When the Weather Outside is Frightful...

You'll see me wearing this coat:

If I'm not wrong, I have had this coat since before I was married and I love it!  

Owning this coat really is a catch 22: I love the coat, but I only wear it when the weather is very cold (I'm talking below zero). I wouldn't chose below zero temps, but I also love having a reason to wear my coat.  

Why don't you just wear the coat to stay extra toasty during those Minnesota winters you ask?  Well, there is a reason this coat is so warm:  it is real leather and weights nearly 5 lbs by itself!  My shoulders actually get tired from wearing it if I wear it shopping/walking around for an extended period of time.  

This coat always makes me think of my parents and Texas.  Funny, right?;)  Well, my parents bought it for me at a Wilson Leather Outlet store in Texas:)   

(I have no idea who in Texas would ever need a coat this warm???)  

I'm sure you'll see me wearing it for years to come.  

It is a nice quality and has worn very well for the past 10ish years.  

Cutest Baby Born in 2012???

We'll leave that up to you to decide:)

Cast your votes today!
(And every day through February 10 until the contest ends)

High Five for Friday

1. I reached another milestone in my weight loss:  Down 25 lbs!  Again, I attribute the weight loss mainly to breastfeeding as I've not been following Weight Watchers much.  I don't remember the exact weight I was when I began pregnancy with Nora, but I'm thinking I'm pretty close to it now.  I still have a little ways to go to get to my ultimate goal (which I've reached two other times with Weight Watchers)...I know that will require me to follow the program more closely and to be creative fitting exercise into my life.  
2. It's February!  After the busiest January (probably in my entire life), I'm just glad to turn the calendar to a new month:)  February brings Valentine's dates, Luke's birthday celebrations, family birthday celebrations, and hopefully a fully completed flooring project!
3. I enjoyed some very nice quality time with Luke this week.  Nothing planned or even intentional, but special nonetheless.  It is certainly a balance having more than one child (God bless you with more than 2...I don't know how you do it!).  During this first year of Nora's life, I've felt like Luke and I don't always connect as much as I'd like.  This week we enjoyed snuggles, reading, baking, dancing, and lots of giggles:)   
4. Speaking of dancing...we love to dance at our house:)  We subscribe to Rhapsody, which gives us access to any music for a flat monthly fee.  We love it and we have created many playlists through the years.  It's especially fun to introduce the kids to songs we liked when we were younger (for instance, I'm listening to an old Shania Twain album as I write:)).  This week, Brent added RUN-DMC to Luke's latest dance list.  Luke and Nora both loved it.  Nora jumps and gets all excited when "It's Tricky" comes on:)  So adorable and I need to get a video of it:)
5. We don't get official "snow days" any more as adults, but sometimes we declare them ourselves on days off or when life circumstances present them.  On Sunday, we got a lot of rain and ice so we declared our own snow day and did not leave the house all day.  It was glorious!  Now, today, Brent's car stalled on his way to work.  Unfortunately that did not mean a "snow day" for Brent, but it does make a stay at home day for Nora and I since we don't have a car:)  I'm without a doubt a home body, and sometimes it's just nice to know that I simply can't be out and about.  On a freezing day like today, I'll gladly stay inside:)

High Five for Friday

Last weekend I got to spend a good portion of Saturday with my cousin, Steph.  I'm so thankful for the friendship we share and for the time we're able to spend together every couple months.  Usually our time together involves getting a bite to eat, lots of chatting, and consignment shopping.  Last Saturday, we had an additional task, a HUGE task that is...sorting through pictures found through the years at our grandparent's farm house and, more recently, at Grandpa's apartment.  We sorted pictures for over two hours and set a plan in place to scan the pictures so we can share them with everyone in the family.  (We did get in a late lunch at The Loop and a quick trip to Refashion:))  The project will still take a lot of time to scan, but we've split up the work so we can chip away at the large task.

This month has been interesting with the flooring project at our house, but last weekend was the craziest when everything (except appliances) had to be moved out of our main floor and into the garage or basement and flooring was removed to prep for the new floors to be installed.  By Sunday we felt like hoarders living in our basement...not typically how we roll:)  We were SO grateful to get out of the house to spend the afternoon at Riggin's and to celebrate my Dad's birthday with a dinner at Outback.  Luke was also blessed with a sleepover at Papa and Grandma's and got to escape the chaos that was our house for another day:)  We are so grateful for wonderful friends and family who have helped through our project in so many ways!

I realized this week how very grateful I am to still be breastfeeding Nora and that it's still going great!  I only nursed Luke until he was six months old and by then my supply was waning.  No supply issues with Nora and she's still very interested in nursing.  I love the opportunity to nurse her, that it's gone SO well since birth, and that we can save $$ by not having to buy formula.

Nora and I got to spend the afternoon with my dear friend, Liz, and her son, Jack.  Liz has been in my life since high school and we have SO many memories together.  Mr. Jack is creeping up on his first birthday in March:)  I have to say, our lives sure have changed from when we were in high school and college:)  We had lunch at Applebee's and both Liz and I thought our waiter was in high school, then we remembered it was the middle of the day on a school day, so that wasn't possible.  Then we realized he was wearing a wedding ring....yeah...we're getting old;)  But, I wouldn't want to be getting older with anyone other than Lizzard:)

In the midst of a very busy week, I was able to stop at a couple stores to grab some clearance winter clothes for Luke for next winter.  I scored 3 pairs of sweat pants, 1 fleece, 1 hoodie, and 6 long sleeve shirts for $53.  Gotta love January clearance shopping (at Old Navy, Target, and Crazy 8)!

Six Month & A Half Month Stats

Baby girl had her six month doctor appointment today and we learned she is growing steadily and is very healthy!  

Weight

17 lbs 4 oz

67%

Length

26.6 inches

71%

Head Circumference

17.6 inches

92%

Learning to sit up on her own,
but still quite tipsy

Supported by her Boppy

She likes playing in her gym sitting up now
 and reaching for her toys

It may be a small, baby gym,
but big brother is always welcome:)

My sweethearts in their new hats
made by my lovely friend, Liz!

New Floors

We have new floors!  

(Well, all but in the entryway for now while we wait for more flooring that is on order:))

Check out our progress so far...

Hallway to bedrooms and bathroom

Nora's Room

Nora's Room

Bathroom tile with new floor.

Doesn't this just beckon you to take a nap???
It took everything in me today NOT to lay down!

Kitchen

Kitchen/Dining

Lots of shadows in this one

Living Room

Living/Dining Room

Master Bedroom
(Very happy we decided on wood in the bedrooms!)

Master Bedroom
(Refinishing the dresser is on my spring project list)

Master Bedroom

There you have it!  

We still have some more to bring back into the living room and we plan to get an area rug in the living room too.  Hopefully the rest of the floor and the correct trim will come in soon (we're planning on 10 days), so we can put this project behind us and simply enjoy:)

High Five for Friday

1. We have officially wrapped up the Christmas season with our final two holiday parties with Brent's work.  We enjoyed a night at his boss' house and dinner at Somerby last Friday and dinner at Osaka last night with Brent's entire department.  Brent's been at Think Mutual Bank now for two and a half years and it has been such a wonderful place to work and he is surrounded by great people daily!
2. During the parties mentioned in #1, Nora and Luke hung out with Brent's family.  One evening at Troy & Audra's house and the other at our house with Papa and Grandma.  We are forever grateful for the generosity of our families and the opportunity to live so close to see them often.  My official #2 is that Nora is no longer crying at the sight of her family!!!  We went through a stretch of a few months of her getting upset when she saw or was held by Brent's parents, Troy, Bridget, and my mom.  We felt horrible that she was so moody with family, but she seems to have turned a corner!  
3. We booked an Alaskan cruise for our 10 year anniversary! Our anniversary isn't until July, and the trip isn't until September, but we're VERY excited!!!
4. Luke had a fun-filled week at school with a movie/stuffed animal party Monday afternoon and a field trip to Quarry Hill Nature Center Tuesday afternoon.  I just love that our kids are growing up in the same city we did and that we can reminisce about our excitement when we took the same field trips Luke is now taking:)  I also love the weeks that I get to help out in Luke's class.  Now that Nora's a bit older, I've gotten on a schedule of 2-3 times a month.  I love seeing the kids and their teacher interact and watching/helping them learn. 
5. Nora is getting very good at eating baby food.  Her digestion didn't do well with rice cereal, so we have switched her to fruits and vegetables and she's doing much better.  She really likes bananas and applesauce so far.  She's also tried green beans which didn't go over well plain, but she took them better when mixed with applesauce.  I'm planning to add pumpkin, sweet potato, pears, and carrots in the coming weeks.