"When I was your age . . ."

Well, Chris and I finally did it! We pulled out the old "When I was your age . . ." story with Mira. We have had DVR on our tv for quite some time. (For those of you not in the know, it's a digital video recorder, much like a VCR, except no tapes. And you can pause or rewind live tv . . . awesome!). So Mira is a little pro at using the DVR, pausing the tv whenever she needs to leave the room or eat a meal or go to the bathroom. Chris and I were watching her in action with the remote and had to pipe in: "You know, Mira, when Mommy and Daddy were little kids, we had to get off the couch and actually walk over to the television to turn the channel!" Oh, the horror! It's definitely something Mira can't comprehend. You have to LOVE technology.

And now for the bad news of our weekend, so far. We were at an outdoor wedding reception yesterday. Mira ran over to play at a nearby park, and in the process startled a small dog, who jumped on her and scratched her leg pretty good with his claws. Mira was bleeding pretty good, and for quite a while, we thought the dog had actually bit her. We don't think that's the case now, but it did require a trip to urgent care to determine if she needed stitches. They said it could go either way, so we opted for no stitches. There may be a scar, but I think the trauma of putting her through stitches would have been worse for Mira. So we didn't make it to the fair after the reception, and now Mira can't go in the lake today at her grandpa's. She was really good about everything and is letting us change the bandages when we need to.

On a lighter note, Amelia is officially a walker! She walks about 80 percent of the time now. It's really cute to see. Here is a photo of her in action!


I haven't taken a real recent photo of Mira, so I'll be sure to add one to the next post.
Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Tuckered out in San Fran

My friend (Sarah) and I went to San Francisco for a long weekend. We got back late last night, but not before packing in as much as we could in the time we were there. We stayed at a great hotel near the Fisherman's Wharf. It was a nice walk to the wharf, which we visited every day! Sunday was a busy day. Sarah and I rented bicycles and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito. It was such an amazing adventure! The weather was really nice for a ride—cool, but a bit windy. Seeing the bridge from a bike was something to be remembered. Sausalito is a really charming town across the bay with excellent ice cream (and I found the orange purse I wanted to buy on my trip!).


We took the ferry back to San Francisco, too tuckered to ride back, plus we had tickets to a night tour of Alcatraz so we needed to get back for that.

Alcatraz was a wonderful time as well. It was so interesting to take the guided tour and learn all about the workings of the penetentiary. I found it interesting that the guards lived on the island, along with their wives and children! I don't think you could pay me enough to live that close to some of the most dangerous people in the country. If you ever have the chance to visit San Fran, Alcatraz is a must!



Monday was also packed with a cable car ride to Union Station and lots of shopping! Then Sarah and I took the bus to her friend Jessica's house on the northwest side of SF. I think we covered every mode of transportation available to us! Jessica took us on this beautiful hike to The Cliff House, where we had dessert right on the edge of the water. Beautiful views!


A game of Scrabble followed (I won!) and dinner at Houstons, right across from Pier 33. We also saw Robin Williams' house:

This is Sarah's friend, Jessica, who took us on a great hike, and a great drive to Golden Gate Park. Thanks, Jessica! It was so nice meeting you.

AND, if you are curious, Jessica is a fantastic crafter who has an etsy store. Check it out if you have the time! I love the onsies!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5853388


Tuesday brought us home, but not before one more walk to the Wharf to see the seals. Uggh, they smelled so bad! They just hang out there all the time.


I'm really glad to be back home, as great as the trip was. I missed my girls and Chris quite a bit! But it is nice to get away once in a while.

Happenings this week

I've been a bum about blogging lately. Lots going on, none of it super exciting. Here are a few photos from this past week.

Amelia is starting to take steps more and more frequently. While crawling is her preferred way of getting around, she is attempting 3-5 steps more often. It's so cute to see her toddling! We think she was busy learning to talk and growing teeth, so walking took a backseat. Amelia is up to about 20 understandable words, and can repeat a lot of what we say. She added "love you" to her vocabulary recently. So precious!


Here's a photo of me and the girls on the porch. It seems like I forget to get photos of me with them, so that's something we'll have to work on. The matching dresses were birthday gifts from Aunt Debbie. I hadn't gotten pictures of them in the dresses before. Thanks, Deb!


Chris has a business contact who sent us a mushroom playhouse (www.bazoongi.com/, click on "Play Structures"). It is so cute and the girls really love it!



And Amelia's favorite toy is not anything from Christmas or her birthday. Oh no. This little one loves to play with the remote for the television. We've tried to give her a different remote with no batteries, but she wants the one for the television. Fortunately, we can press a button on it and she can't switch the channel, but she's messed up many a viewing session anyway.


Hope you are all well! I leave for sunny (yet chilly!) San Francisco on Saturday until Tuesday. I'm sure Chris would love some homemade meals delivered and cleaning services during my time away. Or maybe just a phone call to see how he's doing with the kids!

We have more steps!

Okay, I picked up the girls at daycare yesterday and Connie told me at Amelia took 12 steps in a row! Chris and I still haven't seen any of this walking yet. At home, Amelia really would rather crawl. So that's why there are no video or photos of this event. Maybe this weekend. I'll try to post more later. Nothing really exciting going on here.

We have steps!

Yesterday at daycare, Amelia took 6 steps . . . twice! Wow! I was shocked to hear that since we've never seen Amelia even stand unsupported. So we took her home and tried to see if she would do it again. We did see her take 3-4 steps a couple of times. We didn't quite get photos, but will try to post some video or photos soon. Great job, Amelia!

Hand, Foot, Mouth, what?

Amelia had her 15-month doctor appointment yesterday. She is growing great! She loves food of all types, is talking more than her age normally does, and is looking into walking someday, but hasn't yet let us know when that will be. Amelia is at 21 pounds, 9 ounces, so she's around 75 percent for weight, and is at 50 percent for height. Amelia also has 6 teeth in, and is in the process of acquiring about 3 molars. The doctor said she looks wonderful.

However, what we thought was a really bad diaper rash is actually Hand Foot Mouth disease. It's not bothering her really, and she's not feverish or crabby, so they don't prescribe anything for it. It will just have to run its course. And it looked much better this morning already. She had a few sores on her feet, a couple on the palms of her hands, and one on her tongue. But it was mostly on her diaper area. I've heard it's going around and that it lasts 3-6 days, but Amelia is already looking much better so we're hoping there are no signs of it in a couple of days.

Here's a Website that explains it:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm#6

Weekend in Lanesboro

It was Buffalo Bill Days this past weekend in Lanesboro so all the Norstad kids (except Kelly, of course) made our way down to Mom and Dad's. We had such a wonderful time! There were horseshoe games, bean bag tosses, campfires, s'mores, plenty of food, a petting zoo, horse rides, bouncy castle, and a great parade. We also had a birthday party for Abby, who turned 5 today! It was a wonderful 2 1/2 days. Thanks, Mom and Dad! We all loved spending the time with you. Oh, and Amelia added a couple more words to her vocabulary this weekend ("down" and "thank you", how polite!). Here are a few photos from the weekend:












And it was Chris's brother's birthday this past weekend, as well as his aunts. We went to a party for them both on our way home from Lanesboro. Amelia loved the sweet corn!

Amelia's new haircut

We thought Amelia's bangs were a little out of control lately, so we got out the scissors and gave it a try. At first, I thought I'd cut them way too short, but I think it actually turned out okay. She's got that retro vibe about her now! As you can see, Amelia loves her new 'do and is proudly showing it off! Amelia looks waaaaayy better in bangs than Mira did. Mira looked like a boy, but I think Amelia can pull it off really well!

Amelia is a talking machine!

Amelia has really been picking up the words this summer. She's now officially up to 12 words, and speaks in sentence-style tones. We don't know what she's saying when she does that, but I think she does.

Her words to date:
Hi, Bye-bye, Mama, Dada, Nana (banana), puppy, up, all done (her first phrase!), Papa (Grandpa), duck, baby, diaper (I haven't heard her say this one, but our day care provider told me she said it today, clear as day).

Pretty good! We think she'll be pretty verbal like Mira is. It will be fun to have kids to play Scrabble with in a few years!

Mira's now a queen!

Last weekend, we bought Mira a bed frame off Craigslist to get her mattresses off the floor. Chris painted it today, and when we put it up and put the mattress and box spring on it, boy was it high! You can see how high it is when Mira stands next to it. She needs to take a running leap, but she can get in! (Actually, she can just step on the bed rails.) I guess when the frame was made, mattresses were quite a bit thinner than they are now. Oh well, she can just pretend she's a queen!

Mira earned a Chuck E. Cheese trip!

Mira has been pretty sassy lately, earning her lots of time outs. So we decided to put up a sticker chart. Every day Mira is "pretty good" (not perfect), she gets a sticker on her chart. We let her draw the number of circles she had to fill. She drew 24 circles, which we think was a very fair amount. It took about 35 days, but Mira finally filled that sticker chart! We named it "Mira's Road to Chuck E. Cheese," as that's the prize she picked when she filled her chart. We went tonight and she had a blast! She was so proud of herself for earning this. Here are some pictures of the evening:

Maple Grove Days!

It was Maple Grove Days this weekend, and the weather couldn't have been nicer! It's usually pretty hot and humid out in mid-July, but this year was a breezy 77 degrees. We had a wonderful time, especially Mira, who was finally willing and able to partake in all the activities. Last year she was a little skittish, but this year she embraced all the bounce house activities, and rode a pony!





I thought this photo of Mira going down the slide was priceless! Check out those underpants!

Mira and her new glasses!

Mira got her new glasses today! She's been so excited to have them, and we think they will make such a difference in her daily life. She's looking forward to showing them to the other kids at daycare tomorrow. Here's a photo of her right after she got her glasses. She loves them!

On the Amelia front, she has been battling a pretty high fever for a couple of days now. She was at 104 degrees for awhile and we took her to the doctor. After a urine test, blood test, and strep test, all results came back negative, so the doctor said to keep her as comfortable as possible, give her Motrin, and that it should pass in a couple of days. Amelia seems to be back to normal now tonight, and she hasn't had any Motrin for 9 hours and the fever seems to be gone. We're hoping she stays fever free all night.

And I started my new job at Capella University yesterday. I LOVE IT! The teams are so wonderful and I'm really going to enjoy the work I'll be doing there. I'm in the communications team and help with the production on the marketing pieces. It's a very thoughtful company and they treat their employees very well. I dare say that getting laid off was a very good thing for me!

Hope you are all well!
Michelle

Update on Mira

Hello! At a couple of recent appointments, Mira has failed her vision tests. So today she saw a pediatric opthomologist and after some testing, it was determined Mira has astigmatism, which means that instead of her corneas being shaped like a half circle, they are shaped more like a half oval. The doctor thinks it could have happened when she was born when they needed to use the vacuum to pull her out. So she will be getting a pair of glasses next week, and we'll need to patch over her left eye to make the right eye stronger. Apparently her right eye is very weak and her left eye has been doing all the work. So we'll see how long the "fixing" process takes, then move right into "maintainence." There is a good chance that after a few years she won't need glasses anymore, but as long as she can see, it doesn't matter one way or another.

I'll post photos next week of Mira in her new, snazzy glasses!

Chris's new car

Chris's car was due back to the dealership this week, so he bought an Audi convertible to replace it. The best part is, it has a back seat, so the girls can enjoy a drive in it too. It's also good in the winter, so Chris can help pick up or drop off the girls at daycare.

He took Mira on a little drive around the neighborhood today. She was dressed in her best princess dress-up outfit, complete with crown! She looked like she was a princess in a parade!



And when we came back from the weekend, most of my lilies had bloomed! I can't believe how many there are now. The seem to multiply each year!

Our weekend in Madison

This past weekend, we went to the Wisconsin Dells for a night, and then drove to Waunakee to visit the Samuelson clan for Friday and Saturday nights. We had a wonderful weekend with them. Many, many thanks to John, Sarah, Jack, and GeorgiaRae for having us in their home. They showed us a great time! Here are some weekend photos:

Amelia in the arcade at the hotel:


Mira playing air hockey with her daddy:

On Saturday morning, we all went to the Farmer's Market in downtown Madison. It was great! John bought some cinnamon bread, and we all went for a Starbucks run. My favorite spot!

Michelle and Sarah enjoying the day!

Jack and Mira climbed a tree:


GeorgiaRae and Amelia had a great time together playing all weekend!

Mira was really interested in the people who were on the street playing their music. I explained to her that they had their cases open in the hopes that people who enjoyed the music would put some money in their case. Mira really loved giving money to the musicians. All total, she "paid" three performers for their hard work.


This is a sign of a very fun weekend. And Amelia RARELY falls asleep in the car!

Thanks again to Sarah and John! We really loved all the time we were able to spend with you. Our visits are too few and far between! We love you!
Michelle, Chris, Mira, and Amelia