More Birthday...

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Happy birthday to my dad! =) Hope that you have a great day!!

Love you!

Snow Fun

While most people are extremely tired of snow by this time of the year, snow in February in the North is a very realistic possibility... as proven by the several inches that fell yesterday. It was a steady snowfall that created for picturesque scenery and slippery roads. Although I feel the road maintenance crews, in general, do a great job of upkeep. It cannot be an easy job and I'm sure it's a thankless one for the most part! Our road (for those that do not know has a steep hill) was the worst I had ever seen it. At one point, in trying to climb the hill, I was tempted to back down the road because I could not get enough traction to move up the road. Thankfully, noone else was trying to go up or down at that point, so I had the space to spin my tires and move side-to-side until I made it to the level area of the road.

Greg and Abi are both off of school this week for winter break. It has been nice to have some 'no schedule' time with everyone, but I think it will be good for them both to be back to school. :-) I have enjoyed having some extra time with Abi and we've done quite a bit of snuggling this week, but I think she misses the structure of school and the time with her friends.

Here are a few pictures of the snow fun from yesterday.

My favorite picture from yesterday...

Abi posing in front of the snow wall they made


Mikayla's turn

Cleaning out the entrance to their snow cave...

More Birthday Happenings...

On Tuesday, Abi had another first... She had a professional haircut. :-) She has been there several times with Greg and myself, but this time she got a cut too! She thought it was pretty cool and I think that her smile shows it...

Getting her hair washed


and styled

Here are a couple of pictures of her opening her train set that we got her. She has been asking for a "remote controlled train set" for YEARS... and we hesitated only because we weren't sure if it was a phase or what kind we should get, etc. We finally decided to get her a GeoTrax one b/c it would be durable enough for her and Mikayla to use and has been 'kid tested'. She definitely was happy about it! :)

Abi's 6th Birthday Party

This past weekend, we celebrated Abi's 6th birthday with her friends. Unforunately, two of the invitees could not make it due to illness, but Abi had a great time with the three friends that were able to make it! :)

It was a "Snow Princess" party... She wanted to have a party to play in the snow and play inside in her Princess Hut. We were a little concerned about the snow part being we were above 40 degrees on Thursday and Friday leaving us with very little snow. Greg had snowblowed a large pile of snow prior to this so that he could make a snow cave for her party. That pile was really the only major snow in our yard.

Greg digging out the snow cave

Getting there.. :)

But Mother Nature came thru for us on Saturday... just came thru VERY well! The temperatures dropped to mid-teens to mid-20's with wicked, North Dakota style wind, but the kids had a great time outside. Once the novelty of the snow shelter wore off, they used the top of it for a sledding hill. The girls only played outside for about 30 minutes, but they seemed to enjoy that. :)

Mikayla climbing the 'hill'

Bri and Mikayla enjoying the swings

We also worked on a few different crafts that the girls could take home with them. I think everyone had a nice time. I sure hope so, at least!

Skiing

Both girls have now gone cross-country skiing... According to Greg, the girls are getting quicker and better with each time. I am looking forward to seeing them ski. Mikayla asked me to come with this time, but I just don't think that 38 weeks pregnant would be a great time to try it out! :)

Here are a couple of pictures of Mikayla on her second time out. The pictures aren't her best as I was told she was nearing her 'endpoint' by then.

Lily Kitty

After a couple of above freezing temperatures and one day that was above 50, we have returned to our seasonable temperatures of the mid to upper teens/low twenties. Greg has been good about lighting fires in the fireplace so that we can all be snuggly warm!

I took these two pictures at night where you can tell that Lily appreciated the fire the most that night...

Spring has sprung??

Maternity Leave

As I sit relaxed in my bed in the early evening on a Monday night, I am trying to wrap my head around the idea that I do not have to go to work tomorrow! At nearly 38 weeks gestation, I feel pretty good. Any discomforts I feel are not directly pregnancy related. :) Some would argue that fatigue is related to the pregnancy, but I'd argue that it has more to do with working 32 hours in 3 days, followed by a 2+ hour meeting at church then to have included sleep interruptions from Abi and Mikayla thru the night. It is a tough one when they interrupt my sleep during work weekends. I have a tough time grappling with the Mommy-guilt: I really, really need my sleep in order to do my job safely, effectively, and to the best of my ability, but I don't blame the girls for wanting a little extra snuggle time with me... even if it means the middle of the night. When I work the weekends, I have a few minutes with them on Friday morning, a few minutes on Saturday morning, and a few minutes on Sunday morning then not usually again until Sunday afternoon. And truth be told, I like their snuggles as well... I just wish it didn't wake me up at the 'wrong times' of my sleep cycle! :) Is that SO much to ask? :)

My first official day of maternity leave was not the ideal, productive one that I had hoped for. Mikayla wasn't in the greatest of moods today... She wasn't being a '_bad_ child, just not really being a good one either. She was testing her boundaries, being a little 'fresh', and definitely testing my patience! That being said, she also was cute too... "Mommy, Happy Valentine's Day" or "I love you Mommy" for no reason in particular. And perhaps the best gift to the day was when I talked her into bed and said "Goodnight. I love you." She looked at me and said "Love you Mommy. See you in the morning." and she's right. I do get to see her in the morning... I get to spend all day with her... I get to take her to the library... I get to snuggle her... I get to be her Mommy, here.

Since tomorrow is a new day as each tomorrow is, I hope to be able to do some of the things on the to-do list, but if I don't... I know that I will have been able to cuddle with Mikayla and enjoy these moments. And to do the same with Abi when she gets home from school. I truly AM a very lucky girl.

Mikayla Moments

Today has been a day of Mikayla-isms. Perhaps, I should be completely honest and say that is how the whole week has been... She has just been extremely cute, silly, entertaining, and snuggly all week. Don't get me wrong. She does have a few meltdowns towards the end of the day, but imagine how hard it is for her to be _THAT_ cute all the time?! :-)

This morning she asked me "Mommy? You come watch tv with me?" Okay, how can I possibly say "No" to that? So, I sit next to her in our ever-dangerous 2 person chair... Why is it dangerous? For my readers that have not sat in it, trust me when I say it will suck all your motivation and energy out like a brand new vacuum cleaner. Add to that a super cute, snuggly, loving 2 year old... NO CHANCE! So while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cuddling with Mikayla, I fell asleep. Yes, it was only 9:30 am or so. To be fair, I suspect that a major reason for that is the lack of sleep the night before... Nope, not the baby squishing my bladder, but rather a certain 5 and 2 year old that were interrupting my sleep patterns. For some reason, I think I was awakened 4 or 5 times by them thru the course of my 7 hours of sleep.

Anyway, back to the Mikayla-isms for the day... After we watched a little tv, we started our day of adventures. She asked me to tickle her and she "knocked me down" a couple of times. She likes to stand on my lap and rock so that I fall to the back of the chair... She'll ask, "Can I knock you down one last time?" It sounds so innocent. :) of course, she'll ask that question several times in a row proving that she doesn't quite understand the term 'last'. Oh well. It is fun to watch her laugh and I manage to get extra Mikayla hugs out of the deal!

We also read a few books (over and over again). In an effort to keep the day from being a complete lazy-day on my part, I did manage to bake some cookies for Mikayla's preschool class tomorrow. They turned out pretty cute too. I hope the kids like them as much as I do. :) She was having fun helping me roll out the dough, cut the cookies, and then transfer them to the cookie sheet.

When we finished baking cookies, I asked her if she wanted to help me clean. "YES!" I said, "Great! Let's go clean the bathrooms!" and she said "Yeah! yeah! yeah!!!" She was off! I did have to ask her to come back long enough to get our supplies. :) As she was cleaning the tub and I was cleaning the sink in the girls' bathroom, she says to me "Cleaning is fun!" Oh, I really, really hope that she keeps that enthusiasm! What do you think our chances are?

So in the process of cleaning the bathrooms, we gathered up any towels that were around so we could do a load of laundry. I threw the towels down the stairs and started the washer. She ran (literally ran) from the bottom of the stairs to the washer several times to put the towels in. As she did this she sang a song with the main words being "I'm a working girl!".

I also had a doctor's appointment today. We were able to have another sonogram... I believe this is sonogram #4 for this pregnancy. Dr. Tichenor thought the baby was measuring small so he ordered the sono last week. Ironically, Dr. Beattie also ordered a sono 4 weeks ago for the same reason... Nope, definitely not showing to have a small baby. As of today, 37 weeks, 2 days gestation, the baby weighs over 7 pounds. Mikayla was excited to show the baby pictures to Daddy and Abi when we got home.

There are a few moments of our lives... How is everything with you? Please feel free to comment...

:)

Winter, winter

There isn't too much to report at this point, but we are expecting a busy February. Most exciting planned is Abi turning 6! I truly am in shock that she will be 6 years old... Everyday she surprises us with things she says, things she does, or even in something she doesn't try to show us, but we notice (for instance, how tall she is over the counter now!).

Yesterday, Abi had a new experience and she LOVED it. She got to go cross-country skiing. Jim, Bev, Greg, and Abi all went and, from what I hear, Abi cannot wait to do it again. I think it is awesome that she is so excited about it. I would like to give it a try, but I think I'll wait until after the baby is born. ;) Mikayla also wants to try it out. I have a feeling that Mikayla and I will probably be about as successful in our attempts or perhaps, she'll do better!








This is my last week of work before the start of maternity leave. I am really looking forward to having some time off and hoping that the baby isn't in too much of a hurry to meet us so that the four of us can have some fun, bonding time. Greg and Abi are both off the week before our due date for Winter Break. I think it'll be fun to hang out, play games, read books, whatever comes to mind... :) Hopefully baby agrees!


Speaking of baby, here are a couple of pictures of the 'baby bump' at 36 weeks, 6 days.




This week we also made some Valentine's. The girls had a great time with the kit we purchased. I think that we may just have to find another one. :)






And this last picture speaks for itself. ;)



Have a great day everyone!!