Long, Lazy Weekend

Typically every long weekend our family gets, we go out of town and up north. Not this one... and it was fabulous! We had no commitments and were able to lay around, enjoy the weather and enjoy eachother. That's not to say we missed our friends in Webster... it was just nice to be home and low-key.

And that decision early on proved to be a great one... for a couple reasons. Namely... Molars. Yes, you read correctly, molars. You see... Franny's molars decided to work full force this weekend and it made for a long one! Nece's one year molars were nasty as well... though we spent sleepless nights in Colorado when those reared their ugly heads.

Unfortunately, my girls get TERRIBLE diaper rashes as teething goes into full force, and this weekend was no exception. Franny had lots of Dreft baths, lots of bare bottom time (with a couple poops on the floor, no fun), and lots of different concoctions to get the redness, rawness and blistering under control. Poor thing! So you ask... what has helped us get ahead of it a bit. Good old faithful WATKINS. (if anyone reading this still works at Watkins... I need more) Yes, I worked there in college, and I got my handy dandy book out... the Petro Carbo, with Vaseline rubbed over that and cornstarch powder has helped us get ahead!

So... now that the not-so-fun stuff is out of the way... what did we do?

Friday- watched the Vikings and played with the neighbors

Saturday- daddy worked in the morning and we did a whole bunch of nothing and continued to enjoy the perfect weekend of 80 degrees and sunny every single day

Sunday- we had the pleasure of spending the day up in Elk River on the lake and taking a pontoon ride! Thanks Bob!!!

Monday- daddy took the girls to the park, mommy ran errands, and after naps we enjoyed some final fun in the sun!

Enjoy these pictures that were snapped this weekend as the girls played in the water with Mya.

Mom... I want makeup

Makeup is a favorite here, and it's a treat when Nece gets the makeup bag. Thanks Auntie Molly for being such a good sport on Saturday night. I'll let the pictures do the talking... no explanation needed.

And the finished product!

Scavenger Hunts and Talent Shows

This last week we had a couple firsts at our house. We were introduced to 'talent shows'. They must be having talent shows at daycare with some rules, because mom, dad and Franny are told the following:

• sit on the couch and watch me



• no mom, don't dance- I dancing



• TV off, we don't need the TV on while having a talent show



• mom, keep Franny on the couch, I don't want her getting my stuff



• clap. stop clapping.

The good parents and little sister we are... we begrudgingly oblige. We listen to this horrible... I'm sorry fantastic pre-recorded music on the Mickey piano over and over and over again and watch Nece jump around in the living room. That is until I couldn't handle it ANY more on Saturday morning, and I had the brilliant idea to give the talent show to all the dolls. And here is what happened:

It worked for awhile, and we were given a reprieve. Until the talent show on Thursday night (we get a break tomorrow as we're headed to the Fair).

And the Scavenger Hunt

So, I pulled into the driveway last night and Nece was standing on the couch hollering something to me. I thought I heard the word 'paci', but couldn't figure out what she was saying. By the time I got to the back door, Nece was standing (or should I say jumping up and down) in the kitchen saying, Look Mom. See for yourself what was found:

And I think this kid was MORE than excited for bedtime (as this is the ONLY time she is allowed paci's) See for yourself:

We're walkin!!

For the last couple weeks, we have seen it coming. Since around August 10th, we've 'caught' Franny taking 3 or 4 steps and then dropping onto her butt. Never discouraged, just happy to get where she wanted to go by crawling...

And then last week. Last week we noticed those 3 or 4 steps were turning into 8 or 10. AND on her birthday, she was still at that 8 or 10 step mark, but more consistently getting up and crawling much less.

Early this week... crawling has quickly come to a hault. Franny wants to walk everywhere and she's at a good 25+ steps. It was literally within a two day timeframe that the walking really commenced and she'd taken off.

So... I can officially say "We're Walking". Exciting times, and I'm sure mom and dad will be kept on their toes even more now.

(I really try hard not to 'compare' the girls, but it's interesting to look at milestones... Nece was about 13 1/2 months when she started walking. Convinced that Franny just wants to keep up with her big sister).

Up up and away!

Tragedy struck (in a 3 year olds eyes) on August 23rd. If you look back one post, you will see Franny with her balloons. They were so beautiful, and the girls really enjoyed playing with them. Thank goodness I got the pictures of Franny with her balloons...

I was outside talking with the neighbors while the 3 kids (my girls and Mya) were out playing. Rob made a comment about how it would be cool to attach our names and see how far the balloons went flying.

As we're having this conversation, little attention is being paid to Mya and Nece. The girls it seems were having a little too much fun with the balloons. They decided to pull the cement weight out and 'see what would happen'. We didn't know this was happening until we looked over and watched as the girls had just let the balloons go.

We were kind of confused as to why the weight wasn't holding them down, and thought for sure they were coming back. WRONG. It seems the weight was laying on the driveway and up, up and away the balloons went. The balloons made it above all the trees, and the last we saw they were heading north. Too bad we didn't get our names attached to the balloons to see how far they really made it.

All the while, Mya thought it was pretty cool to watch the balloons fly overhead. Nece thought it was kind of cool until she put two and two together. She realized the balloons were NOT coming back down and absolute hysterics ensued. She wanted us to get those balloons... she was livid, she wanted those balloons back. The hysterics went on for a good hour... she was MAD. We tried telling her that we'd get more for a special occasion, it was our way of saying hello to great-grandma in heaven, that it was what it was and everything we could think of. To no avail. At one point, I seriously thought I was going to have to take her to the grocery store to get more balloons.

After a couple hours she calmed down enough over the balloons to tell me 'mom... the balloons flew really high and I was really mad.' Being the good mom I am (I know, I'm tooting my own horn), I used this as a 'teaching moment'. Teaching moment that balloons can fly away and that it is okay to experience the emotions of sadness and being mad.

A week later... the balloons are still brought up on a daily basis. If I had to venture to guess, this little incident is not one that will be forgotten soon, and she'll never take the weights out again to she what will happen.

Until the next birthday rolls around, we're balloon free at the M household!

Happy First Birthday Franny!!

What a fantastic day we had celebrating Franny's first birthday. We decided to have a neighborhood BBQ and bon-fire very similar to Nece's party... except that her birthday fell on a Saturday and we invited our families to join us.

The guests at Franny's party included Grandma and Grandpa B from Chicago; Grandma M, Jon, Erica, Tanner, Sam and Molly (who happened to be in from Portland) Along with the neighbors, Mona, Emmie, Mya, Rob, Mona's mom, Lucy, Marjene, Alvina, Don and our neighbor that no longer lived in the neighborhood, Dorothy. Thanks to all of those who traveled near and far to be with us as we celebrated Franny's first birthday.

BBQ- Chicken and steak kabobs, Snicker Salad, Corn (right from Orlie's farm, thanks Orlie), Panera Breads, orange salad, Franny's favorite strawberry salad and Rob's famous potato salad. It was all fantastic and everybody was overly stuffed by the time dinner was over. Can't forget the cake and ice-cream. I decided to make a ladybug cake, except it didn't work, so we ended up with homemade cupcakes with purple and pink frosting.

Gifts- everybody was extremely generous in the gifts they gave Franny.

Grandma and Grandpa B- Bitty Baby and money

Grandma and Grandpa M and Jon- shoes, Grandma book, socks, outfit and snacks

Auntie Molly- sweatshirt and book

Casey, Erica, Tanner and Sam- a cute little dress and sweater and fall outfit

Aunt Julie- book, dress, shirt and money

Don and Alvina- money

Mona, Rob, Emmie, Bree and Mya- baby

Lucy- dress

Dorothy- 2 outfits and a pink bear

Marjene- giggle ball

Sue- Tinkerbell riding toy, baby and telephone

Great Grandma M- money

Mom, Dad and Nece- a pink 'fred flintstone' car

A great day was had by all that was capped off by a bon-fire next door. Bon fires are always a fantastic way to wind down, have a few cocktails and chit chat with those that mean the most to you. We couldn't have asked for a better day.

Happy first birthday Franny. We love you!

Is it a boy or a girl?!?!

The days and the weeks leading up to August 22 were filled with both excitement and nerves. Were we able to love a second baby as much as we loved our first? Were we going to be able to give Nece the time and attention that she needed along with providing for the needs of a second baby?

August 16 came and past. This was the original due date of baby #2. I was uncomfortable, but mentally prepared at this point because Nece was late. Then, August 18th rolled around. Ahh... this was it. There were contractions coming on a regular basis and I had a doctors appointment that morning... I went to the doctor and the contractions all but stopped. They told me to head over to the hospital because it was indeed time. We checked in, got monitored and nothing. Seriously, are you kidding me, I'm done and I'm ready to have this baby. Nothing... and we were sent home from the hospital, with a new DR appt for Thursday. It was a LONG week... and I was done and ready. Nothing on Tues, nothing on Wednesday and by Thursday I called into work... I just couldn't do it anymore. Hit the DR office on Thursday afternoon, and I vividly remember the doctor asking me, do you want to be induced tomorrow. YES... I'm done.

Friday morning rolled around, and we were told to call the hospital that morning to see if they had 'room' for me, or if Labor and Delivery was full. 6:30AM... we called and were told, yes, you can come in. THANK GOD was all I could think of at this point. We got Nece packed up and sent her to Auntie Mona's that morning. I gave hugs and kisses before daddy took Nece next door, and I was a bit sad... knowing that life was about to change tremendously for our little girl, but at the same time, I was excited knowing we were going to give her a sibling.

Off to the hospital we went. It was night and day from July 6, 2006. The drive to the hospital was remarkably calm. We parked the van and walked into Labor and Delivery to check in. Easy as pie... this was. We got checked into the room, changed, hooked up to monitors and waited for the doctor to arrive and begin the induction.

It was around 8:30AM and doctor arrived. She broke the water and started the pitocin. Okay... there is no turning back now, and we're going to have this baby. The waiting game begins, and it's time to pull the baby book out. You see, Marc and I hadn't come up with baby names yet. We went through the girls names, and it came fairly quickly. Kara seemed to be a good girls name and we knew the middle name was going to be Frances in honor of Marc's grandma, who was battling conjestive heart fairure. Boys names, ahhh... we couldn't come up with anything. To be honest, I don't remember what our boy name was going to be, but we did come up with something.

9AM rolled around, still no problems. Small contractions, but nothing uncomfortable. 9:15, 9:30AM still doing well, but a bit more pain. 9:45 doable, 10AM... okay- I'm done and ready for an epidural. Called the nurse, filled out appropriate paperwork and ready to call for the epi. Finally around 10:30 the doctor rolled in and began the epidural. At this time, I was 3 centimeters... He finished about 10:50 and I vaguely remember 11A hitting and telling Marc, I have to push. He called the nurse- I thought NO WAY is this happening this quickly.

She checked me just after 11A and said, you're ready to push. Holy crap, I went from 3 to 10 in a matter of 30 minutes. Mind you, the epidural has barely taken effect and it was time to call the doctor and push. The doctor arrived around 11:10 (I think) and it was go-time. Pushed for about 20 minutes and at 11:33 AM on August 22, our 2nd child had arrived.

I clearly remember saying 'what is it?'

You have a baby girl. Our Kara Frances had arrived. 3 hours from start to finish, and a VERY different, much more relaxed experience from when Nece arrived. And all those worries of being able to love a second child at the same time... no fear, there is more than enough love for those two babies.