Big News!

In addition to Kaitlyn turning 2 years old last week...she also reached another awesome milestone. The day after her birthday party, on February 22nd, Kaitlyn went poo poo in the potty for the very first time. She told her daddy she had to go, he brought her to the potty, and she went. Way to go Kaitlyn!

February

February was a fun month. We got to spend time in Virginia for nephew Brandon's birthday party, we met a new friend - Katy's baby Michael, we got to hang out at the waterpark with cousin Taylor and family, and we had Kaitlyn's birthday party. Here are a few pics from all the action.

Brandon's Birthday Party



Nana and Papa's new puppy playing with Kaitlyn


Katy and baby Michael with me and Brianna


Kaitlyn's birthday - we had cupcakes and opened a few presents.



Kaitlyn and Taylor having fun at the waterpark/in the tub


Brianna and Piper together for the first time.


Kaitlyn's birthday party




The cake!


Kaitlyn and Taylor having birthday cake.


Random cute pic of Brianna.

Crazy week

On Tuesday, February 17th, we celebrated Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAITLYN ROSE!

We have the little party planned for tomorrow (Saturday), and tonight is the water park. But we had to do something on the actual day of course, so we had a few presents for Kaitlyn as well as birthday cupcakes with candles. She tried to blow the candles out but couldn't quite do it, so daddy helped her. She isn't a huge fan of cake or sweets, so she really didn't eat much of her cupcake. She had cake at daycare too, and they say the same thing - that she isn't a huge "cake person". She also got a present from daycare that day - a new baby doll and stroller. I know she is super excited to see cousin Taylor tonight, and we are all excited to finally meet newest addition Piper.

So that was the good stuff. Now to the bad news - Brianna has pneumonia. She had been sick for a couple of days and was beginning to wheeze again, so Andy brought her in yesterday. Diagnosis was pneumonia. We have to do the nebulizer treatments again, and she is on an antibiotic. The doc also wantedt us to do a different, preventative nebulizer treatment for the next 3 months, but we plan to double check on the necessity of that with our regular doctor when we go on Wednesday next week. Again the doctor mentioned the possibility of Asthma and that we will just have to continue monitoring especially when she has colds.

Wednesday will be both Brianna's follow-up as well as Kaitlyn's 2 year appointment (nice to kill 2 birds with one stone!). Hopefully Brianna is doing better by then. And it will be exciting to see what Kaitlyn's stats are these days and how her growth curve has been going.

Have a great weekend - we will try to post Kaitlyn birthday pics sometime in the not-so-distant-future.

Valentine's Day weekend

We all had a good weekend "up north". Friday, Andy got off of work early and we headed to Virginia. We spent several hours there, while our van received the "Northland Package" to protect the interior and exterior. The girls hung out with us at Nana and Papa's house. We met the new puppy, Zoe. By coincidence, our friends from Crane Lake, Katy and Josh, and their new baby Mike happened to stop by that same day. We have not seen them in several months so that was a nice coincidence. And of course it was great to meet their new little baby! Big sister Lily was in school, so we missed her but hopefully we will see her this summer.

Once our van was done, we were ready to get on the road to Cook. The girls had fun with Grandma and Grandpa, who got to babysit Saturday evening while Andy and I went out for Valentine's Day. We headed to Melgeorge's on Elephant Lake, where we had a very good dinner with Chelsea, Paul and Jennifer. After dinner we hung out at the cabin Chelsea and Paul had for the night and had a couple of drinks and chatted with them and others. Then it was time for Paul's band, Mellowdrama, to play at Melgeorge's so we headed back. It was a good time and we had a lot of fun. At 11:30 we had to say goodbye, as I told my parents we would be home by or around midnight. We headed out and arrived back to find the girl's fast asleep.

On Sunday we left mid-morning and stopped by the hospital in Virginia so that Grammy K could show the girls off to her co-workers in the ICU. After much oohing and aahing by all of the ICU employees, we stopped by Great-Grandma Bonnie's room in the Nursing Home. She was amazing at how fast Brianna has grown and how smart Kaitlyn is! After making our way out of the building (along the way, being stopped several times for little old ladies and others to admire the girls) we were on our way home.

The cutest thing ever, and a first, happened on our way home. Andy and I were minding our own business when we suddenly hear laughing from behind us. Turns out, Kaitlyn was laughing at Brianna, who would laugh back at Kaitlyn - in turn making Kaitlyn laugh again. They did this for a few minutes and it was so great to see them interacting directly like that. Brianna sure does love her big sister!!

When we got home, we had a quick lunch and then it was naptime for Kaitlyn. Following naptime, we went to Target and stocked up on...well, lots of stuff. It was almost a 2 hour shopping trip, during which both girls were very well behaved. We got home later than expected, so from there on out it was supper time, bath time, and bed time. It was a long, busy weekend but a good one. Now we look forward to Kaitlyn's birthday on Tuesday, the waterpark on Friday, and her party on Saturday. We will finally meet cousin Piper - added bonus! And I know Kaitlyn will love seeing her cousin Taylor, because it is all she talks about when Andy or I are on the computer. "See Taylor? See Taylor? See Taylor?" She will repeat it until we show her pictures of Taylor.

What would our life be without our girls?!

The girls and weekend plans

Brianna is increasingly giggly and smiley. She has started to eat rice cereal at supper time. Still getting the hang of the whole spoon feeding thing, but we're coming along! She loves to feel and look at her toys. She has excellent hand coordination and can be entertained for good chunks of time just by having a toy in her hands. Everything goes into her mouth these days, especially blankets if there is one around.

Kaitlyn is of course as much a chatterbox as ever. She repeats almost any phrase we say and is getting very good at accurately telling us what she wants, using more than one word at a time. She is a silly, cute, beautiful little girl. Soon she will be getting her first haircut - something needs to be done to that blond mop of hers. It's getting pretty wild :-)

This weekend we are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Andy and I are leaving the girls with them while we go out for a Valentine's Day dinner and to see a couple of friends. Valentine's Day this year also marks 10 years that we have been together, so I am very excited! Then the following weekend we are having Kaitlyn's birthday party. Just family is coming this year, but I am super excited anyways. Her actual birthday is on Tuesday, February 17th. I can't believe she will be 2!!! On the Friday before Kaitlyn's party, we are staying at The Edge Waterpark & Hotel along with Danika, Anthony and their two girls Taylor (23 months) and Piper (almost 2 months). We are looking forward to it and I bet Kaitlyn will have a blast!

It's official

Buying a van is the best thing we could have done. We've been wanting one for 2 years, and boy do I wish we would have/could have done it earlier. There are just SO many "pros".

1. Ability to haul everything we need, easily, for weekends away.
2. Ability to bring home large items (such as furniture) from the store if need be...instead of having to wait to borrow a truck from someone (which has happened plenty of times before).
3. I don't have to bend over to put the girls in anymore!!!! Major saving grace for me especially being I have pre-existing back problems anyways.
4. The sliding doors are nice for a situation where parking is cramped - no issues with the door getting in the way or having to watch it so it doesn't door ding the next car over while you get the girls out.
5. Being higher up gives a feeling of safety/more control.
6. Very comfy (not that some cars aren't of course)
7. Lots of storage under the floor
8. Our particular van has the highest crash test ratings possible, so that's of course good.
9. Worse gas mileage than a car, of course, but still better than many SUV's.
10. Our specific van isn't the "egg shaped" van of the past. It was redesigned a little boxier and I love it because it looks like an SUV/van combo.

There are some things I am still getting used to. For example, the shifter is different than in any car I've had before. Also, it does not have your traditional metal key. Instead it's a keyless entry thing that includes an attached "key" that isn't really a key, and you use that to start the car. (So instead of a keyless entry remote, and a seperate key, they are all one one unit). These aren't bad things...they are just different and take time to get used to.

So anyways - I know vans are often viewed as totally uncool. That is okay with me, becaue I am thrilled and it is so worth it. People don't know what they are missing! I am proud to be a minivan momma.

A big Saturday in Virginia

Yesterday we headed to Virginia early in the day (we were on the road around 7:30 which is pretty darn good with a 2 year old and a 5 month old) for our nephew Brandon's birthday party. The party wasn't until 2:00 but we went early to hang out with family. And we did hang out a little, but then decided to take a trip to Target and then to a car dealership (just for fun) while Andy's parents kept an eye on the girls. At the dealership, we checked out vans. We've been wanting a van for 2 years now- right before Kaitlyn was born we tried a bunch out, but no good deal came along so it wasn't the right time. Apparently yesterday was the right time. After leaving once because we didn't think they could do what we needed, Andy thought about it a little more and made a couple of calls. He decided it may be worth it to go back in and talk some more, so we did. Blah blah blah, talk, wait, talk, sign papers, and we were out of there in our shiny, dark blue 2008 Chrysler Town and Country.


Our new van, only ours is a dark, dark blue.

Well, that is after cleaning out all of our crap from the old car (good-bye Taurus). The van is the newer styling, so it looks almost like a van/SUV cross over which I love. It has pretty low mileage. And I am SO excited!! It will be so much easier to travel places for a weekend now. We can finally easily bring everything we need (or think we need?) If we ever buy something large like furniture, it will be much easier to haul it home. There have been times in the past that we've had to put off purchases until my parents were in Duluth with their truck for us to bring things home in.

After finally getting out of the car dealership, we headed to the birthday party which by now had been going for 45 minutes. It was a bummer to be so late, but it's not like we were out walking the mall or hanging out at the bar - we were making a major purchase. Even being late, we got to enjoy some good food, cake, and watch the birthday boy open his presents. Kaitlyn was having an absolute blast with her cousins and a couple of other kids. It was great to see her interacting so well and having so much fun!! She could have cared less that mom and dad were back - she was too busy with all of her little friends -running around and around, playing, screeching with joy... She also charmed the crowd with some of her great verbal skills. She got right in the middle of all the action, including birthday boy Brandon opening up his presents. She went around and sat on people's laps (even people she'd never met) and talked to them. She had ice cream and cake - although she much preferred the ice cream. Brandon made out with some fun presents including Lego sets to last a lifetime. It was a fun party...next is Kaitlyn's turn. Her party will be 2 weekends from this one. Just a "small" family party this year. I can't wait...my little girl is turning 2 :-)

"Happy Birthday"

Kaitlyn's birthday is not for another couple of weeks, but she came home last night from daycare saying "Happy birthday". I was thinking one of her daycare friend's had a birthday since they always do cake and singing for each kid on their big day. Later on in the evening she even said "Happy birthday to you". I kept asking her who's birthday it was, but she would only say "No!" in response to my questioning. lol

Could it be that Kaitlyn is already anticipating the big 2 and is telling herself"Happy Birthday?"

How to freak your husband out

The other night, soon after falling asleep, I awoke to see a huge spider hanging over Andy's head. He had already been sleeping for awhile. I kid you not, this spider was the size of my fist. It was big, black and hairy. I yelled, jumped out of bed at lightening speed, and turned on the light. Andy woke up too, and was like "what? what?" I think I told him there was a spider, and for a few seconds I was scanning the bed looking for it, thinking it had fallen or jumped or whatever. I didn't see it, and that is when I came to my senses. There was no spider.

This has happened to me a handful of times in the past year or so. It is always within minutes of falling asleep, and it is always a huge, black spider. Most often I have seen it on our curtains. And it is NOT just a dream, for I really am "awake", looking around at my actual surroundings. I am aware and able to make purposeful movements. Only I am also seeing a spider that doesn't actually exist. And it has made me jump out of bed in complete panic and fear more than once! It is that real. There have also been a few times where I am "paralyzed" for the first few seconds. Like, I am terrified but I can't quite move like I want to so instead I just strain my eyes to see where the spider is going in the dark. After freaking Andy out (this was the first time it has happened with him in bed too - up until then it had always been when I was alone) I decided to research it a little. Turns out I am experiencing what is known as "hypnagogia", defined as: occurring just before sleep; applied to hallucinations occurring at sleep onset". It is like a transitional stage between wakefulness and sleep, when you can experience conscious awareness at the same time your mind happens to be entering subconscious dream state. It can last from seconds to minutes - luckily mine only last 5-15 seconds before I realize what is actually going on! People can experience all kinds of hallucinations - sounds, animals, people, geometric shapes, flashes of light, etc. People can also experience a variety of tactile sensations, like numbness, heaviness, somebody touching them, etc. A very common form of this is sudden jerking as you are falling asleep. Oh and the "paralyzing" feeling I have had a couple of times is normal too...it is called...what else...sleep paralysis. It the inability to perform voluntary movement upon falling asleep or upon waking up. In my "research" I found it is commonly associated with hypnogogic hallucinations.

Now that I think of it, I have had it happen once not involving a spider. Instead, it was like a "ghost" image of a woman standing at the end of the bed. That was also soon after falling asleep, and must have also been one of these hallucinations. Because it was also very, very real (yet not) and startling. Andy has been known to tease me about that one from time to time (he was there that night).

Has anybody else ever had a weird experience like this? I wish I could begin to describe how real it seems. It is very freaky, but a really interesting subject. (Thus the research and blog post about it). In any case, it is good to know that I am not going nuts and that it all has an actual name and has been researched and is not totally uncommon. It can be a part of narcolepsy or other disorders, but in an otherwise healthy person is no cause for concern. I did read that ways to minimize episodes include getting plenty of sleep/having a regular schedule. Two things I definitely do not have.

Hopefully I don't freak Andy out again. Sorry about that, hun! haha.