Baking

As you know, I love to bake. But baking by yourself and baking with a 2 year old and infant are two totally different things! Nevertheless, today Reese and I made some yummy Christmas goodies to share with neighbors and friends. It's fun teaching her how to measure and pour ingredients, which things are hot, and how not to eat everything along the way! (Self-control is a HUGE task when your two! Or if your name is Wade.)

Besides a minor crisis in the middle when all the green sugar crystals fell on the floor and Beckett was screaming his head off...

we managed to get some cookies and pretzles made (with some extra "love" added by both kids ;) )

Merry Christmas!

shake it like its hot

Wow, I can't believe Christmas is less than a week away! I love this time of year for many, many reasons, but one is getting Christmas cards/pictures in the mail! (I don't love the foot of snow we just got outside.) Don't think that you've been removed from our Christmas card list, because we aren't sending any out this year. I figured we'd only be sending them to our close family and friends, and those same people all have our blog address, so to save some $$$ we'll just wish everyone a Merry Christmas from here! Maybe we'll send some out next year, if I feel up to it. But if I did send out cards this year, the above picture would for sure be on it :)

Jesus is the REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Song: Winter Song by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson
Makes me want to curl up under a blanket with a cappuccino. :)

Happy Birthday!

Happy 21st Birthday to my brother and sister

Allison and Mitchell!!!!!!

And of course, this song is also dedicated to my love, Kolby, whose birthday was on Sunday!

YouTube videos

Not much going on right now, so here's two of my favorite videos. EVER!



Oh how I miss The Soup!




So old school!

Thanksgiving 2008

All I can say is,

"What a weekend!"

Here's some pics!

The lighting ceremony at the Plaza:

Mexico Night:

Family Pictures at the Train Station:Happy Hour at the Nail Salon:Our "Un-Traditional" Thanksgiving Dinner:

Buddies:

Song: Feels Like Home by Chantal Kreviazuk

Another Poll

Online Surveys & Market Research

Polls

Online Surveys & Market Research

A Facelift!

After being ABANDONED once again by my husband, I was incredibly bored so I decided to give the blog a little facelift! The other one just seemed to have too much going on. (although I'm not sure that this one is much better...) I've also added a couple little polls for fun as well.

Have a spectacular week!

And I wanted to say hi to Miss Olivia! We can't wait 'til next week! I accidentally told Reese that we were going to see you, and now she asks me everyday when we are going. Thanks for your comments, now you'll have to teach your Aunt Mare and Uncle Roger how!!!!

Stupid Fall Harvest

I know I've already said it, (am I whining yet???) but I am SOOO ready for this fall to be over!!!!! I would never make it as a farmer's wife. Wade has been working the night shift at the co-op, which means his hours go somewhat like this: go in to work around 7pm until 8am, come home and see the fam for a little bit, sleep from 10am to 5pm, eat supper and leave for work again. I really don't like sleeping alone at night. We have a king size bed (thanks Jim and Lori!) and it seems twice as big when your the only one in it. This is the reason it's almost midnight and I am still up. I have been trying to fill my night with happy things, though, to keep my mood up.

Soo.... currently I am sipping on this >>>

(Ahh-mazing! Go buys some!), listening to this (shout out to my sister)

and watching this! (makes me want one!) Seriously. I've been watching them for 20 minutes now.

Song: That's How You Know, from the movie Enchanted

Packers 37-Bears 3

Hey all Wade here. I know I don't post a lot of stuff on here, but just thought I would share a couple of pics and comments. I'm not a huge packer fan but it was still awesome(my second game at Lambeau). My friend Nick and his brother in law Mark and his brother Shane all went to the game. We arrived there on Saturday and took a Stadium tour in the evening then went out. Then the game yesterday what a great time. I would suggest to anyone thats a Packer Fan, take the stadium tour. We got to go down on the south end of the field and walk out the same tunnel the players do, also got to check out the box seats,Very Neat.

The Internet

Can I just say...that I LOVE the internet. How did people LIVE (especially stay-at-home moms) before the internet! I was thinking about it this morning, and here are just a few reasons that I love the internet!

1. Connect! Through sites like Facebook, I can easily keep in touch with old friends, and still feel connected to people in the outside world. This is helpful on those days when I don't leave the house and I only talk to Reese! Plus email and instant messaging, communicating w/ others has become so much easier.

2. Eat! I can quickly find new, interesting recipes with sites like Allrecipes.com and Cooks.com. I can easily browse through tons of pork chop recipes to find one with ingredients that I already have in my cupboards! (which I did last night- I made apple cinnimon pork chops!)

3. Share! I can read other people's blogs and it is comforting to know that we are often all going through the same stuff. I love the food blogs, decorating blogs, personal blogs, organizing blogs BUT I specifically like other "mom blogs" who are bringing their kids up in a Christian home and often share tips on how to save money or book recommendations. These are a few of my faves:
http://amysfinerthings.wordpress.com/
http://asimplewalk.blogspot.com/
http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/
http://lifeasmom.com/
http://allthingsgd.blogspot.com/
http://hyperhomemaker.blogspot.com/
And then they each have a list of blogs on THEIR blog....it could go on forever.

4. Inquire! I often have questions or concerns about my children's development, and I am relieved that I can hop online and look it up really fast. It's also helpful to look up symptoms when you are sick. You can also look up the definition of a word or someone's address in Chicago. If you need to know how old Barack Obama is or ANYTHING at all, just Google away!

5. Play! When you are super bored, you can play games on sites like Isketch.net. There are also great sites like Noggin.com for kids, which Reese will be able to play on in no time.

6. Earn! There are a TON of websites that allow you to earn money on the internet and work from home. You have all heard me talk about ChaCha.com, but there is also Tutor.com where you can tutor students, or Opinionoutpost.com which will pay you to take surveys. They are all free to sign up, so go ahead and try them!

7. Research! I love to shop online, and many sites like Target.com have user reviews on them, so I can do a little research and find out what people are saying about the item I am looking to purchase. It's extremely helpful.

8. Which leads me to...Buy! Who doesn't love being able to shop in their pajamas and have someone bring it directly to their door?! Perfect for Iowa winters when it's too nasty to go outside.

But unfortunatley, with the good also comes the bad. We all know of the not-so-great stuff that goes on on the internet. Then, there's the fact that it can suck you in and you can spend waaay too much time on it. I'm am personally guilty of this right now! Therefore, I am ending this post right now to go read my book! ;)

Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins

So one of my new hobbies is BAKING! I never knew how much I enjoyed it until I became a mom and wife. I'm not sure which I love more: the entire process OR the fact that I get to eat yummy baked goods at the end. Recently, Reese and I have been busy making blueberry banana bread, oatmeal cookies, apple crisp, brownies, and the newest addition: Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins. YUM! It was the perfect afternoon to whip up these delicious muffins- chilly, windy and depressingly wintery. I didn't have a "mini" muffin pan so I made them normal sized and increased the time. Try them! They are awesome. :)

Mini Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins

"Canned pumpkin and butterscotch chips provide an interesting taste combination in this recipe for mini muffins."

INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1/2 cup melted butter 1 cup canned pumpkin 1 (6 ounce) package butterscotch chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease mini-muffin pan with cooking spray.
2.	Sift together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, butter, and pumpkin in a separate bowl. Mix the flour mixture with the egg mixture. Stir in the butterscotch chips; pour into each cup of the muffin pan to about 3/4 full.
3.	Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 11/8/2008

Song: Everything'll Be Alright by Joshua Radin
Heard it today on Pandora and fell in love.

Post Election Day

Well, it's all over and done with! It seemed like this election season went on forever. I could have told you a long time ago that Obama was going to win. It's simply human nature. Subconsciously, we are drawn to younger, more attractive, charismatic people. And many Americans were too lazy to actually research and find out what each candidate actually stood for. At the end of the day, the abortion issue always decides it for me. Without life, the rest of the topics are pointless. I do like Obama though, and I pray that God will help him lead our awesome country in these next 4 years!

So for all you sad folks who wanted Mr. McCain (as weird as he was...), here's is a cute little video starring Miss Reesey. Enjoy! (You may want to put the music on PAUSE for a minute to hear her sing.)



Oh, and little B is 2 months old today!
He got shots at the doctor this morning. So sad:(

Halloween and Hockey Games

Here's a couple pics from last week's hockey game that Wade and I went to w/ some friends. Wade had never been to one before, and he had soo much fun. (I had fun too, but I'm sorry, but I don't get any enjoyment out of watching boys throw punches at each other, which is inevitably part of hockey games.) It was the first time we had left both kids w/ a babysitter, and it was nice to get out for a little bit!

(Wilber the pig, from Famous Dave's)

The Blackhawks won in Sudden Death overtime :)

And last night Reese, Beckett and I went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood since it was so nice out. Reese was a kitty and Beckett was a baby. We practiced saying "Trick or Treat!" but she froze up at each door and just stood there. It was cute though. Wade is working the night shift right now drying corn, so he wasn't able to go with us. :( He has been working a ton and we miss him a lot. I know it's just for a couple of months that he works crazy hours like this, but will someone remind me NOT to have a baby right before harvest season next time?!?!?

Gymnastics

Tuesday was Reese's last day of her gymnastics class! It was a first for her, and she loved it. They worked on forward and backwar rolls, the balance beam, that bar thingy, and lots of other stuff. It was a lot of playing since, afterall, she is only 2. It was mostly something to get us out and about. We both seem to get on each other's nerves when it's just us two ALL DAY LONG. (Plus, it's way cheap since I work there.) In a week or two, we move on to Mommy and Me Yoga!

Here she is being cute:

Song: Blessed be Your Name
We sang it last Sunday at church and it's been in my head all week :)

Beckett's Baptism

Beckett was baptised today!



It's a gorgeous Fall day, my husband is in the living room watching football, both my babies are asleep, I have nothing important to do, and I feel extremely blessed right now! *close my eyes, sigh and smile*

Smiles :)

Last weekend, since my brother Gregory wasn't able to go, I got the chance to go with Allison and Mitchell to go see the comedian Jim Gaffigan in Omaha. It was REALLY funny, as we knew it would be. After the first 5 minutes my eyes were tearing up, and after about 15 minutes my face hurt from laughing so much. Afterwards, we stayed to meet him and get our picture taken w/ him. Fun! If you haven't seen or heard of him, I'd highly reccommend that you check him out! :)





And speaking of smiles, Mr. Beckett started smiling this week. He's right on track, since he's 6 weeks old today! Here are a couple of his first smiles that I tried to capture on camera. The first one doesn't really look like he's smiling, but I promise he is. And the second, yeah, I know he looks a little funny...





And while I was on ChaCha this week, someone asked me this question: Rae has $5.70 in quarters and dimes. She has 6 more quarters than dimes. How many of each coin does she have?
I am TERRIBLE at math! It took me over 5 minutes and lots of scribbling to figure it out, and in his head, it took Wade less than 30 seconds. How long did it take you???

Beckett- 1 month old

With Reese being gone for a few days, Rachel reminded me that I have no excuse to not put up some new pictures of Beckett (also known as "Little Becky" to his mama). I'm still working on a slideshow of pics from his birth, so hopefully that will be up soon, too!

Song: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

Fantastic song, love love LOVE him!!

http://www.myspace.com/jasonmraz

Just another day...

I'm still getting used to being a mom of two, and so far its been interesting/fun. Yesterday, I was called in for jury duty, so I reported to the court house at 8:30. My wonderful husband stayed home with the kids so that I could experience what it was like. I wasn't chosen, but it was definitely an interesting process and I'm glad I got to go! I was home by 12:30.

Wade had to take Reese to her gymnastics class and got to experience a morning in the "life of Liz". :) Allison, be glad that you didn't end up watching them yesterday, b/c it was crazy! Long story short, there were lots of poopy diapers, several poopy pants (Reese must have eaten something that did not allow her to "control her bowel movements"- one even required an immediate bath), and one projectile spit-up that required an outfit change. It was one thing after another!

I seriously love being a mom, but geesh! And can you believe Beckett will be 4 weeks old on Friday!?!?

Oh, and I love this song. I thought it would be appropriate for this post :)
(It seems like my "frustrated" posts always involve poop in some way!)

The Beginning of Beckett...

He'll be three weeks old tomorrow, so I've got to hurry up and write this before I forget it all!!! It's already getting hard to remember the little details of Reese's birth, so I want to make sure and record it this time. It's pretty long, sorry!

My entire pregnancy went great w/ him. I gained 33 pounds total and stayed relatively comfortable up until the last few days. I was due on Monday, September 1st, and I had my 40 week check up on Wednesday, Sept. 3rd. I was dialated to 3 cm. but not having any contractions. I wanted to go as natural as possible, including no stripping of the membranes, breaking my water, pitosin, and epidural. My midwife, Kim, told me it was fine that I wanted to wait it out, but she wanted to let me know that she was going to be out of town that weekend visiting family, so if I had the baby on Sat or Sun, she wouldn't be able to be there. I really wanted her to deliver him, so I decided to go ahead and get the ball rolling and have her strip my membranes. She gave me a hug and told me to call her if I was having contractions 3-5 minutes apart. We scheduled a follow-up appointment on Friday morning just in case nothing happened.

I definitely started something, because the rest of the day I had irregular contractions, but I tried to stay busy to keep them coming. My sister was bored in Ames so she came up to hang out w/ us while we waited. We went for a walk, played frisbee, I baked banana bread and it was looking pretty promising. They were getting closer together, and increasingly stronger, but not horrible. We had everything ready to go and called a friend of ours in case we needed to drop off Reese in the middle of the night. So we went to bed, but when I woke up Thursday morning, the contractions were gone and I felt fine again. I was so dissapointed!

They slowly started coming again in the afternoon, and were getting pretty bad by the time it was time to go to bed. Wade fell right to sleep, but I knew there was no way I would be able to. They were coming 8 minutes apart the entire night. And I didn't sleep at all. It hurt too much to lay still, so every 8 minutes I had to get up on my hands and knees, or jump out of bed and sway back and forth. It was miserable and I was so tired. I kept waiting for them to get closer together before I woke Wade up or called my midwife, but they stayed at 8 minutes the whole night. In the morning, Wade decided to go to my appointment with me, just in case. I told him we'd better bring the bags. On the way there, I got really emotional and began crying because I felt like we were on our way to replace Reese w/ a new baby. I knew it was silly, but the tears came anyway. Once we were there, Kim checked me and told us that I was dialated to 9 cm. and needed to go directly to the hospital! I was confused that I could be at 9 and still feel okay and be up walking around like normal.

So we checked into the hospital a little after 9 am, I stayed in my regular clothes and pretty much went through the same thing that I had all night. In between the contractions I was smiling and happy, then I'd pause for 30 seconds, then be fine again. Around 11am, Kim told me I was almost a 10, so she broke my water. Then it got ugly, and I knew it would. I labored in intense pain for about 2 hours. No drugs, no gown, no IV. I was able to change positions and move around, which was so much better than being stuck in a bed with tubes coming out of me. Around 1pm, I told her I felt the urge to push, and she told me to do whatever my body felt like doing. She was still putting on her gloves and stuff when the nurse told her she needed to come a little quicker. After about 5 minutes of pushing, at 1:07 pm, Mr. Beckett Leo was born! It was amazing and I'm so glad I was able to do it completely natural. It went so much better than Reese's birth, but it was so different too.

After having one child drug-free, and one with the drugs, I am more confused as ever on my opinion about it. If everyone's labor was like Beckett's, I can understand why people can do it w/o epidurals. It was hard, but not that hard. And I completely do not regret getting one w/ Reese. Next time, if the labor is long like the first time, I can easily see myself getting the epidural. I've done it w/o now, so I have had that experience in my life, I don't know if I need to go through it again. Hmm... it'll be awhile though, so I guess I've got plenty of time to think about it!!

Stay at Home Moms :)

A man came home from work and found his two children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?" ''Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered,"Well, today I didn't do it."

**Too cute!**

FINALLY BACK!!!

Wow! It's already September 17th. I'm sorry that it took me so long to finally get back to the blog! My intention was that people could check this soon after Beckett was born and get some info, but so much for that! It seems like every time I try to sit down to write something, the phone rings, the baby wakes up, or there's unusual thuds coming from Reese's room that need to be addressed. That, or I just don't feel like it, and laying on the couch watching Oprah sounds much more appealing at the moment!

Things have been going really well! Beckett is now 12 days old and doing great. He goes in again for his 2 week check up on Friday. He is a GREAT little sleeper, and so far seems like a pretty calm baby. In fact, Wade and I wonder if it's normal for a baby to sleep so much. And with Reese, we wondered if it was normal for a baby to cry so much and worried that she wasn't getting enough sleep!! Reese loves giving him TONS of kisses and sometimes just likes to nuzzle his soft little head. It hasn't been too bad with two, the hardest part has been when I'm feeding him and Reese needs to go potty, but she still needs a little help.

We are trying to get back into the swing of things, creating a new routine for this fall. I feel like I have a lot to blog about, including our trip to the Amanas, Reese's new gymnastics class, and I'll try to sqeeze in Beckett's birth story in there somewhere too.

I have a ton more, but here's a couple pics...