June 21-28

Two weeks ago we spent some extended time with my family in Michigan.  Mostly just hanging out, although we did go to half the Cubs/Indians game in Cleveland on Thursday.  Dad, Jillian, Bryan, Kaitlyn, and I made the trip down but left when there was a rain delay in the 5th.  The game was tied at 3 when we left, so it was at least an interesting first half.  Kaitlyn was in the wrap and got called a papoose at least twice.

Olivia and Gretchen got a new bed.  Mom and I took the kids to Ikea and purchased a Kura loft bed.  Then Bryan put it together and we put a mattress on the floor for Gretchen.  It's a nice, short bunk and we've been slowly adding to it to make it more fun.

Kaitlyn and I visited Jacob at Albion yesterday to begin the psalm recording project.  It was decided that the oldest six Fenton children would probably never get together long enough to actually accomplish any recording, so Jacob and I started without everyone else.  Hopefully we'll be able to add in voices one or two at a time in order to still obtain a full sound.

I made three pints of strawberry rhubarb jam.  :)  Next up is cantaloupe jam with vanilla.

Kaitlyn is three months old.  She smiles, tries to roll, makes cute baby noises, and blows fabulous spit bubbles.

I thought I had more things to mention, but it is too late for me to remember them.  If you know of something, leave a comment so that I can put it in next week's post.  :)

Pictures:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 4

Olivia: This crown is hurting my head.
Me: Then why are you wearing it?
Olivia: Because it matches my dress.

Olivia: I have a twinkle in my eye.
Bryan: A twinkle in your eye?
Olivia: Yeah.
Bryan: It's very pretty.
Olivia: No, I do not like twinkles in my eye.

Olivia: We've been here for miles.

Olivia: My belly hurts.  Probably you should let me watch cartoons on the couch until my belly feels better.

Olivia: Am I three or sick?
Me: You're three and not sick.
Olivia: But after I am five I will be sick.
Me: You will be SIX.  After four and five.
Olivia: And then I will have to go to the doctor because I'm sick.
Me: Six.
Olivia: Because I'm six.  Then I will go to the doctor?
Me: No, you won't have to go to the doctor because you're six.
Olivia: We don't go to the doctor when we are sick?
Me: We go to the doctor when we are sick, but not when we are six.
Olivia: Oh. But now I am three.

We stopped at a red light behind a man riding a Harley and wearing a bandana.
Olivia: Why did the pirate stop?

Gretchen: I'm driving!  Goodbye!  See you in the morning!
Olivia: Bye!  Come back on Friday for dinner!
Gretchen: Okay!

June 14-21

I don't see words happening for this post.  Pictures only; explanations next week.

Pictures:

June 7-14

Bugs are Gretchen's kryptonite.  They are the most terrifying creatures on the planet and render her completely immobile.  Take, for example, our recent car trip to Toledo: As we were driving through a construction zone (fewer exits and no shoulders to stop on), Gretchen began freaking out in her carseat.  I asked her what was wrong and she managed to squeak out, "Bug on me!  Bug on my arm!"  Glancing in the rear view mirror, I spotted a small fly on her arm.  I told her to move her arm, I told her to blow on the bug, I told her to wave the bug away with her other hand...  Gretchen continued to sit in petrified terror, making movement with nothing other than her increasingly panicked vocal cords.  Nevermind that the slightest twitch on her part would have taken care of her bug problem.  I attempted to calm her while waiting for a place to pull off the road.  Finally we found an exit, pulled into a gas station, and stopped the car.  The bug may have given up by this point, but I got out anyway and made vague waving motions in the direction of Gretchen's afflicted arm.  We spent about five minutes attempting to lure the fly out of the car, but it buzzed around happily, deciding it liked the infamy that accompanies the prestigious title of Terror of the Van.  Finally we opened all the windows and continued on our merry way, making sure to wave our arms periodically to scare off any bugs.

One night a few weeks ago, we heard Olivia crying over the monitor.  This is an unusual occurrence, so I went to check on her.  As I walked to the room, I guessed that she had fallen out of bed and simply needed someone to cover her back up.  Sure enough, her blankets were on the floor and she was sitting on the edge of her bed.  She was still screaming, though, which seemed odd.  I looked more closely and noticed that her nose was bleeding.  Fantastic.  She bloodied her nose falling out of bed at 2 in the morning.  I hurried her into the bathroom and began the process of cleaning her up.  Unfortunately, she does not handle nosebleeds as well as her cousin, and she violently resisted my attempts to stanch the flow of blood.  According to Olivia, the correct response to a nosebleed is to flail all your limbs while screaming bloody murder.  Mom is probably definitely trying to murder you by holding that cloth over your nose.  She took to tipping her head back with equal grace.  :/  Despite it all, we managed to get the blood stopped and she climbed back into her newly stripped bed while I found clean blankets.

Gretchen has a distressing habit of removing all of her clothes at night, including her diaper.  Cloth diapers are trickier to remove than disposables because of the snaps, but she's got those figured out now.  I tried putting a cover on backwards so that the snap angle was worse, but that didn't slow her down at all.  She spent a few nights gorilla-taped into her diaper before we reached an understanding and she stopped removing it before falling asleep.  Pajamas, yes, diaper, no.  On Friday morning she appeared diaperless in my room (having removed it after waking up) and I was just rolling with it until I discovered the puddle on the playroom carpet.  Back to the gorilla tape.

Kaitlyn is officially in 3-6 month clothes.  Her toes have been looking a bit squished in her sleepers lately, so I got the new boxes from the basement and switched out her entire wardrobe on Thursday.  Her legs look more comfortable, but now I have to roll the sleeves up about an inch.  :)

We're coming up on a busy week.  Today is Keshia's baby shower, then we're going to Michigan to visit my parents for a week.  Saturday is the parish picnic at Bryan's old church (where he can catch up with all his friends from high school) and then next Sunday we're in Toledo for a baptism.  That said, the post may be late.  :)

Pictures:

Bonus Post: 30 Before 30 Update

A record of my 30 Before 30 progress thus far.

1. Genuinely surprise Bryan at least once. February 15, 2014
2. Record the psalms.  --Siblings, when are we going to do this?  --Jacob and I are going to try to do some recording this summer.  Josef and Jillian, are you in?
3. Run a sub-2:00 half marathon. April 6, 2014.  1:54:30
4. Sell at least one thing I've made (at the Farmer's Market or on Etsy).  --May 17, 2014.  Steph and I set up an Etsy account and my first order was for the matching squares that I made William for Christmas.
5. Learn Spanish. --I listen to Spanish CDs while I run on the treadmill, so I'm making progress here.  --Progress has slowed since my race in April ended my daily treadmill runs.  I need to get motivated to keep learning.  --Progress has picked up again, thanks to smartphones and the duolingo app.  --Progress has slowed again.  I need to just start using Spanish for a set amount of time each day.  :/
6. Record all 6 cello suites.
7. Sew Christmas and/or Easter dresses for the girls. --I have patterns! I'm waiting until the girls are bigger to make them.
8. Minimize (eliminate?) the need for disposable products in our house.  --Jacque says I've made it.  The only disposable product we use consistently is toilet paper, and I'm okay with that.  Every now and again Bryan feels the need to buy paper products for when we host a party, and I'm okay with that, too.
9. Have a compost pile.  --We have a bucket that we've begun collecting scraps in and the pile is growing.
10. Play with at least 2 professional orchestras.  --I play with Lima, and I'm looking for auditions with other orchestras.  --I was contacted by the Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony Orchestra to play with them.  Unfortunately, I'm already busy the days they need me.  I'm hoping that this means they'll contact me again, though.  :)
11. Go 7 days in a row without letting my temper get the better of me. February 14-21, 2014 I'd gotten 6 days in a row a couple of times and then finally made it 7 (nine, actually). I'm finding it easier to take deep breaths and move on, and I have a chart to keep track of my progress. Next goal: three weeks. That's how long it takes to form a habit, right?
12. Make an honest attempt at clean eating/real food. I've done some research and tried some substitutes and reached a comfortable point. Do I care enough to use butter instead of margarine? Yes. Do I care enough to buy coconut oil regularly? No. Whole grain noodles and brown rice most of the time? Yes. Completely eliminate sugar? No. Homemade bread? Yes. Whole wheat bread? Sometimes. But often I appreciate the airiness that I can only achieve with a little bit of white flour.
13. *Skipped because knowledge by some of my readers could skew the results.* April 5, 2014
14. Go on an overnight vacation with just our family.  --We're thinking next summer.
15. Grow a garden.  My garden is progressing nicely, although technically we haven't seen any actual vegetables yet since they still have a month or so before they reach maturity.  The leaves look beautiful and healthy, though!
16. Write a book.
17. Sew a skirt that becomes my favorite.
18. Volunteer to host campout. --We tried to do this for 2016 campout (and even thought we'd succeeded), but apparently we didn't tell all the right people, so someone else is doing 2016.  We will be trying again for 2017.  :)
19. Go through RCIA. Edit: Arrange to talk to a Catholic priest several times.  RCIA won't answer the questions I have.
20. Attend Seekers' Group (similar to RCIA, offered by the Orthodox church in Lima).  --Bryan and I are attending this every Tuesday and I have no reason to believe we'll quit before it's finished.
21. Complete at least 3 things on my (ever growing) Projects List.  --I think I finished one, but now I can't remember what it is!
22. Start a soup kitchen.
23. Make pectin-free jam. Make up the recipe.  --August 18, 2014.  I made peach jam with almond and nutmeg.
24. Go on an overnight vacation with Bryan -- no kids. --September 25-28, 2014
25. Use up all the coupons Bryan gave me (I still have some from when we were dating). --Slowly but surely coming along.
26. Learn one of the 3 big concertos. --I have music for two of these. Now I just have to practice.  --Practice is not happening as much as it should. at all. :(
27. Arrange a regularly recurring get-together with the Lima folk.  --Second Thursday of each month is "go to Lima" day.  We've successfully done this two months in a row, so I'm crossing it off.
28. Have a religious conversation with Bryan that doesn't end in tears.  --July 27, 2014.  Nothing was solved, but I didn't cry.
29. Make a new friend.
30. Improve a stranger's day.
31. (Because I thought of one more and it kind of fits in with several of the above goals) Join a co-op.  --It turns out that I AM a co-op.  I organize the buying of bulk foods and distribute them to others.  I'm counting it.

May 31-June 7

Tangled is a great movie until you hear what your three-year-old's take-aways are:
1.  Rapunzel told her mother "no."
2.  Rapunzel's mommy fell out the window and then she got a new mommy.
3.  "You were wrong about the world.  You were wrong about ME, mother."

Gretchen is suddenly very interested in making towers.  She stacks blocks, she stacks puzzle pieces, she stacks diapers...

On Tuesday, I went with Carrie and Elesha to go shopping in Amish country.  I did more browsing than shopping, but it was a fun trip anyway.  :)  Carrie's husband, Josh, watched most of the kids, so the girls got to go hang out at the park for the day.

On Tuesday night we went to Sidney in preparation for Bryan's monthly day in the office.  Wednesday was spent at the Kleins' where Eva and Eli taught Olivia how to play Red Light, Green Light.  Olivia had never heard of this game before, but her response was, "Oh, I like red light, green light!  I didn't know they had that game!"  She picked it up quickly and she and Eva played quite well.  Eli and Gretchen, not so much.  :-P

On Thursday I made cottage cheese, which was very exciting.  It's not hard, either.  A dose of irony, though: we walked to the store so that I could buy heavy cream (for the semi-liquid around the curds).  The cream was located immediately next to the cottage cheese.  Since I was on a mission to use up almost two gallons of expiring milk, I bypassed the cottage cheese.  In my quest to use the milk, I also made yogurt (that's old news for me, though) and sour cream.  Mission accomplished.

Pictures:

Bonus Post: Gretchen Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to The Gretchen Quiz.  How did you measure up?

1. B  Gretchen's hands often find their way into her hair when she's eating, especially when syrup is involved.

2. A  Hair-twirling is our telltale sign that Gretchen is tired.

3. D  "I want Going Zoo."

4. A  The wooden spoon has actually held this coveted position twice.

5. B  No one knows why, but ladybug refers to every bug.  Also to the occasional booger.

6. C  Gretchen has a tendency to wander around the house holding a book above her head and hollering, "Wisdom!  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!"

7. B  Olivia's shoes, obviously.

8. D&E

9. C  Always, even if we're only going to the grocery store five minutes away.

10. A  She's like a first grade primer.

11. C  I was okay with this, until she started removing the diaper, too...

12. B  This goes back to when we had princess shaped vitamins and Ariel was the most coveted character.  Since they're gummy vitamins and pretty indistinguishable anyway, we told the girls that there was an Ariel with a tail and an Ariel with a dress.  Now we have gummy bear vitamins, but Gretchen still thinks she's getting Ariel.

13. D  No one knows why.

14. C  The hardest request to fulfill: "What do you need?"  "Um, I need you."

15. A  Hot, cold, or in a pot nine days old, popcorn is fantastic.

May 24-31

We traveled to Wisconsin last weekend for Kara and Jacob's wedding.  After finding out that it was only a seven to eight hour drive, we decided to leave after lunch on Thursday, hoping to catch naptime.  The trip went remarkably smoothly, although it predictably took us a little longer than Google's estimate.  Luckily, Wisconsin is an hour behind us, so we didn't have to worry about getting up any earlier than usual the next morning.  :)  Our lodging was a Marriott in Madison where we got the employee rate because the manager was a member at the church we contacted looking for a place to stay.  Olivia and Gretchen shared a bed and it went better than anticipated, perhaps because they were too tired to goof around by the time they made it to bed each night.

Friday was spent at Tom and Donna's house helping Justine bake desserts.  Joseph kindly watched the older girls since Bryan was working in the basement.  Just as I was debating putting people down for a nap, reinforcements showed up in the form of the Allen Park crew!  The girls rallied and made it through until the car ride back to the hotel that night.  Bridal shower, rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner all went smoothly and I am now on a quest to recreate the truffle mac and cheese that I ate for dinner.  :)

Saturday was the wedding.  Bryan watched the older girls and I drafted Alison to be Kaitlyn's nanny for the day while I did wedding things.  Bryan and Joseph managed to get all four kids dressed and to church on time without the help of their wives; the Barhorst babies were even given baths first (we're all very impressed).  Gretchen was exhausted from her travels and fell asleep about ten minutes into the ceremony.  This was her second nap of the day since she also fell asleep on the morning drive.  She took a third nap on the way to the reception.  Olivia thought Kara might be a princess and was very excited when she got to put on her Cinderella dress (that we had grabbed at the last minute for no particular reason) to take pictures with the princess.  We said our good-byes and headed back to the hotel...

Sunday was Mass and Liturgy and then more good-byes as we left my immediate family to head to lunch with an old friend.  Kathleen was my roommate at summer camp for three years and happens to live in Madison, so we got together at Ella's Deli on Sunday.  Olivia was impressed by the carousel as we drove in and distracted by all of the moving objects covering the walls and ceiling while we ate.  Kathleen and I have more in common than we used to, if that's possible, and we happily chatted for about two hours.  It's too bad that we live eight hours apart, but we did decide to try harder to keep in touch via email.  :)  After lunch, the Barhorst family loaded back into the van and began the long trek home.  We left at three (WI time) and lost half an hour to Chicago, an hour to dinner, half an hour to Kaitlyn's ill-timed hunger, and an hour to the time change, arriving home at 1:00 Ohio time.  Everyone was tired, though, so we slept in a little on Monday (though I did do a 5k fun run with some church friends -- 30.28) and spent the day recovering.

The rest of the week was fairly typical.  A few highlights:

Gretchen knows her full name: Kitchen Beast Barfhorse

Kaitlyn is in a big girl bed crib.  We took the little white crib to Wisconsin with us so that the Bossards could take it home to Boston.  She's been doing great in her new room and the older girls are good about not bothering her.

Wednesday was Kaitlyn's two month check-up.  She's 11 pounds, 9 ounces, and 23.5 inches long.  Apparently her weight was 42nd percentile when she was born, 55th at her last appointment, and is now 66th percentile.  She's gaining weight faster than other babies her age, I guess.  She's also pretty tall (95th, I think they said), but Olivia's pediatrician told us that genetics kick in at about 9 months (which is when we saw a dramatic decrease in Olivia's height percentile!).  In other words, don't get excited about a future WNBA champion over here.  :-P

Olivia has "daughters."  Usually they're Barbies, sometimes they're babies, and they always require a lot of care.  "Uh-oh, my daughters are crying!  I have to go take care of them."

Oh!  I almost forgot about something that was NOT typical!  On Thursday, the girls and I drove up to Toledo to meet Oma, Aunt Jacque, Aunt Justine, William, and Edward at the art museum.  We wanted to see everyone one last time before they dispersed to the four corners of the earth east coast and Toledo is nicely central-ish.  The Toledo Art Museum is remarkably kid-friendly as art museums go, and their current theme is Playtime, so the kids had fun.  We wandered around and then had a picnic outside before going home.  It was definitely worth doing again.

Also on Thursday (I guess this week wasn't typical at all now that I'm writing it all down...), I went to a Mom's Night Out dinner with a newly created group at the local Catholic Church.  I do not have six new bosom friends, but I now recognize five probable introverts and one definite extrovert when we go to church.  Guess which one started the group.  :-P  I'll give you a hint: the other five (and yours truly) went because their husbands told them it would be good for them.

If you're wanting to take The Gretchen Quiz, this is your last chance!  Answers go up on Wednesday.

Pictures:

May 17-24

The week in brief:

Gretchen runs.  I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but she's quite good at it now.  She still can't jump yet, though.  Her current attempt is to roll up onto her tippy toes.

You haven't seen dancing until you've seen Olivia's martial-arts-dance to Be A Man from Mulan.

Kaitlyn now has times where she's awake but not eating.  No one, Kaitlyn included, really knows what to make of these times.

I'm sporting two wonderful wounds on my leg, courtesy of the treadmill.  This is what happens when you make bad decisions (trying to fix a ponytail while running) on a treadmill.

The 5k I was hoping to run didn't happen.  Elesha, Jon, and I showed up, but the rest of the run didn't.  :/  The three of us held a poorly measured Lima Symphony 5k without the Lima Symphony.

Bryan's office is one step closer to complete.  An electrician came on Wednesday to wire the roughed in office for lights, outlets, and heat.

Gretchen doesn't bump her head, she bonks it.

Our quiet time experiment has been ...going.  Gretchen often doesn't nap, which means her bedtime goes more smoothly.  Of course, she's not very good at quiet time yet and she gets cranky due to lack of nap, so I'm often more frazzled by the time everyone is in bed.  :/

On Thursday we left for Wisconsin to attend Kara and Jacob's wedding.  News of that trip next week.

Did you see the Bonus Post this past week?  Head on over and take a quiz about Gretchen's current life...

Pictures and Videos:

Bonus Post: The Gretchen Quiz

A long time ago, I had an Olivia Quiz where people could see how similar their thought process was to that of a 14-month-old.  Now you get a chance to pit your mental faculties against those of a two-year-old.  Prepare yourself.

1.  Besides her hands, which part of Gretchen's body is definitely going to be sticky after a pancake breakfast?
  A. Stomach
  B. Hair
  C. Nose
  D. Eyebrows

2.  What does Gretchen do when she's tired?
  A. Twirl her hair.
  B. Suck on her fingers.
  C. Put her head down on the nearest available surface.
  D. Run around like a crazy lady.

3.  Which song is the current car favorite?
  A. Old MacDonald.
  B. Singing in the Shower.
  C. I've Got a Dream.
  D. Going to the Zoo.

4.  Which of the following has NOT been chosen as a quiet time toy?
  A. A ball.
  B. A baby doll.
  C. A wooden spoon.
  D. A toy car.

5.  All creepy-crawlies are known by which name?
  A. Bees.
  B. Ladybugs.
  C. Ants.
  D. Spiders

6.  Which prayer is most recited during the day?
  A. Our Father
  B. Creed
  C. Hail Mary
  D. Jesus Prayer

7.  Gretchen's favorite footwear is...
  A. Tennis shoes.
  B. Olivia's shoes.
  C. Church shoes.
  D. Boots.

8.  Which two numbers get skipped when counting to ten?
  A. 1
  B. 2
  C. 3
  D. 4
  E. 5
  F. 6
  G. 7
  H. 8
  I. 9
  J. 10

9.  What is Gretchen virtually guaranteed to do during any given car ride?
  A. Kick the seat in front of her.
  B. Fall asleep.
  C. Remove her socks and shoes.
  D. Sing along with the CD.

10.  Most of the sentences out of Gretchen's mouth start with which word?
  A. See.
  B. Hear.
  C. Speak.
  D. Well.

11.  The purpose of pajamas is...
  A. To be worn excitedly for as long as possible.
  B. To be worn grudgingly for bedtime.
  C. To be taken off.
  D. To be put on Kaitlyn.

12.  At vitamin time, Gretchen always thinks she gets which shape?
  A. Ariel with a dress.
  B. Ariel with a tail.
  C. Cinderella.
  D. Jasmine.

13.  The best plate and bowl are...
  A. The turtle plate and the fish bowl.
  B. The zebra plate and the lemons bowl.
  C. The cow plate and the oranges bowl.
  D. The turtle plate and the frog bowl.

14.  What is the thing Gretchen most commonly "needs"?
  A. A new diaper.
  B. A drink.
  C. Mommy or Daddy
  D. A kiss.

15.  Which is Gretchen's favorite snack?
  A. Popcorn.
  B. Chips.
  C. Crackers.
  D. Raisins.