Chet-18 months

It is hard to believe how much things have changed over the past two years!  The surprise pregnancy, separating out of the Air Force, moving to Green Bay, buying a house...Wow!  I think that is why it does not seem possible that he is 1 1/2 years old!

Communicates by roaring, grunting, pointing to things and gets so frustrated when we can't interpret his language!

Loves what he can't have :)  I can tell he is going to be quite the challenge in the teenage years!

He has started to be able to put together puzzles with shapes and enjoys looking through books with flaps!

He is an AMAZING sleeper (finally!!).  He often does not even want to be rocked or read to, he will just point to his crib.  We put him in the crib and he rolls over and goes to sleep!

He loves to be independent with putting his shoes and socks on and is trying to do many other things on his own.

Goes through periods where he barely eats!  It is frustrating!  I know he will eat if he is hungry but I worry about him getting the proper nutrients.  Thank goodness for gummy vitamins!

Loves to color (okay, scribble) on paper (and, occasionally, on the table and floors)

He is so excited every morning and I love how he will run and give me a big hug and kiss with a big "mmmmmmmwwaaa"

We took him to get his first haircut!  I definitely wanted to keep the curls in the back but the front was getting OUT OF CONTROL!!!

 Loves to swing and go down the slide.  We got a swing set out back and he will often sit in the kitchen and just point out the window.

 Loves to swim!  I am excited to get him into swimming lessons!

Is still as wild as ever!  I can definitely see him excelling in hockey or football.  The more aggression involved, the better (for him, not for mom!)

The kid absolutely LOVES Nemo!!  He will sit still the ENTIRE movie!  I took this photo the other day of his movie watching pose!  

Chet's Dental Trauma

Well, I have to admit, I am quite surprised that this was his first injury.  Let's face it.  The kid is not happy unless he is climbing on people/things or running around!

Aaron was golfing in a tournament Friday night and I was on call for the weekend.  Elsa loves to crawl on all fours with Chet on her back.  I held his hands and he would just laugh when Elsa would sound like a Horse.  So, we did that for about 20 minutes and then they were distracted by something else.  So I decided to make dinner.  I look over and Chet is back on top of Elsa and he fell forward.  It didn't seem like it was very hard (especially since Elsa didn't cry), but his face hit the back of her head and he instantly started crying.  I ran over and took a look at his mouth.  There was a little of blood around his left central incisor, but the tooth was not mobile and did not appear to be in a different position.  Whew!  Just a mild subluxation i thought!  He calmed down and I checked again before bed and everything seemed to be okay....until morning.  Chet woke up at 5:15 and was really fussy.  Nothing seemed to make him happy and he had no interest in eating.  At about 8am it was apparent that eating and drinking was causing significant discomfort.  So, I take a look.  The tooth was split right down the middle!  Poor 'lil man!  Fortunately, I have the luxury of having lots of great resources in the dental profession ;)  I called my dear friend, Laura, who is a pediatric dentist in Sioux Falls to ask a few questions.  I knew it needed to be extracted, I just needed some reinforcement!  She highly recommended that I step back and be mom and let someone else extract it.  Fortunately, my partner Steve was around and graciously agreed to help.  I gave Chet some Benadryl to relax him about 30 minutes before.  I tried to use some nitrous on him, but he wasn't a big fan of the nasal mask.  I sat in the chair and held him and stabilized his head.  He cried during the local anesthetic injection but then instantly calmed down when that was over.  Aaron held him while the anesthetic was infiltrating and then gave him back to me for the extraction.   Steve explored the tooth once he was numb and the fracture extended up onto the root and was definitely nonrestorable.  I got worried when it fractured even more and thought it was going to turn into a surgical extraction.  Fortunately, the rest of the root came out intact!   He squirmed a little bit but he was such a great patient!  Especially considering he isn't even 18 months old yet!!!

Elsa was so amazed by the tooth.  She walked around all day and had to show our friends that came over that afternoon and tell them all about it!

He totally looks like a hockey player with his wild curly hair and missing front tooth.  I guess I have this Halloween costume all set to go!

Happy 4th Birthday Elsa

My Dear Elsa,

Wow!  I can not believe that you are 4 years old!  It just seemed like yesterday and Daddy and I were praying over you.  You are truly a miracle baby and came into our lives when we did not think we would be parents.  Every day I thank God you made me a mommy!

You have been the most laid back child (more so apparent with your wild brother, but that is a whole other post)!  You have the most amazing heart and are so caring about other people.  I love how you great us every morning and every day when we pick you up from school.  You love "squeezes"  and always tell me to "squeeze harder".     You are so affectionate and I hope that NEVER ends.  Every time I pick you up or drop you off at school, you always want to hold my hands during the walk.  And, you always have the biggest, most infectious smile on your face!  You bring so much joy to those you meet.  Even complete strangers will comment how friendly you are!  You love to say Hello to everyone we pass.  

Favorite songs:  Shake your booty;  Call me maybe;  Momma's broken heart (Miranda Lambert)--which you LOVE to sing the chorus!  Really, any song that comes on the radio, you say "Turn it up, this is my favorite song"

Favorite games:  Hide and Seek (you are getting better at this but you still like to hide in the same exact spot) and Memory (you are one smart little cookie and always beat your dad and I)

Favorite books:  Anything related to Princesses;  Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see; your Bible for little girls.

Favorite foods:  You are at that stage where you are a very picky eater, but at least you will try 1-2 bites "You gotta try new foods because they might taste Gooo-oood";  You constantly are asking for a snack or chocolate even after you tell us you are full at dinner.  One of your favorite treats is Smart Cow Frozen Yogurt Bar and you love to add gummies and marshmallows to your Chocolate yogurt.  

You LOVE to color and play with stickers!  Looking at your art projects from the year, it is amazing to see the progression from coloring with scribbles to drawing things we can actually understand.

Your artistic ability was certainly not inherited by me as your artwork already surpasses anything I can produce.  We created a wall with your artwork in the kitchen where it is proudly on display.

I love to watch you read to Chet and get him to understand things.  I know you get frustrated when he takes your toys, but you are so good and usually let him continue to play with it.  You are a very patient  big sister!  

You are also such a big helper with Chet and always let us know what he needs or what he is doing.  I can tell you are going to be a great mommy some day!

You have had some difficult adjustments with moving to the new house.  I know it was hard to leave your friends.  You still like to come down into our bedroom every night since you aren't quite comfortable sleeping upstairs all by yourself.  

You love to dress in short sleeved shirts and tank tops...even in the middle of winter.  I know when you are at the age to flee the coop, you will venture to a warmer climate!  

This past year you were enrolled in Ballet and Tap and you were such a good dancer.  I didn't know how you would do on stage in front of all of those people, but you LOVED it!  You even made dad into a dancer!  You both did a disco routine for the dance recital.

You continue to love school and enjoy learning.  Your dad and I are very proud of how you pay attention to your teachers and how much you have learned.  Your teacher, Miss Thornton, says you are a natural leader and are always willing to help out in class.  This year, you learned zoo phonics and are even able to start reading some words!  I love how you sing Mandarin songs and are learning another language!  The other day, you told me "i really like to try hard at school, mom".  If I tell you how to spell something you can write out the word all by yourself.  

I am so proud to be your mom and, although I love watching you grow, I will always yearn for you to stay this age.  The age where you still need me.  The age where you LOVE to be around me.  I hope that this will never change.  I am so excited to see what this next year brings!  Happy Birthday, my precious darling!  Love, Mom

We had several celebrations for her birthday.  I think that may have been too many because she woke up the morning after the party with her friends and asked "When is it my birthday again?"

When our families were in town, we celebrated her birthday with her Grandparents, Cousins, and Aunts and Uncles.  She saw a picture of a Strawberry Mousse Cake on a recipe I cut out from Southern Living and wanted me to make that for her birthday.  It was not a straight forward cake and it had very ambiguous directions...let's just say I am glad I bought enough ingredients because I had the opportunity to make the cake twice.

You can see her covering her eyes...at all three parties, whenever we would sing "Happy Birthday", she would get so bashful!  

Then, we took her to "The cat in the hat place" for dinner on her actual birthday.  Chet stayed home with our babysitter, so Elsa got some undivided mom and dad time.

And, her final party was for friends at the NEW Zoo.  11 kids + 6 adults = pure chaos!  We joked that even with the 6 adults it was difficult to "control" the kids!  Even though it was a blast, I joked about just having cake at a park with a playground next time since that seemed to be the favorite part of the day!

This goat LOVED Miss Kate!

 Chet LOVED feeding the Barnyard animals!

All the girls of the party

That evening, we went for a walk around our neighborhood and Elsa insisted on riding her scooter in her princess dress...priceless.

Winter Fun

This has been a LONG winter, but we have tried to make the best of it.  In February, the week before we moved, we took the kids sledding at Baird Creek Park.  It was the largest hill I have ever went tubing on!  Elsa had a blast but Chet didn't know quite what to think and screamed the whole time.  They have a tow rope that pulls you to the top of the hill.  It proved to be quite the challenge as Aaron and I would each have one of the kids.  I would have to lay on the tube and have Elsa lay on top of me.  Trying to hold on to her and the rope provided quite the work out!  I ended up taking Chet into the Chalet since he was not enjoying the experience while Aaron took Elsa down some more times.  I wish I would have captured Aaron and Chet plowing into me as I was trying to get out of the tube.

Then, in March, when the weather was really cold, we decided to take the kids to a local hotel (Tundra Lodge) and use the water park.  It took about 20 minutes for Chet to decide he liked it.  He cried the first 20 minutes because of how noisy it was in there.  Once he got wet, he had a blast!  He loved this water fountain and the lazy river.  I almost got him to fall asleep on me when we were tubing on the river.

 Elsa LOVED the water slide and climbing the pirate ship!  Unfortunately, I only have this picture of her enjoying dippin dots!

Even though I love the snow, I have to say I am very excited for Summer!  I leave out spring because it seems as if we are going to skip that season this year.

Vegas, Baby!

Aaron and I went with our friends, Mindy and Mike (also my business partner) to Vegas at the end of February.  Initially, it was just going to be a girls trip, but then we decided to be nice and invite the hubbies along.  I had talked to Mindy back in August when I saw Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were going to be in concert at the Venetian.  I have always wanted to see them in concert and have never flown to a destination for a concert.  So, we booked our trip right then and there.  I had only been to Vegas one other time.  Aaron and I had stayed at Mandalay Bay, which, despite being a beautiful hotel,  was too far to the end of the strip.  We wanted to stay in the middle of the strip!  Caesars Palace got the vote!  Plus, it was in close proximity to some amazing shopping!

The two hour time difference was ROUGH!  I was ready to pass out each night by midnight!  Aaron managed to do more gambling and win more money than I did.  I was perfectly entertained people watching!  Mindy and I sat at this bistro in Caesars and were highly entertained for 2 hours people watching while we waited for the guys to return from golfing.  Amazing concert.  Amazing food.  Amazing shopping.  Amazing trip with friends.  But, I was so happy to return home to my babies!

Aaron and I in front of the pools at Caesars!

 Since I was in marathon training, I had to do a long run of 12 miles (which, I did on the treadmill and wanted to poke my eyes out the entire time it was so boring!)  But, my recovery drink was a mimosa.

 The night of the concert, we ate at Ruth Chris' Steakhouse

 My hot date!  

 We sat in the balcony, but it was only a 1800 person venue so it was very intimate.  Tim and Faith talked with the audience, sang some amazing music...VERY cute couple!  The only disappointment was that Tim McGraw had WAY to much clothing on.  He wore a 3 piece suit the entire time!   He was still hot, but I am just saying.

 After the concert, while the boys played craps, Mindy and I headed up to Toby Keith's and had a little too much fun!  I mean, look at the size of those drinks!  By the time we drank them half way down, they were warm!

Again, we were very entertained people watching.  A cowboy...in Zubaz.  I am really glad those pants stuck in the 80's!

 The next night we headed down to Fremont street.   Mindy and Aaron both struck it big on the Wizard of Oz slot machine!  We headed back at midnight once the shady people started to come out :)