Bowling a Dickhaus Tradition

After we left the Dickhaus family get together we stopped over at my brother's house to pick up some gifts that he had for Katelynn and they asked us if we wanted to go bowling, we had nothing else going on Sunday night so we said "yeah, why not". It was pretty interesting with all of us there taking turns with Riley and Junior and Katelynn. We would just switch off holding babies and helping Katelynn, it took all 4 adults and Landon, but it was really fun and Katelynn loved it and I got to spend some more time with my brother and sister-in-law and nephews.

Dickhaus Visit

Sunday morning it was time to get ready to again head to Moorhead and visit with the Dickhaus side of the family. Everyone was invited and dinner was at 1pm. It was great to see all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. We had great food and visiting and took some really great family pictures. It was especially great to be able to take a 5 generation photo - how many people can do that anymore?!

Uncle Jeff and Junior

The Dickhaus Family

5 generations

Great aunt Shelly and Junior.

Trautner Time

Our next stop on our trip was to my parents house on Friday, we got there around 1pm. My dad was home to greet us and then we had a surprise visit from Landon, his mom, and sisters, it was really good to see them and they brought some baby stuff from my brother's house that we used while we stayed at my parents. Landon of course stayed at the farm with us which was great for Katelynn to have someone to play with, it wasn't long and I had sent Dan, Landon and Katelynn outside to make a snowman (those of you who know me well know that I don't go outside in the winter unless it's necessary). My mom showed up early to the farm as well, she was at work and cut out early because she knew that we were all home. Friday night was pretty low key, we played and visited and then watched a movie (which we all fell asleep watching).

Saturday morning Landon had bowling league in Moorhead, so off my mom, Katelynn, myself and Landon went. Dan and my dad had a bowling tournament in DL later that morning so they stayed home. Jamie's son, Skyler, bowls with Landon so we got to see him and his wife and have a nice cup of Joe with them while the kids bowled. Landon had a really great last game that was in the 200's! We all went out to eat afterwards for burgers and fries at the Legion, it was only $26.00 for 10 of us, what a deal! I got to see my nephew Riley there, wow has he grown since our trip to Deadwood and he is such a happy little guy. I was showing him Junior and I swear that he repeated me and said "baby" - Jeff and Tonah are not too sure about that, but I know what I heard! We all headed home for naps after lunch and pulled into the house just as the guys were leaving to go bowling. We had hoped to take a quick nap and then head to DL to watch them bowl, but by the time we woke up and would have drove there they would have been done, it was a bummer and I keep thinking I should have not taken my nap and went and bowled in the tournament as well, but I really needed to catch some shut eye, maybe next time. A couple of my cousins were at the tournament as well and had to drive through Hawley on their way home so I met them in town and my husband for a beer and my dad went to take care of the kids so my mom could join us for a beer as well, it was nice to get out and about for a little bit. Around 7pm Dan and I headed back to the farm to pick up my parents and the kids and head back to Moorhead for my uncle's birthday party, it was perfect so that my mom's side of the family could meet Junior and I could see them. Dan ended up heading back to his neck of the woods to go out with his brothers, we told him to behave (or rather I did) and said "see you tomorrow" and gave him a car and he was off. My parents and the rest of my family took off and we listened to some of Katelynn's music so she could sing for her grandparents, then we listened to some mommy music and then it was Grandpa's turn with some oldies. As we headed to our destination we got a little lost, my mom was busy calling people's cell phones so we could find out where we were going and Katelynn asked me if I knew where we were and where we were going and I had to tell her "no" and then she asked me "why are you driving then mommy?" - too funny. We had a good laugh at that one in the car and then got a hold of someone and made our way to the party. It was a good time, with good wine and good company!

Me, Junior, and Great Grandma Trautner.

Grandpa Davids

Dan's family came over to his parents house on Thursday night for steaks and burgers and a few beers. It was great for Katelynn to see her cousins and some of her aunts and uncles. Here are a few pictures of Grandpa Davids getting some lovin' from Cassie and Katelynn.

Tractor Ride

Our first stop was at Dan's parents house. We arrived at around 2am and we were tired, that's what we get for getting a late start. Katelynn and Junior both did great on the ride. Katelynn kept herself busy watching DVD's and coloring and asking non-stop questions and only slept for one hour during the day on the ride. With Junior, we stopped and fed him when he was hungry or when we stopped for gas or for Katelynn's bathroom breaks, it really worked out well timing wise. My biggest fear at that point was that Junior had slept almost the entire trip and how was I going to get any sleep when I got there. We stayed up for about an hour once we arrived and did some visiting with Dan's parents and then I sent Katelynn and Dan upstairs to go to bed and stayed up with Junior. We ended up falling to sleep together on the recliner and I was happy to get a couple hours of sleep before Katelynn woke up.

Katelynn was pretty excited the next morning when Grandpa Davids showed up at the house with the tractor and took her around the block for a ride.

Homeward Bound

We left for Minnesota on Wednesday, March, 18th. The night before was a little hectic to say the least. The previous day, Dan was unsure if he was going to be coming along for the trip home and it was decided that if he came with then we would leave on Wed., if he didn't come with I was going to leave with both kids on Thursday morning. Tuesday was a crazy day, I had a feeling that Dan was going to come with, so I was doing laundry like a mad woman and trying to get lists of what we needed. Tuesday night I also had a HOA board meeting and was trying to prepare for that as well, this would also be the first night that Dan would be left home alone with both kids and right at Katelynn's bedtime, it was definitely going to test Dad's patience! Dan came home from work and decided that, yes, he was going to go and so the packing started, the house was slightly chaotic and then I left for the HOA meeting. Thank goodness the meeting was only an hour long because when I got home my house was a disaster, Dan was trying to put Katelynn to bed and Junior was screaming - this was exactly what I thought I would be coming home to. I got Katelynn to bed and packed the rest of the suitcases, washed bottles and packed diaper bags and then had a beer before I went to bed - whew. We ended up being so tired that we got a late start in the morning - 8am. Prepared for the 16 hour drive, we left, with a lot of excitement, but could not have imagined what was in store for us.

Dan driving home.

Katelynn at Perkins.
Me (jeez, I look a little tired, huh?) feeding Junior.

Dan, after taking Katelynn to the restroom and then taking Junior to change his diaper so that I could eat my lunch. Only 8 more hours to go!

Random Thoughts

Another week has come and gone. The time is going by so fast this time and I am actually enjoying my time at home and really haven't missed work to intensely. I am wondering if part of the difference is all of the venues on the Internet that keep me somewhat attached to other people and their days, the main one being Facebook. This week I went to my six week check up and was approved to resume all regular activities, but was also told that I again need to have my thyroid checked. So off to my other Dr. on Friday to have blood drawn and then next week I will have another ultrasound on my thyroid to see if the nodule that Katelynn left me with after I had her has grown at all. If it has grown my thoughts are - thank goodness I am done having kids or I would have to start wearing scarves around my neck every day in order to hide this huge lump that looks like an adams apple on my throat, or I think of the Seinfeld episode wear the lady had a goiter the size of a football sticking out of her neck, wouldn't that be attractive. Anyway - Junior is doing pretty well, we had a slight set back on changing from breast milk to formula. He got completed constipated and the poor guy was crying in pain and started spitting up a lot because the milk had nowhere to go, and this was with only 2 bottles of formula a day. I have went back to all breast milk for a couple of days and then we are going to try the Good Start formula that is supposedly easier to digest and go from there. He has started to have some crabby time which is at night when he is the most awake, which is hard on Dan because it's the time right now that he sees him and when I need a break. It's also hard on him because it usually starts right around Katelynn's bedtime, so he has to deal with it while I put her to bed. Today I bought an exercise ball, this is what I used with Katelynn during her first few months, we would sit and bounce for hours on that ball to keep her content, so tonight we started with him and he seemed to like it as long as he could look around the room and stare at who knows what.
Katelynn is into the stage of playing out everything that she watches. A couple of weeks ago we watched "Dumbo" for movie night and now we play Dumbo and she calls me Mrs. Jumbo. Last night we watched Pinocchio and then we had to play that our today. Dan is starting to catch on to this little game of playing house, at first he really did not understand it at all and just couldn't comprehend what was going on. Katelynn would be talking to one of us in character and Dan would try to talk to her about something else, she would get so mad at him or just ignore him and I would tell him - "we are playing house" - so strange to think that someone doesn't know how to play house, but I guess growing up with only brothers they probably didn't play house too often. Another obsession that Katelynn has that has probably been going on for 4 months or more and is starting to drive me nuts is "toe jam". I mentioned to her one time when she was taking off her socks about toe jam and ever since it is a daily and nightly thing that she does. She takes off her socks and will not get pj's on or doing anything. She says, "wait, I have to check my toe jam" and will check in between every toe. My poor child, I need to watch what I tell her I guess.

Oh How Time Flies

It has been almost 6 weeks now since Junior was born, the time has been flying by. This morning I looked up at the clock and it was already 11am - how can that be? All I had done so far was feed him, get Katelynn ready and dropped off at daycare and then had some floor time with Junior (and probably a little cleaning - oh yeah, it was laundry). I will be going back to work on April 1st, the first week back I will probably do part-time to get back into the swing of things and then full time after that so I can put my energy into training for my new job, I am a little nervous about really go full boar at the position, but am hoping for good results?!

I have learned that baby books do not mean a whole lot when it comes to my children, they are the complete opposite of whatever they have written.
Bed time for example: people or the book say the more that is in their tummy's before bedtime the longer they should sleep. I remember when Katelynn was at this early age this was not the case at all, it was very strange. If she drank down 4 oz. before bed then she always woke up in the middle of the night for more, but if she drank only 1 oz. before bed then she slept through the night. This pattern continued for quite some time, the less she had before bed the longer she slept. The other opposite for her - you would think if your child stayed up way past their bedtime then they would sleep in a little longer. Nope, not with Katelynn - if she stayed up late then she was early to rise, but if we put her to bed earlier than her normal bedtime than she slept in later. Here's the first with Junior, most kids would fall asleep while drinking their milk and blissfully go to sleep - this is not the case in our home. I will feed him about an hour and half before I want him to go to bed because as soon as he is done drinking - bam - the eyes are wide open and he wants to walk around and look at everything in the house and when he's had enough then I will nurse him for a few minutes and lay him down to sleep, which for about the last week has been successful and he's slept for about 6 hours afterwards, if he would only drift right back to sleep at 4am instead of wanting to be awake for a little while - my hope will have to be that he starts to sleep through the night (is that wishful thinking this early?) We did weigh Junior last night and he is now about a half an ounce from being 11 lbs. already (we have Dan's magic HVAC scales to get exact weights, comes in pretty handy). At his one month Dr. appt. they said that he is fine to sleep through the night once he hits 11 lbs. - now I need to think how I can make this happen - wish me luck.

I am still loving my new car and Katelynn is even understanding the "New Rules" of no eating and only having water in a cup in the car, how long this will last I am not sure, but the car has stayed clean so far. This morning there was snow and ice on the road so I was finally able to get out and see what the AWD really is like and I have to say I was pretty impressed with it, I didn't slide on the road at all and could see other people sliding around at stops and such. I made my first car payment today and yesterday I called the company that cleans our house twice a month and let them know that I would not be needing them anymore and I had to put my money towards my car and another child in daycare, I am pretty bummed about that and am hoping that my lovely husband will help pick up some of the slack, again wish me luck with that.

A trip to Minnesota? We are still debating back and forth on whether we are going to go home or not. Fargo has gotten so much snow that it is a little unsettling and with the frigid cold there I am not sure that it's really the place for us to be traveling right now. It will also depend on Dan and his work if we can go, if something comes in for him then we have to stay here and he needs to work while there is work available. I am a little hopeful though that we will be able to go home for a visit, it has been over a year since I have been home and would really like my family to meet my son and see how much Katelynn has grown and what a fun little girl she is (when she is behaving). I also know that if we don't go now I don't know when I will have vacation time saved up again for us to be able to go and with the new job training and projects if I will be able to go. I am hoping by the end of the week that we will know if we are going or not.

My Little Monsters

Movie Night

On Friday nights for about a month and half I have been trying to do a "Family Movie Night" with a Disney Movie and Popcorn. I thought it would be a nice way to end the week and jump start the weekend. It usually ends up being just me and Katelynn (and now Junior too). Here are a couple of pictures from when my mom was here. The movie for the night "Dumbo".

Grandma and Katelynn intently watching the movie.

Junior - not so much into it yet.

Junior is now 1 month old and he has been such a great baby. The things that we know already is that he does not like to be wet - at all. He is a hungry little guy. He loves to be talked to, but he also likes to lay around and look at things and is content on his own. He has been waking up about twice a night, but last night he only woke up once, I am definitely hoping that trend continues.
He had his one month Dr. appointment today and here are his stats:

Weight: 10lbs. 3 oz. (I guess we can say that he has been eating really heartily). 90th Percentile
Height: 21 Inches (this is the same as he was born). 50th Percentile
Head: He was also in the 50th percentile.

There were no shots today, but we'll go back in a month for another appointment and shots.