Memorial Day (better late than never!)

Memorial Day weekend was chilly this year...but, that didn't stop us from going to a pool party! We were invited to our friends, Karen & David, to meet their children & grandchildren. Our friends Bill & Amy and their children were also there. One of the reasons for this visit was because we check each other's blogs and so it was a "blog stalkers" party! The weather was chilly & rainy, but the pool was a balmy 87 degrees! The kids (and Dads) had a blast!

Karen is on the right and Kate (her daughter-in-law) is in the middle. Kate has 2 boys, Isaac & Anders.

Enjoying the pool for the first time this year!!

Eleanor has Violet's life jacket & goggles on.

The other great part about Memorial Day weekend was that my parents were able to visit. They did quite a lot of yard work for us and we so appreciate that! Here is Eleanor with
"Karma Karma" planting flowers. (I regret not getting any pictures of Dad from this visit...next time!)

Additional pics...

I don't have time for much blogging these days...but, I thought I would post some more recent shots of Miriam. All of these great pictures were taken by my sister-in-law, Natalie, except for the last shot.

Miriam's first (OK, it was really her second!) bath.

Proud big sister!!

She's Born!

Introducing...

Miriam Grace Culloton

4-29-09 @ 5:11 am

7 lbs. 13 oz.

19 3/4 inches

Here is our new beautiful baby girl! Eleanor's first words (when she met her) were "she's born!" So, I thought that was an appropriate blog title. We're all doing great and Miriam is now home. All of these wonderful pictures were taken by our dear friend Amy. Thanks, Amy!

Soon...very soon

Well, as many of you know today is my due date. It's now almost 6:30 in the evening and I wouldn't be surprised if I go into the hospital tonight. After seeing my doctor today I was surprised by the look on his face (while examining me) that he didn't admit me to the hospital right then! I'm at four centimeters and "everything is lined up perfectly" according to Dr. Harms. He also said that things could move pretty quickly and so we shouldn't dawdle about getting to the hospital. I'm at home right now and am having mild contractions. Michael did go to CAE rehearsal, but could come home at any minute when/if I would call him.

I would like to get Eleanor put to bed before anything major happens - I've got an hour to go for that so I think I'll make it! Thanks for all your thoughts & prayers and we'll keep everyone updated. Check your email first as Michael doesn't do the blog thing and I don't know when I would get to it until I come home from the hospital.

We're so excited to meet our new little girl and we pray that all goes smoothly.

Another pic...

I thought I had copied all of Amy's pictures onto my desktop, but I had missed a couple because they appeared to be labeled the same. Amy's pics are so high-tech because of her fancy camera that the thumbnails weren't showing up in my email. :) Anyhoo...here is another great shot of Eleanor. Couldn't resist going back in to the blog and posting this!!

More pics from the Nelsons...

Amy sent me some pictures from her camera and so I thought I'd post them. This was "Uncle Michael" getting the girls to laugh because he was making up his own tunes to High School Musical 3 lyrics. It was funny for us adults too because he truly doesn't know the music. Gloria & Violet thought it was hilarious to hear those lyrics with the wrong tunes...and Eleanor just was laughing because the big girls were!

Thanks for sending these shots, Amy! If anyone wants to see her post you can visit The Nelson Nest on the right side of my blog. Amy doesn't update her blog very often, so you won't miss it....tee hee!! :)

Dinner at the Nelsons

On Saturday we spend the afternoon/evening with our good friends Bill & Amy Nelson and their children. We love going out to their place and Eleanor loves to play with the big girls! They have a lovely backyard with a swingset and the weather was nice for the first part of our time there. We then got rain that evening - which was great because we really needed it here in Southern MN.

Eleanor enjoyed all of the swingset equipment.

Here are the kids (and Amy!) in the treehouse.

Michael played some catch with Gloria.

Here is Lukas (they call him Lukey). He's 18 months and quite the charmer!

The big girls - Eleanor, Violet & Gloria

Amy made shredded roast beef sandwiches - so tasty! We had chips & dip, fresh fruit & veggies, potato salad, beans, and homemade monster cookies (with ice cream!) for dessert. Everything was so yummy! Thanks again, Nelsons, for hosting us at your place. We love coming over and spending time with our good friends!

Alleluia!

Happy Easter 2009!

We hope that everyone had a blessed Easter this year. Here are some shots from yesterday. Eleanor was sooooooooooooo excited to wear her dress to church. It's so fun to get little girls all dressed up! She also likes for me to do her hair now. She sits and lets me curl it - quite a little lady.

This was first thing in the morning when she discovered her Easter basket.

Here is another shot of the Easter basket after we got home from church. I got everything from the $1 bins at Target! It was Peter Rabbit themed and there was no candy...which after her Easter egg hunt yesterday was somewhat disappointing for her. Note to self for next year!

I tried to get some pictures in our sanctuary at church. She wasn't being totally cooperative, but I mananged to get something. Our friend, Kris Harms, was also taking some pictures of her and I think some of hers turned out really well.

Our little lady!

Prego update: I'm starting the countdown to weekly visits with my OB. I'm now 38 weeks and saw Dr. Harms this morning. Baby girl is moving down and has "dropped." I definitely noticed that because I'm peeing more than normal - which is saying a lot! Dr. Harms also said that I'm going to have a little bit bigger baby this time. He thought somewhere between 7 lbs 12 oz and 8 lbs. After 30 years of being an OB he's usually pretty accurate about these things!

Easter Egg Hunt!

On Saturday we took Eleanor to a local (and FREE!) Easter egg hunt at a church near our home. It started at 11 am and most of the people were there lined up when we got there at 10:45! Here she is with her empty bucket - ready to go!

She had to wait behind the pink ribbon with all the other kids until they said that they could go get their eggs. There were 2 Easter bunnies walking around and giving hugs. She thought they were funny!

Here is the crowd and how they set up the eggs in a big square.

The hunt is on! We were surprised at how well she did. They blew the whistle and she got right out there and grabbed her eggs!

She did pretty well, eh? The whole hunt lasted less than 3 minutes!

And finally, she got to get her picture taken with The Easter Bunny. This was the "lady" Easter Bunny who was wearing a little apron. Eleanor liked that she was wearing an apron.

She got home and wanted to open each and every egg to see what was inside. She got a nice little bowl of candy which we are slowly letting her have. If she eats her meals really well she gets 2 pieces. And, believe me, it takes her a good long time to pick out those pieces and then to eat them. It's easily a 20 minute activity!

I got some nice pictures this morning and will blog those later today or tomorrow. She was so excited to wear her dress to church this morning!

Easter eggs!

Yesterday we dyed some Easter eggs. This was Eleanor's first experience doing it...and I don't know that she was all that thrilled! We did it after her nap and I think she was still a bit groggy. But, it was still fun. I hadn't done that in a long time!

Here is the finished product. We didn't do anything fancy because I don't know how to do anything creative with eggs!

After dyeing the eggs we went outside to enjoy the beautiful day. Michael & Eleanor got their Concordia sweatshirts on!

Today we're going to go to an Easter egg hunt at a church right in our neighborhood. It's free and open to the public. I'll get some pictures and blog those later.

Happy 60th Birthday, Auntie Susie!

Aunt Sue (Michael's aunt) came to Rochester this weekend for a quick visit. We decided to celebrate her 60th birthday - which is officially April 17th. With the baby coming we won't be doing any traveling for her official family birthday dinner coming up this month. Six candles on the cake for her six wonderful decades! :)

Susan definitely has a way with children. Her niece & nephews adore her and now Eleanor is the next generation to receive Susan's unconditional love for her family. Susan was also nice enough to take care of Eleanor for us while we attended a wedding last night.

After church today we made a birthday brunch for Susan of waffles, sausage & fruit. Eleanor always likes to "help."

Thanks again for coming, Sue!

Bittersweet...

As my due date quickly approaches (April 28th to be exact) I'm starting to feel very bittersweet about this new baby. Of course, I'm excited to meet her, to see what she'll look like and to count all those fingers and toes. But, I'm also cherishing every "quiet" moment that I have with Eleanor. Eleanor seems a bit clingy to me lately and I think it's because of the impending birth. Michael's feelings have been hurt a couple of times because she'll ask for me or not want to give him a hug. But, I think in her own little way (as much as a 2 1/2 year old can comprehend) she's grieving for the loss of what has just been Mommy & Eleanor time - or perhaps that's what I'm grieving.


Just to update folks a bit on Eleanor, here are some funny things that she has said lately:


-She now calls my Mom "Karma Karma" - instead of Grandma Karma. It always reminds me of that Boy George song from the 80's.


-I was getting the crib in the nursery ready the other day and she kept climbing on it. After about three times, I had to get a bit more forceful with her to pull her down. She gave me this disgusted look and said "Mom, I am so mad at you."


-She likes to clap for everyone when they go to the bathroom. Since I'm going frequently these days, I've been getting a lot of applause.


-She's been at Mayo's backup daycare this week and when I woke her up this morning to remind her where she was going she said, "they have food there!"


-We were sitting on the couch the other day and she wanted to "see" the baby. Apparently, in order to see the baby she has to pull up my shirt and pull down the maternity pants. She was touching my stomach for a little bit and then starting pulling the maternity panel back up and said "Mom, cover up your baby!"


-Michael and Eleanor came to my OB appointment on Monday. I hadn't remembered that I would have to do the strep test (just a swab, but it requires getting undressed from the waist down). While the doctor was examining me and just about to do the swab, Eleanor flew off the little couch and got right by the doctor. Michael tried to pull her away quickly and she shouted "I want to see Mommy's butt!"


Well, that is about it. She says cute things all the time, but if I don't write it down I don't always remember. As of Tuesday I was exactly 36 weeks preggers...so, it's just a waiting game now! I'm praying for a short and relatively easy delivery as I had with Eleanor. Thanks for all your thoughts & prayers as we get ready for little sister!