Life of a Baby

I've been pondering the past few days how frustrating life can sometimes be for a baby. I'm not saying this in a joking way either--I'm sure at times life can be pretty hard for them! You may be thinking "How on earth could a baby have a hard life? Someone feeds them, changes them, plays with them, etc. They have everything done for them! How could that be hard?"

I had this realization last week when Andrew was trying to learn how to roll from his back to his stomach. He would try for a couple of minutes on his own--arching his back, throwing his hips over, the only thing he was forgetting was lifting his head up. After a few minutes of trying it on his own he started to freak out and get frustrated. At first I didn't understand why he was freaking out. Then one day I helped him onto his stomach and he was so happy! He got this big smile on his face, and stayed on his stomach for about 20 minutes just playing happily (tummy time was something he only did for about 2-3 minutes happily before wanting to be on his back again). He was so excited that he was finally on his stomach after working so hard for it. This process went on for a couple days, and I knew that if he was crying he was either hungry, tired, needed a diaper change, or wanted to roll onto his stomach. Once he learned how to roll on his stomach, he couldn't stop! He was too excited that he learned how to do something with his body.

That has kept him happy for about a week, but the past couple days I've seen him get frustrated with his body again. Now that he rolls, he wants to know how to crawl. I've walked into his room as he's trying to go to sleep and he's pushing up on his feet and hands wanting so badly to move! So now the list is this: check if he's hungry, tired, needs a diaper change, or if he wants to crawl. So we've done some crawling lessons. I push his little knees up under him and he scoots forward with excitement, and we go through this process for about 20 minutes.

A couple days ago he was freaking out for a good 20 minutes and I had no idea what to do. He didn't want to be held, he wasn't in the mood for crawling lessons, wasn't tired, wasn't hungry, and had a dry diaper. I decided to let him cry in his crib for a little bit while I went into the other room and said a prayer. As I said "Heavenly Father, let me be patient with Andrew," I realized that Andrew was probably frustrated too! And for good reason!

Ever since he's been born I've had so many realizations of who this special boy is. He has a special, strong, kind spirit, and I realized he is frustrated having such a strong spirit in a tiny body. Even once he learns how to crawl, eventually walk, and start talking a bit, I know he'll sometimes get frustrated when he doesn't know how to express himself (much like toddlers do). It must be so hard having the spirit of a grown person stuffed into the body of a tiny human. Really, the body needs to catch up to the spirit, which I think is what infancy and the toddler-stage is all about. The spirit is willing but the flesh isn't ready.

I now have a different outlook when Andrew is crying and I don't know what to do. Instead of me praying "Heavenly Father, let me be patient with Andrew," I pray "Heavenly Father, let Andrew be patient with me as I try to figure out what he needs right now." Babies do require a lot of patience from their parents. They need to wait to be fed, have a diaper change, go to bed--they are solely dependent on us, just like we are solely dependent on Heavenly Father. Just like we need to be patient with Heavenly Father as he lets us learn, grow, and yes, sometimes struggle, babies need to be patient with us as we help them learn, nourish them to grow, and yes, sometimes let them struggle. Just like we can someday grow up to be like Heavenly Father, babies will someday grow up to be parents.

So yes, life as a baby is sometimes hard. Life as a parent is sometimes hard. Thank goodness babies have their parents, and parents have their Heavenly Father.

Recipe Post for the Week

More recipes for you to try! Easy, fast, delicious, and cheap :)

Korean Beef and Rice: 

You will need:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp sesame oil

3 cloves garlic; minced (or a couple tbsp of garlic powder)

1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper (season to taste)

salt and pepper

sliced green onions

cooked rice

Brown hamburger over a medium-heat skillet with the garlic in the sesame oil. Drain most of the fat and add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper and red peppers. Simmer for a few minutes and stir occasionally. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions.

Pineapple Pork-Chops:

You will need:

1 20 oz can of pineapple rings, juice reserved

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

4-6 pork chops

Put pineapple juice from can into a zip-lock bag along with the brown sugar, soy sauce, and garlic powder all mixed together. Add the pork chops and let marinate in the fridge for 8-12 hours (the longer the better). Put grill on medium to high heat and put chops on (continue to marinade the pork chops while they are cooking). Cook until pork chops are browned and no longer pink inside (about 7 minutes each side). Place pineapple rings on the grill and cook until they are warmed through. Serve pork chops with grilled pineapple on top.

Enjoy!

Meal Planning and Recipes

I've had a couple people ask about meal-planning and some recipes that I make, so here ya go! **HUGE DISCLAIMER** I realize that I am no expert at cooking, and I do not claim to be a super-domestic lady who makes everything from scratch, and I'm not an expert at meal-planning when it comes to freezer meals, canning, etc. These are seriously the basics and it has worked for me. I also realize that I am a stay-at-home mom full time which means that I have more time to go grocery shopping and cook on my hands than others (trust me, I was not this good about cooking when I had a job or was going to school), and I realize that I only have one child who isn't mobile yet, thus making life a lot easier than most other moms out there. These are just some tips that have worked for me. Enjoy :)

First is meal planning: Now, lest you think I'm totally organized and on top of it--think again! Seriously, the only reason why I meal plan for the week is because I only want to have to go grocery shopping once during the week. In our apartment complex we live in a building that isn't close to any of the parking lots, which means it's a pretty long walk from the car to the apartment, which means that I only want to make one trip a week of carrying groceries and my rapidly growing baby boy at the same time.

When you think of meal planning for the week it can sometimes get over-whelming, but here are a few tips.
1) I stole this from my sister-in-law, Emily, who does the same thing. She writes out the menu for the week and keeps it visible in the kitchen. This has really helped me because it is a quick reference of what I will be making that night instead of figuring out what I'm making for dinner last minute. It also makes it easy if I want to switch things around last minute I have options readily available and I know that I already have the ingredients to make those other meals. Here's an example of what it looks like.

 Also, since it's just Grant and I eating, we have lots of leftovers not only for Grant's lunches, but also for dinner. It's good for your mental health to have one or two nights a week where you say you're just going to do leftovers for dinner. If you have a larger family, you can make more of each dinner if need-be (usually recipes feed 6-8 people).
2) I pull out the recipes for that week and make a list of everything that I need, and then also add to the list anything I might need for Andrew (more formula/diapers), or anything for breakfast (cereal/milk/fruit), and then any basics that are needed (usually for us it's bread, milk, fruits, vegetables, lettuce, and toppings for salad). I know it sounds like a lot and that it will be really expensive, but we've been able to stay well within our budget for a couple reasons. First, I try to make it so our recipes for the week use similar ingredients, and I can buy things in bulk. It is a lot easier to stick to a grocery list that has been well thought out than it is to try and mentally go through your kitchen at the grocery store.

Now for some recipes: These are staple recipes that have been tried and true in our house. I try to cook at least one new thing a week, but these recipes are delish!

Saucy Meatballs: This is a Vanderhorst tradition and has been my father-in-law's favorite dish for decades, and probably Grant's favorite dish.

You need:
1 lb hamburger
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs (I just put in Italian seasoning with crushed up crackers)
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 soup can full of milk
1 pt. sour cream

Mix hamburger, egg, bread crumbs, milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Form into 1-inch balls and fry in pan or on a flat grill until cooked through. For the sauce, mix cream of chicken soup and milk in a sauce pan over medium heat. Continue stirring until smooth. Be sure that the soup and milk mixture isn't boiling when you put in the sour cream or else it will curd up if it is too hot. Mix in sour cream, and once the sauce is smooth, add the meatballs and simmer for a few minutes. Serve over cooked white rice.

Sweet Pork: This is the easiest and quickest recipe you will find for sweet pork ever, and it is delicious.

You need:
6 lbs of pork roast
16 oz of salsa (I usually blend the salsa in the blender to make it smooth)
1 can of cola or Dr. Pepper
2 cups of brown sugar

Cook meat in a crockpot that is 1/2 full of water overnight on low. Drain off the water, de-bone the meat and cut into thirds. Mix together the sauce ingredients and put back in crockpot with meat another 5-6 hours on low. Shread meat with forks and leave on low until ready to serve. Serve on rolls or salad.

Crockpot Orange Chicken: Again, easy recipe that is delicious!

You need:
1 cup of BBQ sauce
1 cup of orange marmalade
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
4-6 chicken breasts

Put it all together in a crockpot and cook for 5 hours on high. Serve over rice. (Yep, it's that easy!)

French-Dip Sandwiches: Kind of an easy spin-off of actual french dip sandwiches. What can I say, I'm not gourmet by any means. I'm all about quick and easy that also happens to be delicious.

You need:
1 lb of thinly sliced deli roast
Provolone or Swiss cheese
2 packages of Pillsbury refrigerated rolls
1 package of Au Jus mix

Take the rolls out of the packages and flatten out the rolls into triangles. Put a slice of deli-roast and cheese on each roll, and then roll it back up. Cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown. Serve with the Au Jus and enjoy!

These are just a few to get you started, but I'll post more recipes as I find them. If you go to this blog, you can also find a ton of easy, cheap, delicious recipes!

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/

Andrew-isms

Andrew will be 5 months on Saturday and I haven't done a single blog post about him yet! So, I have some catching up to do.

Here are Andrew's 5-month stats:

Height: 25 inches (actual age: 25th percentile. gestational age: 75th percentile)
Weight: 15.2 lbs (actual age: 15th percentile. gestational age: 50th percentile)

I do both the actual age and gestational age since he was born 6 weeks early. It takes about 2 years for kids to grow out of the premature label, so as long as he is on track gestationally that is all I care about. I'm really happy with his actual age percentiles! Up until last month he was in the 1%-5%, so I'm glad he's starting to catch up :)

Andrew's favorite things: This kid is so much fun! I love being his mom! He loves...
~smiling and is generally a very happy baby
~looking at himself in the mirror
~watching me do my hair and makeup (he is very fascinated. He will carefully watch me pull a piece of hair and then watch the straightener or curling iron go through my hair, and then keep eyes on them as I put them back on the counter. He also loves the blow dryer)
~he has a little play-mat-jungle thing where different toys can hang down and he loves grabbing the toys and trying to shove them in his mouth
~tummy time
~eating
~bath-time! This kid loves loves loves his bath
~getting a baby massage. I've just started doing it this past week after his bath and he loves it
~going on adventures. This kid is so easy to run errands with. He is really chill while we are out and about and loves looking around. He especially loves going on walks or runs with me.
~the TV. The first time he saw the TV he was totally captivated. We don't have it on a whole lot at our house, but when it is on he enjoys seeing all the moving colors.
~sitting up. He loves sitting in his bumbo and whenever he is laying down, if I grab his hands he will automatically clench up and try to sit up. He's getting some washboard abs!
~being sung to. We sing lots of songs during the day and I have music playing quite a bit.
~reading books. He loves looking at really colorful pictures.
~talking. He has been blabbing a lot lately and we love it! Lots of ooos, ahhhs, and "guh" sounds.
~playing with mom and dad. He loves being tickled and he loves this little trick that Grant does with him. It's gotten to the point where he will lean back on his own whenever Grant holds him like this. In the video he isn't smiling as much because he is pretty fascinated with my phone haha, but you catch a little smile at the beginning. He usually flails his arms straight out as well--pretty cute :)

We sure love our little boy! :)

Our Apartment in DC

I've had a few request for pictures of our apartment in DC. Now that we finally have everything put away and pictures up I felt ready to post pictures. Enjoy the tour!

Here is the entry way. 

Once you walk in there is the living room and then on the left you can see into our kitchen.

Here's another shot of the front room.

Dining Area

Desk and Piano right behind the family room

Kitchen

We had to get a couple storage racks because there isn't a lot of cabinet space

Down the hall and to the left is the bathroom

Across the bathroom is Andrew's room. Crib courtesy of Mom and Dad Vanderhorst--thank you both so much!

At the end of the hall is our master bedroom.

A huge thanks goes to those who helped us move in (lookin at you Rick and Marnae, as well as Steve and Janae), and a HUGE thank you to my wonderful mom who helped us get settled the first couple of days. It would have taken forever to get unpacked with you!

More posts of our adventures in DC will come soon :)

When Life Didn't Go According to Plan...

We are finally in DC, which means that life is about to go back to a normal schedule. Our family has been in constant change mode ever since Andrew was born, and we've had a lot of things thrown our way. I've been reflecting this past week on the past 4 months and all the changes we've been through (many of them were not planned), but I'm beginning to understand that what the Lord has planned for me is far greater than what I had planned for myself. 

Those of you who know me well know that I like to have things planned and organized. I like to plan out my life in great detail and most times I have an attitude of "This is how everything is going to turn out because I said so." I've been going through quite a learning process though, and have come to realize that while it is good to have a plan, if things don't go according to plan that I can still be happy and trust that the Lord is watching out for me. So, rewind a little before Andrew was born, and this was my plan.

~Andrew would be born no earlier than 38 weeks, and no later than 41 weeks, and would come home with us from the hospital.

~Once Andrew was born, I would take my 6 weeks off for maternity leave and not go back for the rest of the school-year. 

~I was going to nurse Andrew until he was a year old, and it would be an enjoyable experience.

~We weren't planning on getting pregnant until Andrew was about a year old (I'm not pregnant right now, FYI).

Now, contrast this to what actually happened.

~Andrew was born at 34 weeks, and stayed in the hospital for 20 long days.

~I came back from my maternity leave 2 days after my due date and had to work for an extra 7 weeks.

~I nursed Andrew while he was in the NICU, but he wasn't gaining weight fast enough, so he had to have fortified feedings twice a day, which obviously had to come from the bottle. Well, Andrew learned pretty quickly that bottle feeding is much easier than nursing (we didn't know at the time that he was tongue-tied, so I can't blame him) and so he wouldn't nurse anymore. I still wanted him to get breast-milk, so I pumped out milk, and then he would drink it from a bottle. I pumped for 4 months, but then...

~Like I said, we weren't planning on getting pregnant for about a year after Andrew was born. Just as a warning for all those nursing moms who are also on birth control, it is still possible for you to get pregnant...twice. Since Andrew has been born, I've had 2 miscarriages back-to-back. While we weren't planning on getting pregnant, both times we were very excited at the idea of our children being so close in age, and were excited to meet our 2nd child. It has made me so grateful for the child I do have, and I have so much respect for women who are going through miscarriages that don't have any children yet. Going back to pumping for 4 months, 2 miscarriages will completely destroy your milk supply. I was able to come back up from my first miscarriage, but after my 2nd miscarriage, I haven't been able to bring it back up despite putting in the effort. I know if I keep at it that it could come back up, but with Andrew being able to eat formula and digest it well, I've decided I want to spend my time doing other things and have stopped pumping completely. 

Now for the point of this post. I have never ever been good with change. I do not adjust well when things don't go according to plan, so when Andrew was born 6 weeks early, I made a conscious decision to turn to the Lord and ask Him to help me overcome my weakness of not being able to trust and be comfortable with change. When trials come upon us, we can either turn to the Lord or turn away from the Lord. I don't think our trials turn out any differently if we do or don't turn to the Lord, but rather our ability to handle trials and changes, as well as our attitude in handling those trials, is strengthened when we turn to the Lord. If we can get through a trial with a happy attitude and trust that the Lord will lift us, it's not from anything that we've done, but it's everything that the Lord does for us. He truly is our best friend. Because I tried to rely on the Lord, He has helped me adjust to constant change. Now, don't misunderstand me. I am still mourning over 2 miscarriages and frustrated with not being able to nurse, but I can still be at peace that everything is ok, and that just because things didn't go the way I thought that somehow life is terrible. Life is great! I have a healthy, happy son, I'm married to my best-friend forever, and we are off on our own little adventure. Elder Holland this past general conference counseled members with this "I am not asking you to pretend to faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have. Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not! So let us all remember the clear message of this scriptural account: Be as candid about your questions as you need to be; life is full of them on one subject or another. But if you and your family want to be healed, don’t let those questions stand in the way of faith working its miracle." Let me bear my testimony to this point. I do not have perfect faith, but by exercising the faith I DO have, I am happier, more calm, and more at peace when life goes off my planned path. At the end of his talk, Elder Holland invites those who are struggling with their testimony to lean on his testimony. I'd like to make that same invitation. If you're going through a difficult trial, or life is taking you on a path that you didn't plan, know that you can rely on your Savior. Your trial won't be taken away, and it won't change, but your ability to handle that trial will increase, and you will be happier. You will be at peace as you lean on the Savior. I know this is true because I've done it. This principle in my life has been tried and proven to work. Lean on the Lord, fan the flame of your faith, and miracles will happen.

What We've Been Up To...

Wow, I haven't written on this thing in a while. This is the blog post where I catch you up on everything that has happened! Since Andrew has been born it's been change after change, and it's not going to stop until we get settled in Washington DC. I should start back when Andrew was in the hospital.

Andrew had to be in the NICU for 20 long days. To be honest he did a lot better than many of the nurses and our pediatrician expected. He never had to be put on a CPAP or ventilator because he was pretty solid with breathing (although there were a few times when he had to be put on a trace of oxygen), but the only thing keeping him in the hospital was being able to nurse and gain weight at the same time. Being a premature baby is pretty rough, but Andrew is a fighter. Instead of being able to grow in the womb, where you don't have to breathe or eat on your own, premature babies have to learn how to breath, eat, and grow all on their own. Once Andrew had the suck, swallow, breath motion down, he was home within a few days. It was a lot of up and down days, and quite an emotional roller-coaster, but I grew a lot through that experience, and it has definitely made me appreciate Andrew being home (even with the occasional blowouts and fussy days and long nights). Even during those "hard days" it is still so much better than having him in the NICU.

Right after Andrew was born

All dressed up for General Conference. This is a typical Andrew move--putting his hand on his binkie and moving it around like a steering wheel. Pretty cute :)

Andrew had to be at home for about a month before we could take him out in public, so this was our first outing as a family since we brought him home from the hospital.

Andrew's baby blessing day :)

I was pretty sad that I only had 6 weeks off, and half of that I couldn't even have Andrew home with me. I felt a little jipped out of my maternity leave, but at least I got 3 weeks home with him before I had to go back to work.

The week I went back to work was the same week of finals/graduation for Grant. My wonderful mother came into town that whole week and watched Andrew while I went off to work and Grant finished up school.

I'm so proud of Grant! He graduated with a wonderful GPA and a job! I'm so grateful for all of his hard work in school--it definitely paid off.

So proud of my wonderful husband!

With Grant done with school he was able to be Mr. Mom while I finished up the school year. It was the hardest thing for me to be a working mom. I hated leaving Andrew every morning and couldn't wait to go home and be with him. I'm grateful for this experience though because it made me realize how much I really do want to be a stay-at-home mom. The Lord definitely works in mysterious ways. I'm grateful for the degree I have because it allows me to tutor and work from home if I need, but I can still be with my children. 

Now that I'm finished it's just packing up and moving to DC! Time is certainly flying! I'm grateful to move and finally get some sort of stability. The past couple years we've been in constant change with me graduating, us moving to Lehi, me working, Grant finishing school, becoming parents, etc. Those years are fun (and I know I'm going to miss being around so many of our friends and family), but I'll be happy to feel like we're in a place that we can call home (as least for a few years) and feel a bit more established and grounded. More updates will come when we move!