Skiing, first haircut

I finally brought my camera to the trails:
















My New Year's resolution was to get out in nature with Josh and Willow every Sunday. So far I have kept it! We've been skiing every Sunday in January. We've only been to the Tech trails with Willow....maybe this weekend we can head over to Maasto Hiito.

I french braided Willow hair the other day! I was surprised I could still do it. I don't think I've done it since junior high basketball days. It didn't stay looking this nice for long.





















Then on Thursday, we brought her to get her hair trimmed. We just got the tiniest amount off, just to even it out a bit. She was very good and didn't fuss or cry.



















Willow is very into drawing Ws these days. Here's some of her handiwork:


















She is also learning how to write her name. She did this one letter at a time as I demonstrated on the board above how to write the letter; she copied each one.
















We went to Wausau last Wednesday to see the pediatric GI doctor about Willow's tummy issues. He didn't seem to have a magic solution, but instead drew more blood to run more tests. Just yesterday they called with the results. Of course everything came back normal. Then they said the next step is a "barium enema", and the next thing I knew, we had that all scheduled up for this Wednesday! Now I'm really having some second thoughts, wondering if I am rushing into this crazy procedure for no good reason. I mean, Willow's tummyaches aren't acute, and her poop is only mushy, not completely watery...are we overreacting? Will she just outgrow it? This enema thing happened so fast I didn't really have time to ponder. Apparently it's pretty scary - they strap the kid to a plexiglass board and stick a tube up her bum, then put this colored liquid up there and watch it on a TV screen as it flows back out, to identify any areas of the intestine that are not normal. It's going to be really scary. I may back out. If anyone has been through this before and has advice, please let me know!

In other news, Josh has been unemployed for a few weeks now - the snow scoop business is slow. So he decided to remodel our kitchen. Nothing big - just new counters, a new faucet, paint, and some shelves.But now that he's knee-deep in it, he found out he's going back to work next week. If he ever finishes, we'll post some before and after photos.

Merry Christmas, Happy 2012

I know I've been slacking off on the blog lately, and apparently I've been slacking off on taking photos too, because when I went to update today, there weren't very many blog-worthy photos to choose from. But, here's a few that I do have.

We spent Christmas here this year. It was pretty chill. The three of us went cross country skiing on Christmas Eve, at the Tech trails. We've discovered that Willow is still small enough to carry on our backs while skiing, and she had a great time. We stick to easy trails when she is on our backs, but she loves any little hill we do go down, and says, "Wheeeeee!". We've been out a few times since, too, despite the low snow this year. We don't have any photos yet from the trails, but here's one of Willow getting ready to go - all bundled up.



















It was just us at our house Christmas morning. Willow was pretty excited. I got a great video of her coming down the stairs Christmas morning, but stupid blogger wasn't having any of that this morning. My brother was in town from Idaho, so it was nice to see him. Willow got the see the mysterious uncle Ryan that she hears about. Christmas day, we did our usual meal deliveries for Little Brothers, Friends of the Elderly. It was so easy, I don't even think we got that warm fuzzy feeling from it. We brought meals to some elders who lived in the same apartment building, but it turned out they had planned with the other people in the apartment who were getting meals delivered to all get their meals and eat them together in the common area. So they didn't want to visit or anything - it was like, "thanks for the food, see ya". Ha. Then we just hung out at my parents' house, opened some gifts and ate dinner. Here's a couple photos I got, and one really short video that blogger did like.

Willow had a tummy ache here. She usually lays down when she has one. :(















A little happier here.





This was Willow's big gift from Santa: an easel. It was mine when I was little; my Grandpa Otto made it. We still have to paint over the "LINDSAY" on it and put her name instead. So far, it is a big hit, and she likes to draw W's and O's on the chalkboard.




















Then the Jenson's (Jack, Jean, Janna and auntie Jill) came up for New Year's. We had fun with them too, though I have very little photo evidence to prove that. Here's a really cute one of Willow with auntie Janna.

















We went out to dinner a couple times, and Janna, Willow and I "ran" (jogged/walked) a 5K on New Year's Eve. Jack and Josh walked it. Unfortunately, Josh got sick that night. We thought maybe it was food poisoning, but then a few days later, Willow got it and then a few days after that, I got it. It was a very short-lived stomach bug, but I'm glad that's over.

In other news, we finally got enough snow (although just barely) to head to Mount Bohemia yesterday with Seth, Beth and Tessa while Grandma and Grandpa babysat. Even though the snow cover was marginal, we still had a great time. After that, we went to a swimming pool birthday party for Willow's friend Aspen. That was great fun, and Willow did not poop in the pool (whew!). We're heading to Wausau this Wednesday for Willow's appointment with a pediatric GI doctor, and hopefully he will be able to figure out what is behind her tummy issues.

I'll try not to let a month go by before my next post!