Does Anyone Know a Good Lawyer?

Because my Mom is going to need one.

Once Mars Company finds her spot on duplication of the Peanut M&M.

Seriously, how FREAKIN adorable is this Halloween costume. 

The idea came to us way back when she was such a tiny little thing because we called her Peanut M&M (for Matilda Mae).

And I mentioned it to my Mom and asked if she could come up with something.

Not only did she come up with 'something' but it is ridiculously cute and absolutely perfect.

 and yes, that is a candy corn fabric lining on the inside in case you were wondering.

I cannot wait to get Matilda into it!

Translation Tuesday: Hat Practice

Yes, Hat Practice.

It's something we do in the Hanson Household on a pretty regular basis as our child is not exactly fond of hats, but unfortunately lives in a climate that requires said garment.

And so we do hat practice. When Tillie is in a good mood, Nate usually calls out "HAT PRACTICE" and we throw the hat on her and let her wear it around the house.

She actually is becoming much more amenable to wearing the hat. So long as it doesn't fall over her eyes. Then, watch out.

Plus, I think she looks pretty adorable during hat practice. Don't you?

18 Weeks

Tillie keeps growing and stretching out. She such a long thing and she seems to carry her weight in her cheeks and thighs! :)

In the past few weeks, Tillie has started giggling a lot more, and has truly found her fingers. Soothing herself with her pointer and middle finger ALL THE TIME (see below)

The good news is that this means she can soothe herself back to sleep when she wakes up, which also means Nate and I are starting to get more sleep than we are used to. It also means the end (*hopefully*) of the paci war.

And it means we have a finger sucker. But I am okay with that. 100%.

Because she is a pretty darn cute finger sucker.

She is starting to take notice of her feet more, and rocking side to side on her back but still no rolling over and she hasn't truly 'found' her feet. I am just waiting for her to enjoy the 'happy baby' yoga pose. 

Other firsts for week 18 included her first extended time away from Mom and Dad while she hung with Grandma and Grandpa in Viroqua. It was also the first time in about 6 weeks she slept for 12 hours without waking up! And the very first time ever that she slept through the night without a feeding. HOORAY!

Lesson I learned this week: Leaving your baby for a week, when you haven't been away from her longer than 3 hours, is really tough. But she will be okay, and so will you.

Four Years and Counting

It's hard to believe that four years have already passed since Nate and I got married. It's hard to believe that we have been dating each other for nearly FOURTEEN years. But what is actually the hardest thing to do is imagine my life without this guy.

And we are so lucky to have incredible people in our lives that get us and the need for 'us' and volunteered to watch our little peanut while we flew across the Pacific to Hawaii.

While, we did spend a lot of time talking about Tillie, missing Tillie, looking at pictures of Tillie...

...We also took advantage of our baby free time to do some things we couldn't have done with a baby. Like go on a helicopter tour of the island with NO DOORS... (not a safe activity period let alone with a babe)...but seriously incredible and something you should absolutely do if ever in Kauai. Believe me...we were NOT going to do it. But you start to scratch the surface of the island's beauty and you just have to see more.

We also did some smaller hikes. I say smaller because we had some bigger ones planned but a discovery of MANY spiders of significant size one those hikes, the long ones were promptly canceled by me. I'll admit it. I can't do spiders. I can pretend they aren't there...but once I see one there is nothing you can do.

Nate kindly pointed out the million's of spider webs in this cave, which is why the picture is only of him. I stayed far back and got good use out of my zoom...

We also got to enjoy a lot of good food. It was very nice to not have to worry about anything being too spicy, or having nuts, or citrus for Matilda. And I went nuts with Tomatoes. The only restriction was no dairy. And to my delight the shave ice we enjoyed in Maui was just as popular in Kauai. And was still has big as my head!

We continued to strike out on the 'take a beautiful scenic drive' activity (last one thwarted was the Ring of Kerry in Ireland) as the fog was so dense when we went to Waimea Canyon you could barely make it out oonce we got up to the top of the mountain. But we got the best of it when we took it in my helicopter a few days later..

But aside from the beautiful beaches, tropical location, and sunshiney weather the best part was just getting to hang with my hubby. Doing things like getting groceries really quickly. Or doing things slowly like reading in a beach chair and then taking a nap. Talking about non-Tillie things. Annnndddd..talking about Tillie things.

And while we very much enjoyed our time away, we were both anxious to get back. Because while Nate and Greta were the original 'us', it just doesn't quite feel right without Matilda now*. The new 'us'.

*Please note to any babysitters reading: this does not mean we are not interested in babysitting services in the future. :)

Reunited

And it feels so good.

We were welcomed back to Minnesota by my Mom, Aunt Janet and of course the star of the hour: Tillie!! Nate and I were so excited to see her we practically ran through the airport to get to them. It was so great to have such a festive welcome home.

More to come on our vacation and let's be honest---Tillie's vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's!

To Leave or Not to Leave

That is the very very difficult question.

And one I have been grappling with ever since Nate and I booked a vacation to Hawaii. Do we bring Matilda or leave Matilda?

I am sure MANY people out there have MANY opinions on this, but the bottom line is that Nate and I need this time.

For ourselves. For US. To reconnect. Prepare for my return to work. Charge our batteries back to 100%.

While I am sure people can connect the dots from my posts the last 4 months, new parenthood has not been super easy for us. It has felt like the hits keep on coming from reflux, to food allergies, to extreme sleep regression--we just can't get our feet under us.

I had a picture of our lives as a family of 3, and that picture is still out of focus. It is getting clearer as Matilda gets older, but the reality is that it has been extremely hard. Exhausting. Emotional. Seemlingly impossible at times. And yes, I know that parenthood is hard. And yes, I know that we will never sleep like we used to. But getting up 5-10 times in an 8 hour night for 6 weeks straight (once the child is almost 3 months old) is NOT normal or standard. Finding blood flecks in your childs diaper for 3 months and trying to figure out what she is allergic to by altering your diet is NOT normal or standard.

And so, we are leaving Matilda. To catch up on us. Catch-up on the us we were before we were parents. Sleep. Eat. Work-out. Adventure.

Does this make us bad parents? To some, perhaps. But I know in my heart, I will enjoy my last 3 weeks of maternity SO much more after having time with Nate. And I know that Matilda will grow up much happier with happy parents.

And she is staying with the next best thing to us, so I know she will be in good hands (probably better than my own), and it will be great for her to get out of the moan and droan of life in Minneapolis with us.

So, we fly to Hawaii. And I am sure I fly to Hawaii with tears streaming down my face as I have yet to be away from this child for more than a few hours. And I KNOW I will miss her terribly. But I also know this is a good thing for me. For us. For our family.

Translation Tuesday: Paci War

Nate and I have always had our 'own little language' filled with random quotes from TV, movies, inside jokes with friends, etc that we then take and use (and sometime abuse) and morph into our own way of communicating with each other.

Kind of like I imagine twins would. But more along the lines of  two people who have been dating each other for over 13 years.

And so, I present to you Translation Tuesday--which will feature our most popular terms that an adult trying to have a conversation with us could be confused by and perhaps even think we are crazy.

Paci War: having to give Matilda the pacifier MORE than 5 times over the course of 15 minutes to get her to go to sleep, go back to sleep, stay asleep...you get the picture.

How you will hear us using it:

"If I have to have one more paci war today, I will go insane."
"Man, I can't believe Matilda went down without a paci war."

Hopefully the paci, wars become less and less common as we are planning on taking that sucker (pun intended) away from Tillie cold turkey pretty soon....we'll see how that goes since this girl has loved her paci since the day she was born...

Baptismal Bliss

It was an absolutely GORGEOUS weekend in Viroqua. We all gathered to celebrate Matilda's baptism. My Mom had an amazing gown made from her wedding dress and my Grandma Sherry's wedding dress. It was stunning, and Matilda looked beautiful in it. .

I think she really liked the satin--she was really working it. I am guessing this is not going to be her last gown...

Matilda was an angel during the service which was a huge relief to me. My favorite part of the ceremony was when Pastor Jordan took Tillie and walked her up and down the aisle, and talked about how everyone in the congregation was now a part of Tillie's life, and that they welcomed her into their community, their family, with open arms. It was incredibly touching, and a powerful moment to realize that the feeling of community and/or family can come from anywhere and often times it is where you least expect it.

I am thankful for the people that are in Matilda's life that love her unconditionally, and will truly teach her how to live a positive life filled with optimism, hope and happiness.

We Came For Beans

I've always said that Target carries a $100 deductible. You come in for a few things. You leave with $100 worth of merchandise.

And with a baby, this has only worsened.

Nate wanted to make chicken burritos. We had no beans. 

Very easy solution to the problem: walk to Target to get some.

Yup. We came for beans, and left with this:

1) Sunscreen: for our upcoming Hawaii trip.
2) French Bread--because it is the only decent bread I have found that doesn't contain milk, egg, or soy.
3) Candy---because I literally LIVE on candy since no other baked goods on in the cards for me.
4) Extra bottles for my Mom and Dad who are watching Tillie while we are in Hawaii.
5) Girls socks. Because they were cute and I figure a baby in minneapolis can never have too many socks or hats.

Oh, and the beans.

So, a $1.08 purchase turned in to a $38.96 purchase. Not bad, Target. Not. Bad.
Good thing you employ my husband as it helps my guilty conscience for spending so much at your store.

15 Weeks

15 Weeks has come and gone, and our little Peanut keeps getting bigger and surprising us with firsts.

She survived her first cold the last few weeks. Snotty, congested, coughing cold. I didn't know a sneeze and cough could be so cute, but it was. 

Tillie had her first GIGGLE this week which was incredible. And who better to get the first giggle out of her than Grandma, who came up for a quick visit. Of course Nate is super jealous and even though he doesn't explicitly tell me, I can tell he is really working it to try to get a giggle out of her.

And another big first: Tillie rolled over!

I am not sure that it 'counts' officially, but it counts for me! 

She was under her activity mat on a small pillow, and kicked her little legs over (see below) and to her surprise and mine....

she flipped right over onto her tummy.

She is 'talking' more and more, and has a new sort of squeal/shriek that she is trying out. 

Personally, Nate and I would probably take a little less talking and a little bit more sleeping if we had to choose.

It's a good thing this girl is darn cute.

The Elusive Lincoln Lawyer

Two months.

That is how long we have had the Lincoln Lawyer rented from Blockbuster. Two. Months.

Nate kept pushing me to take it back, but I was firm. No. I wanted to watch the movie. It got great reviews and we will definitely be able to watch a movie again, right?

The answer is yes. But it will take you two months.

Well Friday night we snuggled the little Tillie bean into bed, and then we crept downstairs to enjoy our comfy couches and nice TV. NOTE: this is a very risky maneuver as it seems Matilda just knows when we go down there and wakes up immediately.

We had pre-popped popcorn so as to not wake her up.

We started the movie. And held our breaths (Okay,  I held my breath--Nate isn't' superstitious) as the minutes ticked by.

And as the closing credits started to roll up the screen, a single tear rolled down my cheek. SUCCESS! We did it. We watched a movie. In our house. Downstairs. Without the baby waking up. Boom.

Now, it may take us 2 more months to watch another one. Which of course means we have to be very selective in our viewing options. Any recommendations of must-see movies out on DVD?

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Matilda is one lucky lady. I mean we knew this already, but when Nate called and told me he got Matilda the BEST Christmas present ever, I couldn't help but bug him until he told me what it was.

(drum roll....)

Nate put Matilda's name on the Packers season ticket wait list.

I mean, look at this girl. You can tell she already loves the Packers, even though she was born in MN. Can't you just imagine her when she is 60 years old taking her kids to the game?