Strollin'

The weather certainly felt like summer today!
And now that Dorothy is big enough to sit up
in her stroller,
we decided we HAD to enjoy this gorgeous day.

Just look at that sweet baby face.
Dorothy loves to be outside.
Hopefully we keep getting days like this one!

1. breaks from the rain
2. no work for papa
3. the possibility of building a house...

Before...

...and After!

Oh, the joy:)

1. free couches

2. enough money saved to replace free couches
3. knowing I can recover those pillows

Welcome...

sweet baby Joey.
born on June 26th
at 1:42 pm
weighing 7lbs 6oz

Congratulations, Cheryl and Jon!
He is so handsome and wonderful,
and we're so excited to have him as part of our family.

A Father Indeed

start 'em young!

We love our fresh veggies from the farm.
So, when Marty found this cute crate of veggies,
he couldn't help but get them for the Dot.

She loves her veggies now too:)
(don't let the face fool you)

1. plush veggies

2. gardens
3. rain to help things grow

a tale of two papas

Lewis:
(aka Jazzman)
*Fixer of Things
*Computer Wizard
*Harmonizer of Songs
*Maker of Paella, Cinnamon rolls, and Cobbler
*Watcher of "Chick Flicks"
*Striker of Fantastic poses (see below)

Martin:
(aka Martino Bambino)

*Maker of Music
*Creator of spontaneous dance parties
*Reader of Neruda, Dickinson, and Frost
*Curry Master
*Rider of Horses
*Super Handsome (see below)

Lewis and Martin:
The best papas ever to their baby girls

Thank you to all the fantastic dads in my life
on this and all days.

3

pictures

of a beautiful

3 month old!

At 3 months,
Dorothy is
starting to roll,
cooing,
smiling,
laughing,
holding toys,
taking regular naps,
loving being outside,
champion of her bumbo chair,
and so many other fun things.

No other 3 months have been more amazing.

1. Dot
2. watching her grow
3. her smiles when she wakes up

Ticked Off

As I was getting ready for bed last night,
I happened to find one of these beauties attached to my chest.

Eww. Seriously?
How did it get there? Let me recap my day for you:
1) Lots of tummy time, flash cards, dancing, and playing
with Dorothy in our non-woodland home.
2) A walk out on the paved walkway around our complex,
free of shrubbery and overhanging trees.
3) Making dinner inside.

The only other thing we did was drop Dorothy
off at her Grandma's so we could go visit my
sister-in-law at the hospital.
However, they do have a lot of greenery leading up
to their front door.
That must be where I picked up my parasitic friend.
Once again, Ewww.

I took a class on entymology in college titled:
Humans, Insects, and Diseases
We covered a wide range of vector borne diseases,
including those caused by ticks.
It was terrifying.
I spent the entire summer following that semester
paranoid that an Asian Tiger Mosquito was going to end my life.
Last night,
all the nasty things about ticks that I learned came
flooding back to me.
Sentences describing the cutting mandibles and
feeding tube of a tick swirled in my head.
The list of diseases, including
lyme disease, rocky mountain spotted fever, and babesiosis
scrolled through my thoughts.

Once I got over feeling extremely violated,
I quickly tweezed the offender out of my body,
flushed it,
and sanitized the site of the attack.
Things are looking good this morning.

Let's hope it stays that way.

1. tweezers
2. alcohol wipes
3. no ticks on Dorothy

Ode to Will

Today,

I have been thinking a lot about my little brother,
Will.

He has already been serving in Argentina
for 18 months!
Woooweeee!
I can't wait for him to come home in December.

I am just so darn proud of him for
selflessly giving up 2 years of his life
to serve others.
He has had to miss a lot of important family events
in the time that he has been gone:
Keira's Birth,
Our Weddding,
Dorothy's Birth,
Along with
moves, surgeries, birthdays, blessings...
The list goes on.

I am so proud of him for realizing
that the work he is doing is more important
than being home for all the "stuff" that life involves.
Of course we would love to look back at our wedding photos
and see his handsome face,
but when we don't see it
we remember that he was out trying to
improve the lives of those around him.

We would have loved for him to meet Dorothy
as a wee chickadee,
but when he finally gets to spend time with her
he will be a wiser individual.
We will appreciate the wisdom he
shares with her from his many experiences.

Here's to YOU, Sir William.
With Love.

a papa's love...

...is like no other.

1. catching sweet moments on camera

2. my husband
3. knowing families are forever

Round 2

Wahoo
for CSA pick-up day!

I was surprised by just how much
we left the farm with today.

We got some fresh pork chops and a ham steak,
1 dozen eggs,
1/2 lb of goat cheese,
more radishes,

1 bunch of swiss chard,
3 more heads of spring lettuce,
1 bunch of beets,
and a whole bag of spicy greens
that I forgot to put in the picture.

I'm baking some breads over the next few days,
and we're pretty good to go until next week!

Oh, how I'm loving all this fresh food!

1. quilting projects
2. new books to read
3. not having to go to the grocery store

first up

Sunday night we got our first
CSA veggies of the season!
They included:

1 HUGE bag of pea greens
3 heads of spring lettuce
1 bunch of early radishes

Salad, anyone?

This Thursday we start our official weekly pick-up.
Along with more veggies we'll be getting
3 lbs of meat, 6 eggs, and 1/2 lb of goat cheese.
I can't wait!

1. fresh food
2. naps
3. dinner with friends

2nd time Around

Well, I am officially on my second go as a Relief Society counselor. After only a month as the Enrichment counselor, our President was released and her counselors (me included) along with her. However, the new President has called me back in--this time as the Education counselor! I am so excited to get going in this new calling, serving with more amazing women.

One of the projects I want to take on as Education counselor is to (with the help of our librarian) organize the library, creating a resource binder for our teachers. I think my heart just skipped a beat. Time in a library? Oh, how I love it. I think libraries, especially our church libraries, are sadly under-used. My goal is to change that.

What an exciting opportunity this will be to learn and grow. I feel so blessed to be able to serve the wonderful women in our ward. I also know that this calling will help me to expand my knowledge of the Gospel, something I have been striving to do on my own (but we all know there is nothing like a calling to get our butts in gear). So, in the words of Allison, buckle up! This is going to be quite a ride!

Papa, we're proud...

of YOU!
Marty has been working on his
Masters of Applied Linguistics for 3 years
and is finally DONE!

Last week,
we headed up to UMass Boston
to celebrate by having dinner with the department.
Dorothy really went all out in her
red polka dot dress (thanks, Mary!).

I love seeing how Marty uses his
gift with language.
His ability to communicate with others
of all different cultures
has made his heart grow to a tremendous size
(kinda like the Grinch when he is through stealing Christmas).

He is an amazing teacher,
urging his students to learn the language
that will help them here,
but more importantly urging them to preserve their own
language and culture to share with others.

We sure are proud of you,
Papa man!

Hi, my name is...

Dorothy's
Great Grandma and Grandpa Heaps
sent her this sassy get-up when she was born.
We had her wear it to her Uncle's graduation party--
it made introductions a little easier:)

1. polka-dotted baby stuff
2. craisins
3. music to clean to

Just a Homemaker...

There was a time in my life (a mere 2 years ago) when I thought I would be ambitiously pursuing a masters degree in Contemporary American Literature by night and selflessly shaping the minds of America's adolescents by day. THIS rigorous schedule, I believed, was what accomplishment was all about.

And then I got married...and had a baby...

Needless to say, my goals have changed quite a bit.

While teaching and pursuing higher education are both wonderful things, they (in the traditional sense) are no longer the things that make me tick. However, this is not to say that I am no longer teaching and learning each and every day. I believe that I still am--perhaps to an even greater degree.

Today, my blogging friends, I submit that the phrase "just a homemaker" needs to lose that defaming "just." Being at home with Dorothy, being there to help her grow and develop is the greatest teaching experience I have ever had. Striving each and every day to find ways to help my little family by cutting costs, cleaning, organizing, cooking, etc. has helped me learn more than any course ever would.

However, the importance of the things we do in our homes is only fully realized when we stop to see what we are helping our homes to become.

"Home can be a Heaven on Earth." We know this well, and how true it is. What greater calling could there be than making Heavenly Homes on the Earth? What greater calling could there be than creating a space where the holy and just can dwell?

To homemakers everywhere, I urge you to wear your title as a badge of honor! We are doing an important work. Let us never belittle the sacred work with which we have been entrusted. Instead, let us do it to the best of our ability.

1. mommyhood
2. new recipes
3. library books