Scary Santa

Our family santa suit has gotten pretty weathered throughout the years. It has gradually faded from red to pink and the pants are now knickers. This santa suit was worn by Emmy's Great Grandfather Fred over 70 years ago. The bells have a very distinct sound to them. Whenever I hear them jingle, it brings back so many memories. I remember being absolutely terrified of this santa when I was little. All of us kids used to hide behind the big puffy chair at my grandma Hazel's house & scream when we would hear the bells coming down the stairs.
It has now become very comical whenever anyone puts this suit on. Brad had never seen this santa before, so we had to bring it out and show him. We were all laughing so hard...grandma Linda peed her pants!

SOOOO BIG!

Emmy is learning "So Big" right now. I was saying it to her last night and she raised her little arms up. It was the cutest thing EVER! I thought it was just a fluke, so I said it again and she raised her arms up again. I yelled for Brad to come and watch and when I said it again...she did it for him too! We got a kick out of it...but I think she got sick of it after a while.

She is also learning Peek-a-boo! Which she loves!

She giggles when we jump too. It's so funny to hear her giggle. I can get her to giggle more when I press my face into her tummy & laugh.

Emmy's 1st Christmas

Last Tuesday evening we went to Hoffman to celebrate Christmas with Brad's side of the family. We went to Christmas Eve service in Hoffman. When we pulled up to the church, there were only a handful of cars there. I started to think...one car had to be the pastor, one car must have been the organist and the other the usher??!! When we got inside the church, there were a few more people... about 25. Everyone must have carpooled. The pastor wasn't there yet, so we just sang Christmas carols until she got there.

We had a nice time with the family and Emmy finally warmed up to Grandma Debbie right before we were leaving. For some reason, every time Emmy looks at Grandma Deb, she sticks her bottom lip out and cries really hard. I feel so bad for Grandma...it's so heartbreaking for her.
Thursday afternoon, we left Hoffman and drove down to Montevideo to celebrate with Grandpa Brad. We started a tradition with my dad last year by eating king crab for dinner. This year he got the colossal king crab. It was soooooo good!
On Friday, we spent the whole day with Grandma Linda. Instead of having a tree this year, my mom just hid our gifts throughout her house. We had to search for them...It was pretty funny. My mom forgot to make a master copy of where she hid all the gifts. We found all but one gift for my sister-in-law Rachel. After all of our gifts were opened, we played "Heartland Strategy."
Emmy received the cutest gifts from everyone and we'll have fun playing & reading to her.
She got the cutest potty training book for when that time comes. It contains 17 funny songs and rhymes parents can use to coax kids into the bathroom. Example:
(Sing to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Tinkle, tinkle, little tot

Sitting there upon the pot.

Any second now, you'll see ...

Sprinkle, splash and you'll go pee!

OR

(To the tune of On Top Of Old Smokey)

On top of my potty

I sit and I wait

I know what I'm making...

Is going to be great!

Maya, Madi, Shelby & Emmy

Grandma Debbie, Papa Jerry, Shelby, Maya, Madi & Emmy

Tony & Christy, Shelby, Maya & Madi

Grandpa Brad
Grandma Linda, Emmy & TylerTyler & Emmy

Santa's Little Cutie

Isn't she cute!? Grandma Linda sent Emmy this adorable outfit in the mail this week. She'll look so cute for her first Christmas!

We wish you & your families a very Merry Christmas & a safe and happy New Year!! Much Love!

Holidazzle Parade

We had planned to go to the Holidazzle Parade this year, but never got a chance to go due to our busy schedule. We were going to go last night, but bitterly cold conditions led officials to cancel Sunday's finale of the 2008 Target Holidazzle parade in downtown Minneapolis. The Holidazzle parade is canceled if the temperature with the wind chill is 20 degrees below zero or colder. It's the ninth weather cancellation in the parade's 17-year history. Good thing we decided to stay home by the fireplace.

Staying Warm

BRRRRR!! The weather here in MN has been really cold. The high on Monday & Tuesday was 4 degrees below zero! We just walk fast and hold our breath around here when we're outside. Brad and I keep saying that we are moving to Florida. After this winter, we might be more serious about it. And yet, it's only December...we've got a long way to go until spring.

My commute to work is about 11 miles and it usually takes me about 20 minutes to get there. We just had a few inches of snowfall yesterday, so last night it took me an hour and a half to get home. Brad is lucky, he works from home a lot so he doesn't have to drive too much.

Our daycare lady has this week off, so Brad is home bonding with Emmy. They are having a blast and he is getting used to her daily routine.
On the days that Emmy goes to daycare, Brad helps me out in the morning by getting her ready for the day. We have a normal routine where Brad drops her off in the morning and I pick her up after work.

Here's a cute picture of Emmy all bundled up to go run errands with mom and dad.

M'm M'm Good

Do I have something on my face?

1st Picture With Santa

Last Friday, Sarah and I brought Max and Emmy to the Mall of America to visit Santa. The company that organizes it does a wonderful job. This year they were taking appointments to see Santa. It was great...We didn't have to wait in a long line. There were so many adorable kids all dressed up in their cute Christmas outfits!

4 Month Check Up

Emmy weighs 13 lbs. 3 oz. and is 24 1/4 inches long. She's in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Her head measures at 41.6 cm which is in the 50-75 percentile. If you stood her in a row of 100 other girls & boys that are her same age, she measures right smack dab in the middle. :)

She got another set of shots at her 4 month check up. This time daddy came with us. She cried pretty hard for a few minutes when the first shot went in, but was okay when she started to suck on my finger. She doesn't like pacifiers very much. I made sure that my hands were clean before they started the shots because I knew she wouldn't take the pacifier and would only calm down if I let her suck on my finger. Brad said that it was pretty hard to watch her cry that hard.
Later that day, she was pretty cranky and didn't sleep well that night. She was up every hour.

Emmy's doctor said to keep doing what we are doing. She's doing just great. She mentioned giving Emmy some rice cereal before bedtime which might help her sleep a little longer during the night. She should start sleeping a little better around 6 months. When she starts to get sleepy, she rubs her eyes and it is so cute. A couple of months ago she was actually sleeping through the night. I'm not sure what changed.

Her pattern has been like clockwork lately. When I pick her up at day care, she usually falls asleep as soon as I back out of Dar's driveway. She sleeps for about an hour and then we have dinner/feeding. After that we play for a little bit and then she takes a nap around 7:00. She usually falls asleep for the night anywhere from 9-11 and then is up for a feeding at 2:30 and again at 5 or 5:30.

She loves to be held and talked to by anyone. However, lately she is starting to develop stranger awareness...especially with grandma Debbie. I don't know why. It's so weird because lately we've been seeing grandma & grandpa every week.

We have been giving her one new baby food per week and she loves everything so far. We've given/tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans & applesauce. So far, no allergies. She LOVES squash.

She is rolling over so well. She's rolling and rolling and rolling all over the floor. Soon we will be child proofing our home.

Mommy's Birthday

Brad, Emmy & I went to Pittsburgh Blue last night for my birthday dinner. They have the best King Crab. Emmy was jabbering away and got lots of attention from the waiters. She sampled the Red Velvet Cake too (just a little nibble of the frosting).

Emmy gave mommy a card that said, "Thank you for feeding me, changing my diapers, and for taking such good care of me. I love you mommy!" Along with the card was a gift to get my hair done next week. Brad gave me his own card with a gift card to Macy's. I'm excited to use this soon! I have the best husband!! :)

After dinner, our plan was to put up our Christmas tree. We were so full from dinner, we actually just relaxed and played with Emmy. I'm sure we'll get it done this week.

We have a neighbor who just decorated the outside of his house. It makes me think of the Griswold's. It kind of looks like this video. Note: You'll have to pause the music on the playlist above to hear the sound that goes with this video. :) Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Brad's family in Hoffman this year. We had such a nice time and ate sooooo much good food!

We have a friend who has a "Weigh In - Weigh Out" contest with his family each year for Thanksgiving. When they arrive at the door for Thanksgiving, they have to weigh themselves before they start to eat. At the end of the day, they weigh themselves again to see who gained the most weight. I think we'll try this next year. They hand out a prize to the biggest gainer in their family each year!! I think the winner gets to take home the scale. Too Funny. :)

On Friday evening, Brad, Christy & I went to a comedy show in Alexandria. The comedians were Scott Hansen & the Stagebenders.

The Stagebenders, a comedy improv duo based part-time in Las Vegas and part-time in Minneapolis, bring big bodies and big laughs to each show they perform. Armed with their great sense of humor and non-stop dialogue and actions, these two guys can make just about any word, situation, or prop turn into a top-notch comedy skit. They have appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and NBC’s America’s Funniest People.

Scott Hansen is the unprecedented, 5-time winner of the Minnesota Comedian of the Year award. This is not an easy task in a state that is the comedy home of Louie Anderson, Tom Arnold, and Al Franken! His national reputation has earned him a spot as a regular fixture appearing in concert with superstars Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld and Drew Carey. The award winning comedian has made millions laugh with gut-splitting national TV appearances on HBO, Showtime, A&E and E!.

I would highly recommend seeing these guys! They were totally awesome!! :)

Emmy stayed home with Grandma Debbie & Great Grandma Bev. She had fun playing with Shelby, Maya & Madisen. They played so well and pooped Emmy out.

On Saturday, we celebrated grandma Bev's birthday & my birthday. We ate at Whiskey Creek in Alexandria and had a nice time with the big family. There were about 25 of us at our table. Emmy even got a little taste of ice cream from mommy's birthday cake.

Emmy enjoyed playing in the exersaucer at Grandma Debbie's house. She giggled & played so much in it this weekend.

Emmy loves to sit on daddy's lap!! They look a lot alike!

And her new thing is to suck on her two fingers.

Back to Front

Sarah & Richard stopped over last night with their little guy, Max. Emmy & Max were both on the floor playing when all of a sudden she rolled right over and looked at me with a huge smile on her face. She's such a doll.

We've been trying to give her some baby food lately. She's tried rice cereal & now carrots. The carrots went over well. She really liked them, but when she got tired of eating them, she got upset and spit them out of her mouth all over mommy's face.

Santa & The Reindeer

Today we went to see Santa and his Reindeer in Maple Grove. It is getting pretty cold here so I bundled Emmy up in her new snowsuit & hat. We laughed so hard because she reminded us of the little boy from the movie, "A Christmas Story." Emmy was all bundled up in her snowsuit and when I lifted her up, her little arms stuck straight out. :) It was pretty funny!

We didn't want to wait in the long line to see Santa. I didn't know that he was going to be outside. It was too cold outside for Emmy, so we just got a quick picture next to the reindeer and then went back home where it was nice & warm.

Maybe next Friday I'll take her to the mall to get a good picture with Santa.

Triple Espresso/Nye's

My mom came to town this weekend. We had so much fun. I bought front row tickets for her and I to see Triple Espresso.

Triple Espresso tells the story of three guys whose bid for showbiz fame and fortune ended in 4-minutes of magnificent failure on national television. Hugh Butternut, Buzz Maxwell, and Bobby Bean tell their rags-to-rags story earnestly, with hysterical results. Butternut is a musician, a vulnerable soul with a lounge lizard smile; Maxwell is an uncertain magician with an attitude; and Bean is an irrepressible, all-over-the-map entertainer with big dreams. The laughter is infectious and the comedy appeals to everyone from first graders to college students to baby-boomers to grandparents.

We laughed so hard...it was a really neat comedy.

After the comedy was over, we went to Nye's Polonaise Room. I've been telling my mom about Nye's for so long and I finally dragged her into the place. Nye's is located in Northeast Minneapolis. It hasn't been decorated since the 60s. When you walk in the front door, you see the old school lighting, shiny gold vinyl booths, and sweet Lou playing the piano at the sing-along piano bar. Their polka band, in the back, is the "World's Most Dangerous Polka Band" and their youngest member is in his 70s. They just replaced the drummer who drummed his way to heaven...His replacement is soon to follow. Ruth is the accordionist and is missing some teeth. The best part is when Ruth does the "barking dog" song. The crowd ranges from 20s to 80s. The dance floor is about the size of two postage stamps. But if you're lucky enough, veteran Polka King Roger will dance a mean polka with you any night.

http://www.dangerouspolkafilms.com/

Emmy stayed home with Brad. She did not have a very good night away from mommy. Brad was almost ready to take her to the hospital because she was crying so hard for two hours. He tried everything, but couldn't calm her down. He called our neighbor Noel and he came over to help. When we got home from Nye's she was fine and was as happy as ever!

Baptism

Emmy Kristine was baptized on Sunday, November 9th at Lord of Life Lutheran Church. Emmy wore the same baptismal gown that I wore almost 32 years ago. The dress was hand made by my grandma Gort. Emmy was such a doll and didn't fuss at all during the service. We had lunch served at our home after the service and enjoyed having everyone over to our home.

My niece Sam holding Emmy before the service.

First Snowfall

Last Friday we had our first snowfall of the year. We didn't get much, but we woke up to a little dusting on the yard.

Rolling Over

Emmy is rolling over from front to back now. She gets those little legs kicking and then she rolls over and has this very shocked look on her face. We were so excited for her and then she gave us a huge smile. She also loves to grab onto our fingers and pull herself up. Her favorite thing to do with daddy is to pull herself up and then Brad gently bounces her & lifts her up as if she's jumping in the air.

She loves to babble and talks the most when she's on her changing table.

She definitely does not like to miss out on ANYTHING. She wants to see what everybody is doing and take it all in. She's very alert.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!
We had Emmy's pictures taken in her halloween costume a couple of weeks ago. She really didn't like having the costume on because she doesn't really like hats or anything over her head. I'm sure that she'll get used to hats very soon when our cold weather starts here in MN.
We had Sarah's husband Richard take Emmy's photos and they turned out so cute! We borrowed the wheelbarrow from our next door neighbors and Richard and Sarah provided the other props.
When we started taking the photos, Emmy wasn't really cooperating. She was tired, so we decided to go get something to eat and then try again after dinner. We got some good shots after dinner when she was all rested.

My brother Scott has called me "Bean" ever since I was really little. I'm not really sure how it all started, but it stuck and he still calls me Bean. Now he calls Emmy, "Baby Bean." So, when I saw this costume, I had to get it. Emmy is such a little pea pod anyway...And since uncle Scott calls her Baby Bean I thought it was a good fit!!