Summer Fun!

Well, I suppose it's been long enough since my last post that I must acknowledge the elephant in the room...that's right, Katie's pregnant!  (Let me clarify that there is no correlation between the chosen animal and my pregnant wife, it's a common phrase and nothing more).  She's about 14 weeks along.  We're pretty sure it's a girl, just based on how brutal she was during the first trimester (whereas Daniel was not).  She has actually been doing quite well of late.  She experienced some pretty intense sickiness and tiredness in the first trimester, but we are moving past that at this point.

Baby #2 is about, again, about 14 weeks along.  According to our weekly updates, it is kicking around a bunch already, although it's hard to feel at this point, BUT, Katie said she already felt it move once.  What a good baby.  This'll be quite the journey.  Lots of people say that going from none to 1 is tough, but 1 to 2 is much harder.  I say..."challenge accepted".  Mainly because we don't have a choice now.  Daniel has really grown up quite a bit (literally...he can actually reach light switches now without a step stool) in that he is a super helpful little dude.  He helps do the dishes, clean up, put things away, and when he plays with other kids (some of the time) he's getting better at being a sweet lil' guy.  Kate's due date is about mid-December, so he'll be quite a bit older by then.  We're hoping he'll have his license so he can help with driving duty, but stupid Nebraska state laws will probably hold him back...

Strong opinions for a toddler.

Other happenings in the last month?  I finished my 10K.  If I died, then I'm living the exact same afterlife as my previous life, I'm going to assume I survived.  It was tough, but I wasn't passed in the last mile and had my personal best.  That was a big deal for me.  I also completed the Warrior Dash with my bro-in-law, Queño.  That was ridiculous as the rain left the course barely runable, but it's one of those things we'll look on as old men as a fond memory of mud-caking and falling.  School has finished and Katie is preparing for her new year in a new school district.  Again, she'll be working in Papillion now and teaching at Trumble Park.  She's very excited to have her own building and to teach more levels.  I'm in marching band mode and writing drill to make my band look like eagles, flowers, and such (actually, they look more like fallen necklaces and occasional parallelograms).

Last leg of the Papio 10k.  It was raining.

This was following the Warrior Dash.  I found mud in my ears two days later.  AFTER showering twice.

We've also welcomed two new folks into the Elsasser family.  Kate's brother, Brian and his wife, Danielle, had their awesome little boy, Brycen and her other brother, Rick and HIS wife Jackie had Eden about a month later.  The plan is to have enough kids to make yard-work unnecessary in our own generation.  I know Daniel has to work on operating the weed-whacker though, but we'll get there (Disclaimer:  I do NOT let Daniel use any yard tools except maybe an empty bucket).

Babysitting Baby Brycen.  Daniel was being quite helpful.  

This is at the hospital where Eden was delivered...so...I don't have any pics of Eden yet.

We've done some zoo fun, I traveled to Chicago with my band, saw some baseball games, played outside, went camping, had some family get togethers and many, many other happenings, but most of you have probably stopped reading by now, so here's some pictures!

Museum of Science and Industry with my WWII look alike.

Enjoying a Stormchasers game.

Eating some dinner with his buddy, Amelia.

Playing with his very, very favorite toy.

Best buds with our two curly-haired spawns.

Letters with attitude.

Even superheros gotta snack.

"Look!  A reticulated giraffe!"

Camping fun.  Check out the action shot on his cousin, Elaina, falling.

Drinking in the nude.  

Side-saddling?  I've heard of space-cowboys, but this is ridiculous!!

Tractor.

Big boy swing!

So much mess...so much sugar...so much summer.  

Growing Up So Fast

Man...it seems like Daniel is just making such great strides these last couple of weeks.  His attention to detail when it comes to routines is pretty great....most of the time.  He certainly gets very upset when things are out of order or against his wishes.  We've really been working hard on teaching him ways to communicate with us, because we find that's one of the times he gets really frustrated is when he wants something or is ready for something and we...don't know what that something IS!  Again, routines and certain words seem to help.  One of the best ideas (from Katie) was to teach Daniel to say "Help, please" when he would get frustrated with something.  Situations like getting stuck somewhere, not being able to get a lid back on can, not being able to find a certain page in a book.  He used to just get pretty darn upset, but he's much more calm and communicates so much better from just say "Helpee"...which is how it comes out.

Good speller.

A couple notes of some fun displays by our little guy, Daniel.  He's a very helpful guy.  He helps with the laundry and dishes.  I can give him his socks or PJs or shoes or pants or even shirts and he'll know where they go in his room...they don't stay folded, but it's a good start!  I'll take all the knives and sharp objects out when unloading our dishwasher and he'll proceed to hand me dishes or even put away items where he can access the cabinets/drawers (pots/pans).  He always helps clean up at night, he's usually very good with directions, and he's eating at the table very well for the most part.

I put him in the swing backwards...whoops.

This last week was pretty blazay (spelling?).  I had an honor band last weekend which is always bittersweet because I have a good time, but it often means an entire day without any time with Daniel.  Makes me look forward to getting more time in the summer.  We did get some big news for Katie.  As of this week, she will be working in the Papillion-LaVista School District this upcoming year at Trumble Park Elementary.  I know she would say that she truly loved Millard and will miss it terribly, but this will be a great opportunity for her and she's very excited to have her very own classroom and building.  I am truly ecstatic for her and know that Trumble Park is going to be extremely blessed to have her...also...it's about 5 minutes from our house =)  Katie's also been very, very busy with some graduate courses she's taking towards her Masters.  She just finished off some big benchmarks this week, so I know she has some relief, even if it's little.

Reuinted!

Lots of writing this week!  Looking forward to a nice rest of the week and hoping that you all have a nice time as well!

New House

We did it!  We're in our new house.  I apologize for the lack of updates last week, but we signed on Friday and started moving Saturday.  Thanks to all the help from my Dad, Kate's mom and siblings, my buddy Brad, and our friends Adam and Jess.  We had most everything moved over in a whopping 2 1/2 hours.  So nice to have the help we did.  Thanks again.  I wish I had more (or any) pictures of the moving extravaganza, but it was all business (and I forgot).  

Tough.

Also, we keep failing to get a picture of us in front of our house.  I meant to get one tonight, but my memory is failing with my old age...but alas, I update you from our new bedroom in our new house.  We are completely moved in save a box.  Big kudos to Kate for getting so much accomplished this past week.  It was busy and stressful, but it's so great.

Easter Grass.

We haven't had a chance to really meet-meet our neighbors.  I yelled at a guy two houses away (to say "hello") and Kate met one of our neighbors, but other than that, we've seen very little.  We do know that one neighbor has a pool so "Project Befriend Pool Neighbors" has begun..

Playing with Aunt Tina.

Daniel's made some pretty significant progress in the past couple weeks.  Aside from sitting up on his own, he now can crawl and pull himself up to moderately-high surfaces. He's a champ at it now.  Super strong legs. 

Beautiful Easter outfits.

Today we celebrated Easter and were able to attend 10:45am service at Calvary Christian, head to Kate's folks, and host my own family evening.  Unfortunately, we are without my mother because she is in Alabama with her family as my Pop (grandpa on my mother's side) just passed away.  It is hard to write something as seemingly trivial as a blog update when you know some of the struggles they've had down there.  I will miss my Popi so much and I can't wait to tell Daniel all the great things about this man.  I am convinced that some of my greatest attributes were passed down from him through my own mother to me.  I am proud of that.  I love you, Pop and I'll certainly miss you, but thank you for everything.  

Eye-gouging.

Watching Daniel play and grow brings so much joy to my heart because it just reminds me how we all started.  I think my grandparents would be proud of who I am now and I know I'll work to do the same for my own son because I (we) owe it to them for all the adversity they overcame and work they put into raising who would eventually be our parents, the ones who most directly made me who I am.  Thank you all for the prayers and support in this situation, we will certainly miss him. 

My Pop.

Happy 6 Months!

We gotta get a beard going on you, boy!

 
Well folks, believe it or not, our son Daniel was born 6 months ago (take away 2 days).  It's remarkable how much he has grown.  We had his 6 month checkup this past Thursday and here's the info:

Height:  28" (95th Percentile)
Weight:  19lbs 15.5oz (90th Percentile)
Head Circumference:  Equivalent to Magellan's trip around the world.  (80th Percentile)
Coolness:  Very (101st Percentile)

What a big dude!  Our doctor says that his growth now is no indication of how large he might be when he grows up, but I think he's on his way to being as big Yao Ming...if not as tall as Yao Ming, he'll definitely be a better English horn player.  (The preceding sentence can be deemed as random and should not be taken seriously.  If anything, it could and should be ignored and we ask that you move on to the below picture of not one, but two cute babies, albeit it is the same baby.  Thank you.)

Mirror, mirror on the wall.  Who makes the stinkiest diapers of all?

Things have been going pretty well this past week.  We certainly have our ups and downs with his nights, but he's been napping better for us on the weekend and we feel like we're making progress in the evenings.  Katie had to play single mom on Friday and Saturday morning because I was attending a convention in Lincoln, NE to learn how to become a better band teacher.  It sounds like she did a great job, but being away from Daniel for my first night was a little rough.  At least I knew he was in good hands!

Sleeping on the go.

Probably the biggest news this week for us (other than Snooki being pregnant) was that my wife and I bought a house!  It's a beautiful place and so close to where we live now that you can see it from our apartment balcony.  We had only started looking last Saturday and we're already set to close at the end of the month...so this month'll be a bit of a whirlwind.  We really wanted a neighborhood where Daniel could grow up with lots of kids around and while driving to our house last week, our car was stopped about 1752 times to wait for kids to cross the street...I think we'll be okay.  Thanks to all of you who have already offered to help.  We appreciate you and will compensate you through food and beverages.

Hey baby.

Shout out Jen Martinez, Kate's sister.  It's her birthday!  She'll have a baby of her own in a couple months.  They are not finding out the gender yet, so I'm pulling for a boy...or girl...but probably nothing else.  Kudos!

Get used to it, son.

3 Months Down

Holy smokes!  Our little guys is a whopping three months old!  He's officially out of his fourth trimester.  He no longer thinks he's still inside a belly.  He's been growing up quickly.  I'm estimating his weight at 34 lbs or so.  Again, I'm a terrible estimater, but I have spunk and that's all that matters.

Great picture

We had a nice weekend of just chillin' and relaxin' and actin' all cool.  We had our first snow, so the decision to stay in was an easy one.  We did venture out once or twice, but only to visit my father, worship it up at church, and I decided to go shopping...grocery shopping that is.  We were also able to visit with our friends, Patrick and Sarah Hammers on Saturday.  They braved the snow to come visit lil' ol' us.  I should've taken pictures...dang..but having visitors was certainly nice. 

Daniel has been making great strides. We're still figuring out some of his routines.  He had been sleeping at night like a rockstar and all of the sudden this past week he decided to..well...sleep like a very rude, loud walrus.  I don't know how rude walruses usually are, but this was an exceptionally rude walrus...anyways, he went from sleeping 8-9 hours a night to remaining awake 8-9 hours a night.  The weekend was a different story, but it took a toll on our work days.  Maybe he's hatching some sort of plan...maybe he's just rude. 

I've been reading online baby things again and apparently he recognizes my face now.  I should probably grow my beard out so that he gets used to that too.  What if I wanna join a ZZ Top cover band...gotta be ready.  I guess I could always be the drummer...I'm trying to use more vocabulary too.  Lately it's been a lot of "meeee meee mee mee mee" in a very high voice.  It makes him smile.  He's smiling like a champ though.  We think he's pretty close to laughing.  I think he's got the "hah" part down, but not the "hah hah".  I'm going through my joke library to see if I can get him going. 

We're nearing our first Christmas together and boy are we excited.  Stay tune for more (hopefully more frequent) updates. 

Shrunken socks

Snuggling

He's playing at a 4 month level.

Happy Thanksgiving...ish

Cutest monster.

It has been a day since the Great Thanksgiving Feast of 2011, but this'll have to be my Thanksgiving post seeing as time seems to fly by more quickly...I wonder why...

It was a bittersweet Thanksgiving this year for me as I had fantastic times and meals with both of my families, but my mother was not able to join us because of my Poppy's (her dad's) health in Alabama.  It sounds like she had an enjoyable time, however, so we are thankful for that.  Three things I'm thankful for and three things I wished:

1.  I'm thankful for my wife and son.  Daniel has been sleeping through the flippin' night almost EVERY night.  Holy beans!  I could not ask for a better wife either.  I've been able to spend much more time with them lately and it has been great great great.  I'm excited for what we grow into.

"Leave me alone! I'm resting!...where's my milk!?"

Cute stuffs.

2.  I'm thankful for the rest of our families.  If for nothing else, they give our arms breaks from holding Daniel..I gotta get this kid walking.  Rehabilitation or something...anyways.  They are just so supportive, loving, and understanding of what we're going through right now.  These past two days show me how blessed we are.  I know not all families are such.

Grandma and her troop of grand children...well...except one.

GG and GKs

Aunt Jenny carrying two babies.  Queño watches in amazement.

Aunt Tina

Daniel ruined this picture

My dad closed his eyes as well.

3.  I'm thankful for my friends.  It is especially great to have so many friends going through this journey right now.  The advice and sympathy is very encouraging and helpful. 

Zac, Jeremy, and children.  Daniel's acting like a big baby.

4.  I'm thankful for Netflix.

I wish...

1.  ....that dirty diapers could be used as some sort of fuel alternative. 

2.  ....that spit up could be used as some sort of a fueld alternative.

3.  ....for world peace.


We're inching closer to Christmas and our Daniel's first experiences.  I'm going to have him write down his experiences this year so he can meditate on them next year.

Here's some pictures to wet your whistle. 

November

Whoa!

Helloooo November.  Also, Daniel's 2-month birthday came and went.  Am I not the best father in the world?  We did order hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and entertainment, but the thought of me neglecting to update the blog has left a rift between my son and me.  Whatevs..I'll just keep his diamond-encrusted iPad to myself...don't tell him I took it.

Happy to be sporting jeans.

Well, it's been awhile since I updated this, which means a lot has happened.  Daniel had his 2-month checkup last Friday, and he's coming in at 13 lbs 7 oz!  He's also exceptionally long.  He's in the 93 percentile for his length, the 85 percentile for his weight, and 95% for being a whiny baby.  In regards to the last figure (one which I will take full responsibility for evaluating) I should note that he had his shots at this appointment and Katie swore the needles were at least 8-9 inches long or something.  I think she might have been over exaggerating (or I'm getting my facts crossed).

Katie carved the kitty, I did the bat, and Daniel did the last

Let's see, Katie also headed back to work over a week ago.  The first day was obviously tough, but since then, she seems to have been doing much better.  We're still trying to figure out the best morning routines, but we're fast learners.  Emily and the Cooper family have been great in caring for Daniel.  I'm glad she's already a mother of three, because I would not wish the bodily functions of my son on anyone, but I'm hoping she's "seen it all" by now.  We certainly miss spending the whole day with Daniel, but, as I've said before, we're glad he is in good hands.

Eric Konrad

Our last post referred to our date night coming up, and a quick note, we ended up ditching out on the movie because we're turning into a couple of old fogeys (I say this as my wife slumbers in the next room at the late, late hour of 8pm.  Granted, our spawn decides to wake her up whenever he's hungry...how rude.

I write this at 8pm on a Thursday night, but I likely will not post this til' Friday because I need to upload pictures and I do not want to wake my shnooky-wooky to get the camera.  Anyways, I'm listening to Daniel chirp and squawk in the other room.  He's very cute.  I'll let him get away with it.  When he's 13 though???...no more chirping. 

Welp, this weekend, we'll be spending time with family and preparing for another week of November.  My mother is currently down in Alabama with her father, my Poppy.  He is not doing so well, so please keep them all in your prayers as we certainly miss them and want the best for everyone this holiday season.  We love you all and will have you in our prayers regardless.

Cutie patootie.