Angry Baby

Believe it or not, my family has never really been on a family vacation all together. The closest thing we had to it was a ski trip 18 years ago with some of our cousins. Granted, we took trips growing up, but Brooke had already graduated, and soon after, so did Ryan. This meant only part of the family went, never the whole gang. My mom has been wanting to have one for years, and we finally decided it was time. We spent a long weekend in Lead, SD. We stopped at Wall Drug (a Travel Camp favorite!), drove through the Badlands, spent a day skiing, tubed down the mountain, went sight-seeing, and spent many fun hours in the cabin. 

Badlands

Wall Drug

Our plan was to let Trevin try skiing if he was up for it. The thing about a 3-year-old is to never have your heart set on plans. We knew there'd be chance that he'd be thrilled and love it. We knew there was a chance that he'd try it and cry down the mountain, like his mom. We knew there was a chance he would absolutely refuse to try it and later say he wanted to do it. He chose the last option. We couldn't even get the ski boots on him. We definitely caused a scene. The next day he said he wanted to go skiing. 

Trevin and I hung out in the lodge watching our crew come down. My sister, Brooke, broke her pinky a couple weeks ago and was on the no-ski list, too. So it was nice to have company! 

See that weird, cloudy spot on Trevin's face? Found out my lens is scratched, right in the center. I was pretty bummed, but I'm hoping to replace it before long.

Everyone seemed to have a great time, but it came with plenty of soreness the next day. 

We were lucky enough to stay in this 5-bedroom, 3.5-bath cabin right on Terry Peak. Joey's parents own it and they were generous enough to let us enjoy it. 

The foosball table was a hit. Tournaments and pick-up games all weekend long. Ashton and I are terrible. Trevin LOVES foosball. Anytime he finds a foosball table, I can guarantee he'll come ask you for quarters. Thankfully, this one was free. 

We played cards every day. I felt like I was fulfilling my purpose. I will never tire of card games. 

These sweet kids had so much fun. Trevin is pretty lucky to have such cool cousins. I sure hope baby girl can hold her own when it comes to these crazy boys. 

Trevin fought pictures all weekend long, but when the Marshall's wanted a family picture, he was quick to volunteer. 

James brought his drone along, (don't worry we brought toys for Trevin, too). He captured some awesome videos of the Black Hills National Forest. He may have lost it once, but let's not talk about that. 

Tubing was a hit! Trevin jumped right in a tube and didn't look back!

They had so much fun, definitely the highlight of Trevin's trip. 

Trevin got hot, (shocker), so he went without a coat and hat. I didn't even question it. He goes from comfortable to boiling in 0.07 seconds. Then he screams. It's just life. 

We had a great trip, and look forward to more down the road. 

When the toddler insists on taking a picture with a toy plane and a large stick, you just roll with it. 

My to-do list seems to be growing, not shrinking. I think I've been nesting for about 3 months. I'm desperate for some normalcy in our house. We're getting there, people. Both bedroom floors have been sanded and are in the process of being stained. The trim is in the garage ready to be painted. Walls are painted, lights are in. I still have doors and furniture to paint, curtains to make, and about a million other things to do, but sometimes life happens and you've just got to go with it.  

This means we've continued to be basement dwellers. James and I have become quite comfy sleeping in the basement, but it's certainly caused some problems.  For starters we don't have a bedroom door. (This isn't going where you think it's going.) I'm a fairly light sleeper, I've always heard Trevin before he would come into our room. But without a door and being in close proximity to the furnace in the basement, I'm a sitting duck. One day I was in desperate need of a nap, so I laid Trev down in his room for nap time and I ended up fast asleep in my bed in the basement. Soon after I heard the pitter-patter of tiny footsteps in the hall above me. I figured I should get up to check on him, but I was only half-awake. I laid there with my eyes closed falling in and out of sleep. I finally convinced myself that I had enough strength to get out of bed. I turned over and opened my eyes. There stood Trevin, his face 12 inches from mine. I screamed, peed my pants, and started crying. (All in about 3 seconds.) My reaction startled him. I tried to get myself together and explain that he scared me. Once he understood that, he thought it was funny.  My 3-year-old seriously made me pee my pants. I suppose he and his sister are already working as a team since she's the one to blame for my poor bladder control in the first place. I don't even know where to go from there. I have a long life of motherhood ahead of me...

Just a couple days later James and I had gone to bed, long after Trevin. James fell asleep quickly and I tossed and turned to find a comfortable position for this beach ball of a body. I started hearing a quiet shuffling sound. Our temporary bedroom is right next to our unfinished storage room. The place where I imagine that mice have their raves.  I tried to pass off the noise as the sounds of an old house, but the rustling continued. I was convinced that it was mice. I tried to make myself ignore it. (Yeah, right.) But the shuffling became faster. Suddenly the noise was right next to my bed. I froze. The room was pitch-black except for the small red light of the space heater switch next to my bed. I slowly leaned over the bed and saw this massive thing move in the glow. I shot over to James' side of the bed and whisper-screamed, "There's something in here! Something big, like a raccoon!" I was practically on top of him waiting for the raccoon to jump on our bed and start mauling me. James turned on his phone light and looked over the edge. I was peeking through my fingers, not wanting to know what it really was. James said, "It's just Trevin." He was less than amused at my reaction. Sure enough, that little punk jumped up. He had crawled across the basement, up the hallway, and next to my bed. We've had several stern talkings since then about announcing yourself when you come into the room. He is seriously going to either give me a heart attack or put me into early labor. I would guess that there's no way of getting around high-blood pressure at this point. 

 Obviously life with Trevin is exciting. Remember how I always tell you all the weird stuff he does? I've got another one for you. Recently he's started baby talking. Maybe he's practicing for when little sis comes. He started out doing a sweet "goo goo gah gah" bit. Adorable. And then one day something changed and in the creepiest batman-type voice he said, "ANGRY BABY! GOO GOO GAH GAH!" So that's his thing now. James took him to a farm sale and the lady at the window said to Trevin, "Aren't you so cute!" He stared her dead in the eyes and did the angry baby, "GOO GOO GAH GAH!" Her eyes got big and all she could manage to say was, "Oh my!" This is real life. 

Loving the nice weather! We took our buddy, Uzziah, on a walk. Looking forward to this view all summer long.  

I must confess, I'm extremely naive. You all know that we told Trevin immediately when we found out I was pregnant, and shocker, he spilled the beans. You think I would have learned... We told him baby sister's name. We've been using it around the house on a daily basis. We thought that it would help Trevin grasp the reality of the baby and make the transition a little easier.  Our name is no longer much of a secret. He likes to share the information with anyone and everyone. A couple days ago, I heard him have a conversation with someone and they asked, "Are you excited for a little sister?"  His response, "Yes. Do you want to know her name?"And then blurted it out. He's not exactly a lock-box. I suppose it's my fault. I trust him. He's my best friend, the person I spend every day with, the person who sees me at my worst, and... he's three... I just feel like we share a special bond and I'm always surprised when he betrays me. Lord, help me, I'm in trouble. 

I turned 23 last month and feel more blessed than ever before. 

Paul and Dori took a vacation in February, so we hosted a brick oven pizza party in their house. (Not many people welcome you to use their house while they're gone. Seriously, they are so sweet!) 

We had 20+ friends show up and sent about 30 pizzas through this beauty. We love the people God has placed around us and wanted to use this as an opportunity to show them how much we appreciate them. 

+I've hit my 3rd trimester! It's been an obvious change; each day gets a little harder and a little more uncomfortable. 

+I'm nesting hard-core. I feel like I have to tackle everything on my to-do list in the next week. 

+My face swelling, cheek pinching fear has come true. Trevin has started pinching my cheeks daily, without being prompted. It's a sad reality. 

+Baby Girl hasn't turned yet, so she's still stretching all the way across my stomach. This caused me to measure a week behind, but should catch up once she's turned. She turned momentarily, or partially, last week. Instantly, I couldn't catch my breath and had pressure high and low. But it was short-lived, and she's back to being sideways. 

God is working hard in our lives right now. It's been a week of constant prayer, processing, and grace. We don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds it. He has been faithful and we continue to trust Him. 

Sledding into spring, growing on the farm... 

Mountains and Skunk Pelts

January brought the first trip of the year, Copper Mountain in Colorado for a few days with some of our dearest friends. 

Of course, we can't have a trip to CO without some hiccups... AMIRITE? (In case you don't remember, last time was almost a complete disaster, saved only by the good company we were with.) One vehicle ended up with a dead battery on the trip down; someone may have forgot to turn off the lights while we had lunch... I'm not going to blame anyone, but just so you know it was Trey. 

We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for jumper cables, and may have stocked up on candy while we were there. We're basically still high school kids. 

Oh and we had walkie talkies to communicate between vehicles. (Did I mention something about us being high schoolers? That's what happens when your high school friends are still your best friends..) The walkie talkies were used 13% for necessary information and the other 87% was for code names, movie quotes, and pure nonsense. 

There was no chance this pregnant mama was going to strap her feet to an apparatus. My snowboarding skills are basically nonexistent and I was not about to risk a nasty fall for a few hours of fun. So I was condo-bound while the rest of them hit the slopes. It was an enjoyable weekend spent reading, working on the computer, and some good ol' R&R.  Thankfully our condo was on the mountain so the crew was able to go in and out as they pleased. 

Emily has a new camera and she did a great job of capturing our time. Not going to lie, it was nice to have someone else documenting the trip. I sure was grateful for her!  

James' ice-beard cracked me up every day. 

The girls stayed in a little more than the guys, so it was nice to have some company for a couple days!

 I think being in the same 2 rooms for 3 days had me stir-crazy. Also being pregnant and emotional may have played into it. I missed Trevin terribly. I realized that in the past year I've been away from him for more than 3 weeks total, just in out-of-state trips, not including overnighters and day trips where I've left him. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunities I've had this year, the memories made and the sights seen, but I think I'm ready to be a homebody. Fortunately, Baby #2 will be a natural force of that. 

Each night we gathered around the table and played games. It was the highlight of each day for me. Games are my favorite, especially any form of cards. I grew up watching my parents play pitch with their friends until way past my bedtime. I've probably watched more hands of cards than I've played and lived for the moment when someone had to take a bathroom break and asked me to play their hand. I will never turn down a card game and am desperate to get a pitch night going at my place. The only problem is that not many people know 6-point pitch, so I often have to compromise for a game of 10-point. I've been enjoying learning Euchre and James picked it up quickly, so it may become our new game of choice. 

We played the Game of Things one night and that created all the laughs. One answer was read wrong and as a result #infinitytrey was born. I don't even know... 

These people make life so fun. 

James was beat after a couple long days on the mountain. 

We had a great time getting away with friends and look forward to a trip to SD this month with my whole family to do a little more winter vacationing. 

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We spent New Year's Eve at home with a few friends and actually made it to midnight. (That's a solid win in the pregnancy world.) 

The last family picture of 2015, along with our favorite little creeper. 

I hosted my annual high school Christmas party reunion. This year marks 5 years since we graduated. Where has the time gone? It's always a joy catching up with these gals. 

Trevin joined the party for a little while and insisted on taking pictures of everyone.. Then he put the skunk pelt on his arm and put it in each of their faces. So charming. Thankfully they were good sports and he was a solid choice for the night's entertainment. 

We wrapped up Christmas celebrations in January with James' immediate family. We were so grateful for another day with the people we love. 

A few of my favorite Huenefelds!

We finalized the purchase on our land! I've never bought dirt before, but I guess it's valuable. We're looking forward to seeing what God does with the land and hope to be good stewards of it. First year of land payments, (gulp), here we come! We should be done in 25 years or so. To put that into perspective, I haven't even lived 25 years yet. I have no idea how long that is. 

You'd think we really enjoy renovation projects, because we can't seem to stop. Baby bumped up the timeline on a couple bedrooms so we're right back into construction mode!

Our bedroom after carpet and trim were pulled and mudding touchups were done. 

We found beautiful hardwoods underneath the carpet in our bedroom and the soon-to-be nursery. New paint, new lights, new floor, new trim for both rooms. Neither room had lights, just an outlet connected to the switch for a lamp. James spent many hours in the attic wiring up lights for both bedrooms and can lights for the hallway. There's corners of our room that I had never seen before. Scary stuff. 

This renovation has been different than the others. Generally we've been able to separate the construction from our living space, but this time it was impossible. Furniture from both rooms is spread all over the house. I bet it will be really fun when we (eventually) get to the kitchen. 

Trevin was happy to help paint, and he managed to do a large area with a tiny brush. We may have had to sand down the paint globs, but he gave it a solid effort. 

The next step will be sanding and refinishing floors, then trim and done. James is doing it all, because that's how he rolls. (Seriously, if I had 1/4 of the talent he has, I'd be thrilled.) 

Our solution was to move our bedroom into unfinished basement craft room. It's been painted and most of the outlets are in, but that's about it. There's no ceiling and no flooring. We laid some carpet remnants down and James had to wire up some temporary lights and a makeshift closet, but it's actually worked better than we imagined. It's been nice to have the majority of our furniture together and out of the way. I'm so eager to be back in our bedroom, though. The nightly trips upstairs to the bathroom are getting old. (Remember I'm 6 months pregnant?) 

Tubing behind the four-wheeler!

Trevin: 

+Asks if it's his birthday or Christmas daily. 

+Paw Patrol is his greatest love. He saw one episode and couldn't stop talking about it. He doesn't watch much TV at home, but when he does, it's Paw Patrol. He asks me to call them all the time. 

+He is a total hot body. He can't stand having the heat on in the car. He tries to take his shirt off every week at church. Sometimes he does it before I catch him. He often refuses his winter coat and people think I'm a terrible mom for not having one on him when it's 30* outside.

+Legos are the talk of the town.

+Sometimes he scares me with his evilness. Me: "Oh I like how you lined the animals up like that!" T: (sighs) "Yeah I have to burn them because they are naughty." Me: "You have to what?!" T: "burn them..." He says things like this all the time. Is he too young for counseling? 

+He's excited to be a big brother, but doesn't care much for babies. So we'll see how that goes. 

+Loves his muck boots and working at the shop. 

+Plays with the animal pelts like they are our pets. 

Trevin and all of his "pets" 

We celebrated Ashton's 20th birthday last week. Shopping, Bdubs, and birthday cake! Followed by a couple snow days. I think that was the best present of all! 

We're so lucky to have her. Insanely grateful for all she does for us!

For Christmas we gave Ashton everything she'd need to make homemade donuts. The snow days were the perfect opportunity to try it out. They must have turned out alright, because we ate them all in about 24 hours. (They were actually unbelievable. If you've never had a hot donut, you can't really judge me right now.)

I was fortunate enough to attend a women's conference last weekend called IF:Gathering. Some of my all-time favorite speakers were involved, Jennie Allen, Jen Hatmaker, and David Platt. Even more exciting was that I got to attend with some of my sweetest friends. These ladies are incredibly genuine about their life, their fears, and their Jesus. The tears were so therapeutic and brought us closer than ever before. God plans some cool things. 

I could type for days about the conference, about Jesus, about my struggles, about my sweet friends. There's honestly so much, I feel overwhelmed. I feel such a desparate desire for you all to know Jesus. Not the religious leader that you think you know, but the real Jesus. The One who took off His crown. The One who kneels to wash your feet. The One who took the cross in your place. The only One who can offer true comfort in the most devastating circumstances. He is something else, people. Don't let your view of Christians determine your view of Christ. Christians can be the worst offenders. 

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 

Our due dates are 3 weeks apart! It's so fun going through pregnancy with a great friend!

Trevin tagged along to my 24-week appointment in January. It was a routine appointment, checking weight, blood pressure, and Baby's heart rate. Trevin instantly had to show the nurse the "owie" he had on his finger. Shockingly to him, it wasn't life-threatening. The doctor came in to check Baby's heart rate and had trouble picking it up. I wasn't worried, but it seemed like she searched for hours trying to find it before going out to get a handheld ultrasound tool. Apparently the placenta was in front of the baby and she couldn't pick it up through that. We got to see Baby Girl on the little screen and I could tell the heart rate was really slow compared to any other time we'd seen/heard it. The doctor voiced that concern and had me turn on my side. Instantly the heart rate sped up to normal. A sigh of relief came and she instructed me to not lay flat on my back anymore because the pressure obviously stresses Baby. Grateful that the issue was minor and we're incredibly thankful for a healthy baby girl. 

+We're approaching that 3rd trimester! The longest one of them all, not by days, but by pain.

+Trevin has been taking some of my weekly bump pictures, so if it looks like I'm laughing or a little bit concerned, then that's definitely thanks to him. (Also, don't be super impressed, I set the camera on a tripod and have him push the button.)

+Face swelling has begun. Whoo hoo. I feel like an old grandma is going to come up to me and pinch my cheeks. 

+Crying. So much crying. I think I've made it through today without a tear, but the day is long from over... On Sunday, Trevin and I both cried on the way home from church. Poor James is just left to wipe up the mess. I've never understood Trevin better than I do now. In a lot of ways I cry about the same things he cries about. He cries because he wanted to stop for a snack, and I look into his eyes and know the pain. He cries because he spilled his drink, and I can totally relate. He cries because we can't understand what he's wanting, and I think, "I'm right there with ya, bud."  He cries because he's tired, and I'm next to him crying for the same reason. I'm not even ashamed to have the emotional capacity of a 3-year-old right now, because hormones are no joke. 

+I got a good weight report, so I celebrated by eating all those donuts... (Seriously though, I'm MUCH better off this time than I was with Trevin. There's no way I'm hitting 55 lbs. Not this time, french fries, no way.)  

+I'm feeling my little lady kick every day. She's fairly active in the day now, and probably in the night, but so far it hasn't woke me up. But if I'm trying to fall asleep while she's kicking, that's a different story. 

+Started to feel a little hip and back pain (because seriously, look at that stomach). I shouldn't even mention this because in 2 months I'm going to regret complaining about this tiny discomfort. 

We're finding ourselves in an interesting season of life, so much joy, but also so much pain. Leaning hard into Jesus right now; grateful that we don't have to bear the load on our own. 

A season with friends, growing on the farm...