New Year's Eve

Hard to believe another year to coming to an end, and boy has it been a doozie of a year. When I think back to last January, it's hard to believe how much everything has changed in just one year.

First of all, I wasn't even pregnant at the beginning of last year, and now I have had an entire pregnancy and welcomed a healthy, beautiful baby boy. He has been such a welcome addition to our little family, and we just love him to pieces. I look forward to all the milestones we will witness this next year and watching his personality develop.

Emma has grown so much in the last year, it's absolutely crazy! She is turning into such a little girl, with quite the personality. Her communication skills just keep expanding exponentially, and right now she is into repeating everything she hears, so we have to be very careful with what we say around her. She also is becoming very independent, she likes to dress herself (or at least try), and have a say in what she eats and does. This is both endearing, and frustrating. I think she is at such a fun age right now. I love all the crazy things she does and says. She is our energetic, feisty little girl whom we love so much! I can't wait to see her grow even more over the next year.  

I celebrated 5 years with McKennan this past summer. It is so hard for me to believe I have been out of school and working for 5 years already. I enjoy my work very much ( I actually kinda miss it right now) and the people I work with. It is very fulfilling work to help people, and I love it. The only thing I don't always appreciate are the hours and the insanity. I get pretty bad mom guilt when I have to put in 16 hour shifts, and don't get to see my kiddos all day. I hope to someday have a job with more regular hours, but for now I plan to continue in the PACU, helping those post-op patients.

It has been a great year, filled with much happiness and love. I expect 2015 to be great as well, but maybe just a little busier. John and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage this summer, which has just flown by. I'm so lucky to have met John and be able to share my life with him. He is such a great husband and daddy. Emma will turn 3 this summer-which is just impossible to believe. Time really does fly! And of course we will have Eli's first birthday to look forward to next November. There are so many great things awaiting us in 2015-we are truly blessed!

I hope everyone else can take a minute to appreciate all the great things in their lives!

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!!!!!

 

Odds and Ends

We are slowly settling back into a routine at home after all the Holiday Craziness that was last week. I spent yesterday cleaning the house and running some errands, so it feels like we are organized and running a smooth household again.

John and Emma spent some time playing outside in the snow, and Emma absolutely loved it. She did some sledding, and then just enjoyed playing with the snow. She is just so darn adorable sometimes. She handled the holidays very well, and she keeps asking where Grandma, Grandpa, and Rachel are. I guess she enjoyed all the company, and misses them!!

Emma is starting to get a cold, I am sure the lack of quality sleep over the week did a number on her. Luckily, she hasn't been sick in a while, and hopefully this doesn't become much more than a cold, there has been some flu cases going around lately, yuck! I was a little nervous letting her go to daycare today. Hope she doesn't get anything too serious from there!!

Elliott is still a difficult sleeping companion. He is a grunter and a moaner, and just makes more noise than I thought possible from someone so little. He is just very gassy, and has a hard time passing his gas. I read online about Grunting Baby Syndrome (apparently it's a thing), and basically he hasn't figured out that in order to poop, he has to relax his pelvic floor (aka his anus) in order to be successful. Basically, he tenses up everything, and then grunts and groans, and can't figure out why he can't poop. There's really nothing to do about it, and he just needs to outgrow it, but it is so frustrating. And it makes for a poor night's sleep for both of us. So, the struggles continue.

Last night, we packed the kids up and went to Falls Park to see the lights for one more time before they shut them off for the year. Emma really enjoyed seeing them, and Elliott slept through it.

Today, our furnace isn't working right, so it is currently 64 degrees in our house. So Elliott and I are trying to stay warm until the Waterbury man comes to fix it.

It's hard to believe 2014 is almost over, it has been quite the year!! Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe New Year!!!!

Emma and her Minnies

Elliott 12 lbs 6 oz at 1 month!!!

Nap time with Minnies 

Daddy and Elliott 

Fun in the snow

Christmas in Minnesota 2014

Well, we survived our first trip to Minnesota as a family of four, and everything went pretty well. We headed to Minnesota on Christmas Eve, once we got our vehicle packed up with every single thing we own (at least that's how it felt).

The trip to Minnesota went surprisingly well. Both kids slept for about half the drive, and Emma spent the rest of the time watching a movie on her portable DVD player, and Elliott spent the rest of the time making noises and sucking on his pacifier.

Once in Minnesota, we unpacked our vehicle, and settled in to my parent's house. We spent Christmas Eve at Tim and Janel's house. Emma absolutely loved playing with Jenna, Trevor, and Kyle. She was not deprived of any attention by any means. Elliott was passed around all evening, and enjoyed snuggling with everyone. I ate too much food, but enjoyed visiting with and seeing all the extended family. It had been far too long since I had seen some of them.

We went to the Children's Christmas program at church, and then back out to Tim and Janel's to open presents, drink more wine, and visit. It was a great Christmas Eve! Unfortunately, neither kid was asleep in bed until after 11:00 pm, but it was a successful Christmas Eve.

Great-Grandpa Marlin and Grandson

Great-Grandparents

Emma enjoying Jenna's toys

Piano Time

Everyone playing with Elliott

Presents 

Christmas Day was pretty low-key. We went to church in the morning, and since Rachel had to work, we couldn't celebrate Christmas with our family until Friday evening. After church, we all had a relaxing afternoon. Emma took a much-needed 2 hour nap, Elliott napped of course, and the rest of us enjoyed the quiet. 

Kathy, Mark, Michelle, and Keith came over in the late afternoon to eat supper with us and visit. It was nice to catch up with everyone, and Emma loved having new people to show off for. We ended up playing the game "Things" which always becomes inappropriate, and then we played a few hands of sheephead as well. It was a typical Christmas Day for our family, but it was wonderful family time.

Our Holiday Hunk

Story Time with Grandma Patty

Rocking with Great-Aunt Kathy

Friday, we headed to the Gaylord Nursing Home to celebrate Christmas with mom's side of the family. I was a little nervous bringing a 1 month old into a nursing home, but it didn't appear that anyone was sick, and hopefully no one in my household gets sick in the next week. It was a nice little celebration. Once again, it was nice to see all the extended family members, I don't get to see any of them nearly enough. 

Emma ended up napping on the floor in the corner of the room, she was that tired. Elliott once again was passed around the room. I enjoyed visiting, and then eventually playing Cards Against Humanity, which is not the most appropriate game at a family gathering :)

After the Gaylord party, we finally had our own family Christmas at my parent's house. Emma and Elliott got spoiled big time, and Emma enjoyed playing with all her new toys. She couldn't settle down and go to bed until after 11:00 pm she was so wound up from her toys. It was a great Family Christmas!

Who doesn't eat supper like this?

More presents!!

Christmas Time

Grandma and Elliott

Sam came to meet Elliott

Before we knew it, it was Saturday morning, and we were packing up getting ready to head back home. I don't think a week has ever flown by faster! We packed up very carefully, and we were able to get everything to fit in our vehicle. 

The ride back to Sioux Falls went really well. Emma and Elliott both slept for the first 2 hours (yes!). We made a pit stop in Worthington for bathroom breaks, and to feed Elliott, and then we were off again. I bought Emma a sucker at the Gas Station, so that kept her busy, and Elliott had a full tummy, so the last 45 minutes were a breeze. It took us quite a while to unpack everything, but we are finally settled back into our home. 

It was a great week full of Christmas Activities, good food, and great family and friends. I loved the time spent back in Minnesota, but there really is no place like home :)

Hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas!!

Christmas with the Nelsons

Another week has flown by, and Elliott is almost a month old already. Time is going fast, and seems like it is dragging at times. The nights are still tough. Lately, Elliott has been really gassy and fussy at night, not sure what the problem is. He gets probably 90% breastmilk, and then I have had to supplement with a little bit of formula because he is eating so much, so maybe that is messing with him? Poor guy. We are working on figuring it out.

Other than that, things are going well. Emma has been in a much better mood lately, and she is usually a good source of entertainment for us all in the evenings. She is becoming such a big girl. She is doing really well with potty training, she sits at the table now like a big girl, and her vocabulary just keeps increasing. And boy does she pick up on things quickly. She has her toddler meltdown moments, but overall she is a happy, entertaining little girl.

On Wednesday, I took Elliott to both Avera and to John's work to meet all our co-workers. It was fun to watch everyone swoon over him. Something about bringing babies into work makes everyone melt a little. It was nice to see everyone at work again as well, I missed them. It's funny how much you do actually miss work when you are not there!

This past Thursday evening, we had John's work Christmas party. Jim and Barb watched the kids, and we were able to have another evening out. It was nice. We ate, drank, and socialized. It was nice to have a little bit of time away from the kids and the inside of our house :)

Yesterday we had Christmas with John's family. Emma absolutely loved opening all her gifts and then playing with them the rest of the day. She did really well with all the activity and commotion, but unfortunately she was too wound up to take a nap, so she went the whole day without a nap. Overall, she did very well. But around 7pm things started to fall apart for her a little.

Christmas was fun though. We pretty much spent the day watching Emma open presents (and then opening our own), holding Elliott, and then we had some Chili and Corn Bread for supper. It was pretty low-key, but it was a nice day.

Emma got spoiled rotten and was showered with gifts this year. She was very enthusiastic about it all, and was so much fun to watch. Elliott slept most of the day, but he also got some presents and enjoyed all the company.

It's hard to believe Christmas is almost here and over. On Wednesday (Christmas Eve) we are heading to Minnesota to do Christmas with my family. It may be an interesting car ride with the two kiddos, but hopefully we will survive. Hard to believe 2014 is almost over already, but it has been a wonderful year!

Right now, the kids are napping, the Vikings are winning, and I am enjoying the quiet. Emma was a little crabby today due to her lack of sleep yesterday, but hopefully after a good nap she will be back to her perky self. Also, we are planning a Costco Trip this afternoon, and I would prefer not to have a crabby toddler during our outing.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Emma's nightgown made by the Colony ladies

Eli out on the town with Mom

John's work Christmas Party

Our growing boy

Smiles

Baby toes

Opening gifts with mom and dad

Emma in her "pretty dress"

The before

Unwrapping her gift that is bigger than her

Emma's gifts