Each Day Something New

The day has come...

2012-02-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

My maternity leave is over and it's time for me to go back to work. My days of snuggling with Liam for hours each day will be replaced with shorter, yet still wonderful snuggles in the morning and at night.

Getting all three of us out of the house on time was quite a feat this morning. Thankfully Scott can help get the boys up and dressed before he leaves for work. Teamwork is the way things get done around here.

Last night everyone's clothes were laid out, my lunch was packed, my bags in the car - lets hope I can continue this organization because it made everything run much smoother. My days of picking clothes out and ironing them in the morning are over. Perhaps someday I will be super efficient like my mom and put clothes away in my closet only once they are ironed (although I would't place bets on that one!) As I'm writing this, I have everything laid out for tomorrow. How many days do they say it takes to make a habit? 21? Well, 2 is a start.

I tried to snap a quick pic of us before we left this morning. I wish I would have remembered to take the pic before I put Karsten's coat on him, and I wish my hair wasn't hiding half of Liam's face. Oh well - it's the thought that counts, right?

Technology

2012-02-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

Isn't technology great - Karsten likes to talk to Grandma and Grandpa 'on the puter'. It's fun for them to see both Liam and Karsten, plus Karsten always has all sorts of entertaining things to say. He also thinks it's a great time to play and show and tell - here he was making pizza for them.

My Little Valentines

2012-02-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

Since they had their matching Valentine shirts on, I thought I would try to get a picture where they were both smiling. Hilarious idea, right? Yeah - it's not happening yet but we had fun and that's all that matters.

Wordless Wednesday - reading

2012-02-08T17:15:00.001-08:00

Stylin' Tie

2012-02-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Jenn got Liam a set of ties to be ironed on shirts for every season. Here he is sporting his Valentine tie - isn't it adorable? Stay tuned for a new tie each month!!

And you know I had to include a brothers pic. Someday (far, far in the future) I will get them both to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

Stickers

2012-02-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

You know how I said Karsten loves stickers? You should have seen his face when he opened a valentine card from my parents and another sheet of heart stickers fell out.

He started taking the stickers off and putting them on the dinosaur on his shirt, then he decided that Liam needed a few stickers.

Then he shared (a bunch) of stickers with me.

Check out all those stickers. Pretty fancy, eh.

Scott thought I should show off all of my stickers. Can you tell Karsten didn't want to have his picture taken, he wanted to go put stickers on Scott.

Misters Fix-it

2012-02-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

Hanging pictures is one of the items on my to-do list before my maternity leave is over. As soon as Scott got his hammer out, Karsten was off and running to find his hammer so he could help.

He got to use his hammer to put the nail in - he actually hit it several times. H wanted to use Scott's hammer, that seemed like it would go poorly.

It only took two holes and I'm (mostly) happy with where the pictures ended up.

We want SNOW!

2012-02-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, we've enjoyed the 60 degree weather but now we want winter!! I love snow and have been telling Karsten about how much fun we will have playing in the snow (when and if it comes!).

Today the boys wore their snowmen shirts hoping that some of the snow a few hours north of us would find its way to us!

Are you getting tired of this pose? We have tried to move them to another chair or different position; however, Karsten insists on this chair and this position. So, this is what we get!

Early Valentine's Day

2012-02-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

Karsten and Liam got an early Valentine's present from my parents. Karsten was SO excited about the heart stickers - he took them all off the sheet immediately.

He wanted to put a heart sticker on Liam's bottom.

He put stickers on my shirt, my hand, his shirt, then he started giving stickers to all of the people on his new pillowcase. Shannon found this great Richard Scary fabric - I loved his books when I was little.

Karsten got to open Liam's present - he showed him everything after he opened them. What a good brother!

Then it was time to relocate all of the stickers to Scott - Karsten thought it was pretty funny to put them on Scott's face.

Liam showing off his Valentine day goodies.

When it was time for bed he wore his monkey PJs so he could match his new little friend. Aren't they cute?

Helper

2012-02-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned before that Karsten likes to help with Liam. He really is a good little helper - often while we get dinner dishes cleaned up, we'll ask Karsten to talk to Liam in the highchair and keep him entertained. He does a pretty good job. If they're playing on the floor, he sets toys all around Liam - the toys might not be within Liam's eyesight, but it's the thought that counts.

Karsten trying to convince Liam that he would like to suck on the pacifier (or didifier according to Karsten). Liam doesn't really use the pacifier, just occasionally he will suck on it to calm down or get to sleep.

Just hanging out talking

Lately, he's starting to hold Liam like he's either going to pick him up or give him a big hug. We have told him that only mommy or daddy should put Liam on his lap; however, I won't be surprised when he picks Liam up. Alarmed, yes. Surprised, nope.

Here Liam, put this in your hand.

Wordless Wednesday - unusual perch

2012-02-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

The (dreaded) carseat

2012-01-31T22:28:00.000-08:00

Liam has a hatred for his carseat. Hate is a strong word - we don't let Karsten use that word - but I think it's the best word to describe Liam's relationship with the carseat.

At first we thought he was getting too hot in it (which he was), so perhaps that began his dislike. But now we've perfected the addition of an icepack to the carseat to help keep him cool. Sometimes it helps, other times it doesn't make a bit of difference.

We've tried making sure he has a full tummy before he gets in the carseat, we've tried putting him in the carseat at home to get him used to sitting in it, we've tried hanging toys on his carseat, we've tried talking and singing to him, we've tried music and moving his mirror in case it made him motionsick...the list goes on and on. Sometimes these things work, other times they don't. I've tried to isolate details that cause him to cry and I can't come up with anything.

So, for now, we'll keep trying new things and will be happy when he gets a little bigger and can see out of the carseat. I kind of wonder if he just feels alone in his carseat since he can't see much.

Brothers part deux

2012-01-31T17:18:00.000-08:00

Remember the brother pics I posted of the boys in their matching shirts? Liam is going to outgrow his shirt in no time so I wanted to get another pic for comparison. It's amazing how much Liam has changed and grown in six weeks!

When Karsten got up from his nap I thought the light was good for a few pics. Looking at them now I think it was too bright. Sigh...need more practice. Good thing I have two cute subjects!

He loves these shoes of mine, any time I wear them he steals them from me to wear. He also likes to pretend he ties the little bow on the top.

My two cuties!

How's Madison?

2012-01-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

A few people have asked us how Madison is adjusting to having Liam around. I think she's made the adjustment a bit easier this time than she did with Karsten. When Karsten arrived, she suddenly had to share all our attention with him. Unfortunately, once Karsten arrived, poor Madison got less attention. She probably hasn't seen much of a shift in attention since Liam arrived.

She loves going to my parents house because she gets all sorts of attention - plus treats when she comes in from outside! When we load everyone up to come home from my parents, Madison intentionally stays far away from the door to see if we will forget her. She's secretly hoping she can stay just a little bit longer without the kids so she can have undivided attention.

Madison loves to sit on my lap while I'm nursing Liam and she thinks that tummy time is the perfect time for us to play fetch with her. When Scott was playing with Liam on the floor, Madison kept putting her toy on top of Liam's hand. It was like she was saying 'comon' kid, play with me'.

Cute doggie

2012-01-30T20:43:00.000-08:00

Thanks Aunt Kelli for the adorable hat!

Paying attention

2012-01-30T20:36:00.000-08:00

Liam enjoys watching everything going on around him. We sit him in the highchair with us at dinner because he didn't like sitting in the bouncy seat where he couldn't see what was going on.

For a while now he's enjoyed watching himself in the mirror on the top of the swing. I wonder what he's thinking when he stares at the baby in the mirror. They have long staring contests with each other.

I think he's going to enjoy watching all of the other kids when he goes to Gail's.

Just some pics

2012-01-29T22:37:00.000-08:00

I was looking through pics to blog and had several cute ones to share with you that are not necessarily worthy of their own post. So here's a combo post with a bunch of cute pics.

My valentine penguins.

Look - no hands!

Love a sleeping baby!

uh oh - falling over!

happy baby!

serious face!

fun with papa!

Mr. Handsome

The Plunge!

2012-01-29T19:15:00.000-08:00

Nothing says winter like jumping into an icy-cold lake! Each year the Special Olympics holds a fundraiser called The Polar Bear Plunge. Scott, along with some of his student council students and a few teachers decided to raise money and participate.

This is Scott's second year taking the plunge - last year it was so cold they had to break through several inches of ice to clear the water for the plungers. This year was a completely different story. The high for the day was to be around 45 or 50 - no ice this year!

Karsten and I wanted to cheer on Scott and his team, but it was too chilly for Liam to come along, so Liam got to spend a few hours with Grandma and Grandpa. We're ready to go - it was chilly when we got to the park, probably in the low 40's and windy!

We walked past this cool police car withe the fancy paint job.

Karsten's co-sponsor for student council, Kate, and her family came along for the festivities. Kate's husband Chris is a firefighter, so he was showing the firetruck to his son and Karsten.

One of the firefighters saying hi to the boys - Karsten gave him five but was shy and wouldn't talk to him.

Scott and his principal chatting before they had to get ready to plunge!

The firefighter rescue workers waiting for the event to begin.

Scott's costume - they had a super hero theme. You can't really see the superman shirt under the towel/cape.

Karsten was getting antsy for the event to begin. He ran around for a bit but also had fun standing on Kate's shoes. Would you believe Kate is 8 months pregnant - doesn't she look awesome!

The team from Scott's school on the way to take the plunge.

Scott running into the water.

Yay, he made it! He's looking around for us - there were tons of spectators and it was tough to squeeze in front to get pictures.

The 'after' shot - can you believe they jumped in 38 degree water? Some of them without shirts or pants.

Scott survived his second polar bear plunge! We're headed to the car to go home and I couldn't resist this picture. It was so cute.

Just like Daddy

2012-01-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

Karsten and Scott were watching Mickey Mouse on the baby 'puter (aka iPad) and when I looked at them I thought it was so cute how they were sitting exactly alike.

Wordless Wednesday - crazy hair

2012-01-25T22:30:00.000-08:00

Branding

2012-01-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

Thankfully Karsten is not a picky eater. He has very few things that he dislikes or will not eat. After he turned two and learned the phrase 'me no like it', he's decided there are a few things he's always eaten that he suddenly doesn't like.

We've discovered that getting him to eat certain foods is all in how we describe the food. If we say we're having pineapple for dinner, he'll say 'me no like it'. BUT, if we tell him that we're having triangles for dinner, he'll gobble them right up. It's all in how you brand it.

There are a handful of things like this, I'm sure we'll figure out a few new brands for items that he decides he no longer likes.

He'll always eat cupcakes no matter what we call them.

Girl time

2012-01-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

Each year Jenn's church hosts a scrapbooking extravaganza. The event runs Friday night from 4pm to midnight and Saturday from 8am-4pm. The event fee provides us with dinner, dessert and coffee bar, breakfast and lunch. A family in the church does the catering and the food is FANtastic.

Several of us have attended since the event started 6 or 7 years ago. Each year someone in our group invites a new friend and our little group keeps growing. This time we had eight in our group. Ironically, we're all scrapbooking pictures of our families, yet we NEVER take pictures of ourselves when we're scrapbooking. Never. Ever. And I guarantee at least half of us had cameras in our purses. :)

As I was packing up on Friday night, I snapped a few pictures. Nothing great and as soon as the camera flashed everyone was like - what the heck are you doing, was I in that picture?!

If you look behind Amy and Kelly, you can see how many people were at the crop. I think there were 7 rows of double tables like this and they were full of people the whole time. It's a great event and we always have so much fun!

Jenn and Karla. We're trying to get Karla to come back and scrapbook with us more regularly, so it was great to see her at this crop.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T23:10:00.000-08:00

Several blogs I follow do a wordless Wednesday post where they just share a pic. I'm jumping on the bandwagon - so watch for wordless Wednesday posts in the future.

Newborn Pics

2012-01-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

I realized the other day that I had never shared Liam's newborn pictures with you. Nevermind that it's almost time for his three month pictures. We won't talk about that. :)

Kenna outdid herself again - the pictures are awesome! This one is my favorite.

Since he was born so close to the holidays, I wanted to do something with a holiday feel.

Cute little toes.

This is on the wall in his nursery. We got the same picture with Karsten - it is one of my favorites.

Love it!

He was so comfy on that blanket - adorable.

This is the quilt my mom made for his room. I love how all of the triangles are pointing to him.

I'm so happy we got a good brother picture. Everyone warned me that older siblings are hard to photograph with the baby, so I was trying to have low expectations.

Thank goodness Karsten cooperated. He was a trooper - these were taken RIGHT before his nap time. We 'encouraged' him with a few sweet tarts and he would pose for us very briefly, thankfully Kenna is fast.

Two month birthday

2012-01-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

Liam is two months old - I can't believe it, time is flying! I thought it would be great to be on maternity leave over the holidays, and it has been; however, the holidays always fly by and this year was no exception.

A few tidbits about Liam:
*He's a great sleeper - he's slowly increased the number of hours he slept at night and will now sleep between 6-8 hours. LOVE it! He never kept me up at night when I was pregnant, so I'm so glad he continued this and started sleeping through the night early! Scott has his theories about why Liam is a good sleeper; however, you'll have to ask him about those.

*He's also a good eater and when he decides it's time to eat, you better be ready to feed him or he'll let you know he's not happy.

*He likes to smile at you while you talk to you him. He has a couple of smiles - he'll start with a tiny smile, then he opens his mouth into a wide smile and will wave his hands around.

*He's starting to coo back at us more when we talk to him.

*He gets hot very easily and is NOT happy when he's hot. I think he gets that from me. The four of us were in the car to go somewhere - Scott and Karsten both had their winter coats on and neither Liam and I had coats on. He gets so hot in the carseat that we have started to wrap a thin icepack in a towel and put it under him. No judging people - you haven't been in the car when he gets too hot and screams the whole ride home.

*We had his two month checkup and everything looks great - he's right on track. He weighs 14lbs which is in the 90th percentile. He is 22 inches tall which is in the 20th percentile.

Seahorse Power

2012-01-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

Liam brought Karsten a magnetic fishing puzzle when he was born. Karsten became enamored with the seahorse puzzle piece and started calling it seahorse POWER. We have no clue why he is Seahorse power, rather than just plain ole seahorse.

Seahorse power was his constant companion for a few days - we would have to say hi to seahorse power, seahorse power would watch us eat dinner and seahorse power would ride in the car with him. Christmas came and seahorse power was forgotten in favor of his other new toys.

The other day he saw the fishing puzzle and yelled SEAHORSE POWER like they were long lost friends. You might see seahorse power show up in some pictures since it seems like he's a new favorite again.

Seahorse power and his friend the goldfish.

Catching seahorse power with the fishing pole.

Stuffy nose

2012-01-14T20:32:00.000-08:00

Liam is still a bit congested after his bout with croup over Christmas. We wondered if the continued and ongoing congestion could be due to something else besides a cold, like a milk sensitivity. So, we tried him on the formula for sensitive tummies but it didn't make a difference, so back to the regular formula we went. We checked with the doctor and she reviewed his symptoms and said she didn't think it was a sensitivity, just a lingering cold and stuffy nose. Poor lil guy - we'll keep up the saline and hope to kick the stuffy nose soon.

Despite the stuffy nose, he's a happy lil guy. He's starting to talk to us more and smiles a lot.

Teacher of the Month

2012-01-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

It's well into January already, but I just realized I forgot to tell you that Scott was awarded Teacher of the Month at his school in December. He was nominated for this award by his fellow teachers and students - well deserved! It's always nice to be recognized for your hard work, so I know he enjoyed the honor! It came with a traveling trophy for his classroom as well as a prime parking spot! We're very proud of him - congrats Scott!

Lookalike?

2012-01-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

Most people say that Liam looks a lot like Karsten. I think there are a lot of similarities yet he has a several differences. You be the judge...the framed pic is from Karsten's newborn photo shoot.

Nuthin' like a deere

2012-01-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

Karsten and Liam got these cool John Deere blankets from Leonard and Genny. Karsten loves his blanket and has slept with it every night since he opened it.

Showing off his blanket - it's a soft sweatshirt material that's really warm!

It's big enough there's room for two!

Then Karsten wanted to wrap up in the blanket and lay on the sofa. He was starting to get sleepy, so he quickly sat up and found something to play with before he fell asleep. :)

Christmas finale

2012-01-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

We wrapped our celebration weekend with one last Christmas celebration. Kelli and David hosted everyone for Christmas dinner (yum!) and presents. Karsten had a great time playing with Trent and Taylor (Tent and Tayor as he calls them).

Karsten had fun playing with Taylor's power tools with Grandpa. The tools are so cool, they light up and make noises like real tools (I'm officially a mom of boys if I think power tool toys are cool, aren't I?). There were even goggles to wear when you're cutting things - he was ADorable with them on, but he took them off before I could get a pic.

Playing with Taylor's new swords he got for Christmas.

Liam and Grandpa talking.

Kelli and fam got Karsten this fun pizza set. The round disks have velcro on them so you can attach them to the pizza to make different flavor combinations. I love Melissa and Doug toys and food sets - I just have one tiny rant for their designers. If they are going to design these cool wooden boxes to hold all of the (53!) pieces in the sets, they need LIDS for the boxes. How do they expect those 53 pieces to stay in close proximity to each other? Jeez! I think we'll be engineering a lid for the pizza tray - Karsten is having a great time with the pizza so we want to keep all of these topping disks.

Linda showing off her new mug with a pic of Liam and Karsten. When Karsten handed the package to Linda, he said "here's your coffee" - good thing she didn't know what he meant. Guess we'll have to work on not telling people what's IN the package before they open it. :)

Grandma and Grandpa with Liam. He was a happy guy hanging out watching everything going on.

It was a great day, and a wonderful conclusion to the Christmas season!

A purple celebration

2012-01-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

Since Kevin, Nancy, Michael and Gaga were coming in town for Liam's baptism, it was the perfect time to celebrate Christmas (well, that and Liam's trip to the hospital on Christmas ruined my parents trip to Nebraska for Christmas). It also happened to be the evening of the Cotton Bowl so there was present opening and Christmas fun, all while keeping a close eye on the Wildcats playing in the Cotton Bowl.

Karsten was smiling for my mom but stopped when I got close, I just caught a partial smile here.

Karsten helping burp Liam.

Gaga looking at the calendar I made her with pics of Karsten and Liam.

Karsten writing his name on his new tablet while sporting Chuck's new Nebraska hat.

He's still a wildcat at heart despite the red hat!

Helping Gaga open her presents.

Watching the game - wishing K-State was winning!

Karsten hadso much fun playing trains with Michael and Nancy. It was a whole new world when they showed him that Thomas could drive on something other than his tracks.

Nancy made tunnels for Thomas then Karsten wanted to go through the tunnels as well so they became floating tunnels.

One of the books in the tunnel had two holes in it which made the perfect holes to watch the train in the tunnel.

Kevin and Liam. I think he was trying to teach him to say Go Huskers!

Gaga made this beautiful quilt for Liam.

Such a helpful brother!

Liam liked it when Nancy danced around with him.

It was a fun evening - great to catch up with everyone and Liam enjoyed meeting the rest of his family!

Liam's Baptism

2012-01-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

We just wrapped up a wonderful weekend of family and friends helping us celebrate Liam's baptism. We started the weekend with a belated Christmas with my family, spent Saturday afternoon celebrating Liam's baptism then wrapped up the weekend celebrating Christmas with Scott's family. A lot of celebrating and a lot of fun. On Sunday evening, we had one very worn out 2 year old - although if you asked him, he said 'me NOT tired'.

I just pulled these pictures off my camera and was excited to share them with you. I have oodles of Christmas pictures to share as well, so be sure to check out posts at the end of December so you don't miss anything.

Father Craig baptizing Liam. Karsten was watching and said 'him has water on his head. Him is baptized!' He catches on so quickly! We had been talking about Liam's baptism all day - I guess it sunk in more than we thought!

Liam with Father Craig and all of his godparents - Nancy and Kevin and Kelli and David

Us with Father Craig. We would have liked to have one like this with Karsten in it, but he was having way too much fun playing with Trent and Taylor.

Great family picture of us with our parents. Look - we got Karsten to join the picture since we had two Grandmas with us.

Then we added Gaga to the mix, but Karsten ran away to play. Drat.

This is my dad's side of the family. It was great to see them - we were glad they were able to come to town for the baptism!

My mom's side of the family. They had the longest drive to get here - we appreciate them spending a day in the car to drive here just for Liam's baptism!

Scott's side of the family. Don't Trent and Taylor look handsome in their ties?

HUGE thank you to my friend Travis for taking these pictures.

After baptism, we all headed to my parents house for a wonderful dinner.

When we got there, Karsten went into the bathroom and 'hid' from Taylor. He thought he was playing hide and seek - the problem was he forgot to tell Taylor they were playing. :)

I wanted to get a picture of Gaga with both of her great grandsons, but getting both Gaga and Karsten to look at the camera at the same time proved to be a challenge. This one isn't too bad.

Entertaining everyone can make a guy hungry, so he had some downtime and a bottle with Aunt Kelli.

My mom, Kevin and Michael. I can't believe I got them all to smile at the same time! I think someone behind me made a joke. :)

My mom and I got this sparkly Santa hat at the Holiday Mart this year and it has provided endless entertainment. It sings a song and the top of the hat moves from side to side. Karsten found it and brought it out during the party. Here is Cami sporting the dancing Santa hat.

Trent showing his dance moves in the cool hat.

Taylor being silly in the hat.

And Karsten cracking up watching Trent and Taylor.

Linda and Leland brought this beautiful cake for Liam's baptism. Karsten enjoyed the little leaves that were around the edge of the cake. Before we knew it, he had taken several off the cake and eaten them. I think that's why he looks mischievous in this picture. :)

Liam in the bib my mom made him to wear with his baptism outfit. It's beautiful and has his name on it. Karsten had a matching one from his baptism. Thankfully Liam doesn't spit up as much as Karsten did, so this bib ended the night clean while Karsten's was well used.

Karsten enjoyed dinner and provided entertainment for Cami, Alex, Brett and Michael during dinner. He says the funniest things.

Gaga with her kids (Kevin and Shannon), grandkids (Michael and I), and great grandkids (Karsten and Liam)

Gaga likes to do this to see if she can get Liam to smile at her. It usually works and she gets a big smile.

Gaga, Shannon and I with Liam.

We have a picture like this from Karsten's baptism, so my mom wanted to duplicate it for Liam's baptism. The difference is that Karsten's baptism was in August so we were able to take pictures outside which was a much prettier background.

Kevin and Liam. Kevin is one of the boys godfathers (along with David) and also my godfather.

Nancy and Karsten became fast friends over the weekend. Karsten was sad when it was time for Nancy to leave.

Uncle Dave and Peg with Liam.

Peg's birthday was on Sunday and Nancy's birthday was on Friday. They are even the same age - but I'm not telling what that number is!

At the end of the night after everyone left, Scott and I helped clean up my parents house and put all of the furniture back where it goes. Gaga had the very important job of rocking Liam to sleep. This was the perfect time to get a picture of her and Liam with the quilt that she made him. Isn't it beautiful - I love all of the little teddy bears!

What a great weekend - huge Thank You to the family and friends who helped us celebrate!

Contagious

2012-01-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

Karsten has the best laugh - when he starts laughing it's hard not to join in.

Reorganizing

2012-01-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

With the start of the new year, there's always talk of organizing and getting a fresh start. I wonder if that's what Karsten was doing when he took EVERYTHING out of his toy box so he could get inside? Nah. :) It did give us the chance to clean out the toybox, though. Shhh, don't tell him.

Lazy day

2012-01-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful relaxing Sunday today.

We went to church and as usual, we left feeling like we had provided the entertainment for the people behind us. The drama today was that Karsten dropped his small slinky (he calls it his telescope), it rolled under the pew and we couldn't see where it went. He said "MY TELESCOPE! I WANT MY TELESCOPE". We asked him where his telescope went then he pointed and said 'behind that girl'. Since he's two and doesn't have an inside voice, everyone around us got a good chuckle out of that one. Thankfully, someone a few rows back spotted the renegade 'telescope' and brought it back. WHEW, crisis averted.

Looking handsome after church.

Getting ready to help Dad take down the Christmas lights outside.

Hanging out with Liam in the play gym. Karsten still wants to be in the play gym every time Liam is.

We spent some time this afternoon napping as well. Overall, a great day!

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T20:47:00.000-08:00

We planned to ring in the new year with Jenn and fam; however, Elam got sick at the last minute so we had to take a rain-check on the fun.

Since we had a lot of yummy food prepared, Chuck and Shannon came over for the evening. Karsten was bummed that his friends Eden and Elam weren't coming, but perked up when we told him that Grandma and Papa were coming over instead.

Karsten was obsessed with Madison's elephant toy - he liked watching the tail and elephant unroll each time he squeezed it.

Liam hanging out while we ate.

Karsten and Papa playing with the firetruck. An empty wrapping paper roll makes the perfect fire hose. The current game with the firetruck is to have one of us sit on the back of the firetruck while he drives to the 'mergency'. He'll turn the siren on and turn the steering wheel back and forth furiously.

Karsten had a few too many appetizers so he didn't eat much dinner. Shortly before bed he decided he was hungry. He had a lot of fun with Grandma while they were having a snack.

Grandma, Papa and Liam.

The hand wreath gives me a nice crown doesn't it. :)

Christmas Break

2011-12-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed having Scott home from work over his Christmas break from school. Just when we got into a routine of having him home, it was time for him to go back to work.

We didn't do anything too exciting during his break - we did lots of hanging out at home and enjoying each other. It was so nice outside that Karsten and Liam played outside a few times.

We tried out a few new recipes from a cookbook I got for Christmas - they were super yummy. Liam liked to be close to the action so we set the bouncy seat on the island.

Karsten still loves his baby brother and regularly asks to hold him. I have lots of pictures like this, but they're so darn cute I can't resist. Someday I'll just flood you with pictures of this pose of Karsten holding Liam.

Daid Daids

2011-12-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

Karsten is a big fan of band-aids (aka daid daids). They're mostly decorative rather than functional. When I saw a box of Christmas themed daid-daids, I knew they would be a hit at our house.

Snuggles

2011-12-29T22:06:00.000-08:00

Is there anything better than snuggling with a sleeping baby? I can't think of too many!

Christmas Continued

2011-12-26T20:08:00.000-08:00

After we got out of the hospital and back to my parents house, we decided to pick up Christmas where we had left off the day before. Unfortunately, our trip to the emergency room ruined my parents trip to see Gaga, Kevin and Nancy.

We finished opening presents. Looks like Karsten may be a bit worn out after entertaining Grandma and Papa the day before.

Finally, Karsten got to open the cool train/lego table that Papa made him. With Grandma's design consultation, they decided to make one side of the table a track for Thomas and the other side has a lego base. All of the pieces live inside the table. Karsten was so excited (so was Papa).

Scott opened one of Liam's presents - Grandma made him this beautiful train quilt. Love the colors and the cute train fabric around the border.

The train/lego table is so much fun - I love how Karsten and Scott have similar expressions on their faces as they play with the legos.

We ended the day with a yummy Christmas dinner of ham and all the fixings. Hard to believe Christmas was over now - we loaded up all of our stuff and headed home.

Christmas day detour

2011-12-26T19:54:00.000-08:00

Since Liam wasn't feeling well, we headed to the emergency room. He was only five and a half weeks old so it was scary that his cough sounded so bad and he occasionally was having trouble breathing.

Thankfully we got right into a room so we didn't have to wait long in the waiting room with all of the other sick kids. They took his temp and it was 100.4 - at his age, they worry about a fever of 100.6 and typically run a whole battery of tests, including a spinal tap (WHAT?!!).

The doctor thought he had croup but he didn't want to give him steroids (the typical treatment) because it could mask the symptoms if he actually had something else. So, Liam had the whole battery of tests ran, except the spinal tap, to see what was going on. They deep suctioned his nose (he held his breath for them on that one - NOT fun to watch), drew blood and urine, took chest xrays and probably some other tests I am forgetting. Thankfully all of the results were negative which indicated that he didn't have any other infections. However, they said that some of the tests can take a few days to show critical infections - EEK!

The doctor wasn't comfortable sending us home not fully knowing what was going on and knowing that if it was croup it would get worse in the middle of the night (I know the rest of you mom's whose kiddos have croup know what that horrible sound is). So, Liam was admitted to the hospital and we spent the rest of Christmas getting settled in our room. Thankfully, Karsten is still too young to understand that we were missing Christmas. He spent the rest of the day and evening with my parents, happily playing with all of his new toys.

Not exactly how I envisioned Liam's first Christmas. Thankfully, he won't remember it. They gave him a little gown that didn't stay on worth a darn but gave them easy access for all of the tests and readings they needed to take.

Trying to get some rest with Dad. See, that darn gown wouldn't stay on.

After a while, we were able to put some PJs on him, we just had to have the pulse oxygen meter coming out of his PJs and the snaps made it easy for the nurses to take his temp and other measurements.

One of the nurses built this little nest for him in the crib. It allowed the bed to be at a 45 degree angle without him sliding down.

He had a good night - his temperature started to drop and while he still had a deep barky cough, he didn't have any more stridor, that horrible gasping for air sound.

Children's Mercy was great - Liam got a Christmas quilt and bear in the emergency room and he also got a bear before we left the next day. The staff was all very kind, they didn't act unhappy about working on Christmas.

Christmas day

2011-12-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning started with Karsten checking out the M&M's and milk he had left for Santa. Those silly reindeer didn't eat all of the M's, they left part of one on the plate.

Then he turned around and saw that Santa had left him presents.

Just what he wanted - a blue dinosaur with a long neck!

Giving the dino a ride in his wagon.

Excited that he also got some little dinosaurs!

Helping Liam open his presents.

Shoeing off his new Cars slippers from Grandma and Papa.

Papa made Karsten a workbench with nails he could hammer in. He loved it and does a great job hitting the nails!

More of Papa's handiwork - some new cars to join the fleet. Aren't these cool? I keep telling him he should sell these and my mom should sell their shirts. Don't you agree?

At this point, Karsten was having a lot of fun with the toys he had already opened, so we decided to have an intermission. Late on Christmas eve, Liam had started to have a really deep cough and occasionally had a high pitched gasp for air. We called the pediatrician and he said unless it continued and he was having trouble breathing, we didn't need to go in right then. He said to watch him and take him into the emergency room if it got worse. After a night of not sleeping much as I listened to him breathing, we all listened carefully to each sound he made while we opened presents. When he started to feel warm and seemed listless along with the coughing, we decided to take him in. Better now then in the middle of the night.

My boys

2011-12-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

Karsten likes to sit on my lap when I'm holding Liam. He's still doing a great job as a big brother, we're not seeing any signs of jealousy yet (knock on wood!). On the other hand, we are seeing LOTS of signs of Karsten being two. He certainly has his moments of the terrible twos, but that's to be expected.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T15:38:00.000-08:00

Before we had kids, our Christmas eve tradition was to go to midnight mass. It was beautiful - the beginning of mass was dim because the lights were out and it was light only by the Christmas trees on the altar and candles. Now that we have kids, we're trying a couple of the earlier services to see which one works best for us. This year we tried the 4pm mass. We headed over to my parents house after lunch so we could put Karsten down for a nap before mass and get all of the presents and Madison unloaded.

Karsten thought the Santa versus Trees checkers game was fun to stack. He would also tell you that those were not Santas, they were frostys. Don't try to disagree - you'll never win. :)

Beautiful tree! We must have all been very good this year (although to be fair, there were gifts under the tree for two other sides of the family for future celebrations).

Liam hanging out in the swing before church.

Then we headed to mass. The church gets so crowded for Christmas masses that we have to go WAY early. By WAY early, I mean that my parents left at 2:30 (for the 4pm mass) to save seats for us. We showed up at church around 3:15 and by 3:30 the church was full so father started the mass.

After church we always take family pictures while we're all still dressed up. Madison even made it into the picture - and she looked at the camera! Well done Madison. :)

I love this mischievous smile. He got such a kick out of Chuck's dancing santa hat.

Looking handsome in his sweater vest after church.

We had happy hour while we waited for dinner to get done. I don't recall chocolate being on the happy hour menu; however, Karsten has a way of getting a 'special' menu from Grandma!

Enjoying happy hour with Papa. Karsten was eating a Milky Way candy bar - he called it a yonky yay but when we laughed and started calling it a yonky yay, he did NOT approve. He could tell that we were saying it wrong.

More fun in the dancing santa hat with some evidence of that yonky yay around his mouth.

He even got a festive new cup for happy hour. He really enjoyed drinking milk out of frosty. We sang frosty the snowman a few times to go along with the cup.

Chatting with Liam.

Liam's second picture with Santa.

Then it was time for Karsten to get ready for bed. Santa had asked for milk and M&Ms for the reindeer, so we put it out and went to bed. I'm not sure Karsten really understood why we were leaving milk and candy out for Santa, but he went along with it. Next year he'll get it more.

Checking it out

2011-12-23T21:09:00.000-08:00

Liam got this fun snail toy as a gift when he was born and both Karsten and Liam have been enjoying it. Karsten will turn it on and set it RIGHT next to Liam so he can play with it. We usually scoot it back a bit, I don't think Liam can focus with it so close. :)

Liam likes looking in the mirror and Karsten likes rocking it and turning on the music for Liam - perfect toy that makes everyone happy!

First Smiles

2011-12-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

Liam has started smiling - so cute!

Christmas sweets

2011-12-23T21:02:00.000-08:00

Although we already had lots of yummy sweets for Christmas, we made Chocolate Chip cookie dough dip to take to my parents for Christmas eve. Karsten always likes to help cook and this simple recipe where he could add the baby chocolate chips was perfect.

The best part of cooking is licking the batter!

Rudolph

2011-12-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

I saw these adorable Rudolph cupcakes in a magazine last year and saved the picture so I could make them for Karsten - someday. Scott and I tackled them one Sunday afternoon while Karsten was sleeping and Liam was in between feedings (in other words, the stars had aligned for some rare free time).

We were thrilled with the results and were excited to show them to Karsten when he woke up. When we told him that he got to take some to Gail's to share with his friends, he said "O WOW". He won major points with that one. ;)

Getting ready to eat his Rudolph. Nice bed head, eh?

Showing off Rudolph shortly before he decided he was done eating it.

Now, any time we see a picture of reindeer or Rudolph, Karsten says "we eat them". It took us a while to figure out what he meant - ah yes, once we ate cupcakes that looked like reindeer. Of course...why didn't we remember that!

Tummy time

2011-12-23T20:23:00.000-08:00

When Liam has tummy time on the floor, Karsten always wants to play with him. Madison also thinks that everyone on the floor means that someone wants to play fetch with her.

This night, Scott was showing Liam a black and white book and Karsten was reading it to Liam by telling him what animals they were looking at and what sounds they made.

The picture doesn't really do it justice - it was pretty cute. :)

Deck the halls

2011-12-23T20:18:00.000-08:00

Before Liam was born, we put up some minimal Christmas decorations but I didn't go all out like I normally do - I wasn't in the Christmas spirit the second weekend in November, it was just too early. I had good intentions of getting more decorations out after Liam was home and I was feeling better. But alas, that never happened.

Luckily, Karsten has made several fun holiday crafts at Gail's. They've made the wreath below, a big Santa, a stocking and an angel. We've hung these all around our house and they have made our house more festive! Thanks Gail - we love seeing the crafts and papers Karsten brings home each day!

Dear Santa...

2011-12-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

With all of the hustle and bustle of the season and settling into our new routine as a family of four, we didn't get Karsten's letter to Santa sent as soon as we would have liked. Luckily, we were able to send it priority mail and get it there in time for Santa to make Karsten's Christmas wishes come true.

The same day we wrote the letter to Santa, Karsten got a card in the mail from the jolly old man himself. It showed him that Karsten's name was on Santa's list, so Karsten should continue to be a good boy so he could stay on the nice list!

Working hard on his letter - he told Santa that he wanted a blue dinosaur with a long neck.

He was very diligent about signing his name on the letter - he said, I write Karsten. "A - R - T - E - N" then he made a little scribble for each letter. He's so close to being able to spell his name, that K and S are elusive for him.

Matching shirts

2011-12-23T19:58:00.000-08:00

I tried to get as many pictures of Karsten and Liam in their matching Christmas shirts as I could. It seemed that if I started both of them in the same shirt, one of them would do something to necessitate a new outfit (Liam) or I would forget to take a picture (jeez!).

We tried out a new pose for Liam - you'll note that we didn't use this pose again. :)

Same shirt - I just love how proud and happy Karsten looks in this picture!

Liam didn't want to have his picture taken in the santa shirt (at least right then), so Karsten was doing his best to console him by saying SHH SHH SHH SHH SHH SHH and then giving him a hug. What a good brother!

Pre-Christmas

2011-12-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

We let Karsten open several presents early since has a tendancy to open a present then play only with that toy. Why not start Christmas a few days early?

Typically I am wrapping presents on Christmas eve, shortly before we leave to go to my parents. For once I got them done earlier - on December 23rd. :) I've had many of the gifts for a while so there really isn't much excuse for the late wrapping. I guess I could blame it on Liam? It WAS more fun to play and cuddle with him than wrap presents!

Karsten opened his present from Gail and immediately wanted to play with the puzzle and all the pieces. It looked like so much fun.

I love how excited he was about a book!

Lately he's been more interested in seeing the pictures I take on my camera so we thought he might have fun with a camera of his own.

He immediately got the hang of it and started taking pictures of everything! We haven't pulled any of the pictures off the camera yet, I'm sure we're going to have lots of pictures of the carpet. He would walk up and say 'say cheese' and that evolved into 'say cheese cheese'.

After he took pictures of Madison, Liam, me, Scott, his toys, his bear, his blanket, and everything else in sight, we managed to convince him to get ready for bed. The camera had to come along for the fun - it sat on the table and 'watched' him get ready and go to sleep. When he woke up the next morning, he was ready to tell a whole new flock of items to 'say cheese cheese'.

Good things...

2011-12-22T21:54:00.000-08:00

Good things do indeed come in small packages. :)

Brothers

2011-12-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

Before Liam was born, I showed you the brother shirts that my mom made. I finally have pictures of Karsten and Liam in their matching shirts.

Karsten is getting much better at smiling at the camera

Liam was not into the picture taking - Karsten immediately started saying shh shh shh shh and jiggling Liam a little. Guess he sees us do that combo a lot!

A few pics of Liam in his lil bro shirt. He has already grown so much!

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

When I was little we always made and decorated Christmas cookies. There were a variety of cookies made each year - each of my grandmas had their famous cookies they would make. I want to continue the Christmas cookie tradition with Karsten and Liam so it will be part of their Christmas memories as well.

We were going to decorate slice and bake sugar cookies (not the same as Grandma's sugar cookies, but Pillsbury does such a good job, why mess with a good thing) but there were none to be found when we went to the grocery store. Turns out lots of people wanted sugar cookies this week. (shocker, I know)

We decided we could make sugar cookies from scratch - how hard could that be, right? We found a recipe online that got great reviews and I set out to mix up the batter. It recommended the dough be refrigerated overnight, so we diligently followed the recipe.

The next day we got the dough and got the cookie cutters out - if we were going to make them from scratch, we may as well go all out and use cookie cutters too. The dough was SUPER sticky so the small amount of flour I had spread out didn't work. I forgot to flour the rolling pin so the dough caked onto the rolling pin creating an even bigger mess. By this time, Liam was crying because he wanted to eat and I had had enough of these darn cookies. Scott saved the day and floured everything so the dough could be rolled out and cookies cut out.

Karsten had fun with the cookie cutters - to him, it was just like playing with play doh!

Visiting Friends

2011-12-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

Our friends Kevin and Melissa were in town for a wedding on Saturday so they stopped by to meet Liam. They brought their adorable son Jonah - we hadn't seen Jonah in person since he was a tiny baby, so it was great to see all of them. Our conversation was far different (but still good) than it had been in the past - we're apparently all grown up now that we have kids.

Karsten showed Jonah his rocking horse, then he decided that he wanted to get on it. Looks like we have some work to do on sharing! :) Jonah enjoyed the rocking horse - he had a big smile while he was riding it.

Karsten showed Jonah his trash truck and brought Jonah a firetruck for him to play with.

Thanks for stopping by Kevin and Melissa - it was great to catch up!

Beary cute

2011-12-20T19:40:00.001-08:00

Seriously cute. :)

Santa calling...

2011-12-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

When I was little, my Uncle Kevin called me and pretended to be Santa Claus. I thought it was the coolest to have Santa call me and they tell me I was super excited. Kevin asked if we wanted him to call as Santa and talk to Karsten.

So, I sent him a few notes about what Karsten wanted for Christmas and how he was doing a great job as a big brother. One night while we were playing before bed, the phone rang and it was Santa to talk to Karsten. At first, he was not so sure about what to think, but after a little bit he got into it. After Santa hung up, Karsten wanted to call him back and talk some more.

worn out

2011-12-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

I was on my way home the other night with both Liam and Karsten. Karsten was crabby so I gave him my phone to watch Mickey Mouse. Scott called so we were talking to him over Bluetooth on the car speakers but apparently Karsten was holding the phone up to his ear.

After I hung up I realized it was blissfully quiet in the car. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw this. Luckily I had my camera in the diaper bag and took this over my sholder at a stop sign. Guess he was worn out since he fell asleep on the phone!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

We're having fun getting ready for Christmas - hope you are as well! More blog posts to come soon - lots of pictures to share!

Play time

2011-12-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

I think Karsten enjoys the play gym as much as Liam does. Or perhaps he just enjoys showing his baby brother how to hit the butterfly. Now, Karsten asks for us to get out the play gym so Liam can play. :)

Liam was having some tummy time and Karsten heard us encouraging Liam to hold his head up so he started to do the same thing.

Karsten thought it was pretty funny that Liam tried to grab his nose.

Having fun together.

One Month!

2011-12-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

Liam is one month old! We went to the doctor for his one month well check and he was doing great. He weighed 10lbs 5 oz and was 21.25 inches long. Starting last week he wanted to eat all the time - looks like he had a growth spurt!

He's getting close to smiling for the first time. He is also starting to sleep for longer periods - typically about 5 hours at night depending on when his last feeding is.

What do you see?

2011-12-14T23:16:00.000-08:00

During the past few weeks, Karsten has started to complain that his eye hurts. It's typically the same eye and he will randomly yell "MY EYE IS HURTING ME. KISS IT". We will kiss it and sometimes he'll be okay immediately and other times it lasts for a while and he seems to be in quite a bit of pain.

We dismissed it for a while as a passing fad or just two year old antics. I called the pediatrician to get her thoughts since Karsten woke up overnight saying that his eye hurt. This was concerning to me because he normally only wakes up overnight if he's sick. Liam had his one month check up this week so I thought if she wanted to look at Karsten's eye, I could bring them in at the same time.

When I explained what was going on to the nurse, she put me on hold and checked with the doctor. When she came back on the phone, she said the doctor would like to see Karsten today - as soon as possible. Ummmm....okay.

Luckily, my mom and I were doing some Christmas shopping near Gail's house, so we picked Karsten up and headed over to the doctor. I say luckily, because wrangling a two year old so the doctor can look in his eye as well as feeding the baby who decided he was hungry as soon as we got to the doctor's office would have been impossible alone.

The doctor put eye drops in Karsten's eye and looked at it with a black light to make sure there were no scratches - he was NOT a fan. The nurse had Smarties as a reward - that helped calm him down afterwards. Thankfully, she didn't see any problems with his eyes.

To be completely sure there wasn't something else going on with his eyes, the doctor referred us to a pediatric opthamologist. They made us an appointment and warned me that the appointment could take 2 hours (what?!).

The appointment went really well - the doctor and nurse did some basic eye test questions to start with. He didn't identify letters like we do during eye exams, he identified drawings and shapes. They had several tricks to get him to look forward so the doctor could look into his eyes.

Then they put dilating drops in his eye and sent us out to the waiting room for 45 minutes for the drops to take effect. Thankfully they had a toy room and Karsten was able to stay distracted and didn't notice the difference in his eyes. I was worried that he would be scared or bothered by the dilation - it's been a while since I had it done but I remember it feeling odd.

After the drops took effect. they did several more eye tests and the doctor said his eyes looked great - no problems. She guessed that his complaints were for attention rather than being in actual pain. So, we're going to keep an eye on it and try to isolate what could be causing his complaints.

Happy 80th Birthday

2011-12-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Karsten and Scott had their first father-son road trip. We traveled to Iowa for Scott's grandma's 80th birthday. With Liam being just 3 weeks old, we decided it probably would be best if Lisa stayed home with Liam.

To start the trip, Karsten found our elf "Jingle Bells" in the car and was excited that he would be joining them on the trip.

Great-Grandma and Karsten. As soon as Karsten walked into the room, he began talking and taking in all of the excitement.

While we had the family there, we had the opportunity to celebrate Taylor's birthday. Karsten really liked the ice cream cake.

Karsten and grandma getting a much needed hug. As you can tell in Karsten's eyes, he was getting very tired. This is what you get when you skip a nap the day before and play with your cousins all day/

Happy Birthday Grandma W. Prior to the open house, the family got together for a family dinner. The community center had to be rented out. When you get the kids, grand kids, and great grand kids together, the house just was not big enough. The cake and cupcakes looked great and tasted very good.

Grandma's 4 kids. Donny, DeLoris, Jan, and Linda. They decided to stand according to their height.

Kids and spouses

Grand kids (missing 2). It just seems like yesterday when we were playing in the basement of grandma's house.

Grand kids and their spouses. Lisa's missing. :(

The Great grand kids. I really don't know how we were able to get all of them standing in one spot. All it took to get Karsten to stand there was some candy. As soon as the picture was finished be came running to me and asked for the candy he was promised.

Kelli & I with Grandma.

It was a great weekend and a great birthday celebration! Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!

Christmas Countdown

2011-12-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

In preschool at Gails, Karsten made this Christmas countdown paper chain. Each day he tears off one link and that will help him know how many more days remain until it's Christmas!

It's taken a couple of days to convince him just to tear one link off each day; however, I think we've got the hang of it now.

Our Elf

2011-12-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

I've enjoyed reading all of the Facebook posts and blog entries about the shenanigans that everyone's Elf on a Shelf has been up to.

To introduce our Elf to Karsten, we watched the Elf on a Shelf show on TV. It explained to him that the Elf would fly back to the north pole each night and tell Santa all about Karsten's behavior during that day. When the Elf returned to our house, he would land in a different place in the house. Karsten would then have to find him.

Santa would use all of the information the Elf tells him to determine if Karsten had been naughty or nice. We explained that he couldn't touch the Elf, because if he did, the Elf wouldn't be able to fly back to the north pole to talk to Santa.

We decided to name our Elf Jingle Bells - Karsten calls him Jingy Bells. Below are pictures of some of the places Jingy Bells appears in our house.

Everyone

2011-12-10T19:25:00.000-08:00

When I'm holding Liam, Karsten will often decide that he also wants to sit on my lap. Occasionally Madison will pile on. We're all nice and cozy.

Three Weeks

2011-12-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

Can't believe that Liam is already 3 weeks old. He's eating and sleeping great - we typically go about 3 hours between feedings, but he is like clockwork and knows when it's time to eat. We've ventured out on a few outings when he's sleeping and he does great - sleeps through the whole thing. He's starting to have more awake periods during the day and is learning how to be awake for something other than eating!

He weighs around 9 and a half lbs (he weighed 9lbs 2 oz on Nov. 30 so that's my estimation). He's starting to sound like he has a stuffy nose - we've all had colds, so hopefully he won't get it!

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Christmas Jammies

2011-12-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

I've told you before that I love footie PJs - pretty darn cute. I've discovered something cuter - two cuties in footie PJs!

Liam sporting his faux hawk after his bath.

Visiting Santa

2011-12-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

We went to the children's holiday party for my work today. Although Liam is still pretty little, we couldn't pass up his first photo with Santa.

Last year Karsten was NOT a fan of Santa. I think everyone has a picture with their child screaming on Santa's lap - ok, maybe not everyone but definitely the photo obsessed parents like me who pursue the picture even when it's obviously a lost cause. :)

I should have known this year was not going to go well when we were in line and Karsten said 'me no want talk Santa' and the look on his face in this picture is identical to the one from last year when he was watching Santa.

We decided to let Liam have his picture taken with Santa first to show Karsten that Santa was not scary. Santa said he wanted to do a special pose with Liam since he was so tiny.

Then we tried to get Karsten to sit on Santa's knee but Karsten was having none of it. We tried to get him to stand right in front of Santa - nope. We tried to bribe him with the candy cane to stand in front of Santa - nope. Finally, Scott had the brilliant idea to have him stand NEXT to Liam, not Santa. That sort of worked, at least we got Karsten in the picture with Santa. I think it kind of looks like Karsten just wandered into the photo. LOL

After the photo with Santa, Liam was still asleep, so there was time for Karsten to play some of the fun games at Zonkers. He really enjoyed the cars that he could 'drive'.

And he thought the purple horse was pretty cool - look at that smile!

Then we headed over to ride another horse on the carousel. He also rode a cute little train; unfortunately, I was chatting with someone and missed the photo opp. Oopsie.

Liam slept through all of this fun. Don't you love their shirts - my mom made them. Karsten has three frosty's (as he calls them) on his shirt and Liam has one frosty. Stay tuned for another post to debut the rest of their Christmas shirts.

Who doesn't love skee ball? Unfortunately, each ball that Karsten threw came right back to him, so Scott and I got to throw the balls for him.

Trying to throw the balls into a trash can in another game.

He was a fan of the basketball game - he kept wanting to step forward and walk right up to the basket. He may have gotten more tickets if he had done it that way. :)

Karsten finished off his morning by climbing into the big play area with tubes and slides and tunnels. These always make us nervous because he doesn't quite have the hang of climbing up some kinds of obstacles. Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out how to get up one of the levels and sat there and cried while Scott tried to calm him down and tell him how to either go up or come down. He finally worked his way out and was not a happy camper, he was upset he got stuck AND that he didn't get to go down the slide. :) We were able to cheer him up by redeeming his tickets for a slinky (or in Karsten's words, a yo yo). :)

Cake pops and a movie

2011-12-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

My mom and I tried our hand at making cake pops today - we didn't do any fancy decorating and we learned a few lessons about how to make them a bit easier. I can see why everyone raves about cake pops, they were quite tasty and adorable. We decided they were the perfect thing to eat while we watched the Mickey Mouse clubhouse Christmas DVD that Kelli gave Karsten when Liam was born. A great start to the Christmas season!

Christmas Wardrobe

2011-12-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

My mom outdid herself with the boys Christmas shirts this year. I'm trying to convince her that people would buy these shirts - don't you agree!

Christmas stockings for everyone!

Karsten loves the frostys!

Karsten likes to 'read' this shirt to us

This one is my fav this year

And the matching tiny one

An adorable set of trees

The reason for the season

Adorable wagon

Gingerbread men. Karsten was quick to point out that his shirt had 2 hearts and Liam's only had one.

Karsten calls this the ball shirt.

Little Nativity

2011-12-02T13:54:00.000-08:00

December means it's time for Christmas decorations! We got out Karsten's nativity set and it was all new to him. We explained who everyone was to him, but he was far more interested in the animals.

He says this is mommy, daddy and baby Liam.

He wanted Liam to play with him - he was very specfic that Liam should sit on the table so he could see. :)

Growing up too fast

2011-12-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

When did this happen - I was flipping through pictures and had to do a double-take at how old Karsten looks. So tall and grown up!

Brotherly love

2011-11-30T20:47:00.000-08:00

We keep waiting for Karsten to show some jealously towards Liam, but thankfully it hasn't happened! He is enamored with Liam - he's always saying 'Look at him!' He asks to hold him almost every night - I snapped these pictures the other day while Karsten was holding him.

We didn't coach him for this picture, I was just snapping pics as Karsten talked and held him. I wish I could remember what he was telling Scott as he did this.

Say cheese!

Karsten was concerned that Liam didn't know he could make the butterflies sing.

So he got into the play gym with Liam and showed him if you touched the butterfly or ladybugs, they would make noise.

More visitors

2011-11-30T20:30:00.000-08:00

It's been great to have friends come visit us.

Kenna and Seville stopped by to meet Liam. Seville came back a few days later as Kenna's photography assistant for our family picture. She got some of the best smiles out of Karsten. Stay tuned for those pictures on our Christmas card!

Jenn came by to visit us - thanks Jenn!

For some reason I can't track down any pictures I took when Jill visited. It was fun to introduce Liam to her and catch up - after chatting in the office every day, it seemed like it had been ages! I'll get those posted asap!

Two weeks

2011-11-28T19:25:00.000-08:00

Liam is two weeks old today. We're getting into a routine and starting to learn his likes and dislikes. Of course, there's still plenty we're still figuring out - that's what keeps things interesting, right?

I think Karsten taught him to turn his head away from my camera. :) We couldn't get a good picture of him sitting up in the chair AND looking forward.

Just Chillin

2011-11-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

With each passing day we are beginning to notice longer periods of time in which Liam is awake. Lucky for us, he hasn't gotten his days or nights switched. We have also discovered there are short period of time in which Liam just wants to be placed on the floor. Hopefully that doesn't mean we are holding him too much.

There were 2 items that we used when Karsten what a baby that for some reason never go put away into storage. The 1st item was the attachment to the Pack and Play that converts it to a bassinet. The other item was the play gym. We kept this hanging up in the laundry room. When it came time to use it again, it didn't take long for me to get it setup.

While doing floor time Liam is also starting to kick his legs and swing the arms around. Karsten likes laying on the mat as well, but Liam was not a fan of the two of them side by side.

Then there's me laying on the floor as well. I too am easily entertained by a swinging butterfly that plays music and flashes lights. I don't recall Lisa taking a picture of me under the butterfly, but who knows there may be one.

Take Picture Mommy

2011-11-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

Karsten is going from avoiding the camera to being interested in seeing the pictures I'm taking. The other day he climbed up on the chair next to Madison and said take picture Mommy. As soon as I took the picture he said 'me see, me see'. Then he smiled and said 'we tute'.

Sharing

2011-11-28T18:27:00.000-08:00

Karsten really is going a great job as a big brother. He gets so excited to see Liam every morning and Liam is the first person he looks for when he gets home from Gail's.

Liam was hanging out watching Karsten play then Karsten decided that he should share his train cars with Liam. He very gently put all of the train pices on Liam's lap in the swing.

Our lil owl

2011-11-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

I saw this little owl hat and totally fell in love. Jenn wisely said that hats to baby boys are like bows to baby girls. :)

We tried to put it on Liam during his newborn pictures but he was not having any of it. I tried it on him again today while he was sleeping. How cute is this?

Liam's first days

2011-11-27T13:19:00.000-08:00

Scott tried out a new program to make a video of Liam's first few days. I think it turned out fantastic - what a great way to help us remember those days that are kind of a blur to me! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Daddy's hair

2011-11-27T12:27:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with both Karsten and Liam, we joked around about what kind of hair they would have. My hair is naturally curly and Scott's hair is very thick and stands straight up. It looks like Liam may have inherited Scott's hair - after his bath today, his hair was standing straight up.

Christmas Quilt

2011-11-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

When Scott and I got married, my mom started a tradition of Christmas quilts. She made a beautiful Christmas quilt for us that we keep on our bed around Christmas. They also have a Christmas quilt that they use on their bed. When Karsten was born, she made him a Christmas quilt to use around the holidays (you can see it here). On Thanksgiving, she gave us the Christmas quilt that she made for Liam.

I love the fabric - Christmas-y but not just red and green.

Liam will have fun playing on it this year and sleeping under it for many years to come! Thank you mom!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

This year more than ever, we're very thankful for all of the blessings in our life. Liam arrived and is a happy, healthy baby. We have wonderful family and friends and everyone is in good health.

Since Liam is only a little over a week old and I'm still recovering from surgery, we stuck close to home and spent Thanskgiving with my parents. Unfortunately, this meant that Scott wasn't able to defend the position of his Christmas ornament on Linda and Leland's tree. Each Thanksgiving, Kelli and Scott sneak around and try to move their ornament to the highest position on the tree and the other person's ornament to the lowest spot on the tree. Scott got this picture from Kelli - it's his ornament hanging on the lowest branch of the tree. LOL.

We got to my parents house in time for lunch - Thanksgiving dinner was planned for around 5 or 6pm. Chuck was having hot apple cider and Karsten wanted some as well. This was the perfect time to break out the matching mugs that Chuck got on their vacation to Yellowstone -there's a Papa sized mug with a moose on it and two kid sized mugs, each with a moose on them. Karsten thought he was pretty cool with a mug just like Papa's.

Karsten made a great turkey centerpiece at Gail's. It made the table very festive!

Hanging out playing legos.

Liam spent a lot of the day like this - holidays are hard work for a little guy. He really enjoyed the cradle Chuck made - I think he'll get lots of use out of it when we're visiting over there.

Karsten and I before dinner.

Liam woke up just in time to watch us eat pie.

Grandma gladly held Liam so Scott and I could finish our pie.

Chuck and Liam hanging out after we're all stuffed from the wonderful dinner.

We decided to try to get a couple of brother shots in their Thanksgiving gear. Both Karsten and Liam did great and we got some good pictures!

Karsten stopped smiling and wanted to look at his baby brother. He said 'awww, look at my baby brother. Him is sleeping.'

Happy Thanksgiving everyone - hope you had a wonderful day with your family and friends.

Angee Birds

2011-11-25T18:49:00.000-08:00

Karsten recently discovered the fun of Angry Birds (aka Angee Birds). At first Karsten wanted Scott to use his finger and throw the birds. When we were at my parents, Karsten wanted to show Papa how to play Angee Birds.

Then he decided he wanted to play by himself. He would occasionally ask Scott for help, but for the most part he said 'me do it'.

Thanks Gaga

2011-11-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

Gaga is always sending us fun care packages - we were excited to get one of her special packages at our door today!

Karsten quickly learned that Gaga's packages almost always contain something yummy for him. We made the mistake of opening this package right before dinner and had to tell him that he could not have any of these m's until he ate dinner. He makes a pretty convincing sad face but we held strong. :)

Gaga also sent some super cute PJ's for Liam and Karsten (I may have been more excited about these than Karsten - he spotted the m's right after the PJ's, so they were quickly forgotten), and a cute first Christmas ornament for Liam.

Since Liam is too little to hang his own ornament, Karsten was a helpful big brother and volunteered to put it on the tree for him.

Scott was surprised Karsten wanted to hang Liam's ornament so high on the tree (see Thanksgiving post for background on the ornament battle between Kelli and Scott) but assumed Karsten would realize the err in his ways when he was older. :)

Thanks Gaga!!

Outings

2011-11-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

I enjoy being home; however, it's nice to get out of the house for a change in scenery. Scott was able to take 10 days of paternity leave, and since Thanksgiving fell in the middle of that leave, we had a nice long time with him home with us.

Having Scott home was great, it was like we were on a perpetual weekend. It also came in handy for all of the doctor appointments we had for Liam since I couldn't drive because of my c-section.

Since Liam lost more than 10% of his weight in the hospital, we had an appointment to see the doctor the day after we got out of the hospital (Friday), then she wanted us to have a lab test to his bilirubin levels on Saturday to check to ensure he wasn't getting jaundiced. We also stopped by the doctor's office on Saturday to make sure he was gaining weight - good news, he was!

Then we had his one week appointment on Tuesday and stopped in on Wednesday for another weight check. We saw a lot of Liam's doctor and nurse in his first few weeks - Scott said a few more visits and we would have to become Facebook friends with them. LOL.

After his weight check we decided to run to Target to pick up a few things. I had forgotten how much room the carseat takes up in the shopping cart - looks like we're back to the days of pushing one cart for the carseat and another for whatever we're shopping for (and Karsten!). This was Liam's first outing other than the doctor.

1 week old!

2011-11-21T12:51:00.000-08:00

Liam is one week old today! He is a great baby - a happy little guy who usually only cries when he is hungry or has a dirty diaper. He's eating every two to three hours and will go a longer stretch of about 4 hours at night. Once he gets back to his birth weight - hopefully next week - we can let him sleep as long as he wants at night. yay!

He sleeps for most of the day but has one or two periods when he is awake and looking around. Karsten gets excited when Liam's eyes are open. 'Him is awake mommy!'

He has also grown an inch. Ok, not really, but when we took him in to his pediatrician, he was 19.5 inches rather than 18.5 inches like the hospital said. We're going with 19.5 inches as his new official length. :)

Big yawn!

The fun place

2011-11-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

Karsten had a good Saturday - he started the day with undivided Grandma time while Scott and I took Liam to the lab for his biliruben test as well as to the doctor for a weight check.

Then, when Scott and I got home, Linda and Leland arrived and they all set out for a fun afternoon at Fritz's and Little Monkey Bizness. Shannon, Liam and I spent the afternoon with Kenna taking Liam's newborn pics.

At Fritz's, you order your food by picking up the phone at your table, then the food arrives on a train. It's a big hit with the kids - plus you get this cool hat.

Little Monkey Bizness is a big gym play place with bounce houses, climbing things, slides, etc. Karsten calls it 'the fun place.'

Settling in

2011-11-20T18:32:00.000-08:00

A few more pictures to share from our first few days home from the hospital. We've done lots of cuddling with Liam, playing with Karsten, napping, chatting and relaxing.

Linda and Leland relaxing with Liam.

Liam catching up on his sleep. He spends most of the day sleeping and we only see his eyes for a few minutes each day. Growing is hard work for a little guy.

BIG yawn!

Karsten loves this fishing puzzle that Liam got him when he was born. He has so much fun catching all of the fish. He thought Liam would like to see him fishing.

Karsten gets very concerned when Liam is crying. He offers helpful tips like 'him needs a bottle' or 'him has a poopy diaper'. He's always very careful of Liam when he's climbing up on our lap.

Thomas

2011-11-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

Our family and friends have been so generous and welcoming to Liam. They've also given Karsten so many nice things! Gaga sent Karsten a fun surprise - a Thomas pillow. He was so excited when he opened it - Thomas didn't leave his side for the rest of the night. Thomas slept with him and even went with him to Gail's the next day.

My mom took Karsten to Gail's that day and on the way he told her that he 'loved his Thomas'. When she asked him who gave him Thomas, he said 'my Gaga. I love my Gaga'. Awwww. He sure knows how to win points doesn't he?

First bath...sorta

2011-11-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

We had planned to give Liam a sponge bath last night, but you know how things go when you're feeding every two hours. You have a tendency to forget things.

We had just gotten home from having his biliruben test done at a lab, then stopping by the doctor office for a weight check. Kenna was coming over today to do Liam's newborn pics, and I wanted to make sure that he didn't have greasy looking hair in his pictures. So, we opted for a quick hair wash in the sink before Kenna got there and postponed the sponge bath a bit.

We had started to wash his hair and I remembered PICTURES. Karsten's first bath was well documented and I didn't want to start off not having pictures for some of Liam's firsts. I know I'll fall into that sooner than later, but I wanted to start strong. :)

Scott washing Liam's hair

Getting him dried off after his hair wash - he didn't hate getting his hair wash but he was a lil unhappy.

This and That

2011-11-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

I have a few random pictures from the hospital that are blog worthy but don't necessarily fit into any blog posts I have planned.

In the c-section recovery room admiring our new baby boy - such a cutie!

Hanging out with me in my hospital bed - I could stare at him for hours!

A winter baby means we get to wear lots of fun hats. Thanks to Jenn for this adorable bear hat!

Scott showing off some of Liam's gifts - the bib looks nice on him doesn't it.

Karsten showing us the indian vest he made at Gail's house. He was pretty proud of it!

Karsten wanted Scott to try on the vest. He was convinced it would fit him. No such luck. :)

Liam was fussy so one of the nurses suggested Scott hold him like this. Sure enough it worked - those nurses are so wise. :) Note that Scott has a sweatshirt on in many of these pics - he was so cold the entire time we were at the hospital while I was so hot the entire time.

Sleeping baby!

Liam hanging out in his bassinet (we called it his box). He didn't spend too much time in there. :)

Karsten sporting the headdress he made during preschool at Gail's.

Big smile from big brother!

This is one of the quilts my mom made for Liam - isn't it beautiful? It uses all of the fabrics we used in Liam's room.

Aww what a cutie

Getting ready to go home!

All bundled up and ready to go!

The hat is a lil big still :) This is what he looked like when we got home.

Good to be home

2011-11-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

After a few days in the hospital, it was nice to be home and begin to discover what will become our new normal as a family of four. Karsten is doing a great job adjusting to having Liam at home. He will come over and give Liam a kiss on the head, always says 'I love my baby brother', and is a good helper for us.

When Karsten got home from Gail's that day, I was holding Liam. Karsten came over to sit on my lap and wanted to hold Liam. Before I knew it he was trying to take Liam out of my hands.

Karsten loves this magnetic fishing puzzle that Liam gave him. It's offered endless entertainment so far.

Liam decided to check out the swing for a bit - he is a fan. I see more swinging in his future. Check out the cool blanket - one of my thoughtful coworkers made this for him. Isn't it cute - and yes, it's as soft and warm as it looks! We've been using it a LOT!

All snuggled in and cozy in the swing.

My mom holding Liam while I finished eating dinner. Huge thank you to my parents as well as Linda and Leland for all of the help while we were in the hospital and when we got home. Karsten and Madison had a great weeks staying with my parents and it was very helpful to have someone helping with meals and taking care of Karsten when we got home.

Welcome Home!

2011-11-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

The final day in the hospital started very early. First it the night consisted of very little sleep, second the pediatrician arrived at 6 AM to discharge Liam, and then by 9 AM Lisa was given the clearance to go home. The paper work was completed, Lisa and Liam were dressed in normal clothes, and we are off.

Liam's going home was this white sweater like outfit. Of course he looked very cute especially with the white hat.

Here are just a couple other pictures of us getting ready to go home.

When we got home, we wanted to take our 1st family picture. Thanks to Gaga and the new Thomas Train pillow, we were able to get a picture with Karsten looking at the camera.

Introductions

2011-11-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

We were so excited to introduce Liam to all of our friends and family.

Jenn was at the hospital bright and early on Monday morning to help us document Liam's arrival with pictures. Many of the pictures you've seen in these past few posts were taken by Jenn. I was at the hospital when her two little ones were born and she has been there for the birth of both of my boys. We really appreciate her being there!

First picture of my mom, the proud grandma, holding her grandson. My dad was also there, but he didn't hold Liam right away - said he was too tiny. :)

Linda holding Liam for the first time.

Kelli meeting her second nephew for the first time!

Taylor was hesitant to hold Liam at first, but once he held him, he didn't want to let him go!

Liz and Travis stopped by to meet Liam - no picture of Travis, he's not one to hold the baby. :)

And there's the proud grandpa holding his second grandson for the first time.

Cousins! Trent and Taylor did a great job holding Liam and were arguing over who got to hold him next. Too cute. :)

Gail and Steve stopped by to meet Liam - so nice of them to visit!

They brought this fun Magnadoodle for Karsten - he has so much fun playing with one of these at Gail's house.

Leland, another proud grandpa, holding his 8th grandchild!

Trent doing a great job holding Liam.

Trent, Kelli and Taylor with Liam.

We are thankful for all of the friends and family who shared this special time with us. Thanks so much - we appreciate all of you!

Meeting Baby Brother

2011-11-14T20:26:00.000-08:00

We were excited for Karsten to meet his new baby brother. We've been talking about his baby brother for many months now and Karsten always says sweet things like 'me love him'. Despite all of that, we weren't sure how Karsten would react when he actually met his baby brother.

This was Karsten's expression when he first walked into the hospital room and saw me in the bed. He wasn't sure what to think about the IVs in my arm and seeing me in bed. After I talked to him he seemed more comfortable with it. He brought this little lamb from Kelli for his baby brother - there's a big lamb (big brother) and a little lamb (little brother).

Scott held Karsten up so he could see Liam in my arms - Karsten lightly threw the lamb at Liam. I guess that's how a two year old gives gifts. :)

Then Karsten wanted to sit on my lap to see the baby. We were happy that he wanted to hold his baby brother. As soon as he sat next to me, he tried to take Liam from my arms.

He said 'aww, my baby brother is tute' (aka cute).

Love this picture of me and my boys.

Then my parents arrived for a visit - Karsten was so excited and proud to show off his baby brother. He said 'look mama papa, my baby brother!'

It was getting close to Karsten's dinner time so he had a snack. Thanks to Shannon for bringing snacks for Karsten.

Our first picture as a family of four!

Scott was giving Karsten a closer look at Liam.

Karsten was lucky to get many gifts from our visiting family and friends. Jenn got him this cute big brother book and he wanted to read it with me. It was so nice to have Karsten there - it was hard to leave him at my parents the night before. Even though it had been only 24 hours, I missed him so much!

Liam also brought Karsten several fun things - a fishing puzzle, a Handy Manny truck and some books.

And grandma and grandpa also brought Karsten a fun present.

Mickey Mouse - his current favorite! He was so excited and wanted him out immediately.

Playing with his Handy Manny truck with Scott and Liam.

Overall, Karsten's introduction to Liam went wonderfully. I think he's going to be a fantastic big brother.