The Shepard Family

Funny Face

2011-06-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

This baby has some serious character. She makes me laugh every single day, and I really don't even remember what we did before we had her. Our lives were so dull!

Squasharoni

2011-06-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Here is what happens when your garden is overflowing with squash- everything you make has squash added to it.

What is that you said? You didn't know my garden was overflowing with squash? Well, that's because it isn't. For some weird reason I only planted one plant. I plan to rectify that problem. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to plant the seeds. Chances are that I will only have one plant this whole year. But IF my garden were overflowing with squash, this is how I would cook. And even though it's not, this is how I cook. Yes. Welcome to my life. Be glad I'm not responsible for feeding you. I make up a lot of recipes. Then I pretend like they're the real thing. Then I make my husband guess what he's really eating. Sometimes, he'd rather not know. But, as grudgingly as he may be to admit it, he likes healthy food, particularly when he doesn't know it's healthy.

This is like mac and cheese, but it's the vegetable version of mac n cheese. And it's really good!
I cooked the sauce in the crock pot, because it's a hundred degrees here. Literally. We definitely are not at the coast anymore.
3 crookneck or other yellow squash cut into cubes
1 onion cut into large slices
salt, garlic, and pepper
enough water to cover everything
It took about an hour and a half on high in the crockpot to get soft enough.

Then I threw it all in the blender and pureed it.

Transfer to a pan on the stove and heat till boiling. Turn off the heat then add 3 oz of cheese.
One of those brilliant facts that I never knew about- if you boil the cheese, it will curdle. Sometimes I wonder how I've survived in life so long without figuring these things out.

Once the cheese melts, you're done!

I put it over this pasta from Trader Joe's, because it's really good. And because then it's vegetables served on vegetables, which makes me laugh.

The finished product. Please excuse the hideous iphone picture. I was too hungry to mess with my camera. I am pregnant, don't judge me :)

Phil says he's take this over normal mac n cheese any day! Pretty impressive for a vegetable hater. Charlotte loved it too, but that doesn't count for much since she eats everything in sight.

Life on the farm

2011-06-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

I like to pretend we live on a farm. Well, we do kinda live on a farm actually. I feel like we're pretending though. And I enjoy it. Since we moved here we have gotten 24 chickens, 3 goats, and a cat. In addition to the horses and dogs we already had. Poor Phil would probably love to have 2 dogs and nothing else. But he's very sweet in letting me acquire animals and building them homes. The chickens lived on our porch in a horse water trough for 6 weeks. Their coop finally got built a few weeks ago, and it's so nice to have them in a bigger space, away from the porch.

Charlotte loved following Bubba around especially since she can say his name. "BuBAH BuBAH", she still runs around calling for him two weeks later.

And the baby goats, she loves these things. She calls them baby but always says it in questions form, Baybee?

We've been milking the mama goats and drinking the milk. Charlotte loves it and I love that she isn't getting hormone loaded pasteurized homogenized milk! Yay farm!

Catch up

2011-06-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

I find myself with less of a desire to blog lately. And that statement isn't completely accurate unless the word less is equivalent of the word no. However, it does keep me taking and, more importantly, editing pictures. So, once again here is an attempt, regardless of how futile, to blog again.

Charlotte had her birthday in April. One. I can't even think about how fast time is flying by. I am trying to enjoy every day and enjoy the stage where she is right now. Which is easy, since every month she has been my favorite age. I loooooved 12 months, till she was 13 months, and now suddenly 14 months is the best.
We had a great little party on her birthday with the family. And I'll tell you this, I've never let Charlotte have sugar, and even her cake was only sweetened with applesauce and frosted with greek yogurt. She was thrilled with it. However, certain grandparents decided to feed her mass amounts of the other cake, the white flour, sugar laden, one. That night Charlotte didn't sleep. At. All. She was doing back flips on our bed, and bouncing up to the ceiling till 4 am. Probably the longest night we've had since she was a newborn, and I felt completely justified in my no sugar for the baby stance. Aside from being bad for her, this kid is wound tight enough without the addition of sugar! The good thing was that Phil became the sugar nazi from that point on, so I don't usually have to worry about him sneaking her sugary stuff anymore!

Alphabet book

2011-03-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

The book is done! It actually came in the mail yesterday, and I'm really happy with it. But I never did post the rest of the pictures over here, so I'll try to get that done!

The new spot

2011-03-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

My sweet little weirdo has found a new favorite place to sit and eat her snacks

In denial

2011-03-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

My baby is eleven months old as of last weekend! Make it stop!!! We're approaching one year old way to quickly.

Charlotte is crazier than ever, her latest accomplishments include
more talking -baby. num num. always with the pause between them (feed me now), dada (finally!), baybu (no idea what it means but she says it and points all day long)
Finally making the switch to walking
Eating dirt- a new favorite since we've been outside so much
Loving animals- nice change from hating them for the last 11 months
Hunting down her paci when you ask her where it went
Talking to every stranger we pass in the store and yelling and waving if they don't look her way (daddy's girl!)
Looking right at you and talking jibberish like it's real sentences
Getting excited when you ask if she wants to go outside
Crawling in to the kitchen and yelling num num whenever she wants a snack
Having a wild spell every night around six where everything is hilarious and she can't hold still
Randomly breaking out in song and dance

She is precious, and perfect, and such a blessing. Even if she is way to old!

A few more letters

2011-02-28T09:28:00.000-08:00

One of my favorites!

My old baby dress and toys

We're back!

2011-02-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

For the first time in 6 months we have internet at our house! Finally! Although I did try to boycott, Philip won and I actually am glad because now I can update stuff on here again.
There's so much to share I don't even know where to start, so let's just talk about Charlotte :)
Little Pumpkin Pie is 10 months old (10?!?! Seriously????) I have no idea how that happened. She seems to get weeks older every day. Pretty sure I don't like it at all. What happened to my tiny baby? Lately she has been
-Starting to talk, Pupa (puppy), Papa, Baba (Bekah? I think), Baby, and Woof are her new words. Baby is her favorite, she'll say it all day long.
-Refusing to say dada or any other D words, much to Philip's chagrin
-Taking 4 or 5 steps at a time
-Eating nothing but apples, applesauce, banana, lentils, and cheerios, no idea where my good eater went
-Growing enough hair that I can pretend to put clips in it for a good five minutes
-Eating everything on the floor, recently including a dead cricket, mud, and dog food
-Sleeping!!!!! Yes! I don't know what happened but all the sudden in addition to sleeping all night she takes two really long naps a day. Pretty sure this is the best thing that's ever happened.
-Shrinking- a combination of the flu and growth spurt have robbed me of my chubby baby!
-Climbing the stairs and everything else in sight
-Giving kisses, the most wonderful new thing of all! When she's really excited she'll grab both your cheeks and smash her slobbery mouth on yours. There's nothing better.

And because it's nap time, and I can see my minutes of freedom to clean, cook, fold laundry, unpack, and shower are ticking away, here are the pictures. That's all that matters anyway, right? Looking at that cute little face. I still hold to the statement that I would have done this YEARS ago if I only would have known....
We're making an ABC book, not at all my idea, thankfully I have great family, Jenna Sarr, who is creative :)
Here are a few of the pictures. I think I only have 20 more to take in the next four days. ha.

C is for Charlotte

Y is for Yellow

"T is for Tutu" and, seriously, Charlotte, I didn't know kids came this cute!

Sweet Charlotte

2010-12-07T17:50:00.000-08:00

Pretty much the cutest baby ever.

Christmas pictures

2010-12-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

We did Christmas pictures for the first time ever last week. Kinda fun having this cute little thing to pose with!

2010-11-30T16:03:00.000-08:00

There are lots of times lately, like when I'm holding my squishy little baby or looking at her newborn pictures, that I wish I were 5 months pregnant already. Or pregnant at all. Or even able to get pregnant right now. Then there are pictures like this, where I think, "oh, pregnancy wasn't that incredibly bad and I'm ready to do it again, especially if I can convince these two they want to get pregnant soon too."

Then....

then....

I see this. And shudder. And my contentment grows.

Three months later...

2010-11-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posting for three months (three months?!). We don't have internet in our house so it's hard to get anything up on here. Blogging will resume once we move into our other house and have internet. But here are a couple pictures of the babe, SEVEN months old! When did that happen?!

Too much stuff

2010-08-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

Anytime you think you don't have very much stuff, try packing it all up. Here I was, ignorantly believing that we really didn't have that many possessions and that I had really whittled down to the necessary items for living. Ohhhh, no. No no no. What a lie. We're in quite a packing dilema around here. We are not only moving, but we're going on vacation first and then moving into one house while we wait for another house to be finished. So I have to separate out and pack the vacation stuff from the little house stuff from the 'store till we move into the big house' stuff. And let me tell you, we have stuff, plenty of stuff. I think that if a large dumpster were to be placed outside my house I might just throw away all this stuff!! Somehow, even though I'm on my second day of trying to pack, it seems that the only progress around here is that our bedroom has become a maze of boxes and we're apparently not taking showers anymore since I decided to use all the bathroom towels as padding for packing the glass stuff. If only Charlotte were a little older she could really enjoy the chaos and cardboard box mazes around here. However, here is what she thinks of trying to pack all the stuff we have.

Family Pictures

2010-08-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

My sister took a few family pictures of us last week. I'm pretty sure that these are the first pictures we have of all three of us! These are the only ones I've had time to edit so far, more to come later.

August?

2010-08-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Four months? Seriously? I have a feeling that I'm going to spend the rest of my life thinking it can't possibly have been so long already. It's going by way to fast. Four months and sixteen hours ago today I was staring, in shock, for the first time at this chubby baby who couldn't possibly be mine. She consisted of seven and a half of the sixteen pounds I gained during pregnancy and it showed. After seven hours of super easy labor, an hour of a half of near death experience labor, an absolutely heavenlike epidural, and everyone saying the nameless baby wouldn't be born till tomorrow, I dilated from 4 to ten in two or three contractions and was very shortly after looking at this little round girl who had been growing inside me for the longest 9 months of my like. Philip and I both had to be prompted to say something to her once she was out because it was so surreal that she came so quick after waiting so long. And just like my labor and Charlotte's birth, everything since has absolutely flown by.

Charlotte is almost sitting up now. She can roll over and has done it a few times, but really doesn't like laying on her tummy, or her back, or the floor for that matter, which lowers the incentive to roll. She is still the most particular baby I know, she goes from smiling to screaming in a mere half second. She screams like no other baby I'd heard till Chloe came along and showed us which side of the family the lungs came from. She loves to have help standing up and does this crazy flying/superman lurch the whole time she's standing. She grabs everything she can and pulls it straight to her mouth. She puts her entire fist in her mouth on a daily basis. She wakes up every morning giggling and smiling. She has all these adorable attributes that make us love her more than I thought would be possible. She smiles with her eyes before her mouth, she laughs so hard that noise stops coming out, she loves, intensely loves, being outside and music. I simultaneously can't wait to see what she's like in a few years and don't want her to get a single day older. Every day she is my favorite age.

Hours old

One month old

Two months old

Three months old

Four months old

Happy August 12th

2010-08-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

Happy 24th Birthday and 4 month old day to my two loves!

C.S. Lewis

2010-08-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

"The idea that 'being in love' is the only reason for remaining married really leaves no room for marriage as a conract or promise at all. If love is the whole thing, then the promise can add nothing; and if it adds nothing, then it should not be made. The curious thing is that the lovers themselves, while they remain really in love, know this better than those who talk about love. As Chesterton pointed out, those who are in love have a natural inclination to bind themselves by promises. Love songs all over the world are full of vows of eternal constancy. The Christian law is not forcing upon the passion of love something that is foreign to that passion's own nature; it is demanding that lovers should take seriously something that their passion itself impels them to do.
And of course, the promise, made when I am in love and because I am in love, to be true to the beloved as long as I live, commits me to being true even if I cease to be in love. A promise must be about things that I can do, about actions: no one can promise to go on feeling in a certain way. He might as well promise never to have a headache or always to feel hungry."

-from Mere Christianity

2010-08-06T13:02:00.001-07:00

Charlotte Laughing from Renee Shepard on Vimeo.

The Shepard babies

2010-08-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

Charlotte and Grandma

2010-08-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

A new old thing

2010-07-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

I love it when there's a verse that you know so well, or think you know so well, becomes a whole new thing when the Lord speaks to you. This morning I was reading Proverbs and reading Courson's commentary with them and I came across this verse.

"The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing."- Prov 20:4

I know this verse, and obviously understand the practical application. Nothing new there. But what Courson wrote about it really ministered to me.

""It's too cold", the sluggard says. So he gathers no harvest.

"My spirit is so cold", we sometimes say, "that I can't read the Word."

Yes, there are times when you will feel cold and experience dryness, but here's the key: You can either be a sluggard and not do it, or you can be a wise steward and keep plowing, keep cultivation, reading, studying, and learning even when it's cold and dry. If you choose the second option, you will harvest in due season. The season will change. But if you give up, close your Bible, and stop seeking the Lord because your heart is to cold or your spirit is to dry, you'll miss out on a huge harvest of revelation, understanding, and inspiration."

Fist Eating

2010-07-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's the new sport around here

There are even attempts to double-fist it

My New Niece!!

2010-07-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

Chloe Jayne Shepard is here! Finally after days, literally, days, of labor we were all shocked and ecstatic to find out that the baby was a girl. I can't even say how excited I am that Charlotte and Paige get another little girl in the cousin club.

Chloe Jayne

7-18-2010

8lbs even

20 inches

Perfect in every way

These Shepard girls have got some lungs

The boys and their girls

4th of July

2010-07-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great fourth this year, hung out with family, friends, and our adorable baby, couldn't be better!

Funny Face

Auntie Shauna and the babies

The three cousins

Charlotte lost her paci, but Paige kindly offered her fingers as a replacement

Pretty girl

2010-07-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

Almost 3 months!

2010-06-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the way time has flown by since I had Charlotte. The end of my pregnancy seemed like it lasted an entire year. The weeks went incredibly, painfully slowly while we waited for her arrival. In case you didn't already know, I hated pregnancy. I'd like to say that I didn't, but I really did. Not that it has any effect on my desire to repeat the process, but nonetheless, I hated it. Being on this side of it though, I can see that it just doesn't matter how miserable it is for me, because I'd start all over again right now. The result is really that good. I do wish that the time would go as slowly now as it did while we were waiting. I guess the adage of time flying when you're having fun couldn't be more true in this case. If only I could somehow trick myself into thinking pregnancy is fun...

This is what I get to wake up to every morning; could I be any more blessed?!

The Best Cheesecake Ever

2010-06-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

If you find yourself planning to make a cheesecake, or wanting to branch out from your normal dessert repertoire, then you need to try this. Need, as in, it's necessary that you try this. I'm pretty finicky about cheesecake. I'm never completely convinced that I love it. Most the time I'd pick another dessert over it, but this one... this one is worth every calorie laden bite. It's really the best I've had.
Ingredients:
For crust

2 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For filling

20 oz cream cheese (2 1/2 eight-ounce packages), softened
8 oz mascarpone cheese at room temperature (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

For topping

1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Start with the crust. I doubled the recipe, but for one recipe you would use a 9" spring form pan

Tightly pack in the crust, you can use a measuring cup to make the corners on the bottom nice and square. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, or until it looks golden brown.

While the crust bakes, mix up the filling.

Beat cream cheese, mascarpone, and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium high speed until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and salt and stir till combined

Pour into cooled crust and bake for 25-35 minutes until edges puff and the center is still a little jiggly

Keep one of these on hand for entertainment while you wait

Stir together topping, spread on top of warm cheesecake, and bake for about 10 min or until topping is set

Cool completely in the pan on a rack, then cover and put in the fridge for 8 hours.

Precious little thing

2010-06-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Little Paige is just the sweetest thing. I can't wait for the girls to be able to play, and for Jake and Shauna's baby to join the group!

So happy

2010-06-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

Charlotte is laughing every day now; as soon as she wakes up she's in the best mood. I think she's happy about Paige today, after all, she's been waiting her entire life to meet her little cousin.

Happy Baby from Renee Shepard on Vimeo.

She's here!

2010-06-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Miss Paige Ellen Sarr was finally born last night after 42 hours of labor!

Jenna did amazing even though she hadn't slept for days, and Paige is absolutely perfect and beautiful!

Here's the new little peanut

7lbs 20.5inches

Even though she's only a half pound smaller than Charlotte was and the same exact length, she looks teeny, like a doll. Like a tiny, tiny perfect doll.

This picture really explains it much more than words can

Philip called Charlotte "Chunky Charlie" for awhile before I threatened his life. But. uh..... I may have had a change of heart.

I know I'm biased, but still... most beautiful baby ever!

2010-06-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

Not quite specific enough...

2010-06-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

Last week Phil was working in the valley for a few days, which left Charlotte and I on our own. I love taking care of my baby, but I often take for granted how much Phil watches her when he's home or comforts her when she's upset. Not that it hurts her to be set in her bouncy seat while I get dinner or take a shower, but it's hard to leave her there when she's fussy. While he was gone I was much more tired than usual, which resulted in some fervent prayers for sleep. Our night time pattern for the last month has been bed at nine, waking up at 1 AM to nurse, then again at 4:30 and then from 4:30 to 7 she's only in a light sleep and she's wiggly or wants to suck on her pacifier, very noisily. One night last week I went to bed praying that Charlotte would sleep later than 1, I was exhausted and desperate for a good nights sleep. As I was falling asleep I repeatedly begged the Lord to please, please, puh-leeeease make Charlotte sleep more.
The following results occurred much later that night
- my baby started making wake up sounds
- I immediately knew it was not 1 AM
- It was much, much later than 1 AM
- 4:43AM to be exact
- I was sleeping on my stomach and what felt like a bag of rocks
- huge rocks
- wet rocks
- a large puddle of sopping wet rocks
- I heard the piratey voice of Captain Barbosa in my head saying "Don't dare impugn me honor boy! I agreed she go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where."

And the moral is?
Anyone?

It's multifaceted:
Be careful what you ask for... particularly when you're nursing a baby every 3-4 hours round the clock, because the milk comes every 3-4 hours whether it's needed or not.

Wetting the bed takes on a whole new meaning when you're nursing.

When you wake up at 4:43 AM in a puddle of milk and the first thing that comes to your mind regarding the Lord's answer to prayers is a line from Pirates of the Caribbean... it might be appropriate to spend more time in the word.

You just never outgrow the need for a waterproof mattress cover. Never.

A little Charlotte to get things started

2010-06-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

There really are some muscles under there :)

Welcome to the new home!

2010-06-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time for a new look, and ended up with a whole new address. I couldn't resist all the cute layout options, and since I'm not on speaking terms with css... templates are necessary.

I'm going to attempt to start blogging again which, like the math class I'm taking this summer, may be utterly futile. My brain has changed since my pre pregnancy days. Changed being nicer way of describing its rapid deterioration. I used to be inclined towards forgetfulness, but now I'm something closer to the embodiment of it.

That being said, I really will try to have some input on here, or at least get regularly updated pictures of our cutie little girl on here for the grandmas to see.