The last Hurrah in the little Tub

Us at Our Work Xmas Party...

Merry Christmas to All...

We had Christmas in Florida with the Vivster before heading up north for a week. She is such a treat! We love this little kid! Anyways, mommy and daddy got her a new car seat and pjs while santa brought 2 books, 1 little learning puppy, a sing-along dvd (which she absolutely LOVES at daycare), and some game things for the Little Leap Thing that a little elf told santa she'd be getting for Christmas.

Grandma and Grandpa from Crystal Lake and Auntie Olivia sent her some nice things too! Thanks everyone!

As you can see by her outfit (or lack of one) in the pictures, it is still hot in FL. For those of you in the tundra, 80 degrees might sound like heaven right now, but for us...not so much. We're ready for a little brisk, clean, cool air! (Notice I did NOT say COLD air).

Holy Cheeks!

Again, it has been awhile since I've posted. Not being able to post during planning or after school at work is not making it easy.

Thanksgiving was fun! We went to our friends Heather and Casey's house and enjoyed a scrumptous meal, complete with all the fixin's. Afterwards, we played Pirates of the Caribbean LIFE and other fun games....then watched movies. Vivian was a doll---she loves going over there as they have a golden retriever, Bogey, and two friendly cats, Mulligan and Bunker. The funniest thing is that Bogey is completely afraid of Vivian, especially when she lets out her newfound, ear-piercing shriek of joy.

Our volleyball team that we coach is undefeated. Keep your fingers crossed as we play our last regular season game on Thursday and then head into the playoffs. Go Eagles!

We had a Christmas gathering/game night this past Saturday at our house. While we thought it would be relatively low-key so Vivian could go to bed, it turned out that playing Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase got more wild than your average party would. Ah, well, Vivian slept on our comfy new comforter and peacefully slept through all the noise, laughter and banter.

As for Vivian, she turned 7 months old as of yesterday---yikes---time is really flying! She hates laying down when she is not supposed to be sleeping, preferring the sitting up position (or standing, if you are willing to hold her). She is starting to do the butt-scoot, but has no real interest in the whole crawling thing. The look on her face is, "Why crawl if you can walk instead?" Hmm...we'll see about that, little lady!

She is proficient at holding her own bottle if laying down and by herself. If you are holding her, it is hit or miss whether she'll hold it or be lazy! She drinks out of a sippy cup occasionally too. She also enjoys drinking out of mommy's water cup...especially if I have a straw and can give her some through that. I don't think she cares where stuff comes from, as long as she gets to be a part of it!

Babbling has got us in fits of laughter all the time. She sings to herself, especially in the car and at 3:30 in the morning when she should be sleeping. She seems to sing along when music is on and rocks back and forth. Adam thinks she may get his dancing abilities....oh boy....does she want that?!?!?!??! :) We are also convinced that she says "Hi", she has said it 5 times that we know of....but...could just be her working out all of those new consonant sounds like dadadadada. muhmuhmuhmuhmuhmuh.

That's our story. We're headed up to Blaine in a few weeks. Should be good times!

Here's a preview of "Cheeks and Her Christmas Pictures!"

Pictures...

Congratulations to Kathy and Scott on the birth of baby girl, Grace Eleanor, born Nov. 7 and weighing in at 5 lbs. 10 oz. The whole family is doing fine!

Vivian update

The Vivster is doing fine. She's got a cold which caused little ear infections, but mommy's instinct was right and she got checked out by Dr. Dobbins and placed on antibiotics before the infections got too bad. She had a little fever last night and hasn't been sleeping well, but then, who does when you can't breathe through your nose.

Her 6 month checkup was on Nov. 6---sorry, it really has been a long time since I posted...
She weighed in at 17 lbs, 8 oz and is now 27" long. Comparitively, at 6 mos. Adam was 17 lbs 6 oz and 27" long.

She was a little ladybug for Halloween and was just the sweetest little thing. Adam and I went to a Halloween party--I was the Cat in the Hat and Adam was part of the Scooby Doo crew...he was Shaggy. I'll post pics as soon as I get them from Morgan.

Oh, last thing, some friends and I went to the Jimmy Buffett concert in Tampa on Thursday night----WHAT FUN!!!! You can't live in Florida and not see Buffett. It's tradition! I will try to post pics of that as well.

Yikes! Time is Going Fast!

I've updated some via email because I can no longer access blogger from my work internet at all. Dumb.

Anyways, here's the scoop:

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for our friends...Matt continues to improve slowly each day. He is still in trauma ICU, so we cannot see him, but hope he is out by Thanksgiving to a downgraded room so that we can visit. He had his last major surgery (for the time being) on his pelvic bone this week and wasn't breathing on his own so they had to keep him on the ventilator. That is what is keeping him in ICU longer. He has responded to his dad and stepmom so we're all optimistic that he didn't receive any brain damage/memory loss. They were finally able to close the 12 inch incision that was made to re-shift his organs/take out his spleen/stop internal bleeding and repair his lung. It was being hermetically kept open until the swelling of his organs went down.

For those of you reading who are in the dark, our friend Matt got in a head on collision car accident when he was going home from our home 2 weeks ago. He broke his collarbone and leg, shattered his elbow and hip, collapsed a lung, shifted his organs, lost his spleen and had some major internal bleeding. He has gone through 9 surgeries so far...

Adam has recovered from his dislocated shoulder. He still cannot swing a softball bat, but luckily the season is over. His team ended up in 3rd place, which isn't too bad!

Our volleyball team is 2-0....wish the Vikings had a perfect record....it has been another hard season there.

We've been awfully busy lately. Seems like there aren't enough hours in the day.

Halloween Pics

Here's some new pics...

Check it Out!

Hey, check out this book....I've read it and thoroughly enjoyed it...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578567947


Violette Between by
Alison Strobel

5 months...and counting

We simply don't know where the time has gone. Viv is 5 months old already! She is an absolute delight---we love watching her explore and observe the world around her. She is so innocent and full of wonder! Vivian is eager to sit up/stand/MOVE like the big kids and like us. She likes to sit at the dinner table and play with our napkins. Right now, she likes holding objects, but doesn't prefer putting things in her mouth. We're thankful of that right now, because that might limit her colds a little bit. (I'm sure being at daycare will bring on her first cold...hopefully not anywhere in the near future!)

Vivi and I completed our first 5K race together on Saturday morning. We race walked in "Race for the Cure" to raise money to help cure breast cancer. The race was through the Animal Kingdom park which was cool because we got to see the animals along the way. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again. I'd like to run it next time. Our teacher group raised over $600 dollars for the cause. The only bummer was getting up at 5:30 in the morning to be at the race by 6:30. Vivian doesn't usually get up until 6:30 and then goes back to bed for awhile after that, so she wore pink pajamas in honor of BC Awareness!

We're excited to get up to Chicago to visit and for the baptism. We'll be at dad and Rose's from Thurs.-Sat. and then at mom's Sat.-Tues. We have to be at the church by 9:30am on Sun. Hopefully everyone has gotten their invitations. If not, hopefully by Mon.

Dang...

Tried to post new pics, but blogger isn't cooperating....maybe tomorrow!

Daycare started on Monday. Vivian loves it, we're having a much harder time....although it helps that she is so smiley everyday when we drop her off and pick her up.

She is so worn out from all the activity all day, that she is knocked out by 8:00/8:15 or so and is sleeping through the night again. This is in addition to TWO, yes, TWO naps that she takes at daycare everyday!

More pics....

What's that smell?


Doesn't my new brown knit hat look cute? Thanks grandma and grandpa! It matches my winter coat perfectly!

Laughin' with mom....

Watching football with daddy....with me around, daddy is a lot calmer during the games! Grandma and Grandpa from Minnesota made sure I have a Vikings outfit to cheer on the best team! I'll have to get a little Twins outfit for next summer....I hope mom and dad take me to some games.

When grandma came to visit, she bought me this really fun balloon. Good thing mommy cut my fingernails because I love to grab on to it!

Carrots, "The Office", and the Best Invention!

I've promised pictures, and pictures you will receive!

Vivian has been busy this past week. Today she tried carrots for the first time and seemed to like them! She has started waking up at night again for food, so we've introduced rice cereal and carrots to hopefully have a little more lasting power.

My mom was here visiting---had a great time and definitely some quality grandma time! I started back to work on Thursday---it went fine, the kids are great, I just missed Vivian terribly all day long. Vivian did a little trial run at daycare last week. She was only there for a couple of hours, but did great and Stephanie (the daycare provider) really enjoys her.

Adam and I bought Viv an early Christmas present....Meg and Joel fondly term it, "The Office", aka Evenflo Exersaucer. It is GREAT! Vivian can spin herself around and play with a gajillion toys. The best part for her is that she can sit up by herself. Apparantly, laying down is for babies!

Lastly, the best invention ever! Some of you know that Vivi HATES riding in the car. We're not sure if it is riding backwards, not being able to see out the windows or what, but we have a solution....sorta. I found a REMOTE CONTROL operated mirror that lights up and plays songs, the whole 9 yards. I can control it from a garage door-like remote in the front seat. This keeps her highly entertained for about a half hour, which makes trips to the mall and Target (and school) much more enjoyable!

Oh, What A Night!!!

It was late (at night) September back in '06....


As most of you know, Adam plays softball on Wed. nights....this weekwas no different...except that he had to go to the ER because he popped his shoulder out. No worries, it is back where it belongs. Unfortunately, it is also in a sling and out of commision for two weeks, at least. Kinda puts a damper on his parenting skills---no lifting! no diaper changing (which I'm sure he's sad about!) No bath-giving...etc...etc...

In Vivi-land, you'll be happy to know that she likes food....so far she has managed to put a piece of prime rib from brunch in her mouth and on Wed. she grabbed my (sugar-free) jello and got a taste....little stinker!

New pictures will be posted this weekend!