The Weekend with some dramatics

 I'm sitting on the couch right now feeling sorry for myself because I threw out my back (first time I've ever done that!) yesterday and am having a difficult time doing basic motions like bending over, carrying heavy things, standing, walking, and sitting. Remember my job? Staying at home with my 20 lb baby and 30 lb toddler that have toys everywhere and need to be picked up and carried? It's a great day over here.

My hubby is being wonderful. He came home for no other reason (that I could see, because hello, it's all about me right now) but to check in on me and help me with a few more tasks like getting the baby down for her nap, changing her diaper, getting me a few things so I wouldn't have to get up, etc. Of course, the minute the door shut behind him I had to get up and do like 10394 things but it was nice that he tried to help. 

I will be going to the chiropractor this afternoon. I know it will be painful to have him adjust me, but the pain will be worth it. I just have a feeling.

So, with coffee cup in hand, I give you pictures from this weekend. We went to a family gathering for my dad's family since my grandpa and his lady wife go to Arizona for the winter and won't be here for the holidays. We thankfully got to stay with the host and hostess (my cousin and his wife) so we didn't even have to drive around or leave their house all weekend! It was fabulous. They are so fun to stay with. They have two boys just a little older than our girls and now they are about the right age to play together. Audrey tries to keep up, but she's just a little too small. Regardless, it was a good time seeing almost the whole family. 30+ people gets a bit chaotic but we're all used to it.

Oh, did I mention that both girls woke up on Saturday morning with an intense cold? Yes, just when we were about to be around all of those people, my girls got sick. So to any of my family that reads this, I'm sorry that you caught our terrible cold. Picture me holding my head down in shame with a look of sympathy peeking out. It's no fun.

We skipped church so as not to infect all of our church friends, and then I threw out my back. Hubby was productive outside and I did great working on projects and meal making until the incident (as I will refer to it, because it seems like a huge event in my life as of now. Ask me again tomorrow). 

Enough with the dramatics. Here are the pictures.

Here's my grandpa with Audrey. I really should have tried to get a better picture of him and his wife, Carla. He took a family photo of our family (my mom, dad, sister, hubby, the girls, and me) but I don't know if we'll get to see that picture any time soon. 

She doesn't look sick, but I assure you, there was snot everywhere. 

Neither of them smoke. What's going on here?

Right next to our cousin's place is this park. I mean, it's like their back yard. How awesome is that?

Buttons, new looks, weekend updates, and more

I did it. I made a blog button (such a huge deal, I know). I was bound and determined to figure out how to do it, and it only took me a few hours. Does that show you how techy I am (not)? Regardless, it's on the side of my blog and you are welcome to grab it if you would like. 

I'd absolutely love to do a button trade, so if you are interested in that, let me know please! I also have my blog list on the right side, and would love to add more to it but don't always remember to update it. Let me know if you'd like to be on that too. :) I'm always up for helping out other bloggers (even though my little blog is just that - little).

And also - did you see my new blog look? If you are reading from a reader or through your email you'll have to go to my actual blog page ... I think it's worth it though. I like it. It's nothing fancy but it fits me and isn't as wintery/dark as the last one.

We had a great weekend. We finished up the training for foster care and had dinner with friends on Saturday night. Sunday was great. After church, my sister took Josie to the circus and my parents came up to hang out with Audrey. That left hubby and I to have some free time and we spent it doing the most romantic thing we could think of... shopping! We hit up a few places we had been meaning to go and got back to the house just in time to scarf down some Italian food before my sister and parents hit the road to drive back in blizzard-like conditions(isn't it mid April?). We spent the evening playing with play dough and making rice krispie bars. It was a great day, definitely one for the books.

After church but before we went on our "date," we did a 20 minute clean up where we both just ran around putting away the random things that were homeless and cleaning random floors, toilets, and rooms. I love those short little cleaning spurts when we both motivated at the same time. It felt so good to see the weird little things get done and the house just looked more put together afterwards. I was beaming all afternoon just from that 20 minute session. It's the little things, right?

They stayed for the whole first half (pretty good for a 22 month old) and apparently she hated cotton candy but loved the pickle on a stick. I'm not even a little surprised by this.

Audrey decided to redeem herself from the previous time we were with Grammy and Bappa where she screamed almost the whole weekend prior to her magical chiropractor visit. This time around, she cooed, smiled and giggled for them for most of the afternoon, officially wrapping them around her little finger.

Twas a good weekend.

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Firsts, pancakes, and blizzards: A Weekend Update

This weekend, we continued the annual tradition of going to the Kiwanis Pancake Feed with my hubby's family. The highlight was definitely the play area. Josie was big enough (just barely) to play inside one of the inflatables so we threw helped her in and took a step back. Would she know what to do? Would we ever be able to get her out of it again? How could we get to her if she needed us? I'll admit, we were a bit nervous, but she was a champ. At first she just sat there....

But then some kid tried to tackle her. She didn't like that so much. So she came to the edge, hubby picked her up, and we moved to the slide area. After a few attempts, she figured out how to get up the ladder and go down the slide, but it was way more fun for hubby to just lift her up to the top over and over. 

I managed to get it on video. The place was chaos, but you get the idea.

Afterwards, we walked around a while more to see if there was anything else for her to try out. We got to the huge slide and noticed another tiny little girl climbing up the ladder. After finding out that she was the same age as Josie, we sent her up. It took a solid five minutes before she made it to the top (and a few times where I thought I was going to have to climb in there after her), but she eventually did get up there. We got a picture of her at the top. She looks absolutely tiny. She loved it though!

We only did that slide once since the line was long (some tiny kid took FIVE MINUTES to go up so it was a little backed up... oops...). We went back to the table where Audrey was hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Josie immediately had to tell A all about it.

Audrey was captivated, obviously

Last year when we went, Josie was only seven months old. 

Next year when we go, Audrey will be just over one and Josie will be 2 1/2. They will both be able to play in there. I can't even wait.

Later that afternoon, we went outside to play before the blizzard came. I shoveled a path in our yard for Josie to walk around. It seems to be her mission to "walk" whenever we play outside. She can't really do much else, so I tried to at least give her that option. Mostly, I just wanted to keep her out of the street. Audrey chilled in her car seat, watching us with mild amusement. She was probably the warmest one since she had the garage wall to shelter her from the wind. 

We tried "sledding" but the snow was too deep for me to pull her and actually progress without falling over myself. The shoveled path was a lot more fun (for both of us).

Then she discovered the chairs. She just had to sit in one. She also invited me to sit in the other one, but I respectfully declined. 

We'll be going back out this afternoon since we've been stuck inside ever since this little outing on Saturday. We watched movies and had some quality family time inside yesterday, but we are all feeling cooped up in here today so outside we will go after naps. 

Enjoy this beautiful winter day!

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Go team go

In our busy eventful weekend, we managed to fit in going to the NDSU Bison homecoming game. Something you should know, though - we aren't really "go to the local teams' sporting events" kind of people. Hubby happened to get tickets from someone he works with, so we thought, "Sure why not?" I do feel a little guilty because the game was sold out and I kept seeing people mention how they really wanted to go to the game but couldn't get tickets.

So glad we didn't give them ours. It turned out to be so much fun! They really put on a show now that they are big deals in the football world. (The football program has grown leaps and bounds in the last 10 years and is great for the school in general). So please enjoy this photo collage along with a few explanations found underneath.

1. I wanted one picture of us that was decent. I didn't look too closely at it after we took it and loved that hubby couldn't take his eyes off the game for even that photo.

2. See all of that yellow and green? We fit right in. Also, our seats were amazing. I mean seriously great. We sat right behind the handicap section so there was a railing in front of us and nobody to block our view since that section was down like 10 feet. We also got cushioned seats and could see all of the action as it entered the arena.

3-5. The huge helmet head is set up just for the purpose of the team running through. They also make a huge production of it (which I don't remember them doing to this extent before) and blast the music with the lights off and all of these theatrical effects. It was pretty sweet.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying food with friends, catching up with TWO old friends, sleeping a little, and going to church. It seemed busy but wasn't overwhelming.

I did a lot more walking than usual and felt that on Sunday morning! Then I was helping in the nursery on and that really pushed me to the point of Nap=Necessary. It's crazy to think that in just a few weeks I will be back to being just me but will also have a NEW BABY to take care of. I cannot even wait.

Off to walk some more and make some supper. Happy Monday!

"Mom, take a picture of me in this sweet hat I found" - the hat is for an infant but we went with it.

"Ok maybe its better now that my hair is out of my face"

"You have to tell me when you are taking the picture so I can smile! Ok CHEESE!"

Always a ham.



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Flying time and some weekend updates

I had a "take my breath away" moment (or ten) this weekend and whoa. not ready. I can no longer claim that  baby girl #2 will be here in two months because it's less than that. No no no how did this happen so fast? On one hand I'm so excited and it's getting so real but on the other hand, we're going to have two kids, another newborn with a ton of needs and a crazy schedule, and a totally different lifestyle to get used to. 

I've slowly (so so slowly) been prepping here and there. I sorted Jo's old clothes (mentioned in a previous post) and finally put them away. I've ordered a car seat cover for those cold winter months which I cannot wait to show you because it's adorable. We've started trying out the tentative name we've settled on. I've even been trying to get Jo to say it and have been mildly successful. The biggest thing though? I've been trying to imagine how life will change.

Part of my problem is that I just picture another Josie. I know that isn't accurate but it's hard for my brain to imagine anything different. Yet I know she'll be so unique and probably nothing like Jo... I still tend to picture the same little baby that we had 15 months ago. And then I picture Jo now running around like a mad woman all the time and start to panic. How will I do this mother-of-two thing? 

I have so many more thoughts on this, but for now let's focus on some proof that I've been productive.

Ok well, my mom and hubby have been productive... 

Mom and Dad came to keep me company last Thursday night while hubby finished up a job out of town, and they helped me get some little but huge jobs for me done like cleaning out the veggies that were ripe from the garden. It's not all of them, but aren't they pretty? I'm currently roasting the tomatoes in the oven to freeze for this winter. Smells delicious.

We went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch on Friday and met up with hubby who had just got back in town. Can we just discuss briefly how amazing Chinese food is? We haven't had it since Father's Day and I quite frankly enjoyed myself. So did Jo since she was able to people watch to her heart's content.

Then, THEN, my hubby forced me to watch the show DC Cupcakes. Bad news, let me tell you. I now have a desperate desire to work (or own?) a cupcake shop because it looks so!much!fun! and I want to master the signature swirl. 

With this new inspiration, I made cupcakes with good friend/cousin-in-law Missy, and they tasted wonderful. Lookwise? They'd have been thrown out of Georgetown Cupcakes for sure. I probably would have gotten a stern talking to also. We have some work to do before they are perfected, but I'm excited to keep trying. Now I just need an excuse to make so many cupcakes since just making them and then eating them is not so good for this sugar-induced practically all the time preggo lady. 

I was desperate to entertain Jo this morning because she was happy and I didn't want to lose that, so Buckley had to deal with it and this is what I came up with. 

Why was I so desperate? She had a fever and was miserable all day yesterday, not eating, but sleeping a ton as the day dragged on. I felt so bad for her, but thankfully it was short lived (and pretty obviously teething related only) so life goes on as normal today.

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New look?

Notice anything different? I gave my bloggy a little makeover. I was so tired of the old look but didn't have a clue what direction to go. It's a work in progress and will probably change again once the season is over. It's pretty seasonal, isn't it? What do you think? Be honest... I saved the code for my old layout so I can always change it back...

We had a long weekend of hard work for the hubby and running around for the Josienator. I have to admit that my back pain really hindered any fun that I should have had, and would say that it at least doubled since I last wrote about it. It's so hard to be positive and enjoy the little thing with this pregnancy when all I can think about is make it feel better make it feel better. I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to constant pain with no (relative) end in sight, so it's going to be a long nine weeks if it doesn't get better before baby girl is born.

Thankfully my chiropractor said that once the baby drops, my hips and lower back muscles should relax and adjust appropriately and the pressure will ease up a bunch. So really instead of nine weeks, it could be less than that. So thankful to hear this!

So you want some pictures? I know, it's not so fun to just read my thoughts and have no visual entertainment.

My tired self with my sweet nephew

Hanging with Grandpa

Grandparents had both kids up there for at least a minute before Jo squirmed her way outta there.

There was a lot of time spent playing.

We visited more family and apparently spent some time with one shoe on and one shoe off.

Best part? Jo brings out Grandpa's soft side and gets him to feed her babies (that he went and found for her from his sister's old toys). He's got a big heart for this girl.

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Weekend Update

We had an exhausting but fun weekend and I don't think any of us have quite recovered.


On Saturday, we threw a baby shower for my sister in law, her hubby, and their baby Dean. I took advantage of having a nephew to use my favorite boy theme: nautical. It was so fun to decorate with sailboats and anchors and sea creatures. Who knows if I'll ever get a chance in the future to decorate for a boy of our own? So take advantage I did. We had a great turn out and family stayed until later in the evening just visiting and hanging out. It was a busy busy day and we all slept hard that night! 


Josie had to share her toys which devastated her, but she still got to entertain everyone most of the time. Life might get rough for her as her cousin Dean grows up and she has a sister join her. Plus, I think she's pretty close to cutting in another tooth or two. There was a lot of chewing on anything in sight, screaming randomly, and scowling fiercely with no known motive. The girl showed some attitude.


Today we joined the family for lunch after church, crashed hard afterward for a solid afternoon nap, and then joined them again for supper. 


I am hoping for a chill week, and I should get it for the most part. 


Ooh oh! Did I mention that I have an appointment on Thursday? 


And baby girl has been kicking more and more. She kicked me so hard during supper tonight that it actually hurt a little. We're at that stage now. I'm ok with it though. The more she kicks the more I'm assured that things are going great for this growing baby inside me. 




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The biggest weekend EVER at the lake

Whoopsie, kind of forgot about this little blog this week.

This last weekend was the big Phelps Mill Festival. It's the second weekend of July every year and it's a bunch of people getting together to sell crafts, products, and delicious food. Phelp's Mill is a historical site on the Ottertail River and it just so happens that we only live a half mile away from there, so it seems to be a pretty big deal for us and our family that comes to visit (and when I say "we" I mean my parents since they are the true owners of the lake place:) ).

My hubby's mom came out to enjoy the festivities and when they were shopped out they walked around the property of my parents' lake place to try out her fancy camera. I thought that every picture was amazing, but picked a few favorites to give you an idea of what the lake place is like.

Old building in "the woods" behind the house

Lake place from the lake side... isn't it so gorgeous! So happy that my parents' found this place!

The historical "Mill". Sidenote: we also got married here. There is a park right next to it along the river and it is BEAUTIFUL.

It's not really a swimming lake, but it's gorgeous.

It was ridiculously hot this weekend, so we needed to cool down fast. Even though the water is a bit mucky and there are weeds on the shores, we skipped past them to the deeper water to soak in the cool lukewarm water. It helped so much and even though Jo's not a fan of floaty devices, she didn't complain right away at the chance to cool down.

My parents' dog, Hannah, got her swim on

Our pup, Buckley (oh....buckley) so desperately wanted to get his swim on but was afraid to come out where it was deeper. So he paced on the shore and walked in until it was up to the top of his legs. He was happy to just get wet and then lay in the grass too.

There is almost nothing better than dunking in the water when it is humid and too hot outside!

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