Back to our Crazy Daily Life...

...for a few days at least.
We're back at it after the USC weekend. Poor Huskers...turns out they're still not the national powerhouse we were hoping. That's OK, though. Their attempt to bring down number one presented us the opportunity for tons of fun. We took the kids....Ella, Mia, Bergen and Mattie to Husker Pavillion for games and outside fun in the afternoon. Bergen and Ella jumped themselves silly, and while Mattie wasn't quite as into the activities she did pose for plenty of photo ops....Even with Giff!!! As you can see from the picture of her asleep on the biggest bed ever (Frosty and DeEtte's), Husker Pavillion was too much for Ella - I expect everyone noticed Chris even donned his Husker jacket for the festivities. He and Giff braved the game while the rest of us partied the night away at Seth and Linsey's. And by "the night" I mean until about 11. Oh yeah, we're animals.

This:

Is what happens to my girls the day after vacation! My question is this...why, then did they wake up in the first place! Probably so I could take the adorable picture.

Ella has really gotten into Play-Doh and is quite good at it. We mostly smash it flat and use cookie cutters to make shapes. We picked up Addie this morning to give Heidi a reprieve, and let her have some time to "fall in love with" Matthew. The girls played great, and, to my benefit, played hard enough for Miss Ella to take a good nap this afternoon.

Just to top it off, I'm including a few new pictures of Mia. She's a precious little thing, and she puts up with our craziness like a champ!

Big Moments

Matthew James Tesdahl joined the realm of the (sort of) aware Thursday morning. Congrats Jim, Heidi and big sister Addie!!!!

In other monumental events, Mia slept almost 8 hours last night. I didn't get to sleep fro 8 hours straight, given the crying 2 year old at 1 o'clock, and Mia had a tough time going back to sleep after such a long nap - but I won't complain. I proud of my tiny baby, and besides, I got to watch the USA/Sweden Women's World Cup game. How is it that the only goal scored during the 45 minutes I watched occured in the 30 seconds it took me to walk Mia back to her crib after she fell asleep???

On the topic of sleep: My fabulous husband offered the other night to feed Mia in the middle of the night so I could string together a more than three hours of sleep. Sadly, Ella woke up with Mia and I had to get out of bed anyhow. Soon enough my time for uninterrupted sleep will come.
We're trying to eclipse the final hurdle that is potty training with Ella. We have affixed a sticker chart to her bathroom door on which she gets to pepper stickers anytime she uses the potty. At the end of the day if she's been accident-free she gets to pick a "big" sticker with which to decorate. The first two days warranted big stickers... She peed in the shower today...any suggestions on whether or not to count it an accident...I mean, George peed in the shower - "They're all pipes!!!" :)

Mia has started smiling - and while she isn't quite smiling "at" anything just yet, it makes me melt.

5 weeks have passed since Mia was born and I must say it's increadible having two kids. I won't lie...I was scared to death, not so much of handling them logistically, but I thought for sure there was no way I could be as enamored with another as I was with L...and I was afraid of what having a baby would do to my relationship with Ella. I have come to find that the blessing of having children doesn't increase summarily - rather it seems to be of more an exponential nature. Sure, the logistics and physical care is exhausting but the return is so much greater than I could have ever imagined. I have never been quite so aware of having something that I by no means deserve, but I'll take it. My little family, flawed as we may all be, is the most amazing thing ever. For sure I know I'm blessed.

Insights on Bedtime

Genius!

Good Luck Tesdahl Family!!!

We spent the evening with Addie Tesdahl last night, so that Jim and Heidi could have a "last supper," as it were, before the birth of their new baby - returning the favor the Tesdahl's gave us before Mia arrived. Heidi is being induced tomorrow - Good Luck! Addie and Ella had a great time - they played in the sandbox,

with the hose,

and spent a good bit of time in the bathroom.

Who knew going potty was such a social experience.

Miss Mia was resigned to chill in the bouncer, and seemed to enjoy her spot on the deck.

We were very glad to have Addie and are excited to welcome their new addition.

In other news, we're officially back on the move again. After our trip to Nebraska last weekend we have committed to a variety of exciting opportunities in the coming months. On the books are a few Husker games, an all-family Gifford dinner, a trip to Texas, a wedding in Minnesota (to which I am merely hoping I am invited....Nic???), and the then pressing Holiday season with trips to both Nebraska and Wisconsin.

We look forward to the chaos and hope to keep in touch with everyone along the way!

The Pics from NE

Traveling

We hauled the girls to Nebraska for a few days this past week to have Mia's one month pictures taken in Fremont. Pictures seem to have been a huge success - Ella was great, giving Mia kisses and cuddling. We're all anxious to get the proofs and see our beautiful girls. Ella had a great time entertaining Great Nana and Big Papa, and Mia took to them quite well. Miss L's brightest moment of the day was showing off her unique bubble blowing technique whereby she sucks on the bubble wand, effectively coating her mouth with soap, and by humming "maaaaa-maaaaa" blows bubbles from her mouth.

Friday was a trip over to Southeast to visit my high school coaches and athletic staff - It was great to see everyone again (I'm sure Larsen regrets yelling at me as much as he did - he's quite nice to me these days) and we even got the added bonus of spending some time with Kara...who's awesome, but still a bit crazy.

We had breakfast with the fam on Saturday out at the lake. It was so great to see everyone. No one told me Myles was a chub!!! Which also means that no one has sent me a picture of the handsome boy since he was born... We always love hanging out with you all.

I got to run at the lake. It's so pretty out there - I tend to get lost in focus, but managed to remind myself a few times that I was in a beautiful place and needed to take it all in. All in all a pretty awesome few days.

Our "Labor" Day "Holiday"

I know we call it "labor" day to honor the workers of our nation, but I count it extremely oxymoronic that we aspire to spend Labor day doing exactly the opposite. For those of us with toddlers and other like aged children, we know the truth. There is no holiday. Chris told his dad last night he thought we'd just be "leisurely." Yeah right.
The girls and I missed church yesterday due to Ella forgetting that nighttime is for sleeping and the lot of us being in bed well after we needed to be on the road to make service. When Ella pleaded incessantly for Chris to "Play in the Playroom daddy!" he told me he wished we'd gone to church. Later, when she was generally displaying her ability to outlast the Energizer Bunny he implored me to let him work today. Sorry dude, all the offices are closed! :) And he thought we'd be leasurely.

We hit a wedding last night. With both girls. It sounds crazy I know, but when you let Ella take her shoes off and run to the dance floor it really isn't that bad! And apparanty it wore both of them out enough that we got a decent night's sleep! (Not good, but decent....I'll take it).

Under E's inspiration I'm thinking about entering a race. I haven't quite decided yet when I think I should aim for, and when I'm out running I tend to be adventerous and think I'm better than I am....upon finishing my run and gasping for breath (by the by, I haven't decided if running past the cemetary is a motivator "keep myself out of there" or if it's merely a convenience for when I drop dead on teh trail and they can just roll me off into a pit) I tend to think a race is a foolish idea. We'll see.

Big week for hte Hansen's this week - Miss Mia will make her first trip to Lincoln, and meet the extended fam - Brace yourself Mia Ann...they are all, in fact crazy.

It was great to see the Huskers rout Nevada...especially on the heels of the Michigan dissaster. Chris wasn't too broken up by it, but he is wearing a burnt orange shirt today!!!!