Happy Tuesday!

As Cheri pointed out, it appears that we neglected to rest much on the long weekend. I think I needed her to email me that on Saturday afternoon, but it was hard for her to do so when I did not post about our weekend until Monday morning! :-) She was very right!

Needless to say that after the picnic at Church Sunday for lunch, we came home and all rested (I don't think I even rolled around!)

So Monday was a very quiet day. My accomplishments consist of making muffins so that we could have breakfast the rest of the week, working on an afghan (forced to sit in a recliner and knit), and uploading all the pictures I needed to finish Miss Pear's baby book up to current, and send her 3 year pictures out which was a fun project with Mr. Pear after our little one finally stayed in bed. (Not a hardship as I have a lap top and am skilled at typing laying down with the laptop on my knees).

All the dishes went in the dishwasher - even the muffin tins.

I napped when Miss Pear did, and we played lots.

The only hardish thing about the day was that baby was practicing karate. I had been saying soccer up until now, but this morning had me upgrade! :-)

But even the kicks that hurt make me smile, right after the wince, because they confirm that all is okay and my baby is growing well.

Oh, and I made two phone calls to schedule stuff that was no big deal.

It was a wonderful weekend followed by a restful day, and a lesson learned in the kitchen, but I will be saving that lesson learned for Kitchen Tip Tuesday later on! It was not horrible, just I could do a much better job next time....

And today baby's furniture gets delivered! (we got the carpet washed just in time!)

July Long Weekend Baby Preparations

Happy Monday Morning to you!

It was so hot here this weekend, and the festivities so expensive that we decided to spend time this weekend resting and taking care of some necessary task for baby's arrival, of course the fact that there was no close parade (that did not involve horrid traffic) and Miss Pear does not like the sound of fire works helped a lot.

Plus there were lots of good sales, plus there were some tasks that I could easily be working on with just picking up a couple things, so here is what we got done just this weekend:

Shopping stuff:

1. Thursday night I quickly ran to Target to take advantage of the deal where after coupons you got 3 x 12 packs of drinks and bucket of ice cream for $5, and was thrilled to see the 192 pack of size 1-2 Baby Dry diapers on for $27! So I used my coupon for $5 off when you buy Pampers diapers and wipes and got a 3 pack of wipes for $1. Best price on both that I have seen in a long time! This leaves me fully stocked on diapers except for probably 2 more packages of NB, and then will wait and see until baby is born if 3 packs of NB are enough before moving to the size 1's I already have stashed (I am keeping all the receipts so that I can exchange if need be and bought at the CVS near out house right next to the grocery store, so an exchange will be painless and likely unnecessary. Babies in our families have little tushies.)
   
2. At Babies R Us we found a cute baby book with matching grandparent brag books on clearance, 2 snap down the front Carter's onesies on sale and a new contour change pad and covers that will work with the dresser.
3. Picked up wool to make a baby blanket (another great deal! I could not buy a fleece blanket for what I paid for the wool, and this will be a nice fall weight, not too hot, plus I get to make something special for my baby girl as soon as I finish the something special afghan for my girl! almost done!) More on this in another post....
   
4. Ordered the crib sheets and mattress cover on sale (a deal even with shipping)
5. Ordered a sweet sleeper and matching hat to bring baby home from the hospital in, plus a second hat to wear in the hospital (we really don't like the hospital hats). Even though it will be hotter than blazes, hats are needed for the air conditioning around here! This was all from Gymboree and deeply discounted, and was a better price than the sales at Babies R Us even after shipping! (Both hats and the sleeper will be put in baby's hope chest when she out grows them, along with the afghan I am making.)
   
6. Remembered to pick up cotton balls at CVS, and they were free after coupon.
7. Ordered the hide a bed to replace the futon that was in the baby room. Not the best deal, but as good as we were going to be able to do this summer. Plus it looks great, matches out living room and is scotch guarded.....
   

Other stuff:

1. Sorted through all the 0-3 and 3-6 month clothing that we had from Miss Pear to determine what, if anything, we still needed, and made the very short list that was taken care of with the shopping above. Even though I could lose my mind and buy all the sweet girl stuff I am sticking to just what we NEED. (Miss Pear was a mystery until the delivery room so except for a few things bought after she was born, her 0-3 was all white, yellow and green)
   
2. Got more paint chips and decided on the room color.
3. All but finalized the birth announcement list and decided that I was not ordering more than 60, so if there were any surprises, they would get a lovely thank you note and a 4x6 picture. For some reason this was very complicated either due to lack of sleep, hormones, or family dynamics or some weird combination!
   
4. Reviewed the baby prep shopping list after running all the errands above and realized that aside from some more diapers and minor items, and a few things that are wants and not necessities, and can therefore be left if need be (either until after or all together), we are done shopping (hallelujah!) Although we do still have to order baby's Bible, but that is online and part of the library budget so I think of it separately even though it is very important!
   
5. Washed the carpet in the baby room. (our carpet cleaner has completely paid for itself!)
   
6. Decided on a name. (Praise the Lord, and we love it and the grandparents love it!)
   
7. Tentatively figured out furniture placement.
8. Firmly decided on afghan pattern and how much wool I needed (advanced math if ever there was!) so that I could complete #2 above with the good sales.
9. Mostly figured out the dates of the first grandma's visit to help before and after the delivery (I guess there are some good things about a planned C-section) Final dates will depend on prices as they can easily swing over $200 if you are not careful! Apparently Canada to the US is international.....
   
10. Figured out the last of the stamping supplies I will need to make the thank you cards, plus picked out the basic design. (Just need to review with my stamping friend before Thursday's class)
    
11. Finally took a pregnant tummy picture (I would post it, but I cannot cut out Miss Pear as it is the two of us together, just to make my tummy look bigger...Note to self: Do not take these pictures in the evening...).
    

All this before bed time on Saturday and in amongst general house keeping, meals, and a few loads of laundry. Oh, and getting one unruly tomato plant to stop falling into my carrots (this took all three of us to fix!)!!!

And I made and iced 2 dozen cupcakes for the church picnic.

So there was no reason for me to be completely exhausted Saturday night was there?

While it might seem like we have so much done very early, it is very hot here, and getting hotter as we get into August and September, so it is nice to have the shopping done early and on the good long weekend sales. Also, I think the nesting bug hit me like a ton of bricks after a really bad night sleep Thursday because I could not get comfortable, and that will also get worse, so to have all this done, and now just have mostly around the house preparations to do makes me feel so good, and so on top of things. It is like a huge relief! Especially when I realized how hard it was going to be to find the things I needed in colors etc that I actually liked and get good deals on them, which we were able to do!

Plus, I keep thinking this baby is coming early, don't ask me why, but that motivates me to get moving too.

Plus we have a lot of birthday's and events this month, again. (But one birthday is Mr. Pear's so that is exciting!)

Then again, we are 29 weeks and counting, and I always remember our first Ob/Gyn saying that 4 weeks early or 2 weeks late are considered perfectly on time and saying to myself so it is a due target month, not a due date! Yeah, nothing like children to knock some of that type A+ personality out of you!

But the real reason I am eager to get things done is that I am just so excited. For those of you who have more than one, did you get just as excited the second time around too or am I just nuts?

Thinking About Laundry

It has been an eventful two weeks on our street. We have had two dryer fires, the latest was yesterday afternoon at our immediate neighbors!

What was the most shocking is that she is rigorous about emptying the lint tray each time and vacuuming in the hole. Yet when the fireman pulled the front panel off the dryer it was lined in lint! The problem was not in the lint tray or the exhaust vent, it was in the dryer!

Needless to say that any time I had set aside to write the next hope chest post was consumed by the desire to help and the sheer panic of realizing that she takes better care of her dryer than I do! So my goal today is to find out how to properly and thoroughly clean the inside of my dryer! In my searching so far all I have been able to find is instruction about what I already do - clean the lint trap (including vacuuming inside that area), clean around the dryer, leave room around the dryer for air flow, and check the exhaust vent annually. Oh, and don't run it when you are not home! But how do you clean inside the dryer?

Any good tips? (Yes, I do empty the lint tray and vacuum inside, and no, I never run the dryer when I am not home!)

Results of our 28 Week Appointment

Our appointment went so well yesterday, even if we did end up seeing a different doctor because ours was out delivering a baby!

I passed the glucose test with flying colors (praise the Lord!)

And most shockingly - baby fully cooperated with the ultrasound! Baby is measuring perfectly, and is developing exactly as they would like.

And the big news is, it's a GIRL!!!!!

While I had no preference for a girl or a boy, and have been praying for a healthy baby, Miss Pear has a definite preference for a girl and has been praying that way, so I am happy that at this young age she is seeing the Lord answer her prayers! (And if it was a boy, I would still be thrilled, but would not want to be the one explaining it to Miss Pear, she has been very insistent about a sister!)

Which leads to the question, what should our sweet baby girl's blog name be?

Mrs. Pear's Hope Chest Methods - Part 1

As I mentioned here, part of what got us started on a hope chest for our daughter so early was the special things we wanted to save, which were numerous in her first year! While my goal is to set aside things that are valuable to our family, I do hope to avoid the problem the DHM of the Common Room finds herself in so I have shown more restraint in the second and third years!

We also had a strong desire to do something special for Miss Pear's first birthday, but all the keepsake ideas just seemed like more clutter we did not need! Plus we knew a move was in our near future at the time, so more clutter was not in order! I am not sure exactly when it occurred to us, but as soon as the idea of starting a hope chest came to us we both knew it was the right idea for us!

The idea of a hope chest had a few immediate benefits as far as we were concerned:

• it gave us a way of saving stuff that was special that we felt Miss Pear would need or want one day
• it gave us a way of doing something special for not only her first birthday but each birthday
• it was part of an answer to prayer, or at least the seeds of it - I will eventually talk more about this as God is really showing me lots in this area, but I am still figuring it out.

It had long term benefits too!

• it was a way to slowly start accumulating stuff for when Miss Pear has a home of her own (I try to include nice linens at this point because stuff like that is rare when you first move to a home of your own!)
  
• it was is a place to store projects she makes as I eventually teach her the arts of knitting, sewing, quilting, cross stitching, and ribbon embroidery just to name a few! (I would love to learn to crochet and make lace too and then pass those skills on too!)
• it marks special times in Miss Pear's life that would likely not be saved if we waited until she was older.
• it keeps me faithful in storing up a special gift for her one day.
• it keeps keepsakes safe - who knows if mugs put away now would survive if they were just tucked into a corner of a closet!
  

Now, while all this is well and good, I am trying very hard to keep this project from becoming gargantuan and taking over the house, especially considering that she is only 3, and that we don't have an attic with storage room or a basement! And our garage is very small.

So when I decide to save things I ask myself if I will really regret it if I don't save it, if it is really so special that I cannot bear to part with it. I also ask myself if it will be really meaningful years from now or be useful. Just because it is fun or nice now does not mean it will be 20 years from now!

And when we are selecting things to put away each year we definitely consider how large it is. There will come a time when larger things are added, but that is not now. There will also come a time where I add more each year, but again, that time is not now either!

Even if your kids are older, it really is not too late to start, and if you have boys, you can always put away a few special things because one day they will have families too and I am sure their future wives will appreciate your forethought!

Do you have hope chests started for your kids? What kinds of things are you saving?

Note: The methods part is clearly going to be a series, so I set up a hope chest label so that you can find it all later if you would like.

28 Week Appointment Today

Well, today is our 28 week appointment, complete with ultrasound. If we don't find out today if baby is a boy or girl, we are going to say that we don't want to know until the delivery room. That should keep me from feeling like I should just wait until the next appointment to chose the paint color (although I am now leaning towards a light blue regardless), and picking up the few clothing items we need, especially when we will be at a Carter's outlet store in a couple weeks!

So, what do you think, will I be announcing that we are:
a) having a baby boy
b) having a baby girl
c) having the mystery child and will let you know in September?

I have the dreaded glucose test today too, and that is never fun. Oh well. Seeing the baby on screen will make up for it!

June Baby Preparations

June was not quite so eventful as May for getting lots done. We had lots of early heat, some illness, a business trip, and something every Saturday but one.

We are continuing to work towards our goal of having everything but laundry done by August 12. Our due date is September 19, so this is actually a month and a week early, I decided to pull it in a week!

But here is what we did get done:

1. Learned that once again it looks like we will not know if baby is a boy or girl before the delivery room, so we are planning a nice generic room right now. We have one more chance to find out July 1. We are healthy, but the doctor does want her favorite ultrasound tech to check something (I cannot remember what, but it might be the placenta because it is migrating like crazy).
   
2. Decided we did not like any of the paint chips we brought home for baby's room. Back to square one on that one.
   
3. Picked up 2 jumbo packs of diapers and wipes at Target on a great sale.
4. Worked very hard to find a new home for the futon that is in baby's room. (A couple hot leads still to pan out, if not we are calling a charity).
5. We looked into book cases that will fit into Miss Pear's closet to improve storage and help support our book habit (and get a few things out of baby's room), but decided to wait on that as the one that fits the best and maximizes space is a bit more expensive that we expected. This is something that is not a rush, but made the list of preparations as we were not sure how much energy we would have after! We think we can just put a second row of shelving above the shelving in there now to tide us over.
   
6. We figured out that there is a set of sheets that is very hard to change on the crib mattress, so is like brand new, and we will use those at first so that we can order the color we want when baby arrives. (They are so tight that literally, Mr Pear has to take the mattress out of the crib to change it - not possible for a mommy recovering from a C-section, but possible for a Daddy home for 3 weeks on vacation, and a grandma to help!)
   
7. I looked through our baby supplies that I have been picking up on sale for Miss Pear (her skin is so sensitive that we have not really switched yet), and found that I need very little!
8. We picked out the Bible and bookmark that will welcome baby home. When Miss Pear was born we could not find a Bible storybook that did not seem really light to us (as in missing key points!), so we opted to get her an NIrV Bible instead, it was important to us that she have her own Bible. And we have always been happy with that decision! So we are doing it again. (Plus, we never did order Miss Pear a bookmark, she commandeered one of mine, so when I found a beautiful Noah's Ark one with 4 ribbons, I was sold!) I will be ordering it in July or August, but just picking one was a big step!
   
9. Miss Pear finally found the sunshine night light for baby - the top priority for her and baby preparations, so it was very important to find this! It is a long and very special story that I will tell later.
10. Sorted through some hand me downs to see what we could use and it was all of it! (Toys and play yard sheets!)
11. Continued to talk to Miss Pear about baby's arrival, and she is excited! She loves to talk to baby and give baby hugs and kisses.
    
12. Ordered more supplies at my monthly stamping class to make cards (we make 3 or 4 projects each month, and instead of paying a fee for the class we commit to a $15 order each month. Rather than just order stuff randomly I have been ordering stuff to make some thank you cards! I have a rough idea of what I would like to make, so we will see. I think I may have everything except the brads, assuming I do the punch out flowers....
    
13. Selected the invitations for our church shower - we are just waiting for our appointment July 1 to confirm the color. They are so cute!
14. Begun serious work on the Freezer Stock Up plan (just the plan, not the cooking). Because my MIL will be here for the delivery it is not as urgent as she will help, but I still would like a well stocked freezer to make my life a bit easier and make sure my family is well cared for. With Miss Pear it was really 6 weeks before I felt like myself again, just with less sleep.
15. Completed all the stuff I wanted to get done for Miss Pear's hope chest. Just because I said it was going in for a specific birthday does not mean it was in at that time!
16. This past weekend Mr. Pear emptied the baby's room and moved the two remaining pieces of furniture down to the garage (disassembled). (Important because we got the call saying the furniture is in!)
17. I will be calling today to schedule the delivery of baby's furniture, so that technically counts as a June accomplishment!
    

And I think that possibly the most important preparation was a mindset shift for me. Miss Pear was breech at birth, and despite numerous things done to turn her (ECV, soaking in the pool daily to make more amniotic fluid to make more room to turn, exercises), she did not turn. I am petrified of surgery and needles. But a healthy baby was more important to me that my convenience. So over time I realized that the Lord was protecting me. I don't know from what, but He gave me His peace about it, that it was His will and provision for me.

So this time around I had hoped to avoid a C-section, but that is looking less likely with each appointment for reasons I don't want to get into here because frankly, I cannot emotionally handle the discussion. But, be assured that we are VERY well educated in this from a variety of sources, and have one of the few ob/gyn's who actually will do VBAC's and are scheduled for a hospital that supports VBAC's, so it is not like someone is trying to talk us out of it, and we are still in a wait and see mode, but things are becoming clearer.

So the mindset shift for me was to stop thinking that I am charge, or can do something to effect the outcome. Of course I pray about this, and try to be healthy, but understand that while this is good for both my and baby's health, the outcome is up to God. I am praying for Him to make His will very clear for us, knowing that if that means a C-section again I am going to have to trust that is best and good (despite the needles!), and that it is again the Lord's provision for us.

Saving drops of water

I have my sick little daughter curled up on the couch watching a favorite video. She was so sick during the night that she was up enough that she is now exhausted, and is too tired to enjoy reading, but is too awake to sleep, so we are in the same room each having our screen time.

But the fever stayed under control last night, and she is drinking stuff well, so I am pleased with that.

So, while I have a quick minute, on to Frugal Friday.

In California we are officially in a drought. I am a little disappointed that the past season's rain was not enough to push us out of this, but will continue to pray for abundant, well spaced rain (if we get too much our canyons have mud slides that are very dangerous).

While we pray for rain, we want to be good stewards of the water we have, including for our garden!

For our garden we have our timers set to what the minimum recommendations are, and we watch to make certain that there is no run off, and indication of over watering. We also check our sprinkler system regularly to ensure that it is working (no broken heads, etc), and we have it run during the night so we do not lose lots of water to evaporation before it can soak in!

We have a newer water efficient dish washer, so I make sure it is full and run it because I cannot wash that many dishes for that little water, and then I try to be very careful with the water for the dishes I have to wash by hand.

When I am running water to wash dishes I discovered that I "waste" over a gallon of water to get hot water! So I keep a plastic jug by the kitchen sink and put all that water in the jug. When it is full I pour it into the garden wherever extra water is needed (hence we can keep our sprinklers at the minimum).

We do enjoy a water table out back and the inflatable pool, but again, we try to reclaim that water for our garden, and Miss Pear loves to help!

We do have a front loader washing machine that is actually rated as water efficient as it adjusts its water level for each load based on sensors. It will adjust down to as small a load as one shirt, but I still try to run at least medium loads so that I am making good use of my water.

Unless there is a good reason not to wait, we shower every second day rather than each day. This also helps our skin to not dry out, and makes my hair cooperate much better (it also means we save on hair gel!)

And the motivation for this? Well, every summer water bills go up in California due to consumption. But as they call for conservation there is the concern that the price per gallon will be upped to make up for lost revenue if we get into a forced conservation situation. So we thought we would begin working on this ahead of time, and then enjoy the benefits now!

Some other things we plan on doing if it becomes to forced conservation is to save the water from starting the showers and baths, and bath water in general.

We are certainly not experts, but are starting to make those baby steps to help us!

The Best Laid Plans...

...Mr Pear is traveling on business, he left this morning and will be back late tomorrow night.

I had great plans of using some time this evening to do the thoughtful post on hope chests - why we started so early, what we are hoping to accomplish, and an excellent resource. (By the way, if you have specific questions that would really help, please post them! Even vague questions!)

I was also going to blog about what we have been doing to save on water in a drought.

But then Miss Pear woke up from her nap with a 100.6F fever - and that was with her continually opening her mouth while I tried to take her temperature, so I suspect it was higher than that, but expect for lethargy and a very short nap there were no other effects. So I gave her Tylenol (which immediately helped) and we had a very quiet day. But those kinds of things drain mommies who worry about their children!

So rather than blog tonight about those in depth things, which will take a fair bit of time, but be worth it, I am going to make sure I have a good rest so I am ready for tomorrow.

Don't send...

... a pregnant woman to the store on a milk and egg when there is a bit of extra money in the grocery budget.

She will not only come home with milk and eggs, she will also come home with Dove ice cream bars, Oreo cookies, French vanilla ice cream, and ice cream cones.

She will walk in the door and cry out (10 minutes before bed time), "Who wants ice cream?" in a voice loud enough to carry through the house and excite everyone.

She will ask follow up questions such as, "Am I the only one having ice cream or does any one want to join me?" just to make sure everyone is nicely riled up as Daddy and daughter come running down the stairs with Daddy doing what he can to rile up daughter even more, just for fun.

And then she will give the three year old sweetie her own Dove bar just because she can, ensuring a nice sugar high as reading time is ending, but every once in a while, you have to do something silly, just because you can, just because your family is there and you love them.

So no particular reason for the treats, just love my family, and if you have to make a milk run, you might as well make it worthwhile.....

(Oh, and all splurge items were on sale, and the budget has been maintained).

A Miracle Just for Us

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Psalm 34:8 NKJV

I have known about this since Monday, and have been trying to find words to tell you. While it may not be big news for most families, and many will not understand why it is such big news for us, I still wanted to share. I wanted to share the goodness of the Lord and how He blessed us in such an overwhelming way.

Most of you know that Miss Pear has some serious allergies. Around the age of 1 she was tested for allergies and was so severe for peanuts that we almost ended up in the ER and carry an Epipen and Benedryl EVERYWHERE! She also tested positive for egg white and later we discovered a potato allergy. And, of course, last fall we discovered Penicillin. So life was a bit complicated in this regard. Oh, and while she was never tested for tree nuts, she tested so severe for peanuts that we were told to avoid tree nuts too. (Even the risk of cross contamination).

As part of Miss Pear's 3 year check up she was retested for allergies, and the results were actually shocking. They did not test the Penicillin.

The new scale is:
0 = no reaction
2 = moderate
4,5,6 = very high

Miss Pear's results:
Tree Nuts = 0
Egg White = 0
Potato = 2
Peanuts = 2
(rest of childhood allergy panel = 0)

We were stunned! This is such a marked improvement! It almost seems impossible to comprehend! And while we still have to manage potato and peanuts, potatoes are not a big deal to avoid, and the peanut allergy is getting so much better that while we have to continue to be careful, it is not as dangerous as it was!

We have prayed and hoped for that Miss Pear would be one of the lucky ones to outgrow some or all of her allergies, and are thrilled to see answers to our prayers.

Miss Pear's Hope Chest - Year 3

This year one very special thing we put away for Miss Pear was a copy of the New Testament that belonged to my great granny who Miss Pear is named for (Great Granny's first name is Miss Pear's middle name).

A Japanese Pink Green Tea cup that was sent to Miss Pear from friends as they returned from 2 years in Japan. It actually arrived during her second year and lived in our china hutch, but when we moved to our new home the china hutch ended up stored in the garage, so we put the cup away - it is gorgeous!

Lady Bug Magnets – Auntie made these for her when we visited Canada in September because she was in love with lady bugs! It was a rather large set, so I kept half out for the lower half of the fridge and put half away.


Happy 3rd Birthday
From Daddy and Mommy – All-clad odd measuring cups and spoons (to finish off the set I started last year and because Miss Pear thinks that baking with me in the kitchen is the best game EVER!), 4 knit dish clothes that I made
From Grandma – to be determined! She wanted to hand down a special family something but had not decided yet. She is also on her road trip so she thought that she might find something on her trip that has been a long dream of hers!
From Grandma and Grandpa – The second petit point picture that is part of the set.

As you can tell, we are showing more restraint! There are some things in her room that I could never pass down or pass on as they have a very special meaning to us such as her night light (story to be told as part of the baby preparations), the quilt on her bed, the prayer quilt that hangs on her wall, a picture that was given to her on her first trip to Canada....Things that are incredibly sentimental! These are the kinds of things that no one else would likely understand, but your family knows, and appreciates!

Fast Cooked Dried Beans

I was talking to my neighbor recently, and she was saying that she loves the idea of using dried beans as they are truly so much cheaper, but with having to plan ahead to soak them and then cooking for so long on the stove top or all day in the crock pot, it is just too much work for her with three kids!

So this brings me to my kitchen tip tuesdsay! (By the way, I do the same thing as Tammy - I store my dried beans etc in glass jars and also the plastic ones from the spices I get at Costco as long as I can get the smell out!)

I cook my beans in a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers have become much more user friendly (and safer) than when our moms were using them. And I can decided I need beans at the last minute and still have them less than an hour later!

If I plan ahead, I soak the beans over night, rinse, add fresh water, bring to a boil, put pressure lid on, bring to pressure, set timer for 12 minutes keeping the pressure between the first and second rings (I have a gas stove so I usually just drop it to low). Then I turn off the heat and let the pressure release naturally (usually takes about 30 minutes).

If I don't plan ahead I soak the beans for what time I have or just rinse them. Add enough water, bring to a boil, put pressure lid on, bring to pressure, set timer for 16 minutes keeping the pressure between the first and second rings (I have a gas stove so I usually just drop it to low). Then I turn off the heat and let the pressure release naturally (usually takes about 30 minutes). If I cannot let the pressure release naturally I will set the timer for 18 minutes.

The joy of planning ahead is that I know better how much I can put in and can maximize the use of the pressure cooker!

I have done this three times in the last week and now have frozen bags of beans in the freezer for all the beans we use! I usually wait until I need them for a meal, then make what I need plus extra!

To freeze them I just put what I consider to be "one can" of beans in a zip top bag, squeeze out as much air as I can and then freeze it flat! It works great!

If you don't have a pressure cooker they can often be picked up cheap second hand!

Updated to add: Once I take the lid off (after the pressure is all released) I dump the beans into a colander and give them a quick rinse as we prefer the taste that way. I wish I knew a good use for the bean juice (is it good in a composter?), but until then, we go with this. Because I give the beans a quick rinse with cold water they are a bit cooler before I bag them. I just put the beans in, nothing else!

Miss Pear's Hope Chest - Year 2

Year 2 is a much shorter list!

In her second year we put away:

Mug from first trip to a zoo September 2006

-2 Mugs from Miss Pear's first church home, where she was baptized. They were given to her grandparents the first time they visited the church, and I could not think of a better thing to do with them when I was cleaning out a cupboard!

-green slippers with pink flowers that Miss Pear loved so much that I had to save them when she outgrew them.

- She was given a knit hat for Christmas (actually good to have in Southern California as the nights are cool and she had very little hair at the time!), it was her color, purple, and she loved the pompoms on it! She would literally sort through her drawer looking for it then pull it out and run around the house wearing it!

On her Second Birthday we put away the following:
-From Daddy and Mom-mom (what she called me at the time) – All-clad measuring cups and spoons, a favored toy when we are baking together, cloth napkins to match last years place mats.
-From Grandma – a purple quilt quilted by her grandmother! (So Miss Pear's Great Great grandmother!)
-From Grandma and Grandpa – a petit point picture - part of a 2 picture set that was made as a gift for Grandma.

Miss Pear's Hope Chest - Year 1

Good Morning!

Because it is much too hot to think here today, I thought I would continue the hope chest series with what was put aside for Miss Pear during her first year. I keep track via a Word file on the computer so that I know the who and when of the items. Not exactly scientific, but it works for me! I do try to be descriptive in the list so that items can be matched up. It is my plan that while I am storing in plastic tubs to print the list that goes with that tub and slip it in.


For Miss Pear's first birthday I decided to make a set of 4 French Provincial style place mats. Needless to say they were not done in time! But they are done now, are very cute and are tucked away in the box.

A Pooh Bear rattle was a decoration on a present from us to match the Winnie the Pooh theme of her birthday, so I had to save that once she was done with it.

One grandmother embroidered a set of 7 dish towels.

The other grandmother placed inside an embroidered dish towel and my grandmother's copy of the 4-H cook book from when I was a 4-Her!


Other items placed in during this year were:

• Sleeper that Mommy came home from the hospital in (honestly, I did not know what else to do with it).
  
• Hat that Miss Pear wore in the hospital - it was a newborn hat that we brought with us that was so much softer than the ones at the hospital, and fit better too.
• Shirt Miss Pear was given at the hospital with the hospital logo on it.
• Sleeper and hat that Miss Pear came home from the hospital in (we did not put it away until after she outgrew it!)
• Pink and White sweater that was Mommy’s
• Miss Pear’s Christening Gown – It was made by Miss Pear’s Great Grandma for Mommy to be baptized in. (We had this preserved, so it is in an annoyingly large cardboard box, but it still fits in the plastic tub, and I pray a third generation will wear it, followed by many more!)
• Miss Pear’s First Christmas - Special First Christmas socks from Daddy and Mommy
• Barnyard Dance - Miss Pear ’s first signed book just for her. This was a favorite, as seen by the teething evidence….
• Dusty Rose sweater that Mommy knit for Miss Pear while recovering from a broken foot. It was the first sweater she made.

Baby Blankets Saved for Miss Pear (none in box yet, they still get used occasionally)
- White on white quilt a Grandma made
- Pooh Bear cross stitch Afghan a Grandma made
- Ribbon blanket a Grandma made
- White, pink, and blue afghan Great Great Auntie made
- Purple afghan dear friend made and shipped from Japan


As you can see, an inordinate amount of stuff has been set aside from the first year, but I forced my self to show some restraint. I tried to limit myself to real keepsakes, things that I would be heartbroken to lose, or that were particularly meaningful. I also tried to put a few mementos that were family pass downs.

Lest you think we have to set aside an entire closet for this project, I assure you that the first year is by far the longest list so far! And some items are stored at grandparents homes and will eventually make their way here as there is room in the suitcases! Therefore we have only one plastic tub - although it is full, and another is needed. The tubs will be stored in Miss Pear's closet once I pull the baby stuff out!

Once I am sure I will not need the crib sheets (I am thinking about waiting until baby is born before I order crib sheets so I can order pink or blue, so I might need these ones a bit longer even though they are worn out along the edges) I will be using them to sew protective covers for quilts - more on this later, but the white on white quilt will need a cover, as will at least 2 more known to date. Quilts should always be folded top side in, then stored wrapped in cotton - pillow cases work best. Choose a light color if possible, old pillow cases work great as they will not leach color. As receiving blankets start to fray they will be used for this purpose too.

I am not as organized in storage as I could be, but that will become an important project in the next couple years.