The Wisconsin Dells (NOT Jingum Bells, as Nora first thought)....

As you can tell, it's been an eventful week or two since I've last posted, but alas, I have found a few minutes to finally post!


2 weeks ago, Jed, Nora and I ventured up to the Wisconsin Dells with my cousin Sarah, her husband TJ and their daughter, Kora, who is just 6 months older than Nora.  We stayed in a deluxe suite at The Wilderness and had an absolutely incredible time!  Our suite had two bedrooms, one and a half baths, a fireplace and a full kitchen (including dishes, dishwasher, oven, utensils, you name it - they had it!).  We left on a Thursday afternoon to make the trek up there.  When we got there we took the girls to the first of three waterparks.  Surprisingly, the water was actually pretty warm.  They were giddy with excitement that we were finally there!  That night we went out to Pedro's Mexican restaurant for a few burritos and margaritas (the girls were asleep in no time after those!).  Just kidding - they had daiquiris.  ;o)  (Again, just kidding!).  When we got back from Pedro's we put the girls to bed as they were exhausted from an exhilarating day of water and playing.  Then we adults decided to relax with a few drinks in front of the fire and pop in the movie "The Hangover" since Sarah and TJ had never seen it before.  Never gets old.

Friday morning we got up and hit the wave pool right away after breakfast.  That pool was really warm, yet Nora was still reluctant to go in.  We coaxed her in, but after awhile she just wasn't having any of it.  So Nora, Jed and I had a snack on the lounge chairs and watched the other kids playing and then I talked her back into going in for a bit.  Pretty soon it was time to head back to the room for lunch and naps (for both the girls and moms!).  Once the girls got up from their naps we all headed down to the game room. I lost my husband for a half-hour - it was like being married to a 12-year-old boy.  He was so excited to be able to "legally" hurl and shoot balls at other kids in the ball pit and then when some random guy decided to clock me in the head with one of the balls "because he could", Jed was out for revenge.  I felt like I was on the playground in 5th grade again with my boyfriend defending me from the school bully.   (Secretly, I think he just wanted to shoot more balls and thought it was hilarious that I got hit in the face).  The only wise thing I could do was to explain to Nora that her daddy was closer in age to her than to her mommy and that was why he was running around, chasing 9-year-old boys and throwing balls at them.  Well, he wasn’t alone.  He had an accomplice.  TJ was his wing man.

After finishing up in the game room, we proceeded to the biggest waterpark yet.  Jed and I have finally discovered our motivation to begin exercising and eating healthy again - we could barely make it up all of those steps for the rides without nearly passing out from exhaustion.  However, this waterpark had the best rides yet.  While walking up the steps on one ride, we saw a herd of deer out the big window and it was an absolutely stunning sight because it was at dusk and they were silhouetted against the setting sun.  And then my favorite part of the whole trip - the indoor/outdoor hot tub.  It was actually warmer to sit outside in the hot tub than it was to sit inside.  What a thrill!  And now my skin feels fantastic! :o)

That night we ordered in Italian and put the girls to bed early.  That was the second time in Nora’s life that she got to sleep with us – thank goodness for king sized beds.  I think I got feet to the face at least 6 times.  But it was especially nice to cuddle with her.  Saturday morning our trip was over :o(  We did a little shopping before we came home and then the rest of the weekend was ours to relax.

And then back to reality….

But it’s a good thing because starting on February 2nd, we started really pushing the potty training.  Nora has done an amazing job of letting us know when she has to go to the bathroom, except for the #2 part of it.  I’ve cleaned a few of those up and let me tell you – there are very few things that make me gag, but that is unquestionably one of them!  I think I can be fairly confident in saying that she is #1 potty trained, but not #2, which is odd, because it used to be reversed.  All in good time I guess.  She still wears pull-ups or diapers to bed at night too, but we will start weaning her off of them when she starts being drier in the mornings.

Archer is finally getting the hang of eating cereal, so in a couple of weeks we’re going to start him on food.  He started getting a cold on Monday, so he’s been pretty miserable the last few days, but he’s still a happy baby, even if he doesn’t feel well.  He’s “talking” a lot more and the drool practically comes out in buckets.  I wish his teeth would just come through already!  I noticed how much stronger his legs are than Nora’s ever were.  When Nora was a baby, she would never put any weight on her legs, which is how I knew that something just wasn’t right and my instincts were proven correct.  Her first doctor who said that her hips were healed ended up to be absolutely wrong.  Archer has started to bounce and stand when we put him on his legs.  He is a very strong baby.  He will be 5 months old already next Friday….that is almost unimaginable.  How did we get here already?

And with that I will leave you with a funny little anecdote from Nora’s repertoire.  Last Friday Jed and I were talking about something completely off the wall and he said something to make me mad and out of jest I flipped him the bird, not thinking that Nora was watching.  All of the sudden I heard her say, “One”.  She thought I was counting with my fingers!  That is a story I will never forget to tell her!  We both started laughing and she just continued counting….never a dull moment….never a dull moment...