Riley And the Race Car

Riley had skating class again this week. She is once again miffed at the fact that Ms. Megan has taken away her "race car" and makes her skate without help. She is in Level 1 Hockey, so she started out with the walker, but since Ms. Megan knows she was already in Level 2 before, she knows Riley can skate without it. There are 2 or 3 kids in the class that she takes the race car away from during class. She has gotten pretty darn good without it, but Riley still freaks a little. Honestly, I think she falls more with it than without it because she goes too fast when she has it! I do think she is getting better at not freaking as badly though. We aren't going to push it. If she decides after this winter that she's done, we will move on to something else for her. But at least Daddy can take her out skating for fun now!

Doodle's First Ice Cream

Well, frozen yogurt, really. He ate some of Josh's Moose Tracks frozen yogurt after his appointment last week. Actually almost two weeks ago I guess...I'm slacking. Sorry! I guess I can also post his first real ICE CREAM. Great Grandma Cooley fed him some cinnamon ice cream on Thanksgiving. He really liked that!!! I think Grandma kinda enjoyed it too:)

In another Great Grandma note: The pink "Wine Glasses" the kids are drinking from came from my Grandma Edie. She bought them for us when we were kids (that are plastic) so we could drink fancy like the grown ups for special occasions. Mom got them out for the big kids this Thanksgiving. Such a fun tradition!

Request for Prayers

I can't believe I am asking this again. Too many kiddos get sick and it breaks my heart when moms that I know have to go through this. That being said, please pray for my friend Angie's little guy. He's 6 months old and needs a liver transplant. He was temporarily taken of the transplant list today because he is too sick and needs to fight off an infection. PLEASE PRAY for him and his family! If a liver donor is not found off the transplant list, both of his parents have been tested and are possible match donors, but right now he is too sick even for that. PRAY!

TIGF - Thanksgiving Style

I normally do this on Fridays but given that it's Turkey Day, it seems more fitting today. 2010 has been crazy, but I must say that it only shows me what we have and what we have to be thankful for in so many ways. First I'm thankful for Family...I'm thankful for a wonderful hubby and kids. As a parent, I appreciate my own parents so much more now and my sisters! I'm thankful for Josh's new job in a big way! I'm thankful that he can take Riley to skating class without the ordeal of packing up two kids and trying to get Riley's skates on while holding Doodle...wasn't sure how that was going to work...I am very thankful for my 3 nieces and 1 nephew who make holidays much more exciting. I'm thankful for the time we spent at my parents' house this summer while our house is on the market. I'm glad our house is off the market for the holidays so we can enjoy it. Wish it would sell, but there must be some reason it didn't just yet. I'm thankful for our family on both sides who spoil us, take care of us and look out for us. We are also lucky to have babysitters close and cheap and that is an amazing thing I appreciate more and more especially since both my sisters and a lot of my friends do not have that convenience. (And please understand, I REALLY appreciate you guys!) I am thankful for the health of my family. Too many people I know have not been lucky with that and it is really scary and makes me appreciate everything so much more. I'm so thankful for all my friends, whom I don't see enough but I whom I really enjoy! I appreciate the people who have been in my life past and present because they make me who I am. I am thankful for so much more, but I better stop now or I might get mushy;) Happy Thanksgiving!

TIGF

I am thankful to be almost finished with Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving is even here. Packages are arriving in the mail a lot these days, which I LOVE! And That leaves me with time to enjoy the holiday season without stressing over the gifts. Now if I can just figure out what to get Kiley! Anyone got any great ideas for a 2-year-old?

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Rowan's 9-Month Stats

I am pre-posting this picture because Rowan has his 9-month well baby check this morning. I will post his stats when we get back, but in the meantime, enjoy some random cuteness. And I will note before the appointment this little guy is up to mischief 24-7 these days:)

Ok, here's the dirt:
18.15 lbs.
29 inches (might be 29.5 but he was REALLY wiggly)
19 inch noggin

Cleared for all things edible except egg, peanut and honey...and small enough to gum because the darn kid STILL has no teeth! Let the ice cream begin! (tonight when Josh gets home...)

Hockey 101 - Year 2

Riley has once again started skating classes. The good news is they started a "Beginner Hockey" class instead of "Beginner Skating" which was run by a U.S. figure skating. This means that Riley has to start at level one again, which is good because she gets to use the "race car" or the walker thing again. We are hoping this will help her confidence and then she will be ready when they take it away at level two. Last year she freaked when she made it to level two so this should help. And in other good news, it seems that her teacher from skating last year has moved over to the hockey skating class and Miss Megan is once again Riley's teacher. That makes three levels of skating with the same teacher. Riley had so much fun this time. Josh is really excited for her to love hockey. Here goes...will I be a hockey mom or not? We should know by the end of the winter if Riley is gonna stick with it or move on to something else. Then we wait for Rowan's turn:) In other good news, I found a lady who does REALLY cute Hockey Mom sparkly t-shirts at the Canterbury sale! I didn't buy one yet...but I will soon if Roo sticks with it;)

Ooooh, also in other good news...there's a lot, I know...Josh's new job allows him to get home in time to pick up Riley and get her to class so I don't have to pack up Rowan and bundle him all up to go watch. We might go sometimes to cheer on Big Sis, but mostly this gets to be Daddy/Daughter time!

Get Rid of the Snow!

As we all know. Molly is a snow-hater. Josh and Riley attempted to solve my misery this weekend by removing as much snow from our front yard as possible. It started as a snowman, but after the second ball was rolled and Josh couldn't lift it (in part because it was heavy and wet, in part because he still has a bad back because he won't go see someone to fix it)...so it ended up being a snow fort/snow ride. Riley says everyone is supposed to get on a snowball and pretend it's a rid...not sure. Either way, my front yard is almost completely free of snow except for the fort:)

Thanksgiving at Hafemann's

Yesterday we ventured out in the snow to drive down to Josh's sister's place in LeSueur for an early Thanksgiving. Jessie and Cory hosted the early turkey day because Jess is a vet and is on call on the actual holiday. It was a bit slick on the way down, but the way home was just wet and we had a great time while we were there. Nicely done, Ms. Jessie! We are thankful for safe tavels for everyone and Riley had a great time with little Mark:) Rowan liked little Ty too...and Hayden is such a good baby. I forget how big Doodle is until he's next to a younger baby:( Goes so fast! Josh had the camera, I wish I had more pics of the kiddos, but here's a few.

P.S. Grandma Linda's gonna kill me for this, but she had lots of fun playing hide and seek with the bigger kids...until she hid under the table and we all got the cameras out;)

And Now a Little Doodle in the Snow

First Snow

At least I don't have any snow in my front yard anymore.

TIGF

I was going to say that this TIGF was the Canterbury Craft sale and the fact that I might go TWICE this fall...but last night I had another one of my wonderful reactions to some mystery something, so today I'm thankful that I made it through another episode and I'm thankful that through ALL of these episodes Josh has been there for me (and a few other people have been there a lot of them too...thanks Mom and Dad!) I don't know what I would do if I were home alone with the kids. I'm supposed to go to urgent care within one hour when I have one of these, but they never happen at a time when it would be acceptable for me to call a neighbor to come over...last night was after midnight. I know how to work through them, and I have an epi-pen now just in case, but it's also not like I can just jump in the car and go in the middle of one of these...the symptoms require me to be close to a bathroom...not in a car. I won't go into it more than that...but anyway...I am so thankful that it always happens when I'm not alone and sooooooo thankful to Josh for getting me through! Ugh! I was hoping to be done with this!

10 simple and affordable tips for winterizing your home

10 simple and affordable tips for winterizing your home

NOTE: Also, if you're looking for a way to recycle your old Christmas lights and switch to LED, click on the link to the bottom right or my blog for the REcycling Association. Looks like they will pick up your old lights for recycling. Josh and I did this last year through the hardware stores too, they gave you a deal on new lights if you recycled your old. Check with Menards, Lowes or Home Depot. Last year, Menards had the better selection of styles and better quantity than HD, but we never checked Lowes.

Rowan Eats Bananas

Josh wanted me to take a picture of this. Rowan had his first actual banana this week. You can't really SEE how messy this process was because thankfully banana is a pretty clear/non-visable mess. But he had it in his hair, his eyes, his sleeve was totally a mess! He has also had solids in the form of grapes (peeled and in tiny bites), bread (he LOVES bread), peas, saltines and graham crackers as well as a few varieties of puffs. He really loves solid food. I'm afraid it's not going to be long before he refuses his baby food in favor of the real thing:) Which is a good thing sometimes...but he still has no teeth so it complicates what he can actually eat!

Riley and the Lion

After Halloween, Riley decided that the lion would be cold in the winter, so we had to dress him accordingly. And of course my little ham had to have her picture taken with him.

P.S. The pumpkin with the paper plate hat is Riley's creation for Halloween. We drew on our pumpkins instead of carving this year. Riley's needed hair and a hat:)

TIGF

Once again I am reminded this week of how lucky we are to have healthy kids, even if they wake me up several times a night, get cranky and are exhausting. Rowan has taken to trying to "escape" from his high chair and has actually fallen OUT of his stroller on me. Riley is having growing pains in the middle of the night and screaming until she falls back to sleep. It's been a crazy sleepless week, but I am thankful for my two kids. Found out yesterday that our favorite nurse at our clinic has a 6-month-old son who needs a liver transplant. Puts everything in perspective! My heart breaks for those who have or who have had sick kiddos!

Last of the Professional Shots

Trick-Or-Treat

Here's pictures from last night. We had some friends surprise us with a little trick-or-treat! Little Yoda Q is Rowan's buddy and his mommy and daddy are our friends Meg and Chris, not to be confused with my sister and her hubby Meg and Chris!) What a fun night! So glad Rowan and Q got to play. Rowan even politely showed him where the baby toys were..."see Q in this bucket"...