for fun

8 things I did over the weekend:
1 - hung up diapers and laundry on clothesline
2 - nursed my baby
3 - went to Mass
4 - went to my cousin's horse show
5 - went to a family birthday party
6 - cooked dinner in the crockpot
7 - watched Nascar
8 - said "I love you" to my husband

8 tv shows we watch:
1 - Gilmore Girls
2 - CNN news
3 - Nascar
4 - Monday Night Football
That's about it right now

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1 - time with my husband and kid(s)- this is NOT a pregnancy announcement
2 - having more kids at some point
3 - going to disneyland this week
4 - the three family weddings we have in the next few months
5 - claire's pinning
6 - the holidays!
7 - lunch... I'm hungry
8 - seeing Mom this weekend

8 favorite places to eat:
1 - my kitchen
2 - my parent's kitchen
3 - my nonna's house
4 - my dad's cousin's house
5 - any ice cream shop
6 - the glenwood
7 - fridays (special memories there)
8 - in the car: I love road trips

8 wishes/hopes/dreams:
1 - my next baby will be a VBAC
2 - the democratic candidate DOES NOT win this next election
3 - that there will be an end to abortion
4 - I will be a good wife and mother
5 - my family and friends who are away from the church will come back
6 - we travel safely this week
7 - we get to see our friends on our next trip to oregon
8 - oh, you know: world peace... That kind of stuff too!

Luke is 6 months old!

Luke is six months old!! he's over 21 pounds and over 25 inches - our little line-backer :)
He's a joy every day!

Here's a picture of me and Luke with my (pregnant) friend Amanda - at her baby shower this last weekend.


singing the famous weather song!
laughing hysterically!

Daddy is old :)

my dear husband turned 30 in July and we successfully extended the celebration for over a month :)



Scandinavian Festival - It was Norway day!!


The SECOND homemade spice cake - he has requested this cake for his birthday for the last 4 years :) I made 2 this year - one for at home and one for the cabin

playing with one of his presents - BINGO!

5 MONTHS OLD

sitting up
in the bed I slept in when I was a baby
Tummy Time!
swinging at Odell Lake

Luke is now more than five months old - WOW - time flies and we are definitely having fun!!

lots of hiking

at Odell Lake, next to our cabin - ready to hike - me, Luke, dear husband Greg, and our friend Jereme

Luke looking cute and very prepared for the adventure ahead on our cabin porch
near the Lake with Nana
and near the Lake with Auntie Claire

summer fun

we've been having a very fun summer :) after more than 2 weeks away, i am back at the computer, so i will post more pictures soon - whenever time allows with my five-month old on my hip :)

so, a couple weeks ago I was happily nursing my baby, staring out our sliding glass door into the backyard and what do I see...

yes, a bobcat...

frightening, right?!?!

I told my mom about it (something similar to this):

Me: hey mom, guess what i saw in our backyard today?

Mom: what kind of creature?

Me: a bobcat!

Mom: what? scary! can you call animal control or something?

Me: what and have it relocated to its natural habitat?

Mom: yeah, away from Luke

Me: mom, my backyard IS its natural habitat!!

:)

Let's just say I've had my fill of creatures - just today I found a scorpion in the living room (after Greg had left for work) - and a spider in my laundry basket... ick ick ick

**********************************************

by the way - Luke had his first plane flights last week and did awesome!! we definitely like plane travel even more than car travel right now - God bless the airlines for not requiring him to be in his car seat (AKA the torture chamber)

*** Discount Home School Supplies is holding a contest to give away a microscope. You can choose between one of the three following miscroscopes from [her] website, an MSK-01 Microscope, an MFL-06 microscope, or a SMD-04 Microscope. Just blog about the contest and link back to Tami's Blog. ***

update

as of his doctor's appointment yesterday, Luke weighs 17 pounds, 12 ounces!!!!
he's not even 4 months old yet! that's over 10 pounds gained since birth!! we are so proud - since he still has only had his mother's milk and never a bottle. praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

why i do it

http://www.promom.org/101

so big!

10 weeks - disneyland
13 weeks - with Aunt/Godmother Paula & 21-month old cousin Genevieve

swimming at 14 weeks

when Luke was 10 weeks old, guess where we went....

Pictures!!

very happy

over a month ago - he just fell asleep like that - very adorable

go Ducks!
on Father's day
yesterday!!

"marriage"

in light of California's recent - very scary - decision to let homosexuals "marry" ... we MUST continue to fight the good fight ... now, more than ever, for our children and grandchildren

Nehemiah 4:8 - "Have no fear of them! Keep in mind the LORD, who is great and to be feared, and fight for your brethren, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes."

1 Timothy 6:11-16 - But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge (you) before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

Hebrews 12:1-3 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

menu plan monday

menu plan monday (starting on Sunday)

weekday breakfast options:
homemade pound cake
homemade magic muffins
homemade english muffin loaf toast
cold cereal

weekday lunch options:
leftovers
use up any loose ends in fridge/freezer

dinner:
sunday - brunch: eggs, bacon, hasbrown casserole, fruit; dinner: homemade chicken tortilla soup, green salad, fruit and/or jello

monday - homemade cheesy sausage bake, green beans, fruit

tuesday - homemade lasagna, zucchini, fruit

wednesday - dear husband not home for dinner... tuna salad for me, fruit

thursday - leftovers (pretty much every thursday)

friday - homemade shrimp scampii, rice, zucchini, fruit

saturday - brunch: probably bacon, eggs, toast, fruit; dinner: homemade meatloaf, rice, carrots, fruit

fruit this week: apples, apricots, nectarines, cherries

quotes on obedience

"For those who have become lazy in fulfilling the commandments and desire to banish murky obscurity, there is no better or more efficient cure than complete obedience in everything, with faith and without argument."St. Gregory of Sinai

"Obedience is the only virtue that implants the other virtues in the heart and preserves them after they have been so implanted."Pope St. Gregory the Great

"Obedience does not mean the execution of orders that are given by a drill sergeant. It springs, rather, from the love of an order, and love of Him who gave it."Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

"God did not tell us follow Him because He needed our help, but because He knew that loving him would make us whole."St. Irenaeus of Lyons

menu plan monday

menu plan monday (starting on Sunday)

weekday breakfast options:
homemade pound cake
homemade magic muffins
homemade english muffin loaf toast

weekday lunch options:
leftovers
pasta
banana smoothie

dinner:
sunday - brunch: biscuits & gravy, fruit; dinner: taco salad, fruit
monday - poppyseed chicken casserole, rice, green salad, fruit
tuesday - baked pork, rice, green beans, fruit
wednesday - homemade chicken pot pie, green salad, fruit
thursday - leftovers (pretty much every thursday)
friday - homemade pizza, fruit
saturday - brunch: hashbrown casserole, fruit; dinner: hamburgers, corn, fruit

fruit this week: apples, apricots, nectarines

5 year reunion

picture from my five year college reunion picnic! we made the trip up to visit family friends as well as join in the reunion festivities and show Luke around Santa Clara. More pictures to come soon...

(a side note - i don't like how my belly looks in this pic - i've worked so hard for it to look good again and this camera angle did me no justice!!)

pictures from Memorial Day weekend

Luke's first visit from his great grandmother, a great aunt, and a cousin


my Godmother, me, and Luke

Four generations!! Luke, me, my dad, my dad's mom

the proud father showing off his son

Luke & Nonno (grandfather in Italian)

man of the cloth

Luke has officially been a man of the cloth (diaper that is!) for six weeks now!! I started cloth diapering when he was four weeks old and he is ten weeks now!!! amazing!! i think six weeks is the litmus test for many things, so I guess we are passing the cloth diaper test!! yippee!! more on this later - hopefully - right now, the little man needs a change :)