Christmas 2010

OK, I know that a blog entry shouldn't necessarily contain 50 million pictures, but I went through the pics from this last week and picked out "the best" and it turned out to be 27! But, I decided to post them anyway. We have just celebrated Christmas with Tim's family in a very cold, snowy Feda. So, here are some of our pics....

Here is Lillian one day last week in one of her Carter sleep/play suits that she received from Aunt Brenda and cousins Jon & Jen. (Yes, Lillian got to open this one early as the contents were put to use right away :) )

On most days, Tim takes Lexi to barnehage (daycare) in the morning and Lillian and I pick her up (earlier than normal). We have now had snow on the ground since December 10th (or thereabouts). So, getting to and from barnehage with our stroller is not always easy. A couple of days last week, I strapped Lillian in the Baby Bjørn and took Lexi's sled with me. Here is a picture from one of those days... Here's me and Lillian...Now, to Christmas. We drove to Feda Thursday night (23rd). Tim dropped Lexi, Lillian and I off at Lajla's house while he went to unload the car at the boathouse. Cousin Luna was already there, and here they are...Winter wonderland... (the river is frozen - thin layer) Here is Lexi with the packages from the US. We decided to save them for Christmas morning rather than take them to the Christmas Eve celebration at Lajla's. The hat is from Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen.Well, I promised to get back in front of the camera for Christmas - I still haven't reached my weight loss goals (have 7kgs left to go), but... a promise is a promise. (Just ignore the extra round face....) Here we are at the boathouse before we left to go to the Christmas Eve service at the church. Here is a family pic taken in front of Lajla's Christmas tree. A view out towards Feda fjord Tim and Lexi at church (Lillian slept in her carseat for the hour-long service) Luna and Lexi in front of the tree Linn and her boyfriend Abel Tom and Lajla Julenissen (Santa) came to deliver some presents (aka Luna) We received a painting from Lajla's art gallery to hang at our boathouse. A local artist painted our boathouse and the neighbor boathouse. Lexi and Luna again Tim and Lexi with Lexi's home-made gift to Tim. They make presents at barnehage during the month of December and wrap them. Lexi brought home a present for Tim that was a jar that she had painted on and marsipan (sweet candy) inside. Lexi was fighting off a cold (with cough) before we came to Feda. On Christmas Eve, her nose was running like a faucet and it continued on Christmas Day. These next pics were taken Christmas day and you can really see the red nose and sick eyes. Thankfully, she had a better night's sleep last night and was in much better form today. Here she is modelling the knitted hat from Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen and the PJs from Great Granny Bitting. Lillian slept in on Christmas morning and was enjoying some"naked time" on her changing mat. She loves to kick and lay naked (with or without diaper). She also loves her pacifier at times... Lexi tried on most all of her clothes on Christmas morning. Here she is wearing the tights and dance leotard from Aunt Brenda and Cousins Jon & Jen with the beautiful dress from Aunt Kris, Uncle John and Cousin Mark with the hat from Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen. (Playing with some of her new dollhouse furniture) So, I dressed Lillian in her matching dress (nearly so) and planned to take a picture of Lexi and Lillian together when we got to Lajla's house for brunch. Well, Lillian fell asleep in her carseat; and that is the best pic I got of her because.... (see below) ...she woke up and had a diaper blowout and I had to immediately change her outfit. So, no cute "sister" pic :( Ahh, much better. Lillian is now wearing the other sleep/play suit she received from Aunt Brenda and Counsins Jon & Jen. Alongside her is her new "taggy" doll from Grammy and Grandpa.
Here we are... The sleepsuit says "on Auntie's nice list":) The temps have been super-cold, but today they were the coldest yet. Tim and Lexi went outside to try out Lexi's new sled (Thank you Lajla). They had to bundle up and bundle up some more as it was minus 17C (1F)! Needless to say, they were not outside for very long. (It is a dry cold which helps...) Sledding with Sverre and Irma-Linn and their dads...

New car +++

I treated myself to a new car :) Altough my 2003 Nissan X-Trail only had 130,000km (81,000 miles) and was still in good shape, I really wanted something new. I wanted at least the same size, but preferably a little more luggage room. That's not so easy over here as the next size up is a huge bump up in price and anything physically bigger is more difficult on these small roads and in the tiny parking places. So, I went with a similar-sized SUV - a Mitsubishi Outlander. It might have slightly more luggage space, but it also has the possibility to flip up seats 6 & 7 in the very back. Granted, they aren't meant for anyone older than 12 (just not comfortable), but I like the flexibility it gives. Plus, I love the new car smell and all of the gadgets...this car is tripped out :)

I ordered it back in September / October from a dealership in Kvinesdal (a little south of Feda). So, we made a weekend trip to "trade-in" my X-trail for this new Outlander. The color is Cool Silver metallic.

And, as you can see, it is still a winter wonderland here. Cold, cold, cold...

Lexi enjoyed some time on her skiis both Saturday and Sunday

And she spent some cuddly time indoors reading books to "baby Harley"

(Harley has a diaper on)

Lillian is still a sweet, gentle baby (enough said :))

I know that Tim and Lexi are speaking Norwegian, but I LOVE this video clip.... must share

Christmas activities

I thought I would post a few random pics of this week, since we have enjoyed a few of the local Christmas traditions.

Weather update: Last Friday night, a storm blew in and rained all of our snow away, but the temps have still be hovering right around freezing and a little below which is why we are bundled up in all of the pics :)

Lexi and Lillian on the activity mat...

We met our good friends Joe and Jacinta and their beautiful daughters Grace and Rachel for Sunday brunch and stopped in to see the Pepperkakehus (Gingerbread House) display. Here are best buds Lexi and Grace...
Here they are trying desperately not to touch....

Last night, we enjoyed our annual trip to Kongeparken (local amusement park). Each year, they decorate for Christmas and really organize some family friendly activities. Below is Lexi showing her Pepperkake that she decorated.

My apologies to Tim, but I took two pics - Tim has squinty eyes in one and Lexi has her eyes closed in the other...can't win. I wanted to show Lexi's plate that she (and Tim) decorated.

Here she is painting the kakemann (kind of like a cross between a shortbread cookie and sugar cookie). - painting with food colored water.

I thought this was a good pic of Tim (to make up for the one above...)

And yes, Lillian was present - and sleeping - and yes, she has started using a pacifier a bit more this week :)

This is proof that I was there as well and that I am finally going to start stepping out in front of the camera again. Am still working on the weight loss, but making progress....

Lexi made me a serving tray at one of the activity stations - she nailed it together herself (with a little help from Tim). I think Tim took the pic at the end of one of her "chesse" attempts - that might explain the scary expression. :)

Lillian is 1 month old today!

Well, time passes quickly and Lillian is one month old today. So, this post is dedicated entirely to her! She is still a good baby and enjoys her sleep, but is becoming more and more alert. (It's funny, I went back through Lexi's baby book today and this is the exact outfit that I had dressed Lexi in when she was one month... courtesy of Grammy & Grandpa)

Although some might find this video a bit boring (5 minutes might be too much???), here is a video of Lillian from Tuesday of this week.

Weekend Fun

Well, we had a nice relaxing weekend and I thought I would share a few pics....


This is to prove that Frosty earned a spot on the hutch shelf with the other musical decor :) Thanks Grammy and Grandpa!

Miss Fashion Statement decided it was too cold in the living room Saturday morning. So, rather than putting on trousers and a sweater (she generally walks around the house in tights and a t-shirt), she donned her gorgeous pink (lined) rain jacket that her friend Grace gave her earlier this year, her purple "Hawaii" crocs (from Grammy and Grandpa), her Hello Kitty gloves (from Ingrid) and her kitty cat wool hat that I bought her in Talin or Riga (can't remember which).

Here she is lounging in "her chair". The next project was baking. Tim and Lexi baked pepperkake (gingerbread cookies) and kakemenn (a cross between a shortbread cookie and sugar cookie). Her is the Cookie Taster herself (trust me, she ate nearly equal amounts of dough...)

To prove that Lillian still gets attention, here she is....

Lexi got out her cookie sheet and rolling pin from her play kitchen and insisted on using them. Here is the master baker in action....

Here is a sheet of cookies waiting for oven time...

We woke up Saturday to a light dusting of snow and temps OVER freezing (go figure - first day in 3 weeks of above freezing temps and we have it on the day we get snow????). Anyway, we got a bit more on Saturday night. Tim and Lexi headed out for some sledding and skiing both Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

New skiis, ski boots and snowsuit (next size up for a growing girl)

And the world's smallest snowman... (which is presently melting on the front porch)