Soggy Waffle Saga

So all growing up the waffles we ate were soggy (I just found out that is because that is the way my mom likes them). They were ok at the time and all I knew. Until we went out to eat, and I discovered the yummy crunchy, crisp waffles, YUM! I loved them. But at home all we got were the soggy waffles. When I moved out on my own I bought the pre-made pancake/waffle mix and made waffles, and they too were soggy. I thought that all homemade waffles were soggy and gave up on having homemade waffles. Then I started watching the TV show “Good Eats” and was given a recipe he promised would make the perfect waffles. I tried the long, difficult recipe and once again got the soggy waffles. Alas, no yummy, crunchy waffles.

Now Kent has always liked waffles and would at times ask for me to make them, which I wouldn’t because I hated the soggy waffles. But this last Wednesday it was his birthday and his choice for dinner was bacon, eggs, and waffles. So I pulled out my trusted "Better Homes and Gardens cookbook", looking for a made from scratch waffle recipe because we had no pancake/waffle mix. I looked at their standard one and their fast method one. I decided to make the standard and hope they came out yummy for Kent’s sake. This recipe had me do something I had never done before. Separate the egg yokes from the egg whites and beat the whites until they were stiff and created peaks. I thought ok, here goes nothing. I did it and folded the egg whites into the batter. Then cooked the waffles and…..

The most beautiful, crispy, crunchy, yummy waffles emerged!

It was possible for me to make them at home!

I was so happy, there was MUCH REJOICING! :)

So my soggy waffle saga ends and a new era has begun. Yummy, crunchy waffles here we come. Needless to say we will be having more waffles around our house. Want to come over? I’d love to share. :)

“In the world but not of the world”

What does this scripture mean to you? I got a new perspective on it the other day while in a cub scout meeting of all places. And it was good for me to hear it. It really got me thinking about it. Previously I had always thought of it as, “we live in the world, we all have to and deal with it, but that we remove ourselves from the worldliness of it and try to raise our family away from the worldliness influences.”

But a good man in the meeting suggested another interpretation. He said that for him and his family he saw it as a call to serve in the world. To be involved in non-church good things and to be an example to others who may not otherwise be involved with church members. He thought that too many good LDS families are withdrawing themselves from the community and therefore losing the missionary opportunities that are needed out there. His comment was about families not wanting to send their boys to cub scout day camp, but also suggested that many are home schooling their kids, and only having their kids do church centered activities. True those could be enough to keep anyone busy, but that families that do that do not come in contact with non members who need to hear the gospel. His view is to keep his kids in public school, go to community cub scouting events that are not church organized, and to be involved in community sports, etc. And by doing that people get to know them and their family and they can then share the gospel with them.

Now I would have to be the most guilty person out there in his view, I usually only do church events and not much else. Even growing up I would have lesson about inviting non-member friends to things, and I really didn’t develop close bonds with non-members (only a few wonderful people made it in to my shy, quiet world) enough to invite them to activities. And now really my life is centered around the church, I am kept plenty busy with my family and church callings. In fact I can only name one thing I go to that is not church sponsored.

His views have really urged me to try to be more involved in my community, and to seek out ways to come in contact with more “neighbors.” It is hard as I am really a quiet, shy person until I really get to know someone, but his words had an affect on me. I do still plan to home school (I love teaching and would never give up such a wonderful experience to anyone else) but I can also make a point to be more involved.

Now I hope that anyone reading this understands that the “not of the world’ still applies, but that we can actually be IN the world and not just living in it.

So please share with me your thoughts on this view point. Have you thought this the entire time? Am I the only one with the covers over my head? Anyways it was a good lesson for me to hear and I thought I would share it with you.

Adventures in Breastfeeding

So I may have misspoken, or mistyped in an earlier post, on the note of breastfeeding being easier. My intent was to say that just nursing Emma was easier than pumping and feeding her breast milk with a bottle. I have never (successfully) fed my babies formula, but I would imagine it would be easier than dealing with all the breastfeeding issues. One sister-in-law’s statement on breastfeeding is “just because you have the equipment doesn’t mean you know what to do with it.” And I would have to agree, at least for myself. It was HARD to master breastfeeding. It took a lot of effort and a big support system to do it.

I know that I would have given up at the beginning with Michael if it hadn’t been for the support system I had. My midwife was awesome in teaching me how to nurse, and then continuing to check on my nursing during her many follow-up home visits. I also had two sister-in-laws who rooted for me the entire time, telling me that I could do it. And when things got tough (gall bladder surgery, and then bone tumor surgery) I had many female relatives coming over to help, some even spending the night to get Michael to me so I could nurse him. My philosophy was to set a goal and just try to make it there, knowing that some breastfeeding was better than none. First it was 2 weeks, if I could only make it 2 weeks. But when I got there and I said “I’ve made it this far, I can go further.” So it went to 1 month, then 2 months, then 4 months. By that time Michael refused formula (I had sudden surgery and there was not enough stored milk) so luckily a sister-in-law nursed him once while I was in surgery, and then I just had to keep nursing to feed my baby. At one year I thought, this isn’t bad I can do another year. My goal was to breastfeed Michael up till he was 2 years old. I know many would disagree with that. But I felt that I wanted to do all I could to give him any advantages. At 6 months he was sleeping through the night, yeah! And at one year I would only nurse him at home. But when he turned 18 months I became pregnant and had to stop, I couldn’t do it any more. I know really the best benefits are from birth to one, but those extra 6 months of nursing were wonderful. I loved the snuggle time it gave us. It was our special time to connect.

As for Emma, nursing started off wonderfully, and the only complaint I have is the frequency, but that too is getting better as we introduce solid foods. I just hope that I can repeat with Emma the wonderful snuggle time I had with Michael breastfeeding.

So for those out there struggling with breastfeeding, know that you can do it! Just surround yourself with a good support system and do your best, knowing that any breastfeeding is better than none.

And a note for those not able to breastfeed, this wasn't meant to make anyone feel guilty (us mothers feel guilty over enough things as it is) we all do our best, and thank goodness there is formula for us when we need it.

Forth Times A Charm

So it seems the 4th try is the one. Of course knowing me, I will constantly be trying to perfect it. But in the mean time here it is. I knit fingerless gloves for Emma, and then Michael (both have freezing cold hands all the time). And of course because I am cheap and didn’t want to pay for a pattern, and couldn’t find a free one on-line, I just made it up as I went and here is the finish project. I think next I will try to make some for me. :)

Sponsors?

So this morning radio show I use to listen to one time had a question. If your life had sponsors, what would they be? You know, what are the things that you just can’t live without? Really think about this. I thought it was a fun idea. I would love to hear what would be on the top of your list, so please share. Here is mine, or at least what I could think of right now, in no particular order. I’m sure I will think of more later ;)

Christina Rowley’s Sponsors:

finger foods for babies
baby food mixer
bibs
baby legs
AT&T cell phone
Peanut shell and Mei Tai baby carriers
Tillamook ice cream (especially mint chocolate chip, and cookie dough)
Garage Sales
Eucerin lotion
Microsoft word/ publisher/ excel
The internet
Primary songs on cd
Book of Mormon

Alone At Last!!!

How long does it take you to be able to go out without your baby after they have been born? Well, for me it has taken a while. I did leave Emma with a sister-in-law so I could take Michael to a doctor apt. only to return and learn that she refused a bottle. I know it is my own fault. I get lazy, think that they have the bottle feedings down, get tired of trying to find time to pump in an already hectic schedule and so I just go back to the easiest thing, breast feeding. It is just so easy, no bottle cleaning, no storage issues, no having to refrigerate/freeze to then have to get it to the correct temperature, and it's just so nice to have it with you and ready any time :). But I suppose I pay for it in the end.
This last Saturday was the first time since Emma has been born (almost 8 months) that Kent and I have been able to go on a date child free!! With Emma’s feeding schedule I was on call every 2 or 3 hours. Plus the fact that I feel guilty trying to get a free babysitter (a sister-in-law) for something fun like a date, (apposed to a doctor apt.). But Saturday Kent surprised me with plans for dinner just the two of us. Emma has started to give me a 4 hour block between feedings in the evenings, so it was just perfect timing for us to feed her, get her and Michael down to bed, pay a niece to stay at the house as we went to dinner. It was so nice to actually have an adult conversation without screaming or a million other type of interruptions.
Now, don’t be feeling too bad for us, we do still have date nights, but being the cheap person that I am, we usually just stay at home, put the kids down and then watch a movie or play a game just to have our time together. But I am so thankful to solid foods that have given me the extra time so that we were able to get out. Now if she would just sleep through the night, that would be great!!

Hats Hats Hats

So Michael had his hat out and of course now that Emma is crawling anything on the floor is fair game. So she got a hold of it. I tried it on her and it just looked so cute! The mix of obvious girly girl pink outfit with the blue boy hat was adorable. Michael was laughing about having Emma wear his hat. Then I remembered that during the summer I got a girl baseball hat for Emma at a garage sale. I went and found it and then took pictures of my two kids with their hats. It was a silly afternoon, but we had fun!

Learning a New Skill

So I started learning a new skill, knitting. It has been fun. My goal is not to do big fancy projects; I just want to knit cute baby stuff. I had tried to learn before when Michael was a baby, but due to my bone tumor that got put on hold. Now I have tried it again. And thanks to my sister-in-law, Nancy, I have been able to learn and do a few projects. I couldn’t say anything earlier because I was knitting Christmas presents and baby gifts. So far I have been able to knit 4 scarves and 2 baby hats. My next projects are baby leggings and baby fingerless gloves (that is something I have just come up with, no pattern; we’ll see how it works out). So I’ll keep you posted when my new projects get done. In the mean time, here are some pictures of the projects I’ve completed. (now remember I am a beginner)

A cute hat for baby Guinevere (I hope it fits)

A scarf for a niece and nephew

Crawling Emma

Today was a milestone for Emma, her first crawl! She has previously rolled to her destination (had to do it to be a true “rollie”/Rowley get it?) Then she started getting up on her knees and rocking, so I knew it was close. And today she was motivated enough and started to do an army crawl. I got some video clips of it, but had to use the camera as motivation in order to get the video. Enjoy.

Family Pictures

So I have been meaning to get professional pictures done of Emma and of our Family. But with the busy Christmas season and still not wanting to spend quite so much on pictures, but knowing that I have to spend in order to get the good ones. Well, in the mean time I used our wonderful timer setting on the camera (thanks Kent for setting that up) we took our Christmas pictures on the Sunday after Christmas (since we didn’t’ get to go to church the Sunday before Christmas, it was canceled from the stake, too much ice!) So here is what we came up with. Our lovely family pictures, hope you enjoy. :)

Christmas Perspective

I truly enjoyed Christmas this year. Not only was it the first Christmas where Michael started to understand things, but I gained a new perspective. Many things affected my new outlook on how to do Christmas.

First, there was my brother, in Arizona, whose wife had to unexpectedly go to the hospital during a home birth, and he was unable to find a single ward member, willing to sacrifice some of their Christmas time to help take care of his kids while he took care of his new born baby and wife in the hospital. Luckily my mother was able to fly out to help. But that got me thinking…. Isn’t the reason for Christmas to celebrate Christ’s birth and to do so by serving others during this season? Isn’t the scripture “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”

Second, I have heard other’s question the role of Santa in their Christmas and how he relates to the gospel teachings. Now Kent and I both being the youngest never had the Santa thing played up for us, and we found out at a relatively young age. So I decided to tell Michael that there is a wonderful man who gets all the children ONE gift on Christmas to celebrate Christ’s birth, and that we all do the same, by giving gifts to others we are doing what Christ has asked of us, serving and showing our loves to those around us. But I don’t think I will really play up Santa all that much. Instead we emphasized daily that Christmas was Christ’s birthday and to celebrate Christ’s birth. So it was funny when family members would ask Michael are you excited about Santa? He really didn’t have an answer. They also asked what he had asked Santa for Christmas, this too he didn’t have an answer. I never told him that he could pick what he wanted. I just told him that Santa would give him one present. When relatives asked Michael what day was coming up, he would say “Birthday!” I’m sure this confused everyone, but this made me happy. Michael was not thinking about getting lots of presents and about what he wanted. He was thinking about Christ’s birthday. Sure there will come a time where he will focus on what he wants, I think that most young kids go through that phase, but if I can hold that off and teach him that it is not about getting but giving from the beginning I think that he will learn the message of Christmas.

With the focus on Christ and service I thought “what did I want my children to remember about the Christmas’s of their childhood?’ Did I want them to remember a frantic mother trying to bake too many things, to make everything so perfect, that she is unhappy, and therefore the kids are unhappy? (I have done this in the past and it was not fun!) Or do I want them to remember a happy mom, who especially during this time, spent time with them, and took the time to teach them what Christmas is about. Now don’t get me wrong, I think taking cookies to neighbors is wonderful, but I have already done that 2 times this year and so it was one I was willing to let slide at Christmas time. I also wanted to do lots of fun activities, like make gingerbread houses, snowflakes, etc. But why do too much when just a little will do? So I limited our Christmas activities. There was a Christmas tree made of Michaels hand prints. We played in the snow and Michael built his first snowman. Michael made a Christmas present for mom, dad, and Emma. And every evening we read a different Christmas book, sang a Christmas song, read a scripture about Christ’s birth, learned about a person in the nativity, and pondered on what we would give Jesus this year for Christmas.

So Christmas day the kids each got three gifts this year; one from Santa, one from mom and dad, and one from their sibling. Christmas morning since there were not a lot of gifts to be opened, we took our time. Each took a turn opening and then we would get the gift out and let the child play with it a few minutes and then move on. I loved it! It made Christmas last a lot longer and it was nice to see each gift loved and played with. To end our gift opening we said a prayer of thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father.

Then a fun simple breakfast of pull apart cinnamon bread, eggs and sausage. The rest of the day was fun with the kids, phone calls to family, and a dinner with Kent’s family. Maybe it was just my perspective and focuses this year, maybe it was because I was not stressed out about everything being perfect, but this Christmas was the best I have had in a while.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! What a blessing to celebrate Christ’s birth and teach the message of giving and serving to my children. Thanks to those who helped me see the meaning of Christmas this year and helped me better focus my Christmas traditions.

Michael's first snowman

Michael's handprint Christmas tree

What hansome guys I have in my life!

Playing after Christmas morning

Christmas Time

The first week of December we started our family traditions of decorating for Christmas. Michael and I decorated the house while Kent was at work. But when he got home he got to put up the fake tree (when growing up I said I would always have a real tree, but the hassle and money became a factor. We have had our fake tree for 5 years now and I love it). As Kent put up the tree Michael and I baked sugar cookies. Then all got to decorate the tree and when everything was done we got to frost and eat the yummy sugar cookies. I have loved doing our traditions this year now that Michael is old enough to understand and enjoy them. We have my button advent calendar I made years ago, but now I realize how perfect it is for Michael, he has to work on his fine motor skills to get the buttons through and he is learning to go left to right and down to start at the left again. What good planning and I didn’t even know it. Also, this is the first Christmas in 2 years that we have not had to have a gate around the tree. Michael is old enough to know not to play with the ornaments and Emma can’t reach them yet. We are having a blast preparing for Christmas this year. What traditions are you starting with your children? We wish you a very happy holiday season!





Emma decided to be a Christmas present and go under the tree

We got snow here! Then it turned to ice and we have had TONS of wind. So much ice and wind that church was canceled on sunday.