And I will praise You in this storm...

Our Love Story

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

After reading many of the "What's Your Love Story" from this beautiful mama's link up I decided I better jump on the bandwagon. Everyone loves a follower, no?

1. How long have you and your significant other been together? Oh boy. The husband and I met when I was just about to turn 15. 10+ years ago friends, crazy! We were friends first, which to me, there is nothing better. It is awesome being married to my best friend. Anyways, back to this. We made it official later on, but lets just say we have been together for about 8 years. With one or two short breakups...but other than that, its been a loooong time ;)

oh my goodness we look SO young. (my graduation party, circa June 2005)

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?} We met in highschool through friends of friends. Actually it started with their 'group of friends' that coached my younger brother's basketball team. Thanks Chrissy!

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell} We have been married for 4 years - this year will be our 5th year, crazy!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small? We got married at Joshua's grandparents church and then had the reception at a hotel. And...definitely big. SO big. like served about 430 people big. But it was fabulous.

Our wedding party. It was a party, y'all. And it was fabulous.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share! Oh the usual's, 'babe', 'honey', 'love', and a few others......

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey. He loves me. The good, the bad, the ugly. He is a wonderful dad. He loves his baby girl and boy, does she love her daddy. Melts my heart. He is my best friend. I love that he is the first person I call and the person I trust the most.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal? We had plans to celebrate Christmas & such, we went out to dinner (I almost ruined by wanting to go to my younger brother's basketball game, but he assured me if I still wanted to go after our 'gifts' that we could go) and then back to his parents (sans parents) house to exchange gifts. I was completely shocked at the proposal, as he was a sneaky little guy and of course, had me thinking it would be much farther away. I gave him my gift {laker's blanket? No idea of what it actually was} and then he said some beautiful, wonderful, sappy words and I melted. And he proposed.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals? I have gotten champagne and rose petals, but I would say he is definitely more of a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy ;)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch? Can I say both?! I would LOVE a sunset dinner on the beach, but we are most of the time pop a movie and cuddle on the couch couple

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere? Oh I would love a trip overseas or to some secluded tropical island vacation in a {luxurious} hut over water. You know what I'm talking about. BLISS, people, bliss.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day. We dont have plans as of now. With the hubs working some crazy long hours we just haven't planned anything. Hopefully a nice dinner?

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day? So many things! But, since we are on a tight ~~tight~~ budget, I am thinking I might get flowers. Maybe. Ha!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love. Oh boy. I would say affirmation. Maybe it's one of my love languages (poor hubby, I have a little bit of each love language) but it goes along with respecting each other and building each other up. Life is tough, even if you have it 'easy'. So throw in everything that life throws at you and then add a marriage {plus kids adds a whole other category} it is nothing easy. That affirmation {& communication all around} is huge. Especially if you are a stayathomemomwhobarelygetsinaweeklyshower ;)

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you I have a few pictures, but this is on my computer and that doesnt involve me getting up and scanning in ;)

Love this man.

weekly meal plan

2012-02-06T12:31:00.002-06:00

I decided to link up with Molly at Duchess of Fork with her weekly meal planning! After the past weekend of eating ~~everything in sight~~ wayyyy to much, I needed to regroup and put together our weekly meal plan. It should be just fruit & veggies for me, but since we are low, ill have to wait for a major detox. I am not going grocery shopping (besides to get K's milk) for another 15 days. If this happens, it will be monumentous, friends. I have been going 2-3 times per week. Just to get a few 'quick' things that I usually forget, but the husband has put a stop to this. We will see how I do :)

Here is our meal plan! I am in LOVE with this printable. It makes my heart happy.

Monday: leftover from the superbowl Cream Cheese Sausage Balls {a la Molly} (not healthy, but delicious)
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Leftover Tacos
Thursday: Pulled Pork {havent figured out the sides just yet}
Friday: Leftover Pork {pulled pork sandwiches, tacos, etc}
Saturday: I dont want to go out, but it's hard for me to decide on a Saturday meal. Probably because I am used to eating out practically every Saturday since college...ridiculous I know.
Sunday: Meatloaf

I am going to try and have salad/special k for lunch everyday this week. Without eating Kal's remnants {I hate throwing food away!}

Hope you're having a great Monday!

Friday funnies

2012-02-03T11:07:00.004-06:00

Happy Friday!

I took this video last weekend before we headed out and had to post, it was too funny! This was about 10 minutes after they started too! Please excuse my insane high voice. I dont know what happened and I really hope I dont sound like that in real life! Yikes!

Be sure to mute the music at the bottom........

Hope everyone has a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

wednesday randoms

2012-02-01T09:44:00.001-06:00

Last week I was feeling a bit, um, frazzled. For no apparent reason, but I think it has to do with the husband in FULL busy season mode. I dont know how you single momma's, momma's of husbands work 13+ hour days, do it. I dont. Anyways, on to more randomness

-Busy season stinks. s.t.i.n.k.s. I am so thankful the husband has a wonderful job in the accounting world but my oh my, my days have been long. {no, I wouldn't trade them for the world, but I am not going to say that they are easy peasy}

-I havent worked out in forever. I was consistently going when K would go to bed at night. But, the sister wakes up and since said husband comes home to say hi to Kali and then works from home, well it just hasnt worked out for me to, workout. I guess I better break out the Jillian Michaels dvd's....she does kick my butt.

-I have lived in leggings for the last week? 2 weeks? I dont even know. They are wonderful. WONDERFUL. A mama's best friend. Sure, I changed out of them for a few things (birthday parties/church) but you can bet your bottom dollar I was in them about 2.7 seconds after I got home ;) J asked me the other day if I own anything else.....oops ;)
-I am thankful that although he asked me that, he really doesnt care. (or if he does he doesnt tell me ;). He's a keeper, that one.
-I really would love a vacation. Sunny California sounds fabulous. Since that is not in the budget this year, I guess ill just keep dreaming (literally, I have been dreaming about it, practically every night)
-I know everyone says this, but I cannot believe how fast K is growing up. Slllllllooooooooooowwwwwww down child!
-I haven't subbed since before Christmas. There just hasnt been much, and since I watch mr. A on certain days, I'm a bit limited as well. I miss it.
-Speaking of mr. A, him & kk are playing so much during the days. Hilarious to watch. I need to get a video of it.
-I usually have 3-4 blog posts going at once. You would never guess with my 2-3 posts per week (on a ~~good~~ great week), but I do. I dont know if I just get lazy with them......or if I start 'thinking' of what I am actually saying and dont post ;)
-I only have 24 emails in my inbox. 24!! That is awesome. I normally have 100 or more, and I am too paranoid to delete things (like student loan payment statements, etc), even though I print everything too. Weird, I know. It has been driving me crazy though, so during yesterday's nap after I picked up, I deleted. And it felt fabulous.
-I sing Baby Beluga WAY to much. Like in the shower, at target, in the car, way, way to much. Kallen loves that book like it's not going to be here tomorrow so we sing/read it all the time. I have it in my head now, weird.

-I cant believe you are still reading if you are. I can be way more random than this, but ill reign it in so I can go workout. For the first time, in like week(s). But I really just want to come home after dropping K off and sleep, Ha!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

I need to lock my fridge...

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

...no, not for me ~~even though it will probably help me~~, but for miss K.

Girlfriend learned how to open the refrigerator...

showing me that daddy forgot his sandwich

and now it is a daily battle.

Seriously, every.single.day she is in that place.

We ~~might~~ are going to target tomorrow to get one of those locks for the fridge.

Oh? And do you see those nice little organic ~~meaning $$~~ eggs at the bottom? Yeah, the next day she rolled those all over the floor and well, let's just say they are on the target list too. Ha! I wish I had pictures but it was SUCH a mess.

What a little stink.

Now only if she can learn to pour momma a glass of wine...I kid, I kid. Sorta.

Happy Monday!!

Snow day

2012-01-25T12:30:00.000-06:00

It has finally snowed in MN and I am hoping it will stay this time! I am not a huge fan of the cold, but boy, I love a winter wonderland! And since we hardly had any for Christmas, I was just itching to get Kalpal out to play!

Monday seemed like the perfect day to get the babe out in the snow! We had errands and such before her afternoon nap (in hopes to wear her out extra good) so once we got home I laid her down, and amazingly took an almost 2 hour nap! Bliss, friends. Pure bliss. When she woke up, she had a snack and since it was already starting to get dark I quickly bundled her up and out we went! Kal has LOVED looking outside when it snows. And whenever we let Kobe outside, she always runs to the door and points to go outside and at the snow. Naturally, I thought she would love it. I dont know why I thought that, but I did. Ill let the pictures show the rest..........

Right before we headed out

Get me out of here!!!!

I think it's safe to say that we will wait a little while before we try that again...

Happy Wednesday, friends!

book worm

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

I love reading. When I was younger, I would get in trouble for staying up to late reading. rebel, I know. But really. I loved it. I read all the time. I got burnt out in college with all the readings so other than a devotional or required reading for class, I didnt really read much. And then when I was on bedrest with sweet Emma I started back up and havent stopped. Sure, I go through spurts of reading a book in 3 days instead of it taking me a couple weeks, but for the most part, I have always a book (or 2!) going. Dont get me wrong, I love me some reality tv, but there is just something about a good book :) Anyways, I have dreamed about reading to my babies. I started my collection of children's books during college because one of my cooperating teachers recommended to start collecting books now for your classroom. So we have many and there is no end in sight (despite what the husband may say...).

Miss K LOVES her some books. My oh my does that girl want to read. Over, over and over again ~~and again.~~ I know this is such a wonderful thing that can really help them develop and grow so every time she brings millions of books to me I try to be extra enthusiastic and encourage any reading time she wants. even if we have read the same book 59372094 bazillion times.

She loves the touch & feel books. Those are really her favorites. Her close seconds would be singing books, as in momma sings. Those would be Jesus Loves Me, Baby Beluga, You are my Sunshine, The more we get together, etc.

She also loves Ladybug girl. I have read that book more times that I can count/imagine.

I love my little book worm and cant wait to read an infinity more times!

Walk the dinosaur..err toddler??

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

Kal got a ride along dinosaur for her Birthday and has been loving riding it all over. All over. This weekend, she kept wanting her daddy to push her, so after daddy had spent ~~over an hour~~ quite a bit of time pushing her back and forth in the living room, daddy got smart.

He leashed that dino up and what do you know?! He was able to walk the ~~dinosaur~~...err toddler all over the house!

They were going pretty fast, so I really wasnt able to get great pictures, ha!

And dont be fooled by the lack of smiles, friends. She was LOVING it!

She has even been walking the dinosaur as well! Awesome.

The not so awesome part of all this is now she wants to do it all.the.time. I am not joking, she knows where Kobe's leash is and tries to get it every second, and will even push/drag the dino to the garage door because she wants the leash put on. Oye. Maybe my new workout can be walking the dino? Or would it be considered walking the toddler? Ha!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Aren't all the girls wearing dog chains?

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hey mama, since you dont wear necklaces that often (because I am constantly pulling at them) I decided to make my own necklace

from Kobes dog collar...

Doesnt it look cute?

I think ill start a trend

I kind of like it

Aren't all the girls wearing dog chains as necklaces?

I feel the need to disclaim that I was no more than a foot from her when she had this and no, we dont normally let our child play with the dog chain. :)

Kallen's party

2012-01-13T23:07:00.000-06:00

I am finally going to post about Kallen's birthday party! This post may be long, you have been warned. I was going to break into 2, but since this a ~~month~~ late, we will just stick with one.

I loved planning for Kal's first birthday. Yes, I was running around with my head cut of and stressed that last week before her party and was up late every single night, but it was wonderful and I would do it over again in a heartbeat. She is my baby, and my baby turning one deserved a whole shin-dig. despite daddy's request to ~~stop spending $$~~ keep it 'low key'.

Since said ~~baby~~ toddler was born in the frigid days of MN winter, the party was obviously to be held indoors. Boo. And since my side of the family ~~is the size of an army~~ is pretty large, we knew our ~~tiny~~ quaint little home wouldn't house all of them, well a new location was to be found. So, we held it in my dad's garage! Dont say 'redneck' just yet, my dad has a large open garage with a built in heater type (I'm not technical) so it was the place to do it. Okay, you can say redneck if you want :)

We went with a pink and orange theme that I fell in love with from where else but Pinterest!

I worked with Paige from Paiges of Style and she did a fabulous job on everything! I couldnt have been more pleased. Everything turned out beautifully!

We hung this on the wall, it is Kal's monthly pictures. I cannot believe the difference a year makes!

Cupcakes - courtesy of Sam's. So cheap! And delish!!

We had water with the labels {happy birthday kallen}, {1}, {kallen jayne nixon} and also sunkist, and pink lemonade {to go with the theme} (I dont think I have a picture of the drink station, bummer!)

For favors I made ornaments that I purchased from Michaels, and then personalized them

The birthday banner I made.....I wish I would have done orange paper & pink lettering, but it works nonetheless :)

I found this idea from Pinterest as well and I cannot wait for Kallen's 18th birthday so she can read them! It was a special way for those who were at her party to share their hopes & dreams for her!

We also made tons of the famous tissue pom poms for decor.

Even though auntie Nikki cant make them, we survived with enough that Katie and I made (right Katie?!!)

I didnt seem to get a picture of all the food, but we had different things throughout the spread to tie in the {pink & orange} theme. Such as, oranges, pink & orange gumballs, pink & orange jello fingers, goldfish & pink & orange sixlets!

And now for the pictures of the birthday girl herself!

Kal & grandpa

running around...ahh she looks so big!

She loved all her gifts, but loved the tissue paper so much!!

She was one blessed little girl!

Time for cake!

She dug right in!

I think she did pretty well :) Ha! Sister can eat!

If you have lasted through the end of this I'm impressed! We are so thankful for the wonderful family and friends that came to Kal's first birthday party. Thank you to all!! We had a wonderful time celebrating our sweet girl!!

13 months

2012-01-08T14:03:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe I just typed 13 months for the title. I might have some tears in my eyes. 13 months seems like 13 years! Way worse than 12 months for some odd reason.

Okay Kal, momma will stop being emotional...for now.

Dear KK (your newest nickname, no idea how that one came about),

You have seemed to grow up so much in this last month. You are ~~running~~ sprinting all over the place and you have the scrapes and bruises to prove it. You are a little monkey, too. Climbing on your chair and practically out of your crib. What?! Yes, I dont know what to do. Either you are going in the pack n play or I need to get one of those crib tent thingy's. Which I am sure will go over well...

You have a cheesey smile that I cannot seem to get on camera. But it is oh.so.adorable. and cheesy. You are signing please, especially when you want to read the same book for the 473948757120 time, momma cannot help but read again. Speaking of books, you love them. LOVE them. Your favorites are Jesus Loves Me (we sing that one), Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Fuzzy animals, Baby Beluga, I love you more, and so many more. We love to read :)

That doesnt mean the girl doesnt like to get her groove on. Girlfriend loves to dance! She shakes her booty, twists and turns, throws her hands up in the air, waves her arms around like she 'just dont care' Must get all her moves from her momma. Ha ha!

You are such a sweet little thing. You arent much of a cuddler, so when it happens I soak it up. You are constantly moving. When you have a bottle (she will NOT do a sippy. HELP!) you are still kicking your legs. I would love for some of your energy. Anyways, back to your sweetness :) You still love giving hugs.

poor adrian getting attacked :)

And you still are obsessed with Kobe. I love baby/puppy love. So sweet :) The lovey. You love your lovey. I have at least 5, because goodness gracious if we ever dont have a lovey, watch out.

You are still up throughout the night. I have come to terms with the fact that you just wont sleep straight through. That doesnt mean I wont keep trying everything in my livelong life but I will try and stop getting so surprised when I hear you :)

You talk/jabber from the second you are up in the morning until that pretty little head goes down at night. You say 'hedoo' {hello}, 'ahhh da' {all done}, 'dada' {dad}, 'momma', 'dag' {dog} and 'ma' {more}. There might be others but this is all a little loose talk anyways.....

Everything is a phone. The remote, sippy cup, stuffed animals, books, you name it. Everything goes up to the ear and you say 'hedoo'. Hilarious.

You get your eating habits from your momma too. Sister loves to eat. Her favorite is chesse. By far. You also love bananas, pears, broccoli, green beans, mac & cheese, crackers, tomatoes and applesauce to name a few. There isnt much (besides meat) that you dont love.

newest obsession: solo cups. It started at Adrian's first birthday and she saw the red ones in our pantry and plays with them all.the.time.

It is so difficult to get a picture of you these days.

We love you soo much Kallen! I am so thankful to spend my days with you and be your momma! I love you more than you'll ever know!

Christmas morning

2012-01-05T14:45:00.000-06:00

Christmas morning we went over to Uncle Jayson & Auntie Beth's!

Lets just say the kids made out good!

Kal just running on past the gifts...she was all sorts of crazy Christmas morning!

adorable feeding set! Thanks Auntie B & Uncle J!!

Finnster playing with a new toy!

Love these 3!!

We had such a wonderful morning! We are so blessed and loved celebrating such a wonderful day with our closest family members!

Almost done with the Christmas posts :) only one more (Christmas day) I believe!

Christmas eve

2012-01-02T21:09:00.001-06:00

Christmas Eve was such a wonderful day. We relaxed in the morning and then got ready for our church's Christmas eve service, it was SO good and always a wonderful message.

this isnt the greatest picture of us, but one of the only ones we got!

Uncle Dave & Auntie Ton came with us as well :)
After Christmas Eve service, we headed to Josh's aunt and uncle's house for a fabulous Korean meal. They make it every year and I am already bummed to miss next year. So good.

It is not easy getting a picture of this girl anymore! She is running all.over.the.place!

Being silly at great aunt Tammi & great uncle Daves

Christmas eve night, Kal is opening her new jammies to wear on Christmas day! New tradition? Check!

We had such a wonderful day & night! I was also prepared and didnt have to do much so Joshua and I watched Christmas Vacation and then headed to bed. I love that movie. Hilarious. I think that is going to be a new tradition.

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T09:55:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe how fast 2011 went! I thought life went by fast before a baby, yet this past year seriously went soo quick!

Here is Kallen last NYE. Such a tiny little babe!

Here is Kal on the 30th I believe....She is a crazy girl!

This year has been a wonderful crazy ride. It goes without saying that we miss our sweet Emma every single day and wish she was here. We are excited for the new year and all it holds!!!

Hope everyone has a fabulous New Year! We have a birthday party later today for mister Adrian! We cannot wait to celebrate his first birthday!!!

December 23rd

2011-12-30T13:31:00.000-06:00

Yes, yes I know. Get your stuff together Ang, it is the new year but I want to document our Christmas'! I am hoping to finish all this week :)

On December 23rd we celebrated with my family for our Danish Christmas, Lille Julaften. It was such a great time!! We ate, danced around the Christmas tree, sang Christmas songs and then Santa came. Kal still wasnt a fan as seen below :)

We first stopped by at Josh's grandparents on our way there. We were only there for about 20 minutes or so but it was nice to say hi!

melt.my.heart. I die at this picture of them looking at each other! So adorable.

Uncle Chrissy & Kallen

Yeah, everyone has a 'danish' shot ~~before~~ after dinner :)

Dancing around the Christmas tree

Yes, the girl was.not.happy! Ha! Maybe next year?

still here!

2011-12-29T11:00:00.002-06:00

I am still here! I am so behind on blogging. Josh is off this week so you would think I would have time to blog but it actually gives me less time! We have been pretty productive around the house which is a great way to start out the new year! I plan on 2012 being a productive year!

I was so worried because I thought I lost my camera on Christmas Day. Thanks to my wonderful husband who found it yesterday though, I am so excited! This means many blog posts to come, friends. Also, I received Kallen's first birthday photo's yesterday so I will finally post about her birthday too!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, ours was very merry and bright :)

Be back soon!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T15:49:00.000-06:00

From our family

to yours,

we hope you have

the Merriest of Christmas'

of all!!!!!!!!

We are headed to Lille Juleaften tonight! So excited to eat some Danish food, sing our Danish songs while dancing around the Christmas tree, and just enjoying the family!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Sassy, stubborn wife...happy 4 years!

2011-12-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

Four years ago today I not only married my husband, but I married my very best friend.

When I think of our last four years, I have such a full heart. We have been through so much and sometimes already feel like the old married couple :)

No it isnt perfect. I am a sassy stubborn wife. I like to think he enjoys putting up with a sassy stubborn wife. Right, babe??!!

Such a wonderful husband.Dad.best friend. I couldnt ask for better!

this is a flashback ~~wishing I was still this young/skinny~~ picture...boy have we ~~grown~~ changed!

I love you Joshua!! Now hurry home, Kal and I miss you!!!!

The Story

2011-12-18T23:04:00.003-06:00

Have you heard of The Story Tour? (from their website) THE STORY, a musical journey from Genesis to Revelation.

We went on Saturday to the matinee showing and it was undeniably, unbelievably, AMAZING!

We had great seats! We were right to the side, but practically the front row!

There were the best leaders and singers.

Um Selah? Yes please!!

Natalie Grant! Unbelievable!

Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, Francesca Battistelli, Natalie Grant, Selah, Anthem Lights, and Rawsrvnt. Need I say more?

Here they are singing all together, gave me chills!

There are truly no words to explain how wonderful this show was. I cannot say enough good things. I laughed, cried, prayed, sang, you name it, it was probably done.

Yesterday the hubs and I spent about an hour on itunes purchasing practically EVERY song from EVERY group/singer that was there that we didn't already have. Including Christmas music of course! One of my new favorite groups -Anthem Lights, 'Do you hear what I hear'? AMAZING

I could go on and on.

A huge thank you to our best friends for a wonderful afternoon spent together, and most importantly praising Jesus!!!!!!!! It was such a perfect event to remind us of the TRUE meaning for Christmas!

Makin Memories

2011-12-15T12:00:00.000-06:00

I am linking up with the fabulous AP at I Love You More Than Carrots. She is awesome. She has the most adorable toddlerbeast who never seems to stop moving and AP has some sass that makes me laugh every.single.day. Her and a few other bloggy gals are doing a week long holiday link up. It has been so fun reading and getting ideas up the wazoo!!!!

I LOVE Christmas. Almost as much as I LOVE a good ol' tradition.

I love traditions soooooooo much I usually get stressed to the max about doing them..... Ha Ha! Sad...but true. You see, I am the oldest, seemingly type A and have the need to do everything and do it right!! BUT, this year, I am determined to complete our usual traditions, along with some new ones, and some to store away some for the future, and not go crazy.

Haha! She was less than thrilled with meeting Santa :)

{If you just want a brief overview skip to the bottom}

Growing up. Lets start here.

The 23rd. My dad's side of the family is a crazy bunch. C-R-A-Z-Y, but I love them :) Anyways, we have a Danish Christmas on the 23rd that is filled with Danish food, singing and dancing around the Christmas tree, and so many other things. Oh what fun it is to be a Dane :)

yes, we even danced around the tree at our wedding! It was so close to Christmas, we couldnt not do it!

The 24th. We always went to Christmas eve service, I usually sang some sort of Christmas tune that I would FREAK out before but would do it every year because it was, well, tradition. We would then head over to the gparents and have a wonderful spread of food, head home and put out our cookies for santa.

Christmas Day. We would wake up in a flurry, wake the siblings, check the stockings before waking mom and dad :) and then the thinking would start. Thinking? Yes. My mother, my wonderful mother. I guess growing up they had a crazy tradition of wrapping presents for each kiddo but NOT putting a tag on them. You had to figure out what wrapping paper represented each child and WHY. So of course she wanted to keep those crazy traditions going. Talk about making a child go crazy on Christmas morning. Sometimes it would take us 30 minutes, and I seriously think one time it took us like 3 hours. Insanity.

this is a picture at my moms Christmas morning last year....auntie nikki looks less than pleased :)

Once we would finally figure it out we would open the presents and then have a delicious brunch and relax the rest of the day.

Married Life. YIKES

Add double. Seriously double. In 2007, the year we got married, I had finals in college all the way until the 19th, got married on the 21st, and then started the Christmas events on the 23rd. Yeah, I was crazy with a capital C. Just ask the new hubby ~~wondering why he married a crazy~~ at the time. Well the husband's family is Swedish, so naturally they celebrate their being Swedish on the 23rd too! Why not? Then on the 24th they have a Korean Meal (he has cousins that were born there). Delish. So so good. And then on Christmas morning his immediate family would get together, then have huge caramel rolls at his aunt's with the rest of their family, and then head to his parents for yet, another big meal, and of course to watch the Lakers later on :)

So what do 2, 3, and 4 day ~~naive~~ newlyweds do? All of it of course! naive people. We just had no clue. Fun of course, but so, so exhausting.......

Married with a kid. Double Yikes.

Well this is going to be our 2nd year, and since I am determined not to get over stressed, I am hoping our plans work out wonderfully and we just get to enjoy the reason for the season and the extra time with the family. Last year Kal was a mere 2.5 weeks old, and naturally everyone wanted to see the new babe. Duh, she is the darn cutest little thing :) So it was a little difficult but we managed. We celebrate with my Dad and stepmom this weekend with our immediate family. Then we are sticking with the every other rule. My fam for the 23rd, husbands for the 24th, OUR family in the am on Christmas Day, then my momma's and then back to the husbands for ~~lakers game~~ Christmas day meal. I know things will get tweaked here and there.......but I just dont want to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of shuffling around and I want to enjoy celebrating Jesus' birthday!

Some of our other fun traditions {and ones I will start hopefully next year with Kal!}

1. Cookie Day!! this was year one, so fun!!!

2. Cookie day #2 on Sunday! This is with our family friends, and it is all girls. We make it all, not just cookies...especially this year thanks to pinterest!
3. Christmas Card - last year I combined with Kal's birth announcement
4. I am planning on starting Advent Christmas books next year with Kal! I have already scored a few great deals on Christmas books and plan to get more after Christmas when they are on major sale! Their are other ideas floating out there that I would love to incorporate too!!
5. Matching jammies! Well not matching, but coordinating :) I was late to the party on this one, and everything I have found just isnt working (sizing, out of stock, etc)....Kal has new jammies already washed and wrapped for Christmas eve, but momma and dada will have to settle for 'fairly' new ones....but watch out for next year, I will be on the hunt!
6. Elf on the Shelf. I have to admit, I think the elf that comes in the box with the book is a bit on the creepy side, so I am on the lookout for a less creepy one :) Kal is much too young to understand, but maybe next year? I have seen so many great ideas!
7. Ever since we lost miss Emma we have brought a basket of toys/necessities to the NICU at the hospital I delivered her at. They were so wonderful to us, I love bringing it every year, in hopes to help or lift up a family that is going through so much. Giving is such a huge part of my heart and I want my kids to know the great joy that comes from that!
8. Most importantly, I want to make sure our children know that Christmas is about JESUS.

I think that covered most of our traditions...I love them and cant wait to read and get some more!!!

Christmas card 2011

2011-12-14T19:59:00.001-06:00

Here our are Christmas cards for this year! I am linking up with Walk with me by Faith for her annual Christmas Card Carousel! If you are on our list, you should be getting them soon! It worked out wonderfully, I was able to pass out about 20 of them at Kal's birthday, so we saved on some stamps ;)

This isnt the best quality but I think you get the idea.

front

back

Merry Merry Christmas to you all!!!

sneak peak

2011-12-12T20:55:00.002-06:00

I promise I havent fallen off the face of the earth, but boy. After planning and executing Kallen's first birthday, I needed a few days to recoup! Yikes!

I absolutely LOVED planning my baby girls first birthday. Sure, I thought I was going to lose my mind on Friday night around midnight or so, but all in all, I loved it :)

Here are a couple sneak peaks from the birthday, until I will get all of ours!

My house is still in a disarray, but we had a wonderful time and so thankful for all of the help and for the many people that came to celebrate! Miss Kal is definitely loved!

12 months

2011-12-07T06:45:00.000-06:00

Sissy!!! You are 12 months old!

I cant believe it! Where has this year gone?? It truly goes way to fast.

Lets see, what are you up to these days? Oh sooo many things....

You are in size 5 diapers. We have your yearly checkup later today to get your stats.

You are still taking 1-2 naps [most] days.

This past month you entered into a whole new level of not sleeping through the night. Oh sister. What happened to you sleeping through the night?

You are into hugging. You seriously give the BEST hugs, especially in the middle of the night (see above) and after your naps. You just cling and rest your sweet little head on my shoulder and it is the best. I love it. Yes, even at 3, 4, 4:30 am :)

You are into guys. Yes, you read that right. She thinks boys and guys and dads and uncles and grandpas and great grandpa's are the best. Not that she doesn't like her aunts, grandma's, mimi, friends etc, but boy. You just die over those men. We are in t-r-o-u-b-l-e if you keep this up. Can we say all girls school???

You are loving table food...and are pretty much over with the baby food. I still have some left that I made so hopefully we can squeeze some of that in so it doesnt go to waste!!

You love to use a spoon. You have the concept down but just miss the mouth or have the wrong end sometimes...and you are a little feisty if momma tries and feeds you, you know, because you know all already. Duh mom.

You are walking so much! Practically running actually. All over the place...into everything, not that you werent before, but its just at a whole new level!

You can sign milk, thank you and please. I say 'can' because you will do it randomly and if I am not begging you to do it....if I do, you look at me like I am losing it....

You love to sing & dance. We sing all day and whenever their is music on you usually get your groove on. Hilarious.

You are a busy girl. You do not stop moving all.day.long. I was looking at our pictures the other day wondering why I dont have as many as I used to...well it is because I chase you all day long or they look like this is:

You are still head over heals for Kobe. You love that dog!

You still have 4 teeth (2 top/2 bottom)

You get so excited when your daddy gets home! If you hear the garage door you get such a big smile on your face and walk over and wait for him to come inside. So sweet.

You have a smile and laugh that melts my heart. If you get into trouble I think you really know that if you just smile or laugh you will get out of it because it is SO hard for momma not to smile.

Kallen, like I said yesterday, we love you more than words can describe. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone with you. It has been an amazing incredible year and your daddy and I love you so incredibly much.

Happy first birthday Kallen Jayne!!!

2011-12-06T05:30:00.000-06:00

My sweet, beautiful Kallen Jayne. Happy first birthday! This past year with you has been nothing short of amazing. It has gone way too fast for my liking.

You were 7lbs, 15 oz of pure sweetness. I could have eaten you up.

I felt so overwhelmed at this beautiful blessing, and we thank God every day for you!!! You were the answer to our prayers and from the minute you came into our lives it has felt like you have been a part of our family forever. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Those first days with you were pure goodness. I miss your tiny little baby-ness. How does it go away soooo fast???

You are simply a beautiful baby girl! Not so much a baby anymore, but ill always consider you my sweet little babe.

Kallen Jayne, your daddy and I love you more than words could ever begin to say. We are over the moon in love with you and are so unbelievably thankful that God chose US to be your parents. We pray that you grow up to know and love the Lord with all your heart and that you develop a personal relationship with Him. I pray that from the deepest part of my soul for you every single day and will never stop.

Happy 1st Birthday baby girl!!!!! We love you so much!!!!

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-02T05:30:00.000-06:00

I am loving Kallen's new Christmas outfit!!!

Even though I cant get her to stop moving,

she sure is pretty cute in her Christmas tree outfit!

If you know us in real life...you will be seeing this often during December so we can get some good use out of it!!!!

cookie day

2011-12-01T12:45:00.000-06:00

my bfffffffff Tonya and I die over Christmas. We love Jesus, Christmas trees, Christmas music, all the decorations, family time, and ummm cookies. We decided we need to get together when it is 'acceptable' to have a cookie day! Ha ha ha! So cookie day came about and it was so.much.fun. I cant wait for our many many years to come!

Okay, our cookie day fun was really just for us, as Kalpal slept and the husbands played ~~whatever new game that just came out that I am so sick of~~ a video game.

I am thankful that my ~~obscene~~ laughing face isnt shown here.... :)

Miss Kal after her nap. Did you notice all of her Laker gear? Yeah, daddy is pretty happy the nba is coming back on Christmas day! We are already ~~arguing~~ discussing her Christmas Day outfit.

some of the cookies pre-frosted....there were so many!

The little miss playing with Uncle Dave, she loves him!

Kal wanted to get in on their family picture...

We have some other fun things planned with each other throughout the holiday season and I seriously cannot wait! I LOVE having a bff (who became my cousin through marriage by the way, how cool is that?!) that shares in my ~~obsession~~ passion for Christmastime. We were destined to be :) Love you friend! Thanks for a wonderful time as always!!

thanksgiving

2011-11-29T09:55:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We were with my family this year, and although we missed going to the in-law's side, it just gets to be too much for me Kallen.

I didnt get a ton of good pictures (busy chasing an [almost] one year old!!! (insert shriek here!!)

first thanksgiving! She LOVED the food at Mimi Darla's!

Such a little turkey

auntie Nikki & noah

2nd meal at Grandpa Jay & Grandma Debs!

I think someone was wiped out from all the food and family! This is the night of Thanksgiving, hilarious!

More to come from our fun filled weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T10:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!

I am so ready to eat some turkey and all of the other fixings today!!!!!

I am excited for Kallen to enjoy her first Thanksgiving meal!!

Although I love Christmas, decorate early and turn the Christmas tunes on November 1, I dont forget about Thanksgiving, I am so unbelievably THANKFUL for all I have and have been blessed with.

I love this little turkey so much and am BEYOND thankful for her!!!!!!!!!!

I am thankful each and every single day for both of my sweet girls.

Most importantly I am thankful for Jesus and all he has blessed us with.

"I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High." Psalm 7:17

Hope's Birthday

2011-11-22T12:00:00.000-06:00

My sweet adorable niece turned 3 years old on November 12th! Cant believe she is 3! We had a wonderful day of celebrating her, and Kallen definitely enjoyed some of her gifts ;)

Auntie Ton helped a ton with Kalpal!

Kallen is starting to eye Hoper's gifts....

We got Hope this chair for her Birthday!

Hannah has a similar chair, so she made herself right at home

Kallen loved playing with Hope's new kitchen!!!

See those beautiful roses on the table? Yeah, my awesome SIL and BIL put out flowers and a Happy Birthday sign for miss Emma. So sweet. This also seems to be the only picture I have of Hope (dressed in her new princess costume)

Happy Birthday Hopers! We love you soooooooo much!!!

early birthday gift!

2011-11-20T06:15:00.000-06:00

Kallen is so lucky to get an early birthday present from Great Uncle Dean & Aunt Wendy!

She was pretty excited to tear into into it!!!

Once momma put it together she hopped right on and has been playing ever since!

So fun! I have a feeling she is going to love opening birthday and Christmas presents......

sweet sisters

2011-11-18T05:45:00.000-06:00

Kallen and I sported purple yesterday for World Prematurity Day

I love these pictures. I think one might be included in our Christmas cards this year somehow...(that I need to get going now that I am saying that)

It is definitely not how I envisioned or imagined taking pictures of my 2 sweet girls

But I love them both soooooooooo much and am happy that I can dream of my ENTIRE family together in heaven one day.

world prematurity day

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

today is world prematurity day. it is a day to honor the millions of babies worldwide who have died because they were born too soon and the 12 million more who are currently fighting to survive. Ill be honest, before Emma I had no clue about this day. But today, for my baby girl who is in heaven and who we miss so dearly, we will be honoring our sweet girl. We will be wearing purple.....and I hope you will too! Find them on their facebook page where they have many stories about these sweet little babes.

11 months

2011-11-09T23:00:00.000-06:00

Kallen, you are 11 months old!! My oh my, 1 month away from your first birthday!!

You are in 12-18 month clothes, depending on the brand. You wear size 5 in diapers

I think you weigh around 22 lbs? We wont know until your 1st birthday though :)

You are walking! On Thursday, November 3rd (for our records :), I turned around and you were walking towards me! I was shocked! You had taken a couple steps pretty consistently, but I guess I was thinking it would still be awhile. You still crawl at times because you are quicker and I think you have your daddy's patience (aka barely any) but you can definitely strut your stuff. Awesome!

You still go down around 730, but have been waking up throughout the night. I dont know if its those pesky chompers or night terror's (per your pediatrician), but it is something. You dont want to eat you just need some extra cuddles or just to know momma & daddy are there.......I am trying to hunker down and be strong this week so you dont think thats normal....but at 3:30 am I have been known to throw any and all parenting 'rules' out the window...

This is how I have found her a couple times lately in the past week. Sweet thing. I tell her all she has to do is sleep through the night......

Speaking of chompers, you have 4 teeth now (2 bottom/2 top) I miss your gummy smile!

You are eating cheerios/puffs for breakfast along with either yogurt/fruit. You love bananas, applesauce, sweet potatoes, rice/beans, pears, scrambled eggs, cheese, meat, and many more foods.

We have tried the sippy cup, and just this past week I think you figured out what/how to drink it, but you like to play with it more than drink out of it...

You talk so much! You say momma, dada, oh, uh-oh, whoa, you have about 50 different tones too, you are quite the dramatic one at times

Speaking of dramatics, you have learned how to throw yourself down on the floor when you are mad/upset. I dont know if that is normal for an 11 month old to throw a temper tantrum? Yikes...

You have mastered 'touchdown' It also seems like you 'say' touchdown too - it is so cute!

You have become more cuddly with us than you used to be. Which we love of course. When we say give ______ love or cuddles you usually rest your head on them and hug, it is so cute!

Kallen, we feel so blessed that you are our little girl!! If we loved you anymore I think my heart might burst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes yes, I am a week late on the post. I am determined NOT to do that for her 1st birthday :)

Happy Birthday, Emma!

2011-11-06T22:34:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday my sweet girl! Emma, I cannot believe it has been 3 years. I still feel like it was just yesterday when I was holding you all too soon. We miss you more and more everyday. Your daddy and I wonder what your personality you would have, who you would resemble, how you and your little sister would be together. When we see sisters interact, we often think of you. We wonder how our family would be, what our 'normal' would be like.

I selfishly wish you were here with us. I want you to love on your sissy, and spend your days with us. I want your daddy and I to juggle 2 girls instead of one. I dont know what our family will look like, but I know you will always be missed here on earth. I know you are PERFECT in heaven and it makes my heart ease to think about it. There is nothing better, yet I still long to hold you, rock you and kiss your sweet little nose. I cannot wait for that day when we meet again baby girl, where I get to pick you up and just hold you. Momma misses you so much. I ~~hope~~ know your birthday was amazing, with Jesus, our family, friends, and our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone before us. You are so loved. I am so thankful for you and the time we were able to have you. We celebrate you not only today, but everyday. Happy birthday Emma. Love, momma.

november 6th

2011-11-05T21:59:00.000-05:00

I don't believe in coincidences. I just don't. I believe in a God who is all knowing and all loving. There is a purpose and reason for everything. Sometimes we don't understand and we never will until we get to heaven and ask Him ourselves. But I am glad that I don't understand*. If we understood our almighty and everlasting God, He wouldn't be just that.

November 6th is our first baby girls 3rd birthday. Her 3rd birthday in heaven with Jesus and our 3rd year celebrating without her. November 6th is a day that our lives were changed forever. A day that I will never forget. Emma was born that day at 12:15 and my heart has been changed since that exact moment.

November 6th is also our second baby girls 11 month birthday. Like I said, I dont believe in coincidences. I truly believe that it is a reminder from God what a true blessing and miracle it is to have babies. As I am preparing for Kallen's first birthday, I cant help but think of Emma's birthday and how they would be a month apart. It would be crazy around here, I would be trying to plan 2 parties instead of one. I would have planned 2 other birthdays prior to this so I would have more of an idea but I didn't do that, so I am basically thinking about girly birthday parties A LOT.

I am so incredibly grateful for Kallen, she is just the light of our lives. There are really no words to express my feelings. We are so humbled by His grace that He chose us to be her parents. And the same goes with Emma. We miss that sweet girl every day and wish she was here.

I hope to have Emma's birthday post up tomorrow, but no promises. I am also still working on Kallen's 11 month post (weird I know :)

*Don't misinterpret this, I didn't feel this way for at least the first year or 2 after I had Emma. I didnt understand why us, why Emma, and to be honest? I still dont. BUT I do trust in our Lord and never, ever doubted His love, mercy, and ever forgiving grace that He graciously gives us every ~~day~~ moment. I am grateful that my baby girl is safe in heaven and that we WILL be reunited one day again. I cannot wait for that day.

wordless wednesday

2011-11-02T10:44:00.000-05:00

Kallen LOVING decorating 'her' Christmas tree!

Melt my heart adorable. We are decorating and listening to Christmas music....now all we need is SNOW! :)

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

2011-10-31T23:01:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!! We did and ill blog later...Happy Halloween from our little bumblebee!!!

puppy love

2011-10-29T09:52:00.000-05:00

Kallen has always loved Kobe. Ill be honest, I was a little worried about how Kobe was going to be with Kallen, as I didnt grow up with dogs so I didnt know what to expect. I know all dogs are different, but I have been pleasantly surprised on how our puppy (who isnt a puppy at all, but I just call him that) has been with our baby girl. It isnt all perfect, but Kobe does really well and it is pretty cute when he lets Kal lay and climb all over him :)

Kal thinks Kobe is the best thing since sliced bread. I am not sure if Kobe feels the same way, but at least he doesnt mind love and cuddles from Kal :)

pumpkin patch

2011-10-26T00:21:00.000-05:00

I love the first 3 weeks or so of summer. Same with spring, and even winter (Christmas is my favorite holiday). Then I usually get over it (there are obviously some loves about each of those seasons throughout their time, but that also has alot of factors that have to align perfectly to make it work) and want fall to come. Fall is my favorite season. The changing leaves, jumping in leaves, cooler weather, sweatshirts, football, Thanksgiving, approaching of Christmas, apple cider, anything with fall, you can bet I love. I have dreamed allllllllllllll my life of bringing my children to the pumpkin patches and apple orchards. I was just so happy to be able to bring Kal this year! Ill leave the rest of the post to our pictures, I cant wait for many more pumpkin patches in our lives!

we went with Hope & Finn too!!

Kallen and Hopers loved the bunny's and roosters in the pen

I love my sweet little pumpkin!!

looking at the turtle with daddy

cousins!

Apple orchard is next!!!!!!!!!! Hope y'all have been able to enjoy the pumpkin patch, and if not, hurry there asap!!!

Our weekend

2011-10-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend! Daddy took yesterday off because of the vikings game on Sunday night so we were able to enjoy 3 days together!! (I didnt take hardly any pictures, so these are just random ones, because a post without pictures for me isnt too fun!)

On Friday we just hung at home and it was great! I love nights in, they are the best!

On Saturday we watched Uncle Chris' football game via internet, because his game was in South Dakota. Kal even watched for a little bit, it was hilarious! She cheered and everything. Uncle Dave & Auntie Ton came over and we had a fun game night! The girls are on a winning streak for rook, hopefully that will continue!!

On Sunday my headache (that I got on Saturday) was pretty extreme and since nothing seemed to help we had to miss church. I was so bummed because I just hate missing but there was no way I was getting myself ready and Kallen ~~and Joshua~~:) Daddy took over though and I slept in before our busy day! We headed to Grandma Darla's to visit Auntie Nikki before she went back to college, then to G&G Nixon's where the other side of the family was and then home (for another nap for ~~momma's headache~~ Kallen) before the big Sunday night football game!!!!!!! We are Vikings fans, but boy, they make it tough! We had fun as always though at Uncle Jayson & Aunt Bethany's!!!

sporting their viking gear...Finn was sad about how the game was going though!

On Monday auntie Beth text asking if we wanted to meet at IHOP for lunch (since Uncle Jayson was home too!) and it was so much fun!!!

We spent the rest of the day hanging low at home, which we all needed. Today we are back in a routine and loving this fall weather! Happy week friends!!

10 months

2011-10-13T11:45:00.000-05:00

It would seem that I have 18 kiddo's and a huge house to manage and that is why it is so difficult to blog...but, that is not the case! Minnesota has been having some beautiful weather, so we have been taking advantage! This week it is finally turning to our 'normal' October weather, so hopefully ill be back to some more regular blogging, as we will be inside the house more. I am looking forward to the cooler weather though, this heat was hanging on a little too long....anyways, here is Kalpal's 10 month post:

Holy cow! 10 months old? Only 2 months until your 1st birthday?? I cannot believe how fast time goes with you, Kal! These past 10 months have flown by in the blink of an eye!

You are wearing size 4-5 diapers

Wearing mostly 12-18 month clothes, some 6-12 month still, depending on the brand/style

You love when your daddy gets home from work. When you hear the garage you crawl super fast over to the door and squeal when he walks in! It is pretty darn cute!

You take a 5-6 (sometimes way less)oz bottle every 4-5 hours (usually 6, 11,3-4, 6-7)

You used to sleep through the night...now you get up a few times, either from nightmares or to check to make sure we are still there :) You go down around 7-730 and usually wake up around 11, 2, 330,430, and then 545-6 am for the day! Happy as can be!

You eat cheerios and yogurt for breakfast every morning.

You like turkey, but not a huge fan of chicken yet. You love cheese, applesauce, noodles, carrots (cooked of course), sweet potatoes, banana's, eggs and goldfish

You have 2 teeth now! Boy oh boy, you let us know you were not happy about it. :) You got them when you were 9 months and 3 weeks.

You are so close to walking! You can stand on your own steadily and have taken 1 or 2 steps but then get nervous and sit down.

You have some serious sass and attitude already...I am nervous for the teenage years already!

You are not shy about telling us if your mad or upset or feel you need something (see above statement :)

You still love Kobe and I know you wish he wanted to play more...

You love watching 'big kids' such as your big cousin Hope! It is so fun to have cousins who we get to see so much!

Your new thing has been trying to climb up on everything! This includes, furniture, stairs of course, gates, people, animals, pretty much anything. You are a crazy girl!

You are such a happy little girl, your smile just makes my heart want to burst. We are so unbelievably grateful for our baby girl!

Kali, we love you so much!!! I wouldnt trade my days (~~just my nights,~~ kidding!!!!) with you for anything. I truly treasure each and every single moment with you!!

wordless wednesday

2011-10-12T10:12:00.002-05:00

The next taylor swift?!

2011-10-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

Kal loves to play on daddy's guitar!

She was 'playing' pretty hard here :)

Watch out Taylor....Here comes Kallen!

wordless wednesday...(almost)

2011-10-05T22:31:00.000-05:00

Baby girl fell asleep while eating puffs last week....hilarious! Apparently I am only posting weekly now, but I intend to get better!!

wordless wednesday......

2011-09-28T21:32:00.000-05:00

My new favorite outfit of Kal's!

Winona visit

2011-09-23T11:44:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, we went down to Winona to watch Uncle Chris play football! He got a concussion their first game and it was his first game back. We were so pumped to see him play! Auntie Nikki goes to Winona now as well, so we were able to see her room and hangout before too! We miss them both so much!

Auntie Jen with Kal while tailgating

Kallen did so well. I was so pleased on how she did...hopefully she keeps it up for this weeks game as well!

Uncle Chris! #4.

Dave & Tonya came with us, and Kal slept through most of the first half (game started at 6) and auntie Ton was awesome and such a help snuggling the babe.

Kali woke up...just in time to clap for Uncle Chris' interception!!!! Yeah! So fun

Oh so sweet. Love it!

I dont think Kallen was too keen on the 'after football game' smell that surrounded her...get used to it sister!

Kal & I, uncle Chris, daddy and auntie Nikki! We had so much fun, (daddy looks like he had a little too much fun but I think he was unprepared for the pic?)... and we cant wait for Saturday!

wordless wednesday

2011-09-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

nine month stats

2011-09-20T12:53:00.000-05:00

I didn't want to forget to post Kal's 9 month stats from the doctor....these pictures were all pre-shots/finger pricks. She was not too happy after that!

Kallen, you are such a big girl! You have thinned out alot though since you started moving around...I love the rolls though, they just melt me!

you weigh 20.2lbs - 75th percentile

you are 28 1/2 inches - 75th percentile

your head circumference is 18 inches - 90th percentile

we LOVE having a beautiful healthy baby girl and dont forget that for ONE millisecond!

Iowa weekend

2011-09-17T10:26:00.000-05:00

We went to Iowa last weekend to visit some of our very best friends, the Evans family!! We had a blast as always and cannot wait to visit again soon so we can meet the newest member, a BOY! Ah we cannot wait for baby Bowen, I know he is going to be so adorable and definitely a heartbreaker!

Here are a few pictures of our fun trip!

Playing at the park by their house!

Kallen loved watching Hallie & Harper run around and play with her. I think she was a little bummed to come home to way less action!

Daddy's and their girls

Trying to get their picture made.....I dont think the little ones were having it

Kal giving Hallie kisses

We love you all SO much, cant wait to come and meet that sweet little boy! Thanks for a wonderful weekend!!!

Labor Day weekend

2011-09-08T23:40:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Joshua's cousin & his wife came from California to help finish Jayson & Bethany's ~~beautiful~~, no GORGEOUS basement! Erik is an electrician, so he was a huge help for them!

Warning....picture overload!!!!

Kallen LOVES dogs. Caesar is a wonderful dog who doesnt mind anything, and Kali loved every minute and took advantage.

Sidenote: I dont usually let my child 'kiss' a hairy dog. For the record, when I went to take the picture, she was looking at me and then dived face first as soon as I took it....

My sweet little nephew. I want to kiss those cheeks! He is so adorable!

Hopers being silly

Boys will be boys....

Kal & Finners playing

Playing in the new basement!!

Joshua & I got this turtle for Hope's first birthday (which I feel like was just a month or so ago), and I cannot believe Kallen was playing on it! My how time flies!

Auntie Nikki came to visit, we missed her SO much!!!

Kal & Finn had fun playing times this weekend!!

The 4 kiddo's - Hannah, Kallen, Finn & Hope

It is a little difficult getting a good picture...
especially when Kal was hitting/grabbing Hannah and Finn...

notice this next picture sweet Hannah is on the opposite side of the couch...my child is such a stinker.

Great Grandma & Grandpa with their great grandkids

I think they are done...!

We had to see how the bow looked with hair....Finn might hate his momma and auntie for this :)

We had a wonderful weekend!! I wish all weekends were 3 days!!

9 months!

2011-09-06T23:06:00.000-05:00

my sweet little love bug, you are 9 months old!

The little miss found her 'sticker' today, and would not leave it alone!!

You are wearing 6-12 month clothes....and fit in some 12-18 month clothes, which makes me shed a few tears!

We have your 9 month appointment tomorrow, so we will find out your stats then!

You are still going to bed between 7-730 and wake up between 530-630. I have tried keeping you up later to see if you will sleep later and apparently it just doesnt work like that.

You think Kobe is the best thing since sliced bread...I dont know if he is on the same page...

You are still taking 2 naps a day (most of the time :) at about an hour or so each.

You drink about 4-5 oz every 4 hours. You are loving your solids for breakfast and dinner. You pretty much love it all! You also have a snack during the day depending how your eating falls.

You are loving some table foods such as cheerios, (is that considered a table food? I think so), yogurt, pancakes, rice, and applesauce

You are a crazy mover! You are crawling all over the place and pulling yourself on anything possible.

You love to clap......but you love even more when we clap for/with you!

You know how to crawl up the stairs...you dont seem to be afraid of much

You can 'say' momma & dada and a few other babbles as well

You get so excited when your daddy gets home from work. You crawl as fast as you can to the door! It is pretty cute :)

You are growing so fast it is unbelievable. I cant believe in 3 short months you will be turning ONE! That is just hard for me to grasp!!!

We love you so much Kallen. I think if we loved you anymore our hearts would explode!

visit with daddy

2011-09-05T09:46:00.000-05:00

On Thursday we went down to meet daddy at work! We went to lunch (& Grandma met us there as well). It was a lot of fun and momma was able to go to the farmers market too! It was hot hot hot out but we enjoyed every minute!

Kallen being awesome at lunch

This little babe was tired after our afternoon! She fell asleep in her car seat before we were out of the parking garage!

the beautiful flowers I got! I love flowers!!!!

This is honestly the best picture I got of these 2! Kal wouldnt look at me and everytime I went to take the picture Joshua would start talking. We will have to work on that!!

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Labor day weekend, I am SO excited for FALL!!!!!!! It is my favorite!!!!!!!!

wordless wednesday

2011-08-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

almost 9 months going on 16???????? This was a scary sight!

Weekend

2011-08-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend! I didnt take my camera out of the diaper bag to document...I need to get better at that!

On Friday we went down to the Gaalswyk's house for a fun night!! Melissa made us a delicious dinner, Kal played with their adorable boys and we laughed so hard our cheeks still hurt yesterday! I cant believe I didnt get any pictures. Melissa also recently took Kallen's pictures and posted a few on her photography blog so I got those on Friday and was just tickled!!! They turned out so good! I cant wait to get them up!! She is one talented momma!

Saturday night we ended up at Uncle Jayson & Auntie Beth's!! They are finishing their basement and have been busy with that and it is turning out just gorgeous!

The little sass (she has deemed that nickname ALL on her own, trust me!) was up quite a bit last night so we missed church this morning and have been trying to recoup from a sleepless night. Kal is finally getting her first tooth and boy oh boy has it taken its toll on our sweet girl. I'm not going to lie, I am pretty curious if all of her teeth are going to cause this much drama. Ha! I am worried she might have her momma's pain tolerance.....or lack there of I should say...

Well I'll leave you with a few pictures of our girl.....who is almost 9 months old! How does this happen???

Trying to talk to daddy while he was grilling

She absolutely loves looking out the window. It is a struggle changing that girl!

At great grandpa & grandma's house for ggpa's birthday....Kal was successful in grabbing his cake! I am not worried about her being shy for her first birthday :)

On a run enjoying the beautiful weather...we love our BOB!

At Mall of America to meet some friends, Kal loved checking everything out!

Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday...almost.

2011-08-24T10:00:00.004-05:00

Kal has been LOVING the swing lately! Good thing there is one at grandma's and at the park down the street! Happy Wednesday!!

auntie nikki

2011-08-17T17:45:00.001-05:00

On Monday, my baby sister went to college!!! I cannot believe it. She is 6 years younger than me and just cannot believe she is old enough to be off at college! She is at the same college as my brother is, which is about 3 hours away. I am glad they didn't move out of state, but it isn't the quick 15 minute drive that it was!!

We had Kal represent Winona onesie at church on Sunday for her auntie (and uncle) on Sunday!

First time Nik held Kal!

Kali will miss her auntie! Good thing we will see her soon!

We are so proud of you, you are very smart & will have tons of fun!

We love & miss you auntie Nikki! Go be a 'dangerous student'!!

south dakota

2011-08-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

We had so much fun in South Dakota! We went for my cousin Amanda's wedding the last weekend in July and I am so glad we went. We were debating because of the long drive (4.5-5 hours without stopping) but we did it and it was well worth it! We have a cabin there as well, but just dont get there enough because of the long drive - it is hard to justify that long of a trip for only having one 'full' day there!

On our way, miss K sleeping in her big girl car seat. We only stopped once for Kal's bottle, she did awesome!

First time on the boat! She was NOT a fan of the life jacket. But did love the boat :)

She was a little shocked with the immediate cold water in the lake so wasnt the biggest fan....

Uncle Ricky!

Amanda & Tyler had so many cute little details, it was just a perfect beach wedding!!!

Kallen fell asleep right after the ceremony (of course ;) and slept for a little bit at the reception

She loved pulling herself up on the stroller

Shelly & Dana's speech, they did just awesome. It was a 'amanda & tyler' rendition of Letterman's top 10, everyone was laughing!

Bride & Groom thanking everyone

Auntie Jen

Kallen with the beautiful bride! She was getting hungry at this point so we couldnt muster many smiles....

Daddy & Kal

Auntie Nik & Kallen

Shelly & the little sass. Shelly is Amanda's sister/moh, our cousin is just gorgeous. She is marrying Dana next summer, and we are definitely going back for hers as well!

Fell asleep on the boat....

On our way home. Kal did so well and I was so thankful!!! We definitely wore her out but had so much fun! Another cabin trip is in order!

8 months

2011-08-08T12:47:00.001-05:00

Kallen Jayne, you are 8 months old! Each & every monthly post I write I am just in awe of how fast you grow!!!

You are in size 4 diapers

You wear mostly 6-12 month size clothing

You are sadly done with nursing. You started protesting when you were 7 months, but would still nurse for your first feeding, but that has stopped. I am not producing enough for you so we have been supplementing formula, I miss nursing you, it makes me soooo sad!

I think you are around 20 lbs...I think I said that around your last post...but I have no clue! Maybe 21 or 22??
You are a sporadic napper. It depends on the day, sometimes you take 2 awesome naps (morning/afternoon) and other days you will have one or the other and well...sometimes you hardly nap at all. As long as you are happy then I dont mind :)

You still love Kobe! He is apprehensive to you and I think he is in for a big wake up call when you can run after him!

You are pulling yourself up everywhere! Especially in your crib, you think it is the best thing!

You can sit from your tummy easily.

You scoot everywhere, you are so close to crawling! You can crawl backwards, though. *Update as of 8/8/11, Kal is crawling!!

You talk all the time!

Blowing raspberries is your thing. If you are not chatting it up, you are blowing raspberries.
You love your bath! You just love splashing and getting momma wet!

You enjoy being rocked to sleep sometimes...it hasnt always been this way for you, so I am enjoying the time you allow me to do that! It is rare!

You go to bed around 7:30 and wake up between 6-630. Sometimes earlier, sometimes a little later (my favorite days).

You still love music. I feel like I sing to you all day long. Our favorites are Jesus Loves Me, You are my Sunshine, Jesus loves the little children, Baby Beluga, and so many more.....

Dancing is just as fun :) You light up & giggle if you are dancing with daddy or I. Love it!

You dont have any teeth yet! I think at 4 months I was convinced you were getting a tooth. Yes, ill have a slice of that humble pie please....thanks :) I love that gummy smile though!!

You are such a good eater! For breakfast you usually have fruit/oatmeal and for dinner you have veggie/oatmeal and a fruit.

We are just smitten with you baby girl and we enjoy each and every minute with you!!! We love you sooo much!!!!!

california part 2...finally!

2011-08-01T21:40:00.000-05:00

We have been crazy busy here! We just got back from South Dakota last night and had today to recoup! It was a blast as always & Kal was awesome. So I finally took the time today to put the rest of our California pictures together!

Kali in Uncle Dean & Aunt Wendy's pool. She loved it...now we just need to convince daddy to put in a pool ;)

Aunt Wendy & Kal. She is seriously the best!!!! I cannot say enough good things about her!

Adorable. She is looking like a little girl more & more everyday! What happened to this sweet little toddler?? (she is still sweet of course, just not a toddler!)

The little miss was tired after a long day...so sweet!

This girl loves her daddy

Great Grandpa Nixon

Mr. Finn! Love this sweet baby boy!

The little miss in the floaty. She really enjoyed this!!

matching cousins, so sweet!

We went to the santa barbara zoo...Kal was awake for about 5 minutes and slept the rest of the time :) Maybe next year??!!

She loooved the ocean! I was pretty surprised being it pretty cold but she thought it was fabulous! I think we need to visit more :)

We went out to eat one of our last nights to Brooke's (Our cousin) restaurant she works at and aunt Wendy was awesome to take miss Kal out walking so momma could eat! It was wonderful!

We had so much fun in California & I am so glad for such fun & exciting families :) We cant wait to go back!!!

Wordless Wednesday...

2011-07-27T05:30:00.002-05:00

behind...California trip part 1

2011-07-23T16:47:00.000-05:00

Sooooooooo I am extremely behind on the blog! Summer has taken over. Even in this extreme MN heat/humidity we seem to keep busy with play dates, projects around the house, cleaning, organizing, & walks/runs. It is alot of fun, but sadly the blog gets left behind. So here are pictures from Kallen's first California trip!

We went out to California with Jayson & Beth, Hope & Finn & Grandma & Grandpa Nixon, for cousin Erik's wedding & then stayed at Uncle Deans & Aunt Wendy's for a week! They are the best host's, it was wonderful and went way to fast as always. We cant wait to go back!

It is amazing how much stuff you need with a baby! We had 2 big suitcases, diaper bag, car seat bag, stroller, 2 carry-on's and the boppy! I cant imagine all the packing with more than 1 babe!

Dont let those jammies fool you.....this little miss was chatty kathy with everyone on the plane. She looked all around and talked away to everyone both plane rides. She is quite the attention grabber!

We started out putting miss k in the hot tub (at a safe temperature for the babies of course) to get her warmed up to the water. She did great & loved it!

Relaxing away....

We 'dunked' her under the water.....she wasnt to sure about it but after we were all cheering her on she thought it was great!

Uncle Jayson & Kallen matching.......GO LAKERS!!!

Daddy, Kallen...& Finn!

Great grandpa Nixon holding Kallen

She was wiped out (especially on the pool days!) every night.

cousins playing

Early evening swim with daddy!

I think this picture is so sweet!

Kali & Lucy!

She really started to get up on her knees this trip

Daddy & Kal rocking their shades....

Hopers is growing up so much!

looove her tutu swimsuit!

Sitting with Grandma in the shade.

Okay...this is going to be 2 parts, I'm having trouble uploading more pictures so I'll try again tomorrow! Hope everyone is having a wonderful relaxing weekend!!

7 months

2011-07-12T18:32:00.001-05:00

Kallen, once again your monthly birthday came all to quickly (I'm late posting this...!). My baby girl is 7 months old! We are officially over half way to her first birthday, I cannot even stand it. I might have a 'mini' meltdown when she turns one!

You are just the sunshine in our lives Kal. Even when I am dog tired at 5 in the morning you can make me smile & laugh. It is seriously the best!

You are sleeping from about 7-7:30-5:30 (sometimes a little sooner & sometimes a little later). I was a bit worried about transitioning you back to our time zone after our California trip but you have been great! Which is nothing short of awesome!!

You are wearing size 3-4 diapers & 6-12 month clothes

I am unsure of how much you weigh, but I am guessing around 20lbs

You are laughing on your own more & more. Mostly at Kobe because you just love that silly puppy

You have lost interest in nursing which makes me sooo sad! In California I had to supplement with some formula because I wasnt able to pump as much as you needed and other times you were completely against nursing. We have had to continue supplementing since we have been back too which is just a bummer. But you are still happy & healthy so ill stop whining :)

You eat cereal fruit for breakfast & cereal & vegetable for dinner. You make noises throughout your meals and get upset with me when it is all gone. It's serious business when it comes to your food!

You have started cuddling more with me & daddy when your tired and it is SO sweet. I could snuggle you up!!!

You went on your first plane ride to California a couple weeks ago and were such a champ. You didnt sleep hardly at all because you were so busy looking at everyone around you and chatting them up! You were quite the hit.

You love music. You love when we dance with you, you just smile & laugh & sometimes lay your head on our shoulders and it just melts us to pieces! It is so adorable :)

You have mastered playing 'peek-a-boo'. You want to play all the time so our days consist of playing that at least 5 times :) It is pretty cute!

You LOVE the water. You enjoy playing in your 'kiddie pool' and in the bathtub. You get so excited & look up at me (& daddy if he is there) and are ually just beaming. You had a great time in Uncle Dean & Aunt Wendy's pool in California!!

Kali, momma & daddy love you so so incredibly much. Each and every moment we get to spend with you is such a blessing and I will never take it for granted. It has been an absolute delight to be your momma for the past 7 (almost 7 1/2 months!)!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

well almost wordless.....our California trip was amazing but went too fast! More pictures to come!

Happy Fourth of July!!

2011-07-04T08:00:00.004-05:00

I love this holiday! I know Kali does too :)

This girl is wanting to do anything & everything but sit still & look at the camera and smile :) This was the best I got.

Hope you have a wonderful Fourth of July!

Wordless Wednesday...

2011-06-22T23:53:00.000-05:00

She loves her 'puppy'! She gets so excited to see & play with him!