Surgery day

It's been a busy week here at the Johnson/Salzwedel house!  We dropped Emma & Harper off at my mom's this past Friday for our "adults only weekend." Ok, that sounds bad, but it's truly not!

We left Jackson at about 5:30 on Friday night, stopped for dinner & then drove to Minneapolis...straight thru the unfriendly, tornado filled sky! We were both terrified as the radio kept talking about tornado's being spotted in such & such county & we had no idea which county we were in! We did survive! YA

Saturday, we made it thru Ikea & bought a new desk for Emma to do her homework at. We ventured to the Mall of America & met Eric's brother & his wife!! Paul & Jen..we were so excited to have a weekend with them.  We went to an awesome restaurant for dinner and enjoyed sleeping ALL NIGHT LONG two nights in a row!!  Eric & I enjoyed some alone time and it was the best Christmas gift ever!:) thanks again, Bethany!

This is Harper today at about 6:30 when we got her to our room for her tubes surgery. We had to be at the hospital at 6:15 this morning, where we were given a Sanford jumpsuit for her surgery. The anestesiologist came up to talk to us and explained what the side effects of the medicine would do & how she would be coming out of it. Turns out, there wasn't even an IV! About 7:35, they came to get her:( The anesthestist took her (she'd fallen asleep) and sat in a wheel chair & a nurse wheeled her away. That was very hard! But by 8:05, the surgeon was back in saying things had gone great & she'd actually gotten another ear infection! No wonder she was awake from 11:15-1 a.m. today!

Harper back from surgery. She was unconsolable, and the doctor's said this is how babies deal with anesthesia, so I guess it's normal!! But so hard, non-the-less!

Harper finally pooped out on the way home! she was SO tired! When we got home, she puked all over daddy (twice) and then slept for 2 1/2 hours!!

All in all, at this point, I feel so much better that it's done and hopefully, she will be done with those horrible infections! They say the tubes last 6 months (ugh, hello???) up to 18 months (that sounds better!), and are hoping for lots of things for our big girl! She has started rolling over & tries to crawl, but can't get the one leg out of the way. I'm hoping now that her equilibrium is better, she will start walking!

Have a good week!  we have my grandmother's 90th birthday party this week!! So excited to see some extended family!

Summer is speeding by..

What a fast passing week! It was so quiet without Emma here! She had a BLAST up in Minneapolis visiting Matt, Kristina, Annika, Maddy & Evi! They were constantly on the run and she got to experience lots of fun stuff!! Thanks guys, for putting up with a soon to be 10 year old drama queen!! I'm sure it was an eye opener for you:)

As you can see from the above picture, Harper can stand!! Only when put there, but she doesn't fall down right away! She doesn't love it, either! I'm hoping she will feel more comfortable once her ears are "all better."

Here's Eric on his first biological Father's Day!! Such a proud papa! He's been a father for a couple of years, but this one was different! Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Emma much, as she went to her dads, but she did get the hug & kiss before she headed out! It was a nice day yesterday. We went grocery shopping:) Just what all father's want to do on their day, right? We then had Eric's parents over for dinner. Eric grilled..his choice!

Saturday we had run up to the lake to get Emma & spent a few hours up there with Matt & the girls and my folks. I can't wait for a few weeks from now, we will be spending a few days there just the 4 of us! I can't wait!!! It's going to be a nice litle vacation.

Harper got a taste of something she didn't love! I think it was Apples, Cinnamon & Oatmeal. Not a hit!

This week, Harper was introduced to her very first basketball hoop! Dad is already trying to figure out where to put the permanent one, but for now, this is it! He did try & put the ball in her left hand, almost immediately, so she gets used to that feeling! South paw, you know! She thinks it's quite interesting. When you hit the rim, it sings! Oh boy!

We will try & make it thru another busy week. Emma has swimming lessons Mon-Thursday nights at 6:30, so it'll be a lot of rushed meals this week! Then, on Friday, we will load up the girls & head to Jackson by 5. Drop the girls off with Bethany (our Christmas gift last year) and Eric & I are headed to Minneapolis!!! A WHOLE weekend...no kids!?! Saturday, we're going to hit up the Ikea store & then Mall of America, where we will meet Paul & Jen!! They are going to make the 5 hour trek to spend the weekend with us!! We are SO excited!!

Keep us in your prayers as one week from Tomorrow is baby's surgery on her ears! I'm doing ok so far, but I don't know how long I'll keep this up! Putting her under the knife may kill me!!

have a good week. I hope to report next Monday night before Harper's surgery, since it'll be late when we get back from MN.. Her surgery should be early Tuesday a.m. We haven't been told a time, yet. I'm hoping early since she can't eat after midnight....and still wakes up around 4 daily to eat:(

Garage Sale blues

Not much has happened in the Johnson/Salzwedel home this week.

Eric is currently watching his beloved Lakers play game 5 of the NBA finals against the Celtics. Things are not going his way!

Our little Emma is gone for a week to Matt & Kristina's house! It was a last minute thing and worked out well for both of our schedules. I hope she is good & polite!

Saturday night, we went to Edgerton to help my paternal grandparents celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary! it was a nice gathering..and I didn't have to visit with my "father" so everyone was happy! After the evening, Emma loaded up with them and headed back to Minneapolis! The house is going to be a little quiet for awhile!

This past Friday/Saturday, my mom & I had a garage sale. Due to our recent move into a harder to find area, we did not have the traffic I was used to in our last house: even with several signs & several ads. We were hoping for a better day on Saturday, only to wake up to rain:( We had 2 people come in a 2 hour time period, so ended up shutting it down. I plan to work it again on Saturday.

The good news is that I got my car fixed! About 6 weeks ago, one of the city's stoplight blew over on my hood! After paying for it myself, I will now wait for reimbursement:( I can bet if they were waiting for money from me, they wouldn't be so patient! Oh well, it's fixed!

Harper goes in for her pre-op appt tomorrow to check her heart/lungs to make sure she is ok for tubes on the 29th. She is getting so big, but still shows no interest in walking or crawling. It's actually easier for us to leave her in one spot and she stays there! But I would like her to show some interest pretty soon! She has started making noises to sound like a puppy, playing "so big" and other fun little tricks! She LOVES cottage cheese and Cheerios.

Sorry, I didn't take any good pictures this week..time for bed! Have a good week

Milwaukee 2010

Wow..the Johnson/Salzwedel home has had a busy couple of weeks! As I had explained earlier, my girlfriend, Kristi, and I went to the NickelBack concert in Fargo last week. It was a BLAST. We had such a good time on the drive there & back! We laughed so hard, I thought she was going to wet her pants!! The concert was amazing and we got our money's worth, that's for sure! I'd see them again in a heartbeat!

After driving back from Fargo, we loaded up the car and headed East. We finally made it to Paul & Jen's at about 8:30 at night! Emma was quickly introduced to their puppy, Sadie.

Saturday morning, we got up and went to the Milwaukee Zoo. It is SO much more exciting than the Sioux Falls zoo! we saw everything from Kangaroo's to a humungous hippo to goats. They even had a cow milking operation! I recommend the zoo there!

Harper did so great at the zoo. She was watching everything..except the animals. Oh well. Too young to grasp what we were doing!

We'd stopped at Subway before going to the zoo and picked up lunch. We decided to just plop down on some grass to eat, when a peacock was very interested in Jen's lunch. She was concerned it was going to come right up and eat her sandwich!

Harper's first experience with grass! She liked it and didn't scream, like Emma did when she was a baby!

Emma was quite spoiled at the zoo! Uncle Paul bought her a ride on a camel! We waited quite awhile for this experience, but she enjoyed it! She also got an air brushed tattoo of a tiger on her arm!

Uncle Paul got some snuggle time with our princess at the zoo.

Sunday, we relaxed in the morning and got ready to go to Miller Field and watch the Brewers take on the Mets. We tailgated (as all true Brewers fans do) on Paul & Jen's new grill for this purpose! It was quite hot out and I didn't know how Harper (and I) were going to make it outside on such a sticky, hot day. Luckily, our seats were in the shade!! Thank you, God.

We had a great time, even tho the Brewers lost this game. It was fun and both girls were so good!

Monday morning, we got up for brunch and headed back in the car. It was another very long day and Harper had it by Worthington (1 and 1/2 hours to go!) so I hopped in the back of the car with her and entertained her. I wish I could've snapped our fingers and made it home, cuz that was a LOOOONNGG ride! We didn't get home until 8:30 at night. Just enough time to feed the baby & put her in her own bed again! She is definately a homebody when it comes to her bed! She was up several times a night in WI & she ended up in bed with us. I don't think she minded!

We are now back to normal at home. Emma's going to the summer care again & they got to go swimming once already this week! Her and I are going to the Washington Pavillion tonight to a performance of "Little House on the Prairie." One of the best parts of it is that Melissa Gilbert is playing "Ma" so that will be so fun!

I've been getting ready for a garage sale for next weekend. UGH it is so time consuming and we have so much stuff! I will be ready for it to be over with!

Have a good week!

I know...I know

I'm WAY late. It's been so crazy! I will update this weekend, but my excuse is valid! I had the amazing Nickelback concert last Thursday (3 hour drive), drove back home Friday by 11. Then, the family loaded up in the car and left home by 11:48 towards Milwaukee! We got there at 8:30 at night, so it was an extremely long day in the car!

That's all you get for now! The baby is up and I need to go to work. I've been getting ready for my garage sale each night, so hopefully, I will find 10 minutes tomorrow to update the blog!

Until then...