Nap time bliss

I love nap time! May it be a productive accomplishing mom break or just a relaxing do nothing one, its pretty great. So far I'm 43 minutes in and I have managed to take a shower, throw in a load of diapers, make a giant batch of iced tea, finish a father's day project, clean up the kitchen, drink 40 oz of water, realize I forgot to schedule Noah's 15 month appointment last month, schedule said forgotten appointment, feed myself, and start blogging! I'm leaning on the side of productivity today!

Practicing our motor skills and using a small brush

Dad's day art project!

Last night we went to my cousin's kids BMX bike race it was a lot of fun! Really close to our house and its only an hour which is a good amount of time for a busy toddler. Maybe a future activity for this little pirate we shall see!

He is totally obsessed with wheels and tires right now

Aaaand for no reason what so ever I have decided to make a layer cake. Complete with dark chocolate frosting and sprinkles of course. I figure, it has to be someones birthday out there somewhere. I should probably celebrate by indulging in unnecessary caloric consumption.

-Over and Out!

Outside or bust

And its gorgeous out ladies and gentlemen. This little family of three has been enjoying every single second of it too. Walking everyday, playing in the yard, going to the park, gardening, bonfires, splashing in water, blowing bubbles, picnics, hiking you name it we have done it. My body is on vitamin D overload and I'm not complaining!

This is the very short lived golden season that shall be referred to as : BEFORE THE BLOOD SUCKING BUGS TAKE OVER THE LAND.  In the the lovely state of Minnesota we never cease to get a break from anything. May it be frigid winter, copious amounts of snow, road construction season, humidity that makes straight hair curl, or being literally eaten alive by mosquitoes. So when spring has finally sprung its marvelous beauty and the blood suckers have not hatched, run to the outdoors, RUN!

For memorial weekend we went to the Minneapolis farmers market (which was insanely busy), planted a garden, went to a BBQ and took a day trip to Taylor's Falls. Typically this weekend is always rainy and cold so everyone and their mother had to take advantage of the 80 degree temps. My skin got fried and I liked it, I liked it a lot.

As part of my mother's day gift the hubs got us tickets for a river boat tour in Taylor's Falls. Noah was a complete nut. Upstairs to the top deck, downstairs, inside, outside, say hi to the captain, try to help steer the boat, eat a snack, flirt with people, try throwing sippy cup into the river, try to jump into the river, chase the big kids, watch paddles spin round and round, eat another snack aaaaaaad repeat. And repeat again. Busy toddler doesn't begin to describe it!

The hubs and I needed a seriously cold beer after chasing around that silly pirate!

Hope everyone else has enjoyed their nice weather as well!

-Over and Out

Yay for good news!

I am absolutely elated to announce that my hubby is back at work! Next month would have made it 1 year that we have been dealing with this struggle in the Conner household. And man what a year it has been! Oodles of difficult times, dead end job opportunities, crying, stress, emotionally and physically draining and at times down right depressing year.

Throughout the challenge of these 330 some odd days have brought us, one thing is sure. GOD IS GOOD. So completely, entirely good. A lesson I have learned before but never can forget. He will not let you go through more then what you can possibly handle. It is this truth that kept me going, kept me plugging along after each and every hit we kept getting slammed with. Towards the end of all of this I was at my breaking point. Literally felt like I was losing my mind. Working overtime while short staffed at work, not seeing enough of my small pirate boy, depressed husband at home wanting nothing more than to provide for his family. Drained doesn't even begin to describe it.

So we prayed. We pray regularly together but this was a different kind of prayer. This prayer was of total and complete helplessness, letting everything go and proclaiming "Alright God THIS, is it. We trust and love you and are looking for your directions but this is all we can take. We can't handle any more we are going insane!" For some time now all we prayed about was for the right job to come along. Money doesn't matter (yes you need to pay the bills) but if your unhappy and stressed then whats the point? We prayed that if we need to move out of state or take a pay cut we would do that. As long as He guided us into the right direction and the right fit for my husband, we would go.

It was only 1 week after we had that prayer session with God that Matt got offered a great position. Days, no pay cut, 8 miles and 2 stop lights away. Just when we were about at our wits end, God provided for us in a big way. Its such a challenge to be so vulnerable and put your trust in God and then wait. Wait and wait and wait for what seems like all of eternity. But then again things never seem to happen in the timing we think it should now does it?

For now I am just enjoying getting back to a normal routine. And starting off every day with a joyful and thankful heart! Clearly this will not be the last hardship we endure but I sure am enjoying the break. Difficult experiences can strengthen your relationships. Install a grateful heart. And grow your skin just a tiny bit thicker. A lifetime without hardships and trials would be rather dull I would assume. So cheers to well rounded life experiences!

-Over and Out

Spring. Or Winter. Sprinter.

I can confidently say that the Conner household is right back on crazy mode. Aaaaaand no, I'm not enjoying it. Things have been insane to say the least. Matt's still in search of the perfect job. I'm working much more than I ever care to. And Mr. Pirate himself is getting over pneumonia. Also if it snows just one more time my marbles will be totally lost. Gone. Done. Finished. That's all she wrote.

The other week it starting raining. Then turned into rain/snow. Which then proceeded to just straight up snow and ice all over like an abominable snow man puked continuously until the end of time. What was expected to be 1-4 inches turned into over a foot of snow in my area. Taking me over an hour to get home. Only seeing my Noah for 30 minutes before he went to bed. And yes, I was cranky. Alright mother nature no more! We are moving on to spring and I advise you to do the same. For the sake of my sanity please. For the love of all that's holy please!

All dramatics aside I really am looking forward to warmer weather. And the first person to complain about the heat who isn't largely pregnant or without air conditioning shall receive a swift kick in the shin.

Any who, we are short staffed at work and I am working too many hours for my personal preference. My house is a mess. There isn't enough family time. Not enough alone time/blog time/cleaning time/ meal planning time/sanity time. Bla the list goes on and on. I give mad mad props to all those full time working moms out there. I do not know how you accomplish anything at home or keep your mental state of mind working 40+ hours a week. Especially when all you want is to spend time with your little peanut. Hard stuff. Extremely hard stuff.

Yet Noah and I managed to do a few projects on my limited time off.

So two weeks ago I was working when Matt messaged me saying that Noah had a fever. I wasn't too surprised since he had been sick with a cold and cough and was also getting a ton of teeth at one time. Sometimes he spikes a low grade fever while teething. That evening we were supposed to go out for my Birthday. All it took was one look at him when I walked in the door and I knew we weren't going anywhere. My poor miserable baby boy. It was most definitely a snuggle day.

That night I woke up to him crying at 2 a.m. and I immediately knew something was wrong. It was one of those mom moments when you hear your child's voice in a strange I'm not ok kind of a cry and race to their room. He was burning up he was so hot. I stripped him of his clothes and diaper and took his temp. 104. Gave him Tylenol, walked around the house, put a cool cloth on his neck, read stories. Finally got the temp down to 102, low enough for him to go back to bed but I knew we would be going to the urgent care in the morning.

Having worked on the nursing staff at urgent care for 2 years I knew what they were going to do before they did it. On my end it was nice to know what to expect and help hold the little muscle man in place for his x-ray. Sure enough he got his very first pneumonia. Poor bubba. He still had a very high fever the whole day and was just a miserable mess. Nothings worse than watching your very own little human struggle with being sick and miserable.

whelp, that pretty much brings things up to speed on the exciting life of the Conner family. Noah's doing better still a lot of coughing at night but no more pneumonia.

- Over and Out

Nuggets First Travel To Arizona! Part 2 : The Trip

It was so great to be able to visit my parents in Sedona I want to go back already! The morning we flew out Minnesota ended up getting a huge snow storm. Good thing our flight was early! dodged that bullet.

The hubs couldn't make it but I was lucky enough to force my bestie to come along. (As if she needed any convincing to take a vacation away from winter aaaand a rambunctious toddler - every mamma needs a break every now and then!) We basically ate, hiked, soaked up sunshine, drank, then woke up and did it all over again. Probably the most perfect vacation agenda I could ever conjure up. And guess who loves to hike? Mr. Noah that is. Indeed he is my son.

Coconino and bell rock hikes

It is absolutely gorgeous in Sedona. It's a funky hippy like town with fantastic food and trails. I'm serious If I lived there I would be hiking every single second I could. My parents backyard butts up against the coconino forest with trails super close by. Then for more challenging hikes my mom stayed back and watched the pirate while we drove 10 minutes down the road some amazing trails.

Devils bridge hike and coffe pot hike

He loved being half naked most of the day!

Grand Canyon 

I would be lying if I said I didn't seriously contemplate coming back home. Soooo sick of winter. but alas, I returned to the frozen tundra of the North. Just in time for yet another polar vortex. Worst welcome home ever. Good thing that is done with now and spring is on its way! Hooray! Once nugget poo wakes up from his nap I am going outside and going running. Like the Forest Gump kind of running. I will start and never stop until I see ocean, grass, warmth, a palm tree. Or until I get plantar fasciitis - which ever comes first.

-Over and Out

Nugget's first travel to Arizona! Part 1: The flight

Visiting my parents in Sedona was amazing! A much needed break from the longest, coldest winter of my lifetime. Not going to lie I was expecting the worst for the plane ride and all the car time with Noah but the pirate definitely threw me for a loop. Just when you think you know your child, BAM. They completely surprise you. Something tells me he will be doing that to me for the rest of our lives!

The Plane

I really was prepared for the worst. The thought of flying with one very active 1 year old is a tad terrifying. 

Mom brain:

• No way he's going to want to sit still
• What if he cries and screams
• I hope he can clear his ears
• What if people are rude and complain and give the hairy eyeball?
• How am I going to keep him on my lap
• Are there changing tables on planes?
• What if he has a poop explosion? Poopagedon 2014?
• Can I bring food and milk on? 
• What kind of toys should I bring?
• No toys that talk, squeak, or rattle or are obnoxious in any way
• How do I entertain him for 3.5 hours sitting in a tight space?
• WOOF. 
• OVERWHELMED.

When all is said and done he really did fantastic. Above and beyond all the expectations that I had. The hum of the plane was a good soother so he took a short nap the ride there and an even longer nap the ride home. Snacks! Snacks! and snacks! and more snacks. And lots of variety in snacks. That is my advice for a 1 year old! They didn't have milk on the plane so I suggest stopping at a coffee shop in the airport to get some warm milk for take off. It really helped calm him down. And as a special treat he had apple juice in his sippy cup. I usually diluate any juice I give him so the straight up apple juice was a good surprise for him. That sucking motion really helped his ears to clear I think. Having him drink take off and landing worked well. I tried giving him a nuk for his ears too but he wasn't too interested in it. We tried looking at books and singing his favorite songs and looking out the window. And when he wanted to stand I just let him stand in between my legs in front of the seat so he could stretch and move.

 

On the day of travel home we had a layover instead of a direct flight. That worked well to have time split up. I just let him walk and walk and walk around the gate so he could get some energy out. He was a little hyper and goofy the last flight home. He was laughing and screeching kind of loud but I honestly didn't even care at that point. He was still a good happy boy and the plane had 50 open seats so people could have moved if they wanted. I was concerned that he was going to turn into one giant ritz cracker by the end of the flight though. SO MANY CRACKERS CONSUMED.

That's all I have!

• Snacks
• Juice
• Leg stretching
• Window
• Snacks
• Warm milk
• Games
• Books 
• Songs
• Aaaaaaand snacks

-Over and Out

Busy busy bees

Man it's been crazy busy lately! And I'm so happy it has.  This season has been horrid. HORRID. I can not remember any winters being as awful and cold as this one has. We are very thankful to have been so busy to keep our minds off of it! First it was my husbands birthday, then the polar plunge, then the pirates birthday, then our anniversary, and Arizona next week. I just need a few more activities crammed in here then boom, spring will be here!

Polar Plunge! Team happy dunkers

My sweet Birthday Boy on his special day! ( There will be an entire blog written just about his pirate birthday I'm sure!) 

3rd year wedding anniversary sure has gone fast 

One cold and particularly miserable day, Noah and I took a field trip to Menards. Nothing we deperately needed so we woundered in and out of the aisles trying to find random cheap objects to make a sensory board. This small human loves door stops, the springy, boingy, totally fun and awesome kind. So that was all I knew we had to include. Then we meandered about and actually found quite a few sweet items to attach. I used my ultra handy craftsmen skills (acquired from Pappa Sontowski) and walaaaa... Sensory board of fantastic proportions! (the door stop is still his favorite)

That literally lasted one day. ONE DAY. I really need some kind of a hobby. Not baking because I already love to bake and if I baked all winter long I would need to work out constantly. Sick, that sounds horrible. Knitting? Meh, I don't think knitting is my thing. I might have to give it a whirl though. Snow shoeing? Lame, maybe if I didn't live in a suburban neighborhood and I actually had some sweet wildlife to admire, or even one tree. Oh man I just need to win the lottery so I can travel all winter long. Done. That is my hobby. Buying lotto tickets. Marvelous.