A whirlwind of a week

What a great week we have been having! Granted, I am still flying high from the wonderful news of my son( AH! My son- isn't that crazy? Well, we think it is our son - ultrasounds are not 100%, I have to keep telling myself that). But, what a great week - for the most part. We had sickness come upon the house again - darn daycare! That is the one huge downside to daycare- sickness. Emma got a cold on Sunday, I got it on Monday, Tim on Tuesday, and my father got it too - thanks Emma!

Last Friday was fabulous, not only for the ultrasound news, but for the Yummy Phil's Tara hide-away take out we got for celebration (the best gyro's - hands down!), the new little boy clothes I bought, and for book club. We read Three Cups of Tea, which was a great book about a man building schools in Pakistan for children. I know this had nothing to do with the story of the book, but the guy lived in Bozeman, MT! While I was there! - isn't that crazy? I kept thinking about that, I wish I would have known that at the time, I would have, I don't know... volunteered or something. I find it weird how a little book like that can blow you backwards and strum up a whole bunch of memories. Bozeman, MT... sigh... I still have to make it back there. Anyway - back to bookclub. We have a great group of ladies. What started as a two hour meeting, talking strictly about the book and making polite small talk, has evolved into a 3-4 hour meeting talking about the book for maybe 5 minutes and about everything else the rest. It is so fun, we are all from Wisconsin (with the exception of one from Michigan) all around the same age and going through the same stuff. it is great - really great.

Saturday Tim, Emma, and I headed to the cabin -finally the basement is done! YEAH! Emma had a great time with Nana and I walking around the cabin and looking for gopher holes and trying to wake up those darn fishies in the lake! She had a stick and she was fishing and would yell "Morning Fishies - Wake UP FISHIES!" over and over and over again... it was so cute. The picture below shows my little Monk (which has somewhat evolved into one of her nicknames - short for Monkey) wearing her cute little scarf and raincoat. Tim and I decided (or forgot) not to pack her winter hat & mittens, so Nana came to the rescue with one of Papa's clean handkerchiefs. All the cool kids are doing it - ha! She loved wearing it around and it served the purpose just fine!

Saturday night, we watched Juno. I loved that movie - so sad, but what a great movie! And a wonderful, selfless thing for a girl. I truly wish adoption were pushed more as an alternative to abortion, but I won't get on my soapbox now. That is not what this post is about!

Hmm - what else about this week?? yes - colds throughout the house. I felt so bad for Emma on Sunday as she was getting pretty crabby as the day wore on, then I felt pretty bad for myself on Monday as being sick stinks! I only worked a half day on Tuesday as my head was pounding so bad and I did not get any sleep. Blah! At least now we are feeling better. Still stuffy, but a lot better!

Today was a big cleaning day and we met Aunt Kristen for lunch at Panera - double bonus... Emma getting to see Aunt Kristen (which, you would think she only sees her once a year with how excited she gets) and Panera - YUM! They have the best cookies hands down! When Tim got home from work, I left the house for a bit of Mama pampering at a local spa/salon. Nothing too exciting - but it was nice for a bit of me time.

this weekend - the Durand City-wide thrift sales! I have a little boy and growing girl to buy for - YEAH! I love thrift sales. Plus, we found out that Tim's niece has a Barbie trike and a hot-wheel thing to sell. Emma is very excited to go to Nana & Papa's for the evening tomorrow night. She was so excited she had to pack tonight. this is what she packed - all 9 pairs of underwear that she owns (which, mind you, she does not really wear yet) 5 pairs of pants, no socks, and a random assortment of colorful shirts. Tim had to remind her about the diapers, socks and PJ's. Then, she got really disappointed that we were not going tonight. Has a small meltdown about it actually. My fault I guess, I shouldn't have had her pack yet, but I want to leave early tomorrow morning so we have time to ride in Dad's her tractor and hit some sales early! The excitement just doesn't stop around here, does it??

A few Emma-ism's from the past week:

1) Marching around the cabin last weekend, Mom and I are chatting and walking behind her when she looks back and yells, "Come on ladies!" Struck me as odd at first because I had no idea where she was hearing it from, but I guess she hears at daycare.
2)Eating at Panera with Kristen, she keeps handing her bread to me and says "Butter Mama - more butter" Hmm. does this remind anyone of a certain restaurant trip when there was a participant that says "This bread is just screaming for butter!"
3) No, Emma do it. I think you may have heard this one before, but now it is constant - and - somewhat getting on my nerves.
4)"Simpsons on? Mama - Simpsons on??!!" yes, Emma loves that show, which kills me! if she sees a commercial for it or anything, she gets so excited..
5)tonight, she needed Popcorn, which I understand. I need popcorn every once in a while also. So, Tim and I hungry, so we make popcorn. Emma's job is to get out the buckets for us to put the popcorn in. No, not just one - but like 5. Emma always gets the ice-cream bucket with the cows on it - she loves that one. Then, she will get out the small bucket that cookie dough came in. That is sometimes mine - or Tim's. She just likes looking at the picture of cookies, that a few other random ones.

That's all I can think of. it is getting late. I leave you with a few more pictures. Emma and I at the cabin -


Emma smiling from tonight:

A big day!

Well, as most of my avid blog readers know, today was the big day for the ultrasound. I was very nervous this morning when I woke up - not realy sure why. I wasn't worried, but yet I wanted to make sure the baby was developing normally, etc and pretty excited to see what the baby was. We dropped Emma off at the neighbors (and she was very excited for her Kristen day!) and were off. I liked that the appointment was at 8:30, so less chance for the doctor to be behind and rush my big moment. The baby's heart beat was good, everything is looking good with me - and then we saw the pictures. Me being incredibly emotional right now, tend to tear up when I hear the baby's heart beat, but seeing the baby was so special and even more emotional. The baby was moving around, sucking the thumb and just being amazing. It is developing normally and is actually measuring about 2 weeks ahead of where it should be. So, does that mean the baby will come early? Who knows. But, since I was pretty sure of the dates, the doctor said my due date will remain the same. The heartbeat was strong and all was developing normally there. The baby was moving the feet around and lifting the arms up and down. We saw the placenta and that was developing normally (as far as the doctor could tell). I wanted that checked out to see if I would have any of the problems with the placenta that I had the last time. The doctor couldn't tell, but thought it looked fine.

What else.... we saw the fingers, toes, little nose and ears. The mouth was developing normally - so no cleft pallet. It really is amazing what they can see and tell you. We did get to see some 3D shots to get a good little picture of the little one.

We showed Emma the pictures, who didn't seem that interested, but enjoyed hearing that she would have a little brother -that's right! Baby Heuer is a little boy!! YEAH! All of my hard work paid off :-) Thanks to Dr. Shettle's book (maybe) we have our little boy. I won't go into great detail on that - but Tim and I were hoping for a boy and tried a few things to maybe push it that way. if you want any more info, let me know.

So - I now get to do some shopping for a little boy! Can you tell I am elated?! Although, I would have been this happy for a little girl also - but I know that Tim is very, very excited. Needless to say, an emotional day, but wonderful. It is truly a miracle and I feel very blessed.

Have a great weekend!

No, Mama - Emma do it.

that has been a common phrase in the Heuer household lately. "No, Mama - Emma do it." Over and over - getting into the carseat, picking out clothes in the morning, getting into the wagon - pretty much everything is, "No, Mama - Emma do it." So, tonight after bath, then after popcorn, juice and stories, it was finally ready for her to go to bed. She struggled for a bit as she always does and wanted to keep rocking - but finally both Tim and I reach a point where we are done and she needs to go to bed. Tonight, instead of the usual crying, she got out of the recliner - gave Tim a kiss and proceeded to walk up the stairs. I followed her to see what she would do. she walked into her dark room and proceeded to climb onto the crib and heave her little body over the railing (which she loves doing). I asked if she needed help and I got the usual, "No, Mama - Emma do it." She inched her way onto her pillow and said "Ni-Night Mama - love you" and started sucking her thumb. So, I covered her up, said I love you and left... My big girl :-)

Now - from my own personal blog fairy (aka Molly!) here is the long post I typed out on Sunday which I lost somehow. She recovered through google reader (or something like that) and I am able to now post it. THANKS!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello blog readers. Yes, I am still upstairs in our quasi-computer room while Tim tries to figure out the wireless. No fun. I am hoping to upload a current video of Emma from tonight, but we do not have sound on this computer currently - so you will have to tell me if it works. I understand why it takes Tim long to get around to doing things that I want him to do. Emma keeps him busy, work keeps him busy, and geting stuff ready for the cabin keeps him busy. But still - my internet is important too :-)

This past week went well. Work has started to quiet down a bit - but unfortunately that will be short lived as I am picking up more plants to plan for tomorrow. All-in-all, when all is said and done, I will be planning inventory for 9 plants. Pretty cool - well, to me it is, as that is what I like doing. The rest of you probably think it is boring. But, that is okay. I don't think I would ever have the patience for other things and that is what makes the world go round.

Emma - still crabby. Well, sometimes. She is lucky her cute factor outweighs her crabby factor. She is going through a Mom stage, which is really hard. I know I should like it because someday she won't like me that much, but when she cries because she wants me to put her in her carseat and not Tim - or me to make her food and not Tim - it is hard. I cannot imagine what it is going to be like when baby #2 is here - although maybe that is why she is going through this phase. She knows what is coming up in 5 months and is trying to get all the Mommy time that she can. She had a great time at the cabin - LOVES the cabin actually. Unfortunately this past weekend they got like 9 inches of snow, so we couldn't enjoy it that much. Seriously - WHAT IS UP WITH THIS WEATHER!? I want to be outside, playing with Emma, planting flowers, going for walks. Instead - we are still watching it snow. I guess this week is supposed to be much better - thank goodness.

I have my quilt for Emma half-way done. The top is all sewn - now I need to tie it together with all 3 layers and sew the rest. I had high hopes of doing it tonight, but tiredness got the best of me - so I am typing this up and am heading to bed.

Emma has been all about the princesses lately and she will often put on all of her prized jewelry, her princess shoes (once again - Thanks Molly!) and twirl around saying "Princess Mommy - Princess"! So cute :-) so, I am thinking for her upcoming second birthday (as I wipe the tear away) I may get her a princess dress. She was so desperate for a Princess dress the other day that I chip-clipped a dish towel around her. She Loved it! I tried to take some pictures, but she is also getting somewhat annoyed at the camera these days. You know, those Princesses just don't have time to slow down! She loves watching Cinderella and playing with her 2 Cinderella dolls (one is the Mommy and the other a Baby). She has begun roll-playing with her dolls lately also. She had Tim and I cracking up the other day as she was playing with her Cinderella doll and Sesame Street characters. The conversation among the dolls went like this:
Cinderella: "Elmo- ni-night."
Elmo: "No" (as Emma stands Elmo up in the little crib"
Cinderella: "Elmo - lay down. Ni-Night."
Elmo: (as Emma lays him down in the crib) "Okay Mama - ni-night"
Cinderella: (Emma presses Cinderella's head to Elmo's and makes a kissing sound."

I know, it probably doesn't sound that funny - but to watch her development and going from nothing to that is pretty cool. Plus- that is the way it goes with her - "Emma - good night - lay down!" ha!

So - as I have said before, the ultrasound is this Friday. Baby #2 is about 6 - 7.5 inches long and weights about 7 oz. I fought the urge to buy some majorly clearanced boy clothes today at Gap. Well, Tim told me it didn't make sense since we were finding out the sex on Friday. Which, I guess he is right. But - they were really on sale! I hope everything goes okay for the ultrasound. Me, being the dork that I am, called and confirmed the appointment to make sure they had the ultrasound listed and not just the 20 week prenatal check-up. I would have been so disappointed if they thought it was just the check-up, so I had to call and confirm.

also - taking a note from my cousin Jess's blog - watching the little ones grow up.... it is so hard! I think of that often as I watch Emma develop into the little girl that she is. She is almost 2! The little girl that took her sweet old time coming into this world - is almost 2! I remember minutes after she was born - just looking around and taking everything in - and that is how she has been since. Her expressions are priceless and she does everything with gusto! While I love watching her grow and play, at the same time it makes me sad. She can play with her babies and dollhouse on her own for like 20 minutes! I love it - but I realize that she is growing farther from me. With each of her stubborn, "No, Emma do it Mommy!" she is closer to going to school and not needing me as much. So, througout her crabbiness and stubborn times, I see her running to me when I pick her up at Theresa's. Her arms outstretched, yelling "Mommy, Mommy!" over and over... her burying her head by me when she is scared, and giving me kisses or sticking out her fingers so I can kiss her owies.. I wish I could video-tape every day so I remember these times. I do my best with the blog and my short minute video's I grab every so often - but I don't know if I am doing enough. I know before long I will forget how she smells after bath with her baby lotion on and her singing when she doesn't realize that I am listening. Life is good -

Here's to you Emma...

AHHHH!!! I just had the longest post typed up and I received an ERROR!! I hate that. But - here is a video of Emma taken today. I will try to type up the long blog tomorrow. AHHHH!!!!

Back to Blog-Land...kind of

So, we now have internet, but not wireless. What does that mean for me? It means being upstairs in the room we are re-doing for Emma's big girl room and typing on a normal keyboard when I am used to an ergonimic. Hence, this post will take me 15 minutes to type, versus my normal 5. It is amazing how once you get used to typing on one type of keyboard, you can't function on a regular. And YES, I realize that I could go downstairs and get the ergonomic and plug it in up here, but I don't feel like. so there....

things are good here. Hectic, but good. Tim is leaving tomorrow for Milwaukee and Oshkosh so we will not see him until Thursday late evening, which leaves me with crabby Emma. She has been so crabby at night and it is driving me crazy. I don't know if she is just tired, going through a growth spurt, or just crabby as around 6:30 I am down dealing with her for the evening. Which is really sad as I pick her up from daycare at 5:00. Don't get me wrong, I love the little monkey, but when she gets in a mood, I can't take it. I was never known for my patience (no comments on this one) and especially now being uncomfortable with Baby #2, I really don't have it. Theresa today was telling me how Emma is the best listener at her day care and the most considerate - Hmm, "Emma who, exactly?" I guess we are in her terrible two's.

she does have her cute moments. lately she has been big into presents. Where she got this from, I don't know. But she will find a box, throw stuff into it (random stuff) and give it to either Tim or myself while exclaiming, "Present Mama!!" it is kind of fun to see what she has stashed in the present. It ranges from her baby dolls to candy to tupperware. We went to the zoo this past Friday with the neighbors and everyone had a great time. The farm babies were there, so Emma got to pet a baby goat, duck, and piglet. Piglet's are the cutest animals... makes me miss Wilber. Which, we almost have Emma's Uncle Roger (from Webster, not Milwaukee) talked into keeping a pet pig for her - YEAH! Maybe it is more for her Mom than Emma, but I don't care :-)

Baby #2 is good - next week is the big ultrasound! so - for those of you that don't want to know the sex of the baby, don't read the blog from next Friday until the baby is born as I bet it will come up a few times. I get pretty excited about it at times and then not so much as I am still not 100% sure I want to know what the baby is. Hopefully I will be able to post the ultrasound pictures (if someone can tell me how to do that - I hear scanning doesn't work??) as our hospital now has 3D ultrasounds. Those are pretty cool. Baby #2 is also moving around a lot more lately, which has been neat also.

Work is still going well and I have been receiving some good feedback still - which makes me feel good. although I will repeat what I always say, "I hate working with Stupid People!" Which is unfortunate as stupid people are everywhere it seems.

We are up to the cabin this weekend. The basement is finished and the furniture is being delivered this weekend - YEAH! Tim is off work on Friday, so we are heading up early Friday. Although due to the weather, we may lay low and watch movies, which sounds great.

More when I can - I must admit - at first it was so weird not having the internet. I felt totally detached and I didn't like that I couldn't read all of the blogs! But then, it was kind of liberating! I never realized how much time I spent on the internet until I did not have it. So, with that, I am off to do some online shopping at Gap Maternity!

Temporarily Disabled

Hello blog readers! I just wanted to sign in quick at my parents house to tell everyone that I HAVE NO INTERNET AT HOME! I AM GOING CRAZY! So, because of that, the blog posts will be fairly infrequent. Well, I guess they were before anyway.

Just quickly - all is going well. We are in Durand picking up my Emma as she has been with my parents the past 2 days as we had no daycare. I really missed the little monkey! It was so quiet and so hard to see her go! But, Tim and I did go out to eat yesterday and had some nice quiet time.

Emma did very well at Mom & Dad's and really enjoyed her stay. As did Mom & Dad - ha!

Okay, I have to sign off, I will update when I can. Hopefully our internet will be fixed this weekend!

The ring leader

Yesterday and today I had the pleasure of picking up Kyra and Kaylee from daycare again - which I do enjoy. I know that my sister feels bad, but I really don't mind. If it was every day, sure, it would get busy, but once in awhile? Seriously, I am happy to do it. Emma LOVES it also. She gets so excited when I tell her we have to go and pick up her cousins. Then, they are talking and laughing the whole way home. Who is the ring-leader of the group? That would be Emma. Right away she says Hi Kaylee and Hi Kyra and then is trying to get them to laugh. She always does the same thing, but it always does make them laugh. All she says is "Bob?" then looks at Kyra and they laugh hysterically. Then she does the same thing with "Bambi?" Then laughter ensues. Hey, whatever it takes to get a laugh I guess. Then she was singing songs and they were looking back and forth at each other and laughing. It is pretty fun.

Emma has suffered some trauma lately - well, trauma for her, not really for anyone else. Her beloved Bambi pajamas are broken so she cannot wear them. The zipper is off the track or whatever. So, I was out with some girlfriends on Monday and when I came home, the first thing she had to tell me was "Bambi - broke" in the most serious tone and big eyes. Then, we had to go through the same trauma every night when it is bed time. "No, Emma, you cannot wear Bambi jams, they broke." "Bambi - broke??" Yup - every night! The next trauma came from when her new Cinderella doll's shoes were missing at daycare. She had to bring her Cinderella dolls to daycare to share with the kids (which, I heard she did very good at sharing!) but they could not find the shoes. It was pretty hard on the kid as everyone knows how much she loves shoes. (just the way I like it!) Luckily the next day Theresa found them, but for that night, she was pretty worried about 'Rella's shoes.

It is funny how Emma is starting to get more particular about roles that Tim and I have. For instance, she loves the "Ni-Night" game as we call it. However, I try to play that game with her and she looks at me and says, "No Mama - GO! (then pushes me away) Daddy Ni-Night." Thanks kid. Plus, with other things, rocking her good night, reading stories, she seems to be pretty particular at who does them. Tim says it will only get worse after baby #2 is born - she will always want him as she will feel slighted by me. Hopefully that is not the case!!

She had a wonderful Easter and really got into it! Dying eggs was great fun! She only spilled the dye over once and cracked about 4 or 5 eggs (or ovals as she still calls them.) She wanted to eat the eggs/ovals right away, shell and all, but the next morning when she actually did - she did not enjoy them at all!

Finding the easter eggs/ovals and basket left by the bunny was her favorite. Right away when she got up, I reminded her about Easter and the bunny. (and did try to throw in the religious story too, which was lost on her) She found her first egg right away and was very excited to find her favorite candy in them - M's! Then there were a few other eggs with some jelly beans, star bursts, and a few quarters. That tricky bunny was hiding them everywhere! Her basket was found in the bathtub - which she thought was hilarious! And she loved her little Cinderella doll and new Dora movie. I think she had a very happy Easter!

Later that afternoon after nap time, Nana had her annual Easter Egg Hunt! We decided that despite the elements, it would be outside, so we bundled all the kids up in their snow pants and boots and brought them outside. They all had a great time with that! They were running around finding their color of eggs and eating the goodies inside. and of course - what is an Easter Egg Hunt without splashing in some puddles?

Everything else is going well. I have been feeling baby #2 move a little bit, so that is really neat. I have been trying to exercise and stay in shape- so that is good. Work is stressful, but good. I have been hearing some nice things about my new role and my performance, so that is GREAT! All the feedback from the managers has been positive and since this is a pretty highly visible project, I am very pleased with that. Hopefully I can maintain the results!

It is up to the cabin this weekend where the carpet should be installed - so our basement is almost done! YEAH! Emma loves the cabin, so it will be nice to be there and relax a little!

Oh yeah, Tim is good too :-)

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter Everyone! I know it is a bit early - but we are heading down to the farm for an Easter Egg hunt. First, I wanted to post a few pictures of the happenings yesterday. It was a typical Friday - the Kellogg's came over to bake some Easter cookies and do a few Easter crafts. While Kristen and I were talking, we decided it would be fun to take some Easter pictures of the girls - with the girls dressed up as bunnies! The pictures are below and they turned out pretty cute!

Have a great day tomorrow - I hope you all are spending some time with family and being thankful for the blessings in your life. I know I am :-)

Things I have learned this week

This was a great learning week for me for a few reasons:
A) Stubbornness runs in my family (or Tim's) and now my little one seems to be developing it.
b) Even if mopping the floor with your 22 month old seems like a good idea, it may not be.
c) If you DO decide to mop the floor with your 22 month old, don't give her a bucket of water.

Let's explore these further, shall we??

A) While I am glad that Emma is strong and voices her opinions, I am really started to wish she didn't know the word NO. Every night she seems to want to go shopping, which is fine because there are times when we need to go shopping. However, Tuesday night Tim had to run to Gander Mountain to buy an ice fishing shack. (I believe that makes the total 4 now at the cabin, nice....) So, Emma and I went to Wal-mart to find her some rain boots. One would think that finding rain boots at this time of year would be easy, but not the case. So, I bundle Emma up, get her in the car and she REFUSES to let me buckle her in. "No, Mama - no shopping." So I figure, okay, she had a busy day at daycare, we won't go. So, I take her out of the car. However, once in the house she has a fit because she wants to go shopping. So, I sit her down and tell her that if she gets back in the car, we are going shopping. "Uh huh -shopping." But, once in the car, she has a huge fit again. TOO BAD! She cries half the way to Walmart, but then gets excited once we are in the store. They did not have rain boots, but we did get her another pair of shoes. Unfortunately, she had to walk around the store with me, because she kept kicking her legs so I could not put her in the cart.

We did eventually find her some rain boots at Marshalls, along with a cute rain coat. She really needs the boots as she has to stomp in every puddle she can find when walking outside.

B) I needed to mop the floor. Mopping the floor is a necessity with a little one as they are constantly getting it dirty. I didn't have time during her nap yesterday as I was vaccuming and cleaning up toys, so I thought "How fun if Emma could help me. She loves playing with water and is always mimic-ing me. So, I get her a bucket of water, a sponge and take off all of her clothes, other than the diaper.
She loves it! I remind her how she is just like Cinderella cleaning the floor, which makes it even better! So, we start singing "Sing Sweet Nightinggale" like they do in the movie and mop the floor. First, I notice that I put way too much soap in my bucket, so I am leaving foamy streaks. That frustrates me. Then, I notice how much water Emma is using, which is leaving an even bigger foamy mess. No good. Which leads to:

C) I knew there was a chance that Emma having a bucket would make a much bigger mess AND that she could potentially dump the bucket of water over. Which, she did both. Now, mind you, I didn't put a LOT of water in her bucket, just enough for her sponge. Either way - when it spilled, it still got all over. She thought it was hilarious and instantly starting stomping around in it. I quickly got a towel and starting soaking it back up. Interesting experience.... It was fun - just a wet experience.

The weather, the cabin, and both babies...

Ahhh... Hasn't it been beautiful out lately? I love that it is getting warmer! Emma and I have been trying to get out every night when we get home from work - plus spending time on the days that I don't. The picture above is from Emma (obviously) dropping on the ground and doing snow angels. We can be walking around, dropping apples for Bob when all of a sudden she will fall down and start doing angels. Although, she really only has the leg action going and not the arms - but still, they look pretty good. Now that the snow is melting, we were able to get out the sidewalk chalk, her little bike, and some sand buckets to put the melting snow in. I love it! Also - the walks. Her and I go for a walk every day when we can. I really want the exercise for baby #2 and Emma just enjoys being outside. It is fabulous!

After a very quick prenatal check up on Friday (I waited in the waiting room longer than I was in with Fern aka. midwife) we were off to the cabin. Baby #2 is still doing good and the heartbeat is strong! It wa a very nice weekend at the cabin. Tim and Dad were able to finish off a lot of work in the basement and Mom and I played with Emma, went for walks, and did some local shopping.

I started new responsibilities at work today, which went pretty well. It is pretty stressful ( I am doing demand planning for Micro's into plants) but I love it! I am getting back into what I like doing - playing with numbers. Hopefully it should go well!

Emma is really not happy, so I have to run. More later!

The chatter box

I was the lucky one this evening that had 3 carseats stuffed in the backseat of my new Corolla to pick up not one, but 3 little girls from daycare. I wish I would have taken a picture - because they were so cute back there. Anyway, Emma LOVED having company on the way home and I liked to have someone to talk to - aka. Kyra. Emma never really talks to me on the way home. I ask her what she did during the day and the answer is always "Play" and then I ask what she ate for lunch and she always answers "Cheese". Cheese is always her meal of choice. Then she sucks her thumb for the rest of the way home while looking out the window. Pretty quiet. Anyway - so Kyra and I are talking about her day and I am trying to talk to Kaylee too, but she doesn't answer. So, this is my conversation with Kyra.
Kelly: "So Kyra, Kaylee doesn't talk much yet does she?"
Kyra: "No, we need to teach her how to talk."
Kelly: "Do you think we need to teach Emma how to talk?"
Kyra: "No, Emma talks A LOT!"

Which is true, tonight Emma was completely WOUND UP! I think it started because of the three of them in the backseat of the car. She loved picking them up. Her and Kyra were laughing all the way home because I would open up the back windows and close them. (I love power windows - it is the simple things to keep the kids happy!) Emma and Kyra thought that was hilarious. Emma also thought it was hilarious to say, "Bob, Bambi, Apples" between laughter. That would only make them laugh even harder. It got to the point tonight later on, where I just wanted Emma to be quiet. Even Kristen said while we were eating supper, "Yeah - what do you do about that one? She is never quiet!" Nope - that is my girl... the chatter box.

Thankfully it is over...

FIRST - a big THANK YOU to my cousin Amber in Billings, MT for the adorable little purse for Emma! She LOVES it. I opened up the package this morning and she saw it right away and her eyes got huge. Then - "Want that Mommy - want that!" I tried to get a cute picture of her and the new Dora purse, but she was not cooperating. This is the best I could do... Tim was trying to get her to smile while putting the purse on her nose. But, you get to see Emma, the purse, and Tim's arm.

Do you ever have that feeling that you are so happy when the day is over? I am feeling that right now. Emma and I had a fabulous past 4 days, but I am exhausted - she is exhausted (although she will not admit it) and I am ready for bed.

Thursday and Friday were fairly uneventful - we did the usual cleaning, shopping, etc. Friday was Kristen's birthday, which we celebrated today with a shopping trip and Friday night was book club. I am really happy that I joined the bookclub. I know I have mentioned it before, but we are all around the same age, stuggling with the same things and we all need an excuse to get away from family and relax so, yes, Friday night was fun with them.

But - most of all - I LOVE MY NEW CAR (2009 Corolla - sorry if there was any confusion)!! I have told a lot of people this, but I think that I am a car person. While the Envoy was great - it was so big! I realize that things may be a bit more difficult with a car - especially when I am nine months pregnant and trying to put a little one in a car seat, but I really love my car. I will have pictures of it soon.

Saturday my parents, sister Kim, and nephew Andrew came up for Kristen's birthday and boy, what a healthy bunch we all were. Kaylee had a low grade fever, dad was hacking away, my with my stuffed up nose, Kyra had a runny nose, Andrew had a slight ear infection... and Mom had something too. Yes, what a picture of health. But, as always, it was fun to see everyone and have the little ones play and run around. Tim had his last day of class, which was great for him. Now just an independent study and his Hong Kong trip and he has his MBA baby! Next - me... well, maybe in a year or so. I am really hoping to complete my APICS certification first - then work towards the MBA. I know, pretty lofty goals, but one can have those while sitting and blogging on the computer.

Emma.... Emma... Emma... our sweet little girl is gone and now we have a little terror who does't listen, is completely stubborn, and always does what she wants. Kind of like having another husband - ha! We ask her to do something and we always get a "NO!" A very serious and loud NO! Emma, get off the table- "NO!" Emma, stop taking Mama's money - "NO!" (which, she loves money these days. Not that she understands what it is, but she will take coins out of my wallet when I don't have it hidden and put them in her piggy bank. At least she doesn't know what paper money is yet!) She still loves dancing, but instead of doing the Kermit, one legged dance, she runs in circle and she is ALWAYS at a ball. She loves rolling golf balls back and forth and is always on the run yelling "I get it" when it rolls away. We made it outside today where we fed Bob and Bambi more apples and went for a short walk - it was great! She is getting really good at saying Please and Thank You though, which I love and has just started ending everything with our names. No Mama, No Daddy. Thank you Mama, Thank you Daddy - which, like everything, is pretty darn cute.

This week will be busy - work will be busy, I have my doctors appointment on Friday! 14 weeks - now in my second trimester! And in 6 weeks from now we will know if it is a baby boy or girl. I think we still want to know. Well, I should rephrase, Tim wants to know, I think I do. Then, we are up to the cabin this weekend. Hopefully it will still be nice so we can do some fishing and play outside.

That's it. I have to go to bed. Here is a picture of Tim and his two favorite girls from last night.... I was doing some digital scrapbooking and was getting ready to go upstairs when I checked on them. Tim, Emma and Cinderella. I thought it was pretty cute!

Kelly got a car.. Kelly got a car... Kelly got a car, heh heh heh heh!!!!!!

YEAH! We got it and are picking it up tomorrow! Can you tell I am excited? AND, I know this is stupid of me, but I am a bit sentimental about the ol' Envoy. I am totally one of those people that keeps movie stubs, old candles, anything that I deem worthy to remind me of my past - and I always get this way about stuff. Tim and I brought Emma home from the hospital in that Envoy. AND - the day before she was born (after my water had broke and we were waiting for contactions) he took the Envoy to go get my Jimmy John's sub and Cold Stone Creamy to ease my nervousness and make me feel better.... sigh. But, I know, we will have many great memories in the bright red, 2009 Toyota Corolla.

Finally - we are all getting healthy! I went for a record of 6 days in a row without being able to taste. It totally sucked! If I was my non-pregnant self, I would have capitalized on those days as great for weight loss. But, not with a little 13 week old baby inside. (who is about 3.5 inches long and I swear I have felt it move. I know the books say it is too early, but I think I have!) Tim is getting better, Emma has been for awhile. Hopefully we stay that way now!

Emma has been good - really good and it seems as though every day she makes us laugh with something she says. She definitely thinks that Elmo is a great name for either a baby brother or sister. I thought she would be aiming for Dora, but she liked Elmo. She has become quite the Simpsons fan also, much to my chagrin. Tim LOVES the Simpsons and always has it on from 6:00 - 6:30. Yesterday, she was sitting on the couch and a commercial for the Simpsons comes on and she turns to Tim and says "Impsons - funny"

Here is Emma carrying around her purse. Lately, if we go grocery shopping, on the way to daycare, anywhere - she has to have her purse. After of course, she has stuffed her babies, plastic food, anything she can find into it. Pretty cute.

THEN - she was brutally attacked at daycare on Monday. Apparently she was playing with a toy and Breezy (Briannah) wanted it. So, Breezy comes over and tries to take it away and then scratches Emma right by the eye! How dare she! When Emma was at home, we would ask her what happened and she would say "Owie, Breezy, Eye" Thankfully she is recovering nicely and I think the scratch is almost gone.

Tim has his final class this Saturday! YEAH! Boy do I have quite the list for him when he is done... work on Emma's new room... make me some furniture... vacation! Yes, he will be kept busy.

All is good with me. Work is getting incredibly stressful as I am going to start doing demand planning for 9 plants. Which is exciting, but stressful. Even more so because one of those plants is where Dad gets his feed. So, God forbid, I ever run that plant out of an ingredient, Dad's feed could be delayed - GULP!! I am slowly starting to feel better for morning sickness, which is really nice! Hopefully all will turn the corner soon and I will have some energy back too. Our book club is meeting on Friday at Throwback's in Woodbury where they have Dueling Piano's - yeah fun! But, I don't know how long I will make it as I am normally in bed around 9:30.But, it is always good to see those ladies and talk about books and gossip!

Here is Emma giving the nod to Brett Favre (wearing my Packer hat) and saying "It has been a great run!" I am sad to see him go, but am glad that he had a great season last year. He deserves to relax and enjoy everything that life has to offer, especially with all that money he has made!

That's all - I have to watch Men in Trees and get a snack. Happy Days everyone!

No new car... yet

Yes - we went test driving Toyota's this evening, but now, we do not have a new car. We got Jessie to babysit (daycare provider's daughter) whom Emma really likes to hang out with and we were off on our own. We test drove a few cars and then did the wheeling & dealing. The wheeling & dealing did not go quite as we wanted, so we left. However, both Tim and I think they will be giving us a call on Monday with a better offer - we will see. The car? A 2009 Camry - red. http://www.toyota.com/corolla/exterior-360.html just in case you want to check it out. A pretty cool car I think. Anyway, then we were off to eat. We were supposed to go out with our friends Hans & Jen, however, it fell through. Which, was fine by me as I am still suffering from a cold and for the 3rd day running cannot taste anything. I HATE that about my colds, I always lose my sense of taste. Plus, my morning sickness seems to be back a bit (probably due to the cold) and I am tired... so, I am hoping that in a week or so when I am better, we will bring Jessie over again and really go out!
That's all for now. I will hopefully post more soon, with some pictures of Emma. It has been awhile since I posted pictures.

Blah's through the house

That's right - Blah's all around. It turned out that Emma has an ear infection. It is so nice that she is able to communicate with me now, as I thought she just had a cold. However, I stayed home with her on Tuesday as she (and Tim and I) did not get much sleep. That morning, she was holding her ears and saying "Owie, Owie Mama" and crying. So - that was a pretty good hint that it was an ear infection - Thanks Em! I was able to get her into the doctor that morning and she was starting medication by noon. It was a pretty low-key day with another round of Cinderella, some Dora, and a 3.5 hour nap for Emma! (and an hour nap for me :-) By that night with the help of some Tylenol, she was up to some of her old antics.... following me around with that yellow chair of hers and dancing around the house. It was so good to see. It is very hard to see your little ones sick. Luckily, this is her first bout with an ear infection and with medication of any sort.

However, her recent cold has led her to some bad habits - i.e. picking her nose - GROSS! I understand she has some crusty stuff in there now and she HATES to have her nose wiped, but gross. So, now Tim and I are constantly saying "Emma - finger OUT OF YOUR NOSE!" When she is lucky enough to do it without us watching, she will bring the dried crusty nose stuff to us and say "Here Go" and place it on our hands. Nice, just what we want. Tuesday morning she was in bed with me and at around 5:00 am, she kept saying "Here Go" and trying to hand me dried crusty nose stuff. Which, it was dark and I could not see - until the next morning. Right where she was laying was a bunch of dried crusty nose stuff. Yuck. No wonder Tim and I got the cold, right?

She went to daycare yesterday and had a pretty good day AND another 3.5 hour nap. Her eating isn't back to normal yet and she is still a little down, but for the most part, she is doing okay.

HOWEVER, now Tim and I have colds - which leads to the Blah's through the house. Not bad colds yet and I am really hoping it does not evolve into more. We have plans to go out on Saturday with friends to our favorite restaurant Phils, so hopefully we are back to normal.

Also on Saturday - we are test driving cars - YEAH! It was decided with gas prices constantly getting higher and the possibility of $4/gallon gas this summer, that I needed a better car to drive to work in. So, we are looking at either a Toyota Yaris or a Corolla. They both get about 35 -40 mpg highway, which is double what I get now in the Envoy. However, I cannot get the fun of looking for a new car cloud my judgement. It needs to be big enough for 2 carseats and either groceries or a double stroller! I love looking for new cars. The Yaris has a fun interior I think and is a new Toyota car, but the Corolla is nice too. If anyone has any opinions, please let me know.

On that note - I am off to clean. More Blah's through the house.

Quick update

Sorry for the long time in-between posts. The Heuer house has been pretty busy until recently when Emma caught a cold. Now, it is full of Cinderella and cuddling the baby that usually never wants to be cuddled. She got it yesterday and was very whiny and always wanting Mama. Tim stayed home with her today (as we had no daycare) which was a good thing anyway as she was in no state to go to daycare. Now, we are discussing tomorrow. Since she really doesn't have a fever, we are thinking if she has a good night, we are sending her and I will be on standby. If it is a rough night for all, I will stay home with her. It is so hard to see the little one sick as she is usually so active and rambunctious. Now, she just wants to lay on you and watch Cinderella, which is a good movie, but 3 times in 3 days is a lot. I really don't want to be the bad Mom that sends her kid to daycare when she is sick, but I sometimes think she does better for others than she does for me. Tim said she was not nearly as whiny today with him as she was when I got home. Plus, maybe seeing her friends will make her happy. I don't know. It is always a guessing game. We will see what tonight brings. With that - I am off to bed.

The sneaky girl...

I know I alluded to it in the past, but Emma has new-found freedom. Not only in her little yellow chair that she constantly is dragging behind her, but her sneakiness. She is starting to hide things - such as candy or gum - or find something she is not supposed to have and then run away from me as fast as she can so I cannot catch up (which, thankfully for me, I still can :-)

She has a stash of gum hidden SOMEWHERE and I still don't know where. She took it out of my purse the other day and now it is gone. First, for the record, she loves gum. Probably because I never let her have it. But, she does not get that one should not swallow it. I know the old wives tale of gum not digesting for 7 years is not true, but still - she does not need gum yet. Anyway - so she has her stash and every once in a while, she will be walking around with a piece of gum in her mouth, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. "Emma - where did you get that gum?" "Gum, Mama?" As she smiles and runs away as fast as she can.

The other day, her and Kaylee were playing and Kristen and I were talking in the kitchen. All of a sudden, it was too quiet - a NOT GOOD QUIET. Then, Kaylee walks into the kitchen with a sucker. Which prompts me to go to the living room where Emma is sitting on the kid-size chair with candy wrappers around her and eating a piece of chocolate. NICE. Then - she runs away as fast as she can.

It is that way with everything. Magazines she has ripped pages out of, my make-up bag she is in, any other trouble she is creating. She looks up at me, cocks her eyebrow and smiles then runs away as fast as she can.

It is a good thing she is cute :-)

Now - on a somber note, I found out that a college friend of mine has passed away unexpectedly. We used to party together in college, he was in our group I guess you would say, so wherever our parties were, he was there. We would talk a bit at the parties and in the dorms as he was roommates with other friends of mine. Plus, he went with me to pick out my snowboard. We weren't close, but still friends. It is horrible - you just don't expect this stuff to happen. Although I think the last time I saw him was at my or Megan's wedding, it still doesn't stop my head from turning and wheeling around about all of this. It just makes me sad.

So - this is to Josh - It was great to know you and party with you. You are in a place now where Metallica is always playing and the motorcycles are fast. The next time I can drink - it will be in memory of you.

Happy Valentine's Day! (A day late..)

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a lovely day yesterday. Emma and I went to the library so I could pick up my next book for Book Club. The library also has a bit of an atrium (is that the right word?) that has trees, plants, waterfalls, etc. Emma LOVED running around there and throwing coins into the fountains for wishes. We have not been outside much lately due to the cold and at daycare, someone has always been sick, so they have not been out either.

Then we went to Kowalski's and planned a Valentine Supper for the 3 of us. It consisted of Garlic Ciabatta bread, Shrimp Cocktail, Snow Crab legs, and Garlic Parmesen noodles. It was GREAT!

We had a small photo shoot yesterday, which is where these pictures were taken. Emma really enjoyed wearing her bathing suit and really likes wearing her boots. Those are all she wants to wear now. Which, is okay, I suppose. They give her a bit more protection in the cold.

I had the midwife appointment today - it was fabulous! We were able to hear the heartbeat, which is normal. It finally seems as though this pregnancy is real. That probably sounds funny, but for some reason hearing the heartbeat solidified it - there is something incredibly tiny in there. I believe it is about 2.5 inches long now - fingers & toes are separated, eye buds, ears are forming. Pretty cool. I was surprised they had to do all the same testing as they did the first time. I was kind of hoping to skip out of the blood tests and stuff, but that does not happen. My official due date is September 7! Anyway - all was good there.

This weekend we are heading to the cabin. Both Tim and I have Monday off for the holiday, so we are leaving tomorrow afternoon when he is done with class and coming back Monday. Emma is incredibly excited as she can go fishing. Hopefully I will get some digital scrapbooking done and can get caught up with all I want to do before the baby is born.

Here is Emma staring out the window and following Tim's every movement while he was plowing snow. She would stand right up to the window and use the window crank as her microphone. "Hi Daddy - Daddy! Daddy!" over and over and over again.


Here she is being a little stinker on her chair. This chair is now her window to the tall world and she rarely travels anywhere in the kitchen without it. Apparently I did create a monster with her doing the dishes as I gave her the idea to stand on chairs and reach stuff that she is not supposed to. Here she is trying to get into the Valentine cookies I bought for her. Now Tim and I really have to be aware of moving everything back on the counters so even with her chair, she cannot reach it. It has reached the point a few times where Tim and I hid the chair as she is either in our way or constantly getting into stuff that she is not supposed to. As you can imagine, that is not received well by the little one.

Who would think that this innocent little girl could get into so much trouble??

A new week

Happy Monday everyone!

What a great weekend I had. Well, first I had a bout of morning sickness that was NOT enjoyable. I was not sure for awhile if I had the flu or if it was the baby reminding me of his/her presence. However, now I am pretty sure it was the baby. I know that morning sickness is supposed to be good - however, try telling that to the person who is super nauseous. (Okay, I have no idea how to spell that word.) It was nice that Emma could spend a little time with "Kisten" so I could get some food in my stomach and take it a bit easy.

My parents came up for a Valentine party on Friday. The girls had a great time! All of our parties now include song & dance time. The girls rocked out to "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "I'm a little tea pot" and "The Hokey Pokey" to name a few. It is so fun to see them dancing and twirling around. They needed it after the candy, cupcakes, and more candy they ate.

Friday night was book club at my house! So nice to see my friends and discuss book and other various topics. One main topic was childbirth and pregnancy, since everyone had to remind me what I was in store for again - ha! I strongly recommend our book to all blog readers "The Thirteenth Tale" By Diane Setterfield. For all in the Durand area, I am sure it will be floating aroud in a few weeks once my sister is done reading it. It was one of those books for me that I could not put down.

Saturday was the Mall of America and maternity clothes shopping - already. For some reason the clothes that I currently have make me shudder. I really only have a need for pants now, but I guess I was so ready to be done with them the first time around that I am NOT looking forward to wearing them the second time around. Thank goodness for Old Navy and some cheaper, yet somewhat stylish, maternity clothes. Mom, the Kellogg's and Emma came for that lovely experience, although the little girls REALLY enjoyed the Disney Store. Nana bought Emma a Cinderella doll which she loves. Rella is constantly with Emma, getting a new diaper, eating plastic food, and enduring many hugs and random conversation. Very cute.

Sunday was a nice low-key day. With the cold weather and Tim around, we just hung around the house. It was very nice. I just wish we could get the monkey to sleep in later! She is always up around 6:15. Too early in my book!

Otherwise, this week is busy. Tim is traveling to Cincinnati, I have my midwife appointment!!, and Valentine's Day. No, Tim and I do not really celebrate Valentine's day. We buy cards and that is pretty much it. Although, I think I do tell him every year that if he feels the need to buy me something - go with it. Except if it is another ice-fishing shack. I think we have like 4 of those already at the cabin!

Time for bed - more later. (sorry, I am not proof-reading it either. My eyes are droopy!)

Welcome the nap...

While I sit here typing, Miss Emma is up in her crib doing everything possible to avoid her nap. If it were me, I would LOVE the nap - but not for little ones. Oh no- they must delay the nap as long as absolutely possible. She is singing the ABC's, the Cinderella song, yelling for me, and playing with her toys that she has up there. It has been about 15 minutes - yikes. However, she WILL fall asleep. I need her to so I can work out, shower, do the dishes, and clean my house. Yup that's right - she is going to take a 4 hour nap - haha! After her nap, we are going to make Valentine's Cards! We went to Walmart and bought paper, glue, glitter and stickers for cards. It should be messy - but fun.

We have a fairly busy weekend coming up. My parents are coming up tomorrow for a small Valentine party for the girls. Then, since my Dad has a bowling tournament, my Mom will be staying with us for the weekend. I want to get some shopping done and just relax. It should hopefully be a nice weekend although cold.

Tonight I am heading to a party at my friend Megan's and tomorrow night I am hosting book club! Yeah! I look forward to that.

Otherwise, really nothing else is going on. I have my doctor's appointment next Friday and I am incredibly excited for that! Tim wants to make sure there is only one heartbeat :-) Twins would be a lot to handle - but they don't run in either family so I am really not worried about that.

Here are some pictures of Emma's day-to-day activities. Nothing too excited, just big things in her world... her dollhouse and her paints. She is quite the artist (and apparently the paints taste real good.)





okay - she is STILL awake. It usually never takes her this long to fall asleep. This could be bad....

Peek-a-Boo, Dollhouses, and more apples for Bob

Everything is going very well at the Heuer house. It has been nice to be able to get outside lately, Emma continues to be fun, and Tim and I are doing fine. Although, Tim is not feeling too well at the moment. Let's hope it is not the flu!

Emma has been such a joy lately. What a great age! They are so many times when I think, man, she cannot get any cuter. Of course, then (like tonight) there are times when I think - kid, just go to bed :-) What a great Mom, eh? She continues to talk about Bob and Apples and whenever we go outside, we have to check out the tracks and see if Bob is there. Coincidentally, we have been seeing Bob lately and his lady friend - walking around and enjoying the nice weather. It has been nice to get outside and go for short walks. I look forward to it warming up so we can continue with that.

She has been really into hiding lately - which has made my heart stop a few times when I cannot find her right away. Good thing for me that she either starts laughing or squirming so I can find her within a few seconds (which feel like minutes). Last night she was in the bathtub and wanted to play peek-a-boo with the shower curtain. So, she pulls the shower curtain in front of her and I pretend I cannot find her, which makes her laugh hysterically. I look in drawers, the closet, etc. then start asking Tim - "Tim - have you seen Emma?" To which Emma replies "No Mama!" (while she is still hiding. I laugh and ask Tim again, "Tim - is Emma by you?" More giggles and a "No Mama!" Ahh - that kid!

Her favorite question now?? "Doing?" Constantly - over and over "Doing Mama?? Doing Dada?" She will wake up and call for me - so I go to her room to get her up. Right away when I walk to her room - "Doing Mama?"

She loves playing with my make-up and is very quick at getting it when I am not looking. I think purple is her color - don't you?

And her babies - constantly carrying her babies with her - in her crib for naptime, right next to her chair for lunch - everywhere. Each day we dress them, give them baths, etc. She is a very good Mommy.

The little Monkey washing dishes yesterday morning. Tim said I have probably opened up a huge can of worms with this one, but she wanted to help and it is about time she starts earning her keep!

Baby #2 is good. Bones are hardening, getting bigger each day and gaining weight. Apparently the baby could be sucking his/her thumb already and if it takes after the big sister, it probably already is.

I had some alone time on Sunday which was much needed. I went shoe shopping - YEAH! I have discovered after bringing out my maternity clothes that I need new shoes. So - I bought 3 pair. I couldn't resist and anyway, I am pregnant and I can do that - right? But, the good news is that for 3 pair of shoes, they only cost $57 total. WHAT A BARGAIN!!

I leave you with a picture of Emma after her bath. She kept saying Potty, potty, potty, so finally I put her on the potty. But then, she was cold, so I had to put the towel around her, then she needed a story, blah blah blah. I think she was just avoiding going to bed. But, the picture turned out pretty cute.



Happy days!

Apples for Bob

Thankfully this weekend it was nice enough to go outside. Both Emma and I have been going stir crazy! Sunday we probably spent about 2.5 hours outside - the majority of the time feeding Bob. I was teaching her the wonders of the outdoors! I was pulling her around in the sled looking at all the tracks in the snow. We saw deer tracks, coyote tracks, dog tracks and bird tracks. I of course, told her they were Bob tracks (Bob the pheasant that is) and she was very excited about that. So, we walked around the yard again and again looking at Bob tracks. Then, when we went sledding we saw a half eaten apple surrounded by Bob tracks. So, I told her that Bob was eating an apple. She kept saying "Bob - apple - yum." "Apple Bob" over and over and over.... So, I told her that for snack, we would have apples and bring the rest of it out to Bob. She thought that was a great idea.

That afternoon Tim, Emma, and I headed outside again to take some clippings from our trees in the backyard and grow more trees ( I know - so exciting :-). We brought out our apples and put them outside by some lilac bushes where we saw a lot of Bob tracks. She kept having to go over and look at the apple to see if Bob had eaten it yet. Well, sadly, he had not. So, today when we got home from work/daycare, we headed outside again to see. Honestly, I don't know if Bob had eaten it or not, I really don't think so. However, I had to tell Emma that he had, right? That made her very happy!

Everything else is good here. Tim is taking his last few classes to finish his MBA and then may be heading to Hong Kong for his thesis project in the beginning of August. Hopefully a few weeks before the baby comes! He will be over there for 10 long days! Let's see.... 9 months pregnant, rambunctious 2 year old...all by myself hmmm.. I will most likely be heading to Mom & Dad's when I am not working!

It seems as though Emma has been doing a lot of cute things lately, but now, of course, I cannot remember them! Let's see.. Tim sneezed yesterday and Emma looked at him and said "Bless you." She really misses the neighbors as we have not seen them for 2 weeks! They were suffering from the flu one week and then Kristen was on vacation the next. Hopefully this week she will get some Kellogg time.

Baby #2 is good. Nothing to report there.

Finally - some pictures. Tim and Emma went to Gander Mountain. Tim to look for an ice fishing shack and Emma because she loves shopping now. He found her some nice snow clothes for next year at a great price! However, she has a lot of growing to do!


Here is one of her baby doll strollers. I am doing dishes one day and I look around for Emma and find her in the stroller. How she managed to get in the stroller is beyond me. We had a hard time getting her out!

Not enough credit

Okay - I did not give the baby enough credit in my previous post. I just checked out all of my pregnancy calendars, which detail the changes in the baby and in myself, in a weekly basis and the baby has everything now that an adult human has - they are just teeny tiny and developing. The sex has already been determined, but cannot be detected yet AND it is moving all around. Pretty cool! So, while it may look a little weird yet - it is truly a miracle!

And, I know I am a huge dork, but pregnancy facinates me. The pregnancy calendars tell you about the same stuff, but still a few times a week I read each one. I probably sign on to about 4. So, I read the same stuff 4 times. The measurements differ in each one, but are still pretty close.

Okay, the dork is signing off now.

The miracle of life

As cool as the baby counter-downer thing is, right now the baby looks kind of weird. It is about the size of a grape and as you can see from the left has a tail, small arm buds, little legs kind of, and that is kind of it. A lot of the organs are developing, but sill, the baby looks weird.

Not too much to report. Emma is calmly rocking with Tim and watching the Hunt for Red October. I may start doing some digital scrapbooking, which I am way behind on, or read my book for book club. This month it is "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. So far, so good, but I am only 40 pages in.

I should apologize for my last blog about the pregnancy weight. I guess I was a little emotional, but with all the hormones surging through my body, I bet you will be reading a few of those the upcoming months.

Tomorrow night I am going to a movie with some friends and am VERY excited! I don't think I have been to a movie for about 2 years! We are going to see 27 dresses and I plan on getting a huge tub of popcorn and enjoying the whole experience.

That is really all I know. I am off to read and then watch Cashmere Mafia. That show is somewhat entertaining. I don't like that all the new shows are compared to Sex and the City. There is only ONE Sex and the City and comparing it to that show will not make me watch it anymore. I wish the writers strike was done. I want my old shows back!

Peace.

Shivering

For some reason I am shivering now... uncontrollably. It could be the bitter-cold weather we have been having lately. Or, it could be the bowl of ice cream I just ate. You see, I can do that now. I am pregnant. -sigh- and that is where my downfall lies. Talking myself into this stuff. Hmm... I am hungry - I better have some yummy fried noodles with tons of butter and garlic. What Tim, it is almost 9:00pm? That's okay - I am pregnant. What tops that meal off the best? A bowl of Rocky Road ice cream. I know - I can basically see the pounds adding. However, to somewhat justify it (you see, that is what I can do now with the pregnancy thing) I need to eat about every hour & half to maintain my health. If I don't - I feel sick. Mostly, I try to snack on healthy stuff - mostly. It is really a hard thing actually, needing to eat that often. I am not kidding here people. I know the baby needs healthy food. I know that I need healthy food. However, I eat an orange and it sticks with me for a half an hour. If I eat a bagel - it sticks with me much longer. Same thing with ice cream. I don't need to eat as soon after I eat ice cream. It is hard to constantly eat - especially with a 20 month old needing to sit on my lap, or taking my finger so I can go play.

My goal is to not gain as much weight as I did with the first pregnancy. However, since I still have some of the weight left over from that first pregnancy, I guess I am already starting out higher than I should. Damn. It is hard losing that weight. Well, it is for me anyway. If baby #2 had not come along, I would have done another triathlon probably. I think that is going to be my best weight-loss strategy. It worked before - however- when I did the triathlon before I did not have a kid. Finding time to exercise right now is hard and I am just not making it the priority that I should.

Anyway - enough babble about the baby weight. Ugh.....

So - what about those Packer's eh? I did get crap at work today about the game. But you know what - half our team did not show up. They did not look like they wanted to play. I have to question some of the play calling - some of the flags that were thrown - everything. But, when it comes down to it, we were beaten because we did not show up. Maybe they were just too cold. Which I can understand (as I still sit here shivering).

Emma's new favorite book is "5 Little Ducks" which she got from her Nana for Christmas. It is a song, I guess, so I make up some notes and sing it to her - poor little kid! It starts like this "5 Little Ducks went out one day - Over the hill and far away" So - I am singing this to Emma and she is laughing, all of a sudden Tim decides to sing. "5 Little Ducks went out one day - Daddy went out and shot them all...." Nice, huh? Nothing like teaching your 20 month old the concept of death by hunting through a children's song.

She has really been into cooking lately and will bring us plates of wonderful plastic food if we are typing, reading, or doing whatever. Tonight she brought us a plate of ovals. My daughter, being the genius that she is, loves reading books. One of the books is "Little Critter Shapes". She can identify a few shapes and her favorite shape is the oval. I am thinking that she is really applying the shapes into everyday life as she identified an egg the other day as an oval. I applaud her and think to myself that she is at least a year ahead of her age (haha!). Well, now she just thinks that eggs are ovals and not eggs. In fact - she doesn't know what an egg is, just an oval. So - she brought Tim and I the plate of eggs and says "Ovals, Mama. Yummm..." Yup - nothing like a good oval.

That's it. I need to go to bed apparently. I am still shivering.

Coming soon....

to a hospital near you - BABY HEUER!!!! Emma is going to be a big sister and boy is she excited. She knows that Mama has a baby in her tummy and many times thinks that she does also. The baby is due September 6 and I have a LONG way to go :-)

For the most part, all is good. I have a little queasiness when I am hungry, VERY tired, and cannot wait to get out of the first trimester. 6 more weeks to go. However, I am very lucky compared to some woman, I know. I just have to keep reminding myself to eat, as that is when I feel the best. So, that usually means I am eating about every hour & half. Emma and I went grocery shopping today to buy more snacks, fruit and vege's to keep the day going.

Emma is very excited (as much as she can be anyway). We have been telling her all about being a big sister and the fun things that will come from that. She will be getting a new room all decorated just for her! She will be getting a new bed to sleep in AND a little one to play with - eventually.

I am a bit nervous about the prospect of two babies.... how to shop, how to do basically everything. But, I am sure I will get the hang of it. Tim and I are somewhat hoping for a little boy, but of course above all, we just want a healthy baby!

That's all I can think of for now. I guess that is big enough news, eh??

I don't want to work, I want to bang on the drums all day....

I don't want to play - I just want to bang on the drums all day!

(sound familiar anyone??) That is the touchdown song, which they play at Lambeau field sometimes when the Packers score. Man - did they do that a lot on Saturday! WHAT A GREAT GAME!!!! I have to admit, I HATED the first 3 minutes, but after that, my man Brett and his team did GREAT! Although - you all know that reading in cyber-land. I think all of my dedicated readers are Packer fans! YEAH!!! (Tim does not read my blog!)

Anyway - the weekend was fabulous! It started out with book club on Friday night. We just read "An Inconvenient Wife" which was a great period piece depicting the inner-struggles of a New York Socialite and her position in life. I highly recommend it to anyone reading - it was disturbing at some parts - but well worth it! It was one of those I didn't want to put down and stayed up late to read.

Saturday morning, Em and I headed to my friend Sarah P's house for brunch. There we met Ande and Nicki for idle chit-chat (we actually had an agenda - haha!) and watched Emma torture Sarah's cat. Emma loved the cat - the cat just didn't love her back. And NO, we are not getting cats! After brunch, we headed up to the cabin. Tim, Mom & Dad were up there and the guys are working on finishing off the basement, so Emma and I did not intend to go. Then, I mentioned it and Emma got so excited and shouted (PAPA!) so we headed that way. Emma LOVES the cabin. Well, so do Tim and I, but Emma especially. We watched the game, saw Tim's family and it was good. Tim put down an air mattress in Emma's bedroom between the beds, I stacked the edges with pillows so Emma would not bump her head, and she was off! Jumping on the mattress, falling on the mattress and grabbing everyone's finger to "play" and lead them to her room. It was very cute. That was probably her favorite toy at the cabin, but the not-to-distant second is her fishing pole. We got her a kiddie fishing pole last year and she was constantly "ishing". Tim put a plastic fish on the end and she learned how to drop the line and reel it back in. She will be onstoppable this summer!

This week is the usual - work now, then cleaning time. I have been pretty tired lately, so some nights I have been in bed around 9:30! Then of course, I read my books for a while and then settle in.

No pictures tonight. We recently received some cute ones for daycare I will post soon.

Not much going on

Really, not much is going on, so I really don't know why I am blogging. We had a good day at home today. After breakfast, we played babies and with her dollhouse. Then the normal Thursday stuff - laundry, sweeping, and cleaning bathrooms. Yeah, I know, real exciting. She took a good nap today, which was needed on both of our parts, so I could fix our internet and do more cleaning. I hate it when the internet is not working. Just shows how dependent I have become on it!

Emma continues to try out new words and sing new songs. She is so fun to be around now. While sitting on her little potty, she will read me stories when I get tired of reading the same ones to her. It is amazing how she remembers what the words are and tries to say them back. Speaking of the potty, we are still seeing progress. ESPECIALLY after this afternoon as I bought her new stickers for her potty chart - Dora and Sponge Bob. When we got back home from Target, she had to sit on the potty about 4 times in an hour. Mind you - those 4 times, she did not go potty each time, maybe once she did, which resulted in 1 new sticker.

This weekend Tim is heading up to the cabin and Em and I are staying home. Book Club on Friday - Ande is coming up (YEAH!) so we will see her on Saturday. Plus - the big game!!! GO PACKERS! Then, just relaxing. I have been meaning to make Emma a Dora the Explorer blanket, so we may head to JoAnn Fabrics to buy some material. Otherwise, that is it.

Happy Friday everyone!

tired and somewhat cranky

So - yesterday was my first work trip. Where did she go? - one may ask. Some exciting place where she got to experience new sights and smells? Someplace wonderful and exhilarating that she must return to at some point in her life? Hmmm... I wish.. The destination was West Branch, IA (close to Iowa City). We had a work meeting there about some micro-ingredient purchasing responsibilities. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? It was a 4.5 hour drive - mostly in the fog- with 3 other people. The drives went well, the people were fun and the meeting went very well, but West Branch, IA? Seriously? How about California, Florida, or hell, even Texas! I have never been to Texas. That could be fun! All-in-all, it was good. Unfortunately, I had a very bad headache yesterday, so while my co-workers went out for steak and drinks, I stayed back in the room and watched American Gladiators and ordered in a pizza. Which, I must reluctantly admit, I am a fan of American Gladiators. I liked it when I was a kid and like it now also. Wolf-man - how scary is he? And Helga? Man, there is no getting past her!

Emma did well while I was away. I got to speak with her twice on the phone, which was nice. I didn't even cry when I left - which still kind of surprises me. But, I wasn't gone that long. Tim said she was on her best behavior while I was gone. Which, makes me mad. Why isn't she on her best behavior when I am at home? Tonight she was so whiny. I just wanted to play and squeeze her, because I missed her, and she was so whiny and I had to discipline her! Man, did I feel like the bad parent. But, what can you do - she cannot get away with throwing her food, standing on the table, and having her little fits.

I didn't sleep that well and am considering going to bed soon; by like 9:00pm. Sad, I know, but I am reading the Perfect Storm and want to read a few chapters before I fall asleep.

Emma did not want to fall asleep tonight. I was rocking with her a bit and starting singing her good-night song when she looks at me and says "no, no, no!" Then, she puts her little hand over my mouth and says "Stop Mama." It was so cute I started laughing - which is really not the reaction I should have had. She thought she was being cute and continually did that. so, eventually she went to bed.... like me now. I am not even unpacking man- just brushing teeth and going to bed!

Knock Knock

Emma has discovered the beauty of the Knock Knock joke - well kind of anyway. At a recent playdate at the neighbors, Kyra was telling Knock Knock jokes. Emma thought they were hilarious and quickly adapted the Knock Knock Joke into this..... (enter a minute and 15 second video - hopefully!)


Hopefully this works. Let me know - will you?

All is good with the Heuer's. We are all a bit tired as a certain little lady was not wanting to sleep last night. In spite of that, we had a very good day! We spent a lot of time outside, played a lot in the house, and helped Tim build an entertainment center in the garage. I think this was the highlight of Emma's day. Well, that and the Chocolate Cookie Sundae I made her for dessert.

The kid is good. Cracking us up lately actually. She thinks she is so funny and sometimes actually is. Her favorite words - "MINE!" (which she says with authority) and "No, No, No" - yes, all three in succession. Which, sadly, she gets from me!

I think Tim and I are off to watch Ocean's 13 and me- to maybe do some digitally scrapbooking. It is my New Years Resolution - well one of them anyway - to get caught up with my scrapping.

Happy Weekend all!

Blogging the night away...

I love reading blogs. When I sit down to write for my blog, I go through and read everyone else's - which usually takes about a half an hour of my time. But I love it. It is so nice that even though family and friends are far away, you can still be in touch like you talk to them all the time. So - thank you blogger.

I am so glad the holidays are over. While I really love seeing family, presents, the whole shabang - I am glad they are over. I really like my routine, having my house clean, and not having all the tempting holiday treats around the house. Tim and I are going to be around home this weekend for nothing other than cleaning and relaxing.

This past weekend was Christmas with my Dad's side of the family, which is always great. We all get along so well, I joke that we are the Cleaver family. We ate some yummy food, opened up presents, and played games. THEN - the SLEDDING party! About 8pm, when all the babies were sleeping, we headed up to a hill that is great for sledding - the only trouble is watch out for the road below. My cousin Joel, sister Kristen, and I were the proud recipients of the "We went the farthest" award - as we sailed down the hill and thanks to Tim's spinning ended up in the middle of the road. None of us really knew it as we were pretty dizzy from the spin. It was so much fun! While we had no peppermint schnapps or Dr. McGuillicudies to keep us warm, we did have beer and a campfire - ha! After that, we went out snowmobiling around the trails by our house, finally making it home around 1am. Unfortunately, that was the time that Emma decided she was wide awake and did not need to sleep. She was talking, singing, yelling for a bottool (her pronunciation of a bottle) and doing whatever she could to tell me she was not tired. Finally around 4:30am, after a sippy of warm milk, a movie, rocking, and forcefully holding her down, she fell asleep. Unfortunately for me, it was my turn and Tim got to sleep while I was struggling with Emma. At least she slept in a bit and woke up around 8am. That was not enough sleep for me!

The next morning was our small Christmas with my sisters, parents, brothers-in-law, and nieces and nephew. (if you can believe it, this is the best picture I have of the four of them together. Not sure what Emma is doing here...) Emma got a fun baby to bring into the bath with her, a shopping cart, and little toys for her baby - a stroller, swing, crib, and play mat. She loves everything - but tries to use her baby's things as though they are hers.

After that, we headed up to the cabin for New Years. I slept for the way up as did Emma as we were both tired from the long night earlier. Then, we had a relaxing night and celebrated the Packers winning and feeling bad for the Vikings - haha! it was so nice to have a night to relax and do nothing. Tim watched TV and I did some digital scrapbooking. One of these days, I will post some of the pages I am working on!

New Years was uneventful. (Happy New Year from Emma) We went to Tim's sister's house for a party, but were in bed by 10:30. We all still needed the sleep. Emma was out ice fishing with us again New Years Eve day and really loves being out on the ice. She was in the ice fishing shack with us for a bit and helped with tip-up's and even got her first snowmobile ride!! It was so cute. We dined on lobster New Years day and made it home by 4:00 to put together Em's toys and take down Christmas stuff.

--SIGH-- Back to normal.