No. More. Moving.

Dear readers, the life of a gypsie is, in a word, hurty. That is the only word I have for you at this moment. Do you want to know why? 

Daddy and I made a decision last week once we figured out we were staying in WI for another 6 weeks. Why don't we come home to IL on the weekend and pack up our things that are in our rental house, put them in storage and save a payment for the month and our things from an unfortunate mold situation? Why not? Then we can find a more permanent place closer to our return. 

Unfortunately all of our plans were in some way rearranged. First we were going to leave Friday morning so we could get to IL and purge our belongings into only necessities but when Daddy had a chance to work for time and 1/2 we decided to leave after work, leaving us to arrive at midnight. No purging only stuffing. 

This is the only picture I snapped the whole time, which leads me to my next point. Hurty. 

For some reason I found myself with the worst back pain I've ever experienced. It felt like back labor mixed with random spasms. It rendered me nearly useless. Thankfully Daddy did all of the work and with the help of his Dad and cousin we packed up our life and moved it into a 10x10 storage space. Barely. Daddy told me I'm not allowed to open the door. Just in case I get crushed. You get it. 

So here we are, on the road back to WI...

Where we will spend another 6 weeks working and enjoying the area. Too bad it takes 7+ hours to get there. 

So while I nurse my backache with icy hot and Tylenol extra strength, please enjoy these pictures of my 4 month old daughter who is trying so hard to be a big girl already. 

Last Week in God's Country

That's what the locals call it anyway. And we can see why. We have been so fortunate to be here for the season change. Take a look at the tree right outside of our door! 

Daddy is finishing up the job and Lainie and I are cleaning the house and enjoying the last days here while the weather is beautiful. 

Daddy's birthday was last week so Lainie and I went to the bakery and got a treat and then at the grocery store we got some candles to surprise Daddy when he got home from work. 

Daddy was so pleased and to celebrate we abandoned our sweet bakery treats and opted for Dairy Queen. It was a wise choice. 

And the next night we wandered into Minnesota to a place called T Bones which, surprisingly turned out to be a pretty fancy place! 

Daddy ordered the prime rib and I got a French dip sandwich. It was delightful. We also invited our new friend Mark to join us and he blessed us with another birthday treat. He picked up the tab! It was so nice to spend time with a fellow Christian and share testimonies and words of encouragement. 

Speaking of that, we spent another Sunday at the church Mark showed us with the Pastor and his family. It has been such a blessing to make new friends, ones we hope to keep for years to come. Daddy and I were hoping this new adventure would bring us some new brothers and sisters, and we have not been disappointed. 

I made Daddy a yummy birthday supper and I wanted to share it. 

Hummus Crusted Chicken:

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Hummus, original or flavor of your choice 

S+P; lemon pepper seasoning

Preheat oven to 450*. Oil baking sheet with coconut oil. Pat chicken dry and sprinkle generous amounts of S+P. Spread hummus on top and sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until juices run clear. 

Mashed Squash with Ginger:

1 large butternut squash, seeded, peeled and diced

1 inch finely shredded ginger

3 green onions, greens saved for garnish

Sour Cream

In a medium saucepan, melt a pat of butter and sauté onion and ginger until aromatic. Add squash and cook, stirring  occasionally to prevent burning, for 15-20 minutes until soft. Mash with a fork or potato masher, leave clumpy and serve with a dollop of sour cream and green onions. 

Creamy Peas:

 One bag frozen peas

4 mushrooms, finely diced. 

-1/3c. Heavy cream

-1/3 c. Chicken broth

1T. Butter

1T. Flour 

Pepper to taste

In a medium pan cook peas in water until warmed through, drain liquid and transfer peas to another bowl, set aside. In pan, sauté mushrooms in butter then make a rue with butter mixture and flour. Then slowly add cream and broth, alternating to mix thoroughly until thick. Pepper to taste and add peas. 

*one can of cream of mushroom soup (no milk) would also work, but homemade is always better. 

Hopefully next time I blog we will either be home in IL or out on another location. 

Love love love love

Baby Milestones and Autumn Photos

Lainie Mae is 3 1/2 months old! 

We haven't been able to post anything new recently because our very nice downstairs neighbor who has lent us his wifi password must never use his internet and therefore hasn't noticed that his router needs to be reset. But thankfully we have been able to get our new fancy phones and since the iPhone Blogger app is way superior to the Android version, I can now post from my phone! 

Well, to be getting on now...

So, we have begun our 5th week here in Wisconsin and Lainie Mae has been doing some extraordinary things since last I wrote. Not only has she grown, but she has passed a few milestones in the last few weeks. 

She surprised us one night while Daddy was playing with her and let out her first giggle!

Her smiles have been more and more forthcoming and she lights up first thing in the morning when I take her out of her swaddler. She has continued to sleep through the night and has even been sleeping through Daddy's early morning noises. 

And most recently she has started to roll a bit. I got her a 'new to us' floor play mat and she really likes it. She has started noticing her toys and talks to them a lot!

Maybe one of the less fun things is that she has also begun to be extremely grumpy just before she falls asleep for naps during the day. But at least she doesn't do that at night. I don't have to fight her hard to get her to sleep. 

In other Mommy news, guess what?! No more shield for us!! One day this week I decided to give nursing a go without our friendly helper and she took to it perfectly! We are now on our 5th day of not using it! Yahoo! She eats so much quicker and so far we've had a pretty easy time of it. I hope we don't have to go through that apparently excruciating time of calluses and bleeding. Ooof. 

Also, every time she farts she looks at me and smiles. So there's that. 

As for Mommy, Daddy and Baby living in Wisconsin we are enjoying ourselves very much. We have quite a nice routine going. Daddy gets up early for work and baby and I sleep until about 7 or so. Once we are done with breakfast, Lainie and I tend to play a while until nap time and then after naps and lunch we usually venture out into town. 

Most recently I have been seen walking about a mile or so down to Family Dollar and back. That is quite a ways to go carrying a little potato sack on my front. 

I've also been making friends! 

This is Lainie and I on a walk. 

This is the bakery we found where we met a nice woman named Teresa who works part time here. When we walked in the door the smell of sweet very nearly knocked me down. It is quite a cute place right on the river and they have a lovely view. Teresa told me all about the snowmobile adventures that happen up here in the winter. 

This is where I bought my lunch one day. First time buying food out of a truck that wasn't part of a carnival. I enjoyed it. Lainie did not. Turns out MSG doesn't quite agree with her system. 

Yesterday we went to the store and on the way I was scouting places to stop for some photo ops on the way back. Here is what came of that. 

It is quite beautiful up here. If we continue to travel like this I have hopes of getting a nice camera and so I can document our adventures. I hope to turn some into post cards. 

We may be up here another week yet but the weather forecast looks decent so we should be in too much of a bind without our winter clothes. 

Ta ta for now!