Election Day

For both my girls, this was the first presidential election in their lifetime. And it was a historic one. I wanted to make sure I documented their participation (they both came with me to vote).

Halloween

Anja had her first Halloween last year, but since she was just 5 days old this year really felt like her first. She wasn't too actively involved, but she did get dressed up to ride along to the community Halloween party. She took it all in from the stroller.

Elise's costume this year was more involved than any other year. She was a fairy and I decided to do some upgrading by decorating the wand a little more, and making some matching do-dahs to put in her hair. I also did up her hair (I've never really "done" her hair before), and put some sparkly stuff on (fairy dust, after all!). She really looked too cute for words. One of those times when I think she is so darn cute I wonder if she can really be my child.

A Beautiful Day

Last weekend it was COLD, windy, and it snowed. Yesterday was sunny, almost 70 degrees, and beautiful. We enjoyed the day by playing outside. There were leaves to roll in and throw around, there were crab apples on the ground to squish, there were pine cones to pick up and collect.

Pumpkins

Aaah, October...Leaves falling, crisp air and...pumpkins!! We got this year's pumpkins from a small, local grower. They are beautiful! We had a lot of fun picking out the perfect pumpkins.

Then, the carving. I was worried this would be more stressful than fun, trying to balance the needs of a one-year old and three-year old while wielding a knife. But it all worked out well, Elise and I carved her pumpkin while Anja was napping then Anja and I carved her pumpkin while Elise was napping. Each girl got my undivided attention and it was a lot of fun.

The Flu Shot

A couple days ago I took Elise in for her flu shot. The night before I pondered the best strategy for making it go as smoothly as possible. I had a lot of anxiety about taking her in. If you have a baby, you know how traumatic shots can be. HOWEVER, in my opinion, it gets much worse once kids hit age two and they can verbalize their pain and horror. Babies look at you with an expression that seems to say "how can you do this to me?" But once a kid can talk, it is not just a parent's imagination laying on the guilt, it is the child's own voice. "MOMMMMM!" "STOP!" "NO!" And they crawl up into your lap, believing you will save them from the impending attack, but NO! They find out you are an accomplice! And they say things like "You let them hurt me!"

So, I thought and thought on how to make this flu shot experience go as smoothly as possible. Should I tell Elise ahead of time to prepare her for what was to come? What if she freaked out as soon as I told her and cried for the whole time before, during and after the appointment? Should I not tell her about the shot? She would be calm ahead of time, but I ran the risk of her panicking when the needle came in and it all happening so fast she felt ambushed.

About an hour before the appointment I decided to just see what happened and wing it.
Me: "I'm taking you to the doctor this morning"
Elise: "Is the doctor going to give me a shock [shot]?"
Me: "Maybe"
Elise: "I think the doctor will not give me a shock"
Me: "ok"

In the car..Elise: "I will tell the doctor not to give me a shock"

In the parking lot...Elise: "I think the doctor will not give me a shock"
Me: "I think you should prepare yourself in case the doctor gives you a shot. You should think about being brave."
Elise: "Ok, but he's not going to give me a shock."

We walked into the room and we weren't even in the door when Elise said to the nurse "I don't want a shock."

Nurse to me: "Are we doing a flu shot or FluMist?" (I see the heavens begin to open. I can hear the angels quietly begin to sing)
Me: "We can do FluMist?"
Nurse: "Yes"
Me: "YES!!" (Hallelujah!! The angels are now in full-blown chorus. My anxiety is gone, I am smiling. I love this nurse!)

A squirt up the nose and we were done.

Oh yeah...next week when I go in to get my flu shot I'm getting FluMist too :)

Anja's First Birthday Party

Our sweet little Anja had her first birthday party last weekend. We had it at my mom and dad's. Lots of friends and family came and it was a great party. Elise had been quite excited about the party and had been asking about it for days. On the day of the party I picked out an outfit for her but she decided it was not dressy enough, so she picked out her own dress and dressed herself. Then she was a really big help putting up decorations and cleaning. Tough to be the big sister NOT getting all the attention, but she did a great job.

Anja seemed to enjoy herself also. She really did not get into the cake, which is the main event at the 1st birthday party. She stuck her finger in a few times and tasted the frosting, but that was about it.

She DID enjoy the presents, though. She pulled things out, pulled off wrapping, and played with all the toys

A House

I'm back! After a looooong break from blogging, I'm getting my act together and am posting an update. A rental house was found earlier this month...what a relief! Back in August when we sold our house in the Cities, we had hoped to have a rental house lined up and be able to move our stuff right in. It didn't happen. We had to put just about all our stuff into storage, hoping that any day a house would come along. It took until October. The house is 7 miles from the apartment, in the tiny town of Lismore (pop. 297). Almost all our stuff is still in storage, don't know when that move will happen.