Thankful.

Well, it has been a great weekend. We got a little snow- which was a fun first taste, and then it melted before Granny & Gramps arrived. Thankful.

Granny & Gramps arrived safely on Wednesday morning. We did some cooking (pre-Thanksgiving & fun acorn cookies), a little shopping, some dancin' and a lot of relaxing together. Granny & Mommy slipped out to see an un-named vampire flick. It was a great prelude to Thanksgiving day. Thankful.

Thanksgiving was held at Grandma's house. Amazing food, good company, some heated rounds of Bananagrams, and the obligatory turkey nap. Grandma & Papa graciously hosted the Christiansen crew + Granny & Gramps + Aunt Jayne+ Grandma Bonnie. Greta talked about how great it was to have most of our family together around one table. Thankful.

Friday Gramps, Granny & Greta went out to breakfast with one of Gramps' old friends. Mommy & Daddy had the rare 2 on 1 time with Wesser. When we reunited, we got the tree up and decorated for Christmas. We worked hard to capture some pictures that might be Christmas Card appropriate- with a 19 month old, this is a particular challenge. We bribe him. With food. Lots of food. After a relaxing afternoon we snuck out to Victory 44 for a delicious dinner...Mmmmm. Thankful.

Saturday- well, today is game day. The only game going...the Iron Bowl of course! We kicked off the morning with Ebelskevers by Ty and Granny & Mommy snuck away to check on the local retailers to make sure they were doing ok. We returned to watch the game (Can I get a ROLL TIDE??) and share another dinner together tonight. Thankful.

We're sad that Granny & Gramps leave us tomorrow- but glad that we'll be seeing them soon for Christmas in Alabama. We will be celebrating Grandma Bonnie's birthday with a dinner tomorrow night, so that will cushion the goodbye. We hope that your weekend has been joyful and relaxing.

Soooo Overdue...Halloween, fall & other 18 month old excitement

Get ready for a photo-heavy post.

So yeah...it has been 6 weeks. What can I say, that is indicative of the fall we're having this year. We are just about to begin a more reasonable pace- at ADVENT! Yes, even Advent in a household where both parents work at a church feels like a reasonable pace when compared to our current pace. Shew.

So on to the fun:

First up....HALLOWEEN!

Yes, our cutie pies loved Halloween. Big sister was of course the biggest fan. She informed me in September that she had finally decided on a costume: pink poodle. I scoured the internet and could not find a pink poodle costume for purchase (for a big kid), but I did find someone's "how to make your own pink poodle costume" directions. BINGO.

She adored the costume which made all of the effort worth it. We went for simple for brother- I mean, Dubs is 18 months old and could care less what he is wearing. His big bald head made him a great Charlie Brown candidate.

Perfection!

We showed our costume off to the MN grandparents, along with cute cousin Noah, and then Greta and Daddy hit the pavement for the candy haul. She thought it was a blast.

Wessy turned 18 months in October.

SO HARD TO BELIEVE. We're trying hard to celebrate each new milestone, but 2nd time around we find ourselves wanting to slow down time. I don't want this awesome time to pass too quickly. At his 18 month check up he was 92%ile on height, 49th %ile on weight and 63%ile on head circumference.

Did I mention that he's a climber? Like a crazy climber? Like we find him on the kitchen table, he goes up and down the stairs with ease, he can climb an upright ladder into the backyard play house. Our Dr wants us to put him in a big boy bed because he is now officially a fall risk. AGH! We're hoping we can wait until after Christmas to make that move. The biggest news about baby boy is that he is a crazy chatterbox. The Dr asked us if he had at least 15 words. We did a little inventory before we went in and he was just shy of 100. Yeah...I think we're good Doc. He's loving books, trains, TRUCKS, balls...he's all boy. He's also a most excellent snuggler...for the moments that he's willing to sit still with you :). Oh, and did I mention that he is self-identifying when he needs to tee tee in the potty? Um, yeah. He's asking to use the potty. We are trying to capitalize now in hopes of actually having an early potty trainer. I won't get my hopes up...oh, well....yes I have, but it is so enticing! No diapers by 2 years old? PLEASE??? I'll keep you posted on this front.

We had a fun family dinner day at Grandma's house & the kids took their Christmas photo with Grandma and Papa.

It seems some sillies got ahold of our camera too...

And baby Noah is getting so big, no?? Wessy & Greta both love Baby No-ahhhhh.

In other news:

Greta is becoming quite the little artist. Her favorite subject(s)? Her family...

(Isn't daddy's hair awesome?)

Here is she and Wessy for Halloween (sorry for the sideways photo):

Greta is also interested in being a "stylish dude" as seen in these photos.

She's willing to help brother on the road to coolness too. Her antics continue on stage- last night at the church's variety show she seized the stage to tell a knock knock joke, totally un-phased by the microphone, spotlight, and crowd a-watchin. OH.MY.

Aunt Maureen & Uncle Dan gave a brick in honor of Greta's fight for survival in Jan of 2010 and all of those who cared for her at Children's Hospital MN.

We were so deeply touched and are so proud that their gift makes it possible for Children's to continue caring for the least of these in our midst. We continue to enjoy volunteering our time there.

So there you have it. A quick and dirty update on the Christiansens. There will be more to share in the coming week...THANKSGIVING! We will be celebrating at Grandma's house and it will be extra exciting because Granny & Gramps will be here celebrating with us! Yipeee! The countdown to their arrival is ON.

We hope your Thanksgiving celebrations are full of joy and moments of gratitude. I'm certain we will have fun to share.

with love,

the Cs.

Fall at the Falls...

The preacher & I just returned home from a conference in KS. It is always good to retreat and find new inspiration- I like returning to work excited about what is ahead. We did, however, miss our little people quite a bit. It is hilarious to me that even when there are not little feet padding alongside my bed at 6:30, I still wake up. Just one silly reminder of all of the little fingerprints they are leaving on my life. I like even the insignificant ones (like the early wake up calls). After being away for a few days, we were eager to have some good quality family time together.

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day here so we decided to visit one of the prettiest sights in the 'apple. It is hard to believe that it was only 3 years ago that we took Greta for a walk down by Minnehaha Falls just as the leaves were starting to turn. We took one of my favorite pictures of the squirt there:

Now look at our girl!

This time we took that same walk as a family of 4 (try to ignore that there are only 3 of us represented here and that 2 of the 3 are not smiling at the camera).

We started the morning off with a trip to the doughnut shop. Yes, Greta is eating a green doughnut. I don't get it. I do know that sprinkles were part of the appeal. Wes ate/wore a whole doughnut to boot. What a treat!

Then on to the Falls

Greta was happy to present the falls to her brother...and even happier to pose for photos.

Daddy was a trooper and carried Wes for much of the walk. I mean, who can resist a daddy who loves his babies this much? Well obviously, I can't.

Wes really wanted to be down taking his own steps. Problem being, this walk requires depth perception and a sense of relative danger- neither of which he has of yet. So, he was relegated to our arms for the better part of the walk. But when he did walk on his own, he decided to hold Gee-ta's hand:

I'm glad he's figuring out that life is more fun when shared with people you love. He's so advanced.

And there was one more photo that gave me a twinge of dejavu... this one:

which reminds me of another one of my absolute favorites of Greta from the fair when she was 9 months old:

Where is the time going? I remember taking this earlier photo- how has it been 4 years? She's growing into such an amazing little person. And that guy I married...he is just getting more handsome with age.

Lucky me.

I hope your weekend was packed with memorable moments and happy reunions.

Happy Birthday to me...

It was my birthday this week and it was a goodie.

The evidence is in my smile... and all over Wes' face. The cute hubs made the week special with cake and a concert and a night out. What a guy...think I'll keep him.

We harvested our pumpkins today. I grew every one of these punkins...

Awesome, no? Maybe I've discovered my gift.

So stories from the week.

Boo bear first:

Greta has declared that when she grows up she will be a mommy AND a doctor.

Great we say.

Then she states that she plans to have 4 children.

I said: "well, you will be very busy."

Greta says, "I know mom...Wessy and me are already too much for YOU." True, but....

Then as we discussed her future as a mama I said, "well Gboo, what happens if you fall in love with a person who only plans to have 1 baby...will you be able to compromise?"

Her response: "Um, no mommy. I will just only talk to boys who want to have 4 babies. I'll find one that thinks that idea is good and that's the one I'll marry."

Well....alrighty then. I suppose there is plenty of time to talk about the complexities of love later.

Wessy:

Ate 2 pieces of my birthday cake on Thursday night...in two bites. His total lack of patience at mealtime is part hilarious, part annoying. "MORE MORE MORE MORE!" Only feeding the beast stops the chanting and crying. Words are also spilling forth: o-mae-toe (tomato- which he ADORES), mote (remote), up/down, bunny...it is a long list.. He has earned the "most fearless" award at his friday playgroup by going down the huge slide solo. And the kisses this boy gives. Big, open-mouthed, noisy. He is a lovebug.

We are supposed to warm up this coming week, so I haven't put our summer duds away yet. Cross your fingers that we might sneak 2 more weeks of warm weather in before the inevitable happens!