Monday, December 19, 2011

Two, Two, Two!!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Lazy Saturday

Snapshot of a Lazy Saturday:
Amelia worked diligently on her Christmas Cards.
Ingrid wore her favorite shirt (she can totally rock the polka dots!)
We spent some of our lazy afternoon lounging in bed reading stories

I've succumbed to the fact that it will likely be more than a few months before I'll get a nice photo of BOTH girls looking PLEASANTLY at the camera. That doesn't mean that there are not shots of the girls that warm our hearts (see below). We are thrilled that Amelia is still so enthusiastic about her sister and is very protective when other children show interest or get too close to her, especially baby boys! {Issac is okay with this!}

More often than I can document, we find Amelia snuggled up next to Ingrid as such:

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

"Baby Ingrid is eight weeks"

Nicole: "Amelia, how old are you?" 
Amelia: "Ingrid is eight weeks."
Nicole: "Yes.. but how old are you?"
Amelia: "Ingrid is eight weeks. Amelia is almost two."

I write this as the wee one sleeps on my lap after her 2-month appointment and vaccines. She handled the immunization shots with grace, but is now yearning for some extra sleep and snuggle time from mom & Amelia today.  Amelia is always happy to oblige!

In other news, our Miss Ingrid is on pace to be taller than her sister by next Christmas! She came in at the 81% for height. EIGHTY.FIRST!! She has also gained three pounds since her birth and has wonderful head control -- the doctor jokingly asked her if she has been to "sitting up class." She continues to be a good sport about her older sister yelling "BABY INNNN-GID" and "BABY SISSSSTER" right into her ears, and smiles frequently (though we have yet to catch one on camera.. stay tuned!)

Some other firsts for Ingrid this month: 
Open Gym at Oshkosh Gymnastics Center -- so fun!
First trip to Target.. there will be many more, my dear girl :)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Busted!

Amelia gets busted raiding Auntie Lisa's makeup bag. Proof below.

I can't help but think, while looking at this photo, that "kid-with-lipstick-all-over-face" is one of those parental "must-take" photos.. right up there with the crying-on-santa's-lap photo and the spaghetti-all-over-face-in-the-highchair photo.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our Little Ladies !


Ingrid - Baby Carrot
Amelia- Little Lion

What did you go as?

Thursday, October 27, 2011

**These photos are a repost from BabyFoodScoops, the blog that Jess and I write. I wanted to share Halloween photos with you in case you didn't see them on this post: click here.

 

::Ingrid::
4 weeks

::Amelia::
22 months (almost 2 already!)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Grandparents Day(s)

We may have missed the official "Grandparent's Day" in September but are sending a special shout out to some very special Grandparents (and Great Grandparents) today! Thank you for being so present in the lives of our little girls, they (and we) sure appreciate the love and adventures that you share with them!

Amazingly, all of these photos were taken within seven days - how lucky are we to have spent all of that family time together in October?

::Grandpas::

"Appa-Paul" (or Grandpa Paul) and Amelia at Little Farmer

















Ingrid and Grandpa Bill share the "Niggemann Forehead" :)

::Grandmas::
"Dramma Mary" and the girls learn how to make matches in Go Fish!
"Dramma Judes" and the ladies share a special treat: lunch at Panera!











































::Great Grandparents::
Five Generations: Great Grandma Vi, Amelia, Nicole, Ingrid & Grandma Mary
Amelia watches as Great Grandma Eleanor meets Miss Ingrid












































Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Appa-Tee! Appa-Tee!

Translation: "Apple Tree"

Issac had a day off last week and we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather to take Amelia to Spranger's Apple Orchard just east of Appleton. She spent the days beforehand studying up on apples, how they grow, how they taste, what we do with them, what colors they are and how to cut them in half and use them as stamps to make pictures -- so by the time we arrived, our normally somewhat-shy-with-strangers girl walked right up to the orchard host and said, "Appa-Trees! Appa-Trees!" 



































Ingrid came along for the ride as well, sleeping and hanging out with mom the whole time in her wrap:

And we even got a cute family picture, snapped by a perfect stranger who made us stop what we were doing and hand over our camera, telling us that we would absolutely want to remember this moment. What a kind soul! 
 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Strolling..

Amelia has been enjoying the newly paved version of Amendment Drive, as she loves to take her beloved Baby Stella on (short) walks around the subdivision. Some days this walk ends better than others -- alas, today it culminated with Nicole carrying Ingrid (in a sling), Amelia, Baby Stella, and the stroller for the last leg of the journey. 

Monday, October 3, 2011

Sisters!

Amelia and Ingrid are sure to have many sisterly adventures in the months and years to come - we were tickled that Amelia seems to have taken to the idea of a 'sister' very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that while visiting Nicole & Ingrid at the hospital, Amelia broke down in fat crocodile tears when the nurse came in to take Baby Ingrid to the nursery for a routine blood test. Issac and Nicole hope that she will continue to look out for her sister with such empathy and adoration. Below are a few photos from their initial introduction:


































Since we have been home, Amelia's interest in her sister has done nothing but grow. "Baby Inn-Gid?" is the first thing she asks for when waking up in the morning or getting up from a nap. When baby cries, Amelia delivers a command to Nicole -- "baby eat" or "change" or "hat on." Added to her list of frequent toddler requests is "Hold too?" (her request to hold her sister).

We will leave you with an early favorite of ours. The photo below is precious -- unprompted, Amelia decides that Ingrid needed a bedtime story:

Much love,
Issac, Nicole, Amelia & Ingrid

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Introducing Miss Ingrid


On an early Wednesday morning, we welcomed Miss Ingrid Elizabeth Olson into our family and haven't stopped smiling since. She was born at 12:26am on her due date of September 21, 2011. She weighed 8 lbs, 3 oz and is full of snuggles. She loves to eat, sleep, hitch a ride in mom's sling, and have her sister read her stories.

We think she looks much more like Nicole's baby photos than Issac's
(where Amelia looked more like Issac's baby photos)
What do you think??

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Sidewalk Chalk Art

In case you are not a follower of Nicole & Jess's Blog BabyFoodScoops,  we wanted to share some photos of Amelia at Appleton's "Chalk About Town" festival. Click here to read more about the festival, but here are a few photos to share!



Word to the wise: Don't wear black pants when playing with sidewalk chalk


Amelia, the Italian Sidewalk Artist

Monday, August 22, 2011

"Nuff."

At twenty months old, Miss Amelia is enjoying her many summer bike rides with her dad, reading stories to her "babies" & beloved stuffed monkey, and doing "joga" (yoga) from a book she has fallen in love with from the library. She has also been working on her counting and letter recognition (she can count to ten, sometimes higher.. and we guess that she can recognize about half of her letters) and absolutely loves puzzles. She talks (ALL. THE. TIME.) and still sleeps well at night, though her daytime nap has dwindled to a 20-minute rest. Her mom wishes this were a little longer lately, as she is getting more tired as the weeks pass in her pregnancy!

As Amelia's weeks of being an only child are well into the single digits, she has been pulling out all of the stops to ensure that her presence is known. She wants to snuggle with her mom at ALL times, and has even been waking up at 5am daily to come into bed with mom&dad for a few hours of extra cuddling time. This morning, she crawled over to her sleeping mom and laid her cheek down right on top of mom's face and went back to sleep.

If you ask her if mom&dad's baby is a boy or girl, the answer is always "no."

Her latest favorite thing has been cantaloupe. After watching dad cut one a few weeks ago, Amelia started to eat pieces by the handful. As juice from the melon went everywhere and her mouth was overflowing with fruit, she attempted to put another piece in. Mom said, "Amelia. Just one or two pieces at a time. That's enough."

Hearing her loud and clear, she repeated: "Nuff."

She finished what was in her mouth and on her tray, and then said, "More nuff please." :)

The nickname (?) stuck and she loves to pick out a "Nuff" at the grocery store and enjoy it for breakfast or in a smoothie whenever she has the chance! 


Monday, August 8, 2011

Shopping with Grandma Judes and Auntie Heidi is my Favorite!

One fun impromptu shopping trip to the outlet mall with Grandma Judy and Auntie Heidi 
= loads of laughs, some stylin new clothes, watching airplanes at EAA, 
and these excellent black shades that I picked out all by myself!


Oh, and I met some new friends at Old Navy:


I can't wait for the next Girls Shopping Day! 


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Staying Cool

It has been an immensely hot couple of weeks in Wisconsin, sometimes it has even been too hot to play with the water table and little pool on our darkly stained deck! Amelia was itching to get outside one afternoon, so we took advantage of the evening swim hours at the Neenah Pool. Always a fan of the water, she loved every minute and could hardly wait to take her shoes off before heading straight for the water! Thank goodness for daddies who love to splash in the pool!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Niggemann Family Wedding

We have quite a few photos and stories to share from the month of July - we'll try to break them up into digestible portions :)

We spent a weekend in late July with Nicole's parents in Marshfield to celebrate the wedding of Nicole's cousin Jace to his wonderfully sweet bride, Lacey. They are precious together as a couple and we wish them all the happiness in the world!


This was Amelia's first wedding (since she had started walking, anyway) and she had so much fun playing with her Aunties, Uncle Bill, Grandma, Grandpa, and many second cousins. The wedding was peppered with so many personal touches, Amelia's favorite was the Kid Zone (genius idea!!)

And she had lots of snuggles for her Aunties and Uncle Bill!


Maybe next time we go to a wedding, Miss Amelia can stay awake for the first dance! 

Friday, July 1, 2011

Belated June Update

Wow, it's been over a month since our last post. We apologize. Please forgive us.

As you can see, we've been working hard on straighening out our smile, now I guess next we need to work on keeping our eyes open!
::Amelia and Mom::                                                                     ::Amelia at friend Levi's birthday party::
Amelia, Mom, and Baby#2 have all been growing. In fact, Amelia finally surpassed the milestone 20 pound mark at her 18 month doctor's appointment last week, putting her back into the 3rd percentile for weight. No one seems remotely concerned as she is a busy busy girl who loves to run around while yelling "Go! Go! Go!!" She has many words and signs and makes us all laugh at least a hundred times every day.

 The 4 Generations of Olsons Photo: Judy (Issac's mom), Amelia, Issac, Eleanor (Issac's grandmother)
Issac and myself have been busy celebrating nuptials with many great couples this summer (and will celebrate another tomorrow, actually!). While Amelia looks forward to her second-ever wedding dance party in late July, while Mom&Dad were celebrating the aforementioned weddings, Amelia spent a few exciting days with her Grandma Mary, Grandpa Bill & Auntie Lisa.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

May Olson Update

This feels like writing one of those Christmas card letters. And actually, we were just speaking about how it's a travesty to not get an "update" on what's going on in the lives of our friends and family except for at Christmas time. We'll start, then it's your turn! :)

Oh, and FYI, for those of you who haven't received a Christmas card from us in the past couple of years, don't be alarmed.. our Christmas card writing has been on hiatus since 2008. 


Issac has been very busy with work, but thoroughly enjoys the hectic and exciting nature of his job. He, the former self-proclaimed 'lover of cold weather,' has now caved and is beckoning summer (or even springtime) weather to come our way so he and Amelia can log some miles on his bike. Tonight, May 26th 2011, the temperatures are set to dip below 32 degrees overnight!!

  {Nicole has clearly spent more time BEHIND the camera lately, we couldn't find a current photo! 
But picture this: Pregnant lady, Watermelon in hand}

Nicole is doing well, though pregnancy slows her down a bit. Issac likes to say that she now "functions like a normal person, sleeping 8 hours a night and not doing 200 things every single day." She and her friend Jess have resurrected blogging at www.babyfoodscoops.com which they have been having a lot of fun with. She is also enjoying her garden, parts of which were in the ground already on April 23, and hoping that some of her 'wild' berries and fruits planted near the pond produce this summer. 


Amelia is keeping us busy with her antics and mimicking. She enjoys "feeding" her babies things and saying "mmmmm" and making them clap when we sing nursery rhymes. She is also starting to try to sing along to familiar songs and play "dress up" by taking mom's clothes out of her closet and walking them to the other side of the house to check them out in the mirror. Her newest words are "sit".. "time"... "water"... "off" (which sounds much more like "oschf") and "car." She has been enjoying playdates with her friends Natalie, Natalie, Jacob, Levi and Ryland lately and LOVES to be outside. Nicole jokes that we could put a baby gate on the deck and leave her out there for hours to wave at the birds, talk to her strawberry plants, and push around her baby stroller. Next week she has her last swimming lesson of the session (don't tell her, she'll be devastated!) but not to worry, once the weather gets nice Nicole has grand intentions to introduce her to the Neenah outdoor pool!


Littlest Baby Olson is also doing well. Baby is quite active, Nicole can feel many more movements than she did when pregnant with Amelia. We're now far enough along that Issac can feel the movements as well, and if you ask Amelia where "mom's baby is," she will pat Nicole's belly. There is an Old Wive's Tale that if baby's heartbeat mid-pregnancy is over 140 beats per minute, baby is a girl. Less than 140, baby is a boy. Today, at 23 weeks gestational age, just to keep us all guessing, Baby Olson #2's heart rate was 140 beats per minute.

That's all we've got.. what's new with you? We would love to hear!