Happy Valentines Day!!!

Yea...its Valentines Day! Our Valentine Day celebrations started off with Isabel bringing Valentines to all the kids in our bible study group. Then we were off to make Valentine cupcakes with Sarah, Alivia, and Tate. Alivia and Isabel had a blast decorating their cupcakes with pink and purple frosting (homemade..thanks Sarah), pink sparkles, and lots of Valentine candies. Alivia was so creative (just like her mommy) and Isabel....well she was more into dipping her fingers in the frosting and licking them (just like her mommy~haha).

On Saturday Isabel and I spent the afternoon visiting Ellen and the dogs (Lola and Madis) and then some special Valentine time with grandma and grandpa. That night I decided that I would make a special dinner for us (stuffed chicken for Jason and I and noodles for Isabel). Our dinner was delicious! Then it was time to exchanged gifts, which was just Valentine cards. Isabel could barely hold it together when it was time to give Jason his card. She insisted in putting them in a bag (like the mailman) and telling me "shh" as she tip-toed down the hallway to surprise Jason with her card and mine. The card that Isabel gave Jason was Hilarious! It had a frog that bounced out of it by a spring when you opened the card. Isabel couldn't stop laughing. And she spent so much time and love in decorating the card for Jason. Lots of stickers and pictures. Finally Isabel opened her card and she couldn't believe her eyes....she got the Tinkerbell card that she wanted! We saw it earlier this week while shopping for a card for Jocie. I told Isabel that maybe she's get it, but I didn't know. She told me, "hey I know, how 'bout someone buys that for me for my dirtday?" I just smiled and said maybe! When she saw the Tinkerbell card right away she said, "hey, this is the card I told you I wanted"!! She was truly surprised.

We spent the rest of the night snuggling together on the couch. Isabel and I took turns sitting by Jason (her and I always fight over who gets to sit by him~I don't know why, I think we just like to "fight" with each other). It was a great Valentines day....just our little family together and lots of LOVE,LOVE, LOVE!!!

They're Cousins...yeah, yeah (Patty Duke theme song~are you singing it?)

Isabel and Baby Nate are so darn cute together I can barely stand it! I've been very lucky the last few weeks (and it'll continue until summer) because I get to babysit Nathaniel aka Baby Nate, my nephew. I have to be honest, the thought of babysitting a 6mnth old a few months ago, wasn't exactly exciting to me....mostly because I was going to have to be so hands on (which I'm not use to....I have an independent 3yr old), but now that Nate is 9 mnths old....bring it on!! Baby Nate is by far the cutest little man around! He has the cutest, chunkiest cheeks, a big smile and baby thunder thighs!!! Put these together and you get a CUTE baby!

So last week Isabel and Nate had a huge bonding moment. Nate was crawling around the apartment and Isabel decided she would crawl with him. This lead to a follow the leader, crawling style, until they made it to Isabel's bedroom. Once they were in Isabel's room....they were both in heaven. Nate had a blast checking out all the toys and his new surroundings (this was his 1st time in Isabel's room). And Isabel had a blast having a playmate. I stood in the hallway and listened to Isabel talking to Nate, while Nate would baby talk back and laugh. Isabel had a "dirtday" party for Nate and played doctor with Nate. While playing doctor Isabel tried to lift him on her baby's changing table but was unsuccessful. So I decided I would help her out, but only so I could get a photo of it! It was soo cute! Poor Nate didn't know what to think. Isabel didn't even realize, she just kept checking his heart beat. After doctor they played in Isabel's kitchen and had a tea party! It was all too cute for words. The played for over an hour together....perfectly...no hitting, no crying...just two cousins playing and laughing! I couldn't believe it....Isabel is 3 and Nate is 9 mnths! I never would of imagined that they would of been able to bond and play together this soon. It was so special.

I can't even begin to put into words how amazing it is watching Isabel and Nate play together. Isabel is so sweet with Nate. She is always trying to find toys for Nate to play with and is asking him questions. I don't even think she notices that he doesn't answer. And she loves making him laugh....and Nate just eats up all the attention.

Watching Nate and Isabel play so well together also breaks my heart alittle. Its just another reminder that we are missing a baby in our family. My biggest regret will always be not having a baby right after Isabel. If I only knew then what I know now! But thats life....and I know we'll be blessed with a baby when we're suppose to be, which is not right now (in case anyone is wondering). But I can tell you, that there is without a doubt a whole in my heart because we don't have another child, and being with Nate and any other baby just breaks my heart because I want my own little baby, but like I said before, it'll happen when it's suppose to. And I truly feel so lucky and blessed to have this special time with Nate. He is not only the cutest little man around, he is also the most perfect baby EVER! Nate is so chill and so happy. He never cries, (unless I'm picking at his boogers~hee hee) he just smiles and is completely laid back. We brought Nate to Fargo with us (which I was alittle nervous about) and he was perfect. He slept on the way there and back. Sat quietly during dinner time, chilled in the strolling at the mall, and even mananged to not get anties while I held him in the Olive Garden waiting for 45 min. for a table! Seriously...he is perfect!! Thank you, thank you, thank You, Nate for just being you!! I look forward to watching yours and Isabel's relationship grow!

Mom's weekend away!!!

So after 3yrs, 3 months, and 2 weeks of being a mom....I finally took the plunge and had my firstweekend away from Isabel!! Alittle late, wouldn't cha' say?? My high school buddy Michelle Erickson was getting married in the cities. And since we already had a plans to go to the cities in March, we decided it would be better if I just took a quick trip to the cities by myself. After a bit of planning, I ended up heading to the cities with the Hammarback family.

The night before we left, I was feeling really sad about leaving. I laid in the bed with Isabel and talked to her about mommy leaving for the weekend. Isabel just kept telling me "no mom, you don't need to go, you stay with me". My heart was breaking and I could feel the tears. I finally told Isabel, "I'll be right back, I need to go get something to drink". I ran out of the room and into the living room and stood in front of Jason. Poor Jason had no clue what was about to happen....he looked up at me and said, "oh, whats that look for?" I shook my head and started crying, and not just a few tears, I'm talking BAWLING, like that really ugly cry. You know the one thats starts and can't stop. Jason just held me and kept saying, "its okay...you'll be fine...you need to go..its good for you". But after a few minutes of me crying and begging (literally I was begging) Jason not to make me go (by the way, he wasn't making me go, but by this time I felt like everyone was making me go), Jason started to say, "okay, just stay...you don't need to go...just stay home with us". Thank goodness Jason said that, because it made me stop crying and realize, I DID NEED to go. But also it helped that I got all my tears out before I left town, so I could just enjoy my weekend.....or so I thought!!

We got to town Friday evening and right away I left with Erin and Bryan for dinner. I had a blast...I love spending time with them two (they are two of my favorite people). We had great conversation, good food, and way too many drinks!! Saturday morning I was finally able to call Jason and check in. Isabel was still sleeping when I called (which relieved me, I wasn't sure if I could handle hearing her voice just yet). While we talked Jason informed me that Isabel had a tough time on Friday night without me. Apparently she was walking around the apartment asking for me and carrying pictures of me saying "this is my mommy"! Wow, talking about breaking my heart. Jason also said she asked "when's mommy coming home" and Jason told her, "well honey, in a day or so" and Isabel replied, "NO, mommy come home in 30 minutes, OkAY!!" Ohh too cute!

Saturday afternoon we headed to the Mall of America. Right away Jeannie (Ellen's aunt~who also loves to shop for her grandchildren) announced she was heading to the Disney store. I tagged along and found it very theraputic to shop like crazy for Isabel. It really helped alleviate the guilt. But I soon found out buying her toys only made me feel worse about being away from her. I called Isabel to let her know that I bought her something special....hearing her excitement was a dagger to my heart. I just wanted to get home. So of course I quickly got off the phone and ran upstairs and cried to all the Hammarback woman! Bless their hearts for putting up with me!

Finally I was able to get myself together and we were off to the wedding. Michelle looked beautiful and sooo happpy. I had a blast seeing all my "St.Cloud Peeps"!! And I shared a special bonding moment with AJ, when I started crying at the dance because they played the song "I hope you Dance" (thats my song to Isabel)! Thanks AJ...you're the best! The rest of the night...well lets just say what happens at wedding dances, stays at wedding dances!! HAha! Just kidding, it was great.!

Finally it was Sunday...I could barely think straight waiting to get home. By 4:30pm Teri pulled up to our apt. I practically ran into the building and as I started up the stairs, there came Isabel running and yelling mom! She jumped into my arms and I swear she took my breathe away! I had to hold the tears in. I spent the rest of the night staring at her face because I was and still am convinced that face changed while I was gone!

So while mom was gone...Jason and Isabel had a blast (even though I'm sure they were crying for me the whole weekend~haha)! Jason picked up the movie Madagascar 2...which they watched more than 7 times the whole weekend! They also hit up the arcade,did alittle shopping, and spent some special time with Grandma Joyce!

Dumb and Dumber???

Here's a funny story I thought I'd share. You'll either totally laugh at us or you'll just think we're idiots....whichever one is just fine!!! Hope you enjoy it:-)

The other night Jason and I were hanging out channel surfing. It was 11pm, nothing on TV, expect Golden Girls re-runs (and you can only watch so many of those) so Jason decided to listen to some of his new songs on his MP3 player. I was alittle irritated at first because he was sitting right next to me on the couch which meant I could also hear the music. I was trying to block out the music, but finally decided to give in and enjoy it. I turned the TV on mute and asked Jason for a headphone. Jason was sitting on my left side, so he, without thinking just gave me the earphone that was closest to me, the headphone on his right side. So there we were, sitting on the couch together, each holding a headphone to our ear as we jammed out to some tunes. Jason's music selection is very interesting....we'd be listening to Ozzy Osbourne and then Garth Brooks!! We were having so much fun laughing at each other's bouncing heads and shoulder shrugs, but we were also getting frustrated because we were having so much trouble with the headphones. I had to keep my head very close to Jason's so the headphone would stay in my ear. And on top of that the earphone cord was being dragged across Jason's face. And it didn't help that I would get so excited about a song and start dancing super crazy, which meant I would accidently jerk the headphone out of Jason's ear. Finally, after over an hour, Jason said, "hey wait, give me your headphone". I was completely confused. Jason grabbed the headphones and gave me the left ear headphone and gave himself them right ear headphone!! Genius!! Remember I said that when I asked Jason for a headphone, he grabbed the headphone from his right ear and handed it to me, because that was the closet headphone to me. So for over and hour Jason and I were having a heck of a time dealing with these headphones, when all we needed to do was switch headphone pieces! We laughed so hard over our complete mind-slip. It was such a classic moment, Jason shook his head and said, "wow, dumb and dumber??" Yeah, I think so!!! Haha:-)

We're going sledding, we're going sledding, da,da,da....

We finally made it out to the snow hill for some good old sledding. We were so excited to see how Isabel would do this year. This was Isabel's 3rd year of sledding. She's been a total sledding nut from the beginning, but since she's alittle older and more aware of her surrounding we weren't totally sure if she'd be excited or scared. On the way to Lincoln Park Isabel sang her own sledding song, "We're going sledding, we're going sledding, da,da,da.....Yeah thats what we're doin', da,da,da". It was so cute.

Finally the big moment was before us....and without a moments hesitation, Isabel hopped on the sled with daddy and she was ready to go. And of course, she went crazy. Laughing and yelling so hard, she couldn't get up the hill fast enough to go again. Its moments like this that remind me just how opposite Isabel and I are. Isabel has been a dare devil from day one. She has no fears, which sometimes is a little scary. Now mommy on the other hand, I have become the biggest chicken with age, its ridiculous. I was so scared to go down the hill (seriously what did I think was going to happen to me). But finally I sucked it up and down I went on the sled and guess what? I survived and I even had fun!! So of course, now that I mastered sled riding I was ready to take Isabel with me. I was totally freaking out (again, what am I so afraid of?? Its a sled and snow...get it together Debbie), but we survived and had a blast. I screamed the whole way down the hill which Isabel found very funny.

After an hour or so of going up and down the hill, Isabel had no more patience for the trek up the hill, (which is just her laying on the sled while we pull her up), she decided she needed to get up the hill faster. So Isabel started walking/running up the hill. It was so funny because everytime you thought, "I don't think she'll make it, she's going to fall backwards", but she didn't and she would quickly get on the sled and yell that she was ready. Isabel finally started to feel super courageous, while Jason and I were busy talking to the Troemners, Isabel got on the sled and started pushing herself forward to get the sled going. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, but before we could stop her, down she went. I was so scared (of course I was!!), what if she gets hurt!! And of course she didn't. We stayed at the top of the hill and watch Isabel get off her sled and try to walk up the hill with her sled. She didnt make it too far before she ditched the sled and continued the trek up the hill. Wow!! Isabel you are CRAZY!!!!

I was finally able to take a break from sledding, which meant I was walking around taking pictures of everyone and while I was taking a picture of Cindy and Grace on a sled they conviced me to get on the sled with them!! Yeah, 3 grown woman on 1 sled....hilarious. I couldn't figure out which way to sit, so I finally as I was standing there facing Cindy, I decided to just straddler her! I yelled for Joe to hurry and push us down the hill before I'd fall off. And down we went. We were laughing soo hard and so was everyone around us. We didn't make it very far before crashed, but holy smokes did we have fun!!!

So after us girls had our fun, it was only appropiate that we make the guys have fun.....Somehow we were able to convince Jason, Russ, and Joe to go on the sled together. The boys were so funny because they didn't want to sit between each others legs, (heaven forbid) but finally after some careful thought they were situation. Russ and Joe sat on sled which Jason was squated down on the back of the sled. The boys made it all the way down the hill, or rather Russ and Joe made it all the way down the hill, Jason fell off the back of the sled half-way down the hill. It was so funny. We all had a good laugh. I love moments when the adults act like children.....priceless!!

Finally after almost 2 hours of sledding Jason and I were exhausted and slowly Isabel was falling apart. She was getting crankier and crankier after each trip up the hill, but kept insisting that she didn't want to stop. As she was trying to go down the hill by herself again, (Jason tried to stop her because she was on her knees trying to go down the hill, rather than on her bumper). Jason was able to stop her sled after it moved a few feet down the hill. This of course made Isabel sooo MAD! She had been screaming "no, No, no, NO" when Jason was trying to stop the sled. And when he stopped it, she stood up and screamed at him, "I said NO"!! Oh my gosh, it took everything in me to not laugh. She was sooo MAD, it was hilarious. Then she threw herself on the grown and started kicking (yep, she threw a tantrum). Jason was trying to get her to stop because her boot started to fall off, but she wouldn't listen. And before long her boot fell off, which made her even more mad. So Jason (stooping to her level) says, "see thats what you get", and Isabel quickly stood up and shot around, pointed at Jason and yelled, "no thats what you get!!!" . I completely losted it at this point. I turned around and busted out laughing so hard. So with that, our sledding day was over. Jason was finally able to get her boot on and off we went. By the way, the whole time Jason and Isabel were having their fight, I of course did nothing, but stand and take pictures!!! haha:-)

"A true friend is the greatest of all blessings"

We are so blessed. For a long time now, I've been meaning to write about the friends in Isabel's and my life. I feel alittle stressed writing about this because I just don't know where to begin and I don't want to forget anyone. Well, here goes....growing up in EGF was great. It's not too big, not too small. And the best part was the people I met. When I was still in diapers I met Ellen Hammarback. Ellen is one of my best friends and is one of Isabel's godmothers. In elementary school I met Kalee Mack. I remember she was the "coolest" girl in our grade (don't get any ideas Kalee...haha). Kalee is still one of my best friends. Then in middle school I met the beautiful Kelly Holtman. Kelly is the nicest person you will ever meet and I'm so glad to call her my best friend. Now although I had other friends outside of these 3 girls, and although there were times we weren't always close and together, these 3 woman are incredible and I'm so lucky to still call them my best friends. And because I've known them for so long, we've gone through fun, wild, sad, serious, and happy times together. I've always known how much these gals love me, but perhaps I never truly knew the extend until I was pregnant. First off, they threw me pregnant parties (lots of apps and no booze) all the time (I think it was just an excuse for them to eat yummy food). For my baby shower they bought me a changing table (which we now use as Isabel's dresser...thanks ladies) and when I was in the hospital waiting for Isabel to arrive these 3 gals were right there with me. They took turns bringing meals for Jason, they kept me company, and the excitment they had when they met Isabel was truly amazing. Those moments will always be close to my heart.

In the summer of 1998, I met Heather Brunelle while working at DirecTel (telemarketing..perfect fit for me, right??haha). Heather is one the strongest, most determined people I've ever met. She is a close friend who I'm very protective of and sometimes treat like my own daughter...only becomes I care so much about her:-) Her friendship has always been such a blessing.

Then along came St.Cloud. I met Erin Rautmann and Emily Kratzke in St.Cloud while living in my freshman dorm. It wasn't long before us 3 became inseparable. Erin is the crabbiest, funniest, most sarcastic person you'll ever meet (Jason thinks she's great...big surprise) and Emily is beautiful, funny, and so talented. These are my 2 friends who I love so dearly, but don't get to see very often because they live so far away (okay, they only live 4 hours away, but that's alot when you have a family to take care of). My memories with these 2 girls are filled with tons of laughter and completely drunken moments (it was college, what do you expect)!!!

Now going back to my baby shower. I have to thank everyone who was a part of that. The amount of gifts we recieved was crazy. I so emotional because everyone was so giving and so loving. I think my cousin Grace bought me every supply under the sun. And Carla bought Isabel's summer wardrobe, and my sister....where to begin. I am so blessed to have my sister. She is the most giving and selfless person I have ever known. She not only threw me a baby shower, she also proceed to buy the bassinet, crib, diapers, and clothes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

So August of 2004, I was working at Marshall Fields and along came Carla Spokely. I remember when I first met her. I was glad to finally be working with someone I had something in common with. She, like me, was a newly wed. She was also pregnant, and I was trying to get pregnant. Carla and I hit it off right away. We would spend hours on the phone telling stories of our past....and there was a lot to tell, since we met so late in our lives:-) What a complete joy it has been having Carla in my life. Her daughter Tatum and Isabel are 1o months apart and are totally best friends. Watching them play and laugh together is so cute.

So in September of 2006 Isabel and I joined ECFE (baby school). The program is designed for an hour of mommy/toddler time with songs and a snack and then an hour of moms meeting with a child specialist to talk about parenting issues. What a great program. When we joined ECFE I met a handful of awesome mom's who I am sooo lucky to call my friends. They include Danielle Brundin who has a daughter Paige and son Seth, Sara Dietzler whose daughter is Greta and now has a son Adam, Polly who is the most calming and soothing mom I've ever know, she has 4 sons! And Jenny Hanson, whose daughters are Isabella and Veronica.

When I met Jenny I knew right away we were made for each other. And it wasn't long before her and I became very close. There are weeks were Isabel and I practically live at the Hanson house. Jenny is so kind, loving, passionate about her faith, and truly inspiring. She has brought me closer to my faith and inspired me to be a better person, I am truly grateful to have her in my life.

Along with all the wonderful woman I named, I also have been blessed to have meet even more wonderful mom's in the last year. They would include; Tammy, Becky, Laura, and Sarah (high school friend)and Emily. And the best part of getting to know these wonderful woman and calling them my friends, is having their children and Isabel a part of each other's lives.

If you ever ask Isabel to name her friends....she'd probably start off with Isabel Hanson (her name is actually Isabella, but because I call my Isabel, Isabel Aaker when we're with Isabella Hanson, Isabel now call Isabella, Isabel Hanson....I hope that wasn't too confusing). Then she'd say 'Ronca (Veronica), then Tatum, Greta,Paige, and so on. And listening to Isabel talk about her friends is soo cute. She always wants her friends to come to her house and she always asks to see her friends.

Every wednesday, after dance, we head to McDonalds. This is my favorite part of the week. We have a McDonalds "crew". This started out with 3 of us moms (Jenny, Sara, and me), but now we've grown to a group of up to 6 moms and sometimes more. When you count all the moms and kids, we easily make up a group of over 20. Now since we go to McDonalds every wednesday we have become quite close with the McDonalds staff. They not only look forward to seeing us, but they love our kids and our kids love them. One day one of the McDonalds workers came into the playland to chat with us moms. I was sitting next to Sara, gushing over her perfect baby boy Adam when the lady came by to admire him. As she gently rubbed his head she said, "you guys are all so blessed to have this time to spend with each other"!!!! WOW!!! It was such a simple statement, yet those words have been on my mind since. I've spent endless hours thinking about how blessed Isabel and I truly are.

We are surrounded by incredible people everyday. The mom's I've met have become some the closest women in my life. Their children are Isabel's best friends. These woman help make being a stay-at-home mom so much more enjoyable. These are moms who I can call and say"i'm having a bad morning, meet me at McDonalds" and they're there. Our circle of friends is always growing and full of moms who have the same desires as I do as a mom. These are all beautiful women inside and out, who have become role models to my daughter.


Whether we're at McDonalds having lunch, or enjoying a matinee, at the zoo, park, storytime at the library, or at dance class, we are always surrounded by great friends. And beyond friends, Isabel also has awesome cousins, aunts, and grandparents that mean the world to her. Every night our prayers are filled with thanks for all our friends and family.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! This New Years Eve found us at home with just the 3 of us. We had made plans to celebrate with the Troemner family...some late night apps, followed by a kid friendly Happy New Year celebration. But due to a demanding work schedule, Jason was out of town until 8pm on New Years Eve. So we cancelled our party plans and decided we would have our own very low key, but very kid friendly party.

Like Christmas, I was very excited for this New Years Eve party because it was going to be soo much fun for Isabel. From the beginning, I was planning a kid friendly party. I had a grand vision of Isabel and her cousins jumping up and down blowing horns as they screamed "Happy New Year"!! So even though we had to cancel our plans, I was determined to still have my grand vision. Earlier during the week, Isabel and I went shopping to buy supplies for our party. Crowns for mom and Isabel and a groovy hat for dad. We also got all kinds of noise makers, leis, and silly string.

I was able to get Isabel down at 6pm for a VERY late nap. By the time dad got home, Isabel was up and ready to rock and roll. Poor Jason was exhausted from a 13+ hour work day, so while dad took a nap Isabel and I watched our new favorite movie Anastasia. The movie end with only 15 minutes until the new year. So Isabel and I quickly woke up dad and I got out all the party supplies. Finally the big moment.....we watch the countdown on TV, Jason and I joined in at 5, 4, 3....while Isabel was confused and counted 5, 6, 7, and then HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Isabel jumped up and down and blow her horn. She was so excited, even though she really didn't know what we were celebrating. She kept saying "it's 2009" (because we told her that), but she also kept asking for the cake (Isabel completely associates cakes with parties). There was no cake, but we had silly string. Jason and I had a good laugh spraying Isabel with silly string. Unfortunately Isabel was not as thrilled with the silly string. She was actually quite scared of it!!!

By 12:10am, our party was over. We quickly cleaned up while Isabel entertained us and herself by singing and dancing and of course posing for the camera....she's a chip off the old block (haha). Finally by 1am were all in bed...together. Our little New Years party was small and short, but we sure had fun:-)

That night I layed in bed going over the last year. What a great year 2008 was. I became an aunt, I gained a brother in law, Jason was back in school, Isabel moved to the preschool dance class, I saw life-long friends get married, Isabel became a fan of politics (well actually a fan of Hillary Clinton), and most importantly we spent the last year surrounded by great friends and family.

As I thought about what 2009 will bring....I was filled with excitement. Jason will be graduating from UND in May. I will be going back to school (UND) and Isabel will be starting preschool and Jason and I will celebrate our 5th year wedding anniversary!! And those are only some of the huge milestones we'll face in 2009. I'm so excited. I'm not one to make new year resolutions, but if I had to, here's what they would be. I would make a commitment for Jason, Isabel, and I to participate in a charity event or volunteer somewhere as a family. And I would also committ to Jason and I continuing our efforts to be loving and accepting of everyone in our lives and everyone we meet. So with that....Happy New Year!!!!