sorry for the delays.

It’s been a little tradition of mine to receive a new bag on Mother’s Day. (Let me say here I am really, really grateful for a husband who indulges such traditions!) My first Mother’s Day I requested this amazing diaper bag from Mia Bossi. It is a dream diaper bag, albeit large in size. It is ever so chic and after your diapering days are over you can simply zip out the diaper bag lining and zip in the computer case lining! Love it! It wholeheartedly qualifies for what I like to call “investment pieces.” ::grin::

For my second Mother’s Day I wished for something smaller and WOW! Hello gorgeous! This Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper clutch has been amazing for quick outings, church, etc. and it comes with the changing pad compactly built right in! The fabric selection is simply gorgeous, and PPB even glazes it so it’s virtually waterproof! But my favorite thing has to be the beautiful embroidery on the outside of each bag. (You can’t see it in this picture, but my bag has little bluebirds on a branch embroidered on it. so sweet! You can get a better feel for the embroidery here.) What more could you ask for in a diaper clutch?!

This year I didn’t need a new diaper bag, as we are entering into the potty training age. If I was in the market for a new one however, this would be the one I’d chose! From Skip Hop, it is both chic and affordable! Any new moms, take note!

But my wonderful husband did keep up the tradition and now I am the ecstatic owner of this fabulously beautiful purse from my favorite store of all time. Thank you, Love!!

Call me old fashioned, but I have a romantic affinity for silhouettes. If at all possible I want to have one of each of my children’s faces. I think I’ll wait until Geneva is about 4 before commissioning one of her face, but thinking about the idea I found this artist on etsy and I hope she is still around when it’s time for us! I just wanted to share…

Late last year I was referred to an internal medicine doctor in Boulder by my former pastor in Denver. My initial meeting with Dr. Luce was amazing - he took over an hour just getting to know me. He of course wanted to know my health concerns and my priorities, but just as important to him was how I was doing emotionally, soulfully, how Michael was dealing with everything. He even took time to just read what was behind my eyes. He has so much medical expertise, but never once lost sight that I was a person. He told me he knew that if I was going to commit to getting better with him, he had to establish trust with me. He did.

Through the course of our meeting, he explained that Western medicine is amazing if you have a disease, because they have cures. But if you don’t have a disease per se, they don’t really know what to do with you except to help you manage your symptoms/pain. The obvious problem with this is that you might never discover the root cause(s) to your symptoms. Dr. Luce’s passion is tirelessly “playing detective” using medical, scientific testing to dig deeper into what is going on inside of every system of your body, and find the breakdowns and dysfunction. In turn, Dr. Luce turns to supplements and vitamins to help the body rebuild itself.

After just one test with Dr. Luce we discovered three things. First, I have a severe protein disorder. Evidently I have enough stores of protein in my body, but the system that breaks down and reuses my protein is completely shut down and cannot access the stores I have. Instead it has been turning to my ligaments, muscles, etc. and breaking them down for “food.” Not good. Secondly, we found that my intestinal lining is severely inflamed. This is bad for a few reasons. Inflamation decreases the area in the intestine that can absorb nutrients. Also, the bacteria that usually reside within the intestine are able to pass across the gut wall and into the bloodstream, from where they can cause infection anywhere in the body, causing havoc for the immune system. Thirdly, we discovered a large anomaly in my hormore levels. We are currently pursuing more testing to better understand what’s going on there.

And that’s just one test! So far, we’ve completed three more and are awaiting those results. It’s slow going because none of these tests (or the supplements) are covered by our insurance, so it is a lengthy and expensive process. We’re doing what we can when we can. The process has been encouraging, becuase we feel like we are finally making some kind of progress and getting some kind of answers, but it has been emotional as well. The supplement regimen leaves me constantly naseuas (miserably so), and has brought a steady weight gain of a pound or two a week (which Dr. Luce warned me about but is nonetheless extremely emotional).

While we are discovering great new information, my day to day pain levels have not changed. My migraines have recently been worse than they have been in over 4 years. But my spirit and faith are stronger than they have been in a long time, so regardless, I am grateful to the LORD for being my always good, ever faithful Emmanuel. Please do keep remembering me before Him, saints. Thank you!

Happy Birthday, Geneva!!

We were so blessed to have “Mimi” and “Auntie Bina” here with us to celebrate the second birthday of our little blessing! Geneva loves to cook, and helps in the kitchen as much as we let her, so this year I elected to involve her in the process so we all made cookies instead of a cake. It was a blast, especially for Geneva, and something she still remembers now two months later! A big thanks also to the CA grandparents for sending her the adorable birthday outfit!

Michael’s firm sent us to Malibu for the weekend, where we were able to relax on the beach, play in the ocean, and visit with wonderful friends and family. What a gift from the Lord to us!

Geneva adored her first trip to the ocean!

These are more favorite books at our house, of mommy and Geneva alike, and are highly recommended. Not all of these books are still in print though, so if you come across them, snap them up!!

Miss Lollipops’s Lion by Judy Varga. (out of print) A sweet story about an old maid who gives a home to stray animals and ends up taking in a runaway lion. (Geneva’s favorite from this list. We read it multiple times a day!)

I Wish, I Wish by Lisl Weil. (out of print) A beautifully illustrated simple tale of a little Italian girl who dreams of one day owning a painting from the Galleria Pitti in Florence. (This is by far my favorite children’s book of all time. I even reviewed it for my local tv station when I was 9!)

What Do You Say, Dear? by Sesyle Joslin & Maurice Sendak The most delightful book of manners I’ve ever encountered, both in writing and illustration. Here is Geneva’s favorite part of the book: “You have gone downtown to do some shopping. You are walking backwards because sometimes you like to, and you bump into a crocodile. What do you say, dear?” turn page “Excuse me!” love it!

No One Noticed Ralph by Bonnie Bishop. (out of print) A great little story about a parrot who sometimes says the wrong thing but ends up saving the day.

The Fire Cat by Esther Averill. The three part story of Pickles, a cat with big paws who is destined to do big things.

Feed the Animals by H.A. Rey. We LOVE this little flap book. You will too - go out and buy it now! “David and Caroline are at the Zoo. Says old Keeper Bill ‘You are lucky you two! For you came just in time for plenty of fun. We shall feed the animals one by one!’  Bill carries a basket. For whom will it be? Just open the flap and you will see…”

Hurry Hurry by Edith Thacker Hurd. (out of print) A great story of a woman who is always in a hurry until a series of crazy events teach her that you can get more out of life if you slow down a little.

I found this little blurp on my favorite mommy blog and thought it was too funny and had to share:

A baby monitor for your iPhone? Sure!

I remember that time we went to visit my folks for the holidays, and in the midst of packing the presents and the pack-n-play, I somehow forgot the baby monitor. Well, I was sure I’d hear the baby when she woke up. But by the time I went to check on her I discovered that she’d been screaming with indignation for long enough that I immediately dissolved into a puddle of maternal guilt.

If you find yourselves out of town without a baby monitor but with internet access (thus, you are here), we have a great solution in CodeGoo’s Baby Monitor application for the iPhone.

For under five bucks you have a handy emergency monitor in your pocket, and as long as you can have your SigOth’s or someone else’s phone to send the “come and get me” call to, you’re good to go. Even if “go” only means downstairs for some adult conversation. -Mir

I was reading one of my favorite food blogs today, and today’s feature is on Bryant Terry who recently released a cookbook on vegan African-American cusine called Vegan Soul Cooking. (looks amazing!) He in turn listed his favorite cookbooks and in talking about one of them used the phrase “recipes as autobiography.” And I immediately thought, what a FUN concept!! I have often heard about compiling a list of books or songs that represent your life’s seasons and journeys, but I have never thought of compiling a list of recipes to do that! I am chopping at the bit to go compile my own list, but I couldn’t wait to share the idea with the rest of you so you can started on yours as well. ::hint, hint:: I am extremely looking forward to reading/exchanging our lives in recipes!! FUN!

This is one of my favorite soup recipes and as a delicious, quick, cheap, super healthy meal, it is a sure fire winner. It is consistently a recipe that I get asked to share, so I wanted to share it with you. (For the vegans out there, just skip the Parmesan, and you’re in business.)

Rustic Cabbage Soup

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
a big pinch of salt
1/2 pound potatoes, skin on, cut 1/4-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups white beans, precooked or canned (drained & rinsed well)
1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons

more good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Warm the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and potatoes. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender and starting to brown a bit, about 5 minutes - it’s o.k. to uncover to stir a couple times. Stir in the garlic and onion and cook for another minute or two. Add the stock and the beans and bring the pot to a simmer. Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Now adjust the seasoning - getting the seasoning right is important or your soup will taste flat and uninteresting. Taste and add more salt if needed, the amount of salt you will need to add will depend on how salty your stock is (varying widely between brands, homemade, etc)…

Serve drizzled with a bit of olive oil and a generous dusting of cheese.

My bad, inadvertantly stifling my wife’s lovely work.  Comment away.

This song by Sanctus Real has been popular for a while now, but in November God overwhelmingly made it the theme song of our move to the Springs. This move happened so fast for us that it’s been very easy to get caught up in the temporal - unpacking, settling in, setting up house, setting up community, and just living. And I’m so grateful that God went out of His way to give this small song to us, because it is one of the things that snaps me back into His eternal perspective, and reminds me that He has SO many purposes for this specific season of our lives. I’ve attached a link to listen to the song, but more importantly, I wanted to remind you that we serve an excessively purposeful, infinitely good, Father God. Don’t forget that He is intimately involved in the details of your life and has you in the season you are in for AMAZING eternal purpose.

These are the most-pulled-off-the-shelf books in our house right now:

Kermit the Hermit, The Caboose Who Got Loose, The Ant and the Elephant, How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head, (all) by Bill Peet:  If you do not like Bill Peet you and I probably shouldn’t be friends. I have adored his story-telling, rhyming, and illustrations since I was 4. Even now at 26, his books still top my charts. I am always surprised that my uber-active daughter will sit and read these books with me (esp. the rhyming ones) cover to cover. If you have never been introduced to Bill Peet (except through his art in old Disney movies), start with Kermit the Hermit.

I am a Little _______ books. These books have been favorites of Geneva’s for over a year. Currently I am a Little Lion and I am a Little Fox are the favorites. Unfortunately for the parents, we only have I am a Little Fox in German. yikes!

Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. A sweet little story from the author of The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon.

Animal Babies A to Z by Chuck Murphy. A stunning pop-up book, adored by young animal lovers and pretentious parents alike. Geneva now lists meerkats and Okapi among her favorite animals. what?!

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett and Ron Barrett. A cute account on what disasters would occur if animals wore clothes. Why Geneva loves this book so much I really do not know, but it cracks me up!

Katy No Pocket by Emmy Payne and H. A. Rey. An adorable story about a mother kangaroo who does not have a pocket to carry her baby. With Illustrations from H.A. Rey, how could it not be a winner?

We were given this children’s book of Bible stories at a baby shower and have enjoyed reading it with Geneva before nap and bedtime. She really loves to read her Bible and I am so grateful! But I was wondering what Bibles you all use with your children/babies and if you have one that you love. Thanks!!