March bonus feature

A few pics of mom & Gboo and a video of Wesser doing "so big."

Edible, I know.

Marching Towards Spring (we hope)

Well...we are still inside. We had the promise of Spring last week. The snow was just about history, the mercury was rising, and grass was beginning to green a bit. And then, of course, it snowed again. Sigh. Oh April, please bring some warm weather! We are getting stir crazy!

Our News:

WES continues to crawl around like mad & pull up on EVERYTHING. He looks like he might be on the same walking schedule as big sister (she walked a few days before her 1st birthday). He loves his sister and his doggie, gives many open mouthed (sometime toothy) kisses to all of us, and continues to be a snuggle buggle. What a keeper! Too boot, he is sleeping so much better- a full night plus regular naps- which does amazing things for his mood and for mommy's. Yay Wessy!

GRETA is still soaking up her first year of preschool. She adores her teacher and classmates. When we drop her off in the mornings, we have to beg for good bye kisses because she is off and running! We sat down with her teacher to do her skills evaluation 2 weeks ago. She gave us a glowing report- social skills are above age level, fine motor skills at age level, large motor skills at age level, cognitive skills at or above age level. What a gift for us- to have Greta meeting all of her milestones is more than we could have dreamed of a year ago. Our life is so full of good things.

OTHER NEWS

Wes and I just returned from a quick trip to Ohio where we were present for our Godson Soren's baptism. It was great getting our sons together and watching them thrash about together (I'll post a few pics when I get them). We are eagerly awaiting the preacher daddy's debut as "Pharaoh" in our church's production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat in 2 weeks. We promise to post some good pics from that event. We're also going to several showers for Aunt Carrie who is due with Baby Boy Binnie around the beginning of May. We also did a family interview about Greta's story for Children's Hospital for them to use in some promotional pieces. We have to go get our picture taken sometime soon to finish off the job. We'll give y'all the link when it is up and running. Oh yeah, and Easter is on its way so you know things are a bit wild around here!

We hope there are signs of Spring where you are. Just don't go calling us and telling us how warm it is compared to us (Granny and Gramps!).

much love,

the Christiansens

Full hearts

Well, despite the early morning departure of our valentine daddy, we have had a pretty good Valentine's Day. A day at the aquarium was in order. Gboo loved all the fish and Wes was his usual laid back self. I'm not sure there's anything better (aside from having all of us together) than spending the day with our little loves. I remembered several times today that 367 days ago we were bringing Greta home from the hospital. Her amaryllis bloomed on Valentine's Day. Wow what a difference a year makes- thanks be to God!

Sunday we had our family dinner day with Grandma & Papa at Papa's pool. Last summer, we didn't do a lot of swimming with Greta since we were still worried about her health AND we had a new baby brother in the mix. So suiting her up and putting her life jacket on was a big deal. Getting in the water together and holding her was a big deal. And then, just like that, she turned a corner and was off...splashing and swimming her heart out. Wes tolerated the pool, but as usual, as long as someone is holding him he's a pretty happy camper! Sadly we didn't get a good shot of Auntie Kebbie's growing tummy (she looks amazing)...and the grown ups spent alot of time playing "name that baby boy." Happy days we are having.

Oh yeah...and the snow is melting. Yes, please! Hope your days are full of love.

xoxo

More things in the NEW category

We've had a good rest o' the month I'm thrilled to report. Everyone is healthy and happy and growing up!

A week ago it was warm enough for us to take our crew sledding for the first time this season. It was great fun...all 5 times we went down a hill. Wes was pretty cold from hanging out in his mini-sled. Greta, well, she enjoyed the ride but did not like the hike back up the hill. We are posting a picture of her sitting solo at the bottom of the hill

pouting. It was hilarious until one of us had to go down there and bring her back up. Uffdah. But it was a good day and we got a couple of good shots of the kiddos from that day.

Wes is packing in the firsts right now. He is finally, at nine months, sleeping through the night. Even taking some relatively good naps. Thank. The. Lord. He is also BIG into eating solids now. We're pretty much done with baby food entirely. He wants what I'm serving, which is perhaps no surprise when you catch a look at his size. It is awesome.

He is also all about moving these days. He's been crawling since right after Gboo's birthday.

Now he wants to pull up and stand all the time. He's even trying to stand unassisted in the middle of the floor. We'll see...I may get my wish for an early walker after all! This also means we're getting our fair share of bonks right now, but nothing too tragic.

Wessy has also started playing games with us- big sis taught him "So Big" 2 nights ago. Amazingly cute. We have a dinner time picture of him doing a half-hearted so big (dinner time is the only time he's still enough to play so big!) with one hand. That will have to do for now...take our word for it....it is great.

Greta is enjoying being the helper/big sister. She desperately wants Wes to say her name 1st and has joined her father and I on our quest to encourage Wes to say our names every night at dinner. It is totally obnoxious and hilarious at our house at dinner time. Greta is enjoying her new ballet class, though the jury is still out as to if she has the dancin' gene or not! We do know she has the drama gene and she keeps us hoppin with her games of kitty & ____(prince, girl, cowboy...you choose!). She also got lots of princess books for her birthday so we are immersed in princess stories. I know- it was inevitable. We fought it as long as we could.

We're ready for warmer weather after this record breaking snowy winter, but oops...it is now February! Hope you are staying warm!

New Year...New Birthday...New Start!

It has been a really great 2011 for the Christiansen family so far. We hope the same is true for your family! We slipped quietly into the new year without too much fanfare. Then we went back to work/back to school and got back into our old patterns.

For the preacher and myself, however, we were plodding towards a date that we both dreaded and celebrated: Jan 9th. Well- really the 9th and 10th. Greta became sick on the 9th and we spent the night under observation at the hospital and the 10th was the day that it all went to hell- pretty literally. I'm not sure I can conjure more of a hell than that day. Life and death on the line. Helplessness. Uncertainty. Inability to communicate with our child. Yeah...pretty much what I now think Hell must be. Anyway- you all know this. We spent some time thinking of what would make those days redeemable, livable, hopeful. We came up with the idea of giving blood on the 10th so that we could acknowledge the gifts others gave our daughter and hopefully help someone else ourselves. A very good move. The preacher ended up having to wait 2 more days before he could donate...but it felt good to have this plan and to mark this painful day by giving the gift of life (Have you donated lately? It is no big deal and can help so much...). That afternoon I went down to the hospital for a meeting. Totally weird that on the anniversary of Greta's hospitalization that I would be there. At the same time- it was totally good. I loved that I was there volunteering my time to help other families' experiences be tolerable. That night we prayed a heartfelt prayer of thanks to be a year out and in such great health.

We then turned our attention to Greta's upcoming birthday party. We were determined to make this one a celebration of many things and celebrate we did! Granny & Gramps flew up and surprised Gboo on Friday and helped set up for the party. The whole family and 16 preschool kids joined us for the pirate adventure and it was fantabulous. Happy, carefree, celebratory, wild. We all needed a new memory and I'm happy that this birthday memory can at least be placed side by side with last year's birthday as a counterweight. We had an amazing day.

Greta & Wes have also been to the doctor for their well visits (4 yrs old/9 mos old). Both are hitting their milestones just as would be expected. They will both go back in 3 more months to follow up on their height/weight, but we left happy (except for the shots/blood draw at the end of the visit...ouch!).

I'm sure there will be more to report soon. We don't have any big travel plans here for the next stretch, but that doesn't mean things won't be interesting around here! We hope your new year is filled with happiness & health. More soon!

Best of for 2010

Well...typically I like to do a best of/worst of recap on NYE. However...no one wonders what our worst of moments of 2010 were. So this year we're just going to focus on the best ofs and give thanks that the worst ofs are almost a full year behind us. AMEN!

What follows is a listing of some of our favorite things & sayings from the last year that we want to remember...in no particular order.

* Greta: Mommy, I am nursing my Barney from my shoulder.

Mommy: Why is that?

Greta: Because my breast is out of batteries

* The arrival of Wesley Tyler...aka Wes, Wessy, Wessy-woo, Chubby Bubby, Baby Brother, the New Milker, Viking Baby, Snugglebuggle

*Mommy (at the hospital with brand new baby Wes): Greta would you like to hold baby Wes?

Greta: Um, no thank you. You can do it.

*Wessy woo's firsts: Smile in June, Sitting unassisted at the end of Oct, Tooth at the beginning of Nov, Sleeping through the night Nov (sigh), Sign for "more" at the table in Dec.

* Halloween night with Daddy & Greta approaching "the scary house" on our block-

Greta: Don't worry Daddy. You don't need to be scared. I'll hold your hand.

*Wes' favorite move: the "tuck in." He buries his head in your chest and then brings both arms in under his chest on the inside of your arms...tucked-in and wonderfully snuggly.

* The advent of "missing" and "anticipation" in Greta...she likes to count down to events by the number of naps between now and then. She frequently talks about missing the people she loves and when we will see them again.

*Greta's bed full of stuffed friends. There's no more room...please do not contribute to this addiction.

*Greta singing Lady Gaga: "Bop-ditty, bop-ditty...I don't want to go anymooooorrrre" (actual song lyrics from "Telephone": Stop calling, stop calling, I don't wanna talk anymore...")

* Greta's determination that Granny & Gramps live in the clouds (because we go in the airplane to see them).

* Greta's favorite game to play with daddy...Princess & Pet Dragon. Greta is the Pet Dragon.

* Greta: Do you know how to say Good Bye in Spanish?

Mommy: Hasta Luego.

Greta: Nope. Gubleas Cucraeas (Goo-blay-us Cu-cray-us)

* Greta: "I love that Daddy...let's keep him" (mimicking what mommy says about Daddy on other occasions).

*Hearing from G-boo's teacher that a) she appears to be processing information and hitting developmental milestones right on time b) all but one of her classmates mentioned her as a "special friend" in their mid year evaluation.

*Delivering Wes with zero complications despite his largeness and avoiding a C-Section.

*Enjoying Wes' laid-backness. He listened to my coaching in the womb: "You will be the laid back easy going snuggly baby. You will. Someone needs to play that role in this family." Good boy!

Finally our top 10 photos from 2010:

(1- Greta with her coming home amaryllis, 2-Baby Wes, 3-Greta teaching Wes the family secrets, 4-Wes' baptism, 5-tummy time x 2, 6-Greta& Daddy's camping trip, 7- Halloween & the amazing cheeks photo, 8-Mommy & Wessy at Thanksgiving, 9- Greta and her docs, 10-the Christmas picture)

We pray that 2011 will be a year of joy and blessings for you. Welcome New Year!