Don't cha know.

Sometimes I think my friends and family wonder why I moved to South Dakota. I mean, lets face it, when I met my wonderful and sometimes a little goofy husband and found out he was from South Dakota, I probably had a look of "huh"!? on my face. It was like a foreign country or something. I was thinking to myself (so I didn't sound like a fool) where in the hell is South Dakota? Is it over by North Carolina? By Idaho? Come on people..help me out here. I seriously had no clue where it was. Couldn't point to it on a map if I had to. Obviously I didn't pay much attention in 4th grade history class...
Anyways. No, I was NOT one of those California girls who thought South Dakotans lived in teepee's still or rode in horse and buggy. I mean this was the 21st century now. I knew that it couldn't be that desolate. However, a while back my brother asked me "How's the farm"? As I re-read that question I contemplated 2 things. Either he was being a smart ass and thought I really lived on a farm and had no running water, or he just misspelled "fam" and was asking about the family. Knowing him he was being a smart ass. I giggled to myself and thought...hmmm...how far can I take this? So I ran.
I emailed him back that we were all doing great. And that Ethan loved going out every morning in his parka to get farm fresh eggs that the chickens just laid, and that sometimes there was still a little poo on them that we had to wash off. That the cows really keep my grass green and fertilized. It's so great. And all the goats and sheep graze so much I really don't even need to mow. And how last weekend we needed to do some outdoor sporting events so we packed up into our minivan and drove to a frozen lake for some oh so eventful ice fishing. And the other day we went shopping for some hunting gear, even though we don't hunt.
Okay so by this point I'm sure he was laughing pretty hard. It's just funny how when I call home now, all I hear is "wow your o's are really long when you talk now". I think people think that all we say is "Git 'er done" and "oh don't cha know" and wear parkas. It's so stereotypical!! I'm just a normal California girl living in South Dakota. Yes it's populated, and yes we are modernized!! :)

Got to Love Smiles.

Yesterday I had to work all day. I walk in the door last night at 7:36 after working 12 long hours and first thing Nick says to me is "check the camera, I got some great pictures on it today". Keeping in mind Nick rarely takes a picture, unless I ask him to. So I figured this has to be good.
Much to my surprise I missed a day full of smiles from Sammie. :(

But this morning...we were playing on the floor and he was getting frustrated with me because I was making him do "tummy time". So I flipped him over and low and behold I got a smile, just like in the picture! I real big one! I love smiles from a child. It means your doing something right!

Funny Story: Now that we have an infant int he household again, all those things we normally just do without even thinking about are slowed down. For example. I can't just jump in the shower whenever I feel like it. Sammie has to be content, and Ethan has to be in the "trusting" mood. Others with more than 1 child know what I mean. This is what happened when I thought Ethan was in the trusting mood.
I put Sammie in his swing and Ethan was eating "loop loops" (fruit loops) and watching cartoons on the couch. Perfect time for a shower right? WRONG. I get out of the shower and the house is just WAY too quiet for there to be nothing going on, if you know what I mean. I peek around the corner and Ethan had a good portion of his match box cars int he swing with Sammie. I asked Ethan what he was doing, and he so sweetly responds "Sammie wanted to play with my cars Mommy". I couldn't help but laugh. Who know what else went on while I took a rush shower! I thought about setting up the video camera to record while I was in there one time...just to see what goes on when no eyes are watching. Or do I even want to know?

Today is a pretty lazy day. We haven't done much besides play on the computer and laundry! I went back to 12 hours shifts last Monday. It was a really long 12 hour shift that's for sure. So I am back full time!
I let Ethan feed Sammie for the first time today. I was right there by his side, of course. Holding the bottle and showing him how to not feed his neck, or the side of his mouth. He did a pretty good job. Sammie just gazed up at him the entire time. It was pretty cool.

Sammie is growing like a weed. He eats all the time and sleeps great at night time. Last night he only woke up once. I love those nights! I think Nick does too :) I think Ethan might be growing out of naps. He has been in his room now "trying" to nap for 1 hour and 23 minutes. I thought for a minute he fell asleep...I heard silence for about 25 minutes...
That will be tough when he no longer naps, as that is when I get the majority of house chores done. Sammie can finally sleep when Ethan is in his room...having peace and quiet. Having 2 kids at home is more challenging than I ever imagined, yet I would still LOVE the opportunity to be a stay at home mom! I WISH....maybe if I wish hard enough it will happen...

Obamicon.Me

Check this out...
It's a serious time waster, but something fun to do. You can Obamicon yourself!

Trip to Home Depot.

Took a trip to Home Depot with the kids this morning. Ethan really really wanted to ride underneath the cart. This is what we looked liked strolling down the isles of home depot with our crazy kid underneath...
good times.

So Big.

Yesterday Sammie and I were playing "So Big", and I...lucky me...got my FIRST official real smile. There were no toots or filling of the pants afterwards, so this I knew was the real thing! :) I was stoked! Still trying to capture in on camera...

Something Cleverish.

"Forty-three hilarious bloggers, one great cause, one very funny book. We've searched high and low for some of the funniest posts written in 2008, and gathered them here for your amusement. All proceeds go to benefit Stephanie and Christian Nielson."

I purchased mine. To get yours go to:http://borrowedlight.blogspot.com/2009/01/something-cleverish.html

Old Posts/Pictures

Since I am unable to "transfer" all the old posts and pictures I put up on our old webpage, I am not going to delete it. I will leave it and if you ever want to look at them again the web page is:
ourlittlehowardfamily.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday we celebrated Nick's 29th Birthday. We all went to Outback Steakhouse with Grandma and Grandpa for dinner. Ethan was such a good boy, and Sammie slept the entire time in his car seat (that's why he's not in the picture below with all of us).

Ethan is becoming such a good big brother. He has this book from Nick's childhood called "Sammy the Seal". This morning our little Sammie was a little fussy and Ethan went into his room, grabbed the Sammy the Seal book and brought it out and began reading to him. It was sooo cute. Didn't soothe Sammie at all, however it was the though that counts. :)
Sammie has grown into such a little chunk!! He has a double chin..as you can see in the top picture, and arm rolls and thigh rolls. It is so adorable. I cannot believe how much he has grown. We are still fitting into 0-3 month clothes...some stuff is pretty snug, but 3-6 is just too big still. He is sleeping 5-6 hours at night now (about 5 nights a week anyways). I cannot believe how fast time has gone.

I get the pleasure of returning to work tomorrow. I am in a way happy, but in another way sad. I don't want to leave Sammie...I know distance makes a heart grow fonder. And I guess I will have more "time" to get homework done now...at work when it's slow. But it's still going to be hard.

Yes, We Moved...

We had to change our blog spot address because we were getting unwanted traffic from unwanted visitors. Plus our last one was called "Our Little Howard Family"...and were not so little anymore!! Give me a few days and I will have this web page looking just as great as our last one did. Hope you enjoy our blogging as much as I do!!!