A New Year, Time To Start Blogging More

Well, my resolution to myself this year was to blog more, but I already started out on a slow note this year. I really need to keep up with my blog because I always loved being able to look back on what I had wrote in the past about Branden. Things seem to be busy around here, always running somewhere. Branden was really sick last Wednesday. No fever, but a really bad stomach ache. He throw-up and laid on the couch all day. It was so hard to see him so sick. But luckily, it was only a one day thing. By the next morning he was back playing. Branden is getting so big. Hard to believe he will be 3 in April. He is pretty smart too. Recogonizes 3 words...mom, cat and dog. And can spell "mom." He is still into trucks, cars and all those boy things. He also loves music and to sing. He is still really shy around new people and a big mommas boy. Hoping to work on that seperation anxiety this year by going to a few different parent/kid classes. But im sure that will take some time since he is used to only being around me 24/7. Its actually going to be hard for us both.

We are still really enjoying our house. Its starting to come together now, now that we have pictures and curtains up. We are still hoping to have everyone out for an open house sometime in the spring.

David is still working for my dad, but is starting his own photography business. He is really excited to be doing something he loves. He hopes to get his business up and running really soon. He already has a website started, so check it out if you would like and pass on his name if you hear of anyone who needs a photographer.

www.davidlarvaphotography.com

Same old stuff we with me. We had David's family over here for Christmas and that was fun for me. I loved decorating the house for the holiday. And for New Years Eve we spent that week up at my parents cabin. That was fun because there was a bunch of us up there.

Happy Halloween

We had a really fun Halloween this year. It was so nice to be able to spend it together as a family. This is Branden's 3rd Halloween already, but David's first time being with Branden on Halloween. The first time David was deployed and the 2nd time he was in school and we flew home for Becky's funeral. Branden was Barney this year. He looked super cute. He loved his costume. We got it about a week and a half before Halloween and he wore it everyday for hours. I thought he might of wanted to be a fireman or a construction worker, but we he really loves Barney lately and once we looked at the Barney costumes online he was hooked.



Halloween morning we had pancakes and then got ready to go to the Anoka Parade. We picked up my parents and parked at Sinclair gas station and walked over the bridge to the parade. Branden loved the parade. We were all freezing, but Branden kept saying he was hot and taking off his hat and gloves. We stayed about an hour at the parade and then Branden was ready to go. After we came home and got ready to go to David's sisters house for a halloween party and trick-or-treating. Branden loves going over there because his cousin Cooper has a lot of differant toys then him. It was so fun taking Branden trick-or-treating because this is the first year he really knows what was going on. He would run from house to house and then say trick-or-treat when we got to the door. He had so much candy and cookies on Halloween he had such a sugar high. Him and his cousin were running around like crazy. I thought he was going to puke from so much sugar, but he slept good that night. But Sunday he had a stomach ache all day and a few runny diapers. And that night he really wasn't feeling good. He would lay down and then wake up saying my tummy hurts. After about an hour and some trying to get him to sleep I ended up just bringing him into our bed.

We got our new bedroom furniture and we are really happy about it. It looks really nice in our bedroom. Its so nice to have a matching bedroom set.

David has been busy at work and gets home late most days, so that sucks. But when he has some free time he works on his snowmobile. He hopes to get it running before it snows.

I stay busy with Branden. On Wednesdays I do clean my Grandpa's house and now I will be working at Aurelios on Wednesday because im already down in that area. It will be nice to have a little break from Branden. But we will see after a month or so how it goes and if its worth my time in the gas I have to spend.

Raining Today

Well, once again it has been forever since i posted something. Things are going good at the new home. There is still some work to be done around here, but everything takes time. It pretty much feels like home now. Branden really likes the house. He loves having a playroom and so do I. I hated seeing all the toys when we lived in Germany, it was hard to relax seeing toys everywhere. We ( i should say David and his dad) planted about 200 trees around our property line last weekend. It looks so nice with all the tress, now if we could get some nice grass planted then our yard would really look nice. This weekend David's dad will be doing more work on your yard. He will be moving some tress around and planting the rest of the trees.

Branden is getting so big! Its so wierd to be able to have a real conversation with him. He talks so well and a lot. He says, "no thanks" a lot. So at least he has good manners when he is telling us no. He also has the cutest smile ever. It just makes me melt when he smiles. I ask him to show me his sparkely teeth and then he will just smile so big. It has taken awhile but I finally got a picture of him smiling big. Right now he is really into Clifford, Mickey Mouse and Barney. He still loves trucks and music. He is getting really good at the drums. I think when he is 3 we will put him into a music school. Branden is still in diapers. He just doesn't have interest in potty training. Once and awhile he will ask to sit on the toilet, but really he just wants to shove toilet paper in the toilet.

Yesterday, I went over to my aunt Becky's house to look through some of her old clothes. It was really sad to be over there and seeing everyone packing up the house. I cried once i walked in the door. I thought I would be ok going over there, but it just brought back so many memories of her. The house was getting close to being empty by the time I left yesterday. I think by today it will be cleaned out. They have decided to sell the house and John has already bought a new house. I can't believe it has almost been a year since she died.

Today, Branden and I are stuck in the house. It has been pouring all day. No fun for us, but I'm sure the trees are really happy. This weekend Branden is getting some fall pictures done by his auntie Joni. I hope he smiles big for his pictures. And I am really looking forward to next weekend. I am going a girls weekend, its just going to be so fun and relaxing. We are going up north towards Hinkley and spending Friday - Sunday there, just doing some shopping and hanging out at the hotel.

Back In The Flow Of Things

Hello Everyone! Yes, I know it has been along time since my last post but I am still here and writting. We just got internet at our new house so I thought I should post something. We have been moving in the past few weeks and still have a little more unpacking and organizing to do. This move has seemed to be the hardest for me, I'm not sure why. Probably because of Branden being around and only being able to work when he sleeps or one of his is playing with him. We really can't get started and keep going. Branden really loves this house. He loves having a play room and having lots of room outside to play. He loves riding the 4-wheeler around the yard. Our yard needs some work. The past owners really let the yard go and really didn't do any landscapping. We are hoping next spring we have enough money to give the yard a complete re-do. I really want a nice yard so Branden can play out there and roll in the grass. We have a lot of those sticker plants in the yard and they are always getting stuck on him. I am also enjoying this house a lot. The kitchen is wonderful. David and I have been wanting a big kitchen for the past 6 years.

This past weekend was a lot of fun for Branden. We went to the State Fair. Branden loves tractors and lawn mowers! So once we got to machinery hill he didn't want to leave. No kidding we spent 3 hours looking and sitting on all the tractors. We kept asking him if he wanted to go see other things, but he didn't. We did get to eat some good food, also pet the goats, went in the butteryfly house and saw the parade. Branden enjoyed the butterfly house but did rip a few wings trying grab them. Those poor butterflies.

We are planning on having a house warming party, but we still are unsure of a date. There are still a few things we want to get done before we have a big party at the house. But we are excited to show it off to everyone.

Branden Got A "Big Boy" Bed

I just checked my email after a week so I can't amagine how long it has been since my last post. Summer always goes by so fast and August is going to go by even faster. I think I already have something booked for everyweekend. We are hoping to move into our house the 2nd week of August still if everything goes as plan, but who knows. Things are taking a little longer because David is doing everything himself so to find the time to do everything has been hard. And there has been a lot of extra stuff to do that we didn't plan on in the beginning. The painting is all done. I haven't seen it yet, but David has and he says it looks good. I can't wait to see it because I was still unsure about the colors I chose, so I want to see them up on the walls.

Branden has been sick this past week with a cold, so that has been hard on him. He isn't sleeping so well. And because he hasn't been wanting to sleep he had been trying to climb out of his crib and he finally could make it over so we had to get rid of the crib this week and buy him a "big boy" bed! He was pretty excited about it because it was a Cars bed and wanted to show everyone it and he loves to just crawl in it and sit in it. But since he can get into it himself he does crawl out a few times at bedtime before he falls asleep, so that has been an adjustment for all of us. And in the morning he gets up earlier and stands by the bed and says, "get up mom!" But I think it is cute, I love seeing him first thing in the morning.

This weekend is David's Reserve weekend and on Sunday they are having a family day. It sounds like it will be pretty fun for Branden. They are going to have firetrucks and planes the kids can sit in and Branden is pretty much in love with all the stuff right now.

I've started to clean my Grandpa Resners house once a week now for extra cash. It just takes a couple of hours and it will be nice to have a little extra cash now that we have to pay a morgage.

Well, thats it for now! Can't wait to show everyone our new house. David is really working hard on it to make it a perfect house for us!

House Update

Sorry everyone for such a long break between posts. Each time I write I say I'm going to write more and add pictures, but I never do. I'm just horrible lately. We've just been so busy lately with the house. It's a lot of work picking everything out. David is extra busy. He works during the day for my dad and then at night goes and works on the house. Since our house was a forclosure it does need a little work. Last weekend he pulled out the carpet and the wood floors. And this week he has been sanding the cabinets so we can re-stain them so they look fresh and new. I think I have decided on the paint colors for the house and the carpet, but I haven't figured out the wood floor color yet. We bought new appliances the other day and we are really excited about them. They are really nice. We bought them at Lowes and they were having a 20% off sale, so we got a really good deal on them. Our house pretty much should be brand new when we are all done because are pretty much replacing everything. When David was at the house last weekend he met all the neighbors and he said they are all really nice. The ones across the street are our age, so we are excited about that. We should be in our house in about 3 weeks if everything goes as plan.

Besides the houses we really haven't been up to much. Branden and I stay busy by going to the beach or playing outside. Branden amazes me everyday by the things he says or the things he does. He is just the best little boy ever. He is always telling me about all the things he loves. He loves a lot of things! Trucks, cats, tires, vacuums, tractors, 4-wheelers, phones, dogs, pretty much everything.

This Past Weekend

This past weekend was really busy again. Time sure is flying by since we have moved back to Minnesota. Saturday we were busy all day. In the morning we went over to Auntie Joni's house with Cyndy and Landen so she could take Landen's pictures. He did really good...he loves the camera. I think the pictures are going to turn out really cute. Then around 3:00 we went and found a spot on the side of the road in St.Francis and waited for David to pass on his motorcycle because he was riding in the Patriot Ride. It is a 75 mile charity ride for the military. There were over 1000 bikes, so it was really neat to see when they all passed by.

Sunday, was Father's Day. In the morning David, Branden and I went to McDonalds to eat and play. Lately, that is one of Branden's favorite places to go beside the beach. After that David went and got more work done on his tattoo. So Branden and I just hung out at home and relaxed. My Dad and Mom were up at the cabin all weekend so we didn't get to spend father's day with them. But that evening we spent father's day with David's parents and his sister's family. We went to OutBack, it was really good!

Lastweek, when we went to the beach Branden made a huge step by going in to the water and actually walking far out. And when he fall in the water he actually laughed and wanted to do it again. I was so happy that he loves the water. He use to be so afraid of it. Now when we go to the beach he will even have more fun.

We still can't get our pictures to upload on to our laptop. We don't know what is wrong. So hopefully soon David will figure it out.