To Do List

• Christmas cards = DONE
• Christmas baking = DONE
• Christmas shopping = not so much
• grocery shopping = nadda
• find a Christmas outfit (that FITS!!) =nope
• wrap presents = half done
• grading of finals = DONE

I'm on vacation now so I WILL have all of this finished by thursday. I still hate to shop (which is solely pregnancy related because normally I LOVE to shop!!) which is hindering my productivity in most of these categories. I will just have to suck it up and get out there. Normally the shopping and wrapping is completely finished before Thanksgiving even roles around. Oh well! It will get done and if not then I'll just have to put the presents under the tree like Lee does...in the bag from the store he bought it at. Lol!

Thanks for the suggestions!!

I will take a look for a local message board and/or check out the twin cities one as that's not too far away. Not that I need to be close to the people I talk to, but locals have insight on kids stuff happening in the area too which would be very nice.

Onto the next question... for those of you that have had several babies, have you had more pain/stretching/pulling/ with each pregnancy? I had some ligament pain with Makenna but nothing like this. I'm in some sort of abdominal pain about 25-50% of every day. Is that normal? Or am I defective;) I'm finally not feeling like crap (except for the pain) and super duper tired so I'm hoping this pain thing will go away too.

This is my finals week at school!! Have I told you how much I LOVE finals week as a teacher?!! Its great! I'm off to Dallas Wed-Fri for an AQHA meeting then rushing home to be at graduation for my first students Friday night @ 6pm. Then I will be laying on the couch relaxing for most of Saturday if I can get Makenna, Lance & Pain in the Front baby to cooperate;)

OK Mommas.....

What message boards do you frequent for baby/toddler advice? Or just mom support? I just jumped back on WebMD and the boards are totally different looking and it just freaked me out so I left:/ Lol!

Any suggestions?

TIA!!

6 yrs, 18 months & 13 weeks.

Dec 4th... Lance & I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. I can't even imagine where the time has gone:)

Dec 6th.... Makenna turned 1.5 yrs old or 18 months. AGAIN....where has the time gone?!

This week I'm 13 weeks and almost out of the 1st trimester! YAY! Hence the blogging again. I've been SO tired. As soon as Makenna is in bed (between 8-8:30pm), I'm heading to bed right after. Its been nearly impossible to get anything accomplished. I actually feel better this week. Not as tired... I'm sure I'll still be in bed before 10pm but at least its not before 9pm!! Progress:)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

and Black Friday to everyone!!

I'm still swamped under the 1st trimester pregnancy fog. This kid is not being so nice to his/her momma. I don't ever remember feeling this crappy with Miss Thang:/ Oh well, I'm almost in the 2nd trimester and things should get better then. Hopefully. God willing!

Lance and I are both avid Black Friday shoppers but I was simply too tired to venture out plus my brother was suppose to be with us for thanksgiving but wound up in Australia for work (tough life he leads!) so we didn't have a Makenna watcher. So Lance went out this morning and is still standing in line at Best Buy with the tv he wanted. My mom scored me a purple cricut and 2 carts that I wanted from Wally (she's the BEST MOM EVER!!!!)  I can't wait to see it!! Now I have to sell my blue one that I bought last year on BF. So if anyone wants a very slightly used cricut cheap, let me know:)

Today we're putting up the Christmas tree and eating leftovers! YAY!! I don't plan on leaving the house all weekend!! Except to pull M around in the snow on her new sled and go to church. It's going to be great! I do need to grade papers too but that can wait!

1st appt!

We have a healthy heartbeat and very squirmy little baby in there! Just 1...thank GOD! They are keeping me at my June 13, 2011 due date so far. They said its hard to tell this early plus every baby grows differently. Next appt is in 1 month:) YAY!!

As far as the silence here.... get use to it because I am EXHAUSTED! And feeling like CRAP! Ick. I'm don't remember feeling this bad with Miss Thang.... maybe its mom's selective memory too? Who knows?! I'm taking the B6 (half a tablet) every 6 hrs to try to help and it kind of is but not enough. Only 3 more weeks until I'm out of the 1st trimester! Then, hopefully, it will get better.

Until then.....nightie night!

The Details!

or at least most of them;)

So we decided to start trying a couple of months ago...well actually its more than a couple since I'm a couple months preggo already. Anyway... I have been showing my horse like crazy so we thought we would casually try until after I'm done showing then really get to it. So I'm out in OH for the second time (the middle to end of October)....

Lance: have you gotten anything yet?

me: are you sending me something?

Lance: No. Your period.

me:  Um. Ya I'm sure I have.

Lance: this month?

me: Um.....

Lance: I don't think you have.

me: Um.... I did sometime. Right before the horse show.

Lance: You mean in Sept.

me: Oh, ya. That's the last one I remember.

Lance: I think you're pregnant.

me: Um.... no.

So the next morning I grab an ice cold diet dew out of the fridge and head to the barn. I look at the dew and think, hmmm ick. Ah what the hell? That grabs my attention because diet dew is my life line. I must be preggo because that's the only time I can't stand diet dew. So off I go to Wally to get a pregnancy test. Being the lab preson that I am, I think well I better take it in the morning because then my urine is the most concentrated (again not thinking or realizing that I'm already 7 weeks preggo and it'll show + if I sneeze on it!) So the next morning I take the test and watch what I think is the control line turn super + as soon as the urine hits it. The control line turns + a little later. I'm thinking hmmm, where's the + sign? So I'm not pregnant? Weird. I look at the test a while longer than read the box. DUMB.
1 line - 
2 line +
So I laughed at myself and my inability to accurately read a pregnancy test and the rest is history! I have my first docter's appt next Tues for blood work, the exam and to see the little stinker. So if anyone has any extra healthy baby vibes you want to throw this way, I'll take them. I always dread u/s because of what happened with Lily. I don't think I'll ever get over that feeling:/

Wordless Friday!

Things M learned while I was away.

• to gallop (yes like a horse!! That's my girl!)
• to say puppy (which is bubby)
• that baths are much better in Momma & Daddy's jacuzzi tub WITH the jets going (spoiled much?!)
• to go down the slide ALL BY HERSELF
• to do the riverdance (this is hilarious!! and is generally performed on our ottoman which gives me heart palpatations because our huge solid wood coffee table is next to it but Lance assures me she's never fallen off:/ )
• to tell/show us (most of the time) that she needs a new diaper
• to hand you toilet paper when you are going potty (beware guests!)

Today she discovered SNOW and loves it!! Pictures to come:)

While Momma is away....

Miss Thang will.....

dust!???!

  

Daddy might not be the favorite for long if he keeps her doing chores;) Plus Momma gets a clean house!!!

Missed Top 10 by a 1/3 of a point!

Shoot!! Just 1/3 of a stinkin point! Oh well:) At least we were still in the top 1/3 of the class:) This is in my halter class. I placed 6th, 11th & 11th under the judges so I just barely missed it:/

So is it better to miss your goal or desires by a little (aka 1/3 of a frickin point) or by more so you don't sweat it?

Miss Thang is taking a nap and I'm getting caught up on mail, ect. I'm off to Ohio again Friday afternoon for 9 days so the blog will be a little quiet. Sorry!! I'll kick it into gear again in Nov and Dec though:)

Head, shoulder, knees & toes....

Here is the layout I did for this prompt over at Scrap That Baby. This is one of my ALL-TIME favorite lo's!! I love it so much that its hanging in my kitchen. One of the reason's its a fav is because this is my aLL-TIME favorite face that Makenna makes:) It warms my heart everytime I see it. We don't get to see this face as much as when she was little but when she's really concentrating on something, her lips pull together and push out like a duck bill. LOVE!!!

Last weekend I was scrapping with the girls at my LSS. It was so much fun! We all got a lot done especially once we each bought an Allison Davis sketch book. Between all of us, we have every one and they are SO helpful when doing multi-photo LO's. I would highly recommend them. I also just received a  notice from Amazon that they are shipping my PageMaps 2 sketch book too:) I think I'll be in OH when it comes but that's ok... I'll have it for the hunting crop in November with the girls again. We really have SO much fun!! We're planning a retreat in feb where we'll go away and stay at a scrapping retreat house and scrap & shop until our fingers fall off:) Can't wait!!

I'm off to OH friday morning at the butt crack of dawn....flight leaves at 5:35am but I'm in OH by 9:30am so that will be nice. I show on sunday morning then fly out early monday so I can get back to teach on Tues & Thurs. It'll be a quick trip but hopefully extremely successful! Keep your fingers and toes crossed and maybe say a little prayer that we kick butt;)

I ordered pics from

www.scrapbookpictures.com on Thursday of last week and received them today (quick!!). I wanted to try them out and I loved all the pics from the fall festival and M's 1st birthday so I thought I'd spend a little more to have those pics printed. I was NOT disappointed! Now when I say a little more expensive, I mean as compared to www.winkflash.com or www.artscow.com when they have their 4 cents sale. Scrapbookpictures is definitely not expensive compared to Walmart or Target. The ease of use for editing/cropping was MUCH better than the others that I've used. They have so many fun frames and accents that you can add too (& not hokey ones like Snapfish & Shutterfly). I did try them on a couple of photos and love them. The size of the photo options are fabulous too! That's one of the things I like best. I ordered some square photos (5x5, 4x4 & 3x3) plus a couple of 4x8 and 4x12 (I believe) along with many 4x6 and 3.5x5. Love them all!!!! I like my photos with the matte finish so I ordered all of them in pro matte. Perfect in my opinion! I'm going to try the metallic finish next time.

So if you are looking for an online photo printing site, I would definitely try www.scrapbookpictures.com !!  

It's a Miracle!

The Vikings won!!!! About time:/

It's been the perfect fall day! Sunny goodness, great football, good eats (pumpkin spice donut muffins!! Yummy!) plus Lance went to town so he picked up my garage sale stuff that didn't sell and there was hardly anything! YAY! Plus I have $70 to spend at my LSS!! Can't wait:) It bet it will be gone by Friday which is day 1 of ScrapPink at that LSS. This is the 2nd or 3rd time weh've attended ScrapPink...it's always fabulous!!

This is Week 2 of my 2 week vacay so I have lots of school stuff to set up but I'm also riding, shopping, scrapping and enjoying the nice weather! Please don't let this week go by too fast:)

Off to keep tackling the To Do list!

Winner Winner!!

is....

Vicki said...



My favorite autumn dish is apple crisp. Don't have an exact recipe anymore - just sliced apples in a baking pan, mix oatmeal, brown sugar and butter to make a topping. Bake until apples are soft.

Vicki, you are the proud owner of a $10 gift certificate to TwoPeas in A Bucket. Email me kelly(dot)l(dot)haugen@gmail(dot)com and I'll get that sent out (emailed) to you asap:) Thanks and congrats!!

I apologize for taking so long to post the winner! I'm on my vacation weeks from school (in between quarters) so I've been riding my horse like crazy gearing up for the big horse show in Ohio (I'm showing in Ammy Perf Mare, Ammy Sms, Nov Ammy Pleasure & Hms and the trainer is showing in Open Perf Mares & Pleasure) plus getting ready for a scrap garage sale at my LSS (which was today and FABULOUS!!) Marie, Ember and I were the 1st ones in line!!! I sold a ton of stuff and found quite a few treasures:) Plus everything else that I've put off doing and now really need to get done!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Fall Festival & Giveaway open until Wed @ 8pm!!!

We attended our 1st Fall Festival and Makenna LOVED it!! She was quite the hit also with her waving and ooooo-ing, ect. She loved all the pumpkins. It's amazing that we didn't come home with 25 pumpkins instead of 2! We almost wound up with a wagon too as she wouldn't leave them alone.

**Please excuse the fact that I am having a bad hair day and I look very tired/puffy/frumpy:/**

We had a fabulous time!! Can't wait to scrap the photos. Makenna had so much fun and thoroughly wore herself out! Love that;)

The giveaway will be open until Wed night at 8pm so please leave a comment about your favorite autumn dish:) Thanks!!

Give Away Weekend!!

Hi everyone! I seemed to have lost contact with my Scrap That Baby give-away winner (Alannah from Australia...contact me if you see this!!) so I'm going to re-giveaway the 2 SassaFrass Lass paper packs. This give away is for anyone but if you are international then you will have to pay for the shipping or I'll give you a gift certificate to 2Peasinabucket.com.

Leave me a comment!

What is your favorite autumn dish/desert/thing to eat? A recipe would be great too if you want.

Have a great weekend:)

Horse show hangover.

I was at a 4 day horse show (Thurs-Sun) and I am hungover! No, I'm not nauseous or have an aversion to fired foods but I am wiped out, only want to lay on the couch and sleep. Did any of that happen? Umm have you met Miss Thang? She was very happy to see momma! So happy in fact that she got up 7-10 times last night (I lost track around 3am) to see momma again and again and again. Ugh. Lance slept through the whole thing:/ She was screaming too so I have NO idea how he did but he did and I was a little bitter about it.

Faith and I had a GREAT show! We did really well:) YAY! I have 1 more show left and it's the BIG ONE in Ohio for all of October. It will be fun/exciting/exhausting/nerve-wracking/exhilarating/expensive but hopefully after it's all over with, I'll be able to cross something off of my bucketlist. Maybe 2 things if Jamie Foxx were there;) Umm, oops...was that out loud?!! Eek!! Sorry Lance! ha:)

It's finals week in the world of Rasmussen and quarters. Oh how I LOVE finals week. Much much better as a professor vs student:)

I'm off to bed... expect a celebratory blog giveaway for this week wrapping up on Friday!

Good reads??

First off, thank you for the suggestions on the e-reader, kindle, nook, ipad. I'm still not sure that I ~need~ one so maybe it will go on the Christmas list:)

Onto some more suggestions. Anyone have suggestions on good books to read? I'm just finishing the Charlaine Harris "Sookie Stackhouse" series and love them. Very funny! I've read the latest Janet Evonich "Stephanie Plum" book (& the whole series). What else? Is  "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" good? Any other recommendations? I've been listening to a lot of audio books while I grade homework. I love multitasking!!!

It is raining cats & dogs here! I love this weather:) I'm busy wrapping up work stuff and getting packed up for the horse show this Thurs-Sun. This is my 2nd to the last show of the year. The next one is the "Superbowl of Horse Shows" as my hubby calls it in Ohio for all of October. Can't wait until that one!! I'm getting a little nervous already for that but in a good way.

Makenna is again adding to her tricks. She already gives the "I'm done" sign but today she gave me the "more" sign. Of course when I tried to get her to do it for Lance she wasn't having it:/ Stinker! She runs everywhere, climbs everything and is a general terror! She said ball today when trying to steal Teddy's ball on a rope. I have a feeling the words are going to start pouring out and then there will be NO end! Maybe since her parents are such shy and quiet people, she will follow suit!! tee heee

Tractor lovin'

Lance, Makenna & I went to a Steam Thrashers Reunion (or gathering or something like that??) this morning in Rollag, MN. It is a VERY big deal around these parts. People come from many states to go to this. So we decided to join them since it is about 15 miles from our house. Lance hasn't been there since he was 14 yo and I went with my bro and grandparents about 20 years ago. Plus I was promised a killer breakfast so I was in!

Rollag, the tractor lovers & overall wearers did not disappoint! The breakfast was awesome. So was the ice cream, homemade donuts and I still have a caramel roll waiting for me for tomorrow morning. They had a parade were all the old tractors give up the road. It was so cool to be able to see all the tractors without having to walk miles and miles to see them all.

Makenna's favorite part, other than the ice cream, was a guy driving a tractor with a dog in the wagon. She kept meowing and oooo-ing while pointing. It was so cute. She and I also enjoyed the mini train ride. It was a great day:)

In Makenna updates, she's now saying meow, mine (nice:/), up... I think that's it. She is feeding herself 95% of the time using a spoon or fork! I'm so proud of her on that!! She wanted to do it herself. I didn't have to teach her really, she just kept reaching for the utensil so finally I gave it to her. Tonight she ate ALL her peas & carrots, mash potatoes and pork loin. Plus I gave her senconds and she ate all that with her spoon. Such a BIG girl:) So proud of her!

Kindle, nook, e-reader?

Anyone have an e-reader? I love electronics! I wasn't sure I wanted or needed an e-reader but I'm kinda thinking I might;) So can anyone make a suggestion? I saw on the Today Show or the Evening News or somewhere that you can get e-books from the library (for free) but they are not very compatible with the Kindle. Anyone have this problem?

We're wrapping up the last few weeks of the summer quarter at school. The students are freaking out over finals and I have papers to grade that stack up about 2 feet high! Now that I'm a teacher, I LOVE finals week. I don't have to prepare for anything as I already have my tests made and ready to go. I don't really have to do anything except grade tests and labs and answer questions. It's a very relaxing week for me:) Not so much for my students!!

L, M & I are off to Brainerd for our annual Labor Day extravaganza at Dennis and Joanne's house. It is always so much fun to visit them. They are even busier in retirement then they were when working so its nice that they could fit us in:) Makenna is going to terrorize their house! Yikes! They have a gorgeous yard with flower beds galore so she can run around out there too. The rest of the holiday weekend will be spent at home enjoying family time. We might go to the local State Park to do some hiking if its nice out. I want to get all my fall decorations up too. September isn't going to be that busy but October will be insane so I need to get as much done now as possible.

Who else is giving a triple arm pump for fall coming?!! Pumpkins, apple cider, sweaters, down vests, crisp air, beautiful leaves.....my FAVORITE time of the year!!

Today is our lucky day!

What an amazing day for our household! It just seems like everything finally fell together. Not in a "we're having a baby" or " we won the lottery" way but in a real way.

This week or more so TODAY, we:

1. sold our big horse trailer (40 ft living quarter 4 horse Bloomer) to a wonderful family in Arkansas
2. found and bought a new trailer (2 horse bumper pull Bloomer) in Texas... it is exactly what I want but cheaper than I ever thought we'd find it.
3. traded in our big crewcab dually truck for another work vehicle for Lance in Omaha, NE because we don't need the big truck anymore with a bumper pull. My Cadi will pull it just fine.

So Lance already met with the family that bought our big trailer this morning so we could trade trailer for $$$. Then we finalized the deal with the new trailer in TX. He's currently in Sioux Falls, SD working and will be driving our truck down to TX to get the trailer tomorrow. Then he found the new vehicle (Chevy HHR) he is looking for in Omaha which is on the way to/from TX. So he'll stop there on Saturday on his way back home to get that finalized. He will either have a driver follow him to Fargo with the HHR and the driver can take the truck back with him or I will drive down to Omaha with the Cadi and pick up the trailer while Lance drives the HHR.

Wow.

Our new trailer!!!

Did you get all that?! It's amazing how everything just fell into place! Lance and I were discussing the benefits/costs of a driver driving the HHR up instead of me coming down. Lance said, well I suppose you'll want to stop in Sioux Falls at that scrapbook store that you've always wanted to go too and I'm sure there are more scrap stores in Omaha.... so maybe a driver would be cheaper in the long run!! He knows me SO well:)

Then our town is kicking off Potato Days tomorrow. So not only have we had an awesome week but we'll have an even better weekend filled with carbs as far as the eye can see:) Yay!!!!

Thank you and a WINNER!!!

To everyone who participated in the Scrap That Baby Blog Hop, thank you!! What a good time:) Thank you for all the nice comments on my layouts and sorry about your waistline if you are on your 5th batch of S'more cookies;)

Now for the winner!! According to Random.org #22 was picked! I tried to get the random screenshot on here but it just wasn't working real well. So you'll have to take my word on it:)

Alannah said...



loving your summer photos...I am also following you. smiles


August 19, 2010 12:59 AM

Alannah, please contact me at kelly(period)l(period)haugen(AT)gmail(period)com that way I can get your prizes in the mail for you:) Congrats!!

The Haugen household is gearing up for Potato Days in Barnesville. Its our town's annual festival. So much fun!! There will be a lot of carbs ingested and maybe a few pics taken. Happy Monday!

Scrap That Baby Blog Hop **updated w/ prize pics**

Welcome to the Scrap that Baby's Sweet Summertime blog hop!!

Thank you so much for hopping along on our first ever blog hop!

If you didnt come from Michelle or you popped upon this blog and didnt realize we were blog hopping you need to go to Scrap That Baby  and start the HOP! You will need to comment on ALL of the blogs to be eligible for the grand prizes listed on the main site. ! Plus so many of our awesome designers are giving away a prize on their blogs as well. You will not want to miss out. There are MANY MANY chances to win!

Our theme for this blog hop is SWEET SUMMERTIME!! The members of our design team will all be sharing fantastic summer projects, stories, tips or ideas for keeping cool and having fun in the summer with a baby along.

My Top Ten Summer Favorites

1. The warm sun on my skin.
2. An ice cold diet mountain dew.
3. Ice cream!!!
4. Renee's Drive-In (local burger shoppe that's only open in the summer)
5. Driving with the windows open.
6. Mike's Hard Lime
7. My flower bed.
8. Long walks with Makenna & Lance.
9. Garage sales
10. Staying cool by playing in the water (pool or lake) with Makenna.

*********************************************************************************

Here are a few summer layouts I just finished:

*********************************************************************************
Recipes:
This is one of our BBQ/picnic/potluck favorites!! I double and triple it since it's such a huge hit. This salad is better after it's sat in the fridge overnight so make it the evening before. Enjoy:)

Ranch Pasta Salad

Ingredients


3 cups uncooked tricolor spiral pasta

1 cup chopped fresh broccoli florets

1 cup chooped fresh cauliflower

3/4 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber

1/2 cup seeded chopped tomato

1 bottle (8 ounces) ranch salad dressing

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, broccoli, cucumber and tomato. Drizzle with salad dressing; toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 8 servings.


S' mores Cookies
These cookies are the BEST cookies I've ever had! They are definitely a must try.

Unless you are on a diet.

Or wanting to fit into a 2 piece swimsuit.

I'm just warning you... I can't be held responsible;)


*********************************************************************************

I know I am WAAAAAY behind the times but I finally joined the B'ville library. How fabulous is that!! I can order books, books on CD and audiobooks online (aka in the convenience of my pj's and couch!!). The books and books on CD are shipped to our library where I can pick them up. The audiobooks can be downloaded directly onto my laptop &/or I-pod. So nice! So my reading has drastically picked up with the convenience and ease of this process.

Books I've read (& recommend) this summer:
Sizzling Sixteen
Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
Happiness Project

Books I'd like to read this summer:
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
All I ever wanted

********************************************************************************

As an extra benefit to this blog hop, if  you leave me a comment and become a follower of my blog, I will put your name into a drawing for a special scrappy surprise.
The winner will win both of these Sassafras Lass lines.

********************************************************************************

Our blog hop run from today, August 18th until August 22nd . Invite your

friends to play for extra entries. You must comment on all the blogs for a chance at the main prize

The Scrap that Baby blog will be drawing for prizes on Wednesday August 25th! .

The next stop on the blog hop is........ Jess

Thanks so much for joining us!!! Have a great rest of the summer:)

Ta Da!!

Here is my debut on Scrap That Baby! So excited about this!! I was at a K&Kraft crop Friday and
Saturday and had a blast! I got several layouts done, lots of yummy food consumed and LOADS of girl talk caught up with.

I'll be taking LO pics today and putting them on the blog in the near future. I also have a bunch of layouts lined up for the Scrap That Baby blog hop this week/weekend!! Aug 18-22!! Please join us. I've ~heard~ there will be prizes. I'm just sayin'....

That's all for now as I'm beat and my still cracked foot is killing me. I'm going to huddle on the couch with the newspaper while Miss Thang is napping:)

Happy football Sunday!!!

Finally.

I have some pictures!! This is Ember, her hubby and baby boy Niklas:) I know... they REALLY missed out on naming him Norman Krispin.... I'm sure they are ~saving~ it for the next one;)

<>

So cute with all that hair:)

I've been crazy busy lately with work projects and horse stuff. I'm looking forward to things slowing down. I'm also looking forward to scrapping this weekend (Fri & Sat). I need to get some design team work done too. I can't wait:)

Don't forget about the Scrap That Baby blog hop next week! It will be so much fun:) There might even be prizes!!

 ......I'm just sayin'..........

Bits & Pieces

It's been awhile since I've had a real QUALITY post so here we go:) Well... kinda....

First off, I have to apologize for the lack of pictures as I've been switching from my old laptop to a new laptop. Lance needs to supply one of our employees with a laptop so he gets mine. My new one is pink...I'm not a huge fan of girly pink (LOVE hot pink) and this one is in between  the 2. I figure I can always buy a laptop skin. In purple of course!! So I'll try to get thing switched over this weekend but I have a bunch of work projects that I need to complete by Sunday first:/ Boo!!!

Makenna is growing like a weed. She is tall and lean and looking like her father more and more every day. Today was a drama queen day (she gets that from Lance!!) with a lot of crying and throwing herself on the floor. It gets SO old. Oh well. Normally she's much better than today. She does have 4 new molars poking through so I guess that gives her a free pass to drama-ville. Mama wants a free pass:/

I have more Makenna stories for you but right now I'm drawing a blank. I was up until 1:30am scrapping last nite (oops!!!) so my brain has since shut off. I was on such a roll! It was so much fun to scrap like that. I miss the pre-baby late nite scrapfests that I would have. It wouldn't matter how late I stay up because I could sleep in in the morning. NOT SO MUCH anymore. Miss Thang is an early riser. I'm not wishing time away but man I cannot wait until she wants to sleep until noon!!!!

I'll have to make myself notes of all the M stories I want to share so that way I will remember them when I sit down to blog. I'm off to bed. We're heading to the lake tomorrow with friends. Its suppose to be HOT. YAY!! G'nite!

Can you see me??

No?

That's because the stack of papers that I need to grade is smothering me:/

Who's dumb idea was this? To hand out/assign all of this homework?

I just want to go to bed. Or eat some cookie dough then go to bed. Or eat some cookie dough in bed!!

Hmmm even better:)

I hope to have unearthed myself from all the grading sometime tomorrow so I can have a more substanial quality post. Until then.....

Right Now.

Right Now...

listening: to Evening News (weather)



eating: nothing:(

drinking: flavored water but wanting a diet dew!!

wearing: black tank top, blue mesh shorts & fuschia flipflops

feeling: happy, blessed, slightly tired

weather: freaking hot


wanting: to scrap

needing: nothing really


thinking: about loading the horse trailer for the horse show this weekend

enjoying: Lance & Makenna, Renee's for supper & a S'more cookie or 7 for dessert!!!

wondering: when I'm going to lose those extra 15 lbs that won't quit following me around? :/

S'more Cookies. Yum!

Best cookies EVER!! Seriously. Yum!! They were easy to make, pretty to look at and FABULOUS to eat!!  Lance said these are by far this favorite cookie ever. That's what I did today:) Along with painting Miss Thang's playroom. I ran out of raspberry chalk paint so I'm off to Menards to get another quart. I hope to have it finished tomorrow.

I spent Friday evening scrapping after M went to bed. I had some design team challenges that I wanted to get started on plus some fun summer lo's for the "Scrap That Baby" blog hop Aug 18-22. It's going to be exciting!!

This week I'm teaching Tues & Thurs (briefly) then heading to a 4 day horseshow in Fergus Falls. It's going to be a little challenging at the show considering I'm on crutches. Plus I just found out today that the trainers are not going to the show because they are leaving early for the AQHYA World Show so I'm on my own. Which I really don't mind at all and would really be looking forward to it BUT I'm on crutches. Oh well. My mom is going to help me and really Faith and I have been doing this for years so I'm not worried. I am looking for to it though:)

I'm off to bed. AFTER another S'more cookie and glass of milk. That diet will start tomorrow. Or whenever all the sS'more cookies are gone. Which also could be tomorrow;)

Design Team toot!!!

ahoo!!!! I was just selected to be one of the newest members of the Scrap That Baby Design Team. If you have a few minutes, check out their website for fun challenges, inspiring layouts and fabulous give-aways:) Scrap That Baby

Here are a couple of my newest Miss Thang layouts.

Oh, how'd he get in here?!!!
Oh well;)


tee hee




I have some new summer LOs & a mini-album in the works that I plan on sharing during the Scrap That Baby blog hop Aug 18-22. There will also be some give aways on my blog during the blog hop too. Hope you come back and join us:)

There was a baby born...

last night at 11pm. Ember finally had Norman Crispin!!! Ok, so she and Aaron decided to go against my name choice and actually named their adorable little boy Niklas David. He's 7 lbs 1 oz and 19.5 in long. I love the name and spelling!! So cool! Niklas has a TON of dark brown hair. He looks just like his dad. He makes the cutest faces and noises when he's sleeping.

Lance, Miss Thang and I went to the hospital to see them this afternoon. On the way, we ran into my OB and one of the nurses that helped us when M was born. It was like a little reunion! They couldn't believe how big M was already. The nurse told us we needed to get going on the next one so she has good job security. Too cute:)

Ember, Aaron & Niklas are doing well. Ember is tired and sore but looked happy. She's definitely a natural. They are all going home tomorrow. Niklas seems to be very laid back and likes to sleep. Hopefully that will continue so Ember can get some sleep.

Both Lance and I held Niklas. It's hard to believe that M was that little 1 year and 1 month ago. M was very interested in Niklas and wanted to touch him. She was very gentle with him under our watchful eye as she's known to "pet" pretty rigorously! After awhile, M was not too impressed when I was still holding Niklas. She was trying to climb in my lap too. I thought she might have a problem with Lance holding him since she's such a Daddy's girl but she really didn't mind that at all. M got over it and just played after that.

My foot is healing but still very sore. I'm probably doing way too much on it but how are you suppose to stay off of it and chase a crazy 1 yo?

Tornadoes, Hail, Oh my!

I'm sitting/laying on the couch with my bum leg elevated because after a day at work my leg is killing me. Anyway, we are under major storm warnings and even saw a funnel cloud! Lance and I are watch from your biggest window type people not the run to your basement at the first hint of rain. We love storms! Nothing better to sleep and relax to then rain, thunder and lightening. Now the tornadoes and hail I can do without:)

Lance is giving M a bath and I am enjoying relaxing. If only the throbbing pain below my knee would stop:/ I actually kind of feel bad for having to ask/boss Lance around to help me/ get me things. Shocking...I know!! I don't like asking for help for any reason so that is hard for me. He being really good about it though. M and I are on our own tomorrow and Thursday since Lance needs to tend to some emergency calls. We'll be good though. My mom is going to help me after she's done with work tomorrow. If the weather is decent the we are going to sit by the lake and watch M play while eating Zorbaz pizza. Yummy!!!

Crutches for 3-4 weeks.

Boo!! But at least its not surgery or super severe and I don't have to wear a boot or cast because it's my foot not ankle that is the injured part. The doctor suggested a boot but I talked him out of it because it really wouldn't help that much more than just staying off of it. Now...to stay off of it:/ I forgot how bad crutches suck!!

I appreciate all the support (& kinda sorta support or not.... Gina!! tee hee) on my giving up of the diet dew. I almost caved today with all that was going on but I held strong. I am allowing myself 2 dews a week at first then decreasing to 1 dew. I was hoping to make it until Sat to have one but I think I might NEED it tomorrow. We'll see.

I'm off to bed so I can get settled and comfy before Lance tries to hog all the bed;) Luckily he came home early to help me take care of M. Such a good guy.

The last 24 hours have been

filled with many ups and 1 huge down.

Fall down actually.

I'll start with that. For those of you that have been to our house, you know we have 7 million stairs. We have a 5 level house so there are stairs everywhere including 1 step down into our sunken living room. M & I were just coming down from upstairs...I made it down those stairs with no problem. I step down into the sunken living room so we can play with her thousands of toys and my ankle (not bad one!) blows out the side and we both go flying. I don't know if my flipflop slipped out or to the side of my foot or what happened?? All I know is that I'm flying through the air in major pain, Miss Thang is just barely dangling in my arms and screaming because she doesn't know what the hell is going on and I'm heading for the coffee table. I manage to grab M so she doesn't fall eventhough she is upside down and I'm holding onto her by her legs. I try to tip myself over instead of doing a header into the huge wood coffee table, which I do but I have no idea how. I gently lay M down on the ottoman (she's still screaming), I'm on the verge of tears because my bloody ankle hurts so damn much.

Then I get the giggles.

And I can't stop.

Poor M is looking at me like I've lost my mind.

I can't quit.

Finally I gather myself, calm M down and assess the damage. It starts to swell immediately and is throbbing and tingly. Now it's not very swollen but solid black and blue. I can barely put any weight on it. Tomorrow is going to rock:/

So I think I'm going to have to go in to see if its a bad sprain or I actually broke something.

Sheesh.

OK, now onto the up's!!!

I went to see Eclipse with the girls last nite. Grrrrrrrrr!! Jacob. is. HOT! Super Hot! Like OMG hot! Grrrrrr! It is a great movie (and not just because Jacob is shirtless in most of it. Eventhough that is AWESOME!!!). I would definitely go see it again. And again. And again. ect.

Oh crap, I forgot about another down for me but up for my body. A couple of friends of mine have given up soda completely (even diet) and lost 20+ lbs. SO.... I am giving up one of my reasons for living....my diet dew. ~sigh~ It's a sad day in the Haugen household. I will allow myself 1 diet dew per week and that is it. I'm completely diet dew free for 24 hrs. The only time I give up diet dew is when I'm pregnant so this isn't too difficult but still sad to give up that ice cold can of diet dew every morning, noon and night.
OK, so maybe I have a problem. I seriously can drink it ALL day long and never tire from it unless it's really hot out and I need some water.

I have more to discuss but this is getting really long already so I will end here. I'll let you know how the ankle ends up. Frickin ankle.

2 years ago....

our hearts were breaking over the loss of our beloved Lily Ann Hope.


1 year ago.....


our hearts were bursting with joy and love for our 1 month old Makenna Zophia.



today......


we continue to thank God for the blessing of both our daughters eventhough we didn't get nearly enough time with Lily. I look forward to meeting her again in heaven. Until then, I will continue to love and cherish each moment I have with Makenna and all future siblings.

We love and miss you very much Lily. Save a spot for mommy and daddy in heaven with you and the Grandpas:)

Happy 4th of July!!!

Hope everyone has a safe and festive Independence Day:)

It's raining here so I'm hoping that will end and we can head to the lakes for some sun and fun.

Enjoy:)

Have you?

seen Eclipse yet? I haven't been I will be. Soon.

Lance asked me yesterday, while we were painting, if I was stuck on a desert island with just one person who would I want it to be?

I thought for a minute as the usual Matthew McConghuey, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Curtis Stone run through my head. But then it came to me....

Taylor Lautner I yelled!

Oops, that was probably with a little too much enthusiasm for my husband! ~blush~ tee hee

He asked why him?

I said because then it didn't matter what we did on the island. We stuck there so I wouldn't go to jail for having my way with him! Ha!

He looked at me, sighed then said he's 18 now.

I pondered this for 1/2 a second and said my answer still stands and now I'm not even illegal!! Just a dirty old woman;)

I mean really..... look at him....

YUMMY!!!!!!

I don't think Lance will be asking me anymore of those questions:) Ha!

Ipod headphones/ear thingies?

So what type of headphones/ear listen thingies do you have for your Ipod? Mine are just the ones that came with my Ipod. They are not very comfortable:/ Any suggestions? If they would happen to come in the color purple too, I would be in total LOVE!!!

TIA:)

My ears thank you too!

All healthy and doing well:)

Miss Thang has completely recovered from Roseola and is feeling great again. We had her 1 yr appt on thursday. She grew another 2 inches but only gained 1/2 a pound which puts her at 17.5 lbs. This was completely ok since she's running around most of the time. The pediatrician said M has the motorskills of a 15-18 month old:) She (the Dr) was VERY impressed with Miss Thang. Of course, she's seen her since 3 days old so she's use to her skills and entertainment! M did pretty well with the shots and finger poke. Such a big girl!

I went scrapping with the girls on Friday. I was able to get my Ail Edwards "A Week in the Life of the Haugens" album all put together except for the journaling. I'm pretty happy about that. It's always nice to get some creative time in. I did clean up my scraproom last week. It's not perfect yet, but at least I can fit more than 1 person in there now. It was SO bad. I'm hoping to finish that up on Tues or Thurs of this week while M is at daycare. I do need to buckle down and get my online class set up and ready to go since we start the summer quarter next Tues.

That's about it for now:) I'm hoping we can get out to the lake soon as mommy needs to get her tan on before the summer is over:/ EEK!!

Now a rash...

So M's fever broke last night/this morning but then she developed a rash on her chest, torso and back. WTH?? Thank goodness it was Gina to the rescue!! She said to watch out for Roseola as both her kids had it around M's age. Sure enough. I read up on it and that sounds exactly like what M has/had. She had a more mild version of it since she had a low grade fever followed by the rash. She's feeling better, not as lethargic and crabby but still not quite the same. Hopefully by tomorrow or Wed. Poor Miss Thang!


Other than that, I finally got my flowers planted. They look very nice:) I'm hoping, if M feels better tomorrow and she goes to daycare, to get M's new playroom primed then painted eventually. Along with my cleaning and organizing my scraproom which is a disaster area. I really should take before and after pics. Eek. Maybe. It's THAT bad!

I also have to confess. I am officially addicted to The Real Housewives of New Jersey!! Those women crack me up! Love it/them!!!

Our 1st visit to the walk-in clinic.

So M hadn't gotten any better this morning. She was lethargic, clingy and generally unhappy. I went to change her from her jammies to a tshirt and shorts and she freaked out when I pulled her shirt off/over her ears so I thought maybe it's an ear infection. So in we went to the peds walk-in clinic, after I checked the waiting time (0-15 mins!). We were in and out in 30 mins. No ear infection, no strep (at least the rapid was negative), so the Dr. is assuming a virus and we're just suppose to watch her. We have M's 1 yr appt this Thurs with her normal Dr so if M is still running a low grade fever then she will do more tests. Since then, M's fever seems to have broke but she's still very crabby. I'm hoping the end is in sight, poor thing. She would not nap so we threw her in the car and drove around the lakes area looking at lake homes. We found a couple for sale that we'd like to check out more closely. Gotta love online home shopping! We also hit Zorbaz all while M slept so we all got what we wanted!!!
Happy Father's Day to Lance and all the dads out there! Hope it was a great one:)

Sick girl.

Miss Thang is feeling a little down and out. She has a low grade fever and just not her normal self. If she's not better by tomorrow, I'm hauling her into the walk in clinic. Poor thing:(

Oh better news, my horse (faith) is KICKING major BUTT!! She and Chad (the trainer) were the Circuit Champions at the Cap Gun show in WI this weekend!!! There was some major competition out there so that is a pretty big feat! I wasn't able to be out there due to work commitments. Dang work:/ Faith and I did awesome in Nebraska last week. So did Chad and Faith. I'm so proud of Faith!! She's really doing better than ever:)

I'm going through a major creative juice overflow.... I REALLY need to scrap! The only problem being is that my scraproom is a disaster area!! I can't even SEE my desk much less be able to work on it. I need to clean but I don't have the energy to tackle it. Lame excuse, I know but its the truth. Now that I'm on a 2 week break from school, that is my job along with painting and decorating M's play room.

Oh, I almost forgot about M's 1 year pics!!! Here's the link. The password is mhoneyear
They all turned out so well... I can see its going to cost us a fortune for all the pics we like! Oh well, its better than not liking any:)

Miss Thang is taking over the world!

Or at least the airways! She made her 1st plane adventure with Lance to come visit me in Lincoln, NE while I was showing my horse. It was a very interesting flight for them and that had NOTHING to do with Miss M! Their plane was struck by lightning on the way to Lincoln!! Nothing went wrong but they did have to turn around and go back to MN as a precaution. Yikes!! I guess M was an awesome flyer! No crying or screaming, just a lot of smiling and waving at the fellow passengers which was a big hit with everyone! She's such a charmer!

She's also officially weaned! Yay!! (especially for momma!!) It was actually pretty easy so we were both lucky there!

I have lots of other stuff to talk about including my horse show in NE and M's 1 year pics but I'm tired! I'm going to bed so more tomorrow!!

Nite!

Happy 1st Birthday Miss Thang!!!!

This is going to be a picture post... I'll write more later this week. I've been slacking on my work and horse stuff so I can't put it off any longer:/

What is wrong with Blogger?? I can't get anymore pics uploaded...I'll try more tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the BIG day plus 300 posts!

1 year ago tomorrow I was going through back labor for 16 hours all to be blessed with a beautiful baby girl (and epidural!!!). What a difference 1 year makes! I just got done making her cake. I tried my hand with fondant. It really wasn't too bad. The cake is not what I had intended to do at first but it turned out pretty cute. It was A LOT of work. Really too much work for it not being very intricate but oh well. Miss Thang only turns 1 once!!



This is also my 300th post!! YAY!! I am going to make a better effort to post more often and have more substance in my posts. Be on the look out for LOADS of pics from tomorrow's festivities! Can't wait:)

Another fabulously exhausting weekend at a horse show!

~sigh~

There is no other way I'd rather exhaust myself then at a horse show! We wrapped up a 3 day show with a fabulous last day. 4 - 1st places, 2 - 2nd's, 2 - 3rd's. Great day! It is also 1 WEEK until Makenna turns 1!!! I can't even imagine I will now have a toddler and not a baby:/ Crazy! We are having a party for her next sunday followed by her 1 year pics on Tuesday then after I'm done teaching on Wed, we are hauling *ss down to Nebraska to another horse show for the rest of the week/weekend. I'm missing 2 days of the show due to teaching (and M's pics) but it's the week before finals so I can hardly skip out on my students because Professor Haugen wants to go show her horse. Even though I REALLY want too!!

For Memorial Day, we are getting the house cleaned up and decorated for M's party. I need to grade papers and make study guides for my students. Get the horse trailer from Fargo, unpack, clean, repack and head the trailer back to Fargo since the trainers are taking our truck and trailer to Nebraska on sunday with their huge truck and trailer. I believe there are 20 horses going to this show!! Crazy!

On the baby front (for 1 more week), Makenna is walking like mad. She tries to go as fast as she can which results in a hopping, skipping shuffle thing. It's adorable! I can't believe how she just stands up and walks off. It's such a foreign concept to see her do that! Such a big girl:)

90+ degrees what??!

It is May.

In Minnesota.

Why is it 90+ degrees with crazy humidity?

It is not July.

This is not Florida.

Just thought you sound know, Mother Nature.

I'm not impressed.

~on a side note. I only like this weather if I'm on vacation sitting on a beach while Antonio (who freakishly resembles Taylor Lautner) serves me cool beverages while flexing his fabulous muscles. Yummy!~

Summer is here!

Lance, Miss Thang and I spent the day outside playing in her pool and with the water table. Lance broke out his new pressure washer from Black Friday and cleaned up the front of the house. I graded papers, planted a few flowers and weeded. Lance and I got some sun. Miss Thang did not. She is looking a little tanner though. She definitely has my skin! She was up at the butt crack (Mom- 1 word or 2??) of dawn this morning (5:45) :/ Took a hour nap at 9am then we played like crazy until around 3pm. She was starting to get kind of quiet so I took her in and changed her out of her swimsuit. She was fussy so I figured she was hungry again even though she just ate a couple of hours earlier. So I put her in the high chair...she munched down some puffs and 1/2 a container of food. She was looking around, leaned the side of her head on the high chair and fell asleep! Poor thing!! She would have stayed asleep too but I was laughing so hard I couldn't keep quiet. So I accidently woke her up, then she looked at me and her eyes slowly drifted down. She started head bobbing. Again, I woke her up giggling. Oops!! I NEVER would have thought Miss "I don't need a nap EVER" would fall asleep in the high chair!! It was so cute. But dang my giggling and inability to keep quiet so I could have gotten pics. I picked M up, put her head on my shoulder and she was out. She slept for 1.5 hrs in her crib! YAY!!!! Poor worn out baby!

I put sunscreen on her, including her face, but she kind of reacted to it on her cheeks. She has very sensitive skin. I can't use Dreft on her clothes....it has to be All Free and Clear. I wash all our clothes in that because when she was little, if she'd rest her cheek on your shoulder and you didn't use All she would have a rash. So any suggestions for sunscreen for sensitive skin babes?

Lovely weekend!

What a great weekend! It all began with 70+ degree weather on Friday, scrapping with great friends that evening/nite. Then onto Ember's baby shower Saturday morning on another beautiful day. It was so beautiful that several of her neighbors decided to have garage sales which made for tricky parking since E lives at the end of a cul-de-sac and even more difficult time keeping some of her relies at the shower and out of the sales!! Although I TOTALLY would have joined them if I could have snuck out;) tee hee Once I was done there, I scurried to Menards for purple-ish spray paint and then home. I played in the flower bed, spray painted 3 flower pot things, Lance and I ate s'mores roasted over our fire pit after M went to bed. It was great! Today I was on the mission of all missions to get our house cleaned up. Luckily Lance was on the same page with me even though our little Drama Queen was not:/ Oh well. I still got all of my party decor organized and cleaned up (not put away...its still in the entryway), 3 hats decorated for the NDQHA youth fundraiser, laundry and ironing done, pom poms made for Drama Queen's bday party, our bedroom rearranged and cleaned, some photos edited, Ipod updated, power walk after some awesome supper from Renee's Drive-In.

Awwww.... what an awesome, lots accomplished day! I needed that. Now after Miss Drama Queen heads to bed, I'm going to do the same thing. I'm tired!

Quick update on Miss Drama Queen.... we have 5-6 walking steps. She's doing so well. She gets frustrated then crawls which is so much faster for her right now. She still eats like a cow & is back up to 3 fat rolls on her thighs. So cute!!!

What naked baby doesn't need the perrfect accessory?

Pink boa. Check!

This is Miss M's newest expression! Everything is oooooooooooooooooooooo! Adorable!