Everly 7 Months + Christmas Musings

 

Let's begin the new year with this cute face. This is Everly Claire at seven months old. Since she turned seven months on January 1st, it's fitting to begin this new post with her.

At this time, Everly is a little lady with fierce determination and a smile that will melt your heart! She started rolling from back to belly on November 8, 2013, while our family stayed in a hotel near Bryce Canyon in Utah. A few short days later, she learned to roll from belly to back. Since then, she's been gaining strength in her back to sit up, though she still tends to lose balance occasionally and bonks her head on the carpet when we're not paying attention.

We just spent two weeks (basically) with family visiting from Utah, Arizona, and Oregon, so both Clarke and Everly were spoiled with attention! I'm pretty sure Everly misses it. I am hardly out of her sight when she begins to cry. She's also probably sensitive because her teeth are coming out. Right now she's at two, and I'm sure within the next month she'll get one or two more.

On Christmas Break
Franco, Clarke, Everly and I spent a leisurely Christmas Eve and Christmas here in Guadalupe, Ca last year. We decided not to travel on those days for a few reasons. One, we felt the need to begin our own family traditions in our own home, as the last seven years were always spent with family in their homes. Two, we knew we were going to travel to Camarillo for New Year's, so it didn't make sense to make two trips in two weeks. Three, we refrained from participating in gift exchanges this year, including Christmas, in order to refocus on Christ during the holidays and share experiences, rather than things, with friends and family. I'll write a post about that a little later. Our Christmas at home was low key but special. We also got to video call with Elder Mosiah Castrejon that morning. We used Google Hangouts on the iPad and conferenced in the Porters and Elder Castrejon in Montreal. What a treat! Mosiah shared some key experiences and he marvelled at how much the girls and Clarke had changed. He also got to meet Everly for the first time.

Everly contracted her first illness the day before Christmas Eve. We were in Santa Barbara spending time with the Castrejons when her fever started. It wouldn't subside but with the holidays we couldn't take her to the doctor. I am afraid her first Christmas was pretty miserable. Finally on Friday the 26th I was able to take her to see the doctor here in Guadalupe who diagnosed a throat infection and prescribed antibiotics. Little by little she recovered both her health and her strength, and thankfully by New Year's she was back to her normal cheery self.

continued...

I dropped off the radar for a while there, didn't I? I have to say, I misjudged bloggers who blamed instagram for killing their blog...welp, now I understand and am also a guilty party. Also, I didn't have a camera there for a while, besides my old ipod and Franco's iphone. I didn't deem a lot of those pictures worthy to be displayed on the web! =} Go ahead, call me a grainy-and-blurry-picture snob.

So, summer. Goodness, where do I start? It's been a glorious and easy month and a half. We made a few trips up the coast to visit family and meet friends in fun places, but mostly we have stayed up late, slept in, explored, watched a bunch of movies, and really, truly relaxed. Some days I would feel guilty because I felt too relaxed, as if I should be doing something actually productive? But then I would remember how hectic life gets when school is in session and how I should enjoy this while I can, and so I'd go back to lounging on the couch with my love or catching up on past season's tv episodes.

In and around all that lounging and relaxing, we did manage to accomplish a lot of the things on our summer bucket list, most of which I've documented on instagram. Here are just a few:

• watch a movie at the drive-in (Despicable Me 2)
• blow bubbles
• pick berries at a farm
• go to the zoo (in Santa Barbara, with our friends the Stotts)
• fun park (Disneyland=Me & Six Flags=Franco)
• make lemonade from scratch (multiple times.)
• sleep with the windows open

Franco starts school in a few days and we're soaking up every last second.We had family over a couple weekends ago to celebrate my brother Charlie's birthday. Isn't family time the best? I think so.

Oh Hello.

I don't want to get too wordy on this post, so I'll highlight the last few weeks (or few months...has it been that long?) in bullet points, with a smattering of photos to break up the monotony of text:

life as a wife, mother, friend, designer:

• playing constantly with Clarke, who is now 11 months old and has no shortage of energy. God bless you mothers with more than one child.
• cleaning. Every day. It never ends.
• teaching Clarke sign language--his favorite sign is "more," no surprise there.
• planning two-week meal calendars and buying groceries every two weeks. Life. Changing.
• keeping up with a birthday calendar, for once--this year I designed and printed birthday postcards and when I see a family member's or friend's birthday coming up on the calendar, I write a short message and pop the postcard in the mail. Easy, simple, effective, personalized, and inexpensive.
• jogging. That's right, three times a week!
• dating my husband regularly.
• designing logos, labels, invitations, business cards, t-shirts, book covers, posters, certificates, you name it.
• serving at an ever-growing capacity in the primary, and learning more than I ever thought possible.
• weekly piano teaching, a new job I started last year. I have two wonderful, dedicated students!

life as a family:

• waiting until Franco gets home from school every day so we can all play and laugh together.
• traveling to and from Camarillo and/or Santa Barbara as much as we can swing it.
• looking forward to pizza Fridays.
• attending the LA temple as often as we can.
• taking walks around our beautiful neighborhood.
• going to Disneyland in the rain or shine. Literally.
•  spring-breaking at museums in L.A. (and seeing the space-shuttle Endeavor up close--magnificent!) Soaking up the sun in Camarillo and Santa Barbara.
• contemplating where Franco's fourth year of externships will take us...do we want to stay local or travel around the country (and world) every three months? Definitely calls for many pro-cons lists.
• encouraging Mosiah, Franco's youngest brother, who will serve a two-year mission to Montreal, Canada starting May 1st. (!!!)

 So that's what we've been up to lately. I totally neglected to take any pictures on Easter, mostly because we were having such a good time that I forgot to pull out the camera. But we had a great day, well, great week, actually, for Franco's Spring Break. That's what I love about working from home, I can vacation whenever I want!

Happy April!

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Yuletide With The Castrejons, Part III

Christmas day with my family was so relaxing. We had a handmade Christmas gift exchange, and it was so fun to see the thoughtfulness each family member put into their gifts for the other person. I was able to build my dad a website for his music, and had business cards printed for him to pass out at conventions and shows and stuff. After enjoying a delicious breakfast while listening to Luke 2 (the Christmas story in the Bible), gift-exchanging, and game-playing, we took a quick family portrait because my eldest brother Charlie had to work at Golf-N-Stuff. Boo. But otherwise, it was a beautiful day.

Yuletide With The Castrejons, Part II

Christmas with Franco's family is always fun. Our three nieces are smitten with Clarke and don't seem to care one bit that he's a boy. They share their play food with him, serve him pretend tea, and give him their dolls to hold. I loved watching Clarke enjoy his first Christmas. In the future, I hope to be able to host festivities in our home, but for now, I have loved the traditions we have started with our families. I'm grateful to live near both our wonderful immediate families and share these memories with them.

Christmas Advent Calendar: Day 3

Write a list of Christmas gifts you'd like to give instead of receive, and then do/give them. I plan to do this for my family members and neighbors throughout the rest of the year.

Happy Place. (and some Disneyland tips for visiting with an infant)

Clarke and I are really making use of our Disneyland passes, now that the summer rush and heat are dying down. Middle of September and October, as well as February and March, are my favorite times of the year to visit the park because the lines are short, the crowds are thin, and the weather is perfect--not over 100°! 

Last Friday was Clarke's fourth (or fifth?) time at Disneyland...and he's only 4 months old, how is that fair? Hmm. Anyway, we accompanied Aunt Iris and cousin Shekendra on their mommy-daughter date and it was fabulous! Everything went smoothly, including finding a comfortably shady spot to watch the afternoon parade. We're planning many more visits in the coming year, because we are definitely renewing come October.

Spending an entire day at Disneyland with a nursing baby is definitely challenging, but here are several things that I do to make it easier:

1. First of all, I have to start the day off with a flexible mind and a can-do attitude. In the past, I've entered the park with precise plans written down to be executed just right, in order to get the most of the day and to get on the most rides. That does not happen with a baby. At least, not successfully.

2. I use a front baby carrier instead of a stroller to maneuver around easily; of course, this may change as Clarke gets older, and definitively heavier. But I see it as good exercise and if I get tired, there are places to rest everywhere.

{click to see more tips}

A Name...

Jonathan Clarke Castrejon was blessed last Sunday here in Chino Hills. We were very fortunate to have most of our family there, as well as a few friends. Baby cried during the blessing, but it didn't retract from the sweet spirit that was there as Franco blessed our first child. Clarke, as we're going to call him, is already an integral part of our family and we're incredibly lucky to have him! He doesn't recognize it right now, but we feel the love and joy our family and friends have for him every day! Thank you for choosing to come into our family, baby Clarke!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Butterfly Wings. (A Birthday)

  Last weekend we celebrated our niece Ariel turning one year old. She had a butterfly-themed party on a perfect sunshine day! There was a cupcake cake, balloon animal (and balloon armor) fights, sharing of tootsie pops, and a huge mermaid piñata! Today is her real birth day.

Happy birthday, Ariel!