Pumpkin Patch

Our first trip to the pumpkin patch with Alex was so fun! We went to Lakeview Farms in North Plains and it was such a cool place. Train rides, face painting, and of course pumpkins everywhere! Alex was such a good sport for all of our pictures too ;) I already can't wait to go back next year! It was definitely a success.

Something's Gotta Give...

I've stolen this title from not only the popular movie, but also from Scrummys. I couldn't help myself, it is the perfect phrase for my life right now. Have you ever felt like you are juggling too many things at once, or that your balancing act is becoming unbalanced? I read somewhere that having too many choices is actually more stressful than not having any choices. My two seemingly simple choices have become extremely hard. One choice would be the financially responsible choice, and in these economic times nobody can afford to be irresponsible. The other choice has more to do with family values. Have you guessed yet what I'm talking about?

Speaking of family.... Alex is now 5 months old, and weighs 17.3 lbs! He's rolling, almost scooting, and laughing up a storm every night. He's not a baby anymore, he looks like a toddler! I will post pictures next time, I promise!

And as far as our house goes, we almost have a garage! Colt recently tore down our carport and has been working since August on building our garage. Hopefully this will add a good amount of value to our house. Speaking of that, there is another important choice we will be making in the near future. To move, or not to move...

There's Not Enough Hours in the Day

I've heard this phrase for years and until now, have never fully understood how horribly true this is. This past week, I have been praying for more hours in the day. Tuesday evening, Alex fell asleep at 6pm and didn't wake up the rest of the evening. I was a little devastated. I woke him up a little after 8pm to feed him but since he barely woke up I put him right back to bed and he slept all night. Poor kid must have needed the sleep but that gave me just under two hours with him. Yep, that's it, less then 2 hours. Last night was a similar situation. Maybe this week has been particularly hard because I'm coming off of a GREAT 4 day weekend with Alex. It sure makes me think, is a reliable paycheck, an insurance policy and other working perks worth the time I lose everyday with him? Or worth the extra lbs I've gained burying myself in M&M's? (The M&M's really are the only way to keep from crying some days!). Boohoo, I know. I really am very lucky and shouldn't be complaining at all. Some weeks are just hard though and it's nice to "vent" here.

Georgia

Colt made a very quick trip to Georgia a few weeks back to watch Casey graduate from Basic Training in the Army. I was suppose to be on that trip but with all the struggling I've been doing just leaving Alex to go to work, I couldn't bare the thought of leaving him for 3 whole nights, so I stayed back.

Colt had a great time, other than the travel. The first ceremony was the Turning Blue ceremony. Not exactly sure what this means other than meaning he's an official U.S. Soldier now. Each soldier was allowed to have one family member place their blue "ribbon" (not sure if that's what it's called) on their shoulders, so Val did this for Casey. The last picture is of the big ceremony the next day with a band, a gun show thing, and all the units marched out onto the field. Clearly I don't know the terminology! Maybe I'd be more knowledgeable if I went. Congratulations Case :)

Back To Work

I'm back to work now and it's been very rough. We met a great lady through a friend of a friend who is now watching Alex during the day. She has been a daycare provider for 20 some years and she seems great with Alex. I think he really enjoys being around the other kids too because he seems fascinated by them and is always watching them. So Alex seems to be taking this transition much better then I am. It's been so much worse then I thought it would be. Leaving Alex with a stranger is almost impossible for me so Colt has been dropping him off in the mornings and I've been picking him up in the evenings. But even picking him up has been a struggle. Watching Alex start to bond with somebody that isn't even a part of my life is awful. It's great for him, but hard for me. I should be thanking my lucky stars that she came into our lives because so far she's been nothing but a blessing... but I struggle with being thankful. It's a work in progress and I'm hoping each day will just get easier and easier.

Sunday Traditions

I don't know if I would call it tradition so much as just habit, but growing up my mom, sisters and I would always go get coffee and pastries after church on Sunday mornings. Now that I'm older I can't go strait home after church, it just seems wrong or like something is missing and I have to stop and get a coffee. After having Alex I'm finding it's not always so easy to have such a leisure Sunday out and about so I've decided to start making brunch at home on Sundays. Hopefully it will help us save a few extra bucks on coffee and keep us from shopping at Lowes or Home Depot after church, our OTHER tradition/habit. It will be a while before Alex gets to enjoy our new Sunday tradition but I'm hoping that while he's still young this will become so routine for him that when he's a teenager and maybe even older he will come to look forward to it (this might be wishful thinking, I know!).

This week I made Dutch Babies... yum!