My View (vol. 28)

Okay, I think I need to start hitting 'publish' instead of sitting on posts... new-New Years's resolution? I keep repeating: perfect is the enemy of good. perfect is never done.

Source

What I am reading: Mothering: The Complete Guide for Mothers of All Ages by Dr. Grace Ketterman

A consignment book store find - and a favorite parenting book. She is so insightful!

Love what I am eating: grapefruit! fig newtons!

Meal planning:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with sharp cheddar cheese and a bit of ham; yogurt; ciabatta toast
Lunch: apples, ham & swiss on ciabatta (toasted), fruit twists/ fig newtons
Drinking: Coffee, milk, and a loooooot of water
Snacks: grapefruit, orange, popcorn, almond nut thins, colby jack cheese

New recipe try: I have been craving homemade macaroni and cheese and looking for an awesome recipe - TheKitchn delivered.

I altered the recipe a bit -

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pasta (I used egg noodles - on hand)
• 1 1/2 cups whole 
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2-3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• A squirt of mustard

Directions:

• Boil pasta, check
• Warm milk + add in flour (all at once - milk still had thicker consistency after a few minutes)
• Turn heat to low: add in cheese (stir), more cheese (stir), and more cheese (stir)
• Add in salt; squirt in mustard (stir)
• Add in half the pasta (stir); add other half (stir).

WA-LA! Delicious. Grace even liked it! The pasta dish was paired with baked chicken thighs and saluted spinach for me/ raw spinach salad for Will.

Dinner(s) this week: tilapia or chicken drumsticks; baked potatoes; spinach or green beans

{linking with Nell @ Whole Parenting Family!}

This week in history: I kept my head above water and had a lot of fun teaching classes - it's officially second semester! I'm 37 weeks, 5 days today - I meant to post a picture buuuut it's late and I'll post Grace pictures instead. Bebe Deux is head down, kicking me in the ribs, moving all the time and pretty content. My weight and blood pressure is all good, and I'm definitely not in a rush to get this baby out of me. These last few weeks are my favorite weeks of pregnancy!!

Grace is earning her stripes - not only does she love repeatedly climbing the stairs (and we have a lot of them in this old rental house), but now she's exploring with getting down. It's amazing how she'll swing her body off the bed, but when I put her on the cute little wooden rocking chair, she gets panicky. Then again, she'll climb on her cozy rocking chair against the wall in the front room, and stand on it. Luckily, she is following directions well ("Grace, sit down please!"). She is also self-feeding like a champ:

Lots of post-dinner baths, much to her pleasure!

Will finished his very last MICU shift. I just want to thank all of you - friends of the blog, FaceBook page community, tweeting pals, fellow grammers - for the words of wisdom, notes of support, e-mails, prayers and love. I do not think I could have survived this month without y'all. I don't consider myself a dramatic person... but this month was the worst.

I spent a lot of time trying not to feel overwhelmed and get through each day without Will (who came home late, ate dinner, tried to interact with us without falling asleep, and then went to bed early so he could get up early). Intern year feels a lot like trial by fire. I remember feeling overwhelmed by his ER shifts, and now I welcome them back with open arms after the month in MICU!

I think we've crossed critical care fellowship off our list of possibilities. Good experience, definitely, and he'll carry all the lessons he learned into more critical care situations (like SICU in March, and more ICU rotations in residency, at the very least).

For those of you who do not have an Instagram or other social media, you may not have heard of a cool site called Blessed Is She that publishes daily reflections on the Scripture readings by different women, as well as hosting community chats on Twitter and photography challenges on Instagram under the title #projectblessed.

Three days ago, the word of the day was "virtuous" and I'd just like to take a wife-brag moment and re-post the picture and caption:

#projectblessed + @blessedisshe__ : virtuous
:: I don't have any pictures from today, so here's a pre-IG picture of my favorites. Today in class, I taught about Teddy Roosevelt and servant leadership. I wrote a blog post on it too (today! Go read!) but I failed to mention the most virtuous servant leader I know - Will. It's not just because we're married - it's the way he tackles life. He came home after 10 am from his overnight shift, and spent the next 3+ hours helping a lady sort out confusing paperwork so she could donate blood to her mom in the MICU. He never projects on us after a long day, but kisses me hello and cuddles Grace. We both adore him. He'd deny, of course, any compliment - but his virtue is what makes him such an outstanding man, husband, father, friend, and doctor.

Anyways, a lot of emotions this week. If it's remotely touching, I've probably cried over it. Grace and I also survived IKEA last Sunday. Busy week!

Prayers: The Middle East, our Church, single parents, and all special intentions.

Next week, I am going to: Enjoy Will being home more!!! Also, keep plugging away at getting ahead in my classes...

Happy week, all! Happy Groundhog Day!

Follow me: Bloglovin // Facebook // Google+ // Instagram // Twitter