A Warm, Wonderful Weekend

This past weekend was absolutely delightful. The weather was so beautiful and summer-like that we just had to take advantage of it.

On Friday evening we went to an event at church called ArtCert, which is a fundraiser for the Anthem School of Ministry. Declan sported a very stylish faux hawk just for the occasion, and it was lovely being around such creative people, serving the Lord.

On Saturday we packed up a lunch and headed out to have a picnic at the park. This is where Declan thoroughly enjoyed two "firsts". 

We gave him a watermelon rind which he absolutely adored. He even cried when I took it away and he never does that. He also went in a baby swing on the playground at the park and laughed the whole time!

On Sunday we went to church, had a relaxing afternoon, and then took a nice, but hot, walk around my mother-in-law's neighborhood before joining her at her house for dinner.

It was a perfect blend of fun, excitement, warmth, love and laughter. I enjoyed every minute of it!

Cloth Diapering

While I was pregnant, Sean and I decided to use cloth diapers on our baby. The biggest reason for this being the amount of waste created by disposable diapers and the fact that they are not biodegradable. Disposable diapers are the third largest source of solid waste in US landfills, creating 3.3 million tons of solid waste. On top of which they take more than 500 years to break down. There are also many health risks related to disposable diapers.

They are made up of plastic, bleach, absorbency gels, dyes, fragrances and chemicals, which can all be absorbed through baby's skin or breathed in through the lungs.

We began a pretty thorough research on cloth diapers and talked to a few friends who were already using them. There are so many brands and choices out there and we wanted to make the best decision for our family. Eventually we decided on using GroVia, and we are very happy with them! It feels good knowing that we are not being exorbitantly wasteful and that we aren't putting toxic chemicals on our son.

Raising a Healthy Eater

Sean and I feel that it is extremely important to raise Declan in a healthy environment. We desire for him to be physically active, mentally stable, and to make smart choices with food. The biggest reason being: Childhood obesity is on the rise and is an epidemic in America, with approximately 17% of children ages 2-19 being classified as obese. 

If we don't take responsibility from the beginning, offering him healthy alternatives, it is possible for him to end up part of the above statistic. There is so much temptation to eat poorly and live a lazy lifestyle, with technology being in such an advanced stage, and fast food on every corner, making grabbing a meal, quick and easy.

We have decided to take a little extra effort in starting Declan off on the right foot by making his food at home and introducing vegetables, fruit and whole grains above anything else. And this is the way it will continue for as long as we are able. 

He is currently eating (along with breast milk) banana, sweet potato, peas, carrots, squash, apple, pear, avocado and whole grain rice cereal. We have decided to not introduce any meat since I am a vegetarian and we do not cook meat at home, but in another month we will let him try tofu and black beans for protein.

Below are pictures of the D Man LOVING his fruits and veggies!

Kindness

I've been thinking about kindness a lot lately. I watch the Ellen DeGeneres show every weekday and at the end of each episode she thanks the guests on her show and then admonishes all watching to "be kind to one another".
I looked up the word 'kind' in the dictionary. The first definition is, "of a good benevolent nature, or disposition". Other words associated with kind are, helpful, humane, mild and gentle.
I also remembered a verse from the Bible. Ephesians 4:32 says "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."

It is one of my biggest desires to make this a quality that I possess. I'm not saying that I am not kind, but I desperately want it to be on the forefront of my mind, my thoughts and my actions. It is so important to me to be kind to people for several reasons. One being that it is what people deserve. It is putting myself in other people's shoes. I want to be treated with kindness, therefore I should treat others that way. Plus, this world is filled with enough unkind things, so why would I add to that? Another reason is that God commands it of me. And finally because I want to raise my son in a kind home and conscientiously demonstrate kindness to him so that he may grow up to be a helpful, humane, mild and gentle person.

Easter Sunday

What a glorious Easter was had by the Connolly Clan.
We celebrated Resurrection Sunday at Living Waters (our new home church) and went on a picnic to Bear Creek Park with Bonnie (Sean's mom) and our dear friends Chris, Mandy & their son Cole. Oh and Elphie too!
The weather was absolutely perfect, and Mandy was able to capture some incredible photo's of Declan the Bunny, the boys playing together, and the Connolly's three.
I don't think I could have asked for a better day!

If I'm Being Perfectly Honest

Sometimes marriage is tough. It's a challenge. It is a relationship that brings out the WORST in most of us. When Sean and I are going through a rough patch in our marriage, my selfishness rears it's ugly head and it is so easy for me to judge Sean and his actions, instead of looking inwardly and figuring out what I am doing wrong. I don't want to make the changes in me that will, in the long run, improve our marriage. Because it is hard, and it hurts. But it is the BEST thing I can do to preserve the life commitment we have made to each other. Divorce is not an option for us. We don't eve use the "D" word.

But for may couples, divorce is an option, wich made me wonder. What is the divorce rate in America?
According to divorcerate2011.com, 49% of marriages end in divorce. First marriages end in divorce with an average duration of less than 8 years. 60% of all divorces are related to individuals aged 25-39.

I'm actually not really surprised. Marriage takes a lot of work sometimes, and I think people would rather have the easy way out. And I can understand their thinking. I've never stuck to anything for a significant length of time. When I get bored with an activity I usually move on to something else. Something more exciting and inspiring. Or if I am involved in a sport and it gets too difficult I just quit, giving some excuse as to why I can't complete the task. In school, I would sometimes do enough work just to get by if I felt an assignment was too hard for me.
But this will NOT be the case with my marriage. Even though it is challenging and, at times, I want to just give up instead of work hard on mending things,  I will NOT walk away from it.
My desire is to embrace the difficulties, work towards a better relationship, and grow old with my husband. What a reward it will be when we are old and gray, to look back over the years, with tears in our eyes, thanking the Lord that we made it to the very end. For better or worse. 'Till death do us part.

Teaching Declan to Sign

Before having Declan, actually, before I even met Sean, I knew that I wanted to teach my children basic sign language skills while they were infants. Sign language is a great way to help you communicate with your pre-verbal baby, and is a fantastic tool to help you bond with your child.
We are currently teaching Declan the following signs: all done, water, drink, more, up, banana, and don't. I can tell he is starting to understand and even try some of the signs himself. It is so much fun and I can't wait to continue to expand his vocabulary.
If you are interested in trying sign language for you and your child(ren), there are plenty of resources out there. We have a book and a DVD that we use for reference, and there is also an amazing website called Baby Sign Language.
If you do sign language with your child(ren) I'd love to have some feedback from you. How successful has it been for you? Are you continuing to incorporate sign as they learn to talk? Do you have any tips for beginning signer like myself?

Portlandia

Last week we traveled to the soggy city of Portland, Oregon. Sean had a conference to attend for work, so I decided that it would be fun for Declan and I to join him and look at it as a mini vacation.
Sean and I love Portland. It is a thriving metropolis, near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, filled with a quirky, off beat pulse that separates it from any place we have ever been.
While we actually stayed in a suburb of Portland called Gresham, we did venture into the heart of the city on a couple of occasions and enjoyed some memorable experiences.
One of the first things we did was meet our dear friend Jenna at an out door shopping mall called Bridgeport Village. It is right off of I-5 as you come into the Portland area and it reminded us of Corte Madera (an outdoor shopping mall in CA near San Francisco). Jenna works at a 100% Vegan restaurant called Native Foods Cafe, so we met her there for dinner on Monday evening. It was great to see her and catch up, and eat some amazingly delicious food. Declan and I also traveled back there on Wednesday for another meal and to shop in a couple stores. One being the Container Store. It is a paradise for anyone as crazy organized as I am.
We then traveled into Downtown Portland on Thursday evening to have dinner with our friends, Nick & Casey the world travelers. They had just returned from a trip to London, Morocco & Paris, where they brought me back a little pink Eiffel Tower key chain!
We also ventured into Powell's Books, the largest independent new and used book store in the world, which also happens to cover an entire city block and house 1.6 acres of retail floor space. It is incredible. They have rooms that are color coded so you know where to find what you are looking for. They have a map hanging up to help you find the rooms, so you can find the books you are looking for. They also have a paper map that shows a layout of where all the color coded rooms are in the store, so you can again, find what you are looking for.  Like I said, incredible!
We then attempted to experience the uniqueness of Voodoo Doughnuts. It is a locally owned & operated doughnut shop that prides themselves on their original creations and flavors. But, after walking SEVERAL blocks in the rain to get to the shop, we noticed, as per usual, that the line was out the door! And unfortunately we are not the kind of people who particularly like standing in the rain, with a 7 month old tired, teething baby, waiting to purchase one of a kind doughnuts.
So, we left and decided to swing by again on our way out of town. Well, when we pulled up to the store, the line was even LONGER than it was the day before so we decided to pass yet again. Oh well...maybe next time. Because there will be a next time!