Christmas 2009

This year we decided to not travel with Garret being so little. This was a first for us. We haven’t been home for Christmas in 9 years. The furthest we went was Milwaukee to spend Christmas Eve day at my Aunt’s house. We enjoyed spending time at home with just our family of 4 and cherished the excitement Em had about the holiday. The candle light service at church was wonderful and brought peace to me. It wasn’t the easiest decision for us to stay home but it was the right one. Em is getting older and needs to experience Christmas at home. Santa was able to come on the “right” night for a change. It’s been next to impossible to get her to leave the house since he did. She just wants to stay in her jammies all day and play.

Garret’s first Christmas went as boring as it possible could for a 2 month old. He slept through Christmas eve day with my family, slept through candle light service, slept through Christmas morning and slept through Christmas afternoon/evening at Grandpa Kildahl’s house. It wasn’t until this week when our good friends came over that he finally had a “Christmas” awake. (I think it was because he was spending it with his big buddy Aiden : )

Here is her new dollhouse that John and I got her. I knew/ thought she would go crazy over it but to my surprise she actually said (or should I say yelled) “this is not the one I wanted!” and ran away. Come to find out she wanted the one I have in my classroom. Not sure why she would want that one over the one I picked out because it has NO color at all. Not on the house or the furniture. It’s quite boring in fact. Her’s is awesome. It even has a car and a garage. How much better can it get? Every accessory you can think of it has, all but the baby and that’s what she keeps reminding me of….. So maybe sometime soon we’ll have to go look for one.

Em also got a whole bunch of Littlest Pet Shops. I can’t believe how much she’s been playing with them! She loves them. Oh, and her “Little My Ponies” as she calls them. She got a double so we went to exchange it. Come to find out, she has every My Little Pony on the market. Are you serious???

And then there’s the princess things. And lots of it! She loves all the little figurines to play with. She added to her collection, The Princess and the Frog set and Snow White and the 7 dwarfs. Oh, and 2 new costumes, TinkerBell and Sleeping Beauty. Oh, My little princess…… (edited to add: not sure why the fonts are different, for some reason it's not letting me fix it :( )

1st movie

Yesterday I took Em to see her first movie in a theater, The Princess and the Frog. She was so excited. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot she couldn't stop smiling. Then once I got her our of the car she was practically running to the door while pulling me along. It was a great movie and she LOVED it! When we got home John asked her what her favorite part was and she said, "spending time with mommy." How sweet!

Tree trimming

The tree is up and finally decorated. Em and I had a good time doing it together this morning. There were some issues with our prelit this year and I had to decide what we were going to do (after spending 3 hours trying to replace bulbs and fuses and still not being able to fix the sections that weren't lighting up). I really love our tree and just can't justify buying a new one. John and I went to look at Menards yesterday and I really didn't see anything that was "just right". And not sure what happened in the last 6 years, but man, have they gone up in price! I don't remember what we paid but there is NO WAY I paid nearly $200 for one, or even $100 if it was 50% off! That's just CRAZY!!!!

So with that I decided to buy two boxes of 100 lights that were less than $2 a box! And our tree looks just fine. Actually, beautiful now that it's full of ornaments and bows. Unless you look super close you can't even notice all the unlit bulbs. Honestly, I'm not even sure I will buy a new one after the holiday even with the sales.

The Feeling of Giving

So this year I decided that instead of picking a name off of a tree for a needy child we would donate some to the homeless shelter, HALO, which isn't too far from our house. HALO sets up a little shopping village where the moms can go and pick out a gift for their child and wrap it so that they have something to give their little ones for Christmas. Then the part I love so much is that on a different day the "village" becomes a place where the children can come and pick something out for their moms and do the same. Teaching kindergarten, I know how much it means for the kids to have a present for their mommas. My student's are always full of smiles when they have a gift to give to someone they love.

So we did a little shopping and picked up a few things for some little girls (a baby doll, Snow White Barbie, and another Barbie w/extra clothes). And for the moms we got a few bath sets (lotions, bath gel etc.) and slippers.

The joy of giving it was when Em and I sat down and talked about how there are children who do not have any homes and their mommies don't have the money to buy presents and food. I told her that we were going to the shelter (which then led to a conversation about what the shelter was) to bring these gifts there so that the mommies could pick a toy for their little girls. The smile that lit up her face is one that will always be embedded in my head. (as I'm recapping this tears are flowing thinking about how she responded to the whole thing) She had become so excited that we were giving these things. Once we arrived at HALO, we went in to drop off the bags and she told the lady at the desk that we were bringing these toys so that the little girls would have a special present for Christmas from their mommy.

The experience was priceless. For Em only being 3 1/2, I really do believe she understands it to a degree. May the reason for the holiday season be in your heart as we have it in ours. ~Tammy

Our Lil' Ballerina

So last Saturday was parent observation at Em's dance class. It's special because we actually get to go in the room and see and hear about what they've been working on instead of just watching through the two way mirror from out in the hall. I am so amazed at everything she's learned since she started this past summer. She knows the terms along with each position and does the moves with such ease and grace. She listens to her teacher and is really gaining so much at just 3 years of age. One thing that I continue to see each week is her passive attitude when it comes to others in the class who are not as friendly as she is. Unlike most children her age, Em does not care if she's first in line. There's one girl in particular who will go right in front of her and Em will just scoot back a bit. In a way I'm glad she's not throwing a fit but on the other hand I wish she'd tell the girl to get to the end! Now don't get me wrong, Em can hold her own and will usually voice her opinion if she doesn't like something, so I know she's not a pushover. This just must not matter to her, so why does it bug me so much?!

1 month

So Garret has reached the one month mark. I can't believe the time has flown by so quickly. The sleepless nights are here and there but we're trying to establish a schedule. Hopefully we'll be on our way to one shortly seeing as I only a few more weeks until I head back to work.

Em has been amazing with Garret. She LOVES her little brother so much and goes out of her way to show it. She is so overprotective of him. We were at a relative's birthday party and she got very upset that others were holding him. She actually told my mom in a very loud and demanding voice, "Nana, go get me my brother now!" She has been my little helper, getting diapers and bottles, giving him his nuk when he spits it out. It's especially cute when she tells me she's going to babysit him while I let the dog out or am running downstairs for something.

At one month, he loves his nuk, however can't seem to keep it in his mouth. He is constantly loosing it. Last week he started to smile. But it's when HE wants to. We try so hard to get him to but it's like trying to crack one of those guards in England. (I hope that's not showing me what's to come, a I do what I want when I want kind of thing.) My poor boy has a terrible case of baby acne. His entire face is covered. They come and go daily and is drying out his face :( I really wanted to take him and Em to get a Christmas picture taken, but I guess we'll just have to see how he looks each day.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Here's our little princess. This year Em decided she wanted to be Snow White, even though she's never made it past the first 2 minutes because she claims "it's too scary..." She's already decided what her and Garret are going to be next year but you'll have to wait to see :)

John and I took turns taking her around the neighborhood since it was too cold to bring Garret with. John did the first round so when it was my turn she was on a mission and was telling me where we needed to go. She was so well mannered. Much better than the majority of the kids who came to our house. She would walk up to the doors by herself, say hi, trick or treat and then thank you every time without hardly any prompting from me. I was so proud of her. One of the houses we stopped at had an older man who asked her if she knew the trick or treat poem, you know the "...smell my feet, give me something good to eat..." Em just stared at him. Well 5 minutes later she's singing her version as we were walking down the block, "yummy in my tummy, smell my foot." It was just too cute in her sweet signing voice.

Pumpkin Fun

Tonight we carved our pumpkins. Em wanted a Minnie Mouse pumpkin this year so I found a template online and got to work once John and Em finally got the pumpkins all cleaned out. Here she is freaking out about not wanting to touch the pumpkin slime and then after she gave it a try her comment was “that’s not so bad.” And the last picture are our masterpieces; Em’s Minnie Mouse, John’s Packer pumpkin (that he had no faith in me that I’d be able to do it J ) and my happy face.

He's finally here!

Garret Einer arrived Tuesday 10/20/09 at 10:36am. He was 8lbs 10 oz and 21 1/4 inches. I was supposed to be induced Tuesday morning but ended up going into labor Monday night. He is such a good baby. Loves to sleep like his mama! Em has been doing really well at her new role as a big sister. She just can't get enough of our new little man. She's been a great helper and is full of love and kisses.

I can't believe that our first week as a family of 4 has already flown by. It's been wonderful having John home with us and has made the adjustment a little easier. Only 1 more week and he'll be back to work and Em and I will be on our own. Wish us luck! ;)

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and more Pumpkins Farm #3

After Apple Holler we stopped at The Land of the Giant Pumpkins to pick out all of our pumpkins. Might I say Em is a very strong and determined little girl. She was so persistent on pulling and steering that wagon full of pumpkins. Too Funny!

Farm #2 Breakfast & Fun

Today we continued our expedition to the pumpkin farms. John and I have made it a tradition to head to Apple Holler every October for their apple breakfast. They have the best apple walnut french toast! Mmmm! When we're done we always get Em's picture taken in front of their measuring sign. Amazingly she actually was cooperative and let me take her picture today. That seldom happens, no matter where or what we're doing. She had fun pumpkin bowling, riding the train, getting lost in the corn maze, riding the cars with daddy, and another oh my gosh moment, taking a pony ride. Like I posted previously, Em is not a fan of animals. I really didn't think she'd do it. But she did and had so much fun.

Weekend full of fun! Farm #1

So knowing that our new addition is coming we decided this would be the ONLY weekend to get out to the pumpkin farms. Seeing as it's one of my favorite things to do with Em we hit up 3 of them in 2 days! Crazy, I know but we just had too! Saturday we headed to Jerry Smith's with Aiden, Chris and Jennie. The scenes were the same as last year but the kids didn't care one bit. Of course the weather wasn't the greatest but it wasn't terrible either. A little drizzling here and there. Em is still not a fan of animals. And after the episode there, I think that fear will be in her for awhile. Aiden was feeding some of the goats when all of a sudden a rooster came halling butt from the fenced in coop. Flapping it's wings and just barely missing Em. She was so freaked. I haven't seen her jump that high ever! Of course, our buddy Aiden found it cool and was laughing. He's just so adventurous and daring. Maybe one day Em will stop being such a girly girl. :)

It's been a long few weeks here in the Kildahl house. Em has had some issues going to the bathroom and it has really been wearing me down. She's been up several times a night crying because her stomach hurts. So between not getting much sleep with being pregnant and then Em's outbursts I've been running on almost no sleep. It is really starting to show for both Em and I. I'm just plain exhausted and she is an extremely moody 3 year old.

Well finally she decided to "go" and now for the last 2 nights has been able to sleep for the most part. Not to mention has been fairly pleasant to be around. (Which I so desperately needed.) I on the other hand am still not sleeping well. Our "little man" is just "scratching" to come out. And I mean that literally. It feels like he is clawing me to no end. I keep joking that all of a sudden a little hand will be popping out of my belly from him wearing through all the layers :)

So with Em's pleasant behavior her and I had a special day yesterday. After her dance class and nap we went up to Milwaukee to do a little shopping. She got to pick out a new car seat at USA Baby since she's getting to big for the one in John's car and since we'll eventually need that one for the baby. Of course, she picked a pink one but it is a 5 point harness that she can wear until she's 80 pounds (a Britax Frontier). And since the state law requires kids to be in car seats until they reach 80 pounds, I'd rather have her in the harness than just a booster with a seatbelt. I wasn't going to get this one because it is more expensive that the Graco Nautalis but the extra 15 pounds for the harness really kept pushing me towards it plus they were having a sales I got $80 off! It just makes me feel better. I remember seeing a video clip a parent put together a few years ago right after Em was born and it has always stuck with me. So much so that everytime I hear the Nickelback song that it's set to the pictures of the little boy are so vivid. Here's the link if you haven't seen it check it out here. If the link doesn't work here's the web address: http://www.vimeo.com/2994502

Then we headed to Mayfair to one of Em's favorite places, Build a Bear. She came up with the idea to make one for her baby brother a month or so ago. The idea was all her so I just couldn't say no. She was so proud to tell the lady working there that she was making it for her baby brother. I really thought that we would have issues with it once we got it home but she has not tried to claim it, which completly amazes me.

Overall we just had a great day. It's been a while since she was cooperative enough to "hang out" with mom. I know it's the age she's at but hopefully it will start to pass so we can have more days like this sooner than later.

Yeah, Fall is coming!

This weekend we started working on our fall decorating thanks to Em. Check out her Apple artwork.

I was so impressed by her ability to color in the lines for the leaf and stem. I had no idea she could do that. Lately she's been drawing and cutting plain white paper instead of coloring in pictures.


Here she used an apple that was cut in half to make apple prints.

Back 2 Work

So September is here and again school must begin. Em had a few hard days transitioning back into our routine but is doing fine now. We both really got spoiled this summer just hanging out at home. I do wish we could have done more but this pregnancy has really been kicking me in the butt. I've taken it fairly easy but now need to get in the mode of getting some stuff done before the little man arrives. We still haven't gotten Em's room done upstairs so it looks like he'll be bunking in the co sleeper in our room for awhile, which is fine by me. Not sure John's on the same page though;) I figure it was fine with Em it will be fine again. I'm just not about to stress myself out about it. We've got diapers, bottles, and some clothes to start, yes they are blue, not to mention all the big stuff from Em. So I think we're set. Here's to 33 weeks, only 7 more to go!

Surprise!

I just want to say we have the greatest friends in the world!!!! Where to begin. John’s parents came into town today so we went over to visit with them at his grandparent’s house. Well we knew we had a birthday party/BBQ that started at 5 but figured it wouldn’t be a big deal if we were a bit late seeing as all of her family and friends would be there. Boy were we wrong! One of our friends had texted John a few times asking where we were but apparently John never responded. Finally at about 6 we left and headed over there. John wanted to stop home and pick up his bike so he could stay later in case I wanted to take Em home. When we got there, I was getting Em out of the truck and noticed there weren’t too many cars there which was really unusual since Becky has such a large family but thought maybe others had the same idea as us. John went and parked his bike in their garage not really stopping to talk to anyone (or notice the backyard) and then came back out to help carry in our chairs. In the meantime Em and I started walking to the backyard and wouldn’t you know it, it was defiantly not a birthday party. Turned out they were throwing us a surprise baby shower! There were blue and white balloons and one was shaped like a baby bottle. I just stood there about to explode with tears. I couldn’t believe it. They had defiantly pulled one over on us. As John walked up, I said that it wasn’t a birthday party and he too was just as dumbfounded as I had been. (Of course Em didn’t get it but she can’t stop talking about how it wasn’t a party for Becky but one for our baby.)

So here we are an hour and a half late for our own shower. But hey, it was defiantly a SURPRISE!

As a side note: After the shower John and I were talking and still couldn’t believe what had just happened. He said that when he put his bike in the garage he noticed the balloons but thought that Tony and Becky were making “an announcement” at her birthday that they were expecting….. Wouldn’t that have been good.

More Painting!

So here's my little artist! She is just a painting machine. We decided to go and make a birthday gift for our friend Lindsay that she could use on her desk at school. When we walked into Fired Up Em got so excited she couldn't control herself! She saw all these fingerprint things and said that's what she wanted to make. So that's what we did. Lindsay's pencil cup has fingerprint butterflies, caterpillars and an attempted bee (Sorry Lindsay it was the best we could do :) ) I purposely went on a Tuesday since they have 2 for 1 studio fees so that Em could pick out a piece for herself. Of course being the little girl she is, she chose a fairy. And swears it's Tinkerbell! She even had to paint it with the same colors. She did an awesome job. The only thing I painted for her were the lips and the dots for the eyes. The rest of the time I either sat there admiring her work or would hold the piece for her if she asked!

An Attempt @ Photography

So I've been asking John for quite some time to get a new camera. He wants a new point and shoot Sony Cybershot but I REALLY want a SLR. It's a hobby that I would love to get into. I love how there are so many settings to choose from and learn. I just know I could take more awesome pictures if my camera had the capabilities that an SLR has. Maybe I'll wear down on him soon. Otherwise take note everyone, feel free to add to my camera fund this Christmas :)

Some friends in RFC got together to do a photography club. We met at Petrify Springs Park and talked a bit about some simple hints. I took almost a 100 pictures that day! But after going through them these are some of my favorite of Em. I didn't include any of her friends, for privacy issues. Oh, one funny note to add, Em refuses to allow me to take her picture. I had to keep telling her I was taking pictures of the trees :) Now if she saw someone else taking one of her that was perfectly fine, go figure!

Material Girl

Look at my little Material Girl. Em came out of her room looking like this. She so looks like she belongs in the early Madonna era!

Summer Projects

So everyday Em has been asking for more projects. Here are 2 that we've done last week. The first is a rainbow cloud and the second is a sun where she glued on yellow and orange squares along with her hand cutouts for the rays. She loved the cotton balls so much that she made extra clouds to put on the door as well.