New Year's Eve - 2009

2010, tomorrow, what?!? Where did this year go? Time is flying bye, life is passing bye, my new year's resolution - to live in the moment and cherish each day, each moment with my family.

It is too easy to get caught up in life's obligations. There will always be bills to pay, laundry to wash and a house to clean. But the smiles, giggles, laughter and cuddles of your children only last so long. Today I have decided, to make the commitment to myself to not let these moments get away from me because I was to pre-occupied on everything that has to get done. ( todd will be proud of me). Soon my kids will be grown up, and I don't want to regret pushing them away because the laundry had to be done, or the books on their bedroom floor needed to be picked up. 2010 and every year there after is about laughter, love and cherishing the moments.

I was watching the Today show this morning, they were talking about all the events of 2009. Obama was elected, Michael Jackson died, Sully's miracle on the Hudson. All of these events seem so long ago.. did they really just happen this year? Then I started to look on this blog over the last year, and can't believe how much has not necessarily happened in our life, but how much has changed.

Hannah has turned into a little girl. She no longer has the toddler chubby cheeks, the chubby thighs and the 3 worded sentences. She looks like a little girl, acts like a little girl, and talks non stop. We don't always understand everything she is saying, but trust me, she has a lot to say. I wish I could bottle all of her comments and funny things she does up in a bottle and open it up again 20 years from now, just to re- live it all over again.

Drew was born, the largest event in our lives of 2009, and the greatest blessing. A year ago Todd and I had a lot of discussion whether to have another child or not. Today, I can't imagine what our lives would be like without him. I melt each time Hannah and Drew interact. She has a way with him that just makes him smile, and smile, and smile. She adores him, he adores her. I adore watching them together. He makes our family complete. It no longer feels like just Todd, Hannah and I hanging out, it feels like a family now.

Tonight will be similiar to last years New Year's Eve, pizza and a movie, probably be in bed by 11pm. And tomorrow our friends Kim and Jason and Eleanor are coming over to celebrate the new year. From our family to yours, Happy New Year Everyone. I wish everyone health, happiness and laughter for the upcoming year.

Drew is 3 Months Old Today!

We have a 3 Month Old! I can't believe a quarter of his first year is over?! Time is flying bye, and Drew is keeping us busy, as is his big sister. Drew has turned into such a great baby. His fussy times seem to be a thing of the past, as now he is fairly predictable in his needs. He is held less often and seems to be content kicking and swinging his arms on the floor. He loves his gym/ playmat and has just starting swatting at little toys hanging from them. He is trying so hard to grab the little toys... he is doing this as I type. Soon, he will get it. Drew has also started to really enjoy the swing, the bumbo seat and being bounced on your lap. He smiles all the time, and smiles the most at his big sister Hannah. He seems to get all giddy each time she is around. She has a way with him, and loves him to pieces, we are very lucky!! And, I put Drew on the scale this morning, weighing in at 15.2 lbs. Whoa Drew. The guys likes the bottle and keeps it all down, he has the thighs and belly to prove it. His many nicknames these days are Budha, Porkchop, Chimpmunk and Buddy. He still seems to respond to just about anything, but does turn his head and smile when he hears "baby dew". Now, if he could just consistently sleep through the night?!? He is a good sleeper in general, but does seem to have a habit of waking up around 3am each night for a bottle. He is quick to have his bottle and go right back to sleep... but we would like those 25 uninterrupted minutes back. Soon, soon.. I know it.

On Monday, Drew starts at daycare, the same school that Hannah goes to, just a few blocks from our offices downtown. I dread the thought of dropping him off for the first time, or every time as that first year tends to be tough not only on the kids, but the parents too. Hannah keeps talking about how Drew is going to be in the baby room, and she will get to visit him and kiss him. Hopefully seeing her there will make him feel more settled.

Happy 3 Months Drew!! We love you little buddy. You are growing up so fast, and are such a little charmer with your big smile and big blue eyes. Thanks for you all your cuddles, giggles and smiles that light up our world.

The Steinemann family comes to Minnesota

Grandpa Steinemann, Baby Drew and Aunt Andrea! This is the first time Andrea was able to meet Drew! She was such an awesome helper and Drew just loved her!! Thanks Andrea for all your help with Drew while you were here!! And thank you Grandpa Steinemann for being my "driver" and helping in out while everyone was at the Wolves game!!

Todd's family all came to Minnesota to celebrate Christmas with us this year. We were excited that they were able to enjoy a very very white Christmas in Minnesota. The snow just fell, and fell, and fell. The good news is that the temperatures were mild enough for Minnesota to play in the snow and actually enjoy it. With about 16 + inches of snow on the ground, we were able to sled and play outside, and indeed, that is what we did.

Cousin Sean and Hannah going Sledding. Hannah LOVED cousin Sean, or as she called him "Sean, Sean". He was so great to her and was just an awesome big cousin. He sledded with her, colored, played princess and made her giggle quite a bit!

Sean and Ashely made a snowman together on Christmas Day!! Sean had never seen snow before until this trip, now look at him!!

Cash and Drake had a lot of fun playing football in the snow and having snow ball fights.

Thanks for an awesome trip, and thanks for coming all the way to Minnesota for a very white Christmas. We hope you enjoyed your trip!

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope everyone had as wonderful as a Christmas as we did this year. Hannah LOVED Christmas as you can see from her excitement in the picture above. And Baby Drew, he slept through most of Christmas morning but I am sure he will love his toys once he knows what to do with them. Baby Drew got lots of trucks for Christmas this year, just like he asked Santa for. And Hannah got all kinds of Princess things, as well as her doll house, castle and bike she asked Santa for.

Christmas Eve Hannah picked out some cookies for Santa to leave on her and Drew's new special plate. Hannah also chose an Elmo cup for Santa too. Santa came down the chimney sooo fast he accidentally stepped on Hannah and Drew's Christmas cookie plate. Santa had to leave a letter to the kids letting them know to leave the cookies on the cabinet next year. This whole event was a good 45 minute discussion with Hannah.. how could Santa do this?? Hannah kept telling me it wasn't really safe what Santa did, and she asked if Rudolph got hurt. We assured her everyone was ok.

(Really, Mom bumped too much in Hannah's stocking and the stocking and heavy holder fell off the mantle right onto the plate)

And finally, Hannah on her new princess bike. She can't wait to actually ride around on it this spring once the weather gets better!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Merry Christmas Eve 2009

Anyone living in MN wishing for a white Christmas was lucky this year. Not only was it a white Christmas, they got a blizzard too! With a lot of snow fall, and temperatures mild enough to play in the snow, we got out there and had some fun today!!

The Steinemann and Wikstrom family is all in town from FL, and this is a special treat for them, as cousin Sean had never seen snow in person for. Everyone had a blast sledding, building snow castles, and snow ball fights today.

We can't wait until tomorrow morning, the big day Hannah was been waitin for when Santa arrives with his toys. It has been so special this year, the anticipation, the magic, the fun. I can't wait to see Hannah face as she comes down the stairs tomorrow.

And finally, Christmas Eve, exactly what I wished for as a parent. A white Christmas, Christmas music playing, assembling toys, cookies out for Santa, surrounded by family, ready for the magic.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Ms Not So Smiley

It's been a long week for Hannah. She came home from school last Thursday with a stomach flu. Her stomach flu turned into a bad head cold, which turned into pink eye. She has had a fever since Thursday, and we are going back to the doctor later today. Her spirits were finally getting better today, but she is still under the weather. It has been a long week, for Hannah and Mom. We have a lot of Purell in the house, but somehow now Mom has a sore throat and headache. Now, we just need to keep Dad and Drew healthy. Wish us luck... as we think it is going to be one long winter.

Mr Smiley

That's right, Drew has become Mr Smiley! Not to say that he doesn't still get cranky from time to time, but he is more content with hanging out on his play-mat, in the swing and in the Bumbo (always supervised and on ground level says mom and the cpsc ;) ).

He loves to smile, weather it be because he hears Hannah laugh or you talking to him, he really is starting to react a bit more.

Disney Princess on Ice

Last night was the big night, Hannah, Eleanor and Jason and I went to dinner then Princess on Ice. The girls LOVED it. They saw all the princesses and their princes, as well as Mickey, Minnie and Tinkerbell. We had 4th row seats, after all, with the concert of the year for the girls, you need to go VIP style. It was fun to be so close. Every little girl in the building was dressed as their favorite princess, I have never seen so many little 3-5 year old girls dressed up in my life. It was really cute, as everyone had a great time. Hannah has had a little bug since Thursday and still had a mild temperature throughout the day. I kept asking her if she felt ok to go, she would scream " I am not sick, I WILL see the princesses".. then she would sneeze and go lay her head down. She was determined not to miss it. She had a little rough night last night, still not feeling great. She did enjoy the show, and screamed with excitement when she saw Snow White and her favorite dwarf Dopey come out. She started singing the song "I am wishing, I am wishing" as loud as she could. Everyone surrounding us could hear, and they all had a little smirk on their faces. When Hannah gets excited she doesn't hold back!

Hugs from Hannah

Hannah is loving being a big sister, and gives Drew hugs every second she gets. We are so proud of her as she has embraced her new role. The best part is how much Drew responds to Hannah. When he is fussy, all it takes is Hannah running up to him saying "baby dew" hugging him and it makes it all better with a smiled back from Drew. It is super cute.

And hugs for Murph Dawg. We haven't given any Murphy updates lately. Our little fur ball drives us crazy. He barks non stop, seems to have to go to the bathroom more than any dog I know, and has some kind of licking obsession. We think he is as neurotic as they come, but underneath all that white fur, we love the little guy to pieces. He is a great cuddler, and loves Hannah and Drew. He is so good around them, he takes abuse, and is very protective at the same time.

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Yesterday we took Hannah and Drew to see the big man himself, Santa Claus. Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph have dominated our conversations, tv, and radio for the last two weeks. Hannah is SO excited for Christmas she can hardly stand it. She talks about Santa every day, and more importantly she talks about his reindeer. We have made his reindeer food for Christmas night to leave on the lawn and she is still trying to understand why they fly. I told her because all the presents would not fit in a car, so they need to be in a sleigh and go really fast at night to get to all the kids. She then asked, why doesn't Santa drive a really fast truck then? I love it.

In the morning, Todd and Hannah sat down at the table to write her letter to Santa. She told Dad what to say, and he wrote while she drew and decorated. She was clear that she wants a castle, a bike and a house for her dolls. She also wanted to write Drew's letter. We asked what Drew wanted from Santa and she said a truck.

The experience of seeing Santa was adorable. When it was Hannah's turn in line, she got the biggest smile on her face I have ever seen. Slowly she started to walk towards him, then sped up to jump on his lap. She was really good about telling him what she wanted, she got a little nervous, but he did get the message of a castle and a bike at the end. It was so cute. I actually got a little teared up she seeing how excited and happy she was. I love the magic, and I love these moments, it just doesn't get any better than that.

We left Santa's letters at a special mailbox for Santa at Macy's. She was really excited to mail it and put it in the box, going all the way to the North Pole.

Porkchop the Sleeper!

Our little porkchop slept for 10 hours last night - YEAH!!! 9pm to 7:15am. Never woke up once!! That or I was so exhausted I didn't hear him? That is the most sleep mom has gotten in 6 months in one night. ( Pregnancy did not suite sleeping well). I haven't felt this well rested in 4 years... I just had to share in the excitement over rest and some good R&R. Amazing what a good nights sleep can do. Bring on the crabiness, bring on the tears, and the fussiness today Drew.. with a good night's sleep.. I can take it on!

And we call him "Porkchop"

Yesterday was Drew's 2 month check up. Apparently our scale at home was not lying. Drew weighed in a 13.7 lbs, and is 23.5 inches long. Whoa. At this same age, big sister Hannah weighed 11.2 lbs. I don't seem to be feeding them any differently, but Drew is packing on the pounds. I often referred to him as "peanut" until yesterday, now we are going with "porkchop". Everything else checked out well. He got his 2 month vaccines yesterday and has had a little fever ever since. He has quite fussy and crying a lot. It has been a long 24 hours. I am hoping he feels better soon. for my sake and his.

When Frosty melts, we all melt...

So with the great holiday traditions we get the highs and lows. Tonight we watched Frosty the Snowman and Hannah fell instantly in love with the big snow ball of a guy. It was a great experience right up to the point where poor Frosty got locked in the green house and melted...Hannah smile turned up side down, her lip quivered and eyes watered up. It was so sad to see how upset she was. It didn't matter that Santa came ot fix everything and Frosty came back to life, she was still sad and went of to be with Mommy and a few tears....