Goofy Gunnar Story

Well, it's no lie that Gunnar is GOOFY! He is at such a FUN age, and even though we have our tantrums, swear words, scratching, and kicking, he really is a good and smart kid! We take for granted how independent he is, and when I see other almost 3 year olds, I then realize just how mature Gunnar is! So the other day he was screaming "Gunnar peeing outside!!" I said "okay, good job buddy" because this meant I didn't have to trek upstairs toting at least 20 lb Sutton with Gunnar grabbing on to my jeans, trying to have me "pull" him up! Lately, he says the upstairs is "scarrrry" so I have to go up, make sure it is safe, and then he goes to the bathroom. He's been potty trained for 9 months already, and all of a sudden I have to go with! So outside peeing weather is VERY welcome! :) I was feeding Sutton at the time Gunnar went outside, and after a few quiet minutes decided that I should probably check in on him. And THIS...is what I found outside my kitchen window:

Standing on his trike...

First he went this way...

and then he went this way...all while jumping the mud :)

With a final howl on his trike...oh yes, he is GOOFY!

Things around here have been good. The boys are STILL battling snotty noses, and G still has a cough, but they are bound to get over it, right?!? The runny noses are slowing down, but geez we've had a bug in this house! The weather has been cooperating awesomely, so lots of outside fun for us! Gunnar and I saddled Rex yesterday, and we both got to have a nice ride. He was not cooperating for Nathan, so he took him for quite the long ride, which is great for him. Ahh...we love riding weather!

Nathan turned 29 yesterday, so we had a fun family day! I tried my hand at a homemade peach cobbler, and succeeded at a really yummy dessert! It was Nathan's request, so I decided to try! Needless to say it is a recipe that I will be repeating, and Nathan was pleased with it! We took the boys to the park, and the girls for that fact. The girls got to swim, and Gunnar got to play at the park, and then we ended it with a walk in the stroller I bought. It's a sit and stand, and Gunnar LOVES it. I've never had a stroller, so this was exciting to me. It suits both boys. Sutton just sits there, but Gunnar can sit, stand, or run beside! I loved it!

And just look at this cutie-pie! He is the happiest, smiliest, calmest baby I know! For starting his first 3 months out with screaming, he is sure making up for it now! We are almost at the 8 month mark! He loves his walker, and loves to watch his big brother, even though Gunnar still doesn't really care about him-ha!

Lots of spring-time fun going on with the Wagner family! Coming up we have my 28th birthday, on April 10th, and Gunnar's 3rd birthday on April 30th!

Hospital visit

A tired daddy, and a tired baby.

Our almost 7th month old sweet Sutton gave us a scare on Thursday. Nathan was playing with Sutton on the floor, when he said "Erica, what is this lump on Sutton's neck?" it was pretty big. I looked like someone had put a golf ball under his neck, on the right side. We called the clinic, and they said to wait until Friday morning to come in because it was 4:30 in the afternoon. We waited until morning, our appointment was at 10:45 am. Nathan, of course, was scheduled to be off work, but a lovely safety meeting was scheduled for his day off, from 8-12. I asked my Mom to come with, to help me with both boys. As our luck would have it, our usual PA, Shelly, who is my second Mom, and Sutton's Godparent, was in Mexico on vacation!! So, I didn't care who I saw, but God was certainly watching over us that day, because he gave us the next best thing to Shelly, a PA named Michelle. She was wonderful, and did not like the look of Sutton's lump. She scheduled a blood draw at the hospital in Ida Grove for Sutton, and then got us into a Pediatric office in Sioux City, for 2:00. Phone calls to Nathan's work were made, and he got on the road home right away. The blood draw experience was terrible. I was so strong, and am very proud of myself, but it was tough! To see your baby in pain, and know how bad he is hurting, is hard. :(

Gunnar went to my parents, and we hit the road. Lab results came in and Sutton's white blood count was high, very high. We were glad to have an appointment to see a Pediatrician. We got to the clinic, and boy was it busy! We weren't used to so many people, kids, and loudness. Poor S was so tired, and that's when our journey began...

This pediatrician diagnosed him with an ear infection, and said the lump is from an ear infection. We settled on that answer knowing that we know nothing about ear infections, and that was that. Well, Michelle, the PA from Ida Grove, wanted updates. So I texted her "ear infection and antibiotics for 2 weeks" she was not happy with that answer (thankfully). She told us that if this was her babe, that she would take him to the ER (in Sioux City). She got it arranged for us to go to the ER. It was not fun. Lots of waiting, no answers, a very tired baby, blood draws and lots of pokes, screaming baby, and a bad headache! His temperature spiked at 103.5, and that was scary. An ultrasound was scheduled, and that was bad too. She had to push so hard on that lump, while trying to keep screaming Sutton still to get decent pictures. UGH!! I just wanted to scoop him up and leave. I just wanted to come home, take him to his room and cuddle him. THIS was not fun. I just wanted it over. Got through the ultrasound, got admitted into our room on the pediatrics floor, and got settled. To make a LOONNGG story short, we had lots of doctors, blood draws, pokes, and opinions. All in which came to this: He was on a strong antibiotic every 8 hrs, which went through his IV. The IV was hooked in him the whole time, so that made it hard. We had went to the City with nothing but the clothes on our back, so Nathan ran to Walmart and grabbed us some comfy clothes, while we waited for answers. Anyway, this lump was from some sort of infection. It could've came from my strep throat a few weeks ago, or Sutton's teething, or from the boys both having those terrible colds, when I had strep. Doesn't matter, the infection was bad and settled in his lymph node. After 24 hrs of antibiotics, his white count was down, and his lump was getting smaller. Things kept improving, and when we heard we got to go home Sunday afternoon, we were ecstatic! Saturday night around 7ish, my parents and Gunnar came to visit and bring us things, like toothbrushes and shower stuff! YES! I had held together good this whole time, until I saw Gunnar and heard his little voice say "Miss Me Mama!" that was hard. Around 9 they left, after eating Arby's in the hospital with us! :) Sunday at 4 we pulled into our driveway, and it felt great! Now we're on to 10 days of antibiotics, and a checkup in a week. On Friday Sutton will be 7 months old! He was in such wonderful spirits, giving everyone smiles the minute they walked in. He is such a happy happy baby! We are so thankful for him, and Gunnar. Our wonderful family, we are so blessed.

                                             Happy and Sweet Sutton Roan, we LOVE you!

This is on Sunday, after finding out he had one more time of antibiotics. We look pretty sleepy, but boy were we happy! We pray that his infection stays away from here on out and that we ALL stay healthy!!

Wagner Chaos

Since mid-January we have been on the go it seems! We took our first family road trip mid January! We traveled to Pierre for some family time, goose hunting, and visiting with friends. The boys did amazing. Of course it helps that we got a more accommodating vehicle. We had outgrown our Explorer! We loved that vehicle, but it was time for more room. So, we are pretty proud to be driving a 2008 black Dodge Mega cab! It's our dream vehicle, and we both have worked hard to get it! SO, that being said, the trip went a lot faster when we have ALL of that room, a new DVD player, and lots of snacks! :)

The weekend of course got away from us and we didn't accomplish near what we thought we would! The weather was wayyy to nice (which is very rare) for goose hunting, and it felt odd that we were "too warm" laying in our blinds! We saw thousands of birds, got in a few shots, and overall had a fun time! It was so nice to be able to leave the boys in the house with Papa Pom (Papa Tom) and Aunt Caitie so that I could go hunt a few minutes from Tom's house!

The next thing to come was the flu bug. We don't get sick that often, very rarely. We are so blessed that we've had healthy kids, and hardly any doctor visits, until we got the flu. Nathan had a bad cold, and then the boys starting puking. Mainly Gunnar. He couldn't keep anything down, and after 24 hrs of puking non-stop, I got some doctor advice and gave him sips of room temp water. After keeping that down, he got a 1/2 inch of water for 2 hrs, and so on...and then I have him milk. He LOVES milk, and since he was doing good I gave in. Guess what. Cold milk doesn't agree with an empty belly, and so we started ALL over again! Just when I'm getting caught up on washing EVERYTHING, Sutton decides to start puking. Oh yes, wonderful. He got away from it a lot faster than Gunnar, but it's still so hard to see them so sick! Everyone got healthy, and we had our Rapid City stock show tripped planned!

Alpine Inn!!

Our Stock show experience was once again, a blast. We met up with Kit & Amanda once we got to Rapid. We got unpacked and headed to Hill City! I've blogged a few times about Hill City, we just LOVE that town! Alpine Inn didn't disappoint, and we all came away with full bellies! We then waited for Jamie and Justin Brown, our good friends from Buffalo, to get checked in and then went to the Alex Johnson (our hotel in the middle of Rapid) bar. It was a blast. My voice was hoarse the next morning from talking SO much! Amanda was a blast to meet and hang out with, and Jamie and I just picked up from right where we left off 2 years ago! I love that girl.

Noon Margaritas!

On Saturday Jamie and I went and did some main street walking. We went antiquing, found LOTS of things we wished we could afford, and bought a few small things! I found an old cowboy clock for G's room, and 2 old blocks with the letters "G" and "S" to put by pictures of the boys. Pretty cute. The older the better for me! The boys did their thing, I think something about Justin's skid loader was involved, but we let the boys do their thing! It was SO nice and fun! Lunch came, and we went to a Mexican restaurant. Us girls ordered Margaritas, which I've never done! I know, I'm so sheltered! Anyway, I took one sip and Ca Chow (yes I've been watching too much of cars!) it was strong. Little Miss Jamie sat there and drank hers while my eyes were just watering! I struggled to put it down, but I did, and left with HOT cheeks! Way to start the day huh! While we were eating, Painters showed up! We couldn't have planned it more perfect! It was so fun to see them and catch up, we sure miss them!

On to the stock show...lots of people, and lots of fun! Boys pretty much went one way, and we went the other! The most important person we wanted to see was our Vessel! He has worked for Painters for a few years now, he started there a few months after we moved to the ranch. I welled up with tears the second I saw him. He is the neatest guy, and can do anything. A natural with livestock, especially horses. It was a very neat moment getting to see our South African friend again.

Vessel, a great friend!

We met up with Kit and Amanda later that evening for supper, and then went to the rodeo together. Jamie and Justin were a hoot to hang with, and when they left on Sunday, it was almost too quiet! Nathan and I aren't into football, so leave it to us to go "ohhh...it's Superbowl Sunday!" We also got to visit Lindsey an her family. She had a baby about a month after Sutton was born, so to hold Truett made me anxious to see my boys! After visiting Lindsey, we did some shopping, which was SO nice because NO ONE was out since Superbowl was happening! We ended the night at Ruby Tuesdays for supper, and were in our jammies by 7 that night! After two nights of going to bed after 1 am we were beat. Of course I am programmed to wake up at 5:45, so I didn't get near the sleep I was planning on! Monday morning we left at a good time, and got home around 6:00 pm! It was a fun filled weekend, and we're so blessed with such great friends!

So now our next experience, we have had terrible colds since Monday. Yesterday we went to the clinic to find out I have strep throat, and the boys both have terrible viral infections. Oh yes, it is just what we needed. Snot noses, red, chapped faces, split lips, sneezes, and LOTS of coughing. I was aching so bad that going upstairs to use the bathroom was hard to do! Today I am finally feeling a tick better, but I've been on antibiotics for 24hrs now too. Not fun. Especially on Valentines day! The boys got me roses on Monday, and my Nook came yesterday, so all in all, it turned out okay!

Here's some updated pictures of the boys....they are growing SO much! We got their stats yesterday, and we were shocked.

Gunnar: 32 lbs & 41 inches tall--WOW!

Sutton: 19.6 lbs & 27 inches tall--WOW!

Sutton has grown 12 lbs and 7 inches in 6 months! Big boys!

THE happiest boy I've ever met. He's a heartbreaker, and oh so good!

The girls got to come in when it got really cold this last week. G didn't  mind one bit! :)

FOOD! We love carrots, and bananas the best, but we are eating green beans too! Sutton likes to open his mouth like a little birdie, and then sticks his tongue out while spitting. Oh yes, he sure gets a kick out of it! He is so funny, but an amazing eater!

Well, that catches us up for the last month! The days seem to zoom by, and I cannot believe that on February 9th, Sutton turned 6 months old. That means in 6 more months, we'll be done with his first birthday! Oh my. And Gunnar will turn 3 in a little over 2 months! Crazy.

Thanks for checking in, the Wagner family is always on the move!

My boys

The weather has cooperated lately, minus the wind but I'm NOT complaining, so I asked Nathan to saddle Rex up and let G ride for a bit the other night! So, here are a few pictures of our 2 1/2 year old buckaroo!

Buckaroo Gunnar Sage! PS That was my Christmas gift from the boys, a new bridal for Rex! It's so pretty on him!

He melts my heart. Daily.

An almost 5 month old Sutton is loving his walker! His toes just touch the floor that he actually moves around the kitchen! It's been great! And to think 2 years ago at Christmas, this was Gunnar's huge hit, the walker!

Daddy having just a little bit of fun leading him around! :)

I should be blogging about Christmas, since it was Sutton's first, but these pictures HAD to get posted, I just love them! While I really really really want a new bathroom on the main floor, an arena to ride in would sure be nice too! I think a little pony for G is ranking higher on that list, too! This Mama is going to want to ride this summer since I won't be prego, which means G will need a horse! We'll see!

A quick post, but one to let you know that we did survive the Holidays! And the new year will be a great one! With three sweet boys to love on, and our simple life, who wouldn't have a great year? More pictures to come! Happy 2012...

Thanksgiving and 4 months old

Thanksgiving has been hosted at our home for the last 6 years. We just love Thanksgiving! I have a very country, fall colors, comfy-cozy home, and we love to host people! We keep saying that one day we could run our own lodge, that's how much we love making people smile and hearing them say "oh yum, this is just awesome" is the best! Anyway, I did a lot of the cooking this year, which for me is a big deal. You see, I don't cook. Very rarely do I cook, but I am getting better! Nathan likes to cook, so all of these years, he's done a lot of it. Well, then Pioneer Woman came along, and with her cookbook and pictures, I can just about handle anything. Just about. :)

I got up early on Friday morning (because Nathan had to work Thanksgiving, so we held it Friday) and what do you know, I get everything going, and there's that darn mouse. UGH! He made me SO mad! A very smart ratatouille! So after a few screams and swear words, I got used to him. He finally went somewhere, and I had some peace and quiet again. That is, until the boys got up!

Pork loin (done by nathan) Mashed Potatoes with 2 sticks of butter, cream cheese, and whole milk-ohhh yes! fresh buns, corn, and made from scratch pies are just a few of the things that I, myself, contributed! I was impressed with myself!

Becoming best buds...

Big boy! We watched the NFR all last week and said that Sutton is our future bulldogger! If he keeps his eating habits up, he will be bigger than the steer!

This isn't the best picture, but, Gunnar usually doesn't look at the camera (must be a 2.5 yr old thing!) So with BOTH boys in my hands, I couldn't resist adding this picture!

Our handsome 4 month old!

Sutton had his 4 month checkup! He is SO big!! He weighed in at 17.5 lbs, and is over 26 inches long! He can start cereal, and in 2 weeks, I can start adding foods to his diet. WOW. I know the time goes fast, but it has seriously flown by! These days, Sutton is so relaxed and goes with the flow. Sure we have our "both kids are screaming" moments, but who doesn't? He is on a great night time schedule of bath at 7:00/7:30, drink 6 oz. and by 8:15ish he is out. We can typically lay him down drowsy, and he'll go to sleep, sleeping until 5:45 (most mornings) So I really cannot complain. NOW...if my 2.5 year old would sleep, I'd be a REALLY happy Mama! I regret never letting Gunnar cry it out at night, he always woke up, got nursed, loved, and rocked back to sleep. Well, he STILL doesn't know how to go to sleep on his own, and I feel bad. I guess it's a "first child" thing, because I am sure not making that mistake with Sutton! :) I figure there will be a day that he won't want to wake up, and I'll be begging him to! And he is still my cuddler, with his blankie and thumb, who can resist that? Ah...love my boys.

So now we're going into Christmas. And while I'm excited, I'm dreading it. Nathan has to work, and I'll be feeling bad that he won't be with us for most of it. We didn't get much for the boys, they don't know what is really happening anyway, and kids get too many toys the way it is. We do most of our playing outside, so I can't justify buying toys when he hardly plays with them. Books, DVDS, and some clothes. Easy enough!

After the Holidays, we'll be going to Pierre goose hunting January 12/13-15th. We haven't been back in over a year and a half, so it's time. Both boys will be coming with us! THEN, the beginning of February, is the Black Hills Stock Show! YES! We will be leaving Friday, and coming home Monday. Our good friends from Buffalo, Jamie and Justin Brown, will be meeting us there. No kids, which will be VERY different, and the longest I've ever been away from Gunnar is 2 nights, so it will be a nice getaway!

Christmas cards and letters are out, today! Wrapping, baking, cleaning, and ordering a few more gifts is left! Thanks for checking in, and Happy Holidays to everyone!!

6 years

We celebrated our 6th Anniversary on October 8th! We got up on Saturday morning and went to Omaha for the day and night! The weather was beautiful, and the drive through the Loess Hills is always amazing, but putting Fall colors in the trees is even better! We had a lazy day in Omaha, stopping at a few places to shop, but for the most part Omaha kicked out butt, again. Everything is so fast paced, and I went down there with NO schedule. Nothing. No reservations, no schedules, and very few intentions. We learned that next time we will have reservations, and plan a bit more, because our time is to precious and gas is to expensive to drive that city unprepared! At least we always manage to find our way to Cabelas! :)

Now that's what you call an Iowa Pork Chop! Yummm..it was amazing.

And of course, this Mama will take the beef! Nice slab of prime, it tasted sooo good!

CONTENT & FULL.

Nathan made reservations after we got checked in, to eat at Spencers, which is downtown at the Hilton Garden Inn. It was amazing. The most expensive, fancy, and yummiest place I've ever eaten at!
We celebrated 9 years of being together on October 27th, and those 9 years have flown by! I told Nathan "Wow, in 9 more years, we'll be together for 18 years...unbelievable!" to which I got, "very good math, Erica" smarty pants! ;) We're a good team, and while we aren't perfect, we are two peas in a pod! Here's to many many more years of craziness and love to come!

Living Life as a family of 4!

Well, here we are...3 months later and I finally have some motivation to blog! I have so many people say "I checked your blog, but no updates since...July!" as to which I say "I know!" come home and sit down to blog, and then some kind of interruption happens! So here we are...3 months later, with a 16 lb 3 month old, and 32 lb 2.5 year old! They are healthy, loud, and messy! I've never been so unorganized, tired, and happy! Let's back up a bit first...to the arrival of our new bundle...

This is RIGHT before we walked out the door to get to the hospital!

On August 7th I went with the guys (Nathan, Mike Modrell, and Gunnar) to Anthon, to watch them rope all afternoon, on the hottest day of the year! With a chairs-width of shade, I'm not kidding, I had to move my chair every few minutes so that I didn't bake away! I watched and ran after Gunnar all afternoon, hours before giving birth. Monday came, and I was organizing the house, packing bags, and writing instructions. I got the yard all mowed and trimmed, weeds pulled, and helped saddle my horse so Gunnar could ride. We walked down the road quite a ways with Rex and Gunnar, when I said, ohhhh geez, I know this feeling, contractions! We got home, they went away, and I kept getting things in order. Gunnar finally went to bed, and little did we know, this would be the last night we were a family of 3! At 4:30 I was woken up with hard contractions, took a bath, lolly gagged around (because I wasn't going to go to the hospital and be sent home!!) finally got admitted at 6 am with a contraction every 2 minutes. I was checked, told I was at a 2....a 2? Come. On. I was so disappointed and mad! These contractions were so hard, I wanted my epidural! A half hour later, I was checked and I was a 4! Now that's more like it! :) I kept this up, moving so fast that before we knew it, at 9:45 I was a 10 and ready to go! In 4 pushes, and 10 minutes, out came a 7 lb. 6 oz. 20.5 inch little boy, who we named, Sutton Roan. He looked SO little, even though he had the most perfect body and fingers! This experience was a complete different one from having Gunnar, so I should've known that since the labor was so easy, the next part of raising him, wouldn't be!! I didn't know how lucky I was to have an easy baby for the first one, but I have found out that that's the trick! God gives us the easy one first so that we have another one!! Well, just so we're clear, 2 boys is enough for me to handle, especially the little movers that I have! Baby clothes are already packed away and ready for a garage sale, along with all of my maternity clothes! This Mama is done, and very blessed with what I have!

Mama's first look!

                                                               I love my boys!!

                                  Great Grandparents! Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Bud
                                                                  Grandma Belle and Grandpa Richard

                                            Daddy checking his boy over...and approving! :)

So raising Sutton has been rough, I'm not going to lie. First I thought I was giving him too much, and then after a few weeks of no results of him stopping screaming all day long, I fed him more, and he seemed to be more content, for a bit. I cut things out of my bland diet, took him to the chiro, walked with him nonstop, etc...nothing worked. Finally we came to terms that we had a colicky baby and that TIME was the only answer. I've had many days of wanting to give this child away, and many long days of crying. Thankfully, as I said before, God gave me Gunnar first. He's amazing, and is the funniest child ever. For being 2.5, he is so mature, and helps me a lot. Of course we have our times of him not listening or screaming back "NO" but for the most part, when I'm having a rough time with Sutton, Gunnar behaves and gives me loves to cheer me up. The other person has been my Mom. She's been there this whole time, taking Sutton when I didn't want him! Ha, I don't sugar coat it because it's been a tough go! Now we're to the 3 month mark, and Sutton is weighing in at 16 lbs! He's a big boy, half of Gunnar's weight already! They are complete opposites, even though some of their looks are just alike! Sutton has been smiling since the 6 week mark-thank goodness! His giggles are coming more often, and since he's so big, it's fun to bath a chubby baby! Gunnar never had rolls, and still doesn't, so this spreading the rolls out and washing them because they have dirt in them, is all new to me! :) We're figuring each other out, little by little, day by day. I know next year I'll look back at my hard days and laugh, because I'll have two healthy and amazing boys playing tractors on the floor together! The joke is that Gunnar better watch it, because with Sutton being such a big boy, if he ever catches Gunnar (because G is FAST!) he's going to be in trouble, because Sutton will squash him! Oh the fun things to look forward to, that's one of the main things that is keeping me going!

I went back to cleaning a month ago, and it's gone good. Sutton goes to daycare on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, from 8-noon. Gunnar is usually found with Brama (Grandma Anne) or Papa, or Unc. He's never went to daycare, and that was a mistake because he hates to leave my side! So Sutton is learning right off the bat, and so far it's going great! Pat is a great friend, and I've known her all of my life, so there was no problems with leaving him, in fact, I was excited for a break from the little stinker!

Nathan is working his stupid swing shift. We are always praying and hoping for a change, but for now, I've made my peace with it, and am looking at it as a time for me to prove to myself that I can raise two boys, do chores, keep the house up, and remain sane! It's a challenge, and I usually am negative and say how bad I'm failing, but when I look back at some of the days, I haven't failed at all. It's tough being a single parent most days, and once again, I am SO thankful for my parents being right up the road!!

We had a fun filled fall afternoon outside while Sutton was taking an unexpected nap one day!

Gunnar and Daddy!

Mommy and Daddy

The best view....ever. These two are where Sutton's middle name came from...Roan. We love our roans. They are part of our family, and the best horses ever. We gathered pairs this fall, and Nathan and I even sorted 50some head on our own, I was so proud! I think everyone around knows our kids will and are growing up on the back of a horse, we said it when we moved, and it's just part of our lives. This day was wonderful, the weather, everyones attitudes, the horses, everything was just great.

Here's to hoping I'm back soon...I'm going to try my hardest to keep up with our crazy kids and wonderful life. We are SO blessed!