Sweet September

Arthur and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on September 9th, which was also the one year anniversary of our temple sealing. We were particularly broke, me being out of a job still, so we hadn't planned on going anywhere and thought we might just go out to dinner. Upon hearing of our lack of anniversary plans, my dear brother and his wife gifted us some funds to go on a modest trip out of town. We gratefully accepted their offer and booked a cheap motel in one of our favorite places, San Luis Obispo. At $50 a night I was a little afraid of what this place might look like, but the Sunbeam Motel in downtown SLO was perfect for an overnight crash and was located right next to the more expensive motels in the area. We drove down on a Sunday evening and got there about 9 pm. We found a place to eat that was still open and had our dinner at Woodstock Pizza. In the morning, we had breakfast at The Splash Cafe and took a walk around the downtown shopping area and strolled the mission grounds. After having tri-tip sandwiches at Firestone Grill, we drove about 40 minutes to my favorite beach Spooner's Cove in Montana de Oro State Park where I have gone camping all my life. On our way home, we stopped for dinner at F. McLintock's in Paso Robles, but this was the worst McLintock's experience we had ever had. We made a "note to self" to not go to that one again, but it didn't put too much of a damper on our enjoyable getaway.

Dinner at Woodstock's

 Mission Plaza

 

 Montana De Oro

I took Liana to her 4 month checkup on the 13th and she weighed 15 lb 10 oz (90th percentile) and 24.5 inches tall (50th percentile). At the same age Keira was 12 lb 9 oz (25th percentile) and 24 inches tall (50th percentile). Liana is such a chubby baby compared to Keira. We keep asking Dr. Jones to be honest with us and tell us if she is getting to chubby, but he ensures us that she is well within healthy parameters. lol She also has a very big head like Keira did, but it's even an inch bigger than Keira's was at the same age. I don't look at my kids and think they have big heads, but they are over 100th percentile. Pretty crazy. So being 4 months old, we got to start spoon feeding Sister. She took a liking to it very quickly and is a very good eater. She loves sweet potatoes, squash, and applesauce. She also likes carrots, squash, bananas... pretty much everything she has tried except for peas. :)

Beautiful 4 Month Old

 

First Taste of Baby Food. Not sure how I feel about this!

A visit from baby cousin, Elani.

Since I was laid off while on maternity leave from my last housekeeping job, I had been desperately looking for a job with no luck. I got dressed up nicely and dropped my resume off in person whenever possible, but I just wasn't getting any bites. I had spoken with a woman in my ward named Mary Spano who cleans houses for a living a few weeks prior about working with her but she didn't need anyone at the time, then she called me saying she needed help and had me start working with her cleaning 2 houses, alternating each week. She also set me up with a house to clean by myself every week. So, I am cleaning 3 houses, working 2 days a week for a total of about 5 hours a week but the pay per hour is much better than I was making before. Every time Mary would call me to ask if I was ready for a job or to ask if I had purchased the cleaning supplies I needed to start cleaning on my own, she sounded pleasantly surprised that my answer would be yes every time. One day, after finishing our cleaning job together, she thanked me for my work and I pointed out that she seems surprised by my level of responsibility and dependability. Her eyes filled with tears as she expressed her gratitude for be and her happiness with being able to depend on me. These traits come naturally to me, and I would never treat a job any other way, but apparently not all people share my work ethic. I told her, as grateful as she is for me, I am grateful to have her. She provided me with good steady work in my time of need, when I had nothing else. Even though I was trying to get back into administrative work, I am glad to be making enough to make ends meet in my home and I know I am right where Heavenly Father wants me to be right now. And still so grateful for Art's steady job that allows me to work so little. What a blessing it is that work is just a footnote in my life and my family can be my main focus. I am truly blessed.