Red Raspberries

One time Ryan and I watched a discovery channel type program about "food miles" and how buying local is so much more environmentally friendly (pretty obvious, but the program really showed just HOW much moving food impacts the environment!). In addition, I'm all about "buying local" for the sake of the local economy. Helping local farmers and small store owners, etc.

We're pretty lucky to have a pretty nice orchard/farm type place a few miles away. Milburn Orchards grows a selection of berries, cherries, peaches, grapes and apples. Starting at some point in June with cherries they offer "u pick" fruits through the fall. You have the ability to browse through their orchards and select your own fruits for a reasonable price. In addition, during the fall, they have a children's play area, the best cider donuts and plenty more fall fun!

This year I had hoped to go cherry picking again, but missed it by about a week :(

However, when I got a phone call from Meghan asking if I wanted to pick raspberries, I was all about it! I love raspberries. We headed out around 10 o'clock on Saturday morning to beat the heat, but it was still pretty warm. Carrying Jude around in his sling, I was worried he'd over heat. Lucky for us, we got a good row at first and were able to pick quite a few berries rather quickly.

After we got our fill on raspberries we approached the blackberry bushes. Neither of us had eaten blackberries before, so we tried one right off the vine. Surprisingly, they were pretty good! pretty tart, a little sticky tot he touch and similar to a raspberry, but much larger.

Once I got home with our fresh picked goodness, it didn't last long. I set the berries out on the counter and in a couple of hours they were gone. Good thing is that they berries are in season until the first frost, so I hope to head back at some point for more!

Given my love of raspberries, I hope to find a recipe or two to make one of my seasonal desserts!

Strawberry Fields Forever

1 Month (and check up)

June 5th Jude was one month! It's crazy how quickly time is flying by and how big he's getting!

Today we went to the doctor for his one month visit. He got one shot and in general just got checked out. He was 10 lbs 3.5 ounces and 22 inches long. When he was born, he was in the 25th percential and today he was weighing in the 50th. So, he's growing well.

What was interesting to me is that the nurse prac. told me that Jude should be on vitamins. I mentioned that he's exclusively breast fed, and should be getting everything he needs. Apparently though, the one thing breast milk doesn't provide is vitamin D.

However, she said that 'when' he's on formula he won't need vitamins. She assumed when I went back to work I'd be switching to formula. I mentioned I planned to pump and she just shrugged and continued. I asked if I should then supplement with one bottle of formula a day and she said he should be fine with just the vitamins. (anyone out there giving their infant vitamins??)

He had a hard time sitting up in the middle of the chair:

So we went with the side of the chair instead:

A New Cousin

Last week - June 3rd - my brother Kevin's wife had her baby. Jude now has his first cousin: Olivia. I believe she was about 6 lbs 4 ounces. Later this month we plan to make a trip down to NC. Originally it was for Jude to visit his mom-mom and pop-pop, but it looks like we'll be letting the kiddies meet.

A Party at Uncle Bryan's

This past weekend we went to a party at Bryan and Katy's house. Party was complete with moonbounce, slip n' slide and more!

Hypospadias Update

Today was a busy doctor day. We started early this morning with a visit to A.I. for Jude's hypospadias. Just yesterday I saw the last little piece of stitches fall off so was hopeful that he'd be able to check out was going on a little better.

Once all stripped down, he checked him out and said he does NOT have a hypospadias (insert confused 'why are we here' look)! I asked why they put him through the semi-circ, stitches and two doctor's visits if he doesn't have a hypospadias and he said it's not uncommon. Apparently sometimes the foreskin is so tight that when they pull back the skin it makes the hole look slightly off center. I wasn't entirely convinced, but was relieved that he was not going to need the surgery!

Then I was advised that in order to continue with the circumcision he'd need to be put under because of his age. I told Ryan it was his decision whether we were going to leave him uncircumsized or go through with the 'surgery' (circumcision) this November. His immediate response was 'go for it', but the thought of putting Jude under is just too much for me to make it that easy of a decision.

Our Final Decision on Vaccines

As you probably determined from the section above, we went forward with part two of the Hep B vaccine today. Basically I did some research on which vaccines are required for school and we will be getting those - without a doubt. Some I may be delaying, but obviously I'll need to get them. Since the Hep B was the only one scheduled for today we went with that one on time - I figured it made sense, since he was already 1/3 of the way there.

Some of the others, I've read, it's possible to spread out over a longer period of time and so over the next month I plan to research the shots on track for next month and determine if I'll postpone any.

Pretty much, as with almost anything else, there are a list of side effects for each vaccine. According to Dr Sear's book, spreading some of these out can reduce side effects which is something we're considering. I'm really wishing I had looked into this all BEFORE I had a child instead of making it up as I go.

Strawberry Picking (another 101 down!)

Today I went Strawberry picking with Katy and Bryan. Jude of course slept through the whole event. It was on my list of things to do so I recently went online to farm that offered pick your own. We went to Filasky's Produce in Middletown. It seemed to be a little early in the season, so there weren't A LOT to chose from, but we ended up with a decent bag full.

Uncle Bryan - Getting Married??

As I may or may not have mentioned, Bryan and Katy have been tossing around the "m" word a lot lately. Ideally I think they're looking for a 2010 fall wedding with a rustic edge and just a casual laid back good time. Originally Katy said she could really see them getting married at Milburn orchard. They hold weddings and it would fit their Fall decor ideas.

While looking around online one day I found the "figure 8 barn". Katy and Bryan seemed to think it was the perfect location and so they set up an appointment to go look at it. They asked me to go and I of course said yes!

I must say it's a pretty cool property!! It's not at all your typical wedding venue, but I'm sure with the ideas that Bryan and Katy are throwing out it could be an awesome spot for sure!!

Work Around the House:

Now that Ryan is done at Lowes, we have the opportunity to do some work around the house. This past Sunday I decided to fix up our front yard a little. I didn't want to put a lot of money into it and just wanted to clean up some of the over growth.

I mentioned to my brother that I wanted to pull up the azalea bushes across the front of the house and his face light up. He asked if he could do it and I said he was more than welcome to. I found out the reason he wanted to do it is because he wasn't going to just dig it out or cut them down, he wanted to pull them out by the root. How you might ask did he want to do that?? With Ryan's jeep of course.

While we were busy out front Ryan did a little work on the bathroom - wrapping up some electricity. There are so many projects in the works right now, but I'm excited that we're getting back at 'em.

Before:

Flower bed in the front yard:

Front of the house with all 4 bushes:

After:

Slightly manicured flower bed (I didn't want to get into flowers, just make it look a little more well-kept)

One bush gone, 3 to go.