7 Months Old

Here we are on the Submarine, looking at fishies!

James had quite the adventure in August just after his 7 month birthday - his first vacation! We went to Catalina Island with Brian's whole family for a week and it was a lot of fun.

He went swimming in a pool (that was heated quite nicely!) for the first time at the condo. We didn't try the ocean because it was a little too cold. But he really enjoyed the pool and was all smiles and kicks. He is such a water baby. 

Love our canvas Tula

He also learned to sit up on his own while we were on our vacation, much to my delight. Now I just plop him down on his play mat and hand him some toys! It's like a whole new world has been opened up for him. I can't wait for him to start crawling!

Papa has taught him how to wave goodbye! It's pretty impressive. He only does it about 50% of the time, but it's definitely a wave. He's generally pretty happy, but we have had a definite sleep regression, and he is getting up multiple times a night, so that's been pretty hard on me. :( But, he sure is cute.

7 Quick Takes: Better Late Than Never

— 1 — Things have been so all over the place lately, I can barely keep my head on straight. After finally moving in the last of our things from the old apartment, we drove down to Los Angeles the very next day to catch a plane to Northwest Arkansas. And by "moving in" I mean that we left everything in half-opened boxes strewn about in every room, effectively creating a fire hazard and an obstacle course. We got back home on Friday and I feel myself twitch every time I look at one of those boxes, and yet I feel too tired to do anything about it. Um, nesting energy, where are you?
— 2 — Vacation was great. I couldn't ask for a better extended family. I truly tried to relax and enjoy the scenery, and was so happy to watch my husband interact with my Southern folk. I am so grateful to have such a large, extended family (on both sides) that I can keep in touch with. My great Aunt and great Uncle seem just as excited for our baby boy as if it were their own great grandchild. 

My buddy Turtle and I. 

I was a little bit naughty and went horseback riding while 5.75 months pregnant. My cousin Shelli (the cowgirl) said she rode until she was 8 months pregnant, and her horse is named Turtle after all, so I felt pretty confident. I walked on Turtle for a bit, until he decided he didn't want to walk anymore and closed his eyes and took a snooze. Then I had Brian lead me around the arena on Turtle. Getting on and off the horse was a bit of trick, but with a little bit of help I managed. Nothing can keep me from my horse riding!
— 3 — My fellow thrifters would be so proud of me. I went CRAZY in Gentry, AR at one of the cutest little baby consignment shops. I actually went back two days in a row, accumulating a total of 25 pieces of clothing and 2 newborn hats for $48.90. For those of you who are math-disabled like me, that comes out to $1.81 per item. You can't beat gently used baby clothes (two items actually had the stickers still on them, so they were brand new) for under $2 a pop. A few of the items I found were even 100% organic cotton!
All told, so far I have only bought baby boy clothes at consignment shops, or the 50%+ off rack at Sears. I have yet to spend more than $4 on any one item. The little man has clothes from 0-3 months all the way to 12 months. I'm feeling pretty awesome. 
Tomorrow I'll probably go through his clothes and discover he has all shirts and no pants or something. 
— 4 —

Indian (Native American if you please) fry bread tacos. Delicious.

I'm ashamed to say I took barely any pictures on my week-long vacation. Ugh. I used to be so good about capturing all the moments on my travelling excursions, but I've really fallen off the wagon lately. 
I do have some pictures of Brian and the rest of the family shooting guns on the property (I wisely decided to snap some quick pictures and then head inside, since 8 people shooting clay pigeons is a little loud for baby), but uploading them would involve me getting out of bed and going downstairs. Sorry guys - you'll have to take my word - Brian was really, really good! 
— 5 — Twitter. I communicate with some of you on twitter already, but generally have tried not to put my username out there. I have a couple of reasons for doing so, but mostly it's because a lot of my family and friends (i.e., the non religious kind) don't know I have a blog, so I'm hesitant to link the two together. Do I really want to open myself up to that kind of scrutiny? Do I want friends of friends coming to my blog? I have other, less than devout reasons too. I curse - in fact, I really like to curse, and I know that bothers some people (religious and unreligious alike). Do I want my fellow bloggers to see how unperfect I am? Will my cathsorority sisters think less of me?
I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. Do others have this dilemma? Is this a Catholic convert issue? What do you think?
— 6 — As soon as I finish unpacking all these *#$@& boxes I want to start decorating this place so it feels like HOME. Right now I tend to feel like I'm either house sitting for someone or staying in a rental vacation home. The walls are SO WHITE and SO BARE. Between furnishing the guest room and the baby's room, we definitely have a lot of shopping to do, but I really don't know the first thing about decorating. I tend to be a DIY type person, but I draw the line at refinishing furniture and hanging light fixtures. 
Pinterest has been, of course, a great source of inspiration. Now if only I can find all of those cute little bathroom accessories at Walmart. 
— 7 —

I guess I could see these three people hanging out together. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!  

The Arkansas Traveler: Part II

Mimi and Papa's house, built out of the sandstone local to the area.

The storm cellar. Mimi says of it, "I'd rather die in my house, thank you very much."

Papa's room. It's a serious man cave.

Arkansas Bonfire. That would be a 30ft tree on fire that we roasted weenies (hot dogs for you non Southern folk) on. And no one calls the fire department when you do this.

Cows obstructing traffic. Never seen this in Southern California.

Went to investigate the history of my Cherokee ancestors!

Apparently the population is now 1,600. It's big time!

Shelli's horse is named Turtle.

Hannah (second cousin), me, Christian, Raigan (Tra's wife), Tra (second cousin), Logan (second cousin), and Brittany (Logan's fiancee).

And now, I present to you, a very large cannon. It's very loud so check your speakers. At the end though, if you turn it up, you can hear the men talking concernedly that it did not fire correctly. That was when I went into the building, thank-you-very-much.

The Arkansas Traveler: Part I

My first glimpse of Arkansas. "There's a lotta trees. And it's kinda flat."

Uncle Jim's bird dogs. All they do is hunt - these are not pets. Hard for a city girl to understand!

Cousin Shelli's log cabin.

Deer box. I guess you shoot the deer from up there.

Walking in the woods, dressed like Californians.

Uncle Jim's Mexican cows.

Christian learning to rope at sunset on the mechanical bull, aka "Robo Steer"

Street named after my family.

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa - my Dad's Mimi & Papa

The only store in Decatur pretty much. You buy everything here, from guns to diapers.

Wordless Wednesday

We like guns in Arkansas

Skeet shooting

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

 Arkansas Edition

{Pretty}

Taking the working dogs for their walk on my Great Uncle Jim's 50+ acres of farm and woods with my Dad, brother, and cousin Shelli. Come summer these trees will be so lush and green you can barely see the sky.

{Happy}

Nothing makes me happier than riding a horse. This is Turtle, my cousin Shelli's horse she uses for team roping competitions. He's a gentle guy who doesn't get bothered by anything! We only got to go riding twice, since it rained other days and the arena was too wet. Still, those hours I spent in the arena were fantastic!

{Funny}

Does this look familiar to anyone? It's the Duggar House! The Duggars live in Tontitown, AR which is just 20 minutes east of where my family lives. It was an easy drive as we were headed into Bentonville to visit my Grandma in the hospital anyway. Finally, something I can scratch off my bucket list. Just kidding...too bad none of them came outside. 

{Real}

My first attempt at capturing the sign heading into Decatur, where my Dad's mother grew up (and still lives). Unfortunately my Dad got a little trigger happy and gassed it before I had gotten a good picture. I made him turn back around (hard to accomplish on a tiny country road) so I could get another picture. And yes, that sign says population 1,314. As my Great Aunt Jan says about Decatur, "Don't blink, you might miss it!"

More posts to come soon on my adventures in Arkansas/Oklahoma!

7 Quick Takes

— 1 — I'd like to take a second to thank all of those who commented on my last post. I truly appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. It has helped me during this transition more than you know. I wish I lived closer to all of you so I could give you real hugs, but an internet hug will have to do. -hugs-
— 2 —

This is my third year donating to Catholic Relief Service's Operation Rice Bowl. I have made it a family tradition to donate $40.00 every year in honor of the 40 days of lent. For more information please see a previous post of mine here.
— 3 — Staying at home has been an eyeopening experience. Well, other than when I'm not sleeping (which, when I'm not feeling well, I tend to do a lot of). I have been enjoying two things from my childhood lately: Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z. I've been playing Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon White on my Nintendo DS, and watching Dragon Ball Z episodes online. If I start wearing bell bottoms I might convince myself I've traveled back to the mid 90s.
— 4 —

Novel's newest photograph, age 10. I have pictures of her from age 7 and up. She's getting tall!

I began sponsoring Novel Rosalin Prisilia Kandowangko in June 2010 through Compassion International, when she was 8. I cannot recommend this organization enough. Novel and I write letters to each other about once a month, she draws me pictures and sends me collages. For $38.00 a month I get to see a child grow up healthy and clothed, encourage her to do her best in school, and to love God. She calls Brian and I her "Mama and Papa in California," and that is priceless.
— 5 — I will be in Northwest Arkansas March 5-12, visiting my father's side of the family. I am SUPER excited. I'm a little nervous with all of these tornado warnings (though none have been in Arkansas), and I know my mother is super worried since I, my brother, and my Dad are going together. But other than fear of tornadoes, I am really looking forward to seeing my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. We are staying with my Great Uncle Jim out in the country. I'll be riding horses, shooting guns, and playing cards in just a few days!
— 6 — My brother has joined the Navy as a Submarine Machinest Mate. I am so proud of him and so happy that he has found a direction he wants to go in with his life. He leaves for boot camp August 15th. I am praying that everything works out for the best. Will you pray too?
— 7 —

Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day! This is usually the only day of the year that I get flowers, so I always look forward to it. And Brian always gets a fancy home cooked meal, so he's a happy camper. This year I made the following: Oven Roasted Red Potatoes (I used red and yellow Dutch, added Lawry's seasoning salt, sea salt & pepper), Garlic Green Beans (I used regular black peppercorns and added french fried onions), and Filet Mignon with Rich Balsamic Glaze. I highly recommend all three, but especially loved the potatoes!
Please head over to Conversion Diary to get your fill of 7 Quick Takes and discover great blogs!

Yosemite

Pleasantly surprised to find champagne waiting for us to celebrate our anniversary. Thanks Tenaya!

Is that a spa tub? OH YES IT IS.

Rockin the new boots.

Entering Yosemite Valley

Bridal Veil Falls

Yosemite Falls. No we didn't go rafting, don't be ridiculous!

Bangin some beats and eatin some beef jerky. You know how I do.

Half Dome

I look like a bean pole with hips. Anyway, Brian made me hike Sentinel Dome - don't even get me started.

I swear I almost died. Here I am trying not to pass out at 8,000 feet.

Turns out I made it to the top. I'm a survivor!

I tried to convince Brian these were dinosaur footprints.

This tree needed a good deep cleaning. You don't wanna know what was in there.

Apparently turning your barn into a giant flag is really fancy in rural America.

All joking aside, we had a great time and it was pretty rough going back to the real world. Friday was the end of the quarter at work, so for the past two weeks I've barely had time to eat lunch. It has definitely affected my blogging schedule as you can see, most days I was just coming hope and taking naps after work.

We've been making some changes in our life around here which I hope to be able to blog about soon. Until then - I'll be reading all of your blog entries and kicking my feet up. I mean, more than I already do.