I don’t want to hear any complaining! I finished this post Monday night as promised and when I went to publish I noticed my wireless internet connection had gone missing. Nothing I did brought it back and by then it was past my bed time and I was tired and crabby. I lost about half of this entry and said screw it and went to bed instead. Back now to your update:
Argh! The blog was back down a few times today. Kris replaced filed and was able to get it back up and running. I’ve changed he password, updated to the latest 2.9.2 WordPress version and well, we’re hoping for the best.
That last post was my draft that I started last week and didn’t get finished. Kris posted it this morning to make sure the blog was functioning correctly. Now it’s time to finish the rest of it.
Mathias was home for a visit from late January through the Monday after the Super Bowl. I was able to see him several times which, of course, was AWESOME! I could write all sorts of things here about him because even though he has my blog bookmarked on his iPhone, he never checks it. How rude! Doesn’t he want to know what I’m doing all the time every day? Whatev little bro! OK, so he flew in on Friday the 29th and I picked him up at the airport. I could tell right away things were not going well for him. Besides battling a nasty stomach bug, his flights had been screwed up due to weather and then his luggage didn’t make his re-scheduled connecting flight. It was a long day for the guy. And then we took him out to dinner with Kris, Krystle, Pierce and myself. We went to the Bloomington Chop House (yum!!!) and we all had a great dinner. Mathias? Still battling a touchy stomach? Did not have as much fun. Boo! After dinner we came back to our house where Grandpa and Marcia were watching the kids. We all sat around for a while waiting for the airlines to call Mathias. His luggage had screwed up his plans for the evenings (which involved seeing friends after dinner with his sisters) so he was still sullen (and not feeling well). When the airlines called at 10pm to say they had his luggage and would drive it out to Dad’s house then we all disbanded for the evening. Mathias went to Dad’s to wait for his luggage, Dad and Marcia had already left to call it a night and Krystle and Pierce went back to their house. And then I fell into bed, exhausted.
And then I didn’t talk to Mathias until Thursday! He was in the sate that whole week but I didn’t see him once! He was hanging with friends in Alex, chilling at Dad’s house and I was BUSY at work that week getting ready for a big review on Thursday. Luckily I was able to see him four days in a row then. Thursday we congregated at Krystle and Pierce’s house for dinner. The kids were out of their minds playing with the dogs. Krystle and Pierce made an awesome dinner (I mean really, when he pile of shredded cheese going into the potatoes is just as big as the pile of potatoes? Those potatoes are going to be good!). And then we sat around the rest of the evening. Mathias made the “mistake” of laying down on the floor on his stomach. Pretty soon he had dogs licking his ears, children tickling his feet and sitting on his back. Basically Krystle and I let the dogs and kids terrorize him for a good hour or so. And we laughed the whole time. What can I say? It’s funny! He probably didn’t think it was quite as funny as we did but whatever.
The next day was James’ birthday. I took the day off and spent it with James and Mathias. We met Mathias at the mall at 1pm and he spent the rest of the day with me, doing a bit of shopping, hanging at our house, singing Happy Birthday to James (you knew that already), eating dinner with us, etc. Later that night Krystle and Pierce came over and we watched a couple movies until Kris got home from football practice. Then we sat down and played a couple games together. That was really fun and the later it got, the more silly we got.
The next day was James’ birthday party. At 3pm most of our family gathered at our house to celebrate our little man turning three. Dusty and Carrie couldn’t make it (I was sad about that, the day seemed incomplete without them) and neither could either of the Great Grandparents, but the rest of us showered James with affection (and a mountain of presents) and yummy food. James said he wanted a train cake so that’s what we made him. We got made our frosting from scratch and got out the food coloring and decorating supplies and everything. I think he liked it. Kris made chili that turned out way spicier than he anticipated. He loved it, of course, but the rest of us were downing milk, scooping on the cheese and sour cream and doing what we could to eat it! OK, some people went back for seconds but I think they’re gluttons for punishment. I got half way through my bowl and had to stop there. Yikes! The rest of the food was good though and being hungry was definitely not a worry. Jamesy received tons of nice gifts including a kickball game, some clothes, a race car game, farm animals, police Legos, Corvette car, , helicopter toy, Thomas train toys, etc. He was spoiled! Oh, and he got a bike from us. At first I think he was afraid of the bike. He agreed to sit on it though and then Grandpa Dan pushed him around a little bit and as long as Grandpa was holding on, James thought it was fun. And he’s asked us to push him around the house a few times since then. I’m sure this summer he’ll be riding it around the driveway. When it was time for cake, James and Annika each put candles in the cake and after I lit them we all sang, of course. And then James blew the candles out one by one. Three breaths for three candles. Works for me! I was just glad he wasn’t afraid or shy and actually blew them. He was proud of himself. It was a very nice afternoon. And it’s a good thing I have another baby to look forward too because if James was my last one I think I would have been a weepy mess at him turning 3. He is such a little boy now! No more toddler poochy belly. He has thin, little boy legs. The only thing pudgy/baby-like on him are his fingers. The rest of him looks all little boy. Sniff! At least he still loves cuddling and snuggling with his mama. We do that every night at bedtime and several time during the day. I’ll be very sad when he decides he’s too big for that. Please tell me I have years before that happens though!
The day after that was the Super Bowl. Since we don’t have our big screen TV yet (maybe in a couple months – just need to save up a bit more cash), we all congregated at Grandpa and Marcia’s house. The kids love going there and playing with all the Legos and other toys. Occasionally Annika would stand up in front of the TV and then she would quickly get told to sit down or move to the side – we had commercials to watch! I’m sure she was confused as she doesn’t normally get that reaction at home! We all laughed at the Betty White commercial. Some of the others though? Really? Like the Dodge “Take a Stand” one? Well, if you think actually having to go to a job and help with household chores are so out of the realm of what you should be expected to do then I’ve got something to say to you. Luckily my husband doesn’t think that way. Have you seen the spoof of that commercial given from a female perspective? It’s hilarious. Go search it out on YouTube. Anyway, it was nice just hanging out with the fam again.
Other fun things since my last update:
Wild game with Amanda. Very rarely do I get to go out with just my girlfriends and especially with just Amanda. Must have something to do with husbands and kids and stuff. Heh. Anyway, Amanda invited me to the Wild game with her last Friday night and it was so fun! We cheered for the Wild, chatted about life and went through all the players names looking for potential baby boy names. (Mikko anyone? It’s growing on me!
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Saturday was my cousin Anna’s wedding. Annika was so excited to wear a dress and go dancing. I don’t know where she gets that from! And she was super excited to see Grandpa and Marcia (who didn’t end up making it) and Auntie Shelly and Uncle Dale. As soon as the music started she was out there on the dance floor with Uncle Dale and James. And she was hardly off the dance floor all night long. She’d rotate between Grandpa, James, Uncle Dale and Uncle Pierce. Daddy and I had to guilt her into dancing with each of us just once. Sheesh! (Uh, and we’re great parents BTW. Heh.) When James had enough he climbed into my arms, buried his face into the crook of my elbow and went to sleep. Annika was not done yet though. She danced a few more times and then we had to carry her out of the place with tears streaming down her face. She wanted just one more dance. We probably could have granted her that if we had known that’s what she wanted. Ah well, she got over it and was asleep fairly quickly.
Sunday since my Uncle Dave and Aunt Darleen and cousin Grant were still in town from the wedding festivities we went over to my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Mark’s house to spend more time with them. I had a fantastic time visiting with them and my cousin Liz who was in town from San Diego. I miss them all so much! The kids had a great time playing with another set of new-to-them toys and of course Grandpa and Marcia and Dale and Shelly again too. Parties like that are so nice for Kris and I! We get to sit back and relax for a minute while others entertain our children!
OK, last story for now and then I’ll wrap this up. Last night I came downstairs to find Annika and Kris snuggled up on the couch. While cute all on it’s own, what made this extra special is that Annika was reading a “Biscuit” book to Kris. He had to help her sound out a couple words but otherwise she did it all on her own! Now, I don’t know if she was actually reading or reciting from memory the book but I was impressed nonetheless. After she finished that one she got a different Biscuit book from her room and started reading through that one too with me. A few pages into the second book she’d had enough and started getting silly. “Little” turned into “Leap” and then she dissolved into giggles. Hearing her belly laugh is one of the greatest things ever. I think she’ll be ready for kindergarten in the fall. She can count to 100 and read simple Level 1 books. I’m so proud of my baby girl!
OK, enough. I’ll post this now and hope the site stays up long enough for you to read it!