Burr its cold out!

Everything is going well at the Struckman household! Monday I had my 6 week postpartum appointment...everything checked out well, except I have mastitis, which I was pretty sure I did, I have an antibiotic for it and hopefully will feel better soon. Tuesday, me and the girls made it to bible study...yes, I was shocked! I had to hold Bree the whole time and nurse her towards the end, but she did very well. And Emma was excited to play with her friends! We have spent the rest of the week home because its been super cold!!! Bree has slept 5-6 hours the last few nights and is growing like crazy! She loves to smile and talk to her mommy...as you will see in the pictures below! Emma must be growing because all week she has taken a 4-5 hour nap in the afternoon and sleeps til 9am in the morning!
Here are some pictures from the last week or so:

Shane and Emma a few Saturdays ago, heading out for their daddy/daughter date. They went to Iowa City so Shane could look at and buy a planer he found on craigslist, then went to a pet store to look at all the animals and out to lunch! A fun time was had by all. Emma tells me now that 'she helps daddy with his tools'.

Bree hanging out!

Emma playing with Bree's activity mat...what a goof ball!

Emma wanted her hair done like mommy's!

I think she looks so grown up!

Princess Cinderella!

I look at this picture and see my mom when she was a little girl!

Bree is chatting with me in this picture!
She is most alert at night before she goes to bed and is sooo much fun!

Big smiles!

Thats all for now! Have a good weekend!

Update and Pictures!

A quick update and some pictures! We have settled quite nicely into being a family 4! I love having a baby in the house again (we are so not done, God-willing), and sharing it all with Emma is so much fun! Bree is such a good baby and has become so much more alert and responsive to us! She always has smiles for us and has begun trying to 'talk' with baby coos and sounds!
Sleep hasn't been bad either, generally I get her down for her last feeding around midnight and she will sleep 4.5 to 5.5 hours. There has been a few nights that she has slept 6 hours, and the longest last night at 7 hours...but that was after a day of fussiness and eating every 1.5 to 2 hours (must be a growth spurt!) And thankfully, Emma is sleeping all night after waking up in the middle night for an entire week in a row (Shane's first week back to work after vacation, and he was sick too...so I felt bad for him, cuz he thankfully has taken over night duty with Emma while I am up with Bree).
Emma has kept very busy playing with all her new things she received for Christmas. We do lots of 'laundry', coloring, stickers, and playing with her new doll (which you will meet below)! Emma is so smart and has become stubborn as she is becoming more independent! She is definitely a mini-me...and there are times that that isn't a 'good' thing! She loves to sit with me while I nurse Bree, and likes to tell me 'Emma watch mickey mouse on ipod while mom give Bree a boob'! And there have been tons of things that she says lately that just make us laugh and would utterly embarrass me if said in public (only a matter of time!).
First off, some pictures of Bree:

A picture of Bree's hair!

Bree and Bella napping on the couch!

Now pictures of what Emma has been up to:

Fun times with all the stocking hats!

She's gotta try out mommy's too!

Yes, I see myself in this picture!!!

Here are some pictures of the Christmas gifts I made. If you received one of these, count yourself very fortunate and loved, because these are not fun to make and extremely time consuming!!! I dont know what I was thinking taking on 5 of them at once, but nonetheless, the finished product is adorable and Emma has gotten immense joy out of hers:

I would like to formerly introduce you to 'Lola' in the brown dress and 'Mimi' in the pink dress!

Emma received 'Lola' for Christmas, and Bree received 'Mimi'
Emma has taken over both, but has been told repeatedly that 'Mimi' is Bree's. She now has to sleep with Sophie, Lola and Mimi at night.

Monkey and onesie that I sent to Nolan Hughes for Christmas
(It matches Heather's diaper bag)

New niece Londyn also got a doll and onesie to match her diaper bag

The whole gang...the other monkey is 'L.J.' that I made to go with the boy diaper bag I made for me...someday he will have a buddy to play with him ;)

Hope you enjoyed this post, cuz I don't know when the next one will be...could be this week or not til next month (much to my mother's dismay I am sure)!

Bree's Newborn Photoshoot Pictures

Here are the pictures from Bree's newborn photo shoot. We had Priscilla, the very talented girl who took our family pictures in July, come to the house and take them. They were taken on December 11th, 2010 when Bree was 9 days old!
Enjoy!