4am wakeup call

No this post has nothing to do with my son... I was relating this story to my friend Annie who is a great blogger and she said I should post it. I guess these crazy everyday things are the interesting types of posts!

So we are hanging out in our (huge) home the other night and Chelan keeps passing gas. It was VERY loud, but strangely didn't smell at all, like dog farts usually do. Steve mentioned that perhaps we should put her outside for the night but it was FREEZING and I felt bad doing that just because she was farting, so I said, "no, she ALWAYS wake us up when she needs to go out." So she stayed in.

Steve and I went to sleep. At about 4am I hear this crashing in the hallway and we both sit up in bed and turn our heads to the right. Chelan had her head on the foot of our bed, just staring at us, and the laundry basket, which had been precariously positioned on top of Steve's travel bag in the narrow hallway had crashed over into the shower door, and had spilled dirty laundry everywhere. (note - I can no longer actually store the dirty laundry in the shower because it is now useable for showers - yay!) I say to Steve "She NEEDS to go out honeY." "No, she's fine," he mumbles... "Chelan - go lay down - go on - lay down" and he falls backwards and proceeds on with sleep... I think I may have dozed too off for just a minute but my brain woke me back up and I thought, "no, that was bad 4am analysis from a man who is a super hard sleeper at night, I better let Chelan out." I sat up and her head was again perched on the end of our bed staring at us. So I got out of bed and she ran ahead the three or so steps to the living room. I was greeted by a slightly sour smell, but couldn't see anything on the floor anywhere. So I let Chelan and Rosie outside and started investigating. Turn right, nope, not there, turn left, wait, WHAT? Is that really dog poo IN OLAF'S CARSEAT? GROSS! I yelled back to Steve what I found and all I heard back was a muffled grunt. So I spent the next 15 minutes deliriously bagging up the carseat cover to wash later and lysol wiping the hard shell. My husband, though a rockstar helper during the day, is less than responsive to urgent poo requests at night...

Oh, to have a house again with tile floors next to the door where accidents will be slightly easier to clean up. Ah well, it makes for an amusing story later.

How the heck she aimed it so well right into the carseat I will never know...

No I do not have a picture of the mess. Gross.

Recommendation - if your dog wakes you at 4am NO GOING BACK TO SLEEP. I learned my lesson!

mini steven

Oly looks just like his daddy - everyone says so :) I think maybe he has my eyes? Color anyway. Every now and then he scrunches his face just right and I think he looks like my dad, but most of the time he is a Steve look-alike. I think it's very cute.

So I am thinking that he can't possible look any MORE like Steve... but I was proven wrong! He finally fits into his peewee sized carhartt overalls - and the effect is quite adorable if I do say so myself! Steve had to put his hands in his pockets, but he left them there and just enjoyed hanging out like a real man. Since (also like his father) his torso is long but legs are short, he will have rolled up pants for awhile I think.

FINALLY a new post for y'all

The reason I hardly post anymore is because I don't have an internet connection most of the time. Kind of a bummer when I've been used to high speed internet for about 10 years now... ah well. Steve bought a nice modem that just plugs into a USB port and voila, internet! But usually he takes it with him to work, which has been the last three weeks straight. But he's home for a week now, hopefully, so I get to play. Nice!

Here's a few recent-ish pics of my favorite kiddo:



We moved the 5th wheel into the semi-completed pole building today. It's missing a concrete floor (not a huge deal) and doors (also not a huge deal, since we don't have walls either). But we now have a roof! It was SO SO rainy this last week that a roof is a huge blessing. Although the sound of rain drumming 2 feet above your head is nice... i am happier to not worry about whether we will stay dry. Plus the Subaru is parked under the roof too, so technically I never have to get wet in the mornings unless I am shoving my path to leave.

I never had a chance to write a post after Olaf's 4 month check-up, so if you are wondering, here is the growth stats on the kiddo from October 20th:

Height -- 27 inches
Weight -- 15 lbs, 9 oz
Head -- 17 inches

...and gaining. We recently had a bath where I think I counted 8 little rolls on Oly's tummy. He LOVES to splash in the water, though I think he still surprises himself when he gets water all over his face. I just had to post a video of him.




Also a recent discovery is his right foot, which is apparently delicious! He has yet to take an interest in the left foot... ah well, it doesn't seem to feel left out at this point.

just a quick update

Not having internet except when Steve is home is kind of a bummer. I can't update my blog! (among other time-cosuming activities such as facebook and ebay...) Anyway, we are still alive and kicking it up in Plain. Some good news - our renter moved into the Cashmere house today, yay! I am looking forward to that nice monthly check arriving in my mailbox... Other good news, we are in process of selling the Mini! Hopefully it will be done by Friday! But the biggest good news is that all of this means that we will hopefully get our construction loan before the end of November - YAY WOOHOO YEEHAW! Remodel here we come :) Anyway, that's the news for now. I'll try to post new pictures when I can!

Just Plain Living

Reading in his BUMBO chair :)

We are now full-time residents of Plain, WA. Woohoo! What this means right now:

• Our cars are constantly dirty, since our land is a dustbowl from all the excavating we did this summer. Our son is also always dirty.
• Showers are taken elsewhere, including my folks house, Jaimi's house, or Cashmere on the weekends.
• I can only purchase 6 eggs at a time and half gallons of milk, since my fridge is about the size of those ones you put in your college dorm room.
• Olaf sleeps in the closet. And no he doesn't mind it, though Grandma Cathi seems to think we should find another place for him to sleep. Where? The shower?
• My commute went from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. Which is awesome for clearing the head, drinking coffee, singing aloud and praying in the morning, but awful in the afternoons when all I want to do is see my son NOW!

Closet Life

Things that are sad about leaving Cashmere:

• No grass.
• No porch swing.
• No nice neighbors named Jacob and Whitney and soon to be baby girl.
• No TV or internet access. So don't expect these posts to come too often. Sorry.
• Lots of other things actually but I don't want to dwell on it, so I'm done!

Olaf is still growing like a weed. He has his first cold this week poor kiddo... lots of snot, coughing, and a scratchy voice that just breaks your heart, and some general fussiness. But I think he's on the upswing (I hope). I also have this cold and feel like I would like some sleep one of these days... I just can't deny my sick son milk in the middle of the night. We were doing so good before this - sleeping from 9:30 to 6:00 every night! We'll get back there though, so I'm not worried.

Well I am going to end this here, because I want to go play with Olaf!

My little pope.

Blast from the past

Holy MOLY I used to have really long hair. I just found this picture as I was perusing iPhoto... It's from our trip to Scotland/London 3 years ago.

Just thought I would share this little trip down memory lane with y'all.

family and friends

I am such a happy kiddo!

It's Monday morning. One week before I return to work. And so I decided that this week I would relax and spend as much time making Olaf smile as possible. I am currently sitting down, paying bills, dowloading pics, and taking care of the office type tasks that seem to pile up while we are busy. Drinking a delicious cup of drip coffee from my favorite mug.... mmm. Life is good. Olaf is asleep in his crib for now, but soon he'll wake up and we'll feed and give him a nice warm bath.

No that's not sweat from my morning workout - it's DROOL!

We had a great morning - Oly woke up happy at 6:00am on the dot. I pulled him into the big bed and we got to snuggle for awhile. After he was done eating we just hung out and snuggled a bit more. He was all smiles and babbles. Somehow he talks, including voice inflection, through his nose it seems. It is hilarious.

It's COLD in the camper in the mornings sometimes! Oly gets all bundled up to go IN and play :)

Last weekend was a WHIRLWIND. We had a Saugen family reunion in Leavenworth on Saturday. It was great to meet a bunch of family that I had only heard about! I met:
Dave and Colleen Saugen, their daughter Kendra and her husband Josh, and their kids Kennedy, Dawson, and Karston. I love those names - so unique! And very well behaved and fun kids too. I also finally met Grandma Kathy! She sure has a lot of energy! I think she enjoyed meeting the newest additions to her 13 great grandchildren. Also I met Linda and Mike Klassen, their son Jonathan and his wife Autumn, and their daughter Natalie. There were lots of kiddos running around, playing, and lots of folks to catch up with. Steve and Theresa arrived a little later with their brood (let's see if I can remember all the names...) - Zachary, Jeremy, Sharaea, Marcus, and Lydia, and their exchange student (shoot I forgot his name!). It is always fun to see their family. I never think I want to have a lot of kids until I hang out with their family, and see how much fun it can be. I will have to wait for brother Dave to post his full family pictures on Picasa so I can steal one to post on here. But below are a few pictures of the fun times :) My parents were able to join us for the festivities, as Barb and Mark were thoughtful to invite them since they live so close. I think they enjoyed it.

Grandma Kathy meets cutie patootie Ingrid for the first time.

SAUGEN men: Josh, David, Zachary, Steve, Marcus, Jeremy, Steve, David, Mark

We also attended the wedding of a good friend, Teranne, Saturday evening. It was wonderful! Beautiful wedding, beautiful location, beautiful bride, good friends and family. I love living here and being able to be a part of this great community!

Teranne's entrance to the ceremony

Sunday morning Steve helped my dad out with a project while I hung out in the sunshine with Mom and Kendra. Jenny and Haakon and the kids stopped by for a cup of coffee on their way home - it was so relaxing and nice! We had fun posing the cousins for pictures :)

Olaf is used to this tomfoolery. Ingrid looks a little unsure...

Oh so cute!