Favorite-Things-Phone-Dump Friday

Oh boy.  This has been a week. 

I'll start backwards, with today.  Chris had shoulder surgery this morning- finally!  After a year and a half after the accident, he is ready for his shoulder to (eventually) be pain-free.  The surgery went well and they were able to remove things that were causing the pain.  He had both a local anesthetic to block the nerves in his shoulder and general anesthesia during the surgery.  The nerve blocker has been slowly wearing off throughout the day and it does not appear to be a fun process.  He likens it to the feeling of when you fall asleep on your arm and it becomes a dead weight- times a hundred- and then major tingly feelings that are working his way up the arm as the blocker wears off.  He was able to take his first dose of strong pain meds a few hours ago that have seemed to help. 

This experience has once again reminded us of how blessed we are. 

We have families who step in without hesitation to provide us with love, support, and most importantly, help with our energetic toddler who currently has a TERRIBLE cold.  She spent the night at the condo last night and with my mom all day today.  She came home for a bit to see us and then Auntie Cat brought her to G-ma and G-pa's house to spend the night there.  Tomorrow we go back to the condo and my dad is taking care of both Chris and Callie so I can go to a musical (one of my faves- Bye Bye Birdie!) with my mom and sisters.

We have friends and other family sending prayers and bringing us food and many offers for whatever we need.

We're both blessed to have jobs that are flexible and understanding when it comes to needing time off.

Therefore we're lucky. Blessed. Thankful.

So that is my first favorite thing. 

On to the phone-dump.  All 2 of them.

Favorite Thing #2: These two trouble makers together.  This was taken during a 4-toddler play date at Choo Choo Bob's on Monday.  There were 4 moms, 4 toddlers, and 3 infants.  Then we all went to Panera.  It was quite an experience.

Favorite Thing #3: Callie gets Tuesdays with her daddy.  He sent this picture to me when they were at the new Dora and Diego exhibit at the Children's Museum.  She was dressed as a butterfly and running around singing.

The rest of the weekend will obviously be low-key while Chris recovers.  Thanks again for all your support and prayers.

37-Months-Old

We are officially one month into the 3s.  I'd say it has been a rather rough month in terms of me not feeling well at all and trying to balance motherhood, work and the desperate desire for regular naps.  But we've made it through so far and (I hope) it can only get better.  At least for a few months until I'm super huge and hot and uncomfortable. 

This evening we took our 37-month old to Babies R Us to look for a new VIDEO monitor (the one we have been using for 3+ years is not good- only audio and has to be plugged in all the time and gets really static-y...and Chris found her in our room after her nap today eating chapstick, so there's that).

I'm currently watching her in bed right now and it is HILARIOUS.  And kind of creepy because it is night-vision so her eyes have that weird green glow if they are open.  So far she has gotten up to walk towards the camera, only to turn around and get right back in bed, and has moved all her animals and blankies (there are MANY) from one side of her to the other.  We've always heard her rustling around up there but never knew what she was doing.  Now we do.  And it is very entertaining.

Anyway...Callie's job for Babie's R Us was to pick out Baby Hamie's very first toy.  She took that job VERY seriously.

Our conversation in the toy aisle went as follows:

Callie: Um...okay.  I'm looking for something like a pink pig with white ears.
Me: (quickly scanning to see if such a thing existed...nope) Well, I don't know if you're going to find a pink pig with white ears. 
Callie: Okay well then I'm looking for something that is really soft. (touching random items to determine if they are soft)
Me: That's a great idea.  How about you find something that is yellow and soft?
Callie: Okay!  How about this giraffe?
Me: Perfect.

So Baby Hamie now has an adorable giraffe toy from his/her big sister.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Get ready for the lamest weekend wrap-up in babygoose history.  Not because the events that everyone else did were lame, but because I was TOTALLY lame this weekend.  The last few days of the first trimester kicked my butt and I spent way too much time on the couch than I wanted to.  Probably way more than Chris and Callie wanted me to too... but I had zero energy and was just pretty much wasted space.  But hopefully, now that we're starting Trimester 2, I'll start feeling better.

Anyway, on Friday while I was out at Aida, Chris and Callie hung out with the Wicks clan and Dave got an adorable picture of Callie and Kylie.

Saturday
The majority of my day on Saturday was spent miserable on the couch exhausted and not eating.  But, thanks to G-ma, G-pa and Auntie Cat, Callie had a much more fun day.  She spent the late morning/nap time and afternoon over there, and then they all went (with Chris, Dan and Anna) to a bowling alley to celebrate G-ma's birthday.  I was SO SAD to miss all the fun, but couldn't stay vertical for more than a couple minutes at a time, so I stayed home.  Mary sent a couple pictures though, so I could see a little bit of the fun.

Toddler bowling shoes!

Watching the ball hit the pins

She LOVED it. When she got home she said "Mommy, when you feel better we need to go bowling.  Did you know you get your own bowling shoes when you go???"

Sunday
I was feeling a little bit better, so I was able to tackle the crazy amount of laundry that had piled up while Chris took Callie to Sunday school.  After that they met our friend Nik, his brother Jed, and his two little boys for breakfast.  I was told that no pictures were taken because "It was crazy." 

We spent the afternoon at home with a silly girl who is endlessly entertaining.  Especially when she makes faces.

As soon as I took this picture, she said she wanted to take a picture of the baby.  So she did. Sort of.

Baby Hamsie

Speaking of the baby, the proud older sister has come up with the nickname.  It has nothing to do with geese or Gs or anything else, but it is perfect.

Baby Hamsie is now 14 weeks along and is the size of a lemon.  And I'm really hoping Baby Hamsie will start calming my insides down a little bit so I can be more than a lump on the couch. :)

Favorite-Things-Phone-Dump Friday

I only have 40 minutes until it isn't Friday anymore...and I'm like a good 3 hours past my bedtime, but I'm here and finally getting up my Friday post.

Again, not too many pictures.  It was a busy week but we managed to fit in a few fun playdates and other things.

Favorite Thing #1- Showing her muscles to Calvin

Favorite Thing #2- Seeing what a good sister she'll be when hanging out with baby Avery

Favorite Thing #3- Auntie time and ice cream

Favorite Thing #4- Girls' Night Out- how have I never seen Aida before?  It was AMAZING.

Another favorite thing from this week that I didn't get a picture of, but want to share, is how much Callie rocked her 3-year-old doctor's check-up today.  She did a vision test, a hearing test, and got her blood pressure taken (all new experiences) and did an amazing job with those things and everything else.  The doctor even commented on how "focused" she is compared to other three year olds.  The doctor was also impressed by her ability to pull off a fairy skirt.  Which she wears pretty much everywhere, as you may have noticed in a couple of the above pictures.

We were so proud of our little big fairy princess girl.

And also, our fairy princess has officially named the baby Hamsie.

Have a great weekend!

Baby QOTD

The baby quotes have started...not only with our toddler, but with my students.

Yesterday- while teaching a small group of 5th graders.
Student: I feel like every day your belly is getting bigger.
Me: That's because it is!
Student: (incredulously) So by the end it will be THIS BIG?? (holding arms out in a gigantic circle in front of her)

Tonight- while getting Callie's jammies on her.
Callie: (touching my belly) What do you think the baby is doing in there?
Me: Probably kicking around a little.
Callie: I think she's going like this! (skips around while punching the sky)

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend went by WAY too fast.  Probably because we had a blast!

Saturday
Before brunch for Grandma's birthday, Cal and I checked out the new Southdale play area while Chris did some work.

I was mortified, however, when I took off her shoes and realized she was wearing 0-6 month socks. 

I have no idea how that happened or where they came from or why they weren't put away like 2.5 years ago.  But they somehow ended up on her feet and I was just hoping other parents wouldn't notice and judge me.  Though I kept telling myself that no one is going to look at the bottom of a random kid's feet, I still had the anxiety.  Regardless, we survived and Callie had fun.

Saturday night we headed to the Koch's house for dinner.  We hadn't been there for months, and this time Callie was big enough to just go off and play with Christine without us having to supervise her.  It. was. Awesome.  I went and peeked at them after a bit, and found this adorable scene:

and then promptly heard, "GO AWAY MOM!"

So I went.  Somewhat gladly.

Later, they continued their adorable little duo and played with homemade play-doh.

Thanks to the Koch's (and especially to Christine!) for a fun night!

Sunday
We had the typical morning of Sunday School, Bruegger's lunch and nap time.  After nap time we headed to an indoor water park with the Helds.  I, of course, was only able to get a picture of the backs of the toddlers as they were running by.

They were having way too much fun to stop for a picture.  I got to hang out with Miss Mabel for a bit but she wasn't too keen on me taking her picture either.

So we all hung out in the pool instead and I didn't get any more pictures the rest of the night.

Lil G (trying a new nickname out to see if I like it...thoughts?) is now 13 weeks along, three inches long and weighs about an ounce.  They say he/she is as big as a medium shrimp.  One more week til 2nd trimester!  Can't wait!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

G-ma has a special birthday today and we got to help celebrate at brunch!

Happy happy birthday Grandma!  We love you!