Photo Catastrope

We've had a little photo catastrophe. Or maybe a big one... depending on which side of the family you are on. I can't load my card right now, for some reason my card reader doesn't like 8 gb cards. But in trying to load my card I realized that all of my pictures from the Obreiter Christmas were deleted. Melissa and I combined our photos onto mom's computer and then put all the photos back onto our cards. The only problem is Melissa deleted everything from my card unintentionally, so I got back all the photos from the wedding and the Hodges Christmas, but since they didn't need my pictures from the Obreiter Christmas those photos never got put onto mom's computer or back onto my card. So, to Steve's family I am very sorry that all of the photos I took at Christmas got deleted. Next year we'll need to make sure someone else is taking photos too.

We are back from our visit downstate to see family and attend (and participate in) my cousin Meghan's wedding. She was a beautiful bride and it was a wonderful time celebrating the love she and Ron have for each other. I'm sure they have many, many happy years ahead of them. She was so excited to be marrying him and the look on his face as she came down the aisle was priceless. Congrats guys!

So, besides all the wedding stuff and two family Christmas parties, we have been battling the flu. Big time. I had it before we left (December 8th, for those of you keeping track). I spent the two days before the car ride laying on the couch feeling miserable. Abby wasn't feeling too well by Wednesday night either and she ended up throwing up in the car on the way down. Of course she had to choose the most desolate location to throw up, so we ended up stopped on a random exit with only a cell phone tower drive to pull into. It was a very long ride after that, but she managed not to be sick in the car again. We got to mom and dad Hodges' house and they had also been battling the flu around there, so it wasn't a big deal that we were coming sick. And Steve and Olivia almost made it out of there without getting the bug, but they both got sick on the 19th, right before our drive home. So we had two tricky drives, but we made it down and back.

We had a lot of fun visiting and helping out. I was able to clean out a good portion of mom and dad's basement - we took two full car loads of old toys, shoes, and other random things to Goodwill just in time for Christmas. It took a lot of time, but it felt good knowing that someday soon Abby and Olivia will be having a great time playing in the space that used to be overflowing with rubbermaid tubs full of things my siblings and I had played with as kids. I've learned to use cleaning as my form of stress relief instead of eating, and for the most part it's made my life a lot better. Melissa, Mom and I also got to help decorate for the wedding reception. We put together some amazing vases with sparkling sticks, jeweled feathers, and calla lilies. Meghan had great taste and Grandma Jennie did some amazing work. I almost kind of miss working at the flower shop.

Abby and Olivia got WAY TO MANY great things for Christmas. Lots of dolls, especially barbies which Abby is way into right now, a bike for Abby and a trike for Olivia, a ball popper, cool little people sets, some nintendo games, and "real talking Woody." I knew, sort of, that Abby wanted the talking Woody doll from the Toy Story movies - I'd had to drag her out of that aisle at K-Mart a couple times as she sat and talked to the toy in the package. When Grandma Mary asked her what she wanted for Christmas all she would say is "real talking Woody." So, lucky for her Grandma Mary decided that Abby did need a real talking Woody. And she's been enjoying him every single waking minute of her day since we got him. Olivia has been enjoying having her own things that Abby doesn't swipe immediately. She got her own doll house and Abby has come to grips with the fact that its for Olivia to play with and not for her exclusive use. Now we just need to work on that for the rest of our toys, movies, and books.

And... onto the funny to you, but not really to me. In the last couple weeks Abby has decided that bathing is the worst thing in the world. I know it sounds ridiculous, but when I bathe her it sounds like I am wrestling a rabid dog. She goes totally postal. I had to get into the tub last Saturday and hold her in so that I could get her clean for the wedding. It was a punching, kicking, biting mess. We got some bath crayons and gels and that made her a little more interested in bathing today, but she also had an accident that required bathing, if you know what I mean. Olivia on the other hand loves the bath and was trying to crawl and lay down while bathing today. She has no fear of anything. I am going to be totally gray within weeks.

And, finally, I chopped my hair back to a chin length bob today after 18+ months of growing it out. I'm not sure if the stylist wanted to chop off all that hair - she kept commenting on how long and healthy it was - but I am sure I don't want to deal with wet hair or spend the time necessary to blow dry that giant mess of hair I'd grown. And I think I lost a whole pound getting it cut.

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).

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 ;-)

Another Whirlwind Weekend

We are back from another whirlwind adventure of a weekend and came back with 4 surprises. The first three were new area rugs for the house (since we have all wood floors). The 4th was runny noses and whiny girls. I'd rather have left that surprise in Flint. But the rugs are heavenly - and were a steal at the Pottery Barn outlet (50% off the regular outlet price, plus 40% off for the weekend area rug sale - the blue was was even more reduced for "stains" which we can't find). So the playroom has a huge blue 100% wool rug and the living room got an even bigger (8x10) bronze one. They have provided a nice place for the girls to play on something softer than hardwood.
And... they made it a whole 12 hours before Abby spilled something on one of the new rugs. She and Olivia had adorable matching dresses on for church, then Abby pulled the lid of her sippy cup and got milk all over herself and the rug. Thankfully, wool rugs cause liquids to bead up on the top so it cleaned very well.

These dresses below are not Sunday's dress, but they were adorable in their blue and white stripes. And this is Olivia's first picture with Maize. She made it over 3 months without her first dog picture... I'm slipping.
Olivia is still working on belly time and still does not like it, but thankfully she hasn't "spilled" (i.e. puked) on the new rugs yet. She is getting close to rolling over, but she really doesn't put much effort into her attempts to rolling. She either lays down and goes to sleep or she cries and whines until I flip her over. But she does LOVE to play on her back and hit her toys if we hang them over her.
Abby continues to crack us up, although today was one of those days where I just wanted to put myself into a time out and stay there. She was up until 11 p.m. last night and I had to wake her up at 10 a.m. so that we could try to get back onto a normal schedule. I didn't let her nap today, so by 6:00 p.m. she was pretty crabby. She finally crashed at 7:45, so I'm hoping a good night of sleep will get her back on track after her busy weekend. But even with her and Olivia being quite grouchy today, she did give me a good laugh. She crawled up next to me and said "I am growing big like a mom. Then I will drink coffee and diet coke." I guess she has noticed my caffeine dependency. Maybe someday, when I am not sleep deprived and exhausted, I will be able to kick the habit again (after all I have gone totally caffeine free twice for extended periods).

We headed down to Flint on Friday night for a whirlwind rendezvous with Grandma and Grandpa Hodges, Aunt Hannah, Aunt Emily, and my cousin Meghan. Abby and Olivia hung out with Grandma and Grandpa while the big girls and I went to see the Backstreet Boys in concert (so not my thing... I'm not a concert person and I'm definitely not a boy band person). We barely got back into the car before a HUGE storm hit - thanks to my mom for text messaging the warning to Hannah and Emily so that we knew to leave the concert early and avoid the downpour. On the way home from Flint Saturday morning I took the girls to Birch Run to the outlet malls with the grandparents and aunts. That is where we scored the deal on the rugs and Abby and Olivia also got some goodies. They have enough clothes for at least 3 girls...
So... that was a lot of catching up to do. And, over the weekend we celebrated Father's Day with the world's best daddy. Abby also made her very first present - a custom photo mat for Grandpa Scott (and Grandpa Roy may just have one waiting for him too... just maybe). She was pretty proud of her artwork.

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!

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day to all of our friends and family who have served us in the various branches of the military! I am so thankful for brave men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line for me and my family - especially our own heroes Joe Nichelson and Ron Widerberg.

We have been enjoying a relaxing weekend with our little family. On Saturday we took the girls to the beach (Sherman Park) here in town before heading to a graduation open house for one of Abby's babysitters (Kasi) who also happens to be the big sister of Abby's little girlfriend Autumn. She had tons of fun running around the open house with Autumn and came home nice and sweaty. She's also figured out that drawing on herself results in a bath. And since she loves baths we have caught her drawing on herself 3 times this weekend. She no longer has access to any markers and I think all the pens have been stored too. She is too smart for her own good.

Sunday after church we took a little drive over to Deer Park, Michigan to go to Lake Superior. We took a top secret two-track to get back to the section of beach where the Sucker River meets the big lake. Abby had so much fun playing in the river and digging up the sand. The pictures from our adventure got posted yesterday (see below). Even Olivia loved having her toes in the water. She kept stretching her legs to find the water when I was sitting on the riverbank holding her. Since it has been in the 80's here for almost two straight weeks the water in our lakes and rivers has been exceptionally warm. It's like August water in May. So weird. One sad thing about the unseasonably warm and dry weather we've had this year is how dry a lot of the lakes and rivers have become. We drove by Muskellunge Lake, which is on the way to our favorite campground, and it was down a lot. So much that some sections of the lake were totally dry.

Today Steve and I are celebrating our 7th anniversary. We aren't doing a very good job of doing anything too special. Just the basic weekend type hanging out. We had lunch out (at Taco Bell - Abby's favorite) and went to Wal-Mart for groceries and supplies for our road trip next weekend. And I've been working on laundry and trying to figure out what is going on with our basement and water. Every time I do a load of laundry we get about 2 gallons of water on the floor, but we can't for the life of us figure out where or how it gets there. I've even sat and watched the pipes for a whole load and can't find a leak anywhere. I'm beginning to think I need to call in an expert.

Our Own Beds :-)

We just got back from Olivia's first appointment with our family physician. She is a little skinnier than when she left the hospital, but otherwise is doing great. I'm not even sure how much skinnier she is, since she apparently also shrunk an entire inch (and for a c-section baby that seems odd to me). So, we go back next Wednesday for another weight check and from there we will have a more consistent idea of how she is growing. She is eating every couple hours round the clock, so I'm sure she is getting some nutrition.

We arrived home yesterday around dinner time after our whirlwind adventure around the state. It was so nice to sleep in our own beds last night. Amazingly enough, we only had two kids crying in the car at the same time for the last 3 blocks of our trip. Better yet, they both slept the first 45 minutes and most of the last 45 minutes too (besides that little sob fest at the end). And Maize was really excited to see us - so excited, in fact, that Abby has a little cut under her eye from getting a dog "hug". As happy as Abby was to have her dog back, she was more happy to have her own toys again. She especially enjoyed introducing her new Cinderella doll to the princess castle. And we had a Sleeping Beauty doll waiting to give her when we got home too, so she has been playing non-stop with her princesses and the castle.
















Olivia is on night two of wanting to be held from 3:30 am to about 6:00 am. It makes sleeping a whole lot more difficult when you only get to sleep until 3:30. Poor Steve didn't know what he was in for when we got into bed last night. He'd been staying in a separate room at mom and dad's house with Abby, so last night was his first experience of sleeping and waking on Olivia's schedule. Luckily Abby didn't seemed phased by the crying and other baby related noises.
















I am finally staple free and feeling much better now that I don't have little metal spikes in my belly. Now just a couple more weeks of taking it easy and I should be back to normal. Luckily I have a super helpful husband, a wonderful family, and great friends. We were pleasantly surprised to come home yesterday to a re-stocked refrigerator and a counter top with food and snacks. We have some pretty wonderful friends up here in Sault Ste. Marie and we are so thankful for that. They make being farther away from family a whole lot easier.
















Olivia and I are going to be on a little house arrest until she reaches her original due date to try and give her a chance to build up her immune system (April 14th), so we are going to have to find some ways to keep the cabin fever at bay. I'm open to all suggestions...

DeVos Children's Hospital

Olivia, Steve, and I arrived at DeVos Children's Hospital pretty early this morning. I was very fortunate to be able to be discharged less than 40 hours after my c-section. We are even more fortunate to have an amazing group of friends in Sault Ste. Marie who made sure we had just what we needed to make the trip from Petoskey to Grand Rapids (Thanks Deb, Tara, Trevor, Craig, Samantha, and Chad for everything!). So at 10:30 last night Steve and I left Petoskey following Olivia in the ambulance full of the team from DeVos. On the way to pick Olivia up, the ambulance hit a deer, so they got started a little later than anticipated, but they made the trip back in good time, with no problems and Olivia responded really well to the initial treatments.

God has been faithfully providing just what we needed and making sure that we are in the right places at the right times. We were able to be transferred from Sault Ste. Marie to Petoskey while I was in labor without a problem. The surgeons in Petoskey were able to get us in almost immediately for our c-section (my apologies to the moms who got bumped on the schedule so we could be treated first). Then we were able to have a quick transfer to Grand Rapids and Olivia was able to see doctors who work with preemies everyday. When we arrived at DeVos at 2 a.m. the nursing staff had arranged for a room for Steve and I at the Renucci Hospitality House, which is connected to the hospital building. Having a bed and shower right in the same building as the NICU was such a blessing after being awake all day and driving long and late into the night. And being in Grand Rapids we are able to see Abby and stay with family while Olivia gets well.

This morning we were finally able to hold Olivia and she was instantly a happy baby. The nurse was able to turn her oxygen level down from 40% to 37% almost immediately after she started snuggling with her mom. When I left at noon she was down to 34% oxygen on the ventilator and the nurse was hopeful that she would be off the ventilator and back onto the CPAP sometime tomorrow. After the CPAP Olivia may be able to breathe totally unassisted and start eating and possibly even nursing. Abby was able to come to the NICU this morning to meet her baby sister. She did amazingly well and spent about 20 minutes visiting with Daddy and checking out her Baby Sister. She got scared about the "Big Sister" sticker they wanted to put on her shirt and the visitor bracelet they wanted her to wear.

Steve is spending the afternoon loving on Olivia, while I am back at Mom and Dad Hodges' house resting and giving Abby some quality time. The trip down last night really made me sore and probably wasn't the greatest thing for someone so soon after surgery, but I wouldn't have stayed in Petoskey while my littlest princess was in Grand Rapids. I wish I could spend every minute up at DeVos with her, but I know that she'll do best with a rested mommy.

No, I'm Fine

We have been hearing "No, I'm fine." a lot lately. Ask Abby about anything and you are likely to get that response. Like, "Abby, do you need some breakfast?" or "Abby, do you need a new diaper?" She is apparently fine. All the time.

We survived our unplanned trip to Hastings and now have the hard task of getting back into a regular routine - including nap time. Yesterday Abby was so exhausted that she had to leave the nursery during church, then she fell asleep while listening to the sermon. She also took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. She was apparently pretty tired. And she slept her normal 11-ish hours this morning.

Last night Abby put a little soccer ball under her shirt and walked around for a little while with her baby "Angela." She wouldn't let me take her picture, but it was pretty hilarious. Maybe we can catch her in the act again sometime.

Boys Are Busy

Abby and I had some new friends over today and boy oh boy did I forget how busy little boys are! We watched an 18 month old and 3 year old from a new family who is attending our church (and their dad works at the tribe with Steve). Huron and Rian were cute and well behaved little boys, but boys certainly play much differently than girls. Much, much differently. Luckily, Abby napped through most of their visit, so I only had to handle 3 children under the age of 3 for about 30 minutes.

Abby and I are spending some quality Abby/Mommy time tonight while Steve is attending the tribal board meeting to see if he is going to get a raise under the new compensation package that is being voted on tonight. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the package will be approved, especially since Abby's favorite baby sitter lives with Dr. Dave, Steve's office partner, and Dr. Dave has been considering his options if the package isn't approved. We don't want to be on the hunt for a new baby sitter anytime soon, so we've been praying for a good outcome.

We are also praying for a good ride down tomorrow to visit family. Cousin Joe Nichelson probably doesn't quite know what he is getting himself into taking Miss Abby on a ride with him. But then again, he does have lots of littler siblings, so I'm sure he's had his share of fun riding in the car with a toddler. I'm hoping enough fruit snacks and dvd's will make the ride a happy one for Abby. Either way, we are glad to be going and spending some time with Joe. It's been a long time since I've had a good chance to visit with him and I personally am pretty sure I have the most amazing cousins in the world.

21 Months Old!

Abby is celebrating the 21st month of her life today. It's hard to believe we are 3 short months from her 2nd birthday (not to mention the birth of her little sister)! Abby started this morning out with lots of playing and since it is staying just above freezing here today I think we will be doing some snowman making this afternoon. We'll see how Abby likes the snow when we actually play with it.

We tried something new today in Abby's diet - star fruit. Let's just say that most of it ended up on the floor and I'm not sure that any of it got into her belly. She did clean up the clementines and blueberries pretty quickly. Once she decides she wants food she doesn't really mess around too much.

A few funny things from traveling with Abby that I had overlooked mentioning. We left Maize at dog day care, but Abby was asleep when I dropped Maize off and asleep again when I picked her back up. All day long she kept telling me, and anyone else who would listen, that Maize was at the "dog circus" and that Maize was "going in bag." She came up with the dog circus all on her own. She also cracked me up talking about the dental school. We drove by the dental school at the University of Michigan 3 times throughout Wednesday and each time I told her that the building was where daddy learned to fix people's teeth. This fascinated her. She kept telling me that she wanted to fix teeth. And that she was a big girl dentist. And that daddy is a dentist and fixes people's teeth. I think she's been thoroughly indoctrinated in the desire to follow in daddy and Grandpa Scott's footsteps as a dentist. Finally, and worst from a traveling with children perspective, for some reason every movie we put on the portable dvd player while driving home for some reason or another scared Abby. I'm sure it was more a case of pure exhaustion and less a case of Winnie the Pooh becoming scary. We made it about 3 minutes into any given movie before we heard a little voice from the backseat saying "Abby scared. Change movie show. Scared." It made for a very long ride until she finally fell asleep (she also wanted any song on the radio changed immediately and wanted the radio on, but not on at the same time). Luckily after a couple nights in her own bed, Abby is back to her sweet self.

Abby Loves Puppies

It is official - Abby loves puppies. Ever since we left Grandma and Grandpa Hodges' house, Abby has been talking about Grandma's puppies. She was very hesitant around them at first, but by the time we left she was holding (with supervision of course) and petting her new little friends. Fortunately all the friends will be staying at Grandma Mary's house and then hopefully finding homes other than ours. Bulldog puppies are cute, but I'll pass on the full grown version.

Abby had a great time on our most recent travels. She really enjoyed Cabelas. She talked and talked about the deer, fish, bears, and elephant that she saw. There were a few animals she wasn't a big fan of, but for the most part she thought it was a pretty incredible place. And she really, really, really loved swimming at the pool at our hotel. She had a blast. So much fun, in fact, that I came home and looked up when the next toddler swim class is being held. So starting next weekend Abby will be hitting the pool at Lake Superior State University. She is already really excited about it.

We can't sum up our little trip without saying how much we appreciated the ability to leave Maize at a dog daycare while Steve was in his class yesterday and Abby and I were shopping and visiting friends. I would have been one of the type to laugh hysterically at people who use a dog daycare (and still probably would if it were an everyday kind of thing), but for us yesterday it was a life saver. We got to do everything we wanted without the distraction of a dog in the car (and without feeling mean for locking her in the car). If you are ever in the Ann Arbor area with a dog friend, Maize would with out a doubt recommend her new friends at Karla's Bed & Biscuit. We give them 2 paws up!

Now... on to the unpacking and digesting of everything that was in the car... ugh!

Abby Too Noisy

Yesterday Steve and I left Abby with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott for the day while we visited friends in Ann Arbor and headed to the Michigan basketball game. She had a great time. During her great time she was apparently pretty hilarious too.

For example, Abby headed to church with Grandma and Grandpa, but had to leave the service with Grandma because she was being too noisy. She apparently wasn't too happy about that and promptly asked to go back in to sit with grandpa. That idea got vetoed. Then Abby told the usher, our friend Mr. Koutz, that "Abby too noisy go back inside." I'm pretty sure he got just as big a laugh out of that as I did when we got back home. She also wouldn't go into the church's nursery because she thought the other kids were "weird."

On Saturday I scored a major find in the Abby bedding department. I love the Target "Simply Shabby Chic" line of bedding for kids, but had ruled it out because it tends to be pretty pricey. And with little girls we didn't want to invest too much money on bedding until they were old enough to choose for themselves and treat the bedding gently. Fortunately, I stumbled across a bed in a bag set (all the pieces you could possibly need or want) from that line on clearance. And there were two twin size sets. So... instead of buying the Disney sets from Wal-Mart and having to buy each piece seperately, Abby has really cute pale aqua and white bedding with flowers and butterflies for less than I would have spent to outfit her with any of the other potential sets. And she actually liked the bedding. Once we get it home and get our beds we will share pictures of her pretty princess room with you all.

And now... I should be going, since Abby is trying to put Grandma Mary's dogs in "time out" in their dog crates.

Checkup Part Two

Abby and I had to go back to the doctor's office this morning to get my rhogam shot (no fun!). While we were there they let me know that my blood sugar came back in the normal range, so I am going to survive this pregnancy without diabetes and without having to test my poor little fingers. Hooray!!!

We are packing for what will probably be our final trip before Baby O. arrives. We are going to visit Grandmas and Grandpas in Hastings from tomorrow until Tuesday afternoon, then heading to Ann Arbor for a class that Steve is taking on Wednesday. It should be fun and I know that Abby is very excited to see everyone (she already packed her bags). Speaking of that... I should get back to laundry so I can pack my bags. I only have about 7 shirts I can wear since I'm not a big fan of the bottom half of my belly sticking out and most of my shirts are now too short :-( I guess some shopping may be on the agenda for our trip.

Our Girl - 24 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-24-weeks_1113.bc)

Abby, Steve and I are all packed up and ready to hit the road when Steve leaves work. We decided to leave tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow. We really don't want to deal with any winter weather and we are hoping that Abby falls asleep and rides better tonight than she would during the day tomorrow. Unfortunately Abby woke us up at 4:45 a.m. and stayed up, so it is going to mess with the schedule I had planned for her (which included a nap right about the time we were going to leave). So we just have a few things left to gather and we will be on our way.

P.S. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott - we are joining the slumber party at your house tonight since we are going to be pretty late and Grandpa Roy and Grandma Yvonne have to work tomorrow. Just so you know :-)

Getting Back On Schedule

We had a great time visiting family last week, but now it is time for us to get back on schedule. We have a lot to do this week!

We headed down to visit family last Wednesday night and enjoyed seeing Grandmas and Grandpas and Great Grandparents too. Abby had a lot of fun playing with Aunt Hannah and Aunt Emily. She especially enjoying having play-doh time with Emily on Saturday while everyone was busy. Emily made lots of good things and then Abby cut them up. We were cracking up. And Abby also had fun teasing Uncle Dan and talking to him on the pretend phone. She had so much fun doing it that she kept it up for a good part of the car ride home.

I think the highlight of Abby's weekend may have been visiting Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jim's puppies. Abby and I tried really hard to talk her dad into letting us keep one, but he is a stickler for the one dog rule. She had so much fun with the puppies that she talked about it into her sleep that night.

Abby also came home with some neat stuff, like a double stroller and a rocking chair. We test rode the stroller around our house this morning and it worked well. And we also brought home Abby's new favorite shirt - a monkey sweater. We have a lot of stuff to put away and so I'd better get back to it.

Milwuakee

We've made it to Milwaukee and Abby and I have been enjoying the city and the hotel's pool today while Steve is in his class at Marquette University. There are so many beautiful buildings, including the public library. Abby and I explored the children's library today - which was about 2 times the size of our entire library in Sault Ste. Marie. Heading toward home tomorrow :-) We miss our dog and our beds!

One Baby On The Way

The ultrasound was conclusive - only one baby on the way! We are very excited about that. Our due date is basically the same, so we are right on track for another tax day baby. They made us some pictures on a disk, but we can't get them off to share - sorry! Our computer is too old to run the program that would allow us to save or print the pictures.

Abby did a great job at the appointment. She initially cried a bit, mostly because she was so sleepy and wanted to cuddle with mom and not sit on dad's lap. She eventually ended up falling asleep. And then she came home and crawled right into bed without any crying about nap time. She is sure a great kid.

And now... on to packing for our little adventure around Lake Michigan. We are heading to Hastings tomorrow, on to Blissfield on Monday night or Tuesday morning, and then to Milwaukee on Thursday and back home through Wisconsin on Saturday. Should be fun!