Monday, February 18, 2013

Changes and excitement

No new baby in the Stensland family yet.  But the expected little boy has sure got this Momma "nesting" and so we've gotten a lot of projects done in the past month or so.  We've also tackled the potty training hurdle with Tate.  He'll be 2 and a half come mid-March and since I wanted to try to get at least one child out of diapers before bringing a new diaper wearing baby into the home, we attempted the "one day potty training" method, with some tweaks here and there.

(Disclaimer- lots of talk of potty and poop in the next paragraphs)

On a Friday that I had the day off from work, I took Tate out of his diaper in the morning and let him run around bottomless or with his swimming trunks on (his choice).  Unfortunately, according to the plan, we weren't suppose to leave the home all day and it was just suppose to be Tate and I one on one all day.  I had an Ob-gyn appointment late morning, so we packed up, went to the appointment and ran a few errands.  By the time we were back home mid-afternoon, nap time was over and we were back to no diapers and potty training.  The time we were away from home, we didn't have any successful potties, but I didn't have unrealistic expectations either.  The rest of the evening went well, many successful potties.  And after he went, we'd put a sticker on his potty sheet and shout "I'm the best!"

Saturday we did the same thing, stripped the diapers, told him that we were throwing away all the diapers and that we don't pee in our underpants, which a phrase Tate repeats quite often these days.  Saturday was super successful, lots of pee and even some poop in that little potty chair.  That's been about ten days ago and we've had a few accidents and some trouble with pooping on the potty, but we're on the right track.  Yay for Tate! (We say that a lot too)

Potty training trunks
Onto the projects:  

We moved Tate into his new "big boy" room shortly after his 2nd birthday back in September, but just recently got the decorating done.  We kept the crib in the baby room and got some new furniture for Tate's bedroom, painted a navy stripe on Tate's wall (the same height as his height when he was born 21.5 inches, just for memories) and hung up some pictures and decor.  Tate loved his new paint, he kept asking me, "Is that my name?"  Not sure why he thought paint and name were synonymous, but all the same, funny to me. 


Tate's room

Tate's room too

Another project we conquered was installing new closet systems.  All three of our bedrooms previously had one long bar for hanging clothes and 2 shelves above it.  Since all three bedrooms will be occupied, Aaron and I have to share a closet now, so we needed to make the best use of the room available.  I did a little research on Lowe's website and got some Rubbermaid closet systems.  Aaron, my father in law, Mike and my Dad all got together on a Saturday to put these together for me.  Mom, Molly and I were in charge of keeping Tate out of the way and spackling/painting the closets as fast as possible to keep the guys moving.  So happy to have these done and a bit more organization.  Aaron and I have the best parents in the world!

Master closet (not my kind of master, but it must do)

Baby closet
Tate's closet


With the help of my Mom and sister, we repainted the baby's room, hung the pictures, shelves and cleaned up ready for baby.

Baby room

New glider put together by Aaron and Cami


 And finally, took down the super dated cream colored draperies in the living room and installed the new curtain rods and drapes.  Crappy picture, but I love them!
New curtains




Tuesday, January 15, 2013

And the final Christmas. . .

The Saturday after Christmas we spend at the farm with my parents and the rest of the family.  After an early nap, we had a late lunch, opened gifts and played outside on the drifts until the sun went down.

Lucky duck Tate got a new glider/balance bike so he'll be all set to ride laps around the culdesac this summer.  But at this point, he's much more content wearing his helmet and letting others push him.  Great workout for your legs, not so great for your lower lumbar.

My mom got a fancy new camera for Christmas, so I only took a few pics on my own camera and a lot on hers.  Mine are downloaded, hers are not.  This is the only shot worth posting, nice.


He's eating a pickle, which he likes, so I'm not sure why such a face. . . 

Monday, January 14, 2013

Christmas again

Christmas day we woke up in hopes Santa had visited.  At 2 years old, Tate knew Santa was coming, he knew he would bring presents and books.  But I still think he was a bit too young to fully understand the Santa/ Christmas concept.  We also sang a lot of "happy dirpedbay to Jesus"   

This may have been our last Christmas where we didn't really have a "wish list" of toys that Tate really really wanted.  And because he was mostly about opening the gifts, we were good to go when I wrapped up some new clothes along with toys.  Both sets of grandparents came down for brunch and to watch Tate open gifts and to spend some family time together on Christmas day.

We were able to be home all day because we didn't need to go to my grandparents home til late afternoon.  So Tate took a great nap at home and then we headed across town to my grandparents for the big Handeland family Christmas and kumla supper. 



checking out the stockings and Santa stuff

yee haw mickey!

"Is this my present?"  We heard that a lot this Christmas

Not sure if we're saying "no-no" or "stay."  Either way Chewy probably listens better than Tate :)

And the big tada. . . a playhouse!  Yay- Tate fits great, his prego Mom, not so much




Thursday, January 10, 2013

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we headed up to Iowa Falls to celebrate Christmas with Aaron's immediate family.  Aaron and Papa took Tate, cousin Claire and cousin Emma down to the frozen river to sled and play outside before it was time to open presents.  They had a blast on the sleds and playing in the snow.  We spent the afternoon snacking, opening gifts, playing and relaxing.  After supper we went to church service, looked at Christmas lights and then headed home to get ready for Santa to visit.  



Aaron pulling Tate & Claire, Papa pulling Emma
Daddy & Tate
Emma, Claire and Tate
Papa & Tate

Ah, come on Tate!  Almost a good pic 
Aaron pulling Tate up the hill, he was clinging on for dear life

Tate is now ready to help Daddy trim trees
I think at this point Tate was building a "cage" of wrapping paper and boxes
Drew & Tate bouncing on his new trampoline













Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Photo Montage


It's been a couple months since posting.  Here's a little photo montage of Tate, the only child.  But I am now at almost 34 weeks and he's soon to be a big brother.  So I'm sure more photo montages are to follow!

All is going well and we are super excited, nervous and blessed to be welcoming a new baby to our family soon.