black bean, sweet potato quesadillas

I cannot tell you how much I love these things. I saw this recipe on a blog about a week ago and immediately gave them a try that night. Incredible.

Ingredients

2 8-inch whole wheat tortillas

3/4 cup roasted sweet potatoes chunks (see below)

1/2 cup cooked black beans

1/4 cup roasted/sautéed onion, optional

2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions

2/3 cup shredded Colby jack cheese, or the combo of Monterey jack cheese and cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Place a tortilla on the baking sheet. Scatter the sweet potato chunks on the tortilla, and then fill the spaces between the sweet potato chunks with black beans. Top with roasted/sautéed onions, if using them. Sprinkle the green onions and cheese. Top with the other piece of tortilla and press it gently. Bake for 6-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and the top tortilla is golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve with guacamole or salsa if desired.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 teaspoons brown sugar (optional)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Toss together those ingredients, single-layer them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 F degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Oh, and for the super easy wheat tortilla recipe, click here. I'm not sure it can get any better than this.

staying at home

It's so fun for me to look back at pictures of the last four months because my memory of it is a blur. It's been a long four months, caring for a newborn was the hardest thing I'd ever done. Come to find out, it's a pretty big deal to keep this little man alive everyday. I constantly wonder why I didn't know how hard it would be. I am incredibly thankful for all the friends and family that helped, it truly does take an army to raise a baby. AND, it's OK to ask for help. That was huge for me.

God has been teaching me lots through this transition to parenthood, but the biggest thing I'm learning in the day to day of being a stay at home mom is that my time and agenda belong to God. I have been forced to open handedly approach the day. I can no longer do what I want when I want. I have no control. And, the beautiful yet painful thing is that I must submit entirely to God's grace to make it though the day. My time and agenda are not mine and they aren't Lincoln's, they belong to Him and are to used for His glory. Lord help me.

Right now, that looks like a lot of providing for baby Linc. He is so dependent on me to provide, but even at this early age I can see him growing more and more independent. It's an amazing thing to watch and remember where we've come in four months.

A little snapshot of past and current baby Lincoln.

Can't wait to meet future Lincoln.

baby kline gender reveal

a little late, but excited to share how we found out whether baby kline was a boy or a girl.

there are lots of ways to find out the gender of the expected baby. we heard of an idea from a lovely couple where you throw a party and the guests watch you cut a cake with the baby's gender revealed inside with either blue or pink frosting. both of us immediately loved the idea.

so, on august 25, 2012 we invited family out to a local park to find out with us whether baby kline is a boy or a girl.

we had a sealed envelope in our possession for a couple of weeks.

i set out to find a bakery that would bake us a cake in secret. mission success.

dolce bakery in prairie village did an amazing job with the cake.

the night before we met with the bakery, nic thought it would be nice to, instead of cutting a cake to reveal, open a big box in front of everyone filled with balloons.

loved the idea. 

he quickly reassured me that we could still have cake and why not also have the inside of the cake be the gender color as well. so, we kept the cake appointment and the following morning enjoyed a delicious cinnamon roll and coffee discussing cake decorations. and why not add some fun cookies while we are at it. :)

so balloon unveiling it was. next task was finding a big box... harder than you might think. we asked around at a couple of stores and finally the thursday before uhaul came through for us and $13 later we had a box.

then came decorating it. i was a bit overwhelemed as i had no idea what i wanted on the box. nic in a matter of fact tone, said, oh, let's just wrap it up like a present. perfect. done. 

i found some ribbon at walmart, ended up being the sheerest ribbon i'd ever seen, oops. he whipped up the present just in time and it looked perfect.

throughout this process, i learned a couple of things. first, we are currently in a a helium shortage due to lack of natural gas mining or something, and two, helium only lasts a max of 8 hours, so we needed to be sure to get the balloons blown up close to the event so they would actually fly out.

thanks to some WONDERFUL friends, we got a box filled with balloons.

everyone gathered,

and ate,

and caught up on life - it had been about four years since all these people were in the same place,

and soon found out with us that.... 

it's a BOY!!

it was a wonderful way to find out and so the planning began for our little soccer player. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

To celebrate 2012, let's recap our year.

1. I had my first dance recital as a teacher/choreographer. Nic got a new job and enjoys it.

2. We traveled.

West Virginia, May
Danny and Nic took a motorcycle trip to West Virginia. It was hot.

Alaska, July
After countless hours of preparation, Nic and his dad traveled to Alaska on their motorcycles. I flew up to meet them and we explored the Alaskan country together. Baby Lincoln was on board as well.

Florida, August 
Work training event, visiting family, relaxing.

New York City, September 
Purchased a car on ebay and flew to Long Island to pick it up only to find that the car had a bad part in it, drive-able, but expensive to fix. We drove it home, stopping off to see Nic's sister in NYC and at an IKEA in Pittsburgh. The shop finally fixed the car about a month later. Added a roof rack. We love it.





Garden City, KS, November
Thanksgiving with family.



3. Throughout 2012 we celebrated the anticipated arrival of Lincoln Alan.

We are so thankful for all the friends and family that have shown such love for our little man.

4. We met our firstborn son, Lincoln Alan Kline, on December 15, 2012, and celebrated Christmas in Kansas City. It is amazing to finally meet the little guy that journeyed with us this year. So grateful.

The "15 club" graciously welcomed Lincoln in.

Three generations of kline gents.

Ima and Papa

Powell family

 Cousins!!

Kline folk

adapting to life with a newborn.

We are so incredibly blessed by friends and family! We can't wait to experience 2013 as a family of three humans + one dog.

Sincerely,
Nic, Julie, Lincoln, and Neosho

parenting? us?

Back at 37 weeks pregnant, I finally hit my, "oh no, there's no turning around" moment. I knew it had to come sometime. All the excitement and preparations turned into fear one night. 

Everything is changing and has been changing, there is a shift in what we know to be normal, our marriage is impacted and changing, our daily lives were reoriented around preparations and I finally started to see it, and all I could do was cry. Nic held me and I just let it all out. I am not ready for this.

I saw myself living in fear and distrust in God goodness creepily appeared. In that moment all I knew to do was look to Nic for affirmation. I needed him to tell me that we are good people, we will be good parents, and wanted him to say a million times that he loves me and our baby boy soon to be born. How do single moms do this, I wondered. I need the tangible love of him.

It's subtle, but my heart has been growing worship of myself and my situation. Lord, forgive me. I want our marriage to be perfect before we bring another one into our dysfunction. And, it terrified me to realize and admit that our marriage isn't perfect, our son won't be perfect, our parenting will fail, our strength is not enough. I can't save my child, only He can do that.

In my dysfunction, God interceded like he always does to remind me that I am undeserving. Yes, Julie, your marriage isn't perfect, your son will hurt you he is a sinner just like you, your parenting will fail, yet my love for you doesn't change. I am here with an abundance of grace. I love you just as you are. You don't have to pretend to have it all together. While we were still sinners Christ died for us once and for all. My identity is not in the health of our marriage, how hip or cool or nerdy or funny our son is, how well we parent. My identity is in the finished work of Christ. I am undeserving of his grace, yet he gives it to me abundantly. 

At Christmas, we celebrated the birth of Christ, to remind ourselves that God sent his son as a baby. His coming looked nothing like anyone thought it would. He lived the life we should have lived and then died the death on the cross that we deserve. Our sin separates us from a Holy God, yet God through this baby named Jesus and his death on the cross, took all of God's wrath for our sins to make a way for us to be reconciled to the Father. All we have to do is believe. 

we've been waiting for you

one week ago today, at just over 38 weeks pregnant, i went to shawnee mission medical center to see if my water had broken. the night before around 11:45pm i found myself in a nice little gush of fluid. nic and i convinced ourselves that it was just a false alarm and we went to sleep.

the next morning i couldn't shake the idea of what if... so, fully expecting to come home, i went to have it checked out. they did a swab test and it came back false, water had not broken. as i had expected. the nurse was not convinced, she said i had a "good story" and wanted to have me checked out. 30 minutes later i was admitted and told we are going to meet our baby boy soon.

at this point, it was just me and a sweet nurse named Ashley who calmly walked me through the process. as i processed the reality of meeting our son, i contacted nic, my mom, family, friends, etc. letting them know baby will likely be out within 24 hours. the labor and delivery room was nice, peaceful even, i am thankful God gave me a quiet space to process that i was going to be in labor soon. this is not how i pictured it going. i was full of joy and fear.

behind the scenes it was a mad dash to the hospital. mom was in garden city visiting granddad and my sister-in-law, my doula, was in florida. nic was at work, he dropped everything to go home, get our supplies, and race to my side. that friday night, december 14, 2012, we were planning on having a date night to pull together our "go bag". oh well. it was a production getting everyone together. thanks to all that helped and sacrificed.

soon after nic arrived they began the induction process, cervidil around 2pm (the amniotic fluid stream caused there to have to be two doses, one at 2pm and one a 4pm), walking the halls with nic from 7-9pm, pitocin at 9pm, an incredibly painful cervical check at 2am (2cm dilated, fully effaced), ugh. a narcotic at 3am (coupled, unknown to me, with an increase in pitocin) and finally a cry for an epidural at 4am.

now by this point, 4am, i was exhausted. i heard the anesthesiologist come into the room and honestly the only thing that got me though those last few contractions was knowing that the epidural would be in effect and take place in 30 minutes. i knew i could do 30 more minutes. i heard him come in and say, "i just got a call for two epidurals, which one would you like me to do first?". i about lost it and thought i can only do 30 more minutes, not an hour, only 30 minutes. they'd better pick me. they did. incredibly thankful.

once the epidural took effect the room calmed way down from my perspective, we all rested for about an hour, and then it was time to start pushing. i had forgotten about pushing.

this was it, this was the moment the past nine months were leading up to. nic got a little light headed in light of the weight of the next few moments. is this really happening, are mom and baby going to be okay, lots of emotions. all you can do is trust God, and that is the most wonderful thing. it is out of our hands, in fact is was never in our hands.

i was exhausted/anxious/excited/fearful. it's a moment i'll never forget. here we go. the doctor came in ready to deliver. but, just before my final pushes. i kid you not. the doctors 6am alarm went off. not a big deal except that she was all sterilized, had to have the nurse get it out of the clip (no small task apparently), the nurse snoozed it, not okay with the doctor. the doctor said it would just go off in 5 more minutes. the doctor walked the nurse through how to launch the app and turn the alarm off. meanwhile, i was still waiting to push, i waited and waited and waited knowing this would be funny later. luckily i was in no pain, thank you epidural. ok, we were ready.

and alas lincoln alan kline was born on december 15, 2012 at 6:03am, 6lbs 5 oz, 19.5 inches.

welcome little one, we've been waiting for you.

we love you, linc.