My Little Miracle

Autumn Joy is my little miracle.  She was born with Tricuspid Atresia and the Transpositioning of the great arteries, big medical words for "6 different things wrong with her heart".  We did not know about her heart condition until two weeks after she was born.  It was a devastating blow for my husband and I, but God is good and has blessed us with a tough, little darling.  When she was 6 months old she had her first surgery - a procedure called the Glenn.  She has another surgery (the Fontan) coming up in another year or so.

I am so blessed to have a daughter to share special moments with ... like painting our toe nails together.

Autumn Joy is a tough girl and hilarious!  She is always keeping us laughing with her actions and the things she says.  She has the cutest hand gestures and the funniest face expressions.  One look into her eyes and little round face and you know she's got something up her sleeve.

Autumn Joy is also fearless.  There is no stopping this girl.  She may be huffing and puffing but no obstacle is too much for her to overcome.  She knows what she wants and she keeps going - moving forward, never giving up.  She has a remarkable spirit that amazes me.

I'm such a blessed Mama!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for my wee ones.

Family Picnic

Today was the Haek Family picnic.  In the past few years I haven't been able to bring anything to contribute to the potluck style lunch but this year I did.  I was so excited about it that I went a little crazy.  I took along banana bread, oatmeal cookies, brownies, blackberry pie and a new dish - Green Bean and Potato Salad.  Silly of me, I know, but I was so pleased with my Susie Homemaker-ness that I couldn't resist taking a picture of the beautiful tastiness.

I'm not a huge fan of pie crust but this is really is the best crust, curtesy of Ms. Butters.  

Butter Cookie Pie Crust (perfect everytime)

Sift together:

2 1/2 c flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp  salt

Cut in 1c cold butter, diced with a pastry blender.

Sprinkle 1 Tbsp vanilla and 4 Tbsps cold water (1 Tbsp at a time) over surface and stir until moistened. 

Shape dough in to two disks, wrap in wax paper, and chill 1 hr or freeze up to 3 wks.

Makes 2 9" to 10" single pie crusts or one double pie crust.

~~ When the pie is completely assembled, and before putting it into the oven, I like to brush the top of the crust with a little bit of milk and then sprinkle with raw sugar. 

Green Bean and Potato Salad (curtesy of Cooking from Quilt Country)

2 lg potatoes                                                              1/2 c chopped fresh parsley

1 1/4 lbs fresh green beans                                         7 slices bacon, diced

1/2 c chopped onion                                                  3/4 c cider vinegar

2 Tbsp fresh herbs of your choice                               1/2 tsp black pepper

       --- savory, basil, or thyme (optional)

Peel the potatoes, halve them, and cook for 20 to 30 mins or until tender.  Slice potatoes while still warm; set aside.

While the potatoes are cooking, wash, snap, and halve the beans.  Steam the beans until barely tender, 3 to 5 mins.  Refresh them in cold water adn set aside to drain.

Heap the beans in the middle of a large platter.  Arrange the potatoes around the beans.  Sprinkle the onion, herbs, and parsley over all.

In a small skillet, cook the bacon until crisp.  Transfer the bacon and drippings to a small bowl (there should be about 1/4 cup).  To the same pan, add the vinegar and reduce it to the drippings to the pan and add the pepper.  Bring to a boil, and pour over the beans and potatoes.  Serve at room temperature. 

~~~  For the seasonings, I just sprinkled on some Italian Seasonings, a pinch of salt and garlic powder.  With the onions I sauteed them with the bacon.

Here was the results of my endeavors.....

Another Brag Blog

Little Man, the first born, is my blessing baby.  I call him this because, as Hannah in the Bible, I found myself with a full heart of desire and longing for a child and yet "barren".  However, God graciously saw fit to give my Hubby and I our Little Man. 

Little Man is all boy, loving all things dirty, buggy, loud and boyish.  He loves to climb trees, dig holes, read books, and play with his dinosaurs and cars.  He finds great pleasure in becoming a cowboy or a pirate with a peg leg or a superhero.

With his amazing memory he can spout off Bible verses, quote whole movies and sing any number of songs.  My brilliant lad will be five this fall and will be doing first grade work as well as continuing to deepen his level of reading.

As you can see, Little Man is ALL Boy and yet he has always had a very sweet and sensitive side.  Even as a wee lad he would be moved to tears by a melancholy tune and still loves to cuddle up close to myself or his daddy.  Recently, he's shown a real interest in classical music.  His favorite so far is Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, OP. 67: 1st movement.

At present, Little Man's favorite pastime is to draw.  From the moment he wakes up he begins to color or draw and one of the last things he does before bed is to draw a picture.  We buy inexpensive computer paper and he is supposed to draw on both sides.  For a 4 1/2 year old he is quite advanced in his drawing skills.

As you can imagine, there is so much more to this little guy than has been expressed here.  I'm so proud of the Little Man that he is and is growing up to be.

Milestones

Smiley is quickly growing up.  Time really does fly by and each step forward is bittersweet.  Smiley is my biggest baby; at four months old he was about an inch or so taller than Autumn Joy was at six months.  At present he is two pounds shy of being the same weight as his cousin and they both are wearing the same size diapers; smilely will be six months on the 21st while his cousin is about a year and two months old.

I love having a baby to hold and delight in his darling little ways but at the same time I can't wait to see him running around with his big brother and sister.  He does adore his older syblings and you can just watch him light up and get antsy to play when they are around.  What jolly fun they shall have once he's up and running. 

Even though I've gone through this stage with my first two, I still can't help but be amazed at the changes this first year of his life brings. I love to watch my little ones growing up.  But then again, they are growing up...bittersweet.

Anyhoo...that said...
Here's Smiley's newest trick:

He has the greatest laugh and laughs often!