Momma Hundling's Day off

I had the day off this week on Thursday, and what a much needed and beautiful day to be home! The day started off with a run before the wind became too annoying. I came home to a child who was still sleeping and a breakfast request of pancakes, to which I added caramel sprinkles-very very good! By the picture to the right it is obvious that us girls decided this would be a day we wouldn't bother to comb our hair or put crayons on our face (other than sidewalk chalk!)

We spent the morning 'spring cleaning' the kitchen, sorting through Gabbie's clothing to box up small clothes (a monthly task anymore!), and helping Brice before the rainy night started. Gabbie's naptime was good for catching up on bookwork. And we took good advantage of the wind by doing all the laundry and hanging it outside to dry! Gabbie tagged along for a home health visit and a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up on the basics. The day started with being reminded we had no bread, very little milk, and no more clean clothes, and by the end of the day we were exhausted but order had been restored!

Here is Gabbie modeling her morning attire-PJ's and boots!

C'mon Mom! Lets go shopping!

We enjoyed walking around and saying Hi to the ducks :)

Better water the flowers, then we can be sure it will rain tonight!

All of us girls had a fun day :)

We have quite the busy weekend coming up, so good thing we got our work done on our day at home! Gabbie will spend Saturday with a sitter while I go participate in my first ever triathalon...Sunday she'll hang out with Brice while I go to a wedding shower and a Discovery Toys party, then that evening we will help celebrate a First Communion. Whew! Next week Gabbie will have her 18 month pictures. She did well on her hearing test that was done this past week as well. Now if she would only learn to mow lawn we'd be on a roll :-)

Recent Happenings

The snow is gone, Spring is here, and time is flying! Things have been busy here, mostly with winter storm clean-up and getting things back in shape. The garden is half planted, just waiting for May to plant peppers, tomatoes, etc. Radishes are up already, as well as spinach. All my tomato and pepper plants are outside adjusting in the greenhouse Brice built me last year. Sure can't wait for that first tomato sandwich of the year! Gabbie has enjoyed getting her hands in the dirt as well!

We have had our first night fishing at the pond. Neighbor Tyler came to join also! Pictures will be posted soon-they are currently on my camera that I can not find at the moment (a common problem around here-good thing its a fairly cheap camera and I download frequently!). We had a great time! I always enjoy fishing, since I do not bait my own hook or take the fish off. I basically just sit and relax! The only problem is that since this night we went fishing, Gabbie feels free to run down to the pond anytime she is outdoors. I need to keep her on a leash when she's out of the house between that and the electric fence containing the cattle around here!

Some fun pictures of outdoors time-not uncommon for Gabbie to stay outside for hours at a time (and throw a tantrum when its time to come inside!)

As most people know, we "replaced" Brice's old Toyota. Found a great bargain on a Nissan. So much debating between doing that or updating the "family car" to a van or cross-over. We are thrilled with our decision, as it means an affordable car that is running well and no car payment. Gabbie (aka Mom) loves the sunroof! An added benefit: this car has a cassette player. The "family car" has a CD player. So in the morning I pick the car to take to work based on which book I want to listen to, ha ha.

Gabbie had a very brief illness this past week. Took her to the doctor with a very high temperature (103) and all they could tell was it was 'something viral'. In about 36 hours she was back to happy Gabbie, so it was thankfully short lived! She still has very little clarity to her words...lots of babbling, with inflection that sounds as if she's participating in conversation. She sits and reads books, flipping the pages and moving her fingers on the objects, but just babbling that can not be understood. We had been told at her 15 month check up to "wait and see how she is at 18 months", and we are fast approaching her 18 month birthday. We aren't ignorant to the fact that she should be saying more words by now. She definitely should be telling us when she wants milk, up, down, etc, but its still mostly a guessing game. Time flies so fast here-now getting into planting season, I hate to keep waiting if there are things we should be doing to help her. I do still believe she is just perfect otherwise-tonight after I made bars we sat on our chairs outside and licked out the bowl and the beaters!! Now seriously, does it get better than that?! (for those worried....this is a dessert recipe that calls for no eggs, so it was safe to eat the batter). I wish I could have found my camera for a picture of her chocolate covered beautiful face!

Hope everyone is having a great Spring so far! If Gabbie would leave them alone, I'd post pictures of my blooming tulips! Maybe later this week...

Home Improvement

Here are some photos of the latest house project...the upstairs. Thanks to good friend Brandon we have finally gotten things started! I spent some time this week doing clean up so the last room can be cleared out and torn apart as well. Here are some pics:

"Before"

"After"

-check out that honeycomb!

Initially (and still some now) I was not too excited about this project, though I really wanted it done. Now its kind of 'exciting' to see the bare bones of the house and see how it gets put back together. It will amount to 2 large bedrooms with lots of closet space and a bathroom. The one room is currently housing the trim to be stripped and used again and some misc. furniture, but we hope to get that moved in the next couple weeks and get that room cleared out as well. Fun times and good memories! I was looking back at my "home improvement" scrapbook and its interesting to see the changes in the past 5 years already. The other project currently in the works is getting the trim on the living room windows so we can put up curtains, hopefully before the hot summer sun starts coming in.

The bestest weekend!

We have had such a fun weekend! Gabbie is still recovering from 15 month shots and teething, but she has still been a trooper for weekend activity. Friday night we all went swimming and played in the gym, then hit the McDonalds drive through as we were too tired to get out of the car!

Saturday Gabbie and I rode with Brice to take a load of hogs to Sioux Center.

Gabbie enjoyed the truck ride! Again, lunch at McDonalds as it was the only place we could fit the truck and trailor well. I got a book finished on the way up and a nap on the way home! We went spans of time with Gabbie having no pacifier...we are trying to get rid of that thing before her 18 month birthday!

Sunday we just had to play in the mud! Hard to resist making a huge mess...

Gabbie needed her Vitamin D (she laid down on purpose, didn't fall!)

She found the best mud puddles! And yes, she did try to eat it; and no, she didn't like it!

Then we came in the house and she found her loot-2 sippies AND the pacifier! What a treasure!

I love weekends that aren't booked full and we can just play! I have been doing well this year with staying caught up on housework and bookwork, which has made the weekends much more free and fun. I'm glad Gabbie enjoyed the mud, as it seems we have many days of that ahead!

Good report!

To those who know my dental history...today (after using the weather as an excuse 4 times now) I finally went to my dental appointment and exited the chair with no cavities! To those who do not know...I usually only escape that chair 1 out of 4 times with no cavities. And usually if there is 1 cavity there are 2 or 3 (yes, one year there were 9 of them, no joking). So, needless to say that made my day. Other than having the male dentist do my cleaning versus the female assistant. Those man hands made my jaw hurt all day.
I spent the rest of the morning doing the things I have meant to do for 5 years now, basically since I got married. I finally updated my passport with my married name. Now we must plan a trip! I went to get my license plates changed to the county I live in, but decided it was too cold to change the plates today in the parking lot. Mailed baby gifts to children who probably aren't going to fit into the gifts anymore, had a thyroid check which the doctor ordered weeks ago, and bought my gardening items to start my indoor seeds. I have officially titled this year "The year of staying caught up". The year we were pregnant was "The year of cleaning" to make room for the little one, the first year we had Gabbie was "The year of organization" as we learned to juggle schedules, checkbooks, and keep the house somewhat maintained. This year is the one...the one where we don't wait until the end of the year to get everything done and caught up! This is even helping me at work as this afternoon I caught up on a few charts and turned in all my home health notes 5 days early, yeah me :-)
Another bright note of the day...the upstairs remodeling project has begun. Tonight I already found myself dreaming of a real bathtub as I scrubbed Gabbie up in her baby bathtub and tucking her into a bed in her own room where we can put her things instead of in the closet or basement. (I know...I whine over a bathtub and a bedroom when the fact is she is perfectly clean and healthy and has a place to sleep). However, as materialistic as it may be, I am excited :-)

Las Vegas trip

Found the 'leaning' power lines interesting!

Family picture at Hoover Dam :)

Pretty amazing bridge!

CHEESE! Fun in the sun!

Hoover Dam from below

Double G! Gabbie and GretchenBrad looks so manly pushing a stroller!

Brad and Angela's dog, ShatsiVegas

Brice and Gabbie in one of the casinos

I wish we could take the plug out for just 1 pic!Where Brice went hunting in the desert

The sunset...we have been missing those!

M & M store

We have been back from our first family vacation for about a week now, so I thought it was time to post some pictures and a THANK YOU to our hosts! We traveled to Las Vegas to visit Brice's uncle Brad, aunt Angela, and meet up with his sister Gretchen from California. It was nice to spend time with each other and family for a few days and go to a place where we could see grass and take off our snow boots! The temps were in the 50s and 60s.

It was a blast to spend so much one on one time with Gabbie; although it was quite tiring! I feel like I do not get to spend much time with her when there is no distractions (cleaning, making supper, laundry, etc.) so it was great to 'catch up' with my own kid! Brice and I both agreed that we are missing out of course with our work schedules, but did not come up with any solutions to that problem besides using the time we do have to absorb the amazing person that our child is. The blessing for both of us is that she is thriving at daycare and loves it, and as long as she is happy we can not be too upset that we are missing out!

Anyway, back to the trip. The first day we were there we went to Hoover Dam-how awesome! The things humans can do when they put their minds to it. I was so in awe of the bridge being built for traffic to bypass the dam. Its like gravity doesn't exist; though I'm sure those building the bridge disagree! Day 2 we went downtown and walked through the casinos, saw "Bodies...the Exhibit" and the M & M store. Downtown Vegas is not a place for a child...you can not get within a foot of a slot machine and someone is after you like you've commited a crime (which I guess technically it is...). Day 3 Brice went hunting with his aunt's brother and though they did not have much luch it sounds like they had a great time! Gabbie and I went with Gretchen, Brad, and Angela to the Ethel M chocolate factory and out for sushi while Brice was hunting for our supper :) Overall a great family vacation! Brice and I have already agreed that next time we will probably leave the kiddo at home...airports are too annoying with a child (taking shoes off, having milk tested, and searching strollers) and it is hard to get much rest and relaxation when you are chasing a 1 year old who has way too much energy! We are thinking a local amusement park or water park will suit us for our next family vacation!

Otherwise not a lot is new in our neck of the woods. Brice is busy moving snow, pigs, etc. Gabbie is busy climbing, swimming, talking a little (trying to repeat some words...time to watch our language!), and carrying things all over the house. I am a new addict to books on tape/CD and am really regretting having disposed of my portable tape and CD players 2 years ago when I bought an I-pod for my music. I am currently reading Marley and Me and it definetly makes the time spent doing laundry, ironing, and dishes more enjoyable while Gabbie is napping. TV is so annoying anymore.

Hope you enjoy the pictures! I am off now to get some firewood from a friend to keep our woodstove going. Winter has been longer than predicted and we are all out of our own dry firewood! We are longing for summer like everyone else...the dripping on my head this morning in the bathroom and the discovery of yet another leak thanks to the large amount of ice and snow on the roof has my neutral attitude toward winter becoming bitter. To curb the bummer feeling I think Valentine's Day will be spent planting garden seeds in the basement and getting those tomatoes a good start while I dream of that first bite of a juicy tomato this summer :)

Its all worth it...

Just have to brag...and kick myself in the behind for the whining I do. Today I worked an 11 hour day, thanks to my in-laws being able to help with Gabbie and to potentially bad weather this week nessecitating (sp?) my getting as much done as I could. Came home to what amounted to over 30 minutes of dishes, did laundry, made supper, and sorted mail to pay bills. Brice was in early, thinking he had a board meeting tonight which turned out to be cancelled. I was feeding Gabbie in between dishes, returning phone calls, etc. I'm not used to him being in the house during the 'evening rush' which is even more rushed after a long day. As I'm walking by the table for the millionth time he stops me and says "you know, you really are a pretty awesome wife".
Ahh..that felt pretty good. Especially because he really is an awesome husband, and usually by the time he gets in the house we are already working on bedtime.
Now time to get back to balancing checkbooks. Good thing we both think each other is awesome, because our account balances really aren't...