Mommy From Mars

Author: Christy

  • Korean Beef and Rice

    http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/02/korean-beef-and-rice.html

  • Creamy Chicken Lasagna

    http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/02/creamy-chicken-lasagna.html

  • Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

    http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/05/honey-lime-chicken-enchiladas-recipe.html

     

  • Corbin turned 1!

    Corbin turned 1!

    I am late posting this…okay like over a month late! We had so much fun celebrating his first birthday. Most of Kevin’s family came over and we visited, opened presents, ate dinner, and smashed into some cake! Corbin seemed to enjoy the evening. It was very fun to meet this milestone and reflect back on the past year. He really enjoyed his cupcake and playing with the balloons.

     

  • 10-month old Corbin

    10-month old Corbin

    Corbin is 10 months! What?! Did I type that right? Yes, 10 months. I can’t believe it. I never trusted those women who said they grow fast, but I can honestly say that it is true! I remember the day of his birth like it was yesterday, and 10 months have gone by? Wow. There were definite moments where a day felt like a year, but now that we are nearing his year mark I look back at pictures when he was a newborn and my brain is foggy, I don’t remember some of those moments. It made me grateful we have taken so many pictures!

    I will say that the first 6 months were very rough. I struggled in so many different ways with a new baby, and dealing with Corbin’s personality. I wasn’t able to distinguish (and still can’t) if it was more his personality, or me adjusting to parenthood, maybe both, but boy did I struggle. I feel like the older he is getting the more pleasant we are both to be around (ask Kevin!) it must be this age. I am really digging the 8-10 month old age. He is very animated, shows his interest and disinterest in toys and food, and makes us laugh with silly facial expressions, or noises he makes with his mouth. He is sleeping way better as well! (goes down around 7-7:30 and sleeps to about 530-where depending on my mood I will either go in and feed him and he’ll sleep til 7, or I let him doze in and out of sleep til 7 until I can get my bearings and get out of bed) We’ve had our ups and downs with sleep, but I feel that is to be expected the first year. I can’t believe what growing machines these babies are! Growth spurts, teething, sleep cycle adjustments, and milestones all seem to affect their mood and sleep. He is taking 2 1.5 hr naps and I really rely on those to get things done around the house, or for some “me” time.

    He is really enjoying food more and is pretty much eating whatever we eat. I am really into those food pouches though, when we run errands or out and about he loves to snack on those. He has 8 teeth still and looking like there might be more popping in, we will have to wait and see. He is into spaghetti or any pasta really, loves finger foods like, olives, string cheese, bread, and yogurt melts!

    He thinks diaper or clothe changes are a game where when we lay him on his back he thinks that’s code for “flip over now and run away!” so we have fun *trying* to distract him as we use our superhuman fast skills and change, wipe, and re-diaper the child! He use to like bath time, but now it’s turned into a game of standing up and reaching for mom, while mom puts baby right back down to just have baby stand right back up and try to crawl out. Very exhausting!

    He’s got this army crawl thing going on and it is cute, I don’t think he will ever do the classic way of crawling with stomach off the floor, and that is just fine with me. He seems to be content and very fast with his “style”. He seems to prefer to be on his feet anyways, I think one day we were playing around and held his hands and helped him take steps and that boy fell in love, he LOVES walking with our help, and I don’t say that lightly. He would seriously walk all day if we let him, it was a real struggle for a while when I had to go to the bathroom, or do dishes (how dare I?!) and MAKE him sit on his bum and for me to get to hear the lovely blood curdling scream come from him because he didn’t get what he wanted. Oh, that was fun. This lasted about a month or so as I would leave him, and he would refuse to crawl, only sit there and cry so hard that he was sitting in his puddle of tears and snot. That struggle was rough. But with help from Kevin and other friend’s advice, we taught him that he can’t always “walk” the way he wants and now he tolerates it when I put him down, but jumps at the chance to go for a walk with us! I wonder if that means he will be an early walker, or make him just rely on us more? Hmmm, we will see!

    He loves it when we read to him, especially before bed time, he loves “Good Night Moon” and “Good Night Little One” both by the same author and he sits quietly and helps me turn the pages. He has seemed to catch on to our night routine and has taken to a blanket as we cuddle him in it and turn out the lights to say good-night he goes to sleep quickly. I feel like we have FINALLY gotten to a point where he is on a very consistent schedule. It feels nice to have some predictability and know what is expected day to day. Of course some days are “off”, but for the most part we seem to FINALLY have a calm sweet spot going on! I hope I don’t jinx it by sharing it in this post! It seems to go that way, have a few really good weeks, then BAM the worst week pops up out of no-where, but such is life, right? I guess that’s what keeps us on our toes.

    At his last Dr. check-up (9 months) he weighed 23 lbs 4 oz and was 29.75 inches tall. Some milestones I am noticing during the last month or so is him pulling himself up in his crib and other furniture, crawling in a quick manner (when I say crawl, I mean army crawl), putting himself in a sitting position from laying down, feeding himself, saying “da-da” and sometimes “mama” but I haven’t heard that one in a while. He also started waving, but again, haven’t seen him do that in a little while.

    This was a more detailed post than in the past, I can’t believe the growth I have seen the last little while, and I definitely want to remember it all!

    I put together a little video of him crawling up the stairs, and walking with dad and his walker. This boy doesn’t seem to like to smile for the camera and is shy in public but we sure get to see all sides of him throughout the day. We love him!

    Click here ———> https://flipagram.com/f/e6qbqYSyJB

  • 2 year Angelversary

    2 year Angelversary

    2 year Angel-versary

    In the world of losing a baby they call it “angel-versary”. Sometimes I feel silly using those terms as if it is a way for me to still separate myself from being a part of “that club” but it also makes me feel like I am a part of something that can acknowledge the pain and the reality of our experiences.

    On Sunday (the 11th) marks two years that have gone by since the day I spent in the hospital and we were able to hold our still born daughter, Autumn. I am not quite sure how to describe what I am feeling. I am surprised I am not as emotional as I thought I would be, or wouldn’t categorize my feelings in the “angry” column. That surprises me so much. I always felt I would be angry, bitter, and so depressed. In a way I hate the saying “time heals”. I always felt like the reason why people “think” time heals is because it pulls us farther and farther apart from the actual event and we can’t remember as clearly what happened because life seems to carry on and we have to live our lives. So to me, when someone says “time heals” all I hear is “just give it time, you’ll be forced to forget your feelings and you won’t care as much”. That was my biggest fear the day I found out we lost our baby and the day I delivered her, was that everyone was making a big deal about it, sending me special notes, meals, thoughtful texts, praying for me, but as soon as a months and now years fly by, it’s as if no one feels obligated to express as in depth their feelings…I guess time healed them.  The situation is still the same for me. I lost a baby I will never hold, or get to know. Sometimes I wonder why time has to go on. I wonder often, how can anyone process losing a child then be expected to move on and find joy in their day to day experiences? It breaks my heart that as time seems to go on us mothers are the only ones who remember our babies. Even then, I have to convince myself she was real and what I experienced was real. I spoke to a friend who had an experience of giving birth to a baby girl, McKenzie, who was diagnosed with Triploidy, a very rare chromosomal abnormality. Her baby was born and a day later died in her arms. She had the privilege of holding her close to her chest as she sung “I am a child of God.”  One particular evening I had spoken with her about the similar feelings about loss. She would share her perspective and I would share mine. Later that night I felt bad. I didn’t want her to feel like I knew what she went through and I was trying to put both of our experiences on the same level. I felt like they were both very different experiences with outcomes of losing our babies and I wanted to discuss those feelings of loss. I worried I may have come across as if I knew what she had gone through. I decided to text her and let her know I didn’t feel that way. She told me she didn’t and that she enjoys talking about McKenzie because that way she feels like she really did exist. My heart sank, feeling so sad that she had to constantly remind herself that McKenzie existed! She mentioned that night that no one ever brings up McKenzie or talks about her and she understands but it is hard for her to keep her alive as others are constantly keeping her dead. I feel like as a mother of a baby who passed it is difficult to ever truly move on. I feel it is sad knowing we are the only ones thinking of them, speaking their name, and trying to convince the world they are real.

    Well what I have come to realize is that time brings experience and opportunity to have a new perspective on the exact same experience. I have been able to experience new things and be able to look back with a fresh pair of eyes and come to conclusions about things that I couldn’t possibly do while right in the middle. I am not saying that ANY of my heartache or pain is gone. That will always be there and if I start thinking about the details I am overcome by such intense emotion as the same day I found out. I have crystal clear memories of that experience that are engraved on my heart. As much as I have wanted to forget that whole experience with everything inside of me, I will never.  If that was taken from me, I am not me.

    Autumn Jo Dees would have been 20 months this month. She would be walking, talking, and since she’s my daughter most likely dancing and singing around! It would have been so fun to see her personality right now, just entering her “terrible twos” I wonder if she would have been an “easy” baby, or high maintenance wanting a lot of attention? It is fun to wonder.  It is also just as sad to go down the road of “what ifs” I will stop here and leave with a poem that I dedicate to anyone who has experienced a loss.

     

    We Remember

    In the rising of the sun and it’s going down,

    We remember them

    In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter

    We remember them

    In the opening of the buds and in the warmth of summer,

    We remember them

    In the rustling of the leaves and the beauty of autumn,

    We remember them

    In the beginning of the year and when it ends,

    We remember them

    When we are weary and in need of strength,

    We remember them

    When we are lost and sick at heart,

    We remember them

    When we have joys we yearn to share,

    We remember them

    So long as we live, they too shall live,

    For they are now a part of us,

    As we remember them

     

    *Little Update: As I wrote my feelings the night before the actual day, I was surprised to wake up Sunday morning and feel peaceful. Of course I had tears here and there, and when Kevin asked me to pray over our lunch I couldn’t get through it without bawling like a baby, but overall it was a nice day. I appreciate the thoughtful texts and phone calls. We were able to visit the gravesite and take some pictures.

  • Sick Baby

    We experienced what it is like having a sick baby this past week. Oh my, I don’t think I have ever done as much laundry before! Corbin is normally a stubborn fussy baby, but when he is sick, it has been magnified by 1,000! Bless his heart, I am sure it is no fun having a tummy ache, throwing up everything you eat, and having constant diarrhea that disrupts your sleep. After constant throwing up his formula and not keeping anything down, the nurse ordered just pedialyte. After a few days of it, he wanted nothing more to do with it. As I put him down with a sippy cup so I could start dinner, I was startled to hear him laughing very hard! He only laughs that hard when we are tickling him, so I ran to get my camera and this is what I caught. Of course it wasn’t his loud laughter as before but still it was cute. He’d rather play with his sippy cup than drink it!

    Luckily this week things are a lot better and he is eating more! Phew. I am not sure I could have gone another week with constant blow outs and throwing up!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMN9b159axc

  • Sweet and Sour Stir Fry

    Sweet and Sour Stir Fry

     

    Another dinner favorite. I usually follow this recipe pretty close, however, I recently found in the freezer section at Winco a frozen bag of “stir fry” it has onions and peppers already cut and ready to be sauteed. This makes this dish even faster to make!

    Also, you’ll notice there are little cut up bits of hot dogs in there….yes, I said hot dogs! There is a sweet reason for that. Early in our marriage as I was trying to put meal plans together and discover what Kevin’s likes and dislikes were, he mentioned how his mom would make a sweet and sour stir fry, I thought it sounded good as well, so this is how I discovered this recipe, he would mention how his mother would cut up little hot dogs in it growing up and it was his favorite. I just laughed, but that sounded gross to me, so I didn’t take him seriously. As I have made this numerous of times, everytime he would take a bite he would mention how perfect this meal was but how it would be even yummier with little hot dogs because that is how his mother made it. I always forgot to buy hot dogs at the grocery store because I just don’t eat them. Well after the third or so time making this and hearing his comments I felt like I owed it to him, so I specifically made an effort to buy the hot dogs to cut up.

    I remember in Young Women’s I had a leader who gave us some marriage advice. She said when you get married, it would be very thoughtful to sit down with your mother-in-law and ask her what your husband’s favorite meals were, to learn how to cook them, and make them for him. I always remembered that. Kevin’s mother passed away in 2008, I have not had the pleasure of meeting her, which makes me sad. Kevin keeps her alive through describing her and talking about her a lot. One way I have gotten to know Sherry is through her cookbook. She organized one that Kevin has and it is in our kitchen. Kevin tells me a lot of the things she would make for them as they grew up and it was very touching to watch his eyes light up as I finally made this meal the “right” way and we were able to have a great discussion about his mother and Kevin would share memories.

    Ohh and yes this was served on a paper plate! Fancy! I am all about having a quick, hearty, simple meal!

    Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir-Fry
    Recipe by ourbestbites.com

    Ingredients

    1 tablespoon cornstarch
    1/4 cup cold water
    1 8 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained and juices reserved
    3 tablespoons ketchup
    1 tablespoon soy sauce
    2 tablespoons brown sugar
    1 teaspoon rice vinegar

    3-4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
    1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs diced into 1 inch pieces
    (you could also use pork tenderloin, or sliced boneless pork chops)
    1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
    1/4 teaspoon black pepper
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
    3 cups broccoli florets
    1 medium bell pepper, stemmed , seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch squares*
    hot cooked white or brown rice

    *In this post, I used half of the bell pepper, and added 1/2 of a diced onion as well

    Instructions
    Start cooking your rice so it will be ready.

    Combine cornstarch and water in a medium sized bowl and stir to dissolve.  Add the reserved pineapple juice*, ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, and vinegar to the bowl and stir to combine.

    *If you’re using a stainless steel pan, save pineapple juice for de-glazing it

    heat 2-3 teaspoons of the oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken, salt, pepper, garlic, and ginger.  Stir-fry until the chicken is cooked and no longer pink, 3-4 minutes.  Remove chicken from pan and cover to keep warm.

    Add the remaining 1-2 teaspoons oil to the pan and add the broccoli and bell pepper.  Stir-fry over medium-high heat until the vegetables are crisp-tender and the broccoli is bright green, 3-5 minutes.

    Return the chicken to the pan and add the pineapple chunks and sauce mixture.  Bring to a simmer and cook until everything is heated through and the sauce has thickened, 1-2 minutes.  Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over the hot cooked rice.  If desired, top with sesame seeds and chopped fresh cilantro or parsley.

    Serves 4 (or more like 6 if you’ve got some kiddos in the mix)

     

     

  • Corbin is 8 Months

    Corbin is 8 Months

    PhotoGrid_1439851286592

    Corbin is 8 months! (on the 15th) Some traits we will want to remember are:

    -Has 6 teeth, chews on everything

    -smiles and laughs a lot more

    -wanting to be more mobile (inching forward when he really wants something, mostly rolling around)

    -Likes Gerber Puffs, sometimes! Other times it causes him to gag

    -loves sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and bananas (all purees. His gag reflex seems to be very strong. We keep working on it though!)

    -Still wakes up once (sometimes twice) a night. (Tiring! I know, I’m sure y’all are thinking we must be doing something wrong. There is a lot I can say on this, but I’ll just let you think what you want hehe)

    -Taking 3 naps around an hr to hour and half each (we can tell he will drop is 3rd nap soon)

    -Becoming more vocal

    -Loves it when I sing “The Wheels on the Bus”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and “Popcorn Popping”

    -We sing to him before bedtime. The songs we sing are: I am a Child of God, As I Have Loved You, Called to Serve, Families are Forever, Teach me To Walk in the Light, You are My Sunshine, and of course our famous Goodnight Corbin song, I don’t know the official title. He loves us singing to him.

    -Loves it when daddy comes home-totally goes out of control and jumps out of my arms with excitement and goes crazy until Kevin picks him up!

    -He’s been to 4 states, California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah

    -He’s been on the airplane twice and two 12 hr car trips

     

  • Chicken Parmesan

    Chicken Parmesan

    I love Chicken Parmesan. It is one of my most favorite meals at Olive Garden. I didn’t realize how easy it was to make until I tried it. I originally tried a crock pot recipe because it seemed so easy. It was really delicious! Well over time I decided I didn’t like how soggy the breadcrumbs and how soft the chicken was so I decided to do it my own way. I know there is no fancy way to make this and anyone can do it.  If you want to know how I do it, I will show you! Whenever I make it, Kevin seems so impressed that I don’t want to confess how easy and a no-brainer meal this is, so we will just keep him in the dark so I can have my WOW factor for this meal!

    I always buy frozen chicken breasts because it is easier for me to keep longer and pull out as needed. Although it is one of my most un-favorite things to do, to thaw chicken (It smells and I end up washing my hands a million times out of fear of germs!) Because it is just Kevin and I, I only pull out 3-4 chicken breasts. They vary in size, so I’ll pull out 2 bigger ones and 1-2 smaller ones for leftovers or if we are extra hungry for that night.

    I thaw in microwave on defrost mode and set out 2 extra containers for Italian bread crumbs and one egg mixed with a little bit of water (maybe a tablespoon)

    then pour your Italian breadcrumbs into a container (mine were just seasoned breadcrumbs so I added Italian seasoning). I dipped chicken into egg then bread crumbs and put onto platter. (I forgot to add some fresh parmesan into the bread crumbs as well, I usually do that to add more parmesan taste! I buy the fresh grated kind, it is the best!)

    I heat some coconut oil in a skillet on medium/high heat. I chose coconut oil not because it is “healthy” or a “fad” but I genuinely like the taste when I cook chicken with it. You can use any kind of oil.

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    Then fry those chickens til golden brown. about 5 minutes on each side. Mine are more brown than I’d like but they still turned out nice!

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    I’ve discovered that letting them cook fully then turn once helps the bread crumbs stay on and it helps become crispy. In the past I have turned them many times thinking it needed it, but that was a no-no. I’m sure these are common sense cooking knowledge but apparently I like to learn the hard way!

    I then used Prego (but if you want a good homemade spaghetti sauce and have time to make it even more fancy, I use my mom’s

    http://nourishedsouls.blogspot.com/2012/08/favorite-homemade-spaghetti-sauce.html

    but for the sake of time and to make this a quick and easy recipe, Prego tastes great too!)

    20150810_174106

    Then you spoon some sauce on each of them while still in the pan and sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese on them. I then cover and put on low for a few minutes while the cheese melts. Take off the heat and warm the rest of sauce while you boil spaghetti noodles and WALAHH! Quick and easy filling dinner! I served it with a side of veggies.