Best Year Yet

In about 2 hours, it will be 2013. One of my resolutions for the new year? Blog more.

Ready, go.

As 2012 comes to a close, I am thankful for a great year full of great things. But the greatest thing that has happened in my life is the little munchkin Nate and I brought into the world on August 17th.

Enter Sebastian.

Never knew I could love something so much.

Here he is at 4 months. 

First photo Nate ever took of him right after he was born.

A few more from his first days.

I never knew it was possible to sleep so hard.

Sebo monkey basking in the sun.

I cannot believe that he is more then 4 months old already. Time really does go faster as you get older and even faster once you have a kid. I cannot wait for the years to come, to be able to watch him grow, learn and become his own little person. I think he is going to be a pretty awesome little man.

Happy New Year! Here's to more blogging.

Annual Week in Michigan

Every year, Nate's moms side of the family, which includes her 3 sisters and all their family members, meets up in Union Pier, Michigan for a week on the beach. I have been tagging along on this trip since our second summer of being together in 2004. The week is spent at a little beach resort called Gintaras and we stay in cute cabins close to the beach.

It is wonderful. 

We sit on the beach, read, swim, eat, nap and relax. It pretty much always takes place in the end of June...so we are here now! The weather has been quite nice so far...just very hot. But today it is raining...which means I have time to make a post...which I am realizing I should really do more often.

A bunch of family hangin' on the beach.

Squishy nephew Elliott wearing my sunhat.

Me and my 30 weeks pregnant belly on the beach.

This is what we call the BS. Beautiful Sunset. 

We have a few days left here, then back home to tend to the garden and continue preparing the house for the baby...which will be here before we know it.

All photos in this post taken by the hubby, Nate.

Fluffy Feathers and Red Fur

Being a city girl at heart means I will never have the little hobby farm I once thought I might have someday. As much as I would love acres to raise animals on, I would prefer to stay right here in my city slice and just have some backyard chickens at some point. 


My mom's boyfriend lives on a few acres just 15 minutes from the city. Today I went and hung out with my mom and his spring chickens and piglets...and I loved it. I am thankful to have this little spot of farm animals to visit so close to home and look forward to visiting them often this summer.

They just got these three piglets yesterday. They are still a bit skeptical of being pet, but I got a few pats in.

I love the curly ears.

Eat, eat, eat...all day long.

Next we visited the chickens! They got these dozen or so little ladies a few weeks ago and they have already grown a lot. Their fluffy little fuzz is quickly turning into colorful feathers.

This little nugget is my mom's favorite...obviously. She has not grown as much as the others and is still only a small handful of fuzz.

Although my mom too has always been a city girl...as you can see here, there is a little more farm girl in her then city and this is where she looks right at home.

Little, Green and Joyful

Tomorrow is my birthday and today, my aunt Mary brought me out to Bachman's to celebrate...what a treat :) 

Here is what I came home with as a gift from her...

Can you even stand how dang cute it is??? They are little mini adorable plants in little mini bright colored pots...it can't get any better then this. All of them lined up are small enough to live right on my coffee table where I can enjoy them all the time.

They sit just right on this little wood stand with a metal tray attached.

I almost feel like I should name them...

Thanks auntie Mary for giving me something so little, green and joyful!

It's a perfect little slice of spring in This Mini Apple Slice.

Mr. Magnus Joins Us

Well, it appears that I have not blogged in quite some time...lets fix that. 

I will start by introducing you to our newest family member...Mr. Magnus!!! We got him in December and he is fitting in well!

When my hunt for another dog began, I was looking for a big dog...50+ lbs. But then I saw Magnus and I couldn't pass him up, all 32 lbs. of him. Take a gander at a true mutt. Penelope is quite a mutt herself, but Magnus on the other hand is more of a mystery...the best guess is Basset Hound/Pit Bull, but we really don't know. What we do know is that it's hard to look at his short awkward legs with that big head and not smile. His body parts don't look like they should go together, but somehow it works for him! He was found roaming in Indiana and was picked up by animal control there. His home was never found and that is when he was brought up to MN by Midwest Animal Rescue to be adopted. His history is unknown, the only hint that we have at his past is that he is a little fearful...thankful not aggressively so, he wouldn't hurt a flea. He is a cuddle bug with tons of extra wrinkly skin to squish. He and Penelope love to wrestle, play tug-o-war and chew on each other.

Here they are on christmas day in a sea of wrapping paper.

His main goal in life is to lay on top of Penelope. At first she was a bit skeptical about it (as you can see in her face here). But she quickly got use to it and now she just thinks he is a giant hot water bottle.

She now thoroughly enjoys the cuddling.

I am not always sure how Penelope keeps breathing like this.

 A couple more sleeping dog photos, just because you can't have too many. Right?