a trip back home

home, home on the range.

where the deer and the toddler boys play.

literally.

 [roman and my cousin katie's son hudson]

we love going back home to nebraska.

i know i say it all the time, but we have beautiful, huge, amazing families.

they love us and support us and when we are back home it just feels so GOOD!

we love kansas city, but there's something about having your family love on your children.

it's bliss.

my mom and her sisters all live in the same little town of 1200 people.

so when we go back, we get to see so many aunties and cousins :)

i'm so happy that roman is starting to develop relationships with them.  

i have countless memories growing up with my cousins, i so badly desire that for him!

archer was the star of the show.

here he is just chillaxin on gma while we sip some wine :)

we had a bbq at my mom's house one night, and i dont think i saw the kid once.

he just got passed from one beautiful cousin to the next :)

 

roman didn't get left out either, i mean, the dude has his gma's wrapped around his finger.

every day he would wait by gma linda's window to see if his uncle cam would walk over after school!

it was the cutest little site to see.

he even got to help gpa kurt plant some corn

and sweet aunty cousin Vanessa chased him around for hours

i didn't really want to leave nebraska.

 i didn't want to come home to my strange new house.

i didn't want to be alone with my little boys.

i didn't think i could do it.

it was so easy to be back "home".

archer loved it......

romy loved it...

and i loved it.

and while we were there, this little dude turned one month! 

but, alas, home to KC we had to go.

and let me tell ya. it was quite the drive.

archer screamed a lot, 

so then roman screamed, "get me outta here!!!"  and "mom!! otcha's cryin!!!"

yikes.

it was a doozy.

but soon enough we were back home.

ready to take on a new month, welcome MAY!

and welcome foot massages.

11 days of christmas

i know, i know.

enough with the mid-january christmas posts.

but we went to nebraska for 11 days.

and i need to tell you about it!

i'll go really fast, ok?

ok!

i think i will use a "letter to roman" to narrative this lovely photo dump.

dear roman,

it was a thursday morning, and i packed up our car, we were headed back "home"!

daddy was going to join us on saturday, but you and i? we couldn't wait!

your aunt liza and cousins charlotte and hazel were already there, and we just had to join them :)

so, amongst the road closures because of the blizzard that had just concluded, we navigated our way home.  you actually slept for about 2.5 of the 5 hours that we were on the road!

but the other 2.5 hours were filled with your favorite, and totally boring to me, non-fiction john deere tractor movies and construction machine movies.

thanks to you, dear romy, i know when the john deere dozer was invented, why it was invented and where.  {something to do with orchards, and yakama, washington}

anyways, we made it "home" and the party got started.

because, hey, we like to party.

1.  beautiful {um, holycow beautiful} beautiful snowy view out my window, on our drive home
2. tryin out your new snow gear at mommy's aunt marce's house.  she's really your great aunt, but you call her aunt marce.  and you also ask to go to her house every single day.
3. there's hazel.  she was taking a bath in the sink :)
4. oh, that?  that's a massive train table that you were obsessed with at gma abbi's house.  you played with uncle cameron and the trains.  and then cameron said you could have it!  so now we have it at our house!  i think he's too old for it now :)
5. ahhh, yes.  that's you with daddy's "sone" {you can't say your "f's" yet}  you are obsessed with daddy's "sone" and can successfully pull up a digger, loader, or dumptruck video all on your own.
6. and there.  it began.  our first of many christmases.  though you can't tell, while you are playing nicely with a dozer and an excavator (i know, listen to me and my construction knowledge!) there were over 50 people in mommy's aunt elaine's house.  you did great!  until you had a meltdown.  then daddy took you back out to his mom's house, so you could go to sleep.  you like sleeping at gma abbi's house because you have a crib in the basement and it's pitch dark!

1.  oh, there's hazel again!  all of these next photos are from our christmas with gma linda and gpa don, in the hotel!  you gave hazel that fluffy hat and mittens for christmas!
2. you had so much fun with charlotte :)  she likes to kiss you and tickle your ear, and you usually don't like it, but you're getting better and telling her that.  she just loves you SO much!
3. you ate lots of cookies.  you were on a silly sugar high one night until after 10pm!
4. there's hazel, charlotte, and aunt liza singing on charlotte's new microphone!  they're gonna be in a band someday.  i think you'll be their biggest fan :)
5. the rest of the pictures in this little group are self explanatory.  mommy's getting tired of typing :)

 after our hotel stay with mommy's family, we went to have christmas with daddy's family!  which means pack up our bags again, and go to another house, and another hotel!  you were a trooper :)  and, well, you LOVE swimming, so you were psyched to spend more time in the pool!

we ended our week with a haircut by megan!  she's mommy's cousin.  you call her aunt megan.  mommy is really close with her cousins so they are practically your aunts too :)

and then, mommy played a wild game with a bunch more of her cousins.  they were laughing so hard, i think some of them pee'd their pants.

you were getting pretty worn out by the last two days, but romes, you were such a trooper!

i counted up and we stayed at:

2 different houses, 3 different hotels, and we had 5 christmas celebrations to attend!

we are so blessed little romy, we have such big families that love us SO much!

every single day, you ask me "can i go to gma linda's house?" and "can i go to aunt marce's house?" and "can i go to hudson's house?" and "can i go to gma abbi's house?"

it breaks my heart that we can't just pick up and head to their houses, 

but we live in kansas city.

and we needed to come back home.

we'll start counting down until our next visit!

who knows, we'll probably have a little baby to take with us that time :)

love, 

your momma!

we love "home"

so. last month we went to nebraska.

'we', as in me and romes.

mr leif had a fishing trip planned, and i wasn't about to sit at home all weekend with romy, inhaling the cool air from the ac vent and eating 56 popsicles a day, just to keep me from throwing up.

nope.

we snuck off and didn't tell anyone.

actually, we were sent off with smooches from mr leif, & our families were ready for us when we arrived :)  

so i guess, my family knew and mr leif's family knew.  but really, no one else.

it was kind of fun to be secretive. and it was really nice to not have to feel the pressure i put on myself to try see e.v.e.r.y.o.n.e. that makes up our huge extended family and friend circles.

it was nice just to go home.  and be home.  and not have to drive all over. just, be home.

i put my big girl boots on and drove the 4.5 hours back to the good life.

it was lovely drive.  

full of truck movies, mcdonalds (see the sack on the left?), sour candy, and random toys being thrown through the air.  such sweet times.  

romy gobbled up all the farm had to offer.  he loves his gma abbi, toltin (uncle colton), tamrin (uncle cameron), and PAPA!  i mean, really.  it was practically a toddler boys taste of heaven seeing papa's farm.  romes could hardly contain himself when he got to sit INSIDE each of papa's trucks and tractors.

yes, 2 semi trucks, tractors, combines, forklifts, bobcats, loaders, pickup trucks

oh and toltin has "2 biiiiiiiiig cows".  seeing the cows alone caused him to practically pee his pants.

i mean, diaper.

i think romy was born for the farm.  we'll just have to be better about getting back there more often.

maybe i should get a mini van.  i mean. i will be toting two kids here before long.

HA.

{and i had no pictures of anything that went on above.  i was just trying not to puke on the farm.  i didn't feel very good that day.  i could have cared less about yankin my phone out ever 2 minutes like i normally do.)

...

we spent the rest of the weekend at my parent's house.  

they took us to gourmet restaurants such as the american legion.  {no really, it's pretty tastey}

and thriving kid favorites like the sutton city park.

roman thought the park was basically disneyland.

this tank?

this "biiiiiiiiiiiiiig tink"

well.  let me just say, hot stuff mc hotterson must not have a fear of heights.

 this momma had a bit of nostalgia, as we walked up the hill (romes on gma's shoulders) to look at the big swimming pool.  i very seriously explained to romy that this pool meant a lot to mommy.  

it's where she held her first real job (other than baby sitting or detasseling)

it's where she created her first list of future baby names (of which none of them she'd use now)

and i'll share one of those beauties: kamma rae. HA!???? sounds like a rapper or something.  oh dear. 

ok, i think lexis was also on there. HA. oh my......  i wish i still had that list

and it's where she used to watch mr leif drive by on his way home from lifting weights, or playing bball, or whatever else he did in town.  because the pool was on the same street that he took to go home.  and every single time she would wish he would stop and come inside to say hi. 

and every single time he didn't.  but it's ok.  

he played hard to get.  [actually he was just shy and didn't really want to be all loveydovey like some high school romances were back then]  

he liked to make sure we were "keeping our space"

HA!  look where that got him?  hitched with 2 kids :)  [and we're still madly in love hehe]

and, also, it's where she earned all those lines around her eyes when she smiles.  she never really wore sunscreen and she liked the idea of getting a tan.  whoops.  

[speaking of, anyone have any miracle eye cream out there for me??]

oh it was so nice to be home, romy.

i laid on the couch a lot, eating food.  and you played with gma and papa.

it's pretty nice having someone else love on your kid for a bit :)

sometimes here in KC i feel like it's all up to me, to keep things going.

i know that's silly talk.

because, 

i have an amazing, loving, selfLESS husband who embarrassingly (to me) does more around the house at times, than i do.

i have a loving heavenly father who is ready to carry my burdens, as soon as i release them at His feet.

but still, 

i try to carry it all on my shoulders.

and when i'm back home.  and when there are grammies around to take care of romy?

i get to sit back a bit. and rest.

 and lick all of my momma's homemade caramel off my fingers.

and then.  before long, reality snaps into play.

we're back on the road home.  to our other home.

kansas city here we come.

but,

not before a quick mommy/roman date at pizza the hut.

it's a great halfway point.

a great place to stretch our legs.

and a great place to consume cheese pizza. 

and noodles for romes. (i was trying to decide if that was healthier for him than cheese pizza.  HA who am i kidding)

. . .

an awesome trip home.

family is such a blessing :)

thegoodlife.

nebraska is nicknamed "the good life"

and for me, because it's where our family lives, i nickname it "the extra good life"

trips home mean that uncle colton takes us to the farm

it means he takes romes up in the big machines.  backhoes? those are romy's dream. 

 it means petting the cows with grammy. or, ehhh. ahem.... the BULL.  {with a nose ring} so stylish.

 it means being carried across all the cow patties. nice.

and it means trips to town in the morning, dropping uncle cam off at school!

...

it means we get to visit momma's cousin kate :)  and romy gets to play in hudsons backyard.

{while mommy and katie sunbathe, and eat 5 rice crispy bars. each.}

 and, it means mommy gets to love up on wittle baby pieper :)

...

it means, exciting trips over to our other grammys! {just about 15 minutes away!}

(although, back in our dating days, i could make it over to mr leif's house in 10, totes)

and it means eating a schmorgesborg of nummy foods at grammys.

and putting our lions down for a nap on our plates.

it means i get to take roman out exploring.

{i grew up in a huge quaint village of 38 people}
...

ahhhh, yes.

and it means daytime dates for us two love birds.

when romes is with the grammys? mom and dad get to stuff their face with mexican food.

...

and of course, it means roman doesn't always sleep the best {hoppin from place to place}
so often times he "gets" to sleep with momma.

but, hmmmmph, that only goes well for one of us.

{and it's not me}
...

and then, yes, it means we come back home.
and unload everything.
and instantly our house becomes a disaster.
which instantly puts me in a really good mood.
obvi.

wink.