Memorial Day Weekend

One of my closest friends came in for the weekend, it was delightful! We enjoyed great food, great conversations, and Kathryn got to love on miss Sawyer Beth. Thank you so much Kathryn for sacrificing your time to get a glimpse into our life up here in Philly. We know you are praying for us, and we are praying for your near future!!

Kathryn and I went out to dinner one night to am amazing little country French restaurant. It was delightful. The atmosphere was just my style...we felt like we were in the country and yet we were at this fancy little restaurant. And the food was delicious. It was a BYOB, which is new to me. You get to bring your own wine to the restaurant...it's much cheaper and I love that you can bring whatever you want. Here is a picture of Kathryn and I before our big night out:



Sawyer loved the extra attention she got from Aunt Kathryn. Here are some sweet pictures of them:





Yes, Sawyer is eating a lemon in one of the pictures above. She wanted it so I gave it to her and she LOVED it, she just sucked and sucked on it...too funny!

Well, I am proud to announce that Sawyer is finally getting TEETH! She has at least one poking through on the bottom, we think another one is coming close behind. But because of these new teeth she was a little extra fussy today. But that didn't stop her from having fun and getting into trouble. Here are some pictures I took of her today:






These last pictures all go together. Notice at first she is sitting looking at her baby dolls. Then she realizes she wants to get them. She gets one, and then the other. And then she loves on them! It was so fun watching her try to get these, and she was so proud of her self once she finally got them!







Sawyer and I loved having Clint home an extra day this week. We have so much fun as a family, I love it! So thankful for this season of my life, and trying to cherish every moment of it!

Tonight, the women from our church plant met together at a park and prayed. It was beautiful and a great reminder of the importance of prayer. We prayed over this verse:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 6-7

LOVE LOVE LOVE this verse...such truth, but oh how I easily forget it!

Until next time,

Alex

Blessed beyound measure

One of my dearest friends, Kathryn, is coming in town this weekend. I am so excited for her to get to see a glimpse into our life. Sawyer is going to LOVE getting some sugar from her Aunt Kathryn. She'll be here tomorrow night and stay until Monday. No matter what season of life we are in, no matter how many miles apart we are from each other, our friendship continues to grow stronger and stronger. It's all because of Christ, and it is so beautiful! I'll be sure to take tons of pictures...

Speaking of pictures, little miss Sawyer Beth just keeps getting cuter and cuter, if that's possbile, ha! Here are some favorites I have taken recently:

She loves seeing my cell phone, still not sure what my thoughts are about this, but for the time being I let her look at it every once in awhile...


She's wearing Addy's (the little girl I used to nanny for) dress in these pictures, it was so stinking precious





And who needs toys...Sawyer helped me in the kitchen while I made dinner




I have been trying to cook with a very small budget. It's difficult but I have found some simple meals that are pretty cheap. We are also, trying to eat healthy and cutting back on how much meat we eat, mainly for the cost but also for health benefits. Here are two recipes involving lentils which are super cheap and good for you, Clint loved these:

Lentils and Rice Casserole:
3 cups water or chicken broth
3/4 cup uncooked lentils, washed and soaked as needed
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice, washed and soaked as needed
3-4 Tbsp Liquid Aminos or seasoning salt, to taste
1 small onion, sliced in rings
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
fresh parsley & sour cream, if desired

Soaking Step, if desired for increased nutrition: Combine lentils, rice, and water to cover and juice of 1/2 lemon, whey, or another acid medium. Soak for at least 7 hours. After soaking, rinse the lentils and rice and add the amount specified above in water or broth to cook.

Fry onions and garlic in oil (I use coconut oil) for about 10 minutes until nicely browned. This adds wonderful flavor! Set aside. Combine remaining ingredients (except cheese and parsley) and layer in a casserole dish. Cook for 2 1/2 hours at 300 degrees until tender or the water is absorbed. About 10 minutes before completed, top with cheese and browned onions and cook till melted. Before serving, top with parsley.

You can also cook this on the stove for about 40 minutes if you don't want to have your oven on for that long, thats what I did!

Here is what we had tonight:

Sloppy Lentils ( similar to sloppy Joes)

3 cups water
1 cup lentils, rinsed
salt to taste (optional)
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
15 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2-1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
3-5 tablespoons rapadura, molasses, or honey
1 Tbsp white vinegar
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 hamburger buns, split

Soaking Step (for benefits read here), optional: Allow lentils to soak over night in warm filtered water with 2 Tbsp acid medium. Rinse and cook as described below.

Combine water and lentils in a saucepan; season to taste with salt if desired. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook onions with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions have softened and turned translucent, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, ketchup, mustard powder, chili powder, molasses/sweetener, vinegar, salt and pepper; simmer 5 to 10 minutes until thickened.

Drain lentils and reserve cooking liquid. Stir lentils into sauce mixture, adding cooking liquid or water as needed to obtain the desired “sloppy joe” consistency. Serve on buns.

I don't follow these recipes to a T...I use whatever I have around the kitchen.

And, an FYI for those who care (not many I'm sure, haha) but I LOVE my bread machine. I have made whole wheat sandwich bread, rolls, and morning sticky buns, which were AMAZING, I will for sure be making these every Christmas!!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. It is suppose to be hot and humid here...I'll take that over cold and rainy!

Sunday Gathered and...

other random thoughts.

Today was the first Sunday that Trinity, our church, met! It was wonderful. Very simple and stripped down. We worshiped God through singing, liturgy, and a quick sermon on Romans 12. Afterwards, we chowed down on a great brunch. We will start meeting every Sunday now. This is such a blessing, we are praying that we will start to grow...it is all in the Lord's hands.

Again, for any more information on our church please visit www.tcphilly.org

Sawyer slept through the whole service, it was perfect! Sawyer now takes 2 naps a day, and she is doing great with it! In general, Sawyer is in my favorite stage thus far. She is growing and learning more and more things every day. It is so amazing to see her learn and explore this world. We pray she will continue to develop is such a great way!

I have started to slack in taking pics of Sawyer, sorry folks! But ere are some recent ones:






And I will end with some of the text we studied this morning. It is so good, I just can't get enough of it!

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Romans 12: 9-17

Thoughts on Thursday

On raising children:

This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, " how will this affect their souls?"...the chief end of their lives is the salvation of their souls- J.C. Ryle

Update on Sawyer- She did have a few rough nights but she is doing much better. We had a great day today, she was so cuddly and sweet!

Praying for her soul already!!!

Oh my...

It's 11:45 am. Sawyer just woke up crying. She has had a slight temperature for two days now. I'm not sure why, she's nursing fine as of right now, so I am praying that she doesn't have another ear infection. I hope it's not a long night. But even if it is I know it is all worth it. Being a mother is the hardest thing I have ever done, but the Lord gives me grace to endure the hard days and nights.

Thanking God for coffee, nap time, and patience!

Life...

Not much going on in the Casabella world. Sawyer is feeling better, still acting a bit strange and I am not sure if it is still because of the ear infection or if something else is going on. Trinity is going great, we love all the people a part of the team and we are so excited to get things moving. We should be having a preview Sunday coming up in July!!!

Here is the Trinity website for those interested:

www.tcphilly.org

Clint will be writing a post on there every Sunday.

On another note, Sawyer has 3 favorite things right now in this world: bunny, baby #1, and baby #2. When she sees either of these 3 things she GOES CRAZY, I have never seen her more excited about something. It is very cute, but kinda strange with how much she likes these things. At first, I only let her touch the baby dolls, she could never hold them or play with them. One was given to her by my mom, and the other by my moms good friend. Well, anytime Sawyer got an eye on one of these dolls she got so so excited...scream in delight, kick legs, smile, flap arms, etc... So I finally gave in and I now let her play with them. She loves it! Here are some pictures of Sawyer loving on her favorite things






And take a look at this face... I can't get enough of it!!



We had a Derby party for our neighbors...it was so much fun. Clint made Mint Julips, they were delicious! We also had Kentucky Hot Brown and Derby pie of course...it was a lot of fun and a great time with our neighbors. We are so blessed with some incredible neighbors. So excited to see how our friendship with them will grow!

Update

So after the doctor Sawyer has another double ear infection. Boo! But she is feeling much better and nursing better too, still not 100% but getting there. Thanks for the prayers!

Happy Derby day!

7 months

Sawyer went for her 7 month checkup on Wednesday. Everything looked great while we were there. She is 70% for weight, 80% for height, and 35% for head...she pretty is right on track with her previous stats! Then Sawyer got her shots, it was so sad once again, but she bounced back pretty quick. The doc said she looked great...all was great until the next morning. Sawyer woke up with a temp of 103.2...she was burning up and dud not feel good at all. This latest almost all day, she was very sleepy and fussy. But she was eating good all day...until the night. I went to nurse her and then put her to bed...NOPE....not what she had in mind. She screamed and screamed...so we kept her up a little longer, tried nursing again...NOPE! At this point I just put her to bed. She slept an hour or so, and woke up screaming. Still no nursing. I gave her some rice cereal and ate some of that, she didn't want any water or formula. She cried in my arms for about two hours, when at this point she fell asleep...Praise the Lord! She slept for about 5 hours and woke up screaming. She still wouldn't nurse. She ate cereal again. We played a little while. And then at 7 am she nursed on one side, I was thrilled. She still didn't seem to enjoy it. I put her down for her nap, she took a great nap. Woke up nursed on the other side, but still fussy. I am taking her to the doctor again yo check her ears, if she doesn't have an ear infection then I think it's my milk that she doesn't like. Please pray for us. Pray we have a better night, pray that Sawyer feels better and starts nursing better.

I was reminded of Psalm 23:
A psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Praising the Lord that he is my shepherd!

Here are some highlights of Sawyers 7 month:

Finally able to sit up by herself
Still loving bath time, can sit up in her bath and play with toys, so fun
Had her first Easter, which was wonderful
Not crawling yet, but getting closer
Tried peas, asparagus, pears...not so sure about her green veggies
Nurses every 3-4 hours
Eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Started sleeping through the night again, but loved to get up at 6am!
Spring is here and Sawyer LOVES being outside

Now for some pictures:






Look what Sawyer got me for mothers day:




If you can't tell what it is, it's a bread machine! Our friends up here have one and that have made some amazing stuff with it, so good I wanted one so bad, and Clint surprised me with it today...I can't wait to use it!!

And here are my faviorte 7 month pictures:

Spring is here!

It feels so good around here lately. The weather has been beautiful, we are working on setting up our patio furniture so we can enjoy some dinners outside. And because the weather is finally warming up I got out Sawyers spring/summer clothes. She is so blessed with wonderful friends/family who have provided all of Sawyers wardrobe.

In these pictures Sawyer is wearing her Aunt Bri's t-shirt that is from the island of Lani:





The family I nannied for in Louisville was fabulous, and it just so happened that Sawyer is almost exactly 4 years younger than Addy, the little girl I watched. So pretty much over half of Sawyer's clothes use to be Addy's. How sweet does she look:



And get this, in these following pictures Sawyer is wearing her grandmother Susu's (Clint's mom) dress. We have about 4 of them and I LOVE that Sawyer can wear them, so so special!!!




On Easter evening our neighbors/best friends the Rogers came over with their little girl Jane, who is about one year older than Sawyer. Here is a picture of our little bunnies:



Last but not least, here are some pictures of Sawyer in her first pair of sandals





If you've noticed we have a little sitter on our hands. She can pretty much sit up all by herself now, and she loves it! We go next week for her monthly checkup, I'll post all her stats then during her 7 month post.

Clint and I have been really busy lately, but we are enjoying ourselves and thankful for all we have.