This Week

There were a lot of temper tantrums,

Rolling over,

 Little lady snuggles,

 Vacuuming,

 Toe grabbing,

 Selfies,

 Rocking out,

 Falling over,

 Sitting up,

 Rough housing,

 Little man snuggles,

 And toddler taken selfies.

Randoms

For June, we've nicknamed it, "clean out the freezer" month. I've got food in there from before James was born. Woof. First up? Frozen bacon, sausage links, and biscuits from YEARS ago. Yummy.

Emmie Lyn had her four month checkup yesterday. She, like James, has slowed down on her weight gain. She weighed in at 13lbs 6oz (48%) and was 23 1/2 inches long (25%). 

She also has trouble turning her head to the right. Weird?! We're supposed to work on that at home.

Today is Grey's last full day of teaching, ever! The old man will start an IT job at another school come August. He could not be more excited. 

Speaking of, I've agreed to teach part time (8-10 every morning) starting in August. 

I need someone to come shave our cats. 
I. Cannot. Handle. Their. Annual. Hair. Shedding.

The splash pad opens on Monday! 

We found the four ft long snake yesterday. He was coming through the roof of the goats' house. I think he was hungry. 

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today was Memorial Day Weekend.

One year ago today, I had a suspicious feeling that something was "off" with my body.

 One year ago today, I took a pregnancy test a few days early.

One year ago today, It came back positive.

 One year ago today, my life changed. 

 Truthfully, I think back on this past year a lot. The emotions, the "missed" job opportunity, the growing belly, the fearfullness of what it meant to have two kids two years apart... I spent a lot of that year filled with anxiety and worry.

 Now? I could not be more thankful at how my life has turned out. Thanks be to God for being in control and planning my life better then I could ever imagine!

 Your bald head, your beautiful blue eyes, your chubby thighs

 Your gorgeous smile, your luscious cheeks, your sweet round belly

  Emmie Lyn, you are forever mine and I am so glad!

PS - this is my, "Holy Crap. This baby is a girl" face. :)

4 months!

Emmie Lyn,

Happy 4 months old (tomorrow)! For once, I'm ahead of the game instead of being behind. Go me. The theme of this month? Drool and Sleeplessness!

 This month has been a doozie. You're still on the same schedule as before, sleeping 13ish hours at night. You usually take a 45 min morning nap, a 2 or 2 1/2 hour midday nap, and a 45-60 minute late afternoon nap.

 The past two weeks have consisted of a major growth spurt. Many days, you could not make it the 3 hours in between feedings. You'd wake up from your midday nap after 30/45 minutes and refuse to go back to sleep unless I nursed you. Surprisingly, an hour later, you'd still nurse like your life depended on it. Those precious nights of getting up 1-2 times in the middle of the night are LONG GONE. This month, a good night meant getting up twice. Most nights consisted of getting up 3 times and the last 2 weeks, I've gotten up 4-5 times a night. The past three nights, you haven't slept for longer than a 2 hour stretch before wanting to nurse. Baby girl, with a toddler to chase during the day and you keeping me up at night, that makes for a really REALLY tired, cranky, and patience-less momma. Your poor brother has gotten the rotten end of that deal.

 You still hate tummy time and usually just flop around on the ground. You are working on sitting up and can usually balance for 1-2 seconds before you lose it. You still love to stand up and you've started squealing at the top of your lungs when you do it. James always gets excited and says, "Emmie is squawking Mommy!"

(James is protesting getting his picture taken)

 "There There James"

 "James! Show your sister some love!"

 Turd.

 Emmie Lyn, you still love your play mat and we've recently started putting you in the exersaucer! I'm proud to say that you no longer occupy the bouncy seat on top of our kitchen island. We've moved you into the high chair (for as long as you'll put up for it) during meals. Yay! 

You're still in 3 or 3-6 month clothes and size 1 diapers. 
I got you to laugh today (even amidst your brother screaming from being in time out) and it was the best thing I've heard all week. 

 You're my bright blue eyed, drooly, sweet cheeked little lady and we love you so much!

Crib Sleeping

Belly showing, mouth wide open. 

This is how we roll.

Meet Donald and Hilary!

We got goats!

The facts:

They're Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy goats.

They eat poison ivy.

They poop everywhere.

They are like dogs. They follow you around the yard, crawl into your lap, and hop up on your back.

This is Donald. He likes the ladies. He's the most social and cuddly goat.

This is Hilary. She's a bit shy but she's coming around

This was not staged. :)

They're awesome!

Strawberry Pickin'

Who knew that a toddler could be such a good strawberry picker??

My youngest was passed out

Yum! 3 gallons-one for eating, one for jam, and one chopped up and frozen for smoothies (that's about one gallon pictured)

Cookies and Cups

Hello world :) 

Mom took my picture right before I peed on her comforter. Gotcha Mom!

It's a known fact that I like cookbooks. I hoard them. 
I've had my eye on the Cookies and Cups cookbook by Shelly Jaronsky for a while. Then my fellow blogger KPS said that she had eyed it as well and I knew, just knew that it had to become part of my permanent collection. 
I do not regret my decision for one tiny minute. 
Do I want to make every stinkin thing in there? Dang it. Yes.
Here goes nothing!

Up first: Ooey Gooey Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip bars (my pick) and an Oatmeal Cream Cookie Cake (Grey's pick)

Ignore her face, we're excited!

My cookie batter tester (He approved)

My munchkin that approved approx 4-6 hours later when it impacted my boobie milk ;)

Ooey Gooey Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Bars!

Review: 5 outta 5 Spatulas!
So easy to make. You make cookie dough, split it into 2 sections, one for the bottom layer and one for the top. For once, I felt like there was enough dough to actually have 2 full layers. Usually I end up scrounging around for the top layer. The caramel in the middle consisted of mixing caramels and milk. This prob took the longest and I had to make sure that I kept an eye on it so it didn't burn. Other than that, it was simple and so so so delicious. 

Oatmeal Cream Pie Cookie Cake

Review: 5 outta 5 Spatulas!
This was a little bit more time consuming only because you had to make the cookies, let them cool, and then make the marshmallow butter cream frosting. Grey insisted on putting the cake together since it was his pick. The cookies were fantastic. You could actually taste the cinnamon in them and they were super soft. When Grey took a bite, he sighed and said, "This is perfect."
Win. Win. Win.

Up next: Pull apart Praline Bread!

Seriously, if you're a baker, you need this cookbook! (It also has dinner recipes in the back like frito sloppy joes!  Who doesn't love a good messy sloppy joe?!)

A Letter

To the woman at the library who called my 3 month old daughter "big,"

You. You are the reason why people struggle. You are the reason why girls never feel accepted according to their looks. You are mean and spiteful and you should be thankful that I didn't hit you. Really?! A three month old? You should be ashamed of yourself.  I hope you saw me catch my breath when you said it. I hope you heard, really heard, me when I corrected you and told you that she was perfect and normal. And I hope you noticed that we got up and left after that.
Jesus died so that we would never have to feel validated by the world. My baby girl was created in Christ's image and I pray that people like you never cause her to stumble and doubt the way that God made her. Shame on you.

Mother's Day

A day filled with:
*Lots of texts (Thanks!!)
*3 cat turds on the bathroom floor 
*Both children up early and crying
*A lack of sleep from getting up 5 (FIVE!) times in the middle of the night due to a sleep regression/growth spurt and Papa Lanc butt dialing us
* A small toddler that announced, "Mommy. Don't tell me no!"
*A small toddler that got his tushy whipped from the previous statement.
*Way too many salted caramel chocolate chip bars
*A margarita 
*Some research on goats and german shephards

#realLife

Thanks Mom for teaching me to raise my kids and love my husband like Jesus!

Next year?
Grey will take both kids and give me the weekend to sleep and watch movies and bake and read books and sleep and take baths and go to the gym and sleep and clean the house and SLEEP.

PS - Thanks God for making me a momma!

(Emmie Lyn at about 3 weeks old)

Steps

Step 1: Mark your wall. (Not pictured)

Step 2: Start laying down the tape.

 This.

 Takes.

 Forever.
Step 3: Buy some paint samples and randomly throw some color up on the wall.

 Step 4: Beg your husband to finish the job because who in their right mind decided that I had this much extra time and patience?!
(He doesn't indulge me.)
Step 5: Take a 1-2 day break
Step 6: Get a sudden burst of energy at 10:00 one night and finish painting.

Step 7: Yell "Freeeedommmm" as you tear that tape off the wall to discover your beautifully painted "tile look alike" backsplash.

Step 8: Cry. You've only done one wall.