Tomorrow is the big day!!

Tomorrow I will be saying goodbye to Facebook for a while. How long, I don't know. What I do know is that it has taken up way too much time in my life. Time that I should be spending with my daughter, husband, house etc.

Tuesday afternoon we departed for Michagen. I spent the day cleaning, packing and attempting to keep my daughter, who decided to be awake from 1-4 that morning, awake. 4pm rolled around and we were pulling out the driveway. I was so nervous for how Olivia would do in the car. She did amazing. She was awake for a little while and fell fast asleep just north of the cities and proceeded to sleep until Duluth. It was late when we got to Duluth but Olivia enjoyed seeing the "BIG SHIPS" and Christmas lights on the drive. It was so nice to talk with Joel. I realized we don't spend that much time actively communicating during a week. I read a statistic that the average married couple only spend 47 minutes actively communicating per week! Wow... We arrived in Ironwood just after 9pm making very good time. We checked into the motel and Olivia was determined to go "Swimming" in the hot tub before it closed at 10. We were able to get our toes wet which was nice after such a long car ride.

The night was really tough, Olivia didn't fall asleep until just before one. Joel's CPAC machine is broken so he didn't have it with which left about an hourish of sleep for me. I was in a haze all morning. It was nice to see the cousins at the funeral. Grandpa Anthony was having a very hard time which was hard to see. We  left just after lunch and started our commute back to the Cities. I drove this time and it was nice once again talking with Joel. We talked and talked and talked, Olivia fell asleep quickly in the back seat and before we knew it we were back North of the cities.

We made an impromptu put stop in Forest Lake at my cousin Tammy's and met her new son Cole! He was so adorable and it was really nice to just relax and not drive anymore. We eventually got home just after seven, about 7 hours traveling for the day and it was so nice to be home.

Olivia's schedule is very off in terms of sleeping which happens with the Holidays. But I'm hoping that we can reset it a little tonight. These 11 or later bedtimes are getting hard! Even with her sleeping in until ten. We're having a little trouble with her meds for her ears.. She doesn't like to take them.

I'm looking forward to my time away from Facebook, it's time to recenter. Prepare for the baby arrival in April and spend time with Olivia and Joel. So many hours spent looking at a website... I feel terrible that I have let it get to this point. Wishing all of you out there in cyber land a good night and a happy new year. I am extremely excited for what 2011 has in store for our family!

God Bless,

Love,
The Kangas Family.

Facebook, funerals, double ear infections and then some..

The holidays were relaxing this year. Did I just say that, Holidays = Relaxing. Normally Joel and I are carting Olivia to so many Holidays by the end of the 4 day Christmas time stretch we just want it to be done and over. This year was so different. My dad's family got together a few weeks prior. It wasn't the same but it was GREAT at the same time! Joel's Kangas side did not get together with the extended family this year. Instead we had fun at his parents eating appetizers and chowing down on Tacos while watching Disney Movies. We did decide to not go to the Zaine (my mom's side) Christmas this year. Olivia doesn't do as well with this grouping and it just gets to be a ball of stress for me. I literally broke down in tears last time. Wasn't happening again. Although we missed seeing that side of the family it was very nice to just have a relaxing Christmas day. My entire family was able to take a nap! This NEVER happens.. It was so nice!!!

Joel caught a bad cold and is finally getting better, just in time for Olivia and I to catch it. She woke up yesterday saying, "Mommy, my ear hurts soo bad!" Instantly knew ear infection. Sure enough, it's a double ear infection. She's been on antibiotics now since 4pm and is doing much better. We were up for a marathon 12-3:45ish this morning but I'm hoping it will work out well and cause her to sleep in the car ride today.

My grandmother passed away New Years Eve and the funeral is tomorrow in the Upper Peninsula of Michagen. 5 hours up 5 down. I'm hoping that Olivia is going to do all right for the drive. We have borrowed my mom's car DVD player which is a huge lifesaver for long trips. I've got a slew of DVD's ready for this afternoon and laundry/cleaning is going in attempts to get the house looking somewhat decent before we leave today. Running on minimal sleep and a cold brewing I'm hoping the drive is also going to be nice to me! We went to Wausau the day after Christmas and Olivia did fantastic. The drive back I was in the backseat watching movies with her and came to the conclusion that we definitely need a pillow back there! I'm hoping to stop a few times on the way up, just to stretch my legs, walk around etc. Long drives have been one of the tough things for me this pregnancy..

Which leads me to Facebook. I'm hopelessly addicted to it. I was prior to staying home and now being home all day I've viewed it as my link to the outside world when in all honesty it's a way to throw time down the drain. So much time I should be spending with my daughter. I gave up Facebook for Lent last year and the plan was to do the same this year. Then I realized that this was the same as saying I'll work out two weeks from now, or start walking the dog more regularly NEXT month.. New years resolution is a much better goal. It's going to be a huge year for us and I need to be preparing Olivia, the house, everything for it. So for a while I will be saying goodbye to Facebook. I hope this is like other things I have given up in the past. Cable TV for example. The first few weeks were terrible and then it wasn't so bad. I will miss everyone and keeping up with them, but we still have emails and phones.

With that I wish you all a Happy New Year. Please say a prayer for us today that the drives go smoothly and safely.

God Bless,

Love,

The Kangas Family.

Christmas..

What happened to Christmas? People are so worried about buying this gift and that gift they are not taking time to slow down and enjoy the season!! Today in Apple Valley cars were whipping around corners like crazy.. One nearly plowed my daughter down in a crosswalk.. Seriously people. Driving like mad men isn't going to get you there that much faster.. I'm very grateful to be able to stay home for the rest of today. Maybe make another Christmas dish. It's sad to see what this Holiday has come to. I wish people could slow down and appreciate it. Maybe god will send us another snow storm and snow us in for a few days..


God Bless,

The Kangas Family.

Wow.. It's been a while!!

Life has been really great! Joel helped me to finish painting two out of the last three rooms in our house! It's such a blessing to have them done! The basement is my new favorite place in the house. Olivia's playroom turned out adorable and my dad bought Olivia art for Christmas which just finished the room to a T! I picked up paint last weekend to finish the dresser. It was very poorly painted with a black crackle finish on the drawer fronts but is a BEAUTIFUL sturdy dresser. I'm going to paint the bottom black and pick up some new drawer pulls and that is going to go in the nursery upstairs. Then we'll move the other dresser back down. :)

The house has really come a long way in the past few weeks. I've been working on major decluttering. Call is nesting, call it whatever you want but wow. I am known to keep onto things for much too long. And these past few weeks it's been the opposite, if we aren't using it or don't plan to it goes two one of two places, garbage or donation. Which leads me to my next realization, it's a lot easier to keep a house clean when you have less stuff!!


I've been going to the gym about 5 times a week, last weekend I wasn't as good as I should have been with my working out but today I hopped right back in and had a great workout. I have a workout DVD I'm hoping to try this afternoon if the little one allows :). I feel so much better having started to work out. My back pain has decreased probably 75% which is amazing, I have more energy and I'm in a much much better mood!!! Working out is my "me" time. Something that I had lost in the last year. I look back on my pre-pregnancy pictures and think, "How did I let myself get to that point?" I just can't believe I let it go on so long. I'm so much healthier now that I am working out and I'm also a better mother for it. I have so much more patience and have so much more energy to keep up with my EXTREMELY active 2 1/2 year old.

Speaking of Olivia, in the past month or so we cut out naps. Olivia's friend Norah is a LOT like her and her parents had done the same thing so we decided to try it. Wow does it ever make a difference. It's like having two different children! Before I was struggling for 2+ hours to get her to take a nap, which she would then sleep much too late and not want to go to sleep until 10-11pm.. She's two... That's a VERY late bedtime even though we would start the process around 8pm... Now she goes down relatively quickly and sleeps between 10-12 hours. I have had time with my husband, time to sleep, time to clean in the morning or just to enjoy a cup of coffee. Things I didn't realize I missed so much.

Christmas cards are in the mail, the people in the AV area should be getting them today, most other people tomorrow. I'm still very frustrated with Petco and them not returning my 4+ calls/messages about my photo order being incorrect. Gotta love it!

We're off to the grocery store. Big cooking day for us! Ham, twice baked potatoes and bacon wrapped green beans!! Yummm!!!!

God Bless and Merry Christmas to all!!!

Love,

The Kangas Family.