Tricia, Layton, and Lane

Whoa, it's been awhile!

2011-01-06T07:49:00.000-08:00

Whoa, it's been way to long since I have last updated!! Last time I was announcing Layton is finally peeing on the potty, now I can say he is finally pooping on the potty too!! It's about time, still trying to perfect it but we're getting there!! Lane is also working on potty training, he goes at daycare but won't do it at home yet. We will get there!! Lanes new thing is saying he is pooping in the bathtub.. Even though he has yet to do it. This is what he tells me "I pooped in the bathtub" I say "we don't poop in the bathtub, we poop in the toilet" his response is "not poop toilet, poop bathtub!". This could be a tough one!! I love my boys being little and I'm having a hard time with them growing up so fast! BUT I also can't wait for them to be out of diapers!! We will get there!

I can't possible catch you up over the last, what, 6 months... But I will say we had a VERY good, but busy Christmas! We stayed in for New Years!! Hopefully 2011 brings good things!

Potty Time!

2010-05-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well I hope I don't jinx this... But LAYTON IS GOING PEE ON THE POTTY. I tried not to push him to use the potty because I didn't want him to rebel. So for the last couple of months we just "tried" out the potty. He would go once in a great while. But it wasn't until Monday that he started using it more. We tired all weekend to get him to go on the potty and he just plain refused to try it!!! I set the potty clock, I went to the bathroom as he was trying, I tried treats and toys. Nothing.. But then out of the blue on Monday afternoon while enjoying some ice cream, he yells at me" MOMMY I HAVE TO PEE!!" So I rushed him to the bathroom expecting him to just sit there and be done but NOPE.. he said Mommy Im peeing. With tears in my eyes I gave him a HUGE cheer and clapping and hoot and hollering!! It was awesome, But I was afraid it was going to be short lived. Little did I know he did it again that evening. That time he was in the bathtub and told me had to go, so I got him out and sure enough he peed again on the potty!! Hooray Layton!!! So far we have been peeing on the potty and only using pull ups at night!! Lets hope it continues..soon it will be poopy pottty time.. How do I do that???

Kansas City

2010-05-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

** PICTURES ARE OUT OF ORDER**

Curt and I headed south for some Twins baseball!! We dropped our kids off Thursday night so we could head out early Friday Morning. I let Curt drive most the way because I had such a sinus headache and pressure. I was miserable! But we stopped at a gas station and got a quick fix, atleast it went away during the rest of the drive. When we arrived at our hotel we noticed we could see both The Royals and Chiefs stadium from our hotel room. It was pretty sweet. and It was right across the street. They had one giant parking lots so we decided to buy a few beverages and head over and do some tailgating. We looking pretty silly sitting in the trunk of the car while everyone else had tents, grills, chairs, and games. But none the less, we still had a great time. Friday they told us a huge storm was moving in, large hail and maybe some funnels! Well they could not have been more wrong. The sun was shining, the air was warm and we were ready for some Twins Baseball!!! The game was GREAT! We had awesome seats!! Couldn't have got much better. By the time we got back to the hotel we were beat!!

Saturday was going to be our day to Explore Kansas City but we knew another couple coming down for Saturdays game so we thought maybe we could explore with them. We have no plans of going to the game but plans Change:) The weather was not looking in our favor that day!! We met up with Wade and Jenni Werner! and headed out to do some sight seeing. With a few minor detours we end up at a casino. The police man that politely headed us in the right direction told us of an AWESOME BBQ Join over at the Ameristar Casino. We ordered our food and HOLY MOLY was there food. and boy was it ever good. I recommend it to anyone visiting KC.. The place was called Arthur Bryants and they have joints all over down there!! Then we headed over to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. It was pretty neat!! Lots and Lots of Baseball History!! I would recommend that as well! With the rain still pouring we decide to get back so we can get tickets for Saturdays game. It was bobblehead night so we had to get there early, and stand in the rain!! We didn't know if they would postpone the game but it went on as planned. It was quite the experience!!! Outdoor baseball is the greatest despite the rain! It was awesome!!!! We were planning on hitting up the Power and Lights district but the game went into extra innings and were all beat, we sat down at the Hotel Bar and never moved. We ordered tacos from the taco bell down the road and there we sat!! We lead such exciting lives!! Vacation wears a person out!

Sunday Curt and I had the chance to sit in the Diamond Club behind homeplate! It was awesome!!!! Nothing like service at a baseball game. The weather was a little chilly so I snuggled into my padded seat with my blanket and only moved to go to the bathroom. I had hot choc delievered to me, some food, beer. Whatever we wanted they(the waiters and waitresses!) got for us!! It was nice to just relax and enjoy baseball!! After the game we headed back to the hotel with plans of going shopping. Well we turned on Summer Catch and I was out for the count! After I woke up I had NO motivation to get out of that bed! I felt like a weight was put on me! I told Curt to just go down to the bar and grill and order us some food!! I had supper in bed and didn't move for the rest of the night. Agh.. tough work being on Vacay!!! With the lights out I was sleeping and ready to head back to MN to see my little guys!!

Can't wait to go back with a group!
SUNDAYS GAME

SATURDAYS GAME

FRIDAY NIGHTS GAME

Easter 2010

2010-04-09T12:45:00.001-07:00

What a great Easter Weekend!!! I have to say I enjoyed this weekend so much!!!! Lots of fun things to do!! Saturday we started out the day with heading to the community Easter egg hunt. When we arrive at the park Lane spots the eggs. He immediately heads for them. But I had to stop him because I didn't want to be DQed before the hunt actually started. Well the little sneak tried his hardest to get over to them eggs. When they finally gave us the okay to start hunting, Lane got his 5 eggs and was off for more, but rules are rules and we could only get 5. He THREW a fit when I had to take 2 eggs out of his hand and drop them. I understand though, cause a one year old doesn't understand that concept. They had a great time and it was a great kick off to our weekend. Saturday after naps we headed out to the Wingen's for Easter supper. It was great to visit with everyone and the boys had a great time playing with all the cousins!! It is kinda interesting since we have to eat in shifts but it works out great!!:) A house full of love!!! The boys were dirt from head to toe so we headed home and took quick baths and it was off to bed so we could be up for Early Service Sunday.

Easter morning I got the boys up and they found their baskets from the bunny then we kinda rushed off to church. Im exhusted just thinking about it... my boys do not sit well in church!! Lane used too but now he would rather run up in front of church. So when I stop him he is not happy, so I spend the last half of the service in the fellowship hall chasing him around. After church we had breakfast there and headed home to play outside!! By this time I am already pooped!! But we enjoyed a few hours outside playing with the super charged fly ball from the Easter Bunny, I do have to say even the adults (Curt and I) had a GREAT time with the ball.. Do you know how high that little ball can bounce! (Pictures to follow). For dinner the boys and I headed out to the Kahles for Dinner!! We have an excellent meal, then headed outside for another Easter egg hunt. Again the boys had a great time and so did Lindsey and Abby who had their own Easter Egg Hunts, Little kids at heart! Layton, Linds and Abby even had a sprint for the last egg..My dad, Curt and the boys played a little baseball and thats when things started getting a little crazy. Abby knew of this great "trick"... I'll let the pictures explain..(I'll post when I get home!!) I have not laughed so hard in a really long time!!! We had a light supper and then I needed to take my VERY Tired boys home!!!

It was such a great weekend!! I love spring!!!

On the verge of tears at work... AGH!

2010-03-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a day. I feel like Im working at a flippin prison with immature inmates!!!!! Well.. Okay Im working at a high school but from what I remember in High School. Things never seemed this bad!!! Really, I am sitting here on the verge of tears and about ready to go tell the principal that things are OUT of control here.. We have a bunch of kids who act like they have had NO lesson on respect and where it is okay to mess around with friends and where it is NOT okay to mess around. They have no respect for teachers, for staff, and for other people around here. They lie and steal and swear. Push and shove and wrestle on the floors. There is a new thing as sexting that is a HUGE problem. I can't believe it. But what sent me over the edge today was the fact that I walk into my 6th hour class, look over see a girl giggling but pay no attention to it. Then I sit down on my seat and find out there is a puddle of water there that I just SAT in. First, it was super embarrassing!!! Second, the kid said it was an accident that he spilt water on my seat. Third, the girl that was giggling ratted him out. and told me he did it while she continues to laugh. Fourth- I had to leave work and drive home with a wet butt to change clothes. sixth- I didn't get my flower seeds planted during that hour. Seventh- The kid comes and confronts me and just chews my butt for making up such a huge lie.. MY GOD.. Kid... you don't like me to begin with and then to pull that and get away with it. This was not like a few dribbles of water but it was a good puddle on the chair! CLEAN IT UP if it was an accident!!! I am just soo sick of kids these days. Its the reason I will raise my kids in a way where they learn respect for others and themselves. AGH..... and to add to my emotions, this Sunday will be 2 years since Chad has been gone. Thursday was a hard day for me because 2 years ago on that day was the last time I seen him alive!! It hurts so incredibly bad!!!!!

Spring is here!

2010-03-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

I really need to get better at this blogging thing. But then again there isn't much going on in our life right now. Just looking forward to warmer weather!!

Just have to mention as I am sitting by the computer typing this my lovely Layton just told me, You need to go to bed or go to bed, those are your choices!! Hmmm I wonder where he has heard that from. He has turned into quite the boss man lately, I sure hope this is just a phase!!! Or im really going to need to learn how to rephrase things when I am talking to him. Oh Boy, the journey begins. The little stinker still has no desire to use the potty chair. I hope this phase takes a different turn soon!!

Laner, is well, a smiley happy kid, MOST of the time, He is still a Momma's boy. He has recently just started to talk more, Im not sure the no talking was part of the 2nd Child Syndrome or what. But he always just whined and usually got what he wanted. Now he is really using words more..such as, More, one, two, three, MAAAAAAAAAA, Cookie, No, Mine, Lane, Nose, Eyes.. I was starting to get worried that he wasn't talking but now he is really starting to talk, he still whines but I am trying not to be such a softy and give in to him all the time.

There isn't much to update about me. I have become a fan of the Biggest Loser and now I am really trying hard to become a little healthier. I have really been watching what I eat and I am trying to excerise a little more each day. I wish there was a gym around here with a daycare. Life would be great then!! But life still is great!!!:) Looking forward to playing some Golf, enjoying outdoor baseball, and canNOT wait for sand volleyball. Curt and I are heading to Kansas City at the end of April to watch the Twins take on the Kansas City Royals. GO TWINS!!!

Thats it for now. I will try to update once our life gettings a little more exciting!!

Its back in the bank..

2010-02-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

Just to inform you that my money is back in the bank! Wow was that a pain in the rear end!!! I wish I could find the person who decided to steal $2200 from me! Im glad it all worked out okay.. Just a little boring update on the weekend.. Saturday the boys and I hung out at home, I got flowers delievered to the house :) Awesome surprise. and then later that evening Tara came over so Curt and I could enjoy some time out. We went to Mankato putzed around for a bit then went to eat at BWW. It was nice to just get away. Around this time last year we were starting to get to know each other and hang out every other weekend. I could not be happier with the way things turned out!! He is such a great man:) Anyways we came home and watched a movie we were both too tired to finish it so we headed to bed. An exciting evening :)Sunday the boys and I started the holiday with breakfast at Grannies. It was nice to treat my boys to some strawberry pancakes. We then headed to the farm to spend some time with my Grandparents. The boys love visiting with them and its amazing how fast they transform into children themselves when the kids come out! Its always fun. Grandpa bought a heart shaped pizza and thats what we had for dinner. After dinner Layton made his way out to the barn with Travis to see all the new baby sheep. That pretty much sums up my weekend.. Haha just kidding. I had the day off on Monday and since I broke a tooth on Friday I decided I better go to the dentist. I dropped the boys off at Daycare and headed to Hutch. The dentist decided that I needed a crown and made the tooth in 5 minutes. Amazing if you ask me. It was pretty painless. I was nervous because who ISN'T nervous going to the dentist but I guess after surviving two c-sections the dentist isn't so bad. Anyways, I was in and out and on my way with a numb mouth. Needless to say I wish I still had a numb mouth because my tooth is causing my extreme pain!!! I hope nothing else is wrong.. agh. Makes me cringe at the thought of going back! (wait it wasn't that bad was it??)..

Well I better check on Jamie (Laytons name for tonight) He seems to be finding horses in every closest!

Signing off......Katie (the name Layton has given me for the evening)

Indentity Theft

2010-02-11T16:20:00.000-08:00

I learned the hard way today. I went up to the Flower Shop in Winthrop to order some balloons for the boys for Valentines day. And I gave them my debit card and it was declined.. Twice. So I thought what the heck, I know there is money in there so whats going on. Well I went back up to work and logged onto my online banking and I see I am -$1400 in the hole!! WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!! I go to take a closer look and someone went on a shopping spree using my account number in Austin Texas. Surely wasn't me. So I called the bank right away and they locked my account. AGH! Seriously people!! Why do you have to make other peoples lives a living hell just so you can have what you want. Needless to say the Diaper and Milk I was gonna buy after work had to wait because I have NO MONEY! or no debit card! I can't wait until the bank fixes this problem so I can go on with my happy life!

When will I see Green??

2010-02-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. With Winter comes a lot of time indoors so I haven't had much to discuss. Today we are getting another blasting with this winter dust. And Im beginning to wonder if I will ever see the beautiful green grass again. Its so depressing. But anyways, On to bigger and better things..

The boys are growing like weeds..Lane is really shooting out the words and its fun to hear him learn new words but then again, I am missing my baby!! Where did he go!?!? Layton and him are really starting to play well together. They wrestle and fight and pick on each other. Oh Gosh, I guess the fun is starting!! Believe me they do play nice together too. When Lane isn't picking on his big brother he is yanking on my clothes is with famous "UNh unH!! I think he is used to getting his way when he does that. Layton is really into being a big boy (that includes time outs too!), he loves playing games and putting together puzzles. Its great to see him be able to put together a puzzle and then be so proud of his work!! Pretty soon he will be going to school.. Ok. I don't even want to think about that yet. Next big thing for Layton will be potty training. He really has no desire to go on the big boy potty. I even tried lightening McQueen undies. I need that potty training book that says you can potty train them in a weekend!! I better find it!

Well thats it for now, this Momma is looking forward to spring. I'm hoping to hit the golf course as soon as it opens. Also continue to play a little volleyball and hopefully spend LOTS and LOTS of time outdoors.. Maybe even get Layton on the Golf Course!!! Update when I have more exciting things to tell you.. Hopefully it is that Layton is potty trained!

Its been a while!

2009-10-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well.. It has been a few months since my last update and a lot has changed. The boys are growing like weeds. Makes me wonder where my babies went! Lane is on the move and is still a Momma's boy. I love it though. He also is entering the tantrum stage which is kind of funny to watch. When he doesn't get what he wants he just lays on the floor.. not really screaming..more like a cute wimper but its funny to see him gently lay down. Layton has figured out how to push my buttons and chooses to not listen to me. And when he is in trouble he will say in the cutest voice. "I say sorry mommy" or "I love you mommy, I love you" Does that always work.. no.. cause Mom has caught on to it. 2 minutes in time out won't hurt him..or me! hehe.

The boys and I have big news. We moved to Gaylord!! How exciting. We are enjoying it and Layton really enjoys it because he has a big boy bed. No more sleeping with Mommy :). He loves his new bed! and I really like it too!! So far the move has been good!:) Looking forward to being back in Gaylord.

Thats all I really have time for now. Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon. My computer crashed. I had a virus and my hard drive went out. so It pretty much took care of my computer. Its fixed now but I don't have wireless internet yet. hopefully soon!! I'll try to update more often!

Lane's first birthday party

2009-07-26T08:47:00.001-07:00

Lane's first birthday party

2009-07-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Kansas-

2009-07-26T07:52:00.001-07:00

Well now that I am feeling better I can write on here!! The Bauer Clan made a big trip to Kansas last week!! A few of my cousins, sister and Brayden, Layton and I decided we could drive through the night. We left shortly after I got home from volleyball because I wouldn't miss a game unless I was REALLY sick..(I'll get to that in the next entry!). Off we went... stopped in Mankato to pick up Megan and then the trip began, only for a brief stop in Minnesota Lake where the Festag festivle was taking place. I think that sneaky cop thought I was a drunk because shortly after leaving the city limits I was pulled over for going a few miles per hour over the speed limit, once we noticed I had kids in the car and were on a road trip he let us go with a warning and we were uninterupted the rest of the way! We made a few pit stops along the way but nothing major, I drove most the trip until maybe the last hour and a half then I had to let someone else drive.. It was hard giving up that control. Anyways, we made it there safely. We spent the next few days hanging out with the family. It was a lot of fun until Saturday (day of the wedding) when we decided to go shopping. I was starting to get a sore throat but didn't think much of it, I was bong and determinded to have a good time! So we went to the mall, Layton acted like a two year old so I was starting to get frustrated plus I was slowly starting to feel worse and worse, AND THEN, I watch Allison get her ears pierced and I think that was the icing on the cake.. I found my mom and the rest of the gang and sat down to eat with them, after debating if I was really hungry I decided Layton looked hungry and was off to get him some pizza, I ordered and was waiting to pay when it HIT ME, I was about to pass out. I called me sister over but she thought I was doing some funny wave and waved back to me. I then did the "GET OVER HERE NOW" Wave and she came over and took care of my bill since I was on the verge of falling over right there in the food court. Thank the Good Lord I made it to my table, put my head down and prayed to GOd I didn't spew all over the place.. I felt more light headed than anything. I was told I was as white as a Ghost and insisted we LEAVE NOW. I took a little sip of 7up and then had enough energy to walk to the car. I had to get better!!! the big wedding was that evening.. how could I make the 10 hour trip for this wedding and get SICK!! I survived the wedding and was feeling ok, (lots of cold medicine). Had a few bits to eat at the reception and t hen Kt and I decided to take the boys back to the hotel so the babysitters could come, but once I got to the hotel I knew there was no going back to the dance for me. I was totally bummed but i felt so crappy it was a good choice to stay away from there. The boys and I went to bed and I was feeling worse and worse!!! Everyone had a great time at the wedding while I caught my Zzzzz's! Sunday I got up with an extremely sore throat and a very sore neck. I knew it was time to go, so once I rounded up the gang, made a quick stop in Augusta to stay good bye and we were off, back to MN and the LONGEST 10 hour car ride of my life!!!!! I was in so much pain it was horrible, once we arrived in MN my mom met me at my cousins house and took me straight to the ER were I spent the next 3.5 hours, IV, Blood Tests and a lot of waiting around. Finally a dr came in and told me I had Influenza, she mentioned the swine flu but we will never know if thats what I had or not. They do not test people who aren't dying. All she gave me was some pain meds and I was sent home! The next few days consisted of lots of sleeping and missing my children!!!

More summer pictures..

2009-06-25T06:01:00.000-07:00

Lil Laner Hanging out...
The day after Laytons birthday I went to test drive cars in Shakopee and I came home with this.. a 2008 Mercery Milan. I had no intentions on buying a car that day but little did I know that I was dealing with a great salesman.. OH WAIT.. thats their job.. But i like the car and I'm not driving a mini van anymore. I feel much cooler and younger!

Here is Laner at the pool. We are waiting for his big brother to get done with lessons.. his nickname is cheeseballer... Don't ask..its just his name!

here is layton with his teacher Hannah. The first week he cried!!! the second week he put armies on and jumps right in!!!

Lane with marks on his head and nose from the playpen..

Here is layton working hard..Little stinker is all I have to stay!! What is so fun about toilet paper!!

This is the shirt my mom got for Layton... He always says he is "THE BOSS"...

Brayden and Lane enjoying a little ride in the bucket!

Happy Birthday Layton

2009-06-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

Wow.. Abby informed me the last time I was on here was May 1st!! Oops.. Sorry.. With the new farmtown app on facebook I rarely get time to go on here.. Ha just kidding. Anyways, our summer has been pretty eventful all ready. We had Layton's 2nd Birthday Party. Can you believe it..He is 2 already!!! The day of his birthday Him and I enjoyed a day to ourselves. We took Lane out to Wingens then we headed to the Minnesota Zoo. Layton had a blast. He loves animals. His favorite part of the zoo was the farm.. Why wouldn't it be. We can only drive 3 miles to see a farm but thats the part of the zoo he enjoyed the most! After the zoo we headed out to my grandparents farm to see the surprise my mom got all the kids. It was a John Deere Gator!! Layton was so excited to see it, s ince it was his birthday he got the joy of the first viewing!:) (Picture below). Then we had drive in for supper, and invited a few family over for ice cream cake!! It was an awesome day and I look forward to many more birthday like that. Now I am planning Lane's first birthday!! Oh Boy... can you believe that!!

That weekend we had Layton's birthday party. It was a nice day also. He got lots of toys and outfits and even a John Deere birthday cake!! Pretty cool huh.. I decided its going to be my tradition to get my kids cool birthday cakes. Last year Layton had a cool baseball cake, now the problem is..what kind of Cake am I going to get Lane!!!!! i'll try to post pictures once I figure it out!

Lack in updates

2009-05-01T11:07:00.001-07:00

office 3 out of the 5 days!! Layton has an infection in both ears You can probably tell it's getting nice out by the lack of updates! Sorry about my loyal readers! The boys and I have been busy enjoy the nice spring weather..well not this week but the previous couple of weeks! We have done some grilling, walking, playing at the park, bike rides and whatever else we can manage to do outside. This week on the other hand I have been to the drsaccompanied by lots of pus and fluid draining from his ears. I thought Lane had an ear infection but turns out he is perfectly healthy weighing in at 21 lbs:) I have been a little nervous about the H1N1 Flu Virus going around, I have been trying to wash hands as best as I can with 2 little ones. Hopefully it stays away from us.

My life has been going pretty good for the most part, I am happy and smiling again. I'm heading out to the golf course now, we are done with school now (1 pm:)) so I'm off to hit the links!!!

Tricia

Is that a golf course I see open?

2009-04-09T13:15:00.001-07:00

Spring is finally here!!! Well it has been here for a while but now its starting to feel more like spring. Tomorrow the Winthrop Golf Course opens. I cannot wait to get out there. I really haven't done much golfing in the last two years due to the birth of my children:) Hopefully Layton and Lane will enjoy golf as much as I do! Enough about golf on to my children.

Layton is growing up so fast that sometimes I can't believe he is going to be 2 already!!! He can spell his name, sing most of his ABC's and is a very polite young child. I feel very lucky. He is also a little bossy but sometimes I can be bossy to so I understand where gets it from. I have also noticed lately that he is role playing a lot. The other night he had a baby doll and was pretending to be its Mommy. He rocked it and put it night night. Then gave it a ride on the fire truck (fire fuck as he was say). He also sang her a few songs. It was so cute to watch.

Lane is on the move!! He stands up by everything and walks along the couch or whatever he can get his hands on!! He actually listened to me last night when we were going to bed and I told him to "lay down now" and he looked at me with a big smile and laid his head down, about 2 seconds later he was sitting up again smiling and laughing at me. So I would say it again "lay down" and I would point to the bed, and he would lay down again. Its fun to see the changes they go through. Pretty soon I'm no longer going to have babies.

Well I'm going to go enjoy the nice weather by hitting some golf balls around!!! Happy Easter Everyone!

Let it roll off your shoulders!

2009-04-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Its small town, things get said that really have no true meaning or value, so I got some advice today, just let it roll off your shoulders. I want to write so much on here but I should really keep most of it to myself so I think I just might do that. But I want to say this much, when its final then people can talk but until then, keep it to yourself. I'm smiling again, and happy as of now, and believe me I think I could use a little bit of that!:)

So much to talk about

2009-04-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

I don't even know where to begin or really where I last left off. Its been a while since i last blogged. A lot has happened in the Uecker Household.

Friday March 27th: This was the day before the Anniversary of Chad's death. I wanted to do something special but couldn't come up with anything creative so I picked up some flower and I wrote a note and headed out to the accident site with the boys. We each had a rose (2 red and 1 white) and we just enjoyed a few minutes. Some people might think it is weird but to me its something I need to do. Chad knows I'm okay and I know he is okay and that brings me comfort! My sister Katie was along so I didn't break down or anything which might have happened if she wasn't there but I was strong and I did okay!! I miss you Chad M. Wingen!!!

March 28th 2009: I'm a little out of order on my dates. I played in the March of Dimes Volleyball Tournament on Saturday in Gibbon and I am proud to say our team took 2nd place out of 16 teams! We kinda lost the last game out of lack of...lets just say it was the serving. It was so much fun and I am looking forward to more volleyball!! I can't get enough!! The evening was a blast as well..lets just say I had a little too much fun!!! I can't retire my volleyball shoes and I can't retire my dancin shoes!!

Tuesday March 31 2009. My mom, Heather, Allison, the 2 older boys and myself headed to MOA. It was a LONG day! We went to Underwater World, Build a Bear, to the park and just walked around. The boys ran and ran and ran. They were both so tired when we got home!!!

I don't know why I feel the need to say this but I just want to thank the positive people in my life. Seriously without you I would not be who I am today. Lately I have been seeing a lot of negative and I'm just happy I have those people in my life that can call me just at the right time and makes things better or seem better at the moment. I like to smile and I can stay lately I have been smiling a lot!!:)

I the boss

2009-03-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

So it seems I have a little boss man on my hands. So what happened to Mommy being the boss? Layton likes to be the boss and he will frequently tell you "I the boss". He orders people around at daycare. For example yesterday I go to pick him up and Tammy says.."This little guy took a 25 minute nap!" She goes on to tell me that he laid down and went to sleep and after 25 minutes was up and ready, she asked him to lay back down and go to sleep and he says "Tammy, Quiet!" Excuse me!!!! He has said that to me several time when we are laying in bed, I will be whispering to him and he will say "Mommy, be quiet!". He will let you know when you are being naughty, when you haven't ate your dinner, when he wants you to move out of the way, when you are too loud. He makes sure all the kids at daycare are eating their food, are taking their naps, are staying out of trouble, and so on. And the sad thing is if you tell him "Mommy's the boss" he will reply with "I the boss!" Oh my, what have I done. I can't complain too much though, he is a pretty good little boy!! He just wants to make sure everyone is following the rules.. No talking during nap/sleep time!!

Lane on the other hand is the smiliest little kid I have ever seen!!! He has the 2 lower teeth and he has a cheesey smile to go with then!! He is crawling and ready to stand next to things. He wants to crawl up steps more than anything. I feel so blessed to have 2 good little boys!!

March 28th marks 1 year since Chad has been gone. Talk about emotionally!! I will be doing the dishes and a song will come on and just one word will throw me into tears. I miss him so much, I miss how he won't be here physically for Lane or Layton, or Me, for his Parents, Sisters, Nieces and Nephews. Its been such a hard year, and Saturday will be a really trying time for everyone. But I hold on to the fact that I had a very special visit from Chad and I know he is ok and wants me to be okay!! I will be sharing a poem I had a high school girl write for me in the days to come!! Expect a few more "Venting" Entries!!

Happy Spring!

Love this weather

2009-03-18T20:50:00.024-07:00

Sorry it has been awhile. I don't get much time to update cause I'm busy with the kids! I just finished filling out my NCAA brackets, hoping I can win again like last year..(GO KANSAS!)No I'm not going with Kansas again. Guess you will have to wait and see who I picked and if I win you will know (There will be a little bragging going on). I'm cheering for the Gophs too, hopefully they can win a game or two!!

Nothing too exciting has been happening at the Uecker household. Katie and I seem to be VERY busy, (Laundry, Cooking, Cleaning, Baths, Diapers, Some play time, etc), I know excatly what most of you are thinking...WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD. (I forgot to mention, Pay Bills). So life is very busy, I still try to find time to get out and enjoy some "ME" time, It usually is playing volleyball or going out to eat and enjoying a few beverages. Its nice but I like coming home to my babies!:)

With this nice weather we have had I got the itch to break out the golf clubs. Wanna know how I'm preparing myself for the summer?? Well if you think about it, I work at the high school?? Get the hint yet?........................................................................................................................................................................................ Yup you guessed it, I have been practicing with the high school team for about 30 minutes a day. Its a nice refresher and I also get a few tips on my "bad habits". Hopefully some of the girls will look up to me also. (If you are sick of my braging please hit the little X in the upper right hand corner)...I started golfing my sophomore year of high school. My 1st 9 hole score of 91!! For you non-golfers, that is a TERRIBLE score! By the end of my Junior year I was named most improved golfer and I also made it to the section meet! I have to give my mom credit on this one, she must have giving me the golfing gene!! Thanks Mom. There is always hope for you non-golfers!!:) I can't wait to get out on the course and enjoy a nice summer day!!!

Well I need to get to bed, early morning again tomorrow and then one more day until the weekend!!!

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Style and Trim

2009-03-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Layton made his first appearnace at Willies today!! He did so wonderful, I'm not staying up to type a long blog about it but I just want to say he sat very nice and even said Thank You!

Attitude

2009-03-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

This morning I had a really bad attitude!! First I was expecting a snow day and when that didn't happen everything else seemed to go down hill. I decided to start the van about 20 minutes early so it would be nice and toasty for the boys. When I came back inside I finished getting ready and then got the boys coats and boats on and went to bring them to the van and I can't get the doors open! So I bring the boys back inside and procede to pull, pound, and shake the doors open. Without luck I turn to the next option, the blow dryer. I plug it in but I can only reach about 1% of the van door. So I get mad and put the blow dryer down and continue to bang on the doors. I finally get one door open and squeeze both the boys in it. At this point I was feeling really crummy! So. on to mission #2, trying to barrel my way out of the drifted driveway. It was my moms SMART idea to just gun it and try to make my way through. So I gun it and get stuck.. Now i'm really mad! I call my cousin Travis to see if he can help me and Thank Goodness he was in town AND had a shovel in his car!! Thank you Travis, I love you!! Haha.. So My morning started off really bad and I was very cranky! I got my daily coffee and headed to work. I was leaving 2nd hour when I see this quote hanging on the teachers door, titled Attitude By Charles Swindoll. (Read below). The rest of day went great!! All because I had a new look at Attitude! And my day got better when I received word that the Twins Home Opener tickets arrived!!!

ATTITUDE
by: Charles Swindoll
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

Just the boys and I

2009-03-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

So, here I am, sitting in bed, both my boys camped out in my room, listening to the strange sounds of a new home. I made my mom run to her house to get a fan so I can drown out all the sounds. Things are slowly starting to come together. Things are finding there places and I'm trying to get used to the darn outlets and light switches. It has proven to be a challege. Good thing my mother got it all taken care of. Bottom outlet..something and top outlet works with the light switches.. or something like that! Now is the true test of single parenthood. I might be on a vacation by weekend. No, I wouldn't do that to my boys but it was a nice thought for a second! I had to take a bath with Layton tonight and well.. we both didn't fit, so I cleaned him up, got him out, got back in, did my thing, and had to rush because Layton got his finger pinched in the cabinet door, I'm dripping wet, he is still dripping wet, the bathroom floor looks like the Gaylord pool!! There are more details to the whole story but you don't need to know about my person business! Anyways... I somehow managed to get both boys asleep and soon it will be moms turn for some shut eye. Hopefully I sleep better tonight than I did last night. I bought a new pillow top mattress and Im not sure if I like it or not. Maybe tonight will be the true test!! I'll update pictures when I have time. Not sure how much time I will have anymore! Thats okay, we will work out a system some way or another!!

Sweet Dreams

Momma's Boy

2009-03-05T20:26:00.000-08:00

Its Offical! I have a Momma's boy! My lil Laner needs me around 7:30pm! Ask anyone who has watched him during that time of night! He cries and cries and there is nothing that will sooth the poor guy. Okay, I lied there is one thing that will, and that is .....Yup you guessed it! MOM!! The first time it happened I thought it was just his teeth or a minor ear infection. Then it happened again, and yet again. I am limited it on babysitters. They are, My Mom, Phil and Karen, and well..myself even though I'm not a babysitter for my own children! So there ya have it! Now who is gonna want to babysit?? Any takers? Just kidding.

No More Fruit Snacks

2009-03-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight I probably had the biggest scare of my life. Layton wanted a lil snack and so I gave in and got him some fruit snacks. I have been trying to not give them to him because they are so bad for the teeth! Well tonight I was making supper and my mom was playing with the kids. Well Layton comes into the kitchen and is choking! I give him a few good whacks on the back but nothing comes out. He manages to get two out by himself but he is still choking! I could see it right at the back of this tounge but in his throat. I did the finger swipe (not sure if that was the right thing to do) and I just couldn't snag it. Then Layton starts spitting up blood because I think I cut him when I stuck my finger in there! I felt like forever!! Good thing my mom was there and she is an EMT! We both were doing whatever we could to help the scared lil guy. I didn't care about the puke or blood just as long as he was okay! He eventually swolled it and was a little shook up. But who wouldn't be after that. I'm so thankful he is okay!!! So for everyone out there.. NO MORE FRUIT SNACK FOR HIM UNTIL HE IS A LITTLE OLDER. Warning: The John Deere Fruit Snacks are a little to big for 1-2 year olds!

Its been a while

2009-03-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

I am enjoying some Mommy Time tonight..Father of the Bride part II, a bowl of popcorn and a nice cold glass of milk! Things are really busy for us. We are in the process of moving to our new house. I am just waiting for my new bed to come and then we will be all settled!!

On to the boys (who never seem to stop growing!).. Layton is talking up a storm and amazes me every day. Tonight he counted to 10. I was in shock. And the other day he had a sticker and he stuck it on my back and said "Happy Bertday...... TO YOU!", He will say Excuse me after I sneeze and all sorts of other things. He sings songs like Winkle Winkle Little Star, and old McDonald. I just can't get enough of that little boy!! And My lil Laner is ready for crawl. I bet sometime this week he will be moving forward! He is such a happy lil guy and I feel truly blessed that I had happy lil boys!

Well sorry this is so short again but Im going to enjoy my movie.

Busy busy!

2009-02-24T19:35:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I have wrote. But I have been kind of busy. Lane has been sick with that awful cough and cold stuff. I think I have an ear infection! Now I understand why kids are so crabby when they have an ear infection! It is so painful!!! I also have been busy moving, I hate moving but I'm excited to have my own space with my boys!! Hopefully it will be okay!!! I would write more but I am extremely tired and I need to get to bed. Maybe tomorrow I will explain the pictures!!

I think everyone is sick!

2009-02-19T19:14:00.000-08:00

Everyone except me. Layton was to the dr about a week ago with the coughing wheezing business. Now its Lane, I had in there on Monday and we will be going back tomorrow!!! Poor lil guy can't sleep doesn't eat and is coughing like crazy!! We have done the neb and the meds for his ear infection, things seem to be getting worse. I'll update more later, Lane and I will be sleeping in the recliner tonight!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend was pretty uneventful for the most part. I have a love/hate relationship with Valentines day so I tried pretty hard to focus all my love on my children..(thats the love part of our relationship) the hate part is all the foo foo business of the day. I'll start this blog off with Fridays events. After I picked the kids up from Daycare we headed to New Ulm to pick up my new glasses!! I didn't realize how blurry things were until I put my glasses on and everything was a lot clearer and crisper! It was amazing. I think the boys like them too. Going into the eye clinic with the boys I had 2 situations running through my head, A) This could turn out really ulgy! Glasses on the floor, broken, and lots of spit up for the ladies there to clean up. B) everything would be just fine and like usual I will have nothing to worry about. As it turned out the kids were AWESOME. Layton watched the Trucks drive by on Broadway and Lane just sat there and smiled at people. When it came time for me to get my glasses I pulled up a chair for Layton and he sat on it and was the best little boy! I guess sometimes I worry when I go into places like that with the boys that things could turn ugly but I was very happy with their patience and attitudes. When I were walking about the door there was an old guy sitting in a chair waiting to get this glasses adjusted, he looked at the secertary and said "There goes the next President of the U.S.!" I just smiled and went on my way!! Later that night I took Layton out for supper since I wasn't going to get to spend Valentines day with him. We headed to Ej's, I guess I shouldn't expect him to sit still the whole time so I let him wander around for a little bit, and I learned Ej's has WAY to many toy trucks and cars and trains to see. Layton would not sit still, he found every truck and train their was in the place!! And when it finally came time to eat he decided he didn't want what I ordered for him (Corndogs and Fries), he wanted Mommies BBQ Boneless Wings w/ Ranch! Seriously the kid likes some weird foods!!! It was fun to just spend some time with him!

Saturday I sent Layton off to his Dads for the weekend and Lane and I got some quality time together. Kt, Brayden, Lane, and I headed to New Ulm for a Valentines day Dinner and outing. We hit up Walmart, Maurcies, and Perkins:) I do have to brag for just a sec, but I bought new jeans! I have lost 4 pant sizes since before I had kids. We will see how long this lasts, if I could only breastfeed forever!! Saturday night I headed out for a little mom time. Did I have a date? Well you could say that. A date with the bar stool at Ej's!!!:) Nothing like Singles Awareness Day! It was fun, played a little Wii, socialized a bit and went home to bed!

Now today I have done nothing really. Hung out with Katie and Brayden and of course Lane! Took a nap, cleaned the house up a bit, watched Somethings Gotta Give (I recommend seeing it!) and now I'm about to go pick Layton up! I can't wait to see the lil turkey!!!!

Flowers?

2009-02-13T09:57:00.000-08:00

I got flowers from someone today. No idea who or where they came from. If anyone knows please tell me who sent them to me so I could have a little piece of mind! Thanks.

Whats wrong with Mom singing!

2009-02-11T18:31:00.000-08:00

This morning I was singing the GFW School Song because it was stuck in my head. Layton was busy coloring in the living room, not really paying attention to me. Half way through the song he comes around the corner and says "BE QUIET!". I think I was in a little bit of shock, then I got a good laugh!!! Gotta love him!!!:)

Four Eyes

2009-02-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been having a hard time seeing things far away, I can't get the notes teachers are taking, I can't look across the gym at a basketball game and see who is picking their nose, and that really through me for a curve was when I couldn't see down the isles at Walmart. Today I had my first eye exam and I leave there with a down payment on GLASSES!!! Now I really feel old! I am nearsighted. So reading is still okay it's seeing things far away that really annoys me. I used to be the eyes for everyone now I guess my kids will have to help me read road signs. Oh well, I guess thats what comes with old age. Ha! My new look is kind of exciting. First I'm excited to be able to see again and second I am excited to look smart!! The kids really better start paying attention now! The glasses are pink and brown. Who would have thunk I would end up with PINK glasses.. I'm just hoping the kids don't make fun of me! I'll post pictures of my glasses and I once I pick them up in about a week.

On to Layton. I had to take him to the dr this morning for the wheezing cough stuff that is going around. He has pretty much had a cold all winter but just the last few days I noticed the wheezing business. Just a few neb treatments and things should be good for a while. He doesn't act sick but I can tell he is uncomfortable towards night. Thats when it seems to flare up!

and finally a lil about Lane, he FINALLY got his first tooth! only a mouth full to go.. I kinda hope they all come in close together that way I don't have to deal with a teething child for 2 years like Layton!! He is growing everyday and it's hard to see because I still treat him like my baby. Seriously, where does time go!!

Thats about it for tonight!! I'll hopefully have some new pictures coming soon!:)

Balloon Release

2009-02-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

A few pictures from the Balloon release. It was just Chad's sister Gina, his 2 nieces Keanna and Teagan, Katie, Myself and Layton and Lane. It was nice. I hope he got the balloons by now!!! I kinda wish I would have done it by myself so I could have let me true emotions flow but thats okay I will have my time. It was very special and I'm glad I got to share it with Gina, I hope she feels the same.

I need to start making notes!

2009-02-07T05:41:00.000-08:00

I first thing I want to do before anything else is wish Chad a HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY!!! We miss his so much and now that Lane is growing up I really miss him more. I feel as though he is missing out on so much, I know though that he is with us every step of the way even if we can't "See" him!!! Watch for your balloons Chad, they will be coming up to Heaven with a lot of love!!!!!

Tuesday was Brayden's 2nd Birthday. The family headed out to Ej's for supper and fun. Layton's dream came true that night. He spotted Lighting McQueen hanging over the pool table. He couldn't get enough of that car. I had to peel him off the pool so I could eat my supper. Which by the way I never got to do because Layton's wheels were going and his favorite place to run too was the Off Sale room. There was no way I was going to leave him unattened too in there, I would have one large supper bill!!! Brayden also got a few lessons from Auntie on his birthday, all ya need is a video game and a fake gun and you have free deer hunting!!:) Isn't life great.

Here is a picture of Layton and his drum set. He was quite the player too. He had cymbols too. They were really loud. The things he is doing now just makes me laugh. Ok, I wasn't going to share this story but i decided i'm going too. Layton knows where his penis is and isn't afraid to point it out at any time. Well at daycare he is the little boss man and is always up in everyones business. So they were changing one of the baby girls diapers and layton says "Whered it go?" and with every girl diaper that is changed this pharse is soon to follow. This week they got a new baby boy at daycare and Layton is right there while they are changing his diaper and when he spots the lil guys penis he says "There it is!!" What a smart little guy I have on my hands. He is always saying new things and I just love the smiles brings me and everyone else!!!

This pictures is of Layton in "Time Out". I have never seen a kid so happy to be there! I sent him there the other day for hitting him and I said in a very stern way, YOU NEED A TIME OUT..So he holds my hand and walks over there and sits down and begins to fake cry. I couldn't help but laugh. After one minute I tell him he can get up and well he just stays there and fake cries a little more. But now he will go there and sit and put his head down in shame and after his minute is over he goes and says he is sorry and life is great!:)

Lane is great also, he cut his first tooth last night, Don't know how thats going to feel for me since I am still nursing!! Hopefully I don't have too many battle wounds!! He is sitting up by himself and scooting all over. He tries so hard to get up on all 4's but just doesn't have the strength yet. It won't be long!! Well Im trying to remember everything I wanted to blog about but I'm sure there is something I am forgetting, thats why I need to start making notes!!!

I'm off to the Wingens to release Chad's balloons to Heaven!!! Pictures to follow!

Weekend fun

2009-02-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

With Layton away at his Dad's this weekend I got to go out and enjoy a Ladies night! Well I should start off by Wishing my Only Nephew a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! He will be 2 tomorrow (Feb 3rd!) Katie has his birthday on Saturday!! They grow up way too fast! Friday evening a few ladies headed to the Xcel for the Toughest Cowboy rodeo. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to just get out! I enjoyed a beer and a good show! That's what it really was too. They are doing a reality TV show on Spike TV (Thursday nights!) and the Quarter Final and Semi Finals were held in St. Paul. This first picture is of the elimination, 2 cowboys were told they had to go home. Also the highlight of the night was WIPELASH the Cowboy Monkey! He was so cute!

Sunday Lane, Katie, Brayden, and I laid around all day!!!! It was kinda relaxing. I got to see a little bit of the Super Bowl, nothing real exciting.

Tonight I played a little volleyball and enjoyed every minute of it!! I don't think I will even NOT love that game!!!! Now I'm heading out to bed. Sorry for the short post but my eyes are getting heavy.

6 Month Check up!

2009-01-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

Today I had Lane's 6 month Check up! It went really well. Nothing to report! Lane had 3 shots today. Of course being a mother I tend a get nervous about shots. Don't know why I still am. Layton did awesome with Shots and Lane is doing the same. Oh one funny moment before I go on..After the dr left and we were waiting for the nurse to come in and give Lane his shots, well Lane lets one rip, and anyone who has been around Lane when this happens knows its God Awful!!! So I'm in there trying real hard to wave the smell around so the nurse doesn't think I was the one stinkin up the room!! Good thing they took FOREVER to come in. Now onto the shots. I'm so proud of my Laner! She gives him the first needle poke and he looks up at her and smiles.. she does the second and he is still smiling!! Then the 3rd.. now he lets out a lil whimper but then goes back to a big ol smile!! I have to credit that to the Uecker thighs nice and plump!!:)

Layton's 6 month Check up results:
Length: 27 Inches
Weight: 20lbs 2 oz

Lane's 6 Month Check up:
Length: 27 1/2 inches
weight: 18 lbs 13 oz

Old Woman..Apparently!

2009-01-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

For those of you who didn't hear me whine, I want to inform you the old sports injury has hit me once again. No it's not the knee its my stomach muscle. well one of the many.. I was playing volleyball Sunday night, well actually it happened the first time I touched the ball to do a warm up serve..yup I served and felt a tear and major pain to follow! I played all 3 games in sevre pain trying not to show any of it to my teammates. I think they all thought I was sore but really I was hurting bad. Right away I start worrying about it and I get the idea in my head that I maybe tore my Uterus where they did my c-sections. I talked to several ppl about this and they all thought I better go get it checked out. about 930 pm I head to Hutch to the ER and was in and out and on my way home with some pain meds. It's getting better everyday but sleeping at night is the worse. Thats why I'm writing this blog so late tonight. (I really don't wanna go to sleep because it's so painful!) So there it is..the "OLD WOMAN" getting hurt...

Best Brothers

My sweetheart!

Cute cousins

Best Friends

The cute lil Lambs Layton was scared of!!!!

Busy Busy weekend!

2009-01-26T08:44:00.000-08:00

The boys and I had a busy weekend. It's always nice to get out and about. Saturday Afternoon Layton and I headed to Mankato to watch Lindsey play basketball. She scored her 1000th point!! It was a lot of fun. Most of our family was there to watch! and Layton even made an appearance on the court. After Lindseys game we headed out in the lobby for some pictures.. Well we had plenty of ppl standing around so I thought we could quickly take a picture and thats when Layton made a run for it. He ran right in the gym and onto the floor.. Thank you to whoever snagged him!!!!! It was time for me to get out of there so Layton and I packed up and left and thats when he seen "A BUS". I tried to get past the bus without tears but that didn't happen so I took layton over to the bus to say BYE, when the driver saw layton he asked if he would like to see the bus. Layton was so excited.. The girls on the bus thought it was pretty funny. The driver then let him sit in the drivers seat! Layton was so excited he didn't want to get off! I told him the bus was going home. A lil resistance and then he was fine saying bye to the bus. (Pictures below).

Sunday Lane and I headed to church then came home for naps. I didn't take a nap just the boys. I cleaned up the house a little bit and then headed out to my grandmas to see the new baby sheep. (Pictures will be coming soon). Layton was so scared of them at first. Don't ask me why, they lambs are so CUTE!!! He soon warmed up to the lil things and was even yelling at a ewe in labor. It was cute. Nothing like a lil encouragement from a toddler. I also got some cute pictures of Lane with Chad's favorite shirt!! I just love the way the pictures turned out.

Update just for you Abby

2009-01-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

Lane is gonna help me type this one! Lets see, whats new with us? Sorry if there are a few typos, Lane is sitting right next to me trying to eat my computer and wanted to type like his mommy!! Oh boy, this could be tough:) Hes an inspiration so maybe I can come up with something good.. ha! Well Layton is hitting the terrible 2's. He's not really that terrible but it's enough to drive me crazy for a few minutes until I can get him calmed down! They say you have to pick your battles. The first picture is just that. He wanted to go outside with NO CLOTHES on, He was going to go "Bye-Bye" with Auntie. He insisted on putting his coat on and waited by the door. So I just put the coat on and locked the door and well.. there he sat until he got sick of waiting!

Good Thing I locked the door.. The lil stinker would be in the car with Auntie!
Oh I should mention Layton SAT through a basketball game last night! Don't ask me how I did it but he was amazing! He cheered and clapped and even yelled "REBOUND!" He really enjoyed the halftime show, the dancers! He showed me how he could High Kick just like them and was asking for "more"..(More dancing that is!) Then I asked him where Kyle was.. we were directly across from Kyle (Abby's Boyfriend Kyle) and he said "Calliou, There He is" And repeated it several times! He also had a whole bag of M&M's and a whole Bottle of Dr. Pepper. I know, I'm such a good mom. When he needed a breather from the pop drinking I would try and manage to chug as much as I could so the kid wouldn't have anymore pop and it would be "All Gone". If you think he stayed up late cause of all that sugar you would be wrong. He went to bed just fine!!

Oh this picture is another story. Layton was helping me clean out all the old food in the cubboards. and I was busy packing the old food into bags and I hear Layton counting candy bars.. 2,3,2,3,2, (at least he has some numbers right!) then I hear NACK (snack) and as i'm turning around he was ripping open the wrapper and scraffing down the candy bad.. Oh my, I'm gonna have one high denist bill on this child! He took maybe 4 bites and was down with it! Thank God!

Layton is taking up bullriding also!

And I won't forget about lil Laner. He is such a joy to have in my life and everyones life! All he does is Smile, and Poop.. haha:) No he is starting all kinds of new things! Like Blogging, (just kidding) I can already tell he is going to be a lot like his mom. No i'm kidding, He is taking after his dad. I won't mention in what ways, Chad might be embarrassed!

For example.. this next picture. I did not pose him this way, he just fell asleep like that and I thought his dad would find that to be very funny so I took a picture.

And for me, I get to play some volleyball again!! So pumped! They have open Gym in Gibbon on Mondays and I will sub on Sunday nights when they need me.. Like This Sunday!! Well that's it for now, I have one more day left of work and then Friday we have a staff day so I only have to be there until 11!! So looking forward to a nap that afternoon!!!! Well Abby I hope you enjoyed this blog, and I hope there are enough pictures for you. You Should really plan on blogging about your college experiences!!! Like what text books are your favorite, what kind of winter gear you have when your walking across campus freezing your butt off, or which prof you can't understand because he/she talks in a different language!! ha!! Good Night everyone!

I'm BACK!!

2009-01-18T10:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an awesome day!! Why you might ask? I was back on the volleyball court and boy did it feel good at the time.. today is a different story! Every muscle in my body hurts!! I haven't felt like this since high school volleyball conditioning! Nothing has changed since high school!! It just felt so good to get out there and play volleyball ALL DAY!!!!! Today I am going to be going out to Grandmas for supper (No she isn't doing the cooking!) Nothing too exciting..just hanging out with my Laner!! I'm going to go put heatbags on my body now!

a lil about the kids!

2009-01-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

Oh my little Layton!! The kid is going to be charmer some day! Last night I was trying to get Layton's Pjs on, well of course he wants to be naked..what kid doesn't? So I get celver.. maybe I'll put the Pajamas on my head and then he will know thats not where they go and then he will want to put them on.. easy enough? So I put the shirt on my head and was waiting for him to rip it off and want to put it on the right way.. no wrong again, he decides he wants Pjs on his head too.. After a short photo session was I going to get down to business. I take the pants off his head and about 1 second later he is screaming because he wants them back on his head.. My mom said "Just let him wear them on his head!" so.. he continued to wear them on his head until he was finally ready to put them on the right way!! It was fun, and I actually forgot to take the shirt off my head.. oops

Today we were stuck inside as my kids experienced the coldest day in 10 years. No they didn't go outside!! I didn't even go outside.. When I seen frost on the inside of our door I decided there was no way I was going outside! I think Layton needs to get outside soon though, the lil stinker was not on his best behavior today. Can I blame him? NO!! Being stuck inside with mom for the last week probably wasn't on his TO DO list! We did manage to have a little fun though. We played hide-n-seek for about 45 mintues today. He had so much fun, he was always the seeker and I was always the hider. He didn't understand the hiding part. After the fun and games it was nap time for everyone. I woke up feeling a little achy and with a major headache!! we will see what tomorrow brings!

A little about Lane:
ROLLIE POLLIE OLLIE is his new nickname. He just keeps on rolling!! He is also a little couch potato. I have no decided NO MORE TV.. He loves the baby einstien movies but it's getting to be too much so now the TV will be limited. I'm a little worried about this one. He is also almost sitting up on his own. He tips over once and a while but he is a pretty good sitter!

Well that's it for now, i'm going to try and get some rest and then head to the Chiropractor in the morning since we are two hours late again!!!!!

the picture has changed

2009-01-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

I finally seen something on Oprah that I can relate to. The topic was spirituality. After Chad's death I had a new sense of spirit. You look at life in a whole new way after something like that happens to you! So anyways, Oprah had a family on there who lost a son, he was a twin brother and had a younger sister also. They talked about how they had pictured their life, as a family, to be. And right then I understood what they were talking about. Even though Chad and I had our fall out (which I know could have been solved after taking control of my stubborn side)We had plans. He had told me that once our son was born we would get married, get a house, and we would be staying around this area. We had a picture painted of what life WAS gonna look like. But on that March 28th morning my picture changed forever, it's not going to be the picture we had painted together, it was going to be by far different. But now I have to paint a new picture in my mind, a picture that has fun and exciting things for my kids and I. Boy, let me tell you, somedays are HARD. So hard that I don't want to leave the house. I can't even begin to explain the pain the heartache you feel, but one thing I do know is that I am very thankful I have my kids. I don't know what kind of road I would take if they weren't here!!

Interesting Day

2009-01-09T14:53:00.001-08:00

Is it Friday the 13th? No it's not but it feels like it! The morning started with a pooping problem, not by me, lol, but Layton. He kept telling me he had to poop so I knew right away what the problem was, I start a warm soapy bath and I let him soak while I got ready for work. Pretty soon I head, Maoom Poop Maoom Poop Blanket. He wanted his blanket in the bath with him while he did his job. I let the poor kid have the blanket in the bath just so he had some comfort during the whole pooping process. He managed to get it all out and a little scooping by mom and things were under control. Layton felt a whole lot better after he took care of business!

Work was a typical Friday!!! That's all I'm gonna say about that.. Then I come home and Mom cleaned the fish tank out because all the fish were dying. So, in a bowl on the counter were 2 algae eaters, 1 dead fish and 1 alive fish. Good they are up on the counter out of the way of toddlers. NOT..Layton wanted to "cook" so he pulls a chair up to the counter and I, being the smart mom I am, move the fish bowl. Nah, that's no fun. So I move the bowl back so Layton can see the fish, I let him a explore a little and now Brenda has a new friend at her house (Layton is staying there tonight) a dead fish in a baggy!! Lucky Her!!! I'll post videos once they upload
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLbs3SqFZLc

Sportsmanship

2009-01-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

As many of you know I have the pleasure of working with the Mcleod West students who go to GFW. I get to experience their sadness in their school closing, I also see the way some of the GFW kids treat THEM, the newcomers. Tonight in girls basketball it was GFW vs. MW. I was excited. I thought this would be good, two teams from one school. But what I seen was a whole lot of disrespect from US (GFW). I guess I should have started this off by a conversation I had at the Dairy Queen with one of my relatives, Cindy Schuette. I told her I was excited to watch the game tonight and I also mentioned to her how much I enjoy working with the MW Students. Then she said it's hard for her to imagine her daughter (who will be a senior and is a pretty good ball player) running out onto the court next year in a different uniform, and as she is saying this she has tears running down her face!! She said anytime she talks about the consalidation she gets teary eyed. She mentioned the MW kids have had some pretty horrible things said to them from the GFW kids. That hurts! If GFW didn't have a school and had to go to MW how would they feel if they were treated that way! Probably not good. It's not the MW kids fault they have to come to GFW, but I also understand High School students, heck, I was one not that long ago. I just thought we would have had a little more respect. And then, the game! If a MW girl was on the floor no one would help her up, even if a GFW girl was right there!!! My God, I couldn't watch anymore, I was so upset! YOU ALL GO TO THE SAME SCHOOL FOR GOD'S SAKE. Fans were being disrespectful and if you were an outsider looking in you would never know these kids walk the same halls ways everyday! They have the same teachers, the same cooks, the same lockers, and yet on a basketball court we don't even have enough sportmanship to help the opponent up! Lots of pushing and shoving, reaching and slapping. To me it kinda looked like dirty ball! Anyways, I hope in the months to come things get better between the two schools. I hope the second half of ball was better but Layton was ready to go and honestly I couldn't take much more. I could be wrong but thats just what I seen.

On to happier things Lane is a rolling machine!! He would roll over about a month ago but now he rolls and rolls and it's just fun to watch him grow up!! I can't believe he is 5 1/2 months old already! where does time go!

Layton learned how to use the vacuum yesterday. I was busy feeding Lane and Layton wanted a Nack (short for snack) so I gave him a bag of cheerios, there was just a little bit left. Instead of eating them out of the bag he decided he wanted to eat them off the floor. I asked him to pick them up, he picked up a few then left the rest for me. WRONG! He got to learn how to use the vacuum! He did a pretty good job, missed a few but had fun doing it. He must of had so much fun vacuuming he decided to dump out another bag of cereal, this time it was more than half a bag, I was busy making supper and I pulled a chair up to the counter for Layton so he could help me well I was talking to someone and he opened the box of lucky charms and dumped it all out. So guess what? He got to use the vacuum again!!! Oh well, it was fun and he enjoyed eating the marshmallows without having to dig for them!:) Every kids dream right?

Well i'm off to bed, another snow storm is moving in so I'm REALLY hoping for a SNOW DAY!!! That would be a great way to end the first week back from Winter Break!

Sometimes life throws you curve balls

2009-01-06T18:43:00.000-08:00

back to my previous post.. so at that moment I was ready to move on in life. Now in this moment. I'm not. Maybe it's the time of year, not real sure but I miss Chad M. Wingen so much. I don't know how I will be able to meet anyone when I miss someone so much. I look at Lane and I fall in love with Chad all over. Every single day, every single moment. I wish he was here but I know he never will be with my physically again. I just don't know how to deal with it somedays. Some people are probably saying "ENOUGH TRICIA.. Time to move on" No, until you go through the things I have this past year then you can say that. What i'm trying to say is Chad will give me a sign when he knows I'm ready to move on, I don't even like calling it "moving on". I honestly don't think I will ever move on. I'm not going to mess with my emotions. It just makes thing more difficult. I love Chad's family and I love my boys. Time will tell!!

Another curve ball was thrown my way today. I won't be going to Vegas anymore. There was a death in the Pelzel's family (Jessica, Jill, Jamie and Erin's Grandma on their moms side). So we cancelled the trip and I'm getting my money back to go somewhere else. I totally understand the situation. Yes I was all prepared and packed but it can be undone. I plan on using my money to go to Fl with Mom and Jerry to watch the Twins during Training camp!! Lets hope those plans go through!:) THINKING ABOUT YOU PELZEL CHILDREN!!!!!!

I was going to write about something else too, but being a mom of 2 my memory goes pretty fast!! Darn it.. Oh well.. I have a lot of things I have been trying to deal with these days.

when I remember what I was going to write I will come back:)

Random Ramblings

2009-01-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

Here I go again..

Ultimitly what life comes down to are the things that make you happy and the type of person you became. After this weekend, I came to the understanding that I could totally make myself miserable and let the people around me make me miserable or I can let it go and do what makes me happy. Although I truely believe the statement "what goes around comes around", I will wait until that happens. Why should I waste my life worry about what is said to me, maybe I should focus on the little lives I have right in front of me. (which is usually my main focus). My new years resolution is to set goals. That will give me something to go after and a purpose to everything I do!

I don't know why but I had all this stuff in my head that I wanted to write down but when it comes time to type it all out, it just doesn't come like I want it too. So now i'm stuck..and honestly, I feel kinda stuck in life right now too. I have two boys, I want to raise them under MY roof, I want them to each have a father figure in their life, and I wouldn't mind having someone in my life too. Not going to push for that but there gets to be a point in your life when you finally feel "ready", I kinda feel that way, I also have had the feeling to pack up and move somewhere new, and start a life. But really I know I wouldn't be able to do that. Job security is a big reason, second I really don't have the money to do that and third, my family is all here!! We will see where 2009 brings me!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

2009-01-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

I just want to start off by wishing everyone who reads this a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I'm very thankful for all 2008 brought to me but I am ready to start 2009. 2008 was a tough year for me, but many people have told me that everything I have gone through only made me stronger. Maybe I will start feeling that strength in 2009.

This week went so fast, I'm not really prepared to go back to work on Monday but I will only be there for 3 days then I am off to Vegas for a 4 day vacation. Now, am I ready to leave the boys? NO.. Do I majorly need a vacation? YES! I'm sure my nerves will be all out of wack.. no wait.. they already are. Some tenative plans include, visiting Hoover Dam, 2009 Electronics Show (Like the shows on TV that so all the new gadgets!!), David Cooperfield Show, and of course all the tourist attractions. I'm very excited! I love traveling and someday I can't wait to do that with my boys!!!

Well it's another weekend with out Layton, I feel some sort of sickness coming on, I think I have an ear infection and maybe the flu, as much as I'm going to miss him 2 weekends in a row, plus next weekend and the weekend after, I think this weekend will be a good time for me to rest! 4 weekends without my big boy is going to be tough on me:( I'll let ya know how Vegas goes.. Now that I don't have Layton this weekend I'm kinda wishing I was there at a different time so I could spend more time with him but it's already booked and paid for!!! If I only knew it was going to be this way!! Well I'm going to bed, I need sleep!!

and I kept Busy..

2008-12-29T09:52:00.000-08:00

This weekend was Layton's first weekend staying over night at his fathers. With that being said I had to keep VERY busy this weekend to take my mind off the whole situation. Although Layton never once left my mind. Saturday I sent Layton off with lots of Love. Mom and I cleaned a little, well she cleaned a lot! Wingens wanted Lane for he spent the day with his Aunts Uncles and cousins. It was a nice break for me! Mom was gonna come to a movie with Katie and I but decided she wanted to finish her cleaning. So Katie and I headed to Hutch to see Marley and Me, we met Ruth, Megan, Steph and Dan there. It was a good flick, perfect for any age! I got a nice Christmas present at the theatre too, Dan had my name in the Bauer Christmas exchange, someone suggested I open it there, so I rip off the paper and to my surprise I see a cardboard folder wrapped in clear packing tape. There I sit in the theatre trying to open the gift, after a little cutting with a finernail clipper I finally managed to get inside the cardboard.. Sweet! A 4GB Sd card for my camera. That will come in perfect for my trip to Vegas! After the movie Kt and I did a little shopping and headed home, We went out and got Lane visited for a little bit then headed back home. That evening I headed out to Isaac and Sara Hahns to visit with some of Chads friends. It was nice and they all got to see Lane! Mom offered to watch Lane so I could go out on the town, if that's what it is called in rural MN? I went to Tanker with Kt, pretty Dead, was there for maybe a total of 15 minutes. Then we headed to Gaylord to listen to a band. Seen a few friends, decided that's not where I wanted to be so I headed home. It was ok to get out but I would much prefer being at home in bed!!! So I went home and Lane was just ready to eat, good timing!! Sunday Morning Lane and I laid in bed for a while and I got some quality bonding time with him, which was nice. Then I headed to the cities to give someone a ride there which took up most of the day, another good distraction! It was nice to get out of the house. Once we were back I just had to wait an hour for Layton to get home!! and once he got home I heard the best sound of my life!! MOM MOM.. *giggles* Love you! It was the greatest.. Last night was another story. Layton now wakes up with Night Terrors, it happened Friday night and again last night!! Layton finally fell asleep at 4am!!!!!! It was awful!!! I hope we don't have to go through that every other weekend. That was my busy weekend!!! Glad to have my boys home with me!!!

An old high school friend! Eb!!
sister and I

Lane Almost sitting up.. he still kinda tips over!

Christmas parties #2 and #3

2008-12-26T09:28:00.000-08:00

The business of Christmas is over and here I sit with a house full of toys. There isn't even room to walk, so I am going to say this for next year. 1 toy per child, or we will be a toy story by the time they are 5!! haha. Every kid loves getting toys! It has been so fun this year. Layton was excited about Presn(presents). Every where he went he just got more presents!!!

On Tuesday we opened presents with my mom. Layton and Brayden fought over every toy each other opened. Next year we decided we are buying them both the exact same thing.. that way they can't fight over it! And I also decided I'm not going to be buying them so much stuff. When I buy things over time it doesn't seem like much until they start opening it and then I realize I bought way too much. oh well.. it was fun!!

Christmas Eve we headed to my Dads for dinner. Layton got a new bike and loved it. By this summer he will be tall enough to ride it! I can't wait!!! It is super cool!!! Lane just sat back and enjoyed watching his brother open all his gifts! Lane mostly got money since he doesn't really understand how to open presents yet! Christmas Eve we went to our Church for the Christmas service. Layton wasn't having a good night. He wanted nothing to do with sitting and coloring. He would say " Bye Bye" and try to walk out. I could only take so much so I walked out with him, he decided to make a mad dash for the balcony and biffed it on the steps and got a nice shiner. Everyone in church heard the bang and was wondering what I was doing to my child. No Worries I just have a klutz on my hands:) After Church we headed out to the farm. We just hung out and enjoyed each other company. Although, it wasn't the same without Grandma there. But it was still fun.

Santa came Christmas Morning and Layton enjoyed dumping out his stocking and opening a few gifts from the man in red. Lighting McQueen was by far his favorite toy from Santa! (Today we have had to watch Cars all morning and he had to have his Cars Pj's on). Then he headed to his Dads and Lane and I headed to Jim and Ruths for more good food and fun!!! Then it was out to Wingens, 13 kids under the age of 8 running around the house!! And when Santa came things got out of control. Haha.. LOTS and LOTS of screaming!!! It was fun to see the kids get so excited and it was fun to hang out with Chad's family. I just wish he was here to join us in the fun. we did get a huge sign from him. The Shed light flashed and flickered all night long. It was amazing to see!!!!! Then it was home to open the toys we just got and off to bed. Until next year...:)

Christmas party #1

2008-12-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

Today the kids and I ventured out in the bitter cold to go to the Uecker Christmas party. I think it was worth the drive. It's always nice to catch up with the family we don't get to see a lot! Some highlights of the day:
*Uecker Trivia- Scott: you wouldn't have known half those questions if you didn't read the blogs.. ha. Also Layton got the crowd going. Brenda asked a question to this effect "who just masted oh la la" and as she is saying that layton runs into the kitchen and shouts.. OH LALA! no one had to guess the answer anymore. Trivia was also a way to bring back old memories, I learned a few things about my dad that I didn't know.. like he used to hide his beer in the ditch!! So clever! And I want to clarify one of Katies questions, "Who failed their drivers test twice and then had to take the trailblazer bus to work at the school?" First of all I only failed ONCE, and I road the bus to work way before I had my license, I didn't ride it because I failed!!
*Layton ate shrimp and liked it. More like he LOVE IT! I was about ready to barf watching him eat that.. I don't like seafood!!!
*Great food! although I hardly ate anything or maybe I did but just ate so fast I don't remember eating. But I do remember whatever I ate tasted pretty good!
*Lane puked on 5 different people. First Traci got it, then Scott, Linds, Julie,and of course myself!! Anyone who held him got puked on. Now Scott you can't feel bad cause Linds got it worse than you and Lane also rubbed it deep into her skin.. lol..he must have really liked her!
*Abby thinks I have a GFW lettermans coat..haha... sorry Ab I had to put it in there.
*And everyone I think had a good time!!!

Tomorrow school is two hours late!! YIPPEE!!!! I will actually get to sleep in!! Stay Warm everyone!

Layton and Brenda eating shrimp (check out the black eye)
Grandma's beer bread

Opening another present

more shrimp!!!

2008-12-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

Winter Weather here you come!! I wish the snow came on a school day, that would mean I would get a day off. Oh well, just as long as I don't have to miss the Uecker Christmas Party tomorrow! I love this time of year and all the snow just adds to the Christmas spirit! Again nothing is really new with us. Lane started baby food and his tummy is still adjusting so we have a lot of messy clothes, bibs, and rags!! Layton is talking so much! and it is so clear! I just love talking with him!! And me, well I guess I could tell you about all my vegas clothes but I don't want to bore you, I'll just show you pictures when I get back!! No one is ever going to believe the clothes and SHOES I got!! oh boy, it's going to be VEGAS style.. Gotta love a personal shopper! Well I'll type more later, layton wants to help me type! here he comes gtg!

Can 2008 End?

2008-12-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry to write about the negative stuff..(I think I should just delete the Christmas letter) but this year needs to end!!! I don't think this county can handle any more deaths, accidents, or anything else! For my it all started with Chad passing away and ever since then things never seemed to get better. Why I am writing that is because Friday evening we lost a teacher from GFW in a house fire! Her husband made it out but she did not. I didn't know Deb very well but whenever I had the chance to talk to her she was always very friendly and nice. From what the students wrote she was one caring lady. She will be greatly missed at school, church, and in our community.

I just hope everyone has a happy and healthy Christmas. This year I have decided to take on more than maybe I can handle. I out the Christmas tree up (the decorations are all at the top) Layton only (almost) tipped it over once, I think that is pretty good for a 18 month old! I hung their stockings and Santa plans to fill them too, and my new ambition(i don't think that is spelled right?) is to make Christmas cookies. What am I thinking? I think the reason I want to do all this stuff is to maybe set a tradition for my boys. "Mom always made "----Whatever kind I decide to make--- this kind of cookie for us" "Mom always let us set up the tree and place the Angel on top" or whatever tradition might make us unique. I also was impressed with my pumpkin carving this year. What single mom of a 18 month old and a 4 month old has time to carve 3 pumpkins?? Don't ask me how I did it but I did, and don't ask me how I'm going to make all the Christmas cookies I wanna make because I'm not really sure now I plan on getting it all done. But a woman can set goals can't she?

Layton is amazing me more and more everyday. I wish Ihad a voice recorder going at all times.. Yesterday he was watching the snow plows and came up with "Snow Trucks" Celver! Brenda taught him oooh lala!!! He says it in such a charming way too!!

Lane is my laid back lil fella. He loves the exersaucer and watching his older brother. He loves laughing at anyone who will sit and talk with him. He has discovered his feet and actually plays a little game with them.. he really likes it when I put the sleepers that have little animals on the feet. hehe

That's it for now. I hope to have a POSITIVE Christmas!!

Double Pink Eye

2008-12-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

I have to admit it has been kinda nice staying home with Pink Eye! Yes, Both Layton and myself have the red itchy eyes!! Don't get to close to us you might get it too!! We couldn't get into the dr today until 215 so we both have to stay home again tomorrow. Being I work with kids and Layton is around kids all day we were advised to just take the day off tomorrow! No problem!! It was kinda nice catching a nap with my lil boy today!! We watched Alvin and The Chipmunks and had soup and sandwiches for dinner! I love cozy winter days! Who knows what we will do tomorrow, maybe just hang out and enjoy our time together. Lane is going back out to the Wingens for the day!!

I have to mention Laytons new interest! Bombines!! Combines.. my goodness I had to look up pictures of combine on google so he could see one or two no wait I bet I looked at over 10 different combines! He even went through the Winthrop News and Gaylord hub looking for combines.. My mom finally pulled out the ad section that comes in the papers, out of the garbage so he had a BOMBINE to look at!!

Christmas Time

2008-12-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it's Christmas time already? Wow what a year it has been! Many ups and downs for this household but somehow we have managed to make it through! God only gives us as much as we can handle!
I like the way Traci wrote her Christmas Letter so I'm going to try to summerize my year!

January:
Chad and I did a lot of Ice Fishing this month. It's going to be greatly missed this year. Layton was just a baby so we didn't get out to do much in January.

Febuary:
Was a little rough for me. A lot of silly stuff with some certain people. We encountered a few snow storms and if I remember correctly, Layton was sick a lot!

March:
March was a good month and a very sad month. On the 25th Chad and I found out we were going to be having a baby boy! We were both very excited, although I did think it was going to be a girl! Oops! Just 3 days later Chad was killed in a car accident!

April:
Started out with Chad's funeral. Not a good way to start a new month. Can't really remember what else happened this month. I just know it was kinda a blur!

May:
Still much of a blur, At the end of the month I did have a big baby shower. Lots of family and friends came to honor baby Wingen!

June:
LAYTON TURNED 1!!!!! We had a big party at the farm! I also hit up another Twins game!!

July:
We got a lot of pool time in and the big event was this month. Lane was Born on July 29th!

August:
Was spent with sleepless nights and a fussy baby! Thank Goodness he grew out of that!! Layton also finished up swimming lessons!!

September:
I went back to work!! I had 1/2 the month off, it was nice getting back to work but I do still miss the extra time with my babies!

October:
Fall Fun!! We hit up a few pumpkin and apple farms! And enjoyed Layton's first time trick or treating! I also got a few hunting trips in!!

November:
Speaking of hunting. This is the month I missed that Monster buck!! Still is under my skin! oh well.. next year! We also had a a family emergency. My Grandma Bauer had a heart attack! and she survived it! She is amazing and we have so much to be thankful for this month and the rest!

December:
Just started. We have spent a lot of time up at Abbott but have also been enjoying the Holiday season!! The Tree is up, the stockins are hung, and the presents are wrapped (in Santa's workshop of course!). Bring on Christmas!!:)

I missed it again!

2008-12-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

Today I set Lane down on the floor and went to get Layton a cup of milk, when I came back, Lane was on his tummy. Dang it. I missed the big roll over again!!!! I grabbed my camera hoping he would do it again, instead Layton wanted all the attention and also my phone wouldn't stop ringing. What the heck. Hopefully I will catch it soon!

Layton is still talking up a storm. Did I talk that much when I was a child?? Ha I bet some of my family can vouch for that one. I think I did.. infact I know I did because I have horrible memories of people telling me to STOP TALKING SO MUCH!!!!! I love it though, I can't wait to hear the things he will come up with in a few years.. He's newest saying is "LOVE YOU!!"

My Grandma is still in the ICU at Abbott. She is on the road to recovery! What a blessing!! and what a miracle!! I can't say enough about the ambulance crew and the hospital staff!! They saved my Grandma's life!! From what I understand now, 5 shocks usually doesn't do that job and the person is usually long gone if they have to do 5 shocks. Please PLEASE be CPR Trained and AED trained, you never know when you might have to use it and it does save lives!!! I am so Thankful this Holiday season!!!! Life gives curve balls but they aren't impossible to hit. We hit them head-on and deal with it.

Quote of the day from my Great Aunt in San Diego
"Patience for the patient!"

Until next time..

www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucillebauer

Praying

2008-11-30T11:26:00.001-08:00

Its been one busy weekend, last night we headed up to Abbott to visit my Grandma in the ICU. Its hard to see someone you love so much in the hospital. She is in really good hands though!!! we set up a caringbridge site for her..

www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucillebauer

More to be thankful for

2008-11-28T19:24:00.000-08:00

Tonight I have even more to be thankful for. I want to thank the Winthrop Ambulance crew, hutchinson hospital, lifelink helicopter, and the Abbott Hospital staff for taking such good care of my Grandma during her heartattack. She is in the ICU right now and she isn't out of the woods yet but I pray for the medical staff to do whatever they do to keep her healthy!!!!!

Its amazing how fast life can flash before your eyes. How fast something to precious to you can be taken away. The last things I told my Grandma was that I loved her!! And I plan on saying it to her a lot more times!! Hug the people close to you and cherish every moment with them. Life can throw us some curve balls!!!

I'm saying a prayer for my Grandma tonight!! Thank You Lord for giving us another chance to tell her we love her!

What am I THANKFUL for?

2008-11-26T15:51:00.000-08:00

1. I am thankful for my family.

3. Layton
4. Lane
5. Good Health
6. I am thankful I have a roof over my head and wheels to get me to work.
7. I am thankful for my job
8. I am thankful for my Grandparents for teaching me some important lessons in life
9. That also goes for my parents.
10. I am thankful the friends in my life.
11. I am thankful for the new friends I have made this year.
12. I am very thankful for the open arms into the Wingen Family.
13. I am also VERY thankful I met Chad!! He has changed my life in ways I bet he never imagined he would.
14. I am thankful for the doctors who brought my beautiful sons into this world!
15. I am thankful I seen atleast ONE deer this year and that I got a shot off.
16. My life
17. For Ann, she has helped me in so many ways.
18. All the kids at school. Even though some days they drive me crazy.
19. For teacher and educators, drs and nurses
20. I am thankful for having God in my life. He might not answer all my prayers but I know he is there!!

What are you thankful for. There are so many more but I'll stop at 20.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE. I am hoping my Holidays are filled with Happiness and I will try to get through them knowing the people who have passed are sharing this day with us, in spirit!

We got hit!

2008-11-23T05:49:00.000-08:00

we got hit by the "COLD". All three of us at the same time! There has been very little sleep for this Momma. and I Can't wait until we are all healthy and sleeping through the night again! I'm up about every hour with Lane, Layton will sleep in his bed for a couple hours then wants to be with us. So we really aren't cold, we are snuggly warm but we all have stuffy noses, sore throats, and the coughs. Vicks vapor rub did the trick last night!! I even used some. Today we are going to have a little visitor over for a little play or "stare at each other time" (since they are both babies. Then it's off for family pictures. I'm excited, I hope they turn our ok!! Then it will be home for Hot baths and hopefully, cross your fingers, SOME SLEEP!!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. This week I am looking forward to yummy food and I have lots to be thankful for!

New Photos

2008-11-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

Nothing really new, just wanted to share some photos. Lane rolled over and I missed it the first time and then I seen it again last night!! I'll have to get out the camrea and try getting it on film!! Layton still likes using the potty, he how needs to have his book while sitting on the potty. He has yet to go but he sure looks good trying!!

Same old same old

2008-11-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

Same stuff different day. The basics are accuring at our house lately..(I don't want to sound too much like a proud momma cause I understand most kids do these things through out their developmental stages!! haha) Layton is sitting on the potty, talking up a storm (I can't believe how much he picks up on..ex: we were watching Little People Big World and one of the boys on TV climbed on the counter and Layton yelled ..Dett DOWN! (Get down). He will also say NO NO BUS.. DOWN WAA WAA..NO NO BABA. BAANEY? (Barney) and so on.) Lane is on the verge of rolling over and...SLEEPING THROUGH the night. He loves to sit up in his bumbo chair and also lay under the play gym thing for babies and bat the toys that hang down! I can't believe he will be 4 months on the 19th and Layton is almost 18 months.. Seriously where has time gone!! As for me, well.. firearms season is over, still nothing to report. My mom's fried Jerry got a nice eight pointer, but me..i'll have to wait until next year. Bow hunting is still open but I just have has enough of the cold weather and really don't wanna sit out there anymore. Who knows, I might get the urge to get back out there!! Oh wait a minute there is something new with me, I'm going on vacation!!! YIPPEE!!! Vegas here I come, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to me! A 4 day trip and I'm sure I will be more than ready to come back to my kids. I like the idea of going but not really liking the idea of being away from my kids that long. Somehow I have to find a way to store my breastmilk while I am gone (just what everyone wanted to know), but really that's my biggest worry right now, besides being away from the boys. I love traveling, and I can't wait to take my kids to places I never got to go to as a child and to experience those things with them. Who seriously wants to stay in MN their whole lives and not see the "outside" world, there is so much out there.

LOSER..haha thats the first thing i think of when I see this picture

Hunter Lane..Just like Mommy and his Daddy

Great Grandma Uecker and Laner

Jerry's Nice eight pointer.. boy am I jealous.. nice deer though
and Jerry and My mom

Before I was a Mom!

2008-11-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

He truly does amaze me. today I ventured out with both boys to the store. I get in and out just fine, it's while I'm putting Lane in the car that Layton takes off. I catch him before he can get too far and he is resisting my attemp to hold Of course there are some tears but he manages to get up and shake it off.. then we get home and he is talking away like normal.."DOWN..WAA WAA" He is saying he fell down in the water!! I was so shocked that he made a sentence..well kinda, but he was sure trying!!!

I also want to share this poem with you.. I got it in an e-mail and it could not have been written any better! I forgot what life was like before I had kids.. Seriously what did I do with all that time on my hands! Sometimes I might wish for a vacation but I wouldn't trade my job for the world!! Even when it talks about plants being poisonous, who would seriously think about that if you weren't a mom, I know I checked into that before Layton came along!! Enjoy Moms!

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a
Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a
Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.
Before
I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a
Mom.

One of those days..

2008-11-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had one of those days..and lately I haven't been having them as often. It was a "I really miss Chad day" I seen pictures of his headstone and it just became all to real! Honestly I don't even like going out there but to see the final touches was kind of hard. It's only been about 8 months but that was the last piece to be placed. or so it seems. And what makes it even harder is the Holidays that are right around the corner. 1 year ago I was the happiest girl ever, now today, I am grieving something that was good in my life..for once. Its like one minute your on top of the world and the next everything is turned upside down. I look at Lane now and I am sad for him. He will never know his Dad, he will never hear his voice, he will never smell him, play baseball with him, hunt with him, watch a scary movie with him, read a book with him, Chad won't be there to teach him how to ice skate and eventually play hockey, I sure the heck don't know how. I will try my darnest to do whatever I can to make sure he knows as much about his father as possible and I know the Wingen's will too. Really..that's all we can do and we can let Chad do the rest from above... okay I just have to vent.. Ann tells me I should do that in whatever way helps..this would be it...

Layton is continuing to amaze me everyday! The things he is saying just make me laugh. Yesterday he started sitting on the potty. I'm not pushing potty training, he wanted to do it. He didn't pee of course but he sat and sat and used A LOT of toilet paper. and I'm afraid to say it but I think the terrible two's are starting. Today at daycare he had 3 timeouts..once for bitting and twice for hitting. That's not normal for him, although, tonight has been really rough so maybe it was the weather..lets just hope thats what it was.

Lane is growing like a weed. He is almost rolling over, his eyes changed to a hazel color, and he is almost eating baby food. Can you believe on the 29th he will be 4 months old!!! Where has the time gone? I am looking forward to the Holidays with my boys!!!

And for me, lets see.. I wake up, get kids ready, go to work, come home from work, play with the kids, bathtime, then bed time.. that's pretty much my life..Except for this past weekend when..let me remind you..I missed the buck of a lifetime..no i'm still not over it..

Well i'm gonna e-mail some family about Christmas ideas...until next time..

It was a dream come true until....

2008-11-09T05:52:00.000-08:00

Firearms hunting opener, snow, wind, 35 degree tempertures. I was on a mission, I was going to shoot a deer this year, and I couldn't have had a better chance, to screw it up! Dad and I walk out right at shooting hours in hopes of kicking something out. We did kick out 2 does but I couldn't shoot them because I didn't have a doe permit. So we stand in the woods a little bit hopeing some other hunters kick something out. Sure enough there runs a doe, back into the woods, and that's why my dream came true. Dad says TRISH THERE'S ONE.. BANG BANG.. GET UP THERE AND SHOOT (out of the woods and up on the field!) IT'S HUGE...SHOOT..BANG.. KEEP SHOOTING..BANG BANG.. KEEP SHOOTING..BANG. DID IT FALL...IS IT SLOWING DOWN.. BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP... THAT THING WAS A MONSTER! BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP!

There you have it.. the monster buck I have been talking about, you know..the one I was gonna shoot..Yup well it's still out there!! Dad said that's the biggest deer he has ever seen a live, and the guy who missed it before me said he was a MONSTER too.. Let me tell you, I had dreams about that thing last night, more like a nightmare. The whole thing keeps replaying in my mind and I just keep kicking myself for not hitting that thing. Not that I want to make excuses but here might be some reasons to why I missed the biggest deer in Sibley County..

1. Blowing snow in my face
2. I was using my dad's gun, which I have never shot before.
3 The deer was running away from me..at an angle

Everyone keeps telling me that was a once in a lifetime chance and now I feel even worse about missing it! Not like I TRIED to miss it!!! I was hopeing so bad to see that thing fall!!! He's still alive for a reason, he's smart!

We did trial it once it got to the state land but then it crossed the ditch and was GONE!!!!! So there ya have it.. the story you have been waiting for, without the happy ending!! I knew he was out there!!

Snow, are you kidding me!

2008-11-07T05:16:00.003-08:00

Just wanted to welcome the first snow of the season...now you can leave again!!! Thanks!

laughing Layton!

2008-11-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

Layton and I playing a little peek a boo with a book.. He finds it to be VERY funny!!! the video doesn't do justice to his actual giggle!!!

The Right to Vote: I VOTED!

2008-11-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

Well today is the big day, the day that we might finally get to see some Change. To be honest, I didn't understand the voting process until just last year!! Sad, I know, but now I understand. We aren't voting for an actual person we are voting for the political party. Because the Electoral college takes care of voting for the President in December! I think it should be by popular vote but it's not. I do know Minnesota gets 10 electoral votes! Hehe.. Good thing I am working at the High School. I learn something new everyday, or I just didn't pay attention in High School! So anyways, this morning I woke up all excited to get out and VOTE. I even got up early, and got the kids off to their destinations and I headed to the polls. It was quick and painless, and I proudly wore the red "I VOTED" sticker. THEY say this is the most historic voting and I am proud to say I took part in it! And I also want to let the Quast's know that if I lived in Gaylord, Doug would have been my vote, and No not because he is family but because he is a great Mayor!! GO DOUG!!! Now I lay in bed and watch the future of the USA hopefully change!! I am ready for a more positive outlook on things and lets just pray we choose the right President to do the job!!! I am a proud American and I'm glad I exersiced my right to vote!!!

Nightmare on Halloween

2008-10-31T20:14:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a busy night!!! Layton and I have been going non-stop since he got home from Daycare!! He had such a busy day!! Of course he had a party at daycare, he came home with 2 pumpkin (punpin) tattoos on his check and a BAG full of candy and treats! From there, I thought it would be cool to get one of those papa murphy's pumpkin shaped pizza, so we ate and then were off to the neighbors. Layton held out his bag and the neighbor lady put the treat in there and Layton dropped his bag and looked at her as though he was scared! After that we went to another place and he is slowly starting to understand the concept of trick or treating. Then we were off to the nursing home here in Winthrop. All the residents sat in a big circle and the kids just went around and got their candy, Layton was a little scared at first but finally got the hang of it. I turned my back for a minute and when I look back at Layton I see him going around to all the residents again, getting candy and putting it in his bag. Little stinker caught on fast!!! We walked around the neighborhood a little bit before heading over to Gaylord, thats where the night got interesting. We stop at Brenda's and I was running all the treats out to the car and I hear this hissing coming from the tire, I look around and I see a nail, sure enough, I ran over a nail and now my tire is leaking fast! Now what?? I have more places to take Layton and I have a flat tired!! Well Brenda was kind enough to let me take her car to finish our work. Then I had to get a hold of my dad (who DOES NOT have a cell phone) so he could come in from the field to see Layton. so 20 minutes later he shows up and we are hanging out, some kids come on the deck and dad is outside talking and Layton is inside playing by the door, well, Layton had a hold of the door handle when Dad swung open the door. Layton goes flying outside hitting his head on the way out. Tears are flowing, kids are piling on the deck and Keena isn't listening!!!!! It was a heckic couple of minutes but we quickly turned off the light before any one else could come..(Dad wasn't planning on handing out candy since he was suppose to be in the field!!), after that we made a few more stops then it was home to BED!! Wow.. that was fun but boy is that work!! Hope everyone had a great Halloween!! We sure did, and we even got to see Lane's cousins all dressed up!!

Also Keep praying for the Bjorklunds!!!!

Blogging from my bedroom

2008-10-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Isn't technology awesome. Boys are sleeping and I can blog...FROM MY BED!!! Ha, I sure am enjoying this laptop stuff. Now I can spend more time with the boys because now I can sit in bed and enjoy a little computer time!:) Ok enough about that lets get on to new business..okay, there isn't a whole lot of new things but here I go anyways. Layton is a talking machine!!! We really really have to watch what we say now!! He repeats everything. So I read in Parents magazine that you are suppose to use "real" words with your kids, not slang. So I said, Layton that is your penis and he says something that kinda sounds like that, so now he looks at it and says penis.. What a smart boy!! Good thing you can't really understand him yet. He also learned how to spit after you brush he is done brushing his teeth. He also grabbed the washcloth in the bath today and started scrubing himself. Man, my job is getting easier. He also can undress himself..kinda..lets just say that one is a work in progress, but he understands what he needs to do!! I can't believe how much he learns in just one day! I just love that about him!!! And Lane, well he is starting to laugh.. IT'S SOO CUTE!:) He can roll over as long as he can push off of something with his legs, he is sleeping a lot longer at night too!! That's amazing for me!! Ok enough about my kids...

I do want to mention something on the sadder side..(is that even a word)

Please PLEASE pray for the Bjorklund Family. Dale has lymphnode cancer. His 2nd oldest daughter, Jenny, is one of my very good friends!! They need our love, support, and prayers!!!!
www.caringbridge.org/visit/dalebjorklund

Well thats it for now, I better get to bed!!

New Discoveries

2008-10-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

All three of us have discovered something new in the last couple of days! Lane can roll over as long as he is on his side already!! Yay for Lane!!!

Layton just discovered that he can stick his finger in his nose, and better yet, that something comes out of it too!!! He knows where his nose is but just last night he learned you can stick your finger in there!! How cool.. and today he learned that if you stick your finger in there sometimes something is stuck to your finger! Sweet..I will just have to keep a closer eye on him now so he doesn't stick anything else in his nose!!

Here is a picture of the 3 boys during movie night at Grandma's. Doesn't it look fun!!!:)

and I discovered I can bake!!:) I made my very first pumpkin pie the other night and it turned out great!! I spilled a little so that's why the crust burnt but otherwise I think it tasted pretty good!!! Yay for MOMMY!!!:)
Well Lane needs me now, until next time..

New Vocab

2008-10-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

Layton is starting to take after his mother, talking a lot!! I remember when I was little my older cousins would always remind me to be quiet because I talked so much. Although I am not telling layton to be quiet I am enjoying everything he is learning. Here are a few examples of his new ablility.
Lanner= Lane
Puppa= Puppy
Papa= Grandpa
BAAAAAAAAA= Sheep
Go way= Go Away
madma= Grandma
Aaaion= Allison
Momma= Mommy
WaaWaa= Water
Baba= Bottle
Malk= Milkbaak= Book
and there are many more wordsHe amazes me everyday. He copies about everything I say so I really need to watch what I say.He is such a joy (most of the time), he is also starting the tatrum business. Things should start getting interesting now. But honestly, I feel so blessed to have him, he brings so much joy to my life along with little Lanner. I'm having a hard time accepting Chad's death because of all the joy my children are bringing me. I know he would be having a ball with these kids. He had taken Layton as his own and when he was about to have a Child of his own his life was cut short. I know everyday he is with us though. I can just tell by Lane's actions that he is around. So anyways, Saturday we went to Mn Harvest by Jordan with Chad's family. (that too was hard) but we had a good time, we ate dinner there, well most of us, Layton choose to climb up and down the steps instead of eating. Lane just slept. Then we went on a Wagon ride to pick apples. The kids really enjoyed this!!! A lot of apples were ate during the picking:) Then we played on the play ground but one of Chad's nieces got pretty upset when she couldn't go down the slide with Layton first, after 10 minutes of pouting she finally was ready for her turn. Then it was off to the putting zoo. That was an experience, you pay for a cup of food then they send you in with the bears.. haha, No they open the gate and it's just an open pen with all different kinds of small farm animals (Deer, cows, sheep, goats, ponies) As soon as you walk in the gate the animals attack!!! The kids cups went flying or they were being chased by animals. Layton opted for me to hold him most of the time as it was a bit overwhelming. I can't imagine what it was like for the little kids having to be face to face with these hunger animals, no wonder they were running away most of the time. I feel so blessed that the Wingen's have accepted Layton and I into their family! Now if Chad were only here to experience all of these joys with me. Well i'm off to get Layton, Today was his first day with his Dad alone. That's a whole different story! I am so excited to pick of my baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just half of the Wingen Cousins
Layton Appleseed
one of the HUNGER goats!

I still love my Twins!!
Layton and Josie on the wagon ride!
enjoying his apple!
Papa Wingen and Layton on the pony
Max and Lane (6 months apart) sleeping!

The Joys of Fall!!

2008-10-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins!! I have been taking full advantage of some fall fun! Last Saturday Myranda, Heather, Myself, and the 4 kids headed to Burnsville to Chucky Cheese for Myranda's 17th Birthday. She had never been there so I had to make sure you had the experience. The kids were a bit of a handful and Myranda only heard "Our we there yet" about a million times. I think she was a tad bit annoyed on her Birthday!! but we all survived and I managed to buy myself a pair of jeans while doing a LITTLE shopping. Sunday Layton was suppose to go to a birthday party but we had to cancel because we took some Great Grandchildren pictures for my Grandpa and Grandma Bauer. The 5 year old and 2 babies did the best job of sitting! the 1 1/2 year olds were a little more energized. We got some good shots and are hopeing to get a nice picture frame made for them!:) I also enjoyed another round of pumpkin carving. Last year I did a friendly ghost and this year I tried a frankenstein and a scarecrow, and I will soon be carving out a MN Twins Pumkin.

I wish I could type more but my oldest son is needing my attention at the moment!!:) Check out the very last picture as most of you will probably get a good laugh..:)

It was big, no it was huge!! haha

2008-10-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I got to relive some old, but VERY good memories!! One of the greatest things in my life (right after my two very beautiful kids) was achieving a goal...a goal that consisted of a couple school records. Volleyball was basically my life in high school and I am very proud of my team and our accomplishments (beating Belle Plaine our senior year of high school to advance in the section tournament). Without my teammates I would have never set the school record in set assists, 1661 (Just cause I have heard and seen it a couple times this past week). Last night Tara Dietz and I had the honor of presenting Erin Evans with the game ball which she got her 1000th set assist. She is the 3rd personin school history to accomplish this feat! It was fun just to relive the moment and also to help someone receive this award! It's something to be proud of, and the last couple of days I have made it all fresh in my memory. As Steve Saxton said "Hopefully you will be back when you are 80 giving out the same award..and asking Brenda for a black scarf." So now that last night is over I will wait again for this great honor:):):):)

My boys ready for Daycare
Lane and his new Buddy Collin Hacker

Update

2008-10-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

Just a little update with us. Last night Layton and I and Brenda and Abby headed to the GFW football game. I dressed Layton up because it was their homecoming!:) What a good sport!:) He sat and watched the football game for probably a total of 3 minutes. I took him down to run around. At halftime he was more than ready to go home.

I also got to enjoy my evening a little bit. A good friend of mine is moving back out to Idaho so he had a little going away thing. I had a couple of drinks talked with another friend for a while then headed home. It was nice to get away for a couple hours!!:)

Life of a single mom!

2008-10-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture..check out the goat right by Layton (I wonder if he even knows it's there?)

on the way to the pumpkin farm, we had to stop at Grandparents camper first!!

Tonight I was sitting in the bath looking down at my toes, and realized they look awful. Not my toes but my toenails!! I must have painted them the night before Lane was born and they have not been touched since. They are sorta red but there isn't much nail polish left and they just look awful. That got me thinking...When do I even have time to paint my toe nails? the answer.. I don't. (now that i'm back from an hour feeding session). Also I was sitting in the bath (must be a good time to think..) And Lane was sitting next me and I can't remember the last peaceful bath I took. I either have Lane in the bouncy seat next to me or Layton in the bath w/ me, or Layton pounding on the door. Eating meals is the same way. I sit down to eat and although Layton has already ate his supper he insists on having a bite of mine. Everytime I gladly give him a bite! Sleeping is another story. I have Lane in the bed with me and Layton upstairs with my mom (most of the time), Last night I had about 1/4 of the bed to myself Lane took up most of it, I wanted to make sure he had enough room, then Layton was on the other side, and I was sandwiched in the middle. I had to protect Lane from his big brother (ok I'm gonna sit down and try writing this blog for the 3rd time tonight!!). The moral of my story is that as a single Mom of two little boys you really REALLY need to rely on help from people. If I didn't have my mom I would be crazy, my house would be a total disaster, the laundry would never get done, the dishes would be stacked ceiling high, and I would NEVER get a bath (or be able to write on this blog). I love my boys to pieces and I wouldn't trade my life for anything. Do I miss my single days? Sure, but nothing, absolutely NOTHING beats coming home to two beautiful boys who shower you with as much love as their little bodies can handle, and I give right back plus more! I would rather hear the pitter patter of little feet coming to bang on the bathroom door instead of stumbling into the house after a long night out. I would rather have 1/4 of the bed and feel the warmth of my boys next to me, than sleeping alone and waking up to nothing. And I am just grateful I have a little nailpolish on my toes, rather than none at all!! I would gladly give up my food as long as it meant we had enough food to eat and my boys were getting their needs met. Being single and a mom of two is by no means easy! It's VERY hard, and there are so many times I get frustrated, but then I look at those boys and I think to myself..Life is OKAY!!! And I CAN DO THIS!!!! and I Just have to mention The Twins are done now (I'm VERY sad about that), winter is in the near future so hopefully I can catch a movie once in a while!:)

So now that I said that I would like to share a few pictures of the boys and I the last couple of day/weeks.

Layton and the pot bellied pigs

Family photo..GO TWINS!!

Nelson Pumpkin farm

Layton and I in the corn maze.

who is who??

2008-09-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

Can you tell which boy is which? Is Layton the one on the left or the right???

I guess we are going back home..

2008-09-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

Last night Layton threw up in the middle of the night. I got him up and got him ready and he seemed fine so I thought maybe it was just something he ate. So I take the boys to daycare and I'm explaining to Tracy what happened last night, when Layton starts throwing up again. I said well I guess he's not better and we are going back home. He is a little fussy but I hope it doesn't last long because he has his first "field trip" tomorrow with Daycare. My mom is driving the bus so she will be there with him!! They are going to the amazing animal farm by Eden Valley! I wish I was going along but we have inservices all morning!! YUCKY! Well nothing else is new with me. I haven't had time to get out and hunt that monster buck and I probably won't as I will be spending as much time as I can with my boys. After going to that visitation for Cailyn, I will forever hold my boys a little closer and tighter. My heart goes out to that family!!! I don't ever want to let them go!!!!! So much is happening lately and I'm just so scared to leave them!!!!

Sleepy Boys

2008-09-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

I must be wearing out the boys!! Unless they find comfort in the activities they are doing shortly before they fall asleep!!

Back to school..for Mommy!

2008-09-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

No I'm not going back to College.. Somedays I wish I was back at college..I am going back to work today!! Am I excited?? Yes I am thrilled! Don't get me wrong, I love staying home with the kids but I also love interacting with the "older" kids too, although sometime they act like my kids but I still enjoy working with them! This week I work from 12:10 to 3:45 but they called me yesterday and offered me more hours so starting next Monday I will be working from 8:15-3:45..almost full time. I'm gonna miss the mornings with my boys but we will get plenty of time to play when I get home from work!! That's the newest detail in my life..

and I suppose everyone is wondering how bow hunting went on Saturday. Well it rained the entire time BUT I seen deer and that's always fun! Dad walked me to my spot and then left to go stand in his spot.. Well I'm puttsing around because it was kinda boring playing with the chipmunks, when all of sudden I hear Dad calling my name so I run out of the woods thinking he shot a deer already but really he was watching a Buck and doe and wanted me by him in hopes of getting a nice shot at one. Well We watched them for a little bit then the buck disappeared so I moved to a new spot just about 100 yards from dad. I didn't see the buck but I watched 2 small does eat off a tree. So I did have some action but nothing close enough to shoot. Hopefully this fall I will have time to get out there more and HOPEFULLY I will atleast get a shot off at that MONSTER buck!!!

Well nothing else is new with me, Layton is going to Daycare full time now and he loves it!! He learns so much there! Lane will be with Karen (his Grandma) most of the days, I don't think infants that small should be in daycare yet. He needs lots of TLC!!:) He will be going to daycare 2 days a week though.

Well until something new happens...

New Pictures

2008-09-12T16:01:00.001-07:00

Here are just a few new pictures of the boys. They sure grow up fast!!!! My mom got a new four wheeler so the boys just LOVE riding on it. I start school on Tuesday and I can't wait to be back!! I miss seeing the students everyday!!! Also tomorrow is the big opener!!! Looking forward to a great year hunting..well I hope I can say that in December when I have a nice buck on my wall!! hehe!!! I'm so excited I bet I won't be able to sleep tonight...

She really isn't mad it just looks that way

Bobby

2008-09-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

**If you are not a believer you might not want to read this blog.**

On Tuesday Katie and I went and seen a psychic medium. The experience was amazing. She told Katie and I things that there is NO WAY she would know about. A lot of my reading had to do with Chad. And I think it will help with the grieving process. Now if you don't believe in these things then you won't ever have signs from loved ones. It's a healing method. I believe Chad is with us just by somethings that have happened to me. Chad was also a believer in Ghosts and LOVED the show ghost hunters. Well apparently there was a ghost in our house waking up the boys, (thats why I never sleep at night!) his name was Bobby (Robert) and he was about 10 years old, he died in the 1930's and was sick at the time of his death. Chad wanted our house to be peaceful again so that's why he told the psychic about Bobby. She opened the light and released the ghost of our house. What is strange is that we always heard creeking upstairs when no one was up there. So far I haven't heard any creeking since she removed Bobby. Ha..anyways, it was an emotional experience also, Chad got to hold Lane's soul before he (Lane) was put on earth on July 29th. There is so much more she told me and I have a tape of our reading just so I can listening to it whenever I need it!! But you have to be a believer to believe even a little bit of it. To be honest I didn't believe everything she told me but who can get everything right!!!!

So, it was fun and different, and I'll leave it at that!

The Dreaded SHOTS....

2008-09-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

Today Layton had his 15 month check up. (on his 15 month birthday!). He weighed in at 28 lbs 4 oz (90th percentile), he is 33 1/4 inches long (95th percentile) and his head is 19 inches around (80th percentile). He's not so little anymore, I guess he never was real little!! He will be my linebacker someday!! He also got one shot, I think I get more nervous than him and I don't know why because everytime he gets shots he is up flirting with the nurses within seconds of getting the shot. So today the nurse sticks him and I see he got the "oh crap that kinda hurt" look on his face, so I start cheering and clapping for him, he soon forgets about the pain and joins in on the fun! We walked out of the clinic and he was still cheering for that shot!! What a good little boy I have, I hope the next one is that easy. His first shots some in a couple weeks!:S

That's it for now. Katie and I have a fun night planned, and if I decide to tell anyone I will write it on here!! Have a super day!

It's about that time of year!

2008-09-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

Yup you guessed it, it's almost HUNTING season!!!! I decided mommy needed a new toy so I purchased myself a new bow. On September 13th I officially get to put it to use as archery season opens and I will be off searching for the great white tailed deer. and one with Antlers too! I just get so pumped up around this time of year. There is no greater rush than sitting in the woods listening to every sound of nature and hoping that one cracking stick is from a massive deer stepping on it, making it's way to my tree stand. I can't wait to look into the squirrels eyes that is on the tree next to me and wonder if it is going to attack me, I can't wait to watch the birds fly over and have no idea I am sitting there. and I can't wait to just enjoy being in the woods on a nice fall day in search of some food to put on the table. Heck, I have to provide for my family!! Well I'm off to do some more target shooting, I need to prep myself for when that monster makes it way towards me on the 13th!!

I'll leave you with some pictures of my new bow and a new one of Lane! Can you believe he will be 6 weeks old on Tuesday!

Orbs or merely just dust particles.

2008-09-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

Believe what you want. But to most of you they just might be dust particles but to me it is Chad's sign to me that he was at Lane's baptism. Phil and Karen have had a few unexplainable things happen to them since Chad has passed away. I have had one dream that I hold on too because it was so vivid and real! When I see little things like this it brings comfort to me, it's my way to letting myself know things are okay and will continue to be okay! So.. I will believe it's Chad and others will not. It's like a 3 year old and their imagination, except I'm 23 and I'm still a believer!!

It's been awhile

2008-08-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

Where did I leave off?? I have been so busy lately I think I'm losing my mind, I was just talking on the phone with Brenda and telling her how forgettful I have been lately, then our call was lost, so I called her back and she asked me what we were talking about.. want to know my response.. "I don't know, I can't remember!!" Oh My, I know it's bad when Grandma Uecker gives me crap about forgetting the plates and fruit for baptism today!!! Anyways, On with the rest of my weekend.

Wednesday was a pretty special day for Layton because he got his first haircut!! The lil duck curl on the back of his head was starting to look more like a rats tail so i decided to cut it off, with the hopes that it grows back!! He looks much older now!!
Friday I was invited to a Sara Evans concert at Jackpot with my cousin Stephanie. It was a black, Katie was there too with a special Date.. haha I'm kidding.. nothing like a guy that likes to stalk pretty girls. Anyways, I seen lots of people there.. including my Friend Jenny Bjorklund and her boyfriend, Dan and Joan Hoffmann (Brady's Aunt and Uncle), A girl who graduated a year below me, and Cassie Wolpern (just had to add her because OMG it's CASSIE WOLPERN). Long story.. I won't go into detail. Sara Evans was awesome and so was her opening act..well..once we finally figured out who that guy was! Steph and I knew a few of his songs but had no idea who he was.. it was Eric Church..Anyone know him??
Saturday Katie and I attempted to take Lane and Layton shopping..Lets just say I would rather go alone!! I needed Black pants and so did katie. Well Layton is crabby and Lane is crabby too.. Katie looks down at the stroller that Layton is in and see a pair of pants and says Where in the heck did these pants come from. She looks around a little and see a manikin(sp) with just a shirt on and no pants.. Layton, the lil stinker he is, ripped the pants right off of that poor doll!! Good thing for patient workers. He also decided to empty a table of undies right onto to floor..I tried to hurry up and pick them all up but I ran over a lot of them with the stroller..lets just say it didn't go as smooth as I would have liked it to go..
Then we headed to the cabin to see Stacie and the new baby. Well Katie and I get out there and no one is there. So we decide to head home. We stopped in St.Peter to put gas in and I had to back my van next to the pump, so I pull up to this nice car and start to back in well, I noticed I was getting a little close so I pulled back up next to the NICE car and waited for him to leave well, he thought I must have got too close and yelled a few choice words to me, then his nice looking wife comes out and yells the same choice words at me..Talk about MN Nice! I know I didn't hit their car because I would have felt it!!! Don't buy brand new cars if you are going to get mad about someone getting a little close!! I knew better not to try backing up anymore because I didn't want to hit the rich ppls car!!! Then Karen calls and tells us they are headed to the cabin so Katie and I went out there for a little bit to visit!!
Today was baptism, it went good, besides me forgetting a few key items but we got them and everything went good!!!! I also want to mention that I am a firm believer in Chad showing us that he is around us in one way or another, Isaas is in the blue shirt and there is a small circle right by his armpit. Chad just couldn't miss being in this picture!!! I also did ask Chad to show me that he was there today and He did!!!!!!

Well I need to go rest, it has been a busy week!!!! WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL everyone who is going back to school!!!

Traveling around the state

2008-08-25T11:29:00.001-07:00

This weekend was a busy one for us!!! Friday was my 23rd birthday so I had supper with my Dad and then off to the farm for another supper!!! Nothing too exciting. I went home that night and stayed home and that was it for my birthday! Saturday morning my mom packed the boys up and headed up to St. Cloud. One of Chad's sisters lives up there so we made a stop at her house so they could see Lane. A few hours passed and then we were on to Jamie and Jodi's house for a Pelzel family reunion. It was a nice but chilly day so we didn't make it in the pool, althought Layton wanted to jump right in but his mom just wouldn't let him because getting out of the pool would have been a little TOO cold for me!!! We enjoyed the day but I was ready to get the boys home!! So we headed home, Layton was sleeping before we even got out of the drive way and about a mile down the road we were already stopped becaues Lane was screaming. After a burp we were back on the road, that is until Kimball when we had to stop again because Lane had to burp just one more time! Wow, that was A LONG Van ride!!! Sunday, I went and bought myself a new bow!!! Well it's a used bow but it's only been used a couple of times. I am so excited to get back out in the woods and harvest myself a whitetail!! There is nothing more peaceful than squirels hissing at you because you are in their tree!!!! No, it's just peaceful to be out in the woods and watch nature at it's finest!! After I got back from buying my bow, Katie, the bows, and I headed out to Wingen's cabin for the rest of the day. The boys had a blast and katie and I enjoyed a game of bean bags! around 7:30 we headed home, it wasn't the most enjoyable drive home since Layton decided he wanted to cry/scream THE ENTIRE way home!!! So... that sums up our weekend. Only one more weekend left until school starts. I'm ready to go back to work but I'm going to enjoy a few more weeks at home with the boys!!! Until next time...

Layton and Mommy's Birthday Date!

2008-08-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

Last night a bunch of us girls (cousins) went out for my cousin Megan and my birthdays! We were going to to go Buffalo Wild Wings but it was a 40 minute wait and we had the boys with so we stuck with the family tradition and went to Good Ole Happy Joe's! I'm glad we did because Brayden and Layton were entertained with all the fun stuff there!!! We had our taco pizza (YUMMY) and Megan and I got the famous birthday horn with a free clown sundae. If it's your birthday the waitresses come over to your table and announce to the whole restaurant that it's your birthday and that everyone should sing along. They told everyone our age (20 and 23) and everyone clapped and they sang happy birthday and honked the horn and the tradition is still going strong, 23 year later!!!! I'm surprised they didn't check our Id's just to make sure we weren't lying just to get a free sundae!!! I love those sundaes and I plan on spending more of my birthdays at Happy Joe's along with my boys birthdays!!

I called last night Layton and Mommy's Date Night because it seems with breastfeeding and just trying to take care of a newborn that I don't get to spend much time with Layton anymore. Of course we still hang out when Lane is sleeping but it's not like it used to be. So last night was so special for us because we had some major bonding time and it was so much fun! Layton was such a good boy the whole night!!! I am looking forward to more one on one time with him...(Next Saturday when we go to the state fair!!) That's all for now. I'm going to try and get as much sleep as I can today since I am a walking zombie right now!!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!