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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Grandad and Lola

Titus got to meet his Grandad and Lola and Uncle Marco tonight. He LOVES them.






Friday, November 19, 2010

Friday

1. Tomorrow is our one year anniversary. One year. So much has happened. Lots will happen in year 2 as well.

2. Love the weather. Overcast and rain. YES! It makes the Christmas music seem a lot more real.

3. Made banana bread this morning. Last time I made banana bread it was so good we ate the loaf in like 3 days. So this morning I made 2 loaves. I also put choc chips in it again. Delicious! I'm eating a fresh out of the oven warm piece right now.

4. I think for our anniversary tomorrow I get to get my nose repierced. I miss my nose ring so I am very excited to get it back in. (I had to take the ring out for my c-section and we didn't get the ring back in before the hole closed up.) I think I actually want a bigger one this time. I feel like the last one was just a speck on the small side. Hopefully Adam will go with me and he can help me pick something.

5. Titus has developed a cough. I don't appreciate it. He keeps wanting to sleep too so I know he's not feeling well. Yesterday I fed him and he was fussy so I picked him up and was holding him and he instantly fell asleep. He doesn't really do that anymore. And today I fed him and he just wanted to go to sleep so he had no waketime, just headed straight in for his nap and went right to sleep. Poor little guy. I'm taking him to the Dr. at 1:30 this afternoon to get him checked out.

6. Lisa, Lauren and I are having a little craft day on Monday. Christmas crafts. I think I will try and sew stockings for the 3 of us. I also want to buy some felt and maybe make some little felt animal toys for Titus. And Lisa was thinking of making a Christmas version of the garland I made for my wedding. I think that is a great and fun idea so I may do that as well. And then another friend posted a pic of a yarn pom-pom ball wreath. I think it's cute. Maybe I will try that. And then in my Better Homes & Gardens December issue there was a felt flower garland that was super cute as well. So we'll see what prices are running at Joann's and what I can afford. I'm excited though.

7. We are making an announcement in church Sunday night at Turkeys Tarts & Testimonies.

8. I've been playing around with Titus's schedule. For a while he was going/sleeping 5 hours in between feedings at night. Then all the sudden he stopped that and was back to waking up every 3.5 hours at night. So rather than keep his late night feeding (the 10 or 11 one) and trying to get him to sleep til morning. I dropped the 10 or 11 feeding so that when I put him down in the later evening he can just stay asleep. So far it seems to be working. He is back to that 5 hour stretch and then he does a 3.5-4 hour stretch after that. Progress!

9. I finished the Susannah Spurgeon book and am now onto the 2nd book Patty gave me to read. It's called These Strange Ashes by Elisabeth Elliot. I'm only a few pages in so far so I'm still waiting to pull out some awesome things.

10. You should see our Goodwill pile. The end.

11. My mom has a friend in town from NY for the next 2 days. I get to go over there and show off Titus. I LOVE showing off Titus. I am so SO proud of him and I just want everyone to see him.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Big One-Oh

Today is Tie-Dye's final day of being in the single weekly digits of age. He is 9 weeks and 6 days. Tomorrow he turns the big 'one-oh.' 10 weeks.

Isn't he cute?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

2 Months

Titus had his 2 month baby checkup last Friday. I was so excited to go because I was so curious as to how much he weighed. He seemed like he was getting big, but I wanted to know how big.

Titus weighed in at 10lbs 15oz and was 23 inches long.
When he was born he weighed 6lbs 1oz and was 20 inches long.
So, he gained 5 pounds and 3 inches! Good boy!


This is Adam snuggling Titus in his blankie since he was in just a diaper waiting for Dr. Kim.


This was after his shot. =( We decided to go the vaccinations route. We did however, ask if we could get them spaced out rather than having 8 at once. Dr. Kim was totally on board with that. We were told that he is the only Ped. in that practice who allows spacing of vaccines. We were thankful. So Titus got one shot and goes back in 2 weeks for another, then again in 2 weeks.


Adam comforted Titus with a bottle (it was feeding time anyway so it was perfect).



And this pic is for free because the outfit is cute. Titus was fussy instead of smiley but, Hey! This is a real life blog. Sometimes Titus is fussy. And even when he is fussy, he is still adorable.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

My Great Grandma's Orange Rolls

For Thanksgiving every year, my Great Grandma would make orange rolls. We all LOVE them. I ended up with one of her Betty Crocker cookbooks and in it was handwritten her orange roll recipe. So I cut it out to save it.
















They don't look quite like hers. Hers were smaller. I was a little unsure of what the 'cook for 6 minutes' meant. Cook for 6 minutes from the minute I turn the heat on? From when the butter melts? Or boil? I did a sorta half and half between the butter melting and boiling. I'm pretty sure it means from when the butter melts. Anyway. They taste amazing! I'm excited for Adam to get home and eat some.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Susannah Spurgeon: The Wife

As we've been preparing to go to Jackson Hole, and as we settle more into our marriage, Adam asked me to look into reading books on being the wife of a husband in ministry. I facebooked Patty Ardavanis and asked her if she had any favorite books on the subject. Yesterday at church she sat me down and gave me several books. The first book is a biography of Susannah Spurgeon. Three things have already jumped out at me and I'm only halfway through the book.

1. When Susie and Charles were engaged she would accompany him on some of his speaking engagements. He, being passionate and overcome with what he would be speaking of would forget about her. In one incident they arrived together in the same cab. There was a big crowd so they got a little bit separated from each other in the walk to the room and Charles shut the door behind himself and didn't realize he didn't have Susannah with him. She was angry and got back in the cab and went back to her mother's house. Her mom gave her this to think about;

"..that my chosen husband was no ordinary man, that his whole life was absolutely dedicated to God and His service, and that I must never, never hinder him by trying to put myself first in his heart."

Impactful to Erin. I need to not hinder Adam. I need to help him be freed to do what God has for him. I definitely have allowed myself to think I have 'rights' to Adam at times when I probably really don't. I know this has then taken Adam's focus and attention away from where it needed to be. Because I felt that I should come first. I pray I will know and practice keeping myself second in Adam's life.

2. The book says this after their honeymoon:

"...the happy couple..returned to their first united home -- a modest house in New Kent Road, London, where as in all future homes, the best room became the library." Susannah also writes, "..because the 'best room' was always felt to belong by right to the one who 'laboured much in the Lord.' Never have I regretted this early decision; it is a wise arrangement for a minister's house..."

Impactful to Erin: Adam has often commented about how he needs an office. A space where he can be undistracted (pretty sure I just made that word up). A place of quiet where he can gather his thoughts together and focus. Not only spiritually but also for his work as a graphic artist who needs to provide for our family. I understand that having that space is important but this definitely drove the point home. I love that they chose the best room in the house and made that the library where Charles would work. I would be willing for us to do that for Adam.

3. The book says:

"What times of happiness were spent in the little home on Sunday evenings after the duties of the day were done. On his return from Chapel tired by his labours the preacher would enjoy a light repast and then throw himself into an easy chair by the fireside, while his wife sat on a low cushion at his feet reading to him from the pages of George Herbert or some other Christian poet. Or, if the young minister felt that he had not been as earnest in his preaching as he should have been, the poet would give place to Baxter's Reformed Pastor, and as the solemn words were read, husband and wife would sob and weep together, he "from the smitings of a very tender conscience towards God," and she because she "loved him and wanted to share his grief.""

Impactful to Erin. I always want to read out loud to Adam. Granted it is Harry Potter that I want to read out loud, but if there was something else more meaningful that Adam wanted me to read to him, I would love to do that. I think it's a sweet thing and a great and purposeful way to spend time as a couple. But what struck my heart was that Susannah sobbed with her husband because she "loved him and wanted to share his grief." Love that. I've cried with Adam before, but there are times when I've been really passive about his grief. He, like Charles, has a heart that is tender and burdened and there are times that I really am not very considerate of the fact that that is the way the Lord created Adam's heart to work. I pray that I will be able to share Adam's heart in every way. So that I cry when he cries and laugh when he laughs.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Stewardship

When Adam and I were getting premarital counselled, one of the main things I came away with was that of thinking about/understanding stewardship. Tom never hit the subject hard but it was one of those things where the Holy Spirit was like 'Hey. I'm impressing this on you. Think about it. Keep thinking about it." Tom talked about stewardship in regards to his children. How he doesn't own them. They are given to him by the Lord and he is responsible to do his best with them. But there are things that he cannot control. In the idea that there are things that he cannot control is where a proper perspective of stewardship comes into play.

Today was the memorial service for Karen Richardson. Her husband, Kent, spent time sharing from his heart. One of the first things he said was, "Karen was never mine." She belonged to the Lord. Again, my heart was so struck with the stewardship thing. Kent was a steward over Karen, but she wasn't his. He didn't own her. Christ bought her. Christ owned her. Kent just got to take care of her and love her etc.

I really want to be a faithful steward. I want to keep in mind that I do not own Adam and I do not own Titus. They are not mine. I'm here with them. I love them and I am taking care of them. But should God call me or one of them home I will need to be ready to let go and to know that each of us belong to the Lord.

Stewardship definitely strikes my heart the most when I think of it in the context of having to let go. If it's my baby and I had to let go, it would be so hard. So VERY very hard. This is exactly why I need to realize that I am a steward and not an owner.

I'm so glad the owner is God.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Moby Wrap

The Moby Wrap. Mine is a knock off, but still....

Titus LOVES his moby wrap and so does his mommy (that's me). When I was first pregnant I remembered a lady from PBC who always had her baby wrapped on her during the service. So I emailed her, because #1 it looked like a comfy way to carry a child and #2 I liked the closeness aspect of mother and baby that I saw. She emailed me back and told me it was called a Moby Wrap but that they were pretty expensive and she had some leftover brown material from when she made hers and she'd be happy to sew one for me. I asked her if it would be ok if I picked out my own material because I'm such a patterns person that I wanted something really fun. She told me how much material to get when I made my purchase. I looked for material with a cute design but there wasn't any to be found. So I ended up going with my fallback favorite color. Green.

I can recline Titus in the moby so that it's like he's laying in a hammock. He sleeps very well when I do this for him.


This is the little guy snug as a bug. He was a lot smaller here. Now he stretches all the way across me.


The moby is so awesome because my arms don't die of exhaustion when I hold Titus for an extended period of time. It is comfy for my back as it easily distributes his weight. I don't have a pic of the other hold. It's where it's like an actual baby carrier. He legs poke out the bottom and he is upright and facing me. I could face him out too, but generally he like to be snuggled in. When he is in that hold, I am always ALWAYS kissing the top of his head and smelling the top of his head. He just always smells so good to me.

Anyway, all that to say..BIG FAN of the moby wrap.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

2 Months Old



Titus is 2 months old today. I love this little boy. In the last week he has started to really smile a ton and has been cooing at us. It's so fun seeing him learn to interact and it just melts my heart when he smiles at me and talks to me. Already seeing reward to my labors over him.

He still doesn't love to nap. We're still working on it. I've been keeping him up a bit longer. Basically when he finishes eating I talk to him a bit and/or put him somewhere where he seems content. This afternoon he spent a good while laying on his blanket staring out the window and at my music stand. When he began to fuss I propped him on the couch, another favorite spot of his right now. I can only keep him out of my arms so long though. Soon I held him. And kissed him and he was yawning to I put him down for a nap. I think it's helping both of us for me to wait until I can really visibly see that he is tired before putting him down. Once I put him down though he seems to only sleep maybe 30-45 minutes on average. Sometimes there are longer naps.

His eyelashes still seem to grow everyday. They are just getting longer and more adorable every time I look at them. He's got some good cheeks now too. So squishy. Eyes are still blue. It would be so awesome if they stayed blue. I don't want to get my hopes up though. He also loves his moby wrap. In the evenings if he has a fussy time I just put him in the moby and he soon settles down and eventually falls asleep. I love having him so close to me and being able to kiss the top of his head tons and tons.

I love this pic because of the chubby little fingers. Again he loves to have his hands on his face.


This was taken last night. He was so happy to talk to Daddy. I was trying to get video of it but didn't have enough battery for it.


Love this one of him yawning. He yawns with passion, this kid does. Closes his eyes and makes tons of noise. Precious.

Here is a video taken today.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Karen Richardson

Yesterday Karen Richardson entered the kingdom of Heaven. So amazingly true, and so incomprehensible that I can hardly put Heaven together with humanity in my brain. I know that Heaven is true and there but to think of us going there is so crazy. Beautiful, but crazy. We get to go to this place that was prepared just for us. God knows the number of hairs on our head. He has numbered our days. He knew us before the foundation of the world. He knows the intricacies of our lives and he prepared a place just for us. To me that means tailor made. A place tailor made for us. I don't know if that is accurate, I'll have to ask Adam.

The passing of Karen has got my mind thinking a lot. A few years ago when Aaron was starting up the PBC choir, I was in it, and I would try and recruit people into the choir when I talked to them. Once I talked to Karen and asked if she was busy Thursday nights because she should join the choir. She told me that at that point in time she was "really feeling the need to invest in my children." Those words never left me. They've stuck with me all these years. She did invest in her children. It is totally evident in the way they handled the journey with their mom over this past year. Now I sit here, and I hold my baby, and I think of her and I think, I need to invest in Titus. I need to do what I can in my days with him to pass as much of Christ as I can on to him. What if one day I'm no longer around? Who can influence Titus in the way I can? No one.

Even though Karen has had the physical struggles of cancer and it took a toll, the toll, on her body; to me, she became more and more beautiful. Her love for the Lord so obviously radiated through her body.

I've loved how she didn't keep things a secret but she let us all know what was going on. She shared the struggle. She shared the grief. I loved seeing her family and friends come together to support her. Facebook may serve as a big time-waster, but there are times where Facebook can be so edifying. It was that way with Karen. Seeing her updates and seeing over the months of friends and family visiting and ministering to and serving the Richardson's. I loved it. It set such a great example. I think specifically of Cheryl. Cooking, cleaning, massaging. Loved it. And I love. LOVE. How during the final days facebook was used for people to be able to say goodbye. To write prayers, verses, and encouragements to be read to her. And I love how when she passed, just about every status on facebook had to do with Karen.

She was a precious and godly woman and she has set an example for many of us woman following behind her. No longer can I pray for her healing, but I can now pray for the Lord to heal the hearts of her family.

I was reading Psalm 119 last night and thinking of Kent, Lindsey, Preston and Kailey and I read these verses and they struck my heart for them:

26
I have declared my ways and opened my griefs to You, and You listened to me; teach me Your statutes.
27
Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on and talk of Your wondrous works.
28
My life dissolves and weeps itself away for heaviness; raise me up and strengthen me according to [the promises of] Your word.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Titus Smiling

Smiles... with a sneeze thrown in at the end for creative purposes.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Iced Tea

So my biggest pregnancy craving, as everyone knows, was iced tea. I used to daily drink Dr. Pepper in large quantities. But once I was prego, I knew that Dr P wasn't my best choice, but also the times I drank it would hurt my tum tum (like most things did) so it was quickly phased out of my diet.

The tea craving really began when I remembered Wahoo's had 50cent refills on their drinks and they had passion fruit iced tea. I LOVE passion fruit (or tropical) iced tea so much! So I would often pop in for a tea.

I could never afford a daily Starbucks tea, but thankfully, Starbucks iced tea is about my least favorite of all teas out there.

Sooo the tea became my trademark. I took my Wahoo's cup to the Dr. and asked him how many of those of tea I could have a day and still be safe with my pregnancy. He told me I could have 2. I was so happy to hear that I could have two. Even though tea is a diuretic it still helps me drink a lot more liquids then if I tried to stick with just water alone so it was good for me in that sense.

The craving did not end though, once Titus was born. In the hospital friends would ask if they could bring anything and I would have them stop at the In n Out across from the hospital and get me an X-Large iced tea.

Problem has been, all the teas are bought. They are made outside the house and we have to purchase them. That's not easy on the budget. I always looked for the best deal, but still ... it adds up. I mentioned to Adam that maybe we should buy one of those iced tea makers. He wanted me to try first to make the tea without one. So I tried all different routes of brewing tea. None of them were ever as good or as satisfying as the store bought teas. I couldn't figure out the difference.

At Mike and Lisa's wedding rehearsal, I was talking to Yetta about the whole iced tea thing. They have an iced tea maker and I was saying how I was thinking of getting one. She said they are great because they percolate the tea. *click!!* There was the key factor I was missing!

So last week, or earlier this week, Adam and I packed Titus into the car and headed to Bed Bath and Beyond with one of our wedding gift cards and a 5 dollar off coupon. BB&B was out of tea makers though. They were kind enough to order one and have it sent directly here and since it was an out of stock item they waived shipping. We were able to get a great deal!

Today, my iced tea maker arrived. I almost think he deserves a name.

I just ran the first cleaning brew through and now am making my first batch of tea. I didn't have quite enough ice to make it a legit first brew and I also want to buy the loose leaf tea that Yetta uses but we are well on our way to saving a lot of money.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Hands and Things

In the past few days, Titus has been doing lots with his hands. I'm not sure it's safe to say he's 'discovered' them because I really don't think he knows they are attached to him and that he can control them. But he has been grabbing my shirt, his shirt, my hair, punching daddy's face and he takes lots of opportunities to suck on his fingers. Once he even managed to get only his thumb into his mouth and spent a while sucking that.


Titus has also been smiling a lot more. Yesterday has probably been his happiest day yet. When I woke him up from his nap in the early evening for his next feeding, I brought him out to change his diaper. When I lay him on his changing table I normally spend some time talking to and kissing him. Yesterday when I was talking to him he looked at me and gave me a giant smile. It was precious. And it was all for me.


Yesterday Adam and I started listening to Christmas music. I listened to my few usual break-the-Christmas-season-ice cd's and then when Adam got home we spent the rest of the evening listening to all the Sufjan Christmas CD's. Today I created a playlist of all the Christmas music and I have that playing now. Too bad it's 85 degrees outside.

Today is my big brother's 29th birthday. It's different this year to think of my brother as a baby boy since I have my own baby boy now. I can't imagine Titus being 29. Hopefully when Adam gets home from work we can give Jeremy a call and sing our traditional birthday song to him. He loves it and looks forward to it every year.

Look at those cheeks hanging down.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Bad Memory

Titus and I went on a walk just now. When we got back home, THIS

was on the wall by the front door. It reminded me of THIS.(The pic disappeared so the link is much less visually interesting, but still informative) I was so scared to take a pic with my phone because I was afraid the spider was gonna jump on my hand and bite me. But for the sake of the blog, I sacrificed.


Put my life on the line.

Nearly perished.




I'm glad I'm alive to tell the story.