Funny Conversations

A few funny conversations with Reese recently...

Milking the fact that she's been sick lately...
Reese: "Can I watch a movie?"
Mommy: "No, no more movies today."
R: "But I'm still a little bit sick." (said in a soft/whiny voice for added effect)

While watching a Scooby Doo movie...
R: "Remember I like scary parts."
M: "I don't know why you like the scary parts."
R: "It's just a movie, Mom. You don't have to be scared."

When she came downstairs one morning...
R: "I had a nightmare."
M: "What happened?"
R: "I went to the doctor. I had a stuffy nose."

While I was singing one morning during breakfast...
R: "Mom, don't sing!!"
M: "Why?"
R: "Because I'm eating and I can't cover my ears!"
Gee thanks!

Quick note on the picture -- Daddy is a trooper and is painting Reese's princess castle. What a great Daddy!

Protective Sister

Reese is very protective of her little sister. Here are a few examples...

I thought Emmy felt warm one night, so took her temperature. Reese came upstairs to watch and started crying herself when Emmy was crying. She yelled at me, "Stop! She doesn't like that!!!"

While at a friend's house, some of the kids were getting a little rowdy around Emmy. Reese was next to me watching them and told me with great concern, "They are going to to hurt my baby! Stop! That's my baby!"

Night Out

We enjoyed a night out with some friends. It was fun to introduce Emmy, play with the kids, and see the Hedtke's beautiful new house! A special thanks to Ashly for reading a captivating version of the book "Never Take a Shark to the Dentist."

Matching at MOPS

Emmy and her friend Kayla (3 months older than Emmy) showed up at MOPS in matching outfits. What are the chances? Next week they'll have to call each other to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Reading

Emmy seems to love books. This book helps me entertain her while I'm cooking -- for at least 5 minutes.

Day of Doctors

It was a day of doctors. I had my 6 week post-delivery check up. Then, while feeding Emmy in the lobby before her doctor appointment, I received a call from Heather that Reese threw up. Ugh!

Heather said Reese was doing ok, so I decided to go to Emmy's appointment. Emmy has developed a rash on the sides of her face, neck, and chest. I wanted to get it checked to make sure it wasn't an allergic reaction to Zantac that she recently started. Luckily the doctor thinks it's just a skin irritation and we just have to treat with lots of Aquaphor lotion.

I left that doctor appointment to pick up Reese. Reese told me, "I puked. At Heather's house [actually it was in her car] on my jacket and LOVEY! Then we took a nice bath to get all the icky off. Then we snuggled and watched a movie. Heather took good care of me." Thank you Heather -- you are wonderful! I'll be dropping off an air freshener for your car tomorrow.

Welcome Back

We welcomed back all grandparents this week. I'll be honest, I was counting down the days until G&G Haag returned from California and G&G Cipra returned from Florida. I know most parents handle parenting without grandparents most of the time -- but not us. But we did it - we survived on our own.

Reese and Emmy had a great time playing with G&G Haag on Tuesday. Despite a cold, Reese entertained with numerous verses of a song she composed. Each verse contained the phrases, "Do your best!" and "Shake your butt!"

Welcome back! Now don't even think about leaving again any time soon!

Outside in February

Who would have thought we could play outside in February? We're loving this warm winter!

Game Night

We enjoyed a game night with neighbors. The girls had fun eating and playing with toys while the adults played Mad Gab and Family Feud. Have I mentioned how much I love games!?! At the end of the night, all the girls gathered around Emmy to say goodbye. Emmy will be joining their fun soon enough.

Puzzle Video

A cute video of Reese doing a puzzle. She's up to 60 piece puzzles without any help. She's an excellent puzzler! Watch the video here.

Busy Busy

Reese was very busy today doing puzzles and painting.

Silly Sisters

Reese teaching Emmy how to be silly!

Snack Drawer

While Emmy slept peacefully in her swing today, I organized Reese's snack drawer. Reese was VERY excited about this drawer. Libby (our cat) climbed inside the drawer to check it out too, and Reese yelled, "Libby, don't mess it up!!" My plan is to fill it full of healthy snacks Reese can help herself to any time. I even made little note cards with pictures of healthy snacks that need to be refrigerated (like grapes and cheese sticks), and if Reese picks those, I can help her get them out of the fridge. I hope the excitement about these healthy snacks continues.

Zantac

I was right... Emmy has acid reflux. She saw the doctor today and immediately started on Zantac. Emmy does not enjoy the taste of her medicine. She literally chokes it down and looks at me like "what are you doing?!?!" I hope the medicine starts working and Emmy starts accepting it soon.

Tummy Troubles

Both girls had tummy troubles last night.

I think Emmy has acid reflux because she sometimes cries very hard after eating for a few minutes. She acts hungry, but something is causing her pain. She has also been spitting up and chews throughout the day. I made an appointment for the doctor tomorrow. I actually hope it is acid reflux because that's a simple fix. Reese was on Zantac for a year and it worked very well.

This morning Reese told me that her tummy feels better. She said "Maybe my tummy hurt because I ate too many cookies!" Well, that just might be true and I guess she's been listening when we tell her that when she asks for yet another Oreo. I told Reese, "I'm glad you're feeling better because I was worried about you." She replied, "I was worried about myself too!"

Happy Valentine's Day

We have had a fun Valentine's Day. First we went to music class, and I'm happy to report that we made it out the door without any tears (from any of us!) and made it to class on time. We then met our friends Ellie, Heather, Laura, Katie, and Tracy at McDonalds for a Valentine's lunch and gift exchange. Reese helped me make the heart shaped cake pops for our friends. Emmy seemed to like the cake pops too and out not let go of her stick!

Quick funny story about music class. We sang one song where all the kids got to pick a color for a boat, then the music teacher makes up a rhyme. All the other kids were choosing colors like red, blue, green, yellow, etc. Reese was one of the last to go and she said "Silver!" One of the moms said, "She's so creative." And Jackie, the music teacher, said "No one has ever said silver before. Good job!" I didn't even know she knew the color silver.

Smiles for Daddy

Emmy has started smiling! She occasionally smiles at me (Mommy), but always give Daddy big toothless grins that make your heart melt. Here's a video showing how excited Emmy gets when Daddy makes silly faces and noises (and we almost caught a smile here too). Click here to watch the video.

3 Year Well Visit

Reese went to the doctor today for her 3 year well visit. She is perfectly healthy and well ahead in her development.

She weighs 30 pounds (43rd percentile) and is 37 3/4 inces tall (60th percentile). She's cone a long way since she was my tiny 5 pound 13 ouunce newborn.

The only development things we need to work on are dressing herself, brushing her own hair, and other independent actions. It's not that Reese can't do those things, I just have never let her try. Guess we'll have to allow more time and I'll have to practice my patience to allow her to do these things on her own.

Reese did great at her appointment. She followed all directions like opening her mouth and saying ahhhh, standing on the scale, etc. The only negative was she had to have a flu shot. She tried to be very brave, but did cry when they administered the shot. Darn shots!

No Patience

A warm up before Valentine's Day. Notice Reese could not wait and had to havee a piece of cake before a picture with Emmy. She has no patience when it comes to sweets. Can't say that I blame her.

Lion King

Reese and Daddy had a great time at The Lion King play at the Orpheum. Reese came home very excited, singing the song "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", and telling me the folllowing things...

"This elephant walked right past me. He was HUGE!"

"Scar was there, but not Rock." (Rock is a character from the movie Lion King 2. Both of those characters are bad, but she sems to like the bad guys. Could be interesting when she's a teenager.)

"Pumba kept tooting!!!"

"There was a hyena with a big tongue. He's so silly!"

And on and on. Then she immediately wanted to watch the movie and play with her lion figurines. I guess she had fun!

Laura

My good friend Laura came to visit this weekend. It was so nice to have her here. Reese loved playing with Laura and all the attention she gave her. Emmy loved the snuggles she received. And I loved it most of all - the great conversations, gifts, dinner, and leisurely shower I was able to take while Laura watched the girls. Laura, will you please move here?!?!

Big & Little Shirts

I bought these adorable personalized shirts for the girls. I envisioned a cute picture of the two of them proudly wearing their shirts. But, Reese was not interested in laying next to Emmy for a picture today. I'm learning to go with the flow (even more necessary now with 2 kids) and settled for separate pictures and Reese's picture where you can't even really see her shirt and with Cheetos all over her face.

Castle

How many grandparents does it take to put together a princess castle? Obviously more than 2 (at least these 2)! Thanks for trying.

Reading

Reese likes to read to Emmy. Could this be any cuter?

Over 8 Pounds

I weighed Emmy today and was surprised to find her weighing 8 pounds 13 ounces. She's our little butterball! Emmy has already grown out of her newborn clothes and now fits into 0-3 month size. Thanks to Dave & Kathy Lorenz for the new adorable outfit Emmy is wearing in this picture. I love it!

Messy House

I am usually pretty particular about our house. Both Todd and I like things clean and picked up. We have, however, become more relaxed on this since Emmy joined our family. Reese has been spreading her toys out around the living room and doing a great job playing by herself. We really can't complain as she entertains herself!

This morning, Reese woke up and came downstairs. The very first thing she said to me (before she even said good morning) was, "The floor is very messy. I better sweep it," and proceeded to find the broom in the closet and sweep the wood floor. Ha!

Super Bowl

We had fun at the annual Super Bowl party at Troy and Tammy's house. Emmy placed her bets and Reese watched the numbers board closely. The girls must be good gamblers because we won over $50! Next stop, Vegas!

Happy 3rd Birthday

Happy 3rd birthday to Reese! She had a fun party with a dinosaur theme (her request). I decided to make it a "fierce but feminine" dinosaur theme, and made signs (one banner said "Reese-o-saurus") and decorations (obviously made all this before Emmy was born because I do not have time now)!

We decided to have a smaller party than for Reese's 2nd birthday, so invited family and our neighbors. But we have a lot of neighbors with little kids, so 40 people celebrated with Reese.

The kids enjoyed eating at the carnivore and herbivore stations, doing a dino-dig, making prehistoric jewelry, and filling candy at the "sweetivore" (sweet eating) station.

Reese had a great time - especially eating birthday cake and opening presents.

Thanks to everyone for celebrating with her!

Crying

Reese does not like it when Emmy cries. This afternoon Emmy was crying in her swing while I was quickly finishing up something in the kitchen. I looked into the living room to see Reese patting Emmy's head. When that didn't work, Reese sang her "Hush Little Baby" song. When that still didn't work she yelled to me, "Mom, Emmy needs help!!"

Cute Outfits

Here's Emmy looking cute in some adorable new outfits. Special note to Emmy's first Under Armour outfit from Grandpa Cipra!

Great Grandma

Emmy met her Great Grandma Cipra for the first time today. We wish it was under different circumstances than at Doug's funeral. But very glad the two of them got to meet today.

Uncle Doug

Rest in peace, uncle Doug (Reese and Emmy's great uncle). We attended his funeral today. Here is his obituary...

Douglas Nelson Cipra was born Jan. 26, 1945, to Lloyd “Shorty” and Jean (Nelson) Cipra in Albert Lea. He grew up on a farm near Glenville. He was baptized and confirmed at First Lutheran Church in Glenville. Doug graduated from Glenville High School in 1963 and was active in all sports.

Doug worked for Wilson Foods as a meat cutter for 17 years in Albert Lea. In 1977, Doug married Kristine (Wick) Haviland. The couple made their home in Austin. Their family spent many summers camping on Lake Mary near Alexandria. In 1983 they moved to Brandon, where he and Kristine owned and operated the Blue Gill Cafe until 1991. Doug continued working in various sales and service jobs until 2006, when conditions of his emphysema no longer allowed him to work.

Doug loved their home on the lake and took pride in taking care of it. He enjoyed flowers, gardening and lawn care. As the emphysema progressed Doug found clever ways to continue his lawn work and gardening even though slowing down was hard for Doug.

Doug enjoyed spending time outdoors, especially golfing and fishing in the summer and winter. He marveled at the details of nature and enjoyed watching the birds and area wildlife. Doug was a conversationalist. He loved meeting new people, sitting down and shaking dice for a cup of coffee or visiting about the latest news. As his health declined his cell phone was an important connection to his friends. His family was very important to him. He loved being a grandpa and spending time with his grandkids.

On Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, Doug died at Knute Nelson in Alexandria, from complications of emphysema. He was 67 years old.

Doug is survived by his wife, Kristine Cipra of Brandon; children, Kyle (Suzanne) Cipra of Tucson Ariz., Tena (Brice) Burnes of Northwood, Iowa, Tracy Masteller of St. Joseph and Dan (Sandra) Haviland of St. Paul; grandchildren, Brenton Haviland, Tucker Masteller, Lainey Masteller, Cody Masteller, Olivia Haviland, Ian Cipra, Evan Cipra, Aidan Cipra, Christian Burnes and Brooke Burnes; mother, Jean Cipra of Austin; brother, Clark (Valerie) Cipra of Austin; aunt, Ruth Steigerwald of Austin; mother-in-law, Mae Wick of Hutchinson; and cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.

Doug was preceded in death by his father, Lloyd Cipra; grandparents, James and Tena Cipra and Elmer and Nora Nelson; and father-in-law, Howard Wick.