New Year's Eve

This is picture from tonight at Keva. For those of us in my family that know and believe in the "circle", the picture was very neat. I cropped it so it was just of Tessa but there were many things going on in this picture with many different kids and Tessa seems as if she is looking right at the circle where she could reach out and grab it. I had to include it tonight in my post...

Almost the beginning of a new year...it's hard to believe. This year sure put us on a rollercoaster ride of a lifetime and I couldn't have asked for the year to end any better than it has. We are very lucky for everything that we have in our life. Four months ago we didn't know what to think, three months ago we had a few answers to some of the unknowns but still weren't really sure what our future was going to bring for us. Now we are looking back, thankful that the "loopty-loop-upside-down" part of the rollercoaster ride is in our past, and we are looking ahead to the new year thankful that our ride has stopped and finally He is letting us off. I used to love rollercoaster rides...not anymore! Now I'm too scared to get on as I don't know exactly where the ride is taking me.

We celebrated the beginning of a new year tonight at Keva. A fun outing for kids...lots of kids...tons of kids...hundreds of kids! Derek and Nolan stayed home once again for some football watching boy time and Tessa and I went to Keva. Jess, Beau and the kids were there, as well as Jeremy, Brenda, Sadie, and Evan. Tessa LOVED it! So much fun! There's a short video below showing what Sadie and Tessa did over and over and over again on the mats. Tessa had a difficult time waiting in line to take her turn again because she was sooo excited to run and jump on the mats again. The mats were set up so the kids could do somersaults...Sadie was close to getting it and Tessa just wanted to jump and land on her butt. All of the kids were glowing with excitement! There were so many kids there. As we were running, chasing, jumping all over I actually ran into one of Nolan's nurses from the NICU. I chatted with her for just a few moments and she asked how he was doing, so I of course filled her in that he's growing like a weed. I am starting to feel a bit guilty about always leaving him behind and not coming with us places, but after my conversation tonight with her, she verified that he's doing exactly what he should be right now...staying away from as many germs as he can!

Tessa loved going down the slide (notice how many kids are all over the place on the bounce house...CRAZINESS but so much fun!!). The picture below shows what the bottom of the slide looked like...piles of kids. Mitchell (aka the pirate) and Mas were loving the action too!

Here are a few random shots from the day.Tessa playing hide-n-go seek and never understanding how we can find her so quickly (as she is hiding behind the sheer curtain in Nolan's bedroom!!). :)

Just hanging out being cute. Tessa wishing she was a baby again and reliving all of the moments underneath the elephant toy.

Here's to a happy, healthy 2010.

The Gift of Giving

This year for Christmas Jessie came up with an alternative idea to exchanging gifts between us. What a great idea. Instead of purchasing something for Jessie, Beau, and Bryan, we instead were to do something nice for someone else. Oh what to do, what to do. The ideas started coming but we couldn't pinpoint exactly what we wanted to do. Since me being in the hospital was such a big part of the year for us, I decided to do something for someone else that is currently on bedrest at the hospital. I put together a goody basket full of tons of stuff (things to do, things to eat, things to take her mind off of just sitting). I delivered it to the hospital and because of confidentiality reasons, I was unable to know anything about the patient. I hope that their ending is exactly like ours. A pregnancy that resulted in a healthy mommy and baby (or babies). I heard that the mother really enjoyed the gift basket and that it was delivered during a crucial time where she needed some good news. I hope that it brought a bright spirit to her soul.

Derek decided to take a gas giftcard to the NICU to help someone pay for their tank of gas as they are making trip after trip to the NICU like we did. With all of the worries that some families have, it's too bad that some families also have to worry about how they will afford to travel back and forth to be with their baby. Derek delivered this giftcard to the NICU with a card explaining what we had been through and that he had hoped that this card could take a bit of stress off of the expense of gas. Of course all families in the NICU deserve this sort of gift. Derek told the nurse to give it to a family they thought could really use it. Yesterday we received a card from the family that had been given the giftcard. What a deserving family! It was a family that had been in there when we were in there. Their son was born the same day as Nolan so the entire time that we had been in there, they were in there. We would see them in passing in the hallways and had several brief conversations with them, but that was about it. We were in there because Nolan had to finish developing and at first they were in there for similar reasons. As days went on after the boys were born, this other little boy started to have other complications where he went through numerous surgeries. He is still in the NICU and this is the family that received the giftcard. It sure is another reminder for how lucky we are. Thinking about Nolan still being in the NICU makes my heart feel so heavy. I hope that baby Emmett will soon be able to come home to his mommy and daddy and his two year old sister. I pray that he will be healthy and that they can start to enjoy their family of four just as we have been able to do.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We love Christmas. We couldn't decide which photos to place on the blog so we put all of them up! Too many to choose from and too many exciting moments to skip any. After our Christmas at the mom and dad's the parties started rolling. Tessa was the one that actually should be worn out since she's the only one that went to every party. Nolan stayed home from the big parties with either Derek or I while one of us took Tessa. We started Christmas Eve opening presents at our house with just the four of us. Santa came while Tessa was napping. What good timing Santa! A good way to start the evening and the Christmas festivities.

Christmas Eve Tessa and I went to the Mitchell family Christmas. Always so much fun! After our shopping trip a few weeks ago, I wasn't sure if Tessa was going to be too into the Santa thing come Christmas Eve. Oh boy, did she ever get into it. She was so excited. All of the little ones have this glow in their eyes when they see Santa. It's always such a magical moment. Tessa, like all of the others, were beaming with excitement from the moment that they heard the first bell to the second he left. It was adorable. She was very, very excited but wasn't willing to sit on his lab. Maybe next year. :) It was another great Christmas Eve with our family and it was so much fun to meet baby Ryan. Ace and Andrea - he is such a cutie! Can't wait for you to come back again to visit.

Christmas day came around quickly and so did the parties. We started the day going to Derek's parents to exchange gifts. Tessa was very excited about her toys that she opened but really, really wanted to go upstairs to play in the toy room. So she spent a majority of the time upstairs playing with her toys and playing hide-n-go seek with Uncle John.

Then Tessa and I headed to my parents for the Meade Christmas. Once again, great food, good times, lots of chatting and silly stories, and gift exchanges. Tessa was so tired that she slept for most of the time that we were there. She kept asking to go lay down with her "guys" and I felt bad saying no when she was exhausted. We were only staying for a short while so I had to wake Tessa up before the present opening. We all went to the basement but before we could start the Christmas celebrating we had something extra special to celebrate. Uncle "Mikers" turned 60 on Christmas Eve so we started the celebrating by singing Happy Birthday. What a great way to start the celebrations. Tessa and I stayed for only a short while and then Tessa proceeded to Christmas #3 of the day with Derek. Wow, what a day for Tessaroo. We are so lucky to have our families so close that we are able to join in all of the festivities!

I love hanging out at home while everyone else is partying, having fun, and eating delicious food.


Yes, I put my fingers in my mouth when I get a little nervous. I think I heard Santa's bells. Is it really him???


Yep, it's Santa! I better sit in my rocking chair and get ready to stare him down.


He called my name! Can you believe it! I WAS a good girl this year. (Not only was she a good girl, but helped to take stress away from so many stressful situations this fall!! Nolan is so lucky to have her as his big sister!)


Another one!?! I'm so excited that I can't stop giggling! What is it??? A Dora purse with some jewelry and Dora underpants! Maybe I should start wearing underpants and go on the potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Always so sad to have Christmas over. Tessa was helping me to clean up Christmas before we rearranged our living space to fit all of the new toys!

A great end to a crazy year.

Christmas Eve Morning

Let the parties begin! Christmas Eve morning we went to my parents to do have breakfast and to do our gift opening. When Tessa, Nolan, Derek and I arrived, we were greeted by two elves in their jammies...Mitchell and Mason. They were bouncing off of the walls with excitement and you could see the glow in their eyes. Finally, Christmas had arrived. Mitchell had been rearranging the presents under mom's tree for weeks...color coordinated...biggest to smallest...and finally, in piles (mounds) for each person. So much for going "light" on presents this year! :) Once again another Christmas Eve morning filled with family, fun, gifts, and yummy food. The only person missing this year was Bry. Although Bry wasn't with us, we did Skype him. We pointed the camera out the window so he could see what he was missing here and he did the same for us (picture below...sunny San Diego the day before Christmas...70 degrees). I kind of wanted to jump into the computer just to get one breath of that fresh, warm air.



Tessa opening her first present on Christmas Eve morning at Grandma and Grandpa's.


Oh, it's a sleeping bag! I can't wait to use it at Stephie's! It's so soft!

Nolan so excited about his presents that he can hardly contain himself!

Mom and Dad purchased beanbag chairs for Mason and Mitchell. Once they received them the boys loved them and just wanted to relax in them by themselves. NO ONE else could sit in them. While Jess' family was packing everything up Mason's beanbag chair was by the front door so Tessa got a quick little snuggle with the beanbag before anyone noticed. She looks so comfy sleeping standing up! :)


Uncle Bryan...in the computer again! The kids are all really warming up to the idea but poor Marah just doesn't get how Uncle Bryan can fit into that little, tiny computer screen.


70's and sunny...I'm not jealous. I love when it's 30 degrees and raining on Christmas. :)

Tessa loving all of the excitement while she rocks in Grandpa's chair.

Snuggling, snuggling, snuggling with JeJe.

Shopping with Mommy

From Tessa...

I have been having so much fun with my little brother lately! He is starting to smile more at me and every time he is awake while I am by him, his eyes follow me all over while his head spins from side to side trying to find me. It's so silly. I can't wait to play with him when he's a little bit older. Tonight I wanted to dress him up in all of my play jewelry and for some reason mommy wouldn't let me. Maybe some other day. Below is a picture of Nolan right after his big smile started to fade from his face. He is starting to smile all of the time. It's so much fun!


Last night I was so lucky. I got to go shopping with mommy again. I haven't gone shopping for about five months and now all of the sudden I've gone twice in the last two weeks! I'm so lucky! We had so much fun on our girl's night. We made a few returns to Kohl's and then headed to Hilldale. Mommy said that we were going to get some groceries and then she kept mentioning something about Santa. I didn't know what she was talking about because it isn't Christmas time so I used my selective hearing (that I get from the Meade side of the family...or maybe the Mitchell side...or maybe the Pertzborn side) and ignored the Santa comments. We got to the grocery store and we walked right past the entrance to go get groceries. A nice lady handed us a candy cane (first picture below) that I got to eat. It was really yummy and I got all sticky from it. Then we saw some really silly gingerbread men. Some were upside down, some were REALLY big, and some were really little! They made me giggle the whole time that we were standing by them (picture #2 below). Then there he was...Santa...oh boy. Immediately when we saw him I told mommy, "I want to go get some groceries now mommy!". Hence my face in the third picture below. I was so excited about the candy, so excited about the gingerbread men, but Santa...I don't know about him yet. I even started to quiver a bit and my bottom lip came out like I was going to cry. I couldn't help it. For some reason, I was a bit freaked out. Mommy didn't even bring up the thought of me sitting on his lap, thank goodness! Rumor has it that he may be coming on Christmas Eve to the Mitchell Christmas so we'll see. Hopefully I won't be quite as scared because mommy said that I will be sitting on Santa's lap that night. Not Nolan though. Poor Nolan won't be there because he still has to live in his bubble. Soon enough I will be able to show off my little brother (not so little anymore) to the world.

Tessa being silly and Nolan going bald at 3 months old...

Tessa doing what she loves to do...drawing and being silly. She is starting to be such a big girl. It's amazing how much she's grown up these past few months. I feel like now that we are busier and now that I'm back at work, she's going to grow up in the blink of an eye. She is such a sweetheart and has been a great big sister! She is loving going to Stephi's during the week to play with her friends and cousins, loves going to JeJe's to play with her cousins, and loves going to Grandma's to play! It's a busy week for our little munchkin and she is loving the action. We are so blessed to have such great family that are helping to raise our kids while we are working.


To the doctor we go again. Well, actually not "us" but my Mom and Nolan. He was due for his second RSV shot December 2 and because of an on and off low grade fever, he wasn't able to go until today. Because of scheduling purposes and with me back at work, the timing worked best for mom to take him on the day she has him alone (no Tessa or Marah or Mason...they are all at Stephi's having a BLAST!). Watch out other three month olds...I'm catching up to you and pretty soon I'll be bigger than you!! Today he weighed in at a husky 12 pounds. Oh yes, that is twelve pounds...T W E L V E pounds! We've been thinking that he's been growing like crazy but we didn't realize how crazy. I never imagined being so excited about weight gain until we had Nolan. Weight was never a concern with our healthy munchkin Tessa, and God knows that Derek and I have never had a weight gaining concern :) so this is new to us. Keep going Nolan!! You can do it buddy! Not to mention that Nolan has been sleeping like a champ. He has been going to bed around 9:30 and sleeping through the night until around 4:30-5:00. We LOVE it! He's changing so much and is starting to be so smiley. Pretty soon we will come out of hibernation and go places. We are going to let the holidays come and go before that happens but soon enough the spring will be here. (That is what I keep telling myself anyways.)

I had to put in the picture below...Daddy kissing Nolan's super bald head. He isn't losing the hair in the back of his head like Tessa did but instead is losing his hair in front. It is so funny. He and Grandpa now have matching hairdos! :)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Today was our first big snowfall of the season...not to mention our first snow day where Derek and I didn't have to go to school! It's been a great, relaxing day of playing in the snow, shoveling, and snuggling inside to keep warm. We must have gotten at least 14 inches of snow and it's still snowing! When I was little I always remember those huge snowstorms where we could build tunnels and forts at the end of the driveway. Today is one of those days! Tessa has loved playing out there while Nolan didn't show quite as much excitement as Tessa did! :)


We actually had a snowstorm exactly one year ago today which canceled classes that day also. A day that we will never forget. Last year on December 9, 2008, we had to travel to the hospital to have my surgery following one of the worst days of our lives. The day that our baby (gestational age of sixteen weeks) traveled to heaven and became our guardian angel. A year ago it felt as if our world had crumbled, yet the rest of the world just kept going on like our world didn't matter. A year ago a piece of my heart was taken from me. It's unbelievable to think how much can happen in one year. Not only did we pick up the pieces that had crumbled to the floor, but we brought the second love of our life into this world...baby Nolan! To think back a year ago brings chills to my spine, while at the same time looking ahead to our future brings a smile to my face. We are so lucky to have the children and angels in our life that we have.


Enjoy the snow, enjoy the winter, and enjoy the holiday celebrations that are heading our way!

Back to work I go...

One last day at the park before mommy goes back to work and before it gets too cold!















"Who is that cutie in the mirror that I see..."

It's hard to believe that my maternity leave at home with the kids is over! It sure has been a rollercoaster of ride these last 3.5 months but we couldn't be more thrilled with the way that things are going now. 3.5 months ago I wasn't sure what to think and I was just sitting, sitting, sitting! Thank God I sat as long as I did. Now Nolan is starting to get bigger and bigger and even smiled at me several times today!! What a treat for me for the day before I head back to work! He'll be getting another RSV shot tomorrow (poor guy) so we'll have another weight update at that point. I can't wait to see how much he weighs. For my first day back to work Tessa will be heading to daycare and Nolan will be heading to my sisters. After school I'm going to come home and just snuggle, snuggle, snuggle with my munchkins!















Here we are waiting to pay for our Christmas tree. Tessa and Mason (and Grandpa too) are waiting ever so patiently to get a cookie. Come on...let's go get our cookies!!
















Oh...there's the cookies!

Happy shop 'til you drop day!

We just had to post the pictures below. The first one is Tessa when she was six weeks old. My dad is holding her when we went to the Circus World in Baraboo. The second picture is Nolan last night, 9 weeks old. Kind of crazy how much they really do look alike! After we took the picture last night I swore we had one like that of Tessa...and sure enough we did!

Gotta love the day after Thanksgiving! I woke up this morning with a text from Jess at 3:20am saying, "I'm on my way. Call me." Oh boy, let the day start. I better get my butt out of bed and get shopping! So each year we love to go right away. Right away used to be around 5:00am when the stores opened, but stores opening at 4:00am...really!? Or even stores opening at midnight!? That's ridiculous. Ridiculously crazy and fun enough that we'll be there. I could have come home this morning at 8:00am with most of my Christmas shopping done. But instead I continued to shop and shop just because that's what everyone else was doing. If you went shopping this morning I hope that you didn't get trampled, sworn at, or broke. The day after Thanksgiving can be a dangerous day.

Nolan snuggling with Uncle Bryan. We love when Bry comes home to visit from San Diego but it's always so hard to have him leave again!

Tessa and Sadie holding hands in the car on the way to the holiday light parade last week. So cute...

Anyways, everything in our household is going really well. Nolan continues to grow bigger and bigger and Tessa has been a big sweetie-pie. We continue to keep Nolan away from crowds of people. It was suggested that we keep him home until February. I'm not sure we will be able to do that but we've been pretty good for the last month so really what is another 2 months?! He does have a little cold but so far it hasn't turned into anything worse than that. Last night he had the longest stretch of sleep that he's had yet. He slept from 9:00pm until 3:45am this morning. I guess he wanted to go shopping with me so he set his internal alarm clock! I'm heading back to work next Wednesday so I will be busy snuggling with Nolan and chasing Tessa around until then. The time that I have to go back to work came up so quickly!

What does the word cousin mean?

Too cute not to share! Yesterday evening Tessa, Nolan, and I went to play with Jess and the kids. Jess graciously offered to have us stay for dinner. I had already made something at home for dinner but that was no big deal. I'd just put it in the fridge when we got home and save it for another day. We were playing away in their toy room (which is like heaven for any kid) and I thought to myself "did I turn off my burner on my stove". I had to run home and check because my postpartum brain wasn't able to figure out if I had turned it off or left it on. No use in worrying so home I went to check. Mason and Marah joined me for the ride while Mitchell, Tessa, and Nolan stayed back to play. We were gone for about ten minutes while Jess got the camera out and Mitchell snuggled with Nolan. By the way, the burner was off! :)

While we were gone Mitchell had a heart to heart with Nolan. Mitchell asked Nolan what he thought the word cousin meant. Mitchell responed by saying that a cousins are "best friends that just live in different houses". Too cute. We are so lucky to have our kids grow up with Jessie and Beau's kids. Instantly, they have become best friends. Mitchell is such a great big cousin. (Mason and Marah are too!! Marah tends to have evil eyes when we are around with Nolan but she is warming up to him!!)

Two Month Weigh In...

Who needs a "gaga" when you have a thumb. A rare moment of thumb sucking caught on tape.






















Mommy and Daddy's little helper!

















It was hard work getting poked three times this morning at the doctor!


Tessa is such a great big sister! She helped take Nolan to the doctor this morning for his two month appointment. She did a great job helping out but a bit nervous when it was time for Nolan to have his shots (3 of them...so sad! He had a difficult time getting our breath back a few different times today at the appointment which was SOOOOO scary. The nurse didn't seem too concerned but I was about to scream). Tessa hid in the corner until she came running over to hold his hand saying to him "you are okay buddy". She was a very good mommy's helper today at the doctor!


Nolan weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 1 ounce!! Go Nolan! Unfortunatley, his weight and height are off of the charts but his head is on the charts in the fifth percentile. We are used to being off of the charts with Tessa...but now we are off of the charts in the other direction. :) He is very much acting like a newborn, which is expected. We had to say no to a majority of the questions that were asked today regarding what Nolan was doing at 8 weeks of age. I'm going to keep working on that smile though. I'm going to get one someday soon. We aren't worried about him catching up so don't get me wrong when I keep saying that he is acting like a newborn and not doing what an 8 week old should. Even full-term babies have a difficult time always doing what they should at a certain age. I'm just giving the details, that's all. If he does have a difficult time catching up to his age, we won't talk about it when he can understand what is going on. Until then, I think it's okay to verbalize what's going on. He's perfect in our eyes (or course Tessa too) and so proud of him and how far he's come. This little guy has been through a lot in his eight short weeks of life. Not to mention that for one month before he was born that the "water in his swimming pool was constantly being drained out". No one wants to swim in a pool with a leak at the bottom! That would be hard work. :)

It's hard to believe that it's been a week since we made a post! Everyone is doing really well in our household. It seems that the germs have escaped our house without getting Nolan...YIPPEE! He does have this little eye infection that doesn't seem to want to go away but it really doesn't seem to bother him. We went into the doctor again last week and he weighs 8 pounds 11 ounces. In my eyes he is getting really big but in reality he's still a little munchkin! He is definitely still acting like a newborn rather than an 8 week old. He is still sleeping a lot and is starting to have some awake periods. He's starting to have some fussy periods in the evening but during the day he is content as can be. My mom said that he cooed at her two times last week but I didn't see it. Karen was her proof that it happened but maybe mom paid Karen to agree. :)

We went on our first official outing yesterday. We've ventured to Grandma and Grandpa's and Aunt Jessie's, but that is about it until yesterday. Nolan, Tessa, and I packed up the car and headed to Hartland to the Lodi football game. We thought it would be an okay place to take him since we were outside the entire time and the temps were in the 50s. It was nice to finally go somewhere with him. Once the temps drop we will be once again spending a majority of the time at home. We are still a bit hesitant to take him around large groups if we are inside. Too many germs around to risk it right now. I'll be heading back to work in a few weeks and he'll be spending his days either with my mom or my sister. We are soooo lucky for that! It will be an adjustment to get back into the routine of things but it's reality. Back to the real world where my brain hasn't been for 6 months!

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall and that you've been able to get out and enjoy the weather like we have.

Wow the weather was great today! We finally were able to get out of the house with Nolan because it was so nice. We made sure to not take him in anywhere and to just stay outside in the fresh air. We went to the park in Baraboo to visit the animals, play in the park, and have some ice cream. Of course we took the ferry to get there which Tessa was SOOO excited about.




















Here is what our little guy looks like with his leads on. He has to wear this belt with the leads and be on the monitor for at least one more week. Hopefully they will give us the all clear by next weekend. We can't wait for him to be completely disconnected. He's been such a great baby. He cries when he's hungry, when he needs to be changed, when he's tired, and when we have to change his leads and put his belt back on. We can't wait for the monitor to disconnected from Nolan...soon!




















Here's Tessa just playing outside in our backyard enjoying the weather. She loves jumping in the leaves and she went down her slide about 100 times into the pile of leaves. We love being outside enjoying this great weather!