Steppin' Out In Pink

Last year Lisa, Elly and I went walked the 5 miles for Breast Cancer. To see all the family & friends gather for such a wonderful event was very moving.

This year, Lisa & I would like to put together a team. Even though neither of us have had anyone close to our hearts have breast cancer, we still know many and feel that it is our way of helping with this cause.

Please click here to go to the official Gundersen Lutheran Steppin' Out In Pink to see 2008. The date is Saturday, September 12, 2009. Our Goal is to get 15 to sign up on our team. As, hopefully, that number grows we will grow the number. Please come out and join us with this great cause.

More updates to follow as the date gets closer!

Trains, Planes & Automobiles - Part 1

Well the trains & automobiles were of yesterday. I am sure with the help of Aunt Meredith we will get to experience planes at some point. I am sure that she would love a ride from her Aunt Meredith. Maybe she could come and give rides for Elly's birthday party! That would be fun. Anyway, sorry - getting off track (haha get it....getting off track while talking about trains). Sorry I am amusing myself. Ok seriousness now...Elly got to experience her first train last night. I am hoping that the pictures tell the story as Harry & I were not there. Pictures will be Part 2. So you ask yourself...how does this happen that Elly experienced such a cool thing without mommy & daddy....Grandpa Harry to the rescue. Grandpa Harry & Elly went to pick up Nonie from the train last night in Baraboo. I heard that Elly asked for Nonie many, many times yesterday during their day together. At one point, Grandpa Harry believes that Elly no longer believed that Nonie was really coming but he just kept telling her this to keep her happy. Oh but after nap time (by the way no problems with princess panties) they were finally able to go and get Nonie. I hear that she was able to wave at the conductor. And her reward for getting Nonie was Dairy Queen!!!!!

It is funny, before you have a child you think you are so busy and you ask yourself many times 'how are we going to juggle another person and their schedule'. Then you have a night free from your child with nothing planned. Yup, Harry & I gazed into each others eyes. Now you know I am joking if you at all know Harry. Gazing is not one of his talents. But you get the idea.

I have most of the day to myself. WOW! What a treat. Yes, I should be doing a ton of things right now....laundry, clean the house, work on recreating all our information that we lost on our computer...but here I sit writing to you all.

I am looking forward to going and getting Miss Bugaboo but in the meantime I think I will just relish in the fact that she is having a great time with Grandpa Harry & Nonie and thank God that she has so many people that love her and want to spend time with her.

Surprise, Surprise!

Yesterday when I went up to get Elly up from her nap I was shocked to find....her right arm was out of her shirt sleeve and through the neck part & her Princess Panties were not on. Nope, no princess panties...she handed them to me and then declared she went poo. My heart sank as I tried to decipher whether she really meant she went poo or she had to go. The other thing is that she says poo for both pee pee and poop. So which was it was my question. Her pants however were still on. I had recalled her having a good time up in her bed and didn't want to go to bed as smoothly as usual. Well now I know why. I had the great privilege for the first time to have to strip her bed completely and wash all her blankets, pillow, and some of her stuffed animals as they were all pee peed on. It was quite the experience that I don't think that I want to do again soon.

4 Day Pass

Jerod has been on his 4 day pass since April 23rd. Today, unfortunately, he has to go back. He will need to return to the barracks by 3 PM their time (4 our time). It sounds like they have had a wonderful time but sorry it was so short. Mom, Dad, Heidi, Owen & Avah will start back home shortly after saying goodbye to Jerod. Yesterday Jerod shared some pictures with us and now I want to share some with you (not all 250 though).

Dad, Jerod & Mom on base. Jerod was able to get a pass on Wednesday to see everyone but had to stay on base. Thursday was his first official 4 day pass.
Owen & Avah! So cute!
Jerod & Heidi on base.
Owen, Jerod, Mom & Dad - looks like Go Fish! Looks like fun.
Mr. Owen ready for duty!

Technology Stinks Update

Last night Harry, Elly and myself ventured into LaCrosse to go Lisa's for dinner and then off to get our computer from the Geek Squad (Elly stayed at Lisa's to play). When we got there the gentleman asked us if we were notified that they were not able to retrieve out information off our old hard drive. The answer was quickly "no". He profusely apologized for their mistake and explained that there was no way to get our information off the computer. All I could think about what the fact that I had lost ALL my pictures. I have up through 2008 pictures on disks. I have up through March uploaded to Shutterfly. But April is gone! I lost Elly's Easter pictures. I lost her finding her Easter basket with daddy. I lost a very precious picture of Elly and Big Owwy sitting and reading. I lost a lot of good photos. WOW, just think if it had been more then just one month. So I am asking if you by chance read this and have any pictures that you think I lost....I would appreciate you sending us a copy. Once I get some new pictures taken - I will update.

Potty Training!

If you would have talked to me a couple of days ago, you would have heard me say how frustrated I was with potty training. Today, potty training is going GREAT! As long as it is Elly's idea (or she thinks it is her idea) to go potty then we have success. She has to be the one to do it ALL by herself. As long as you allow her to do it - we have dry panties!!!!!!!!!!

Technology stinks!

I have not blogged in a while because our computer decided that the hard drive needed to fail. Now why it needed to go and do a thing like that baffles me. We are taking our computer into the Geek Squad this afternoon for them to replace the hard drive and retreive all our information off the old hard drive. We have a lot of information on there. Just goes to show that backing up your system once a month is not enough sometimes. Soooooooo, until then there will be no pictures shared as we are borrowing my parents computer while they are traveling to Texas.

By the way, they are almost there. About 100 more miles as of 9:00 AM this morning. Jerod was hoping to get this afternoon off and then tomorrow at 5 is his scheduled 4 day pass.

That is all for now. Tata for now.

Pictures of Elly's Room

Elly's New Room Update

Last night was Elly's first night in her OWN room and it was a success!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not one peep out of her. Harry said that when he took her up, she looked around, laid down and we didn't hear from her the rest of the night. This morning she was talking up in her bed and she was saying "my room".

Easter Weekend

This weekend was crazy busy but with no complaints. We had a wonderful time.

Elly discovered how much fun blowing bubbles can be. She loves her bubbles in her room and bubble bath...she is bubble crazy! We will see how long this phase lasts.
Uncle Greg and Aunt Alissa came up on Friday night to our house to have dinner with us. It was so much fun to be able to hang out with them. Then on Saturday we were able to go over to Grandpa Harry's farm and visit some more.
Elly loved hanging out with Auntie Al (this picture might say otherwise, but really she did). Uncle Greg & Aunt Alissa were not the only ones that dropped in on Friday night. Nope, Auntie Al was there too, and she was able to spend the night on our fancy pull-out bed. Which gave Elly a great opportunity to wake Auntie Al up really early on Saturday.
Oh and we can not forgot to mention how much fun Elly had walking Brudus (hope I spelt his name right) with Aunt Alissa. I think Elly would have done it all day had Brudus allowed it. As you can see, Brudus needed a break.

And you would think that with that much excitement that it would be enough for one weekend...well no it was not. Saturday afternoon we headed to the Turgasen's for the Shireman Easter dinner. Grandma Judy gave each of the kids a kite. Boy did we all have fun with them along with the nice weather that accompanied it. Harry was great with trying to help Elly learn how to fly a kite.

And of course, Sunday Elly & I went to Easter service with my parents and had dinner with them along with Big Papa & Big Owwy afterwards.

New Room & Pull-ups!

Well Elly has had a very exciting day....that is probably why she is going on 3 1/2 hours of sleep for her nap. Last night Harry painted her floor. So this morning Elly and I started moving stuff into her room. We got the important things in there...her rocking chair, some of her books, area rug & ladybug beanbag chair. What else does a girl need? Oh yes, her crib...just as soon as her daddy gets home. Since we have to take it apart to get it out our doorway. Otherwise, I probably would have done that too. When Elly wakes up I am going to start taking the dressers in. Oh how exciting this is.

And then also today was our last diaper!!!!!! I would not give in to pull-ups until after all the diapers were gone....well today is the day!!!!! She likes that there are princesses on them. I am hoping to show her her regular panties that she got from Auntie Laura for Christmas and hopefully that sparks more interest. We can only hope and pray.

Easter

Happy Easter!
What a difference one year can make. Look at how much Elly has grown up from a baby to my little princess. WOW. I didn't really realize the difference until I put these two up against each other.
Elly at 9 months old, 2008 Easter.

Elly at 22 months, 2009 Easter.

Elly's Prayer

Elly loves to pray. She asks to pray at least 20 times a day. She is very cute about it also. I mean come on...who could resist her when she looks at you, asks to pray and folds her hands and ready to go. This morning as we sat coloring after daddy had already left for work she asked me with those big blue eyes if we could pray. So we sat down and prayed. At the end I said to her "can you say I love you God" and in sweet Innocent voice said "wuv u OD". My heart just melted.

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60/60 Challenge Update: Well this is day 3. Yup 3 whole days. I am actually remembering before the alarm goes off. Sometimes I even forget to put the alarm on and I still remember. I have been doing the log of prayers and I have been doing at least a page of prayer requests each day if not more. It is very rewarding to see the prayer requests being answered. Maybe not specifically the way I want but they are being answered in a unique way.

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Family Update: I just got word that we have family coming to see us on Friday night. Greg, Alissa & Allison are all coming to visit. Oh Elly is going to need to rest up for this one! She won't be going to bed at regular time.

Mom & dad are heading to Texas in the RV on April 18th to see Jerod. As much as I would love to be there I know that I can't afford the time off from work. That is the stinky part and the whole fact that I just got back from having surgery. Oh the miner things. :)

We all miss and love you Jerod!

Our Family Easter

Here is Maddie in her drama as an Easter Angel. Elly really likes her Laurence! Great Papa reading to Elly Elly opening her Easter baskets from Aunt Jen, Uncle Nick, Maddie & Laurence. And then she also had one from Uncle Jerod, too. Maddie opening her Easter baskets from Uncle Harry, AJ & Elly. And Maddie had an Easter basket from Uncle Jerod also.
Here is a clip from the Easter drama that Maddie was in. She was the cutest Easter angel up there.

60/60 Challenge

Yesterday we had the privilege to attend Jen & Nick's church in Richland Center, Hidden Valley. Maddie was an Easter Angel in a drama (which by the way she was very cute, adorable & absolutely the best angel up there - no AJ bios here. I have to tell you that the sermon was GREAT! I love the ones that speak right to you as if saying "this one was written just for you". During the sermon Pastor Brian asked 2 questions.
#1. How doe you feel when you don't get what you have asked for?
#2. How do you feel when you do get what you have asked for?

Then the experiment/challenge came. Connect with God every 60 minutes of your day (waking hours) for the next 60 days. I was thinking - what? How am I going to do that? I have way too much to do...

*The Goal: The goal is to stay consciously aware all thru your day that God is with you and desires a living, trusting relationship. For the next 60 days, try to stay in continuous, honest conversation with God, willing to do his will moment by moment.

*The Steps:
1. Set a watch or alarm to beep every 60 minutes, and put up sticky notes & reminders around your home, car & office, as a reminder to stay connected.
2. Try to turn your thoughts back to God all throughout the day, as often as you can. This simple conscious contact with God isn't easy, but it's all you have to do - everything else will begin to fall into place over time.
3. Even if you're not yet convinced this is true, try it. Every 60 minutes, stop and recall "God is with me right now..." and let that propel you to ask God "show me your will this next moment. I want to be willing to do your will as an act of love towards you." Begin the experiment and see if this isn't the path to a far more satisfying life.
4. Be willing to take a risk and respond to any prompting God may have for you. It may be to call someone, encourage someone, apologize to someone, give something away, do something. Take the risk.
5. Get a notebook and write down your experiences. Is it working? Is it hard? What's God pushing you to do? Where are you experiencing God?

I am so excited to see what God has in store for me, my family & my relationship with him. Please feel free to email me, call me or just ask how it is going to help me stay on my path to reconnect with God on a more intimate level.

Realization: I was trying to control the situation in regards to baby making. As much as I told everyone and especially myself included, that I was ok and that I was letting God. But realization set in yesterday and I heard God telling me that Iwas not fully letting God. There was this little piece of me that was not letting go and letting him be in control. Therefore, yesterday, I asked for his forgiveness and asked that he be in control. If I had to choose between a more intimate relationship with God or have more babies then I chose our relationship. But if there was a way for me to have both - then that was even better.

I really do mean this when I say for the first time that I feel completely at peace.

*Took this straight from the bulletin so that I got it all right for you. Fore more information about this experiment you can go to this website. www.soulrevolution.net

I Am Feeling Good!

Well yesterday I made it at work for 6 1/2 hours. My goal was to be there for at least 4 hours and so I think I did pretty good. I am sure I could have done the whole day but I was exhausted by the time I got home. Papa & Owwy brought Elly back home last night in time for dinner so that Harry could get new drive tires on his truck before this big storm hits us. I am so thankful that he was able to get better tires on before tomorrow. Makes the worrying a little less. Yes, tomorrow is suppose to be his day off but if we get what is predicted then he will be out there driving. There will be lots of prayers tomorrow for his safety.

Today is my first official day alone with Elly since surgery. I would have to say that it is going pretty well except I think she is bored with just me since she has had so much excitement in her life this past week. I told her last night that starting today we were going back to a normal, boring life. I don't think she liked that idea very much.

I can tell that my incision is healing because it is itching like the dickens. That is a good thing and I am not complaining but...ok, yes I am, a little. otherwise, all is well.

Prayers Answered

Well in the last post I mentioned that I needed to make a decision whether or not to go back to work on Wednesday and after much discussion with Harry we felt that it would be best to stay home until Friday. Well that turned out to be a huge answer to prayer as I would not have been going to work on Wednesday anyway. Tuesday night I started getting very light headed and felt like I was going to pass out along with being nauseated. I had told Grandpa Harry & Nonie that I would be fine with Elly alone for an hour and that they could get going. After they had left I was kicking myself. I called Harry and he was able to come home within a half an hour and help out with Elly. Elly was wonderful with just playing and knowing that mommy needed to just lay on the couch. For a little while, Elly laid on the couch with me but I think after a little bit she was worried that she might fall asleep. Therefore, she needed to get up and explore.

On Wednesday, we had made arrangements with Owwy to be up to our house by 10 AM. Harry was going to leave around 8 and I was sure that I would do ok with Elly for 2 hours alone. Thinking that getting dizzy and passing out was just a fluke thing. Well come about 7:30 I was calling Owwy as I was starting to get dizzy and feeling that I was going to pass out at any minute. Harry had a change in plans as had to leave around 7 instead of 8. Again, I called him to let him know that I had called Owwy and that she was on her way. Harry came home and sat with us until Owwy got there.

We figured out after trial and error that my medication was making me sick. I had been chalking the nausea up to the pain but once I quit taking the medicine then the nausea and the dizziness has went away. So I will be going back to work tomorrow for a half a day.

In Potty News - since I have been off work we have been really been pushing the potty training. Elly has been doing great. She has only messed her diaper during night time, naps & maybe once or twice during the day. But otherwise, she is going into the bathroom by herself & telling us when she needs to go! WOOHOO! Success! Elly will be going to Owwy & Papa's house tonight to stay so that Owwy doesn't have to be up to our house early again tomorrow. I am hoping that with one more day and the weekend we can have a good head start on this potty training before sending her back to daycare. I am sure that with going back to daycare, we will have a set back but hoping for not much. I am hoping. Harry has the privilege of calling daycare tonight and discussing life of potty training with her tonight. She needs to be on our terms with this. And since he is so good at setting people straight....he is the man for the job!