Ice Storm

You've probably wondered why I haven't blogged for awhile. We had an ice storm Monday night, Dec. 10th that knocked out our power for 4 days. It went out about 7:00 Tuesday morning and came back on around 2:00 am Saturday morning. The entire town was out of power. So were many other surrounding towns. Some of them just got power back yesterday. Scott had to work so Cheyenne and I stayed several different places to keep warm. Tuesday night we stayed at my grandparents' because they have a gas furnace and a gas stove. So we had heat and could cook decent food. The only bad part about it was that since they live in the county, they didn't have water because the pump wouldn't run. We you couldn't take a shower and had to pour water down the toilet when you went to the bathroom. We went back home Wednesday and Scott found out he didn't have to work that night so we decided to go to Great Bend to get some starter logs to start a fire in our fireplace. Even though we didn't have power, we could at least get out of the house and go somewhere since the roads weren't bad. We stayed at our house Wednesday night and slept in the living room in front of the fire. Thursday, the fireplace vent got some ashes plugged in it and the house got smoky so Cheyenne and I stayed at a friend's house who had a generator. Friday we went back home around noon to see if Scott had started another fire in the fireplace but he hadn't and it was freezing in there. Cheyenne and I curled up in some blankets and took a nap on the couch. My family came in to our house to shower and then we went back out to stay with my grandparents. The snow had started to fall about 2:00 that afternoon and when it was all said and done we ended up with about 8 inches. Scott text messaged me and said the power was back on. We let him sleep for a little while and then headed home. My sisters stayed the night with us. Actually they have stayed the night ever since then because they still don't have power at their house. They are supposed to get a generator today. They say it could be Christmas before they get power. Here is the week in pictures. (Warning: there are a lot!)

The tree in our front yard lost lots of branches.

Where the branches broke off the top of the tree.

There was so much ice on all the power lines, no wonder they were snapping and breaking poles all over the place.

Trees at my grandparents' house.

Ice on everything at Grandma and Grandpa's.

The lines sagging from the ice on them. The 3rd pole from the left even snapped in half.

Walking over to mom and dad's. Cheyenne didn't like sliding on the ice!

A pole that was snapped at the corner of mom and dad's road and the county road heading into town.

Cheyenne and I sleeping Tuesday night at Grandma and Grandpa's.

We played lots of games!

Cheyenne was pretty good all week. Here she is dancing to the music on Brittany's cell phone.

Aunt Staci and Aunt Brittany entertained her pretty well!

Here is a bucket of water to be used to flush the toilets. We caught a mouse in it! You could hear lots of mice in the walls at night.

The fire that kept us warm Wednesday night.

We were able to make peanut clusters. Cheyenne really liked them!

Playing Yahtzee by candle light.

A light that runs on batteries that mom and matthew found in Ellsworth. It worked really well except the batteries didn't last real long.

The snow that fell Friday night.

Cheyenne ready to play in the snow.

Once we got outside, Cheyenne didn't like the snow. She hung on tight everytime I tried to put her down and cried. Matthew, Brittany and Staci had fun though!

Haircut

I got my hair cut last thursday, Nov. 29th. Scott was working that week but usually saw me in the mornings when I got up to use the bathroom at 5:30 am. He never said anything about it. Finally that Sunday I asked him if he had noticed and he said, "I did today!" Probably only because I said something. I got 5 inches cut off. I can't believe he didn't notice!

Here's a picture of my shorter hair.

I can't find a good picture of my hair before this (mostly because I'm not in very many pictures!) Take my word for it...it's quite a bit shorter! I like it!

What Do You Do on a Cold Day?

Today we woke up to ice. Our vehicles were covered. Even at 1:00 when I went to work I had to defrost the windshield for awhile. Scott is off this week so Cheyenne has been staying home with him. What were they going to do today since it was so cold outside? This picture should answer that question!

Late Night Trip

Last night about 10:00 we decided to go to Hutch to get our groceries. This way we wouldn't have to get up early Thursday morning and wouldn't have to hurry back so I could get to work on time. There usually aren't too many people in Walmart at 11:00 at night! It is a little difficult at times to get through the isles when they are stocking shelves though. I think we were the only people in there that had a child with them! We had 2 carts and Cheyenne slept in one (for awhile, she was wide awake when we went down the toy isles!) and we had our groceries in the other one. It was nice to get our shopping done but we missed not being able to eat out! Usually we get to eat out on our trips to Hutch. I don't think anything was open except for McDonald's drive thru! And we don't like McDonald's. Of course the bad part was having to put all the groceries away when we got home! I wasn't really tired last night though so I put groceries away, did dishes and finished decorating the tree that we had started before we decided to go to Hutch. It was 3 am before I made it to bed. That was actually forcing myself to go to bed. I didn't feel tired. I knew I would be in the morning if I didn't get to bed though. 8:00 did come pretty early!

Here's a picture of our tree this morning. I may be able to get a better picture at night. If I get a better one I will add it later. I'm glad our house is finally festive! Now I just need to start wrapping presents! That will probably be another late night project, after Cheyenne is in bed!

Happy Birthday Mom!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

We took Mom out to eat at Montana Mike's in Great Bend today after church. This was her on the way home.

CHEESE!

I took a picture of Cheyenne and I by holding the camera out in front of us and then she wanted me to take more! She kept saying "CHEESE!".

Our First Picture.

The best thing your child can give you!

Thanksgiving and Other Happenings

Since I haven't posted for awhile, here's an update on what's been going on.

Scott is working three weeks straight. He started the 13th and will finally get a day off on the 4th of December. Since he was working Cheyenne and I went out to my parents' for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a delicious lunch with all of my siblings, my parents, my grandparents and uncle. We enjoyed the meal and socialization. We played some games later in the afternoon and evening. When it was just us kids and mom and dad we played MAD GAB. I was laughing so hard I could hardly breathe!

Friday morning we decided to get up and head to Hutch to try and catch some of the good deals. We weren't crazy like some people who got there at 4 am but did get there at 7:30 am. Scott decided to go with us because he was talking 4 hours off that evening for when his brother and mom showed up and go into work at 9 pm. We found some good deals at Wal-Mart and Target and then headed to Lowe's to get my mom a new washer. She ended up with a new washer and dryer! We dropped Scott off at the house so he could take a nap and then headed out to my parents' house to drop off the washer and dryer. On our way home Scott's mom called and said the roads were terrible and there were lots of people in the ditch outside of Goodland and they were going to wait until the morning to come down. Scott and his brother were a little disappointed. We visited with Dustin and Ashley until Scott went to work and then Cheyenne and I went to bed shortly after that. Getting up at 5 am was a little early!

Saturday, Mable made it about noon and we waited for Scott to wake up and then we prepared our Thanksgiving meal. We bought a turkey fryer when we were in Hutch and Scott and Dustin fried the turkey. It was all very hummy! We went to McPherson later Saturday evening to see Scott's grandparents and family.

Sunday everyone headed home and Scott went to work and Cheyenne and I were left to find something to do. There was plenty of laundry to be done! Then we headed to bed early.

I had a doctor appointment Tuesday. Everything looks good. I have 8 weeks left. I have been having more back pain and it takes awhile for me to get comfortable in bed or sitting down. I'm not complaining too much though because at least I'm not as swollen and don't have high blood pressure like I did with Cheyenne. I hope I don't get to that point either.

That takes us to today. Now I'm caught up. Nothing exciting happening today. Hopefully I will do better about posting the next few weeks.

Scared

Cheyenne had a scare today. She had taken a shower with me and then I filled the tub for her to play while I got ready. The shower curtain was still closed while she was playing in there so I couldn't really see her. All of a sudden she started crying. It was a scared cry. She had pooped! It was floating and she didn't know what it was! This was the first time she had ever done that. It was kind of funny but she was so scared. Her crying woke Scott up and he asked what the matter was. She was still scared when I was cleaning it up (which wasn't very pleasant). She will probably hate me when she is older for telling this story but I just had to share it. At least I don't have any pictures for you!

Taking pictures

Cheyenne has learned how to turn my camera on and take pictures. The pictures aren't usually really anything but she likes pushing the buttons. When I take belly pictures I set the camera on the arm of the chair and set the timer. Cheyenne tries to set it there and then take a few steps back and say "CHEESE". Last night I set the timer for her and she pushed the button and actually got herself in the picture!

Here are a couple pictures she took last night.

Any idea what this is a picture of?

It's the speaker on the bottom of the tv. She was trying to set the camera there to take a picture but had the camera turned the wrong way! We turned it around and she got in the picture!

After the pictures we had a little incident. Notice she is in just a diaper? She was turning the camera off and had it up against her belly and when the lens went in, the skin around her belly button got stuck in it! I tried to turn it back on so it would come out but it didn't so we had to kind of pull it out. It left a little pinch mark on her belly. I felt bad for her because I'm sure it hurt but it was kind of funny. I looked to see if she took a picture with it at her belly but she didn't so I don't have one to share with this story.

Warm Weather

This weekend has been beautiful so we spent some time outside.

We went out to the Fall Bazaar at Celebration Center to see Santa and she got a sucker. Can you see the sticky all over her face? She didn't like Santa but she took the sucker from him!

Cheyenne riding her bike.

She can't quite pedal yet she just pushes with her feet. It's a Barbie bike and it has a button that makes Barbie talk to you. She really likes to push that.

Babysitting

I posted awhile back that I had been babysitting at the rec on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, here's a little update. When I first started babysitting it was just Cheyenne and Brody. Then there were a few other kids. We were at about 7 or 8 for awhile and that was a lot! Friday I had the most kids I've ever had...15! The oldest one being maybe 5 and the youngest one 4 months! They are all good kids. They've come to understand what they can and can't do and know that when I say no they can't do something. The hour goes by pretty fast with that many kids! I usually don't have any problems until one of newly potty trained kids has to go to the bathroom and needs assistance. Then they all follow us into the bathroom. I usually have one of the infants in my hand while trying to keep track of the rest of them. I think that maybe we're going to have to have 2 people in the childcare room on these mornings, just for potty breaks! I enjoy watching the kids and it has taught Cheyenne to share and get along with other children.

Cheyenne watching some of the kids play.

One of the girls wanted me to take her picture.

The babies.

The kids playing.

Long, Curly Hair

Most of you see Cheyenne with her curly shoulder length hair. Well, when it's wet it's a lot longer! You have to see it when it's completely wet to see how long it actually is. It doesn't take too long for it to curl.

You can kind of see how long it is floating behind her in the bathtub.

It was already starting to curl here but you can see that it is pretty long!

Here it is all dried and curly. A lot shorter!

I had to add this picture just because of the look she was giving me!

10 Weeks Remaining

Today I am 30 weeks pregnant. These 30 weeks have gone by quickly! Only 10 to go! I remember when I hit 30 weeks with Cheyenne and it didn't seem like very long after that that she was born. She was early at 38 weeks and 4 days. We'll see when this one comes! With both pregnancies I have kept track of my weight every week. My weeks start on Tuesdays so every Tuesday I record it. I am the same weight at 30 weeks with this one as I was with Cheyenne! The only thing is that I started 10 pounds heavier with this one! That part isn't good but the fact that I haven't gained as much weight up to this point with this child is good. Hopefully the next several weeks I don't gain a lot of weight like with Cheyenne. With her it was a lot of water weight and I had a lot of swelling. I'm hoping that I am more active this time and can avoid that. Having a one and a half year old to chase around keeps you moving! Just thought I would use this milestone to share some belly pictures.

This is my first belly picture at 10 weeks.

And this is me today at 30 weeks!

A little closer

Here is a picture from Cheyenne at 31 weeks. (Crazy that I'm wearing the same shirt!)

Can anyone tell if there is a difference in the way I am carrying the two?

Baby Kisses

Cheyenne likes to give the baby (my belly) kisses. I haven't had my camera when she does it but my phone was nearby. She only kisses my belly with my shirt up and always says Muah! Here are a couple pictures of her giving her little brother or sister kisses their first kisses!

This one was several weeks ago.

MUAH!

Potty

Tonight Cheyenne went potty in the big girl potty!

She had a poopy diaper and I changed her and told her to go in the bathroom so we could take a bath. When she got in there I said sit on the potty and she did while I started the bath water and when she stood up she had gone! It was so exciting! She was clapping! I had her help me empty the training stool into the big stool and then she flushed it! We'll see where we go from here!

Fall Back

When the time changes in the fall you are supposed to get an extra hour of sleep. That doesn't happen when you have kids! I woke up early yesterday morning because my back hurt and I couldn't get comfortable. I decided to take a shower to hopefully relax. Cheyenne was up at the usual time, 7:15, which is now 6:15. I had kind of forgotten that the time changed since I hadn't changed the clock in the bedroom the night before. Needless to say we had plenty of time to get ready for church. I guess we used our extra hour to get ready rather than sleep!

This morning Cheyenne was up at 7:00. This would have been a good sleep in until 8:00 the old time. I could have slept another hour though! I guess it will take us awhile to get used to it.

Happy Halloween!

My mom and Staci came into town yesterday evening and we took Cheyenne trick-or-treating. We just went to some friends and family's houses and to the trails. The local businesses set up tables and hand out candy and treats along the nature trail at Celebration Center. This was the first time I had been out there. It's nice to be able to hit a lot of places in one stop. There was a long line at the trails though and it took us a while to get through it so we missed some houses because I had to get back to work. We did see some more family and friends at the trails though.

This was Cheyenne on Sunday at the trail for the PAT pumpkin patch

Getting ready to go trick-or-treating.

The antennas don't stay up

Cheyenne and Jonathan

We went and saw Scott after I got off work and she crashed before we even made it home. She didn't even wake up when I took her in the house. All that trick-or-treating wore her out!