Headers

Can anyone tell me how to center a header????

I've been trying to figure it out and am either too tired or keep getting interrupted by a kid!!!! My brain hurts and feels too full... raising hand - may I be excused please?

Valentine Art

I have selfish motives to fire up my dusty keyboard today. A really talented blogger, Jessica at Craftily Ever After is offering this wonderful Valentine art. Go here to find out more. I really love that she has generously shared her time and talents. To me that is the Body of Christ. Thanks Jessica!

~

She has some other art from Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. We gave the Thanksgiving Burlap in frames to the kids teachers after I printed them up with a matte finish at Costco. I included a note to the teachers we were Thankful for them. It was easy inexpensive and speaks my love language of giving generously (but was practical for my busy schedule and helped me be mindful of budget).

~

I wish I knew how to design subway art like her. I have some fun ideas swimming in my head. One in particular from a sign that caught my eye over the summer at vacation bible school for the kids. She has an etsy shop and does custom orders, someday I'll have to get in touch with her and see about my idea. Who knows maybe she'll share it with the blogging community?

~

Do check out all her fabulous tutorials and the rosette balls she made to accompany her Valentine Art!

5 week comparison

This is my firstborn at 5 weeks. He was my scrawniest babe. Had horrible reflux and colic.

Child number 2 was my biggest babe and nursed great and grew great. I can count only a handful of times that she spit up (like 3).

And here is my sweet youngest babe at 5 weeks. She also has reflux and has to sleep in a bouncer and wear bibs, except when Momma is taking a picture. We are making progress with spit ups down from 3 bibs a night to one.

I found it interesting to compare how my little ones looked each at the same age as an infant.

Babywearing

I have discovered the moby wrap and am loving it! A friend lent me hers and I have one coming in the mail this week. I would have a dozen more babies if I could babywear all of them!!!

Awww, snug as a Bug!

Sorry for the tiny pics. I can't figure out how to use this new computer or my iphone which I used to take these pics.

My 3 Ring Circus

Hello All, Welcome to my 3 ring circus and step right up to juggle life with 3 kids! If you aren't supervising the middle child very closely with her markers she'll decide she wants full sleeve tattoos on her arms cause that's what all the cool hip 3 year olds are doing in Austin! She proudly showed me her work and announced it was her name!

The kids adore their new baby sister!

They love getting to hold her and help care for her.

Things are going well if you don't factor in sleep deprivation and an overabundant milk supply which makes Mommy very uncomfortable with engorged udders, Mooooo! It has also been hard to help baby not be so gassy if she gets to much foremilk, she has some spitting up when she gets too full of milk as well. Some days are better than others but overall we seem to be getting into a rhythm.

On a side note if you plan to have a baby make sure your computer doesn't die, you car doesn't act up (headlights wouldn't turn off - bad fuse) and that sugar ants don't show up to join your household. All of the above explains where I've been and what I've been up too lately.

~

I haven't figured out how to use the new computer yet to upload pics and use the new Windows 7. Hopefully my tired brain and body will get functioning and I can happily blog as time allows. Wish I had more time to visit blogging pals, but know that I miss you and cherish your lovely comments. Smiles, Jennifer

Eviction Notice

Here is an update on my status. Sorry for any male readers, cover your eyes and go la la la la!
No cervical changes. 1 cm dilated.....need to get to 10 cm. Baby's head is right there between my hips and in position. (I hope it doesn't have to much of a cone head!) Soooo, the doc said if I didn't deliver by this weekend he wanted to schedule induction. I don't really want to but also don't feel like I can live in limbo and I trust his judgement. At least we can be prepared with getting our kids to our good friend who is watching them when due day arrives. Monday was full for labor and delivery, so Tuesday it is. And Tuesday's child is full of Grace and Lord knows I need as much of that as I can get!

Still here....

I'm still here....

Here is my view looking down on my bump.

Hey, where did my feet go?

At least my toes are ready with a new pedicure!

Here's how big my belly has gotten.

At my last check up this past Friday the doctor said there was no change. No dilation, nothing. I am 2 weeks from full term but had deliveries with the other kids at 38 weeks and 39 and a half weeks. This kid is holding it's poker cards close.

The other night we went out to dinner at a steakhouse for the "last supper" and had the kids with babysitter. After we got home Daddy took his boots off and Stuntwoman modeled them. Look at that silly grin!

The most excitement we had this weekend was Chuck E Cheese and some popsicles and water play outside it was 85 degrees here. Thank goodness I don't have to be pregnant much longer in this heat!

Also I got the baby seat cleaned up and ready to go. We tested it out with out our newest Six Flags prize. Th-th-th-that's all folks!

Tired

Hello Blogland, I'm still here.... just dog-tired at almost 37 weeks pregnant and feeling ready to pop! Chasing after 2 energetic preschoolers is cramping my desire to nest and nap!!! I have just been too tired to post anything but wanted to say "Hello" to anyone dropping by. Hope things are good in your little corner of the world!

Spring Break

You may have noticed I have been missing in action with posts. Well last week we went on a Spring Break. We spent the first half of the week in San Antonio and went to Six Flags and Sea World. The second half we spent in Dallas seeing family.

The kids really were having a good time despite the looks on their faces in this shot. And by the way this is the only acceptable pregnant photo I care to share. I am getting a double chin, yikes! And do you see my belly button popping out? It's like the pop up timer for a turkey saying it's done!

By the way I think there should be a special place in heaven for women who go on vacation pregnant. And also for women who have to go grocery shopping with small children on a regular basis.... I'm just sayin'..... Can I get an Amen on that, anyone???

Monday Reflection-Belated Sunday Verse

Psalm 118

Give Thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his Love endures forever

Sorry this verse is late... I ended up having a migraine and felt yucky last night so didn't get around to this. But yesterday was so gorgeous that here is what we did after church. A lovely picnic by the lake.

What can be better than kisses from Daddy?

Or an M&M cookie?

Or just hanging out in the sunshine and throwing rocks in the lake?

Token belly shot!

Yikes get some color on those white chicken legs!

Would someone please tell that girl's Mama to trim her bangs? Poor baby with all that hair in her face! Hope you had a lovely weekend too.

A new favorite thing...

This post is for my Mom and Sister who both requested to see my new latte bowls that I have been gushing about. Swoon, I love the colors and style and they make me smile. Who doesn't want to be happy eating cheerios first thing in the morning? The only drawback is Dear Hubby feels they are too small for his portions. Oh, well! So I got these on my first ever visit to Anthropologie..... I know I've been hiding under a rock. Wow is that store ever fun but expensive. Good thing these bowls were reasonable. The funnest part is they change the colors for every season. I plan to get more and am actually planing to go back and get the seafoam blue as soon as they get it in stock. Who knew you could have a bowl addiction? What's your favorite thing? Have you been to Anthropologie?

Sunday Verse

Just thinking about the Loves of my life. I think these pictures speak volumes about how much a Father can Love his children. This is moments after our Son was born and his Daddy is in complete Love.

Look at how much Joy is on his face with his little girl. I'm so glad these memories and moments were caught on film.

Being a parent humbles me and teaches me of God's love for me. I keep hearing this song this week and I just know I am supposed to share it with you. It's a little long but I hope you take a moment to know how wild and passionate God is crazy in Love with you!

Happy Valentine's Day

xoxoxo, Jennifer

Psalm 9:1-2

"I will praise you Lord with all my heart... I will be happy because of you. God Most High, I will sing praises to your name."

Home Sweet Home

Hello to family and friends! Wow it has been a busy month and start to our New Year back in Texas!!! 3 days after we got here our movers arrived with our things. I'm still trying to get unpacked and organized, a hard thing to do at 5 months pregnant with 2 energetic preschoolers. I miss having a basement and the great storage closets we had in the Canada house. It is wonderful to be back home though. We went to Dallas for Christmas the week after we got home and ironically had a white Christmas. I think we brought some of Canada back with us... but what a fun Christmas memory for the kids and family. We have been busy with the New Year and Young Master and I celebrated our Birthday on Jan 2nd! We have been getting our driver's licenses renewed and a new car and restoring services to our house. Getting all our trees trimmed and general house hold chores. Getting a big girl bed to make way for the baby to use the crib come Spring. Going to the dentist for the whole family and someone will have a 5 year well check next week. I have been for a 20 week ultrasound and the baby looks good and healthy. So we are blessed and doing well. I have missed being able to blog regularly and hope to get back in the swing of things. I've missed all my blogging buddies who brighten my day. I look forward to catching up and hope you all had wonderful holidays.

Good-bye Dear Canada

Our movers will be here tomorrow! We fly home in 11 days. I'll be on a blogging break as the computer gets packed up and moved. Please pray we clear customs and get our things quickly, coming here it took 2 and a half weeks til we got our things. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Dear Canada,
When I first moved here I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into. I have really enjoyed getting to know you. What can I say but I will miss you dearly. You have been our home for almost the last 2 years. We have enjoyed your wonderful seasons and climate. Autumn was by far our favorite, the colors were breath-taking! We have loved traveling and discovering your beautiful country. Oh and don't get me started on your maple syrup! We definitely plan to come back and visit you again. We have enjoyed your wonderful foods and people of many varied cultures here. We have made many wonderful friends and have really enjoyed our time here. We started this family blog shortly after setting up residence here and aptly named it Traveling Longhorns, to chronicle our travels here. Now as we travel back home to Texas we will continue to record our tavels and adventures along the way.

I heart you Canada.
Yours Truly,
Jennifer

Baby Babble

If I were to categorize myself in primitive terms, I am a hunter gatherer. I am in the aquisition phase of baby stuff! I couldn't help myself the reindeer shoes are too cute and next year at Christmas the baby will be around 7 months! I figure they are unisex enough. Ah, but here is where I got into trouble 50% off at Old Navy and I couldn't resist this newborn hat and shoes. So I am likely jinxing myself and my husband already thinks this one is a girl and he seems to guess correctly for every one's pregnancies. At least it will make a cute gift for another Mom if we don't need it and besides it was on sale right?


So I am 16 weeks pregnant and here is my baby bump, this is just after a full meal at the end of the day when I get more swollen. I cannot believe I have 26 weeks more to grow...into a blimp. And I do, I get huge!

Computer fun

So the other day I was looking around my computer folders for a picture of my house in Texas. No such luck. But I stumbled across a picture of my girlfriends wedding day. I helped some with her flowers and decorations which I sadly don't have pictures of. In fact this is the only picture I seem to have. My batteries must have died. :(

Anyhow it gave me an idea to try my hand at editing with photoshop. I had seen a tutorial and was inspired to give it a try. Somehow I never could figure out how to get the image darkened to black but I like seeing them with just the pop of purple. It reminds me of warhol pop art. Now remember I am a computer-tard so if I can do this you can too, trust me.

Here's the final result. I chose her favorite color, purple! And it was printed at costco on 5x7 matte for a whopping .33 cents. Not a bad present for her upcoming birthday once framed and wrapped up in a pretty presentation! Hope she doesn't read this post but if so Happy Birthday early JC! Now I have plans to make ones of my kids as well. And this would make a great present for Grandparents with Christmas right around the corner.

Weekend Fun

Over the weekend we went to a Birthday party for two brothers a year and a month apart. They had a joint Birthday at Chuck E Cheese. My kids were in heaven, what kid doesn't love the Cheese of the Chuck?


I made the boys shirts for their birthday the Mom requested matching. I put a matchbox racecar in with each shirt. The 3 year old was really excited about the car especially. What is it about having something that is just the right size to carry in little hands that is so gratifying for kids? Anyhow I was pleased with how the shirts turned out.
~
Yesterday morning the kids both had upset stomachs for about half the morning and no other symptoms. I was grateful it didn't last long since Hubs is out of town on a business trip. Could be a slight reaction to flu vaccine or a leftover present from Germy Cheese er I mean Chuck E Cheese. Anyhow all is well that ends well.

Hormones

Would somebody turn off my hormones? Seriously, I am getting all emotional when I see a Johnson and Johnson Baby commercial, or a holiday commercial where the family is all happy and celebrating. It makes me just wanna bawl, but in a happy way......cause it's so darn sweet. What is it with pregnancy that makes you so emotional?

Enough of that rant on to the next one. I've been very tired and thought the nausea was done but it is still lingering. I think the difference this time is being busy with two little ones. Nuff said.

~

Anyhow this picture is a way for me to document or record what I am doing to eat healthy. Like I said I have been tired and also feel like the stress has been high with the move preparations. Not only that but the house we are renting is being showed to prospective new renters it seems like every other day. I have times where my heart kinda races or palpitates quickly. I know that your blood circulation increases to accomodate the baby. Still it is hard when you feel crappy and don't want to do anything but lie down because you feel faint.

~

I noticed I had a craving for greens, you know the Southern greens with vinegar. Around the same time I started wanting grapefruit. So I did some research on iron. Turns out the palpitations might be because iron is low and heart is trying to pump faster to get blood circulating.

~

So now I am trying to find foods high in iron and my Mom has been worried if I am getting enough protein. So almost daily now I fix a salad with spinach. Today's salad is particularly healthy in my opinion and I thought I'd take a picture to remember. This salad has raw kale and spinach greens, avocado, strawberry, mandarin oranges, shelled hemp seed, and natural pumpkin seeds or pepita and is topped off with italian dressing.

~

The raw greens are full of vitamins, we all know how our Mom's would say eat your greens. The fruit is a good source of vitamin C. Avocados are full of beneficial protein. The hemp seed is something my girlfriend used on another raw kale salad recipe I have and like and is a good source of protein, 11 grams for 2 TBSP which is 20% iron. The pumpkin seeds are a powerhouse as 1/4 a cup has 18 grams of protein and 30% iron.

~

Another side note vitamin C is beneficial to help you absorb iron. Which a glass of ruby red grapefruit juice has 2 servings of fruit and 100% of vitamin C. Funny how my body knew what was deficient and automatically craved it.

~

One last note, I discovered cream of wheat is also high in iron one serving has 30% of iron. And it's yummier with butter and brown sugar!

Give this picture a title

Just for fun what Title would you give this picture???

How about "There's a bun in the oven?"

Or for Canada fun, "One slipped past the Goalie!"

I can't stand to wait any longer to share our news. I am almost through the first trimester in a week. Morning sickness has been rough and worse this time for some reason. Also getting sick with sinus stuff then bronchitis was hard because I couldn't take any medicine. Our bundle of Joy will arrive in mid to late May. Also I am still in shock because I know what to expect and Lord help me but at least the kids are about to turn 5 and 3 so hopefully it will be an easy transition with the new addition. When we realized we were expecting and looked at dates we were due to move back from this job at the end of April and we decided that probably moving at 8 months preggers wasn't a good idea. So we committed to staying and delivering in Canada and leaving in June. Shortly after we made that decision Hubby came home from work and announced restructuring had occurred and that we would be returning to Austin in December. One more parting thought, prental care in Canada is different than in the States. Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Apples

Do I ever love Autumn, it is hands down my favorite season. I love all things to do with it the from the smell in the air, to glorious leaves, adorable pumpkins and yummy apples! I decided I needed apple cozies and contacted an e-acquaintance who had just launched an etsy shop for a custom order. She did not disappoint! I may need more cozies for oranges and plums and pears, oh my! Well I know who to go to. She has a few other things listed that make my skirt fly up like the lotus pin flower and the baby stuff, swoon!

And to continue with the theme of apples I have been meaning to post a recipe and link to Diana at To Everything a Season. She is doing a linking recipe contest. Not that I think I have a chance to win but wanted to join in the recipe fun. I found this cake many years ago in a gourmet foodie magazine, can't remember which one though. I can tell you it is decadent and easy and delicious!

Fresh Apple Cake

4 cups peeled sliced apples
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
¾ cup veg. Oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Apple Sauce- heat over stovetop and pour over finished cake

1 cup sugar
½ stick butter
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 9x13 baking pan. In a medium bowl stir together sugar and apples and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl stir together the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the apples and sugar and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until cake springs back to touch. Enjoy!