Mother's Day 2015

Mother's Day.

 

Such a bittersweet day for me. I love spending time with my baby girl, but I also miss my mom. I feel guilty telling my step-mom and mother-in-law 'Happy Mother's Day" because I feel guilty that I can't say those words to my own mom.

 

I know some people have grand plans on Mother's Day, but it was {mostly} a typical Sunday at our house. Kimber woke up early and we snuggled in bed together. Eventually, we moved the snuggle party to the couch. She drank her milk, while I sipped on my morning coffee and Nick made cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

 

After breakfast, Nick & Kimber gave me a Mother's Day gift - a gift card for two one-hour massages! And she had made this sweet Mother's Day card for me at daycare. Funny how something simple can bring a mama to tears!

 

 

We got ready and headed to church. I tried to get a picture with Kimber after the church service, but she wasn't too excited about getting her picture taken. She was upset that she didn't get to ride home with Papa!

 

We tried again after we got home and we were able to get a sweet picture of me & my baby girl. And my 2 chins! I think I need to give Nick tips on flattering angles for picture taking!

 

We changed and headed over to Nick's parents for our usual Sunday dinner together.

It was a rainy & dreary day...perfect for afternoon naps!

 

 

As much as I would have loved to crawl up on the couch to take a nap, I headed down to Ames with my MIL and SIL pedicures. I haven't had a pedicure since we went to Jamaica, so it was time for one. I opted for the upgrade and had the best 15 minute foot massage. It was nice & relaxing!

While we were gone, Nick hung my MIL's gallery wall. We gave her the frames for Mother's Day LAST YEAR and figured it was time to put them up!! It turned out amazing and now it's time to fill the frames with family pictures.

We finally made it back home around 5pm. Nick made dinner while Kimber & I read books, colored and put together puzzles. After supper, we shared an ice cream cone while snuggling on the couch and watched a movie. 

 

Even though we didn't do anything special on Mother's Day, it was a great day with my family!

Muffins with my Monkey: Daddy's Special Birthday Breakfast

Every morning, Nick & Kimber sit in the chair together. Snuggling & watching tv until it's time to go to daycare. Nick will fill up her sippy with milk, she'll run over to the chair and wait for him. Sometimes grabbing the Iowa blanket on her way over, if it's not already laying by the chair.  They'll snuggle together, while she drinks her sippy and they watch cartoons on IPTV.

 

I know Nick loves this time with Kimber. And during harvest season, this might be the only time he sees her during the day since he's usually still in the fields when I put her to bed at night. 

 

I wanted to make this time special for him on Saturday morning since it was his birthday. Nick calls Kimber 'his little Monkey' and I found the perfect birthday card to him from her, so I thought of 'Muffins with my Monkey' as a breakfast theme. {I LOVE a good theme}.

 

Along with the birthday card, Kimber & I bought a book they could read together while snuggling in the chair, Daddy's favorite kind of orange juice, milk for Kimber and muffins/donuts for breakfast. It might not seem like much...but Nick loved it and he said it was the perfect gift. Time with his baby girl.

 

Father's Day 2014 Weekend Wrap-up

 Our Father's Day weekend didn't turn out how we planned. Our plan was to go to Wisconsin to spend time with my family. But things changed fast when we found out Gramma was in the hospital on Thursday afternoon with only hours to live. We dropped everything to rush to the hospital. Unfortunately, we were not able to make it there in time to say goodbye to her.

 

Nick said that we could still go to my family function. But I said no, we needed to be with family during this time. I knew there wasn't much we could do, but I wanted to be there. After my mom passed away, I remember how helpful it was for others to help with small things and the people that we there for us. And I wanted to be there for Sandy, Deb, Kelly and Craig. For anything that they needed. Juice boxes for the kids. Beer for the adults.  Print & organize pictures. Help with thank yous.

 

Kimber & I spent 4 days at Gramma's house, while Nick worked on the farm and came over in the evenings. We were surrounded by family and close friends that were mourning the loss of a loved one & showing their support to the family. It amazes me how kind people can be. They brought meals, desserts, drinks, paper products and several other items. Gramma was truly loved and will be missed by many.

 

On Sunday morning, Nick opened his Father's Day gift from Kimber at home. If you know Nick - you know that he LOVES ice cream. Like he has a bowl every.single.night. He loves it that much. So when I saw an ice cream maker - I knew it would be the perfect gift! And I was right...within an hour he was making ice cream. And he has asked me to find recipes to make different kinds of ice cream!

 

After we got ready, I was trying to take a picture of Kimber. These days, she's not a big fan of the camera and will look at anything but me when I pull it out. I love how she's staring into space and not paying attention to me at all!! 

 

We headed back up to Gramma's house for lunch and I took out my fancy camera to capture a few pictures. We wanted to get a picture of the great grandkids together to give to Gramma. We had a small family visitation in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day at Gramma's house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't how we planned to spend Nick's Father's Day.

And even though the situation wasn't ideal, it was nice to be surrounded by family all day.

 

A visit with the Greats

 A couple weeks ago, we headed back to my hometown for two of my nieces graduations. Since we were in the area, I wanted to stop at the nursing home to see Grandma & Grandpa Schuler. I felt bad that I hadn't seen them for a couple of months and Dad said they always ask about Kimber.

 

I'll be the first to admit that it's hard to see Grandma & Grandpa in failing health, but I want to make a point to see them as much as possible. And I want Kimber to know her Great Grandma & Grandpa - even if it's visiting with them in the nursing home. 

 

Kimber slept in my arms for the first 30 minutes, so it was nice to sit & visit with them. After Kimber woke up, we watched her crawl around and play. She was a hit with all everyone in the sun room!

 

 

Weekend Wrap-up

I was able to spend an entire Saturday with Kimber and I loved it! It seems like we always have something to do or somewhere to go, so I don't get quality one on one time with her on the weekends! And secretly, I'm excited about the weather forecast for this weekend coming up. Cold & Snowy = all three of us snuggled up on the couch in our pajamas!! What could be better?? And maybe I'll sneak into town during her long afternoon nap for a mani/pedi!

 

Friday:

Friday was an emotional day for me. After the story about Batboy came out all I could do was think about Blake and how much I miss him. It made me think about Thanksgiving and how hard it is going to be this year without him. On Wednesday night, my parents & brother come up to my house and we do food prep for the next day. He was always in the kitchen with us wanting to help. I'm going to miss his laugh. His fun spunky attitude. And his snuggles when he got tired.

 

It was also my brother's birthday on Friday. How ironic that the Batboy event took place on his birthday. If you know Blake...you know his LOVE for Batman!

 

Nick is still in the fields, but got home at a decent time on Friday night. So he was able to feed Kimber & give her a bath. After she went to bed, we hang out on the couch. It's just what I needed after such an emotional day. 

 

She looks so cute snuggled into her car seat. I still think she looks adorable in this owl hat!

 

On Friday night after work, we hung out in her room for awhile and played. I still can't get over how well she's sitting these days! And those baby blue eyes - adorable!

 

Saturday:

We were up bright & early on Saturday. Kimber is used to getting up between 5:30-6:00am during the week and that's the same time she gets up on the weekends. Nick was out of the house by 6:30 to go to the farm, so it was a 'Mommy & Mini' day.

 

We played. She napped. I cleaned. We ran errands. She napped again. I cleaned some more. We played. I wrote {long overdue} thank yous.

 

That night we had a 30th birthday party to go to. Funny how much parties have changed since all of Nick's friends have little kids/babies. There were just as many babies at the party as adults and most of the crowd left by 10:00pm!

 

 

 She LOVED these shoes! I was trying to get a picture of her in her new outfit & all she could do was look at her shoes!

 

The dreaded thank yous. I'm still working on them. And have yet to finish her baptism thank yous. Did I mention she was baptized in July? I NEED to get them done!

This was my first time at Hobby Lobby in MONTHS! I was so excited to walk thru the aisles and think of crafting projects to work on this winter!

 

 

Play time after she got up from her afternoon nap. She's doing so good playing by herself these days! I was able to get stuff done around the house while she hung out in the living room.

 

Sunday:

We were up bright & early on Sunday. {see a theme here?}

We went to church and had Sunday dinner with the Hickethier side to celebrate all the fall birthdays. Nick's uncle is moving to Europe in December, so we made sure to take family pictures together.

 

 

 Gramma Hickethier with her great grandkids. Chloe did not want her picture taken at all!

 

 I cropped the picture and this is what I was left with. LOVE IT! Definitely going to print this one out!

 

 Gramma with her grandkids & great grandkids.

 

The whole Hickethier clan.

 

Gramma and her youngest great grandbaby!