New Years!

New Years. How the celebration has changed since we have a baby! We used to go to an annual New Years Bash, but now with a baby, it is more fun to stay home and turn in at 11!

This year we spent New Years Eve with our neighbors and their son William who is about 4 weeks younger than Nora. We had a wonderful steak dinner and played sequence (Jon and I won 3 times....I am NOT gloating though!)

New Years Day, we went to Williams' birthday party and just hung out trying to get Matt ready for his new job starting on Monday!

Williams Birthday Party....what a cute monkey!

Auntie Katie & "soon to be" Uncle Adam!!!!

Celebrating at Burger Jones
Me, Matt, Katie and Adam

Matt's sister got engaged on Christmas Day! We are so excited for her and Adam. We went out to celebrate at Burger Jones in St. Louis Park. We had never been there before, but will definetely be back. They had awesome shakes and good beer specials (I did NOT get to partake of the beer but DID have a shake!) Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Forslund for watching Nora for a few hours so we could celebrate with the excited couple!!

Katies ring is beautiful and Adam totally surprised her with it in her stocking! Can't wait for wedding plans to begin!

Week Off...

Nora loving her time with Daddy!!!!

Matt has the week off and so do I. We get to just hang out with Nora! We did NOTHING. It was fun and boring and relaxing. Just what we needed after a long weekend of fun and Nora not feeling well.

We really enjoyed our time of 'us'.

Christmas!!

Christmas WEEKEND:
We celebrated Christmas, Christmas eve morning first and had brunch with the Forslunds. We feel so lucky they live 'right down the road'. Nora loves watching their dog, Polo, run around. It was a good time for everyone to just share some quality time together as a family. Nora again wasn't soo interested in the presents, but she loved the empty boxes! She got some awesome books, an adorable skirt/outfit from Auntie Katie/Uncle Adam, and a doll from Great Grandparents. She is a lucky girl.

We then drove to my parents farm to celebrate Christmas with my family. My parents live on a gravel road so in winter time getting to their unshoveled, unplowed road is a challenge. This time the road was only open from the West so we had to travel a few miles out of the way to get to the farm. The snow covered gravel road was a new experience for Matt and we almost got stuck on the way!! We had 5 oclock church which I drove to since I am used to driving like a madwoman on snowy gravel roads. We ate our annual Christmas steak dinner and opened presents that night. Nora got WAY too much, although she didn't seem to care as she had a fever of 101 all weekend. She needed to be held and didn't sleep very well due to feeling sick. I felt bad for her. I don't know if it was teething or a viral bug but she was not happy and NOT feeling well--which in turn did not make mommy or daddy very rested or happy!!

Christmas Day--Santa came to Grandma and Grandpas house. Grandma Debbie took Nora and Nora finally took a nap in her arms. Her fever broke during that nap....poor grandma got Nora's sweat all over her from it! The kids all played outside and we cooked and played games all day.

The day after Christmas--we drove to Roseville to celebrate with my dad's family. We had wonderful food and took a great family photo OUTSIDE on their deck. Nora was still not feeling well so she was pretty much stuck to my or matt's hip. My cousin Erika did get her to nap again in her lap so that was a nice treat! We had a great time hanging out with the family and just enjoying Christmas.

Nora in her cute skirt from Aunt Katie/Uncle Adam

Grandma Anne

Grandpa Steve

Grandparents and Nora on Christmas Morning

Nora EXHAUSTED after only our FIRST Christmas celebration....she still has 2 left!

Nora(almost 13 months) and Landrey (15 months)

Look at all the hair Nora has compared to Landrey!!!!

All the cousins doing their 'program' - When we were younger, we always needed to read the Christmas story and create a program before we were able to open presents on Christmas. Now the tradition has been transferred to the younger generation!

Nora crawling through the paper....look at her poor eyes, you can tell she doesn't feel well!

Decorating for Christmas

We FINALLY put up Christmas decorations. We got a Little People nativity set from my aunt/aunt/cousin last year as a baby gift. We were slow to put up decorations so we just put out a few decorations.....a nativity set, a SMALL tree, and our stockings. I put the 2 nativity sets up that we have so Nora got her nativty set and I had My Willow Tree Nativty set. She enjoyed looking at mine and PLAYING with hers.

Nora is WALKING!

Nora is WALKING. She is actually preferring to walk over crawl. If she falls, she will get back up instead of finishing her journey crawling. It is amazing and nerve-racking watching her toddle around the house hoping she doesn't fall too hard. She does not enjoy shoes though so we need to work on that more. When I put shoes on her, she will not walk, she just stands there staring at her feet like she has Ronald McDonald shoes on.

Nora taking her first few steps. She started walking at her birthday and this is the first time I was able to catch it on tape because everytime she sees the camera she drops down and crawls over to get it!

1st Birthday - Owl Style

Nora and her Godmother, Kirsten

Nora and Anne

Nora in her outfit from Grandma Debbie.....Daddie thinks she kind of looks like a P I M P(He added the hat to give her the full look!)

Nora 'trying' her birthday cupcake

Nora and Aunt Elle with her owl 1st Birthday Cake

Nora's Smiles

Kitchen Crew on 1st Birthday---Courtney manning all the kids!

Nora's 1st Birthday

We did not know if we would have Nora's birthday since we had been all sick. We were feeling better so we decided to go ahead with the party. Nora NEEDED a 1st birthday party.

She had an owl themed birthday "Look WHOO's turning 1". My neighbor Jessica who has a Cricut helped me with the invites. The Cricut is now what I want for Christmas!



Nora's party was full of fun and presents and good food. My mom and Courtney, Charlie, JT, and Kate all came down early to help me get ready which was so nice! Courtney manned the kitchen so I could mix and mingle and watch little miss Nora run around. Our house was chaotic to say the least. There were more than 20 people crammed into our TINY house. She was not really into opening the presents or eating the cake but oh well!



She got a bunch of presents that make LOUD noises and she LOVES them! Thanks everyone!!

She got a toy chest from Grandma and Grandpa Ulstad (we can now HIDE her loud toys...ha ha!) She got a set of keys and a book from her pseudo aunt Anne K and she cannot stop playing with them!! She also took her first 'real steps' at her birthday party. I think Grandpa Steve maybe got it on tape(do you say tape or dvd? well...whatever you are supposed to say these days!!)



She was VERY tired and was out cold until 9:30 the next morning! Wow, she partied like a rockstar!

Nora is 1!!

Nora is one. Where did the year go?

We had her 12 month check up. She has an ear infection. Poor girl.

But she weighed 21 lbs 10.5 oz which is in the 55%

She was 29.5 inches which is in the 60%

Her head circumference was 43.4cm which is in the 15%

I knew it was coming and the doctor agreed that Nora needed to wean off the bottle. EEK! She loves her bottle, it is her comfort and she falls asleep with it (I know, horrible, but it helps her sleep!) So the next day we started with the whole milk sippy cups. I still give her a bottle at night but no more daytime bottles. She got a set of books from a neighbor for her birthday and one was called "Baby Cookie Monster says Too Big For Bottles" So we read that to her....and she is so smart that she 'gets it!!'

She is walking around, slowing and wobbly, but walking. She is turning into a cuddler which mommy and daddy LOVE! She is starting to point and ask for things. She is REALLY loving having temper tantrums. I am hoping it is just because she cannot communicate what she needs/wants that she feels she needs to throw these rages. Please, Please, Please let these tantrums be temporary!!

Nora is so sweet and it is amazing to think that one year ago, we were driving to Waconia getting ready to deliver her. It has been an amazing journey of a year and we can't believe what we did with our time before little pookie came along! Happy Birthday dear little one!

Nora, Mommy and Daddy ALL sick

Daycare had a flu bug go through and Matt's cousin was under the weather at Thanksgiving so it was inevitable that one of us would get it. Well---Nora got it FIRST! Saturday morning she was hanging out downstairs with Matt and I, and then the puke came! It is so sad to watch your little girl being so confused and panicked about what was going on. She did not quite comprehend why she was sick and what was coming out of her! It was so sad. Then after throwing up she would feel better, want to play, want to cuddle, and then would get sick again. It was quick though, only Saturday was ruined by Nora being sick.

Then Sunday came......

I got sick, very very sick. I know that the ONE time I am a drama queen is when I have the flu but I am telling you. It was horrible.

Then Monday came.....

We found water in our basement, I am still pukingg and Nora was trying to help me feel better by rubbing my back while I was in the bathroom and Matt was trying to figure out the water situation. I then had to go outside in the snow to help fix our sump pump and fix a hole. Oh what a night!!!!

Then Late Monday Night came.....

Matt got sick, I am still sick and Nora needs US! Wow, I will pray and pray and pray everynight that we do not have to go through this week again. It is VERY tough having both parents sick with an infant who just wants to be loved!

Saturday we were finally all feeling better. Matt and Nora had quick flu bugs, I had the week long flu bug. I am just so glad the week is done and we are on the mend!

1st Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the LAST 1st holiday for Nora. We are NOW at the point of her almost being around for ONE WHOLE YEAR! Thanksgiving was the Last of the FIRSTS, the end to an era, a new journey!!!



We hosted Thanksgiving for the Forslunds at our house. My first real holiday entertaining. I am not going to lie, it was stressful, our house is small, and our garbage disposal and dishwasher both broke 3 days before the big day. It was a very fun day filled with very good food!!



Again, no pictures because the camera is still broken. We are hoping to find a new camera on a black Friday sale!!

Funny video of Nora sticking out her tongue

All in one day....

I worked from 7 to 5:30 today and then came home to find that Nora has 2 new teeth! Wow, what can happen in one day! She now has 6 teeth. She is getting so big and time is just flying by, she will be 1 year old before we know it.

She is loving having her daddy home from work. She has taken naps for him and has eaten her lunch for him. I think she just likes me to see that daddy is her favorite!

We are hoping to get a camera on discount on black Friday so we hopefully will have photos SOON!!!

Olafson Christmas

My mom's side of the family has celebrated Christmas the 2nd weekend of November for the last 10 years. There are more than 60 of us now that come and celebrate together at the Holiday Inn in St. Cloud. My camera is broken because Nora has drooled on it so I took a few photos from my sisters blog to show you the excitement(I know I shouldn't let her play with my electronics but she just screams and screams....think drama queen times 100....) We had so much fun swimming and catching up with all our family.

All of the families in the "Twins Suite" - the Olafson Family is green, the Ulstad Family is blue, the Justesen family is purple, the Pollert Family is navy blue, and the Stevens Family is red.


Uncle Kyle with Cousin Landrey and Great Grandma Nora. Baby Nora is number 59 in the mix, Landrey is 58, Great Grandma Nora is #1, I am #24 and Matt is #48.

Family Photo Outing

We took family photos today with Greg Benz with CarbonSilver Photography. We went to Brant Lake Park and walked on the trails to find some good lighting. Greg is one of Matt's college friends boyfriends. He was so great with Nora, although Nora did NOT want to smile. Overall it was a great photo session and now we just need to figure out WHAT photos we want to get. There were so many adorable ones. Here are a few cute ones from the beautiful Fall day.

Nora 11 Months Old!

Nora is 11 months old and she is getting so big. She is almost walking and has turned into quite the 'Chatty Kathy." She is quite the drama queen....she doesn't get that from me so it must be another trait that is from her father's side!! She LOVES getting her way and will let you know when she is angry because she is NOT getting her way (she has this horrible whine that is added to this scrunched up angry face....it is hard to not laugh at her!)

She loves:

Crawling on her toes with her butt in the air like a monkey

Walking around the coffee table

Crawling over daddy's legs

Eating all kinds of foods

Her Bottle

Saying Dada

Smashing her food to smithereens (she takes crackers and just smashes them in her hands and giggles!!)

New tricks she has mastered (OK well not quite mastered) but can do when she is in the right MOOD:

"how big is Nora?"..... raising her hands for "So Big!"

Clapping

High Fiving

Playing Peek-a-Boo

Climbing the stairs

She Does NOT Like:

Being told NO

When mommy or daddy are out of her sight

Poor Nora!!!!!

I brought Nora into the clinic about 3 weeks ago because her eye was gooping and she was pulling at her ears. The doctor said "nothing wrong" she is probably just teething and likes pulling her ears and quote "she is on the mend"! WELL...fast forward 3 weeks and she has had a cough, running nose, goopy eye, and has been pulling her ears everyday since then. I was trying to NOT be that parent who brings her kid into the clinic all the time, but after 3 weeks of coughing all night and uncrusting her poor eyes in the morning I brought her in. She has an ear infection, Poor Nora! Now she is on some medicine which is making her feel better, but sure gives her some dirty diapers!!! She now is NOT coughing, does NOT have a goopy eye, does not have a runny nose and only pulls at her ears when she puts food in her hair/ears!