fabric colors probably look a little bizarre. The mint I already had, so I wanted a boy-ish pattern to go on the top. There was one other fabric I saw at the store that probably matched the mint better, but I really liked this turquoise leafy pattern. Car seat covers tend to be more crazy and less matchy-matchy anyway, right? :) The yellow is found in the top turquoise fabric, so it kind of matches there, and I really just think it is fun despite not being the best match ever.

Pregnancy Update: 36 and 38 Weeks

I am officially very pregnant. It's exciting! And....starting to get just slightly uncomfortable. :) In fact, I wasn't uncomfortable at all until I took the 38 week pictures. Since then, the comfort level has decreased significantly. 

The most common questions/comments I get nowadays are "wow, you're still little!" (yep, please baby stay in the 6lb range for birth!), "Are you SO READY for him to come out?" (Actually, I really enjoy him in there. Maybe I'm the only one, but being pregnant is still pretty great and as long as I can walk around, it's totally fine to have the baby in there!) and "Have you chosen a name?" (Which, up until about a month ago, we had! And now....well that name is most likely out [It was Emmett] and so we're on the hunt again! I mean, I still have about 1.5 weeks as I type this...we'll find a name somehow, right? :)

36 Weeks

38 Weeks

The weeks are starting to blur significantly. I used to know where I was based on my next doctor's appointment, but now those are every week! But here are some more notes:

-I am apparently having contractions regularly. Although I still have a hard time knowing when they happen! But apparently, the times when I feel like I have 'rock-hard abs' are not baby kicks, they're contractions!

-I have started getting what I think must be a pinched nerve. It happens in my bum (sorry for the tmi...) and I get a sharp twinge of pain, and my leg goes out. I can't hold my weight on that leg for a few seconds, and I can't pick up the leg or move it. It's annoying to have pain and not be able to move at the same time! 

-We have the baby's room all put together! I am not buying anything else (famous last words?), except of course for diapers which I imagine will be a never-ending purchase. :) I also still have to wash some towels and the baby's coming home outfit (navy blue elephant print!), but otherwise we are READY! Hospital bags are even packed. :)

-I have no word yet from my doctor on when the baby might come. But I will see him again on Tuesday! He did say "it could come tomorrow, or a month from now!" at the last appointment so I guess I am at that point where anything could happen. But although I am not SO READY for him to come like everyone loves to say, I am also super excited, and when he does get here, it will be a wonderful day!

The Goings-On of Late

If I were smart, I would probably save each of these events for a separate blog post- because who knows when another exciting thing will happen around here! But then again, I have been feeling in a better crafty/cooking/baking mood lately, so maybe I'll get around to taking more picture. Plus, with the baby coming in a month or less even, I can always default to posting baby pictures from now into eternity......

Here are some fun things lately. Yes, the pictures are terrible, but too bad. No apologizing - why? Because I'm sick of not taking pictures. I never take pictures anymore, and I think it must be that I hate taking bad pictures, so I just never take any. But heck, how am I going to get better if I don't start at all?

1. Washer and dryer! They arrived less than 2 hours ago, and I love them already. Sure they're not the most fancy option, but I am excited to wash our clothes less than 10 feet away! The delivery guys were super nice and hilarious, so it made for a great afternoon. Now I have to go read the instruction book... the cover says "Warning: Must follow instructions IMMEDIATELY or death could result." Um... what kind of washer did we buy? :)

2. I got new glasses! I had the black ones (top picture) for 10 years, and although my prescription hasn't changed at all, it feels good to have some nice new, non-scratched ones. It took me a while to get used to not having dark black frames, but now I like them way better. I was about 85% sure I had purchased white-ish ones, so it was surprise even to me when they arrived and are gold/bronze/brown/white/blue! A little bit crazy, but I actually really love them.

3. I made a nursing cover! I probably actually should do a full post on this, but oh well. I knew I could probably do it pretty cheap, and I LOVE picking out fabric, so I knew there were a few baby things I wanted to do myself (next post: carseat cover!). I love this blue bird fabric. I also got to sew with boning for the first time! I was amazed and so happy that it turned out well, and it really does feel like I will use it often. I used this tutorial from Sew Much Ado, and I thought it was super easy.

4. Baby has a room! Ever since we moved to this new apartment, it has felt so right to have this second bedroom for the baby. And since my fun shower thrown by my amazing sisters, the baby now has things! The closet has his many clothes, all of them newborn and 0-3 month, so I hope he's a small baby. The pack 'n play will be his bed. On the top there, you can see the infant napper, which he will sleep in for the first little bit. Then, that part converts to a nice changing space by flipping it over, and he will move into sleeping in the lower section. Not everyone would want their baby to sleep in just a pack 'n play of course, but I think it is the perfect option for us, plus I set it up in only a half hour or so (and wore myself out so much that it was the only thing I could accomplish all day. :D)

Well, that's it for us! We just have a few weeks to wait, and then a little baby should be arriving in the Lund household!