Home Sweet Home!

Korey and I were both gone for the weekend- he was working and I went to Minneapolis with some girls to spend the weekend, so needless to say Sunday was a great day- the three of us were finally back together and at our house!

The first thing Hailey did was re-explore the yard! She checked out all of her favorite haunts and then remembered that her car was in the shed! :)

Then we found one tiny mud puddle that hadn't dried up in the backyard

that's pretty much when the fun began!

Then she had to check out her sandbox again! (and show us her baby)
I think that Hailey just loves to be dirty and anything that allows her to be dirty is fun for her!

Before I left I was pretty worried about how much I would miss Hailey (and Korey), but I ended up not really missing them as much as I thought I would!! I definitely did miss them and couldn't wait to see them again, but I didn't cry everyday or even at all- like I sort of thought I would!! (plus, no matter how much walking around we did at IKEA and the Mall of America it was way more relaxing than running after Hailey all day!) :) Other than coming home and seeing my family again I would have to say that the highlight of my weekend was taking a nice long hot shower all by myself without worrying about what kind of trouble Hailey was getting herself into or having her under my feet! IKEA was super fun, too, though, and I got the most amazingly comfortable shoes at a store called FLIPZ at the Mall of America, and you definitely can't go wrong eating at the cheesecake factory, so I can't complain about any of it! :) I definitely missed getting Hailey out of her bed in the morning and praying with her before she went down to sleep at night- she's always the sweetest then and I just love her adorable little smiles when she first sees me!!

something new...

My husband loves what he does and he is good at it!

And, despite the scariness of his profession- since Korey's and my first year of marriage I haven't felt worried or stressed when he went to work...until...TONIGHT!
I don't know if it is pregnancy hormones, the fact that there's a lot of wind right now, the thought of raising a little boy...or what, but today when Korey left to go and help get the power back on for some people in Wabeeno I felt like crying. In fact, I even had to call him on his way just to tell him that I loved him- again- because I never let him leave the house for work until I tell him I love him and that he should be safe! I know for a fact that Korey is always safe at work and that he would take no unnecessary chances, but there's always the chance that someone else could make a mistake, a random tree could fall down and hit him...so many things run through a wife's head at that moment and a lot of the time many of them are rather silly!

So, as soon as I stopped having a pity party for myself I got out a verse that I had written down when I first learned about this baby that I'm carrying...Psalm 139:13-16 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my sould knows it well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in teh depths of the earth. (but verse 16 really stuck out to me this time...) Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them! How precious are your thoughts, O God!"

I know that God created Korey and he created me- he created both of our precious children and he knows what is best for all of us! He has all of the plans for all of our lives planned out already. I don't have to take matters into my own hands, I don't have to spend my evening worrying about Korey, because God has already planned out how many days Korey will be on this earth and no matter how many days that is- I know that it will be the best # of days for Korey and for his family! It is so wonderful that I can rest easy tonight trusting that the God who created us will take care of us! That doesn't mean that I'm not going to pray that God would keep my husband safe and bring him home to me- it just means that I'm going to keep repeating this memory verse to myself until I believe it and stop worrying about Korey's safety tonight! :)

You know you're in your last trimester of pregnancy when...

-you're willing to show off your bare belly on your blog!

-you say, "I'm just going to have a light snack" and then proceed to make yourself two pieces of toast and cut up a plum!

-you're cuddling with your husband at night and all you can think about is the cheese burger that their advertising on tv

-you get down on your hands and knees to scrub the floors and have to promise yourself a reward just to get up again!

-when you lie in bed at night you need a pillow to hold up your belly, and a pillow to go between your knees and a pillow, or two under your head and you don't even care if you stole them all from your husband!

-you don't even notice when people don't look you in the eye when they're talking to you- you've just come to expect them to be staring at your growing belly

-you fast the morning before you go to the doctor, just so you don't have to hear the nurse say..."well, you gained quite a bit this month"

-you feel like kissing your doctor when he tells you that you're baby is measuring small and you'll probably deliver another small one!

-you consider turning the air colder even when everyone else in the house is wearing a sweater and footy pajamas

-just carrying the laundry basket up the stairs is enough to make you consider taking a nap that afternoon!

-you take a walk so that you can get ice cream at the end!

-when your daugther wants a bite of your food you almost consider saying "no"

-you put on 15 different shirts in the morning, not because you want to find the cutest one, but because you need to find one that fits!

-you have a purse full of snacks and they're not for your one year old!

-if you don't feel your belly "rumbling and churning" you get nervous, eat some food and lay down on the couch waiting for it!

-you get weepy and cry for no reason when there are commercials with small puppies, babies or anything else even remotely cute!

-you drool as much as your dog when you see someone else eating ice cream!

-you think it's hot when the thermometer reads 72 degrees!

-you use your belly as a tray to hold everything- even your other child!

-painting your toenails is more work than it's worth!

-all you talk about, think about, or dream about is labor and delivery...

Hope you enjoy the picture of Hailey and I showing off our "baby's"! :)

17 months

...and look how she's changed!

Hailey is getting so big it's actually hard for me to keep up with all the stuff that she's learning and doing these days! She says so many words, I think there's really not much she can "communicate" if she wants to! (and that's the key...when she WANTS TO) She's definitely showing her stubborn streak these days and it's hard to get her to do stuff that she doesn't want to do...luckily, there's not much that she doesn't want to do right now. She's such a sweet and obliging child I love every minute with her!

Some of her favorite things to do are...

*chasing Allie around the house or teasing her with food and snacks

*going places! She loves to just "go"- she doesn't really care where, just as long as we go! She woke up this morning and the first word out of her mouth was "go" :)

*seeing her papa and playing with him! She still LOVES Korey and he is definitely her super hero! It is super sweet and I know that he loves it!

*eating "cookies" (that's her word for anything sweet and yummy)

*dancing to music- any kind and anywhere! We just started a music class that a friend of mine is teaching and she just gets such a kick out of it!

*talking...reading to herself...carrying on a conversation with her "baby" or talking to me, it doesn't matter- she just likes to talk!

*saying "no"! That's her new word and she enjoys practicing it whenever she can!!

*pulling up her shirt, or her mommy's shirt and playing with the belly button and saying "baby" (and it doesn't matter if we're at home, the coffee shop, the grocery store, out for a walk, at the pool...)

*making messes! this is definitely what Hailey is the best at and she continues to practice every day! :)

*being cute and adorable! No joke, she loves to "ham it up" and perform for anyone and everyone that she comes into contact with!

11 weeks and counting...

Yup, Lord willing that's how many weeks we have to go before we get to meet this little man in my belly! :) I know that 11 weeks is still a ways away, but I just feel like it can't come soon enough! I think my belly is starting to take over the rest of my body and a lot of stuff is getting harder and harder to do! :) In fact...this morning Hailey and I went grocery shopping and I didn't even realize it, but my tank top was riding up my belly and I was "flashing" a giant belly to all the other people at Aldis! Ooops!! Maybe that's the reason why the checker lady looked so annoyed and rushed me so much. (plus, gave me a second cart and put a whole bunch of stuff in the child seat up front- like she didn't see Hailey or maybe she just thought it would be funny to see me try and bag my own groceries while keeping track of my very active 1 year old!!)

I don't remember my belly being as big with Hailey, until the end and I know that people always say that you are bigger with your second one, but I was not prepared to feel like a moose in a woman's body when I still had this long to go! ;) I just have to keep reminding myself that Jackson is healthy and growing big and strong right now!! I want him to be a healthy little boy and I'll do whatever it takes to get him there!!

does this even need words???

I don't even think that it does...but, I'll tell you the story behind it anyways! :) ('cause how could I not say something??!) I never even had a changing table for Hailey, but now that I have a big belly in the way I needed something to make it a little easier on myself when I'm changing Hailey's clothes or diaper...so, I found a second crib and a changing table for sale on craigslist! It was a great deal and I LOVE the changing table. (plus, Korey let me use wicker baskets on it and he hasn't even complained!!) I haven't put up the crib, yet...we'll give that a little time, 'cause we're going to put both of the kiddos in the same room in the beginning and it'll be nice to have the extra room to move around for as long as we can!! (or maybe if I put it off long enough we'll just get the basement finished and Hailey's room done before Jackson comes and I won't have to worry about it...) ;)

trip to Mad-town

This weekend was supposed to be our "annual" Konietzki/Ashbeck camping weekend, but it was supposed to rain all weekend, so we chickened out and decided to just spend some time visiting the Ashbeck family in Madison, instead! :) We had a super fun time and the only low point of the whole day was that it didn't rain at all, so we definitely could have gone camping and spent the whole weekend together!! Oh well, there'll always be next year!

Madison has a free zoo that is super fun, so we took advantage of it and played there almost all morning on Saturday! Hailey didn't really like feeding the goats, but she liked looking at them and kept calling them, "doggies"!

Kody and Devra's son, Lincoln! He is seriously one of the cutest little boys that I have ever seen! (I can say that, now, because I haven't seen Jackson, yet!) :)

The Dad's took their daughter's on a carousel ride! I'm not sure who had more fun...but, Korey did get to ride a koala bear and I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of his day!! :)

We put Hailey and Meredith in separate strollers in the beginning, but Meredith kept climbing into Hailey's stroller, so we just let Korey push it and look like he had twin daughters! :) (the girls are about 4 days apart, so they could almost be twins!)

Meredith is just a doll! She is so much more active than Hailey, so it's fun to see her running and climbing all over everything! Plus, she has a ton more hair than Hailey and I loved seeing that.

My favorite part was when we all got to go for a ride on the "train"! Korey said all it was was a garden tracker painted, but who cares, it was cute and the girls LOVED it! (plus...best part- it was only a dollar and Kody and Korey got to ride for free!!) We did a "boys" car and a "girls" car!

We just love hanging out with Kody and Devra and their two adorable children! They are the kind of friends who when you're on your way to see them you're always excited and when you leave you've never had enough time with!! Plus, they always spur us on to do more and to take our walk with God more seriously! They are truly a godly couple and an amazing family! Besides...they gave us some great advice on having kids close together and having little boys! ;)

rainy day fun

It's been raining for the last few days, so Hailey and I have been trying to keep ourselves busy in the house- playing all kinds of fun games! :)

I think that she sees our hallway a her own personal runway, because a lot of her day is spent running up and down it and pushing her baby in the stroller up and down it! It' actually kind of a nice way for her to burn off some of her energy and not get into too much trouble! :)

Korey and I have been teaching her where the baby is...she likes to go between pulling up my shirt and "patting" the baby and then giggling and pulling up her own shirt and poking her belly and saying "baby"!! It's pretty cute- until we're in walmart or the grocery store and she does it...then, not so much, 'cause who wants to see some huge pregnant belly poking out! :)

I love this cute little girl- we have so much fun together- even on rainy days! Today we sat and read books, played the eensy, weensy spider, and if you're happy and you know it for over an hour! Who woulda thought that that could be that much fun??

God has truly blessed me with this beautiful and good baby girl- I just hope that little Jackson is as much fun to be around and play with!

best friends in the making??

On Friday my friend, Talitha, and her daughter, Peyton came over for a playdate. Hailey and Peyton are about 6 days apart and from the time they were infants Talitha and I have been getting together for "playdates". But, until Friday the girls haven't really cared for one another! It was so great to see that change. I know it means they're growing up and there is some "mommy" sadness that accompanies that, but it was just so fun to see them giggle and play together! They even ran off to Hailey's bedroom, got some toys out and came back to the living room giggling! It just made my day to see them actually interact with one another! They really loved sitting at the window and watching Korey do some work outside! The best part was that since they didn't need us constantly interacting with them, Talitha and I had more time for chatting between ourselves! And, that's always a fun way to spend an evening!

I don't know if it's a mom's wishful thinking or if these two little girls really do enjoy being around each other, but I'm so thankful that Hailey has good, christian friends that are her age and that even at such a young age she enjoys being with them and sharing her life- or her snacks! :) That's what I'm thankful for this Tuesday-good friends for my daughter and for me!

A BIG DAY OF WORK

Saturday was a big day at our house...we got a lot of work done and everyone pitched in and helped- even Hailey!

Here she is all ready to begin work-

I'm pretty sure that she thinks that there are some great treats in Daddy's lunch pail, because she's always bringing it to me and saying, "cookie" (her universal word for a treat) :)

Korey put in the first of two egress windows in our basement! (and I sort of helped...as much help as a huge pregnant lady can be, anyways) ;) I'm getting excited, though, our basement project almost feels like it could be getting close to being done one of these days! Maybe even by the time little Jackson is born we'll be able to go down there and play or watch tv or sew in my new sewing room!

When he was digging the hole for the window he realized that the front step, that the window is right next to, was only being held up by rocks that started to fall out all over the place the more he dug...so, he ended up having to brace up the steps and then put the window in. He's such a hard worker and I'm soooo incredibly proud of him. There's nothing that this man can't do and no problem that he can't figure out! He truly is my hero!!

While I was helping Korey put the window in...Hailey was upstairs by herself and was VERY busy...this is what I saw when I came back up

Pretty crazy, huh?! This is how much damage a little girl can do to one room in about 15 minutes! What you can't see is that all the dvd's are out and all the books are either pushed off the of the bookshelf or pushed back to the back of the bookshelf!!

Yup, it was definitely a busy day for all of us! :)

Good thing Korey's Mom and Dad came up and babysat Hailey for us on Sunday evening so we could go out on a date- it was desperately needed!!!

things that make me ask..."why?"

Before I became a Mom I knew there would be some weird "quirks" and a lot of new things to learn about kids and being a Mom, but the things that I have learned and the quirks that my daughter has are WAY stranger and weirder than any I could have thought up beforehand! There was definitely no feasible way to prepare myself for all the times I would ask "why" of this child! (and, I'm assuming any child, but I'll have to get back to you on that one!) :)

One of the biggest "why's" lately has been- why do you enjoy putting your head down on the floor and looking at the world upside down?? She does it all the time and anywhere. It's like she's in the middle of doing something, then all of the sudden realizes that maybe it would be cooler to look at it upside down and then does it- sometimes holding the pose for almost a minute! Weird, huh?!

If there are any "baby whisperers" out there, I'd really appreciate your help with a few more, as well...like...

-why do you insist on throwing food on the floor, only to get down out of your highchair and eat it off the floor??

-why do you love grapes one day and then the next day hate to even look at them??

-why do you show your baby belly off to random people at walmart, but refuse to do it for your Nani when she visits??

-why do you love to play in the dog dish, the sprinkler, the pool, but hate the bathtub unless mommy's in there with you??

-why will you take dishes out of the dishwasher and put them away only when their dirty??

-why is it that all day you cling to my leg until I take you downstairs to do some laundry...then you magically feel secure and want to explore all of Daddy's tools and fishing stuff?

but, then, magically, need to be held once again when I'm heading up the stairs with a laundry basket full of laundry??

-why is it that you can play by yourself really well all day until I'm working on dinner and then you need to be held??

-why can you say cookie and cracker really audibly, but not please and thank you?

-why are you happy playing in bed all by yourself, sometimes for hours, but when you're out of bed you need to have interaction??

-why do you choose the creepiest people at walmart to wave at, but then when a sweet little Grandma comes and says HI to you, you get all shy??

-why do you insist on chewing on tables, highchair trays, the shopping cart, my purse and anything else that is super unsanitary-does dirt really taste that good??

-why do you insist on throwing your nuk, your blankie, and your glowworm out of your bed and then crying because you don't have them??

-why are you just so cute when you do something naughty?? and...

-why, oh why, do you have a super cranky day- for apparently no reason, and then when you have an awful diaper rash, a fever, and a tooth that is poking through you are as happy as a clam??
These are just a few of the things about Hailey that I don't get...I know there are a ton more, but I'm assuming that the baby whisperer isn't reading this, so I guess I won't bore the rest of you with my questions with no answers!

handmade with love

Korey has been busy out in the garage creating a beautiful cradle for our son...and...it's almost finished! On Monday he (with a small amount of help from me) put it together and it looks amazing! God really blessed him with a talent for working with wood and I am continually amazed at what great pieces of "art" he creates!

I think that Allie really wanted to help, too!

The finished work! Isn't it beautiful??

I just couldn't resist putting one of Hailey's dolls in there, just to see what it would look like with a baby inside! :)

While Korey was busy outside, I was busy inside- making a few burp clothes (that aren't pink) and a little blankie for the cradle! It was so fun to get some blue, green, and yellow flannel fabric and to put some trucks and cars on the stuff, instead of hearts and flowers! :) I think I'm going to have to make a few more...maybe with some John Deere fabric or something like that, 'cause Korey thinks that these are still a little too "girlie" looking!

Can you see the clue for our sons's name?? Yup, we have one picked out and you'll have to look closely at the pictures to see if you can find the clue!

It is so fun to be able to make some homemade stuff for our son! I think it has really helped me look so forward to his arrival. I feel like the more I make and the more I prepare the more excited I become! I can't wait to get Hailey out of the nursery and into her own room so that I can start getting the nursery ready for this little boy! I think he's slowly outgrowing the place that he's at and, hopefully, in another 13 and 1/2 weeks is going to be ready for a new place of residence! :)