Emma's 1st Haircut

I decided I was sick of Emma not keeping her ponytail holder or barrette in her hair, I decided to get her hair cut. They framed her face and gave her bangs but I think they should have cut the bangs more but hey, it is better than nothing!!

Sitting on the chair
She was such a big girl!

Maddie singing Jingle Bells

Update

WOW, I can't believe it has been over a month since I updated this. I am getting bad...even facebook hasn't been updated!! So I will give a little update from the last month. I will start with Maddie's birthday, she turned 3 this year. I can't believe that it has been 3 years, it feels like just yesterday but then I take a look at her and Emma and it blows my mind on how fast time goes.

I don't think we did much else in November other than celebrating Thanksgiving. We spent Wed night and Thursday day at my parent's. My brother, his wife and son were there. My sister and her hubby couldn't make it this year. It was fun but definitely missed them. On Sunday after Thanksgiving Reggie's side of the family was suppose to come over but at midnight Emma threw up. So I called all of the family in the morning and Ginger and Penny's family decided to stay home, I don't blame them! Emma was fine, she didn't throw up or run a fever ever, so I am not sure what that was all about.

We put up the xmas tree the first weekend of December. It was fun to have Maddie and Emma help.

I think that is pretty much all that has happened. The other pictures are ones that we had someone do. She did Maddie's 3 year, Emma's 18 month and a family picture. They turned out great and it is going to be hard to decide on what ones we want.

I will try to be better at updating things...this semester's class is done on Monday so I am hoping that I can start working on my project and hopefully graduate in may!!!

Maddie turning 3
One of the family pictures

Maddie and Emma...I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

The girls after decorating the tree

Pumpkin Carving/Halloween

On the 29th we carved our pumpkins. Daycare gave us 2 that were already cleaned, just needed to be carved so that was nice. It was fun but the kids are definitely not too much into it. Maddie did try to carve her own.

Emma cleaning out the pumpkin

Maddie cleaning out the pumpkin

The costumes that the girls wore to daycare...Cinderella and Minnie mouse

Ready for trick or treating...Monkey and Princess

Eveland Family Farm

October 18th we took the girls to Eveland Family Farms. They have a ton of different animals, hayride, corn maze, and pumpkins. The girls had such a great time. I just wish that it wasn't so cold.

Maddie and Emma petting the pig

Riding on the hayride...not a great picture of us but what do you expect with Reggie taking the picture!

Leaving the corn maze

At the end of the corn maze there is a little pumpkin patch

Maddie sitting on pumpkins

Maddie and Emma dancing

Sisters!

There isn't really anything to write about but I took some cute pictures this weekend so I thought that I would post them. Here is just one of them. They are all basically the same. I am also going to put on a video of the girls dancing. I hope everyone is having a great week!

Recent Pictures

Penny, Ginger and I gave Judy tickets to see Mary Poppins. Here we were at Mt Fuji to eat. It was alot of fun.

Maddie hitting the pinata

Emma and her cool shades!

CRAZYTOWN

It has been awhile since I posted but I have been very busy with school starting, planning a 30th birthday party and I am sick. Where do I start...running??? Well, I am off my band wagon! I have been having some right sided and chest pain for the last 6 weeks or so. I have seen a doctor and he ordered a CT scan which showed an ovarian cyst or dermoid (tumor with hair and teeth) so he wanted a follow up ultrasound. The ultrasound showed the cyst and no dermoid. The doctor thought that the cyst was what was causing the pain but I believe that it is different and more like the symptoms I had when I was having gallbladder issues in 2006. So he decided to do an EGD which is like a colonoscopy except the other end. That came back that I have reflux, which isn't surprising. After another visit with the doctor he decided with some coaxing from me, to do an ultrasound of my ride side. That showed that my bile duct is enlarged but they didn't see a stone. So now I have to see a GI specialist.

So a few weeks ago I developed a cold and it has persisted. I am not thinking it is my reflux acting up because by the end of the day, my side is killing me along with the heartburn and my cough is 100% worse. I decided today to watch what I ate to see if that made a difference. So far it hasn't, just made me have a huge headache from lack of caffeine. So needless to say...I haven't been running!!! I am disappointed and was happy how I was doing. I am actually looking forward to running again...how crazy does that sound?

So what else is going on??? School started, I have an internship along with another class this semester and I found out that I have to have 2 chapters of my project written by December. I haven't even thought about what I wanted to do for my project!!!

This past weekend, I threw a birthday party for Reggie and I. We both turned 30 this year!!! It was alot of fun but I was disappointed. I am not sure what I expected but it wasn't as much fun as I thought it was going to be.

Well, that is what my life has been like the last few weeks. I will post some pictures/videos in a bit.

Start of Week 4

So I finished week 3 of running on Friday, I can't believe that I made it. I started week 4 today and didn't do very well. It has 2 series: 1) 3 min run and 90 sec walk 2) 5 minute run and a 2 1/2 minute walk and they repeat. I put new insoles in my shoes and after about 1 minute on the last 5 min run, I had very bad shin splints and my feet were numb so I stopped. I could hardly make it home by walking. I think I need to take out the insoles or something. Has anyone else decided to join me on completing the couch to 5K?

Below are some pictures after I got home this morning.

Maddie, Emma and Me stretching

More stretching...Maddie really wanted to go running with me!

Such a BIG girl

On Thursday night I told Maddie that she is done wearing diapers and needs to be a big girl and wear underwear. I told her when she woke up on Friday we were going to put them on. We have tried to potty train or at least get her to sit on the potty and she would scream and cry when we wanted her to sit down so I was nervous about how this would work. I printed off a Dora potty calendar and set a timer for 30 minutes. Every time she sat on the potty, she could put a sticker on her calendar. If she went potty she got a tattoo, which she loves. Friday and Saturday were spent on the potty and then about 5-10 minutes after getting off, peeing in her underwear. I thought there is no way that she is going to go to daycare on Tuesday in underwear. Well, Sunday was better, about 1/2 of the time she would go in the potty. On Monday, she went every time in the potty and kept her underwear dry the entire day. I was so happy. Today at daycare, it didn't go as well. I am not sure what happened because when I went and picked her up, all of her teachers were gone and she was with another group of kids and teachers. I did call the director of the daycare and am I going to express my concerns.

A few weeks ago I bought a bike for Maddie at a garage sale. She got on it once for about 2 minutes and then I couldn't get her to ride it. Grandma and Grandpa Aldeen were here this weekend and she must have wanted to show off her new bike because she rode it for Grandma and now is riding it around the driveway.

Here are a few pictures of the weekend. I can't believe how big Maddie is getting, before I know it, she will be heading off to Kindergarten!!

Maddie and Emma watching TV together on the Dora couch.

Maddie riding her new bike

Emma and Maddie in the tub

Maddie showing off all of her tattoos

Running

Towards the beginning of the summer I decided that I wanted to start running. OK, here is my rationale...you don't see many fat runners. I know...kind of stupid but hey if it helps me loose weight, so be it! So after I did some research and talking to some people at work, I decided to do the couch to 5K program. The program is build so that in 9 weeks of training, you should be able to run a 5K or about 3 miles. So I have NEVER even been able to run a mile. I actually HATE running so why am I doing this...what the hell, why not!! So I am hoping that someone will read this and think, hey why don't I try and then we can complain about how bad it sucks!!! So beware there might be some blogs or complaints about my running experience.

I am now on week 3...I know, I obviously didn't start right away. I actually started for about a week and then took a couple weeks off and then I did another week and then took more time off, you see the pattern? So the first week was running 60 seconds and walking 60 seconds...doesn't sound too tough. Yeah, it sucked. Then last week on week 2, I ran 90 seconds and walked 2 minutes. I listen to a podcast so as I start the walking warm up this week I hear him say something about running 3 minutes. I thought, I must be on the wrong week...nope, I double checked. So I decided that I would start when he said to but that I would quit before the 3 minutes was over...but guess what??? I DID IT...I jogged for 3 WHOLE MINUTES!!!! For people who run, you are probably thinking...get real!! But I want to reiterate that I could hardly run for 60 seconds just a few short weeks ago. So now I am excited to go and run again...I know how crazy am I?

So that is my running saga up until now...I will keep you posted but I would love to hear what works for you and how to get rid of the pain on the sides of my calves. Any suggestions?

Renaissance Festival

Today (Sunday) we met some friends at the Renaissance Festival. We had never been there so we decided to try it on a weekend that the state fair was going on so there wouldn't be as many people there. It was so much fun. My sister watched Emma so we could enjoy the day without her wanting to get down and play or need to take a nap. There was so much to do, I don't think we even made it all of the way around. There were different shows going on all the time. They also had a petting zoo that we had to go to twice. They had elephant rides but Maddie said she was too scared to ride on one so she rode on a llama instead. Here are some pictures.

The entrance/exit
Maddie riding the llama

Our friends (Lori and Sara) riding the elephant

Jousting show

Maddie and Sara at the petting zoo

Birthday Party

On Saturday evening we were invited to Ellie Johnson's 1st birthday. She doesn't turn 1 for a few more weeks but her grandparents from Nebraska were here so they decided to celebrate a little early. It was alot of fun and the girls enjoyed playing with her toys. I can't believe how fast kids grow up!!

Elle ready for her cake
Emma sitting on Ellie's rocking chair...she loved it!

Maddie looking at Ellie's book

Ellie, Emma and Colin playing with toys. Colin and Ellie were born on the same day.

Summer Fun

These are just some pictures of the girls. We enjoyed playing outside today. It was a beautiful day and I am not looking forward to the winter! On Friday some of our neighbors were having garage sales so I bought a trike and ride on toy for my boss. Maddie really likes the trike, she isn't going to like it when I have to give it back. I was able to buy her a "real" bike with training wheels, she isn't too fond of it yet.

Emma with the ball and Maddie riding on her trike.
Hitting the ball

Just a swingin

Owatonna

On Saturday I drove the girls to Owatonna. Reggie was at a bachelor party so I thought it would be nice to get out of the house. My mom was down at my grandparents, so they drove up to Owatonna to my aunts house. My other aunt came for a bit too. Bonnie made a great lunch and we just sat outside and enjoyed spending time together. We don't get to see them much so it was a nice day. I got home about 5:30, I had to stop at work for a couple of minutes.

My grandparents and aunt Bonnie with the girls.
My aunt Dawn stopped by too.

Grandpa, Bonnie and Grandma

Table and Chairs

I have been looking for a new table and chairs for quite some time but I wanted something that was cheap but looked nice. I found the table (has 2 leaves) and 6 chairs along with the hutch on Craigslist. I am VERY happy.

This does not have any leaves in it
The hutch...it was dark when I took the picture so it isn't the best picture.

Post op Appointment

I took Maddie to see the surgeon today for her post op appointment. He said she is officially healed!! He says that she can go back to doing everything that she did prior to surgery. We are excited about that. He also said that the incision on her stomach is actually smaller than the incision that was made through the muscle. He said that kid's skin is very stretchy so even though the incision looks small, it is actually about double under the skin. I was trying to figure out how he took the intestines out of the small incision, now I understand!!! Here are some recent pictures.

Maddie listening to Emma's heart...could this be a doctor or nurse in the making?

Putting a bandaid on Emma's arm.

Maddie's incision after the steri strip was taken off today


Close up of the incision...not bad huh.

Maddie Update

On Thursday morning at 2am, Maddie woke up puking. She also complained of her tummy hurting and diarrhea...I know, more details that you wanted!! I called her surgeon and he said that we need to back on "regular" food and stick to soft food such as noodles, pudding, yogurt and stuff. He said to stay away from meat because it is harder to digest. She has been relatively fine except some more diarrhea this morning. I am concerned about her going back to daycare on Monday with the food restrictions. I will just have to wait and see how she does. She definitely is ALOT more whiny than normal and she misses her friends so I think it will do her some good to go back to daycare as soon as she is able. Here are some pictures from this week.

Maddie loves to dress up!!

Grandma pushing Maddie on the swing set

Maddie and Grandma playing in the sandbox.

Surgery

Maddie had surgery on Thursday for the malrotation. Everything went great. The surgeon said that is was a classic case and what he expected. She was able to get out of the hospital on Tuesday. She woke up on Tuesday morning and said that she wanted to go to her house. Thank you everybody for the thoughts and prayers. She will be out of daycare this week but will return on Monday. Here are some pictures.

Waiting in Preop...reading a book.

After the surgery when she got to her room.

Friday...popping bubbles.

Sunday...eating a Popsicle. She was sooo happy!!!

Tuesday night...she is watching a movie.