Joseph is 7 months!!

Note: This was supposed to publish on February 27. I'm not sure why it didn't, but here it is now. Even though Joseph is 8 months old now :)
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Joseph turned 7 months old this past Friday on February 10.

He's learning SOOO much. It's really amazing how much he has learned to do in just one month.

Joseph figured out how to sit from a crawling position in early January. Which was quickly followed by him figuring out how to crawl...then pull to a stand, and now he's pretty good at cruising. All of that happened in one month!! Can you believe it?

I'm pretty sure he's going to be walking by 9 or 10 months. So, we've started baby proofing fo' realz around here.

Did I mention he enjoys chewing on everything?

The outlet covers were first - those went in as soon as he figured out how to crawl. We also got a safety lock for the cabinet under the sink. Then came the baby gates. I'm not sure at what point I'll put the door stops on the rest of the cabinets.

And did I mention that Joseph now has 6 teeth? 'Cause he does. And it's freakin' adorable. Man I love him so much!

My Belated Lent Post

I meant to write this post a while ago, but I forgot we would be out of town the week Lent started and didn't plan ahead. Alas. For Lent my husband and I are giving up most of our internet time. We'll only be checking email, weather and anything else deemed "necessary." This means no Facebook, blogs, etc.
We're making Sunday a day of rest - so I hope to write a post or two each Sunday then schedule them to post during the week.
I'm looking forward to having extra time to read. I'm hoping to get through some good spiritual/religious books. Right now I'm reading "The Little Flower: The Story of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus" by Mary Fabyan Windeatt. Next I plan on reading "A Father Who Keeps His Promises" by Scott Hahn.
Beyond that I don't have too much of a set plan.
I hope Lent is off to a good start for everyone.

Happy Valentine's Day Ya'll!

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 36)

This week's quick takes are hosted by Hallie Lord over at Betty Beguiles. Click on over and check out some other quick takes!

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1) This past Monday I had one of my most successful CCD classes to date. The kids were learning about the Holy Spirit and one of the activities I had for them was to make a dove. They're just kindergartners so I cut out two wings and a body for each student. I had them color their dove however they wanted before they glued the wings to the body. They then brought their dove to me so I could tape a piece of string to their dove so it could "fly." The kids LOVED doing this. They particularly liked flying their doves around when they were finished. And I was amazed how attentive they were through the entire rest of the class.

One little girl just sat there when all the other kids were coloring their doves, so I went up to her and asked her if she was going to color her dove. She looked at me and said very seriously, "doves are white." I laughed a little on the inside and said "yes, they are!" I then helped her get started gluing her wings on her dove. Oh how I love kindergartners.

2) Also, during snack another little girl inquired, "are we (humans) made of meat?" That made me laugh, too. How do you answer such a question? I think I answered it with "well, yes - in a way..." then I started to explain that the meat we eat is from the muscles of animals and we have the same kinds of muscles so... I think I lost her as soon as I began my explanation. My simple "yes, in a way" was good enough for her.

3) I finally joined Pinterest this week. I had been avoiding it like the plague because I know I could spend hours upon hours looking through everyones boards. Which would then compel me to ignore this cute little face:

But I was really interested to see all the recipes people had pinned. So far I have four pin boards, and they all have to do with food. I can't wait to start trying out all these recipes. And I'm managed to refrain from becoming a negligent parent :)

4) Will and I finally saw Moneyball this past weekend. We've wanted to see it for a while now, but never got a chance to see it while it was still in theaters. I'm so glad we finally got to see it. As a mathematician, it resonated with me. As someone who loves sports, it resonated with my husband. But, really, it was just an all-around good movie. If you haven't seen it yet you should definitely check it out.

5) I recently started watching Parks and Recreation. One of my friends recommended it to me, and I'm so glad I checked it out. I've been watching this season's episodes on On Demand, but haven't yet figured out how I'm going to catch up on all the past seasons. Perhaps I'll end up renting them on DVD (if they're even out on DVD). Or maybe I'll break down and get a Hulu account or something.

6) Joseph is 7 months old today! Hopefully I can get some adorable pictures of him sans boogers. Joseph and I have been sick with a stuffy nose and cough all week. Luckily, neither of us has been particularly grumpy because of this.

For now - this will have to do :)

7) Earlier this week I wrote a guest post for Stacy over at Catholic and Crunchy. She's doing a series called "A Day in the Life." You can check out my guest post here!

Joseph checking himself out in the mirror

Here's a video I shot of Joseph looking at himself in the mirror (the square thing attached to the laundry basket). Enjoy :)

Check Out My Guest Post

Hey all!
I recently wrote a guest post for Stacy over at Catholic and Crunchy for her "A Day in the Life" series. Check out what "A Day in the Life of Betsy (on a Sunday)" looks like :)
Happy Monday!

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 35)

1) I have an idea which might sound a little crazy, but bear with me as I describe it in its entirety as I need to know from seasoned moms whether you think it might actually work. 

*Warning: If you don't like to read about bodily functions skip this quick take. But, if you're a mom - I'm pretty sure this won't gross you out and I need your thoughts so please read on :)* 

You know how you're supposed to give your baby prunes if they're constipated to help "the process" along? Well, I'm just curious...what happens if you give them prunes when they aren't constipated? More precisely, will it clean out their system enough to make them not poo for a day (or two) following the emptying out of said orifices? 

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I only ask because we'll be flying to Orlando to visit my father-in-law soon and it'd be really nice if Joseph didn't have any poopy diapers during the flight. It's not that I have a problem changing his poopy diapers, but did you know that you can be fined $500 for changing a baby's diaper in the main cabin of an airplane? Yep. It's true. I know this because I was about to change Joseph's diaper when I flew with him back in September, and the flight attendant quickly stopped me and told me about the fine. And let me tell you - there just isn't enough space in those tiny little bathrooms to change Joseph. There was barely enough space in September and he was only 9 weeks old then! The flight attendant was super nice and even let me keep the bathroom door open (which I guess she wasn't *technically* supposed to let me do). But it was still really awkward because I had to lay him on the toilet as there was no changing table and that was the flatest place to lay him in the bathroom.

I think you understand where I'm going with this. Do you think that if I give Joseph prunes the day or two before we leave that he'll "empty out" his system enough that he simply won't poo for a day or two? And that way I won't have to worry about having to let him sit in his own poo for (part of) the flight? Has anyone tried this? Should I do a "trial run"? Am I freaking out way too much about this? Are you tired of reading 4,000 questions in a row? Ok. Any thoughts or suggestions are more than welcome :)

2) I went to the mall earlier this week to pick up Joseph's 6-month pictures (yes - they were adorable), and I planned on grabbing some Chick-fil-a on my way out. But would you believe that the Chick-fil-a in my mall closed? Yep. You heard me right. The closest Chick-fil-a to me closed. its. doors. And that makes me sad. Couldn't they have at least given me some warning? I went there the week before and there was no sign it was going to close. Now I'm going to have to drive an extra 5 minutes to get to a Chick-fil-a. My life is so hard.

3) Joseph and I were both a little sick this week. At least I thought we were. Joseph had a runny nose and a bit of a cough Monday-Wednesday. Then I realized his runny nose was probably from teething. The four front top teeth are all about to come in. I'm pretty sure he'll have six teeth within a matter of weeks.
As for me - I just have an annoying sore throat that hurts in the morning but is mostly gone by the evening. I'll just keep pounding back the water and orange juice.

4) Can you believe this weather we've been having? It's been so nice outside. Joseph and I have been enjoying being able to go outside for walks and not having to bundle up like crazy. I just hope we continue having such nice weather. I definitely don't miss those cold, wintery days.

5) I have spent far too much time this week playing "Words With Friends" on Facebook. It's basically Scrabble for Facebook (and smart phones, but who owns those things?). And it's addictive. And I'm really competitive. So I spend way too much time coming up with words.

6) Speaking of wasting time. I asked for meal suggestions yesterday and had three people recommend I join Pinterest. It's not that I somehow don't know what Pinterest is. It's that I fear I will spend every waking moment "pinning" stuff and completely ignore this cutie.

7) Oh how I love this little guy!

New Years Resolution Update #1

It's February 1. That means we're one twelfth of the way through the year and I'm one twelfth of the way done with my new years resolution.
The first couple weeks without sweets were pretty hard, although I'm fairly used to it now. But that doesn't mean that I never crave sweets anymore - it just means I don't crave them many times a day every day anymore. I also think not having any sweets in the house is helping. A lot.
I've already lost about 3 pounds (woohoo!), and I hope to continue to lose weight/inches so I can finally fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. At least I can now get several of my pre-pregnancy pants on (well, my fat pants anyway). They don't exactly fit, but I can get them on. And that's better than where I was a month ago. I'll take what I can get.
I've also been pretty good about exercising a few times a week. Joseph and I are enjoying our swimming class on Fridays, and I meet up with a friend to work out on Tuesdays. I also try to take a walk with Joseph at least one or two times during the week. So, even though exercising wasn't an official part of my new years resolution I have been trying to incorporate more exercise into my weekly routine to help with the "fit back into my pre pregnancy clothes" goal.

How are you doing with your resolution? If you've already derailed, get back on the train - it's not too late!