Brain Dump

I have a lot running through my head. We had a pretty quiet weekend but as I was thinking about it last night I realized how much life is changing and how many things we have to celebrate or not.

Yesterday was Memorial Day. Well, duh, I am sure you all knew that, right? But it totally snuck up on me. May went by like *snap* that! I swear we were just celebrating the end of April with Nora's birthday! And now, June!

Last year on Memorial Day we brought Nora home from the hospital after nearly 6 weeks of care there. All parents celebrate milestones and anniversaries but it seems like there are a few more for us preemie moms. And coming home from the hospital is a HUGE one! I guess technically it wasn't the one year anniversary of the date but it was of the day. Memorial Day. Like her 1st birthday it is crazy to think back on the year and how far she has come! Bringing a baby home from the hospital is nerve racking. You wonder how in the world you will ever take care of this little one. Will you know what to do? And then a year goes by and you still wonder how we did that or how we knew just what to do.

Nora is happy and thriving and amazing us every day. I don't like to gush but my goodness is she fun! I love her personality. And she has one. One so different from Anna. When Anna was little she was very easy going and agreeable. Nothing seemed to phase her. She didn't really "speak" up much. Not for Nora. She tells us all the time what she is thinking. She is quick to demand and then quick to give kisses. She wants to know where he sister is at all times. I am not sure how to type it or spell it but she definitely has a word for Anna. And if Anna is in the other room she will yell it out until Anna answers her. It is too cute.

Nora's big sloppy kisses are one of the highlights of the day. I especially love the little "mmm..muah" sounds she makes when she gives them. And she is walking. I would say about 95% of the time that is her mode of transportation. So fun to see her get more steady on her feet! She has found that we have a circle in our house that she can walk and walk and walk around. Isn't it funny how intuitive that is for kids? They always find the "circle" and race around it!

Moving on to Anna.. She is soooo excited for the end of the school year. Mom is not so much. I am excited for summer but can't believe she will be done with 1st grade and moving on to 2nd. It will be an easy transition at least since they keep the same teacher for 2nd grade. This will be a different summer for all of us. Last year I was home with the girls while on maternity leave. This year Anna and Nora will go to daycare most of the week with Anna going to a day camp 2 days of the week. But I really loved my time at the beach last year. When will we fit that in? :)

Anna has had a great year in school. As much as she HATES and I mean hates to practice spelling, she does really well at it. As well as her math! But the reading is what amazes me. She has improved so much and I love to listen to her read. Have to keep that up over the summer for sure.

Anna has been taking piano lessons for only a few months now but had her first recital last weekend. It was nerve racking as a parent seeing your child nervous and not able to do much about it. She did great though. I was so in awe of how cool under pressure she really was. I put together a little video of her recital for you to check out. Her songs are short but she played them flawlessly. On a side note, I always wanted to learn to play piano. Never took lessons but did learn the flute pretty well and also learned to read music from that. It is so fun to see Anna enjoying to learn how to play. I am picking up a few things helping her with her lessons too. Maybe her fantastic piano teacher should charge us extra.. shhhh....




And just in case my blog post left you with illusions that all is perfect and happy at the Carstens household, I have a reality check. BOTH of my girls (and maybe Chad & I a little bit too) are so stubborn that everyday one or all of us are in tears. And our house still looks like a bomb went off even after a very long weekend of not doing much of anything.

Moving on.

Chad and I have some things going on too. We are getting old. I mean I still feel like 35 is so much younger than I ever thought it would be.. But we just went to my cousin's high school graduation party. She is graduating. I was her age when she was born. Did I mention she is 18 years old now? Crazy. But seriously, it was fun to be there and celebrate with her. She is a great young lady who is moving on to St. Thomas in the fall and will continue to play basketball! After her party we celebrated my grandma's 92nd birthday! Everything in perspective right?

After that Chad and I headed to the Memory Lanes Block Party to see Split Lip Rayfield perform. Another indication of how old I feel. There were a variety of people there but most were in their 20's. I am not in my 20's anymore even though sometimes I forget. In a lot of ways I am glad I am not in my 20's anymore though.. geesh. Imagine a lot of beer and singles and smoking and and and...

Spring/summer is finally here and I realize we don't have any camping trips planned. And I am feeling the effects of that. Need to get planning one soon. Few things hold me back. One - it costs a lot to haul our camper with the truck anywhere. Two - Nora is at a hard age to take camping. Walking but not real great at it. Into everything. Eating dirt. But I am sure she would do fine and probably LOVE it. Three - packing up and going and coming home is a lot of work. And I have found myself not so excited about that part of it. Need to get over that.

Hmm.. what other ramblings do I have for you. Oh yeah, I want a deck. I need a deck on our house. And it looks like it may be happening this year. Maybe? Hopefully? Need to make it happen! That along with getting our basement cleaned out so the kids can use it to play and hang is a top priority. Would make the flow of our house so much better if both of those things would happen this summer/fall. Sometime soon!

Wow, did you make it to the end? Feel like I should reward you with something? I don't have anything for you except my sincere thanks for reading! Hope you all have a great week!