Similarities

Sometimes they seem so alike. Today's similarities included eating only McDonald's french fries for lunch (the bribe I used for good behavior at the doctor visit before lunch) and the same comfortable sleeping position on the ride home.

Sunday night

Today I'm just glad for Sunday. Since church doesn't start until 1:00 this year, we had lots of time together as a family this morning. It was fun watching the kids play with Daddy (Annelise had a map of someplace in Norway and was using it to tell Brian where they needed to go in the house) and making chocolate chip cookies together as a family. Since Brian is at a church meeting tonight and the kids are asleep early, I have some time to just reflect on the day and the things I'm thankful for. Tonight I just feel really grateful to have Brian, Annelise, and Nathan in my life. Brian works so hard for our family and is a great husband and dad. It is fun to watch Annelise want to try everything and ask so many questions about life. It is also kind of a relief to see Nathan grow and get smarter. Brian and I noticed today that Nathan's mood has really improved in the last couple of weeks. He is talking a lot and this week has started bringing me books to read to him on the couch. It looks like he will be able to concentrate and focus on stuff after all (not just climb things). I especially love how Nathan will randomly wrap his arms around Annelise and give her hugs. Tonight I am also thankful that April is coming to an end quickly and that our baby will be here soon. Today I felt big enough to be ready for her birth any day, but I'll try to patiently wait out the next few weeks. Now we just have to settle on a name and get all the baby stuff ready. I am really looking forward to May!

Chicken Yakitori

Soooo very good! This is Brian's newest grilling creation. Since he was home this Saturday he had time to try something new out of this book. We served it over rice and the kids loved it too, especially since we did not make Annelise eat the green onions. Prepping this meal does take a long time, but for the taste it was well worth it.

Brian's trip to Norway

Last week Brian was on business in Norway and didn't fly home until Sunday, so he had a free day on Saturday to do some sight seeing. I really liked these pictures.

Easter

We had a great time celebrating Easter this year. Annelise and Nathan loved hunting for Easter eggs and since we have church in the afternoon we spent the morning trying to teach Annelise about the real meaning of Easter because she pretty much was sure it was all about the Easter Bunny. She enjoyed coloring a picture of Jesus and the tomb and learning about the resurrection.

The stuffed animals are sick

I wish I had a picture of this, but Brian is out of town this week with our camera. This week at school Annelise came home with a "dr. hat". So she has spent a lot of time playing Doctor and making sick beds for her stuffed animals. Whenever I ask her what happened to the stuffed animal or why they are sick she says, "Oh, they lost a tooth". Last week's accident definitely left an impression on her. At least in a pretend world they can be cured.

Frosting!

Yesterday while I was grocery shopping at Kroger with the kids we were picking out a cake mix. I decided to read the ingredient label on the frosting cans and found to my astonishment that milk has been eliminated from the list. YEAH!!!!!! I don't know when this happened since I gave up on canned frosting being safe a few years ago, but things have obviously changed. So we bought this can and can't wait to use it. I now have a vision of adding canned frosting to my 3 month or maybe one year supply of food storage.

Nathan lost his first tooth

I never imagined I'd be writing about Nathan losing his first tooth at seventeen months. Also at the same time he has four teeth still coming in. But accidents happen. The proof is in the picture. On Wednesday afternoon Nathan was standing on a kitchen chair and fell off. Unfortunately this time he somehow managed to completely knock out his top left front tooth all the way to the root. Fortunately, he seems to be healing well at this point. He has no idea what has happened to him, but we'll keep the tooth so that when he reaches a more inquisitive age we can explain that he did in fact have that tooth and that years from now he'll grow a new one. For me, the experience was quite stressful. I have never dealt with quite so much blood, screaming, and chaos at once. We were lucky that it happened late in the day and Brian was able to meet us at the ER. I am very grateful Brian's more calm self was there since I was the one occasionally crying because the ER wait with a bleeding baby was taking too long for my liking. Of course like most ER visits they could do nothing for him, but next day our fantastic dentist looked at how he is healing. Too bad Nathan is too little to appreciate the tooth fairy. Maybe next time...

Newest climbing spot

So cute even when he's bad.

Learning to Ride

It's finally here. The bike Annelise has been saving up for with good night time habits. We bought the bike at the community yard sale on Saturday and nothing could have made Annelise happier all weekend. I think I'm almost just as excited as she is because I have been looking for the right 12" bike with training wheels for a long time now. It's nice not to have to think about it anymore. Anyway, we counted all of the money in her piggy bank and she had $4.40. Close enough to $15 right? It was for me since the bike is practically in new condition. Annelise learned so fast. She has probably only spent a half hour on it, but has learned to pedal by herself-just needs to work on looking up and steering better. She proudly showed her new bike to her next door neighbor friend who is in kindergarten and said, "Maddie, I have a bike now too!" Thanks to Daddy for adjusting it and teaching her how to ride.

Birds

Nathan absolutely loves birds. So he and Annelise will spend lots of time staring out the window pointing them out. Yesterday morning was an especially exciting bird watching day. The whole family saw a bird fly into the grass in the backyard and pick up a worm. Annelise noted, "Look! That bird is eating spaghetti!"

Snickerdoodles are Back!

Thanks to milled flaxseed (an absolutely fantastic product) we now have snickerdoodles again!!! I can't even remember how many years it has been since we ate them, but this week I decided to try making them with the kids substituting the flaxseed for the eggs and it actually worked! I am excited to have an additional "safe" cookie that I can make for our family in addition to our chocolate chip cookie usual.

Progress for irrational fears

So Nathan being obsessed with the vacuum actually has one benefit. Annelise doesn't want to be left out of the fun, so she has managed to get over her irrational fear of the vacuum so she can play too.

Half Way Through the Day

and I'm worn out!!! Nathan has been sick the last few days and his grouchy mood is wearing on me. Not only that but he leaves a path of destruction everywhere he goes. This morning's messy highlights include my locking the study to keep him out and then realizing the keys to get back in were inside. After searching through the toolbox I had nothing to pick the lock with, so I had to remove the doorknob and then reattach it. Took a lot of time. Later I walk in to the kitchen to find Nathan on a kitchen chair pushed up to the fridge and he is soaking wet. So was the chair, the fridge doors, and the floor. I really need to remember to use the child lock on the water dispenser from now on. And unlike Annelise, Nathan loves the vacuum. He opens the closet door, gets it out and pushes it around on the tile. While he is pushing it around he also takes off all of the attachments and flings them around the house. Fortunately, it's naptime now and I'm off to rest so I'll be ready for the second half of the day soon.