Paint it Gold

Otsego, Here We Come!

2012-02-22T08:24:00.003-06:00

After weeks of this stuff...

Everyone is finally feeling better and we haven't had any vomiting for almost a week now.. I think it's finally over! And just in time because we have lots of packing to be done.. We will be packing up the house this week and have rented a big ol' truck for Friday and Saturday to move all of our furniture. We hope to spend our first night in the new home on Saturday night - yay! So, more than likely, you won't see me on here a whole lot the next couple of weeks.. But I guess that's nothing new in 2012 for this bad little blogger! I do hope to find an area for the computer in our new house that's more easily accessible for me. It doesn't seem like getting upstairs to my computer now would be that much work, but in fact it kind of is. This involves bringing two kids upstairs with me, where nothing is baby-proofed. Tanner is quick as lightening and he always finds something to get into. Usually dads shaving cream or some q-tips. He's especially fond of our bathroom. Same goes for Harper now - she's about two paces behind him at all times.. So, if I can get this thing set up in our living room in the new house, I am much more likely to get on here.. So, wish us luck for the move and we'll see you on the flip side!

Woe Is Me ;)

2012-02-18T10:31:00.004-06:00

Three solid weeks of sickness floating around our house.. We got hit with the flu, a little bronchitis and some croup. I *think* we are finally over it, although I'm a little nervous about putting it out there again and jinxing myself.. So, it's been pretty glamorous around here.. I've been cleaning lots of puke, running nebulizers around the clock, changing some unGODLY diapers and cleaning some more..

Jinxed

2012-02-05T17:08:00.005-06:00

Probably an hour or two after I put up my last posting on Friday, Harper started throwing up again. At first I thought it must be fluke, what kid gets the flu twice in two weeks? Apparently, my kid does. Poor baby girl. She's been pretty sick since Friday, BUT.. she has kept her last two bottles down now so I'm hoping we've seen the worst of it. Fingers crossed. To top it off, both kids are congested and Harper has a nasty cough. How on Earth Mike and I have evaded sickness is beyond me. Mike says it must be all the vodka we drink.. We're killing off any potential germs ;)

Flu Bugs

2012-02-03T10:02:00.005-06:00

It's been a long week here at the Hokanson home.. The stomach flu has been passed around, which means I have been puked on multiple times and pulled a few all-nighters.. A couple cans of Lysol and hundreds of Clorox wipes later, I am happy to announce we are flu-free! Now, back to your regularly scheduled program..

New Digs!

2012-01-27T16:35:00.006-06:00

It's official! We are future residents of Otsego, MN! We signed the paperwork and will be moving the end of next month.. We took the kids to meet their new home and Tanner was pretty excited.. He especially liked the closet under the stairs, he thought it was a fort.. So, our new home is a detached townhouse, which is great because we won't have to worry about lawn care or snow removal (which is always tough for us with the hours Mike works). It's new construction, so they are still working on getting things finished. They just put in the carpet the other day and now we're waiting for the appliances to get in, which should be sometime next week. ..I know you want to see some pictures ;)

Ooooouuu, you pretty little floor! Open dining area..
Looking up, to the loft..Loft area upstairs.. Scrappin' nook, perhaps?!One of the bedrooms.. There are two up and the master on the main level.. I like that all the bedrooms have at least three windows..Upstairs bathroom that Tanner and Harper will share. Tanner approved..

So excited for this next chapter in our lives. It will be an adventure and I can't wait to see where it takes us! If anything, we're REALLY close to the Albertville Outlet Mall, so when all else fails.. I can shop ;)

Tanner Time

2012-01-26T08:41:00.008-06:00

Tanner was just telling me the other day how sad he is about getting less blog-time.. Just kidding, he didn't say that.. He doesn't even know what a blog is, silly ;) But, I bet if he did, he would wonder why Harper gets her own special posting once a month about all the great things she does. I mean, he's doing some pretty great things himself! These days, he is talking up a storm.. It's kind of fun now that we can actually have a convo with him. And the funniest things come out of his mouth.. I have no idea where half of it comes from!

I remember thinking how nice it would be if he could just tell me what he wanted.. For example, when making a meal. Only, now his only requests for food are cookies, ice cream, mac 'n cheese, etc.. All the healthy stuff! Some days I find myself wondering if it wasn't better when I could just pop open a jar of baby food and he would eat it.. Whatever it was. No fussing or fighting, no deals or bribes. Easy peasy. Now I have to make deals with him just to get him to take ONE BITE of a vegetable.. Sometimes, the deal is, "if you eat your broccoli, you can have a cookie for a snack later." ..Or a jar of cookies... whatever ;)

Did you notice the boots? Grandma Peg got them for T and he is OBSESSED with them.. He has to wear them everywhere.. He likes to put them on himself, which usually results in boots on the wrong feet..

Another favorite pastime: emptying the toy box so he can relax in there.. With his boots on, of course.All winter he's been asking where the snow is.. He was so excited on New Years Eve when we had a little snow. We had to go play in it! Yep, this is what New Years Eve looks like for us now, folks! (Actually we did have a surprise visit from Melissa & Paul much later that night and it turned out to be a super fun night.)Well, Harper had to sneak in one picture.. This one is so cute - as soon as Mike walks in the door from work, he has two babies all over him, desperate for some daddy time.. He gets pretty excited to see them too :)

Happy Thursday ;)

Shameless Plug :)

2012-01-21T07:35:00.001-06:00

I think everyone knows I started selling Scentsy a few months back, but just in case you missed the memo... Mike and I are going to be moving out of our house here shortly and we decided that I need to bring in some extra income. Without having a degree and my only experience being in real estate (which I don't have to tell you, SUCKS right now), the jobs are pretty slim pickin' out there. And with the cost of daycare, it just doesn't make sense to find a regular, 40-hours-a-week job. Enter Scentsy. I've always loved this product anyways so I figured, why not? I have nothing to lose. AND so far I am LOVING it!

I had my launch party in December and received my very-first-ever Scentsy box in the mail just short of a week later.. I was so excited to see it sitting there!

And look, they even dressed up the number 8! Love them already!

Many boxes later, here is my very-first-ever party order with Scentsy!

Tanner was soooooo anxious to "help" me with the orders. I told him not to touch anything and I could tell it was just taking everything in him to not reach out and just grab something!

He was happy when I finally let him help me with everything :)

Thank you to everyone who has supported me on my new little adventure. It has been so much fun already, I feel lucky and blessed to be able to make this extra income doing something I love. And more importantly, being able to still stay at home with my kids and do the job I love and cherish the most.. Being a mom :)

Harper @ 8 Months

2012-01-20T09:33:00.005-06:00

I can't believe Harper has been in our lives for 8 months already! Time is absolutely flying! I thought the first year went by fast with Tanner, but it's even faster with the second baby.. I try so hard to relish each stage she's in, but I find myself feeling guilty that she doesn't get as much attention as Tanner did when he was her age. It's impossible to spend as much individual time with each child as you want to. Her sleep schedule is a little different than Tanner's though, so I at least have those small windows with one lil babe while the other is sleeping. She's still the happiest baby around so I guess the missed time with mommy must not bother her too much.. She is crawling all over the place and can pull herself up to standing. She likes to always be where the action is. Usually the "action" is Tanner, so he's not too excited about this whole crawling thing. She's all up in his bizness now ;) She's eating lots of baby food and isn't picky with anything so far. She also started some finger foods and loves to snack on the puffs. Oh, and she got her second little tooth this month!

Here are some pics of this sweet 8 month old, taken just a few days before she turned 8 months..

Holiday Train

2012-01-16T08:07:00.007-06:00

I know, the holidays are totally gone and I am horribly behind with my blogging. I have good intentions, it's just that every time I have a spare minute to get upstairs and jump on the computer, something or someone pulls me away..

Peg & Lou took us to to see the Holiday Train in December, just before Christmas. Tanner loved it - he is so obsessed with trains, I thought he might explode from all the excitement.. As soon as he heard the train coming, he started squealing and jumping up and down. It was pretty cute :) If anyone hasn't been to see the Holiday Train, it's a must see. Canadian Pacific Railway does this every year during the holidays. They decorate the train with Christmas lights and it stops at over 140 cities in the Midwest area and Canada. They collect donations of money and food, which stay in the community that's collecting. We went to the stop in Loretto as it was the closest one to us. The train stopped for about an hour or so, at which point, Santa gets off to walk around and greet everyone and one of the box cars open up to reveal a band playing Christmas music. As you can imagine, Tanner has been asking about the Holiday Train constantly.. Every time we drive through Loretto he has to remind me of the train that came through with Santa and all the lights :)

And now for the pictures..

It was great that the weather was so mild and there was no snow on the ground. Tanner was able to walk around to see the whole train and talk to some of the workers for Canadian Pacific who were telling the kids all about trains. I'm guessing any other year, this would have been hard to do, given the amount of snow and cold temperatures we usually have at this time of year.This was awesome - the whole side of this car opens up, smoke starts pouring out and a band starts to play. Seriously, Tanner really was about to explode with excitement by this point!Hay rides..Tractor/train rides..Maybe not quite as exciting for this little bug! I definitely want to come back every year. It was so much fun and will make a great tradition..

Peace out, 2011!

2011-12-31T16:31:00.002-06:00

We've had a lot of big things happen this year.. Probably the biggest things:

Mike getting promoted to running the Subaru store at Morrie's Brooklyn Park store. We are so lucky that he has a job that he actually likes and people he enjoys working with. I hate that he works so many hours and isn't able to spend as much time with family as I would like, but I am sooo grateful that he has a job to go to everyday.

This year also marks Easton's start with a new family. We actually heard from them on Christmas Eve. They called to tell us how much they love her and how she had been running around on the iced-over lake up north all day with them. She is really happy there, and that makes me happy. Words can't express my gratitude and relief that she has such a good home.

Our biggest happening of the year was, of course, having our baby girl, Harper. Again, words can't express the happiness and pure bliss she has brought into our lives. I look at her and my heart just swells up with joy.. Both of our kids have brought so much to our lives - I feel like our lives are so much richer because of them. They are healthy and beautiful and I can't stop snuggling them and loving them (or blogging about them!).. I know that this is what I was supposed to do. Being a mom gives me purpose.

We have had some struggles over the past couple of years, but we are finally on the other side of things. I am looking forward to a new year full of new adventures and surprises. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings us!

Cheers!

Christmas 2011!

2011-12-30T15:49:00.009-06:00

I love, love, looove our new tradition of keeping the kids home for Christmas and having family come to us.. Not sure if the family love, love, loooves it, but it sure makes things a lot easier on our end and makes for a much happier Tanner..

We kicked off Christmas Eve with Mike's family.. We had a house full of people, food and booze and Tanner made it through the day without a nap and had no temper-tantrums.. Success!

Mike's parents had their friend, Bob, come again this year.. Last year he had a little too much of the sauce, but he made up for it this year by staying on the straight-and-narrow ;) He's always a lot of fun and we are glad he came to celebrate with us..
Jesse came this year too.. He's practically family anyways :)Capped off the night with some cribbage. Tanner and Harper were in bed at a descent hour and ready for another day of partying!Mike and I stayed up absurdly late putting together a Thomas The Train set for Tanner. Dang tracks don't even match up.. He didn't seem to care though - his little face was so excited when he came down the stairs and saw train tracks looping around the living room.. He pretty much hasn't stopped playing with the trains since Christmas!Harper kind of came in and disassembled a few tracks.. She's crawling all over the place now and Tanner definitely is not a fan.After opening Santa's presents and having some {immediate} family time, my side of the family came over.

Tanner had to show everyone his train Santa brought him as soon as they walked in the door. I think everyone is trained-out ;)

I can't remember the last time we had weather this nice in Minnesota over Christmas. Maybe not even in my lifetime. My aunt, uncle and mom took Tanner for a walk around the hood.

They wanted to check out a really cool bug down the street that is all decked-out in Christmas garb.

This is what it looks like at night. Love it!

Mike and my dad had gifts under the tree from "Toby".. I was so confused about this; I was like "who the heck is 'Toby'?" ..until they opened them.. Red Solo cups!! Hilarious present from my aunt & uncle!

And Harper got her first little Coach purse from my mom (of course)!

Some prayers before grubbin' ;)

And another Christmas is over before we know it! We had so much fun this year - it gets better every year with Tanner learning more. He kept telling me "it's Christmas time, mommy".. He was pretty bummed out when we took the tree down the other day. Had to explain to him that Christmas is only once a year. He thought about that for a second and then was on to the next thing. Sometimes the short attention span works in our favor ;)

Hope everyone had a very merry CHRISTMAS!

Daddy's Little Helper

2011-12-21T09:13:00.006-06:00

Can you even believe Christmas is THIS WEEKEND?! I can't! (And I am sooo not ready!) Obviously, we put the tree up a while ago (if it were up to Mike, it would have been up in like September), but I hadn't posted any pictures yet so I thought I should do that before Christmas has come and gone.

I remember when Mike and I first moved in together and I was really annoyed that we had to have a real tree in our house (I know, I'm a scrooge), but now that I've been doing this with him for the better part of ten years, I've grown to kind of like it. (Plus, all the pine needles everywhere give me another excuse to vacuum!) It's kind of fun to go out after Thanksgiving and pick the tree out, bring it home to let it fall and then decorate it together as a family. Much more meaningful than getting the pre-lit fake tree out of the box from the basement..

Tanner was pretty excited this year to "help" daddy with the tree. They had fun, which makes me have fun too. I guess I'm starting to come around with these holidays.

The finished product.. (Which was Wrigley-approved!)

Merry Christmas, friends!

Harper ~ 7 Months

2011-12-17T09:09:00.003-06:00

This sweet little girl is just getting big, way too fast! I can't even believe a half a year has passed and we're almost into 2012.. Harper is still the sweetest, smiliest baby I have ever known - she's so easy, I take her everywhere with me. She got her first tooth this month and I think a few are about to break through - she drools through like 2 or 3 bibs a day. She loves to chew on zwieback toast and, oddly enough, looooves peas. Still sleeping through the night and taking a couple of naps a day. And she took her first little crawl across the living room floor the other night! I expect she'll be into everything in no time!

Santa in Maple Plain

2011-12-12T08:47:00.004-06:00

Every year right around Christmas, Santa cruises the streets of Maple Plain in his sled. A police car leads the way for him and his crew hands out goodie bags with candy and stickers. We braved the cold and flurries this year and went to the Schultz's house to watch Santa ride by. Of course, Tanner took off running to the garage at the initial sight of Santa, but Mike coaxed him back out and he actually ended up really liking it!

Harper girl had no idea what was going on.. She just stayed toasty in her warm get-up and chewed on her mittens :)Cory dressed up for the occasion.. As Uncle Sam.. ??!!?!?!And, this.. This is hilarious - - Cory and his buddy, Zack, on the fire department keep playing tricks on each other with this guy. He's a dummy from the fire department and they have been passing him back and forth, putting him in all kinds of crazy places. Cory had last made a little scene in Zack's front yard around Halloween with this guy. Not to be outdone, Zack paid him back by putting him on the roof at Cory & Shannon's house! Cracks me up!

Crazy Maple Plainers ;)

Happy Birthday, Bud!

2011-12-11T17:34:00.002-06:00

Happy 33rd birthday to Mike! What I love about him: his deep laugh, his ability to get along with eeeeveryone, his daddy skillz and the fact that he puts up with me (only to name a few). I'm sorry the Vikes couldn't pull out a win for you on your birthday, but.. Hey you have a pretty cool Vikings tree to tribute a loosing team and you have a great place to put your beer in your sweet new sweatshirt. :)

I love you, Mike Hokanson!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Still Hates Santa..

2011-12-07T18:32:00.003-06:00

We took the babes to see Santa at Ridgedale today. We talked up Santa allll week to Tanner hoping that he would like him this year.

Nope. Still hates him.

Harper's just like, "whatever, drama queen, Santa aint no thang.."

Zac Brown Band

2011-11-28T06:39:00.000-06:00

Jesse and Jamie were super awesome and invited Mike and I as their guests to the Zac Brown Band concert at the Target Center last weekend. Their uncle got them a suite as a Christmas present. Seriously, wasn't that nice of them to bring us? We had a blast! And I now officially like a country band - the concert was great - they did a really good Bob Seger cover and a great rendition of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. I would definitely see them again. And now for some pics..

Go Jesse!

Thank you my Nelson-Nelson-Pratt's!

Sweet Alabama

2011-11-27T06:12:00.000-06:00

Happy birthday, dad.. I love you!

Always your "little girl",

Lissa

Gobble!

2011-11-26T12:26:00.004-06:00

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to everyone! We had beautiful weather here in Minnesota, which made for a great day! People were out everywhere putting up their Christmas lights and the kids were able to play outside in the leaves instead of snow..

Harper saved her special little poncho just for this occasion.. Adorable, if I can say that about my own sweet baby girl :)

The first half of the day we spent with the Hokanson's. Tanner stayed busy playing piano for everyone and then making important phone calls..Second half of the day was at Gigi's.. Things were a little more hectic here with four boys all under the age of 6. Needless to say, not a lot of picture taking this year. The boys had fun playing outside and then playing games on Mike's ipad. They were pretty wiped out by dinnertime.(Milk and Busch Light.. Dinner of champs. Good call, Joe..)

Hope you all had a wonderful day with family and/or friends. Happy Thanksgiving :)

Harper @ 6 Months

2011-11-16T18:16:00.006-06:00

We had Harper's six month check-up today and she is doing great! Right on track and doing all the things a normal six month old should be doing. She rolls around a lot and is pushing up with her arms and knees, rocking - getting ready to crawl! She's been eating rice cereal, and we're still adding new food each week. So far, so good. She likes to put everything in her mouth, which is pretty gross if I miss a day vacuuming (which, you know, very rarely happens ;), and "rakes" everything with her little fingers.

Oh, and she has a new boyfriend.. She LOVES Pratt :)This time, the shots were a little tougher. She cried a lot - big, sad tears. I scooped her up as soon as they were done though and she was back to her normal, smiley self pretty quickly. The rest of the appointment was a breeze. Our normal doctor left Wayzata so we've been checking out some of the other doctors at the clinic and I am really pleased with this guy. That's his name, "this guy".. Kidding. I can't remember his name, but we've seen him before and he's great with kids. I'll have to check on his name next time, I think it's something with a Q. Anyways..

Her stats:

Height: 27 inches ~ 90th percentile

Weight: 17 pounds 10.5 ounces ~ 80th percentile

Head: 43.4 cm ~ 75th percentile

Tadder's Peaches!

2011-11-06T15:08:00.008-06:00

Couple new things this week.. Harper tried out the bath seat - she's getting a little too gigantic for the baby bath - chubby little arms and legs are always popping out. Tanner wasn't too excited about sharing his bath tub with her at first, but once she got in, they had fun.. Plus, way easier for me - two babies, one stone..

Harper turned 6 months this week so we started her on baby food.. We started with peaches - Tanner's first as well. She wasn't a big fan and made lots of funny faces, but a few days later she's doing a tiny bit better and possibly even eating some instead of letting it drool right out.
Of course, Tanner was concerned about this development too.. He had to stand right there and supervise the entire thing. Constantly telling me "Tadder's peaches! Not for baby Harper!" (NOW he listens - after 6 months of him trying to feed the baby sandwiches and popsicles!) ..He got the leftovers :)On a side note, I think Tanner has napped about three times now since the move to the toddler bed. Usually when I check on him {if he is sleeping}, it looks something like this..

And that's about all we got goin' on here..

Congratulations, Jamie & Andrew!

2011-11-05T09:25:00.003-05:00

Last night Pratt proposed to Jamie and then invited some of us to surprise her for a little engagement party at Woodfire in St. Louis Park.. It was so fun to see Jamie's face when she walked in - she just started crying; it was so sweet! So happy for you both - cheers to Jamie & Andrew - I love you guys!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T10:19:00.013-05:00

Tanner is really into pirates, specifically Captain Hook, so this year he went as Captain Hook and Harper was Tinkerbell. A few people mistook him for Captain Morgan, which I thought was pretty funny.. Wish I would have thought of that first..

The photo shoot before leaving the house..

That afternoon, we stopped by my mom's office so she could see the kids dressed up. It also happened to be Kathy's baby shower, so the kids got to see all their Century Link aunties :)

Kathy, who is expecting her third girl later this winter..

{Retired} Renae, visiting her old stomping grounds and meeting Harper for the first time..

Chere threw the baby shower (I totally missed her in the pictures - sorry, Chere) and Kathy let Tanner take this pirate pumpkin home with him that Chere had as one of the decorations. He LOVES it - I think we'll have it until it starts to rot. At which point, I'm sure there will be some tears, but for now.. He would probably sleep with it if I let him..One of the boxes from a baby gift for Kathy. Of course, Tanner liked that and had fun playing peek-a-boo with all the ladies. Pirate in a box!After visiting Century Link, we stopped into Morries to see daddy - last day of the month so Mike wasn't able to partake in the Halloween events. It was pretty busy so we didn't stay long, but Mike was excited to see them and all the customers got a kick out of Tanner running around saying "Arrrrr!"Next stop: Gigi's house..

Tanner found his treat right away. He didn't waste any time breaking into his own personal bag of M&M's..

Harper just rolled around on the floor a lot..

And chewed her costume.. Yum.

Little sparkle shoes :)

After all the running around, we went home to let Wrigley out and re-group. Then we headed over to the Schultz's house for some grub. Shannon fashioned a bib for Tanner so he wouldn't get any food on his costume..

Jaid was a rock star.. Loved the pink hair and the mike..

Cory was Clay from Sons of Anarchy..

Jen and Angie met us with their kids, Adam and Ty, and we headed out for some door-to-door action..Of course, we stopped for a bit to see some Hokanson's along the way..

And then hit the streets again. Tanner loved Jen..

Stopping by Jaid's grandma Sue's for some candy..

And last, but not least - always a stop at Sborf's house.. Still sporting a black eye from the accident (and some pretty wicked stuff on the leg), but smiley, per usual..

And Hobbs, who is always dressed up for Halloween. Love it!All-in-all it was a good day. For someone who doesn't like Halloween, I maybe even had some fun.. It's much more exciting now that we have kids. Mainly I just liked it because Tanner had so much fun. He learned how to say "Happy Halloween", so he was saying it to everyone all night long.. and the next day. He was very polite, saying thank you to almost everyone who gave him candy. He pointed out all the pumpkins and Halloween decorations and loved seeing everyone else dressed up. Maybe next year I'll even dress up.. Maybe :)

Pumpkin Patch, Take 2

2011-10-27T06:17:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we went to Minnetonka Orchards with the Hokanson's. It was perfect to go in the middle of the week because we were basically the only people there. It was a little chilly, but we had a blast.

The first thing Tanner did was spot out the chickens and start chasing them. They immediately saw him and took off running for the woods.. Run chickens, run!

Poor chicken.Then he met the llama's. He called them goats.. I don't think they liked him too much. Especially this brown one, he was really eyeing him.. He just looks snooty, doesn't he? Like he probably shook his head back-and-forth and rolled his eyes at us after we left.."Goats, daddy!" Then he found this slide.. At first he was scared of it, but after one run, he was all "do again, do again!"

And the train - he loved that!

"All aboard!"

Harper was just trying to stay warm..

Tanner had fun pulling the wagons around and then climbing into a few to check them out.

The big wagon was the best though.

We got to go for a little ride on the hay wagon and Tanner loved it. The driver was like "hold on tight", so Tanner kept repeating him the entire ride. He's pretty cute like that:)

And the best thing.. He was so wiped-out after a day of fresh air and no napping, he just zonked right out. We checked on him after he was silent for about a half an hour, fully expecting him to be into some kind of mischief in his new bed. But, this is what we saw..

I guess day 1 wasn't so bad after all..

Love :)

Day 1

2011-10-26T14:34:00.010-05:00

Of the big boy bed. Tanner has already fallen out of the crib once, a while back. I wanted to keep him in the crib until he was 23, but since our pediatrician advised against that and he is getting more comfortable with climbing, we decided to make the switch before he broke an arm or something. Mike took the front part of the crib off today and I'm so glad he decided to do this on his day off because I have a feeling Tanner is not going to nap today. And I need help. Nap time is when I get the most accomplished.. We are about an hour in, still no sleep. I'm sitting in our room upstairs, on the computer so I can stay close since I have to go in there about every two minutes to put him back in the bed. Good times. Wait a second.. Come to think of it, it really doesn't matter that Mike's home.. Because, where is he? Not up here? He's downstairs? Drinking a beer? Watching a movie? Lame.

It looks cute anyways. (Except the dust ruffle, which apparently doesn't fit the bed in this form? And also, we received the wrong rails for the side so he doesn't fall out.. I guess we should have checked that like 3 years ago when we purchased the crib - not much we can do about it now. Hope he doesn't fall out of bed!)

When we first put him down, he laid right down and snuggled up with his favorite blanket. I thought, "piece of cake"...Until I closed the door and heard him running around about two seconds later..I told him to lay down, so he did.. With the beanbag..

I haven't taken any additional pictures because I don't want him to think that my picture-taking makes it ok for him to stay up, running around. He's already emptied his dresser drawers, emptied the diaper stacker, turned off the monitor about 106 times, and taken all of the bedding off of his bed. Needless to say, he probably won't be napping today. Or possibly sleeping ever again..

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-18T06:04:00.005-05:00

Our second annual trip to Fall Harvest Orchard with the Schultz family.. I can't believe it's already this season. Next thing you know, it'll be Christmas. (I noticed Mike already programmed the Christmas station in my car.)

Same stuff as last year, but definitely more exciting this year since Tanner kind of knows what's going on now. Last year he was afraid of the baby chicks {weirdo}, this year he wanted to hold them. Mike was pretty cute with T - he was so patient; chasing him around everywhere and talking to him about all the animals while I pushed around Miss H and played paparazzi.

I like this sign..I guess this is what a stressed out chicken looks like..Tanner thought the goats were silly, eating the food right out of his hand and licking him. {Sanitizer!}Still not a fan of the sheep.. Lambs? Whatever.. the things that go "bahhh" - he doesn't like it..Old tractors.. Perfect photo op..And the corn pit.. Dusty and dirty with kids running around chucking corn at each other, feet sinking into the pits of kernels - kids LOVE it.. Later that day when I changed Tanner's diaper, he had corn kernels stuck to some pretty personal parts. And the pumpkins..

(PS, check out Harper's ADORABLE socks Peg found her at Hallmark, of all stores!)

After the orchard, we came back to our house so the guys could watch some football and the kids could play. Jaid told me that she's "kind of like Harper's sister because I love her so much." Heart. Melt.

Best Goddaughter ever :)

Sborf Update

2011-10-17T19:58:00.004-05:00

Sborf got home today and Paul says she is doing well, just shaken up, sore & bruised and a little out-of-sorts. I talked to her this morning and she was sounding a little groggy and pretty bummed out. Poor lil' lady had her first helicopter ride out of the accident scene. Pretty scary stuff. They were just headed home from the Keith Urban concert and Melissa had not been drinking. I believe the driver who hit her has been booked - I do know that she tried to leave the scene but witnesses held her until police arrived. Thank goodness for good samaritans. The Melissa's definitely had an angel watching over them that night. Sounds like Sborf will be out of commission for a bit. The other Melissa is still in the hospital. She broke her femur, fractured two vertebrae and cracked a few ribs. Here's an article from Wright County News:

Two Injured in Head-on Crash in Rockford
Two women from Wright County were injured in a two-vehicle head-on crash early Sunday morning in the community of Rockford. The State Patrol reports the crash happened around 12:20 AM Sunday on Highway 55 and Walnut in Rockford. Authorities say a westbound car driven by 29-year-old Melissa Kunz of Delano was struck head-on by an eastbound vehicle that apparently crossed the center line. Kunz sustained what the State Patrol called non-life threatening injuries. A passenger in the Kunz vehicle, 30-year-old Melissa Leraas of Delano, also suffered non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the eastbound car that crossed the center line, 33-year-old Talmage Weller of Minneapolis, was not injured. The State Patrol is continuing its investigation.

Yikes

2011-10-17T00:24:00.014-05:00

Just a quick posting to send out some loves to Sborf. She and the other Melissa (Melissa L.) were in a car accident the other night and are both still in the hospital. Melissa L. had surgery on her leg, but both Melissa's are said to be doing well and recovering.. I don't know much else except for that they are lucky to not have been injured worse and they should be just fine.. I'm thinking about you all the time and we are all sending our love and positive thoughts your way. Get home soon..

{On a side note, we do actually own combs although it may not appear that way.. Harper kind of looks the way I'd imagine Donald Trump to look when he wakes up in the morning..}

**Update** From Paul: The sheriff came to meet with both Melissa's last night and get statements. It was confirmed that the driver of the other vehicle was drunk and driving down the wrong side of the road. Paul says both Melissa's are doing well and should be out of the hospital this week.

Bad Monkey

2011-10-14T06:03:00.003-05:00

Juuust kidding, he's not a bad monkey :) ..He's a busy monkey. A most-of-the-time-good monkey.. Since Harper had an update, I thought Tanner needed one as well. Just because he's not rolling over for the first time or doing other cute baby things, he's still a riot and has plenty of his own new things going on every day. And he's still cute.

Tanner definitely has a problem sharing. Pretty much everything Harper has or is able to play with, is automatically "miiiiiine". From the (obviously too small) jumpy, to her headbands.

A lot of days look like this..But plenty of days look like this..(Of course he has to try and eat the flower after he's all cute; smelling it and stuff.. Can't be perfect allll the time..)T loves to be outside.. Going for walks in the stroller, playing at the park or hanging out on the deck, digging in his sandbox are his all-time faves..He's ditched the highchair (much to my chagrin - I liked that thing because it kept him at the table) and is in a booster chair. He feels pretty important in it..He's kind of a picky eater. Much too busy to sit down and eat. Sometimes I bribe him with super healthy stuff like cinnamon and sugar toast..Mmmmmmmm!He's talking up a storm and tries to repeat everything. He cracks me up because he picks up on so much that I'm starting to realize certain things I say a lot.. Such as "oh, perfect", "so aaaanyways", "shoot" and "WRIIIIIGLEEEY!" He also started saying "barnacles" because Sponge Bob and Patrick say it in place of "darn it" or (my word) "shoot". So, he'll drop something and go "barnacles!" Also this week - "I don't believe it!" (with his hands on his head) - not sure where he got this one, but it's funny. His Auntie Kristen also taught him to sing "on the road again" and greet people by shaking their hand and saying "nice to meet you". It's pretty dang cute.

He does little things every day that make me smile.. His new thing is hiding toys in random places (or new shoes that I find the week after I order the exact same pair because I think I will never see them again). He has an obsession with lining things up, more specifically lining his cars, trucks and diggers up. He likes to place them all around the house so that I find vehicles parked in random places. I could devote an entire posting to the stuff I find hidden around the house..

If Tanner has anything of mine, it's definitely his personality (poor kid). He's very stubborn, independent, extremely busy and a little bit {ok, a lot} dramatic at times. But, man I love that kid. He keeps me young and he makes my heart smile every day, no matter what kind of mischief he's up to. I love his little sleepy head when he wakes up, his fingers & hands when he's trying to put something together, his eyes when he's trying to understand something and the million questions he asks me every day; half of which I don't understand. I love how when he's tired, he comes to me with his arms raised and says "carry you?" (which obviously means carry *me* but since I'm always asking him "do you want me to carry *you*?", he thinks that's the proper way to ask.) I also love it when he talks in first person. This annoys me with any other person, but when he says his name and pronounces it "Tadder", I just die. And when he wants to snuggle and especially when he tells me he loves me... Ugggg.. It's all over. He can do anything ;)

Good Monkey

2011-10-13T07:17:00.006-05:00

Really, I just wanted to post these pictures of Harper because she's so freaking cute! And I thought now would be a good time for a Harper update..

She's getting closer to the 6 month mark, which is my favorite baby age; when they start to develop more personality and are much more interactive, but still aren't mobile so you don't have to worry about chasing them around.

Now when she wakes up, instead of crying for a bottle, I can hear her moving around, oooouu-ing and ahhhh-ing. She makes happy little sounds and smiles all the time.

She's sitting up much better now.

In fact, the other day when we went for a walk, I put her in the stroller without the car seat and she didn't even slump over. This was her first time in there without being strapped into the car seat and she loved it. A whole new World..

She likes to play with rattles and Tanner's old baby toys (when he shares them anyways) and loves the jumpy.

We haven't started her on food yet -we're waiting until the 6 month point so her acid reflux can clear up as much as possible. She's taking about 6-7 ounces per feeding now and can stretch them out pretty far. Still sleeping through the night and snoozing about twice a day (you know I've been waiting for an excuse to post some more "sleeping" pictures).

Tanner is also more interested in hanging out with his sister now that she responds to him. He's always asking me if he can "hold baby" or "help feed". Better than asking me to "put away baby" ;)

I look at her when we're rocking and little songs play through my mind.. "You Are My Sunshine" or any other sappy song you can think of.. I'm just eating up every moment because I know how fast it all goes by. I'm not pregnant, but I seriously get all emotional when I look at my kids. My eyes well up for no reason and I wonder how I got so lucky to deserve two beautiful, healthy kids.. Tanner will always be special because he was the first born, but Harper.. She has a special place because I practically breathed pink when I was pregnant with her; I wanted a girl so badly. I waited for her my whole life. I didn't give my parents their first grandchild, but I gave them their first granddaughter. She is such a happy baby, she's really just something special. Uggg.. I can't even talk about it.. I'm just a big mush ball. Grateful.

Bye, Bye Bella

2011-10-12T11:10:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we saw Bella off to South Dakota.. She was Tanner's little buddy. I think he liked "Bewwah" because she's Tanner-sized and would let him chase her around all day.

Wrigley's bummed out because she's wondering if she's next.. All these dogs coming and going 'round here lately makes a brown dog nervous ;)

"Mommy, Fire Scare Me"

2011-10-10T10:07:00.001-05:00

For every good outing we have with Tanner, there are about 10 others that are not-so-good. I had this really great idea that we would take the kids to a hibachi restaurant and it would be super fun.. Things were pretty cool - we were all chatting before the hibachi-ness started and Tanner was happy Amber gave him a sucker.And he got to sit next to his girlfriend, Adelyn..But then, the fire on the grill started and he was sooooo not cool with it. He's on his way to hiding under the table here, per usual. Adelyn is somewhat perplexed because Tanner is freaking out so she's not really sure what to do..He had to crawl over to daddy and hang out there for the rest of the meal..So much for my good ideas.. This was the view we had during dinner..He turned around for a second for this picture, but saw the fire and proceeded to practically crawl up Mike.. I don't see firefighting as a future career for this kid..The only thing he really got excited about this entire night was Adelyn's Dora backpack. Didn't eat one thing, barely looked at us the whole time, wasn't impressed with the teppan-yaki chefs (I totally had to Google that word), and had no interest in the chopsticks. But then Adelyn gets the backpack out and, like magic, he's back. We could have saved so much money.Harper was there too :)

Como Zoo: It's For Real

2011-10-09T23:22:00.010-05:00

My friend, Kelly, and her daughter, Ella, were here visiting from South Dakota. We decided to meet up at the zoo and take the kids since the weather has been so great..

Kelly was very impressed with the {donations only} zoo. She told me she thought since it was free, maybe it was like a fake zoo or something. Like some goats and chickens..

But really, it's a pretty cool zoo. They have lots of monkeys - including this little guy with the handlebar mustache. What's up..
Tanner liked the lion - he wanted to get in there with him, but I told him that probably wouldn't be a good idea. He wasn't very happy with me, but thankfully there were enough attractions along the way that he was distracted pretty easily and didn't stay mad too long..

Tanner & Ella were more excited about the leaves than the animals there for a little while..

Long-time friends. Miss my girls in SoDak. (I wish you could have come too Shela - I know you are jealous right now while you're reading this so I thought I'd throw your name in here ;)

Just along for the ride.. Always a happy baby..

Kelly and Ella took off to explore St. Paul after a while so we walked over to the polar bear exhibit.. By far the coolest exhibit that we saw all day. Tanner LOVED it..

We were super lucky because one of the polar bears was playing with this big buoy for like 30 minutes right next to the window and we got to watch it all up-close..

This bear did nothin'.

I had very low expectations for this day at the zoo - not because I thought Como would be lame ~ I love this zoo ~ but because taking a two year old Tanner anywhere is a challenge. He was actually pretty good though - got in the stroller when I needed to coral him in and was fairly happy most of the time. No major meltdowns. Success.

Legs Crossed, Fingers Crossed..

2011-10-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

We are watching Joe & Angie's dog, Bella, for a bit until she gets to her new home with our friend, Josh, in South Dakota. Poor Mason is allergic to dogs so they had to find new homes for both Bella and their German Shepard, Bailey. I really wish we could keep her - I've always loved this dog. Such a little snuggler and SO SWEET.

She likes to find a patch of sun in the house and lay in it..

Tanner's totally blocking her rays..Little lady, looking all cute and stuff with her legs crossed :)I always put Wrigley on the stairs (behind the gate) when Tanner is having a snack at the coffee table. Otherwise she would over on his snack. Bella doesn't even necessarily need to join Wrigley on the steps, but Tanner now thinks that every dog needs to be on the stairs whenever he is eating. He tells me "put Bella on stairs, mommy".. And look how sweet and calm she is. She just saunters up the stairs and finds a good step to lay on. (Unlike Wrigley, who stands at the end of the stairs like a spaz and whines the entire time..)Legs crossed, of course..

Mike pretends to be put-out by having another dog in the house, but he totally lets her snuggle with him.

The other night when he was going upstairs to bed, he was all "come on, Bella girl, let's go upstairs." And they both went upstairs to snuggle while Wrigley and I finished up with some laundry.. (Yep, Wrigley does laundry.) I think he secretly wants to keep her. Fingers crossed ;)

(Just kidding, Josh - we will send her off to you with lots of love :)

Fishies & Feet

2011-10-07T08:02:00.000-05:00

I had to make a trip to the Disney store at the Mall of America so Peg came along with us and we turned it into a mini-adventure. First we went to Sea Life, where Tanner was surprisingly good (he was not-so-good at the Disney and Carter's stop prior to Sea Life however)..

He loves "fishies" and was practically running from one exhibit to the next, he was so excited.. "Oh gosh! Fishies everywhere, mom!"

I think he was a little more excited about the smaller fish.. Big fish made him a little nervous..

After Sea Life, we went to the Rainforest Cafe.

He was cool with it at first and loved being seated directly under the monkeys. As soon as the monkeys started to howl and the fake thunder started clashing, he was over it. He didn't want to eat or even drink juice - he just tried to hide under the table and cling on to Peg or myself. Poor guy.

This was the only picture we could get him to actually look at the camera for. He kept telling me "Harper scared", like he's only upset because Harper is "scared".

She didn't look too scared to me..

Mmmmmm...Feet..

Welcome, Bennett!

2011-10-06T15:57:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the World, Bennett Matthew! Matt & Kristy had an early surprise on Sunday when Kristy went into labor a few days earlier than planned.. Lucky Matt gets to share his birthday with sweet, little Bennett.. We went for a visit on Tuesday and he is absolutely perfect! Congratulations Matt, Kristy & Avery - he's a keeper ;)

Park Rapids 2011

2011-09-27T23:08:00.016-05:00

Mike and I got the sweetest anniversary present ever.. A weekend up north with no kids.. (To be fair, I did also get a new vacuum from Mike, which was equally as sweet in my book.. I know, I have a problem..) Peg & Lou were nice enough to offer the Ringer's cabin to us AND take our kids for a long weekend.. I know.. lucky us! Cory & Shannon met us up there Thursday night and we greeted them with shots of Jag.. Pretty much sums up our weekend! I am now detoxing.... Until Friday.... When I go to a winery ;)

Hello, Cory & Shannon.. We've been waiting for you!

Before Cory and Shannon got there, Mike and I started working on a puzzle. This is about as far as we got the whole weekend. Not a lot of work on the puzzles that weekend. We also stopped at Twisted Sisters in Staples for lunch and then hit up Blueberry Pines in Park Rapids for a round of golf before arriving at the cabin.Mike did a little fishing one afternoon..Bought some new pajamas..Roasted lots of marshmallows that weekend. In fact, the thought of them kind of makes me ill..We all learned what a "soft mount" is. Basically, instead of a normal {hard} mounted animal hanging on the wall (awesome), you get something like a stuffed animal.. Well, I guess that's literally what it is.. But I mean a stuffed animal, like the kind you have when you're a kid. Like all soft and floppy. Except this kind was once a living animal and now it's dead.. Not as cute & sweet as the kind you have when you're a kid..Heeeeyy, creepy..We met this coyote at a bar called Foxy's. It was actually my favorite place up there. We met the owner, Mark, he's a retired teacher and recently moved up there from Elk River to run the bar...He gave us free shots - he sure knows how to get into our hearts. We instantly loved this place, and this guy..We were the only ones there.. Maybe because it was like 2 o'clock in the afternoon. On a weekday. Meh.. whatever..The captain was here..And here..Here too.. That captain guy gets around..We stopped at a bar-slash-gas station-slash-grocery store.. Only in the sticks can you get a beer while topping off the car and grabbing some groceries.. If we had these here, I wouldn't be able to ask Mike to grab milk on the way home; I'd never see him again..You also only find these sweet sunglasses in the sticks. Great for keeping debris out of the eyes when you're four-wheeling. Or just hanging out in a store, freaking the customers out.. You know, whatever, it's totally normal.. (Actually I think it is totally normal because half the people these fools greeted at the door didn't even bat an eye at them. They weren't fazed by these tourists from the cities.)We had a bonfire every night..
We would only come in to mix the next drink.Mike and Cory made up some little golf challenge at one of the bars (Bogey's) we went to. Whoever lost had to take their left shoe off while we ate dinner. Totally a health code violation.Cory lost...We were lucky to have really nice weather the entire time we were up there. It was beautiful.. We actually probably could have gone out on the boat, but we never got around to it.

It was the perfect weekend. We got to sleep in every day, we had no schedule - whoever woke up first would put the coffee on and then we'd all eventually make our way out to the porch where we'd sit around, drinking our coffee (or eating it if Cory made it), chatting and figuring out what we wanted to do next. We did a lot of relaxing, but we also got a few rounds of golf in and did our fair share of bar olympics. A beautiful thing :)

Thank you, Cory & Shannon, for joining us and celebrating the anniversary with us! I've been pregnant for the past two anniversaries, so I guess I got a little carried away.. But I knew you'd get carried away with me!

And thanks, Mike, for taking time off work and for making this weekend amazing. I love you so much - this weekend was just what we needed. You are always so good to me - you ride out all my roller coaster moments/days/weeks and you let my mini freak-outs roll off your back. (Plus, you bought me a vacuum for our anniversary - you totally get me!) I love you more than you'll ever know, happy anniversary!

And the biggest thanks - to Peg & Lou. We are so lucky that you guys love Tanner and Harper so much and that you always want to spend time with them. Peg, what a selfless thing to do - send us out of town without our kids, and on your birthday, nonetheless. Pretty amazing. THANK YOU!

Burglar

2011-09-21T07:23:00.001-05:00

I'm totally stealing this from a blog that I follow.. Sometimes I have cute/fun/totally random/lame (and very poor quality) pictures on my phone that just sit there for no one else to see. (Unless you are one of the {lucky} few who receive a random text from me.) But I think I'm going to start dragging my phone allll the way up the stairs, to the computer, hooking it up with cords and junk and uploading my pictures so that I can share some of them on my little blizzog. Because I know you want to see my weirdness. I'm not going to make this a weekly thing or anything - we all know how I get with commitments (remember "Recipe Thursday"), but occasionally I do snap some {funny} crap that I wanna share.

I always take pictures of stuff on TV.. Tanner was watching this cartoon called T.U.F.F. Puppy and I had to rewind it during the theme song because I thought I heard them sing about this dog chewing on his butt.. T.U.F.F. Puppy chews his butt. For real..

Around Christmas time last year, Mike was really obsessed with this cardigan.. Every time the commercial would come on, it would freakin' crack me up.. Of course, my mom bought it for him.. Just because it's so ugly, it's funny..

Chillin'

2011-09-19T08:11:00.000-05:00

Chad & Troy brought a cooler of beer to the Fantasy Football draft at our house a couple weeks back. They thought Tanner was pretty cute, handing out the beers to all the guys. Troy decided to dip Tanner's feet into the ice and the weirdo actually liked it! In fact, we couldn't get him out of there.. His poor little feet were all red and frozen and we had to put a new diaper and pajamas on him because he was so soaked from the ice.

I finally ended up sitting on the cooler to keep it closed. He wasn't too happy with that, but his feet were looking pretty frosty so we had to put a stop to it. Fun killers.

Harper ~ 4 Months

2011-09-18T21:46:00.003-05:00

I am the worst mom ever.. I have never, ever, ever forgotten the camera for either of the kids doctors appointments.. Until now. Harper had her four month check-up and I completely spaced grabbing the camera before running out the door. This picture was the day after though.. Does that count? Close enough...

Stats:

Height: 25.5 inches ~ 90th percentile

Weight: 15 pounds 1.5 ounces ~ 75th percentile

Head: 42.5 cm ~ 80th percentile

She is rolling over both from tummy to back and vice versa. She is always squiggling around, kicking and fist-pumping. Tries to talk constantly - I love listening to this in the morning through the monitor. Her eyes follow Tanner everywhere he goes and she smiles whenever he talks to her. She's very strong and has really good head control. (Which must mean she has a strong neck with that 80th percentile noggin she inherited from us ;) She is still the happiest, smiliest baby - she is just a lover and I would have two-hundred and six more babies if I knew they would all be like her :)

Glamorous

2011-09-15T22:51:00.001-05:00

You know what's awesome? Cleaning puke out of a car seat.. You know what's awesome-er? Cleaning puke out of two car seats. And the car. And the carpet. And a crib.

Check, please..

Two Games - One Weekend

2011-09-10T14:12:00.002-05:00

These pictures are a little old.. I blow at blogging. Mike and I were able to get to two of the Twins/White Sox games in August.

The first one was in the Auto Trader suite, through Morries. It was a gorgeous night for outdoor baseball and I got to meet some of the people Mike works with. Super fun night.. Pretty sure they all think I'm a lush.. I get a little excited to get out of the house these days..

The second game was with my mom and dad.. They ended up getting mega tickets and were kind enough to also bring along Paul & Melissa. They so nice :)

Aidan was super excited to have his face painted.. He was so patient sitting there.All of us at JJ's Clubhouse after the game. Which, ironically, is where we started off before the game. Long day. I may have had too many cocktails (again). But I had fun ;)

Happy Friday!

2011-09-09T10:14:00.004-05:00

I've been wanting to post this picture for a while because it cracks me up! I wasn't sure where I could fit it in, so it's just a random Friday posting.. I don't have any story to go along with it - Tanner just wanted to check out this Bjorn that Harper is always in.. My mom says it looks like it could be a picture out of the Enquirer.. "Lady in her 50's gives birth to giant baby.."

August 20, 2011

2011-09-01T08:24:00.008-05:00

Brandon & Angela's wedding.. It's about time, Brandon!

It was a beautiful day - sun was shining and not a drop of rain..

Tailgating before the wedding ceremony. That's how we do it.
Outdoor ceremony - Angela looked so pretty.. Brandon had his hand on her back the whole time. I though it was cute :)After the ceremony, we all hopped on a boat for dinner and a cruise around Lake Minnetonka..Handsome groom surrounded by a bunch of crazy ladies :)The sunset was so pretty - the sky and the water were pinks and oranges.. Of course, I couldn't find Mike for the photo op (hmmmm... bar?!), so I snagged my mom..

After the cruise, Brandon & Angela gave each couple a sky lantern to let off over the lake. It was sooo cool - what a great idea.. We all got lighters with their names and the date on them as well. Great keepsake..

Congratulations, Brandon & Angela!

Mr. Mom

2011-08-27T07:51:00.006-05:00

Now that I'm on the other end of recovery, I can look back and be grateful for some of the things that happened because of my broken foot. I got to have extra snuggle-time with Harper that I now do not have because of a little guy named Tanner who keeps me busy running around. Our family got to see lots more of the kids, which is always a good thing. Mike got a {very small} taste of what it's like to be a mom and keep things in order around the house. And the main thing that I am grateful for - my dad. I'm lucky that my injury happened during a time that he wasn't working. My dad spent most of his summer helping me out, which is a pretty big sacrifice. At first I was a little nervous about this - I wasn't sure how he was going to handle dirty diapers, bath time (for the kids, not me), making dinner. etc. But he totally stepped up to the plate and became Mr. Mom. The first couple of weeks he basically did everything - he even indulged my neurotic side by vacuuming for me every day. He perfected the wrapping of my cast so that I could shower without getting my cast wet, he changed countless diapers (even poopy ones), made dozens of bottles and prepared many meals for Tanner. As I started to get more comfortable moving around and was able to do more, we fell into a pretty good routine, the two of us. Dare I say, we even had some fun! Channel 41 every day - I learned all about Bonanza and Gun Smoke (seriously, these shows are just as dramatic as any one of the reality shows I watch) and he learned a little bit about New Jersey wives and Teen Moms.. Margarita's at noon, kids wearing crazy mismatched outfits that only a dad would pick out, popsicles for breakfast, and lots of bonding time. I kinda' miss him!

Some pics of my dad in action, as Mr. Mom:

Bittersweet

2011-08-26T22:16:00.005-05:00

We found a home for Easton! Just before we were going to pull the ad from Craig's List, someone emailed Mike about her. I was skeptical - why would anyone want a salty old dog, right? Well, it turns out it was a perfect match.. This couple, who looked to be around our parents age, put their yellow lab down a few months ago (old age) and were looking for an older dog so they wouldn't have to go through the training of a puppy again. They have an 18x12 outdoor kennel with shelter, a little pond and a tree so she can spend time outside and there will be no worries about her roaming or getting at another dog. She will sleep inside, but it sounds like she will mainly get to enjoy the outdoors, which she will love. The guy is a bird hunter and they have a home on the lake - I think Easton may actually like living there more than she did here! Still, it was hard to see her go.. Especially hard with Tanner asking "Where Easton go?" I'll think of her every time I vacuum (although it will be nice to clean without a dog trying to attack the vacuum every two seconds). I'm going to miss looking over at night to see her curled up in her little bed next to mine. I'll miss her snuggles.. I'll miss my brown. Bye, bye Easton girl..

Harper @ 3 Months

2011-08-26T09:34:00.002-05:00

I guess technically, she's closer to four months than three.. It's getting harder to sneak off and blog these days, but I'm making every effort, if only to have something to look back on. Poor Harper is going to feel cheated in comparison to all of the Tanner postings his first year. ..Harper is a really good baby, hardly ever fusses or cries. Which is good because Tanner takes up most of my time and does enough fussing and crying himself. Little drama-king. Harper rolled over from her back to tummy this month for the first time. Three times in one day but hasn't done it since. I looked in Tanner's baby book and he didn't do that until he was almost 5 months and he went from tummy to back.. Not that anyone is interested in that, but it's kind of fun for me to look back at Tanner's firsts and see how they compare. Everything else 'round here is great - I am slowly getting out of the boot and walking with a little limp. My next appointment is in two weeks and I hope to have a clean bill of health at that point. Getting better every day and getting out to enjoy some of my summer since I missed a little chunk of it. ..And now for some sweet pictures of a sweet baby girl..

Tie-dye

2011-08-24T17:01:00.002-05:00

Tanner and Harper's Auntie Kirsten (or Kirky {which sounds like "turkey"}, as Tanner calls her) made a whole ton of tie-dye shirts.. They are so cute - here's a little sample of the cuteness..

Last Ditch Effort

2011-08-15T09:48:00.010-05:00

I feel like Easton is on death row.. As some of you know, we are trying to find a home for brown dog. If we don't find new digs for Easton by the end of this week, we will be putting her down. Sad. She attacked Wrigley (not the first time) a couple months back and it was the last straw for me. I love her to pieces, but she is very aggressive with other animals and I'm not sure that I can trust her around a dog-chasing, tail-pulling, rough-housing toddler. We have already tried the humane society and local rescue groups but none of them will take an aggressive animal. We also have a listing on Craig's List this week.. Please, if anyone knows of a good home, let me know. She needs to be somewhere with no other animals and preferably no children. She will be 8 years old on February 1st. She's an AKC certified purebred chocolate lab and we have her papers. Other than being a grouchy old lady, she's my luv. My brown. My Easto. She's very loyal and pretty mellow these days. She's absolutely fine with adults and has never done anything close to being mean to us. She's content to lay curled up in her little bed and gnaw on a bone, but also loves to be outside running or soaking up the sunshine. She love, love, LOVES the water - in fact, she sprained her tail twice from too much swimming! She tries to steer clear of Wrigley and the kids, but likes to be around Mike and I. She likes big people :) Please feel free to contact me with any questions about her. I would love to see her go to a good home where she can get the attention and love she needs and deserves.

melissahokanson@gmail.com

Tough Guy

2011-08-12T23:55:00.007-05:00

So this is what's up.. lately.

I had my foot doctor appointment last week and my fracture has, unfortunately, not changed since my last appointment. This means I will continue to wear my sweet robocop boot. Better than a cast. I go back mid-September and hope to be out of the boot by then. I'm supposed to wean myself off between now and then. Still a little sore, but things are much better than being in a cast and crutches..

Harper is (as of this week) sleeping through the night. Like 9:00PM to 9:00AM.. I know.. My babies rock :)

Tanner is crazy.. He's SO BUSY - repeats everything anyone says.. Just waiting for swear words.. He's also distracted very easily. Which is good and bad. Good when I want to distract him from doing something he's not supposed to be doing, and bad when I need him to sit still or pay attention. No reasoning with a 2 year old..

We took him to the new neighborhood park last week and he had so much fun. He did have a little accident.. Running up the stairs to get back to the slide, he missed a stair (just like his mom) and whacked his face on the next step. There was a little blood.. And a little crying.. {screaming}.. Mike wiped off some blood with his shirt and Tanner took care of smearing the rest around his face and hands and then was back at it in no time. We Shouted it out.. I didn't have my camera at the park (and you probably wouldn't want to see pictures of it anyways), but this is what the residuals looked like after a quick clean up at home.. My tough little guy.

Well, now when I look at these pictures, it doesn't look bad at all. In fact, I'm probably making my kid look like a wuss.. But then I don't really have a posting without this story.. It was not pretty.. I promise.. He's totally tough, I swear.

I Heart Wine (and Sborf)!

2011-08-03T07:57:00.001-05:00

Last week Sborf planned a local outing to Woodland Hill Winery in Delano.. She and I got there a little early and had a glass of something white while we sat outside, chatted and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Lots of sunshine, not a lot of humidity - a rarity in Minnesota.Krista and Leah joined us a bit later for some wine tasting. ($5 for nine different wines - - NINE! What a steal!)Sborf surprised Krista and I with a late birthday present.. She had a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine waiting for both of us when we came in :)Seriously, beautiful weather.And Vinny, the vineyard dog.. He was a sweetie - they have a bottle of wine named after him but they were sold out so we weren't able to try it.. Guess we'll have to go back!

Sleeping Babies

2011-08-02T20:19:00.015-05:00

Every night just before I go to bed, I peek my head into Tanner's room and then into Harper's.. I don't know what my obsession is with sleeping babies, but I have an entire album devoted to it. I just wanna' crawl in the crib with them, they're so dang cute! Here are some of my favorite sleeping pictures, starting with T dizzle..

And Mizz H..

Stay At HOME Mom?

2011-07-31T16:42:00.008-05:00

Yikes, it's been a little minute since I last posted anything.. Guess we've been busy! (And our computer is upstairs.. Honestly, I'm a little weary of walking the stairs any more than I have to..) As soon as the cast came off, I sort of jumped back into the swing of things. I am, however, trying to enjoy more time at home with the kids though. That was one of the good things about breaking my foot - it forced me to slow down, relax and enjoy my time with Tanner and Harper. It all goes by so fast, I decided I really need to take advantage of being a stay at home mom and actually stay home! That said, I was cooped up for so long, I did have to get a few outings out of my system..

Mike and I took the kids to a couple town team baseball games the past couple of weeks. It was good to reunite with the baseball crew and be social again. Here's a pic of all the wives - old and new (and some future ;) This was the Maple Plain game at Delano..
The next weekend was at Loretto. All of us went to dinner at The Choo Choo afterwards. (Well, kind of, although we didn't actually get dinner that night.. Don't ask..)Some Babbe's came to visit another day..The guys golfed one day and then we all met up for dinner at B's on the River afterwards. My favorite place to eat when we have nice weather - I've said it before: the patio is awesome..I have to throw some randoms in too.. Harper is just like T was when he was a baby - loves bath time. Whenever we're done with the bath, I always let her have some naked time. Just seems like it would be nice to have the diaper off for a while. On this particular day, she fell asleep during her naked time :)Seriously, I can't stop with the hair accessories. It's out of control.
Mike and I made a little family breakfast last Sunday. Tanner loves having his high chair pulled into the kitchen so he can watch all the action and occasionally "help". Blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs.. We had the works - it was really fun.. Maybe a new tradition..Hey guys, do I have any berry syrup on my face?!And a cute little snuggle to end the post. I just can't keep Tanner from jumping in the Pack 'N Play to snuggle with his sister. It's so sweet that sometimes I have to take a picture before I make him get out. (Generally, his crawling in results in a time-out, but how can I get mad when he's being so sweet and gentle?!)

Robocop

2011-07-18T20:03:00.002-05:00

I got the cast off!! Yay!! I have to wear a sweet walking cast for a couple more weeks and then I go back for x-rays and will hopefully go home with flip-flops on both my feet! I'm limping around a little because my leg is pretty weak and my ankle and heel are sore (I have no idea why), but I am so happy to be able to walk without crutches! Now I just have to get used to having the house to myself during the day - something I haven't done for about two months now.. I'll miss all the company, but I'm kind of excited to get back to my normal routine. Weird that I would be excited about schedules, cleaning, bathing kids, etc. but I can't wait!

(Please don't pay attention to my naked toe nails.. They will be cute again tonight - I am giving myself a pedicure.. And having a glass of wine.. As soon as Tanner goes to bed ;)

Gimp

2011-07-16T08:54:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks back, I went for a second opinion on my foot situation. I wanted to know if I was going to need surgery because I thought it would be better to get it out of the way and start the recovery process rather than wait until my appointment 6 weeks after the fall. They were able to x-ray my foot through the cast and determine that not much has changed - which is a good thing. Nothing has been displaced and if it stays that way, the bones should be filling in and I won't need surgery. My next appointment is on Monday.. Fingers crossed for a walking cast! Although I will miss having the sweet parking spots ;)

Lennie

2011-07-15T06:34:00.000-05:00

Whenever I lay Harper on the play mat for some tummy time, Tanner jumps right in for some shared time with his baby sister. He's very eager for her to be able to play with him - he's always trying to get her to "high five" and "help" him with things. Either that, or he's over it, telling us to "put her away", while pointing at the swing or her Pack 'N Play.. I think he'll have a lot of fun with her once she's a little older and becomes more interactive. For now, he's a little like Lennie from Of Mice and Men and Harper is like the poor little bunny rabbit.. We're still working on teaching him the word "gentle" which doesn't seem to be a part of his daily routine.

Lennie, petting the bunny rabbit..

Working On The Railroad..

2011-07-14T08:26:00.003-05:00

For Tanner's birthday, Jaid gave him a tool set.. Shannon tells me she picked it out all on her own and picked this set specifically because "it has safety glasses and he needs those";) So now, the first thing Tanner does everyday after he wakes up is get the tool set opened up, lay out all his tools and find something to work on. Usually he "crashes" his train and then gets to work on fixing it. It's an all day project!

Pretty Baby

2011-07-10T07:16:00.000-05:00

Harper is just over 2 months old already.. She's giving us lots of smiles and is starting to coo. She is FINALLY sleeping for about 4 or 5 hours through the night, which just happened this week. Here's a bunch of pictures from about weeks 6 - 8.. (Mostly I just have to take a picture everyday so I can remember all these cute outfits!)

Two Birds, One Stone

2011-07-09T13:03:00.004-05:00

This week we had Tanner's 2 year check-up and Harper's 2 month check-up. Tanner is doing great - he's a big boy, but well proportioned and in the healthy (but higher) BMI range. He's a talker these days - tries to repeat everything we say and can combine a few words for a short sentence. Some of the things we hear most are: "put away, please", "oh my, no more pie" (we sing this to Harper), "more blueberries, please", "fix the train", "whatsa' matter, baby?" and "put her away" (referring to Harper). He cracks me up every day!

Harper is also doing great - right on track for where she should be. Had her vaccinations and did great with them - not a big crier so far.. She does have a bit of acid reflux that makes her raspy sounding, but we are going to see if we can handle it at home before resorting to meds. So far it doesn't seem to bother her.

Tanner:

Height ~ 34 inches (45th percentile)

Weight ~ 31 pounds (80-85th percentile)

Head ~ 51.1 cm (95th percentile)

BMI ~ 18.9 (90-95th percentile)

Harper:

Height ~ 23 inches (75th percentile)

Weight ~ 11 pounds 8.5 ounces (70th percentile)

Head ~ 40.0 cm (80th percentile)

Dolphin

2011-07-06T17:05:00.003-05:00

Tanner's favorite noise, the "dolphin", is now a daily occurrence. Not just reserved for playing outside, as we found out (and I feared) today.. He was being loud while we were out to lunch and I said "well, at least he's not doing the dolphin".. I guess he knows that word now because he started screeching, almost on cue. The more we tried to stop him, the funnier he thought he was. Guess we're going to have to say goodbye to the dolphin, cute as his face is when he does it!

Doodle

2011-06-27T11:51:00.010-05:00

Happy birthday, Tanner!

Yesterday we had the family over to celebrate Tanner's birthday.. Lots of presents, food & fun! Tanner has been busy since he woke up this morning (his actual birthday) playing with all his new toys. Mike & I got him a Harley Davidson Hot Wheel, but his feet are just a tad short of reaching the pedals. He also got a sandbox, a shopping cart and tons of trucks, tractors, and cars among other things. It was a fun day and the weather was beautiful..

Tanner loved the ribs..The new Hot Wheel..Sandbox..He makes this crazy, loud noise we call "the dolphin".. It's totally obnoxious and I'm going to be mad at myself for not making him stop when he starts doing this in public.. But his face is so dang cute when he does it, I can't help but let him scream away!Awww, dad.. My "babysitter" while I am on the DL.."Diggers"..

Harper woke up about half way through the party..
After cake, T had to run around and burn some of that energy off!

Happy birthday, buddy! You'll always be special to me because you were our first born - I can't even put into words the amount of joy and happiness you have brought us! I love to watch your face and those big, blue eyes as you experience each new thing in life. I love you!

Brutus

2011-06-21T13:25:00.006-05:00

Katy & Brody came to visit us a couple of weeks ago.. And I'm pretty sure they never want to come back. Poor Brody was strong-armed by Tanner the entire time they were here ;)

Even Harper was distraught.. But she looked fashionable in this adorable hat Katy & Brody gave her.. Thanks for coming over, Katy - next time I'll keep Tanner in the kennel ;)

Houston We Have A Problem

2011-06-18T12:13:00.015-05:00

First of all, I was a little bummed the other day when I posted the pitty party. I feel much better now and I'm sort of getting used to this giant cast on my leg. I'm trying to do more around the house and I've even been able to get out of the house for a couple hours this week. Life's not so bad after all ;)

..On to Houston.. Initially when I found out my foot was broken, we had decided to cancel our trip. Thankfully, we decided to go ahead and follow through with our travel plans and tough it out. It would have been more fun without the cast obviously, but I figured what the heck - my foot's broken either way.. I might as well just go and try to have some fun. If it had been for any other wedding, we probably wouldn't have gone, but Levi is a close friend of the family and I felt like we needed to be there. And I'm happy to report, we had a lot of fun - maybe too much! ..Are you ready for 1,234,567 pictures from Houston?

Arriving at MSP.. In a wheelchair. The only way to roll.

Drinks before we board? I think YES! Cheers!Arriving in Houston. This is where my dad gets angry because our rental car was in Virginia. Wrong state. Not a good way to start off the trip.Things did get better.. We received this sweet welcome bag from Levi & Erin when we arrived at The Alden Hotel.And their rehearsal dinner was at Minute Maid Park. We all were treated to an Astros - Braves game, ball park food and the rooftop deck and suite.

Fireworks after the game.. They opened the rooftop and did a great show about 20 minutes long.The bar at The Alden after the game..Babbe shots!!The wedding.. My nephews, Aidan & Mason were the ring bearers.And Joe was the best man.My dad was the cowboy sleeping during the ceremony ;)The bride & groom..The groomsmen..The Babbe's..The Hokanson's.. (Yes, I am both.)Some cute Jahner's.. (The little luv on the right, Mika, was born just a week before Harper.)The end to a clean cast. The graffiti starts here.Awww!Lots of dancing..LOTS of shots..And lots of friends!

Congratulations to Levi & Erin!

Bleh

2011-06-15T02:20:00.008-05:00

Monday night I had a mini-breakdown.. This broken foot stuff is probably the hardest thing I've gone through in my life yet. (I realize how petty this sounds.) The timing couldn't be worse. Not being able to take care of my babies is horrible. I am sore, sore, sore - every muscle in my body aches. (Traveling to Houston over the weekend for a wedding probably didn't help..) I can't put any weight on my foot for at least another five weeks, but after next week I won't have to keep my foot elevated so that should help things a little. I hate that I have to depend on so many other people just to get through the day and I'm going crazy just laying on the couch everyday.. That said, I am very lucky and extremely grateful for the people I have in my life who are pitching in to help. I seriously don't know what a person would do if they didn't have help.. Hopefully the next month will go by as fast as the past month has gone by. Harper was six weeks old yesterday! Below are some pics from around the one month mark. She's still not sleeping through the night, which is the bunk. Mike has to get up to make bottles and bring Harper to me from the crib so now we have two exhausted parents in the house. The good stuff though is that she's starting to give us some sweet smiles and I've even noticed a dimple peak out every now and then! She's really strong - has been from day one - and can lift her head and move it from side to side. She's up to about 4 ounces of formula every two to three hours and still loves to be held.

One month..Tanner snuck into the pack 'n play to snuggle with Harper. We broke him of that habit real quick..And finally, Tanner loving his baby sister a little too hard.. We use the word "gentle" about 1,000 times a day :)

Trippin'

2011-06-06T21:12:00.003-05:00

Having a newborn and a Tanner to juggle everyday has obviously cut into my blogging time. Harper is already 5 weeks tomorrow and I haven't even posted her one month pictures yet.. But today I had something I had to post since I may be absent for a while.. After almost 5 weeks of no more than two consecutive hours of sleep at a time, I guess I've gotten clumsy. I woke up last night around 4AM to Harper crying so I jumped out of bed and stumbled (literally) down the stairs, half asleep. I guess I missed that last step and I took a little spill. A spill that landed me in the hospital with a broken foot.. I have a spiral break and will have this lovely cast on for at least 6 weeks. At that point, I will go back to the orthopedic surgeon and they will cut the cast off, do another x-ray, and determine if I will need surgery or not. What a great start to the summer!

Paparazzi

2011-05-21T11:34:00.002-05:00

This posting will be short on the words, long on the pictures. Mostly because I'm so sleep deprived, I can't think of anything to say. (Even though my days have been filled with plenty of activity..)

I am officially obsessed with all hair accessories.. Hats, bows, ribbons, etc. I am that obnoxious mom..

Meeting my uncle Gil and cousin Scott, who were in town from Colorado for a minute..Those lips.. Don't you just want to scoop her up and give her kisses?!Mike doing the running man with her.. Gassy just like her daddy ;)And now for some Tanner time.. He actually has more pictures than brand-new-baby-Harper does. I guess all she really does right now is sleep and eat anyways. Tanner is much more exciting to follow around with the camera.. Mostly he loves his baby sister; wants to hold her and pet her..And help with bath time..But occasionally he tries to play a little too hard with her. In this instance, he tried to read a book to her. And then throw it at her. Which resulted in one of his first time-outs. He was not happy....The rest are pictures of Tanner.. Just being cute.. The best for last - Sborf came to visit and he couldn't resist her heels. Gawd, I love that kid!

Harper: 2 weeks

2011-05-21T11:28:00.004-05:00

Harper had her two week appointment this week and everything was great. No shots, no crying.. She's still been a pretty mellow baby. If she cries at at all, it's only for a short time and just until I can get her what she needs. She's having a lot more awake time between feedings now and is much more alert and aware of what's going on around her. Her sleep schedule is a little off - she usually has a stretch of sleep in the middle of the day now for a few hours, otherwise, she's awake about every two hours around the clock. I am SO TIRED!

Here are her stats:

Height: 21 1/4 inches ~ 90th percentile

Weight: 8 pounds 1.9 ounces ~ 50th percentile

Head: 36.3 cm ~ 50th percentile (yay - finally one of us has a normal sized head in this family!)

Broken Boobs

2011-05-18T12:34:00.004-05:00

Had my two week follow up appointment today and recovery is going great! I feel so much better this time around - everything was so seamless. Hardly any incision pain and I'm able to sleep on my side already. The nursing isn't going as well, but I was at least prepared for that since I had problems with Tanner too. The lactation nurse said I had severe engorgement - it looked like I had lemons under my arms, my milk was so backed up. We tried EV.ER.Y.THING and nothing seemed to help.. And so, sadly, Harper is now a formula baby.. I have a lot of guilt over this, but what can you do if the boobies just won't cooperate?

The greatest doctor in the whole WORLD - Dr. Sarkinen! She has been my doctor for around a decade now. She was there for my entire pregnancy with Tanner and actually got to deliver Harper. I LOOOOOVE her!

Chauffeur

2011-05-13T06:23:00.002-05:00

Getting ready to go on some errands..Tanner pulling the car around for us..

Babies, babies, babies..

2011-05-12T06:59:00.003-05:00

And now, since Kristy has made the official announcement, I can finally say "congratulations" to she and Matt on the upcoming arrival of baby number two!

Aaaand, I can post some pictures from when we toured the Maple Grove hospital together (which, by the way is amazing - the facilities and the staff are seriously the best.. I highly recommend having babies there :)..

So Happy :)

2011-05-11T15:30:00.005-05:00

Seriously, have I mentioned how happy I am? It was no secret I had pink on the brain this pregnancy.. I still feel like it's a dream that I have a little girl. I get all emotional when I think about it. I always wanted to have a little girl so I could hopefully some day have the relationship with her that I have with my own mom. I can't stop staring at her little face and I can't stop thinking about how lucky we are. Two healthy, happy babies - a boy and a girl.. It's my idea of perfect - I have to pinch myself every day.

This is the happiest I have ever been :)

Whopper

2011-05-11T09:38:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Harper had her first visit with the pediatrician. Her weight is up to 7 pounds 8 ounces - not quite her birth weight yet, but getting closer. They didn't do all the measurements and percentiles, but I'm sure they will at her two week appointment next week.

She's a really good baby - sleeps a lot and hardly ever cries. Usually has one stretch of sleep through the night that lasts for 3 or 4 hours, otherwise she feeds every couple hours, which I was fully prepared for. She doesn't like sleeping in her crib so we usually end up snuggling all night in our room. She's a HUGE snuggler - wants to be held all the time - which works for me because I want to hold her all the time :)

Tanner has been really good with her - he calls her "whopper", which I think is the most adorable thing ever! He's mostly not interested in her and we're trying to teach him to be gentle, but all-in-all he has done better than I thought he would. He's very helpful when it's time to change or feed Harper and he's always peeking in on her when she's snoozing in the pack 'n play. Mostly I think he's just loving that his daddy is home with him. It's going to be tough when he goes back to work - Tanner is pretty obsessed with Mike!

Thank you to everyone who has come to visit us and for all the lovely, pink gifts.. Thanks to you all, we have a full closet of frilly, girly clothes now where there was nothing last week! We are loving being home and I am ABSOLUTELY happier than I've ever been - I cannot get enough of this baby girl :)

Harper Elayne

2011-05-08T09:43:00.010-05:00

It's a GIRL! Harper Elayne was born on Tuesday May 3rd at 8:18AM. She checked in at 7 pounds 15 ounces and was 21 inches long. Mike and I both shed a tear when we heard we had a healthy baby girl. Words can't even begin to describe the happiness in my heart.. I got my girl :) We came home yesterday and recovery is going great!

And here are a million pictures... Starting with Mike and I just before we go into the OR, ending with the day that Harper and I came home..

38 weeks

2011-05-01T22:22:00.002-05:00

I've got most everything ready for the arrival of this sweet little baby and I'm getting super excited/anxious for Tuesday to be here! The nursery is ready to go (minus the addition of pink or blue depending on baby Hokanson's gender) and my body is MORE than ready.. Laundry is caught up, big grocery shopping is done, bags are packed..

I even had time to get my hair did.. Look at my cute stylist, Heather, who is due in early July :)

And... the last belly shots EVER!

I will be posting pics next week as soon as we get home. I should be discharged from the hospital either Friday or Saturday. I'm sure I'll sneak in a status update on FB to let everyone know the stats before then though ;)

36 & 37 weeks.. and Easter

2011-04-24T21:38:00.010-05:00

I mean, how much energy does it take to upload pictures and post them? I promise to get back in the swing of things once this baby arrives - in fact I'm 99% positive you will be sick of all the baby pictures I will be posting.. Which, by the way, is just over a week away.. I have my pre-op appointment tomorrow and the csection is next Tuesday - I can hardly contain myself, I'm so excited to meet this baby!

OK, this Easter bunny picture is a pain in my butt.. First of all, as you can see, Tanner did not like the Easter bunny (big surprise).. And then I go to upload the image and the thing is not cooperating at all. It wants to be the first picture, it's too small and it has to be on the left side. Whatever picture, you win. I'm too tired for this.

Now we'll get back in order.. The 36 week belly shot.

Tanner was trying to kiss my belly but the camera was never quick enough to capture an actual smooch...

37 weeks..

And the Easter family portrait. Tanner's mad, Mike looks drunk.. Just another Easter ;)

HAPPY EASTER!

35 weeks

2011-04-13T14:23:00.002-05:00

I feel... Really pregnant. I'm slowly getting things done in the nursery and should have most of it finished by the time the baby arrives. (Some of it will have to wait until we know if it's a boy or a girl.) I have heartburn pretty much 24/7 and I'm not sleeping much.

But I did find these individual cherry pies :)

The Fun Stuff

2011-04-11T07:06:00.000-05:00

Thankfully the flu had run its course by the time Sunday came around. Which was perfect because we had a standing date to uphold with Cory & Shannon: our 6th annual Twins-home-opening-week-game. Thanks to Cory, we were lucky enough to have some fabulous first row seats, just off first base. The weather turned out to be beautiful and, although the Twins lost, we had a truly great time. It was nice to get out of the house-of-sick in Delano and grab some fresh air. Thank you Cory & Shannon!

Pre-game appetizers and a couple pitchers of beer at Smalley's..

Helloooo, Joe..Yup, that would be Denard Span.. Right in front of our super fabulous seats..
Of course, Cory and Mike chatted up the poor security guard during the entire game. I'm sure he couldn't wait for the game to be over so the drunk guys would leave him alone. We basically knew his life story by the time the game was over..T Dizzle had to sit this one out, but he was there in spirit :)

The Flu Stuff

2011-04-10T23:33:00.006-05:00

It all started Tuesday night as I was walking up the stairs, carrying Tanner to bed. PUUUUKE everywhere. After a few vomit sessions, a bath and a couple loads of laundry, I climbed into bed.. And promptly started throwing up. This lasted until Friday (when Mike took over on the puking) and actually landed me in the hospital on Thursday night. I wasn't able to keep fluids down and so I got dehydrated, which in turn caused contractions to start. I am so grateful that Mike's parents were able to be here. Mike was at work so until he could meet up with me, his mom came to stay here with Tanner while his dad drove me to the hospital. By the time we got there, my contractions were coming in pretty quickly and both mine and the babie's blood pressure were high. The nurses there were so awesome and got me hooked up to an IV with meds and fluid right away. I could almost immediately feel the relief from this and within a few hours the contractions slowed down and our blood pressure came down. Thankfully we were able to come home late that night and my contractions have nearly stopped now. (A few here and there are completely normal at this point in a pregnancy.) Thank you so much Peg & Lou for being such a great help to us this week. I don't know what we would have done without you both.

And now for the oh-so-sad pictures.. Why do I always feel compelled to take pictures of Tanner when he's sick? He just looks so sweet and so helpless, I can't help myself, I guess..

34 weeks

2011-04-04T23:24:00.003-05:00

I know, I missed a week.. It hardly takes any effort to blog, yet I find myself putting it off because I'm tired and I don't feel like uploading pictures/typing something out. I'm super lame.

Megan and Blake came to visit us today. Sweet, thoughtful Megan brought me some of my favorite cravings.. I will be hiding these from the diabetic husband asap ;)

I had my 34 week appointment today and everything was great. (Except that Tanner totally opened the bathroom door while I was in the middle of a urine sample.. That was not great.) ..Two more appointments and then a baby!

Visitors Galore

2011-03-25T13:49:00.001-05:00

Mike and I are temporarily sharing a vehicle so we've had lots of playdates come to us this past month. I have to admit, it's nice not having to leave the house.. Although on the days I don't have the car here, I am always needing to go somewhere - of course.

Shannon and Jaid have stopped by a couple times..

Baby William and his momma came over this week..
Grandpa and grandma Hokanson have been over lots.. (Aren't these the cutest pictures ever?!)
And Paul & Melissa joined us for dinner over the weekend. Tanner had so much fun he did not want to go to sleep. (And, in fact, didn't until they left.) He calls Paul "apple".. Close enough..

We had a few other visits that I didn't snap any pics of, but needless to say, we've been quite busy. Trying to fit it all in before the baby comes and I go into hibernation for a few months :)

32 weeks

2011-03-23T07:42:00.000-05:00

The Rug

2011-03-22T06:44:00.000-05:00

Tanner recently started going to the front hall rug when he gets sleepy. Sometimes he'll just lay down on it, but most of the time he tries to get all snuggley with it. I have a zillion pictures of him with the rug because he does this a few times a week now. I've spared you and only posted three. In the last picture, he was nice enough to let Jaid share the rug with him - although he does look pretty reluctant..

Cravings..

2011-03-21T14:22:00.007-05:00

This pregnancy, my cravings are a little different than they were with Tanner. The biggest difference is probably that I'm not eating near as much ice cream - in fact, I hardly eat any at all. I do still have some weird thing about smells.. Certain smells either make me nauseous or they smell sooo good to me, I want to eat them (mind you, those smells are never of something actually edible).

Smells that make me sick:

* Mike's chew

* Easton's dog breath

* Tanner throw up (which has been causing me to throw up quite often these days)

..Come to think of it, these smells would make me sick whether I was pregnant or not. And I'm going to stop listing them because it's making me all sweaty and nauseous just thinking about them.

Smells that I want to eat (but won't):

* Mentholatum

* Pine-Sol

* Cover Girl "Clean" foundation

* Scentsy's "Baked Apple Pie"

And the food cravings:

* Pizza, pizza, pizza!

* Twizzlers - either the cherry Nibs kind or the strawberry twists

* Applebee's "Perfect Margarita" (don't worry - I'm not drinking them, I'm just craving them)

* Strawberries

* Chocolate (which my non-pregnant self does not like) - more specifically, Cadberry Eggs

* McDonald's sweet tea

* Bacon

* Cherry pie

* And finally.. those darn snow cones - again - how weird is that??

Birthdays

2011-03-18T07:08:00.001-05:00

Happy (late) birthday to Megan and Katy.. We got to hang with some of the crew to celebrate the birthdays last week. Megan's husband, Matt, is quite the little planner.

31 weeks

2011-03-16T12:58:00.004-05:00

And our csection is officially on the books. We will be checking in at the new North Memorial Hospital in Maple Grove @ 6:30AM on May 3rd. Surgery should start around 8:00AM..

Dirty 30

2011-03-09T07:04:00.000-06:00

Feeling like my pelvis could break or just fall out at any moment.

Big Rigs

2011-03-08T09:35:00.000-06:00

A few weeks back, my mom and I took Tanner to the Mall of America. He was surprisingly good and had lots of fun checking out all the people (which is like the whole reason we go there).

He liked all the chandeliers - pointed out each one and called them "pretties"..
Of course grandma made him a SpongeBob squished penny :)
He liked it..Aaaand he got a super special SpongeBob bracelet with his name on it. (I call it a man cuff - sounds tougher than bracelet ;)Went on his very first ride and LOVED it!Did some laps around Nickelodeon Universe.. Until we were too tired to chase him anymore and made him get back in the stroller. Which he did not love.

And ended the day helping grandma make some yummy stroganoff. Which I ate until I was close to throwing up :D

Wasted Sick

2011-03-07T21:18:00.005-06:00

Tanner was finally getting back into the swing-of-things after the double ear infection.. And along came strep throat.

He was so sick when I took him in to see the pediatrician. He clocked in with a temperature of 103.3 and had no interest in anything going on around him. He just sat in the corner for the first ten minutes, looking miserable (and slightly wasted)..

Then he climbed up onto my lap and snuggled with me while we waited for the throat culture results. He was just sweating, he was so hot. Yet, he wanted to snuggle with his momma. Break my heart..At home that first night.. His temperature got really high again - almost to 105. I thought for sure we'd be making another trip to the ER. He sweat it out though and slept about 4 hours that night. The next day he couldn't stop sleeping. I was cutting a banana for him and he couldn't even stay awake long enough to get it in his little belly.

It always surprises me how fast he can get sick and how hard it hits him. And then on the other end, I find myself surprised again at how fast he rebounds. He's doing much better now, but we've still had some rough nights and I can tell he's not 100% quite yet. I'm sure he'll be crashing his rocket into something in no time though..

29 Weeks

2011-03-02T07:22:00.000-06:00

Operator?

2011-03-01T07:14:00.001-06:00

Every time we go to my parents house, Tanner has to run upstairs and grab my mom's blue phone. She's nicer than I am - she unplugs it to let him play with it. Inevitably, it gets taken away or put in time-out after Tanner throws it. I think he gets mad that no one is on the other end.

Germ City

2011-02-28T13:01:00.004-06:00

Tanner and I went to Edinborough Park for our first time last week with Shannon & Jaid. It's this giant, one-acre, indoor playground filled with kids (and germs) running around while parents sit on the side-lines and watch. Great way to burn off some energy. I think Tanner most enjoyed the jumpy-castle. I thought he would hate getting tossed around by all the big kids, but instead, he just sat there and let them bounce him around. He thought it was hilarious.

27 & 28 Weeks

2011-02-23T10:20:00.003-06:00

Today is the last day of my 28th week. My most recent doctor appointment went well - got my shot for being RH negative and did all the other usuals. My next couple of appointments will be every two weeks and then I get into the weekly appointments. Can't believe I'm already to that point (and I don't even have the beginnings of a nursery)!

This is my 27 week picture - I had to steal it from my mom as Mike was out of town that week and had my camera..

And week 28..

Stoopid Packers

2011-02-11T07:59:00.000-06:00

This year Cory (minus a vacationing Shannon & Jaid) hosted the Fantasy Football party on Super Bowl Sunday. We noticed that the parties have become divided; women and children in one room and men in another. While the boys played poker and watched the game, the ladies watched as the kids tore into Jaid's plethora of toys. Tanner had loads of fun and was even occupied enough that I was able to sit on the couch for a short time and catch up with all the girls. After that short time was over, I spent the rest of the evening chasing him around.. Until I got too tired and made Mike take us home at half time. I'm such a fun killer.

Gretta getting some baby William snuggles..

Tanner, keeping busy with all the toys surrounding him..He was most amused by Amber twirling this play mop in his face though..Of course, Tanner found Jaid's dress-up shoes.. Of course! He amused everyone while doing a sweet little tap number on the kitchen floor.Until Addy decided to grab the shoes..
He was fine with that though, he was already preoccupied with what was going on in the other room.

Thanks for hosting this year, Schultz family.. Sorry we missed you Shannon & Jaid. I hope the house wasn't too torn apart when you got home!

95!

2011-02-10T12:16:00.000-06:00

Happy birthday to Mike's grandpa, Caesar, who turned 95 today.. We celebrated last week at The Choo Choo.. (It was also the day Lou retired.. He was pretty excited.)

Momma Linda's Day

2011-02-09T05:21:00.001-06:00

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet mom! I love you!

26 Weeks

2011-02-08T08:56:00.000-06:00