Winstead Wandering

Prone to Wander

Brown Sugar Bacon-Wrapped Sausages

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These brown sugar bacon-wrapped sausages are seriously like crack. They’re sweet, savory, addictive, and perfect for any party you’re having.

These brown sugar bacon-wrapped sausages are seriously like crack. They're sweet, savory, addictive, and perfect for any party you're having.

There are some big changes afoot in the Winstead household. While I typically try to avoid vague statements (like the one I just made) without further explanation, I’m too excited about what’s happening to not say something. I’m excited, nervous, hopeful, and anxious all at once, and I’ll be sharing more details in coming weeks.

In a season of life when there are still so many unknowns, it occurs to me that I have so much to be thankful for. In addition to the obvious, like the health of my family and a beautiful home to live in, I’m so thankful for answered prayers and peace of mind amidst uncertain circumstances. During a time when so much of the future is up in the air, I’m thankful for confidence that God’s timing is perfect.

Things might be looking different around the Winstead house soon, but some things never change. One thing that will always remain the same is my love for cute little bite-size appetizers, particularly those that include bacon-wrapped anything. These brown sugar bacon sausages are a recipe my mother-in-law has made for a few years. They’re a huge hit with anyone who tries them, and with good reason.

The sausages themselves aren’t anything special. They’re the kind often served smothered with barbecue sauce at parties. The bacon is where the beauty begins. The strips are the same width as the length of the sausages, making them a perfect pairing. When the dish bakes, the brown sugar on top gets sticky and caramel-y. The result is a perfectly sweet and savory bite that’ll be a hit at any holiday or game day event.

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3 Steps to a Personal Mission Statement

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Whether you’re a mom, a blogger, a wife, or all or none of the above, you can ditch that overloaded to-do list and follow these 3 steps to a personal mission statement.

I’m taking a short blogging break to soak up time with my sweet newborn baby. Things won’t be silent around here, though; I’ve got some awesome bloggers lined up to step in and share some great content. Today, Angela from Setting My Intention is here talking about creating a personal mission statement.

If you’re anything like me, you like to write to-do lists – and even better, you like to cross off items on your to-do list. It’s satisfying knowing that you’ve completed a number of items that needed to get done. If you’re a mom, a wife, a business owner, or any combination of these and other roles, the list could go on and on and on.

Whether you're a mom, a blogger, a wife, or all or none of the above, you can ditch that overloaded to-do list and learn how to write a priority-based mission statement.

Recently though, I’ve had a change of heart in terms of what should be on my to-do list. I’ve taken a step back to write down what my highest priorities are in this current season of life. Taking the time to thoughtfully write these priorities down has changed my lists and how I use my time. This step by step guide on goal planning with intention and purpose has helped me create a personal mission statement for the first time.

3 Steps to a Personal Mission Statement

Step 1: Write down all of your current roles. Now pick the top 5.

My priorities in this current season are:

  • Jesus
  • My husband and our marriage
  • My Children
  • Wellness
  • Blogging

I value other things, of course, like friendships, service, and maintaining my home, but they aren’t the most important priorities during this current season.

This exercise helped me realize that my priorities are currently skewed. Based on how I currently spend my time, blogging and building up my business are at the top of my priority list instead of my most important relationships.

  • Take a minute to write down what your main roles are.
  • List them in order of priority.
  • What are you top 3-5?

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Anxiety After Miscarriage: A Womanly Wednesday Guest Post

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It’s not something you hear discussed often, but it’s something that’s very much a part of my life right now: here is my anxiety after miscarriage story.

It's not something you hear discussed often, but it's something that's very much a part of my life right now: here is my anxiety after miscarriage story.

I’m so excited and grateful to be sharing my story of anxiety after miscarriage as a Womanly Wednesday post on Sobremesa Stories. Lauren has featured so many strong, beautiful, courageous women as part of her Womanly Wednesday series; I’m thrilled she gave me the opportunity to contribute to that legacy today.

Anxiety After Miscarriage: A Womanly Wednesday Guest Post

I don’t consider myself a particularly anxious person. Yeah, I definitely have those, “My parents are calling after 9:00 pm- oh-my-gosh-who-died!?” moments, but I don’t typically lay awake at night worrying over things, and I’ve never had even a hint of a panic or anxiety attack.

That’s why I’m still surprised that, as I approach the final month of my fourth pregnancy- the time when baby is safe and would be healthy if delivered today- the anxiety I feel is at an overwhelming high.

I didn’t experience this anxiety with my first two pregnancies. They were both textbook smooth and, aside from an unplanned C-section with the first, both babies and I were healthy and happy. We grew our family at just the pace we had planned.

There aren’t words to describe the pain of miscarrying our third pregnancy at 12 weeks. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced. It took my husband and I several months to decide we were ready to try getting pregnant again. When we succeeded a few months later, I immediately knew our fourth pregnancy would be different.

Gone was the carefree attitude of previous pregnancies. This time, I was conscious of every twinge of nausea and every new craving- every sign the pregnancy was progressing normally. It wasn’t until we passed the 12-week mark- the point we lost baby number three- that I felt able to take a deep breath and envision a future with a baby I was beginning to dream I might actually get to meet.

Head over to Sobremesa Stories to read the rest of my anxiety after miscarriage story.

It's not something you hear discussed often, but it's something that's very much a part of my life right now: here is my anxiety after miscarriage story.

Unexpected Truths of Pregnancy After Miscarriage

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The redemption and hope of pregnancy after miscarriage is a beautiful thing, but it brings with it unexpected truths and anxieties. 

The redemption and hope of pregnancy after miscarriage is a beautiful thing, but it brings with it unexpected truths and anxieties.

I took my first two pregnancies for granted. I didn’t experience a single complication with either one, and since my mom had five healthy, mostly uneventful pregnancies, I naïvely expected mine would be the same. I took my third pregnancy for granted, too, until we lost the baby at 12 weeks.

Now, in my fourth pregnancy, I’m learning a lot about how different it is to carry a child after losing one.

Unexpected Truths of Pregnancy After Miscarriage

The anxiety doesn’t go away

I thought- and hoped- that the constant anxiety I felt would subside somewhat when my pregnancy progressed past the point I miscarried. In a lot of ways, it did. But in several other ways, it continues even though I’m more than halfway through my second trimester.

Part of the reason is that, in the nearly 12 months between the loss of our third pregnancy and the beginning of our fourth, I read a lot of blog posts and articles about pregnancy and infant loss. I sought out stories from women who could relate to my grief and, in doing so, I learned more than I ever wanted to know about miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss.

I came to realize what I’d always known, but had never quite internalized: loss can come to anyone, at anytime. Reaching an arbitrary milestone doesn’t make me immune to that loss. I’ve learned I won’t truly feel this baby is “safe” until I hold her in my arms.

Signs of pregnancy are welcome

I would love to have sickness-free pregnancies. But I didn’t with my first three, so the morning sickness that occurred so frequently during the first dozen weeks of this pregnancy was welcome. While unpleasant, the nausea was a sign that pregnancy hormones were still running through my blood. I was still thankful when the morning sickness passed, but I appreciated it while it was around.

The big stuff becomes smaller

With my other pregnancies, we discussed possible names long before we found out the gender. The “big” ultrasound, the one with the gender reveal, was much-anticipated. This time around, our 20-week appointment, when we found out we’re having a girl, wasn’t the big to-do it’d been before, and we’ve only just begun discussing possible names.

Part of this, I’m sure, is due to the fact that we already have a boy and a girl. Maybe so many things about this pregnancy would be routine even if we hadn’t experienced miscarriage. I feel certain, though, that most of it’s because our main focus is the health of the baby. As long as we know she’s safe, everything else is secondary. Of course, that was the biggest priority for us before, too, but miscarriage brought it to the forefront.

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What You Really Need for a New Baby

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As an expectant mom, it can be tough to wade through all the commercials and suggestions to figure out what’s a necessity and what’s a gimmick. Here’s one experienced mom’s list of what you really need for a new baby.

As an expectant mom, it can be tough to wade through all the commercials and suggestions to figure out what's a necessity and what's a gimmick. Here's one experienced mom's list of what you really need for a new baby.

This list, of course, is not meant to be an exhaustive compilation of everything you’ll need when welcoming a baby. These are just my favorite products, the things that I would recommend to a friend if I only had a few minutes to answer the question, “hey, what do I need for this kid?”

What You Really Need For a New Baby

rock ‘n’ play sleeper

As an expectant mom, it can be tough to wade through all the commercials and suggestions to figure out what's a necessity and what's a gimmick. Here's one experienced mom's list of what you really need for a new baby.

I mentioned in my post about stuff you don’t need for baby that it isn’t necessary to have all the baby-holding devices that manufacturers offer. When you’re narrowing down your list, trying to decide which ones to buy, I cannot recommend a rock ‘n’ play sleeper highly enough.

For the first nine months of B’s life, she slept exclusively in her rock ‘n’ play sleeper. A few of the things we love about it: 1. the back is slightly elevated, like a baby swing, so for babies, like B, who don’t want to lay flat, this is an ideal alternative. 2. The sleeper folds flat and is so much lighter and easier to store and transport than a pack ‘n’ play. I dare say that it isn’t even necessary to own both until baby outgrows the rock ‘n’ play. 3. As the name implies, the sleeper rocks, so at times B would wake up during the night, but we think her squirming rocked the sleeper and lulled her back to sleep.

receiving blankets

G. with one of our many receiving blankets.

G with one of our many receiving blankets.

My Mom didn’t dish out too much advice to us as we prepared for our first baby- even though she’s raised five herself- so maybe that’s why the few things she mentioned stuck with me. One thing she said several times was “you can never have too many receiving blankets.” I believed her (see the whole “five kids” thing I mentioned above), so we stocked up before G was born.

Let me tell you, my mom was right. We used receiving blankets for everything. We did use them for blankets, both to lay G on and to swaddle him in, but we also used them for so much more. Burp clothes don’t provide enough coverage? Use receiving blankets. Don’t want to buy expensive changing pad covers? Use receiving blankets. Forgot your nursing cover? Use receiving blankets. We owned at least 15-20 of them with G and loved them so much that we made sure to be stocked up for B, too.

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5 things you don’t need for a new baby

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With all the information out there insisting parents need so much stuff, here’s a list of things you don’t need for a new baby.

With all the information out there insisting parents need so much stuff, here's a list of things you don't need for a new baby.

Here’s the thing about parenting: only you can decide what’s right for your family. There are so many voices out there and they’re all eager to explain to you why their point of view is the best point of view.

But here’s the other thing about parenting: you can quickly become overwhelmed by the

Things You Don’t Need For a New Baby

shoes

Tiny babies and cute shoes don’t mix. Not only is it nearly impossible to find shoes small enough to fit a newborn, but the shoes rarely stay on, either (I guess that’s because they’re often too big). Baby feet are unnaturally skinny and they just aren’t meant to wear shoes.

In my opinion, until your baby begins to walk, shoes are superfluous. With all the adorable socks, leg warmers, and booties available, shoes that will fall off- or be pulled off by baby- are an unnecessary purchase.

cute newborn-size outfits

Here’s the thing about newborn size clothes: many babies don’t even need them, ever. And for the ones that do, it’s a brief period of time when baby is still so fresh that you aren’t really leaving the house anyway. That means those frilly dresses and denim overalls are wasted on pretty much everyone except your Instagram followers.

While I definitely think splurging on an adorable coming-home-from-the-hospital outfit is a fun idea, the rest of your newborn clothes might as well be onesies and sleepers, if you buy any at all. Save the cutest clothes for size 0-3 months and up.

toys

5 things you don't need for baby | winstead wandering

Sure, it’s fun to buy toys for baby, especially when you want her to have things to “open” on Christmas. But, speaking from my own experience, toys are not a necessity until baby is closer to a year old. For the first several months, babies are mostly content checking out their new world, especially if they have a mobile above their swing or bed, or if they spend time on a play mat.

Once they become more mobile, babies are fascinated with whatever they can get their hands on. For mine, even when they had access to toys, household items like kitchen spatulas, washcloths, and plastic cups were much more interesting. This is especially true if your baby has older siblings. When my daughter was an infant- and even now, when she’s three- big brother’s toys were far more appealing than any of her own. She instinctively knew what things were his and those were the toys she went after.

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Currently, Kelsie: Trusting God’s Plan

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Trusting God’s plan for your life, even when you don’t understand it, is one the hardest things you can do as a follower of Christ.

Trusting God's plan, even when you don't understand it, is one the hardest things we can do as followers of Christ.

I am so excited for the chance to share my story on Currently, Kelsie.

Every time I think I know how my life is going to go, God taps me on the shoulder and says, “Wait just a minute. Let’s try my plan.” Stubborn person that I am, I never see it coming and I usually fight it, which is exactly what I did in 2012 when my husband told me he wanted to sell our house and move 3000 miles across the country.

Even though I grew up in Oregon, I spent many summers in Mississippi visiting family. During those visits, I’d often spend time with Jon. On a trip the summer before my senior year of high school, I visited and fell in love with Mississippi College, a small Christian university just outside of Jackson. When I arrived on campus my freshman year, Jon was beginning his sophomore year and we started to date.

Trusting God's plan for your life, even when you don't understand it, is one the hardest things you can do as a follower of Christ.

We married three years later and, six months after that, decided to move to Oregon, where all of my immediate family lived and where I dreamed of raising our family. Jon was understandably hesitant about the idea, so we made a deal: I’d spent four years in Mississippi with him, so he’d spend four years in Oregon with me, and then we’d decide together what our future looked like.

In October of 2012, a few months after the three-year anniversary of our move to Oregon, Jon and I went for a walk around our neighborhood. We were having one of our weekly date nights and my grandmother was watching our two kids.

Our pony-sized black lab was pulling me along the sidewalk when Jon broke the news that he wanted us to move back to Mississippi.

Head over to Currently, Kelsie for the rest of the story!

For more on marriage and hardships, read my post about strengthening our marriage after a miscarriage.

Trusting God's plan for your life, even when you don't understand it, is one the hardest things you can do as a follower of Christ.

Tips to Make Your Week Run Smoothly

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Whether you’re single or married, have kids or don’t, you probably wish your weekdays weren’t so frantic. If that’s you, you’ve got to check out these practical tips to make your week run smoothly.

Whether you're single or married, have kids or don't, you probably wish your weekdays weren't so frantic. If that's you, you've got to check out these practical tips to make your week run smoothly.

I remember way back when J and I were first married and the only beings we were responsible for were ourselves. I enjoyed playing that game of alarm clock chicken most of us perfect during our college years: how late can I sleep, and how frantically can I dash around getting ready, and still make it to work on time?

Seven years and two kids later, we still play that game occasionally, but mostly we’ve learned some tips and tricks to avoid that early morning dash. There was some trial and error, and we totally forget or are too lazy to do some of these things sometimes. When we do, though, our entire week is less frantic and more relaxed.

Tips to Make Your Week Run Smoothly

Run the Dishwasher on Sunday

I have to give credit for this idea to J. He first suggested we do this, way back at the beginning of the school year, and it’s been a pretty big deal. We run the dishwasher on Sunday afternoons, regardless of how full it is (unless it’s somehow practically empty). We unload it Sunday evening, and we get to start the week with a clean sink and a dishwasher that’s ready to be loaded with dishes.

Mondays are usually not great, so it makes worlds of difference to get to come home after work on Monday and not have that one chore looming.

Lay Out Your Clothes

I skip this too often. My tired Sunday night brain reasons that it’ll be fine if I just think about what I’m going to wear the next day. But it’s always faster when I actually set my clothes out, and the kids’ clothes, too. I typically lay out all the children’s outfits for the whole week, and I do mine a night or two at a time. To really take the stress out of the process, though, it’s best to choose outfits for the whole week.

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Why We Shared Our Pregnancy-After-Miscarriage News Early

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The reasons why, despite everything convention tells us, we decided to share our pregnancy-after-miscarriage news early.

The reasons why, despite everything convention tells us, we decided to share our pregnancy-after-miscarriage news early.

When J and I first began discussing trying to get pregnant again after the miscarriage of our third baby, one of the things we talked about was how we’d handle announcing the news.

With our first baby, G, we shared our pregnancy as soon as we found out- at 6 weeks. We were excited and we didn’t want to wait to celebrate with our friends and family. Plus, my brother and his wife were already expecting a baby. We wanted to share that there’d soon be baby cousins.

When we got pregnant with B, we kept it a secret from everyone until we were 10 or 12 weeks along. To be honest, looking back, I don’t recall why we decided to wait. We knew the statistics about miscarriage, but I don’t think that was the only motivating factor in saving our news.

We were trying to get pregnant with our third, so we knew right away, at four weeks. We told our families and a few close friends, but for the most part we guarded our secret, waiting to make the news official until we were safely out of the first trimester. At the end of the twelfth week of pregnancy, we made the news Facebook official and shared it with the world.

Three days later, I miscarried.

My first instinct regarding a fourth pregnancy was to hold tightly to the news. The more I thought about it, though, the more firmly I came to realize this truth: the pain we experienced when we lost the baby was not magnified because of how many people knew about our pregnancy. The loss hurt because our baby died; it didn’t hurt because we had to tell people.

In fact, as I mentioned in my post about helping a friend through her miscarriage, the comments from friends- especially those who have experienced miscarriage themselves- were comforting.

Ultimately, we decided not to wait until we made it to the second trimester to share our happy news.

Why We Shared Our Pregnancy-After-Miscarriage News Early

We want to celebrate this baby

We are so happy about this pregnancy. This baby was planned for and wanted and loved long before we saw two lines on a pregnancy test. It is our desire to celebrate this little life; we hope and pray that we’ll get to keep celebrating for decades to come, but if that isn’t the case, we want to rejoice for the eight or ten or twenty weeks we have.

What we don’t want is to share our pregnancy news with people in the same breath we share our miscarriage news.

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Essentials for When You’re Sick

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Not feeling well sucks, but there are a few products out there that can, literally, help ease your pain. Here are some essentials for when you’re sick.

Not feeling well sucks, but there are a few products out there that can, literally, help ease your pain. Here are some essentials for when you're sick.

I hate to be sick. I hate it. And maybe that sounds obvious, because who really likes to be ill? But I hate losing sleep due to a sore throat or congestion, I hate calling in sick to work, and I hate the way missing one day of school throws off my lesson plans for the whole week. Most of all, I hate feeling yucky.

I woke up Monday feeling just that way, though, and I knew this week wasn’t going to allow room for me to lounge in bed. As much as I wanted to spend quality time at home with my favorite sweatshirt and a bottle of Dayquil, I had a field trip to chaperon, a playoff softball game to cheer at, and an awesome economics game to introduce my students to. Sick time didn’t factor in.

Over the years, I’ve learned there are a few things I consider essentials for when you’re sick. Products to take as much unpleasantness out of the situation as possible; products to minimize down time and get you back at it. These are my favorite products to keep around when I’m sick.

Essentials for When You’re Sick

Kleenex Cool Touch Tissues

I stock two different kinds of tissues in my house. The first kind is regular tissues, for regular nose-blowing and face-wiping. I also keep these tissues on hand, and we call them sick tissues. When you’re sick and wiping your nose every ten minutes, ordinary tissues don’t cut it. It doesn’t take long for them to leave your nose feeling raw and abused.

These Kleenex are magical. They feel, literally, cool and soothing against your nose when you seem to be blowing and wiping it nonstop. Keep these guys on hand for sick days and, I promise, your nose will thank you.

Throat Coat Tea

Not feeling well sucks, but there are a few products out there that can, literally, help ease your pain. Here are some essentials for when you're sick.

J and I aren’t always big into drinking hot tea. We go through phases where I’ll make us each a cup in the evenings, but then we’ll go through periods of time when I don’t. As soon as my throat starts to hurt, the first thing I reach for is Throat Coat tea.

Tea, by its nature, is soothing because it’s hot. In addition, this formula includes fancy roots and herbs that are intended to settle your throat. The taste isn’t bad; I much prefer it to any sort of liquid medicine. And, yeah, I typically add a little sugar or honey to mine to sweeten it up, but the benefits are still there.

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