fab 5 friday

wahoo that it is friday again! and if that isn't fab enough, lets join emily in sharing what great things have made our weeks fab!!

1. yes, that is a tankini wearing woman. and no, this hasn't turned into "that" kind of a blog. :) this nursing (read: pumping) momma can't fit into her bathing suit tops from the past 2 summers. so i took my brown skirty type bottom and looked for an alternative top. since targets suit separates were on sale this week, it was my first stop. i love polka dots so this brown mossimo tankini top is what i chose. and for just 14 dollars! it has a neck strappy that this girl is not wearing. i'm very excited to take bella on her first swimming adventure now!

2. living hope baptist church! i mean, this place is fab to me every week, but especially this week. see, i was a full time employee of lhbc up until march 12 (the friday before bella joy was born). now b and i make weekly visits to see our sweet former co-workers. it always brings joy to my heart and made this week extra fab! women love on my baby girl and i get some good quality adult convo. what could be better!?
3. sassy letter links! i know what you are thinking, "your baby is only 10 (and a half) weeks old!" no, bella is not linking these together nor does she know her abc's. however, i have a baby girl who LOVES to kick her feet. so i put these letter links at her feet and she kicks away. she enjoys the sound very much. and it makes momma happy to put some of her toys to use!

4. the Jesus storybook bible. if you have children, know a child, or plan to have children, you should own this book. it is fantastic. each story points to Jesus. sometimes they bring a tear to my eye and sometimes i feel like i learn just as much, if not more, from the stories as my baby girl will.

5. oh sonic, how i love thee. my drink of choice is a cherry limeade. i often dream of going to happy hour everyday. wednesday night before small group i asked the hubs if he wanted to go get a cherry limeade. he said (ever-so-seriously), "but it's not happy hour!" i lovingly told him that it was ok, i just wanted a c-lime. so we went. and it was maybe the best cherry limeade of my life.

alright friends, join in or just comment what has made your week extra fab!

do you need a photographer?

if you do, you should check out my friend ashmill. she is incredibly talented and if you book by july 31, she'll do your session for $100! thats a steal!

wednesday in bowling green

i went into town this morning to run a few errands and grocery shop. while we were out, i realized that all of my facebook friends are surely thankful that i do not have an iphone because i think in facebook statuses and would have changed mine many many times in those few hours if i could have. so now, here is how some of them would have read:

emily gilliland jochim says sweet lady at the bank please work slower as you hear my baby screaming from the back seat.

emily gilliland jochim just saw oreo blizzard oreos and had to refrain from buying them.

emily gilliland jochim is being tempted in the ice cream aisle.

emily gilliland jochim is wondering why in the world her cashier is double bagging everything!?

emily gilliland jochim thinks its hilarious when, while wearing my baby, people refer to her as it, so as not to offend me.

emily gilliland jochim needs to stick to the grocery list. always.

emily gilliland jochim must stop coming to the grocery on an empty stomach.

do you ever think in facebook statuses? or maybe its just thinking in the third person.

happy happy birthday!

i am so thankful that the amazing man was born 24 years ago! he is an amazing husband and i am so honored to call him my best friend! happy birthday, babe! bella and i love you so much and are so grateful for your leadership and provision for our little family!

**and i do believe this is my 100th post! that is also something to celebrate!

chore chart

i recently implemented a chore chart in the jochim house. i found that i was getting super overwhelmed by the messiness of our house and was wanting it to all be clean at once. well, when you have a 2 month old, that isn't possible! she demands a lot of time, which i'm totally ok with. so to focus my time and cause less stress, the chore chart came about. i created it to just have a little to do each day and have nothing on saturday and sunday since we are often out of town and when we aren't, we want to spend time together as a family! so here is what we've got:

M-floors, diapers, adam mow

T-dust, laundry

W-grocery, rugs, adam take trash to road

R-floors, diapers

F-laundry, bathroom

daily-load/unload dishwasher, make beds, keep counters/tables free from clutter, empty trash when needed, water garden when needed.

we have laminate floors throughout our house. they get dusty pretty quick, which is why floors are 2 times a week. we have a large area rug in our living room and bedroom which need to be vacuumed. actually, i will probably end up doing the one in the living room more than once a week, but we'll see. i feel that 2 scheduled laundry days a week will keep us having clothes to wear everyday and will make it to where the laundry isn't piled up so much that it takes all day to complete. that usually makes 4-5 loads of laundry a week (not including cloth diapers).

how do you divide the chores in your house? do you have a schedule to the madness?

2 month check up

miss bella joy had her 2 month visit to see dr. fraser today! our baby girl is growing wonderfully. she is 11 lbs 1/2 oz. and 23 1/4 in. she had 3 shots and an oral vaccine. she cried like crazy when the nurse initially put the shots in her legs, but she calmed quickly, thanks to her awesome daddy!

dr. fraser is a hoot. he said "well her head has always been big!" he also informed us that she is above average in length and weight as well. we love our big baby girl so much! and we can't wait to watch her grow even more!

as for baby girl's tongue issue, dr. f has referred her to see dr. sims an ent here in bg. we are hopeful that the issue will be solved if indeed these sweet doctors see it to be an issue. i'm hoping that the appointment will be soon!

2 months old!

well another month has flown by, and bella joy is 2 months old!! we are going to celebrate by witnessing our sweet friends kasey and jr get married! how sweet of them to have a party for our baby girl's 2 month birthday!

bella is getting so big! she has outgrown her newborn clothes. she is exclusively wearing 0-3 month attire. she is so close to being able to hold her head up. she smiles at us! she is only waking up one time each night (for the most part)! she focuses on us and objects. she really enjoys looking at herself in her little elephant mirror that hangs above her carseat in the car. i can't believe how quickly our baby girl is growing up!!

fab 5 friday

its friday! wahoo! so i'm joining emily and some others to share what has made my week fab! i think next week i will do a people edition because, almost always, i think of people who have made my week great before things...which is a good thing i guess.

1. the vintage pearl. as i said in my mother's day post, my sweet baby girl was thoughtful enough to get me a sweet little necklace for my first mother's day! the sweetness of that beautiful gift has definitely made my week better. you should check out the website! they have some fantastically beautiful goods!
2. my canon digital rebel xs. with a baby as cute as miss bella joy around, it is nice to have a good camera within arms reach! so thankful to be able to reach for my handy dandy rebel to document our sweet baby girls life!

3. the biggest loser couples! as you can see by the photo below, i love daris! actually, i don't want michael or koli to do poorly either. i'd be so happy to see the three of them as the final three! we will see in just a couple of weeks! i look forward to tuesday nights because of this show!

4. i feel like this one shouldn't follow the biggest loser...but oreo cheesequake blizzards from dairy queen! i love 'em! but only in moderation :)

5. finally our schwinn free runner jogging stroller. we purchased this the weekend of the flood with gift cards from bella's showers. i've yet to run with it (that will come soon), but i already know i will love it. it was so handy yesterday when we went out to our garden. i had bella in the stroller and was able to put all of the garden planting goods on top. its wheels are big and strong enough to make it through the grass and uneven terrain. very very handy.

ok, now tell me what has made your week fab!?

my green baby

my green baby has a fabulous stash of cloth diapers. today was wash day and the following photo is evidence of why i need a clothes line. bella and i planted our garden today. we have tomatoes (3 kinds), peppers (2 kinds), broccoli, watermelon, corn, and green beans. i'm so excited to eat, eat, eat! bella wanted to pose in the garden for her poppy.

look at my little green baby with her tomato plant. she can't wait to go pick tomotoes with her momma this summer! as i walked up the hill in our backyard, wearing my baby, in the heat, carrying 2 gallons (watering can) of water, i felt so much like is was back in niger walking from the well with our friends.

**baby girl is wearing her green baby onesie in these photos. it is newborn sized and she will not be wearing again because she is getting so big!

my first mother's day

i had such an awesome first mother's day. it began saturday night. when i got out of the shower, adam had bella in her bouncey seat with a card and a sweet little necklace from the vintage pearl. isn't my baby girl so thoughtful! then sunday morning we got to dedicate our baby to the Lord. we committed to have strong walks with God and to pray for our baby girl's salvation. we are so thankful to have a church family that will be praying for the same thing. anyway, here are a few photos from the wonderful day!!

momma with her girls who are now mommas.

family dedication at living hope baptist church.

my baby girl and me...with my necklace that she was so thoughtful to get for me! :)

the set up adam had going on. so so sweet!

our sweet family of 3. i am so so blessed with an amazing husband and an beautiful baby girl!

fab 5 friday

its friday again, and you know what that means! its time to share your fab 5. thanks to emily for starting the fun!!!
1. this book by heather ross is fantastic! weekend sewing has lots of wonderful and simple sewing projects that are designed to be finished in a weekend (or less). i have completed 3 projects from this book and done all in one sitting. i made a skirt this week (the skirt on the front) to wear to the wedding we will be attending tomorrow. i'm a nerd and wanted us to color coordinate, so making a skirt is all i could do!

2. my tevas. i've tried to convince adam that you have to get a new pair every spring in celebration of the warm weather. this is the pair i got this year.

3. living hope yellow team. we had our first game of the season last night and boy was it a breath of fresh air! it was so fantastic to be surrounded by that many grown ups (and babies too!!) and yellow won, which was also a plus!!

4. griffs deli. my sweet friend debbie robb took me (and bella) to lunch today and griffs was our place of choice. delicious!! i recommend the santa cruz wrap-grilled. oh, and broccoli salad!

5. the bumgenius! organic all-in-one, one size, snap diaper! we started cloth this week and are off to a great start! so far, this is my favorite diaper. no stuffing, which is great. it also just is a great fit for bella so far. and sabrina, we waited to start cloth to give bella a little time to grow into the diapers (even though they are one size) and also because we got so many disposables as gifts.

ok, your turn. what made your week fab?!

so in love...

with the baby girl who wears this smile :)

cloth!

we originally planned to begin cloth diapering when bella was 2 months old. well, she is 7 weeks today and we are clothing it up! her little bum looks so cute in the cloth!

i think she likes them, what do you think?

stuck in alvaton :(

below is the road that adam usually takes to get to work....guess he won't be driving that way tomorrow!
and this one is mt. lebanon rd. if you've ever been to our house, you've driven 2.7 miles down this road, right over this spot. you can kayak to see us if you want to now!!

we are so thankful that we are safe in our happy little home. we have no flooding in our house and i know lots of folks aren't quite as lucky. how about you? how's life where you live?