AHHHH!

Holy cow. It hasn't started yet, but we are due to get between 5-9 inches of snow tomorrow through Tuesday. Back in IA it's basically just going to be rain. What the heck!? Katie was saying this weekend how she wished it would snow again so she could go sledding. Thanks a lot Katie. John was trying to tell her all the things that she could do outside when it warms up, but I guess it was too late. It will never get above 45 again.

New Poll

I have added a new poll question...actually Katie created this one. She came up with the questions and answers. :)

Bittersweet

On Friday I finally sold Katie (and Will's) car seat, bouncy chair, and Baby Bjorn carrier. While I am happy to free up some space in the sun room, happy to have provided a first time mom with some baby essentials, and happy for the $, I have to admit I am REALLY going to miss having those things around. It's like a piece of their lives is suddenly gone and will never be returned. We have turned a corner and can never go back. :( I also sold some more of Katie's clothes last week - don't even get me started on how hard THAT is. I think it would have been easier to sell them if I wasn't doing it 3 years after she wore them. It's a trip down memory lane before I hand them over. But then again...most of her clothes came to me with a story of their own from another family so it's only right that they continue on.

We are saving up for a kids picnic table for the backyard. I have more than enough to get one...now I just play the waiting game on Craigslist and garage sales until I find a used one. I don't want to buy new - it's a matter of principle. :) I am also waiting on a sit and stand stroller because as you know having 3 strollers already isn't enough. :) They all serve their own purpose.

The woman who picked up the baby equipment on Friday was 39 years old and having her first baby. She must have just found out last week she was pregnant because she was only 7 weeks along...and OH SO EXCITED! :) She was having nursery furniture delivered this weekend, and I have gotten 3 emails from her since Friday asking baby related and playgroup related questions. Her and her boyfriend are planning a Florida wedding...on the beach, at sunset. So I felt a bit of a connection with her to say the least. I'm glad I think most of the baby equipment and clothes we have sold so far has gone to good homes. :)

Cheerio

Will has discovered the joyous invention of the Cheerio. I gave him 5-6 on his try yesterday and he is very taken with them. He isn't really excited about eating them, but likes to play with them. He picks them up, drops them, picks them up, drops them. It keeps him VERY busy while I am trying to make Katie lunch.

Katie had school today. She is on spring break all next week. We looked into some summer camps yesterday. Trying to get the all scheduled before too many fill up. Katie says she wants to find a 'singing camp'...the little performer. She may have to settle for a soccer camp, and maybe some miscellaneous camps that sing songs along with other activities. :) I think we are looking to do a half day camp maybe every other week or so through the summer.

Once Will becomes mobile I think we will enroll him in the Gym class that Katie did for a few years. It really helped her get used to being around other kids and learn to trust other adults. With Will, I think it will help him learn to be GENTLE to other kids, and maybe learn some manners. :) He certainly won't have the shyness that Katie did.

Another Tooth

As I was changing Will's diaper today after lunch, I happened to glance in his mouth and noticed a new tooth. His top right tooth is poking through. No signs of the left one, but I'm sure it's soon to follow.

Katie got a haircut yesterday - a little over 2 inches were taken off. She was very excited because they put a braid in it, which she still had in today when she went to school. Katie said she was going to leave it in forever.

It's turned colder up here now - the wind is so cold! They said this week last year was in the 60's. We're all going through a bit of cabin fever I think...at least I am. No big plans the rest of the week...
For those of you worried about Will dressing in girl's clothes: Calm Down. :) I have two pairs of warm pj's that fit him - one happens to be Katie's Old Navy pj's. (Plus they are my FAVORITE - they are SO soft and snugly-I'm so happy we got to use them again.) Once the weather decides to warm up he can wear his spring jammies. I'm too scared to buy him new clothes cuz the little guy won't stay little!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

Despite Katie's mood at bedtime last night, the Easter Bunny paid our family a nice little visit. Will got some clothes, Katie got some workbooks, some clothes, UNO, and many eggs hidden around the house. (She found them all on her own!)




We went to an egg hunt yesterday, but because of the snow it was held inside, and wasn't so much an egg hunt...as people just giving out candy. But Katie had a good time. Will had to stay home with Dad.

Will is gaining a lot of strength. He can hold himself up on all fours for a pretty long time. He rocks back and forth, gearing up to go, but doesn't move yet, thank goodness. He has turned out to be good at rotating though. He can do an entire circle on his bottom pretty quickly. :)

Easter Eggs

This past weekend we colored Easter Eggs. Well, Katie colored - Will watched. I have attached some pictures of Katie's 'work.' This is certainly the cleanest year for coloring eggs, and Katie did a great job. She wanted to make an egg for everyone in the family, and bring them back to Waukon with us the next time we came, but we talked her out of that. She did make an egg for Grandpa Hanson, but Grandma Lyla forgot to take it with her. (Ooops!) Luckily she hasn't realized that yet.

Will is getting a lot better at sitting and standing. He does pretty well in Katie's old music chair. Eventually he falls out, but it takes a while. :) The teeth are still coming through, sharp as ever.

Holy cow! This little guy is heavy! (Katie wanted to play "Santa Clause" with Will.)

Happy Birthday Janet and Julie!

Holy birthdays Batman! Happy birthday to my big (older) sister Janet. :) And happy birthday to my college roommate Julie! Oh yeah, and Happy St. Paddy's Day to everyone else.
Ok - we went to Springsteen last night. Wow. It was an awesome show, although John insists it would have been even BETTER if they had played one more encore. We didn't get to hear Born in the USA and a couple other show favorites, but all in all it was an EXCELLENT show. John and I got tickets on the aisle - great access to the bathrooms! We thought we would be inundated all night with people getting up and leaving, but we had a terrific row that only did that to us once. We had some difficulty finding food before the show - but finally found a nice little restaurant tucked away with immediate seating. :) Turns out we didn't need to be in such a hurry to eat because the show started an hour late...not sure why such a long delay.
Everything was amazing - Bruce, Max, Steve, Clarence - it was great. At one point I was watching Steven Van Zandt and thinking "Geez, Silvio - I can't believe you shot Aidriana!!"
We got home about midnight - all kids asleep...for the moment. Mom said everything went very well, and so far I have heard no complaints from Katie. Will was a pistol to get to sleep - this being the first time he hasn't nursed to sleep at night. He made up for the loss because he woke up about 12:30 and every hour after that to nurse. :)

Happy Birthday Jordan!!

Today is Jordan Mezera's 14th birthday! He is Janet and Jeff's youngest son. I talked to Janet today and they were eating out to celebrate the birthdays. (Janet's is on Monday.)

Katie, John and I went to "Horton Hears A Who" this afternoon. It was a very good movie. Katie really enjoyed it, especially because there was a very cute, odd furry thing in it named "Katie." :) I think it's the first movie John and I have been to together since....umm....let's see...I think the last Star Wars movie, like 3 years ago.

We are gearing up for Springsteen tomorrow. I am really getting excited about spending some time with John away from the kids. It'll be the first time we have been out since Will was born.

Change in plans

I just got a phone call this morning from my mom and she has decided to come up and stay for the weekend. Turns out she quit her job at the grocery store and is going to pull a couple shifts in the gas station instead. It just got to be too difficult working with the kids and other things. So I talked her into staying an extra night so she could babysit the kids while we go to the concert. It'll save us money and just makes more sense as long as she's willing to do it. :) Although I'm not sure what Grandmas charge nowadays to babysit...:)

It's warm up here again - mid 40's. The sun is really melting the snow fast. I can see green grass in almost half of our front yard! The sun was so powerful on Tuesday that we had our sun room open for the first time. I may be able to open it today too.

A first time for everything

As some of you know, our kids have been very sheltered from babysitters. Because we are always able to find family or close friends to watch them, we haven't had to branch out and use a traditional babysitter...until now. This Sunday will be the very first time we use a babysitter. John and I are going to go see Bruce Springsteen in concert, and we have found a wonderful (I think) woman to watch the kids. She actually babysits for our friends Jamie and Joe's nieces. She has family in IA, is 30 and just took the bar exam to become a lawyer. (So she has had background checks. :)) Am I nervous?? Yes. But I am also excited that we will make a new connection with someone the kids will really love.
I am already getting Katie ready by talking about fun things they can do, and how bedtime should go. Will really won't care one way or another, as long as Katie is with him. I think it will be good. So please, no scary babysitter stories...only calm, reassuring pleasant thoughts. :)

New rug

We went and got our new area rug today. I found one that I liked at Lowe's so we all went to pick it up and of course when we got there, I didn't like the feel of it. It was nylon and I just didn't think it was very soft. So John and I decided on another one (rather quickly too!) I have attached pictures for you to see. The room will start to come together when we get a new computer desk. The current one really doesn't fit the room to well. :)



Here is the entry way from the front door and garage door.


Here is the kitchen - as of yet. Still tweaking the look of this room, although I think it's coming along well.

Here is the downstairs - the main hangout in the evening, although now that we have the rug we may be upstairs more too.

Happy Birthday!

We must post a Happy Birthday to our friend Gina today. :) I won't say how old she is turning, but it is nice round number. Have a wonderful day!

Easter Bunny

I know it's a little early, but we went to see the Easter Bunny today. I was at the mall anyway and I thought we would see him while we were there cuz we may not make it back before the holiday. Will really didn't seem to care either way, although he WAS interested in him, but certainly not afraid. I'm sure he thought, "Heck, I could take this guy." Katie of course was VERY excited.


We had to go to the mall so that I could get to the eye dr. Last night my contact was giving me fits and had somehow managed to get itself off to the side in my eye so far so that I couldn't see it anymore. Finally after fidgeting for about 20 minutes I was able to pull it back out. I figured then that my 2 week disposable contact that I made last 9 months...was probably due to be changed. So I went and had an eye exam and got some new ones. And these are meant to be slept in as well!

We also had Katie's school conference this afternoon with her teacher, Ms. Laurie. This conference was to cover the 'academic' sides of preschool. As we had anticipated, it went very well. She said that Katie could recognize all of the capital letters in the alphabet and all the lower case letters that she asked. Then she went on to ask her a few sounds that the letters made and she said she knew those as well. (About 10 letters) Her teacher was VERY impressed and said that she was pretty fluent in many skills that most kids don't learn until Kindergarten. Her social skills have also bloomed in the last 3-4 months and she is becoming more vocal with other kids and her teachers. Ms. Laurie says that at circle time if she asks any of the kids if they have questions or anything to say, lately Katie ALWAYS has something to add. :) Hmm....maybe that should scare me a little now that I think about it....

Eruption at Mt. Will

We were feeding Will supper last night - a tasty little mix of bananas and apples. I noticed he was eating a little strange - moving his mouth differently. He was really making a mess between the mouth movements and blowing his food all out while performing raspberries. I bravely stuck my finger in his mouth and much to my surprise I felt a VERY tiny tooth just beginning to stick out. Actually we think that the 2 bottom ones are both poking out. We should be able to see more in a week or so, but at least we know he won't be toothless.

Katie is off from school for the week. They have conferences and teacher workshops instead. It will still be cold today although the high is supposed to be 30...I don't think it will get that high.

It was bath night last night and I finally got a decent picture of the kids in the new bathtub. It's very deep and very long - so Katie likes it because she has room to herself. It's pretty hard on the back to wash the kids up, but we don't do it very often. When I can't remember the last time I gave them a bath...it must be time to give them another one. This summer I'm hoping to just hose them off in the yard. :)

We're back

We are back from our travels down to IA. It was rainy yesterday while we were driving back, but warm so it never turned to ice or snow. It's cold today - 9 degrees about...although I'm not planning on venturing out. We have laundry to keep us busy all day, and get the kids back to their routine.
I think it's snack time right now as I can hear Will waking up from his morning nap (yes he took a morning nap!) and Katie is getting restless as it's been 15 minutes since we've played a game. :)