Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy Anniversary!

4 years ago I was getting ready to head down the aisle- tears streaming down my face thanks to Reba (who got all teary right before she headed down the aisle in front of me and totally cracked my composure), luckily they were happy tears. 4 years, 2 moves, 2 dogs, 2 kids, a menagerie of farm animals, and a world of happiness and joy. Thank you for all the blessings that have been bestowed upon my family in the last 4 years and here's hoping there will be more joy to come as we enter this new decade.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

perfect moments...


I think it is those sweet innocent perfect little fleeting moments that amke being a mom so wonderful. So many times I get wrapped up in being tired, or having too much to get done with housework, laundry, work etc that it all just seems overwhelming. And then I have one of those perfect monets of absolute joy when I look down at my little boys and realize what a blessing they are. All the screaming and and tnatrum throwing and whining dissapears in those moments and they look just like little angels. It is so amazing to watch their little minds and bodies grow and to realize that you had a hand in creating such a miracle. Today it was as simple as Xander repeating after me- I was getting him dressed as we left from daycare and he was fondling the button on my coat and I said "that's a button" and replied "button!". It was so adorable. That plus when I arrived to pick himup at daycare he can running as fast as his little feet would carry him to the door and James gave me a big grin as soon as he saw me! Aaahhh the little joys. But now James is screaming for food so I guess my moment on reflecting the joys of motherhood is over! typical...

Alexander is 19 months old!


Oh how times flies! They tell you that it does but it never really seemed to sink in for me until you are watching your kids grow up and they just change so fast! We had a sort of nice Christmas. Christmas Eve was nice but then Christmas day ended up being kind a stinker, more for Frank than me. I stayed up late when I got home from work watching the kdis open presents and such so by the time I got to bed I was wiped. James came in and ate but I was so exhausted I asked Frank not to wake me up again until to feed until I had to go to work as there was plenty of milk in the fridge. But then I guess he was kinda fussy all afternoon and then after I went to work he just got crabbier and crabbier. Finally after he had been screaming for several hours straight Frank threw in the towel and brought him to me at work so I could feed him. so after he tanked up at the breast he went home and slept for 6 blessed hours but by the end of it Frank was feeling pretty frazzled. My poor spoiled breast baby! He only took one bottle at daycare today and Frank said he only ate 2 oz when he fed him tonight so the poor little bugger is going be hungry when he wakes up- hopefully by then I will be home!

I can't believe that Xander is 19 months old- that is closer to 2 than 1 eeek! Just tonight I was talking about speech therapy and potty training at work and I realized that I don't really remember Xander at James' age- they change and grow so fast and there is just so much going on with them all the time that you forget how old they were when... I guess it is a good thing I have this blog to help me remember! It's like an online baby book for them. I think Xander enjoyed Christmas though. He didn't really get the whole Santa thing but he figured out that the pretty packages had lots of fun stuff in them pretty quickly! We spread out the opening of presents over Christmas eve and day and I think that was good for him b/c he just wanted to play with everything. I think his fav toy so far is the megablock dump wagon- it has all the things a little boy could love- legos, a wagon and a dumptruck all rolled into one! He loves his wooden train set too and the wooden cars I got him in the $1 bin at target are also a huge favorite! Frank tried to take Xander sledding on Christmas eve but that wasn't such a big hit. He liked it better on the toboggan than on the sled but I think sometimes when he gets all bundled up and ready to outside he can barely move and that really bothers him.

And lastly in big news James slept in his crib in his room last night for the first time. We are trying to establish good sleep habits earlier with him than we did with Xander so since recently he has been sleeping pretty long stretches at night we decided better now than never and into his crib he went. And he slept for about 9:30-4 and actually went right back to sleep after eating at 4. We had to wake him up to send him off to daycare this morning. Unlike Xander I think James is not much of a morning person- he takes after him mommy in that respect! Hopefully we can work Jame sin to the evening routine so that both boys are heading to bed at the same time so me and Frank can get some chores done or (gasp) get a little extra sleep!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!



So this year I had to work Christmas Eve and Day again(long story....) but at the last minute they decided they didn't need 4 of us and I was able to split the shift with one of my co-workers so she worked the first half of Christmas eve and I came in at 11pm. I still have to work Christmas night too but it gave me some extra time to spend with the family at home. We got to go to church, come home and have our shrimp dinner, and then open some of our presents before I had to go to work. We'll open the rest of our presents when I get home in the morning. I think it actually worked out well b/c that way we get to pace Xander a bit.. he'd open a present and then want to play with it. Next year I think that Christmas will take all day just to open presents!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

falling asleep...


Why do kids always look so darn cute when the are sleeping. It's like the devil in them takes a nap too and the angel gets to shine through! I swear the only time Xander stops moving is when he is asleep. My favorite part about this pic is that he never let go of his biscuit!

Friday, December 18, 2009

James is three months old!


How time flies! James is three months old and now weighs 14 lbs 6 oz- what a chunk! Xander is going to need to do some hefty growing otherwise J is going to catch up. Xander weighed in at 24.8 lbs- of course these are unofficial measurements done at work tonight where I had to return to sign something b/c we have a new charting system and I screwed up my delivery record- lesson learned, Don't leave work until your delivery record is signed and completed otherwise you will have to go back!!!!! Oh well it gave me the chance to run some errands and finish all that last minutre christmas stuff. I did however survive my first full week back at work and it wasn't terrible. I did find out the hard way that I have to drag my butt out of bed by 1 on the last day otherwise I won't be able to sleep that night and the next day totally sucks! But now I remember why I need to get up by 1...

Monday, December 14, 2009

happier news

In happier farm related news Molly is pregnant which means that Alexander should have an early birthday present of a new calf. Spring should be a busy time on the farm with Molly due to calf and the sheep due to lamb and me to have a new flock of duck/chickens. Heck maybe by then we'll be ready for some baby geese- MJ is getting big so hopefully she'll start laying sometime! Too bad Xander isn't old enough for his first 4-H calf yet b/c it would be so cool if they had birthdays close together- oh well. We'll start him getting to know this calf so that by the time he is old enough to be a cloverbud and actually have his own calf he will be well versed in caring for an animal. Sadly though I think he has to be 8 so we have a ways to go!

Oh and James survived his first day at daycare. I survived my first weekend at work and Frank "survived" his first weekend of being alone with both kids all night long. Unfortunetly I think that Sat night went better than Sun- he seemed pretty beat when I got home this morning. Actually he was sleeping on the couch and it sounded like he hadn't actually been able to sleep in bed all night. Apparently Xander wa sup so he slept in the chair with him for a while and then as soon as he got X down, then James decided to be fussy. I came home to find them on the couch with James passed out on his chest! They were so cute. So Daddy got to go to his own bed for about 45 minutes before he had to get up and go to work. This too shall pass and hopefully James will get better about taking a bottle and settling back down afterwards but unfortunetly he always seems pretty fussy after the 4am feeding even when I have him so... I guess we'll have to hope that he will just grow out of it. I need to check the Ferber book and see when he is old enough to let him fuss a little- this time I am determined to train him early to fall asleep on his own!

Another one bites the dust...

Effie died yesterday. Frank tied her up in the barn so the vet could come and preg check her and Molly and Lucy. When he went out the barn last night she had hung herself on the rope he used to tie her. It's such an awful and senseless way for her to go. I'm so sad that our sweet little heifer is gone.

Friday, December 11, 2009

James is 12 weeks old!

I can't believe that James is already 12 weeks old! I can't believe it is already time for me to go back to work! In some ways I am ready- it will be nice to have to use my brain again and to actually be able to engage in conversation instead of having to unravel Xander's babbling and to get a paycheck but I am sad to see this time with my boys come to an end. I hate the idea of someone else raising my kids but at the same time I know myself well enough to realize that I am not cut out to be a stay at home mom. Kudos to all you SAHMs b/c I just can't do it! So back to work Sat night- hopefully I haven't forgotten how to do my job and I can manage to stay up all night long!

James is becoming such a big boy these days. He spending less time sleeping and more time soaking it all in. He has the best smile and always seems to grin at you when you need a little pick me up. He's cooing a lot now too- more so than I remember Xander doing at that age. He recognizes me and Frank and always gives us big grins. I love it when first thing in the morning we wake up together and he looks up and me and smiles- then crys b/c he is starving! He hasn't been so great about taking a bottle the few times we have tried it so here's hoping for Frank's sake that he figures it out quickly otherwise Daddy is going to have a rough weekend. He's already trying to sit up- not at all sucessfully of course- but he keeps trying to pull himself more upright whenever you are sitting with him. I'm not ready for another early walker but I'm not sure with Xander as an example that James will be content to just sit aorund- he's going to need to learn to get out of the way of the older brother! He has finally found his hands though. He still own't take a paci but had taken to sucking on his index and middle finger. It doeasn't work when he gets really t'd off but at least he is able to self soothe a bit. I'm working on getting him to nap in the crib b/c I'm guessing we'll try to transition to the crib at night fairly soon.


Xander is getting so grown up... we had his 18 month photos taken last week and he looks like a little boy instead of a baby. I was looking at his 12 montha nd 18 month photos side by side and realizing that my oldest baby isn't really a baby any more. He running around and climbing comnstantly and pretty soon I swear he is going to just spit out full sentances. He is saying a few words now but he babbles on and on like he is ahving a conversation with you and gets very upset when you don't understand. he does a lot of pointing and saying see and this- although I am not sure he actually means see and this when he is pointing. He is saying ball very consistently now (and insistently) and yesterday I think we mastered the concept of more but he hasn't got it down consistently. Da da he has had for awhile but he finally managed ma ma and of course every morning Hi James! I can't tell if he totally adores his baby brother or if he is just keeping his enemies close!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

My sweet boys...


When Xander isn't trying to sit on James, smother him or steal his socks (which he had already gotten one by the time I took this picture) he really does love his little brother. James was sitting on the couch and Xan climbed right up to give him a hug!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A day in MO

Well the first that Xander did today after breakfast and wreaking havoc in the house for a bit was to go for a ride
on the combine with Uncle Luke- as you can see his wreaking havoc must have been exhausting b/c he only made it two rounds on the combine before passing out! After his combine nap he came back and played on the computer for a bit- he likes it much better though when the computer is actually on.
After playing on the computer we went into town to pick up Uncle Kurt from school and went out to dinner with Grandma. Then Grandma went home and mommy and daddy got to go to the movies by ourselves!!!!!!! whoo hoo. Apparently Xander fell asleep on the way home and then sacked out on the couch. At one point he rolled off the couch, hit the floor, and didn't even wake up! Aahh the joys of being a toddler. The poor kiddo was probably exhausted b/c despite the current selection of pictures he has slept very little since we have been here! So much for mommy and daddy catching up on sleep- apparently the one hour time change meant for some serious jet lag in Alexander's case.


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Xander's 18 month apt and James' 2 month apt

So mommy survived a marathon trip to the Dr today! I couldn't decide if it would be better to go twice or just to get it all over with in one whack so I went with the one whack approach and we survived! So today Xander weighs 22 lbs 13 oz, is 31 in tall and has a head circumference of 18 1/4 in- which ta da puts him in the gasp 10% percentile! Whoo hoo we broke into the double digits! James weighs 12 lbs 10 oz- eeek, thsat means he weighs half as much as his MUCH older brother! He is 23 1/4 in long(apparently he got all the tall genes) and his head circumference was 15 3/4 in. This puts hjim 50-60th% for size. Everyone got shots- routine vaccines for James and Xander got flu shots and a DTAP- we put off the rest of his vaccines so he didn't have to get too many shots today and since he has to go back for the 2nd dose of the H1N1 in a month he can get the last routine vaccine then. So after the dr everyone came home and took a nap- wheew. But both boys were seriously cranky when they woke up. James screamed for an hour straight- which is very unlike him, but he was passing some stinky gas so I don't know if it was the shots or the gas that was bothering him. He finally chilled after being in the moby for awhile. Turns out Xander's problem was that he was hungry but I was so distracted with James' screaming that it took me longer than usually to figure it out. Everyone is quiet now though- yeah!

And to all those who say how much bigger James is than Xander I will remind you that at 2 months Xander was 12lbs 4 oz and was 23 1/2 in long so he weighed about the same and was 1/4 in longer! So we'll see what happens when he starts crawling/walking. I'm so curiopus whether I'll have 2 skinny kids or whether Xander will be wearing James' hand me downs!

So we are all packed for MO and I am so impressed with myself that I managed to pack all our stuff into 2 suitcases and 2 carryons with a little room to spare for those added things I am sure I will think of tomorrow! All that is left is to pack the tolietry bag- and even better all bags are underweight! Too bad that when I checked in for our flight Frank ended up in the B group- luckily I am and A so we can still board earlier- it doesn't really matter as long as we get to sit together and with 2 little ones I am sure everyone else on the plane will want us to sit together too!

Well Xander is awfully quiet so I had better see what trouble he is getting into!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Friday, November 13, 2009

James is 8 weeks old!

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are having our belated Halloween Party tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be terrible so hopefully at least some people will be able to come. Then next week we are off to MO for Thanksgiving. I have spent the last week shoveling the house- how sad is it that it took me and entire week, and sending Xander to daycare 2 days, in order to actually get my house clean enough to allow people to come and visit. Now the trick is to keep it this way! I think it will be hardest when we come back from MO with the unpacking and everything. I only have 2 more rooms to tackle- the bedroom and guest bedroom escaped the cleaning and boy can you tell!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

James is seven weeks old and Xander makes his 2nd trip to the ER!

Sometimes I just totally hate blogger- I had a huge long post typed and supposedly saved and when I went to move one of the pictures the whole darn thing crashed on me- ggrrrrgrgrgrggr
So anyway... I can't believe my little bit is already 7 weeks old- eeek! And he is such a smily little guy! Xander decided to celebrate James' 7 week birthday by slipping and falling in the tub- hitting his head on either the edge of the tub or the faucet I'm not sure which- and splitting open his forehead. At first it was bleeding like crazy and I was a bit concerned- mind you the fact that both kids were screaming bloddly murder and Xander and I were both naked having just been in the tub didn't help the situation! But by the time we left for the hospital the bleeding had basically stopped but I was worried that he might need stitches. They ended up just using dermabond to glue it back together which was so much less painful than stitches would have been so thank goodness! We actaully got in and out of there pretty quickly and Xander tolerated all the poking and prodding pretty well! Milk is a wonderful soother.
Today we spent most of the day down at the ELM b/c Frank was organizing the Soccer Jamboree. Luckily it was a lovely day and Xander seemed to be his normal self running around like a crazy child, bouncing in the bouncy house, playing with soccer balls, and clambering on the playground. James was easy today just chilling out- as opposed to yesterday when he wanted to be held ALL DAY LONG! The plan for the rest of the weekend is to clean, clean, clean in order to get ready for the party next Saturday!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

From Drab to Fab...


So the first picture in this series is what Alexander's room looked like before we got going on it. Totally fine but kinda drab- although as we discovered as we got redecorating there were quite a few holes in the walss, etc. It looked like some little boy had taken a BB gun to the walls. But now poor James is already getting hand me downs as Alexander gets to move out of the nursery and into his newly remodeled and redecorated FABULOUS room! I think this room turned out very nicely and works so well. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Linnebringer for all your hardwork painting, rewiring etc- we totally would not have been able to get this actually finished without your help.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Xander goes trick or treating...

So last night was Halloween, obviously, and we took Xander trick or tretaing for the first time! He was so cute. He didn't quite get it at first but by then end he had figured out that if you walk up to the house and hold out your bucket then people will put nifty things into it! It was very warm and despite the rain it was nice to be able to take Xander on his first Halloween outing. He's too young to say anything of course but he was so cute in his penguin suit. After trick or treating we went over to our friends Sean and Jen's house, where we stayed up WAY too late (Xander included). Xander changed into his superman suit for their party b/c his penguin suit was soaked! Poor Frank was feeling pretty rough as he has been fighting a cold for what seems like weeks but it was so nice to have some adult conversation that I just kept yaking and yaking with the girls! Hopefully he will eb able to catch up on some sleep today. My goal is to hit the after ahlloween sales and stock up on supplies for our party- he he he!





Saturday, October 31, 2009

James is six weeks old- Happy Halloween!

Let me count the ways that I am so incredibly glad that I do not have to go back to work next week! As crazy as it is to think that my little bit is already six weeks old and my mat leave is already half over- if it was over I think I would go off the deep end! So thank you for my loving hubby who realizes that us being insanely poor for the next 2 months (or more) is so worth the added bonus of my sanity! I feel like it took me a month or so to really feel like myself again after James' birth and now I am working on trying to get us into a routine. Now granted that routine will have to change a bit once I go back to work but... at least we will have a jumping off point.

James is doing well- he weighs 10lbs 13 oz these days. Xander is so incredibly sweet with him- constantly trying to pick him up and hold him and love him. He hasn't actually picked him up yet- thank goodness- but he is always hugging and kissing him. Poor James usually ends up with a very slobbery face after Xander is through with him. The other day I was in the kitchen and James was on the couch and xander was playing. The couch used to be a safe away place for James to be but Xander has now figured out how to climb up on it- sigh... so anyway I was in the kitchen and I heard James start crying, realized Xander wasn't with me in the kitchen anymore and rushed into the living room to make sure he wasn't attacking James. OMG- so cute Xander was sitting on the couch next too (ok well partially on top of James b/c he has no respect for anyone's personal space let alone his brothers) and was holding the pacifier in James' mouth. Now James doesn't have any particular fondness for the paci so this didn't help his anger but it was so adorable! Since then I have noticed that whenever James crys Xander usually stops what he is doing to make sure you are doing something about it and if you don't immediately he will try to "help". What a good big brother!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween! I'll try to make sure and remeber to take pics of the kids in their costumes later!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

So much for clean clothes!

So Xander has this tendency to get really quiet when he is doing something he probably shouldn't be doing. This morning things went really quiet so I went looking for him and at first couldn't find him. Then Frank realized he had left the gate at the bottom of the stairs open and he went upstairs looking. He gets to the top of the stiars and I hear "what are you doing?????" in a very shocked and amazed tone. Then he says you'd better come see this.. so I head upstairs to find:

Friday, October 16, 2009

James is four weeks old!




Oh my goodness how times flies! I can't believe the little bit is already a month old. It doesn't seem to me like he has grown all that much but I was at work the other day picking up my sad and pathetic paycheck and I put him on the scale just to see and he weighed 10 lbs 7oz- eek! Now granted that was with clothes and a diaper on so subtract some off of that but still.... He is going to catch up with Xander if he keeps growing at this rate. Wouldn't that be hilarious if Xander ended up wearing James' hand me downs. Grandma and Grandpa Linnenbringer are here visiting and we are madly painting away (well let's be honest Grandma is madly painting away) in Xander's big boy room so James will hopefully be able to move into the nursery after the new carpet gets installed next week and we put the room back together. I do have pics and someday I will actually get them uploaded!

Friday, October 9, 2009

James is three weeks old!


Well my little bit isn't so little anymore! I took him to the Dr this morning just for weight check to make sure he had regained his birth weight and the kiddo weighed 4.4 kg, which equals 9 lbs 11oz! I'd say he regained his birth weight alright- and then some!!! I have some cute pics on my camera from this morning which I will upload hopefully this weekend. Here's hoping the boys sleep better this weekend than they have the last few nights. Our entire household was awake this morning from 3am-5am and James and I didn't get back to sleep until 6! Luckily Xander slept in after that but now I am afriad that nap/sleep schedule is totally out of wack! I'm hoping that we can regain some semblance of normalcy over the next week or so. I think Xander is regressing a bit b/c he has woken up in the middle of the night every night this week except one I think. I don't know if he hears the baby and thinks that he needs attention too or what but last night poor Frank had the devil of a time trying to get him to go back to sleep! Add on top of it that he got his first dose of the flu shot today and it could be another interesting night! Ok little bit needs to be fed so off I go...

Friday, October 2, 2009

James is two weeks old!

Aren't my boys beautiful! ..ignoring of course the scrunched up look on James' face. My mother has taken to calling them vanilla and chocolate..he he he. Xander has gotten really good about holding James and not attacking him too much- he still likes to pinch his nose sometimes but we're working on it! It's so funny to have two boys who looks so much alike but at the same time look so completely different! We'll see where we end up personality wise!

Congratulations to Diane and Laurent on the birth of their beautiful son- Arthur! He is only 8 days younger than James so hopefully someday we will be able to visit and our boys can be friends! We miss you guys!!!!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Brothers....


Everyone keeps asking me who James looks like and I think the answer is Alexander- with obvious coloring differences. Then again he has elements of Frank (skin tone) and elements of me mixed in with a bit of his Uncle James. But really he looks like Xander. Here are my boys at 4 days old- although James is jaundiced and Xander wasn't and since James outweighs Xander by over a pound he is a bit chubbier!

Friday, September 25, 2009

James is one week old!

Our newest little man is one week old today- it just doesn't seem possible! He went to the Dr yesterday for a weight check. He weighs 8lbs 6 oz, which is up 4 oz from his hospital discharge weight so we know the little piggy is eating well! They measured him at 20.25 inches so either he grew a whole bunch or he was really a little longer when he was born- he doesn't like to stretch out his legs very much so... He is still jaundiced but it seems to be resolving on its own and he is doing a lot of peeing and pooping so no light therapy or further testing needed- thank goodness! Today he went back to the hospital for his circumcision- poor little dude! But he tolerated it very well- he actually only cried when they strapped his legs down and has been passed out every since. I've had to wake him up to eat!

Recovery has been slow for me- a lot slower than with Alexander but I didn't have a 15 month old running around when X was born... The bleeding has finally slowed down after a 3 day course of methergine so hopefully not bleeding will help me regain some energy. I've just been very tired and sore and achy all over! But in happy news I've already lost 20 lbs of my pregnancy weight so it just goes to show you how much water your body is capable of retaining!

I posted more pics on facebook!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Alexander is a big brother!


James Edward Linnenbringer
September 18, 2009 @ 6:57
8lbs 10 oz, 19 1/4"
going home tomorrow, more details to come...

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Xander's 15 month appointment!

So Fri I took Xander to the dr for his 15 month well-child visit. I feel like such a boob when the dr asks me if I have any questions and I'm like, huh no should I? I guess I feel like he is doing well and growing etc etc so what do I need to ask about... of course as soon as I leave the dr office I always think of 15 things I should have probably asked- oh well! So the peanut now weighs 21.2 lbs and is 30.5 in long- which puts him in the 8th % for weight and the 30thish % for height so he is a peanut but not a shrimp! And his head is growing like it should. My mom is here visiting and baysitting and she brought with her a memory book that May's daycare did for her last year- such a cute and sweet idea! But they took her measurements at the beginning of the last school year and I thought it was interesting to see that she and Xander were almost the exact same size at the same age- she weighed .4lbs more and was 1/2 in shorter. So apparently smaller kids run in the family!

In other news I finally turned him forward facing in his car seat- I was having this great debate b/c it is safer to have them rear facing and my car seat says 22 lbs to forward face but honestly it was becoming a space issue. The poor kid had no place to put his feet b/c they were jammed up against the seat. Plus I finally installed the baby's car seat in my car and I am going to need the mirror for the new one so... I think Xander thinks it is pretty cool b/c he gets to see what is going on better!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Picture Heavy!!!!!!


Xander and I were playing outside the other day and I got some lovely pics of him so I promised I'd share! He was having way too much fun climbing all over the mower of the tractor. Of course as soon as I brought the camera out he decided that he needed to come and try to steal it out of my hand! Plus some photos of the menagerie!



The as yet unrenamed ewes- tasty and yummy just don't seem to work well as names when you keep them as pets!







Xander and Cassie- Xan was being such a good boy and being so gentle and Cassie almost crawled into his lap- she was loving all the attention!






Xander helping mommy pick zucchini- the poor zuke did make it into the house but it had plenty of bruises!


Molly




Shish and Bob


Thursday, August 27, 2009

Surprise!

There are times when I wonder what life would have been like if Frank and I had stayed in the city- surely it would be very different, not better not worse but different. But it is nights like tonight when I am truly grateful that we made the decision to move back to the "country." We have managed to find such a nice community of friends and neighbors here who last night threw me a surprise baby shower! It was so sweet. I felt like such a dumb ass walking in and being like ooh a baby shower..OMG it's for me! I totally didn't get it at first! So yes ladies I was very surprised! So despite the fact that she can be a HOLY terror most of the time I guess we have Cassie to thank for dissapearing into Lynn and Bruce's general direction and Lynn just happening to be out on her porch with Molly when Frank went looking for her and striking up a conversation with him and for Jen being such a wonderful extrovert that she looked us up and invited us over that same night! Thank goodness for coincidences..and runaway dogs! I'm so glad that my children will have such a wonderful community of neighbors to grow up in!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Adding to the menagerie!

Well the menagerie..uuu huumm, I mean Farm.. has had several new additions over the past few weeks. First there were the ducks, then the geese, then the chickens, and most recently 2 new cows- well actually a cow and a heifer if you want to be precise. So we are now the proud owners of 4 sheep- 2 ewes named tasty and yummy (really they need some new names but since you can't really tell them apart...we haven't yet bothered) and 2 ram lambs named Shish and Bob (as in shish kebob...I know we have very morbid naming tendencies...). 4 muscovy ducks- we think 3 females and a drake (we hope...) as yet unnamed. A goose and a gander named MJ and Grimm (MJ is short for Mother Goose but Frank decided that MG sounded weird so MJ it became...). 7 chickens I think- 3 Rhode Island Reds and some red Stars who currently number 4 but as they are free ranging they have a tendnecy to become coyote food...chicken juts don't seem to do all that well on our place. And then there is the herd... At the moment we have Bert the Bull visitng with hope of actaully having calves next year. Then there are Fame and Linny- 2 sweet little borwn swiss heifers that are the property of 2 4Hers boarding at our place. And our 4- Molly the milking shorthorn and her calf Butch- who is the youngest yet biggest cow we have- helps that he is steer. He'll make some yummy steak next spring! And the 2 new girls Lucy and Effie- another cow/calf combo we picked up this weekend. They are Jersey girls and despite their horns are very sweet looking. Lucy is a good girl, Effie not so much. She needs some people time b/c at the moment she isn't the friendliest cow on the planet! I wanted to rename her but Frank thought Effie was appropriate b/c he called her an f-ing PITA! Someday I need to get out in the field and take some photos of Xander and the animals b/c he is so cute with them. Frank said today he was out with the rams and he walked up to them reaching out his hand and said hi, hi, hi and then baaaed! How adorable. Bob even let X pet him- he won't let us pet him! He has finally started distinguishing his animals sounds though- at first he just baaed at everything but now he appropriately baas at the sheep and moos at the cows- well it's really more of a maa instead of a moo but you get the idea! He adores all his animals- he's going to be a real farm boy like his daddy!

Oh and I think we finally have come up with a name for the farm.... Baobab Acres. We're still testing it out but so far I think we might actually be in agreement. Now all we need to do is find a name for the baby!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Six Flags

So Monday we went to Six Flags with my mom and Riley and Connor. At first I thought that Xander would be bored and he wouldn't have too much fun but in all honestly I think that he had more fun than Frank and I combined. He actually started crying when we had to get off the first ride- luckily there was no line so we just got right back on! Technically I am not supposed to go on any of the rides- including the kiddie rides- a fact that I ignored a few times but I did have some issues with the belly actually fitting in some of the rides. We did the Route 66 cars and I almost didn't fit behind the steering wheel and obviously Xander couldn't drive! But I had a good time even though I couldn't ride many rides. We went to several of the shows and we spent a good part of the afternoon swimming in the water park. Xander discovered splashing and boy did he have fun! I was a little concerned about him and the water b/c other than his bath which he loves he hasn't shown much interest in the pool/lake/swimming idea. On one of the few very hot days we have had this summer I set up the kiddie pool in the backyard thinking he would enjoy cooling off but all he did was scream bloody murder. Apparently it just wasn't hot enough b/c he went right into the pool at Six Flags and splashed and frolicked and even let me swish him around through the water. He wasn't too excited about floating on his back but other than that he enjoyed himself. It was nice going with thte big kids though b/c it meant that Frank had someone to ride the big rides with and also that I didn't have to be alone with Xan all day. All in all we had a nice day I think. It was the end to a very busy weekend though b/c we went to the Cheshire Fair thurs, fri, sat and sun and then to Six Flags on Mon! I am ready to just stay ayt home for a bit!


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

my poor, sadly neglected blog!

Where does time go? Don't you ever wonder how it happens that there just ever seem to be enough hours in the day to so all the things you want/need to do! I honestly don't know what I have been up to the past 3 weeks that have prevented me from bloggin- mostly I think it is the fact that I haven't been up to anything so why would anyone want to read about the poor minutiae of my life that has prevented me from writing. But now I feel guilty so even though I have not much to say here I am!
Most recently Frank and I have been preparing for the fair. I finally got everything packed off to the exhibition hall tonight so now we just have to wait till thurs, when I don't have to work, so we can go and see if we won any ribbons! My typical goal is to win enough prize money to cover our tickets to the fair for that year- not sure we are going to make it this year b/c of my serious lack of canning last summer! Instead of having 20+ entries for the canning department I had 2! oh well- we had flowers and veggies to put in this year and I entered a bunch of stuff in the needlework category- it won't be enough to pay for both Frank and I but it should cover one of us- I hope! yeah for cheap entertainment... of course it helps that we never even enter the midway so all we spend money on is food- so looking forward to caramel apples!
Other than that I am feeling the 3rd trimester of this pregnancy hit me with a vengeance. I feel like I could nap constantly and my hips/back are often quite uncomfortable these days. This weekend my feet had swollen up so much I couldn't get my shoes on- thanks goodness for flip flops. I had to sleep with my feet up on a pillow just to get them back to a somewhat normal size. Most recently I get this sharp stabbing pain in my right leg everytime I try to walk- poor Frank had to practically carry me to bed Sunday night b/c I was about ready to try crawling since walking was so painful. The funny part was that i discovered I could walk backwards just not forwards! Thank goodness our bedroom is on the first floor!!!!! 32 weeks down and 8 more to go-uuggggghhhh.

Friday, June 26, 2009

still trucking!

So here is our little man enjoying his lunch. I'm loving thefact that he is eating almost exclusively finger food these days. He tried to go for the silverwear (sp?) but that usually ends up being just a huge mess. But I got so tired of having to feed him every single meal and then he'd get all cranky cause he would want to do it himself- now he just gets yogurt fed to him and pretty much everything else is all him! whoo hoo. Today he was eating apple slices for the first time and he did well with no choking so we'll have to continue with those. He always suprises me with what he is able to eat. We've been trying to get him to eat more iron-rich things since he was a little anemic at his one year check up but he's not real keen on red meat, unless it's steak! or on eating green leafy veggies- broccoli got quite the face! Maybe we'll try some spinach, he he he.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

One of those weeks....

All I can say is that it has been one of those weeks. I came down with a terrible cold and haven't gotten out of bed/off the couch in days- which has left Xander to terrorize me house which now means it is a total disaster area! Then I finally summon up the courage to check my email and all there is is bad new and more bad news- well it isn't all bad but still.... One of Frank and my friends from PC has a daughter about a month ago who had Meconium Aspiration Syndrome and has been in the NICU since she was born, first on a ventilator and then ECMO. She is hanging in there which is the good news, seeing as a week ago things looked pretty grim. But then I found out one of my fellow DSDers suffered an amniotic fluid embolus during labor and is now in the ICU and it is unclear at this point whether or not she will survive- and her baby did not. She has 8 children at home and the mere thought that those kids could lose their mother just makes me feel ill! So please if you read this send some prayers out for Carri and her family! And after finding out about Carri, I learned that another good friend of mine had a kitchen fire and they are staying in a hotel while their house is being cleaned of smoke damage... I think I will just retreat back to my bed and bury my head in the sand for awhile longer.

But before I do in other news the farm finally has a truck! Frank and I are now the proud owners of a GMC Sierra 3500 crew cab pickup truck- it is seriously one of the biggest fricking pick-ups I have ever seen and it is a dually so it's wide too. It won't even fit in our garage it is so long! I'll post pix when I have them.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Alexander's one year appointment!

Alexander has his one year check-up on Monday- thank goodness that is over! He weighs 19 lbs, is 28 1/4 in long and has a head circumference of 17+ in- I can't remember the and change part- maybe a 1/2 in. Which still makes him a peanut but at least he is actually on the growth chart these days- albeit in the 5% percentile for height and weight! He is holding steady though in that 5th percentile so we'll just go with it for now. The 5 shots he got for vaccines was no fun but he hasn't had any reactions so far and didn't even have a fever afterwards so that is a relief to me. His lead level came back negative but he is slightly anemic so we'll have to start him on iron supplements for a month and then recheck his level. The Dr gave us the ok to give formula the boot so we are working on switching him from formula to "real" milk. I think the biggest challenge is to get him to drink cold milk vs warm milk. He has discovered the love of goldfish crackers and apparently was stealing them from all the kids at daycare today!

Friday, June 5, 2009

belated photos


I feel like this week has just flown by! It's been a whirl what can I say. Monday Lynn, Elaine, and I did some shopping in Keene and Grandma Lynn got Alexander a John Deere tractor ride-on for his birthday- plus some much needed socks (Thank you Grandma!). We strolled Main Street and had lunch at Keene Fresh Salad-yummy! Tuesday they headed home and Xander and I attempted to clean house and do the massive amount of laundry that had piled up over the last 2 weeks. Then Wednesday we headed over to the seacoast to return Nan's knitting and attempt to return the our busted-up suitcase only to find out that the 10 year warantee doesn't cover "airline damage." So much for our brand new expensive suitcase! We had lunch with Nikki at this very nice restaurant in Portsmouth called Ri-Ra. They took an old bank and made it into a restaurant and they did a very nice job with it! I am working this weekend and then Mon Xan has his 1 year check-up! I was hoping that he would be able to turn forward facing in his carseat since he is older than a year now but I double checked on the carseat and he has to weigh more than 22 lbs and be taller than 33 inches to forward face in it! Poor little man is going to be rear facing till he is 2! Anyway I included some pics from his birthday party and him riding the "mechanical bull" at the mall the day before! hilarious.... Plus I added pictures of Alexander's beautiful birthday cake courtesy of his Godmother Melissa- she made him the cutest little smash cake too but for some reason everytime I tried to upload photos of it, it was upside down.... silly camera. Alexander mostly just ate the frosting off of it- he didn't really get any cake until he stole mine and boy did he enjoy it!