Emmy's 2nd Birthday!

It's hard to believe that Little Miss Emmy is already two years old. We planned to have a bouncy birthday bash and ordered a giant moonwalk bouncer. We planned this because we knew there would be a ton of kids coming to the party and wanted to have something to entertain them as well. Thank God for this bouncer. It was the best thing ever!

I scheduled to have it arrive before noon on Saturday, July 24th. However, the manager from USA Inflatables contacted me on Thursday afternoon and explained that the bouncer was going to arrive a day early at no extra cost! How cool is that! Emmy and I ended up jumping in it all day on Friday by ourselves and we had so much fun. We giggled all afternoon.

Her party started at 1:00 on Saturday. We are so blessed with such great family and friends. I think everyone got a chance to bounce in the jumper...even Great Grandpa Bernie.

Each person spoiled Emmy and she got so many awesome toys. She got a Ferbie Kitty from Grandma Linda (Emmy calls grandma Linda, Meme), a wagon from Papa Brad, a swimming pool from Grandma Debbie & Papa Jerry, a personalized princess storybook from Scott & Rachel (my brother Scott was the narrator). This was so touching. We all cried. She also received a bunch of books, a scooter, a Buzz Lightyear Rocket Blast Sprinkler, jammies, a rocker, a puzzle, a homemade dolly and slippers, winnie the pooh, a doodle pad for the car, a new outfit, shoes, a barbie, and a giant ball.

Brad and I got her a Toy Story hot wheel, a set of toy golf clubs and a cash register. We had so much fun at her birthday bash. I can't believe how fast these last two years have gone and am so proud of what our little girl has turned into so far! She's a smart little cookie.

Counting

I asked Emmy to count for me yesterday. She not only counts, but counts with her fingers as well. She counted from 1 to 6 yesterday. It was so cool! :)

New Job

Brad has accepted a new position within his company and starts his first day on Monday, August 1st. His new position involves programming...something he has been wanting to get into for years! He has been saying that this is his dream job.
His current position (Senior Principle Business Critical Onsite Support Engineer) is very stressful. I'm hoping that this new job relieves most of his stress and also cures his lack of sleep that he's been getting.
His last day in his current position is today. He met his new team members for a lunch/team meeting and then got to see his new office, etc.
His current position involved a lot of travel to his various accounts such as Boeing, Microsoft, T-Mobile and First Data. Boeing was a very air tight secure building. After walking down several hallways and thick bolted doors, they made Brad stare at the ceiling and wouldn't let him look at the computer screens or any data. He was asked several questions and had no resources to help him through their problems. Despite all of that, he was still able to fix it. Yeah!
This new position does not require any traveling which is so nice for our family time. We love having daddy home with us as much as possible. Good luck in your new position daddy! :)

No More RESTaurants

Going out to eat with a two year old is not the definition of relaxing.
We don't go to places where they give you one of those buzzers and have to wait for a table. It just doesn't work. When we do go out for dinner, it usually starts out okay. I pack some sort of toy/gadget with us and also some crackers to tie her over before the food comes.
However, this usually only buys us five to ten minutes.
The first few minutes after sitting down are usually pretty easygoing. Emmy likes the crayons for about two minutes, but then prefers to either chew on them or throw them off the table. The rest of the time is spent chasing her throughout the restaurant. By the time we actually get our food, we are pretty exhausted after running the equivalent of a 10k.
We always wonder what is better – to order her food right when we get there or wait until we all order. The thing with ordering food for her right away is that she is done by the time we get our food, so one of us usually spends time chasing her around the restaurant while our food gets cold. However, if we wait until we order, while this option works well, we rarely enjoy our food as we spend most of the time cutting her food and making sure she isn’t throwing the salt & pepper shakers across the table.
Between shoveling food in my mouth, trying to contribute to the conversation at the table, and testing my hand-eye coordination with anything in Emmy's reach, I somehow manage to eat the food on my plate and not even remember it.

When Brad and I were single diners, we promised that when we had kids we would never be one of those parents who had screaming kids at a restaurant...and now look at us. We're one of them!
I've told some of our friends who have children under the age of one to take advantage of relaxing meals out, because everything changes when they get mobile. They have no idea.
We still take Emmy & Erin out to eat, but we have now realized a few things:

1.) We try to be strict about the window of time we have to eat.
2.) We try to keep it somewhere kid-friendly. The Lookout gives kids a balloon and they also have a giant playground in the back patio which Emmy absolutely loves. However, she is still a bit too small for some of it and we still end up chasing her around/helping her up the stairs.
3.) Quick service is essential. Long wait = cranky child = throwing things = crayons are taken away = cranky child = cranky parents = not a relaxing meal.
4.) Bring snacks.

For those of you who don’t have kids yet, savor those coffee dates, relax with a drink at happy hour, and appreciate meaningful and quality conversation. For us, we have found that we much prefer to just keep our meals relaxed and at home.

Yes!

Just like that...Emmy loves to say the word "Yes." She answers everything with a yes now. It's funny how just two weeks ago everything was NO.
She has started to go on the potty chair more often. She's getting a lot better. She usually tells us just after she has gone in her diaper, but now we're gradually getting her to go more on the potty and rewarding her for doing a good job.
Emmy also just moved into her "Big Girl" bed. We transferred her crib into a day bed on Sunday and so far she doesn't mind. She hasn't even tried to get out yet. She even waits for us to come get her in the morning. I thought for sure she would crawl right out of it and open the door every night. But, she goes right to bed without a fuss and stays for the whole night. :) What a doll!

Where's Emmy?

A few weeks ago I had the scare of a lifetime. I brought Emmy & Erin to Creative Kids Stuff to pick out a birthday gift for Shelby. I had both girls in the stroller and was browsing through the store just fine. I noticed that everyone was letting their kids have free reign of the store. All of the moms in the store were letting their kids play with all of the toys and I didn't want to be the only parent in the store who wasn't going to allow their kid to get out of the stroller. So, I unbuckled Emmy and away she went. She was having so much fun and I was always within eyesight of her. I was checking out all of the cool toys/gifts when I turned to where Emmy was playing just a moment ago - she was no longer there. I looked the other direction...no Emmy. I walked around the whole store and couldn't find her anywhere. I ran out to the front door and checked outside...no Emmy. I walked around the store again and she was no where to be found. My heart sunk to my toes and I thought she had been taken away from me. I asked the sales guy very loudly if he had seen a little girl in a pink shirt and pig tails. He, along with other moms, started searching for her. All of a sudden the sales guy says, "There she is!" There she was in the back of the store, tucked away in a corner. She came running to me and thought it was funny that she was hiding from me. Ugh... Now I know how my mom felt when I was little. My mom would bring me shopping with her and I thought it was fun to hide under all of the hanging clothes racks. I got lost in the Kandi Mall in Willmar one time and my mom couldn't find me. She found me later wandering the hallway. She wasn't very happy with me.

Ft. Lauderdale Trip

Brad and I arrived at the airport on the morning of July 1st to find that our tickets had somehow been cancelled. We got sent to three VERY long lines. By the time we got to the front of the line and told our story, that person would tell us to go to a different line. Each person told us that the tickets were cancelled online by us on June 4th. "I can assure you that they were not cancelled by us, I told the woman." After about an hour of searching and long lines, one of the ticket agents finally called someone...that person on the other end of the phone was able to find our lost tickets. We caught our outgoing flight just in time.

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale around 3:00, got our rental car and then went to our hotel. Our hotel was just minutes from the airport and located directly on the beach. We checked into our hotel, checked out the view (cruise ships coming and going) and then went to get a bite to eat. AWE...TIME TO RELAX!!

That afternoon, we called our favorite snorkeling hangout in Key Largo (Sundiver) to make reservations for the next day. Brad made reservations for the 9:00 am tour. UGH...The snorkeling company requires everyone to be there an hour ahead of time, which means that we had to get up by 6 am because it's about an 1 - 1 1/2 hr drive to Key Largo (depending on traffic and road construction). We got up around 5:30 am that morning, grabbed our snorkeling gear, and headed south!

The boat takes you out to the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. The water was so warm and clear. We got to see a giant lobster, a crab, tons of tropical fish and Brad swears that he saw a sea urchin. I tried to get pictures with our underwater camera but only a few turned out.

On our way back into shore, our tour guide pointed out some of the highlights of the Key Largo Intercoastal. We rode past the house where Julia Robers filmed "Sleeping with the Enemy."

It rained during our drive back to the Ft. Lauderdale area and it never stopped for the next 4 days. It stopped just enough for the sun to poke its head out of the clouds on our last morning. We got about one hour of sunshine that last day and then it poured the rest of the day. Our flight left around 6:30 pm. We actually went to the airport around 1:00 to see if we could catch an earlier flight...but no such luck.

Despite all of the rain, we got to spend some time with our great friends Michael, Liz, Troy and Christine. Michael and Liz took us to the Southport Raw Bar which was located on the Intercoastal. We devoured some AMAZING "Old Bay" shrimp. OMG...this is to die for!!! YUMMY. I think we actually went back to eat here three times during our trip. We asked the waitress for the recipe! This place looked like a hole in the wall and we probably wouldn't have ever even stopped there if it weren't for Michael and Liz. If you ever get to the Ft. Lauderdale area, I highly recommend stopping at this place for some amazing shrimp.

We celebrated the 4th with Troy and Christine at a restaurant on A1A. We ate dinner and then decided to stay until the fireworks show later that evening. Ft. Lauderdale has a nice fireworks show where they blast the fireworks off of a few ships in the ocean.

Our hotel (Marriott Harbor Beach) was very nice, but they charged for every little detail. Each person was given a card for two towels at the beach. When you turn in your towels, then you get your card back. If you lose your card, it costs $25.

Brad and I decided to sit at the Tiki Bar on the beach one afternoon. We ordered two drinks, one hot dog and one sandwich. Our total bill was $67. Yes, you read that correctly...$67!!!! What a rip.

All in all...we had an amazing time. The rain actually forced us to stay in and relax. I can't wait to go back again soon!

Key Largo

Julia Roberts filmed Sleeping with the Enemy here.

This boat costs $3,000 to fill the tank.

Our Resort in Ft. Lauderdale.

Old Bay Shrimp at Southport Raw Bar. Our $67 hot dog Tiki Bar.

I can't imagine what the gas costs for this boat.

Say What?

Emmy's vocabulary has grown tremendously over the past few months. She likes to repeat everything that we are saying. Now we have to be careful of what comes out of our mouth.

She is putting sentences together like...

• "Where'd that baby go?"
• "Is Erin sleeping?"
• "Where's that daddy going?"
• "Come here Max."

For the past couple of months she's been singing the entire alphabet and counts 1..2..3. She loves to say her name: Emmy Kristine. Last night I got her to say Kruse...Mark.

It's really awesome to hear her talking. I can ask Brad a question and Emmy will answer back from another room. Her most common answer is "No." Everything is a no in her world.

• Mommy (to emmy): Do you love your mommy?
• Emmy: No.
• Mommy: Do you love your daddy?
• Emmy: No.
• Mommy: Do you love Erin?
• Emmy: No.
• Mommy: Are you hungry?
• Emmy: No.
• Mommy: Do you want to go outside?
• Emmy: Okay.

She loves to say mouse and pooh. She brings me the remote so that she can watch her cartoons. Mickey Mouse & Tigger and Pooh are her two favorite cartoons for right now. We tell her that Elmo is taking a nap because I just can't watch that tv show anymore!

She sings the "Hot Dog" song from Mickey Mouse. I think it's a catchy tune. She can only say hot dog though and she sways from side to side.

Erin's Development

I think that I previously mentioned how Erin would be a little behind on development. The doctors told us when Erin was born that she would probably be about six weeks behind. At her 4 month check up she was not able to support her legs quite yet when I held her upright. Well, it's only been 2 1/2 weeks since her 4 month check up and she is able to do all the things that a normal 4 month old would be doing...such as:

• Holds her head high and raises her body on her hands when lying on her stomach. (she's a little weak yet, but is doing good).
• Maintains good head control.
• Rolls from stomach to back.
• Plays with her hands (she loves to suck her hands and especially her left thumb).
• Looks at a mobile and moves arms (a lot).
• She recognizes mommy, daddy & Emmy.
• Follows objects with eyes (I believe she was doing this at her check up).
• Initiates social contact by smiling, cooing, laughing, & squealing.
• She gets a little upset when mommy leaves her side.
• Recognizes when the bottle is near her mouth. Her little mouth opens up like a bird.

The only thing that she is not doing for her age group is holding a rattle. But I bet she will be doing this in the next few days.

Who Cut Emmy's Hair?

Um...That would be Daddy. Why? I have no idea. We were trying to grow her hair long and I wanted her bangs to be the same length as the rest. He was getting her ready for daycare the other day and was frustrated having her bangs hang into her eyes so he grabbed the scissors, sprayed her hair with a water bottle, and cut away. He called me at work and told me what he had done and said it didn't look good.

My thought...Isn't it usually the kid that cuts their own hair?? I can't believe he did this. It actually doesn't look as bad as he was describing to me over the phone. I brought her to the salon to get her hair fixed last weekend. Not sure they did very much...so I'm sweeping her hair to the side for now. Ugh!

Monte Visit

We took a drive out to Monte for the weekend and hung out with my family. Grandma Linda watched the girls while we went out for a couple of drinks downtown Saturday night. I certainly have outgrown the downtown scene. However, we did have a good time celebrating a bit with Scott. I wasn't able to be at home for his 40th birthday so we celebrated with him a week later.

Emmy had fun twirling grandma Linda's battons. She was teaching Emmy how to march.

On Sunday we drove out to the Swensson Farm Museum for their 1:00 open house tour. I thought we were going to be the only ones present. I was shocked...there were at least 20-25 people walking around the house/farm. It's been so long since I've been out there and things sure do appear differently some 20 years later. The Swensson Farm is located about a quarter mile from our family farm. We grew up going out here for Threshing shows, etc.

Brad had never been inside the house. We've always tried to scare him late at night with a drive-by. We dared him to go knock on the front door on Halloween night last year and he did it. I sat in the car and watched. Nothing happened, but he's heard so many stories from us about how this place is haunted and he had to experience it for himself.

He enjoyed the daytime tour with us. My mom was giving us a personal tour of the house. She knew some of the family members who actually lived there. It was fun to hear her personal stories.

In front of the Swensson Farm.

Me on the front steps.

Mom and Scott looking at an old photo of the Swensson family.

In one of the basements. They must have done some work down here. I don't remember it being this clean. I remember a dirt floor.

Mom in their kitchen.

Corn on the Cob

We had corn on the cob the other night. It was Emmy's first time eating it. Corn is one of her favorite things to eat. She's not a picky eater at all. She just doesn't like spicy things. She absolutely loved the corn on the cob. I put two little corn handles on the end for her and she devoured the whole little cob and wanted more. She thought this was the coolest thing ever! I think we'll be eating a lot more corn this summer!

Bumbo

Erin's sitting really well in her Bumbo. She likes sitting up. She's so happy.

Nappy Time

Too sleepy to even watch Mickey Mouse. Emmy fell asleep on daddy!

Erin's 4 Month Check Up

Erin had her 4 month check up on June 25th, 2010. She weighed 12 lbs and was 22 1/4 inches. She has certainly climbed the charts rather quickly. She is in the 10-25 percentile for her weight but only 3% for her length. She's a shorty. Her head size was 40.4 cm which measured in the 25-50 percentile. She's going to be like Emmy and have a big head.

She was supposed to receive her vaccinations this day. However, the doctor noticed some wheezing coming from Erin and wanted to monitor her over the weekend after getting some nebulizer treatments. We gave her a neb treatment every four hours all weekend long. On Tuesday, we went back to the clinic for a follow up. Her breathing was much better.

She was not happy about getting her shots. She's a tough cookie though. She didn't cry too long.

Here's a picture of her weighing in on the scale.

Catching Up

I'm so far behind on my posts. We've been keeping busy with the girls every day. Our weekends in the summer seem to book up really fast. We're either going somewhere or working in the yard, etc. I don't think we have one free weekend in July...and August is filling up fast as well.
I'm hoping to go through my photos and catch up with the blog from that.
I also haven't been able to get on our office computer because Brad has been working so much with his second job. This office computer is where we have all of our photos stored and I want to keep everything organized. It's hard for me to squeeze in time to work on that computer since Brad has had a permanent seat down there lately. I'll do my best to get back up to speed!

Erin's Rolling

Erin rolled over from front to back for the first time yesterday...way to go Erin! I think she could have done this sooner, however...I, for some reason, was working on getting her to roll over from back to front first. Not thinking, of course.

I was so excited for her when she rolled over. She didn't really get too excited. She just smiled back at me.

She really loves to kick. She is very squirmy, and when she lays on her back she will move around the whole blanket that I have her placed on. For example...if I lay her at a 12 o'clock position, she will completely turn around to 6 o'clock in no time. The first time she did this it shocked me. I was really confused and thought I was losing it. I could have swore I put her in this position/direction and then she was facing another direction! What??!!

She loves when I kiss her face really fast. We started to hear little giggles come out of her mouth about a week ago.

She tries to sit up all the time. She also loves to grab onto our fingers and pull herself up. She loves to talk and jabber.
She definitely knows who mommy is and loves to be close to me.

I also started putting Erin in her little jumper yesterday. I only let her jump for a few minutes. One of these days Emmy will grab onto it and let her go flying. I have to keep an eye on her.

I can't believe she'll be 5 months next week! Wow...where did the time go?!

3 Month Photos

I am late getting Erin's 3 month photos posted to the blog. I had the girls' pictures taken last month. Erin was a model child until I put the little hat on her head. She didn't care for that at all.

Emmy was not cooperating during the photo session. She was actually trying to run all over the room and got through a locked door. We were able to get a few good shots. You wouldn't know she was a stinker in these photos. They are so precious!!

I have held thee in the palm of my hand

Erin Lynn was baptized at Lord of Life Lutheran Church on Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 11:00 am by Pastor Peter Geisendorfer-Lindgren. Her godparents are Tony & Christy Krusemark.

Erin wore the same baptismal gown that I wore when I was baptized 33 years ago. We also used this same gown for Emmy's baptism. It has special meaning since it was hand made by my grandma Gort.

Erin let out a little whimper while Pastor Peter poured the water over her head, but she didn't fuss much at all. She did really well throughout the service. However, little miss Emmy on the other hand didn't want to sit still during church. She played musical chairs between the whole family. She sat really well with Shelby and paid attention up front during the children's sermon, but then after that she made a big fuss so Brad brought her to the nursery.

There was another family who had their child baptized during the church service and three other babies were baptized after the service.

After church service, we had everyone over to our home for lunch. Erin received so many precious gifts. We are really blessed to have such great people in our lives.

Shelby, Ellie, Maya, Madi & Emmy all played inside Emmy's play tent. They wrote specific rules on the outside of the tent that read, " No boys alowde!!" How cute!!