Mediterranean Chickpea salad, 2 byntos, and a sweet almost 6 month old!

 First off, I'll be completely honest. My boys would not touch this salad with a 10 foot poll! I made this for me. My husband and I ate this with pasta added to it, while the boys ate homemade mac and cheese. I tend to make a box of pasta and then two sauces, so this salad was our sauce.

I don't love chickpeas, but this salad disguises them really well.

It's packed with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, red onion, mozzarella cheese (I didn't have feta), and chickpeas (rinsed and drained). I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, Z'ataar seasoning, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was really tasty!

 Here is sweet Madeleine. She will be 6 months old on September 10! I can't believe it. She is showing off the dress her Ludee made. I'm determined to learn to sew. I'm also determined to start running and lose nursing weight. Yes, I lose baby weight, then gain nursing weight. It's so frustrating and stresses me out, so I'm hoping to run when the big boys are in school and perhaps Saturday mornings too. Wish me luck!

 My big first grader gets the more civilized lunch:) He has an English muffin ham and cheese cut in half to accommodate the little dipper filled with craisins. We watched a movie Sunday night and had veggie straws mixed with potato chips. He has some from that bowl. The bottom container is filled with cut peaches and a lion pick.

My crazy sweet handful of a middle child Drew starts tomorrow. 

He will be 5 in October, so he is still with Mrs. Elliott in her pre-k class. 

I hope you have your best year yet. He is excited about learning to read. 

His box is filled with carrot sticks, ham and cheese skewers, goldfish (in a Star Wars cup) with an ABC pick, a Darth Vader Easter egg filled with craisins, and grapes with a light saber pick.

Happy 2nd week of school, Adrian!

Happy 1st week of school, Drew!

Happy quiet week, Madeleine!

I hope and pray you all have a great week with your kids too!

Swimming Snack and How to make Lego picks

 Today, my boys have swim lessons after Adrian gets home from school. I packed small snacks in their Goodbyn small meal boxes to hold them over til dinner. They each have an Organic Z bar, craisins in the little dipper, veggie straws and a clementine. I used frog cups I found years ago at my local grocery and  green pick...which is actually a bunny, but I like all the green:)

This is yesterday's lunch for Andrew. He starts pre-k next week, but really liked his brother's Star Wars lunch, so we made one for him to eat at home. This child rarely eats bread, so it's a ham roll up tucked in an Angry Bird ring, cut up cheese stars and moons. In the top, he has a clementine with a light saber pick and carrot sticks in his little dipper.

Today, I packed a Lego lunch for Adrian to take to school. It was just a simple pb&j cut in a rectangle with two circles of cheese on top to look like a Lego brick. I can't remember which blog I saw these on, but I was ready to create these Lego picks for his lunch.

These picks were originally hearts from Dollar Tree. They came in a pack of 100, so I had plenty to use.

I just simply broke off the heart and hot glued the pick into the Lego. Easy Peasy!! 

First Day of School for my BIG first grader

My big first grader asked me for a Star Wars lunch for the first day of first grade! It's filled with applesauce (covered with a cupcake liner), orange crescent moons in a star cup, half a ham and cheese sandwich topped with stars and a rocket ship. Right next door is a handful of goldfish topped with a few cheesy moons. The cut up cheese is inside the sandwich=no waste!

In the bottom section is some cut up peaches with a light saber pick. 

If you have any extra cupcake liners hiding away, get them out! It's that easy!
Enjoy, sweet Adrian! I hope you have the best school year yet!

one month, two months, three months, four!

 laying out in the April sunshine...this was a couple days after we came home. so tiny!

At 2 months, Madeleine weighed 8 pounds, 6.5 ounces!

 Sweet girl loves the window near her changing table. Lots of beautiful sunshine compared to the NICU.

At 3 months, she weighed about 10 pounds!

bows, bows, bows!

 She is starting to smile:)

 At 4 months, she weighed 11 pounds, 13 ounces. Amazing. 

She is now 22 and 3/4 inches...she started out at 17 1/4!

Madeleine loves her brothers! 

They read to her, kiss her, play with her and give her all the love she needs!

My story

Madeleine LaRue Moza

March 10, 2014

6:49pm

4 pounds, 2 ounces

This is Madeleine LaRue Moza, my little miracle, 

who shared many miracles with me over the past six weeks. 

This is my story.

I called my OB's office Saturday night at midnight. I was having shortness of breath, mild contractions and a lot of discomfort. I was told, "If you can sit up and breath then you can wait til Monday." God put my life and Madeleine's on hold for the next two days. I had just seen an eye specialist, a neurologist and had an MRI of my brain. I had some abnormal swelling in my optic nerves and was seeing a blue halo and a couple blind spots in my right eye. I had told my OB, but the results weren't in. I saw a nurse practitioner the following Monday. The stress test was not reading well because I had been coughing and when they laid me back, I couldn't breath.

The OB there came in and said, "There's protein in your urine, I can't tell if you're coughing or contracting. I can tell if it's your heartbeat or your baby's, so we're sending you to Labor and Delivery Triage for better tests. If the results aren't good, then you're going to have a C-section today."

I was 32 weeks and 6 days. You don't deliver babies at 32 weeks and 6 days. I was planning for 37 weeks-the same as my boys. 

I had already been told by the neurologist that I should have a C-section. The pressure behind my eye was too much for pushing in labor, but this early? I was obviously worried.

The tests results were bad. I was dehydrated, my water was low, my blood pressure had skyrocketed off the charts and I had severe preeclampsia. 

I called my mom, crying, and said I'm not picking up the boys. I'm having a C-section right now. They wheeled me off to a sterile operating room. The anesthesiologist gave me albuterol and my epidural. The coughing stopped, my blood pressure sank back to normal and the operation began. 

Minutes later, I saw the sweetest, tiniest little girl all bundled up and then the NICU doctors and nurses wheeled her away. I didn't see her again for over 48 hours.

The next morning I woke up with my lungs filled with fluid. I had walked into the hospital sick and was getting worse. They had pumped me with saline and magnesium through my IVs all night. 

Quickly, I was taken away for chest x-rays, moved to the Progressive Care Unit, and started breathing treatments and diuretics. My lungs cleared in a day or so, but my blood pressure was still high. I saw the pulmonary doctor who then recommended the cardiologist. I had an echo of my heart and was diagnosed with Postpartum Cardiomyopathy. 

Everything was related, but I didn't know. The pressure behind my eye was the preeclampsia. The preeclampsia raised my blood pressure and hurt my heart. The cough I came in with and the shortness of breath were signs of heart failure. Like I said, God put my life on pause and waited til I could be seen by the doctors who knew how to help me and Madeleine. 

I stayed in the hospital 5 days. 

I'm recovering well now. I'm on high blood pressure medication to keep my heart healthy. I have an amazing cardiologist who is helping me get better and says my heart will take six months, but it will recover. My OB's office said my case was extremely impressive and have discussed it heavily. Preeclampsia should happen with your first pregnancy. The pressure in your eye could have been a warning. I only have had one other patient diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy.

My answer...I serve an amazing God who loves me and takes care of me and has a plan and purpose for our family. 

As for Madeleine, she's perfect. She was tiny, but a fighter. 

She had a good weight for so early and was completely and perfectly developed. She just had to learn how to eat...and she did. She stayed in the NICU for 4 weeks and 2 days. 

I went up there two and three times a day to nurse her when she was given the ok to try. I stayed with her the last 48 hours to make sure she gained weight. She did and they finally let us go home.

One month, and I'm finally home.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen