The Blizzard of 2009

Well, this has been a very busy & eventful week! We've been anticipating the blizzard of the century here! We were supposed to have Eric's parents here today for Christmas, but there is NO moving around today. The news just reported Sioux Falls has gotten 15.1" already with talk of up to 6" more plus potential gust of wind to 60 mph! They're talking about drifting up to 10 feet! Eric shoveled the deck today (see below) and it doesn't look like he did anything to it right now! It's indeed crazy! The interstates are closed from border to border. Hopefully everyone is safe!

I suppose I should back up a bit and explain what happened this week..Emma only had school Monday & Tuesday. She had her Christmas party at school on Tuesday and enjoyed giving her teacher & student teacher their gifts! Wednesday, she went to Southern Hills for the day & will go there all of next week while there is no school.

Emma has wanted her hair cut short for years and on Wednesday night, I took her to my stylist for a 6" hair cut! She truly loves it, but I had a hard time doing it! She was bald for so long as a baby, that it's not easy for me to get rid of it. She does look cute tho!

With the storm coming, the county offices closed all day on Thursday for Eric. Since I had already taken the day off, we had a nice time all day, just the four of us!! Emma spent part of the early afternoon running in the backyard with Montana! This morning, she also took her sled on the hill behind us and spent about an hour sledding!

Montana tearing around! The snow was just under his belly

Eric did blow snow today, just so the blower would not jam when the snow is all said and done, but I'm sure it was for nothing the way the wind blew around!

We were supposed to have Christmas at my mom's tomorrow, but so far, the interstates are all still closed. I'm guessing if it's going to happen this week, it'll have to wait until Sunday! I hope to see my brother & his girls this week, so I pray for this stuff to just stop already!

We are so excited that Eric's brother Paul & his wife Jen will be here next week for Christmas! We pray the weather will be on our side next week!

I did update all of our photos on the blog, so there are several to look at! Tho, I can't resist this last photo of Harper getting ready to go to church. Emma says she looks like one of those flying monkey's from the Wizard of Oz! My little girl's first Christmas was definately a white one! I hope you all had a blessed & safe holiday!

Pre-Christmas fun

Sunday Emma had her church Christmas pagent, where she played one of the angels! How ironic! She acted like she was bored as she sang in front of the church! UGH. Eric & Harper didn't make it to the pagent as Harper was having a hard day!

Monday was an interesting day. Eric & I took Harper in for her 4 month check up. We saw our normal pediatrician, but she turned out to be our former pediatrician. She told us that since Harper had no desire to put weight on her legs (at 4 months), that she needed physical therapy 1-2 times a week! And while we were there, get her checked out for a possible helmet. This is something kids with severe flat heads need to wear to round their heads back out. Now, Harper's head is no flatter than any other kids'. Needless to say, after numerous people saying how ridiculous she is, we've hired a new doctor. She was the one we saw in the hospital when Harper was born. I'm hoping she turns out to be better! I liked her when we were in the hospital, so I'm hoping she doesn't carry the same characteristics as this doctor!

What our doctor visit did do for us was to tell us somethings we were very curious about! It told us she is 25.5" long (97%), she weighs 14.8 lbs (75%) and she can start eating cereal (oops, we started a tad early) We also started integrating a generic formula into the mix to go from $25 a can to $15 a can! We were told that in the next few weeks, we can start adding vegetables to her daily fun!

Harper did start standing in her jumparoo this week..to try & build those leg muscles up to prevent therapy! She did very well..per these pictures. She also started holding things this week. Our baby is turning into such a big girl!

Last night, we spent time at Don & Shauna's so Max & Bella could play with Emma & we exchanged Christmas gifts for the kids. Tonight we have Eric's work Christmas party. We are having a babysitter for the first time!! Tho, we're getting Amanda, who is home from college and we've had her watch Emma several times. Hope it goes well!

My big news for the week is that we got a new washer & dryer yesterday! How exciting!! The only problem is getting the dryer vent to work right. The new one is deeper than the old one and our closet doors won't shut. We're hoping the jimmy thing Eric set up works good. We'll find out in about 20 minutes when the washer's done:) It's so quiet! I love it so far!

This week will be busy! No work for me on Thursday as we have no daycare for Emma, so I'm taking the girls for the day. We will have Christmas Eve here. We wish all a blessed Holiday season!

Run, Run, Run

Where does the time go? I was just wishing for my baby girl to come out & now, she's 4 months old!!! WHAT? My last post talked about giving her cereal in her bottle. Sunday night, she slept from 8 & I had to wake her up at 7 a.m! It was so great! It was also the only time that happened! She still wakes up..2:30, 4:00 and 5:30 this week. I keep having to go to bed at 9 just to keep up! Once I'm up, I have a very hard time going back to sleep, so it makes for a long day. I do forget about how crabby I am about it once I see her again in the morning! Hard to be mad at that face!!

This weekend has been full of running! Emma & I left the house at 10:30 today to go to Color Me Mine to make a couple of Christmas gifts..Can't tell you what we made or it'll give the surprise away! The store is where you pick a ceramic & paint it to your own specifications! It's quite fun!

Then, Emma & I raced to church where she had rehearsal for the church Christmas program tomorrow night. She's an Angel! HA:) While she was there, I ran & finished up some errands I needed to get done. TOO many people in town today! I should've known it would've been bad, but it was truly obnoxious!! When we got home, we dressed Harper & went to visit Santa for the first time! He was a nice Santa & offered Emma a trade of Harper for a new bike & pony. She took it! She doesn't believe in Santa anymore, so she knew it was a bogus offer, but still!!

Harper's newest trick is her tongue! Now, she'd found it before, but reinvented it this week. She can point it now. She loves it when you stick your tongue out at her & she smiles and does it back. It's quite something (see below for some examples!)

Tomorrow we have church and then my friend and I are going to a movie, followed by Emma's Christmas program. By then, it'll be dinner time. Not much snuggle time with Harper for me this weekend!

We go in on Monday for Harper's 4 month checkup! Suzanne at daycare says she's eating up to 6 ounces per bottle. At home, it's still an average of 5 oz, so we'll see how heavy she is. She is so long already! If I put her in a one piece outfit, it's got to be a 6-9 month, or she is too tight!

More running to do..better sign off for now! Take care

Family time

Greetings to all that follow our blog:)

This has been another uneventful week! The week started out with all of us (except Emma) getting another cold! What the heck!? Tuesday, I felt absolutely awful! Emma had her first cello concert that day! She had one during the school day that Eric went to and then another one at 7 at night. Harper usually gets crabby in that 7:00 time, so Eric was great enough to stay home with her. I went in my jammies! Lots of kleenex's in tow! She has chosen to play picsacato, or without the bow, for the most part. She plucks the cords with her fingers. About 1/2 of the kids chose that. One of the songs, they were required to use the bow. They sounded pretty good for 4th graders!

We did get our Christmas tree up this week. Emma decorated it mostly by herself as I just didn't feel well, and I really haven't felt in the mood this year! I was hoping the snow would help, but it didn't! It's just as annoying as it usually is! I also started wrapping presents this weekend. I ususally can't wait to wrap them, but this year, I'm dreading it. What's up with me?

Harper has had a good week, tho she's been real gassy. We brought gas drops to daycare on Friday & I'm hoping that helps! She's already on formula for gassy & fussy babies. She's still been waking up around 4:30-5:30 each morning as she just can't hold out anymore to eat. She usually falls asleep around 7:30-8 at night while eating her last 4 ounces for the day. She's definately ready for cereal. We go to the pediatrician next week for her 4 month check up, but I bought some today & may start giving it to her right before bed. Our doctor wanted us to wait, but we're pretty darn close!!

Emma's at her dad's this weekend and she did call today saying she drew the Angel role for her Christmas pagent for Sunday School next week! They have dress rehearsal next Sat & then she'll have the pagent on Sunday. She's excited, tho she really wanted to be Mary.

Eric was a dear & let me go to the movie, "New Moon" with some of his co-workers today! What a great film! I didn't like the book as much as this movie! He's also making dinner tonight! How spoiled am I?!

This week we don't have many plans. Tho I have a work function on Tuesday night & I hope to take Harper to see Santa this week. Going in the middle of the week should be less of a crowd. Emma says she doesn't want to see him , since she doesn't believe anymore, but I want a picture of both of my girls with him!

I looked into getting a different car yesterday, but my car isn't worth what I owe on it yet. There's nothing wrong with my car, but I was hoping to get something taller. My back just isn't doing well lowering Harper into the car. Guess we'll be holding out for awhile!

Eric did buy a ticket this week to go see his friend, Steve, in Feb. He and his wife live in Portland. Eric's main reason for going is to watch the Lakers play the Trailblazers. They did this 2 years ago also & had a great time! Part of it will be his birthday gift! Tickets were a lot cheaper earlier when we started talking about it, but you know the airlines! He was going to fly out of Sioux Falls before, but tickets have gone up over $100, so now he'll have to drive 3 hours to Omaha to go!

We tried the cereal tonight with Harper. She was NOT a fan!Needless to say, we ended up forgetting the spoon stuff & just put some in her bottle. Let's hope for a full night's sleep for both of us!

Hope you all have a good week!