23 Months

This is one of my more difficult monthly updates to write on Micah. You see, it's bittersweet in two ways, as it's his last monthly update as a "1" year old and his last update as a single child. As I anticipate the arrival of his new brother/sister in 2 short days, I have been reflecting back a lot on Micah's birth. I am so thankful that I was inspired by a few of my fellow blogger friends to start this blog in the first place approximately 1 year ago, as it has allowed me to watch Micah change on a monthly basis. Over the past month, here is what Whippy has been doing:

1) Singing! I certainly did not inherit that gene from his Momma's side of the family, but this kid loves to sing. Recent favorite have been his ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle and Jingle Bells.

2) "I did it" with an occasional "by self" are recent phrases out of Micah's mouth. It's been fun watching Micah develop a greater independence with a lot of daily activities.

3) Can count until "10"

4) Knows all of his primary colors

5) When asked if he will have a baby sister or baby brother, he always says the latter of what you ask. We will let the suspense and the frequent questioning by Grandma Carol only last another 48 hours!

6) Still loves daycare, although drop offs continue to be difficult on some of the days. His teachers report that he is well integrated into an activity within 2 minutes of our departure, but it sure feels miserable as a parent walking down the hall and hearing your child screaming...

7) Loves Sesame Street - especially Elmo. Kyle and I have to sometimes be sneaky about our computer time, as if Micah recognizes that we are on the computer, he asks for us to put Sesame Street on. I think that we've watched every episode of Sesame Street on YouTube at least 10 times.

8) Likes to pick out his own clothes and namely has "PJ's' or "JP's" as referred to by Kyle. His favorite include a pair of Sesame Street PJ's - surprised?

9) Sleeping most of the nights. If he does wake up, I've made the recent mistake of putting him in bed with us a few times. Hopefully habits aren't established...

10) Favorite toy still is Matchbox cars. Playdoh might be a close second.

11) Move over oatmeal...Cinnamon Chex may have taken over for Micah's favorite breakfast food.

12) Preferred beverages are still milk and water, but loves to drink out of a cup or a straw.

13) Little puppy dog - while Brutus may be on a vacation at my parents during all the chaos of Raadt life, Micah makes up for his begging. If you're eating something that Micah does not have, he will take notice and say "Micah try"

14) Motivated by M&M's - namely, peanut butter ones.

15) Sitting on the potty at daycare, but still does not love to sit on it at home. Last week he did pee while on the potty, but has not since. We are slowly getting there, and we don't want to force the issue at this point.

16) Likes to help with some chores - especially unloading the dishwasher.

17) Tantrums are still a daily occurrence. Micah simply does not like to be told "no", but what nearly two-year old does?! We're learning to deal with them. We have been cracking down hard on the hitting and kicking that usually occurs during tantrums with time outs, time in his room, or if necessary the occasional spanking.

18) Learning a lot of nursery rhymes, as he has suddenly taken an interest in a set of books that Grandma Carol gave him last Christmas. Rock-a-bye baby, Twinkle Twinkle, Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty are a few of his favorites.

19) Does not love to put his outside clothes on. It is a fight to put his snow pants and boots on, which is too bad, as he always has a great time playing outside.

20) Little climber - can climb up onto his changing table, the tall bar stools at the island in our kitchen, and any ladder or step-stool that he can get his hands on.

21) Has a full vocabulary and talks in sentences most of the time.

22) Loves looking at pictures of himself. My goal this upcoming maternity leave is to put together some Shutterfly books for Micah.

23) Is such an awesome, wonderful kiddo. I am so thankful that God has placed Micah in our lives. He going to make an amazing big brother!!!

Christmas Eve Relaxation

It's Christmas Eve and it feels good to sit down! Kyle, Micah and I are in Stewartville for a few days. He just left to meet up with his dad and twin brother, Micah is finally sleeping after an event-filled day, and I am curled up on the couch with my computer, a baby's hand pushing into my left hip and legs into my ribcage, and a sleeping Brutus next to me. I could not be more content. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and the marathon is not over yet. We are so excited to be welcoming another Raadt baby into the family later this week. I am long overdue on posts, so here is what we've been up to over the past few weeks.

- We've moved!! We've been in our new house for approximately 2 weeks and we love it. A lot of hard work was put into getting it move-in ready over the past month and I am so thankful for all of the support that we received from our families. My parents and brother have been down to Winona almost every weekend to help with painting, moving, unpacking, watching Micah, etc. Once the place gets a little more organized, I will post some before/after pictures. So far, we all love the extra space, attached garage, and main floor laundry.

- We're going to be landlords. A few weeks ago, our realtor showed our house to a young, married couple who had moved back to Winona from the cities. A few days later, they approached us about renting our house. Initially, we were hesitant about renting it, but after meeting the couple we realized that this probably was an answer to prayer. We've been praying for several months that the good Lord would place someone in the house to love it as much as we have loved it over the past 4 years. After being on the market for almost 6 months with only 1 offer, despite probably 20-30 showings in addition to open houses, it's time to take it off for awhile. Conveniently the rental offer came the weekend before a moving company was scheduled to come to assist with moving "5 large pieces" of furniture. In the end they moved all of our furniture over to the new house. The couple who will be renting our house grew up in Winona and have a 3 year old son. They are currently living with her parents. They both are well out of college, in their careers, and we have complete trust that they will take good care of the house. So, Kyle and I are now in the process of getting our house rental certified and developing a lease. The new couple will start renting in February.

- Christmas preparations. Due to the chaos of moving, we only put a small tree up the bay window of our old house. Fortunately, I had picked up most of Micah's Christmas gifts earlier this fall when they were on sale and our families were easy to shop for. Micah hasn't seemed to take notice of Christmas at only 2 years old - at least the gift giving, decoration part. Next year will probably be different and I look forward to decorating and starting some Christmas traditions with him.

- Baby. We are still scheduled for a C-section this upcoming Friday. I'm as prepared as I'm going to be at this point. I have a few gender-neutral outfits that I bought earlier this year, all of Micah's old clothes are washed in the event that we have a boy, bottles are washed, the pump is rented, and the baby equipment is slowly becoming unpacked. The nursery is not painted, but the paint colors are picked out for each option - baby boy or baby girl. My parents plan to paint while we're in the hospital next weekend. Despite all of the chaos of moving and Christmas, I feel like we'll be adequately prepared to welcome another little life into our family later this week.

I hope that you are enjoying your Christmas Eve too. Tonight at church, our pastor talked about home. Christmas has much more of a significants that just being home with family. It also means opening your heart as a home for Jesus too. Have a Blessed Christmas.

22 Months

Micah turned 22 months on Monday, and I am unfortunately a few days late at preparing this blog post.    The chaos of renovating, moving, working, getting ready for the Holidays, and yes preparing for the arrival of our newest family member in less than 4 weeks has consumed much of my spare time when Micah goes to bed at night. Micah continues to change on what seems like a daily basis. A few days ago, he and I were looking at pictures on the computer, and it's amazing how much this little man has grown since this summer.

1) At a recent check up on 11/5, Micah topped the scale at just over 31# (90%), is 36 inches tall (97%) and has a head circumference of just over 20 cm (97%).

2) Talking in sentences - a few days ago, I asked Micah what he wanted for supper on the way home from daycare. He responded "I want bagel, Momma". I love his voice and all of the crazy little things that come out of his mouth.

3) Best friends seem to be Kyle and Logan. Every day I ask him what he's done at school. His response, "I play with Kyle. I play with Logan too. We play trucks"

4) Has a special bond with my Dad who he calls "Poppa Whoppa". Micah lights up whenever we talk about my dad or he sees him. I am so thankful that my parents live close and for their involvement in Micah's life.

5) Baby sister or Baby brother? According to Micah it's 50/50. We're excited to find out in a few weeks.

6) Continues to love his oatmeal. We now buy the large boxes, as 2 packet/day were causing us to make multiple oatmeal runs to the store each week. He also recently has added a bagel or peanut butter toast to his man-sized breakfast.

7) Still drinks either milk or water. A few days ago he came up to me and said "I want juice". I have yet to fulfill that request, because when I've bought it in the past he's turned it down.

8) Starting to figure out how to drink from a straw.

9) Sweet-tooth - yes! He's learned that if he goes grocery shopping with Mom, that he usually gets a cookie to keep him occupied.

10) When asked his age - his answer is "4"

11) Counting to six.

12) Learning more songs. It's fun to hear him sing. Recent favorite have been "Jingle Bells", "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" and "Twinkle, Twinkle little Star"

13) Knows the difference between football, basketball, and baseball on the TV. Now if we could only consistently get him to say "Go Vikings".

14) Knows the President - "Rocco Momma". When asked the Vice President, he will say "Doe Biden" about 50% of the time or "The Packers".

15) We still have our sleeping battles. Some nights he sleeps 11 hours straight, and other nights he's up 2 hours during the night only to wake up by 6:30 in the morning. As parents, you learn to function on minimal sleep some nights.

16) Loves to wear either his soccer ball or monkey pajamas at night. Other favorites include a gray zip-up coat that I had bought at Once Upon a Child for the fall. Thankfully the warm weather has allowed Micah to wear that coat well into the winter. He has a nice LL Bean winter coat, which he will reluctantly wear if told that "Poppa" has the same coat.

17) Matchbox cars are his favorite toy

18) Loves to play hide and seek. Okay, loves to do the seek part. He still hasn't mastered the hiding part.

19) Daycare pick ups have been difficult lately. Micah is often well ingrained in an activity, and has no interest in leaving. Trust me, it's great to see him so happy at daycare, but I often am carrying a screaming, kicking kid out of daycare these days. We have a few strategies that we're going to try over the next few weeks, as I am already dreading the pick ups when I'm on maternity leave and Kyle is working an evening shift.

20) Tantrums are still a daily occurrence and I don't anticipate that they will be going away any time soon.  Micah simply does not like to be told "No" and he's at the age where you can't reason with him. He is going through a stage where he hits or kicks when he's mad, and Kyle and I are coming down pretty hard on him to break both of these habits.

21) Knows Jesus which makes me smile! We've been reading him a Bible story every night before bed, and he knows that the Bible is about Jesus. He also will tell us that Jesus' birthday is coming up.

22) We are so thankful for all of the laughter, smile and yes even the challenges that this little boy has brought into our lives. We love you Micah James!!

First Haircut

As you've probably read over the past few monthly updates, Micah has been well overdue for a haircut.     A few times in the past month, Micah's hair has been in a ponytail when we've picked him up from daycare. We've been putting it off for several reasons - most notably we love his curls. Secondly, we knew that it wasn't going to be pleasant experience for Micah nor the person who would be cutting his hair. As a side-note, Micah hates having his fingernails/toenails clipped and I usually do it when he's asleep. Only within the past few months has he allowed us to brush his teeth without having to hold him down.You can image what he would be like with someone trying to cut his hair...

For his first haircut, we wanted to take him to someone that we knew. We were in luck, as a good friend of the Raadt family cuts hair. Even better, is that she has a son who is only a few months older than Micah, so she was well aware of cutting kids hair AND she volunteered to cut it in her home. Thank you Mary! Armed with snacks and toys, Micah survived his first haircut last Saturday morning.

Before (Thanksgiving day). His bangs were so long and kept getting into his eyes.

During - he only allowed a few snips of the scissors. Mary worked quickly and did a great job.

Post haircut lunch with "Poppa", Grandma and Uncle Augie at McDonalds.

The Chamberlain's Visit

Last weekend, my good friend Jackie and her family made the trek to Winona for a short visit. It's hard to believe that the last time that we saw them was in April, right around the time that I found out I was pregnant. Jackie and Ryan have two boys - Sam, 3 and Oliver who will also be 2 in January. Our boys had a great time playing together for the afternoon, and we enjoyed catching up with both of them. If only we lived closer....

Another failed attempt at a group picture!

Such cuties, and good pals too.

Jackie and I (and a few of the paint samples that were on the living room wall of our new house)

A Baby Shower, House, and Pregnancy Updates

Last weekend, I enjoyed a quick trip up the the cities to throw a baby shower, along with 2 other college friends, for our good friend Kristen, who is due in early January. Kristen and I met our junior year in college and she has been one of my closest friends since then. It is nothing short of pure coincidence that our due dates are roughly 4 days apart. She and her husband, Mike, are also waiting to find out the gender of their baby.

New favorite cake is from Blooming Grounds in Winona

After the shower, it was great to sit around and hang out with our college friends. While everyone else was drinking yummy wine and/or cherry rum and cokes Kristen and I enjoyed an Odouls. Thank you to Anna's husband, Chris, for running to the liquor store and buying some for us.

I stayed over in the cities on Saturday night, but was back home in Winona by 9:30 the next morning to finish cleaning the house for an open house. Yes, our house still remains on the market. Up until last week, we consistently seemed to have 1 or more showings/week on the house, but have only had 1 offer up until this point. It can be frustrating at times, but we keep reminding ourselves that "God's timing is perfect". We trust that someone will eventually love our house as much as we've loved it. Having 2 houses is less than ideal, but we're making it work by cutting back in other areas of our life.

In the meantime, we've been doing some work on the new house - eventual blog pictures will be posted. So far, we've had the popcorn ceilings taken down on the main level and orange peel put up. It looks much better! The drywall company has to come back this week to make a few touch-ups in the living room, laundry room and our bedroom. New light fixtures have been purchased, and Kyle and his parents were able to put up several of them. Unfortunately, the ceiling fans that we are replacing have been a bigger challenge to put up, and an electrician will need to put them up. Additionally, an electrician needs to come out and hook up our new dryer. The current dryer hook up is gas. My goal is to finish the above listed projects, paint the main floor (with exception of the new baby's room) and clean the carpets all within the next 4 weeks.

Pregnancy-wise, things are going well. I am 32 weeks along, but am measuring about a week ahead of schedule. The baby is sounding great, my blood sugar/weight gain/glucose, etc, etc are all looking good. At my doctor's appointment last week, my OB and I further discussed a C-section versus a VBAC. Given the current size of the baby, and my previous labor experience, and numerous other risks associated with a VBAC, he strongly recommended a C-section. I can officially say that I have peace about my decision. On December 28th (or before) we will meet the newest member of the Raadt family. December 28th is a Friday, and if things go as planned, I would be discharged on Monday. Kyle is off the entire first week of January. When I had Micah, I went into the hospital on a Monday and wasn't discharged until Saturday. I only 1 day at home with Kyle before he had to return to work. I again need to keep reminding myself that God's timing is perfect and anything is possible between now and December 28th.

Halloween Festivies

Micah had a great 2nd Halloween! Although he's still pretty young to fully appreciate trick or treating, the activities associated with Halloween are still super fun for him.

A few weekends ago, we hit up a local pumpkin patch to get pumpkins. We were slightly pressed for time, as we had a wedding to attend later that afternoon in Rochester, so we weren't able to go out into the field with a cart to pick our own pumpkin. The pumpkin patch itself has a bunch of pre-picked pumpkins, and Micah quickly found one that he liked.

Micah's $9.00 pumpkin choice - it's huge and could only be lifted by Daddy.

The pumpkin patch also had tractors to drive and goats to feed. Micah enjoyed each....

Of course Brutus had to come, and a pumpkin was purchased in his honor.

A few days later, our tradition of painting the pumpkin was carried out. Last year we did the same thing, except Micah wasn't mobile at that time. This year, we got paint on the dishwasher, cupboards, and of course on Mom and baby sister/brother.

Halloween itself was a perfect day! I was off of work that day, but had a bunch of errands to run in La Crosse. Micah attended daycare in the morning where they had a Halloween party. I picked him up shortly after lunch, and we stopped by my work where an employee Halloween party was going on. One of the best parts of Halloween was that Kyle got off of work early - something that has only happened a handful of times. We all (Brutus included) went trick or treating in our new neighborhood with our friends the Kelleys. Micah is probably a year away from getting into trick or treating. We went to approximately 10 houses where he let a neighbor's dog out, picked another's tomatoes and eventually dumped his candy out in the middle of the street. After that, we told our friends to go on, while we decided to go back to our new house and pass out candy.

Our little puppy dog