Transplanted in Texas

Well. My first blog post will be up on The Baker's Help Meet on Wednesday. That means this post right here, the 118th, is the final one at Transplanted In Texas. We've covered a lot in the two-plus years I've been blogging here. From my wreck with Sneaky within the first month, to the pregnancy and birth of Yance, the journey to financial security (of which we are on step 3 of 7), the writing of a book, the loss of not one but TWO family members in less than two months' time last year...., and the blessing of a second pregnancy and anticipated birth. The journey continues over at The Baker's Help Meet , where I will try my best to show you how I am a happy, contented, joyful, madly-in-love wife and mother - and how you can be, too (y'know, if you're a woman who wants to be like that). It will be less personal, less scatter-brained, and more focused on keeping the family healthy, learning to handle money, training children, and stealing your husband...

We got up to my parents' place Thursday night, and Yance was promptly put to bed. He hadn't even bothered to fall asleep on the way up! Wow! So... he was so tired on Friday that he fell asleep during lunch. I can't remember if he's done that before... if he has, it's been quite a long time! Poor kid. Friday afternoon, I was with KMarie. We went to the jeweler's and got her ring cleaned real quick. Then we picked up a petticoat for her dress. And I was there while she had lunch with her fiance. It wasn't too bad, but when she and a bridesmaid got their nails done, it took forever. Ack. Lol I keep my nails too short to bother getting them prettied up, and besides I hate the smell of a nail salon. Ah, well. I did enjoy being with her, though, and helping where I could. Missing Mommy But, we made it to rehearsal on time, and finally got to see my sweetheart and son again at the supper. Yance and D both missed me a lot, which I expected, but I am gla...

As of this publication, I am in my hometown preparing for a wedding. Hubby took the day off, and we came up last night. And tomorrow is the wedding that has been waited on for several months. Yance gets to wear a new outfit, I get to actually wear a maternity dress suitable for this, and hubby will look as handsome as ever in his jeans and button-down shirt. This whole week has been busy, preparing for this event and also doing a checkup on the baby. Sunday morning we went shopping, getting home in time to put the groceries away and then go to Ma's for lunch. While there, we finished adjustments on my dress, and spent the rest of the day chill-axing. It was a good ending to the weekend, and a good way to rest for the upcoming crazy week. Plus Yance lost his pacifier somewhere in the house, so now he's officially weaned from that. I was fixing to do it anyway, so that's one way to get it done. Thanks, kid. Monday, I was washing and folding all the clothing we would n...

Yancey Lane has been helping me with lots of things these past few weeks. Laundry, dishes, cooking, and cleanup. So today, here is a photographic record of the little man's accomplishments while helping me. Oh. And he learned a new word on Sunday. "Cracker"! July 20 - licking the fork after helping me during multiple stages of making brownies This is only a sample of what he's been doing. He's been throwing away trash on command for us for a long time now, as well as putting away his toys before bed and assisting me with cooking and laundry (and putting away clean laundry!) many times over the past month. His department in the laundry is to haul small items to the laundry room - and put whites in the white hamper, since it's the only one he can reach right now. For clean laundry, he puts folded socks in the basket and helps me carry baskets of folded clothes to the appropriate room to put away. And for dishes, his job is to put the clean silver...

My husband and I have been married for two years and two months (and ten days, but who's counting.... 😄). When I think about that, it feels unbelievable. Has it really only been twenty-six months? It feels like we've known each other and been married forever! In the short time we've been married - this whirlwind adventure that never seems to stop for a moment - I have learned many things, and matured and grown as a woman, wife, and now mother. I married when I was just a crazy, starry-eyed eighteen year old. Now, I'm a crazy, madly in love twenty year old, but hey. I'm growing up. Even though growing up never seems to end - you just keep on growing mentally in one way or another. So. I fell in love at seventeen, married at eighteen, was a mother at nineteen, and baby number two will be here while I'm still twenty. And I couldn't be happier. I have always admired my man. He is my rock in this world, and it is an honor to be so trusted and loved! I...

...now what do we do with this extra money? Hehe. For thirteen months, we've been pouring out the thousands of dollars needed to get our loan paid off. And finally, on Wednesday, my father-in-law, who could do this because he had to co-sign the loan, handed them a signed blank check. Signed by my husband, from our own account. And with that, we became debt free. It is an enormous weight off our shoulders, for about 30 cows were riding on that loan. If we hadn't paid it off - or if we hadn't been able to keep up with paying interest off every year - they would've been taken as collateral. Today that worry is gone. So. Now, what? Well, we've got a few things to buy, like air conditioners (the two window units we have can't keep up), and other miscellaneous items we've been holding off on. We need to pay the midwife. And have her completely paid by October 30 (36 week appointment). Not too big a deal, but just something we definitely need ...

We haven't been up to my hometown in a very long time. More than six months. Last year, we visited almost every month, but this year we've been pinching pennies in several ways to make our July 4 debt free goal. And so, we finally will make the trip up this weekend. We are leaving tonight, and we will come home Sunday night. Next week, we will have our debt down from $4100 to at least $500 - hopefully less. And we will have that knocked out in the last week of June. We are excited and setting our eyes to the next step along our way! But that's a story for another day. This weekend, we will be enjoying ourselves, enjoying the mini vacation with my family, and I, personally, will be glad to be away from home for a couple days with several babysitters. Aka siblings. Yance won't enjoy being strapped to his seat for three hours, six hours round trip, but I'm planning on bringing plenty of toys to entertain him. And, hopefully, he will sleep some of the way. I spent...

This week is an update on several parts of our lives. Debt: no tax return; had to pay because I screwed up on the paperwork and didn't realize we had taxable income (oops) partly because we didn't last year. Sold cows yesterday at auction and will get the check within the next few days. Praying that they sold for more than expected. Will definitely get the debt paid off by our goal date regardless. Baby: starting to roll around and make its presence known! Looks like it could be a spunky kid and give Yance a run for his money. We're almost at 15 weeks now (June 3), and we'll visit the midwife again on June 12. Marriage: never better. I love my sweetheart! Sneaky: still here. Argh. Nobody wants him. We're making plans for next year should he fail to sell. There is still an ad on EquineNow that will stay through August before it gets taken down permanently. Dingus: it's been too hot to work in the afternoon so I haven't touched him this week. Regardless, ...

Last weekend, Kmarie of Dreamer's Essence  was here to hang out, go over wedding stuff with me (I am a bridesmaid in her August wedding), and catch up. She hasn't been out here in a year. She showed up Friday night and left Saturday evening, so she could be back in time to get some sleep and play piano for the church choir back home. And, of course, be home for Mother's Day. So, we started Saturday off by eating waffles (Yance was delighted), and then rode Jack and played with Dingus (video here ). Yance even got his first real ride with me! After that, we went over some wedding stuff, then she made us salad for lunch. D was off helping family with firewood gathering and that sort of thing, and didn't get back until closer to 4pm. We made chicken parmesan for supper, and soon after that she was on her way home. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and can't wait to be back in her area to see my family and hers next month. Sunday was Mother's Day, and D got me a...

Springtime isn't cool and pretty with some showers down here. Nope. It is crazy, with days in the 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s and nights in the 30s and 40s and maybe 50s. And then it suddenly decides it's summertime, with 85-95 degree temperatures ruling May. And lots of wind blowing the pollen around. Awesome. I'm glad we don't have crazy allergies. Whew. June means 100 degree weather starts getting here - or maybe it is just a continuation of May. Either way, June 1 means summer, even if it doesn't officially  get here until late that month. Springtime in Texas means pouring rain, crazy weather, green grass, blooming flowers, babies of all species, and unpredictability. Also it means Yance wants to spend all his time outside. We went to our first reenactment in a year last weekend, and Yance thoroughly enjoyed spending 36 hours or so outside in the sun and shade. We had fun, too, with D ending up on a 3 mile march with his group on Sunday. I cooked brunch on...

Finally. Nearly two years in, I get to my one hundredth post. In that time, I have covered love, loss, gain, goals, ups, downs, children, horses, cats, dogs, marriage, and life. And over the next one hundred posts, I will essentially be doing the same thing. For I have a horse to train, a child to raise, another one on the way, a husband to keep, and life to live. This week the cows thought our yard was better than their pasture - and then also decided to go break into the hay field off our yard. So. Now we have finally done repairs on the fence and that shouldn't be a problem. Can you believe it's already been a year and a half? The horses have been assigned the job of mowing our yard since the dogs decided our machine mower was a toy. Really they need 24/7 turnout, because they haven't gotten very far. And the dogs keep pestering them and driving me crazy. Duke in particular likes to annoy the heck out of Dingus. He's been kicked and chased and still kee...

Two children, two completely different pregnancies. With Yance, I was in bed for most of weeks five through sixteen.  With this little one, I am cleaning house, working Dingus, playing with and training Yance, and still hanging out with my husband. And all I need to do to keep from getting overtly nauseous is eat a little bit often, drink water regularly, and start winding down at 6pm. I am a little more tired than usual but not a whole lot. I get up sometime between 8 and 9 (usually it depends on Yance - sometimes he likes to get up long before I am ready to rise), and use the morning to clean house and do different chores, taking breaks to play with my one year old. Naptime is after lunch, during which Yance sleeps and I work Dingus - or sleep, depending on how my belly is feeling on that particular day. And then he gets a snack, and I rest and putter around a little bit. When D gets home, I either start supper or have it ready. And he practices hi...

The Y.D. & R.K. Baker family came into existence on March 26, 2016. It grew on March 8, 2017, with the birth of a son, Yancey Lane. And this November, it will grow again. Yance will become a big brother around the time of hubby's birthday, and Thanksgiving will be a fun time of year. So far, this pregnancy has been a lot easier to handle than Yance was, for with him nausea kept me confined to bed a lot. This time around, I can clean house and keep everybody cared for and fed. We're all excited about baby #2. We don't care if it's a boy or a girl, and my only fear is that there is more than one, although that is unlikely. D and I couldn't be happier, and I look forward to having a little one again. Yance will be happy to have somebody to play with - though the wait will be a bit longer than he would like. Lol babies don't get born ready to clobber and be clobbered by a one year old. We will be a family of four by our third anniversary. And...

I drowned my phone on Monday. I was trying to get out of the tub and dropped it in there. At first, we thought it might recover, but it didn't. And so, I have been communicating to friends and family on my laptop, and through my husband's phone. I actually don't miss it all that much, so I guess it's not a priority to get a new one. I rather enjoy being phone-less. Father and son a couple weeks ago The weather has been wet and also sunny this week, and with Easter on Sunday it looks like we'll be dealing with soggy ground. Fun. We get anniversary pictures taken this weekend. That will be fun! The horses have spent a lot of time in the yard this week, mowing it down and enjoying the juicy grass. We're still recovering from the weekend trip. I'm pretty sure that Yance and I both appreciate healthier foods, as we've been dealing with rather upset stomachs - though I have greatly improved and he only dealt with it in the middle of the night. A...