why is nobody blogging anymore or is it just me?

Thanks to my friend Nicole who continues her blog to inspire me to write a short post. I can't cover the past year so I will start with the here and now. Kids are enjoying their summer. Although it is passing too fast. We are getting ready to embark on a week without Brady for the first time as he is going to a training for work. Thank goodness my parents are nearby, both sets of gparents for that matter. Decker will be seven soon and starting first grade. Since we celebrated his bday early last year in August he thinks he must have another "summer" bday this year too before his actual bday. Lets just hope this year he doesn't send me to the ER with a fish hook in my face. Because Decker is talking so much about his bday, Kalena rightfully thinks she will also be having a bday soon. She will not. Time slow down. Below however is a pic of her 3rd bday which was in March. And Decker (and the hippo) at the St.Louis Zoo where we took a short trip on spring break. Good Times!!

Likes and Dislikes

We like birthday parties, ugly sweaters, snowball fights, trains at the Eiteljorg, the Sycamores and especially spring but we as in Decker does not like soccer. Indoor soccer to be exact. Don't rule out outdoor yet. We celebrated my moms bday in January by traveling to Indy to take in the museum and Spaghetti Factory. February we enjoyed snow days. Decker is becoming a master snowballer just like his dad. March Kalena turned 2! The "me do it's" are upon us! And now we are enjoying the beauty of spring with the boys going out for their first mushroom hunt of the season today. Also took the kids to their first ISU track meet today. I don't think they were as impressed by the new track complex as we were! But they did enjoy the free cookies and pop!

Mistletoes

I better start blogging cause Decker spilled grape juice on the computer keyboard yesterday and the days of these sticky keys working are limited. We have been fighting sickness like everybody else. Pinkeye, croup, ear infections, colds. Even though Decker missed his preschool Christmas program due to sickness, he and Kalena were still able to participate in the one at church. They were so sweet up on stage. A proud parent moment. Decker also participated in Volleytots for a few weeks before Christmas. It was like agility training for kids. Now he is getting ready to start indoor soccer. I'm scared to start sports but I suppose we've waited longer than most. When asked if he wants to do anything new he usually responds maybe next year. So I guess it's technically next year now!

Guilt of Not Blogging

I feel so terrible that I haven't updated the blog in so many months. Most every night of the week there are so many things I want to do like organize pictures, blog, write in the kids baby books (about all the cute stuff they are saying and doing) but I'm just so darn tired after getting the them to bed that all I want to do is watch another episode of Parenthood on Netflix and then hit the hay myself. I thought about ending the blog but I really want to keep it open even if I haven't hardly blogged in 2014. Summer was good. Decker loves vacation and we were able to go to Michigan for a couple nights for some beach time. Decker had his first camping trip with his cousins, whom he loves to spend time with. Both kids continue to love being outdoors which makes my heart happy. Decker just turned five and is off to a great start in Pre-K 3 days a week. Decker had to get his long locks buzzed this summer because of a hair twirling habit that turned into a knot that couldn't be undone. His hair has never been so short-even when he was a baby.

Milestones

This month we celebrated a significant milestone-Kalena's 1st birthday. The first birthday always seems more like a celebration for the parents than the kid for surviving the first year. I never want to wish my time away but some days lack of sleep makes me. Kalena has a wonderful personality and loves to be around the boys-bro and Dad-and participate in whatever they are doing.  She loves being outside. This winter has been hard on us and we're ready to get out and play. Decker continues to love preschool. Lately he is questioning all things real-super hero's, leprechauns, Easter Bunny, dinosaurs, God, Jesus. Pretend characters, real but extinct, real but can't see, real but is depicted with a beard (he doesn't like beards)...God give me the wisdom to explain these things. Brady claims he is going to be a lot smarter than us because he is asking so many questions.

The Best Christmas Ever

Decker has declared this will be the best Christmas ever! From decorating trees to singing carols this boy is loving Christmas. He loves sitting around the tree and pointing out his favorite ornaments. He likes to "compact" the ornaments as he calls it which otherwise means moving them around from place to place and placing a large number of ornaments on the same branch. Luckily there have only been a few casualties. The Grinch song came on the radio and he said who is Mr. French? I said the Grinch was a pretend character that doesn't like Christmas. He could not wrap his 4 year old mind around why someone would not like Christmas. And later in the day he wanted to know again why  Mr. French did not like Christmas. How do you explain the Grinch to a child? Kalena has no ideas of Christmas yet which is good on our budget! She is however pretty stinkin cute even if she does still get me up every 2-3 hours of the night. She's on the verge of crawling which will probably tick Decker off when it happens. As it is now she is only allowed to play with certain fire trucks-but come to think of it so are Brady and I.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas

Summer Lovin

We have had a great summer. Raising kids ain't for wimps but it's fun-very tiring at times but fun! Kalena had her first experience in the pool at Brown County and Decker had his second try at fishing with guidance from our family expert fisherman Uncle Todd. Decker loves all things boy and is getting ready to start 2 day a week morning preschool at a local church. Brady and I enjoyed a dinner out for our 11th anniversary last Saturday and did not get called home to a crying babe so that was excellent! Deck and Uncle Todd will soon have two big bdays-4 for Deck and the big 30 for Todd.

The Arrival of Kalena

After lots of prayers and extra walking Kalena Evelyn made her way into the world on Sunday March 10th at 2:58 am weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 10oz and 21 inches. 10 days late of her due date.  I was to be induced on the 11th so we barely made it. This labor and delivery went much better and quicker than with Decker thanks to the help of our doula and midwife.  We couldn't wait to get out of the hospital to get back to our first baby although he did great while we were gone. I had a couple minor glitches while in the hospital. My blood counts were low so had to get blood. Then, my midwife thought I had a umbilical hernia so I had to get an ultrasound and then a CAT scan. The nurses weren't letting me eat which led me to believe and worry that I may have to get surgery to repair the hernia. Thankfully the scan came back showing a weakened abdominal wall that should heal on it's own. We finally got to go home Tuesday night and then on our checkup 2 days later my blood pressure was elevated so I've been on bp medication 3x a day since then. I am currently weaning myself off the medication and hope to be off completely in the next couple weeks. Kalena and I go back to the midwife on Monday for our 6 wk checks.  She is eating and growing well as far as we can tell. And of course she is as cute as ever and loved by all her family. Decker has been a bit of a wild card acting out, being rough and vying for our attention, but he does love her too as he cried when his Aunt Julie was teasing him about trading his cousin Brooklyn for his new baby sister. 

Big Belly Laughs

At the end of September we lost our faithful companion Rodi to cancer. She was a good dog of 11 years. 7 of them spent with us. It was too sad not having a dog in the house so we quickly adopted another dog from the Clay County Shelter. She's a small black lab named Cora and is nothing like Rodi. If you ever came to our house and were scared out of your wits by Rodi's intimidating bark you will no longer have to fear visiting our house as Cora hardly barks at all. She is very calm and tolerant of Decker which is good because he loves to "pet" her ears! Cora came to us after having 10 pups so she is still getting her figure back as I'm losing mine. I think I took pity on her when I saw her at the shelter knowing what she had been through-ha! I'm at 28 weeks and counting. Feeling pretty good except my sugar tested a little high so now I'm watching what I eat. A little down about not being able to partake in holiday treats but I'll survive. Ultrasound showed we're having a girl so that's what we're planning on but would be equally as happy if it happened to be a boy. Thanksgiving we had a great visit with Aunt Margret and Uncle Bill from Tennessee who were meeting Decker for the first time. Decker anticipated Thanksgiving eagerly like he is Christmas and asks often if it's Christmas yet. He has been sifting through Christmas toy catalogs for some time now and showing us what he wants which mostly consists of firetrucks and farm equipment/sets. May the true meaning of Christmas bless you this Christmas, and hopefully a firetruck or chocolate bar will find it's way into your stocking.

Been So Long

Well, lots has happened since last blogging in May. In June the farmers market got off to a great start. July Decker moved into his big bed and we haven't slept since. Just kidding. We're sleeping a little. Well, Brady is always sleeping and I'm always trying to sleep! Decker was not a fan of the fireworks going off around our neighborhood and still mentions them at night. Our biggest news is that I'm expecting again. About 14 weeks along. We have chosen to use a midwife again. She is out of Sullivan Indiana. Have been feeling pretty rough but starting to feel better. I had to make the hard decision to resign from my position as market master with the farmers market.  I am going to help with admin duties through the end of the outdoor season.  The stress and responsibilities of the position were taking their toll on me and our family.  You're probably thinking how stressful can running a farmers market be-well, let me tell you there are a lot of people to make happy.  This year people have been especially hard to deal with and negative due to the drought. We just got back from vacation in South Haven, MI. The weather was great and Decker loved the beach. My parents and Uncle Todd were able to go with us so Decker was in heaven with lots of playmates.  Decker just celebrated number 3 with firetrucks galore (his most favorite thing).  Deck sings a lot now-some of his favorites are Bingo, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Ole McDonald. It's so sweet to hear him sing a tune.

May Days Gone

My goal was to blog before the end of May and I failed...ugg. Anyway-I must show you all how handsome Deck was in his Aunt Megan's wedding. He did a great job with one run past the stage toward the end of the ceremony. We continue to have fun at play group on Thursdays and meeting up with cousins Brooklyn and Coy whenever we can. Decker just loves his cousins and many times becomes quite upset when he thinks about wanting to play with them. I'm envious of my mother in law who now has a chicken coup added to her farm. Decker has named his chicken Roda (a name as close to Rodi as possible!). Speaking of Rodi she has been diagnosed with cancer and is hanging in there. She'll be 11 in September. Brady and I survived turning 36 and we even got away to the track for qualifications one Sunday. We got to spend time in the Clabber Girl suite which was great! Farmers market starts tomorrow and new this year will be a mid week market on Tuesday evenings.

Happy Spring

Hello. Feeling guilty here for not blogging for so long. So here are some long awaited pics of our ever changing little dude. We had a great trip to Turkey Run today trailing and eating lunch at the Inn. The only mishap of the day was when Deck got pinched by a crawdad in the creek (well when it pitched him it was actually out of the creek and I was holding it-saying here pet the nice little crawdad!). Bad mom. Kind of like the time he picked up a fuzzy bubble bee and it stung him-probably on the same pointer finger! Things are gearing up for the outdoor DTH farmers' market. If you can believe it there is actually training for Market Masters put on by Purdue Extension-so I will be attending a couple of those in April. MOPs will be winding down-our group is dwindling in size and may not be in existence next year which makes me sad because I know there are many moms out there that we aren't reaching who are pulling their hair out in need of support. But I've met some wonderful woman through MOPs and I've enjoyed using my hospitality gifts to serve this group. Decker and I have been going to a new playgroup once a week where there are some other little guys his age which has been really nice outlet for us (him to play and/or swat (nice way of saying hit) other 2 year olds and me to compare notes with other moms. We are excited to report that we are finally starting to build some great relationships/friendships here in Terre Haute!

Merry Month After Christmas

If you are anything like me sometimes the month after Christmas can be a let down-a slow slogging through the long, cold, gray winter. Well, you need to google the song “Merry Day After Christmas” by Matthew West-I think it’s on his Christmas album. Anyway-it’s got a great reminder for us for the rest of the year. I tried to find the lyrics but I’m not that savvy of a web user I guess. We had lots of fun in November and December. Decker experiencing many new things. Brady and Decker went to their first basketball game alone without mom (mom was working)-go trees. Decker got to go bowling and to the local bounce’n barn for the first time with his cousins. We attempted a gingerbread house and some baking (now Decker likes to add sprinkles to anything-oatmeal, yogurt, and banana bread to name a few)! Decker had his first taste of Red Velvet cake (a Laswell/Hansel tradition) and he loved it. On New Year’s Eve Decker got to stay up late and partake in another Hansel tradition-sparkling cider-he also loved it-bubbles and all!! Enough about the little guy what about us-well, not much new with Brady and I. Brady ran a trail race yesterday (in the ice) and beat his brother in law Kyle and soon to be other brother in law Brad! We are taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Class each Sunday from now to what seems like forever-ha! Brady and I have very different study and reading habits, and thoughts on spending and saving-this ought to be fun guys! Brady is classified as the “nerd” and I’m the “free spirit”….I’ll let you know how it turns out in the spring.

Pumpkins for My Peanut

We've never been big on Halloween festivities but Decker enjoyed some of the delights that go along with...like carving pumpkins (and a squash), eating marshmallows (his favorite candy in addition to m&ms), going on his first hayride, passing out candy to the neighborhood kids, and dressing up as a horsey for music class. This past week Decker learned to jump-once he discovered it he jumped all over the house. Each day he says new words. Two of my favorites are "Candy GG" (to GG Hansel) (he calls his grandmas GG) and "Gracious" (from GG Decker)!! It's pretty funny. He still says "no" to most everything and is also starting to use "me" a lot. I bought a book called "The Happiest Toddler on the Block"-how to eliminate tantrums and raise a patient, respectful and cooperative one to four year old-is this possible-ha!

Birthday Blog

I've been slacking on the blog-again-sorry. Lots to catch up on. The biggest thing-Decker turned 2! The picture of him on the water slide is at his joint birthday party with his cousins. As you can see he loves the water. We are thinking of maybe taking some swimming lessons this winter. I've been busy lately with 3 unexpected projects from A&W, farmers' market and the start of MOPS. I'm ready for the market to wind down so we can relax a little more on the weekend and have more family time. I have a small patch of spinach and lettuce that I covered tonight in case of frost. Also-we planted a couple of pear trees-one of Decks favorite fruits. Someone at the market today gave me a bunch-I may try poached pears? Tonight Decker had his first roasted marshmallow-how fun! It was all over both of us-ha!

Hot Summer Eats

What does a donut wedding cake, ribs from the Brickyard BBQ Fest, local sweet corn and a lemon shake-up from the fair have in common? They're all very very tasty! Hope you are having a great summer!

Geeze I Haven't Blogged In A While!

Sorry everyone...I feel like I haven't updated the blog in forever and that there is so much going on to report in our ordinary lives! Since Disney I have been very busy getting the farmers' market off to a good start. Which so far I haven't received too many complaints-lucky for me the market is not based on my media appearances-ha but the great goods produced and grown by local farmers and artisans! We have about 34 vendors now. My next recruit is a local winery. Please vote for our market in America's Favorite Farmers Market Contest-see link. What next...We got to catch up with friends from Indy at a wedding-reception at the Skyline Club-very chic! We visited Todd at his new crib in Indy. I was away from my baby for two weekends back to back. My college girlfriends and I went to New Harmony for a relaxing time of eating, talking, biking and laughing! Then is was off to the South Bend area for a dear high school buddy's wedding in which I met a professional blogger-"The Queen of Free". Decker is changing and continues to be lots of fun-running, climbing and getting into mischief! He got his first pair of Nike running shoes-watch out!

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