Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Olivia and Aunt Hannah - Olivia finally made up with her on Sunday after Hannah tickled her and ticked her off on Friday. Abby wasn't too sure about letting "tickle Hannah" near her baby. I'm happy to report we have made progress on Abby letting Hannah play with her "tiny baby sister."
Olivia and second cousin Lydia - they are about 5 weeks apart and had some fun exploring each other and the present pile from Meg's wedding shower.
Abby and Jack showing off their Just Dance skills - Abby has become obsessed with the game, particularly dancing to Ring My Bell. She has some funny moves.
Here's Abby and best buddy cousin Jack taking a break from hockey time.Olivia and Jack practicing their goalie skills.

Well, we survived perhaps our most interesting Thanksgiving weekend. I doubt we will be able to top it for just plain craziness. I had some moments where I wondered what kind of crazy mental illness I had acquired, but we survived and it didn't seem to result in any irreparable harm to my sanity. We ended up filling the car with people instead of luggage and Maize... here's how that all happened.

Since the last post (10 days ago), we've still been waiting for Kimberlee to bring baby Felecia home from the NICU. She's doing much better and should be out soon, but in the meantime there are still lots of kids to take care of. We had last weekend (the weekend of the 20th) off from extra child watching duties since they had a friend come up to spend Saturday through Tuesday with the kids. During that time little Rian had another seizure, so that time got bumped to Wednesday so that they could start him on his medications and watch for any adverse side effects. So on Wednesday we got two 11 year old girls and a 9 year old for the weekend. It filled every seat belt in our car to head to Hastings Wednesday night (and when all the seat belts are full we have no cargo space). Poor Maize had to stay home alone for the weekend - luckily she had an amazing dog sitter letting her in and out.

We had a great time in Hastings seeing family - we got to spend Thanksgiving day with the Hodges family and saw Great Grandpa Harley and Great Grandma Lorraine, who just happen to be two of Abby's very favorite people. She was really, really looking forward to seeing them. On Tuesday night she had gone to bed with big girl under ware on and when she woke up dry on Wednesday morning I gave her the option of calling one grandma to tell them what a big girl she was. She picked Grandma Lorraine. Our big girl friends did good all day, although Evelin's diabetes was a big challenge since she was burning off sugar faster than she was eating it and her blood sugar was going really, scary low. That made for a stressful night of checking her to make sure her sugars didn't go too low.

We spent Friday with Steve's family and the girls enjoyed seeing their cousins. Abby is finally figuring out that big kids aren't going to hurt her, so she is doing better with the boys and with other kids. Maybe it's because we've had so many big kids around for the last few weeks. Olivia is still pretty uneasy with the big boys getting into her personal space, but I have a feeling she will hold her own once she gets a bit bigger. Our big girl friends had lots of fun playing with our nephews, so that made our day much better. We also got a better handle on the diabetes, so it was much less stressful for Steve and I.

We had fun Saturday taking Abby and the big girls to see Tangled. She really loved the whole movie theater experience and was super quiet and attentive to the whole movie. After the movie we had a bridal shower for cousin Meg, who is getting married in like 3 weeks. The girls all did good with the entire Osgood family around. Olivia did lots of cuddling and Abby did some cloth diaper modeling for cousin Sarah's new business endeavor. But, Olivia also started to feel sick. No fun.

Sunday was a long drive with a sick baby, tired toddler, and tired big girls. We survived it and made it home to a house that was 50 degrees. We turned up the heat, shoveled the 5 inches of snow that had accumulated on our driveway, and then headed to dinner and the store. By that point both Steve and I were pretty much exhausted. I'm sure our dinner conversation was pretty lame, but I honestly can't remember any of it. And Olivia was pretty miserable - runny nose, coughing, runny eyes, low fever. So... long night, with not much sleep for us. I ended up sleeping on the couch with Olivia so she could be upright. We didn't end up with any extra kids since they had a little guy with croup and we definitely didn't need to mix our sick kids with theirs. Luckily, a grandma was available to come stay with the kids and big Ryan, so we are off the hook for child care right now. We need that so that Olivia can get to feeling better.

Olivia wasn't better yesterday, so I took her into the after hours clinic when Steve got home from work. She's got a really bad cold and a double ear infection, but as of this morning she was doing much better. Not great... but better. We've got her on antibiotics and ear drops, so that is really helping. She's almost acting normal today and at least a little happier and more on her regular schedule. Now we just need to get her sleeping all night, in her own bed. And I need a vacation... but that isn't going to be happening for months. So we will see... I think I'm still sane, but it may be questionable.

Abby and Olivia's Disney Adventure

Well, we made it to Disney and back in one piece. After we returned... well that may be another story. We had a great time enjoying some warm weather (okay... hot... high 80's may be warm for some of you, but we are yoopers now and that was HOT!). Abby really enjoyed the swimming pools and splash pads around our resort. Olivia liked the water too, as long as it wasn't splashing or spraying around her. We probably caught Abby at the bottom of the tot water slide at least 100 times. It was marvelous and perfectly clear and sunny except for Thursday, when some hurricane related clouds rolled through.

We had great flights and mostly great behavior from our little helpers. Neither one of them really had too much trouble on the plane. Olivia cried a little, but not too much and it was crying because she was tired not because her ears hurt. Abby had a great ride both down and back sitting between Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott. She really had a wonderful time with them (we all did) and their extra hands made the vacation a lot less stressful. Let's face it, watching two small kids at a busy resort and theme park is hardly vacation. It's more like work. But with help from my parents we had a great time and even got to squeeze in some relaxation.

We took Abby and Olivia on their first visit to the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday. Abby was super excited to finally see the "princess castle." She had a great time riding on the rides. She rode most of the rides a person of her size can go on. I was bummed that It's A Small World and the Spinning Tea Cups were closed for refurbishing, but we still managed to fill our day with lots of great fun. And I'm pretty sure that the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride was Abby's favorite anyway, since we rode it twice. We also stood in a very long line to meet the Disney princesses. After waiting 30ish minutes to meet Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle we were excited for Abby to have her big moment. It did not go as planned. Abby and I went to meet Aurora and you could tell Abby was a lot freaked out by the fact that it was a real woman and not a statue like the Aurora we saw at Downtown Disney. She did pose for a picture and said thank you to Aurora. Then we got into the line to see Cinderella (which at this point was one person long since they let a small group into the princess pavilion at a time). Abby looked at me and told me it was my turn to see Cinderella and she would take pictures with Dad. So, I sent Steve to take her and meet Cinderella. Again, the look of terror was on her little face, but she smiled for a picture. We finally got to the line to see Belle, who is her all-time favorite and who she had been asking to see all week, and she told us there was no way she wanted to see Belle and that she was done. So we left without the Abby and Belle picture. She went out and told Grandma Mary that "Belle was over it and I didn't want to see her." Oh well... maybe next time.

Along with that great quote she had some other funny moments. We were feeding her and Olivia some cheerios for breakfast one morning (yep... Olivia is eating cheerios and everything she can get into her mouth), when Abby announced to Grandma Mary that we got Olivia, or "that girl" as she is frequently called, from a Happy Meal. If only it were that easy... I'd have a whole slew of kids. She was also shocked and amazed when she saw another random girl at the pool with the same bathing suit. She kept looking at the girl and saying to me "hey Mom, that girl is wearing my swimming suit." She had her other suit on, so she was sure the girl had gone into our room and stolen her bathing suit. I couldn't talk her out of it. She also got to be on the big screen at the Mike's Laugh In ride, which is a screen show based on Monsters, Inc. If you've seen the movie then you'd know that she looks a little bit like Boo, the toddler girl in the movie. During the ride's show, they used cameras to show various people from the audience on the screen as characters from the movie. Abby was amazed when her little face popped up in front of the whole theater. She hasn't stopped reminding me of it yet.

So... you can tell we had a great time. We enjoyed the Grandma and Grandpa time, the pool, and some quality time with our girls. And now we are enjoying some laundry and cleaning to get our house back into shape. And I'm working on new recipes, since last night "the dinner" made Abby throw up (her words, not mine).

Sometimes Happy...

Olivia, who has up until the last week been an incredibly happy baby, has had a very bad week. We can barely see her two little front teeth that just about have made it into her mouth. I'm praying they hurry up and pop through so that the poor girl can get some relief and I can get some sleep at night. She's been either happy or shrieking for about a week. I've been beyond exhausted for about that same amount of time.

We had a really fun week this past week. We got to witness the adoption of our friends' foster daughter and celebrate her adoption into their family. She'd been with them since she left the hospital, so it was exciting to finally (18 months later) celebrate that she was official. We also got to enjoy visiting with Great Grandma Lorraine and Great Grandpa Harley. They hadn't been up to see the new house yet, so we had fun showing them around and the girls loved playing with them. Abby was pretty bummed out when they left Sunday morning and has been checking for their car out the window just in case they come back. We took them to the must-do tourist spot in town (The Antlers Restaurant). While we were having dinner Abby fell asleep at the table. She almost fell out of her chair, but we caught her in time to let her sit up on my lap and sleep. It's amazing the places that little girls can fall asleep.

And... for the "Abby-isms" file of things I need to remember, we had the following play out this weekend:

Abby was playing with her dolls and wanted to put her doll's bottle into the fridge, since I had just put her milk into the fridge. Her toy fridge was upstairs in her bedroom. She took the bottle up and then came down and this conversation happened.

Abby to me: Can you bring my fridge downstairs?
Me to Abby: You need to ask your dad if that's okay.
Abby walks across the room to Steve.
Abby to Steve: Can you bring my fridge downstairs?
Steve to Abby: If I bring it downstairs you won't have any toys in your room.
Abby walks across the room to me.
Abby to me: Dad said yes.

Oh are we in trouble....

Whoa! Where Has Time Gone

Okay... so a week later, and I don't really know how the week flew by so fast. Except for maybe the fact that we were away from home for the holiday weekend and that I've had some extra crabbiness around here due to teething children (both of them - lovely). We had a great time down-state visiting family and managed to see all of the grandparents and great-grandparents again. Steve and I also went to our 10th class reunion. We can add that to things we will never do again - both because there won't be another 10th reunion for that class and because we paid a lot of money for bad food and no program or slide shows or anything. We did get to catch up with some friends, but it certainly wasn't 70 dollars worth of fun or food. Oh well...

Abby is officially over napping except on days when she has been really busy or she was up late the night before. I'm not sure I like this new phase of life. I need my naps too! But, we are learning to make it workable. Olivia, unfortunately, hasn't been napping well lately either. I think the travel threw her off her schedule, so she's been extra crabby since she's been missing her 3 hour afternoon naps (and she also doesn't want to miss out on anything anymore, so that complicates things). She's generally the happiest kid in the room, but with the teething and the lack of naps she's been off lately.

Now that we are home for a few weeks in a row again, we've been getting back into the swing of having friends around. Last night Olivia and her little friend Hugh discovered each other and rolled across the rug to get together. It was pretty cute to watch them discover each other and try really hard to get within reach of the other. Olivia also had some quality time with Wyatt (whom we've been told has laid claim to her, so apparently she is not available for your sons). It is great to have friends with kids the same ages as our daughters - they have such a great time with their little playmates.

A Hitch, A Pump, and A Pony

We spent all week this past week at Grandma Mary & Grandpa Scott's house on a new adventure. About 6 months ago a new family moved to our area and was invited to our Bible study. Since then, Kimberlee and I have become really good friends even though we are just about total opposites on a lot of levels. One of those things that is totally different is family size - they have 6 kids total and a 7th on the way thanks to a blended family. We, obviously, do not have a big family. But we do know a thing or two about being part of a big, crazy, happy family. And I love it :-)

So... this past week Kimberlee's daughter, who is 9, needed to be at DeVos Children's Hospital (where Olivia spent her week in the NICU) to receive an insulin pump, since she has type 1 diabetes. I went into the week not knowing much about the disease, since it is nothing like the gestational diabetes I had with Abby. I can now say I am getting pretty good at helping a little person with the disease (I don't know how to manage the pump yet, but I'm sure that is on the way). It is one thing I pray we never have to deal with for either of our children. But, thanks to amazing modern technology, Evelin now only has to be poked once every few days to move her pump instead of getting a shot before eating anything and before bed. I'm sure she is going to be very happy about that. And, since Kimberlee is getting pretty far along in the pregnancy and wasn't comfortable getting around in Grand Rapids, the girls and I went along for the adventure to keep them company. We were all thankful that my wonderful parents were willing to open their home for a few days. Both Evelin and Kimberlee talked about how much fun it was most of the ride home.And in the process we managed to do some things I was pretty excited about. One of them was having Abby (and Evelin) experience their first horse back rides. Let me just assure you that Abby, as you all probably would guess, was terrified of Lucky the miniature horse right up until the point when I called her a "princess pony." There is nothing Abby won't do if you label it a princess thing. She rode Lucky bareback with me holding onto her and Aunt Emily leading the horse. It was only about a bazillion percent humidity and in the high seventies, so Abby and Evelin rode while the rest of us swam in our sweat. Yuck! We also perfected Abby's swimming skills and taught her friend Huron (Kimberlee's youngest son who is 2 this week). And we had a hitch put on the car just in case we can find a great pop-up camper. That was an adventure in itself (the dealership guy said it would take 2-ish hours... seven hours later I left with a very cranky baby in tow). Olivia was a real trooper in helping me get a hitch put on and dealing with not one, but two toddlers trying to play with her all week. I think all the grandma hugs made up for it.

After all that fun I am pretty sure I need a week (or two) to recover. After I clean all the toddler mess and snacks out of the car that is ;-)

All Camped Out

Okay... this would have been cuter in focus, but you get the point. They had a fun time riding in the hammock
We just got back from an impromptu weekend camping trip and it was wonderful. Steve only had two patients scheduled for Friday, so he cancelled them and we spent the weekend at the Blind Sucker River Flooding soaking up nature (and some rain last night). We always seem to forget at least one thing when we go camping, and this trip was no exception. It was not fun to blow the air mattresses up without the pump, but we managed (somehow... taking turns to avoid passing out). Abby had a great time enjoying nature and learning how to live with no toys or t.v. She was ready to go back to her house after about 24 hours.

A Review of our Trip in Pictures

All of the Hodges Great Grandkids. Abby just woke up from a nap (not her idea), so she was crying :-(
Jack and Great Grandpa Harley
Abby learned how to swim on her own with a floating jacket. She swam circles around the pool for hours and hours.
Abby and Aunt Hannah, who styled her "princess hair"

Abby, Olivia and the Newland cousins with Grandma Von and Great Grandma Joy

Abby, Olivia & the Newland cousins with Grandma & Grandpa Obreiter and Great Grandma & Grandpa Gamble.
Olivia and Great Grandpa Duane Baker
Isaac Hodges - our newest nephew. We love him! We don't have a picture of just Emma yet, but we will be getting one soon when she and Jack come to visit their favorite Aunt :-)

Our FIRST Niece!

Congrats to Melissa, Glenn, and big brother Jack on our first niece, Emma Rae Hagberg! We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet our newest, sweetest little girl. Abby and Olivia are going to have lots and lots of fun with her at Grandma & Grandpa's house.
Emma Rae born July 1, 2010. 7 pounds 10 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long (almost identical to Olivia)

Fargo is Far, Far Away

Well... Steve and I can cross North Dakota off the list of states we haven't seen (my list is much, much shorter than his). It was a lot of driving, but I think we all had a good time. Except maybe Steve for the hours he had to spend in a very boring and apparently terrible class on pediatric dentistry. We made a circle trip out of our driving adventure - we only covered the same road twice for the first and last 60-ish miles of our adventure. We headed to Fargo by way of Minneapolis last weekend. We stayed the first night of our journey in Menomonee, Wisconsin. The next morning we packed up for the Mall of America in Minneapolis. We had fun checking out the mall, but were a little disappointed by the fact that it was basically just an over-sized mall. I guess Steve and I were both expecting more one-of-a-kind shops. We did have fun visiting the "doll museum" (aka the American Girl Store) and had planned to take Abby to the aquarium, but she got too tired. The highlight of her time in the mall was finding a barbie doll sized "Beast" to go with her Belle dolls. She's had lots of fun with that guy since we picked him up.

Our hotel in Fargo (the Ramada) was really nice. We had a great time at the pool, which had a kiddie pool and also a water slide. Abby and I went down the water slide once, but that was enough for her. She really had fun in the pools and the "hot pool" (aka hot tub). While Steve was in class the girls and I had to find ways to entertain ourselves, so we did some shopping and afternoon naps. We also checked out the Red River Zoo. I would not give it particularly high marks. There weren't very many exhibits and about 1/4 of them didn't have any animals that we could find. Abby is pretty petrified of animals too, so that didn't really help our zoo experience. The one animal she did like was the Russian red squirrel, so we took her picture next to it. I think we spent about 45 minutes total seeing every exhibit in the zoo - that gives you an idea about how small the place was. And it was in the 60's, cloudy, and super windy. So... if we ever decide to go back to Fargo I am going to be skipping the zoo and heading to Scheel's sporting goods instead.

After Fargo we headed to visit Glenn, Melissa, and Jack in Brainerd, Minnesota. Abby and Jack had a great time playing together, which was really fun to watch because it was the first time they were able to really play with each other and interact instead of just playing in the same space and fighting over toys. They jumped, stickered, and played with cars and dolls. And they've both been asking about each other since we left so it must have been lots and lots of fun. We also got to see Melissa's baby belly in person and hoped that Baby H. might sneak out early to meet us, but no luck on that. We can't wait to meet him or her and our other new cousin Isaac when they are born in the next few weeks.

Yesterday we made the LONG, LONG drive home from Minnesota. The 10 hour drive took us 12 hours, which isn't too bad for a two year old girl and her baby sister. We even stopped to see Agate Falls in the U.P. on our way back. But by the last hour of the trip the girls were pretty exhausted, we had a bit of a meltdown from both, and my back was killing me from having a very compacted seat (my seat has to be all the way forward for Olivia's carset to fit into our car). It was fun, but we were tired and sore from the big adventure. So today we slept in as late as possible, got the refrigerator restocked, mowed the jungle that used to be our backyard (it was mid-calf deep in spots), and started on the gigantic laundry piles.

So now we are back to normal, at least until Friday when the girls and I head down to Flint to take my baby sisters to a concert and visit with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott for a night. Busy, busy, busy!

Two Firsts

Olivia had two "firsts" this week:

First smile: She smiled at Grandma Mary on Tuesday, then smiled at me on Wednesday. I told her before we left that she wasn't allowed to show her first smile to Grandma Mary. She did not listen.

First intentional thumb sucking: Olivia stuck her little thumb into her mouth on purpose and by herself for the first time yesterday. Abby was impressed - her dad not so much.

We had a nice time visiting family and introducing Olivia to lots of Great Aunts and Uncles and cousins and also Great Grandma Lorraine and Great Grandpa Harley. Abby had so much fun that she didn't want to leave. This morning she woke up and said "Abby lives here okay." But she was pretty excited when she got home and her dog Maize was going wild with excitement. I'm hoping a night in our own beds will be a good change. Abby is getting her two-year molars and they are really bothering her. She named the new tooth "The Beast", so she is frequently asking for medicine for "The Beast." I hope she can get over the discomfort soon!

Grandma and Grandpa Hodges Were Here

And Abby had a good time, right up to the point where she tried to give Aunt Emily a kiss goodnight and Aunt Emily wouldn't let Abby kiss her on the lips. She gave Emily one good night kiss on the lips and then decided she would give her a second one, but she didn't close her mouth all the way, so Emily said no. Abby was heartbroken. Her little eyes were all welled up and she didn't even try to give Hannah a hug and kiss. It was funny but I felt bad for her poor little girl feelings who don't know that big girls don't like open mouth kisses from nieces. She wouldn't even give Emily a good bye hug when they left this afternoon. We have some rehabbing to do before our next visit apparently.

We had lots of fun with Grandma Mary, Grandpa Scott, Aunt Hannah, Aunt Emily, and Carson. We took them to The Antlers and let them see all the real fancy stuffed animals. We even let the wolf hold Olivia's car seat for her (Grandpa Scott assisted). Abby had a lot of fun with her birthday presents - a radioflyer wagon and an art easel (Thanks Mel, Glenn, & Jack!). Hannah and Emily also searched the basement and found Abby a GI Joe doll to be "The Beast" and they found the old doll clothes we had for a barbie doll version of the beast, so we had lots of fun playing with him and the "Belle girls".

And we had a yummy birthday cake with all of Abby's favorite princesses to celebrate her birthday. She really loves the birthday song and has been singing "Happy birthday to Abby" ever since Wednesday. It's been pretty cute around here. Except at 5:00 a.m. when Olivia decides to wake us up and stay awake. Or 6:00 a.m. when Abby decides to make our bed into her bed. I just keep telling myself I only have a few weeks of this left. I hope.

Training Day

Abby decided yesterday would be a good day to start training Olivia, so we worked on "Go Blue" and the proper form for "Hail" to the Victors. Abby was very excited that Olivia has gotten big enough to wear her Michigan shirts. We had to put away most of Olivia's newborn sized clothing since her torso was getting too long for it. We also are using the very last of the newborn sized diapers up (they should be gone today).

We are looking forward to an unexpected visit from Great Grandma Jennie and Grandpa Steve, Aunt Carol and Uncle Jeff (and boys). We aren't excited about the purpose of the visit (Uncle Jeff's dad Bud passed away - he was a really great man), but it will be nice to see them all. That is one benefit of being in Sault Ste. Marie - every once in a while Aunt Carol and Uncle Jeff are around to visit his family, who mostly live in town. I'm sure Abby will be very excited to see her "Candy Grandma."

It's Puppy Time

Abby is having a great time visiting her grandmas and grandpas, but I think she is most concerned with the 5 wiggly bulldog puppies at Grandma and Grandpa Hodges house. She is pretty impressed with those guys and has been sneaking in to pet and hold them as often as possible. She even has all of their names down pretty well.

Abby spent almost all day yesterday with Grandpa Roy and she had a great time. She even made it an entire day without watching Beauty and the Beast - this is a big step for us. And Grandpa Roy survived watching all 4 of the Obreiter grandkids at once by himself for a few hours before reinforcements in the form of Great Grandma Joy and Great Aunt Jessie arrived. I am so thankful that we have wonderful family who don't mind having an extra little person around.

Abby cracked me up yesterday watching Aunt Emily play basketball. She was pretty good about staying in the bleachers and actually watching part of the game. But... she was most impressed with the automatic flushing toilets in the bathroom. Apparently she's never seen one of those in Sault Ste. Marie before. She was also pretty impressed with Grandpa Scott's popcorn.

We are just about 2 months away from having Baby Sister (who still needs a name, by the way). I will be glad to be over some of the "joys" of pregnancy, like the 7 charlie horses I had during the night last night. Or the fact that the seat belt in the very back seat of mom and dad's car only fit around me if I pulled it all the way out (which then causes it to tighten and lock, so that I was strapped in tighter than Abby ever is). Or my all time favorite, being so big that my pants don't go up high enough to beat gravity and keep falling down and practically off. I'd rather have the crying baby, the sleepless nights, and the surgical recovery than any of those annoying pregnancy issues...

Merry Christmas to You!

Right: the entire Scott J. Hodges family. By next Christmas the family will have officially doubled its original size. I'm thinking eating out with 16 people (5 toddlers and infants) is not in the cards. Sorry Melissa... you had eyes closed or funny faces in all my pictures :-(

Here's the first few Christmas pictures. We'll share more over the next few days, since there are so many to go through. We had lots of fun visiting family and friends over the holiday, but it was pretty tiring!

Here is the pregnant bunch. From left to right: Courtnie (sister-in-law) due July 4th, Melissa (sister) due July 4th, me due April 14th, Sarah (cousin) due February 19th, and Laura (cousin) due January 25th. We also did the belly measuring and Laura and I were tied. Sarah has a couple inches to go to catch up with us. I'm hoping to stop expanding or I am going to win the biggest belly of the year contest in this family.

Abby was wonderful the entire trip. We didn't really have any major behavior issues to deal with, she used her manners, and she slept like a champ. She had so much fun opening presents once she figured out what the process was. And she really enjoyed all the new things she received. We have her pretty worn out though, so she's working on 12+ hours of sleep right now. She even rode down and back with only minimal crying and only one dumping of the snacks onto the floor. That's got to be about a record for us.