Project Life: Week 3

Week 3

Saturday, January 15th

Tonight we went had dinner with Josh's family. Every one was there, which was really nice--it was the first time we'd all gotten together since Christmas. Elaina and Arcadia had a lot of fun together!

Sunday, January 16th

Josh and I were going to try a new church this morning, but when Elaina went down for a nap at 9:30, it didn't happen. While she slept, Josh looked out the window and saw a coyote wandering through our backyard! We often hear them at night, but this was the first time we saw one. Unfortunately, the nap didn't help Little Miss--another nap, a nagging fever, and a trip to Prompt Care later, she was diagnosed with yet another ear infection. I am so thankful for antibiotics!

Monday, January 17th

The office was closed today, so I was able to stay home and snuggle with Elaina. We met Josh for lunch, and after an afternoon nap (for both of us!) I was able to make Roasted Chile Stew with Cilantro Corn Dumplings for dinner--not a common occurrence on a week night!

Tuesday, January 18th
One of Elaina's favorite activities of late is "rearranging" the lazy susan (if you understand "rearranging" to consist of taking all objects currently residing in the cabinet out, and exploring the contents as they sit at your feet). She is particularly enamored with Bacon Bits. I take full responsibility for this (even if she's never tasted one...).

Wednesday, January 19th

In addition to rearranging the lazy susan, E loves "help" with laundry. Makes it a challenge to get things folded, but it makes her happy :)

Thursday, January 20th

Today was the first day I had to use my new Beband because I couldn't button my pants. Hello, second trimester!!

And I'm including this picture, too...just because I love it.

Friday, January 21st

I believe it was -4 when I got up this morning...this has been one of my favorite views this winter!

Project Life: Week 2

Week Two:

Saturday, January 8th


After the chaotic celebration of Rachel's wedding, we went out this morning for Gramma Beck's birthday. I got the pleasure of sitting across the table from them at Cracker Barrel. Love them so much!

Sunday, January 9th


Today we recouperated as a family (I think we were in our jammies all day!) During dinner, Elaina decided she wanted to use the spoon herself. She was pretty successful!

Monday, January 10th



Josh and I went in on a cow with Jeremy, and today Josh picked up our quarter. 220lbs later, our deep freeze is stocked for the year! Josh is already fantasizing about grilling. And the best part: we got all of this less per pound than what you pay at Kroger!

Tuesday, January 11th

Today I told my boss the news that Josh and I are expecting baby #2! Here is a belly shot from last week (please ignore the stretch marks...courtesy of Lil Miss). I am 14 weeks now...it's going so fast!

Wednesday, January 12th.
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Elaina loves to be read to. She'll often bring a book to me, place it in my hands, and the look at me expectantly until I make room on my lap.

Thursday, January 13th


Mom had a doctor appointment in Peoria today, so we got to meet them for supper. It was great to see them. What I love about this picture is that it's hard to tell who's happiest! :)

Friday, January 14th



Our little lady was feeling under the weather today, but being pushed on her scooter brightened her right up.

Project Life - Week 1

Thanks to TheMomCreative, this is one of my new year's resolutions.



This is my first go at Project Life, so....here we go!!

Saturday, January 1

Josh and I celebrated the new year by going grocery shopping. Unbeknownst to us, Elaina decided to sample the tomato we bought on the way home. We thought she was napping...


Sunday, January 2

I bought Josh a book on the West Memphis Three for Christmas, and he had his nose buried in it all week. Today, he finished!


Monday, January 3


I had a couple hours more than normal with Elaina this morning, which was a wonderful blessing. I was able to put her hair up--she looks so grown up!


Tuesday, January 4


Elaina has discovered the joys of climbing, and she is constantly trying to pull herself anywhere she can. Today, she opted for the "karate kick" method to try to hike herself up onto the couch. She's still a bit small for it, which made it even cuter. (I eventually "rescued" her and pulled her up myself.)


Wednesday, January 5


Tonight we played as a family and Josh snapped this picture of our little girl. I love this smile.


Thursday, January 6


Today we traveled to Rockford for Rachel and Lips's wedding. Here they are at their rehearsal!


Friday, January 7


To put it simply, the wedding was a beautiful success.

Labor Day Fun

While Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, it was the official start of a very busy autumn for this Serrano clan. Per tradition, we traveled down to Colchester to enjoy the festivities, including a trip to Argyle, time with family, and the parade.

After a restful night visiting with Mom, Dad, and Rachel, we got up early and headed out to Argyle. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather--sunny, cool, and clear.

Mom showing Elaina the finer difference between"trash and treasure"

Unfortunately, the timing wasn't perfect where Elaina was concerned. While she can seemingly breeze through an entire week with only a half-hour nap in the morning, Saturday was not one of those days. She started fussing before we even got through the first row, and it became clear a nap was going to become necessary if we didn't want a meltdown in the middle of the park...

Sleepy girl with Auntie Rachel

Josh and I took her back to the van, and after a 45 minute nap, she was good as gold. We continued on our adventure and got a few things here and there, including kettle corn and the most delicious lemon shakeup--the kind that comes in the Styrofoam cup--yum, yum!

Nothing says "comfort" like Daddy's arms!

After the park, we came home, relaxed, and enjoyed time together as a family, especially when Jeremy, Nikki, and Brycelynn arrived. Later in the afternoon, Gramma and Grampa Beck, Gramma Copes, Aunt Naomi, and Uncle Todd all came over for dinner. It was so great to be together!

Me and Grampa Beck

Brycelynn--the newest Beck!

Elaina got some exercise with Grampa's walker

Gramma, Elaina, me and Gramma and Grampa Beck

Cousins playing

On Sunday, we headed back out to Argyle to finish up our shopping. Josh and I found a quilt rack for Elaina's room, and I got some decorations for our home. Elaina had a nap before we left, so it was a much more successful venture for all!

Elaina got to enjoy a ride around the park, Mommy-style!

(In the afternoon, we headed downtown to watch the annual parade. So much nicer to watch than to march!) Again, it was a beautiful day--so nice to be outside with family!

We left shortly after he parade, but our adventures were far from over. Three kittens had decided to call Mom and Dad's home, home, and Mom and Dad were nervous they'd either meet an unfortunate end at a car, another animal, or starvation. So after a few phone calls, Josh found a place in Chillicothe that would take them. We loaded them into the car, and after Elaistna was asleep for the night, we gave them the first of two flea baths. Good bonding time for the ol' husband and wife, if I do say so!

Scrub-a-dub-dub, three kittens (and a wet husband) in a tub!

Kittens off to their new home, we went to a cookout at Josh's godparents' on Monday afternoon. Here, Daddy and daughter are ready to go!

We had great food and enjoyed a good visit. Elaina enjoyed the swing with Logan....

...and hanging out with Papa!

All in all, we were busy but blessed. Our autumn is booked mostly solid, so this was a great way to kick it off!

My favorite scents

This morning I woke up to what has become one of my favorite scents.

I had heard about "the baby smell" before Elaina was born (this referring to the lovely, precious smell of her hair and her skin, and not the smell produced elsewhere, which is quite the opposite of lovely and precious), but I'd never noticed it on other babies. I think I assumed it was another old wives' tale, like the one about how lying with your feet in the air will effortlessly and magically cause a breech baby flip. I can personally attest that this will only result in shortness of breath, sleepy feet, and a c-section scheduled for the next week. Moving along....

I don't remember the first time I noticed the scent of Elaina's little head, but it didn't take long before I was hooked. I caught myself sniffing and snuggling and trying to hold the scent in my memory. I remember telling Josh perhaps returning to work wouldn't be quite so painful if I could just find a way to bottle it up; then, when I missed her during the day, I could just take it out and have a smell and somehow pull myself together for the next few hours. And if I had it to make it through work, well, then perhaps I'd capture a little more of it to carry me through as she grows, to hold her babyhood close when she's a little girl playing with her Barbies or a surly teenager trying to figure out her place in the world or a beautiful woman preparing to become a mother herself.

But there is no way to keep the smell of my baby's hair and fresh, clean skin. One day she won't have that wonderful scent; it will be gone and I'll never have it again. There is no way to keep her a baby. And when I'm not swooning in her scent, I realize that is not just how it must be, but how it should be as well.

Until then, though, I'm going to soak it in, like I did this morning.

This morning, when my sweet baby was still asleep and I crept into her room and picked her up out of her crib, still sleeping, and brought her onto our bed for an early morning snack. In those few minutes, when I was snuggled between my two favorite people on this entire earth, safe in my husband's arms on one side, and breathing in my baby on the other. Moments passed, and the alarm went off, and my day had to begin. But in the in between, the only thing that mattered was the thump of the heart behind me and the scent of the little light brown head in front of me.

In and out, in and out, in and out.

With any luck, tomorrow morning will greet me in the same way.

Traditions

When Josh and I got married, we inherited certain family traditions from one another, and the most lasting among them involve food. He has raved about the Copes green beans and Beck pie, and I have craved his mom's chicken and noodles and his grampa's beans since our first respective bites. The food has become more than a way to satiate our hunger--it is a way to reach back into our childhoods and share our pieces of ourselves that might otherwise remain hidden. Josh can feel the suffocating humidity of a late summer evening spent bent over the green bean plants in my Gramma's garden, and he can taste the velvety, watery crunch of a fresh bean; I can see the pinto beans bubble and spit in the oil in his grandfather's sunny kitchen, and I can taste the warm, earthy goodness of beans cooked in the same dish beans have been cooked in for years and years and years.

One of the beautiful things about this food is the not just the connection of ourselves to one another but to our families as well. Josh has, as close as I can tell, perfected his grampa's beans. I am learning my Gramma Beck's pie (even if I cannot bring myself to use her crust recipe because it makes me fear for my salvation...). And I have found an intense desire to learn some recipes that are important to him, too. I can do a pretty good chile con carne, for example. But some recipes allude me; I think, like the pie crust, I am terrified of messing them up. They are so much more than recipes. They are people and tradition and love. And yet...they are my siren's song.

Enter the Enchilada.

His Gramma Lupe's recipe. His mother's tradition.

Twice Rita has allowed me to shadow her in the kitchen, to watch her nimble, skilled fingers create a Mexican masterpiece from the simplest, most unassuming ingredients. This time, I took pictures and, much to Rita's chagrin, videos. I'm going to learn this recipe. I'm going to make enchiladas. My kitchen will one day hold the taste of Lupe's kitchen, and of Rita's kitchen. Their tradition is going to become my tradition.

And one day, they'll look as good as this:

The secret ingredient