Super Annoying.

Okay, am I the only person in the world who is having trouble with blogger? I am super frustrated right now because I just spent 1.5 hours on one super simple post. This is so annoying to me. This last, "pumpkin patch" post should have taken 15 minutes. I am obviously having major problems with blogger, so naturally I would like to blog about them. 1. For some reason I can only upload 2 photos at a time. If I do any more then that I get a "bad request" message. Seriously, SERIOUSLY! 2. I have a great camera and computer, therefore making this all blogger's fault. 3. When I actually do get photos to upload they are not in the correct order that I originally selected them in. 4. It takes about 4 minutes to upload 2 photos! 5. AHHHHHHHH! 6. I updated my "interface" therefore thinking that maybe photo uploader would also upgrade, it did not. 7. Does anyone have any tips on how to fix these problems? Like I said my major problems are with uploading photos. 8. I have read every menu that is possible on the dashboard, all with no luck. I have also read every help menu on google, and they are not helpful. 9. Should I start a new blogging account somewhere else? 10. Hm, this should not be this hard. 11. If I get this problem figured out expect to see more posts, if I don't then it might be a goodbye to blogging world, because I cannot waste 2 hours uploading 5 photos! 12. Please comment :)

To the pumpkin patch!

A couple weeks ago Tootsie experienced her first trip to the pumpkin patch. I had never really been to one before either. (When we were little we went to our neighbor's field of pumpkins and carted them around in our wagons, does that count?) Anyway. It was a great time! Toots went with her little pal Lo and they had lots of fun watching piglet races, playing in a "corn box", riding on the swings, feeding goats, and playing in "grandma's kitchen". Ironically, with all this activity they didn't really make it to the pumpkin field. However, we of course brought one home, and maybe next year they can pick their own when they are a smig bigger. Here are the two little gals. They are so close in age that they always have a great time playing together!

Corn Fed.

Yearly growth chart. How cute is she?

Wannabe farm girls.

Change

My only excuse for my lack of blogging is that there have been a lot of changes around these parts the last few months.
1. Starting back in July, (holy smokes, I can't believe that is the last time I blogged) sister got engaged! It was such an exciting night! We were at my parents house and her boyfran just popped the question. It was so sweet, he put it in a fortune cookie and we all had no idea what was coming. It was great. So we have been doing some mad wedding planning. I am not going to lie, I love weddings, and have been living vicariously through her as I have been helping her plan her big day :) I got some really sweet pics of sister and her love the night they got engaged.



2. We did corn. Alot of it. Which took some time away from the blog :)



3. Hunky Husby power washed everything in sight, and I painted the entryway of our house.


4. Homegirl snapped some beans.


5. Then she turned 15 months old!


6. I turned 26. No big deal.


7. In September we took a little road trip to Omaha to see family. It was great to see everyone and catch up! We hit up a park for tootsie of course. Went to the zoo. And tried to relax. It was so fun, but for some reason I got a cold right before we left, this put a little damper on my trip because I was so congested the whole time. Tootsie was not a fan of taking naps on this trip, so by the time we got around to the zoo she only wanted to be held, by mama. And I'm pretty sure she pulled my shoulder out of socket, whilst walking around the gi-huge zoo. Anyway, despite my shoulder joint and stuffy nose, it really was a good trip!





8. In August I found out I have Celiac disease. Which explains why I have felt so crummy for such a long time. My symptoms got especially worse last year after delivering Vivian. It was a little devastating at first, but now I feel so much better after adjusting my diet the past few months that it has been worth it! It is really crazy how much better I feel with dietary changes. I have a thousand times more energy then I did before, and my tummy is so MUCH better. PTL. However, it has taken a lot of time learning how to cook and shop differently.

9. Tootsie turned 16 months old!


10. We have been doing well, just generally going for lots of walks outside. Going to the park alot, and enjoying the weather.


11. One other big change was a job transfer for me! I switched departments at work and left my weekend option position. I had been doing weekends for close to 4 years and it was a good time for a change. I was nervous about it, but the doors all opened, and I felt like it was the right thing to do. And I have to say that after having the last two weekends off, it has been amazing to go to church as a family and spend Sunday's together.

Monthly Photo Update.

I know I'm a tad behind on putting up monthly photos. I've been taking them, just not posting every month. So to catch up, here is month 11 (April) Which I just realized I completely skipped:





Moving on to month 13, June. (I did post her 12 month ones with the birthday par-tay celebration, so back up a couple posts and check those out if you haven't yet :) Anyway, here are June's. They turned out so cute! We were down in the country and I quick whipped up a sign because I thought it would be the perfect stop for some new backgrounds.







Month 14 (July) brings us right up to date. We just took these a couple days ago so they are pretty recent. I initially thought I was going to stop at one year, but I realized I've gotten kind of attached to these little photo shoots. So, I decided to go until age two. Who knows, I just might be that mom taking monthly photos of her 21 year old, because yes, I am that awesome.






We have been doing all kinds of summer things this month. So far this week we've been to the splash pad with pals, had indoor swim class at the Y, had a picnic in the park today, and we are planning for the pool tomorrow. I must say, tootsie is turning into quite a fish. Well, not exactly :) She's not swimming laps by any means. Mostly she likes to play with her bucket dumping water in and out, and then handing you the bucket to fill up, precious. She is also getting so tall! I think she has grown two inches in the past two weeks, all of a sudden her dresses have turned into shirts. It is truly crazy! In other news I am starting to get a DIY itch, so hopefully I will have some house projects to post about soon. But let's be honest, this has turned into a serious case of blog gone babe.

I'm feeling patriotic.

Well, seeing how I completely skipped the month of June on this old blog, this is going to be an extra long post :) Summer has taken us by storm and I have been trying to keep the summer activities flying for Vivian. I actually planned out a calendar to organize all the stuff I want to do, you know to be sure we don't let any summer days pass us by ;) Naw, it wasn't so much of a calendar as a list of all the things to do if we ever felt bored. Two days after I created this list I realized that that's the joy of summer, not having a list to follow. So I tossed it. But let me tell you we have been busy eating popsicles until we get tummy aches, swimming in warm kiddy pool water, playing in the garden dirt, and enjoying the outdoors.

Summer is, and always will be my favorite season. Not only is it just plain awesome, the 4th of July takes place in the summer. Which is, and always has been my favorite holiday. Number one, because there are fireworks. Number two, because that's when Chris popped the question four years ago, which is one of my favorite memories. Well enough of the rambling about how much I (heart) summer, I'm sure ya'll just want to know what we did on this glorious holiday. I'll do a photo review:

We started off the holiday weekend in Des Moines. Chris had some training and we met him up there and got together with our good friends Jake and Christy. Our babies are so close in age and we love catching up right were we left off. My favorite part of the trip was when the babies started getting down in their pj's to Beyonce on GMA :) How cute are they?



After coming home I worked the weekend (thumbs down), but had Monday off, (hooray!). We made our way back to my hometown area for the parade. Are you sick of me saying how much I love stuff in this post? Well here it comes again, I love a good parade. I won't lie, it was a little less then par this year, but great company made up for it!
My bestie Ramona and I got to catch up after what seemed like forever. The boys and baby had fun too.

Tootsie wanted to be next to dada the whole time, mainly because of the constant stream "tandy" she was recieving. But how sweet is this pic? She sure loves her dada.

Small town.


After the parade we were on our way home, when on a whim we decided to stop by this old rope swing we used to play on. Karissa and I would beg our dad to take us on bike rides over to this church to play on the swing. We loved it. Well, lets just say, this old swing has not lost its charm. It was pretty fun (and funny:).
Chris is scared of heights which is evidenced by the look on his face in this photo :)

Vivie had fun too, but lets be serious, this was really for the grown-ups.

Family.

Ramona was obviously a seasoned pro:

I wasn't to bad myself, considering I was wearing a skirt. I've had practice considering I didn't wear pants till I was 12.

Boys will be boys.


Later on in the evening we bbq'd at my parents house. Chris started talking to my uncle about his truck, "old blue". Then they decided to take it out for a spin. Once again, it was pretty funny. This truck doesn't have any breaks, and is strictly for hauling firewood. They took it for a spin around the pond. And wonder of all wonders, one of the tail lights still works, even though the breaks don't... Explain that.

The last few hours of the night consisted of trying to entertain Vivian and keep her up for the fireworks. We played on the swings. Grandpa walked with her around the golf course. But five minutes after the first pop she officially decided she had had enough. We hurried back to the car and she promptly fell asleep in her carseat. Hubby and I watched the rest of the show in the parking lot. It was romantic :)

But honestly, isn't that what the fourth is all about? Creating new traditions, keeping your kid up for three hours past bedtime, only to have them fall right asleep at the best part of the show, sweating so much you think you are going to have a heat stroke, eating so much candy you get a stomach ache, then eating so much rubarb desert that you get another stomach ache two hours later. I think so, and I'll be darned if we don't do it all again next year...

Vivian turns one

Vivian turned one last week. How amazing is that? How did she go from this:

To this:


It really is a miracle, and I get a big lump in my throat when I think about it to much. Growth is so bittersweet.
Anyway, the birthday girl is just changing every day. She is 29 3/4" tall (she's obviously going to be way taller then me) and 19 lb 12 oz. She just had her one year check up and looks great. She had to get a blood draw and she didn't even make a peep! However, Dad started sweating, and Mom was a little nervous :)

It seems like every day she does new things. She knows quite a few words. She doesn't say very many but she knows what you mean when you say them. The other day I asked her if she wanted to read a book, so she walked over to the books, picked one up, carried it back to me, and backed up on my lap to read it! She knows it "chew it up" when I give her food. Of course she knows puppy, mama, daddy, bye-bye, hi. When you ask her where something is, she holds her hands upside down, bent at the elbow with a questioning look on her face like, "I don't know mom". It is precious! She loves to wave, and waves non-stop. She also gives lots of hugs and kisses. She kisses the book, the puppy, mom and dad, her toys, basically everything.

On her birthday we were going to go swimming, but we missed the times due to her nap, so we went to the park instead. We decided, "oh this will be fun, we'll take her in her new wagon". The trip there was fine, its only about 12 blocks. We had some good times on the swings/slide. However, when we went to put her in the wagon to bring her home and she was not having it! Holy cow, where did the sweet baby go?! She was arching her back and crying, I thought I was going to drop her on the pavement. So I handed her over to Chris of course :) Oh man, that made it even worse! So I finally took her back and she quieted down, I guess she at least realized if she was going to have to go home it was better to be held by mom. The teenagers in the park were laughing and pointing at us, I have never felt so old! We booked it out of there, awkward! I kept trying to put her back in her awesome wagon on the way home, every time a tiny fit ensued. Which brings me to my next point, where did this independence come from? Holy cow, literally on the day of her first birthday. She has had small fits before but nothing like this, it was kind of ironic :) She was fine when we got home ( my back was not ).

Here's a few more recent photos of tootsie. I have about a million other posts to make (swim lessons, popsicles, the list goes on). But we have been so busy playing outside I haven't had the motivation to blog. We're also going to have family pics today, keep your fingers crossed for cooperation!