By The Way...

... we made it. I don't think I ever mentioned that WE'RE IN OHIO! We had a wonderful, wonderful trip. It went WAY better than I ever thought it would go! The girls were fabulous travelers, and I even managed to drive a bit while Jon caught some shut eye! It took us a little longer to get home than usual... 22 hours... but we drove straight through, we can only drive so and so fast! :)

And, as you can imagine... the girls are getting spoiled!

Larren is getting held by everyone who sees her... and getting tons of hugs and kisses on a minute by minute basis!


Alia plays and plays from sun up to sun down. There's never a dull moment... there's just SO MUCH stuff for her to do! Just in case she would happen to have a moment to twiddle her thumbs... my parents got her a few "treats" to keep her occupied...

She couldn't wait to try out the new pool... she went right in in cut offs!

Then we opted for a bathing suit



The pool even came with 6 cute little blow up fish!


Here is her surprise of all surprises... the "jumping bean", as she likes to call it!

At first she was in a bit of shock...

But she recovered quickly!



Gramma joined in on the fun too!

I'll keep ya updated, of course, but as ole' Dorothy would say... there's no place like home!!!

Beer? Are You Sure?

I haven't had enough milk for Larren and have tried a number of things to resolve that problem. I've been taking an herb that has definitely helped, but has started making my hips, knees, wrists, and ankles hurt... a side effect experienced by some people! Upon mentioning this to our Dr., she suggested beer... with a laugh! We were in the same youth group for crying out loud!
And you should probably know that I HATE beer. Absolutely hate it. It tastes terrible, is a waste of money, and is good for nothing, in my mind.

BUT... this is about the 8th time beer has been suggested... and I really, really, really want to nurse Larren. So... I'm giving it a shot. One beer a day for one week. This had better work, I tell ya!!

BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!

HOORAY!! We just got back from the Dr. and we have EXCELLENT news.


Even from a couple of days old (she's 2 days old in this picture!) Larren has been a considerably more difficult baby than Alia was. Gassier, fussier, etc. etc. People just said "Oh, all babies are different." and left it at that. Even our Dr. in Canada said that Larren was too young to run any tests, so if there was a problem we'd just have to wait until she was at least a year old to find it. He obviously didn't know how much my girl was crying and we looked for other routes. We made an appt. with my parents Chiropractor/Holistic approach Dr. for as SOON as we got home! And.... we were right.

Larren isn't just a "fussy baby"... she is allergic to milk, rice, and eggs. I had figured out the milk part, but had been drinking rice milk in place of cows milk... which only made things worse. Jon had suspicions of the rice allergy due to her being extra fussy after starting her on rice cereal a few days ago.

She had a treatment for these allergies and last night was the FIRST night that she went to sleep without a whole bunch of fussing before hand. She was practically asking to go to bed on schedule... and slept like a rock... AMAZING!! With the treatment I am able to eat rice, milk, eggs, etc. etc. without her reacting to it. And she shouldn't have problems with these foods in the future.

We're going back to Dr. Needler in a week, so we'll see how Larren does in the meantime! I can't even tell you how much hope this gives me! I'm praising God for a Dr. that is willing to dig a little deeper and asking that He will restore the months that were "lost" due to so much frustration, weariness, and hopelessness. I'm so excited to have our daughter "back"... we only saw glimpses of what she was like before, and even over the last day we're seeing HER, not a cranky babe. I love it!!

I ♥ SK

This past weekend (Thursday to Sunday) we made a trip to Saskatchewan for a visit with Jon's family. For 3 years now we've made it a tradition to "meet in the middle" for a weekend full of fun, reconnecting, and great food!

Ya know... Saskatchewan gets a bad rap quite often... but I really, really like it. The rolling hills, the wide open horizon, the hardworking mentality, the abandoned farm houses (that seem to tell a story all on their own)... I'm not sure why, but I find myself rooting for "the under dog!" We sold our farm in SK last year - and don't get me wrong, I'm VERY glad we did - but the more we visit, and the more I learn... the more I admire the people of Saskatchewan and all that the Province has to offer!

(Finding time to take pictures was a bit challenging with two kids... but here's a few to give you a glimpse of what our weekend was like!)

This year our tradition brought us to Trails End Guest Ranch, just an hour north of Regina. It was a quaint little ranch with cattle, horses, acres upon acres of land to ride on, great hospitality, and enough rooms to house our group of 15!


The "Remuda Room" was where we cooked our meals, ate, and hung out together... it worked out quite nicely!


My little diva, helping Gramma carry corn husks to the horses




And of course, they came in no time!


Alia would have stayed there all evening, had we let her!


The wonder of a child, eh?!?!


We had GREAT sunsets while we were there... but it just so happens their "bone yard" was west of the ranch, too! (Notice the open hood glowing in the distance?!)


It never ceases to amaze me... even though we're "camping", what a wonderful menu Mom plans! From roll kuchen (for my American friends, that is fried dough eaten with watermelon) to BBQ salmon with lemon sauce (with BBQ chicken on the side for those of us who aren't seafood lovers!) ... we eat GOOD!


My little sugar sugar...


My sister in law, Jen, had a brilliant idea of bringing an inflatable pool for the kiddos, and of course, Alia was pleased as punch!


Anderson watching on with excitement as Alia splashes around before dinner. Sadly enough, I wasn't able to get pictures of them splashing in the pool together (it's that having two kids and being a bit busy thing!)... but they did, and had a great time!


Just the girls went on a trail ride and even though I was feeling it the next day, it was SO nice to get out and spend some time together! After we got back Auntie Jer took Alia for a spin on "Liberty"


Then Alia got to try out the saddle for herself!!





Larren got to take a spin in Anderson's stroller, instead of a horse!


Being a little fishy in the "wa-wa"...



One more "put-Larren-to-sleep-walk" before it's time to leave!


Kids sure do add a different element to our family tradition! But, we have to look past the thrown off schedules, shortened nights, and seemingly extra long time it takes to do EVERYTHING, and just remember... it will only get better as the years go by!

In No Time...

... we will be packing up and moving out! I have a MASSIVE pile waiting in the kitchen for Jonathan to transport to the Explorer!
The girls are asleep, and the realization that we're leaving for the summer is sinking in!! Gracious!
We're off to Saskatchewan to a guest ranch with Jon's family, and then we'll make a quick pit stop to do laundry back here, and then off to Ohio for the summer!!!
We are SO BLESSED to be able to do both these trips. I'm almost giddy I'm so excited!!
But don't worry... I'll keep ya posted along the way!!
Bye for now!

This girl...

... is growing like crazy! And I'm sad. I'm sad that I've missed out on so much over the last 4 months due to:
1. not connecting with her as fast as I would have liked to
2. feeling overwhelmed by her evening crankiness when I can hardly put one foot in front of the other...
3. wanting perfection when perfection doesn't exist
4. feeling like I should be a better mom and in some ways, not knowing how to be
5. being busy with another child and not being able to give Larren my full attention

But... I'm excited about the "baby stage" we're at right now... the discovery. The wonder. The babble. The smiles. And I'm trying to enjoy EACH day, EACH hour. And not live in regret for things I've missed out on. Ya can't go back... only forwards.

Belated Birthday Gift

The main birthday gift that we got Alia took a little while longer to build than anticipated... but it made it's arrival this past weekend, and Alia is quite excited!

She woke up Saturday morning, and took off for the living room! Her biggest concern... "Where Daddy buy it? Where Daddy buy it?" I tried explaining that the students at his school made it... but it just wasn't the answer she was looking for, I guess!

It didn't take her long to get set up for a tea party!


It also didn't take her long to discover this handy dandy trick...

Maybe this will detour her from climbing up her toy shelf, Larren's crib, the bookcase... you name it!


As much as I like the table... I think it's going to have to move to the basement in the very near future! The main floor of our house is quickly being over run with toys, baby items, baby dolls, and now children kitchen items! Better yet, maybe we should just move her table and chairs right on into OUR kitchen... our table is looking a little shabby compared to the new set! But for some reason I just can't picture Jon, my dad, or any other guest being very cozy for too long... so to the basement it is!

Out with the Old and In with the New

Last year Grampa made Alia a playbox out of some scrap wood we had laying around. It served it's purpose well... but wasn't the prettiest thing you'd ever seen! We weren't necessarily thinking about beauty... just functionality! Add being ran over NUMEROUS times by snow mobiles last winter... and it was looking quite disturbed!
SO... we decided to skip the scrap wood and go straight to pressure treated lumber instead. We also moved the playbox to a different location, to avoid it being used as a snowmobile parking spot! If it gets ran over this year... well, let's just say the driver will be limping away at best!

The old playbox in it's sad state

Jon and Grampa building the new playbox, just in time for Alia's birthday!


Alia and Daddy breaking in the new playbox, good and proper

A BIG Hip Hip Hooray...

... for the modern conveniences of parenting! I forgot we had this little wonder worker, all stored away in the basement... just begging to be played with! And Larren is complying very nicely!

Every Big Helper...

... needs proper attire! And Gramma Great made sure Alia was well equiped!

Alia got this apron for her birthday, and if she could have slept in it... she would have!!