Earthen Vessel

My little guy turned 7 months old on the 12th! Sometimes I feel like I was just pregnant and sometimes I feel like he has always been here. I noticed one day I was thinking about our old apartment and I subconsciously added Daniel into the memory and I realized, wait a minute, he wasn't even born yet!


He also had his first tooth pop in! Sweet little guy, he didn't even act like he was teething so it was a complete surprise. He has been eating solid food since he was about 5 1/2 months and the past couple of weeks I have been trying to expand the variety of foods he is eating. I discovered he LOVES baked, pureed sweet potatoes and also discovered that he HATES broccoli and carrots. I read that avocados are so good for babies because of all the good fats in them and so I tried to mash one up and give it to him and he wasn't too fond of that either. So I tried mixing the mashed avocado in to some of the sweet potatoes and he gobbled it up! I tried this with the mashed broccoli and carrots and what do you know, he gobbled them up too! I want him to have good nutrition and even if I have to be sneaky about it he's going to eat his veggies! He loves applesauce, bananas, pears and blueberries so I have no problem getting him to eat fruit.

As you can see from the picture he sits up pretty good when you prop him on the couch or with a Boppy pillow on the floor. But of course he is still a bit top heavy when you try to sit him up by himself.

Ruh, Daniel and I went to REI in Tacoma this week to look at baby backpacks for carrying Daniel on our hikes. They only had a couple and they were $250! Way too much money! So we spent some time browsing and I picked up the new runner's pack I ordered online and had sent to the store to save on shipping. Ruh pointed out that we still had to pay for the gas and the toll to cross the bridge so I will rethink that next time. But it gave us an excuse to go to REI which I love doing. I am very excited for my runner's pack as I will start running outside very soon. I am training to run a 5K and the treadmill is getting pretty tedious. I have heard my sis-in-law (who has run TWO marathons by the way) call it the "dreadmill" and I am finding out why. I am very excited about running and I am feeling so good! I have been dieting and running for a couple months now and I have lost 24 pounds! I have lost all of the baby weight and I am back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I still have a lot to lose but it doesn't seem as daunting now that I have figured out how to lose weight and do it smart.

I did end up buying a baby backpack and I bought it online at REI.com, on sale, for $155 (originally $200). I spent a good chunk of time searching and reading reviews until I decided on the Sherpani Rumba Child Carrier. Thanks to mom and dad for the $100 in REI gift cards for Christmas which helped us to buy it! I can't wait for our first hike! Time for squats and lunges to prep my legs.

I also received my first delivery of organic veggies from Wildy Organic. I will be receiving a bin of organic veggies every other week. It was so much fun opening up my bin and discovering all the healthy goodies inside. I received chioggia beets that are white and pink striped, green onions, mushrooms, broccoli, easter egg radishes that are white, pink, and purple, 2 extra large Hass avocados, red leaf lettuce, salad mix, celery, an acorn squash, garlic, zucchini, cucumber and tomatoes. I've decided I am going to dehydrate the tomatoes to make "sun" dried tomatoes to add to soups and I am still trying to decide what to do with the acorn squash. I am thinking I can roast it, puree it and put it in a soup or use it for Daniel's baby food. We have been like rabbits eating all the salad and radishes.

As I was happily looking over my produce my mind went to all the people in Haiti who would love to have all this produce right now. It humbled me and I prayed right then and thanked the Lord for providing my family with healthy food. I also prayed for Haiti and even though it didn't seem like much I gave a donation to World Vision. I would love to do more and I have a huge box full of Daisy's and my old clothes that I was just going to take to the Goodwill. I would like to send them to Haiti but I don't know how. If anyone knows of people who are going over there or of an organization who is taking clothing donations to send please let me know. I am going to search for one but I want to make sure they are reputable and honest. Also my mom just put up a post about a new ministry called Churches Helping Churches. Her friends husband is working with them. They will be working specifically with churches helping fellow believers who are in need in Haiti.