Settled

Last weekend we finally got settled in our town home! After 2+ months it is so nice for Allie to have all her own toys, for us to have our own space, and to be able to get back into a routine.  I took this photo the other night after dinner when we were relaxing and watching a cartoon before Allie's bedtime. 

                           

Once we moved to Minnesota, Allie decided it was time to switch from her crib to a big girl bed. Poppy and Gagu had a bed she could sleep in, but she needed one for our town home and her room in our new house.  Here is her big girl bed.  Our baby looks SO small in such a big bed, but I know she will love having it as she gets older. 

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  The morning started by Allie opening a gift that Aunt Robbie sent her. It was a princess coloring book--perfect for Allie!

About an hour later flowers and a teddy bear arrived with a card from daddy wishing his girls a Happy Valentine's Day.

Allie promptly named the bear Dora and she has slept with it and kept it close by since Thursday.  Here is the bear watching Bernstein Bears with Allie.

And, our house continues to move along quickly.  All the windows are in and they are putting in heating duct work and plumbing at the end of this week into next week. It is so exciting to walk through the spaces and be able to see how the rooms are going to feel. 

Overall, life is very good. After a few months of transition, we are so thankful to be settled. Baby girl arrives in less than two months (hopefully) and now I feel like I can finally focus a bit and get organized for her arrival. We are looking forward to our first relaxing weekend at our own place since mid-November. We hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend as well!

Updates

We have been busy here in Minnesota!  I am so very happy to be home, but every once and awhile I miss our quiet life up in Canada.

Our nephew Brennan (5 years old) got SO sick on Allie's birthday. (Oh yeah, our baby turned 3 about 10 days ago. I'll blog about it soon).  He was fine on Monday and by noonish on Tuesday he was in the ICU at Minneapolis Children's hospital. His official diagnosis was H1N1, pneumonia, and bronchial casts.  He was heavily sedated for over a week, hooked up to breathing machines, and pumped full of all kinds of drugs.  I honestly think he was as sick as you can get without dying. We are SO THANKFUL that he has slowly been getting stronger and better. He is finally out the ICU and the last of the breathing tubes was removed on Thursday. He is now working on moving his arms and legs (he hasn't been able to walk) and his memory is foggy.  We are hopeful he will head home from the hospital soon. But, he has to stay in his house, and literally go nowhere, for 4 weeks and then he can go  to very limited places for 3 weeks following that. So prayers for little Brennan's FULL recovery are greatly appreciated!

The only benefit to Brennan getting so sick is that we have been getting to spend lots of time with his brothers Gavin and Declan. 

This is baby Declan. He is almost 3 months old and the most perfect baby. He almost never cries, sucks  down his bottles with no problems, and loves to smile, cuddle, and "talk" to us. It has been an absolute joy to take care of this little guy. And, although I hate that Brennan is so sick, I am really thankful for the time I've spent getting to know Declan. 

And then there are these two partners in crime! They have so much fun together! Here they are showing me their "big muscles"! 

Eating lunch and being goofy!

One day it was raining inside, so they had to wear rain boots and carry umbrellas for about an hour.

Our house is coming along quickly. Here are a couple photos from this week. 

Yesterday we were able to walk through the house. Although it was -6F for the walk through, it was still a lot of fun to actually walk through the spaces. This is a photo of the view from our master bedroom. I can't wait until we wake up to this view of the lake every morning, especially in the summer!

Every time I visit the house, it helps me to deal with all the transition in our lives. We still haven't moved into our rental. After our stuff arrived, we got really busy with a visit from Tim, Sarah and Caleb (so fun!) and then Brennan got sick. So, our weekends have been very full and we haven't had too much time to unpack. But, we are hoping to make it over there today to finish up and then officially move in once Dan gets back from his LAST trip to Canada next week. We are SO thankful that we have been able to stay at my parents' house for so long. Thanks mom and dad!!!

Finally, baby girl Mauer is wonderful!  I had an ultrasound last week and she is great and so far I have no issues with my fluid levels. This pregnancy is so much better than Allie's. I am also thankful for that!  Just over 2 months left!