Monday, March 31, 2014

Working Momma...

Sometimes being a working Mom is hard.
After I had Lila I carried the insurance and needed to continue working full time until Russ had his surgery.
It was one of the hardest things Ive done.
Russ had a pretty flexible job at the time- He had been there 7+ years and could come and go as he wanted as long as he got his work done.
I work pretty far from home so I was getting up at 5 am, get ready, pack Lila for the babysitter,  pump and be out the door on the road by 6:40.
Russ would let her sleep in until about 7, feed her the bottle I had pumped and then drop her off at the babysitter.
So I wouldn't see Lila at all until I picked her up at 5:30. This was EXTREMELY difficult and depressing.
When he was up feeding her and getting her ready for the babysitter, I would be at work pumping again. We would sometimes Skype and that had to get me through the day until I could see her!

This particular day he was really proud of how shiny his forehead was. He always makes me laugh. I cant think of a day we have gone where he hasnt made me laugh out loud.
 


 
My 2 loves.

 
That meant, after picking her up, and  an hour drive home I never had time to make dinner, clean the house or get anything else done because when I got home all I wanted to do was spend time with her!
So we had to all work together on the weekends to pull our lives together!
 
We  would spend the weekends in our jammies, with our hair out of our face.
I liked to call this one the Un-E-corn,


We hung out..


Dad taught us how to surf...


 
 We made our beds and did Laundry..


 
Let our hair down..

 
I tried my hand at pig tails (Her baby sitter had it down, I not so much)
This was after like 40 min after I put them in. Practice practice practice..

 
And back to work I would go :(
She is NOT a snuggler, so the one day I have to drop her off she does this. Talk about tearing at your heart.


 
Thank goodness I was able to quit full time after Russ's surgery!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Carrots- They are good for your eyes.

After a few nights of cereal it was time to introduce Lila to some food!
I decided on Carrots. She has big beautiful eyes, so why not take care of them!?
I was at the grocery store getting a few things together and text  Russ asking if he could boil some carrots for me so when I got home I could make her dinner! (My goal is to feed her only food Ive made- We will see!)
I was so excited when I got home to see how she would like it.
I put away all my groceries, got my processor out and ready and opened the lid to the pan.....

 
SERIOUSLY RUSS?!? An 1/8 of a carrot?! That's why I love him.
Sometimes (All the time) you have to be very specific with guys.
I literally could not stop laughing. He of course didn't get it and it made total sense to him to just boil enough for one tiny sitting. I couldn't even blend it there was so little of it.
So I forked the heck out of it and wala, she had 2 bites worth of carrots :)


 
They were a hit!


 
I know it looks like she is holding it all in those cheeks for the rest of winter that but that is 100% CHEEK. Love it.


Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Russ's Birthday

January:
This year for Russ's birthday his jaw was still recovering so we couldn't go to the Brazilian restaurant he likes so much for their meat! It was also on a Sunday so we went out on Saturday while his Mom came to our house and watched Lila.
We went to a local Mexican restaurant so he could eat their soft tortillas and beans :)
Then we went to a movie and saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We both loved it! It was really different and it made me want to hop on a plane and travel that second.
Since Russ loves to hunt, I bought Lila a shirt with an Elk on the front.
Quick side note: As I am typing this blog post, Russ is in the other room watching Duck Dynasty and working. I yelled in and asked if the animal on the shirt I gave Lila was a deer or an elk. He yells back, "Elk I think. Or it may be a Red Stag."..........Silence from me, and then laughter. Red Stag?!
I thought it would be super cute to surprise him on his birthday with this shirt and bought it when I was pregnant. Russ never gets the mail or opens it for that matter, and the ONE AND ONLY time he has ever opened mail, especially my mail, it was that dang package with the shirt.
So it wasn't a surprise...but it was still cute.
We went over to my parents for Russ birthday dinner- Spaghetti.

 
I just barely learned that Elk, and deer are different. I promised Russ I would never admit that outloud but come on! Theres too many names for all those crazy creatures...Elk, Bull, Buck, Deer...yaddy yaddy yadda.

 
She also started sucking her toes the night of his birthday!

 
And finally, I can ride in comfort with AC and a seat without 4 inches of dust. Russ got an early Bday present- a new truck! He drove his little green truck into the ground pretty much so this is well deserved.
 
 
And if that isn't redneck enough for you, I surprised him with a snow camo coat, a cooler, and $6 cupcake.
 
 
Happy birthday Russ. We are sure lucky to have such a knowledgeable hunter in our home.
Red Stag...he he.
 
 


Thursday, March 20, 2014

First Christmas!

We had such a fun Christmas with our little family and both the Nelson and Kemp Family.
My brother and his family came into town from Idaho to celebrate Christmas a few days early so they could be home for Christmas day.
We drove to my parents house early that morning for our Christmas Day.
Their street looks so magical and Christmassy!
 
 
 
We had our traditional Christmas breakfast and then moved down by the fireplace to open presents!
Lila opening her first Christmas present!
 
 



 
Lila was sitting on my lap while the others opened their presents and she fell asleep! She rarely falls asleep in your arms, she loves her own space when she is sleepy so this was a great present for me!


 
My parents got all the grandkids these fun glowy stuffed animals, gloves, and puffy vest :)




 
When Russ and I were living with my parents while we were house hunting Russ lost his new, and very expensive hiking boots. They had  never been out of the box. A couple days before Christmas my parents asked me if Russ had left a pair of hiking boots. I was so excited they had found them, and my Dad had come up with an idea of giving Russ's boots to my brother in law as a joke. My brother in law was in on the joke and opened the present. Russ was all excited and said he used to have the same pair and he lost them. We all started laughing and Russ was excited to get his boots back.









 
I know its not funny, but I did want to remember Russ's Christmas dinner.



 
The next day was the day before Christmas Eve. I had to have surgery on my wrist that day so we were back to the hospital, with Russ who still couldn't talk, and me having surgery. We were quite the pair on Christmas Eve!!
Christmas Eve came and I was still recovering. I didn't come out of anesethia well and was quite sick but I wanted to go to Russ's family Christmas party as Christmas Eve is their big day!
Plus, Lila was supposed to play baby Jesus!
 
She was in the cutest Christmas outfit and had a blow out seconds after we arrived. 


 
My Mother in law had these REAL candles in her hair and brought out our Christmas presents dressed like this. It was really cute.
We had a big dinner, the kids did the nativity scene and talent show, then we sang songs!
 
We went home and we fed Lila rice cereal for her first time and for Christmas Eve dinner!
 

 
Don't mind my greasy hair, I had been sleeping on it all day and didn't have a right hand to do it.

 
She opened her first pair of Christmas Jammies while we watched The Christmas Story!


 
This part just happened to be on while we were getting into our Christmas pjs :)

 
Christmas kisses.

She and her Dad snuggled by the tree before going to bed.


 
The next morning we woke up and opened presents!
 
Lila looking at her first ornament.

 
 
Russ gave me this beautiful necklace with "R" & "L" initials and a pearl.

 
Russ also gave me the most thoughtful gift I have ever been given.
He put so much thought and time and heart into that gift and I will forever cherish it.
I didn't take a picture of it, but it has to do with my Grandma that passed away and something special she left for me.
 
We went back over to the Nelsons for breakfast crepes and ended up spending the day there in our pjs!
I love my inlaws house. They live on a farm and their house is such a big cozy cottage. Its surrounded by beautiful fields, horses, cows, chickens, deer and the most beautiful views of the mountains.
 
Hanging out in our jammies.


 
We then went and visited my parents for a couple of hours.
 

 
Lila in her cute Christmas outfit that she never actually wore on Christmas :)



The day after we were all worn out! You can tell by her hair she slept good!



Such a great Christmas to have this little girl with us.