Playdate

To finish off a fabulous birthday weekend, we started our morning by going to church. Then Mase & I met our besties, Jen & Miss Ava at our favorite place - Deanna Rose Farmstead for an afternoon of lots of fun. It was so good to get to see these two as it has been awhile & the Mommy's had so much fun catching up & enjoying watching the little's. 

Mase & Ava are SO cute together. They started off by feeding the goats:

Then sitting on the bench for a cute photo op:

Next stop was ringing all the cow bells:

While in the dairy barn they both wanted to sit on the wooden horse together:

Then we made our way over to the baby goats where Mase & Ava fed them bottles of milk:

It just warms my heart to see these two hang out together. I hope they will be good friends for a very long time!

After we fed the goats, we decided that it was snack-time so we made our way over to the ice cream parlor. Mommy & Mase shared a couple of scoops of ice cream & Miss Ava got herself a sno-cone. We of course had to get a group photo before the little's got all messy with their treats:

We had a blast with Jen & Miss Ava today! Little man was SO tired by the time we got into the car that he fell asleep while looking at his book:

We are looking forward to many more play-dates this fall with Miss Ava & her Mommy. We are hoping to meet up at Monkey Bizness next month :)

"Birth" Day

So this morning I awoke at 5am to my sweet little boy wide awake & not wanting to go back to sleep - thanks Mase for the early birthday wake up call ;) Luckily my dear hubby took Mase downstairs with him & let Mama sleep in! 

After I finally decided to get up, we headed over to our church for a breakfast fundraiser & enjoyed a delicious spread of scrambled eggs, hash-browns, biscuits/gravy & the most yummy cinnamon rolls made by this cutie-patootie 84 year old named Georgia - who sits next to us every Sunday in church. Such a sweet lady!

We swung by the mailbox on the way home & I was pleasantly surprised to see so many birthday cards waiting for me in the mailbox:

Made this birthday girl feel so loved :)

The rest of the day was spent hanging out around the house with my two boys, grilled out for dinner & ended the day eating some of my favorite cupcakes from Gigi's:

Here's to being another year older - hope I am continued to be as blessed as I was this past year!

Pre-Birthday Celebration

So tomorrow I am celebrating turning another year older. Seems like the older I get these birthdays creep up faster & faster every year - why is that?

Since my birthday falls on a Saturday this year, I figured why not make it a weekend-long celebration?! You only live once, right?

So we started the birthday weekend off by getting a babysitter & made our way downtown to the Power & Light District for a bit of a date-night. Out of all the "fancy" restaurants in P & L, I picked Johnny's Tavern. It had been a crazy busy day at work & by the time we got down there I was craving an ice cold beer & some bar food & Johnny's is the perfect place to get both.

 

We had a cocktail, ate, people watched & caught up on each others week. It was good for this Mama & Daddy to get out & enjoy some one-on-one time with each other!

After dinner we headed over to the outdoor courtyard area where a band called Evalyn Awake was setting up for their Friday night Kansas City Live! show. Shane is FB friends with the lead singer in the band we were about to watch & knowing his choice of music I had a feeling I wasn't going to be enjoying the show!

To my surprise the band was REALLY good. So good in fact that I am planning on downloading a few of their songs! We didn't stay out too late as this Mama was super tired from the long work week, but I'm glad the hubby & I got to go & enjoy a fun night out!

WWYD

Have you ever seen that show "What Would You Do"? 

In the show, actors act out scenes of conflict or illegal activity in public settings while hidden cameras videotape the scene & the focus is on whether or not bystanders intervene & how.

Well while I was sitting at Panera today having a quick lunch by myself I felt like I was on that show & I was expected at any minute to get up out of my seat & intervene with the situation that was unfolding in front of me.

These are the "actors":

get

Now I know that I am not the most perfect mother in the world & I have my days where I am frustrated with Mase but no matter how frustrated I can get you would never hear me say the kind of things to my child that were coming out of this ladies mouth - in a public place mind you nor would I make promises to my child I didn't intend to keep.

The mom is in teal, the sweet little girl named Darcy is in the middle & a girlfriend is on the right. The very well behaved little girl has been eating mac-n-cheese & yogurt while sitting there patiently for an hour while her mom & friend visit & says she is finished. The mom keeps insisting she "shut-up & finish her meal".

The little girl is clearly full but the mom would not let up on her. She kept telling her to eat all her food & then she will get a cookie. It was when I heard this statement "I know how big that mouth of yours is so I know you can finish your meal" is when I started to feel uncomfortable & get pissed. 

The little girl finally finishes her food with no complaining & asks her mom for the cookie she promised her. The mom tells her because of her attitude she doesn't get to have a cookie, proceeds to share the cookie with her girlfriend, eat it in front of her daughter & gave the poor child none. The child starts to cry, the mom grabs her arm, yells at her - for the entire restaurant to hear & then takes her to the bathroom.

It took all I could do to not run into that bathroom, grab that child & hug her, buy her a cookie & throat punch the mother.

What kind of parenting is this & what lessons does it teach to this poor little girl?? I was so bothered sitting there watching this entire situation go down & I had to fight back the tears I felt for that poor little girl. 

So as I sat there, I did the only thing I knew to do - I prayed for the little girl & her mother. Then I proceeded to pray for myself & asked forgiveness for being so judgemental & critical of a situation that was none of my business. 

I am so hoping the mom was just frustrated & having a bad day & this is not how she treats her daughter all the time?!

Showered in Pink

Today I went to my girlfriend Leann's baby shower which her friends threw at one of my favorite restaurants: La Bodega. One of Leann's friends husband is the main chef there so we were all treated like royalty & were spoiled with all the yummy appetizers that kept coming out to us throughout the afternoon. 

After a bit of mingling, eating & sipping on the most amazing sangria ever it was time for Leann to open her gifts for Baby Olivia.

I always love the "gift opening" part of baby showers. So much fun to see what the Mama-2-Be & baby gets from everybody as well as all the cute little outfits! But what I love even more than the gift opening is the cake - imagine that ;)

Leann has another girlfriend who is a professional baker & whipped up this delicious masterpiece for her shower & it was amazing. Vanilla cake with a butter-cream icing - I may or may not have had 2 pieces - as did a few of the other ladies.

Towards the end of the shower we gathered around to take a group photo with the glowing Mama:

And one of the Mama with her co-worker besties - Taylor & I - who are both planning on throwing Leann's work baby shower in September!

It has been so much fun going through this journey with this 1st time Mama & I have loved being her "go-to" person thus far. Can't wait for little Miss Olivia Piper to make her appearance come early November!

#20/20 Experience

Back in November 2013 I bought two tickets to the hottest, most anticipated concert of the year for my girlfriend Jilly & I - Justin Timberlake. It was painful having to wait 10 months to see him in person while my friends & family got to see him earlier on his tour throughout the country. But finally the day has come & it was WELL worth the wait!

I ended up getting stuck at work late so my happy hour plans with Jilly didn't pan out but luckily we made it to the concert just in time with 30 minutes to spare before the show got started. 

Since we missed happy hour we were thirsty & starving so we grabbed a quick beverage & a bite to eat before we got seated:

 

Then we heard word that our friend Melissa was at the concert also so we met up & grabbed a quick hug & a picture with her before the concert began:

Ugh - it's been a LONG time since I have seen this girl - miss those "game night" girls oh so much :(

After hugs, cheers & a potty break we made our way to our seats - which were pretty amazing & enjoyed watching JT do his thing.

He sang, danced & entertained the sold out crowd for almost 3 hours & after it was all said & done I could have sat there for 3 more hours watching him. He was THAT good!

He ended the show with his present hit "Mirrors" & it was awesome the way he paid tribute to the crowd towards the end. Here - see for yourself:

It was a GREAT concert with one of dearest friends & a much deserved girls night out! Definitely well worth the 10 month wait!

DS Awareness Walk

Dear friends,

As your friend I don't ever ask for much, but today I am begging asking for your help. Help for this little sweetie who is very near & dear to my heart:

 

As most of you know, this sweet baby girl is my niece Dana. Not only is she super special because she is my niece, but she has something special that you & I don't - one extra chromosome.

Dana has Down Syndrome & since her arrival last November she has not only blessed us all with her presence, but she has made us all want to become more educated & more aware of children who have Down Syndrome.

On Saturday, October 4th, my family is traveling to Wisconsin to join my sister & her family as "Dana's Daisies" by helping raise awareness for Down Syndrome by participating in the Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin 5th Annual Awareness Walk.

The DSAW-Fox Cities has provided my sisters' family with so much support, education, information, many resources, & opportunities in the short time they have been a part of this amazing group.

Won't you please consider joining me in supporting this wonderful organization? This walk is fully funded by your participation &/or by your monetary donation. It is also a charitable tax-deduction! 

Please follow the link: https://secure.qgiv.com/hobnob/account/225934 to sign up & join us or to make a donation! No matter how big or how small, remember that every little bit helps these amazing kids!

Miss Dana & our family thanks you for your support!

18 months old

Six months have seemed to go by in a blink since we had Mason's 1 year birthday bash & I can officially say we have an 18 month old in the house! 
Wow has a lot changed in 6 months!!

Have you all seen this video that has gone viral this week? Watch it. It is the sweetest thing ever & pretty much sums up how I am feeling at the moment:
 

Weight: At your 15 month appointment you weighed 28 lbs & were 31 inches tall - both in the 98th percentile! You are taller than most of the kids in your classroom at daycare & ever since you started walking you have been slimming way down. Gone are your scrumptious chunky arms & leg rolls :( I swear each week you look taller & leaner. You are now wearing size 5 diapers & are getting close to growing out of your 18 mos clothes. This fall I am pretty sure you will be moving on up to 24 mos/2T sized clothing. You are also wearing a size 6.5 W shoe & will be moving on up to the 7's by fall. Ugh - I wish you would slow down & stop growing so fast!

Eating: Like your Mama, you have a love for food! There isn't much you don't like except for hamburger/red meat, eggs & green vegetables - they are not your favorites. You of course love all the foods that are considered "bad" for you like mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, pasta, & french fries. Some of the good foods you like are: cooked turkey or pork, sweet potatoes, carrots, strawberries, pears, cheese & yogurt. You LOVE the little fruit/applesauce grabbers & do a pretty good job not squirting them all over the front of your shirt...or all over the furniture :) You are still getting a 6-7oz bottle of milk before bed & again when you wake up in the morning. Probably need to start weaning you from at least one of those bottles soon? 

Sleeping: Speaking of bed-time I am happy ecstatic to report that you are fully sleeping through the night. AKA: sleeping 10 hours straight with NO waking up! After you cut all 4 of your molars - all within 6 weeks of each other & one last CIO session you just magically starting sleeping all night through. Pure heaven. You also fall asleep on your own now without the 30-45 minute rocking session with Mama. I am kind of sad that we no longer have that snuggle time but am thrilled that I can rock you with a bottle, put you in your crib & 5 minutes later you are asleep without making a peep. I feel sleep habits have been our biggest challenge with you & I finally feel like we have it finally conquered! 

Milestones:
- you have excelled in walking running everywhere & keep this Mama (& Daddy) on our toes!!
- you can say "mama", "dada", "uh-oh", "huh", "bubba" & what I think is "doggy" & spend all day jibber jabbering. You can sign for please, all done & more & like to mimic sounds that we say.
- love to stack your cups/blocks & then knock them down, scribble with crayons, play with play-doh, throw the ball & love to fill/empty containers. 

- you now have 12 teeth & cut 4 molars all within 6 weeks of each other. Talk about a rough few weeks!
- you like to help dress yourself by trying to put your own socks & shoes on, lifts both your arms to take your shirt off/on, etc.
- at around 14 months we got your 1st haircut & I feel like you aged a couple years when it was all said & done.

 

- you like to go on walks through the neighborhood but much prefer pushing your little lawn mower rather than sitting in your stroller

- you are great at feeding yourself & are starting to use a fork/spoon to eat your food
- can follow simple instructions & commands
- playing outside is your absolute favorite thing to do. Not sure what we will do this winter when you are stuck inside?!

- mood swings & temper tantrums are making an appearance & it makes me cringe to think what the "terrible 2's" will be like.

- you have mastered crawling up & sliding down the stairs & are beginning to "walk" up & down the stairs
- you have become quite the little dare-devil & are fearless - which makes this Mama a nervous wreck. You have no fear when it comes to climbing on the furniture, playing in the pool, or running for the street. I already have gray hair so I can't imagine how many more I will have in a few years!?

- can point to your ears, eyes, nose, belly button, teeth, head & feet when asked
- can pick out animals like dog, cow, horse, sheep, pig, rooster when asked & imitate the sound from a dog & cow which is so cute.
- you love to sit in our lap, read books, help turn the pages & point to things of interest to you

- you like to help with household activities like sweeping & still have a fascination with the vacuum

Fun at daycare

 Infatuated by the animals @ Deanna Rose Farmstead

I have said before that each phase of this little guy's life is the most fun but honestly these past 6 months have been the best. To see all the developmental changes that have occurred, watch your little personality develop & to hear you start to talk is so much fun.

I love this little man more than I ever imagined I could & thank God everyday for blessing us with him & for giving us the opportunity to be his Mama & Daddy!

Sunday Funday

We have been having some beautiful weather here lately with the high's being in the low 80's & almost no humidity. So after a couple of crazy, busy weeks around here, I wanted to spend some time outside doing something fun with the family. 

Shane's mom - Grandma "Mountain" is here visiting so we decided to take her to Mason's favorite place - Deanna Rose Farmstead. I get such a kick out of seeing his excitement & hearing his little squeals when he sees the animals. We always stop to see the roosters/chickens first & then make our way over to pet the Pygmy goats. I love those little goats - every time I see them it makes me want to get a couple as pets.

Mason also loves to see the cows & says "mooooo" over & over whenever he sees them. We ventured around the farm & this time we made sure to stop & feed the ducks/swans. We all fell in love with the baby ducks & Mason was so infatuated by them.

We came across the beautiful draft horses & Mase & mommy stopped for a picture. We got to pet their long faces & Mase loved petting their noses.

Towards the end of our visit we all decided to sit for a bit so Mase could eat his snack. I managed to snap this great pic of Shane & his mom with Mason:

It was another great afternoon spent at the "farm" & I see many more visits to this place in the future!

July 4th Weekend

Hellooooo - is anyone still there??

So very sorry my blog has been slacking lately. Between working full-time, taking extra weekend call, being a mommy, wife, domestic diva, etc there hasn't been much time to devote to this blog or to much of anything else I love to do lately. Besides, we haven't really done anything too exciting or blog-worthy to share with you all so that is another reason why I haven't posted an update lately.

We did do something pretty fun this past weekend though! We spent the 4th of July holiday with my family in Minnesota. We had all pitched in money to rent a house in downtown Minneapolis (thanks to vrbo.com) & ended up having a great time! 

We left super early Friday morning which bought us 3+ hours of sleep time from Mase. After a couple of pit-stops & some breakfast we ended up getting up to MN around 1230pm. Everyone else had gotten there Thursday but due to Shane's work schedule we had to leave Friday morning. We all ate lunch when we got there & then we spent the rest of the afternoon at Lake Harriet. 

Lake Harriet was a great place for families & children. There was a huge park for the kids to play at, walking trails, bicycle rentals & trails, nearby gardens, a variety of water activities like canoe & paddleboat rentals, a bird sanctuary & a huge amphitheater for outdoor concerts. It was a great place to spend the afternoon & the entire family had fun participating in different excursions throughout the day.

 

Later that evening we celebrated the 4th holiday by grilling hamburgers & hot dogs along with all the sides & had us a feast. Conveniently, the house we rented had a park right across the street where the whole family was able to watch the spectacular fireworks show downtown Minneapolis put on for the public. It was 30 minutes of amazing, huge, loud fireworks & Mason somehow managed to sleep soundly through the entire thing. 

Saturday we spent the day at Como Park & all the kids had so much fun. This place was awesome for the little kids & the big kids as well! Half of the park was a zoo & the other half was an amusement park with rides, games, fair food, etc. The best part about this place was that admission was based on "donation" only so you gave whatever you thought was reasonable to enter the park. The price of the pass to ride the rides was very reasonable also. We also had brought a small cooler in with us & packed lunches for everyone so the day spent there was super inexpensive for all.

 

We spent the first half of our day there riding the rides. Mason had tons of fun on the toddler rides & his cousin Joslyn was such a huge help keeping him safely inside the rides. 

  

Shane & I even got in on the fun & went on the zip line ride:

Once the amount on our ride pass ran out, we all sat down, ate lunch & then made our way over to the zoo. As soon as we crossed over into the zoo entrance Mason fell asleep & missed the majority of the animals.

 
Grandpa Farm (my dad) spent most of the day hanging out with Dana so that my sister & her husband could take their other 3 kids on all the rides. I just love these pictures of them two:

After our day at Como Park everyone was pretty exhausted. We got back to the house, made our family favorite Tater Tot Casserole & grilled up some chislic - a South Dakota favorite as well! 

The rest of the evening was spent hanging around the house relaxing while the kids played across the street at the park & went for a late swim in the pool. 

While the littles were away, I got to spend some one on one time with this little cutie - my niece Dana:

Ahhh - don't you just LOVE all those chunky little rolls? 

Sunday morning it was time to pack up & get back on the road to head home. Everyone had such a great time & hopefully we can make this an annual event!?

We tried to get a nice picture of all the cousins sitting together before everyone left but there were two meltdowns - my nephew Tanner & my kid:

This was the best we could get! LOL - so much for that idea :( Should have tried to take this photo on day 1?!


I hope everyone had a fun & safe 4th of July holiday weekend!