Swimming Lessons

Because we didn’t want Charlie to be afraid of water, we decided to get her started in swimming lessons early.  John and I both learned to swim when we were very young so we thought it would be good for Charlie too.  Last Wednesday we took Charlie to her first swimming lesson at the local YMCA.  The class is for 6-18 months.  There are 5 other infants in her class, but she is the only one under a year old.

I was a little worried about how she would react to the water.  She loves showers, but she HATES baths, so I wasn’t sure how a giant tub of water would seem to her.  I didn’t have anything to worry about though.  She absolutely loved it! 

Here are some pictures that John took of Charlie swimming.

Yes, that’s right, my daredevil child even decided the time was right to put her face in the water.  She kicked her legs and moved her arms just like a little guppie.  She’s a natural!  Charlie had the biggest smile on her face throughout most of the lesson and we can’t wait to go back for the next one.  (It was hard to not get blurry pictures.  She wouldn’t stop moving). 

Oh, BTW, we are using Swimmis from Bummis as our swim diapers instead of buying the disposable ones at the store.  They work really well and we can use them over and over and over again.  At $12.95, we bought two and that’s enough for the whole summer!

 

What’s Up Readers?

Often the way I feel in the evenings now days

It’s been a while since I’ve posted.  Let’s see.  What have I been doing that has been keeping me from blogging?  Oh yeah, getting back to work and trying to get into some semblance of a schedule.  And of course, as soon as you think you have your schedule down, something comes along to wreck havoc on it, in other words, all three members of my family have a nice head/chest cold.

But of course, just being back at work is an excuse as to why I haven’t been blogging.  The main reason is technical difficulties here at home (aka, more excuses, but deal with it folks).  Those technical difficulties are that 1)My mac notebook annoys me and I don’t want to use it for the internet anymore.  It has major problems and is heading for a graveyard somewhere soon 2) The PC is upstairs in the office, where I don’t want to be when I come home from work.  I want to be in the living room with my family and finally 3) Me.  I am too lazy to walk up the stairs and go to the office to get on the computer. 

Yesterday we went to the store and bought a wireless card for my PC.  John doesn’t like the USB wireless adaptors, so we went with this route.  However, this didn’t work because the card didn’t fit in my mini-cpu.  So, back to the store to grab a USB adaptor.  Now that the computer is wireless, we moved it into the armoire in the living room (or the armoured as my phone decided it needed to be changed to become) and I can use the computer while Charlie is in her swing (where she is sleeping right now) or sleeping in her chair and we are hanging out in the evening.  Much better 🙂

Work is good.  It feels good to be using my brain again even if all I have been doing for the past several days is reading sequence.  ATGC…boy those are some fun letters.

We’ve been doing some fun stuff at home too, things which should hopefully make it up onto the blog soon.  Arboretum, new camera for John, swimming lessons, first trip to the ER, biggest loser challenge at daycare.  All blog worthy items.  Stay tuned for some fun.  I promise you, it’s coming!

Oops

Sorry for the lack of blogging.  Technical issues with the computer should be fixed as of this evening.

15.5 Hours and Meal Planning for 6/6 – 6/16

That’s how long until I start my new job.  I can’t believe it’s so soon!  It feels like forever since I was hired.  I was initially given the job on March 17th, but because of the budget impasse then having paper work take forever, I didn’t actually receive my letter until last week.

On one hand, I’m extraordinarily glad to get back to work.  The project is cool and it’ll really use my brain again in that scientific way, which, if I’m being honest, is what I paid all that money in college and grad school to be able to do.  So yes, I’m super excited.

But on the other hand, I’m also sad.  No more 24/7 time with Charlie.  Evenings and weekends only (oh, and all federal holidays too!  Yay for working for the federal gov).  I never thought that I would ever want to be a SAHM, but if we ever won the Mega Millions or Powerball Jackpot, I’d be staying home in a heartbeat and I wouldn’t give it a second thought.

Since I’m going to be busy during the days and I want to maximize my time with Charlie in the afternoons, I’m trying to not only meal plan, which I do okay with, but to meal plan with a lot of slow cooker and make-ahead meals.  Here’s the plan for the next two weeks.

M – Mushroom Sauce Baked Pork Chops (Casserole)

T – Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

W – Leftovers

Th –  Chicken with Wild Rice Casserole

F – Leftovers

Sa – Party at John’s Aunt and Uncle’s House

Su – Phils Game (I’m thinking it’s a Schmitter week!)

M – Tex-Mex Pork

T – Deli Beef Brisket

W – Leftovers

Th – Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas (Casserole)

F – Leftovers

 

Charlie’s Baptism

I’ve been meaning to get this post posted for a while, but I keep ending up with other things to do.  Even though I’m busy getting some stuff ready to send to a friend’s fundraiser (Hi, D!), I want to get this up before I forget to do it again.

We’re Catholic and we knew we wanted Charlie to be baptized into the Catholic Church as well.  We did our Baptismal class early, back in September, well before her birth.  So once she was born, we were able to schedule her baptism.  We ended up scheduling for March 6th.  Our parish only baptizes on the first and third Sundays of the month and we tried to hold off until winter was over.  We had to schedule for the 6th though because it was the last Sunday before Lent and our parish, along with most others, won’t baptize during Lent.

Charlie’s gown was from Strasburg Children’s.  We wanted something traditional and I really wanted cotton as opposed to the polyester that many gowns are made out of.

Baptismal Bonnet

Here, Charlie’s Godparents were getting her dressed.  Her Godparents are Kim and Hus, who also happen to be her Aunt and Uncle.  We’re so happy that they agreed to hold this place for Charlie.

Getting dressed, but not happily!

Looking a little happier

 

Well, Hello There Happy Girl!

Before we left to walk to church (we live two blocks away), we had some pictures taken in our kitchen and living room of Charlie with some special people.

Charlie and her Grandmothers

Charlie with her Grandmother Tilda and her Great Aunt Vivian

We were so happy that my mother and my Aunt Vivian were able to come out from Pittsburgh for the baptism.  It wouldn’t have been the same without them.

Kim and Hus gave Charlie a beautiful cross for her baptism.

Putting on Charlie's necklace

Charlie and her Godparents

We walked to church in the rain (actually, we drove, couldn’t find parking and parked exactly one street over.  We should have walked the whole way).

Charlie and John

Charlie and Me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During a Catholic baptism, the person being baptized is welcomed into the church at the doors.

Charlie being welcomed into the church

There are two different parts of the ceremony.  One is being sealed with chrism (holy oil) and one is being cleansed by water.

Being sealed with chrism

Being cleansed with the waters of baptism

There is an old wives’ tale that if the baby screams when the water is poured over their head that this means the demons are being chased out of them.  Well, Charlie was sound asleep and the water woke her right up.  She screamed so loudly that you could have heard her in the church’s vestibule!  Guess those demons are gone!

Dressed in the new clothes of baptism, a bib provided by our parish.

After the baptism, we had some pictures taken at the altar with our families.

Our Family. I love this picture.

 

With the Godparents

With the Grandmothers

A Proud Daddy

With her Great Grandmother (John's Grandmother)

All tuckered out from her big day

***All of the pictures in this post are from Patrick Rodio Photography in Collingswood, NJ.  He was great to work with and did a wonderful job that day.  If you are in the Philly/South Jersey area and need a photographer, we highly recommend him!***

Short Movie, DVD, TV, and Book Reviews

I’ve been catching up on some entertainment lately, so here are some of my reviews

Hangover II:

Loved it.  Not quite as straight out funny as the first, but more sordid.  And with my sick sense of humor, this was right up my alley.  During several parts, I couldn’t stop LMAO.  Can’t wait to see it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Strings Attached:

Ehh.  Glad I was doing other stuff (Plants vs Aliens and crossword puzzles on my droid) while I watched it.  It was okay.  Glad I redboxed it instead of On Demand or, heaven forbid, went to the movies to see this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Game of Thrones – on HBO:

LOVE IT!  I’ve read all of the books in the series (Songs of Fire and Ice) and loved them.  George R.R. Martin books always make it onto my list of awesome fantasy books.  I’m super excited about the new book coming out in July (God knows we fans have been waiting forever!).  I originally read these books years ago, but am rereading them in anticipation of the new book’s arrival.  However, I’m also watching the adaptation of the first book, Game of Thrones, on HBO.  I was a little worried at first about how they would put a book of such magnitude on the small screen.  I needn’t have worried.  It’s plain awesome!  If you have HBO, catch up on the series on HBO to go or On Demand as quick as you can!  (Even John loves it and he’s not a fantasy fan.)

 

Hunger Games:

These books have been super hyped by a ton of people.  Although I’m happy I read them to form my own opinion, I have to admit that they weren’t that great.  The first book was good, but that’s because it was brand new.  By book two and book three it was definitely been there, done that.  I finished all three in three days while John was away so I don’t feel like it was time wasted.  They were easy reads.  That’s about all I can say good about them.  I think I’ll still end up watching the movie when it comes out, just to see how they adapt it, but I don’t think I’ll pay to see it in the theater.  It will be a redbox or On Demand rental.