Pumpkin muffins

Oh. My. Word. I love love LOVE pumpkin!!! As much as my friend, Megan, does. I think.

I am all the time in the kitchen these days, and since I'm in the kitchen so are the oldest kiddos in the house. And while there can be bickering of who gets to do what (i.e. measure, pour, stir), most of the time it has become very enjoyable to have "help" baking. So many of my memories growing up come from being in the kitchen with my grand parents. Hopefully, my kiddos will remember me as a younger mom in the kitchen with them. Emphasis on the word Younger.

If there is one thing most people don't know about me is that I make up recipes all of the time. Lately it's because of Porter's inability to digest dairy through breastmilk. But most often it's because I get a hankerin' for something and I just use whatever ingredients I have on hand to make it. If I ever had the guts to try out for The Next Food Network Star, my POV (point of view) would totally be..."Whatever's in the Pantry." :)

So here are the best pumpkin muffins I've made up so far. We'll call them...

Streusel Pumpkin Muffins

Muffins:
*2 cups + 2 tablespoons of Self-Rising flour (or you could use just 2 cups of all purpose flour and add in 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt)
*2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice (or just use cinnamon)
*1 1/2 cups sugar
*3/4 cup applesauce (or you could use vegetable oil...but I didn't have any)
*3 large eggs
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1 can of pureed pumpkin

Streusel Topping:
*1/2 cup brown sugar
*1/2 cup flour (self-rising or all purpose...whatever you have!)
*4 tbsp melted butter (or margarine...which is what I have to use these days)

Optional:
*Chocolate chips

Mix all Muffin ingredients together in a large bowl. I used my stand mixer, but mix until just combined...don't over mix. Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray and fill 1/2 way. Set to the side. Mix together Topping ingredients; will be very thick. With clean fingers, break Topping into small pieces and sprinkle all over the tops of muffins. If you are ever so indulgent, sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of the muffins as well. For me, I do 1/2 with and 1/2 without.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. Cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve warm and enjoy. With coffee. :)

Thank goodness my in-laws live close by so that I could get rid of some! They are so ridiculously delicious that I could have easily gone out of control...like eating them for breakfast AND dessert.

Our Six Month Blessing

Porter is six months old today. Wow.

It's hard to believe that at this time six months ago I still had not met my son. I had not held him. Had not even seen him.

Yet here we are six months into Porter's life, and I so desperately wish I could stop time right now. Today, before he gets any older; any bigger. Stop time while Ella Beth is still a little girl at heart, and her sweet mama-heart comes out so often these days. Stop time while Landon is still a silly little boy who is coming into his own personality.

If only it were possible.

But it's not. And, though I sigh at the thought of just six more months passing until we are celebrating Porter's first birthday, I am reminded again and again to cherish every moment.

That's exactly what we did this past weekend as Scott and I dedicated our son and his upbringing to the Lord. We prayed and shared with those who love our family the most our values, our hopes, and our dreams for our third child. Our youngest son.

We pray that Porter will value honesty above anything else.

That he will have a reckless abandon to do what's right - love and respect for others, choices he makes, and how he treats people.

That he will have a moldable, teachable, and obedient heart.

That he will be generous with the blessings that God bestows upon him - no matter how great or small.

That he will have a magnetic personality - one that will draw others in and be a leader, even when making unpopular decisions.

Porter is the sweetest addition to our family. He's the piece we never knew was missing. It's as though in some way he brought our family together even tighter. Our focus as a family is clearer; much more concrete. We are blessed tremendously by this tiny little fella.

Multitudes on Monday

1308. a Happy, Healthy, and Sweet 6 month old baby boy!!!

1309. no heart monitor for Porter

1310. the rash on Porter's sides finally going away that was caused by his monitor patches

1311. pumpkin coffee cake

1312. pumpkin coffee cake paired with coffee :)

1313. cool fall breezes on sunny days

1314. starting the week off spending time in the Word in a quiet kitchen

1315. dedicating our third child to the Lord

1316. re-evaluating our family values so that we are intentional in raising our family

1317. celebrating with those who love our children dearly

1318. a sweet book to read with Porter each night

1319. fun fall books to read with Ella Beth and Landon

1320. my Kindle, so that when I am reading while nursing at night I can stay awake but not wake Porter

1321. the moment my body relaxes at night in bed and sleep comes quickly (which does not take long at all these days...even if it is 10 p.m.)

Psalm 107:1, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."

Porter's first bites

Porter has started eating solids. Well, really, he's eating mushy veggies and fruits...but they call them "solids" so we just go with it. I decided to make homemade baby food this go 'round, and Oh. My. Word. Why did I not do this before??!? It's soooo much cheaper, healthier (most of our foods have come straight from our own garden!), and easier than I expected. So thankful for my food processor and our bountiful harvest. :)

I simply cannot believe that Porter is already eating baby food. CRAZY!!! He was ready before I was, that's for sure. He just keeps surprising us all by how he is just moving right along in his development. I guess we kinda expected everything to come slower and later since he was so early, but he's just on his own time table and is moving full speed ahead!

Porter very much reminds me of Ella Beth in many ways, but especially when it comes to eating. You'd never know how good of an eater Ella Beth has always been (still hanging out around 35 lbs and she's 6 years old); and you'd never know how good of an eater Porter is already because he's still a pretty tiny little fella. Those Castleberry metabolisms are fierce!

Don't you just love pictures of babies eating? Messy, funny, and cute to boot!

 Ummm, excuse me I'm trying to eat here. ;)

Oh, yummy. That was good!

It's hard to believe that we are already here at this stage, but Porter was ready and he's such a good eater! So far he's eating pears, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and applesauce. I'll be making green beans tomorrow, and I'm crossing my fingers that he will just keep eating his bites. :)

No Strings Attached

I don't know why I have not posted about Porter and his heart monitor. I have thought about it many different times, especially since this blog is my memory book. But, for some reason it has been hard on me. Maybe it's the reason why he needed it - finding him blue and not breathing in his swing. Maybe it was just another reminder that Porter hasn't been a "normal" baby. Maybe it is because it's hard knowing that something could "go wrong" with my child. Maybe it's because that's what everyone questioned me about any time we were out in public for the last 4 months. I really don't know the exact reason.

But, now that Porter has been discharged from his heart monitor I find it easy to write about. Yup, you read that right...No More Heart Monitor!!! Porter has had two really good reports and has "passed" to be released from the heart monitor.

I will admit that it's actually a little scary. The heart monitor had become kinda like a crutch for me. I would cling to the knowledge that it would go off if something were wrong, and it put my mind at ease. Last night as I put him to bed for the first time in four months without wires hanging off of him and over the side of his bed, I had to give him over to the Lord again. I told God that I trusted that He would let me know if Porter needed me - whether that be during naps during the day or through the long hours at night. I know that I can't live scared; I can't sit by his bedside during the night making sure he is breathing. I simply had to give my son over to the Lord to love and protect. Whew! One night down...thousands more to go!

So for the last four months these leads (strings as the kiddos call them) have been hanging off of Porter. The band around Porter's chest is a felt-like material, and the strip across the material is a huge piece of velcro. Under the material are two monitor patches - one on each side of his chest. Now, this picture was taken on June 16 and Porter was still getting used to all of his attachments. However, for the last three weeks or so, every evening after his bath when we'd "hook him up" to everything, Porter would cry as we wrapped the band around him. He really, really, really didn't like the monitor patches against his skin. I know he won't be missing those for sure!

The leads were always snapped in between the snaps of his onesies. (For his sleepers: his preemie and newborn sleepers were snaps all the way down, so we snapped the leads at his feet. However, once he moved into 0-3 months sleepers, I had to cut a small hole at the ankle to feed the leads through because they zipped.)  

So there are two leads...white for respiratory and black for heart. I have no idea how he did it, but at every single diaper change, Porter would always end up with one lead in his hands.

The heart monitor is not light by any means. In fact it weighs 10 lbs. So for the last four months I have literally been carrying around a lot of weight...which up until the last two weeks the monitor has been heavier than Porter himself. Not gonna lie, I won't miss that!

Don't judge. Porter is still in our room in his pack-n-play. Yes, he is almost 6 months old, but where would you have your baby on a heart monitor?!? So, this is how Porter's "strings" have been in the bed. Obviously, our main concern with the strings is strangulation, so we would tuck the cords under the corner of his mattress at his feet. Remarkably, despite my mommy-brain failing me on many occasions these last 6 months, I never forgot to tuck those cords!

Here is what the monitor looked like from the top. The heart rate is monitored on the left (lit up green in this picture). The heart with the arrow pointing up would go off if his heart rate was too fast, the heart with the arrow pointing down would go off if his heart rate was too slow. Porter's heart rate was slow for a while due to him not breathing regularly. And those lungs with the huge X through them would go off if he wasn't breathing. For Porter, we had the low heart rate and slow breathing to work through.

But we did it!!! We made it through, and this sweet and sleepy boy is now resting comfortably. With no strings attached!

I am so thankful that God stirred my heart on June 5, 2012 (my 33rd birthday) to go and check on Porter in his swing. He had been crying while I was fixing Landon's lunch to take to Nana's house, and when he stopped crying I honestly just assumed that he had fallen asleep. But something inside said, "Amber, just go peek at him." I thank Jesus every day that I listened to that stirring. When I found him blue in his swing, I jerked that sweet baby boy up and he immediately took a breath. He had had a reflux episode and was asphyxiated on spit up so that he could not breathe.

This heart monitor has been a blessing (albeit a heavy one!) to us. It went off more than we would have liked it to for the first month and a half, but it has also shown us how Porter has improved since then. So now, this sweet little fella is in God's hands. And I trust that God will hold him tight.

Multitudes on Monday

1295. Landon's excitement about preschool

1296. Landon having a great first week at preschool

1297. more one-on-one time with Ella Beth during three days a week

1298. a baby boy who loves to eat

1299. a new hair cut to freshen up

1300. sending and receiving letters from Munyiva, our sponsor child in Ngaamba, Kenya

1301. going to the evening service at our church

1302. crock pot meals on evenings when Landon has baseball

1303. Ella Beth's willingness to try most foods...and the fact that she likes 99% of anything that I cook :)

1304. bubbles in Porter's bath that keep him entertained

1305. watching Porter notice his feet - he can't quite get to them yet, but it's fun to watch him watch his feet!

1306. hugs on the run as kiddos run past while playing

1307. hanging out with Meredith at Monkey Joe's while our big kiddos run themselves tired!

Colossians 1:9-14, "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." AMEN!!!

Busy week, but a good one

Oh. My. Word. This seriously has to be the busiest week that I can ever remember. And I have had a hard time adjusting it. Homeschooling, really just being at home in general most of our days, has really set me back from the craziness of running here and there and everywhere. My hat is off to those who do this all of the time.

We got home from vacation on Sunday morning around 1:20 a.m. Yawn!

When we woke up Scott and the kiddos ran to an event at our church while Porter caught up on some sleep.

And the laundry began. Whew! It was rough, let me tell you. Seven loads rough.

Landon had his first baseball game on Monday, with another on Wednesday.

Landon started preschool this week (very last minute decision), and it has been hard adjusting to leaving the house with an infant who still requires and enjoys his morning naps to be at preschool at 9 a.m. three mornings a week.

And then tag on our homeschool co-op started Thursday morning, so we had to leave the house even earlier.

All of this starting right at the same time has worn me slap out this week. But there have been many positives amidst the exhaustion - Landon l-o-v-e-s preschool!! It was a decision that I went back and forth on all summer. Landon has struggled with his fine motor skills for quite a while now, and I have racked my brain on how to help him. We have tried many things at home, but he has still struggled. I met with his (now) preschool teacher who taught kindergarten for 32 years and specialized in fine motor development. Sold! He has already improved in just the three days he's gone this week. Although it has added stress to our mornings, I know that it will be worth it.

Landon's first baseball season starting this week has just been a highlight of having a little boy. There is not much cuter than a team of little 4 and 5 year old boys running around on a baseball field, chasing after the same ball, and swinging a bat!!!

Landon got his first hit (without the tee) on Wednesday. It was so fun to cheer him on and to see the pride in his face as he rounded the bases!!! 

 And even better...Daddy was coaching first base and got to give him a high five right on the field!

I absolutely love this picture. The boys had fun and they were happy to give high fives to the other team.

Goooooo Cardinals!!!

Despite it being a crazy busy week for us, it was one full of good memories.

I have yet to go through all of our vacation pictures, but I did look to see if I got a good one of all three kiddos. I did!!! I love these sweet faces more than words could ever express. :)

Multitudes on Monday

1273. an amazing vacation

1274. relaxing on the beach and listening to the waves crash on the sand

1275. beautiful days filled with sunshine

1276. running on the beach with Scott chasing Ella Beth and Landon

1278. flying kites in the ocean winds

1279. 1158 pictures to remember our vacation

1280. adaptable kiddos who go with the flow and make vacationing truly stress-free

1281. squealing (i.e. SCREAMING) as we went crab hunting at night....and I'm talking about me!!!

1282. shrimp, shrimp, shrimp, and more shrimp!

1283. fresh crab cakes

1284. putting Porter's toes in the sand and the ocean for the first time

1285. baby hats

1286. the smell of sunscreen

1287. enjoying a pool on the beach and going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth all day long

1288. watching a blood red moon rise above the ocean

1289. kiddos who would rather talk and play and nap in the car than watch videos for hours on end

1290. receiving "mail" delivered right in the van from Ella Beth on our drives

1291. going on an off-road adventure to see the wild horses of the Outer Banks

1292. Cracker Barrel pit-stops on long car rides

1293. unplugging for 8 full days and spending uninterrupted time with family

1294. marvelling at the beauty of the Lord's creation

Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."