Visitors and finally getting outside!

My mom, sister and Aubrey came up to visit one day, and Levi and Aubrey were having some fun in a box.

We were finally able to get outside last week! It was super nice out. The depressing part is that we got a foot of snow less than a week later. Womp, womp.

Miss Paige, looking cute as always.

She loved it when I pushed her around on Levi's trike. After I took this pic, she got herself up there too.

Loved the slide too! :)

Paige also had her first 4-wheeler ride. She wasn't sure what to think.

And one of Levi. He doesn't stand still for me, so I usually have more of Paige. He's growing up so fast. 

Minnesota Children's Museum

Hi all, I know it's been awhile, but I have some pictures to share from the past month or so. I'm splitting them up into a few posts. First off is our trip to visit Paul's sister, Katie, and brother-in-law, Jon, and the MN Children's Museum. I have been wanting to get up to visit them and go to the museum all winter, but Paul kept finding excuses not to. I finally got him to commit, and we had a lot of fun! Levi had a BLAST at the museum and I hope we can go back again. I didn't get a ton of photos, but here is what I have.

This area was probably Levi's favorite. It was all about water! Pipes and slides to put balls and little boats through, and things like that. Of course, he was soaked by the time we were done here, and the first thing he does is whip his shirt off because he hates it when his clothes are wet. Thankfully, I had his sweatshirt handy and put that on right away. :)

Paige did good in the stroller as long as she was moving or being entertained! :)

This was the grocery store in the "town" area. There were various shops and things to play in, like a post office, restaurant, doctor's office, etc. He had fun here too. He loved checking all is food out at the register. Everything had to go "beep!" and then he would put it on the other side of the register.

This area was for toddlers and babies. It was a woodland/forest theme with slides and tunnels. Both kids had fun in here!

This was from the swamp area. This was another of Levi's favorites because there was a stream to play in with plastic frogs, tadpoles, and things like that.

Other than the areas I mentioned, there was tons of other things to do at the museum. Very neat! I am looking forward to going back when Paige is a little bigger too!

After our morning at the museum, Katie and Jon took us to Cossetta's for lunch. We all got pizza. YUM! So good. And of course we had to get some gelato for our walk back to the car. Delish!

All in all a very fun weekend, and we can't wait to go back up and visit! Next time we'll have a tiny addition to cuddle, too, since Katie is expecting this summer! :)

Truths

So, this is probably going to be an extremely random post. Just a warning.

Truths::

I seriously regret cutting my hair this short. I will never learn.

It's ok if I let my two year old have hotdogs for lunch 4 out of 7 days of the week because that is all he requests.

I am so ready to NOT be pregnant anymore, but I am scared to death of having two kids at home. Sometimes I wonder if we are crazy....a [stubborn, strong-willed, active] two year old and a newborn? It will be a rough couple of first weeks I'm afraid...for all of us.

It's ok if I look forward to nap-time and bedtime every day.

It's ok if Levi watches too much tv some days. Cruddy weather + mommy 9 months pregnant + daddy in the field = Nick Jr.

I never thought I would say this, but I am looking forward to getting back into running and eating better. Turns out that when I put a little effort in, I actually saw some results. And hopefully I will see them again someday.

I somehow have managed to get a stain on almost half of my maternity shirts. And most of the time I don't even know how they got there or where they came from. I guess that's what happens when your belly sticks out way in front of you.

I swear that just because it is harder for me to bend over and pick things up, I drop things twice as much as normal. Which was quite a bit in the first place because I am a klutz.

I don't know why I even try to paint my fingernails, because it never lasts longer than an hour, no matter how careful I am. I am thinking about trying out gel nails just to see how long they would last for me.

I am a scrapbooking supply hoarder. I love getting all the cute new products because they are all so pretty and adorable!! But then because they are so pretty, I resist using them because I don't want to waste them. Dur! I have been trying to make an effort to actually USE all of the fun new things I get along with the things I've been saving (hoarding) for a long time. And I'm also trying to get rid of a few things that I won't use along the way.

I love making smoothies for Levi and myself (especially the green ones since they add lots of vitamins from the spinach and he actually loves them!), but seriously, I get so frustrated with our blender that I hardly ever make them. We just got it less than a year ago, and I thought I was getting a decent one...the reviews weren't terrible and it cost a little more than I was initially planning on spending on it...but SURPRISE, it's still not great. At least not for smoothies. I try to add plenty of liquid, but I still have to stop and stir it every 3 seconds because the blade spins a bubble over it and pushes everything up, if that makes sense. Very annoying. But I don't think I can justify getting a Blendtec or whatever for like $400 either....ummm, yeah, probably not. Ok, blender rant over.

Some people's driving skills suck. I mean COME ON PEOPLE. It only takes one trip out of my little rural comfort zone to remember why I don't live in a bigger city. I like my county highways and gravel roads. But I also like shopping, so I'll brave it......

I am beginning to forget what the sun looks like. And what anything higher than 66 degrees feels like. Is it really June? Did someone forget to give mother nature the memo that it's supposed to be WARM in the summer?

Only Levi can have me so extremely frustrated that I feel like I might burst because he is being such a stinker, then turn around and do something so goofy that I completely forget what I was so mad about in the first place. Oh, how I love that little boy!

I'm not completely sure what this post turned into, but I think I'm done now.   :)

39 week pregnancy update will be coming tomorrow sometime, once I snap a picture!

Levi's two year pics + some maternity pics

I fiiinnnnalllllly got the pictures back from Levi's two year pics and a few maternity pics I had done. They are so cute!! I am in love with all of them! SO, that means that this post is going to be photo heavy with all of my favorites! :)

 

I might be biased, but he sure is one adorable little boy! He kept us on our toes the day we took these pics, I was glad my mom came with to help! He's a troublemaker, but it's hard to stay upset with him when he flashes you that big smile. :)

I was also glad I decided to do a few maternity pics. I didn't have any taken with Levi, and this was all I wanted. We only did the few poses with Levi, and then one on my own. I just wanted some to remember this time in my life, besides the selfies that I take for my weekly updates. I couldn't be happier with how they turned out.

These were all taken by the wonderful Stephanie at Stephanie Foto ~ Stephanie Warzecha Photography. She is great to work with and does a fantastic job! I can't wait to do baby girl's newborn pics with her!

Farm wives

I just saw this on my facebook newsfeed and wanted to share it. I know I'm not 'technically' a farm wife, since we don't 'technically' live on the farm yet. But my husband is a farmer and it just pulled my heart strings. I also know plenty of farm wives that fully meet this description. I can only hope that someday I can call myself a real farm wife.

So God Made a Farm Wife
by Heather deBoer

Then God looked down at the farmer and said he can’t do this on his own.  So God made a farm wife.

God said I need someone who can put on the coffee, cook bacon and fry eggs just right, get the kids off to school, run to town for parts & groceries, then hurry home to get food on the table for anywhere between two or twenty hungry men who might show up for lunch- So God made a farm wife.

I need someone that doesn’t mind getting dirt under her fingernails, even if it’s just from doing the laundry, who knows how to get grease out of coveralls, to get cockleburrs out of kid’s hair, how to warm a calf, hang a heat lamp over a box of chicks, and doesn’t mind the milk replacement powder sitting in the corner of the kitchen- So God made a farm wife.

I need someone who can feed her family for a year with no more than a couple packs of seeds, a plot of soil, and a pressure cooker, someone who’s worn hoe and tattered gloves speaks of their hours of use.  I need someone who can feed an animal for a year, give it a name, care for it, love it, then load it in the trailer and haul it to the butcher to put in the freezer- so God made a farm wife.

God said I need someone who can make plans that will probably get cancelled , who understands when she gets tractor tires instead of diamonds on her anniversary, and can smile at the farmer and say ‘maybe next year.’  I need someone who doesn’t mind when a night out means supper on the tailgate watching the sunset over the back 40, and a romantic drive means checking the progress of the crops.  I need someone who knows enough to plan weddings and babies around planting and harvest and can brace for whatever comes after she hears the farmer say ‘Honey, I’ve been thinking…’- so God made a farm wife.

God said I need someone who can balance a budget without a paycheck, who can cry tears over lost calves, plead to God for much needed rain, read the face of a man below layers of manure and grease, and know that even though he might never say it, he feels the pain and the glory, the pride and the defeat, the frustration and the triumph, and that passion is not only for the farm, but for everything it means and the hope it represents- so God made a farm wife.

I need someone who can plant corn with little boys on the living room carpet and not take it to heart when she hears him say he likes his daddy best.  Someone who smiles and sighs when she hears her little girl say she wants to marry a farmer just like Daddy, because she just know what that will mean- so God made a farm wife.

I need someone who can spot a cow calving going 50 down a back country road.  I need someone who can labor at home until the milking is done, then delivery a baby holding the hand of a man who still smells of manure and the milking parlor.  I need someone who swells with pride at the farmer’s calloused hands against the soft pink skin as he gently hold his newborn baby, and hears him whisper, “Guess we’re gonna have to buy some more land…”-  so God made a farm wife.

Somebody who knows the farm is not just a job, but a life woven together by hard work, eternal faith, and a will stronger than any drought or storm.  Who can trust the good Lord with the man she loves as he walks out that door every morning- so God made a farm wife.


--Here is a link to the original note on facebook. 

NOTE: Just to be clear, I did not write this. Like I stated above, this was 'shared' by another friend through facebook. I do not personally know the author. I'm sure there are other versions of this poem, this is just the one that came across. I only posted it here to share with my family and friends who read my blog, and also so that I could save it to read again myself. 

A few new pics + my latest lunch obsession

Just thought I would pop in and share a few pics from the past week.

Levi likes to eat plain tortillas, apparently he is related to his auntie... He wanted one the other day for a snack, so I gave him one. I had just bought him that little rolling pin, thinking he could use it with play-dough or something eventually. Well, he thought he better roll out his tortilla a little more before he ate it. So he had to roll it, then hit it a few times before he took every bite.

He fell asleep in the car twice on Sunday, and both times I took him in the house thinking he would wake up, but he kept sleeping for another 25-30 minutes. This time he fell asleep on the way home from visiting Paul's parents, and when I laid him on the couch, he sort of woke up, yelled at me a little, then grabbed his blankie, rolled over and konked out again for awhile. FYI he was NOT in a very good mood when he did wake up either times.

This one was actually just from earlier today, right after lunch. He got food all over him today (cottage cheese, peach juice, etc.), so I just took his clothes off and let him run around in his diaper for a bit before his nap. He had to have a cookie, and was sitting here watching Dora (or Diego??) for awhile in the recliner.

And then, my latest obsession for lunch. Fish tacos. My way. Also known as the easy way. This also ties into my last pregnancy post, where I mentioned that I've been craving spicy things more that usual. All I do is make some fish sticks, then put them on a warmed up tortilla with a smear of sour cream, plenty of lettuce, then give them a good dose of Frank's Red Hot sauce. Yum! Simple yet delicious. :) I had some fish tacos at Buffalo Wild Wings awhile last summer, and that is where the idea came from. Those had pico de gayo on them too, which would also be super yum, but I don't usually have that on hand, and regular salsa wouldn't be the same. The ones from Taco Johns that are out for a couple months during Lent are also really good. See? Obsessed much? I just wrote a whole paragraph about fish tacos..yikes. I'm done now.

In other, non-fish-taco-related news...
We had what I hope is our last snow of the season last night (Paul is a doesn't think it will be, boo.), so that made the roads yucky and I had to re-schedule my doctor appointment that was supposed to be this morning. So now it is on Thursday afternoon. Which actually works out good since then I'll have an accurate weight for my 26 week post.

That's about all I got for tonight.

Fair Fun

Last week was the county fair in our area. I always look forward to it! We always have a good time, and this year was no exception! We go in at least 3 of the 4 nights just to have supper. On Friday we took Levi for a few rides for the first time. He loved it! He went on the carousel with Paul, the cars, the motorcycles, and Paul took him down the big slide. Then on Saturday night we met up with Mark and Jess and the kids went on some rides together. Levi wasn't quite as into the rides on Sat. night as he was on Friday, but it was still fun!

Picture overload!

 There has been a petting zoo the last couple years, and Levi LOVED that, too! He would touch the animals and then squeal and giggle. He even fed the goats! He got a big kick out of that, I think he would have stood there all night and fed those silly things! It was cute! There were a few different breeds of goats, and all of them had babies. The baby goats could crawl in and out of the pens since they were so little, and they were always trying to hitch a ride in the strollers that people were bringing in. Pretty funny.

 Proud daddy! :)

And, this has nothing to do with the fair, but Levi got his first big owie at daycare the other day. His shoes were a little big for him and he likes to walk on his tippy toes, so he tripped outside and scuffed his nose on the cement. Poor thing! Michele said he didn't really cry much, just got back up and kept playing. It was lucky he missed his teeth and didn't get hurt worse!

Hoping to have a high five for Friday post up tonight since I missed last week, but we'll see what happens!! :)

Relay for Life

Sorry for missing my High Five post yesterday. It was kind of a busy day, and Levi hasn't been feeling great (stupid teething) so I decided to skip this week.

Friday evening was the Stevens County Relay for Life. We go to honor Paul's mom, his grandma, and his two aunts, all who are breast cancer survivors. Also on my mind were my grandma, Sawyer and Todd.

The first set of pictures is of the Survivor lap around the track. They all carry balloons with them, and once they get back, the balloons are released. We like to think of them as going to heaven remembering all those that were lost because of this horrible disease.

The next pictures are of our family. The top one is all of us, including Jenell's mom, sisters and one of her brothers, and our family. Bottom left is the Staples girls: Me, Jess, Jenell, Katie, Allie and Madison. Bottom right is Jenell with her sisters and Mom: Susan, Jo, Jenell and Naomi.

It's always a special night to us, for many reasons.

One of Levi's little friends from daycare was there too, and once she noticed him she was his little shadow. He wasn't real worried about her, but she just kept following him around. She liked holding his hand, and he was fine with it until he wanted to go check something else out. It was pretty cute. While the drum line performed during the opening ceremonies, they had to go dance. I got a little bit of it on video.

Father's Day

It only took me a week, but I'm finally getting some pics up from Father's Day! We went to Glacial Lakes State Park for a little while in the afternoon. We were hoping to swim and go on the trails around the lake, but it didn't go exactly as we planned. We got partway along the trail and it was blocked by trees down, so that ended that plan! So we turned around and walked down to the beach. It was cloudy and a little chilly to swim, so we didn't do that either. It was nice to spend some time together though. We're hoping to do some more of these day trips though, since we bought a MN State Park pass. Here's the pics!

Levi was such a good boy. He wanted to go in the water so bad! Hopefully next time! My attempt at a family picture failed..

earring display

I was feeling crafty the other day, so I decided to do a little project I bought the supplies for a long, long time ago. I saw this idea on Pinterest over a year ago, and have wanted to try it ever since.

Source: kevinandamanda.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

I had to clean off my dresser anyway. Might as well re-organize and spruce it up a bit! It was super easy to do, even with a one-year-old making trouble at my feet. After I was done I realized I should have made my wire a little longer so I could loop it over, but it should hold fine. I don't have too heavy of earrings or anything. Here is how it turned out.

I am pretty happy with it! I like being able to see all of my earrings, maybe I will wear them more now!! :) I went and found this cute heart dish from my kitchen for a place to keep bracelets. Necklaces I keep on hooks on the other side of the dresser, you can kind of see them in the corner of the picture. And here is a closer look at them.

I do really love jewelry, but I end up wearing the same few necklaces with the same outfits. I need to start wearing more of all the cute things I do have!!

party planning

Can't believe I am planning a first birthday party for my little man already. Yeesh! I am having fun with it though! :) I found an invite on Tiny Prints that I loved and went with the color scheme off of that. I spent a little bit of time putting together an inspiration board of my ideas last night. Yeah I know, good use of time that I could have spent doing other things. But if you know me well enough, you know once I get something in my head that is ALL I can think about! Haha. Anyhoo, here it is.

Nothing fancy, but just rounded up most of my thoughts and ideas in one place!

Paul and I are going to St. Cloud this weekend so I am hoping to get everything I need then. Speaking of which, Saturday night will be my first night away from Levi and I am torn on whether I will be able to just enjoy it or if I will be worrying the whole time. Most likely it will be a mix of emotions. I will just have to keep reminding myself that I get to sleep, un-interupted, all night! :) Thanks to my mom for keeping him, I'm sure she won't enjoy it at all! Hehe!

Nice day

We had the first really nice spring day on Sunday and we took Levi outside for a little while. I took him for a walk, then we just played outside for a bit. On the deck and sidewalk where it wasn't muddy! I think he really liked it!

What little boy doesn't like to be outside? Can't wait for this summer!

On another not so fun note, I took Levi to the dr. again this morning after he was up screaming quite a bit last night again. You guessed it, another ear infection. Whatever doubt I had in my mind regarding him getting tubes is gone now. I'm sure we are doing the right thing, and they will help him. We are just ready for him to feel better so he can sleep better and just be the happy little boy we know he is. He will be done with his meds by the time of his surgery so that is good. Another nice day today, so we will be playing outside again! :)

baby shower!

I really need to start posting more between Levi's monthly updates. It has been almost 2 weeks... I know that the few people who do read this probably only check it for pics of Levi! Ha! I know what's important!! Just kidding! :) Sorta..

This weekend a friend and I hosted a baby shower at my house for one of our other friends and her new baby. It was a lot of work to plan, but it was fun! Only a few other friends came, but we had a good time! The baby's name is Pieper Ruth, and she is the sweetest little thing ever! She is just adorable! And such a good baby...she barely made a peep the whole time, except when she got hungry. Levi wasn't quite sure what to think of mommy holding another baby. He was curious, that is for sure. He had to go check her out a few times...we have to practice being nice and not trying to grab her face a bit yet though....lol. He is still little so he didn't really know any better.

We made a rainbow cake, which was fun! Time consuming, but I think it turned out good, and everyone was impressed!!

I failed as photographer though, and didn't get a picture of Pieper and Molly, or one of all of us together. Bummer :( 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012! Hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. We didn't do much. Levi had his first non-grandma/family baby-sitter for a few hours while we went out for supper with some friends. He did alright, but she said he cried a little and didn't want to eat anything, which didn't surprise me. We both survived though! After we picked him up we went home and put him to bed, then Paul and I watched a movie. Pretty exciting!

Poor guy has another ear infection, too. Number four. :( He is on amoxicillin again, but this time it has something called Clavulanic Acid with it. I think it makes his tummy hurt, and it gives him diarrhea. So even if it helps the ear infection go away in the TEN days he has to take it, he still doesn't feel very good. He also had a red throat, so the dr. said that was viral and should go away in a few days. Plus he's got a bit of a cold again, so he's stuffed up. It's a never-ending cycle this winter. SUMMER, you can come anytime now!!

I made a few resolutions this year and I'm hoping I can keep them..

Maintain a healthy lifestyle :: Exercise, eat better, and lose weight. I need to do this and keep it up, not just give up after a month or two. I don't feel good about how I look right now, and it is affecting other parts of my life. I realize I will never be skinny, and I don't want to be, but I need to get to a point where I feel good about what I look like, and can be more confident again.

Read more :: I would like to read one book a month. I thought that sounded like a reasonable goal...finding the time amongst everything else I would like to get done will be the challenge.
Edit: After thinking about this more, I have come to the conclusion that I will most likely fail at reading one book every month, so I'm going to revise this and try for 5 books total this year...hopefully I can handle that!

Do more things for myself :: This sounds self-centered, but so much of my life is focused on taking care of Levi, keeping the house somewhat it order, making supper, etc., that I haven't had a lot of time to do much for myself lately. Just little things like painting my toenails, spending a little extra time on my hair/makeup, things like that. I just feel like if I feel better about myself then I will be a better mom and wife to Paul and Levi.

So, those are my resolutions. I'll try and remember to recap at the end of the year and see how I actually did. :)

I will try and get some pics up from Christmas soon too. Kind of out of order here, lol!

christmas cards

I am done with my Christmas cards! They will go in the mail tomorrow. I guess I am not 100% done, since I had to order 12 more, but what I have is done. :) One of those where we got a card from someone that wasn't on my list already. Anyhoo, I've had them for awhile but it took a few evenings after I put Levi to bed to get them all addressed and stamped. I actually have a mis-match of cards this year...I saw some from Paper Coterie that I absolutely loved, but they were waaaayyy too expensive. Then I happened to see a promo code on facebook for 12 free cards from there...SCORE! So I gave those out to our immediate family and got some from Shutterfly for the rest of the list that I also absolutely love! There were so many great designs it was hard to choose, but this one caught my eye:

Merry Merry Christmas

Turn your favorite photos into Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Simple, clean and colorful. Right up my alley!