Sledding

Last week, we had a great day for sledding. The sun was shining and the temperature was warm enough you didn't need a hundred layers to stay warm. Mike and I wanted to take E sledding. He loves the snow and big slides so we thought sledding would be right up his ally, WRONG! We were gone for about 10 minutes and E only went down the hill once.

Let me back up. When we told E we were going outside to sled he kept saying, "I want to shovel." The kid loves to shovel snow. He talks a lot about shoveling snow and gets excited when it snows. "It's really coming down." he'll say. "We'll have a lot of snow to shovel." So when E told us he wanted to shovel instead of sled, we should have known that this sledding thing was going to fail.

However, Mike and I persisted and got both kids bundled up in snow suits. Anyone who has ever done this knows what an event this can be. By the time everyone is ready to go, I'm carrying my coat, hat, and gloves because I'm sweating.  Despite the crying from both kids, Cora was tired and E wanted his shovel, we were finally loaded in the car, ready to make the two minute drive to the soccer field where there were perfect sledding hills. I even packed some snacks because I envisioned us sitting on top of the hill taking a break from all the sledding we'd be doing.

When we got there, I plopped Cora in the baby sled and pulled her to the hill so she could camp out and watch. Mike was pulling E's sled and he was slowly following behind still talking about his shovel. Mike was talking to him about sledding, really pumping it up about how cool it was going to be. There were other kids sledding and we said, "Look at those kids, doesn't that look fun?" E wanted nothing to do with it. Mike decided to take a turn to show E how fun it would be. Still nothing. I took a turn and he still just wanted to shovel. Time to bribe, we thought if E just tried it, he'd like it. We told him to go down with Dad and then he could shovel. He quickly jumped on the sled with Mike and they went down the hill. When he walked back up he said, "Ok, now can I shovel?" How can we argue with that? We brought his shovel but decided it was pointless for the whole family to just stand at the top of the hill and watch him shovel. So we loaded everyone back in the car and made the two minute drive back home and E shoveled the yard, happy as can be.

My Social Media Cleanse

I went off of social media for the month of November. It really was only Facebook and Instagram since I don't Twitter or use Snap-Whatever. I did continue to read blogs because who has time to read a book these days so that's my "reading" time. I still was on Pinterest because I do actually make a lot of the recipes I pin. I don't do much with the other thousands of things I pin but I can dream.

What prompted my cleanse was a new low I hit, I was scrolling through my newsfeed while brushing my teeth. That's low. I also would check my newsfeed and nothing would have updated, Facebook wasn't broken, I was just on it that much. Not to mention the countless minutes I was wasting. Minutes I could use wisely by being productive or heaven forbid spend time with my children. Yes, it was time for a cleanse.

I also found myself getting annoyed and even competitive by some posts from people. People I barely knew anymore. My gosh, just typing that sounds pathetic. This should not be effecting me the way it was. Again, time for a cleanse.

So today is the day I jump back on Facebook and Instagram. Did I miss it? Not really. What I missed was the connection I felt with my close friends who live far away. I miss seeing pictures of their kids and random updates about their lives. Yes, there are other ways to stay connected to those we love; email, texts, or dare I say even a phone call. During my social media cleanse, I did try calling my best friend who lives out of state. I had no idea what she or her family was up to, I missed feeling connected to her. It took us two weeks and four phone calls before we actually spoke. Who has time for that?  Facebook is easy and quick. And when my closest people live far away, that's what I want.

After my cleanse, I will be using social media differently. I like Instagram for pictures, it's a great record of daily moments and I don't follow many people on there. Honestly, I mostly follow celebrities on Instagram, it's my celebrity gossip fix. I'm going to clean up my Facebook "friends" so I'm truly connected with people who are friends. I don't care what that girl I had one class with freshman year of college is up to. I don't need to be updated on that guy who graduated from high school two years after me. I care about my friends, the real ones. The ones that it doesn't matter how much time has passed since the last time we saw each other because we pick right back up where we left off. Besides, I don't want to risk pissing them off by defriending them...they know to much about me.

Thankful at Thanksgiving (in pictures)

Here's what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving...and all year long.

These two!

E loves Grandpa Claude's Allis Chalmers.

He likes the green ones too.

My world!

Such a good helper.

Halloween...
"Home of the Wicked Witch and Her Little Monsters."

Minnie Mouse
(E would not wear his Mickey Mouse costume.
He told me he was going to be Evan for Halloween.)

Punch Pizza after E's first professional haircut.
It was time, Mom kept messing it up.

Playing camping.

This lady thinks she can walk.

My Rut

It's the last night of my Thanksgiving vacation. I'm sitting at my computer, with my hot chocolate and a delicious chocolate chip shortbread cookie that I made. They're almost as good as the ones at Rustica. I'm sure I can make them just as good if I keep trying but that means I need to keep making them which means I will continue to eat them. Not good. Anyway, I'm here. I'm blogging for the first time in weeks. I felt like I was in a writing rut, but then I realized, I can't be in a rut. I'm just telling my stories, there's no rut when you're telling the stories of your life. Then I thought, maybe life was in a little bit of a rut. And it kind of was. 

I felt like things were moving so fast but nothing was getting done. Life was so busy, but busy doing what? There were a few weeks when I felt like I was just floating through life in a haze. Work was stressing me out and I took it home with me. I felt angry, I felt sad, I felt helpless, and I was anxious. And then there was a moment that lifted me out of my rut. I was vulnerable with my husband. I gathered the courage to let walls down that I didn't even realize I had up. After being together for nine years, I still had insecurities I hadn't shared with him mostly because I didn't realize I had them. 

I've always considered myself a strong confident woman, but somewhere, somehow, my confidence has been shaken. I have all these insecurities of being good enough. A good enough Mom, wife, friend. Being good enough at my job so I can be promoted and make more money for my family. I shared this all with Mike and it felt good. I no longer needed to pretend that I was strong and confident and had it all together when I did not feel that way at all. That conversation helped me end my rut. 

You would think I would have no problem being vulnerable with Mike, especially after the condition I was in after E's birth. Mike was fortunate enough to have the experience of helping me put on those wonderful mesh underwear you get after having a baby. The ones that are as big as a tent so they can hold that giant pad. I really have no dignity left with him. But this was different. I didn't want to let him down. I liked having him think of me as strong confident woman. But the stress of pretending to have it all together made manageable things in life less manageable. I was overwhelmed and couldn't deal with it. That's the great thing about my marriage, Mike is a true partner, we're a team in life. When one is down, the other steps up. 

Cora at 6 Months

Today Cora turned 6 months old. That's half a year which means I'm that much closer to not having a baby but a 1 year old. A 1 year old!  I felt my pregnancy with Cora took forever and now I'm packing up totes of baby girl clothes that no longer fit, swings that her feet hang off of, and looking at buying a bigger car seat.

This girl never ceases to amaze me. She has a huge curiosity for her world. Grabbing, touching, looking, and tasting everything she can. It's like each day she wakes up hungry to learn more. Cora makes her presence known in our family, she wants to be involved in everything we do. If we're eating, she watches with her big blue eyes and wants to eat too. For that reason, I started her on baby food shortly after she turned 4 months and there's no turning back. She gobbles up everything, except for carrots, those mostly get spit back at Mom.

I love that she has already developed a love of books. If anyone has a book or magazine, she wants it too. And when we read E stories, she listens just as intently. If we're watching TV, she watches too (so much for no screen time). She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse just like her brother.

Cora seems to be growing up faster than E. Maybe it's because she has an older brother and we're doing more kid things and not all baby things. With E, it was all age relevant activities where Cora is experiencing so much more at her age than E ever did. This is good, but I want to her to still be my baby so I make sure I get plenty of cuddles in the rocking chair.

Cora has her 6 month check up next week and I'm curious to know her stats. Here's what else Cora is up to at 6 months:

• Wears size 2 diapers, size 3 at nights.
• Wears mostly 9 month clothes. A few 6 month still fit and buying pretty much 12 month stuff now.
• Has the best giggle I've ever heard and her brother makes her laugh the most. 
• Goes to bed 8/8:30, dream feed 10/10:30 and sleeps until 6/7 in the morning.
• Can sit up almost on her own.
• Rolls from back to tummy but that's about it.
• When she's on her tummy, can spin and scoot some.
• Eats solids for lunch and dinner. Has tried, peas, green beans, chicken, squash, sweet potato, pears, bananas, and carrots. 
• Started playing around with a sippy cup, doesn't quite know what it's for yet.
• Weighs 16.8lbs and 26 inches long.

Happy 6 Months Cora Girl! I love you from the top of your head to the tip of your toes!

Life Lately

I feel like I haven't been in this space forever.  I only blogged once in September, only ONCE. My heart and mind have felt it, they are in need of this space. This is where I get my thoughts out and declutter my brain. This is where I reflect on life. And let me tell you, life lately has been all sorts of things. It's been hard, messy and chaotic yet so joyful and beautiful at the same time. Life lately has been full speed ahead. I blinked and September was gone.

On the family front, things are busier than normal. Both E and Cora are in ECFE class one day a week for a few hours. This year E is doing a separating class. Mom and E together for the first hour and then Mom goes to parent discussion while E stays with the teachers and kids for more play. He's cried all three times. He's the only kid that cries when the parents leave. I'm the only mom that walks out with a pit in my stomach hoping he's ok. I know he's ok but I also know he's sad and no Momma wants their kid to be sad. The teachers are great. They hold him the entire time and read him stories while he sniffles back his tears. They tell me he tries to be brave. He watches the other kids play, too shy to join in. He eats his snack with the group but then prefers to go back and cuddle with the teacher. He'll answer their questions and engage in quiet conversation but will often ask when Mommy is coming back. When we're reunited after the hour, he cries hard again. This time tears of relief that Mom is back. I question whether I'm pushing him too much. Maybe he's not ready for this, he is the youngest one in the class by two months and two months is a big difference when you're two years old. But then when we drive home he tells me he played puzzle with Teacher Marjean at school and his snack was good. And he has to learn that he's ok without Mom or Dad. He has to learn to be with other kids and adult not in our family. And each week the teachers say he handles it better and better. Thank goodness for good teachers.

Cora seems to be enjoying her school just fine. I'm convinced she will be the social butterfly of the family. She babbles all during class and plays with all the toys within reach. She watches with curiosity as the more mobile babies move about. Last week, a nine month old crawled over and tried to grab a ball she was playing with and my little peanut hung on tight with both hands and pulled right back not letting go. The little boy gave up and Cora went back to playing with the ball. All the moms got a kick out of this interaction and I admit I was a pretty proud Momma.

Life lately has had our family apart for a bit. Mike has been helping his parents sell his grandma's farm in northern Minnesota. He was gone for a week helping clean out the house having a garage sale. I think that has been the longest we've been apart as a family but I know his parents appreciated his help. The closing on the farm is next week and it will be bitter sweet. It will be sad for his family to no longer have this home that has been in the family for years but also a relief to no longer have that responsibility. His parents were essentially maintaining two homes and it got to be too much.

My job has also caused us to be apart more than normal. I'm working on a high profile project at work which is taking up a lot of my time. I'm also looking for a new role at my company, hopefully a promotion, so I've been taking lots of meetings and networking at the corporate offices. Working the hours I do means this usually happens on my days off. Networking is not something I enjoy and I've felt this extra level of stress. I'm hoping this will all pay off shortly after the first of the year and I'll have a new job with better hours and making more money. I'm keeping my eye on the prize!

Life lately has also brought us some fun. Surlyfest! The annual Oktoberfest at Surly Brewery. Mike has gone the past few years with the guys but this year the wives and girlfriends joined in on the fun. We had beautiful weather, great music, fantastic company, and of course delicious beer. Mike and I partied pre-kid style finishing the evening off where our relationship first began, Park Tavern. It wasn't quite pre-kid style partying because we were home by 9pm but it sure felt like it the next day. Bless Grandma Sharon for being here to help take care of E and Cora.

This is our life lately. Throw in piles of clean laundry scattered throughout the house, pieces of dried play-doh on the floor, a broken water heater that leaked all over, and lots of laughter and that pretty much sums it up.

So Long Summer

I have a love hate relationship with fall. I love the crisp weather and the beauty of leaves changing color. Football games, crock pot meals, Honeycrisps, and all things pumpkin, especially a PSL. What I hate is what comes after fall. The cold, snow, and ice. Living in Minnesota, the time after fall gets long. I'm definitely a summer time girl so this time of year is bitter sweet.

I'm going to miss the long days of sunlight where we stayed outside until dusk. Baths were needed every night to wash away a days worth of sunscreen and sandbox fun. Dinners were simple, throw whatever on the grill and bedtimes were later and later. Yes, I will miss my summer days.

Looking back on our summer, I can't help but smile. I feel it truly was one of the best summers of my life. It kicked off with the birth of our beautiful baby girl in late April. I had 13 wonderful weeks off from work where we learned to become a family of four. I'm glad I wrote my Friday Five posts during the summer to capture life at this special time. Reading through them again allows me to relive all the fun things we did. I was hoping to keep up with the Friday Five but with going back to work, severe lack of sleep and the craziness of life right now, consistent blogging took a back seat.

We said "so long" to summer with a family vacation at Gull Lake. Our morning routine was coffee on the patio overlooking the lake while E redid the landscaping with his trucks and diggers. Being in northern Minnesota, the weather was cool so we needed sweatshirts. By afternoon it warmed up and we headed to the beach. Mike and E got some fishing in and Mike and I spent an afternoon canoeing. We lived off ham and cheese sandwiches, watermelon, and grilled hotdogs. The sweatshirts came back on in the evening and fires by the lake kept us warm. I'm grateful we had this time together as a family.

So long summer time, it's been fun. I'll see you again next year.

 Vacation Pics