Vacation Day 1

We had to take Xander up to Portland to Doernbecher Children's Hospital (again) to get his hernias checked. We decided to make a mini-vacation out of it and stay for a couple days.

We got the kids up at 4 am on Thursday morning and hit the road.

They were surprisingly cheerful for how early they were getting buckled into the car. 

Sleepy girlie!

We stopped in Albany for breakfast and so Matt could have his conference call with his mentor from school. 

Organic blueberries and granola, yum!!!!

The kids had lots of fun crawling around in the back of the car while we ate.

Then it was back on the road. We decided to go to the Lloyd Center in Portland and let the kids play in the play area. 

Then it was time for an early lunch..

Gabriella begged to go ice skating so we decided to let her try it!

She did really good and even asked me to let go of her several times. 

Then it was off to Doernbecher Hospital....

They called us back to the exam room really fast but then we had to sit there and wait for awhile. We got pretty bored and were trying to keep the kids happy since it was naptime. 

The dr finally came in and took a look at Xander. 

She said that he has an epigastric hernia. It isn't terribly big, just big enough for fat to get trapped in but not intestines. They don't want to put him in surgery now since there are anesthesia complications on both sides of the family so we will be keeping an eye on it for now. She said that they never heal on their own (but we know that Jesus can heal them!) and that some people live their whole lives and are never bothered by them and others have to get them surgically fixed. She was very helpful and gave us a bunch of information on what to watch for and how to know when there is a problem. 

We were happy to hear no surgery for now but it is stressful knowing he has a problem that can't be fixed right now. We will just believe that Jesus will heal our little man!

After that we headed to my friend, Meredith's house. The kids and I took a little rest while Matt went and hung out with his buddy Matt and fiance Genevieve. 

Gabriella having fun making puppy paws at Meredith's house. 

It was so fun to see Meredith and meet her fiance. I didn't realize how much I missed her until I spent time with her again. Such a great friend!!

Make-Up Fun!

Ariella and I brought all our eye make-up over to mom's on Sunday and us girlies had some fun!!

Ariella did my and mom's eyes. She did rainbow eye shadow on me and then hand drew on some stars with liquid eyeliner. They turned out SO cool! I loved it!!

Gabriella did Auntie April's eye shadow

(Auntie April was a very good sport!)

Ariella after April gave her some eye shadow

Snow Princess April

(Ariella went a little crazy with the blue eyeliner!)

Xander showing off his owies. 

Jonathan said that Xander used rock make-up cuz he was so manly

(He had fallen down outside playing in the driveway and cut and bruised his face all up). 

It was so fun to do big, crazy eye shadow that we would never wear around town. We had some great laughs together!

Gabriella Turns 3

We celebrated Gabriella's 3rd birthday on Saturday with my family. (Her real birthday is today).

Wearing her "Birthday Girl" shirt and having her hair up in a big girl ponytail!

Enjoying her free birthday drink from Dutch Brothers. 

(a strawberry-mango smoothie made with coconut milk)

She got to stay up from nap and play Candy Land with Gramma and James. 

After dinner ready to start opening presents

Xander trying out Gabriella's bike she got from Gramma and Grampa!

Playing with her new Polly Pocket set with James and Emma

The Tinkerbell cake that April and I decorated

(go Carol Squared!)

Jonathan snuck his knife in right as I was taking a picture....

I made it a polka-dot cake! 

(gluten-free too!)

Cake time!

All the kids eating cake

Birthday girl enjoying hers

Xander eating some

Ariella!

Gramma helping Gabriella learn how to ride her bike

Me and mom!\

We had a great party. It is so nice to get together with family and celebrate the life of someone. We are so blessed with Gabriella and so humbled that God chose us to raise her. We certainly have our work cut out for us, but we are so happy to watch her grow more and more everyday and to watch her continue to have such zest for life!

90 Calorie Mini Quiches!

I got creative with dinner tonight. We enjoy quiche but it always takes SO long to cook! So tonight I decided to try making mini ones.

I diced up a cup of organic spinach, 4 mini sweet bell peppers, and then mixed them with 1 1/2 cups of shredded hash browns. 

After greasing 18 muffin tins I sprinkled the first three ingredients in. 

Next I mixed 10 eggs and 1 1/2 cups goat milk. I seasoned it with a little garlic, salt and pepper; then poured it over the veggies already in the tins.

(I used 1/4 cup measuring cup for this part and it worked perfectly)

After topping them with a smidgen of goat cheese (1/8 cup grated split equally between the tins) they were ready for the oven. 

About 25 minutes at 350 F (or until they are fully cooked). 

Here they are, all golden brown and ready to eat. 

Running a butter knife gently around them first, they easily turned out of the tins when I tipped them upside down. I topped them with a small slice of avocado (one small one split equally between all 18). 

They were delicious, gluten-free and dairy-free! My kids and hubby gobbled them up! 

Here is the nutrition info per quiche:

Total Calories     90

Total Fat    5.2 grams

Protein     5.8 grams

Total Carbs   3.9 grams

Perfect for the PCOS Diet, a low-carb diet or a Gluten or Dairy Free Diet! 

Fun With Sunglasses

I scored a coupon deal online a few days ago and got 3 pairs of designer sunglasses for $4.95 shipped to my front door. They came in the mail today and the kids and I had fun trying them on and playing with them!

My little ham!

"These glasses are really funny, mommy!"

Cutie Pie Xander! He LOVES wearing accessories; hats, scarves, glasses, monkies, etc.

Super Model Pose

Trying to take a picture of us all together!

Me and my girlie!

Super Models!!

"I like these ones best!"