First Family Vacation

 

Our first family vacation was to the Pittsburgh, PA area.  Eric wanted to see where some of his family originated.  We found his great-grandfather's brother's gravestone in the West Newton cemetary on a rainy Friday afternoon. 

We had made it there after 3 pit stops.  We found out that between a 9-month old's small stomach and a 2.5 year old's small bladder one cannot get far without needing a gas station or place to pull over.  We weren't in any real hurry, however.

We at dinner at a family restaurant called the Chuck Wagon that steadily filled up as we ate.  The food was not very exciting, and in hindsight, we probably should have ate at the nice pizzeria that looked like it inhabited an old train station building along the tracks.  We took a picture of a historically preserved train station.  We drove around a bit and then we drove to our first hotel south of Pittsburgh. 

The next morning was all about the zoo!  We had been promising Anna that we would take her to the zoo for almost a year.  We were going to go during the summer sometime but never found the time, we were so busy on the farm.  We promised her that if she went on the potty all of the time, we would take her to the zoo.  So we had to follow through on that promise (she stayed dry in her big girl undies the whole trip). 

Here are some of the highlights at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium:

The Tiger

 

One of the first animals we saw.  He was pacing in front of the window, which was kind of him.  It wasn't so kind when he sprayed on the window right at us.

 

 

The Elephant

 



 

The zookeepers were washing this elephant's feet when we entered the indoor viewing room.  We watched in fascination as the elephant did as he was directed and put all four feet one at a time on the rail to be washed.

 

The Penguins

 

Anna asked over and over again to "can we see the penguins, now?"  I'm not sure which she wanted to see more:  penguins or giraffes.  Unfortunately, the giraffes were not out that day because of the cold and ice.  So the penguins won and were her favorite animals at the zoo.  They had a special "penguin walk," where they let a handful out to walk a path down a small hill and back.  We bought her a stuffed penguin, which she and daddy affectionately named "Petey."

 

The Aquarium

 

 

The aquarium was fun.  Clara seemed to especially like watching the fish.  It was also nice to get indoors where it was toasty warm.

 

The Sea Lions

 

 

I love these two pictures of Anna at the sea lion exhibit.

 

After the aquarium we drove through Pittsburgh, hopelessly looking for a kid-friendly and parking-friendly restaurant to eat lunch.  We had just given up and thought that we would head to the second hotel when we saw the Carnegie Science Museum.  I had heard that this museum was great, so we paid $5 to park.  We ate in their cafeteria and then realized that in order to see anything we'd have to pay $17 per adult (kids were free).  So after that surprise we decided to give it a chance.  It was definitely great for all ages, but Anna was a bit young for most of it.  There was a great train station exhibit and the whole 4th floor was for the younger kids. 

 

 

Here are some highlights of the museum:

 

More fish, but with a magnifying glass

 

 

 

 

 

Jungle Gym

 

 

There was so much more!  But blogger isn't cooperating in letting me post photos right now.

 

The day we drove home we made a couple of stops.  One stop was at Grove City to check out the outlet mall.  We bought overalls at Osh Gosh (of course), ate, and headed back to the car.  We also stopped in Erie and did some mall walking.  We bought a pair of shoes for Anna that light up.  She LOVES shoe shopping!  Clara had also gotten a pair of shoes at Target back near Pittsburgh. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I had so much fun with the girls.  But most importantly, and the main reason why I loved our vacation, was the time we were able to spend with Eric.  He hasn't had a vacation since our honeymoon five years ago, and it was great to see him relax.  He was so understanding about dealing with the crowds at the science museum, and my difficulty in navigating and driving in Pittsburgh, and he tolerated with good humor sharing a bed with Anna (who wiggles all night long).  Actually, I think he really enjoyed snuggling with her, especially when she wouldn't settle down the first night and kept kissing his cheek and hugging him.  We shared a lot of good laughs about Anna's obsession with elevators, which she accidently always called "alligators," and automatic toilets.  Clara was a good trouper through it all, as long as she was well-fed.

 

 

The End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Just Winging It

So often, I realize that I try to overthink motherhood.  I try to read about raising babies and toddlers.  How to feed them the best foods.  How to handle tantrums.  But sometimes the best child-raising outcome is one that happens naturally.

Anna is finally potty trained!  I have been putting her on the potty in spurts of diligence off and on since she was 1.5 years old.  She is just over 2.5 years old.  So this long year of frustration over whether she was going to EVER going to go on the potty has concluded with much amazement that she simply decided one day to GET IT.  There was one morning where she went through 6 pairs of undies before 9am.  Another afternoon where she peed on my (new) couch not once but twice.  It always seemed like when I pushed she pushed back.  I tried rewards:  m&m's and marshmallows.  I tried a made up a potty song that was really not very catchy because I can't remember the tune now.  When she indicated interest in riding a school bus, I told her that only big girls who go on the potty can ride school buses.  I bribed her with the offer of taking her to the zoo if she went potty all the time.  Well, none of those things seemed to work and I did feel a little guilty for all of the bribing!  Finally, I relaxed a little.  Probably because I was exhausted of the whole issue.  I let her tell me when she had to go.  And she did, and has been dry for a month now.  Even more amazing, I thought that it would be another year of wearing pull ups at night but she has been waking up dry in her big girl underwear. 

So there is one example of how just letting things take their natural course has been effective.  I have also been pleasantly surprised with Clara's reaction to trying table foods.  I followed all the common "food rules" with Anna.  I fed her pureed veggies before fruits so that she wouldn't get hooked on the natural sweetness of fruit.  She doesn't like (many) veggies.  I never gave her samples of my ice cream and cake until her 1st birthday.  Clara has gotten the benefit of loosened "food rules," mainly because I don't want her to develop challenges with trying new foods like Anna.  So Clara gets little tastes of anything that she can gum.  She's had waffles, toast, hard boiled egg, scrambled egg, shredded cheese, string cheese, corn, peas, carrots, peaches, pears, pot roast, spaghetti, and even cake and ice cream!

So maybe part of being a good mom is overthinking each decision and worrying about whether I'm making the right one.  But I think part of learning to be a good mom is learning how to wing it.  How to let the "I'm not doing enough" and the "I have to follow the rules" go. 

Milk

For anyone who doesn't know us, we are in the milk producing business.

Our cows make the healthiest product in the world, and what other fluid can you take and make into hundreds (or thousands?) of other products that are tasty and good for you too?

I've always been unsure of how to answer people who think that humans are not made to consume milk as adults.  But I read this interesting article today that I just had to share.  I've never thought about it like this, but there is evidence that we WEREN'T able to drink milk as adults, but our genes have changed over time to give us "lactose persistency" or "lactose tolderance."  And that happened because milk has been so good for people's health.

So enjoy a glass of milk while you read this interesting article.

Happy New Year!

I've been so super busy that I feel like New Year's Eve should be just about Eric and I sitting in front of the television.  We might make some glogg and watch a movie, but probably not.  Right now I'm thinking about making my mom's birthday cake instead of waiting until tomorrow, but I probably won't.  I just want to veg.  Luckily it's a "no bath" and "no fussy dinner" evening.

Christmas was a blast!  I truly enjoyed everything this year, although Anna and Clara were just getting over colds and I was fighting off a really strange flu bug that made me achy everywhere but had no other symptoms (I'm grateful!).  Santa Clause came and brought Anna some play dough.  Of course that is what she remembers Santa brought her out of all of the other gifts.  Clara has learned how to clap in joy whenever you say "Yayyy Clara!"  And our tree has dropped a lot of needles and must go.  We spent a lot of time with family during four Christmas parties. 

I am feeling extremely blessed in 2012, and I am hopeful that 2013 will be just as great. 

Happy New Year!

A Swedish Christmas

I am a quarter Swedish and Eric is a lot Swedish and so we both enjoy the Swedish traditions.  My family has always made Glogg (hot spiced alcoholic beverage), served sill (pickled herring), decorated with dala horses, and probably miss-pronounced all sorts of Swedish words and phrases during the Christmas season.  I ordered two books from Amazon.com called Swedish Christmas Crafts and Christmas Crafts Scandinavian Style.  I eagerly browsed the books and picked the easiest craft ideas to do, because I have to admit that I have wayyy more important things to do than craft.

 

In our front window I strung a festive ribbon and hung the word "Jul," from "God Jul," which means "Merry Christmas." 

 

I also arranged some heritage swedish ornaments in the window nearby.  I bought this "Julbok" at the Scandinavian Festival at our local college.

 



 

Our stockings are hung on the stairs with care.  A couple of simple bows and a couple of pine swags.

 

 Our newly purchased "children's tree" is even adorned with "Tomten," which we pronounce "Toompta," again probably incorrectly.

 

A live tree is a must-have in my opinion, despite the fact that I am allergic to evergreens.  I always decorate our tree fairly simply.  A silver glitter ribbon, silver beads, and red, silver, and bronze ornaments.  White lights.  At the end of the day, simple is usually equivalent to easy.

 

My favorite feature of our decorations this year, another craft idea from the Swedish craft books, are the little gingerbread hearts I've hung in most of our windows.  The hearts are made from foam paper, and hung with a red and white ribbon.  I hung them with suction cups.  Easy, cheap, and cute! 

 

We are all ready for Christmas.  Now if only it would snow!

First Snow

Today marks the first snowfall to stick to the ground- November 24, 2012.

 

 

Anna woke up super excited to see snow and wanted to go out to make a snowman.  There wasn't enough to make a snowman, but we did get bundled up and venture out.  Her gloves came off almost immediately, because she wanted to feel the snow.  We took a walk to the barn to see the cows, and to escape from the bitter wind.

 

Anna fed the cows.  Most of them were not interested in eating from her hand, but a few ventured closer to give her a sniff.

 



 

I couldn't resist putting baby Clara down and snapping a picture of her, too.

 

 

I took this next photo of Anna at the same age.

 

 



A Moment of Thanks

 

I am Grateful...

 

For God's very apparent presence in our lives.

For my daughters, whom I am privileged to parent, and with every small moment I cherish.

For my husband, and the wonderful life we've made together.

For the land, which provides such abundance for all people.

For our family, who provides a warm and loving safety net.

 

 

Wonderful Weekends!

I had a really great weekend.  I wish all of my days could be as good as the ones I had this weekend.  It was the perfect mixture of productive activity (cleaning, organizing, baking, cooking) and lazy play time with the girls.  I started a new series of books called the "Game of Thrones," that brings me back to when I was a teen and loved reading fantasy novels.  So I got some reading in.  And some filing and QuickBooks time. 

 

 

And I got baby toys out for Clara that I had stored away in the attic.

She especially loved this one, that flashes and plays music when you hit it.  Right up her alley, because she LOVES to hit things.  Did you ever see this video of her batting her toys around?

50 Posts

Clara's baptism was November 4th.  She was sooo adorable in her little white dress that my mom bought for her.  Like a little doll.  The baptism was wonderful, and I really felt the support from our family for Clara's faith and life with God.  I attended Sunday school every Sunday while growing up, but the past five years have felt like coming home.  I love our little Lutheran church, and what it is coming to mean to our family.

 

 

Afterward, we had a little luncheon that I put a lot of thought into.  The food was all easy to prepare, but there are always a million and one small details that you have to remember (and feel bad about forgetting).  I was happy to use some of our farm-raised produce in the soups.  For the beef vegetable soup, stew meat from one of our steers, green beans, corn, carrots, onions from our garden; and for the potato soup, the potatoes and onions.  I ordered a cake and had some help with some fruit salads.  A vegetable and cheese tray, rolls, and a salad rounded out the soup.  We have a ton of leftovers!

 

After Church, I did some cleaning, but mostly played with my two very exhausted girls.  Did I mention that daylight savings time ended on Sunday?  I really appreciated the extra hour to get ready in the morning, but the girls woke up at normal time and were well past their noon or 1pm naptime.  But they were so tired that they couldn't close their eyes for more than half an hour, much to my dismay.  I was hoping to catch a little catnap.

 

Despite being extra tired, Clara happily sat playing with toys.  Yes, she sat.  For a long time... until she fell backward with a clunk.  I'll keep the boppy behind her just in case for another week or so until she's a little more steady. 

 

Such a simple accomplishment.  But so momentous for babies!

 

Another momentous occasion?  Over 50 posts on Ginny's Happy Family.

Clara, almost 6 months old.

Halloween!

In preparation of Hallowen, we carved a giant pumpkin.  See previous post for an adorable picture of Clara in a pumpkin.  Here is Anna's pumpkin picture:

 

And Anna's pumpkin picture from last year.  Can you believe how much she's changed?  She's not facing the camera because she wasn't too thrilled about this idea.

 

Here are some more pictures of Clara's pumpkin adventure.

 

At first, we're loving it!

 

But then she gets tired and her legs give out...

 

Ugh, mom, this is hard work trying to stay up!

 

Annnnd, she gives up.  And bites the pumpkin.

 



Anna was a doctor/nurse.  She loves her doctor's kit and giving people check ups.  She's even got the "ga boom, ga boom" sound effects going when she checks your heart.

 



 

She was pretty excited about trick or treating, and actually understood the concept this year.

 

I watched in dismay as she devoured her candy. She's never really tried a Twix, Reese's, Snickers, or Milky Way. I would not win the mother of the year award for her balanced meals every day, but I do try hard to not let her consume candy, cookies, and pop on a regular basis (actually, no pop EVER).

So Anna's third Halloween ended in a sugar rush as she tried various different candies, including a dum dum sucker, twix, whoppers, and a very chewy snickers. 

Clara was a cow, and she tolerated the whole ordeal of being carted from house to house with good humor. 

Happy Halloween!

A little pumpkin

 

Happy Fall!

 

Love,

A Little Pumpkin

Fall Fun!

 

A windy fall day.

 

But a good time to play.

 



 

Leaves and babies.