Love Notes

Addie is quite a note writer and list maker. She loves to write her teacher, her friends and sometimes us. Some of you may have received one of her notes. If you haven't it is actually my fault. I've made the mistake of suggesting people she could write. I have since learned the minute I do, that person is blacklisted. Clearly they must be written of her own volition or no note at all. We'll see how long the statute of limitations will be on some of you. Hopefully you'll get one soon.

Her notes are very cute and insightful.

 A Christmas note to her teacher:

Dear Mrs. Carlstedt,
How have you been? My baby brother was born on October the 8th. My big brother was born on July the 13th. I was born on April the 11th. Have a great Christmas this year. I love you so much. I want to be a teacher when I grow up to. I love Ethan and Owen. Owen is so chubby. Ethan is nice to me sometimes. I help with Owen. I help Ethan find things like his Minecraft notebook and Legos that fall on the floor, clean his room. He sometimes helps me clean my room. Sometimes I clean my room by myself. I help him he helps me. I don't no (know)  if I want to be a teacher, a cheaf (chef) or a candy maker or not. Have you watched a lot of Christmas movies? I have watched a lot of Christmas movies.

Love, Adelaide Marian Nelson

A birthday card to her dad:

Dear Daddy,

Have a Happy Birthday. I can't wait to try your birthday cake! I can't wait to tell the teachers it's your birthday today! I wish it will snow so we can make a big snowman with some gloves, and hat, stiks, snowballs one big one, one small one , one medium one, and a carot nose, and cole eyes, buttons and mouth.

Love your doter, Adelaide

Birthday card #2 to her dad: (Incidentally, Randal suggested she write me a card on my birthday two weeks later. Blacklisted. I got 2 very nice sentences, but that's it.)

Dear Daddy,

Have a Happy Birthday. You are turning 36. I hope you get something nice. I don't know what I want to get you for your birthday. Today I wonder what to give you? I wish I know what to give you but I can't think of something. Mom is giving us two choices but I can't decide what to give you. Just got to think of something I supose. I'm so excited for your birthday. It starts at 5 in the morning. I hope you get a shredder.

Love, Adelaide

My favorite of her lists:

The get ready for school list

wake up from bed.

eat breakfast

take a shower

get dressed

brush your teeth

get your backpack

get your lunch box

go to the door

get in the car

get out of the car

I sure love this girl!

1/8/13

Three months! Owen gets very serious when the camera comes out..

Finally a small smile...

And then a very definite, "Get this camera out of my face!"

3 things from Owen's third month:

1. His hair got a little thinner and his girth a little wider (yet still oh, so adorable!)

2. Crossed 4 state borders with hardly a fuss.
3. Moved out of Mom and Dad's room into his big-boy crib. (sniff. sniff.)

Blessing

We were very lucky to bless Owen with both sets of grandparents and Jordan's family while in Texas. 

We realize having waited for the opportunity to bless him with his grandmas and grandpas Owen is a bit of a giant now. And white does make everyone look larger. Not to mention the camera adds ten pounds. 

Grandma and Grandpa Rimington came for a few days just for Owen. We are so grateful they did.

We had such a great time spending the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson. This just topped off such a memorable visit.  

Jordan Nelson, Randal Nelson, Vernol Nelson and Kenneth Rimington--Owen's priesthood circle. He has quite a legacy with these admirable men, and from those so far away who were there in spirit.

Let's not forget the cousins. Attempt #1.

And with the final attempt...Nailed it! :)

What a beautiful and blessed day!

Tex-mas

We spent Christmas with Randal's brother and his family in Houston, Texas. Randal's parents joined us from Idaho.

We played lots of games, including a few of the Minute-To-Win-It sort.

Ethan and Uncle Jordan won.

Santa still managed to find us in Texas.

Which put smiles on Ethan and Addie's faces.

Owen, however, remained rather stoic.

This gift of a plain plastic box from Santa was puzzling. More like "boring," according to Adelaide. Yet we found it handy in keeping all the little Lego pieces contained and eventually back to KY with us. Boring or not, that Santa is always thinking.

During the trip we visited Big Lou's, home of the largest pizza. 42 inches to be exact. And later we washed it down with a 3-pound cinnamon roll. 

How did we know such culinary feats even exist? Man vs. Food. 

We headed over to see the Alamo.

So did everyone else.

This is the best I could do. 

We found the Kentucky flag. Then learned we aren't supposed to take pictures once inside the Alamo as per the big sign just off to our right.

And then after seeing the hallowed sight where brave men lost their lives protecting their rights, their families and their land... 

We went to see some true patriots.

The King of Pop. 

A sort-of Barak Obama.

And this guy. (You're welcome, Tammy.) 

And thank goodness there was some kind of reference to the historic events which occurred just across the street or we may have thought we wasted our money.

Regardless of any regret over the wax museum, seeing the Alamo was worth an added 8 hours in the car to go to San Antonio.

And this was too. Loved the Riverwalk. 

Oh, and this. Though not for Owen. He didn't love the mariachi band as much as we did. More specifically, the trumpets. There were some tears.

 He later pretended to be asleep in the stroller so he didn't have to take a picture with them.

We also went to Houston's Space Center. On the busiest day in 15 years according to a tour guide. 

But that's okay because Grandma and Grandpa Rimington had joined us and we were just happy to spend time with them.

Besides, Ethan was able to help out the astronaut.

In return he received a tasty bottle of special astronaut water. Very refreshing.

So in a nutshell, that was how we spent our holiday. 

We had a great time with our family. Made some memories. And learned everything truly is...

bigger in Texas.

That...

And...

Grandpa looks smashing in a pink tiara.

12/8/12

  Owen is 2 months. He's a whopping 14.5 pounds of super cuteness!

At two months we are now getting a hair more sleep at night which is doing us both a world of good. 

He has made two best friends--the ceiling fan above our bed and the fishy hanging from his swing. They get some of his best smiles.

He has two great friends in Ethan and Addie too. They'll do anything for him. The only thing Owen has to do in return is occasionally tolerate being used like a machine gun by big brother. Small price to pay for two devotees, right?

We're squeezing him into the remaining size 2 diapers we have on hand when he would probably be more comfortable in the threes. But I'm too cheap to let nearly a week's worth of diapers go to waste. It does mean he's probably blowing out of them a bit more often so he's not the only one being punished because I'm a tight-wad.

Speaking of blowing out. We had a major catastrophe made worse by two bumbling parents who should know better. I mean, really, this isn't Randal's and my first rodeo. We found ourselves out for the evening, 30 minutes from home, with a list of errands to run and without a diaper bag. We did manage to remember we'd forgotten it and picked up a package of diapers and wipes at one of the stores, just in case. When we stopped for a bite to eat, we discovered Owen had completely soiled himself up his entire back and all over the car seat blanket. We had nothing. No change of clothes. No changing pad. No blanket. Just a clean diaper and Randal's jacket to wrap him in. He did seem to really enjoy being naked so we even made another stop before taking him home early. We're so responsible.  

In spite of nights like that, these two months have flown by. Owen is quite a sweet baby and, clearly, very patient. We are so lucky...times TWO!

Korean Christmas

Experts say that introducing impressionable babies to Mozart and Beethoven will make them smarter. 

I wonder, then, what will K-pop do for Owen?

Because this is his favorite video:  

We use this anytime we try to buy a little more awake time as we help Owen work into a sleep schedule. Whether it is the lights or the tune we don't know, but it works like a charm. He immediately quiets and looks around for the show. (Although he could be getting a laugh from our ridiculous dancing. We're no professionals that's for sure.)

November

Another month is flying by. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time. Like this day for instance:

Owen at one month

Adelaide has been asking to learn to sew for some time now. Christmas gifts seemed a perfect time for her to begin. She wanted to sew a blanket for Owen. She didn't want any of the fabric I already have, nor did she care for any of my suggestions at the fabric store. But what she did do was walk around the fabric aisles weighing her options very carefully. She settled on an animal print. Baby animals to be exact, just like Owen, she said.

Shhh. This is a secret for Ethan. He loves dogs, so he should love this pillowcase. She did a great job and I enjoyed sewing with her. I'd like to freeze this day too.

Randal was over in Asia for half of November. Things went more smoothly than I had feared. Owen was patient. We only had one night with Ethan up vomiting. And the car waited until he got home to start acting up. Yet it was not until he actually did get home that I truly relaxed enough to take a breath. The anxiety of what might happen in a new place and with a new baby while he was gone made me more anxious than I had realized. So this moment I could re-live over an over again as well:

We spent Thanksgiving just the five of us this year. It was a very nice day/weekend. We are living in a temporary rental while we build a house. Most of our stuff is in storage, including all our Christmas decorations. Rather than disrupting the delicate balance of the storage POD we made ornaments for the tree. A different one each day of Thanksgiving weekend.   

The kids enjoyed it, especially my crafty Addie. And our little tree looks pretty cute covered with their projects. Definitely a weekend worth repeating sometime soon. 

Ethan is Owen's self-appointed caregiver. He can be very helpful at times. I hope this means the two of them will always be friends despite a 9-year age difference. In fact, when Owen is Ethan's age now Ethan will be going on a mission. A long way off, and yet I'm sure it will be here sooner than I like. 

  

If anyone could tell me how to bottle some of these days I'd love to hear it. They are growing up too fast. My sentimental heart can't take it!