one year old

My sweet Keller Grace. I have treasured everyday of your first year and am so thankful that you are healthy and happy!  My heart is so full and I am so in love you dearest KG. 

• keller had a growth spurt and is now 20lbs and 28 3/4 inches long (40th percentile)

• she is wearing size 2 diapers and 9-12 month clothes

• kg is a champion crawler and is attempting to walk. she can successful stand on her one for long periods of time and walks holding onto the couch or wall. 

• she LOVES to dance! any music she hears causes her entire body to move and groove!  

• keller, like her sis, is a late teether. she only has her two bottom teeth. 

• she loves to play peekaboo

• keller needs her blankie to sleep and immediately cuddles and buries her face into it when it's time for bed

• she still has a paci when she sleeps

• kg loves to eat...and eat. some of her favorite foods are blueberries, peas, pears, cheese, and peaches

• she loves to play ball, especially with her sis

•keller is a babbler but can say "dadda" "mama" "uh-oh" "bye-bye"

• she can sign "all done" "more" "hello/goodbye"

• keller can make monkey noises and can point out several different animals in pictures

• keller loves to clap her hands after she's "accomplished" something....or just wants our attention to cheer for her

• keller got her new carseat this month, but will stay rear facing for awhile

• she loves bath time
• she adores her big sis, but has mastered the art of tattling

European Adventure

I'm leaving today for Europe for 11 days.  I am traveling with two of my colleagues from UNL as we are doing a scouting/planning trip in Amsterdam to prepare for a student study abroad experience for May 2014.  I'm lucky enough to be able to go along.  I will be helping with the logistics and recruiting for the trip and couldn't be more thrilled.  At the end of our work week we will take the train down to Paris for a few days.  Rough life...ha!  I plan to post pictures as I go on my tumblr and instagram.

My mommy heart is having hard time leaving the girls but they are in excellent hands!  My parents will be here through next Tuesday to help Erik since he will still be working.  And then my wonderful in.laws will help Erik the last half of the trip.  Thank you Erik, Mom, Dad, and G&J!  Appreciate you helping so I can leave knowing how much fun the girls will be having!  LOVE YOU ALL!

And now to brag a little about my rockstar packing skills. As cheesy as it sounds, I spent a lot of time researching how to pack for this trip.  I wanted to make sure I didn't overpack (especially since we have the ability to do laundry at the apartments we are staying at).  I also wanted to save room for some European shopping!

Carryon Suitcase (not including the clothes wore while traveling):

5 shirts

4 tanks for layering

4 pairs of shoes (I know...I know)

1 dress

3 cardigans

1 trench coat

3 pairs of pants (khaki, black, skinny jeans)

1 pair of black shorts

4 scarves

umbrella

hair straightener

european adapter

toiletry bag (jewelry, makeup, etc)

north face roo to use while "touristing"

extra ziplock bags

small mesh laundry bag

belt

Carryon Tote/Purse

Wallet/Passport

2 Real Simple Magazines (for the flight!)

iPad Mini

Kindle

Camera

Chargers

Ziplock baggy with liquids (shampoo, conditioner, etc)

Small bag within to hold randoms: chargers, gum, first aid stuff, earplugs

Socks (must!)

Mother's Day and Dedication Sunday

Mother's Day was special this year for a number of reasons.

We started the day at church and had the honor of dedicating Keller Grace. We were surrounded by her grandparents and had many aunts and uncles in the congregation. We are blessed to have such a supportive, loving, and gracious family. What a privilege to stand in front of our family, church, and Lord promising to raise our daughter to be like Him. 

Following the service our family came to our house to celebrate our moms!  We had the most beautiful weather and enjoyed some yummy food!

I was able to celebrate this special day with my own mama!  And that was great!  But most of all, I couldn't be more thrilled to be the mama of these two precious girls. Evie and Keller, I love you through and through. Yesterday. Today. And tomorrow, too. 

DC

Erik and I spent three fabulous days in DC last week. It was awesome. 90 degrees and wonderful! We spent lots of time eating! We enjoyed 12 restaurants on our culinary adventure! We had a carefully planned restaurant tour thanks to our friend JJ! So loved out time with friends and thankful for such great hosts! Amber and JJ you rock!

Got to spend some much needed catchup time with my childhood bestie (ahem sister). Britt, love you tons! So proud of all you are accomplishing!

We biked all around the city! Love the bike share but whoa...I'm outta shape! I guess 35 miles in 63 hours isn't impossible!! We got to see do much more because if biking and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the city this way!

Cherry blossoms were in full bloom and it was incredible! We even witnessed what we think was the President being escorted by dozens of motorcycles and SUVs. Whoa.

                                

Amazing hosts.

So much eating.  So good.

Capital Building

Britt Marie.

Cherry Blossoms!

Ford's Theater

April GI update

We spent our day at Children's today. Keller is doing great. While some of her labs are a tad higher than normal, our doctor was feeling great. We don't return again until the beginning of July!

And while we were at Children's Hospital....Evie was at Children's museum with Peyton!

#hustadeaster2013

We celebrated Easter with the Hustad fam. It was KG's first Easter and boy did she look cute...but he was oh so crabby as her bottom teeth are making an appearance finally! We had a great time ad Evie loved every moment with we cousins and fam! We had an Easter egg hunt and Evie loaded up in goodies!

So thankful for family! And thankful for a Savior who died so we may live! He is Risen Indeed!!