long lost friends

I don't know who was happier that the weather was appropriate so that we were able to make the trip for Lily's birthday party, Rowan or I?

I have been having extreme withdrawl from my St. Joe's friends. I didn't even get to see all of them, but a few is better than none! I just haven't found friends like them up here, and it makes for severe gossip withdrawl, and lack of good advice when it comes to pregnancy and toddlers, husbands too sometimes!

Anyway, Rowan and I got to enjoy Lily Pearl's 2nd birthday party with her and all our friends! It was a turtle party perfect for a little girl! Rowan got to color and play with stickers, and pretend to play hot turtle (she didn't quite get the concept), and eat, and run. She loved it. She played great with the other kids. And there was no lack of holding Miss Jillian either. She kept asking to hold her, and when she wasn't, she was hovering over Cora when she was feeding or burping her (sorry Cora). A sign of what is to come! And of course, the time was too short. I didn't even get the scratch the surface of catching up with the ladies, but that is to be expected with kids!

grandpa's bday

Since the weather was decent and there was no precipitation happening, we decided to make a day trip for a friend of Rowan's birthday party. It just so happened that the party was planned on Grandpa's birthday, so we left a little early to stop and visit him and Great Uncle Kurt at work.

 Grandpa let her pick out a snack. Nothing like Skittles at 1030am! Oh well!

practice makes perfect

i found Rowan in the baby's room rocking her own baby to sleep in the rocking chair. such a goof ball. hoping she learns to like real babies by march. she wasn't a fan of me holding baby bennett on xmas eve. she has some learning to do in the next couple of months!

28 weeks

and counting...

To the doctor next week for a check up. Hopefully nothing too eventful to share at that time. Other than finding out what the holidays have done to the scale! Bring it on!

lunch time presents too

Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam were willing to make the trip to come and spend lunch with us and celebrate Christmas. It is a good thing they came to us, because we wouldn't have gotten all these gifts home in our car. Once again, gift opening was a bit drawn out due to Rowan's loss of interest. But we did manage to finish in time for a later lunch. We had an easy lasagna lunch before Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam headed home. It was a short visit, but we were heading down for naps here to prepare for working tonight.

Here is a collage of just some of the wonderful gifts we received in the last few days. Way too much. Ed was so on the ball with putting things in their place that I had to snap pictures of some things around the house. Which is why I probably only have half of the gifts in photos, but you get the idea!

Rowan and her baby brother/sister received a new stroller from Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam too!

santa came

Yes, the man in the red suit found our house! We made it home just after 9pm last night, and headed right to bed, knowing that Rowan isn't a late sleeper. Sure enough, she was up by 6pm, but had no clue that there were presents under the tree. Probably because when she wakes up in the morning she heads right for our room. So Daddy had to share the news immediately!

We got right on opening presents. But then Rowan lost interest, so we took a break to make breakfast (waffles on my new waffle iron), and then bribed Rowan to open the rest within the next hour or so. She was way to into all the gifts she already opened. Oh and she had a peanut butter santa open and eaten within the first several minutes of opening too! Oh well, it's Christmas!

Mrs.Claus brought the family a new Ultra Flip HD video camera! There wasn't a major gift item this year for Rowan, but many baby accessories, puzzles, Snow White things, etc.

Hanson Xmas with a special guest

The next gathering of the started just after one in the afternoon. I did manage to get about an hour and a half rest in before the guests started arriving. Rowan did manage to get about an hour nap in in the car too which is better than nothing. Rowan and Breyson were definitely into the Rock Band drums. They shared the sticks fairly nicely, though there were a few scowls in both directions at times. Breyson sang a nice version of his ABC's too. Rowan was too shy!

And look who made an appearance. And he even brought gifts. Rowan smiled when he walked in, then went running for Mommy. There was no getting her on his lap, but she was willing to sit next to him. She and Breyson helped Santa hand out some gifts and both were good enough to receive a gift of their own too. Bennett, the newest addition to the family, wasn't a huge fan of Santa! Probably the only peep the little man made all day long! Such a little cute, snuggly baby!

Daddy even got a gift. A good ole 'icing'. Also known as, get on your knee and chug this Smirnoff Ice! Thanks Casey! This kids all managed to get spoiled by other aunts and uncles, and second cousins, you name it, they got a gift. Spoiled rotten.

We were on our way home just before 8pm to sleep in our own beds. We wanted to make sure Santa knew where to find us with our gifts too! It was a long day, with not much sleep. But well worth it to see all of the family! Sorry again for my horrible job of picture taking. I didn't get any posed shots. Annoys me!

christmas with grandma and grandpa K

We were on the road as soon as I walked in the door from work this morning to head to Pewaukee to start our Christmas celebrations! We started the day with breakfast and gifts with Grandpa Kris, Grandma Julie, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Mitchell. You wouldn't really know who was all there because I did a horrible job of picture taking. I blame it on no sleep! Although there were a fair share of interruptions too.

If you look closely in the collage above, we did start the day with red pants on! Until the poop rained on our parade and we were changing both diaper and pants about one gift into the opening! Then she got Minnie and Mickey underwear that she had to model for the rest of the opening. And then there was the coaxing her to get her to even open all the gifts. She got side tracked a bit often. Apparently she had too many to open!

Minutes after the gifts were opened, she insisted on taking a bath with her new doggy that walks out of the tub and swims in the tub! And Grandma even let her try her new bath bubbles! We were all spoiled by many wonderful gifts. A trunk of dress up clothes, a leapfrog laptop, clothes, playdough, a pillowpet, kitchen organizing containers, other kitchen utensils, a Snow White night light, among many other things!

After bath was done, I headed to attempt a nap, while Rowan entertained the rest of them. Around lunch time Ed and Rowan dropped Gizmo off at Karen and Doug's house for the afternoon, while Ed drove Rowan around to attempt to get her to nap before the Hanson Xmas started.

addendum to

Smith Christmas 2010...

Nana and Papa have officially (well sort of) purchased a home in Grand Rapids, MI. So this was probably our last Christmas in their WI home! I think they close on the house officially in February, but either way, the WI home will be on the market come spring or soon thereafter. They have some major renovations/additions that they are making on the house in MI to accomodate their wants/needs, so not sure how soon they will actually move. P.S. It is on a lake! Too bad it will be a 6+ hour drive for us! Perhaps our xmas list for them will now be plane tickets so we can come visit!

Our Christmas travels aren't getting any easier! Or shorter!

We are very happy for them, yet sad they are moving further away!

paintin' fool

In an effort to entertain indoors, we pulled out the finger paints today. Rowan loved it, and would have done it way longer but we were going through way too much paper. And her color scheme was brown due to her mixing problem! She uses her hand more than her fingers! Oh well.

She was clearly done having her picture taken today, thus the scowl!

snow much fun

Today was technically our 3rd snow fall of the season, but the first time I documented it! And the first time we were out in it. It has been too cold to be out frolicking in the snow. But today was perfect. Our first snow fall was only a few inches, the second was the blizzard a couple weekends ago (so about 14 inches or so), and yesterday/last night we maybe got a total of 5 inches. So it keeps accumulating in the yard! Difficult for us to navigate through with a sled, but we managed!

i escaped

the sickness...

Starting Saturday night into Sunday morning, Ed wasn't feeling very good. And it continued through the day on Sunday and into Monday. Started with a headache and indigestion. Sunday night late he did throw up once, though it was partially self induced to try to feel better. Monday continued with indigestion and not much eating.

Rowan's version I think started Saturday with lots of pooping, beyond the diaper. Sunday it was a bit more under control, but was very much diarrhea like on Monday. And not much eating on Sunday or Monday for her either. Rowan did throw up at some point on Sunday night too. I found it Monday morning. Poor girl, but she woke up once and only cried for a minute or two which is pretty standard for her a few nights a week and goes back to bed. So didn't think anything of it, until there was crusty stuff on her jammie shirt the next morning. And then the puke on the bedspread and floor that I spent the morning cleaning up. Needless to say there was lots of cleaning and laundry on Monday!

Seems as though they are both fairly well back to normal. Though Rowan's butt is still in healing mode!

Turns out Sue, Julie and Blayne all had some version of flu like symptoms on Sunday/Monday too! Interesting. Not sure how Molly, Dusty, Papa and I escaped the bug. But lucky us is all I can say!

27 weeks

Rowan has taken a liking to the belly pictures, so we had to get hers on camera as well! Too cute! Again, nothing to report this week, which is a relief. Other than the holiday celebrations have begun, so I am sure we will be tipping the scale at our next appointment in 2 weeks!

 Mommy's belly and Rowan's belly

The spoiling for baby #2 has begun already as well. He/She received a few things this weekend for Christmas as well. Some long sleeved onesies, a new outfit and a new swaddle sack! Lucky little bugger! And I am sure that isn't the end!

Blodgett Xmas 2010

Rowan is practicing her smile for her next Christmas gathering! She looks like such a big girl in this picture. Growing up too fast!

After an early morning (Rowan was up at 530am) and breakfast with the Smith's, we were off to Aunt Karen and Doug's house for Christmas and lunch! Rowan managed to fall asleep 5 minutes into our 10 minute drive, so Ed sat in the car with her for awhile when we arrived so she could get in a short nap.

Of course it then took her a bit to warm up after waking up, but she was pretty good for most of the day. Despite her continued pooping problem (we made it through the day in one outfit though!), and lack of sleep all weekend, she did well. Again she was very spoiled. Lots of Snow White and Tinkerbell dress up stuff, shoes, tiaras, wands, a Small Fry from Build a Bear, and more. She was very into Karen's camera too. Perhaps she shoulda put a play camera on her xmas list!

After gifts, we sat down for a nice chicken lunch complete with veggies, rolls, potatoes, and dessert of course. And were on our way home shortly after clean up was done. Ed wasn't feeling very well (didn't clean his plate for a meal means something isn't right) and Rowan was ready for a nap, so we filled the few spare spots that were left in the truck and off we went.

 Here is a very limited picture of some of the things we all received on this very spoiled weekend. And this isn't even close the everything. Nana and Papa got us a new tv for our bedroom, I got some new Uggs, Gizmo got a new car seat cover for traveling in the car (homemade by Nana), Rowan got a makeup table and plenty of other things. These were just the big highlights! Uncle Dusty and Aunt Julie got Rowan and Kieran a party bag of M&M's of their own, we told them that paybacks are going to be brutal when they have kids. Warning!

birthday practice

...for Grady Decker!

Grady is going to be '1' at the end of January, and we aren't going to be able to make the trip to celebrate with him, so we let him practice with a cookie and a present from us! His real present is on back order and will be sent to him when it arrives! I think the little guy was feeling better finally! We will have to celebrate again in the Spring when I can travel again and am on maternity leave! Perhaps the ferry will be open again by then and we won't have to drive forever!

Smith Christmas 2010

Not sure where to start with this busy, rough, yet fun filled day! What day isn't fun with presents, family and food. Until you throw in explosive diapers resulting in mulitple outfit changes, a sore butt, no nap, not good sleep at night, and a toddler girl = rough patches throughout the day!

So here the day started with presents after a fabulous breakfast! Notice outfit #1, complete with a dress and tights. Lasted all of maybe 30 minutes until there was poop seeping through each layer. Therefore it was diaper change time and outfit change time, which Rowan wasn't a fan of at all. Major breakdown!

After coaxing Rowan into a clean diaper and a shirt (refusing pants at this point), we were happy with our new Tinkerbell dress on too. Took a good 15 minutes before she was willing and wanting to open presents again. She observed in the mean time. And then became very interested in what the boys were getting more so than her own gifts! Next year Nana and Papa are going to buy the kids all the same things so they are all satisfied! They shared very nicely overall!

After opening many fabulous gifts, and playing with all of them too, we moved on to some cookie decorating. I ended up decorating most of the cookies to eliminate some of the mess, but the kids did enjoy some messy time too. They even helped Uncle Dusty make the frosting. Kieran was into the whole frosting and decorating idea, of course promptly eating his masterpiece. Rowan was just into the sprinkles, and lots of them.

For dinner we had a delightful prime rib dinner complete with twice baked potatoes and salads. A bit healthier than our appetizer bar and desserts galore the night and day before. Isn't that what the holidays are for, calories?

Gail and Maison from next door came to visit and play in the basement for a short while with the kids. Aunt Molly built them a fort and they played balls on the pool table for a bit too. The kids didn't stop going much all day, no naps for the big kids, and therefore crashed at 9pm. We will have some catching up to do on sleep next week to prepare for the future celebrations.

socks and snacks

...we started out the Smith gathering with appetizers and stockings! We did manage to squeeze some veggies into the rather unhealthy arrangement, not that they got eaten! And I didn't get a picture of the cookie tray that was refilled rather often throughout the weekend! Man did we eat well though!

And Kieran even talked Nana and Papa into letting us open our sock gifts tonight as well, instead of waiting until Saturday! Rowan was an opening machine, when hers were all opened, she moved on to ours! Grady just hung out and observed the commotion! Poor guy has been sick the last couple of days, double ear infection, bronchitis and some puking too. Postponed their departure today a bit, but they made it, and he hasn't puked since the morning! Funny thing is, you would never know anything was bothering the little guy.

Since we had such an abundance of food, Gail and Dennis joined us while we played some Catch Phrase and laughed the night away. It was off to bed early for Rowan and I. Rowan had no nap, and I got 1.5 hours of sleep after working last night. Not a good way to start the busy weekend, but oh well!

horicon memories

On our way to Delafield today we stopped in Horicon to get some cheese and sausage for our holiday gatherings. So after our stop at Leroy's Meats, we headed around Horicon to find the house that Ed and his family once lived in. And we found it! Cute to see Ed reminisce!

hump day

Well it's Wednesday, that's about all I can say! Spent the morning cleaning the house, and well! (perhaps a little nesting) Not that I don't usually clean well, but extra cleaning than usual on a weekly basis. Rowan was rummaging through the diaper bag, and found her shades! More like snow goggles at this time of year. But she proceeded to tear around the house on her bee with the glasses on! Pretty silly as usual!

On another note, that kitchen in the background has become the devil! Rowan hides things in there. You would think I/we would learn, but I was searching high and low for missing nalgene cups today, and of course both of them were in the kitchen in strategic spots. Apparently she hides string cheese in there too. It is a game for her and gizmo, she runs from him while she eats her string cheese and when she gets tired/bored with it, she puts it in the kitchen so Gizmo can't get it! Too darn smart for words!

On the baby side of things, got some curtains hung in the nursery, and put the crib back together. We had thought Rowan might use it if we had guests, but who are we kidding, if the other option is Mom and Dad's bed, she isn't going to choose the crib/toddler bed! And then I can make the bed eventually, if only I could find the crib sheets? I think I may have tossed them! Perhaps bored with off white/ecru! But our Babies R Us is terrible up here (small and always out of stock of everything), so my options so far have been limited! Guess I need to stop at the one in Brookfield next time I am in town.