Question for moms with toddlers....

ok....mommies with toddlers, (or older experienced mommies) how do you get your morning shower in your day? Have you switched to night showers, do you try to wake up before the lil one is up, or do you wait till nap time? What is it? I'd like to know.
Here's what I'm dealing with. I don't like night showers. Sleep is too precious to me. And that brings the other dilemma. I'm not a morning person. I hate mornings. I find that I'm a better person during the day if I sleep till the kid is up. I'm not gonna try to exert all that morning energy for a shower unless it's REALLY important. Like church or something....
So. I guess I'm a mid-morning shower person. Around 9 or 10 am is a good time. I feel that I can't really start my day till I shower and freshen up. But what to do with the toddler that's running around with that permanent marker? He's already watched is limit on tv cuz you decided that an hour in bed checking Facebook and email on your phone was a good excuse for "sleeping in." By the time I'm ready to drag myself out of bed, get breakfast and coffee, he's ready for something exciting to happen. So that's when mommy becomes the lifeless jungle gym, trying not to spill the precious coffee. 10:30am rolls around and it's getting late. I know I HAVE to get a shower soon cuz anytime I put it off, someone stops by unexpectedly and I look horrendous. HATE it when that happens. And it's been happening a lot lately.
I remember that his favorite show is on at 10:30. So I decide that another half hour of tv can't hurt much. But because of the wind we are having today, the black outs on the tv aren't keeping my son entertained. So, my shower was interrupted multiple times by a 2 yr. old screaming "mommy, where are you," and pulling back the shower curtain handing me his bath toys. *sigh* another five minute peaceful shower gone....
and what's happening now while I blog? tv is on.....Yes, my tv has become the babysitter. I know i know. "get rid of it, unplug it, turn it off, put it in another room, don't ever turn it on at the beginning of the day..." I've heard it, think it, and that tv stares at me every morning with it's tempting ways.
so I guess that brings up another question. what do you do with the tv?

365-19 Few of my favorite things

I've been at a lost on what I should capture today. So I went around the house and picked out some things that I like!

Candles!

My Ghirardelli mix from mom for Christmas!
Lotion
My "B" pearl thing from mom, again! :)
Dream Angels "Heavenly" and chap stick
His "CHEESE" grin :)
And those baby blue eyes!

365 days 1-7

I know I'm late...I didn't have access to internet over the weekend. Sorry mom! (She was excited about this!) :) So here's my first entry for Project 365 where I will attempt to take a photo/photos everyday this year!

Day 1

Lincoln is no longer my little baby boy anymore... He has turned into a boy. The past few weeks his face has grown and it doesn't look so baby'ish. *sniff* It's kinda sad...

Day 2I was going through our finances and budget and you know that sick feeling in your gut..."how are we going to make it this month?" (Seems to come up everything month at some point, doesn't it?) Then this verse popped into my head. (sorry, bad shot) "
"With man this is IMPOSSIBLE, but with God all things are POSSIBLE!" Matt. 19:36
So I have this sticky note in my day planner to remind me that everything is possible with God!

Day 3I love sneaking in a few shots of Lincoln sleeping. He's always so peaceful and cute looking! During nap time, I like to get some reading done! Right now, I'm on the second book in the Twilight Saga! LOVE IT!!! Thanks mom! :) (She's giving away a book on her blog...you should check it out!)
Day 4My house feels empty now that the Christmas decorations are gone. I love the lights, smells, and tastes of Christmas. Here's what's leftover from Christmas!

Day 5Lincoln's on this new kick of taking stuff from where they belong and finding a new place for them. Here he has canned goods in his Lego box. And you can see the helicopter in the background with a block that doesn't fit!

Day 6*BEFORE*
This year, I've decided to dedicate each week to a different part of the house that needs organizing! This week was Lincoln's toys! His little "toy box" (a diaper box) was over flowing after birthday and Christmas presents! It was time to upgrade!
(Lincoln telling me: "mommy, it's time for a new toy box!")

*AFTER*
We bought a new container and got rid of that ugly diaper box! YEAH for organizing! It looks better! And Lincoln has all his toys and books in the drawers where he still has easy access! (YES...he's playing with a fly swatter...don't worry. IT'S CLEAN!)

Day 7
Sunday was the big game. Even though the Packers didn't win...*sniff* Lincoln still looked pretty cute in his jersey! :)
I asked him to smile and this is the shot I got! HA! What a face!"GO!"

Hope my week was interesting enough for you! It was fun trying to find new things and new ways to take pictures. Now onto a new week!

Christmas '09

Christmas Morning!

He loves his puppy from Grandma and Grandpa Everson!

Here we are in 2010. How weird is that? 2009 went by SO fast! I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone, New Year's is over, and stores are getting ready for Valentine's Day...

~Little bit about our Christmas~
We spent Christmas as a family in Greenville, SC and then went to my Aunt and Uncle's in Spartanburg for lunch. We even had the chance to open presents with my family back in Wisconsin over Skype Christmas Morning!

Lincoln playing with his tool set from daddy!

Opening presents with daddy

~Holidays and sickies~
Holidays don't seem to do well for my body. I was sick for Thanksgiving, and then had a migraine Christmas Eve, and have been sick with a head cold since New Year's Eve. I don't think I'm stressed out during the holidays, since I'm not the one usually entertaining and having to worry about all that stuff. But this time of year is a usual for me to getting sick.

Because of the holidays and sickies, I've gotten behind on things and hope to get on the ball. Today I spent the afternoon taking the Christmas decor down. Now I have an empty hole and it looks like something's missing.

While Lincoln and I were sick, we had our share of cable tv, cartoons, movies, with tissues surrounding us on the bed. I did enjoy reading my new books that I got from mom for Christmas! :)
We're also having fun with the Snow's. I really do hope that we aren't over staying our stay. There's just so much Wii and leftovers there! :) And Lincoln likes to chase Jack! (the cat)

I better finish up this post! Now it's time for a game of CLUE with the Snow kids!

more pics from our trip to Wisconsin

Mom sent me some more pictures of our stay in Wisconsin... :)

Good times!

Quick note before I get to bed...
I had a WONDERFUL time in Wisconsin with my family and Joe's family! But I am HORRIBLE at taking pictures! (sigh...I don't take ANY!)

We parked our lil house in the Everson's driveway for 2 weeks in Northern Wisconsin near campus. It was nice to visit campus and see old friends and meet up with my brother and sister. It got VERY cold really fast. I grew up in the North, but I never liked the cold... : / I enjoyed the times we had with Joe's family as we had 2 weeks off of traveling and stayed at their house during that time. It was very relaxing! :)

My parents met us on campus to have an early celebration for Lincoln's first birthday. (just a month early) I had to steal these pics from my mom's facebook! :)

The Birthday Boy!

Grandpa giving Lincoln a taste of the YUMMY cake! (Thanks Mr. Gaugler!) :)

Opening gifts from Grandma and Grandpa with mommy and Grandpa!

Grandma made a special gift! She put familiar faces under the puzzle peices so that Lincoln will remember his Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Brooke, and Uncle Brennan! So cute!

Lincoln had other ideas what he should do with the puzzle peices!

More gift opening with Grandpa!

Sitting back and talking on Aunt Brooke's phone during supper.

Grandpa lets him drive on campus...

Later that week, we took the hour trip down to my hometown to stay at my parent's house for a couple days. I decieded that we needed to put together a HUGE party for the Packer/Viking game! I invited my friends and my sister came from school to make the big event! Lincoln even had a handful of grandparents attend! :) Not sure if they were there for the game or what... But even though the game didn't turn out as we would have liked, we still had fun! I wore my Brett jersey from his Packer days...But I DID NOT cheer for him.

The Friday before we left, a bunch of our friends from the college, siblings, and their friends, went out bowling. I miss those days of young college bliss! It was fun, but I was in the mothering mood and Lincoln was running a low fever. He did so well in his stroller watching everyone bowl and did not complain one bit!

We left for Escanaba, MI and did Revival America in the Sunday Evening service. From there we were off to Pittsford, MI where we had a short week of meetings. All through this, both Everson family's on the BRM team were sick. I think I got through it without getting the ruff end of it. But poor Joe and Lincoln were up countless times b/c of trouble breathing due to congestion. (and that takes a toll on mommy)

We just got in at the church in Williamstown, WV and will be doing a FULL week of meetings here. Hopefully we are all recovered from all our sickies.

It's been an exhausting couple weeks...ready to head down south. :) But now I need to go to bed. *Night!*

Fun Fall!!!

Let's see...where do I start?! Since the VCY Rally in Milwaukee, it's been a whirlwind of sorts! The Rally was awesome, the people responded very well and it was fun to do! On Sunday we did another Revival America in Hartland, WI. So that means we did Revival America 3 times in one week! It was exhausting!

Sunday was the opener of the NFL season and I am a die hard Green Bay Packer's fan! Born and raised in Wisconsin, it's a given! The big game was that evening and I had Lincoln all decked out in his outfit! :) He went to Sunday evening church like this!

What a cutie!

I was so excited for the Bears/Packers game! (Old Brett Favre jersey from his packer years...)
Joe made my day when he got the screen and projector all set up! It was so much fun! We watched the game outside, it was a beautiful night and the Packers won! :) So this was literally my "view from my front door!"
Near the end of the game it was time for Lincoln to settle down for bed...BUT the game was too exciting for him to be settling down for bed!!! :)

After Hartland, we traveled an hour to Utica, WI. I played basket ball against Utica in high school and it was nice to see some of the girls that I played with! I also met Kim and Erin and made new friendships with them! Lincoln loved playing with them when they came to visit during their lunch break!

Now we are in Inver Grove Heights, MN. We spent all day Friday at Mall of America and even got to go to IKEA. (never been there, mom said it was a MUST!) We enjoyed browsing around, window shopping, and visiting the sharks in the underwater adventure! For lunch we went to Rain Forest Cafe, Lincoln wasn't too sure of that place. I found out he doesn't like thunder storms or fog...
My mom has a shot of me and my siblings in front of this very lego statute from YEARS ago!
One of the things that I've really liked about traveling is the chance that we get to see some of our really good friends. Jon and his wife Elise don't live too far from where we are at now! We enjoyed having them over the last couple evenings! Jon's a great friend that we met in college, he was in our wedding...it was so nice to meet his wife for the first time! We love them and it seemed that Lincoln did too!
I dont have much more time...but these picture are for my mom and Brooke...(and who ever else wants to enjoy them!) He's wearing his Charlie Brown shirt from Brooke!

Making faces as always!
I can't wait till next week! We will be in Northern Wisconsin at the Everson's (in-law's) house for about two weeks! It will be nice to get to spend time with the family! I'm planning on visiting my family for a few days and visiting my siblings at NIU. I always LOVE going "home" whenever we get the chance. Northern Wisconsin is beautiful! Will always be home to me!

Well, I've wasted way too much time...I need to get ready for the evening service!

Back from summer break

This summer was just so busy that I decided to take a break from the blog world. Now that things are gearing up for another season of travel, I should catch ya all up on things.
Joe and I stayed at my parents in Lakewood, WI for the summer. I'm too much of a home-body that I think I've been spoiled and now I don't know what I'll do once we leave. I'm so thankful for all the hard work that my parents did all summer to make sure we were ok!
God did put some challenges in our lives this summer, only to draw us closer to him. It was such a blessing to be home and see the church family and to hear my dad preach. I've missed that as well.
Lincoln has grown so much. He's crawling around and getting up and walking along the furniture. When we first got here, he was barely crawling or sitting on his own. He has a mouth full of teeth and still happy as always!

Lincoln with Uncle Brennan hiking at Dave's Falls

This is what Mom, Joe, Lincoln and I did almost every weekend for the first two months that we were here. If you'd like to see some of Joe's work, visit his web site here! And visit my mom's blog here! This is a shot from the Mackinaw show.

Look out tower near the bridge.

Lincoln with my cousin's baby, Bradyn.

who doesn't love baby cheeks?!

Two teeth on the bottom and four on top! SO cute when he laughs! :)

In Mackinaw

Here I am with my sister and some good friends bowling.

Lincoln participated in the watermelon eating contest! He loved it!

Here's some links to more photos of our summer.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=124408&id=505374902&l=5af372b726

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121083&id=505374902&l=fec31d0206

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116766&id=505374902&l=d685770990