{give thanks}

:We are Thankful:

 



 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

 

Today I am reminded of the abundance of blessings in my life. We are thankful for good food, wonderful friends and family, health and strength, a loving and forgiving Heavenly Father, a good job, a nice house to live in, trials and challenging times that allow us to grow, technology, our country, quality time spent together as a family and......

 

 Pumpkin Pie

 

 



{dig deep}

'Dig Deep Andrea' was a phrase that came to mind several times over the past 2 weeks. Steve has been on an 'away rotation' in Utah since Nov. 4th and will be getting home this Sunday. So, literally he will have been gone for 2 full weeks. Never in the 10+ years that we have been married that, #1 have we been away from each other for that amount of time, and #2 have I had to be 'on my own' for that amount of time. Honestly, I'm sure that we would have been just fine--aside from the boys missing their daddy, and me missing my husband. But, then again life is funny sometimes how things tend to turn out.

 

 

The week started out pretty good, and I felt like you know what--I am going to be ok. I can do this. Lots of people do this sort of thing on their own all the time. I certainly can hold it together by myself for 2 weeks. But, then very quickly things started to unravel in a hurry. I unknowingly injured my foot one morning while exercising and continued to work out on it for a couple days afterwards. It definitely hurt, but I thought it wasn't a big deal and kept on going. But then it started to swell, and I could barely walk. So, I sucked it up and went into the Dr.'s to have it x-rayed and have it examined. The x-ray thankfully came back negative-- meaning that I didn't have a small fracture or break in the bone which was a huge relief. But I did have a pulled Achilles and a pretty significant case of tendonitis on the outside and inner parts of my foot. So at least I knew what was causing me all of this pain and discomfort. Treatment: rest, ice, Ibuprofen and wrapping it up.

 

Ok, so I have a gimpy foot--big deal, we can do this! No problem, take a week off from CrossFit and do the above treatment plan, all will be well. But then Saturday happened......


 





 

I had promised the boys that if they did their very best to help me out while their dad was gone, that I would take them to see "Wreck It Ralph" on Saturday morning as a reward. Well, I must say they both really stepped it up that first week, and ended up helping me out more than I had anticipated. So the morning of the movie day came--and I was upstairs finishing getting ready, as we were about to  walk out the door within 5 minutes to go to the show and what do I hear........

 

Poor Tanner had lost it everywhere!! (Literally) He hadn't even said that he didn't feel good that morning, so I was a bit shocked to see him throw up. But alas, the boy was in deed very sick that entire day and into the night. The worst part was-- that I felt so bad that they had both 'worked so hard' to earn this movie day, and here we all were, stuck at home with a pukey Tanner. 

 

 

Then the 'worst day of my life' came....Monday! I'd like to forget that day ever happened. I woke up feeling completely awful. I was praying so hard that the unthinkable wouldn't happen--but very unfortunate for all of us it did, and I got sick too. Just as I was lying there in misery, hoping that the day would pass quickly--I got a call from Hunter's school saying that he had just thrown up in the lunchroom. Dig Deep Andrea, dig deep girl! Pick yourself up off the floor, hobble on that gimpy foot of yours, to go get your pukey son from school, then go pick up your 2nd son from preschool, and cross your fingers that baby girl doesn't get it. Well, she did of course poor Mia Kate--it broke my heart to see her so miserable. We were quite a sight to behold I am sure. Let's just say things did not go well from this point on. And the rest of that day quite honestly was a huge blur. I do remember at one point calling my mom in tears, asking her what do mom's do when they get sick?

 



 

It took a couple days for the 'pukes' to run it's course--and I am very proud to say that we all survived!! And my foot has become markedly improved, thank goodness for that. Wow! What a ride that was. Not sure I'd ever really want to re-live those rocky couple of days over again. But I did learn something about myself that I didn't know was there.

 

A girl can dig deep when the situation calls for it! And I did :)

 

 

{6+ months}

 

Mia Kate is 6 months old (and then some....)

Better late than never right?! October was QUITE the month I tell you. I feel like I am still playing catch up from all that went on during that month. But I do find it somewhat alarming that this little peanut of ours is really 6 months old. Has she really been with us for 1/2 yr already?



Her little smile lights up our home. She is such a good, happy, low maintenance baby. I tell you I lucked out with this little gem. She is just a peach. I had her in last month for her 6 month check up and she is a very healthy, tall girl. She was 99% on height and 75% on weight. Sometimes I wished that I could freeze this moment in time, and really cherish every single minute with her. (Don't we all?)

 



 

Eating baby food is not her favorite activity. She is getting more used to the textures and taste, but so far....not a big fan. From what I can tell though, she likes sweet potatoes and squash the best.

 

 

 

Sitting up on her own is something that she has just recently been able to do. I bought her this musical toy that lights up when you push the buttons, and she really likes to play with it.  

 

 



 

Laughing and 'talking'. What a little noise box Mia is. She looooves to coo and talk to us ALL the TIME! Seriously, this might be a sign of things to come, but man that girl is likes to make noise and blow bubbles. Also she is quite the rolly polly baby. She is happiest when she is on her tummy.




This little girl is a finger sucker all the way. I tried so hard in the beginning to get her to take a pacifier, but she was NOT having it. What I love the most-- is in the mornings when I go to her crib to get her up, there she is sucking her chubby little fingers and smiling at me. Makes my day every time!

 



What can I say Mia Kate, you are one special girl. And I don't think I've ever seen a more adorable pig than you!!

 



{election day}

 

I exercised my right to vote!
 

Why....because it is one of the many privileges we have all been given to live in this great country. I am proud to be an American. This election year has been pretty exciting here in corn country Iowa. I have tried to get involved as much as I could, and was fortunate to attend 2 of the rally's for Romney and Ryan over the past few months. It all began in January when we went to the Caucus and cast our vote. It has been quite the political firestorm ever since. Living in a 'battle ground' state has it's advantages--- it also comes with an abundance of TV adds, phone calls, mail, etc...which gets VERY old after awhile. I hope everyone takes the opportunity given to them, and exercises their right to vote as well. I will be anxiously watching as the results roll in tonight.....

 

 

"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves."

 
Abraham Lincoln

 

 

{beggar's night}

Trick-or-treating also known as 'Beggar's Night' in Iowa was so much fun this year. I love the neighborhood we live in. We get so many trick-or-treaters that the streets are literally covered with

 kids in costumes. This year, the boys came home with so much candy it's ridiculous.

 



 

 

Captain America

Spider-Man

 



 

My sweet little Pig

 



 

Grandma Morris with the kids

 

 



 

This pic makes me laugh. We both thought Mia would be terrified of her wolf daddy when she saw him dressed up in his costume. But this is the reaction we got. She actually started laughing out loud when he 'growled' at her.

I stayed home and passed out candy, which honestly is something that I look forward to every year. On Beggar's Night, the trick-or-treaters are really big on telling you a joke before you pass out their candy, so I was quite entertained most of the night.

 

I am always sad to see our 'favorite' holiday come and go :( The month of October has been crazy and filled with a lot of good times and memories. I'm already looking forward to next year when we can do it all over again.

 

 

 



{carving}

 



Pumpkin carving is something that we look forward to every year. The kids especially enjoy painting their pumpkins and helping their dad dig out the guts.

 

I like to watch!

 



 

It is always a fun night, and this year we were lucky to have Steve's mom here with us.