Delicious dinner recipe, Abbie's first sentence, and Abbie's 15 month picture!!

Dave had to work tonight but Abbie and I enjoyed some one on one time in the kitchen.  She loves to help and it melts my heart to see her so excited about getting to do what I'm doing.

Our menu tonight:
Baked Trout with a lemon butter glaze topped with mango salsa, cilantro lime brown rice, and a spinach salad drizzled in raspberry vinaigrette with dried cranberries and apple slices.

Trout fillet (or other white fish)
 Glaze: 

1.  Melt 1/2 tbsp butter (depending on how many fillets you are cooking.  I was baking 4 small trout fillets and I don't like to add more calories if I don't have to).  
2. Add 1Tbsp lemon juice to the melted butter.
3. Drizzle or brush this over the uncooked fillets.
4. Sprinkle salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, and garlic powder (or minced garlic) onto the fillets.
5. Bake at around 400F for 15 minutes or until firm to touch.

Mango Salsa

1. Cut up one mango.  See this tutorial for how to cut up a mango here
2. Cut up one jalapeno.  See this tutorial for how to safely cut up a jalapeno here
3. Cut up one bunch of cilantro, minus the stems.
4. Mix all of the above together in a bowl (save a little cilantro for your rice though!) and add a splash of fresh lime juice.

Cilantro Lime Brown Rice

1. In my kitchen I always have rice made up ahead of time.  I cook a big batch and freeze it in bulk.  So for this particular dish you would either cook your rice and then add the seasonings, or in my case I would thaw my frozen rice and then recook and season it.  
2. Place cooked rice in heated sautee pan with just a little olive oil or butter.  
3. Add a splash of lime juice, salt, and pepper.
4. Stir in the remaining cilantro.
5. Once heated thoroughly serve.

Spinach Salad with dried cranberries and apples

1. Mix spinach greens thoroughly with vinaigrette after washing and drying (just enough to lightly coat leaves)
2. Sprinkle on dried cranberries and add apple slices.
3. Walnuts or almonds would be good with this salad as well, I was all out tonight but I have used them in the past and it tastes delicious!

Abbie was cracking me up when I was cutting up the mango.  She kept stealing all the mango and I finally said "If you keep eating all the mango we aren't going to have enough to make the salsa for our fish."  

She didn't seem to care and proceeded to try and crawl up onto the counter : )

Oh and other random side note just so its documented...Abbie said her first sentence.  That might be over exaggerated a bit but I think its fair game....she has been signing different words for awhile now.  "More" and "please" being two words she uses on a regular basis.  She can say both of the words but sometimes prefers to sign them over saying them.  Well tonight I could tell she was trying with all of her might to communicate rapid fire to me that she wanted more apples and she looked at me and signed but also said it "Mow peez"....she got it!  She is starting to understand that you can put words together to make sentences and though she has no idea what a sentence means she is starting to understand that please doesn't just mean you automatically get food and that saying more doesn't meant you automatically get food, but that mom and dad insist that you ask for such things nicely. I was dumbstruck.  It won't be long before she gets that you should say "More apples please."  She is making more and more connections with how things work on a daily basis and it just amazes me the way their little minds work and makes me realize how much I take for granted that I forgot I had to learn on my own once upon a time as well.  

And one more thing before I forget, I finally sucked it up and took her somewhere to get her pictures taken.  Up until she was about 11 months old I took them myself with my DSLR and they turned out great.  Problem now is....that I am mom.  Mom is the photographer and when mom is the one trying to take pictures of the subject that just wants mom to hold her...well you get a bunch of pictures of a toddler walking towards the camera rapid fire with arms  held out looking like Frankenstein.  So I gave in and had them taken at Portrait Innovations.  They did a really nice job and I was proud of myself for not giving into their spiel and only purchasing my favorite pose to get the price special.  I paid less than $11 for 1- 11x13, 2- 8x10, 4- 5x7, 4- 3x5, and 24 wallets.  That is a lot of pictures for $11 and it actually wasn't as hard to pick my favorite pose as I thought it would be.  So I am going to share the picture with you.  I am really strongly against pirating, stealing anyone's work be it photography, movies, music, etc so no, I will not be printing this off cause I scanned it in, I just wanted to be able to share it with all of you so you could see it too (besides did you not just read that they gave me a buttload of pictures for only $11...I don't need anymore anyway :)

I think it turned out well!  It's a perfect 15 month photo of her and is already being proudly displayed in our house.

I am leaving for the Proverbs 31 She Speaks conference Friday morning at 6:40AM (well that is what time my plane is supposed to leave anyway!), so this is most likely my last post until sometime next week (hopefully!)  Please be praying for me and the other woman there.  I have been able to chat with many of them over facebook, and have already gotten to know my roomie a bit through email.  I am so excited to meet them all.  I can already tell they are such a loving group of woman who just want to build up each other as the body of Christ in order to glorify Him more.
Prayer requests for me specifically:  that I would be patient with God's timing and will in this conference and let Him orchestrate His plan for me, not me for Him (I always mess it up when I try to do it instead of letting Him!), for confidence and boldness in being myself around a group of 650 strangers, and most importantly that I would be able to press into Him and seek out His will for me in this.  To trust Him regardless of what He asks of me to do.

Have a fantastic weekend!!!
God Bless!!

Bridget

Happy 1st Birthday to My Sweet Abbie Girl!!

Can today really be the day? One year from the first moment I laid eyes on you. One year from the first time I held you, touched you, nursed you, kissed your sweet cheeks....

This next one is my most cherished picture of us. It was our first family picture. I had dreamed about "the first family picture" for months before you were born. I had it all planned out in my mind. It would be of you on my chest with your daddy trying to squeeze in next to us as best as he could. I wanted that moment captured on film to treasure for forever as our first moments with you. So this....this photo is my most treasured because I didn't get "that moment," the one I dreamed about. You came out blue, not moving, not breathing, but I won't get into your birth story. No, today is about celebrating, and for your mama....I at least deserve a few moments to mourn.

To mourn what? To mourn the fact that you my sweet girl, are more girl than you are baby anymore, but at the same time to celebrate your sweet personality that is developing. I love hearing your sweet voice say the words you know. That squeal of laughter you have...oh how it melts my heart!

To mourn all the lost moments that I spent worrying too much about housework and selfish things, and knowing that never again will you sit as still in my arms as you did as a newborn. No, you are all about "going" now. Crawling at record speeds, trying to walk, walking around furniture as fast as you possibly can, exploring and getting into everything you possibly could and shouldn't be into, but yet again celebrating. Celebrating your excitement for life. Celebrating the joy that you bring to so many of those around you. It doesn't matter where we go, but you always make a friend. You befriend people in the grocery store, on walks, at the library, at restaurants....your smile is captivating and contagious. Don't lose that sweet girl. People in this world need to be loved on, not judged. I pray that that personality trait just blossoms in you more and more. I think you might even teach your mom a thing or two from the way you already love others.

I mourn the fact that I can't control this, and again its just one more way God is teaching me to trust Him. I like controlling things. I like overseeing them. It's scary to think how fast this year flew by. I know the rest won't be any slower and someday, if God allows we will have more children, your brothers and sisters, and time will get even faster. Yet I celebrate how precious of a gift you are. I pray that I cherish each moment that God gives me.

We named you after Abigail (King David's wife) in the bible. The name Abigail means joy, and that you are baby girl. You truly are a joy!

This year has been one of sweat, tears, and sacrifice, but always over flowing within all of that was the joy of you! Though our lives right now don't look at all like I thought they would 5 years ago, I wouldn't have changed what God asked us to do in the last 12 months for anything. He's grown us in so many ways through everything He has asked us in the last year.

So without further ado sweet girl, here it is...your last year in pictures. My goodness how you've changed!!!

Dear Abigail,

Thank you so much for letting me be your mama. You overflow my heart again and again every time you look at me with your beautiful smile! We pushed through so much together this first year, and we still came out on the other side unscathed. Thank you for being such an incredible daughter. You bring both your daddy and I so much joy, and I have to admit, I love seeing the softness that comes out in him when you melt him with one of your smiles or your overly ecstatic greetings when he arrives home. I keep praying that God will show me how to raise you, that he'll change my heart to be better at this parenting thing. That he'll strengthen our marriage that you'll be able to see a growing example of Christ's love for you. I pray for your own heart that you would see how amazing Jesus is from your daddy and I's example. After you arrived my heart became so much fuller....I didn't even know I had more room to love until you arrived. It made me wonder why we waited so long to start a family. Thank you for being our first born. Thank you for making me laugh and smile endlessly at you. Thanks for being one of my best friends at a time when life sometimes feels so incredibly lonely. Your night time snuggles sometimes were all that helped keep the smile on my face. We love you so much Love Bug and can't wait to see what the next year of each of our lives brings!!!

Love you forever and ever,

Mommy

What a story our baby bellies tell...

My friend sent me a link yesterday to this beautiful belly picture. Go ahead...go check it out.

My heart needed it. My soul craved hearing it and letting those words wash over me brought healing.

My marks are few, but nonetheless they are marks. Some moments I struggle with them. Mostly I struggle with my overall post partum body which is different then my body was before. It's easier to love than it was before, but still I have my moments. My PMS was not helping at all which some of you saw from my post earlier this week.

I write the following in reflection of my thoughts on Cassie Fox's words and how they ring true to me....

To my dear sweet Abbie:

You've blessed my heart so much. Your sweet face....is so precious and beautiful. Flawless for you have no idea yet how much the world can cause you to criticize you for being just that...you. I pray that you never struggle with what I have struggled with. I pray that you will always see yourself exactly for what you truly are....beautiful. Time and time again I am floored at how God designed our bodies to create something so incredibly precious and wonderful. I look at you and see innocence, perfection. I just love that. It challenges my faith so much to really see what God has given us through the eyes of a child. To know that you are experiencing everything for the first time and have to be taught. You have no idea that fire burns, is hot and hurts yet. You have no idea that a butterfly comes from a caterpillar yet until we teach you. You don't get God yet, but I see so much more of Him now because of you.

The picture of this belly, covered in marks, makes me realize how much more I love you just because of that. I didn't really get it until you arrived. I knew you were there. Growing and thriving but I think being pregnant with a first baby is so surreal. It's hard to imagine all that would be until you actually see what comes out of it and in this instance your daddy and I are so blessed to call you our first born. For the entire pregnancy I thought you were a boy. I really did. We both did and about 75% of everyone else did as well....I was absolutely ecstatic to find out you were a girl. Never in my life could I have even fathomed the joy I would find in having a daughter. From the very first moment I laid eyes on you in the delivery room and I found out I had a daughter, I was speechless. So excited, and beyond that...you looked exactly like me! God knows what he is doing, and there has never been a moment, nor will there ever be, that you were a mistake. God loves you sweet girl. He's had a purpose for you from the moment he breathed life into you when you were growing inside me. He saw you first kicks even before I felt them. He gave you your beautiful fingers and toes. Perfection at its finest.

It is with great honor that I too cherish these marks I carry. They are forever "My Abbie's" marks. Your daddy still calls my tummy Abbie's old home. What a blessing it was to carry you for 9 months. To feel your tiny kicks which eventually turned to feisty fast kicks to my ribs....I enjoyed every moment. Your hesitation during arrival was frustrating in the moment, but there wasn't a part of it that wasn't well worth the wait.

Thank you God for making our bodies fit to carry these precious gifts. Thank you for these marks for its no accident that they exist. May they ever be a joyous reminder to me of the life that you brought forth through me. To entrust to me until the day I die this precious life, we named Abigail.

Love you forever baby girl!

Mommy