Six Months

 Well little man, you are officially six months old.  You are exactly halfway to your first birthday!  It’s been, hands down, the most wonderful half year of our lives.  Here’s what you’ve been up to this month:

• You cut two teeth!  Your gummy grin is no more.  At about 5.5 months, your bottom two middle teeth started poking through.  You handled it like a champ, and daddy and I were so proud of you!  We love looking at those two little teeth, even though you hardly ever let us get a peek because you’re too busy running your tongue over and over the newest addition to your mouth.  So cute!  We think you might be getting a few more, but nothing has broken through just yet.
• You weight 19 and a half pounds, and you are 27 inches long.  You’re wearing all 12 and 18 month clothes now.
• You are eating about 9 ounces of baby food (made especially for you by mommy!) a day.  That is in addition to your milk.  So far, you’ve had just about every fruit and veggie I can think to make for you at this age.  On your six month birthday, we gave you mangos!  You loved them.  You also love pears (a LOT), apples and bananas.  You are less enthusiastic with your veggies, but enjoy sweet potatoes and green beans pretty regularly.  So far, you haven’t been too fond of peas (me either..yuck!)
• You can now sit up entirely on your own.  You tip over very rarely, usually backwards, but lately have gotten so much better at being able to catch yourself.  You love to sit on the floor and play with your toys, and I can tell you are SO proud of yourself for being able to sit up like a big boy!  We are pretty proud of you, too.
• Not only can you sit, but you also LOVE to stand!  You pretty much don’t want to do anything else.  When we stand you against the couch or ottoman, Toby and Emma will jump up and get right in your face..and you LOVE it!  You squeal and reach for them and their little tails go crazy.
• If we hold your hands and walk with you, you’ll take steps forward.  It’s the cutest thing, because you’ll look up at us with this big grin, as if you’re saying “hey mom and dad, look what I can do!”
• For a while, you were getting up on your hands and knees and rocking back and forth.  We thought you were about ready to start crawling!  But, after a few face plants (when you found your propulsion but didn’t quite get your hands and feet on board) you’ve now decided you want nothing to do with crawling.  You have actually refused to put any weight on your hands at.all and will fuss/cry if we put you on your tummy.  So, we’ve decided to back off on tummy time and give you some time to recover from the trauma of learning to crawl
• You love Toby and Emma!  This month, you’ve been really interested in petting and touching them.  Toby and Emma think it is the best thing EVER and love it when you pay attention to them.  You also love to laugh at Emma when she tickles you with her wet nose, and were cracking up over at Grandma and Grandpa’s house when Riley (their dog) starting running circles around you.
• You are very vocal.  You squeal and screech and love to pretend you’re an opera singer (going into octaves where no sound comes out).  You are also very vocal when you do NOT want to be doing something (like tummy time) or when we take away something you want.  You’ll throw a total fit, which I find pretty funny.  You stop as soon as somebody picks you up and/or distracts you with something else.  Oh, and you are LOUD.
• In the last month, we took our first family trip to the beach!  You really weren’t sure what to think.  You weren’t a fan of the sand, or the wind, or the sun.  It was a beautiful day though!  Daddy carried you in the hiking backpack, and then we put down a blanket and let you play on the beach.  I can’t wait to take you back when you’re a bit bigger!
• In terms of toys, you’re pretty much into everything we’ve got these days!  You still love your jumperoo, but have also really gotten into your play table and some of your bigger toys that you can sit up and play with.
• We started you on puffs, which has been your first foray into self feeding!  You love the puffs, and can actually pick them up really well, but you get frustrated trying to transfer the puffs from your hand into your mouth.  We’re still practicing.
• You also drink from a sippy cup!  You had a hard time with the traditional kind, but do really well with the cups that have a straw!  You learned to use them right away.  We're working on holding them on your own, because right now I'm usually helping you out quite a bit.
• You love peek-a-boo!  It’s a sure-fire way to get you to smile.  You think this is the most exciting game on the planet, and love it when we play with you!
• My dear, you have found your feet in a big way.  You were aware of them last month, but now you grab your toes and suck on them.  It’s hysterical.
• Your giggle comes so readily now.  I can just look at you and you’ll collapse into the most adorable giggles I have ever heard.  Your smile comes just as easily.  You are just such a happy little boy!
• We graduated you to the big boy bathtub this month!  You no longer lie on your back for bath time, now you sit up in your bath ring!  At first it scared you and you’d cry and cry…but after a couple days you figured out it was pretty fun to sit up like a big boy!  Now, you love it.  You play with your toys and just ignore daddy and I as we wash you
• You want everything that daddy and I have.  You can’t sit on our laps anymore when we eat, because you are constantly reaching for and grabbing our food.  When we go to restaurants, you go for the menu.  When I get a phone call, you try and take the phone off my ear.   When we read to you, you try and reach for the books, and if you can't get them you throw a fit.
• You are fascinated by my hair, but you are so gentle with it.  You twirl it around your fingers and make sweet cooing noises as you play with it.  I think it is so precious.
• You got your first real cold this month, which made me so sad for you.  It didn't last too long, though, and daddy and I just snuggled and spoiled you with extra loves until you were feeling better.
• One of my favorite things you do is how you put your hands on my face when you’re right in front of me.  You’ll put your sweet hands on either side of my face and run your little fingers all over.  You love to squeeze my nose, and you always pause when your palm is over my lips so I can smother it with kisses.  Then you’ll squeal, giggle, and keep right on going.
• Lately, when you’re sitting and playing and I come sit behind you, you’ll turn and reach for me.  Oh baby boy, I love it.  I think it is the most precious thing.  I’ll pull you into my lap and you’ll just snuggle me.  Melts this mama’s heart!!

Daddy and I just cannot believe that you've been here for six whole months.  I look around our house and I see the evidence of you all around--the toys littering the floor every night after you go to sleep, the bottles waiting to be washed by the sink, your (not so) tiny clothes ready to be folded and put away--and it literally takes my breath away to realize, in that instant, that you're ours.  My heart still soars every time I have a chance to call you my son out loud.  My son.  Oh baby, you were so worth the wait.  I could never have known, could never have fathomed, the joy that God would pour into my heart with the gift of you.  We have been given the most precious gift, we have been mightily blessed. You have filled my heart with more love than I ever knew was possible.  Your tiny life has transformed mine, in the very best way possible.

Since the day we found out about you, we claimed Isaiah 40:11 for you:

He will tend to his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the little lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. 

I pray that you will always feel the warmth from that love, that safe feeling of being snuggled up close in the arms of your Father.  Daddy and I pray daily that God will guide us as we work each day to raise you into the man He intended you to be.  We are already so proud of you.  We already know that God will use you in mighty, magnificent ways.  We are so grateful that He chose us to have the front row seats.

You are so loved.  Every single moment of every single day. 

Thank you for a beautiful half year, it's been the best of my entire life.

Prayer Request

Please say a prayer for Megan, her twins are one day younger than Blake and just the sweetest things.  Her little boy, Knox, was just admitted to the hospital with a virus, and the poor thing is feeling pretty bad.  Please pray for a speedy recovery for little Knox, and that his sister does not get the virus! 

The Call

I’m sitting here listening to Praise Baby while my (almost) six month old stands at his play table, mesmerized by the music and momentarily hitting the pause button on what has become a mode of constant motion.  

And I’m taking this unexpected downtime to detox in the form of blogging.  Because lately, I’ve been finding myself with a whole lot of thoughts.

I’m not sure what started it.  I’m not sure what series of events played out first, because looking back, everything seems so connected.  I can’t really describe it.  I know I can’t, because I’ve tried and haven’t been able to find the words.  And that’s rare for me.  Because I’m nothing if not a words girl.

I guess all I can really say is this: my heart is changing.  It’s opening.  I feel convicted in a way that I’ve never felt convicted before. 

And it’s all about The Call.

It’s irrevocable. 

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Ephesians 4:1

Amen, right? 

I feel like we talk about it a lot.  'We' meaning Christians.  There’s a whole lot of lip service being dedicated to talking up The Call.

But you know what?  Reading that verse in Ephesians makes my heart clench.  I do the jitterbug with my eyebrows and cringe.  Because, let’s be honest…how often do I take a step back and evaluate my life?  Do a quick check-in with my inner self?

Hi Mandy, how’s it going?  You doing all you can each and every day to live a life filled with the grace of the Father?  Are you showing His love to this dark world?  What specifically have you done today?  This week?  This year? ….Have you even cracked open your Bible today? 

Uh.  Do I have to answer that?

It wouldn’t be pretty.

And I’m certainly not proud of the answer. 

I’m feeling convicted.  I feel like I’ve been sitting in a boat, anchored in the storm while I let the waters churn and turn all around me.  I’ve got a life vest snugly fastened around my chest and a raincoat hood over my ears.  I’m comfortable.  But I see the waters, and my heart understands that I’ll never get to my destination if I don’t move. 

I feel like I'm slowly giving up my seat in the middle row and starting to scoot towards the outside.  I want to jump into the deep end knowing that I can’t swim.   

I want to get uncomfortable so that I can learn to tread water.

I want to trust. I want to ditch the life vest and live with a reckless abandon for the things of this world, because I don’t need them.  I want to put feet to my faith because that’s what we are called to do.  No more lip service.

I want to share this blog post.  I read it last week by accident.  I’ve never read this person’s blog before, but I stumbled upon it quite randomly.  But this post hit me head on.  I love her heart.  I love her story and her passion.  

Truth be told, I’m still processing.  I was so moved that I shared it with Adam, and after he had read it, I told him that I felt like God was peeling back another layer of my life onion.  I know, you’re probably reading that with the same scrunched up face that Adam had on last night.  Life onion??

My life onion is a work in progress.  Each layer that gets peeled stings, it can get a little uncomfortable, and more often than not leaves me feeling a little weepy.  Because every layer that’s peeled away leaves me just that much more raw.  More vulnerable.  But, in the end, I know that the best part of me is beneath everything on the surface.  And I know God is planning to make something amazing out of the finished product.  Those cracked and peeling layers are no good for the final masterpiece.  They’d ruin it.  I have to let them go, even when it leaves me bleary eyed. 

Get it?  Life onion. 

As I processed with Adam last night, we talked about why it’s so hard to live a life worthy of The Call.  And what it exactly means to live that life.  We came to the basic conclusion that we are called to love the lost, to care for those who cannot care for themselves, to look on the broken with the rose-colored glasses of the Father, and to live today with eternity in our sights. 

We are called to fight the “good fight of faith” (I Timothy 6:12).

We are called “to glory and virtue” (II Peter 1:3)

We are called to the “pure and genuine religion” of caring for the orphans and widows (James 1:27)

We are called to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8)  

That last verse is a personal favorite. 

Act justly.

Love mercy.

Walk humbly with your God.

I want that. But it’s hard.  Adam and I agreed that, at least for us, following that Call is just uncomfortable.  It can put you in awkward situations.  It can burst personal space bubbles and put you on the spot.  Like really on the spot.  Try as we might to live our lives transparently and fully—leaning in and listening—we looked at each other last night and acknowledged what we were both thinking: we’re still very comfortable.  

And I think that means we’re not there yet. 

God calls us to do big things.  Loving a lost world should never be, and will never be, comfortable.  That’s just the nature of the beast.  Literally.

And so we held hands and prayed.  We renewed our commitment to living the life that we have been called to, and I know God is moving.  It’s scary, it’s exciting, and it’s uncomfortable....

...so I’m pretty sure we’re on the right track.

Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act..

Proverbs 24:12

Moving Mountains

This song has been moving mountains in my heart. 

Bring your love to life inside of me
Why don’t you break my heart ’til it moves my hands and feet

For the hopeless and the broken
for  the ones that don’t know that you love them
Bring your love to life inside of me

Do you ever catch yourself mindlessly singing song lyrics throughout the day without realizing what you're singing?  I've caught myself doing that with this verse. Over and over again.  Multiple times a day. 

I feel this song.  I feel the gentle prodding of my Savior, and I feel my heart changing.  I feel God moving.  And I want to move with Him. 

I want to put feet to my faith. 

There will be more to share, I'm sure.  But for now I'm just focusing on listening.  On leaning in and being present in this season. 

I cannot wait.
 

Five Months

Blake is five months old!  I'm also posting this here, but will add pictures over there on the family blog! Remember, the password is my maiden name.

__________________________

My sweet boy, you are FIVE months old!  We’re only one month away from celebrating your half birthday.

This past month has been so fun.  You are giggling, smiling, playing with your voice, and letting your little personality shine!

Here’s what you’ve been up to:

• You are experimenting with your voice like nobody’s business.  You change octaves faster than I can turn around.  You go so high that no sound comes out, and daddy and I will just laugh and laugh at you.  That usually spurs you on, and you’ll keep making your sounds as you have a conversation with us.  I know this won’t last long, so I am savoring this phase. I just think it is the cutest.
• You’ve always been a big fan of the jumperoo, but that’s been taken to a whole new level this past month.  You fly in that thing.  You bounce so hard and so high that I wonder if you’re going to upset your tummy.  You haven’t though, so I guess we’re okay.  You’ve also taken a renewed interest in all the little fun toys on the jumperoo, and I think it’s so amazing to watch you figure out how things work.  You understand that the toys will rattle when you spin them, and you love to turn the little blue elephant so it will make a noise.  I just love watching you learn.
• We take you everywhere, and you are just the best little man.  So well behaved.  You never fuss when we’re out and about.  You just love to look at everything all around you and take it all in.  You’ll sit on my lap and have lunch with a friend, or if not in my lap, you’re also super content to just hang out in your stroller.
• Last week, you sat up by yourself for the very first time!!  We snapped a bunch of picture in those 10 seconds (ha!)  We practice this all the time, and you spend lots of time in your Bumbo (which you love).  You’re getting better every single day!  You’re really great at catching yourself if you fall forward, but you freak out if you start to fall backwards because you can’t quite stop yourself yet.
• You’re still not rolling over.  Baby boy, holy cow.  Five months!  Well, to be fair, you can and do roll from back to tummy…but that’s it.  Once you get to your tummy you just chill.  Sometimes you’ll fuss and stick your little butt up in the air, but mostly you just suck on your fist and hang out.  You’ll prop yourself up on your elbows, but have yet to push up on your hands.  I guess it’s a work in progress.  You have gotten your little legs up underneath you several times, so once you get your hands on board, you’ll be in business!  I’m sure it will happen so soon and then I’ll be chasing you around the house.
• You found your feet!  You don’t suck on them, but you love to grab your thighs and pull your legs up to your chest.  You think it’s especially fun when I kiss your toes and sing you silly songs.  You just giggle and giggle and wave your toes in the air for me to catch.
• You’re great at standing and you LOVE to stand.  You’ve figured out that if you go all stiff-legged on us we can’t make you sit down.  So that’s been fun.  You especially like to do that trick when we’re trying to get you in the carseat.  Little stinker :)
• You’re still napping pretty well during the day, generally from 10-12 and then from 2-3.  Your afternoon nap is more often only 45 minutes, but occasionally will last over an hour.
• We took away your swaddle this month (night time only, still swaddling for naps) and you’ve adjusted pretty well.  It was rough at first, but now you’ve figured it out.  We just put you down in your crib at bedtime, and after about ten minutes we’ll check on you to find you’ve put yourself to sleep.  Such a good little guy.  You’ll fuss a little throughout the night, but you don’t want to get up, so we consider that a big success.  We start our day at 6AM (we wake you up) so we can get daddy to work.
• In the past month, you’ve experienced your first Christmas, your first new year (we’re now in a different calendar year than the one in which you were born!) and your first snow!  We woke up this morning to a few inches!!
• Your giggles are now not just in response to our own.  Instead, if we make a funny face or do something that you think is silly, you’ll laugh at us!  I love it.  Positive reinforcement is always a good thing ;)
• Dude, you’ve got some hair on that head of yours!  You’ve really grown a lot of it over the past month.  It’s coming in absolutely blonde. Funny, because when you were born it was darker.  It’s thickest on the top of your head, but you’re getting some in on the sides too.
• According to our scale, you’re weighing in somewhere between 18.5 and 19 pounds.  You’re done with your 6 month clothes and are now wearing some 9 month, a lot of 12 month, and a few 18 month onesies and tshirts.  Eesh.  Such a big boy!!  You’re also wearing mostly size 3 shoes, although a few size 2 will still fit.
• You babble! I can't believe I almost forgot to mention it.  You say "da" a lot, and will just talk and talk and talk to yourself when we're driving in the car.  You also love to carry on conversations.  You'll say something, then I'll say something, then you'll respond.  And you have the best facial expressions to go along with our little chats.  I can't wait until I can really know what you're thinking.
• You love to kick!  When I change your diaper, you kick your feet like you’re in the middle of a tap dancing session.
• You started eating solids this past month!  Baby boy, I have yet to find a food that you do not scarf down.  You are by no means a messy eater.  You want every last drop of whatever food I’ve got on that spoon.  So far, you’ve had rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, prunes, bananas, and peaches! You love them all.  AND, what I find particularly fascinating, is that you’re still eating the same amount of breastmilk as you were before.  Every 4(ish) hours.  I breastfeed you before offering you solids…which we only do twice a day anyway.  Such a little oinker, and I love it!  Your fat thighs are beyond adorable.

Little man, you are the light of our life.  My favorite times of the day are when you’ll catch my eye and give me that smile.  Your smile that says I love you.  I can see it in your eyes and it melts.my.heart. because I know that you know that I’m your mommy.  I hope that you can see in my eyes how much I love you.  Because I do.  More than I ever thought possible.  I know I say it every month in these posts, and I’ll keep saying it because it is only more true with every passing month: Blake Louis, we love you.  We adore every part of who you are, and we want you to know it every single day of your life.  You are so very loved.  We will always be here for you, loving you and cheering you on.  We're proud of you, little man, and cannot wait to see you grow into the man God made you to be.  Our biggest prayer is that you will always walk closely with Him.  Yes, we love you more than anything in this world, but He....well, He died to know you.  That makes you pretty special.

Frugality

Frugality.  Is that even a word?

Well, if it’s not, it should be.  Because it’s 2012’s new motto in the Breitenstein household.

In the last year, we’ve had a lot going on over here.  I got laid off from my job as a teacher when the district I worked for cut over 100 first and second year teachers.  Our house value plummeted (thank you, economy) and we had our first baby. 

Just reading that, it sounds pretty lame (um, except the having a baby part). But in reality, each of those represented a tremendous blessing.  Let’s go down the line:

1.   I lost my job.  At first, it really was lame.  We definitely thought so.  But what it allowed was for me to spend a lot more time than we had originally planned at home with our baby.  What a huge blessing.  And it also allowed for me to earn money as a sub when I wanted.  I get sub calls every morning, and if I want/we need for me to take one, I do.  I don’t have to, but I can.  I never, ever thought I’d sub but what a huge blessing it has been in this season of life. 

2.   Our house value plummeted.  This one took a little while for us to be able to see the blessing, but it is there.  We bought our house in early 2008, literally right before the housing market crashed.  Since then, we’ve seen a steady decline in our investment money pit.  BUT, but, there is a silver lining.  We can afford to live here, even with our house value underwater.  We’ve never missed a mortgage payment.  We can pay our bills.  We have a beautiful home that we love.  Our neighborhood is perfect for Blake.  We live on a dead-end street, with a big backyard and plenty of room for a growing little boy to explore.  We would be foolish not to see the blessing in all of that.

3.   We had our first baby.  Do I even need to go into this one?  Biggest blessing of our lives.  The end.

So, basically, moving into 2012 we feel very blessed.  We’re happy to put 2011 to bed and lean into a new year, packed with new blessings and new opportunities to see God’s hand and His provision. 

Even so, we do find ourselves treading in unfamiliar water.  We’ve never really lived off one income.  We’ve always had two.  We’ve always been able to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.  Money just has never been an issue.  And, again, we’re blessed that (even now) it’s not.  We can pay our bills and take care of our obligations.  We are putting away money for Blake’s brothers and sisters (well, and Blake too).  We’re putting money in savings every month.  Our bank account is healthy.  

But, we can make a few changes/continuations in our lifestyle to save a few extra bucks, and since we can, we will.  Exciting.  

Here’s what we’re planning

1.   No credit card debt.  This is just a continuation.  We’ve never had any, and we never plan to.  My dad gave Adam and I an invaluable piece of advice when he told us to never charge something we didn’t have the money to pay for at the end of the month.  We never have.  

2.   Consolidate trips into “town” (we live about 10 minutes outside the nearest big city in a town of just over 3,000) to save on gas.  I feel like I pretty much already do this, just because Blake and I spend a lot of time at home anyway.  I keep my errands early morning (after we drop off Adam at work) or late afternoon (before we pick him up).  In between there, our days are filled with play time, naps, eating….you know, baby stuff.  HOWEVER, this will change in February, because Blake and I are signed up for Mommy and Me Swim lessons.  SO FUN.  But neither here nor there.  Sorry. 

3.   DIY whenever, and wherever, possible.  This one I am very excited about.  I have a couple ideas already cookin’ in that noggin of mine.  Not ready to share yet, but soon.  Promise.

4.   Find “creative” ways to bring in some extra bacon.  So far, this has included selling items we really don’t need on Craigslist, signing up for SwagBucks (uhh, how did I not know about this sooner??) and opening an Etsy shop (well not yet, but very soon)

5.   Buy secondhand.  Mainly for Blake.  This kid has blown through his wardrobe for (what I thought would be) the first year of his life.  His little four month self is currently wearing 12 month clothes.  When we realized this would be the case (at about 2 weeks of age) we decided that buying him new clothes/shoes was out of the question.  He just doesn’t wear them long enough to make spending $15-20 a pop reasonable.  Instead, we buy secondhand.  We have an amazing children’s resale shop here in town that I frequent all the time.  I rarely spend more than $3 for anything in Blake’s wardrobe.  Plus, they frequently have sales and I can score things for as cheap as .75 cents.  It also helps that Blake has a cousin who brings him big boxes of his hand-me-downs every time we get together.  LOVE that sweet family (and their little man, who has incredible style).  For us, buying secondhand extends all the way to baby gear.  Blake’s jumperoo, his walker, his Johnny Jump-Up, one of his play gyms…..all secondhand.  Anything that wasn’t gifted to us we bought secondhand.  And you’d never know!  I got out my Dreft and cleaned the living daylights out of everything, and Blake never knew the difference.  Doing this has saved us tons.

6.   Selling back baby clothes.  I don’t actually do this, because we’re saving our little boy clothes should there be an Isaac James Breitenstein coming on down the line (<-- you like that?  yeah, this my non-Adam-approved name for baby boy #2) but it would be a great way to earn a little extra money.

7.   Save money by being a frugal housewife.  Yes.  This means I’m cutting out coupons, planning menus in advance so grocery shopping is very efficient, and taking on new projects to save us money in the day to day stuff (like making reusable paper towels) 

 
Those are just a few of our ideas, but already it's been fun.  And exciting.  I love my new role as a (mostly) stay at home mom, and I love doing little things like those mentioned above to help take care of my family.  The older I get (uh oh, sounds like a cliche coming your way) the more I realize how little things matter.  I could live anywhere, literally anywhere, with my husband and son by my side.  They are my joy.  We are rich in things money can't buy, and that's all that matters. 

Roundup

Oh boy.  I’ve got a lot to catch up on.

Let’s just do a few bullet points, shall we?

-    Christmas was wonderful.  We spent it with both our families and celebrated the birth of our Savior King.  More on our family celebrations here.

-    Our New Year was pretty low key.  That happens when you have a four month old.  We opted out of going anywhere, despite several very nice invitations from people we love, and spent the evening on the couch cuddled up with our dogs.  Blake, of course, wished us a Happy New Year before he hit the crib at 7PM.

-   I have a 2011 recap in the works.  Maybe by tomorrow.  Maybe not.  Here's to hopin'!

-    I’m excited about 2012.  Like, for real.  This is the year of the frugal housewife, since we’ve gone from a two-income family to a one-income family.  I’ve got a whole post on that in the works.

-   I’ve gotten back to my DIY roots in the last few weeks, and am so so so so excited (<-- are you sensing my enthusiasm?!) for the latest project I’ve got up my sleeve.  I’m especially excited because it will be F-R-E-E and will completely transform the look and feel of my living room.  In a big, BIG way.  And it’s bold.  I love being bold.

And, before I go, I leave you with one adorable picture of the littlest man in my life.  I know,  I said I was only going to do that over on the family blog from now on....but I can't resist.  Just don't tell my hubby, okay?