Baby Talk

This is something that has been on my mind lately...an ever present situation...a question that I've been asked more often...When is it our turn to have baby #2?

I have a serious debate with myself about this topic every time the conversation comes up. A part of me wants to enjoy the time that I have with Rosalie before I have to start sharing my love and attention with another child, but the other part of me wants to give her a companion...a brother or sister that will be her playmate for life.

In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned how the thought of another baby terrified me. Admittedly, it still does. I caused myself a great deal of anxiety when I was pregnant. I constantly worried about the condition of the baby and my own health. It was really tough on my nerves. It may be selfish thinking, but how will I prepare myself for that again? I remember my palms sweating at every doctor's appointment, praying that her heartbeat was still there. I remember my sleepless nights knowing that I had an ultrasound appointment the next day and I begged the Lord that they would find nothing wrong. There are times when I think I can never put myself through that again, but then I remember how miraculous the process really was and how amazing I felt when finally saw my beautiful, healthy baby girl for the first time. Seeing her face everyday reminds me how truly lucky I am that all of my prayers were answered.

I wasn't too fond of my big belly when I
had it, but it looks great in pictures! Lol

I can make a list of things that I still worry about on a daily basis. But the list of joyful things that my family brings into my life is much longer. Having a child has been an emotional roller coaster for me. One minute I can be laughing hysterically as she dances to the Mickey's Clubhouse theme song in her playpen and the next minute I can be screaming in panic as she topples over and bumps her head. Can I go through double the worry with two children? It'll probably be a struggle. But I am sure that the joy of having another child is twice as rewarding.

When is it ever a good time to get pregnant? When Anthony graduates from grad school? When I am finally promoted to the position that I'd like to be at in my career? When we finally have our house? Our aspirations are never ending. I can't imagine there would ever be a time when we'd say "THIS is the perfect time to have a baby!" Although having a baby does cost some money, we can't just base the decision on our careers or financial situation, but rather our readiness to go through the emotionally and physically demanding task of having another child.


It's obvious that I get mixed emotions when it comes to expanding our family, but the most prominent emotion I feel is excitement for the possibilities to come. My mom always says to me: "Your clock is ticking. Buildling your family comes first. All of the other stuff can come later." It always gets me thinking. So, when WILL we start trying for baby #2? I guess the best time frame I can give right now is sometime before Rosalie's 2nd birthday. Although it is exciting to imagine another precious baby girl or baby boy in our lives, I know that we have to be smart about our timing and at least get through this next year without any big surprises if we want to reach our financial goals.I'm sure that the time will come eventually, but as of today, I think we will just continue to enjoy our sweet baby Rosalie... and the longer hours of sleep we're getting.

Baked Chicken Pasta

So I'm really excited to share this recipe with you because I was kind of just messing around with another recipe I found online and this actually turned out great!! Not only was it easy, but it turned out so savory and delicious.

Ingredients:
1-1.5 lbs Thin Sliced Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets
1 package garlic and herb OR italian bread bread crumbs
2 Beaten Eggs
2 tablespoons minced garlic (I usually use the jarred one)
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package of wide egg noodles
4 tablespoons butter
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of mushroom

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
1) Melt Butter in a skillet and add minced garlic.
2) Once the garlic is browned, add mushrooms and sautee for 3- 5 minutes for flavor

Browning the chicken

3) Place the mushrooms in a rectangular baking dish

4) Coat chicken breasts with egg then roll in bread crumbs. Cover completely.
5) Melt butter in same skillet used for mushrooms (gives the chicken a nice flavor). Brown both sides of chicken breasts. (Do not burn. A nice dark brown color will give it good flavor. Should only take a couple minutes on each side)
6) Place browned chicken on top of mushrooms in baking dish.

7) Cover chicken and mushrooms with broth and cream of mushroom.
8) Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

Straight from the oven

9) About 10 minutes before taking it out of the oven, add mozzarella cheese on top. It should melt nicely over the chicken.

10) Let cool for about 15 minutes.
Serve with cooked egg noodles.

This might not be the healthiest recipe that I've put on here, but it sure is yummy! You can choose to add some vegetables into this dish..I imagine some onions or green peppers would give it a nice touch. Perhaps I'll try that next time.

Good luck and enjoy!

Finished product. Yum!

Tasty Salmon and Mushrooms

This is a great recipe that I found online and tweaked a little to better suit my liking. I've made it twice for my family because they absolutely loved it the first time I made it. I've been spending a lot more time in the kitchen making both food for my family AND homemade baby food for Rosalie but I'm loving it. As always, I'm constantly trying new foods that are fast and delicious and this one definitely made the list!

Serves 4-6 People
Ingredients:
Fresh Salmon Fillets (About 2-3 lbs)
2 Packets Dry Italian Dressing
1 bag sliced and washed white mushrooms
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 Cups Water

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees.
1) Mix the Italian dressing, water, and lemon juice in a bowl
2) Arrange the salmon fillets in a large rectangular glass baking dish. (Aluminum is ok, just make sure to butter it or coat with cooking spray)
3) Distribute the mushrooms over the fillets
4) Pour the liquid mix on top of Salmon and mushrooms. Be sure to try and cover everything.
5) Cover with Aluminum foil.

-Bake covered for 15 minutes.
-Remove cover and bake for another 12 minutes.

It is important to not overcook the Salmon! Salmon gets dry very easily when overcooked so watch the clock very carefully.

- Let Cool for about 20 minutes before serving.
- Serve over brown or white rice.

The Finished Product

I absolutely love it with a side of baked asparagus or green beans. It's really very simple to stick some asparagus in the oven alongside the salmon. Just coat the asparagus or green beans in cooking spray or olive oil then season with salt and pepper. 12-15 minutes will usually do the trick so just pop it in after you uncover the salmon.

There you have it! Shoot me a line if you decide to try it and end up loving it too!

Just an Update

These past few months have been pretty hectic for us. We've had lots of big changes from Anthony going back to school part-time, to me changing career directions, to personal family struggles that we've had to overcome that weren't always so easy.

Hanging out on the beach of Puerto Vallarta

Luckily for us, we had planned a vacation with our friends to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico which happened to come at the perfect time. Right when I felt like I was going to blow my lid off, we were able to get a small escape from reality, just the two of us. It was beautiful there. The weather was perfect, we were in good company with some of our close friends, and we were ready to let loose. We stayed at Dreams All-inclusive Resort. This was our first time coming to Puerto Vallarta, let alone experiencing the luxury of all-inclusive, and let me tell you, we took full advantage of this! 24-hour room service, amazing waterfront restaurants, and cocktails included? What more could you ask for? Needless to say, we had a GREAT time. We missed our baby but mommy and daddy needed a break!

Rosalie is almost 9 months old now and her personality is really shining through. Her smiles are priceless and she does a little army crawl to get around. She babbles, shes screams, she sleeping less and less during the day and more during the night. Watching her grow is amazing. She is definitely getting to be very clingy to me, always looking around for me and wanting me to carry her. She screams bloody murder as soon as I walk out of the room! It's flattering but at the same time, I feel bad that she doesn't let other people play with her as freely as she once did when she was a couple months younger.

This has been a bit of a problem since she has recently started day care. She's only been there a couple times so I can't really tell you how well it's going. It's been really tough for me to leave her in the care of someone I barely know, but I definitely researched a lot of local day care options and I've found that this home day care was probably the best option for us. It breaks my heart knowing that she is not being taken care of the way that she would be if she was with me or her dad, but I'm hoping that she will adjust and so will I.

Happy Baby at 8 months old

I have also cut down my hours at work to only 3 days a week to be with her more often than not. For the past month I've been really torn about what I should do about child care but in the end I decided it was best to meet halfway and do day care only half the time and just cut down my time at work. I honestly wish I knew how other working moms do it. Especially moms with other kids. One of the reasons I'm scared to have another baby is finding child care options for two children. I always wish that we had more options...me being a full time work-at-home mom sounds ideal but how would I find such a job? You really have to pick and choose what sacrifices you make in life. To work or not to work? To be at home with your child or work to provide for your child? Either way, I know that I am very blessed to be working so I will continue to do what I feel is best for my family.

Although we've faced our challenges, I feel that we grow closer as a family everyday. Marriage and mommyhood is not always easy. Some days get the best of us but we do what we can to move forward and continue to grow as people and as parents. I really feel that these past two months have thrown it's fair share of challenges at us, but here we are, still madly in love and still happy. In the end I know that it really isn't about how many times life knocks you down, but how many times you choose to get up again.

Stop. Breathe. And Smile.

Life is too short.

We sort through a a million thoughts a day. We hear and see a million different moments. Which will be the moments we hold onto? What words will we remember hearing? And what thoughts will we deem as significant?

My mind has been going 100 mph lately...I'm constantly thinking about the future and about my next move in life. Sometimes our path splits into two directions and we are left standing at a crossroad that can alter our lives forever. It is too often that we stand there and scratch our heads that we forget that the world and everything else around us is still moving, regardless if our momentum has slowed down.

I've been so preoccupied with the future of my family that sometimes I forget to live for today. I've seen young people...friends...pass away much too soon. I've seen healthy adults receive the news that they're not as invincible as they thought. Reality happens too fast to the precious time that we are given today. When I die, I want to be able to smile at the things I did do, and not the things I planned on doing.

This doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to spend every penny that I get as I get it or that I am going to party like it's 1995 (Or in my case 2005). But sometimes I need a good jolt back to reality. Someone to say "Hey! You're getting older but you're too busy worrying about tomorrow to notice!"

So here I am..telling myself that today is more important than tomorrow. And to remind myself of that on a more consistent basis, I'm going to make a bucket list. Not my wishes for the future or things I hope to see before I die (i.e. See Rosalie get married or celebrate my 50th anniversary with Anthony) but a realistic list of 10 personal endeavors that I'd like to accomplish sometime before I kick the bucket. These things don't require age, assistance, or experience (maybe money) but rather, my full attention to living for today.

Ria's Bucket List
1) Write a book. (I already have ideas I just need to get them on paper)
2) Host a formal dinner party in which all the food is prepared from scratch...by me.
3) Go Island hopping in Greece.
4) Read the bible from cover to cover.
5) Go to Comic-Con to see all my favorite celebs in person
6) Take a road trip all the way up California's Coastline using only Pacific Coast Highway.
7) Take a pottery class. (I'd love to be able to make my own home decor)
8) Brew my own beer
9) See the Northern Lights
10) Create/research my family tree

There it is. Little things I've always wanted to experience for myself that I've never taken the time to do. If you can offer any help/advice on something on my list, please share! This isn't wishful thinking people, this is the real deal!

So, what's on your bucket list?