Yummy Granola Bars

I've started making my own granola bars. We all love the one you buy at the store, especially the chocolate covered kind, but they're so full of yucky stuff and pretty expensive if you eat them often (and this year we cut our monthly food budget to 1/3 of what it used to be - yikes!). So I've tried a couple recipes and I think I found one I LOVE. I noticed Money Saving Mom made them for one of her baking days, so I followed it and looked at some variations of it (at Naturally Knocked Up and Joyful Abode). I made them using the stuff I had, so I added some extra oats, wheat bran, and ground flaxseed in place of the peanuts and wheat germ, cut down on the butter and added peanut butter, and threw in some raisins and chocolate chips.

OH YUM!!!

Resurrection Day

We had a wonderful Easter. I was so thankful to be in church (rather than in bed like last year) and able to enjoy a wonderful service. We spent the rest of the day (and some of the night) with great friends and lots of yummy food.

Our family has changed a bit since last year, and I was reminded how thankful I am for my two beautiful, healthy boys. Shiloh's all grown up (you can see pics from last year here) and participated in his first kids choir on Sunday, and Eli is a happy, growing almost one year old! I know, when did that year disappear?

Elyse

Last night we got to watch our beautiful niece, Elyse. The boys LOVE her - Shiloh spent the whole morning looking out the window saying, "Is Elyse here yet?" and Eli just giggled at her while I was holding her (although I can't let him get too close because he likes to go right for the face). She fell asleep before I got to take pictures of the 3 of them together, so we put the boys on the bed beside her. Needless to say, she didn't stay asleep for long. :)

Just when I thought he was getting better...

...he wakes up with another ear infection!!! Poor little man Eli was so sick last week with Roseola. He had a very high fever for 3 days, along with a super snotty nose, bad cough, and diarrhea. (I know, more than you cared to know). Then, after his fever went away, he woke up with a rash that spread all over his whole body. With Roseola, the rash actually means they're getting better. And he was definitely improving. Just was crabby and tired and not feeling good because of the leftover cough and runny nose. Then this morning as I was feeding a very cranky little man breakfast, and trying very hard to get him to actually eat something after last week, I noticed the crusties all over his ear. Thanks to the ear tubes the infection will drain, and I have drops to put in there so hopefully we can avoid another trip to the doc for antibiotics. I just feel bad for the little guy - he just can't seem to get healthy!

This was what Eli did most of the week.



And his poor face with the rash.



So far Shiloh's still healthy. Last Sunday night we stayed home from church so Eli wouldn't share his germs, so we decided to take a trip to the park. And Izaak decided it was time for Shiloh to learn how to whittle. I was thinking, Shiloh? With a knife? But Izaak had an "itty bitty small one" (to put it in Shi's words) and we made it home with no casualties.

Putting it in Perspective

The end of February, right after Eli had his surgery to have tubes placed in his ears (yay!), he had his 9 Month Well Appointment. He was actually a couple days away from 10 months. After they weighed him, they told me he's dropped in the percentiles and is barely in the 15th percentile now. He's always been tiny (as many of you may recall from my bedrest days) but was gradually catching up. I had actually been thinking just the week before that he was starting to look a little chunky. I guess I was way off. Anyway, they told us to pump the carbs, which shouldn't be too hard now that he's eating table food. Still toothless, but those gums can do a number on a grilled cheese sandwich!

I guess when I really think about it, I've always known he's small - he's 10 1/2 months and he can still wear a lot of his 3-6 month shirts and pants. But he seems big - or at least normal - to me, especially when I remember how tiny he was at birth. So I thought I'd put things in perspective and compare my two little men.

Shiloh:
Birth: 8 lb. 1 oz.
6 Months: 19 lb.
Crawling: 6 months
First tooth: 8 months
Standing alone: 9 months
Walking: 10 1/2 months

Eli:
Birth: 5 lb. 12 oz.
6 Months: not sure, but at 10 months, 18 lb. 1 oz. Not even caught up to Shi's 6 month weigh in!
Crawling: 9 1/2 months
First tooth: still nothing!
Standing alone: nope
Walking: nada, but his aunties think he's going to surprise us all!

Shiloh never ever really had that "newborn" feel. He was practically a toddler when he came out. He was always in like the 95th percentile for size, and usually ahead when it came to motor skills. Eli will be a year old in a month and a half, and he still seems like my little baby boy. Maybe because he's my 2nd? I don't know, but either way, they're both growing up way too fast...

Shiloh @ 10 1/2 months


Eli @ 10 1/2 months