Bodacious Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

So since becoming a stay at home mommy, I have turned my focus and energy from a stressful science teaching job to nutrition and cooking (and the obvious focus of umm a baby!). Part of my motivation came from the issues after I delivered my son and I was desperate to feel better again, and part of it is that I need a hobby and focus, and this has been a good one to turn to! It has been interesting how changing parts of my diet has affecting how I feel, now my only issue is to stick to it and be consistent! 

Today I tried out a Pinterest recipe I found online, and just wanted to pass it along to you wonderful people! Here is the link to the blog I found the recipe on… 

http://fitandhealthywithdebbie.blogspot.com/2012/10/banana-oatmeal-breakfast-muffins.html

They were really easy to make, and didn't use any flour or have any added sugar. You can add nuts or chocolate chips to them, and might even be good with some peanut butter on them. Definitely let them cool for a little while, I'm overeager and didn't wait long enough so it kind of was falling apart! It seems like they will be good left over for breakfast too. Just a thought. Anyway, happy baking y'all!

2 Plus 1 Makes 3 :0)

Yet again, months and months have passed since my last post! A lot has changed since my previous posting, I finished out my pregnancy and had our son in June. He is now 4 and a half months old! It has been a wild ride to say the least, with a difficult delivery and blood pressure complications for two months after his birth, and then of course the lovely hormones plus sleep deprivation makes for one crazy momma. Thankfully though I feel more like myself again and am adjusting to my new role as a stay at home mom. Life has been different and much more challenging than I ever could have expected, but I wouldn't change anything. God has truly been working in my life this year, and I am learning more and more how to rely on Him, and seeing each day things in myself I need to improve upon. I am thankful for the "hard stuff" this year, because it is making me a better person for God. I hope you enjoy some of the pictures of our little bruiser, more to come soon hopefully. :0)

Maternity shots by my sister, Joanna Krueger.

Jacey giving Jackson some hugs!

Mass chaos after a week of showers!

Jackson's room, minus the gray rocker. 

The token, "I just had a baby and feel like I got hit by a truck" hospital shot. So tired but so happy and proud.

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One month/new born pictures taken by Kelsey Swor.

Progress :0)

Things have been crazy around here as usual, but we have made some progress with Jackson's room! We ordered a crib from Amazon and furniture from Ikea, and Jacob got everything put together and set up! Jacob's mom is sewing the bedding and my mom and I worked on some decorations over spring break, so hopefully soon all of that will come together! 

My master carpenter :0)

Our Baby Crib

Furniture...

 Some of the fabric we bought for the bedding. We also bought some of the bicycle fabric in the picture below.

Not our official bedding, but it will look something like this. This is the bicycle fabric we found online. I will post pictures of the actual bedding once it's finished!

 The next pictures are a couple of little projects I did over spring break. Still more to come!

Before... one of Granddad's tables

After :0)

My little helper, as always being a little more helpful than needed.

Ottoman for the rocking chair... whenever that comes or gets picked out hehe

We finally finished all of our registering! Whoo hoo!

29 weeks tomorrow... Officially in the third trimester! Home stretch! :0)

Baby J is definitely getting bigger because I sure am! Hope you enjoyed the post!

Blessings in our Families

Every day I wake up and thank God for the day, and soon to follow is thanking Him for my family. Families are priceless, and they are so unique. I feel like God has designed each of our families so perfectly, from bringing people together in marriage to designing their children. I think about my own parents, and how much they have given me in life, from physical blessings of a home and providing an education, to more important things like teaching me how to serve God ad others. I know that my parents had some of the same blessings from their own parents, and I realize how blessed I have been in my relationships with my Grandparents. Each of them have been so different, and each relationship has been different but special. Almost a month ago, on February 17, my Granddad passed on to be with our Father, somewhat unexpectedly. I love all of my grandparents very much, but he was a special one. I kind of felt like he was the Patriarch of our family, our leader and the one who has set an example to all of us on how to serve God and others. As much as I know he is in Paradise, no longer suffering, it is still such a hard thing to bear because I have been so sad that he is no longer here with us. It is such a conflict, I am so happy for him because he has his reward, what he has been living each day of his life for, yet so sad because I just wish he was here with us. There could never be enough good things said about him, because he was a man "without fault", just as God purposed us each to be. (Eph. 1:4) I just wanted to say a few things about him, because he was so special to all of us, and has done so much for our family, and those words are truly understatements of his role in our lives. The pictures below are from the week of his funeral, and some of the time our family spent together that week remembering the  wonderful times we had with our sweet Granddad, Jack Thompson.

Granddad when he was in high school.

This was a few years ago, at Jesse and Amber's going away party.

A couple of years ago at Christmas. :0)

This was this past Christmas, we gave him a pair of new house shoes, and some other good news....

That he was going to be a Great Granddad! This is one of my favorite pictures, he was so excited!

This still breaks my heart, I just wish he was here so much to see our little Jackson in a few months. But I know Jackson will know Granddad, even though he isn't here with us anymore.

Pooch comparisons with my cousin, Jesse.

Some of the most special people to me on this planet. This was at Granddad's visitation.

Meal before the funeral.

My mom, her sister and brother and some of their cousins.

Mom and Grandmom

My cousins and their wives before the funeral.

My mom, sister and aunt.

After the funeral.

Grandmom and her kiddos :0)

That night after the funeral we spent some time singing hymns to God as a family. It was the most perfect way to finish a day remembering Granddad. I will always remember Granddad's sweet tenor voice and how much he loved praising God.

That night, we had a cousin sleepover. It was so much fun! We used to have sleepovers at Grandmom and Granddad's house growing up and have so many memories of those days!

The next day, Grandmom, my mom, uncle and aunt and her caretaker released some balloons in memory of Granddad and the family.