Happy Valentine's Day

Aaron and I have never been big valentine's day people...why should there be only one day when you show love and appreciation for those in your life. Plus, I think it was a conspiracy of the Hallmark, flower shops, candy shops, etc to jack up their prices and rip everyone off :)

Elsa was so excited about the big party at school. She had decorated her box with the help of Grandma Anderson and cousin Sari. She was so proud of it! And, she was so excited to go through all of her valentines when she got home.

snow

There hasn't been much snow in WI this year. It figures, we go buy a snow blower and haven't had to use it much! Elsa loves to watch dad blow off the driveway. She even goes out with a small broom and helps dust snow away.

Potty Training

Wow! Potty training is such an adventure! With the new baby arriving soon, we decided to start the potty training process. We never really pushed the process, but let her go at her own pace. I created a potty training chart and let Elsa pick out stickers at target. We started it on Dec 4th and as you can see, she has done quite well. We kept her in pull ups until Santa brought her big girl underpants in her stocking.

She initially used her toddler toilet, but quickly wanted the regular toilet. The only problem is she wanted to be very independent and get on herself. Watching her get on the toilet is down right comical!

The other comical thing is that for awhile anytime adults would go to the bathroom, she would offer up stickers to them. She would stand outside of the door and wait for them to finish. Fortunately, all of the guests we would have over were good sports! And, when she flushes the toilet she waves and says "bye poopie...go home". The one thing I have not liked with potty training has been the use of public restrooms. I swear the girl touched EVERYTHING! Now, I have her walk in with her hands up high and don't let her touch anything. It is funny when we return back to the table or walk out, she announces to everyone "I go poop out my butt" or "I go potty!!!" The excitement in her voices is hilarious!!

With the exception of a few accidents, she is almost 100% trained. We still do pull ups for naps and bedtime, but for the most part she wakes up dry!

Elsa 2 1/2 years

So, this post is quite a bit late. She is more like 2 years and 20 months now! I really need to get better about updating my blog as we go through life.

But, I wanted to make sure I document this stage so we don't forget about all the ramblings of our toddler. She is still quite sassy and fiercely independent! We are definitely learning to pick our battles. Even though it takes a lot longer for her to get into the car seat by herself and buckle herself in, put her shoes on, get dressed by herself, etc.... major battles ensue if we try to help. Plus, it is just all part of the process of her gaining independence!

It seems with potty training, our life revolves around poop and potty. That was a whole separate post in and of itself! We always have described farting as fluffing...sounds a bit more feminine. Well, she can't stop talking about fluffing now! When the car drives over the rumble strips (or whatever those bumps are in the road telling you that you are coming up to a stop sign or driving of the road) Elsa says "Car goes fluff". It cracks me up that she think the car has gas :)

She loves Montessori and continues to thrive there. In fact, she gets to move up to the preschool class since she is doing well and is potty trained! Here is one from her Christmas pageant at school. We decorated cookies when we were all done.

Here she is all set to go to school! She loves having her backpack and lunch box! the purse is just an added accessory! I think we are in trouble!

She completed her first swimming class at the YMCA. She loves going swimming, but hates laying on her back!
"Go Packers" is a favorite phrase of hers when she sees any sports on TV. I did buy her an Aaron Rodgers jersey when we were at a game that I think she would wear every day if we let her!

She has developed a crazy fetish with sock lint between her toes! She thinks it is a "boo-boo"

Obsessed with Shrek! Other favorite movies: Monsters Inc, A Bug's Life, Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Club

Loves her cousins and calls all men "Toby" (she really likes her uncle!)

She loves to read and sing! She has even started to insist on reading books on her own and can do quite well! We have read Brown Bear, Brown Bear so many times she has it memorized! She also likes to sing Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Loves looking at Christmas cards and talks to the people on them.

Enjoys helping me bake. She loves to say "I help you mommy..okay?" and she pulls the chair over to the prep counter! When I baked oreo truffles for the girls at my work, I had to use the food processor and the pulse button provided her with a ton of excitement!

She calls Santa "Ho-Ho"

A very early riser! We are talking 5-5:15am! Hopefully this will change! I really wish we would have just kept her in the crib!

She loves princesses and saying "I a princess, mommy a princess, daddy a princess"

And, as I said in my post about Christmas...I really need to get better with taking (and posting) more pics of our daily life. My goal is to eventually print this blog in a hard cover book rather than scrapbook!

Chet's Birth Story

I had a doctor appointment at 1:20 (which was the day after my due date) and was finally dilated to 2 cm! About time! Up to this point, I was not dilated at all. He had wanted to do an induction the week prior, but with not being dilated at all, it put the baby and me at risk for complications. So, we scheduled an induction for Thurs at 7 am. Crazy to think in 36 hours we would meet our baby! We went home and got Elsa down for a nap and just when I started to rest, I started to have contractions. I didn't think anything of it because for the previous 3 weeks I was having them anywhere from 7-12 minutes apart. The contractions started at 3:45 pm and were 4-5 min apart. I called my OB at 5:15 and he said to come in. Our friend Gretchen across the street came to get Elsa for her first sleep over! I was still only 2cm upon arrival to hospital with contractions every 2-3 minutes. My fear was that they would send me home, but thank goodness I was admitted. I got my epidural at 6:30 and he broke my water at 7pm. We got all settled in and were watching Michigan play Virginia Tech in the Sugar bowl. With Elsa, I dilated about 1 cm an hour, so I figured sometime in the middle of the night we would have the baby. I was still stuck at 2cm by 8:30 so they started pitocin. They slowly increased it over the next hour and a half due to labor still not progressing fast. Just before 10pm I noticed several decelarations in the baby's heart beat (down into the 50-60s). The nurse checked me at 10pm and I was 5 cms. She had me switch positions to maybe prevent the heart beat from dropping. But, it didn't help. There were more frequent decelerations accompanied by increased pressure and pain. I told her I didn't think the epidural was working, so she checked me at 10:15 and the nurse said "well, that was record fast! You are fully dilated and the baby is coming down". Due to his decelarations and everybody running into the room, them putting oxygen on me...I got a bit emotional due to concern about the baby not being okay. Doctor came in at 10:20 and I pushed for one contraction and we met our new son, Chet. He weighed 10 lb 2 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long. I think everyone was amazed that I delivered that size of a baby that quickly without any problems!

Like his sister, he nursed like a champ! I was fortunate to have him nursing by 10:40!

It was fun texting family and calling them through out the process. Having Elsa in England, made that a bit difficult! And, with having the induction previously scheduled, my mom and sister, Hilary, were driving the next day to help with Elsa and see the new baby! I love being so much closer to home!

Probably the scariest part of the entire hospital stay happened 2 hours after delivery. Once my epidural had worn off, the nurse helped me up to use the bathroom. With Elsa I became very hypotensive with the epidural and was VERY light headed afterwards. However, this time, I felt great. She helped clean me up a bit and I had requested to have my IV removed because it was very painful in my wrist. Since I was feeling fine, she removed it. She then asked if I wanted to take a shower and that sounded like heaven! So, I stood up and she grabbed a towel to catch bleeding. Within 2 seconds the room started spinning and the next thing I knew I was laying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor with 6 nurses standing over me. Apparently, I passed out and fell backwards on my elbow and then hit my head on the tile. This is where ignorance is bliss. I was so freaked out about an epi- or subdural hematoma and dying in the middle of the night. I made Aaron do mental status exams every 15 minutes...LOL. I spent the next two hours with severe nausea and cold compresses on my forehead, ice on my elbow...fun times!

But, after that, the rest of my hospital stay was unremarkable. The super cool thing about delivering in a non-miltary hospital...massage therapists!!! Aurora has massage therapists that provide complimentary massages to women post partum! This was amazing! And, I have to say the food was much better!

Elsa was so excited about having a little brother! We had really worked a lot with her prior to his arrival in regards to her role as a big sister. She loved reading her Big Sister books and taking care of her baby. When she came to the hospital we introduced her and asked if it was okay if he came home with us. Fortunately, she said yes. I am still not sure how we would have handled it had she said no.

She even covered him in stickers that the nurses gave her! Hopefully this sharing continues!

Not enjoying his car seat for the trip home!

The day we came home was nice because Elsa was at school until noon. We were able to be home for an hour prior to her coming home just to relax a little. Then, it was so much fun to see her interactions with him. She contantly gives him kisses and will lay down next to him and just stare at him. So cute! My heart is full!

Then, no birth day is complete without a cake! Elsa decided he needed three candles.

Christmas 2011

Okay, so I was AWFUL this year with Christmas. How bad is it that I did not even want to put a tree up. I knew delivery was iminent and I did not want to be taking care of a newborn and taking down Christmas decorations at the same time. But, I knew it was important for Elsa. And, the other awful thing is that these are the only photos I took! Chalk that one up for mom of the year!

We did go to mass, but arrived a little late due to an epic meltdown by a certain toddler due to her wanting to wear her tennis shoes with her Christmas dress...I should have just let her. So, we had to sit in the foyer on folding chairs and couldn't hear ANYTHING! I guess it is the thought that counts!

A few days after Christmas, I took our tree down. Elsa loved vacuuming up the pine needles!

Here is her new scooter from Grandma and Grandpa Feder

She also got a huge doll house from Santa with full accessories from Grandma Anderson, big girl underpants, hair accessories, puzzles, lincoln logs, doll accessories, and the full Shrek series (which by now, we have memorized!).

I can tell it is going to be a struggle de-emphasizing the secular part of Christmas from the true meaning. We started the tradition of making Jesus a birthday cake, which was a HUGE hit. She declared that Jesus is three and so we had three candles on the cake. I made an advent wreath last year, but due to pregnancy brain, forgot to bring it out. I love the season of advent and am on the search for great advent materials appropriate for children.

Elsa LOVES Halloween!

We had so much fun with Halloween this year!!! Last year, despite living in a very large neighborhood, we only had 3 trick or treaters. This year was CRAZY!!! Luckily we didn't run out of candy. The weekend started with the YMCA Halloween party. Elsa loves dressing up in her cousin Lauren's snow white costume, so we put her in that for the party. They had face painting, games for all ages, and prizes. Elsa did not want to leave! She didn't quite figure out that you had to actually play the game to get the prize. Sometimes she would just walk up to the prize bucket and reach on in.

Then, on the 31st, Elsa celebrated Heritage Day (Oktoberfest) at her school. She dressed up in her Drindl and had to bring a food item for the potluck from her heritage. I made Hungarian Goulash. Aaron said the food at the lunch was amazing.

And, on Halloween night, I don't know who had more fun: Aaron and I or Elsa. Trick or treaters are allowed to go out from 4-7pm (which I LOVE the time frame...in England we had trick or treaters past 9pm). We are so blessed to live in a great neighborhood with LOTS of families. We have really enjoyed getting to know the family right across the street from us. Gretchen and Tim have three kids with Annie being the same age as Elsa. So Gretchen and I took the kids out while the dads stayed back handing out candy (and, drinking beer). Elsa wanted nothing to do with the wagon and was running from house to house with the older kids. She had so much fun!! It was fun meeting other families in the neighborhood. Afterwards, we went over to Gretchen and Tim's house for cocktails while the kids burned off their sugar highs.