Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas Events

Since Nicole's feeling under the weather and I'm feeling a little inspired I thought I would make my contribution to the blog.

Wednesday morning is when we headed out to Red Wing and Robert of course demanded we stop at King's Place in Miesville for lunch, which is known for its Hamburgers and spent the evening opening gifts with Nicole's immediate family. Robert received countless noisy contraptions and a tent and tunnel he can use to plot his take over of our house. Unfortunately Robert wasn't too sure of the tent but Grandma really liked it, especially getting caught in the tunnel.




On Thursday we went to Farmington to celebrate Christmas with my side.






That night we headed back to Red Wing that same night to wait for Santa!



On Friday there were suppose to be two more celebrations, but were canceled due to weather. Never fear though because the weather allowed for some great snowmen making!



Saturday we headed down to Iowa for my extended family celebration on Sunday, unfortunately we forgot to take pictures while there. Saturday night we also met my Grandma, Aunt Wilma and Cousins JJ and Danny for dinner. Below you will see that Wilma got more than she intended when she asked for a "Big Bowl of Soup". It was also a new challenge to stay in a hotel room with a 15-month old. Needless to say naps were impossible and getting to sleep at night was a challenge! Luckily he enjoyed the simple game of pushing a piece of paper back and forth with mom under the bathroom door while Nicole was drying her hair.


Mom where are you?




Monday morning we drove home and arrived home to lots of snow.


So that was our holiday week more to come when Nicole leaves me to go to Costa Rica for a week with her team.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Trip to Wisconsin

This week Robert turned 15 months and with that honor comes a trip to the doctor to be weighed and measured followed by 3 shots. The shots weren't so much fun but it is always nice to check in with the doctor to make sure everything is on track. He weighed in at 29.1 pounds, putting him in the 93.89 percentile; he was 31.75 inches long, 70.39 percentile; and his head circumference is in the 99 percentile...still no surprise to me! Percent wise his weight and head stayed the same but his height moved up quite a bit. This is good news because he's been wearing 18 month tops but only 12 month pants because they were so long on him...the problem is that his pants are getting a little tight around the belly so we're excited for some new pants from Santa (aka Auntie Mandie). The doctor says he looks great but we need to work a little more on learning some new words because grunting and pointing doesn't expand one's vocabulary.


15 Months!!!
Thursday through Saturday were busy days for us this week. Thursday morning after my 6am practice I picked up my brother and then headed back home to pick up my mom and Robert for a trip to Wisconsin. My Grandpa and Aunt & Uncle live in Abbotsford and with my Grandpa's health fading we knew that the only way we'd get to see him this holiday season was to make the trip. I was really glad that we did and even though he didn't remember who Nick and I were nor could he make the connection (alzheimer's is in its final stages) to how we were related to him it was great to see him smile and play with Robert. It was a great trip even if Robert didn't get any naps that day and was up every 10-15 minutes from 4am on. Here are some pictures from our trip!
Reading to pass the time on the long drive

Nick, Robert, Grandpa and Me

3 Generations!
Can you tell someone needs a nap...


G'pa pushing Robert in his wheelchair. Robert loved it and it allowed for him to keep snacking on his cheerios as we went back to G'pa's room.

Playing at my Aunt & Uncle's house. The dogs might be finding surprises in their kennel for days to come but it was more fun than napping!
Chilling with Uncle Nick and Tyson

We returned home Friday afternoon and I took a nap while Eric played with Robert. Well actually he tried to get him to nap but our son was way too tired by this point and therefore couldn't calm down enough to sleep. That night we decided we'd try our first attempt at a family movie night. I made popcorn bowls with a few m&m's for each of us and we sat down to watch Frosty the Snowman. Robert did pretty good and sat through the first half of the movie until he realized there were m&m's at the bottom of his popcorn. He then dumped the popcorn out to get at them and then attacked our bowls to get the candy treats. It was still a fun time and the dogs didn't mind cleaning up the floor after Robert.


Saturday continued to be busy as we left home around 9 to head down to Farmington. I dropped the boys off at Eric's parents house and headed to my friend Abby's house to bake cookies. We were quite successful and made peanut butter blossoms and sugar cookies. It was a lot of fun and I also got to play a little with her 6 month old son Cooper. He is so cute and so tiny compared to my lil' man. After the cookies were cool and the frosting hardened enough to transport I headed back to the Hempler Home for a yummy meal cooked by Larry. I also was able to put in my requests for Christmas Eve dinner so Thursday promises to be another great meal!!!
That was pretty much our excitement for the week which we know was busy but nothing like the holiday celbrations we have in store Wednesday-Sunday this week! We hope everyone has safe travels and a Very Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

A Relaxing Weekend...FINALLY!!

This week was a pretty relaxing one and not having any meets this weekend sure made for a nice break. I actually don't have another meet until we return from our training trip in January. We did finally see some snow this week and above you see Robert peering out the window wondering what was up with all the white stuff. Those that know me know that I'm not a big fan of winter and as much as I like the look of snow I don't appreciate the colder weather or the much longer commute to and from work.

Saturday was busy but filled with lots of fun. We began the day by grocery shopping then Nick and Mandie came over to visit. That visit didn't start off the best because Robert was scared of my brother and started crying. It was funny to the rest of us and showed Uncle Nick that he needs to visit more often! The rest of the time went well and Nick redeemed himself by showing Robert some cool tricks with a football. Mandie and I also baked some yummy cookies for our boys which they really like (we do too!). Above you see Robert trying to be a big boy by wearing Auntie Mandie's boots. He wasn't able to walk in them but it was still cute!
That night we went to my assistant coach's house for a Christmas party and had a lot of fun meeting new people. It was great to see their new house and for Robert to get to play with some new friends.
Today we did absolutely NOTHING! Well that isn't true as we did take some naps, watched the Vikings win, and a little laundry. It was nice to hang out and not have to worry about going anywhere or being on time for anything. What a great day!
This coming week is the last with my team for a couple of weeks which means my workload will ease up a little bit. On Thursday Robert and I will be going with my mom and brother to Wisconsin to visit with my Grandpa and the Knautz relatives. My Grandpa's alzheimers is getting worse and we are pretty sure that he won't remember anyone but my mom but he loves little kids so we know seeing Robert will be a great treat. Eric is staying home to watch the dogs and for some much needed rest from a busy couple of months with Robert and dealing with my busy schedule.
Have a great week everyone!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Best Evening!

This was a long working weekend for me with a 2-day swim meet which meant I didn't get to see my little boy from Thursday night until this morning. Not fun but the cuddles and hugs I received this morning were great! Feeling a little guilty for being gone I shared some of my Lucky Charms (I crave them a few times a year!) and Robert fell in love. As you can see in the pictures below he took the box from me, figured out how to open it, and got himself some magically delicious treats.


I did have to go back in to work tonight to meet with some recruits but came home to one of the best nights in a long time. Not what I was expecting either because Vikings are playing and thus I can't watch my normal Sunday night shows. Anyway Robert was on a roll and put on a good show. My cheeks still hurt from laughing and smiling so much. He loves when either of us shake our head no really fast and will try to mimic us but it is in slow motion (so cute!). Another activity he is currently enjoying is having his dad push him into his bean bag chair. Both are on the video below with lots of giggles and we hope you enjoy.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanksgiving Break!

We had a great Thanksgiving Break and we hope you did too! Thursday we spent the day with Eric's family and my mom in Farmington. Larry (Eric's Dad) made a terrific meal and it was nice to relax and spend time with everyone. Friday morning I was up early with my mom and Mandie to take advantage of the Black Friday shopping deals. We finished around 10:30 and I'm happy to say that I finished my shopping and got lots of great deals! The rest of the break was spent hanging out with my boys, napping (all 3 of us at different points), setting up Christmas decorations and our tree, and wrapping the Christmas gifts. So it was a very productive break and I look forward to the weeks to come and celbrating Robert's 2nd Christmas. Here are some pictures from the long weekend. Hope everyone is well and behaving so that you make Santa's Nice List!!


My Boys playing while waiting for Thanksgiving Dinner!

Cousin Laughter & Love

Grandma & Robert


Unloading the Christmas Tree

Tree's up and someone is very curious!!

The one thing we realized is that Christmas decorations will be minimal this year. A certain lil' boy wants to get his hands on everything so unfortunately our house won't be as festive but luckily that also means less work for me!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

First Haircut!

I took most of the day off on Wednesday and decided that it was time for Robert's first haircut. The top of his head wasn't so bad but as you can see from the first picture below the back and sides were starting to get out of hand. So off we went to Kid Hair in Maple Grove for our first cut. When we walked in there was a little girl who was just a little older than Robert getting her haircut. She was the only other one there and she was NOT happy. Robert, being the perfect child that he is, sat through the entire cut without lots of moving or crying. He did need to check every so often that I was there but no fussing!

Before Haircut
In the chair waiting for the next step!

What is going on???

A little buzzing around the trim!

All finished but after sitting still for the cut he refused to remain still for a picture opp!


Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Linda Troester

This time of year my side, mostly my Aunt and Uncles, have a tradition of going to the Minnesota/Iowa game every year. This was started because there are relatives in both states, but I think mostly because of one person that had a deep sense of family, my aunt Linda. A year ago this week she passed away. If you heard the countless stories about her you would have heard the countless lives she touched and how she never judged anyone no matter what.

It seems the ones that touch the most lives are the first ones to leave and I’ve always wondered why this is. I could only come up with one answer that made sense to me…it was time for someone else to pick up where this person left off. It could be something small or something big or even something that isn’t real obvious or even something that may occur much later, but this is the only answer that made sense to me.

I am thankful I had an opportunity to get to know Linda, but also to be influenced in some way by her husband Tom. You don’t only become the person you want to be from your immediate family, but also your extended family. Influence works both ways.

“Celebrate Life, Live with Hope”

Monday, November 16, 2009

Happy Birthday Uncle Paul & Baby Brother

Today is my Uncle Paul's birthday and my baby brother also celebrates his by turning 26! We wish them a great day and hope it is filled with lots of fun and celebration and not the normal Monday blues. We're looking forward to celebrating with Nick tomorrow night for dinner even if he is only looking forward to time with Robert and his gift.

Happy Birthday Uncle Paul!
Happy Birthday Baby Bro!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Giggles & A Clean House!

This week Robert has been extra giggly. Not sure what brought on the change or if he just knew it was hard on dad to be cranky while mom was at work. Below is a video of him playing hide & seek with Eric with some great full belly laughs. I swear there isn't a better sound than hearing your child giggle!

My foot is also finally getting better. Today was my first day out of the boot and it felt okay. I finally got our house cleaned back to my standard while Eric tackled what Mother Nature left for him in the yard. 10+ bags of leaves and a little fire for the branches and our yard is ready for snow..even if we aren't!

Small bonfire to finish yard clean-up
Lately Robert has wanted to be on the couch and loves to crash on it. Since he can't get up onto the couch by himself and he doesn't seem to realize there is a drop to the floor we decided to get him a bean bag chair for him to crash on at a safe distance. He is so far loving it and is even acting like mom and dad by sitting (well kneeling but we're sure sitting will come soon!) and playing on the computer.


Hide & Seek with Daddy

Also a great way to tire him out for bed!!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Halloween!

This wasn't Robert's first Halloween but this was the first one he didn't sleep through...well actually he barely slept at all this Halloween but more about that in a bit! Because Halloween fell on a Saturday we decided to go to Red Wing for the holiday plus we don't know that many people in Robbinsdale for Robert to visit and my mom had a long list of places she wanted to go.

So Saturday morning Eric dropped me off at St. Kate's and then kept on driving to Red Wing with Robert and the dogs. I headed down to Northfield with my team for our relay meet and my mom joined me there to watch the team swim and then drive me home. The meet went great but I've realized the biggest trigger for my foot pain is standing on it for long periods of time. I was wearing a boot, per doctor's orders after being diagnosed with a stress fracture, which helped but I think I probably should have sat down between races...I'll try this at our meet next week!

Once we got into town we made dinner and then headed out to visit family friends. We didn't get to as many places as we'd have liked but we did enjoy the stops we got to. Once we returned home we thought Robert was tired and ready for bed...boy were we wrong. He had a lot of energy and sleep wasn't what he wanted and no he didn't have any candy well maybe a little snickers bar that he chewed his way through the package. He normally goes to bed by 8:00 but he wasn't ready for bed until after 10:30 at first we weren't too concerned since it was daylight savings but then it got to be a little too late. Part of the reason he wasn't going to sleep was because we determined that he was scared of being left alone in a new place. It wasn't really a new place since he has slept in the same room at my mom's house since January but he didn't remember this and is at the fun stage of needing to be with mom/dad at all times. So at 10:30 we gave up on alternating between listening to him cry and run around the house and he came into bed with us. Of course the bed that we sleep in at my mom's is a full size bed which meant Eric and I were up most of the night due to a tossing & turning little boy. We thought since he went to bed late he'd at least sleep in a little bit but nope was up at 4:30am (would have been 5:30 if we didn't change the clocks but this is still over an hour earlier than normal). So needless to say Eric and I are exhausted today but couldn't nap because Robert didn't go down for his nap until right before the Packer/Viking game and we couldn't miss that...well I could have but decided to use this time to update our blog instead of sleep! We hope that tonight he'll be back on his normal schedule since he'll be in his own bed and that daylight savings won't throw him totally off his routine.

We hope everyone else had a safe and fun Halloween!

Halloween Dinner - Pumpkin shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's

Robert gets a visitor from an old lady during dinner (my mom in costume!)

Getting ready!

Our little Dinosaur/Dragon!

The view from the back was the best!


Taste-testing his claws while riding in the car

Visiting Sue Milbright's pumpkin named Ollie

Robert in awe over the 204lb pumpkin!

Time to go home I got all the candy I need!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Child Wonders Around Home and Destroys House

WARNING - Written with Extreme Sarcasm and Humor...

This week marked my third month working from home as a Realtor for Keller Williams Realty and playing the Stay at Home Dad role.

Tuesday I sat in with the Roseville Big Band and it went surprisingly well and I managed to get added to their sub list.

Wednesday is where the fun at home started…

I started revamping some things related to work and Nicole had some late nights coaching at the college. My first task was to upload about 300 contacts into an online database, but unfortunately the program didn’t like my spreadsheet and I was stuck entering them one at a time. In the mean time Robert managed to tear our home apart.
As of Friday morning we have no kitchen and no living room. Robert has managed to tear apart everything in the lower cabinets - all the plastic containers and glass, which I caught before he could get very far with, have been scattered across the kitchen floor. After he crawled into the bottom drawer of the stove, see below, he ventured into the living room and emptied out his toy chest and scattered his books.
The floors in the kitchen and living room cannot be seen.

This isn’t the only mess that has accumulated. The kitchen counters and stove have seen better days. Meals where prepared, but clean up could not be done because...never mind that.

Not only is the living room and kitchen a disaster, but Robert has not emptied his diaper pail for days. I give him one little job and he can’t even do that. He can clear the tables and dust the floor, but he can’t even take out his trash. The next time this child cries he’s going to bed.

I would have taken more pictures of the house, but I don't think anyone could stomach the mess. Not just the mess made by the child, but the mess that has accumulated on the kitchen counters.
Here’s an after shot…not for the faint at heart.

This was just the inside. You haven’t even seen the outside. Evidently Mother Nature doesn’t like me either. Last week I finished picking up leaves and then she goes and dumps a bunch more on my lawn. I can’t even see my grass OR my deck.

In finally finished uploading and auditing my contacts this morning and was going to start cleaning when Robert took his first nap this morning. He’s decided not to nap, but instead to jump up and down in his crib. He thinks it’s pretty funny. We’ll see how funny it is when he’s stuck up there for a while.

As of this afternoon some of the cleaning has been completed. The trash and BAGS of trash have been hauled out as well as the dirty diapers Robert won’t clean up. This kid really needs to start pulling his weight, literally. I can walk through the house again and the counters are cleared. I ended up ordering lunch since preparing it would have meant standing on my head while doing a waltz on the ceiling.

The only thing left is the leaves and I think I managed to forget the dogs out in the rain one of the days. I don’t know why they didn’t speak up. Can’t they bark? I’ll be having a talk with Mother Nature this afternoon since we’ll be in Red Wing over Halloween.

Some Side Notes

Little kids at this age really don’t need toys just let them wonder around your house.

While cleaning up I may have tossed some things that shouldn’t have been tossed.

I Talked with Nicole earlier today and she said she would make it up to me. I’ll believe that if I see pigs flying past my home or a blue moon tonight. If that is the case…I want a big porterhouse steak sautéed with mushrooms, onions and green peppers. Along with a baked potato fully loaded and an ice cold coke. Yes coke, not beer.

Real mean clean, but we have our own methods. Here is a picture of the results.


As I finish this post I notice some child walking around with a devilish look.

That kid is grounded.