18 Months

Little Eliza Jane was 18 months on Saturday January 11th. It is hard to believe that she is going to be 2 this summer. She has gotten very into babies recently. She likes to carry them places, line them up, and cover them with blankets. Liza loves to push a little baby stroller or play shopping cart. She has become quite the Minnie lover. Which was very apparent over the holidays based on her gifts. Following in her sisters footsteps Eliza has developed a love of Doc McStuffins as well. This often causes conflict in our house as the girls fight over all of the Doc toys. Eliza is also quite mischievous. She still occasionally ends up sitting on the small table to girls have. She has also put things in the toilet that don't belong there. However she is also extremely funny and very loving. She loves to give hugs, kisses, and snuggles. She always looks around to make sure people are watching when she thinks she is being funny. She also has the best facial expressions.

Eliza has developed quite the vocabulary as well. She can say a lot of words like more, bye, hello, all done, cat, help please, sis, and occasionally Emmy.  She also talks in a lot of gibberish too. I am looking forward to seeing her speech develop and listening to her little voice. The last 18 months have been very challenge and very rewarding. We look forward to watching Eliza grow, change, and flourish.

Three and a Half

Last week was Emily officially became a 3 and a half year old. She is so much fun and a challenge all at the same time. She is running, jumping, dancing, and singing wherever she goes. Em loves to play pretend with her dolls and princess costumes. Doc McStuffins still dominates our household. Emily gives us all check ups and give out diagnoses. She is great at puzzles and has even attempted to tackle a 50 piece princess puzzle we have. It is so fun to watch her do them and see how her little brain works. Emily and her sister get along for the most part. Although we are still working on not pushing your sister. Her vocabulary is amazing. She likes to use the phrase "Actually" a lot. Especially if she is correcting Mommy. She is getting more into makeup and other girly things. We just love her to pieces and are so lucky to watch her grow and change from a toddler to a little kid.

Happy New Year!

Our New Year's Eve was low key and a lot of fun. Our neighbors hosted all of us who had small children and no babysitter. The kids played and colored while many of the adults played card games. It was a fun night.

I am excited to ring in the new year. I find it exciting to have a whole year ahead of you. It is like a blank slate. This year the girls will turn 4 and 2. Which on the one hand is craziness and on the other I am greatly looking forward to. I am excited to watch them grow and change into little girls. I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions but I can say that every year I make a goal of trying to be the best me I can. I can only hope the same for everyone else. Happy 2014!

Christmas 2013

With both of the girls being sick the week before Christmas it kind of snuck up on me. Thankfully I had done most of the shopping in the weeks prior. Kevin and I split up our lists the weekend before and were able to check everything off of the to do list. Santa came a little early since we wouldn't be home on Christmas morning. The night before Emily was not interested in leaving cookies for him but wanted Daddy to. When the girls came downstairs they found a rocking cow for Liza and a mini trampoline for Emily. However Eliza was more interested in the little bit of cookie Santa left on the plate. She ate it right up. Apparently she was a little hungry.

Beginning Christmas Eve, We spent 3 days on the road visiting my parents, Kevin's aunt and uncle, and Kevin's parents. And made it to our 4th Christmas celebration this past Sunday. I love being with everyone at Christmas time. I find the older I get the less I care about the presents and just enjoy the time together. It is rare for my immediate family to all be together and it is always great to catch up with the boys. We only see the Krause side of the family once a year so it is also a wonderful time getting together with Kevin's cousins. Spending an entire day with Kevin's parent, Brian, Beth, and all of the kids doesn't usually happen unless there is another event to attend. It was great relaxing and catching up. The girls got far too many presents and enjoy them all. It is clear that we live in a Doc McStuffins, princess, Minnie Mouse house!

We are certainly blessed beyond measure. Each day I thank God for all we have and ask for continued health and prosperity. There is no doubt there is a lot of love within our family and extended family. While I am looking forward to a little downtime in January I will miss the glow, wonder, and love of Christmastime.

A Week Ago...

One week ago Emily had a seizure while walking down the steps after her nap. She fell about four steps hitting her head on our tile floor. After an ambulance ride to American Family Children's hospital, many tests in the ER, and a night stay at the hospital it was determined that she suffered the seizure because of a spike in temperature from a sinus infection and had a mild concussion from the fall. These types of seizures are called febrile seizures and are not uncommon in children under 5. The tiny body can not handle the quick change in temperature. This week she has spent a lot of time recuperating, resting, and cuddling. After the antibiotics finally kicked in (after several days and an incident of throwing up in the car) it seems that she is doing much better. Em still gets frustrated and confused at times. And seems a bit skiddish about getting back to "normal" life. This is all completely normal and should resolve with time. The doctors said the after effects of the concussion could last for 2-4 weeks.

Eliza also had a return of a sinus infection this week which resulted in some throwing up in the car on the way to the doctor's office. Both girls are now on Augmenin and should be better from their sinus infections by Christmas. Needless to say we hope we are done with medical things for awhile.

This experience has been one of the scariest things that has happened to us. Although we do feel very blessed that the cause of her seizure is nothing more serious and is more than likely a one time thing. Emily has been a trooper through the whole thing. We are looking forward to her getting stronger and more like herself each day.

Smiling in her C collar 

Sleeping 

Much happier girl at home 

Sick Baby 

Feeling better 

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

I had the bright idea to stage a picture of the girls for our Christmas card this year. Because of a great sale going on I had one night to complete this task. Let me tell you staging a three and a half year old and a one and half year old is no easy thing. We did get a couple of good shots. You will have to wait and see which one made the cut. I will say this. They are pretty cute. Christmas season is in full swing!

Thankful

Thanksgiving is this week. I often do thankful posts for the entire month of November on Facebook. I often feel that Thanksgiving is overlooked. But I think it is a chance to think about the year that has gone by and all of our blessings. This past year has been a great year for our little family. The first full year of Kevin's shareholdership has gone well. He is busy doing something that he loves doing. He has worked very hard learning how to balance it all and has been fairly successful at that balance. I started working full time and taking on more responsibility at work this past year as well. Although it holds it fair share of challenges being a parent and working full time, I truly enjoy what I am doing every day. I work for a great company with extreme flexibility and have a lot of exciting opportunities in my future here.

The girls are exhausting and amazing. Every day they are both learning new things. They love each other so much. Every morning when we get up Eliza is so excited to see her sister.They hug each other and give kisses. It is in those moments that I feel blessed to have been able to carry and birth my two girls. While having two children is often overwhelming and difficult I can not imagine our world without them. They teach us both new things every day. Their sisterly bond is something I look forward to watching blossom.

We count our blessings each and every day as we have a lot to be thankful for. Our goal is to teach our girls how to be grateful for all of the things we have and learn to give back to those who have less then us. I hope they are able to learn that life is about more then the stuff we have. It is about the love and connections we have with each other. Happy Thanksgiving!!