{Who Rang the Doorbell?}

We had a very exciting night last week, last Wednesday as I was finishing up Anna's bath, the doorbell rang!  Low and behold, St. Nick had paid us a visit!  And just like that he was gone with a flash, but not before filling Anna's stocking with some goodies.  It took Anna a little bit to catch on to the fact that he had come and left her some presents, but hasn't stopped talking about him ever since, and the candy was certainly her favorite.

 

In addition to filling her stocking, St. Nick also brought the Elf on the Shelf.  After Anna finished going through her stocking, the three of us snuggled up on the couch and read The Elf on the Shelf so we could learn all about how he works.  Anna has affectionately named him Yo-Yo and each night Yo-Yo flies back to the North Pole to report on how well Anna has behaved that day.  So far we have found Yo-Yo on the mantle, on Anna's toy shelf, and in the Christmas tree, I am sure that Yo-Yo will come up with more creative places to hide, but he is still getting the hang of all of this (and trying to remember to move around each night :)). 

The Seidel family is really starting to get excited and ready for Christmas.  We visited Santa Friday night with our cousins, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get any pictures of Anna on Santa's lap - we love to talk about Santa, but not quite ready to get up close and personal, hopefully next year.  Tonight we baked Christmas cookies as Anna needs to bring some to school for their Christmas program this week,  They still have yet to be frosted, but I assure you, Anna had a blast helping make them and the flour all over the kitchen is enough evidence to prove it :) 

This afternoon, Anna was thrilled to wake up from her nap to a nice layer of snow to play in - I think she likes being pulled in her sled the best!

 

This weekend also marked the 36 week mark of my pregnancy, hard to believe we only have 4 weeks to go before we finally to meet our little one.  It's strange, time cannot go fast and at the same time, slow enough.  We are absolutely so excited to meet her and cannot wait to expand our family and I am certainly starting to get to the point where I am ready to no longer be pregnant anymore, but I find ourselves also savoring our moments with Anna and our time together.  Anna is starting to get ready to be a big sister and loves to point out that the baby is in momma's belly.  We are very excited for her and know she is going to be such a good big sister and big helper.   She has taken such an active interest in playing with her dolls, changing the diapers, and putting them to sleep, I love seeing the little mommy come out in her:)

{First Preschool Update}

Anna has been attending First Preschool for 3 months now and we are thrilled to share she has adjusted quite well.  Dropping her off was pretty tough the first month or so, but sometime in October both her teacher and I agreed we had turned the corner and each drop off after that proved that Anna was excited to be there and play with her friends and teachers.  We were sad to learn 2 weeks ago that her teacher Miss Vonnie is moving to the baby room full time, however Anna seems to love her new teachers and seems to be adjusting quite well to the change - we are also excited to know that Baby Seidel will be in good hands with Miss Vonnie when she starts there next year!  It amazes me the things that Anna has learned while she is there just two days a week and how much she has changed at home as well - It's fun to hear her randomly sing songs, count, sing the ABC's, talk about her friends at school, etc.  Anna also had her first school pictures taken at the end of September - wish I knew how they got her to crack up as much as they did - I just love that grin!

 

Just last weekend, First Preschool had a float in the Green Bay Holiday Parade and we were thrilled to partake in the festivities.  The float was themed "A Bunch of Gifts" and they worked hard on decorating the manger, complete with lights and music.  Anna was a cow and all the kids sang songs they had learned in school.  It was so fun to see Anna interact with her friends and teachers and we were very impressed with all the work they put into the event - they even won an award!

{A Sneak Peak}

I have to admit, after we learned we were pregnant, I was so very excited to start working on the nursery for the new baby, especially since knowing we would be finding out the sex of the baby and could decorate accordingly.  Once we got Anna settled in her room we slowly got to work.  This weekend we got a chance to hang a few things on the walls and it is starting to feel like a real nursery.  I have also been busy doing laundry and sorting baby clothes, washing bottles, etc and it feels good to know we really are starting to get ready to bring a baby home.  While we still have 10 weeks to go, we know the time will go fast with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and getting ready for Elizabeth's wedding, so I feel better knowing I am prepared.  That and I am starting to get more and more exhausted with each passing day, so the more we can get done now, the better.  So I thought I would share a few pictures of the nursery for Baby Girl Seidel, there are still a few things we would like to do, including new blinds for the window (I hate the plastic mini blinds that came with the house) and I am going to attempt to make a mobile to hang over the crib.  I also would love to get a chandelier to hang in place of the light fixture on the ceiling and we have wooden letters painted that spell out the baby's name to hang over the crib once she is here, but that is our little secret for now:)  Once we found out we were having a girl, I immediately started looking at baby bedding for a little girl and couldn't find anything I really liked, so I asked my aunt if she would be willing to make us a quilt which she has agreed to do and we are so excited and thankful that she would take the time to do that for our little girl and cannot wait to see it!  I also have to give Bob credit, he did such a great job on the chair rail - from cutting the wood, sanding, finding the right stain to match the woodwork and painting the room, we both love how it turned out - thank goodness he is so handy:)

 

I am 29 weeks along now and absolutely, positively cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going.  For the most part, I feel the same way I felt when I was pregnant with Anna, other than the fact that I feel absolutely huge already and some days not sure how I will make it another 10 weeks.  I find myself worrying about things I didn't worry about with Anna, like going into labor early, etc.  I think the second time around the reality of what is happening sinks in a little quicker and I know what to expect when it comes to labor, etc.  That being said, our excitement is really starting to build and we cannot wait to bring our little girl home.  I had my glucose testing last week and thankfully passed so no gestational diabetes to worry about and now start biweekly appointments on the 29th of the month.  Baby's heart rate has being staying steady around 140-145 each time I go in.  She is quite active during the day and doesn't seem to keep me up at night like Anna did, I try to tell myself that is a good sign and that she will already have her days and nights figured out once she is here, but even I know enough to know that isn't likely, but fun to dream, right?  :)

{Zoo Boo}

This weekend we finally got a chance to do a fall activity so we took advantage of our free Zoo Boo ticket from our annual NEW Zoo membership and headed out to the zoo on Saturday afternoon.  New to the Zoo Boo, Bob and I couldn't believe how busy it was but once we found a place to park and walked the mile it took to get in, it was well worth it.  Anna was pretty overwhelmed in the beginning between all the costumes and people, but quickly got a hang of the phrase "trick or treat" once she figured out people will generously give you candy if you say it with a smile - we had such a fun time with our little bumblebee and enjoyed a "boo"tiful fall afternoon!

Armed with her pumpkin, Anna is ready to go!

A little shy...

Anna certainly does not look impressed as she waited in line, but she really did have a good time!

I am not sure when trick or treating got this high tech, but first she had to spin a wheel on an ipad to see what she won - which ended up being bike reflectors, just what she needs! 

Anna and mommy posing for a picture

So far, suckers are Anna's favorite Halloween candy

Riding the Merry Go Round by herself - we decided she was age ready when realized it would cost another dollar for an adult to stand next to her, REALLY????



Family photo

Enjoying her new stash of candy later that night, to be honest, I am not sure who is more excited, Anna, Daddy, or Oscar. 

{Big Changes for Anna!}

September certainly has been a big month for Anna!  2 weeks ago, Bob and I decided to bite the bullet and try putting Anna in her big girl bed.  Our reasoning was really two fold, we were anxious to not only get her new bed out of the garage, but also move the baby furniture into the baby's room so we could start putting the nursery together.  So last Saturday morning Anna spent the day with my mom and aunt and Bob and I got to work.  It took pretty much the whole day (Bob had to take the crib apart to move it out and then back together in the new room, put all Anna's new furniture together including the bed, dresser, and nightstand, lots of organizing of Anna's clothes, toys, etc).  Anyway, we were very anxious for Anna to come home the next morning and see her new room and we absolutely LOVE how it turned out, especially since we really didn't have to change any of the decor, etc. 

I am happy to report, Anna has so far, done absolutely fabulous in her new room! As you will see in the video below, she was very excited to see it and her enthusiasm hasn't changed ever since!  We haven't had any sleeping issues yet.  I am not sure she actually realizes she can get out if she wants to (she does have side rails on each side of the bed now to prevent her from taking any falls in the middle of the night), as she goes down wonderfully at 8 each night and when Bob or I go in her room in the morning around 7 or so she is normally just laying in bed relaxing.  She also loves to play in her room, reading books or playing with some of her toys.

The other big change for our little lady, is Anna started "school" (daycare) as of the beginning of September.  Now that Anna is two, Bob and I felt it was important for Anna to spend time with other kids her age and get the exposure that a daycare could provide her.  My mom loves watching Anna and has requested to keep her one day a week, which works out great for us.  It is important to Bob and I that our parents have the opportunity to be grandparents and not caretakers, so our new arrangement seems to provide everyone the best of both worlds.  We have enrolled Anna at First Daycare downtown, which is ideal for us as it is literally a few blocks from my work.  The daycare is run by First United Methodist Church and came recommended by many of our neighbors and now that we are there, I can very easily see why - the teachers sincerely love these kids and we have no doubt this is going to be an awesome opportunity for Anna.  In addition to daycare, she gets to participate as a "Little Lamb" in the Christian based preschool program that the daycare also runs.  We are so excited for Anna and all the fun she gets to have at "school".  She so far seems to really enjoy it, the drop off in the morning is certainly hard, as Anna still gets sad when I leave, but Miss Vonnie, Anna's teacher assured me that once I am gone, Anna quickly calms down and joins the other friends to play.  The little boy next door is in the room next door to Anna and they often combine the rooms for playtime and it is nice that Anna gets to see a familiar face when we get there.  So far Anna has enjoyed arts and crafts, going to the park, making music and picking veggies from their garden at school.  We look forward to the many opportunities daycare will provide Anna in the future!

 

Anna All Ready for her First Day!

 

 

 

 

{Baby GIRL Seidel}

Bob, Anna and I are excited to share that come January we will be adding another GIRL to the Seidel family!  We went this past Monday for our 20 week ultrasound and I was shocked to hear there is a baby girl in my belly, I thought for sure this one was going to be a boy, once again, I was wrong, and Bob was right.  Nonetheless, we are so excited to learn the news and are, more importantly, thrilled to learn that baby is healthy and growing right on track.  The baby weighs about 14 ounces and is in the 77th percentile for height and weight.  A few weeks ago, we got the results of our quad screening for down syndrome and were happy to learn that all came back fine as well.  Hard to believe that I am already halfway through this pregnancy, I absolutely cannot believe how fast it has gone, but very happy to report it has been a very easy pregnancy once again.  The past couple of weeks I have started to feel flutters, which have only grown stronger each day and just last night I think I felt the baby from the outside, I absolutely cannot wait for Bob to feel her as well.  (You may notice I still refer to it as "the baby".  I am not sure if "baby girl" has totally set in yet!).  Once we learned the news, we went home and stuffed cupcakes with pink frosting that I had made earlier in the day before meeting our families out for dinner to surprise them with the news.  It was such a fun night and we think they enjoyed their surprise as much as we did!

Baby Girl Seidel - 20 Weeks

Cupcakes are ready for the big reveal!

Becky and Izzy take a guess at the ultrasound photo

"It's a GIRL!"  Love these faces!

Bob and I, happy to share the news!

And finally - Anna, is thrilled to have a baby sister on the way and can't seem to stop sharing the news :)

 

{Future Olympian 2028?}

This past week Anna completed her 8 week Tumblebee class through the City of De Pere.  I was really pleased with the class, we had done a similar one through the Y last year, but this class seemed to offer more and the teacher was fabulous.  The first 20 minutes of each class would be spent playing on the gym equipment and the remaining 15-20 minutes was spent in circle time playing games and singing songs related to the weekly theme.  Anna's favorite activities seem to be the balance beam, bar, and trampoline.  It was fun to see how much better she got at each activity as the weeks went by, especially the bar.  By the last class she was starting to swing and try to pull her legs up on it.  Do we have a future gymnast on our hands? 



Loving the bar!

Walking accross the mats

Anna's teacher helping her bring up her legs

Singing and dancing during circle time

Walking the balance beam

Swinging on the bar

{2}

Somehow Anna has grown from a precious sweet little baby to a very busy 2 year old.  I do not know how the time goes so fast, but she is now a full blown toddler who loves to play outside, go to the park, play with her puppies, play with bubbles and cuddle with mom and dad.  She is learning go potty on the potty, and is starting to speak full sentences.  Her speech manages to amaze us every day as she becomes more and more clear with her words.  Anna turned 2 this past Sunday and we celebrated with a party at the park with family and friends and Anna had an absolute blast playing at the park with friends, eating cake, and of coure, loved opening all the wonderful gifts she received.  We are very grateful for all who came to help us celebrate her special day. 

Opening gifts with Mom and Dad

Having so much fun at her party

Family Picture :)

Sneaking some frosting...

Anna LOVES cake!

Playing with friend Kate at the park!

Friends playing at the park

Swinging with Liz

Bob and I gave Anna her gift last weekend and needless to say Anna hasn't stopped jumping since - it has become a big hit in our backyard!

{Anna's Big News!}

Anna (and the puppies!) have big news to share!

That’s right, come early January, she will be a big sister! We are thrilled to share we are expecting baby number 2!

Our official due date is January 5 (and of course the accountant in me cannot help to point out, while a 2012 delivery would provide the obvious tax benefits, we are just looking forward to our baby having a healthy and safe delivery whenever he or she is ready to join us J) 

We had our first prenatal appointment back at 8 weeks at the end of May and were thrilled to see our little bean and hear a strong heartbeat of 184.  I think we were both pretty nervous, but when Pam, our ultrasound tech, quickly identified the baby and a strong heartbeat, we were filled with excitement, joy, AND relief to see our little bean bouncing away with a strong heartbeat.

We are so excited to be expanding our family - So far the pregnancy is going fairly well, I came down with a really severe cold in the very beginning and it took a lot out of me to recover from, but since then I have been feeling good, just extremely exhausted, which I dont rememeber being this tired when I was pregnant with Anna, but I am sure that has something to do with the fact that we are busy chasing after her every day. We are happy to report we had our second prenatal appointment today and heard a strong hearbeat once again, this time at 166 - quite similar to when I was pregnant with Anna, could this mean another girl?!?!?  We will have to wait and see come August!!!!

{Wishing Bob a Very Happy Father's Day}

I realize this post is now a week late, but I wanted to wish Bob a very happy father's day and thank him for being such an amazing husband and father to Anna.  I absolutely love watching him play, interact, and care for Anna, he is so great with her and she absolutely beams with pride when he walks through the door at night.  A favorite of Bob and Anna's is to go to the park behind our house -I absolutely love seeing them walking through the field hand in hand, they really do make quite the the cute pair:) In honor of Father's Day, I thought I would share a video of Anna and Bob bonding by practicing their somersaults a few weeks ago -

Too stinking cute:)

Last weekend we had a free Saturday morning and took advantage by redeeming a Groupon I had purchased months ago for the Mulberry Farm in Sherwood, we had such an amazing time and the farm was perfect, Anna got to get up close to so many animals, ride a pony, and take a hay ride - below are a few pictures of our adventures!

Totally into the pony ride

Taking a peek at the bunnies

A little unsure about the baby calf

Anna and daddy enjoying the hayride

Family pic on the hayride

{It's That Time of Year Again!}

Bay Beach time that is!  With the beautiful weather we have had the past month or so, we have managed to take the time to hit up both Bay Beach and the Wildlife Sanctuary a few times already this spring.  Anna is all in when it comes to visiting either of these "hot spots" for kids!  She absolutely loves riding the rides at Bay Beach - I think the train and merry go round are still her fave, but she also enjoys the ones like the lady bugs, trucks, catepillars, etc.  We also have enjoyed going to the Wildlife Sanctuary and feeding the "rockies."  We taught Anna to say robin this spring, which has translated to "rockie" and now every bird we see is "rockie".  Nonetheless, we have had such fun taking her out and about and look forward to doing it much more this summer. 

First Ride!

Love the merry go round!

I suppose we need to teach her to look forward when we drive?

Cruising in the catepillar!

Feeding the ducks with our cousins!

Daddy & Anna

Checking out the owls

Cousins!

Grandma with all her grandkids for her birthday!