LIFE! Some pics for you...enjoy!

Where has the year gone?!

Okay so I admit I've been horrible at keeping up with the blog, but LIFE has been happening all around us!! I'll try to be better :)

So much as been happening since September (my last post)! I don't think I can possibly write about 3 months but I think I can sum it up in a nutshell...

First of all, our baby boy is now 1! I can't even believe it! Where has the year gone, seriously!?! It takes forever when you're pregnant and when they're here, you blink and they're 1! Last weekend we had a little party for him...monkey style of course with banana splits! AND he started walking the day of his party! He is so funny walking around the house...he looks like a little mummy. He's also got 6 teeth now, says 'Yeah' after everything and of course eats everything under the sun! He definitely is a little mini chuck! His little personality is totally boy! He got a lot of really nice gifts last weekend and loves his new wagon that gramma and grampa newman got him. Gramma and Grammpa R. got him a his own little remote too that he loves.

Chuck is done working now for the season and will be home with Beau until the spring. I'm now back to working 5 days a week which I guess is okay with me since this is our busiest time of year...we have a lot of 1/1 renewals. Work is definitely keeping me on my toes between the renewals and new business!

I've posted some pictures for you...enjoy!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving this next week and remember all that there is to be thankful for...Chuck and I are most definitely thankful for family, a warm home and...life.

Our Labor Day Weekend

How did you spend your labor day weekend? I was fortunate to have 5 days off and chuck had 4 days off so we squeezed as much as we could into the weekend. We headed to my parents camper in Cambridge on Friday night. We didn't get there until 10pm but figured it was easier than trying to leave really early saturday morning. Saturday the campground had some inflatables set up for the kiddos and Halloween at night. Maggie and izzy got there around 11am on saturday so right away we took the kids down to the inflatables. Izzy was a little afraid at first but was really enjoying them after she had her icecream. Beau even had a little icecream and met some new faces: Tripp, Aubreah, Mindy and Mal.

Saturday night I dressed Beau up as a bowhunter for halloween...he was so cute! I tried to upload a pic but for some reason it didn't work. I'll try to get it up tho. He got tons of candy, well, I did.

On Sunday night chuck and I met up with some friends for dinner and went to Dave and Busters- if you've never been there, you should go. It's large adult arcade (like a chucky cheese for adults without kids running around) with drinks, games, music, guitar hero :) I can honestly say I was pretty embarrassed by my guitar hero skills. Dawn and I got booed off the stage while playing...LOL! But it was still fun and at the end of the night we had 840 tickets so Dawn and i each left with a little monkey....oh yeah, and a shot glass. Beau stayed at Gramma and Grampa's that night- yes, I actually left him overnight and didn't go into panic mode. Although I missed him terribly the next day, it was good for chuck to get out and have a night out.

After a great weekend, it was definitely hard to get back to work on Wednesday! Just when I started to get back into the swing of things, it was Friday :) Now that's my kind of week- I wish every week was a 3 day work week! LOL!

Enjoy your weekend!

Beau loves his cousin Izzy

"Do I have any on my face?" I love this picture of izzy!

Beau with his new friend Tripp

My sister in law maggie and I. I really enjoyed spending some time with her. She's pregnant with their second and is due December 26th! A Christmas Baby!

Beau having some icecream. He ate his own little sunday!


The inflatables...see why izzy was so afraid at first!

"A bad morning may have prevented an unforseen accident...."

These are the words from my Gramma as I was emailing back and forth with her about my crazy morning I had had yesterday. I do have to agree with her on this...I guess everything happens for a reason even if it doesn't fit into our schedule!

My evening was much more enjoyable than my morning. I picked up Beau from daycare and Vicki had given me a bucket of apples from her apple trees. So, after dinner and after Beau and I had our evening walk, chuck helped me peel and core apples and I made a batch of apple crisp. As I was making it, I was thinking about my friend Joni's comment she made on her blog about enjoying the simple things in life. That was what my evening was all about. Seeing my son crawl to me when I picked him up from daycare and seeing the joy on his face when he saw me, going home and having dinner with my boys, enjoying a nice long walk with beau while he blabbed away, smelling the aroma of the apples baking while making apple crisp and enjoying the cool air while the windows were open last night in the kitchen...these are the simple things I was able to enjoy last night. Even though it was a crazy, busy morning, my night ended peacefully and I was able to once again thank God for this wonderful life.

IS iT NapTIMe yeT??

I'm sure many of you can relate to the type of day i'm having today! It started out just fine...I woke up at 6am- which by the way is a little earlier than the norm. I got myself all ready for work, fed my little man, gave him a bath and before you know it we were out the door. By this time, I was already running 15 minutes late (how does that happen when I thought for sure I'd be early??!!) and I still had to pick up my friend and coworker terra. I'm heading down the road, take a sip of my coffee and bam...the lid falls off and there's HOT coffee all over me and my seat. So, 10 miles down the road, I turn around and head home so I can change my clothes. I pull in the driveway, chuck's already outside waiting outside for me (weird how he knew something was up) and asked if there was anything he could do to help...I said "nope" as I'm undressing and rummaging around the house...into a new pair of clothes I go and a quick kiss out the door and I'm back on the road again....this time I'm in 'Martha Mode.' Yes, I'd be referring to Martha Stewart- "get it done" mode. So I'm driving down the county road and it dawns on me that I don't need to pick up terra today, she's at our other location...ah a sigh of relief. But now it's 7:45 am and I'm still about 20 minutes from work....called my daycare lady to let her know I'm late and not to worry. I pulled into Vicki's around 8:05 am and she was gone- she had to run her boys to football practice so beau and I hung out and played while waiting for her arrival. She arrives- again a quick kiss out the door to beau and away i go to GIS. I finally arrive at GIS - as my coworker is calling me worried - at 8:35. What a morning! This little Martha is tired and is wondering, "Is it naptime yet?" I do not like getting out of my morning routine, which I'm sure many of you can relate to. All day I've felt like I've been running around with my head cut off. It's 2:15 now, and I'm really looking forward to picking up beau, heading home and enjoying a nice evening with my boys. Enjoy the rest of this crazy Wednesday!

House for SaLE!

Another busy few weeks at the Richardson Roost! Beau is crawling now! AND standing up on his own. It's like he knows what he's not suppose to get into because he'll giggle when he's by something that we've already moved him from- it's a game to him. So, now that he's crawling, we're busy following him around. Since the basement is finished and all the furniture is downstairs, other than 1 couch, the upstairs living room is wide open and makes a perfect play area for Beau. It's all childproof- no cords, plants, etc.

We got Beau's 9mth pictures taken yesterday at Joni's. Beau got a little crabby and was tired so we'll have to go back for take 2. We got a few tho and JOni and I were able to catch up a little which was nice.

The house is officially up FOR SALE! Keep your fingers and toes crossed! It'll be up for sale until the end of December so we are really hoping we get a bite on it. All it takes is the right buyer to come along. We have a little plan worked up and we need the house to sell before we can move forward on anything! Now that all the house projects are done, Chuck and I have just been enjoying our weekends and weeknights. No more working on the house! Yay!

In his free time, chuck's been busy shooting his bow, playing farmer chuck over at his grandma's land, etc I recently started a bookclub in the Grand Rapids area and our first meeting will be in October. I've also been keeping up with my online bookclub that I have with some family and have also squeezed in sometime to scrap! Last weekend I scrapped 8 pages after Beau went to bed!

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the weekend and the labor day weekend! We're off to the cities for the holiday weekend! Thanks for checking in!

No More Projects!!!

Well, we're done!! We have finished our list of "to do's!"

• Thank God the Basement is done! That's all I have to say about that! I think chuck would agree...It was a lot of work for Chuck, but he did it! We love the new space and hang out in the basement most nights. Thanks babe- xoxo
• New flooring- living room carpet, kitchen floor, bathroom floor, bedrooms, entry way, laundry closet.
• New driveway
• New multch
• Rocks for egress wells
• Shelving in the laundry room

So does anyone want to buy a house?? We've had 2 realtors out this past week to interview them and find out what they think. We're thinking by the end of next week our house will be listed :) We are plenty excited about that!!

I've posted some pictures for you...enjoy!

House UPdates!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Summer Fun!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

This is the LiFe

It's a gloomy Sunday morning and I thought I'd sit down and fill you in on all the Richardson news...I think it's been awhile.
Our beauman is already 8 1/2 months old! He's definitely been keeping chuck and i on our toes as we continue to learn more and more about parenthood! I'm sitting here thinking about all the happenings and all the things chuck and i have learned or experienced and i'm sure you can imagine...in the past 8 1/2 months chuck and i have changed oodles of diapers, given tons of baths, visited the doctors office plenty of times due to a 'cold', learned that after a long day at work all it takes is our little boy's smile and it makes it makes the day better, etc! Of course we love to watch Beau learn new things and see his facial expressions when he tries a new food, feels a new texture or hears a new sound. He really is forming his own personality more and more everyday!! AND he's becoming quite a big boy now...literally! He's wearing 12 months! He's not yet crawling (which is quite alright with me! It makes it a ton easier :0) but he gets into the crawling position then tumbles to his tummy. He's probably thinking "why crawl when I can roll everywhere!" LOL! He loves his dump truck and the sound of the air compressor...
Our basement is finally finished!!! I can't believe it's done! We just moved the TV and furniture to the basement this morning since the new upstairs carpet is coming Tuesday. Chuck's putting in the new bathroom floor tonight. We've worked up a little plan which some of you may have heard...we're going to list our house on the market. We're interviewing a few realtor's next week so we'll see what happens!
During the mist of all that we have going on, we've still found some time to get out and enjoy the summer! I've posted a smile box for you so you can have a peek! Thanks for checking in!

PS- Carol and I took 1st place for the largest northern at the Women on Water tourney! We won $430 and are going to get shirts made up for next year! LOL!

I've got 2 TeetH!

Saira and Beau

Great Gramma

Gramma's loving this!

My "hunny" Izzy

Uncle Billy Joe

"Nice Puppy."

New Cousins!!

Great Grampa Joe

Well, first off let me start out with this little quote I came across...

"Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce." Natalie Goldberg

I woke up this morning to find that our little man got his 2nd tooth! I can't believe it! Beau's also been trying to crawl...if we put the remote in front of him he'll get one leg under him to start crawling but then goes to his tummy! That's not all he's been up to either...he now says, dada, mama, baba. He's been eating fresh mangos and all sorts of fruits and vegetables too! One of his favorites is avocados with bananas! This has also been quite the experience for Chuck and I too! Before Beauman we never bought mangos or even had a fresh avocado and now we are enjoying them ourselves! I've been busy making Beau's babyfood and freezing it, which has been a little more work but at the same time kinda fun and addicting!

Last week, Beau got to spend time with Great gramma and grampa joe. They drove here from new mexico to see all the family and made a special trip to our house to spend the day with us. We'll hopefully get to see them again in a few weeks at my parent's camper. We enjoyed our time together and beau loved all the snuggles and kisses he got too!

Our 4th of July consisted of camping with my side of the family, seeing Chuck's brother and his family from Missouri and a little trip out to the lake to have breakfast with all of chuck's cousins. It was a big weekend for us- beau got to see so many cousins! He even got to spend time with little Izzy! He even met cousins he'd never even seen before! Chuck's brother has 3 kids and they just swarmed around him when they saw him for the first time. On Saturday night we set off fireworks at Dan and Carol's...fun times!

As for the business, Chuck is definitely keeping busy! He's actually looking for some help. He has one employee but needs another. At the end of June he surpassed the amount of work he did last year and to think he still has 3 more months of good weather! Wow! We feel very fortunate and would like to thank those of you that have referred chuck. All it takes is one job and it's like a snowball effect! Even with all the business, chuck has been able to squeeze in a little fishing time and time for the garden :) I'm not sure if you know this about Chuck but he really enjoys gardening! He grows it and I can it :)

I've been keeping busy, well, makin baby food, strolling and swimmin with beau, reading, and this past week I started running- let's see how long this lasts! I'm really looking forward to this weekend because it's my annual "Women on Water" fishing tournament on Lake Winnie. GO team Richardson/Procopio!!! This is our 4th year doing it and Carol is my partner- we always have a blast doing this and it's something I look forward to every year!! Dan and Chuck usually hang out for the day while Carol and I are on the lake. Chuck and I also get a night out this weekend too! Yay!

Hope all is well and enjoy the weekend!!

Later gator!

What a great weekend!

We be 'strollin!'

Beau with his Adorable girlfriend Aella

He LOVEs his bathtime! He loves it so much I'm signing us up for Waterbabies at the Y!

Beau's lovin' his new swing! Thank you Daddy for setting it up!

We enjoyed our weekend so much but of course they always go by way too fast! Chuck was able to go fishing and I was able to hang out with some girlfriends. Yesterday Chuck caught a few northerns so he was pretty happy. He originally was going to work in the basement but I'm pretty sure he had fishin on his mind so he called up his buddy! I was happy he took a day to go fishing. He needed it! Friday night I went to a 'splurge' party with my friend Kami at Maurices. We did some damage there, but that was okay because we saved tons of money! I was pretty happy to walk out of there with a few new things without paying full price... guilt free shopping! On saturday Beau and I went to visit my friend Joni and Aella. Beau and Aella are only about 3 weeks apart so it's fun to see how much they've grown together. Plus Joni and I really enjoy our mommy time too! :) I got home and fried some fish up and then Chuck and I had a little bonfire once Beau went to bed...it was so relaxing!

Today Chuck set up Beau's new swing (Thanks Jilly! :)) and he loves it! He'd look around and giggle...of course the dogs were acting like apes. Chuck had to cut down some branches and our special dogs thought they had new chew toys. Trying to carry the tree branches across the yard...it was pretty funny to watch.

I added some new pics from the weekend...enjoy! Have a great week!

Chuck's Website

Chuck's been busy working on his website for the business...check it out!http://www.northwoodsconcreteandmasonry.com

Please keep him in mind for any concrete needs! If you know of anyone that is looking for a concrete man or needs work done, please refer and pass his info on! Thanks in advance!

If anyone is interested in learning how to create a website or is in need of one, give Chuck a call and he'll get you started!

All better!

I guess I'm on the 'monthly' updates now! LOL! Well, in a nutshell, we've had a 'few' things happenin' in the Richardson household! Beau was sick for the past 3 weeks! It all started with a little cold and a trip to the ER last weekend confirmed my intuitions that his cold had taken a turn for the worse- Bronchitis! It was pretty scary for us newbie parents! His temp reached 104.7 so we rushed him in and they did a chest xray and said it was bronchitis. They put him on Amoxicillian which kicked in about 3 days later. I'm just so happy it wasn't pneumonia! Poor little guy! Anyways, Beau is feeling much better as you can see from the picture above (taken yesterday). But now chuck is sick :( But I think he got the worst of it yesterday so hopefully today will be a better day for him.

We've done a few new things to the house- the curtains are officially gone and we got new blinds, which we LOVE! We just put those in a week ago....I should say chuck put those up :) Chuck also put in a new kitchen floor two weekends ago. He's such a sweetie...he surprised me with it after I was in the cities with Beau. I was pretty bummed out that Beau had gotten sicker than he already was while we were down there and had to cancel plans with my college girls which was the whole purpose of the trip...then I didn't feel well. Needless to say it was not the best weekend so coming home to that and knowing chuck was thinking of me was special.

I think we are finally seeing the light at the end of our biggest project...THE BASEMENT! The ceilings got sprayed on Friday so now all that needs to be done is paint, trim and then the new carpet! We are so looking forward to this project being done and having the extra space!! Although it is going to seem strange when it's completed...we've been working on it for over a year so when it's done, now what? RELAXATION IN THE BASEMENT! lol!

With the beautiful weather we had yesterday I was able to get outside and work in my flower garden and stain the cedar swing chuck got me for my birthday last year. I also did some baking and took the beaumister for a walk which he loved!

Enjoy your...month?! AND the summer weather!

By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD AND HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! WOW, 30 YEARS! WE LOVE YOU! (June 2nd)

House UPdates!

This picture turned out dark, but chuck put in a new kitchen floor! He surprised me with it after a long weekend in the cities with a sick little one...what a hubby! :)

No more curtains :) They burn so nicely in the bonfire :) LOL!

Got PrOjEcTs??

Has it really been a month since I last wrote?

Beau started daycare last week at Vicki's and did very well! The first day he cried for about 10 minutes after I left which was to be expected but then he was fine...so we're all starting our new schedule. There are a couple of toddlers at Vicki's so I think Beau was pleasantly happy to see other little people there too! LOL!

The phone continues to ring for the business and chuck's getting the job's lined up- we are very happy at how fast the jobs are coming! Bring 'em on baby! At this rate, chuck and Eric will probably have to hire temp help! He's in the process of building a website for the company and it's so incredible! I'm so proud of him! He's really put a lot of thought and work into the site with pictures and different descriptions of services. As soon as he's finished with it, we'll be forwarding it to you all!

As you can tell by the picture, we've got the projects going in our house as well! Springtime comes and once again the projects start! On Friday we made a trip to menards and bought out the store it seems like! I love it though when people don't do their job correctly and I can reep the benefits of it! haha! We got a steal of a deal on the carpet because they neglected to switch out the sale price sign from April 10th! So our projects for the next month are recarpeting the upstairs, finishing the basement, replacing the kitchen floor and the bathroom floor...needless to say we definitely have our work cut out for us! So this weekend I painted the upstairs living room and kitchen. It's now 'sweetcorn' (light golden color). I was a little unsure of the color at first, but like it now. We thought since we're getting new carpet installed, we'd put a fresh coat of paint on. I worked on that while Chuck finished up the taping in the basement. Taping is complete and now it just needs to be sanded. Since I repainted, the curtains came down!! Praise the Lord! I never thought the day would come! Although they have served their purpose for the last 4 years and have grown on me, but I was happy to see them go! I've wanted them gone since we first moved into this house, but found better things to spend $$ on other than window treatments! They are expensive!

Hope all is well with you! I'm off to spend a little time with the boys and some of the sunshine! Have a great week!

LeT's EaT!!!!!

Oh My, I don't even know where to start we've had so many things going on since I last wrote! Well, for starters, Beau is now eating cereal, carrots, green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, etc...and lovin' it all! None the less, he's a very good eater! He's also more in tuned to his tummy time and teething too!! As you know with teething comes pain, drooling, etc...OWIEE!

Last weekend Chuck and I had a day out! We went to Applebees and to the movie 'Taken." It was a good flick and only 1 1/2 hours. We've only left Beau a couple times so lunch and a movie seems like eternity for me!! But it was good for Chuck and I to get out and have some 'us' time.

Chuck's been busy getting things lined up for the business...the phone's been ringing for bids and he actually did a fireplace job this past week and took Beau with him- he's already learning the trade! LOL! Chuck's hoping to be back to work the beginning of May. As for my job, I recently cut my hours down to 4 days a week and I'm super excited about it! I don't have a set day off, which is nice because we can plan according to any SUMMER plans lined up - if it'd ever get here! I am so blessed to have the flexible and understanding boss that I do! I'll be starting the new schedule in a few weeks- it can't come soon enough!

We now have a sheet rocked family room in the basement! Yay! We're hoping to have it carpeted this spring along with all new flooring in the house so we're pretty excited! Chuck and I have been babbling back and forth about how nice it's going to be to have another family room. (it'll be right next to my scrappin room too! :))

This weekend I went shopping in Brainerd and bought a new pair of sandals which I'd be excited to wear if the snow would ever quit and it'd warm up!! Yeah we got nailed with another 7 inches last week! Seriously!! That was God's way of showing us his sense of humor...

Today we took Beau to see the Easter bunny and he loved it- we were kind of surprised cuz Chuck and I thought the bunny looked rather scary. I'll have to post his picture...

Well, we just finished Marley and Me (again another awesome flick) and after seeing that one I think I'm going to head upstairs and cuddle in with the boys (the dogs)...Chuck's working in the basement and the little one is all tucked in so a perfect night!

Have a great week and Hoppy Easter!!

4 months and 'rolling!'

Well, where should I start?

Last weekend Chuck and Eric were in the Grand Rapids Home Show and it seemed to go pretty well...I think everyone in the building industry right now is facing a challenge but with a new year and a new president, we can only be optimistic. The main idea was to get their name out there and network. All in all, the show was a success and it will hopefully lead to a couple of jobs or new builders in the future.

I'm sure you all saw my email on the Star Tribune Cutest Baby Contest....Thank you for all the votes! Beau received a lot of votes but he didn't make it to the semifinals...he's still the cutest baby in our eyes anyways!

Beau turned 4 months on Friday! He's learning new things everyday! We started feeding him cereal this past week and he loves it! Just a little before bed to carry him through the early morning cravings...so far it's seemed to work. For awhile there Beau had been waking up at 4am!We've also been practicing rolling from tummy to back and yesterday he did it all by himself! He was pretty happy and so were we! Gramma and Grampa Newman were here to see the action too! They came up for the day and spent the day with the little feller. They also brought a jumperoo for him (thank you tom and maggie!) and does he ever like it! He's still trying to figure it out but it's been keeping him occupied. (I attached a digital scrapbook below of our fun day)

Chuck made a trip to Menardo's this past week to pick up some sheet rock for the basement. We're going to finish the basement family room which we are very excited about! I think Chuck is looking forward to having a little project started too before he gets back to work. (yeah right!)

Well, that's pretty much it in a nutshell! Have a great week!

A Day with Gramma and Grampa Newman!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook