Saturday, July 31, 2010

Nora's Friend 1st B-day Party

Happy Birthday Paige.....

Paige: Look, I'm 1
Nora: whoo, whoo--throw my hands in the air!



Paige trying on our tutu present!

Nora was invited to her first birthday party this weekend. It was a 1st birthday party for Miss Paige who is the daughter of our friends in our church book group. It was so fun to go and hang out with their family and friends and eat REALLY GOOD food. Paige loved opening her presents and we made her a tutu so she can either dress up or wear it when she starts dancing.

Shelving

Trying to figure out our game plan....

With just the braces up....


Pretty much done, it stores alot of tubs--YEAH!

We finally built some shelving in our garage. It was in desperate need of it. We had and still do have STUFF everywhere because when I find a DEAL, I buy it and store it until I can use the good DEAL! Therefore, the shelving is awesome. We also sorted and surfed through stuff.....it was very productive and we only got in ONE fight while building it.....AWESOME! Did I mention we did this when it was 95 degrees out? We were sweating so much!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Nora at Kelly & Toy's

We visited my cousin and her husband and saw their new house in Minneapolis. Matt met us there after work. They have a dog named Gary and Nora LOVED him. She would giggle when he licked her and when he would bark.

Kelly also brought out some puppets she had. She laughed hysterically at them boxing each other. I think Matt and I need to find some puppets for our own home!

I have video of the puppets and Gary and will try to upload them when I have faster internet, our home internet is SO slow so the video won't download.


Lunch with old coworkers.....


I went out to lunch with a few old coworkers. It was fun to catch up on old times and to see how our lives have changes over the years. Nora loved hanging out with them and smiled for the camera!!!!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Beach Time


Matt and Nora at the beach. We went to the beach with our neighbors and Nora loves the water. Matt also loves the water....I sit on the sidelines taking pictures.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

TEETH

Nora has 2 teeth. 2 front bottom teeth. This is the best picture I could get of them.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

A Similarity with Mommy....

Not only does Nora have my stubbonness, but she also has my love for a good deal and COUPONS!!!!!





I was going through my coupons and throwing away old coupons and sorting them all out; Nora wanted to get into the action. She is loving helping me organize!!!!
Nora and her coupons

And.....another similarity to her father. Her love for hot sauce. Here she is at Chipotle wanting some Tabasco. Nora and her 'hot sauce'

I forgot to Blog about.....

Kyle, Lincoln, Brandon, Charlie, JT and Matt before the concert......
see the excitement in their eyes!

Matt going to "STAR WARS in Concert" on July 11th. He loved it, he came home and was as giddy as a school girl in love! He went to the concert with my brother and his boys, and my brother in law and his oldest son. I still haven't seen ANY of the Star Wars movies, so I don't know why he married me!!!! One day he says he is sitting me down and making me watch all 6 Star Wars, all 3 Lord of the Rings, and Waynes World (nope haven't seen that either!).

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Swimming Lessons, Part 2.....

So my daughter was 'the girl' who threw up in the pool today....yep! Pretty sweet! I have let Matt and Nora be in the pool and Matt kept asking me "are you going to come in today with us" so today, I went in the pool with them. Bad decision, of course I am the one who is holding her when she drinks the pool water and CHOKES on it.....and then a minute later decides to projectile spit up milky residue! THIS IS WHY I STAY AWAY FROM WATER.....nothing good happens when I am in the water. Matt and Nora will now be taking the class alone, I will be happy on the sidelines! Everyone wins with mommy on the pool deck.
Where I should stay, ON THE DECK-out of the water!!!!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Nora Eating

Nora is not liking normal baby food anymore. She wants to feed herself. Puffs & Cheerios are my new favorite friends. She also likes jelly toast, fruit cut up, cheese, yogurt. She makes quite the mess.....so I feel like my day consists of feeding Nora, putting her down for a nap, cleaning up her mess, back to feeding, nap, cleaning mess! She loves eating, just like her Daddy!

Nora Sleeping

Nora had a "BIG WEEKEND" and was all tuckered out come Monday at naptime. So sweet!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Nora's Baptism

Nora was baptized this weekend. The church we go to in the cities does not do baby baptisms, they do dedications. Matt and I really wanted to baptize Nora since we both were baptized when we were little. We decided to have the baptism at my parent's church in Dawson, MN. We had a lunch at the church afterwards with wonderful food. The service was so special with the church having a new pastor and Nora being old enough to know what is going on. My brother, Brandon also sang a beautiful song called "come to Jesus" at the service. He did such a great job and it meant alot to have him sing. Nora also is old enough to know what is going on.....the pastor was talking about baptism and following God and Nora just looked at him observing and 'taking it all in' It was so sweet! We feel so blessed to have our little baby girl and I am so glad that she got baptized this weekend. We had a bunch of family that was able to make--even my grandma Nora came to share in her great granddaughter's special day(Thanks to Connie & Randy for coming and bringing her). It was special to have Nora's namesake be there for her! Baby Nora also wore my grandpa, Leonards (my grandma Nora's husband) baptismal gown which is 96 years old. It was a very special and memorable day!


Kirsten and Nora
Kirsten, Nora and me
Grandma Nora and Baby Nora
Nora in her Baptism Gown

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Hanging out with the Texan Relatives....

Uncle Richard and his daughers, Laurel and Caitlin drove up from Houston to help Matt's grandparents move into their new place in Eden Prairie. It was fun to see them all and they got to hang out and meet Nora! Here are some photos from their visit.
Caitlin, Nora, Laurel & Anne

Uncle Richard and Nora

Laurel, Anne, Caitlin,
Me ad Elle in the Back

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Going out to Eat with some Friends

We hadn't seen our friends, the Passons and Weathermans all summer so we decided to meet at Cuzzy's in Chaska for dinner. Nora was good eating her cheerios while we ate and drank some beers. I would definitely recommend the Margherita Pizza there, it is awesome!

Tony & Erin with Nora....Mark trying to get in the photo

Erin and Nora

Nora not knowing what to think with Mark....

Monday, July 12, 2010

Swimming Lessons


Nora and Matt are taking swimming lessons at our local community center. I have gone along to watch.....it seems like she and Matt are just hanging out in the water, but I am sure she is learning something. She LOVES the water, as does her daddy. She gets her face wet and is ok with it, she loves splashing, she loves going down the slide. She has it for the next 3 weeks, Mondays & Wednesdays. I am sure she will be diving into the pool by the end of class!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

An End to an Era.....

So with being sick and dehydrated for a week I wasn't able to nurse Nora. And since it was for almost a week, it kind of dried everything up.....I know TMI perhaps for you men! I know that sometimes I was jealous of those babies that got formula---others could feed them, the momma's got to have a few drinks, they had a bit more freedom...AND NOW that it is over, I am sad and wish I wouldn't have taken it for granted. Feeding her was 'our special quiet time'. I went to our whole foods store to buy some 'mothers tonic' and have been trying some 'mothers milk tea' to see if I can increase some supply....but she still won't feed off me. It was a week and she got used to her bottles which is easier, so bottles(instead of boobs) it is. Formula is EXPENSIVE, so I am still trying to pump so we can have 1-2 bottles of milk and 2 bottles of formula a day. Even just doing that can save a bit of money on formula. She will only have formula for another 4 months as when you turn 1, I believe you can have 'real milk'. I guess I am just sad that the end to breastfeeding had to come at such a bad end, instead of us 'choosing' to end it. If you know me at all.....you know I am a control freak, so not being able to control this decision is a bit hard for me to take. She is doing well with the transition so I am very blessed for that.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Cat Scratch Fever, Mama's Fever....and Daddy being everyone's Hero!!!!!

Cat Scratch Fever.....
Nora loves to scratch ANYTHING! She loves texture, so she will scratch or pet at everything around her to feel it. When we were sleeping at the cabin up north, we would wake up at 3-4am and she would be scratching the side of the pac n play.

Mama's Fever....
Monday afternoon, I started to feel achy. I thought I was just tired from vacation and from the busy weekend. I dealt with it and went to bed early. Tuesday, I took my temp at noon at it was 102. Uh oh....what is wrong with me. I called Matt and we both agreed that we didn't want Nora to get sick so he came home to look after her so I could rest. Wednesday still 102 temp and SO NOT FEELING GOOD. Matt worked from home so I could sleep and work through this bug. I thought it was the flu bug, but come Thursday night when the fever went up to 102.5, we went to the ER. I haven't been sick, except when being pregnant, for the last 5 years so I don't have a physician I see. We went to the ER, so Matt's parents had their first sleep over with Nora! Never been to the ER....interesting place! They took about 20 viles of blood to figure out what was wrong with me and they pumped me with 2 bags of IV fluids.....I was so dehydrated. I ended up with a bladder infection......no symptoms except a fever. Wish I would've known this sooner and didn't have a WEEK of feeling sick!

Daddy being the HERO.....
Matt took care of me and Nora all week. He tried to make food for me to eat, which I couldn't! He bought sprite, gatorade, juice to make me drink, which I couldn't! He even rubbed my back, once! He took such good care of little Nora while still trying to work from home. He did a great job! Don't know what I would do without him!!!! His parent's were a huge help as well with Nora....we are lucky we have such wonderful family and friends!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Nora's 7 Months OLD




Nora was 7 months old on the 4th of July. She is getting so big. I think I say that every 'month update blogpost' She is getting quite the personality--she has a very happy temperment (like her daddy), but she does have her stubborn moments (like her mommy--finally something that she gets from me, albeit that it isn't the greatest things to inherit!!!!) She still looks alot like Matt but everyday she is getting more and more 'herself'. She also got her first tooth over the weekend, so she has one tiny little bottom fang! She enjoys bouncing in her exasaucer and 'trying to crawl' around.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Helping the Gravens Move

Matt and Lincoln playing football

Nora, Reese, Jenn, Me & Landrey

At the Park

Nora and Reese hanging out in the pool

We helped my sister's family move into a beautiful home in Marshall. Matt helped Kyle with the larger things from their old rental home and I tried to watch the kids and organize the kitchen!

We spent Saturday playing in the water. It was SO hot and humid outside that everyone needed to jump in the pools and run through the sprinkler. It was a fun way to spend the 4th weekend.

A Sidenote: We all watched Ice Age 3----HILARIOUS movie. Totally recommend it to anyone!