Farm Fun

Our air may smell like cow manure. We may have a creaky old house with no air conditioning. Our house doesn't have a great open floor plan. Our kids may have to take flouride supplements and have blood work done to check for lead because we live in an old house. There may be lots of things I could find "wrong" with where we live.

But there's also lots and lots of fun, amazing, and unique things that make living on a dairy farm great. I think I always assumed I'd end up living in some sort of neighborhood similar to how I grew up and I probably would have been content in that situation. But God had other plans and I think it's so cool that my kiddos get to experience things like....

.....stumbling upon a brand new baby calf born out in the meadow about 2 hours before. Most pregnant heffers are taken into the barn shortly before giving birth, but this momma had her calf while she was still out in the meadow. It was a special treat for Emma to get to explore and examine this "little" baby right after she was born.

She kept patting it's neck and checking out it's ears and eyes. So sweet. I love that she's not afraid of the animals.

So yeah...life on the farm is fun and unique. I hope my kids can learn to see past the "flaws" to all the blessings of farm life like I'm learning to do.

Nothing Better

It's almost 11pm. The rest of my family are sleeping soundly in their beds, but I've got a post brewing in my heart and I need to get it out. :)  But first, check out my little man working on his smile. I didn't quite capture a big one yet, but this little grin is still pretty cute. And yes, his shirt says "Future Farmer."

I know ya'll know this already, but sometimes I feel like I don't express it enough. I love where I'm at in life right now and I cannot believe how incredibly blessed I am in so many ways. I don't say that to sound prideful or boastful or rub it in any one's face that my life is so great....I hope it doesn't come across that way. I just am so mindful of those around me who are praying for husbands, babies, the ability to stay at home, whatever it is that they have an unfulfilled longing for. And I want to make it so clear that I don't take lightly what I've been blessed with. I have an amazing husband and father for my children. He isn't perfect (and neither am I) and marriage hasn't been easy for us, but he's a good man and I love him and I believe God is working out an amazing testimony through our marriage that WILL bring glory to Him. I have always always always wanted to have children and most days I can't believe how blessed I am to have 2 perfectly healthy, adorable kids. AND to top it all off, I get to stay home and raise them. God is so good.

Maybe it's just because a sweet friend of mine who has been trying to get pregnant for years shared with me that they are expecting. I suppose I'm just overly aware right now of how blessed I am and how grateful I am for that. I don't know what it is exactly. But I know that tonight after I finished tidying up the house and climbed the stairs to go to bed, I couldn't stop thinking that it just doesn't get much better than this. It doesn't get much better than checking in our my two sweet babies, sleeping soundly, snoring oh so softly and looking like little angels. It doesn't get much better than going to brush my teeth and looking at myself in the mirror, only to see a tired face, a burp cloth still on my shoulder, two stray pacifiers in my hand, and the same shirt I wore yesterday. It doesn't get much better than wearing the same shirt two days in a row because I didn't get to the laundry, but instead spent my day loving on my kiddos and spending time with family. It doesn't get much better than going to bed with some dishes in the sink, dirty little girl clothes still on the bathroom floor from her bath, and a stray bottle on my window sill, but a joyful heart. I could go on and on.

Life is grand. I am blessed. I'm praying each of you feel the same way. Because really, we're all way more blessed than we ever deserve. We just forget it sometimes. Here's to remembering. Thanks for letting me share my heart.

Emma-isms

I know I've said it before, but it is so true: every single age feels like my favorite. I love the newborn squishy cuddlebug stage that Colson is in. I love when they put on their baby fat and start interacting with you. I love when they start to crawl and then walk. And I'm totally loving toddler-hood that Emma's in right now. Don't get me wrong...it is a HARD stage, filled with lots of training, consistency, patience testing, and discipline. But it is also so so so so so much fun. Her personality is really coming out and she's talking non-stop. I was telling Jarred recently how much it amazes me that she is just soaking up new words like a sponge. I feel like I'm constantly thinking to myself "when did you learn THAT word??" We'll be doing something and she'll pop out this word that I haven't said or talked about in days. It is seriously amazing how her little mind must be working overtime, processing everything, making connections, and learning like crazy. She's putting together 3 and 4 word sentences right now and seems a little advanced for her age in verbal skills (I really have no idea if she actually is or not, but most of her little buddies aren't talking quite as much as she is....in private. If you would come visit, my shy girlie probably won't say a word.) I don't want to forget the cute way she says so many things right now so I thought I'd post a few that I love most.

*songin = singing. If she's singing, she'll tell me "I songin Mommy."
*nuggle = snuggle. Often after her nap, she'll ask me to nuggle with her on the couch. I eat it up.
*sfire = pacifier
*shfing-ers = fingers.
*hannies = hands
*poh = playdoh

There's more, but I can't seem to think of them off the top of my head. Must be memory loss due to extreme heat. For those of you who have air conditioning, count your lucky stars. Yesterday was a little more bearable because the humidity went down and we put in our upstairs window unit. But let me just tell you.....nursing a baby in heat and humidity is not.fun.at.all. :)

Daddy Time!

Oh Lord have mercy, just as I started to upload the pictures for this post, Emma started "nursing" her baby doll. I wondered how long it would take before she started making comments, asking questions and getting curious about why Colson doesn't eat like she does. Oh my....

Are you loving the nice weather we've had this weekend? Last summer, my father-in-law started working on a deck for the back of our house. It's not quite finished (it needs a railing and the pergola needs to be painted/stained), but we LOVE it. We had our first evening out on the deck Saturday night with friends and ended up lighting the tiki torches and relaxing out there long after they had left and it got dark. I have been known to complain once or twice about our house, but this deck redeems it for me. I could spend every evening out there this summer I think. :)

In my last post I had mentioned that Jarred's work schedule might slow down in a few weeks and I wanted to do something as a family to celebrate. The next day he mentioned that he was planning on taking the day off on Sunday! A whole day off is a rare thing for him so we lived it up having him around. 

He had a tooth pulled this week so I had gotten pancake mix to make as a mushy breakfast food. I still had some leftover so I decided to make some for breakfast. At the last minute I realized that I also had some chocolate chips in the cabinet so we threw them in and had a yummy breakfast. Emma thought having chocolate for breakfast was pretty awesome. Not to mention the fact that she thought we were having "cake" because all she heard when I said "pancake" was the cake part. She was beside herself excited!

While I was up in the middle of the night feeding Colson, I had decided that it'd be fun to do a picnic lunch together. We had been given a picnic basket as a wedding gift, but haven't used it yet. So after church, we threw together some sandwich things and headed off to the park.

(Can you see the look on Jarred's face? haha he was thrilled about my photo op) I think Emma ate about 4 bites and then was telling us she was "all gone" which means she was all done eating. We ate under a pavilion right next to the playground so she was focused on getting to those slides a.s.a.p!!

(Daisy, our dog, came along to the park too. It really was a family affair! Jarred tried to get her to go down the slides, but she wouldn't do it.) 

It was such a fun day. We came home and all took naps (well Emma, Colson and I did and Jarred held Colson while he slept which was really special for him). Days like this make me wish my husband had a "normal" job where he worked through the week and had weekends off. I can't even imagine what it'd be like to have him around all day long for 2 whole days, every week! But that's not where we're at right now and since that isn't our norm, it makes the times that he is off for a whole day extra special and fun! I'm so thankful for this surprise family day!

And for those of you who know my hubby, you know his insane Turkey Hill addiction, so you'll enjoy this. (For those of you who don't know him....it's bad. I mean, really bad. He drinks about a gallon every other day. That's all I'll say about that.) Anyway, he thinks this is the best thing yet. Daddy's girl wants to be just like him, drinking "Daddy Juice." :)

I should probably mention that she's only pretending. The lid was still on. Between pretending to guzzle iced tea and breastfeeding baby dolls, this girl is a hot mess. I sure hope she doesn't show off any of her "talents" at the church nursery. How embarrassing.....we really do try to be good role models. haha!

A little of this, a little of that

Don't you just want to eat him up? Between the jeans
and the shoes, it's too much for me! :)
Thanks Jenny for loaning these!

Colson had his one month doctor visit yesterday and we've got a 10lb-er folks. He's 10lbs exactly (52%), 22in long (65%) and he's got a little head like his sister (I forgot that exact measurement and percentile). He's healthy, strong, and doing perfectly well! Praise God for a great report!

You guys, potty training boot camp worked a little TOO well I'm afraid (just kidding!) Maybe I should open my boot camp up to other parents and get a little second income going... :) Totally kidding! Really Emma was just ready and I didn't do much other than let her run around the house naked (yikes!) for a few days and do a little reward system. Anyway, my lovely little lady is so potty trained that she's been getting up 2 or 3 times a night to use the bathroom. We totally didn't expect this! She can't get on and off the potty by herself and we have to help her each time so it feels a little bit like we have 2 newborn sleepers in our house. Thankfully, Jarred's been in charge of Emma and I've got Colson so I'm not doing it all by myself. 

I've been dreaming about the day when Jarred's work schedule slows down (relatively speaking) in a few weeks and we can actually spend time with him. I'd love to do something fun with our family to celebrate and enjoy each other. Any fun ideas? or rather....any fun extremely cheap ideas?? We could always go to our family cabin for a night or two, but I was thinking maybe you guys would have some other more creative ideas! 

One Month of Handsome -ness

Colson, you are ONE MONTH OLD!

I can barely believe that you've been a part of our world (outside my belly) for over four weeks now. Time is flying and we are enjoying every single second of life with you!

Your "stats":

*I'm not sure how big you are...we'll find out when you go to the doctor on Wednesday. I'm guessing you're around 10lbs!

*You are officially in size one diapers and transitioning from newborn clothes to 0-3months.

*You exclusively breastfeed and we've settled into a nice little routine. You eat every 3 hours during the day and then I just let you sleep as long as you will at night. And speaking of sleeping......

Last night you slept through the night for the first time!!!! You've been doing 5 or 6 hour stretches since about 2.5 weeks, but last night you slept from 9pm - 5am. I think that counts (at least in my book!). You are an even better sleeper than your sister was which is so hard for me to believe. Everyone told me that since she was so great, we were going to get nailed with the second. But we are breaking that word curse in the name of Jesus little buddy...you are an unbelievably fantastic baby and I am believing that you will grow into a strong man of God!

You have your first little cold (you can thank your sister for sharing it with you) and it's so sad to hear your little stuffy nose sounds. It's worst at night so last night I let you sleep in your bouncy chair instead of flat in your crib (and I think you liked it....hello 8 hours of sleep!). The cold is also making you throw up sometimes after feeding. It's giving me deja vu of the newborn days with Emma, but I'm pretty sure it's just because of the congestion.

It is a privilege to be your Mommy, Colson and I have loved every single moment of this first month. I kiss your chubby little cheeks and sniff your sweet little breath and hair 800 times a day. I can't get enough of your littleness and know how fast you'll turn into a little boy. I am finding a balance between soaking up all of your little newborn-ness and looking forward with eager anticipation all of the fun that lies ahead of us. 

And just for fun, here's a comparison of you and your sister at the same age. Her picture isn't great but what do you think....any family resemblance?

Do the Potty Dance

Has anyone else seen the Huggies Potty Dance commercials? That song gets stuck in my head every time I see it. Just in case you haven't heard it yet, here's a link for your listening pleasure. This isn't the commercial I've seen recently, but it's the right song. You're welcome.

I digress.

The whole point of this post was to tell you that boot camp has commenced and I am the proud parent of a potty trained toddler. (I feel like I should have a bumper sticker.) I'm not sure at what point it's considered fully potty trained. We're still putting diapers on Emma at naptime and bedtime so maybe you don't think that counts. Oh well. But in my book, it counts because she's telling us when she needs to use the bathroom and she's not really having many accidents and I think that's pretty darn good for a little lady who's not even 2 yet. :) It's a little stressful for me still because basically when she says she needs to go....she needs to go. NOW. So outings are a little tricky because I can't drop everything and take her immediately to the bathroom (like when I'm driving.) But today at Gap she told me she needed to go in the dressing room, we found a bathroom, someone was in there so we had to wait a minute, and she still held it and made it to the potty. I was so proud! So I'm declaring her potty trained. woot woot!

3 Weeks

Colson is 3 weeks old!

It hit me yesterday that my little boy is almost a month old and Emma is going to be 2 in LESS THAN A MONTH! Holy moly, how did this happen?!?!

*Colson is still wearing newborn diapers. He is probably ready for size one, but we still have quite a few newborn ones left and he's not leaking through them yet so I'm trying to use them up!

*He is wearing newborn sized clothes (of which we don't have very many things so I'm constantly putting the same things on him over and over again.) Part of me can't wait until he can fit in 0-3 because he has so many cute outfits that I can't wait to see him in, but I also know that this teeny tiny stage is so fleeting so I'm soaking it up while he's still little.

*He is eating every 3 hours during the day.

*At night, this boy is a champion. He typically does 4-6 hour stretches at so I'm getting up only once a night. It's amazing and believe me, I know how amazingly lucky I am. My husband is forever grateful we've been blessed with 2 great sleepers. I am an absolute grizzly bear if I don't get enough sleep. Sad but true.

*Colson is starting to get baby chub. The backs of his hands have those finger dimples (do you know what I mean?) and he's working a double chin like nobody's business. So cute. I wish I could pull off chub like he does. But unfortunately my double chin isn't so cute. :) In the comparison picture above, I think he looks thinner in his 3 week picture but I think it's just because he's more scrunched down in his 1 week shot. He's definitely growing well!

Emma wanted her picture taken too so here you have it.

She had been crying and whining about it while I was taking pictures of her brother which is why you may notice tears on her cheeks. Managing two little ones is not an easy feat. I have so much respect and admiration for all my mommy friends who have 3, 4, 5 kiddos. I'm learning each day and we're figuring it out slowly but surely. I just have to laugh some days when things are just NOT working. Yesterday morning I tried to get groceries and other household things at Target. Things started out so peacefully....Colson sleeping in the carseat, Emma sitting in the basket and me gathering our things. Then Colson woke up and desperately wanted out of his carseat and Emma started saying "down, down, down." I picked up Colson while pushing the cart and then notice that the reason Emma wanted down was because she had wet her pants. Oh man. We quickly purchased our items and I took my screaming baby and wet toddler out to the car. Life with 2 little munchkins definitely isn't dull, that's for sure! :) 

Sunday Stuff

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

*To celebrate Mother's Day, Colson was up a little more last night (I told myself he just wanted to hang out and see me....isn't he sweet?). He woke up at 4:45am wide awake and then his sister got up at 5:15am. I hope  think we'll take morning naps today. Emma is sick with a cold so I'm home with the kids instead of sharing our germs at church. 

I love these little munchkins and am so incredibly blessed to be their mommy.

*I'm trying to work on my header and used Picnik (thanks Katie for the suggestion!) but as you can tell....it's HUGE! haha I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong and/or how to fix it. Any suggestions?

This occupied her for almost an hour - great warm day activity!

*We're in potty training boot camp around here these days which means if you would happen to stop by, you'd see a naked little bottom running around. We've been "training" for about 3 days and she's done so well for just starting. She was telling me when she needed to use the potty and only had 1 or 2 accidents per day. Then yesterday happened. Daddy was off work in the afternoon and her cousins were visiting so we spent a LOT of time outside. We kept asking her if she needed to use the potty but she was too stubborn and didn't want to quit playing outside so she had like 4 accidents. I know it's pretty normal for kids to go through that but I'm hoping she gets it figured out fast and this isn't a long process.

*I am in limbo land of post-pregnant body and have NOTHING that fits. Maternity clothes are too big, but I don't fit in my normal clothes yet. I squeezed into one pair of jeans (my post-pregnancy pants I got after I had Emma), but I had major muffin top and felt gross all day because I hate having love handles and feeling all squished into pants. I can't decide if I should go get a few things to wear until I lose the weight or if it's not worth spending the money and I should just wait it out. I lost the weight really quickly with Emma, but I think a lot of my weight with her was water weight that just went away. I gained a little more this time and I just feel like it's going to take a little longer and a little more work/self control on my part.

*Speaking of self-control and weight loss...you guys should try this! Make a brownie mix, pour half of the mix into the pan and lay Symphony chocolate bars on top of the mix. Then pour the rest of the brownie mix to cover and bake as usual. It is amazingly yummy and so easy!

And I'll leave you with this little treasure of a photo. :) Emma and Colson's Grandpa recently purchased this lovely little lawn ornament to keep the birds away (I think?) Anyway, my daughter is obsessed with the thing. ha!

Colson Scott - his name story

I was planning on doing a post of Colson's newborn pictures, but then I realized that almost all of you are friends with me on Facebook so you've seen my favorites already. So I decided to combine to posts: why we chose the name Colson Scott and I'll throw in some newborn pictures just because he's so darn cute and I like to look at him. :)

I LOVE to think about names. My hubby on the other hand doesn't "love" it. He's a very practical guy so he doesn't like to come up with names until we know whether we're having a girl or a boy. He figures why spend time coming up with names that we won't need. So for 20 weeks or so, I have to keep my name ideas to myself and it's torture for me! :)

 

After we found out we were having a boy, we started to toss around name ideas. We did not agree on anything. I loved the name Jack. It was my grandfather's name who passed away several years ago and I think it's a sweet little boy's name, but would transition to an adult name also. Jarred hated it. ha. The only name he liked was Parker and I hated that.

So, I began to look for names that were a similar "style" to Parker. Jarred laughs at me when I talk about the style of names...he has no idea what that means, but you are women and I'm hoping you are with me.  Names have styles. Anyway, I brainstormed a list of "Parker-ish" names and one of the names on that list was Colson. I had seen it on a random blog I came across one time and thought it was a nice name. Jarred liked it right away so I mentally stored it away as a potential name!

Names are important to me and I believe they are important to the Lord too. Over and over again in scripture, the Lord is intentional about what He names something. They have meaning and purpose and I wanted our son to have an intentional name that meant something about his life. So I began to pray about the name Colson and ask God if this was the name for our son. Colson has 2 very similar meanings: The first is "son of Nicholas." From there I looked up Nicholas and it means "Victory" so literally Colson means "son of victory." I love that as believers, we are sons and daughters of the greatest Victory ever...Jesus! The other meaning for Colson is simply "Victory." As I prayed about this name I felt God speak two things: First that our little boy would find his identity as the "son of Victory" and also that he would experience "victory" for himself through Jesus in a lot of the areas that his dad, uncles, grandfathers, etc have struggled with. (Generational stuff) I felt confirmation that Colson was to be his name so we had a first name! I love that it's not a common, overdone name, but it's also not "weird." (or at least we don't think it is..haha)

The middle name was a struggle. :) Our last name is so long so we are careful about not having crazy long names with too many syllables. Jarred really wanted his middle name to be Scott which is also his own middle name. He liked the family aspect of it and thought it was a good short name. I didn't really have a middle name that I was in love with but I wasn't crazy about Scott. It doesn't have any great meaning (Person from Scotland) and (this is so silly and shallow) but honestly it reminded me of an early 90's boy barbie name....Ken, Todd, Scott! haha So we debated and never really confirmed a middle name. After Jarred passed out in the delivery room, I figured...I can't say no to his name now! :) just kidding. I did want to honor my husband and his desire for his son's middle name and although I wasn't in looove with it, we went with Colson Scott. It's definitely grown on me and I think it's a cute name now.

How sweet is he? I think God knew I was anxious about having a boy so he gave me a ridiculously cute one with a sweet little dimple on his cheek and an easy going personality. I can't believe blessed with are with this little guy. I mean....last night, he slept a 6.5hr stretch. He's only almost 3 weeks old! Colson Scott, you are TOO good to your Momma! :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

2 Weeks - a few days late

Colson is 2 weeks old!

*In the next day or two, I have a post ready filled with 2 week old handsomeness pictures. :)

We visited the pediatrician for a weight check and it seems as though our son is making up for what his sister lacks in size. In 2 weeks, he has gained almost 2 lbs and now weighs in at a grand total of 8lb 7oz. My momma heart swelled with pride as words like "champ" and "perfect" were thrown around. :) I'm so thankful for a healthy, thriving baby!

The stats:

-Colson is wearing Newborn size diapers.

-He is wearing Newborn size clothes, and just wore his first 0-3m pj outfit last night.

-He seems to be going through the 2 week growth spurt and wants to eat about every 2-3 hours.

-He typically is sleeping 3.5 hr stretches at night.

This week has been extremely busy here on the farm. Jarred worked 79 hours this week alone and hasn't been getting home until 9 or 10pm each night. We definitely miss him but it's been a confidence booster to be on my own so much and realize that I CAN do this 2 kid thing! Each day I feel more and more at ease and settling into a routine. The other day I took the kids on our first outing to Target. I had to laugh when an older woman stopped to oogle at the baby and couldn't believe I had driven myself to the store 2 weeks after giving birth. When she was having babies, she wasn't allowed to drive for 6 weeks. She asked "And how long were you in the hospital....2 hours?!?!" :) 

This is totally unrelated, but I got a good laugh out of it and wanted to share. It's a little article about the Royal Wedding, but don't let that stop you from checking it out if you're a Royal Wedding hater. It's cute, I promise. I DID get to watch the ceremony, but not really on purpose. I didn't set an alarm, but Emma woke up right before 6am so we turned on the TV just in time to see Kate step out of the car and reveal her dress. Jarred got home after the ceremony and wanted the channel changed ASAP but I was glad to see history being made.