February

The first part of February, we had the chance to take a trip(vacation would entail my toes in the sand while listening to the waves crash onto the shore or an equivalent relaxing time in the sun and warmth) to Utah and Idaho(not warm and sunny while we were there)to see our families.

Said trip started out with questions of turning around 2 hours after we started. Baylee ended up getting sick and throwing up and continuing to do so, but her trooper spirit pushed us forward and she did not want to turn around and wait it out. We didn't drive but for about 7 hours since we left after Cody got off work. The next day proved equally fun, while thankfully B was feeling better, we hit the storm of the century in Nebraska and had the "privilege" of driving on the worst roads I've ever driven on. They were packed with inches upon inches of snow and ice and endless vehicles and semi trucks were lining the ditches. Due to the crazy storm and horrid ice pavers the road consisted of, we only made it 400 miles in 14 hours of driving. We stopped again for the night and finally made it the rest of the way the 3rd day. With approximately 1400 miles under our belt, we were glad to stop rolling for a while.

We had a great visit, spending time with Mom and Tarrah, Rod and the kiddos, Savannah and Camry. I got to visit my old friends/coworkers at Interstate Batteries and go to lunch with some of them one day. We got to shop(without driving 40+ miles each way to get there). Tanner ended up getting sick with what Baylee had, though the intensity of it seemed to die a little with him. I was still nauseous from being prego some days and energy level was severely lacking. We got to go to dinner with friends one night and eat lunch with Lilli at school as well as spend a little time with her. Mom had Baylee and Savannah over for a tea party and craft time one day; Baylee couldn't have been more thrilled. Thanks to Tarrah and Rod for putting up with a certain level of chaos and crazy we add to the mix and letting us stay with them anyway, especially after getting Camry sick, we OWE them!

We then headed up to Blackfoot to spend time with Cody's family. We had the pleasure of having Lilli make the journey with us. Cody's sisters Erin with hubby Rusty and lil man Russell met us there from Boise as did Faith from Reno. We had a fun get together with his extended family as well. Though Faith, Mama Lowe and I ended up lying on what seemed our death beds at the time with only thing we can figure is some type of food poisoning; we had a great visit and it was nice to see everyone. While on my death bed, Cody took the kids to the Idaho museum to give us some healing time and peace; where they got to see dinosaurs and seemed to enjoy themselves. We had a Valentine's day party complete with decorated cookies and homemade decorations made lovingly by the girls and small prizes for everyone. 

We made the trip home in 2 days and it seemed like cake compared to the ride out. Though I ended up getting a nasty cold(thanks to my no good while pregnant immune system) and could hardly breathe the whole way home, the ride seemed amazingly uneventful, other than being pulled over for supposedly going 7 over the speed limit in the tiny town of Soda Springs, where the speed limit was changing up the road in less than a mile anyway. As it turns out my intentions weren't bad and I did not get a ticket nor a written warning. Guess it wouldn't be a long distance trip without getting pulled over for me....though we purposely avoided Iowa for this reason, though yet to get a ticket for any of it, just a hassle and seems tradition. I have to brag for moment about the awesome behavior while in the car of our two kiddos. I was certain it was going to be a nightmare and boy did they prove me wrong. Tanner was out of his element being around people he was unsure of all of the time and proceeded to scream any one of them talked to him, but in the car, he was fantastic.

As I was horrible with the camera and there are a lack of pictures of February, I apologize I was just not feeling it. Sometimes, I get tired of manning it and just wanted to enjoy without trying to get great pictures. 

We got back and had Izzy's birthday party and Cody's birthday to celebrate. And it was definitely a "get back in the old routine" transition for the rest of February. 

January in a jiffy

I was still feeling nauseous most days due to the new peanut, so I apologize for even the lack of pictures. I tried to keep the kiddos entertained though usually while I laid next to them. It was a rough go for a while but as in all things, it too did eventually and only recently pass. So here's our January. These two little ones sure do love to entertain one another and become better buddies everyday. They definitely make me smile.

Remainder of December

Yes, just posting this, enjoy the pics!

November in pictures

I am being a slacker(it's ok if I admit it right?) and I am showing our November rather than rambling endlessly about it. It was a month of change and news for us in many ways from my hair color to, completing our daily time with Izzy to the beginning of my nausea, grouchy pregnancy. I must do the obligatory Thanksgiving  greeting and add that I am so very thankful for my family, immediate and extended, even though we live in the boondocks and rarely get to see any of you.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful day! We didn't have to get up until 8:30, which is always nice. Even at that, we had a bit of time with just Baylee before Tanner woke up. She was thrilled beyond words for Christmas. She was a little surprised by the hamster because she didn't ask for that, we just thought it would be a good substitute for a bunny, that was requested a while back. She has since named her hamster Seona. I'm assuming somewhere along the lines of Fiona is where she gets that? Her pet, she gets to name her! She opened and closed that cage more in 8 hours than I'm sure most people ever do throughout the life of their hamster. She would open, pet her, and close it every time Seona went up and down from her bed to her food. She is one busy hamster but Baylee was keeping up pretty well. She got a lot of great presents and was appreciative and thrilled over each one. She told me last night she had the best Christmas Ever! I'd say Homerun!

Tanner had no interest whatsoever in opening presents. I'm assuming this stems from the fact that he had to put the presents back prior to Christmas and was not allowed to play with them, of which he was not a fan. I think he was just so confused by being told to open them all of a sudden. Baylee opened most of his presents. He had a great time playing with his car ramps and workbench but his favorite seemed to be the basketball hoop and Baylee's Barbie car, of course.

 We had an enjoyable time watching the kids have so much fun. A nice, relaxing day at home suits us just perfectly. It's always a nice end to the day as our big Christmas Dinner tradition is always Mexican food! Yum!

Remainder of October

I just don't understand how this blog page is bookmarked on my favorites toolbar very close to the front of the list and it stares at me every day, haunting me and yet I continuously put it off. I would attempt to say maybe this should be one of my new years resolutions, but aren't you supposed to set yourself up for success not failure with those? I started out strong with Baylee doing it every week or every few weeks at the most. Yes, there is another child in the mix, should make it double the priority, right? Don't get me wrong, I love bragging about and showing off my cute munchkins and rambling on and on, I'm great at these things. I just haven't quite figured out why it falls so far down the to do list.

To finish up October....we of course did the Halloween thing. We had Nemo and Rapunzel or the Witch dependent upon her mood. I found it hilarious that Baylee wanted to be Rapunzel for our Halloween parties but had picked out a light up witch costume that was for Halloween only. I never  quite figured out the reasoning behind it, but I'm sure the lady had a plan. Tanner refused to walk in his Nemo costume thus the horrid set of pictures. Halloween night, I forgot to charge my battery to the camera after uploading pictures from it. Forgot that kills the battery if I don't unhook it. Go me! Thank goodness for the backup camera phone! We had fun at all of our little parties and trick or treating.

We also went to the apple orchard. After tasting my homemade applesauce, there was no way I was going to let the season end without finding a way to make more and doing it more efficiently in the cost and labor departments. I ended up canning a bushel and a half of apples into either pie/crisp ready slices or a variety of applesauce. It was loads of work and I thought I had a magic box of apples that seemed to multiply. I finally finished off the box by making snicker apple salad, what better way to celebrate the bottom of the box? This was definitely worth my time. Not to mention during the fiasco of the dying blender in the middle, I got a new blender. I do love new small appliances. I just think they need to come up with some super awesome tool box for a "woman that loves to cook"'s tools. Or is that what the purpose of a cabinet is? Might need a few more to house my contraptions! There was also of course, the apple donuts we had to purchase and while it was quite chilly, we still had to run around and play until a storm started creeping up on us.

We did mosey up to the mall one day and let the little ones ride the carousel. Baylee is an old pro. Tanner was amazed and it was funny watching him try to figure out the pole and the lights. He investigated it all and loved every second of it.

I would say those are the highlights I missed from the previous posts. I did turn a year older and am truly knocking on the door of 30...guess it's all how you feel and I definitely do not feel like I have been alive for 1 year shy of a generation.

Rest of Grammy and Grampas visit

Way back what seems like months ago in October, oh wait it was months ago,the author of this blog seems to be incredibly slow at this thing called writing and keeping up, we had a great visit with Grammy and Grampa.

Besides the pumpkin patch, we entertained by having them fly the kite with us. I'm pretty sure it gave them a new meaning to flying a kite, as it did us. We enjoyed hearing stories and catching up as well.

When we took them back to the airport in St. Louis, we made our way over to the Mississippi River where they had the most historically correct replicas of the Nina and the Pinta. That was fun to be able to see those in honor of Columbus day. I am pretty positive I would have had to jump ship off of those tiny vessels during a storm. To know what they conquered and then see in size how it was done, it's nothing short of amazing.

We all enjoyed the time together immensely!