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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Winter Fun Ideas

What we did this year with Nicollette:



- Durham Tree Lighting and Ethnic Trees exhibit (went the day after for a much less crowded afternoon of museum time)
- Mormon Gingerbread Festival (was only a little interested in the gingerbread but loved the play house)
- made peppermint bark (helped break the candy canes)
- Advent Calendar - opened a winter or Christmas themed book or DVD counting down to opening the presents under the tree (about half were already owned)
- crafty activities - decorate felt tree, decorate foam gingerbread man with foam sticker, felt snowman, hot chocolate cloud dough, holiday themed coloring books (see post)
- Whole Foods Holiday food tastings - sample Saturday with a holiday theme

Ideas for next year:
- Bass Pro Shop Santa visit (didn't want to actually sit with Santa this year, so we didn't try)
- see Neighborhood lights (too cold this year and too hard to see from rear-facing car seat)
- Laurizten Gardens Poinsettias (thought she might be too little this year)

Friday, December 6, 2013

Nicollette turns 2

Growing up so fast. Our oldest child is now 2 years old. I had started to plan a party but I realized I only had two kids to invite and that is really more of a play-date, and then with all the busy-ness of a newborn never set anything up. 

So even though we ran a few errands I tried to make the day special. We went to Target to get some gifts for the church Angel Tree and we got a soft pretzel. Then went to Bakers to get her a giant cupcake as her cake and got a kids hot chocolate at the Starbucks. Daddy had to work but after he got home we opened presents and had cake and then just a normal dinner since it was too cold and too late to go out to eat. 

Since both my kids are winter babies I am thinking of getting them spring presents on their half-birthday as "unbirthday presents."  I would like to get her a bigger ride-on, like a trike but she can't really use that in winter, except maybe in the basement. 






Thursday, October 17, 2013

He has arrived

In case you missed it Elijah Aleksander Warren was born on October 16th, 2013 at 11:03pm. He was 8 lbs 7.7 oz.

The only other photos online are currently on Facebook, but I will update Snapfish and Shutterfly in time.




Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Decor update

So I finished the toddler room and baby nursery decorating and wanted to share. 

First lets start with Nicollette's toddler room decorated with white furniture and vintage Teddy Beddy Bear bedding. I had two crib sets, so I used the bumpers for a bed skirt and a window valance. I even had some Teddy Beddy Bear wall hangings that I put above the bookcase. We got a bean bag for the nursery and she liked it so much we got her one too, making a nice reading area near her bookcase. I found a twin sheet set in a very close seafoam green color to use for her pillow and for the air mattress I still have in her room. I got a cute cloud accent pillow for her bed. You can't see it but Patrick decorated her walls with glow in the dark stars, he even did some of them in constellations.







Next the baby nursery looks mostly the same. Took all Nicollette's stuff into her new room and finally put the mobile up. Added a bean bag and a new bookcase for infant toys (since the old one went to Nic's room). 



22 mos, but still waiting on baby #2

Nicollette is now 22 mos old, as of the 4th. As of today, the 15th, still waiting on baby #2. Hopefully Nicollette will be our little helper and not jealous of the littler one when it finally arrives. "Baby" is probably her favorite word and everything she sees seems to be assigned, "mama", "dada," or "baby."

She is showing some signs of being ready to consider potty training on some days and not so much on others, but we have decided to put it off since she will likely regress after the new baby is here and constantly being changed.

We have read her several books about new babies, but I think they may have given her the idea that the baby will just show up, and so often after naps and such she will ask and look for the baby.

Since the last real update in August we have done a few family things. We went to the Omaha German Society Oktoberfest and she seemed to enjoy it. We picked apples a few times at Trees, Shrubs, and More and we just picked up our pumpkins there. She has had a blast decorating the pumpkins with felt stickers I picked up last year. The Target dollar bin ones have worked the best and she has been able to do it over and over a few times.

Grandma has come to visit to help with Nicollette when I go the hospital for the new baby. We had her show up before the due date to get to know her routine and that is going better than expected. She was quickly playing with Grandma and is usually OK with staying with her while we leave.

As with many toddlers, Nicollette can be a picky eater, but she currently can say and always wants "cheese." Although it took about two weeks for her to say it that clearly. She surprised us by first saying it while we were eating samples at Whole Foods. Sometime it seems she eats the same foods for lunch over and over. Usually for dinner she at least tries to eat what we are eating.

Bedtime is the other common toddler problem. We are trying to get her to go to bed for either of us, cuddling in our room and then into her toddler bed, but sometimes that doesn't go so well and other nights she goes down more quickly. Still usually insists on "mama" and "no dada." She still often wakes up in the middle of the night and want to cuddle with "mama" in the air mattress that I still have next to her toddler bed.

Will all this going on I do wonder how she is going to do with my overnight in the hospital. Even with a healthy delivery, you are in the hospital about 2 days.

One of her little playmates is moving and I am sad to not see them grow up more together, but they had fun while they lived in the same place. Wish we could have done more with them this last few weeks, but the end of pregnancy just seems so exhausting. We have skipped church the last few weeks, where she often sees her. Plus who want to risk going into labor during church.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Fall fun to do list

Well summer has almost come to a close, so I should start a Fall want to do list

First to move some of the summer things to this list

- Check out a Storytime - at Bellevue LibraryPottery Barn Kids and/or Bookworm Bookstore
- Go to Chick-fil-A to play (when it is not so busy, so she doesn't get run over by older kids)
- try out an open swim and/or open gym times at Kids Body Shop
- try a drop in music class at Musicians in MotionBaby Maestro, or Kindermusik
- see tornado exhibit film at Durham Museum - thinking of Aug 25th at 2p, Sept 14th at 11am, or Sept 29th at 2pm

- go to the Zoo more
+ go to the apple orchard/store Union Orchard and/or Trees Shrubs and More
- Check out Mahoney State Park, especially indoor playground
- check out Fontenelle Forest
+ go to Arrows to Aerospace festival - Aug 17th
+ got to Iowa State Fair -going Aug 16th (+ check out the Elkhorn, IA Danish Windmill on the way)
- check Bellevue Farmers Market during a fun activity
- maybe check out Omaha Farmers Market


Now onto the the fall list of festivals and events we might want to check out:
Beerfest at Shadow Lake Towne Center Aug 24th
- Greek Festival Aug 23-25th
- Nebraska City AppleJack Festival Sept 20 - 22 (if we dont go this weekend, Nebraska City looks fun to visit in the fall anyway with Arbor Day Farm and Kimmel Orchards)
Oktoberfest Sept 20 -21st
+ Christmas Tree Lighting at the Durham - day after Thanksgiving- Nov 29th 4-7p
- Christmas in Germany Dec 8th

20 mos old

So I got out of the habit of taking a photo on her monthly birthday, but making it 19 mos in a row was pretty good, right?

 She is more and more a toddler. She bounces back and forth between happy and upset. Sometimes upset ends with her laying on the floor, not throwing a tantrum exactly, just going limp and laying on the floor. Which if what we want is her to go or do something, does the job until we pick her up. It is so funny to see how so plays by herself verses with a playmate. She stays close to mom at the park but with wondering all over when we go alone, but add a playmate into the mix and she has someone to follow or someone to keep her on one activity longer. Getting harder and harder to follow her around a park so she doesn't fall off things, how long before she is old enough for me to sit on a bench and watch her play?

We went to my high school reunion at the end of July in Indiana, which was an opportunity to visit with my family and a close friend. Went to the Star Wars exhibit at the State Museum with my brothers on their birthday and then out to lunch. Then one of them went with us to the Children's Museum (which if I lived closer I would have an annual pass to, because it was awesome) The morning of the reunion, hung out with my best friend from high school and her little boy at Conner Prairie. Went to a quick Mediterranean lunch (the menu for the reunion was kinda appetizer-y) Nic fell asleep on the 2 minute drive to lunch and had to be woken up and so after getting her to eat something, she got cranky. She loves Mediterranean food like hummus, pitas, couscous, and lamb. Then to the afternoon reunion. Had dinner with one brother and mom after the reunion. My mom hung out with us at the hotel to play with Nic afterward.

State Museum

State Museum


Children's Museum

Children's Museum

Conner Prairie


With the next little one on the way we are rearranging the house some. Cleaning out the office and combining it with the guest room, so the office can be Nicollette's new toddler room. I have picked out, but still need to purchase the toddler bed, and it will be decorated with vintage Teddy Beddy Bear bedding. It is more pastel and so I am on the look out for things to match the almost seafoamy green, although I have a lot of stuff already including matching wall hangings.

The baby nursery will stay mostly the same with the turquoise and dot motif. Taking out Nicollette's personal stuff and returning it back to a gender neutral room. 


With summer coming to a close looks like I should start a Fall fun list of things to do. 

Monday, July 22, 2013

Summer Bucket List

This summer I want to get out and about with Nicollette more, so I have started a list of place and things to do this summer with just her and I while Daddy is at work and family things to do on weekends.
+ completed (at least once)

+ Check out the local Library
- Check out a Storytime - at Bellevue Library, Pottery Barn Kids and/or Bookworm Bookstore
- Go to Chick-fil-A to play (when it is not so busy, so she doesn't get run over by older kids)
+ Go to the Laurtizen Gardens to check out the model trains (after section reopen)
- try out an open swim and/or open gym times at Kids Body Shop
- try a drop in music class at Musicians in Motion, Baby Maestro, or Kindermusik
+ see TRex Sue at the Durham Museum
      -(and tornado exhibit film)
- go to the Zoo more
+ check out some other city parks
+ take her to a cheap kids movie matinee
+ play at the splashpad SprayGround at Shadow Lake Towne Center
    + (maybe we could do this during Beerfest)
+ pick berries Bellevue Berry Farm
+ go to the apple orchard/store Union Orchard and/or Trees Shrubs and More
+ check out Strategic Air and Space Museum
- Check out Mahoney State Park, especially indoor playground
- check out Fontenelle Forest
+ go to Arrows to Aerospace festival
+ got to Iowa State Fair
- check Bellevue Farmers Market during an fun activity
- maybe check out Omaha Farmers Market

other resources:
- go to toddler related Parenting U classes at Children's Hospital (so this is more for her than with her)
- Children's Museum Calendar
- Regency Court Mall Events Calendar
- Whole Foods Events Calendar
- Shadow Lake Towne Center Calendar

Next year we really need to try out more festivals, we have several we wanted to go to but lost track of the dates such as one of the Scandinavian festivals and one of the Czech festivals. Also some festivals might be a better fit next year when she is older like the Sweet Corn Festival.








Thursday, July 11, 2013

17- 19 mos (fyi another on the way in Oct)

With an active little one it is getting harder and harder to keep this updated, and I am sure it will get harder with another on the way in October. To keep it simple I might just continue the updates for both on this blog instead of giving the new little one their own blog.

She likes to act like a big person, trying to sit in the regular chairs and on the couch all the time. She fights sitting in highchairs and her car seat, but once she is buckled in she is fine usually. Around Mother's Day Patrick's parents came to visit us for the weekend and we did some touristy things around Omaha. She is showing more and more she is not always a girly girly, she may be dressed in all pink, but she likes her tools and truck toys.

Near the end of June we went on a family vacation, while it is just the 3 of us. It was a road-trip across South Dakota, which went pretty well expect for a few toddler mini-meltdowns. Started with the zoo in Sioux Falls, which was a great little zoo to spend a few hours in, and inexpensive with our Omaha Zoo pass discount. Then off to the Mitchell Corn Palace and Wall Drug Store. Then to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse (spent some time driving to/through Deadwood and Sturgis but it rained and we didnt see anything we wanted to do especially with the rain). Then a day doing small things in Rapid City starting with a bagel breakfast. Then Storybook Island, which I highly recommend. It is this amazing park with fairy tale and storybook statues, playhouses and play structures to climb all over. We went to the Chapel in the Hills which is a replica Norwegian chapel. Also we tried out inside Glow in the Dark Putt-Putt, which was a funny experience with a toddler. Then Devil's Tower in Wyoming. We worked our way down Wyoming and back into and across Nebraska stopping at little attractions and rest stops along the way like Ayers Natural Bridge Park.

Started working on our summer bucket list of things to do with Nicollette, both as a family and just Mommy and Nicollette time while Daddy is at work. So far we have gone to see TRex Sue at the Durham. We have been going to the neighborhood park more (when it is not too hot) as well as trying out some other local parks.

17 mos May 4th
at the Zoo with grandparents

Legos the Gardens during grandparents visit

spending a rainy and then hot day the SAS musuem

18 mos June 4th

trying to wear Mommy's shoes
sitting in a big people chair

love my toolbox
road trip - Mitchel Corn Palace

road trip - Jackalope at Wall Drug
road trip - Mt Rushmore
road trip - Crazy Horse
road trip - Storybook Island

road trip - Chapel in the Hills
road trip - Devil's Tower



 road trip -Ayers Natural Bridge Park


road trip - Lincoln Statue at Rest Stop 
19 mos July 4th

 TRex Sue at the Museum 

Museum
Museum, she loves this statue every time we are there




Thursday, April 18, 2013

14-16 mos

Life is busy with a toddler. She seems to always be on the go and climbing or trying to climb on everything. We have rearrange the family room furniture again in the hopes of curbing some of the climbing.  She is funny and tries to walk on her tippy toes or spin in circles like a ballerina. She likes to be a helper, especially "helping" put the groceries away.
walking the "puppy"
14 mos old on Feb 4th

watching youtube
15 mos old Mar 4th

reading the baskets the books should be in
"helping"

Easter
16 mos old Apr 4th



16 mo old on Apr 4th