juicing

Three Bears

We all got new drinking containers, last week - - each just the right size for our water consumption needs, which equals two containers for Brian.

My Maternity Leave Must-Have

Brian gave me a Kindle for my last birthday.  I used it on occasion, but largely stuck to the old fashioned version of reading books that were - uh, well - books. 

I read very little during my last month or so of my pregnancy.  And I read absolutely nothing for the first three or maybe four weeks after Sam was born.  (It was weird.  I am quite certain that I have never gone so long without reading a book.)

Thankfully, about the time Sam was a month old, I figured out that the Kindle could be my new best friend.  (Don't worry Al and Pril - he is just my digital best friend.) 

There are long-long stretches of my days when I am holding a baby and often I am also holding a pacifier or bottle.  My Kindle friend, quite conveniently, does not require me to hold my book open to a certain page. It can sit beside me or I can hold it in one hand and I can "turn the page" just by touching the bottom of the screen.  Basically, it is awesome. 

So I have made a 180 degree turn and my reading hiatus has turned into something of a reading frenzy.  I have finished five books in the past ten days or so and I am reading two more right now.  Yay for figuring out a way to make good use of my baby holding time!

Six Weeks

Our munchkin is six weeks old today, which makes me thankful for FMLA and the fact that I have been blessed with the chance to stay home with Sam for the first 12 weeks of his life. 

In other random news, I finally took the time to figure out how to change the focal point on my camera.  I can move the focus left or right, above or below the standard center setting.  Playing with this new-to-me feature has been a lot of fun.

Something to Drink?

Snow!

Brian (with the part time aid of our neighbor's slow blower) did an excellent job of clearing off our driveway.  Meanwhile, I was quite happy to have a good excuse not to help.  Thanks for doing all of the hard work, honey!  :)

Driving Dog

I spied this guy (or gal?) in the Target parking lot and he cracked me up.  I decided that his name is Rambo and that while his mom is shopping in Target he likes to take pretend adventures around town. 

Kindle and Cover

Brian bought me a Kindle Touch for Christmas.  I love it!  I bought this cover for it here on etsy.  So, so cute...and bright!

Beer

Because tacos just aren't the same without a beer.

 And because I hadn't had one in a really long time.

Yay for nonalcoholic beer.  :)

Black Friday Shopping

Thanks to Brian's online Black Friday shopping, we now have a ginormous TV and a blu-ray player.  They will reside in the basement, once it is done, but for now they have found a home in the living room.  I think it might be time to go shopping for a TV stand, too.  :)

Heidi and Tim

If these people don't look familiar to you, you must not watch enough Project Runway.  Now that we made it through all of the episodes of The Office (that are available via Netflix)...and then watched several of them again...we are starting in on the ever-amusing Project Runway.  I love that show!

Photos from here and here.

Grading Papers

Channeling Andrew Wyeth

I took this photo in the "boarding house" at Stuhr Museum.  I think it feels very Andrew Wyeth-esque. 

Lily Pads

photos from our trip to Stuhr Museum

Beans

I love how dad's soybeans look all vintagey thanks to the foggy morning weather.  Brian and I picked a good weekend to go irrigating with my dad...as it had recently rained and he only had one field to take care of.

More Feet

This is really just an "oops" photo that was taken as I was handing the camera to Brian.  I like it, though.  So I decided to share it with you.  :)

Ouch!

As Brian attempted to show his middle school football kids a drill, on Wednesday, his ankle decided to take a turn in the wrong direction.  

Ouch! 

You can also see the (now healing) scar on his calf from an unfortunate meet up with a sapling whilst riding a motorcycle around Al and Brad's yard.  

It has been a rough few weeks for Brian's right leg. 

from my wishlist

 

pretty grey crib

Little Wooden Trees

Brian came to bed about an hour after I did, last night.  I think I half woke-up to tell him good night.

About 5 minutes later, I thought it was morning and that we needed to wake up.  It was about 10:30pm - so....not time to wake up.

My dresser is right beside my side of the bed and I always keep my phone (which serves as my alarm clock) and my glasses on the edge of it, so I can reach up to see what time it is, etc.

When I thought it was time to wake up, I reached up there and felt all around for my little wooden tree.  For some reason, I thought that Brian and I each had a little wooden tree on our respective sides of the bed and that you somehow used them to help wake up.

This is kind of what these little wooden trees looked like: 

link

 

The ones in my head were about a foot tall.  

So, I was reaching around and half sitting up and feeling all over the edge of the dresser, but just couldn't find my little wooden tree.  Brian, unsurprisingly, asked me what I was doing.  I told him that I couldn't find my little wooden tree and I needed help. 

He had no idea what was going on and said something to that effect.  I started to get really mad at him for not understanding and also for not helping me.  

 

Finally, I convinced him to turn on the bedside light that is on his side of the bed.  He turned it on and again asked what was going on.  I told him I needed help finding my little wooden tree.  He told me we didn't have a little wooden tree and that pissed me off because I knew we didn't have a wooden tree...I was pretty sure that we had two - one for each of us.  I think I gave him the look of death.  

 

He asked why we had these trees and I said "To help us wake up!"  Duh.  

Somehow, he convinced me to look at his bedside table and see that there was no wooden tree.  I looked.  No wooden trees were anywhere to be seen.  

And the reality of us not owning any little wooden trees somehow woke me up.  

All of a sudden I was (mostly) awake and realized that I had just been talking and thinking nonsense.  I busted out laughing and then had a really hard time falling back to sleep because I couldn't quit laughing.  

 

It didn't help that Brian kept asking me why I thought little wooden trees would help us wake up and I had no idea.  I would bust our laughing every time he asked.

 

If you think that I need to go to the loony bin, I concur.  It was weird.  I don't think that I've ever had an experience like that before.

Photography Class!

It seems that I am in a learning mood.  I just signed myself up for an online photography class.  This has been on my "to do" list for a long time and is part of my current 101 goals list. 

I will be taking this class from Nicole of "Nicole's Classes" in October.  With Baby P. on his or her way, I figured it was high time that I figure out how to really use my camera. 

Yay for learning!  :) 

And here's a picture of my sweet little Willa to make this post a bit prettier: