Rock-a-Bye

Emma and Allison got rocking chairs from Great Grandma Lorrie for Christmas. Here are a few pictures of the girls in their Rockers! And one of the girls with Grandma and Grandpa B.

Merry Christmas!

Hey Everyone! Merry Belated Christmas! I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas whether you ventured out into the snow or stayed in and had a change of plans! We had a change of plans due to the weather... Fortunately it worked out for most everyone to get together at my Grandma Berntson's on Wed. night instead of Thurs.(Christmas Eve). Jesse was the only one who couldn't make it, he got home late from work Wed. and had to be up for work early Thurs. morning. So anyway, Allison and I ventured out to Grandma's. Wed. if you remember wasn't the nicest of days either, and we probably should have taken Jesse's pick-up. The drive there was not bad, but I was worried about getting home. My WONDERFUL parent's brought us home safely. My dad drove my car and my mom drove ahead of us in the Explorer. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to them!! My car is NOT good on snow and it was drifting. It wouldn't have been so bad to be stranded at their house, except I had to work Christmas day and didn't want to leave Jesse home alone! So anyway, we had Christmas with the Berntson's on Wed. instead of Christmas Eve. It was a little wierd not going to church first and so we weren't all dressed up. But I was very glad to be able to celebrate together. My Grandma Lorrie is my only grandparent left. So Christmas Eve we went to our church here in Willmar, which was nice, but it wasn't the same as going to my hometown church, First Lutheran in Hector. Where I know everyone and get to see SO many familiar faces as everyone comes home to spend Christmas with their families and goes to church. After church we opened the few presents we had at our house. Allison had a few and Jesse got me a Snuggie (see pic! I was reading one day and commented that it would be nice to have one, turns out he does listen to me!). Then we were lucky enough to be invited for in informal Christmas get together at the Rath's who were also "snowed in" in Willmar and not doing their usual Christmas Eve. We had a very non-traditional evening of Pizza and Rock Band! It was so fun, I wish I had pics from that night, I will have to get some from Holli! It was funny to watch the kids interact now that they are getting older! (Turns out Allison is a bit of a bully!) Anyway, then I worked Christmas Day 13 hours (but it was SO worth it for the pay!) and Jesse and Allison ventured to the Mages' Christmas in Olivia, they didn't stay long as it started to snow, but they no sooner got home then it quit, they probably drove home in the worst of it! Oh well. We still have Christmas with my family this coming weekend and one more probably the weekend after. We wish everyone much love and happiness this Holiday Season! And have a Happy New Year!

Ear Tubes

Well, it's all over with and I survived :)! Allison's first surgery! She had bilateral ear tubes placed today at the surgery center in Willmar by Dr. Pesola (ENT). I swear the whole procedure lasted 5 min.! Allison did great, she was quite fussy as she was waking up from the anesthesia, but returned to herself quickly after getting home. Grandma Nancy was nice enough to come with and help us out since Jesse couldn't get the day off work. It was so nice to have her help because she took Allison home while I ran and got the ear drops (and a toy :)) for her. I got Nancy and I white chocolate mocha's from Caribou as a treat! (as most of you who know me know, I don't drink coffee but with all the chocolate and whipped cream you could hardly call it coffee! Plus silly me, I gave in and worked extra until 11:30 last night, didn't get to bed until after 12 and had to be up at 6:15!!) So anyway, Allison is doing GREAT now, she was so tired though, she fell asleep as I was reading to her. The poor thing, Dr. Pesola said she still had infection in her (R) ear and drainage in her (L) and this is after being on 2 different antibiotics (the first one didn't clear it up and the 2nd one is having a hard time!). So we definately made the right decision on the tubes!! She has been SOOO good though, I thought for sure the ear infection was gone. Anyway, hoping this is her last one! And now at least if she does get another we can treat with ear drops instead of oral antibiotics. Although it is no easy task getting drops in a 1 yr. olds ears!! We have to do them for 3 days 3x a day now after surgery! Here are a couple pics from the morning.

Snow Day!

Yesterday afternoon Jesse decided Allison should have a sled. So while she was napping he went and bought her a sled and then of course when she got up they had to go use it. She really seemed to be loving it, "whee" and smiling! He said she did get one face full of snow, but she just licked at it. It took us longer to get her in her snow suit and all dressed to go out then she was actually outside, but oh well.

Ice Fishing Begins!

Hunting no sooner ended then ice fishing began! I thought with the warm Nov. that it would be Jan. at least (wishful thinking, I know!) but Jesse literally got home from his hunting trip the first week in Dec. and said, "on the way home we say ice houses on the lakes!" Ugh! So, first I am a hunting widow, now I am an ice fishing widow! Ok, I am overexaggerating (sp.?). He really doesn't get to do either as often as he would like anymore and he spends tons of time with Allison, taking care of her while I am at work. And I play VB 1 night a week, so he takes care of her that night too (although some weeks I don't have to leave until after she is in bed). It actually is just the fact that I feel bad that he doesn't get to go as much as he would like that bothers me. But I know one day before we know it our babies won't need us as much and then I will long for these days again. But anyway, he did get to go on Sunday and had fantastic luck on Onion Lake (ha! that is what he tells me to tell people! Fishermen!!). Caught some nice Walleye's, they were delicious!

Happy Birthday Holli!

Happy 30th Birthday to one of my best friends!! She turned the big 3-0 Dec. 10! And did it with Style, of course!! We had a fun party for her at the Legion in Willmar with music courtesy of Larry the DJ guy! And a FABULOUS cake! Too young to be a Cougar, but "Proud to be a Puma!" Holli, You ROCK!! Love you!

Vrrrooom!

At Josh and Katie's wedding Allison had so much fun playing in this car. If we had room for one, I would get her one! And here is just a picture of Jesse and I from the wedding. It is pathetic, but my battery (and it is a rechargeable lithium battery, so I don't think I could just go get another at Walmart) in the camera went dead that day and I have NO pics of Josh and Katie and NO pics of the three of us. I am SOOO glad the photographer got one.

Mr. and Mrs. Josh Mages

Congratulations Josh and Katie! Jesse's brother, Josh, got married yesterday to Katie Stage. It was a beautiful wedding and everything was GREAT! The dance was awesome, we had so much fun. I am so glad to welcome Katie to the family! She is a truly wonderul person and I am excited to have her as a sister. Plus she puts up with Josh, and that says a lot! Ha!! Love you guys!! Pics to come (Hopefully!). I feel TERRIBLE, but my camera battery went dead Sat. before the service started. It takes a rechargeable battery and I didn't bring the charger with. So frustrating!

I am Thankful!

As always, I am late... but I do have a LOT to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I am thankful for my wonderful baby girl! She is almost 14 months old (30th) and the absolute light of our lives! She is so precious, words can not describe the love I feel for her! I am thankful for my husband. He works hard to provide for us and is a WONDERFUL father. I knew he would be, but I didn't realize just how great he would be. I can be a nag (this is the one and only time I admit it honey, if you are reading this!) but he is so good with her and she loves him so much. He is a loving husband too, we don't take the time to appreciate that enough! I am thankful that I have a job. I am thankful that in this economy I have my job, I am thankful I am physically able to work. Leading into I am thankful for my health. And that of my whole families. Thank you, God!! I am thankful for my mom and dad and my brother. I have a wonderful family who love each other and support each other. I am thankful for Jesse's family. They too are always there for us! I am thankful for all the soldiers fighting for our country and our freedom! God Bless You and You'r Families this Thanksgiving! There is so much more I could say, but I would be up all night!

Bad Blogger!

I am a bad blogger! A few weeks ago I saw a story on Fox 9 about mommy Blogs and how popular they are becoming. I was like, Yeah! That is how I got started after Allison was born. But they went on to say that a good blogger blogs regularly (ooops!), and I can't remember what all else, but needless to say, I really didn't have any of their qualifications of a "good" blogger, except that I do it. I like to do it, and I am constantly thinking, oh, I need to put that on my blog, but then I don't get to it, and a week or more passes and then it seems silly to do it! I don't take enough pictures either. I either tend to forget my camera, leave it home on purpose (because I am afraid I will lose it), the batteries are dead (happened to me this weekend at my brother-in-law's wedding!), or I just plain don't do it! I really don't have time to blog daily, I probably could make a point of doing it at least weekly, but I just don't seem to get around to it. The other thing is I always want to put a picture up with the blog because I think it is boring otherwise, and half the time I haven't taken the time to download my pics onto my computer yet! AHHHH!!! It stresses me out just thinking about it! Anyway, the gal who did the story is Trish Van Pilsm (sp.?) and she has a great blog! I think her website is www.offcamerawithtrish.blogspot.com Check it out! But for those of you who do read my blog, thank you! I do enjoy it!

Congratulations Missy and Andy!

I am a little late with this as well, but MANY CONGRATULATIONS to Missy and Andy on the birth of their little boy Grady Andrew Wegscheid. He was born on Oct. 29 and weighed 7lb 7oz. I haven't gotten many more details than that. Was hoping to visit the new family tonight, but unfortunately I came down with a cold this week and even though I am feeling better, am going to wait a little longer before visiting the new mom and baby (and dad, of course :)). But I can't wait! Congratulations again!

Happy Belated Halloween!

Miss Allison was an Elephant for Halloween! SO CUTE! Many thanks to Holli's sister, Jennifer and her little boy for letting us borrow the costume! She was a pretty proud little elephant at Grandma Nancy's work and mine! It was fun to get her dressed up this year! I actually almost cried when I saw her in the costume, it was so cute! Hard to get a good picture, but here are a couple!

H1N1??

NOT! A week and a half ago I got a call at work from daycare that Allison had a temp over 100 and I had to go get her. First time that has happened! On the way to get her I decided to take her in and have her ears checked out. I had a feeling she had an ear infection. She had a low grade fever on and off for over a week (actually about 2 weeks, but had a break where she didn't have one at all) and hadn't been sleeping well at night. I had been thinking it was teething or something, but decided for my own peace of mind I had to get it looked at. Sure enough, she had an ear infection. In fact her (L) ear drum was really bulging she said! I felt so bad, poor baby! But considering she had really been very good! That is why it took me so long to bring her in. Anyway, when we checked in they gave us a mask to put on her because of her symptoms of a fever! She actually wore it, which I was glad about, to protect her from all the sick people there!! (Another reason I hesitated so long). She just finished her antibiotic and I had a feeling it wasn't gone because she has been getting up at night. Sure enough, I took her in today for a recheck and her flu shots (2nd regular flu and H1N1) and she still has it. So we have another antibiotic. It doesn't seem like she has had that many ear infections because they have been spaced out, but I think it is time to consider getting tubes! Even the pharmacist said that! So, we will be talking to her pediatrician on Monday (a perk of working with him at the hospital). If he thinks we should do it, I want to do it before the end of the year if possible, I have some flex I need to spend!! A side note...to anyone who says a child can just go to a chiropracter for ears...we tried it! Did not work for us. Jesse said he had tubes as a child and so did my brother, so if genetics have anything to do with it or not I don't know, but it looks like we are headed there with her too.

Family Pics

A few weeks ago we had family pictures taken. They actually turned out rather nice considering we had a rather "busy" (aka uncooperative) 1 year old to work with! Oh, well, what do you expect! But also found out the poor kiddo probably had an ear infection that day too! (More to come on that!). Here are a few. I don't want to share too many, you will see more on our Christmas Cards!

Allie's Favorite Thing

Allison LOVES to read books! She will sit and listen as long as you are willing to read I think! (Although you sometimes have to change books 1/2 way through or turn pages quickly!) She has a few favorites that she will listen to over and over! Hop on Pop (or most any of the short board books by Dr. Suess), 5 little ladybugs, The 10 Little Pigs, Goodnight touch and feel book. She also has her own chair and she will often bring a book and sit down in it as if she is reading it! It is so cute! No wonder she is such a little smarty pants!

The Amazin' Farm

We took Allison to her first Pumpkin Patch/Fall Farm thing(?) this year! Last year she was just 1 month old! (Although I did see babies that small!!) It was fun, but I think next year will be more fun. This year she was more interested in doing her own thing. She was a little afraid of the goats at first (and one did try to eat her coat!) but she got over that. It really surprised me because up to this point she has loved pretty much all animals. She gets so excited to see kitties and puppies (dogs). They were small goats, but who knows. It was FINALLY a decent fall day. But it was still cool in the wind! Anyway, it was an experience!! I have to laugh at our family pic. It is the only one we got that day on my camera, she is screaming her head off! She did NOT want to cooperate for a picture! (Makes me a little nervous for how our family pics turned out yesterday!). We went with Tom, Holli and Audrey! It is funny to watch the girls. They both had their own idea of what to do at the farm!

Congratulations Eric and Jamie!

On Oct. 10 I was in my good friend, Jamie's wedding. It was so much fun! Fun to get all dressed up and hang out with friends! Allison stayed at my parent's so Jesse could come to the wedding and dance. I have to admit, I am still adjusting to the fact that Jamie is a married woman! Ha, J/k, Jamie! Congratulations again! You guys are an awesome couple!

12 Month Pics

12 Month Check-Up

Miss Allison had her big 1 year check up last Monday! (Sorry, I am a little late...busy week last week, hopefully I will get some posts up later to explain!) Anyway, she weighed in at a whopping 21 lbs! My little peanut! She has the Mages legs, skinny little legs! One day she will appreciate those! That was the 50th percentile for her age though, just seems like everyone else is bigger! But she was 29, almost 30 inches long, which was the 70th percentile for height. But, of course, no matter what those are, she is perfect! Otherwise her check-up went great. She is right on track. Poor baby had to get 4 shots though. But they didn't seem to phase her much. She is so tough! But now we have a new battle ahead...getting rid of the bottle. Actually I don't think it will be too bad. She loves books so I think we will replace her bedtime bottle with a book after her bath. We were going to start this week, but she has a terrible cold, and I work most of the rest of the week, so we might wait until next week when I am going to be home with her all week pretty much. Say some prayers she gets over this cold soon! She is so stuffy and was coughing last night. I am not looking forward to this winter!

First Steps!

Here is a video of Allison taking a few steps yesterday. She did a few more today. A little unsteady, she has quite a wide stance! But so darn cute! It won't be long and she will be running! As always, the video is a little shaky and our house is a disaster, but that is not what this is about!

1 Year, Then and Now

I meant to do this yesterday, on her birthday, but ran out of time. Anyway, here is a pic of Allison from just after she was born and one taken yesterday. I wanted one of her smiling, but, as always, she was too busy! It is CRAZY how much they change in 1 year! If an adult had to go through all those changes, we would NEVER survive. Babies are amazing!

1 nap or 2???

Sleep is important to us and I know and understand that good sleep habits lead to a happier/healthier baby and child (and mommy and daddy :)), so we have tried our hardest to give Allison the tools for good sleep. And for the most part she is and has been a good sleeper. I think we are getting close to Allison only needing 1 nap a day, but I don't think we are there yet. And I don't know what to do, or if we are doing something wrong. She sleeps good at night from about 7:30 to around 7 the next morning. And that is GREAT! Here's the problem. She seems to need a morning nap and takes a good morning nap. She will go down for her nap by 9:30 and lately since I am TRYING to preserve her afternoon nap, I have been getting her up no later than 11. She definitely needs the afternoon nap to make it to bedtime. Today I got her up at 10:45 from her morning nap and didn't lay her down until 2 for her afternoon nap (actually it was 2:15 by the time she was in her crib). It is 3:15 and she is STILL awake!!! She does not cry, she jabbers and plays in there. There are no toys in her crib. She gets only her blankie and her paci for naps. I almost wish she would cry because then she would cry herself to sleep!!! But nope, she is just awake, happy as a lark. I have tried going in and saying NOTHING to her, just putting her paci back in her mouth and giving her her blankie (which she has usually tossed out of the crib) and laying her down again and leaving. Sometimes she poops, which I will change her without saying anything to her (today it was so hard not to laugh, she was being so silly!) and put her back in her crib. Earlier this week, I tried to do only 1 nap and we skipped her morning nap. I decided that if she was done with her am nap, I was going to go to the Y in the morning and work out (they have a child-watch while you exercise). I picked her up at 10:15 and the lady said she was good but that "she is so tired". I felt like a terrible mom! And she was tired, exhausted! I ended up having to put her down for a nap right away when we got home. So, naps have been a bit of a battle (the afternoon one anyway) this week. And I hate that, a couple weeks ago, it was so easy! 2 naps 1 1/2 to 2 hours long, no problem!! I guess she naps good at daycare but 2 things happen usually when she goes to daycare, I have to get her up at 6 and I think she gets more wore out by the other kids. Anyway, I'm sure by next week things will be different! 3:22 now, crying, sleepy, hopefully will be asleep soon!!

1 Year Ago...

With Allison's Birthday being tomorrow, I have been thinking about her actual BIRTH day a lot. I did not have anything ready, I thought for sure I was going to go past my due date (Oct. 15) and have to be induced, like my mom and Jesse's mom. Well, SURPRISE! She had another plan! I woke up for work on Tuesday morning, September 30, 2008 and my water broke. So, I got ready while Jesse panicked (he did great! But I work in OB, so I knew I had some time before we had to get to the hospital). I got my epidural by 12:00 and life was GREAT! I pushed for about 1 hour and her heart rate was dropping with pushing. I ended up with an emergency c-section and she was born at 6:33 p.m. And just like now the Twins were playing for a chance to play in the playoffs (it might have even been against Detroit??). I remember some friends watching the Twins game and celebrating our good friend, Tom's, birthday (Happy Birthday to Tom too!) awaiting our call! Here are a few pics from that day. My face looks all puffy in the after one with all the fluids I had been getting throughout the day. And poor Allison her nose was all smashed in! It is amazing how much they change in the first few days! I will admit, she was not the cutest newborn with that poor smashed in nose and face! (I, however, thought she was BEAUTIFUL! And she gets more beautiful every day!)

The Cake

I figured I better do another blog about the cake since there are so many pics! Allison did great! She thought Grandpa better have some cake too! She likes to share her food, he was a good sport! As you may notice, she does not look at the camera or sit still for family pictures very well! We have those coming up, hopefully they turn out ok!! And notice the bow in her hair in the pics below...that is the first time I have been able to get a bow in her hair! I couldn't believe how long she left it in! Her hair is so fine, she usually pulls it right out, this time it fell out when she was "trying on" clothes!

Birthday Girl!!

We had my baby girls Birthday Party last Saturday. She actually turns 1 tomorrow!! It was a GORGEOUS DAY, an answer to my MANY prayers! And it went great! Allison did great with her 1 nap that day. She was a little ham opening her gifts, with help, or we would have been there all day, she wanted to play with and "try on" everything right away. Then we did her cake. Which was so cute, I am sad to say I did NOT attempt to make on this year. Cash Wise has this great deal for 1st b-day's. You get a free mini cake for them when you order a cake. Plus all that fluffy frosting I figured would be great for her to dig into and smear all over her face! Next year I MIGHT attempt to make one, don't hold me to that though! Anyway, she did great! Cautious at first, then she dug in. She played hard then had a bath and went to bed. We have some video from the day that I will try to post this week (if I don't get it done today). We got our video camera just in time for her birthday and I am so glad we did! Thank you SO much to everyone who helped us get ready and brought food and for all Allison's gifts! She is a very lucky little girl!

Bachelorette Party!

A couple weekends ago we celebrated Jamie's upcoming wedding with her Bachelorette Party! It was a blast! Props to Jennie, the Maid of Honor, for doing a fantastic job planning and putting it on! We have decided though, that we should get together just the girls once a year, wedding or not, to celebrate! So, I'm in for next year! However, I will leave my heels at home (or in the garbage, where they went Sunday morning!). My feet were KILLING me! Not that I ever wore heels much, but as I am getting older, it seems my body is even more intolerant of things! Looking forward to next weekend and the big Wedding!! YEAH!