2018 Rewind

How about a little trip down memory lane?

2018 started with confirmation that another little Pettigrew was on the way.  Of course we had Brecken make the announcement.

On March 2nd we found out that #2 would be a boy!  We let Brecken make that announcement as well.

We decided that it had been awhile since Joe and I had visited his family in New Mexico, so in April we loaded up the truck and began our journey.  Embarking on an 1,100+ mile trip 6 months pregnant with a toddler is gusty...or crazy.  I'll let you decide which. We knew that it would be a slow trudge, so we decided to make the most of our travels and sight see along the way.  There are some neat places in SD that we wanted to visit, and we figured now was the time.  We intend to put the Dakota's in our rear view mirror when we leave here.

Our first stop was Deadwood, SD.  It reminded me a lot of Park City.  It had that old time feel with shops, restaurants and bars lining both sides of main street.  It was snowing and cold, so we did not spend a lot of time walking around.  We found a place to eat and hurried as quickly as possible to get inside.  Based on recommendations from the hotel we decided to eat at Saloon No. 10.  It was made famous when American Old West legend Wild Bill Hickok (who I myself am not familiar with) was assassinated while playing a game of poker.  Exciting huh?  The restaurant above the bar was delicious, and we had a good time wandering around looking at all of the memorabilia.

This was taped to the elevator going up to the restaurant.  They are not messing around.

Once we arrived in Clovis, we spent the first few days with Joe's mom Sherry (aka Honey Gram).  She had her spare room all set up for Brecken with a cute tent and TONS of Joe's old toys.  Needless to say; Brecken was in heaven.

We visited the Clovis zoo and as usual, Brecken was more interested in the lawnmowers and construction equipment than the actual zoo animals.

There was a tractor show at the fairgrounds while we were there, so OF COURSE we had to visit that.  I have learned so much about trucks, tractors and construction vehicles over the past year.

The last few days of our trip we spent with Joe's dad and step-mom.  Brecken had a blast running around the backyard with Papa and drawing all over their driveway.  He also got to sit in his Uncle Mike's police car. 

Overall we had a great visit with family and got to eat some amazing food (because we all know that's my main priority).  Brecken had fun and got to spend time with his grandparents, which made the 3 days of driving totally worth while.

On our way home we decided to spend our first night in Longmont, Colorado.  Due to a severe snow storm (that's right, a severe snow storm in almost mid-April) hitting the Dakota's and parts of Wyoming we decided to extend our stay in Longmont an additional day.  We took advantage of the proximity to Denver and visited the aquarium.  It was just us and about 20 school buses full of children.  It was crowded!  We barreled our way through the masses to take in all of the aquatic life.

We ended the day at the best ice cream store.  It was some of the best ice cream I've ever had.  See...it's all about the food for me.

The final stop on our return home was Mt. Rushmore.  Neither of us had ever been, so we needed to check that off the old bucket list.  It was really cold, but that meant the crowds were small.  We came, we took some pictures, and visited the gift shop.  All in all, I think we were there for about 30 minutes.  It was sufficient.  

When we got back to our warm hotel room we told Brecken we could visit the pool.  He loves swimming, so that was the perfect end to his vacation.  Joe and I were happy to survive the 3 day drive home and promised ourselves we wouldn't be doing that again any time soon.

Shortly after returning home we decided it was time to move Breck to a big boy bed.  We wanted to give him ample time before the baby came to adjust.  I had found directions online for an adorable house bed frame and Joe agreed to build it.  I have to give him major props for seeing it through!  The directions were not very well written, and not 100% correct.  He made adjustments as necessary and it turned out SO CUTE!  My contribution was to paint it.  We got him car sheets, a wee little pillow, and topped it off with a truck quilt my grandma made for him.  He slept in it maybe twice, then spent the next several months sleeping on the floor by his door.  He just started sleeping in it regularly a couple of months ago.

We celebrated our 3rd Anniversary.  When I think about all of the life changes we've had since saying "I do", I'm a little surprised that it's only been 3 years.  We've had 2 kids, moved out of state and had dramatic career changes.  

Brecken turned 2!  His obsession with construction vehicles was already well established, so we decided to use that as the theme.  I made his cake and luckily it was supposed to look like a big dirt pile because it was certainly not the prettiest thing I've ever made.  He loved it!  Well, he loved the construction vehicles on it.  He of course got totally spoiled (mostly by grandparents) and loved every minute of it!

My parents arrived in early July to hang out and wait for baby #2 to make his appearance.  They were beginning their big retirement tour of the country and arrived with their palace on wheels.  We used the time before Sawyer came to eat out (Joe & I actually got to go on a couple of dates) and enjoy Minot in the summer.  We went to the zoo where Breck fed the giraffes!  I was a little concerned they would terrify him (sometimes the goats freak him out), but he was a champ!  

Our best, most dramatic event of 2018 occurred on July 16th when Sawyer Kai was born.  I'll do a detailed post on this at a later date.

At one week old Sawyer enjoyed his first Minot adventure visiting the Scandinavian Heritage Park.

He slept peacefully through the entire experience.

Joe's mom and Dennis arrived at the end of July to visit and meet Sawyer.  Brecken had a great time playing with Honey Gram and reading farming magazines with Dennis.  We even made it to the splash pad one day.

We said goodbye to Jack & Rose.  It's still a bit raw at this point so I'll leave it at this; we said goodbye to Jack in August and Rosie in October.  Sometimes I still expect to be greeted by them when we come home.

For Halloween I took Brecken to Target and let him pick out his costume.  We wandered up and down a couple of aisles when we arrived at the perfect costume for him.  As soon as he saw it, I knew he had found "the one".  He made the cutest little tractor, and our little scarecrow fit the farm theme.  Trick or treating started off slow, but as soon as Breck realized they were giving away candy, he was all over it!

That brings us to Christmas, my favorite day of the year!  I have always love Christmas.  My family has always made it such a special day, and now I get to celebrate with my littles.  

Brecken is finally at an age where he understands and gets excited.  He patiently waited weeks before we could "o-eents" the gifts.  Almost daily I would explain our stocking calendar and we would count how many days were left.  He was prepared to ask Santa for cars and "bo-bows" (bulldozers).  That is until he got up to Santa and decided he was not to be trusted.

Breck was very concerned that we had left Sawyer with Mrs. Claus

When Brecken came along we decided that one of our traditions would be to give pajamas and a book or movie on Christmas Eve.  He was a little disappointed that he only got to open the one gift that afternoon, but he was SO excited about the book he got.  Not so much about the pajamas that were unceremoniously flung to the floor.  I love that we get to share our traditions with the boys, while making new ones along the way.

Brecken's face on Christmas morning when he came down the stairs and saw what Santa had brought him (cars of course!) was absolutely magical!  His joy and excitement made my heart so happy.  Sawyer was happy to have new things to chew on.  It was an incredibly fun, exciting, long and exhausting day for all of us.

Whew!  What a whirlwind 2018 was!  I'm looking forward to all of the adventures awaiting us in 2019.  For now, I will spend the next 3 months turning my 8 into a 9.

I will leave you with this final thought.  If you sporadically shoot off fireworks until 1:00 AM; you are not ringing in the New Year.  You are simply an asshole.