28April2012
Posted by Joe under: Anne; baby; basil; Family; The Belly; ultrasound.
We had a pretty exciting day on Friday – I had my 20 week ultrasound and we found out we will be having a little boy!
The ultrasound went great and everything looks to be just as it should be, which was very reassuring. The baby is actually measuring about a week larger right now (woohoo!), but at this point in the game that doesn’t mean that much. My doctor kept my due date as September 17th, but hopefully it will be a little earlier in September. Because of my health history, this was actually our third ultrasound, but definitely the most thorough. Both Joe and I have commented on how it will be a long wait until the next time we see the baby – at birth!
Annie was also very thrilled to find out she was having a little brother. As you can see from the photo, we bought her a balloon at the hospital to tell her that she was having a brother. She may have been equally excited about the balloon and the prospect of a baby brother! She did tell us that she was so happy because now that she would have a baby brother she would be “just like Lauren”! Later in the afternoon she was dancing around the living room with her balloon singing “It’s a boy! It’s a boy! It will be soft! And cute! Hosanna to the King! He will be Lauren’s buddy! It won’t be long! It’s a boy!” I wish I could have gotten it on video, but I knew as soon as I started up the camera she would stop. While we were at the hospital Annie drew us a picture of what her baby brother or sister would look like. My favorite part of the picture is that both of them have dogs on a leash since Annie is so obsessed with Basil.
I will officially be 20 weeks on Monday. Halfway done! Things have been going great so far, and I am definitely in the sweet spot of the 2nd trimester – feeling good, just a little tired. We have gotten the third bedroom mostly cleaned out and now that we know its a boy I can’t wait to start decorating. I will officially be done at work by the end of May!!!!! Then we can switch in to crazy nesting mode and get some stuff done around here. I will also be on a mission to get the blog back up to the present date since I will no longer be hogging the computer on nights and weekends for work.
5July2011
Posted by EOnd under: Anne; Family; holiday; Trips.
Dear Annie,
On our 3rd day at Disneyworld we visited Epcot. And let me tell you, Epcot was a BUST! I guess we should have known that it was more geared towards upper grade school kids and adults. It was a very hot day and it was hard to find shade. Combine that with your boredom and we had a pretty restless kid!
We started off the day at the “Finding Nemo” ride. Let’s just say it did not go well! It was supposed to be a ride for all ages but you, with your fear of all peril, were scared out of your mind! The ride was dark and pretty noisy so that was a little overwhelming for you. Then, there is a part of the ride where the shark from the movie comes out and it was all over. You were clinging onto Daddy for dear life and he said that your heart was beating so fast! We got off the ride and you told us, “We’re NOT going on the Nemo ride again!”. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that for the rest of the day, every 5 minutes you would ask us, “We’re not going on the Nemo ride again, right?”. Daddy and I felt so bad for scarring you for life, we got you a big bowl of ice cream even though it was only 10am! The ice cream was highlight #1 of the day.
After that we walked around to all the different “lands” of Epcot. In Mexico there was a boat ride similar to “It’s a Small World”, except it featured Donald Duck and some of his friends. It wasn’t scary at all, and we thought you would love it, but you were so uptight from that morning that you said you didn’t like it and that it was too scary because it was dark! We visited the rest of the lands, but we realized Epcot just wasn’t for you. It was beautiful and I wish we could have seen and done more there, but I don’t blame you for being bored. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as Magic Kingdom for a 3 year old.
We ended our Epcot experience by letting you play in a little splash pad on our way out of the park. Of course you LOVED it. Luckily we always went to the parks with a complete change of clothes, so we let you get soaking wet. You played for quite awhile until it was time to head back to the hotel for a nap. Thank goodness for the ice cream and splash pad, otherwise Epcot would have been nothing but scary for you!
After a good nap and another fun afternoon swimming, we headed back to Epcot for dinner. This was going to be Mommy’s birthday dinner, since on my real birthday we would be having breakfast with the princesses. We picked a restaurant twhere the whole wall of the restaurant was a huge aquarium. So while we were eating dinner you were able to watch all kinds of fish swim by. Unfortunately, it had been a long, hard day for you and the fish that we thought would be a hit, were a complete miss. Poor daddy even had to take you out and deal with a major tantrum! Perhaps the problem was that the restaurant was in the same building as the “Finding Nemo” ride, so you were probably on edge just knowing that the ride was near!
The next day was Mommy’s birthday! The big 3-0. I honestly can’t think of a better way to have spent it than at Magic Kingdom with you and Daddy. We had so much fun. Our hotel had given me a birthday button to wear, and at first I wasn’t going to wear it but decided to at the last minute. I have never had so many people wish me Happy Birthday!
We started off our day at breakfast with the princesses! We first went into Cinderella’s castle and were greeted by Cinderella and got our photo taken with her. I think the grandeur of her castle was a little overwhelming at first because you wouldn’t let Daddy put you down and also were clinging onto your kitty even while meeting Cinderella. She was very sweet with you and had a little conversation with you about your kitty and the naughty cat in her movie. Even though you were a little nervous, you told us later that Cinderella was your favorite. This photo show the back of the castle, our view at breakfast was out those windows.
You had so much fun meeting all the princesses and looked so pretty in your little dress. Each princess took a few minutes to talk with you and pose for a photo. Daddy and I could tell you were just loving every minute! We had lots of yummy breakfast food (your favorite meal of the day!) and Daddy and I both thought that was definitely the best character meal we attended.
After our breakfast we continued our day by going on LOTS of rides! We knew it was our last day at Magic Kingdom (since we didn’t want to deal with weekend crowds there) so we made to sure to hit every ride we wanted to take. We, of course, took our daily break for a nap and swimming but then headed back to Magic Kingdom that night for more rides. We packed in the rides that day, we wanted to make it a fun last day at Magic Kingdom. I am sure I won’t be able to remember all the rides we went on, but some of your favorites were:
The teacups – we have already mentioned that this was your favorite ride. You loved how fast it went and how you got to control the teacup by spinning the steering wheel.
The “race cars” – there was a speedway that you got to drive a car on a race track. The car rides on a rail, so Daddy let you drive. You literally couldn’t see over the steering wheel but you were so proud to drive by yourself.
“It’s a Small World” – Your second favorite ride. I honestly have no idea how many times we rode on that one, but you loved it! So much to see and so many different colors and patterns.
The “floor ride” – It was really called Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride, but you kept calling it the “floor ride”. It was very similar to Dumbo, except that it went even higher. Daddy and I spent most of the ride trying to convince you to bring our magic carpet down a little since we’re scared of heights!
The carousel – You just love carousels, so we rode on it a few times. Daddy and I loved that the line was always short!
Dumbo – We had read the Dumbo story quite a bit before our trip, so you were so excited to ride on Dumbo.
I know there were other rides I have missed, we went on so many, but those were some of your favorites.
One funny story from that day is that there was a 3-D movie called “Mickey’s Philharmagic”. It’s about Donald Duck taking Mickey’s magic hat and how all the instruments in the orchestra revolt because of it. It was supposed to be a fun movie for all ages, but by this point during the trip, we were doing our very best to make sure you didn’t get scared again. So I went over to a Disney worker and asked if the movie was even remotely scary for a 3 year old. I should have known better, because the first worker kind of hesitated, but then her manager walked up and assured me it wasn’t scary at all. So we decided to give it a try. Oh man, we knew as soon as it started that it was too scary for you! You were sitting so quietly on Daddy’s lap that I thought maybe you were doing ok. But at the first break in the music you said really loudly “I’m all done! I want to go!”. So we got up and got out of there! For the rest of the trip you would randomly ask us “Do you remember when Donald was throwing stuff at us?” because that’s what you thought was happening because of the 3-D!
After going on a bunch of rides, we wanted to make sure we got out of the park before the fireworks ended so we didn’t get caught in the crowd. We got out of there just in time and were able to watch the big finale of the show at our bus stop. All in all, it was a wonderful, fun day and the best birthday for Mommy ever!
21June2011
Posted by EOnd under: Anne; Family; holiday; Trips.
Dear Annie,
I can’t even describe how much fun Daddy and I had with you at Disneyworld. Daddy and I have been on some pretty awesome vacations, but we both said that our trip to Disneyworld was by far the best trip we have ever taken and the most fun we have had in a week. Why was it so great? Because we got to spend the WHOLE WEEK with you 24/7! And because Disneyworld really is the happiest place on earth. We had so much fun on all the rides, meetings the characters, swimming, and eating lots of treats. And Annie, you were such a good girl! You had a few toddler moments, but Daddy and I kept telling you the whole trip what a good girl you were, and how you were listening so good, and just being a real trooper with the long days and late nights.
Our trip planning started back in January when we knew we wanted to take you to Disneyworld for your golden birthday. When Uncle Josh and I were little, we got to go on trips for our golden birthdays and Daddy and I wanted to continue that tradition for you. Daddy and I were so excited about the trip that we told you right away, but so you knew it was a while away, we told you that we wouldn’t go to see Mickey’s house until the snow all melted and it got hot outside. You talked about it all winter and spring. Whenever you saw a plane fly overhead you would say “A plane! We’ll ride a plane to go see Mickey at his house!”. After months of waiting it was finally May and we were ready for our trip!
Daddy and I weren’t quite sure how you would do on the plane, but you did pretty good. You were very excited to be on the plane (this was your second plane trip, but you were only 9 months old the first time) and very excited about eating the jelly beans Nana Jo had in your little backpack to help your ears while the plane gained altitude. Unfortunately the tray in front of you couldn’t come down all the way because of your carseat, so most activities we had planned for you didn’t work. You were sure getting a little antsy by the end of the ride, but you did great. I think all three of us were very excited to get off the plane and be in Florida.
We got right on a Disneyworld bus and took a 1/2 hour bus ride to our resort. Daddy and I thought you might take a nap on the bus (haha!) but you were so excited you wouldn’t even entertain the thought of snuggling in with either of us. When we got to our resort we instantly LOVED it. It is smaller than all other Disney resorts so it had a very intimate, cozy feel and it was so beautiful. It was right on the river and the resort is styled after New Orleans so it had neat little gardens and fountains all through the resort. We got the exact room we had requested, right on the river so we had a beautiful view out of our door (later that week while you would nap, Daddy and I would take two chairs right outside our hotel room and sit on the balcony over looking the river and read).
We only stayed in our room that first time for about 15 minutes before we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. It was already late afternoon and we were all anxious to see Mickey and his friends! You loved riding on the bus to Magic Kingdom. As the week went on, you continued to love the bus rides and would spend the 10 minute bus rides hamming it up to whatever passengers would pay you attention! You were so funny.
After we got off the bus and walked into Magic Kingdom, Pluto was right at the entrance. We got in line to meet him and Daddy and I were so interested to see how you would react to meeting him. You love watching Thundar at Bison games, but you have never really wanted to get close to him. You didn’t have any problems with Pluto! You walked right up to him and gave him a hug. It was such a great way to start the vacation.
The neat thing about Magic Kingdom is that after you enter and turn a corner, you have a beautiful view up Main Street of Cinderella’s castle. We had talked about seeing Cinderella’s castle so much I couldn’t wait to see your reaction. As soon as we turned the corner you started yelling, “It’s Cinderella’s castle! Look Mommy!”. We unknowingly had timed everything perfect: once we made it up to the castle, it was almost time for a performance by Mickey and Friends and all the princesses. We stood with lots of other people to watch the show. You were so excited to see everyone and were totally enthralled. There were a few scary parts with Malicifent, but you tolerated it well (it wouldn’t be the last time you were scared that week!).
After that we got a quick bite to eat and then went to get in line for our first ride. We got in line for Pooh and had our very first “waiting in line” experience. You weren’t quite sure what to think about waiting in line and I don’t think you understood WHY we had to wait in line. I’ll tell you what, by the end of the week you were a waiting in line master! Anyways, after a 45 minute wait we finally got on the Pooh ride. You thought it was pretty cool, but Daddy and I thought, “Really? We waited 45 minutes for that?!”. It was then and there that Daddy and I decided FastPasses were the only way to go!
I’ll be honest, I don’t remember if we went on any rides after that. Sorry! I do know that you begged us to go on the Dumbo ride, but the line was SO LONG we said no. I think by that time we were all tuckered out and headed back to the hotel so we could be rested and refreshed for the next day.
At our hotel room you were so proud to be sleeping in a BIG bed all by yourself. But true to form, you had a very hard time falling asleep unless both Daddy and I were laying in our bed silently. If one of us was still getting ready for bed all we heard was, “What are you doing mommy? Are you brushing your teeth? Are you going to bed soon?”, etc. You are such a little monkey. You have such a hard time falling asleep because you just don’t want to miss a thing!
Our first full day at Disneyworld was a packed one. We went back to Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning. Our goal was to be there right when the gates opened at 9am and make a mad dash back to Dumbo so you could ride before the lines got too long. We made it, but even making our mad dash, the line was 20 minutes long! It was worth it though, you absolutely loved it and loved that you got to make Dumbo go up and down.
After Dumbo you got to meet Pinnochio. You didn’t have a clue who he was, but you didn’t want to miss out on meeting any of the characters!
From there we went on the “It’s a Small World” ride. To say you loved it would be an understatement! You were completely enthralled the whole boat ride, there was certainly lots to look at! This turned out to be your second favorite ride (it was Mommy’s favorite) and over the course of our trip I think we went on it at least 7 times.
After that we went on Jungle Boat cruise. You weren’t that into it. There were a few parts that you thought were scary. You were a good trooper though!
On our way to lunch we happened across one of the daily parades. You were yelling out all the characters names. It was so cute to watch how excited you were. All of the parades and shows were so neat, and they really gave the whole experience a fun little boost.
Next it was time for our lunch with Pooh and his friends! I was soooooo excited to see what you would think. You were a pro at meeting all the charaters. You did a great job waiting your turn and were so proud to have them all sign your autograph book and take a photo with them. Piglet was definitely your favorite. You two had a cute little interaction and you kept telling Daddy and I the whole trip ”Piglet was my favorite”. We bought you a little Piglet stuffed animal to bring home because Piglet was one of the highlights.
The day had more excitement in store, we got to meet Mickey and Minnie! You were so adorable with both of them and they were so gentle and kind with you. You got to have them sign your autograph book and give them hugs, and then we all posed for some photos.
After that we went back to the hotel for a much needed nap. Then we got to go swimming! Our hotel pool was so neat, it had a water slide in the shape of a dragon (one of the reasons we chose our hotel). You were in love. I think you would have gone down the slide all day if we would have let you! We bought you some water wings and you were so proud to be “swimming” on your own. You are such a little fish, swimming was definitely one of your favorite parts of the trip. With your water wings you loved to jump in and then swim (more like running in place) over to the edge and get yourself up on the edge to jump again.
After we got showered up after swimming we headed back to Magic Kingdom. We went on the Small World ride a few times and then went on the Teacups for the first time. This was your favorite ride of the trip. You loved spinning the center wheel all by yourself and weren’t shy about requesting to be the only one touching the wheel! There were no lines so late at night and we rode it a few times without ever getting back in line.
The last thing we did was watch the fireworks. It really was an amazing show! We were unsure of how you would do with all the noise and bright lights. You weren’t too jazzed about it while they were going on, but afterwards and all week you talked about them frequently telling us how pretty they were. it was a perfect ending to our first full day!
28May2011
Posted by EOnd under: Anne; basil; Family; holiday; House.
So much for trying to keep on top of things! April went by in a blur, but I figure we better get caught up quick before post about our vacation.
We ended March by heading to St. Cloud and the cities. Joe’s brother Nik and our nephew Brayden share the same birthday! We celebrated Brayden’s first birthday on Saturday. He’s not quite walking yet, so he just had to watch the girls run around. I can’t wait to see the dynamic between those three once Brayden can join in the fun. He was such a cute little birthday boy and he really went after his cake!! I had coached Annie before we got to the party that Brayden got to open up his presents, but we got cake – hoping that she wouldn’t be upset that her and Lauren didn’t get to participate in the gift receiving. I didn’t need to worry – Annie and Lauren couldn’t have cared less about the gifts and spent most of their time sitting at the table just staring at the cake waiting to eat it!
The next day we celebrated Nik’s golden birthday. We had a nice meal and then got spoiled with a delicious cake from Cafe Latte. Of course Annie somehow weaseled herself right into the midst of the cake action!
Our next trip to St. Cloud was for the Earth Day half marathon. Joe and his dad ran the half marathon relay – so they each ran around a 10K. I don’t think it could have been worse weather! It was freezing cold, windy, and looked like it could rain at any moment. Karen, Annie and I were brave spectators and in spite of the weather we cheered on Joe and Don at different points of the race. Unfortunately my camera battery died right at the beginning of the race, but Joe and his dad both did a great job. Joe ran the first leg, but he was able to join his dad at the end of the race so they could run through the finish line together.
By the time they crossed the finish line Karen, Annie and I were desperate to get indoors and warm up. Annie was a good little trooper, but had been complaining about being cold. We had promised her some hot chocolate when the race was done and she didn’t let us forget it! Check out her awesome hot chocolate mustache:
That day Annie and Grandma dyed Easter eggs. I was impressed at how well Annie did. I packed some grubby clothes for her thinking it would get messy, but she did a great job and was very careful. The eggs turned out wonderful!
However, the highlight of the weekend for Annie was “driving” a tractor with Grandpa. Annie absolutely loves doing all the “farm” things at Grandpa and Grandma’s like feeding the chickens, rabbits, and sheep and riding on the tractors. Grandpa had a much smaller one that he and Annie could ride on together. I cannot explain how SERIOUS Annie was about driving the tractor. She was lovin’ every second, but barely smiled because she was concentrating so hard on her driving. I could barely get her to wave at me! She was so proud that she got to drive the tractor with Grandpa.
Riding on the Tractor from J Ond on Vimeo.
The week before Easter Opa and Nana came up to visit. Annie’s daycare had a day where parents/grandparents/special friends could come in and read stories to the class. So Nana went to Annie’s daycare and read some of Annie’s favorite stories. I wasn’t able to go, so Opa was the photographer. Annie was pretty excited to have Nana and Opa come to her daycare! (By the way, it was also “Wacky Day” at daycare so the kids were supposed to dress wacky, I would not normally send Annie to daycare dressed like that!)
While mom and dad were up, we met my occupational therapist (from when I was in the hospital with GB), Teresa for lunch. It’s always so much fun to catch up with Teresa. When I was in the hospital we took a photo together with Annie, so we had to recreate it that day at lunch.
While Opa and Nana were up they did a little babysitting too so Joe and I could go out and make some final decisions for the basement. A year after moving in we are finally going to finish the bathroom and the wet bar area. Everything is all ordered and ready to go. Hopefully the contractor will have everything finished by the middle of June. I can’t wait to have it all finished! When we moved in the basement had nothing but drywall, it didn’t even have doors! But now it is looking so great down there. All I know is I don’t think I could ever build a new house. All I had to do is make decisions on a bathroom and wet bar, and even all those choices were overwhelming!
The next weekend was Easter. Joe and I were supposed to go to a Twins game with his family and some Meyer relatives, but the game was rained out. We figured it would be, but drove down just in case. We had some pizza downtown and then walked over to the stadium. We had been checking the Twins info line, and the game was still on . . . until we made it to the stadium. Luckily, they still let us in so we could see the new stadium for the first time. While we were in the cities Nana and Opa babysat Annie. Annie lucked out and got to see the movie “Rio” with Opa and Nana. She has talked about it a lot since then, she loves watching movies (what kid doesn’t?).
On Saturday we went over to Grandpa and Grandma’s house to celebrate Easter. We had a yummy brunch and had fun hanging out with Nik, Meg, and Great Grandma Gen. Annie went on an Easter egg hunt too! The funniest part was that instead of picking up and egg, and then picking up the next one 3 feet away, she would spy one way off in another part of the yard and go get that one. She zig-zagged all over the yard.
Easter Sunday was with my family this year. The girls had a lot of fun doing an Easter Egg Hunt in Nana and Opa’s yard. The Easter Bunny had the genius idea of putting two eggs together in each spot so there was no fighting over eggs, but a lot of cooperation instead. The girls also got to make little birdie nests with Nana and Opa. It was also the first time the girls slept together in a room in their matching big girl beds. They were so proud and it went remarkably well!
The last weekend of April we were on the road again! This time we went down to the cities since I had a wedding shower for a good friend from college. It was a lot of fun to celebrate and see other Oles I hadn’t seen in a long time. While we were in the cities we stayed with Josh and Steph. Of course Lauren and Annie had a blast. While I was at the shower Joe brought the two girls to the MN Zoo, where they met Joe’s family. From what I hear everyone had a great time!
Annie is growing and learning as always! Since we have mastered the alphabet we are moving on to learning to write letters and learn letter sounds. She never ceases in amazing me at how quickly she can learn! We have a long way to go, but little kids are just such quick little learners.
We have also recently discovered that Annie loves (and is pretty good at) puzzles. My attention span is not awesome when it comes to games and puzzles, so she definitely gets that from her daddy and Auntie Steph! I will have to hit the dollar store and get her some more because now that she is getting used to the ones we have at home, she can blaze through them. We have to be careful about leaving puzzles sitting out. For some reason cardboard is Basil’s #1 snack – no matter how many times he gets in trouble for eating puzzle pieces he just can’t stop himself.
Annie has been taking swim lessons again this spring. And, WOW, does that kid ever love swimming! She can barely contain her excitement when she is in the pool. Since she is still younger than 3 she is in the pool with Joe, but this summer after her birthday she will take another class and she will be in the pool with the other kids and her teacher. I can’t wait to see her reaction to that. She is sooo ready though, I have a feeling she will be a little fish for a long time!
I know I talked in a previous post about how she puts her baby to bed a lot, here are a couple of photos of her “taking a nap” with baby in our bed.
I forget exactly how this all started, but we have a little thing we do in our family where we all pretend to be dragons. Basically all it consists of is us talking in a lower, raspy voice, but Annie thinks it’s hilarious. She will do the same thing and call herself Dragon Annie and of course then Joe and I are Dragon Mommy and Daddy. Last night at the dinner table we were talking in our Dragon voices when Annie asked for another slice of pizza. When Joe gave it to her she said “Thank you regular Daddy”. It was just one of those moments when I was in awe of what 3 year olds can learn! In the span of 3 years she has gone from a little blob dependent on us for everything to a running, talking little girl who understands what a concept like “regular” means!
