Life on our corner

I have been praying that the Doctor would have wisdom as I brought Reuben in for his month. It is funny how baby three has in some ways made me feel like a new mom all over again. Let me brag on myself first, for the first time in a long time we were not late. I always under estimate how long it is going to take to load and unload with three kids, hats, gloves, and a stroller! Our big question for Dr. John was Reuben's excessive spitting. He asked me a few questions and decided that we needed to get in for an upper GI. This should tell us why (acid reflux, a problem flap or valve) and how much damage has been done. Then we can determine a course of action (surgery, meds or wait and see.) He seemed to think that it needed to be done very soon which was funny, but I am very, very happy with this plan. I had some questions about other food allergies. He does not think that we need to go to an allergist yet. He was not surprised that peaches was in my list of food suspects though. As ...

Happy December! We had our first Christmas party tonight so I finally started baking yesterday. I think I have put off baking partially due to my not so helpful helpers and partially because I don't know how it fits in with eating/living healthfully, but when I can take many of the cookies to a party for others to eat then it is all good! We attended a holiday block party which is an example of one of the many reasons we love where we live. These families are great! The Christmas spirit has hit Jonah hard. I feel like we have glitter glue everywhere as he has also taken to making Christmas cards to decorate the house. Jonah had his first Christmas program. His little group sang a song and he even had one line in the play. He was so nervous and excited at the same time. The program has caused me to resume my contact with AEA for possible speech therapy. I initially contacted them this summer about his intermittent stutter, but by the time they got back to me it was gone again. It is...

½ cup all-purpose flour ½ cup whole wheat flour 1 Tbs baking powder 1 tsp salt ½ tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp ground nutmeg 1 cup cornmeal 2 large eggs 1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or freshly cooked and processed) 2/3 cup brown sugar ¼ cup canola oil 1 Tbs molasses Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 10-inch glass pie pan or 9-inch square baking pan. Sift flours, baking powder, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in cornmeal. In separate bowl, beat eggs lightly. Whisk in pumpkin, brown sugar, oil and molasses. Make a well in the dry mixture. Add pumpkin mixture and blend batter with a few quick strokes (just blend with a fork- don’t overmix.) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cornbread is browned and the surface has a slightly springy feel.

1/3 cup shortening 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1/2 cup pumpkin Coating: 1 stick of butter, melted 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3/4 sup sugar In a small mixing bowl, beat shortening, brown sugar and egg until smooth. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice; add to the sugar mixture alternately with pumpkin. Fill greased muffin cups two-thirds full (don't use muffin liners). Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Meanwhile, combine cinnamon and remaining sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll the warm puffs in butter, then in cinnamon-sugar. ( or roll powder sugar.) Serve immediately. Yield: 1 dozen.

I felt like this week went Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Sunday, Saturday, Saturday, Sunday. This has to be one of my favorite weeks of the year! Monday I took Reuben to the Dr for an ear check since he has had so much trouble the past months. Two wonderful things happened. First, his weight stayed the same two weeks in a row (25.4) and second, his ears looked great! We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house. (Jordan's mom was sick:(.)It was my first day back on dairy. I didn't go crazy because I didn't want to make myself sick! I discovered that I have become a chocolate snob and now really like the dark stuff over regular milk chocolate. I have yet to have a glass of milk, but the cheese that I have had over the last couple of days has been great. It is very freeing to eat food without reading the ingredients first. Reuben has made a hard transition causing me to ask "why go through all this?", but I after grocery shopping and meal planning for the week it will ...

I listened to a really convicting broadcast this week on being thankful so this week I will try to highlight things that we are thankful for. I am thankful that Audrey is being such a good sport about wearing her thumb guard. I am so surprised by how much she is able to do with it on and that she doesn't make a big deal about it even when people comment. (Many people think that she has broken her thumb!) The down side is that during naps she is sucking the opposite (right)thumb. It is so much less compared to what she sucks the left. Only to get to sleep not through the entire night and not during the day. Not sure what to do about that yet. Tonight she asked me to put a thumb guard on the right thumb as well. "I need two of them." It is as if she wants to stop can't. :( I am so thankful that Reuben's second tooth popped through and that he has not had an ear infection or been on antibiotics this week! Happy boy again! I take him to the Dr. on Monday just to get ...