It’s hard to believe that it has already been one month since Samuel was born!! Christmas, the new year, and almost the whole month of January has vanished, just like that! I have been doing my best to try and enjoy each moment of every day, but sometimes daily chores and tasks get in the way. It is hard to take joy in the time together when instead I find myself worrying about the dishes in the sink, the toys scattered throughout the house, the bathrooms need to be cleaned, etc, etc, etc…. I hope I can find a balance and not let all these tasks steal my joy. The kids are not going to care that their toys didn’t get picked up or that the dishes didn’t get immediately washed, but they are going to remember whether or not mom spent time with them. I can also be a better mom and wife by allowing myself to have some “me” time. It’s okay to allow myself to go for walks, practice piano and teach. It’s all about balance! There. I feel better already! Blogging can be good therapy! 🙂

This is a picture of Samuel at Bible study last week. He was having sweet dream smiles. 🙂 We are all adjusting back into our routines. Andrew went back to work, David to preschool, and Emma, Samuel and I to our daily routines.

Emma is adjusting to Samuel being around. She has started imitating what I do with Samuel with her baby dolls. It is so sweet!!! I love it when she sings to her baby. She also tries to burp and swaddle them. I keep waiting on her to try and feed her baby! 🙂

In an effort to make my life a little easier, I tried out Walmart’s online grocery shopping. I had heard really good things about it. It is amazingly convenient! All you do is download their grocery app, add items to your cart, checkout, and sign up for a pick up time. Check in on your way to the store, tell them what spot you parked in when you get there, and they bring your groceries out to your car. It’s great for a new mom, and keeps me from having to take the kids into the store. I have to say as much as I love the convenience of it, and will continue to use it until Samuel reaches the age of being able to sit up in the cart, I miss shopping for my own groceries! There is just something about being able to peruse the aisles. Plus shopping is good exercise!

We’ve been blessed by some very kind people who have brought over freezer meals, and we have been eating out some too since Samuel’s birth. However, Andrew and I love to cook and so we have still been cooking a majority of our meals.  I want to share this chicken nugget recipe with you because these are possibly the best chicken nuggets I’ve had in my whole life! They are super easy to make. Start by cutting up chicken breasts into small bite size pieces. Mix together flour, salt, pepper, and seasoning salt in a ziploc bag and put the chicken pieces in the bag. Toss to coat. Put egg and water mixture in a bowl, and bread crumbs in another bowl. Toss the chicken pieces in the egg wash, bread crumbs, and then fry. Serve with whatever sauce you like! Here is the recipe for Chicken Nuggets!

We celebrated my dad’s birthday over the weekend! It was wonderful to have my parents come and visit us for a couple days. We enjoyed spending time with them, and the time always goes by too quickly!

I made my dad a chocolate cake for his birthday. I used two different recipes, one for the cake and another for the icing. Here is the recipe for chocolate cake, and here is the recipe for the milk chocolate butter cream frosting I used. I used a different frosting from the cake recipe because we prefer the milk chocolate taste over the dark chocolate.

Love,

PK