Corn & Tomatoes

This blog is harder to keep up with than I thought! It's been more than a week since I've updated. Looking back into last week we took a trip to the Vanderburgh County Fair on Thursday evening for the tractor pulls. It was hot & sticky, but fun! On Saturday I did my hobby of scrapbooking at Amanda Wilmes's house along with our "Scrappy Sisters", it was also a lot of fun and laughs! I also went to the wedding reception for my cousin, Kelsey. Chad went to Paoli to their tractor pull where he won second in one class and fourth in another. On Sunday we celebrated our niece, Kiaya, and her 6th birthday! Today I put away some sweet corn in the freezer and Chad helped me make pasta sauce with some tomatoes from our garden. I'm currently waiting to hear them all seal - 3 so far! We also had a visit from one of my high school friends/college roommate today! Lindsay & Parker came from Texas this week stopped in for a visit! Parker is almost as big as Lane and he is 4 months old. He sure is a cutie though! We had a great visit and a good time catching up!

On Friday we'll be leaving for our "mini" vacation to Indy. I convinced Chad to get away for a few days, more like, I made the reservations and told him, the only way to get a farmer to go anywhere! We'll be visiting the Indianapolis Zoo and hopefully get to see the new baby elephant and the Indiana State Fair on Saturday. We'll have to head back home on Sunday because we have tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert that night! I'm anxious to see what expressions Lane will have for all the zoo animals! His favorite thing right now is to go "ooohhh" at everything like he's amazed! I also got his 6 month proofs back and they are all so good! I don't know how we're going to pick!

Week in Review: 4-H Fair, Swimming, Staci's B-day, Play-date & Baby Turkey's

I don't have to tell anyone the week has been another hot one but hasn't kept up from doing too many of things we wanted. We took Lane to the Dubois County Fair on Tuesday evening. It was hot but breezy at times. Again, he did not like the big animals such as the goat/sheep, cows & horses. Chad put home close to a baby dairy calf and it came towards him and Lane started moving his legs and whimpering. He did the same when I brought him close to a miniature pony. It'll take time but he'll get used to them, or at least I hope! He did fine with the smaller animals which are more his size like the rabbits, turkey's & chickens.
Wednesday evening Chad wanted to take Lane swimming in the 12x30 pool his brother Ryan bought. I had bought a baby float he can sit in and he loved the water! His little legs were just a moving and he made lots of happy sounds/giggles. Like everything he was done after about 30 minutes but it was also his bedtime. I was not prepared to take him swimming and did not have any of the little swimmer diapers so I just put him in his swimming trunks, hoping he didn't poop in the water! He did, however, pee on Grandma Vaa'ls couch and on me, the little squirt!
Thursday morning we had a play-date with Andrea Fleck and her little guy Kayden, who is 9 months. At first, they looked at each other like they didn't know what to do. Andrea says she thinks Kayden was confused by all Lane's hair not knowing if he was a puppy or fellow human, haha! It was not but a few minutes and Kayden starting crying, followed by Lane! Not the ideal beginning of a play-date. At their age, however, what more can you expect? They mostly played with toys on their own, occasionally wanting what the other had. However, Andrea and I had a good time catching up and chatting! Thursday evening we headed to my parent's to celebrate my little sister, Staci's, 18th Birthday! We had our traditional strawberry cheescake, yum yum! I can't believe she's already 18 and technically an adult. It doesn't seem possible. I know one of these days I will probably say the same thing about Lane :(
Friday I was on-call in the morning. So at 9 we went to some yard-sales where I found him some winter clothes. I also bought some cloth diapers that day that were on sale on-line. I have thought about giving them a try several times to save money on diapers and every time I change another diaper I think about the landfills. We'll see how it goes, it will be more work but might be worth it!
Saturday night we took him to the Ferdinand Fireman's Ball. We ended up stripping him down to his diaper but he was pretty content watching people pass by and listening to the music. This morning (Sunday) we took him up to see the baby turkey's which came on Wednesday. He really didn't know what to think and stared at them. Chad held one up to him and it started chirping which upset him and he started fussing. Chad then set him in the pen with them and he kicked, looked around and played with the rice hulls but didn't like when Chad brought them close to him. There were rice hulls everywhere; his feet, hands, in his pants and diaper! He got a bath when he got home! The new foods we tried this week were apricots, pears & peaches. I also gave him a half of cheerio and he did well with it. I don't think he liked the apricots because they were pretty tart tasting! He's also figured out how to go forwards in the walker this week which means we really need to work on getting a gate ASAP! He's also good at running into our feet and into Ginger. At one point Friday he was lying on his stomach so I put some toys in front and he reached for them and tried to scoot like an army crawl but it didn't take long before he got upset because it wasn't working for him. He also has been testing his vocal cords lately making loud screams, grunting noises, etc. He's also getting his "fake cough" down pat! He knows it turns mom's head to get her attention! It's funny how smart he already is!

This week we're planning on going to the Vanderburgh County fair on Thursday, our annual trip. Saturday, I will be scrapbooking hopefully all day and Chad will be going to Paoli tractor pulls. Sunday is Kiaya's 6th Birthday party! I'm also working on our mini vacation for the next week!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Today is a hot one for sure!! Lane had his 6 month pics taken this morning. Of course, he woke up early at 7 so when we were on our way there he fell asleep! But, he did wake up and gave us a good hour of smiles! It'll be a few weeks before I get the proofs but then I will share. Lane has also had some blood in his stools again. I think the culprit might be the barley cereal. I've been trying to give him something different than rice such as oatmeal with bananas or rice with mixed fruit. So I thought barley sounded good but I don't think his digestive system likes it. For now I'm going to avoid it and hope it clears up! I steamed and pureed a mango today for him and he gave a few faces but kept opening his mouth for more. I have no idea how to cut/peel a mango and made a mess of it! It smells awful if you ask me! Staci went with us for the pics and hung out with us afterwards. We went to Los P's in Ferdinand for lunch then to check out the new Dollar Store. Lane is currently napping which also sounds like a good plan for this mommy!

Horses, Oh my!!

Lane turned 6 months old this week and I learned something new about him today. Tonight we were at my parent's house and I thought we would show Lane the horses because that is one animal he hasn't met yet. Boy, did I not know what was coming next! We walked into the barn and went through the door to where we could see into the stalls and there was Vegas, who is a very tall, white Paint. Lane's reaction was both sad and funny! He eyes and mouth went wide and gave a shriek I have not heard yet followed by cries and trying to climb over my shoulder to get away! I was not prepared for his reaction and was kind of shocked myself that he would be scared of a horse. But, he clearly was startled and it took awhile to get him calmed down. My mom and I could not help but laugh but I also felt bad that he was scared!

I'm going to get his 6 months pics taken next Monday and I'll be sure to share them with you! I debated awhile about spending money on getting them done and finally decided to do it. I hope he smiles and doesn't get fussy, but he's usually pretty happy baby unless he has to ride in his carseat. I can't go 10 mintues down the road without him crying and sometimes all I have to do is sit him in the carseat and the tears start! I don't know where it's coming from but there is no way around it for sure! Until next time, good night!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Vaal family blog! I hope you enjoy learning and living with our family! For those who need a little intro as to how we started I will give you a little rundown! Chad & I have always known each other for as long as we can remember. Our dad's were in each other's wedding and Chad was actually in my parents as a ring bearer. However, he was always 5 years my senior and went to a different school. So, it was a surprise when we met at a party one night in spring of 2005 at Steckler's in his cowboy hat and jacket full of beer which me and Nicole gradually drank. We swapped numbers but I never could get him to go on a date with me until the following September. Pretty sad when the girl has to chase the guy! Ever since that first date we've been together and it hasn't always been roses. But, he we are in 2011, married with a house and a baby. We were married November 8, 2008. At first we rented an older farm house in Adyeville and in the spring of 2010 we bought his grandma and grandpa Vaal's house just outside of St. Meinrad and moved in that April. That same month we learned we were expecting and on January 5, 2011 we welcomed Lane Alan Vaal to our family! Chad farms with his dad and I work as a nurse at the hospital in Jasper. Chad loves tractor pulling and I love scrapbooking, however, I don't get to do my hobby as much as Chad does his these days. Lane keeps me busy and when I have down time I just want to relax on the couch! I hope you enjoy following my blog and hope I don't bore you!