Tales from Oakbriar Farm

My Dad

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:33:00 +0000

He gave me my bright blue eyes.
And my dark hair.

Once we went to a Father/Daughter dance.
I was upset when everyone said "You would look just like your dad if you grew a mustache."

He taught me to love music.
And books.

When I was in third grade, he showed me how to do algebra.
He made me feel smart.

He talked more than anyone I know.
Even more than me.

He made the worst hamburgers, but the best Chinese food.
I still love Chinese.

He let me get that cat.
But he chose the name. The dumbest name ever - TC for The Cat.

He surprised me and came to my fifth grade talent show.
I felt special.

I made fun of him when he said "I'm fixin' to..." or "I'll give you a holler..."
He laughed.

He made a lot of mistakes.
But he owned up to them later on.

And after I had my own children, he told great stories of when I was a child.
And he gave great advice - "Don't forget these days. They're the best."

He visited a few weeks ago to meet Ethan and see Evie.
He read to Evie and carried her. He tickled her and sang silly songs.
She loved the attention from her Poppa.

When he left to go home, he promised to read her books on the webcam.
But we ran out of time.

Last night, my dad passed away.
And I'm in disbelief. I'm numb.

But trying to remember.
My dad.

Wordless Wednesday - O Christmas Tree

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:12:00 +0000

The Spirit of the Season

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:01:00 +0000

I'm finally feeling the Christmas spirit. This year, it took a little longer than normal, but I'm there now. This past weekend, we finally decorated the tree that's been up for two weeks. The presents are wrapped and ribboned. I'm blaring Christmas music in the kitchen, singing in the car. We're taking drives just to see the lights in the neighborhood.

And I'm thinking of my Savior.

With a new baby in the house, I am focused even more on Baby Jesus - "born a child, yet a King." Usually, it's grown-up Jesus that comes to my mind. Even during the Christmas season, I'm focused on what Jesus ultimately did for me, and not how He came.

But every time I hear the Christmas Story this year, I glance over at Ethan. I see his tiny body, his soft skin. He's vulnerable - not strong. And this is how God chose to come down and dwell among us. As a baby.

For me, that's a miracle in itself. God didn't come as a prince in a palace, or as someone famous. He didn't have servants and bodyguards. Jesus began life just as we do. He wasn't even born in a hospital. He felt cold and hunger and pain, just as we do. He depended on a mother to care for him when he was an infant, just as we do. Because He became a child, just like us, He knows what our life is truly like.

That gives me shivers, knowing that by becoming human, God understands me. Jesus reconciled me to God. He began this reconciliation as a baby, and ended by suffering in my place.

And so this Christmas season, I celebrate Baby Jesus. I celebrate this Baby's long-awaited arrival. God in flesh, living still with us. "Glory to the newborn King..."

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find out rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Talkin' with My Girl

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:27:00 +0000

Evie: Here are the directions I wrote to Heaven, where Jesus lives.
Me: Oh, good! But we won't be going to Heaven for a long time.
Evie: (Handing me my cell phone) But don't forget your phone when we go.
Me: Honey, we won't need phones in Heaven.
Evie: They already have a phone?
Me: (A little exasperated) Yes, they have a phone already.
Evie: When it rings, I will run run run to answer it!

-----

Me: Evie, what do you want for breakfast?
Evie: Ramen Noodles.
Me: You can't have Ramen Noodles for breakfast, they're lunch food. What do you want for breakfast?
Evie: (Pausing a few seconds.) Is it okay if we just call this lunch?

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Wordless Wednesday - The Announcement

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Potato Soup

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:45:00 +0000

At my first job, way back when, a girl named Chris sat in the cubicle next to me. Chris is sweet and wacky and smart and funny and cute. She helped me though bad bosses and bad roommates and dating and wedding planning. You know how there are people in your life who you lose touch with, but still consider friends? Chris is one of those people for me...

Anyway, I don't even remember why, but there was a time when we were trying to make the perfect potato soup. This was before AllRecipes.com, when I only had dial-up internet at home. (Boy, I feel old now!) So we used to ask other people for their hints. Someone told Chris to use sour cream in the soup, which tasted good, but curdled. Someone told me to use ham in the soup, which was too chunky. And eventually we gave up and considered our recipe "good enough."

But it wasn't really good enough to make regularly. You know, because of the curdled sour cream and the chunky ham!

About six months ago, I found this recipe. It's for the crock pot, and I made it like that a few times. Then I figured out it's just as easy (and faster) to make on the stove, so I modified it a tiny bit. And it is simple, but the best thing to fill your belly on a cold night. I've thought of Chris every time I make it.

So, here is finally the perfect potato soup recipe...

Potato Soup
5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced into 2-inch chunks
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 quarts chicken broth
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
crumbled bacon (optional)

Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasonings, and broth to large stockpot. (If you're like me, and think extra garlic makes anything taste better, resist! It's perfect with 4 cloves.) Bring to a boil, cover, and cook for about an hour, until potatoes are tender.

Remove lid. Using a stick blender or potato masher, blend the soup until smooth.

Break the cream cheese into chunks and add to soup. Turn heat to low and cook about 20 minutes, until cream cheese is mostly melted into the soup. Run the blender through the soup again, just to make sure any cream cheese chunks are incorporated.

I don't think this needs the bacon garnish. (I'm trying to lose this pregnancy weight.) If you want it, just crumble it on top before serving.

Enjoy!

Lisa hosts Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays over at Blessed with Grace. Visit her for more yummy recipes!

Night

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:37:00 +0000

I've never been a good sleeper. I lay my head on the pillow, and instead of drifting to dreamland, my brain clicks "on." I worry, I write blog posts in my head, I make To Do lists, I redecorate the house. So when I finally fall asleep, I want to stay sleeping! Because I repeat the whole cycle again if I wake up.

But I don't mind getting up with Ethan at night.

Oh, he's just the sweetest thing ever. And he's all mine at night.

During the day, there is so much going on. The radio is on, or the television is on. Evie is running around, or dancing, or singing, or asking for my help. The doorbell rings, or the phone rings.

At night, it's quiet. The light is dim. It's just the two of us. I hold his warm body in my arms while I feed him. In the soft light, he looks like a little angel. I kiss his head and stroke his cheek.

When I was up with Evie in the night, I used to pray for other mothers who were up with their children. But I sometimes forget to pray when I'm up with Ethan. He steals all my attention, all my love, all my heart - there in the dark.

Just Average

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Yesterday was Ethan's one-month check up with his pediatrician.

He is 21 inches long.
He weighs 9 pounds, 5 ounces.

Guess what percentile 9 pounds, 5 ounces is? The 48th percentile.

Yep, that's me doing a little dance. I finally have a "normal" sized child!

I love Evie - her big personality in her tiny little body. But I'm happy Ethan is average. No weight checks are scheduled in our future. I won't cry at the doctor's office if he loses an ounce. I won't butter everything he eats or insist he eats his ice cream before his carrots.

Just average is just great...

Pot Roast

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:11:00 +0000

I'm back! Did you miss me?

We're adjusting to life as new parents, again. Ethan is the sweetest little baby, and Evie is the best big sister. Seriously, she's doing even better than we thought she would.

And, despite being sleep-deprived, I'm even up to cooking a meal now and then. Nothing gourmet, to be sure, but at least I'm back in the kitchen! Tonight I made a very easy pot roast, to rave reviews. Even my almost-vegetarian daughter ate the meat! It also makes it's own yummy gravy while cooking, which is my favorite part...

Slow Cooker Pot Roast
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
salt, pepper, and garlic powder (for seasoning)
2-3 lb pot roast
2 (10.75 oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 oz) package dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 c beef broth
1 lb baby carrots
3 onions, quartered
4 large potatoes, quartered

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle roast with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and flour. Brown all sides of meat.

In slow cooker, mix mushroom soup, onion soup mix and beef broth. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture. Add carrots, onions and potatoes.

Cook on High for 3-4 hours, or Low for 8-9 hours.

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday - Smooch

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:48:00 +0000

Tums

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:01:00 +0000

When I was pregnant with Ethan, I had a lot of heartburn. It's the most annoying thing to have heartburn after you eat a bowl of cereal or an apple. But I had it, and I took a lot of Tums.

Evie is obsessed with Tums now. I even took an empty container and filled it with candy Spree, so she would be able to "pretend" to have heartburn. (I know, we are just crazy in this house!)

It's still not enough. She wants the real thing, and will do just about anything to get it.

Evie: I can't wait to get married.
Me: Really? That's a long time away.
Evie: But then I will be able to reach the Tums when I need them.

Evie: When I have a baby, I'm not going to the hospital.
Me: Oh, no?
Evie: No. I will just stay home and take some Tums.

If only we could solve our problems with antacids, the world would be a much easier place...

Wordless Wednesday - Little Feet

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:18:00 +0000

Wordless Wednesday - Siblings

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:10:00 +0000

Off Course

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:33:00 +0000

So what have I been doing the past few days since we returned home? Besides cuddling and cooing and not sleeping? Well, I've been trying to breastfeed.

And, oh, I've been having the hardest time!

I remember rough patches with Evie. Waiting for my milk to come in, trying to get her to wake up for feedings, the whole milk/soy thing... But the relationship we had during our nursing sessions made it all worthwhile. I loved the whole thing, and breastfed her for 20 months. It's an accomplishment I'm still very proud of.

Ethan is a different story, though. Just hours after he was born, he was in the NICU with jaundice. It was important to get him eating right away, to rid his body of bilirubin. So I agreed to supplement his feedings with formula. And he drank a LOT of formula! The nurses were all impressed with his appetite, and everyone was happy when he started getting better.

But all the bottles have caused me problems. I can't get him to latch on. I worked with a lactation consultant at the hospital, and she gave me lots of tips. I was so enthusiastic at first, but after so many days of Ethan refusing to nurse, after days of trying everything I could think of, of calls to several lactation consultants, of pumping around the clock to protect my milk supply, of more tears than you can imagine, after nipple shields and dripping syringes of breastmilk, and countless pleads to Ethan to JUST LATCH ON, I am done.

It makes me so sad. This is never something I even considered. Bottle feeding just wasn't in my plans at all. However, here I am.

Talking with Ethan's pediatrician last night made me feel so much better. Really, there's not much more I can do to encourage him to nurse. And it's not a choice I made for him - he made it for me.

The new plan is to pump a few times during the day and feed him that milk from a bottle. His other feedings will be formula. And I'll cuddle him often, wear him in a sling, sing to him, and kiss his little head so he still feels nurtured. It's a compromise I never wanted to make, although I'm becoming more accepting as time goes by.

But it sure feels like failure.

Paperwork

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Yahoo! We're just waiting on the paperwork to be completed, and we're on our way home!

Little Boy Blue

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:01:00 +0000

Long Story, Short

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:02:00 +0000

Ethan is still beautiful, but life is not.

In the wee hours of Monday morning, Ethan's billirubin levels shot up dramatically. Like, enough to wake his pediatritan in the dead of night and get him admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

His levels have stablized, thanks to constant light therapy. But they are still way too high, so although I have been discharged, I am rooming in with Ethan at the hospital.

His doctors are unsure of what caused such a rapid rise, but it is most likely a maternal blood incompatibilty issue or some kind of rare genetic thing. In any situation, the outcome is good, and we are thankful for that.

The hardest thing is that we cannot hold him, since he has to be under the lights contantly. Evie is home, while Chris and I are not. This is certainly not the way I imagined our family life would start out.

Everything should calm down in the next few days, and we hope to go home soon. Ethan will probably remain on 24/7 light therapy for awhile there, but at least we will all be together. And that will be the start of something very, very good.

More Photos of Ethan

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:03:00 +0000

Ethan Ambrose

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:35:00 +0000

Ethan arrived, after an easy delivery, at 6:37 PM this evening. He looks just like Chris, in miniature. He weighs 7 lbs, 5 oz and is 20 in long.

I am already in love.

More to come in the morning...

Sunday Morning

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:04:00 +0000

So right now, I'm sitting in a hospital bed, pitocin dripping into my veins. I'm comfortable. And so very excited.

I keep looking down toward my belly. Ethan must also be excited, because his movement is causing my gown to ripple and move. His heartbeat is a steady sound in the background, along with ESPN on television. Already Chris is immersing our baby boy in football!

The sun is shining through the blinds, and a ray of light has fallen on the baby bed Ethan will soon rest in. I keep looking over, imagining him there. Not much longer, but the anticipation is killing me!

All the struggles to have another baby are about to pay off. God provides His light in every difficult situation. So now we wait to meet our son. We wait for this next wonderful change to our lives. And we thank God, again, for answering our prayers.

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Zhu Zhu Pets

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Zhu Zhu Hamsters from Jim Britton on Vimeo.

Have you heard of Zhu Zhu Pets? Picture cute, cuddly, energetic little hamsters - without the mess and fuss of a live pet. You can see them in action at our house in the video above.

A few months ago, Mom Select offered to send me a Zhu Zhu Pets party pack. It included eleven of the little hamsters, plus a hamster habitat. And what did I have to do in return? Host a party to give them away! So I happily agreed.

The enormous Box O' Hamsters arrived during nap time one day, but Evie and Chris tore into it when she woke up. Right away, Evie fell in love with her hamster. She squealed as it zoomed around the kitchen floor and yelled "Oh, no!" when it darted under the sofa. We met my family for dinner later in the evening, and she insisted on taking her new pet with us! And the next morning when we woke up, she headed into the living room and began playing with him again. Seriously, this little guy has kept her occupied way more than the average toy.

And the hamster habitat we received was cool, too. It included a funhouse, tunnel and wheel, ramp and spiral slide, adventure ball, surfboard and sleep dome, U-turn ramp and skateboard, and a hamster car and garage. Somehow, the hamsters know what room of the habitat they are in, and make appropriate noises - like snoring in the sleeping dome.

The entire habitat is easy to set up, but pretty large. We had to move our kitchen table to make room for it! But you can choose the pieces that work for you, creating a customized home for your Zhu Zhu pets. Everyone's favorite accessory seemed to be the car (kids and parents both flipped for this one.) I thought the adventure ball was the best. Watching Evie's pet zip around in it made me remember the hamster I had as a child. Plus, it stopped him from getting stuck under the couch!

The party was great! It was so much fun to watch the kids playing with the hamsters and habitat. Everyone took a pet home, and I've received great feedback. One of our little friends still sleeps with his hamster in a shoe box next to his bed! (Mental note: the pet bed and blanket would make a great Christmas gift for him!)

Since our party, my sister watched a news story that Zhu Zhu pets are going to be THE hot item this Christmas. And they're already among the top hot-selling toys on Amazon.com. After trying them ourselves, I know why!

Oh, and special thanks to my friend Jim Britton for shooting and editing the video of our party!

Wordless Wednesday - Her Elton John "Look"

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Insult to Injury?

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:28:00 +0000

Part of our "car routine" is that I always kiss Evie before I close the her door in the minivan. Yesterday, I buckled her into her seat and kissed her nose. I whispered "I love you, Little One." And she sweetly replied "I love you, too, Big One."

Did I mention I'd really like to have this baby soon? Like now?

So today, we scheduled an induction. If Ethan doesn't make his grand entrance by the morning of November 1st, we're heading to the hospital for a little medical intervention. I think a baby born on All Saint's Day should be an angel, don't you?

Wordless Wednesday - Cupcakes

sarahmayhub@yahoo.com (SarahHub) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:36:00 +0000