colt's prayer

"In the jungle the lion sleeps tonight...

wake me with the morning light...Amen"

Every once in a while he short circuits.

faces

We go through every one of these emotions almost hourly...everyday. single. day.

lately...

1. We're gearing up for Molly's 1st birthday.  I cannot believe it's almost that time.  She's beautiful and happy and everything I love.

2. I signed up for a 1/2 marathon.  It's paid for and everything. GULP!  I've been running 4x's a week with my running partner Sarah.  I CANNOT believe that I'm doing this but I'm pretty proud of myself.  Yesterday I ran 5 miles for the first time ever and it didn't even suck that bad.  I just keep moving my feet and eventually it's over with...that's how I get through it. ha!  Andy is registered to run the marathon that same race.  He's never ran a full marathon before. I'm so excited for him.  Yesterday he ran a 1/2 marathon around town and he said it felt great.  Look at us! We're runners!

3. Colt is almost potty trained.  This makes me realllllllllly happy.  After going cold turkey on the diapers and just making him be in underwear he's catching on really well.  We have accidents still here and there but in general he goes in the potty.  I'm so proud of my little man!  He gets 1 jellybean when he goes peepee and 2 jellybeans when he goes #2.  He always reminds me 'Mom, poo potty...2 beans. 2 beans.'  Just making sure I don't jip him of those jellybeans.  I love my little boy.  He's growing up and I'm really proud of him.

4. After 4 years...we've decided, Copper's getting knocked up.  NO MORE DOGGIE PERIODS!  Andy has always wanted to breed her and so we're going for it.  I'll tell ya what though, someones gonna be crying when that last puppy get sold and that somebody is me!

5. We're healthy, happy and blessed.

bubbles

flip

yogurt covered raisins

Colt could surely live on yogurt covered raisins.

he knows me

This morning I started looking at baby pictures of Colt.  Every time I do that I just can't believe how fast it's gone and how hard sometimes it is to remember the curves of his plump newborn face.  He was so small! 

I tried really hard to breath in every moment of when he was a newborn.  It seems so long ago.  I'd like to relive on of those days again.

I'm reminiscing, getting teary and then I hear Colt saying my name from his room.  He had just woken up.  I go in there and he's so happy to see me, as always.  Typically I pick him up and he runs off to the kitchen for food or to go find Copper but today the first thing he said was, Mama, Hold me? 

I picked him up and he sat on my hip just staring me in the face with a sweet smile on.  Then he wiggled his little body around so that I could cradle him in my arms.  And with his head tucked in close to my elbow, resting on my chest and his legs dangling down to my knees...he rested there while I rocked him and for a second I saw my newborn baby boy in his toddler face.

I can't relive September 08 but today God created a moment for me that was the next best thing.  

He knows me.

hey, howdy, hey!

We had a good start to 2011, here's what's been happenin'...in a nut shell:

1. Andy and I did another weight lose competition which we both sucked at. I ended up gaining 1 lb I think. Ha! Not really the goal I had in mind. I need to seriously dig deep here! I wanna loose 20 more by June. We're thinking about trying the Paleo diet together. Not that I WANT to but I've been at a standstill since Thanksgiving. Blah. I would miss cheese. I'm also on the slow track to training for a 1/2 marathon June 6th too. I'm scared! Shizz!
2. We celebrated our 4th Anniversary at home on the 27th. Good times. :)

3. Copper wore one of Molly's skirts.

4. We planned a ski trip for our Anniversary and just before getting to our destination I realized that I forgot my wallet and we had to drive the long road home...skiless and wordless because Andy wasn't talking to me. Ha! He really wanted to go skiing I guess : /
5. Molly got on all fours and with all four limbs trembling from the weight of her chunky torso, she stayed up for a few seconds. We all clapped and cheered like a bunch of idiots.

6. Colt fell in love with Buzz & Woody. One night Colt ran over with his bottom lip out yelling, 'Wood, ARM OFF!!' What he meant to say was...Woodys head fell off. I laughed. We tossed Woodys head in the trash, then Colt wanted to keep the headless Woody to keep playing with. I laughed some more. Eventually he tossed Woody that night and the next day Andy upgraded Woody. Colt was so happy. Colt IS so happy. I've never seen the kid play with a toy like he plays with Woody. Unfortunately, little Buzz got the boot and is typically found at the bottom of the toy box or under the couch :/ Just like in the movie. Someday we'll upgrade little Buzz too. Someday.

coffee break

Most would say 'Yucky'.

Mine says 'MMmmm' and asks for more.

So we got him his own cup.

i knew he was being too quiet...

so much to say!

Ya know how I was gonna blog during nap time...eh, ya that didn't happen. So here I sit absolutely forcing myself to not do the other 20 things I should probably be doing and blog instead. How does that happen? No matter what, there is always something I should be doing. But for now I'm going to blog and stare at the toys that need picked up, the clean clothes in the basket that need folded and put away, the dishes in the sink and the list goes on. Seriously driving me a little crazy looking at this mess but oh well. Ok, I'm done.

Now I'm going to vomit my thoughts and try to make it to bed in 30 minutes :)

• debt. As of December 1st 2010 we are debt free! We said goodbye to the payments for a Ford, a Honda, a Jeep and a furnace totally to $33,000 dollars which we paid off in 2.5 years.  That included a few road bumps along the way too...1) Colt 2) I quit my full time job & my part time job to stay home and 3) Molly. Not that they are road bumps in our life just things that set us back a tad financially. We are really proud of ourselves. I love that we honored the money that God put into our life and I pray that from it we're able to live a financially easy life and give generously as we go. It feels realllly cool and I must say I think I've fallen more in love with my Andy on this journey. It's been hard, we had to pinch penny's and skip out on fun times and vacations but it's over with now and we're better for it. The one thing I heard Dave Ramsey say that stuck with me was, Adults devise a plan and see it through. Children do what feels good. That really put things in perspective and helped me stay focused. If you want to know how we made it happen go here and do this. You won't regret it!
• rollin' rollin'. Molly finally started to roll. At her 6 month appointment she was still totally content just laying there. She finally started to roll but not without help from Colt. Whenever he saw me lay the blanket on the living room floor he would say MOLLY? Roll??...I'd lay her down and he'd grab her shirt and pull/push her until she flipped over :) Such a helper. I feel like she will be a tad slower in all the physical milestones. She just wants to sit on the floor play with a Dolly or a toy and jibberjabber :)
• the grinch. I've watched this movie a dillion times in the last 3 weeks. I say every time how perfect this character is for Jim Carey to play and I'm in awe of what an amazing actor he is. This also is a hilarious movie. Every time I watch it I find something else in it that is hilarious. I also love the moral of the story. I love Max the dog. I love when Cindy Lou Who sings Where Are You Christmas in her room before bed that one night and hits that high note at the very end...she's just so sweet.  I want to be a Who.
• ibs. I figured we'd close the book on my whole intestinal/stomach ache/poop problems. After all those tests and everything I went through the doctors told me I have IBS. I feel like I could have figured that out. I've cut the majority of wheat out of my diet and it does help. I haven't had a stomach ache in months which is amazing. Now, when I cheat with wheat and eat it I vomit  and have terrible diarrhea instead. haha! Not all the time, just sometimes. Whatever. TMI. Anyways. Let's just say Lord help me when I'm 80 and naturally start to loose control of my bms. AND I just took it another step farter...I mean farther. I mean, POOP!
• 11:10pm I was supposed to go to bed ten minutes ago.
• snow. snow. snow. It's been snowing like crazy here and I for one, flipping love it. The more snow the merrier. It's beautiful. It's quiet. It bring a peace to my soul. You can hit someone in the face with it if you're mad...and you can eat it if you're hungry. It's amazing. Colt, Andy and Copper think so too...
• baby jesus. Christmas morning is almost here and I'm going to make a birthday cake for baby Jesus. Andy thinks I'm crazy. Maybe I won't ALWAYS make baby Jesus a birthday cake but it will help my 2 year old get the reason this day is so special...and WHO doesn't like cake??? [besides my irritable bowl.]

I'm glad I got that off my chest :)

back by popular demand.

Thought it was time to dust off the ol keyboard.

I do plan on blogging a long list during nap time today but until then I thought you should see my cutie pies while you wait.  This video is older but still cute.  I <3 them.

sleepy

I've been a lame blogger lately, spank me someone please. Whip this woman into shape!
Anyhow, I've got another super cute video.
This will have to do for now.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Colt?

This is what happens when you're 2 years old and the only time you stop moving the e.n.t.i.r.e. day, is when you crash burn in the middle of watching Night at the Museum.

a xanax would have come in handy.

i've got a lot to say

I'm playing catch up on...

• my guts.  I had my colonoscopy a few weeks ago and an ultra sound right after that.  Both came back clear and healthy lookin.  It's good I'm healthy lookin, but it's also pretty frustrating that we still had no answers.  After my colonoscopy I decided to cut wheat out of my diet just to see what would happen, I had already had blood tests showing that I did not have siliac disease but I thought what the heck, I'll give it a try.  Magically all my pain went away and it was amazing.  I did miss my toast and the occasional goldfish cracker I would snatch from Colt's lunch but I survived.  After about 2 weeks of feeling good my stomach aches came back with a vengeance. I am still staying away from wheat until I meet next Thursday with a GI doctor.  I'll probably need an upper GI.  Weee!
• my disappearing fatness.  Andy and I have about 1 week left in our weight loss competition for this month.  I'm pleased to say that I have 1 pound to go!  I'm just going to go ahead and say how much I had to loose this month to win because I honestly don't mind sharing and hopefully someone will get inspired or something...but will have lost 9lbs this month.  That's a lot of weight!  My total will be 28lbs since June.  I can feel that $100 burning a hole in my pocket as we speak.  I saw a really cute jacket at Target that has my name written all over it.  I love that I haven't even won yet I've found a way to mentally spend all my winnings.
• funny disappearing fatness timing.  Two days before our weigh in we're having a big tailgate for the ND game.  Food, Drinks and more FOOD!  The day after that is Halloween.  Candy, Chocolate and more CANDY!  Will power don't fail my now!  I've been thinking about my strategy and I might wear my retainers to stop the likeliness of food entering my mouth...on the other hand the likeliness of something calling me a dork goes up dramatically with this idea.
• andy.
• On Wednesday Andy reports to the ambulance as a paramedic.  Today was his last day on the fire truck.  I'm proud of his hard work and excited for his raise.
• Andy is also getting skinny.  His pants are ridiculously big and he needs a new belt because he no longer has enough notches to keep them up.  It looks like he has old man pleats in his camo shorts they're so big.  I would never have done well this year if it weren't for his support.  He's really awesome.
• money.  We've been patting ourselves on the back lately.  This month, with Andy's over time and our diligence to keep living on a tight budget we were able to put an extra $750 on our car payment for this month.  Again,  I'm sharing this to brag on ourselves but more importantly to encourage people to do the same.  It's possible!  Only $1,000 more and we will owe NO. ONE. ANYTHING.  Totally debt free!  We owed about $12,000 a year ago and it's almost over with.  I see myself jumping on the bed throwing dollar bills in air already.  Who knows, maybe one day we'll even go on a vacation.  Just one step closer to our life goal of being skinny and rich.  :)  I kid.
• one of my favorite times of the day.  I love when my family is all tucked away for the night and I lay my head on the pillow and start to pray.  I so enjoy reflecting on my day with God.  I thank God for pairing me with Andy.  I ask for wisdom on how to be a better mom.  I pray for my friends.  I thank God that Molly hasn't started crying even though I know she spit her paci out a few minutes ago.  The good, bad and ugly...I absolutely love my life.  I could cry just thinking about the thankfulness and love that I have for my maker.  I'm what they call a happy human.
• molly haab.
• She turned 6 months last week.   I swear she tripled in size last month.  We got to her doctor appointment this week.  I'm excited to see how big she's gotten. 
• She still isn't rolling but she's close to sitting by herself. 
• We started giving her food this week too.  She likes bananas. 
• She is still really chatty.  She's always squealing and complaining about how her socks never stay on.  She's my angel baby.  And really, she is just that.
• colt. 
• Little boy has been referred to as a 5 year old on more than a few occasions this week.  When you see my "5 year old" throwing a tantrum it's because he's 2.  He only looks 5. 
• He is starting to talk a lot more.  He finishes the last word of every sentence in his prayers [peyss] at night and says 'pounds' when I ask him how much he weighs after he stands on our bathroom scale.  He's cute.
• Today he helped me clean the house and played with Copper for hours on end.  At one point I looked up and found Copper wrapped up in all his blankies and he was laying next to her on her dog bed. 
• hunting.  I'm going hunting with Andy on Monday morning.  I've never been hunting so I thought it would be fun to join.  I'm gonna shoot the BIG BUCK.  Not really, I'll be reading my book club book that I haven't even started yet but my hope is that I'll be there with him when he shoots the big one.  I really just want to spend some time with him doing what he loves to do.  I'm going to take some noisy snacks.

Now we're all caught up and I can sleep good tonight.

he fought the wall and the wall won.

When I got home from working out the other morning Colt ran to me, started crying, and acted out this story...

Bonk! Hea! Wol! Hurk! Bonk!

[Bonk! Head! Wall! Hurt! Bonk!...he's got 'bonk' down]

He was running down the hallway chasing Andy and ran smack dab into the wall.  Andy said he almost needed stitches.  Luckily I wasn't home for that one.  I probably would have fainted and done the same thing [bonk!].  Then it would have been up to Molly to care for our wounds and apply the scooby doo band aids.

What I find funny about this boo boo above all the others is the band aid part.  Colt will never, ever keep a band aid on.  He has stubbed his toe so bad that he's bleeding like a stuck pig all over the house and he'll refuse to wear a band aid but for some reason he's kept this one on.  Maybe he noticed all the sympathy he got at Sams Club.

Watch out for those walls folks.

They typically win.

Bonk!

'shun' stage

I'm liking this part of the two's. Colt is past the I-throw-fits-every-five-minutes stage and is now onto the I'm-two-but-still-likable stage.

His funny thing lately is all his 'F' words come out as a 'Sh' sound instead.
Kinda funny.

Ex:
Fun=Shun
Flower=Shower
Fork=Shork
Flag=Shag

This morning in the bathtub he yelled Shart! Then I saw a bubble.
That was a new one.

Meh : /

cupcakes and cowboy boots

Colt's 2nd party was a few weeks ago and I'm finally around to blogging about it.  Unfortunately,  my mind went to silly details & getting all my ducks in a row for the big bash which caused me to forget my camera completely.  So the pictures I've taken are the few I snapped with my camera phone.  They don't start remembering things until they're, what? Three?  Hopefully he'll forget who I blew it in the picture category.

I decided to do a Cupcakes and Cowboy Boots theme for Colt's party.  I was trying to think of what he was into so I figured, Eh, he wears his cowboy hat around and thinks that's kinda cool.  Lets go with that.  Actually, my first thought was...let's do a balls party...cause Colt really likes playing with balls.  Baseballs, footballs, juggling balls, etc.  But what exactly would that invitation say? 'It's my party and I've got balls!' or 'Come play with my balls'...wrong.  There are about a million more ball jokes I could keep throwing out but surely someone would defriend me or report me to CPS.

So, cowboy party it was.  Here was the invitation I made.  I thought it was pretty cute:

To protect my parents identity[who allowed me to use their house since mine is the size of a nutrigrain bar] I slapped a gigantic fake mustache over their address. 
That was not apart of the original invitation.
Obvi.

As a party favor [which I forgot to handout, or no one really wanted. haha!] I had cowboy hats & just for fun I bought a bunch of fake mustaches.  My brother and a few other friends had a jolly good time sporting the stache'.  Colt, of course, wanted nothing to do with anything cowboy/mustache/fun related.  Figures.  He was in a semi-weird mood that day.  At first didn't even want his cupcake!  He eventually snapped out of it.  Honestly, I'm not sure he likes all the birthday attention and/or is a fan of large crowds.  He was much more himself after the party when it was just us.  Which is why in the future we're ordering pizza and inviting over the grandparents.  I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that cares about his party. 

Here's a picture of the decor and the cupcakes/cupcake toppers which I spent 86 days making.  The cupcakes were good.  I made the frosting from scratch and piped the frosting all on my own.   Thank you Martha Stewart...I'm glad you're not in jail anymore.

Although our picture taking sucked we did however take lots of video so I sliced together a movie showing the highlights.  You'll see Colt's 'big' present.  We [Andy's family, my brother, my parents and us] all pooled our bucks together and surprised Colt with a John Deere Gator.  He loves it.  But he loves to sit on it and pretend he's driving it more than he likes to actually drive it.  He'll drive it for a few minutes but then gets a little scared.  He'll grow into it...Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.  If not, guess what Molly's getting for her 1st birthday?  She loves John Deere.

All in all it was a great time. 

I love my little doodie head.

Yeehaw.

schwing!

We went to the park today.  Although it looks like Colt and Molly were both really enjoying the swing in this picture, Molly was truly the only one having fun.  Colt a few minutes prior had fallen off another swing when Daddy was pushing him.  He has a slight fear of slides & now swings too.  From now on we'll play with the mulch.

squishy

"I shall call him squishy, and he shall be mine, and he shall be my squishy." -Dory