Baby Fresh

We were given strict instructions not to get Liesel's cast wet. After two days it was apparent we'd have to get creative. Mom covered her cast with a ziplock bag and covered a folded quilt with a towel so Liesel could prop it up. Sitting in the kitchen sink, she was able to look out the window on the backyard and field beyond while Mom sponged her down.

Now that Ireland is sitting on her own, Mom thought she might enjoy the same treatment. Mom really knows best.

There's nothing like a squeaky clean baby!

Sunday Best

Every time I do laundry I find myself setting aside clothes Liesel and Ireland have grown out of. It's a bit more painful with Ireland because I have no guarantee I'll ever pull them out again. Thank goodness for cameras! Here are some photos of the latest fall fashions:

This dress is very old. I don't think I wore it as a kid but

Reagan or Whitney did. I flipped out when I found the tights with red hearts and anchors on them. Ireland only got to wear it once. *sniff* *sniff*

Liesel rocking the mod look.

I gave her a zig-zag part to tie in with the dress pattern.

Liesel's cast kind of became an accessory. Lots of people didn't even notice she HAD a cast on because it coordinated so well with the outfit.

I love my girls!

For Brent

Thank you for the lilies you sent for our anniversary. They were beautiful and kept the bedroom fragrant for weeks. Thank you for being an amazing husband and stellar father. It feels like we've been married for so much longer than four years. We've been through a lot--both good and bad. I look forward to the adventures that lay in store for us. I love you with all my heart and soul.

Gimme a Break!

Per usual, Liesel climbed out of her crib and made her way into my room. Ireland had gotten up at 5:30AM but she was finally, finally asleep again. I'd had horrific nightmares and was exhausted to say the least when I heard my door creak open. I decided to lay perfectly still. When Liesel sees we are both asleep she lays next to us until there are signs of life. I'm guessing she actually started to fall asleep and then startled and that's how she fell off the bed. She's fallen off the bed before. She's fallen off higher beds. She's fallen head-first onto hardwood floors and this was carpet. But something was different. She sobbed and sobbed which is unusual for her. Typically if she's injured she can "shake it off" and move on. She doesn't really cry for attention. Something wasn't right. I made her a sippy cup of warm milk. She still cried. I put her in the bath. She was still crying. It had been over an hour since she fell off the bed and she kept asking me to kiss her boo boo. Dad volunteered to stay with Ireland and Mom agreed to drive me to the U of I Hospitals and Clinics. I'm glad I followed my instincts because she had two breaks in her wrist.

They say a coincidence is what happens when God chooses to remain anonymous. However, I felt the hand of the Lord at so many points during the day:

• A few weeks ago I mentioned to Brent that Ireland is overdue for her 6 month check-up. He called around to see which Iowa City hospitals would accept our Massachusetts insurance. Ireland is scheduled to go in on Monday and I happened to have an appointment reminder card. I knew if I went to U of I Hospitals and Clinics we'd be okay and didn't have to waste time. I also had the address of Pediatrics in hand.
  
• This hospital is the largest teaching hospital in the WORLD! It's really a good-sized village. No seriously, it's huge. Ginormous. Even with the address it could have taken us a while to find it but Mom knew exactly where it was so again, no time wasted.
  
• I made an executive decision to take her to Pediatrics and not the ER. Pediatrics is usually much better set up to help children and it was regular business hours. While I was there I realized our ER copay has recently gone up from $50 to $100.
  
• The doctor was already double booked for her first appointments of the day. Because we were there a tad earlier than either scheduled patient, she agreed to see us anyway.
  
• Because Brent had made the appointment for Ireland, we were already in the system. They just had to create a record for Liesel and transfer the same info. Again, time saved.
  
• Before leaving the house, I put Liesel's hair in pigtails and slipped in some of the huge bows I just bought when I was in Utah. Call me crazy, but we got a lot of mileage off of those bows. No matter where we went we didn't have to wait long before being seen. She got lots of extra attention which I think helped to alleviate her fears somewhat.
  
• Ireland was really good for my dad during the 4+ hours they were together. Now that I think of it, when Liesel fell off the bed and bawled Ireland woke up but made no sound. It's like she knew something serious had happened to Liesel.

I felt horrible holding her down for x-rays, especially when I found out it was a broken wrist. I've had a broken wrist in recent years and I remember how painful those were for me. That I was adding to her pain stung me to the core. You can even see part of my hand holding down her fingers in the x-ray picture. Casting was also no fun. Liesel cried big tears while I held her on my lap and a nurse held her arm in the air. Thank goodness I'd thought to bring along my iPod. I played Beyonce's Single Ladies and tried to convince her she was getting kind of the same thing on her arm only in pink! The doctor quietly told me normally they'd cast a child under sedation but since they'd already started... I interrupted him and said I could handle her crying if they could. The cast has to weigh about 5 lbs and it's twice the size of her arm. That night I gave Brent the full run-down on the days events and as soon as I finished telling him I burst into tears. I honestly never felt the urge to cry during it all but in retrospect it finally got to me. Brent told me he'd never had a broken bone. Both my parents also told me they've never experienced a broken bone. Well little Liesel at the tender age of 2 is now a veteran. Poor thing!

What's in a Name?

Tonight while eating dinner with my girls, Ireland looked up at me with her big blue eyes. I couldn't help myself, I exclaimed, "Hello Gorgeous!" Liesel overheard and piped in enthusiastically, "Hi Gorgeous!" Not wanting Liesel to feel left out I addressed her next, "Hello Beautiful!" She smiled and responded, "Hi" there was a brief pause, "DANIKA."

And that was my laugh of the day.

Frenemies

When we first arrived in Utah I would say Liesel and her cousin Paisley had a love-hate relationship. That eventually blossomed into pretty much just a hate-hate relationship. Poor Paisley is the youngest daughter and suddenly found herself in competition with someone not only younger, but a guest. My sister Reagan repeatedly told her Liesel could do whatever she wanted... including poop on her bed. Reagan has some unconventional parenting techniques I'm eager to try out. Anyway, in spite of Reagan's threats, Paisley would lock Liesel out of rooms, take toys and yell at her. Liesel developed some coping tactics of her own that culminated in a confrontation during family dinner. Paisley wanted to go outside and Liesel was apparently not in a giving mood as she held the door closed. I'm told Liesel reached her hand waaaay back and b!#@$-slapped Paisley... hard. I didn't know whether to apologize to Reagan or have bumper stickers made, "My kid can b!#@$-slap your honors student." There's a video of my interrogation on the matter, but it is too large to include on the blog.

Not that Paisley is any wimp. She body checked Liesel the next day when Liesel wasn't looking. I have to say I was impressed. One bonus of these two not getting along is they were too busy irritating each other to bother their sisters. It was kind of a nice break for both Reagan and I. As my mother always says, "You'll be friends another day." At least I hope so!

Home Base

Here's a group of my most favorite people in the world... my siblings. Sadly Logan was not at Frogurt that night and Lisa was my only in-law who could make it. However, this is a good representative of the people who don't let me get away with anything, who will call me on my crap, who ground me, inspire me, believe in me, would walk through fire for me and who love me no matter what. I'm so very grateful for each and every individual pictured here. We had such a blast just talking and laughing together. Good times, noodle salad.

Memo to Me, Memo to Me

Don't leave the camera where Reagan can get it...

Ballet Lessons

Ireland had a major blowout on the way to the outlet mall in Park City. It was the perfect excuse to frequent the Gymboree for a fresh outfit! They had these ballet onesies that I couldn't resist. When Whitney saw her in it, she decided to pass along some of her wisdom:

We Are Family

While we were in Utah my sister Katrina thought we'd take the opportunity to get cousin photos. All the Nielsen cousins were together minus Hunter and Harley. We're still looking to see if we can Photoshop them in. I think the photographers did an amazing job getting all the kids looking in the same direction and smiling. Liesel went into a fit of tears for unknown reasons. I'm posting some individual shots of the girls we didn't end up getting prints of. It was really tough deciding between so many good photos. Ireland always looks so concerned when Liesel holds her. Kind of like she's thinking, "Haven't we already determined this is a BAD idea?" They looked adorable though and I'm glad we could use the watermelon outfits again.

Afterwards we celebrated Jack and Benjamin's birthday at a gymnasium. By gymnasium I mean a place where gymnastics is taught. It was bar none the BEST children's birthday party I've ever attended! The kids were able to jump, flip and tumble into foam pits. There were trampolines and climbing walls. The idea was to exhaust the kids so after photos and the party they'd nap all afternoon. Somehow the adults got into it too. Reagan decided to take a running jump into one of the foam pits using a springboard. That was seriously one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life because when she hit the springboard it somehow threw her backwards rather than propelling her forward. Katrina agreed to hold Ireland while I dusted off some old cheerleading jumps on the tramps. I haven't even attempted those in years and I laughed myself sick trying them again. Too bad my camera battery died. If anyone out there has any video or photos, please, please, PLEASE pass them along!

At one point I noticed Liesel had braved a foam pit and I decided to jump in and join her. Bad move. More like no move. I am not a light toddler! I am a woman who recently had a baby. I could feel my pregnancy weight sinking me deeper and deeper into the foam. I tried moving the foam pieces directly around me but that just sunk me further. My nephew Eli noticed and ran over to where I was. "Need some help?" he cheerfully asked from the edge. "Yeah, I'm kind of stuck." He somersaulted in the pit. "You just have to get on top of it and crawl!" he said as he did just that. I didn't want to tell him I couldn't roll over on my stomach so crawling was a remote possibility. I managed to do it but couldn't get on top of it all like he advised. "Use your knees!" I was like a fish on dry land as I ever so slowly flopped myself over to the edge. When I got out I was completely sweating and everyone else was wondering why I took so long. Still the best birthday party I've ever been to. The girls had a blast, the cousins bonded and the adults were greatly entertained by it all. What a brilliant idea!