HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVIS!!!

See this little tiny guy? Well he's 3 today! 3!!!! So hard to believe my baby is 3 but he is!

Davis~You are such a joy to Mommy and Daddy! You amaze us daily with the things you do and say! To say we are blessed is an understatement. We are so VERY happy God chose us to be your parents! We LOVE you to pieces!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET, SWEET LITTLE BOY!!!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Technology Woes and other happenings

This past week I have been some what "technically challenged" so to speak. It all started Saturday when I dropped my cell phone in (of all places) the toilet! YUCK!!! I was so not amused but plunged in there after it as quick as my reflexes would allow. I dried it off and amazingly it worked...but then it died like 10 minutes later. So I took it apart and let it dry out in the diaper bag. Hey I had Quarry Day doings to attend and enjoy so the least of my worries was my cell phone...ha!! So after getting home that afternoon I was told to put my phone in a bowl/bag of rice to help it dry out. I figured why not try it. Well 24 hours later my "little phone that could" was back to it's old self. Or so I thought! As I was talking to my Mom, it hung up all by itself..no warning, nothing...just up and hung up on her! Then it proceeded to scroll through my contact list and other lists on my phone...all by itself. It would beep randomly too...no reason except for the fact that apparently it was fried and no amount of rice was going to fix it...LOL!

So Monday found Jeff and I at the cell phone store, picking out new phones and upgrading our cell phone package. I can now receive text messages (I know...I'm behind on the times...ha)! Jeff got a Smartphone...I just got a Samsung which I think is just totally cute and does everything I need it to do (including playing some really fun ringtones with a dance kinda beat)! Davis and I like to jam out and ham it up previewing my ringtones. We spent 2 hours in the cell phone store because apparently I'm not the only person who has bad luck with their phones...ha! One guy dropped his in some water and I heard another say he lost half of his flip phone and screen while riding on his motorcycle! Glad to know I'm not the only one!

I've had computer issues at work and today when I got here my radio has just up and died. It's still plugged in but nothing and I mean nothing is working on it. Totally bizarre! I am so thankful for headphones and Pandora :)!! And to top it all off...at home our air conditioner is on the fritz! Yup it waits until the hottest 2 days of summer to finally decide it's tired and needs to retire. Thankfully Jeff found a used window air conditioner, which has now found a home in our livingroom. I just hope it doesn't burn the house down while we are at work! Oh and how could I forget that the blower motor went out in the Tahoe but thankfully Jeff was able to replace that pretty quickly last night :)!

I'm ready for a break from "technology" and am looking forward to the 4th of July weekend. With it being so hot I'm pretty sure we'll be in the pool (well Davis will be anyway). He got a new pool and yesterday he swam for 2 1/2 hours. He was so excited to swim in it that he didn't take his nap. Ok so that's not a good thing but thankfully he wasn't too crabby (that came later, at bedtime..go figure...ha)! It's so much fun to watch him enjoy himself so much and get so excited about things like this :)! There are pictures on Facebook if you want to see him enjoying himself (I had Blogger issues and for some reason couldn't upload my photos...ha...another technology problem...LOL)!!

Despite all my "woes" this week I am so very thankful for everything we have...we have our health, our families, jobs, food on the table, etc., etc., etc. I have heard of a lot of people who have real hardships (cancer, stroke, stillbirth, miscarriage, etc.) and my "woes" are nothing compared to what those people are going through. I'm so thankful to God for all my blessings. Saying a prayer for all those who are struggling and going through some real hardships.

God's blessings to you all! Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Lettuce, Lettuce and more Lettuce

Seems like every year we shorten the row of lettuce we plant. This year was no different. In fact we only planted 1/4 of a row. Of course we have WAY MORE lettuce then we can ever imagine eating. I'm nice and I share so if anyone is interested I HAVE LETTUCE :)!! Davis won't eat it. I LOVE it but seriously there are only so many salads a person can eat. Jeff likes it but it doesn't like him (enough said). I also have spinach but I can at least freeze that. That's what I'll be doing this afternoon..yup I have a date with some spinach. Good times I tell ya'! Well this is what we wait for each summer...putting up some produce. The only thing is I HATE to clean all that spinach. Picking it, blanching it and freezing it is a breeze. It's the cleaning that I loath! But I just need to buck up and do it...it'll be worth it this winter when we have spinach to use in some recipes :)! Ok enough complaining!

Tractor pull season is in full swing. Davis and I have only been to 2 pulls so far. One of the pulls got canceled due to way too much rain. Jeff has been pretty consistent with where he places at each pull. He usually gets 6th place in the light class and 8th place in the heavy. It just amazes me that usually there is only like 2 feet between 6th place and 2nd place. These classes he's in are VERY competitive! He got a 3rd place in his heavy class in Pipestone, Minnesota this past Saturday so he was really excited about that. He has a pull in Menno, SD on Saturday and then the annual 4th of July pull in Inwood, IA. Davis and I probably won't head to Menno (way too far and for some reason they ALWAYS schedule the start time for these pulls during nap time). We'll go to Inwood on the 4th of July and take part in all the festivities of the day. It's always an enjoyable time! Sounds like the weather is going to cooperate too which will be nice...you just never know anymore!

Davis continues to amaze us daily with all he knows and all he does. He's just like his daddy! Last night his Power Wheels Jeep wasn't running right (battery was going dead) so Davis hopped right off, popped the hood, took a look, closed the hood and told me he needed to fix it! LOVE IT!! He even has some tools he uses and he knows how to "blow up" a tire...or I should say let the air out of tires..LOL! He's less picky with his eating now (thank goodness) and actually LOVES pork chops and steak now :)! And one night he shocked us by eating 3 helpings of green beans and hardly any of his cheese pizza. Yup he just amazes us! I can't believe he's going to be 3 in a few weeks! I get weepy when I look at pictures of him when he was a tiny, little baby. Yup I'm a sap like that..ha! Love my little boy and am so very blessed to be his mommy!

So that's life in a nutshell! Seriously if you need any lettuce please let me know..LOL..I'll share! God's blessing to you all! Hopefully some day I'll post some pictures (you can see them all on Facebook if you really want to. I post them over there quite a bit actually). Have a wonderful day everyone!!

Let the Tractor Pull Craziness Begin....

Well today is the day...Tractor Pulling Season is beginning! Let me just say that Davis has been asking to go to a tractor pull now for the past few weeks. I don't think I'll mention anything about it when we get home from daycare this afternoon because I want him to take his nap...LOL! A too excited Davis = NO NAP! However I think he'll probably ask me first thing when I go to get him if it's time to go to the Pull. He's smart like that...the kid doesn't forget ANYTHING!!!

Jeff's excited too. He's been polishing his truck and getting everything ready to go for a week now. His tractor is in Inwood so he'll just have to stop to get it before heading to Rock Valley. I think he's got a few things he wants to do to it before he heads to Rock Valley...you know make it look pretty (or since it's a tractor maybe I should say handsome...can you describe a tractor as handsome??)! We have a tractor pull or two every weekend now until July. There is a few week break in July that will probably be much welcomed and then things start back up again for a crazy month in August.

I'm happy the weather is decent today. Doesn't look like we'll need our winter coats tonight like in years past. Seriously a few years ago you almost needed coveralls and a parka after the sun went down. I'm excited to watch Jeff pull, take pictures and watch the excitement through Davis's eyes. Love doing that...watching the world through the eyes of my child. I also love tractor pull food and the fact that I get a night off from cooking.....YIPPEEE!!!! Bring on the pizza, hotdogs and nachos!

Other news: Our garden is growing like crazy. Can't wait to eat all the fresh stuff. Looks like we'll probably be eating lettuce and spinach here in the next few weeks. Been making some rhubarb things...not as much as I would have liked. Our strawberries have flowers on them so they should be producing strawberries very soon. Wish the tomato's were fast like the spinach and lettuce...oh well it's a good test of patience!

Davis is loving the weather and being outside. Did I happen to mention he's sleeping better now with all the fresh air...LOL! Maybe I shouldn't say that because seems like when I start "bragging" about that kinda stuff we take 2 steps back. I already ordered all the stuff for his 3rd birthday (which isn't until July 20). Yes I'm a planner like that. Got the menu and guest list all ready too. I have to get the invitations made yet but that should be a piece of cake. Super excited for his birthday party...not spilling the beans on the theme though. Have to wait to see pictures after the big party on the 17th of July! Davis got a PowerWheels Jeep and he's quite the driver. He LOVES going around in circles and talking on the "phone" while he's driving (and so that begins..LOL)! He's also learning to pedal his 3 wheeler and is getting it but it's so hard to pedal and get the thing moving on the gravel driveway. He's discovered sidewalk chalk and has a BLAST with that. Of course he mostly like drawing on our deck but hey why not especially since we have limited sidewalks and cement out there. He's such a WONDERFUL little guy and we just LOVE HIM TO PIECES!!!!

So that's life in a nutshell at the moment. I am going to attempt to take some pictures tonight so hopefully I'll get them up on here and on Facebook. Have a great weekend everyone! God's Blessings!!!

I'm BACK......

**I typed some of this on April 20, 2011, saved it and then typed more today, April 29, 2011 and didn't publish until today (May 3, 2011). The weather has actually started to get better and we have seen the sun a little bit the past few days...YIPPPEEE**

I know I haven't posted on this blog for almost a year...yes a whole year! I started another blog called Picky Toddler and the First Time Mom and post on there once in awhile (and I use once in awhile loosely)! Davis was kind of a picky eater there for awhile but he's starting to turn things around..YIPPPEEE :)!! So I figured I can post on both blogs once in awhile to keep everyone updated on our lives.

The winter was LOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGG! And that might just be the understatement of the year. It's still only in the 40's here and seriously I don't think we've seen the sun for a week now. It's bad...real bad! Especially for my sweet little guy who just wants so terribly to play outside and feel the sun on his face (I would enjoy that too...thank you very much :)!!). We got teased with a little bit of nice weather and then BAMMMMM winter had returned. Here's hoping the next few weeks gets better.

Davis just amazes us daily with all he knows and especially with all he says! He can talk a blue streak that's for sure :)! And his memory..WOW...what a memory he has. He's still talking about our trip to Colorado that we took last September! We thought we were going to have an easy time potty training in because on December 31st he decided that morning he wanted to "pee in the potty". He did so GOOD for 1 month...a WHOLE month and then decided the potty just wasn't for him. Sure once in awhile (I think it's when he feels the need for an M & M fix) he'll go in the potty but mostly he's decided he just doesn't quite want to be outta diapers yet. No pressure though. I'm hoping one day he'll just wake up and decide he's just sick and tired of diapers :)! Here's hoping it's that easy!

Davis has already helped Jeff till up the garden. So the garden is ready to plant whenever the weather decides to cooperate :)! Lots of good stuff going in our garden this year. Most of the usual stuff (green peppers, tomatoes, green beans, peas, potatoes, onions, cukes, zucchini, carrots, lettuce, spinach, dill, sweet corn, and pumpkins). We are trying Brussel sprouts this year too. I'm really excited about those :)! We LOVE them at our house...LOVE THEM!!! I hope to freeze a bunch of them for eating. And of course I'm going to do a LOT of canning...that might be an understatement! I almost cried a month ago when I used my last quart of homemade spaghetti sauce...seriously I did almost cry. That stuff is so good and nothing compares to it's taste :)! I hope to make more this summer (I made 14 quarts last year too). What can I say...we love our spaghetti sauce :)! Ok enough about gardening and food...I'm getting hungry!

As I said above we went to Colorado in September. It was a good trip. We drove (yes we are crazy...what can I say). We split the ride up into 2 days on the way out there. Davis would have a melt down everytime he had to get buckled into his carseat on that second day. Poor kid. But by the time we got to our cabin he was HAPPY! He LOVED the cabin. Jeff and I actually stayed in that cabin when we went to Estes Park Colorado back in October 2006 for our honeymoon. It was super hot in Colorado while we were there (80's most days). Was hoping it wouldn't be that hot but what do you do :)! We attended my cousin's wedding and hung out a lot with my parents who also made the trip. We decided on the way home to just do the whole trip in one day. That went so much smoother for all of us. In fact Davis slept a lot on the way home due to lack of sleep the whole trip. We probably won't take another long trip like that for awhile :)! Davis still talks about the mountains. We took some pictures so we can show him those someday when he says he doesn't remember the trip.

We went to my parents for Easter this year. The trip went good for the most part. We had to buy two DVD players for the Tahoe (we got a Tahoe in February so now I'm an SUV drivin' momma and not a van drivin' momma...more about that later). Davis loved those...for the most part. After about 1.5 hours in the Tahoe he wanted to get out. We bribed him with a few new toys here and there (I know...bad parents...lol)! We had a BLAST at my parents house and the Easter Bunny was good to Davis. He had WAY TOO MUCH CANDY on Sunday so he was kind of a wild man. Jeff and I left him with Grandma and Grandpa (I'm sure they just hated that...ha) and went bumming around Cedar Rapids. It's amazing how fast those weekends away go. We had to drive back on Monday already. We made good time on Monday and Davis was so pooped from the whole trip that he was in bed by 8:00 p.m. Monday night (rare occurrence people)! Hopefully we can head that direction again this summer :)!

I know you are all interested in why I'm now an SUV momma and not a van momma anymore. So here's the story~Ok so after our HORRIBLE winter Jeff and I decided we needed another 4 wheel drive vehicle. Let's just say driving in the snow/ice/slush/mess is not a talent of mine. Hopefully 4 wheel drive will be my friend. Of course now that we got a Tahoe I suppose the winters will shape it up...LOL! That's usually the way it goes. I'm still trying to get use to driving it since it's a bit wider then my van. So far so good and I LOVE IT!!!

Jeff, Davis and I have been going to a new church here in Madison and WE LOVE IT!!! I just felt God leading us in another direction which prompted me to Facebook message a friend and ask her all about Living Hope. I am SO GLAD I DID! Living Hope has truly been a blessing to our family and EVERYTHING we have been searching for. In fact I got baptized on April 10, 2011. What an AMAZING EXPERIENCE!! I'm also attending a weekly Bible Study and we just feel so very welcomed there. GOD IS SO GOOD :)!!!

Ok so that probably updates everyone on what's been going on the last year of our lives...ha! I hope to put up a few pictures this afternoon or sometime soon. I shouldn't say today because it might not happen but then again I might surprise you all! God's Blessings to you all!!!!

So What Have We Been Up To....

Hard to believe it's already the 22nd of June! The calendar says it's summer and boy does it feel like summer out there. It's a toasty one! Here's what we have been up to (through pictures)...


A little mowing...

A little watering....

A little time in the sandbox....

A little swimming....

And Tractor pulling of course....

Jeff's only had two pulls so far but Tractor pulling season is in full swing! This weekend he's got two of them and I'm pretty sure there is one every weekend or week until the end of August!

Our garden looks FABULOUS! Jeff's been keeping the weeding up and it looks great! We've been eating spinach and lettuce for a few weeks now and the green beans and snow peas will be ready in a week (I think). Trying to freeze all the spinach I can...picked it all today since it was bolting already. Can't wait to get to all the other canning and freezing later in the summer. Oh and our strawberry plants have been producing like crazy! Good stuff :)! Sometimes Davis and I pick and eat...don't even bring them in the house. That's the best :)! Making memories :)!!! Can't wait until the zucchini is ready too...zucchini brownies, zucchini bread/muffins...YUM!

So that's life in a nut shell. Hope to take Davis out swimming after his nap. Maybe I'll take a dip too..ha! God's Blessings to you all!

Toddler Phases...No One Ever Told Me About This...ha :)!

I just can't believe how many different phases a toddler goes through. I thought I was prepared for all toddlerhood would bring but boy am I finding myself unprepared. Ha! They sure don't teach you about this in prenatal classes! I think they should require you to attend a class when your child hits about 18 months to prepare you for what's ahead. I'm not complaining because Davis is just a pure joy but I often find myself scratching my head and wondering "what in the world" at least a few times a day. I guess that makes me human :)!


Davis is going through a really picky eating phase right now. I'm talking a complete and total vegetable and fruit strike. Ok I take that back because he will eat fruit if you "hide" it in a muffin. I have successfully been getting him to eat Applesauce Muffins and Blueberry Muffins. Once in while he'll eat some Banana Bread...so I guess that's something. He eats Cinnamon Pumpkin pancakes and Potatoes (although he prefers french fries and tator tots over baked and mashed). He won't eat beef of any sort or pork. He will occasionally eat chicken and turkey BUT they have to be in a casserole or hidden some how. Let me tell you I'm getting pretty creative. I bought a book called the Sneaky Chef and I think I'm going to have to start sneaking some healthy purees' into our food. She has some really good recipes and I'm all for trying them if it means we'll all be eating better. As far as the muffins are concerned...I've been "experimenting" on making them healthier. I use whole wheat flour, wheat germ and unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil/butter. So far Davis, Jeff and I have liked the results. Makes me feel a little bit better about Davis eating this kind of stuff.


Up until the other day, Davis was eating cottage cheese like it was going outta style. Seriously I think he would have had it at every meal if we would let him. Now...won't eat it. Just like fresh strawberries. Use to not be able to get enough...now won't touch them and throws a fit if you even put one in front of him. Ha! He is lovin' fruit snacks right now so I figure at least they are "somewhat" healthy for him. I just don't know how to go about getting him to eat his veggies. I guess they say in all the articles I've been reading that you need to just keep offering. So I guess that's what I'll keep doing.


Another fun phases is Davis yelling "I DON'T WANT THAT" and throwing whatever it might be that he doesn't want. Lately it's been food (see above about picky eating..ha). He throws his sippy cup, throws his plate. I just don't get it. I mean for the longest time when he was done wit his food he would just say "Done" and that was it. Now...not so much. We really have to watch it because he will throw the whole plate and talk about a royal mess! We try everything to get him to stop this but one thing we haven't tried is making him clean up his own messes. That'll be the next step. It's amazing how far he can throw things when he's mad...ha :)!


Don't get me wrong...I am enjoying this journey but no one ever tells you about this when you bring home that tiny little baby from the hospital. Now all I hear is "If you think 2 is bad...you just wait until he's 3". Yikes!! I LOVE my little guy with all my heart and as far as I'm concerned there is nothing he can do that'll make me not love him. Granted I'm probably going to have gray hair by the time he's 3...ha! I love this amazing journey we are on and feel so very blessed by God for giving us our sweet baby boy. If anyone has any tips on the whole eating thing or throwing of food thing...please HELP ME :)!!!


Davis is learning how to use the potty. Well we aren't pressuring him to use the potty. When he asks we let him sit on it and he's been successful with going #2 on the potty 3 times now. He thinks it's a game right now but hey it's a start. I'm happy he's showing some interest. He's also starting to say 3 to 4 word sentences that make sense :)! He is just super smart and picks up new words and sentences on a daily basis. I am just amazed at all he learns in a day. I can tell he's just like his Daddy...LOVES tractors and is one of those kids that likes to see how things work. I'm happy he enjoys tractors and being outside. Now if the weather would start start warming up...we all would be happier campers :)!


So all in all...each day is different at our house. Davis makes us laugh and smile. We never laughed this much when it was just the two of us! Davis is the light of our lives and again I just am so thankful to God for blessing us! Hope all of you are doing well....God's Blessings to everyone.