Wow! Hello December!

Man alive, I have gotten terrible at keeping up with the blog and I blame Facebook!  I apologize for those of you who actually may enjoy reading this and I have not posted recently!

Our family is doing great, all is pretty much healthy besides the normal cold here and there!  Titus and I both have that right now but that is minor compared to dealing with health issues on a daily basis.  Tom's work at Allegiance is going well, he just changed shifts again from 7-4 to now 6-3pm!  He is still adjusting to this change, his lunch is now at 10am and I don't think he feels like he is actually hungry at that time for a 'lunch'.  And usually Titus is napping at that time so he can no longer come home for lunch otherwise 99% of the time it wakes Titus up early from his much needed nap. 

Titus just reached the 18 month mark and will have a well baby check on Monday!  I am actually in the process of weaning him right now!  Since about a year of age I would say, he has only been nursing first thing in morning and then naps and bedtime (4 times a day) but since this last Saturday I have only nursed him twice a day and yesterday I tried to get away with no nursing at all but he was very upset at his nap time in the morning with this and therefore no nap occurred!  Today so far a success, no nursing and nap is being enjoyed right now!  We will see!  I am excited at the possibility of being free of that but sad too because that means he is growing up that much more and needs his mommy for one less thing.  But I think emotionally for him is it better now than to wait from things I have heard from other moms who have continued past 18 months.

Titus is getting two more teeth in, making it 14 teeth now!  He looks more and more everyday like a little boy and no longer a baby.  And he has an arm on him and loves to 'play catch' the best an 18 month old knows how!  He loves gadgets and electronics and the toilet right now.  Thankfully he has yet to flush anything down it but he loves watching the swirl of the flush!  He continues to love his bath time and splashing mommy or daddy as much as possible!  And he loves climbing anywhere he can get!

Our Thanksgiving was eventful!  We were expecting to spend it alone or with maybe some college students  who had no where to go since Tom's parents already planned with us to come for Christmas!  But what was going to be their trip to WA to spend with their other son and his family turned into all coming to Missoula for a better part of their trip to spend with us and my sister-in-laws family who lives in Lolo and Bozeman!  It all worked out and was much fun for Titus with his cousins, aunt, uncle, grandparents and others and we will get to see the grandparents for Christmas again!  It would be nice to see my parents for Christmas and the invitation is there but I don't think they will make it considering the long drive on possibly very scary roads!  I have to admit that I felt very upset when I found out that one side of the family was getting us for both major holidays and felt that no one had thought about how I would feel about that.  But the Lord calmed those angry feelings one day and although I wasn't really looking forward to Thanksgiving it went a lot better than I expected and all the things that I get very anxious about when it comes to in-laws never really transpired.  Which I keep finding that 90% of the time that is the case, all my anxiety is for nothing!  Praise God for that!

Anyway I think that is all for now!  Hope you enjoy some of the new pics and music I changed out on the blog!  We have a snow covering here in Montana, how is the weather where you are?  

The Anniversary Evening and Other Things...

Well we ended up going out for dinner at the Mustard Seed Restaurant here in town, it is Asian style.  Very good food and great company!  I am very grateful for Tom's job at Allegiance, not only does it provide good enough for our family that I can stay home with Titus but it provides great benefits for us including a gift card on his birthday for a nice place to eat like that!  Titus seemed to love his babysitter once again!  To end our night we watched our wedding video with him and then after he went to bed, we enjoyed a game of cribbage, which Tom beat me at!  (He also beat me on my birthday!)

This was the dessert we shared, Chocolate Cloud Cake, a flour less cake dessert, mmmm so yummy!

We went camping back in mid June and I never shared our experience.  We had been planning to camp up on one of the lakes near Seeley, MT, there are many different lakes up there with campsites.  We were planning this little outing with my friend Daisy and her four children but one of them came down with a cough and so we moved out camping expedition to her backyard here in Missoula!  She has one of those off the ground fire pits and so we were still able to cook hot dogs on the fire and have smores later, but since we were at her house we also got to enjoy a rhubarb strawberry pie that I made there!  Mmmm so yummy!  Her and her two oldest kids slept outside in their huge tent, the twins were just not going to to sleep so they got sent inside to sleep.  And Tom and Titus and I slept in our two man tent.  I was worried about Titus getting cold so I put him in this "layette" thing that makes him look like a fluffy teddy bear complete with his pj's and wool socks!  He slept well and stayed warm but he could not move around in this thing if he wanted!  So about 3 am rolls around and he is starting to try to move and I am trying to help him without waking him up but that did not work!  He was wide awake for about an hour, "talking" to us and slapping our faces and laughing and then I finally got him back to sleep.  But I took him out of that thing and he actually slept out from under our sleeping bags for the most part up by our heads and he stayed perfectly warm!  I was surprised but I think it helps for sure to have a smaller tent for the heat rather than a big one for space.

Here is the little teddy bear fast asleep in the tent by himself, while we are enjoying the smores!

Hiking Adventures!

Fourth of July weekend we did a hike down in the Bitterroots just past Hamilton called the Sawtooth Trail.  It was very pretty, Tom says it was about 6 miles round trip, and a lot of it was along a creek which was so beautiful and when our trail would go along the creek it would be cool temperatures from like our knees down and felt so good in the hot warm sun.  Lots of the trail was shaded but still warm.  Our intention was to hike into a pond so that Tom could fish and catch us some trout for a late lunch.  Well you have to cross the creek towards the end, about 1/2 mile, from the pond and the crossing log had been washed away!  So Tom tried fishing the creek in that area where we were supposed to cross and had caught one small one but otherwise no luck.  He thought about keeping it just to show Titus but he didn't want to waste a fish.

Titus did ok on this hike, it was a little bit long I think and we also had to drive about 1 hr and a half just to get there!  So overall I would say he did good for his first long hike!

In the lot before we left, Titus' first exploration of sand and gravel!  He was so cute playing in the "dirt".

Titus and Daddy with his fly rod!

Some of the raging creek, so nice and beautiful.  Titus had fallen asleep on the way in and I think this is where he got disturbed from the raging of the water, he was not a happy hiker then!

Titus loves clapping, he had just discovered it that weekend!  We were in a little 'camping' site here eating some snacks that thankfully were packed while we were waiting for our fisherman to catch us good one!  Better fishing next time!

This last weekend we went up the Morrell Falls up in Seeley Lake, MT.  Titus did really well for this hike and was even playing with, ok pulling, Mommy's hair on our way back out!  He did not complain at all unless he was hungry.  This hike is 5 miles round trip and has a beautiful waterfall at the end of it!  This hike is very easy, only about a 250 ft. elevation gain on it, if you have not been there, you need to go!  The waterfall cascades and is 200 ft. total but you only see about 90 ft. of it because of the cascading.  Still so beautiful and it was very cool in there from the mist of the falls!  Little Titus' lips and hands were purple but he didn't care!

We could not get Titus to look at the camera, the falls were just to exciting for him!

We also took my cousin Nate basically on the spur of the moment with us, he hadn't been there since he was in a backpack himself and I bribed him by telling him the falls were 900 ft.!  Whoops!  Before we left I got out my day hike book and found out that I was mistaken!

Mommy and Titus on the creek crossing bridge, clapping!

My Birthday!

It was a great day full of nice things!  I love all my days with my son, they are so precious to me!  I had made some great banana bread on Tuesday night to enjoy for breakfast yesterday!  I love banana bread, I save old over ripe bananas just for it to make the moistest bread possible.  Then my aunt Mary wanted to get together for lunch, she picked up some pizza from one of the best places in town for pizza, MacKenzie River Pizza, a small franchise with locations in Montana and Idaho.  We enjoyed that at her house with Nathan & Josie too, a couple of my cousins! 

Last night we lined up babysitters for Titus so we could go on a childless date for my birthday.  I did feel selfish not taking my own son on my birthday date but I was nervous about his night despite that he is a year old now.  This was the first babysitter we have had for him at our house, usually it has been at a friends house with 3 or 4 kids around him to play.  But we enjoyed a full 2 hour date without any interruptions!  When we got home we did not hear any crying coming from the windows that were open in our apartment and when we opened the door Titus was right there surprised to find us!  The report was that he cried for like 2 seconds after we left and then he was fine.  The girls (Morgan & Meagan McKee) even gave him a bath for us!  We had said they could, it was his bath night after all and we thought it could be a good distraction for him if he was fussing cuz he loves his baths.  And when they left he followed them to the door and cried!  Ha!  I love it, God always surprises me with the answers to our prayers!

Our date pic, thanks mom and dad for the gift for our birthdays to go out & get a babysitter!

Our scrumptious Mascarpone Bread Pudding dessert we shared!

My gift from Tom's parents, now I am most prepared for making my jewelry so place an order!  I have a facebook page found under "Adorned With Your Little Blessings" or use the link to my business blog found under "Blogs and Sites We Follow" below!

My gifts from my wonderful husband, lovin this new CD and he got me a gift certificate for Arbonne, I love their facial cleanser & moisturizer among other things when I have the $!

My best friend Daisy has the best taste for mugs!  I love this, it is not only pottery which I love but is huge (over 16 oz.) and has a handle built into it!  Sweet huh?

A Family Picnic Date & Rest of Weekend!

It has been so nice to have Tom back home from his trip to Wilsall, MT with the high school youth group.  Which by the way, they had a very good trip there and God did some great things through them.  The students led VBS there all week at the Wilsall Community Church, teaching the story of Daniel with storyboard form.  I think the all time high attendance for the kids was around 30, quit a difference from ours here but Wilsall is a much smaller town.  In the evenings they did different community service things and they even got to go work on a ranch there and their entertainment at the ranch after the work was all done was shooting gophers!  How about that for a missions trip adventure?!  Love it!

But I survived 5 nights without my love and so did Titus, although we missed him very much and at one point when Tom called, he was good and called everyday, Titus I think cried most of the phone call cuz I would have it on speaker so that he too could "talk" to daddy.  We are glad he is back indeed!  This weekend we just relaxed and went to our annual church picnic on Saturday and I took a hot out of the oven Strawberry/Rhubarb pie with even a homemade crust!  I am loving making those lately, it is so easy and quick to do.  Then yesterday we went on a picnic up on Mt. Jumbo, Tom made us some turkey, bacon & avocado sandwiches to enjoy and we packed some snacks for Titus too and even some toys for him to enjoy.  I think he loved it, he has really loved the backpack experience so far!  I think we will be trying it at the Saturday markets with him, he loves his jogging stroller but not there for some reason, I think there is too many people around or something and he wants to see them all and not be down in a stroller?

Our little picnic area on the Mt. Jumbo saddle.

Also yesterday, Titus and I got to go meet one of my old MVC co-workers new baby!  She is so sweet and tiny and beautiful, what a treat!  Titus was having a hoot with her 3 cats and really busy trying to get into everything!  He also got jealous while mommy was holding the baby and threw his first fit on the floor when mommy had passed baby Jaylin to her mommy and then I picked him up before I realized that I wanted a picture of her and her baby.  Well I set him down and the next thing I know he is laying on the floor crying!  Wow!  So it begins, teaching him the right reaction and behavior, God give us wisdom on this!

Jaylin Joan Watson 7lbs. 14oz., 20 in. long, June 21st @ 9:39 pm.

She is so cute and precious and tiny and 5 days old here!  Makes me want a second one!

This was the kitty Titus wanted to chase around, it has it's summer do on!  Got shaved most likely for the hot summer so his tail looked like a fluffy cotton tail at the end of it!

This poor kitty had to flee for it's life, Titus seriously cracked up when he found it here, it was so funny!

Beautiful new momma Janiece and baby Jaylin!  Her name is combo of Janiece and her mom, grandma Linda, isn't that precious!  Her onsie says "Mommy adores me", um who wouldn't? 

Our first bicycle ride!

We did our first family bicycle ride on Saturday!  REI is having their anniversary sale this week and we got the cycling kit on sale for our Child Transport System just in time for summer and to practice up for when my family visits in July!  We want to do the Route of the Hiawatha then with my parents, sisters, and nieces!  That trail is 15 miles long but very easy as it is an old railroad route, so it has many tunnels and trestles along the way!

We just did a 8 mile loop from our place around the Miller Creek area!  Tom thought this was only like a 4 mile loop, but we checked it yesterday in the car and it was 8!  My guess was at least 5 miles but I was wrong too.  Titus did pretty good, he got crabby a little over halfway through I would say, but he wasn't too bad.

Daddy did the harder job!  Although he said it was pretty easy.

Who is that little man, eatin his snacks?

This was along the road, I thought it would be cool to get a pic!

Walking, Climbing & Much More!

More and more I know I am really enjoying my time at home as a full time mom.  Titus is just growing into this fun little boy and he is so precious in so many ways.  His smile is precious, his personality is precious, his learning capabilities are precious, his tender heart is precious and his spirit is precious.  Thank You Father for such a precious child to call my own for the time he is here on this earth.  May I be faithful to nurture his heart into a young boy who loves You in every way.  He has already shown concern for others, when we are around other children and they get hurt or start crying for other reasons, he goes to them and seems as though he is curious as to whether they are okay.  I just love watching his interaction with others, he is very curious and ready to "play" with others.  Makes his mama's heart just melt.

Daddy captured a great smile that I wanted to share with you all!  He has 8 teeth!

My cousin Heidi just graduated from Valley Christian High School here in Missoula last Sunday and this was a toy that my uncle put out for the kids to play with, his old set of roping horns!  Titus loved it, notice the verse reference on the "ear tag".

At 49 weeks, last Saturday, Titus started taking his first steps!  Every time we would get out the video he would resort to crawling!  He is doing it more everyday, I WILL catch him with my video eye!

Trying to get him to balance to walk on his own at the dance following the graduation party!  A first ever Valley related dance, woohoo go Valley!  Daddy dressed him for church that day!  Can you tell?  Mom picked the shirt out at the store though!

We did our first backpack hike last night!  Very awesome!  We went up to the "L", only 1 1/2 mile round trip and elevation gain of 500 ft.!  It was much easier than the time we did it last year just after I had Titus!  It was a breeze compared to what I remember then!

"L" stands for my Love and Lil Muffin in my opinion!  Ha!  Titus loved the backpack, he was just "chatting" away and enjoying his snacks mommy brought him!  I was shocked, he did much better than the first time we tried it, course he was much smaller then.

The view of good ol Missoula from the "L".

Some beautiful wildflowers we saw on our hike included the Indian Paintbrush!

Titus missing his oldest cousin, Gracie!  He was "chatting" away at her pic and loving the frame she is in.

Can you say "spider man!"  He climbs up on the rocking chair himself and then decides he wants to go for the speaker and climbs the back of the chair!  Yes, he does know the word "No!" already but I wanted to get a pic of it first!

My Handsome Boy!

It has been a little while since I wrote last, but I joined the whole Facebook scene and have been reconnecting with people from way back on there.  I was so against the whole thing for a while obviously but I figured that if I really want to reconnect with people and stay connected with them, that was the thing I needed to do.  I prefer the blog thing because it is more personal and in some ways more user friendly, like if you want to see all the old prego pics of me you can just click on pregnancy under labels and voila you have all my entries from when I was pregnant!  Haha!  And you get to decorate your blog which is more expressive of me than a white wall!  Plus I don't really like how on Facebook you are told of every move someone makes including friends of friends that you don't even know yourself!  That is my friends business not mine.

Anyway, it has been spring weather for sure this last week here in Montana!  So beautiful, I have even broke out my Capri's which some people have commented that it is a little early but it is beautiful.  Yesterday it got up into the 60's and we went for a little family stroll on a trail that kind of goes through town and it was very busy with bikers, dogs with their owners and others like us.

Another fun thing we did this weekend was go to Pier 1 Imports, we wanted to check out there sushi dishes and supplies since Tom wants to start making our own sushi at home.  What a fun store, I was wondering why we didn't register there when we got married.  I was wishing that Tom made like 20k more a year when we were in that store but then we wouldn't fit in our apartment!  Course we probably wouldn't live in our apartment if he did!

Titus is just a curious little man as I am sure any baby is, he is exploring cupboards and anywhere he can get his little body into.  He has balanced standing about a handful or so times this last weekend hands free!  I am sure anytime he will just take off walking.  He is so much fun and such a sweet blessing.  He is just starting to get his first top tooth in, I have seen it peering under the gum line for about a week now and I think it is just breaking thru!  That will add his fourth tooth to his sweet little grin! Oh and he loves papaya, new food on his list.

Titus with one of his favorite new toys to play with, thanks auntie Rachelle for thinking of him when you needed to get rid of it.

I think his favorite part is when you look in the mirror with him and say, "Who's that baby?"  He always gets a big grin on his face.

When You Find a Great Thing, You Better Share It!

Hey I wanted to share something great with all of you out there that actually read this, especially any parents.  I was introduced to these awesome Cd's about 2 years ago by my wonderful aunt who has always been such a great example in my Christian walk.  They are awesome for memorizing scripture, so if your child is in AWANAS or goes to a private school where they have to memorize verses, these would be an awesome tool to use, if the verses they need are on the CD that is.  The lyrics are taken right from the NIV Bible, and  feature some great artists you may recognize such as Matthew West.  It is very enjoyable for the whole family, it won't be one of those kids Cd's that drive the parent crazy, I promise, I love them myself at this point more than Titus!  Anyway they are put out by Seeds Family Worship and you may be able to get them at your local Christian bookstore, I got them through http://www.christianbook.com/ and I paid $10.99 AND the surprise that I found when I received it was that it is packaged by Seeds with 2 Cd's so that you have one to keep and one to share!  So you only pay $5.50 per CD!  That is a great deal for a great CD!  You can also get them directly through the Seeds website http://www.seedsfamilyworship.com/  for $12.98, they have all 6 Cd's available there, so check it out and I do have one song on my play list below if you want to check out the style, the song is called "Mighty to Save" by Seeds Family Worship (#55).  Enjoy!

"And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." -Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Hello All!

It has been a little while since I actually wrote an update, so I thought I would do that this morning even though I am sure most of you just enjoy the pictures of our adorable little blessing in this home!

As you can see from my design change I am getting anxious for Spring to arrive, just to get outside and enjoy beautiful warm sunshine with Tom and Titus will be fun and refreshing.  We did get some fresh snow last night so it does look quit crisply beautiful outside now.  And we always have visiting deer outside our living room window in the gully below our apartment and they are much easier to spot with fresh snow on the ground than dead grass at this point revealed through as the snow melts away.  So I will be thankful for the snow but still long for Spring to come in my heart. 

Spring brings newness of life and reminds us of the new life we have in Christ especially with Easter approaching and we get to celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death in this world with His Resurrection.  He takes the old sin nature we have and gives us the opportunity to live with a new sinless nature, reminding us that every morning His mercy is new for us.  We have a choice of which nature we want to follow and please, ours or His?  Do we want to speak words of death or words of life into someone else's life?  Do we want to live a defeated life or do we want to live a loved life?  Do we want to feel like an old muddy pond day in and day out or a spring in the mountains with fresh, clean water coming up through us each moment?  Do we want to feel like we live in a rut or live with purpose and a mission in life from the Author of Life Himself?  Just some food for thought for you.

This last weekend we got to enjoy some time with the Sells (smallies) kids.  Daisy had a little weekend "getaway" with a girlfriend here in town, they didn't want to travel far because you never know what the weather might do here.  So Sunday after church we went over for our "shift" of the weekend for her which was till she got home around dinner time.  It was so much fun, if we had a big enough place I am not sure that 5 children would be that bad honestly.  Mia wanted to make some of her own kitchen creations so I was up for letting her get into it.  She made a "blueberry shake" with the blender.  Which included of course frozen blueberries, ice cubes, a little water and a little strawberry syrup?  Her and Sior thoroughly enjoyed it so I guess it was good.  Then she wanted to attempt to make a homemade cinnamon roll!  She mixed some flour, water, an egg and some cinnamon together and we baked it in the oven!  I knew it wouldn't turn out but I was kind of busy making lunch and then trying to get Titus to nap and the twins to nap while she was making her concoction.  And when it came out of the oven she put a packet of that raspberry Emergen-C stuff on top of it!  Yikes!  Then Sior decided he wanted to get in on the fun so we made a real yellow cake from a box and decided it was a "Welcome Home Mom" cake, (auntie Carrie's way of not letting them eat some until mom got home).  It was complete with Rainbow Sprinkle frosting!  And then I decided I wanted to make banana bread too since Daisy had some good ripe bananas perfect for it.  Both Mia and Sior helped me with that too.  They actually did the mixing and cracking of the eggs and most of the work and I loved it.  So I told them that they will have to come spend the night with us and we can make real homemade cinnamon rolls.  Poor Titus did not nap for us though which we were afraid that would happen, in a "strange" place and the twins love to make lots of noise and play very loudly before they actually fall asleep so it was not going to work for him.  But Tom ended up separating them because he could tell one was sleepy and the other was just instigating.  So only 1 out of the 3 children needing naps got one.  But Titus went to bed pretty early after we got home cuz he was so tired so that was nice, I just felt bad cuz he got extremely crabby.

Titus got to explore crawling up steps for the first time two Sundays ago!  I knew he could do it if given the chance, we just don't have any steps so we tried it at church and he went right up them!  I was kind of surprised!  Then this last Sunday we did it again and again during the Sunday School hour, I guess the part I will have to teach is coming down the steps?!

Oh I am attempting to learn how to knit!  I bought this teaching book with the tools and an instructional DVD too.  It was funny, with the first two lessons in the book so far it has been hard for me to just get it and then I watch the video and I still have trouble.  But my wonderful husband who probably wouldn't want you to know this is a quick learner and after watching the video he knew what she was doing and he taught me the first two lessons which is all I've done so far!  He is amazing, I told him I married him because he would teach me how to knit!  Lol!  No then I told him it was because he can do anything he puts his mind to!  That is partly true for me!  So I am very excited because I have recently just wanted to learn something like that where you can make your own things and I think my first project will be a baby blanket for my precious boy!  Can't wait, I will have to post pics.

Must go my sweet little man is awake from his nap now.

For horse lovers young or young at heart!

Secretariat: Movie Trailer - Watch more funny videos here

 
I recommend this movie to anyone who loves horses, very clean and family friendly.  We watched it over Valentine's weekend and I was on the edge of the couch the whole time cheering on Big Red, aka Secretariat, but I grew up racing our own horses in our hayfield strips against my sisters!  Lol!  Sorry dad!

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!

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.

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?

Our Trip to Illinois

A complete family picture of Mommies immediate family, from L to R, Pappa, Gammie, Alicia with Bella, Jeremy (Alicia's husband), Gracie, Becky, Daddy & Mommy with Titus.

We had a very good trip to Illinois this past week. We flew into Cedar Rapids, IA on the 13th from Missoula with only one stop in Denver, CO. Titus did very well flying and I don't think the air pressure bothered his ears too much that I could tell. They say to have them nurse or suck on a pacifier during the take off and landing to help their ears but he only nursed half the time and seemed fine the other times he wasn't. My dad picked us up from the airport and we headed to Galena, IL where both of my sisters and parents live, amongst many others on my dads side of the family. My mom was busy making a big dinner for all of our family to come over and enjoy. We had many good meals while we were there and we had three family Christmas'! My parents just moved back to Galena after living in WI for about the majority of 17 years now. Galena is where they grew up and met and I did also until 8th grade year. The Lord provided them a beautiful place just about 3.5 miles outside of Galena with 10 acres. The house is the nicest house they have have ever had and has 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. So they are very close to both of my sisters and the two grand kids that are there, which makes everyone very happy.

On Wednesday my dad and Tom went and cut down a huge beautiful tree for us to decorate that night before we would have our family Christmas.

Friday Tom got to enjoy ice fishing all day with Jeremy. They both love ice fishing so that is a great blessing for them to connect in that way. I think they caught 12 fish between the two of them. I got to get my trimmed by Alicia, she does hair in Galena amongst other services there.

Saturday was my dads side of the family Christmas at Great Grandmas house. I took my pumpkin dump cake and it was a hit! My cousin had her first baby this year too so Titus got to enjoy little Nolan, he is 4 months old.

Sunday was my moms side family Christmas out at the Apple Canyon Golf Pro Shop! Now my moms side does Christmas a little different than most of you would. We have what you would probably call a 'talent show.' You don't have to participate but some people write a poem to share with the family (yours was beautiful aunt Sandy) and some people sing some of their favorite songs like karaoke but there is no screen with words! Gracie was very brave and got up there and sang a Taylor Swift song! She brought tears to my eyes because she is growing up too fast for her auntie and she knew every word! She went 2nd and when she was done I asked if anyone could top that, cuz I didn't think so! Ha! Then she tried a couple other ones that she didn't know so well but very cute. I think Tom and Jeremy thought this was a very different way to do Christmas but it is fun for the family and very funny at times.

Monday was our travel day again :( We were sad to be leaving and both of my sisters got teary eyed to see us go. Both my parents and Becky took us back to the airport and Tom and I hadn't gotten the same flight home but I went on standby and got on his flight out to Denver with him but once we got there I was stuck there for a couple hours cuz his flight to Missoula was overbooked. So he got into Missoula around 9 pm and Titus and I got in around 12 am! I was so exhausted and had a terrible headache but Titus just slept the whole time. When we got in thou it was just at the time of the lunar eclipse which was cool! It felt nice to be in our own bed but I am still missing them all.


Mommy got to meet her niece, Bella Jean, for the first time. She just turned 1 year November 11! She loves any kind of food, dancing and her big sister.


Four Generations: Great Grandpa & Grandma Berning, Pappa, Mommy & Titus @ Galena Stauss Senior Care where Great Gramps now resides.


Goofy picture of Gracie and us, we had just finished watching the first Narnia movie with her and she was spending the night at Gammie and Pappa's with us. We had lots of fun with her and we hope she comes to Montana to spend a month with us next Summer!


Tom and I got to enjoy a date one night after Titus went to bed! We went into town to enjoy what they call the 'Old Fashioned Christmas in Galena' with the 'Night of Luminaria'. They have around 5,000 luminaries lit along Main Street, hills and stairs throughout the town! We got some chocolate at the old Candy Kitchen store before we climbed the old Galena High School Stairs (around 180 steps), enjoyed the view with some chocolate and came back down.

Hellooooo!

Well since I last wrote obviously life has gone on and Titus just keeps developing into the cutest baby boy I have ever loved, which has not been a whole lot in my life, Sior (pronounced like shore) and Jayce to name the ones I think of immediately. Oh I remember when Sior was a baby and I would hold him and I just remember thinking I want one these precious baby boys of my own. Now he is five years old and I do have one of my own! Anyway we had a busy day on Halloween since it was Sunday, there was of course church, then we did family pictures and then Sior had his birthday party which was a harvest party. His birthday was on the 29th and we were supposed to come dressed up but Tom and I both refuse to participate in teaching our child anything that has to do with Halloween, even if it is made as simple as a harvest party. We both participated in it when we were children but it is interesting that both of us on our own had decided that was something we did not want for our kids. Anyway it was a fun party with great food and company and fun for the birthday boy and that is what matters.

We went to one of our favorite places up the Rattlesnake for our family pictures. Some pictures were taken on the this bridge that we have played cribbage on a couple of times up there. I was very nervous because I think my smile is always fake but what a blessing it was to get them back and find that you couldn't tell that and most of them turned out awesome. Our photographer was a girl from our church who really got into it once she started having kids and she did a great job with posing us and making it comfortable and natural feeling. She spent a little over an hour with us and then she goes through all the poses and pics out her favorite one in each pose and sharpens it in color and then pics out her second favorite in each pose and turns it black and white and then erases the rest of the shots and gives all of them to you on a cd for you to do what you want with them. So we actually got about 58 pictures back, which I think is awesome. And she was very affordable!

Oh the total proceeds of the pumpkin patch ended up being over $18,000 to go towards the Great Commission Fund of the Alliance Missionaries! How awesome is that?!

Titus now always sleeps on his belly, we initially start him on his back but he always rolls over now. Which is awesome because now his little bald patches can grow back fully that his mattress has rubbed off.

Tom went hunting this last Saturday with Brian and Ronnie but they did not have any luck. They are going to go again next Saturday and we will be praying they get something between the three of them. Titus and I hung out with Rachelle and her kids and Dawn and her boys at Brian and Rachelle's house while the boys hunted. That was fun for the all and good soup for dinner.

Oh Tom and I did get to go on our first date also on the 30th. Thanks to Brian and Rachelle, they not only sponsored our date by giving towards pretty much the whole meal but they watched Titus for us. I was so relieved, I knew that he was in good hands and I was able to fully enjoy myself and time with Tom. We went to Johnny Carino's and I got my favorite eggplant dish there! Then we also went to Starbucks and got some non coffee beverages and then we went for a short walk in a park near Brian and Rachelle's house and when we pulled up to the park we got a text from Brian that said "no hurry but he is starting to get fussy." So we did our short walk and got over there and he was crying really hard and his face was all red and he just looked mad. He was hungry which I knew he would be getting, we were out about 2 hours and he ate before we left their house but that is about how long he lasts before he is hungry again. Otherwise he did great and he didn't complain or anything till he got hungry and he loved playing with Kezia, Shaelie and Jayce. And Rachelle was so sweet, she knew he was hungry and she couldn't do anything about it and she just tried to comfort him till we got there.

Anyway that is about it, I do have most of the family pictures uploaded to Costco.com, if you want to see them and possibly order some, I can send you an email invite to view them. They will have you set up an account to view them but that does NOT require a membership to Costco. Just let me know by email, tom.carrie.johnson@gmail.com, and if you don't have a Costco near you to order some to pick up I can upload to WalMart and you would be able to pick them up there, I have done that for my sister and Tom's parents already and WalMart online is pretty easy to work with also. Otherwise we will probably send out one for a Christmas card but it may most likely have typing on it.

20 Weeks & Counting....

Tom with the pack and Titus back at the car after the hike.

Titus sleeping on trail on the way back down.

Our little guy is now almost 5 months old! That is crazy. I have found him 3 times now awake in his crib on his belly this last week! One of those times just being this morning. He isn't too happy about it yet but for some reason he does it.

This last weekend the students were off of school Thursday and Friday and what our youth group does every year with that 4 day weekend is plan a 3 day/2 night "Missoula missions trip." Giving 32 of our high school students the opportunity to experience missions right here in their home town by staying at the church and serving our community in different ways for the past 9 years! They usually always get to go to the Poverello Center, a local homeless shelter, where they organize their clothes closet for the homeless people, many times wipe down the mattresses that the homeless people sleep on and serve the homeless lunch and usually get to eat lunch and visit with the homeless people themselves. They also usually go to Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission, a local Rescue Mission that also serves the homeless by providing lunch for them and opportunities for them to overcome addictions that many of them face and they provide a place for them to study the Bible. The students normally get to organize their food pantry, rake leaves and serve lunch and get to eat lunch with the homeless there also. The students always get to go to Burlington Square Apartments too, an apartment place for the elderly in our community. Here they get to clean apartments for those who have said yes to the opportunity for the students to help them in that way. They also were able to play Wii bowling with these elderly residents who beat the students badly I might add and have dinner with them and visit. The last day of the missions trip the students load up and go to each one of the high schools that is represented in our youth group, Missoula has about 3 public High Schools and 2 private High Schools, and they split up into groups and prayer walk around the schools. Those 4 events are usually things they do every year, there are other things throughout the weekend that they do that may change every year like Random Acts of Kindness or they did spend an afternoon this year helping with the City Parks and Recs Department, working on a local park in town. So many of the students are blessed by helping their community and realizing that there are people right here that they can help and I think it hugely helps them realize how blessed they are.

Well Tom and I usually have always helped as volunteer staff, Tom has all 9 years and this year I really felt like I couldn't with Titus. So Tom helped as much as he could and he was planning to help all 3 days but I was having a difficult time with Titus on Friday, he would not nap all afternoon and was very crabby and it was making me really crabby to say the least. Tom had helped all day on Thursday and came home for a couple hours in the evening and then went back and stayed at the church and helped all day Friday and didn't get home until 11 pm and then he stayed home with us and never went back on Saturday morning as he had planned. I felt very selfish when he came home and said he was done and wasn't going back on Saturday but it was good I think. Brian, the youth pastor, did have someone there to help on Saturday, but Tom has always helped all 3 days, he takes off work every year to do this and here I was not able to handle our 4 month old by myself for 3 days! Anyway, it was ok, Tom had said the Lord had showed him that He didn't need him for that last day and he was ok with that, so I needed to be ok with that.

Saturday we decided to go for a hike with Titus and we went down the Bitterroot and went hiking almost all the way to Bear Creek Overlook but Titus was just not going to make it that long. It was about 2 1/2 to 3 miles each way and we made it almost to the top but he was crying about half of the way up and it got a little late and we didn't want to be hiking back down in the dark so we ate our little lunch and turned around. A friend of Tom's at work has given us a Kelty K.I.D.S. pack for Titus. Something for us to use while we attempt hiking with him. I think what we found is he is still a little small to enjoy it, he lasted a little while on our way up and then we needed to take him out and carry him the rest of the way.

Sunday after church we decided to take some pictures of Titus in our church's Pumpkin Patch. This is the 4th year our church has sold pumpkins in our Great Pumpkin Patch they set up on the hill just below the church. All the money goes to missions each year and this year it is going towards the Great Commission Fund of the Alliance Missionaries. Members of the church have grown and harvested pumpkins this year for the patch and your family can go pick out pumpkins to purchase and they also sell many donated baked goods too. We happen to get a delicious pumpkin pie there yesterday. This year we had a "pumpkin slasher" come through the patch one late night and the story was in the newspaper and a gentleman, who doesn't even go to our church, decided to come get all the damaged pumpkins and make pies with all of them which was about 20 hrs. worth of work and he brought the pies back to the patch for them to be sold! God is amazing! They started selling pumpkins on the 10th and will sell thru the 31st and already the report on the 17th was that they had sold $8,000! So anyway we wanted some cute pics of our punkin with the pumpkins.

Last week at BSF I helped in the children's program and I loved it. What a blessing, they have a little story time and the babies and those under 2 learned that 'God always keeps His promises' based on the prophecy in Isaiah "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel" Isaiah 7:14. They sang a little song and had a snack and then those ladies just stay busy keeping those little ones happy. But I think I will wait to put Titus in there until he can crawl, there was this little boy in there who I think might be 1 but is just starting to walk and he can be rough on the little ones around him if you are not watching him every second. I want Titus to be able to flee if Mason comes after him. Ha!

Another Day!

I love that my child is already practicing modesty here! That's my boy! Ha! Titus had his well check this last Friday and he just keeps growing! He was 15 lbs. 4 1/2 oz., in the 60% and 26 1/2 in. long, in the 90%! He is doing well in his development, I noticed when I filled out his development questionnaire they didn't ask if he is rolling over yet?! He is now rolling both ways, front to back and back to front! He is our big boy! He continues to love his baths but right now he does not care much for his stroller. The last few times mommy has tried to take him for a stroll he just scream cries and I can't handle that too long so we turn around and go back home :( The people in the apartment complex probably think I am pinching my child! Ha! 

Mommy just finished as of today getting all of her fillings filled! Yeah, what a relief. I had to go in four times, I had so many for so long and never had any insurance until Tom and I married so I got them all fixed. Thanks to some sweet graduate girls from youth group that would come sit with Titus in the waiting room, I was able to get them done. Thanks Steph and Janna! And now I can just keep up with my routine cleanings. He did pretty well except the last two times here, he was crying about the last 10 minutes I was in the chair :( I felt bad for Janna.

Titus doesn't have any teeth yet but he loves to gnaw on his fingers! He is drooling and gnawing a lot these days and mommy keeps checking for teeth buds but I can't feel any.

I just noticed recently for myself that I am in this awkward stage in my church and I have to admit that it is kind of lonely for me even though our church is huge. Usually when we are at church is during a nap time for Titus and so for the Sunday School hour I don't want to go to the youth room because it is pretty crazy in there and that was where I was connected before. And I don't want to put Titus in the nursery that is available just because I don't feel right about it and there is a better chance of him catching something in there and then we would have to deal with that. They have these connection groups for people where you read a book and discuss it with other people reading the book but I would want to do it with Tom and I am not sure you can take your baby with you. Tom is involved in the high school sunday school helping. So I have isolated myself and I think I can just work on my BSF homework but Titus usually isn't napping because he doesn't nap that long away from home. So anyway if you think of it you can pray for me, I was pretty upset and emotional about this last Sunday night to Tom because it hit me that I am just in this new stage of life and I have yet to adjust to it and feel like I really have some good friends that are also moms besides a couple that I have always been close to. I also feel like I have been in youth ministry so long that it is hard for me to connect to other adults whom I don't already know.

Anyway I should go, my child is growing impatient with me.