Texas State Fair, Chili & Cupcakes

The weekend before last, we went to the Texas State Fair. It was a busy weekend (which is why I didn't get a blog post up!) with the fair and cooking for the festivities at work last week. 

 An updated family photo:)

Nick took these - I think Ranger looks so grown up in the photo to the right. 

The fair was great, except for the weather the day we went. It was cold by our Texas standards this time of year. It was supposed to get up to the low to mid 70's, but I think we're lucky if we hit 65 degrees that day. I was dressed for the warmer temps, but we still saw what we wanted and stayed inside when we could.  

We saw some giant bunnies. 

And I always love the international dancers. 

Big Tex was back with his big reveal this year after last year's accident that burned him completely (poor Tex!). But he was re-made and is back - he's kind of like the Butter Cow, to compare him to the Iowa State Fair. He's a big deal at the fair. 

Me loving my hot coffee to warm my bones (thanks, mom!), and with Big Tex. They had an exhibit on the history of Big Tex and how they remade him - it was really interesting. 

Chili Cook-Off and Cupcakery

I made Trisha Yearwood's Fancy Chili (click link for recipe) that I made for the first time late this spring. I loved it! I tweaked the seasonings and added brown sugar and more chili powder than the recipe calls for - it was a bit too bland to begin with. It didn't win the cook-off, but I really wasn't cooking to win, just to provide food people could buy for the fundraiser. There was tough competition and I won my dad and Nick's vote which was good enough for me! 

The other event of the week was our cupcakery. Prepare yourself - you may need a cupcake after seeing all of these delicious varieties... 

I took to Instagram to help me see which cupcake I should make between these two beloved goodies.

 By popular vote, I made my pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with snickerdoodle frosting (click link for recipe). I make them gluten and dairy free, and they were a hit! Even by the gluten and dairy eaters:) I recommend this recipe, they're SO good. 

Starting with the closest, we have chocolate covered strawberry, carrot cake, chocolate raspberry, strawberry with cream cheese  my pumpkin with chocolate chips and snickerdoodle frosting is on this first table. 

Here were mine again. They all sold out! I didn't really think about it, but these are vegan too so a girl with a vegan diet bought the rest of mine towards the end:) I'm glad to help accommodate others and their dietary needs! 

Starting with the closest, we have bundt cakes, chocolate pie cupcakes, lemon meringue, red velvet, spice with cream cheese, and chocolate with peanut butter in individual baggies. 

Here's a variety of cake balls, red velvet cupcakes, then strawberry, and apple on this table. 

These were a hit too and looked SO good! 

Here is quadruple chocolate (!), chocolate with funfetti frosting, chocolate with peanut butter and pretzel, and chocolate with chocolate footballs. 

 They looked SO good! I ate one of mine since I couldn't eat the others (gluten and dairy), but it was so much fun and a huge success. 

 My week also entailed cuddles with this sweet (most of the time...;)) boy. 

For fun, I put together Ranger's first 9 weeks in 9 photos - one representing each week. It's crazy how fast he's grown up! Really crazy. 

I hope you all have a great week! More to come about our Midwest travels this past weekend.

Today's Pinspiration:

Set yourself apart. 

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Life Lately & Fibro Update

A lot of our life lately has been taking care of Ranger. Every four hours (Nick even does the overnight shift): potty training, playing, eating, training, and a little cuddling when he lets me :) I thought I'd post just random life things today.

I've been taking videos of Ranger - I think they help show his personality at each phase in life so we can remember how cute and little he is. It's already been crazy to see the difference in some of these short videos!

Looking back at 3 weeks old, so wild to remember how tiny he was!:

6 weeks old:

I posted a few more to my YouTube channel - feel free to check there as I may not post all the videos I take here (I take a lot...), but will post them to YouTube so you can see them if you'd like!

I was trying to take a photo here, but my phone was still on video mode. We love Ranger kisses:) These two are so cute. Nick is so good with Ranger! 

Fibro Update

I haven't posted a fibromyalgia update recently and it's mostly because things have been about the same since I got back to Texas. I still have good days and bad days and in between days. I actually have an appt with a new doctor (to me) next week. I'd like her to evaluate the prescriptions I take and see if she has any ideas or referrals to help with headaches. These nasty headaches are usually what "takes me down" on my bad flare days. Sometimes I think they're migraines because I get light and sound sensitive and my eyes have to be covered to not let any light in and I pretty much just have to sleep. They may be tension headaches though from grinding my teeth, so I'm looking forward to exploring these things again with a doc. I still grind my teeth overnight really badly unfortunately. 

I'm always torn about treatments since I don't want to be on meds forever, but I need to be able to function daily right now and don't want to take chances on making changes that could take me down during transitioning meds. I've talked before about the book Fibrowhyalgia by Sue Ingebretson, which I love. She found wellness with health (the food she eats - nothing processed, no gluten, etc.), fitness (tai chi, yoga), and caring for her emotional well being. I want to be there someday - hopefully sooner than later, so am always learning how I can help myself get better - and some of you send me tips, thank you for thinking of me, you're all so caring. 

Praise the Lord, this week has been one of my better weeks lately! I didn't have to take ibuprofen or excedrin migraine (my go-to with nasty headaches) all week and didn't have too much trouble getting up in the morning, and was able to enjoy my evenings rather than have to lay down right when I get home each night. Nick and I pray through these challenges together and he's so wonderful and supportive. I'm so thankful for his giving, loving spirit to help take care of me when I'm not feeling well, and acknowledge my little accomplishments. Many days he tells me I did a great job getting up that morning, and helps me celebrate making it through the workweek (it isn't easy). Love you, babe:)

Photos from the week:

My handsome boys 

Not many pool days left (for me at least - I'm a wimp and need the water to be 84 degrees and up), but still looks like summer for now. 

Mama Indy has been going through a lot of emotions lately - Nick is so sweet spending time with her.

Sweet boy... Most of the time ;) This was his 7 week birthday.

I'm still loving my sleepytime tea. Every weeknight before bed - it has rosehips in it which can help with chronic pain (I think headaches too?) and I think it helps me the next morning also. I shared this on Instagram this week, but I ran out in the middle of last week, so Nick made a special trip to the store just to get me my tea. My love. 

I love when Ranger sits like this. SO cute. Sometimes he's been putting one paw on top of the other lately. It melts my heart.  

Hiii my Ranger boy!  Oh that sweet face gets me every time.

Another thing I want to mention- my heart has been heavy for a few friends this week. Would you join me in praying for these friends? Two of these friends are pregnant with fairly high risk pregnancies and one friend's family lost a baby born early recently (and very tragically), one is expecting her first baby any day now. The gift of life is so precious and these friends are always on my heart. Through the joy, the pain, the grief, the anxiousness. I'm with you, friends. 

Today's Pinspiration:

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Six Weeks as Puppy Parents {Ranger's Birth Story}

We’ve been puppy parents for 6 (almost 7) weeks now! It’s been quite the ride really. We've lost some sleep, given our free time to taking care of him, and researched (a lot) on how to raise him well.

First of all, let’s rewind back to get the whole story. Nick and I both grew up with dogs and we loved them. I’ve told Nick for a while that I wanted a dog when the time was right, knowing it’s harder to have them living in apartments. This spring, once we knew we’d be moving back to Texas, I told Nick we should get a dog when we get into our new place. I grinned and batted my eyes to help convince him. 

As you may know, I moved to Texas a few weeks before Nick and the week I got here, Indy went into heat. Since Indy isn’t spayed (my mom had just gotten her in April and hadn’t gotten to that quite yet) and Boo isn’t neutered, you can guess what happened next, ha! Indy is older though and had some unsuccessful deliveries in the past (stillborn and miscarriage) the previous owner told my mom, so we thought she really wouldn’t get pregnant or be able to carry a pup.

Boo and Indy wearing diapers during her heat.  

Within the first two weeks after her heat, Indy had a few “episodes” to not go into too much detail here, but seemed to us there were a few miscarriages. That confirmed our idea that she probably just couldn’t carry a pup at her age. Over the next month and a half, we had our suspicions. She was increasingly careful with her activities and if you touched the bottom of her belly, she would suck her belly up into her ribcage. Mid-July, I felt movement in her belly. Was this an upset tummy? It seemed more than that. Plus, it seemed that she was gaining weight. I compared photos (like the two below) to see if we could tell a difference. The last few weeks of her pregnancy, you could really tell there was puppy movement in there (I took videos posted here and here to Instagram to capture it), so we knew then that our suspicions were confirmed.

Now, the worrisome part was hoping and praying she could have a successful delivery. We watched delivery videos and learned what we would need to do in case she or the pups needed our help. Her belly grew bigger and she was increasingly uncomfortable. At this point, we all were making guesses of her due date, how many pups there would be, and how many boys and girls she'd have. 

Once Ranger came out, we were all in awe. What an amazing thing to witness, and to see Indy do all of the things mamas should do with their new pup, like cut the umbilical cord, “take care” of the placenta, and get him all cleaned up. Whew! We knew that pup seemed to be good! We had learned it could be a few minutes or a few hours until the next puppy comes, so we waited, and there wasn't any more action going on. Indy and Ranger went to the vet to be sure all of the puppies were out. 

Sure thing! Ranger was the only pup in her litter (aside from a few that we believe passed very early on). That week, as we watched this amazing little guy grow and develop, I told Nick I thought God gave us our puppy. I had hoped for so long we could have one when we moved to Texas, and how neat Indy got pregnant with Ranger the week I arrived here. And she only had one puppy. One puppy as a gift to Nick and I to have a dog of our own to develop and watch grow. And what a lesson in parenting we've had! 

Here's a look his first 6 weeks in pictures:

Just hours after he was born (August 6, 2013)

1 week old

 2 weeks old (Nick was the bottle master)

3 weeks old

Another at 3 weeks old

4 weeks old

 Another at 4 weeks old

5 weeks old

Another at 5 weeks old with his favorite toy

6 weeks old

Another at 6 weeks old. Seeing him sit like a big boy is so cute! 

These first six weeks have involved bottle feeding him many times a day since we realized Indy wasn’t producing enough milk for him, blending his puppy food as he started to eat more, graduating to puppy formula soaked puppy food, and now, he’s a much more independent little pup eating regular puppy food! He started at a teeny tiny 3.5 ounces and was 3.3 pounds (51 ounces) at his first (second actually, counting the day he was born) vet visit this week. We got his first shots, got him de-wormed, and started his heart worm medicine. We've got him on a good routine and he's doing well so far with potty training outside. The journey is just beginning, but God is already teaching us so much through this "puppy parenting" process. We love our little Ranger and are excited to be part of his life and watch him grow.

Today's Pinspiration:

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Our Midwest Vacation {Omaha: Part Two}

This post will be a picture overload, but there are so many photos I took of our sweet nephew & Godson, Hank, for his baptism:) 

If you missed part one of our vacation, you can find it here: Midwest Vacation {Texas to Iowa: Part One}. 

Sweet baby!  Notice he's laying on the blanket I knitted for him:) Warms my heart! 

 He's such a smiley boy! He'll smile for his mama anytime:) She helped get his big smile for many of the photos! 

 We also went to a friend's wedding at this cathedral in Omaha. It was so beautiful (aren't they all?!). 

My handsome date and I 

Bright and early the next morning, we got to be part of Hank's baptism as his Godparents, along with Zach's sister and her husband (her hubby was out of the state that week so he isn't pictured). It was such a sweet morning and Hank was a brave little guy and handled it so well! 

We're so honored to be part of his life and be able to pray for him, with him, and help guide him in life. 

Amber, Nick's little sis is such a great mama and it's been so neat to see her and Zach grow as parents and raise Hank. They just need to move closer so we can see them more often;) ha! 

 Hank wore the outfit Uncle Nick was baptized in :) such a neat idea that his mom kept it nice to it could be used again! 

He also wore his Uncle Josh's baptism bonnet.  Just look at that face! 

The first time grandparents with their very loved little grandson. 

I hadn't seen Hank since the week he was born (blogged about in this post) and it was SO good to hug, kiss, and squeeze this little guy. They grow up TOO fast, especially when we don't get to see them very often. 

 Here's a flashback to the first time I got to hold Hank back in April. My heart grew to a new level when I held him for the first time.

A few funny ones

 After the baptism, we traveled back home (another long drive!). As usual, I took a few photos on the drive. 

After 5 days away, we were looking forward to seeing our sweet Ranger boy.

He grew a lot while we were gone! He's a wild boy now:) 

 Ranger and Mama Indy sleeping sweetly. 

Ranger will be 6 weeks next week which will mean starting his shots! I'm excited to get through his shots so he can be around other dogs and we'll know he's a healthy pup. Our little guy is growing so fast! I took a few videos I posted to my YouTube channel of him playing a few days ago - the first one is pretty funny when he sneak attacks Indy!

Now we have a big game to look forward to. Iowa State vs. Iowa! I hope we have a good outcome:) Go ISU!!! And to cover both of our teams, go Huskers!!

Today's Pinspiration:

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