Greetings from the Tundra

Well, we moved to North Dakota two weeks ago.  Honestly, it is probably one of the last places I thought I would ever live.  Nothing could have prepared me for the cold short of spending a month in the freezer section of Costco.  But even that is warm compared to the weather here.  

Jon got a job working in the oil fields in September and I have been playing the single married mom since then.  I gained so much respect for single parents in those five months.  I have been through some really tough stuff in my life, but none of it could have prepared me for trying to raise a child with Jon 13 hours away.  Thank goodness for my parents living so close.  They were such a big help and really stepped in when I needed them.    

After five months of being apart, spending Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and my birthday away, we are finally back together.  I would be lying if I said I loved it here.  It is honestly the coldest place I have ever been.  Some days it doesn't get above 0 degrees.  Your hands get numb walking from the grocery store to the car.  We are renting a little two bedroom apartment until our house in Idaho sells.  It is a huge adjustment.  I have taken for granted having a washer and dryer, garage, and backyard.  We don't even have a disposal in the kitchen sink.  I didn't even know that was a thing to not have one.  

Even though life in the tundra is freezing cold, we are finally back together.  There is an awesome rec center that has a little waterpark and a daycare.  I get to work out while Oakley plays with other kids.  

I have had so many tender mercies these last two weeks.  Its funny how the smallest things can brighten my day.  Oakley has been a beast to get to bed...really since Jon left in September.  Her little world has been turned upside down and she is handling it fairly well, until bedtime comes.  The first couple of nights she didn't go down till eleven.  One particularly hard night I got a text from my cousin Andrew.  It came right at the very moment that I needed it.  Little things like this have been happening these last two weeks and I know that I am never truly alone.  No matter how cold and lonely life is right now, things will get better.  Spring will come, eventually, and we won't be cooped up forever.  And while we are, we always have the rec center.

Almost Two...

Well, I suppose it's time to restart the ol' blog.  I have had some thoughts lately that I need to write down and what better place to do it than on the internet, Right?  

My whole life I always knew that I wanted to be a mom.  When people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up that was my answer.  Sure, I had the usual answers like veterinarian, zoo keeper, teacher, among many others, but Mom was always at the top of the list.  I have always loved kids and had this skewed idea that being a mom would be easyish.  As each day passes, I learn how wrong I was. 

When she was little, the hard part was well everything.  But looking back, I think "what was so hard about that?"  She wasn't mobile, her only food option was formula, she slept a lot, and people understood if I was in my sweats all day long.

Now, little Miss Bea is almost two.  I am having a hard time coping that I am old enough to have a two year old. She is my greatest joy, but at the same time, a huge source of stress.  Don't get me wrong, I would not change a thing, not even the tantrums that she throws in the middle of Home Depot that cause dirty looks from everyone around.  My house is always a mess and some days I don't get ready till two in the afternoon.  

I look at other mom's blogs and their seemingly perfect lives and it's hard to not wonder where I am going wrong.  Then I realize that we all try and portray ourselves as perfect to others and that we are our own worst critics.  Try as I might, I will probably never be that mom who has piles of scrapbooks of their kids.  I will most likely not have the dishes done and house clean before I go to bed.  And I am going to have to be okay with it.  Tantrums will happen and I just have to learn to deal with it.  

What I have learned in the last two years are this:

      Don't judge moms whose kids are acting up at the store.  

      Dirty dishes can wait.  Making memories with your kids can't.  Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to have the perfect life that we miss out of the important things in life.

      Don't get mad, get the camera.  This is something my mother-in-law taught me and I have been trying to take her advice.  

      Kids grow up fast!  I can't believe that my baby is almost two!  It seems like just yesterday she was scooting around.  Now she is learning how to count and running around. 

     Document the important milestones.  I am so glad that I have tons of videos and pictures of every little thing!

Well, these were just the random thoughts that I have been having lately.  Hopefully they make any sense.

My little hipster

Ok, so it's been a while...quite a while. Oakley is going to be one on the 31st. I can't even believe it. She is the best baby a mom could ask for. She is almost always happy and keeps us laughing. Some of her favorite things include scooting...not crawling...around the house spreading stuff everywhere. She loves getting things she knows she shouldn't have and scooting away from me as fast as she can, laughing all the way. She gets this look like, this is so much fun isn't it? She is pretty good at entertaining herself, which is nice when I need to actually get stuff done.

I have been working a lot and feel like I have missed out on a lot of her last year. I spend every spare minute with her and my house has the mess to prove it. Why would I clean when I could spend time with my favorite scooter? She also has a strange obsession with the dirty clothes. She gets them out of her hamper and carries them around, something that she could not do if she crawled. She always has her hands full of something. She loves reading books by herself. She will just sit and turn the pages. Whenever she hears a bass line her little body starts bobbing up and down. It is the funniest thing.

She is our jeep girl. Pretty sure Jon will have her driving one in no time. We go on a jeep ride almost every saturday and she just sits in the back seat with the dog loving life. Most of the time she will fall asleep with her head bobbing around. It must have been all the jeep rides we took while I was pregnant.

Kindred Spirits

Last weekend we took our 4th annual girls trip. This year we went to California to get a 5 generation photo with my great grandma. Grandma Bea just turned 104 in May. She is the reason Oakley is Oakley Bea. We thought it very appropriate that the two met. Grandma Bea is very healthy physically. She only takes one pill a day, but her mind is not all there. It was so cute to watch her with Oakley. All her mothering instincts came back as Oakley sat on her lap. She would pull her up if she was slipping and the two of them had this soul to soul connection. It was so awesome to watch! We got a lot of good pictures while we were there. Here are some of my favorites.

Back to work

I went back to work last Monday. I am just working for the next month for four hours in the mornings. This means a little more cash, but unfortunately I have to leave this every morning. My mom gets to watch her, which she loves, but I have a very hard time leaving her every day.

Last night we were doing tummy time and next thing I knew she was on her back. She rolled over!! It was the first time I had seen her do this, but I'm pretty sure my mom had seen it before. I hate missing out on these things.

She has been laughing lately. It is the cutest thing! She has this really deep belly laugh that is super contagious. And then when I start laughing she laughs even more. I just LOVE this little peanut!!

Sounds of Summer

Last weekend we went to Utah for the Fourth. Oakley loved seeing her grandparents and uncles. She told lots of stories and shared lots of smiles.
Her new favorite thing is her hands. She loves to suck on them and just stare at them. She just started grabbing things this week. She will play with her blanket and anything else she can grab. She has also found her feet. She lays on her back and pulls her legs up and grabs onto her feet. It is so funny!



She also loves the pool! We have been over to my parent's pool with her a few times and she absolutely LOVES it! She loves watching the big boys play basketball while sitting with me or Jon in the shallow.

Two Months

Today I took the peanut for her two month appointment. She is in the 75th percentile for everything, which is good because last time she was in the 25th for weight. She now weighs 10 lbs 13 oz. Her little legs are starting to get rolls! It is so cute!! Dr. Jones is the best pediatrician ever! He sang to her and she totally loves him!
She has a bit of a flat head, I guess from being in her car seat too much. Sometimes it's the only thing that calms her down. Dr Jones said to put her on her tummy more. She HATES tummy time!! But I think she will hate having a flat head even more, so there is going to be some screaming coming from our house for a while.
She had her shots today which was probably the saddest thing I have ever experienced. She was so happy and talking to the nurse and as soon as she poked her, Oakley started screaming and looked up at me like, why? I wanted to cry along with her. It was terrible!
I can't believe that she is already two months old!

Crazy Weekend

Ok, so last weekend was a little bit on the crazy side. My brother, Grady, got home from his mission to Japan on Friday one hour before my sister, Olivia, graduated from High School. Oakley was hungry, as usual, right before I was supposed to leave for the airport, and due to that and some road closures, I missed his flight getting in. By the time I finally got to the airport, he had already said his hellos to everyone including Jon, and they were all just waiting for me to get there. It was terrible!! But I didn't feel so bad because Oli couldn't be there either. She had to be at the college for graduation.
As soon as I gave him a hug, we all rushed over to graduation.
It is so good to have the family all back together again!! Grady and I got really close the summer before he left on his mission and it is so nice to have him back. Oakley loves her uncle and it is so cute when he holds her!!

Life as we knew it

Oakley was three weeks old on Thursday. I can't believe it's already been three weeks. We are starting to settle into a bit of a schedule...as much as possible with a newborn. Our day usually goes as follows...6 am - up for the morning. I always try and get her to go back to sleep, but there is too much going on.
8 am- Oakley gets to play with grandma and grandpa for a bit while I take a morning nap. The whole sleep when the baby sleeps only works if the baby sleeps.
11 am- Pick Oakley up from the grandparents. We play all afternoon (I try and keep her awake as much as possible)
10 pm - bedtime
2 am- the peanut is usually hungry
6 am- this is when Jon leaves for work, so Oakley thinks we should all be up
Life as we knew it is totally gone and replaced with sleepless nights, poopy diapers, and playing peek-a-boo. Instead of skiing magazines, our coffee table is littered with American Baby and Parenting magazines.

It is no longer just Jon and I. Going anywhere is no easy task. We have to make sure the baby is fed and that we have diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, the stroller, oh ya, and the baby. My biggest fear is that one day we will forget her at home. It hasn't happened yet, thank goodness.

We are getting a hang of being parents of a newborn. I no longer take 30 minutes to get her dressed and don't freak out every time she makes a new noise. Poop and spit up are no longer gross, but instead a part of every day life. Baby acne and dry skin no longer scare me...she will grow out of it soon, I hope.

Even though life is totally different and I am convinced I will never sleep again, this little squirt is AMAZING! I love waking up and cuddling with her every morning. It is amazing how much she changes from day to day.

One Week Pictures

Last week we did newborn pictures with this awesome local photographer. Oakley did not like being posed and naked so we din't get a whole lot, but the ones we did get turned out so cute! Thanks Heidi!

Tornado Season

The little peanut is two weeks old today. I can't believe it's been that long already! On Tuesday we took her for her 10 day checkup and she was already 2 oz past her birth weight. She keeps getting bigger and cuter every day. My mom and I took her to the mall and grocery store after her appointment and she was so good! She LOVES her carseat and stroller! It was a really nice day, so we even took her to Uncle Rudy's tennis game and she sat quietly the whole time.
Evey day she sleeps less and is awake and alert more. But she hardly ever cries, and when she does, she is usually just hungry. Last night she slept for four hours at one time! It was amazing!
I love just watching her all day long. I honestly can sit on the couch with her for hours and just watch her sleep.
Meanwhile, my house looks like a tornado hit, the dog has been totally neglected, and I am running on NO sleep. Everyone says to sleep when the baby sleeps, but that's hard to do with something so cute so close.

Life with a newborn

Oakley Bea Van Wagoner was born Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 4:26 am. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 inches long. She had a full head of black curly hair and was the most beautiful baby Jon or I had ever seen.
We had to stay in the hospital for two nights. The first night Jon slept at home because he had to work early the next morning. I was exhausted and hadn't slept since the baby was born so I had the nurses take her to the nursery for the night. The next morning one of the nurses came in and told me that they hadn't taken her to the nursery, but kept her at the nurses station and played with her all night. Everyone thought she was the most beautiful baby they had ever seen.
We brought her home on Saturday. It has been a big adjustment. No more uninterrupted nights of sleep. I spend every waking moment just starring at her, trying to comprehend the fact that we are parents.
It is so strange to think that I am a mother. I took her to the doctor the other day for her 5 day checkup and had to sign the consent form for treatment for her. I am now the one that people hand her off to when she is crying. And strangely enough most of the time I can calm her down.
My life is now full of and poopy diapers and sleepless nights, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

The adventure doesn't start until something goes wrong

And everything went wrong. We drove the Jeep with our garage sale trailer to Cascade, Idaho for the Bowman family annual unofficial Fourth of July family reunion. We put our bikes and gear on the trailer and took off. It only took us about five hours to make the three and a half hour trip. As we got to my uncle’s house we noticed that the wheel of the trailer was a little crooked. My dad and Jon lifted the trailer up and the wheel just popped off. Lucky for us it wasn’t while we were driving.

That night we went to watch the fireworks and they were so far away we couldn’t even hear them. It was cold and we were getting eaten by mosquitoes, but we got to enjoy them with my grandparents. Sunday was pretty uneventful. We went to the hot pots and enjoyed the company of some strange people from Boise. On the way home we got to see tons of fireworks being shot off over the lake.

Monday was Jon’s birthday and we went biking at Brundage. My cousin Katie came with us. She had not done much mountain biking and went over the handle bars a few times. By the end of the day she was covered in mud and had a tire track across the front of her shirt. The Brundage photo people even took a picture of her and gave her a free day pass.

With the exception of the trailer tire, everything was pretty tame until Tuesday. Jon and I were planning on leaving around two but we wanted to go explore the mountains by Grandma and Grandpa’s cabin first. We took some dirt road and went way far into the mountains. I wish you could bottle that smell and bring it home. There were a ton of roads going everywhere. As we were driving we found this kid who had run out of gas on his four wheeler. He didn’t know where he was, his parents didn’t know where he was, and his buddy was somewhere behind him broken down as well. We found his buddy who had walked about a mile and was sobbing. After some intense persuasion we towed the kids to where they thought their camp was. After about six hours we finally found their parents. Oh, I almost forgot. As we were towing the kids, we drove through a road where cows were openly grazing. Katie looked at me as said, "I just got hit with something at it's not mud" She smelled her hand and it was cow poop. All of a sudden poop starts flying everywhere. We had the top off the jeep so it was hitting us in the head. One hit my head and I later found it in the hood of my sweatshirt. GROSS!!!

We didn’t end up leaving Cascade until around nine. On the way home the lights on the jeep went out and as we were stopped Jon discovered that he had forgotten to put the oil cap on. Lucky for us it was wedged in a crack. We didn’t get home until 2:45 and Jon had to work at six and me at 7:30.

Even with all of the craziness that went on, it was a really fun weekend. We got to hang out with my awesome cousin who we never see and my grandpa who is sick. It probably wouldn’t have been so much fun if everything had gone perfectly. “The adventure doesn’t start until something goes wrong”.

In a Hicktown

Ok, there is this song by Jason Aldean called Hicktown. I found it the summer after my freshman year of college. We would blast it from the boat every time we went wakeboarding. Growing up in Idaho, I became accustom to certain things. For example, all summer long there will be large trucks of cows, potatoes, and sugar beets driving really slow on the roads. There will also be tractors and combines blocking both lanes of traffic.

Jon and I are living in Kimberly, Idaho for the summer. It's a small town about five miles from Twin. Pretty sure that Jason wrote Hicktown after visiting Kimberly. The population is 3,000 and there is only one grocery store, which by the way is so claustraphobic that I drive to Twin to shop. The elementary school, middle school and high school are all on the same road. You can drive down one road and see all the businesses the town has to offer. I love it! Provo was so big. Everyone was always in a hurry and I always felt rushed.

Here, there is lots of open farm land and everything is much more laid back. Even in Twin, there is never any traffic. No more University Avenue ruining my life.

Last night we were on a bike ride and there was a group of people having a bbq on their pontoon boat in the drive way. They all had beers in their hands and were having a great time. We asked them where the water was and they said they were doing a test run for when they had water. Secretly I think they just leave it in the driveway and host parties.

Graduated at last

Well, I finally did it! After six long years, many different majors, and a few semesters off, I finally graduated from college. I know many of you were starting to wonder if it would really happen, myself included. I now have a Bachelors of Science in Exercise and Wellness. I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with it, but that's not really that important, is it?

Looking back at my college experience, it's amazing that I did as well as I did. Freshman year was full of fun and new experiences. For the first time I was away from home with no one to check into at night. We stayed out until three or four every morning and I had classes at eight in the morning. That was also the year that I took snowboarding and ice skating in the same semester.

My college experience was full of fun and goofing off right up until the semester that I graduated. Jon and I would often go skiing or mountain biking while I should have been at my internship. But I made it!! The grades are all in and my diploma is in the mail. Halleluah!

Jeep Safari 2010

This last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Jon, Patti, and I went down to the infamous Moab Easter Jeep Safari. Basically anyone who has a jeep, or a truck with four wheel drive and their dog go to Moab and show off their awesomeness. We just bought a jeep a week ago. I thought that it was pretty sweet. It has a little lift and some oversized tires. We put the bike rack on the back and headed out late Thursday night. We rolled into Moab around midnight (did I mention it is only a 4 cylinder?) As we got to what we hoped was camp, Jon got out and noticed that my bike was no longer on the rack. We had driven through some pretty bumpy roads and as we backtracked we found my bike lonely and deserted. We finally made it to camp and settled in for the night.

The next morning we looked a little more at my bike and decided that it needed some professional help. We drove into town and had to buy a new rim. So, $90 later we were back in business. We biked a slickrock trail right by where we were camping. The dog loved running through the sand as we biked.
That night we went into Moab and did a little shopping. We also went and watched some people doing a trail called Potato Salad. There were hundreds of people just sitting on the rocks watching guys in their big truck try and make it to the top.
The next day we did two trails called "Fins n' Things" and "Hells Revenge". There were so many people on Hells Revenge that there was a traffic jam. After that we went and watched some more people on Potato Salad. Two guys rolled and one guy's wheel came off. It was pretty entertaining.
We got back to camp around 9:30 and packed up in the dark. On the way home there was a blizzard and we honestly couldn't even see the road in some places. We got home at three in the morning and all three of us slept all day Sunday. The dog was so exhausted that she did not even want to play at all. Maybe we should go to Moab every weekend.Jon driving down Fins n' thingsTraffic jam on Hell's RevengeThat tire was literally being dragged by the truck. It was driving on three wheels

Hi, we're going to be gone for five days

Ok, so it's been a while. A few weeks ago we went to Gobblin Valley. It was Jon's spring break and since I don't have a spring break, I decided to just make one anyways. We went down to Gobblin Valley on Thursday morning. It was our first big camping trip as a "family." By family, I mean Jon, the dog and I. We had so much fun! We did a hike through a slot canyon that ended up being much longer than we thought it was going to be. The poor puppy was so exhausted that we had to carry her for some of the way. Six miles is a long way to walk when you're only five months old. As we were coming down the canyon we crossed paths with some guys who had on huge, heavy packs. The first one who we passed looked at Jon and said "Hi, we are going to be gone for five days". That's all. He just kept walking. I had to do everything I could to not burst out laughing right then. We came to the conclusion that they must have been reading the signs that said to be sure to tell someone where you were and how long you were going to be gone. So naturally, he told us.
Friday morning, after spending the night in the rain and wind, we went to the Goblin Valley park. It was freezing cold and super windy. After mustering up the courage to get out of the truck, we went and played on the goblins. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. There are just miles and miles of these rock formations that look like goblins that you can climb on. We climbed around for a few hours and then we had to be back to real life. I had to work at Rodizio that night.
It was a fun little trip and if you have never been there, I would suggest visiting Goblin Valley sometime.

Disaster Dinner

Ok, so I have really been trying to be a good wife and make dinner every night. In my single college days, dinner for me consisted of something like a cheese quesadilla or a pb&j. They were easy to make and I didn't have to take up much time in the kitchen. (Or do too many dishes). But after getting married, I decided that Jon needed a little more substance than that. So I have been looking through my cookbooks and trying out new recipes. Up until last night, they have worked out pretty well. I have made fettuccine alfredo, baked mac and cheese, Greek salad, lettuce wraps, and various other yummy things. For the most part, they have all been really good.
But much to my dismay, and Jon's, this streak of good food ended last night with baked bbq chicken. I had found the recipe the other day and was so excited to try it. Jon called me on the way home from work saying he was starving. Perfect, I have bbq chicken in the oven and it's almost done. It smelled delicious and we sat down to eat. Jon took a bite and his face turned bright red. He grabbed for my milk and drank half the glass. I thought he was just exaggerating so I took a big bite. It was honestly the spiciest thing that I have ever put in my mouth.
I ran through the list of ingredients trying to figure out what could have caused this. Then it came to me. The chili sauce! I guess that the spicy Asian sauce from the lettuce rolls was not what the recipe had meant when it said bottled chili sauce.
I felt so bad for almost burning our esophaguses. Good thing I had those yummy "lava baby cakes" ready to put in the oven. Last time I had made them, they were just like on the cruise. Delicious! I pulled out the filling feeling a little better about the night. But much to my dismay, that didn't look anything like it had the first time I had made it. Last time, the chocolate filling mixture had set up nicely in the fridge and I had rolled it into balls. This time, it was still soft after an hour. I plopped the mixture into the custard dishes and put it in the oven anyways, determined to redeem myself. Much to my surprise, it actually turned out ok. Lesson learned: use the right kind of chili sauce.