August 26, 2009 by mommy.

So I know in some trendy circles, the above would mean that someone’s house is really cool, neat, etc. Unfortunately, the above is a literal translation - every one of us is sick. Emily has the cough and nose filled with goo; Norah has been prescribed Claritin and breathing treatments as we believe she may have asthma that is triggered by allergies and/or cold/flu viruses; I have the head pressure and leaky faucet nose and am entering body ache phase; and Dan (who NEVER gets sick) has head congestion, sore throat, and body aches. He actually went to bed before Emily tonight (around 7:15). Of course, he took Nyquil and will probably be good as new tomorrow. I also bought some meds and took a nap today but I’m sure mine will hang on for another week or two. But I’m not bitter…the main thing is that I want the kids to be better. Norah keeps spiking a fever, which means we are stuck at home. This exact same thing happened a month ago. Ugh. And it’s not even fall yet.

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March 9, 2009 by daddy.

After some tech changes it turns out that both mommy and daddy are now using a Blackberry for mobile phones.  So the other day walking in the mall we passed the Verizon store and Emily states, that’s like daddy’s but it’s a redberry.  In a poster they were displaying a red colored Blackberry phone.  It is fun thoughts of a child that make parents smile each day.

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January 21, 2009 by mommy.

Several new words: Bible (which she said as she picked up her Baby Bible off her bookshelf), potato (which occurred while Dan was carrying her “sack of potatoes” style), mi (as in milk). Probably others too, I am just too tired to remember them. Norah has been up at 5 every day this week and our efforts to remind her it is still night time are not working. Emily has also been having trouble, what with the night terrors and also waking up around 5:30. On Christmas break everyone was sleeping in until almost 7…oh how I long for those days!

Speaking of R&R, only a few weeks until my mom arrives to stay with the girls while we are in Mexico. Looking forward to the trip but not to being away from Emily and Norah.

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January 16, 2009 by mommy.

Quick post on the girls - tonight when I was getting ready to put Norah to bed I said, “OK Norah, let’s pray.” And the sweet little girl interlaced her fingers to fold her hands in prayer. I couldn’t help but smile.

Dinner was better tonight - the last couple of nights she has been very fussy at dinner and not wanting to eat anything but baby food and milk. We think her teeth were bothering her. Tonight she devoured her grilled cheese sandwich. This girl loves cheese and bread, or crackers of any kind. Gee, I wonder where she gets that from…?!

As for Emily, she did not take a nap today so of course she had a night terror tonight. It was pretty bad. I was convinced she was awake when I got to her room because she was sitting upright on the edge of her bed. I asked if she had to go potty and she said yes, but then she started yelling for Mommy and Daddy and reaching out her hands, then burying her face in her blanket. These are the worst things ever. We feel so bad for her but realize there is nothing we can do but comfort her and try to not wake or agitate her as that makes it worse.

So, as for the title - prayers for Emily that she gets good rest and grows out of these terrors soon; praise for Norah for folding her hands in prayer, and prayers for all of us that we allow the love of Jesus to be our guiding light each day. That is always our prayer for the girls but I think it will do us all good to remember that love extends to each one of us as well.

Also, prayers for our friends Rob & Lacy that they are granted the miracle they have been praying for many years now. We love them so much and know that God has amazing plans for them - even if none of us know what they are yet.

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December 25, 2008 by mommy.

Norah and Emily got lots of great gifts. Emily’s favorites are her new digital camera (from Grandparents Macy) and remote control car (from Grandparents Wobbema) and slippers (from Mom & Dad). Norah’s favorites are anything that belongs to Emily, tissue paper, and her Pooh blocks (from Grandparents Macy). Oh, and her new chair from Santa.

Norah got another tooth on Christmas Eve, bringing her total up to 4 - two on top, two on bottom. Today she said a new word - apple - as I was feeding her applesauce.

Mommy got several new Willow Trees and a special surprise - princess cut diamond earrings from Daddy. Daddy got a nice new scarf and gloves he is excited about, and a geeky business card holder. Plus, he has the gift of his mom being with us for the holidays. Nuba got some new treats and a new personalized mat for her food and water bowls.

Of course, there are too many gifts to mention. Thanks to everyone. Merry Christmas.

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December 14, 2008 by mommy.

Norah also says something that sounds quite a bit like “all done” when she is finished eating. She is doing great with her sippy cup these days and doesn’t seem to miss nursing too much. I miss it a little bit and am in a bit of physical discomfort. Hoping restrictive undergarments and cabbage leaves will do the trick, although it hasn’t helped much in the week since we stopped nursing.

Norah is enjoying trying new table foods and occasionally will even try helping to hold the spoon. I can’t believe the little toddler that is blooming. She still just has 3 teeth (top left and the two bottom ones) although two more top teeth (to the immediate left and right of the one she has) are starting to try to come through.

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December 11, 2008 by daddy.

Today is a day not unlike any other, but for some reason today is a day that I am missing my ladies a lot.  I am sitting at work cranking away just wanting to be crawling on the floor playing games with the princesses and chillin’ with the queen.  I am taking this as a sign that we have not had good family downtime lately and we need to work on that.  We will have to work on that very soon.

Love,
Daddy

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December 8, 2008 by mommy.

Today we said goodbye to Grandma Macy, who went back home to SD after being with us since the day after Thanksgiving (Nov 28). It was such a blessing to have her here for Norah’s birthday (by the way, Norah had a great time and you can check out all the pictures for evidence of that). We had a great visit and both girls loved spending time with Grandma. Dan and I enjoyed a date night and two trips to the grocery store sans kids. Wow!

Yesterday was also sad for me as it was my last day of nursing my baby girl. I am so proud that I made it all the way to one year without using any formula - despite working full time and traveling! It was such a blessing to have that time with Norah and be able to provide for her for a year, just like I did with Emily. It is bittersweet - I am excited to see my baby grow up, but it is hard knowing we won’t be sharing that time anymore and I may never nurse another child. Very emotional for me.

One final goodbye - my best friend (and long-distance friend) Kate has lost her longest friend - her black lab Serenity - due to illness. She was quite the personality! ‘Bye Mooks.

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December 8, 2008 by daddy.

The time has come and Norah has taken her first steps!!! It was amazing to watch.  The other day we were hanging out in the living room and our little walking princess took three steps from mommy to daddy.  That was about it… then she just wanted to plop down and not try much more… but she can cruise when she is pushing her hippo or a chair in the kitchen.  Not long now and we are going to having races around the kitchen island.  We are so proud of you little N.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

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October 28, 2008 by mommy.

OK, so the title is not what you might think…Emily had her first lollipop (Dum-Dum sucker) tonight. Blue Raspberry flavor! She loved it and she did a great job of licking the whole thing rather than crunching into it. We have been laughing privately about being such different parents from the “status quo”…Emily is 3 1/2 years old and is just now having her first sucker. Didn’t watch any TV or videos until she was 2. First Disney movie (Finding Nemo) about a month ago…and even then we broke it up over several days of viewing. Yes, we are pretty weird…but we like it that way. Now we just want to make sure we keep up the same standards for Norah. I have always heard it is harder with the second one because you have the influence of the first child. For example, it was easy to not have the TV on with Emily and even now we don’t turn it on until the girls go to bed. But, if Emily does want to watch a VeggieTales video or something, we end up taking Norah to another room so she doesn’t watch.

Many people have scoffed at the notion that Emily didn’t watch any TV until she was 2. I’ve been told it is an unrealistic expectation. For us, we have always felt there are so few hours in the week already that we get to spend together since we both work full time that when we are with the kids, we want to use that time playing, reading books, coloring, being outside, etc. And for anyone who thinks it is ridiculous, I typically have to bite my tongue when I really just want to point out how intelligent, well spoken, and imaginative Emily is. Certainly she may still be this way even if she had “gotten” to watch television and videos sooner so I am making an assumption. But, our family would have missed out on lots of great conversations and playtime.

Yep, we will stick with being weird. That was quite a tangent - I originally only planned to post about the sucker!

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