It's Tulsa time!

What a glorious, wonderful month we have had in Tulsa! It is with a satisfied and heavy heart that we leave this morning. We have had an action-packed, fun month filled with friends and family and wouldn't trade it for the world. We had the luxuary of staying in the "Norwegian suite" at my parents new house. Space, space, space .... bliss, bliss, bliss. It was great to feel like we weren't living on top of each other... especially since we were here nearly a month. Lexi and Lillian had a blast with the warmer weather...we all loved airing our toes out. They also loved playing with Cousin Mark and meeting sweet Cousin Kate. So many "firsts". The month just flew by!

Well, this is short (kind-of) as we are soon headed to the airport. As for the pictures... well, what can I say? Er, um, we take lots of pictures in this family? That is the understatement of the century, of course.... We literally have hundreds of pictures from three different cameras from our month in Tulsa. Needless to say, it was impossible to narrow down the pictures for this blog posting. So, enjoy...

Easter Sunday - Pops, Grammy, Lexi and Lillian
Lexi and Maggie
Lillian LOVED the excer-saucer we borrowed from Aunt Kristy (don't mind the huge outbreak on her chin - it festered to a huge spot before it finally healed)

Looking cool - Mark, Lillian and Lexi
It was definitely a smart move to buy TWO bouncy balls!
I lost count of exactly how many times she went on the merry-go-round!
Lexi's first spa pedicure and manicure - she loved it!

Lillian also loved the johnny jumper... Quality time with pops in their gigantic, enormous new closet :) John, Kris and Mark welcomed beautiful baby Kate Elise on Monday, April 4th!

Kris and Kate at Easter

Lexi and a one week old baby Kate
Hmmmm...Lillian is 5 months old and Kate is 3 days old! Sweet cousins :)

The proud big sister and her happy little sister

Lillian and I before we left the house to go to Woodward Park for the Allen family pictures

Grammy and Lillian

Pops with Mark and Lexi - they sure kept him busy

Here are Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen (my grandparents) with me, my sister and our 4 cousins and all of our kiddos. When my Grandpa turned 80 in 2008, we took a similar photo and there were 7 great grandkids. Today, there are 12!

Great Granny Bitting with Lexi and LillianGreat Grandpa Allen with Lexi - someone saw this picture recently and commented that they had the same smiles.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen with Lillian (the 11th great grandchild)

Yes, we took loads of pics (both informal and formal) this trip. Here are the cousins... Isn't Kate precious?

Mark and Lexi LOVE to hold their sisters

I got to attend a "sip and see" for Kris and Baby Kate. Here we are that Saturday morning

Great Granny Bitting with Lillian and Kate (She has 8 great grandchildren)

When Pappa Tim came to town, we went to the Oklahoma Aquarium - super fun. Lillian squealed with delight.

Lexi got to feed the turtles - carrot strips

Lexi and I

We also went to the Tulsa zoo - more turtles!

The penguins are a hit where ever we go...

The wagon was NOT a good idea. They fought over who sat where, who was sitting on each other's body parts, who pulled the wagon, etc.

One night, we were in the path of a tornado. So, we took shelter in "the clubhouse". It is the area under the stairwell in my parent's new house. Ordinarily, Lexi and Mark use it as a play area. But, on this night, we all got in the clubhouse with our shoes, jackets, diaper bag, flashlight, water bottles, snacks, pillows, etc. Lexi thought it was THE BEST that we were all in the clubhouse with her. She wanted to do it again the next night. Luckily, the tornado wasn't near us - just some fierce weather.

Mark's church hosted a really cool Easter event for the preschoolers. Here are Lexi and Mark at the Easter egg hunt. (Mark is a bit concerned with how many eggs Lexi has in her basket versus how many are in his...)

Of course, we also dyed Easter eggs and then painted them :)

Here are Lexi and Lillian on Easter Sunday morning in their new Easter dresses and sweaters (thanks Grammy and Pops!)

We all gathered at Mom and Dad's for Easter lunch after church. Here are Grammy and Pops with their four grandkids.

Cousin Jennifer got to come to town Easter weekend and was VERY popular!

Here is a pic of Lillian and her Godparent Cousin Jen

Here is Great Granny Bitting with her two daughters (Mom and Aunt Brenda) and three of her granddaughters (me, Kristy and Cousin Jen) and four of her great grandchildren (Lexi, Mark, Lillian and Kate).

Aunt Kristy found the biggest Easter eggs ever and they were a huge hit!

We took Mark, Lexi and Lillian to BounceU a couple of days before we flew home. Lexi and Mark could not get enough of the giant slide. I bet they went down it a hundred+ times.

Lillian loves to hop too. She has really started putting loads of weight on her legs during our time in Tulsa. With the excer-saucer, johnny jumper and everyone holding her in the standing position, her legs are getting super strong.

After BounceU, we went to McDonalds - Lexi and Mark devoured their Happy Meals!

Lillian's Christening (Barnedåp)

We have just returned home from a wonderful weekend celebrating Lillian's Christening in Feda. So beware...this blog entry has loads of pics :)

As some of you may remember, the Norwegian State Church / religion is Lutheran. It is very traditional to have your child Christened (barnedåp). So, as we did with Lexi, we followed suit with Lillian. It is treated as a pretty formal affair here in Norway as you will (hopefully) see in the ba-zillion pictures that follow. We will also have her Baby Dedication at my church (North Sea Baptist) in May or June (same as we did with Lexi).

Here we are at the front of the church - this was taken right before the priest pours water over her head.
Here is a pic taken after the church services. In addition to us and the priest, three of the four Godparents are with us. Lillian's cousin Luna and our good friends Ole and Martha-Karin Ramberg. The fourth Godparent is my cousin Jennifer. She wasn't able to join us for the barnedåp, but will be visiting us this summer.

Lillian was enjoying some "chew time" on Saturday
Luna and Lillian on Saturday

Beautiful Karine and Mette - the daughters of Tim's cousin Frode.

Gorgeous Luna with her new smile (braces were removed this last week)

Lexi received a bunad (national dress/costume for Norway) from Lajla for Christmas 2009. With a little altering, it finally fits and what better occasion to wear it for the first time! It is very common in Norway for those that have bunads (optional) to wear them to Christenings, weddings, confirmations and 17th of May. Bunads are different depending on what part of Norway you come from. Lexi's is just a beginners bunad for children. It isn't necessarily representative of the Stavanger region.

Lexi and Lillian before we head to the church

I love this picture of Lexi...this was taken on the first floor of the boathouse. The rustic look and the bunad really go well together. :)

Had to get a picture with the tulips (Lillian is presently taking a nap....)

Lexi and Mamma

Proud Pappa Tim and Lillian

Lillian and her Mamma (Lillian's Christening gown has been used in Tim's family for many years. I'm not sure how far back it really goes, but I know for sure that Linn was Christened in it in 1974, Luna in 1996, Lexi in 2007 and now Lillian in 2011.)

One happy family

Finally! A good pic of Tim and I!

Lexi with Martha-Karin (Martha-Karin comes from Stavanager originally and is wearing a Stavanger bunad)

After the church services, we gathered at the boathouse for some food ("kaldt bord" - open face sandwiches and all sorts of toppings for them) and cakes and coffee.

Here is Lillian with Tim's Aunt Grethe (wife of Lajla's brother Jan) and Lajla

Lexi helped me to open Lillian's presents while Lillian was napping (Yes, she changed clothes. Although she was so excited to wear her bunad, she was dying to change when we got home from church. Mind you...I couldn't get her to put on another cute dress, she insisted on some random t-shirt with leggings - the outfit didn't really match, but she has a mind of her own and a stubborn streak that is often un-beatable...)

Here we are with Tim's Uncle Jan (brother to Lajla) and Aunt Grethe

Here we are with Lajla and Tom

Us again with Tim's cousin Frode and his lovely wife Anne (you saw pictures of their beautiful girls earlier - at this point in time, the big girls were entertaining Lexi up in the loft playroom)

Here we are with Tim's sister Linn and her daughter Luna

Us again with our good friends Ole and Martha-Karin. Their awesome kids were unable to join us as they had a prior committment with their school marching band. (Ole's bunad is from an area of Norway called Telemark.)

And, the day after... today. Lexi suddenly exclaimed this morning "my swans are back!". And yes indeed...her Mamma and Pappa swan were back for a visit with their 6 children in tow! (Tim said he paddled by 14 swans when he was out in the kayak earlier today.)

Lillian enjoyed a much more relaxed day today

Thanks to all of our friends and family that were able to make the trip to Feda this weekend!

All about Lillian

Lillian turned 4 months old on Thursday; so, this post is dedicated to her. Due to the Winter Break at the local schools, we weren't able to weigh and measure her at our local nurse's office. So, we will do that this next Tuesday. Barring the numbers, she is healthy and well. She is still a very sweet baby that hardly ever complains and she sleeps, eats and plays well. We couldn't have asked for a better baby. She is still sleeping well at night. Bedtime is around 2130-2200 and she wakes around 0700. She was sleeping striaght through from about 6wks onwards, but has been waking these last couple of weeks for one nighttime feed. (I can't possibly complain!) She continues to be a daytime "cat-napper" with 45-60min naps and 1-2 hours of awake/alert time in between. She loves to smile, talk and look at everything. She especially loves her big sister Lexi who gives her frequent hugs and kisses. She has become MUCH more vocal this last week or so. There is a video clip at the bottom of her "talking".