What little boy’s wardrobe is complete without a superhero shirt? We’re big Batman fans at our house: Jeff grew up on the animated version, introduced me to that show, and we both love the Christopher Nolan Batman movies. When I saw this onesie at Old Navy while I was pregnant, I knew I had to get it for our boy.
Daddy approved
On Sam this week…
Shirt and pants: Old Navy
It’s been an atypical week for us. We’ve had two appointments for work on the house, Jeff went on a 36-hour business trip, and Sam’s been dealing with a cough and runny nose. All those things add up to shifting schedules, missed naps, and low levels of predictability.
But for today, I have been…
hearing: neighborhood sounds through open windows (birds chirping, neighbors mowing, cars driving by, dogs barking); baby babbles (“da da da da ba”); baby coughs
seeing: sheets and sheets of papers dissipate into tiny shreds, progress on too long put off projects, stacks of clean dishes, my little man in his first soccer t-shirt, baby-doggie hugs
smelling: paper dust and fresh air and milk burps
tasting: cereal, kefir, pb&j, grapefruit
feeling: little fingers twirling my hair, a snotty face against mine, anticipation of a reunion hug tonight
The time has come: Sam is officially pre-crawling. He can spin a full circle on his belly really easily and pushes himself forward with his toes. He’s just starting to sometimes move his knees up, froggy style.
Pre-crawling from Sarah on Vimeo.
See the fireplace screen with the tea lights in it? Yeah, that’s in the basement now. I need to remove the logs too, but he can’t reach them quite yet.
For the past month and a half or so, I’ve been able to leave him in his room with toys and music while I take a shower. No more. Last week I did that as usual, only to come back in to find him wedged backwards under his crib, dirty cloth diapers spread out before him. Oops. (Usually the dirty dipes are in a hanging wet bag, but I’d forgotten to bring it up from the laundry the day before.)
As a novice mom, I didn’t think to go grab the camera. He probably would have been in tears by the time I got back anyway so it’s just as well.
Last week I shared about how we spent Easter. Today I’m going to share one of the dishes I brought to our potluck meal. It’s very simple. In fact, it only has four ingredients.
My sister first brought this to a family holiday meal years and years ago. Now she brings it to every Thanksgiving and Christmas get-together we have, in part because I love it SO MUCH.
This jello is sort of a guilty pleasure for me, the healthy, organic food crazy that I am. I know jello has all kinds of artificial junk I usually stay well clear of… but I just can’t help myself. It’s that 80/20 thing, you know?
Oh, I did try to make this once with some vegan “jello” I found at Whole Foods, but it didn’t work at all because of the frozen fruit. It set way too fast. Darn.
Apple Raspberry Jello
1 6 oz. package raspberry jello
2 cups boiling water
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 10 oz. package frozen raspberries
In a 2 quart dish, add jello to boiling water and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Stir in applesauce and lemon juice. Add frozen raspberries (do NOT thaw) and refrigerate until firm (about 4 hours).
A clear bowl would make for better presentation as you could see the layers. Unfortunately, I don’t have a 2-quart glass dish, only my grandma’s classic CorningWare that makes me a bit nostalgic every time I use it.
PS: I don’t count water as an ingredient. I promise I can count… at least up to five.
Hey there! I am super excited to be participating in my first ever Ultimate Blog Party at 5 Minutes for Mom! I’m looking forward to meeting some new friends this week and discovering some great new-to-me blogs that I know are out there.
First let me introduce myself: I’m Sarah, a stay-at-home mom to my sweet, sweet boy (Sam – 8 months), wife to my favorite redhead and idea man (Jeff), and puppy mama to the two best dogs on the planet (Keiko and Mochi). I already have an About page so I’m not going to copy and paste all that info into this post. You can also see some of my most popular posts to date right here.
(On a side note, I’ve just recently made the switch over to a self-hosted blog so if you see anything that looks wonky or broken, will you please let me know? Thanks! I’m also still working on getting my new comment system fully up-to-date.)
I love lists. I’m also a sucker for those lists of random facts people write about themselves. I find them weirdly fascinating. In the hope that I am not alone in my fascination, I present to you:
Catchy title, eh? Let’s begin…
- My favorite color is blue.
- …which is obvious if you’ve ever been to my house. Or my blog.
- High, squeaky voices are hysterical to me.
- …which is probably because of watching movie trailers backwards in college while sleep-deprived.
- I love living in the midwest.
- I love living in a big (okay, medium-big) city.
- …but I miss cornfields, open sky, and stars like crazy.
- I lived at only one address until I went to college at age 18.
- My parents still live there.
- My favorite pizza toppings are grilled chicken, pineapple, and green olives.
- Foods should not touch each other on my plate.
- I almost always finish one type of food on my plate before moving onto the next item.
- I grew up a hardcore cat person.
- I married a man who is allergic to cats.
- As a kid, I collected business cards. (Nerd alert!)
- My favorite season is Fall.
- I am a quarter Swedish.
- I grew up watching classic movies from the golden age of Hollywood with my Mom.
- I played soccer consistently from age 7 to 22.
- I have a love affair with big, cozy blankets and turtleneck sweaters.
- Vacuuming is my favorite household chore.
- I love 19th century period dramas in book and movie form.
- I go out of my way to buy classically styled clothes rather than the latest fashion which will just change next year.
- When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian or a missionary.
- I don’t like coffee.
- I love tea, hot or cold.
- I’ve sprained both my ankles more times than I can count.
- I’ve torn the ACL in my right knee twice.
- But I’ve never broken a bone.
- I dislike talking on the phone.
- I love thunderstorms.
- I love old houses full of character and charm.
- My first job was delivering our weekly small-town newspaper.
- I am passionate about education in pregnancy and birth options.
- I am a Mac person.
- I love books, but I collect them faster than I read them.
- It’s impossible for me to pick a single favorite book.
- I generally don’t drink soda, but have a weakness for root beer.
- I have a green thumb, which apparently runs in the family.
- I share my middle name with my grandma, sister, and niece.
- I’m most comfortable in small groups of people.
- I am a homebody.
- I like to travel.
- I am a horrible speller.
- In high school, my English teacher (and the play director) heard me reciting “Why Can’t the English” from My Fair Lady in the hallway outside her classroom. Later, in the middle of class, she called me out directly as someone who should help out with the school play. It worked.
- I worked backstage in my college theatre, and was House Manager for one of the shows.
- I am a life-long Cubs fan.
- I am NOT a morning person.
- My first car was a white 1989 Chevrolet Celebrity named Creampuff.
- I have naturally curly hair, aka “My hair is naturally natural.” (Anyone know that movie quote? If you do, we’re clearly meant to be friends.)
- I cry easily at books, movies, and TV shows.
- I was a huge tomboy as a kid.
- I have a big weakness for sugar and chocolate.
- Most of my wardrobe is black, blue, or purple (or a derivative thereof).
- I enjoy tent camping.
- I can’t imagine life without my dogs.
- I would be lost without my calendar.
- I retain information about people like a sponge.
- I’ve never needed braces, but my teeth are full of fillings.
- I love puns.
- I’m a very heavy sleeper. My college roommate used to blow dry her hair right next to my bed in the mornings and I’d sleep right through it.
- When I visit the area where I grew up, my slight regional accent comes back.
- I was home schooled through 3rd grade.
- I like maps and am a good navigator.
- I love musicals.
- I’m an extroverted introvert.
- A random lady at the grocery store once asked me which brand of hummus was good because, “[I] look like someone who would eat hummus.” I’m not sure exactly what she meant, but it thrilled me to no end.
Okay, that’s waaaay more than enough about me. Now it’s your turn. Do we have any of these things in common? Perhaps we are opposites? Or do you just love lists like I do?
I love Easter! It’s my all-time favorite Sunday of the year because even more than Christmas, Easter represents what Jesus’ life was all about. If he hadn’t died to take the punishment for our sins and risen again, defeating death, we wouldn’t have a reason to celebrate his birth at Christmas. Easter is joy and hope and gladness, but not just the fleeting emotional kind… it’s the eternal kind.
Easter also means little girls in bright spring dresses and little boys in sweater vests.
Have I mentioned how much I love sweater vests? Well, I do. A Lot. Don’t you just want to squeeze him? (Okay, maybe I’m biased since I’m his mom.)
We headed to church for Resurrection Sunday as we do every Sunday. Afterwards, we shared a delicious potluck lunch with some of our church friends that are like our family here in Cincinnati. Our friends Peter and Kim were going to host the 9 adults + 6 kids until Kim came down with a nasty 48-hour bug that had her flat on her back. Neil and Kelly stepped up at the last minute and we transferred to their house for the afternoon. I don’t have any pictures of this because I was busy trying to unsuccessfully get my tired boy to nap and then I was enjoying food and conversation too much to remember the camera.
The pastor’s wife at my parents’ church is a knitting and crochet master. GramGram had Cara make him this hat:
Such a happy little bunny.
Also–Jeff surprised me in the morning with a little egg hunt, which I had to finish when we got home from N&K’s. He hid 12 Reese’s eggs around the living room, dining room, and kitchen. What fun! The dogs even figured out that I was hunting for treats and tried to help.
How did you spend your Easter?
On Sam this week:
Shirt: Old Navy (via consignment)
Vest: Old Navy
Pants: Gap
Shoes: pediped
Hat: Two Scarves and a Mitten
Cindy asked that I keep you all updated on my goals for the year. Seeing as we’re now a quarter of the way through 2012 (when did that happen?), I figure it’s high time for that update.
You may remember that I picked my five goals by categories I wanted to work on: physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental.
Physical: Get more exercise.
This one’s a doozy to start off with. Yeah, I haven’t been doing so hot here. Like most people who make this new year’s resolution, I started off well in the first few weeks of January, got busy, and quickly fell off the bandwagon. I didn’t do any yoga for all of February and March. My new goal is twice a week for yoga/Wii Fit. I did it once last week, which is at least a step back in the right direction.
With the glorious weather we’ve been having, we’ve taken a few more walks, but I haven’t kept up with it like I want to. It always feel like such a production to get out of the house with the baby and both dogs, but when I do, it’s never as bad as I expect it to be. This one needs more intentionality and mental discipline on my part. Also, I should probably learn to be okay with just taking Sam for a walk without the dogs sometimes. I just feel guilty kenneling the dogs when I know how much they love and need walks too.
Emotional: Go on at least one date with Jeff each month.
We’ve done well with this one so far. In January we had our fondue night at home, and in February a friend came over to watch Sam for a few hours while we went to a local bookstore and played a little book-related scavenger hunt type game. March was supposed to be “Choose Your Own Adventure” date night, but we haven’t done that one yet. Sam stopped taking a bottle so our plans were temporarily thwarted. Jeff has since gotten him to take a bottle again; we just need to plan for babysitting and get it scheduled since we’ve got April’s date to squeeze in too. We’re not used to this whole getting a babysitter thing! We did take a day trip to celebrate our anniversary in March so we weren’t completely devoid of date time last month.
Spiritual: Read my Bible, pray, and meditate each morning.
I was specifically thinking of this one when I wrote this post title. I made this goal when Sam was sleeping pretty well at night and sleeping in ’til 10am most mornings. Well, we went through a couple months of worsening sleep patterns and earlier awakenings shortly thereafter, and I learned important mothering lessons about assumptions and how I function on little consecutive sleep.
Just in the last few weeks he’s started sleeping much better at night and I feel more human again. I still struggle with my mornings however. I’m lucky if I’ve showered, dressed, and eaten breakfast before he wakes up, let alone spent time in the Word, prayer, and quiet reflection.
I kept waiting for “a good time” to sit down for an extended quiet time and in so doing would miss the little moments I could sneak in during the day. Some days I’m good about using nap time wisely and for this goal, other days I’m too focused on the rest of my to-do list or on vegging out for some “me time.”
Overall, I’ve read my Bible consistently more than the last few years, but I still need work to make this a daily habit.
Mental: Read 18 books.
I’ve actually done really well on this goal, mostly because I’ve been reading eBooks on my iPod to keep myself awake during many middle of the night feedings. I’ve read six books toward my goal, which Goodreads tells me is 2 books and 6% ahead of my goal. I reviewed 5 of the 6 here a few weeks ago.
Mental: Blog and write more regularly.
I’m not 100% satisfied (re: perfectionism), but I’ve done okay with my blogging goals so far. I still have a lot of posts in my brain that I’m excited to write and photograph so stay tuned…
Overall, I give myself a C average. I’m not totally failing, but I still have lots of room for improvement. My perfectionism gets in the way often, but so does my lack of mental discipline of a tired body. You’d think I’d be getting used to this whole stay-at-home-mom schedule after 8 months, but I’m still learning and struggling.
