This House Of Hills

Theodore Thursday

by Michelle Hill - 11:07 PM

Food for the Belly and the Soul

by Michelle Hill - 9:48 PM

Ok my fellow Pinterestaholics... If you're anything like me you pin things that you'd like to try, be it recipes or DIY projects with the intention of maybe, someday, but probably not trying it (because really who has the time for half that stuff) , but then there are some pins I run across that I just HAVE to try and see if it's really worth it, well this one I'm about to share with you is absolutely awesome!

I can't find the original link so I will just share the recipe here

No Bake Energy Bites:

Combine 1 cup rolled oats,

1/2 cup peanut butter,

1/3 cup honey,

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes,

1/2 cup ground flaxseed,

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips,

and 1 tsp vanilla in a mixing bowl.

Chill 30 min, then roll into balls.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to a week.

These are seriously so delicious, addictive, and easy! With Theo we definitely need easy to grab snacks to keep up our energy and these are so great for that. I've honestly made three batches in the past week!

So I hope you enjoy them too, Let me know if you try themand how you like them!

Now for my wife/mommy friends... I have recently discovered a total treasure in the form of a magazine!

Deeply Rooted is a quarterly magazine for wives and mothers that I discovered from a friends Instagram and it caught my interest. I wanted to see what they were all about so I purchased their first issue (there's only two out so far) and I'm seriously hooked. I've been challenged, entertained, and encouraged and I'm not even through the entire thing yet! I purchased the digital issue for only $7 but I think I'll purchase the print of issue two when I'm finished. It's basically broken into a few parts with different articles within each part. I'm not sure if issue two is the same but in issue one it's outlined in these categories

Christ Follower, Creator, Helpmate, Keeper of the Home, Mother, Individual.

This magazine is so great and so beautifully written. It honestly makes me want to just curl up with it and a big cup of coffee in a cozy chair and allow my soul to soak it up. So I encourage you all to at least purchase the first issue and see if it's something you'd like but so far I am so incredibly loving Deeply Rooted!

You can check out Deeply Rooted on their website www.deeplyrootedmag.com

1 comments

12 weeks

by Michelle Hill - 10:51 AM

My goodness, I do believe that time has wings!

Theodore is 12 weeks as of this past Tuesday and he'll be 3 months on the 22nd.

It feels like he was born yesterday. But then it also feels like Noah was born yesterday.

Isn't it amazing how we have certain moments in life where all you have to do is think about that moment and you're there?

Hmm... time is a tricky thing.

Well anywhoo, in my last post I stated that I was going to try walking everyday and making sure that every meal was healthy and nutritious... HA!

I feel that I must be honest and tell you that, that totally didn't happen; and it didn't just not happen but it crashed and burned into a flaming ball of daily starbucks runs and quick and easy comfort foods.

Yup, cheers to honesty!

Now in regards to exercise, you see dear friends, south Florida, which we currently call home, is HOT, and not just normal Florida hot, ohh no, It is scorching; like mirages of water on the streets and sweating like a pig over a fire just walking to your car, kind of hot. Then to top it off not only does it rain every afternoon but there is a plague, yes, Plague of mosquitos! And they descend like a cloud with methodical and well planned bites, like right on your bottom so that you spend the whole day walking around scratching your bum!

So, I said all that to say, no... I did not go for a walk everyday.

I will try better this week! I've recently started reading The Daniel Plan by Rick Warren so hopefully that will point me in the right direction as far as nutrition.. I'll let you know.

But if you have any ideas on how to get some exercise with a baby done during the summer please let me know!

Now, onto little Theo.

Height/Weight

Theo just recently had a check up where he weighed in at 12lbs 4oz and 23inches; almost double his birth weight! His doctor said that most babies don't double their birth weight until around 6 months so Theo's on a good track. He was quite small when he was born though so maybe he's just catching up.

Routine

I tried doing a nap routine during the day but Theo wasn't having any of that nonsense so we may have to revisit that in a month or so.

Sleeping

Theo's still sleeping great at night, trust me, I know how blessed we are with this!

He's usually down for the night around 12-1am then sleeps for about 5-6 hours and wakes up around 6am, I'll then change him and feed him, we say goodbye to Tim and then go back to sleep for another couple of hours before we start our day. Yes, I know 12-1am is very late but most nights Tim doesn't get home till 9-10 so if I put Theo down any earlier he'd never see his daddy and it's extremely important to us that Tim and Theo have some time together (and that mommy gets a shower)!

It's not the greatest arrangement but it works for us right now.

Eating/Diapers

Nothing much has changed as far as eating. With diapers though it seems that he's gone from size newborn to 2 overnight!

Sizes:

It's official, the newborn clothes have been packed away and he's moved into 3 month clothes! He's getting so big so fast, it seems he's changing everyday.

Milestones:

He hasn't rolled over on his own yet but he's getting there.

He's super aware of his surroundings now and he's become a very curious little fellow! He's also become quite the chatter, this boy loves to talk!

Does anyone have tips to make tummy time less miserable? He's ok for a few minutes and then chaos ensues, although I'm starting to think the boy is playing me and knows what to do to get mommy to pick him up and cuddle him! But that's ok, I'll take all the cuddles I can get =)

So with the update completed there was something that I wanted to do from the time he was born but because I had a stroke and was in the hospital longer than expected all of my plans kind of got derailed, so I figured better late than never! So I'm going to be posting a photo once a week every week for the rest of the year, and hopefully all of next year too just so we can see how Theo's grown and changed week to week =)

So here's a few photos to make up for lost time! Some we've already posted on social media and some we haven't. Enjoy!

I've started reading through psalms so I'll leave you with this verse that stood out to me!

"And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you." (Psalm 9:10 ESV)

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The Life Of Theodore

by Michelle Hill - 8:45 PM

Theo is going to be 10 weeks on Tuesday!

Can you believe it?! 10 weeks!!

It feels as though we waited an eternity to hold him in our arms and now it feels that time is just slipping through our fingers.

But my goodness, I know we don't even need to tell you that we are loving and soaking up every moment with this little guy!

So many people have told us, "It gets better after the newborn stage" but I'm loving the newborn stage. Everyday is more exciting then the last, and I must confess I was so sad when he graduated from "newborn" size diapers (which was only a week ago).

Now sure, we're tired and we've certainly had our Noah moments and mini meltdowns but these have been some of the best 10 weeks of our lives! It's been quite the turn around from where we were last year with losing Noah. You know, it still feels like yesterday and we still miss him with our whole hearts! It makes me so sad to think that I wont be able to see my boys playing and growing together here on this earth; but praise God we'll see him again!

As many of you know, Theo's birth wasn't quite what we had expected. It's a very long story and I won't get into it all now but I'll give you the condensed version.

We had planned for as natural a c-section as possible. I wanted to do immediate skin to skin and have him with me in recovery to start breastfeeding but things didn't quite go as planned. Theo was having just a bit of trouble breathing and had to be taken to the nursery, but thankfully Theo was ok and the more he cried the better he was and Tim was able to stay with him the entire time to do skin to skin with him until I was out of recovery.

Also during the c-section I had a brain bleed/stroke. I didn't really notice until a day later; I had very bad coordination with the right side of my body; I couldn't text, my thought to speech was all jumbled, I couldn't write and a few other things. But honestly the worst of it all was that I couldn't take my baby home because I had to be transferred to another hospital that had a neurology center.

For 9 months I waited to take my healthy baby boy home and at that moment that experience was stolen from me! I sobbed as they took me down to Intensive Care to await a transfer. Thankfully my mom, Tim and Theo were able to stay with me for the 4 and 1/2 days I was in the other hospital.

Friends I really must tell you, the enemy really does come to steal, kill, and destroy! But Praise God that Christ came so that we may have life and life abundantly!!!

Long story short after 4 days filled with cat scans, an angiogram, and an MRI that I had to be totally knocked out and have Tim hold my hand for the whole time to do (I hate MRI's, with a passion), none of the Doctors could tell me why exactly, it had happened, but of course they have their "theories" that it could have been the increase of blood during the pregnancy (though I never had high blood pressure), or dehydration, or a combination, but they never found any blood clots or any actual cause.

During my own research I found that it could have been caused by the spinal given before the c-section because the anesthesiologist gave it to me twice! He gave me the first then said that he missed the right side of my body and had to give it to me again! Of course when I mentioned this to any doctor they immediately blew it off and said that couldn't happen, which I'm assuming is because they don't want a lawsuit but really, who knows. At this point I'm just trusting in God for my perfect healing; He is the Great Physician, the God who heals, so why rely on man when I have Him!

As of two weeks after Theo was born I have everything that I'd lost back. Occasionally I've had small headaches but I'm trusting in God for those to be gone too and for complete healing!

The c-section has actually healed a lot better than with Noah. But my body is way more worn down and weak this time. I'm finding it harder to get my energy up to get moving and I've been having knee pain, which I've never had in my life. But i believe with time, proper nutrition, and exercise I'll be better then before my pregnancies with the boys!

I'm going to start with just walking exercises and eating nutritious meals and snacks an go from there. I'm hoping that will help me shed this baby weight too, cause it has no desire to leave.

I'll update everyone on my progress and how I'm reaching my goals.

So, anyways enough of that and onto Theo!

Height/Weight:

He now weighs right around 10lbs which is quite a jump from his 6 pound 10 ounce birth weight!

When he was born they measured him at 17 and 1/2 inches but a couple days later he had his first pediatricians appointment and measured at 19 and 1/2 inches so unless he grew 2 inches in a couple of days, I'm assuming the hospital measured him wrong.

He's now at 21 1/2 inches!!

Routine:

HA!

There's really no routine right now, we've just been trying to get enough sleep to function but now that he's a bit older we're going to start trying to get him on a good routine. I think it might be better for all of us. But who knows, we might just wind up throwing the whole routine idea out the window.

He loves his nighttime baths though too so that's probably going to help us get a nighttime routine going.

Do any of you have any advice on starting a good routine with a baby?

Sleeping:

We have been blessed with a great sleeper

Let me tell you, this boy LOVES to eat and sleep! Since about 5 weeks old He's been sleeping at least 5 hours a night in one stretch and thankfully since I'm staying home with him I can nap when he does during the day! My house on the other hand is a total disaster but we're all happy and healthy so really who cares =)

Eating/Feeding/Diapers:

As I said he LOVES to eat... all the time =)

I'm mostly breastfeeding but a couple times a week we'll give him pumped breast milk.

Breastfeeding is going great; totally worth the work in the beginning!

As far as diaper favorite disposables right now are the seventh generation chemical free! He has extremely sensitive skin so huggies and pampers give him rashes =(

We're also starting to use Gro-Via cloth diapers during the day, unless we're out and about, then we use disposables. We were going to use them from birth but he was too small for them, but they're actually really easy, Way less gross then I thought it would be and he does really well with them!

Sizes:

He's still mostly in newborn but we're noticing everyday another outfit is getting to small, mainly because he's so long!

He's still a bit too small for 3 months clothes but he's fitting into 0-3 month pretty well.

On another note I am utterly astonished at the amount of laundry that someone so small can produce!

Really, please tell me how his whole outfit is soaked but his diaper is dry? It's baffling!

Milestones:

Theo's definitely starting to become more aware of his surroundings and his vision is getting stronger. He'll watch us as we move throughout a room and when he's playing in his little gym he'll watch one of the little birdies as they circle around and talk to it.

His personality is starting to shine through as well now. Let me tell you this little boy is a talker, his favorite times to converse are when we're changing his diaper and when he's in his gym and he certainly has a lot to say!

Oh and of course the first time he smiled was at his daddy and not his mommy who had been trying relentlessly for a week to get even a smirk; but oh my goodness what a smile it was!!