Nine days later...

OK, it's been nine days since my last blog entry and I have some 150 plus pics on my camera. How in the world do I manage to take that many pictures in that few days??? Never mind...don't answer that!

This entry is a collection of random pics over the last nine days. Here is our little climber on our adventure to Trollskogen (Troll forest) on Sunday afternoon.

Miss Lillian and I

Did I mention climber?
Lillian and her Pappa
Our picnic...the air was cooler down by the water (hence, the jackets). It was gloriously hot up in the sheltered picnic grounds.
Two princesses and their crowns (Lillian is such a good sport....)

Every Friday at barnehage is lekedag (basically Show and Tell - you get to bring a toy). Lexi chose to take her eyeglasses from her Doctor kit this last Friday. She has taken to wearing them around the house recently. She claims she wants (and needs) eyeglasses. I explained that it was actually a blessing that she has good eyesight (something that was proved at her recent eye exam at her 4 year check-up). She claims that she has bad sight and needs glasses. (One of her friends at barnehage wears glasses...)

Miss Smiles was ready to take Big Sister to barnehage last Friday morning. She turned 7 months old on Friday.
Lillian loves to touch our faces these days - exploring mouths and noses, etc. Lexi's glasses were too much to resist...

Here is our "big" 7 month old. I took her in to be weighed and measured on Thursday. She is 68cm (26.8") long and 7.920kg (17# 7oz). She is still a happy, smiley girl. She LOVES to stand, is happy to sit, but complains when she has to be on her tummy too long. She loves to hold your hands and walk. :) She still squeals in delight at bathtime and lights up whenever Lexi is in the room (or even if she hears her voice). She is showing tendancies to be a lefty as her left hand seems to be stronger and used more dominantly than her right. Her eyes are still blue...will probably stay that way (Lexi has now declared that she does not like her own brown eyes, she wants blue...). Lillian is exactly like Lexi in the food department. Must do it herself. She loves to sit and feed herself (soft fruit, bread bits, etc.). She will eat anytime we are eating - such a social little girl.

Self portrait....

No signs of any teeth yet...

Enjoying the sunshine

Fun on the trampoline WITHOUT sister

Here is big sister coming home from barnehage - the glasses are still in place.

This weekend was a long weekend as Sunday was the first day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday) and Monday was the holiday. We went to Feda. Here are Tim and Lexi bicycling.

Last year, Lexi showed ZERO interest in wanting to go out in the kayak. When asked, it was always NO. She didn't even really like the little fishing boat as it went to fast. The sailboat was her favorite. However, this year, she asked Tim when they were going to go out paddling. Tim couldn't get the kayak blown up fast enough. That was music to his ears :) Here they are on Lexi's inaguaral trip on Friday evening. (We need to find her a little paddle, the big ones were too heavy and cumbersome for her.)

Here they are Saturday morning (Lexi insisted on going paddling again). She certainly didn't have to twist Tim's arm :)

Lillian and I went up the the bridge to take a picture of them

Here is Lexi getting ready to go visit Lajla and Tom.

Here she is bicycling up Lajla's driveway - baby rode on her back the whole way :)

Video, video, video...

Put away your Ipads and log onto your PCs...this posting is all about video. :)

Bathtime with Lillian is a muscle forming excercise (for me). The child rarely sits. That's why the below pic is great, I was getting a rest. She is usually on her feet, bouncing and trying to pull every possible toy off the shelf and down in the tub. The video clip gives you a little clue as to how squirmy she is. Needless to say, she L-O-V-E-S bathtime.

While we were in Tulsa, Lexi borrowed Cousin Mark's "strider bike". It is a bicycle that sits low to the ground and has no wheels - kind of like the Fred Flintstone concept. It teaches you balance. She loved it! The day before we left, she got to take a couple of spins on Mark's "pedal bike". Mark received his pedal bike (no training wheels) for his third birthday and mastered it immediately since he had been practicing balance on his strider bike for so long (ok, ok, and maybe bicycling is in his genes....). He is the talk of the neighborhood in Tulsa :) Anyway, Lexi took a couple of spins on it. Tim says she did well, but she was apparently more interested in riding the pedal bike.

Soooooo... we get home to Norway and the day after we come home (literally), Tim removes the training wheels from her bike. They have been practicing and she has pretty well gotten the hang of it. This video was taken last night and isn't the best demonstration. She was tired and a bit wobblier than usual. Tim has a couple of good video clips on his phone, but this is the only one I had on my camera. Note: I spliced two together. She is still a long ways from the professional that Mark is, but we are pretty proud :)

As some of you know, Lexi has been going to a dance class this Spring term for 3-4 year olds. It has its foundations in ballet (you might now know that after watching the video clip), and is taught by Miss Vanessa from Canada. Lexi has had mixed feelings about dance. On Tuesdays (dance days), she usually says that she does not want to go to dance, but once we get there, she has a good time. I think she would have benefited greatly from having a friend that she knew from before. So, we are trying to recruit a friend or two to sign up with her for the Fall term.

The recital was today. It was Disney themed and Lexi's group were supposed to dress up as Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Here is our mermaid. Take note of the back of the costume as you will need to know it to spot her in the video clip.

Miss Lillian loves music and loves clapping. So, she loved the receital :)

A comment about the recital clip. Er, um, they are 3 and 4 year olds? They have never been on stage before looking into a dark audience? They are looking stage left to follow Miss Vanessa's moves? This is an intro to the dance world? They had no clue what performing or recital meant before today? :)

Sorry for the poor quality of video - I should have taken the video camera. Insead, I took the video clip with my normal camera.

Also, in case you have really good eyes - Miss Vanesss is 7 months pregnant.

Lexi is left of the pink mermaid.

Random pics from the last couple of weeks

I blinked again and it is nearly June! Here are some random pics since the last blog entry. Enjoy!

Lillian loves her sweet potato :)

I wasn't going to post this picture, but it cracks me up. I just can't seem to open my eyes in these underwater pictures. And Lillian, well... I think she opens her mouth every time she goes underwater.
Here is Lexi getting ready for the start of the 17th of May parade (Norway's Constitution Day)

Here we are "marching" in the parade

This is our local parade with the local schools and daycares (barnehages). Lexi marched with the other Hålandsmarka Barnehage kids. As you can see, the weather was a bit dismal :(

Here are Lexi and Tim during the parade

Tim and Lillian after the parade

Bunad or no bunad, Lexi is our climber....

Grace came over one Saturday to play and Lexi and Grace had a tea party (with little chocolate "ice cream cones" - compliments of Jacinta via Marks and Spencer :) )
Grace and Lexi received a present a while back from their good friend Elita. They thought it was super fun to both wear the same skirt and pink top!
Here is Lexi with some of her fellow Cubbies receiving her participation award for this year's AWANA program. (AWANA is a wonderful program to teach children and youth the Word of Christ. Our church has an AWANA program that meets on Thursday nights throughout the school year. Lexi was a Cubbie - 3-5 year olds.)

Miss smiley can now sit up all by herself

They say that your first child regresses back to being a baby when baby #2 is born. This is partly true. Although Lexi loves being a big sister and "taking care" of Lillian, she also loves to play with Lillian's toys (often taking them from Lillian) and baby equipment. The funny part is that skinny minny still fits in the Bumbo chair with the tray on! (Notice the "baby bowl" as well...)
We spent a long weekend in Feda and have just come home today. The weather wasn't the greatest, but here is Tim and his helper, Lexi, taking the boat out for an evening spin. (Lexi takes in the buoys)
Saturday morning at the boathouse - Lillian is all smiles and ready for breakfast, Lexi is zoned out in front of the TV :)
Since the weather was crum, we went to the indoor water park in Lyndal on Friday. Lillian LOVES water - bath water, swimming pools, you name it!

Big sister Lexi loves the water as well...

Lexi is driving the boat

Lillian's first boat ride

Lexi and Lillian got a new playhouse (it was on a super sale). It will eventually go downstairs at the boathouse, but since it was pouring down rain on Saturday, it got assembled in the living room :)

Lillian's Baby Dedication

We had Lillian's Baby Dedication at our church (North Sea Baptist Church) yesterday. As with Lexi, we chose to "dedicate" Lillian to the Lord in our Baptist fashion even though we had her Christening in March at the Norwegian Lutheran Church. It was a really nice presentation of Lillian to the congregation and then a nice prayer for her and us as a family. We hosted a cake and tea/coffee reception after the services. Unfortunately, none of the pictures taken while we were at the front of the church turned out that well (too dark). So, here are a couple to share....

Zoom, zoom, zoom

Time just keeps on flying by! My sweet baby is now six months old today! When I took her in for a check-up last week, she weighed 7.275kg (16lb, 1oz) and was 67cm (26.4") long. She continues to track perfectly average on the Norwegian growth charts. (The reason I say "Norwegian growth charts" is that I think there must be a difference - they seem to think birthing an 8 pound+ baby is perfectly normal and average....hmmmm.)

Lillian is still a precious, sweet, calm, happy, content baby. She is 180 degrees opposite the baby that Lexi was. We thank the Lord for our blessings daily! Not to brag, but she wakes up smiling (and sometimes squealing) - every day, all the time... seriously!

Her current "love" is standing. In fact, she rarely sits anymore. She is content to lay on her belly and will turn herself in a 36o degree radius to get to various toys, but she isn't that interested in rolling and if you try to put her in a sitting position, she bucks out from under you and pushes up to stand. So, she loves the excer-saucer that we have borrowed for her to play in.


She also loves her big sister Lexi. You can just see her eyes light up and her smile when big sister is around. In fact, this evening, she was sitting in her high chair (on the lowest level) and Lexi was sitting in front of her making faces and playing doctor (poor Lillian was getting bandaged or something). Lillian was all giggles. She loves the noise and chaos that Lexi brings into the room. Ok, she does -on occasion- protest at Lexi when Lexi smothers her with hugs or kisses.

She also loves music - namely, me singing nursery rhymes. Tim has tried to play all sorts of music from Norwegian rock to ACDC to country, but she just likes my singing best. For those of you that have been anywhere in the vicinity of me whilst I am singing (at church, in the car, at baby music, etc.), you know that this isn't pretty. But, go figure...her hearing is still developing. I think she likes "If you're happy and you know it...", "Five little ducks" and "She'll be coming round the mountain..." the best. I also think my Dad might still be singing nursery rhymes in Tulsa and we have been gone nearly two weeks now :)

And lastly, food. We have been working away at various baby cereals mixed with differnt fruits and vegetable purees for several weeks now. Some times, she gobbles it up, other times, not so much. But, it's not a battle and she still shows amazing interest in what we eat. I have noticed that she eats best when in company. So, I try to feed her when Lexi is also eating. Her favorite fruit is pear and favorite veg is sweet potato.

Here are a couple of pics of my sweet girl from today...

Back in sunny Norway

The first part of this post is dedicated to Luna. She was confirmed today. Here in Norway, the State Church is Lutheran. The majority of Norwegians are Christened at birth (ref: Lillian's recent barnedåp) and go through confirmation when they are around 14-15 years of age. The teenager gets to choose whether he/she wants a religious confirmation or a civic one. The teenager than goes through several confirmation classes throughout the school year in preparation for the actual confirmation ceremony (generally always held in late April / early May). Luna chose religious and has attended many confirmation classes with the priest at her local church. Today was her big day. This is also the day that they get their bunads (national costume) if they so choose to get one. Luna chose a simple, elegant dress. It is actually not a bunad, but a festive dress/costume. It will serve the same purpose as the bunad.

Abel, Luna and an 8mo pregnant Linn Unfortunately, this is the best picture of the four of us. Lexi was being difficult...
Lajla (Mormor) and Lexi

Tim and Lillian

Luna (in her white confirmation gown) and Lexi

Lajla and Luna

Tom and Lajla

Lexi just "had" to change clothes....

Happy Lillian is squealling

We have been blessed with gorgeous sunshine and warmer temps since we arrived back in Norway. Here is Lillian in the swing on the Friday (April 29th) after we got home on the Thursday.

Tim spent all day that Friday getting our yard back in shape and then errecting Lexi's trampoline.

Bathtime is generally a success...

Lillian was more than ready for her bath

This was Lexi's Saturday morning attire... (yesterday)

We got super lucky and borrowed an excer-saucer from a friend. Lillian just squeals and squeals in delight.