Burp Cloths, A Busy Week, and Bye, Bye Monkey

August 28th, 2007

This morning I finished crocheting my 9th burp cloth for Baby Boy #3. I made them each differently, so no two of them are the same. I’m happy to have them done… I organized a drawer in the nightstand in the nursery with all the little burp cloths, including several that I have left over from when Sammy was a baby. I’m excited for this baby to come!

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This drawer is ready to go!

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Here’s what they look like!

In other news, we had company all last week. We didn’t get a ton of pictures from all our fun-filled adventures (woops!), but here are a few:

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While Joanna and I were busy at home taking care of boys and going on shopping trips, the boys were out exploring the Cascades!

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Sammy, as always, was busy being cute

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Bill and Joanna were busy enjoying their vacation

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Patrick was always busy doing some sort of activity, which prevented him (at least in his mind) from having any time to take a cute picture with his brother in their matching outfits, even though Mommy thought there were several choice moments to take that previously mentioned picture.

And, most sadly, we lost Ooh Hoo, Patrick’s beloved stuffed monkey, on a trip to the park. We had allowed little Sammy to play with him in the stroller as we went on our walk, and somewhere along the way he was dropped. He was probably picked up by some little boy or girl, and hopefully will be much loved in his new home.

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Ironically, the only pictures that we have of Ooh Hoo are with Sammy, the day before he went on to a (hopefully) better place. We all miss you, Ooh Hoo.

The Latest Fashion Accessory: FOOD!

August 24th, 2007

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RICE!!!

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CHEERIOS AND BABY FOOD!

A Year Ago Today…

August 20th, 2007

Little Sammy was baptized, and it has taken us this long to post pictures of his baptism!!!

On Saturday I finally got around to getting them scanned into our computer, after dealing with them being lost in an unused diaper bag for several months, and then having Andrew file them away in the memorabilia folder for an even greater length of time, during which point I had forgotten what had become of them. So, to remember this very special day, I’m posting those pictures!!!

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When he was baptised, we joked that he was doubly blessed because both of the ministers of our church, Pastor Rayburn and Pastor DeMass, were doing the baptism together, with Pastor Rayburn performing the actual baptism.

A big thanks to Mr. Bowdle, for taking these pictures for us. He also did our wedding pictures, which I absolutely love!

And, finally, a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad!!!

A Busy Day for Sweet Boys

August 18th, 2007

Yesterday was a busy day for us. After breakfast, I took the boys to South Hill Park for a walk and then let Patrick play on the playground for a while. The weather was so nice… the high 60’s, so the air was slightly crisp and there were hardly any people walking the trail in the woods, so it was a lovely and peaceful walk. Patrick then got to enjoy playing on the playground. He’s quite the monkey… he loves to climb up the fake rock wall and slide down all the slides.

After we went to the park, we went grocery shopping because our refrigerator was beginning to look rather bare after I cleaned everything out of it on Thursday. Once that was done, we came home for lunch, and I made the boys grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Patrick really liked the tomato soup, but he’s not a really big fan of cheese for some reason. Little Sammy, though, got to try a grilled cheese sandwich for the first time, and he LOVED it. He ate more than Patrick did!!! After filling his little belly with lots of cheesy goodness, he decided to take a nap… in his high chair. Sammy usually doesn’t fall asleep in strange places, so he was definitely tired out from the morning’s activities!

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Patrick, meanwhile, decided that he would rather read books than take a nap, which is alright. He usually doesn’t take a nap anymore, so as long as he has some quiet time to give me a break, I’m usually alright with him skipping his nap.

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While the boys were taking their nap/quiet time, I took the opportunity to clean our guest bathroom, since we’re having the Wrights come on Tuesday. Once that was done, Patrick helped me make oatmeal cookies from my OAMC cookbook. So far I have not made any meals to freeze, but I now have about 8 dozen frozen balls of cookie dough. The book I have suggested making cookie dough, rolling it into balls, placing it on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet, and then putting the cookie sheets in the freezer until the balls are frozen. Once they’re frozen, you pop them by the dozen into small plastic freezer bags. I love this idea because I love being able to make cookies every now and then, but I hate the hassle of having to bake a whole ton of cookies at once. Sometimes I just go out and buy the premade cookie dough instead, so I can have the option of only making a few cookies at a time, so I’m hoping that this will be a cheaper and easier alternative to that!

Once the cookie balls were in the freezer, I organized our pantry… so now the only part of the kitchen that hasn’t been organized is the medicine shelf, which is probably the least interesting thing in the world to organize! So… instead of organizing the medicines, I took the boys to Ross and Bed, Bath and Beyond in search of some items that I need for a wedding present, and I came up empty handed. The Ross in Puyallup is so cluttery. It’s really hard to maneuver a cart down any of the aisles, and everything is always a mess. And then, Bed, Bath and Beyond just didn’t seem to have anything that I was looking for. It had been several months since I stepped foot in one of those stores, so it’s probably no surprise that their inventory had changed in that time period. So I was pretty disappointed… but thankfully, now I have an excuse to go to the SuperMall!!!

Later last night, my friend Siera came over for girls’ night. We ate Mexican food, made s’mores over the heating element that came with my fondue pot, and watched Emma. It was fun to catch up with her… we try to get together for girls’ night every time Andrew is in DC.

So, yeah, yesterday was BUSY!!! And today is going to be busy too! Andrew comes home around noon, and then we’re going to do a Costco trip together. Andrew is also going to help me put a fresh coat of paint on the nightstand in the nursery… it got banged up pretty badly in the last two moves we’ve had. As for me, I have a medicine shelf to organize. Oh what fun!

One more thing! As of today, I only have 100 more days before the baby is due. I really do think the baby will be early, but it’s still fun to hit that milestone!

An Overdue, Picture-Filled Update!

August 14th, 2007

Things have been crazy, hectic and busy at the Flanagan house, and I’m afraid that things will continue to be crazy for a long, long time. There’s a lot going on over the next several weeks and months. This week I’m busy with continuing the preparations for the new baby. This includes working on crocheting burp cloths (I only have 1-1/2 more to go, and I’m done with my goal!!!), cleaning out the master bathroom’s cabinets, cleaning out the fridge and freezer, in preparation to begin my first attempt at Once A Month Cooking (OAMC), and preparing the house for visitors next week. Today I was busy taking advantage of some coupons I found online, allowing me to buy Gerber baby food Stage 2 for $.02/jar (regularly $.52/jar) and Stage 3 for $.15/jar (regularly $.65/jar). Our pantry is now filled with enough baby food to last us for MONTHS!

Next week, we will be hosting Bill and Joanna Wright, some of our friends from Maryland. Bill and Andrew have known each other since Andrew was a baby, and I met Bill at Grove City College. Bill and Joanna got married about 6 months after we did, and Andrew was a groomsman in their wedding. While they’re here, we have plans to visit Portland and Seattle, and for Bill and Andrew to go on a hike! A few days after Bill and Joanna leave, we will be going on a small family road trip up to Edmonton, Alberta, where my friend, Margaret Pace, is getting married. Margaret is one of my oldest friends from Faith Pres, and we went to high school together, so I am glad that we’re going to be able to share in her special day! Once we’re home from the wedding, I plan to prepare my first set of meals using the OAMC method, and then spend several weeks after that working on getting Patrick potty trained. October will then be my month to finish preparing for the arrival of our new baby. My due date is at the end of November, but after having two early babies, I’m not taking any chances. I’m going to be totally ready by the end of October!!!

I have to admit that I’ve been really, really bad about taking pictures lately. Here are some that I managed to take over the past few days, though. Hopefully this will be alright for now!!!

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Sammy trying out his new toothbrush

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Ready and willing to practice good oral hygiene

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Patrick loves wearing the hat that Aunt Karen sent him for Christmas. He usually tries to get Sammy to wear the matching hat, but Sammy just likes to pull it off and chew on it.

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Sammy loves to climb on the fireplace hearth

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Pulling himself up to say “hi” to the camera!

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Patrick has really mellowed out in the past few months. It’s amazing how much he’s grown and changed this past summer!

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