Christmas

Well, we made it back to WI after our 9-day vacation for Christmas. Now we are relaxing as best as we can, trying to finish Samara's room, catching up on other things and I am working on finishing my senior thesis for my Masters. Hoping to be done by Friday! We are loving being off for two weeks!

Anyway, Christmas was great! After a difficult ride to MN on Saturday through a snowstorm, we went to my old church back in St. Paul. Mara loved it, but doesn't understand why she has to be quiet during prayer and can talk during worship, so we utilized the crying room, which was very nice. We then visited my grandpa and grandma on the farm and they loved playing with her. That night Mara left us her first present during a bath, if you know what I mean!! I freaked out.

Monday we visited with my high school friend Beth and Grant and their kids. Beth is expecting her 5th! CONGRATS!! That night we celebrated Christmas with my Grandma Lilly and amazed everyone with how big Mara is getting, how vocal she is, how much she eats and how well she plays. Tuesday we relaxed at my dad's with my uncle and yummy sandwiches. Wednesday we had Christmas at my mom's and Mara played with her cousins Kenny and Michael. Trav and Kenny and Grandpa Jerry took to the manmade hill outside as did Mara on her new sled. Later we tried on her new swimsuit and took a dip in the big tub. She loved it and splashed up a storm.

Thursday we were off to Madison to visit Grandpa Jim and Grandma Maria. We relaxed there a few days while Trav tried to snowmobile and worked on his truck. We visited with some of Trav's high school friends and did some shopping. I have learned that the Baby Bjorn, as great as it is, doesn't make Mara weigh any less or make my back hurt less...Anyway, Christmas there was great and Cousin Kameron had a good time making Mara laugh, that is until she bombed out and had to be put to bed. We finally came home Sunday and spent the next day cleaning up the house and putting things away.

Now we are finishing painting up Mara's room while she is playing with her new fav toys. She loves her stacking rings from Grandma and Grandpa Nonn, all her Dora toys from Aunt Shelle, was a hit in her Wild outfit at daycare on Monday, and is anxiously awaiting to get back in her sled (all our snow is melted).

Trav is hoping to get some snowmobiling in tomorrow while I travel to Chicago to hand in my paper. Then Friday we are off to do some skiing while Mara visits at daycare. Mom and Dad need some alone time, too!! Then back to the grind...Argh!!!

Anyway, pictures are coming. I haven't had the time to download them yet...Please be patient.

Big girl in her big girl chair!

I like reading in my chair, just like mommy!!

Here I am reading the Barnyard dance. I love this book!

Not quite done with my book, yet.

All done. Now it is time to cheese!

We had a busy weekend. Mommy played with friends on Friday, so I hung out with daddy and we played, but no forts, though. Shucks, too bad! Saturday I was tired and I think that mommy and daddy were, too, because they didn't wake me up in time to go to swim class. Guess mommy played too hard with her friends! That night mom and dad took me out for dinner and I had a little bit of fun, but I really wanted to eat what daddy was eating, something red with cheese on it. Made his breath smell yucky, though! Sunday was fun cause I got to sing with everyone at church and they didn't tell me to hush, I got to watch mommy talk to the church people, I got to play with other little friends after daddy shushed me again, and then daddy took me home to play more. Finally mommy came home and we watched these guys in purple on TV beat these other guys in red. It made mommy happy, but daddy was sad cause the guys in green lost to the guys in blue and black. I just laughed at him and then he laughed, too! I can't wait to see what daddy and I are going to do tomorrow!!!

I have a new trick. I suck on my lip! Mommy liked it so much, she made me do it while she took pictures! Silly!

In this video I am playing with my Barnyard Dance book. I guess this is super cool or something. I was just trying to get the dumb thing open!

*Mommy said I have to tell you that I can crawl now. Only she says that it isn't the right way. I like to push myself up on my arms and push backwards. Sometimes it is bad because it makes my toys further away, other times it is cool because I get a lot of attention when I do it. Anyway, I didn't do it when mommy had the camera out...HE HE HE...got her, didn't I?

Hearing Test Update

Mara had her hearing retested at CHW Wednesday. We needed a retest because the first time Mara had fluid in her ears that may have skewed the results. Well, thankfully she didn't have to have the same test as last time (where she had to stay asleep or she would have to be sedated). She got to sit in a sound booth with Travis and listen and respond to noises from the corners of the booth. Anyway, bad news is, she still has fluid, now in both ears. Her ENT Dr. cleared out the wax and did a timpanogram, which checks to see if the ear drum moves like it should. It did not, indicating that there is fluid in her middle ear canal, again. Luckily, no infection. So she has mild hearing loss because of the fluid, so we just have to talk to her closer and look at her face when we speak, but that is it. We will have an ENT recheck in January and discuss tubes in the ears to help the fluid drain. Then, if that is successful, do a hearing recheck. WHEW! What a day! Thankfully, I didn't have to go back to work, so Mara could rest at home, because believe me, the ordeal of having wax cleared out was NOT FUN!

Promised pictures

I am counting babies!

OH! Reading is so much work!

I can't turn the page without sticking my tongue out!

Hey all, here is my new booster seat for mealtimes. What do you think?

Playing isn't just for Mara, anymore!

It's for daddy and mommy, too!

Ready for the Badger game after a good dinner of Pizza Hut.

Close up of my cute tattoo (that took 15 minutes to scrub off Sunday morning before church!).

Here is mommy and me, but mommy likes watching the game more than posing! We won, by the way, or so I am told. I was sleeping...

Don't call CPS on me for this one! She just tipped over (no crying=no owey!)

Christmas is a-coming

We have a beautiful tree! I wanted to get a video of Mara when she first saw it, all decorated and lit up, but she woke up before we were done and we didn't have enough lights to cover it, so she didn't seem that impressed. I sure do like the fresh smell of pine in our casa, though!!!

We had a great weekend and have lots of fun pics and video to show, but you will have to wait till tonight to see it. Swimming continues to go well and she loves splashing me. She is sitting up so well, reaching for everything, eating her toes, and bouncing and clapping a lot. She is testing a few new sounds, like ada, but definitely has an affinity towards dada. We caved in and bought her a booster seat for eating. We used to use her Bumbo with a tray, but, sad to say, her thighs are too big to fit in it now! DON'T LAUGH! So now she has a cute rainforest booster seat for years to come!

We are expecting a snowstorm soon, so maybe we can get some pics of Mara in the snow this week. On Wednesday she has another appt. at Children's Hospital to get her hearing retested. We are praying that it will be accurate and she won't have any fluid in her ear like last time, otherwise we have to get retested again in 3 months! Hearing tests are VERY DIFFICULT, to say the least! More later...

Art Project, Kinda

Mara and I tried to work on our Christmas art project tonight, while Trav was sleeping (he is sick =( ). Needless to say, she hated it. She loved playing on the floor while I got things ready, but once the paint was applied, it was all downhill. Hopefully we can try again another time.

Mara exploring a wooden spoon.

ETC....

ETC....

Mara playing with the soap water that we washed up in (see following video...)

Trying so hard....

...to crawl. I did some internet searching on different techniques to help babies crawl and found one. We are intent on getting Mara to crawl (supposed to be good for the brain, I read), so we tried something new tonight.

Oh Yeah, I chopped all my hair off because most of it fell out. So instead of having long hair with spikes of new hair everywhere, I have short hair and can hide the spikes. I hope that this was due to baby hormones and nothing else!!!

Mara standing!!

My big little girl!

So here is the technique: You place the towel under their upper chest to push them up onto their hands and knees and help them get used to this position. Then you put a toy in front of them and assist them in moving forward toward it. Doesn't look like much, but it is great progress for our lady!!

Where have we been?

Sorry it has been so long in-between posts (special apologies to grandparents!), but I haven't taken a lot of time to take pics or video, we have just been going and going and going....

Anyway, we had a nice Thanksgiving in Madison with Trav's family. I saved this super cute outfit for her to wear and I thought that since it is 6 mo and she isn't too big for any of her other 6-month stuff, she would be able to wear this. OH NO! It was so tight on her. We kept it on for the dinner, but then changed her. We kept having to unbutton her top button on her jeans so she would be comfortable, sorta like me!

Anyway, All is well here. We are waiting for the 6-9" expected tonight, anxiously! I am not super excited to drive in snow, considering the horrible accident from last winter, but am praying that slowly all that anxiety dissipates. Later today we will go pick up our Christmas tree and take lots of cute pics of that.

Here are some pics and video from this morning and afternoon and Thanksgiving:

Here is Samara in her uber cute outfit. Notice the sleeves don't even hit her wrists! So sad!!

Mara and big cousin Kam.


Our Hoodie family. Trav was bundled up to finish putting up Christmas lights (can't let our neighbors outdo us!).

Here is Mara holding on to her swing, standing like a big girl. No luck on crawling, yet. In fact, she really doesn't even like being on her tummy much anymore, not since she became a big girl and can sit up!!

Here Mara is attempting to eat Cheerios for the first time. She liked to pick them up, but no put them in her mouth. Later, we put one in her mouth for her, but she didn't know what to do with it, so we took it out before she choked!!

etc....

I forgot to post this. This is video of Mara playing in her wagon. She really wants to eat it, so I let her try to eat the handle, but instead she hit herself in the head with it!

Catching Up...

Things have been very busy here, but we thought that we should catch you up on what is going on in the Nonn Household.

First, the Badgers don't suck. It's called rebuilding and bad recruiting. So before you ask for Beilema's head on a platter (or laugh at our misfortune), think: Alvarez had his share of bad years, also, and yet he is still revered as the King on Wisconsin football (do you remember in 2003 when we lost to the Gophers?). Plus, we just beat the Gophers and are going to be bowl eligible, yet again. 'Nough said.

Second, Mara is doing great! No crawling yet, but she is getting used to standing with support and playing with her toys by dumping them out of her ice cream bucket. Healthwise, she is getting over her third cold (yet another cold I gave her =( ), and finished her 6 months shots two weeks ago. She is starting to fit in some 6 month clothes and growing out of other 3-6 month clothes. She is also eating like a champ, and starting her stage two foods. I really like Earth's Best baby food. All organic (which I love!) and some really cool varieties, like Lentils and rice, pastina, and whole grain oatmeal with bananas and plums. She especially likes the peas and brown rice.

We are getting ready for Christmas already. I love it! We have also been busy with Trav out of town in NY, visiting the OCC shop (and working); while I have been busy with my after-school center, church, a baby shower, swim lessons with Mara, work, and family life. We are praying for snow so Mara can enjoy her first sledding experience on a piece of cardboard, or at least make a snow man (more like watch Mom and Dad make one).

Anyway, enough talking. Here are some pics and video:


Mara's first stocking, courtesy of Target's $1 aisle.


Trav and Samara, playing hide-n-seek with me.


Mara's first item of clothing she grew through.


Mara playing with her ice cream bucket.

Here is Samara playing with her ice cream bucket. She is trying hard to gnaw on her toys through her bucket, to no success! Good times at the expense of my daughter!!

Swim Class

Off we go to our first swimming class for Samara. Not sure if we will get any pics, but I will let you know how it goes!!

Halloween costume, at last!

Here are pics of Samara's costume. No wonder she won best costume! Needless to say, our neighbors Ken and Cathy loved her outfit as did their grandchildren.


Mara and Daddy


Mara and her butterflies. One bootie on, one bootie off.


Mara, looking like a tough linebacker!

Here is video of Mara in part of her costume doing lots of talking. Near the beginning, she sounds like she is saying, 'I like them' when I ask her if she likes her butterflies, near the 24 second mark.

PS: The video is especially for Grandma Swanson, Grandma Nonn, and Grandma Vickerman. Pay careful attention to her shirt!! =)

All right, this is the last post tonight!

Mara being a big girl tonight, playing with her cat and butterflies for the first time while sitting up.

Mara and Trav playing with her Leapfrog game from Grandma Nonn.

Random nights...

Here are some pics from evenings at home and videos, too.


Mara hard at work eating her rattle. We are waiting for that first tooth.


Mara in her first winter coat. I refuse to buy a pram, so I am trying to get her to fit in a 12 month coat. No luck. Obviously. This one goes back to Target in favor of a smaller one from Old Navy.

Here, I caught Trav giving Mara a bath and singing his favorite tune. Absolutely adorable. I love my family!

Pumpkin Carving pictures

Here are our carving pics:


My pumpkin that looks like Mike from Monster's Inc.



Mara and I in front of our creations.


Mara tasting pumpkin for the first time.

Mara watching Daddy hard at work on his masterpiece.

Mara having fun in her jumparoo.

Mara studying her jumparoo pals.

Halloween is coming

And I can't wait to post pictures of Mara in her homemade costume! That is all I have to say today...=)

Holy Porker!

Mara had her 6 month check-up. She shot up to 75% on weight, 16.3, up to 50% in height (25 something) and stayed at 25% in head circumference. She has quite the cute little belly. She is getting over her cold finally and had a great weekend. She really likes hockey games, as we were in Madison for the Badger game against the hated Gophers, but we still left early because she was very tired and sleeping in a car seat is preferred than in our arms in plastic seats in a cramped arena!

We will hopefully post some pics and a couple of cute videos of Trav and Mara from this weekend. Please be patient!!

Fall Fun

Here are some random pictures from the weekend.

Great group pic after lunch with college friends. L-R: Derek, Julie, Danny, Trav, Samara and I.

Trav decided it would be fun to put some pomade in Mara's hair and style it. Nice job!

Mara before going down for a nap on Sunday. She had a fever of 102.3 so we used cool compresses to help her. Needless to say we couldn't contain our laughter at how she looked!

She may be sick, but she is still a happy baby!

A praying mantis on our garage window.

Mara exploring the mantis (or jus staring at the grass).

Halloween

I don't normally like Halloween at all. But I thought that I would MAKE (yes, that's right) a costume for Samara. That was quite the adventure! At first she looked like a filled donut, but with some modifications, she is looking pretty cute in it. Granted, there really is no point in Trick-or-Treating, since everyone would know that she can't eat the candy and only mom and dad can, but we figure we can show her off to our neighbors Ken and Cathy and give them a good laugh and have her answer the door for the other multitude of kids that come to our house.

PS: Since when do towns/cities schedule when Trick or treating is? Our city says kids can only go out from 5-8pm on Friday? What the heck is this junk? Maybe it is a Wisconsin thing...

HA HA HA

I have Christmas cards done already! I had to brag, cause this has never happened. I am lucky if I actually send them out! But since we have such a cute little blessing, why not send out pics of her?

Anyway, our weekend was full on Saturday and boring on Sunday. Our great friends from MI (still Badger fans) Derek, Julie and their adorable son Danny were in town on their way to Mad-town, so we had lunch. Great time! Danny is such a stitch, I can't wait till Mara can talk! Anyway, then we headed to a wedding reception where Mara was very popular, even when she screamed and refused to sleep! But Sunday her ear infection fever came back and we stayed in all day, even from church, even though it was nice outside. Daddy worked on finishing Mara's room while I caught up on odds and ends projects that desparately needed completion and Mara slept most of the day. But we also took our Christmas pictures! Can't wait for everyone to see them in December! SUPER CUTE!

Sorry, no peaking!!

New talents

Oh, she is sitting so well now. I caved in yesterday when we were at Kohl's buying a Christmas outfit, and bought her the stacking cups toy. Super cool. Anyway, she loves it and sits forever just throwing it around and banging it on her legs or my head. Fun times had by all! Too bad she gets tired at 5:45pm and has to take a nap...=( We love playing with her.

Update: she is getting over her cold but has her first ear infection. Amoxicillin stains and that sucks. We'll take some sweet pics this weekend, even though it is going to be crazy busy!

More pictures

Here are some random pics that I forgot to post. The last one is Mara's first school picture. I have no idea how they got her to sit so still and smile, but hey, Well Done!



Fall colors on our way down Hwy 61 to I-90.


Mara and her leaves.


More leaves.



School picture

We're back

We've been pretty busy. Here are some updates:

Mara is talking like crazy and her first word was: 'Da da.' Last Saturday she was playing with her aunt when Trav walked into the room. She took one look at him and proceeded to yell, 'Dada!' We are so proud of our lady!

We went back to MN for a wedding and took the opportunity to teach Mara some musical skills with Grandma, play with leaves, and have fun.

Before we left home, we went to the nearby pumpkin farm for our first pumpkins. We haven't carved them yet, but watch out for some messy pics once we do!

Mara officially loves bananas, rice cereal, and carrots. Messy, messy, messy...


Trav reading Brown Bear to Mara.


The pumpkin farm.


Mara likes to sing and play.


Playing with leaves.


Preparing for Christmas photos.


Our Mozart!