Did you miss us?

So I've taken a blogging vacation. A long one. For those of you that followed this blog, I'm sorry to have been slacking but glad to be back. I can't promise frequent updates, but I really enjoy doing these updates and in honor of my 32nd birthday, I'm making a promise to myself that I will take time to do this.

There's no good way to recap 17 months, so I'm just going to recap a little, chat Patrick a little and tell ya'll about some of the exciting stuff happening now.

Recap: The last 17 months have been busy! We've had our share of travels, especially Ryan. Our family destinations have included Atlanta (wedding) and Florida (wedding and a Mouse House visit!). Ryan has also been to Russia and India. Looks like there may be more India trips in his future and we have a trip to California and Florida planned.

The work on the house continues and I dare say the end is in sight. I'll definitely have to devote a future post to the incredible work that Ryan (and others) have done.

Ryan and I also started bike riding for fun and exercise. Over the summer we participated in a few bike events locally. Ryan even did the Miles of Smiles event - 100 miles in one day. The highlight of the biking events was our October trip, child free :), to Nashville to participate in the Bike to Jack and Back. This was a 150 mile ride over 2 days that Ryan did with some friends while I worked as a 2 day volunteer for the event. Ryan and the rest of our team rode from Franklin, TN to the Lynchburg, TN. Between days one and two we had the opportunity to eat, drink, and relax with the rest of the participants on the Jack Daniel's Distillery property and then camp on the grounds of a local community college. Such a fun event that raised money for the National MS Society. Who is going with us next year?

Patrick:
At 2.5, Patrick is incredibly fun and unbelievably smart. Those of you who know his Mama well will not be surprised to hear he has excellent language skills. Translation: He never shuts up and has an opinion on everything. In a good way! He loves to climb, jump, run, and play with his trains. He also has some sweet dance moves :) Patrick loves his friends at day care, and looks for any opportunity to play with his cousins.

He can't get enough of his books and bargains every single night to have more books read to him. He even insists on having his light left on so he can 'read' himself to sleep. He adores Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Thomas & Friends (ick!).

While Ryan was in India in August, I got it in my head that I should potty train Patrick. Surprisingly, he took right to it and I'm proud to say he's been potty trained for months :) He still wears a trainer at night, but it is dry every single morning. At this point, its more for us than for him.

Patrick is really looking forward to Christmas and tells us all the time about Santa. He loves trying to figure out where his elf on the shelf has ended up each morning.

But do you want to know the thing he's really excited about??

The most exciting thing?

PATRICK IS GOING TO BE A BIG BROTHER!!!!

That's right!  I'm 20 weeks along now, baby #2 is due April 23, and Patrick couldn't be more excited.  Obviously, Ryan and I are also thrilled. This pregnancy has been very different that the first, and at 20 weeks I still find myself getting sick some mornings. But generally everything is great and so far both Mama and Baby are doing great. More on baby later :)

So that's about it for now. (What, that's not enough?) More updates soon, I promise.

Life in the country is never boring.

One morning this summer, I had to call in to work and explain that I would be late for a reason I never thought I would use. "Mr. Boss man, I'm going to be late...I have to wrangle cows." No joke. 

It started on June 3rd as Ryan and I were getting ready to leave for work. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something moving in the tall grass beyond our yard. I told Ryan I thought I saw something out there, and he jokingly said "Uh, duh, those are cows." Ha, ha, very funny. Yes, our yard backs up to a cow pasture, but I was certain I saw something in our yard. A few minutes later, my suspicions were confirmed - I had seen something. Ryan's joke had also been confirmed - it was cows. There were calves running and playing in our backyard. We snapped a couple of pictures out the kitchen window:

Then we chased them back into the pasture and called farmer Merle. Merle told us that he would be out to fix the fence and that if it was just a calf or two not to worry - they will always go back to their mommies.

4 days later, we were again getting ready for work when we heard a truck in our yard and walked out to find our neighbor driving on our lawn. Looking toward the backyard, we discovered a full-scale prison break. Cows. Everywhere. Big ones. Little ones. It was funny, fascinating, and a little scary. We chatted with the neighbor, who told us that he found a mama cow near the road and chased her back towards the pasture. He also informed us of an unfortunate personal situation that made farmer Merle unreachable, and that meant getting the cows back in the pasture and fixing the fence had to be done by, well, us. The neighbor headed home to change clothes and get his tools for fence fixin' and I went back to the house to call work and get the camera. For the next hour, we yelled, clapped, walked towards the cows and eventually got them all back. Admittedly, I was a bit afraid and kept myself and Patrick away from the action whenever I could, but we did have to get involved. It was overall a lot of fun, with the exception of when Ryan was trying to get a baby cow to move and the mama cow got a little...protective. Luckily, the mama was behind the fence and Ryan was in no real danger. Still scared me! Here are the pictures from the big escape:

Ryan and Patrick check out the action.

Cows EVERYWHERE!

The little ones liked playing in the mud...and were not afraid of us. 

This one was so stubborn it took 2 people to get her back. 

It was a situation I never imagined I'd be in, but certainly one of the better excuses I've had for being late to work :) 

 

Party Time!!

***NOTE: This begins a series of entries that will get us caught up on the summer. It has been a long, fun one thus far, and I've been terrible at documenting. Let's get started on the catching up!***

The Sunday after Patrick's birthday, we celebrated with family and friends. Patrick really loved all the attention, the cake, and getting to play with his friends and cousins. Check out the festivities:

The Birthday Boy with Aunt Julie

This kid LOVES balloons. 

Patrick loves it when cousin Madison lugs him around.

Cuddles with Grammy Dorothy

Sammi and Finn (along with Brett and Cooper, not pictured) came all the way from Indianapolis to celebrate! {Thanks, guys!}

The Aunts and Uncles putting the back deck to good use.

Patrick's friend Henry really digs watermelon! 

Mommy made the cake, but wussed out when it came to decorating. Thankfully, Mommy's creative friend Leslie stepped in and saved the day!

Make a wish!

First time wearing the Morge birthday hat!

Messy Monkey

So many presents that Patrick had to get his daddy, cousins, and friend Henry to help open 'em.

On the cool CAT power wheels!