Levi turned one year old yesterday! We celebrated by singing happy birthday and eating cupcakes after dinner. The big party is tomorrow. I had intended to post pictures last night of my big one year old but we had a small emergency at home that took up most of our time. I’ll get to that in a minute. For now, let’s celebrate Levi!

Levi posing for his 1 year picture!

Levi pondering his birthday cupcake.

Levi post cupcake.

Levi enjoyed his cupcake even if it was just to squish it and mash it onto his face! He then enjoyed a post cupcake bath. Levi loves bath time. Last night he was laying down in the bathtub on his belly and sticking his face in the water. He’d come up coughing a couple times but I didn’t want to discourage him. Annika and James have never been scared to put their faces in the water like some other kids are and I’m hoping Levi will be the same way. So far Levi absolutely loves the water.

When I came downstairs after giving Levi a bath and getting him into his pajamas, Annika came up from the basement where she and James were watching Strawberry Shortcake on Netflix to tell me that there was water everywhere. Water?!? There is no sink or water source in the basement (except the water heater and water softener). Where could water be coming from? I went down there and sure enough – water everywhere – and coming down from the ceiling! Oh no! I quickly called Kris to hurry him home, turned off the main water supply and then we rushed around trying to figure out where the water was coming from. I panicked, thinking it was coming from the second story where I had just given Levi a bath. But Annika found the main floor bathroom flooded. James had gone to the bathroom and when he washed his hands he plugged the drain and left the water running. The entire floor was wet as was the cabinet and it was running down through the walls to the basement and spreading on the basement floor. Argh! Kris arrived home shortly after the discovery and he and I got it mostly cleaned up. We’re worried about the drywall behind the bathroom vanity. Luckily that same wall can be seen when you head down the basement stairs and there is only a small patch of visible wetness. We don’t have any fans at home so Kris has been using his shopvac on blower mode to try and dry it out. We’re crossing our fingers that nothing will need to be repaired or replaced. And we’re very lucky that nothing in the basement was ruined either. Some boxes got wet as well as the carpet remnants that are down there on the floor but they will all dry just fine and the contents in the boxes are unharmed. Whew! And that was our excitement last night. I’d rather not do that again! And I’m sure the couple discussions we had with James about water will sink in so he doesn’t forget to turn the water off again!

I wrote this yesterday (Wednesday) but had to wait for the videos to upload before I could post it. Then it got too late so I went to bed and instead finished it quickly this morning. Watch this afternoon (most likely evening) for a new post about Levi’s birthday!

Last week at dance class Annika received her costume for the recital. It’s bubble gum pink with sequins and lots of tulle. She looks absolutely adorable in it. Her class did their dance twice in their costumes that night. Annika has her dance mostly memorized but will need some more practice before she’s ready for her big recital (scheduled for June 18th). Annika needs to wear her hair in a bun for her recital. I’ve never done a bun before so she and I will have to do some practicing before then so it’s not a stressful rush on the big night. I was happy to learn that make-up is up to the discretion of parents. I know other dance studios tell you to put all this make-up on your little girls and I didn’t really want to do that. Our dance studio said as much or as little as you want. They did recommend a little blush and some lipstick (but not bright red) as all the lights on stage can wash out the girls otherwise. Annika will be excited to wear make-up so we might put a little bit on her. We certainly won’t go over the top though.

Last Friday morning, Auntie Carrie had her baby! Baby Hans Joseph was born at 2:22am on 4/22 and was 22 inches long. I think 2 is his official lucky number! He was over 9 and a half pounds. A big boy! Auntie Carrie is doing well and was discharged on Sunday. Hans is having some difficulties though and is currently in the NICU. Please pray for Hans and the doctors as they try to figure out what is ailing him and how to fix it. We need that precious baby home with him mommy, daddy and big brother, Isak.

Sunday, we celebrated Easter by finding our hidden Easter baskets when we woke up in the morning. The kids really enjoyed running around the house searching. Then we got dressed and went to church to enjoy some pancakes for breakfast. Hmmm, pancakes! Then it was church in a very full church. We ended up sitting in the narthex which worked out quiet well. It allowed Annika and James to sit at a little table and look at books and color. After church we raced home and put Levi down for a nap and make our corn soufflé. Then we raced over to Grandpa Dan and Marcia’s house for lunch. We had an awesome meal with them and Auntie Krystle, Uncle Pierce and Ayla. The best part for the kids though was the outdoor Easter egg hunt! Even Levi got in the act, finding two eggs. Then he toddled around the yard shaking his eggs (that had jelly beans inside to make noise) and squealing. It was so cute!

Untitled from Kristina Froyum on Vimeo.

Annika and James just raced all over grabbing eggs. We were running a bit late to get over there and Annika was all concerned that they were going to find all the eggs before we got there. Before we allowed the kids outside to find the eggs though we had Annika and Ayla sit down for a picture together. Saturday, while shopping with Krystle, I found a dress for Ayla that was exactly the same as Annika’s. Our girls had matching dresses!

After the egg hunt and dinner we let the kids change out of their dressy clothes into play clothes. Well, Annika changed. James didn’t. He likes wearing his dressy clothes. Annika changed into the new t-shirt and shorts Grandpa Dan and Marcia gave her and then proceeded to tell me that she was wearing that outfit every day for the rest of her life. I think she liked them. All the kids got little gifts for Easter. How sweet! It was such a beautiful day on Sunday that we took the kids to the big playground in town and let them run around there for a couple hours. Annika and James had such a good time there! James is very afraid of heights right now so he didn’t want to go on the swings very high but I did put him on Annika’s lap on the swing (spider style) and they swung like that for a few seconds. I used to do that all the time when I was a little girl with my friends. It was fun to show my kids how to do that.

Annika and James Swinging Spider-Style from Kristina Froyum on Vimeo.

Annika is a monster (she’s so strong!) so she did all the monkey bars with ease. And even Levi got in on the act. He took his first ride of the season in the baby swing. He loved it! Kris was bored though (of course – darn ADD!) so he put Levi in the stroller and took him for a walk down to his old church in town. Pierce put Ayla in the stroller and went with him. Our two manly men strolling through town with their babies in strollers. It was a great sight and of course Krystle and I took pictures!

Yesterday was Auntie Carrie’s birthday. Happy Birthday Auntie Carrie!!

Tomorrow is Levi’s first birthday. Can you believe it! (Just a minute – I suddenly teared up when I wrote that. Breathe Kristina. Breathe.) OK, his birthday is tomorrow and his birthday party is Saturday. I’m so excited to get him a cupcake and a couple presents and celebrate my baby! Instead of buying Levi even more toys (the third child does not need a thing!) we decided to replace some toys and board books we like that have broken and we’ve had such a hard time finding them! I think Kris will be making a Toys R Us run today to find one toy because apparently Target doesn’t carry it any longer and it’s too late to order it from Amazon. We’re also going to get him a couple 18months summer outfits because James’ hand-me downs were mostly 2T’s for summer and that will be a bit too big for my skinny Levi. I can’t believe he’s one already!

I have a coworker from Phoenix that is here in Minneapolis this week. He brought grapefruit from his Phoenix backyard with him and I stole a couple for myself this morning. And that reminded me that whenever Kris eats grapefruit at home Levi always insists on having some. Kris will give him a small piece and Levi will eat it and then screw up his precious little face into the most hysterical little mess. And then he’ll come back for more. He cracks me up!

It’s been a while since I updated here.  It’s a definite problem I have.  But we have been busy and here’s what we’ve been up to:

1. Ayla’s baptism!  A couple weeks ago we attended Ayla’s baptism.  I’m honored to be her godmother.  She was an angel baby during the whole church service and never made a sound during the actual baptism.  After the service was over we took a few pics at the front of the church and then we went to Krystle and Pierce’s for lunch.  I didn’t get to hold the little peanut too much that day.  Levi was to jealous to let me do that.  It was a nice day though.  And Annika and James were excited because we let them go play outside at the playground behind Krystle and Pierce’s house since we could see them from inside.  Kris did eventually go out there with them but the rest of us could keep an eye on them from the comfort of the couch!
2. Wednesday nights are busy again.  Annika still has dance from 5:45-6:45pm.  She knows her whole routine and still enjoys going so much!  After skating, Annika took a six week ice skating class, learning to snowplow, skate backwards, etc.  That was over a few weeks ago and last week James started taking ice skating lessons on Wednesday night too.  His class is from 7:15-7:45pm.  Last week he was a little nervous and actually started crying before his first class.  I kneeled down and asked him what was making him scared and then assured him that his teachers would help him and that yes, he would fall down but the teachers were going to teach him how to get back up.  He enjoyed his first lesson and was excited to go back this week for his second lesson.  And he’s doing so well!  He can already fall and get back up on his own as well as “skate” across the ice and this week he was even weaving between cones (with the added fun of throwing the bean bag he held in his hand in the trash can at the end of the “obstacle” course).  Go James!
3. Last weekend Krystle and I went to our neighbor Katie’s house to help her celebrate her 30th birthday.  She had an ’80s party and Krystle and I joined in the fun of dressing up.  We had some wildly colorful make-up and some teased hair (me) and some side ponytails (Krystle) along with “rolled” jeans and cut off sweatshirts (me).  It was a really fun evening.
4. Annika lost her front tooth!  OK, so I told you about that one already.  But!  She’s also losing her other front tooth.  It is so loose it’s turning sideways.  It’s not quite ready to come out yet but I bet before the weekend is over she’ll have both front teeth gone.  And, one of her bottom teeth (the one next to the bottom middle) is also loose and I expect her to lose that one in the next couple weeks.  I’m not sure how the girl is going to eat with so many holes in her mouth!
5. Levi is growing up so much!  He turns one in a couple weeks already!  Can you believe it!   A couple weeks ago he pulled a little green tractor out of the bin of toys and started pushing it around on the floor like a truck.  Next comes the tractor sounds I’m sure.  I couldn’t believe he’d already figured out the wheels/moving of the tractor though!  Levi has been very into throwing things in the last month or so.  Blocks, cars, food – it all gets tossed.  Lately though he has started kicking as well, a ball that is.  Now if he sees a ball on the floor he must play a little solo game of soccer and kick the ball around the living room.  Last weekend we even had a mini three player soccer game going on in the house.  Annika and James were running around trying to kick the ball and Levi wanted in on the action so he chased them as fast as he could.  I do believe we saw his first attempts at running!  He’d catch up to them and try to kick the ball and pretty soon the ball would go flying to a different part of the room.  Levi adores his older siblings and wants to play with them so badly!  Last night Annika, James and I were playing “Go Fish” and Levi wanted to play too.  He’d sit on my lap for a few seconds then want back down again to go play.  Then he’d be back and want his own cards so pretty soon he started stealing Annika’s cards that she had set down on the couch.  Then he’d take off “running” across the room.  Annika would chase him down to retrieve her cards and he would belly laugh the entire time.  He loved that she was chasing him and wouldn’t even get mad or cry when she took them away.  He just figured out how to steal them again.  Man I love my family.  It is so fun to see them playing and laughing together.

We don’t have too much planned this weekend.  The kids have a little spring concert at church on Sunday and I have a workout planned with Amanda for tomorrow if the weather holds up.  Other than that we’re going to start our spring cleaning by cleaning out some closets and general de-cluttering.  Anyone want some random crap from our house?