Hold Me!

Many times a day I hear the words "Hold me" or the cries of Elijah asking to be held. Sometimes my inner voice says "enough already" but tonight after returning home from a Lenten Bible Study I'm grateful. As we arrived back in Saint Peter earlier this week Lydia instantly asked Gma LuAnn to hold her and as I think about it now she is blessed to have so many around her that are willing to hold and care for her. Just last week Auntie Amanda watched the kids so we could go out for Valentines and then Heidi and the girls came to visit as we packed things up in Saint Charles. Lydia loved the attention of the girls and I think she found a new best friend. Her and cousin Bella played with babies, pretended with the kitchen, rode the bike, and even packed themselves in a moving book. All the attention of the cousins this weekend also extended to Elijah, who spent most of Sat., Sun., and Mon. in some one's arms. He obviously adored the attention because he is now most content in my arms. We will have to work on slowly decreasing the need for constant contact, but it does prove the point that babies want human contact. How fortunate once again that he has loved ones to fulfill that need. I pray tonight for all those that don't feel loved.

Life in the Fast Lane

Happy Birthday Dear Lydia, Happy Birthday To You!! On Saturday we enjoyed beautiful weather with family and friends on my parent's sledding hill to celebrate Lydia's Second Birthday. The kids as well as adults enjoyed the sledding!! It was really fun to see Lydia actually talk about being two, recognizing that the cake was for her and that it was her birthday. I kind of got emotional thinking about her growing up so fast. Thanks to all that came out to celebrate!!


On to the next celebration, the Super Bowl. The day started out with high spirits as we prepared for a party at Charlie's Brother's house and we continued to cheer the Colts on till the end, but as you know it just wasn't in the cards this year for another Super Bowl ring. Either way I had fun making Super Bowl brownies which were nice looking, but not great to eat. I learned the hard way, literally, that if you put the mix in a bigger pan so that they are thinner that the time needs to be decreased. They were hard as rock, but cute to look at :) Lydia also enjoyed the evening playing with cousin Kyla and meeting Taylor and Trace, who she still talks about playing with. Eli even got into the game wearing his cute onesie that says "future quarterback".

This week we also celebrated Charlie's Birthday and got pictures taken at Sears all while getting stuck in my parents driveway at least once a day. Pictures went great and the photographer said Lydia did better than most 2 yr. olds. Must have turned over a new leaf because usually it takes a lot to get her to smile and not have to be sitting on daddy's lap. What a great relief!! Wow how much can we pack in one week you might be wondering, but there's more...

We are moving back to Saint Peter!!! Charlie put in his notice today that we will be moving back to Saint Peter to transition the dairy herd on his family's farm over to us starting March 1st. We still have a lease down in St.Charles until March 31st so we will move our belongings up later and live with my parent's for a couple months while trying to figure out living arrangements as close as possible to the dairy farm. We are so excited to be coming back to town!!


Elijah says "So Big" He is now weighing in at 11 lbs. 13 oz.

Almost Two Years Old?!?

Can it be that our little girl is almost Two? Yes!! Just a week away and we will officially be enjoying the Terrific Twos!! Lydia continues to make us smile each day with her enjoyment for life. We have been to the play area at the Apache Mall several times this month with the cold temperatures and it is fun to see her run around and even attempt to interact with other kids. She now talks about the "park" and sliding frequently during the day. Another "getting out of the house" activity this week was going to the St.Charles Elementary School to take a walk. It's the coolest thing - they invite community members to walk at the elementary and high school in the evenings, so we decided to get some exercise. I did some speed walking with Elijah in the sling and Charlie maintained a watchful eye over Lydia. She enjoyed climbing the stairs, chasing daddy, and playing with the balls she found in the hallway. It's funny because I try to get her to roll the ball back and forth with me at home which she doesn't do, but at the school she wanted us to sit in the middle of the hallway and roll the ball. Today we also brought out markers which is something new because I just found some in a box I was going through. Anyway at X-mas time I had traced Lydia's hand for making reindeer antlers and ever since she likes to have me trace her hand. Today was no different, but she also wanted to trace mine which was pretty cute to watch. The only downfall is that markers leave marks on your hands :( Thank goodness someone invented washable markers!!

Well enough about our little, I mean big girl, Elijah is also growing and amazing us each day. He is picking up his head more, staying awake longer, and even started testing out the bottle. It is amusing because he drinks it down, but then spits it out like a camel. How it comes out with such force while the nipple is still in his mouth makes me smile. Oh, and I can't go without talking about some diaper incident. The other day Lydia, "the diaper helper", insisted on getting out the Pee Pee Tee pee which I obliged and put on him, but while trying to accomplish the wiping, desitin, and re-diapering Eli peed with such force that it shot the Pee Pee Tee pee right off and we had pee running down the side of the changing table. I almost think I should rename the blog something about pee and poop because it definitely consumes my life. To make it even more funny, every time we go to change Eli, Lydia proclaims in a loud voices, "Oh Poop!!" over and over again.