What a weekend!

Ok so first off, James and I had a date night Friday night. I started getting ready around 4pm (bc I haven't quite mastered how to manage time with a baby). James got in at 6:30. We were both ready by 7:30. "Then why," you ask, "did we not leave until 8:30?!" 4 words: IRELYN MCKENNA JAMES SHARP. She has never eaten 5 oz. so slow before! It took her so long to drink it, I didn't even bathe her. Just wiped her down & suited her up. We went to Longhorn (especially for their mac & cheese) and had a wonderful family date night. Got home and in bed well after midnight. 

Did I mentioned I had plans with the sisters-in-law to go garage sale'ing at 6am?!? Also, did I mention that we were all taking our sweet, little angel babies?! I mean the weather has been beautiful all week. Sunny and 75!! So, this is how I dressed my perfect one...

You know, just a little cardigan because it might be cool that early in the morning! (This outfit has spaghetti straps!) WE FROZE OUR BOTTOMS OFF!!! The babies were bundled from head to toe like we were slap-dab in the middle of winter. 

No worries though. We were back home by 3pm. Ha! In your face, you other garage salers!! We totz outdid you!!

Why do I always feel the need to be a one-upper? I hurt no one but myself. I WAS SO VERY TIRED. And I didn't even get any good buys at the sale. Lesson learned. I napped for about an hour before my life as a mother & wife was to start again. 

And then we got invited to go eat with some family. So, of course, we said yes! And again, didn't get in bed to well after midnight.

And what do ya know? 6am rolled right back around just like it did the morning before. This time I had to get up and make myself all beautified! We have practice at church at 8am. I went to practice with no makeup bc I ran out of time. Seriously?! 2 hours wasn't enough time? Please tell me that time management gets easier!!  

So after church we had a little get together with the church staff and didn't get home til around 3. By 5 I was passed smooth out. Woke up at 8pm and stayed up until last night (Monday) til 9:30. 

Again (hopefully) you're asking, "Why?!"

Well, when I woke up Sunday night, the rest of my family was asleep. So I'm thinking it's a perfect time to get some much needed house work done. And I did. And it was fabulous. Around 4:30 I decide to go to bed. But when I went in there, James was awake and we decided to work on some videos for our worship team. Layed back down around 6:30 and at 7, the perfect one woke up to eat. Only she wasn't just hungry. I have no clue what was wrong but she cried, ate and slept off and on til 10:30. I couldn't do anything to calm her. I gave her some Gripe Water. Nothing. So I give her some Tylenol. And I found out very quickly that she inherited her gag reflex from me!!! She puked ev.er.y.where. And lots of it. I bathed & dressed her and decided this time I'd put her medicine in this little medicine bottle thing. It's like the tiniest bottle ever. Well, about half way through, she pukes some more. I clean her up again and she fell asleep and was perfect once more. I have no clue what was wrong with my sweet girl.

James got home last night and was sick as a dog. Are you serious? I was so looking forward to him coming home and taking over baby duty so I could GO TO SLEEP!!! So I put him on the couch with a trash can and a bottle of water. And at 9:30 I fed the little girl and we went to sleep. Woke up at 11:30 to eat again (she also inherited her appetite from me). And, listen up...WE SLEPT UNTIL 8:30 THIS MORNING. She ate another bottle and we all went back to sleep until 11:30. 

Here's the most amazing part. I was crying and I prayed and asked God to please let her go to sleep. I didn't realize she was hungry bc she had just eaten. So after about 15 minutes of her crying - and me arguing with God that I wasn't going to pick her up - I picked her up and fed her. And He answered my simple little prayer. We all got some much needed rest and it's all because God cares enough about his babies that even when we cry and throw a fit in the middle of the night, He gives us what we want (and need)!!! 

My family is perfect for me and we are so blessed. I don't deserve this life but God gives us grace even when we don't deserve it. 

Now here's a simply and oh-so-yummy recipe for you faithful followers!!

We'll call it...

Fried tators & sausage

You'll need:

1 medium onion (big chunks)

3-4 medium potatoes (cut like French fries)

Package of beef link sausage (chopped in bite sized pieces)

*Richard's is the very best!!

I took one boneless chicken breast and chopped it up and seasoned it with salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Cooked it in a little veggie oil. When the chicken was almost done, I threw in the sausage and cooked it another 5 minutes or so.

Take it out and drain the oil from it. Don't pour the grease out of pan. Scoop out the meat and put in strainer.

Salt & pepper the potatoes and onions. Pour them in the pan you did the meat. Cover and let them cook for about 15 minutes and add your chicken and sausage. Cover and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. And voilá!! (Feeds 3-4 adults)

Roasted cabbage 

Oh my goodness. This was heavenly. I took a head of cabbage and sliced it and brushed it with oil, salt & pepper. Roasted in the oven at 400 for about 20 mins. It was initially supposed to be just a side dish but it was so good mixed up in the fried tators & sausage!!!!

Enjoy!! And let me hear some feedback if you decide to cook this! It's a husband favorite!!

Valuable life lessons

I should've posted this along with the last blog.

A few nights ago, I put some cornbread in the oven. 11-13 minutes later I got it out and sat it on the stove. I cut it and was starting to butter it and popped a little crumb in my mouth. It tasted burned. And it was perfectly, golden brown. Confused, I tasted another bite. Still tasted burned. It was even started to smell burned. So I cut it and sure enough the entire bottom was solid black. The burner it was sitting on was on high. Seriously?!? So I throw a few Sis Shuebert rolls in the oven (bc supper is now getting cold). James jumped in the shower and I fell asleep on the couch. 20 minutes later I remember the rolls. And what do ya know?! They are burned. Hard as rocks. Lol well I'm the type of girl that needs two things with a meal: meat & bread. So I put some more SS rolls in there and stood in front of the stove until they were done. 3rd times a charm!

Point of this story is: juggling life with a newborn is messing me up!!!! I'm learning day by day...actually I'm learning randomly throughout each day...how to balance my new life. What an exciting journey!!! I love each and every second of it.

Another valuable new mom lesson: always have a bag of Sis Shuebert rolls in the freezer!!! 

Much love, friends!!!

Hanna

Nobody told me about this part...

I. Am. So. Tired. All the time!! And I can't seem to get caught up on anything. And it's not like I don't get any sleep. She sleeps pretty good. My house looks like a tornado blew through here. My best friend asks me every day if I bathed Irelyn. Ha. She's lucky to get fed & changed on time. Will I ever catch back up on my energy or will I just get used to functioning like this?!

In other news, the perfect one is still perfect. She's 2 months old now & weighs a whopping 12.1 pounds and is 24 inches long. She eats anywhere from 5-8 oz every 2-3 hours. Probably why her cheeks hang down to her shoulders. But we gotta start her somewhere, just incase she wants to play in the WNBA. I mean, skinny, fragile girls aren't basketball champs!!!

Enough about her (for now). I know I'm not the only one juggling kids, a husband, a house and a job. So I wanted to share a new (AND SUPER EASY) recipe.

3 ingredients: chicken strips, butter and ranch seasoning. Here ya go.

Thaw chicken. Heat butter in a pan. Roll each strip in ranch seasoning - I mean cake it on there - and then cook it. It's so very delicious and it takes no time. It has saved me in a pinch a few times since the perfect one arrived. Give it a try. If you like it (and like the idea of me posting easy recipes), let me know!! I love to cook and have a lot of simple solutions for all you busy women!!

Until next time...