Christmas: I Love You & I'm Lying to You

First of all, let me say that at the last ultrasound (last week) we finally got the okay that Baby's kidneys were within normal limits! Yay! What a stinker. Baby's head also measured ridiculously large:) and I'm hoping that we caught sight of Baby right after a big growth spurt and all will even out in the end:) That will happen. Right? .....:) I also had an appointment: belly was measuring right on, heart rate was between 135-145, all is well, I need to up my iron for my anemia. Dave should get to come to my appointment next week, the first one he'll be able to make this whole pregnancy! I'll be 35 weeks:) But of course, he has an app on his phone and we were able to hear Babes' heart beat one time at night, so he has heard the heartbeat once already:)  

34 weeks

Last weekend we celebrated our first of many Christmases this year by heading to Burr Oak for the Brown Christmas (Dad's side) and it so happened to also fall on our Rosendahl annual Lefse Day! Our arrival to Iowa on Friday night was an adventure:) We took the suburban and Collin just got a new car seat that faces forward and though he did like that, he was not too happy after a couple hours in the car (in the dark). We were boarding Abby at Canoe Ridge Kennels and while the kids and I waited in the car, it all kind of hit the fan. All of a sudden, Kate had to go to the bathroom SUPER bad and Collin was crying. Dave came walking out and I motioned for him to run and said we need a potty break. Not sure if the kennel had adult facilities (and they were closing) we hit the road and tried to encourage her to hold it but nope. For the second time in her short life, my daughter peed on the side of a gravel road. Props to Daddy Dave for doing the honors:) Again, so many milestones not mentioned in the baby books...

We then had to head into Decorah to get some ingredients and try and find a replacement Elf on the Shelf as that was the one thing we forgot and "Buddy" has managed to travel with us up until this point. I assumed Walmart would have one. Man, I'm wrong a lot. After running through drive-thru to grab food for hungry passengers, I elected to just jump out and get the Walmart stuff. After trying to find the bathroom - closed!- waddle/shuffling to the back of the store for a restroom break, then realizing I didn't have a cart/basket and going back to the front and then back to find our items....I was done. Totally worn out from the day and the past 20 minutes. No rest for the weary, off to find something in a Walmart. No worries, they are all laid out the same to make it easy....or wait. Yeah, right. Wandered around Christmas, Seasonal and Toys and couldn't find an Elf. Asked someone and waited ages for them to figure it out ("yeah, we advertised it but we can't find it") Thank you. Went over and got lost in the food aisles. As I was waving the white flag and heading toward checking out, got a text from Dave to get egg nog and honey. Okay. Back into the fray. As I grabbed the last item (phone also on 1% battery:) I ran right into my beautiful, melting down children and their frazzled father. After my extended visit to the superstore, they were done with the car (it was way past bedtime - this was all really of no surprise to us). Collin spotted something in the cart he wanted and lost it. I checked out while Dave disappeared in the store with them. We reconvened to head out to Mom and Dads place. Parenting ain't for the faint of heart! And God bless parents/grandparents. Did we drive 80 mph from Decorah to Burr Oak??!

Kate is very interested in Buddy, our elf, looks for him each morning at our house (Collin goes up to him and says, "Hi!" and waves:). Our new plan was that Dave would go to Hallmark in the morning and pick up another one and we would just say he had found a really, really good hiding place that day. The guys had to pick up some things in town anyway, so at least it wasn't a trip just for an elf. Dave hid him up in the loft when they got back and later, Kate noticed him. "Look where your elf is Grandpa!" She didn't even think it was ours! She thinks each house has one. She said the hair on this elf was different than ours. And she was pretty certain about that. We kept saying that Buddy flies back to wherever we are but she was not convinced. The same overall concept of him watching and reporting back to Santa was still in place. But turns out, I probably didn't need to stress about forgetting him or even buy a replacement! Great.

"Original Buddy"

Saturday we rocked and rolled our lefse with the girls on my Mom's side. Super fun. It has become quite the day for wine and treats, can't wait to join them in that way next year! I didn't want to sit "in the gallery" with Grandma and Kathy (on injured reserve:) the whole time and I rolled a few and stood way too much. My back did not thank me later, but oh well. Good times. The guys hung around and even tried their hand at rolling (probably won't happen next year:) and as everyone left, we got ready for the Brown Christmas.

Just getting started with lefse...

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

The crew!

Uncle Bob had come the night before (Shelley unfortunately was home sick) and my Dad's sister Marie and her family arrived in the afternoon. Sam (13) and Charlie (9) are pretty fun to watch with our kiddos. It was a typical Christmas get-together, lots of conversation, catching up, puzzling, asking when they could open presents, movies, flying helicopters, eating, etc. The gift exchange was just for the "younger" generation this time (Dave and I still included:) Really great gifts and homemade ones from the talented Mr. Sam is something I look forward to each year! 

Kiddos playing

Collin was in awe of the smaller legos, sat so patiently and was so gentle:)

Charlie and Kate were pretty inseparable, they had many, many projects throughout the weekend

All of us!

We were missing a number of people over the weekend, but I talked to Shelley and Grandma O. on the phone and Face Timed with the fam in Okinawa, so at least we touched base with everyone! 

When we got home, Dave was smart and had Kate go to the mailbox with him while I quickly took Original Buddy from his hiding spot and moved him again. I tell you what, this is kind of a lot of work:) Sure enough, she found him at our place and his hat is glued on much further down on his head. you can't see the hair like on Replacement Buddy.  

Wow, the amount of deception we do as parents is exhausting! I am not a good liar. And I am not good at remembering to do one simple task each night and re-hide our elf (or bring him along each time we travel). Buddy has forgotten to move, just here at home, twice since Thanksgiving. Oops! Here's hoping we remember tonight...

Thanksgiving Weekend

How can Thanksgiving seem like a long time ago? What a busy time of year:) We drove down to my folks Thanksgiving morning. Because of a crazy night before, we did not get a great start to the two-hour road trip and ended up walking through the door as people were just starting to dish up there plates and sit down to eat. I was a little sad to miss the morning and helping in the kitchen, but I guess it was nice to be able to come in and dive right in to the good food! 

Family pic with (Great) Grandma!

Cheese!

We had a great time visiting and catching up. After our extended family left, we all pretty much crashed on the couches:) Dave had to be back in Mauston in case the hospital needed him, so he drove back early in the morning on Friday and spent most of the day at home, watching the Hawks (such a depressing ending to that game). He returned later that afternoon/evening and hit a little bad weather, but made it safely back around 6 p.m. The rest of us had a leisurely morning and then headed out to pick out some trees for for Mom and Dad and one for Andrew and Kylie. It was cold but it didn't take long to find some great trees. Kate was loving it and headed off with A&K while Collin and I "helped" Mom and Dad. Three trees later, we were heading home to decorate. With the added travel and activity my back has been "acting up" more and more lately and I had to take the evening "off" from helping and tried to rest and watched the others make Mom and Dad's house Christmas beautiful! 

Grandpa and his little shadow

Found one!

Kate helping:)

She was so excited to help decorate the tree

Collin helping...with empty boxes

Saturday was another lazy start. It was a warm day and Grandpa took the kiddos out to play in the snow. It was a perfect day to play outside! Mom and I stole away to Decorah for lunch and a little shopping. We had great luck, ran into a bunch of people and then came back north. We stopped out to Andy's place to see the improvements they've been making to the house and check out their tree (complete with wrapped gifts underneath!) and then headed over to see Geoff and Mary's new house! We then went back downtown and and ate at the new Good Times Grill (I think that is the name?) in the old Americana place. A very full and fun day!

The first of two snowmen

Rosy cheeks!

She was pretty serious and rolled until she couldn't push the heavy snow!

Working hard! They made a second snowman. "Grammy and Grampy" according to Kate:)

On Sunday, we hit the ground running early and had brunch in Decorah with The Peterson's. They kids did great and it was super fun to see them. We headed straight back to Wisconsin so we could get our own tree and decorate for Christmas! It was a beautiful, sunny but very cold day. We stopped at our beloved tree farm on the way home, thankfully we packed the kids' snowpants and warm gear. We jumped on the wagon ride out to the trees, were dropped by the 10-12 foot trees and thankfully we found one pretty quickly. We also got a wreath for the side of the garage and one for inside in the great room. 

Three of the four kiddos at The Family Table

Our tree!

Good times at Hilliker Tree Farm in Tomah!

Dave and I stayed up late decorating the house and getting the 10 foot tree up:) We watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, one of our absolute favorite movies. A long day, but we love having the house decorated for Christmas! 

Somehow, I didn't take a picture of our tree all set up, so that will come later. But here are some random pics from the past week!

The kids helping me send a package to Japan

Watching Frozen, someone had to get into character

Waiting for dance class to start (Christmas performances this week!)

Collin's favorite activity right now is brushing his teeth. Oh, and best bedhead ever. 

We took a break from packing (for Brown Christmas/Lefse Day) and did some yoga

The ever helpful Collin:) Kate used to do the same to me!

One of my favorites - tree pose!

Catching Up to the Holidays

Oh my goodness, it has been a LONG time since I posted. It's a combo of things really, we haven't done much traveling/events/special things in the last few weeks, I've been feeling just a bit more tired:) and we were busy doing a lot of work on the house and just getting through the days! 

To quickly recap - we have been making a lot of changes in the house, moving both kids into Kate's room and working to get that space how we would like it. Almost there! A little bit of changing the nursery/guest room, lots more work there. New furniture, some closet reorganization, garage reorganization, fall cleanup/winter prep (just in time!) and of course, just the busy days that fall brings. We've run to Madison, La Crosse, done some library visits (not a relaxing endeavor at my son's fine age of 21 months:), gotten together with friends for dinner and Dave was out in the woods over the last week looking for Bambi. 

The "big kids" room right now

I'm 32 weeks preggo! Good grief. I truly flip back and forth from feeling like, hey! I've got two whole months left!....and crap! Babes could be here in 6 weeks (it's possible). I'm not truly ready to bring home a baby yet, but I'm working really hard to get to that place. That's my happy place I think about right now. Resting. With my feet up and watching my belly jump all over the place, looking at our Christmasy house and knowing we have everything ready to bring this Peanut home. Ahh...

Physically, well....there's no hiding that I'm very pregnant. With my third. And I have some pretty decent back pain working right now. If I overdo it (do what I normally do) it can be pretty bad. I'm trying to gently do yoga, though some positions are just impossible. If I can take it easy - not carry Collin a bunch, slip on ice, carry heavy things up and down the stairs, vacuum a bunch, etc. it definitely gets better. Great. It's not like there is a lot to do or anything:)  And Sir Collin has been up in the night the last few nights and comforting him over the crib is actually a horrible angle for me and rocking him is even a bit tricky sometimes with my belly, so I think I'm just doing everything at weird angles which is causing my muscles to freak. Anyway...I'm trying to make it better! Same exact thing happened at this point when I was pregnant with Collin. I remember my back hurt so much pacing the floor at the hospital (at the very end!), I didn't think I could keep going. But the second I stood up after he was born, all the pain was gone. Looking forward to that!

Bump!

Wearing Dave's clothes now:)

Baby is moving a lot:) I'm rather anemic, it got worse so I am now on a supplement:( I'm starting to go to the doc every two weeks, we have an ultrasound in less than a week (checking the kidney)! When I said to Dave the other day, "Hey, we really need to talk about names again." He said, "I thought we had that figured out." What?! Really?! Who did you decide that with? When we were in Milwaukee, I think we hashed out some things, but I didn't know we decided, he couldn't even remember the names, so clearly we are not done:) As always, I have a long list of girl names and we have some names that we really like, but just can't pull the trigger on. Something holds us back from each one. Same story every time. Boys, we always just have a list of two or three that we kind of like. Not sure why we can't figure this out. Time to focus, maybe over the holiday weekend...it's crunch time! Kate's suggestions vary by the day, always entertaining. Oh - Collin will now pat my tummy and say, "Baby," so darn cute. 

Getting too big

Go Hawks!

Both kids are pretty obsessed with football and the Hawkeyes. They love wearing their shirts, they go nuts when we turn it on. They yell at the TV, Kate loves Rudock. Seriously, I've had some very interesting conversations with her about our quaterback:) If Collin sees a football, a Hawks logo (a Packer logo - boo) he starts going nuts and saying, "Foo-ball!!" or maybe ba-ball, not sure how it comes out. He will run to the couch and sit down and stare at the TV. He can say, "Go Hawks" and "Touchdown" and there is a lot of "whoa" and "wow" and "boom." 

Kate is busy at school, having fun, kicking butt. We had our very first Parent-Teacher conference the other week. In a wonderful stroke of fate, Dave had the day off and was able to come to the assigned 11:45 a.m. meeting. She is nailing it, scored above range on her all her areas they tested. Is polite, helpful, enthusiastic and friendly. She regularly talks about Kindergarten and how they don't have a rest time (?) and they get to go every day. She can't wait.

She really enjoyed Veteran's Day and I have to say all the schools around here did some really great programming. The whole day seemed focused on it, she was so excited about the assembly, they had veterans visit each class and they were able talk and touch/see various items. She understood the concept when she got home and was talking to me. The whole school was decked out in decorations, very cool to see. She Face-Timed with Gpa Ron (and Gma Bobbi) that night and said thank you and told me she needed to call Tony, but he was in the field and I said we would have to say it later when he got home:)

Just one of the many things she created for Veteran's Day. She was awful proud of the special Vets we love!

Lately, the kids have been playing nicely, really as well as you can expect and are seriously best buds. Their favorite things to play right now...restaurant (works for awhile, but then Collin destroys Head Chef Kate's master plan eventually), cowboys - oh my goodness, they get endless joy from putting on Kate's cowboy hat and riding a little broom around the house. They share it well and just go in circles, running (well, you know - if you have a circular path in your house, children will run around it and have a great time). 

My helper in the kitchen

Cowboy Collin

Off he goes!

They both love books, which makes me so happy. Even Collin right now will sit and listen or flip through a book for long periods of time. We are also transitioning to having one reading time for both kids at night, instead of doing Collin and Kate separately. It is kind of fun and they are doing really well for both being awake when we turn off the light. There is some "chatting" going on, but not for long and they both seem to lay down and go to sleep in minutes. 

Collin is starting to color with crayons and not eat them! Hurray! Especially if Kate is coloring with him, they will be happy doing this and obviously at restaurants this is a bonus. Kate is busting out some awesome pictures at school and home, it is so exciting to see it develop and change over time. Any advanced art project we are doing is now relegated to Collin's nap time so Kate and I can get scissors and glue out. He is getting a bit taller and his reach has jumped up on me lately! Nothing is safe!

Dave went hunting this past weekend. He and Ryan hunted Ryan's 40 acres just south of Mauston (where Dave got his big doe last year). It was nice to have him close and "at home" and with someone I trust so well. I brought the kids over on Saturday to play with Clara and Harper and have a super yummy roast with everyone after our hunters came in:) Ryan got a really nice buck on the first day! So that was exciting. Unfortunately, the weather was less than ideal and Dave didn't have much luck. And new this year, he wanted to go hunting after work on Monday and Tuesday (light week, was done early)...I wasn't super thrilled but said sure. He had a really amazing day where he saw a lot of deer and shot a doe, but she trekked so far and so long that it got dark (and cold) and they lost the tracks and never found her :( Dave was SO bummed. After only seeing a couple does far away on Tuesday and getting rather cold, he was ready to call it a season. By the way, all the hunting stuff he received last Christmas was great! He also finally bought his own rifle a few weeks ago and of course, now I'm hearing about how he needs a tree stand or something. 

To start hunting weekend, I was so happy to have a nice family night on Friday night. I know there was the possibility of Dave going out for drinks with other hunters but we ended up going to Portofino for dinner and it was a really great evening. Quiet, great food & service (a big change from their usual!) and the kids were so great. Just looked at books and colored and ate great. We went early (as we like to do:) and were home right in time for normal bedtime. I was so proud of them and it was nice to have that time before we lost Dave in the woods for a weekend:) 

Kate is all about hunting, talks about how she is going to hunt with Daddy and all the gear she will get. She says how much she loves venison and is a big supporter of Daddy's hobby! We'll see what the future brings for her:)

Oh yeah, we've had some decent snow here! We had an inch or two awhile ago but that had gone away and then just Monday we had five or six inches! A real pretty (if you are home) and treacherous (if you are out) kind of day and I was beyond thrilled that the kids and I could just stay home and enjoy it. We have had many fires in the fireplace with the extreme cold weather November brought us as well. 

The first snow

Not bundled up for play in the snow, but ready to go somewhere:)

Collin loves to go anywhere, go outside, go in the car. He gets upset if Daddy leaves without him (every day!) and will run and get his hat and boots and bring them to you saying, "Hat, hat!" "vroom, vroom!" He sits still and loves getting bundled up. And I'll take that - managing the kids all bundled up, in and out of the car, running errands, in the third trimester is not my ideal situation but oh well. I guess it is easier than lugging a carseat around with a newborn in it as well! Appreciate the moment, Erin. :)

 Bringing me some boots

The Monday before Thanksgiving

Wish I could really get out and snap pics of how pretty it is here in the winter.

Wanna hit the beach?

We are currently in the car en route to my folks' for Thanksgiving. A little late! We will be delaying or missing the start of the meal, but I was up until 1:30 packing/getting ready and then up with Collin and Dave didn't get home from work "yesterday" until 5 a.m. this morning. So....we didn't exactly jump out of bed at 7 a.m. and hit the road:) Can't describe how ready I am to relax a bit and soak up all the holidayness coming up. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Kate is Five! And I am Old.

Ahh, she's writing again! I know. I already posted on Kate's birthday festivities, but I wanted to do something I've seen Beth do where I put pics from all of Kate's birthdays together, it is so fun to see the progression all at once. Also makes me want to cry. Which is something I'm doing a lot lately. We were in the car and heard the song by Luke Bryan (I think) about sitting on a pier and drinking a beer. Dave told me it was about his younger brother. I cried the rest of the way home.

We also had her 5-year well-check and she is 44 inches tall and weighs almost 40 pounds. That was a surprise! She has hovered around 32-34 lbs for years, but apparently we are starting to gain again. These stats put her in the 75% for height and 50% for weight. She had the flu mist (no problem) and two shots. She lost her mind. She did last year too and I was not looking forward to holding Collin and helping/comforting Kate (Collin can open the door and run down the halls in the clinic. Guess how I know that..) She wasn't upset as we were preparing to get them, just once they were "in." Our awesome nurse Lori said these two hurt/burned bad, so no wonder. After awhile (longer than Collin takes) everyone was sufficiently comforted and we were ready to leave:) No more shots until age 12 - yay!

Anyway, here is our sweet baby Kate through the years...

3 days old I think

1st Birthday!

She's two!

Obviously, three. Looking more like her current self...

Four! Wow, we have a good frosting theme going here...

I didn't get a great straight-on pic...

Some serious cupcake eating going on...

The fam with our Frozen friends, happy girl:)

Okay, there are actually two things of note that are making me feel old lately. One is that my first-born is five years old. The second is that my goddaughter, Megan Ferrie, was confirmed on Sunday! Slow down already! Megan was born in 2000, I was a senior in high school and over the moon when Kari & Roger asked me to be her sponsor. 

What a joy it has been to watch her grow up. I adored that little girl and then she soon adored hanging around me. I've watched her grow into a beautiful young lady who excels at so many things. I'm proud and excited for her and so glad that I am a part of her life. 

We came down for the weekend to be a part of the confirmation service on Sunday in Cresco and then spent as much time at her house as we could afterwards. It was pretty sweet to see Kate and Collin play and have fun with Megan and Peyton. Kate adores Megan now (full circle!) and Collin was sweet with Megan and was so cute wanting to play with Peyton. We lasted longer than I expected (during Collin's nap time, the time change...) so we enjoyed (a lot) of super yummy food but had to leave right about when Mom and Dad arrived. A really great day to spend with family and celebrate a great young lady! Love you, Megs! And I am old. 

Megan, her parents and sponsors (minus my cousin, Todd)

Megan and Collin relaxing before lunch

Megan, Kate and Great-Grandma!

Collin liked the cupcakes:)