A couple weekends ago, we went up to the cabin in Chickaloon. It was a gorgeous day out and we just hung out, roasted hotdogs, had smores and went for a walk, played a little catch, climbed some hills, etc. It was fun.

Austin is BIG into baseball right now and takes his glove and ball just about everywhere.

Austin catching a ride on big sis, Autumn.

Me, Logan and Austin sitting around the fire in front of the cabin.

Me and Logan.

Autumn having some difficulties eating her smore. She needs a bib I think.

Brandon watching Autumn make a mess.

We had an issue with our septic so we ended up renting a small excavator so Dave could fix it. The boys LOVE riding with daddy and most of the time fall asleep.

This time Austin fell asleep. Thats Pioneer Peak out there above the trees.

Logan looks a tad bit uncomfortable as Austin rests on him.

Here are a few pictures from Austin's Birthday party on May 23rd. I have been so busy, but I am gonna try and get some things posted here today!!

He got a little scared when everyone started singing, he hopped into my lap for protection from the scary choir. (Nevermind the unfinished cake...I got impatient with putting the baseball stitches on.)

Blowing out his candles, we practiced before-hand and I just had to help a little bit.

So happy about eating cake. Yum!

Opening presents....he wasn't as excited as I thought he would be. He kept walking off to do other stuff.

Austin Tyrel is 2

My littlest little one turned 2 on Wednesday, May 20th. I just cannot believe how time flies. We will have his birthday party on Saturday so I will post pictures after that. I wasn't sure what kind of cake to do for him cause he didn't seem to be "into" anything in particular like Logan was into Elmo or excavators. After thinking about it for a while we realized he is very into baseball right now. I should have thought of that since I am having to throw a ball at him all day while he tries to catch it or hit it with whatever he has found to use as a bat. We bought both Logan and Austin their own glove and bats with balls since they both wanted to be like Brandon and Autumn.

He is my little Baby Bug and always has a smile on his face for me. He LOVES riding horses and will often throw a bit of a fit when its someone else's turn. It makes me a tad bit nervous since he thinks those horses love him so much he can just walk up and pat them on their head or butt or leg. They do love him cause he is the one that will bring out 2 or 3 tablespoons of grain at a time when they are being brushed down for riding.

He gives the sweetest kisses. And then wipes them off to see the reaction. Its almost automatic now - kiss, wipe, smile.

I remember the day he was born. We didn't find out if he was going to be a boy or a girl and I told the midwife and nurses present that I didn't want anyone in the room to announce it except for myself or Dave. I wanted us to be able to discover it ourselves. When he was born and plopped up on my stomach, it didn't even occur to me to look. I was just so happy to have him in my arms and to hear him cry. Of course I was sorta wishing for a girl, but at that point it didn't even matter. He was healthy and crying and here. It took me a few minutes to say, "wait, what do we have here?". Of course after discovering he was a boy, I was overjoyed. There was no regrets at all. He was perfect. He was born at 3:27 PM on May 20, 2007 weighing in at 9 lbs 4 oz.

Checking in and updates!

Its been a while and I am tired of seeing my picture up everytime I go to my blog.

I had a good Mother's Day. I told Dave ahead of time what I wanted to do and that is what we did. There was a Parade of Stallions going on that day at the fairgrounds and there was to be horses for sale there too. Since we are in the market for a horse or 2, I thought that would be a fun way to spend some time. Plus I was really looking forward to seeing some flashy stallions. It was a good time but there were only 3 horses for sale and none that were in our price range or league.

I told Dave I didn't want any gifts for mothers day, just to spend time with the kids and him. So he didn't get me anything, but Kristen had to work all day so she got me some roses the day before. There are so pretty still. Autumn wrote me a poem that was very nice:

Nanabug (Joanna)

Thanks for being the best you can be.

Thanks for being the mom that I need.

Thanks for taking care of me.

Thanks for looking out for me.

Thanks for understanding me.

Thanks for taking time off from what you're doing just for me.

Thanks for being there when I need you.

But most of all thanks for loving me.

I love you.

Oh and thanks for feeding me. :)

~Autumn~

Those are the types of things that make me believe that I am doing alright by my step-daughters.

Brandon got me a nice card, sunglasses (which I desperately needed!) and a pack of gum. After the Parade of Stallions we went and had lunch and then headed over to Home Depot to finish up designing our kitchen and picking out our countertop and then headed over to Target to get a few things. Overall it was a nice relaxing, enjoyable day.

We are winding up our school year here. Brandon needs to be done by May 21st and I will have to hand in grades on the 22nd. Autumn is done on the 21st after her 8th grade graduation ceremony. I think Kristen is the only one who will have to go to school on the 22nd, which is the official last day of school.

Brandon and Autumn are both in baseball and softball. The both enjoy it a lot and have had lots of practices (everyday!!!). I think Brandon's first game is on the 17th and Autumn's is on the 21st. Her team this year is a combined Jrs and Srs team, since they didn't have enough 13-14 yr olds or enough 15-16 yr olds to make the 2 separate teams. So they will be playing both Jr. teams and Sr. teams. It should be interesting. I am not very fond of her coach up to this point. I think he must have a terrible case of jock itch or something cause he is CONSTANTLY scratching at his butt and crotch. Its to the point where everyone notices and he doesn't even care who sees him. Its pretty disgusting. I wonder if the other parent's have notices or not??!

Our Baby Bean is doing great. We let Dozer and Bean out of their pasture just about everyday to just graze our lawn and they just love it. Baby Bean will tear off running doing crazy 8's all over the lawn and then Dozer will get all worked up and take chase. Its quite comical. If you lay down on the lawn, Baby Bean will come up and nibble on you and check you out. She is very curious. She is teething though right now, currently has 4 teeth that have come in. They are doing great. Brandy is also such a good horse. We have been riding her frequently and she does great. I had to give her a tiny tune-up after that long winter of not riding, but she is doing great now. I am teaching Brandon how to ride and he is very excited about learning.

There is a friend of the family who just recently gave birth to twin girls. It was a miracle that she was even able to have children. She is currently in remission from cancer and just recently had a scan that revealed something. Her name is Yvonne Ortiz and if you could all keep her in your prayers right now, she could really use them. Her babies were just born at 34-35 weeks last weekend and around 4 lbs each, so they are still in the hospital for a few weeks and Yvonne is very tired and feeling kinda sickly right now. Please send positive thoughts and prayers for her and her babies!

Me, me, me! And my haircut.

I decided I needed to post pictures of my haircut, since I have been talking about it and people ask. Its short. I haven't had it this short in years...ok, like maybe 3 or 4 years. But I think I like it. What choice do I have now, eh? I was playing with the camera to try and get the most flattering angle of myself....here are the shots that didn't get deleted right away. Brandon took the last one...I was in the process of fixing my hair since the hair and makeup team did not come. Damn them!

I can lift a horse, can you?

When was the last time you said to someone, "Yeah, I picked up my horse and cuddled her." Probably doesn't happen very often, so we decided to get pictures. Our baby weighs about 35-40 lbs we figure....about the same as Logan, our 3 yr old. She is pretty tolerate of us.

Brandon with baby and Dozer.

Me with the baby...isn't she so cute?!?!

HSPPP with the baby and Momma close behind.

Dozer is a very good momma. She is so protective, she doesn't let the baby get more than 4-6 feet away from her without scolding her and getting closer. The baby had a blast running around the pasture today and momma was right on her tail, keeping tabs on her.

We are in negotiations about naming her. We have tossed around a bunch of names like Polly Pocket (pocket horse) or Dolly (Pardon) or Loretta (Lynn) or Patsy (Cline) or Honey Pie or Supercalafragalisticespealadocious (sp?) or Dizzy. I suppose we should settle on something soon.

Horse Poop Bonfire! Redneck?

We spent the day clearing out the Mini's pasture of the downed trees and other miscellaneous stumps. We burned it right on a big pile of horse poop. Brandon got out the marshmallows and roasted a few until he decided they really didn't taste very good. I am not sure if they did not taste good because they were old or because he was roasting them over wood that was burning right on top of horse dung?! He said to me, "Mom, these taste nasty, here try it." Ummm, no thanks!

My first baby is 10!

I remember the day I first saw Brandon....it was December 21st, 1999. The social worker brought him to where I worked and set him on a chair in the reception area. He had a blue and grey/silver coat and had a blue blanket sorta wrapped around his little legs. I remember thinking he was such a cute little baby with round cheeks and dark round eyes. I was doing foster care and was only supposed to have him for a few weeks. I grabbed him up from that chair and talked to the Social worker for a few minutes before I had to leave to drop him off at home with my roommate so I could finish out my day at work. He would start at the daycare in my building the next day. When I got home that night he was getting attached to my roommate and I was a tiny bit jealous. I scooped him up and told him, "I am your mommy!!" Little did I know at that point that I would become his mother. It was a maddening rollar coaster of highs and lows on the way to becoming his "legal" mother, but it was all worth it and could not imagine my life without my bubba. (I rarely call him that anymore since he is getting so old and "grown-up", LOL) The adoption was final on April 12, 2002. That was the happiest day of my life when I could finally relax and not worry about him going anywhere else. We had a great ceremony (1st time in Hennepin County that an adoption was done outside of the courtroom) and feast with lots of family and friends present to witness our special day.

We really did have a rough journey and its still a journey of growth and love and I love him so much my heart aches at times. He is growing up to be a fine looking little man and has great qualities that he will share with the world. He is full of life and loves spending time being active with his brothers and sisters or his friends. He is a very social kid. He is athletic and loves baseball and his martial arts practice. He would also like to play hockey and football or basketball. He will play just about anything. He is comical and tries to crack jokes (sometimes gets himself into a bit of trouble with this) at just about anything or anyone for that matter. I sometimes wonder with amazement at the doctors and others that come in contact with him for short spurts of time and say, "Why is he so quiet?? Is he like this all the time?" That is just crazy talk, cause Brandon is very full of life (and noise!) and constantly looking for his new adventure and companion to go along.

He decided to have his birthday party at H2Oasis, an indoor water park in Anchorage. He had 3 friends come along and of course siblings and a couple cousins. Everyone had a blast! Here are a couple pictures of him and 2 of his friends - Bailey and Atillio.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDON!

A New Baby!

Dozer had her baby early this morning and here she is! (I think it is a girl...will have to get a closer look later on.)

She is still learning to nurse. Hasn't quite got it down yet. She tries to nurse from her mom's armpit, her neck, her nose, her butt....all the wrong places. Hopefully she will figure that out soon. She is strong and healthy it appears, she is already trotting and running around. Her mom fast on her tail. Dozer doesn't let her get too far away yet. She let me pet her and touch her so that was good. When I tried to look under her tail, she jumped her rear end up a bit though like she wanted to kick me. It was the cutest thing.

Scary story....

So, our mini-mare is pregnant right...you all know this. Well she is due any day now, but I am not so excited as I once was to meet her little baby. I heard a story today from my friend Abby. She has another friend who has mini-horses and one of them got knocked up and it just recently had its baby. A MULE! Apparently the donkey got to their mini-mare and their love session created a baby mule. (Everyone picturing Donkey from Shrek, right?) I am sure its cute and all, but I would rather NOT have that kind of surprise on D-day.

If you never hear of our pregnant horse again or its spawn, then you know something didn't turn out right. BUT, if she indeed does have a baby horse like we are anticipating, then I will gladly post pics, upon pics to show you how cute it is.

BTW, Dozer is extremely ornery these days. She doesn't want anyone even touching her. I can only imagine how miserable I would be if I had to carry a child (or horse) for 11 months. Yuck!

Checking in...giving updates.

So, Lance Mackey won the Iditarod. 3rd time in a row for him. It was fun watching and keeping track of where all the racers were.

Austin got his cast off on Wednesday, April 1st. He is learning how to use that arm again and gaining strength in it again. He has had a few episodes where he doesn't know how to catch himself when he falls. He used to have a very solid brace against the floor. Bath time is MUCH easier now too.

Dave and I are working on our house plans. Dave is pricing everything and coming up with a plan. We designed our kitchen with Jason at Home Depot. That was ok. I really am not picky, but when you have to make decisions about where to put what and how you want it to look, it is hard to decide. Its hard to picture it in your mind and how you would use it all. Oh well....it is coming together.

I wanted to post a couple pictures of myself and my weight loss progress. I hadn't compared til recently and was shocked to see how different I look. I think I am in desparate need of some tanning sessions though since I look so pasty.

This first picture was taken when I was in MN/ND in July of 2008. I got a decent tan. Bobbie was pregnant in this picture and didn't know it yet, but I did, ha ha!! Her baby was born on our anniversary of March 14th. (Geez, I wish I had her beautiful hair!!)

This picture was taken April 1st when Austin got his cast taken off.

Anyway, I have lost a total of 31 lbs now. Its going very slow but steady. That is all I can hope for I guess. I still got LOTS to go.