Christmas part II

Every year we are home for Christmas. It is just us and we don't usually have a lot planned. This year we were invited to our Pastor's house for fellowship on Christmas Eve. We were the only guests but had a fun time playing games and munching on goodies. Christmas day was pretty much no fuss. I wanted something relatively simple for the main meal and was going to get a beef tenderloin until I saw how expensive they are. We went with a pork roast instead. I put that in the crock pot with a shallots & mushroom sauce, a first time using shallots. Then we just had mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce and rolls. We put together a gingerbread village and played outside in the snow. Later in the evening I rolled and cut out cookies while the kids played. Matthew helped a little but he likes decorating more than cutting them out. After church on Sunday we just took it easy and cleaned up a little bit. After nap time I made the icing for the cookies and we decorated a few. Matthew and Brian took some over to the neighbor and Matthew thanked him for clearing the snow from our path so we could walk :-) All in all we had a nice time. Emily's favorite gift was her new doll that makes noise when you feed it. She's such a little mommy with her dolls and stuffed animals! Matthew even likes her doll and tells Emily what to do when her baby is crying.

Something else we learned this past weekend is that Emily isn't quite afraid of snow anymore. Her first couple times out she was more timid with the uneven walking surface and she tended to get upset when she fell over. On Christmas day she was trying to climb the snow pile and when we'd take her to the top of the hill, she liked to scoot down it all by herself. She also enjoyed sledding and didn't mind too much when she fell over and got snow in her face. She actually got upset when she had to get out of the sled to take it back to the top. I think she's going to really enjoy the white stuff as she gets bigger and stronger! This is Matthew's first winter of not asking to come in before we tell him it's time. He and his daddy sure have fun and he's glad we found new gloves that stay on his hands the entire time. Thanks Auntie Denise for introducing us to them, we haven't needed to adjust the gloves a single time!

A family photo

Christmas & Such

I decided since I've been MIA in the blogging world lately, now is just as good a time as any to start up again. Emily is potty training. She's doing really well and we had 3 whole days without a single accident. Her fourth day was accident free except for being wet when she woke from her nap. Then we went out of town and that put a little wrench in progress but she still did well. Had a few accidents but part of that was our fault for not having her sit. Matthew still enjoys preschool although he usually says every Monday night & Wednesday night he doesn't want to go and sometimes again in the mornings when he's being woken up early to get ready. Once he's there he's fine. He's like his dad and takes forever to wake up and it is best to let him wake on his own, but he doesn't get up early enough on his own. It is something I dread because it is a constant battle, I don't want to think about what it'll be like having to do this every morning.


This past weekend we were supposed to have our family Christmas with my side at my brother's in Sartell. We knew a storm was on the way so Brian took Friday off so we could get there before the storm hit. We would have gone on Friday anyways to maximize our time with family but Brian would not have taken the whole day off. The storm hadn't started by the time we went to bed Friday night but it paid us a visit during the night. Saturday was actually not that bad. It ended up that we were the only ones to make it. It is interesting that we are the only ones with kids that had to travel, Brian had to take work off and our area got hit the worst but we were the only ones there. Our Christmas 2 years ago had worse weather and it is the only time every single person was in attendance. When we woke up Sunday morning I checked MnDot's site and saw no travel was advised for our area. We kept an eye on it and decided it was best to stay another night. If we had tried to make it home and hit really bad roads, we would have had to turn all the way around or stay in a motel, neither of which sounded fun. Having already been through this scenario before and not making it home, we didn't want a repeat. Brian had to take Monday off and we had good roads most of the way. There were areas we knew would not have been good had we come home Sunday since they weren't the best by the time we were on them Monday afternoon. When we got home we couldn't get in our side of the alley and it was interesting getting through the other side. We had asked a friend to blow out our parking area and when we got home we had a path to our house, the front steps were cleared out and the sidewalk was done. Not sure who all did that since our neighbor told us he'd take care of the sidewalk but regardless, it was GREAT to not have to spend time shoveling just to get everyone out of the car (we've had to do that before, too).

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We had a nice visit and good time playing games. This is what Christmas is about, spending time with family. Exactly the reason we went on Friday. If we're going to say spending time together is important than you better believe we will do everything we can to get there. One of the reasons Brian saves his PTO, which allows him to miss work and still get paid.

The words of Emily at 18 months

This is more for documenting purposes but I thought it'd be fun to write down what Emily says, that I can remember.

Hi, Hello
Bye-Bye
Morning (for good morning)
Uh oh
dat daddy! (that daddy)
hug
she can make a wolf sound
moo
boo
milk
dat milk back
NO!!!!!!!!!! (she'll also shake her head no at the same time)
ball
bowl
boat
bug
bed
bock bock or pack pack (backpack)
ut? (what)
um on (come on)
dat boat, while pointing to the river/lake (normally, it's a buoy instead)
mine!
no mine!
ah ooo (love you)
mama
if you point to her arm and ask what it is she'll say "ahm"
if you touch her head and ask what it is she'll say "head"
she'll hold out her hand and say "hand"
she thinks her legs are arms too
owe
dat daddy bye bye, while pointing to the door
mote (remote)
up
out
ont dem on (want them on)
when my phone rings she loudly declares, runs towards it and points yelling DADDY, dat daddy, DAAADDYYY! she sometimes does the same when Brian's phone rings :-)
dat mama

That's all I can think of right now.

She was in yesterday for her 18 month well child and she weighs 24.1 pounds and is 32.5 inches tall. She spiked in her height since her 15 month appointment. The doctor asks if kids can say 3 words at this age and the papers they give us say "may say 5-10 words," Emily passed with flying colors. She had to show off :-) We also scheduled an appointment with a Pediatric Cardiologist to check out her heart murmur.

Baby Dept open for business

Ha! The title of this post is misleading but I thought it was funny. By baby department, I don't mean my belly! I'm referring to the 20+ totes we have in our living room and diaper boxes filled with miscellaneous items that we're selling. I don't think it's a good thing that Matthew & Emily have the same number of totes with Matthew's clothes ranging from NB to 4T and Emily's are NB to 18 months! Anyways, I feel like I've been running a baby department store as I've sorted, photographed, repacked, uploaded photos and sent to potential buyers, had potential buyers visit my home to look through our stuff and met other buyers to drop off purchased items. We're having two people coming over today, two tomorrow, one on Sunday and meeting someone on Saturday to drop off stuff. Haven't had many problems and so far everyone has been very satisfied with what they've gotten, other than this one lady who has/is very difficult to arrange transporting the items. She negotiated price, agreed to buy them then admitted she didn't know where my city was or even how to get here, then said she can't meet anywhere because she takes care of a baby during the day then asked if we would ask our friends who work at Mayo to transport the items and meet her husband at Mayo, then after an arrangement had been made she decided that was the best time to ask questions about the items to see if she really wanted them. Part of me hopes something goes wrong when I try hooking up the music/vibration system that goes on the pack 'n play so I can tell her it doesn't work because she most likely won't want it anymore and I can just be done with her. Ufda!

Anyways, enough of my complaining. Things have been pretty normal around here with the exception of me spending 3 whole days going through baby clothes (and I'm not nearly finished!). We had our family pictures taken along with Matthew's four year and Emily's eighteen month pictures so I can't wait to see those! It's about time we'll have a framed family photo on our wall!

Matthew still likes school though I don't think he's a big fan of having to get up early. He's been dragging in the mornings and I usually end up having to help him get changed so we can get out the door so now he likes to tell me I have to help him all the time so we're not late, even when we're not going anywhere or have plenty of time. The days he is in school he tends to behave better at home, to some degree and he is usually pretty good about using his manners. On Friday I always ask myself why we didn't send him to preschool another day but remind myself I'll be happy not having to go out in the snow and cold on those days. Needless to say, Friday's aren't a lot of fun around here.

I don't remember if I mentioned we're replacing some of our windows. I talked to the contractor yesterday and he said the new ones were ordered and our install date has been pushed back slightly because they got rained out last week and then a couple of his workers were sick. Right now we're looking at the first week of November. I have set a deadline that our basement will be done before then and I'm not willing to budge on it this time. Hopefully we'll be able to make a lot of progress down there, soon. It doesn't help we have things scheduled 3 weekends in a row. We also have to figure out a way to pick up Emily's dressers then I have to strip the paint and repaint them before she can use them. It will be nice once the house projects are done for a while; I'm sure there will be something next year since we want to paint the living room, dining room and Emily's room.

Well, I think that's enough for now. We're expecting a lady to come pick up the changing table so I need to end my little break and get back to work.

The Shred, days 3 & 4

Day 3: Each day seems to be getting a little easier. We are in no way ready to move on to level 2 by any means, though. I've been doing a little more of the modified exercises in the middle section so I can do the more challenging ones at the end and feel like I'm finishing strong instead of "barely finishing." I've noticed it has been easier to breathe further into it too. I was not really sore after Day 3 except my left arm was hurting and I think that's a combination from the exercises and from sleeping wrong.

Day 4: I've been feeling run down and really tired. I didn't sleep well Friday night because I was up with Matthew who needed a bath & change of bedding. I just felt "off" and even took a nap in the afternoon. By the time it came time to do our exercises I told Brian I didn't want to sit out but felt I should so I don't get burnt out, especially with the first week of school and ECFE coming up so we'll have a busy week trying to adjust. Brian did the exercises alone and isn't really sore today. Hopefully we've gotten over the hump and our bodies are getting used to this. Hopefully I won't be too sore tomorrow after taking yesterday off.

So far we haven't seen any weight loss but I didn't expect to quite this early. I don't know how many levels we'll complete by the time we're done but we're at least getting the exercise we need and hopefully will see results soon.

The Shred, day 1 & 2

I thought it was be good (at least for me) to document this little journey we decided to take called the 30 Day Shred. We have 2 days down. During the first session we laughed quite a bit, mainly at ourselves because we are severely out of shape. I didn't know what to expect for the first day and was already struggling by the time warm-ups were over. NOT a good sign. Brian and I struggled through the entire 20 minutes. We had to change our weight sizes (he took mine and I went without) a couple of times. We were sore the next morning but I think Brian was worse. He had a hard time doing anything and joked after we were done that he wouldn't be able to run a mouse the next day.

Day 2: Brian used my weights and I used Matthew's wimpy 1 pound weights. It usually didn't feel like enough weight but I didn't have any other options. I also have to keep in mind that I have 2 kids to attend to during the day and one of them needs to be lifted quite often so I have to make sure I'm not completely useless. I made it through the workout a little easier and wasn't ready to be done by the end of warm-ups...progress! I also didn't have to stop as often for a quick breather but I did have to stop because my legs hurt so bad. Brian seemed to do better with the lighter weights and didn't stop as much either. Then as soon as we were done, we had to attend to a puking kid (again).

I don't know about Brian but the goal of this is not to hit a certain weight. I need my clothes to fit and need to get in better health in general. I didn't have any problems losing weight after Emily was born but now my body is telling me I can no longer eat whatever I want, when I want and I'm gaining easier than ever before.

So, here's to day 3 and hopefully making more progress!

August, where have you gone?

It's hard to believe August is almost over. I am looking forward to what September has in store for us, though. Since my last post, we traveled to Silver Bay to see my parents. My mom had a little birthday party for Matthew and my dad.

We stayed for two nights and then went to Duluth to visit the Train Depot and Children's Museum. The kids seemed to have fun. Before heading to our hotel, we stopped by Canal Park so the kids could throw rocks in the water.

Matthew really liked that and was even brave enough to stand in the water as a huge wave came in and got him all wet. On Wednesday we traveled to Iron River, WI to stay at a cabin for a few days. It was gorgeous! After just a few minutes I told Brian I could live in a place like that. We went out on the pontoon a couple of times, Matthew and I went tubing and Brian went water skiing. We didn't have cell phone service and I honestly really enjoyed being able to just relax without having Brian looking at his phone all the time. It's hard to step away from it when you get text messages all the time or notifications when a new email arrives and since it is his work phone, he has to at least check on those things. So, I was happy to be able to have a conversation with him and know he wouldn't be looking at his phone. There was a storm Thursday night while we were at the cabin but it didn't seem to affect the kids. We came home on Friday and we found out there was another storm after we left and a tree had fallen down. We definitely look forward to going back to the cabin again!

Since returning home we've just been plugging away sorting our stuff to clear out the basement, and trying to sleep when we can. Emily is cutting 4 eye teeth and has slept through the night about 6 times in the last two months. Last night was rough and today it looks like she's getting a molar or two as well. I'm happy to see we are at a point in the basement where we can't do much without selling our stuff. That means the sorting is basically done so we need to get rid of our stuff and then we'll have room for Brian to build some shelves. After the shelves are in we can put our "keep" stuff away and start painting. Moving the kids' toys down there will make me very happy!

Well, I'll sign off for now. Enjoy the last days of August!

The Birthday Boy

Here he is:

Eating his Grilled cheese

Enjoying his sundae with chocolate syrup & sprinkles

Opening one of his presents

Happy Birthday, Buddy!  We love you so much!!!

*disclaimer, he will officially be 4 at 9:33 p.m. on Aug. 8

Someone's turning 4!

I can't believe in two short days, Matthew will be 4!  He'll be starting preschool and, although I was hesitant in the Spring, I know he'll do great and dare I say he might be ready for Kindergarten the following year?!  We went to the Open House for his school and his teacher and the assistants were really impressed with him which is why I think we're on the 1 year Preschool plan instead of 2.

To celebrate his birthday this year, I'm going to cheat.  But, I have to explain why first.  Brian's dad was supposed to be stopping over on the way back from Chicago so I got a cake so we could celebrate with Grandpa & Mimi.  They didn't come in the evening as planned and came in the morning so no one was hungry for cake.  Brian took all but 2 pieces to work with him for the guys to devour.  Then, I made 4 dozen cookies to bring to church (I always bring something to church when someone in our family has a birthday).  With Missionaries coming this weekend and having an extra service, church on Wednesday night was canceled but after I had already baked the cookies.  Then on Thursday we were supposed to have a dinner guest and I was going to bake a cake and decorate it according to Matthew's request....a cowboy cake.  Our guest had to reschedule because something came up at work so I decided not to bake a cake.  I didn't want to have to eat 48 cookies AND an entire cake.  So, I cheated and grandma ordered a cake and we'll celebrate both Matthew and Grandpa's birthdays. 

I also cheated on his gift.  I was trying to come up with ideas.  He isn't interested in Thomas much anymore and I didn't want to add to our pile of toys.  While racking my brain, I remembered we had stuff I've gotten either at garage sales or super cheap on clearance that we've hidden away.  So, time to pull them out and birthday shopping was done!  Yay!  Yes, they are toys but we already had them and after last weekend his toys have decreased.

Tonight we are having his special meal.  His request; grilled cheese and an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen!  Now THAT is a request I can handle! :-)  If it isn't too buggy out, we're going to Lakeview Drive In for dinner and then we'll eat picnic style by the lake, then off to DQ for his ice cream cone.

Back in the blogging world

Well I decided to join the blogging world again.  Quite frankly, I chose to because it is the easiest way for me to document whats going on and I can track what the kids are doing.  Often times I find myself looking at old posts to see how old Matthew was when he could do certain things, the same with Emily, except I have missed documenting most of Emily's life.

For this blog I've come up with a few "rules."

• Its my blog, I can say what I want
• If you don't like what I have to say, don't read it.
• Blogging is somewhat of a release for me to vent frustrations, share in excitements and write what we've been up to so we can take a trip down memory lane after we've forgotten some of the details.
• I will not adjust how I write to please anyone, refer to point 2 if you don't like something.

Okay, now on to happier thoughts and a quick review of what we've been up to.

Matthew:

• Made his first visit to the ER, after being paid a visit by the ambulance and fire dept at our house, he came home sporting 3 stitches between the eyes and now has a lovely scar
• Also graced us with needing his first trip to Urgent Care, not once but twice and was quite the sick little boy for 6 days.  We got very little sleep and it's a little scary when you see the thermometer read 106.9 and he's shivering uncontrollably.  He's better now!
• Grown a lot in height.  We completely skipped 4T pants.  Very soon he'll be in the big boy section of the store.
• Completely potty trained!!!!!!!  Though he still doesn't like to go on his own and puts up a fuss when we try convincing him to "just try."
• Loves playing with his sister and can make her laugh like no one else.  Sometimes he forgets she isn't as big or likes to be mean by tripping her, but they usually play well together.
• Starts Preschool in the fall.  He will be attending Winona Christian Preschool.  My how the time flies, can't believe he's almost 4!

Emily:

• Growing like a weed, some of her 2T clothes are too small.
• Teething like it's going out of style.  Currently cutting 2 eye teeth and possibly more.  
• Loves chasing her brother around and getting into his toys
• Puts her toys away better than Matthew does.  She likes being a helper
• Can say mama, baaallll (her favorite), HI!, no, uh oh, baba (not sure exactly what that is yet), and sometimes something that sounds like bye.
• We can ask her to get her high chair and she will pull it out, ask her to throw something away and she will, ask her for a hug and she opens her arms out to the sides, she'll pucker up for a kiss, wave bye bye, likes saying hi to people in the store, walks up to the fridge and whines when she wants something, also walks up to the fridge when she's done with her cup and wants to put it away.  She's also a climber.  The other day I asked her if she was poopy and she reached behind her back to pull her diaper out so I could check.  Yep, she's a smarty pants!
• She has an attitude!  If she doesn't get her way she'll fold her hands behind her back, wrinkle her nose, turn and walk the other way, or flat out lay on the ground throwing a fit.
• She's almost 16 months old...WOW
• She also has an obsession with the toilet, she's gotten her arms stuck under the seat, thrown Matthew's pajamas in it, thrown a toy in it and basically enjoys being in there to watch whenever someone is using it.  I hope this works to our advantage when it's time to potty train.

Brian and I:

• Brian traveled to Vegas the end of June for the Cisco Live Conference again.  He can report he passed his test and can move on to the next one he needs to move closer to another certification.
• I stepped down from my position on Steering for MOPS after the year came to a close.  We will not be attending MOPS in the fall.  Emily and I may look into other options for her to socialize with kids her age and me to have adult time.
• Brian and I took our first ever trip as a couple with no kids to celebrate our fifth anniversary.  We stayed at a nice bed and breakfast while the kids were at Brian's sisters.  They did well and we enjoyed our time away.  Who knew walking around antique stores could be enjoyable?  We spent part of our time walking around to the different shops in Red Wing that we drive by but never stop.  It was not a very kid friendly atmosphere but it was nice to walk around taking in what the shops had to offer without bored/whiney kids in tow. We had a relaxing time and wish we could have stayed longer.
• Last but not least, we no longer have the Jeep.  We are on a plan to get rid of debt so we paid off the Jeep, downsized to a cheaper car and came home with a check for the difference.  We are now the owners of an 06 Impala.  We like it and our first trip went well, even had extra space in the trunk, saving on gas is definitely nice too!

I'm sure there is a lot I'm missing but this has gotten long enough.  I will get some pictures up someday.  Until then, hope everyone is having a great summer!