Grammy and Grampa visit

About a week after lil Z was born, Grammy and Grampa got to come visit and see the new little munchkin. We had a great time hanging out with them. While they were here, they got to experience a true Illinois thunderstorm complete with winds so strong, they broke our swing set and blew it onto the goat fence. They also got to sit through 8 hours of no power(yay for the grill), at least we could eat. 

On a more fun note, we got to go to the zoo one beautiful day. Tanner was terrified of the once loved carousel. Cody ended up having to ride with him on his pick of creatures, which I admit, I found it quite funny and felt very little sympathy for this poor boy. I went out to the car to sit in the air conditioning and feed Zoey and apparently missed a very cool performance by the wolves. Of course. 

I'm not sure Grampa was aware of it as often as it happened, but he had a short shadow that stands about 33 inches tall following him around. Tanner loved to tag along. We enjoyed the visit and definitely think it stinks that we live so far away.

Credit due: Thanks Grammy for some of the pictures!

The big Debut of Zoey

August 8 was our big day. I was induced(yet again after my due date). When I showed up to the hospital, I was already having contractions and was to a 5 and didn't even know it. I tried to convince them to add some pitocin to my IV. They fought this notion and let my contractions die before adding the liquid gold after time of no progress. After that, it took only an hour and a half until we had a baby. And obviously, it was a girl. I will toot my horn as I said it was a girl all along.

Zoey Harper was born at 2:24 pm and weighed a whopping 9 lbs 4 oz and was 22 inches long. After seeing the size, it all made sense why I didn't gain weight like they wanted. She gained it all. Then again, if you know me, I was bitter about overcooking and I partially blame that even though it was only a few days. I guess we just saw it as more baby to love. She stole our hearts immediately as her tough little(big) self tried to hold her head up on her own while still in the hospital. 

We had to wait our 24 hours after delivery and got to leave. I really dislike staying in the hospital and was shocked they "offered" for us to stay another day, if we like. No thanks, my own bed and cooking are much better, not to mention I get more uninterrupted sleep at home. Do people actually take them up on it? Does someone actually find it peaceful or enjoyable?  Thanks I'd rather stick a screwdriver in my eye or hear relentless nail scratching on a car over a loud speaker. (Am I the only one that hates the nails on the car sound? I can't be the only one that has actually done this as the odds of this versus down the chalkboard are much higher for the average citizen)

Tanner and Baylee got to go spend the day with Ms. Hannah and Izzy and could not have been more pleased by this arrangement. They were spoiled and had a fantastic time. They were pretty intrigued by meeting the new arrival. They didn't stay too long and were pretty quiet but both got to hold her and Tanner could not stop "honking" her nose. Sadly for her, there has been and will be much more of that to come. 

All in all I would say, I'm glad to be done with the big belly for a while and we are so so so very blessed to have the Miss Zoey join our family!

The big #5

We celebrated Baylee's 5th birthday in August. Unfortunately, being due right around her birthday, the festivities were kept very low key as we didn't know if we would be available or not. I was still hopeful at that point that I would have a baby by then.

We just celebrated by going to her choice of restaurants for lunch then taking her to Walmart to pick out her cake. Her cake was a Hello Kitty cake with cupcakes that had rings on top because "that's a lot of rings for me" she said. I was dreading that being the cake, because in my head all I could think was that's a lot of rings for me....to step on and then have to sneak into the trash when  she wasn't noticing, but I let her get the cake she wanted. It was the least I could do after I was unable to make her a cool one due to the horrible state of my numb hand and carpal tunnel. 

We had homemade pizza for dinner as she requested. I had let her open presents randomly all day. It started one an hour then we increased it. She got lots of cool prizes and had a blast. To her credit, she's such a nice big sister. She let Tanner help her open about half of her presents. They had fun together tearing paper. 

Even though it was not a big fancy celebration like last year's Tangled party (how were we going to top that with it so fresh in her mind anyway?) she had a great birthday.

We are so blessed to be her parents and it's hard to believe she's already 5. She has a HUGE spot in our hearts and we love her so much. Happy birthday to the Baylee!

Rest of July

We ended up stopping by Shedd Aquarium in Chicago after dropping off Lilli at the airport. We had a great time, though not the best aquarium I've been to but  by far the most expensive. The best part was the 4D Dora movie. While I'm not a fan of Dora, it was the first movie like that I've been to and was a blast. Turns out pregnant ladies get your whole family in the fast lane in the air conditioning instead of waiting to enter with the rest of hundreds of people. Of course we waited in line for about 15 minutes before someone came over and told me we were to go inside and not wait in the heat. Bless her heart for that. It was almost 100 that day.

Baylee is still loving her dance classes. There was a night (yes I said a) where most of the girls didn't show up and they were actually listening. Baylee is unfortunate in there her parents expect a lot of her and she doesn't goof off, but normally all of the other girls are, we got a video when they were all participating of the little dance they do at the end of each class. Tanner loves to watch and loves to try and dance with her when she's showing off her moves at home.

We attended the Bagelfest parade and the kiddos had a great time between the "pretty princesses" and the Shriners on scooters, there was entertainment for both.

The Last week of Lilli

We started out with a surprise of a Day at the Lake. We got McDonald's breakfast, which we get like 3 times a year, so that was exciting in and of itself. We packed up the car with everything from drinks and snacks to towels and toys. Because of the current drought, the lake was low, which actually worked out and made it shallow for a good portion of the beach area. The water was kind of disgustingly warm due to the excessive heat we've had. The kids skipped playing in the sand and went straight for the water. It was one of those miserably hot days, so who's to blame them? We splashed and swam and had a great time until Tanner turned grouchy at every thing and we decided the adventure was done.

It was also a reminder that no kid can be trusted and good thing I went into it with that mindset. Lilli tried to go farther out than she was comfortable and panicked rather than just standing up straight. She scared the living poo out of herself, though I was close enough to walk 2 steps and grab her even while holding Tanner. I had tried to convince her that day would be a great day to learn to swim better, she passed on that option until she tried to drink the lake. Needless to say, she was much more cautious and quite happy to listen to advice and warnings after that, and a few moments of recovery sitting on the beach helped as well.

We had the second of our Children's series plays at the Theater. It was based on the book HOW I BECAME A PIRATE. While I personally have a ranking on the plays we have seen and this did not win my top pick, it was entertaining and the girls and Tanner enjoyed it. We of course had to have a pirate theme lunch with "fish and chips" aka fish sticks and fries and goldfish as well as a treasure chest cake all with "grog" aka rootbeer from mugs. We played pin the eye patch on the pirate and decorated pirate hats. Procrastination won and I had to freehand the hats last minute. The girls attempted to perfect their pirate faces and lingo which I hate to say it, but Tanner takes the cake on that one and he doesn't even try.

We pulled out the bikes one night to go on a family bike ride only to have Cody's super hard to find tube flat. The girls did get to ride around and I went for a short ride though. We opted for the kite instead, despite it taking  a bit of convincing to Cody that I could still fly it even with my ginormous belly. And about 5 minutes after setting it up the crazy wind from 20 minutes earlier died and we got to pack it back up. That was just not our day for outdoor adventures. We put bubbles(dish soap) in the pool and the kids had a great time. We have been setting up the umbrella for them while they swim so it's not so intensely hot.

We took the time to do the homemade "Photo Shoot". Procrastination is a common theme, we did it Friday afternoon with the bribe of ice cream or popsicles for good pictures. I am picky and have had a hard time choosing ones to print for my wall but think we got some that I like, unfortunately my favorite of each girl had hair in her face, dang wind anyway. I also feel like ours turn out almost as good or better than the ones I'm willing to pay for at say Target. You will notice a lack of Tanner. He is very cheesy for the camera, only, not when asked, since the shoot we have still been unable to get a good picture of him and will probably have to resort to one previously taken despite the messed up hair. He is not willing to slow down for the simple purpose of many pictures. The girls ended up having fun and wanting to pose more. Boys and girls, it's like night and day.

We left Friday night to go up to Chicago since Lilli's flight left earlier than we were willing to get up and drive for that long in the morning. It was very late by the time we made the 3 and half hour trip. We had to stop for dinner and the preggo chose IHOP. It's not something we get around home and it was a treat for me. Not to mention the Cinnastacks pancakes were to die for, everyone agreed...luckily I can't really eat that much most days. Once we got to the hotel we hurried everyone along and got in swimsuits and went swimming. Unlike the lake, the water was cold and the air was really hot and muggy. Tanner was not a fan of the cold water(odd since he plays in the well water without a second thought). We worked on swimming a little more with both the girls. I have always loved to swim and still do, though the ole lungs can't hold much air currently. I still had fun swimming for the short time. We then went to get everyone in bed and Tanner discovered the long tube pillows(yes I'm country and don't know the official name of what they would be called). He began riding them like a horse and cackling. I'm sure all the rooms around us appreciated it at 11:30 at night especially when Lilli joined in. It was entertaining and a moment that  I would take the scorn from neighbors to see again.

Cody got up early and took Lilli to catch her plane. It's still almost surreal that she traveled alone. This time thing should slow down a bit. 

As a side note, no I'm not canning right now, but do have ketchup and pizza sauce waiting to be made, I'm doing what i do best and procrastinating. It will get done tomorrow(I think). I had to add a note about Tanner. He's been carrying around Baylee's water baby. He gives her hugs and requires her to sleep with and if I forget, he will ask for his baby before he will lay down. We have to tuck her in and he tends to cuddle with her. I'm glad he likes the baby. His world is about to be turned upside down when he loses the "baby of the family" status. I try to explain the baby in my belly and most of the time I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand. One way or the other, I'm glad he has taken a liking to babies and I hope it lasts for at least a few more months.

A packed week

I will do you a favor and pick highlights. Who am I kidding, I remember highlights but don't remember the small stuff these days. I am super forgetful and can't wait for that side effect to go away.

We started off by going to Isaak's Family fun center again for some black light mini golf and to let the kids climb on the climber in there. This time we took friends with us. We had a blast. I got a kick out of Lilli's field hockey putts. It was very slow and the kids played a round and then replayed and the big people got to play a round. It was loads of fun. The big hit was the ball pit and the climber and the owner's daughter. The girls played hide and seek in the climber with her for a very long time and we closed the place down. When we were done, we headed out to Mexican food with the Comptons.

Monday, we got to go pick up our baby goats and bring them home. In the midst of our drought, we got a small bit of rain while we were in the process of picking them up. I had spent the day canning beans and was thrilled to get a break to go get our little guys.

Baylee started her ballet and tap class. We could not have been more proud of how well she listened to the teachers despite others misbehaving. She even participated with everything and accomplished most of the moves they were taught. She LOVED the class and while we just had the  3rd tonight, she does better every week.

The 4th of July was spent the same as usual for us, out at the airport for the County fireworks and the Rural King Corporate BBQ. We helped decorate and set up so we were out there for about 7 hours, though by the time we got there, most of the hard labor was done. It was nasty hot with temperatures actually reaching 100 and a heat index of 105. Tanner was fascinated by the fireworks and almost every one brought a "woah" out of him.

This week also marked a new step in our country life. One of our roosters attacked Baylee and turned around and attacked Cody. That rooster became dinner for us. We had never done this before but the behavior is not tolerated. We have learned once they start doing it, they don't stop and will attack every time you go in the pen. The kids were all intrigued by the plucking and cleaning task and to be honest I was a little curious myself. Thank goodness Cody took care of it all. * a few days later after letting it sit the recommended amount of time, it got grilled and turned out rather tasty

We had another park, picnic, splash fountain playdate. It was hard convincing the kiddos to play as they really just wanted to splash in the water, with reason as it was above 100 that day.

I am once again giving credit, thank you late night canning of salsa and tomatoes, you have once again given me a chance to work on the blog. Now the true request, find a way to have both done and still get sleep simultaneously.

Laying low for week 4

Sometimes, though you may find it hard to believe, I get tired of taking pictures. While I love the memories and such, I honestly get tired of pulling out the camera to miss the good shot or always snapping instead of just enjoying. So I took a week off basically. I have some pictures but not as many as normal. We sort of just took a week off as we had been on the go and I knew our schedule would be jam packed again with things to do for 9 days straight without a day at home.

As some may have seen on my facebook page, we got glow sticks for the bath tub. The kiddos got to take a bath in the dark with the light of the glow in the water. I will be honest, I was a little jealous. It was so much fun for them. The girls did decorate the bathroom with the sticks after bath time and it was rather nice to get up my normal 6 times in the night and have the bathroom lit up without waking me up completely.

We also had a canning day with Hannah and Izzy over. We did a 2nd run of green beans and spicy pickles. It's much more entertaining with friends and it benefits us all. Since we have more beans than we need and I appreciated the help. The ladies were glad they could have Izzy to play with during the extensive event. The kiddos got soft pillow cases in the mail from Grammy and they played with them in every way they could think of, minus being used for the intended purpose, it was quite entertaining.

We had plans to go and pick blueberries but the blueberry patch we were counting on didn't seem to be open since I couldn't get a hold of them and was too far away to drive to find out it wasn't open. So back up plan I randomly remembered as a child using celery as a stamp for decoration shirts with flowers. I also made potato stamps for the girls and it turned out to be a time consuming process for the budding artists. I am slow and had a tough lesson to learn, do not expect much when painting while clumsily pregnant. I dropped paintbrushes on the girls shirts I was painting for them. I think I only dropped 1 on Lilli's but Baylee's shirt I dropped twice and had to find ways to cover it. Baylee got a sparkly winged hummingbird to cover hers and Lilli got a bouquet that was much more elaborate than I had planned. Only to then find out when we bought Lilli's shirt, we grabbed one that had a hole in the back of it. I was done painting and I didn't have the motivation to do another. The girls did a fantastic job on their shirts and enjoyed making them. I did also learn 3 bottles of puffy paint is not nearly enough for 3 girls to accent their shirts.

Cody brought home a turtle one morning to which, yes I put my foot down and said we didn't need a turtle. I figure we have enough going on right now adding to my work load was not fair and I turned him away. Lilli and Baylee had a blast playing with him for a while and moving him all around the house to which I had to send them outside so they didn't lose him again. Turtles can be surprisingly fast when they want to.

That Saturday we let Baylee pick out her new set of earrings since it was time for her to change them. The pickings were slim since her ears are so small but she settled on some very shiny flowers. We then walked around the mall since it was the flea market weekend. The girls had an older gentleman give them money for the fountain to throw in and as we were leaving, they each got a random tin box that some guy was selling but just gave them because they are cute. Then we went grocery shopping which takes a bit since I do the 2 week menu and ad match and coupon. Yes I'm that lady most of you are in line behind and say dirty things under your breath about. But why pay more than you have to? Unfortunately, being a stay at home mom doesn't pay very well in the monetary department, though it is more than made up for in other ways. It's also helpful when Cody goes, which I am lucky he loves to go with us and is very patient with my money saving games.

 I guess I forgot to add on a previous post that the weekend before, we went and had Chinese food at our favorite buffet here, which both girls adore and I am quite fond of as well. Lilli even remembered it from before. We told them it was a surprise day and we got food then were going to go bowling but all of the alleys were closed until late that night...surprise, failed plans. We went and saw Brave instead. They enjoyed it, Tanner lost interest but I wanted to watch so we stood on the side and I held him since that set up was acceptable to him. The girls started playing "Brave" around the house every day and Cody ended up getting them bows and arrows to help with the game. Teaching them how to shoot took longer than expected but they have loved going "bow and arrowing" as they call it and both have it down now. Luckily for us, they each kill about 8-20 bears a day, thus taking care of the bear issue we had. :)