Tis the Season to be busy!

Could I be more absent from this blog?  I have such good intentions for all the projects I can do (Susie Homemaker, if you please), the books I can read, and the general up-keep of my family.  But you know the drill -- those often stay as intentions. 

Things are pretty busy around here these days.  Kate is a do-it-herself kind of girl.  Sometimes that has mixed results.  Today she helped me put away the laundry by grabbing one article of clothing from the laundry basket in the kitchen and dragging it across the house to the appropriate bedroom.  In her room, articles of clothing were deposited in her laundry basket (which I had to retrieve promptly to remember which were clean and which were dirty) and in my room they were piled on the closet floor. 


She sleeps in a big girl bed now and happily helped Daddy take down her little bed. She sleeps on the trundle bed under this one and LOVES it!

James Cooper Seefeldt (our baby boy) is growing and active.  He already kicks his mama hard enough to hurt.  Other than that, everything is running smoothly with the pregnancy.  His room is still a disaster zone as we are using it as a storage and holding tank right now.  But he's comfortable enough for now.

Kate knows her baby brother's name and has gotten to feel him kick.  What all that possibly means to her, I have no idea.  But so far she's on board. 

We have some other interesting developments which I will share later.

Oh, and I got to do a 6 month photo shoot for a friend and her daughter.  So fun!  Hop over to my photography blog to check those out!

thank you red card

Pictures In Red Holiday Thank You 3x5 folded card

Turn your holiday photos into holiday cards with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Yes, we did have a Thanksgiving

 I realize I still have not posted from Thanksgiving.  Here is a short and sweet version just so it doesn't get left out.  We traveled to Santa Fe to see my grandmother.  My aunt, uncle, and cousins from Denver also came down and so we had a wonderful full house for Thanksgiving.  The first couple days were COLD!  It even snowed the first night just enough to put a small layer of snow along the ground and top of the wall.  Beautiful!

 We tried to go on a walk and the wind was so cold we were miserable!  But later in the weekend it warmed up enough for Josh and me to walk into town and look around a bit. 

 Kate did lots of "cooking."  She is very good about not opening the packages and pretended to make many coffee, candy corn, peanut butter creations.

 We loved getting to see my cousins!  They are great kids and we don't get to see them very often.  They are so great with Kate and she just loved them!

Kate liked being with her Dewey (what she calls my grandmother).  She's very adaptable to new situations.  We talked all about Dewey's house and who would be there so she was excited and ready once we got there.  

We drove to and from Santa Fe and are happy to say we survived.  Kate did well, all things considered, and it was an easy, but extremely boring drive.  I have to say that New Mexico south of Santa Fe made even West Texas look interesting. 

And finally, just because I haven't posted one in a while...

Big baby boy!

Deck the Mantle with Christmas Cards!

Happy December!


I guess it's time to start thinking about Christmas cards.  Yeah, don't tell me you already have yours done and in the mail.  Figures.  Overachievers!  We still need to get our Christmas decorations out of the attic.  I didn't think I was behind until I saw houses already decorated.  Traveling for Thanksgiving apparently puts you behind in the "decorating in Christmas" festivities.

I was just looking on Shutterfly and they have lots of new cards this year.   I like the folded ones where you can write a story inside about your family and share multiple pictures there.
Click here for an example
Or this one, where you have lots of pictures on the front and a big one inside with your story.
Click here
I think the story idea is such a nice touch.  Josh and I always try to cram in as much as we can because we love to share life and the Good News of the season with those we send our cards to. 

Usually I have gotten the flat ones from Shutterfly with one or a few pictures and just enough room to write something small.  They have always turned out really nicely.  There are new designs this year that are really cute. I love how many different designs they have!  Check them out!

I'm looking forward to trying something new.  Ambitious, I know.  But I've had good results in the past - from ease of creating the card, to fast delivery, to great end product. 

Now I just need to get a nice picture of the family.

And maybe in 2011 I'll get my act together enough to get some birth announcements for our little guy. Shutterfly has some pretty options and I'm sure that would make it easy for a newly mom of two to handle.  

It's a ....

...baby brother!  We are having a boy!

We had our 20 week checkup and sonogram yesterday.  We got to see a very active, very wiggly, healthy baby boy.  The doctor said everything looked good and he was measuring the right size.  He is about 14oz right now.  

 The top picture is his little foot and this bottom picture shows him looking at us, his head on the right, his body to the left. 

We are very excited and working on his name right now.  I guess it's time to get some blue! 

They both said "I do..."

The Seefeldt family just got a bit bigger. Josh's brother Michael married Stephanie last weekend and we now have a new sister-in-law and...for the first time!!...a niece! Josh and I get to be an aunt and uncle! We are very excited to have them as a part of our family.

I got to do the photography at the wedding with Josh as my assistant. If you'd like to see just a few of the pictures, click here: Wedding Pictures

More family just in time for the holidays!

Our Little Kitty

When I realized that we were going to be traveling on Halloween this year (more on that to come), I was disappointed that we wouldn't get to do all the Harvest Fest/trick-or-treating fun with Kate. And traveling kind of ruled out an elaborate costume. But I decided we still needed to dress her up, even if it just meant riding in costume in the car. You just don't pass up an opportunity to put your kid in a costume.
I decided on a kitty because that's her favorite animal noise to make right now. And low-and-behold, a black kitty showed up at my parents' house just in time to take a picture with her. I'm so glad that kitty was not interested in staying in his own home. (Yes, that is Kate's new smile. She says "cheese" and smiles like that.)


We ended up staying overnight at my parents' house that night instead of driving back. Kate got to hand out candy to some trick-or-treaters with my mom. We don't really know any of their neighbors anymore, so Kate did not partake in the candy-getting fest. But she wouldn't know what to do with it anyway.

I took a video on my phone of her looking at the black cat and talking about his ears and she cracks herself up watching it. It's so funny! Total belly-laughs watching herself.

Whoop!

The Aggies are ranked again! It's about time!

Though we are pathetic about actually getting to watch the games, I follow the score updates on my phone and am REALLY excited to see Aggie Football actually competing again.

Way to go, Ags! Gig 'em!

Need a new website?

Hey, this is Josh.
I love my wife. She does a great job at keeping the blog updated. It used to be 'our' blog, but due to my lack of contribution, it has really become her blog. She is such a great writer and has great insight and wisdom. So I kinna hate that my rare post isn't really an update at all. But here it is.

I've spent a good amount of time at work getting our new website set up. You can check it out here. We used a website template from Clover Sites, and from the last few months of working with them I have really grown to appreciate their company, and their product. They started off making websites for ministries and churches, but have recently expanded to also do any type of business. Compared to other website options, their price is great, their templates are beautiful, and their web based editor is so simple and easy to use.
So if you or someone you know needs a website for your ministry or business, I really recommend Clover. Go to their website for tons more helpful information.

Free

I voted this morning. I had wanted to vote early and didn't get to it. So today I was worried the lines would be long. I left the house early, running out while Josh was still getting ready for work so he could be with Kate. (She's not registered to vote yet.) But I forget that I live in Kerrville. There was one other man there while I was there. And we used paper ballots! Lately I have gotten used to the computer ballots. Funny.

I got to thinking about my view of voting. I've grown up at a time and in a country where voting has always been free - free from cost, free from hassle, free from manipulation, free of persecution. We complain about having to wait in line. Registering to vote is easier than renewing a driver's license or getting a library card.

I take all of that for granted. I am largely ignorant of the challenges, abuses, and struggles women less than a century ago in this country endured in order to win the right to vote.

I forget that right now, in other countries, people are beaten for casting a vote. People are willing to walk miles to get to a polling location. Women still face abuse for trying to vote.

May I grow to not take my freedoms for granted and to use them to influence toward good and the growth of God's kingdom.

Architecture Convention

The yearly architecture convention is often a family event for us. Pre-Kate I even went to a few of the session (and almost fell asleep during one...oops). My favorite part was the expo where I would try to get as many free goodies as possible. This year Josh was getting recognized officially as a new architect in the state, so we went. Fortunately the convention was close to home in the big city.

Kate loved the expo and definitely got some freebies just because she's cute.


Here is Josh and his coworker with the president of the Texas association of Architects (or something like that. Josh hasn't gotten back to me to clear up her title.)

Kate couldn't wait to run up on stage and give daddy a hug and high-five. Josh would probably have been the youngest one on stage except for Kate.


The next day, while the guys were in classes for continuing education, Jo Ann, Kate and I were shopping. Kate loved the boats on the riverwalk and Jo Ann took us on a boat ride. Kate loved it...right up when she fell asleep. It was a beautiful morning and so peaceful on the river. Thanks for the boat ride!

Pumpkin Patch

October means fall and pumpkin patch time! Kate and I had a great time at the Medina Pumpkin Patch today.






Do you like my goat horns and ears? Thanks goes to our friend Josh Smithson for not telling me my head was exactly positioned. Hmm.

We watched a puppet show and they did Little Red Riding Hood. It was all good until they told the version where the wolf eats Granny and then they cut his stomach open and Granny popped out. Really? For a bunch of kids? I'm just glad Kate wasn't really following the story.

Next year we will take Josh and baby Seefeldt with us and maybe it will be cool enough for hot cider.

I guess it's about time to post at least one belly bump picture. It's finally starting to look like a baby bump as opposed to too much ice cream.
So here we are at 15 weeks. I'm feeling pretty good these days but still like a nap every now and then.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday to Josh today! Kate has been practicing saying "happy birthday daddy" and while it comes out kind of slurred, it's really cute. We had a surprise family birthday lunch for him yesterday, complete with Spider-Man cake.

Yes, I did have him wear that hat the whole time!

Today we celebrated his birthday with presents in the morning, recognition and cupcakes at the BSM lunch at Schreiner University, a nice dinner out, and more presents when we got home. Kate was ready to play with all his presents right away.

Happy Birthday to my best friend ever! I hope your day(s) has been wonderful and that you feel celebrated for the wonderful man that you are. I love you!

Almost 13...

...weeks pregnant that is. Whoohoo! The nausea has begun to subside for the most part. I'm still tired most of the time and ravenously hungry at inconvenient times.

And I have to say the baby bump pops out a little sooner the second time around. It just makes me wonder: Am I gaining more weight this time around? Will I be HUGE by the time March rolls around? Or is this just a head start? Hopefully I won't be getting a talk from the doctor about watching the calories. Humpf.

Other than that I have discovered a few things:
-- Toddler snack times and preggie snack times line up nicely. As long as I eat something similar to what Kate is eating, I will actually get to eat it without her wanting some of mine.

--Toddler nap times are also preggie nap times, but I could stand for a few more during the day than Kate seems to need.

--Thinking of sharing this new baby with Kate makes me feel excited and happy and bursting with love...and a bit exhausted. Those will be busy days.

I'll be finishing up at the pregnancy center where I volunteer soon. If there were not a carseat in the middle of my backseat, I might consider taking a quick nap before heading home.

Kate took her baby buggy on our evening walk today. She loves pushing her babies. She's getting so big. Such an amazing little girl.

It's that time again...

Fall is coming soon to Texas and it's time for cooler weather and football games. Both of which I enjoy very much.

It's also that time again...

Yup, time for the Seefeldts to start getting ready for their next little one. Lil Seef is due early April. We thought we'd start him or her off right.

We are super excited!

Unfortunately, it has also been time for morning sickness and exhaustion. I'm hoping that will end in the next couple weeks as we move into the second trimester.

Not ME! Monday

I'm borrowing the fun from MCKMama. A goofy way to confess all the not so perfect things you have done recently. This will be a quick-and-dirty version.

Sunday was a long day. Of course, I did not choose to take a nap instead of working on preparing the side dish we needed to take that afternoon to an event. I did not leave it up to Josh to help me after his softball practice. And when he did get home to help, I did not end up talking on the phone instead of helping him.

Today was a long day. After missing our usual nap time, I did not put Kate down for a late nap just so that I could lie down for a few minutes. When I couldn't sleep, I did not eat a few snacks before getting her up just so I didn't have to share with her.

I certainly did not lie to my child and tell her that the M&Ms I was eating were medicine because, again, I didn't want to share.

I definitely am not keeping tabs on how many nights this week I am putting Kate to bed alone while Josh is out playing sports. I would never tally something like that (2 for 2).

I did not eat 2 or 3 Hershey's minis while watching TV and working on MOPS stuff just because no one else was home and I needed to indulge myself.

Rainy Day

This morning it is raining. That means no walk outside to exercise the restless dog and exercise-needing mommy. Instead, we three (mommy, baby, and dog) sit on the front porch watching the rain. It's finally cool outside. Kate wants mommy to pick weed flowers and pile them on mommy's leg. Sammy explores the yard and then sits with us watching the rain.

I'm ready to go in. There is laundry to fold, laundry to wash, vacuuming to accomplish. But Kate wants to watch the rain. So we sit there, we three, watching the rain.

Then Kate wants to walk out on the sidewalk. "Mommy doesn't want to," I tell her. I don't really want to get wet. It's easier to sit here. Kate tries to get Sammy to go with her, but he doesn't understand.

"Okay, Mommy will go with you," I say as I strip off my socks and offer my hand. She won't always want me to walk in the rain with her. There won't always be rain to walk in when it's convenient for me. What a chance to be free from the practical adult routine I usually try to remember! Laundry and vacuuming are worlds away as we walk down the sidewalk in the drizzly rain. We stop and I show her how to toss leaves in flowing water by the curb. "More," she says (as usual) and we toss more.

Soon it is time to go inside. We call to Sammy and walk back inside. Back inside to change into dry, comfy clothes. We got to escape, on a rainy day, the usual routine and remember to enjoy the wonders that are all around us.

On My Morning Walk

First, a confession: I'm a mall walker. Yes, it's true. It started last summer when I wanted to get out and exercise (which usually consists of walking these days because I can do it with Kate in a stroller) and it was just too hot to go outside. I have a great friend who would walk the mall with me with her stroller and we would chat and exercise.

This summer I haven't done it as often. And a few times I tried to disguise myself by wearing normal clothes and my Chacos instead of tennis shoes. Today, I did not even attempt a disguise. I wore work-out shorts (and by that I do NOT mean spandex) and my walking tennis shoes. Kate was loaded up with a snack and some books. I was going to exercise. Well, Kate fell asleep after about 10 minutes, so I only walked for about 20 and decided to head home to take advantage of her naptime.

But here are some things I saw on my walk:

Mall Walkers Sign: Yes, there is a sign for mall walkers on the wall at the mall telling us how many times around the mall to walk for one miles. Very helpful. And I think they also listed "guidelines" for mall-walking. But since I'm not really a mall-walker, I didn't read those.

Co-walkers: There were a couple other, much more mature, people walking at the mall too. One man was quite serious about it. I think he followed all the guidelines. He said I had a "nice buggy." I'm assuming he meant my stroller and was not referring to the fact that he had been walking behind me for some time.

Birthday-Boy: I did a little lap around JCPenny and passed an elderly couple finishing their purchase with a cashier. The Cashier told the gentleman, "Happy Birthday" and the woman (probably the gentleman's wife) said "I'm gonna go home and iron his birthday suit." I'm not sure what that means. Maybe he has a special suit he wears for his birthday? Could she have been referring to his "birthday suit?" (Wink, nudge)

Beauty Pills: On a stroll passed GNC there was a box in the window saying the vitamins enhance beauty. Really? The vitamins were called "Be Beautiful." Really?

I think that's about it. Kate's still asleep so I'm gonna try to nap too. Stay tuned for more adventures in Kerrville.

Time Flies

I wish I had a really good reason as to why I haven't updated in a while. Like we've been on some really cool vacation and I couldn't get to a computer. But that's not the case. I've just been busy.

Right now I'm working on getting things ready for our next MOPS year, coming up in less than a month. I've got a training meeting next week to prepare our table leaders to minister to the moms we will have coming. It's fun and exciting to think about the upcoming year.

Kate is growing all the time and doing new things. She says new words all the time. It's amazing how much she talks right now. Some of it is still baby jabber, but some of it is meaningful communication. She understands so much of what we say and responds when we ask her questions. It can be exhausting, but it's a lot of fun.

A few weeks ago our good friends Clayton and Holly came to town and stayed with us. Clayton was officiating a wedding of a high school friend of his and Josh. We had a good time with Clayton, Holly, and their kids. Here are the two guys with their girls.

Yes, that is my husband throwing the baseball with his sleeping daughter on his back.

Musts

Must Read: My Generation by Josh Riebock

As a guy from Generation Y, Josh sets out to explain a little about who our generation is, what we long for, and what we need. He gives stories and accounts of other Gen-Y-ers in their journey to God and community. I found it to be motivating, encouraging, and challenging. I think many of us from that generation will see parts of ourselves in the stories he recounts and see those we would like to be like. Highly enjoyable read as well. You can find it on Amazon.

Must See: Food, Inc.

Yes, it is a documentary. No, it is not boring. And Yes, it's important for you to see. Why? Because no matter how we choose to live our lives, we should make informed decisions as much as possible. Regardless of the food you choose to eat, you should at least know where it came from. "But I don't want to know. It will probably make me not want to eat that and I like to eat such-and-such." Stop saying silly statements like that and get informed. Then do what you want to do. Ignorance is not bliss. The documentary is well done, not boring, and informative.

I'll step off my soapbox now.

a big event in the morning

Yesterday morning Kate and Josh were in the kitchen while I was tidying up around the house. When I came back to the kitchen Kate wanted to fill me in on what had happened while I had been gone. Apparently, there had been an ant on the kitchen floor, which Josh scooped up on an envelope and deposited outside via our kitchen door to the backyard. Kate babbled over and over again about this ant, pointing to the floor, and to her daddy, and to the back door, and over again to make sure I did not miss out on this big event. I think she told me about it four or five times.

Toddler chatterboxes are so funny!

Arlington friends

A week ago we got to go to Arlington to visit our friends. We miss them and had a wonderful time getting to hang out and share our lives again.

Kate got to meet Daisy. They ran around Starbucks together.
Kate and Shanda are shoe buddies. How cute is that!
Kate and Grace hadn't seen each other in a long time. They had a good time running around the house together and learning to share.

We miss our friends in Arlington and are so thankful they welcome us back and spend time visiting with us.

Picnic by the river

Picnic dinner by the river with my favorite people...

...and favorite dog.

Dad Life

This is dedicated to all the great dads!

Dad Life

Love it!

BFF

A July 4th Adventure!

After all the parade festivities and resting at home through the rest of the heat of the day, we decided we needed to get out and play on Independence Day. Josh thought we should try the nature trail we had seen a sign for down near a playground we go to. All we knew was that there was a sign that said "Nature Trail .7 mi." Off we went.

In this case, "trail" is used very loosely. It was more like "people have walked here before so someone came and put a few signs with arrows once sometime ago." The nature was beautiful, though.

My adventurous husband and brave daughter. Yes, that is a fallen tree behind them. We actually encountered several of those. One time we had to lift the stroller over a tree. I didn't get a picture of that of course. Sammy was with us too, but he was not interested in pictures.
This time Josh decided to push the stroller under the tree. Oh yes, he did.
Kate was clearly not that impressed with our adventure.

We decided next time we go we will take Kate in the ergo (backpackish baby carrier). We didn't think that would be necessary since we were on a trail. Ah, learning from experience.