Happy Halloween - Butler's Orchard!

A couple weeks ago I took Joseph to a local farm that has a little fall festival type celebration. They had so many activities for the kids - Joseph LOVED everything! Unfortunately, my camera died early on so I didn't get too many pictures, but I did manage to get a few good ones :)

ridin' the tractor

playing in the water at the duck race

he LOVED the duck race (because of the water)

collecting ducks

so. many. pumpkins!

Joseph would have stayed there all day. They had lots of stuff for little ones to climb on, a petting zoo, a hay ride, a barn filled with hay for the kids to roll around in, 2 HUGE slides (we're definitely going to do that next year!) and lots of other stuff that I can't even think of right now.
We actually went with a couple friends (we had 4 boys there altogether), but I didn't get any pictures of them. I will next year, for sure.

And later today (hopefully!) - pictures of the cutest giraffe you've ever seen :)

What I Wore Sunday (#1)

I saw this linkup last week and thought it would be fun to participate. I'm no fashion guru by any stretch of the imagination, but figured I'd give this a whirl. I'm currently attempting to make my summer maternity clothes work for winter by layering - one of my non-talents. Here was my first attempt:

Dress: Motherhood Maternity - I wish I took a close-up of the detail around the neck because that's my favorite feature of the dress.  Alas, I did not.
Sweater: Old Navy, but bought at a consignment store for $3
Leggings: Motherhood Maternity
Shoes: Coconuts (that's all I know, I got them a while ago)

Hair: in a pony tail as usual
Glasses: because it was rainy outside and I figured we'd be lazing about the house awaiting Sandy's arrival anyway

There you have it. My Sunday attire for this past Sunday.
I'm not sure I'm in love with the leggings, but they are pretty warm and will enable me to wear my summer maternity dresses so we'll see.

For more put together outfits go check out Fine Linen and Purple's linkup.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 45)

1) I taped all the flaps in our lift the flap books last week. I was tired of the flaps ripping and decided there had to be a better way. So, I took packing tape and taped the front and back of every. single. flap. This included the repair of a couple flaps that had already been ripped off, but that I had saved to fix. So far, so good. We haven't had any flap mishaps since the taping.

2) We bought a couch over Labor Day weekend and it finally arrived last Friday. I love it! It's so nice to have somewhere to sit/lay while Joseph is playing in the play room.

3) This is Joseph's favorite use of the couch...

...watching people and cars go by. He waves at them when they drive by. Maybe one day someone will wave back.

4) This past weekend Will and I attended the Indian Summer Ball to support The Northwest Center - a crisis pregnancy center and maternity home in DC. This is the second year we've gone and we have really enjoyed the event both years. I'm hoping it will become a tradition for us - especially since it's one of our favorite charities to donate to.

5) My mom also came up this past weekend to watch Joseph for us while we attended the ball. We are so thankful that she was able to make the trip up. We spent the day Saturday up in Mt. Airy at a craft fair. She was even kind enough to buy Joseph an adorable rocking chair. It's still a tiny bit too big for him to rock himself, but he really enjoys sitting in it. And he loved hanging out with his grandma!

6) I hit 22 weeks in the pregnancy on Wednesday. The documentation:

7) Joseph is starting to try and mimic what we're saying now. He's gained a few new words in the past week or so including: moo, hiss, two and three (we're still working on "one"). And just today he tried to say "meow" buuut, it still needs a little work.

Have a lovely weekend and go see Jen at Conversion Diary for more quick takes.

Ten Minute Tuesday - The Need for a Budget Edition

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much I haven’t been blogging. I’ve realized that it isn’t as high of a priority for me as it was before. That, and I’ve started reading about a zillion other blogs and by the time I’ve read them I’ve basically used up my computer time. I am only able to write this right now because a) I know that it’s only 10 minutes and b) Will and Joseph are having some quality bonding time right now.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that budgeting post (or posts) I said I was going to do. And I still plan on doing them. So, maybe this would be a good place to give a little background as to why we started budgeting in the first place.

Shortly before Labor Day I finally decided we needed a couch for the front room (the play room). I had been pondering it for several months and wavered back and forth whether it was something that needed to be purchased now or if it was something that could wait a year (or two or three). But the more I thought about it the more I realized how nice it would be to have somewhere to sit (not the floor) while nursing baby #2 and watching Joseph play. So, I started looking for a couch.

I told Will about this and informed him that it would likely use up the rest of my “for the house” budget for the year and likely dip a little into next year’s budget. He had forgotten we had even set a limit for me. But when it comes to spending money I need clear limits. When he realized how much this was going to cost he started looking at our bank account. I had mentioned before that I thought we were spending more than we were taking in, but he brushed it off saying that he gets paid every 2 weeks so occasionally we would have a 3-paycheck month that should cover the monthly decrease.

It wasn’t until the couch purchase was almost a done deal that he took a closer look at our bank account, and we were, indeed, spending more than we were taking in….to the tune of approximately $100/month (eeks!!!). So, we sat down that same weekend and made a budget. As with most families (I think) food and household supplies are our biggest monthly expenditure (behind mortgage/rent).

My time is running out, but let’s just say our first month with putting a limit on our food/household supplies budget was a bit of a challenge, but a really good learning experience. I think it’s going to take a little time to get used to, but I’m up for the challenge.


Now go see Rachel at Testosterhome for more!

Ten Minute Tuesday (Episode 1)

Last week Rachel Balducci of Testosterhome hosted her first "Ten Minute Tuesday." I thought it would be fun to do, so I tried it today. Rachel's been busy and didn't end up hosting today, but I figured I'd go ahead and publish what I wrote anyway...because I didn't feel like editing it and making it into a "real" post. The idea is that you set aside 10 minutes and just write whatever comes to your mind. Here's what I came up with.

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Ten minute Tuesday starts right here, right now. I’m currently seated with Joseph in his booster eating lunch. We had a lovely morning. We went to mass and Joseph hardly made a peep! Amazing. He’s been much better at mass lately. I think it has to do with us praying the rosary with him each night. We just started doing this about a week and a half ago.

*break to hand Joseph another Pringle*

Will holds him on his lap from the beginning of the rosary through the first mystery then we let him get down and play. He usually stays right by us and plays with his rosary and my husband’s rosary case. The first few days were rough. He screamed and fought Will almost the entire time, but now he sits there fairly calmly. And we’ve noticed a HUGE improvement in his behavior at mass.

Not only does he rarely fight us at mass anymore, but he also somehow began to understand that he should be quiet and not jabber the entire time.

*break to hand Joseph another Pringle*

He still talks a little, but it’s hardly noticeable anymore. So, if you’re having issues with behavior at mass I would recommend this technique. Will learned it from Steve Wood’s book – I don’t remember the exact title…something to do with fatherhood.

After mass we took a short walk to the park near our parish. Our church has a nice little walking path just behind it that goes…

*break to give Joseph another Pringle…*

…through the neighborhood behind the church.

*break to hand Joseph his water*

…There’s a park that’s only about a 10 minute walk. I had never taken him before, but we found ti just the other day and I wanted to check ti out. Joseph seemed to enjoy himself and I let him walk part of the way back, which he LOVES doing because he can pick up sticks and leaves and pine cones and and and.

*break to give Joseph another Pringle + water only to have no idea what he’s asking for. He eventually settles for the Pringle.*

After our short walk and park excursion we headed home. It was almost nap time and I needed to get the laundry started.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 44)

1) Will and I officially started budgeting this month. I've been meaning to do a full post on it, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I haven't done a very good job with the food/household budget. I managed to spend about 80% of the budget within the first 2 weeks. Sooo, these last two weeks I have only been able to buy what we absolutely need at the grocery store which has been a good learning experience for me. It has definitely kept my impulse buys in check. And I have avoided Target like the plague. It'll be interesting to see how this last week of our first month with an actual set budget goes.

2) I've noticed recently that I have a horrible habit of interrupting people when they're talking. This is particularly the case when I'm talking on the phone. I don't know where I learned this habit (maybe it was just not corrected enough as a child) or why I do it, but I'm starting to get annoyed with myself - and I'm sure my friends are, too. My dear friends - I'm working on this. Please be patient with me :)

3) The whole napping situation is getting better. We've been working on getting Joseph on more of a set schedule and I think it's helping. I am at least able to get him to sleep in his crib now (after falling asleep in my arms or the car). This is a huge improvement from a couple weeks ago. Hopefully the situation will continue to get better and maybe one day he'll let me put him in his crib to fall asleep like he used to do.

4) Joseph is starting to love basketball. We got him a little hoop for his birthday and he loves to put balls in it. He also really enjoys playing basketball with his daddy. It's pretty adorable to watch.

A boy can never have too many balls.

5) We had our anatomy ultrasound this week and found out we're having another boy! We're very excited for Joseph to have a brother. Now all we need is a matching onsie that says "Little Brother."

6) Now that we know we're having a boy I spent the past couple days going through baby clothes trying to figure out if we had enough warm stuff for baby #2. It was a little overwhelming trying to think about what exactly we would need. Joseph was born in the middle of summer and I was worried we wouldn't have any warm stuff, but he had a fair amount of clothes that we can reuse. And today I went to a baby sale and filled out the winter wardrobe for both of the boys on the cheap. Man I love those baby sales.

7) Joseph's new hangout is under the changing table. He pulls out the drawers then crawls inside. The funny (irritating?) thing is he can get himself in there but can't get himself out, so I hear him yell for help getting out many times a day now.
Last night my husband thought it would be fun to leave him in there and just play with him. Joseph seemed to enjoy it....

Daddy stacked a bunch of toys on me!

Have a lovely weekend, and go see Jen for more Quick Takes!

"Dirty" Associations

Joseph recently learned the word "dirty." Well, he learned to say the word "dirty." We're still working on connotation. He knows that if I tell him that something is dirty he isn't to touch it (and he generally doesn't). But, if I say "yucky" he says back "dirty." Which, as we all know yucky and dirty aren't synonyms.

When I referred to his hours-old, browning, disgusting-looking, cut-up banana from breakfast at 3 o'clock in the afternoon (which he asked to eat) as "yucky" he immediately responded "dirty." All I could think was "weeeeeellll, not exactly, but I'll take it. And now I'm going to clean your tray."

When he began to grab at the lamp I said "don't touch that, you'll go directly into time out" he said "dirty." Again...close, but not quite. At least he associates "don't touch" with "dirty," right?

While we continue to work on his understanding of the word dirty I'll just revel in the fact that he has become so proficient at another new and exciting word.