Independence Day

This year, like most years, we spent the Fourth of July hanging out with family. Last year, my Uncle Tony and Aunt Genia hosted everybody over at their place for a bbq/pool party. I got sick the night before though, and couldn't go. So Chad took Jonah and I stayed home on the couch. Blah.

This year, I was thankful that everybody was in good health and ready to swim and eat and have a good time! We borrowed a floaty vest from Jonah's best buddy Maverick so that we wouldn't have to worry about him in the pool as much. But I didn't know that we were going to be doing this this year when I scheduled my tattoo appointment to start on my arm piece. So, having a fresh-as-fresh-gets tattoo on my arm, I couldn't get in the pool or have it exposed to the sun. I brought a light sweater thing to throw on over my tank top for when I was in the sun and just stayed in the shade as much as possible.

Just the rough outline is done right now...

...I go back in two weeks to finish it up.

We weren't really sure how Jonah was going to do in the water since he hasn't been in a pool since last summer and he's much more...opinionated now about what he does/doesn't like. But he didn't do too bad! He liked it for the most part, except for when he got water anywhere near his face (including the time we dunked him to see how he'd do). :)

The water was a little chilly...

He went down the slide!

Swimming!

Jonah and his Daddy.

Learning to kick.

He liked swimming with all the different people who came...Uncle Kevin for a little bit, Uncle Tony, Pops, Uncle Dude, and Daddy. Most of the ladies (except Sheena) stayed out of the pool and just talked. We ate yummy grilled food, fresh fruit salad, and my homemade, super yummy salsa.

Swimming with Uncle Dude.

Hanging in the swim chair.

Jonah in the swim chair and Daddy being silly.

Speaking of silly...

Uncle Dude and his cousin, Blair.

Uncle Dude and his nephew and cousin.

Jonah swam/slid/played so much that he took a nap about halfway through and then woke up and swam and played some more. He would love it if we had a playground and pool like they do in our yard! :)

Blair swimming with her Momma.

Blair swimming with her Momma more.

Jumping in!!

Cute little Miss Blair.

Trying not to smile...

Eating a popsicle after swimming, yum!

Thankfully they're hosting another pool party for their daughter's (my cousin, Hannah's) birthday at the end of July, so I'll get to swim then...and Jonah will get to practice swimming some more!

We went home that afternoon around 3/4 and pretty much just vegged for the rest of the day. Chad got pretty burnt and he had hiked the incline that morning, so he was feeling really sore. I kind of wanted to go see the fireworks at Memorial Park, but they didn't start until dark (which is 8:30 here) and there was no way Jonah was staying up that late. Maybe next year...

Digging in the yard...in shoes and a diaper.

Happy Fourth-from Jonah and Maddie!

Happy Independence Day everyone! I hope you all had a fun day celebrating our freedom with your family and/or friends!!

Jonah's Second Birthday

Growing up, my family had an "every other year" tradition when it came to birthday parties. One year you'd have a big, fun, birthday party with all your friends and the next year you'd have a smaller, laid-back, birthday party with just family. Since last year was Jonah's big, first birthday bash, this year was a smaller "just" family" party. (We consider the Batteigers to be in this family category, with Maverick being Jonah's BFF and all, so we had them come too).

We mainly celebrated on Saturday, the 29th, since we had church and life group the next day, on his actual birthday. Chad's mom and brother even ended up being able to come down for the celebration, so that was an added bonus!

Here's some photos from our day...We love our family so much and were so blessed to be able to celebrate two whole years of our sweet Jonah's life with them.

Grandma Debi, Jonah, and Chad

We started the party at the park...and then got rained out.

Blair, my cousin, and Joshua, Maverick's little brother.

Our little family.

Jonah's super cute Despicable Me cake.

Singing Happy Birthday.

Trying to blow out the candles.

Eating cake with buddy Maverick.

Everyone hanging out, eating cake.

Blair playing with a bow.

Opening presents.

More presents!

Maverick helping open presents.

A lego set from Uncle Tris.

All he wanted for his birthday-a trash truck.

Playing with his trash truck with Grandma Debi.

His birthday present from Aunt Nikki...Maddie!!

On his actual birthday.

Daddy and his Bug.

How handsome is this kid??

Birthday boy!

He's such a boy.

And a silly one too!

Posing. ;)

And Happy Birthday to our handsome, funny, sweet sweet Jonah bug. We love you so much and are richly blessed to have you in our lives.

Learning

If there's one thing I've learned from losing Oliver, it's how to pray/grieve for someone going through a similar situation. Even if I don't know you, or you don't know me, my heart is breaking for you right now. I so closely feel your pain. We're in community and you might not even know it, but I hope that I can someday show you that you are not alone.

I'm so thankful for those who reached out to me in the weeks that followed and shared their stories of loss with me, just to say just that...you're not alone. Your tragedy is not new, but it is yours, and we grieve with you.

I believe that you have to search for these beautiful tidbits among the ashes, because otherwise, all you'll see is the ashes. All you'll see when you look back on your tragedy, is the ashes of your broken life, your future altered and uncertain. But if you press into God, through your pain, and really feel it (despite how much it hurts) you'll come up with a few precious nuggets that you can cling to in the days to come.

This whole thought process started as a response to hearing that yet another lady that I know lost her 17 week old little girl, and every time I hear of such a loss, especially one so spot on with how/when I lost Oliver, it cuts a fresh scar on my heart. I'm sorry doesn't seem good enough, but it's really all there is to say sometimes.

I hear you.
I see you.
I am so sorry.

Maybe some time soon I'll be able to write out the full story of what happened with me and my born-to-heaven Oliver Byron, but not today. Today, I'll cry a little, I'll embrace every moment of my grief, because as a dear friend reminded me, God promises that "He will turn my mourning into dancing, my wailing into joy." (Psalm 30:11) Oh it hurts, but it's good, because "all things God works for the good of those who love him." (Romans 8:28)

Some of the beautiful flowers we received when we got home from the hospital.

My beautiful Mother's Day flowers from my family.

No-Bake Energy Bites

I've been in a very snacky mood lately, and this is the latest of the delicious snacks that I've attempted from Pinterest. (Yes, it contains chia seeds, another current obsession of mine.)

See, told you I'm obsessed with chia.

Ingredients lined up looking pretty.

No Bake Energy Bites:

• 1 cup (dry) oatmeal
• 2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 Tbsp. chia seeds 
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

You literally just mix everything together and then let it chill in the fridge for half an hour. Then roll the dough into small balls (about 1") and store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. (Trust me, they won't last that long. :)

I did not have coconut flakes, so I added, rice krispies. It added a really good crunch to these. You could add any number of things to this, as long as you make it balanced. I also ended up adding dried cranberries (which made them taste like a peanut butter jelly sandwich in the end-YUM!) and used half chocolate chips and half white chocolate chips, instead of all chocolate chips. They turned out SOOO good.

Here's a list of the original poster's substitution ideas in case you are out of any of the ingredients listed above:

Ali’s Tip:
Substitution ideas can abound for just about any of these ingredients! Feel free to substitute in your favorite nut butter (almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.) for the peanut butter. And you could also add in some wheat germ in place of some or all of the flaxseed. I would caution, though, against substituting agave nectar for the honey, as the honey’s thickness helps hold things together.
Some other fun substitutions for the chocolate chips (or an addition to them) could include:

• chopped dried fruit (apricots, dates, raisins, etc.)
• dried berries (cranberries, cherries, etc.)
• chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts, or sunflower seeds
• other chips (butterscotch, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, M&Ms, etc.)
• other grains (different kinds of oatmeal, rice cereal, etc.)

Update: Many of you have asked about substitutions for other ingredients. The joy of these bites being “no bakes” is that this recipe is super flexible. If you end up needing to omit one of the dry ingredients (such as coconut or flax), just add in some extra of whatever other dry ingredient is remaining (for example, the oats). If you feel like your energy bites are too dry, add in extra honey or peanut butter. It’s also not required that you refrigerate these, but I find it helps them stick together much better. And for some reason, I love things like this a little bit chilled. Enjoy!!

Check out the original recipe here. I'm really glad I made these, I think they'll be a snack staple in our house for a while.