7 Quick Takes ~ Vol. 7

Hosted at Conversion Diary

1. I have been meaning to work out a system of organizing John's clothes. It is challenging when he is always growing. It makes me appreciate that I have stopped growing ...for the most part ;)... and don't need new clothes all the time! Anyway, I found an inventory sheet on the internet and modified it to fit our needs. Today I have been going through ALL the clothes we have for John and categorizing them on this inventory sheet. This will help me to know what we have and don't have and when I go shopping I will know what his needs are. After I put everything on the inventory and sort it all, I will put them in boxes labeled with the size. We are hoping to have many little boys; this system will make it easier to access the clothes down the road.

2. John is big enough to fit in his car:



3. Did you notice the pictures we finally have on our wall from my post about Labor Day?

4. I am trying this new thing where I keep the kitchen clean. It is hard. I love cooking and baking. Cleaning... not so much! But I have been thinking lately about how I feel when the kitchen is messy - like I have a huge burden on my shoulders. I just know that I am generally a happier person when the kitchen is clean. I thought that moving into our new apartment with a very large kitchen would help. On the contrary, I have found that it is worse because if I make a mess I can just move to a clean area of the counter and make another mess. Finally, when all the counter space is messy, I break down and clean the whole thing. It would be a lot easier if I cleaned as I cooked. This week I realized that another reason I need to keep the kitchen clean is it is my JOB! That is part of my job as wife and mother. So wish me luck and keep me in your prayers as I endeavor to keep the kitchen in order. I'm on day 3 of having a clean kitchen...

5.Right now John is laying in bed - post nap - and talking. He does this frequently. He will wake up and begin making all sorts of happy noises. I sure wish I felt that way when I wake up!

6. I started brushing John's teeth. He really likes it! I'm trying to develop healthy habits for him, so we do it every day!

7. On Tuesday, September 8th, the Church celebrated the Blessed Virgin Mary's birthday! I made cupcakes and decorated them with blue frosting (it's a Marian color) and put Marian symbols on them. It was fun, but it will be even more fun when John is old enough to do this stuff with me. I am so excited to teach him all about the beauty of our faith!

Huckleberry Picking 2009 and More!

Huckleberry Picking

In the middle of August we went on our annual St.Hilaire huckleberry picking trip. Last year we went at the tail end of our honeymoon. Not many people went huckleberry picking last year because they had just traveled a lot so they could attend our wedding. This year it was a lot different; there was a really great turn out!

Last year the misquitoes were terrible! I remember when we arrived and the car came to a halt, the misquitoes began tapping on our windows, inviting us to come out! This year the misquitoes were not so bad, but the wasps were everywhere! They were all over our food and it was difficult to cook. So Andrew made a wasp trap (designed after one that his cousin made). It consists of tying a hot dog to a tree with some string and dangling it over a bowl that has water and a little bit of oil or liquid soap. It worked pretty well, and was interesting to watch.

Getting together with this big group was so wonderful! We love the huckleberries... but we love our family more! Each night we prayed the Rosary around the campfire - well, John and I weren't around the campfire; we were nursing in the tent. On the second night, after the rosary, they all began singing. It was beautiful. From inside our cozy tent, I cuddled with John and we listened to our family sing!

I also had a great time connecting with some cousins. Peggy and I had fun talking about mothering, cloth diapering, and incorporating the faith in our households. Angele and I discussed the best parts of being married. John did some bonding with his older 2nd cousin Paul.

Picking was difficult this year with John. Andrew had to do most of the picking. I look forward to when John will be more helpful with important matters - like picking precious huckleberries! So this year we came away with 5 "pies worth" (thanks to a generous donation from Mom and Dad St.Hilaire!). Not too shabby, but we will need to ration the pies out a little more this year.

Newport

After berry picking, we headed out to my parents beach house in Newport. We were in the company of my parents, Andrew's parents, my brother, my grandpa, and my cousin, Beau. We had a full house! Some highlights of our time in Newport include: Eating tons of salt water taffy and chocolate, going on a beach walk, dipping John's feet in the ocean, playing Boggle and Forty-two, eating huckleberry pie made by Mom St.Hilaire (yum!), watching the sea lions, and spending quality time with our dear ones!

Salem

Then we moseyed on over to Salem, Oregon, to see our friends the Hardwicks! While we were there we went to a protest with a bunch of people at the court house (I think). John reached out and grabbed the sign I was holding... so he is already defending life in the womb and he is only 3 1/2 months old!


We spent the night with the Hardwicks before driving back home. It was really great to see them and their home. They have five beautiful children who are very obedient and respectful. It is good for Andrew and me to be around more seasoned parents, so we can learn from their good examples.

In the car I read the Duggar's book, it was really interesting and inspiring. They are the family on TV that has a show about their big family (19 kids!). It was neat reading about how they manage their home with so many children. After reading that book, I have a new idea of what constitutes a "large" family. The Hardwicks have been reading this same book and applying some of the strategies that the Duggars use. Through it all, I realized that we need to really train John in obedience because he will set the standard for our other children.

Labor Day ~ Fun with Corina and Ed

We had our good friends Corina and Ed over yesterday! They came early so they could come to Value Village with us. After shopping, we went down to the Blackberry Festival in down town Bremerton. We listened to the band and moseyed through the sea of vendors. Andrew and I got our rings cleaned for free... my diamonds are sparkly now! We also got a pair of sunglasses for me. I have had the same cheap pair for about 3 years now and the plastic frames have begun to flake and shed. It was time to retire those!


We decided to get a bite to eat, so we got some over-priced oriental food. We ate it in the shelter of the ferry terminal area because by that point it was beginning to pour. We also enjoyed some over-priced but oh-so-tasty walnut fudge from Amy's Decadent Chocolate.

We ran into our friend Lauren Frisch and she invited us to go see the boat she, her husband Adam and daughter Elena are living on. So we went to visit them after our "dinner." Their boat is bigger than we envisioned and very homey, but the novelty is wearing off for them and they are looking forward to moving into a house soon.


Then we came home and duked it out on Dr. Mario. This was reminiscent of our college days, when we would play this game for hours!

John's New Clothes

Yesterday was 50% off day at Value Village! That happens about every three months. Andrew and I have a tradition of always going to Value Village on the 50% off day. When we found out we were pregnant with a boy, we went to the 50% off day in February and stocked up on baby clothes from age 0-6 months. Yesterday we loaded up with Fall and Winter clothes.

We got:

5 pairs of pants
2 sweater/jackets
1 winter coat
3 pairs of overalls
4 onesies
4 long-sleeved shirts
1 short-sleeved shirt that says "Italia" (we like Italy!)
3 pajamas
3 pairs of shoes
5 pairs of socks
and a skirt for Mamma! =)

All of this for only $54!!

Here is all the loot:
John's new winter coat - it only cost $2.50! (Don't worry, it will fit him better in a few months!)

7 Quick Takes ~ Vol. 6

Hosted at Conversion Diary

1. Well, I just put John down to bed. He is going to bed earlier lately. He used to go to bed with us (around eleven). Now he goes to bed around nine. It is kind of nice to have a couple of hours to get things done and relax with out needing to tend to John.

2. For the first year of our marriage we had no pictures of us on the walls. Sure, we had some printed out to put on the walls, but we could not settle on frames we liked. Last week we finally found some good frames at Michael's craft store... and they were %50 off! We had no clue they were having a sale that day, we just happened to decide to go and check out what they had. God sure does provide! So now we will finally have pictures from our wedding up on the wall! =D

[... forget about quick take #1 because John just woke up and I had to sooth him for a while. So now it is 9:40 and he is asleep again...]

3. I was supposed to do student teaching last spring, but my little love bug was born then. So I had to postponed it until this Fall. Then I decided I will postpone it until Winter because I want to nurse John longer. So in the winter I will be student teaching full time. For now, I will be doing a practicum, which will involve me going into the school for a full day on Fridays. Hopefully this will help me, John, and my mom (she will be caring for him while I am gone) get prepared for Winter.

[...speaking of John he is up again, but my wonderful husband will attempt to get him back to sleep...]

4. John is grabbing his feet now!


5. I have always been frustrated about the quick decay of cilantro and parsley. It seems that whenever I buy either of them, they go bad within days. I did a little research on the web and found the idea of treating the herbs like flowers - clean them, put them in a vase (I used a Mason jar) with water, and keep the water fresh. I tried this and it worked really well! Every few days I changed the water and picked out leaves that were going bad. It has lasted for almost two weeks! The best part is when I used my parsley, I just snipped off what I needed with scissors and I felt like I had my own little herb garden on my kitchen counter! I also think it makes my kitchen look nice!


6. We went on vacation a couple of weeks ago. I have been working on a blog post about it - loaded with pictures! =) I promise I will finish it soon and get it posted!

7. John is up again, so I should go... maybe I jinxed myself by writing that first "take"...

"The Hope of Heaven"

A blogger that I follow wrote this beautiful post today:

To be honest, I wasn't totally surprised. This pregnancy was strange, not anything like my other two. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew it wasn't.... normal.

At five weeks, my doctor said that we'll just wait to do any bloodwork, that there's no hurry to do anything so early. I was guessing that meant something, that she wasn't prescribing any of the usual routines -- and in this culture, people opt for vagueness over sharing bad news.

So I waited it out a few weeks. The random spotting morphed into more of a blood flow, and everything from Google and from my heart said that wasn't right. I went to see the doctor again...

...To read the rest click here.

John's New Trick

When John was about two months old we discovered that he likes when we flap our lips together (aka "motorboat lips"). He has learned to do this and now he does it all the time.

Our Talented Boy from Andrew St.Hilaire on Vimeo.

Funny Grandma!

John is beginning to giggle! Here is a video of Grandma Stockton making John laugh!

Funny Grandma! from Andrew St.Hilaire on Vimeo.

"...Because he's our son."

John's Teeth!

Last week was rough. John was not taking naps very well. He seemed like he always wanted to be held. I was getting frustrated because nothing was getting done around the house. He began to develop symptoms of a cold. He had a stuffed nose and a cough. Then...

On Saturday, right as he opened his mouth to nurse, I noticed teeth! He "cut" one of his bottom teeth and I could see the other one right beneath his gums. Since then, he has "cut" both teeth and is a lot happier! I say "cut" because after reading online about teething, I learned that "to cut" a tooth means that it breaks through the gums... I learn so much! ;)

I was not prepared for this - as John is only 3 1/2 months old! My mom gave the advice to stick an ice cube in a washcloth for him to suck on. He really likes that! It's great to have my mom as a resource!

I have not been looking forward to John getting teeth for one reason: biting! So far he hasn't been too bad...

Here are those pearly whites: