Christmas 2009

Christmas started out this year a little questionable thanks to the mountains of snow we had. Luckily we had planned on staying home on Christmas Eve so the snow wasn't an issue that day. Instead, it provided hours of fun for the kids while I did some last minute wrapping, hiding- what I like to call my "Santa duties." The kids and Trav spent lots of time shoveling out the driveway and were even lucky enough to get a sled/lawn mower ride thanks to our neighbor Scott. After the outside activities finally wrapped up, everyone came inside to enjoy what is becoming our traditional Christmas Eve meal - PIZZA! I figure there is no need for me to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen making a meal when I know that the days to follow will be filled with food, food, and more food - so I just take the easy route and no one seems to mind. After our meal, we all sat down to watch the Santa Clause on tv (little did we know that during that same time, the real Santa made a visit to our house). When the movie finished, we all headed downstairs. Upon opening the basement door, the kids were met with their stockings. They both seemed pleased with the discovery and enjoyed what was in them, but that was pretty much it. It took a little coaxing from Trav and I to get them to notice that maybe, just maybe, there were some presents under the tree as well. Once Ryan caught on, he zeroed in on the presents and the fun began. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids opening and enjoying their presents. With all the presents opened, we were getting ready to head back upstairs when Ryan noticed that the door to the spare bedroom had a bow on it and a tag with his name - check out his reaction . . .

Needless to say he loved the new bedroom that Santa gave him and has spent every night since Christmas sleeping in it (granted Trav has been sleeping in their with him - it's a work in progress). And here is one more picture of Ryan in his new Spiderman pajamas and after we put up some of the stickers that Santa left - he was sooo happy! After our little Christmas at home, it was time to start the real fun - 4 Christmases in 3 days! So we packed up (after Trav shoveled the driveway for the fourth or fifth time in as many days) and carefully proceeded to Grandpa and Grandma Quast's house for Christmas #1 with the whole family. After that, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Loken's house for Christmas #2 that night. We gave ourselves a much deserved break from traveling that night by staying put, but early the next day we were back on the road for Christmas #3 at Great Grandma and Grandpa Quast's house. We spent that night in Gaylord, and then attended our fourth (and final) Christmas celebration with the entire Uecker side of the family on the 27th - talk about exhausting. Even Ryan was done with Christmas - at one point he said, "Four Christmases is a lot for a little boy Mom" - I couldn't agree more buddy. Here are a couple of pictures from the celebrations. As you can see, the kids won't be needing any new toys for a long, long time. Our gaudy little Princess. I had to make her take the shoes off because I was pretty sure she twist an ankle given the fact that her chubby feet didn't actually fit into the petite little shoes.
Ryan trying out his new game with Dad and Uncle Mike.
Overall it was a great Christmas for the Quast family. I am already looking forward to next year when we get to do it all over again only this time we'll have 3 kids to haul all over the place - should be interesting!

Christmas break begins

It was officially Ryan's last day of school - that can only mean one thing . . . Christmas Break!!! To celebrate, Ryan's class had a mini-music program at school. We (Trav, Lauren, and I) were all very excited to see him in action, unfortunately, thing didn't go quite as expected. So there we were all packed into Ryan's classroom waiting to see our little guy in action. Pretty soon the kids start coming out ringing their bells and singing their songs. Finally we see Ryan, and as soon as I do, I know it's not good. He had that look of shock, which was soon followed by the look of fear, and eventually all out tears - not exactly the happy kid we were expecting to see. After making it about 10 steps into the classroom, Ryan sprinted out of line and ran straight to me - so much for the concert. We (Trav and I) both tried talking to him, two of his teachers tried as well - nothing worked, he just didn't want to be out there singing. Oh well. So there we stood watching the rest of class and enjoying their musical abilities all the while Ryan insists on being held and just keeps saying he is too shy to sing. Now I would believe that if shy was even a small part of his personality, but it's not. The kid thrives on being the center of attention so I'm not real sure what got into him but with a little more encouraging, he finally joined the rest of his class just in time to sit in the circle and get his present - funny how he wasn't too shy for that! Here are the only three pictures I took. The first one is him just before he sprinted out of line and into my arms, the second is just of his class so you can see that it was actually fun, and the third is when Ryan finally sat down just in time to collect his present.

Now it's time to focus on the big day . . . Christmas! As Ryan says, "only 4 more sleeps" until the big day - yay!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!

Kid less weekend

Auntie called me up on Thursday night and asked if they (Ash and Mike) could take the kids for the weekend. Are you kidding me right now, if so, this is not funny - of course you can take the kids! So we discussed pick-up/drop off time and headed off to bed (it had to be close to 9pm by then). On Friday morning I dropped Ryan off at school, got Lauren settled in playing with some toys, and then proceeded to pack up all the gear the kids would need for their weekend getaway at Auntie and Mike's house. When Ryan came home from school, he was ready to take off, unfortunately, I wasn't ready to drop him off yet. Finally after lunch, a quick nap, and a few more items to pack, the kids were ready to go - off we went to meet Auntie. With the kids safely at Auntie's, I headed back south, picked up some Chipotle for Trav and I, and then made my way home. We enjoyed our meal in peace and quiet and then headed out to a friend's place for the evening. We got a late start on Saturday due to our rather late night (it was almost midnight when I went to bed) so that made our plan of getting the downstairs closet ready for Ryan become more of a late afternoon/evening project rather then an early morning project - oh well, at least it got done and looks good. So that was our excitement for the weekend. The kids on the other hand, had lots of fun! Ice skating, ice fishing, playing in the snow, watching movies, making almond bark pretzels - it makes me tired just thinking about all the stuff they did - good thing Auntie and Mike are so young and energetic! Mike took Ryan out for his annual skating lesson (Mike is the only one in the family who actually knows how to ice skate), and then took him on his first ever ice fishing outing (Mike is also the only real "outdoors man" in the family so he has lots of responsibility in this area too). Meanwhile Ash and Lauren did some pretend ice skating, danced to some Christmas music, and just hung out. As Ash likes to say, "Mike did all the fun stuff while I did all the hard work" - yup Ash, that is pretty much how it works so get used to it! Here are some pictures Ash sent me from the weekend.After their fun weekend, it was finally time for the kids to come home. We arranged to meet for lunch on Sunday afternoon to do the pick-up and as usual the kids (basically just Ryan) had lots of stories to share with us. Apparently Mike taught him the five different kinds of fish in the lake and he was ready to share everything he learned. There are walleye, sunnies, perch, crappies, and pike - when Ryan tells it though it is much cuter because he says "wolleye" instead of "walleye", and then also goes into a full description of the fish afterwards - the kid certainly has a good memory. Thanks again to Ash and Mike for the great weekend with the kids and the restful weekend for us - we appreciate it and will certainly repay the favor when the time comes (assuming you still want to have kids after this!).

It's a girl!

We had our ultrasound tonight and the results are in . . . we're having another girl!! I was pretty shocked. I've thought from the very beginning that this was a boy so it was a real surprise to find out I was wrong. The kids did a great job at the ultrasound. Ryan was really into it for the first 15-20 minutes then he was on and off between watching the monitor and reading his book. He made sure to look when it was interesting (heartbeat, legs, and arms), and of course when they told us the sex (although he was still not sure it was a girl). Lauren was a little less interested but did point to the screen a couple of times and say "baby" which was really cute. The ultrasound was different than the last two. First of all, they had a bigger, separate screen to watch (which was much easier than cranking my head to see the little itty, bitty screen), and secondly because they showed us some 3D pictures - talk about cool! I knew 3D existed, but I always thought you had to have a high risk pregnancy in order to have one so this was another great surprise. Oh, and they also gave me a CD with the ultrasound pictures along with some that they printed out - another very exciting thing considering that means I can share them with everyone. So here you go . . . who do you think she looks like?And a side note . . . congrats to Mom and Dad on 35 years of wedded bliss - my gift to you, another granddaughter!

Party weekend

It seemed that this past weekend was the weekend to have parties! First there was a baby shower, then a Christmas party, then another baby shower - too much fun! It was great to be able to spend time with so many different friends and family. Unfortunately, that meant spending very little time with the kids - good thing they were in good hands. Grandma and Grandpa Loken had the kiddies the majority of the weekend with me popping in whenever possible between gatherings. Luckily, we did manage to find some time to do a few fun things. First up, a basketball game with Grandpa, myself, and Ryan. It was Ryan's first real experience at a high school basketball game and if I have to say so myself, I thought he did a pretty good job. Sure there were a few extra trips in and out of the gym to wash hands, buy popcorn, or any other excuse he could come up with, but overall he did a great job. After the long night at the game, we started off the next morning with a little extra rest, then it was off to what could be called the highlight of the weekend . . . . sledding! Ryan has been dying to get out in the snow since the very first snowflake so when Grandma offered to take him, he was very excited. After 20 minutes spent getting everyone bundled up, we packed up the mini and headed to South Elementary to tackle the "big" hill. I was a little concerned that the hill might be too much for Ryan, but after his first trip down with Grandpa, I had nothing to be worried about - he loved it.

After a few trips with Grandpa, Ryan was ready to take on the hill all by himself. He started out by going down from middle of the hill, but by the time we left, he was going down the whole thing - top to bottom - apparently he is more brave then I thought. Here he is on his making his first solo run.

And here are a couple more pictures from the morning.Everyone heading up the hill just moments before Lauren flipped out of the sled landing face first in the snow. This led to an eventual meltdown and the end of her sledding days - oh well, I guess there is always next time.Grandpa and Ryan making the treacherous walk to the top of the hill - just one of about 15-20 trips they made - talk about exhausting.Ryan taking a breather after one of his runs.One-eyed Willie (also known as Lauren) taking in the action from the safety of Grandma's arms.Pulling the kids back to the car (notice Lauren is crying - she really hates sledding).

With sledding done, we headed home to have some hot chocolate and warm-up. After that, it was time for me to start in with my busy schedule of parties so I left with the kids (and Grandpa) napping with Grandma while I headed out for my first baby shower. With one shower down, I headed back to Grandma's house, chatted with the kids for a couple of minutes, then got ready to head out again, this time for the Christmas party. It was great to see old friends and catch up with everyone, but the long day was creeping up on me and soon enough I was ready for bed. With two parties down, a short night of sleep, and one shower still to go, I was running low on energy. To get things going the following morning, we all had a big breakfast (thanks to Grandma) then headed out for a brisk morning walk. I had serious doubts about making the whole thing (especially at Grandpa's super sonic speed), but to my surprise, I did, and it actually revitalized me. After the walk Grandma and I spent some time outside with the kids making snow angels and "special" snowmen (special because the snow wasn't great for packing so we had to draw circles in the snow instead and decorate them with twigs and bushes to complete their faces - pretty creative on that one Grandma). By then, it time for me to get ready to head out again so we all went inside to warm-up. I again left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa, and this time when I came back and was ready to take them home for good, they didn't want to leave - oh, it's so nice to be loved! Eventually they got over it (Ryan said he needed, "just 9 more minutes than he would be ready") and we packed up and headed home.

It was a long weekend with lots of fun, but it's always nice to be home sleeping in your own bed (which is where I'm heading right now).

One more quick thing, finding out the sex of the babe tomorrow - can hardly wait to know if we'll have a Sally or a Braxton!!!

Santaland

Ash and I took the kids to Macy's 47th annual Santaland. The feature display was "A Day in the Life of an Elf." The kids, and adults, were both amazed by everything we saw. There were elves, reindeer, animals, dancing Christmas trees - you name it, they had it there. The display itself wasn't huge, but we took our time and made sure to see everything. Like I said, the kids could hardly take it all in. They would look one direction, be in awe, then turn around and be amazed all over again. Here are some pictures from the day.After walking through the display, we got in line to have our picture taken with Santa. Unfortunately Lauren still hates Santa so she didn't go anywhere near him. That left Ryan to chat with the big guy all by himself - he didn't seem to mind.After Santa, we grabbed some lunch then headed to "Holly Lane." This was basically a little section on the first floor of Macy's that has a bunch of decorated Christmas trees and pretty much anything Christmas you can think of. The kids wanted to touch everything, I wanted them to touch nothing. All I could think was, "please don't pull on that ornament too hard because I don't want to have to buy a Christmas tree full of broken ornaments." We managed to get through the store without incident and then we were on our way home. The snow had already begun to fall by that time which made for a slow trip home, but it was still worth it to see the excitement in the kids' faces when they saw everything. This event is definitely something I'd like to try and make an annual thing - we'll see if I can make it happen.

Lauren's 2 year check-up

Lauren had her 2-year check-up today. After we dropped Ryan off at school we headed to the doctor - this can always be an interesting situation. We actually made it through the waiting room and into the office before the crying started so I consider that an improvement over last time. She was still deathly afraid of the scale which has a Nemo sticker on it - sounds frightening doesn't it. After getting her weight, height, and head circumference, we had a brief dry spell with the tears until the doctor came into the office than it all started up again. Luckily our doctor is quick and efficient so Lauren's whole exam took less than five minutes and the crying stopped again. With the doctor safely out of the office Lauren started getting her boots and jacket on - she wanted out and she wanted out right now! Unfortunately we still had two shots to get before we could leave and when she saw the nurse come back in, she knew it wasn't good - bring on the crying. The nurse did a good job of getting the shots done quickly, we pulled up Lauren's pants, put on her winter gear, and she was all smiles as we headed out the door to get her well deserved sticker. On the way out she gave waves and said "bye-bye" to both the doctor and nurse she had just minutes before had no time for - such a forgiving little thing. Here are the stats on the babe:

Weight: 32 pounds - 95% percentile
Height: 37 1/2 inches - >97% percentile
Head: 19 1/2 inches - 92%
BMI (body mass index): 15.9 - 45%

The BMI thing is new. It basically just uses the height and weight to make sure the person is in a "healthy" weight range for their height. The doctor assured me that even though Lauren is on the high end for weight, she is just fine because her weight and height combined still puts her in a "healthy" weight range - she is just a big kid, but perfectly healthy. That's our little princess!

And just for fun, here are Ryan's stats from his 2-year check-up. You'll notice Lauren is actually taller and heavier than he was. I'm too lazy to actually convert the head measurements so I can compare them, but my money would be on the fact that Ryan still owns that category - let's just say he has a "nice" sized head.

Weight: 29.2 pounds - 65%
Height: 36 1/4 inches - 90%
Head: 50 cm - 90%

Project day

We used today's snow as an excuse to stay inside and do some fun projects. First up . . . a "countdown chain" to Christmas. I did all the measuring and drawing, Ryan did all the cutting and taping. We made a good team and got the thing done in just under an hour (which also happened to be just about the time Ryan started losing interest in the project). Here he is proudly displaying the chain.And here are the kids showing off the chain and the Santa Ryan made in school.With one project down, it was time to turn my attention to Lauren who had been patiently waiting. Projects with her tend to be a little easier - make something simple and she is happy. So I decided to go with a crown which would be the perfect finishing touch to her outfit. All it took was a couple of quick cuts, some tape, and there it was, a crown fit for a queen. Check out the dancing queen showing off some of her moves.Baby Robbie did his part by chilling in the bouncy chair and watching the kids so we had to get him in a picture too. Unfortunately the chain is pretty much covering his face, but trust me, he was there.