Resurfacing

Happy New Year! I can't believe it has taken me this long to get around to actually writing this update. I uploaded the pictures a few days ago, but didn't get any further before certain small girls awoke early from nap time. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was great, that is until it was terrible, no good, very bad, don't ever want to do that again. The original plan this year was to visit my grandmother Hope on Christmas day as she has recently moved into a nursing home and a visit from two smiling great grandchildren is sure to brighten her day. Because we would be getting up early and piling into the car for a 3+ hour car ride I thought it would be a good idea to have Christmas a day early. It seemed cruel to give the kids (well Otto really) new toys and then strap him into a car seat all day. Since he doesn't know what day it is unless we tell him, we just told him that Thursday was Christmas and went on our merry way. Wednesday we had a Christmas Eve dinner with friends. That night we hung our stockings and put out cookies for Santa. After the kids were asleep eric and I played Santa and Nisseman for the first time and had fun putting out all the gifts and filling stockings. The next morning bringing Otto was downstairs was so much fun. He was quite excited to see all the presents and learn that in fact Santa DID come. We have video of the kids from the morning but the camera is experiencing some data transfer problems. We will get it posted, just not right now. We had a wonderful laid back Christmas. The kids opened presents, we played with toys, ate yummy food, baked cookies. It was just about perfect. Then that night after dinner I started to not feel all that great. Clammy, off stomach, just kind of yucky. At about 1:00 a.m. I was the first to fall. I was hit with the most violent stomach flu I have ever experienced. While I was sequestered in the bathroom Mette woke up. When eric went in to check on her he found her in a sea of vomit. 20 minutes later Otto was awake and throwing up. It was rough. Thank God eric wasn't sick. I don't think we could have survived the night without one of the adults being able to take care of stuff. He called the doctor because Mette throwing up was kind of scary, started laundry, changed jammies and kept the house afloat. The next day Otto, Mette and I were still down for the count. Eric was kind enough to hold Mette and help her sleep while Otto and I snuggled, watched TV and napped on the couch. By the afternoon Mette was feeling better and by that evening Otto and I were getting back to normal. It was not a day I ever want to do again, or really think too much about for that matter. I had always planned on remembering Mette's first Christmas, but there is no way I am going to forget this one!! I am SO glad we did Christmas a day early because this would have totally ruined presents for sure. The one good thing about the stomach flu this year is I wasn't 9 months pregnant, it didn't put me into early labor and I didn't have to recover from it AND a c-section. Always look on the bright side.

So enough of our sick saga, there were some good things and I do have some great photos to share from the last week. I don't have a lot of Christmas morning since there will be a good video of that to come..

I made stocking for each of the kids this year. I am very pleased with how they came out if I do say so myself.

One of Otto's big hits was a CARS racetrack. It is incredibly loud and wonderful all at the same time. Eric is sporting his gift from the kids, his own pair of footie jammies!! Dinos none the less.

Photographic evidence that the box is really what they will play with.

Otto and Mette sporting Hannah's. Otto's from Grandma last year and Mette's from GrandmaBah this year.

Mette is ever helpful when it comes to building with blocks.

Luckily Mette has grandmothers who buy her girl clothes. Yia-Yia to thank for this adorable number.

By Sunday we all had a serious case of cabin fever so we headed to Reptiland for an outing.

We stopped for lunch on the way home where Mette sampled the french fries. For a girl who doesn't really seem to like food, she was pretty OK with the fries.

Pigtails, need I say more?

Christmas

It's Christmas here, pagan lights and all. Because we will be on the road tomorrow, we celebrated a day early here. It was wonderful and festive. Our family of four giving, sharing and enjoying. There are many more things with wheels, tracks for them to drive on, an explosion of pink, warm snugglyness for eric and patterns and projects to keep me more than busy.
There was even a glimpse of clean faces in new jammies fresh from a bath where they both sat still and looked at the camera, and we captured the moment!

There was also much more of this....

to be cont...

Let's ride with the family down the street...

by the courtesy of Fred's two feet. Flinstones, meet the Flinstones.

I am hear to introduce you to Pebbles Faden. The girl-lus now has enough hair to merit a Pebbles style ponytail. It is quite hilarious and stands straight up all day, even through naps, fantastic.

You will also see she is sporting her favorite toy for chewing and playing, The King car. You may not all be as familiar with the Pixar movie CARS, but this is one of the main stars, and Mette's toy of choice.

Oh my

I would love to tell you all about the funny stories that have been circling in my head all day but I am just too plain tired. I'm not going to lie. I have been going full tilt trying to get everyone's gifts finished before they need to be mailed off or delivered. It is looking like I just might get the first round off in time, maybe!! I do however have some great photos which I will share.

First, if you had a hat that was this cute you would wear it too! Mette's, not mine.

(Checkered flag hat, accessories by Otto)

The next town over for the month of December has a train museum set up in the Moose Lodge. It is heaven on earth for Otto. We went last weekend and I think we will be going again this weekend. Eric took some great video which he is going to edit together for Otto to watch all year round, I will post that when it is done, but here are a few general shots. Kind of reminds me of eric and I's first date, Roadside America. -go ahead, click the link, it is well worth your time!

IKEA at it's finest. $7.99 for a tent that has been in constant use since we set it up!

Pancake Breakfast

I am not sure if I have ever posted about Otto's love for pancakes. I can assure you it is strong and enduring. The boy would eat his weight in pancakes everyday if we let him I think. This morning there was a Breakfast with the Grinch pancake feast put on by the Rotifers downtown. (I was a Rotary exchange student and my dealings with the Rotary are many. This earns me the right, and those who helped my through the process, to call them Rotifers. Really the name suits them much better.) For a whopping $10 the whole family was treated to bottomless pancakes, sausage, hot chocolate, coffee and juice. It was awesome. The pancakes were quite good, the children were amazing. Otto ate two plates of pancakes and a whole sausage. They were showing the cartoon Grinch which Otto seemed to like as well. Being as he couldn't hear any of it and didn't see it from the beginning he was just watching the fun colors and didn't ask too many questions which is just as well! He did ask what the F.B.I warning was when it started over. Eric explained to him that is where they tell you that you are only supposed to use the movie for home use, not exhibition of any kind....can't tell he used to own a movie theatre or teaches copyright law at all. In addition to the yumminess they also had someone dressed as the Grinch walking around talking to the kids. I thought Otto might be scared of him but he wasn't. He didn't want to look at him when he got real close, but he actually seemed to like him. All in all it was quite a huge success in my book.

Otto, chin up to the table putting the pancakes away!

He didn't really want to look at the Grinch when he was close but he smiled a lot and was laughing. I also think he didn't want to take his eyes off the movie.

Mette was a little unsure of the Grinch when he got close to Otto.

She was rather curious about him being this close to her and clung to dad until he left, but didn't seem upset. She went right back to charming up all other members of the room. She also ate some pancakes!! Food, real food, that she put in her mouth and ate, amazing!

Conveniently Isolated

There are many times when I wish we lived in a bigger city, or town really for that matter. When shopping for any food ingredient that strays from the straight and narrow, though the stores are getting better bit by slow and painful bit. Trying to book a flight to anywhere without having to take many puddle jumpers to cities you are not interested in and paying through the nose for them. Waking up on a sunday morning and wanting to go to a museum, it's just not an option here. Night life, live music. Not that I ever go out, but I can't help that think if we had good music I would make more of an effort. And then there are days like today. This afternoon fellow fabric lover, Rachel and I headed out to a store outside of town that is run by a former Amish woman. Rumor is she left (!!!) the Amish but is still pretty Plain. The store is primarily a fabric store with an emphasis on quilting and clothing fabric. It is amazing. The have so much to choose from and it is all beautifully arranged by color. The women who run it yell to each other is true PA Dutch, and as anyone who is familiar with PA Dutch, yelling is really the only way to speak it. When you over hear there conversation in English there is so much attention to color and balance in quilt making, you understand why their quilts are so coveted. The best part though is all the stuff they sell in addition to fabric. This is truly a woman's store. The tops of all the shelves are full of toys for children. There are wooden puzzles, tractors (lots of tractors) play food, baby dolls, bottles, the list goes on. The notions, oh the notions, every kind of elastic you can imagine, though no FOE sadly. They have mason jars of buttons screwed to pieces of wood hanging above the check-out counter. The have diapers, handkerchiefs, fantastic socks, underwear, gloves and a fine selection of Mennonite and Amish men's hats. The fabric is cheap and wonderful, though being as they service the Mennonite, the polyester section is quite impressive! The place is amazing, I am quite certain that everything you could ever want for a sewing project is there. Did I mention the spools and spools of bias tape hanging from the ceiling or the bins of embroidery floss? Rachel and I each made out with a nice little start to some more projects. I even scored some material with Formula 1 race cars that I am going to make pillow cases for Otto with. No surprise, he loves it. On our way out the store there was a wonderful sign that "Do you want to speak to the man in charge or the women who know what is going on?" It was wonderful

So despite not having fancy museums or being able to jet off at a moments notice, there are some pretty amazing things about living here that you wouldn't have access to anywhere else.

Dude Quotes

Today when Otto came downstairs to see the snow outside he was quite excited. While looking out the back door with eric he said "look daddy, it snowed in Kendal's yard too!"

Yesterday while hanging out in the hall with eric he climbed on top of the trash can and said "I am just going to sit here and watch the world go by".

Tough Stuff

Learning to walk is hard. Easier with your tongue out for sure. Here she is practicing with Rachel at the park.

Remind me to tell you about "COME ON" from Otto. But now I must go watch a movie with eric....

Nip and Tuck

Mette had her consultation with the plastic surgeon today.

Yeah, that doesn't seem any better when I see it in print. Saying it in my head seemed so odd that I thought when I wrote it down it would look more normal, it doesn't.

Regardless, it went very well. He said the bump above her eyebrow in indeed a cyst and a very normal one at that. It is something you can only be born with so there is no chance of getting more as she grows older. It will also not go away on it's own, but will most likely get larger. Due to that he feels that the best thing to do is to remove it. She will have to be put under for the procedure but it will only take a half and hour so it is pretty minor. She will have a few stitches that have to be removed after a few days but other than that it is pretty easy peasy. He suggested we do it somewhat soon while she is still pretty young to allow it the most chance to heal without leaving a scar. With the holidays and much traveling coming up I was thinking we would push it off until March so she doesn't have her first birthday photos with a big scar on her forehead. Then he mentioned they would do it first thing in the morning because she would have to fast from midnight on the night before. Being as she now nurses every three hours at night and eats in the morning I think that waiting until March is essential as it gives us that much more time to get her sleeping better so we don't have to hold her off of multiple feedings which does not sound like something I want to do at all!! So March it is.

While Mette and I were cruising exam rooms and eating Cheerios Otto hung out with Rachel and Isaac. It has not been popular at all with Otto if I go anywhere without him. In fact it can be downright traumatic. Today I told Otto I was going to take Mette to the doctor and that he was going to go with Rachel to open gym (our normal friday morning jaunt). He didn't seem at all worried. I was sure that the meltdown was just delayed. Getting him in their car he showed no signs of problems, told me he loved me and waved good bye. It was like a dream. I took Mette in one direction and they headed off in the other. Rachel said he had a great time, didn't ask where I was other than once when he was satisfied with the "she will be home soon" answer. This is a major step in the right direction in my mind. When I got home he was happy to see me, but didn't make a huge deal out of it. Just as it should be.

All in all it was a great day. Except for the headache I am fighting. I brought it on myself by eating too many clementines. I'll never learn.

and now...

that I have posted the Halloween pictures, I can post the Thanksgiving pictures. I will be adding more of the food and family but let's start with the goods.

Here is my cousin John who was nothing short of a saint for all of the time he spent keeping Otto entertained. Otto was quite smitten with him from the start. When John was sleeping in the morning Otto once asked, "where is the guy who talks?" We were a little confused and when we asked him who that was he replied with great enthusiasm "COUSIN JOHN!!"

And then there is this bundle of adorableness

When Mette was born she received as a gift from my friend Megan, a beautiful velvet dress. It fit her perfectly for Thanksgiving. Part of the whole new kitchen experience at the cabin is this built in door mat made of handmade tiles. It keeps Mette entertained for longer than you would think a floor could.

First Things First

Before you can have Thanksgiving you have to have Halloween. I have been meaning to steal photos from Grandpa Chris's Flickr page to post here and I am only getting to it today.

So without further ado, here are photos of Otto and his entourage that weekend...

Otto made himself at home at our next door neighbor's house. She gives out both candy and books which makes her a popular stop.

Our Abbey Road shot

Dude Quotes

Today after lunch Otto started to fall apart. He was very tired and a bit sick and could no longer hold it together. I told him it was time for a nap and while he was whining and crying telling me he didn't want to, the whole time he was walking upstairs to his room. I tucked him in, closed his door and didn't hear a single peep until 3 hours later when he woke up. Clearly he was very tired. When I went into get him from his nap he said this to me...

"I was a little mad at you mommy but then I took a few deep breaths (quick deep breathing example) fast like a race car in my bed."

Then he jumped down from his bed, grabbed my hand and we walked downstairs to have a car race.

In our midst

Who knew that right in our house was a budding Ray Charles?? Otto was quite taken with the concept of preforming songs while at the cabin. There will be many more pictures to come and stores of the wonderful time we had, but for now bed and perhaps some tea are calling my name to help ward off the cold the children are hell bent on sharing with me.

Cabin

Both kids in bear jammies, good food, family, music... What more do we need?

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are enjoying a lovely mini-vacation at the cabin where we are about to embark on a three day feasting event. This is by far my favorite time of year. Enjoy your turkey!

Happy Birthday Shannon

For the record

Ever since we installed radiant heat in our kitchen I have been tripping over toys while I am cooking. I think that the cats may not be the only members of the family that like to lay on the floor.

Just a thought.

This about the boy who refuses to wear socks or slippers as "he is NOT cold!!"

A tale of two stories

The first story of the evening really isn't much of a story. There really aren't words that do justice to how fantastic this outfit is. Rachel bought this tank-underware combo for Isaac a long time ago and when it became apparent it was not going to fit him, Otto scored it. He was kind enough to model it for us this evening. It is perhaps the greatest thing I have ever seen.

Action Shot

For the second half of this evening's post we go to Mette. Poor little girl. She is teething again. It explains the sudden regression in sleeping. She has been stuffy at night, clingy during the day and chewing on everything while drooling up a storm. All signs point to teething. I don't know what teeth she is working on now but I hope they cut through fast, or stop for a while. It's funny with teething she really seems to be most bothered by it at night. Which makes us all tired. During the day she can often be distracted though sometimes it is all too much and she just needs to be held. This afternoon was a time like that. She didn't take a great nap and was pretty cranky when she woke up. There is only so long I can hold her before my arms start to give in so out the ergo comes. That thing is a life saver. We were dancing around the kitchen to some good music on Pandora having a lovely time. I tried knitting while holding her, but my arms get sore. So I read magazines and straighten the kitchen. All the bouncing and music made her tired and she finally fell asleep to catch up on some much needed sleep. It is hard some days to have someone literally attached to you all the time but it is important to remember that she won't be this little for long. Before too long I won't be able to hold her all afternoon. So even though it isn't always what I had planned for the day, it is always a nice treat. Besides, she is really snugly and smells so sweet.

Sleep Fail

For the past few days we have been making huge breakthroughs with Mette's sleeping. After a terrible night of eric comforting her while she screamed for an hour and a half insisting that I nurse her to sleep despite not being hungry, she started stretching out. In fact she was doing 3 and 4(!) hour stretches. It was all going so great, then last night hit. Let's just say by 11:30 I was exhausted and put her in bed with us. That isn't a great fix, she still wakes up, but at least I am not getting out of bed as much. Let's hope that tonight is better. I would say it couldn't be worse, but I know not to temp fate that much.

No Excuses

I realize I haven't been up to the bar with the posting lately and there are many reasons, just plain forgot the first night, too tired the next... but really what you want is news, not excuses so let's move on.

As I mentioned before, Rachel and her boy are back from Uruguay which has meant much fun and playtime for all parties involved. Yesterday Rachel had a chiropractor appt. in the morning so the boy came here and we hung out while she went to be cracked. Being schlepped from continent to continent has made this little one a bit on the shy side without his Mama and he was in need of some extra coaxing to get him to play. In fact he seemed so quiet and snuggly that I suggested we head up to Otto's room to play quietly. This seemed like a great idea and he headed upstairs right away. Once there he climbed in bed and started reading books. It didn't take long for Otto to join him and before long they were snuggled in together reading stories. You better believe I found the camera for that!

While in South America our friends also traveled to Buenos Aires for a vacation within a vacation. While there they picked up these wonderful t-shirts for Otto and Mette. I LOVE them! Otto is shown below showing his "sharp claws".