Troy

Too funny. Just as I write about the daycare Sevea does something that reminds me that daycare will teach her many new things. Troy is home from work around 4:00 so he will likely see the kids at the daycare. Well Grace has been here a couple times and wondered about Troy and so I repeatedly told her his name was Troy for her to get to know him. Well before this there wasn't many opportunities for Sevea to hear his name or mine. Sevea now says daddy and Troy when talking about him. She is pretending to talk on the phone and just started talking to Troy. It was cute. Troy, where are you? Troy home? Too funny. Thanks for not growing up too fast Miss Sevea Paige!

Signed, paid, and ready!

Today is an exciting day for me; I had my first child signed up for daycare!!! Let me take this moment to say wooooooo hooooooooo!!! It was a long time coming since this is the infant spot that interviewed in September. The baby wasn't even born and now is 10 weeks old. I always had a good feeling from the mom but I guess they were the parents that just took their time in making the decision. As in the baby starts on Tuesday and signed up today :) I'm really excited to have officially started the business. So I semi-started since I have a 2 year old who is on a drop-in basis for right now, but it is so different to have a full-time spot filled. So long gym time in the mid-morning. So long sleeping in till 7:00 or later. So long being able to do whatever Sevea and I feel like at any moment. So long stay-at-home mom. It makes me sad. I enjoyed my time with just Sevea. I enjoyed the freedom we had. But I know this next step will be even more enjoyable.....although it does come with drawbacks like any job. It is exciting to think this whole brand new adventure could actually work.

Isn't she adorable!

Holding my first deposit!

First bandaid

I got my first bandaid today. I think it is pretty cool but still attempt to pull it off every few seconds :)

The rest of Christmas 2010

After our time at the grandparents, we headed home to relax and have some family time. Sevea was really excited to open the gifts under the tree once we got home so we put everything away and got right to it. That is after we opened our stockings! This is my favorite part of Christmas and I get so excited for this part every year. And I am not talking expensive stocking stuffers...candy will do. We always had Christmas eve set for opening presents so I loved waking up in the morning on Christmas day and getting something more no matter what it was. Troy surprised me with a favorite perfume I had a while ago....I still love it :) Sevea got way more than we intended to get her this year but we did end up purchasing quite a bit of cheaper stuff and pretty much all of it is useful for daycare. It was fun to watch her rip the presents open...but her ripping them open is taking little pieces off and making sure to put them in a pile. Too funny!

We hadn't prepared enough for our traditional Christmas meal (only three years running now) so we had a gourmet dinner of frozen pizza and tator tots. This was just fine in preparing us for prime rib, roasted baby red potatoes, roasted carrots, and green bean casserole. Troy really out did himself this year with a rub on the meat. Each year I think it will just get better and better. Never thought this would have been our choice for a tradition but it is something I look forward to once a year...especially due to the price :)

Christmas at Grandma/pa's 2010

Since my family had celebrated Christmas around Thanksgiving time, Troy and I only needed to worry about getting time with his parents. What a relaxing holiday this was for us. We truly enjoyed the holiday. We made it to Marshall early afternoon and spent the afternoon playing with Sevea. Troy's mom saved a lot of his old toys and Sevea remembered all the cars from last time. She really enjoyed her time with gMama and Papa. It was so great for Troy and I to watch them interact. There is something so great as a parent to see your child spend time with the parents you love so much. Troy and I have many wonderful memories with our grandparents and we feel fortunate that Sevea is making those memories too. After some play time we enjoyed a delicious ham supper with amazing mashed potatoes, california blend, and rolls. My mom loves ham and it was a staple for us growing up at the holidays. Recently we've done many different things when it comes to dinner on my side so I thoroughly enjoyed the good staple :) After the delicious meal retired to the living room for presents! Sevea sure was spoiled and Troy and I got some good stuff too. Sevea stole the show helping everyone open their gifts. Good thing she is the only kid! It was great to see her so excited  but the best was yet to come. We awoke on Christmas morning to Jaime cake (monkey bread)....I think there should be a rule that I wake up every morning that way. Afterward Sevea noticed Santa made a special visit to grandma/pa's this year. She pulled down the towel and found a sand/water table! I wasn't sure how she would react but she was so excited. We can't wait to set it up and enjoy it. Although the presents were great, the time we had was better. Relaxing and filled with love. Just the way it should be.

She did it!

So remember earlier how we finally were able to get Sevea to actually sit on the potty by reading her books? She has done really well at sitting on the potty but has never gone more than a tinkle once on the potty. That is until today! We were getting ready to leave for Christmas at Gma & Gpa Appeldorn's. Sevea was naked and we asked her if she wanted to sit. She did not. She went towards the kitchen and ended up tinkling a little on the carpet and told Daddy right away...ewww! Dirty! So we put her on the potty just to teach her she needs to go on there. Well what do you know...she went!!! And a lot. We were sooooo excited. And she was too. It was so cute to see her so excited about what she had done. We talked about it later in the day and she was still really excited about what she had done. Now it is just up to mom and dad to take the plunge into real potty training. We think she is ready and it will just take more work on our end to help her get there. Hopefully it is easier than we anticipate :)

Driver's License

I renewed my driver's license today. Yes I should have done this in September but for one reason or another I just never got it done. For those of you who don't know you have one year after it has expired to renew it before you have to take a test again. So I knew I was fine and just didn't put it on the top of the list of things to do. Anyway back to my story...growing up as a fat girl I never liked the number I saw on the scale. As it went down I enjoyed seeing that but still wanted to reach a magical number I thought was appropriate for me (I think this was the number weight watchers said would be a good goal). Well this number was the one number I have put on my driver's license since I can remember. It was my goal. Sadly I never obtained this goal. I got really really really close around Carissa's wedding but then packed on 10-15 pounds before getting pregnant with Sevea. Since then I have longed to get near that number. It seemed like I would never get there. Until I put these last 2 months to good use. Taking 13.5 pounds off feels great. It feels like I found a little bit of the Amy before being a mom to Sevea (although I would take the extra weight for her!!). Sevea was a great motivator for hitting the gym daily. I gave up drinking to help with the weight loss. This one I wasn't sure if it would help. But I am surprised that I think it did. I didn't drink that often but Troy and I would share some wine on a weekend or have a beer together some nights. Although having a drink or two doesn't add too many calories I think that spiraled into me snacking more at night than I would have. I cut back on my food intake during the day knowing I was likely to eat more at night. Plus choosing higher protein food really does work! Back to the story....so small steps helped and paid off in the end. And the point of the story, I renewed my license with my actual weight. I could have easily marked down my goal weight since I was pretty close to that but I felt good. I felt good about all I have done in the last two months. I vowed to use these months and I am so proud of myself for doing it. I will reach my goal and surpass it...I now know I have it in me again!

Mountain of snow

In honor of the additional snow we are getting today, I thought it would be a great time to share some photos we took after the recent snow storm where we got what...2 feet of snow or something. It felt like it just wouldn't stop. I asked Troy before the snow season started if he wanted a snow blower this year. He said, "nah..I think we can shovel it". I wonder what he would say now after shoveling a mountain of snow. I got out and helped him twice but I can't always help since someone has to watch Sevea. So he surely wasn't in love with the amount of snow we got...especially since his snowmobile is still being repaired. All hard work and no play. Well he did get to play a little in the snow with Sevea. (Side note...anyone know where you can buy a relatively decent priced pair of adult snowpants. We tried Target and Wal-Mart and don't want to spend a boatload for skiing type ones) Anyway Sevea loved the snow. She did not want to come inside one bit. It was pretty cold after the snowfall so we had to force her inside. Look forward to spending more time in the new snow we are getting!!

Mountain of snow compared to Sevea

I am not happy we had to come in :(

Done, done, done, done, done, done, done!

I am done!! I made it through my 7 classes of the quarter. This week was really rough but I made it through it and even managed to get everything turned in by tonight so I can enjoy my Friday to do whatever I please. Oh how relieved I am!! I better enjoy some of my candy and relax for the next two weeks. The next and last quarter has 6 classes ready and waiting!

A slinky and 13 years later

Yesterday Troy and I celebrated 13 years together. It is crazy to think of how far we have come in those 13 years. It all started with Carissa being oh so kind to drive everyone around town (we were pretty much the only ones with a license in the group....remember this is sophomore year in high school!). Troy and I sat in the back of the good ol' GEO and flirted with each other. Troy found a slinky and tried to get me to play with it. Little did I know this was his way to hold my hand...again high school :) We were so young and had so much to learn and experience. I never expected Troy to be the one for me but I am glad that God helped guide me in the right direction. He has become the most amazing husband and father that I could ever have imagined....actually better! It has truly been a blast spending the last 13 years of my life with him and I look forward to many more. (Troy commented that in 13 more years Sevea will be 15...now that is craziness!)
We took the later part of the night to enjoy some dinner together. The Zimmer's were kind enough to come watch Sevea so we could go enjoy some sushi at a place in Eden Prairie. We had a groupon so we needed to spend $40. Boy this ended up being a lot of money when one roll of sushi may only cost $6. We got a few rolls to share and they were amazing! We shared an entree and started with edamame. We had never had this before and we really enjoyed it. It was a great dinner for our anniversary. Not the typical chinese food that started the relationship but a new favorite :) We ended the night with some Cold Stone ice cream and cuddled on the couch together. It was a short night but an excellent one. I already look forward to next year!

Sevea making an anniversary card

Giving the card to daddy

Lily you can not have this candy...see how excited I am!

Good memories

Slinky - started it all!

Here's to many more years of happiness!!

New Bath Time Fun

Sevea has always loved the bath. Okay that is technically a lie. When she was a newborn she hated it since she would get cold. But we fixed that pretty quickly by just putting a towel on her belly to keep her warmer. So she has loved the bath since. She doesn't need much to entertain her in the bath. But like all kids she does love new toys. For Christmas her auntie Angie bought her some bath crayons. Ever since we put them in the bath it is all she plays with. She doesn't even write with them all the time, she may just talk with them in her hand and roll around in the water. We love the new crayons too since it is another opportunity to learn colors :)

THANK YOU AUNTIE ANGIE!!

 

 

Growing up so fast

Good morning!

What a way to wake up this morning. I had to wake up a little earlier today in order to get to an appointment and was awoken with a kiss and a hug from Troy. He then states that he made me breakfast. I could smell something really yummy and wondered what he had made. I come to find out he made muffins this morning! What a nice surprise. I had bought those cheap muffin mixes to make for Sevea. I planned to make one this morning and without even telling Troy of my plans he made them before I could. Although it doesn't take much more than adding water to a mix and putting it in the oven, it was such a thoughtful nice way to wake up this morning. Sevea and I were both reminded how great Troy is! Sevea ate 3 muffins herself!

Getting Creative

We've been pretty lucky so far that Sevea isn't much of a climber or a risk taker. But she is slowly learning and we actually have a lot of fun watching her figure out new ways of doing things. How could you not enjoy moments like this?

Brrr Ice Cream in December

Sevea and I went to the grocery store the other day to get some supplies for Christmas dessert making. We were in the ice cream topping section since I needed caramel for Caramel Apple Cheesecake bars (I'll have to let you know how they turn out!). Anyway she spotted the ice cream cones. I thought it was pretty neat that she remembered what they were since she has had I think 2 in her whole life. But she must love them because she kept talking about them. I decided I would buy a box since we had some ice cream that needed should be eaten up anyway. I promised her one for snack and although it is December and cold out, she truly enjoyed the cone.....the cone is what she ate first like expected!

Lazy Sunday

Lately my Sunday's have been all but lazy. Schoolwork has consumed them since Mid-November for sure. There is an end in sight though...I'm done for this quarter on Friday December 17th. So I am thinking I might partake in the lazy Sunday Troy and Sevea shared recently. Looks mighty tasty fun to me!

How precious

There is nothing better than to wake up listening to your daughter talking. Sevea was quietly talking this morning and I could hear, "Cissa-No, Andrew-No, Mommy Daddy-No, Lucy-No, Lily-No....Mommy Daddy." She was just too cute. I wondered to myself what kind of conversation she was having with herself. I go into her bedroom and it all made sense. Here is what I found:

She was talking with her "friends" in her crib. It was adorable how she lined them up in the crib and had a little conversation with them. I wonder if she was trying to pick their names :)