Lent

Usually I do not share what I give up for Lent, if I even give up anything.

This year, I am being pretty ambitious. Adam and I decided to both give up pop. That's our #1, no compromises (the one we probably feel most confident in keeping). We also want to try to limit extra-spending/eating out. That one is so much harder to qualify!

I also am trying to get back on track with life...eating well, exercising, sleeping, chores, yup - the whole gamut. See? Ambitious.
But, I feel like, 6 weeks is doable, right?

So, now I need to get off my tush & practice this, or before I know it, it will be Easter!

and Seth will have turned 1!!


So I'll be needing to plan his birthday stuff this Lent, too. ;)

For myself:
No Soda!
No caffeine!
We'll pick out a couple times to eat out & decide what goods we'll need to buy & not do anything else!
Use Be Well Serve Well to help track & eat fruits & veggies, also exercise. Carrying Seth around helps a lot, but try to Zumba or 80s video 3x/week.
Keep up with Chore Cards in order to:

• keep on top of papers
• keep house Seth-friendly
• help Adam with dishes, etc.

Essentially, I want to feel good about how I'm living my life. ;)

And, OF COURSE, T.A.W.G. (Time Alone With God)

A Homemade Christmas

I made Seth some blocks for Christmas. Guess whose tutorial I used! That's right, Make It and Love It.

 

For a size comparison.

I made it to go with the rings I made when Seth was less than 3 months old.

Original picture -- he was so small!

For Christmas, I gave my niece a blanket I knit. Originally I was going to have it done earlier, but....that's ok. :)

Then I got a Kindle for Christmas. I was looking for a case, and my favorite were home made ones on Etsy. But...I was like....I could make that! So! Fueled by my new confidence given me by Make it and Love It...I went to  work!

I looked at the Etsy shop pictures and used that as my starting point. I used skills I've been picking up lately from both Make It and Love It and the cloth books I sewed Seth for Christmas.

Today she posted about sewing skills and one of the keys to having confidence is just accepting the praise...not pointing out your flaws! Well, my Kindle cover certainly has the bobbin loops & imperfections, but she's right, I am still super stoked that I made it! I took a chance and it worked! Hoorah!

I've made some more things recently...when I get pictures I'll post about those!

Homemade Fall

I've been able to make quite a few things lately, which really lifts me up!

My Grandma Joi had THE best crescent roll recipe ever (she's won first place in the Minnesota state fair before!) now that she's gone, I have the privilege of making them every year (at least once).
So the Monday before Thanksgiving, I set about making the 8 dozen recipe. (2 dozen portion gets turned into cinnamon rolls!!)




Kohls was failing on the cheap Thanksgiving outfit, so I got creative. I found the idea for the hat on pinterest and searched for the pattern on ravelry. Everyone at church loved it!





Then I made up a turkey tail. I figured it out all on my own, but took some of the skills I've been learning from Make it and Love it.


















On Black Friday, we went shopping at Gurnee. Seth really liked watching the fish at Bass Pro Shop.

The next week, i was helping to host our professional church workers meeting. I made muffins. :)

I got a little carried away.

Banana chip, chocolate banana chip, fresh cranberry, and poppyseed.

Such a sweetie!

I can't believe he's 8 months old already.

Someone Worth Dying For

I like to listen to "Contemporary Christian Music" - despite the fact it's often theologically shaky (at best). But I generally am drawn to the style of music it is.


The last few years I have been more critical of what I listen to. Many songs I can just put on my "Lutheran Glasses" and enjoy, but there are some that just irk me! Over the last week I have heard one particular song quite a few times. "Someone Worth Dying For" by Mikeschair.


Songs like this one are full of good sentiments - heck, don't you want to be someone worth dying for??


Here's the chorus:
Am I more than flesh and bone?
Am I really something beautiful?
Yeah, I wanna believe, I wanna believe that
I'm not just some wandering soul
That you don't see and you don't know
Yeah I wanna believe, Jesus help me believe that I
Am someone worth dying for


I'm sure many of you, along with me, want to believe you are something beautiful, someone loved by God.


The song even takes a turn and tells us we are these things: something beautiful, noticed & loved by God and worth dying for. (and you gotta believe that!)

Unfortunately, it's a lie.

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."


We were NOT worth dying for. We were born sinful and continued to sin each and every day of our lives. Worth it? I don't think so!

But Christ died for us anyway!

That is the true Gospel. That even though we were not worth dying for, Christ still did. Even though He knew that by dying for us, we would still continue in sin, He still died for us. Not only that, but He washed us clean, put on a robe of righteousness, and presented us before God the Father, who sees us as redeemed. Christ justified you, He "redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins..."


Happy Reformation Day, 2011

The Perfect Age?

Can I keep Seth like this forever?


I am just loving this age!


I love his smiles and giggles.
I love the way he talks at me (usually with something in his mouth).
I love that he can sit up by himself...but not yet cause me to chase him all over the house.
I love that we can cuddle before bedtime.
I love his 2 little teeth that are not quite big yet.
I love the way he loves eating "big people food."
I love that he can still nurse.
I love that I can still carry him around.
I love that he does not throw a stink every time he is in the car seat!
I love how he plays in his bin of toys.
I love that he plays peek-a-boo under his blankie.
I love that we are no longer in the "rock-til-I-drop" stage for sleep, but still not in the "I-don't-want-to-go-to-bed" stage.
I love his fuzzy red hair.
I love how he splashes in the bathtub.


There is so much more, but those are a few reasons why I could stay right where we are for a while!

Homemade Canvas Box

My favorite crafty blogger, Make It and Love It, posted a tutorial to make canvas boxes.

After much hunting in Clinton, and a trip to the Quad Cities, I gathered all my supplies and went to work. I wanted to make a different size than she did, so I made a practice size (no lining or canvas). My box ended being a 6.5" cube...though nowhere near perfect! I was trying to make the most of the canvas I had to buy.

In the end, I decided it was a fun project, and I loved making it my own, but it is not cost effective. Oh well!

Made from fabrics I had lying around.

The inside

What a fun little box!

A cute place to store Seth's bibs & things right in the dining room. :)

Solid Foods Update

How is Baby Led Weaning going?




Let's just say, not as well as I'd hoped.
I'm not giving up yet, but I have taken a step back.

Babies have sensitive gag reflexes that are farther forward on their tongue than adults', and Seth has always had an extra-sensitive one (often gagging on his binky, my finger, his thumb if he yawns). So he's gagged a lot. He's always been able to clear his throat, so he's not choking, but it's not fun to watch!


We got baby food at our shower, so we're starting with that, so he at least gets to learn how to swallow. But I don't care how much he eats, and he's in control a lot.... although I have been holding on to the spoon because i was tired of picking it up from the floor. ;) Sometimes he gets a chunk of something - slightly cooked carrot, for example, to chew on.

 He also uses things like these that i can put food in. So far he's tried a chunk of grapefruit.

Food that he's tasted:

apple
carrot
peas
grapefruit
rice cereal
strawberry banana yogurt (the only thing he didn't make a yucky face at)
raspberry vanilla yogurt
mashed potatoes