Wordless Wednesday

A House!

Things are really coming together for our impending move.  I just keep being blown away by how God just seems to be leading us at this point in our life.  First, we were patient and turned down other job offers in faith that the offer we really hoped for would, indeed, come.  It was tough to let good jobs go by, not knowing if we even had a chance at the one that our hearts felt called to.  But time went on, we interviewed, candidated, and were asked to come.  And our hearts are rejoicing in that fact that we will be calling Philadelphia MB home.

The next step was finding a place to live.  Having moved boxes into 4 different "homes" in the past two years, we were really dreading the thought of renting a place in our new hometown, only to pack up and move again before too long.  We really longed to buy a place where we could put down roots and make ourselves truly at home right away.  At first we didn't think it would be possible to buy a house straight out of seminary, but as time crept closer to our ideal move date, we were realizing more and more that it could be possible.  I can only call it God's provision that we have been able to make an offer on a house.  It shouldn't have been possible.  Yet there was the perfect amount, sitting in our bank account, ready for a down payment.  God is good!

So, without further ado, our house:

Isn't it kinda homely homey?

(more pictures will come once we're all moved in...possession date is August 2!)

Mommy ran the camera out of batteries again...

I had Levi outside today and, well, I just had to grab the camera!  Enjoy!  

(if anybody wants to print any - family most likely - just let me know and I'll send you the full size copy...that goes for any pictures on my blog)

Picture Post Wednesday

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately...

We've been picnicking (sp?!) in our backyard.

 We've been eating watermelon...actually, we didn't eat any of this one.  Worst watermelon I've had in years!  YEARS!

 Eating animal crackers and chewing on empty spools (thread) and just generally being cute.

 Making silly faces and playing with monkey while just standing around...you know, on our feet...

 Swinging at the park.

In the huge, oversize baby swing that is actually for 9-24 month olds...no danger of falling out of this one yet!

Aah...how I love summer.  How I love being a mommy.  How I love being a mommy in summer.  : )  So good!

Job Search Update!

Watrous, SK, here we come!

We are employed once again and oh, what an exciting feeling it is!  From the moment we heard about this position at Philadelphia MB Church (Pastor of Discipleship), we have been feeling pulled and tugged in this direction.  As with any huge decision in life, there are always things that we ask God for, whether consciously or subconsciously.  Some of the things we were asking for were being close to family, being in Saskatchewan, good position for Nathan (good fit), small town (but not too small), place where we could call home for a LONG time.  Well, this move looks like it will be an answer to each of those prayers AND MORE!  Isn't it wonderful how God knows how to give good gifts?  Things we didn't even think to ask for?  Like 40 kids in the church under preschool age for Levi to grow up with?  Wow.  Honestly, I thought we would have to settle for just a few of the things we were hoping for, or even just be ok with letting our dreams go and learning to be happy wherever we ended up.  But this?  This just has us surrounded in peace and joy.  This is where God is leading us and there is no question about that. 

Join us in celebrating!  Wahoo!  God is good!

8 months.

And, we have an 8 month old!  What a little mover, wow.  This has been a month of many, many changes!  Let's see, where should I start?

This is our son at 8 months old!  Isn't he handsome?  So cute...especially those little toes in the bottom corner of the picture!

It wasn't easy to get this picture, though.  Observe:

And there were many MANY more like this.  He actually fell right off the chair at one point but I was close enough that I swung my arm out and caught him like a superhero catches the princess before she hits the ground.  Saved the day with that one.  Whew.

Levi has been loving the standing this month.  I don't actually condone standing in the bathtub, but when he reaches his little arms over to my hands or the edge of the tub and starts to stand, I figure the safest thing to do is to hold onto him and at least keep him safe!

He's gotten pretty good at standing by himself...

But we always stay close by in case monkey doesn't catch his fall.  As he pulls himself up more and more on his own, though, it'll be harder and harder to always break the fall.  He's gotten so many more bumps and bruises since he's started to be more active.  He doesn't enjoy them too much, but hey, who enjoys falling when they least expect it and hitting their head on the sharp edge of a bookshelf? 

Levi has also been scooting around for a few weeks now.  He can get anywhere he wants to go, making several trips a day from the kitchen to the living room and back again.  We're slowly baby-proofing and learning that we need to keep certain doors closed if he's on the loose. : )

Levi has started eating solids this month!  Well, we started him on solids before he was 6 months old, but he just never caught on to them until this month.  He now eats 3 meals a day with us, plus a night-snack.  Of course, most of his nourishment still comes from me, but it's a start!  It's exciting to see him open his mouth for bite after bite of ANYTHING after 8 weeks of refusing everything.  He even inhaled his grandma B's garden peas (pureed) after refusing them weeks ago!  Now there's a boy with some good taste buds!  YUM! 

Levi still has only the two bottom teeth, but has been working on the two top teeth for about two months already.  Some days I can see the little white tip right there in his gums, but then it seems to recede a bit again.  We've had a few days of teething that haven't been fun, but overall we've got ourselves a happy camper!

Last month I mentioned that operation "sleep through the night" was going into effect this month.  Well, Levi slept through the night after only 3 nights of letting him cry-it-out and not going in.  It was easier than I thought once we just stopped going in (as opposed to going in to console him every few minutes which just made him more and more mad!).  BUT, I messed with a good thing and thought that a "dream feed" might earn me some later mornings.  Instead, it's seemed to have taught the little man that he needs a feed at midnight and he's started crying for 1-2 hours between 11pm and 2am.  Ugh.  And then he's still up at 6:00-6:30am to eat.  But, I am thankful for those couple weeks of glorious 8 hour nights.  I'm hoping that I'll get to sleep stretches like that again very soon : )  It seems, though, that we just don't have a naturally good sleeper which, at 2am, is quite frustrating to say the least!  (He's an excellent sleeper when I feed him multiple times during the night but not when he doesn't get what he wants...hmm)

Certain noises and places still scare Levi.  He seems to be a bit of a softie when it comes to certain things.  Here, I was reading a book to him and we got to a page that had lion sounds and he pouted every time.  So cute.  He'll go to strangers pretty well, but it seems only in short doses.  On Sunday when we were candidating, he would go to others, but after a few minutes, he would see me and start to pout/cry and want to come back.  I guess he comes by it naturally, though.  I was the same way as a kid!

Levi has also been gabbing alot this month.  He's starting to imitate words that we say.  He was saying "dada" alot so I would say "dada-daddy" to him and he would just watch me really closely...you could tell he was listening.  After a couple hours (not straight, don't worry), his "dada"'s were becoming "da-ee"'s.  I was so excited!  He's also been saying "dad" alot.  I'm working on "mama" and "mommy" but so far no dice.  Ah well.  It's exciting to see him learn and develop, whether or not he starts with "mama".  It's not like he knows what it means anyway...though I'm starting to wonder if he's figuring it out!

Size-wise, Levi is stretching out but not getting alot heavier.  I'm guessing the solids might help the weight-gain, yet the amount of moving he does every waking second probably counter-acts the calories pretty quickly.  Levi is still wearing his 9 month clothes (been wearing them for 2 months now) but has some 12-18month shirts that fit pretty well.  His bald spot is completely filled in (I think it has been for a month or two by now) and his hair is quite blonde compared to what it was when he was born.  He's a tanner, not a burner.  I hardly ever put sunscreen on him (oops!) and he's only ever tanned.  His hands are almost as dark as mine are!  We go for lots of walks but I usually have him in long sleeves so his tan stops at his wrists!

Levi continues to be a sweet boy who we are so so thankful to call our son!  What a blessing he is!  Nathan keeps saying that maybe we shouldn't have any more kids, cause there's no guarantee they'll be as easy or good as Levi is.  : p  I keep saying it's worth the risk.  ; )

Still no pics, but an update nonetheless!

Our internet situation is, well...sporadic.  We canceled our internet as I mentioned a couple weeks ago.  Ok, one week ago. (it feels like forever ago)  Since then, we've discovered a decently strong signal in our laundry room/entrance.  The only catch is that Nathan's computer is the only one that picks it up.  (the only one...that makes it sound like we have a plethora of computers in this house...well, perhaps we do...)  Anyway, my computer is the one with all the pictures on it and with all my stuff on it, so I'm finding it less enjoyable to add pictures to my blog since I'll have to transfer them all to my computer one day and because Nathan is still doing a bit of homework so when I do feel like blogging, I don't necessarily have a computer at my disposal.  Not that I would dispose of it, but you know...  ANYHOO...

Levi is growing like crazy.  Well, not really since apparently he's only gained 5 ounces in the last two and a half months.  But he's learning new things and that is always exciting!  I'll write more about that tomorrow when he officially becomes an 8 MONTH OLD!  Yikes.  Where has the time gone?

Candidating on Sunday went well, we think.  It was a fun day.  Mingling wasn't nearly so bad as I feared it might be.  It's tiring but way less stressful when you're the people everyone wants to talk to!  All we had to do was stand in one spot and people came and introduced themselves to us and we would talk a bit and then they would mosy (mosie? mosey?) on and new people would come up to us and chat for a while.  All in all, a great day.  Now we are just waiting for the church to vote, which will happen on Sunday, so we hear, and then hopefully HOPEFULLY we'll be asked to take the position!  We will almost literally be bouncing off the walls in this house if we are asked to take the job cause seriously, it is a wonderful church and wonderful community and wonderful people.  Oh, and a wonderful job that looks like it will be a (you guessed it) WONDERFUL fit for Nathan.  So if you think of us, pray that this opportunity is in reality what God wants and not just us being excited about something while failing to see where God is actually leading.  It sure seems like a God-thing though...

I am not up to much these days.  I am about to go sit on a chair beside Nathan, who is playing some NBA basketball on the ol' xbox 360, and whip out some yarn action and MAKE something.  I'm not really sure what to make though.  See, I've taught myself how to knit recently (like, maybe two weeks ago?) and am loving it, but so far I haven't had the patience to actually finish a project!  I'm working on a toque for Levi but it's going so slowly and I can already see flaws in it which, like any first real project, are bound to happen but I'm tempted to just rip it all out and start again.  See, I've been crocheting for about 20 years or so, so I'm used to my projects looking, well (humility aside), I'm used to them looking good.  And when this project doesn't look perfect like I figure it should, despite only having known how to knit for under a month, I will probably end up ripping it out and starting fresh.  *sigh*  I'll never finish anything at this rate : )  But at least I'll have fun in the process!

Ok, now I'm rambling cause I'm tired.  : )  Time to go sit with my hubby and relax for the rest of the evening.  Catch ya all later!

p.s-I gave my brother-in-law a mullet today.  It's pretty sweet if I do say so myself.  I once vowed to never give anyone a mullet.  It choked me a little to break that vow, but hey.  Anything for family, right?  As long as it's not a rat-tail on my son...or a mullet on my husband...there have to be limits, people.  There HAVE to be limits...

Job Search Update:

Oh, job searches.  Fun fun.  Nathan and I have been keeping our eyes and ears open for our next job for months now.  I do believe Nathan started checking the Briercrest website for job postings back in August 2010.  That's almost a year ago now.  He started applying/inquiring about jobs just before Christmas.  And he started interviewing in February/March of this year.  I'm not sure how many interviews Nathan has done...3? 4? 5?  At any rate, it feels like it's been a long process.  But, as I alluded in my last post, we do feel like the job search may be ending soon!  At least that's what we've been praying.  See, we've been unemployed for the last two years (aside from a cleaning job at the seminary that was enough to cover our groceries but not a penny more) and are itching to get back into the workforce.  Well, our bank account is itching for us to get back into the workforce!  Anyway, I'll give you half of the exciting news and hopefully the second half will follow in a couple weeks.  We are candidating tomorrow.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the process of hiring a pastor, most often it goes like this:

-  you apply - send resume with cover letter like any other job
-  they ask for more information
-  you spend a couple hours answering the further questions that they have
-  if you answer their questions correctly, you make the "short list" of 5-10 people who they interivew
-  interview - either in person or through Skype, depending on where the church is
-  if they still like you and feel that you could be a good fit for the job, you are asked to candidate
-  a date is set and you either spend a day or a couple days with the congregation who is thinking about hiring you, usually over a Sunday, and do things like preach, share your testimony, and mingle (just generally get to know people and give them a sense of who you are)
-  if you make it through all that and everyone is on the same page about God's leading, hopefully you get a job offer, and that's that.  You have a job.


So we are at the candidating stage.  One of the last stages before actually being offered a job.  If all goes well tomorrow and we are all hearing God say that this particular position is a good fit for us, we'll hopefully get a job offer before the end of the month!  If not, I'm not really sure what we'll do as we've closed all of our other doors.  (It just didn't feel right to pursue more than one church once we were in the candidating stage.)  SO, I say all this to let you know where we are with the job search stuff and to ask you to PRAY!  Being an introvert, the thought of spending a full day with a bunch of people, wonderful though they may be, who I don't know sounds intimidating and tiring.  Don't get me wrong, I am really really excited to meet the people who will hopefully become my church family, but mingling...small talk...not my thing.  I plan to just take it one hour at a time, one conversation at a time, and I'm sure it'll be not nearly as intimidating as I think it will be. : )  But prayers are still welcome.  Thanks so much and I'll let you know how it goes!

No internet!

It'll probably be a little quieter around here in the next month or two (or three)...we'll have no internet from now until we move.  Hopefully that will be August sometime, but we'll see.  I'll try to update every once in a while so keep checking!

Update: In case you're wondering where we're moving, hopefully we'll have news on that shortly!  But no matter what happens with the job search, I imagine we'll be moving at some point this summer, regardless.  But here's hoping we have something exciting to announce soon...

And the winner is...

"The Hatch's"!  Congratulations, M!  Just shoot me a message with the address I should mail the DVD to and I'll get it out to you in no time!  Oh, and it also looks like we had a similar taste in kid's shows/movies...that, or we just grew up in the same decade...

Today has been a productive yet relaxing day around here.  Levi has started waking pre-7am again (I thought we broke that habit!  shoooot...) so it was an early morning in our house.  But, by the time Levi woke up from his morning nap at 11, I had already fed him breakfast, played, put him down for a nap, swept and washed the floor, done two loads of laundry and folded some more, cleaned the entire bathroom, and showered/got myself ready for the day!  I love to do things that keep our house looking clean and tidy and put together so it's really been a fabulously relaxing day, despite high productivity.  Ok, I should clarify that statement: I love to do things that keep our house looking clean and tidy and put together when I'm in the mood for it so it's really been a fabulously relaxing day.  There, that's better, and far more honest! 

When Levi woke up from his morning nap, we went for a short walk to the post office.  We managed to catch some sun while we were out...timed that one perfectly!  And of course we took Lennox with us.  Now that I take the stroller, Lennox is a much happier dog.  All winter I just carried Levi in the moby and there was no way that I was going to risk walking on ice with a dog strapped to my wrist and a baby strapped to my chest.  No thank you.  He got fairly depressed, I think.  Lennox, not Levi.  He would see me head out the door and yet I would fail to take him with me every.single.time.  Poor guy.  Lucky for him, it is stroller season once again and he is allowed to walk with me.  I did make the mistake of attaching his leash to the stroller a few times, but after a near death experience slight scare with a stray dog, I've learned my lesson and he now walks alongside with his leash firmly in my HAND.

Right now the little man is napping.  Nathan is sitting next to me sighing and reading and wishing he was done his last textbook of his last class of his, as of yet, incomplete master's degree.  Lennox is sleeping blissfully on the floor in front of me, enjoying the fact that his nemesis is tucked peacefully and safely in his crib for a nap and is therefore unable to chase him down nor grab a handful of his fur.  And I?  I am sitting on the floor with a numbbum (you have to say it as one word) from having just proof-read the last paper for the last class of Nathan's, as of yet, incomplete master's degree.  I have a bit more laundry to fold and supper to make, but other than that, my work is done.  It is 2pm and I look forward to an afternoon of playing with blocks and chasing a scooter. (please picture me running down the street after an electric scooter because that is definitely what I mean)

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!  Congratulations again, M!  Let me know where I can send your prize!

Coupon Code and a Giveaway!

First off, my Etsy shop has been sadly neglected over the past year or so (basically the entire duration of time that I've had a shop!) so I thought a COUPON CODE would be just the excitement my shop needs to get things cooking again!  Simply visit my shop and the code will be on the front page!  Also, if you haven't already, click on the facebook link on my sidebar and "like" the Uniquely Me Design facebook page!  It's brand new and a great way to be the first to know about giveaways and discounts!  AND, if you would rather pick up your order in person, I'll credit you the cost of shipping!  How's that for a fantastic Friday deal?  But hurry, the coupon code is only valid until 10pm tonight!

Secondly, I have a GIVEAWAY!  I've never had a giveaway on my blog before so I'm super-excited!  Through the blogger review program that I'm a part of, I received duplicates of a children's dvd that I requested.  They suggested that I "donate" the extra to a place of my choosing!  All you need to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favourite movie/television show was when YOU were a kid and you'll be entered to win!  I'll make the draw on Monday, May 30, so you have all weekend to enter!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...
-  God's saving grace
-  Nathan
-  Levi
-  this house that we're renting
-  a yard that is fairly private and fairly large
-  summer!
-  the opportunity to live in California for a year
-  the job search likely being near its end (!!!)
-  things finally seeming to be straightened out with the Canadian government and that we should be receiving our first Child Benefit Cheque shortly...should be here by Levi's 9 month birthday!
-  student loans...without interest
-  Levi sleeping through the night (though I do miss those middle of the night snuggles that we had for 7 months)
-  Vaseline Cocoa Butter hand lotion...it's the only thing that works on Levi's baby eczema...and it smells amazing!
-  Infant Tylenol
-  the fact that my family is healthy
-  our Toyota that keeps going and going and going and goin...
-  friends who we've been able to reconnect with over this past year
-  indoor plumbing
-  Nathan's graduation and that he's almost done all his homework!
-  the happy noises that are resting their head on my knee and grabbing my keyboard...gonna and go hug the maker of those noises right now!

Sometimes I think about...

-  what it would be like to shave my head

-  how little desire I have to ever go back to school (especially after watching Nathan do it these past two years!)

-  what life will be like in 5 years

-  what my wardrobe would look like if I could start fresh with unlimited $$$

-  what to make for supper

-  all the things I'm thankful for

-  where I could hang my hammock

-  how to best take advantage of the beautiful summer weather while we have it

-  how I could organize our house better

-  where we'll be living in a few months

-  how much has changed in the last 10 years

-  how there is nothing I would rather be doing with my days than hanging out with my boys and doing what I'm doing

-  what life would have been like if we'd never been able to have kids

-  what would happen if gas got so expensive that driving was just out of the question and how 400kms would feel so much further if you had to walk

-  how much I enjoy biking

-  what I'm going to make next (crochet, knit, sew, quilt, cook, bake, something else?)

-  going to bed.  Good night!

Thanks...and another thing

Thanks for telling me what you all use for cloth diaper pails!  There are some great options there and it's got me thinking.  If you haven't let me know and are just seeing the previous post now, feel free to still comment!  I'm always curious about what other people use and how they cloth diaper in general.

I've got another question for you blog readers out there.  It's a little disagreement that Nathan and I had over supper tonight.  Levi has the following onesie:

Nathan has always said what an awesome onesie it is and I didn't really think much of it.  Tonight over supper, it came out why he likes it so much.  Apparently we'd been reading it very differently.  I happen to like my meaning much more than his.  We couldn't agree, so right away I took a picture of the onesie in question and told Nathan that I was going to go to my blog readers to clear this up.  So, when you see this onesie, what do YOU think it is saying?  We came up with three potential readings...

And, just cause he's the most adorable little man in the world, here is a video we took today.  Enjoy!

(Remember to turn off any web protection you may have if you have trouble viewing this video)

Cloth Diaper Question

We've been using a garbage can with a fairly tight seal for our diaper pail.  The problem is, it's not ours so after we move (still no details on when that will be) we'll be looking for something new.  I'm fairly happy with what we have so I'm tempted to go out and buy the exact same thing, but if there's something better out there, I'm all ears!  What kind of system do you have for storing your dirty diapers until laundry day?  Also, any suggestions for keeping odours to a minimum during hot summer days?

Sleeping through the night - part 2

Well, we've had four nights of intense sleep training (officially known as project "sleep through the night").  We started out just trying to space out Levi's feeds by 1 additional hour each night.  So I would put him to bed at 8pm and the first night I didn't feed him until 11 (which was a stretch for him, resulting in SCREAMS from 10-11).  I fed him no more than every three hours that night.  The next night I wouldn't feed him until midnight...again, screams for an hour.  No feeds for four hours went alright.  The next night was 1am and it went a little better, but he was still crying for about an hour before that first night-time feed.  This just didn't seem to be working well.  For one, Levi was still up multiple times in the night and it wasn't really spacing out his subsequent wake-ups.  Also, it was still being enforced that if Levi cried long enough, he would still be fed at night.  So there was a slight change in plans for last night.  Last night I fed Levi at 8 (ideally this would be the last feed of the night), I fed him again at 11 - when we got home from being out for the evening - and then I crawled into bed and didn't get out until morning.  I noticed Levi wake up and cry a few times during the night but in the end he made it until 9am before he ate again!  And there was no screaming like there had been in the first three nights.  I am cautiously hopeful that we are making some progress toward being a family who sleeps through the night.  It will still take some adjusting on my part *ahem* if you know what I mean...but being able to sleep at least 8 blissful hours in a row will make this all so worth it!

Sleeping through the night

Ok, so I mentioned in my 7 month post that I'm trying to get Levi to sleep through the night.  I'm asking for advice:
-  How did you get your kid to sleep through the night?  (I realize all kids are different, but I need ideas)
-  How old was your baby when they started sleeping through the night and how many hours do you consider sleeping through the night to be? (again, I realize all babies are different)
-  For moms of completely breastfed babies (no formula, no bottles, hardly any solids to make a difference)...did your baby ever sleep through the night without any supplemental feeding?

If you used the CIO method:
-  Did you just suddenly stop feeding them at night or did you gradually space the feeds out further and further apart until they were sleeping through? 
-  Did you change anything about daytime feeds to accommodate for no night-time feeds?
-  When they're crying, what exactly did you do when you went in after 5 min, 10 min, etc? 
-  Is it normal for a baby to scream on the top of their lungs like never before for 40 minutes straight?
-  Do you let your baby CIO every single time they wake up at night?
-  How many nights did it take?
-  Do I just need patience and a hard heart?  haha.  Seriously though, is it possible I'm doing it wrong?  Or do I just need to persevere through the blood-curdling screams?

Any advice you have is welcome.  Obviously I've thought about this lots and talked to a few people...read books and such.  So I know a bit about putting a baby to bed and helping them sleep through the night.  BUT, assume I know nothing and tell me every little detail of what you know.  I'm all ears!  Is it possible that he's just not ready?

On Mother's Day...

I just wrote this big long post about Mother's Day.  And then I didn't post it.  So many thoughts have been going through my head.  I guess my biggest question is how do I reconcile the side of me that struggled through infertility and hated Mother's Day, and the side of me that is thrilled to be a mom and wants to celebrate?  I guess I feel like, by celebrating the day, I automatically become one of "them" who blindly skips through the day, juggling flowers, hand-made cards, and the diaper bag while those on the sidelines feel like they've been steamrolled.  Yet I do feel like celebrating!  I have the most adorable little boy in the world and I want to rejoice in the fact that I have been given the gift of being his mommy!  You don't need to tell me that I have every right to rejoice.  You don't need to tell me that I don't need to feel bad about celebrating.  I know that I can celebrate.  And I do.  Every day.  But I don't feel like I'm doing my younger self justice if I don't at least pause and look around me for those who are standing in the church service with tears in their eyes or who are aching from the inside out.  I didn't experience infertility for nothing and I don't want to come out the other side of it unchanged and insensitive.  Yet at the same time, I don't feel like I felt then.  The pain is fading.  My memory is fading.  How can I hold onto those memories and the things that shaped me while also celebrating my motherhood and rejoicing in my child(ren)?  Those are just some of the things running through my mind these days...

7 months.

Levi is 7 months old!  He had his 7 month birthday yesterday, on Mother's Day, spent primarily in airports in the USA.  We flew back from Fresno yesterday and are now happily and safely HOME!  I feel like alot has changed with Levi this month.  And it also feels like it's been a long long time since I've written a monthly post!  Last month's was written a day or two early and this month I'm a day behind.

Levi now has two teeth, both bottom, which came in right around his 6 month birthday.  He's so cute with those two bright, white baby teeth when he grins!  It sure hurts when he bites, though.  Wow, those suckers are sharp!  He's started biting our shoulders which really, really hurts.  I think he's just trying to get our shirts, but often he'll get our shoulder skin with it and then he locks his jaw and pulls.  Yikes.  How do you break a baby of a biting habit?  I imagine it's just teething, but how can I encourage him not to teethe on us??

We have now been offering Levi solid food for about a month and a half and he's never fallen in love with it.  In fact, during our recent trip to Fresno, Levi became completely breastfed again for 10 days and didn't miss the solids one bit.  He has tried a decent variety of foods this month, though.  He's had peas, applesauce, sweet potatoes, carrots, banana and, of course, more rice cereal.  We've also had fun with letting him try food off of our plates so he's also tried things like oranges, grapes, lemons, strawberries, watermelon, pork chops, and a rib bone.  With all of it he just gags.  Oh well...breastfeeding is easier anyway so as long as I can keep up, we may as well take it slow!

Levi has a huge fascination with cups right now.  He's getting pretty good at drinking out of a cup too, with our help, of course.  He hasn't caught on to the bottle or sippy cup yet, though.  Maybe he'll just skip that stage and go straight to the real cup. 

Levi has been sitting for two solid months already so now when he tips, it's 98% of the time something that he intended to do.  He's not crawling yet, but he can get around pretty well just scootching on his belly and adding the occasional roll to make even more progress toward what he wants.  It's fun to see him be able to get around so that he can reach the thing that he has his eye on, but it's also a bit harder to keep things out of his reach!  He's definitely a grabby baby...and fast too!  His hand-eye coordination is remarkable.

Levi still isn't sleeping through the night.  This month has been slightly better than the previous two, with Levi waiting at least 2 hours between night-time feeds.  His average sleep-stretch has moved up to 3 hours, though, for which I am SO grateful!  My goal for this month is to try to increase his sleep-stretch average to at least 4 hours, if not more.  I can count on one hand the amount of times that Levi has slept longer than 5 hours in one stretch since birth.  On another note, I can now say that it's been a year since I've slept through the night.  It was about halfway through my pregnancy that I started waking up during the night, either from sore hips or needing to use the bathroom.  I am very much looking forward to a full night's sleep again.  One day...right?

Levi's favourite things right now are...peek-a-boo, his Rock 'n Stack, mommy, daddy, Lennox, the Jolly Jumper, the fact that his bald spot is finally gone and being outside.  Levi's least favourite things right now...having his nose wiped, having mommy walk out of the room without him, his car seat, and eating solids.

In the first 7 months of his life, Levi has logged many driving miles, and has been on 8 different flights, totaling 5800 miles in the air.  He is a well-traveled little boy!

Well, that's probably enough about the 7th month.  It's been a fun one.  I'm looking forward to month 8 as much as ever.  So far it has started well.  Levi fell asleep for his morning nap in under 3 minutes and has been sleeping for an hour already.  I think it's safe to say that all THREE McCorkindales are happy to be home.

Happy seven months, little buddy!  You are loved!

All tuckered out...

Levi and I went for a couple mile walk this morning.  He didn't last very long awake.  : )  Isn't he just the sweetest??

Our trip to California has been good.  I think it's safe to say that we're all tired and looking forward to being home in our own beds again, but it has been fun to see old friends again and live in the Court for a few days.

Nathan has been fairly busy with homework the whole time we've been down here.  Most of that homework has been making sure his thesis is good to go.  That is all behind him, though, because this afternoon he defended his thesis and did an excellent job.  I think having the thesis completed is a huge relief for him, though he does seem a bit tired from all the work he's been putting into it.  Tomorrow the order of the day will having it printed and ready for binding.  Tomorrow evening is a graduation gala for the graduating seminary students.  Then Saturday is the big graduation day!  Despite graduating now, though, Nathan is not quite finished his Masters degree.  He has one more directed study to finish and a trip to LA in June/July.  And then he's finished!  I can't wait. : )

Levi has been enjoying seeing many new things.  At least I think he's been enjoying it.  (How can you tell?)  I think he could do without the extremely warm weather...he's red and sweaty the majority of the day.  We try to keep him cool.  But mostly there's just no escape.  He hasn't been sleeping very well since we arrived...I think it must be a combination of the heat and so many new people/places.  Talk about overstimulation!  Yikes.  I'm really hoping that he falls back into his wonderful sleep habits once we arrive home, but I guess only time will tell.  I sure hope, for all our sakes, that his crying for 30-45 minutes before bed doesn't last too long...

I am doing well.  I am fairly tired thanks to Levi's sleep (non-sleep?) and the heat (+36C today).  But it has been really nice to see friends here again and to be able to spend so much time outside just relaxing.  The sun has been wonderful.  And it's been fun to celebrate with our friends as they finish their last assignments of the semester.


We've only got two more days before returning to the rain and cool temperatures in Saskatchewan.  I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually looking forward to leaving the heat behind.  This heat-starved prairie girl is mellowing out...

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heart sigh...

You know that feeling when you're oh-so-tired and the thought of most things just makes you want to curl up in bed and never get out?  Then you think of something else and it just makes your heart sigh with peace and rest?  It's just such a relief that you don't have to do one of those rather-crawl-into-bed things?  Yeah, I'm having one of those oh-so-tired days.  Traveling usually does that to me.  Here are a few things that make my heart sigh on days like today:

-  folding laundry
-  pizza and evening with Nathan
-  Nathan saying, "I'll take Levi and you just relax for a couple hours."
-  snuggling in with Levi for a quiet nurse (and lingering for a few extra minutes, just because it means that I don't have to go back to people just yet)
-  taking a shower, even if I've already had one that day (my version of a soak in the tub, since most - all - tubs are way too big for me to actually relax seeing as my head goes under water if I actually lay down)
-  climbing into bed at night and knowing that I don't have to see anyone for the next 8-12 hours
-  having plans canceled at the last minute so I can just hang out at home
-  going for a walk where nobody can find me
-  grocery shopping in an unfamiliar place - so that I don't have to see anyone I know

Don't you just love that feeling when you just deeply and completely relax?  You know there is nothing expected of you and you can just sink into who you are without worrying about what needs to get done or what anyone else expects?  Yup.  It's a good feeling. 

What makes your heart sigh?