Olivia got a kid-friendly digital camera for Christmas yesterday, so here is Christmas through the eyes of Olivia:

It's only been a week, but a lot has happened around here! 

Monday was my "home business" Christmas party in Woodbury, and the girls stayed with Aunt Heather, Uncle Paul, and cousin Joshua while I attended.  They were so excited--they talked about it all day, and had a blast there.

As of Tuesday, I am officially 28 years old, and I had an absolutely awesome birthday!  Karly and Dustin came over to babysit, and for the first time since Norah was just a babe, we had an actual date.  Our last date we went to Pei Wei while Andy, Tanya, and Steve tag-teamed the girls.  This time we went to Kabuki, which is a Japanese steak house right in Eden Prairie.  I ate real sushi for an appetizer, then we did teppanyaki--which is where they cook your food right in front of you with a little lah-dee-dah.  Our chef was great, and made a really cool flaming tower of onions.  I had the filet mignon and lobster tail.  It was my birthday, you know!  Everything was wonderful, and we had such a great time!  Then we walked around the mall for a little bit, and I got a cute new purse.

Then on Wednesday, I had a massage (compliments of Jon) for my birthday, and was walking around the mall shopping for Christmas presents when I found out that Jenny was engaged!!!  Congrats to Michael & Jenny! 

On Thursday Jenny, Steph, Karly, and I had a very yummy potluck and wine, girl-gab-fest night.  We had a great time, and talked all night long.  I will miss a lot that when I'm in Arkansas.

On Friday my sister Jess and her boyfriend Leighton arrived from Montana, and they will be here through Christmas Day.  Tonight we went to the Holidazzle and then out to eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  It was about 17 degrees out with a wind chill of around zero, so very chilly!  When I was getting the girls dressed at home, I felt like I was going a little overboard, but once we got outside I knew it was a good thing.  They were each wearing an undershirt, a long-sleeved t-shirt, tights, jeans, a sweater, snow pants, big winter coats, gloves, tennis shoes (only because their boots were packed), Livi had a hat and her hood, and Norah had a pilot cap, a hat, and her hood.  Then they both sat in the double stroller and we put a blanket over the top and tucked it in under their legs, plus we had the shade pulled down on the stroller to block the wind.  They thought the snow pants were hilarious!  They did not enjoy the cold much, but once the parade started they loved it.  About halfway through, Livi said, "Mom, I'm having so much fun!"  Norah kept asking for more lights.  Pictures!

When we got to The Old Spaghetti Factory, I took both girls to the bathroom to do diapers and pottying, and it took me so long to get them both undressed!  I left the stall carrying three hats, three pairs of gloves, three coats, two pairs of snowpants, a sweater, and my purse.  Then at the end of dinner, Norah started getting fidgety and wanting to get out of the highchair.  I finally realized she was needing to fill her diaper, so I grabbed her up and we went back to the potty.  On the way she sang, "To the potty!  To the potty!"  I laid her on the changing table, and she threw a fit because she had wanted to sit on the potty--but her diaper was already full.  So I cleaned her up and then put her on the potty.  She concentrated really hard, and then I heard a little tinkle, and she said, "I did it!!!"  My baby made weewees on the potty for the first time in a public bathroom.  Have you ever heard of that before???  Crazy. 

Anyway, that brings us to right now, where we are all sitting in the dark, trying to lull the kids to sleep.  Hope you enjoyed reading about our week!

I wanted to talk a bit more about our upcoming move.  We are moving to Bella Vista, Arkansas, which is in the northwest corner of the state.  There are several reasons why we're going, but here are the two biggest:  1) We will be closer to Jon's parents.  We would like to be able to be near them and be able to help them with whatever they need.  2) Jon will have normal hours and weekends off, plus a less stressful job.  It's also doing something that really interests him, so that's a bonus.  Those are the big ones, but of course there are other advantages, such as the warm weather, cheap housing, and the fact that we will be visited by all Jon's brothers and sisters frequently!  We are looking forward to hosting everyone, so please come down often!

We will of course miss all our family and friends from this area.  That will be the most difficult part of this move for us.  But we truly believe that this is the best move for our family and that it is in God's plan.  Everything has worked out better than if we had planned it ourselves, so you know that's of God, not us.

The girls are handling the commotion quite well--better than I expected, actually.  They both know we are moving to Arkansas and every day Olivia asks if today is Arkansas day.  The three of us packed up a couple boxes of their toys and books a few days ago, and I wasn't sure how they would react.  I thought maybe they would freak out, since we were "taking their toys away."  But they both really got into it!  I told them we were putting their things into boxes so that the movers could put them on the truck and take them to our new home in Arkansas--that way we could have all our toys with us in Arkansas.  Livi kept bringing me more stuff and saying things like, "Ooh, I want to have this bear in Arkansas, let's put that in the box!"  They have also started playing more with the toys that are left, which only reinforces my desire to rotate their toys.  That is the first thing on my list after we get unpacked in Arkansas.  Actually, probably while unpacking, because then I won't unpack all their things.

Our third bedroom has become storage for all packed boxes and disassembled furniture.  We are about 75% packed, which makes me feel relieved, since Jon has no more days off until Christmas, and not many after.  We should find out later today which day the moving truck will be picking us up.  It will be between December 31st and January 4th.  Jon starts in Bentonville on the 7th. 

So hopefully that fills you in a little more, and I will write more as it comes!

Jon's been telling Olivia that Mommy's birthday is coming up soon.  Today she ran up to me and said, "You remember when I had a birthday cake?  And you're gonna have one!  And yours is thirty-nine, right?"

We just got home from Olivia's first big-girl birthday party, and we had a great time!  They got their hair done like princesses, with tiaras & ringlets, and had their fingernails painted.  Maddie turned eight, and the best part was that she treated Olivia just like any other party guest--not her mom's friend's three-year-old.  She was just like the big girls!  She ate pizza and drank lemonade, had fruit and chocolate fondue and birthday cake!  It was so much fun!!  Here is Livi the Princess:

Check out our photo session from Sears today--SUPER CUTE!!!

We have some pretty big news, if you haven't heard it already, so to soften it up a little, I actually uploaded some pictures for the first time in over a month.  Ironically, they are pictures from the same weekend as the last pictures I posted--Olivia's birthday weekend.  We went to the MN Zoo with Grandpa and had a blast.  Enjoy, and scroll down for the big announcement...

So now for the news...

We're moving to Arkansas at the beginning of January!  I can just hear the comments now...

The Dora cake took ten different colors--eleven if you count the two blues, one thinned with corn syrup for spreading across the entire cake.  Prep bowls were perfect for mixing and storing icing colors!

Photos of Chelsea decorating the cake

That was all we got before people started arriving, LOL!  So here's the skinny on how I did it.  First I printed a Dora coloring sheet from the Nick Jr. website.  Then I went to the Wilton cake decorating website and printed the instructions for decorating the cake you can make in their Dora cake pan (which I didn't use).  Next I traced the Dora pattern onto waxed paper and cut it out.  Then I took a toothpick and poked holes all along the lines of the pattern.  I iced the cake (which had been frozen, had the top cut off to make it level, and brushed with a pastry brush to remove crumbs) on the top and the sides and put it in the refrigerator to set up with a crust.  Then I placed the waxed paper Dora on the cake and used toothpicks to make small holes in the icing along the outside and in all the holes I had punched before.  Then I just followed the directions from the Wilton web page, outlining and icing in their directed colors.  Total, it took probably 2-3 hours, but I also didn't really know what I was doing, and I only had one icing tip #16, which you use to make all the stars, so I had to wash it out each time.  The finished product is below!

Happy Birthday Olivia!!!

The Dora cake that Mama made...didn't finish it until 45 minutes after the party started!

Opening the Dora dress-up box from Grandma & Grandpa Rustad

Norah wearing the Dora Princess hat

Princess Dora opening her Diego presents from the Fiebigers

She loves Diego!

More presents!

Norah has to get in on the action

Mary too!

Sequence for Kids from Paul, Heather, & Joshua!

Princess Dora waiting for her cake

Carter & Breanna playing the new keyboard from Grandpa John

Norah with Aunties Tanya and Tara

Uncle Joel and Cousin Avery

Let's light the candle and start singing!

Avery was not thrilled about wearing the party hat

Everyone is looking at me and singing...

The party crowd

Princess Livi/Dora eating her cake

Thank you to everyone who came and/or wished Livi a Happy Birthday!!

A special THANK YOU to Uncle Paul, who took all these photos--he did a great job!

Tonight the girls and I went to the mall to play at the play area.  About halfway through our time there, Olivia came running up to me and said,

"Thanks mom!" 

Assuming she meant for bringing her to the mall, I said, "For what?" 

She said, "For all the things."