Sweet 1 years old!!!

Where do I even start with this kid. He has been such an amazing blessing to our family. I just look at him and he makes me giggle like a little school girl. I am not sure if it is those blue piercing eyes or those cheeks that have been pinched too many times to count.
I told Brett when I was pregnant with Abe that as sick as I was, this baby was going to hold a special place in my heart. I think my exact words were "I think I am going to have a serious sweet spot for this little one". Man, did I nail it. Abram was 5 weeks early, the whole pregnancy went nothing liked I planned but the minute I held him I knew everything was perfect.

Being my second born, Abram got a much more relaxed Mom. I didn't stress about nursing, napping times or how many dirty diapers he had a day. I just held him and loved on him because I knew how fast this first year would go and I was not going to miss it. Now here we are a year from his birth and I am thinking.... why didn't I snuggle him a little more???? Shoot, if we have another baby, that baby is for sure going to get smothered!!!

Abe, sweet sweet Abe,

I love you so much and tend to miss you when you take your long naps. You fit in so perfect in our family and your big brother and Daddy love and adore you. This has been such a year of changes and challenges but you have been more than a joy to raise through it all. I can't wait to see what kind of person you become. Yet, I am not going to lie, part of me never wants you to grow up at all. Just so you know, even if Daddy tells you it is time to move out after you graduate from high school, you are always more than welcome to come on back home. Please never leave me and marry a women, drive on major highways, play aggressive sports or camp with an open flame. Oh wait, no I don't mean that, I am not a crazy mom, I just want to be around you as long as I can.

I love you my sweet little man!!

Because I have to

Hey guys, I am not going to lie, I am kinda bored with the thought of blogging but I feel the need to do it because it is kinda a journal of my life in some ways. I honestly thought I would have a little more time on my hands to come up with fun blogs and pictures. It turns out that these stay at home moms do a lot of work. Maybe now that the holidays are over and we are headed into some cold days, I will make more time.

Anyway, Christmas was good this year, I would say one of the better Christmas's I have had ever. What was the difference, you ask? Less gifts, more just enjoying my family and all the fun Christmas traditions. I kept hearing so many people say "I have so much to do, I have not even started shopping yet.......". My response was "mmm, I'm done!" That is right, got a few little things for Hutchy, even found some on craigslist. Did one homemade gift for Brett along with some shirts and well Abe.... he got lots of wrapping paper and tape. I was blessed to get some wonderful gifts from others and my kids have all kinds of fun things to play with from grandparents but it would have been just as much fun with an even more simple Christmas.

I think my top 5 things about this Christmas were:

- Christmas Eve with the family. We missed the Christmas eve service because of poor planning on my part and ended up going to Jimmy Johns for dinner and being the only people there. We then went home, got the kids in the bath and turned on the fireplace. it was not as we planned at all but kinda magical to all be together at home. The boys smelled so good and were so warm and snuggly, I loved it!

- Watching Hutch get so excited for each gift. I kinda thought it would be overload for him but he did great and I felt like he was so thankful for each thing.

- Snuggling with my sweet Abe in his jammies on Christmas morning. I often want to be more like Abram, I love his childlike heart, life is so simple for this little guy. Oh those cheeks!!!

- Watching my family members snarf down several dozens of cookies I made. I love cooking when others enjoy it so much. I am not sure how many total peanut butter balls I made but they were a hit!!! I love standard white trash cookies like that. Forget my Martha Stewart cookbook when I have Better Homes and Gardens!!!

- Making homemade scarfs for a couple of my family members. I made them from Brett's old undershirts and some Rit dye. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. Talk about being thrifty!!

Well, there you have it. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and if you wished it would have been a little more relaxing. Don't spend so much money and time shopping for all those people because you feel like you have to. Don't go to the mall, just find fun things in your own home to share with others.

halloween sucess

Now that I am a stay at home mom, I have set some standards for myself. Besides keeping a semi clean house, hot meal on the table almost every night and doing at least one load of laundry a day. I have made it a goal to hand make my kids costumes until they beg me for one of those cheap and nasty ones from Wally World.

I saw the idea for this scuba costume last year when I was making Hutch's costume and just held on to the idea until this year. I don't want to brag but I do think it was one of the best costumes I saw (that comment was for you Clark E.)

Anyway, I wished Abe's costume would have turned out a little better. He looked really cute but so cute that he was called a cute little chubby girl all night. He can't help it, it is just a pretty boy!!!

no words just so cute!!!!

My friend Kim took some family pictures and so far this might be my favorite. Not sure what he is doing with his little lips but it is adorable. He melts my heart every time I look into those deep blue eyes!!!

A shout out: Kim (RICK!!!), you rock. These pictures turned out so cute, I can't wait to let the framing begin!!!

Hutchisms

Well, I am about a month into being a full time stay at home mom and I am loving it so far. I think one of my favorite things about staying home is obviously getting to hang out with Hutch more and really get to know him better. It has been a challenge to deal with this little squirt at times but it has also been so fun to really see him start to have his own personality.

This past weekend we went out to a farm to pick out a few pumpkins. Hutch and I took a hay rack ride out to the pumpkin patch and on the way pasted a soybean field that had not yet been harvested. I heard one of the Dad's tell his kid that that field was edamame and I just rolled my eyes. I asked Hutch what kind of beans they were and he replies "soybeans, mom!" Ahhh, duhhh Johnson county Dad who has been in the city a little too long!!!

I loved it that my son knew what they were and is a true farm boy at heart. I can't get the kid to sit still for much longer than 5 min, but somehow he managed to ride in the combine with my Dad for almost 7 straight hours a few weeks ago.

Anyway, on to my story. I asked Hutch to pick a pumpkin to take home. I kept pointing ones out that were perfect in shape and would say "Hutch, look at this one, it is perfect isn't it?" His response was "No Mom, it is not right, put it down". I kept trying to get him to pick one since the tractor was getting ready to take off. I just put on a big smile and acted really excited when I saw another pumpkin that was perfect and kept saying "Oh, Hutch, that is it, look how great that pumpkin is". His response was still "Mom, no no, not that one, put it down". I finally started to walk back to the tractor in hopes he would just forget about it and follow me but just then he said "this one!!!"

Can you tell which one he picked?

I love my Mr. Hutch Wiese. He keeps me on my feet.

Oh, one last sorry, Last night I needed to use the ladies room and Hutch walks in the bathroom and I say "Hutch, Mommy needs some privacy". His response was "I can't Mom, we don't have anymore". Smart kid, he is right, mommy does not have any privacy left :)

Stay at home mom

I am sure no one will even reads this post since I have not blogged in three months and everyone thinks I have quit. I have been a little crazy running around with my head cut off. Turns out, I kinda stink at having two kids, working outside the home full time,trying to keep a house, maintain healthy friendships and oh, yes, be a good wife.

After a hundred conversations, looking over the budget a million times and praying about it. We have decided that I will quit my job in late September. This is an exciting but scary time for us.

Exciting that I will get to spend more time with my sweet boys, not pay for child care anymore (which was way more than our mortgage) and just having a few less things on my mind. I am excited to watch my kids grow and help mold them into the wonderful people I know they can be. I am excited to be thrifty, find great deals on craigslist and share my finds with all of you. I can't wait to get my house back in order and just feel good about going on a long walk by myself. No guilt here!

Scary because we are going to one income with me working a few side things on the side to bring in a little income. Being a stay at home mom is also SO HARD!!! I thought a stay at home mom's had the life of just hanging out in sweat pants, going to the pool all day, watching day time tv and just kissing on kids all day. Over maternity leave, I found out that staying home with two kids is the hardest job I have ever had, hands down!!!

Hope you are all ready for play dates, I am going to need you all so I don't go crazy!!!

Back to work

Well, so sorry I have not blogged for three months. I was either too busy watching Toy Story for the hundredth time with Hutch, squeezing Abe's cheeks until they are purple or hanging out with my new stay at home mom friends. Maternity leave was amazing and I cherished every minute of every day. It was a ton of work (way more work than I have ever done in my life) but I absolutely loved it. Turns out I really like my kids!



It has been hard to be apart from by boys all day but some pictures that my friend took just came to me by email and it is making me melt. Thanks Kim for making my day!

Introducing our new little man

Sorry I have taken a week to post about the new little addition to our family. I am so obsessed with him, I can't put him down to write a blog about it.

One week from today (Jan. 31st) our second son was born at 6:22pm weighing in at 6 lbs 15oz. and 18 3/4 inches long.

I don't like telling long birthing stories on hour to hour details so here is basic outline of how it all went down, a month earlier than expected:

9am: I went to hospital in the morning after I dropped Hutch off at daycare on my way to work because I just had not been feeling good and I had a little spotting the night before. Thought I might be dehydrated and just went to make sure everything was ok.

9:30: Started all kinds of tests to see why I was not feeling good and found out my Bilirubin count was high (I guess that means something not great with your liver). I was told it might be nothing but they wanted to observe me for a few hours but no need to have my husband come to hospital.

11:30: Did a sonogram on my liver, bladder and kidneys, took more blood and started me on fluids.

1:00pm: Told me they wanted to keep me for 24 hours to observe since they were not finding out why my Bilirubin was high. I was also starting to have some contractions around this time that felt like more than braxton Hicks. Doc checked me and I was at a 3.5 centimeters.

2:00pm: 4.5 centimeters dilated and I was told I was in labor.

2:01pm: Freaked out completely because I was not ready to have this baby. I had one of my biggest events of the year in a week (The event is tomorrow and I am praying for my staff that it all goes great, Good luck team!!) I didn't not have a chance to tell the nurses my birth plan, I didn't have the bag packed, diapers at home. NOTHING WAS READY!!! So, the crying began.

2:30pm: Texted brett to hurry because I needed my coach since contractions were getting harder at this point.

2:40pm: Brett arrived to save me!!!

4:30pm: Contractions got really hard and I started to doubt if I had the energy to do this since I had felt sick for the last month. I also only had a bowl of cereal that morning and they would not let me eat all day.

6:13pm: I told Brett if I was not at a 7 centimeters when the Doc. checked me next I was going to get an epidural because I was hooked up to monitors, I could not move about and get in some more comfortable positions to labor in. Again cried a bit because I wanted to be laboring in my own way.

6:14pm: Doc checked me and I was a 7, no an 8, Ohh, she broke my water, I was a 9 and I yelled "I need to push now, now, now, now." Brett says "Hey, she wants to push, she said she needs to push". I hear doctors and nurses say "hold on Vikkie, don't push, don't push". My response: screw this, I am pushing and so I began! Good thing the doc and nurses got me set up in one minute because 6 pushes later, Abram Reo Wiese was born. (Reo is my grandfathers brother. Never knew uncle Reo but I just thought that name was pretty cool).

I know he was born a month early but he was ready to come out and so was I. I instantly felt like a million bucks the minute he came out and I have since then. I LOVE NOT BEING PREGGERS!!!! It is a small price to pay but Abe made me work for him. Hutch was a breeze to be preggers with compared to Hutch. The NICU team was there to to take Abe if needed but he got denied within minutes of being born. He was healthy and perfect!!!!!

Here are just a few pics:

This is baby Abe with Uncle Abram, my brother.

Taking a nap at 5 days old.

Hanging with Dad.

Thanks all for your prayers, emails, cards, facebook messages and meals. We have the best friends, family and co-workers in the world!!!!

P.s. I will post soon of the boys together. Hutchy is the best big brother and is so sweet with Abe. He is at the farm this week with Papa Tractor and Grandma Joce and having the time of his life. I guess my Dad even got him to poop on the potty. Hey, he might be potty trained when I get him back, not to shabby. Two kids in diapers is going to kill our bank account so I am all for Hutchy getting potty trained :)

Happy Ho Ho Ho to me!

This year Santa (aka Papa Strahm) brought me a power washer for Christmas. I know, I know, it may seem crazy but I am sure it is going to be my new favorite thing. I am not sure if it is just this pregnancy or what but I have had the need to clean. That doesn't mean that am always cleaning but I can't seem to get things clean enough and I am constantly thinking about how to get rid of every germ in my house.

Early this fall we borrowed a power washer to do our deck before we stained it and I kinda fell in love with the idea of blowing water out of a hose going like 50 miles per hour. I started using the power washer to wash down the outside of my house, garage doors and gutters. I even blew the leaves out of the flower beds with it and watered my plants at the same time. When my Dad asked for some ideas for Christmas gifts I really had no ideas for him. Being preggers, no clothes sounded fun, I am not really into electronics and I have everything I can think that I really need. AHHH, except a power washer!!!! My Dad got a really good one and I can't wait to blow the winter off of everything once spring gets here.







My Top Ten things I want to power wash first:

- My whole driveway


- House and gutters


- You can add a cleaning solution in the hose so I am going to wash all the outsides of my windows


- The inside of my garage


- Might wash the cars from time to time although I do love Rainbow Wash so we will have to see about that. This power washer is also super powerful so I will have to make sure I have the delicate nozzle on for this project.


- Cleaning out Hutch's pool after it has been out all summer


- Washing under Brett's mower before putting it away for winter next year


- Power washing the grill


- Washing out my garbage cans


- We have a little back patio area that gets really dirty and it is hard to sweep up, this will be the perfect solution.





I would love more ideas if any of you had them. If you are ever in need of a power washer, give me a call. I am more than happy to spread the love :) (only if I get to help do it, that is).

The broom elfs are taking orders

Hey everyone,
just wanted to let you know that I will be putting in another big order for Fuller Brush products before the holidays. Let me know if you would like to make an order. I would be happy to chat with you one on one to let you know the products I have tried and love.

You can also click here to order online!! My account number that you will want to be sure to enter is 1033562.

Just a couple new products that I just got and love: The Kitchen Broom and the window cleaner!!!

Love,
Your Fuller Brush Lady!