Comfy

I am trying to get back into the swing of things. Baby boy was a bit more fussy than usual. I had a hard time getting him to nap so I had to hold him. The dogs took that opportunity of me sitting for an extended period of time and climbed right up on or next to me. It was an overcast day and I appreciated all the snuggles. There is so much more that I could have gotten done today but I enjoyed having my wee babe in my arms. I know if I catch up on a bit of sleep that I can tackle my to-do list quickly.

Done

Pretty much all packed up and ready to head out at dark thirty tomorrow. My dad arrived earlier this afternoon and was a big help with the boys. Amazingly it is not even midnight yet! Woohoo!

So due to lack of time and energy to do it myself, I brought the dogs to a professional groomer. It was the best money I have spent in a long time. They looked so cute and fluffy. Their dog sitters are going to have fun with them. My dogs do not like to pose for pics so this was the best I could do.













And good night, I am pretty excited about going to sleep right now.

Mother's Day 2012

I thought I would share some pictures from our Mother's day celebration a couple weeks ago.  Mother's Day happened to fall on Adam's birthday this year so we had a joint celebration at Adam and Ally's house.  Auntie Ally's family was also there to celebrate the double event.  This was all the same day that our little dog Scooter somehow got out of the yard and was nowhere to be found.  That put a damper on the day for me but thankfully he was returned to us the very next morning.  I still really enjoyed Mother's Day however and just remembering God's goodness to me in the past year as a new mother.  It had been a tough couple weeks with the boys but I knew it was only a phase and we would be coming out of it again.  Both boys are healthy once again, seem to be doing better with their teething and have been doing so well.

We had perfect weather on Mother's Day and had a great barbecue at Adam and Ally's.  Their house has a nice deck in the back yard so we all ate outside.

"Dude, mom, I am trying to eat here."

Auntie Ally's parents, Wade and Colleen were also there for the big celebration.

 

Auntie Ally and her brother Austin.  Winston really took to Austin and was his buddy.

So speaking of Mother's Day, I thought I would share some happy news.  There is going to be a new Guddat baby this year.  Yep, that's right.  Abraham and Winston will be getting a new little...cousin!  Auntie Ally and Uncle Adam are having a baby!  Wait, what?  You thought I might be having a baby?  No, I am just a tease like that. You will also note that Ally is opening a Mother's day gift in the picture above because it was her first Mother's Day.   

And for the record, no more Guddat babies for us for a while longer.  I am busy enough with the two we have. We will thoroughly enjoy being an uncle and auntie however. 

Uncle Adam opening his birthday presents.

My two little men  I have to take pictures of me holding them both while I still can!

I am so thankful that I get to be a mother to these precious boys.

The whole Guddat clan together.

We Do Everything in Twos

As mentioned earlier, we adopted two little dogs from the Mono County Animal Shelter last January.  We have now had our little fur babies for a whole year!  Scooter and Suzie have no doubt helped prepare us for parenthood.  These dogs came from an unhappy background and were incredibly anxious around strangers and especially men.  Bit by bit we have gained their trust and learned a lot about patience.  Suzie and Scooter are the same in that all they want is love and affection.  If you're sitting, they want to be in your lap.  Suzie can be a little conniving and likes to challenge at times.  Scooter is a dog that simply wants to please.  He is all about routine and struggles to comprehend how to function with change e.g. if his doggie bed gets moved he does not know where to go.  They have their crate and house training down pretty well and accidents are few and far between.

 Suzie adores being snuggled up in mama or papa's clothing

 Scooter likes to make that morbidly depressed looking face when he is not getting attention

When we found out we were having twins, my mom's comment was, "It's like your little dogs were prophetic."  The colleague from Mono County that helped us adopt the dogs told me that we do everything in twos.  I wonder what that trend will look like in the future.   

Fall Pictures

Our friend Harmony took our pictures at the beginning of November when I was twenty weeks pregnant.  One advantage to living in Northern Nevada is experiencing real seasons and seeing the fall colors come in.  I wanted pics for Christmas cards and ultimately just to remember this time in our life--expecting our baby boys and our little family comprising of our two little dogs, Eric and myself.  Harmony did a great job and I had a lot of "favorites."  Basically, that was all of the proofs.  Here are some the pics.  You can check out more of Harmony's work on her website and blog here.  As you can see I am doing some major overhaul to our blog and have used some of the fabulous pics to update the header.  It really needed it.  Isn't the picture with the sunset over the mountains amazing?  For those who aren't familiar with our scenery, Lake Tahoe is directly on the other side of those mountains. 

 

Recap of 2010

In somewhat chronological order:

• Eric turned 30 in January and I threw him an awesome 80's themed birthday party.  To see pics of the awesomeness, click here.
• We adopted two little dogs from the Mono County Animal Shelter.  We believe they are possibly miniature poodle/bichon frise/cocker spaniel mixes. They were brought into the shelter together and have the same color coat.  They might have been a breeding pair but we don't know for sure. To see the adorableness of these two, click here.
• I started a new job with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection in the Bureau of Air Quality Planning at the beginning of the year.  I have been working in ambient air monitoring this past year but have been transitioning into a position within program management.  I am managing grants for retrofitting diesel buses currently and learning a lot.  The new job has meant a lot less stress and a much shorter commute.
• My Grandpa Dykstra turned 90 in April.  He is a wonderful, godly example and I feel blessed to have had him in my life for so long!
• Eric's cousin Amy was married early in June.  Amy and Jon had a beautiful wedding in Reno.
• Our good friends Brandon and Dawn had their baby boy in June.  They named him Uriah.  Awesome name, isn't it?
• Youth Conference 2010 held in June was another big success.  We had our biggest group to date!
• Eric's grandpa Guddat went to heaven in July after a strong fight against prostate cancer.  We were able to travel to WA for the services and were grateful to spend that time commemorating him with other family members. 
• Our friends Woody and Sarah were married in July. Our friends, the Elliotts (James and Michelle), came for the wedding and visited with us for the weekend.  They have three kids four and under and make it look so easy.  We also found out in July that we are expecting. 
• Eric's friend and discipler Monty went to heaven in August after living with pulmonary fibrosis for a couple years.  He had a huge impact on Eric's spiritual walk and I am grateful his legacy continues on.
• Eric and I celebrated our two year anniversary in August.  So are we still considered newlyweds?  Well, I still like to think we act like it.
• My mom and stepdad came for a visit in August. We went to Hot August Nights in Reno (classic car rally). I was in the the throes of morning sickness but we had a nice visit.
• We went to the greater Denver area Labor Day weekend for a dear friend's wedding and turned the trip into a vacation.  It was our first time visiting CO and we had a great time seeing Rocky Mountain National Park.
• To see some pics of our summer, click here.
• In September we found out that we were not only expecting a baby but having twins!  It was quite the shock.  More shocking was when we found out they were identical twins.  God is good!
• Eric is still teaching the JH/HS bible study on Wed. nights.  I have been teaching the 4th, 5th and 6th grade class for Kids Desiring God (also on Wed. nights).
• We traveled down to So Cal to see our friend James graduate from the police academy.  He is working for Riverside PD. 
• You already know but we are having boys.  That's right.  Picture two little Erics running around. 
• Eric has now been with Bently for 11 years!  We thank the Lord for constant employment during this rough time in the economy. 
• We traveled down to So Cal to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  We had a great visit and the babies are already being spoiled.
• Christmas was relaxing and happy.  We went to Christmas Eve service at our church and had family and friends over that night.  We did not get snow on Christmas. I will admit I was a bit disappointed.  We drove up to Tahoe with Eric's brother Adam and had breakast at Zephyr Cove.  Later we took some pics at Sand Harbor.  Christmas evening we went to Eric's parents' for the traditional Italian Christmas dinner.  It was great and the tiramisu we made for dessert turned out to be scrumptious. 
• Baby Watch 2011:  Two of the weddings we attended this summer were soon followed by some baby news.  Amy and Jon and Woody and Sarah are expecting this spring.  Also anyone that was a part of our wedding seemed to have big news.  Matron of honor and best friend Kathy and her husband Dave are expecting in May.  Cierra Pera, college room mate and confidante, is expecting baby number four with husband Steve in March.  Groomsman Rob Palmer is expecting baby number five with wife Makela in April.  Groomsman James and wife Michelle are expecting baby number four this summer.  I now have a friend named Jolene and guess what?  Yep, we have the same due date.  Good thing we spell our names differently or it could be confusing for people at church (read sentence with slight facetious tone).  If I missed memorializing a baby announcement, forgive me but there was a lot of baby news this year!

Overall, we have had quite the year and we feel blessed to have so much to look forward to in 2011!