First Step: Acknowledging we're Preppers ;)

(Yours Truly, in 1992, visiting grandparents in Seattle and already rocking the one pant-leg up situation)

I will always be a city girl at heart, and I do get home sick. However, I was raised by a long line of pioneer-spirited women and do-it-youself-ers.

Anyway, I must have gotten an insane boost of the DIY bug, cause holy cow the last few weeks have been nuts!

^ Needed something for my kitchen, everything was too expensive (that I liked) and so I thought, well why not paint my own?

I think maybe it was that darn British Baking Show...

The date nut loaf... holy cow this sucker is gonna be a staple! Not too pretty to look at, but the tastiest thing ever.

It started with baking, then turned to meal prepping! I'm not a big meat person, and really neither was my family growing up. Not any belief thing this or that, we just cooked a lot more veggies and other protein sources. Anyway, I keep going back to Green Kitchen, and Thug Kitchen. Links in this .:Post:.

Bought me some dishwasher and microwavable prep trays, and it exploded. In fact, we are going on Week 3 of having every meal planned out and ready!

It has been the easiest and most life-changing thing for us between jobs and our toddler. (Wait, what? Did I just call Baby R a toddler?)

He's been awful clingy lately, but that doesn't stop me on Prep days! I actually dug around in his too-small and not-used-but-another-baby-someday boxes and grabbed my wrap again.

Oh. We stayed like this for an hour and a half.

...until R's nap time. Kicked up my feet, and realized I had two different color socks, haha! It's nuts even on my days off!

Speaking of what R and I do on our days off, I just try to keep him busy!

^ I love this picture of us!! Except my dang nose >.< Can you guess who whacked me in the face playing peek-a-boo with a bucket? Haha!

He still loves pulling on hair, strings, or yarn when he's calm.

^ He did this even at 3 months old!

^ Who needs lunch when you have snow?

This kiddo still loves the water! Sometimes he's surprisingly clean, but heck the tub's another fun play place, especially with bubbles and bath dyes.

This last weekend, we spent time with Austin's parents in Casper so R could see his grandparents. They suggested the National Historic Trail's Interpretive Museum .:Here:. and it was really really fun for us, and our on-the-go little man. He loved the buffalo skin, "crossing the Platte River" simulator, and of course a lot of these stories are the stories of my LDS pioneer family.

Other things I've been up to:

^ Starting a vertical garden / Patio veggie garden

^Finishing my own personal scrub caps.

^ (An older photo but this is what they look like when done!)

^ Sewing a Millenial Grandma gunny-sack style dress

^Learning new songs on the Ukelele

^ And been scheduling/planning upcoming battery replacement surgery. (History on that in .:this:. post.) I'm slowly but surely running out of juice! I'm hoping this next time I can get rechargeable ones. They are expensive and not given the first installment because they aren't 100% sure the DBS surgery will be successful. Plus we were in college and didn't have much.

I have to laugh, all my information kits and guide booklets are all 55+ people! Maybe I am a true Millenial Grandma! Bionic Grandma?

I am the proudest sister too, btw cause my little sister decided she was going to pick Dystonia as her genetics project! How neat is that? I look up to her, and her sincerity as her older sister :)

Cut to yesterday and today, R was diagnosed with RSV for the second time. He had it at 3 months actually just days after the hair-stroking picture was taken. Back to Nebs, steroids, and antibiotics for the concurrent ear infections, and no daycare until Tuesday (because sharing isn't always caring... WASH YOUR HANDS TOO BTW! xoxo)

Today was an eat-out day, and of course we picked Sapporo :) R needed to get out of the house, he turns into a wild little man if not. (We stayed away from people though, lots of hand-sanitizer...) R finally started eating okay when the miso soup and mushroom soup was served. We then got him some feel-betters at Walmart really quickly, including pedialyte, raspberries, and a new ball. He LOVES squishy things and to play with bouncy balls. What better than that weird little blue ball? We are both so happy to see him smiling today!