Labor Day Weekend in IA

Instead of a 3 day weekend... we opted for a 4 day weekend!! Our weekend started on Friday with a trip to Sioux Falls for a wedding. One of Jason's buddies from college was married and Jason's mom and dad came and picked up Ella up for the evening. It was nice having an evening to relax!

We spent the rest of our time pretending to be a farm family. Ella enjoyed the majority of her awake weekend on the 4wheeler or tractor with Grandpa. This is her most favorite spot!

Ella turning on the 4wheeler.. no time for photos for this girl.

Jason and Glennis were able to move the corn over from the dryer bin. Jason was thrilled to be "laboring" in this fashion for Labor Day weekend.

Grandma & Grandpa Breuer have some new kitties. These are the most amazingly calm kittens I have ever seen.. thanks to the 20 month old little boy across the road. He has these kittens used to being handled in all kinds of fashion by a little person. Ella thinks these are the BEST alive creatures ever. She would run all the way to the shed saying "kitty kitty kitty kitty"... taught by Grandma Judy.

She has no problem picking them right up.

She needed some assistance NOT carrying them around by the neck.

You may be asking yourself what were Judy and I doing while the boys were out playing with tractors and augers. MAKING APPLE PIE!!!! We made 5 pies, of which 3 of them came home with us for our freezer. Judy allowed us to take them home while we are preparing for the baby to arrive. So awesome!... they may not make it all the way to the baby arrival.

Jason's little cousins came for lunch on Sunday and Ella enjoyed playing with them following a great lunch. During some of that play time (with the men watching them, of course) Ella took quite a spill out of a trailer. JT was being a great playmate by pulling Ella around. When his Daddy asked him to slow down a bit, he listening tremendously.... by coming to a complete stop. The trailer came unhooked and Ella gained her first road rash. She handled it pretty well.. a few tears. When we ask her now where her "owie" is she pats her poor little face.

Ella had a blast of a weekend... and she was pooped! You can get a glimpse of her shiner here too.

Daddy will be working Big Iron over the next couple weeks, so Ella will be having some major girl time. Shopping may ensue.

Also, it is our 4th year anniversary this week... WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?.... oh yea. An 18 month old and over 7 months into baby #2... it is all coming back to me now. The best 4 years of my life. Happy Anniversary Jason~ Love you.

Healthy Baby

Had the baby appt this morning. Baby is VERY active as Dr. Howick put it. The heartbeat was 152 and she said that has a lot to with the baby moving around so much. I could have told you that, but it must have been really active this morning. Did my glucose test. Really wasn't bad. They had me drink an Orange Crush... literally out of the can Orange Crush made by Dr. Pepper. The only bad part was I had to finish it in 5 min.... Needless to say I was FULL! And thankful I didn't stop for that Starbucks that I considered on my way into town. Dr. Howick also asked me the epidural question today.... I said no. I hope I can do this again drug free!!! Fearing some back labor this time around for some reason... We'll just see how it goes.

Jason and Ella missed the heartbeat due to Ella needing a rather early nap this morning. Jason hoped to get there before I was done but no such luck. They did get to keep me company as I awaited the blood draw.

We are now on our 2 week appts. I am just in shock of this being here already. We also scheduled the pre-admission and delivery floor tour. I remember feeling like I was ssooooo ready for Ella to be here at that appt. NOT with this one... of course it is just over a month from now. But still. I had a chiropractor appt also just before the baby Dr. She also thinks I am appearing to be pretty small, especially considering this is #2. I feel like I am now gaining that slightly swollen look, but my tummy really isn't as big as I expected it to be with #2.... so far ;-) Hope to keep this up all the way through! I am physically pretty comfy other than slight indigestion (only if I eat to much) and my back. Pretty awesome!

No pics today... maybe I can get some more out here soon. Ella and Daddy are outside watering the newly planted grass in our backyard... she is in her diaper. SO cute! I am in here making up some dinner... Garlic Zucchini! YUMMY! Thanks Judy!!!

We have a big girl on our hands!

Ella is in process of her transition to big sister-hood! She has successfully completed two nights and days of napping in her big bed! She is adjusting quite well to it. She is such a great kid. We have kicked the paci and the crib in the last month or so and she just goes with it. Oh, she lets us know she may not agree with our actions... but at least still loves us the next morning. We do need to get her clothes moved over and a bit more decor up, but other than that... the nursery is ready! Ha. Not hard to do when it has been done since we moved in! Below are a couple shots of her the morning after her first night in her new room. She hasn't tried to get out... yet. We are waiting for the day though. Oh. And her new room theme is Lady Bugs!!

A new look we have been getting lately. Little devil. ;-)

It was a beautiful day here today. The weather has been quite nice lately and we have been trying to soak it all in while we are able. We took a drive this afternoon and got some nice shots of some of the crops surrounding our house. We were out looking for a nice field of sunflowers. However, we might need to take a bit of a longer drive to get a better photo of a nice field. This following picture is what believe to be a field of barley. We aren't 100% because the wheat and barley look quite a bit alike. It is really pretty now that it is all golden yellow. The combines will most likely be out this week to take a lot of the crop. That is if the rain cooperates.

This picture is our back yard. I know it is small, but our house is in the middle of the picture.

Sorry it has been so long since I have been on here. Ella is keeping the both of us on our toes. And when Jason is home I pretty much try to kick back as much as I can..... I have a wonderful husband. I have been feeling pretty well. Can't believe I am 7 months along! My lower back has been giving me quite a few fits still, but I am just hoping for delivery to go well. If I knew that was going to go well... then I can get through the next 3 months with no problem!! I have a check up on Tuesday and have my gestational diabetes test... .yuck. And then we will be scheduling appointments every TWO weeks! How did we get here already?! I remember feeling like this is when time really started to pick up in my pregnancy with Ella. Time really can't go faster with this one.... It is already flying by!

Swimming, Parades & Fireworks!

Pop yourself a bag of popcorn and get comfy.. this could take a while.

What a great 4th we had! We had the most fantastic weather we could have possibly ordered up and had a calendar that was full of fun filled activities enjoyed by the whole family!... I guess I could have used at least one cold frosty drink. But NO complaining!.. I will get to enjoy them for many 4ths to come.

Friday Jason had the day off~ Wo Ho! So we enjoyed a very nice day with the Lane's at 1 of the 10,000 lakes in MN. We were a little worried about our swim experience when we first arrived at the "sandy beach" conveniently located about 10 ft. between two boating docks. Thank goodness our fearless leader Lynn navigated our way to a MUCH nicer beach and picnic area. We enjoyed a packed lunch and the majority of the day running in and out of the water. We have a 'no fear' child on our hands. Not great around a lake. She would take off running for the water and we could barely make it there before her. Geeze. Just a few heart attacks, but no harm was done. She LOVES water! She was shivering her little toosh off, but she just wanted more and more and more!

Jason just being a very responsible Daddy.

Ella and Jack on a nice afternoon lunch date.

The afternoon was followed up with great pizza off the grill and homemade ice cream. Nothing says Happy 4th like a good batch of homemade ice cream. Awesome.

We thought for sure due to the time at the lake we would get some old fashion sleep in time in our house. No dice. Wake up call 6 am. Boo. Hiss.

Saturday we were off to Park River, ND. Jason was a bit cautious expecting to much of a 4th of July celebration from a small town in ND. However, much to Lynn & I's demands the two families packed up and arrived to a booming Park River. (You may be asking yourself why on earth would we travel an hour when we could go 10 min into Grand Forks. We have friends, Rachel & Spencer Bina, who live up there.) They were celebrating their 125th anniversary along with the 4th so there were a TON more visitors there than we had expected. I am pretty sure that is the most people I have seen in one place since moving here. They had a fantastic parade. This was Ella's first and at first she just sat watching. Not sure what to think of these events and all the people.

Ella being very patriotic waving her flag. Granted it was upside down, but come on she is 17 months old. I was impressed she caught on to wave it!

Ella sat on her Daddy's lap all the up until she learned from her buddy Heidi how to capture candy. Heidi was a great example as you see below. She even was demonstrating the Ready, Set, GO! position.

This is Ella's first piece of candy she recovered. A yellow sucker.

And this is her Daddy's heart she just poured into her perfect little mold as it was melting. She has him right where she needs to. Sucker.

A little clip of the parade...

We finished out Saturday with the fireworks downtown Grand Forks. We weren't going to go simply because they started at 10:30 (because it gets dark here so late). Ella was into them while they were shooting off practice ones and she would hold her hands out in question of why don't they just keep them coming?! When they started for real she was in amazement. However, then tired set in and she just wanted lay on my shoulder and watch other kids. It's alright... we didn't even have a camera to capture the moment. It will mean more to her next year.

Today we had a catch up day of sleeping in, church, yard work and a bike ride down by the river. Ella loves the Burley which is great for allowing us to get some exercise. I am still riding the bike (my Dr. said it was ok) and I only feel pregnant when I am working on an incline. My tummy gets real tight, but the same thing happens when I run.. so no biggie! This is WAY more exercise than I had with Ella. Simply walking made my tummy tighten up. Amazing how things have already changed with #2.

We grilled out tonight and enjoyed some famous Jason hamburgers. Just like the 3 Little Pigs, we have our Papa size, Mama size and Baby sized burgers. And of course, Jason providing important life lessons of grilling to Ella. He taught her to 'cheers' tonight. Scary the things this child is going to know.

Hope everyone enjoyed some time off and time with family and friends. We are heading back to Illinois again this weekend. Bambi & Brad will be having their new arrival on the 10th... speaking of which HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAGGIE!!! It is her birthday today and we are missing the party as I type. Wish we could have been there... maybe someday.

Signing off~

Grand Cities Art Fest

We enjoyed some time down town yesterday at the annual Art Fest. It was on both sides of the river. We enjoyed walking across the bridge and trying to imagine the river being as high as it was just a couple months ago. Everything looks beautiful now though!

(First time she had flips on. She couldn't believe she could see her toes!)

Ella actually enjoyed some stroller time and left her hat on to protect her little face and ears. She was so dang cute in her new summer outfit I just got her. I was actually a little worried she wouldn't be able to wear these clothes. It just wasn't warming up and I thought everyone was lying to me when they said it really does warm up here. But it does! Our car read 80 yesterday! I swear the sun makes it about 15 degrees warmer though. The sun is intense. We have also noticed how much longer the days are up here. We still have some light outside from 9:30 - 10. Makes putting Ella to bed at 8 a bit tougher since it is still as bright as noon. This also means the sun comes up early too. She has bee thinking 6 is a great time to get up and start the day. Not mom and dad~ we are dying to have a day to sleep in til 7! Someday, someday... but not any day soon I have feeling.

Whew. Where do we begin?

What a whirl wind the past month has been. We have been traveling all over place. Well, pretty much just IA, IL, ND and Canada. Yet with a one year old and a car, that is a lot of land to cover.

For Memorial Day weekend we moved into Glennis & Judy's. We had great weather so we enjoyed being outside as much we possibly could. The weekend was also highlighted by meeting our new niece!!! Sara & Jeff welcomed a baby girl!! Kylee Marie is doing well and so is Mommy & Daddy. Ella really liked her new cousin, although she thought she was her baby doll to run around with. We are doing to have to work on the "Be nice to the baby Ella" process over the next couple months. This new child of ours is going to have one really excited and rambunctious sister greeting 'it'.

While Daddy went back to ND to actually make some money for this family, Ella and I traveled on to IL to visit with my family. We had 2 weddings to attend and enjoyed spending time with everyone in IL. While we were there Mom and Dad were able to place their templates on their new granite for the basement kitchen. Ella helped with that long enough to know their was mud all around and when not allowed to splash around in that, we enjoyed some movie time in the Enclave to let Mom and Dad calmly place out the templates. The granite is now installed and the kitchen is nearing completion once the sinks, stove and dishwasher get hooked up! It looks awesome! If anyone is around their house, you need to stop by to check out their complete basement transformation. This is what mom has needed for a VERY long time!

My mom made the trip back to ND with Ella and I, which was much appreciated! We stopped by Darren & Jody's for a night and soaked in some trampoline time with her Des Moines cousins.

While Mom was here we made the trip up to Winnipeg to visit the zoo and take in a kids feast. We have decided that we may not make that trip again. Glad we went to see, but none of us really have a draw to go back. It was fun crossing the border, we will probably be visiting other parts of Canada before going back to Winnipeg. But we enjoyed what we could while we were there. Really the only parts of the zoo Ella liked where the fish and birds. We think everything else was just too far away to be interested in... we will have to try the zoo again when she is older.

For the racially sensitive, you will want to move on to the next story~ Good, bad or otherwise. Ella does not know a stranger. Which is fun while you have her in a shopping cart at Target. But not so much while in a Canadian zoo when she takes a liking to some of our Indian friends. They were very nice and friendly. But we were a little uncomfortable when Ella took the hand of one of the boys and walked away with them. I think they would have been happy to take her for the afternoon around the zoo. Don't worry.. she didn't go very far but we had to catch this priceless photo op.

Ella loved having her Grandma Kathy here. So much so that she preferred her over her Mommy pretty much 99% of the time. She wanted nothing to do with me while Grandma was around. So easily replaced when she gets her way with everything!!!

We had a good few weeks, but enjoying the rest of our June here in ND. The weather is FINALLY starting to turn around and we are able to get outside. We have another niece arriving in July back in IL, so we will be making the trip once again.

Baby Breuer update~ We are feeling ok these days. As long as I stay on my 'drugs' I am good. Can't really go more than 24 hrs without my prescription or I can't really move other than running to the bathroom. Had a Dr. appt this past week and the heartbeat is strong. We got the results back from the blood test and everything came back GREAT! So far we have a healthy baby arriving late November!

ND DOES make green!

Green is appearing in various spots around our house.. .finally! During our trip to IL, we made a detour passed the John Deere Landscapes in Des Moines to pick up some items to help out our poor little lawn. Jason got home and pulled out his spreader from somewhere under the snow blowers, etc to spread some fertilizer. He wasn't all to sure how much it would help. Well, it was certainly nice to wake up the next morning to find that it had worked as intended. The only problem was that he ran out a ways before he finished the majority of our west lawn. As you will see below the JD Landscapes stuff works! He is going to have to bust out that second bag so our yard doesn't look so funny.. half green..half dead. And yes. We know our tree is still leaning.

I was able to get in some flower planting today. Jason is holding me back from going crazy because the farmers around here told him we need to wait until after Memorial Day to plant anything or it is just money waisted. He did allow me to plant some in hanging baskets and the whiskey barrels so we are able to cover them from the frost yet. YEAH! It is looking like some life around here just a little bit!

Ella and I went to work again on the driveway. Still needing just a bit more leveling out so we got to pulling our drag. Ella has certainly developed a love for our green machine. As soon as we set her free in the garage she runs over to the mower. Climbs on top. Attempts to grab the key to start it and moves the steering wheel back and forth like she is going somewhere. Anytime the lawn mower starts up, if she is not on it, she throws a fit! I think someone is going to enjoying some lawn mowing hours this summer. Shhhhhh... Don't tell John Deere Safety.

The basement bathroom is coming along nicely. A bit slower than Jason would like.. but it is coming. Uncle Jeremy is going to be here this week, so Ella is going to make a list for him to get some stuff done around here for her. Including some painting that Mommy can no longer do..... That upstairs office Jason moved into when we first got here sure didn't last long. We are already going to have to move him downstairs to make room for a new bedroom upstairs.

That's all from ND! Miss everyone!