Nora: One Month Old

I can not believe it has been a month since we met our little sweet pea. She has done nothing but eat, sleep, and bring joy to our home! I thought Thomas was an easy baby but so far she is our winner!

 

Eat: Nora has a great appetite. She eats every 3 to 4 hours during the day and once in the night. She has had a few bottles and likes 4oz at a time. She takes the bottle beautifully! Yay!

 

Sleep: Nora is a great sleeper! She sleeps most of the day especially if she is in her carseat or if I have her in the Ergo. She wakes once in the night usually around 4 or 5:00. No complaints from Mom and Dad in the sleep department. :) 

 

Play: Most of the time she is too sleepy to play but she has spent a little time on the play mat and does tummy time every day. She does super well on her tummy and sometimes falls asleep. I think she'll have a strong neck and keep her nice round head! :)

 

Measurements: When Nora was born she was around the 70th percentile for head size and weight and 96th percentile for height. Now she is near the 100th percentile for all measurements. She weighs 10lb 7oz and was 22.75 inches.

 

Brother: Thomas loves Nora. He likes to hold her, kiss her and occasionally hit her. :( It makes my heart hurt for both of them when he does this. I don't like to hear her cry and I don't like to see him hurt her. Their doctor reassured me that this is totally normal behavior for a young, new sibling and he will grow up to be her biggest protector.  I just pray this stage is almost over.

 Daddy: (don't hold her like that! It makes her look SO big!) "I didn’t think it was possible to have an easier baby than Thomas was, but Nora has certainly exceeded that expectation:  She is very easy-going and fun to snuggle and kiss.  Her projectile poop still amazes me.  She can almost poop farther than I can throw." 

 

Mama: It melts my heart when she looks at me with those big, beautiful eyes. Nora and I recently had our first mother daughter shopping trip. As it turns out, she likes the mall and lets just say we had good "luck!" Daddy, be very worried!

I know month two will go just as quickly and I look forward to all the new stages and developments but if I could keep her this size forever (or at least a few more months) I would. She is tiny, precious and fits perfectly on my chest and shoulder.

Who Stole the Cookies?!

Last time Auntie Paula came to visit she brought Thomas the book "Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar" and a cookie jar filled with cookies. I assured her I would make sure I always (almost always) had cookies in my cookie jar. On Sunday afternoon I realized my cookie jar was empty and had been for a few days. (or weeks) :/ So when Thomas woke from his nap he and I made chocolate chip cookies!! It was fun and messy but he was a great helper!   

 

I measured, he poured...

 

 

and spilled...

and mixed...

and taste tested!

I guess he did lots of taste testing. :)

And I was grateful for his "help."

It was a good thing we filled our cookie jar on Sunday because Paula came to visit on Monday.
And now I know "who stole the cookies from the cookie jar!"

Rob and Tanya's Wedding Weekend

The wedding for R&T has come and gone and I have to say it was a fabulous weekend. But, I'm a little bitter about not capturing the memories to the extent that I would have liked. This was the first time all of my cousins (on my dad's side) had been together at the same time since our wedding in 2009. It was also only six days after Nora was born so my mom and I clocked out early to get the kids to bed and Erik was left in charge of documenting the occasion. The first night got a little wild and he blew his camera battery in just a few hours. It is easy for me to blame this catastrophe on him but I'm guessing he'd say I should have packed the charger. Anyway, it was still a great weekend and we do have some great shots from the first night.

 

Thomas snacking on an apple before heading to the rehearsal dinner. He looks like such a big guy eating his apple like that.



Our family has a tradition of passing along a wedding gift to all couples. Erik and I were finally able to pass on this "gem." Here we are making our presentation...

At this point Tanya still looks excited about this gift that brings romance, wealth and fertility. We were extra blessed in the fertility department but I guess Erik and I didn't quite have it long enough to fully reap the benefits...this darn thing didn't bring us any sort of financial wealth.

 

The lovely deer head is the treasured gift I spoke of. Thomas was a little more excited about the old deer than Tanya was. :)



Our family is big into songs. The cousins wrote a special number for the happy couple. They really out did themselves this time. ;)

My dad was on Thomas duty for most of the night.

 My dad, Erik, cousin Gabe, Thomas and Drew.

Grandma Christine getting a little snuggle time with Nora. It was hard to get your hands on Nora for too long; she was wanted by many. :)

My sister Lauren moved to FL after the wedding. She is now living with this beauty, our cousin Marissa! I see nothing but good times in their future!

 

I suppose these four would claim to be Grandma's favorites...

but obviously, we're Grandma's favorites.

Cousin Helen and Aunt Julie

 Auntie Hannah with Nora Mae.

 

Hannah, Helen and Rylee Beth

 

 For some reason their eyes are telling me things are about to get wild.

I love all of these pretty girls!

 

 Gabe, Drew, Seth and Tanner.

 

Yep! Things are starting to get blurry.

Tanner, Gabe, Drew, Dad and E.

Erik and his favorite sisters-in-law.

 

 Who knows. I guess it was probably a good thing the battery was going dead at this point.

 

This post probably seems more like a family reunion rather than a wedding which I guess isn't a bad thing. Thanks to Rob and Tanya, we all had a reason to gather and celebrate! However, it was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to and I am sad not to have pictures of the stunning wedding party or the gorgeous reception site. Rob and Tanya added so many special details to this event.  From the candy bar to the cigar bar to the bon fire, everyone was sure to have a good time! Congratulations, Rob and Tanya! We love you both!

Nora's First Trip to the Lake

The Anderson's finally made their first trip to the lake for the 2013 season! It was especially exciting because it was Nora's first trip and she would be meeting many people for the first time. I was a little anxious about traveling with two little ones but they never let me down, the trip went great! My dad was in town the night before we left so the kids and I traveled with him to get a jump start on the day. We didn't want to risk getting stuck in traffic with Erik after work. Thomas was thrilled to be going on a trip with Grandpa! Those two talked the whole way to Frazee. (3 hours) Little Nora was able to sleep through all the chit chat.

 

Thomas is more than likely saying "trip! Grandpa!"

It wasn't long after we pulled into the cabin that people started showing up to say hi. First it was Uncle Bub, Thomas was really excited to see Mathew and very interested in his hat.

Friday night we had dinner at Erik's parent's. While Hannah and Thomas were out on a walk they found this turtle. It was Thomas' first encounter with such a thing and much to my surprise he was not afraid!

 

First thing Saturday morning we visited Erik's grandparents. Grandma Rosie is recovering from a cancer treatment but she looked great and even had warm caramel rolls waiting for us. This was Dennis and Rosie's first time meeting Nora. She was sure content and comfortable in the arms of her great grandparents. (notice Nora's red hair!)

Grandpa Dennis put her right to sleep.

 

After the visit with the great grandparents we headed to Erik's parents new toy/candy/frozen yogurt store, the Goose Gang! This was such a blast and a perfect way to spend the overcast morning.

I presume trips to the Goose Gang will get more challenging as Thomas begins to realize that if we pay "monies" we can take those toys home with us. Luckily, he is not yet aware of this concept.

He is feeling like a cool dude on this rocking Harley!

There was so much to play with/on/in, we could have spent most of the day here!

The sun did finally come out so we headed to the lake. Our first visitor at the cabin was our good friend Mike! He was excited to meet Nora for the fist time.

These good lookin' guys needed a break from the sunshine and came up to check on Nora and me.

We shared a beautiful meal with beautiful people on a beautiful evening. The first meal of the year at the lake is always a special one, so glad we were able to be there.

I am so lucky to get to spend my life with these three. All my favorites!

These are the women behind MANY great childhood memories. Our good friend and lake neighbor, Kathy, Grandma Christine and Grandma LaRaye.

Uncle Pete, Cousin Lauren and Auntie Ann also stopped by for a visit. They had met Nora a couple weeks ago at Rob and Tanya's wedding but it was a hectic weekend for them and they didn't get much time to snuggle our little peanut.

After Mass on Sunday we headed to the lake to enjoy the last day of our little trip. Thomas was happy to help Auntie Hannah water the plants, I was happy he was able to stay clean!

Thomas got to go on his first Jeep ride. I hope he enjoyed it as much as Grandpa did!

Auntie Stephanie and her boyfriend Rij stopped out for a little fun in the sun and snuggle time.

Two of my best friends, Hannah and Mom!

Uncle Drew also made a quick trip to the lake to see us. It looks as though Thomas is telling him quite the story. :)

Hannah and Nora.

 

After a round of golf, John and Peter came to the cabin for a visit with the babies.

Three generations. Happy Father's Day, Erik and Grandpa John!

Uncle Peter and Nora.

We had a nice dinner with Peter and my parents before hitting the road. We got a late start on our trip home but our kids were troopers! We rolled in at 11:00, quickly tucked Thomas into bed and unloaded the car. We look forward to our next trip to the lake and will be happy to spend an extended period of time there in a couple weeks.