Serial Multi-Tasker

I have a problem.

It involves more than one thing.
And it involves more than one thing, most of the time.

I think I have forgotten how to just do one thing at a time when I am 'relaxing.' Nate and I will go downtown to cuddle up to watch a TV show and it is like my laptop has a magnetic pull to my fingertips just beckoning me to open it up and surf the interwebs.

And if it isn't my computer, its the stack of magazines.

And if it isn't that, it is my phone.

Or the laundry that needs to be folded.
Or bills that need to be filed away.

Sometimes I hear the ding of the Tivo, telling me the show I was just watching is over, and I can't tell you what show it even was.

Now that I think about it, perhaps I am not all that good at multi-tasking.

It's more like uni-tasking with the TV on.

The Hunt

We hid just over 300 eggs yesterday.

90% of them were hidden for the kids.

The other 10% were ACTUALLY hidden hard for the adults with scratch-off tickets inside.

Scratch that.

They were supposed to be hidden hard for the adults.

Little did I know that my friend Summer's little guy, Otto, loves hoses so much that he went straight for our hose (of which their family egg was hidden so well in) and found it before the egg hunt started!

Otto, wanting the hose and not the egg, gave it to Max who was very proud to announce he already found his families egg. Look at how cute he is!!!

Some of the other families could have commissioned Max and Otto to help them as Emily and I (the officialy hider of the eggs) had to give out clues to those who may need to brush up on their egg hunting skills before next year.

My favorite part of the picture above, is my neighbor's (who are expecting their first in about 6 weeks), just chilling at the table in the background. It's crazy to think that next year at this time their little one will probably be crawling!!

Tillie even had a friend from daycare come!! Her mom and I worked together on Cheerios.

It was so fun to see so many people come, and to have so many kids in one place at one time. It was chaotic, but the good kind. I have SO many pictures that I don't feel like I can post them all or it may crash Blogger!

The McLean boys were the first to arrive, and Wesley informed me that already knew that he only got to have 12 eggs. Mama must have been practicing with him! :)

Everyone was dressed so festive in their bright colors and Easter duds.

Emily helped Tillie go through her loot.

Here is a group shot...okay a half of the group shot. Lots of little little ones stayed in the parents arms vs. risk the massive baby pile.

 

Nate and I spent all night talking about they day and filling each other in on what happened and the 'did you see', 'did you hear's' that we missed. Lots of good stories. Good memories. Which is what it is all about.

My favorite was as we were cleaning up we found an egg that clearly had chocolate and stickers in it (from the remnants of melted chocolate). The chocolate was gone, and the stickers remained with chocolatey finger prints on them.

Good lesson from this year: more chocolate, less stickers. :)

We are so happy that so many people made it out to make the party so much fun.

We can't wait to do it next year...even if it means hunting in the snow!!

1st Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Nate and I are always talking about traditions that we just cannot wait to start with Matilda. Most of these involve her being able to walk, talk and write her own name, but still. The excitement is there. I was inspired to start with an egg hunt as I remember the big Ostrem family egg hunt fondly.

Even though one could say walking is required for an egg hunt, we decided it was the perfect year to kick-off an annual tradition of an Easter Egg hunt with all of our favorite people in Minneapolis. Sure Matilda, couldn't walk, but lucky her for her she had a personal egg hunter in Emily!

I had so much fun planning it. Something fun to do all those nights when Nate was in class, and I had a sleeping baby. And so I went a little crazy..

We had birds nests...

Rabbit food.....

Peanut "Bunny" and Jelly...

Bunny Bait...

Fruit skewers with bunny marshmallows....

and more. We even had some "cotton tails"...because it wouldnt' be a party at the Hanson house without some cotton candy.

We wanted to make sure the sugar buzz kept going after the egg hunt was over, so we sent everyone home with a bag of peeps....

 

The weather turned from gray to sunny around noon, and it warmed up quickly. We were so lucky. I felt like Grandma Sherry must have been looking out for us.

There were 'pops' for the kids, and 'hops' for the adults.

And we got some super cute colored egg cartons that we customized for each kid. 22 kids under the age of 5. It was fun, and exciting afternoon.

This little one had a great time. Not so much interested in what was in the eggs, but VERY interested in shaking them. Which is a win-win. Because now Mama gets to eat her candy.... :)

More pictures of the event to come!

Holy Smokes

This week has been a week.

First business trip is complete. It only took two babysitters (a million thanks to Auntie Em, and Sina!) to help make it happen, but it is done.

I went to San Antonio for a meeting with our ad agency. I left at 4PM Tuesday, and was back around 9PM Wednesday but it felt longer than that. Nate and I got all new appliances in the kitchen Thursday, but found out it didn't come with install, so Nate is working on that.

The rest of the week has been spent catching up at work, catching up at home and prepping for this ridiculous easter egg hunt that we are hosting tomorrow. We are talking 22 kids under the age of 5. It should promise to make a great blog post.

Anyway, that is my story this week. Luckily, we cashed in on a baby gift that was given to us last summer....a week's worth of a personal chef, so we have been eating well without the cooking. A-mah-zing.

Caption This.....

Mealtime.
One of my favorite times of the day.
Also, one of the most challenging (for me anyway who is always working on my patience skills..)

I love it because it is so fun to watch Matilda discover new flavors. Like red lentils, roasted red peppers and quinoa, mango, asparagus, and always pear.

I love watching her learn how to use those little fingers. I even love how ridiculously messy she gets.

The patience part comes in because this child, as previously mentioned, is particular. She wants to feed herself.

But her effectiveness rate is lower than where her hunger bar is set.

So, we do a dual approach...she feeds herself and the Mama feeds her with a spoon.

Now, she has set rules with this spoon.

If it is filled with something she doesn't like, you better have some pear on the end or she will not take it.

If you don't get the spoon up to her face fast enough, and she if frustrated with her hands, she gets creative.

Now this look is my favorite. It is VERY predictable. If she is chewing, or just doesn't quite feel like another bite and you put the spoon in her face, she turns her little head away from you and makes this face:

                                

And no, that isn't a bad picture. She always closes her eyes and leans back, as if to make herself believe if she closes her eyes it will just go away.

So tell me, what do YOU think she is saying?

9 Months

Nine Months has brought:

Kissing

It started with her giving kisses to her bath toys every night, and now I get lots of kisses too. Daddy, not so much yet which of course does NOT sit well with him. 

Waving....

 (although it more of an inappropriate salute at this point)

Strong Preferences at the dinner table.

 As in, do NOT hold the spoon in front of this girls mouth if she isn't ready for another bite. She will let you know. I am sure this is to my parent's delight as I was quite possibly the world's worst eater growing up.

She weighed in at 19 pounds, 2 ounces. 27.5 inches.

At 9 Months, I am proud that I can (finally) say that she is rolling over. Yes, most Moms are probably touting their 9 month old crawling or walking. No we are not worried about it. We are relishing in it. I told Nate that I think we will get to feel like she is a 'baby' just a bit longer not having her mobile.

Although the rolling over has posed problems for her weekly pics.

The ninth month also brought her first serious little rash (described as infant psoriasis by the ped) that we treated with a little steroid oil.

Her 2nd ear infection.

And the first time we had to use a glycerin supposity to help us, ahem...get things moving.

I never thought I would EVER in a million years say we have a good sleeper, but the last few weeks have been stellar. 

Sleeping over 12 hours a night, and taking 2 GREAT naps on the weekend. Finally starting to outgrow that 3rd nap.

It is so fun introducing more and more foods to Matilda. She LOVES pear--seriously would eat it for every meal, but also loves Mango, nectarine, asparagus. We just started some cauliflower, lentils and red peppers too. So far so good. (although some have to be masked with pear :) )

Matilda really loves reading right now too. She especially likes storytime with Daddy because he has much better silly voices than me....

I love watching her with other kids the most. She absolutely loves other kids. Adults--not as much--they get the skeptically concerned face. But kids, there is kicking and clapping and grunting and laughing. A little social butterfly. A particular social butterfly.

Whirlpool Suite

As I was going through our excessive digital photo history (seriously, how does one manage so many pictures?), I realized I forgot to share one of the best parts of the WI Dells.

With two bedrooms, and three kidlets we were in a slight conundrum over where each would sleep. Finn got tucked in with Grandma and Grandpa. Leo slept with the Ekern sisters and their spouses.

But what about poor Matilda?

Not exactly the coziest of accommodations, but some people pay big money to have their own private whirlpool suite.

Plus since she continues to go to bed at an unreasonable hour--like 6:15PM--it was her own little respite and she slept straight through both nights like a champ.