Monday, June 29, 2015

Emma's Frozen Birthday Party

Well, Emma had a third birthday party this weekend. Only fitting to have three parties when you turned 3 years old, right? I know, it's a little bit of over-kill. It just kinda worked out that way this year. Last weekend we were with my side of the family, so we had a birthday party with them, and now we had to celebrate with John's side of the family.

It ended up being a gorgeous day. It was sunny, in the eighties, and not much of a breeze. I bought Emma an inflatable swimming pool for her and her friends to play with, and it was a pretty big hit. Emma, Anna, and Abby played together in the pool for quite some time.

We had a pretty good showing of guests as well. They included: Great-Grandma Nelson, Judie Nelson, Dick and Dorayne Phillips, Jeff, Steve and Melanie Person, Bryant and Abby Polzin, Kristina and Johnny Gonzalez, Marie and Todd Remmers, and of course quite a few toddlers and infants. It was a fun party. The kids all played together well, the adults got to visit and enjoy the weather.

Emma loved the entire day. We had a "Frozen" themed party, and she just ate it up. She loved all the attention. She was beaming from ear to ear when we sang Happy Birthday and clapped when she blew out her candles. She also loved her Frozen cake.

She had a blast opening her presents, and she got some pretty cool gifts. It was so fun to watch Emma having so much fun with the other kids, and just having her own special day. I loved it.

We grilled brats, burgers, and hotdogs for supper and then served cake and ice cream for dessert. It was a fun little summer gathering, and it was nice to see everyone and catch up.

As fun as it was, I am very thankful to be done with birthday parties for a while. I still can't believe I have a three year old, now if she would only learn to stop wetting her pants here and there, we would really be in business. But, I will leave with some adorable birthday party pictures :)

P.S. Elliott quietly turned 7 months old a few days ago. Not too much new with him. He has been sleeping like a champ from 7:30pm to 6:00 am, so we are loving that. He continues to sit very well, can roll both ways, and is still unimpressed with solids. He will eat baby food, but doesn't especially love it. Maybe he will go straight to real food someday? Who knows. He continues to gain weight and grow, so I'm not too worried. He continues to be a pretty happy baby, smiling and laughing most of the time. He rides in the car like a champ, and is teething and drooling all over the place. Such a fun little guy :)

Emma testing out her new pool before the guests arrive

Picnic Table break

3 little girls having fun

Elliot and Juan Jr (who is 2 months older than Elliott, haha)

Happy Birthday Emma!!

Pool Party!!

Present Time


Brother hug

Haha, this picture makes me laugh "Mom, save me!"

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Emma's Doc McStuffin's Birthday Party

Another June weekend has flown by, at this rate summer will be over before we know it! Yikes!

This was a really fun, busy weekend. John had a wedding to shoot in Sioux Falls on Friday night, so I had a full day with the kiddos, and a wild, crazy evening with them. We headed to Mankato on Saturday morning for Stefanie Black's wedding. We got to Rachel's house around 12:30pm and relaxed and hung out with the family until the wedding started.

The wedding was at Minneopa State Park, which was actually really close to Rachel's house. It ended up being a beautiful day, and the wedding was very nice. The kids did very well through the whole thing. They traveled well, and they even handled the ceremony and most of the reception without too many meltdowns.

After the ceremony, we checked out the waterfalls in the parks, got some nice photos, and then headed to the Best Western for the reception. Mom and Dad got a hotel room for the night, so it was nice to have a place to bring the kids when they got too rowdy at the reception.

The reception went pretty well. The food was good, and the dancing was pretty fun. Emma was a little dancing machine, and would not leave the dance floor. She also was asking just complete strangers to dance with her, it was pretty cute. Elliott was done for by about 7:30pm, mom was nice enough to hang out with him in the hotel room until Rachel and I brought the kids back to her house. We finally got the kids to sleep at around 10:00pm, and then we went to bed, exhausted.

John and Ryan came home after the dance was over, and after consuming lots and lots of beer. Typical.

Today was a really fun day as well. We celebrated Emma's third birthday with my side of the family, with a Doc McStuffins Themed party. Emma loved it all. She loved playing with everyone, the ice cream cake, the presents, being sang to, and basically everything about today. She was pretty adorable and happy all day long, even without a nap of any kind.

The guests of the party included: Marline and Elaine Kiecker, Julie, Todd, Cody, and Kyle Huiras, Janel, Trevor, and Jenna Schweiss, Mark and Kathy Clobes, Barb F, Patty and Jack, Rachel and Ryan. It was very nice to see everybody and it was a great party.

The weather was beautiful, so we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine. Emma got spoiled rotten with quite a haul of wonderful new toys to play with. She played super hard today.

The ride back home was a little painful. Elliott was crabby, and Emma was overtired as well. But we made it, and now we are prepping for another busy week. It's going to be very busy with work, and trying to get Emma's Frozen Birthday Party ready for this weekend with John's side of the family.

Also, today was Father's Day, so Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful daddy's out there, especially mine, and my husband. They are the best dads I know, and couldn't be more blessed than to have them in my life.

Road Trip!

Me and Emma 

Family Photo

The Grandparents and grandkids 

The beautiful bride dancing with her dad

Birthday Party

Sidewalk Paint 

Playing with Grandma Patty 

Great-Grandma and Elliott 

Party Time 


Presents!!


Nurse Emma?

Emma and her ice cream cake 

Playing with cousin Cody 

Ice Cream Cake!!


Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Emma's 3rd Birthday

Things have been pretty crazy and busy in the Nelson household lately. First of all, my little sweetie, Emma, turned 3 on Monday, How in the world did that happen?!

Emma is at such a fun age right now, and she can say just some of the funniest things. She knows all of her letters and can recognize them all. Most of my t-shirts have words on them, and she loves pointing to letters and asking me what they are. So, of course, I say the wrong letter, and Emma giggles, says "No mommy" and then tells me the right letter. This usually happens at least a couple times a night.

Emma also loves to sing. She will just break into song, and that little girl can sing with more passion than you would think imaginable. Her usual rotation of songs includes, Let it Go from Frozen, Doc McStuffins Theme Songs, I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee, If your happy and you know it, Old McDonald had a farm, Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty from Big Bang Theory, and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She really loves singing, and then begs for mom and dad to join in, but sometimes she scolds us to stop singing as well.

One of Emma's favorite things is to play outside. She is such a summer baby. She can spend hours with a little kiddie pool and some water toys. She also loves digging around in her sandbox, sidewalk chalk, riding her bikes, and just spending time exploring outside.

Emma is becoming quite the negotiator these days as well. Today, she tried to convince me (after I already told her she couldn't have any M&Ms) that her knee hurt and I needed to make it feel better for her. When I asked her what I could do to make it feel better, she said to put M&Ms in her mouth. Haha. She cracks me up.

Overall, Emma is usually pretty well-behaved and well-mannered. We have worked hard to teach her to say "please" and "thank you". She does a pretty good job of listening to mom and dad, but like any toddler, she can throw her fits at times. She doesn't like to be told "no". Also, if it were up to her, she would eat strictly goldfish, M&Ms, fruit snacks, chocolate, and cheese. So, when we make her eat something like fruit or veggies, we are the most terrible people on the face of the earth.

Bedtime is getting easier with Emma. She doesn't usually fight it too bad. Our routine is a bath, one episode of Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, or My Little Pony, go potty, brush teeth, read two books, and then it's lights out. I will usually lay with Emma for about 5 minutes, and then I tell her goodnight, and leave the room, and she falls asleep on her own. It is heavenly. And she sleeps all night! Yay!! Got one sleeping, now just need to work on the little man...

We are still working on potty training. Emma has been doing really great for the most part, only pull-ups overnight and underwear the rest of the time. The last couple weeks Emma has been having more accidents than normal, and I'm not exactly sure why. She is moving rooms at daycare soon, and they are transitioning her, so that may be some of it. We also have stopped making such a big deal out of it when she goes potty, so we are trying to go back to rewarding her a little more. Oh, the joys of potty training.

So, that's pretty much Emma in a nutshell. She loves to give hugs and kisses, even to Elliott. She also loves going shopping or on a car ride with mom or dad. She is very adventurous and social, she will say hi to just about anyone.

For Emma's birthday, we ended up taking her to Chuck E Cheese after work. We met Jim, Barb, and Jeff there ate some pizza (which was nasty!) and watched Emma have a blast playing games and riding the rides. Luckily, it was a Monday night, so it was not very busy. Emma basically had her choice of any ride or any game all evening. She really enjoyed herself. Grandma Barb and Grandpa Jim also spoiled her with some birthday presents to open. She was in heaven.

Elliott also enjoyed the experience, and stayed awake for more of the time. He watched the lights, rode a ride with Emma, ate some carrots, drank some milk, and then passed out for a little while. He did really well.

So, my little girl is somehow 3 already, time needs to try and slow down a little. I'm a little sad that she is turning into such a little girl already, becoming so independent. She is one lucky little girl as well, she has two birthday parties yet as well. We are having a Doc McStuffin themed party at Rachel's house this weekend for my side of the family, and then next weekend we are having a Frozen themed party at our house for John's side of the family. We have some celebrating to do in the next couple weeks!

Chuck E Cheese

Train Ride!

Presents for the 3 year old 





Playing games

Elliott having fun too!!



Monday, June 8, 2015

Our Camping Adventure

Adventure, I don't use that word lightly. Camping with the 2 year old and a 6 month old was definitely an adventure.

I actually missed out on the first night of camping. One of my friends from work, Cori, got another job and another friend and co-worker, Megan, is leaving for Seattle soon, so we had a going-away party for them. We met at Granite City for supper and drinks, and then ended up going downtown for more drinks.

I actually ended up having just a little too much to drink, so I got a ride home and called it night. Meanwhile, John was struggling with a terrible night with the kiddos. It's just not a great idea having all 4 of us in a one-room cabin, with no night-lights, or running water. Yuck.

Saturday, I finally made it out to Lake Vermillion. We ate a nice lunch, and then enjoyed taking Emma to the playground, letting her swim in the lake, and just general camping fun. Elliott took it like a champ, and was content to just sit and watch. He loved just sitting in the grass with toys, or sitting in our laps. We are pretty lucky to be blessed with such a laid back kid.

We actually camped with John's parents, they spent the night in a cabin right next to ours, and Jeff came out for a while with Buzz as well, so that was great entertainment for Emma. She loves that dog.

The days went really well with the kids. They were entertained, having fun, and just enjoying the time outside. The nights were terrible. I mean, terrible. The kids traded off being awake, and Elliott would wake up just screaming, probably because it was dark and he didn't know where he was. Emma slept in the same bed as me all night, so that was not comfy in the least. She did her whining and crying while half asleep a couple times. It was nuts. I think I probably got 3 hours of sleep max.

Sunday went okay. We made some pancakes and eggs for breakfast, and then pretty much packed up. We were all ready to be home by that point. Once at home, we unpacked, and then everyone napped for a couple hours, which was amazing!!

We spent a lot of time playing outside since the weather was so nice, and also picking up and cleaning the house for the start of another week.

I am working a call shift today, so I had a nice morning to catch up on things and work on Emma's birthday party invites. I am getting excited to put her Frozen birthday party together.

Here's to getting through Monday!!!

Playing in Lake Vermillion 

Elliott enjoying his first camping experience 

Elliott and Daddy Napping 

One worn out little girl 

Potty time at the lake :)

Camping!!

Feeding Elliott 

Emma cleaning 

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Sweet Summertime Fun!

Today was a doozie of a day. Heck, this week has been a doozie. I worked 13.5 house on Monday, and 12 hours on Tuesday, and then had today off, but of course had the kids, so it really wasn't a day off. I am pretty pooped to say the least, but overall it's been a great week.

We had a lot of fun today. The morning was a little blah, because it rained pretty much all morning. Elliott took a 5 (!) hour nap, from 9 am -2pm. I couldn't believe he slept that long, and he was sacked out during the entire nap, not sure what his deal was. I am just hoping he sleeps well tonight.

Emma and I spent the morning watching a little Doc McStuffins (her newest obsession), putting together puzzles, playing with toys, and she helped me do laundry and clean the kitchen. Then we had lunch and Emma napped from about 1-2:30pm.

After everyone (except me) was well-rested, the sun decided to pop out and it was a balmy 80 degrees, so I decided to get the kids out of the house. First, we went to Kuehn Park, and Emma enjoyed the playground while Elliott and I sat in the shade and watched.

After Emma had exhausted everything at the playground, we went searching for another park. I picked the one right next to the zoo, and Emma saw the zoo and basically begged to go. Since we have a zoo membership, I thought it sounded like a good idea. We made good use of our time at the zoo.

The carousel was going at the zoo, so Emma got a ride on that. She is too little to ride by herself, so Elliott and I joined her on the ride as well. Elliott really didn't know what to think about the ride, but Emma loved it of course. She also talked her way into getting some ice cream, feeding the goats, and riding a camel. She begged and begged to ride the camel, and she did it all by herself like a big girl and she loved it. She also got to pet the camel, and she was pretty proud of the whole situation.

We also walked around and saw most of the animals. The kids did very well on the trip. Elliott was a trooper and rode in the stroller the entire time like a champ. He only fussed a little when he got tired, and then proceeded to take a 30 minute nap, and after that was a happy camper. Emma did very well also. She had some trouble listening here and there, and then threw a fit when I wouldn't let her get food at the Market place in the zoo. So, after that we headed for home, with the promise of swimming once we got there.

So, once we arrived home, we filled up the kiddie pool and let Emma splash around. She really loved getting her first taste of swimming for the summer. Elliott and I stayed off to the side and watched and played while Daddy and Emma got each other soaked. It was a really nice evening at home.

Elliott was pretty darn beat after all the activity, and went to bed around 8:30 (which is late for him) and Emma finally just went to bed about 15 minutes ago (late night for her too) so hopefully everyone sleeps ok.

I am absolutely beat, and I have two more days of work to get through, and then we are camping this weekend with John's parent's. This should be interesting with the kids.

Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather today :)

My favorite little girl, whose going to be 3 soon!!

Me and my little man

Happy to be at the zoo

Checking out the tiger

Family carousel ride

Contrary to this photo, she loved her ice cream 

Camel ride!!

Such a big girl 

Thanking Cletus for the ride 

Pool time 

Enjoying the water show

Trying to get a photo with both kiddos- fail

Water fight with Daddy