New Year.

Time for a new year already again huh? 2012, you were...um...well, full of ups and downs. There were super highs and super lows but we survived it all!

We started the year with a trip to Florida with the family and super secret round of IVF.

 

We celebrated the wedding of good friends and found out we were pregnant all in the same day.

 

  

A few weeks later Andy was hospitalized with GBS. He recovered like a champ.

And then we finally announced Emmie was going to be a big sister.

 

We sold our house, moved into an apartment and started construction on our new home. And we spent as much time away from the apartment as possible the whole summer. The lake, the zoo...

 

 

We found out we were having a BOY!

 





 

 

 

We spent weeks picking out everything for the new house.

Finally it was time to move in.

 

And one month later, we welcomed Ethan Michael to the family.

 

 

And one month after that, our baby girl turned TWO!

 

What a year it has been. The highs have been high and the lows have been...ugh. We're hoping 2013 is a little more low key...less moving, less time at the hospital. But we will take the same amount of love, laughs, fun, smiles, friends and family.



Christmas

I feel like Christmas this year was a four day event, so it deserves more than one blog post.

We enjoyed our first Christmas morning as a foursome. Splendid indeed. Andy made muffins, his specialty, while Emmie and I played with her new toys. The fourth member of the foursome gave us a little Christmas gift and slept in.

If you don't have an Aquadoodle, you should get one. It's fantastic.

 When Ethan got up we took some pictures...I'm pretty sure he immediately regretted his decision to wake up:

Forgets to actually hold the baby sometimes

Thoughtful

I often wonder what my kids will be like when they get older. I have hopes and dreams for them, but really, it's their decision. More than a doctor or teacher or any occupation, I pray they have the qualities that make them wonderful people at heart. Kind, funny, respectful, grateful, you know, those kind of qualities (and punctual...I hope they're punctual). After this weekend, I'm adding another to the list: thoughtful.

thoughtful

Definition

thought·ful

[ tháwtfəl ]

ADJECTIVE 

1. considerate: treating people in a kind and considerate way, especially by anticipating their wants or needs.

 

It was a long Christmas weekend filled with fun and family and presents of course. But at every Christmas we visited, there was something extra special...something thoughtful.

 

First we headed to the Krueger's where Emmie opened fun Christmas books (which are her favorite). But when all the other grandkids had new flashlights the jealousy was raging...and then, a flashlight for Emmie appeared and all was right with the world! (Alissa also made my White Russian just right and made sure it was within reach while feeding Ethan...now that's thoughtful.)

 

Kate, Charlotte, William, Emmie and Ethan.

The girls posing under the tree...Emmie grabbed little stools to sit on. And Kate with her flashlight.

 

Then it was off to Christmas Eve at the Wermager's.  We walked in and there was the sweetest little table and chairs all set up for Emmie and Olivia...with new sippie cups and two little cookies waiting perfectly for the girls.

 

Loving their special table and "tookies" as Emmie says.

 

Slightly excited to open presents.

 

Christmas Day was more of the same, at the Olson's the girls were set up at another sweet little table just their size with huge Dora coloring books and markers to keep them entertained.

 

 

 

 

 

To think that everyone had thought of these girls ahead of time; to make their day a little brighter and that much more special...it warms my heart that is for sure. 

 

Thoughtful. It can be the littlest thing that matters the most. Thank you family for your thoughtfulness!

And a little Ethan for you too.

 

My Molly

Yes, you read correctly, my Molly.  I'm her godmother, so I officially get to call her mine. And according to the godmother handbook I read, I also get to blog about her whenever I want to without her parents' permission. I wonder if they read the fine print?

Ok, so technically I have to share my title with Alicia's sister, but with Andy as her only godfather, it evens out. I don't exactly know how to be a godparent and I'm not going to lie, Molly is more likely to learn her first curse word from me than a bible scripture...

Yesterday was Molly's baptism and the first time we left both kids with nana and papa. Everyone survived and church was like a mini vacation. And as we watched two little girls dancing down the aisles, trying to splash in the baptismal water and in general mortifying their parents, Andy and I were very pleased with our decision to leave the kids at home!

If you're wondering about Molly's gown...it is the gown handed down through generations in Alicia's family...starting in 1886. Yeah, you read that correctly too. 1886. And it was beautiful. Totally white and pristine.

 

We picked up Em and Ethan for brunch following the service. Emmie has been going through a shy phase, but apparently got over it real quick at brunch. She was running wild and loved playing the piano...this photo is before she decided to take her skirt off and just wear shirt and tights. It wasn't a battle I cared to fight.

And on her parents' porch, inviting you to brunch...the same chalk board door from Matt and Alicia's wedding. This time with a little message for Molly (drawn by her Grandpa).

I've got this new trick.

Hi, It's Ethan. And I have a new trick.

It's called I won't nurse at all during the day. Yeah, you heard me. I only want a bottle. And if you even try to show me a boob, I will wig the eff out. And did you know, I'm a loud crier. Not like a normal baby, I will pierce your eardrums, unless I'm crying hard enough to make no sound...mom loves when I do that.

Now, night time, that's a different story. I'm all about the boob. I eat, go back to sleep and do it again in three hours....but when the sun comes up....it's back to the bottle. Oh and I need it at a highly specific temperature, so don't be trying to give me something a little cold okay.

Mom says I'm on the fast track to formula if I keep this up.

Gimme the damn bottle.

NOT the right temperature you fool!

 

 

 

Ethan!

Ok, so I'm finally getting some more photos posted of this sweet little boy. These were from his newborn session at a couple weeks old.

A little crafting

So, when the boy is in his car seat...he sleeps. Or he does on occasion anyways. The other day he slept long enough for me to get a whole craft project done, thankyouverymuch.

We started with a trip to Hobby Lobby. Do you know how small the carts are there? Certainly too small for a car seat...wouldn't fit in, wouldn't fit on, tried it backwards, tried it frontwards, finally did it sideways and it worked. I bet I looked like such a jackass trying to figure it out.  Then I held on to the seat for dear life...until I found an overpriced glittery wreath that needed my attention, because the more glitter at Christmas the better. And poor Ethan looked like he visited the strip club after being doused with stray glitter.

Ok, the project:

Old mirror, minus the mirror. Wire. Voila. Christmas card holder!

 

And the prize goes to Elsie for getting Christmas cards out before December. Holy.

 

And after Christmas, a perfect place to hang Emmie's art. And then we need to discuss painting the frame. Yellow perhaps??

 

 

1 month old!

And what they say about that second kid....totally true. Y'all are looking for photos and I hardly have any. I don't even have the cute month by month stickers for poor Ethan.

And poor Ethan is right...he is in the middle of one heck of a cold. He can hardly breathe which means eating and sleeping are no fun...which means mom is no fun either.

He's such a sweet peanut, looking more like dad every day. He's normally a good eater and he's doing okay sleeping at night. He doesn't go to bed until 11 or so, but then he's only up to eat a couple times...and lets me sleep in...after getting Emmie ready for school that is.  My oh my, two kids are something to get used to! I have no idea how we will get this all done when I go back to work!

just a few days late

My baby girl is TWO years old!!

I had a parent fail and didn't think to put together treats for school to celebrate her birthday...so Tuesday night I hauled it to the grocery store to buy some fruit snacks. Emmie usually doesn't eat fruit snacks and if she does, they're tree huggin' organic. Well, the g store didn't have any organic, so I went with the standard.  Fast forward to school the next day and Emmie had an allergic reaction to them. Awesome. Happy Birthday kid. Red splotchy face, red hands. Not exactly sure what she broke out from, but good to know this happens.

Emmie is like two little people in one...there is one sweet little girl and another one stomping through the terrible twos. She's got attitude and sass and loves to say no. But then she can be the sweetest little thing, saying thank you daddy and giving huge hugs and kisses. I assume this is how the next 16 years will go.

She loves her baby brother. Every day she gets home from school and puts her sticker on his head. This morning when he was crying she grabbed his paci and put it in, quite gently to my surprise, and then just rubbed his head. He hated every second of it, but it was really sweet.