One Cold January

Wowzer! It has been one cold winter this year. I have lived through 26 midwest winters, and I feel like this has been one of the coldest. This morning, the windchill was -29. Brrr. That is not how I like to start my days.

However, there does seem to be some hope in the future for warmer weather :)

We are starting to get a little stir-crazy in the Nelson Household. It's hard to be cooped up inside all day long, especially with a 1 year old! Emma has been a little crabby lately, and I think some of it has to do with the short, cold days that keep us inside all day. That girl loves to play outside.

Luckily enough, Sunday was a beautiful day. It was 39 degrees, sunny, and we spent as much time outside as we could. Emma had a blast running around and finally playing outside.

Right now, Emma is fighting off a sinus infection. She has been pretty miserable, but thanks to some antibiotics she is starting to feel better.

So that's the news around these parts, it's cold and miserable and we are all wishing for spring :)

Another day. Another dollar.

Well, it's been about two weeks since I last blogged. Whoops! I am falling behind on that resolution already. Well, not a whole lot has been happening in the last couple of weeks, but I will fill you in.

Last weekend, John, Emma, and I made the trip to Minnesota to watch my cousins, Cody, and Kyle play some basketball. We watched Cody play in Sleepy Eye on Friday night on our way to my parent's house, and then we watched Kyle play in a basketball tournament in New Ulm on Saturday.

We also ran over to Tim and Janel's on Saturday to visit and hang out with Trevor and Jenna. Emma had an absolute blast running around with those two. She was completely beat by the end of the day.

The rest of the weekend was spent visiting and hanging out with family, with my parents enjoying their time with Emma. It was a fast, busy weekend, but it was fun. It's always nice to get out of the city once in a while.

This past week has been insane. We have just been very busy at work all week, Emma keeps us busy all evening, and then we go to bed and do it all over again. I love our routine and time spent with Emma, but routines do get a little monotonous once in a while, and it's been a long week. TGIF!!

After two weeks of not blogging, you would think I would have more to talk about, but alas, nothing too exciting has been going on in the Nelson Home. I guess no news is good news sometimes.

Enjoy that sunshine people, the winds are planning on showing up again tomorrow!!

I will leave you with some pictures of my little drummer :)

Happy New Year!!

So, it's 2014. When did that happen? I always like to see a new year come along, because it does feel like a fresh start and a new beginning in some ways, but it is sad to think about another year of your life just being gone. I will never experience all the firsts I had with Emma this last year, and she will never be that little again. That makes me sad!

But overall, I enjoy seeing the new year come, and I do look forward to all the things to come.

I'm not really a person that makes resolutions. I usually have goals I want to accomplish in the next year, but there not really resolutions per say.

I want to eat healthier and exercise more, which is always a constant battle.

I want to spend less time worrying about things in general, and just live in the moment.

I want to enjoy Emma the way she is right now and realize that before I know it she will be all grown up, I want to enjoy every moment with her, even the frustrating ones.

I want to make more time for just John and me since our time-alone has taken a serious hit in the last couple years.

I want to cook more, and experiment with new recipes.

I want to continue to blog and scrapbook-both of which I sometimes fall behind on.

I want to add another baby to our family-if not this year, then the next. Emma needs a sibling :)

I want to travel more-even if it is short trips like Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, Milwaukee.

I want to be better about staying in touch with my friends. It's not that hard to pick up the phone every once in a while and planning something.

I want a lot of things apparently. I'm very happy with my life just the way it is, but I think there is always room for improvement. I just really want to slow down and enjoy our time as a family right now. And I need a better balance of a social life and being a mom, it doesn't have to be one or the other.

So, anyway, Cheers to 2014 and we will see what it brings :)

Reflecting on 2013

Wow, what a year it has been! I can't believe 2013 is almost over, and we are about ready to welcome in 2014. Time really does fly as you get older.

This last year has been pretty amazing. I have loved watching Emma grow up this last  year. She learned to pull herself up, stand on her own, and walk. Her vocabulary has also increased exponentially throughout the year. It has been a wonderful thing to watch her become smarter and develop a personality.

We haven't had a lot of crazy life events this past year. John started a new job with 9 Clouds back in January, so that was a little bit of a transition for everyone.

We also went on our first vacation without Emma this past summer. It was the first time John and I had both spent a night away from Emma. It was tough at first, but we had a great time in the Duluth and it was great for us to have some time to ourselves.

We also celebrated Emma's first birthday along with some other milestone birthdays over the summer. It's always great to spend some time with family, and celebrating Emma's first birthday was a blast.

It was actually a pretty quiet year for us. The last couple years have involved buying a house, having a baby, and adjusting to parenthood, and now we are happily settling into our wonderful life and enjoying the small things.

Now, I'm not a huge one for resolutions. I mean I always feel like a new year is sort of a fresh start, but I think if you really want to change your habits or make a big change in your life, then the date on the calendar shouldn't really matter. It's a lifestyle change. I would like to be healthier in 2014, which is sort of cliche,but it's true. If I could just eat a few more fruits and veggies, and exercise consistently, that would make a huge difference.

I also need to learn to not get so wrapped up in the "things" I need to do, and spend more time just hanging out with my husband and Emma. I mean, if I spend an entire Saturday in my PJs playing with Emma-that's great!!! The house cleaning can wait :)

So, in conclusion, 2013 was a great year, but cheers to 2014 and all the things to come!!

Happy New Year!!!

A Minnesota Christmas

I was super excited to be able to spend Christmas Day in Minnesota. It had been a few years since I was in Minnesota for the actual Holiday. There are just too many nurses in our family, it makes it tough to get together on the actual day, but this year worked out wonderfully.

It was sort of weird having Christmas on a Wednesday though. On Monday, December 23rd, we packed up our house (at least it felt that way) and we made the journey to Minnesota. Emma handled the trip well, and the weather was fantastic!

We stopped at my mom's work in Redwood Falls on the way home and Emma delivered some flowers since it was my mom's birthday. When we finally made it to my parent's house, we settled in and then helped get things in order for Christmas. It was a battle trying to keep Emma out of the presents!!

John and I helped my Dad put together the Christmas bags for all the kids in the Christmas Program, and then we relaxed at my parents' house for a while.

I called some friends/family while I was in town, and we decided to meet up at the Frontier to have a few drinks and catch up. There were lots of drinks, laughs, and memories shared. It was great to catch up with some old friends!

On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we spent the morning making food, playing with Emma, and visiting and enjoying the holiday season. At around 1pm, my dad's side of the family started showing up for our annual get-together. We had appetizers, wine, and beer to keep us full and happy for the most of the day. There were also presents exchanged between the young cousins and Emma, so there were new toys to keep all the kids happy.

We headed into Fairfax at around 6pm for the Children's Christmas Program that Kyle and Jenna were in (Trevor was sick for Christmas). After that, we all headed back out to my parent's farm to continue the festivities. I'm pretty sure I was buzzing from some wine by the end of the night.

 Emma crashed pretty hard. She was overwhelmed by all the new toys, people, and all the activity. She did really well, and was happy and adorable all day, but by 8 pm she was more than ready for bed.

Christmas Day started off with us all going to church. Emma did not behave well in church at all. She was just tired and crabby, plain and simple. I ended up leaving church early with her and putting her to bed.

We had spaghetti for dinner and after Emma napped we opened gifts. Emma had a blast opening basically everybody's presents and playing with all her new toys. She got spoiled, again.

After the presents were all opened, and approved by Emma, we started the process of packing up the car and heading back to South Dakota. John and I both had to work the next day, so unfortunately Christmas was over.

We had such a good 3 days in Minnesota. Emma was well-behaved and really really fun this Christmas. I got to spend time with some extended family members I don't get to see very often and of course we got to spend a lot of time with immediate family.

I love the Holiday Season, and I am bummed to see it leave so quickly. I actually just finished taking down all my Christmas decorations, it's always kind of depressing to put everything back to normal.

But, Christmas will come again, and in the meantime, Happy New Year :)

Christmas with the Nelsons

Whew, what a week! Between cleaning the house, wrapping presents, and preparing for hosting Christmas, and then packing up the house and driving to Minnesota for Christmas, it was crazy! I really don't know where this last week has gone, it just literally flew by.

This last Saturday, we hosted Christmas for John's side of the family. I worked a call shift the night before, so I had basically Saturday morning to get the house in order, so it was sorta a rushed deal. We made Taco Soup and Chili, and then had some snacks and desserts, it was amazing :)

Everyone arrived at around 1:00 pm, we ate, and then of course we opened presents. We set the mood in the basement with the fireplace crackling and Christmas music playing, have I mentioned I love Christmas time?

Emma got spoiled. She was so funny opening presents, she would yell and get all excited while she was opening, and then she would yell with excitement once she saw the present, whether she knew what it was or not. It was adorable.

Emma's gifts- she got a tickle-me-elmo (which she calls "melmo"), a play toaster with toast, a milk truck, an SDSU hoodie, a stuffed puppy with a kennel set, a tent to play in, and a magnetic board for her room. She also got some other odds and ends in her stocking.

John and I got her a play set of tables and chairs, bubbles, an apron set to help mommy bake, a play broom set to help mommy clean, and a hello kitty flashlight for her tent.

She made a good haul.

The rest of us exchanged gifts as well, and were well pleased. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and visiting and watching Emma play with her new toys.

After supper, everyone went home and we enjoyed a little quiet, before continuing on with our holiday celebrations. I had to work all day on Sunday, and then we packed up and headed to Minnesota on Monday to celebrate Christmas with the Kieckers...more on that in a future post. Right now, I have to get going to work, back to reality.

Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and was able to spend some time with friends and family!!

Emma's 18-month check-up

Emma had her 18 month check up on Tuesday, and everything went really well. She weighs 25 pounds and is in the 67th percentile for weight and is 30 inches tall, which is the 21st percentile. So, basically we have a short and stout little girl. Guess she is taking after the Kiecker side of the family so far.

The doctor said Emma is looking good developmentally as well. Basically everything is looking good with Emma. Plus, it's been 6 months since Emma has had an ear infection (or any illness really, knock on wood), so Yay!!

We did give Emma one shot on Tuesday, she got her first Hepatitis A vaccine, and she took it like a champ. She cried a little when they first stuck her, but after that she was totally over it. We spent the rest of the day with a Mommy and Emma day, and had a great day.

We did some shopping at Target, ate some lunch, and then headed home for some R & R. The day went great, until I accidentally poisoned my child. Okay, that sounds really bad, but thats kinda what happened.

I made goulash last week, and we still had leftovers in the fridge. They were about a week old, which to me isn't THAT old. So, I fed Emma the goulash for supper, while John and I had a frozen pizza. Well, Emma was fine and dandy until about 9:30pm when she puked up everything that was in her stomach.  And I mean everything. She handled it pretty well. She freaked out while she was puking, since it was the first time she had ever puked, but once she was done, we got her and her crib all cleaned up, and she was laughing and giggling.

I felt like absolute crap for making her sick, but I learned my lesson. We are now on the three-day rule for leftovers, especially for Emma.

So anyway, it was a good day with Emma, except for the ending of the day. But she was her normal, happy self the next morning. So, at least she's not scarred from the food poisoning incident.

We have a busy weekend coming up, I am working call today, tomorrow, and Sunday, and on Saturday we are celebrating Christmas with John's family. Then, on Monday we are heading to Minnesota for Christmas with  my family.

Whew. This next week is going to be over in a blink of an eye. I love the Holidays, but they are sorta hectic and busy sometimes!!!

And I better finish up my Christmas shopping pretty soon!!! T-6 days until Christmas!!! Holy Smokes!