Home Lovin'

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Flagstaff, AZ is a super cool town. There's a great place to eat and get a beer - The Lumberyard. Also, Fire Creek Coffee has some fantastic iced coffee with a great environment to sit and chill. The Grand Canyon is phenomenal. Mather Campground is a great place to camp within walking distance of the rim at Mather Point. Ergo baby carriers rock. Currently we are in Sedona, AZ, we just roamed around close Chavez Ranch for some fantastic views. Enjoy!

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Marfa Accommodations 🌵

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Southwest roadtrip with my guys. Marfa, Guadalupe Nat'l Park, Ruidoso so far....Next stop Flagstaff, AZ.

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I was just thinking how cool it is that I have a little human who calls me "Mama". What a beautiful responsibility and adventure.

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Breastfeeding 101

I've been at this breastfeeding thing for about 61/2 months now and I've learned a few things about what to do when...

1. Your milk hasn't come in yet...

Eli was 3 days old. It was nighttime. He wouldn't stop crying. He wouldn't sleep. I was the most exhausted I had ever, ever been. He was hungry for milk, not just colostrum! What did I do? The little can of newborn formula I had received free in the mail from a big formula company was calling my name... I was so close to giving him a bottle. No, it wouldn't have been the end of the world, but in my heart I knew I didn't want the little guy to have anything that was man made, and if I got out the formula one time when things got hard then what would stop me from doing it other times? I just let him suckle on me, all night, however long he wanted. Even if he wasn't getting much still he was comforted by nursing. Then the next day he had his first newborn dr. appointment and the doctor actually touched my boob and showed me that my milk was coming in. It was SO HARD being patient for my milk to come in for the little guy but it was so worth it. So what do you do in this situation? You hang in there and let that baby suckle all night if you have to! 

2. You start taking birth control at 6 weeks postpartum and it drops your supply (even though "it shouldn't drop your supply")...

This was a biggie for me. My doctor assured me my supply would be fine on the pill. It wasn't. Maybe I'm a special case but I can't help but think that I'm not the only one this has happened to. I felt empty. Eli would eat for 30 minutes EACH SIDE and still be hungry. I didn't know what was going on. I tried eating oatmeal, drinking Mothers Milk Tea, drinking extra water, getting more rest. My life revolved around his feeding times because they were so long. No, he wasn't cranky, but I truly felt like he wasn't getting enough. Eli's doctor suggested I started supplementing with formula... I did NOT want to do this. So I fed Eli for 45 minutes and I would pump an extra 10 just to get all I could out. Then I would do all of it again 2 hours later. Talk about exhausting, my boobs were working overtime! I finally resorted to my last option, the idea that just maybe my birth control had dropped my supply... so I quit taking it. What do you know? 48 hours later my supply was bigger! It still took some time to get my supply up so I kept eating oatmeal about twice a day and drinking 2 cups of Mothers Milk Tea (which is fantastic btw!). What do you do in this situation? You get off birth control if you choose to keep on breastfeeding. It's scary, I know. But I haven't gotten pregnant again yet so maybe there is some truth to that breastfeeding is a natural contraceptive thing :)

3. You get a clogged milk duct (OUCH!)...

Three words for you... NURSE, NURSE, NURSE! Make that baby eat extra if you have to! I had this really bad within the first month of Eli being here and occasionally get it if I go too long without nursing (usually if I go more than 9 hours overnight). It really freaked me the crap out the first time it happened. I thought I was gonna have to go to the hospital and have surgery because I googled the problem. But the reality is that you just need to nurse, massage the mass (even though it's really uncomfortable to do so), apply a warm compress (I fill a diaper up with hot water as a compress because it hold in the moisture) and take a hot shower and massage some more and make sure you're drinking plenty of water! Sometimes you'll see the tiny ball of dried up milk come out and sometimes you won't. These things hurt like a mother but more than likely you'll live without having to go to the hospital and have emergency surgery haha :)

4. You breastfeed in public...

When Eli was first born the thought of going out into public and breastfeeding TERRIFIED me. First of all he was so little it was so hard to get my girl out, his head in the right place (making sure his little nose wasn't squished in my boob so he could breathe!) AND do all of this with a nursing cover on... oh lordy I was scared! So what do you do in this situation? YOU DO IT ANYWAY! You face that fear! Heck, you just push a child out of your body, you can breastfeed in public! There is a lot of hype about women publicly breastfeeding and that's because a lot of mamas choose not to cover themselves. I personally would be uncomfortable not being covered. I am an advocate for breastfeeding but I wouldn't want to have little children looking at me nursing without a cover and asking their mamas what is that lady doing and what is that?! I have little nephews and cousins who are curious enough with a cover on, I can't imagine without!!! Breastfeeding is a beautiful thing and the best way to nourish our babies and if anyone has a problem with that then that is their problem not yours. This is the 21st century too, people are very open to breastfeeding in public. It's really nothing to be afraid of and honestly it is empowering in a strange way, it feels good to be able to make a statement of "I'm nourishing my baby the best possible way and I am PROUD of it!". Plus they have super dooper cute nursing covers out there so that helps :)

Breastfeeding is the best, the bond between you and baby is amazing. It's the healthiest thing for baby, you burn extra calories through the day and it can help prevent breast cancer. What's not to love!?

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Cloth diapering - lets get real here…

Okay, so I am on this cloth diapering kick, I like it, he looks cute in them, up front they cost upwards of $16 (for the BumGenius top of the line ones) apiece but over time I really think we could save some money. I’m gonna divide up a few numbers for us both to see if we would really be saving some cash. Here goes…

We have already spent about $87ish (2 boxes - $19.99 + tax, 1 box - $44 + tax) on diapers over the past 2 1/2 months since we ran out of the ones we were given for the showers and stuff. That divides up like this… 

We are spending about $35 on diapers per month because we didn’t have to buy diapers for the first 3 1/2 months.

Thats $420 a year (but that’s not factoring in that as he gets bigger, bigger diapers get more expensive so really it’s probably closer to $500 a year).

***This $500 a year is not factoring in the 3 1/2 months we didn’t have to pay for diapers because they were given to us……. so I’m going to add on an extra $100 to that $500 per year because we won’t be getting free diapers next year! 

TOTAL price of disposables for a year: $600

Alright so now that we know that I can move on to adding up how much cloth diapers will be with washing costs and everything. Granted I haven't decided on BumGenius solely yet, I was actually thinking of getting a few BumGenius and then getting some different kinds too to see how they work. This would save us some cash. The problem is that I want to have at least 14 cloth diapers BECAUSE I want to have at least 2 days (7 per day) worth so I’m not doing laundry all the time and therefore spending money doing that. We have 3 already (2 of which suck but I can save those for around the house). So that leaves us needing 11 more cloth diapers. I am gonna estimate that each diaper will be about $16 (give or take a few bucks) because I don’t want to get crappy ones (HA!) but I don’t want to spend out the roof for them either. 

1 cloth diaper @ $16 x 11 = $176 

Now, as for laundry… this would put me doing more laundry, if I do laundry every two days that’s about 3 or 4 extra loads a week. I have no idea how much this would equal out to but other people have done the calculations and so I’m gonna steal theirs. 

$170 in extra laundry a year (I’m including detergent because my maemae provides detergent for our household lol). You can check out this website, it’s where I got this crazy number from: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/cloth-diapering-a-real-world-analysis/

Also I think we should invest in a diaper sprayer, this is gonna come in handy for those poops. It hooks somehow to the water that goes into the toilet, not sure that’s for you to figure out. Here’s the link to it: http://www.amazon.com/Cloth-Diaper-Sprayer-styles-may-vary/dp/B002BS1NPK

While this is not essential, I would REALLY like to have this to make life easier. 

1 Diaper sprayer @ $15.60

Then there is the wet bag that we need to keep the dirty diapers in waiting to be washed. It keeps the smell and anything else that comes with a dirty diaper inside. I found a large one that holds like 15-20 diapers at once for $19 from the same site I would get the diapers from.

1 Wet/Dry bag @ $19

OKAY, that is everything I would need. Eventually as time goes on I’d like to add a few more diapers to the stash but for now all I would need is listed. So here, now I will tally up all the prices for us…

Total investment: $176 (diapers) + $15.60 (sprayer) + $19 (wet/dry bag) = $201.60

Total cost over the course of the first year for cloth: $201.60 (invested) + $170 (laundry+care) = $371.60

Total savings over the course of the first year: $600 (disposables) - $371.60 (investment+laundry) = $228.40

Okay so now that we see what our savings would be for the first year that’s not too bad, but the real savings is gonna come in the future bc cloth diapers can be reused and reused and then reused with other babies. With these numbers for the second year here is what we could save:

Savings for year two: $600 (disposables) - $170 (laundry+care) = $430

Not too bad! Plus he looks ultra adorable with those diapers on. Plus we’re being environmentally minded/friendly.

Now, onto reusable wipes…. JUST KIDDING! But seriously they have those! That’s a little far fetched for me, I think I’ll just stick with cloth diapers for now :) 

****I wrote this as a presentation to my hubs for him to see what we could potentially save within our budget. We ended up deciding to just buy 3 extra for now, so I have a total of 6. Gonna see how we like it, I purchased 2 Alva Baby pocket diapers and 1 Imagine Baby pocket diaper. They were each about $11. I'll update on how they work in a few weeks :)

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Baby baby baby baby that's what my life is about right now, taking care of my little man. And I love it. He is beautiful. Life is beautiful. 

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Elijah's Birth Story - January 10, 2014

Written a week after his birth

Oh Elijah! He has made me a mama. I’m writing this as he is sitting in the swing in front of me sleeping sweetly. The love I feel for him is immense, like no other love I have ever felt for anything or anyone before. His birth was the hardest and at the same time the easiest thing I have ever done. God women’s bodies to birth babies and the process is incredible. In so many ways the labor process resembles our failures and God’s immense grace. My desire throughout my pregnancy was to have a natural childbirth without pain intervention in a hospital setting and this is how it happened. This is Elijah’s birth story.

I started going into labor on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The contractions pain started in my back, the pain was mild and the anticipation was incredible. I was able to sleep through the night Tuesday night. The contractions stayed the same through Wednesday night. Wednesday night we finally decided we were going to name our baby boy Elijah. That evening the contractions started getting more intense than they had been, I wasn’t sure when to call my parents to make the 6 hour drive down to SA but ended up calling them at 2 am on Thursday the 8th. The contractions had intensified and were coming every 5 minutes but only lasting about 30 seconds. I was just sure that would be the day he was born. I stayed up til 4 am cleaning and getting the house ready for my parents and for our little one who’s arrival was coming very soon. I was able to fall back asleep until around 7. I woke up, got dressed, did my hair and makeup, being sure that the baby was coming that day I wanted to look good and feel good. My contractions were getting more intense but the times weren't getting longer and the duration was the same. I called the time between the contractions my “breaks”. Those “breaks” carried me all the way through labor. By the time my parents arrived around 10 am on that Thursday morning I was feeling good an was able to visit and have a good time between contractions. Zac and I went on a walk around 1 pm and his mom and my mom went on another walk with me after that. The contractions were intensifying and getting longer and closer together so we decided to call the doctors office. Of course like any doctors office the nurses’ job is to scare you into coming in. We then went to the triage center at the hospital and there I was checked. I was only at a 3 but I was 90% effaced, the progress made me happy. We stayed and walked around and then I was checked again with no progress. While at the triage I had to lay in a bed and be still through my contractions so they could monitor Eli’s heartbeat. It was exhausting taking my contractions laying on a bed. My doctor, knowing that my desire was to go natural without intervention gave me the option to go home and labor there. I went home to labor because I could move around there and eat it if I was hungry. We finally made it home around 7:30 pm, I had two bowls of cereal and P.F. Changs for dinner. I then went to bed around 9 and was able to sleep til 12 am.

I woke up at 12 am and instead of having back labor contractions, I’m guessing Elijah shifted and the pain went to my abdomen and I was no longer able to sleep through the contractions. In a way I was thankful that the pain had shifted because it was something different than the back pain. My mom labored with me in Elijah’s room for a good few  hours. I pretty much lost all sense of time, my time was defined by those breaks in between the contractions. The contractions that started around 12 brought me to all fours, and I just swayed back and forth and focused on a breathing technique that my body really developed on it’s own. Focusing on the breathing really did help me get through the contractions. My mom decided to go lay back down to get some sleep around 5 am. About 30 minutes after she did that it was around 5:30 am I began having really long contractions that were very close. I felt different, the contractions felt different, I felt like he was getting very close. When I timed a 2 minute 15 second contractions that was when I decided it was time to wake everyone up and head to the hospital. I was absolutely dreading the drive to the hospital. Having to sit in a seat with a seatbelt for 15 minutes not being able to move around through the contractions was miserable. My husband did a great job driving to the hospital and tried to help me through the contractions. When we finally got to the hospital we pulled up to the emergency entrance. Right when I got out of the truck I began to have an intense contraction, I just leaned on the truck until it was over. We walked in and I decided to walk up the big staircase to labor and delivery. When we reached L&D I had to fill out a little bit of paperwork and then immediately was put in a room. I had to change into a gown and once again lay on the bed so that the baby’s heart rate could be monitored for a full 20 minutes. They also checked me right when I got there and I was only at a 5. This was the point where I doubted then pushed through. I said to my mom and Tina that if I didn’t keep progressing fast I didn’t know if I could do it without pain intervention. After I said that I then started to think about how terrible it would be to get an epidural because I would have to sit still for 30 minutes. As I started another contraction I forgot about the fact that I was considering pain meds, I was able to push through, I’d come this far might as well keep going. I thought laying in the triage was bad, having to take the contractions I was feeling in the L&D room was excruciating. I just kept saying I needed to get up, I couldn't lay there. Finally I was able to get up and move about the room. Being able to move around and get on my birthing ball helped me mentally and physically get through the contractions. A few contractions after I found out I was a 5, I thought I had to go number 2, I was getting an intense urge to push. I went into the bathroom and took a terrible contraction leaning on and swaying from the safety handle bar by the toilet. This is when I realized I didn’t need to go to the bathroom, I felt like I needed to push because I needed to push the baby out! I remember thinking that this is not good that I need to push because I was only at a 5. When I got out of the bathroom I had a very intense contraction and I just dropped to  my knees and leaned on my birthing ball. Zac was rubbing my back. I actually have a picture of that contraction. Once again after this one I went in the bathroom and from the bathroom told my mom I needed to push. The nurse said she had to put the heplock in my arm and then she could check me again. I came out of the bathroom, by this time the contractions were completely blended together, and I leaned over the bed and laid there while my nurse, Ann, put the heplock in. She then checked me and I was at an 8! I started crying out of relief that I had made huge progress since I had been check just probably a half an hour earlier. I really felt like God knew my desire to have a natural childbirth and honored that by helping my body progress quickly. At that point everything went really fast, most of it is a blur to me, I was focused on getting through the pain so I had my eyes closed nearly the rest of the delivery. My doctor came in and asked me if I wanted her to break my water. Being dilated so much my bag was bulging. Although I didn’t want intervention, my goal was to not have any pain intervention and at the point I was at I told her I wanted her to break my water. After she broke it, she said I needed to take a couple more contractions and then I could push! By that time the urge to push covered all the pain I had been feeling. It was the deepest most primal feeling I have ever felt - the need to push the baby out. Having to make it through those few contractions was the hardest. Like I said I didn’t notice the pain, having to hold back the need to push was much worse than the pain, it literally took my breath away. After a few contractions she checked me again and I was at a 9.5! I could push! Everyone grabbed my legs and when the contractions were taking place I had to hold my breath and push for 10 seconds over and over. Between contractions I was the most exhausted I have ever been. I actually dozed off one time between a contraction! I had my eyes closed and I was focused on breathing and getting this baby out. I didn’t have the energy to scream or yell, all I could do was lay there. When I did get to push the release of pressure felt so good. After a few minutes of pushing the nurse said the baby’s heart rate was dropping a little bit and we should get him out pretty fast. Her saying that brought a renewed energy to me and I was able to push through and give those push’s everything I had. When he was almost out my doctor said the only thing holding him back was space, she recommended an episiotomy, a small one. I had previously been against having one but at that point I wanted baby boy out! I said yes and after that it was only a few more pushes… I could hear everyone saying they could see his head and to keep pushing! His head finally came out and it was just one more push for his little body! Immediately they laid him on top of me, I opened my eyes and all my exhaustion went away. Seeing his little body was all I needed. Elijah. They had to take him off of me fast because the cord had been wrapped around his head and he was pretty purple so they needed to stimulate him. Daddy got to cut the cord. They wrapped him up and gave him back to me. The most beautiful little human I had ever seen was in my arms. Even more amazing was the fact that my body birthed this little human and it felt every twinge of pain and contractions for days and I felt every need to push. My body birthed Elijah! I did it!

Giving birth was the most empowering and beautiful thing I have ever done and ever will do. Elijah latched on immediately when I introduced my breast to him. He was so alert after his birth and I was alert too! I attribute those two things to the fact that I gave birth with the pain God built in. No drugs were in his little system <3

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So I've been suffering from "morning sickness" (which should be renamed 24/7 sickness) ever since about a week after I took those 4 very positive pregnancy tests. It's not fun. A total of about 8 weeks so far (nearly 2 months!). Although it does seem to be tapering off a bit, it's ugly head is still lingering. Currently about every other day I feel good. Which is better than everyday being sick! Anyway, I've thought of a few little tid-bits on how I'm getting through this sickness. 

1. Preggie Pop Drops - these little things have been life savers through this sickness! Since my blood sugar is always going up and down (which is one of the things that causes the nauseousness) I keep these little drops handy in my purse or where ever to help combat the nausea. They really work! 

2. Eat all day long - you heard me, eat all day long. I start out in the mornings lately with a piece of toast with peanut butter on it. Sometimes it will settle my stomach and sometimes it will make it worse. I still have an appetite when am sick most days so once I get the nausea under control after I wake up or at any point in the day I eat something small. I'm always snacking on something, once again it keeps your blood sugar from dropping. At first I was worried that I would gain weight but my appetite evened out, instead of eating 3 big meals a day I am eating a bunch of small meals/snacks so when it does come time for big meals I don't want/need as much to feel full. 

3. Sit down when you feel queasy - I've realized if I stand on my feet (even if I'm not nauseous) for long periods of time I start feeling queasy and sometimes like I'm gonna pass out. My doc assured me that the lightheadedness and shortness of breath is all normal but just sit down when you need to!

4. Eat what sounds good - There's not need to make yourself even more miserable by eating something that may be good for you and the baby but sounds disgusting! I have to admit I have not had the best diet since I've been sick, and at first I was worried it would hurt the baby but I've been reassured that the baby is just fine. Of course eat healthy when you can (and when the thought of spinach doesn't make you wanna throw up!) but a can of chicken noodle soup and a PB and J sandwich are fine too. I do take a prenatal vitamin so that helps add some nutrients that I may have lacked in a day. Since the sickness is tapering off I've been trying to eat healthier - lots of protein and trying to drink at least 70 or so oz of water a day. 

5. When all else fails, go lay down with a pillow under your stomach - I resorted to this technique (and still do) very very often. Most recently yesterday morning. Sometimes you just can't stay upright with nausea!

I haven't come across any "magic foods" that make me feel better. I think that just learning to manage it has been my biggest help. Now that I'm in the second trimester, hopefully and with fingers crossed in the next few weeks I will be rid of morning sickness for the rest of the pregnancy!

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| 12 Weeks |

Theres a itty bitty bump going on now! Supposedly the baby is a size of a plum now! This past week we went to our second baby appointment and the little thing was moving on the sonogram for us! It was crazy, my mind was blown the rest of the day. On the sonogram you could see the profile of it's little face. So beautiful!

I am feeling a little bit better, less nausea, although occasionally I feel it. I finally got some anti nausea meds from my doctor to so I take that if I really can't stand the nausea. I don't like taking medicine now that I'm pregnant unless I'm absolutely miserable. I know the medications like tylenol and my anti nausea meds are safe for the baby but I still don't want the little thing to be exposed to too much! 

I am convinced that it's a girl. First there was the nausea, then there was the "daughter" fortune cookie, then when we went to the doctor the heartbeat of the baby was 170 BPM. Let me explain my reasoning. Supposedly, pregnant women tend to be more sick with girls. My sister in law has two boys and she was not sick with either. My doctor even said she was sick for months with her girl and then when she got pregnant with her son she wasn't sick at all. Then the fortune cookie. We went to PF Changs a few weeks ago for dinner, after we finished we had fortune cookies. Zac opened his and on the back of the fortune all it said was "daughter". Coincidence? I think not :) If the baby's heartbeat is below 140 then supposedly it's a boy and if the baby's heartbeat is above 140 it's supposedly a girl. The baby's heartbeat was 170! We will find out in about 7 weeks if it's a girl or a boy for sure :)

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OH BABY!

| 8 Weeks |

I'm now 10 weeks and 6 days but the pic above was taken at 8. Really you can't tell a thing. I know it's about to start popping out and I am excited to see it happen!

MAN have I been SICK AS A DOG since about May 18th ish. Nausea everyday, at least a couple times of day. Migraines, oh the migraines. I went a week and a half without one going away, now that is no fun. "Morning sickness" definitely is not just in the morning. For example, last night in the middle of the night was lying there with a pillow under my stomach trying not to throw up. Water makes me sick. I have to eat with water, so sad! Before I started getting sick I was a camel (I tried to drink at least gallon of water a day) and now I am doing good if I get 50oz! Really the whole being sick part is just miserable. Preggie Pop Drops are lifesavers.

Chicken noodle soup and tomato soup lately are my favorite foods. They're simply awesome, they always make me feel better. I've really developed some aversions to veggies (Spinach? Ugh!) so I haven't been eating as many as I should but I've been doubling up on fruits. The strawberries are to die for this summer. Oh and salty stuff is the way to go.

I had really good intentions when I got pregnant of walking at least 30 minutes a day and doing pregnancy workouts at least a few times a week. I have not lived up to my intentions but I'm hoping when this sickness subsides I'll have an extra burst of energy to help me get in better shape for carrying this baby! Luckily before I found out I was pregnant and before I started getting sick I had a regular workout routine and a great diet so I think that will help carry me all the way through. 

Despite being sick most of the time I am ridiculously excited about our little munchkin. The little person is so loved already.  

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Give love and always remember you are loved. "See, I have written your name on the palms of My hands...." Isaiah 49:16

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A Gem

I believe in the world of flea markets. You really can get awesome stuff with character for next to nothing. Here in SA we have a few different flea markets but the best I've been to by far is Busseys. With our tiny little apartment I can only have a few big pieces or else it gets cluttered and I want those pieces to be functional and reflect our style. While on the hunt for a cool, good sized, full of character coffee table I went to Busseys and guess what I found? THE coolest, best sized, full of character coffee table that I had ever seen. 

I saw it sitting there yellow with a brown stained top. The little casters on the bottom sold me on it. When I asked the seller what the price was he said $5! It was a gem and it was meant to be mine! I stuffed it in my back seat and brought it home. I used my good friend the Magic Eraser to clean it up a bit and got some bright turquoise paint to paint the top of it. For a grand total of $15 - the table, magic eraser, and some paint - I got my favorite piece of furniture ever. 

The coolest things don't have to be the most expensive things. Tap into your creative side. Look around before you spend a bunch of money on something, you might just find a gem and find it for a good price! 

Now go find a flea market!

JB

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2013

It has been a long while since I last posted. I suppose life just got in the way. With a new year (well a month into it) and a new semester of classes (which I should be studying for right now) I feel surprisingly unmotivated to, well, do anything! I am slowly getting back into the daily grind of things since the end of the holidays. Who knew a holiday hangover could last into February? Either way I have a few goals to accomplish in the next year. 

- Get fit again!

- Graduate!

- Decide on going to grad school or not, and if not, hopefully find a "grown up" job.

- Go on a long road trip.

- Learn to share my feelings and ideas more freely.

- Become more confident! 

- Learn to be content.

- Last but not least: Continue to grow in Christ and follow His will for my life.

That is just a few goals, concrete and abstract. The Ralph Waldo Emerson quote above has been inspirational to me and hopefully I will go from being unmotivated to motivated soon!

On another note, I have been thinking a lot about how God gives us free will. Why does he let us do what we want? He could make us do whatever He wants, yet He lets us choose. Just a thought. 

Love!

Jackilyn

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Happy Valentines y'all. Today my husband and I are celebrating our Valentines. We have a tradition, he picks out flowers for me and I have to figure out the meaning of them. These flowers mean "perfect lover". Happy Friday! Jackilyn

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No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies To Die For - thats the name of the cookies I just made. Okay so they're not too beautiful but why does that matter they're gonna get eaten anyway! 

In the link at the top you can go to the website with the recipe, but I'll give you my modified version of the recipe: 

2/4 cup of sugar

6 packets of Splenda (equivalent to the sweetness of 1/4 a cup of sugar)

1/8 cup of butter

1/4 cup milk (I mixed the milk with a bit of water)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups of quick oats (but you can use old fashioned oats)

Directions:

1. In a saucepan mix sugar, splenda, butter and milk and bring to a rolling boil. Get a sheet of wax paper out and ready on the counter. 

2. Boil for one minute stirring constantly.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Stir til the peanut butter is completely melted then add the oats. 

4. Mix everything together then drop by the spoonful onto a sheet of wax paper. 

I added the Splenda so I wouldn't feel so guilty about eating these delicious little cookies! Really you could add any sweetening substitute and I am sure they would be great. They really turned out fantastic and they are so stinkin' good. What's even better is they took me 10 minutes tops to make. I still have mine cooling on the counter top but feel free to put them in your fridge when you finish them. 

Happy (no) baking!

JB

[jackilynbrown-blog]

pas·sion/ˈpaSHən/

Noun:

Strong and barely controllable emotion.

A state or outburst of such emotion.

Yesterday morning my husband asked me: What are you passionate about doing?

My response: Gosh, I don't know. He keeps asking me the same question. It's really made me start thinking. What am I passionate about?

What are you passionate about doing and being?

Just a thought.

Jackilyn