Weekend Recap

I know more than the weekend has passes since I was on here last, but MAN am I having a hard time keeping up with everything lately. I didn't think it would be so hard adjusting to having 2 kids but it is taking me a little while! Hopefully we will get into a routine soon here and I won't be so stinkin exhausted at the end of the day.

Saturday
Ryan's little brother graduated Friday night, and his graduation party was on Saturday. We spent the whole day preparing and spending the day with family and friends then cleaning up after it was all over. I took all kinds of pictures and had planned on posting Saturday night with TONS of pictures. But, alas, I forgot my camera at my in-laws and we are just left with these cell phone pictures of my exhausted little boys after a full day of visiting!



What a day :)

Sunday
Ryan worked Sunday morning and we are down to one vehicle right now, until Ryan fixes the car so me and the boys were all ready for a lazy day at home. But then around 11 my mom called and asked if I could watch the girls for a couple hours while they went to St. Paul and packed my sister up to move her back home. So Joshua, Sam and I got ready quick and my Mom picked us up. We had a full afternoon of playing with the girls.

Chalking with aunt Olivia for a LONG time :)


Then Joshua walked into the pine tree and cut his face all up


Then after we got home he fell on his broom and cut his lip open!

It was a tough day for Joshua.

We finished off Sunday by an evening at church

Monday
Happy memorial day! We started the day off with some crazy storms but it cleared up by noon and we got to play outside a little before nap time. I kind of failed at taking pictures, my camera is still at my in laws and I just didn't have my phone with me all afternoon. We played on the slide, with the shovel in the rocks then we came in a built a fort while we waited for lunch to cook. Joshua had fun :)

After Ryan got home from work we went to my parents house for a BBQ (it wouldn't be memorial day without a BBQ). My little brother has shingles, and hasn't been able to hold Samuel yet, but today he did and he loved it.

Uncle Kevin and Sammy


After we ate dinner Ryan, both of my little brothers, 4 of my little sisters and a few neighbor girls played a VERY intense game of softball (with a plastic softball of course) so my parents, Sam, and Megan hung out and watched. Joshua played on the swing-set and got involved in the game a little bit. All in all a very successful evening outside :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I will try to be on and update more regularly again.

Love Love ♥

Oh my goodness!

Today has been a looong day already. Its only 2 pm. Joshua is having such a hard time listening today! We played outside all morning, and he cried for pretty much the whole time we were out there. If you know Joshua, you know he LOVES being outside, so I didn't know what to do with him. Well an early lunch and nap was my only solution. Considering he fell asleep right away, apparently he was tired! But still. This is how I feel

But on the bright side, at least the weather has been beautiful and we have had the option to go outside! Joshua got this super cool bike from Grandpa Strickland, and he just loves it!



and we can't have a post without a picture of my sweet baby boy Sam

I hope everyone is having a great Thursday! Almost the weekend :)

Love love ♥

Happy Busy

It has been almost a week since Mr. Samuel was born. I feel like it was just yesterday! We have been busy busy adjusting to this new little member of our family. But it has been a good busy, a happy busy :) Joshua is LOVING being a big brother. He has been extra whiny lately but I am gonna give him a couple more weeks to adjust to his new brother before I let it worry me!

So apparently laying halfway on your side and flat on your back isn't the best way to deliver a baby. My back has been killing me ever since I had this little boy! But he came so fast I didn't have a chance to raise the bed and lay down the right way. I was just sitting on the edge of the bed to get the epidural and he started coming out. Well at least it went quick right? I am going to the chiropractor tomorrow and hopefully they can make me better.

This sweet little boy

has gained a WHOLE pound since we left the hospital Thursday. That is a whole pound in 4 days. The doctor gave me two gold stars for having fatty milk :) He was so surprised when the nurse told him that he took Samuel back out to weigh him again and see for himself. Sure enough my little boy is 9 pounds 6 oz already. What a little chunk.

We went to target last night and got Joshua his big brother present.

He loves it!!

And of course he got an icee too

you can't go to target and not get an icee :)

I am so proud of my baby, Samuel slept SO good last night. A definite advantage to having a big baby. He slept from 10-2:30 ate and went back to sleep until 6:30, woke up and ate and went back to bed until 8! I loved it. Almost as much as I love waking up to this sweet face.


Have a great week friends. Love love ♥

Welcome

Samuel James Strickland

Born on May 17, 2011
weighing 8 lbs 15 oz
measuring 22 inches long


welcome to the world sweet boy.

love love ♥

Decisions decisions

I'm sitting here contemplating how to spend Joshua's last nap before the baby comes. Should I be productive? Should I just play bejeweled the whole time? Should I take a bath? So many choices!!

It is a beautiful sunny day here in Minnesota. Of course, now that I am going to be spending the next few days in the hospital the sun and warm weather decide to show up. But we are NOT complaining :) Joshua and I were already out this morning enjoying the beautiful weather. I forgot to take pictures... (oops). We also went to the thrift store with my mom and little sisters. One last little outing before baby boy makes his appearance.

Josh and his aunt Megan loved sharing a cart


Cool babies :)


Well clearly the being productive option hasn't won yet... since I am sitting on the computer and I have bejeweled open in another window. Just a few games then I will do the dishes.

love love ♥

Sunny Sunday

We FINALLY had some sun today!! Unfortunately it was windy so it was still chilly. But we saw the sun!!! It was nice to be able to be outside. Ryan is working tonight so Joshua and I went with my family to watch Lily's very first soccer practice.

This little girl was a crab the whole time.


Except when her nephew paid attention to her :)


Joshua would not sit still. But he had fun


He sat in Grandmas lap for about .2 seconds


Then Uncle Robbie strapped him in the chair. Joshua wasn't a fan!


I don't think anyone had as big of a crowd as this beautiful little girl!


I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Only 2 more nights of sleeping uncomfortably HUGE! I can't wait to meet this little man :)
Love Love ♥

10 reasons I know I shouldn't be pregnant anymore

#1. I look like this every day. I don't even do my hair anymore, and I don't even care!

#2. This baby is gonna be like 10 lbs when he is born. And none of his cute little newborn clothes are going to fit him

#3. I sleep about 4 hours a night. Even though this super comfy bed ALWAYS looks inviting.

#4. I feel like I am standing on the other side of the kitchen when I wash dishes, because my belly is so big.

#5. My feet look like this. The minute I wake up in the morning... not even after a long day of walking anymore.


#6. My maternity jeans are too small

#7. I have about 5 people texting me every day asking if I'm in labor yet.

#8. This is what I see when I look down. (Feet? What are those?)


#9. I can't even bend over far enough to take the laundry out of the dryer. I literally have to get on my knees!

#10. I came up with this list in about 2 minutes...and honestly I could probably come up with ten more just as fast!!

Dear baby, PLEASE COME OUT!!! ♥ Mommy

Love Love ♥

Icky weather

I don't blame this baby for not coming.
If I were in a warm place like he was, I wouldn't want to come into cold dreary Minnesota either. May has been way to cold and I bet he knows it and is being wise and staying in his mama's warm belly. Can you blame him?

Ryan worked 2-10 last night, then 6-2 this morning. I hate when he has these shifts back to back. Especially when I am 40 weeks pregnant and could really use his help with this little monster who seems to KNOW I'm exhausted and is being a bigger trouble maker than usual. But on the plus side he has tomorrow off :) he may even have Sunday off too! I'm not gonna count on it though, since I am being induced Tuesday my guess is he will load up on the hours Sunday and Monday. Lovely.

Joshua and I braved this extremely chilly spring weather with my mom and little sisters this morning and hit up a few garage sales. Not to much out there but true Minnesotans had there sales open, and us true Minnesotans found a few things to take home.

Joshua got this cute yellow chair

and a pair of jeans ( no I'm not gonna put a picture of them up, they are jeans!) and I found a book. So not to exciting of a morning, but not a complete waste of time!

Yesterday I decided maybe this little boy just wants me to have some more maternity pictures, that has to be why he is still in me! So Ryan, Joshua and I went across the street from our house to this cool little ampi-theater/park and got a few pictures :)

We had fun! Joshua loves being outside so he was happy that we went out.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday! I need to get some cleaning done before I lose all motivation... Love Love ♥

Good bye due date. Hello Lazy.

Well I was due yesterday. It went by just like I knew it would, no contractions, no baby. I think this little man is in for the long haul! I am scheduled to be induced next Tuesday if he doesn't come before then, and I am not counting on his coming on his own. So, one more week of pregnancy.

So what does one due when they are way over being pregnant? When it hurts to walk because my ankles are so swollen, and I can't bend over because I have a full grown baby living in my belly? I do NOTHING. Me and Joshua are having a definite lazy day today! This is what is has consisted of so far:

Learning how to buckle/unbuckle the babies car seat


Hand feeding the dog, one piece of dog food at a time


Finding a half eaten bag of popcorn next to Daddys bed and dumping it everywhere


Eating pizza with Ranch dressing and potato chips for lunch (healthy huh?)


And trying to figure out how to open the windows... Not successful thankfully :)


Needless to say it has been a VERY productive morning so far! Plus, with me being the crazy blogger mom I just follow him around a take pictures. I can always tell when he is getting in trouble, because he says "Cheese". Maybe I take to many pictures? I think not!

Love love ♥

Mommys Day ♥

I hope everyone had a wonderful mothers day! We had a VERY full day of family, and a short (disappointing) trip to the hospital. We went to church in the morning, then went to Ryan's Grandmas for a little get together she was having, it was a mothers day/remembering family/birthday get together. It was great seeing everyone! After we were done there, Ryan's other Grandparents (from Wisconsin) were in town at his uncles, so we went straight to their house from his Grandmas. Joshua had fun getting to know his other great-grandparents a little bit, he has only met them once before.

On the way home from Ryan's uncles I had a headache, was lightheaded and my ankles were HUGE so I decided to stop and check my blood pressure. It was pretty high (for my normal 117/40) so I called labor and delivery and they said to come in and get checked out. We got hopeful that maybe we would be having a baby soon! But after I got there they hooked me up to the machines, baby was doing good and my blood pressure started going down so they sent us home. Babyless. I was so sad that I had to leave the hospital still pregnant! But on the plus side, the nurse said I was having contractions every few minutes (and not feeling them at all) and I am dilated to 3 cm (I was at 3cm for 3 weeks with Joshua...) But I am still hopeful this baby will make tomorrow (his due date) his birthday!!

Here are a few pictures from our long family filled day
Playing at Great Grandma Olsons

Ryan got the camera...

Sharing a cupcake with Grandma Strickland

Blue face!

When we don't have toys, we make do with what we do have.

4 Generations of Strickland men... is anyone noticing they get a little taller every generation? Does that mean Joshua is gonna be a giant?!

Joshua with Great Grandma & Grandpa Strickland

I hope everyone had a wonderful mothers day. I think we are going out tonight for MY mothers day, since yesterday was all about grandmas :)

Love Love ♥

Saturday (and I'm STILL pregnant)

We had a very fun filled, busy Saturday! We started our morning off with a delicious egg & ham breakfast (thanks Ryan!!) Then we met up with some friends at a farm just down the street from us, The Historic Kelley Farm. We got to see all kinds of animals and help with a few farm chores, I'll let the pictures show you how fun it really was.

We had a very fun morning :)

Joshua came home and took a couple hour nap after all of that running around. Then when he woke up we went up to the school to get a few pictures of my little brother, and my brother in law before they headed off to prom! It definitely brought back memories :)


My little brother and his prom date

My brother and law and his date :)

I hope they are having fun right now!!

After seeing them off we went with my family to dinner at Cici's pizza (yummy!), came home and Joshua got to play outside a little bit and show off how silly he is to the neighbor ladies. I swear he is the biggest flirt! And all the ladies in our neighborhood love it :)

I hope everyone had a good Saturday, I am going to go lay in bed and put my fat ankles up for a while! Love Love ♥