Random Acts of Life

Greta...stop eating paint!

The photographer thought this was the best family picture...EEK! Will there ever be a Norman Family picture we can frame?

Love this Picture of Greta

Taken at Megan and Justin Lohr's wedding in Pittsburgh this past weekend.

Holy $H!T

One of my favorite times of the day is the early morning hours when I can hear the girls waking up. Talking to themselves and each other is both sweet and comical. So when I heard Lucy saying over and over again, "no-no Greta...no-no", I giggled a little in my sleepy haze as to what Greta could be doing. And in true "good mommy" form, elbowed Norm in the ribs to go get the girls; mumbling something about it being his turn.
But a little extra shut-eye was not in my cards. No sooner had he rolled out of bed that I heard him yell, "BETHHHHH....GET IN HERE"! As I tried to untangle my feet from the sheets and stumble out of bed, I see Norm holding our sweet baby out, like a disease, crying for Mommy and covered in....POOP. Poop in her hair. Poop in her mouth. Poop all over her face and suckie. Poop EVERYWHERE! Norm, like a deer in headlights, looks to me for direction. "BATH TUB. BATH TUB. GO. BATH TUB", is all I can manage to utter. Its so disgusting...and the wafting smell of poop is starting to seep out of there room. As Norm races Greta (still at arms length) to the bathroom, I bravely step into their room to survey the damage! HOLY $H!T! No really...there is $H!T everywhere. The back story to my rude awakening is beginning to unfold in front of my eyes. As I lean over her bed I see a diaper cast aside and a huge poop with little Greta finger prints all over it. It appears that Greta (that little stinker), removed her poopie diaper and played with it. Smeared it in the crib walls, sheets, blankets, and suckies. She also tried to eat it. No wonder Lucy was yelling No-No! YUCK!
In the end, both Greta and crib survived no worse for wear. But life lesson taken from this poopscapade...always make sure Greta is wearing shorts or pants to bed!

Great Video's

A Magician & His Assistant:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDcgTot2erE
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9dBp6HHm8o

Lucy Outtakes:
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S60in1YuxnY
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjDZSMEXSQc

Cabin Weekend:
Buckets of Fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rFkP9Isqps
Just Relaxin': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoiXepjS3Gg
Kisses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0Bc9LU8P0A

Special Message to Grandma Poo-Poo

Greta Loves you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dPm1xcnf4o

Happy Birthday Greta!

Greta's 1st Birthday!

You're such a big girl and we love you!

Thank you for making our life better!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PzCkN2LXrc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxjw6vtlI1Y

I'm still amazed that one year has gone by since Greta came into this world. I can't help but reminisce about her birth and how quick and intense her labor was. I said it the moment I saw her red little face...Greta came into this world and slipped into our pockets; like she's always been there. Greta is a true miracle and I'm proud to say I'm her Mommy. Happy Birthday little one! Happy Birthday to my sweet, wonderful Happy!

GRETA's WALKING!!!

Greta started walking this evening. She was so proud of herself. (Please forgive her messy face/shirt/etc. - Pudding for dessert). What a happy evening at casa Norman! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4chG-VQ3-A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F45bMseSzbU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3beTIGvR34U

Three Men and a Baby.....No wait!

Three Babies and a Man...

Pics and a Quick Update

Mommy sneaks a kiss

Thanks to auntie Molly, Greta is now a HUGE fan of Bob Evans mash potatoes!
What a cheese ball!

Greta loves helping daddy do the dishes.

It's been an incredibly busy couple of weeks...which hopefully explains my lack of correspondence. The plague did eventually vacate the Norman abode...just in time for me and the girls to head south to Mexico, Missouri. That's right! I braved the open road with two babies for eight hours and it went really well. I was so proud....of MYSELF! I rocked the DVD player and snacks and books and suckies and toys and bottles and anything else they needed. And the visit was fun as well. It was great to see Mom, Molly, Ryan, Marina, and Teddy. We celebrated Marina's fifth birthday which amazes me. It seems like only yesterday that I was phone stalking Molly at the hospital wondering what birth feels like (still so sorry about that Molly).

Then last weekend we made the trek up to the Cabino for a fun day with the Huffer crew. The boys claim to have found a "secret spot" and actually caught a few walley's. Melissa, Bean, Lucy, Greta, and I just chilled and relaxed and enjoyed each others company. It was a great weekend.

Well, that's about it. I hope everyone is surviving this last leg of winter. I'm doing my best to stay positive that spring is near and am looking forward to begin training for the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon. Yup...I'm going to attempt to run 13.1 miles during Grandma's Marathon this year. I'm pumped and optimistic! Cheer me on!

One quick note...I'm happy to report that this happy mama just signed an offer letter from Wells Fargo's Internal Audit department. Lots of change on the horizon....

Greta Symposium

I've put together a few recent pictures of Greta. A snapshot of her many faces. This one I'd like to title...EXTREME CLOSE-UP!!!

Thanks to Great Aunt Ellen for the ADORABLE outfit. Greta wanted to thank you by baking a cake...but didn't get much further than finding the pretend kitchen.
This is Greta's "I swear I'm being good" face.

I like to call this one, "You busted me...but I'm too cute for you to do anything but laugh" face. This is Greta's "I'm not awake yet...please wait a few more minutes before we start the day" face.

Part 2 - Kiddo's had FUN too!

The girls had a great weekend too! Maya and Lucy made brownies and a cake. The adults were nice enough to eat the finished products for them! Yummy!

The girls were amazed by the minnows Norm bought for ice fishing. Lucy loved her fishies-in-a-jar so much that she took them to bed with her Saturday night.

Greta was so proud of herself this weekend. She gets stronger everyday and will take those first solo steps soon! OMG!

Happy Babies!

Lucy is such a little helper these days. She was so proud of herself when the two of us made a cake. She helped stir and decorate.
As always, Greta is smiling. She continues to amaze us with her happy, easy-going nature. Even though this pic was taken at 9:30pm and she was crashing our happy-hour, we couldn't help but let her hang out with us. How could we not with that smile!

WOW!

Has it really been 2 months since my last post? For all you faithful followers, I'm sorry for abandoning my post (pun intended). The Holidays and then James' National Sales Mtg left me too tired and busy to take time to reflect on life.

Having said that, I'm happy to report that all Norm's hard work has paid-off and the mtg was an "EPIC" success. James is still basking in the glow of congratulatory emails...and I am basking in the glow of the recent return to normal. Although there was nothing "normal" about this weekend. James surprised me with a fantastic date night (on his allowance) to a great steakhouse where I drank too much wine and ate too much food. (Thank you Tim and Melissa for taking care of the girls on such short notice).

Steak dinner aside, I believe my favorite part of the weekend was Friday night when Norm and I woke up at 1:30am to Lucy crying out for Mommy...not her normal sleepy noises but a real cry. Low-and-behold, Lucy threw-up all over herself and her bed (joy). After hosing her off in the shower I laid her next to daddy in our bed. As I was returning with her diaper I hear her announce, "I Pee"....really? Really? Really. I can't think of anything more fun than trying to clean-up puke-filled sheets while dry heaving into the laundry basket and then scrubbing our mattress because I didn't have the forethought to purchase a water-proof mattress pad for our bed. Oh yeah, and all at 2:00am. Who needs a good nights sleep anyways?

Well, if you've gotten this far than hats-off to you. I would have bailed at throw-up but I appreciate your tenacity and time.

Back-of-the-envelope update: Lucy is doing great. She seems to have hit a really nice stride right now with a lot more hugs and kisses and a lot less whining and temper-tantrums. A real joy to be around these days. Greta gets bigger and stronger every day. She is pulling herself up on anything that stands still and crawls as fast as her little peg-leg will take her to keep up with Lucy. Her new favorite foods include Chef Boyardee ravioli and hot dogs! Dinner of champions.

PS: New Years Resolution - Read the bible. Status: Page 12.

It's Beginning....

Great picture of Happy!

...to look a lot like Christmas. Minnesota is looking a lot like, well, Minnesota after this weekends snowfall. Although Lucy was around last winter, this really was the first time that she's seen snow...and she cannot stop talking about the "snowbbb" and the "icshe". She even brought a snowball into the house which I tried to save for her in the freezer. But, after about 7 seconds of patient waiting, she wanted me to open the freezer again so she could touch, admire, and then eat the snowball. That's our Lucy.

...to get much closer to Thanksgiving. And with each passing day, I get a little more "excited" about our epic road trip to Missouri. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see Molly, Ryan, Marina, Mom, and my newest nephew Teddy. But the thought of 8-10 hours in a car with Lucy (23mo), Greta (6mo), and Grandpa (86yrs) seems a bit daunting. I hope someday I'll be able to look back on this "Epic Journey" and laugh. I hope!

Sister, Sister

If a picture was worth a thousand words...

Its so much fun to watch Lucy and Greta enjoy each other. They're always so happy when they are around each other. It's amazing.

Yo GRETA! Where's Lucy??

Apparently, this Happy Mama has been having a bit of mother guilt over the lack of pictures I've taken of little Greta. So, I have focused heavily on Greta...and in the process forgotten to take pictures of Lucy! Whoops! Enjoy!

Is It Winter Yet???

Maybe not...

Mommy, why am I dressed like this?

What time is it???

Good Morning Daddy!

Greta's 4 Month STATS

26 1/2 inches tall (90% Percentile)
13lbs (50% Percentile)
Head Circumference (10% Percentile)

SO BIG! Such a tall drink of water! Just like her mommy. :)

Smiles, Sitting, & Solids

Ok, maybe more shock-and-awe

Greta's first taste of solid foods.

Well, more like liquid solids...

For the first few bites, Happy wasn't sure that she liked it. But after about 3-4 bites, she couldn't get it in fast enough. Arms flailing, legs kicking, and squeals of delight tell this Happy Mama that Greta loves rice cereal. Way to go Happy Spunkin! Looks like we'll have another happy honker on our hands!