Wordless Wednesday: Summer Lovin'

Baby Blessing: 15 Weeks

You wanted to see it...here it is! Me and baby at 15 weeks.



I had my second check-up yesterday afternoon and all is looking very well. So thankful I am! I'd gotten to hear sweet baby's heartbeat at my last appointment, but hubby and the kids weren't able to be there. But yesterday, all four of us were at my appointment and got to hear the whoosh, whoosh sound. The kids were able to catch it and hear it, but seemed not so impressed. Lily was more impressed with the fact that my doctor could actually legally practice medicine. She thought for sure he was 'like 24 or something.' (Rest assured, he's in his early 30's the same as I am) Jonah, well he seems indifferent to the whole baby idea in general. I guess it's a boy thing.

Baby came in loud and clear beating in the 160's so we could hear him/her. Everything else is pretty normal and looking good. I'll be keeping on my progesterone shots a few more weeks yet just to be sure my levels stay where they need to be, so I'll also keep up with my weekly lab appointments as well. Although I'm not keen on the shots, I'd rather keep on them and keep my levels safe for baby.

Otherwise, in baby related news, we're doing just fine. I've gained enough weight and my belly is rounded enough to remind me that yes, indeed I carry around a miracle and am pregnant. Lily seems to especially enjoy patting my belly and hugging baby. She also seems to get a kick out of my rounding belly and is sure to mention it quite frequently. Boy is she in for a whole lot of fun when this belly gets even bigger! Jonah seems okay with the idea of a baby in our house, although he mentions it less often. He will catch me unexpectedly though and make a random baby related comment every so often just to let me know that he does realize that changes are a comin'. Jonah's favorite names for baby are 'Charlie' or 'Grace', so he sometimes refers to baby as such. I hope his heart won't break when we don't use either of those names. Almost every night the kids tell baby good night and give my belly a kiss. This baby certainly is loved a ton already! I can't imagine all of the kisses and holding he/she is going to get after they arrive.

Saucy In The Kitchen

I've shown you here in the past about my little kitchen cannery when the vegetables start coming in from the garden. I know that canning is becoming a lost art, but having grown up with a big garden back home and a family that canned rather than just froze our produce, I still appreciate it.

Yes, yes, it is A LOT of work. And yes, here in the Midwest that produce has a knack for coming in at exactly the hottest weeks at the end of summer. I find though that the payoff come winter is SO worth it. With a stocked canning cupboard our family faces another cold winter and we enjoy grabbing a jar of apple pie filling, applesauce, peaches, tomato soup, picante sauce, V-8 juice or spaghetti sauce.

You know what makes canning even more worth the hard work? The right equipment. The simplest gadget can make the process run so much smoother. A couple of years ago, we purchased a Sauce Master to use for running either tomatoes or apples through for mashing. What a lifesaver! It has been worth the $40 or so we spent on it. A little messy to clean up, but very easy to assemble, mount on your countertop and operate.



Although this information might be useless for most of you, I just had to pass it along in case you could find some use for it besides during canning time or perhaps a friend who may benefit from it. It would even be great for pureeing for making your own baby food too. It literally takes out only the bare minimum in waste and uses every possible part of the fruit/vegetable that is edible.



**Looking for a deal on the Sauce Master and live in the Midwest? Mills Fleet Farm has them on sale for $29.99 this week!!

Creating New Life, Nurturing Families

I've had Creating New Life, Nurturing Families by Sidney Callahan sitting in my 'to read' pile for quite a while. I've picked it up and set it down numerous times. For me, this was a tough read. Not that the content was difficult to understand, but for me the book failed to deliver what I was inclined to believe it would based on the title. I was looking for an inspiring and helpful book on family raising, motherhood and Catholic wifery. I felt that the book was put together very well and may serve well as a starting point for a new mom.

Each chapter touched on many pertinent topics such as love, marriage, sexuality, the working mom and suffering and joy. The author strung those together fairly well in showing how the woman's commitment to them shadows that of the Trinity. It also seemed to reiterate some of the most basic understandings of womanhood that I really didn't need to read another book about. Desiring more of a realistic, nitty-gritty type book on motherhood and nurturing the beauty of womanhood, I felt quite disappointed. The book also seemed to follow a more feminist view of 'God as Mother' throughout, which is not something I personally agree with and found difficult to stomach. It was also written more from a Christian standpoint or even more of a 'Catholic' with a small 'c' rather than a big and loud 'C'.

I currently have several other books on my shelf that are written with more concrete ways of encouraging and strengthening the vocation of wife and mother that I would eagerly recommend before this one. If you can put aside many of the things that I struggled with throughout my reading and you have a good foundation of theology and Church teaching, perhaps this book might work for you.


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This review was written as part of the Catholic Book Review program from The Catholic Company. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest opinion and review.

Mommy Matters: Pregnancy Workouts

(Find out more about the purpose of my Mommy Matters feature over here)

I chose to start Mommy Matters with a pregnancy related quandary. Now that I'm feeling much better and can begin to contemplate some extent of exercise beyond walking from the kitchen to the couch, I'm wondering about pregnancy workouts.

In past pregnancies I've walked several days each week outdoors and called that good. I've also done a pregnancy workout video regularly during the week. And the fact that I just wrote 'video' and not 'DVD' should pretty much tell you from what era that was produced (read: 1990's).

So, now we're at 2010 with all of its new ideas and options and I'm left stumped. I do now have Wii as an option and I have started hopping on there for some strength exercises as well as about 20 minutes of free-step (step aerobics). I did also slip in that beloved video and while it proved to be a fairly good workout, it was more of an entertainment value and I just couldn't get my mind off of their leggings and leotards (Jillian Michaels they are not, that's for sure).

In searching online and in stores, what I've found is that most of the pregnancy workouts are either Pilates or Yoga. Can I even begin to share with you how much I haven't cared for either in the past??


What have you used? What have you found that was inexpensive and effective? Feel free to leave a comment with pros/cons of a certain workout routine, specific names of DVD's or a link. Thank You!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Godchild Edition

Great-niece #4 was born almost two weeks ago and she is as precious as all of the others (which makes me wonder if I ever mentioned great-nephew #1's arrival last month?? Yes, another baby blessing entered the family this summer too!). We were honored enough to be asked to be Baby E's Godparents and we gladly accepted. She was welcomed into the Church this past Sunday.



**Photo Credits: Lily (Hence, why they are taken from a lower perspective and I look like a giant towering over the rest. I'm really not THAT tall!)

Movie Series Review

Last week at the library we stumbled upon a movie titled Secret Hideout that sparked some interest for Lily, so we decided to give it a try. We then found out that it was part of a children's series of five DVD's entitled The Sugar Creek Gang and quickly sought out more later in the week. We did find another one, Swamp Robber, but since our library didn't have the series shelved together we couldn't locate any more.

Upon further scouting and accidental stumbling we found two more episodes this week, Revival Villains and Teacher Trouble. Now we just need to locate The Great Canoe Fish to finish out the series.

Although we've viewed these movies out of order, we've still been able to piece together the whole story and enjoy them. At just a little over an hour a piece, they are easily viewed in their entirety in a sitting. I've even enjoyed them!

The series shows the highs and lows of the friendship of a group of kids, honesty, mishaps and some trouble and there's some mystery solving that the gang gets into as well. Lily's favorite characters were Circus (the only girl) and Bill (the fun-loving farm boy). She highly recommends the series for any of you that may have children that love mystery and are around the elementary school age.

Check out their website I linked above to view trailers or check if your local library has them available! I also just found out that there is a series of Sugar Creek Gang books (36 titles) available at Amazon. I might need to check those out for a certain little girl's upcoming birthday.