Christmas Survey

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real, how else would we get Jenny confessions?

• Side note: On our way to the tree farm, Jenny would muster up the courage to confess something she did years and years before. I don't remember what it was that she confessed, but something about the drive to get a Christmas tree just made her crack.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the second week of December or whenever we get to it.
4. When do you take the tree down? Depends on whether we are traveling or not. I like to leave it up for New Year's.
5. Do you like eggnog? I don't think I've ever tried it, but I have no desire to drink eggs, alcohol or not.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably my Cabbage Patch Doll, Misty. I think it must have been the Christmas I was 5.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Pat's mom
8. Easiest person to buy for? Cole
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A gold paint pen from my sister Kris. I think she was really cheap with everyone that year.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Muppet's Christmas Carol
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I used to wait until December, but now I start whenever the free shipping deals start.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Nut bars, Reese's PB cup cookies. Mmmm.
16. Lights on the tree? of course. I think ours are clear, but I like colored too.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Ring Christmas Bells. Does anyone know of a CD that this is on? I can't find it. Every commercial uses it, but I can't get it on CD.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? There is usually some travel, but I prefer to stay home on Christmas Day.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I think so.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve with Pat's family, and then our own Christmas gifts Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The commercials and grouchy shoppers. It's Christmas!
23. Themed tree or traditional ornaments? Themed tree?? Do people actually do that? Is random a theme?
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham, mashed potatoes, orange jello salad, green bean dish, and pie!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Wii fit
26. Favorite part about Christmas? The atmosphere in preparation for the birth of Baby Jesus. I love the decorations, the food, the music, the traditions, the giving and getting gifts, but I think my favorite part are church hymns.
27. Favorite Christmas Tradition? Growing up, it had to be putting up the lights with my Dad. When we moved to our new house, hardly anyone on our street put up lights, but we put up so many it looked like we had an airport landing strip. Gradually, every year, our neighbors put up more and more lights.
Now it would be making ornaments of my boys. I've decided that every year our kids will make an ornament with their picture on it so we can see how they've grown through the years. This will be the first year Cole will be able to color his own.

Black Friday

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. We spent the day at Pat's sister's. The food was great and we had a good time. Cole had a rough day. He started by tripping and falling down the front steps, again. This time he cut his lip. He luckily missed his teeth. Later he tripped over Pat's feet and bonked his head on the floor, then later yet, he ran into the table. Poor kid. He's doing much better today.

So today is Black Friday. Anybody do some shopping? I did the early morning thing once and was not impressed. It was quite a few years ago. I went with a friend and her mom. It was the year Dayton's, now Marshall Field's, had the bride and groom Santa bears. Nothing says Merry Christmas like watching grown women plow each other over at 5 AM to get some teddy bears. Ah, the holiday spirit. I've gone shopping on this day in the past, but not before 9AM. I was kind of disappointed with the ads this year. There really wasn't anything worth shopping for, for me anyway.

So now Christmas can start. I put up our lights outside and am in the process of taking down our fall decor and putting up our Christmas stuff. I've been writing our Christmas letter in my head for a while, but haven't come up with anything good so far. I also need to work on getting a good picture of the boys. That may take all month.

In other news, they came and pumped our septic system today. They replaced the drain plug, which are hoping was the problem. We shall see. I need to do laundry and that is usually when it smells the worst. Hopefully this will take care of it. I'd rather have the house smell like Christmas than poop!

A Good Glass of Wine

When I was pregnant with Tate I decided that after he was born I would start drinking wine. Pat gets his beer every night, I should be able to drink a nice glass of wine. Besides, red wine is supposed to be good for you. Here's the problem, I don't really like wine. Granted I've had some good wine but it was 3 years ago and from a winery in California and I don't have a clue what it is called. Pat bought me some Turning Leaf white zinfandel earlier this fall, but I don't like it that much. It came in a 4 pack, which I think is just a step up from boxed wine. I'm looking for a red wine that is fruity and sweet and not so wine tastyish. Something along the lines of the flavor of Boone's Farm Wine, but that you would only drink a glass of. I think it's an unspoken rule that you have to drink an entire bottle of Boone's, but I'm not sure. So something not so college-binge-drinkingish (I'm full of made up words today). I bought 2 bottles at the liquor store today. The lady there recommended them, so we'll see. One is Bartenura Moscato and the other is Cafe Zinfandel from the Gallo Family. So if you know of a good wine, leave a comment and maybe I'll check it out.

The Smell of Poo

is radiating through my house. It's been a few weeks now, and no one can seem to figure out where it is coming from, but everyone seems to agree that our house smells like sewage. How lovely. It's typically been bad whenever I do laundry, which in my book is a darn good reason to not do it, however, I do like to wear clean underwear. Currently I am not doing anything, and my house reeks. I can't help but wonder, do I smell like poo? Do my clothes smell like poo? Do my kids smell like poo? Yuck. They are supposed to come pump the septic tank tomorrow, but I'm not hopeful it will help. They've already replaced part of the pipe in hopes that was it, but no luck. So if anyone comes to visit, I appologize. Just so you know, I can smell it too, and I don't like it either. Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend Road Trip

It's been a while since we headed out to my parents' for a weekend. I think the last time we were out there was back in May. So I figured we'd head out for an early Thanksgiving. It was a good trip. Pat and I got a night out Friday. I did some shopping with a friend on Saturday, and we hung out with my family Saturday night. Cole was pretty excited and was Papa's shadow most of the weekend. I got most of my Christmas shopping done. Sad, I know. I used to not like to start until after Thanksgiving, but since living in the middle of nowhere, I start when there is free shipping, or whenever I get a chance. We are heading to the cities in another week or two and I don't really have any shopping left. I'm sure I'll find something I need to get. I bought Cole the Candyland Castle Game. It's kind of bingo with shapes. I had it sitting in the bedroom and he came in and worked really hard to get it out of the bag. Then proceeded to try to get Auntie Jenny to open the box for him. She didn't give in. He is just enthralled by that package. I did put it away when we got home. I guess I'll have to wrap up presents before he discovers my not so hidden hiding spot.

My exciting news is that I got tickets to see Jeff Dunham for Pat and my anniversary. I'm so excited. I haven't figured out how we are going to work it with the kids yet. I'm not sure if we'll leave them here and stay in a hotel, or take them out to my parents and head there after the concert. I'd love to stay overnight, but with nursing it's a tough call. Night time and mornings are hard to miss. Granted I can pump, but the one night he had a bottle before bed he was up at 2 instead of 4, which means more feedings. I'm sure he'll be fine, I just worry that whoever he stays with won't wake up right away or Cole will have trouble going to sleep, or etc. I guess you never stop worrying. I just want to be able to relax and have a good time.

Turkeys and Make-Believe

We took the boys to a Turkey Good Time at school last night. When I was getting Cole changed into his good clothes I told him we were going to school. He replied "at school, B~". B~ is a little girl from play group. Her mom happens to be the teacher. I was surprised. He normally doesn't have anything to do with the other kids, so the fact that he does realize they exist was a plus. At school he was trying to hit another kid with his turkey, which shocked me. He wasn't being mean, just swinging his turkey at J~. Anywho, it was a good time. Even Tate had fun looking at himself in the mirror and talking and smiling at himself. It was pretty cute.

Cole has being doing a lot of pretend lately. Usually he picks up "food" and eats it. He'll usually share with me, and even Tate. This morning he was eating beans. Not candy or cake, beans. What can I say, the kid loves beans. He was also playing with his baby today. He calls his baby Tate and put him up on the changing table where he proclaimed "woooweee!" Apparently his baby was stinky. He fed his baby some beans too. Maybe that's why he was stinky. He's also been doing a lot of singing lately. Usually his songs involve combining corn or the cow says moo moo moo. No farm boy here! He's been pretty cute lately. He continues to amaze me with how much he picks up. He says oops a lot when he plays wii (I'm not very good at some of the games). He can count to 6, most of the time. He's learning shapes and knows the letter B and W. What amazes me is that we have barely worked on letters or shapes and he remembers them after only one or two times. I think it's safe to say he must be a genius!

4 month checkup

Tate had his checkup today. He weighed in at 12 lb 14 oz, which is in the 3rd percentile. He is 24 inches long, which is in the 35th percentile. Our doctor didn't even mention formula! He keeps asking if I have enough milk though. If I didn't, don't you think he wouldn't be growing??? Other than that, the appointment went well. I'm still not sure about switching doctors. I feel like he's implying something when he asks if I have enough milk. The other thing that bothered me was he mentioned Tate's head is a little lopsided. He prefers one side over the other, but it's not nearly as bad as Cole's. The dr. never even mentioned Cole's head until I brought up putting him in a helmet. He said Tate will grow out of it (or into it, I'm not sure which). I don't know if he mentioned it because we had Cole in a helmet or what. So I am still undecided on the dr. switch. The little guy got 2 shots and one oral vaccination. He's not a happy camper. He is currently swinging and sucking on his fists. It's either that or I walk around with him all day.

I did decide that I will stick it out with school. I only have 2 semesters of math classes left. Granted they will be really hard semesters, but I'm getting so close that I think I will regret it if I don't finish. I have some ed. classes left to take, but those aren't as hard and if I decide to push those off it won't be as big of a deal to go back and take them later. Well, I'm off to attempt a nap.

What to do?

I have been sitting here struggling with my homework off and on all afternoon. We only have about 4 weeks of class left and I am stressing out. I didn't do well on my last two tests and now I feel like I'm so far behind I don't even know how to catch up. It's all very overwhelming and makes me want to quit completely. I've been thinking about taking a break from school and going back later, but I know it will only get harder. I've already had to sit in on a few classes that I already had credit for just to refresh my memory. I know it will be the same way if I quit now and try to go back later, which makes me think I ought to just quit for good. I'm so close to finishing the math requirements, but the classes I have left are pretty intimidating and will require a lot of time, which I don't have much of. I just don't know what to do. I would love to make school a priority, but it falls pretty low on the list. There are just too many other things that have to come first. I have always been a good student and when things are busy at home, I've always been able to do enough to get by. It's starting to get harder to just 'get by'. Any advice out there? My husband sure isn't full of any. I know he wouldn't be upset if I quit, and I'm just not sure how I feel about it. I hate struggling through my school work. I know, math is hard, but for me it's always come pretty easily with minimal work. I just don't know where to find the time to do the work without one kid screaming for food and the other for attention. I just don't know what to do...

Four Months

and a day...

I didn't even realize yesterday was the 14th and our baby is 4 months old! Man, time goes fast. He did get his first taste of cereal yesterday. He did ok. I don't think he ate much, but it's a start. I'm not big on pushing the solids. Frankly, both boys were sleeping through the night long before they started solids. Tate however, seems to think he needs to eat every 2 hours during the day. Which is getting tiring and makes it really hard to accomplish anything, or play wii ;-). So I thought I'd start some solids and see how it goes. We do put him in his high chair when we eat and he has started to mouth a little bit. I'm in no hurry, but when I have the time, we'll try it again. I think he is also working on a tooth. I'm not thrilled about this. It's much too early for teething. He has been drooling, and every once in a while runs a mild fever. Both signs of teething. I think that may also be the cause of wanting to eat all the time. Sucking is comforting. He is getting so big. We go in for a checkup on Tuesday and I'm anxious to check his weight. He's also getting some personality, and is a surprisingly happy baby. He smiles and coos and giggles.

Cole really wanted to help, so he dug in the drawer, grabbed a spoon, and dug in the cereal. Yes, he did shove it in Tate's mouth as well.

Cole is doing great. He loves to play baseball on the wii. Every day he asks "play baseball?" It's pretty cute. Don't worry, we dont' spend all day playing video games. We do let him play though. Usually we'll let him pitch since that doesn't involve timing or pressing any buttons. He does pretty well. Mostly he just likes to watch and cheer. I got him this super cute raincoat a couple of weeks ago. He got to wear it once before it got too cold. I got him matching rain boots, which should fit next year. He wore out his rubber boots this year and I'm hoping the Lands End boots will last through two farm kids.

Baby Wearing Week

Since I have a hard time coming up with decent blog posts, I stole this idea from my sister.

I guess it is International Baby Wearing Week. I didn't wear Cole much, outside of the barn. When he was really little it was hard because 1) he was too small for most carriers, and 2) I couldn't wear his apnea monitor that easily. When I started helping with chores, I bought the cheap evenflo soft carrier. Needless to say, it was not comfortable, but I toughed it out. When he got big enough, I bought a back pack carrier. It wasn't all that comfortable either, but it worked. This time around, I decided to spend the money and get a good carrier. I bought an ergo, and love it. It is a little complicated to get on in the front wearing position. You almost need to be double jointed to reach around your back and clip it, but it is doable. I am very inflexible, so it may not be as complicated for normal people;). I also have a mei tai which is super cute. It's not as comfortable for longer wear as the ergo, but it's much better than the cheap ones. My sisters bought that one for me as a baby gift. The nice thing about those carriers is that the baby sits in it versus hanging in it like the baby bjorn.

I still don't wear Tate all that much. I use it for trips to the mall, and the doctor. I still use his infant carrier for running errands. It's just easier to put him in a cart than unstrapping and restrapping him. But when there is no cart available, in the carrier he goes. It's especially nice when I have both boys by myself. We do have a double stroller, but it's hard to manuever in places like the mall. Once Tate is out of his infant carrier (as soon as he's able to sit) I'm sure I'll wear him a lot more.

Wii would like to play

We had a pretty successful trip to Sioux Falls. The roads weren't great this morning and we saw about half a dozen cars and as many or more semis in the ditch. Not sure how they got there, but it did take us slightly longer than normal. They fixed the van. It only took about an hour. They just cleaned it out and got the door working. They are going to replace the latch, but I'm going to see if we can get that done in Rochester instead of making another trip back to Sioux Falls.

I got some shopping done. I bought some Christmas gifts and picked up a few odds and ends. While at Target Pat mentioned about getting a Wii. I thought he was joking, but turns out he was serious. I know they are hard to come by, so I just kind of wrote it off. When we were walking through the mall, we saw they had some in stock at Game Stop. So we bought one. We just have the basic Wii for now. I'm thinking we'll ask for MarioKart and maybe a WiiFit for Christmas. We played a little bit tonight when we got home, but Pat took off to finish up some field work. They have to get out either early in the morning or at night when the ground is hard enough to drive on. We did have our first Wii casualty. Cole got a little over excited watching us play and grabbed the nunchuck, which isn't hooked up and started swinging it. He caught me and gave me a nice little cut on the bridge of my nose. He was having a blast watching us bowl. After every bowl he would clap and proclaim "Nice spare!" He's too funny

Nothing New

Wow, it's been an entire week since I updated. That's about how exciting our lives have been, not at all. We've been busy, but ordinary busy. We did get some snow, and are expecting more today. Which is just wonderful since we have to make another trip to Sioux Falls to get the van fixed. I love my van. It drives nice. It's comfortable, but this is the second time in 6 months we've had to have our door fixed. Last time the motor went out and we couldn't get it shut. This time it won't latch closed. Of course we discovered this Sunday morning as we were headed to church and were going to be on time for the first time in weeks. I don't mind the opportunity to do some shopping, but this year we will actually have plenty of it. We're heading to my parents in a couple of weeks and then up to the cities in December. So I don't really need this trip. Oh well, at least the van is still under warranty for another few thousand miles.

Other than that it's been pretty normal. Pat's birthday was Sunday. We celebrated by everyone taking a nice long Sunday nap. His mom and sister did surprise him by serving birthday cake after church. I didn't even know anything about it. I think he was a little embarrassed, but oh well. He and his dad finished up field work last night, I think. He got in pretty late.

The boys are good. Cole is busy being 2. He's very much a copy cat. Tate is growing. He is starting to giggle now. He's becoming a very happy baby. Well, I better sign off. We need to head out the door soon and Cole is still in his jammies!

RSV Season Is Upon Us

Yes, I'm probably one of the few not blogging about the election. I voted last week since we live in a mail-in ballot precinct. Anywho...

Tate got his first RSV shot today. He wasn't supposed to qualify for them. I asked our doctor at his 2 month check and he missed the cut off by 2 days. I don't know what changed, but he will get them monthly until March. I hate having to go in monthly for shots, but glad we won't have to worry about RSV with him this year. It's also kind of nice to get him weighed every month. He weighed in at 12 lb 12 oz today.

Cole spent the afternoon with Daddy in the tractor. I thought for sure he would fall asleep since we had playgroup this morning and he didn't get a nap, except for about 10 minutes in the van. He didn't sleep at all and is still going strong. I'm sure he'll be nice and crabby later.

A Poopy Day

We had a potty success! Cole managed to poop in the potty tonight. He told me once he needed to poop so we rushed to the potty, but he got distracted by the stickers. He used to hate sitting on the potty without pants, so I started giving him stickers for every time he sits on the big potty without pants on. Shortly after the first warning he started squatting and saying poop again, so we rushed back to the bathroom. He started to get distracted again, but apparently the urge was too great to ignore this time. After a little crying for his diaper, we had success! He got a special sticker for actually going in the potty. I'm so proud of my little guy!

I know, I know, but here are a couple of potty pictures for you. Don't worry, no pictures of the actual poop.

Cole doesn't really like his picture taken...

Welcome

I'm in the process of possibly switching our blog from http://www.romperroom.wordpress.com/ I like the looks of blogger better and am hoping it's easier to use. So bare with me.

To start at the beginning of our blogging story, visit here.

To start at the beginning of Tate's story, visit here.