My Little Window

Stationery card

2011-11-27T17:01:00.001-08:00

Blossoming Joy Christmas Card

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Regret

2011-11-05T16:54:00.001-07:00

Regret feels horrible. Plus it is impossible to go back and redo whatever it is you regret. I don't want to get to the other side of raising babies and regret not doing more or being there more.

I want to know that I rocked my babies enough and played with them. I mostly want to look back and know that I was there.

Not to say that I won't give them space to do their own things or even teach them to play on their own (Yes I am talking about you Erin). I'm talking about taking the oppurtunities I am presented with every day to either just try and coast through the day without engaging my children. Or being there to give them what they need physically, emotionally, and to help bring joy into their lives.

I don't want to regret not being the mother I wanted to be.

Pregnant Pumpkin.

2011-11-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite traditions! I think one of the reasons is that Scott really gets into. He bought a book with some patterns this year and some carving tools. Erin picked out the grim reaper and Izzy got a kitty with wings on it. He does such a nice job!

Izzy loved her pumpkin! It was cold from being outside so she kept hugging it and then saying "Cold!"

If we think something that Izzy does is cute then Erin has to do it too. But who am I kidding, she is adorable hugging her pumpkin too.

Got a picture of my tiny pumpkin too! Such a cute little nugget. I still can't believe I have three beautiful girls...

Cracking open the first pumpkin.

I have to demand pictures be taken of me too to prove that I was really there. Sure one could assume that I was there since someone had to be taking the other pictures. But I want to be in pictures too with my little family!

Why yes, that is a slight look of disgust on Erin's face as she digs out the seeds.

Her pumpkin had started growing seeds inside, so there were a bunch of these little seedlings in there! I guess it was a mama pumpkin.

Izzy didn't care too much for sticking her hand in there to get the seeds either. I got her a spoon and she liked that even if a lot of it ended up on the floor.

We only got two of the four pumpkins carved. Olive was fussy and wanted to be held so only one of us could help with the carving. Then it was getting late and our girls needed to be bathed. I also didn't get a picture of the pumpkins that did get finished either.... Must remember to do that.

Traditions.

2011-10-30T20:22:00.001-07:00

Scott and I wanted to have family traditions. One of the first that we started was pumpkins in the fall. We did sugar pumpkins first to do pumpkin pie. Then once we had Erin we started carving pumpkins. It wasn't something I did growing up. The traditions give all something to look forward to and things we will remember. Also they bring us together as a family. I didn't have children to help out with chores on the farm. I want to spend time with my children. I want memories. Traditions are one way I ensure memories are made.

Mine.

2011-10-30T09:03:00.001-07:00

My angel girl. Now that I have three I sometimes have stop myself in the midst of meeting their needs to lean back and really see my tiny baby. Sure I've done it all before, but she's here and she's mine. I want to soak it in while I can and not just blaze through it because it's old hat. I want to soak you in Olive baby. Imprinting your smell and the feel of your little body in my arms. I want to remember the nights I spend rocking and nursing you. You're my third baby, but your my only Olive.

New Life.

2011-10-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

Sure I'm still in the middle of changing diapers and late night feedings. Nap times, snack times, potty training and rocking babies. Things are different for me now though.

I have either been gestating or lactating since 2005. I lost a bunch of weight once I finally weaned Erin. It was great I was down to my ideal weight of 125 and then got pregnant with Izzy about 2 months later. Between weaning Izzy and getting pregnant with Olive I had about a month of my body to myself. But now...NOW, I may still be nursing a pretty baby but I know that we are done having children and once I get back to a weight I can feel good about I don't have to worry about it all going away due to growing another human inside myself.

We have begun the end of the baby years. I know that I am going to miss it. I am going to yearn for my babies to be tiny again and snuggle them on my chest. I am also excited to see where time takes us. The women these little girls are going to become. The way our relationships are going to change as their need for me changes. On the flip side I get to look forward to a new chapter in my life. I can start to focus more on the things that I want to do in my life, things that I'm passionate about as my babies will begin to be able to more and more for themselves.

Other changes going on around here besides adding a new baby. The big girls have moved into the same room. We only have 3 bedrooms so we decided it would make the most sense to have Erin and Izzy share a room. It has been adventuresome so far. Last night they were awake at 3:30 am and I went downstairs to find Erin in Izzy's crib... If Izzy wakes up, then she wakes up Erin and it usually takes them a few hours to fall back to sleep when they were on their own. Now it can take even longer!! I would like to think that would mean that they slept in to make up for the lost sleep. Nope. Which makes for some crabby girls. Hopefully it will bet better the longer they share a room.

Scott is going to be home another two weeks still. So he won't be working Halloween! We are going out trick or treating with some friends that have girls about the same age as our's. They are going to be so stinking cute in their costumes!

Things...

2011-10-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

So far, things are good with three kids at home. Of course Scott is off of work still so we can divide and conquer. That will not be the case when it's just me vs the needs of three adorable and challenging girls! I need to be so much more organized as a person now that I am a mother. I have to figure out what to do when and what works best for everyone. Unfortunately it usually means that someone is unhappy and fussing. That is exactly when I need to remember to breathe.

Olive went 4 hours between feedings last night which was amazing! The big girls seems to be getting up at 7 am these days, which makes me nervous for the time change coming up. We started putting them to bed later since the time change will push the time back. However, they are not sleeping any later! So that 7 am wake up time turns into 6 am soon. Way too early!! Hopefully the extended darkness in the morning will help them sleep longer. Hopefully.

We have been canning machines around here. It started with raspberry preserves from raspberries that we picked at a local pick-your-own farm. Then we moved onto applesauce and apple pie filling from the apple tree in our yard. This is the first year that we have taken advantage of the apples that our trees produce more than just eating a few and making some pie or crisp. Finally we went back to the pick-your-own farm for their concord grape season and picked 31 pounds of grapes and turned it into jam and juice. Our house smelled so good from that! Scott also turned some of the leftover pulp into fruit leather!! Canning makes me feel so virtuous. I love the feeling of preserving something that we grew and being able to use it later.

In other exciting news, the Meyer Lemon tree that I got for Mother's Day this year has blooms!!! I hope this will mean lemons this winter!

Olive!!!!

2011-10-17T07:30:00.001-07:00

Praise Jesus my pregnancy is over!!!! I know there are a lot of women out there that adore pregnancy. I....am not one of those women. I am a crabby, angry pregnant woman and I apologized nearly every day to my little family for being so hard to live with. My body hurt a lot more with this pregnancy so doing anything with the girls was very difficult. I couldn't even go for a walk because my right hip would start doing something weird and send shooting pain down my leg!

Now that baby Olive is here in our arms my body says thank you and I have so much more energy than I did. Even the broken sleep isn't seeming all that bad because I don't have the extra person in my person to carry around.

All my babies arrived during the 36th week of pregnancy. My body must just decide that enough is enough and pushes the eject button. Once again my labor stalled at 5cm and they gave me pitocin. With Izzy it took 4 hours once they started Pitocin, but with Olive an hour and a half and she was here! She was my most painful birth, but it was the fastest.

Erin and Izzy are loving having baby Olive around. They want to see her and hold her all the time. Olive just wants to sleep mostly.

Scott and I are outnumbered now, but our life and routine doesn't seem all that different from having two. Erin is in Kindergarten so that helps give her something else to do and us a break. She has afternoon Kindergarten and Izzy goes for her nap at that time so it is a nice break for us.

Three girls....I never thought I would end up with three girls. However, I do feel very lucky. I have three beautiful, healthy children. I'm excited to see how all our relationships evolve. Also to see the different personalities that each of my baby girls is going to have. It's going to be an interesting ride!

Garden Woes.

2011-09-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is what our garden was looking like. So sad. I had such high hopes for this year! There ARE plants in there, but they have been drowned by weeds. I have weeded several times, but being pregnant and weeding are not friends.

THIS is our compost pile! Some seeds got happy in there and grew huge plants. Time has proven that we have gourds and butternut squash growing in there. We have picked probably 20 gourds already.

So sad that our "vegetable" garden turned out so pathetic this year. We'll put a bunch of compost and till it in this fall. Next year I won't be pregnant and I bet gardening will be much easier! Try, try again...

In case anyone is wondering. I blame this guy for our garden failure. HE isn't pregnant!

News.

2011-04-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

Apparently Erin still fits in the walker. Why she wanted to sit in there???? Not sure.

Izzy loves the camera! Such a cutie!

And the camera loves her! What a pretty girl!

Here's our new baby on the way. Our last baby. Is a boy???? Nobody knows, but we are hoping. This pregnancy has been different that with the girls. I have not been as sick...thankfully! We'll hopefully find out for sure around the beginning of June.

I Want Daddy!

2011-02-13T05:41:00.001-08:00

Erin woke up in the middle of the night and came into our room and said that her tummy hurt. It had been hurting off and on for a few weeks and I didn't think much of it, so I just told her to climb into bed.

She would occasionally lament about her tummy, and I comforted her and rubbed her back. One of these times I was rubbing her back when all of a sudden she sat up. I asked her if she was going to throw up, she didn't answer. So I asked her again....nothing, and then I felt something wet on my hand. Awesome.

I rushed to turn the light on and ran to our bathroom to get something to wipe up the vomit and catch the rest. Scott still lay comatose while all this happened. After she finished I wiped it up and wiped her down and took her pajamas off that had vomit on them. I took that pile of lovely smelling fabric to the laundry room to wash them up. All of a sudden Erin shows up with the bed sheet with vomit on it in her arms.

"Did daddy send you to bring this to me?"

"Yes."

So he is OUT while the tummy trouble and vomiting are going on and then sends the sick one to bring the sheet into the laundry! He finally wakes up enough to get Erin a glass so she can rinse out her mouth.

After we get her all cleaned up and ready to get her tucked back into bed she tells me.

"Mommy, I want to sleep by daddy and you can sleep by yourself!"

**Update: A clarification needs to be made I guess according the the only male in our home. Erin was sent to the laundry room with the dirty sheet because she was bouncing around so much due to feeling so much better after throwing up.

*Even though I may have sounded deeply offended that Erin wanted to snuggle with daddy instead of mommy after being elbow deep (exaggeration) in her vomit, I love seeing her love and want her daddy! Not sure there is anything more sweet than seeing little girls snuggle with their daddy!!! ♥

**Erin is finally doing better. A waffle was ingested this morning after much pleading on her part. That waffle met the rest of our bed sheets in a very sticky fashion. However, she is running around with her sister now and has kept some lemon lime soda and crackers down!

Oops.

2011-01-28T05:24:00.000-08:00

We knew the soda upstairs was getting slushy. We knew that it was getting quite cold at night. We knew what happens when soda freezes. And yet, we did nothing. Not until I was feeding the girls breakfast and it sounded like a person or a large animal was in our garage. I grabbed my phone, had the police on speed dial, took a deep breath and opened the door. Nothing. Then the light bulb went on. The soda. Upstairs. Exploded.

Here is my lovely Vanna White displaying the shredded can. After it dawned on me what had happened, I went up to the loft and took the police off speed dial just in case I accidentally hit the send button and had to explain that I'm not smart enough to remove my soda from sub-zero temperatures. It was messy and I was scared to go up there in case more soda decided to evacuate it's container.

The good news. Frozen soda is pretty easy to clean up with a broom and dustpan. Even off a ceiling! Yes, the soda has been moved to a non-freezing area of the house. I'd like to say this will never happen again, but I may be lying.

Snowy Days.

2011-01-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

Tons of snow this year! Some years we wait until close to Christmas for snow. Not this year. Blizzard after blizzard, and usually on weekends. It has ruined many a plan, but I'd rather be warm and alive than....well you know.

Our huge pine trees look so beeeeyooootiful draped in snow!

Here's the backyard. The snow got so deep after a few more of these that it covered these chairs!

Erin's first snow angel.

Blizzard number...well number after the first one anyway. Ridiculous amounts of snow!

Whoever sent the backhoe to dig us out, I love you. It also made a bonafide sledding hill right in our front yard. All that snow had to go somewhere.

Erin got tired of trying to drag a sled up there and get on it before it took off without her. We bought a new sled this year that we could use with Izzy. Problem is that it got buried in one of the blizzards and we haven't been able to find it.

And after she made it top she decided the most fun could be had by rolling down. The first time I caught it out of the corner of my eye I gasped and panicked before I realized that she did it on purpose. Silly girl!

My Little Girl Loves Dragons.

2011-01-16T08:38:00.001-08:00

I found the face-painting book at Target awhile ago on clearance. Target clearance, I LOVE Target clearance! It has professional grade face-paint in it as well as a really nice brush. The book gives you lots of ideas and things to paint and takes you step by step through the design.

Obviously you don't have to just paint faces. I had been promising Erin that we would do some painting and she chose the dragon. Not the fairy, or the cute panda, or a butterfly. A dragon. As you can see she is thrilled with her dragon and the fire coming out of it's mouth.

Erin is a fascinating blend of girly and tough. She loves dresses. She loves shoes. She loves make-up. She also loves dragons, and tigers, and play fighting. Any imaginative play always turns into fighting. She doesn't go ga-ga over babies, but toy swords definitely! I love this about her!

Family Christmas Picture.

2011-01-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

It is always interesting and challenging to get some good family pictures for our Christmas card. The age of our children makes it difficult too.

Erin does much better now at four and a half, but if she is crabby then forget it.

This is the best one I got of them together. The light was terrible as well. Our house even with all the big windows doesn't have the best light for picture taking.

Izzy was going a little crazy. She LOVES having her picture taken!

Such a wiggle butt!

What on earth Scott is trying to do here is beyond me. When I got up to go look at the picture I showed it to him and we laughed so hard about it. He doesn't remember trying to look like that. What a weirdo.

Hold still!

Flash, everything looked washed out. Have to make sure that Izzy doesn't dive off the chair.

This is the best one we got so it went on the card. No need for perfection, good enough is good enough. Plus if the photo session is too long everyone ends up very crabby. Lets keep photos fun!

Christmas Time

2011-01-12T01:10:00.000-08:00

Growing up decorating the tree was always a really fun event. We would get everything out, dim the lights, put on some Christmas music, have some hot cider, and decorate.

We haven't reached a caliber where it is a relaxing experience yet just because of the girls' age. It's still more damage control.

This little one doesn't know the difference between decorations and toys yet. Throughout the Christmas season the decorations have slowly migrated toward the top of the tree.

Erin doing her goofy dance. She is such a fun and silly girl!

Cheese!

Good job Izzy, now lets leave it there.

Daddy supervising from his chair and snuggling with his girls.

That looks like a great spot Erin.

Merry Christmas!

Erin's Dance Recital.

2010-12-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

We don't get to watch her during her little dance classes, but the last class of the term we get to watch! They don't let parents in during regular classes because it's hard enough just keeping their attention without us in the room.

They did their little stretches first. Erin kept looking at me and making sure I was taking lots of pictures of her.

What an adorable ballerina!

And a little curtsy.

So focused!

A little jazz dancing too! All these cute little girls dancing!

She really seemed to enjoy it.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Holidays just keep getting more and more fun with Erin getting older. Seems like a huge difference between 3 and 4 for her. She changed the costume that she wanted every day. Ninja, Super Girl, McQueen, Tinkerbelle, Witch, Cat, Tiger, Frog, Bee, Viking, Pirate. No costume was off limits. But we had a Tinkerbelle costume already so I basically made her stay with that. She didn't mind though.

I also have a face painting book complete with face paint, so I painted Erin's face for trick-or-treating as well. I think she looked beautiful!

She still has some of it on. She wouldn't let me wash it off. Silly girl.

I wanted Izzy to be a ladybug this year. Her's is the first costume that I bought brand new. I usually get them at the used kids' stores. However, I couldn't find a ladybug one. She looks super cute!

The antennae did not stay on. She also started turning into a little Izzy Popsicle. She kept putting her little frozen hands up for me to kiss because they hurt. So I took her back inside. Scott continued with Erin. We trick-or-treated with some friends. They have two girls as well and they had fun running from door to door and getting candy!

Mine and Scott's costumes. Construction paper, glue stick, and tape. I think the message is clear though. I'm trying to convince Scott to get the storm-cloud tattoo and I'll get a sun.

Fall Fun!

2010-10-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

Here is our pumpkin family. Let me introduce you...

Meet Daddy Stormcloud! An angry elf he is. Pessimistic. A Debbie Downer, Negative Nancy, a Complaining Carl. But he's our Storm-cloud and we love him!

Meet Izzy Pumpkin! A little space between her teeth, curious eyes, and those two little teeth on the bottom. Scott did a good job carving hers as well.

Meet Mommy Love! She has a big heart where her family safely resides.

Meet Erin Options! She is so energetic that she can't decide on just one theme. So give me more!!! Scott carved this one too!!

Erin, not enjoying digging inside for the nuts. What are they Erin? Seeds!

Daddy's pumpkin was outside so his pumpkin guts are freezing! Erin's was inside, so her little hands aren't cold.

Mama and Izzy watching Erin and daddy disassemble their pumpkins.

So excited to be doing pumpkins, she may have asked every 35 seconds since breakfast....

Look at those muscles at work!! Be still my heart!

Where's Waldo??

Corn maze for Erin's Orchard field trip.

This way mama!

Erin's teacher Miss Cat. She adores her!

Her other preschool teacher Miss Jen helping her pick an apple from the tree. Thanks Miss Jen.

The hay-bale tower.

Izzy came too. Daddy had to work and she was content for awhile in the sling. Corn mazes aren't great places for strollers.

Ball! Nope Izzy those are p u m p k i n s. You can call them balls if you want. Cutie!

Mmmmmm.....apple.

Happy Fall Everyone!!!!

Pumpkin Patch Adventure!

2010-10-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

We went to Tweite's Farm just the other weekend. I had checked it out online last year, but we never made it out there. This year we did though and it was a good year for it. Erin is at a great age where she can do more things and doesn't just take off. Izzy is walking so that also helps. That place is huge! We spent an easy couple of hours there and could have even spent more time if the children weren't well past their prime.

Erin's cousin Anna came with. It is so cute to see Erin at the age where she feels reassured when someone holds hands with her.

Hubby Scott and his brother James who is Anna's dad. Almost twins don't you think? No? Yeah, me either.

Me and Izzy playing checkers, Izzy rules. She sat on the board and threw the pieces on the ground, and I picked them up.

Let me help you Uncle James. I'll find that buried treasure!

Don't eat the sand Izzy!

Sand boxes were everywhere! Make sure to wear play clothes to this place. Very dusty, dirty, and fun!

Big bouncy balls. A bit big for Izzy, but she loved them.

Off-road triking! These trikes are bad. The girls and the dads rode all over the track.

Izzy's legs didn't quite reach the pedals, but she just kept saying "vrooom" so daddy kept pushing her.

Father, daughter time.

I was there too. Taking pictures. I have proof.

Go directly to jail!
Erin is King of the Tires!

Giddyup!
The green one goes on the red one daddy.

Whoa!

Cheese!

Erin done at church. Such a fun place! We'll be going back next year for sure.

One of These.

2010-10-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

One of my girls most definitely looks a lot more like me.

Izzy's eyes, skin tone, hair color...nearly the same. Her hair will darken over time. Believe it or not, my hair was as light and maybe even a tad lighter than her's is now.

I LOVE it that my girls are so different. They are different in looks and in personality.

Now I'm not sure if it's mostly a product of their birth order, or if it is a majority due to the personality they have ingrained into their beings.

Erin has been high-maintenance since the beginning. She has always needed a lot of attention....demanded it really. Laying her on the floor and having her play by herself? Forget it. However, Izzy will find something she is interested in and just play with it.

Izzy LOVES to eat. Erin would rather graze all day than sit down for a meal. Erin eats until the hunger pain is gone and then declares she is done. A lot of food struggles go on with her. But I think no matter who you are there is always room for dessert even if you are "full" from dinner.

Erin didn't regard Scott as part of the family until she was about two and a half. She would get angry when he came home from work because then I would try to cook dinner and Scott would try and spend some time with her. She merely saw him as an obstacle to her mama time.

Izzy is always looking for dada. She says it in such a fond voice you just know that she adores him. She will willingly go from my arms to his. Her little face lights up when she sees him. Don't get me wrong mommy is still her person of choice, but she may grow out of that.

My Kitchen Helper.

2010-10-15T06:07:00.001-07:00

Erin is my kitchen helper. She has found some new enthusiasm for helping me cook! It is much easier than even a year ago to have her helping me in the kitchen. She loves to pour measured ingredients in, stir, and chop things with a butter knife.

Sometimes I even get a Tinkerbell Erin to help in the kitchen. Who is constantly asking "Does it taste good yet?" about the cookie dough.

Yep, it tastes good now Erin.

Most of the time when she is pour ingredients into the bowl they make it all the way in. Sometimes she is distracted, like a 4-year-old, and some of it ends up on the counter or floor. I take a deep breath and sweep as much of it into the bowl as I can. I've started telling her to aim for the middle of the bowl and that seems to help cut down on accidents.

But I can't help but love the excitement she gets from helping me in the kitchen!

The Summer That Never Ended.

2010-10-14T12:46:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time in Minnesota in the year of 2010 there was a summer so hot, so scorching, so oppressive that it became eternally summer. The End.

But seriously, it feel like this summer won't end. We keep getting teases of fall and cooler temperatures, but it just won't stay. I'm SO ready for slippers and soup, but instead I still can't pack away my tank tops or flip flops! It looks like fall, it smells like fall, the calendar tells me it's fall, but it keeps getting into the high 80's!!!! Not right. Not fair. I hate it.

And to all you people who love summer. Give up your AC and THEN tell me you loooooooove it.

We went to the Dells the first week of October and they had shut down Mt. Olympus and only the indoor waterpark was open. I packed long sleeves and jackets, but I should have packed shorts!!! It was still fun, but not the fallish vacation that I had envisioned.

Dear Summer,

Go Away!!! Let Fall and Winter come. This is MINNESOTA!!!!! Go back to Florida.

Sincerely,

Angrymom

Hiatus.

2010-10-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

Once I get in a groove with blogging, in inevitably trip up and it takes me a month to post again. What's up with that?

The oppressive heat has gone, but now Minnesota can't figure out if it wants to have winter or summer. We go from 40 degree days to 80 degree days!! Makes it very hard to dress for this crazy weather.

What do sunshine and rain make together?????

A rainbow!!!!!

We made it to the fair this year! The Olmstead County Fair is right here in town, but Erin got really sick and didn't start feeling better until it had left town. SO, we took her to the Steele County Fair instead. She was fascinated as we drove by and she saw all the rides. As you can see she had a lot of fun and fell asleep holding her french fries on the way home.

Pigtails! I hardly ever do much with Erin's hair because she whines so bad about me brushing it. But she wanted these in and she does look adorable in them.

Smoothie! The only way I can sneak milk in with Izzy. If I give it to her plain she takes a few sips and then opens her mouth and lets it run out....stinker!

Some of the kids at the fair had their faces painted so I did Erin's at home the next day. She wanted to be the panther, not a butterfly.

It Getting Hot in Here!

2010-08-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

The following pictures are actual pictures of our thermometer upstairs. They are actual temperatures experienced by our little family. Thankfully, no one was permanently harmed due to these extreme temps...just really really sweaty.

We are fortunate enough to have purchased a portable air conditioner last year. I found a $500 unit for $150 on craigslist. It has gotten a lot of good use this year. We have it installed downstairs since it is naturally cooler down there. The air conditioner kept it about 10 degrees cooler. We put Izzy baby to sleep downstairs in our room, there was no way we could put her to sleep upstairs.

We took lots of cold showers before bed to help cool down so we could sleep. Man, what a difference from last year!

Lots of cooking was done in the microwave and on the grill.

Now that the temperatures had toned down a bit I felt more emotionally stable to do this post. I literally wanted to cry tears of joy when these cooler temperatures hit. Unfortunately looking at the forecast it looks like we are in for some more higher temperatures. Will this summer ever end??!!

Of course you may be wondering why we haven't put central air in yet. Well...we have put almost 10K into the house already. We had to replace the well pump when we first moved in and the roof was peeling off and we replaced that this year as well. Plus we are toying with the idea of geothermal. So there you go. I can not go through another summer like this though!!!

Birthday Party 4 & 1...beware of the picture laden post!

2010-08-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

Erin was very happy with her Tinkerbelle cake. I was very happy with how it turned out. I was also very happy that I was able to relax about the level of perfection I wanted to achieve with the cake. Good enough is good enough.

This is our Bee Pinata that Erin and I made! Scott also helped with attaching the stinger, with gorilla glue no less, and made and attached the wings. I have to admit that when I saw him pull out the clear plastic wrap, straws, and tape I only imagined him throwing it all down in frustration. Instead he made some pretty impressive wings for Mr. Bee!

Our 4 day old nephew also made it to the party. Isn't he perfect!!!!

No Tinkerbelles were harmed in the making of this cake.

Here is Izzy's cake. I used up every red food coloring thing I had in the house to get the frosting as red as I could for the ladybug. Next time I need red....I'm buying red frosting.

Water fights were had....and the adults filled up squirt guns for the little squirts.

Run Walker!!!! Zig, then zag....

The mostly happy hosting couple. I lathered on at least 5 different anti-frizz, leave-in conditioner products for the party. Then I didn't touch my hair. If I had touched it and un-crunched the curls, the poofness would have scared the small children.

Pinata Time!!! Swing baby!

Look at the form!

Come here Bee!

Hiiiiiiiiyyyyyyyaaaaa! Anna was very good with the sound effects.

Man, this bee is tough.

Ok, finish er' off Ethan! WE WANT CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only two handfuls each children.

Slip..........and...........Slide!

Izzy, baby, wake up, we want to open presents and eat cake now.

I love it!

Tasty.

Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme!

Believe it or not, but the red frosting did come out of the dress.

Happy birthday girls!!!!

Cousin.

2010-08-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

New cousin kisses! My brand new nephew! Isn't he gorgeous!!!!! He was born about 5 hours shy of Izzy's 1st birthday. So we drove over the the hospital on her birthday to squish this new bundle of joy.

He was 9 1/2 pounds!!! Over baked a little bit and facing a entirely impossible direction, he was born by c-section. They are balancing out the family a bit with a boy since I have only given birth to girls.

Yep, he smelled delicious! He nuzzled himself into the crook of my neck and got comfy. Such a sweetie!

Happy birthday Izzy! Uncle Ben getting some face time with Izzy baby.

Less than a day old and he had already filled his pants several times!

Erin did a good job being gentle with her new cousin. She was very curious about his lack of belly button though.

Absolutely the sweetest.

Laundry.

2010-08-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

It was way too hot to run my dryer yesterday. It made it to 87 degrees in the house without running the dryer or cooking anything! I also do not have a clothes line. I have 1 closeline pole, but that just isn't going to cut it. So...I improvised. Railings, patio chairs, patio table, and a rake. Even when it's way too hot, laundry still needs to get done.

Our First Tomato!

2010-08-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Finally. During our 2nd season of trying to grow something up on this hill that is INFESTED with deer we have successfully produced a ripe tomato!!!!! No seriously. We can buy unlimited deer tags up here during deer season, they are that overpopulated.

Last year I lost every......single......tomato to those munching monsters. My tomato plants looked amazing and a plethora of tomatoes were on the vines about 2-3 weeks from all becoming ripe and sitting in my tummy. I came out one morning to see them ALL gone. A very depressing moment.

However.....we have drastically reduced the size of the garden this year. Used the deer netting, on top, of the plants instead of around the garden which they merely bounded over anyway. Also have in our employ a fancy shmancy motion detecting sprinkler. Those little buggers get close enough, about 30 ft., and that thing lets them have it!!! So far....so good. If this doesn't work, we'll have to get a dog. Or take turns on night guard and an airsoft gun.

But for now I will admire this little beauty until I can stand it no longer and sprinkle some salt on it and eat it! There is NOTHING like home grown tomatoes!

Ricotta & Pita Adventure!

2010-08-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

Finally took the plunge in making cheese. I had been wanting to try it for awhile, but was nervous. So I bought a cheap gallon of milk....$2. I also wanted some plain yogurt to make some tzatziki sauce so I decide to split the gallon and make half yogurt and half ricotta.

Here is the milk for the ricotta with the instant read thermometer in. I needs to heat to 180-190 degrees.

Here is the pot with the milk for the yogurt. Also needs to heat to 180-190 degrees...

You need some acid to curdle the milk to make the cheese. You can use vinegar or lemon. Obviously, I chose the lemon. The recipe I used called for 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice.

Pour it in and....Viola...curds. Since this was my first time I was not sure what it should look like when it was all separated into curds and whey. So I'm pretty sure I didn't leave mine to sit long enough to completely separate and as a result lost a lot of milk when I strained it.

Once the milk for the yogurt is heated, I put it in the sink with cold water to cool it down to 120 degrees. At that point you add your starter. I just buy a 6 or 8 oz container of plain yogurt and whisk it in. You can add any flavorings and sugar at that point as well. So far I've only done plain and vanilla.

Once the milk has separated into curds and whey you strain it with a colander and cheese cloth. However long you strain it results in thicker ricotta.

Here it is!! You also can add some heavy cream or half and half to bring it to the consistency you want. . . and salt!!!

I wanted to make gyros because I wanted to make tzatziki which is why I made the yogurt. I was trying to find pita in the grocery store and could not find it anywhere!! I looked in the bread aisle....nope. I looked in the bakery section....none. I looked by chips and crackers....nothing! I even located the ethnic section....nada mente. So I made my own. With Erin's help of course!

Roll...roll...roll...

S......t......r......e.....t....c....h........

SMILE!

Here they are at first in the oven. They bake at 500 degrees for 4-5 minutes. Thankfully it was a cooler day!

And Poof!

"Not sure I can do a good poof, can you show me a good poof?" (name that movie)

Yes one poofed correctly, the other got stuck. But when they cooled I used a sharp knife and carefully helped it open.

Beautiful! They were great filled with our gyro toppings. Erin also had one with PB & J.

I've been slowly adding things to my baking equipment. These were $5 at TJ Maxx!! You have to love something that says it's Blowtorch Safe!

I like that they are blue and white and not just the traditional white. Creme Brulee here I come!!!!!!!

Snakes in the Grass.

2010-07-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

We stayed over at a friends house due to crazy hot temperatures and our lack of AC. When we came back home I went out to check on my little garden, preparing myself for plants being nibbled off by our rampant deer. Suprisingly, none of my plants had suffered! However I found a gartner snake. He was stuck in my cucumber plant and the netting I have used to thwart the deer.

The poor thing had somehow wiggled his body through some of the holes and got himself so stuck and wriggled so hard that he had wripped scales off his body. He must have been there for awhile because the sores were dry looking.

The Hubster was at work, so I put on a long sleeved shirt, gloves and grabbed some scissors. AND, my camera. I put Izzy into a stroller so she would be crawling all over me while I cut the snake free. Erin held onto the camera while I attempted to free the creature.

Anytime I started to get too close to the sores and get the netting off the snake would thrash it's body all over the place. I felt sorry for him, being stuck and having some huge person come at him with scissors. He wiggled to much for me to do a throurgh job of getting all the netting off. And to be honest, I was too nervous to grab onto him and hold him down to get it all off.

Thanks for the big butt shot Erin. =)

I did my best and cut the netting off as close to his body as I could. Then we went back into the house to let the snake slither off if he so chose. When I went back out to check after the girls were in bed he was gone. Who knows if he will survive his wounds, or having some of the netting still on him. Good luck Mr. Snake!

Family Portrait.

2010-07-25T07:45:00.001-07:00

Erin likes to draw our family on her little chalkboard in her bedroom. Usually there are only three people that get drawn. Mommy, Erin, and Izzy.

"Where's daddy?" I ask her.

"At work." She simply states.

I explained that daddy would really like to be in one of her family pictures too. So she drew this picture complete with a daddy. I emailed it to Scott at work and it made him very happy!

We had some very cloudy, rainy days right before and as our crab apple tree was blooming which was making it very hard to get a pretty picture of it. Finally some sun came through and I got a few pics. I love these trees so much, they are so gorgeous and smell amazing when they are blooming. Sure it only blooms for about a week, but that makes it more special.

I think pictures that are taken WITHOUT a flash look so much better. Izzy was playing by the patio door so I quickly grabbed my camera and set it up to not use a flash and started snapping away. She started coming straight for me right away...

And I got this good one too! Absolutely adorable!

On our way to a baby shower for our new nephew... I had just finished the knitted grey bunny stuffed animal and Erin was breaking it in for him. Such a good cousin!

Bathtub time! So much easier to have fresh and clean children when I can bathe them together! It is nice that Erin doesn't mind only have a few inches of water in there. Plus Izzy loves playing with Erin in the tub.

There used to be tub crayons in there, but they are long gone. Not the marks in my tub....just the crayons. Izzy carries them around in her mouth like a puppy. My cute little puppy!

CHEESE!

Easter 2010.

2010-07-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

Erin understood the whole coloring eggs thing much better this year. I think she had the most fun with the stickers though.

We used the white crayon to write things on them before we colored. You never know if that is going to turn out or not. Our red color did not dissolve very well so we didn't get many good ones from that.

Of course a few stickers for the cheekers.

I hid Erin's Easter basket this year again, and she had a lot of fun finding it. I got her a new bucket to put her candy in because last years bucket turned into a puke bucket. Well...it was a nice size for Erin when she got sick. Something about a 3 year old hanging onto a 5 gallon bucket that just doesn't seem right!

Ummmm...can we say EXCITED!!!

Erin snapped a picture of Izzy and I that morning as well. Good thing she has learned to take pictures or I'm not sure there would be any of Izzy and I...or and of I at all!!

Chocolate bunny! Why don't these things taste better??!!

Hey! There's caramel in here....yes, yes there is.

My new griddle.

2010-07-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have discovered this marvelous way to cook breakfast! I have wanted a griddle for sometime, but I have a hard time buying things if I can use something else I already have to the job done. However, the mish-mash of cooking breakfast and trying to get it all done at the same time so nothing gets cold is solved by this wonderful little griddle!

The
The warming drawer is so nice. Plus I have also discovered how magical it is to do bacon in the oven. You see I was under the assumption that bacon done in the oven was crispy. And crispy bacon is just wrong. Chewy. Nuf said.

I love my griddle. And once it is no longer 80+ degrees in my house at all times of the day...I will use it again.

Getting back on my bike.

2010-07-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been too long since I have posted. What's been holding me back?? Laziness. Also, I get annoyed with trying to get my pictures in the right order on this blog. I have to decide beforehand what pics I want and the order and then load them backwards! It is very hard to rearrange the pics. Annoying.

So I'm going to just start loading photos and splain' them as they appear. No particular order, which means less pressure on me, and more posts!

These pics are from March and April...

What a cute little grin.

Drool.

My little girl loves to be close to me.

Erin's new toy.

My first knitted stuffed animal project...Erin named him Pepsi. She names everything Pepsi, or Watery. However, when she says Pepsi, it sounds like Pesbi. So cute!

Erin loves to crawl into the crib with Izzy...Izzy loves it too!

Smootie Ring!

Izzy learned to roll over.

Cute chubby baby girl of mine!

Swimsuit and snowboots, makes sense to me mom.

A Woman's Heart.

2010-02-14T10:54:00.000-08:00

The quickest way to a woman's heart is to love what she loves. When I see my hubby loving our babies, I melt. I am completely in love with our girls and they have captured my heart in a way that leaves no escape. So when the man that I chose to love, loves the babies that I can't help but love, I fall in love with him again.

Erin has started doing chores. As of now she loves to help, and I give her a dime when she does. When I do laundry I ask her to sort our her and Izzy's clothes. She thinks that she needs to "dive" into the pile to find them. I think she believes that she can dive in like she sees in cartoons, but at least she has fun.

Then she pretends that she is a baby and that is her crib. Such a great helper. . .now get off the clothes!! If she wasn't so cute...

Erin showing me her funny faces. Her nose is so chapped and raw from her recent cold. This one started out with croup at 1:30 am. She was having such a hard time breathing that Scott started up the car while I called the 24 hour nurse line. Thankfully, taking her outside in the cold air helped her breathe better. She slept with us the rest of the night just in case.

And as sisters should, Erin shared her cold with Izzy. So here Izzy is with her red, chapped nose. We got to skip the croup part with her! However, she did not sleep much when she was just starting this cold. She did better for a couple of nights sleeping with me, which allowed both of us to get some sleep.

Even with the snot, she is still so happy. No teeth yet, but hopefully that one that has been giving her so much trouble comes through soon!

Here is our fireplace.

There is no fire in it.

There are ashes and. . .

A huge mountain of snot-filled tissues.

Good for kindling I suppose, but gross to think about how much mucus is in there!

What I do everyday.

2010-02-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

I feed the children, and clean up the kitchen. Rinse and repeat three times a day. My hands are chapped from having my hands in water so many times a day. Hands in the water to get the washcloth ready to wipe faces and hands, wipe up the table, wipe up counters, and doing dishes that don't wash well in the dishwasher. When we get to remodel the kitchen I am seriously thinking about installing two dishwashers. One for plates and cups and such. The other for pans and heavy duty stuff.

I don't buy many other cereals besides Kix and Cheerios. I am not able to get past how much sugar is in everything else! I do buy some over-sugared cereal once in awhile and let Erin have it in moderation. However, I find that when the supa-sugar cereal is had for breakfast she gets hungry again fairly quickly which leads to more food prep, feeding, and cleaning up.

I do find it odd that there is a generic for nearly EVERY cereal out there, but not Kix. Hmmmm....very interesting.

This is my stress relief. Not just bread necessarily, but baking and cooking. These beautiful loaves of bread were so so very good, that I was sorry that I have a freezer of bread from the bread store. These are incredibly easy and cheap to make. They taste so much better than store bought bread. Also, they are full of wheat flour and flax seed. Flax seed is a great source of Omega 3's! I used a recipe from another blog that I read. the Frugal Girl http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/03/wednesday-baking-whole-wheat-bread/

I adjusted the recipe to make three loaves because I have three bread pans. =)

I also like to embark on culinary adventures. Trying things that I haven't attempted before. Since I have mastered the White Wine Cream Sauce (which gave me some trouble for a long time) I have turned my focus to the baking world. The baking world seems to be a lot more temperamental than the cooking world.

Pictured above is my first Lemon Meringue Pie from scratch. I was surprised how very few ingredients are used in this pie! Basically the only thing I needed to buy was lemons! The biggest trouble I had was pre-baking the pie crust. Having never done it before I took the pie weights out too soon and when it went back into the oven, it slumped....a lot. It still tasted good and the rest of the pie hid my slouchy crust.

Some of my trees! I love having oodles and oodles of trees that I own. Our first house had 2, which is a good amount when you live in town. It just boggles my mind to think that I can't count how many trees I have here. I absolutely LOVE it and feel so very fortunate and lucky to have what we have at 30 years old.

We had a week where there was such dense fog at night that this is what our landscape looked like in the morning. A frosty wonderland....gorgeous!

2010-01-07T11:33:00.000-08:00

This is one of Scott's favorite things to do with our babies...rock with them. Especially in front of a fireplace. It is the one place he can get Erin to sit still, and Izzy loves to watch the flames dance while being snuggled. If he can swing it he'll put the legs up and snooze with them. However, that is a near impossibility with Erin. That girl never sits still. ONCE and only once since she passed infancy has she fallen asleep rocking with Daddy. I came downstairs to have him nod his head toward her. She sleepily opened her eyes and asked me to put her in her bed.

Izzy has started on solid food! She wasn't too sure of it at first, but she has really warmed up to the idea. Once she got the hang of not pushing it all out with her tongue that is!

I like to make my own baby food. I think it is fun, inexpensive, and I know there aren't any weird things in it. I just made sweet potatoes today and Izzy adored them at first bite. I put a little on a spoon, and into her mouth. She just looked at me and smiled and opened her mouth wide for every bite after that.

I steam the veggies/fruit because it leaches vitamins and minerals the least. Then I put them in the food processor and add as much liquid from the steaming pot as needed to get the right consistency. Once it looks good to me I pour it into ice cube trays, freeze, then pop them out into freezer bags. I just have to nuke one or two cubes and it's ready!

Erin was under the blanket, and when she came out this is what I saw! She had snitched one of Izzy's pacis and was checking it for quality control.

Erin has always been weird about toys. She hasn't and doesn't really play with traditional toys that much. Instead she grabs onto the most interesting things and decides they are her play things. Like this pop-up hamper. She LOVES this thing. She uses it like you would use a sack in a sack race, jumps into it, and . . .

puts it on her head and runs around in it.

Izzy's "I'm not so sure about this solid food thing mommy" face.

So far she seems to be a more energetic eater than Erin was. Let's hope it stays that way!

Matching outfits from Christmas. They look adorable in them.

I like noticing how different they are. Erin has white, very sensitive skin. Izzy seems to have a perma-tan and has barely had any diaper rash at all! Her skin tone is a lot like her Uncle Ben's. Must be the Croatian coming out.

If you can't tell...Izzy loves her big sister like crazy. She watches her all the time and want to grab her and gnaw on her. Erin handles is all pretty well, sometimes getting annoyed, but overall does really well with Izzy. I'm proud of my girls!

Christmastime 2009

2010-01-05T18:49:00.001-08:00

Our first Christmas as a family of four! Erin was at the PERFECT age this year for Christmas. All that she learned and now believes about Santa Claus came from TV shows that she watched. At first she decided that Santa was going to come out of the fireplace just to give her hugs and kisses. Eventually presents got added into the story.

She was, however, disappointed on Christmas morning because Santa didn't wake her up to give her a hug and a kiss. The presents made up for it I think.

Izzy had a good Christmas too. She just loves being around us and her sister. She got a lot of clothes for Christmas and is going to be headed into 6-9 month fashion in STYLE!

Scott and I didn't do presents for each other this year. We have been trying to save as much money as we can so we can save up to do the roof this spring, pay for our lawnmower, among many other needs/wants.

We did get this great game for Christmas from Scott's sister called Cook or be Cooked! Food Network put it out and you get to cook things on the Wii. We have had a lot of fun with it.

Another great Christmas present is that we refinanced our home and locked in at 4.75%. We had to get the house appraised again and the appraisal came back $50,000 more than last year!!! So we got to drop our mortgage insurance which was costing us $143 a month! Total savings from our refinance $279 a month! Merry Christmas to us and to our roof!

Our Christmas picture. There were some Christmas decorations in the direction that Izzy was looking. I was doing the picture with the tripod so there was no one over there to get Izzy's attention.

Daddy and Izzy during the decorating of the Christmas tree.

Erin's favorite spot to hang the ornaments. There were many in that spot!

We let Erin stay up a bit later to keep decorating and this is what happens when she is getting tired. Meltdown City!

We were able to get her to smile one more time before we put her to bed. She had such a fun time discovering all the different kinds of ornaments to put on the tree.

Mr. Snowman. . . rolled up on Christmas Day. Erin was adamant that he have a carrot nose!

Batches and batches of spritz and Russian Teacakes. . . I'm still eating them! Someone help me!

I like to try new things in the culinary area so I tried my hand at truffles. They really weren't that hard and these were mocha and so very yummy!

The cookies we left out for Santa. Erin made a smiley face with the cookies.

She was so enthralled that the milk and cookies were gone the next morning!

Bowling set from Izzy.

Having kids around for Christmas makes is so so much more enjoyable. She just unwrapped her inflatable trampoline!

Balls to go in the trampoline.

Izzy on Christmas morning, isn't she gorgeous with those sleepy eyes.

My brothers playing video games on Christmas Day. It reminded me of the Christmas that we got our Nintendo. . .the original with Super Mario Bros. Now THAT was a great Christmas. When we were learning to play and we would jerk the controller around to help Mario jump. . . ahhhhh memories!

Uncle Ben and Katie holding the Izzy baby. . . who is tired and crabby. But she warmed up to everyone after she had a nap. A good Christmas had by all!

Growing.

2009-12-21T13:42:00.000-08:00

Here is our beautiful sleeping Izzy. Speaking of sleep, she has finally been doing a lot better in that department. For the first 5 months she did not nap well, which made for long days for me. It did not give me much time to have a break or sneak in a nap. Especially with Erin running around, if I wasn't able to coordinate naps, then no nap for me!

Izzy is still mostly a lump. She can roll from her tummy to her back, and just recently she discovered that she has feet. Who knew so much amusement could come from grabbing one's toes? Other than that she is starting to scoot around the crib by arching her back and pushing off the crib railings, but nowhere close to crawling or sitting up. By contrast a friend of mine from our ECFE classes has a baby about a month and a half older than Izzy and she is crawling all over the place and even able to walk by holding onto things!!!

Erin didn't crawl until she was 9 months, or walk until she was 15 months, so I'm not worried. Izzy has been experiencing some teething symptoms, but none have shown up yet. She gets fussy and her cheeks get bright red, but no teeth.

Izzy has become much more attached to me and I am loving it. She just beams at me when she sees me and smushes her face into mine. She likes to snuggle into my neck and just be close to me. It is much more rewarding than the newborn stage where they can't interact with you much at all. She also LOVES Erin and loves to watch her!

Izzy also greatly enjoys snuggling with Daddy. Whenever she hears him talk she looks all over for him.

Erin got her first haircut at a salon. Her hair is so straight that any mistake I might have made would have been so obvious. I just didn't have the heart to give her a bad haircut. So I took her to a salon and she did so well. We cut off a few inches, but it was getting stringy at the ends anyway. She is starting to look so grown up.

The horse is a toy that she borrowed from a friend. She has played with and carried it around non-stop! She has me make little lassos out of yarn that she leads (drags) the horse around with. She also found a little stuffed unicorn that she has and dubbed it the horse's baby.

Isn't she gorgeous! We are finally falling into a routine with her and it makes life so much easier, and I get more sleep at night too! I like routines, I know what everyone needs when we go by one. The girls do better with them too. They are fed and rested and healthy when we stick to a routine. By routine I mean a sequence of events not a strict time-table.

Erin's smile when she is trying. So cheesy! I try to get her to say something silly instead so I get a real smile instead of cheeseville!

Scott with Izzy and his brother David with their new baby Aubree. My babies get soooo chubby. I love it!

Babies!

2009-12-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

Babies, babies, babies!!! These are the recent additions to Scott's side of the family. The chubby girl in the pink is our little Izzy baby. The head-full-of-hair boy in the middle is Chase, Scott's sister's baby. The tiny baby girl on the end is Aubree, Scott's brother's baby!

All the fun doesn't stop there. . . another baby is due in July of next year from Scott's oldest brother. That baby will make 8 grandchildren on that side of the family with Erin being the oldest. She will be 4 when the 8th is born!!!

And why stop at 8 when 10 is better!!! Both of my brothers are now expecting babies next spring!!! One is due on my birthday June 13th!!! The other is due in August!!! I'm glad that they are having babies now, they will be close enough in age to my babies that they will be able to play together.

So this coming spring/summer will be full of birthdays!! We may have to just throw one huge one as they babies get older. . . who knows.

Hospitalization #7

2009-11-04T14:08:00.000-08:00

Scott Kuglin (my hubby) seems to be the opposite of a good luck charm when it comes to me spending time in the hospital. Let me explain. . .

Six months after we started dating we were involved in a car crash and I was his human cushion. He walked away with a little bloody nose and I got an ambulance ride because my left arm broke clean in half.

This broken arm refused to heal and I could bend my arm in a place it shouldn't be able to bend for 8 months, when I finally decided it was enough and scheduled some surgery to have them repair it.

I kept the substantial hardware in my arm for a year, but one of the screws that have nasty cutting tips on them was all the way through the bone and poked in my arm on the other side. It caused me enough grief that I had surgery again to remove it.

A few years later I was pregnant with our first daughter Erin, and at 33 weeks I went into labor. I spent a week in the hospital on a magnesium drip to keep the little punkin in.

Four weeks later I gave birth to that punkin. Granted this was a planned hospital stay, it still was a result of having Scott Kuglin in my life.

Three years later, I was pregnant with our second daughter Izzy, and made it to 36 weeks of pregnancy and went into labor. I was far enough along that they didn't stop later, even if my midwife would have preferred to.

Three months later, what I thought was the stomach flu turned out to be gallbladder attacks. On our way home from a vacation in the Dells, the pain became overwhelming and even brought me to tears! I tried to hold on until we could make it to Rochester, but we ended up in the Lacrosse ER where they gave me some pain medication. Finally some relief. I guess generally once they get the attack to stop they send people home and let them decide on whether or not to have their gallbladder out. Generally they are able to prevent additional attacks by limiting fat in their diet. However, in my case the pain was not going away and the attack was not stopping. So they sent the surgeon my way and we decided to go for it and just get it out.

Lo and behold a sneaky little gallstone had escaped the gallbladder and become lodged in my bile duct. Most likely the culprit of the ongoing pain. So instead of being an outpatient, I was fortunate enough to undergo an additional procedure the next day to dislodge the sneaky little gallstone. With the endoscopic procedure that was used there was a 1 in 100 chance of me developing pancreatitis. Apparently I should play the lottery more often because I did develop it. Normal numbers for pancreatic enzymes are from 40 to 100, and my levels were in the thousands. Let me just tell you that the pancreas is NOT an organ that you want to anger. It is extremely painful and pain medication isn't always that helpful!!!

So by my count that is number seven. Seven hospitalizations in 6 years of marriage. A few planned, most not. Maybe I should get out while I can!!! If I didn't adore him so much I could consider it.

Where do I start?

2009-10-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Life is going by at lightening speed and I have so many ideas for posts than have never been written. So where do I start?? With all the ideas I have it seems like an impossible task to do all the posts I want to do and keep up with all the new things that are happening. I also don't want to do one super huge post and hit people in the face with a wall of text. Perhaps I should do a mainly picture post with captions. Everyone loves pictures! I believe that may be my best solution. Thank you for letting me work that out in blogspace with you. =) She here goes!

When I first saw this in the middle of my kitchen floor my response was annoyance. Then I asked Erin why the vacuum was on the floor with the blanket on it. . . "I put it night night" she responded to me. Instant anger melt.

This is the scene I happened on at 5 am, the catch. . .I didn't take this picture. In addition to this mess the refrigerator door was open and that package of cookies was on top of the fridge!

Erin documented the scene of the crime and the loot herself with our camera. Safe to say our camera is 3 year old user friendly! I am happy to report that this was one of the last middle-of-the-night wanderings. At least this one wasn't her on the roof holding a bottle of Tylenol. No that is not just a random example. . .

Our trip to Kenosha and the Jelly Belly factory.

Auntie Connie looked hungry so Erin felt it her personal duty to remedy.

You have to love the hats. They also make some amazing saltwater taffy in a plethora of flavors!

My little jelly belly standing on the big Jelly Belly! And for any Harry Potter fans they have their own line of Everyflavor beans, though they are called something else. There is vomit, pencil shaving, and the infamous ear wax to name a few. I was not bold enough to try them.

Izzy enjoying some snuggle time with Auntie Connie. Our visits renew her decision to keep waiting in the "I want babies" department. Babies are exhausting! Incredible. . . but exhausting.

A picture of the sisters. I am very much looking forward to seeing how sisters interact. I had brothers and a half sister that lived a state away, so I'm not sure what it will look like. So far Erin is very loving toward Izzy, and I want to do everything I can to ensure a close relationship for them. . . especially if we choose not to have any more babies.

It went from summer to spring to summer to a few hours of fall to winter. We really love having a fire in our fireplace. Although when we lost power in the random snow storm where we got 4 inches very quickly we didn't have heat or water since our well pump is run by electricity. All of this would have been fine if we didn't have the girls. So we packed them up and stayed at grandmas along with the rest of the grand kids that happened to be spending some time there as well. A full house it was! And to think we add one more grand baby before Christmas!!! That will make 7!

Our sweet Izzy princess. A very happy baby! We are battling thrush still!!!! I'm so tired of it!

Erin thought it was pretty cool to have this clip on her tongue. Silly girl. She is slowly but surely settling down in her tantrums and able to listen better. I am doing better at remaining calm when she loses it and doing my best to help her work through it all. She also started dance class and has her second class tonight! She looks so cute in her leotard and tights!

Erin showing the camera her red spot from having the clip on her tongue.

Such a pretty girl!

Someone has to take pictures of me with the baby or I will not exist in our pictures!

Goozo Fraba

2009-09-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

If anyone has watched Anger Management with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, then they will understand the title of this post. It is the little mantra that is taught to the anger management students to diffuse their rage. I have found the need for it a lot recently while raising my 3 year old. It's either mumble nonsense words to myself, or duct tape my daughter to the wall.

Here I thought that laying all this wonderful ground work during her second year of life would translate into an easy transition into 3 and 4 and so on. I was mistaken. The "terrible twos" really aren't that terrible. Three has catapulted us into a war zone that I didn't see coming. Erin is a strong willed child (aren't they all) and now that she is three she seems to want to exert that at every turn to subdue the enemy into letting her stay up later, watching more TV, eating chips and chocolate and using all the soap in the bottle of hand soap to wash her hands. . . once.

I've been told several times by several different people that you can't show them what makes you angry because then they know what button to push. NOT GET ANGRY??? So when she is spitting her juice across the floor as if she were a sprinkler and I tell her to stop and she just smiles at me and keeps on keeping on I'm not supposed to grab her juice cup, chuck it across the yard so hard it makes my shoulder hurt, and drag her to her room to sit in a chair???? Goozo Fraba, goozo fraba. . .

Now Erin has also been testing the limits of bed time. We can get her there easily enough, but now the excuses to get out of bed have started. "I need to go potty, I need to go poop, there's a moth in my bed". . . Not only that, but she has started getting up in the middle of the night and wandering around the house. One night I found her in Izzy's room, another she was hiding under a blanket on the couch. I think the scary thing is that she is getting into stuff she shouldn't like eating chocolates and filling the toilet with toilet paper. It's the medicines and cleaning products that I worry about. I just need to find something and lock it all up before something disastrous happens.

It doesn't help that I have to get up at night to feed a newborn so I am so tired that I hardly hear her. Like now, I put her to bed an hour ago and I can hear her bouncing around in her room!!!! GOOZO FRABA!!!!

What's up?

2009-09-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

I wonder sometimes if I only do this blog for myself, or if anyone (besides Vanessa) reads it. I don't think it really matters that much to me because I do enjoy blogging and being able to look back 3 years now to what was going on in my life at the time.

Things are a lot different then. Scott and I were first time parents with Erin. We have changed cities. We have also added another baby to the family and gotten rid of the cats. My life is a lot busier, but mostly a good busy. This really is exactly what I want to be doing right now in my life. It is a TON harder than I had imagined it would be, but I'm happy.

I like the stay at home mommy thing. . . for now. There are a lot of other things that I would love to do. I'm sure I'll be going back to school at some point, or points. For what. . . well I have my eye on some culinary schooling, agricultural schooling, maybe even some healthcare schooling. I just haven't decided what I want to be in my next life (after I don't have to take care of children full-time).

I love having my babies and I'll be sad when they are gone, but I find my self looking forward to having some time to myself and time to pursue the things that I enjoy. I hope the future holds a lot more travelling for me as well.

The biggest question of the moment is. . . When are we going to stop having kids??? Is two enough for us, or will I always regret not having more? If pregnancy wasn't so hard on me I'm positive we would have more. . .but it is wretched for me. There might be a few weeks in the second trimester that I enjoy, but that's it! Izzy doesn't scream like Erin did, but newborns are still a lot of work. Then there is my age to think about and how long to wait if we decide on another baby. Too big of a question right now. . . I think that one is going to have to wait to be answered.

My Girls.

2009-08-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

I just found these pictures on my camera when I was downloading others onto my computer.

Aren't these sisters so cute together!!

Izzy just loves looking at her sister. . .
How did I get such beautiful girls??!!

I'm going to eat you!!

No, I'm going to eat YOU!

Oops, I think Izzy is done with cuddle time.

Nope, she's okay.. .

Bonding.

2009-08-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

I was looking forward to my time in the hospital to bond with Izzy. However, she was born at 2am and we didn't get to our room until 5:30 am where the sun was coming up. A short few hours later family was arriving to meet Izzy and then there were doctors, nurses, neonatologists showing up seemingly every 20 minutes so there was very little down time for us. Once we were back home we needed balance the needs of the new baby with the needs of the new big sister along with getting some food and sleep. All of this made it very hard to feel a bond with Izzy and not just see her as one more thing I had to try and do.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. With Erin we bonded the very first night! I felt like a bad mom and wondered if I would always favor Erin now. It's not like kids can't see if someone favors someone over them. I voiced my fears to my husband who assured me that I was not a bad mom. I felt a little better and tried to just trust that it would happen. At my six week postpartum appointment with my midwife, I brought it up to her. She said that what I was feeling was perfectly normal and happens a lot with second babies. With the first baby every thing is new and exciting and you can sleep when the baby sleeps and all that. With the second baby, you have already done the newborn thing and lets face it. . . it is A LOT of work! Plus you have the first child to take care of as well so you can't just sleep whenever the baby is sleeping! I felt so much better after talking to my midwife.

I finally was able to relax about the whole situation just in time for Izzy to start smiling and cooing at me, which is great for feelings of bonding. Taking care of her is still a tremendous amount work, plus diffusing three year old tantrums. Seriously, why on earth is three worse than two???

Picture Post!

2009-08-08T07:49:00.001-07:00

Alright, the story is going to have to wait. Time to get some pictures up of this gorgeous girl!!!

Mama and Izzy.

Izzy's first bottle given by big sister Erin!

Snuggle time with Uncle Ben.

This is a common scene in our house. Daddy and Izzy napping together.

I love sleep smiles!

Izzy's first bath, sponge bath of course since her cord hadn't fallen off yet.

Strategic placement of the washcloth for discretion and to keep the little punkin warm.

Izzy.

2009-07-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well we came home from the hospital the next afternoon. We could have stayed another day, but we had already been there a long time and we missed our Erin. So I think we made it home around 5pm and grandma brought Erin home.

Erin was very very happy to be home, but she had been throwing up all day. She wasn't running a fever and was fine inbetween vomitting episodes, but she couldn't keep anything down.

Izzy was jaundice and they wanted us to make it back to see a doctor for her on Friday to check her bilirubin levels. We were able to make an appointment here in town so we didn't have to make the hour drive, which I don't think I could have done anyway.

So three days after giving birth we head downtown to get Izzy checked out. First off let me say that the pediatric area in the clinic is amazing! They have a little TV, a place for the kids to run around, a huge aquarium with the coolest fish, and crayons and pictures to color everywhere. Erin had a great time there and played with a bunch of kids.

The downside to this trip was that my husband, who had been doing an amazing job of being a daddy of two so far, got into work mode and kind of autopilot and just found some place to park on the street without giving much thought to it. Now I had no idea where the building was so I just went with it. I figured that the closest building that we had parked by was where we were going. Imagine my suprise when he walked right past it. He carried Izzy in the baby carrier and I was pushing Erin . . .slowly, in the stroller. It was blazing hot out and it turns out the the building wasn't anywhere close to where we parked. I muttered all kinds of hateful things under my breath directed towards my husband. Out loud I asked what the crap he was thinking, I just pushed a baby out three days ago!!! When we finally made it to the building there was a parking ramp. . . under it!!!!!! I was furious and I let him know it!

The pediatrition that we saw for Izzy was from South America so when she said "Isabella" it sounded musical. She said that Izzy looked really good except for the jaundice and that she definately wanted to get a blood draw and check the levels. As long as she was under 15.5 on the scale we wouldn't have to put her in the hospital to be under the lights they use to help babies process the bilirubin. So I left Scott and Erin to play in pediatrics while I took Izzy downstairs to the lab. Turned out that her levels were 12.5 and that they wanted us to come back the next day to possibly check her again. However, I wasn't worried. My milk was already in and she was eating great. There were lots of wet diapers so I felt confident that if anything her levels would go down by the next day.

Safe to say that I made my husband walk to the car and bring it back to the building and promise to park in the parking ramp the next day. The appointment the next day went well, the pediatrition that we saw wasn't worried and Izzy had gained another ounce from the previous day. She said if we were worried to bring her in on Monday. So we did not have to do another blood test and poke her little heels anymore.

I have to say that parking in the ramp was much easier than walking a mile!

More of the adventure to come when I get some more time, and my internet stops hiccuping!

My Birth Story. . . Part 2.

2009-07-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

Almost two weeks later and I think I may finish the story this time.

So since I was a generous 5cm dilated and was staying at the hospital we of course. . . did more walking. We stopped walking to get some dinner and then I decided to spend some time in the whirlpool. After I was done in there we relaxed in the room for awhile. I found that the best thing for me to keep the contractions coming was to stand and sway.

My midwife came back around 7 pm and was going to check my cervix again. I was at a generous 6 this time so she decided to break my water. I was nervous because when my water was broken with Erin some really REALLY painful contractions started nearly immediately. After my water was broken my midwife and husband sat there looking at me and the monitor waiting for the same thing I was waiting for. .. pain. It didn't happen.

I decided I wanted to get on the birthing ball for awhile and see if that helped Izzy drop some more and encourage my cervix to open. My midwife gave me a great back massage after I got on the ball and then left and gave me an hour for my contractions to pick up. Well one hour turned into two and then they started the pitocin. My contractions were starting to finally pick up after 2 hours, but since I had been there for over 24 hours already my midwife didn't want me to be in labor forever, hence the pitocin. They turned it up ever 30 minutes until I was contracting at a decent pace.

I stayed on the birthing ball for a couple of hours and did well breathing through the intensifying contractions. My midwife came back in and told me they wanted me to climb into bed and lay on my side to encourage my sunny-side-up baby to rotate. So I relaxed in bed and fell asleep between contractions when I could.

Getting closer to 2 am and my contractions started to get very painful and I started having some that I wasn't doing such a great job breathing through and mostly moaned through. One of these was pretty loud and my husband bolted out his chair and ran over to me. My nurse also came back in and I had a few more that were not nice, so I asked her what else I could have besides an epidural. You see I wasn't sure how long this new phase was going to last. With Erin is lasted two hours and it was horrible! My nurse said she had to check me first and I told her to jump in in between contractions, and there wasn't a lot of time in between contractions anymore. She declared me an 8 and went to get the meds. When she asked me how much I wanted I was a little perplexed because I didn't know the dosing of Nubain. Silly nurse. She said I could have 5mg or 10mg. I told her 5mg because narcotics and I aren't the best of friends. She waited for another contraction and started to push the meds. I felt a little tingly and warm, but as far as pain relief. . . nothing.

A few more minutes passed and this intense bearing down pressure appeared out of nowhere! I grunted to the nurse "I have to push!" which caused her to run for my midwife. I had ahold of my husbands thumb and shirt and was letting out some pretty loud noises. Everyone (and I'm not sure who "everyone" was) was busying themselves in the room and my midwife asked me if I wanted to roll onto my back. I quickly said no through my moaning and grunting. So people helped me hold my legs up and my midwife starting asking me if Erin had a lot of hair when she was born. Apparently she could see the top of Izzy's head already!!! Keep in mind I pushed for two hours with Erin. Some more grunting and people saying stuff to me, which I could hear none of over the top of my own voice, and Izzy's head was out. Then with one maybe two more pushes she was out because it hurt A LOT to get the rest of her little body out of my body and I wanted that over as soon as possible!!!

When she was out I said "Thank you!" over and over and completely forgot that my baby was here! The nurses had me turn over onto my back and put her on my stomach and cleaned her of a bit and we just snuggled. She was born at 2:10 am and was 6 lbs. 5 oz.

She nursed great right from the start, had only a little trouble with jaundice, and so far has been a pretty calm baby. Which I would say that we deserve after Erin, with her screaming for 6 months. Now all my updates can be about the new baby!

My Birth Story. . . Part 1.

2009-07-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

Finally. . .

So we get settled into our room a bit and they put my IV in because I was GBS positive and they wanted at least two doses into me before I had Izzy. I also changed into my charming hospital gown. After the IV was in I grabbed the pole and Scott and I started our laps around the L&D floor.

We made countless rounds around that place for the next 30 hours. . . yes it would be 30 hours later before Izzy came.

As we were walking the contractions were still coming and they were intense enough. I felt a lot of pressure in my lower back and my midwife believed that was due to Izzy being in the "sunny side up" position. That meaning the back of her head was pushing on my lower back, and she eventually needed to turn face down to make it into the world.

The midwife we checked in with was done with her 36 hour shift at 8pm and the midwife that I had seen for all my appointments was on for the next 36 hours. She suggested that since it was getting late to rest awhile and if I was able to get some sleep for the night. She didn't want to push things too fast because I was early and they needed to get at least that second dose of antibiotics in.

I was able to sleep pretty well for the night. Contractions woke me up here and there and nurses came in to give me a new dose of antibiotics every 4 hours. At about 2am Scott and I were awoken by emphatic screaming from the delivery room next door. And I'm talking about the kind of screaming that you see in movies! Then she started yelling about the baby coming out and then we heard the baby cry. No joke. . .she screamed probably 7 times at most, then we heard the baby cry.

So since we were awake and the kitchen was open, I ordered some food. I got pancakes, hashbrowns, and a slice of ham. The pancakes were gross, hashedbrowns were good, ham was okay. And then I went back to sleep.

In the morning my midwife wanted to check to see if I had dilated at all during the night, then put me on the monitors to monitor how many contractions I was having and decide what to do next. When she checked me I was a little over 4cm, so there was some movement and then I was having contractions every 4-5 minutes still. So since there was some change in my cervix and I was still having consistent contractions she decided to keep me until the afternoon and see if anything changed.

Commence more and more walking. Eat lunch. More walking. Midwife checks me at around 1pm. I was SURE she was going to send us home. I thought she would check me and I would still be at 4cm and she would send us home. However, I was 5+ and she said she could not send me home. Also that she had talked to the OB on call and that they felt okay about breaking my water once I made it to 6 cm. . .

And now we break for me to get some coffee and breakfast before the mini-squish wakes up and wants more milk. With a birth story that spans 30 hours, you knew it was going to have to be told in parts.

Installment #2

2009-07-08T16:08:00.001-07:00

I have a few free moments since Scott took Erin to the grocery store with him and Izzy is only grunting here and there and thinking about waking up to eat. . .

The Friday before turning 36 weeks I had my mom come for a few days to help me with some stuff around the house and with the garden. Scott had hurt his back severely enough to be off work on workers-comp and was unable to assist me in much of anything.

I had found a post on Craigslist for someone needing to get rid of some straw. . for FREE! So I enlisted my mom and our truck to get a load and use it to drown out the weeds in the garden. We picked it up and worked on it the next two days a couple of hours each day. We had enough to cover the rows and such and a little around the mounds of cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins. Another load of it could have been used, but we were too tired to get more.

We tackled that on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday we took it pretty easy. My mom and I were talking during Erin's nap and as I sat on the couch I though I was noticing that I was getting contractions more than normal. So at 2pm I started timing them. Sure enough they were coming between 4-5 minutes apart. Not painful, just happening. I timed them for the next couple of hours and they kept up, but I didn't want to call in yet until they started to feel different because last time for Erin we got to the hospital and then they stopped. . . . So another hour or so of contractions and they started to intensify so I called in to Labor and delivery and they asked how long it would take me to get there and I let them know an hour, which sounded like they were a bit worried about, so they told me to come in now.

Scott then scurried about grabbing bags of stuff and packing it in the car as I was breathing through some contractions and trying to calm our near 3 year-old because we were leaving. The ride was uneventful besides the contractions thankfully and when I got there and was checked I was nearly 4 cm. . . and there I leave you because the squishy is full-on hungry and awake now!

Installment #1

2009-07-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

Last time I left off I was only fingertip dilated and going to go visit my dad. Izzy is now two weeks old so I figure I've got some catching up to do. . .

However, I don't have time to do it in the detail that I would really like to. One, because I know lots of people love birth stories. Two, I have a two week old and a three year old and don't have the time. If I didn't at least get started now I would put it off forever. So I need to do installments and hopefully tell the tale coherently enough.

I came home a day early from my dad's because I had a worrysome episode one evening and did not want to give birth early away from my care provider. I was having way too many contractions for my own comfort level. I was very careful the whole next week I was home because I would not be able to stay with the midwives if I went into labor before 35 weeks.

At my 35 week appointment my midwife and I were very pleased to see I had made it that far without incident. She checked my cervix again and I was a little over 1cm dilated and 50 % effaced. She thought I would make it to 37 weeks no problem. And that is all I have time for. . . this time. Pictures are from our Kenosha trip.

33 Week Update.

2009-06-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

I have made it another 2 weeks without incident and my midwife was quite pleased by that. She said now I just need two more weeks of being careful, and then I can stop worrying so much! Okay. . . 2 weeks. . . I can handle it.

My belly is measuring right on, even though I feel so much bigger than I did with Erin. Comparing pictures of my belly with Erin and how I look now, I am definitely bigger. I did not gain any weight from my last appointment two weeks ago. I am not surprised because I do not have much room in there to eat. I get full very quickly on a small amount of food and it takes me a long time to feel hungry again. Mostly I am just thirsty. . . very thirsty. But Izzy is definitely growing. My guess is that she will be about a pound more than Erin was.

My midwife also checked my cervix just to see if there were any changes, and because I am driving to Kenosha to visit my dad, his wife, and my sister. I am fingertip dilated, but she said it is less than a centimeter. She also said that the cervix is still long and the baby has not dropped. As long as I am symptom free (no spotting, regular contractions, etc.) she was not worried about me going on the trip. She does want me to take very good care of myself, eat well, and get plenty of sleep. So Erin and I are going to take off this afternoon for Kenosha. . . I hope the car ride isn't horrible.

Other than all that, we had a going away party for my brother Jon here on Tuesday. Thankfully he set it up as a pot luck so I didn't really have to do anything. I was so exhausted all day that I don't think I could have done anything anyway. He leaves on Sunday for Kentucky and won't be back until the end of November. . . crazy. So I will have to send pictures of his new niece to him.

The vegetable garden is doing well. I have decided that this year is the experiment year and just plant stuff and see what works and what doesn't. However, it is hard to find out what will grow well when the deer nibble everything. I got my husband and brother to put up a nice, tall deer fence. . . I'll show them! I finally got cucumbers, watermelon, muskmelon, honeydew, pie pumpkins, and zucchini planted thanks to help from my mom. I have corn and carving pumpkins left to do. Of course there are flowers that I need to get planted too. . . sheesh.

Alright, just need to make it to my birthday weekend now. . .

Como Zoo!

2009-05-25T06:32:00.001-07:00

This is Erin's first trip to the zoo. We went to Como Zoo as it is free and I remember going there as a kid. I also love the zoo so it was fun for me too. Thankfully the weather was perfect. We drove through some rain on the way there, but it was sunny and in the low 70's, a pregnant woman's dream! My brother Ben and his girlfriend Katie (whom we all adore!) live very close to the zoo so we all went together.

Here are the huge turtles that they have and Erin looking at them.

These are the African hoofed animals and it smelled like poo in this area, so whenever Erin sees this pictures all she says is "stinky".

It was nap time for the large cats, but they were still very cool to see. Erin was getting quite tired by this time so we had to move quickly to avoid toddler melt-down.

When Erin saw the giraffes she was so excited and BEGGED to ride them. . . the real ones. We eventually got her to settle for the fake ones, but had to wait in a small line for other families to get their pictures. Of course once it was our turn some rude family walked right up in front of us and put their kids on the giraffes instead. So as we kept talking to Erin about waiting, being patient, and taking turns it's the adults who needed the talk instead.

It was surreal to see these gorillas for me this time. They are so big I would hate to meet one in the jungle. There were some gorillas inside as well and Erin was amused by the one that was picking it's nose and eating their buggers.

We saw the short seal show, but we didn't make it there in time to get a seat. Erin had a good spot though, Ben is a little over 6 feet tall. She loved the way his hair felt so she just kept rubbing his head the whole time.

Here is Erin with Katie, Ben's girlfriend. She is the best and so pretty!

I remember coming here and were able to buy a little bit of fish and feed the seals, but it you can't feed them anymore.

They have an old carousel here too, and Scott took Erin on it. She was beyond tired by this time and it was a creative chore to keep her happy. Once she got on her horse she was happy, and then when it started to spin a huge smile spread across her face. Getting her off was a whole different matter. . . tears and more tears. So what did we do, went to McDonalds and got her chicken nuggets, fries and a little pop. We didn't leave my brother's apartment until about 3:30 and Erin was asleep in about 4 minutes after we took off. She has never fallen asleep that fast in the car!

Baby stuff is going well. I have given Izzy her own pillow and that has helped tremendously with my sleep. My back pain is nearly gone, which is so great because I NEED my sleep! Contractions seem under control even with getting some stuff around the house.

We got the peppers and tomatoes in the ground the past few days. There were nearly 40 tomato plants to put in the ground with their corresponding steaks. Scott was kind enough to cut me some steaks out of branches that were laying around our property, as well as dig the majority of the holes for them. Now we have cucumbers, melons and corn left to plant! Plus we have decided that we need some sort of fence to keep the deer out as they seem to enjoy nibbling on my vegetable babies. Then find someone who has some straw for sale to mulch the garden so we don't go crazy with having to weed all summer. I have a feeling that we may be busy with other things.

I have another midwife appointment on Wednesday and as long as things are still looking good Erin and I will be headed to see my dad for the weekend.

My brother Jon is leaving for basic training on June 7th!!! So we are having a little going away party for him on Tuesday. Also with other big news. . . he got married on the 27th! That boy and so much stuff at once. . . enough to make a pregnant woman go crazy!

32 Week Appointment News.

2009-05-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

No dilation and baby Izzy has not dropped at all, so those are very good things. My midwife is still concerned with all the contractions that I have and really wants me to make it at least another 4 weeks. The end of June is my goal as I will be 37 weeks pregnant by then. She said as long as I am not having more than 4 contractions in an hour that I am okay, but to call them right away if I am having 4 or more.

She also wants me to take it easy and not do anything that is strenuous or using a lot of abdominal muscles. And no lifting anything over 10 lbs. Poor Erin, she loves being picked up by mama.

So over all, I am very happy that there is no dilation and feel pretty confident that we will make it to at least 35 weeks.

On other Erin news, she now has decided to call her dad by his name most of the time. It is cute, but I think he has grown tired of it. He says it makes him feel like a step-dad. Such a silly girl.

I am getting more and more uncomfortable by the hour it seems. What has been the most frustrating is that my back hurts so much when I go to bed that I am not sleeping well. . . and I NEED my sleep! I'm already limited to my sides and when that causes pain as well I feel I am out of options and doomed to suffer uncomfortable, sleepless nights. Grrrrrr. . .

30 Week Pic.

2009-05-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Well here I am at 30 weeks pregnant. I had to take the picture myself, and it didn't turn out too bad. Things are going well still. I am trying to get last minute visits in before we have the baby and I am far too busy and tired to do anything but take care of her.

We had some Target gift cards leftover from Christmas so I used one to order a new diaper bag. The one we have is okay, but gets stuffed with just stuff for Erin. So I researched and found one that people loved for having more than one kid to bring stuff for. I am excited to get it and plan to pack it up as my hospital bag. It seems crazy that I should be doing that already!

My other brother Jon graduated on May 13th with an Accounting degree. We went to his graduation, but did have to leave early to get Erin to bed. For some reason the ceremony didn't start until 7pm and there was over an hour of speeches. Very hard to get an almost 3 year old to sit still for. But there were plenty of laps for her to travel to and they were happy to see her. My brother did inform us that afternoon that he had spoken with a recruiter and decided to join the Army Reserves. I was a bit shocked, and am scared because who knows what could happen!

We went to Forestville Park to hang out with some friends while they were fishing. Scott made Erin her own pole out of some string he found and a stick. He put a bobber on the end and she had tons of fun throwing it over the side of the bridge and pulling it back up.

Here she is holding a worm, and she also thought it would be a great idea to put one on mom's head. I'm very proud of her that she isn't afraid of them though.

Aparently the park was also a real town and some of the buildings are still there. The bridge is also only for foot traffic or hoof traffic as we had a few groups of prople on horseback ride through.

We did some pruning of one of the flower beds in the back yard. There was some sort of shrubbery thing that must have been planted 50 years ago as it was a monster! We cut and ripped that thing out of there and burnt it in our fire pit. Wonderfully enough there must have been some poison ivy somewhere in it because I got it on my arm and to my delight cleavage. As if I wasn't uncomfortable enough being pregnant now I itch!

We are absolutely loving our new home in the spring. Driving up our long driveway seems almost magical. We have discovered a raspberry patch and we have all three colors of lilacs as well. Lots of the flower beds and "curb appeal" has been sorely neglected, but we will whip it into shape little by little. There is tons of field stone on our property that we plan on putting to use whether in borders or even a patio! So many possibilities. I also ordered fruit trees as I have plenty of room. We already have some apple trees so I though I would try a pear, peach, plum and apricot. Who knows what will happen, but it can't hurt to try!

The latest antics of Erin. . . she had a poop accident in her underwear, didn't tell anyone and tried to take care of it herself. She must have pulled down her pants and the poo fell onto the floor. Well she couldn't have that so she used her little hands to scoop it up and put it in her potty chair, smearing it all over the floor. I found her carrying her potty bucket with the poo in it into the bathroom half naked. Somehow her hands were all clean though. She then informed me that the brand new toothbrush that I bought her was used to scrub the poo off her hands!!! Gross. I promptly threw that toothbrush in the garbage and she melted into a tearful puddle because she really did love that new toothbrush. . .it lit up when you pressed a button. However, I was able to teach her the lesson that poo does not and should not go into your mouth, it will make you sick.

I will try and keep updates coming about the baby!

Spring Thunderstorm.

2009-04-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

We had quite the storm come through the other day. It was gorgeous outside all day and then some big, dark, nasty clouds rolled in and brought wind, hail, and downpours. Erin thought it was great the ice was falling from the sky and Scott went and gathered some for her. We also got a beautiful rainbow in the middle of it all that seemed to end in our field. No, I did not run out there and look for a pot of gold. I didn't feel like getting beaned in the head with golfball size hail.

Erin is still doing really well with potty training. We have graduated from being naked to being able to have pants on without accidents. She still resists going poo poo on the potty and holds it for far too long and then has to run for the bathroom. But I am very proud of her progress.

We have cancelled our cable and our land line. It will save us about $65 a month! I was a little nervous about saying goodbye to the landline just because I know that it is the only way for you to be able to call 911 and have them know your location. However, we do have our cell phones and I know our address and hopefully we will never have to use it!

We cancelled the cable because it was only used for Erin and she was getting bored with the same shows every day anyway. We subscribe to Netflix and with a certain level of subscription ($8.99 miniumun I believe) you can watch lots of movies and shows instantly over the internet. So I connected my laptop to our flat screen and we watch on there.

I am now 28 weeks pregnant and our last appointment went well. I got tested for Gestational Diabetes, did our birth plan with the maternity counselor, and a follow-up ultrasound to get better pictures of baby's spine. Great news, it is still a girl and she looks great! They were also checking what my cervix looked like because of going into pre-term labor last time. My cervix is still closed but it has shortened a bit. My midwife called me on Friday to give me this information and explain that when mom's come in because of contractions they are using cervical length a lot more to judge when they need to intervene. Their cutoff is 3cm and I am now at 2.9cm. . . so I need to be careful. She cautioned me about paying attention to the contractions and back off exercising if I need to. I really can't afford to spend a week in the hospital for pre-term labor this time with a toddler at home. Maybe gnomes will plant my garden??

We also got the garden tilled up. We ended up hiring someone with a tractor to come out and do it. It cost us $70, but with the size of it we felt it was worth it. Now this rain needs to stop so I can get my cold weather veggies in the ground!

Easter and Stuff.

2009-04-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter this year. Erin was at a much more fun age to do things. We colored eggs, went to a communtiy egg hunt, and had a little Easter basket for her. She loved putting the stickers on the eggs, and then taking them off, and putting them back on. The Easter egg hunt was a crazy mess of kids where she almost got trampled by the bigger kids, but she found two eggs and then got to play on the slide, so she was happy. She was very excited to go through her Easter basket, but she is kind of particular about the chocolate she likes. She likes Hershy's plain chocolate. . . and that's about it.

We didn't do any family visiting for Easter this year. We decided to have a nice quiet holiday here at home. I baked a ham with a pineapple glaze on it. I also did some creamy Rosemary Au Gratin potatoes that turned out really well. I made a roux and did the cream sauce before baking it so that it turned out really creamy and not chunky. It was a great dinner.

Pregnancy stuff is still going well. I'm still walking on my treadmill most days for about an hour. I get a little bit of heartburn once in awhile, which I'm sure will increase as baby Izzy gets bigger in there. I go in for Gestational Diabetes testing on Wednesday. They also want to do a quick ultrasound to get a better picture of baby's spine because they didn't get a very good one the last time. They will also check on the ultrasound that my cervix is still long and closed. No pre-term labor this time please! On top of all that I meet with the Maternity Counselor to set up my birth plan and meet with my midwife. Whew. It will be a long morning.

I have noticed that stress affects me a lot more this pregnancy. I just can't handle much of it at all. So it doesn't help that things have been stressful with my mom. Hopefully over time they will get better.

My baby brother Ben graduated from Le Cordon Bleu cooking school this past Saturday! Scott and I were able to leave Erin with his mom and drive up for that. We also got to go to the restaurant that he works at after graduation and he cooked some amazing food for us! It was also the first time that my mom and dad had been in the same room since my wedding. They did fine, but it did not help my stress problems. =) We had a great time and I am so proud of him! Here is a link to the restaurant he works at http://www.inonnirestaurant.com/

My garden plans are in the works. We picked up a tiller from Scott's brother yesterday so as soon as the ground dries out a little bit we can get the ground worked up. It is a previously unworked area so there will be a lot of roots and such to get out of the ground, but I couldn't be more excited about it! My seedlings are still doing very well and I should be able to plant cold tolerant things like potatoes, onions and cabbage by the end of this month. I can't wait to see my little plants in the ground!

A Whole Lot of Nakedness Going On!

2009-04-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

I am on another potty training adventure. I really did think that Erin would just take to it a lot better. She has always loved doing things on her own and accomplishing new tasks. So when after a week of her going poo poo in the potty every day she suddenly decided that going in the potty was not for her, I wasn't sure what to do. I guess I just decided she must not be ready and waited for another day.

We talked about it all the time and she would use the potty on occasion, but nothing consistent. I made her a potty book all about the process and the M & M rewards, but it was still sporadic. My next plan was to really tackle it once we moved to the new house. My pregnancy sickness got the best of me there. Then a few weeks ago I thought it was time for another go and told her when the box of diapers was gone, there would be no more and all the pee pee and poo poo would go in the potty. I set myself up for changing training underwear all day long and lots of accidents. So when she started asking for the underwear one day I obliged and put them on her. She wet two pair in the matter of 10 minutes. I was using the treadmill at the moment so she took off the second pair herself and remained naked from the waist down for the remainder of my walk. She used the potty chair several times while I walked so I decided to let her stay naked until bedtime and see what happened. She did not have one single accident.

As long as she is naked, she uses the potty. Thankfully most of our house has hard surface floors, so any accidents that might have happened would be easily cleaned up. But she does not have any. I guess we will go with this for awhile and work our way up to underwear. I shall keep my fingers crossed.

The pregnancy is going well. I am ashamed to admit that at my last midwife appointment I believe I had gained 10 pounds. I had grown accustomed to having to eat every 3 hours and eating what I wanted that even when I didn't need to eat that much I did anyway. I was quite disappointed with myself. So I resolved to start using my treadmill everyday. Surprisingly, it was not and has not been hard to do. My lower back pain that I was having is almost non-existent as well! Erin and I go downstairs after her nap and she watches a movie on the TV while I watch one on the computer. We subscribe to Netflix so I can watch movies instantly on there. I feel so much better physically and emotionally. Exercise is my prozac. My hormones have been much more unpredictable this pregnancy and exercise gives me a boost of the good ones and I feel like my happy normal self. On top of all that I do some stretching afterwards and I have not had a migraine since I started exercising regularly!

I have made some very budget friendly purchases for the new baby so far. I love finding a good deal, so I check Craigslist every morning for things that I need. Since we are having another girl, and at the same time of year, I don't need clothes. I have so far purchased an infant car seat with two bases $40, a double stroller $25, and a changing table/dresser for $30!

My knitting has been coming along as well. I have finally finally finished the sweater that I started for my brother quite awhile ago. He just came over for a visit the other weekend and it fit so nicely. I was so worried, but it really looks great. I had a bunch of yarn that I got for $1 a skein and decided that I would knit a blanket with it since we keep this house a bit colder than the last one. The blanket knit up pretty quickly and is so warm. I was spending a lot of time on the couch, not quite feeling that good, so it was a nice activity to occupy me while Erin watched cartoons. Now I am working on a blanket for Izzy (our new baby girl to come). It is coming along slower than I thought, but I have been so busy around the house and with Erin that I don't sit down a lot anymore. I do have a few months to finish it, so I'm not too worried. . . yet.

Gardening season is almost here and I have my seeds started. I can't even begin to relate how exceedingly excited I am about starting a garden at this new house. I could have a garden as big as my yard was at the old one! I have the spot all picked out and even checked what the soil is like the other day and it looks great. So now I just need Scott to go borrow his brother's tiller and till the crap out of the site. I can't wait! Also a picture of some friends running through our yard.

Half-way Through.

2009-03-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

Here I am at 20 weeks. . . definitely bigger. It's a good thing, and I am trying not to spaz about the weight gain. Of course I should probably mention that we had our ultrasound and found out that we are having another girl!!!! I am very excited and happy to be having another girl. I wanted at least two girls and I was afraid that if we had a boy this time I would want to try for another girl and get another boy and never have my two girls. Hubby really wants a boy, but is still excited to have another girl. And even though the beginning of pregnancy is horrendous for me, we will probably try for another in a few years. Watch, we will end up with three girls. Is it bad if I secretly hope for that???? =)

Things are starting to warm up around here and we have been outside more and more. Sure it's wet and muddy right now, but kids love that. We take treks to to the mailbox, which is a significant distance. Plus we walk the deer trails and Erin like to collect pine cones. I got to buy seeds for this next gardening season and I am so excited. I can have as big as garden as I could possibly need here and bought every kind of seed that interested me! I even get to grow my own sweet corn this year (provided that the deer that frequent our property don't get to it first). I'm going to grow pumpkins, squash, melons, tomatoes, onions, peppers, artichokes, leeks, green beans, peas, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower. . . etc. I also need to reestablish my herb garden, there is nothing better than fresh herbs.

This is a picture of a recent sunset seen from our house. Such a great view up here!

I finished knitting the sweater for my brother, now all I need to do is sew the zipper on. It is a bit of a daunting task, but I know it will turn out great. So I just need to grab it and do it. I am also working on a blanket, almost done with that too. I'll post pics when I'm done.

Next project. . . look under couch cushions for money to re-roof the house. Wish me luck!

17 Week Belly!

2009-02-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

I figured it was time for a belly picture. So here I am at 17 weeks. I feel and look big, at least I think so. However, it is my second so the belly has been here before and seems to have gotten the hang of it. Thankfully I found a big lot of maternity clothes on Craigslist for only $40. I got about 10 pairs of pants and 10 shirts, a cute dress and a swimsuit. Considering I had one pair that fit great and another pair that always had to be pulled up, this was an upgrade for sure. It was listed at the perfect time. . . I was quickly growing out of my regular jeans.

Now that I am feeling better I have gotten back to knitting and cooking. I am now almost finished with the sweater that I had started for my brother (over a year ago) from the Last Minute Knit Gifts book. I just need to finish up the collar, do the finishing and sew on a zipper. He better like it!

The other night I made pasta fagioli soup and homemade french bread. I was craving that soup from Olive Garden and found a great recipe by Rachel Ray that turned out as good, if not better. To be honest, I haven't been too impressed with Rachel's recipes, but this one was right on and so yummy! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/pasta-and-beans-pasta-e-fagioli-recipe/index.html The crusty french bread was perfect with it.

Last night Scott decided to try Smores for the first time with Erin. He had built a fire in the upstairs fireplace and roasted marshmallows in it and put the smores together. As predicted Erin only ate the chocolate out of it. She loves her chocolate.

Other than that I have been slowly settling in more and more. Now that I am able to do more than just sit on the couch I am trying to move things around to where they make the most sense and look best.

Only a little over a week until the ultrasound!!!

Updates.

2009-02-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

Yes it has been a long time since I have posted, but I have good reasons a few of them.

We did get moved okay although it was quite a long stressful day. The closing for the house we sold went very quickly as the buyers signed the paperwork the evening before. Then we drove to the new house to do the walk-through before we signed papers and we had a few unpleasant suprises. First there was a signifigant amount of stuff that was left by the owner. Not least of all a huge TV. The second more alarming suprise was that the heat didn't work and it was 42 degrees in the house. So we had to keep Erin all bundled up to keep her warm.

We closed on the house anyway, as we had nowhere to go, and the guy we bought the house from had a furnace guy come out and get it fixed for us. The furnace is fuel oil heat so we also had to have someone deliver that since it was nearly gone, more than likely the reason the heat wouldn't work. To top all that off the well pump was in worse condition than we were led to believe by the realtor and it had to be replaced . . . at a $3600 price tag! So we got off to a bumpy start, but we have the house on the land that we wanted.

Another signifigant update is that we are pregnant and expecting a baby in July!!!! I was horribly sick with Erin, but it didn't start until I was 6 weeks along. We were moving on the day that I would have been 6 weeks so I thought we would be good. I got sick this time a week earlier, very bad timing for moving. I was not very much help with the packing and cleaning, but thankfully my mom was there to help. I felt wretched and didn't move very far from the couch for two months. I'm 16 weeks today and feeling tons better, I just hope it lasts.

We have had a few prenatal appointments and got to hear the baby's heartbeat each time which is always reassuring. Our next appointment we will get to see our baby by ultrasound. And if baby cooperates we will find out if it is a boy or girl. I'm thinking it is a boy this time.

I think that provides a decent update for now. Now that I'm feeling better I should be able to post more.

Moving Day is Coming!

2008-10-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

We are well on our way with the new house. We have all the paperwork done until closing day. Now we just need to save money for all the closing costs and moving costs. Plus find some muscle to get stuff moved on moving day.

Moving day is November 24th. We discontinued our storage unit and put all that stuff in the corner of the garage. The garage is no longer for cars, but for stuff that is packed up. That way we can just back the moving van in and load her up.

Today I did the first official packing. I did a bunch of packing when we put our house on the market to get rid of all the clutter, so I'd say half of what needed to be packed is already done. That's a load off my shoulders. I pack more aggressively staring in November, but if I'm not using it then I might as well pack it. So I went through Erin's clothes and sorted out what was too small, what is out of season, and stuff I don't like. I stuffed it all into garbage bags and ended up with three full ones. I may go through her toys and just leave a few to play with.

Our new house is amazing. We are out in the country on 8 acres. The house is almost 3000 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. There is also a loft above the garages that is huge. There is a living room on the main floor as well as one in the walkout basement, both with wood burning fireplaces. Much of the home has been built with materials from historic Rochester buildings which is really unique. Not all of it is very pleasing to the eye, and that stuff will have to be re purposed. For example the pink plastic tile in the bathroom.

I also just put together a resume for a part time job that is being offered where we are moving. The hours are M-F 10am - 3pm. They would be perfect because I would still have plenty of time with Erin.

Lots of changes happening, but I am so excited and ready for them!

Guess What!

2008-10-03T05:52:00.001-07:00

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I am more than a little excited. Let's just say I have not slept well since we got the call that an offer was coming in. The offer was okay, but not enough, so we counter-offered and they accepted it. All in all we feel really good about it. A soon to be wed couple is buying the house and they seem very excited and we are happy to have people buying the house that will love it. They must have really loved our pergola because they wrote into the purchase agreement that it had to stay. hehehe I'm not about to dig up the posts that are cemented into the ground, dismantle all the pieces and haul them an hour away. Their home inspector came yesterday and he turned out to be the same guy that inspected this house for us. Crazy. We hope to hear from them today that they found nothing and that we are in the clear!

We got that offer on Monday so we took off Wednesday to look for houses. I have to say that it is much more enjoyable when you can look at houses and know that you can buy it! Turns out that the first one we looked at is "The One" It is a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with nearly 3000 sq ft, 2 car garage, and another huge garage that you could literally park a semi in. What seals the deal for us is the 8+ acres that comes with it!!! The view from the small hill that overlooks Rochester is amazing.

The interior of the house suffers from a serious lack of updating. However, since we got our hands dirty with our first house I feel more than ready to take it on. I actually wouldn't be able to buy a house and not do anything to it. I have to make it my own. However, the walkout basement had been finished 3 years ago and looks great. There are also 2 wood burning fireplaces that are gorgeous. We are trying so hard not to fall deeply in love with the place until it is ours. But it is proving to be very difficult.

Other than that news that has completely taken over every thought, we are going out of town to the Wisconsin Dells today for a week. It will be a beautiful fall trip. All the leaves are starting to turn now and everything looks so pretty. We are staying in a 2 bedroom cottage with a kitchen and a wood burning fireplace so we will be cozy and well fed.

Wish us luck with securing the purchase of our new home!

So Glad I'm Not Retiring Now.

2008-09-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine being one of those people being a year or two away from retirement. Having to watch as your investments plummet in value in the course of a week. Then you would have to weigh either retiring on less money, not being able to do the things that you wanted in your retirement, and possibly running out of money. Or you could work longer, save more, and hope for economic rebound.

People like my husband and I who have money invested in retirement have seen our share of loss as well. Thankfully we are young and have 30 years to recover and surpass it. If we are really smart we will invest now while the market is down and make even more money. The knee-jerk response to this is to pull all our money out of the market and stuff it under our mattress. However, we have done our best to live and spend responsibly and not beyond our means. Plus Scott has significant job security thanks to the baby boomer generation being so large and entering the ages of needing more and more medical care. Selling our house would make it even easier on us financially. Saving $300 a month on gas would be a big plus (more money to invest?).

Other than the economy crumbling around our ears, things are well with the family. I think the total so far of my canning adventures is 26 jars of pickles and 15 jars of tomatoes. I got lots of Roma tomatoes this year and they are so yummy. I also found a great use for my eggplant. I tried out a Greek dish, Moussaka. It was so great and it was nice to actually be successful in cooking with eggplant. The bechamel sauce was so smooth and brought everything together. . mmmmm.

No tattoo so far. I don't feel strongly in any direction as to the design that I want to permanently etch into my arm, so I will wait. But Erin decided to do some decorating herself. Her favorite part was pulling the stickers off making me say Ow! The other picture is our grapes that grew on our pergola this year.

I am feeling the itch to knit again. I think it is the changing leaves and the appearance of fall even though the temperatures continue to climb into the 80's. I just need to pick a project, to a gauge swatch and dive in. I think my downfall has been that I don't do a gauge swatch. I'm not a person who likes to take my time and get my ducks in a row, I like to dive in and it has doomed too many projects for me. There is a great idea for a hat with an attached scarf for kids that would be wonderful for Erin this winter. That would be a nice small project to start with.

Scott's brother, sister-in-law and their son Ian came for a visit. Erin had a lot of fun with him. He is just crawling so their interaction was pretty limited. However, the other weekend we visited Scott's sister and their son Walker is 1 1/2 and they played so well together. It will be fun having cousins close to her age as they all get older. They had so much fun on Walker's toy train, it was hard to get them off it.

Projects.

2008-09-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

I want to be done now.

It all started August 15th. Our realtor suggested that we do some sprucing up of the unfinished part of the basement to at least make it more presentable to potential buyers. So I took on the project of painting the walls and the floor. My mother helped me and we spent the weekend and a couple of days getting it done. It looked really good.

Our old utility tub was cast cement and one of the basins had cracked and would leak onto the floor so we decided to replace it. The dilemma was how to get the solid cement tub out of the basement. It had to weigh over 300lbs. I did not want my husband or anyone else crazy enough to attempt getting the sink up our steep cellar stairs and severely injuring themselves. All I could picture was whoever that was on the bottom having that monstrosity come crashing down on them and inevitably breaking a bone. My suggestion was to smash it up and carry it out in pieces.

Scott (my husband) decided for option one and got my brother to reluctantly agree to at least try to get the cement sink out. After a single attempt and both of them straining their backs, he opted for my suggestion.

I bought a sturdy plastic one and replaced it so our laundry had a place to drain. It was a single basin so it also takes up a lot less room.

After the walls and floor had been painted Scott got inspired and wanted to take down the drop ceiling and put up a pine planking ceiling like the one we have in our bedroom. Of course my mom and I got roped into this project as well. So we proceeded to stain and varnish 400 sq ft of boards. Thankfully with the three of us working it didn't take too long.

Scott had a few days off and my brother also had some days free before he started school, so they got a decent start to the ceiling. I had taken down all the drop ceiling for them to get things moving along. The following weekend my mom watched Erin while Scott and I worked on the ceiling. Of course we hit snags along the way that slowed us down and were frustrating. I did all the cutting with the miter saw and jig saw. There were a few curves that threw me . . . well. . curves. I did all the cutting outside so I ran up and down the cellar stairs A LOT. Lets just say I have calves and buns of steel. =)

We also worked the next few days when Scott got home from work to get it done before our weekend away in Minneapolis. I really didn't want to have that looming over our heads while we were gone. Thankfully we got it done and the basement looks so nice.

I got Scott to finally help me bring our love seat and ottomans downstairs to put together a little TV area. It is so nice to have that downstairs for when Erin is napping or going to bed. I have my treadmill set up behind the love seat so I can watch TV while I am running. Which by the way I am still doing and it is still going well. I have lost 8 pounds so far and quite amazed at myself. I always anticipated it to much more painful and torturous. But I feel in great shape, which I want to be in since I am not getting any younger. I also want to be at a better starting weight when we decide to have another baby. I think I will in better shape for the next pregnancy than I was with Erin. Whew. . . another baby. . . I'm still a little nervous thinking about it.

Anyway. . . now that the ceiling is in it is about 3-4 inches higher than the drop ceiling was so there is that much of unpainted wall exposed as well as the venting downstairs. So now I have to go around the basement and re-edge everything. A project that I thought was finished. I also have to be more careful not to get paint on the new ceiling so I am taping everything. In case there was any doubt. . . painting above your head is zero fun. Hence, I am ready to be done. Thank you very much.
Here's a picture of our little TV area downstairs and you can see the new ceiling as well.

I want a tattoo.

2008-09-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

So I've been scouring the Internet to get inspiration for a tattoo. I need it to mean something so I also want to take my time.

I might be ditching the idea of a tree or branch and going for something that signifies motherhood. I've been trying to find a picture or symbol that speaks to me and having a hard time.

There is the Celtic Motherhood Knot. Here is what I found on a website to explain what it means.

A heart within a heart - a mother's love encircling her child, giving it guidance, protection and encourage. This design reminds one of the ancient fertility symbols carved by prehistoric people - usually a symbol with large breast and a swollen belly."
Also on Celtic Lady "Add a dot around the outside or inside the Celtic knotwork for each child. Many designs found in the Book of Kells are enhanced with dot-work."

It looks like a nice design and I could add dots for subsequent children. However, I'm not sure that it does the best job of trying to portray how I feel about motherhood. Motherhood has changed me in every way. I feel things more deeply, cry more easily, and love my baby girl obsessively. I love being a mom and the woman I have become. I am doing exactly what I want to do by being home and raising my daughter. I am more creative and have more patience. All of who I am just makes sense since I became a mom.

I had wanted a dragon tattoo of some kind before I had Erin. I was excited to find this explanation of dragons.

The dragon is the ultimate source of female power and the symbol of magic, motherhood and divinity: a valiant defender. Dragons were perceived as powerful, protective, fearsome, and resolute. They were valued for their warlike qualities, but also for their intelligence, wisdom and ability to prophesise the future. Some dragons lived in lakes or water, whilst others made their homes on top of huge rocky mountains or inside caves. Some dragons could fly, whilst others could breath fire. This mastery of the elements, again emphasises the dragon’s magical prowess.

I also did a search for some moving pictures of moms and babies together. Here are a few that I liked.

I like the outline one and thing that it could transfer to being a tattoo pretty well. Although I am not sure how I feel about a naked breast being on my arm. The fantasy ones of the mother and daughter fairies are very nice and I like that they are in silhouette.

I just need to take my time and be sure of what I want. Perhaps I'll even get a henna tattoo done in the same spot to make sure that I want a tattoo there.

Cooler Weather.

2008-09-03T07:59:00.001-07:00

That front that went through yesterday that took that hot, sticky weather and brought this crisp, cooler weather is my new hero. I didn't even want to go outside it was so gross out. Erin and I put some water in the pool to help with being outside, but I was just tired of the hot. I am ready for fall.

Our trip to Minneapolis was really nice. We went to the most amazing restaurant that I have ever been to. It was like actually getting to eat the food we see the chefs cook on Iron Chef America. Everything tasted so good together I just couldn't stop smiling. We took my brother, who is in culinary school and his girlfriend with us. It was kind of like a field trip for him. Plus it was fun talking about the food with him and all the different things they used in the dishes and how they prepare them. The restaurant we visited is called La Belle Vie and is ranked number one in Minneapolis. We wanted to get the whole experience so we did the 8 course tasting menu with wine flight. It was spendy, but it is a meal I will remember forever. Here is the link to their website, http://www.labellevie.us/ It took us 3 hours to get through it all and there were about 7 glasses of wine involved.

We also got to walk downtown quite a bit since our hotel was right in the middle of it. Our hotel gave us a room on the 19th floor and it had a nice city view. Pretty much all of where we wanted to go was within walking distance. So we were able to park our car in the hotel car ramp and not drive it again until we went home. I had fun walking around downtown with Scott during dusk and taking some fun pictures of buildings.

I came home to a little girl that was very excited to see me. She keeps telling me "Mommy home?" I reassure her that yes I am home. I also came home to lots of tomatoes and cucumbers to pick. I am trying to come up with some recipes to use my fresh tomatoes in a tasty way.

Last night I sliced up some of my Roma tomatoes and roasted them along with some garlic cloves in the oven. I reduced some wine with some minced onion in it. I added the roasted garlic to the sauce and some cream and let that reduce a little. Then I added Parmesan cheese and the roasted tomatoes to it. I also lightly coated some tilapia fillets in some flour, pepper, and salt. I got a pan nice and hot and cooked until the outside was crispy. To plate it all I put down some pasta, the fish on top, and the sauce on top of it all. Oh, so yummy!

Late Nights, Little Sleep.

2008-08-26T07:26:00.001-07:00

We are still working our butts off on the ceiling in the basement. However, half is done and the other half is started. The half that is done looks really nice! Scott and I are going to work really hard to get the other half done before we take our little trip this weekend. I really don't want to think about it while we are away.

Erin is being very weird about her sleep lately. Not sure what is going on. She is having a hard time going to sleep at night and will wake up in the middle of the night and be up for a couple of hours. Needless to say, I am very tired. Last night she woke up at 2:30 and I went in there and rocked her. As soon as I put her back down in her bed she sat up. So I took here to our spare bedroom and put her in bed with me. She proceeded to wiggle, sing, kick, twist, and turn until 4am. At that point I had had enough and put her back in her bed to go to sleep. Thankfully, she did, but still woke up at 8am. After all the hard work on the house and losing sleep because of Erin's weird phase she is going through, I am tired. I need coffee. So I will drink some and hope her nap goes well as I will be taking one too.

On a more exciting note, I picked my first big red tomato yesterday. I can't wait to dig into that. It is going to be so sweet and yummy. I think some olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil will go very nicely with it. Oooo, I should buy some nice mozzarella and make caprese. Mmmmmmm. . .

I am also thinking of getting a tattoo. I want to get one on my upper arm and have been researching what I think I would like to get. I want to get some sort of tree or branch to signify strength and growth and have blossoms on it to signify my children (current and future). No I am not implying that I am pregnant. So here is a picture that I found that I really like.

August

2008-08-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Our house is still for sale. Although houses really aren't moving off the market very fast. The good news is that I will get to harvest all my tomatoes and can them to my heart's content. I have already canned some pickles and they are tasty.

We have decided to do a few projects to spruce up the unfinished part of the basement. My mom and I took a weekend and put a new coat of paint on the walls and on some concrete paint on the floor. The bright urine color that some previous owner put on the walls is finally gone. It looks much nicer and cleaner. The rainbow shag that was around the toilet also has been dealt with. It seems that our work in the basement has inspired and motivated my husband and he took on the project of getting rid of the drop ceiling and putting in pine planking. So we stained and sealed 450 sq ft of boards and he is doing his best to put it up. It is going to look really nice. We'll see if it will help sell our house.

Erin is two-years-old now. We had a great birthday week. My brother and his girlfriend were here for the whole week (top) and Erin loved dragging them around to play with her. My sister and her husband (bottom) came up for the weekend. I hadn't seen her in a few years so it was really great to see them. For the day of her birthday we went to the beach and had the party after her naptime. My brother (chef in training) helped me with the dinner and I made a really fun cake.

This other cake was my first attempt at fondant. It was pretty fun, but not sure that it is practical for birthdays as kids enjoy frosting more.

Other than all that Erin is working towards potty training and doing pretty well with it. She isn't completely ready yet, but she is going to look so very cute in underwears.

Not Yet.

2008-06-18T07:44:00.001-07:00

Our house hasn't sold yet, but I'm trying not to hold it against it. It's a good house, it has done us well. We have improved all the important things like the roof and central air unit. I have heard that this price range takes awhile to sell. We have another showing today and three people called our realtor about our house yesterday. Very good to know that there is still interest.

Of course I have my vegetable garden all planted and it is getting to the part of the season that it will be too late to replant at the new house if we sell. So I'm kind of hoping that we get to stay until the end of August now so I can harvest and can all those tomatoes that I planted. Not to mention the pickles that I want to make.

Other than that I was sick for two weeks straight at the end of May/beginnin of June. Erin picked up some nasty bug that turned into an ear infection in 3 days. Then I caught it and ended up coughing so much that I couldn't sleep at night. I went to my doctor and got some cough medicine with codine in it and and worked like magic. It felt so good to finally get some sleep. On top of all that I caught the stomach flu and vomitted all night and the next day. Good thing that Scott didn't have to work that day. Erin caught it just a bit. She thew up three times and then was done. I was very thankful there. I am happy to report that I am well now, only the occasional sneezing attacks from my allergies.

Erin's birthday is coming up very soon and having a lot of family come into town so I will be a busy host. I love hosting. I love cooking for other people and making them feel pampered in my home. I'm planning on giving fondant a try for her cake this year. I think I have watched enough Food Network Challenges, and Ace of Cakes to give it a try. I'll post pictures of my attempts. Now just to figure out where to buy it. . .

Scott and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary last month. My mom was available to watch Erin so we got to go out to a nice restaurant, share a bottle of wine, and walk to a movie. It was a very nice time. Then on top of that we got to get away for a weekend the first weekend of June for the first time since Erin was born. My mom was very excited to get Erin a whole weekend to herself.

We went to The Melting Pot restaurant in downtown the first night we were there. I wasn't smart enough to call earlier for reservations for a Friday night so we didn't get in until 9:30. But we enjoyed it and it was a fun experience. Being downtown was interesting to just experience the different culture of city-dwellers. At 11 o'clock there were still tons of people all over.

We scheduled hour-long full body massages for the next day at noon. It was amazing and glorious. I could get one every day. We also visited the Alexis Bailley Vineyard that afternoon for their annual winetasting. We love that place. Scott suprised me by bringing me there 3 years ago for a birthday suprise. We brought chairs, a little table, cheese, crackers and fruit. It was a beautiful day and we sat so we could see the vineyards, and they had live music, and of course great wine. We bought 4 bottles to bring home. We enjoyed ourselves and it was very nice to have a break for mommy duties.

Hope everyone's spring is splendid!

Snow in April.

2008-05-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh. . . Minnesota. I love the season changes that we get to experience. However the whiplash of winter's hopefully last attempt to rob us of a spring was quite shocking. It was so weird to get up and see huge flakes falling and accumulating on the ground. Here are some crazy pictures that I took on April 29th.

You can see the green grass through the snow. Thankfully it didn't damage my flowers that were already coming up and some of them blooming!

We still don't have the garden tilled, but the weather has been so weird and my husbands schedule so crazy that has to wait. I know that we have our house on the market, but I have to plant my vegetable garden to keep myself sane as we wait for it to sell. I would kick myself forever if I didn't plant it and we waited all summer for it to sell and I could have been eating all kids of gorgeous produce!

Erin's newest game is putting and taking off any shoes that she can find. She found her boots and puts them on and takes them off all day. In the picture she has her pajama shirt on, her boots, and a random pair of pants (because her other new game is to take off her diaper when she is in bed and then pees in the pants). Such a silly girl. She also puts random shoes and hats on me.

Oh and by the way. . . SOMEONE BUY MY HOUSE!!!!!

We can do it???

2008-04-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well my confidence took a small blow when the house down the street listed after us, for $15k more and sold already. Granted it was a perfect house for a retiring couple with all main floor living with great upgrades like granite countertops and hardwood floors. Our house would be a death trap for them with the spiral staircase. Even with this rationale. . . IT'S NOT FAIR!!!! OUR HOUSE WAS ON THE MARKET FIRST!!!! (end rant) Ok I will be patient and have faith. . . or at least try. This house selling/buying is an emotional adventure.

We placed an offer on a nice 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house and are still waiting on the reply. Of course the offer is contingent on our house selling, and who knows when that will be. So we wait. We wait until our house sells and then we rush, to buy another house that we hope we can love. It makes me wonder if there is a better way to do all of this.

Erin will be 2 years old in two months. It is going so fast. She absolutely loves playing outside and this awful weather forces me to keep her inside. But seriously, snow on April 26th???!!!!!

Next project. . . till the vegetable garden. Even if we aren't here long enough to eat the produce, at least it will look nice for showings and open houses.

The picture is of Erin demading to have the whole nectarine. Heaven forbid that I cut it up for her. . . nooooo she's a big girl. She ate the whole thing. What a silly girl.

Here we go. . .

2008-03-30T08:51:00.001-07:00

We will be putting our house on the market next week. I will be holding my breath until it sells. I feel good about all the work we have put into this house. I think it looks fabulous! I will miss it here. Just need to have the relator take pictures of the house to put online. I think I will have Scott take Erin for an outing so that I don't have to keep picking stuff up all along the way. I am excited and nervous!

I think that we have come up with a good listing price as well. We aren't looking to make out like bandits, so that helps. If we can find the right people they will buy this house right up. We live on a dead end street and only a block from the lake, plus a large yard that I have beautifed.

I'm looking forward to the warm weather. Erin and I are going to take as many walks and go to the park as many times as we can before our house sells. It will be so much more fun this year since she can walk.

I love it when asparagus gets so cheap in the spring. I buy tons of it. I usually just sautee it in some olive oil and put salt and garlic on it. Erin won't touch broccoli, but she loves asparagus! I also make a creamy asparagus soup. So yummy. Not sure that anything beats putting it on the grill though. I could eat just that for dinner. It is weird how things you detested as a kid you learn to adore as an adult.

Our Easter was nice. We did a dinner with Scott's family the week before and a little dinner with the family that lives here the weekend of. I didn't let Erin eat a ton of candy, I still think she is too young to eat bunches of it. I'm all in support of easter baskets, but not sure how I feel about actual gifts for Easter. First of all Erin has plenty of toys and gets gifts for her birthday and Christmas. I don't think that kids need presents for every holiday! Plus I have to find a place to put it all!!!! My house is only so big.

Well everyone wish me luck on the sale of my house!!!

Oh My Goodness!

2008-01-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

There is only two months before we want to put our house on the market and the to-do list seems to be getting longer instead of shorter! Since I am at home all day I am trying to chip away at things. However, with a one and a half year old I am mostly limited to her daily nap time to work on projects. Not very practical to try and paint with her running around. It would be a disaster.

After all the miscellaneous projects are finished then I need to go through the house and get all the clutter out. I plan on packing up a lot of stuff that we don't use much and putting it in a storage unit. I want people to be able to see the house, not our stuff! Wish me luck there.

It is all scary and exciting and seems like so much work. Can we do it???

On the other hand buying a new house and getting some options that we don't have in this one, seems very enticing. Also reducing Scott's commute by about 55 minutes is a huge motivator. I would really love to have a bigger kitchen in the next house. I love cooking and continue to grow in my bravery to try new things. Our kitchen is nice, but small and it is hard to have 2 people in there at all.

More square footage would be nice especially if our family grows. At least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms would be excellent. I also HAVE to have a vegetable garden. So a decent size lot would be in order. Not sure what to do about the garden this year. I guess I will plant one here just in case our selling aspirations take longer than we would like.

Erin is growing and changing and saying new words all the time. One of the pictures is my attempt to interest her in coloring, she was more interested in eating the blue crayon.

New Year

2008-01-19T06:56:00.000-08:00

I have been very bad at keeping up, but I've decided to forgive myself.

Things have been good here. Erin is getting to big so fast. I am completely enjoying my time with her. She runs everywhere, says more words, and is such a goofy girl.

Our Thanksgiving and Christmas went well. Erin has so many toys, I'm just not sure what to do with them all. Her favorite game right now is cooking. She loves to put cheerios into pans and little cups and stir them with spoons while saying 'hot' and blowing on it. I just know she is going to be my little helper in the kitchen.

We have become aunt and uncle again for the third time. Our new nephew was born on January 6th and was 7 and a half pounds. We have yet to meet him, but hopefully within the next few weeks.

I think time goes by faster once you become a parent. You are always busy so there if very little, precious downtime. But with that it seems my baby is growing up too fast. I hate it and love it at the same time. She is so beautiful and fun and silly and it is hard to think that she is going to leave me someday. So I do my best not to think about that, but about all the years I get to have with her.

We are still doing projects to spruce up our house as we are going to be putting it on the market in April. Hopefully we will sell it and we will be moving closer to Scott's work. It seems like a big undertaking and we are leary about the housing market right now, but it makes the most sense with where we are at with our family. We want to have another baby someday, and I will need Scott more. He drives an hour each way to and from work and he is more than burnt out with it. Plus we will be closer to his family, and since the cousins are so close in age it will be nice to have them grow up together. So all in all it is the best decision for us.

I am still knitting here and there, and crocheting a bit too. I like to crochet washcloths, they go faster than knitting one and it is fun to mix it up a bit. I have been trying to be more adventurous with my cooking. It helps that my brother is going to culinary school and I can get some tips from him.

There are a lot of changes on the horizon for us. It is scary to think of my life with a toddler and a newborn. Moving will be crazy for us. Let alone if we are moving and I am pregnant!!! I hope we sell before that happens!

Oops, I missed.

2007-09-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

Oops I missed my month mark. I had been doing so well. What's worse is that I even felt bad about only posting once a month. Oh well I have other things consuming my time, namely a 20 pound midget.

Hubby and I got some motivation the other weekend to forge on with completing our master bedroom. He has the tedious task of cutting trim and fitting it in the room. I got to demolish a closet and half a remaining wall in the basement. I am still pleased with the openness of it now. The bedroom only needs a few more pieces of trim and some pittly stuff. I also took on the project of making the door to the outside look nice. My husband couldn't seem to imagine a way of doing it without getting a custom door made for it (and spending way too much). The best way we have found to get through our creative differences is to let it become either his or my project.

The colors in the bedroom look so nice. I have a great green color on the walls and the wood trim and door are a dark mahogany. It looks so good.

I have taught myself to crochet. . . a little. I can do some basic stitches and have been making washcloths. Crocheted washcloths go quicker than knitted ones.

The Dells.

2007-08-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

We went on our first family vacation. I grew up in Wisconsin and for some reason had never been to the Dells myself. Crazy, but true. So it was an experience for me as well. Some of my husband's family joined us there and a good time was had by all. Here is Erin in daddy's socks.

We had two babies in one condo on two different schedules. It made things definately interesting. Also with the little ones in tow it made our choices for activities limited. I wanted to go to a waterpark, but with how fair Erin's skin is and her two nap a day schedule, it didn't make sense to spend $40 a person to stay for 2-3 hours.

The resort we stayed at had an indoor and outdoor pool and Erin loved them!! She also had stairs to play on in the room. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa also came for a couple of days and let the two couples with the babies get out alone.

Scott and I went to a Japenese restaurant where they cook infront of you. We also had some sushi. I ordered the california rolls. . . which were delicious. Scott went for the raw stuff. We had an excellent time.

After family was gone we had the room for a couple of days to ourselves. We also visited the Deer Park where you get up close and personal with the deer and can feed them. Erin wasn't scared at all and pet them when they got close enough. The food we bought for the deer Erin was convinced it was for her. She kept looking at me and saying "more?"

We are going back next month. This time my mom will be joining us. We will have to figure out sleeping arrangements because she snores very loudly!

I enjoyed myself. It was hard for me when Erin didn't sleep well because of the noise of people in the room. I had two fans going as well as a blanket at the bottom of the door, but sometimes she didn't sleep very long. Sleep deprived babies are not good for mommies sanity. I did manage to calm down and relax. It was nice to be out of the house and out of town. I would have loved the waterpark, but dragging around a tired, crabby baby isn't my idea of fun.

I got some knitting done. I had to rip out the sweater I had started because it is knit in the round and it got twisted when I joined it. I thought I had been so careful. I guess not.

I am starting to look forward to fall. Now that Erin goes to bed at 7pm instead of 10pm like last year, we should be able to have some fun fires outside when it gets cool. We have plenty of scrap wood to burn.

I also got my hair cut before leaving for the Dells. It was just so frizzy I needed to cut it off, and I did. Nice and short in the back!!! Much better for this hot, humid weather.

Tag, I'm it.

2007-08-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

These are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I was tagged by Monica who was tagged by Vanessa. I know absolutely no one else that blogs, and I don't have the heart to tag Monica back and make her think of 8 more things to post about herself. So the tag stops here it seems.

Anyway here we go into the weird life of Stephanie:

1. I didn't start drinking coffee until I met my husband at 22 years old. He drank coffee and I really liked the idea of enjoying coffee with him. I now adore it.

2. I look extremely boyish in my gradeschool pictures. Once someone asked my mom what her son's name was.

3. I love lists. I really love crossing things off my lists!

4. I am extremely sarcasatic.

5. Texture with food is a big deal with me. I gag on things that are very mushy even if it tastes good.

6. I love to run.

7. I look forward to getting older and seeing how time changes me.

8. I worked three jobs when I graduated High School. Walmart, Taco Bell/Pizza Hut, and the local bakery. I would go to work at 7am and not be done until 10pm. What a crazy girl I was!

My Baby is 1!!

2007-07-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

How did it happen so fast??

We spent the last week doing parties for Erin. Not that she will remember, but I will and I want to make them all special. All of her family enjoyed it and lots of pictures were taken.

I made two cakes, one for each party. One of her very first words was "kitty" so I made kitty cakes. It was my first venture doing a layer cake and I was nervous. But they both turned out great. I made an orange one and a grey one. Erin loved them both and kept asking for more. The grandma's wanted to give her a lot more than mommy allowed. This was the first time she had so much sugar!

She got lots of fun new clothes that I am excited to dress her up in. We also got cash to buy a bike trailer so that we can get out together as a family. I think she is going to love it. Perhaps her favorite gift though was a card from Uncle James and Aunt Kris that played "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid everytime you opened it.

We did have a beach trip planned for the day of her birthday, but that was postponed due to our area being in a tornado watch. But we went the next day and she spashed around and kept leaning over her floatie that I had to hold one side up so she didn't keep dunking her face in. So Erin's first trip to the beach was a success.