What Does a Turkey Say? Cluck? Quack?

Seriously - I have no idea what a turkey says. Good thing all Goo cares about is what monkey's say. (Ooooh ooooh, aaaaaah aaaaah - in case you were wondering).


Thanksgiving was quite the adventure this year ... we decided to have it at our place since we finally have room in the new house and ended up with 21 people for the big meal! Luckily, my new job has taught me how to delegate - so I wasn't responsible for TOO much actual cooking. haha


Unfortunately, my camera decided to crap out on me the week before Thanksgiving, so I had to swipe some pictures from Ashley's FB page. Thanks, Ashley!


Here's Goo with Grandma Tine ... he was a bit cranky that day - we found out later that he was starting to work on an ear infection, poor guy!

Here's Kari's kiddos being adorable ....

And 2 of Kari's, mine, and my super cute foster sister Cammi checking out something outside ...

Say it with me now - *Awwwwwwwwww*



Thanksgiving was followed with some 3:45am Black Friday insanity ... Kari, Ashley, Mom, Martine and I all piled into one vehicle and hit Kohls, WalMart, Target and the Mall all before 10am. My fabulous go-to babysitter Krysta came and stayed with the kiddos - what a good sport! :) Here's a shot of the line to Kohls - which wrapped around Media Play - at 4am. Craziness!

All in all - a very fun (if tiring) time was had by all. The ear infection is history, and the probably not cooincidental case of strep I developed the next week is on it's way out. Next stop - Christmas! ho ho ho

Pumpkins after Turkeys

Let's ignore the fact that it's the day after Thanksgiving and I'm just now uploading Halloween pics, K? :)

Here's the UPS man with Rainbow Brite ...

... and T and I as Jon and Kate. Which is funny because I'm nothing like Kate, right? Hardy har har.

And no, I will never, ever, ever be cutting my hair that short.

Finally, one more shot of the UPS (little) Man and his inspiration, his real dad uncle R.

Haha. Happy (incredibly late) Halloween, all!

5 Minutes of Fall

Wasn't it just 85 and humid? And now it's snow season. Nutty!

Thankfully, we were able to squeeze in lots of fun before snow season turns into blizzard season.

A few weekends ago, Goo got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa while Travis, Ryan, Ashley and I headed South for Scott and Alicia's big day.

Goo was great in the car - practicing his texting skills on my old phone ...


At the wedding, Travis was the best man and Ryan was an Usher ....

The wedding went off without a hitch - well, except for that one part where the minister spit on the bride, but we still had our happy ending ...


Maybe a little too happy, but I digress ...

The weekend after, I did something I never in a million years dreamed I'd do ... ran (ok, walked) a 5k.

I'm sure the "real" runners really appreciate it when people stop to take pictures on their cell phones, but it was just too cool not to document! My goofy friend Shannon "ran" with me ...


After a fabulous finish (47.17 - all but the last .17 were walked, by the way) - I went home and got ready for company! Grandma and Grandpa L came, along with Ryan, Ashley and the adorable Miss C.

We took the kiddos to the Children's museum, where they checked out the exhibits, painted pumpkins, and posed for pictures (or not). :)

Later that day the girls and Goo went to the mall where we did a little shopping and a little dino-land playing. Miss C informed me over dinner that she just needed some "girl time" - too cute!

After the kiddos were nearly ready for bed, goofy Shannon (see above) and her hubby joined us and we headed to the Haunted Farm. We met up with this guy:

... screamed (some of us more than others) and had a super fun time. We then headed back to the house and squeezed in some cards and some Trivial Pursuit (oh, and maybe some, um, adult beverages) until we gave up and finally went to bed.

Sunday we the in-laws headed for home and we headed out to the Buffalo River Pumpkin Patch with Shannon's family. Here's her "Bug" and Goo ... just 6 months apart, we imagine they'll be good buddies as they grow!


All in all, a crazy fun couple of weeks again - time goes too fast! Seems like that jolly old guy in the red suit will be here before we know it. *sigh* ... until next time!

We're Alive!

Here's the scoop since I last checked in.

At the beginning of August, we went to Medora with T's fam. We had a blast and were pleasantly surprised that Goo did really well in the car - sleeping from Fargo to Bismark both ways - we love that kid! We were a little squished in the Prius ... but more on that later.

I took a few extra days off and painted Goo's room and our master bath ...

We spent a couple of weekends doing respite for my parents foster kids, and got to host a little piece of my "little" brother B's 13th birthday party.

At the end of August, I spent the weekend with the class of 1999 - can you belive it's been 10 years already?! We had a dinner/bonfire Friday night and spent Saturday with kids and spouses - we hit the zoo and grilled. Fun times, fun times ...


Finally, the Tuesday after the reunion I had an interview for a promotion I REALLY wanted at work. Later that day we went to the walk in - did you know you can get swimmers ear without actually swimming? And that 4 molars coming in at the same time = a really cranky baby? Poor guy.

Thursday of that week (our day off from the walk-in) we drove to Wahpeton and picked up our "new ride" - my mom's mini-van. I'm offically a soccer mom. :)

Friday we went back to the walk-in, sold the Prius, and I got the call that I got the job! That afternoon, T and I drove to Grand Forks and picked up my favorite mother-in-law who spent the weekend with me and Goo while T and his Dad played in a golf tournament. Thankfully, Goo was feeling much better by this point, so we celebrated and shopped till we dropped.

Last weekend (Hey! I'm almost caught up!) T's brother and his family came for a visit, and my friend K, her sister and I went to Britney Spears in Grand Forks for her birthday. Crazy show!

This week I started my new job which I LOVE (yay!) and on Friday we headed out of town for T's Dad's "suprise" 50th bday party. Unfortunately, a rouge black baloon ruined the surprise, but we still had lots of fun! I forgot my camera (again) and tried to make up for it by loading you up with pictures at the beginning of this post.

In any case - WOW. We've been busy. Wouldn't have it any other way! I'd close with a promise to post more soon - but, who knows when that will happen again. So instead, I'll leave you with a picture of our cutie-pie Goo snoozing in his carseat on his way home from one of our previously mentioned escapades. 10 points if you can guess which one!!

Cows ....

When you see a giant cow on the side of the road ...

... you simply must stop, try to milk it ...

... and take a goofy family photo.

One d%$! Pound (among other things) ...

I'm SO CLOSE to being back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Can you guess? That's right, one d&@# pound. It will come off. I swear. Even though it seems to have taken up permanent residence, it WILL go away. Seriously.

On a more serious note (more serious than seriously, even) - please pray for this little guy and his family with me: http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. Mr. Stellan is just a few months younger than Goo and has been having a rough time lately. I found this blog accidentally a few months ago and got hooked. I don't know these people, but feel very much like this mama could be a friend of mine. Her little guy is so sweet and is such a fighter. Hang in there, buddy! We're all pulling for you. :)

Finally, because a blog post without pictures is no fun, I leave you with a couple of photos of Mr. Magoo at the chiropractor.

And yes, I am that Mom, who brings the camera everywhere she goes, because her kid is the cutest, smartest, funniest thing on the planet. Prove me wrong, I dare you. :)

Life is Good Today

I have to say, this kid of ours spoils us.

He smiles all the time.
He can entertain himself for hours with only his toes to chew on and an empty soda bottle.
He goes to sleep with minimal stalling.
He flirts.
He splashes in the bath.
He eats pickles.

Seriously, how lucky are we?

Oh, and did I mention? He's a genius. And a comedian. And a hugger. And a kisser.

Life is good today. :)

Happy Birthday, Baby!

July, Already?

I know, I know ... I'm not great about updating this thing. What can I say - June FLEW by (with the exception of 3 very long days). Here's an update on life as we know it.

The House: We're finally moved in! Still not settled, but we keep plugging away. Our big drama of the month was being homeless for 3 days ... our closing was supposed to happen on Monday the 15th and didn't happen until Thursday the 19th. In the meantime, all of our things had already been moved to the garage of the new house. Thankfully, my parents had brought their camper to help us move and were gracious enough to let us live in it while we waited to hear what was going on with our paperwork. What a mess! But ... we survived. And we love our new place. Pictures to come!

The Goo: Goo is walking around corners like a pro, has 2 new teeth (6 & 7) and is babbling up a storm. He's handled the transition beautifully and loves chasing the dogs around our new place. Grandma and Grandpa K dropped of Goo's birthday present in our garage this week - a new swing set! Once we get it together, I'm sure we'll spend even more time outside.

We're also busy getting ready for those big birthday parties. This weekend and next will be all about Goo. We also wrapped up his first session of swimming lessons this week ... Goo loved the water but wasn't quite comfortable with the floating, yet. We'll have to try again next year. :)

The Weight Loss: Weight Watchers is going surprisingly well. I'm down a total of 11 pounds and am tantalizingly close to being back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Moving was tough, we ate out a lot while we were "homeless" and unpacking, but we're getting back to normal now. We're also participating in the "Biggest Loser" contest at our chiropractor, so hopefully some of our hard work pays off!

That's life in a nutshell for now, ta-ta!

That was fast ...

Goo's walking across whole rooms, now. I expect that he'll be running shortly. Thank goodness for padded diaper bums. :)



PS - Are everyone's kids this dirty by the end of the day?

Celebrate.Remember.Fight Back.

This weekend we packed up the car (yes, again) and headed to Devils Lake for the annual Relay for Life. This year, the crew "looked to the stars" to find a cure for cancer.

We were late, and didn't dress up ... but the rest of the team looked great! I particularily like Miss Hannah Montana's expression in the front row, there. :)

On a side note, when packing, remember to always leave yourself a few options for weather suprises. Like 40 degree temperatures in June. Seriously.

So ... back to the relay ... last I heard, they'd raised over $125,000 from this event alone. Amazing.

One more pic ... uncle R trying to give Goo a cheeto ... Good boy, Goo. Keep making that face. :)

I go out walking ...

Darn kid.

Babbles

One of the most fun milestones so far has been listening to Goo learn how to talk. He started with "mama" (of course) and quickly followed with "dada" and "baba" (bottle). He's also recently added "tickle, tickle" to his vocabulary and even though it comes out "tigoo, tigoo"- we're still pretty sure he's a genius.

Here's Mr. Goo Genuis himself ... forgetting he wasn't holding on to anything ... *sigh* ...

Bumps and Bruises

We're at that stage ... in every picture we take, Goo has a different bump, bruise, or scratch. One minute he's crawling along at 90 miles-per-hour, the next minute he "trips" over his arm and his face hits the floor. Or, he's standing by the bed/crib/couch/table reaching for something, takes a big step and does a little "flip" - again, hitting the floor. Poor guy!

When we made the decision to put hardwood floors in our living room, we were thinking of the walker-stage and how much fun it'd be for our little one to zoom around between the kitchen and living room. And it was fun!



... but now it's time for carpet. Thankfully, the new place has carpet in both living/family rooms. :)

Shorts!

Now that it's finally here, I just have to say HOORAY for Spring!!! The amount of time it takes to get ready in the morning has been cut in half with less layers, no coats, no mittens, and no blanket.

And at home, really, who needs pants?

The Big 0-1

I seriously cannot believe that Goo will turn 1 in 7 short weeks. This last year has literally flown by. We spend a lot of time shaking our heads saying "What happened to that little, itty baby we met last summer?"



By the looks of things, this moose had him for breakfast.


Plans are in the works for party 1, party 2, and party 3. You can never have enough 1st birthday parties, right? We'll celebrate with my side of the family the weekend of the 4th, with our friends here in Fargo on his actual birthday (the 7th) and with Travis's side the weekend after - on the 12th. Invitations to come! :)

Weight Watchers Update

Speaking of weight loss motivation, I weighed in today and lost another 2.2 pounds. Yay! Now if I could snap myself out of my "lose 2-gain 1" cycle, this would go much faster. I had to giggle - we talked about different everyday ways to increase your activity level. Does lugging around and/or chasing after a 28 lb. 10 month old earn me activity points? I seriously think it should. Ha!

The reason I love Weight Watchers meetings is because I'm constantly learning or being reminded of things I can do to make my weight loss (and therefore my life) easier. I was reminded today to park far away and not take elevators. I know these things, but when winter rolled around this year, I totally used Goo as an excuse. It's cold, I can't drag him across the entire parking lot! And he's heavy! I'd be sweating if I walked up 2 flights of stairs with him and his stuff! Needless to say, it's not winter any more, and I'll be throwing a travel-sized deodorant in my purse. Problem solved.

Does Money Motivate?

Goo's chiropractor posted a flyer this morning about a weight-loss contest. There's a $60 entry fee, weekly weigh-ins, and at the end, the person who loses the most (inches + weight loss, percentage-wise) gets 50% of the entry fee. Second and third place each get 25%. She promises weight-loss and healthy living advice and clearly is using cash as a motivator. Is it bad that I'm totally considering this? :) Talk about getting healthy for the "wrong reasons" ...

Speaking of Goo's chiropractor - he's famous.

The "Goo" Thing ...

So I was thinking I should probably explain the "Goo" thing ... When I was pregnant, T and I couldn't agree on a boy's name to save our lives. The baby even gave us two extra weeks to think about it, but he still didn't have a name until he made his appearance at the hospital. So in the meantime, we had to refer to him as something - and Mr. Magoo it was. Mr. Magoo got shortened to "Magoo" - and later just "Goo." He's also sometimes "Goofers" and "Goofy" - both very appropriate names for our funny little guy.


On a side note, I totally horrified two of my co-workers before he was born. Here's how it went:

Them: So does the baby have a name yet?
Me: No, we really can't decide. For now, he's Mr. Magoo.
Them: (totally shocked and appalled - in all seriousness) *gasp* Don't name him that!

I laughed all the way home.

Swimming!

While we were in Hopkins this weekend we snuck a way for a few minutes and took Goo in the pool for the very first time. He didn't quite know what to think at first, but seemed to enjoy himself after the initial shock wore off.


He did cling pretty tightly to my suit strap for those first few minutes ... reminding Mom that somewhat revealing criss-cross bathing suits are probably not appropriate for swimming lessons. ;)

Movin' On Up!

We're moving! Our realtor confirmed today that our closing date will be 06/15. That gives us a little more than a month to pack, get organized, and get out. Travis and I have scheduled some time off work and Goo has been instructed to not take his first steps until we're in the new house. We can't post many photos until after closing, but for now - we'll give you a "sneak peek" of the new place.


It's a split-level that boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and a huge backyard. We'll do some painting and personalizing but overall, it's in really nice shape. Which is good - because Mr. & Mrs. Fix-it we are not.

Swingin'

We took all three of our "boys" to the park this week and tried out swings and the slide. Goo was so happy on the swing that he literally screamed the entire time. So cute!