The Hollydays

The whole family was home (!), so we had Holly P come take our picture.

Our little family :)

Dear friends

I miss these ladies when I'm out in North Dakota.

Congrats to the one on the right who is newly engaged; I'm so happy for her and her fiance (my cousin)!

Winter Wonderland- ND style

Barrett and I joined Mark on a mule deer hunting expedition to the Badlands last weekend. We had gotten a few inches of snow the night before, so it was a beautiful winter day.

It wouldn't be the current North Dakota without oil wells in the landscape.

Deer? No, just pronghorn antelope

and cattle.

Mark glassing for deer.

There they are!

Unfortunately, they were all does.

Then we saw a decent sized buck, so Mark got dressed in his 3D camo and headed out.

I got to stay in the truck with this smiley little man, who has been so good the two times we've gone hunting- he must love it already!

Our big hunter came back without a deer. I guess it had moved by the time Mark got around the hill to where it had been. Oh well, we had a fun family day in the gorgeous Badlands!

Hangin' out at the Log Cab-Inn

My in-laws place was the perfect size for our Thanksgiving gathering. We all had a great time just being together.

Lauretta helping Piper up on the log that runs through the living/dining area.

Aaron and Barrett catching some zzzz's.

My hubby showing us how to get up on top of the log- he made it look easy!

Ta-done!

Tessa watching in concern.

Ryan took his turn.

I had so many pictures from the holiday, I wanted to make another post. There is nothing more relaxing than spending time in a beautiful place surrounded by family (and the peaceful snow falling just added to the right atmosphere!).

I am thankful

For family.

For friends.

For faith.

For peace.

Thank you all

Thanks for all of the suggestions, and especially for the encouragement. It made me feel so much better knowing there are moms who have gone through the same thing (and lived!). :)

We've been trying a few different things... One of which was a new swing.

He still has bad naps, but there have been some good, easy ones too. Ones where I can rock him for a bit, then lay him down and he sleeps for an hour!

Barrett trying out our newish stroller.

I'm back at work today (nannying), so at least if Barrett is a handful, I have two other boys to take my mind off him. :) Happy Thanksgiving week! I know my husband is getting very excited to head to the yoop. I am too, I just hope the long trip goes okay with the little man.

Help!

Barrett won't sleep.

Night time is no problem, he sleeps just fine. It's during the day that he has an issue. 

It goes like this:

He falls asleep, swaddled, in my arms in the rocking chair

I put him in his swing, with white noise going full blast

30 minutes later, he's up and fussing/crying

Nothing will put him back to sleep, but nothing stops the fussing either

So he's up for hours, and then he's overtired

By the end of the day, I'm still in my pjs and just a bit frustrated

Save my sanity! This will pass, right?? I mean, I know it will, but as I'm bouncing and sweating with Barrett in the front pack, it feels like this might last forever. And my back is really sore.

Anyone in need of a laugh?

Who needs a swaddle?

This is what happens when Dad does the changing ;)

Look!

Look who is one month old already!

We are starting to figure our little man out. I think he is a sensitive baby- he can get very fussy if overstimulated!

When the relatives came

Barrett told Nana a story

Haas showed Barrett who's boss :)

It was a bit tiring showing off for everyone!

Viv shared her ubie with baby Barrett

Haas tried to determine if Barrett measures up-

"his feet look pretty little..."

"don't you think, Mom?"

"now let's check his mouth to see if there's anything in there"

and Mark, Mike (with his dog Putz), and Josh (Mike's cousin who lives here in town) went pheasant hunting, and we now have 9 pheasants in our freezer!

It was fun to have some company, and I think we all enjoyed the weekend.

Living in a boomtown

According to Harvey Brock at the Dickinson Press, you might live in a boomtown if:

• Your neighbor's house guest hasn't moved his RV for three years, and your other neighbor has nine pickups parked in front of his two bedroom house.
• Subdivisions spring up overnight and folks are still living in their cars.
• You can't find a dry cleaner but coin-operated laundry mats stay busy 24/7.
• Guns, bottled water and energy drinks don't fly off the shelves because they don't hang around long enough to make it to the shelves.
• You get a U.S. geography lesson counting license plates while driving through the Walmart parking lot.
• There is no such thing as fast food and ordering a cheeseburger would be easier with a translator.
• New fine dining features award-winning BBQ and moves around on four wheels.
• Three out of four vehicles on the road are white pickup trucks.
• Scoria is a color as much as a road building material.
• Star gazing has been replaced by counting gas flares more numerous than lakes in Minnesota.

More Barrett

He's been a pretty laid-back little guy, just doing a lot of eating and sleeping. 

Today's visitor.

He doesn't do a whole lot of this. Mostly during clothing and diaper changes.

Fun fact: thus far, we are the only couple to have a boy first in either of our families. This may be one of the reasons I thought I was having a girl. I was very surprised to hear "it's a boy!" as they held him up.