6 month update

Sorry for my absence.  I know a lot of you have been dying to read about all the exciting things happening in our lives.  Actually, maybe some of you really have.  I know of at least one uncle of mine who will be happy for this post.

So what's been happening in the Nickel household?

First things first - Kate is 6 months old!  I can't believe it.

She is a very happy baby.  And she's slowly starting to warm up to daddy.  She can sit for a short period by herself.  She has 2 teeth.  She has the best baby laugh.  She is also trying to crawl.  She can go backward, turn in a circle, and get up on all fours...but hasn't figured out how to move forward.  She gets herself into some pickles.

She's also better at yoga than I am. 

We've been trying solids. 

We've had a lot of fun cheering on our Cubbies....

and playing outside in this nice, Fall weather. 

Always making sure she knows where I am 

Aaron turned 3 last month, and I'm still having a hard time with that.  He is a great brother.  He loves her so much, and always plays with her and kisses her.  And she just laughs whenever she sees him.  I hope they always have a strong relationship and take care of each other.  

He has conversations with us now.  I love our chats.  He is such a sweet and sensitive little boy.  He has also entered into the "why" stage of life.  Sometimes the questions are very deep - "Mommy, why he sad? (pointing to Jesus at Church) Why he have ouchies on his foots?"  Ummm...ummmmm...  

His favorite movie is Toy Story

I took Aaron to his first Illini football game.  We had a lot of fun together.  The marching band even played popular Disney tunes for the halftime show - PERFECT game to take him to. 

Even Spiderman made an appearance

Had to bust out his binoculars just like Uncle Eddie

Best buds

Bryan and I are staying busy keeping up with our two kiddos.  We're tired, but loving every minute...well, maybe not the toddler tantrums and sleepless nights.  So if you don't hear from me for another 6 months, you understand why.
 

Welcome, Kate!

Kate Isabelle Nickel was born at 4:15pm on 4/8/2015.  She weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 20 inches long.

She came out screaming, and looking just like her brother did when he was first born.

This labor and delivery was a lot different than my experience with Aaron.  I started having contractions on Monday.  Her due date was Friday.  After not sleeping a wink Tuesday night because the contractions were so strong and coming every 8 minutes, I decided to call my doctor with the hopes they would tell me to go to the hospital.  They did.  We arrived around 9:30am or so.  They confirmed I was indeed in labor.  My water started leaking shortly after we got there, and I enthusiastically exclaimed that I wanted an epidural when they asked me.  I didn't even vomit on myself this time!  I came pretty close, but held it together.  It was a pretty smooth labor, actually.  The only hiccup was when my blood pressure dropped to 60/30 after I got the epidural.  After almost passing out twice, scaring the nurses, getting a couple doses of ephedrine, getting put on oxygen and then being closely monitored for a good hour, it was smooth sailing after that.  And when it came time to push, I only had to push for 15 minutes.  Woo Hoo!!!   

I love her chubby cheeks!

Aaron LOVES her so much.  He was so sweet to us in the hospital.  When he first came to visit he asked me how I was feeling multiple times.  He was so proud of his baby sister.  He kept saying how much he loves her.  He is still very fond of her.  He always wants to know where she is, always saying "look at her!", "she's like me!", "she's your girl!", "she's opening her eyes!"  Yeah, bud, she's opening her eyes because you're loving on her and talking very loudly right in her face when she's trying to sleep.  But it's so cute.  It really warms my heart.  

Baby Sister got Aaron a Jessie doll.  Toy Story is his favorite movie.  

Our little family of 4!  I wish I would have had hair and makeup come in 

prior to having my picture taken.  

Aaron was very ready to take me and Kate home.  This time I was very ready to go home, too.  

We've been home for almost 3 weeks now.  You quickly forget what it's like to have an infant.  I miss sleep.  But it's all good.  Mamas are super heroes who can function on very little sleep.  I can just sit and watch her all day.  This is what Kate has been up to - a lot of sleeping.  But don't be fooled.  This isn't what she's up to from 12am-5am when she likes to frequent the boob buffet about every hour.  

She has the cutest, little dimples.  I love the milk drunk smiles.  Aaron always wants to hold her...until she cries.  Then he's done.  

So what have I been up to?  Well, a picture collage of that wouldn't be appropriate or pretty.  I do try to shower every day.  So what if I can't remember the last time I actually put on real clothes, did my hair or makeup.  Sorry, Bryan.  Actually, I do remember.  It was a week ago when we did Kate's newborn pictures.  It was such a shock to Aaron that he told me I looked beautiful and was a princess.  My 2 year old really knows how to warm my heart.  I really hope he talks this way to his future wife - which he'll never meet because he's never allowed to move out of my house...ever.

So there's the long awaited update on baby Kate.  Just like Aaron says, she's my girl.    

37 Weeks

Thank you to my mother-in-law for capturing some pregnancy pictures for me.  

A couple weeks left! 

Fun in the snow

Let me just say, I am officially ready for this winter to be over.  There are no good clothes for a pregnant person to wear in the winter.  I refuse to buy any more.  My coat does not zip.  And it's just plain cold and wet out.  I still can't believe my dad jumped into a frozen lake yesterday.  When I asked him what he thought the temperature was, his response was simply "Cold."

I finally took down all of my winter decor this weekend in hopes that it would bring spring.  Of course, we got approximately 5 inches of snow last night and into today.  I think Bryan is ready for a snowblower.

We decided to embrace the snow today and take Aaron out to play.  He loved it.  He kept saying, "I like it out here."  Until he face planted into the snow - he didn't like that so much.

Earning his keep by shoveling. 

 Drawing pictures in the snow. 

Yelling at the neighbor kids that a car was coming.  Future safety major.  

Not a big of a fan of sitting in the snow this year like he was last year.  

2014

2013

Valentine's Weekend

While I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day, I have a kid now.  Which means I have to do those cute crafts for your kids for days like this.  Something I didn't think about until 2 days before.  So I contacted my inner crafty and got in the V-day spirit.  And it did not turn out as cute as what I saw online.


I decided to make these adorable marshmallow pops.   Or something very similar.

I started off by my melting my white candy melts.  So far so good.  Then I made a huge mistake, big, huge.  One I have made before.  I added pink gel coloring.  Again - big mistake.  My white candy melt  became concrete.  How could I have made this mistake again?  After a lot of bad words and yelling at myself, Bryan reminded me of the audience I was catering to.  2 year olds don't care about presentation.  But I can't help that I love DIY and am a perfectionist.   I talked myself off the ledge and just used the chocolate bark I usually always have on hand.  But deep down, I was a little bummed.

Then I made another big mistake.  I put the dipped marshmallows on a plate.  You read me right....A PLATE.  What was I thinking?!

Just pure ugliness going on up in here.  I talked myself off the ledge again, got out the damn wax paper, pulled up my big girl crafty pants, and got back to work.

It helped having these 2 helpers...

for 5 minutes.

When it was all said and done, I wasn't fully pleased.  They would have looked way better if made with white candy melts.  Then you could have really seen the pink and red crystals.  But they tasted good, and Aaron liked them.  So that's all that matters.

But, man 'o man, I really need to get better at this whole "activities for your children" stage of life.  It will last me another...what, 16 years?  Maybe more?  And soon I'll have a daughter.  What if I am required to sew for one of her crafts?  What if she wants to be a daisy, or brownie, or girl scout?  She'll have a vest.  She'll earn badges.  Those will have to be sewn on her vest.  I remember - I was one.  I'll just call my mom for all of those.  Phew, I feel better now.  

I did find these Batman valentines for Aaron to hand out to his friends.  I was pretty stoked finding these given that everything was picked through, or VERY girlie, by the time this "wait until the last minute mom" went to get valentines.  So I didn't fully fail.  

I do think I redeemed myself by making this beaut - strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting.  And I finally got to feel satisfaction with my pink and red crystals.  Yes, it did remind me a little of Mrs. Doubtfire, too.  But I still think that maybe Sarah Murphy would approve of this cake.  Maybe.