Holiday Happenings

It all started with the perfect christmas card picture after the christmas cards had all been sent. Will climbed in to "take a nap" and told Dad to put Emmy in with him. They actually stayed there long enough for Brad to get the camera and take a picture. Then Will was up and running again.

Christmas Eve day was spent frosting the white sugar cookies and Grandma Beulah's chocolate jumbos with her white boiled cream and sugar frosting that I rolled out and baked on Christmas eve eve, making a chicken pot pie and lasagna for the crazy undecided about what we should eat family, making a batch of cream cheese mints for my sister, and getting two babies ready for a party at Gram's basically solo (with a lot of child care help from Gram who refuses to put knife to cookie since I became a big girl). Will stood at the counter long enough to lick all of the purple frosting off the knife and let Dad take two pictures before he left for work.

We spent a lot of time this week wearing the holiday hats as directed by Will.

We each have our own: Emmy's is the little elf hat, Will and Mom have the white fur Santa hats and Dad has the black fur Santa hat. No matter where we were in the house, if it was time to wear hats Will found them and delivered them to the rightful owner commanding "Put hat on" with nary a care at how stinking hot those things are.

Later, we packed up and headed to Gram's house for supper and gift opening as we do every year. I don't have any pictures but even if I did I'm sure you wouldn't be able to see much amid the flying paper and fast moving toddler hands.
Here is Em and her new baby friend Peyton Lyric that she got from Gram. She loves her.

Santa did manage to visit this year. (We forgot to send a list last year, I guess) Will got a set of take apart vehicles which he LOVES. He takes them apart and says "fix it submarine" until we put it back together for him. He seems to know how they go back together but doesn't have time to bother with all that. He also got a set of 20 duplo people who fit perfectly in his melissa and doug house that he got from Gram. He likes to stand them all up (or, better yet, have mom do it) and then have the dinosaur attack and knock everyone down.

Despite the rounds of stomach flu (Emmy, Gram and Dad), the 18 inches of new snow, the gentian violet treated thrush, the regression from using the potty, and the kaput water heater we had a wonderful christmas. Now that everyone seems healthy again we will be planning our celebration with Gramma Lorraine and the rest of the Karstens' in Hutchinson. Brad was puking when we were supposed to be headed that way making it about the 4th holiday we have missed with them due to illness. It isn't intentional - honest.
And now the hubbub is over for another year. Sigh.

Budding Photographer

Okay it has been a long time since either of us posted. Sorry. Found this to be very cute and funny. Will got a hold of our camera and took a few pictures. Enjoy.

Happiness is a monkey costume

This Halloween our family happened into a couple of costumes that fit the theme of our blog quite well. Well halfway at least. My sister found a great infant banana costume at a thrift store very early in the year and presented it to me before Emmy even arrived.

This inspired the idea for Will's costume which almost didn't happen. I was going to make the thing - I had it all planned but as Thursday before the holiday rolled around and I still had no felt to make ears or a tail I went on a mad search for something that would substitute. First I found a great hooded bath towel with a head, hands and tail which I thought I could adapt if need be. Then after extensive searching through the insane crowds at Target I happened upon the perfect costume in the right size. AND it was 30% off making it cheaper than the hooded towel.

It had a little banana sewed on the hand and a tail. Can you see it on his right? It was longer than it looks.

Yeah, perfect match, don't you think? (Emmy had "mittens" on in her costume so Will wanted to put his on, too. It is very common for monkeys to wear mittens in the jungle, I heard)

Will loved all the attention he got from the people in the 8 houses we visited. He especially liked the suckers and the candy canes. He didn't seem to realize you are supposed to stop at the door so he walked into each one and usually sat down on the couch before moving on to the next house.

Emmy was a trooper through it all. She seemed very content in her banana suit and tolerated being taken out and put back in to her seat a bunch of times. She was getting a bit frustrated near the end and finally fell asleep on the three block drive home.

When we got home, Will got to eat a sucker and a candy cane and then, exhausted from the extreme excitement of the day, toddled off to bed.

um, who knew

This blogging thing isn't as easy as my sister makes it seem. And she is apparently the queen of blogging cause all of my six friends who have recently discovered her blog think she is incredibly funny and witty and all that. I can not tell a lie - she is. So if you haven't checked it out it is called Languishing. Read it. Laugh. Don't bother to tell me how great it is, I've heard.

Anyways, my family has been sixty-two ways of sick and, literally 6 weeks later, after 2 cases of hand, foot and mouth, 3 colds, 2 cases of the flu and one little tiny case of pink eye we are starting to mend. I think. I'm the only one that has remained basically unscathed. I'm sure the wrath of the sick gods will be upon me in mere seconds but I won't give in. I'll never give in!

Here is the only funny thing I could find in our current collection. Will playing at Gram's this summer. He is wearing his railroad hat from the $1 bin at Target, his glow in the dark lizard shirt and his dad's belt wrapped around his waist twice and buckled in the last hole. That's my boy.

Happy Birthday, Bud!

Will. I can't believe you are already three today. Seems just like yesterday when you came into our lives. The second you were born, my life forever changed. I remember the first time I looked at you and every time since, I feel such love and pride. I can't help but think of your Grandpa Bill and how much I miss him, and hope he thinks I'm doing an okay job so far being a Dad. I guess I'll do alright because I know he is watching out for me. Although I think he secretly wishes we were farming so you would drive me crazy like I did to him with my mishaps.

My wish for you is to grow up and continue to have fun. Life will have many ups and downs, but remember how much your Family loves you.

Are we related?

It is so interesting how people see you in your children. Some say Will looks so much like Brad and others call him "Little Dewey." And then Emmy looks just like me at birth according to my mom but favors Brad's side of the family according to him. It amazes me how younger siblings can appear to be little clones of their older siblings or can look like they were adopted from different countries. I think my babies have similar features but don't look so very much alike besides the large brown eyes. I guess Brad and I are a good combination since so many people lately have told me that we "make beautiful children." Sometimes people are too kind. But they are awfully cute, aren't they?

It's a royal slugfest

I finally, in my last five full days of maternity leave, decided I had better take care of the weeds that have overrun what used to be my flower beds. So I loaded Emmy up in her bucket (aka car seat) with her pink hat and bunny slippers and headed out with my thistle resistant gloves to start the task. It didn't last long since Emmy decided she couldn't sleep unless I was rocking the bucket but that was okay cause I seemed to piss off the slug gods with my pulling and they sent out their minions to attack. I stunned them with the flash of the camera and we had just enough time to get inside before they were able to entangle us in their shimmery slime webs. Whew. Don't worry, I don't think Em is scarred from the encounter. I'm not sure how I will sleep tonight though. There were tons of them out there. Why do they seem less intimidating, nay cute, when they have their snail shells on? Bring out the beer.

I can fix it - I'm your big brother, you know

Will has started paying much more attention to Emerson as of late. He is always saying hi to her and asking how she is - "You okay, Emmy?" He never neglects to kiss her goodnight and demands that whoever is taking him up to read bedtime books kiss her, too. She seems to be noticing him more, as well. At school today Will walked over to her and said "Oh, hi, Baby" and she smiled at him, her crinkly nose and squeek smile. I hope this love for each other continues to grow forever.

Em...Emmy...Emerson

So many changes in just a few weeks.

She is smiling now and she does that squeeky throat inhale thing that makes her cough.

She loves to lay on the floor and in her bouncy chair and watch the world go by.

Such a pretty little thing. All 9 lbs., 10 oz and 22.25 inches of her.

Emmy withdrawl

Sorry to keep you all waiting. I just emptied the camera today. I have more to post but I had better pace myself. Don't want to go from withdrawal to overdose.

I'm forever blowing bubbles

This hand held bubble machine is a big brother gift from Great Aunt Marcia.

The little fan turns when you pull the trigger and thousands of bubbles pour out.

I think Will loves bubbles more than he loves sticks.

You gotta admit, that's a lot of love.

All you need is a few metal bars and a good sharp stick

When Emerson was about 5 days old and Daddy's last day home on paternity leave was near we jumped in the van and traveled about 6 miles north to Halstad. A few years ago they acquired some big bucks from somewhere and put in an awesome playground that we thoroughly enjoy from time to time. Daddy and Emmy sat on the bench and watched the excitement while Will and I ran from one end to the other climbing, sliding, jumping and playing a little stick music with the railings.Will has been drawn to all things nature since he was very little. When out and about you had to be on the constant lookout for rocks which would immediately go in his mouth. This summer his focus has switched to sticks.
While walking through the wood chips on the playground he discovered a beauty of a stick that someone had previously taken a liking to and stripped the bark from. He picked it up and immediately started hitting the parts of the structure with it. He quickly walked past the large support tubes and their low sounds but lingered at the end of a tunnel near the pipes that make up the railings.
We stood there for about 5 minutes - him asking me to sing Twinkle while he played the tubes with his stick. I think I sang the song about 15 times or more. At one point he seemed to need a break from all the music so he laid down in the tunnel for a rest.
Shortly there after we were on the go again, making music from one end of the playground to the other. He kept that stick in his hand for the duration of the outing but was willing to leave it in the woodchips for someone else to enjoy when we left.