death, rebirth, graduations, and fun

Two weekend's ago we had a rather crazy time.  It seemed everything landed all at once. 

My Great Uncle Bill passed away.  Jenny and I went to the visitation together on Friday. My parents waited for us there and watched the kids while we went through the line.  

After the visitation, I went straight to Carli's graduation party.  Nathan went from work to a Sunday School thing.   I can't believe Carli has graduated.  I just keep feeling older. :) Bryce M and Jesse S also had graduation parties that weekend that we weren't able to make it to. 

Saturday,  I met Abby and Boden out at the farm.  My parents were at Bill's funeral, so I got to show Boden the pigs, chicks, and cows.  He was just as interested in stomping in mud puddles, climbing on hay, and chasing the one friendly cat.   I'm proud to say, I think the Indiana cousins have actually produced a good ol' farm kid. Hehe. ;) 

 

Abby and Alyssa then brought Boden and Parker to our house to hang out and play for the afternoon.  Gideon sat and watched in awe.

That evening we went to the condos for supper.  Most everyone headed over to church for testimonies.  Abby, Jenny, and I stayed back with the kids and babysitters and just went over for Troy's.  Gideon was already cranky so I didn't want to leave him the whole time with already overloaded babysitters or attempt to take him with me.  I loved listening to Troy talk about how God has worked in his life.  It was very encouraging...and a slight bit amusing at times. :)

Sunday, we spent the big long day at church. Four baptisms bring a lot of people. Especially when four of the largest extended families decide to have baptisms on the same day. 

It was a great weekend.  I got to see a lot of cousins, though for a short time. 

Sunday evening, we crashed at home. Gideon had had enough going and coming and people and lack of naps. 

Monday, Gideon and I met Lena and Jack at Five Points in Washington for the kid's swimming time. Gideon loved it.  He didn't mind being splashed and kept trying to drink the water.  It makes me all the more giddy for summer and pool time. 

Ed and Peggy were here from California for the funeral, so they stopped by Monday afternoon.   We all had supper at the farm that evening then. 

My peonies are finally blooming! Oh how I love flowers.

Screech!!! :)

:) :)

Think I took enough pictures of peonies??

Our strawberries and lettuce took off too.  

This was just one day.  

And they are so, so good.

Friday, Emily came with her kids, Jace and her little foster daughter.  Katy came too, since she had the day off. Gideon loved watching them.  He seemed envious of them running around. Poor kid wants to join in the fun. 

They were so fun to watch. 

This past weekend we had much fewer plans. Well, I had plans. :) Plans to do projects around the house. :) Saturday was a work day here. We finished long awaited projects like a peep hole for our front door and paint touch ups. 

Sunday evening we went over to Aaron and Kendra's with Daniel and Wendi and Brad and Katherine. We had a fun evening and Gideon was in a pretty good mood the whole time. 

I'm a terrible American. Sigh. I did nothing festive for Memorial Day.   We just spent the day cleaning, doing more projects, and relaxing. 

Gideon loves strawberries.
He loves to squish them through his fingers.

 And smear them all over.
And throw them on  the floor.

Gideon likes to eat sweet potatoes with his strawberries.  
And smear them on his face.

Gideon loves to make messes.
Gideon loves taking baths.

Hehe.



Yesterday,  I bought Gideon  a pool. 

he is very happy.

In Christ
~Michelle

26

Look at me posting again so soon!

A lot has happened though, and there is a lot more to come. :)

I turned 26, (Woe is me. I'm getting older.) we celebrated Mother's day, Gideon is 7 months old!,  and lots of other fun stuff. 

The older generation probably judges me harshly due to the fact that I never put socks or shoes on my child. gasp! He will catch his death. hehe.    

Anyway, I found so cute little tennis shoes at the big sale the other week, and I decided to try them on him.  

Aren't they cute!!!! 

He didn't really like having them on his feet and was far too interested in pulling the strings. He managed to get them off in about two minutes.  Which is why he never wears them to begin with.  I don't feel like carrying around socks and shoes when we go out. 

This year, my birthday happened to fall on Mother's Day.  So, we celebrated my birthday on Saturday with a stay-cation of sorts. 

We went to Sand Ridge State Forest.  I made Nathan take the long way, a way I drove often for work, and I pointed out all the cool things I enjoyed seeing.  Things such as old barns, Banner Marsh, Emiquon Preserve,  the crazy hills of Little America, and the such like. 

The Emiquon Preserve. 

We had a picnic lunch in the car, the picnic area was a little gross, and hiking for a while in the afternoon. Both Gideon and Nathan were good sports, hehe, and I had a lot of fun. 

ready to go hiking

we borrowed this awesome pack from Jenny

He really seemed to like it

Ahhh!!!:) 

It didn't feel like we were in Illinois still

Cacti!!! 

Yep, Sand Ridge is sandy and has cacti growing wild.

another cactus

We took the short way home and grabbed some ice cream along the way.   After we cleaned up and relaxed a bit, we went out to Olive Garden for supper. :)  Happy Birthday to me!

On Mother's Day, we went to Church with Nathan's family and spent the day with them.

:)

We looked through some pictures and found this. 

Nathan at 6 months. Gideon at 7 months. 

So yup. Mother's day.   I know. I know. I'm weird and unnatural.   I love Gideon and being a mom feels normal. But, Mother's day is just another day and I don't feel sentimental at all about it.  So, at this point in my life, while my only child it practically attached to me, it's more about honoring my mom and mother-in-law who's kids aren't all at home and who've been through a whole lot more. 

On the 16th, Gideon turned 7 months old!

He's a little stinker. :)  He loves to screech and babble. He loves going outside.  He can't crawl yet, but sits up like a little pro.   He is doing better at napping and can play by himself with toys. 

playing with the umbrella while I weeded the garden.

I'm having fun testing out different foods on Gideon.

peas were not his favorite

Gideon got to swing for the first time!

He loved it. 

Kendra invited us over for a swimming party on Thursday.  It was Gideon's first time swimming.  :) He was a little tired but loved the water. 

Gideon and Adelaide

what a little chunk

drying off

 We went on a walk in the evening.

He sat like this almost the whole time

All ready for bed. 

Not a bit tired... 10:00 at night...

And because it's not always sunshine and roses around here...

I dared to go to the bathroom.

We are looking forward to a crazy, exhausting, fun weekend filled with cousins.

In Christ

~Michelle

Yay for May

I love May.  

There are so many wonderful things.  Most of them have to do with sunshine and flowers.  :)   Another wonderful thing is the increased business.  I do much better with variety and maybe even a tad bit of stress. 

May 3rd we went to the doctor for Gideon's 6 month check up. The doctor laughed at his growth chart. It's more of a line upward than a curve. :)  He's on the short side though. Which isn't much of a surprise. 

17.6 lbs and 26.5 inches long

Last Thursday,  I went out to Camp Grove to help Rebecca paint. They live in a very old house and were having issues with paint peeling off the ceiling.  I painted Eva's ceiling and I think it turned out ok. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do.  Nathan's Mom watched Eva and Gideon while we painted. Gideon loved talking to Eva, but she seemed unimpressed. 

On the drive home I got stuck in traffic for a half hour.  From what I could tell, a semi got blown off the interstate.  Nathan was awesome and made supper while I sat in traffic and Gideon slept through the whole thing.  When I finally got home Nathan's Aunt Jane was there, she wanted to finally meet Gideon. :)

Then on Friday,  I forced my mom to come along with me to a gigantic kids consignment sale in Peoria. (It's just way more fun to go with someone)  I got a few toys and some pants for Gideon.  It was already pretty picked over. Next year I'll have to try to go on the first day. 

playing with one of his new toys

Alyssa and Kray came in to town to visit grandpa and grandma, so Kendra and I met them for lunch at the condos.  Gideon and Kray seem to really like each other. :)

Last Saturday morning, I helped host Katherine's baby shower.  I didn't see too many of the gifts, but it looked like she got a ton of cute little girl dresses.  Which reminds me why it is a very good thing for my bank account that we did not have a girl.

That afternoon, my dad and Jake came over to  chop our tree down.  Gideon went out to watch but quickly went back inside. The chainsaw had gotten stuck in the tree and the tree was tilting towars the power lines. My nerves couldn't take it.  We hid inside until the tree was down. My dad borrowed a rope from Roy and pulled the tree down with the truck. 

trying to pull the tree over.

It finally came down.

They chopped the tree up, left of some fire wood, and loaded the rest into the truck.  I'm a little sad about losing a smidge of privicy but that tree was ugly and dying. 

Saturday evening, we went to the church invite a guest. We invited Reid and Tiffany.  Gideon was a champ all through supper but had decided that enough was enough halfway through the singing. Kendra M. and Kaylyn S. were also invited by other couples. It was great to see them too. :)

Sunday after church, we celebrated Emmy's birthday at the farm. She's 3! 

 It was a lovely afternoon to play outside.

Cadence on the green chair

Emmy, Cecily, and Jack

his majesty's throne

tractor ride

Cecily playing a game with the boys

I'm not sure if I'm crazy.  But, since everything went wonderfully... nah, I'm still crazy. Like I said, I actually like a bit of stress.   I decided to host a mother's day brunch for the area Wyss Women this past Wednesday. 

I made Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls. The best. :)

oh. yum.

I set the table Tuesday evening so I could sleep in later :)

Flowers and succulents :)

yes I used my china :)

:)

 Gideon had fun playing with Adelaide. A few time I noticed when Adelaide would crawl away,  Gideon would look very offended and slightly jealous. Poor kid, he wants to be able to move so bad.  

I want that too

It was a fun morning.  And, again I realised I love having people over. Not only does it fulfill my stir-crazy/boredom/extrovert needs,  my house is clean and I have pretty flowers. :) hehe. 

I don't know if I over did it or what, but on Thursday I utterly crashed. I had been battling a cold but it hit so hard on Thursday, that I barely wanted to move. Thankfully Gideon was in a great mood and was content to sit and talk to his toys. 

He's given me a break from his no napping phase, and while he still doesn't have much rhyme or reason,  he at least is not nearly as cranky.   He loves sitting on a blanket outside and watching me work. So, I've been able to finish up a few outdoor projects. 

watching me seed some new grass

so happy to be outside.

And here are just a few snap shots of the cuteness I get to deal with daily:

hehe. his hair.

so smug 

 In Christ
~Michelle