Baby Food Cooking...

So for now anyway I make my own baby food for Titus, it is cheaper, healthier, tastes like real food of course but not necessarily easier.  Although, it is fairly easy just not as easy as picking something off the shelf at the store.  I have a book that helps me a lot with knowing what to do and what to offer him for first stage weaning and second stage weaning called The Healthy Baby Meal Planner by Annabel Karmel. 

Here I am steaming pears, as steaming is the best way to preserve the vitamins and fresh flavor.

Here is my little food processor that I picked up at a rummage sale long before I was married!  Perfect for pureeing baby food!

And here is my ice cube tray with the pears for freezing the perfect portion size for Titus!  Just put them in a Ziploc and label and date them, will be good for 8 weeks! 

And it seriously tastes good, I always try it and if Titus doesn't finish his portion then I do because it actually tastes yummy.  So far we have done apples, sweet potato, carrots, pears and parsnip.  Parsnip looks like a white carrot and tastes like a cross between carrot and sweet potato to me.

Just Because...

I love my husband, he is so thoughtful towards me, more than I deserve.  Usually he plays basketball at our church on Saturday mornings from 7-9 just for some exercise with whoever shows up for it.  Yesterday morning they couldn't have the gym for that because of a conflicting AWANAS event for the kids, but he never told me that!  He got up early as normal for what I thought was to get ready for basketball, but I woke up a little later and found it was starting to get light out and my husband hadn't come in to give me kiss before he left as he usually does each morning before work and basketball!  Then I started to smell something good coming through the top and floor cracks of our door and I could hear something sizzling!  Then I heard our son start waking up and I thought "should I go out there since Tom is busy cooking?"  Well I continued to hear Titus cry and wasn't sure if Tom was getting him up or not so I did go out and found that he was not in the kitchen and found this delicious looking breakfast with a rose was coming together.  So I slipped back into bed and waited for my delighted husband to bring me our son to be fed.  And he did along with something to feed me!  So sweet!

Does this count for sitting mom?

Titus loves sitting on his bottom like this now!  This is his favorite spot to sit too, next to "his" pot in front of the entertainment center glass.  He can see someone in there (his favorite reflection) and bang on "his" pot.  Man once he started crawling he is just catching on to everything, sitting so his legs help balance him, pulling himself up to stand and now just in the last few minutes he seems to be waiving at us?!  Not sure if that is really happening cuz mommy is terrible at showing him to do that but that is what it seems like he is doing to both Tom and I.  He is getting his third tooth this last week to, all three on the bottom.  Makes his smile even more cute.

Top 10 Fun Games!

So Tom and I love to play cards and board games along with other kinds of games that don't include cards or boards (see list below)!  I thought I would share with you some of our favorite games because sometimes it is hard to find games that you can play with only 2 people, all of these you can play with more than 2 people also.  We registered for games when we got married, that is how much we love to play them and we got quit a few too!

10. Sequence -an exciting game of strategy with cards and chips.
9. Scrabble Slam -FAST-playing, CARD-slapping, WORD-changing FUN!
  and/or Scrabble Crossword Game the original.
8. In a Pickle -the what's in a word game.
7. ruk-shuk -the game of rock balancing.
6. Farkel -the classic Dice-Rolling, Risk-Taking Game.
5. Mille Bornes -The Classic Auto Race Card Game.
4. Blink -The World's Fastest Card Game!
3. Monopoly Deal -Fun, Fast Dealing...Every Card Counts Game!
2. Carcassonne -a simple, clever tile laying game, that brings new challenges with every turn.  You can also buy expansion sets to play with the original set which brings even more fun and excitement!  I have been stuck on this one lately with Tom!
1. Cribbage -is a card game that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points.  This game was taught to Tom and I by the same couple long before we ever started dating and it continues to be one of our favorite games to play together.

At the Sound of Your Great Name

This is a new song out by one of my favorite artist, Natalie Grant, and I love it!  The words are so powerful and yet simple because they speak of the profound Truths about Jesus because His Name is Great.  Read carefully and as soon as it is on playlist, you will hear it on here.

[Verse 1:]

Lost are saved; find their way; at the sound of your great name
All condemned; feel no shame, at the sound of your great name
Every fear; has no place; at the sound of your great name
The enemy; he has to leave; at the sound of your great name

[Chorus:]
Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up; that all the world will praise your great name

[Verse 2:]
All the weak; find their strength; at the sound of your great name
Hungry souls; receive grace; at the sound of your great name
The fatherless; they find their rest; at the sound of your great name
Sick are healed; and the dead are raised; at the sound of your great name

[Chorus:]
Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up; that all the world will praise your great name

[Bridge:]
Redeemer, My Healer, Almighty
My savior, Defender, You are My King

[Chorus:]
Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up; that all the world will praise your great name

33 Weeks and Crawling!

I decided to rename our blog because I think the title with the description subtitle fits us more appropriately. I either write about Titus or the fish my dear husband catches..... both which bring me much joy and whom I am very grateful to our great God for! Let me know what you think of it vs the old one.

So Friday evening Titus started crawling pretty confidently. It is interesting cuz it is slow and steady and you almost don't know if it is really happening. I usually text our family as soon as he does something new in his milestones but I waited til Saturday to make sure he was going to keep doing it! He still army crawls sometimes but I think he likes his new found ability! We are so excited and wanted to share it with you all!   There is sound, so you will want to scroll to bottom of page first to pause music so you can enjoy!

Ice Fishing happenings....

Tom went ice fishing yesterday with our good friend Brian Blevins.

His morning started at 4:00 am to get going on the road a couple hours to Georgetown Lake, where they would begin their hunt for some nice rainbow trout. Their limit was 5 a piece and Brian got his limit while Tom got 4, 3 others had gotten away on him! They left around 12 noon to head back home with their lovely catches. We had dinner with Daisy and her lil monkeys and enjoyed some of our fresh fish. Mmmmm.

Changes....

What a blessing it is to be able to be home with Titus as he grows through all of these precious stages. I finally felt after about 6 1/2 months to get a routine down that makes both of us happy. That seems kind of long to me to catch on but at least it isn't longer is all I figure. He takes a good nap in the morning and then usually a good one in the afternoon, sometimes those ones are shorter than I would like but at least he takes one routinely. I still need to work on my time management skills with actually getting some things done around the house on a more routine basis, but that is coming and hopeful since he does take a couple naps.

I momentarily stopped going to BSF because of our car situation and I really want Titus to be crawling before I put him in the children's program there. But the car situation is close to being completely worked out and more details will be coming once it is final! Thank you to any of you who have been praying for that situation for us.


Titus is very close to crawling, he will get in the position and either rock back and forth or he will actually take a few strides and then fall to his belly!


He is almost learning two things at once, it is funny to see how it all works because I would have thought sitting up would come first. But they are kind of coming at the same time, he does this all the time now, soon he will realize he can plop himself up and over onto his bottom.


Mealtimes... he loves the spoon and wants to grab it and do it himself all the time. Right now he loves his rice cereal and we are working on sweet potatoes and apples and carrots.

If you're a $ saver.....

....it would be worth checking out this site!

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu17989517

I am just getting signed up myself, but this is a friends testimony who loves Groupon....

"Basically, they offer one or two coupons per day for local businesses that are usually about 50% off. Occasionally, they also offer national Groupons. Redbox did a Groupon in December- as if $1 for a movie rental isn’t cheap enough- 3 movies for $1. And a few weeks after signing up they sent an email with $5 off the next Groupon purchase."- M.O.

If you want to sign up for Groupon, click the link I have provided please.

BABIES!

http://www.focusfeatures.com/video/babies_the_trailer

This movie is very interesting, being able to see how differently cultures can raise their babies from each other! I would recommend it to anyone who is a mother or going to be one! It does have some what I would call "mom nudity" because well, you will see from the trailer.

A Tribute to My Grandpa

My Grandpa passed away this last Thursday, January 6th, surrounded by his loving family. I am glad we were just back there to visit and Titus and I and my dad went to visit him at the Senior Care facility where he was residing. He really enjoyed Titus and thought he was a "solid little guy" and enjoyed holding him. I have a lot of memories of my Grandpa working hard on his farm and always going to church, he was a faithful Catholic. In some of his last hours my mom was alone with him and she had text me that he was struggling with breathing. His kidneys were shutting down and he had a blood infection and I was wondering if he was feeling fearful in those moments of unknown. The Lord led me to tell my mom to ask the hospital staff for a Bible to read to him and He gave me some chapters in Psalms to tell her to read to him, Psalm 23 and 46. She got to read them to him and she told me that he liked Psalm 23. They said that when the time came he did go nice and peacefully. The following is an excerpt from his obituary that I think shows that dedication he had to his work and his family.

Harry A. Berning

Harry was born on the Henry Berning family farm in rural Galena, on Dec. 5, 1923, the son of Henry and Helena (Kaiser) Berning. He married Joan Peacock on Sept. 4, 1950 at St. Mary's Church and the couple recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
He attended Vinegar Hill School, St. Mary's Catholic School and graduated from Galena High School in 1941. As a lifetime member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, he was an altar server until the age of 26, a member of the St. Mary's Choir for 50 years, the Holy Name Society and parish council. Proving himself to be an innovative farmer, Harry implemented a computerized feeding system for his dairy herd, the first such system in the area in 1972. Always a good steward of farmland, Harry practiced conservation techniques ahead of his time. Harry shared his passion for farming with others through his involvement as president of Jo Daviess Service Company and passed on his love of farming to his children, six sons and one daughter. Harry Berning was a "Ford" tractor man! Having tended to outdoor farm animals all those years on the farm, he more recently enjoyed his special housecat "Sweetie". Harry enjoyed many years of Thursday night bowling league. He and Joan were members of a couple's euchre club for 50 years. In retirement years they spent winters in Zephyr Hills, Fla., where they made new friendships in a variety of activities. Harry loved his family, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As a balance of work and family, he spent many Sunday outings together with his loved ones.
Harry's farewell to his visitors was always "keep a song in your heart and a smile on your face".

Please be praying for my Grandma, I can't imagine how it would feel to loose Tom after just almost 18 months of marriage, let alone 60+ years. Your life companion is gone and you expected to spend the rest of YOUR LIFE with them, hoping you would go before them. It makes me sad for her to think about that.

As for me, I am doing pretty good with it, he lived a very long good life of 87 years. I trust God as a loving and just God. I am just sad for my dad and my aunt Mary in particular out of all the kids. They are whom I'm closest too and I know that I never want my parents to die myself but "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die....A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;"- Ecclesiastes 3:1,2 & 4

Happy New Years!

We have adopted a New Years Day tradition from one of our friends, the Wiggins. This is our fourth year going sledding, they introduced it to us before we started dating, what were they thinking?! XOXOXO! Anyway generally we go somewhere in the woods along Hwy 12 to go sledding and then build a campfire to cook hot dogs on and smores and bring hot cocoa! And then play games later that evening. Well the first year they invited us separately, not as a couple, we did just that with them and their two girls and it was very fun. The next year they didn't go I think because they had a 2 month old son, so we went, this time engaged, and took Mia and Sior with us and my old roommate and her fiance but we couldn't get a fire going that year. Last year we went, married and pregnant with the Wiggins, it was the first day I felt Titus move! And Tom's brother also came with Zowee, his daughter. And we took Mia and Sior too. But we went all the way up to Lolo Pass thinking the warming hut would be open up there in case the kids got cold but it wasn't because the holiday was on a Friday. This year the Wiggins were out of town for the holidays, so we went with another family, the Tuinstras' and took Mia and Sior and it was so cold and not supposed to get any warmer than like 4 degrees I think! So we found a place in town to go, on Spurgin Rd. & Tower St., and it was a pretty good hill for the kids and Titus got to go down the hill with dad once! Mia talked me into rolling down the hill with her without me even thinking about it and I got so dizzy and wondered as I am rolling out of control if I am going to hit my head and get a concussion and make a trip to the hospital! But we both felt nauseous afterwards and I won't be doing that again! And Titus stayed very warm in his long underwear, smartwool socks, fleece jacket, hat and mittens, jogging pants and this big layette that makes him look like a teddy bear, thanks Christy!

It was a blast and I think Titus will really enjoy it as he gets older! What does your family like to do on New Years?

And one more just for laughs!**

Auntie Becky got this Piggy Bank* for Titus. When you drop money in or push a button in it's foot it squeals and flaps it's ears. Very funny and cute and Titus wasn't even scared of it the first time we did it cuz it is probably as loud in person as if you turn your sound all the way up! He loves it but is quit distracted by mommy videoing him and the pig.

**This is my first video post so I hope it plays for everyone. You will have to pause the music to hear it.

*Donations accepted! Lol!

Some of our favorite gifts!

*If your gift isn't on here it doesn't mean we don't appreciate you, it only loads five pics at a time and that alone takes about a half hour!


Can't go wrong with gift cards! Thanks Emily & Hannah, Stephanie, Gammie & Pappa, Tim & Lynn and Fred & Carolyn.


Daisy got us matching mugs made at Costco with our family pics!


Toms parents got me my favorite kind of socks, Smartwool! They have great temperature regulation for summer and winter, moisture management and odor control!


The Cross' got Titus a Fisher-Price LittlePeople Manger scene! Perfect, our first official manger scene and he can play with it! You push the angel down and the star lights up and you hear "Away in a Manger".


And we got our first family ornament from our friend Sarah Carrier. I love it! Look at "my" eyes looking at "Tom" and "Titus" is so cute.

Our Christmas Tree

Titus enjoying his gift from great aunt Sharon. He opened his gifts from Toms' parents and her Christmas evening.


Our tree was the perfect size for the ornaments I have gathered over the years as gifts and so on.

Christmas with the Cross', Christmas Day!

Christmas Day we opened our own gifts in the morning which was basically what we got from Toms' parents and his aunt Sharon. I had gotten Tom a stocking stuffer myself but we were just thankful to have our healthy family and we do have to get Titus a new car seat soon along with a high chair so we are saving our money for that. Besides the fact that we have to figure out something for a second car as mine is still broken.

Anyway later in the day we went over to the Cross' to exchange gifts and enjoy their company and more yummy food! Smoked turkey and lots of goodies on the side and I took the pumpkin dump cake which everyone loved! You got to make it if you haven't, see December posts, super easy and yummy.

I did experience my first accident with Titus! I was headed down the steps with him on my one side and lost my footing and ended up bouncing down the steps on my bottom with Titus in my arms! It was scary and I kind of yelled out and scared him even more and he started crying and then I sat at the bottom of steps and started crying because I just realized how dangerous it could have been for him! I had a couple bruises but he was ok and I think everyone else in the house was very scared once they heard him start crying! It made for a good laugh later thou cuz I couldn't get the image of myself bouncing down the steps out of my head and Lauren and her fiance, Jason, were down there and could have saw it but she says she didn't see much of it.


Titus loved the candle light that great uncle Andy found him to suck on!


2nd cousin Heidi with Titus with his new winter fleece hat from the Cross'.

Christmas with the Sells', Christmas Eve!

We went over to Daisy and kids' to exchange gifts with them on Christmas Eve and enjoy some yummy food! She had gotten corn chowder and clam chowder and a jalapeno artichoke dip with chips and I brought my homemade rolls! Mmmm so yummy and she knows me so well, those are some of my favorite soups! Her kids have seriously adopted Titus as their cousin as Daisy always tells me, which is fine with us! We enjoyed some time with them before we went to the Christmas Eve service up at our church which always is so beautiful, it always ends with every person lighting a candle and the whole room is dark and all you see is that beautiful candlelight as you all sing together "Away in a Manger!"


Daisy with all the kiddos, L to R, Lilli (3yr), Mia (7yr), Sior (5yr), Daisy (ageless) with Titus (6mths) and Penny (3yr). I love Titus' Christmas outfit, we actually got that at his baby shower and it fit perfect even though it is 9 mth size!


Tom with the kiddos.


Me with the kiddos.


Mia enjoying her new makeup bag with some makeup goodies in it and her smartwools from uncle Tom and auntie Carrie. Our gift to the kids this year was all a pair of smartwools! Lol!


Sior always enjoys his play time thoroughly with his uncle Tom.

Christmas Tree Hunting!

So we had temporarily lost our camera for almost a week before we found it and now I am trying to catch up on posting here!

Tom was determined to go find a Christmas Tree for us even if it meant getting it and decorating it on Christmas Eve! We wanted to make it a family affair but we were going to visit some special people on Christmas Eve and Titus needed his nap while mommy wrapped some gifts so Tom recruited one of the high school guys to go with him, thanks Nels for your help in finding the first Johnson family Christmas Tree! Last year we actually didn't put one up, our apartment is kind of small, so therefore our tree is kind of small but not quiet Charlie Brownish.


The brute strength of Nels Tate!


My Grizzly Adams!


Finding the perfect tree actually up Miller Creek Road just near the spot were we got engaged 2 years and 1 day to the date of the picture!