Whew... I am behind!

Since my last blog post life has been crazy nuts in the Ahlers' household!

Christmas was wonderful and as always we were all more than spoiled.  We spent the 21st and 22nd in Bettendorf with Tim's family and then Christmas weekend with my parents in Cedar Rapids.  Graham made out with yet another "haul" of presents.  Good thing we are moving in to a bigger house b/c the giant blow up bouncy house he got from my parents truly takes up every last inch of floor space in our current basement.  And yes, I have many, many pictures of Santa, Christmas presents etc... but the dang camera cord is apparently already packed in some box so, sorry pics will have to wait. 

The week between Christmas and New Years was also eventful.  The beginning of the week was spent packing for our big move next weekend.  As of now we have one whole room filled floor to ceiling with boxes and I would have to guess we have at least another room's worth to pack  :(  At the end of the day I'm sure it will all get transported somehow, but what a mess!  I have attempted to dust, vacuum and clean bathrooms in case of a showing, but lets be honest the place still looks like a wreck.  Oh well, it's only one more week.

On the 30th we had our 20 week ultrasound and found out we are having a baby girl  :)  We are so excited!  With the issues we have getting pregnant, Tim and I were both really hoping for a girl so we could have one of each.  So now any down moments I have are spent wildly searching for the perfect crib bedding set and dreaming of how to paint her room etc.  No, I haven't gone as far as to go shopping yet, but the thought has definitely crossed my mind at least 10 times.  Truly, Tim and I were just thrilled that she looks perfect, is healthy and is growing right on track.  Only 19 weeks to go, let's hope they fly by!

And then we are on to my birthday, pretty low key but nice.  Tim and I went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Biagi's.  It was wonderful to eat dinner by ourselves and just relax.  Then we went back to my parent's house and watched the ball drop etc.  The 1st was celebrated with a full day of football, pizza and snacks... pretty typical for us.

As for this last week, well basically there was more packing and Graham came down with Influenza B, poor kid, so we have basically been home bound just living in messy survival mode  :)  Thank goodness Graham's bug seems to have kicked the bucket today and he is back to full speed craziness.  Now we just have to pack to head to Madison for the weekend for Christmas with the Prossers (my dad's side) and then back to packing the rest of our CRAP before next Friday.  Wish me luck... and lots of good sleep!

Gender Predictions

I had my 16/ well actually 17 week appointment last Wednesday and all looks great with baby Ahlers  :)  I was hoping 16 weeks was the magic date and I could schedule my next ultrasound, but apparently 20 weeks is the goal, so I have to wait until December 30th.  I don't remember wanting to know the sex so bad with Graham, but I am dieing to know this time.  Maybe last time I didn't care because I didn't already have a boy, or maybe I just can't wait to be able to tell Graham it's a girl or it's a boy, but I am really struggling with the waiting this time.  After that slight let down, Dr. Wenzel and I just talked about the usual things and then listened for the baby's heartbeat, which was in the 140's, good and strong.

When I got home I got to thinking, maybe I could predict whether we are having a boy or a girl before the ultrasound.  I know, I know, but it's fun to look anyway.  Wasn't there an old wives tale saying something about the baby's heart rate predicting the sex?  I looked it up and yes, it is a "tale" but the tale says < 140 means boy and >140 means girl. 

Of course 142-144 isn't really much above 140 so I felt it was too close to call and began searching for another prediction site.  I read the Chinese gender chart next.  I was 28 when we conceived and we conceived in August, so... GIRL is what they predict!  Yay!

I'm sure I could have continued on to read a thousand more ways to guess at the baby's sex, but since I am sort of hoping for a girl and the first to predictions pointed to pink, I decided to leave the rest to fate  :)  Truthfully I would be more than overjoyed to just have a healthy, strong baby growing inside, boy or girl.  Baby Ahlers will be perfect in every way in my eyes whether or not it's sans wee-wee!

Holy Crap (Literally) A Christmas Miracle

I know Christmas is the season for miracles, but truthfully I didn't think this feat was even in the cards.  As many of you know Graham has been #1 potty trained since July, but when it comes for #2 the kid simply would not go.  We tried every bribe in the book, but no dice.

Over the last week Graham has been showing small signs of maybe being ready to try again, however, we've seen these signs millions of times before.  When Graham finally decides he just can't live without the bribe we are offering he starts "trying" to go potty until mommy's patients give out and we just give him the bribe so we can move on and stop spending hours of every day in the bathroom with NO #2. 

I honestly didn't think much of his "trying", but Tim took some interest two nights ago and talked to Graham for almost a half an hour all about when he was little and learning to go "poopers" and how at first it was scary and then he found out how easy it was etc.  Graham seemed to actually listen and told Tim how he was scared too  :( 

Apparently Tim must have somehow convinced him going "poopers" was not scary because after school yesterday Graham WENT!  He actually went #2 in the potty.  Holy Crap, it really must be true, a real Christmas miracle!  I set his little potty chair on the floor, turned Toy Story on and went up stairs to make lunch.  Ten minutes later I hear Graham yelling, "I did it mom, I went poopers!"  And he did.  The kid unzipped his jean, pulled his pull up down and went all by himself.  I cried... maybe it's the baby hormones or just the months of endless "trying" but I was so happy I would have given Graham the world at that point :)

As a congratulatory award Graham got to make a Build-A-Bear... he's only been asking every time we go to the mall for the last 4 months, so I figured it was a good treat.

Here is the puppy he picked out... he's in love with it, takes it everywhere, it's so cute!

For Christmas Graham would like.... a what???

For the past month or so I have been asking Graham what he would ask Santa for when we saw him/ wrote a letter for St. Nick to take.  And surprisingly he has been very consistent.  For Christmas he would like:
A scooter
Charlie Brown

Right... so a scooter I got.  He's going to kill himself, but at least with a helmet we might make it a week.  But a Charlie Brown?  What the heck is that?  My first thought was a movie, but Graham usually says Toy Story movie or Cars Movie, so when I asked a Charlie Brown movie?  And he said NO, I got a little concerned. 

What in the world is a Charlie Brown?  I'm sure they make a doll, but he's never seen one, so where would he get that idea?  Does he mean Snoopy, like at the Hallmark store?  Maybe, but when we go in there he calls those Snoopy dogs.  I'm pretty much at a loss.  And while I realize that Santa doesn't always bring EVERYTHING on your list... this is the first Christmas where Graham gets the drift of who Santa is and what is going on.  Plus the kid's list is pretty short, sweet and to the point, I think he might notice if one of the TWO things he asked for isn't present.

So I thought maybe I could get him to list some other things he'd like from Santa instead, kind of hide my unknowing with other gifts.  Yeah, not so much.  Graham told me he is 2, so two things is enough for his list, we can do 3 thing next year.  How can you argue with that?  I love that the kid is smart, but when I can't out smart him at 2, I'm really going to have no hope at 10  :(  So here's to hoping Tim and I magically figure out what a Charlie Brown is in the near future!  17 more days...Happy Shopping!

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My Favorite Christmas Tradition

There are hundreds of things I love about Christmas, hot chocolate, Christmas lights, old Christmas movies on TV, decorating the house... the whole shebang.  But I would have to say that my favorite Christmas tradition is St. Nick.

The tradition of St. Nick is celebrated in many different ways, (click here to read more about the holiday) but here is my version.  I grew up Catholic and to Catholics, St. Nicholas is the patron Saint of Bakers and Pawnbrokers??  Not sure why, but maybe it's because there are so many saints they ran out of general meanings for those who do good and give to the needy.  Anyway, the story goes that St. Nicholas was from a wealthy family and when his parents died he gave away his entire inheritance to needy families.  St. Nicholas did not want recognition for his good deeds, so he would secretly drop coin bags down the chimneys of the needy, the bags often landing in socks or shoes hanging by the fireplace to dry.  And so began the tradition of St. Nick.  On December 5th children all around the world hang up socks or put out shoes in hopes that St. Nicholas will leave them presents and treats in return.

Whether it's part of the tradition or not, my family goes a little further.  On the night of December 5th we write a letter to Santa explaining how we had been good that year and what things we were working on (being nice to siblings, listening to parents etc).  We also include our list of what we would like from Santa.  Our tradition goes that St. Nick fills our stockings and takes our Christmas letters to Santa's workshop... sort of like an elf or one of Santa's helpers.  Then St. Nick watches over our house from December 6th until Christmas making sure we are continuing to be good so Santa can come.

It's not the most detailed of traditions, but I always loved hearing about the story of St. Nick and how he gave to the needy.  I also liked writing letters to Santa every year and now looking back at the letters my mom kept.  childhood innocence is so sweet  :)  Happy St. Nicholas Day!

"Tis the Season...

For shopping!  Naturally I am not a huge shopper, but during the Holidays I just can't get enough.  I love to shop even if I don't end up buying anything, which, let's face it, with Graham in tow that happens more than not. 
I have to admit shopping for Graham is my favorite.  It's so awesome to pick out gifts you know your kids are going to just love and to think of the big smiles on their faces.  This year I took drug Tim out on Thanksgiving night to stand in line at Toys R Us to get some awesome deals for Graham.  We were in after an hour and got everything on our list, even one extra with the money we saved :)  There was a lot of grumbling about how ridiculous the whole process was, but when the 50% savings rang up on the receipt, Tim's attitude seemed to change... hmm!  Now I will do an hour in line, but the crazies that were out @ 9pm for the 5am Best Buy deals, those people need their heads examined.  Even a free TV isn't worth that kind of frostbite.
So far I am knocking off my list of people to buy for at a nice pace, but now we are onto the exchange names and those are a bit trickier.  I like to put a lot of thought into my gifts and try to find something I know the person will like, but as we get older I am having a harder and harder time.  We really don't NEED things like we did in college, but I'm sure I'll find something for everyone.
Happy Shopping!