July (in November...)

I'm still behind.  Although, I just looked back and realized that I stopped keeping up with my blog around the same time I started working a new job of a few graveyard shifts per week.  Correlation?  I think yes! Thankfully, (blessedly, wonderfully) I am done with graveyards and I'll now just be picking up a few day shifts here and there when they need me. 

 

Which means it's time to catch up and write all the fun things that have been happening in my little family. 

 

 

SO- Here's our life in July!!

 

July 4th was really low key this year.  I worked the graveyard shift from 11pm on the 3rd to 7am on the 4th, so low key was all I was up for :)

We went to the little lake here with our good friends and their little girlies.  Then we came home and ate sandwiches.  Delish.

Nolan the swimmer-man

Aaaand, he loves to terrorize the ladies.

Cutie pie Addy.

Smoke-stacks in the background

 

Later on in the month THE GRANDPARENTS AND UNCLES CAME TO VISIT!!!!

Does it get any better?  We were pretty excited to have them, since we don't get a whole bunch of visitors stopping through our bustling metropolis of Colstrip. 

 

We spent one afternoon at the Lake:

Uncle Eric and my lil Nolan

Grandma Bamma!

 

 

A teenager drove through our fence at the house we own in Billings,
 so Mike and his brothers went in and fixed it while they were here. 
We were SO grateful for their help!

 

Then, we took a trip to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore!  The whole time CJ called it "Mountain Rushmore."  It was a BLAST and a half.

 

Is there anything better than hand in hand with Grandma?

I forgot my camera at home, so you all have to suffer through bad cell phone pictures :)

CJ is SO happy when Uncle Eric is around.

The crazies.

SEAN!!  Whom I like to call "Little Sean" just like "Little John"
 (Robin Hood's sidekick).  Except Sean is my sidekick?

The Father in Law (and honest Abe in the background)

Love me some crazy. 

 

 

Nolan got a lil tuckered out and needed a rest by Grandpa



Cj in the "flag walkway" thing.  All the state flags are
there at the entrance to Mt Rushmore.

We also took a detour (20 minutes) to Rapid City, SD.  And, while I've never thought much about South Dakota, I must say: this place has lots of awesomeness.  AND lots of FREE awesomeness. 

Dinosaur park is a bunch of concrete (life size-ish) statues of dinosaurs.
The kids can climb all over and run around and its awesome.

T REX. ROAR! (were you scared?!?)



Uncle Eric trying to keep them both in the same spot long enough for the picture...
 

We also stopped by a place called Storybook Island there in Rapid City.  Also free! WooHoo!!  It is the coolest/most random little place ever.  There are a bunch of little...... displays?  I don't even know how to describe it.  There's every kids character you could ever think of set up for kids to walk through and climb on and explore.  It's just cool.  It was raining cats and dogs on the afternoon we decided to visit, but it was a warm rain- so we just went with it!  It was almost empty and the kids had so much fun. 

PeterPeter Pumpkin Eater's house

Lucky the Leprechaun?  I told you it was random!

Snow White and the Dwarfs' house.

Readin' with the Cat in the Hat

"Ariel!  How you doin' kid?"

Lovely.

They also had a cute little train for the kiddos.  So fun.

He's 2.  I'm scared for 16 a little bit.

On our way home, we went the back way and stopped by The Crazy Horse Memorial (overpriced.... and not as cool as I had hoped.....)  as well as Devil's Tower.  Which I had never heard of, but apparently it was filmed in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."  It was in the middle of nowhere.  Really.  Nowhere.  I'm surprised we got out alive. 

Behind us is the mountain that will eventually become like the statue below. 
In like, 50 years or something.  I'm not kidding- that's how long the people
who are carving it think it will take. 

 

 

 

This is Devil's tower in all it's awesomeness.

 

And, any of you who know Michael's grandfather will love this next picture.  It was this random wood carving in a museum at the Crazy Horse memorial.  But it looks EXACTLY like Mike's grandpa Speed to me. It's like he drove to SD and posed for it or something.  Ok, maybe not.  But it looks a lot like him!

Speed in his role as "Hamlet"
ok, ok - just kidding

 

 

Whew.  Are you still with me?  Kudos to you if you got through that mother of a post.  Stay tuned for August- hopefully within the next few days?  We'll see if I'm that motivated! 

Veintinueve

Am I seriously only a year shy of being done with my frolicking 20's?  It's true, or so my birth certificate says.  I don't feel like I'm getting all that much older, and even if I am, who really cares?  With age comes wisdom and with wisdom comes beauty and fullness of life. 

 So, 2 years ago I listed 27 things I had done in my 27 years, and last year I listed 28 things I want to do in the future.  For 29 I'm just going to list 29 of my blessings.  I can't think of anything more fun and interesting, so that's what I came up with. 

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER...........

1. My hubbs.  He loves me and listens to me.  Supports me and sustains me.  He is my equal partner.  He is kind and giving and needs me just as much as I need him.

2. Cecily.   She has such a capacity for joy in her life.  Make room for more fun if Cecily comes to town.  She brightens my days and amazes me.  She is smart and funny and I love her.

3. Nolan.  What a stinky firecracker that little guy is.  His laugh melts my heart.  His ability to tease is way beyond his age (as is his height, weight, and vocabulary).  I just get warm fuzzies thinkin' about him. 

4. A job for the spouseman.  There is something magical that happens when your husband actually LIKES his job.  No, really.  I know from experiencing both sides of that coin.

5. My body.  I like to move.  I'm grateful that I don't have pain or trouble being active at this point in my life.

6. A piano.  My mom gave me her piano earlier this year.  I am SERIOUSLY enjoying learning to play.  Plus, it's helping me check something off my list from last year :)

7.  Blueberries.  I have a new found love for them this year.  Salads, smoothies, with milk or without- they are fab.

8.  Facebook.  Facebook, you ask?  That juvenile, time sucking waste of your life? Yes.  I have learned lately that I get my energy by being around people.  Some people need alone time to re-charge, but I need people time.  As a stay at home mom I can look at facebook occasionally and not feel so isolated.  And when people talk to me and stuff it makes me feel like I have friends and I'm important. Weird? Maybe, but I'm grateful for it.

9.  My I-Phone.  Not kidding- it's kinda changed my life.  RIP Steve Jobs.  My life is more organized and more fun (angry birds!) because of you. 

10.  Goodly parents.  Man, I sure love my parents for teaching me what it means to be kind, giving, hard-working, and selfless.  I'm not really good at any of those things, but their examples gives me something to strive for. 

11.  Holidays.  I love holidays.  They make me happy.  July 4th, Christmas, Valentines, Halloween, Turkey day.... all of them.  I love celebrating and having an excuse to be with friends and family.

12.  Candy.  It's good.  I eat it all the time.  It seems crazy to call it a blessing, but it's the little things in life, right?

13.  Music.  Music calms me down and lifts me up.  I can usually be seen with earphones in.

14.  God.  I'm blessed to have a knowledge of who God is and who I am in relation to Him.  Glorious blessing.  The biggest blessing of my life. 

15.  Amazing siblings.  As the youngest of 6, I am blessed to have 5 of the most AWESOME siblings ever.  My older sis and I have become best friends and my older brothers are so caring.  I love them!

16.  Fabulous in-law family.  The Vincents are a great bunch.  I am a BIG fan of family vacation at the beach, not to mention my cute little niece and nephew.  It's fun being the "oldest" in the fam..... or at least married to the oldest. 

17.  The Book of Mormon.  Have you read it?  It really will change your life. 

18.  Houses (both in Colstrip and in Billings).  I am grateful we found good renters for our house in Billings.  I am grateful for a roof over our head in Colstrip. 

19.  Poetry.  I've been obsessed with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Emily Dickinson lately.  Like music, it feeds my soul. 

20.  Diet Coke.  Zero calories and full of fizzy goodness. 

21.  Running.  I'm excited about doing my first half marathon in a few weeks.

22.  College.  Happy to have had the opportunity to go at all, to finish, and to learn. 

23.  Colstrip.  Really?  For real? Yes.  This is a great community and they have been more welcoming than anywhere else we've ever been.  And we've been a lot of places :)

24.  Jammies.  I stayed in my jammies until 3:00pm today and didn't even feel guilty about it.  It's my birthday!  I can do whatever I want. And I can like it.  And you have to too.

25.  History.  I have said this before, and I'll say it again- I LOVE learning about history.  Call me a nerd if you will, but I love it.

26.  Friends.  I have lots of acquaintances and a few true friends.  I value both, honestly, but I am very very thankful for the friendships that have endured and will continue to bless my life
 
27.  Vacation next week.  For my birthday, my present is a trip to Seattle to visit with my high school girlfriends.  I am SO in need of it and I'm so happy I get to go!  As mentioned before, I have a cool hubby who told me I should book my ticket as well as parents who are watching our cute kids. 

28.  The U.S. of A.  Even when the economy is in the toilet and the politicians can't agree on anything, we still have more opportunity and more richness of life than anywhere else in the world. 

29.  Twenty nine years of a good, good life. 

So, that's my list.  Come back next year to learn more about me.  'Cause I know you want to.

Hello

A little random fun that's been going on in our house lately:

This is our neighbor Allie on the porch with Nolan.  She is 5 and LOVES babies. 

Quite possibly my favorite time of day. 

Cecily loves to read and it's cute to see her curled up on the couch enjoying a good library book.

Cecily likes to put this hat on Nolan and call him a pirate.  She's already incorporating him into her imaginitive play.   " No-en, you a pirate.  I a tinkerbell."  Only a few more years until he gets to be the dog when they play house. 

He has a sleeper to match the hat and Mike and I were thinking of taking a picture of him in it and photoshoping it into a "where's waldo" book.

C.J. also loves giving him kisses.

And loves making him smile really big. 

Sometimes if I leave him in his swing to go do something, I'll come back to find that Cecily has given him a toy- meaning she places it on or near his head.  She is still learning to share (and isn't really very good at it yet) so I'm glad that a little bit is sinking into her brain.

And that's the news for now- stay tuned for more :)

Also, thanks for the words of encouragement about my last post.  I appreciate the love and support!  Just so you know, things genuinely are looking better and (in answer to a few questions) I don't think the medication route is the one for me right now.  I think medication is a wonderful option, but since things have been so good and I'm continuing that trend, it's not something I feel I need.  I've talked to the doc (actually my midwife) and she feels the same.  It helps to talk about it and not feel like it's something to be ashamed of, so thanks a bundle for the hugs over the internet :)

2 months and still in love

He turned 2 months old on the 1st of April. 

Holy Stinkin' Cow.

Where has the time gone?

Adjusting to life with two little kiddos has been difficult in some ways (more on that in a later post) but SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

worth it. 

Opened up new chambers in my heart, I swear.

Better pictures are soon to come as well.  I haven't had the energy to set up good shots with good lighting and cute outfits, so for now you get snapshots with my camera on automatic settings.

My kids are cute without all the fuss anyway.

Love them.

My nolan boy, whose hair is still funny.

Cecily loves to read books to nolan.  I swear I didn't even set this up.  I was snapping pics of him on the bed and she climbed up there next to him.  She always begins "once upon a time......." and today she continued with,  "dare was a plane.... and mommy..... and daddy........... and annudder one plane......"

Obviously Nolan enjoyed the story.

He's so skinny (you should see his tiny chicken legs), but he always ends up with a double chin in pictures.

Darling.

Here's me with my two crazies.

Can't get enough of 'em.

(well, occasionally I need me time, but that's a given.  I still love them)

things I want to remember

Life is changing for our little family, and little by little we're getting back into the groove, and finding those every day moments that are awesome.  Here's some pics.

Cecily loves her bath

I love her eyelashes. 

 

I didn't do her hair one day.......... and Mike thought she looked like Jodi Foster in "Candleshoe." Except that she's 100 times cuter.

Note to self:  When nursing one child, do not give the other child a pen and paper to color and think this will keep her occupied.  You will be sadly mistaken. 

And a second bath will be necessary later that evening......

Baby toes are, and will forever be, the sweetest most kissable things ever.

Having two kiddos is the best.