A New Reason to Blog

It is not as if I have given up on blogging, but I have spent three blogging years in a quandry. Finally, I have found a solution. As a former scapbooker turned blogger, the guilt over logging our family history on the internet with no hard copy to look through on our own (and certainly nothing to share with the non technoligically savvy grandparents) was driving me crazy! I wanted each of the kids to have a scrapbook, but where do I draw the line? I was pleasantly blogging our family memories and troubled by my efforts wondering where our family memories would be in thirty years. David, the computer backup Nazi, would often remind me of this question. So, here is the perfect solution! (Thanks Jen and Dan! I can't wait to make our book of the Seminary Years!)

Turn your blog into a book! At http://www.blurb.com/, you can take all of those long hours of memory making on the web into a book! I've yet to make ours seeing as though we have three days until graduation and seven until the move. Then, our Seminary Years will be complete and I will be ready to turn this chapter of our lives into a book!

Gone are the days of scrapbooking and guilt over incomplete projects! Well, I will still make a scrapbook for each kid, but that's where I draw the line! I know some of you scrapbooking fans think the creativity and personal touch will be lost, but I think this is the perfect merging of two hobbies giving me a new reason to keep the blog going!

My Other Favorite Gift

David also got me this great coffe mug which is actually a french press. I am ready to throw away the coffee pot because we each have our own mug. It brews about three cups of coffee and it stays warm for hours without the burnt taste! After two unwanted trips out bed in the middle of the night...finally there is something to get me excited about getting out of bed!

a little pink to brighten my day...

So yesterday pretty much sucked. Lila has thrush and pleasantly has passed it along to me. We have both been treating it for almost ten days and there seems to be no change. I have been reading that most people have to try several different medications to find the right one for them...not so encouraging considering two weeks until the move, insurance changes and finding new doctors! David came home just a few minutes before I had to leave for the Senior Wive's Dessert (worthy of its own post, but probably won't get one) and I was pretty much completely overwhelmed and depressed. So he gave me my birthday present two days early! He bought me a pink ipod nano engraved on the back "far above jewels Proverbs 31:10 HJJ the treasure of my heart." He chose pink so it would be completely mine and he'd have no temptation to borrow it! Quite thoughtful considering very few things are just mine at this stage in life. So here's to the beginning of the birthday celebration...30, finals,graduation, and moving. Let the party begin.

Note to Self...

Matchbox cars + turned upside down + kitchen table that took weeks to refinish = a totally new refinish. Not such a good day!

Can Fifty Bucks Really Buy Happiness?

We were actually a happy family to begin with, but we had a wonderful day yesterday and as Wyatt described, "He was really, really, really happy!" This little wonder of a day however cost us fifty bucks...no, we did not start out intending to spend fifty bucks. So, herein lies the questions, can fifty bucks really buy some happiness? For us, it apparently did!

Addie Grace had a really runny nose and I decided it best to not to infect other children at church. So, what would you do on a beautiful 70 degree sunny day? We went to a late breakfast and off to the zoo. We ate at First Watch, one of our favortie spots. It was a fabulous meal. Both Addie and Wyatt ate a ton and were pleasantly quiet. Lila didn't make a peep the entire time. We sat outside and just enjoyed the scenery. Wyatt pretty much just talked about his "best day ever" meaning right then eating a chocolate chip pancake! Aparently we went to the zoo along with all of St. Louis. We drove around for about 15 minutes looking for parking ending up several times quite a distance from the zoo which prompted Wyatt to keep asking us where the zoo went! Finally, I told David that at times I've seen people park in this dirt between two parking spaces, but it could be risky! We decided we'd try it thinking that neither of us have ever seen tickets being issued at Forest Park! Wrong, we arrived back at the car after a pleasant stroll through the zoo to find a parking ticket on the windshield. Oops! We both agreed it was well worth it.

At home, I watched Juno for the second time...so good! This fun day was only to be followed by an amazing night. Lila slept for over five hours in a row giving me a great span of sleep.

Where this leaves us as the saying goes( I know it's a bit cheesy!)...Breakfast $25, Parking Ticket at the Zoo $25, quite possibly the best 24 hours of my life in a long time...Priceless!

Wyatt James and the Chocolate Chip Pancake

Who knew a pancake could bring such delight?!

Lila at Three Weeks (not three months, thanks Ami!)

The Van is Back

We all know how much I like my minivan, but this commercial is why David likes! Anyone who knows him knows how much he's always wanted one of those 70's retro vans!

Hey Bebe Lila!

This was supposed to be a video of the kids singing the Veggie Tale's Theme Song, but they decided not to sing. If you listen at the very end you will here Addie saying her favorite thing. She walks around the house all day saying, "Hey bebe Lila!"

Lila Elaine at Two Weeks

So far she has been my easiest baby...probably no coincidence that my third is the easy one. I just don't think I have time to notice when she doesn't meet my expectations for an easy baby!

Pirate Wyatt and Princess Addie

We play a lot of pirates in our house. Wyatt is Pirate Wyatt. David is Captain Daddy and Addie is the Princess. This weekend David cut an old belt to fit Wyatt's sword and sheath. He was so excited to fight dragons. Anyway, the boots were his stroke of genius that added to the outfit. And, yes, he wore that exact outfit minus the sword to dinner on Saturday. Good thing we ate at McDonald's! Addie has lately been saying cheese to any camera she can find. Here is her new favorite outfit with her posed smile!

A Visit from the Sugar Plum Fairy

The Fairytale...Memaw arrived on Thursday last week in preparation for our newest addition to the family. Her arrival and departure were all scheduled for before my due date. In fact, she was set to leave this Saturday, an entire week before the baby was due. I fully anticipated this little one to come somewhere around 38 weeks just like Wyatt and Addie, so when I was having contractions all weekend off and on I thought we could be in business. But Monday came around and off to the doctor I went for a scheduled appointment where he announced I was once again 3 cm and 80 percent effaced. Some of my friends would give anything to hear those words, but to me the dreaded 3 and 80 indicates I could be another week or so. With Addie I remember being 3 and 80 for two weeks before I delivered! So I left the office determined with a stop at Deirbergs for six oh so heavy gallons of milk and one very spicy and large burrito from Chipotle. By Monday night, no significant changes. So Tuesday we were off to West County to play at the mall and have some lunch. I was beginning to fear Memaw would come and go without her third grandbaby to hold and we would once again be left to stick the kids with some poor and unexpected neighbor late at night! We came home for naps and not to my surprise I was having contractions again...a regular occurance that had amounted to about nothing lately! However, this time from one to four they stuck around about ten minutes apart. Around 4:30 they picked up to five minutes apart. I cooked some dinner and David went for a run. We planned to leave for the hospital after we ate and said goodbye to the kids. At dinner, Wyatt announced to David that the baby was coming now! David asked. "Right now?" Wyatt replied, " No, Daddy, you have to go to the hospital and I will stay with Memaw!" He was quite excited to have us leave and get out the house so he could be alone with Memaw. So with a quick kiss to my belly for what we hoped would be the last time, we were off to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital only to be sent to the Women's Evaluation Unit (for all St. Louisans, you can breathe a dreaded sigh with me...I was not excited)! My stop here wasn't long and really went well. After answering what seemed to be a thousand question, seeming to be a liar as I stated I only had my ears pierced (all the while the nurse is staring at my sparkling nose with suspicion), I confessed I must be in labor or turning 30 this year because I also have my nose pierced and I just happenned to have forgotten! She then checked my progress. I told her that I was 3 and 80 the day before and when she completed the exam she looked at us and said, there is no way you are 3 and 80 and we thought I was going home for sure, but in an instant she said I was 5cm and 100 percent effaced. So off to labor and delivery I went. I didn't want my epidural to slow down labor so I told the nurse in l and d that I wanted to be checked since it had been an hour. She said I was already at 6cm but I told her I'd wait on the epidural. My next contraction was pretty painful, so I called her back in about ten minutes later and I got what was truly the best epidural. I never even felt the shot of local numbing meds they give before the actual epidural was administered. I felt relief quite instantly and things progressed from their. I went to 8 cm within an hour or so. The nurse gave the latest status and withing about ten minutes of her leaving, I told David that if she didn't return within a few minutes he needed to get her because I thought it might be time. She came in and made her final check and said that I was ready to push, so she needed to quickly call the doctor from home! So we then waited with the ob nurse, the baby nurse, and the emergency doctor in case my doctor didn't arrive in time. I wasn't in any pain, so we just sat around and tried to wait to push until the doc arrived. She quickly made it and I have to say, I began my easiest delivery yet. It was just a few minutes and uneventful until our surprise was delivered! I was able to reach for the baby and tell everyone what we had. They let me bring our sweet little GIRL up to my chest and hold her while the nurse suctioned!

After about one minute, she was not crying and turning more blue than any resemblance of pink and they whisked her away. I was still okay at this point. David went over to her station with her. He was slightly blocking her warming table, so I asked him to move. Minutes had passed and there were no real cries. Then David stepped back in my way and I knew something wasn't right. Well, worry not, our Lila is fine, but she gave us quite a scare for her first ten minutes of life. David said she was really blue and purple and it was quite scary watching her and just wanting to hear her cry! Apparently she swallowed a lot of fluid on the way out because the nurse pulled out 24cc's of fluid from her lungs. As soon as she started wailing, her color returned and I was able to hold her shortly after. David and I realized that after two pretty average deliveries with our first two who cried right away, you quickly realize when things aren't completely normal! We are thankful that she didn't take too long to get that big breath and all looks great now! And so, we have this little girl that we are eager to share with you all. As with each of our babes, they all get a nickname in their first few days of life. Wyatt was the turtle frog, named for his long neck he stretched around. Addie was our peach, and we still call her that today. So we kept wanting to call Lila our peach as well. Determined to give her own special nickname, we began naming blue and purple fruits in an effort to stick with her sisters fruit theme and the scare she gave her parents. We decided she would be our little plum. She is already a joy to hold and touch. We thank our God for bringing her into our lives. We can't wait for you all to meet our newest package from the Sugar Plum Fairy!
Lila Elaine Juelfs
7lbs. 1oz., 19.5 in.
March 25, 2008, 11:32pm

Long Walks and the Bake Off

Waiting for some sunshine!





For Jack, Jeb, and Will. A St. Louis vehicle to remember!


Still no baby. I am anxiously awaiting this baby's arrival. I just feel like it is time. Memaw arrives next Thursday which will really be the best plan for the kids to be cared for, but I am so ready to meet this little one and be home again. I will admit I am looking forward to my two day hospital stay too!

We've had beautiful weather this week. Hard to believe that we had ten inches of snow a week ago! Pictures above! I even took the kids to the zoo yesterday by myself. We parked in timbuckto because everyone was at the zoo. I even managed to take the kids to see the giraffes which are one of our all time favorites. If you have been to the St. Louis Zoo you will understand why this was such a great task. The giraffes are at the top of this rather low grade but very long hill. I pushed both kids up the hill very pregnant and definitely hoping that I'd experience some sort of payoff in the end. Not exactly unless you count very tired and out of breath a payoff.

I also baked a chocolate pie yesterday for David. I should qualify, chocolate silk pie, which I've never tasted until yesterday. I have a great chocolate pie recipe that involves more of a mouse base that you don't cook. It is full of whipping cream and truly divine, but David is always asking me to make chocolate silk pie like he ate with his grandma from Marie Calendar's Restaurant. I didn't even know the difference so I used to just make the one I liked and figured when we live near Marie, he could go visit her for a slice of pie. So being inspired to overdue myself into labor I looked up several chocolate silk pie recipes and landed on this one. It was distinctly different than my other chocolate pie and quite delicious like David promised it would be! It is now a favorite in the Juelfs' house. Wyatt had a blast baking and eating it!

Today, after little in the way of contractions, I went to the Y to workout and we've managed to do little else. We made a quick stop at the grocery store for our corned beef, cabbage and potatoes, to which I am in much debate over saving for St. Patrick's Day. I want it then, but I don't want to miss out if we are having a baby. I am contemplating Sunday night dinner and leftovers Monday. Anyway, enough babbling. Below is the recipe for the chocolate silk pie.


Chocolate Silk Pie

1 unbaked single pie crust (I must say homeade is the way to go!)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup (1stick) butter
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 eggs
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In large, microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and butter at 50% power for 2 minutes until butter is melted; stir until smooth, Whisk in salt, sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, evaporated milk and vanilla extract, whisk until well blended. Pour chocolate mixture into crust.

Bake 30 minutes or until filling has puffed, but center still wiggles. Cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Garnish with shipped cream and chocolate shavings, if desired.

Notes: Try baking pie shell 8 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven before filling shell.

Transitions

Should we be the least bit surprised that our Addie Grace is having a difficult time transitioning from two to one nap? Miss Colic herself who slept for only twenty minute increments for about twelve weeks of her life's beginning is up to no good again. I am in no hurry to rush her to one nap, but she is clearly showing signs of readiness. Ahhh, we enter the dreaded overtired state that keeps a baby from taking any form of a good nap. I've been doing the morning 30-45 minute short nap just to get us to the afternoon so that she and Wyatt will nap at the same time and that has been a fairly good solution. However, I know she is probably ready to just take one, but she gets in this rut of sleeping only 1 and a half hours and is just plain miserable the rest of the day. Not to mention I might have to commit myself if I play referee indoors for six hours straight! Anyway, on Fridays we always do one nap because the kids are at the log cabin all morning. So, predictably today Addie went down at 1pm and at 2:30pm she was crying. She has several times cried for just a minute or two and returned to sleep, so my new motto is to let her cry for a bit to see what happens. It is now 3:40 and she is still sleeping. We might be on to something!

The only thing left is to have this darn baby come out of me and figure out how I'll referee three of them for six hours straight! Let's all say together...live with Memaw and Papa for three months! We are truly blessed, don't ya think?

Finally, some blogging inspiraton!

I've been completely unmotivated to say anything on my blog. I don't really know why. Surely, it's not for lack of something to say...I always have words! The kids are up to their usual antics, so plenty to tell there! I am sick of winter, always tired, and continually getting more pregnant. I am so thankful for this baby, but the end of pregnancy is always a little miserable!

Anyway, I guess I've been waiting for the perfect story, so here it is. Neither of my kids like the carwash, so I rarely take them. But being couped up with the cold weather and all, I thought I would go out on a limb and we'd take a drive through the carwash! Mistake number one. Whenever you are a little unnerved to begin with, don't do anything you think your kids may NOT like! They never mind the vaccuuming. In fact they both thought it was great to touch my big stomach and pat the baby while I was bent over in the back of the van cleaning up their messes! I even broke out the carpet cleaner too! I must have reached the nesting phase, ya think! Then, we headed to the actual carwash drive thru. The line was five cars deep but I was committed. The kids were pretty good as I had been promising them a succer for the actual time we were stuck in the scary building that sprays water at us!

It finally came to our turn and we enter the car wash. The sign says to turn your engine off which I've never seen before. But, nonetheless I obey. Both children are fine for about 30 seconds with their succers, but Wyatt starts to cry pretty histerically when the touchless power sprayer comes by. So I turn to look at him and notice the rear window is vented. Mistake number two! Strange since it hasn't been above 30 for two weeks! Realizing I must have pressed the button while cleaning the interior I frantically try to close the window while consoling my screaming child who is on the verge of setting his sister over the edge as well! I never use these windows so I instinctively just start pressing ( oh, after I realize the engine is off and I have to turn the key a fraction to get to the mode where can open and close windows)! To my dismay, what to do I press, not the rear window button but the stupid automatic door button that opens the door to my already petrified, screaming, hysterically son's side of the car! Mistake number three! Then, I quick press the button again only to freeze the door. Those with this car feature know what I am talking about...not fun! So I press it a third time where it finishes the entire way to open allowing me to press it for the fourth time to close it. Meanwhile, screaming at his peak, I am promising my poor son that the sprayer won't get him, well not exactly a sprayer...we are talking about a high power touchless jet stream of water, while I am praying and begging God to make my door close faster and the sprayer to move slower!

I don't know how it happened, but somehow no one got wet! Lessons learned...I will never take my kids to the carwash again, and I will always press the lock button on the power doors before entering the carwash! Somehow, we drove away happy with an exciting tale to tell Daddy.

The Drumroll...

No, I haven't cheated. Although you see the gender poll to the right, this in no way indicates an answer will soon follow. You'll know when we know. That is more specifically when baby Juelfs makes his or her appearance.

The drumroll, however, is to let you know what baby Juelfs will be called upon arrival. When you find out if you are having a boy or a girl, it is definitely more exciting to announce the results. In fact, people usually know you are about to have an ultrasound and even call or ask you about it. The name thing is kind of wierd though. Since we don't know what we are having, we had to decide on two names. For some an easy task; for others, meaning David and me, a bit of a challenge! Then once decided it's not like I am going to make phone calls to tell people what we will name our child. So, it is just kind of wierd. I know our family would love to know, but it still seems like a strange thing to call them and announce.

So, I am testing the faithfulness of my blog readers. You read...you get to know! Here they are. If we have a boy, we will name him Elijah David. Elijah means "The Lord is my God" and for obvious reasons we will use David meaning "beloved" as his middle name. We would hold to God's covenant promises that someday Elijah would proclaim "The Lord is my God." If we have a girl, we will name her Lila Elaine. Lila means "darkness or night" and Elaine, David's mom's middle name, means "bright light". We liked the names and certainly the idea of God pulling us out darkness and into the light. We would hope her life points to Christ's redeeming power.

And there ya have it! Don't forget to vote on the gender poll!

Look Closely!

It seems one day after being changed in the nursery at church, our little Addie had her diaper on backwards!!! I thought all you moms would get a kick out of the diapering efforts of some friends who recently married. I can't confirm, but I am pretty sure it was the husband!

Crying Solo...

Oh, did I say that! I meant to say flying solo. David is on a trip to California so I've been parenting solo for what seem to be the coldest days of winter yet. Perfect timing, right? And what else would make for great timing, colds, of coarse! Apparently this seems to be the prerequesite for having daddy out of town...crankiest conditions posssible.

I must say things aren't exactly how I would have planned them. Oh wait, I did plan them and nothing seems to be working out according to my plans. I had hopes of going to the YMCA several days to work out (free child care!). But our runny noses prevented pretty much my only means to five minutes of freedom over the last few days. Today, I finally decided we would go to Target just to get some fresh air. Addie decided to boycott her morning nap ( why do I have the child that sleeps less when sick?) so it was a bit of a risk but we took it anyway. I decided to stop by the bank to deposit a much needed check and wouldn't you know...the bank is closed. I apparently wasn't the only reject who didn't connect Martin Luther King Day with the bank closing because there were several cars turning around just like me! So away we went to finish our errands which in fact turned out to be just fine.

One more day and counting until daddy's return. We are all excited. I scheduled my Christmas Gift Prenatal Massage for Thursday, yippee. David is going to take Wyatt to see the Veggie Tales Pirate movie Wednesday or Thursday and Addie will probably just express her excitement with endless hugs. She is so affectionate! And in case you were wondering, I look exactly like this cartoon! Just kidding. You might have to take some from the top and add it to my baby belly.

In Honor of You, Hilary!

I was making meals for three families with new babies today and decided on a couple great recipes from my dear friend, Hilary. I made her Baked Penne with Sausage and Brocoli! It is one of my favorites that she adapted from Williams and Sonoma. I also made her Orange Yogurt Pound Cake that she once again adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten. Both are delicious and easy to make! (I've included her reicpes below.) I must say they are making me miss you, Hilary, and our family dinner gatherings outside...bbbrrr, it's cold outside. We too are feeling very bottled up and tired of the indoors. It was good to just get out and deliver food to people!

Thanks for your inspirations Hilary.

Baked penne with sausage and broccoli (by Hilary)

Here is one of my fail-safe pasta recipes. I actually found it in a Williams-Sonoma catalog and have adapted to my liking so much that it looks very little like the original...so in some ways I consider it my own...something rare in my book. Its great because you can make it ahead and bake it before serving and it is all freezable so it is perfect for a new mommy. I am going to (hopefully--if my kids all go to sleep for their naps) go make it in just a minute for our church community group tomorrow night.

2 lbs pre-cooked turkey sausage, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 heads of broccoli, cut into pieces
1/2 c white wine
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4-1/3 c olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 T dried thyme (more or less to taste)
24 garlic cloves, minced (or 12 t minced garlic)
1/2 pound whole-grain penne, cooked according to package directions
1 c part-skim ricotta
pinch red chili fakes
2 oz Parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 400. Saute sausage 3 minutes over medium heat. Remove to a large bowl. Cook broccoli in same pan 6 minutes, until tender. Add wine after 3 minutes. Season with salt. Add broccoli and wine to bowl. Warm oil. Add onions and thyme. Cook 8 minutes or until onions are tender. Add garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add mixture to bowl, reserving oil. Add pasta, salt and pepper to the bowl. Add ricotta to bowl and gently toss to coat. Spoon mixture into 9x11 baking dish. Drizzle with reserved oil. Sprinkle with red chili flakes. Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake 10 more minutes.

Orange yogurt pound cake (by Hilary)

Ina has inspired me again. And essentially this is her Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe, but I made my own adaptations with what I had. And this is the moistest (is that a word?) pound cake I've ever had. And I think this recipe, with the yogurt, is better than the one with butter. Odd enough?

1 1/2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c plain yogurt (I used fat-free)
1 1/3 c sugar, divided
3 eggs
2 t orange zest
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 c canola oil
1/3 c orange juice

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a loaf pan and line the bottom with wax paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl, stir together yogurt, 1 c sugar, eggs, zest, and vanilla. Gradually stir in dry ingredients. Fold oil gently into mixture. Pour into pan. Bake 50 minutes.

Cook juice and remaining 1/3 c sugar in small saucepan until sugar dissolves. Set aside.

Cool cake 10 minutes then remove to baking rack. While the cake is warm, pour the juice/sugar mixture over the cake. Cool cake completely.

Now here is where I have differed from Ina as well.

She recommends combining 1 c of powdered sugar and 2 T juice to create a glaze to pour over the cooled cake. But I didn't make the glaze. Instead, I combined 1 c of yogurt and 2 T sugar. I spooned the yogurt on top of each slice when serving and then topped with orange slices, for a dramatic effect--just think if I had added mint sprigs as well!

Notes from the Underground

As some of you know, David and I live in the basement. That is, our bedroom is in the basement of the two bedroom apartment as we now have two kids and soon to be three. If you have never seen the apartments I know it sounds wierd, and to some of my neighbors (those who don't share in basement dwelling) you too may think it is strange, but it really isn't all that bad. In fact, there are some good things about it. So, in honor of gulf drive and concrete flooring, I've compiled a list of my top three favorite things about basement living as well as my three least favorite things...

Why I like the basement...
1. It's always warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer!
2. The middle of the night "no reason cries" are much quieter:)
3. I enjoy the rustic feel...who knew overhead wooden beams could make you feel so cozy!

Why I hate the basement...
1. The move was prompted by babies, so naturally whenever one of them needs mommy, I make the trek upstairs in the middle of the night. In the last eighteen months of basement dwelling, I've been nursing or pregnant for well...eighteen of them! I haven't had a night without stairclimbing! Last night alone, I climbed them five times to pee, no exaggeration!
2. I would love a window in my bedroom.
3. No more last minute laundry loads right before bedtime since I share a room with the washer and dryer!