Sneaky Christmas

I'm pretty sure I am not the only one Who may feel this way, but Christmas has just plain snuck up on me! ( is snuck a word? It is now) I think I have just been too wrapped up in the new changes in our family and getting through the nausea that I really thought there was more time. Not to mention I have just been in a funk lately....moms out there you know what I mean. You feel blah....nothing is fitting right and your cravings change from day to day, maybe even feeling a bit more emotional than normal. I don't remember going through this with the boys so I just did not quite know what to do with myself but lay on the sofa with a good show, a snack and water, while the boys sleep. Sometimes I could not even get up to make dinner because that is how yucky my whole body felt. To even look at or smell raw meat while trying to make dinner, made my tummy turn. And I have to be honest....after our little scare with the baby and me thinking that I was losing our little one, I still have this looming fear that it is going to happen. Part of the problem is all the articles and news stand magazine covers that highlight a mother losing her baby. I have to look away and not let that fear take root but rather the peace and joy of God that right now, all is well and for that be happy. And I am! I seriously cannot wait to feel the little movements of our baby. I feel now like the fog is lifting and I have more energy and drive to do more things again. "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace..." 1 Corinthians 14:33
So all that said, I have really been lazy about getting out a Christmas card (they are in the works...it's not Christmas day yet right;) I have no desire to bake cookies or let alone eat them and we did a huge majority of our shopping via Amazon Prime at home in our jammie's no hassle...free shipping gotta love it! I am so doing it again next year! I just want to get to Christmas morning with my family reading our Christmas story and snapping pictures of the joy on our boys faces.
Next year we will have a little 6 month old in the bunch....Crazy!

These days...Take two

I literally just put my sleepy boys to bed for what I hope will be a good nap. So lets try this again! So what have the Steinberg's been up to these days? Oh lots of wonderful things. Josh has been continually busy with working at the church and taking computer jobs on Friday's. There are lots of things I love about him working so close to home but one of them is that the boys and I can pop in for lunch with him whenever we can make it which really is such a blessing. He was recently in a wedding for a friend of ours all the way out in Arizona. It was not your typical black tie attire, it was more of a vintage western or parlor boy style. He hat a bowllow type hat (sorry if it is misspelled) with pinstripe pants and suspenders. He truly looked like a bar tender in an old western movie! Pictures to follow soon:)
Korban....oh my not so little Korban. He is quite the character these days and testing the waters on his independence. I'm learning that if you don't nip it in the bud, even if it seems repetitive, it can become quite the battle. I just hate being the bad guy all the time! But I keep looking at the end product and try to have more grace than I do discipline. A speaker at one of our church women's retreats was sharing a part in the Bible about the sower and what he will reap. I think int was 2 Corinthians 9:10. She said that a sower does not plant his seeds and expect fruit that very day, no, they plant their seeds and wait for it to grow in it's due season. In the mean time we are to water and tend to it so that it does not die. So that is what I keep reminding myself when I feel the way I do. Korban never ceases to make me laugh. A friend of ours gave him a dragon costume that he L-O-V-E-S to wear all the time. Really, he will wear it outside, at the dinner table, and probably to bed if I let him. He has inspired me to write a few children's books too. It is another thing I need to make time for and figure out how to go about doing.

And My Little Benjamin...sigh...his smile melts my heart. his whole face lights up when he smiles. Even if his bookie is in his mouth, you can tell he is smiling just by his bright eye's. He is army crawling all over the place with a few attempts to crawl on all fours. He says Mama and Dada. He can push himself up into a sitting position. He loves to play with big brothers cars, or eat them rather. He graciously removes his bookie before nursing...it's pretty funny. And while nursing likes to have a conversation with me. Yep. He stops eating just to look up and talk in his sweet soft little voice and then continues eating. I can't wait to see what he is going to be like as he gets bigger because he is already so much fun. I really do love having my two boys:)
And me? Well I have given a bridal shower and attended the said before wedding. I have been trying my hardest to keep up with friends but I think they understand maybe why they have not seen me as they too have little ones to look after. My new hobby is doing photo books and they have been so much fun to do. We are now getting ready for Easter, my favorite time of year. It's hard to think that it is already here and soon it will be Korban's 3rd Birthday and Benjamin's one month after that. But I think I will just focus on today because that is just about all I can handle. And yes....the boys are still asleep:)

These Days

What has been going on with us these days? I am finally feeling caught up around the house and have some time to actually sit and finish projects on the computer. ....until Benjamin just woke up....again....the end

Chocolate Orange

My not so little Korban has me on a Hot coco kick. He loves coco with all the fixings of course. I on the other hand was feeling a little adventurous one day and thought, "What can I put in this to make it different and still really yummy?" There are several things I like with chocolate such as orange. Have you ever had one of those chocolate orange balls? Or even an orange slice dipped in chocolate? So good....well to me, I know some do not like fruit with chocolate. Here is what I made...

And here is what you need...

- Dark chocolate coco powder (or regular chocolate coco powder)

-Milk

-Orange extract

-whipped cream

-Chocolate syrup

-Grated orange rind/zest

Follow the coco directions (with milk) on the back of your coco box but leave out the vanilla.

After the coco is all mixed and hot, add two or three drops of orange extract and stir.

Pile on the whipped cream.

drizzle some chocolate syrup over the top.

Use a hand held cheese grader to sprinkle your orange zest over the top, as much as you please.

To make it really good...curl up on the sofa with your love or a good movie/book/favorite TV show and you have a really good cup of coco.

Sew Sew

Have you ever had so many ideas rolling around in your head that it becomes overwhelming until you actually start to put them into motion? That is me. I have been wanting to create adorable baby items for some time now. I made a bundle of warm fuzzy baby hats....check. I started to try my line of baby clothing which totally blew up in my face....not going to check that one yet, I just don't think now was the time but it will be some day and I still have all my designs saved. I wanted to add burp cloths, wash cloths and eventually receiving blankets to my list....check...and still in progress. My mom bought me a sewing machine for Christmas and it has been sitting on my Kitchen table since then. Don't get me wrong, I have been using it but just not as consistently as I would like and love to. Your probably thinking, "Then why aren't you doing it now?" I would if every loud sound didn't wake up Mr. Benjamin. He thinks he is missing out on everything if something is going on in the kitchen so nap time is quiet relax time for mua. Therefore, sewing only happens when Josh is home or when the boys are both contently playing or watching a movie, so the sewing gets done in little spurts...for now. My ever so patient Mom helped me pick out fabric at Joannes and walked me through the step by step of how to thread and work the machine. And by George I finally figured it out (these things really frustrate me, I think I remember crying when she tried to help me make a dress for my senior portraits). I am starting with the burp cloths, little girl ones just in case and that case is not now for all you jumping to conclusions;)

These are a pale pink with little pea pods and it says "sweet pea" . After having finished them they are certainly not worthy to give to anyone or sell on etsy. I really need to practice sewing straight lines but they will go into my hope chest for some other day:)These ones are for a boy or girl. I made a set of 3 wash cloths and a burp cloth. I just loooooved the fabric! They are still in the works but I can't wait to use them for my boys.

I especially can't wait to go back to Joannes and look through all the fabric again.

So Good Home Goods!

I had not been to Home goods for some time and felt that it was time to see what new things they had in store for me. The boys room has been bugging me with it's clutter and things just not in places that were safe for a soon to be crawling baby. They needed a night stand to put their white noise machine on and a drawer for Korban's socks. After much searching and returning the first one that I thought would be good this is what I found...

So now the lightning McQueen clock has a permanent home as well as several other toys. The basket I also found at Home Goods and it fit perfectly for Benjamin's receiving blankets and burp cloth's. And just so you know, I am a bit of a neat freak about cords showing from electronic devises....so this picture really bugs me, (I must find another way). I inherited this from my Dad, thanks Dad and Josh thinks I'm strange.

Next was something that I was not planning on finding nor was I looking for but when I saw it I had to get it. FYI if you don't buy something that you see and like it is more than likely to be gone when you come back later. But fortunately for me they had an abundance of these cute little stools and one was just right for my Benjamin...

They even had some adorable ones for girls and i am seriously thinking of getting one just in case.

While making my way to the check out Korban noticed these cute little "lady's" as he calls them. I did not realize how much I needed one of these until I laid eyes on her! It is the cutest little lint roller ever! Your probably thinking, "wow you must have very linty clothes." No but I do shed like a Persian cat...all the nursing and hormones changing have caused the hair that I grew while pregnant to fall out:( It's pretty bad and I won't go into detail but my new lint rolling friend cleans my shirt up real nice:)

And my last favorite find was this little egg basket. It reminded me of staying at the B & B in Pennsylvania and gathering the eggs for our breakfast that morning. It fits perfectly in my fridge and just looks so cute. Now all I need is a glass milk bottle...next Home goods trip.


And in this case....yes I do put all my eggs in one basket;)

A love-ly day

This year I got a little head start on Valentines day. Korban had his little girly friend Lilly over to decorate some wooden valentine masks. Now I could have been all Kate plus 8 and been in oober control over the outcome of his art work but where is the fun in that? So I gave them some markers and crayons (and covered the table in butcher paper) and let them go to town.
And what would a Valentine be without something sweet? I had made up some Chocolate cupcakes and frosting the night before. The sprinkles I found at Home Goods ( my next blog is about that amazing store) and the cherries I picked up a few days later when we made more cupcakes for the actual Valentines day. It was too funny, after a little guided help to show the kids how to frost a cupcake, we let them do it on their own. Here is what happened...Korban went straight for the sprinkles, I mean he literally picked up his cup of sprinkles and knocked them back like it was a drink! Lilly loooooved the frosting, so she dipped her little frosting spreader into the frosting and licked it off and then again and again and again. So worth the sprinkley mess:)





































As I said we had to make more cupcakes for Valentines day. This time I got a little more fansy shmansy. We did Chocolate Cherry filled cupcakes with the same frosting (recipe on the package of powdered sugar) and maraschino cherries on top. As you can see my little chef was ready to go! We baked filled and frosted and sprinkled in less than 2 hours! I wanted them fresh and ready to take to Josh's work. If Benjamin had not decided to take a long and much needed morning nap, it never would have happened.

Well the cupcakes turned out fantastic! But then again anything cherry filled is amazing in my book. And look at his face....priceless no?