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...

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...

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...

Well, Dingus won't be ridden for another few months. He won't take the saddle (to be honest I don't blame him, but he's handled everything else with such ease that I was surprised), he's actually starting to thicken and grow wider, and his height seems to be improving. He reaches his second birthday on July 24, and with all of his bodily changes and this roadblock, I've decided to reduce work sessions to twice a week, with a turnout with the saddle in the round pen on weekends to let him become accustomed to it. We did do some work with him last week, turning him out in the round pen for a couple hours with the saddle hanging on a panel for him to investigate. One day he was really shy and spooky so we also worked him individually, my husband and I did, and once his mind was a bit better had him stand parallel with the saddle and investigate it. It's the noise the large piece of equipment makes that throws him off. Squeaking and clanking and banging is qui...

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...

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...

Well, Monday marks two years of marriage for me and D. In that time, we've gotten a colt, gelded the colt, gotten a son, written a book, installed electricity and water in our home (yay!), installed a wood stove, installed a washing machine and dryer, repaired said dryer twice, had several work days, sold a horse, gone through three phones and one laptop between the two of us (and my third phone is suffering... oops), met Dustin Ellermann, gotten two dogs, gone through several cats (but managed to keep one), and gotten two more siblings between the two of us - via marriage and also birth. Our first niece or nephew is due early May. Through it all, we've stuck by each other and look forward to many more years together. We will be out of debt and have at least three months of expenses in an emergency fund by our third anniversary. So here's a selection of pictures from the last two years. This weekend, we're going away. Just for two days and one nig...

Thursday marked the first birthday for our little boy. The birthday party was Sunday. To commemorate, here is a picture-clogged post. And, today we got a new puppy. Meet Dakota! Half border collie half mutt. Little guy is Duke's new buddy. Tuesday, we get Dingus gelded. Then he gets a bit of a break from hard work for a couple weeks. Later today, my first video will be live on the YouTube channel All Things Baker! Look out!

Last week I got the idea to write up a post about my thoughts and body image in mothers. Before I got pregnant, I had fleeting thoughts that I might be a bit overweight, but at 105 pounds with no flab, those ideas were caused by youthful fantasies and stomach rolls caused by bending over. A lot of girls at my height and age can be lighter than 105, but they're also smaller boned and less muscular. But I didn't fret over it, because I knew I didn't need to lose weight. Anyway. I was a little disheartened to see the numbers on the scale go up every time I met the midwife, but I knew it was good. In the end, I gained 25 pounds, though 10 quickly came off. I am around 120 now, and I plan to get down to 110. There is no way I'll be back to 105, at least, not and be healthy. My body has been changed, and I don't expect it to be the perfect thing it was before Yance came along. That's a big thing, I think. Some women aren't happy with their post...