Life Well Lived… It’s Update Time!

Hey guys, happy Tuesday! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted (even though it feels like just yesterday). I thought I’d pop in and give a little update on what’s been going on in our lives. Today marks the first day of summer, and the longest day of the year –isn’t that nuts? Casey’s heading to MN for work the next few days and I’m soaking up the mama + Dane time, plus catching up on my favorite trash tv shows after Dane drifts off to snooze land. Nights when I’m solo also lead to experimentation in the kitchen with some of my very favorite ingredients that Case doesn’t share the love of – more on that later! 😉

Home

So we planted a garden! One of the best parts of summer is cooking with fresh veggies and herbs that are grown close-by. Now that we have an established backyard and space to do this type of thing, we went for it. My saint of a husband humored me in my ambitions and built a raised garden bed that seems to be holding up really well despite the torrential downpours and crazy weather we’ve been having lately. I actually documented my whole process over on Lake Country Family Fun (my part time blogging gig). Check out the posts here, here & here for all the details.

We planted just after Memorial Day, and already we’re seeing a TON of growth and even some mini-peppers dangling from the plants. I’m slightly nervous we went overboard with the zucchinis and cucumbers because they are growing like crazy already. Luckily we have plenty of room surrounding the actual garden so if they spill out into the yard we should be fine. Also – no critters have broken in yet… I had better knock on wood now that I’m typing that.

I’m really looking forward to making fresh salsa, lots of zoodles, and hopefully some spaghetti squash. Recipes to come! Special thanks to my parents for the tomato cages and trellis hand-me-downs!

Dane

Guys, I am loving this phase we’re in. Dane is quickly gaining on 16 months old, is all over everything, climbing every chair, table and bar stool in the house and getting into plenty of mischief.

He’s only got 4 teeth but just recently started cutting a molar so he’s extra drooly. I’m amazed at what he can eat even just with those few teeth. He has the most hilarious gap between his front teeth and I love when he belly laughs so we can clearly see the teeth up top.

He is stringing words together and getting really great at communicating what he wants from us. Favorite words include: Outside, applesauce, Elmo (or animals – those two sound the same), Papa, Mow-Mow (this means lawnmower, or anything that makes loud noises). I die every time he hears a truck or lawnmower fire up and he stops in his tracks with wide eyes and yells “ohhhhhh”. Hilarious. We’re also working on please, thank you and you’re welcome – manners matter!

I’m also happy to report that Dane hasn’t been sick in months, albeit a few runny noses. Praise!!

I do have a Mom confession, and I’m not proud of it: for a while, because Dane wasn’t going down to bed very easily we would let him take his bottle into the crib with him. It worked like a charm and was just one of those decisions exhausted parents make because it’s a means to an end. After struggling with a string of what seemed like never-ending ear infections – my mom did some research. Turns out when babies drink bottles laying flat on their backs, liquid can pool and therefore cause ear infections.

Needless to say, I was heartbroken that I may have been the one causing my baby pain, we stopped our bad habit immediately… and guess what? Not an ear infection since. Maybe it’s good timing, maybe it really was the bottles. Either way – I’m so happy we can enjoy our happy, healthy little guy without having to worry about another trip to the doctor or being on antibiotics.

Sometimes we make mistakes as parents – we’re not perfect and we don’t pretend to be. Feels good to make that little confession, because it’s okay to mess up.

Family: Door County

Until recently, our summers have been filled to the brim with events. One year we had 13 weddings to attend! Though I LOVE a good wedding and celebrating love – they are expensive… and if you add in bridal showers, bachelorette parties AND a few baby events here and there, we’re talking no open weekends. This summer? We have zero weddings. Zero! I’m 20% sad and 80% ecstatic that we can plan weekends up north, and more importantly enjoying our home and wonderful community.

We went up to Door County a few weekends back – our first trip of the year. Door County is extremely special to us; it’s where we spent a lot of weekends when we were first dating, and where we got married. In fact – funny story… Casey took me up to his family house secretly before anyone even knew I existed. We ran into some of his family friends, who then mentioned in passing to his parents they had met Casey’s new girlfriend over the weekend… to this day we still joke about me being the “secret girlfriend” and that I met Door County before I even met his parents. 🙂

Dane got his first taste of the scooter – don’t worry, just around the house and very slowly. We met baby goats, played on the swing set and swam. Case and I even got a date night thanks to my wonderful in-laws. It felt good to be up there and we’ll have more weekends planned soon!

Father’s Day

We spent Father’s Day at home with my dad, mom and sister watching the US Open. It was so fun to watch knowing that the action was happening a mere 15 miles from our house! These were my favorite Sundays growing up. Good food, family, golf and a few drinks ;). The menu consisted of fresh guac (get the recipe here), traditional beef tacos, marinated shrimp tacos with homemade slaw and cilantro lime rice. Oh and margaritas… just a few though!

This Father’s Day was special; maybe because it was a day we weren’t sure we’d get to celebrate with my dad. A lot has been going on in that realm, mostly really encouraging things, and I do plan on sharing at some point… but just know that he’s doing well, feeling good and getting stronger every day. It’s not an easy or short road we have to face, but it’s one that we’re committed to traveling down as a family no matter what happens. Having a strong support system has been EVERYTHING.

Things I’m looking forward to:

• My brother being home for a full MONTH
• A family Brewer game, which was just finalized today!
• 4^th of July weekend in the north woods with family including a favorite cousin from Michigan!
• Family weekend in Door County later this summer
• Weekends spent boating, gardening, playing in the sprinkler and relaxing
• Exploring more about essential oils with Casey’s cousin. She just returned home from the Young Living conference and we’re going to have an oily party at my house soon. If you’re interested in learning the basics, let me know and I’ll be sure to invite you to that (wine will be included)

Phew – what a recap! I’m going to make my favorite “Casey’s out of town” dinner tonight. It includes mushrooms 🙂 Until then, have a great week – and enjoy the SUMMER!

xo, Martha