happy new year!

I've been gone since November, and while I apologize, we've had a lot of life happen these past few months!  

But, I'll start your news years off with one of my favorite stories - 

Jamie and I are a part of a church in Buckhead that we love, appropriately named Buckhead Church.  From the time we committed to making this place our church home, we were well informed of their vision for members - Connect. Serve. Give. Invite.

Today's story comes from the Serve aspect.

Because of really great experiences that Jamie and I both had with our own college ministries, we decided to invest our energy and resources into the college ministry at BC.  And our lives will never be the same.

Three and a half years ago, we became adult leaders (ha! makes me feel old!) for a small group of freshman college students who would gather at our house once a week and attempt to learn more about Jesus and grow in their faith.  While we've seen some of those students come and go, there are a few who have stuck with us and we've had the privilege to watch them grow, mature, wrestle through some serious stuff, and become somewhat like our surrogate children.  Thankfully, we have at least a year left with most of them, but...

Two of those boys were Lucas + Victor, international student athletes at Georgia State.  They both came from Brazil and played tennis for four years.  Both of their stories were different, but the two became like brothers, and partly because they were so far from home we became their American parents.  

We've had the huge honor of seeing incredible life change happen in them over the years.  Victor made the decision to give his life to Jesus and got baptized (you should check out his video here!), they won countless tennis matches and even got to go to the NCAA tennis championship as doubles partners (and made it to the round of 16!), invested and changed the lives of all those that knew them, and brought such fun, hysterical laughter, and life!  

Victor and Lucas graduated from Georgia State University this past December, graciously spent the Christmas season with us, and then headed back to Brazil to begin their post-graduate lives at home with their families.  We are so excited to see what's to come for them, and yet sad to see them leave.  

Victor & Lucas, we consider you a part of our family (Hammond already misses his big brothers!), and can't wait to come visit soon!  

And here's an awesome video they put together for us just the other day!

Snapshots

October was a full month!  Here are some of our highlights (mainly of the cutest Hargather :) - 

Hammond's learned to say "cheese" for the camera

loving on our sweet neighbor-dog, Tucker

spending quality time with one of my favorites,

in one of my favorite college towns

date night selfie

yard work with daddy

the cutest little monkey I've ever seen

with his strawberry friend, Harper

neighborhood official Halloween social

playing around with daddy's wig

Halloween night with friends

We have been busy, but having a great time! And the little baby in my belly is certainly growing (maybe one day I'll actually take a photo…poor second child!).  

pumpkin...everything

Y'all know as soon as the weather gets just a little below the sweltering heat of summer, I go crazy for everything pumpkin.  Here are just a few recipes I've tried (and would totally recommend!).

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies 
- recipe by Lindsay (so, it's a much healthier version!)


Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Pumpkin Bread
I used the pumpkin cake bar recipe, but substituted oat flour for regular flour (and baked it longer in a loaf pan).

Pumpkin Croissants 
(if I'm honest, not my fave...not quite sweet enough for me!)

Pumpkin Cookies
These were actually made by my friend, Laura, and were amazing...good enough to share!

Yum!!!

Baby H.2

We're excited to tell you that Hammond's going to be a BIG brother!

Little brother or sister Hargather is due April 14, 2014 (or 4.14.14...lots of 4's!).  

And we won't know whether it's a boy or girl until April, so I guess we're calling this one Baby H.2?  

Hammond update

Our little man is 1 1/2!  I can't believe it.  Some days I look at him and think "he's a little BOY." 

He's been walking since right at 12 months, and now the boy is RUNNING.  
He's also climbing everything!  And up for trying almost everything.

Such a talker/babbler!  When I can understand what he says...
Hi and Bye are still his favorites.  
He also says Mamma; Dad (not daddy)
Hottttt (and puts his hand out toward hot objects)
Woah (at everything...it's hilarious)
Truck (at every large vehicle)
Tooo Tooo when he sees trains
He also can repeat most of what we ask
And we're working on Ham-man (for Hammond, of course).  

The video below is him showing off all his best animal sounds...

He's loving water :: splash pads, the pool, and the tub.

He's definitely attached to mommy, but does love his daddy, too.  

And the kid is FRIENDLY.  I mean, the pun is intended when I say he is a ham!  When we're out to eat, walking around, or at the grocery, he says HI to everyone.  It cracks me up.  And most of the time, it cracks up the other people. Bye is also his best word.  Loud and emphasized.  

Since a month ago, the morning nap is gone!  [Insert happy + sad face here.]
And he's taking a ~3 hour afternoon nap.
Still staying in his crib from 8pm - 8am at night.

He's eating like a toddler.  By that, I mean, one week he is super picky.  The next week he's eating me out of house and home...and eating everything I put in front of him, including veggies (thankfully this is one of those weeks!).  

Loves other kids!  They're our greatest form of entertainment and fun.

Loves stuffed animals.
Loves toy trucks.
Loves books.
Loves real animals.

He's mostly a happy baby.  But, the temper tantrums have begun.  It's amazing (not the good kind).  Yeah...we're working on that.  

have I meantioned it's almost always over food!

Now is the time that I want to hit the pause button and just freeze time.  He is so adorable, entertaining, and curious.  Hammond, thanks for continuing to bring us so much JOY and so much LAUGHTER.  We love you!

feeding a toddler

**I must give a disclaimer to this post!  I have no expertise on babies and toddlers, I'm just writing notes on what has been working for us.  Feels like I need to preface that given that everyone has opinions lately :).**

One of the hardest transitions we've had yet was getting off the bottle/formula, and moving Hammond solely onto solid foods (we don't do milk at all, just water).  We had been weaning him off the last few months of his first year, and on his first birthday, he had his very last bottle.  

Possibly even harder than all of that?  Coming up with creative, tasty, and healthy meals!  That he'll eat. :)  I'm totally not that mom that has to feed him all organic, homemade food.  However, I do feel a big sense of responsibility for what goes in him and making sure he gets all the nutrients he needs.  Afterall, I feel pretty crappy when all I eat is junkfood.  I don't want to be the source of that for him.  Anyhow, here are some of our favorite foods that we've tried, broken down into categories...

Breakfast
Eggs - we eat scrambled eggs every morning...all 3 of us!
Toast
Oat Pancakes - we make ours with bananas
Yogurt

Lunch/Dinner 
Veggie Burgers
Turkey/Chicken Burgers
Turkey bites
Smoothies - with lots and lots of spinach thrown in
Grilled chicken 
Farro
Cous cous 
Rice - cooking grains in chicken broth makes all the difference in the world
Dr. Pregur's frozen spinach and potato bites
Chicken & apple sausage
Quinoa mac n' cheese - I added loads of kale
Black Bean & Spinach Enchiladas - add chicken
Turkey Meatloaf


Snacks
Muffins - zucchini, apple + carrot
yogurt (frozen + reg)
Raisins/Craisins/Golden Raisins
Mum-Mums
Oat pancakes
Pretzels
Black bean dip
Squeezable fruit purees

A few things I've learned...

- One week he will love watermelon, and the next he's spitting it out of his mouth like it's cardboard.  Who knows why?  So I make it a point to try things again a few weeks out.

- Teething affects everything (for us), including meals.  He needs softer textured food

when teeth are coming in (guess it makes sense).

- As stated earlier, if I can make him a healthy, homemade meal I'm all over it.  But if it's a busy week, and I find myself pulling stuff out of the freezer for every meal, I don't stress about that either.  For me, it's all about balance.  

- I've had Hammond on a pretty tight schedule since he was about 6 weeks old.  Given that, I can either make sure to feed him on time OR expect a fussy boy.

- Ketchup usually helps him eat anything. :)

- I am now trying really hard to feed him what we eat.  That doesn't work out every meal (sushi?  timing?), but I'm trying and finding it's much easier for me.

- I try to be prepared when we're going to be around other kids with snacks.  If someone's eating, he wants to be eating, too.  So, I always try to have snacks on hand!

All in all, Hammond is a great eater (possibly too good, as he's going to eat us out of house and home with his appetite!).  But new challenges arise all the time.

Any other moms out there that want to share good recipes for toddlers?!  I'd love more ideas!!

splash pad

Whoever came up with the concept of a splash pad is brilliant!  Hammond's chance to run around and play like a mad man in the water, and mom and dad's chance to sit back and just watch!  There are a few around the city, but we decided to make an afternoon of it in Piedmont Park.