Archive for September, 2011
Birthday Celebratin’
On Monday night we got together with our friends the McKenzies. It was an extra special night for two reasons. First, it was Brandon’s birthday, so yummy cake was involved. Second, we had 2 extra McKenzies in attendance. Rebekah and sweet Adelaide were able to join us, which made it that much more fun! You can never go wrong when you have not 1, but 2 cute babies to play with 
This first picture cracks me up because Adelaide was totally fascinated while watching Man vs Wild. She is so sweet and fun and chill. I’ve loved getting to spend time with these 2 ladies.
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Here’s Nicole with Sarah. Sarah loves spending time with Nicole. I love it
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Sarah has really loved hanging out with Adelaide. She specifically loves her feet, haha. I have to keep her from grabbing and eating her feet and trying to play with her face. She is definitely a hands-on player. That’s probably because we let her play with our nose and mouth when we make funny faces. The things you do to make your kiddo laugh!
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Stephen smooching on his baby girl
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This is my only picture I got of the Birthday Boy
Sarah was having a blast
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After a delicious dinner of pulled pork we played some cards, which was a blast. I didn’t think the night could get any better and then Nicole pulled out the Oreo ice cream cake. Oh yes, it was as good as it sounds!
We had a lot of fun celebrating with Brandon on his birthday. We made sure to surprise him with some Red Vines…
Yes, we went with the 4 lb bucket. Go big or go home folks 
Before the night ended I made sure to get a photo of all us girls
(Sadly, Sarah was already asleep at this point)
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I made it a priority to grab the picture since (sadly) Rebekah and Adelaide leave to go home tomorrow. I was excited to hear that they will be back for Christmas, which means more play dates, craft days, and fun card games!
The night ended with us packing up the babies and heading home. I just wish every Monday night could be as fun as this one was
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Parks & Rec
No, this post isn’t about Amy Poehler’s show, just a clever and accurate title for one of my recent adventures with Sarah.
My friend Whitney told us about a library in town that has story time for kids. Not only that, but they also just built an awesome new playground. We haven’t been to story time yet, but we did visit the library to try out it’s incredible park. Let me tell you, this place lived up to the hype! Not only are there activities for the kids, but there’s also a walking track, water fountains, benches, and a nice sized gazebo for some shade.
Sarah and I hung out at this one swing for probably half an hour. She loved it. I had to put a blanket over the swing because she decided she wanted to eat it, which is nas-ty!
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The skies were gorgeous! So blue with nice fluffy clouds. I can’t wait until the day when we can lay on a blanket and pick out cloud animals.
She held onto the sides of the swing like a pro. Our girl was made for movement! It felt like she just rolled over for the first time. Now she’s quickly learned to sit, balance, and play all on her own.
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We then had a fun last minute surprise when Stephen came to the park and met us for lunch. Sarah lights up so much when she sees her daddy. I love it
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I love this picture. She is such a special gift!
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Here’s a short video of our afternoon
A Day at the Park from the ringls on Vimeo.
A Day in the Life of Lady Ringl
I thought today would be a good day to share a ‘Day in the Life’ post with you. I decided to call myself Lady Ringl in the title because it sounds less teacher’ish than Mrs. Ringl. That, and I’ve been watching a lot of medieval movies and tv shows lately and when you say Lady in front of a woman’s name I think it sounds elegant and pretty.
The day I am sharing with you is this past Tuesday, September 20th.
My day started around 6am. Our days start with getting Sarah fed and then I usually bring her into our bed to wake up Stephen. She loves to sit next to him and laugh and play. It’s pretty much the best way to wake up, ever!
After Stephen got out the door Sarah and I went to the play room and started our day together. I put ‘Elf’ on the tv because I like to have ‘white noise’ in the house. Don’t know why, but it’s something I’ve always preferred. After we played for a little while we moved to the kitchen so I could have a late breakfast. I decided that we would try some bread making. It had been a while since I’d done any. While pregnant I baked all the time. My favorite was the sourdough bread I could expect to enjoy every 5 days with a starter I fed and kept in the fridge.
I was really excited at how accomplished the day was going to be. I got my glass jar out and we quickly whipped up the sourdough starter. After that I got out all the ingredients to make some homemade french bread. I had gone to Publix on Monday and their bakery makes me crave fresh bread every time I visit.
It wasn’t quite noon and we were on a roll. Sarah was down for a nap so I combined all the ingredients for 2 loafs of french bread. It took about an hour (20 minutes of which was watching and then re-watching a video on youtube on how to properly knead dough). Sarah woke up right about the time I had the bread sitting in a bowl so it could begin rising. It had been a really successful day. I hadn’t even had lunch yet and I had made a starter and learned how to knead dough. To top it all off, I also had chicken thawing and getting prepped for dinner.
Sarah was having a little bit of a fussy day, my guess is from teething, so she was a bit more needy than usual. Needy isn’t a bad thing of course, it just means she wanted to be held more than usual.
An hour and a half later I came to check on my bread so I could knead it again, and then roll it out and let it rise one more time before baking. Well, when I checked it it didn’t look like it had grown much. I figured my eyes were just wrong and got the bread ready and laid out on the baking sheet so it could rise 1 last time. Sarah and I went and played for a while and when I came back to turn on the oven I noticed the bread looked the same. I knew something wasn’t right. I questioned my yeast when I first started the recipe because it didn’t bubble the way I thought it should. I even did it twice just to be sure I did it correctly.
Out of curiosity (and a heavy dose of frustration) I went ahead and baked the bread anyway. After it finished baking the top looked nice and browned and made the house smell like fresh bread. I cut into the loaf and turns out only the crust cooked. The inside was still dough. Talk about aggravating. I spent my morning and afternoon getting this ready and the whole thing was a flop.
I did some checking and apparently my yeast had died. Did you know you are supposed to refrigerate the container after opening it? Yep, it even says so right on the top. That would have been helpful, if I’d read the top. Lesson learned: always read labels!
After realizing that the yeast had killed over I trashed the bread and then dumped my sourdough starter. Watching all that flour go to waste was such a bummer. Between the french bread and starter I had used over 8 cups of flour. It felt like I was throwing money down the drain. Actually I suppose I did, since that’s where the starter was dumped.
I figured I would just forget the failure and move on to dinner. I knew Stephen was gonna be happy to come home and find a home-cooked meal. I saw a recipe for chicken fried chicken breasts with gravy. Personally, I’m not a fried chicken kinda girl. I saw this recipe and thought it was worth a shot. I knew I’d be using olive oil for the ‘fried’ part, and I wasn’t drenching the chicken, just putting it in the skillet and flipping it. I got to work on dinner and was excited about how yummy it would taste. It was definitely an out of the ordinary meal for me to cook, especially since I was putting myself in the line of fire by making something that involved the possibility of popping oil (which is the reason I don’t make bacon!)
I followed the recipe and it smelled great. I even made the gravy correctly. After putting the food onto our plates I cut into the chicken because we were 1/2′ing it. That’s when I discovered that apparently it hadn’t cooked all the way through. The chicken was still raw in the center. Gross! I couldn’t believe it. I tried making bread and failed. Made a bread starter and failed. Now I made dinner and had failed at that too. This was the worst “productive” day I’d ever had. All I had actually done was accumulate a butt load of messy dishes.
To try and save the chicken I popped it in the microwave to let it finish cooking. I snacked on some potatoes and gravy and then went to put Sarah in bed for the night. A little while later I smelled something funny. The smell went from funny to horrible in a matter of seconds. I rushed into the kitchen and opened the microwave. As soon as I opened it a horrible smelling smoke filled the kitchen. I quickly turned on the exhaust fan, worried that the smoke alarm would go off and wake up Sarah. I did everything I could to get the smoke and smell out of the house. Stephen came into the kitchen and mentioned the smoke was burning his eyes. Ya, it was that bad.
After things calmed down I took the plate out of the microwave and saw the damage. I don’t know how it happened but that chicken was now majorly disfigured. It actually had a hole in the middle and some black ooze’ish stuff dripping to the side. I’d never seen anything like that before. To top it all off the microwave now looked like a chicken bomb had exploded inside it. It was around this time I was spent. I felt emotionally and domestically defeated. I added one more nasty dish to the sink and decided to call it a night and just go to bed.
That, ladies and gentlemen, was how I spent my Tuesday.
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The Bucket Swing
I tell you what, our little girl surprises me sometimes with how much she and I are alike.
On Friday I went and visited with my friend Amanda. She has two sweet girls, Ava & Charlie, and we love when we get to spend time with the Coley clan. While we were hanging out we decided to take the kids outside and try Sarah out with the swingset. I have been hoping that she would love sitting in a swing because I LOVE sitting on the swing. Heck for Christmas last year Stephen had a swing made for me to hang on the front porch! Pretty much every time I go to my parents we spend some time in the backyard sitting on the swings.
Well it was a happy and exciting time for me when Sarah didn’t freak out during this new activity…
She looks a little small for it, but she was safely strapped in
The girls liked pushing her too.
Ava is such a helper. She’s a great big sister. I know she can’t wait until Sarah is a little older and can walk and play. She named her baby doll Sarah which totally melts my heart!
Next up is Charlie
Talk about a cutie pie, am I right? I mean she’s dolled up in her dress-up high heels and everything! Her little pigtails make me SO excited for when Sarah’s hair gets long enough to play with!
From the evidence of the photos you can see that Sarah isn’t screaming or freaking out in any of them. She seemed really relaxed and content. She loves movement, so it didn’t surprise me too much.
Needless to say, I definitely know what we’re adding to her first Christmas list!
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A T-Shirt & Mirror
Okay, this is gonna be one random post for ya.
Stephen is wearing this shirt tonight, which reminded me that I never showed you guys one of his birthday presents he got.
(a closer view of the shirt)
This shirt describes my hubby to the T. Only he doesn’t just say something awkward, he also leans in for a kiss. Two wonderful and fun things I love about him!
Also in new news. My mom came over recently and helped me clean out the “guest room” (aka: junk room). It is currently being used as a craft/play room. Here is Sarah using it just as I intended…
This is a picture that I took of her in the mirrored closet doors. Sarah LOVES those doors. Actually she just loves mirrors. She also is a HUGE fan of the toy she is standing at (she is a great stander when she holds onto something). I now have the piano/music toy up against the mirrors and she just stands there and laughs at herself and hits all the different knobs that make noise and music.
I may have put ‘Elf’ on and that is what she’s looking at. Yes I know it’s only September. Yes it is still hot outside. What can I say, I’m very excited about the holidays this year
Hope everyone had a happy Monday!
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Simple Reminders
Before I climbed into bed last night I had to clear these items off the bedspread and place them on the dresser.
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After I set these 2 things down I couldn’t help but snap a picture. To capture this moment in time so I will hopefully never forget it.
After Stephen and I had the second miscarriage I dealt with a lot of confusing emotions. During an especially bad day I was talking to my sister and she led me to a website that was all about the stages of grief. Unbeknownst to me at the time, there is a natural process most people go through when they lose a loved one, or go through hardship. The stages are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.
Everyone’s grief process is different. Acceptance was my first and easiest stage. “It wasn’t in God’s plan.” I don’t remember much about bargaining and denial, but I do have a vivid recollection of depression and anger. I had a very hard time working my way through my resentment. While I was upset after the first miscarriage, no amount of words can help you understand the bitterness I was feeling after the second. I was angry. No, I was more than angry, I was boiling. The worst part of it all, I was secretly harvesting these feelings towards my Savior. I don’t know why it’s always so easy to get mad and blame God when something bad happens, but I fell into the trap. For months every time I heard someone was pregnant, or saw a woman with a baby, I was resentful. I don’t mean to come off harsh, and I don’t want you to think me a jealous bitter woman, I just felt the need to share. I know everyone’s experience with loss is different. I know that not everyone gets to have a child. I know we doubted it would ever happen for us. Pregnancy is only one of many topics that I know people have had to work their way through.
Last week some friends of ours lost their mom. She was a beautiful and faithful woman that loved the Lord and was a testimony of His love. This sweet woman was younger than my own mother. We attended church with her and her family. She was our neighbor. Her family named one of their chickens after my crazy husband. Death is hard. Whether it be a child you never got to know, or a family member you don’t know how you’ll live without.
One of the most precious things about being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ is knowing that one day I will get to see my fellow brothers and sisters again.
That also happens to be one of the most difficult things about my faith in Christ. Knowing that I won’t see everyone. Knowing that without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ there is no forgiveness or eternity in heaven. It’s hard when you lose friends and family. It’s especially difficult when you don’t know where they stood with salvation. The loss of our 2 pregnancies, and the most recent loss of our friend, are not ones I have any doubt over. I know we will see them one day. Some for the first time, and others as a beautiful reunion.
Yesterday I opened my bible to this chapter in Psalms and it spoke so clear to me. It was as though God had David write this passage just for me.
1 I will praise the Lord at all times;
his praise is always on my lips.
2 My whole being praises the Lord.
The poor will hear and be glad.
3 Glorify the Lord with me,
and let us praise his name together.
4 I asked the Lord for help, and he answered me.
He saved me from all that I feared.
5 Those who go to him for help are happy,
and they are never disgraced.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear God,
and he saves them.
8 Examine and see how good the Lord is.
Happy is the person who trusts him.
9 You who belong to the Lord, fear him!
Those who fear him will have everything they need.
10 Even lions may get weak and hungry,
but those who look to the Lord will have every good thing.
11 Children, come and listen to me.
I will teach you to worship the Lord.
12 You must do these things
to enjoy life and have many happy days.
13 You must not say evil things,
and you must not tell lies.
14 Stop doing evil and do good.
Look for peace and work for it.
15 The Lord sees the good people
and listens to their prayers.
16 But the Lord is against those who do evil;
he makes the world forget them.
17 The Lord hears good people when they cry out to him,
and he saves them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
19 People who do what is right may have many problems,
but the Lord will solve them all.
20 He will protect their very bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked;
those who hate good people will be judged guilty.
22 But the Lord saves his servants’ lives;
no one who trusts him will be judged guilty.
- Psalm 34 -
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It’s funny how that simple image at the top of this post spoke to my heart. It reminded me of God’s love for his flock. He gave Stephen and I a child, even when we doubted. He filled my heart with a new understanding of love and worship. While I don’t know the reasoning behind the things that happen in his world, I do know that my connection with the Holy Spirit will get me through anything.
Seeing my husbands Kindle, and our daughters play radio, made me so thankful for the life I have been given. I didn’t do anything to deserve these things, yet here I am. I am not promised the 50+ years of marriage I hope for. I am not guaranteed a long life of getting to watch our child grow and become a student, wife, and mother. While I hope that is the life I will get to live, more than anything I want to live my days in a manner that will please God. At my funeral I don’t want people to talk about how ‘nice, thrifty, and crafty’ I was. No. I want them to remember my love and relationship with the Lord. I want to be a living testimony like we are told to be. To go into the world and tell all nations. Starting here in my home with my family, and onto my street with my neighbors. Wherever the Lord makes a path. Won’t you join me?
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Mommies Age
This week Sarah and I are the same age! Welllll, I guess she’s actually 26 years and 25 weeks behind me, but the number is the same
It’s getting harder to take Sarah’s weekly photos since she’s gotten so wiggly and prefers sitting to laying down. Thankfully her smile never stops. This girl seriously lights up our lives.
Feet patty cake anyone?!
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I didn’t realize until 1/2 way through our photo shoot that Sarah was facing the wrong way on the blanket. This last picture was one of the few I got where her name is the same direction as she is.
You’d think I’d notice something like that… but turns out details are the first to go when you have a baby. Like wearing two different earrings. That’s normal right?! Just watch, I’m sure it’s gonne be the next trend. Like skinny jeans and the iPhone, only cheaper because you can mismatch the pairs you already own ;)
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In-between Nap Times
On Saturday I got together with my friend Nicole to work on a fun house project. Now that I think about it it’s more of an outside-the-house item, but I will probably steal it from our front door and use it inside as well…
Last week my mom, Sarah, Nicole, and I met up at Jo-Anns to search for some needed items. Our list consisted of: yarn, felt, and any decorative items we liked. Let me tell ya this, having my mom with us made the trip go SO quick! I forgot what it was like to shop without having to entertain a baby. Although her desire to eat my yarn and touch everything was really cute to watch
I spent just under $4 for all my supplies and here is the breakdown of what we did…
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A piece of foam Plumbing Pipe Cover + Masking Tape
(aka: a super cheap wreath)
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The nitty gritty wrapping process
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1 hour later
Felt colors: White, Plum, & Grey
Here’s one of my buds with a button
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Buttons, anyone?
My felt flowers
The final product
Here it is next to the front door
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A nice little closeup shot
(the wreath looks caddywampus and thinner on the botton,
but that’s just my great photography skills. It’s the same width all the way around)
I still have to find my wreath hook so I can hopefully hang it on the door. I’m also going to use the [.98 cent] letter “R” I got from Hobby Lobby and hang it in the middle. Gotta appreciate fun DIY projects you find online.
Speaking of, on Monday my friend Whitney and her daughter Bella came over for a little while. One of the first things Whitney asked me was if I’d heard of the website Pinterest. It totally cracked me up because that is where we got this DIY Wreath idea. It was the only reason I was able to show Whitney how to make rosettes for her hair, since I had JUST finished doing some myself. Gotta love the interwebs and all it’s tutorial goodness
Anybody else working on some fun projects?! Fall is around the corner and I can hardly wait. Oh cooler weather, please grace us with your presence sooner than later. I’m ready for some bonfires and pumpkin spice doughnuts.
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Accessorizing
To start I have a confession to make… My name is Cassie and I never accessorize. Let me be a little more detailed for you:
[If] I wear earrings they are almost always simple silver studs.
Necklaces are worn, but pretty much only at weddings or when I’m feeling sassy.
I wear my wedding band, but not always my engagement ring (it only takes scratching your baby once to learn that lesson).
Can I count a hair tie as a bracelet?!? If so I am a wrist-accessorizing pro!
On Saturday I got together with my friend Nicole for a craft day (that project will be coming soon). While playing around with some felt she taught me how to make a flower. I feel like a pro right now with my new found cutting-circles-and-making-a-pretty-flower skillz. After I got home I decided to try making more flowers, but this time out of cotton. I grabbed some old t-shirts that I never wear and cut some strips out of them. Shortly after that the hot glue gun killed over and I continued on with super glue. Ya gotta work with what ya got, people.
Here is what I ended up with…
aqua shirt and an old white t-shirt
And some more pretties
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oh the difference a phone and regular camera make…
(this one is from my camera, believe it or not)
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On Sunday I grabbed a bobbie pin and used a sweet white flower to pull my bangs back.
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These 3 are because I just can’t help myself. She is such a hoot
I didn’t know my nose crinkled. Interesting…
I love the POP the flower adds
She loves to copy our mouth actions!
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Nothing like a successful project weekend. I’m actually pretty proud of myself for finally doing a project that I found on pinterest.com
There ya have it friends. This could be the start to a whole new method of hair styling. Barrettes are a form of accessorizing, right?! If not, I give up.
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What I’ve Learned: 6 Months
- You know you are a mom when you ask your child “Why are you crying? I’m the one that got poop on me!”
- Our little girl isn’t a fan of rice cereal. I decided to try a little and discovered why… that stuff is nasty! We are going to try adding some mushed fruits. It’s like oatmeal or yogurt; plain is gross, but flavored with fruits, yummy!
- When you have a child time switches to warp-speed. We are already 1/2 way to having a 1 year old!
- Toes are still just as fascinating as they were the first time Sarah discovered them. In the mouth they go.
- Now that Sarah sits on her own she has a whole new view of things, and she ALWAYS notices when I leave the room.
- Sarah HATES being put in her car seat, unless it’s while in her jogging stroller. It seems she is a little like me after all, she LOVES going on our jogs and walks
- Within the past month Sarah has learned A TON of new things:
- sitting on her own
- walking with assistance
- pulling herself up
- sitting/riding on her daddy’s shoulders
- chewing on a spoon while rice cereal dribbles down her chin
- holding a cup to her mouth, properly, (while empty of course)
- mumble-talking like CRAZY
- blowing drool with her tongue
- grabbing anything within a 4 foot range…
- AND then eating it!
- she is scooting, mainly in circles, but scooting none the less
- Sarah absolutely loves bath time. We need a neighbor with a pool so we can play in the water all day!
- You know what happens when size 2 diapers are too small and size 3 are too big?! Ya know what, I’ll let you find out for yourself one day
- Sarah’s first beach trip was post-poned due to Tropical Storm Lee. Crazy rain and 40 mph winds during labor day “bbq” weekend made for some change of plans.
- We are starting baby food this month (Yay!!)
- A babies smile can melt my heart in a second. The same goes for tears.
- While smiles turn me into goo, snuggling with a newborn makes my ovaries tingle. Ohh how I love sweet cuddly infants!
- No, we don’t know if/when we want another baby {the idea of 2 babies under age 2 is down right frightening}
That’s all I have for this past month. If you’ve missed any of my previous monthly discoveries check them out:
Seeing Sarah’s growth in those pictures shocked me when I clicked on all of them… wow, she is growing fast!
And if you are bored and want to do some light reading, these were especially fun to re-read (in my slanted opinion)…
Wow, I’ve really done a lot of in-depth baby posts. I think it’s time for some fun new projects. I know the idea of a post that isn’t Sarah-centered seems impossible for me these days, but I think I can make it happen
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and finally an ‘end’ shot to finish. yes, I am most definitely that corny.
