International Harvester

Nick is now the very proud owner of his very own 1975 International Harvester - Cub Cadet garden tractor. He got a really great deal from a neighbor for the tractor with all the accessories (mower, front blade and cart).

He was very excited about this purchase and has been tinkering with it non-stop the past few days. When asked what I thought about the tractor I thought it was neat. You know, it will make things easier - hauling bedding from the barn, widening the path through the property, plowing the snow etc. Nick kept insisting that I needed to drive and then I would see.

Well this morning he fired it up and all I can say is that I too am in love!

That puppy is FUN! I whipped around the backyard on it and can hardly wait to hit the larger parts of the property. It goes so fast!

The whole family joined in. Here are Nick and Gunnar giving it a go:



This post will serve as the "before" as Nick has big plans on restoring his Cadet to much of its former glory. Stay tuned!

Early Performance

My little flashdancer!

Growing Gangbusters

I know I have been posting all Gunnar all the time so I thought I would feature the rest of the farm today. Nick has been super busy in the greenhouse, garden and berm.

Here is the lettuce in a raised bed:

Broccoli:
The broccoli is a big experiment so we hope it flowers/produces.

Sinsai soybeans (edamame) beginning to climb:
Squash beginning to bloom:
Tomatoes really taking off in the greenhouse:
Nick's FAVORITE plants this season - Sunberry:
We have these planted all over the property to see where they do best and so far it seems that the berm is winning.

Here is a shot of the berm's current state:
Nick added a third tier and we have planted lilac, asparagus, various herbs, sunberry, horseradish (we we now know deer DO eat) and ground cover.

We can't take credit for the beautiful foxglove but they are doing great too. In the back you can see the plum trees which we freed from the blackberries and are beginning to fruit.
Potatoes which we now know our goats LOVE. They have eaten all the shoots they could reach through the fence:
Our new fig tree:
And last but not least the sideways watermelon LOL:

Big Help!

Gunnar helping mommy put away laundry today:

Daddy can't wait until he can help run a chainsaw!

Reunion!

Two of the girls from my centering class came out today for a mini reunion. It was wonderful to swap stories and see all the babies. Wonderful mommies!

Tummy Time

Some shots of Gunnar and Truck enjoying tummy time:

8 Weeks

Although at times these past 8 weeks have felt like trying to hold onto a raging bull for 8 seconds, I am so amazed at how big our little man is. Everyday, practically every moment, there is something new with him.

He had some great tummy time moments this morning (when the camera was nowhere near) but I promise to show off his amazing head holding skills soon.

His 2 month check up was yesterday and he weighed in at 8lbs 15oz and 21 1/4 inches long. The pediatrician is stoked we are "on the charts" and his growth was great. He also got his very first shots. We were both mortified! He did survive and I shed a few less tears than he did. I am spacing his vaccines out so we have to go back for the remainder in four weeks. My poor baby!

KNOCK ON WOOD today was day three of him taking a very good morning nap and today he even went down (just a few minutes ago) for another nap without the usual wrangling (hour of walking/shushing/jiggling etc..). Amendment - he was up after 20 mins and fought me for an hour before HE won. Oh well, guess there is always tomorrow! He is still sleeping in nice chunks during the night which is a huge blessing.

Here he is waking from his morning nap today for all the grandparents and aunties out there:

8 Weeks

I cannot believe that Gunnar will be two months old tomorrow! Boy has the time flown by! Only a few more weeks and I will be returning to work - Boo, Hiss.

I am always behind the camera so for a change here are some shots of me and Gunnar doing or thing this past Sunday:



Here he is sharing his morning cup of joe with Dad:


Gunnar's first vaccine appointment is tomorrow which I am really not looking forward to. Thankfully daddy will be coming so he can be the bad guy. I had to hold him for his second PKU heel stick so it is now his turn.

Sleep is still the number one issue in our house. He seems to flip good and bad days as far as napping goes. Yesterday was a bad day with barely a nap to be had ALL DAY (not for mom not trying) and then a marathon session to get him down that evening...and then he slept from 8:30 - 7:30 with just a quick 15 min break mid night to eat. Wow! Today is better as he is napping now (thanks daddy for getting him down before you left). The worst part is that a tired baby = GRUMPY baby which just makes for such a long day for all. Thank goodness he seems to have mostly ironed out his nights though and is sleeping in nice chunks.

Still think we will keep him!

Man In The Mirror

Who is that handsome devil? Oh yeah, ME!

In The Jungle

Sorry for the lack of posts but things have just been too busy and I'm too tired! Gunnar is doing great. Last weigh in put him at 9lbs so he is indeed growing like a weed. We are currently in the midst of the 6 week fussies so naps and peace are hard to come by. The saving grace is that (knock on wood) he does usually have one good bout of long sleep each night. Whether that is followed by more sleep stretches or he decides to have mommy up every hour is another story!

Here he was pre fuss this morning enjoying his jungle gym:

Robot Mama

Yesterday was the day of Fuss at Londonacres. Yes, that is a capital F on fuss! Gunnar slept great overnight, got sleepy at his usual am time and then REFUSED to go to sleep. All he wanted to do was fuss and freak out. For hours and hours. Finally I decided it was time to pull out the big guns and go for a Geo ride. He wailed to Sandy and again to Gresham but conked out as we hit the Old Navy parking lot. Whew. On the way I spotted this puppy at a garage sale:

$10 and it was mine. After dinner we put Gunnar in it while we cleaned up etc and low and behold the robot got him to fall asleep. It was very entertaining to watch him fight the machine and then in the end give in. It was even funnier watching us try and get him out of it and into bed without waking him!

Today has been much better, but it sure is nice to have the robot in your corner if you need it. We love the stinker but our arms can only take so many hours!

Ready, Set..Cuteness!

Grandma Janice as requests more pics of Gunnar so here are some new ones..

Gunnar has become a great sleeper, once you manage to wrangle him down. Past a certain point only a pacifier can help get him off the fussy ledge. Here he is with his Longhorn paci from our friends in TX:

Last night getting ready to jump in the tub:

I forgot to weigh him last night but at his last bath a few days prior he was at 8lbs in his birthday suit. Gettin' big!

More than a mound

Nick has made some great progress on the berm by our little creek. He used some of the old fir scraps to tier it, placed some rock around the edges and did some planting:

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There are herbs seeded in the lower level and a bonsai maple on the other side that I could not get a picture of. It should be a wonderful oasis when complete.