I Love My Sister

Last week my sister and nephew came to visit. They stayed two nights so we could have some fun with Amelia & Anders and also get work done on Anders first year book. I’m happy to say both were successful!

Anders showed a lot more interest in Amelia this time. We still had to watch him because he would get excited or start poking at her eyes (!)…but he is definitely learning to be more gentle with her.

We went for a couple walks (I really wish they lived closer so we could do that on a regular basis!).

And we dressed Amelia up in different outfits for a photo shoot. First up…Pea Pod:

Second…Ballerina:

Thanks to Aunt Bea for the tutu!

I got some quality time with Anders and it was so cool watching him figure out how the pieces all worked together! It is so amazing to me to watch babies learn…I love it!

My parents came over at different times to watch the kids so we could work (we had moderate success with that) and so we were able to get a great photo of the 4 of us!

One of the nights Josh and Robyn came over for dinner and they brought Anders birthday present…a cat piano. Seriously, this thing can sound like a regular piano or you can switch it so the keys play a “meow” in the different notes!

It’s going to be so fun watching Amelia grow up with her cousin close by. I always look forward to seeing my sister and her family and I think it’s only going to get better as they grow up!

Andy <3 Christy (and vice versa)!

A couple weeks ago our best friends got married on a beautiful fall day in Stillwater!

The bride was escorted in by her dad and her granddad:

The ceremony was short but very sweet:

There was a champagne toast following the ceremony:

A popcorn buffet treat:

And tons of dancing:

Congratulations to the newlyweds! We are so happy for you and equally as thankful for your friendship!! Love you guys!

Amelia’s First Twins WIN! Twins vs Royals ~ September 28, 2011

Every year we go to the first (or at least as close to first as possible since Target Field opened) and last games of the regular season. This year the last game happened to fall on my birthday! There were 40+ people in our group sitting in section T and we had a blast. It was a great game and a lot was on the line…not like we’re used to though. Rather than playing for a spot in the Postseason…the Twins were playing to stay in the double digit loss column. They were at 99 so if they didn’t win this last game of the regular season it would have been dirty # 100!

Anyway, back to the game…Amelia was awake when we got to the ballpark so we stopped for a couple photos (turns out we had plenty of opportunity because she hardly slept):

John Gordon was announcing his last game before retirement & so Dan Gladden took him for a spin around the warning track in the sidecar of a motorcycle before the game.

My parents were there to help celebrate my birthday with us (or, to see Amelia…probably more likely reason!).

And on top of the WIN…we had beautiful weather too!

I look forward to our family making many more trips out to Target Field together, but this was a great way to end the 2011 season.

Family Shower for Me & Amelia

Back in mid-September my sister & Jayne threw Amelia & me a baby shower for family and family friends!

We had a wonderful time and I cannot give enough thanks to them and everyone else who pitched in to make it such a special day. The theme of the shower was Owls which went along with our nursery theme! The invites said “Guess Whoooo Had a Baby”, the diaper cake was topped with an owl…it was so cute!

My Aunt Julie made these Owl cupcakes:

And we played some fun games too! For one, every guest brought a baby picture and after they were all hung up we had to try and figure out which picture went with each person. If I remember correctly, Aunt Mary got them ALL right!!

Lots of family & friends came out to meet Amelia:

And we even had 4 generations together:

We are so thankful for all the family and friends that love and support us.
THANK YOU!!

Halloween 2011

When we announced our pregnancy early in the year, one of the most common questions (besides, are you going to find out the gender) was “Are you going to have the Halloween party?”…the answer was always an immediate YES! The Halloween party is something Chris has hosted since way before we even met and I did not want to let that tradition end so we made sure the party went on!

Since I knew I might have some baby weight left to lose I decided Mr Potato Head would be a good costume to hide it. My mom & I began brainstorming and working on it earlier this year and I think it turned out GREAT!

Then, when it came time to decide what Amelia would be I figured she could be my better half…Mrs. Potato Head (or Little Miss Potato Head as my creative friend, Heather, put it)!

Chris went as Kitt (and I had the Mrs pieces hidden in a pocket in the back so I switched it up throughout the night).

And…as always, our guests came up with great costumes!







And, just for cuteness sake – here’s a photo of Amelia with her Auntie Tia!

Happy Birthday, Anders!

I cannot believe how fast time goes by these days…our nephew turned one on September 30! Wow!!

It was really fun to watch him open envelopes, presents and eat cake. It was also fun to watch him “play” with Amelia! He didn’t really get the idea of being gentle yet, but I think he’s learning.

Chris got some video of Anders digging into his very first cake:

And the best part of the night…Anders reaction to having sugar for the first time (with help from his crazy uncle Chris) caught on video by Aunt Julie :

I think we have a lot of fun times ahead with this little guy. We Love You, Anders!!

Blog Action Day: Food – Feeding My Daughter

As documented here…I became a Mom on August 5, 2011. Since then, I have been responsible for every bit of food that beautiful girl has needed to grow (and grow she has…still in the 95%!).

When I read that the topic for Blog Action Day was Food the first thing that came to mind was breastfeeding and Amelia. I don’t know if that is what they had in mind when the topic was created…but oh well!

When we found out I was pregnant, one of the easiest decisions Chris & I made was that I would try to exclusively breastfeed our child for up to 6 months and potentially longer. The American Association of Pediatrics & the World Health Organization both recommend breastfeeding as best (for both Mother and Baby) which strengthened my desire to be successful and to give our child the most healthy start to her life! In addition, everyone I have talked to says that formula is expensive and since we’ll be down to one paycheck for a while I took that as extra incentive as well.

It is amazing to me that from the food I eat, a liquid is produced by my body that contains all the nutrients that Amelia needs to thrive. Our bodies are unbelievable! Amelia started out at 10 pounds 4 ounces and many times at the hospital people mentioned supplementing with formula since she was so big. While I appreciate that formula exists and I know it wouldn’t have been the worst thing to have to supplement, I was thrilled when at 10 days old she was back to her birth weight and by her 2 month appointment she was up 3+ pounds…healthy and on track with only breast milk!

I am thankful that my body has decided to agree with breastfeeding, because I know not everyone is so lucky, and I am proud of my body for that fact. It really is an honor to breastfeed Amelia every day and get those special times of closeness and snuggling between the two of us!

Kitchen Remodel – The Finished Project

I cannot believe I never posted a final Kitchen post! Bad Nikki. Here it is…

Oven/Cabinet Walls Before:

Oven/Cabinet Walls After:

Sink Wall Before:

Sink Wall After:

There are a couple finishing touches that we are currently working to get done (a new window, tile back splash) but otherwise I am in love with our new kitchen! It’s so nice & while it was a huge pain to not have a kitchen for 5 months of my pregnancy, it was definitely worth it now that Amelia is here!

Twins vs White Sox ~ September 5, 2011

On Labor Day, the three of us headed down to Target Field to take in a day game against the White Sox.

The weather was perfect, Amelia did great, and the Twins lost (again).

That about sums it up!

Amelia’s record: 0-2

Amelia’s First Twins Game! Twins vs Tigers ~ August 27, 2011

Our little girl was at her first Twins game at the ripe old age of 22 days! Three weeks was a little sooner than I had originally planned but since she decided to wait until almost 2 weeks after her due date, three weeks it was and it actually turned out fine.

We were there with a group of my Dad’s coworkers along with Andy & Christy, Jayne & Tim and Nicole & her parents so there were PLENTY of people offering to hold Amelia!

Another first for that day…Amelia got her first bottle. I was a little nervous because I had heard about people having problems with babies taking different bottles and I just hoped we didn’t have that problem (and/or a melt down) at Target Field. I was prepared to just feed her if I needed but thankfully she took the bottle from her Daddy like a champ!

Unfortunately, the Twins weren’t playing like Champs…they lost to the Tigers 4-6! Amelia told me that she was considering finding a new team but I told her to give the Twins a chance at least through 2012. Here’s our view from section 302.

Amelia’s record at Target Field: 0-1. (Believe me, that’s better than my 2011 in-person record!)