Selma Going Home

After 4 days in the hospital we were all ready to go home and start getting into our routine. Though I must note that the first two trips at Christ Hospital I was on Wendy's overload, as that was the restaurant in the lobby... that's been upgraded now, as Wendy's has been replace by Au Bon Pain. But even though there was more choice and a bit healthier, you can only eat some many sandwiches!

Heading Home....

Selma Visitors

Selma had lots and lots of visitors at the hospital. She was super excited to meet everyone...we definitely appreciate everyone coming by to see us....

Grandparents, Meg, Patrick and Emily, Janet, Holly, Aunt Boo and Great Grandma, Nancy and Ken, and Megan (sorry Megan that your trip had to be cut short!)

Greta and Otto Visit Selma

Greta and Otto came to visit their new baby sister on Saturday. It went really well.. a bit different than we expected... Otto was very excited to see the baby and really wanted to hold her. Greta was interested, but not as much as Otto.

They were both great with her. They came back down the second day, and it seemed like they were started to get worn out by the fun of staying with Grandma and Grandpa. It was great to have them be able to spend the whole weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Hansbauers... they went to Bob Evans, had bubble baths, went to build a bear, made fudge, and generally had a blast...

I don't know if they realize baby Selma is staying for good, but so far they seem to welcome her with open arms.

Greta, Otto, Selma - and me

Here are the baby pictures... they are babies, so they all kind of look alike, but I think that Selma and Greta look a lot a like... Otto, I think has bigger eyes and noes, and a different chin and lips... and I think they both look like my baby picture... what do you all think?

Joe Greta Otto Selma

Welcome Selma Nadine Hansbauer

Selma Nadine Hansbauer

Born 2/25/11 - 11:14 AM

Weight 7lb 10oz

Length 20 inches

Click below to see bigger pics...

ikea

we woke up on sunday with nothing to do all day long. and then greta opened her dresser drawer to pick out her clothes and the drawer broke. so our plans for the day quickly became...ikea! which no one minded at all because i think we all like to go there.
so a new dresser was purchased, playtime was had, and lunch (swedish meatballs!) was eaten. all in all, a good day. and we ran into our friends the burkholders AND family from otto's music class....what's the chance of that?!

oh, and be sure to check out greta's ensemble...i particularly love the brown socks with pink shoes and capri pants. especially on a day when it was sleeting outside.

baby presents

the kids and i had a big day on friday, officially one week to the day before baby #3 is scheduled to arrive. greta was off school for an inservice, so we got haircuts, went to the toy store, went to the bookstore, and went over to our friends the arthurs house for a playdate and lunch. it was a great day!
the trip to the toystore and the bookstore were to pick out a toy and a book for the kids to give to the baby when she arrives.....sort of a welcome present. we talked about this at length....WHY we were going there, WHO we were getting something for. greta and otto even came up with a book they wanted to buy for the baby. and then we arrived. and they just wanted to play with the toys at the toystore. who can blame them? greta at least gave a half hearted attempt....she found a toy that she thought the baby might like, along with one she liked and one she picked out for otto. ha!
when we got to the bookstore, i thought i was in for more of the same. but luckily for me, the store's credit card machine was down and they could only take cash. so one book for the baby later, we were out of there. but greta keeps assuring me that even though the book is for the baby, "everyone in our family can read it because we share books".
we can't wait for the new addition to our family!

it's fun at CGA!

a few pics from greta's gymnastics class. it's so hard to get good pictures, because she is (obviously) constantly moving around, and they also ask that parents not hover. good luck with that. :)

we also get a work out when going to her class, because we spend the hour chasing otto around. there are gates that close off the gymnastics area from the waiting area, but either they are left open, he can open them himself, or he can squeeze through them even if they are closed.

love day

greta came home from school today with her bag of valentines from her classmates. she was very serious about pulling each one out of the bag one at at time, looking at it and wanting to know who it was from. if it had a heart on it, she would say, "and that means that i LOVE natalie" or whoever the card was from. i think she really enjoyed looking at them, but she was so stoic and serious that it's hard to tell. i do know that she was busting-at-the-seams excited to take HER valentines to school today to pass out. she was definitely tickled that each of her teachers made her a valentine.
it's amazing how little it takes to spark joy with children. i made heart shaped pancakes today for breakfast, served them up on heart shaped plates and you would've thought i'd presented greta with a lifetime supply of dolls or toys or candy. she was thrilled....it was so cute. and so easy. i also handmade each of the kids a valentine, and she kept looking at it and saying, "you MADE this? for ME?" it was literally red paper and sharpie marker....nothing fancy. through the eyes of a child.....

me lucky charms

drumsticks

we had our old neighbors, the andersons, over for dinner on saturday night. we hadn't seen them since they moved a few months ago, and the neighborhood hasn't been the same without them. truthfully, it was emotional for me to see them go. tom and greta were born only a few weeks apart, and he was her first neighborhood friend. sarah jane and otto are only a few months apart, so it was fun to get together and let all the kids play and the adults could just hang out. they were kind enough to bring dessert....drumsticks! yum! although, it occured to us while watching our kids that we are not sure that either one of them has ever had an ice cream CONE. they needed lots of coaching and instruction....both greta and otto were trying to eat from the bottom up.
regardless, they were a mess. and a HUGE HIT!!
patrick, emily, tom, and sarah it was so great to see you guys!

be mine

valentines day is fast approaching, and this is a pretty big deal for a number of reasons. and no, it's not because joe is going to buy me a dozen roses surrounded by baby's breath or a heart shaped pendant from a grocery jewelry store. but a girl can dream, right?!

no....valentines day means a lot because it's sort of our last "milestone" before the baby comes. we've been talking about all the big events or holidays that would happen before the baby arrives, starting all the way back when our list included thanksgiving, christmas, new years, etc etc. and now here we are.....
greta has taken this countdown very seriously. when her gymnastics teacher asked her last week if the new baby had arrived yet, greta replied, "no, it's not valentines yet!!" as if her teacher was ridiculous for even posing the question.

valentines day is also a big deal because greta is making valentines for her classmates at school. when i taught at center room, this day was always such a neat celebration for the kids. it doesn't involve sugary snacks or anything elaborate. the kids just all decorate a bag the week before, and then on the day of, they each get a turn to pass out their valentines. most kids make handmade valentines, which i love and i also think this has so much more meaning for them. the picture is greta working on her valentines. notice everything all lined up just so on the counter....that was her doing. each valentine got one sticker, one stamp, and then we had to write "from greta" in a coordinating color. she wasn't too pleased that i was taking her picture for some reason. i hope she enjoys the day....she looked through her clothes the other morning to see what her options were for heart covered shirts and dresses. :)

crib mattress and new toy

we've recently added a new "toy" to our living room. an old crib mattress.
it's a mattress that was on it's way out the door, but we left it in the living room overnight with the intent of taking it out in the morning. and that morning, the kids saw it and it's been a hit ever since. i think it's been about 3 weeks and unfortunately it hasn't lost its appeal. it's a trampoline, a baby bed, a lego building space, a slide, or just a place to sit. you can see greta sitting on it in the photo. (notice otto lining up the "gabba guys" in the background).

the game greta's playing is a christmas gift from meredith (thanks mer!). it's a memory game and it's so fun. greta loves it and is pretty good at it.

kitchen

so i guess the kids do play with a few toys. they also like to constantly play kitchen.
for the record, most of their playing consists of the following things: cover up (see previous post), playing babies (see previous post), legos, kitchen, or "gabba guys" (where they divvy up the little yo gabba gabba figures and lay them out or line them up). sometimes these games morph into one big game, like when they decide to make food for the gabba guys and then cover them up.

here's otto hard at work in the kitchen. mostly he likes to "make oatmeal" and wear the oven mitts.

cover up

joe and i constantly joke about why we even bother buying toys for our kids. one of greta and otto's latest games is called "cover up". this game involves, you guessed it, covering up with a blanket like you are going to sleep. sometimes they call this "play babies", where they either cover up a baby doll or one of them pretends to be a baby (covered up of course) while the other one reads them a book and puts them to bed. all the toys and they're playing with two blankets. but to their credit, it's neat to see what they come up with. and they play this pretty well together.....