Getting it over with

I don’t know how to write this and I’ve been struggling about this post.  I am not ready to do this, but I just cannot continue to think and rephrase this in my head any longer, so…

This past Saturday, Cailey, our white dog, was hit by a truck while we were all on a mini-vacation at Jon’s sister’s house.  She died.



I cannot begin to sort through my feelings.

On that note, we’d like to grieve about this in private and would appreciate if you held your condolences and we could just move on without talking about this.

If we’re friends outside of this blog-space, please refrain from talking about it.  I’m not ready for it, but I feel wrong “hiding” it.

I’m turning off the comments on this post.  I hope you all understand.

Back to regular programming tomorrow.

Favorite toys, 3 to 6 months

I’m starting to think that this is one of my favorite ages to date (ha…ha…I’m so funny).  Peanut has really become a little opinionated person, learning how to reach, grab, and even pass toys from one hand to the other.  We’ve loved watching her develop.

 

Here are some of her favorites:

 

Rubber Duckies

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I can’t seem to stop singing the Rubber Ducky song from Sesame Street (by the way, did you know that are pre-taped episodes of it On Demand?  It’s a great distraction for a couple of minutes while I cut Peanut’s nails).  Any-who.  Peanut absolutely adores her rubber duckies.  We have 3 (they don’t look like this, but they’re also pretty funny).  Before she was able to full sit up, she used to lean back in the tub and shuffle her rubber duckies around with her feet (for whatever reason my kid thinks that her feet are another set of hands).  Now she gets a kick out of rubber duckies “diving” from various heights into the tub and making a splash.  We can’t seem to get enough of them and they’re a sure way to bring on a round of giggles.

 

Rattles, crunching books, and other loud things

 

[I couldn’t find these online, sorry gang]

 

Peanut just loves her rattles.  In fact, rattles of any kind are her favorite.  She loves the noise they make, she loves putting them in her mouth and exploring their textures and she loves the colors.  The toy on the left mesmerizes her when you turn it upside down and back again and watch the little balls rattle down.  The rattle on the right has to be her very favorite.  She actually learned to turn her hand over to turn the rattle upside down and then back again to make the little loops go up and down.  It’s amazing to watch her learn all this.  The book makes all sorts of crunching noises, has some moving parts on the handle and lets us put in pictures of ourselves inside a protective sleeve.  Aside from sticking it in her mouth and making the crunching noise, P gets all excited when I point out “Peanut with mommy” and “Peanut with daddy” on each page.  All of these (and actually about 80% of all our baby toys) are hand-me downs from our neighbors and friends.

 

Toys that sing

 

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This one is P’s all-time favorite but she pretty much likes any toy that sings.  Initially we stuck this on her car seat, stroller, and just about everything else.  She loved moving the little rattles and grabbing the mirror.  By 6 months she loves pulling on the froggy and making him sing by pressing his eyes (I’m pretty sure it’s not really on purpose but she gets the general idea and can do it about 70% of the time).  We have so many toys that sing (and by now know every single tune by heart and end up whistling it in the shower). 

 

Move & Crawl ball

 

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We bought this awesomeness at a consignment shop ($7 for a $14 toy? Yes please).  It is so freakin’ cool.  The little lady bug spins and moves around, the buttons make noises, play songs.  And the ball rolls around on its own (there is alittle weight inside that makes it move depending on the button Peanut presses).  P just loves pressing the buttons and playing with the little tags.

 

Taggies

 

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Did you know that these existed?  Because I certainly did not until about a month or so ago.  Peanut seeks out the little tags on every single toy she owns.  One day I was whining to my bestie about Peanut putting yet another tag into her mouth when she said, “Have you bought her any taggy toys?” Taggy toys? What?! Why have I not heard of this?  (Apparently there are taggy clothes too!)  Jon and I ran out to the consignment shop and bought two of them ($5 each!) - the one pictured above and a book.  Peanut was in love.  She can’t get enough of these (although she still manages to seek out the actual tag on the taggy toy).  Then her Gigi bought her a taggy puppy!  Now she spends every single morning taking turns sucking on every one of them (they’re different textures) and then just sitting there with the tail of the puppy in her mouth.  It’s pretty funny to watch.  If your kid is like mine and loves tags, I suggest you seek these out immediately.  You won’t be sorry.

 

Got any toys to add to my list?

Wordless Wednesday

Love our birdhouse that Jon’s mom bought us for our first wedding anniversary.

 

 

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi

Focal Length: 50mm

1/200s, f/5.6, ISO: 200

 

Edited in Photoshop with the help of Pioneer Woman’s actions (download them here)

 

Got a Wordless Wednesday? Link up! (please enter the URL that links directly to the post rather than your blog)

Favorite baby gear, 3 to 6 months

Our little Peanut-butter-face is now 6 months old, so I thought I’d fill you in on all the goodies in the 3 to 6 month category.

 

Projector Soother

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After Peanut moved to her crib permanently, we decided to invest in a projector soother and we sure are glad we did.  This baby keeps Peanut pretty entertained in the evening right before she falls asleep.  We usually put her down sleepy, but still awake.  This soother projects an image to our ceiling and plays soothing music, keeping Peanut entertained until she’s ready to fall asleep.  We don’t turn it on every single night, but we do when she seems a bit cranky and it works every time.  It also has a night light and a mirror for when she’s ready to go beyond the projector.

 

Egg Thermometer

 

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Okay, so you’ll probably be just fine without one of these if you’re a laid back kinda mom.  But since I’m a nervous wreck who worries about everything, I had to get one of these.  I couldn’t help stress out about the warmth in P’s room when summer got underway since her room is in the corner of the house and seems to be a completely different temperature than the rest of the house.  The egg thermometer tells you the temperature and let’s you know how it’s going by changing colors (you know, yellow- good, orange- uh oh, red- bad).  It’s easy to spot it and know whether the room is at the right temperature without reading the number.

 

Huggies Overnight Diapers

 

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Around 4.5 months we did the Ferber sleep training and Peanut started sleeping through most of the nights.  However, most nights when she did wake up was due to a wet diaper (I know, ours might be the only baby who hates a wet diaper).  We talked to a few of our friends and they all recommended the same thing - Huggies overnites.  These diapers are about 2 sizes too big for P (size 3 is the smallest), but we wrap them up tightly and put her to bed.  These keep her happy all night long and have cut back on her wake up time to just about 0 (or at least 0 due to wet diapers).  Heads up - they weigh about 500 pounds in the morning.  Did you know your baby can pee 500 pounds worth of stuff in just 10 hours?

 

Duck tub

 

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Rubber ducky, you’re the one…doo doo doo doo.  This tub rocks!  It’s tiny and blows up to be half of our bathtub size.  It fits in great, it quacks, and it’s soft for Peanut.  Did I mention bath time is her favorite time of day?  I’m guessing it would be mine too if someone put me in an inflatable duck tub that quacked.

 

Jumperoo

 

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Love, love, love this jumperoo.  We are borrowing it from my Bestie Inna and I have to tell you, it’ll be tough giving it back.  Peanut is obsessed!  At our 4 month appointment our doctor told us to go out and get a jumperoo because Peanut loved to be on the move and kicked her legs in every direction like crazy.  Needless to say, she loves jumping in it (the cute part is that she’s actually jumping to the beat!).

 

Exersaucer

 

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This is another one of those awesome things you gotta go out and get this instant.  Peanut just loves playing in her walker.  Recently we even started unlocking the wheels so she can walk around.  Her favorite part is moving the little birdies up and down the loop and pulling on the tree (it makes sounds).

 

High Chair

 

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This isn’t our exact high chair (although this one looks freakin’ awesome).  But I have to tell you, our high chair’s been a saver.  Peanut just loves sitting down for dinner with the whole family.  She immediately gets excited and opens her mouth wide for me to stick a spoon in.  She’s still too tiny for one (shocker, I know), but with a couple of blankets stuck under the cover, she has a boost that allows her to actually reach the table part.  The high chair keep her entertained (we have “food” toys that we stick on her table) and keeps her safe while I get her dinner ready.  Plus it’s a synch to clean up!

 

Got any other gear for 3-6 months to share?

 

I’ll do favorite toys and day care stuff separately this week.

August Blog Spotlight - Life in the Slow Lane

I can’t even remember when I started following Carrie’s blog, Life in the Slow Lane, but it’s been a long long while and I’ve never missed a post.  We bonded over our love for our dogs and our shared experience of losing one.  Her “farm life” amazes me (especially since I don’t even understand about 90% of what she does there), while her photography makes me wish I lived on the farm (that is the only time I wish that).  While you’re there, check out her adorable new pup, Molly (we all know my weakness for dogs, don’t we?)

So let’s talk about Carrie.

Who are you?
First I just have to say I am so honored that Kat has chosen me as the August Featured blogger. I found Kat through Marriage Confessions and I am so happy I did. The first post I read was about the Swine and I was hooked. Growing up on a farm I know the smells that pigs give off and I can only imagine the disappointment Kat felt that Swine were actually these smelly, ugly and noisy pigs and not a beautiful swan!

I'm a 31-year-old, country living, farm wife of three years to my hubby, TNT. I'm a mommy to a furry cat named Tails and a rambunctious puppy named Molly Sue. TNT and I live on his grandparent’s farm and we are slowly buying more farmland so we can both quit our day jobs and be able to farm full time. My sister is my very best friend and I have the best parents. My beautiful mother is a 7 year breast cancer survivor and every day I’m reminded just how courageous she was to look cancer in the eye and beat it.


Why did you start blogging?
I had been reading blogs for quite awhile and decided I had something to talk about too. That was 810 posts ago. I am so happy that I did start this blog because I have made wonderful friends. It really amazes me that people I’ve never met in real life can become such great friends. To be honest all the blogs I read except Living like the Kings and Marriage Confessions are agricultural related and written by farms wives like me. I am so happy that I came across both of these blogs because I’m learning about the way people who reside in town or the city live too. I’m always amazed at how Kat grows her garden in such a tiny space. My garden is 15’x150’ with everything having its own space.
During my slow times here at work I’ll go back and reread my posts. Some posts I had completely forgotten about so it’s fun to go back. For me blogging is such a great way to document my everyday life. But the best thing about blogging is before I started, my scrapbooks hardly had any pictures of me in it. Then I started doing a link up on Thursday’s where you post a picture of yourself. Now my scrapbooks actually have pictures of me!


What is your favorite summer activity?
I am a summer loving girl. I will take the 100+ degree days we’ve been having this past month over the cold days of 30 degrees and lower anytime. There is so much about summer that I love; flower & veggie gardens, wheat harvest, co-ed softball, IMCA dirt track racing, mowing the farm, going to the cabin at the lake, riding my bike, and of course getting a nice dark tan! But my favorite thing about summer is after a long day of working on the farm to sit on the front porch after my shower and enjoy a glass of wine. I love taking in all the sounds and smells and know that my farm looks so pretty because of all the hard work I’ve done.

Taking Pictures
I made my photography business Facebook Official on June 1^st of this year. I mostly take portraits of people for the business, but my original love was landscape. Then I had clients asking me for specific photos for them to decorate their houses. Talk about an honor to have someone want to put your work on their walls. One client wants to decorate her massage therapy office with Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. I have three of them but Earth is kicking my butt. You would think with us farming 20,000 acres of land I could easily come up with some dirt pictures. My problem seems to be while I’m out searching for the right photo I get sidetracked by people’s junk. That old saying one person’s junk is another’s treasure. Well that is so very true when it comes to photography. The following items were out in my in-laws pasture rusting away for decades.
I fell in love with this old Studebaker.



The only thing left of this old Mercury is the dash board. I asked the mother-in-law if she thought it would start up anyway. If you look close you can see one of the keys is broken off.



Dash boards don’t look like this anymore.



My father-in-law has a bed of an old pickup sitting in the pasture that he throws all his old chains and sprockets in. If you look close you can see the spider webs.



As I was heading home from my in-laws (4 miles to our farm) a good ole Kansas thunderstorm was brewing behind me. I took this through the side mirror on the pickup.