Robert's Busy Week

Robert had a busy week and as you can tell from above he was tired that he had to climb into our lazy susan for a rest! On Monday Uncle Nick came over since Aunt Mandie was out of town to get a free dinner and to watch the first ever Twin's game in their new outdoor stadium. Unfortunately none of us had tickets to actually be at the game but it was still exciting to watch it on tv and see a great win against Boston!

My boys watching the Twins Play!

Robert sweeping the deck while dad and Uncle Nick have a cigar

On Tuesday we were back at lessons, this time Eric was in the water with Robert. Robert still is trying to get the hang of blowing bubbles...at least this is what I'm hoping he's doing and not drinking the water! He is also getting the hang of jumping in and loving being in the water! I'm very happy about this but judging by his current body build I'm not getting my hopes up that he'll be a swimmer...football player seems more like it right now.

Wednesday was a rainy day so nothing too exciting. Robert was a good boy and took two great naps for daddy which allowed Eric to get more work done!

Eric has been taking a class on Thursdays and we've been juggling babysitters for this day. This week G'ma Hempler stayed with Robert and although he didn't show her how he can take great naps he did have fun playing with grandma, especially digging in her coat pockets! Below you'll see a picture of him showing both G'ma & G'pa Hempler how he colors with his magic markers (the type from crayola that only work on the special paper...BEST INVENTION EVER!).

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent catching up on things around the house. Eric's realtor stuff is picking up so he spent a lot of time making phone calls, working on the computer, and today he spent the morning showing our friends Abby & Steve new homes. Robert spent the weekend destroying the house with his toys, crawling into any and every space possible in our home, and running errands with us. I had to work late Friday night teaching a class and then yesterday was running errands with the boys and today I took on way too much work but am going to blame it on nesting. I am happy to say though that the floors are scrubbed, the kitchen clean, the dishes all done, the bathrooms spotless, and 6 loads of laundry completed, and the blog updated. Eric is going to make dinner (he doesn't know this yet) so I can spend the rest of the evening doing absolutely nothing!

We hope everyone has a great week!!!

Robert & his buddies

This past week Robert has been having a lot of fun playing with some of his friends. It started over Easter weekend when he played with Lucy (good friends from Red Wing). They did pretty good playing together but Robert did steal her pacifier a few times! Today he got to hang out with one of younger friends. We spent the afternoon at my other friend Abby's house while Eric helped get the paperwork going to sell their current home and find a new home for them. Robert enjoyed the chance to play with Cooper and especially all of his toys but didn't care much for Cooper taking his pacifier from him. It was a good lesson learned and I'm sure Lucy would be happy that he had his taken from him just like he stole hers!

Robert & Lucy (above) / Robert & Cooper (below)

Robert's other good friend this week is my mom's dog. Vegas is staying with us while she is recovering from her knee surgery. Although he is a high maintenance dog and it does take some getting used to all the wimpering and whining for Eric and I, Robert is having a blast with him. They've been doing everything together...and I do mean EVERYTHING! It started right away with Robert sharing his meals and snacks with Vegas. Vegas has barely touched his dog food since arriving but I'm pretty sure he's still being well fed. Robert took it upon himself to return the sharing of food favor and has helped himself to Vegas's dog food. Eric found him snacking on it and sent him to me. My lil' boy came running over to me so proud of what he'd accomplished and his mouth & chin covered in dog food chunks. Yummy! Eric was grossed out but I couldn't help laughing, I mean really at that point what was the point of getting mad...oh but we did move the dog's food up and is now only down on the floor when Robert is sleeping. Besides the food Robert has shared his toys with Vegas and Vegas in returned shared his kennel. It is cute but I think Eric and I will be okay to see Vegas return home to Red Wing sometime next week!

Robert & Vegas playing with a balloon


Robert's new favorite hangout...Vegas's Kennel

Amongst all of our visits and dog watching this week also brought on a new session of swim lessons for Robert. He is loving the pool and a lot more active then last year. The video above shows his new found love of putting his mouth & nose in the pool...I'm hoping in attempt to blow bubbles and not to drink the water! I'm excited to see how he improves over the next 2 months and imagine that he'll be enjoying his blow-up pool on our deck more this year than last.

Easter & Surgery

This was a busy weekend and start of the week for us and unfortunately we don't see it slowing down until next week. We had a great Easter weekend that started on Friday with seeing my Aunt Sally and Uncle Joe, then continued to Saturday with some outdoor projects at my mom's and a trip to visit Red Wing friends Abby, Mike, and Lucy. Sunday we went to church and then up to Farmington for Easter dinner with Eric's side, his Uncle Tom, and my mom. It was great to see so many people over the weekend and we wish we saw all of them more often.

The week started early as I had to have my mom at the hospital by 6:30am for her partial knee replacement. The surgery went well but I definitely learned that the waiting room is not a comfortable place for a pregnant person to wait for almost 4 hours. The rest of the day was spent running errands for my mom, getting lunch for Eric & Robert, doing laundry for my mom, and a couple of visits to the hospital (one with and one without Robert). Eric had left Red Wing that afternoon to attend a realtor workshop last night and all day today so that added more of a challenge to my day in trying to finish up projects for my mom while chasing Robert around on too little of sleep. Luckily both Robert and I had a good night sleep and were able to get out of Red Wing, after a quick stop at the hospital, and make it home for a nap! Following the nap we went grocery shopping and now are killing some time before making dinner and then off to a new session of swim lessons for Robert. Busy-Busy-Busy and I am ready for my Easter break...too bad work calls tomorrow!

My new hat!

Swinging with Uncle Nick on my new swing at G'mas

So many gifts for early in the morning

My new singing/dancing frog...that Dad hates!

G'ma R. walking Robert on a self-made bungee leash in Farmington

Temper Tantrum!! I want to feed myself the cupcake Mom!!!

Visiting G'ma at the hospital

Randoms

This week's post is filled with some random pics and a video from when Robert spent the weekend with my mom!

This week Robert got to play with all of his grandparents which included lots of spoiling and I'm sure he's looking forward to doing more of the same next weekend for Easter. On Thursday Eric's mom took the day off of work to babysit Robert while Eric went to a realtor class, then on Friday my mom came up, and on Saturday Robert and Eric spent the morning in Farmington helping move some spaces. While Eric was busy moving tools from his parent's basement to the garage I spent the day getting pampared with my mom. This year for Christmas we decided to not do presents for each other and instead treat ourselves to a spa day. Even though we didn't get around to it until 3 months later we had a great time and really wish we could go a lot more often.

Other events this week included sorting through all of Robert's old baby clothes and seeing if anything was gender neutral to use with his sister. I did get about 2/3 of a bin of clothes (mostly pj's and onesies but we'll take it. I also finally bought some girl outfits in a quick shopping trip to Kohl's with my mom...and I must say shopping for girl clothes is a LOT more exciting than buying little boy clothes. While I worked on sorting and buying clothes Eric started the spring yard work. He wasn't able to get as much done as he'd have liked (his back is still acting up) but the entire yard is raked and free for Robert to run around in.

This week will be pretty relaxing. It is spring break at work and even though I have to be there it will be nice and quiet so in theory I should get a lot done. Although my two favorite co-workers and I do have a lunch planned for tomorrow to our favorite restaurant and I have a feeling that will eat up most of our work day! Eric will be going to physical therapy this week as well to see what can be done for his back and leg pains. Hopefully the therapist will be able to help him so he won't be suffering over Easter. On either Friday or Saturday we'll head down to Red Wing and are looking forward to seeing some of my relatives on Saturday along with our friends Abby, Mike, and their daughter Lucy. Sunday we'll head off to church and to hear my mom sing in the choir and then right from church the 4 of us will head up to Farmington to celebrate with Eric's side of the family. From there we'll go back to Red Wing for a few days as my mom is scheduled to have yet another surgery on Monday. I'm beginning to think she has an addiction to surgeries or maybe she just needs to quit thinking her doctors are so cute and faking injuries. Just Kidding Mom! This time she has having knee surgery done on the same knee she had last year about this time. This is an injury caused from her car accident 1 1/2 years ago and instead of just going in and cleaning up the area she'll be having a partial knee replacement which will hopefully fix the pain for good.

We hope everyone has a great Easter and safe travels!

Robert helping me sort the clothes...okay maybe not helping!

Robert loves Vegas, above he's watching him eat and below they spend time watching for something exciting to happen. He's excited to have Vegas join us next week while my mom is in the hospital and recovering from her surgery.

Chilling with Uncle Nick and Vegas at my mom's house

Robert still loves to play the piano no matter whose house he's at!

Warm Weather!

The snow is gone and the weather is finally nice enough to play outdoors again! Robert and I made quite a few trips to the parks by our house this week and I was amazed at how much he's grown since last fall. He still loves the swing (as you'll see in the video below) but he also has found his independence and wants to venture all over the park on his own. Our first day out he surprised me by wanting to walk back home instead of riding in his stroller. He made it all the way through the park on his own and you could tell he was quite proud of himself. The next day we went to the smaller park and since there wasn't as much area for him to wander around he walked the whole way home (only about a block). This also has me wondering whether or not we even need to purchase a double stroller for Robert and his sister.

Today we went out again and Eric joined us...although this was probably a bad idea since he's been in a lot of pain since we returned. We went to the bigger park and Robert again wandered through the park and even tried the slides out today. We had a few mishaps when walking through the park. Nothing major but whenever Robert fell down he was scared to put his hands on the grass (as you'll see in the 2nd video) to push himself back up. It took us a little while to figure out what the problem was but once we figured it out and captured it on video I got down on my hands and knees to show him it was okay to put my hands on the ground. He watched this for a few seconds and then popped right back up. Silly little boy!

We hope the warmer weather continues and are excited for more outdoor adventures with Robert. Have a great week everyone!

Walking around the playground

Swinging!

Help!!! I've fallen and can't get up!

97th Percentile / Ibuprofen / 3 Pounds / 3 Lines

Today was the day of doctor appointments...2 scheduled, 1 consultation, and a surprise ultrasound! Here is a recap for each of us!

Robert had his 18 month check-up and it comes as no surprise that he is growing just fine. His weight is at 31.7 pounds and puts him in the 97th percentile, his length is at 32.25 inches to put him in the 49th percentile, and his head (still big!) measures in at the 96th percentile. The doctor has no concerns about his growth or development and we didn't even get a lecture on his lack of words. Apparantly Robert's babbling counts and I've worried for nothing the past few months! He also got his last shot until he turns 4 years old. The shot wasn't fun but it is nice to know that we don't have to worry about it for 2 1/2 years.

Eric talked with our doctor about his back since the antibiotics have done nothing for the pain. Our doctor ruled out that there was an infection and instead put him on 800mg of Ibuprofen - 3x a day for a week or so and some stretches to do. He is pretty sure it is a muscle problem and nothing structural so an MRI wasn't needed. If the pain continues Eric will probably be rewarded with going to physical therapy...lucky guy!

My 20-week numbers are looking great. I measured at 19 weeks (so I'm hoping for a smaller baby this time around), my blood pressure is still good, and so far I've only gained 3 pounds. Not too bad in my opinion!

We knew we'd be scheduling our appointment for our ultrasound but were shocked when they called the location and were told they had an appointment open in an hour! So off we went to the other part of Maple Grove for an ultrasound. Unfortunately Eric only got to saw about half of it because by then Robert was sick of being cooped up in examining rooms so he spent the rest of the time in the lobby. The baby is measuring right on track and actually came with a due date of August 1st. I learned from Robert to not get excited because at his 20 week ultrasound I measured almost a week and a half early but ended up going 4 days late. Here are some pictures of our little one.

We didn't get any pictures to take home of the gender shot but the technician was pretty sure that we were having a GIRL! We both saw the 3 lines (common indication it's a girl) in a couple of positions and there was nothing hanging out so I'm feeling pretty confident that Robert will have a baby sister this summer.

So I'd say it was pretty good day at the doctor! Now to decide on a name...

Toddler Free Weekend

This weekend Robert went on the 2nd sleepover party of his young life but still with a grandparent. We met up with my side at Houlihan's in Eagan to celbrate my sister-in-law's birthday and from there Robert went home with my mom. The idea was to allow us time to transform the upstairs by combining my craft room with our guest room which thus allows Robert a new bedroom for this summer. We did get a lot of work done but the weekend didn't go quite as we planned.

Eric has been battling some back, hip, and leg issues for the past week and it unfortunately reached a new level of pain. I actually ended up staying home on Friday so that Eric wouldn't need to lift Robert, not that my being almost 20 weeks pregnant was the better option, but it was the best we had. Our thought was that if Eric had a full 3 day break from lifting Robert the pain would improve...this was however not the case and this morning instead of getting stuff done around here we spent a couple of hours at Urgent Care. The results were inconclusive but it sounds like their might be a more than one problem. There is definitely something going on with his back, hopefully just a muscle issue, but the doctor also thinks he might have Kidney or Bladder infection. Again nothing was sure but Eric is on antibiotics for the next 3 days to hopefully alleviate some of the pain. He'll follow up with our doctor on Tuesday when both Robert and I are in for check-ups. While this was going on I just didn't feel good today. Upon returning from the doctor I took almost a 3 hour nap and still just felt off. Luckily eating dinner, getting sick, and then finishing my dinner has seemed to help. Not sure if it is a touch of flu or just the baby. Either way one of us needs to get up to 100% to take care of Robert!

Robert had a lot of fun at Grandma's and even got to spend some time with Uncle Nick who was in town last night and drove Robert back up to our house today. My mom was a trooper to take on our constantly moving toddler and had an even tougher weekend as our little boy decided an hour a nap (compared to his 3-4 hours over 2 naps) was sufficient both days. I think she just spoiled him too much and he knew he'd be back home to the boring routine soon enough so he needed to take advantage of the free time. I'm sure my mom took some photos of her time with Robert and once I get those I'll be sure to post them.

Our week is a busy one with lots of meetings at work, trying to finish up the work on the guest room (everything got moved in there but it looks more like a bomb went off instead of guest/craft room), and big doctor appointments. On Tuesday both Robert and I will go see our doctor. He for his 18 month check-up and me for my 20 week check-up. I can't believe how fast time is going and that my baby is already 18 months old and that my other baby is already putting me at the halfway point in the pregnancy! At my appointment we'll also schedule our ultrasound which will hopefully be this week. Now to hope that the baby cooperates and we can find out if Robert will have a baby brother or sister. There are pros/cons to both gender...the pro to a boy is that timing wise he'd be at the same point in clothes and there would be little to buy cons to a boy is that I'll be outnumbered!!! We'll let you all know and hopefully post some ultrasound pics as soon as we find out.

Hope everyone has a great week and enjoys the warm weather being promised to us!

Cuddling with Mommy after being gone all weekend!