Playing Shape Sorter With Daddy

I'm so original with my posts sometimes.  I try to be creative, but come up with nothing.  So I then just resort to stating what actually is:)  Here is a short video of Dan and Svea playing with her shape sorter! 

We're trying to decide how much we'll put up this year as far as Christmas decorations go.  We keep having wonderful intentions of venturing down to the basement to dig out the Christmas stuff, but we keep putting it off.  We must motivate ourselves soon or it'll be New Years!  Merry Advent Everyone!

Dear Grandma,

I had a wonderful time this past weekend with you.  Thank you for driving all that way to hang out with me for a few days.  I was so happy when Mom and Dad left for the day and we were able to be together just the two of us.  I love Mom and Dad, but sometimes you just need to hang out with Grandma.  Thank you for reading me books, snuggling me, and teaching me new things.  I love you so much and I love when you come to visit me! When you come back I will show you all of the new things I can do!

Love, Svea

13 Months Old/31 Years Old

Svea and I are celebrating reciprocal milestones today!!  She is 13 months old and I turned 31 today. I've got a a few pictures to compare from last year and a few updates too!

Svea here's what you've been up to!  You are signing like crazy and it helps us so much avoid a few meltdowns each day.  You can sign more, bath, elephant, and book now too!  It's amazing how much you can communicate with us just with these few signs.  Especially elephant.  Ha!  Just kidding!

You are such a big girl and eat three meals a day and one snack.  You feed yourself 90% of the time with finger foods and now drink milk from your sippy cup.  All of the sudden though you have started to be quite picky with what you will eat. We are still nursing one time a day at night, but we'll be done with that shortly too.

You wear size 12 months and are starting to fit into some 18 month clothes although we always roll pants and sleeves as you are quite petite.  You are in a size 3 diaper and I have no idea how much you weigh.  We'll go to the doctor in another two months so we'll find out then.  You sleep from about 7:30-8:00 until 7:30-8:00 at night.  You are still a fantastic sleeper at night and only struggle if you are teething. You are still not a huge napper.  You'll sleep anywhere from from a half hour to two hours, but it's usually an hour and fifteen minutes.  We are thankful you sleep so well at night and we get tons of quality time with you during the day.

It is fun to see your personality coming out.  You seem to be pretty mild mannered with the occasional burst of frustration.  You love to laugh and at times it seems like you are trying to make us laugh.  You have four teeth (two on top/two on bottom) and you can point to your head, tummy and belly button, and sometimes your nose.  We are working on legs, toes, ears, and eyes.  You have a book that you just love (All of Baby Nose to Toes) and you will drag that book over to us all of the time and then you head bob to the beat of the words. You will also open and shut your mouth pretending to read.

You no longer crawl unless Daddy is chasing you down the hall and you are desperately trying to get to Mommy.  You walk everywhere and continue to get better each day.  To give you an example of how crazy you are about books when Grandma picked you up today from your nap you immediately started signing for books.  We read books ALL day long and we love it!

We love you Svea Grace.  Our lives are so much better with you here.  We thank God every day for you and we pray that you have a beautiful, long, and healthy life.  Thank you for being you!  We love you just the way God made you!

A few things I loved today about my birthday! Daddy goes above and beyond to make it possible for me to kick back and relax a little bit, which includes driving all the way to the next town for Mommy's favorite Chinese food.  The fact that my birthday cake is better in a bowl...yum, I love me some ice cream cake and it makes a perfect breakfast. And, the best part...I got to spend this whole birthday weekend with three of my favorite people.  Thank you Dan, Svea, and Mom for making it so extra special for me! I love you all!

Svea is not very smiley in these pictures.  She has another mild cold along with a dry cough that is keeping her up some of the night even with a humidifier.  She's such a trooper though. 

Weekend Happenings

 Walking, walking everywhere!

Giving Kisses, and walking some more!

Throw in thirty or so books and you get the picture of what we've been up to this weekend! 

 

Thank you Mom for watching Svea all day today. Dan and I had a "date day" and it was SO much fun.  We went shopping together and out for a nice long lunch at P.F. Changs...yummmy!!!!!  We haven't been shopping just the two of us for over a year so it was amazing to take our time, hold hands, be goofy, have Dan try on dresses, test drive cars, etc.  Ya, some of that didn't happen, but we sure did have fun!  I picked out some boots for my birthday, and we couldn't resist getting the little girl a few things (books)!  Has anyone ever noticed I have horrible grammar/punctuation/comma placement/fragments/use of dashes and such?  I do, but it's much faster to make it up as you go! Let's just all acknowledge that it's there and accept the fact that it's too late in my life to learn it now!  I don't teach grammar, but if I did I'd become an expert, I promise.  I teach gifted kids so I made sure to become brilliant first.  hahahha....ok, huge tangent there...gonna get back on track!

Thank YOU Dean and Kathy for the birthday gift!!!!  It was super fun to spoil myself a bit today and so far far it's been a great pre-birthday!

Happy Thanksgiving Night!

 We had a perfect Thanksgiving Day at home. My Mom is here too and all three of us took turns reading Svea books, as this is almost all she wants to do these days.  Dan signed her up for this program through our local library called, "Read 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten" and we think we'll get 1,000 in by the time she is 18 months! I am so thankful that my husband is so accepting and supportive of my culinary skills.  We had loaded baked potatoes today and gluten free apple pie.  No I did NOT make the pie, it was a gift, but I did make sure our baked potatoes were superb...by recruiting my husband to poke the hole and tin foil them.  I was actually in charge of opening the package of cheese and making sure the broccoli was steamed to perfection:)  I succeeded thank you very much! It was a beautiful day outside and we even took a little stroll in Svea's car for a bit this afternoon around the neighborhood. 

I love comparing last year to this year.  I remember how special it was last Thanksgiving to give thanks for little miss.  We are still counting our many blessings! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

p.s....I can tell how tired I was in the photo from last year!  This year I had a full 8 hours of interrupted sleep.  Now, Dan on the other hand, looks a wee bit sleep in this year's photo.  That new batman game needs to be played every three hours around the clock or "she" cries. 

Purpleness

It was a purple kind of day this past weekend.  Svea was getting mad at her flower/bow so she was working on getting it off. I'm pretty sure the vest is one Ashlyn wore when she was little??  Megan thought so anyway:)  It was a cozy and comfy outfit for a very brisk and cold winter day.  Yikes...yep, it's officially that time of year!  Anyway, Svea's new thing to talk about all day long is her Daddy.  She walks around the house saying Dadadadada...dada.dadd.....dadadd.....over and over.  The other night I was snuggling her before bed and Dan was came in to bring her humidifier for the night.  She pulled away from me, sat straight up, and said, "Hi Daddy"!  I know that  may sound a little far fetched, but both of our jaws dropped and we swear that is what she said.  We're sticking to it!

Go Pack Go!

Svea had her favorite team colors on today hoping for a Packer win! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Dornfeld for the new sweatshirt.  She doesn't have anything "Packers" for this age and it fits her perfectly.  This will work great for this superbowl win and she's got a sweet jersey from Grandpa Carter for next superbowl's win!  ha!

I know you've probably already seen this video, but I couldn't resist posting this.  I do want to give this little girl a huge hug, but you've got to admit it is funny.

Pinterest



I am officiallyy addicted to Pinterest!  If you've never checked it out you can find it here.  At first I couldn't figure out what all the hype was about, but now I see our long list of bookmarks slowly dwindling and it's making me feel much more happy and organized.  Here's how it works.....when you are out browsing the internet and you find something that you "might" order for someones birthdaychristmas/wedding/etc. you usually hit "save bookmark".  Now you can install a "pin it" button on your computer and when you find what you like you "pin" it into your account.  Now you have one central place to go to find the things you want to look back upon instead of a long list of web pages that you have no idea or remember what they were for.  The best part of pinterest is it's all in pictures.  The majority of people are visual so it makes perfect sense.  Here's my pinterest account and I have ideas for Father's Day, (Dan, do NOT go to my pinterest page:) ideas for Megan and Stuart for their new baby's room, clothes that I wish I had enough talent to dress myself in, and ideas for food I could possibly make.(if I have supervision of course!  I set off two fire alarms making pancakes the other morning). Check it out if you have a few spare moments!

Our Friday at Home

Have I ever mentioned before how much I love my Fridays at home with Svea?  Ya, pretty sure I have:)  I have a new video for everyone from today.  We are pretty sure that ba-ba means baby.  She used to say baby a lot better, but lately she's switched to this.  The next video is of Dan and Svea rough housing.  Dan came home a little early this afternoon and we had a nice afternoon with just the three of us. He sure knows how to make her laugh! I LOVE Fridays!

I'd also like to thank Dan!  Yesterday he picked Svea up from daycare so I could get a few errands done after my teacher meetings up in St. Cloud.  Errands aren't always a fun and exciting thing to do, but when one of your errands is Target and you get to roam around for awhile, ALL BY YOURSELF, then it can be oh so much fun!  I realized that Target is such a marketing trap and I fall for it every time. I also was hypnotized into driving into the specialty cakes store where I proceeded to buy six cupcakes for Dan and I.  I ate two of them on the way home and then one more before bed.  Yep, it was worth it!  I won't tell you who ate the other three in one sitting....we are both so weak!

Random Thoughts

-Today will be my last day of the season to wear my flats barefoot.  I will be seeking out some nylon socks soon. Bah....I loathe when the weather turns and your body isn't used to it.
-We are looking forward to a date and not just a dinner date.  We might possibly take a whole afternoon and evening together in the very near future! Can you  believe it?
-Svea's fifth word is "ball".  Her next word will be Packers!  I don't know why...we aren't excited about this season or anything:) Thank you Grandpa Mark for the fall coat from Mexico...very colorful and cute!

-I am really thankful for the amazing women that I have met since we've moved here.  Three years ago I was so scared I'd never make as close of friends as I had back in ND.  I now know that cool people are everywhere and my friends are the coolest:) We are having a "tacky teacher party" in the near future and I've gotta find some great tacky teacher flare!  If anyone knows where I can find those Christmas light necklaces that actually light up let me know!
-Svea and I went to church tonight for our church's contemporary service.  I was holding her after service and Dan walked by.  She got a huge smile on her face and as he passed too far way she started crying for him so I brought her to him.  I'm pretty sure it made his week!
-That's all for now.  If you need us, we'll be cuddled up (me in flannels) watching a history channel documentary. Don't you love a good conspiracy theory?

Reading Material

Lately this is the type of reading material that gets read most often at our house these days.  We thought it would be fun to document Svea's favorite books at the moment so she can look back one day and see what she was most into.

I See Me, Ten in the Bed, and Jesus Loves Me were Svea's favorite from the time she was 5 months old to 10 months old.  We read these three books every night before bed.  She would play peek-a-boo with I See Me, and Mommy and Daddy would sing the last two books. 

 These are Svea's favorites right now.  She will seek these books out, bring them to us to read to her, and sometimes she pulls them out and "reads" to herself.  It seems they all have one things in common....lots of colors!  Some of them have rhythm, which she can't get enough of, and some of them she just loves the pictures, the flaps, or the touch and feel qualities. 

These are the books that we love reading to her!

Cooking

 Oops...I think I overcooked it!

 I can't find my keys, they must be in the fridge right?

 Daddy likes bacon....how do I make bacon?  Hmmm...

I'll try this.  I bet Mommy wouldn't know how to do this!

This girl loves this kitchen!  I have no idea why:)

Falling Asleep at the Table

 Going...

 Going....

 Going.....

Gone!  Here's what happened next:)

Walking a Little Bit More, Third Tooth, and Brilliant!

A few more steps caught on tape! 

Svea cut her third tooth this past Friday (11/11/11)!  It's the bottom right one.  No fussing the night before either....whew!

 One fun new thing Svea is doing is when she wants to read a book she will physically walk or crawl with it over to you and crawl up in your lap.  She loves books so much!  Here she wanted Dan to read this book to her and right after that I put her down for a nap.  We were cuddling in the chair and she kept making her elephant noises.  I let her get down and she crawled across the room, grabbed the elephant book, and brought it back.  After we read that one she wanted down again to find a book in the basket next to the rocking chair.  She pulled one book out, looked at it and threw it down.  It obviously wasn't the correct one.  She pulled another one out and it was the one she was looking for.  She proceeded to come back to crawl up into my lap.  It was Baby's Got A Nose to Toes, or something like that.  Anyway, there is a lot of rhythm in it and she will tap her toes or wiggle her whole body to the sound of your voice.  Oh so cute, maybe I'll try to get Dan to get this on video for me! On the cover of this book is a cute illustration of a baby and she can point to baby's nose as well as her own now!

A Few Videos

Thought I'd share a few videos.  They are pretty short, but still cute.  In the first video she is showing off her duck sound skills until Dan walks in the front door, which scares her and she comes crawling for me. Don't worry, she does this all of the time and usually is excited/laughing/squealing when she realizes it's him!  The second video she is attempting to walk, being silly, and then crawling out of sight.  In the third video she is mooching off of her Daddy's plate/bowl.  He's got ice cream and bananas and she is begging for some banana!

 Svea loves Fridays off too!  We had a blast this week!  I put together this little basketball hoop that is supposed to go in the bathtub, but I suctioned it to the side of her dresser.  She loves taking the balls and throwing them in the hoop! 

Random Thoughts From the Dornfelds

-We've always enjoyed daylight savings time, especially the fall back one...now, not so much.  We no longer get an extra hour of sleep, but one less since Svea doesn't transition to the new schedule as fast as us lugs do:)  Poor girl, we keep trying to keep her up later, but she's had to resort to crawling over to her crib, pulling out a paci and bunny and curling up on the floor.  Oh man, poor baby...we put her to bed then:)

-Dan has a new Batman game.  If you'd like to get a hold of him he's in our basement!  He's very sweet, however, always completing a couple of chores before he goes down.  It's a sweet gesture, or he's feeling guilty about all of the minutes he plays.  Don't worry folks he'd need to play 3.6 more hours a day for his gaming hobby to become an addiction:) When he's not gaming he's rolling around on the floor with his sweet little girl, helping with the mounting chores, or spending some quality time with his wife.  He's doing a good job with balancing it all....hopefully soon we'll have a permanent associate pastor, although our interim pastor has been wonderful.

-If I could be any animal I'd choose a bear.  This time of the year they curl up in a cave with their little ones and snuggle, sleep, and play.  That's what the storybooks say right? What mama wouldn't want to snuggle up with their family for the cold sleepy winter.  I laid in bed last night feeling depressed and I could not for the life of me figure out why.  Then, it popped in my head.........it's balmy, bleek, and gets dark at 5!  Daylight and vitamin D do so much for us....I forget every year when it leaves me!  Time to start dreaming about the sun!

-We get to welcome a new nephew next spring....a boy for Stuart and Megan.  We are elated to welcome the first Dornfeld boy to finally carry on the name and can't wait for March to get here. Grandpa Dean is breathing a sigh of relief as are his sons:)

-My Step-Sister, Dannielle and her boyfriend Eric are moving to western Wisconsin just past St. Paul.  We are excited for them to be closer to us so its not as hard to get together!

-As we buckle in and get ready for winter we are so thankful for what we have....for each other, for our health, our jobs, and stability.  We are thankful for our wonderful families, chances to laugh and spend time together, and opportunities to have fun.  Geez....I'm feeling so sentimental lately I guess:)

And We're Walking!

She's walking!  Svea took her first "step" on her birthday last week Thursday when we were both home with her and every day since then she keeps adding new steps.  She is now up to 8 steps in a row, but this is the best that we could catch of her walking.  They are tiny little steps too...she can really cover some ground.  We'll keep working on catching her in action, but for now you get the idea:)

Baby Dolls

Svea loves baby dolls.  She received one from her Grandma Kathy for her birthday and another one just came in the mail last night from her Great-Grandparents Barbara and Marlan.  She loves to give hugs and kisses to her baby, but we were amazed that she immediately knew to feed her baby with the bottle.  It's been fun to watch her interact with her new baby dolls!

Baby Doll #1

Baby Doll #2

Baby Dolls #3

No more gummy smiles...if you look close you can see two white teeth at the top of her smile.  This was right after her nap and she was so excited to see her babies.

Giving baby a kiss!

Giving baby a hug!

Laughing with her babies!

Pretending to eat baby's bottle and making "drinking" sounds!