welcome home cpl.

Yesterday we got to witness the homecoming of a unit of marines that has been deployed for nine months and we got to welcome our friend Jarrett home. Derick took photos of him and his wife Megan seeing each other for the first time… as you can imagine, she could not be more thrilled to have him back home! What a special thing it was to watch them and be a part of such a happy day.

I didn’t really expect to get emotional, but it was very touching to watch so many reunited families… husbands and wives, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters. I watched one little girl (just a little older than Hutch) very hesitant to go to her daddy and it broke my heart, but then when she finally went and hugged him the tears of joy that filled his and and her moms eyes were enough to put tears in my eyes! We also saw a marine who was seeing his one month old baby girl for the first time. I have always known that those in the military make huge sacrifices but yesterday it was made even more real to me.

It definitely made me thankful for all of the time I get to spend with Derick. It made me thankful that I have been blessed to have Derick right by my side through my pregnancy, delivery and sleepless baby nights. It made me thankful for all of the time that Hutch gets to spend with his Daddy.

It also made me more thankful for those who are able and willing to make such sacrifices.

We are so happy to welcome home Jarrett and the rest of his unit. And we were so happy to see how happy Megan and Jarrett were to see each other again. Thanks for letting us be a part of such a special day.

Welcome home Cpl. Jarrett Thompson!

the happs and the hums

 Skirt: ThreadSence, Top and Sweater: Target, Belt: F21, Necklace: Costa Rica, Bracelets: Thrifted & Gifted, Shoes: Thrifted

Happiness

Hutch is 11 months old today. Whoa! Oh my goodness, he’s almost 1!

Hutch finally has two teeth… one on the bottom and one on the top… and the other bottom tooth is almost through. Can you believe it took almost 11 months to break through. But oh how we enjoyed that toothless grin for so long!

This was a great second week of our new Sunday evening service called Remix. Worship was great, fellowship was great, and husband’s message was great (Husband is now teaching every week).

Derick and I didn’t get Hutch’s little tummy bug. I am so glad… I hated watching Hutch be sick and I so did not want to get sick or watch Husband be sick!

Battle of the Paddle at Doheny Beach with lots of friends.

I took a few naps this week. I wish I didn’t feel the need for these naps… but I’m so thankful for them!

Volleyball started up again this past Monday.

Derick only had jury duty for one day. Yay! The streak has been broken!

Husband now has a blog of his own! That Christ May Dwell. Check it out.

Hutch is going to have a new cousin within the next month! Can’t wait to meet baby meadows!

Ho-hum-i-ness

Hutch was a light and fitful little sleeper last night. He woke at 2 but put himself back to sleep. Woke at 3:30 and Dad rocked him back to sleep. But then woke again a half hour later when Dad went to the bathroom. I fed him at 4 and then he slept till 7. Perhaps it’s teething? Poor little guy.

Every fall our bathroom floor begins to creak really loud! When you walk in our bathroom it makes the floors in our room and in Hutch’s room creak as well. This happens every fall and last a few months! It sure didn’t help Hutch’s sleep last night… or ours for that matter!

I got Hutch and I, all of our stuff, and dinner for dad ready and hauled it all down stairs to the car only to go to unlock the car and realize that the car key wasn’t on the keychain. What? We were already running late. I still don’t know what happened to the key but thankfully I still had the house key!

And to end on a Happ… here’s a look at our 11 month-er.I love Hutch!

budget baby series: the frugal five

Husband and I are both naturally rather frugal people. For the most part we like to do things as cheap as we can. So when we got pregnant and every baby book and magazine warned us about how unavoidably expensive babies are, of course, we were slightly overwhelmed. And for those of you who are overwhelmed, I think the first year costs are exaggerated a bit. Mostly they are probably just hoping and trying to convince you to spend your life’s savings!

So in planning for baby z, husband and I knew we wanted to save as much as possible in the beginning. And so far, after almost 11 months of having a baby, we are happy to say that we haven’t spent our life savings… as a matter of fact, we haven’t really even had to change our budget. So what are our top money saving devices for the first year?

1. Breastfeeding! I am so thankful Hutch has been such a good eater because this is by far the biggest first-year money saver… not to mention all of the health benefits for Hutch and me!

2. Cloth Diapering. This definitely is not for everyone, but we have absolutely loved cloth diapering (husband even loves it and is so good at it!). We love not having to budget for diapers or shop for diapers every month.

3. Making all of Hutch’s “solid” foods. So far we haven’t had to purchase any jars of baby food for Hutch… we just make his food from whatever we have already purchased for our meals. Again, no added budget for his food and no extra shopping… just the way we like it!

4. Secondhand and hand-me-down baby items. We didn’t get any new furniture items for Hutch’s room, and aside from a few gift items all of Hutch’s clothing is either secondhand or hand-me-down.

5. Generosity of friends and family. The showering of gifts from so many has been a huge blessing and has definitely helped kept our first year costs down.

Throughout the next few weeks… I will try to post a bit more in detail about each of these things in budget baby series. We have had our share of difficulties and fun through some of them that will hopefully encourage you in your own money saving endeavors. As our second year approaches, I am glad that we have taken the frugal route and hope that we can continue it far into the second year!

I’d love to hear from you…. what is your best money saving advice?

duty

 

 

Derick has jury duty tomorrow.

Boo.

Don’t get me wrong, we are all for civic duty, but we feel like we have done our duty in the past few years! Derick served on a jury for a criminal case about 3 years ago. About two months later, I was chosen to serve on a civil case. Each lasted about a week. Then last September, Derick was chosen to serve again. And now he has to go, yet again!

If you have served on a jury in the past 12 months, you can get excused. Guess how long it has been since Derick’s case… 12 months and 2 days! You’ve got to be kidding me!

We have so many friends who have never been summoned and so many other friends who have been summoned, but when they call they are told that they don’t have to come (which, by the way, Derick didn’t even get the chance to call this time… the paper just says to appear). Apparently we are unlucky in this area… especially husband.

But we are still hoping that husband won’t even get called into a courtroom and will get dismissed by lunch this time!

needy little guy

There aren’t too many things worse than throwing up, but I can tell you, watching your baby throw up is way worse! Hutch has been sick with his first little tummy bug this weekend. He has been so pathetic. Poor little guy.

He has been super needy. On Thursday night after dinner, Derick and I were trying to do a relax/be-sorta-productive combo kinda thing while Hutch did his usual after dinner playtime. Just so you know this combo never works very well and I know that, but in a tired moment I’m always able to convince myself that it will… but in the end I don’t feel rested or accomplished. During this time, Hutch got super needy… which meant we couldn’t be as lazy or as productive as we wanted… which was a little irritating. I was a tad annoyed because he was fed, we had played, he had a clean diaper, it wasn’t sleepy time… so why, oh why, was he so needy?!

And then the little guy threw-up all over the couch.

How awful did I feel about being annoyed at his “neediness”?! Of course he was needy! He was totally justified in his neediness! And as I sat and held him over the sink for following tummy episodes, I thought about how I usually think of the word “needy” as so inconvenient and negative. But I shouldn’t. When Hutch is needy, he always has a legitimate need whether I am able to recognize it right away or not. Most of the time, it can be quickly remedied by a little food or a nap…  but sometimes by a hug or some cuddle time… sometimes he just needs my love.

How wonderful is that? He wants my love. He needs my love.

So I have been trying to remember that these past few days and just take the time to love my little boy well even if it doesn’t fall within his usual routine (or mine). So today we spent a few hours throughout the day just sitting on the couch and he even fell asleep on me twice while I rocked him. I have found that when I take the time to tend to Hutch’s needs for love… I get loved in return. I have gotten so many hugs, kisses, and cuddles this week. I haven’t gotten much done. But love and cuddles are what we have needed!

And as I sit writing about Hutch’s neediness, this song is playing… “I Need Thee Every Hour” by Indelible Grace. Seriously. What a great reminder of my own neediness. I am so thankful that I don’t have a Father who is annoyed at my constant neediness but Who never ceases to bless me with His love!

 

 

remember when’s day…

Remember when I used to shower every day.

I didn’t shower today. I didn’t have time. I didn’t shower yesterday. I was planning on working out, so I just kept putting it off… but I never got to working out which means I never got to my shower. And the day before, hmm… I’m gonna say I showered. I don’t want to lose all my friends!

I absolutely love showering. I could stand in a hot shower for an hour. But ever since Hutch arrived, I find that is definitely not an option. When he was little, I could bring him into the bathroom in his bouncer or bumbo seat and as long as I played peek-a-boo from behind the shower curtain between shampooing, rinsing, conditioning, rinsing again, soaping (and maybe shaving) then he might let me get clean. As Hutch has gotten older, in some ways it has gotten easier, in some ways harder. He entertains himself much better now which also means he doesn’t want to just sit still in his bouncer or bumbo. If I leave him outside of the bathroom, I have no idea what things he is getting into, but if I let him come into the bathroom, it is inevitable that he will play with the toilet or pull all of the yucky trash out of the can.

I am pretty sure, however, that if I owned this shower, I would never ever stop showering!

This one is pretty awesome too… though maybe not in the way that makes me want to shower forever. But it is very rustic and romantic. I would be very pleased (and much cleaner) if I owned either one.

P.S. I promise to shower tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

sunset and sailboats

I love them! I love them! I love them! They’re my favorites. That’s all I have to say right now.

 

 

the happs and the hums

Going Simple…. Dress: BB Dakota, Necklace: Vintage/Thrifted , Shoes: Thrifted

I’ve been a little late on some of my posts this week… but better late than never. Here are some of the happs and hums from the past few days just to catch you up on things around here.

Ho-hum-i-ness

Remember that pre-natal vitamin I left in the pocket of my shorts… well now, somehow, one prenatal vitamin attacked a shirt of Hutch’s, the bottom of our couch, and the carpet underneath the couch. I have no idea how it wreaked havoc on all of these things, but somehow it did and now all three reek of fish smell! So gross. I have got to keep track of my vitamins before they ruin everything.

We need to take our car into the shop… never my favorite thing because that always requires money.

Thursday night’s 13 hour power outage to millions of people… which forced me to take yet another night off of blogging. It definitely didn’t help get back in the blogging mode. Still working on it!

Some of dear friends are enjoying Hawaii without us. I am happy they are enjoying it, of course, just sad we aren’t enjoying it with them. Keep having fun, friends! Maybe we’ll be able to come next time!

Papa & Nana (Derick’s parents) drove five hours to visit, but after a very short visit (2-3 hours), Papa had to leave to help fight fires in Oregon. We missed you this weekend, Papa! Stay safe and stop those fires!

Happiness

Our horrible, terrible, no good, very bad neighbor is out! Woo hoo! And our new neighbors are very nice and very quiet. This has made our month! Peaceful nights of sleep at last.

The nice, quiet, tech-free evening that the power outage provided… plus candles and an early bedtime. Maybe the power should go out more often. We also loved getting to see the city so dark and quiet… it has never seemed so peaceful.

I had my last day of work this week which means I should be better about making dinner every night as well as keeping the house clean… and maybe I’ll even be able to get some sewing in! We’ll see!

Hutch got to go swimming with his Papa and Dad in the few hours that Papa was here. Hutch loved it! He’s such a cute little swimmer.

The hail storm! We woke up to pounding on our windows and roof… we thought maybe we we were getting attacked, but to our surprise it was a hail storm with some discs of hail as large as an inch. I’ve never experienced such a thing in Southern California… as a matter of fact, I never experienced anything like it in Northern California either. The unexpected can be so fun sometimes.

Dollar tree snacks ($3) and a night time stroll on the beach while listening to Ben Harper live in concert at Doheny Days ($0).

Sitting on the jetty at sunset with my two favorite people watching the tall (pirate) ships sail back into the harbor after their cannon battle. Such a wonderful evening.

An impromptu encounter with Trent, Bethany & baby at Costco followed by an unexpected evening visit from them. We’re glad we bumped into you and we’re glad you stopped by. We enjoyed our time spent with you.

Hutch spent lots of time with Nana this weekend which he loved. And Nana spent lots of time with Hutch which, I imagine, she loved. Both of which meant I spent lots of time with Nana, but which also meant I got to get away for a little bit on my own. Thanks Nana. We had fun and we appreciate you!

sup

We finally took Hutch paddleboarding down in the Dana Point Harbor, and of course he loved it just like we knew (or hoped) he would. So what took us so long? Hmm. I guess just some worries about whether or not we’d get in trouble. We haven’t found any laws prohibiting taking a baby on a paddleboard… but we also haven’t found any suggesting it. Surprising, I know. We bought Hutch a life jacket months ago because the only law we could find requires children under a certain age to wear them. Well, we finally decided to just go for it!

So far, so good. The harbor patrol didn’t stop us or ticket us. Phew! I did notice a number of people taking pictures of us. Perhaps some of them were judging us, but for the most part, people were very encouraging and seemed happy to see our little family enjoying the water.

Dad wore Hutch on his back and Hutch just relaxed most of the time but every so often he would get super happy and laugh and kick his little legs as hard as he could… usually when he saw me paddling nearby. After we were done standing up, I sat with Hutch and let him explore the board and splash in the water a little bit.

We love having another little friend to join us on our adventures and we love watching Hutch experience each new adventure. I can’t wait to take him again soon!

I’m pretty sure these faces say “That was fun, Mom and Dad! Take me again!”

remember when’s day…

Remember when I used to blog? It’s been almost a week since I last posted… whoops! I hadn’t planned on taking a break for that long, but we’ve been busy and we needed a little time to ourselves. We had a fun Labor Day weekend and we’re finally getting back into the swing of things… so this blogging hiatus is over!

And while we are remembering… We finally just loaded our photos from this weekend… I had already almost forgotten about the fort we built for Hutch on Saturday. I am so glad I have the pictures to help me remember all of our fun times… and to help Hutch remember, too! I love photos. And I especially love photos of our little boy!

Hutch loved his little fort! At first, he loved just crawling around in it. And then he was happy when he realized he could push a cushion aside to create a little sky-light to look out of.

And then he just laid back and enjoyed some chill time in his fort… for almost 10 minutes! He rarely stays on his back that long, even when he’s sleeping!

Oh Hutch. I love that you loved your fort so much. I can’t wait to build hundreds of forts with you and your dad (and maybe a sibling or two… or three??!). I love the thought of helping you make more and more fun memories!

And here’s a little video of Hutch just laying back enjoying the Saturday afternoon in his fort.