Happy new year

It's our final night in our sweet little coastal 2 bedroom apartment. We have been here for 3 1/2 years and it's been good to us. I'm mostly excited to move forward with our lives as our little family grows to 4 in just a few short months but as Emmy pointed excitedly to the hot air balloon floating above us outside this evening as we walked to our car and was proud to announce "Emmy's house!" when we pulled into the parking lot upon returning home it dawned on me that this is the only place she knows as home, and the only place we've ever called home together as a family. I got sad for a second...and then I thought of my pretty new kitchen and got excited again. Moving day tomorrow!!! Hooray! I will share pictures once everything is put together. What a great way to end our wonderful year, and start a new one. Cheers to 2011 and a happy hello to 2012! Happy new year.

it's here!

HAPPY merry HOLLY JOLLY everything!!! I am beyond joyful and i don't know how to contain my excitement. our little place is tidy for santa as tidy as it can possibly be in the middle of this packing madness, we watched a christmas movie this morning and have been listening to christmas music non stop. emmy helped me bake brownies with candy cane frosting topped with chocolate shavings, our presents are ALMOST all wrapped and under the tree, our festive outfits are out and ready to be worn to our christmas eve celebration at the Moore residence, and we have christmas spirit like never before. oh christmas, you will forever remain the most wonderful time of the year! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Love Greg, Nikki & Emmy

christmas countdown

christmas/moving/baby chaos is making my brains crazy. trying my hardest to take one thing at a time is keeping me somewhat sane. i'm doing something festive everyday this week with Emmerson to focus on the first of the craziness to come...my beloved holiday, christmas. today we nearly finished up our christmas shopping and attempted to see santa, who was taking an EXTREMELY long break. he never did show up, but we had fun riding the train and jumping our buns off in the jumpy, so santa will have to be sat on another day. tomorrow we shall enjoy the jungle bells festivities of the zoo. wednesday we shall bake and watch christmas movies, thursday we are getting our christmas nails done, and friday we have a holiday party to attend taking us to the holly jolly weekend! due to the little one's enthusiasm with tearing open presents, i have been slacking in the wrapping department. all of which will have to wait until christmas eve day. i'm a lover of wrapping presents, so this won't be overly overwhelming for me. speaking of presents, my sweet parents have generously gifted us with an ipad2. we promised we would not open it until christmas morning and so it sits in our closet, completely unopened. this is a solid display of obedience, that i've never in my life been able to follow through with. i'm quite proud of myself to say the least and i'm overly excited to have a fun toy to play with on christmas morning! and finally, i leave you with a picture of Emmerson at Disneyland. she was going to town on her special lollipop and i felt the need to give her sticky colorful face a little scrub down. she licked the wipe that i was using on accident, and greg captured her mid-gag.

here's to a week full of all things christmas!

home sweet home.

remember how we completely ran out of space in our sweet two bedroom apartment once the little one moved in two years ago with her massive amounts of baby gear? and how we have another one joining us in april? well, that calls for a change of address. we shall pick up and return inland a bit to join greg's family and we couldn't be more excited. slash stressed. plenty more space and a nice change is refreshing, but trying to pack up our life during the holiday season is going to get hectic real quick. i'll be glad to be happily settled in within the next few weeks.

our new place is a three story townhome. it has three bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, which is far too many toilets to clean if you ask me. and a two car garage. it is currently getting a slight makeover, as the last renters went a little buck-wild causing some minor repairs. the upside...i got to pick out all of the paint colors! we took some before pictures, and i will be sure to show before and afters once we are all moved in.

mickey the mouse.

Our christmastime disneyland trip 2011 was a success! we had so much fun and Emmerson was such a good girl. her excitement made disney more fun than ever...in a magical kind of way. a little less fun in the thrilling kind of way as we had to steer clear of the roller coasters this time due to the little gal's height, and the sweet dude growing in my gut. regardless, we had the best day ever!

christmastime is here!

it is finally december and the rest of the world has joined in with the christmas cheer!! family,friends, disneyland, hot cocoa, christmas movies, christmas cards in the mail, wrapping gifts, shopping, cold nights, sparkles, christmas dresses, santa at the mall, slippers, fires, christmas music, dancing, decorations, smiles, cookies, blankets, christmas pajamas, i love it all. i hope you're enjoying this holiday season as much as i am!

warm wishes, Love The Nielsens

goodbye november.

december is quickly approaching, and i've just realized that i haven't even come close to completing my christmas shopping. normally by this point i have a respectable amount done with. oh my slacker, what ever will i do? i don't even have any good ideas. i feel lost. insert deep sigh. on the up side, my sweet little family all 3 1/2 of us will be partaking of some serious happiness next week at none other than the happiest place on earth, disneyland!! I've never seen the spectacular christmas decorations, and emmy has never experienced the magic, so it's about time.

i had a couple weeks of craftiness. its all i wanted to do. i've calmed down a little. i leave you with the cute wreath that i made which now hangs on our door...

goodbye to november for another year, i truly always enjoy this goodbye the very most.

oh goodness.

last week i went to the dentist. i have avoided the dentist for 10(ish) years, and i still manage to have all of my teeth. i read somewhere that getting your teeth professionally cleaned while you're pregnant is healthy for the baby (sorry emmy, i missed that memo when i was growing you) so off i went. well, they did a real number on my pearly whites and the lady commended me for finally coming in. especially while being pregnant since it helps avoid low birth weight. timeout. i guess i should have read further into this article. allow me to remind you of this...

that's my sweet husband as a not-so-wee baby. as in 3 weeks old. as in the photographer positioned him so that his rolls were holding him up. as you can clearly see, we aren't all that concerned about low birth weight. i don't know whether to stop brushing my teeth until april, or just simply pray that this little lad takes after his sister and her perfect 7lbs15oz newborn size.

1/2

we have officially made it to the half way mark! 20 weeks pregnant. that's nearly 5 months down. i'm feeling perfectly fine and thoroughly enjoying the little kicks, rolls and snuggles going on inside my guts.

the bump for whatever reason is not fully visible, but it's there. i promise.

thanks.

happy thanksgiving americans. dinner celebrations starting tonight. loads to be thankful for this year. love to all.

dear ellen degeneres

I'm dreaming of a white christmas...oh and tickets to Ellen's twelve days of giveaways. my oh my what a dream come true that would be!!!! I don't even know what i would do with myself? probably the usual jumping up and down screaming like a spaz, while peeing in my pants a little bit. did i tell you that happened at the Taylor concert? as in ALL of the above. i even bought really expensive shiny purple leggings to wear with my tutu and kept the tag on fully intending on returning them after the show. i'm not normally that kinda gal...the one who buys something to wear once and pray that nothing spills on it or harms in any way so that a worry-free return can be made the next day. well let me tell you...i was EVER so careful eating pizza and drinking soda in my shiny expensive purple leggings. we left for the concert without a hitch and i thought since i got through dinner without a spill, i was in the clear. never ever did i anticipate the moment when the lights went down low, the music started, and Taylor Swift appeared on stage before my very eyeballs that my ridiculous amount of excitement would trigger an ever so slight trickle in my knickers. i continued the show with plenty of toned-down slightly less obnoxious singing, dancing, jumping and screaming without anymore outbursts from my bladder. i wasn't too distraught, with hopes that no damage was done. I examined the situation and sure enough, that mild dribble left those mighty expensive leggings untouched. success! and yes, i still returned them, and no i didn't even feel bad...and i don't even remember why i just shared that story in the first place? OH- Ellen. i'm reaallllllllyyyy longing for tickets this year. i'm entering to win said tickets every single say. i'd be more than delighted. and if i indeed won these ever so desirable tickets, i'd surely wear less expensive pants that i already own. just incase.

e + b

forget rubber ducky...

in our little home we like to spice up bath time on the weekends...how you ask?

turn the lights down low and throw in some glow sticks of course!

deck the halls

Gah! i keep getting goosebumps ALL over my body when i look around my sweet little home. lights and sparkles and all things christmas! oh my! i may be SLIGHTLY early this year, i'll admit...but i just couldn't hold out any longer and boy am i glad that i didn't. i'm fully aware of the fact that i'm annoyingly obnoxious when it comes to this wonderful holiday season but it really truly brings me pure joy for months straight and you just can't beat that.

here's to holiday cheer!

now go decorate.

the party

for Emmerson's 2nd birthday we threw her a halloween dance party and this is what it looked like...

happy halloween

happy halloween..trick or treat... and stuff! honestly? i'm ready to move on. I LOVE holidays...and halloween is no exception...we just did so much halloween stuff this weekend that i feel like it's dragging on. and on and on.

this morning i learned the real importance of the "trap door" in one-piece footy pajamas. mine don't have a trap door. i didn't think it was completely necessary to have one. WRONGO. i had no idea how FREEZING COLD it would be to have to nearly undress completely just to pee in the morning. not to mention the fact that the little male human in my gut prefers my bladder as a pillow causing me to frequent the bathroom more than normal. in the middle of the night. when it's extra cold. my next footy jammies will have a trap door.

grandpa is looking for a wife now. preferably one who doesn't mind that he wont remember her name.

emmerson's favorite toys are currently my little pony. they keep her entertained long enough for me to get things done. she walks them around and talks to them and makes farting noises followed by "he pooped it!" yep, still scarred from the elephant video...and probably a little of greg's influence in there too...

we've narrowed our boy name selection down to two. naming a boy is hard for us. i have been shopping a couple of times for the little nugget and his wardrobe is coming along nicely! i just can't wait to snuggle him.

and tomorrow....on to all things christmas! hooray!!!

2

today we celebrate the birth of my very first human! our sweet Emmerson Claire is two and i feel so lucky to be able to call her mine! Happy birthday to our beautiful not-so-baby girl!! we love you!

Emmerson, age zero

Emmerson, age one

Emmerson, age two

94

sad news from home. today my dear grandfather passed away. he lived for 94 happy years and i am blessed to have an endless supply of some of the sweetest memories of my life. he was loved by all and one of the best men i've ever known.

we got to see him while we were home for christmas last year. i'm so glad emmerson got to meet him and enjoy his company

he shared his ice cream and scored points with the little one immediately.

and then they were pals.

he will be missed.

results

our little family that will soon be four will feel so much more complete when we welcome our sweet baby boy in april! a pink one and now a blue one! we wont need to have any more! (kidding patti)

pink or blue?

it's crazy for me to think that two years ago from this very day was my due date with sweet emmerson claire. i should have known right then and there that she was going to be a stubborn little thing when she decided not to relieve me of my hugeness on that day. 2 days later she graced us with her cute face. my baby turns two in two days. wahhh. good thing we have another one coming in the spring because i miss having a sweet little snuggler. today happens to be a special day yet again. stephanie and i both find out if we are having a boy or a girl. i wasn't all that anxious to know this time around ...until today. now i'm pretty pumped to start shopping, decide on a name and make some plans! i don't really have a preference in the gender department with this babe. (i'm ashamed to say that i was set on having a girl first. and i got what i wanted.) i would love for emmy to have a sister, but then having one of each would be just lovely too! boy or girl? boy or girl? this appointment is suddenly taking forever to get here!!!

elephants

gregory and emmerson were sitting at the computer watching animal videos on youtube. greg clicked on an elephant video, which just so happened to be an elephant birth. before he could click away the baby elephant dropped along with a gush that has engrained a rather unpleasant image in my brain forever. sweet emmerson was perplexed. "wassat?" i pretended it was no big deal "that was a baby elephant!" emmy flashes a look of concern and replies "he pooped it!". clearly she doesn't miss a thing. smart cookie. we asked her if she wanted to watch a different video. she looked at us sweetly "no elephants." perhaps we wont have to renew those zoo memberships after all!

nice!

plugs

I have been meaning to share with you a text i received from greg's dad many weeks ago. enjoy.

chuck: I came home to make grandpa lunch and the usual small talk led me asking if he did his laps in the pool and his resounding reply "yes! but the doctor told me to do something but i can't remember what" I then looked for his new swimming ear plugs and asked "did you use these?" showing him one of the pink ear plugs not knowing where the other one was. "what are those for?" he asked. "your ears. you put them in your ears to keep the water out." grandpa replies "oooohhhh i thought it was a pill so i ate it! damn i better write these things down!"

wee cousins

remember that one time, i'm due on april 14th, and my sweet sister steph is due on april 17th? yeah that's pretty close. i don't know what we will do if we birth these sweet cousins at the same time, because not only do we need to share the motherly love of patti, but we also share a doctor. that could get tricky. i would suggest just putting us in beds side by side to solve all running back and forth issues, but i'm 100% certain that the sweet husbands would vote strongly against that for obvious reasons. not a sight for brothers to see. regardless, these wee babes will be bff's and i can't even wait!

insert: greg just read this post and cringed "i don't want to be there when she's naked!!!!" haha i rest my case.

tp

have you ever seen the charmin toilet paper commercials with the bears? the ones where the momma bear has to inspect the little bears' buns, come to find out that it is covered in itty bitty pieces of toilet paper. i just can't seem to come to terms with this concept. i've used a wide variety of toilet paper brands in my lifetime and i've truly never experienced such a thing. it blows my mind that the people of charmin assume that humans can relate. is that really a common issue? common enough that it can be used to sell the charmin brand? i like charmin toilet paper. it is soft. i just get flustered when i see those commercials. thats all.

spilling the beans

last month, we had greg's family over for dinner. after we ate we were all kicked back relaxing, when sweet husband suggested that we get a group shot. everyone gathered on the couch while he set up the camera. he peeked out from behind the lens and said "okay, everyone smile and say....

...Nikki's pregnant!!!"

their immediate response? "yeah right, funny joke"

I reassure them that greg isn't being ridiculous. "no really! i promise! i'm due in April!"

...and then it sinks in.

please take note of sweet landon's shock...

excitement all around.

ya hear that Em? you're gonna be a big sister!!!

the nielsens 3.5

it's been awhile.

hi, how are ya? i had no intentions of being so absent for so very long, nor did i even realize my lack of updates for that matter. needless to say, i have returned after many complaints and will try my darndest to keep you all better informed of our nielsen family happenings from this day forward. life has been filled with the beach, pools, naps, camping, waterparks, food, movies, friends and family. as much as i have loved summer, i'm ready to get into holiday mode. shocker? not so much. my sweet girl turns two soon, my hair is back to dark incase you were wondering and my husband made the news today for something i'd really rather not think about, but i'll share nonetheless.

balloons

one of our very favorite things to do in the summertime evening is to watch the hot air balloons that practically take off in our backyard.

livin' on the edge.

it's friday night and we ordered pizza, then we all got our jammies on, busted open the pull out couch, got our pillows, blankets (and bunny) put in a movie of the animation variety, ate treats and snuggled. my heart is full.

dunzo.

i'm going to take you back...way back to 2007 when gregory john and i were courting. we were young and carefree. there would be times when we would just go for drives with no destination in mind. often times, this would lead us to a street we frequented not far from his house. we found ourselves coming back to this street time and time again because of the dip in the road. if you took it real fast, and hit it just right your guts would drop down to your asshole for a moment and we liked the rush. one sunny afternoon we headed for "our street". just like any other day we approached the street, the anticipation making us giggle like little school children. gregory slammed his foot down on the gas, causing the turbo in his 1994 volvo 940 to kick in. we took that dip like champs and enjoyed every millisecond of it...until we hit an innocent squirrel. it was crossing as we dipped and not in sight until it was too late. we felt bad. even though i don't have much love for beasts, i'm not into harming them let alone murdering them. i guess you could consider that our last adventure with the dip in the street. last week we had some time to kill. on our way to a store, sweet husband took some side roads, glanced over at me and asked if i recognized where we were. "the street with the dip!" i replied. he was glad i remembered. he let out a little sigh "the last time we were here we hit that poor squirrel..." and he barely finished the sentence when a squirrel with a death wish ran out in front of us. stupid squirrels. we weren't even driving reckless this time. they really should think about putting a squirrel crossing sign on that street. or do they only do that for larger beasts? regardless, it's a hazard. we turned around to see if it was really done for, and greg made me take a picture. RIP squirrel number two.

puppet show

is it terrible that i can't get enough of this video? so good.

it hasn't rained in months...

but i love me some rain boots. i want.

enter giveaway here.

grandpa round three.

i've heard two grandpa stories lately that deserve a post...

greg's dad and grandpa were sitting on the couch watching a game on television. grandpa's cell phone rings. he looks around. he spots his wine glass sitting in front of him. he picks up his wine glass. chuck watches with curiosity. grandpa holds the wine glass up to his face and yells into it "hello?...hello!? hello???? i can't hear you..." i can only imagine chuck's laughter.

today, chuck took grandpa out to lunch. they were the only two customers in the whole place. they were seated at a table with a mirror behind chuck. chuck notices grandpa looking around his shoulder and into the mirror. finally grandpa leans in and whispers to chuck "that man over there has the exact same hat that i do!"

I really wish i could have been around to witness both of these gems!

27

twenty seven years old as of july sixteenth.

that.

sounds.

old.

oh darlin' don't you ever grow up