Fall fun

I absolutely love the midwest fall season--Cooler weather, vibrant colors of leaves, long sleeves...

We don't have many trees on our lawn, but enough to create piles of leaves to play in.

One October weekend, we ventured up to Door County to a local festival. One of my partners has a nice boat, so we hung out at the marina and then ventured onto shore to enjoy the festivities. Elsa had so much fun with Maddy and Grace.

The transition thus far

I have to admit, I was quite nervous to start private practice. I left a very stable career in the AF for one filled with lots of uncertainty. Even though I wasn't happy with my practice in the military, I know there are a lot more people that are even more unhappy with their careers, but stay in put. But, after almost one month, I have realized that it was the best decision! I love practicing OMS again, we have settled into a great neighborhood with great families, and have started making some great friends! I enjoy working with all my partners and the girls are incredible. All have made the transition smooth!

The other thing I was nervous about was how the pregnancy was going to go. At 26 weeks with Elsa I had already started to have swollen ankles and a sore back. But, thanks to prophylactic wear of my compression socks and a back brace (thanks for the suggestion jean), I have had no problems! Here is a bump shot at 28 weeks. Even though I am larger than I was with Elsa, I have gained probably half the weight. The only uncomfortable thing is that this baby seems to be much more active at ALL hours of the day.

Elsa starts Montessori

We had decided before we even moved to WI to try to find something to enroll Elsa in to foster her social development. Her pediatrician was a little concerned about her delay in speaking and we felt that being around other kids in an educational environment would be great for her. Most parochial preschools we were researching only had programs for 3 and 4 year olds and then it was only for a couple of hours each week. With another baby on the way, we wanted a little more structure for her. That is when I came across a Montessori program that offered programs for 20 months-3 years. It offered really flexible options and we decided to put her in 5 half days each week. She LOVES it. Her speech has progressed remarkably well in just a few short weeks and she is even counting to ten! I also love how it is Christian based and they say prayers before snacks and read Bible stories. We went out and bought her a lunch box and back pack and she is so proud to walk around with them. Mrs. James is great and we couldn't be happier with the school. The only thing that is a challenge is coming up with lunch box ideas! I feel like we make her the same thing all the time!

Elsa in MN

When we made the decision to exit the military, we knew the summer would be crazy. Due to the housing market in CA taking a further decline, we decided to rent out our house. We initially put Aug 15 as the occupancy date, but we were able to find good tenants who were interested in a 4 year lease that wanted the house ASAP. I think they would have preferred the house in May, but we were able to negotiate for July 9th. So, back to temporary military housing we went. I felt like we had just left there! Trying to keep a toddler entertained in a small apt last fall was not easy. So, we decided that Aaron and Elsa go to MN for the month of Aug and hang out with cousins, Grandparents, etc. It was extremely hard for me as I had never spent one night away from her since she was born. But, I knew it was better for her. As the pictures show, she had a lot of fun. I was sad that when we would skype she would barely sit still to talk to me. But, I was happy she was so entertained! Peggy had flown out to help Aaron with the drive. I had wrapped gifts that she could open each day. She loved opening her presents!

They were able to stop in Omaha to visit some of our friends. They played in a water park and went to the zoo.

In MN she was able to celebrate cousin Hunter's birthday! I think she liked hanging out with the boys a little too much!!

I love this shot...she is so focused (so much she dropped her nuk)

She LOVED the Schwimmer's dog, Maddy. I love these photos where she was trying to read to Maddy. Maddy was a good trooper with Elsa and listened to every word :)

Aunt Andi's farm proved to be so entertaining. Elsa loves farm animals.

Aaron and Elsa went to my family's house in Mankato for a long weekend.

She loved playing with her newest cousin Evi and hanging out at Andi and Corey's house

She even went to the Carver county fair and watched daddy run his 2nd half marathon!

Unexpected Blessings

God's plans never cease to amaze me. He is truly amazing and has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams.

In January I finished my fourth round of clomid with no luck. I had conceived the first month on this drug with Elsa and the twins. So, needless to say I was very disappointed. Everyone (usually those who have never struggled with infertility) would always say "It will happen, just stop trying". But, when you are so desperate to add to your family that is MUCH easier said than done because each month is filled with the anticipation that this may be the month and filled with the disappointment of negative pregnancy tests. So, after talking with our fertility doctor and having multiple blood tests each month, he stated that my body can not support a pregnancy on my own and that he would recommend assisted reproduction. Now, I fully support those who chose that option, but we decided that it wasn't really in line with our beliefs on conception. It was a hard decision to come to and one that brought many tears...I felt like a complete failure that I couldn't give Elsa a sibling/Aaron another child and frustrated with my body for not doing what I felt that it should do. I remember one day, Aaron was out running errands and Elsa was down for a nap. It really hit me that Elsa may be it. Don't get me wrong, I am so extremely happy with what God has given to me, but I wanted more! I broke down and got down on my knees to pray. But, I didn't pray for what I wanted. I prayed for strength to surrender to God's plan for my life. Our life.

Now, fast forward a few months.

The half marathon was 5 days away. Aaron happened to ask "when are you getting your period?" I don't know if this was his way of wondering why I was extra crabby, or what...LOL. But, I responded with "I don't know, I don't keep track of that any more." Well, that morning, I was sitting at work, going through my calender wondering when I was going to get it. Hmmm, I think I am a couple weeks late. Still didn't think much of it as I was doing a lot of running and stressed about the upcoming move/new job/etc. So, I bought a pregnancy test that night when I had to stop at the grocery store. Since I had gone for a run prior to this, I kind of threw everything to the side and ran up to shower (grabbing the EPT on my way upstairs). I had tested, hoped in the shower, and then was stunned with the result. I instantly started crying, freaking out about how this was all going to work out (remember, I am starting a new job in Sept). I ran downstairs and I think Aaron got freaked out when he saw me. I showed him the test and he was so excited. Elsa is looking at us wondering why mom is crying and why dad is jumping up and down.

I have to say, it did take me a few weeks to get excited. I felt like a knocked up 16 year old freaking out about how to tell mom and dad. However, in this case the mom and dad were my new partners. I decided to tell them rather early (around 10 weeks) so I could come up with a plan B if they were less than supportive. Fortunately, they were fine with it. So, yeah! We are pregnant! Baby #2 is due 3 Jan 12!! And, for those of you that keep asking, we are not going to find out the gender. This was our (Aaron and I's) deal when we were pregnant with Elsa. He had wanted to know with Elsa, so we agreed we would find out with that one, but if we had another, I would get my wish and have it be surprise. After all, this miracle was a total surprise...why not keep it that way!

Elsa Turns 2

Wow! I was going through some of my old blog posts and it so hard to believe how fast the past two years went! Elsa smiles when she sees pictures of her as a little baby!

She was spoiled by having two birthday parties this year. None of which involved any children her own age--we felt like we deserved the worst parent of the year for that! Hopefully, next year she will have lots of playmates in our neighborhood and we will make up for this year. We celebrated the first one when my parents were visiting. We invited our friends the Turners over. Elsa had so much fun playing with the older boys and even managed to scrape up her face! Poor little thing, but she instantly got up and kept going!

Then, on the actual day (May 30th) we celebrated with Aunt Brittany and made her (Brittany's) favorite: red velvet cupcakes. NEVER again! The red velvet bleeds on to everything! Skin, clothes...carpet! But, Elsa loved decorating the cupcakes and I think her new favorite song is "Happy Birthday". We keep finding random people to sing happy birthday to and we light a candle so she can blow it out.

She weighs: 28 pounds (76th percentile) and is 35.24 inches tall (85th percentile)

Her favorite toys: her dolls (loves to push them in her baby stroller, feed them (read: pour water on their faces), change their diapers (this is quite funny to watch because she will actually pull out the changing pad, wipe their bottoms, say "pee-eww", and then put a diaper on them), and read to them)

Favorite songs: Happy Birthday, pussy cat pussy cat I love you, Old McDonald had a farm

VERY strong willed child

When daddy leaves the room, she always asks "Where's daddy, where'd he go?"

If she wants us to stop doing something, she will say "mommy (or daddy) poof" and hold out her hand to stop (it is hilarious and I am not quite sure where she picked that one up)

Loves to dance (we are already looking into dance classes in green bay)

Loves her Lady bug rain boots. I think she would wear these to bed if we let her.

Her favorite thing to do when I am in the kitchen is to grab the flash light and "hide" in the cupboard. Aaron also helped make a fort under our dining room table and she LOVES it. I think he is already making plans for a large fort in our basement with all of our moving boxes.

She loves to crawl in her toy box and throw every. single. last. toy out.

She will miss her Aunt Brreeneee

Had her first trip to the ER the weekend of her birthday. What we thought was her trying to tell us she was ready for potty training, ended up progressing into pain when she would urinate and fevers between 102-103. They had to cath her to obtain a urine sample (no wonder she didn't like the doctor the following week for her two year well baby appt) and put her on antibiotics for a UTI. But, since we had gone out to buy a potty, we tried to get her used to it. Although, she kept putting her dolls and Brittany's teddy bear on it. We were able to get her to use it twice (she did #2 of all things), but then gave up on it. I really think it is for the best until we get settled in GB. I told Aaron the drive home with her would be miserable if he had to keep stopping for her to go to the bathroom.

Note: this was right after we took the potty out of the box. We won't have the potty set up in the hallway :)

Happy Birthday precious girl! You have brought so much joy to your daddy's and I's lives!