Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom should I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom should I be afraid?

When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.

Though an army deploys against me, my heart is not afraid;

Though a war breaks out against me, still I am confident.

I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire:

To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

Gazing on the beauty of the Lord, and seeking Him in His temple.

For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity;

He will hide me under the cover of His tent;

He will set me high on a rock.

Then my head will be high above my enemies around me;

I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.

I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Lord, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me.

My heart says this about You: “You are to seek My face”

Lord, I will seek Your face.

Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger.

You have been my helper; do not leave me or abandon me, God of my salvation.

Even if my mother and father abandon me, the Lord cares for me.

Because of my adversaries, show me Your way, Lord, and lead me on a level path.

Do not give me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing violence.

I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord.

CrockPot Thai Red Curry

This recipe is DELICIOUS, has just enough of a kick to it, and can be used as either a soup or curry with rice. It is packed with flavor, ridiculously easy to make, and is the ultimate form of comfort food on a blustery evening! I found the original recipe on Foodie Crush, but adapted it slightly, so here’s my version:

2 tbsp red curry paste (I found this in the international aisle at my usual grocery store. I thought it would be in a jar but it was in a little box)

2 x 12oz cans unsweetened coconut milk

2 cups chicken stock (instead of buying the cartons/cans, I usually just use chicken bouillon cubes & hot water)

2 tbsp soy sauce (I freshened it up after a few hours with a splash more of this)

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp peanut butter (I used the smooth kind, but I bet crunchy peanut butter would add a nice texture. Don’t freak out because this has peanut butter in it – it is just to balance out the other flavors, it’s not a feature flavor of the dish)

+/- 4 large chicken breasts (depending on how many people you’re serving), cut into chunks

1 red bell pepper, sliced into slivers

1 onion, thinly sliced into slivers

2 tbsp minced ginger (I minced mine by hand, using this tutorial – the trick about peeling it with a spoon blew my mind!)

1 cup frozen peas

The juice of one lime

Cilantro for garnish (this adds ALOT – don’t skip it!)

Cooked basmati rice if you’re using it as a curry

–  Whisk the curry paste, coconut milk, chicken stock, soy sauce, brown sugar and peanut butter together in the CrockPot. Add the chicken, pepper, onion, and minced ginger then put the lid on and let it stew on high for about 4 hours (I turned mine to low halfway through as my CrockPot runs pretty hot). 

After around 4 hours add in the peas and half the lime juice. Cook for about another 20 minutes. Stir in the other half of the lime juice, and serve garnished with chopped cilantro (and white rice if you want it). Enjoy!

Must-Haves – 3 Months Old!

 This post is about our experience with our 3 (or 4) month old – what worked for us may not work for you, and what I deem a necessity may seem like a luxury for you (or vice versa!)

 

Vulli Sophie Giraffe Teether – Baby E absolutely LOVES this! It’s the perfect size for her to hold onto, and her favorite thing to chew on is Sophie’s nose! One time we thought we’d dropped Sophie in Walmart and absolutely panicked (we found her under the front seat of the car, eventually) because E loves her so much and we couldn’t imagine life without her! Definitely a must-have as those little toothy-pegs starts to push on baby gums!

Dr. Brown’s 8oz bottles – Up until 3 months old we were using the 4oz bottles which were awesome for our little guzzler (she gulps down her milk!) but now that she’s bigger (actually she’s 4 months at the time of this post) and sometimes eating more than 4oz per feed, it’s so much easier to use big bottles! And something about these ones make her eat even slower which really helps with gas problems!

Baby books – This is such a fun age to read books with her. We’ve read to E since she was born but at this age she can actually focus and enjoy looking at the pictures. Her favorites are the Hello Animals & Hello Bugs black and white ones (babies love harsh contrast) and the ones with pictures of other babies.

Stroller – Since Baby E was born in the summer, it was honestly too hot (or too rainy!) to take her out very often so we have only started using the stroller regularly in the last month or so. She loves to be outside and intently watches and listens to everything! Not to mention getting her outside in the stroller helps to give her a good dose of vitamin D, which my doctor tells me is the only thing that’s slightly lacking in exclusively breastfed babies. Since I don’t want to give her anything other than breastmilk (such as vitamin D drops), we try and get her in natural sunlight as much as possible. We have the EvenFlo Featherlite Stroller/Carseat combo and absolutely love it!

Baby Banz – These are a must-have for my family specifically, and you can see my product review for these awesome earmuffs here.

Boppy Pillow – We had been using our boppy exclusively for nursing up until she hit about 3 months, and now it has an additional use: to help her practice sitting up! She loves being tucked into it’s U-shaped padding and playing with a block or chewing on her Sophie Giraffe. Super cute, and useful if I need to pump but she’s still awake. She’s usually content to sit there on the bed while I’m busy!

Sleep sacks – See my post on sleep sacks here.

Car mirror – This has been a must-have since day 1, but somehow it got left off of the Newborn list! I absolutely love the fact that I don’t have to turn all the way around when I’m driving to check on the baby. Just one glance in the mirror and I can see everything – I can see if she’s fussing because something’s wrong or if it’s just because she’s sleepy, I can see if she’s awake or asleep – everything! A handy feature on ours (Brica Day & Night Light Mirror) is the remote control that I keep up front with me which switches on music (quite pleasant music too!) or a light so I can see her in the dark. Rather over the top (or so I thought, before I had her) but so handy.

Fisher Price Rainforest Jumparoo & Fisher Price Rainforest Melodies/Lights Deluxe Gym – These two items have provided SO much entertainment for Baby E and provided some good time for Mama to do housework/pump milk too! My grandfather bought them both for us and now that she’s older it is such a delight to see how much fun she has. The gym/playmat is great for her to roll around on and the Jumparoo helps her to strengthen her legs and learn about cause and effect (among other things). We have a very active baby so it’s nice to get some of that energy out! A definite must-have in my book!