Happy Easter

We had a very full and happy Easter weekend here at the Nies house (aside from 4 days straight with no quality naps). Saturday we attended the city egg hung and it was chaos. Eric was walking back from parking the car and heard a huge yell go up when they let the kids go for the eggs. It only lasted about 30 seconds and then we lined up for a picture with the Easter bunny. Eli wasn't too sure about it when we took the picture, but wouldn't stop watching the bunny afterwards. It was very cute.

  Dying Easter eggs the Wednesday before with Nana and Papa

 Wondering whether he should get upset or not

Sunday we had breakfast with my in-laws and an egg hunt for Eli in our living room. He had a great time. I'll post the video soon of the search and celebratory dance. Then we had breakfast and attended the lovely Easter service at church. That was followed by lunch at Aunt Kim and Uncle Thom's. Eli had such a great time there he fell asleep on the drive home.

March Trip to Switzerland

Elijah and I (along with my mom) went to Switzerland for two weeks in March for my grandpa's 80th birthday party. We had a great time relaxing with family. The only outings we had were to the kids' zoo in Rapperswil and the Zurich zoo. I'm so glad we went; I want my family there to see Eli as much as possible. Here are some pictures:

Aunt Trudi, Eli, and V enjoying some Gummi Bears on Grandma V's laptop 

 Didn't take Eli long to take over Aunt Trudi's living room floor

 Feeding ponies at Knies Kinderzoo

 Petting goats at Kinderzoo

 Feeding Aunt Trudi's rabbits

 Enjoying a bath at Great-Grandma's

 Had to visit the cows at least once a day at Great-Grandma's

 Lovin' on the cats

 Eating paprika shells for his daddy

 Admiring a peacock (who later tried to snatch a candy bar from him - while he was eating it)

 Saying hi to the chickens

 Walking with Great-Grandma

 Planting flowers with Grandma V

 Four generation picture

 Eli, cousin Anna Laura, and Lanos playing

Final breakfast in Switzerland

Sci-fi, hair cuts, and birthday parties

It's been a busy couple weeks at our house. We've been enjoying the Christmas tree, trying to get some snow time in when the weather permits, and celebrating Timothy's birthday.

I've been keeping myself occupied with more crocheting. A couple projects I can't talk about (Christmas coming and all that) and one that I CAN talk about. You can read the story on Eric's website, but essentially I found a crochet pattern for an obscure science fiction character Eric loves. May I present:

 CTHULHU!

In other news, Elijah got his first hair cut last week. Not so much a hair cut really as an attempt to avoid the mullet. His hair was starting to grow long enough that it caught in his bib at mealtimes so we decided it was time. Eric took his trimmers to the back of Eli's head and did a nice job. I didn't think we would be having this first before his second birthday, but it came earlier than expected. 

We traveled to Gregory, SD this past weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Nies to celebrate cousin Timothy's first birthday. It was a quick trip, but fun was had by all!

 Timothy wasn't really sure about his first cupcake...

 But Eli made sure he ate a couple on his cousin's behalf

 Timothy got lots of good presents (hugging the bear from Eli)...

And both boys got in some good grandparents time!

Happy 60th!

Eric's grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last month and we had a family get together to celebrate. Below are a few pictures of the family enjoying Eli time.

Congratulations Grandmother and Grandad! May the rest of us be as blessed as the two of you have been for the past 60 years.

We managed to fill the frame pretty well, even without Jared, Sarah, and Timothy. We'll have to try again at Thanksgiving when they come!

Travel with Baby

We made it home safe and sound! I'll post more on the trip later, but I wanted to record what worked and didn't for us during the travel portion of our vacation.

Elijah was great on the plane. He didn't sleep very well on the way to Switzerland, even though we gave him a small dose of Benadryl. Despite the lack of sleep, he was happy and relatively laid back. On the trip home he slept about an hour on each of the three legs. He sat on our laps, looked out the window, and played with his toys. We never did pull out the laptop for him which made me very happy. Having new little toys wrapped up to pull out whenever he started getting bored worked great for us.

Unfortunately the busy book didn't get much usage. Eli likes it but the book is much too large for airplane trips. I think it will be great for church and car trips. Luckily my parents only had one carry on bag between them, so my dad ended up carrying the book for me. My next project, or one down the line, will be another busy book for airplane trips - just smaller to fit into luggage better.

The other passengers were great. They were all willing to switch seats so Eric and I could sit together with Elijah (although that could be because they didn't want to sit next to a possibly screaming toddler). On the long ride from Zurich to DC (8 hours) a woman was willing to switch so we had three seats together. Letting Eli have his own seat was great. It allowed us to relax more than if he had always had to be on someone's lap. The flight attendants were also wonderful. I know it's their job, but they were all very friendly and helpful. Eli, of course, charmed them all and one stewardess even took a picture with him.

Having snacks along went well too. Airplane food is better than I remember (even though you only get it on long trips) but Elijah didn't want to eat it so having the crackers and such along kept him from starving. It even lasted through the trip for on the trains and buses.

Also, an umbrella stroller was a godsend. Eli was comfortable in it and it was so easy to collapse when he didn't ride in it. It was easy to tuck away on trains and buses and gate checking went as smoothly as I hoped.

Overall it was a wonderful trip and I am so glad my family go to spend time with Elijah. And of course that Eric's parents got to see Switzerland.

I don't have pictures from the trip yet, but here is the requisite Eli photo.

2010: A Review

2010 was a crazy year for us. We had all kinds of changes and fun times:

• First, and most important, was Elijah joining our family. He has changed our lives but only in good ways. I've learned so much in the last 8 months of being his mom. I never thought I could love a baby as much as I do. I am blessed to have him.

• The second biggest change in our lives is our new home. We now reside on 5 acres in a beautiful 4 bedroom 3 bath house. Thanks to Eric's hard work we got the landscaping done before the snow set in. It will be a great place to raise our family.

• This year we were asked to be godparents for the children of good friends. We were happy to accept and were able to travel to Omaha to be there for both kids' baptisms. Elijah met his good buddy Sean who is only 5 weeks older than him.

• We also drove to southern Missouri and had a wonderful week long vacation with Eric's family. We spent our days sitting by the Lake of the Ozarks, watching the boats drive by. It was a great opportunity for Eli to spend some quality time with his grandparents.

• I also started participating in Community Bible Study in Spearfish. It is the second study I have done and am thoroughly enjoying it. Not only do I get to study the Word of God but I've met some wonderful women and get a little baby free time. Elijah spent the first two months crying through the once a week sessions but has grown to enjoy his playtime with the other babies in the nursery. I'm excited to attend the second half and finish learning about the Book of Revelation. I plan on being a part of CBS for many years to come.

• Eric revived his love of music by being part of the local production of My Fair Lady. While it sounds to me like he spent more time playing Blokus than rehearsing, I think he had a great time. Elijah and I missed him dearly during his rehearsals and performances but it also allowed us to set up his bedtime routine without worrying about Daddy being alone will Mom soothed the baby to sleep.

• The Nies family was also blessed by a second grandchild this year. Little Timothy Amos was born 12/08/10 and is as cute as can be. He's had some troubles here at the beginning of his life but he could not have better parents to get him through it. We are anxious to meet him and for he and Elijah to become close friends and cousins!

I learned a lot about myself as a woman, a wife, a mom, and a Christian this year. I hope to keep these lessons fresh in my mind and continue growing in 2011.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas 2010

A wonderful Christmas was had by all here in the Nies house. Because Elijah was getting over a cold and we would be out most of Christmas Day, we spent Christmas Eve at home together relaxing. Christmas morning Eric's mom and brother came over for brunch and gifts. We then went to Rapid City for the big family get together. Unfortunately my mom had to work and Les was sick so they missed it and were missed. Nonetheless we had a good time and Eli was great until he started getting tired. We managed to get home, bathe him, and have him in bed by his regular bedtime. Then Mom and Dad got to relax too!

Elijah and one of his favorite uncles

Christmas present from Uncle Jason

More interested in the bow than the present (of course)

Sitting at the "kids'" table

The "adults'" table

Cuddling with Mom

Checking out all his new stuff!

Trying out his walking toy from Grandmother and Granddad

Now riding the new toy

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas as well! Enjoy what is left of 2010!

Finally Settled

Last week Eric and I chose and bought living room furniture. With this purchase, we are fully moved in and set up. Or at least until we decide to finish the basement in a few years. While I was comfortable before, I now feel like we're really here. We don't have to lay in bed or go down to the basement to read. We can also entertain without forcing guests to sit on the floor! (We didn't really do that - just spent lots of time at the dining room table.) (Which is good because we're hosting Thanksgiving this year... Wish me luck with the turkey!) I'll try to get some pictures taken and up on the blog this week. I'm very pleased with our new chairs and look forward to lots of time spent on them.

In other news, my grandparents were here from Switzerland for the last two weeks to meet their first great-grandchild, oh and to see the rest of us too. Elijah was a little hesitant at first but by the end was letting great-grandma hold him without crying and tugging on great-grandpa's beard. (My grandfather looks like Santa Claus. Really. I'll get a picture of them up too.) It was wonderful to see them again. We're planning on going to Europe next year to see the rest of my family again and maybe do some traveling. But they, understandably, couldn't wait that long.

As far as our most recent baby issue, sleeping, is concerned it seems to be going better. He's slept through the night the last two nights (which I'm sure I have now jinxed for tonight by blogging about it) and takes cat naps on my lap when we're not running around. My plan is to try moving him to his crib for naps soon, but may just forgo the whole thing as it works alright for us right now.

Since sleeping is working out again, my biggest Elijah problem is separation anxiety. Since I'm a stay-at-home mom it's generally not an issue. The only people he has been alone with our my in-laws, but he has no problem with them. Where things are going wrong is for my Thursday morning Bible study. They have a nursery run by wonderful women, but Eli is just not comfortable there. I have gone five weeks and he has cried each time. Not necessarily for the entire two hours, but for quite a bit of it. I wasn't worried at first; I thought he merely needed some time to adjust. But it doesn't seem to be getting any better. And while I don't mind checking in with them and trying to soothe him, it's not worth it to me if I miss the group studying and lecture. I'm not giving up by any means, but am frustrated. Eli does need to overcome this fear but I'm sure we'll get there.

Monday Monday

Today was another good day in the life of Elijah Nies. He got to see 3 of his 4 grandparents!

Eric and I have accepted that no one will come to visit us anymore; it's all about the baby. And rightfully so - he's such a cutie!

As such, my parents came to see Eli and brought us lunch as well. Aside from my mother trying to ply my little boy with pizza and soda it was a delightful visit. We chatted, ate, and then assembled the small portable grill my dad won at a golf tournament and thoughtfully gave to us. I'm guessing there will be grilling going on this Friday at the Nies household!

Then Eric's mom came over so the two of us could (finally!) watch the last episode of Top Chef. She also brought pizza and fed Eli his first serving of green beans - which did not go over well at all. We'll try them again tomorrow and if he still doesn't like them, well, we'll hold off for some time and then try again. He started getting a little fussy at the end, so Kris and I couldn't have our usual in depth discussion about the show (although we both approve of the winner).

My sweet baby is finally asleep in his crib (after 1.75 hours of nursing and 10 minutes of rocking) and I'm off to crash in bed. G'night all!