Mallory is 1!!!

So Mallory turned One officially on Sunday November 23rd. We got a package in the mail from Granny B so she got to open that on her actual birthday.



Thanks Granny for the cute outfits!!!

We ended up celebrating her birthday on Thanksgiving night. Was a little crazy on thrusday, but it all worked out ok.

This is her Cupcake Cake

Just playing with my camera

She has a sweet tooth, so she did love her little cupcake I had just for her.

Opening her first Cabbage patch doll

Mason was a big help and unwrapped most of her gifts... this is the vtech train with blocks.. she loves it!!!

She actually did unwrap a few things, but thats only cause brother was preoccupied in the background

I love my glow worm

The vtech train. They did fight over it for a little while, but now they are good about sharing it


Last weekend was spent at my sister Darcy's baking some of our Christmas goodies... didn't get everything made, but did get quite a few things made to give away...

Kringla

Caramels

Turtles

Pretzel things with hugs

Oreo Balls before they were dipped in white almond bark

Pillow puffs before they were filled

Spritz Cookies

Those are a few of the things we made on Saturday.. still have yet to make the sponge candy, sugar cookies, beer nuts, krom kaker, lefsa?, & rosettes?

I love this time of year.. the baking, the lights, the smell of a fresh christmas tree (we don't have one as we don't have the space for one, but my parents and sister do, so I can get my 'fix' there), love the fact that Mason is at a great age to appreciate it all and understand it all a little better, I just love it all. I just wish this 'feeling' was year round and not just the month of December.

1 month til christmas...

ok, so the last real post we were 2 months out from Christmas, now we are a month away!! Not sure where the last month went, ok i do know... was busy dealing with sick kids and not feeling the greatest myself! So I'll back up and fill ya in a little with what has been going on in the Nikkel household

Saturday Oct 25th, we went to a Halloween party with our MOMZ group. Darcy watched Mallory and I took Mason to the party. The kids weren't 100% healthy, and it was kind of windy, so figured it would be better if Mallory didn't go. And Aunt DD was kind enough to come over and watch her so that Mason could go to the party. (Tony was helping out a farmer, so he wasn't around to watch Mallory) We had a great time at the party.










Sunday Mallory was very warm and was running a fever. Course Tony still wasn't around, so I was a little stressed all day. Tony did get back home around 7pm. Tony hadn't been home more then two hours, when Mallory started having a seizure. It was only about 5 seconds, then stopped. Then another one, for about 10 seconds and that stopped. Well the 3rd time it didn't stop.. it continued for about 5 minutes at which time we decided a drive to the ER was our best option. I loaded Mason in the car (he was already in bed with no socks on.. and that is how he went to the ER.. what a bad mom i am, i didn't even stop to put socks on him!! ) and Tony carried Mallory who was still seizing to the car and lets just say the 2 mile trip to the ER was the fastest I've ever driven thru town!!!
Tony took her in and Mason and I waited in the waiting room. 20 minutes later they still couldn't get the seizure stopped, or an IV in her.. they finally got an IV in her bone in the knee and after a few shots of some medicine, the seizure stopped. Her breathing was being compromised so they tubed her to help her breath and to keep her lungs open. The whole while, they are waiting on the Blank Children's Hospital helicopter to come and transport her to Des Moines. The ER didn't know if it was a Febrile seizure again or not, so that is why they decided to transport her to the Children's hospital. We had a friend come over and sit with Mason til my mom could come over and stay with him for the night.
Tony and I drove to Des Moines. When we got up to her room, they had informed us that she had pulled her breathing tube out in the helicopter (yep, thats our fiesty little girl!! ) and that she was breathing just fine. Two nurses then proceeded to try and find a vein for the IV since they don't really like to leave them in the bone very long. 30 minutes later, they still couldn't find a vein and just left the other IV in. All tests came back pointing to the seizure being caused from the fever. We spent the night in the hospital and were discharged the next AM.
Mallory fought that fever off and on for the next three to four days. Mason went back to the farm with Granny and stayed there for a few days. He was congested,coughing, had an ear infection and not feeling well either, so was very helpful that Granny took care of him while i watched Mallory.
It was a VERY long week, as I figured that another seizure would be happening and even though this was now the 3rd time we have been thru this, I've not gotten used to it at all and it just gives me anxiety right now thinking about it!!! This time they have given us a prescription for a suppository like cream to give her if she has another seizure and it lasts 5-10 minutes. I'm just PRAYING that now that we have the medicine, we never have to use it!! I think that week added about 10 years to my age. The kids were sick for about 3 weeks. Looks like we could be in for a REALLY REALLY long winter if this has already started and winter really isn't even here yet.

Here are the kids in their Halloween costumes on Halloween night

Isn't my pink poodle cute?? :)




Tony's birthday came and went, as did our 8 year anniversary. With the kids still not feeling 100%, we didn't do much for either event. I did get to get out for a night to go bowling with a few other moms and then out for dinner. Course the whole time I was gone, I was worried about Mallory and couldn't really let my guard down.

The kids and I went to Des Moines with a few other moms/kids to the Science center. I've never been there before, so I had just as much fun as Mason did. Mallory is a little too young to really enjoy it all, but she did do pretty good.

Looks like Mason and Mallory doesn't it??

Well, once 'he' turns around, maybe not!! :)

Gotta love that kid. Ryan is a great kid, and Mason loves doing things with him and Aiden (another little boy who looks just like Mason and Ryan... if we were to dress them the same and take their pictures, you would have to be fairly close to figure out who was who) Mason is wearing blue stripes.



The other little boy is Aiden



Tony and I got to get away a few weeks ago on Saturday to do a little shopping. Tony needed quite a few things and I needed to get started on the Christmas list. Its much harder shopping with two kiddos then it was with one. Didn't get a lot done shopping wise, but was really nice to get away and get to SLEEP IN the next day!! THANKS AUNT DD and GRANNY A for watching the kids. Mallory had been getting up between 5:45 and 6:30am for a little over a week. I've since moved her bedtime up to around 7 -7:30pm, and she has been sleeping in til 6:30-6:45am.. so I'm thankful for that!! 7am or after would be ideal, but we are getting closer to that!! I'm not functioning before 8am, so getting up 2+ hours before then, was really really rough!! Hence no blog posts and not staying up past 11pm, like i usually did!


Here is a photo from Mom's birthday back the beginning of October!! I've got a lot of photos that I just now downloaded that I'll post another night... and a few videos!!



Mallory goes in for her 1 year check up Tuesday. Will fill ya all in on her stats at that time. She has been walking now for a couple weeks, so will post a video of that another day also!!

Looking forward to seeing family over Thanksgiving and having Mallory's birthday party

Thats enough boredom for one day.. will wait a little while and bore ya'll again :)

5 things game...

Well, guess Jessie knows how to get me out of a blogging slump.. tag me and make me feel guilty if I don't follow thru (not really, but it has helped me to get a post up!!)

The rules are to write 5 things under each of the 5 headings, and then tag 5 other people.

10 years ago…

1. I had recently graduated from the U of I with a BBA in Finance

2. Was back living at home

3. Had been dating Tony for 6 years

4. Might have had my first cell phone (heck, i can't remember yesterday let alone 10 years ago!! )

5. Was working at Security Bank

5 Things on Today’s "To-Do" List…

1. Laundry

2. Pick up toys

3. Get things rounded up for Thanksgiving trip to the Farm

4. Put up Christmas decorations

5. Post to my blog :)

5 Snacks I Enjoy…

1. Wheat thins

2. 3 oreo cookies

3. Diet Coke or Coke Zero

4. Almonds

5. Anything sweet

5 Things I Would Do if I were a Millionaire…

1. Get a different house!!!!

2. Buy a long arm quilting machine and make quilts for everyone I know. (stole yours Jessie, as I have to agree!! )

3. Let Tony Farm like he would rather be doing now

4. Get an RV

5. Take some trips.. just get in my RV and start driving!!!

5 Places I Have Lived…

1. Gilman, IA

2. Marshall, MO

3. Ulysses, KS

4. Dumas, TX

5. Iowa City , IA

5 Jobs I’ve had/Still have…

1. Bank Teller

2. Customer Service Manager

3. John Deere Bookkeeper

4. Curves for Women instructor

5. MOM

5 People I’m tagging…

1. Leslie

2.Bonnie

3. Erin

4. Darcy

5. Kristin

2 months til Christmas!!!

So where in the heck has 2008 gone? Don't get me wrong, there are days that seem like they last FOREVER, but then there are those weeks that just fly by! I've been really bad about updating my blog. I've got more pictures to share, but they are on the camera and I still need to download them. Hopefully this weekend I'll get that done and some more recent photos posted.


Hard to believe that Mallory is 11 months old. I'm sure she is pushing the 25 lb mark!! And to think Mason didn't hit that weight til he was probably 18 months old! She doesn't like the rear facing car seat, and I remember Mason didn't like it either when he got to be this age. Can't say I blame them, who wants to look at the back of a seat all day. They couldn't be different then night and day, though. And I've noticed lately that she really likes to whine. And for some reason I don't remember Mason doing that. So not sure if that is a girl thing or what, but she likes to get her way RIGHT NOW!! I've been trying to not give in to her right away, hoping this will pass and she will be a little more laid back, but after about 15 minutes of that whining, I've got to give in. She has 8 teeth now that are all over the place. Just hoping that when she gets her permanent teeth they will be straight and in line. She likes to cruise from sofa to chair to table to chair... and has even taken a step without holding on. She will more then likely be walking by the time she is one. Mason was RUNNING when he was 1, so I'm glad she isn't doing that just yet.


Mason is loving preschool. Still have some issues with listening and being quiet and sitting still.. you know, those things that little boys especially don't like to do. But he is getting a little better and he knows what he is supposed to do as he tells us, now if we could just get him to follow thru on the instructions from the teacher, and us for that matter, we would be doing really well. We seem to be on the go about 7 days a week, so I can already tell the next 18+ years are gonna be nothing but running! Mason saw some little boys playing flag football the other day. They were no doubt smaller then him and of course he thought he should get to play. I'm trying to hold off on those organized sports as long as I can, as i know that once i start that kind of running from practice to games, I'm in for the long haul.


I've been sewing a little when I get the time. I made my mom a bag and a couple other people some bags, but I've got to get those photos on the computer too. But I do have a photo of the most recent bag I made. This bag is going to be used as a diaper bag. It was a special order in which she chose the fabric she wanted and a few of the other details. This is the first bag I've made with a zipper AND one strap. I'm not completely sold on the method I used, but I'm having a hard time visualizing it done any other easier way. I think I'm figuring out the zipper trick, BUT with a zipper in a bag comes the fact that the raw edges are showing on the inside. (not on this bag as I tried another method, but I really didn't like this method either) SO if someone out there knows of a pattern that DOESN'T have raw edges showing AND uses a zipper, PLEASE share that with me!! I've had quite a few people request bags with zippers, but I'm not all that pleased with the way it looks unfinished on the lining. I'm kind of a perfectionist in that sense.








We've got a Halloween party this coming weekend, so the kids will get to wear their costumes. Lets just hope i can get a photo of both of them together. That seems to be the hardest thing. And I've only got 2 kids, not sure how those with more then 2 kids get pictures together.

Kid Adventures

The last weekend of September, Darcy, Mason, Mallory and I went to Adventureland one more time before they closed. The first time we went this summer, we didn't get to swim, so this time, even though it wasn't super hot out, Mason did a little swimming. His teeth were chattering and he was cold the whole time, but that didn't stop him. He had a blast.

Mason only held his hands up this first time up, the rest of the time he was holding on pretty good. he did enjoy the 'Frog Jumper' though!!

Mallory just taking it all in

Mallory didn't quite know what to think about Pa's mustache!!
Mallory loves kitties. Kitty is one of three words she says...MaMa, DaDa, & 'ttttttt' which means kitty... 'Shoppy' took the lovin' pretty well...Pa got the battle wounds, not Mallory
Mason's favorite thing to do in the shop. Another Vincent Van Gogh?

He goes everywhere on the farm with his work boots on.

LOVED eating the apples off the ground

She would start crying when you tried to take it out of her hands
You can see how much she had eaten
Mason helping pick up the rotten apples to feed to the cows

Fun week...

Seems like we have been running nonstop all week, but thats ok. I'll work my way backwards with the photos. Tonight Darcy met us in Ames at a park and we ordered Great Plains Pizza and ate in the park. What a much better way to sit with kids, then waiting in their restaurant for 45 minutes for our pizza! AND it was perfect weather to be outdoors!!!

Mallory sitting in a swing for the first time

Course I was never pushing him high enough

Mason doesn't know a stranger, and tonight was no exception. He latched on to Sosia (pronounced So-Sha) who was the cutest little 3 year old. She is from Poland, hence the unusual name. Her mother said she only learned English after moving here a few months ago, and I would have never of guessed, as she was almost speaking better then Mason did at 3!!!

Earlier in the day, we went to see the Largest running Steam Engine that was in the area. That was quite the sight. Wish I would of had my video camera on to get the full effect, as the picture just doesn't do the sound/atmosphere justice. Here is a link to some more info on it while it was in the area Steam Locomotive

While at the farm this past weekend, Mason was playing with his little cars/tractors/Bob the Builder die cast toys. He really likes them organized...

Yep, Darcy turned the big 3-0 on Tuesday, but we had cake and ice cream while visiting her Sunday.
Mason had to put some 'cows' on the cake. He really wanted to cover the cake in them, but Granny told him that DD didn't want a cow cake!!!


Monarchs must be on the move, as there were hundreds of them flying around the farm

Between preschool a few days a week, a couple play groups, running errands, meeting up with family.. this week has been fast and furious...

I'll leave ya with a few 'Mason'isms......

"Did you give the girl a kiss?" : Tony

"No. I didn't want her to get heart eyes" : Mason

(I had to translate this for Tony as he didn't know what Mason was talking about... guess Mason has been watching a few too many cartoons!!!! )

We were reading a Tractor book from the library

"Is that what most seed drills look like? ":Lisa

"No, those pictures were taken in Europe" :Tony

"No, they came from the library" : Mason