We made it to Texas

I will start trying to update you on our lives a little better, but it's so hard to do when life is go, go, go!  I don't want to miss out on all of the fun things, yet still trying to get the necessary stuff done is hard to find time for personal reflection time (Besides squeezing in prayer while taking a shower, going to the bathroom, on your way to yell at your child to get out of the dog food!)  But I know that SOME of you would enjoy reading more posts (yes, I do realize this includes only my mother-in-law and my own mother... but I consider that SOME of you...) so I am going to try to squeeze in a few minutes every week to reflect on happenings in our world.  This post is going to be an index of posts to come, a brief intro to what I will fill you in more on (with photos) throughout the coming weeks (after we get a little more unpacked and organized!!)

Because I can't leave you without ONE cute picture of Hagen!  

*We celebrated Hagen's birthday with some very dear friends in Maryland before we left.
* We left Maryland on December 18th, and drove 24 hours to MN through a snowstorm to celebrate Christmas with The Mr's clan.
*We went to my clan to celebrate New Years.
* We had a very lovely 1st Birthday party for Hagen that BOTH grandparents got to be at, and half of his aunts and uncles!
*We left for Texas on January 7th and got to spend some time with Hagen's aunt and uncle in northern Texas.
* We got to our hotel on the 9th, and The Mr. had to go to work on the 10th!!
*Living out of a hotel really blows!!!
*We spent Hagen's real first birthday in the ER!!
*We closed on our house on Thursday night (the 17th)
*We got the keys to our house late afternoon on Friday (the 18th)
*Our stuff was delivered on Monday (the 21st)
*We have been unpacking and trying to find order in our house (THAT WE LOVE!!!!!)
*We have spent some time sightseeing with the help of my godmothers
*We fostered a dog for a week and decided to adopt her just yesterdays, so we are officially a 2 dog family now!!

So, yep... we are crazy!  If you want to hear more about any of our adventures check back in the next few weeks for some pictures and fun adventures!  To summarize, we are doing well and adjusting to life in Texas!  We miss friends and family, but are excited for all that we get to experience in this great BIG state!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Happy Halloween!  Hagen is celebrating his first Halloween by flying to Texas!  Hopefully we'll get to go trick-or-treating in TX!  (Hey, babies are for getting their parents candy on Halloween... right??)  To get you in the mood to celebrate, here are a few pre-halloween fun pictures!!

Captain America to the rescue....Kittlesby wanted to get in the action too!!

We were going to a friends Halloween party PAST my bedtime... but I still am a cute Captain America!

This is so much fun!!

And then we had some fun putting Hagen in his 36 lb. pumpkin!!  It weighed more than him!!  If only I had a nice DSLR camera and good lighting... but we did our best with what we had!!  I still think they came our pretty cute!  Thanks Pinterest for the idea!

What... are you guys sure??

Where am I sitting?? 

Ok, I think this is fun!  Hi mom and dad!!

"So big" inside the pumpkin!

CUTE!

Mom wishes this wasn't blurry 'cuase I look cute here!!

Wherever you find yourselves for Halloween, we hope you have a safe and fun time.  For all of those whose Halloween is without power and very wet(or snowy), please be extra safe!  And don't forget to turn on your lights and have the candy bowl filled so you can see all the cute kids who come to your door!  (To be honest, I'm sad that's the part we have to miss... Maybe we can get candy and give it to adults/kids at the hotel that walk by!  HAHAHA)

Cooking via Pinterest

I have made 3 delicious meals in the past week that all came from the ever addicting Pinterest.  I was needing to use up certain things we had around the house, so in doing so I found 3 recipes that would utilize a portion of those foods.  I would say the results were outstanding and I would make all 3 meals again.  I would love to share them with you so maybe you can try them yourself!

#1:  Carnitas Tacos!  MMMM.....
The original post came from here at EatLiveRun.com.  The recipe can be found here: Crock pot beef carnitas.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to start reading this blog more frequently as I enjoyed the way the author wrote this post.  One day I'll make my OWN food and I'll blog as clearly as this author.  Here is what mine looked like right before we devoured them!  I added an extra jalepeno(I don't know how to create the tilde on my n) because The Mr. and I love things spicy!

#2: Loaded baked potato soup!  Another MMM!!!

This one comes from Disney from Carnation Cafe.  http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/01/carnation-cafe-closes-thursday-for-renovations-at-disneyland-park/
This was The Mr's favorite.  It is definitely a good meal to start feeding Hagen with more fat (per Pediatrician's request as he is SOOO active), though I think we have to have this one on special occasions since we are trying to be healthier ourselves!  It was a hands on meal for longer than I thought, but it was very worth it in the end!  I also highly suggest cutting your veggies and potatoes BEFORE you start cooking as everything went quicker than I could cut!  (Notice Hagen's cute dish set he got from Mr. Grandma -aka The Mr's mom!)

#3: Slow Cooker Ham and Beans
The third meal I sadly didn't take any pictures of.  We were in the midst of Sandy and I was constantly waiting for the power to go out.  It never did, THANKFULLY, but when this meal finished I sighed a BIG sigh and we scarfed it down while we listened to the wind and rain outside!  Sorry there are no pictures.  Believe me though it was DELICIOUS!!!!  The recipe came from plainchicken.com and this was the recipe for the Slow Cooker Ham and White Beans.  I improvised on this meal again.  There was a HUGE sale on boneless pork-chops, so instead of Ham I diced up those pork chops and tossed them in.  We also had a ham bone left over, so I did throw that in as well!  I really enjoyed this and LOVE how easy it was to cook the beans in the slow cooker.  I don't cook a lot with beans because I'm not super prepared to soak them overnight, so when it comes time to cook I think, shoot if only I'd soaked them... now I have to find a new meal!  But with the slow cooker I just threw them in UN-SOAKED!  Revolutionary for me!!!

Have you tried any new recipes lately that you think we need to try?  If so I'd love to hear them!  Happy cooking!

Halloween Photo Update!

Doesn't look too big from this angle and with The Mr. carving the top off...

Ohhhh, what's THIS stuff??  Cool... can I really touch it?

Are you SURE mom???  This looks like sooo much fun!!

Oh, it IS so much fun!  I LOVE being messy!!!

I'm SOO big that I am allowed to make a mess!!

Look! All the goo is in the bucket which makes it EASIER for me to grab and squeeze

Seriously, SOO much fun!

It gets everywhere!  Mom's going to have fun cleaning up after me!  Who cares, I'm having so much fun especially since she and dad were telling me to make a mess!!

Well, it took so long we didn't get to carve it yet, but let's see if I fit... here I am standing in it!

And here I am sitting in it!  Yep, I'll fit!  Can't wait for this weekend so we can finish carving!  I'll share more pics of the finished product soon!!!  Halloween is so much fun!  

Type A...

I never want to be so regimented that we can't
enjoy spur of the moments like these
to hang out with great friends, but I do want to
be more consistent for Hagen!

I have never considered myself a Type A personality.  I tend to be more free spirited.  Especially when it comes to scheduling.  I like to make lists, yes... but I don't do much beyond the actually writing.  It's like I try to be Type A by making the list, but then my free spirit takes over and I no longer want to do what my list says.  Maybe that is what you call lazy, but I'll still describe it as free spirited.  Anyway, I feel like my free spirit gets me in trouble sometimes... mainly eating.  I forget to eat.  Please tell me I'm not the only one with this problem!  I'll get started doing something, having fun (or just get into it-cleaning toilets isn't necessarily fun but I can get into it...) and forget to eat.  Then several hours later I'm starving, and am so hungry that I don't want to eat.  With breast-feeding Hagen I have been trying to do better at the whole eating thing.  And I did for a long time.  I don't know if it's the stress of the move/military situation or what, but I've fallen back into my old habits.  And yes, while I'm constantly breast-feeding Hagen, sometimes it's easy for me to forget to feed him 'real' food.  No, I don't starve him, I just have to make a conscious effort to remember that it's time to eat!  And I'm admitting that somedays are harder than others.  Today was a VERY hard day for me, so I decided to be Type A and make myself a list.  I planned out my day.

I did this for me.  But I did it for Hagen too.  I never want to be so regimented that there is no room for give, but I do think that it would be good to have somewhat of a schedule for Hagen; they say it is easier for babies.  SO I'm going to TRY hard to stick with with!  I'm writing this so that I have it in writing and people can ask me how it's going, what we did for our morning activities and what Hagen ate for snack, so that I can be held accountable! Now I say this right at the cusp of our life being super hectic!!  2 weddings in 3 weeks (2 brothers are getting married-both out of state), and then a possible move-oh and of course the holidays/Hagen's first birthday all right around the same time!  So I know that I'm not going to be perfect, probably skipping things here and there.  I figure if I get started now, write it down, it will help keep some continuity in our life as we spend so much time traveling!  Ok, here is the rough outline of our day!  (sorry if this totally bores you... it's more for me that for you, but maybe someone can find some inspiration in this post...)

We love sitting on the potty!!  (Especially if we
get to play with toys!!)

7:30am: Wake up, breast-feed, change diaper, put on house outfit, play time while I start laundry and cook breakfast.

8:00am:  Breakfast, play time while I clean up breakfast mess, then morning activities like "Ball Roll", story time and finger songs, and a new activity I found called "body stickers" where I stick stickers to him and find it on different body parts and he has to pull off!

Activities like taking pictures to send to family
members for their birthday!!

9:30am:  Breast-feed, then a snack while I get ready for the day (he LOVES mum-mums!), then Hagen sits on potty, changes diaper and gets dressed for the day too!

10:00am:  Outdoor morning activities, like pushing his stroller outside, bubbles, play at the park, and then indoor activities like looking at the family photo book, crawl and chase, "In and out" (Hagen's favorite right now!!), etc.  Free play while I make lunch.

11:30am:  Eat lunch-I eat too!!!!!  Free play while I clean up!

12:00pm: Change diaper, breast-feed and Nap time!

3:00??pm: (IF I'M THAT LUCKY!!) Sit on potty, Breast-feed and snack, then afternoon activities like rhymes and songs, finding opposite words (i.e. loud and soft), walks, window tape (our other favorite: I put tape to the window and Hagen has to peel it off), story time, coloring/painting, etc.

5:00pm: Diaper change, breast-feed, free play while I make dinner.

5:30pm: Dinner, free play while we clean up, then evening activities!  Rough housing with Daddy is always a must, and showing daddy any new tricks/words/etc. we learned during the day is also another must!  Then new activities.  (I really want to get him blocks 'cause I think he'll really like knocking them down!)

                                                                                                             THURSDAYS

Hagen asleep after our walk home from Choir Practice, all ready for bed!

7:00pm: put pj's on and go to choir practice
9:30pm: Breast-feed, read story, sing song and go to bed!

EVERY OTHER DAY
7:30pm: Bath, Diaper, pj's, medicine(seriously his favorite part!  I should really get a video of how excited he gets when he sees his medicine bottle-I do mean vitamins when I say medicine...) then Breast-feed while The Mr. reads a story and we sing our bedtime song.

Phew... bored?  Sorry!  We do a lot of stuff already, but breakfast had been anywhere from 6am-10am.... I really need to be more consistent for Hagen's sake!!  Also, The Mr. didn't get home until 7,8, 9, or 10pm in the past, so dinner was also not at a set time.  I think he SHOULD be more consistently home by 6 (or so I'm REALLY hoping) so we can eat dinner earlier!  Again, I know I will not be perfect, but I'm going to try to eat really close to these set times.  I'm going to try to find new activities so Hagen gets a good mixture of "new skills".  Thanks to pinterest I've found some new ones that I'm excited to try out this week! If you have ideas for a 9 month old I'd LOVE to hear them!!!  Also, don't forget to hold me accountable!  I really need it!! Have a good week.  I better get to bed since I'm getting up in 5 hours!!

A "perfect" rainy Sunday...?

As I lie here in bed, I just can't keep from smiling about how happy I am in this moment.  I couldn't sleep because of it, so I decided to write about it so I won't forget these memories! Today would technically be considered just another day, typical and to be truthfully honest, kind of boring, but to me it was so much more than that!

No new activities, like painting, today. Just a
"boring" old Sunday.

It was unlike any other Sunday in that we didn't have to sing for choir, so we only had to be at one service, which starts at 11:30.  So right off the bat we got to sleep in.  Which was nice since we didn't get back from Philadelphia, where we were celebrating a dear friends wedding, till 12:30AM!  Hagen slept till 9:30, AWESOME!!!  The Mr. got up with him and I actually slept until 10:00am!  We are notorious for being late, but something made us think church was at 11, not 11:30.  We got dressed super fast and Andrew even made us breakfast-eggs AND bacon sandwiches.  Normally trying to get 3 people dressed and fed quickly is stressful and we usually end up acting rather short with each other until the middle of the service.  For some reason, that didn't happen this morning, and we just naturally were at peace with the hurried state.  We were EARLY for church (since it didn't actually start till 11:30) and The Mr. did a great job as cantor/assisting minister, and the only down side of the whole set up is we don't get to sit next to each other during church.  Sitting together as a family is important to me so it's always hard when he is serving the church in whatever role he is called to do.  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful he has a heart to serve our church with his gifts and talents.  It's just hard to not sit next to him during our time of worship.  I digress...  Continuing on.  The sermon today was one of Pastor Bill's best sermons (in my opinion) he has done in a while.  It was a really strong message about not finding someone else to blame when times get tough.  We are messy, broken and often in the wrong.  We need to own up to that, and when we do God is able to use us more efficiently.  (Sorry P.B., I hope I'm not misinterpreting your words to your dissatisfaction.)    I also met a new mom at church and I may have a new mom to be friends with out here!  YAY!

After church we came home and changed and fed Hagen and he was VERY ready for a nap, since yesterday was such a busy day.  We put him down and we were going to take a nap ourselves.  Instead we spent a short time just picking up the house and having a good conversation with each other.  Again, it was a very pleasant event and we didn't feel like we HAD to clean, it just felt good to pick up.  We then had our tea/coffee and sat on the couch and played Mario Kart!  After the first round Hagen woke up after only a 30 minute nap.  He was more than happy to sit in our laps instead of getting down to play 'cuase he was still sleepy. One played while the other held him, and we switched back a forth a few times.  Hagen LOVED watching the game and it was fun to "play" together!  I actually don't really remember how the rest of the afternoon went as it wasn't memorable.  I played on my phone, The Mr. played some more video games, Hagen played, Hagen ate, Hagen told us GREAT stories for about 30 minutes!  Then Hagen was ready for a nap again (or to finally finish his!).  He slept for probably 45 minutes and The Mr. and I just lazily watched tv, and I started a paper folding project I found on Pinterest.  However, it is in another language, so I can't figure out how to finish it with the pictures alone... Can anyone translate?  After Hagen woke up, we got bundled up to go for a walk in the cold rain.  I LOVE rainy walks.  I think they are always my favorite!  Hagen looks so cute is his yellow rain-slicker!  After the walk we ate up leftovers for dinner, fed Hagen, did our nighttime routine, put Hagen to bed and we watched some more tv.  Then we got ready for bed ourselves and just had some great intimate moments with each other.

I don't really know why today felt so relaxing and so perfect.  Even as I read this, I think how boring.  We weren't doing something productive.  We weren't doing something to make new memories with Hagen.  We didn't help others.  We didn't learn.  But maybe that's what made today special.  We were just US.  We were content with our messy house.  We were content in sweatpants and no make-up.  We were content with imperfection.  I wasn't striving to do this or that; to have a perfect house; to be the perfect mom; to plan the perfect day for Hagen; to be the perfect wife.  I wasn't any of those things today, and I was CONTENT.  But the funny thing is, I think because I was content with myself today, I was a better mom and a better wife.  I wasn't worrying.  I wasn't pretending.  I wasn't thinking about what I can't give them.  I wasn't thinking about what I would do in the future.  I was messy and broken.  Because of that, God used me to serve my family and, in a way, myself.

An old photo of Hagen "helping" me stuff his diapers!

I can't write a blog and "sell" it as a Top 10 list of ways to have the perfect rainy Sunday.  If I did, you would never find it.  There were no lists crossed off today.  There were no books read about how to create today.  It just happened.  We were just us.  Yes, you would come to my house and it is still messy.  But today I didn't let that consume me.  I did a little here and there when I felt like it, and that was good enough for me.  In the midst of our crazy WHERE THE HECK ARE WE GOING TO LIVE saga, I didn't worry about it today.  (First, I knew nothing would be done about it since today is a Sunday).  I didn't plan lives here, in TX and HI.  I just enjoyed my small moments with my boys.  I enjoyed laughing with The Mr. when Hagen's diaper turned into a poop-covered-changing-pad-need-to-get-the-kid-into-the-tub-now kind of a diaper.  I enjoyed the miss-matched supper we had that reminded me of several past days of love put into meals for my family.  I enjoyed sipping my tea listening to my boys chasing each other and the dog through the messy entryway.  I enjoyed "folding" clothes with Hagen as I watched every article of clothing I just folded taken out of the basket, unfolded and thrown onto the floor.  I enjoyed listening to The Mr's crazy voices as he told Hagen a made up story.

So why was it a perfect day?  I don't know.  It just was.  I was content and I hope that as you read this you are able to find time to take a break from the stress and worries and question marks of life and look around you and basque in being content with what surrounds you at that moment!  You may be like us and are far away from friends and family, far away from the life we thought we'd be living, full of many uncertainties.  It may be even a way more stressful life and more challenging obstacles than I will ever know in my lifetime.  There are still things to be content with, and I hope you find them.  I hope you find yourself having the "perfect" rainy Sunday sometime soon!

We made it!

Although I wasn't the best at taking pictures on 

our trip, it sure was fun and so great seeing everyone that we did.  We know we missed some of you, and that makes me a little sad, but I'm trying to think of it as "next time!".  Here are a few pictures from the rest of our time with the Z's! 

            

Playing in my new excersaucer!  And talking to The Mr. on the phone.  Felt like that is all we did, and I don't want to talk on the phone ever again.  (Those of you who know me, know I'm not very good at talking on the phone anyway...)

 Trying to capture his beautiful nose in profile!  I got to enjoy sleeping in the same bed with him the WHOLE trip!  (It is a bit of an adjustment for him getting back into the idea of sleeping alone in his crib again!)

 

More talking on the phone with dad!  I held the phone (and tried to eat it) really well!

Look, he's Norwegian!  Grandpa Z (far-far -I'm trying to get it to stick...) wore it in the parade where he was titled Honorary Norwegian!

Overall, it was a ton of fun and hard to say goodbye again... but we were on our way to AR!  I normally took the drive in one day... Hagen and I split it up into 2.  As stated in my previous post we stayed in a hotel.  We stayed in a Super 8, and it was the nicest Super 8 I've ever stayed in!  I was spoiled as the next Super 8 we stayed in was lacking by far in comparison!  

Anyway, here are the FEW pics I took in Arkansas!

We got up early and went to both the Lexa and Marvell Worship services.  Only got a pic at the Lexa church, as I was far to busy hugging everyone at the Marvell church (not that I didn't hug people at Marvell, but as you can tell there weren't that many people there...)  It was great to worship with my old church again.  I sure do miss the choir (who knew I'd miss directing, when I still remember the day Miss Barbie said I'd be the new choir director.  I laughed and thought it was a funny joke, till I realized she wasn't joking...)

 

Hagen at El Canaveral... THE mexican restaurant in Helena with the BEST salsa ever!!  It was his FIRST time in a high chair!  He did pretty well!  Then there is Julian in the tractor (or combine or whatever you call awesome farm machinery these days...)  He called me out to see if I wanted to watch him harvest wheat.  I thought I was going to sit on the trunk of my car and watch him go round and round!  I was WRONG!  I got to sit INSIDE the cab!!  SUPER COOL!!!

 

A couple of Ms. Emily holding the sweet thing!  It sure was SUPER nice of them to let us invade their house.  And I do mean invade.  If you ever travel with a 4 month old for a MONTH, you take a lot of stuff, and accumulate a lot more stuff along the way!  (I'm still trying to unpack and we've been back almost 5 days now...)

 

Then we have Miss M!  One of the sweetest girls I know... there are a couple in the area, but I only got pics with this sweet one!  When I first saw these kiddos my jaw dropped.  They are little adults!  They were LITTLE kids when I left!  Hagen won't grow that fast, will he???  See, look at his smile... don't grow up baby boy!!!  (Ok, you can, I will enjoy you at every age, but I just can't believe you are growing so fast!!!)

Horrible picture, but I figured I'd take one of the road... since A WHOLE WEEK was spent driving!  My kid is the world's greatest trooper!!!  He did so well right up till we hit DC RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC!!!!  2 hours of extra sitting, after sitting for 2 hours already.  Dirty diaper, hungry, sick and tired of sitting in his car seat, not moving and worst of all, sun was shining directly on him through the rear window.  Nothing I could do for my screaming baby, as we weren't even going fast enough to get off at the next exit. (even if I did, we'd just be stuck in more traffic till I could find somewhere to pull off!)  I could have done without those last two hours!!  We called The Mr. and had him navigate us to the nearest restaurant where he could meet us.   

 

What a GLORIOUS site it was to see him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Look, they even dressed alike!!

It was a really great trip, but it has been nice to get back.  It has been a bit of a rough transition.  I still have stuff in suitcases, I have stuff thrown all over the ground as I attempted to find things in said suitcases.  I (or rather The Mr.) has done tons of laundry, but still have more laundry to catch up on.  So needless to say our house is a disaster.  Hagen is not used to sleeping in his crib so nap times and night time is NOT consistent (5 minutes here, 3 hours there... you know...).  On top of the mess and craziness I still have homework, and let me tell you the class I am currently in is INTENSE!  (No not as intense as The. Mr's, but for an associates degree it is VERY time consuming!  We are slowly making our way to recovery from the trip.  I miss seeing everyone, but it is good to be back!

Well, I'm done with my homework for the night, and I'm showered (big accomplishment) so I'm going to hit the hay BEFORE 2am tonight!  We have our 4 month appointment tomorrow (had to be pushed back due to our trip), so we will see how vaccines go this round.  Thanks to a good friend, I am able to have help with shots as well as I am squeezing in a doctor appointment for myself as well!  YAY??  Wish us luck!!

-Bekki