Sisterly Love!

Laila and Lainie are 16 months apart from eachother.  When Andy and I were thinking about having another baby after Laila, we didn't know how close we wanted to have kids apart from eachother.  With the help of family and friends giving us their advise, opinions, experiences, we decided to have them close together.  I know in the future we may have challenging times, but right now I couldn't ask for a better relationship between the two! 

This video just makes my heart grow!  I hope they continue this bond through the years!!  "Having a sister is like having a best friend that you can't get rid of.  You know whatever you do, they'll still be there." (mysunwillshine.com)

What a weekend!!!!

We hope everyone had a great Easter with family and friends!  The four of us headed to Galveston, TX for the Easter weekend!  I realized lately, I have not blogged about a certain person in our family!  Andy!!  I have gotten a couple request for Andy to write in this blog as well!  His response was, "If they want to ask me a question, just tell them to email me."  Or the way I like to put it is, he's like a cat having to take a bath, they don't want to do it!  So Andy gave me permission to write about his Easter weekend experiences along with ours!

The Easter weekend started off a bit rough!  We usually will get a bite to eat before we hit the road.  Here in Nacogdoches, there are a number of burger places to choose from!  We decided to hit up AWESOME Burger!  Unfortunatly we did not get to confirm it's awesomeness.  The two ladies working in the restaurant/drive through could not provide us service, as we waited over 15 minutes to get a burger in the drive through!  So Burger King got our service instead. 

Finally on the road, everyone full, the girls snuggled in their car seats, we were on our way!  About an hour into the drive, we were startled by some colorful, flashing lights behind us!  No, it was not a carnival we were passing, but the TX State Patrol!  We thought to ourselves, are they coming for us?  YEP!  As we pulled over, I felt a rush of butterflies in my stomach, I can't imgaine what Andy was feeling since he was driving!  As Andy rolled down his window, an officer with a crisp uniform and cowboy hat greeted us!  In the background you can hear Laila saying, "Mom I want to watch Dora!"  I guess if you are not familiar with the TX highways and their speed changes throughout, they will let you know!  After learning why this MN SUV was in TX and a check on Andy's license (which was good to go!) we were given a Warning.  We were told to pay closer attention to the speed limit changes, as there were many!  I must say, the State Patrol officer was very nice!  I hope we don't have to meet another "Nice" officer in the future!  Friday night was pretty laid back!  Saturday was going to be a busy day!

 Once again on the road Saturday morning, we headed to the Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX!  There Laila got to experience her first 4D Dora movie!  I must say, it was quite an experience!  Such the experience she went two times!!  After going to the aquarium, we decided to head to the Schlitterbahn waterpark!  Anyone who knows Andy, knows he had to of been a fish in his previous life!  I also think our daughters, mainly Laila will follow along with that trait!  Yes, just like their dad!  Hitting up the water rides, 4 kid pools, we were on cloud 9!  Especially since it was in the high 90's and there were canopy's covering you from the sun!  Couldn't of asked for a better day!! 

The next morning (Easter!) the girls woke to the excitement of looking for their Easter baskets!  Luckily they found them before Andy got to them! :)  Laila's favorite: M&M's!  Lainie: chocolate eggs!  We then ventured to the beach for a fun, SANDY! Afternoon!  Now many of you may not know, I hate the cleaning up sand!  It's fun to squish your feet in, play in, but not to clean up!  Andy of course, was not being as careful as I would of liked him to have been when "cleaning" the sand off of our stuff and putting it all in our vehicle!  Lets just say we have enough sand in the back to build another sand castle!! :)  Oh well! 

      The girls and I loved the beach!!  Laila and Lainie both enjoyed being held, while walking through the waves!!   Andy also enjoyed the beach, as well as the view in more ways than one!! :)  I will just leave it at that!! :)  Later in the evening we joined my Uncle, Eleanore and Kurt at my Uncles house for Easter dinner!  Both girls were extremely tired by this point, so i was hopeful to get through the evening without any major breakdowns!  Thankfully Kirby (my Uncles lab) saved the day with Laila!  What a wonderful night of catching up!!  Monday we headed back to Nacogdoches, TX and back into our routine!  What a weekend!  But one we will remember!!!  Til the next post!  EN

Happy 1st Birthday Lainie Rose!

One year ago on April 20, 2010, Lainie Rose Nestoss arrived in Butte, MT!  I can't tell you how many times I have gone over the entire delivery!  I guess that is my way of saying to myself, "I can't believe it's been a year!"  Did I ever expect this  little lady to become such a highlight and joy to everyone's day!  YES!  If you are down, just look at those bright blue eyes, one dimple and that huge smile that never goes away!  You will suddenly find a big smile on your face! 

 

Lainie woke up with of course a smile on her face.  I think she knew it was her Birthday!  Laila was singing Happy Birthday to her every couple minutes!  Lainie was happy!  She started off with her breakfast and a crown!  Every girl should have a crown on her Birthday!!

 

We ventured out in the HEAT! to get a  Birthday balloon for Lainie and of course Laila, who insisted it was her Birthday.  I can't imagine how hard it must be for sibilings, who are too little to understand it's not their Birthday.  We kept telling Laila, it's Lainie's Birthday today, yours is in December!  She would then sing Lainie Happy Birthday again and move on!  Later in the day we got our cupcakes!  At that point Laila again claimed them as hers for her Birthday party!  I explained again, it's not your Birthday but Lainie's.  "Ok" was her response, as i can just imagine her patting me on the head and saying "you think that mom!"  The girls were all excited for our little TX party later that evening with friends!!

We missed having our family and friends here to celebrate Lainie's 1st Birthday, but we had our TX friends to help!!  As I mentioned in a previous post, I joined a moms group in Nacogdoches!  I have meet two awesome momma's and their little ones!  They have truely made my stay here so much more enjoyable!  Plus the days go by really fast!  I didn't think I would be saying that!!  We invited them and their families to celebrate that evening!  Plus our neighbor/Andy's co-worker from MN/friend, John!  We had a party!!  Before eating we decided to open the presents!  Lainie wasn't to sure what to do!  But THANK GOODNESS! her big sister Laila was near to help open them with her!  Laila also wanted to make sure they all worked before putting them in the hands of her little sister!  How considerate!! :)  Lainie had a blast playing with all her toys!  Many of you probably don't know, but we didn't bring to many toys with us.  We didn't have to much room to work with when packing up our household!  So these new toys made her day! (& Laila's!) 

After all the wonderful gifts from family and friends, it was time for Lainie to dig into her Birthday cupcake!  I have to say both Laila and Lainie have both enjoyed their 1st Birthday cakes at the beginning before destroying them!  Lainie took her time, licking the frosting, tasting the cake and then it went as we thought it would!  A mess!  Below are pictures of the fun mess process!

But what a fun mess!  She truely enjoyed the cupcake, along with some Jello!!  The kids enjoyed playing together and digging into the goodies!  I have to say it was delicious!  Cupcakes, two kinds of  Ice Cream, Homemade Oreo's (thanks lisa!!) and Lemonade!!  Wonderful!  In the meantime, Lainie decided to continue her 1st Birthday with a little chocolate Ice Cream (Laila's) that was sitting at their little table unattended!  This was the after product!  A chocolate Ice Cream, cupcake covered 1 year old!!!!!  Love it!!  So our night was fun and exciting!  Thank you to everyone who sent Birthday wishes, presents and love!!!  I joke with Andy that it's time to have another baby, since our baby is 1!!  He just laughed and said I'm good!  We will see!  We are enjoying our two little ladies and all the suprises they bring right now!!!  We hope everyone has a great Easter with family and friends!!!  We are off to Houston, Galveston and Seabrook TX!  Keep you posted when we get back!!

Happy Easter Early!!

Happy Easter everyone! 

I know I am a little early, but we had so much fun Easter egg hunting yesterday, I couldn't hold myself back!  I continued the excitement with coloring our Easter eggs as well!  Since we are headed to Houston, Galveston and Seabrook TX for our Easter, we decided to celebrate early!  We are sad that we won't be heading home, but this should be ok! :)  My Uncle lives in Seabrook, TX, so we will be able to visit and have a great time! 

~ The Hunt ~

The Easter egg hunt was exciting for the girls!!  Lainie wasn't to sure what was happening, but loved picking up the eggs!  Her basket count was 2!  Laila on the other hand was a little more excited, as she kept trying to sneak under the ribbon to get the eggs!  Andy and John gave Laila a pep talk about taking no mercy and gunning for the eggs before they started!  It was funny!  Of course the exact opposite happened!  She took her time and SLOWLY walked up to every egg!  Now if you can picture a large yard with tons of eggs laid out everywhere!  You think, ok she has a great shot of getting lots of eggs!  Then you start to see all the little 1-4 year olds being held back by their parents!  The eggs did not last longer than 2 minutes!!  So in the background you can hear "go get the eggs, hurry!", and Laila taking her time!  Thankfully the eggs were in bundles so she could get more than one at a time!  Lailas basket count was 6!  After collecting, veiwing and eating some candy, we moved onto meeting the Easter bunny!

Now in previous meet and greets with characters other than Dora, Laila has not done so well!  I guess with getting older, she has now developed a love for these characters!  As we walked up to the Easter bunny she showed no fear but excitement.  Even Lainie was good to go!  My question is, why do these Easter bunnies alway look so darn scary??  I can understand why some kids would be scared!  Laila and Lainie both enjoyed meeting the Easter bunny!  They both sat on its lap at the same time, while Laila couldn't stop petting it!  It was funny!

After the fun and getting to meet the Easter bunny, we decided to head home.  Laila had other plans!  She kept running back to the Easter bunny, interrupting other kids, to hug and talk to the bunny!  I don't know how many times she did this, but lets just say the Easter bunny won't forget our house this year!  She put in a good word!

Later in the evening we dyed eggs.  Since we won't be home for Easter, we decided to take on the mess early at home, instead of on the road!  We had six colors and used everyone of them!  Laila could not be more in her element!  I guess she gets that from her mom!  The love of being creative!!!  She made sure to keep an eye on all the eggs and stir them every couple seconds to make sure the color was awesome!  I couldn't be more proud! :)  Lainie observed!  Of course Andy who wasn't as excited as us at the beginning was adding multiple colors by the end to one egg!  His creative side also made it's way to our celebration!! 

Laila was so proud of her eggs!  It's so exciting to see her enjoy all the fun activities of these holidays!  Lainie is still too little to really participate, but she does get in there and try!                  

We hope everyone has a fun, safe Easter!!! 

 Keep you posted!  EN

New discoveries!!

It's really fun to see our little ones discover their feet and fingers as babies.  As they continue to grow, you see them discover they have hair and ears to tug on!  Every moment is a memorable experience that you can't wait to happend!  Lainie is almost one, so she added a new discovery to her list!  I was holding her one evening and noticed her looking at her finger.  Slowly wiggling it, she started to watch it navigate to her nose.  Once there, her little finger moved around until it found an opening!  I wished i would of taken a picture of her face!  Her eyes grew very big with this new found discover, that had been there this entire time!  Her finger then went on to search for gold (boogers) :)  Even though there was nothing discovered, she automatically stuck her finger into her mouth and smiled as if she was waiting for our reaction!  Now I do not want my child to be a booger eater, but how funny to watch her find this new adventure!!  I laugh as i think about it!  Of course I probably didn't help with showing Andy her new found talent as we giggled!  I feel that you should be able to tell funny adventures of your little ones!  They are learning new things every day!  If we could just see through their eyes, I think a lot of us would have a different attitude about things!

~ Spider Update ~

In my previous post, i mentioned about a certain spider that wanted to become part of our family!  Even though he is no longer with us (thank goodness!) I feel he put in a good word with his fellow spiders!  This morning I was greeted by a tiny spider, but this time on the ceiling!  I have yet to get the vaccum cleaner to suck him up, as he looks like the one that attacked Andy!  I will be taking care of this situation soon!  To bad I couldn't put sign on the door with an X in the middle of a spider, with words: KEEP OUT!  Wouldn't that be nice!  Oh well!  I guess if i wanted to look in a positive way, I could say they just like our clean, cozy, wonderful home!!  Keep you posted!  EN

I lost count of all its legs!!

The last couple blogs have been about the girls and their adventures!  I would like to add one of mine!!  As many of you know I love animals, birds, fish etc.  But one thing I don't like and will probably never like is spiders!!  I was told after we moved here that there are some pretty HUGE and interesting spiders in TX!  I have researched and recognized the bad ones to stay away from!  But in general, I still don't want to run into a spider any day of the week! 

Of course the night I met my first spider, Andy was not here!  The girls and I were playing in the living room, minding our own business.  I went to put some toys away and noticed something gray in between the wall and carpet!  I was going to reach down and grab it, thinking it was a small toy that got misplaced!  How I wished it was a toy!  Nope it was a HUGE spider with many legs!  Trying not to panic infront of the girls I thought about the different ways I could take care of this situation!  1. Call Andy (he would of laughed and hung up the phone!) :) 2. Get a shoe and squish it (I didn't know if I had a shoe big enough!)  3.  Use our vaccum cleaner hose and suck it up!  4.  Pick the "nice" spider up and put him outside (as my nephew Gabriel would of done!)  Well I went with number 3!  My reason for number 3, Andy smooshed a spider in our laundry room when we first moved in.  This spider jumped multiple times at him, which made my decision a little easier!  I can handle getting rid of tiny to middle size spiders, but this one was HUGE!

As I went to get our vaccum cleaner, I was hoping Norman would take one for the team and ger rid of the spider!  Nope, he just sat in his basket eating his lettuce like nothing was happening!!  Anyways as the spider went for a new adventure, I could of just imagine his size!  I heard a big thump as he went in the vaccum, they don't call it a Dyson for no reason!!  I checked multiple times in the container to see if he was in there and moving around! Couldn't tell ya!  So i taped the top of the vaccum hose shut until Andy could take it outside and dump it!  I'm sure this won't be my last spider encounter!  But i wanted to show you what Laila and i thought the spider looked like!  Below is the picture we drew of him!!

I know we may have went over board on the description, but that's what we thought he looked like :)  Of course he didn't have those fancy shoes or hat, but man did he have all those legs!!  Lainie of course thought it was easier to just shoo the spider a way in the picture below!

Either way i didn't want to meet and greet this spider!  I hope he found a new home outside and stayed there!  The next day, Andy went outside our patio, which is off of our bedroom and found an old spiders nest in the corner next to the light!  Thankfully he removed it, but this time, didn't use the Dyson!  Keep you posted as usual! EN

No time to stop now! ~ Lainie

Miss Lainie Rose is on the road and doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon!  Our little lady is now a walker!  She had been tempting this adventure for some time now, but didn't officially start to walk til this last weekend.  She would always cheat with the help of the couch, chair or her sister :).  Now instead of taking Laila's help, she is walking (really fast) away from her big sister with Laila's toys in hand!!  Laila of course is not to sure if she likes this new learned behavior!  It's great to see Lainie's excitement and knowing she can do it!  Andy and I are especially excited that she accomplished this before her 1st birthday next Wednesday!  I can't believe my baby is going to be 1 soon!!!  Time does fly by!  We wanted to share our video clip of Lainie walking! 

~ Norman update ~

Yesterday, Andy, Laila and Lainie went for a walk around our apartment complex.  Right before they went for a walk, Laila expressed that she wanted to go outside really bad and brought us her shoes.  We were not sure where this was coming from, but went a long with it.  As they walked around, they passed the mail boxes.  There are a couple large capacity mail boxes that you can get packages from.  Laila automatically went straight for one of the boxes, opened it up and said Norman are you in there?!  We now understood Laila wanted to go outside to find Norman.  She has been asking about him here and there, but this was the first search and rescue mission.  She then continued to call out his name as they further walked around.  That is true love for a friend i guess!  She won't rest until she finds him!

So we called PetSmart this morning to find out how Norman was doing.  I can just imagine what the lady at the other end of the line was thinking!  These people are this concerned about a guinea pig!  Well YES we are!  Laila was happy to find out that he is doing good.  There isn't any hair growth yet in the area that he lost his hair, but they are treating it and hope to get some soon!  At the end of our conversation, the gal mentioned that we can call back in a couple days if we want to check on him.  I hope Norman can feel the love!!  So we are happy to report good news at all ends!!  We will keep you posted as usual!!

Normans on "vacation"

Norman is on "vacation!"  He's on the mend at PetSmart!  Poor little guy has a skin issue and is getting the needed care!  I kept telling Norman to stop using all that hair gel! :)  But I never knew how expensive this little guy would be or should i say my exotic pet!  That is what the Veternarian in Nacogdoches, TX believes!  So in order for our dear little guy to get better, we would be paying out more than what we payed for him due to his exoticness!  Thankfully i looked at my receipt and noticed i had 14 days, since the time we bought him to bring him back.  Yesterday was my 14th day!!  Something must of triggered me to check on Norman!  So we ventured to PetSmart! 

Laila insisted on caring his carrying cage in the store.  After about a minute of explaining why we had to bring him back (seemed like forever!) she ventured into the store with her buddy beside her!  We talked to the small animal caregiver and told her his name.  Whether or not she actually will use that i don't know, but for his sake i hope so!  We could either get our money back, get a new guinea pig or get Norman back.  Of course we decided to get him back!  They have to treat his issue at the store, so we won't be seeing him for 2-3 weeks, or at least until he's healthy enough to come home!  The gal started to walk away with him when Laila started to call his name.  So she came back to let her say goodbye!  Talk about tugging on your heart strings!  "Bye Nemo (her nickname for Norman), by Nemo, I love you!  I miss you Nemo." 

After the goodbyes we went to check out the other guinea pigs in the cages.  I don't want to play favorites, but i think we got the best, cutest guinea pig ever!!  The other guinea pigs were nice, but Norman has a spunk to him!  As we left the store, Laila started to cry and asked to get Norman!  It was sad, but i kept reminding her that he's getting better!

So that was our sad day!  But our Norminator will be back and stronger than ever!  Who knew a guinea pig could create such a blog!!

"Goose, you common home wit me?" - Laila

Today was a AWESOME day!  The girls and I decided to go to the Lufkin, TX zoo with some friends!  I was told this zoo was pretty impressive, but i had no idea!  Hippo's, Giraffes, Lions, Tigers & Bears, OH MY!  It was wonderful!  One of my favorite things was pulling into the parking lot of the zoo to be greeted by a goose!  Of course Laila was all about the goose, until she had to walk past it.  But before walking by, she had many things to talk to it about through the car window.  It's almost like they were long lost friends! 

Laila was very excited to see all the animals the zoo had to offer.  She tried to climb into a couple exhibits, but thankfully she was caught!  My sister says she is a nature girl at heart!  I am starting to believe that more and more.  Especially since she piggy backed a little fuzzy caterpillar the entire time at the zoo!  How thoughtful of her! 

Lainie had a wonderful time at the zoo also, squeeking with excitement and taking it all in!  I think her favorite part of the trip was seeing the peacocks walking around the zoo!  So close but so far away to grab!!  At the end of our zoo adventure, we decided to ride the train that went around the zoo!  Laila was super excited and clapped throughout the ride.  I think she gave it a 10 in her book!  Lainies legs didn't stop bopping around the entire trip!  It was fun!

I couldn't of asked for better weather, nice shade and good company!  Of course Laila, not being very graceful at times fell and scrapped up both her knees!  No worries, nothing a little Dora bandaide wouldn't fix!  For anyone who comes to visit, plan on visiting the Lufkin, TX zoo!!!  To end our trip at the zoo, we left saying goodbye to the friend who first greeted us in the parking lot!  That is where Laila asked "Goose, you common home wit me?  Of course this was a few feet away, with the protection of mom!  I guess his shift as  greeter wasn't over since he didn't come home with us!  That's ok, we'll see him again soon!

Other than our day at the zoo, I am proud to say we have a walker!  Lainie is now walking around!  Yesterday is when she decided to just do it!  She hasn't been stopping since.  Of course with a few falls here and there, but on the go!!  WoooHoooo!!!!  Watch out!!

Keep you posted!  EN

Naco Momma!

It's been one month since we arrived in Nacogdoches, TX!  This month has flown by so fast!  I was admiring a few blogs of our friends and thought this would be a great way to keep you posted on our exciting time here in TX!

Don't worry MN we will be back!  As our move happened so fast, we are happy to be settled and in a routine!  We are currently renting a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment on the second floor!  The view from our window is beautiful, so many trees!!  We still have our home in Buffalo, MN.  We decided before we left to put it on the market!  Since we knew how long we were going to be in TX, we thought this would be a good opportunity!  Regardless if it sells or not, we will still be a MN family!  So if you know of anyone who interested in buying a wonderful townhouse let us know!!

Everyone we have talked to in TX has been so friendly!  It has really made the change go smoothly!  Right away i scanned the map to make sure there was a Target near by!  To my delight there was a Target, Old Navy, Ross, Bed Bath & Beyond and a mall 20 miles in the next town of Lufkin, TX.  I am HAPPY!  I also wanted to find a moms group to meet other moms and for the girls to have playmates!  It's called Naco Mommies!  I have gone to the park a few times and met some really nice gals!  The girls are enjoying having friends to play with also!  I am also in the process of looking into their MOPS group.

Now onto the girls, which i'm sure you all have been reading this for!!  Laila has been a trooper!  Not only did she move to TX, is in her terrible two's, she is also in the process of saying goodbye to her best friend, her Nuk!  Laila has had this from the time she was born!  I can't believe how tough it was and didn't know what we were in for!  I kept telling Andy i felt bad for the gals in the apartment below us!  But it has been great so far!  She knows the moment she wakes up in the morning to hand it over!  We didn't want to completely take the Nuk away, especially since they have gone through so much change so quickly.  Sometimes she doesn't even remember the Nuk when it's time to go to bed!  We are almost there!  Other than the Nuk, Laila has become a proud owner of her very own Guinea Pig, Norman.  He is a sweet little guy who purrs, squeeks and talks to her!  He is great distraction from the Nuk.  Laila continues to sing her songs, say her ABC's and go to the beach!!

Miss Lainie is almost 1!  Can't believe this!  This little lady is very happy!  Not a moment goes by that she doesn't smile!  She is also in the process of walking!  We are almost there!  She will go a couple feet without any help and then sits!  She can now escape her sister once again!!  Lainie has taken to solid foods like a pro!  At 10 months she didn't want the Gerber 3's no more!  She wanted what we were eating!  I call her my good eater!  Whatever you put in front of her she will eat, including veggies!!  Along with Laila, Lainie is also giving up her Nuk!  She never really took to hers that much, so it's been a little easier.  She also has it during the night, but doesn't notice it's gone during the day!  This little lady is a love bug!  She loves everything, espeically all the soft toys around!  She will squeeze and snuggle with a toy anytime she can!  She is on the move!!

Other than that, Andy and I are enjoying the warm weather!  We are excited to explore TX with the girls!  I will be posting pictures on here also!!  I'll keep you posted!!!!
EN