Ila's adventure on the Ranch!

Ila went over to Doris' house to play the other day. It was a much needed break for this mommy, and a break from mommy for Ila. I've been sick. Sick, sick, sick, and it's hard to have a toddler running a muck when you feel like crud. Doris has told me that if I ever needed a break to just give her a call. Doris LOVES Ila, and Ila LOVES Doris, so I went ahead a made the call. Doris came right over and picked Ila up and off they went. I knew Ila would have fun, and I was so thankful to have a moment to myself. I took a nice long nap, and felt like a new woman when I woke up.

Trent picked Ila up on his way home from work. They got here around 6:30. When Ila walked in the house she was talking. Well, babbaling to the untrained ear, but I could understand her pretty well. "babble babble babble cow, mooooo, babble babble, neighhhhhhhh, babble babble dog, woof woof, babble babble babble." She was telling me all about the cows, horses and dogs that she got to see and pet with Doris. She liked saying hi to them up close, because she always hears the cows moo at our house, and wants to go see them. She did NOT stop talking till she went to bed (and she went right to sleep, thanks for wearing her out Doris!). She didn't just get to see the animals though, she also helped Doris unload the dishwasher, one piece of silverware at a time and she carried a baby all around the house. She didn't have any accidents until Trent got there to pick her up. I'm pretty sure she would have held it if she hadn't been so excited to tell Daddy about the animals!

Other then that, I'm not sure what they did, but I know it was one of the best afternoon's of Ila's life. It's so great to see her so excited about the animals. She really does love them! And what a blessing it is to us that we live where we do and she gets to see them up close and even pet them! If we move, I will miss our neighbors more then anything, and I know Ila will too.

So, thanks again for the wonderful afternoon for both Ila and myself Doris! You really are a blessing to us :)

Miss Mischievous

Ila is mischievous. I probably wouldn't have said that last week, but this week, everything has changed.

(Here she is in an outfit she picked out all by herself. Daddy was in charge of dressing her!)

It all started on Saturday, at nap time. I laid her down like usual, tucked her in and and shut the door. Within about 10 minutes she was up and talking. This happens every so often, but she usually just goes right to sleep. So, I went back in there and tucked her in again. 15 minutes later, she had climbed out of her crib, opened the door and run out to say "hi" to me. She finally did it, she learned how to crawl out of her crib. I was not happy, and Trent was thrilled with "his little climber!" She did it 2 more times before she finally went to sleep.

Then Monday came, and I laid her down for her nap and she talked and played and took her diaper off, but stayed in her crib. An improvement I thought... until 1.5 hours had passed and she was still in there playing. Then I heard "peepee Mama. I go peepee." I figured she wanted me to come rescue her from her crib, because she was trying not get out of napping. So I waited a minute or two (mistake). Then she said it again, "I go peepee Mama!" So then I thought she must actually need to go so I'll get her, take her to the bathroom and THEN she'll nap. I went into her room to find her out of her pants, diaper cover and diaper, and standing over a very wet spot on her bed. Yep, she took her diaper off and peed in her bed. So, I changed the sheets, put her diaper back on and laid her back down. Over the next 1.5 hours she still didn't nap, and was grabbing on to her ears and all that jazz, so I knew it was time for a trip to the doctor (we've had both been feeling under the weather the last few days). She FINALLY fell asleep at 1pm, with just her t-shirt on. Yep, she took her diaper off again, but I just let her be, and figured I would RUSH in there when she woke up, so we didn't have another accident.

Then Tuesday came, and we were both SUPER sick. Double ear infection and a sinus infection for Ila, and a sinus infection for me. I figured (hoped and prayed!) we would have a nice quiet day at home together recuperating. I was so wrong. After she woke up from her nap, she quietly took her diaper off and pooped on the bed. I was napping too, and woke up to "I go poo! I go poo!" I hoped that she was just tooting (she thinks they are the same thing), and my hopes were shattered when I opened her door. Not only had she pooped, but she had taken off her diaper and pooped on the bed. So, I got that all cleaned up. Then I decided that no matter HOW terrible I felt, the kitchen floor MUST be mopped. It was overdue for a mopping (and I mean REALLY overdue). So I unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, and started it. I checked on Ila, who was in her room reading books. Then I started to hand wash the few dishes left, and after a few minutes (probably 5) I heard a bang in my bathroom. I went running, because she likes to play in the bathtub (I know, scary right?!?!). I turned the corner and saw Ila, standing in the toilet, with the toilet bowl scrubber, toilet water EVERYWHERE, pee in her little toilet, and on the floor and a large pile of toilet paper soaking on the toilet water covered ground. I put her in the bathtub and had her fold her hands for a time out while I went about cleaning up the large mess she made. While doing so, she peed in the bathtub (I mean, she had JUST peed in the toilet, what the what?!?!). After I got all that cleaned up, I finally finished the dishes, and wiped the counters down, swept and mopped.

Now it is Wednesday. Already I have cleaned up a smaller toilet mess (I don't know how she made such a mess in the few moments she was in there without me!). Then, while I was on the phone (skype, with trent who has the cell phone) she got the crisco and the almond butter out of the pantry and spread it ALL over the kitchen floor. It took me awhile to figure out what gets crisco off the floor, but I finally did. While I was cleaning up the mess, I kept thinking about how it serves me right for holding off on mopping for so long, that I get to do it two days in a row. It's not even noon yet, and I don't know what else the day holds, but if I close my eyes for one second, or get distracted I'm sure little Miss Mischievous will be into something else!

She is SO MUCH like her daddy.

New chapter

Some of you may have heard our news that Trent is no longer employed at Mercer. It was quite a shock to us, as the news came on friday and was without much explanation. We've deduced though that Trent's immediate supervisor was taking credit for all Trent's work, and at the same time, bad mouthing Trent to the big boss in order to get rid of my awesome, hardworking husband. It's unfortunate for us on so many levels. Trent loved his job, and was great at it. We were feeling settled and really at home here in the middle of nowhere Washington. We were finally established in a church, and we hadn't moved in almost a whole year! Most people would say in this situation "well it's Mercer's loss," and that is so true, but it is ours as well. It's not fair, but neither are a lot of things in life. One of the good things though is that this said supervisor will be found out soon enough, when all the things Trent was doing are all of a sudden not being done. And as we all know, liars ugly faces can only be hid for so long! But that doesn't really do much for us anyway, so it's time to look forward.

Trent got a temporary job yesterday, to get us through the season, and then hopefully something permanent and with benefits will come about. We could use prayer, job leads and a good word though, if you think of us! We are being positive and pressing into the Lord, and that is always good! So there you have it, the latest in ourbeckerfamily news.

The Tale of the Missing Groceries

Today I was not very happy about having to go into town and go grocery shopping. Sometimes I look forward to this task but this week I was dreading it. It was one of those days where you wake up lacking energy from the get go, and with a potty training, energetic toddler, driving to town for groceries seemed like a daunting task. But off we went. It was a nice drive, and I passed one of Trent's co-workers, Earl, on the way (a piece of info I wouldn't find necessary to mention on a regular trip to town) and Ila read books and didn't pee her pants.

I decided on the way into town that we would shop at Fred Meyer this week instead of Winco. I thought that was a brilliant idea, because as much as I love Winco prices, I really don't like their produce, and if I have a bit of an odd thing on my list, they never have it. I had a few things on the list I figured they wouldn't have so Fred Meyer (FM) it was. In retrospect, going to an unfamiliar grocery store when the energy is down was probably not the BEST choice ever, since I actually had to LOOK for things (I could probably navigate Winco with my eyes closed) but we made do. They had everything on my list and I even got a freebie juicer thingy, which was nice. I was also glad that they bagged my groceries for me, a service not provided at Winco (but that is okay, it does keep prices down). I loaded my groceries into the cart and was a bit distracted by Ila trying to remove all the contents of my wallet, which she had grabbed out of the diaper bag that was just in her reach that I unknowingly forgot to get all of my bags.

We were ready for lunch and really wanting some fried rice, so after a few phone calls Ila and I ended up at a place close to FM and enjoyed some cheap, delicious Chinese food. Then we were homeward bound.

Trent was home for lunch when we got home so he unloaded all the groceries (in one trip, that buff, good looking husband of mine) for me while I laid Ila down for a nap. Usually I would have immediately started putting the groceries away, but I wanted to rest for a few minutes first. After about 30 minutes passed, I got up to put the groceries away and realized that I was missing a few items. Here is what happened in my head then:

1. oh no, I left the panda bag at the store (the panda bag is my FAVORITE bag we got in Korea and it holds LOTS of groceries).

2. I couldn't have left groceries at the store, trent must have missed a bag

3. no, i don't remember loading it in the back of the van, I KNOW I forgot it at the store.

So naturally I called Trent as I walked out to the van to check. "Babe, did you bring the panda bag in from the car?"

"Panda bag? The bag with the books to donate?"

"No, that panda bag with the groceries in it...."

"Um, there wasn't a panda bag in the back, sorry Nicole."

"awwwwwwww shit.... I left it at the store, I KNOW I did....k, thanks, love you, bye.

So, I call up FM and talk to a girl who says "yep we've got your bag. When can you come pick it up?" So I explain that I live far away yada, yada, yada and tell her I'll come get it today or tomorrow. Then I call Trent and ask him if he knows if anyone from work is currently in the tri-cities. He says no, and then has to go, because he is busy.

Then I realize that I didn't leave just the panda bag, but I left 3 cartons of eggs as well. So I call the girl at FM again and she says, "yep, we've got 3 bought and unclaimed cartons of eggs too, back in the cooler."

Then I remember that Trent has a co-worker that lives in the TC and who may stop on the way to work tomrrow and grab our groceries for us. So I call Trent and ask him to call that guy. Then, because God is awesome, I remembered that I had passed Earl on the way into the TC's, but it was HOURS ago. I knew Earl would be haeding back this way sometime today, since he lives on the farm. So I call Trent again and tell him that I knew Earl was in the TCs today, and maybe he hadn't left yet.

A few minutes later, Trent called me to tell me that Earl was eating at Jack in the Box, right across the street from FM, and he would gladly pick up our forgotten groceries. He also told me to call FM and let them know that Earl would be coming, and if they could have it all together that would be great. So I called the lovely girl and told her. She said "okay, great, what does he look like, so I make sure I give it to the right person?" "Well, his name is Earl and he looks like an older man, a farmer and........he doesn't have any front teeth" I say, a bit shamefully. "Okay, great, no front teeth, got it, we'll give him your groceries, have a nice day!"

So now the groceries are back on the farm, sitting in Trent's pickup, ready to come home. I'm going to make Earl some cookies (soft ones, Trent told me) to thank him for helping us out. I'm also just really thanking God for making it so easy to get all our groceries here today.

Oh, and I had a very lazy mom moment today at lunch. I knew I should take Ila to the bathroom before we left, but I didn't want to hassle with it. I figured she would wet her pants on the way home, and I would clean it up then. No, I'm not proud of that lazy moment, and I will fight the lack of gumption next time. HOWEVER, when we got home Ila was dry. She ran to the bathroom when I asked her if she needed to go and she REALLY went. She peed SO MUCH, I was SO proud of her for waiting till we got home! What a champ!

FUN!

I'm sure you would love to read about how Ila likes to to somersaults

or about how Aunt Telcia and Uncle Jon came to visit Ila (and Trent, and me).

You may even like to hear about Aunt Tawna visiting, with her kiddos

but so much fun was had by all that I can hardly begin to blog it! Thanks for visiting us, we sure had fun!!!

FIRE! 10 minutes, 5 things.

Last week we had a bit of a fire scare. It ended up not being a huge deal since it was put out quickly, but it could have been pretty terrible. I had a few minutes when I was not certain if our house would survive the fire, and I quickly began thinking of all the things I should grab and pack up to be ready to leave in case we did have to evacuate and our house burned up. These are the things I thought of:

-Trent and Ila's baby books

-My Great Grandma's bible

-the hard drive with several years worth of pictures on it

-as many cloth diapers that would fit in the diaper bag as possible

-my baby blanket and Ila's baby blanket that my Grams made

And that was it. Of everything in our house, those were the 5 things I thought of that I just had to grab. I find it humorous that cloth diapers were on the list because that is something very replaceable and if our house did burn down we could just get some disposable diapers at the nearest store. I guess it just goes to show how much we love cloth diapering!

I was really hoping that Trent would get home and help me save a cabinet that his dad made for his grandma, that holds the baby books and the bible, because the cabinet has a lot more special things in it as well, but I knew that if it weren't possible, I could just get the SUPER important things out!

Over the last few days I have thought of other things that would have been smart to grab (passports, birth certificates, marriage licence and similar things), but I've also thought "man we have a lot of stuff that I wouldn't even consider saving!" It sure makes me realize just how much we have and that I need to keep in check with my materialistic-ness, and what really is important (Jesus, family, relationships).

I also thought it would be fun to hear what YOU would save, so let's hear it! If there was a fire near or at your house and you had 10 minutes to grab 5 things (and your family, pets and any living member of your family was already in the car (and your keys are in the car too!) waiting to drive to safety), what would you grab? 10 minutes, 5 things. Ready, set, fire (hehehe, pun totally intended!)!!!

Hunting down some fun!

Trent's harvest is a bit unusual this season due to the mild spring. They didn't dig any potatoes last week (but don't worry folks, there was plenty of work to keep him busy!), and after they dig one field up over the next few days, they won't dig any for another 10 days. Then after that, it will be dig, dig, dig, till all the potatoes are up. Because of this, Trent has been able to spend some time with us here and there and we even had time for an adventure today!

Our church had a work weekend up near Yakima and held the church service there, so we decided that a 2+ hour drive for church was just not going to happen (and we wouldn't have made it anyway since Trent worked from 5:30am-9am). We were thinking about going to another church just for this week but decided to hunt down our own fun in the Tri-cities. By the time we made this decision, Ila was already showing signs of needing a nap, so we laid her down a bit earlier then usual and planned to leave when she got up. Trent got a little nap too and I got to relax, so it was a good plan. A few hours later we were off to Pasco to check out Country Mercantile. It was pretty exciting and I think we'll go there some other time and let Ila ride the carousal and the mini roller coaster and fun things like that.

Then we headed to The Playground of Dreams for some fun and for a trolley ride they have during the summer (.50 cents for kids and $1 for adults!). When we got to the playground we were SHOCKED by how busy it was. After we drove around and looked at all the people we decided that Ila would have more fun at the little kid play area in the mall, so off we went. We did some window shopping and then stopped in at Barnes and Noble and I read her books for 30 minutes or so. She loves books so much! Finally we made our way over to the play area and she had a BLAST. I missed most of it because I went off to make a purchase and to get us some dinner. She apparently let Trent know she was done playing by running out of the play area (the little stinker!).

We left the mall with dinner in tow and headed to Winco, where Trent dropped me off while he ran to Walgreen's and picked up a few things and to feed Ila some dinner. Once they picked me up we headed on home.

It was a great day with no pictures (because the camera battery was dead). I sure love spending time with my little family, they are the best!