We received a letter from Cody this week! It was very upbeat and long! 6 pages! He's got some goals in mind, some possible hobbies he would like to try a hand at, and seems to be getting along pretty well in Clarinda. We're happy to hear from him that his faith is still strong and he's working at making better choices. This was a huge relief and made us smile, especially his playful attitude in the letter!

Becca has a new favorite song! She loves to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat! She'll help with the row-row-row...and before you get to the merily-merily-merily-merily.....she gives her version with Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! When you get done with the song, she'll make the rowing motion and say row-row-row really fast! Its hilarious. She looks so funny doing it! its not so much a rowing motion, as it looks like when you do a bunny imitation, with your paws in front of you? You just have to see it!

Becca is also counting very well. Every other number that is. If I say one, she'll say two, and so on up to ten! We get so tickled with this game! She's also doing better on her colors. Most times now, she will pick the right color when we ask her to show us.

My friends Jennifer and Jessie welcomed Caleb William into this world on Wednesday night! I'm so looking forward to meeting this little man! I knew it was going to be boy! I'm sure Becca will love him up as well. We decided not to make the trip to the hospital to visit. We'll let them get settled at home for the next week...then make a point to go and visit!

Yesterday, my cousin Josh and his wife Meg were in town for a baby shower! They are due in June with a girl! It was great to see them. We're sorry we couldn't stay longer, but it was fun to catch up with all the fam!

it only took 2 weeks....

For Becca to ATTEMPT to climb over the gate in her bedroom. We placed the gate on her bedroom door, considering now she is in her big girl bed.

So this morning, she decided to dump out the basket in her room ~ turn it over and use it as a step. So I took it away. She then found an unopened package of diapers. Yep, tried again. So I took those away. She then attempted to use the papermache' boxes that Grandma Deb made for her. Yep...those have been put away to now.
*shaking my head*

So her room should look clean and uncluttered at all times now. Bed, Dresser and Night stand is all she's got!

She's such a monkey!

Happy Easter!

The cutest and coolest Easter Bunny came to our house! Check her out!

We've continued to be busy this last week! I felt like I wasn't ever home!
Had a "mandatory" party for work Monday night. That sucked. Didn't get to see Becca before her bedtime. Tuesday was Xavier's birthday, so we ate dinner and cake at their house after work. That was fun! Becca and Xavier don't get to spend as much time together as they used to, now that Xavier's in Kindergarten. I can't believe he is 6!

Wednesday was a fun day! Wendy, Jill and I took a day trip to Des Moines to his some antique and scrapbook stores! That was a blast! We laughed a lot and spent a lot! But it was all so worth it and we all soooo deserve it! We'll definitely be doing this again! Thursday I only worked 1/2 a day and spent the afternoon cleaning Becca's closet out and packing away clothes and toys that are too small.

Becca has come into her own language this week! Its hilarious. She's really trying sentences now. There is a lot of babble and noise, and about 3 words tops that you can recognize. But we can mostly get the jist. We laugh a lot...and Tim and I give confused looks to each other a lot too! But we always reassure her by saying, "Good talking, Becca!"

Yesterday, Becca painted her yearly Easter Egg. Last year I started buying the wooden eggs you can get at the craft stores. I let her use craft paints, and paint one egg each year. I'm marking the date and her age on each egg, so that when she is 18, we will have a huge collection of her craftsmanship through the years! Not a lot of change from last year...besides the thickness of the paint! We joked that it will take about 10 days to dry, because there are just GOBS of paint on this egg!


The Easter Bunny left some new playdoh, sunglasses, cookie cutters (for the playdoh) and a bubbles wand for her today. Oh, and we can't forget the eggs with Spiderman treats in them!
ok, just have to share one more picture....she's so funny

So much in such little time!

This week has been crazy busy for us! We had Dr's appointments, errands to run, church group and extra hours to work and recooperating from last weeks birthday party, we also had the unexpected...

...like Tim falling through the back door cement steps on Friday evening. Luckily, he didn't get hurt. Not even a scratch, but we did have to wash off a couple of brats he was carrying to the grill! Ha! So, yesterday we took some time to go to the Home Depot to figure out our next "STEP"...ok, bad joke. I think we will be building some nice wooden steps, and when things dry out a bit this spring, we'll replace a few warped boards on the deck and stain it. Anything to help this deck look better than what it does right now!

Becca made it through the night every night this week in her big girl bed! She's an ol' pro at it now! She's done so well. We did have to give in and give her back the paci to help her feel safe. We'll attempt that hurdle again in a week or two. Here is a picture of her the 1st night in the bed! I love the perspective of this one. Shows just how little she is in this (not so big anyway) twin bed.


This morning, we took down the crib! No going back on that one! She didn't hesitate at all! She even attempted to help. That is when she wasn't trying to climb the crib as we were taking it apart. Tim says, " as if it isn't frustrating enough to take these things apart, but its a whole 'nother story when a 2 year old is crawling over your face and jumping off your back!"


I think the best news we had this week, and I'm surprised I didn't mention it sooner...is that Becca is growing! I mean physically! Its been a long time since we've been able to say that! At her 2 yr well-baby check on Monday, we discovered that she's gained 2 lbs and 1" since November! We love this! So she's now 24.8 lbs and 32 1/2". Still small. But her pediatrician is happy with the long awaited growth! We go to Iowa City at the end of April, so hopefully they will be just as pleased, and we'll not have to do the level 2 testing for growth hormone! Please continue to pray that she continues to grow!

Night #2

Becca made it through night number 2 in the big girl bed! It took a little bit of tender time with Daddy to fall asleep but she did great! Daddy said it only took about 5 minutes! Yay!
And its so sweet that she hasn't yet realized that she can get out of bed when she wakes up in the morning. So she waits until I come in to get her to get dressed! She's so used to us coming and getting her out of bed! Not saying that she won't figure that out...but I'm not going to encourage it!

Mom and Dad get their first " unassisted " time in their new condo today! The previous owner is out sooner than expected...so now they are going to take measurements and look things over before the crew shows up to clean carpets and start putting fresh paint on the walls! Mom is beyond excited. That woman probably won't sleep from now until a month after they move in! She'll be up drawing furniture arrangements every night!

Oh! I don't remember if I mentioned it or not...but Xavier now knows how to tie his own shoes! Tim teased him and said now that he knows how to tie his shoes, maybe Xavier should ask his mom if he can borrow the car! Uncle Tim loves to tease him!

" Momma...I buh-buh-buh!"

Well, she did it! Becca spent her first night in the big girl bed last night! We had thought about waiting until the weekend, and attempt nap time first. But when we took her up to tuck her in, she jumped in and layed down and kept saying, " please? please? please? It was too adorable to not let her at least TRY it.
We could tell she was nervous, and got out a couple of times to give us hugs around our legs. So I sat down next to her to sing You are My Sunshine. She took to that and fell asleep. UNTIL I left the room and came down stairs. But she really only fussed for about 10 minutes after that, and they were kinda fakey cries. She fell asleep all on her own( which she is used to anyway ) and slept all night long!

This morning, after I got ready and posted the first 2 blogs of the day (hahaha) I could hear her talking to her animals and singing herself. So I peaked in and she was laying upside down, with her legs on the headboard! I wish I had taken a picture! She saw me after I said Good morning, and she flipped over, got up on her knees, pointed at the bed and said, " Momma...I buh-buh-buh!" She was so excited. I'm pretty sure she was telling me, "I'm in the big girl bed!" She was very happy this morning!

Ok, first night down...lets do another!

A whole lot-a growin' up goin' on!

Ok, because the blog reads newest to oldest, you are reading this before the "party" entry...but I thought that this milestone was deserving of its very own entry!
Becca's birthday present from Momma and Daddy was a new Big Girl Bed! Ok, the bed itself is an antique that Grandma Deb found at a garage sale when becca was about 3 months old...Ha! But the Bedding is new!

We set this up before the party so everyone could see! We took about 30 pictures of her with the bed, but she wouldn't sit still long enough to get a really good one. She's a little jumpin bean...and along with the theme of the birthday party, and plenty of ants in her pants!



We can't believe that she's already for a big girl bed. Well..ok, we'll see how ready she is when we try it out! Stay tuned!

Happy Birthday Becca (on the 9th)

Wow! Becca Boo has turned 2! We spent all last week slowly and piece by piece getting ready for her party at the house on Sunday! Tim and I cleaned all day Sunday, baked and decorated her cake and caterpillar cupcakes! I had a lot of fun with that. I'm inlove with the theme we did! We thought the Bugs and Butterflies theme fit her perfectly!



She received many wonderful gifts. From toys to clothes, to puzzels, to yard decorations, to hats and mittens and books! We got it covered!

And right on que, when asked how old she is, she will say " twoooooooo " and hold up both index fingers to show you how many. She hasn't yet figured out how to hold up two fingers on one hand!

We had a great year, and look foward to the next! We love you Becca Boo!

In like a lion?

I can't believe its March already! And even more so, I can't believe that in one week...Becca will be 2 years old! Wow!

With getting closer to 2, we're hearing more words, clearer attempts at words she's been saying, and some small 3-4 word phrases! All in the last 2 weeks, she's really exploded. Its fun! She surprises me every day with something new she will say...or attempt to say!

She has also become quite the jumper! Jumping is all the girl does! She'll say to you in question form, " I jump !" with eyebrows raised and nodding her head matter of fact. She cracks us up! And she will jump from anything, be it 3 inches or 3 ft off the ground, she doesn't care! Ok, She hasn't hit 3 ft yet, but she has attempted to jump off her little folding table that sits about 2ft off the floor! I think she surprises herself when she did do it, and sent Tim and I panicking! We can't turn our backs on her for long, because she will move quickly to jumping stance and do it before we turn around again! She now says, "TA-DA" after jumping, and she puts her arms in the air. This after watching a gymnastics meet on tv a couple of weekends ago! Becca has a fantastic floor routine that starts with a skip from one room to the other singing, "teetee, teetee, teetee". She gets in the middle of the living room, and does a belly flop without hesitation! This, to her fearless mind, is a double twist-back flip-round off-spin and splits. I'm sure of it. We give her a 10.0 every time!
Time to call my aunt Patti and see if she's interested in doing lessons again?

This week was a long one for us it seemed. We welcomed the weekend with open arms! I attended a baby shower for a good friend from small group and church. That was a blast. I've never had so much fun at a shower that wasn't my own! It was a funny group of girls, 4 pregnant, including the guest of honor. So no shortage of stories and experiences flowing in that room! It was great! OH! I have to share. I made a Baby Bouquet! I shared my idea with several at work, and they insisted on pictures to help them either understand, or see what it looked like completed. So I did. I also made the baby card to coordinate ( cause I'm a freak like that ).I just bought a greenery and daisy bush, plucked off some of the flower heads and leaves. I rolled up washclothes, burpclothes and onsies, and then slide them down over the stems. I would have used rubberbands to secure them, but instead used some clear twist-ties. Then I wrapped it in tissue paper like you would find at a flower store! Fun and easy. It did take time to assemble...but for a unique gift, I'd do it again!


Tim spent the afternoon today with the guys. He's taken up gaming again. I'm ok with that. Gives him some time to do what he likes, and gets him out of the house. Becca and I had lunch with Grandma Deb and Gaga Bob, and Wendy. Then we hit Kohls for the BOGO sales, and then Target for some birthday party supplies.

Enjoying the sun....before it goes away!

We sent out the Birthday invitations this week to immediate family and a couple close friends. Because we are trying to save money, we opted to have a small party here at the house. Since we are limited for space and seating, we are will work some magic and be creative the day of the party. We may have to take turns sitting on each other's laps! Just kidding!

Becca enjoyed " Pajama Day " at daycare on Thursday. She wore her favorite Dora flannel pj's! Now, just as I predicted...she wants to wear her pjs every time we go out. Luckily she's pretty easy to convince otherwise.

Friday she had fun at Grandma Debs, and Xavier joined them because he didn't have school. I think they both enjoyed that. They don't get to see eachother as often anymore, with Xavier in all day kindergarten this year!
Tim went ice fishing to Brushy Creek with friend. He had a good time, and thinks he'll do more of it. And its good to know he's finding fishing spots closer to home. I think we'll have to do more 2-3 day trips in Iowa rather than a 7 day vacation in Minnesota for the next couple of years.

We decided to take a family trip to get haircuts on Saturday morning. I went prepared with Cheerios, a sucker, a book, her puppy, paper and a pen to use as distractions for her if needed. The last two times have not been very successful. But this time she didn't require any of it! She did very well! Perfect I would say!

Becca and I went Bowling with Wendy and Xavier! Ok, we used bumpers and becca watched mostly, but she did try to help a couple times. It was all in good fun and it was cheap entertainment. Mayma and Gaga (my mom and dad)came to watch the last little bit of our game, before we went to LongJohn's for lunch. What a fun date!







I did manage to get some cleaning and decorating done around the house. Yep...I put out my spring decorations! Positive thinking....before we have more freezing rain and snow tomorrow. (grrrrrr) With the sun shining so bright I had to take advantage of the energy I had!

Happy belated, lovey dovey day to everyone! Becca enjoyed a party at daycare, and shared some valentines with her friends and came home with just as many! I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoyed the gummy treats she came home with. That night, after coming home from work, Tim took us to Carlos O'Kelly's for dinner. That was nice. We were there by 445 and gone by 530. My sister often teases us that we eat early like elderly people often do. We plead the 5th. But its nice to dodge the crowds, especially on a night like Valentines Day.

Friday I spent the day in Davenport with my manager at the Grainger branch there. It was nice to finally meet the people that I have talked to for the last 10 years. It was also nice to experience the different culture there is in the branch world. We got done a little early, so decided to stop off at Coral Ridge Mall in Iowa city to do some quick shopping. That was nice. We found a little scrap booking store near the mall! I've added it to my links. Another store to add to my, daytrip file!

Yesterday Becca went with me to do my last weigh in for this weightloss challenge. I'm dissapointed with the fact that I gained 2 lbs back. Not suprised though. I honestly have not tried to eat well at all this week, no walking or anything!
After playing at home and waiting for Becca's 3 hour nap (yeah...we could hardly believe it!)...we headed to Lowes to check out water heaters. Ours is way past its prime and we're starting to feel the affects shortly after getting into the shower. We're hoping the tax return comes quickly!

Ok, so the cartoon from last Wednesday still stands. With at least 3 more inches of snow today, blizzard warnings with 50mph winds...all on top of 1/2" of freezing rain...yeah, I'm so over it! Needless to say, we stayed home ALL day. After supper, it was evident that Becca was stir crazy and I was ready for her to go to bed. Tim on the other had, was and still is engrossed in a movie that I haven't quite gotten into.

Well, here's to another week closer to spring! 32 Days until its official!

........Ok! We get it already!.....

Patting Tim on the back!

1 Month without a cigarette !

Way to go Tim! Wow! What an achievement! Keep it up!

Well, today Becca had a rough start to the morning. She was happily humming and talking to her bunny and valentine puppy from Aunt Wendy while still in bed and I got ready for work. All was fine and dandy until it was time for us to "get pretty" and brush her hair and wash her face. She had an unexpected meltdown and it only went down hill from there.

I thought we had it covered until she decided she wanted some Cheerios before walking out the door. Yep...cheerios spilled on teh kitchen floor and then she cried cause Maggie ate them.
We got that under control, coats and shoes on (much fussing and refusing to cooperate along the way) and out the door we went. Oh wait, back up.....She really wanted to take the bunny to school with us. I refused, because taking the bunny in the car, would then lead to her wanting to take the bunny into school. That couldn't happen, so I offered the puppy. Ok, she was ok with that.
So now we are out the door, with puppy in hand.
So we're in the car, and not even out of the driveway, and the meltdown continues, she realllly wants this bunny, and keeps saying".."Buh-buh".."Buh-buh".."Buh-buh". The puppy wasn't doing the trick. *sigh* So at this point, she now thinks I can't hear here and that Daddy will make it better....(keep in mind daddy is not in the car, not even at home, and he's already at work!) So then she calls for daddy until we get 1/2 block from school. I tell her that we'll call Daddy when we get to school so she can talk to him. That worked...
...For about 15 seconds! Then she decided " Nooooooo....GaGa! Gaga " So now she wants to talk to Grandpa Bob. ButI know already, that Dad is out pushing the additional 3 inches of snow we got last night (ok...I get it already, I'm sick of the snow!)

So after getting to school, calling Daddy (who she really didn't want to talk to after all....) and giving loves and kisses....she's crying again as I walked out the door.

Poor punk. I was sure I was going to get a call from Daycare today, telling me to come get her..she wouldn't stop crying...but so far so good. No calls as of yet! (knock on wood..someone please....I'm sitting at a make shift craft table as my make shift desk..I'm sure its made out of recycled plastic)

I'm waiting for someone to put their arm around me and say, " Smile..your on candid camera!"

Sunshine and Valentines!

Check out the new shades Becca got! Meet lil'Diva Becca! I can't even begin to tell you the "drama" she has every day! Must be the whole...turning 2 thing!



Last night I was able to get away to my friends to do our bi-weekly scrapbooking. It was a smaller than usual group, but it was still nice to get out and have Mommy time!
I actually worked on Becca's birthday invites! They are adorable. Each one different from the last with special decorations! I'm going to hate sending them out. I think the cutest will be kept for her scrapbook birthday page!

This morning we got out of the house early and made a family trip to Walmart. But it seems everyone else had the same idea. I guess we weren't early enough. We came home to have lunch and make some sugar cookies while Becca took an extra long nap! I had enough time to frost most of them, but left aside 5 cookies for Becca to do all herself! I had been looking forward to this all morning!
Here are a couple of adorable pics. She even had a little apron on! She was so cute! Check out the last pic. I failed to notice the size of the holes in the sprikles! Whoa! That was good for a definate sugar high!

Day Two

The snow only brought us about 4.5", of course which is plenty if you ask me! I know the more south and east you go, the more they got. They can have it. I'm so over this winter stuff! It was pretty up until and including Christmas...but I'm done now. Time for spring.

I keep thinking in the back of my mind that its only 4 weeks until Becca's birthday. The day after her birt and the day we brought her home, it was 70 and absolutely beautiful. It was that same way last year around her birthday. In fact, while driving home with Becca from the hospital, only 2 days old...we saw the first Robin! So I keep thinking that another 4 weeks and maybe we'll get our first peek at spring. Not that it won't still get chilly and possibly even snow again before spring stays...but a little taste always helps!

Becca and I are staying home again today. She's breathing better, and after a small fever again last night, which the Dr told me to expect, its back down to where it should be...but we're still doing breathing treatments every 4 hours to stay on top of it. I just hated the thought of taking her to Daycare where she might not get the attention needed, if she went downhill again.

Both of us were a little stir crazy already this morning, so we ventured out to stock up on Allergy meds and fever reducer. She did well, but just that little trip made her sleepy. She's laying down now for a much needed nap. Yesterday she took a 3 hr nap and still went to bed for the night between 430 and 5....I had to wake her up this morning at 630! Another sign she's not 100% yet. Another reason for spring to get here...to kill off all these colds!

I did take these two days at home to come up with some little ideas for Becca's Birthday Wish List. And last weekend I picked up some simple bday invites that I will be prettying up and sending out shortly. Still not sure where the party will be. Last year we had it at my mom and dads, just for the space...as we all know, my house is entirely too small for more than 5 people to be here at once! But Mom and Dad will be in the process of packing for their big move about a month later. I haven't discussed it with them yet. We'll see and we'll send out the invites in the next 2 weeks more than likely. Keep an eye out for them!

Sick and Snowed in

I guess if there was a day that I would want to be home sick..or rather because Becca is sick, it is today. This snow storm is a doozy! It hasn't stopped since Noon yesterday and its still piling high! Other than being exhausted from being out all night and all day...I'm sure my Dad is loving it! More snow = More money!

As mentioned, I stayed home with Becca today. Her cold has come back full force, this time causing coughing and breathing problems again. She's had breathing treatments every 4 hours since yesterday afternoon. Her fever broke about 2am this morning, but she's still having trouble breathing. Poor punk. I wish I could just make it all better. I tried by playing Playdoh, Little People, Coloring, having an animal parade and blocks...not to mention the 3 hours of Dora, Thomas the Train, Franklin and Sesame Street we've watched already. The last breathing treatment caused a meltdown. She actually asked me to go night night! lol...made me laugh, but of course I took her right up on that! So after putting her down, picking up the toys, washing down the table from playdoh mess, and hiding the remote (wink) I needed some connection to the outside world. Here I am. Its only 10:50am!

I do have a roast in already. Its killing me, it smells so good! I should use this down time to vacuum, dust and put away last nights dishes. But I too am just exhausted. only sleeping 4 hours on Monday night, and walking up at 9 and 2 and 6 this morning to check on my punk....All you parents understand I'm sure. And even those without kids...I'm sure you can imagine.

Yay to Tim...last night was 3 weeks! He's done fantastic.

Catch Up

I've had a hard time keeping up lately. Not that there is a tremendous amount going on around here...but mostly because I keep loosing track of time! Its getting harder to do anything around here when Becca is awake! So we play like crazy while she's awake, and as soon as she is down, I go walk at Young Arena, clean or honestly, sit my butt on the couch and don't move until bedtime!

Kathy asked me the other day if I had any new or recent pictures since Christmas to share of Becca...because we all know how much I love to show her off! Truth is...I haven't taken a decent picture for about a month! Becca understands now that she can see the picture on the digital camera. So she would rather take pictures and see them, than be on them. No matter how much convincing and explaining we do to tell her to be in the picture, and then see herself...it just doesn't work. The few pics we do have are of this awfully cheesy grin she makes when you ask her to smile. You know the one....eyes squinting, nose wrinkled up, all teeth! Tim loves it, cracks him up....I'm just fearing having her 2 yr old photos taken, and that they will all turn out like this!

I can report that Tim is now at 2 weeks and 5 days of not smoking! AWESOME!!!!! He's doing so well. Along the same "improving health" front....I've lost another 1.2 lbs. soooo that puts me at about 11 lbs in a month. I'm ok with that, as long as it keeps coming off.

Well, Becca had a slumber party with Gma Deb and Gpa Bob last night. We were over there for the SuperBowl, and decided rather than bring her home and right back over there for the day today, she was just going to spend the night. I haven't yet heard how the night went...I'll be sure to call in a bit to see how everyone is.

I'm in Birthday Party planning mode. I picked up invites this weekend. So now onto the date and goodies. Again, it will be family only, she's too young for "friends" and its just Xavier and her, so its more for the adults than anything...however, I am up for a pinata just for the pictures of the adults taking a swing at it! lol.....

50 Days until Spring!

So the temp was beautiful this weekend! Sunday we saw it get to about 40 degrees! A lot of people where out and about to enjoy it! Monday it was 53, then Tuesday we saw -27 with the windchill, and 30mph wind! Not enjoyable at all!

Mom and Dads openhouse on Sunday went well! The realtor stopped counting at 35 people! Holy cow! Thats a fabulous open house! hey have another this weekend!

Monday I came home from work to find Tim and Becca making a snowman! I haven't yet taken a picture, but will be sure to do so and post it. It was so cute to see her out there, all bundled up in her snow suit and helping tim! I got home just in time to help find rocks for the snowman's face!

CONGRATS to Tim....last night marked 2 weeks smoke free! We're proud of him!

Well, thats all I have to post about right now! I'll post more later this week!

****** Baby its cold outside *******

With -30 degree temps outside...I'm officially starting the countdown to Spring!
55 Days and counting!

Well, this is me...4.8 lbs lighter than last week! A little over 6 lbs lighter than 2weeks ago! Yay me! Finally the walking and eating right is helping. Now to just stick with it. After sampling (ok, it was a plate of samples) of wedding cake and mints from my cousin's wedding...I walked another 2 miles last night. 5 nights a week. I'm proud of that. Its a start.

Becca is still fighting a nasty sinus cold. I think I'm getting it. Not so fun.
Tim's doing AWESOME on the quiting smoking. Tomorrow night at 630 it will be 1 week smoke free! We're so proud of him. He's had a rough, stressful and exhausting week...what a test with him quiting. But he's handled it all well and he's doing great. He says he's not craving the nicotine at all. Its the triggers (getting in the car, after supper, being in stressfull situations)that are getting him.

Well, thats the update on us. There will be more to come this week I'm sure of it!