All Things Supercinski

There is a pumpkin “patch” near our house to raise money for charity. We walked there two weeks ago and bought some pumpkins for around the house. Josiah was excited to pick out his very own pumpkin, and ended up picking out a gigantic green squash-type “pumpkin”. We went back earlier this week, just as the cold front was blowing in, for some windy pictures. The setting sun and rainbow made for some great pictures. Enjoy!

I just got word from the Academy that I am officially a Bradley Method® affiliated childbirth instructor.

I started the process last August, read a bunch of books, wrote some book reports, did a lot of surveying for local information, went to a four-day training conference while 10 weeks pregnant (including two pit stops on the side of the highway for puking), taught my first 12-week provisional series, gave birth myself, taught another 12 week long provisional series, and took a humongous final exam.

I am so excited to be done with the certification process and start teaching. My next series starts in February, so if you live in BCS and know anyone that is interested, they can find my information through the Bradley® site.

Now I get to sign stuff with initials!

~Rachel Supercinski, AAHCC
(American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth)

I borrowed this CD from our church library a few weeks ago at the suggestion of a friend. I’m so glad that I did. The lyrics to each song are simply Scripture with catchy tunes. Josiah has learned so much by listening to them, and so have I. They aren’t overly cheesy or terribly annoying like some children’s music. I highly recommend them. I have yet to watch the DVD (I just realized it came with one when I looked it up on amazon.) Although the songs keep going around and around in my head, I don’t mind since it is good stuff, not “dinosaurs marching, marching“. No offense, Laurie.

Let me introduce a candidate that has hit the scene only recently:

If you thought this year’s presidential race couldn’t be any more of a joke, well, think about it again.

…if you had to give your two year old a bath before you could put him in his bed for a nap!

Josiah and several other boys discovered an area of loose, dusty dirt at the park today and he was covered from scalp to sneaker. There was even a fine layer of dust in his ears. What fun!

I am a creature of habit. Every morning, I eat roughly the same thing–a huge bowl of oatmeal and a glass of orange juice. You might recall that I ate a huge breakfast while pregnant. I still do, but I don’t have two eggs everyday anymore. Oatmeal is one of the few things I can eat for breakfast and not feel faint within a few hours.

The basic oatmeal recipe is simple. This makes the equivalent of two packets of oatmeal, so you can adjust the measurements as needed. I like my oatmeal thick and sweet. You may like yours more watery and will want to add more milk.

Basic Oatmeal:
generous 1/2 cup of quick oats
generous spoonful or two of milled flax seed
spoonful or two of honey
about 1/8 cup of walnut pieces
generous 3/4 cup of milk

Stir together and microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Enjoy.

Variations:
Fruity oatmeal
Add a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries before cooking. Half a banana is also tasty.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Add a quarter of a coarsely chopped, peeled apple and a dash of cinnamon before cooking.

Tropical Delight Oatmeal
Add a handful of unsweetened raw coconut flakes and half a banana, chopped before cooking. The banana gets nice and mushy and the coconut adds a wonderful flavor. This one is so tasty that I have to limit myself to eating it at just breakfast.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal (I make this when I have leftover canned pumpkin)
Add a spoonful or two of pureed pumpkin along with a dash of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger before cooking.

Enjoy!

A year ago yesterday, I found out that I was pregnant with Annalise. What a joy this past year has been!

Our sweet little girl is now four months old and turning into a very easy baby. She smiles all the time, laughs easily and squeals like a girl. She has mastered grabbing objects (that she can grasp), including faces and hair and trying to get them into her mouth. Josiah has been the victim of this a few times lately, and is appalled at her ability to desire to do this. She has discovered her feet, and her toes often fall prey to taste-testing throughout the day. Annalise loves to play with her tongue and is often sticking it out and rubbing it all around her mouth. It’s so cute.

Her favorite things this month are playing in the exersaucer, her brother (who she finds entertaining even when he is screaming or crying), cuddling with her Daddy and of course, her mother and the milk she brings. She dislikes going too long between naps, nursing with a cover on, and I can’t think of anything else! She is really easy going except for the whole nursing in public thing, but she seems to be getting better with that, too.

She takes three naps a day and can stay awake for two hours before it’s time to go back to sleep. She wakes a couple times at night, but I don’t mind because I don’t even have to get out of bed. She is not going to be starting solids anytime soon. She also doesn’t take a pacifier or suck her thumb, and although I was not sure how I could handle that, it hasn’t been an issue.

Annalise is such a joy to be around. You can enjoy her laughter with us below. It’s a little dark, and it sounds like it starts skipping halfway through, but she got the hiccups.