Cotton Candy Xmas

After an exciting visit at the farm it was nice to come home and see my husband again. I knew he was missing us because all day Saturday he was messaging me to see what he could do for me around the house- SCORE. So I decided to have him bring the Christmas tree down from the loft and set it up. It sounds pretty easy but the trouble comes in when I considered the fact that the rotating base did not work with the permanent base of my tree… Well, he muscled the bottom off the tree and I then had my beautiful rotating silver tree. I call it my cotton candy tree because it reminds me of being young and it has pretty twinkle lights that look like pink candy. Bella likes it too- but we had to put up a gate so she learns not to touch mommy’s glass ornaments to avoid certain death- we shall see how this goes.

This is Kaitlynn dancing to the gummy bears song that Sharon found for her online.

Feast at the InLaws

So we got to have two Turkey Days this year- one on Thanksgiving and then one today at Tim’s parents. Kyra unfortunately was unable to make it today because it is Jade’s weekend but she did spend the night with Tim on Wed so they had some time together for the holiday. Tim and I brought with us his special pecan pies, scalloped corn, deviled eggs and two little bambinos. Lucky for me Paula’s girl were there and willing to play with Kaitlynn and we played pass the baby with Livi. I got to fill my belly with yummy yummy food and sit around yapping with the family. I brought the ads along (Sunday) and we made out our Christmas list. At first I couldn’t really think of anything but once I got rolling there was no stopping me!

YES!!! Black Friday

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is that the ads come out for Black Friday shopping. Every year my cousins Theresa and Krissy and I go through them and figure out our plan of attack and write out our lists (on paper plates no less). This year was a little different because there were only a few things that we wanted to find nd the times for the stores were ridiculous. We decided to head to LaCrosse Thursday night at 10 to show Anna just how crazy it is there (she has never been Black Friday shopping). We waited outside the Toys R Us and the line was not only across the front of the store but also all the way around and behind it- nuts I tell you! When the doors opened it appeared that they were only letting a few people in at a time and no one else until those people had left- forget that! There was even a police officer to make sure nothing went wrong. It was way too much- even for us. So the group of us (Aunt Barb, Theresa, Krissy, AJ, Anna and myself) decided to drive back to Sparta to see what was at the midnight opening of Wal-Mart. We had some great conversations on the ride and I think this is one of those times you remember for always. So we staked out the items we wanted to buy at Wal-Mart (we had an hour to walk around) and at the stroke of 12 the craziness ensued. People were rabid for the deals- I couldn’t believe it. I mean come on- do you really need those two dollar DVDs? We made it though and I think everybody got what they were looking for. I can’t tell you though how rude people were- usually there is a sense of group comradery on Black Friday… not at 12am… it was elbow shoving, pulling and plane old pushing- not to mention the overwhelming odor of booze. I guess that’s the difference between the crowds at midnight and 5 am…. Which I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be seeing this year but as luck would have it- mom wanted to check out the deals. So after sleeping four hours or so, I got back up, packed up the baby and we were on our way. We hit the usual spots: Kohl’s, Wal-Mart and Shopko. We even stopped in to Toys R Us- no lines and I still was able to get what I was looking for. What a difference a few hours and some great advertising can make. No big lines or anything but our big mishap was when Olivia pooped through her jammies and I had forgotten the diaper bag. Luckily I had an extra diaper in my purse that I could use. So I got the little one all stripped and ready to change… but I hd lost the clean diaper- OH NO! What do I do now? I have a totally naked baby inside Kohls department store with no diaper or clean clothes. I carried my totally bare baby out of the bathroom to see what my mom thought I should do and you should have seen her face- total shock and utter amazement- whoops. Luckily after another each of the bathroom I found her clean diaper behind a chair. I must have dropped it when I was waiting in line. First problem fixed! And I guess it was serendipitous that we were in Kohls- I just put her in a sleeper and had them scan her on the way out- literally. So I guess you could say crisis avoided… for the time being I am sure :)

Thanksgiving

Today is one of my favoritest days of the year- Thanksgiving! This is because not only do we get to eat a ton of food without feeling bad about it but there is a huge parade before we feast! How could it be any better? Well this year it was because my little baby turned two. Yes, Miss Kaitlynn Bella Bronander is now officially two years old (at 2pm to be exact). It has been fun the past few weeks practicing how old she is and showing the number of fingers- she says she is three and holds up two and a half fingers- its adorable. The drive over with mom and dad went pretty well yesterday. We started out in the morning all packed up and ready to roll. Mom took a half day from school because she had a dermatologist appointment to check out some skin spots that we thought might be cancerous (don’t worry, they ended up being benign). So we popped into the outlet mall seeing we were so close and found dad a sweater (he gets cold now that he is a skinny mini) and then got back on the road. I can’t tell you how shocked I was about half way there when I saw my first snow plow of the season (big storm expected I guess) and a few miles further down the road it started to snow. I guess it was a good of time as any seeing we are all gearing up for the holiday season (at least I am). There were no major melt downs from the girls and we had a few really nice conversations along the way. I was so excited to wake up on Thanksgiving morning it was ridiculous. Olivia slept through the night (thank you sweet baby) so I got some excellent rest. Bella vista was already running around like a lit rocket so I already knew it would be a fun filled day. Kaitlynn shares her birthday with my cousin Nikki’s husband Justin who was born a few hours and a couple decades before her. AJ and Anna were able to make it over this year and all the cousins for the most part made it too. It was great to have so much family around to celebrate life and love… Drama for sure (as always) but I think that is what gives getting together its extra kick- in our case like Tabasco sauce ;)

*** A big thank you goes out to my cousin Kristina who made Bella’s birthday cake. I was so grateful that I didn’t have to bring one over and I have to say that nothing I could make would ever look as good as the one she made… It was a little piggy for my little piggy!

Bella's B-day Party

Today was Bella’s second birthday party here at the house. It was not her technical day of birth (Nov 25^th) but because we will be spending the holiday over in Sparta Wi with my dad’s family, we wanted to celebrate with Tim’s family in Green Bay first. I decided to make the cake seeing I have such bad luck with ordering them (they are always screwed up). I made a funfetti with vanilla frosting and a chocolate with strawberry frosting (my favorite). Kaitlynn had such fun blowing out the candles and when we sang to her she was just so happy. The gifts were great too- especially the unwrapping. She is definitely getting the whole idea of presents- Christmas should be a blast. My little princess had such a good time running around and eating sugar that a few hours into it- she exploded- literally. Sharon was giving her a goodbye hug and she threw up all over her. My mother in law handled it like a pro (especially since she was covered in puke) so I couldn't tease her too much. That is also because about an hour after I got my turn on the “vomit express.” Thank goodness that Tim’s aunt Karla hadn’t left yet because it was a literal puke fest- YUCK! So we gave her a little Tylenol and laid her down for a bit in hopes that maybe she had just overdone it and we were not dealing with the flu- and we weren’t. She woke up full of smiles like usual and we spent the rest of the night playing with her new toys. I have to agree with what Paula and Andy (sr.) said “I guess it’s not a party until somebody throws up.” While I had heard this before- I never really thought it would be at my house ;) Cake anyone?

2 Months Old

Our little ORB (Olivia RoseMarie Bronander) is two months old today. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting up in the hospital with her and the family. Things sure have changed around here! It is definitely busier and I find that it takes me much longer to get going with the two girls. I had quite the list of things to get done while on maternity leave but it appears that I may not be able to accomplish the incredibly ambitious list… oh well, there are about 16 Saturdays until rummage season to get ready I guess. What I have learned with the addition of our new little princess is that nothing is as important as my girls- it was tough to get over the “need” to have things go my way- but I am starting to get better about it. I definitely find that I am more easy going because of it… still a control freak- but a more relaxed one (if there is such a thing). Miss Olivia went to the doctor today and got her first set of shots- she was not happy. However I do have to say that she did pretty well with it all considering. She weighed in at just under 12 pounds so we are growing steadily (8lbs at birth). She is right in the middle as far as the growth curve goes- generally 60% so we are moving along nicely. She started smiling this week too which is an awesome feeling for Tim and I. Now our little bambino is turning to our voices and smiles when she sees our faces- its great! I have been trying to figure out what her nicknames will be (like we have done with Kaitlynn) it’s just a little tougher with her because she is so new. Bella calls her “Via” which I like very much. I have also been trying out “Livi” and “Rosie”- We shall see.