Daddy's Day Off

Johnny had Friday and Monday off this weekend, so he decided to use some of his free time to check out the Deanna Rose Farmstead with the girls.

He had never been there before, so he really enjoyed showing Lila and Little Sister all the animals.  He said he thought about letting them buy a bottle to feed the baby goats, but then he thought they would get confused and drink it themselves.



I don't know for a fact, but I'm assuming Lila called everything a puppy.

This mama cow was super close to having a baby.

Little Sister is not super into animals, so she enjoyed watching from the top of the stroller.

Johnny was amused by the sheep and the goats parking lot sign.

While they were gone, I was actually able to fold some laundry and vacuum a few rooms.  It's amazing how much more productive I am when I don't feel like this:

Staking Her Claim Like a True Midwesterner

Sometimes Lila likes to let Little Guy know what toys are hers.

 

What We're Eating

Twenty-two month old decided to take a bite out of a good book today.



Unfortunately, I did not retrieve that corner before she swallowed it.

The rolly polly from two days ago, however, was much luckier.

Halvsies

I asked Johnny if we could split a beer and this is what I got.



In his defense, he did say I could pick whichever one I wanted.

6:00 AM Starbucks Run

Well it was more of a walk, really.  Yesterday, Lila woke up a little before 6:00 am in a horrible mood.  I couldn't get her to go back to sleep, couldn't put her down (on the floor I mean), and I couldn't get her to eat anything.  So I don't know what possessed me, but I decided to take her on a walk to Starbucks.



Even typing it seems unbelievable.  I went on a walk at 6:00 am on a Monday.  But hey, it got the job done because Lila was in a great mood by the time we got back...and I only spilled the top third of my drink.

A Swell Guy

My grandfather, on my dad's side, passed away a few weeks ago, and we were able to celebrate his life this weekend with a service and the majority our family coming in town.



My grandfather was a very successful businessman, and according to his high school yearbook, a "swell guy" and an "excellent bookkeeper." 

We joke that when we were first dating, every time Grandpa saw Johnny he would ask, "How much do you weigh?"  I'm not sure if he thought Johnny weighed a lot or if he was concerned that he was gaining weight each time.  And one time, Grandpa couldn't remember Johnny's name, so he just said, "Well there's that bozo."  It was said with love.

The one nice thing about funerals is that you get to see some family that you don't normally see. A lot of my dad's family lives here, but my dad's brother's family lives out in Colorado.  Most of them were able to come along with my cousin Malia's daughters, Lila's second cousins who she hadn't met yet.  It was so much fun to see our kids playing together; it makes me really happy to know that Lila has three girl second cousins right around her age to play with...especially since it doesn't seem like she'll be getting any first cousins any time soon.  I don't know why Mitchell doesn't have any children yet.



We all loved Grandpa very much, and he is greatly missed.

Aquarium Aftermath

5 cousins + the aquarium + the food court =



+ lying on the couch, watching The Office finale, thanking God for nap time

Minkies!

Because things are so hectic around here, I haven't been able to do much crafting of any kind, especially making quilts.  I really wanted to make some quick blankies for our two foster kids, so I looked around a bit and found this fabulous tutorial for Cotton Print and Minky Blankets.  Minky is that super soft fabric that often has raised dots and is used for baby things.



They are so quick and so easy that I can make one in a nap time.  So I've gone a little crazy and made about a million.

One great thing about the minky fabric is that it is a lot wider than normal fabric, so there are always left overs.  I've got quite a few friends who are pregnant, so I've been going through my scrap fabric and making burp cloths with the extra minky (same tutorial as the blankies, just smaller).

It's very satisfying to have projects to do that are easy but end up looking really cute.  And if you can pass them off as gifts to friends, even better.

Sad Anniversaries

Today is the two year anniversary of the death of our first baby.  When I found out I was pregnant, I told Johnny by giving him the book Spot Loves His Daddy.  I remember we had to leave the house and go on a walk because it seemed like our house wasn't big enough to contain everything that we were feeling.

After losing the baby, I remember sobbing and thinking that I never wanted to be happy again.  I knew that the time would come when I would move on, and I didn't want that to happen.

Looking back, I think the three things that were the most healing for me were getting to see our baby, burying our baby, and getting pregnant a second time.  These things gave me the closure I needed and also gave us hope for new things to come.  It makes me sad that some people who suffer miscarriages can't have some of these things.

If I had known two years ago that I would have a half naked, singing 22 month old sitting next to me and a 14 month old and a 2 month old napping upstairs, I don't know what I would have thought.  Of course I miss  and love our first baby, and I don't know why we couldn't have him or her for longer, but it certainly seems in my experience that blessings tend to outweigh sufferings.

Cinderelly Cinderelly

The girls kept trying to take the Swiffer away from me while I was cleaning yesterday, and I thought to myself, "I wish I had kid sized cleaning supplies."  Then I looked at the Swiffer and realized that I could take it apart and hook the handle much lower on the shaft.  Voila! Baby Swiffer!



Every time they see it lying on the floor, they pick it up and sweep for a few minutes.  I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier.  Now to figure out how to shorten the vacuum.

Hutson Family Yearbook 2012

I got the idea of doing a yearbook for our family every year from a mislabeled Pinterest post.  I've been working on this album on Shutterfly for the last few months, and I finally got it printed out with a good deal from Zulilly. Forgive the photos of photos.

Hutson Family Yearbook 2012



I included a little year in review page where I cut Sarah Mann and Emma Akerly's heads off.  Don't worry about it.

Added a little synopsis of our year.

Each month got a couple of pages with pictures and small descriptions of what happened in that month.

December was of course a very full month, and I made an extra page that included special highlights from Christmas like what gifts Johnny and I got each other, what we did for Christmas Eve, and who found the pickle.  It's always the pregnant woman.

I also included a page to highlight the different crafts that I made and a page for our Christmas photo shoot.

The book, of course, would not be complete without a large picture of Baby Lila on the back.

I had a lot of fun making the album. Here's hoping it's not one of those one time things.

Things I Say Every Day

"That's your brother's pacifier!"

"Lila, where is your other shoe?"

"Stop kissing the baby."

"Let's go upstairs!  Come on...let's go.  Let's go.  Here we go.  Going faster.  Up the stairs.  Let's go."

"Stop touching the light switch."

"Brush with the toothbrush; don't suck on it."

"Yes I know that's your nose, but don't stick your finger in it."

"Yes I know those are your eyes."

"Yes I know those are your brother's eyes."

"Stop poking your brother in the eye."

"No it's not time to go bye bye."

"Lila, where are your socks?"

"This book?  How about this book?  Ok, this book?  Why don't you just show me which book you want."

"Don't eat that!"

"Acorns are not food."

"You are in timeout because you kicked Lila."

"Praise the Lord, Daddy's home."

"Go play with Daddy!"

I'm not kidding. Every single day.

This Weekend

This weekend was a tough one.  Johnny is gone one weekend a month for National Guard.  The weekends themselves are not so hard; it's the going a whole week being home with the kids, then a weekend, then a week without much of a break.  I woke up this morning and decided that I just couldn't stay awake, so Johnny lovingly stayed home so I could sleep until 11:30.  When I came down, there was a cereal box in the living room. We'll leave it at that.

The kids have still managed to have fun despite a grumpy mom.

The girls had a play date with Hayes on Saturday and attacked the poor kid while he was eating dinner.  I don't think he actually got any of his food.  Notice the desperate hand print on the wall.



Then we got some great hand-me-downs from the Rose girls.  Lila is wearing one rain boot, one Dora slipper, and is trying to put on another shoe.

Little Sister especially liked Dorothy's ruby slippers.

It's also nice to finally be able to go outside.  Little Sister entertains herself by chasing around a ball, and Lila will sit in a flower bed and move leaves or wood chips from one spot to another.  I always knew my child would be gifted.

Sisters

Sisters waiting for Daddy to come home.

 

Houston, We Have Lift Off

After much ado, Lila has started walking! She can go pretty far but will only take a few steps for the camera.  Wouldn't want to overwhelm everyone.

We also gave her pudding for the first time a few days ago.  She licked the bowl clean; though she would have gotten more pudding had she licked her face and hands instead.

We are starting to get Lila off of bottles and formula, so her main bottle is in the morning.  I asked Johnny to give her the bottle yesterday morning, and when I came downstairs they were both lying on opposite ends of the couch, Johnny in his robe, and Lila with her belly hanging out.