santa in september?

I walked into the dining room the other day to find this.

I thought Christmas was here!  You can imagine my disappointment to learn it was not.  I was happy to see my husband though.  He was working on the leak in our roof that came about after the hurricane and then 5 straight days of rain.

ps - I'm glad it's not Christmas yet because I am so ready to enjoy this fall! 

confessions of a dietitian.

This morning I ran out the door and was running behind.  Besides the fact that it was after 830 and I had been up since 4 something, I still didn't have anything together.  Typical for me.  I used to be really organized and then it slipped, but it's going to have to make a come back if I'm ever going to get anywhere on time with a baby.  Anyway...  on my way to work I drove through McDonald's to get some coffee.  I drink decaf coffee these days because Jack is really sensitive to caffeine-- like he twitches if I even drink a Coke.  But my brain is so hooked on coffee that if I drink decaf it still does it for me.  I feel more awake just drinking coffee, plus it feeds my coffee habit that started in college.  So I had my McDonald's cup of coffee-- oh and while I'm confessing I should also mention that I got breakfast there, too.  Here's where the confession comes in-- I had a coffee mug in my car and came up with a plan to pour the coffee in there so no one in my morning meeting would notice that I went to McDonald's.  There are several things wrong with this.
1.  Apparently I think people are really interested in me.  Truth is I highly doubt they are and likely wouldn't have noticed.  
2.  I am a dietitian and don't want to sit through the morning managers meeting appearing like I condone McDonald's and eat there myself.  This was my logic, but the problem is that I clearly did eat there and I was so focused on hiding it I was going to put up a front.  
3.  Dietitians by no means have perfect diets, but of all of them, I am probably the worst.

I'm really tired so I apologize for this post as it probably doesn't make sense. 

in loving memory.

For my family, we have a special memory and a heavy heart this time of year as we remember our sweet Aunt Betty.  September 9th, 2004, she was in a tragic accident and passed away.  Seven years later it seems like it's hardly been that long but forever at the same time.  We miss her and love her.  My heart is heavy for my mom as she misses her only sister, her friend, and her family.  I don't have any pictures here of my sweet Aunt but her face will always be in my heart and mind.

In loving memory... 

rainy day dinner.

It started raining on us Saturday while we were in Tennessee, and it has rained almost ALL day every day since.  This was day #6 of rain for us.  I won't complain though because we have friends in Texas who are worried about losing their homes and every material thing that is precious to them in fires.  We have friends and family in states who have not had much or any rain all summer.  We are thankful for rain.  Wish we could share some with them, but we will embrace the rain while we have it.

This rainy day with colder weather moving in reminds me that fall will soon be here.  Fall is my favorite season!  It's my favorite for many reasons including the break it provides from summer, the pumpkins, the squash, the apples, the feeling of warmth in our home as the heaters kick on for the first time, the smell of delicious baked goods- particularly of the pumpkin and sweet potato variety, the cold air and all that it brings- including sweaters, boots, and scarves!  Oh, how I love fall!

Tonight I made a rainy day dinner of soup because it just seemed right after a week like this.  For the first time this season I made potato soup.  To accompany it, chicken salad on a bread roll.  The perfect rainy day meal.  I used skim milk in the soup and limited how much salt I added.  I did not use reduced fat cheese because it doesn't melt, and that's just weird.  No cream or anything- just the milk and cheese and it was plenty creamy and delicious.  Also, since I'm a new mom and don't have lots of time to cook, I used canned already cut new potatoes; they taste good and save me lots of time!  For the chicken salad I used low fat mayonnaise and added lots of celery and grapes.  If the bread had been whole grain we would have been in business, but it wasn't.  Next time...

home again.

I wrote the title thinking of our trip to Tennessee as being "home again", but then it occurred to me that we are now home. We have arrived back to our home in Maryland after a wonderful vacation in Tennessee. We are filled with mixed emotions. Tennessee is what feels like home to us, but our life right now is in Maryland. Anyway, enough about that.


Our trip was awesome! We had a wonderful time with family, friends, fellowship, food, fun, football, & Boomsday {I can't leave out Boomsday}. It was the break from routine that we needed. It was filled with love from family and friends, and this time it was even richer watching our loved ones love on our sweet Jack. There is nothing better than that! I will have pictures to share from our trip but tonight am just unwinding from the 10 hour car ride in the pouring rain the whole way with a 3 month old. Although in fairness to Jack, he was amazing!

To everyone who visited with us and has loved on us-- thank you! We loved seeing everybody!

august fun.

August has been such a fun month for us so far! We have enjoyed summer, seen some refreshingly cooler days (in the 80s!), walked a lot, played and strolled outside, had visits from Grandma and Grandpa. We're watching with excitement as my brother goes to college, and I'm reminiscing every day about just how fun freshman year was. We're celebrating a birthday this week of that same little brother who isn't little. Then in a couple of weeks we get to go to our favorite place... Tennessee, for a much needed time of rest and community with our family and friends. So excited for that trip. This has been and will continue to be a great month! So excited for the fun we have ahead and thankful for a great weekend.

small fixes.

This may not look like much to you, but to me it is amazing. To me this is part of getting more sleep, having more quiet moments at night, and helping my marriage. You might be wondering how a light switch could do all of that. Well, let me tell you.


This is the new light switch in our bathroom. Our old one was big and chunky and looked like this set in our hallway except that there was one switch rather than three.




The problem was that it made the loudest noise when it was flipped on and off. Seriously, ridiculously loud. And many, many nights when Jack was finally asleep Tommy or I would flip it on when we went into the bathroom- just out of habit. And every time Jack would wake up. It's a shame to lose sleep over a light switch, so I got to the point where I would hound Tommy. "DO NOT touch that light switch." "You better brush your teeth now {at 6 pm} if you want to brush them in the light because that light is not going on tonight!" "If you flip that switch and wake our baby, I will come after you in your sleep." I'm a great wife, I know. Very encouraging. But you know how it is with a newborn, right? Please tell me I'm not the only one to ever sound like that.


So Tommy proposed the best solution-- replace the light switch. A trip to Home Depot and five magical minutes later, we were free to flip the light on and off as much as we want. We can see in the bathroom any time, I don't threaten my husband anymore, and Jack doesn't wake up. This light switch might be one of my favorite home improvements. And by the way, I never thought I would write an entire blog post about a light switch.