Happy Holidays to you all!  Christmas was a GREAT day in the Kassel household.  Santa was good to all of us.  Laura discovered very quickly that wrapping paper is simply no match for her.  When she first saw all the presents under the tree, she was very amazed .  She wasn't sure what to think.  We pulled out one of the presents and handed it to her.  I helped her open the first one because she wasn't sure what to do.  After that one was open and she had gotten a new book, she was ready for present number two.  From there, things snowballed.  She couldn't get enough of ripping the wrapping paper.  Plus, she was genuinely surprised that these were things for her.  It was just so much fun to watch her.  By the end of the opening process, Andy and I decided that our daughter is definitely a "ripper."  There will be no watching other people open presents for her.  Give her a stack and let her go!  I think she was even more amazed when she discovered that there were actually presents in her stocking .  Santa was really good to Laura and she was very happy with her presents.  We spent the rest of Christmas day hanging out with B and Rachel and Julie and Christian Els.  It was a great day with friends and I think Laura had a fun Christmas. 

A couple of days after Christmas, Grandma Lanette and Bart sent a package with a couple of presents for Laura (she tried to get it here Christmas Eve, but UPS didn't pick up as planned).  Andy and I put them under the tree for Laura to open after she got home from daycare.  I brought Laura down to the family room to let the dogs out.  Andy went upstairs to get the camera.  I set her down by the couch and by the time I opened the door for the dogs, Laura was under the tree digging the presents out.  I yelled for Andy to hurry because our little present ripper was moving fast!  Grandma Lanette and Bart get big points for their presents.....especially "up up Elmo."  Thank goodness Elmo has an on/off switch though.....the little song he sings is now stuck in our heads!  

Oh, Santa was good to Andy and I too.  Andy got a World of Warcraft T-shirt and coffee mug, a digital rain gauge, and a wall-mount battery charger for his cordless power tools.  I got a World of Warcraft T-shirt and coffee mug,  some jewelry that I LOVE, a French Coffee Press, and a 4-cup coffee pot for work.

We hope that Christmas was wonderful for you all!  Have fun tonight as we ring in 2008!  Happy New Year! 

It's been a great couple of weeks.  It has been so much fun watching Miss Laura during this time.  She is so amazed by everything.  It makes both Andy and I stop and just watch her and really appreciate all those things that you take for granted because it's just part of the Christmas season.  The lights, the Christmas tree, the decorations, the television shows, etc.  Andy and I can't stop smiling and it's a great feeling.  We can't wait to see Laura's reaction on Christmas morning when the presents "appear" under the tree.  She seems to like wrapping paper, so I think she will enjoy tearing into a present or two.

We took Laura to see Santa Claus at the mall on Saturday.  She was afraid of him, but we still managed to get a great picture.  I actually held her while one of Santa's helpers played peek-a-boo with her.  Santa leaned in carefully behind her and the other helper snapped the picture.  It's a great picture and Andy was very happy.  He really wanted a happy picture of her and Santa Claus.

On the other baby front, I'm feeling pretty good.  Although, morning sickness is very different with this one.  I get waves of nausea where I have to sit down quickly and breathe slowly.  Fortunately, these waves don't last very long and that helps a lot.  The other nice part is it seems to be only in the morning.  I've also been very tired, but I noticed last night that I didn't start feeling really tired until 9.  I'm 8 weeks along now so I should only have a few more weeks of this.  We meet our new doctor next week.  Dr. Mistie Mills did my C-section with Laura.  Because of the emergency with Laura's heart rate dropping, I never actually really met her.  She stuck her head over the drape and introduced herself and then got to work.  She is supposed to be a great doctor with a calming influence and that is exactly what I need.

Well, that's all for now.  Here's to hoping that your holiday seasons are safe and happy!

Hello All!  I hope the Christmas Season is treating you all well.  We are having a fantastic time with Laura.  It is so much fun to watch her with all the Christmas lights and decorations.  Seeing through the eyes of a young child puts all the wonder back into the season.  We took her to see the Magic Tree this past weekend.  She really loved it.  The tree has 900 strands of lights (roughly 76,000 individual lights) this year.  It is just beautiful.  We are taking her back this coming weekend because she was just so amazed by it. 

Unfortunately, with the recent round of ice storms, Laura's favorite decoration - the inflatable four-foot penguin - no longer works.  The power went out in the middle of the night.  When it came back on, so did all the Christmas lights because they are on timers.  Because the penguin was weighted down from all the sleet and ice, it tried hard to inflate, but couldn't.  The motor in the fan stopped working.  It was only a $20 one, so we can just buy another one.  Laura loves it so much and we want to have it for her.  We will be waiting until after the next round of storms that are supposed to roll in tonight.

In other news, Andy and I got an early Christmas present.  I discovered the week of Thanksgiving that I am pregnant with baby #2!  I say discovered because I had been having some issues of the female type and it was believed that I was not ovulating.  We had been trying since June without much success.  I had gone to the doctor the week before Thanksgiving and I was very discouraged after receiving the results of the blood tests.  Well, the week of Thanksgiving I was feeling a little off.  Nothing significant, just different.  I bought a pregnancy test more for peace of mind than anything and I was absolutely stunned when it was positive.  I stared at it for a good five minutes before running to get Andy.  He too was stunned, but he could not stop smiling.  I still was not convinced I was truly pregnant because the blood tests had shown that the hormones that control ovulation were off-the-charts low meaning I could not possibly be ovulating.  I called the advanced practice nurse, but was unable to speak to her until the next day.  I took another pregnancy test the following morning and it too was positive.  After speaking to the nurse, there was little doubt left in our minds.  I set up an appointment for the following week and it's official!  I'm pregnant!  We had to have an ultrasound to determine how far along I was because of all the issues.  Turns out, I'm due on Andy's birthday (July 23).  So even though it was a little harder to get pregnant this time around, we must be meant to have another one.  God was watching over us again.  So, stay tuned for the next 7 1/2 months....