7 Quick Takes!

It's been a long time since I've sat down on a Friday morning to do a 7 Quick Takes post from our past week, but I have a few minutes this morning and thought I'd try :)  Here's the latest in the Kennedy family!

**1**

We ventured out last Sunday on our first major outing--we took Aidan up to Forest Home for a day of all church camp.  It was a weekend long camp, which my husband attended, but the little one and I only went for the day on Sunday.  He did really well!  Slept all the way there and back which is a gift because I was imagining 2 hours of a screaming child who hates his car seat.  Next year we are super excited to go for the whole weekend!  

**2**

I have a new favorite baby product that should be added to my previous post.  I didn't really have a good front carrier to carry the little one in--he HAS to be facing forward when being carried, he refuses to face backwards, and he's over 15 pounds now which gets heavy after awhile!  So a hands free carrier was in order.  But they aren't cheap and there are so many different brands I didn't know where to start.  I found a boutique here that sells a bunch and let me try them on and try Aidan in them, and my parents volunteered to buy one for me when I found the one I wanted.  SO, I am SUPER grateful for my new Beco Baby Carrier which is SO comfy and ridiculously easy to use.  You can wear baby on your front, on your back, and even on your hip--and they can face forward or face into you depending on their age and preference.  Love this new addition to our house!  Thanks mom and dad!!

**3**

I also have a new favorite book about babies and sleep.  Thanks to the amazing Christie Kiley I ordered the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley and have LOVED it.  It's FULL of ideas on how to get baby to sleep better and create a personalized sleeping plan for your family without letting them cry and scream themselves to sleep.  Yes, it's more time intensive and parent intensive, it's a lot of work training them to sleep in a really gentle way, but as I've gotten to know our little dude, he's not going to respond well to the cry it out method.  Especially with his reflux issues and how that's caused him pain while he sleeps over the past few months I just can't bring myself to let his crib be a place of tears and discomfort.  So I was searching for something new and Christie gave me this suggestion that they used with their son.  I'm letting Aidan's new reflux meds that he started this week have a full week to see if they are working before really addressing any sleep training (if he's not comfortable physically it doesn't matter what I do to train him, he won't be sleeping!)  but over this next week I'm going to be working on creating our family's sleep training plan for him--and I love that her suggestions are so individualized for each family.  So, if you need a good super easy to read and very practical book about sleep this is a great one!!

**4**

I've gotten back into menu planning and cooking this month which has felt so good.  I made this super fun menu board for my kitchen (thank you pinterest for the idea!) and every week I fill in with a dry erase marker what we're having to eat that week and where the recipe is located so I can easily find it.  It's been awesome to look up and see what I'm doing on a given day and we've been enjoying several yummy dishes because of the extra planning!  Today I have beef stroganoff in the crock pot and a delicious black bean salad with lime dressing in the fridge for lunch :)

**5**

My amazing mom came back out to visit again last week even though she was just here two weeks ago, and for that I am SUPER grateful.  May has been a tough month, feeling like Aidan's reflux was never going to improve, his sleep was bad, and i felt like I was constantly being fussed at.  My husband is super helpful but works long hours so I felt a little isolated and alone and I think my mom could tell (maybe me calling her crying a lot cued her in??!) So she volunteered to come back for another 4 days and I was so grateful for the help.  Everyone will be back in 2 weeks from today for Aidan's baptism weekend!  Yay for family visiting!

**6**

Our book club is up and running!! Hooray!  We had a ton of interest and even a bunch of men wanted to join us so we decided to make it co-ed.  Our first selection for June is the Poisonwood Bible which I read 2 years ago and loved.  I was surprised only 1 other person in the group had read it, so everyone was more than happy to select it for our first book.  So I just started re-reading it and am reminded again how much I love the way Barbara Kingsolver paints pictures with words.  Starting the club means I needed to revamp my list of 31 books i wanted to read before I turn 31 in September, but that's okay.  And realistically I am not going to finish my list this year.  I have a LOT of books left to read before September 23 and I'm just not sure how possible this is going to be!

**7**

Tonight is date night, and our plans?  (this was my husband's idea) We're walking to get ice cream after dinner here at home and then both spending the evening reading The Poisonwood Bible (yup he's joining our book club too!)  I am kind of excited :)  Have a great weekend everyone!

Three Years

I have come to enjoy and appreciate anniversaries so much more than birthdays lately. Birthdays arrive and we turn another year older and it takes no work. They just show up. Anniversaries arrive too, but as I've talked to so many friends who are married and as I look at my own marriage, I realize that anniversaries are kind of "earned" in some way. Marriage is an amazing journey, full of ups and downs, but in order to make it work, it takes commitment and some hard work at times. Couples have to push through tough times to come out on the other side stronger, and I think that's something worth celebrating. Every time our anniversary rolls around I am reminded of the journey we have been on this past year, and I love looking back and celebrating the moments we didn't give up and the moments that were full of joy and the moments that drove us to our knees and the moments that we clung to each other because that's all it felt like we had. This past year was definitely the most difficult of our short marriage, and as we stand here today I look back at where we were a year ago on our anniversary. We had gone away to the Washington coast for 2 nights to try and escape a life that had come to feel so difficult and painful. Turns out, you can't really escape those things. We spent the weekend trying our hardest to put on our happy faces and enjoy each other, but in reality we were both so angry at the circumstance we'd found ourselves in with my husband's job. We would try and make a rule that we couldn't talk about the church but that pretty much left us with nothing, we were so consumed and hurt and frustrated that we didn't know what else to talk about. Here we are a year later and in such a different place in our marriage and family and work. I look back and I celebrate where God has brought us, how God has strengthened us, all the things God has taught us, and the amazing gifts God has given us.

I hear couples say they aren't doing anything to celebrate their wedding anniversary this year because "it's just another day," and that makes me so sad. Even if it's not elaborate, even if it's nothing spectacular, even if it's several days before or after your actual anniversary, take time to celebrate your marriage--you've worked for it, and in a culture where more and more couples are calling it quits, I think marriages are worth celebrating! My husband likes to say that our anniversary is the birthday of our family, and that today our family is 3 year's old. I think that's worth finding a baby sitter and making plans even though we're busy and we have other things we could be doing with our time. So this weekend that's what we're doing. We're setting aside time to go to dinner, and we're going to see the Hunger Games because I have been waiting for months for this movie to be released, and we're going to celebrate all that this past year has brought. Happy anniversary honey, I love our little 3 year old family!

Hellllo Sunshine!

I thought I'd share some photos from this past weekend since it was pretty much the nicest weekend we've had since moving here! Enjoy our latest adventures!

Friday afternoon Missy & I headed over to Whidbey Island for the start of the annual girl's weekend. The rest of our friends had to work and come later Friday night, but we arrived about 4, took a walk on the beach, and then made dinner together.Our meal was delicious if I do say so! I found butternut squash ravioli at Safeway that had an amazing alfredo/sage sauce. It was heavenly. That and a great salad, sliced apples and carrot sticks made for a fantastic start to the weekend--especially eating together on the back deck!We had brought everyone's food and luggage over in our car, so we set up the cabin while waiting for friends. The snack table was the most important :) We made cookies, guacamole, had fresh fruit, chips, crackers and plenty of beverages to choose from. I don't think anyone went hungry this weekend!Relaxing Saturday morning--reading, massages, sunlight, coffee. We were each assigned a meal to shop/prepare for, so Heather and I made a delicious breakfast of her famous pancake puff, fresh blueberries, bacon, and orange juice/mimosas. The tide was out Saturday (not as far as I've seen it go out but it was out enough for a great walk!) so a walk on the beach was the next activity after breakfast. I have so many memories on this beach--it's the beach our family would go to every summer--I have so many pictures of us as little kids climbing those sand dunes :)Leslie, Jen and Heather on our walkJen was in charge of lunch, and oh my word did she make the world's best sandwiches! Apparently they are sandwiches her husband makes often, and we will be too now that we've been introduced to their amazingness! Start with a large sourdough roll, pile on fresh mozzarella, turkey, and then a bunch of vegetables (red peppers, cucumbers, shredded zucchini, red onions) that have been soaking in olive oil/balsamic vinegar. The bread absorbs the balsamic, so instead of mayo or mustard the main flavor is sourdough and balsamic with the mozzarella and turkey undertones. Heaven I tell you, simply heaven.Darbee, Heather, Jen, Missy, Lynn, LesliePost lunch reading on the deckI had to leave after lunch on Saturday because of the U2 concert that night and I was teaching Sunday school the next day (the rest of the gang stayed til Sunday). The mountains on the ferry ride home were incredible. It was a gorgeous night for a concert! It was our first time to Qwest Field--I loved the view of downtown from it! The 360 degree stageLenny Kravitz openedBono...we heart him...

Nourishing Our Souls

We are learning first hand how incredibly important it is to take time out and go play. To have a full day to just be outside, even if it's chilly, has proven to be so incredibly important for us. I never really was a nature girl, but since meeting Charles I've started learning how much I really do love the fresh air, the sunshine, the wind, seeing God's creation in all its glory. We did some hiking around California, and I enjoyed it, but I'm not a girl that loves the heat--and most of our hikes were done in the summer, in rather desert-y conditions. This past weekend we had a full day on Saturday with absolutely nothing on the calendar. No youth events, no dinner plans, no nothing. (Don't get me wrong, we love all those things! But a break every now and then is good too!). We weren't really sure what our day was going to hold, but as we were eating breakfast Charles mentioned seeing if we could go take a hike somewhere (it was gorgeous and sunny out). We ended up at Twin Falls Creek which was only about 40 minutes away, and was a great hike--not too strenuous, great views, a mixture of sunny and shady spots. It was definitely a day that was good for our souls!

First though, someone from church texted us to let us know that Alki beach had some impressive waves thanks to the wind, and that there was even a guy out there trying to surf. So of course we had to go check it out! Oh my word the views of the mountains were absolutely incredible.Then we got to the hike, it was so so beautiful!The trees were so moss-covered, they looked to me like monsters--I thought they were pretty coolYay! Vitamin D!

Spring Break Day 1!

Well I guess technically it's day 2. My honey finished everything Thursday night and spent all day Friday surfing with the boys before watching The Sound of Music with me last night. It's one of my very favorite movies & he says he doesn't remember it, so we watched it together and he actually enjoyed it :) Today we drew a second card out of our date night jar and it said take a picnic to a beach. So we did :) We left after a lazy morning of sleeping in, and drove south to Orange County to go to Crystal Cove, a beach he'd only been to once and one that I had never seen. It was definitely beautiful! And because it is the state beach where you have to pay to park it was really empty. (We have a state parks pass for the year so he can park for free anywhere he wants to surf). We got home around 3 and watched some of the NCAA tournament together (both our picks for the National Champions got knocked out today, so we both lost badly!) Here are some photos from our day together!Yummy lunch! Apples with peanut butter, trail mix of nuts and dried fruit, homemade chocolate chip cookies and wraps stuffed with hummus, chopped veggies and grated cheese. Delicious! Definitely filled both of us up for the next several hours of walking on the beach!

Date Night! Sunset Picnic

This week's date night was a great one :) We drew "watch the sunset over the ocean" out of our date night jar and so we packed a picnic dinner and did just that! We drove to the cliffs in Rancho Palos Verdes and found a spot to set up our delicious dinner and to wait for the sun to go down. We grabbed dessert on the way home and finished the night by watching a movie--Religulous--which I'll have more thoughts to share later on about the film (a documentary set out to prove religion is ridiculous). It was a VERY relaxing night and both of us agreed we definitely needed to get out of Pasadena for an evening!A delicious meal of red wine, turkey and pesto sandwiches, and a pasta salad--which was awesome! All I put on the whole wheat noodles was a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and then chopped up cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella cheese. We both loved it and it took about 15 minutes from start to finish!

Date Night! Writing Our Story

For date night last night Chuck and I finally used a gift we had been given a year ago when we got engaged! With the school chaos, wedding planning, moving, chaplaincy and travel this past year, this gift hadn't been really used much even though we kept talking about wanting to spend time with it. We finally did so last night when we pulled "work on our wedding book" out of our date night jar. This was a gift Megan made for us when we got engaged so we could write the story of our meeting, courtship, engagement, wedding planning experiences, bridal showers, wedding day, honeymoon and first year of marriage. She decorated a composition book with a beautiful collage on the front and back and then went through and wrote questions on each page for us to answer together. It'll take us awhile to get through it, but that's okay, we had fun reminiscing about our dating experiences last night! We ended the evening by watching Life is Beautiful because Chuck had never seen this film, and it is one of my favorites. Here was my attempt at some photography:

This is our date night jar--isn't it pretty? So many fun ideas in here, we'll keep you posted as we experience them together!Thank you Megan for a fabulous gift!