Stitched with love

Linda made Liam this beautiful birth sampler and we finally got it framed so we could display it in his room. I think the trucks are so cute and the photo doesn't show it well but there's so much detail in the trees, trucks and grass.  The border of the sampler is even plaid - too cute!



Karsten wanted to help Scott hammer in the nail for the picture.  He's getting pretty good with the hammer.


There are some crazy shadows on this picture but I thought the pic was cute.


The finished product - the birth sampler looks fantastic!  Thanks Linda!

Busy Busy

We're slowly settling into our evening routine after we get home from work and Gail's.  Tonight, Karsten was quite the chatterbox and had so much energy. We normally talk all the way home; however, he had a lot more to say tonight.  I tried to snap a picture of him when he was talking to me, and before I knew it he was running up saying 'let me see the picture'.



He's developing such a great little personality. He keeps us laughing with the funny things he says and comes up with.  We have to be careful when we laugh at him because he's also become sensitive at being laughed at - then he'll say 'no laugh at me mommy'.

Some recent funny moments:
*He has started to say 'knock knock', then we say 'who's there' and then he just smiles.  He has evidently heard the joke before but doesn't know how to finish it.
*He keeps saying (in a coy voice) "what's baby powder'.  We don't know why he is so fascinated with baby powder, or even where he discovered it.  We don't use it and neither does Gail.
*He'll tell us and Liam a story and it always starts with 'ONE day...' and it usually has a big bad wolf saying I'll huff and puff and blow your house down.
*He wants to take a book to bed with him at night.  He doesn't read it, he just likes it to lay in the bed next to him.  Sure - whatever works!
*He likes to play tag - he'll say 'PAG you're it' and run away.
*He loves to play ball - we're working on catching.
*He'll ask to do something and then say 'please mommy, please.'  Seriously hard to resist.  

There's so many more - I need to think of the rest of them!

Line 'em up

Karsten's favorite thing to do lately is to put things in a line.  It doesn't matter what it is - tonight at dinner he put his grapes in a line.

His cars and trucks in a line.  Notice there is a car going under the chair - he was making the most of all his space.  

Scott was helping him build his 'big line'.


Then he lined up his alphabet cards.  We ran out of room and tried to start a new line above this line - that was NOT acceptable.  There's apparently only one line allowed.
 

Balls in a line.  These sat in the dining room for a few days and when we came down the stairs he would say 'my line!'.  Not sure how the little car got invited to the line with the balls.

Thanks Genny!

Liam got a package in the mail yesterday with the most beautiful blanket in it.  The color looks wonderful in Liam's room and it's so soft.

Huge thank you to Genny - she did a beautiful job!

We hate croup

You remember my post about my first day back at work?  Shortly after I published that, we were relaxing and watching tv.  Then we heard the dreaded sound of Karsten coughing then gasping for air as he breathed in.  Scott went up to give Karsten a drink; hoping we had heard wrong and it didn't sound like croup.  As Karsten coughed more, he cried more which made breathing even more difficult.

We put him in a steamy bathroom to see if that would help but no such luck - now he was making a gravely grasping sound (stridor) each time he breathed in - plus he was losing his voice.

I called the nurse at our doctors office and after she listened to him, she said he should be seen. So Scott loaded Karsten up and off they went to the ER.  As soon as they got there, the doctor agreed it was croup and started a steriod breathing treatment.  It shut down the coughing quickly; however, his voice was still horse.

After about 2.5 hours at the ER, they came home.  Karsten did great and was super brave, didn't cry at all. Thankfully, Scott was able to stay home with him on Friday so he could rest and make sure he didn't infect anyone else.

Keep your fingers crossed this passes quickly and that Karsten doesn't share it with Liam!!

The day has come...

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?  

A great welcome

When I got back to work today, I was greeted by these decorations. On a day I wasn't looming forward to, this was a great start to the day! A big thank you to Jill for such a great welcome!