May update

The view driving into Cincinnati, Ohio from Kentucky

I keep meaning to get this update written, but life keeps getting in the way. I just wanted to write about a few interesting happenings.

Our Easter basket

Our celebration of Easter was pretty low-key, although I really like the LDS Church's social media campaign #BecauseofHim. All the video messages, etc. helped us focus much more on Christ's life this year. I enjoyed my favorite Easter candy, Cadbury eggs and jellybeans, and Ethan has been enjoying sucking, biting, and throwing Easter eggs for the last several weeks. :)

Colsen being silly in the rain

Mother's Day included even more mothering than usual. Jason and I stayed with 3 children in our ward for about 24 hours while their parents were on a trip. Ages 8, 6, and 2, the kids were well behaved and fun to be around. Ethan enjoyed having different scenery and different toys to play with. He took naps and slept well at night, so we're crossing our fingers for the same results on our trip to D.C.

I had an interesting "first" experience a couple weeks ago. I bought some fresh salmon, and for the first time in my life, I cooked fish for dinner! I'm not generally a seafood lover and I really dislike the smell of seafood, but this salmon was amazing with no fishy smell! It tasted so yummy, I may have to try it again sometime.

One change that has made things a little easier lately is that Jason was released from the Young Men's and called as the Ward Clerk. Although this means more meetings for him, it also means Jason can take Ethan on Wednesday nights and during class on Sundays when I teach in Young Women's, which will be super helpful!

Happy Mother's Day!

Other than that, we're busy with the usual things...shopping, laundry, library visits, cooking, feeding and going out with missionaries, fellowshipping, visiting teaching, home teaching, book clubs, and doctor's appointments. Fortunately the weather has been really great, so we've also been able to go for walks at the park near our condo. Walking in the park is probably one of my favorite things to do. It's so quiet and beautiful in the mornings. I love it!

I love these two guys!!

Finally, if you're still reading, here's a neat experience I had a few weeks ago...

Saturday morning I felt prompted to write a note to a beehive, Lucy, in our YW that has been struggling. It was a little less busy today and I found some time to write a letter on a card for her. While I was writing the note, I felt prompted to give her a copy of one of my favorite picture books. I just happened to have an extra copy of it on my bookshelf in my room. I quickly wrapped up the book and put the card on the front.

I considered mailing it, but I wanted her to have it as soon as possible and I didn't want to bother with the post office since I was now including the book. I had the feeling that I needed to get it to her that day. I told Jason about it and suggested that we stop by her house on the way back from our big grocery trip in Cincinnati. He agreed. So after our 2 1/2 hour grocery trip, we took an extra 20 minutes to drive to Lucy’s house to deliver the package. Lucy's mom happened to be out in the front yard with their dog and approached us as we pulled into the driveway. I got out of the car and handed her mom the package and told her it was for Lucy. She immediately started crying and thanking me. I told her I just felt inspired to bring it.

A few minutes later as we were driving home I received a text message from Lucy's mom. It said: "Wow. Lucy squealed in delight at the book. I had never heard of it but Lucy said, 'no way. I have always wanted this book but I didn't know how to describe it to you!!' I am thrilled. So we have a date to read it together tonight before bed. Just can't thank you enough for caring. The letter was so beautiful and spot on too Julie. You really were inspired."

It was difficult to hold back tears as I read that text message and knew that the Lord knew and loved Lucy and let me be his messenger to deliver His love. I'm so grateful that I followed the prompting and could be part of that little love note from heaven for Lucy.

Happy Mother's Day!

I love this quote from Rachel Jankovic, quoted by Elder Neil L. Anderson in a recent General Conference.

 

http://www.brassyapple.com/2013/05/joy-of-motherhood-happy-mothers-day.html

It's pretty much how I feel about motherhood. I feel like I waited a LONG time to be a mother -- although not as long as some. Waiting was a very difficult trial for me. It's hard to describe the difficulty of it unless you've had to wait for something you wanted very much and didn't know if you'd ever get. I learned many lessons while I waited, some too personal to share on a blog. But I know the Lord did not leave me alone while I waited, and I know there was a purpose for why I was being asked to wait. Knowing those two things got me through many tough days, including Mother's Day.
 
Each mother has unique gifts and talents. One of my mother's gifts is music, and I'm so grateful that she shared that gift with me. She taught me to love and appreciate music. Because of my mom's patience and encouragement, I can sing and play the piano. I've come to appreciate that gift more and more the older I get.

I'm also very grateful to my mother for teaching me the true value of women. She has always loved and nurtured me, and I'm so grateful for her lifetime of service and sacrifice. I hope that I can live up to that example and teach my children to do the same. 

Another one of my favorite quotes is from Margaret D. Nadauld:

http://weseeitandmakeit.blogspot.com/2012/05/women-of-god.html

 I'm grateful that I personally know so many "Women of God," including my mom, mother-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, and close friends. Thanks to all of you for showing me what this looks like!

Ethan's 9 Month Milestone

Ethan is 9-months old today. It's hard to believe that it's already been that long! We had our well check visit and here are the stats:

Weight     20.2 lbs     47%
Height      29 in.        76%
Head Cir.  18 in.        64%

He is very happy generally, except when he's teething....which seems like a lot recently. He has 5 teeth now and two on the way. From personal experience I can testify that they are nice and sharp! He has also discovered the joys of rolling around. He doesn't do it constantly, but a couple times a day he'll happily roll all around the room. He hasn't made an attempt at scooting or crawling yet, but he's starting to get more frustrated when his toys are out of reach (usually because he threw them there) so we'll see if he has more motivation to get them. Ethan can also be quite the talker. He can say mamamamama and dadadadada along with several other sounds. He'll also usually respond to his name when called. His favorite food are those fruit puffs. I just introduced them yesterday and he gets really excited when I pull out the canister. Another favorite is being upside down, even just tilting his head back so it seems like he's upside down puts a smile on his face.

It's fun to see Jason interact and play with Ethan. We had everyone's attention at Costco the other day as Jason was making Ethan laugh and laugh. I think Jason and I will need to start talking about our discipline philosophies though. For example, Ethan started throwing his toys at the pews during the sacrament and started distracting everyone around us. Jason didn't even hesitate, he just poked Ethan right in the eye! It must have worked because Ethan stopped throwing the toys and started screaming really loud instead. They both made a speedy exit. Maybe we'll have to hold off on the poking punishment until Ethan gets a little older. : ) (Actually, Jason was trying to intercept a throw mid arm-swing and accidentally got Ethan's eye along the way. Ethan didn't cry nearly as long as I would have if someone poked me in the eye.)

One night last week Ethan must have been really bad because Jason fed him lemon juice with his oatmeal instead of a pineapple juice/apple sauce mixture. When I got home and discovered what happened I asked what Ethan's face looked like when he tasted it. Jason said he just took it like a man and ate a few more bites. I tried the lemon oatmeal concoction the next day and, boy, was it sour! I guess this just proves that a hungry boy will eat anything! I guess it also proves that I need to label my baby food jars a little better. :)

April Update

We love just watching General Conference. The whole weekend is dedicated to it. This was great timing since Jason still wasn't feeling well after a week of the flu. I made cinnamon rolls and we just sat and watched all the sessions of conference. It was a little weird having the sessions shifted so that they were at 12, 4, and 8. I'm so used to 10, 2, and 6 that it made my whole day seem off. :)

Jason and I have made it a tradition lately of always signing two verses of "Follow the Prophet" to Ethan before he goes to bed. He loves it and now recognizes the song as soon as we start singing it. This is Ethan "meeting" the Prophet for the first time. :)

Ethan and the Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

Watching Conference together

8 month photo shoot -- I tried to be a little more creative with my pictures :)

We love this book!

South Fork Trail

We took our first walk on South Fork Trail near our house. It's so close that we walked to the trail head. This was the first time Ethan wore these bright blue socks and he kept noticing the socks and playing with his feet all day. :) Soon these trees in the background will be covered in leaves.

Louisville Temple

We went to the temple again on Saturday. I got to see one of my ward friends sealed to her family. It was so beautiful!!! I was so glad I got to be there. Jason watched Ethan and then we switched so he could go on a session.

Just wanted to show how close the temple is to the stake center. We watch Ethan in the stake center when it's cold.

Quick family picture near the temple parking lot. It's surrounded by woods. It was a perfect day outside!

March, Missionaries, and Meetings

Well, let's see if this title can inspire me on what to write about this month. I feel like the time is going by pretty quickly. Pretty much I keep looking at the weather every day hoping for a warm weather day to take a walk in the park. Well, it still hasn't happened yet. The temperatures warm up some, but then it inevitably cools down again. After one of the harshest winters in Kentucky history, everyone is ready for Spring!

We've spent a lot of time with the missionaries this month. There's a lot more opportunity with 3 sets in our ward. Jason goes to their appointments with them almost once a week, and I've gone with the sister missionaries a couple times as well. We fed the sisters this week and we'll feed the elders next week. Plus, I cooked 10 lbs of green beans for their zone conference last week. I don't remember ever cooking fresh green beans before, but I made some for our dinner as well that night, with the accompanying Toasted Almond-Lemon Butter sauce. I thought the green beans were so good, I almost didn't care about the main dish! :) I definitely plan to make them again.

Meetings aren't generally a fun topic to discuss, but fortunately not all meetings are boring. Our Sunday meetings the first week of March got cancelled because of another ice/snow storm. This storm only lasted a day and wasn't nearly as debilitating as some of the others have been. Meaning, the next day most of the snow and ice melted off of my car instead of me having to spend 30 minutes chipping it off. Some of the fun meetings I got to go to were Stake YW training, baby storytime at the library on Fridays, a baby shower, Book Club, a stake Relief Society meeting, and Saturday will be the General Young Women's Meeting. Sometimes I don't always feel like going to "meetings," but I always find that when I go with the right attitude, I come away feeling happier and more inspired. Jason and I still continue to watch the CES Firesides. This month Linda K. Burton spoke about following the promptings of the Spirit. Sister Burton referenced President Eying, who quoted President Marion G. Romney, who quoted his mission president Melvin J. Ballard, saying "A person cannot give a crust to the Lord without receiving a loaf in return." I love that thought and I felt the truth of it when she said it. I've been thinking a lot about that this month.

Last Saturday during our first load of laundry, our washer stopped working. The water couldn't drain after the clothes had been washed. After some investigating on our part, we unintentionally dumped some of the water all over the floor. And although it took at least 2 hours to sort everything out and clean up the mess, it happened at a very convenient time. Ethan was about to go down for a nap and we weren't in a hurry to go anywhere. I was also grateful that it was only a small load of Ethan's clothes so we didn't have to drain as much water by bucket. I'm grateful that we'll get a new washer tomorrow so I can finally wash our clothes. Having already learned this in Ecuador, I was reminded again of what a blessing it is to have a washing machine and dryer!

Ethan update: He's as cute as ever. Still doing well with solids. Finally over a persistent cold virus and diaper rash. And loves his jumperoo toy!

7 months

As his mother I can say that I think Ethan is the most adorable and lovable little boy! If you don't agree, it's ok, I understand. :) Maybe in April we'll get outside so you can see something besides our living room floor. :)

February and more Ethan pics

We celebrated Jason's birthday quietly this year, just the way he likes it. I am not very good at gift-giving and Jason is probably just as bad at gift-receiving, so it makes birthdays and Christmas time difficult. Fortunately I found several small things that Jason likes, and uses constantly, that I was able to give him. It makes me really excited to give something that he'll actually like and doesn't expect, especially since it doesn't happen very often. All of them were inexpensive or free, just the way he likes it. :) Here are a couple of them.

I gave Jason this thin leather wallet to replace his thicker one that he never carries around with him. He's been wearing out his credit cards really fast in his pockets, so I ordered him a custom designed credit card with our wedding picture on it. I thought it would be good to have a picture of us on his card to potentially encourage missionary conversations about marriage and family.

This is one of the interesting things I learned about Jason when we were dating. He has excellent oral hygiene and I often saw his flosser in his car. After 10 years of daily use his flosser finally bit the dust. Fortunately, I found another one online to replace it since I haven't ever seen one like this in the stores.

I helped a lot with our New Beginnings this year again. I was in charge of it last year and volunteered to help put on a similar program this year. It was a lot of work on my part, and it got a little stressful at times, but I think it turned out pretty good considering the time and weather complications we had. We had it two days before Valentine's Day and it was heart-themed. The girl's wrote nice notes to each other and dropped them in cute bags sitting on a table. We also had the girls participate in short skits that illustrated each value. For refreshments we ate heart-shaped sugar cookies. It was a great evening and I am happy that it is over. :)

Valentine's Day was also pretty low key this year. I was able to make and frost sugar cookies in the afternoon--some of my favorite cookies. We also went to the Louisville Temple and out to dinner at Olive Garden on Saturday. While we were in the temple, a local member watched Ethan at the church nearby. She was really sweet, but apparently Ethan didn't like being left in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and was sad most of the time. Hopefully now that the weather is warming up I can get him out and playing with other babies and people more.

Ethan is super cute and fun to have around. His little coos and giggles are so cute. He can mostly sit on his own now, although he still tips over occasionally. We have also started him on solid foods. He will eat pretty much anything except plain rice cereal. Unfortunately, that is what the doctor recommended that he start with, but he wouldn't eat any. After a couple of days of trying rice cereal and then some vegetables, I finally gave him a jar of bananas and he decided he liked solid foods after all. Once I switched over to plain oatmeal instead of plain rice he's been more happy at meal times. We're grateful for our neighbors who have been letting us borrow their baby things. Ethan has acquired a baby swing, bumbo, and jumperoo toy in the last month. He continues to be our sweet, happy baby.

He only uses a pacifier as a chew toy these days and prefers to use his thumb to calm himself down.

I don't know why, but this picture always makes me smile. :)

Sittin' pretty in the high chair Grandma and Grandpa B gave him for Christmas

Super baby!

Taken at almost 7 months

We made these gifts for the YW for their birthdays. They go along with this year's theme and say "Wash away your sins. Come unto Christ and be perfected in him."

A successful activity we had as a mia maids class--decorating cupcakes to look like Minions from Despicable Me.

Birthday and Ethan's 6 month

Saturday we drove to Louisville to celebrate my birthday since Wednesday was pretty busy with YW and YM activities. We stopped for dinner at Red Robin and then went to the Kentucky Science Center. The website made it look a lot cooler than it actually was, but it still had some interesting things there. It was fun to see downtown Louisville, too. The Ohio River is beautiful there, very wide and serene.

Kentucky Science Center display about air flow

Standing in a bubble

6 months today!

Today is Ethan's 6th month mark. It's amazing how much he's changed just in the last 2 months. We went for his well check and here are the stats:

Weight      17 lbs           45%tile
Height       26 3/4 in      65%tile
Head         17.2 in          51%tile

His first tooth popped out a week ago on the bottom right followed closely by his bottom left, which came in today. Ethan has been surprisingly good for having his immunizations plus two teeth come in during the last week. I am grateful for Tylenol though, and I think Ethan is too.

In addition to his teeth, Ethan started rolling over from his tummy to his back several weeks ago and it currently learning to sit on his own. He can balance for a few seconds on his own, but he still needs a little support. He is also quickly reaching for things near him, including Mommy's cereal bowl, dinner plates, and the cell phone. He's already accidentally hung up on Daddy a few times. :)

Loves to splash in the bath

Ethan loves to play peek-a-boo right now and will just giggle and laugh when we play. He really likes having blankets waved above this face and can quickly go from complaining to laughing when we do it. He has also discovered his toes, and loves to play with them during diaper changes. He finally got them all the way to his mouth the other day and was very pleased with himself.

Finally got his toes to his mouth

Success!

Ethan still loves to observe everything going on around him so he gets bored if Mom isn't moving around and doing a lot. He's started to give more smiles to strangers, but only to very happy strangers. Otherwise, he just stares at them, and we smile at him. We just love our happy little boy!