Here, There and Everywhere

I know it has been awhile so I thought I would post some new pics of my little man. He is growing up so fast. I can't believe that he will be two in less than two weeks!!

Don't worry he likes to try on Peter's shoes, just as much as mine. I just thought his face was so cute in this picture. It is very rare to get him actually smiling in a picture. He has become either a poser, runner or he just turns away.

This is one of the shots were he turned away. I thought he looked a little like a cowboy (and maybe a little like a tourist with that cup).

This is a close up to show his carpet burn. He gets these from time to time because, when he gets mad he throws himself on the floor. Don't worry it goes away after a few hours.



This would be the poser face. Pretty cute, it captures his friendly personality but not his true smile. Oh, this is his favorite shirt. He loves it because it has "McQueen" on it. Although yesterday he pointed to the firetruck and said "WHOOO WHOOO" (this is the noise the firetruck makes, according to his favorite book).

This was his second haircut. The boy's curls grow fast!!! I think he actually enjoys getting his hair cut. First Daddy gets his hair cut then, it's Karsten's turn. He just sits there very still and smiles at me occasionally. I was cracking up.

Wow, it's been awhile

This is what our house looks like after me playing around in paint. Hopefully the house will look at little more polished once we get these finishing touches and landscaping done. These are the ideas that we want to do. The only thing I forgot to "paint" in are the shutters.

This is what the house actually looks like at this moment.

Yes, I was bored when I decided to "paint" our house.

Not my first rodeo...

...but it was Karsten's. Last weekend we had so much fun at the Western Heritage. I had never been and I guess I didn't realize that it was such a big deal. We started off early in the morning searching for a cowboy hat for Karsten. I have to admit, my son has a big head. After we finally found one that fit we went off to look at some livestock.
Our favorite was the Draft Horses. They are so huge, they also have their names printed above their massive heads. Karsten was not quite sure what to think of them. I loved seeing how huge they were. I had never been that close to one.

After the morning festivities we left for lunch and a nap. We really hoped for a nice long nap for Karsten since the rodeo didn't start until 8 p.m!!! That is about 30 minutes after his bedtime.

We headed back a little early for a special treat. Special because Peter and I are on diets right now and have not been having much "fun food". We splurged with some curly fries and a funnel cake. I have to say they both were very satisfying. We headed in to the even right as it started and Peter followed us with Cotton Candy and popcorn. Cotton Candy is my favorite thing to get when I go to the Expo Center!! Karsten loved it too!!

I am not sure that Karsten really knew what was going on. He would clap when everyone clapped and every now and then he would look at what the horses were doing, after we tried to excitedly show him. We pooped out about 10 and figured Karsten was ready for bed. He hasn't stayed up that late in a very very long time. All in all we had a lot of fun. I love getting to experience things with my son for the first time.

I think that Peter and I may have had more fun than Karsten did because we knew what was going on. I can't wait until the fair comes. That will be four more months of Karsten learning and understanding things better. I think he will love it!!

Peter trying his best to show Karsten something.

House

This is a semi-current picture of the house. They have added most all the roofing for the left side. They also still have to add one dormer in the middle of the house. Peter says they should be finished with the roofing on Monday. Then it will be on to the decking and then felting the roof. After they put the black sheets that is referred to as felting ( I don't know what they are made of but it goes on below the shingles) and the windows put on, then the house will be called "dried in". After it gets dried in, hopefully it will seem like it is moving a bit faster. The framing part just seems to take forever!!

We have Walls....

I just don't have a picture of them yet. These are pictures of our slab before they started framing on Monday. This afternoon I will try to remember to take my camera so I can take pictures of the walls. Peter has told me that the whole first floor has walls. Exciting.

This is a picture of Karsten's hands on the day that they poured the slab. He didn't like so much making his hands flat, so it really is only his fingers. I didn't realize until we were taking this picture that the concrete slab was poured on Peter and I's 5th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary to us. We know this house is a blessing from the Lord and we are so excited about it. May we use it to glorify Him in the ways that He sees fit!!!

Pictures

OK so I know I mainly read blogs to see pictures and I have been taking more pictures lately so I thought I would make a post of only pics.

This has got to be one of my new favorite pictures of Karsten. He is so silly.

His sweet smile. I love it!

Karsten hunting Easter Eggs. He was pretty good. He didn't try to open any of them he just put them in his basket.

Karsten wearing my moms shoes. He loves to put on any pair of shoes that are not being worn at the time and he thinks it a challenge to walk around in them. I set my jewelry down in his reach. He loved wearing my watch and I think he thought my necklace was candy.

We're Moving!!!

God will never cease to amaze me!!! Just when we were really starting to get going on our house plans for building and getting stuff in the works we get a contract on our house!! We are so excited!

What a testimony of how good God is. I love how His timing is always perfect. There have been many times in frustration I have wondered why our house has not sold yet and had to remind myself who was in control. The last time we bought and sold houses it also worked out perfectly. We just barely got into this house before Karsten was born, four days to be exact. I then also wondered about God's timing. I was TWO WEEKS overdo, but if he had come on my time then we would have moved with a newborn!! Not fun for sure.

We bought our lot last summer and planned on building then but neither one of our hearts were in it. We put our house up for sale in August and building settled in the back of our minds.

We knew it would happen if it were the Lord's will and in His time.

Recently we got the fire and started the planning stages. Jut as things really got going we got a contract. We are supposed to close on our building loan to start our new house any day now and we will be out of our house soon. We do not close until the first of April but we are moving out two weeks early because of some things that need to be done here and also we will be out of town the weekend before the closing.

Temporarily we will be living in an apartment. I was really excited about this, but the last couple of days I have begin to have second thoughts. I really felt like that was were the Lord was leading us to move though, so I will rely on His grace to get me through. Did I mention that we have two dogs who will be inside more than I will like them to??

Anyways, I am off to start packing because I only have a week!!! We will be moving into a place that is half the size of our house now so not everything is going with us. More than half our stuff is going in storage. We are only going to take the stuff we need for the six months we will be there.

Oh, did I mention that another part of God's timing is that it will take about six months to build a house (Lord permitting the weather and subcontractors) and that is just about the shortest lease that you can find. Another awesome praise!!!

I will end with a phrase I heard somewhere. I have repeated it to myself again and again when I have to be reminded of God's grace and timing.

"God is very rarely early but He is Never late."


p.s. Will let you know more when we get started on our house and I have pictures to post.

Sometimes you feel like a nut....

I have to say that Karsten is a little nut. He cracks us up pretty much all day long except when his little teethys are hurting him, then he is grumpy. Anyway this was taken at lunch earlier. I told him to show me so I could take a picture. He obviously likes to show off a little bit.

This was Karsten with his finger-fork. I thought it was kinda funny. Then again I don't get out much.

Our Family

This is the first family picture of us since we went to the Grand Canyon this past summer. It may not be the best but it is way better than the last one. This was at my birthday dinner in January. I have since had my hair chopped off, much to the dismay of my husband ( and me, I really want to grow out my hair again. I obviously have awful communication skills when it comes to getting my haircut.)

Cereal

Karsten was eating his first official bowl of cereal by himself. Mommy helped out a bit. He did a great job though!! He loves to do things himself.

Been Awhile

Ok so its been quite awhile since I have posted. I think its pretty sad that my sister-in-law that is packing to move to a different state with two little ones blogs more than I do. Kudos to you my soon to be Texas living sister-in-law!!! So I will play a little catch up.

Not much has been going on. I started running with a friend about three times a week. Well I say running but we run and walk about the same distance. I am pretty proud to say that I ran a whole half mile straight last week. That's a lot for me by the way

Karsten is doing much better with the whole bedtime thing. Some nights he cries and some nights he doesn't. We have finally gotten another bedtime routine pretty much worked out. At nap time he probably cries more than he doesn't cry. It's for very short periods of time though. Usually only 5-10 minutes.

He got his first scraped knee a few weeks ago while playing outside with Daddy. Yes, only in West Texas do we wear shorts in January. His favorite thing to do is to take a ride in the Jeep with his Daddy or just sit in it and pretend to take a ride.

Daisy is about to have her puppies. We keep thinking any day now because she possibly can't get any bigger.

Now you see why I haven't blogged in awhile. There is just not that many news things going on here. Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day weekend!!

Update

OK, so the first night of bottle weaning may have gone a little too well. The last two days at nap time Karsten hasn't taken milk at all. He cries himself to sleep each time. He only cries for about 10 minutes off and on. Last night for bed time Karsen would not take his milk but after laying him down and tucking him in he quietly went to sleep. Tonight he fought me hard to not take his milk and is currently still crying himself to sleep.

I know this is a battle with a very strong willed little guy and the outcome is really best for him but it is still super hard for this mommy. I am already missing and looking forward to again having quiet rock time before laying him down for bed.

I have been a little anxious about the amount of milk he has been drinking (or a lack there of) so I looked up today to see how much milk he requires at this age. I am pretty sure that he is meeting that requirement or very very close so that makes me feel better. We also have been doing lots of yogurt and cheese. I think I may take the little juice he gets completely away for a few days to encourage him to drink his milk.

I am really hoping this battle doesn't last for too many more days. I feel so bad for my little man. :(

So excited!!!

OK, so Karsten is about three days away from being 16 months old and he up to this point has still been using the bottle. Well his New Year's Resolution and mine is Bye Bye Bottle!! Whenever we did the sleep training thing Karsten did great and he was falling asleep by himself just fine. He would drink his milk in my lap and I would lay him down, he would turn over and that was it. It was great for about 4 months. Well one morning I wasn't feeling well and I gave him his bottle to drink in his bed. I know, I know. BIG NO NO!! That has been the habit ever since.

Monday night I cracked down. I didn't have any more excuses. For the past month or so we have been super busy or out of town so it was not a good time to take the bottle away. I finally ran out of excuses and Monday night I started getting him in the habit of drinking his milk in my lap again. The first night he fussed when I took his bottle away for about ten minutes and then fell asleep. The second night I laid him down, covered him up, turned on his fan and then went to grab his bottle and he had already dropped it next to him. The third night He handed it to ME!! I was cracking up as I left the room. He is such a quick learner so we went without the bottle tonight. Granted it was a Nuby cup with a silicon nipple like thing, but it is still a cup nonetheless. He did great. Other than flowing a little to fast for him you couldn't tell a difference. I did the same routine and his little arm was in the air waiting for me to take the cup from him before I walked out of the room.

I am just so excited because I have made this to be such a big deal in my head. Maybe it was more me that was hanging onto the bottle?? I am so proud of him and the little man that he is becoming. Peter doesn't understand why this makes me so giddy. It is something that has been on the dreaded part of the to-do list for many months. So far so good but we will see if he seems to pitch any fit later on for the bottle.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!