Fun with Max

So last night Mommy got the awful stomach virus, and she was up most of the night. The good news is that by the time everyone else woke up, the worst of it was over for her. The bad news was that she hadn't slept much and still felt pretty crummy. So Mommy slept on the sofa most of the day, and I got lots of time to play with Max!

Here is Max checking out my baby. I wasn't too sure I wanted to share with him.

We made a choo-choo train with Grandma!

Grandma with the grand kids!

A rocking horse, where has this been all week and why am I just finding it now? I love rocking horses!

Taking a turn with Max!

While Mommy was sleeping, I made a card for her, and a little angel. After my nap I gave them to her, and she felt a lot better after that!

Max and I were a little spunky after our naps, so we started wrestling!

Then Uncle Nick decided to take me on. I showed him how I pounce!

By the end of the day Mommy was feeling better and she mustered the strength to try and celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the day Mommy and Daddy met! The day didn't turn out quite like Mommy had been hoping, but overall, it has been a good day and a great week!

Family Time!

After recovering from the stomach virus, everyone was feeling much better yesterday. We had to say goodbye to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Erdmann, as it was time for them to head home to Minnesota. I had a good time seeing them again, even though we didn't get to spend as much time together as we had planned (silly stomach virus). Here are Max and Uncle Nick. You can tell that Max looks like his daddy. But Mommy says that Max looks very similar to Uncle Nick's baby pictures! (Maybe I need to see those for myself!)
Max was getting his weekly picture taken with his sheep, Monty, and I got to join him for another cousin picture.

After we were all dressed for the day, we went to Gigi's house. I got to play with Max, Uncle Nick and Daddy and I had a good time. Mommy, Aunt Becky and Grandma were helping Gigi go through her clothes and decide what she needs to take on her trip. (She is going to Arizona with Grandma and Grandpa to get away from the Iowa winter!) We had lunch at Gigi's and then it was nap time, so me and the boys headed back to Uncle Nick's house so Max and I could take our naps and Daddy and Uncle Nick could watch football. The other girls finished helping Gigi with her clothes and meet us there later. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching football, and playing games. Today has been a pretty good day too. I've been having lots of fun playing with Max and my silly uncles. And of course, getting Grandma to read to me!




Tonight Aunt Carol (Grandma's sister) and Uncle Gerald came to have dinner, a really yummy steak dinner prepared by Uncle Bubba, Uncle Drew, Uncle Nick, and Daddy, with just a little help from Mommy, Aunt Becky, and Grandma!


We also got to enjoy some yummy Christmas cookies, and I got the frosted snowman. He was really tasty!





We also took a family picture with Gigi!



It sure has been fun spending time with family!

Not my best day

Yesterday was not my best day. In fact, it may have been my worst day, ever.

I woke up fine and got to watch Mickey Mouse, and then Mommy made me an egg (my preferred breakfast, every day). I only ate about half of it, and it wasn't sitting well with my stomach, so I _____. (I'll let you fill in that blank.) Mommy thought that I just had too much snot in my tummy, since I've had a runny nose (and I've had tummy trouble before because of that), so she made me some toast. I only had a few bites of that, and then I _____. Mommy and Daddy decided that there was more going on with my tummy than they thought, and breakfast was over. I was starting to feel pretty bad, so Mommy let me watch my new Winnie the Pooh video, and I vegged out on the couch with her.

Grandma and Grandpa came and they were sad to hear that I wasn't feeling well. We learned that Grandma had been up part of the night because she wasn't feeling well, so she was really tired. I hadn't been watching my movie for long when I _____ again. Mommy was prepared and had a bowl ready for me, so that was nice (I didn't mess up Nick and Becky's sofa).

I continued the pattern of ________ about every 30-45 minutes all morning long. I was getting really good and knowing when it was about to happen, but I couldn't even keep water down. I finally fell asleep around 11 and got a nap. Meanwhile, Daddy decided that he wanted to join the sick party too (although his stomach wasn't as mad at him as mine was of me).

Needless to say, no one was really in the mood to do much, so everyone just hung out and watched football and played a few games. After my nap, I was able to keep a little Pedialyte down (what the doctor's office recommended when Mommy called, because she was worried since I couldn't even keep water down.)

Here is the only picture of me that Mommy took yesterday. I was happy that Aunt Becky was reading to me, but I still felt pretty rotten, as you can see on my face.


I only ______ one time during the afternoon, and by suppertime, I was able to eat a few crackers and they stayed down. Daddy was finally able to eat a few crackers, and Grandma was feeling better too. I went to bed early, hoping that I would feel a whole lot better in the morning. And thankfully, yes, I do feel better (and so does Daddy and Grandma).

So, I am very glad that yesterday is over, and that the awful stomach bug was the 24 hour kind. Now, it is time to play!

Grandma's Birthday

After a good night's sleep Sunday night, I was ready to start the day Monday morning, a little earlier than Mommy and Daddy, since I was/am still on EST, while they have switched to CST. Luckily, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, my favorite show (and one of only a select few Mommy lets me watch), was on when I woke up. Mommy and Daddy snuggled on the couch while I watched Mickey Mouse, and then they were ready to get up once my show was over.

After breakfast, Grandma and Grandpa, Gigi, and Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Erdmann came to Nick and Becky's house. Before we left on our adventure for the day, I got Gigi to read to me!



Once we were all dressed and ready, we set out for Steve, Audrey, and Clint's house. I'm not really sure how, but they are family*, so we went to see them. Audrey had all kinds of wonderful food for us. We played a few games, ate, and celebrated Grandma's birthday! (I even got to help her blow out her candles! However, Mommy forgot to take any pictures while we were there.)

I got a short nap on the way home, and then it was back to Nick and Becky's house to watch football and play some games. Before bed, I got to take a bath with Max!

Max has a really neat seat for taking a bath, and I had fun playing with his bath toys. (I really liked the football!)

Grandma scrubbed me while Aunt Becky scrubbed Max.


Then, it was time for bed. What a fun day!

*Mommy's family tree is a little confusing, so I'm not even going to try and explain how we are related. We just know who is family, we love them, and that is all that matters.

Gigi's house!

We went to Gigi's house after church for a wonderful lunch of ham and cheesy potatoes, and a few other things. Daddy got to give Max his bottle while Mommy and Aunt Becky were helping get everything ready.

After lunch, it was time for my nap. I didn't want to take one, but it didn't take long for the busy day and short night from traveling to catch up with me. Mommy came up to check on me, because I was so quiet right away, and this is how she found me!

After my nap, I got to play with cousin Ward and Uncle Drew...

and with Max!

Then it was time to open more Christmas presents, in honor of Baby Jesus' birthday!

Here Grandma is telling me about my Aqua Doodle from Uncle Lowell.

Uncle Ward and Daddy showing me the clothes and Winnie the Pooh movie from Grandma and Grandpa.

I got a lot of really nice things, but Mommy forgot to take pictures. Thank you to Aunt Darla for the My Little Pony things, and my purple stocking!

After all the presents were open, I got to play with Uncle Drew and Max again!

Uncle Bubba joined in too, and he liked to tickle me!

While I was playing, so were Mommy and Daddy...Speed Scrabble (which is similar to Bananagrams), Mommy's new favorite game.

You use little tiles with letters on them to make words...not exactly my game of choice.

All in all, we had a really fun day yesterday, spending time with family!

We are in Iowa!

Yes, we are in Iowa, and since yesterday was Sunday, that meant we got to go to church. I was fine with this, until Mommy tried to take me to the nursery, and then I wasn't having it! Mommy ended up staying with me for a little while. I didn't like it when she left, but I managed, and in a little while, she came back and got me!

Then I got to see my friend Wilson, and Mommy took a picture of Uncle Nick holding the two of us, because that is what she does every time I see Wilson.

(You can go here to see the first two pictures. We've both grown a bit since then!)

Mommy also wanted to get the very first cousin Christmas picture, so Max and I sat in front of one of the pretty trees.


Mommy also wanted a pretty picture of me in front of the tree. I was being a little silly.

And of course, the three of us, all dressed up for Christmas.

We also took a picture of all of the Erdmanns, with Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma, as well as my great-uncle James.

Once we were finally done with all the pictures, it was time to go to Gigi's house!

Baby Jesus' Birthday!!!

This is the pretty Advent calendar that Mommy made. Every day, Mommy has helped me add a picture, until yesterday, when we finally got to put Baby Jesus up. Because it was Baby Jesus' birthday!

When Nana and Papa were here, we celebrated Baby Jesus' birthday with a cake and I got to blow out the candles! (I really like birthdays!)

In honor of Baby Jesus' birthday, we give each other gifts. When I came downstairs yesterday morning, there was a really big present waiting for me! When I unwrapped it, it was a basketball hoop! And it is bigger than me!

It won't be long, and I'll be dunkin'!

I got this really neat puzzle that has lots of animals, including three dogs, on it! I had to try putting it together right away and it was so much fun!

I also got some really fun art supplies...markers, new crayons, and finger paint!

I also had a stocking that had some small presents inside. Here I'm trying to unwrap one, one small piece off at a time!

All the fun things I got in my stocking!

Of course I had to have Mommy read me my new books right away!

After all the presents were open, we ate breakfast, got dressed, packed the car, and drove to the airport! And the trip to the airport went much better than last year! However, once we got to the airport, Mommy and Daddy discovered that all of the long-term parking lots were full. They did see a private long-term place close by, and they let us in. But, we had to leave the keys with them, since we parked in one of the aisles, right behind other cars (this made Mommy and Daddy really nervous, wondering if we would have a car when we got back). I got to ride on the little bus, and that was fun. While on the bus, Daddy saw a little sticker that said that AAA members get a discount at the parking place, so that made him and Mommy feel much better.

We made it to the terminal, dropped off our luggage, had some lunch and made it through security without too much trouble. Once we got to our gate, we learned that our flight was going to be delayed, because the incoming plane was delayed due to weather in Boston. This made Mommy very nervous, because we were supposed to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa in Minneapolis and all fly together to Omaha. We had less than an hour lay-over before our delay, so we knew that making our flight was going to be difficult.

Once we finally boarded our plane, we realized that we would have about 10-15 minutes to get to our connecting flight. Mommy worried all during the flight, and I didn't want to take a nap, but gave in and got a little nap.

As soon as we landed in Minneapolis, Mommy called Grandpa and found out that our connecting flight was also delayed, we would have time to make the flight, and they were waiting at our gate for us. I got off the plane with Mommy and went to meet Grandma and Grandpa, while Daddy waited for our gate checked suitcase and my car seat. We went to grab something for me to eat and then hurried to our next gate. We got there about 3 minutes before they started boarding, and because of Grandpa's frequent flyer status, we got to board first. It was nice to get settled on the plane, next to Grandma! Grandpa was across the aisle from me, and Mommy and Daddy were in front of me!

I ate my pizza and played with Grandma. I also got a special treat, my first candy cane. I really liked it!


Yup, candy canes are really yummy!


We finally made it to Omaha, and Mommy and Daddy were a little frazzled by the days events. Once we got to baggage claim, they realized they had forgotten one of our suitcases on the plane. Daddy went to find out how to get it back while Mommy and Grandma got our checked luggage. The missing bag came with the rest of the checked bags, but Mommy forgot about one of the checked bags, since she was trying to find Daddy to tell him that we had the first missing bag (but we didn't realize the second bag was missing).

While we waited for Grandpa to bring the rental car, Grandma got me changed into my pajamas, and I sure did look cute!

Especially with my back pack and my suitcase!


Grandpa showed up in a big truck (the only 'big' vehicle the rental place had left) and we got everything loaded up, my car seat installed and everyone piled inside. As we were pulling away from the curb, we counted the suitcases and realized we were missing one! So Daddy ran back inside and rescued the missing bag (that had most of Mommy and Daddy's clothes) and we were finally on our way to Paullina!

I stuck it out for about an hour, and then finally fell asleep. We arrived at Nick and Becky's house an hour after they had gotten home from being in IL visiting Becky's family. I got tucked into my bed, but didn't want to go back to sleep. It took a few visits from Mommy, before I finally calmed down and fell asleep. (I was just a little uneasy, because I had never been to this house before.) Mommy and Daddy went to bed too. What a long day.

Why are our travel days trying to get to Paullina for Christmas so eventful? This one ranks up there with last year's!

Christmas with Nana and Papa!

Nana and Papa brought us lots of presents! This morning when I woke up, I got to help pass the presents out to Mommy and Daddy, & Nana and Papa, and I got a big pile too! We all took turns opening our presents, after I got a few out of the way, since my pile was the biggest! (Everyone laughed at me, because I am very meticulous in how I opened my presents, one small piece of paper off at a time!)

I got a lot of really nice things. Grammy gave me some new clothes and a CD that has my name in every song! Nana and Papa got me some pajamas and matching slippers, a fun Winnie the Pooh game, and some new clothes.

Aunt Anna and Uncle Bryson got me this new jacket and some pajamas!

Mommy and Daddy got some nice things too.

When all the presents were opened, Nana told me I had one more! Here is Daddy and I waiting for Papa to bring it in from the garage.



Catching a glimpse of a BIG present!

Trying to figure out how to unwrap it.

Finding the opening in the bag.

Seeing my new MOTORCYCLE!

Trying out the seat! (And yes, it's a Harley!)

My test drive! (Not enough room in the house, and I might need a few lessons on steering!)

So I took my new ride out to the street!

Wow, what a fun day, and what great presents!

Fun with Nana and Papa

That's right, Nana and Papa are here! They came up to see me this weekend, since we won't be able to see them on Christmas. I am having a really good time with them. Papa even watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (my favorite show) with me!

Here I am helping Nana make a special treat, Sausage Balls! They are one of Daddy's favorite things, and mine too! (I liked helping Nana, and rolling the balls, but I wasn't such a fan of getting messy.)


I sure do love spending time with Nana and Papa!