Hot and Cold

This year, Thanksgiving started out with unseasonably warm temperatures that left us milking every last ounce of daylight possible out of the day. From a long walk, to park-time--we made the most of it.

This included Tillie 'moving rock' from the front of the house to the bottom step, then to the top step, then to the doorway entry, and then finally putting them back where she found them. Basically, all without any direction.

One by one. Rock by rock. I would love to know what was going on in her head. I fear she is going to be OCD some day.

It was fitting since Grandpa was sitting with her on the front stoop while this was happening, and he is the one that tells the tall tales of 'picking rock' as a young child (i am sure in his mind he was a mere toddler himself when he had to do this)...

 We also spent lots of time in the garage, or the outdoor play pen (i.e. the boat), as Matilda got her own fishing pole and tried it out for the first time.

And there was food. Yummmm. Yum. Food. My Mom said it was untraditional, but I don't see a world where a turkey that looks like this isn't traditional...combined with twice baked potatoes/sweet potatoes, and broccoli and pumpkin pie. 

And then.......

It got cold. Real cold. As in a almost 50 degree drop. Just in time for the highlight of the Thanksgiving weekend: the Twinkle Parade.

But we went. We bundled up. Brought blankets, and were quite honestly pretty happy that we actually made it through dinner since last year found us tending to our screaming child, and me ultimately leaving to go home about 15 minutes into the meal.

The cold got the best of Grandpa Twiggy as he was concerned about Tillie. 

To be fair, she did start crying, but it wasn't until too late that we realized she wasn't crying because she was cold, but rather had dropped a breadstick she was still working on.

What can I say? The girl loves food.

Next year, I am confident Matilda will make it through the entire parade. Me and/or Nate with this unborn child--still TBD. 

Thick as Thieves

As my sister says, Leo and Matilda will one day be 'thick as thieves".

They are only 9 months apart and every time we get together, their age difference seems to get smaller.

We were together last weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving early, and while you can certainly tell that they will indeed be partners in crime in the very near future, there is a 'love in you theory, not in practice' mentality right now as sharing, by either one of them is not a priority.

Leo loves Tillie as long as she doesn't touch his 'tee-tee', fishing pole, or food.

Tillie loves Leo as long as he doesn't touch her food (or try to steal back the tee-tee she just stole from him).

But they had some fun moments together.

Leo teaching Tillie how to run the cash register....

Playing Horsie on Nate....

And again on Nick....

Going shopping with Grandma's baskets...

And just playing together with books and 'cash' in hand.

Can't wait for Christmas to see this Dynamic duo in action!!!

One Night a Week

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am for Nate to be done with school. I know he is quite excited as well, as he is over saying "see you tomorrow" to Tillie two mornings a week, seeing her for only a few hours during the work week, and having to put together homework/papers/group projects during naptime.

And I, too, and also very excited to have my husband back fulltime.

Except for one small thing.

My one-night-a-week guilty pleasure dinner. No cooking. No prep. No muss. No fuss.

We cook a lot and we really enjoy it. And I wouldn't change it for anything. But I do love that one night a week I can have a non-dinner dinner.

Chicken Nuggets and a pan full of kale chips.
Cereal and fruit
Cereal and toast
Tilapia filet with side salad

Or in tonight's case: beef jerky, an apple and a red pepper.

No seriously, that is what I ate for dinner. And it was awesome. Don't judge.

Disco Bath

Since daily life can take on a little monotony  despite our best efforts, I have been seeking, searching and dreaming up small ways to change up the daily routine to bring some new smiles and wonderment.

Enter: Disco Bath Time.

I had read a fellow mom-blog who gave the idea of glow-in-the-dark bubbles.

Well, I couldn't find those--or should I say never randomly came across them.

But i DID find a bunch of glow sticks in the $1.00 spot at Target.

$1.00 later....viola!

A bathtime that was a little different.

A little more fun.

And a lot more glow-y.

Matilda got a kick out of it. I'm guessing the glow sticks will make another appearance some time soon.

Down with Daylights Savings Time

I will spare you my deep-seeded hatred for Daylights Savings time. I have a length rant about why, but it boils down to this:

My kid doesn't care that you switched the clocks.
And this kid has been up at 5:30AM or earlier every day since last Sunday. And I emphasize the earlier, because that has only happened once.

Nate and I lay in bed and offer up promises, prayers and gifts if she just goes back to sleep. But alas. She does not.

And so we get up, meander around like Zombies, and get a lot done before most people consider getting out of their warm and cozy bed.

We paint at 6AM...

Eat paint at 6:15 AM...

Take a long sudsy bath to get the paint off at 6:30 AM

Then we snuggled, read books, at breakfast and were out the door to our first adventure to the MN State Zoo, of which we were among the first to arrive for the 9AM opening.

Tillie loved watching the fish. I cringed to see her kissing the glass and thinking about all of the hands/mouths/god knows what that had preceded her. But this is how we build immunity? Right?? That is why I am telling myself anyway.

On a tip from my friend, Marie, we got the Zoo Membership pass. They open at 9AM (even on Sundays!!) and a big portion of the zoo is indoor. I am guessing we will see more of the zoo in the winter than the summer.

In the meantime, if anyone has any good tips for getting their little monsters (said lovingly of course) to sleep past 5AM, we are open to suggestions....

Second Time Around

Up until a week ago (where I was hiding my pregnancy and hadn't yet popped), there were literally days that being pregnant didn't cross my mind, where I would have to remind myself as I was swearing trying to stuff myself in my pants because no, I am not just getting fat...oh yeah! I'm pregnant.

Much different than the first time around. Where every day you think about it, plan for it, cherish it, overanalyze it.

The reality is this:
I have no idea what 'fruit' or 'vegetable' my baby is this week.
I have no idea what is going on with the baby--are it's fingers formed? Does it have eyelids yet?
I have no idea where this baby will sleep, and have thought about it for about 5 different fleeting seconds.
I am more worried about this child screwing up Matilda's sleep than I am labor. (*although Matilda is barely qualifying as sleeping these days---4AM wake-ups all week---shudder...*)

But now that I am "out", I am getting all the typical preggo questions, of which half I haven't actually dwelled on, but I will try now to answer.

How have you been feeling? Great. I cannot complain. I am so incredibly fortunate to have had two very easy pregnancies. Didn't throw up at all this time around. Minor nausea on a few mornings.

Have you been tired? No more tired than any other day. The tiredness from baby #1 hasn't really every wore off yet.

Any weird food cravings? No. Early on I craved salt, but perhaps that is because I was training for and di Hood to Coast about 9 weeks pregnant. Yeah--remember this? I did this pregnant. And my body wanted salt as a reward.

Any food aversions? First pregnancy I couldn't even consider Mexican food for about 12 months. This pregnancy I dont' have anythign that specific, but lord help me--somehow I got on some terrible Pinterest board on avocados where my entire newsfeed is ALL AVOCADO, and it grosses.me.out. Ugh. Note: normally, i adore avocado.

Are you going to find out the gender? Yes.

Do you have a preference? Umm. Obviously we will love any child. But if we have a boy, I hope he loves wearing girls clothes, because we have a lot of them.

Are you crazy? Ok, no one has asked me this. But I ask myself this almost every day. Verdict is still out (which means yes, I am debating with myself, which I suppose answers this question...)

And Baby Makes 4.....

We are expecting.

We are Pregnant.

We are also Nervous.

Anxious.

Excited.

In slight denial.

Ok MAJOR denial for me.

When Nate mentioned in June that he really wanted to start trying for a 2nd kid, I wasn't sure he was serious. But he was. And since it took us almost a year to get Matilda, I was game.

About 3 weeks later, I found out I was pregnant.

Hence the denial.

But as the due date creeps closer (March 28th, 2013), 

the nervousness wanes a little bit and the excitement waxes. 

And this week is the big half-way point for the pregnancy and also the week we find out if this little nugget is going to be a boy or a girl.

So that is the news. And I am working, re-working and thinking about a post that tries to capture all of the emotion of adding a second that I was totally unprepared for (like most things in motherhood).

BUT, in the meantime, I thought I would share the favorite moment of this pregnancy so far: telling my family.

Let me set the stage:

We had all just arrived up North for a week long vacation where the cabin is literally a revolving door of who is going fishing, for a boat ride, up to the Corner of Knowledge (i.e. the bar), etc.

So I tell everyone: "Let's get a big family picture before the chaos ensues."

And since we had all just gotten together, they all complied.

Although my Mom tried to get me in the picture, and my sister admitted to thinking I was a little 'johnny on the spot with the picture thing."

Then I told everyone "SAY CHEESE!" and this was the outcome:

One more, but this time I said: "Everyone say Matilda's going to be a BIG SISTER!"

And cue the best photo responses (all within like 10 seconds) one could capture for baby #2's baby books:

The "What did she just say" look...

The "Did we hear that right" look...

The "Grandpa has decided he DID hear right, but Rebecca still isn't sure" look....

Rebecca and Nick are in disbelief look

The full-out excitement look...

And I love the huge grin Nate has on his face the whole time.

The one Finn is emulating even though I am pretty sure he has no idea what is going on.

And how absolutely, Tillie has no clue what bomb has just dropped in her world.

The Hanson Family becomes 4.