Two!

Norah turned two a week ago!  Life is moving so fast...I can't believe that I no longer have a baby, but a toddler.  Norah has the biggest personality--so sweet, feisty, independent, smart, funny...the list could go on!  She is definitely an entertainer and loves to sing and dance.  Her favorites to sing are songs from Frozen, Sunshine (You are my Sunshine), and the ABCs.  She loves her babies, and was so thrilled to get many new doll items for her birthday this year.  She loves to be doing whatever Abby is doing (playing dollhouse, Barbies, etc.), so is bummed when Abby closes her door in need of some time away.  Norah is definitely our persistent child.  If she has an idea in mind of how something should be done, she will make sure it happens that way.  When Abby has homework, Norah insists that she needs to be doing homework as well.  Hopefully that trait continues as she gets older!  As Norah's stubborn and independent side continues to get stronger, we are trying to figure out ways to pick our battles, use choices, and remain patient during meltdowns!  She is not the greatest sleeper, and seems to wake up easily in the middle of the night.  She goes in streaks--a bad week, then a couple of good weeks, etc.  We thought that taking away her pacifier (her "nigh-night") might help her settle herself down easier in the middle of the night (because then she wouldn't need us to find it for her).  We took it away a couple of weeks ago, and it was a rough first two nights, but got much better!  She and Dave have a routine where she insists they need to "bock-a-bye" (lay on the couch or chair) before she can go to bed.  She also needs her blankie and two "bobots" (pink robot lovies).  She's getting much better about sitting and reading books for a longer time.  ECFE is going much better since our rocky start in the fall...for Norah, she needs to get into a routine and that is what has seemed to help her adjust.  We are thankful for her class's para, Lisa, who reached out to Norah early on and formed a bond with her.  Now Norah is so excited to see "Wisa" every Thursday night.  Norah's latest thing lately is to want to ride the rocking horse my parents gave us for Christmas and "show Grandpa".  Basically, she wants to Skype anyone who is around and show them how fast she can go on her horse.  Norah has become kind of a picky eater, but loves fruit and anything sweet she can convince someone to give her.  We'll go in next Friday for her 2-year checkup and I'll update her weight/height.  We love our sweet little Norah!

Snow fun

It has been a pretty terrible winter here, but we FINALLY got some warmer weather on Sunday--the snow is starting to melt (although we are supposed to get a little more tomorrow), and the temperature was perfect for some fun in the snow last night.  Abby could spend all day outside in the snow--she loves the snow hills at home, at daycare, and at school.  Norah is quickly learning to follow her lead--she loves sledding and insists on trying to hike up the hill herself each time.

Puppy party

Lots of catching up to do!  We'll start from this past weekend and try to work backwards if I can...

With Norah and Abby's birthdays just a month apart and family traveling from Iowa, etc., a joint birthday party seems to work out the best.  We always enjoy having people come up to our house to celebrate, and it's a fun excuse to plan a little theme and make some fun treats.  This year, Abby thought that Norah should have a puppy party, since she loves dogs.  We were going to possibly throw in some Hello Kitty for Abby, but decided it would be easier to just stick with puppies.  I found a cute cupcake idea in a cookbook and kept the rest of it pretty simple--found a tablecloth, plates, napkins, and bought some coordinating cups, straws, etc.  We borrowed a friend's plastic dog bowls that she had used for her daughter's puppy birthday party in the fall.  We had hot dogs, puppy chow, Scooby snacks, plus other picnicky foods.  My sister made puppy cookies to enjoy with our puppy cupcakes.  My grandmas and three of my aunts, in addition to my parents, Dave's parents, my brother, sister, and cousin came up for the party.  The girls were spoiled with many wonderful gifts and we were lucky to have my brother, cousin, and two of my aunts spend the night so we could enjoy some game-playing time.  We also lucked out with the weather--after months of terrible-weather weekends, the weather this weekend was perfect!

Christmas

It has been a busy and FAST month of December!  We've had a lot of fun celebrating Christmas, and still have one celebration to go this weekend with Dave's parents.  Here is what we've been up to:

Early in December, we visited Santa.  We always love going to Kubes Realty in New Prague--this year, it was way too cold to be outside, so they moved Santa inside.  Abby was excited to see Santa, but Norah didn't want anything to do with him...  Dave had to work, but we were glad that his mom was able to join us.

The week before Christmas, Dave joined Abby at school to make a gingerbread house.  Here she is with her creation:

We knew that our Christmas week would be busy with traveling and celebrating with extended family, so we did our Christmas with just the four of us the Friday night before Christmas.  We watched part of "A Christmas Story" and had fun opening gifts.

Abby had her Christmas program at church the Saturday and Sunday before Christmas.  They only had three practices in the weeks leading up to it, but it turned out really cute.

After Sunday's Christmas program, we drove down to Albert Lea to celebrate Christmas with Dave's extended family.  We had a great turkey meal, the kids opened presents, we had treats, and Santa visited.  Norah was not thrilled once again to have to see Santa...

Christmas Eve day we drove down to Iowa for lunch at my grandma Carlson's house.  This year, we had a variety of yummy soups for lunch before the little kids opened up presents.  Of course it wouldn't be complete without treats and homemade ice cream in the afternoon...  We went to the Christmas Eve service at my grandma's church that night.

We spent Christmas Eve at my aunt and uncle's new house, and the girls were up at a little after 7 to see what Santa had brought.  Norah got two tractors and Abby got a Leap Pad and some ballet clothes for her American Girl doll.  We had a great breakfast (our family's traditional caramel pecan rolls/cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs) and when my mom and sister joined us, we opened presents with everyone on my dad's side of the family.  Unfortunately, my dad was sick with the flu so had to stay back at the hotel.  We had a fun day of playing games, Minute to Win It, kazoo concerts, Family Feud, a yummy soup lunch, and more.

On Thursday, we drove to Rochester to celebrate Christmas with my parents and siblings.  We hung out that afternoon, then opened presents and had a pizza supper.

We have been thoroughly enjoying the rest of our winter break and just some down time at home, playing with new toys and even enjoying a little bit of time in the snow on one of our few nice days lately.  Looking forward to a few more days at home before heading back to work and school!