I Captured a Sign of Spring!

I was so excited to look out our living room window yesterday and see a whole flock of these beautiful Bluebirds making their way through our gully!  This picture doesn't do it justice as to how blue they really are!  So beautiful!

Oh I thought I should write on the fishing day from last week! Tom did not get any pics cuz it was kind of cloudy and rainy from what I heard. Another guy that went with did get some pics but we have yet to see them. He said that surprisingly the day was really slow, 2 other guys went with him and 1 of them got skunked! Tom caught his limit but ended up throwing one back cuz it was smaller than the other 4, significantly I would guess. And Wayne caught his limit too but it took them both all day to get their limit, that is how slow it was. He also said that there were tons of people there fishing besides them so I'm sure that contributed to the slowness.

I also sold my car exactly a week after listing it on Craigslist!  So happy about that!  It went for $450 and off to Helena!  I waived goodbye as it rode off on a trailer!

The Big Catch!

I am so excited because today Tom is on his annual Spring fishing day to never never gonna tell ya land to catch his tasty limit of 5 BIG trout!  They don't even have to wade in the waters at this place they go, they just catch them from the bank!  I have already invited my parents to join him for next year but if anyone ever wants to come to Montana for Easter and participate in this special fishing day, let me know!  Tom had started teaching a student in youth group some casting techniques for fly fishing and was hoping to take him along today because he said it is the perfect opportunity for him to know how it feels to catch them and all that jazz.  But that shows how easy it is where they go cuz the fish are spawning!  So hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post some pics.

Titus is now working on getting his 7th tooth in!  He is so sweet and handsome, that boy just melts my heart!  He has the cutest grin and giggles!  He's beginning to test his climbing abilities!  Sounds like some stories I have heard about his dad!  He loves music whether it is at church or we are listening and dancin in the living room to some of moms favorite artists.  He is finally just about over his cold, I have been bathing him every night to help him get rid of those icky germs and still drinking my 'great tasting' Emergen-C, I think I like the Raspberry flavor the best!  The nurse also suggested to make some saline solution drops for his nose which has helped a lot!  But other than that she said there isn't a whole lot to do at this age for them other than what I'm already doing.  He has been happy and playful and without fevers pretty much the whole time he has been sick.

Titus also LOVES it when mommy reads to him, each morning we read about 4 books right before he goes back down for a nap and he has become mommy's big helper and he turns the pages for me!  I LOVE IT!  So cute!  He also LOVES it when daddy practices walking with him, he likes to do that every night when daddy gets home from work.

Well here is the picture of 'our big catch' for Titus!  It is so nice and rides so smoothly!  Right now we just have the jogging kit attachment for it and Titus seems to love it so far!  Much more roomier than his regular stroller was.  This summer we want to get the cycling kit for it so that we can not only do lots of biking with him but we would love to do the Route of the Hiawatha with my family when they come to visit in July.  The adjustable suspension system for the weight of the passenger(s) is such a great feature too!  And the storage bag in the back can hold up to 8.8 lbs. which will be nice when we go to the local farmers/peoples market this summer!  We picked the 'avocado' color thinking that would best match our bikes plus they carry the red one in the store and we see that one everywhere!

Well I best be going, think I might have my car sold!  Got a response yesterday after putting it on Craiglist Saturday and she seems pretty interested after I sent her some pics!  Pray for that please!

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.

17 Months Today And Fish?

Wayne, our good friend, with a Brook Trout, couldn't keep those!


Tom with all the fish that he and Wayne caught together! Now all missing theirs heads and guts and soon to be in our freezer! Yummy.


Well today has been 17 months since Tom and I said "I do." The day started with Tom getting up early, like 5:00 am, to get ready to go ice fishing @ 5:30 for the day with a friend of ours for trout and salmon! He was doing his "hunting and gathering" for us. I on the other hand had plans to sleep in a little, spend some time with my aunt putting up Christmas decorations at their house and then babysitting our little Jayce buddy while his sisters and parents went to enjoy the new Narnia movie (#3) in the theater. Well I didn't really sleep in, Titus woke just after 6 this morning and mommy was planning on trying to get him to take a bottle today so that maybe while we are home in IL my mom can watch him while we go to enjoy the Narnia movie ourselves. Well since he woke up earlier than I anticipated I was trying to get a bottle ready of my own milk while he was crying in his crib :( Then he screamed the whole time (15 minutes) that I tried to give him the bottle. I tried again a little later in morning, still cried, not as bad but mom was heart broken and I am not trying that again! After his morning nap, we headed over to my aunts and on the way I had to get gas and figured out I left my wallet at home! Yikes, so I got back to the pump and I got a call that the babysitting was cancelled because one of Jayce's sisters had been a little under the weather for unknown reasons and they felt one of them should stay home with her and Jayce instead of Titus and I.

So I spent the day over at my aunts and had fun. Later this afternoon I got a text from Tom that they had gotten 55 salmon! There is no limit on the Salmon where they went but a limit of 5 trout per person, which they only got 1 trout! But awesome anyway! So I headed home after a short visit with my Grandpa on Skype with my aunt, which was sweet! When I got home Titus just wanted to cry the whole time and I couldn't figure out what was wrong and he refused to nurse, which NEVER happens with him. So after much agony of trying everything and starting to worry something was seriously wrong because his tongue had been sticking out all day in a way he hasn't done before, Tom said to try some Orajel! Well I didn't think it would help because I couldn't see or feel any teeth coming in, well, he almost instantly started nursing and fell asleep like the sweet baby he is.

Got to show you these pics though before we leave for IL! Only 41 hours till I see my family!

And I decided to make a playlist of "love" songs to be able to put on here when it is our anniversary! I was listening to some of our honeymoon cds today we had made for us by my cousin Lauren and one of our other good friends. Sometimes it is so sweet to reminisce.

2 1/2 Weeks Already

Titus and Grandma Mary, he is sporting his new Griz hat that he got at his shower from auntie Nessie & auntie Zoe! How very cute!

Time is flying by quickly, I can't believe Titus is already close to 3 weeks old. We had a nice shower on the 19Th thrown for us, lots of people came and even more had dropped by gifts for Titus. He made out with a lot of loot there!! Thanks to any of you who came :) It was very nice and lots of fun, I was nervous being a new mom and all and being around so many people. My aunt Mary had just made it back to MT the night before from her visit back to IL to see our family and so her and Heidi came and it was both their first time seeing Titus. Heidi had been sick when he was born and couldn't come to the hospital to visit. That was good though, I had her hold him the whole time because I didn't really want him passed around like he's a toy. I will admit that I am kind of paranoid about germs when it comes to him and I think visits at home are much better than large crowds of people because if one person holds him then everyone else will want to get in on it. Anyway enough about that.
My parents made it here on Sunday and their visit has been really enjoyable. I try to let my mom hold him whenever I can which is when he isn't nursing or we are not eating ourselves. I can tell she just really enjoys him and is so happy to finally have a boy in our family. Today Mary actually took them over to Helena to fish for the day, it is beautiful out and the fish are really biting over there on Canyon Ferry Lake I guess. Hope they bring some home, I can never get enough fish to eat.
Well Tom is back to work this week and Titus and I miss him like crazy but I had kind of gotten a little preview of what it would be like here all by myself with Titus the day of my shower. He had gone fishing from 7am to around 8pm and my parents were not here yet. He thought he would be home around 5 but they just kept catching them and I was okay! It was good for him to get out of the house, after two weeks of being home and waiting on me hand and foot and more because he is such a great husband, I was happy for him to get out and enjoy the outdoors doing something else that he loves to do.
Little Titus gets circumcised on this Friday, please pray that it goes well. I of course am a little nervous because I heard how it is done and I am not sure if I will be able to watch or not. I guess they have to strap their legs down which makes sense, you wouldn't want the scalpel blade to cut something it shouldn't but can you imagine. Ugh.

Tom also caught 3 salmon up there too and got to bring them all home because the Olsen's' didn't want any! Mmmmoooorrrreeee for us, we already ate them with Mom and Dad off the grill the other night.

While Titus and I were at our shower, this is the fish Daddy caught with Andy Olsen and his dad with their boat up on Salmon Lake near Seeley, MT. This is the Pike they caught and Tom got to bring 4 of them home. Mmmmmm.

Titus loves getting burped by Daddy, some good "guy time". Sometimes when Titus is fussy we use the exercise ball to bounce him while we hold him and Daddy is the pro at this job too.

His Abundance

I am so excited about Toms fishing trip today, I just have to let you all see the sweet way God provides some great fish for us. Mmmmmm. His brother, Kevin, and a friend of ours, Wayne Benson, and he went fishing again this spring (today at one of Toms traditional spots to go in the Spring (this is his 3rd yr going) and between the three of them they brought home 15 fish! They are whopper trouts, 2 to over 4 lbs. and about 20 inches long! Last year he and Wayne and another friend had brought home 11 and we fed our rehearsal dinner with them and still had some left to eat later in the year. They caught them fly fishing from the shore, I am so impressed by my husband, he is a good provider for me and lil muffin. I am so excited to sink my teeth in, Tom is preparing one now! Gotta go :)