Where to start, oh my goodness. I'm just going to go through my recent pictures and note from there.
Well, I will start that we have gone gluten-free for Layla. It has been a relatively easy transition, other than my beloved bread making. GF bread just flat out sucks. No matter how many recipes I try and tweak...grainy, crumby, not fluffy, not good bread is what I get. It's frustrating. Really frustrating. The only thing that makes it taste good is making it into garlic bread...mask the ickiness.
This was my poor pantry when I got rid of all things gluten. (Ignore the Pringles. We still had a day to go before starting GF and I needed them for the girls lunches.)
And now it's filled with GF flours...there are a ton of them!
Layla going through the Food Network Magazine and writing the page numbers for the recipes she thinks look good.
We have been fishing a lot lately. It's fun...until you don't catch anything! We went 3 times in two weeks and didn't even get a bite! But poor Jason...he is a trooper with 3 girls tagging along. He hardly gets to fish with always having to cast, recast, recast, untangle, put bait back on, recast, recast...I can handle fishing on my own...but our girls...they sure are needy. Now, they just look for fun things in the brush (hopefully not snakes or alligators) and ask to get in the water. It's still way too cold for that...but that's not for a lack of trying on their part.
Oh wait...I forgot about the constant asking for food. It's funny. I feed them before we leave to go fishing...yet as soon as we get to where we are going and finally get our lines in the water...someone will ask for food. It never fails.
What's next? Maybe just how big Mabel is...this is a good interpretation of how big she is.
We have decided to take down the fence in the backyard. She just gets into way too much trouble back there. I don't really think China wants a dog digging her way over there. Plus, since we are renting it...that will save us almost 60 bucks a month!
Talk about saving. We went through a little rocky period with our renters. They put in their 30 day notice and we panicked...well not so much panicked but we just didn't know what to do. We don't have a property manager, we are across country...we just didn't know where to start. The day I was going to call property managers to start the process, we got a call from one of the roommates saying he wanted to stay in the house. He wants to stay until we get back to it and even said if we get home before our August 2014 estimate, as long as we give him a months notice, he would be out by the time we are home. There was an elephant sitting on my chest during that entire week of not knowing...I can't even express the excitement and joy when he called. They have been amazing renters and Jason and I have talked multiple times about how much we hoped they would stay until we get back. It's not easy on us, we pay 400 out of pocket every month to cover what their rent doesn't. But the great news...our house price is rising and rising quickly. Within the next year, it's estimated to be worth more than we owe. Finally!
Now onto Ava and just how big she is getting. She is into making faces, acting "stoic" and pretending like she is way older than she is. Here are a few examples of her "moods".
Now Layla...she had the best report card yet a few weeks ago. She is FINALLY on par, where she is supposed to be. A lot it has to do with her communication and lack of it in school. She just flat out wouldn't converse with her teachers. She would get discouraged when they were constantly asking her to repeat herself because she talks so quietly. She thought that it was because they couldn't understand her. After months of working on this with her both at home, in class and in speech...SHE TALKS! And she now talks A LOT in class. She is also now more confident in her writing and sounding out skills. I am finally confident that she will be moving on to 1st grade and we don't have to make the decision of holding her back. She really just had to come out of her shell and believe in herself! Proud Mommy!
Finally, the best news for last. This week I am starting the process of getting approved for a tubal reversal. After 6 years...we want another Baby Hill. It's going to be a long process. I had to go off my meds yesterday and it will take about 2 months before I will be normal enough to have my fertility tested, Jason has to do it, too. Then our referral package will be sent to Walter Reed where they have to approve us. Granted we get the approval (we should since we had already gotten the approval before we left California). After we are approved, we will be put on their waiting list, that list ranges from 6 months to a year and a half. But it's worth it. I have wanted this for years, obviously since we started the process while we were still in Cali. Now, I just feel like it's such a perfect time in our lives. We have an established family, we have two perfect girls who would make great big sisters, we are much more mature and knowledgeable now than when we were 21 and 23 when we had the girls. I think that will make us appreciate the process and a new baby that much more. Jason and I were meant to be parents.
When I got my tubal ligation, it was out of fear. Having a really high risk pregnancy, especially at such a young age and on top of that, being on bed rest and in and out of the hospital for several months while having a toddler running around...I just didn't think I could do it again. That was foolish thinking, it was fear and immaturity. Both of my pregnancies had complications, BUT they were complications that aren't likely to happen again. They were flukes. Because it happened in one pregnancy, does not mean it will happen again.
So that is where we are at, y'all are now updated on our Hill shenanigans. It's an exciting time in our house right now. I always leave you with a good recipe, this one is extremely easy and turned out amazing...TORTILLAS! This was before we went GF. I never knew how easy it was to make tortillas until I tried it. You just can't beat fresh taste of homemade tortillas. Make them. Seriously. You will surprise yourself!
Homemade Flour Tortillas From All Recipes
Original recipe makes 2 dozenChange Servings
