back

I'm back!

Check me out on my new blog at kategavos.com

Keeping up with my photography and our day to day life with sweet Caroline

♥

{hiatus}

hello, dear friends.

I have kind of been coming to a decision to let the blog go for a while. Lately, it is a source of guilt for "not getting around to it." I so want to capture C's life as she grows up, but I don't think it will be here.

At least for now. If I can get my life to go from chaotic to some sort of normal, maybe I will try again.

Reading this article this morning was the final nail to the coffin. It just clicked. I can't be everything.

Power of Moms Article by April Perry

I have friends here whom I follow and adore your blogs. I will keep reading. I don't feel creative as far as this goes, and I don't want it to feel like a chore.

So, I will leave you with a few last pictures of my sweet Caroline from Easter weekend. Who turns 2 tomorrow. (holding back tears)

She is the best thing God has ever given me, and that article made it crystal clear to me that I am doing enough by being her mama every day.

Sending lots of love and a farewell for now.

{life-changing- shaving tip}

Raise your hand if you use Venus or Mach3 blades to shave your legs/underarms?

Raise your hand if you cringe every time you spend $25 on an 8 pack of blades?

Raise your hand if you cringe every time you shave because you know you'll be getting razor bumps?

Hopefully I am not alone in this, but I have struggled my whole life with this.

I hate shaving.

I was reading through my Blog list last week and noticed a post from the Pioneer Woman. Who doesn't love them some PW? Now, I couldn't love her more. She has a really smart tip I thought I should share.

I tried it this morning, and it felt amazing! A 12-pack of single blade razors from Walgreens cost me $3.  Cetaphil was a little more expensive than shaving cream, but it will last sooo much longer. I bet it ends up being less expensive too.

Here is the link to the post. And here is the post so you don't have to go there to read:

I have…this friend.

Every winter, this friend is afflicted with itchy calves and shins. Not hands, not arms, not the body…just the lower part of her legs. The itching is very uncomfortable and can result in this friend of mine scratching so violently that she leaves claw marks on her legs. It’s a good thing my friend doesn’t like to wear shorts, because cosmetically speaking, she’d be out of luck.

This friend of mind happens to have a younger sister who has suffered the same wintertime malady. And even though my friend’s sister is younger, she did some experimentation and diagnosed the problem.

Shaving.

My friend’s sister’s findings are that using soaps, bath gels, or even shaving creams on the legs, then using super-sharp double-edge razors to essentially slice off the extreme upper layer of the skin, combines with the dry weather and basically causes the skin on the legs to stage a protest. Add in special razors with “moisturizing” strips and the problem is only compounded. One is simply introducing too many irritants to one’s skin at one time…and chaos in the form of severe itching ensues. The body is basically saying “leave me alone!"

So on a recent visit, my friend’s younger sister gifted her with this simple kit that she declared to be the solution to the problem. Cetaphil cleanser, known for its lack of perfumes and irritants, and a simple Bic disposable razor with no moisturizing strips or special bells and whistles.

Skeptical, my friend took her kid sister’s advice and has exclusively adhered to this shaving approach for three weeks.

And here’s the outcome:

Her legs are like new again. Not a single itch. Not a single scratch.

Her legs are completely healed of the trauma they’d been through all winter long, and they’re smooth as silk and claw mark-free.

I’m ready—I mean, she’s ready to wear shorts to church next Sunday!

(Well, except for the whole desperately-needs-a-tan thing. And the whole desperately-needs-muscle-tone thing. But we’ll take those one at a time.)

Hope this helps someone’s legs!

Love,
PW

Nailed it.

Hello Valentines. I meant to post this last night, but decided to snuggle on the couch with my own Valentine instead.

If you are on Pinterest, you may have seen this:

I thought it would be a fun little craft, so Caroline and I did it, too. We pretty much nailed it. (kidding!)

Thought you'd enjoy :)
(*Zach loved it, of course!)

Head...

Head

shoulders

knees

and toes

knees

and toes...

Head...

shoulders

knees

and toes...

knees

and toes and...

eyes

and ears

and mouth

and nose...

Heeeeeaaad... shoulders, knees, and toes! Knees and toes!

♥

Hi.

Well, hello there. If anyone is still listening after my lame absence in blogging, I hope you will come back. I resolve to be a better blogger in 2012 (personally and professionally).

I remember writing Caroline a blog-letter about a year ago, and though I haven't made it a weekly or monthly habit, I like to write her every once in a while. Without further adieu...

To my sweet Caroline...

Well, here you are almost 22 months old and it just dumbfounds me that we are at this point already. You're almost 2. I have so much fun with you on a daily basis, that sometimes I stop and realize {cringe at} how quickly time is passing. Too fast. Way too fast.

You talk so well. You mimic everything we say, and your sentences are getting longer and longer. We get a lot of comments on how well you talk. I really chalk it up to gender, genetics {guilty}, and talking to you like a regular person from the beginning. You have always understood what I say to you really well, and now you are starting to be able to verbalize things back. It blows my mind. Every time we visit your Gigi and Papu, they are so amazed at your progress since the last time they saw you.

You still have your own toddler language that usually only your Daddy and I can understand because we see you every day. When you say, "I see a lilly?" That means lizard. And mooch is a "smooch." There are lots of sweet little Caroline-words that I just adore in you. I just soak them up, because I know they will be gone soon.

You are already so sweet and caring. You give lots of hugs and smooches. You love to hug your stuffed animals and give them smooches. You always have to "hug sadie's neck" before you go to sleep at night.

You are all things girl. And I absolutely love that about you. I don't come off as a girly-girl, but I really do love those things too. You love shoes (and wearing mama's), clothes, jewelry, accessories, dancing {"twirl me, mama!"}, babies, and purses. Today at Target, I saw some jeggings for only $5. Since we don't have any that fit anymore, I grabbed them. The whole way around the store, you kept saying, "cute jeans! cute jeans! I show Daddy cute jeans!" You are so precious.

My precious girl that I hoped and prayed for.

You are polite and use your manners so well already. When you ask for something, I tell you to ask politely, and you say "pretty please, Mama." That warms my heart. I wish I could bottle those feelings of absolute love I feel for you.

I adore you more than words could ever say.

All of this reminds me so much of God's love for us. When I had you, I really fell deeply in love with the Lord. I understand his love so much more now that I have you. I thank him every day for the blessing you are in our lives. Such a huge blessing. You have changed me. Well, He has changed me through you.

I pray that I can help you to become a God-fearing woman who loves her savior too. I pray for his guidance all the time. I won't always make the right decisions or say the right things, but know I will always try.

He created you perfect in every way, and I feel overwhelmed with joy that I get to be here to watch you grow up. I love you so very much.

love,

Mama

{my life at this moment}

With Caroline keeping my hands full all day, my photography business has kept me busy at night. I can't believe I have been blessed with this opportunity. I have loved every minute. Aside from becoming a parent, I don't know anything else I have done where I have learned so much in such a short time. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings!

If you haven't checked out my other blog, feel free to peruse here. I feel so blessed that God has given me the heart for photography, and I only hope I can serve and glorify him in all I do.

I also want to thank those who have been my support system. You know who you are. I don't know if I could have done this without you!

All my love--

kate

{throw it all together}

Today was a confidence boost kind of day for me... cooking-wise.

I put Caroline down for her nap, and walked into the kitchen to scavenge for my lunch. I really wanted some tomato soup and a grilled cheese, but alas- "no soup for you." ;)

So, I grabbed the ciabatta bread, sliced it in half, buttered it, and then topped it with shredded mozzarella cheese. I broiled it in the oven (at 400 because our broiler on high burns stuff really fast. not speaking from experience or anything.) It came out perfectly brown and melted.

At that moment, I looked into the fridge for something to dip my grilled cheese into. Salsa? Nah. Ketchup? No way. Hmm... Tomato juice. Surely I could just heat that up in a mug, and it would be close enough?

I pour it into a mug, and just as I was about to stick it in the microwave, I had a lightbulb moment. Whole milk. check. Basil? check. garlic? check. I added those ingredients together (1:1 ratio of milk to tomato juice, but you could adjust that to taste) in a small saucepan, quickly whisked together, and turned it up to medium/medium high. After I checked to make sure it was warm enough, I poured it back into my mug.

Voila! Tomato Basil Soup a la kate. Is it La Madeleine's? No. But, is it good? Absolutely.

So proud of myself for thinking outside the box and whipping something up with what I had on hand.

{no regrets: microsuede}

Back in the fall of 2008, Zach got a bonus in the form of a gift card he could use at several places. Crate and Barrel was included on that list. We had been saving gift cards to Pottery Barn so we could get a new sofa, but decided to use the bonus gift card to Crate and Barrel instead. We had $1000, which doesn't always get you very far when buying a sofa. We went to the store, and found one we thought would be great. It was $999.00. Perfect! Clean lines, no back cushions for Sadie to smash, and it was made of microsuede. Hmm... I was a little leary of microsuede, because at the time, my perception was that it was a little cheap-looking. The microsuede had a very classy herringbone pattern, and a rich mocha color, so we went with it. It has been a great couch. Still going strong 3 years later!

Fast forward to nursery-gear. I wanted a rocker/recliner for Caroline's room, but had a hard time finding one within my budget. I returned all of the duplicate items we had received at baby showers and hoarded those gift cards and store credits until I had enough. I found one at Babies 'R Us that was a deep chocolate brown, had great reviews, and could rock AND recline without having to need an ottoman. Again, it was made of microsuede. I was hoping for cotton or velvet, but didn't have any problems compromising on that. It was a great choice. Not only has Caroline thrown up on me several times while sitting in it, but I have also clumsily spilled coffee on it more than I care to admit. All I have to do is soak up any extra spill, and then wet a washcloth to clean the surface. It dries, and you can't tell at all. Amazingly enough, it doesn't smell either.

When you have kids, or tend to spill a lot (guilty), this is one of the best things to have for your upholstered furniture. I am sure leather is great for it too, but that hasn't been in my budget thus far. I am so happy with both choices, so I wanted to recommend it in case you have looked past it too!

Microsuede. Thumbs up!

{comfort food}

I just emailed this to a handful of family members and friends and thought- what the hey. I should do a blog post! So here it is...

Now that it is cooling down outside...

I found this recipe a few months ago and have made it a handful of times. I really love tuna noodle casserole for some reason, even though we didn't eat it much growing up. It definitely counts as comfort food for me. Zach grew up with tuna casserole, and usually isn't very fond of it, but does like this version.

It is also really easy to exchange some of the ingredients for a healthier version. (i.e. olive oil for butter, less cheese, skim milk) It's from scratch, quick, and very easy to make.

Another great thing about it is that you usually have most of the ingredients on hand, so usually I just have to buy the tuna and the cheese. Super inexpensive to make!

Just thought you might like it and wanted to pass it along! Here is the link:

http://tammysrecipes.com/easy_tuna_noodle_casserole

I love recipe swaps. So, if you have anything easy, sort of healthy, and want to pass it back, I'd love you for it!

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Kate

{Happy Halloween}

Caroline was Peppa Pig for Halloween this year. That is a character on Nick Jr. that she loves to watch. It is an adorable british cartoon that even makes me laugh! She was adorable :)

{NANAS!}

I am really going to try to get better about posting. C is doing way too many fun things not to document!

Funny thing... I remember when my nephew was younger, he was a really picky eater as a toddler. And I remember hearing that is pretty common.

I have a pretty picky eater on my hands, but it isn't the typical "chicken nuggets" or "hot dogs" that a lot of toddlers prefer.

My child loved fruit in puree form, but really doesn't like it in it's original state. (surprised Mama on that one!)
The only one she likes is bananas.
Bananas, Bananas, Bananans. Or, "nanas" as she calls them.

She does love to eat!

At this point, of her three (+) meals of food per day (and Goodness!! Toddlers can put down some food!), she prefers:
potatoes (Tay-toes)
avocado (ah-ca-do)
green beans (gee-gee)
and...
NANAS! (I typed in all caps because she usually yells it)

If you haven't seen this clip from Despicable Me, you should watch it. That's about how every meal goes for us around here. Haha!

This is what happens when she realizes she has finished her banana:

{happy birthday hubby}

I have the absolute best husband in the world. I really do.

And today is his 31st birthday.

I told him recently that our 20's really brought some amazing things, but I feel like our 30's will be even better.

Zach is the hardest working person I know. And I really am not saying that. He works 12 and 14 hour days sometimes, just for me and Caroline.

He is so patient. Lord knew that when he put us together :)

He literally could not be a better father. I really can't think of one thing he could do better. Caroline loves him with all of her heart.

He is so selfless. He does so much for me and for Caroline, and never ever complains.

I have known him for over 10 years and I couldn't be more grateful that he was put in my life.

I am really so blessed.

Happy Birthday, love.

Salud!

{Happy Half Birthday Caroline!}

18 months. Wow. My daughter is a year and a half. I really can't comprehend that. It's just nuts to me. She was being silly this afternoon, so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots of her just being herself. She is the best. I need to write more things down. I feel like I am forgetting stuff she says or does!

{living simply, living intentionally}

"Look for the bare necessities,

The simple bare necessities.

Forget about your worries and your strife.

I mean the bare necessities,

Old Mother Nature's recipes

With just the bare necessities of life"

"The Bare Neccessities"

by Phil Harris and Bruce Reitherman from Disney's, "The Jungle Book"

I have a passion in my life for living simply. That's not to say I am always successful. But, I try and always be mindful of it.

In my 20's, I have come to learn many life lessons. One being that life just continues to get busier, and it's important to stop every once in a while and reflect. Am I going in the right direction? How can I serve and glorify God in what I do?

I am pretty sure I have cited this blog several times, but here it is again. Simple Mom, founded by a lady named Tsh Oxenreider, is a wonderful resource. Not just for Moms, but anyone who sometimes feels overwhelmed by the daily grind.

She talks about keeping the house clean and organized, saving money, managing money, raising children, work-life balance, among many other things. Her blog has been so successful that she expanded into a network of Simple Living blogs with many different contributors on many different topics.

She has written a book called Organized Simplicity, which ironically, has been sitting unread on my table for about month now. Nice, Kate. This is what I am talking about. Ugh. (Hanging my head in shame)

She also has written an e-book called, One Bite at a Time. It's $5 and outlines how to make life simpler one step at a time. (Did she write this for me?)

I just downloaded it, and just scanning through makes me so excited to read through it. 169 pages of tips for people like me, who need a plan to wade through the everyday mess of life.

I recommend.

Happy reading! Happy Simplifying!

(*Side note: Caroline is eating breakfast next to me, I have Pandora's Disney radio station on, and I am typing this post. The Bare Neccessities comes on. How appropriate. :)

{change}

(forgive the iphone picture)

It's pretty amazing how fast things can change, especially with kiddos.

We went from liquid diet at 15 months, to pureed food at 16 months, to 18 months (almost) completely off pureed baby food. I am sure a lot of that has to do with her having a mouth-load of teeth.

Remember how I said the doc still wanted me going for 24-30 ounces of formula a day through 2 years old? Yipes. Ain't happenin' any more! She will drink about 10 ounces in the morning right when she wakes up, 4-6 ounces before naptime (if I am lucky), and then about 8 ounces before bedtime. So, not horrible, but we are short a good 6-10 ounces. With all of the food she is eating, I think we are okay on calories, so I am not really worried.

Caroline looooves potatoes, avocado, and bananas!

People have been asking me how she is doing with food lately, and I wanted to post about it. She is doing great! I basically have her on a whole foods sort of diet. No wheat/oat/barley, but it hasn't been too hard to work with at this point. I am hopeful :)

{impact}

I am sure it is fairly obvious by now that I am highly motivated by positive words. I don't think there is a lot of room in life for dwelling on the negative. I think if things aren't going right, the only thing you can do is get on your knees and pray. Everyone is fighting their own battles on a day to day basis, so the best thing to do is have faith that God's plan will reveal itself and it will all work out. All that being said, I love all of the Steve Jobs quotes that have been popping up all over social media. This is one that I put up on Facebook and Twitter, and I liked how this person graphically laid it out. I would love to print it out in a small frame on my desk or (someday) office.

{honestly: mama anxiety}

(image from Pinterest here)

Hello friends.

A friend I knew in college has "truth telling Tuesdays" on her blog, and I felt the need to do something similar. I am going to call each post "honestly" as a way to look back on myself and see how God has helped me to work through things. I don't know that I will have something on a weekly basis, but I would like for this blog to be as real as possible.

People always comment to me about how I look like I have everything together, or that my life looks like it's perfect or easy. I'm sure that I can speak for anyone, especially new moms, when I say, it's not. I make a lot of mistakes. But, I am learning so much.

Everyone is fighting their own battle(s). Here is one of mine:

Caroline is doing so well with food. I am working very hard at trying to get her off of the pureed food and onto regular food. I still have to strictly regulate everything she eats. If something has more than one ingredient, it's because I have mixed them. For example, green beans and rice... or sweet potatoes and squash.

She isn't the one struggling with all of this. I am. I have watched her time and time again, when she gets sick after eating food.

If you aren't in the loop as far as her food problems go, here is a rundown:

1) She had a milk protein allergy when she was born that made her sick/hurt if I had dairy. So, I had to take it (among all other possible allergens) out of my diet. Once I stopped the dairy, her reflux got better.

2.) Reflux has been controlled since she was about 8 weeks old.

3.) She started solid food around 5 months and did great.

4.) At 9 months, she got a bad stomach virus. We couldn't ever get her back on solid foods without her throwing up.

5.) For months, I kept trying single ingredient foods or bland foods, and she would still get sick. Things she ate every day before.

6.) The doctor put her on a liquid diet to give her body a rest. From 11 months until 15 months, her sole nutrition was formula.

7.) We did an endoscopy of her throat, which showed no food allergies (so weird), but that she has a hiatal hernia... an anatomical abnomality that basically just gives her a predisposition for reflux. So, basically, I think she had a double dose for reflux at the beginning.

8.) At this point, I have a strong feeling she has grown out of the milk allergy, but only time will tell. We went to a new doctor... the best of the best... Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology at Texas Childrens.

9.) He gave us a strict plan to follow. We figured out that the wheat/oats are what were making her sick. Things she ate everyday before she got sick at 9 months. He told us allergies show up that way, and it's best to take them out of their diet instead of continuing to give them. Hence, I can't give her a ton of regular food because a) we haven't gotten to the point of trying dairy in his plan yet, and b) practically everything has wheat or dairy in it.

I wasn't going back over that to be wordy. All of this has given me so much anxiety as a mother.

I literally get pits in my stomach as she is trying a new food. Is she going to get sick this time? She has been fine on fruits, veggies, and rice so it's just wheat/oats at this point.

Now that she is 17 months old, the church nursery or any mothers day out will have kids that are eating normal things. Things Caroline can't have yet. Like Goldfish. Or Graham Crackers.

I have so much anxiety when we drop her off at the church nursery, or at the thought of taking her to Mother's Day Out, because I am terrified she will pick something up off of the floor she can't have and eat it.

I am terrified she will choke. I am terrified something bad will happen if she eats something she can't have.

So, there it is. I constantly have to tell myself that God will take care of her. We have such a strong bond, and I can't bear for something to happen to her. I am tearing up just writing this.

I keep seeing all of these precious babies get sick on Facebook, or lose their Mamas, and it fuels my anxiety.

So, I keep repeating verses to myself, and I keep praying.

this printable from here

{life lesson}

If I could pick one life lesson I've learned in my 20's, it would be this:

I got the image from Pinterest (duh :) but it originally came from here.

{typical day}

I wish I had done this from the beginning... kept track of a typical day in the life of miss Caroline as she grows. Once you get a sort-of-schedule in place, they tend to go and change it again. That's what makes every day interesting, though! Oh, well! Maybe with the next one (which is not any time soon).

At 17 months,

this is what we did today:

6:45am: wake up, medicine, drinks her milk, and we play! (I have to play and play and play with her or she won't go down for her nap! I try to avoid TV in the morning because she needs to be more active)

Things we do:

(dancing to the wiggles, doing puzzles, chasing each other, throwing the ball for sadie, playing with magnetic letters on the fridge, playing dress up with Mama's purses/shoes/pearls/etc, reading books, among other things)

9:00am "Breakfast" This keeps changing because we keep adding food (amen!). Today, she had apples (I crushed up), and mashed sweet potato mixed with a little bit of apple to help the consistency. This is probably so weird for those who have kiddos around Caroline's age. She "should" be eating regular people food (Still cut up into smaller bites), but we aren't there yet. She is doing so great at learning how to feed herself with the spoon. I haven't really been pushing it much, because I wanted her to get used to picking up food with her fingers again, but she likes to hold the spoon, dip it in the bowl and feed herself. She can't have any dairy yet (we haven't gotten to that point of trying it), and she can't have any type of grain aside from rice. That is what makes eating so tricky for us. No processed food whatsoever. I have to have full control over every ingredient in whatever she eats.

Another thing is that her Doctor says he still wants the majority of her nutrition coming from her formula, which means I still have to fit in a good 25-30 ounces on top of the food we are trying one by one. The solid foods at this point are moreso for trying/experimenting and less for calorie count.

Next, we clean up, play a little bit more...

11:00am Napped like a champ for 2.5 hours. That's my girl. She does great when we are at home. Traveling... not so consistent on that! {insert Mama's time to eat, shower, go to the bathroom, do anything around the house, and work. yipes.}

1:30 Up, drank some milk, and ran some errands.

Ate some bananas/prunes frozen into ice cubes inside one of these (best invention ever) and watched a little bit of Elmo's World on DVD. She loooooves "Oh-no" (Elmo)

Played some more {stacking blocks/making towers/knocking said towers down/etc)

Rubbed on some sunscreen and headed to the splash park. I keep thinking we should enjoy it while we have the warm weather! This is where today was not normal. She {hearts} the splash park. Today, not interested. At all. Long story short, she kept following this little boy around. Oh geez. Zach, you are innnn trouble.

6:00 medicine, bathtime, cup of milk, brush teeth, read book, say prayers, go to sleep (aka Mama leaves the room)

And, I'm spent. At this point, I usually get on Pinterest or Facebook just to have a few minutes of pointless activity. Then, I get dinner ready/clean up/do laundry/eat dinner/watch a TV show, and then it's time for me to sit down and work. I usually work until 11:30 or 12am.

Then, I go to sleep, get up, and do it all over again. Just a reminder for myself when our next one is around this age. Especially if we have another girl!