Christmas

Another year has quickly come and gone, and what a blessed year it was!  We sold out town home in 2 days, moved in with our parents/in-laws, built a home, had a healthy and very happy baby, and moved into our new place.  Nate and I continue to have good jobs, we have good health, and have a healthy and "spirited" two year old on top of our healthy "big boy".  God is good, and has been very good to us! 

We decided this year that we were going to spend Christmas at home even though I didn't have to work.  It was so nice to just hang out at home with our family.  Christmas eve we went to church and then over to Mema & Boppa's for dinner.  John, Cheryl, Lauryn, Dave, and J joined us for dinner.  It was so nice to see them and get to spend that time with them.  Ava is super excited that she got asked to be the flower girl in Dave & Lauryn's wedding.  They are so very special to us!!!  Christmas morning we got up and did our stockings.  Uncle Wes, Aunt Janna, Mema, & Boppa came over and we opened all of our gifts and had a very yummy brunch.  The rest of the day was spent reading books, playing toys, etc.  It was just a nice low key day.

Friday afternoon we packed up the Traverse and headed south.  We had to stop only once to feed Grant and have dinner before we arrived at Grandma & Grandpa's that evening around 8:30.  Nate went down to my Grandma's to watch the gopher game while I stayed home and put the kids to bed.  Saturday was spent pretty much eating all day, or at least that's how I felt.  There was so much food and for some reason I couldn't stay away from it.  Ava loved playing with her cousins while Grant enjoyed being held, cuddled, and kissed 24/7.  We opened presents after nap time and before we knew it, Santa and Mrs. Clause arrived.  We then had a nice dinner and I somehow made room for my mom's dessert.  Ava was once again up until 10:00 playing with her cousins.  She was exhausted, but had such a great time.  She got to sleep on Grandma & Grandpa's bedroom floor with all her cousin's, and they had story time in the big bed each morning. 

Sunday morning we went to Grandma Great's to have our last Christmas celebration.  We spent the entire day up there.  It was great to see everybody there, and it was so nice that we didn't have to rush out of there in order to get home that evening.  Nate took Monday off so that we could spend the extra day down there.  So Monday morning we packed up, made a quick stop at the bank to tell Grandma good-bye, and then headed home.  New Year's Eve was very low key as we stayed in and hung out. 

Grant is now 10 weeks old, which means that I have to head back to work very shortly.  Just 11 more days and I'll be returning.  That means that Grant has 11 days until he figures out how to sleep through the night.  Last Friday, while at my parent's house he slept from 11:40 pm until 6:40 am.  Amazing!  Now we just need a repeat performance...on a nightly basis.  Last night he was up at 2 am.  Granted, he gets up only once a night but sleeping through the night sure would be nice for when I return back to work.  I remember that Ava started to consistently sleep through the night at 11 weeks.  Hopefully Grant will do the same!

Well I'm exhausted so I'll sign off for the night.  I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a Wonderful and blessed 2013!

 After Christmas Eve service

 Boppa, Grant, Mema, & Ava

 All the grandkids with their piggy banks, which they put money into every time they spend the night at Grandma & Grandpa's. 

 Mema and princess Ava reading princess stories.

 Ava trying to get to the bottom of her stocking...wouldn't want to miss anything

 "Dr. Ava" is what she calls herself.  I have to tell you, we got our money's worth out of that doctors kit after the first day...I'm so tired of playing Dr. 

 Mema & Grant chatting and smiling

All smiles!

A little smooch for Jakob.

Cousin Jakob could not get enough of Grant.  He would have held him and given him kisses all day long. 

Grandma Becker made aprons for the grandkids.

All the kids watching for Santa and his reindeer to leave.  I tried to upload a picture of Santa, Mrs. Clause, and the kids but I think I hit my limit on pictures.  I'll try again later. 

Ava loves her Dora stuff from Grandma Great

Early morning story time in Grandma & Grandpa's bed.  Grant joined in after he had breakfast.  All of the grandkids (minus Grant) had a slumber party on Grandma & Grandpa's bedroom floor.

Grant & Dave having a little chat

Grandma Great with all the great grandkids

Snuggle/nap time with Grandma Great

Ava & Grandpa

 Grant's 10 week picture.  We've gotten lazy and didn't do a sign yet again.  And yes, he's in his pj's getting ready for bed.  Sometimes we don't get around to these things until the last minute. 

Pictures/8 weeks old

We have had many requests for pictures of the house so I'm posting a few. It will hopefully give you some idea of what our new place looks like.  We got two boxes of blinds as of this morning, the others are supposed to arrive around Friday.  I can't wait for them to be installed!!!  Then we'll just be waiting on our new furniture. 

Today also marks Grant's 8 week birthday. Sadly enough I had to go to the basement and dig out the 6-9 month onesies. I can not believe that my 8 week old baby is wearing 6-9 month clothes. He is growing way to fast!!! I do love how he is now smiling and "talking" more. We are so lucky that he is such a happy baby!

Our house

Our living room with our TV that once looked big in our old house.  Yes, a new TV and media center is on our Christmas list. 

Looking at the staircase from the living room

Kitchen and eating area

Play room

Looking down onto the living room and eating area from the top of the stairs

Ava's room

Grant's room

Master bath with that awesome "curtain".  I knew that batik sarong that I bought in Sri Lanka would come in handy some day.  :)

Our happy little (big) guy!

Ava of course wanted her picture taken as well.

This would be her "silly face".  Thank you Uncle Wes and Janna for teaching her this. 

Ava really is good with Grant.  I left them alone like this for a few minutes this morning though while I ran up to brush my teeth.  All of a sudden I heard Grant squawk.  I ran out of my room and asked Ava what she was doing.  She replied, "I was just picking a boogie out of his nose".  She sometimes needs reminders that we don't touch his face.

Looking for her M&Ms this morning as her reward for going on the potty.  We have our good days and bad days with potty training.  Yesterday she after she pooped on the potty she asked me, "Mommy, what do I turn on so that my poop doesn't stink?" (meaning the fan).  She does make me laugh.

One more Ava story.  I managed to get a quick hair appointment on Saturday morning so I left Nate alone with the kids.  I pumped Grant a bottle so he could eat while I was gone.  Ava had asked if she could watch Dora and I told her that maybe she could when Daddy fed Grant.  She looked at Nate very seriously and said, "Daddy, do you have boobies?" thinking that he was going to nurse him.  How cute and innocent!

Time with the Veldmans

This past week we got to spend lots of time with the Veldman family. Aunt Sandy stopped by earlier this week to see our new place and to visit. She was kind enough to bring us a beautiful poinsettia for our new place, and brought Ava an ornament for our tree. Ava gave her the grand tour of the house before loading up Aunt Sandy's lap with books for her to read to her.

Thursday Aunt Carolyn, cousin Steph, and baby Andrew were in the twin cities and were nice enough to stop by before heading back to Hollandale.  Steph & Andrew live in Nebraska so we had yet to meet Andrew, who was born only 6 days after Grant.  As you can see from the pictures below, he's a bit more slender and active than Grant.  :)  Ava made sure that she kept Aunt Carolyn busy reading books while I visited with Steph & Andrew.  Thank you ladies (and Andrew) so much for taking the time to visit.  It was so nice to see you guys and meet Andrew!  He is a doll!

Saturday held a first for Grant...his first (and hopefully last) trip to the ER. Our friend's little boy had his 1st birthday party on Saturday so the four of headed over to help them celebrate.  We were getting ready to leave and decided to change Grant real quick before heading home.  He was on the floor on his changing pad and there was a little boy next to us rocking in a little rocking chair.  Well he leaned over to far and the rocking chair came down onto Grant's head with the little boy in it.  Of course Ava was next to me and she got hit by the chair (not hard) as well.  Grant obviously started crying very loud and hard.  After a couple of minutes he calmed down and was fine except for the large bruise and swelling on his head.  After getting home I decided just to call our pediatrician's clinic to see if they thought we should have him looked at.  They told us to take him to the ER to be seen since he was so little.  I took him in while Nate stayed home with Ava who was taking her nap.  I got there and they took us right back to a room even though their sign in the waiting room said the wait was 1-2 hours.  The Dr. ordered a CT scan of his head to make sure that there was no bleed or fracture.  Thankfully everything looked fine and we were out of the ER in just over an hour.  We were so grateful that he was ok, and were once again reminded how quickly our life could have changed (this coming just a day after the Connecticut school shooting which makes any parent especially grateful for the opportunity to snuggle with their children and tell them how much you love them). 

Today was our first of many Christmas celebrations.  We went to Hollandale for the big Veldman Christmas.  It was so nice to see everybody, and introduce Grant to them.  He got a lot of snuggle time, while Ava had a great time playing with Rachel.  The drive was shorter this year since we're now in the southern suburbs rather than the north...an added bonus.  :)


One side note before signing off for the night.  When we got to the ER Saturday they had me put Grant on the scale.  I was thinking he weighed around 12 lbs.  When I saw the number I about died...15 lbs 1 oz.  Are you kidding me?  This kid is only 7 weeks old and already weighs 15 lbs.  I guess I don't have to worry if he's getting enough milk while nursing.  He's a solid little man!

Grant passed out and Andrew ready to party

Ava giving the boys a little love

The 2 Steph's with their boys

Nana & Grant having a nice conversation

Ava, Nana, & Grant

Ava loves this little peek-a-boo bear that Nana got for Grant.  The look on her face is priceless...love to see that pure joy. 

Snow, snow, and more snow

Our weekend was not what we had planned for, but it was good nonetheless. We talked to Grandma & Grandpa bright and early on Saturday morning and they said that they were unable to come. Grandpa had to go to the ER in the middle of the night due to an issue with his leg. He is currently getting better, but they had to spend the weekend at home. We were very disappointed but understood. We'll now have to wait until after Christmas to see them.

  It was probably better that Grandma and Grandpa didn't come...it would have been a miserable drive home on Sunday. It started snowing late on Saturday and just kept coming down. We got about 11 inches. We had to shovel our driveway 6 times to keep up with it. I have to say that I was very jealous of the guy across the street with the snow blower. Perhaps that will go on our wish list for next year. Before the snow started to fly on Saturday, Mema and Boppa came over to visit and have dinner with us. Ava was so excited to see them and she greeted Mema with a big hug saying, "I missed you so much".

Sunday and Monday were pretty much spent inside. Monday was miserably cold so the kids and I didn't leave the house. Daddy unfortunately had to go to work and it took him over an hour to get there on the bus. The ride home wasn't any better as he got home an hour late. One more reason I hate winter.

We did finally make it out of the house this afternoon. Aunt Sandy came to visit us this morning. She was nice enough to read with Ava and then snuggled Grant while Ava and I had lunch. It was nice to see her and Ava was able to show her our new place.

Grant turned 7 weeks old today. I know that I always say this, but I can't believe how quickly this time has gone. I don't remember it going this fast with Ava. Grant seems to change and get bigger daily. He's already wearing 6 month clothes. There is nothing petite about this guy! Ava continues to adore him and runs to his aide when he starts to cry. She really is a good big sister (even if she does put all of her weight on his stomach when she's trying to force his pacifier into his mouth).

Ava has her second day of daycare tomorrow so I'm hoping that Grant and I can get some errands done. We have plenty to do! We'll see how productive we are.

 Hanging up another ornament

 She loves her brother

 Love these little booties made by one of Mema's friends

 Just chill'n with my man dress and booties on before bedtime

 "Are you kidding me with this sign?"

 "Ok, one picture"

 "Put that camera away or else..."

After Grant got his 7 week pictures taken Ava wanted to make sure that she got her picture taken as well.

We moved

Well we finally did it, we moved!!!  We closed on our new home last Thursday afternoon, moved our stuff in on Friday, and spent our first night in the new house Friday night (except for Ava who stayed at Mema & Boppa's for one more night).  We are very grateful to our family who helped us move and get settled in.  Boppa helped us unload the POD on Thursday afternoon and then took Friday off work to help load the Uhaul of stuff from his house and bring it into our new place.  Does anybody else find it odd that he didn't take a day off work to help us move into his place, but took a day off to help us move out?  :-)  Aunt Darlene & Great Grandma Parr came up Friday morning so that they could help watch Grant which freed me up to help move stuff and run errands that needed to get done right away; like going to homestead our house which they gave us 1 day to get done.  Saturday morning Uncle Brent, Aunt Lisa, and cousins Zack & Reece came.  Everybody helped in their own way (even Reece as he played with Ava).  A huge thank you to my sister who helped get this place in order very quickly.  We got most of the house organized except for one room by Sunday afternoon.  Unfortunately there hasn't been much progress since they left, which proves that I don't know what I would have done without their help.  These two kiddos have kept me quite busy so everything that doesn't yet have a place goes into the front room.  This works for now since there is currently no furniture in there as we await our  new furniture. 

Although most things are put away, by no means is our house complete.  Like I said before, we are still awaiting furniture.  We are also waiting for our window treatments to arrive.  Unfortunately it will probably be another 3 weeks before we have them.  In the meantime we are the white trash family of the neighborhood with sheets up over our bedroom windows.  If you would like a tour of our home all you have to do is drive by at night.  We have no coverings over our windows downstairs so you can see Everything going on in our home.  This freaks me out beyond belief.  I hate that people can see everything that we're doing, wearing, etc.  I especially hate that people can see my kids.  I understand that we don't live in the ghetto, but there are creepy people everywhere! 

Ava had her first day at her new daycare on Wednesday.  We stopped over at Cyndi's (her new daycare provider) house on Tuesday for about thirty minutes just so Ava could meet her again and Cyndi could meet Grant.  I dropped her off on Wednesday morning and she didn't even want to give me a hug and kiss good-bye.  She blew me a kiss from across the room and kept playing.  It was then that I knew she was going to be just fine.  I spend so much time worrying about how she's going to adjust to all these changes, and she does just fine each and every time.  It just goes to show that worrying is a waste of time.  She had a great day there and even used the potty all day long.  Of course she came home and peed in her diaper here.  Go figure.  While she was at daycare Grant and I went to my eye doctor appointment.  Good news...my eyes are back to normal and I can start to try to wear my contacts once again.  I am so grateful to have my vision back, and am most definitely looking forward to trying to get back into contacts full time again.

Thursday morning Ava headed out for her first day of preschool.  I don't know how much like a preschool it is, but we call it that.  It's at a church not too far from our house. Cyndi has a 2 yr old son who attends and recommended it to us.  Ava gathered her Dora backpack and new Minnie lunch box and we were out the door.  We walked in the door and before I even got her coat off she says, "bye mom".  She did give me a hug and kiss good-bye this time and was then off to play.  She is there from 9:30-2:00.  They don't take naps there so she was exhausted after I picked her up and fell asleep on the 10 minute drive home.  She's already talking about how excited she is to go back next week. 

Tomorrow morning Grandma & Grandpa Becker will arrive to spend the rest of the weekend with us.  We're excited to spend some time with them, show them our new place, and let them love on our kids.  Hopefully I can get a little more unpacking and organizing done while I have some extra hands here to help with the kids.  They will be shocked at how big Grant has gotten, and how much he is smiling.  Today he started cooing a bit more and was full of smiles tonight.  He is growing so fast.  I can't believe that 6 weeks has already passed.  But then again, I can't believe how quickly 2 1/2 yrs has gone with Ava.  Speaking of Ava once again, I just have to say what a great big sister she is.  Today Grant was crying and she ran over to him, covered him up with her blankie and laid down with her head on his belly telling him, "it's ok buddy, I'm here, you're ok".  Shockingly enough, he stopped crying and the two of them just laid there.  She is so kind and gentle with him.  I hope that she continues to be this way not only with him but with others that she meets in life. 

I think that's all for now.  Thanks for checking in and enjoy your weekend!

Our little 5 week old farmer once again looking like an old man

 Ava helping Uncle Brent put Grant's crib together

 A family photo on our new front porch

 Grant was super happy about turning 6 weeks old even though he didn't have a sign

Look at that double chin.  You can't see it here but he has his Daddy's dimple hidden in those big cheeks.

 How is it that Daddy always gets the naps and Mommy gets the middle of the night feedings?!?

 1st day of preschool...a Dora backpack and Minnie lunch box