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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Happy 3rd Birthday I-Guy!


Three years ago, it was two weeks until my due date.  As I began to feel the pain and pressure of labor I dismissed it as if it wasn’t in fact labor and merely pain.  I continued that Sunday like any other going to grab lunch at Taco Bell.  Within moments contractions increased and I realized sitting in the drive thru at Taco Bell you were coming that day.  Really your journey into this world was unplanned and I was certainly not prepared for what was to come and how my life was about to change.  The closest thing I had to a plan was thrown out the window—you had me giving all I had as you entered this world. 

Shortly after you were born, I hit one of the biggest hurdles to this day—postpartum depression.  You, your sister, brother, and your dad were my constants.  In fact the one thing I knew to do well was to be your mom.  As I mentioned you were a little unplanned on our end, yet perfectly planned in the will of God.
 
Your name means laughter and gift from God—that has proven to already be true. In these last three years those words have come to life through you.  While God is my Savior, you were one of my saving graces during one of the darkest time of my life.  You laugh and ability to make others laugh is adorably cute and very hard to correct most the time.  When I see you and the way you push all limits and lovingly respond, deflect the very thing you shouldn’t be doing with kisses and love—I melt and with that I have recognized and decided that you will be our world changer.  There is a tenacity in your eyes that is clearly unstoppable.  There is defiance in your voice when you say yes to my no and no to my yes that challenges me a as parent to shape and mold you into the man of God has created you to be and not squash the very good thing He already has going inside of you.  While my yes and no will stay the same I recognize that there is someone great inside of you. 



With that I strive to teach you these three simple things within this next year—these are the foundations to you becoming great.

1)      Honor God in all that you do.  It is the reason we were created to be in an honoring relationship with our Creator.  This begins now! You are not too young so I will continue to do my best to live it out as an example to you, but as you get older it will be a choice of your own.   

2)      It’s your responsibility to look out for your brother and sister, as it’s their reasonability to look out for you.  You may be the youngest, but that doesn’t disqualify you from speaking up and keeping your eye on them either.  He has given each one of you to each other, to love, care for, protect, have fun with, laugh and cry with.  This is a big one, but if each of you do your part—it won’t matter when one of you isn’t, because you will have learned how to go the extra mile for those you love.

3)      Continue to grow in who YOU are! While you will feel the need to compete with Micah or Samantha, remember there is only one Isaac! Trying to be like them will not work out in the end so grow confident in who God created you to be.  My relationship will look different with them compared to yours, but it is defined by the uniqueness of each child.  However, my love for who you are is unconditional which means it’s not defined by the things you do, say or accomplish but purely on who YOU are!

Words can never fully express how you can instantly fall in love with someone who doesn’t speak, but it has happened three times in my life.  Happy birthday to the greatest 3 year old I know! Thank you for all you have taught me without even trying, thank you for touching the world as you have already and I am honored to partner with your dad and God. Big things are “full steam ahead”. 

Remember, I love you all the time!

Me

Monday, April 2, 2012

Book Review: Simply Grilling by Jennifer Chandler



I will say one of my favorite books to ever read is a cookbook.  Sounds crazy, but there is nothing like reading and imagining what will taste fabulously.  And Simply Grilling was no different.  Jennifer Chandler had me thinking what can I cook next.  I really kept thinking, "oh, super easy and it will taste fabulously!"

I loved how she started with Grilling 101--everything you need to know about grilling, grilling tools, marinades, rubs, etc can be found in this section.  Just in case you are a novice to grilling, Jennifer even explains what the different type of grills there are. 

Very rarely do I find a cookbook that every recipe makes me what to run to the grocery store and begin cooking. One of the things that I most appreciated about this cookbook was all the ingredients were everyday common food, which means I don't need to run to any specialty food stores. With three kids under the age of six finding food that everyone will enjoy is hard to come by, yet, this has so many possibilities to broaden their taste bud horizons. I never knew how many things you can grill--I dont think I will be doing much cooking in my actual kitchen this summer. Can you tell how much I loved this cookbook!!

Some of my favorite recipes were:
-Blue Cheese Stuffed Filet Mignon
-Weekday Ribs
- Grilled Bananas Foster
- Mixed Berry Crumble
- Caribbean Grilled Shrimp with Pineapple Salsa


One of the biggest draws for me was that this was available as an E-Book.  I have over 50 cookbooks so adding one more to my library is a very unappealing idea to my husband. I am able to prop up my IPAD and begin cooking and grilling. 

I have decided that this is going into the gift rotation for newlyweds and housewarming gifts.  Who wouldn't love a new cookbook with actually 105 GREAT recipes!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”