Bar Review

Has literally taken over my life.  We really haven't had much extra time to do anything since the beginning of June (hence my lack of blog posts). Here's a snapshot of what I've been doing the past two months:

We have a routine now where Matt will take Dash in the morning so I can sleep in a little more and then watch the bar review video of the day. Then Matt heads off to work on campus and I use Dash's nap time to try and do flash cards or multiple choice questions. Dash has recently decided to only power nap for 30-40 minutes at a time, which means I don't get much done (although you can see that Kaplan offers ample review materials--2290 multiple choice questions!)

And in case I'm not already mentally counting down the days to my freedom from studies:

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Dash: Six Months

Dear Dash,

Six months has brought a lot of changes. You've started solids and moved to your own room. You love to chew on your tongue, sleep on your side, and rub your feet together (but not all at the same time). You roll over like a champ, and are now tall enough to enjoy your piano step and play. You are a very social baby, and love to share your smiles with friends or strangers. You are still experimenting with your lungs to see how high of a note you can reach. We are sorry you've been so miserable with teething, and hope those pesky bottom teeth will soon break through to give us all relief.

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

Family Proclamation Roundup

There's an empty space on my front room wall that is waiting for a framed family proclamation. Unfortunately, I haven't decided how I want to frame it yet. Here's a roundup of some of my favorite formats:

Family Photo behind the Proclamation

Temple behind Proclamation

Family photos on matte around the Proclamation-
Another option is a family history family proclamation,
where the photos are of ancestors.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Dash: Five Months

It's been a month of lasts and firsts. It was the last month in your bassinet, and also the last month you were swaddled. It was the first month you tried oatmeal cereal from a spoon, and the first month you got sick. Despite all these changes, you've continued to be cheerful.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Sleeping with a Baby

We had decided that Dash wouldn't move out of our room until he started sleeping consistently through the night, since I really didn't want to get out of bed 2-3 times to nurse. So when he recently started sleeping in six hour blocks at night again, I got way ahead of myself with excitement. I thought, "Soon we can move him into his own room and get our room back!" Then I got worried that if we moved him to the next room that something awful would happen and I wouldn't be able to get there in time or I wouldn't notice because I couldn't hear him as well. Then I got sad because it meant he is growing up too fast. These emotions probably sound irrational, but that's what happens when you are sleep deprived. Anyway, I shouldn't have even started planning on it, because last night he was back to sleeping 3 hour blocks. I am both exhausted and relieved. I don't know if I'm ready for this next step yet.

Despite waking up at night, Dash is always in a cheerful mood (after he is fed).
He also does really well going back to sleep.  

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Second Surgery and Cyst

Last Sunday I noticed an infection in the nail bed of my big toe. Even though I hoped it would go away on it's own, I scheduled an appointment a week later with a podiatrist. The infection was still there this week, although it hadn't gotten better or worse. Turns out I had an ingrown toenail. The doctor put me on antibiotics and on Thursday I went in for minor surgery.

To the doctor's and my surprise, I also had a benign cyst in there! I seriously wonder if I have a genetic propensity for cysts. However, this cyst was technically helpful- it was a granuloma cyst, which is a collection of immune cells that form as a way to contain bacteria or fungi when the immune system can't eliminate the infection. This explains why the infection in my toe hadn't spread or healed.

Anyway, the cyst and ingrown nail are gone now. The numbing lasted 10-12 hours, and now my toe just throbs. The one plus side is I now have an excuse to soak my feet regularly.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Use Easy Recipes

We do our share of frozen and boxed dinners, but here are some easy-to-assemble recipes for meals we cook on a regular basis:

Baked Potatoes (Wash potatoes, dry, and spray with canola oil. Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes. Cover with your choice of toppings- cheese, chives, sour cream, chili, bacon bits, etc).

Grilled Cheese and Soup (We do use canned soup...but we grill the sandwiches ourselves. Some fun twists are using cream cheese spread instead of butter on the bread, adding basil or garlic salt on top of the cheese, or using several kinds of cheeses).



Skillet Shepherds Pie (1 lb ground beef, 1 can tomato soup, 1 can green beans, 2 c mashed potatoes. Cook the ground beef and add tomato soup along with a dash of oregano, garlic salt, onion flakes, and black pepper. Top with warmed green beans and mashed potatoes. Note: don't add the mashed potatoes until everything is cooked and you are ready to eat.)

BLTs (Cook the bacon, shred the lettuce, slice the tomato. Assemble. Or make it a BALT by adding avocado.)





German Pancakes (Preheat oven to 425. Melt 1/2 stick of butter in 9x9 pan. Mix 1 c milk, 1 c flour, 4 eggs, and 1 tsp salt. Pour into pan and bake for 20 minutes. Top with syrup, powdered sugar, and fruit.)

Tacos (Add packet of seasoning to 1 lb ground beef. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese, ketchup, etc).





Stew (Combine 1 lb stew meat with 4 cups of cubed potatoes, celery, carrots, and onion. We buy a packet of stew seasonings and combine that with 2 cups of water. Crockpot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.)




Stir-fry (Granted, we usually use a frozen stir fry mix for this, which we combine with stir fry meat and frozen pot stickers. Seasonings we've used in the past are: soy sauce, a-1 sauce, Korean bbq sauce, and ponzu lime sauce. Serve with rice on the side.)

What are some of your easy-to-assemble recipes?

Rhetorically,

Rebekah