Merry Christmas

Here's a few pictures from our family Christmas that we celebrated the morning of December 24th.  We are headed to North Dakota and will be offline for about a week.  We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Christmas With Grandma and Grandpa D (via skype)

Even though it was many miles away and through a computer screen we are so very thankful that we were able to celebrate Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa D last night.  We were online with them for over an hour and we loved being able to share this time with them. It's so fun to watch little ones open presents!

 Handmade ornaments by Grandma Great Vera Dornfeld.  Svea had to show them each and every one.  I think Kathy made some too. 

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Gotta try out my new Sesame Street chair, but only if I have big girl Minnie Mouse underwear on!

I think she LIKES it a lot!

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Daddy and Kieran having a turn to visit!  He is getting so good at pushing himself up onto his hands and even attempting to pull his legs underneath him.  I believe this little guy is going to be more mobile much quicker than his sister was. 

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I love this picture.  You can tell (if you know Kieran) that he is smiling in this picture.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa D for skyping with us and for all of the gifts for the kids.  Svea loves them and if Kieran could talk I'm sure he'd say he does too.  The best gift though is the kids getting you two for Grandparents.  Thank you for loving them SO much!  We all love you too!

A Little of This and That

I've lost all of my Kieran baby weight plus a half pound, but then December happened:)  I still have 2.5 to go to get to pre-Svea weight. I totally get the "your body will never be the same after a baby" saying.  What do you do with the extra skin? It's not like you can melt off skin:)  After the holidays I'll tackle the stubborn stuff a little more.

Kieran is in a bouncer now.  He's gone in a few times, but is just exploring and seeing what he thinks.  No movement yet, but I'm sure it won't be long until he figures it out.  Svea had to check it out as well the other day too.

I love, love, love using iPads at work with my students.  I'm sure I'll laugh at this fact when I'm older at how funny it is that "iPads" were so cool.  They will be SO OLD someday:)  Here's a music video that Svea and I created the other night.  It's a free app called "Smule Strum".  If you can't tell she is singing Jingle Bells.  The app manipulates music and your voice to make it into a music video.

Kieran found his feet!  Dan and I were giving him a bath tonight (it seriously takes two people/this kid is SO wiggly) and he was sucking on his toes.  Svea never really had any interest in her toes.  We told him to enjoy his flexibility for now before he loses it:)

I found Svea the other night hanging out with Meeko in the chair.  I told her I'd take their picture and she actually tried to smile a little bit instead of her cheesy grin.

We are looking forward to Christmas!  It's going to be so much fun now that Svea understands things a little better. We let her watch a cartoon the other night with Santa in it.  She just knows him as a character though.  We'll introduce it next year probably.  Right now the promise of a "thumbs up" is all she needs to want to be a good listener.  Ha!  My Uncle Jeff is coming from New York...I can't wait to see him!!!!!!!  We plan on going to Mayville, then Jamestown, out to Bismarck (my Dad is home for Christmas this year), and then back to Jamestown for a few more days.  Hoping everyone is looking forward to spending time with family and celebrating Christ's love for us!

Still Praying for Peace and Comfort

Our Weekend

I should stop posting about what we did on our weekend because most of the time it's always the same.  Jammies, play, pictures, eat, naps, diapers, play, snuggle, eat, drink, diapers, repeat!  So I'll save you repetition, but just leave you with some cute pictures of the kids from this weekend. 

Who does this guy look like?  If I didn't know how science works I'd say my genes didn't even get into our son's DNA.  I must be in there somewhere, but for now we have a mini Dan!

Svea was playing with my Mom's scarf and thought it was so funny.  Little Red Riding Hood!

 My Mom was here and Svea was in heaven.  It's always nice to have your Mom around and Dan and I were able to sneak away and go to a movie (gasp) one afternoon.  Thank you Mom!!! We saw The Hobbit and I must say it was a hit! I liked it.  I could have gone for more hobbit house scenes though....how cute are they! We are getting excited for our Christmas vacation break in North Dakota this year.  In other fun news, my Mom and Ron sold their home on the lake and bought a home in town!!!  I am SO excited!!!  The other house was great, but super small and too dangerous to allow the kids to play outside with the steep hill. The new house is my mom's best friend Judy's parents house.  Don't even try to figure out the possessive grammar there.  Anyway, I used to  babysit Judy's kids there and hang out quite often.  I haven't been there for about 10 years, but from what I remember it is such a Grandparents house...it makes me feel nostalgic and we haven't even filled it with our own memories yet!  Svea is going to have her own room with a toddler bed with Minnie Mouse sheets.  She has no idea and might flip!

Stuck

I am just so up in my head about the Newtown, CT tragedy.  I am trying to shake it all in the times that I'm with the kids or trying to get ready for school tomorrow, but in all honestly I'm failing.  I don't mean to be dramatic, but is it dramatic that I'm scared?  Scared about the world we live in.  Scared for our children and wondering if they will live safe and long lives because of so much random violence that happens in the "safest" of neighborhoods.  There was just a cop murdered in the town I work in, a gun found in the middle school in the district I work in, a school shooting almost ten year ago already again at my school district.  I'm scared to go to school.  I think horrible thoughts like my classroom is the closest to the front office.  The closest to the only unlocked door in the school.  Then I think about my students.  How are they going to feel tomorrow. How will I support them tomorrow if they bring up the shooting.  What can I do to help them through it.  I'm trying to put on a brave face, but in all honestly I've never felt anxious about going to school....until now.  I don't want this. The worst of it all and the most horrific thing that I cannot shake is the fear those children felt before their lives were taken and for the children who survived and will continue to live with their fear.  It's just wrong and pure evil.  I pray that our President can make some headway in making our country a safer place.  I don't care how many people I offend about right to bear arms crap......I just want our kids to be safe.  Can we at least get rid of the guns that people don't use for hunting at all. The ones that are here for "recreation or hobbies".  Pick a new flippin hobby your children are being murdered. I pray for our media and the violence children see.  Young minds are sooooo impressionable and especially children who struggle with mental illness the world is not always a true reality to them, but a virtual reality.  I guess right now all I can do is pray.  Pray that all children in the U.S. are safe tomorrow at school and pray that something happens so teachers, parents, and students across the country don't have to fear for their lives everyday.  I just HATE this. Sorry for the randomness and ranting.

Random Happenings

Kieran is now rolling from back to tummy and doing this, by far, more often than tummy to back.  I know I reported last week that he did this for the first time and has only rolled the original way once more.  He is constantly rolling onto his tummy at night and half the time he loves it and sleeps really well and the other half he cries until we flip him over.

I picked up the kids from daycare today and Svea started crying on the way home about something.  Kieran also started crying and Svea didn't like it and she said, "Stop Baby Kieran, my cry"!  She didn't like him taking away her thunder in the crying department.  "No, Baby Kieran, my cry"! I giggled the whole way home, but made sure she couldn't see me.  Ha!

Svea is doing awesome in her big girl bed.  She lays in bed in the morning and sings and talks just like she did when she was in the crib and couldn't get out.  She waits for Daddy to come and get her when I've already left for work.  Now is we could get her to sleep in until 8:00-8:30 again.  She's been waking about an hour earlier than that.

We're still working on the sleep training with Kieran.  We've had a few set backs.  He has a cold and cough right now, which makes him a little more needy and then I accidentally fed him the other night when it was really time to just soothe him back to sleep.  I had a dream it was 6:00 am and time to feed him so when I got up I was in that mode.  I fed him and then went to get my phone so I could go to the bathroom to start getting ready for work only to see that it was really 2:00 in the morning.  Woops!  That set us back in everything!

Dan's had a stomach bug all week and has had to miss three days of work.  He's on the mend now, but has been pretty miserable all week.  One nice thing about having him home resting is he cleaned out the DVR and we have more space now to record Christmas movies!!!

I brought Svea and Kieran with me to a Christmas party at my boss' house the other night.  At first Svea was very much uncomfortable, but then when the crowd thinned out a bit she relaxed and was giving people high fives, singing her ABC's and checking out their Christmas Tree. Kieran went to everyone and anyone and had huge smiles for them all. 

To get Svea to listen we ask her to turn on her ears and she will fiddle with them and then look at you to listen.  We no longer need to turn the tv on to change her diaper and she's had a really good two weeks as far as listening and behaving goes.  She's been silly, cooperative, giggly, and busy.  It's been a fun time!

Svea Counts to 13

Count 1, 2, 3

Oh, how I LOVE this little voice!

And Then There Was Snow

We had another pajama weekend.  Ok, most weekends are pajama weekends if we aren't going anywhere, but this one was fun because the kids mainly wore their Christmas jammies and Svea loves to announce that! "I wearing Christmas jammies.  Christmas is coming", she likes to say. We had homemade chicken alfredo and chocolate brownies, and made "Christmas Trees".  Both kids have a mild cold.  You can see Kieran snuggling with his puppy in the swing one afternoon.  His little cheeks have been bright pink all weekend. 

 Besides wanting to be held a little bit more he's still been content and happy.

Making our Christmas trees was a hit

 Or course the coolest part was sneaking some tastes here and there!

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Here she is today snacking on one after I put her hair up in a ponytail on top of her head.  It only took two years, but her hair is really taking off and her bangs are always in her eyes. And then, the snow hit today.  Wow, to go from nothing to 8+ inches is a wake-up call:)  I already have a two hour delay from school tomorrow that Dan thinks will be called off entirely.  We'll see if I get so lucky.  I have testing for the next two weeks so I wouldn't mind another day home with the babes and my husband! I'll try to take a picture of all of the snow.

I also made some of my own potpourri.  It smells amazing and is supposed to remind you of Christmas and it delivers!  I found it on pinterest.  It has oranges, cranberries, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and a dash of nutmeg simmering low on the stove.  The best part is it can last for up to a week.  I just put it in a container in the fridge until I'm really do use it again!

I love LOVE the lights, music, and activities that get you in the Christmas spirit. 

Professional Song Writer and Interior Designer

Someone in our house has been writing, producing, and performing her own songs.  She's been signed and is making her next music video soon.  Be watching for her tour coming this summer to a venue near you!

"Poopy Butt" by Svea Grace Dornfeld 

December, 5th 2012

 Svea has also taken on a new creative outlet.....drawing.  Her Dad is so proud, only instead of "plain" pieces of paper or coloring books, she's been experimenting with new wall colors. In this case she decided to give the fireplace mantle a new pop of color...green for the holidays!

Stitch Fix

So I tried something fun this past month for my birthday.  My card from my in-laws said to do something frivolous for my birthday, so I did!  Ha!  There is something called stitch fix where you enter in your personal styles, height, measurements, etc. and they send you five items of clothing, jewelry, etc. to try on.  If you don't like them you send them all back for free shipping.  Your "styling fee" is $20 and then if you buy something that money goes towards your purchase.  It's basically like having a personal shopper even though you never meet them and you don't go shopping with them.  It was fun to anticipate what they might send and fun to try them on.  I may do it again, but not very often.  Even though I put my price range as the lowest possible the clothes were still a bit overpriced for me, but again...frivolous + birthday= a fun experience:)  Here's what they sent me.

 This black shirt was a flimsy material and boxy. The neckline was really weird and when I bent over you could see way too much.  If I can't wear it to work and it be practical around the house, then no thank you:)  Also, if I'm going to buy something black it's either going to be a very nice basic shirt or be super cute.  blah to the black shirt:)

 This shirt was super soft and was longer so I could wear it as at tunic.  The fabric was very clingy though and my few extra rolls were on show for everyone to see.  The neckline was a little wonky too and I couldn't quite get past that. 

This one looked ok out of the box, but not on me.  I'm not a big knit pattern person and the burnt orange color wasn't my favorite.  Also, it was a little small.  For some reason sweaters tend to run short on me at the waist.  I may have a little extra surface area right now due to nursing. Ha!

Score!  I've been trying on shirts like this here and there and can never find one that looks tailored and not frumpy. This chambray button down shirt fit like a glove and is super cute. I can wear it with a scarf or with a v-neck sweater over it. It's really soft and the cut fits just right.  Also you can see a pair of earrings sitting on the shoulder.  I got those too.  They are a real pretty silver color with tiny pearl beads interwoven together.  They almost look like mini dream catchers only more elegant. 

Overall it was a fun experience.  I would have tried on the clothes and took pictures, but Dan wasn't home and when I took pictures in our mirror it was too dark or the flash washed out the photo.  I'll let you know if I ever do it again.  If you google stitch fix you'll find the site plus other women's blogs who have tried it.  I went back into my style profile page and updated a few things.  Hopefully the stylist will have a better feel for what I like even more next time.  Thank you Mom, Grandma and Grandpa Fugleberg, and Dean and Kathy for the birthday cash.  It was fun to go out shopping and do a little bit at home too!

Thankful...for Fat

Unbeknown to most of you we had some slight anxiety on top of Kieran's hearing issues at our house the past couple of weeks.  Dan had a lump in his arm that grew 3x in size in a few short months.  He showed it to me awhile back and it was small, like dime size or so.  He thought it was maybe a knot in his muscle and we both didn't think too much of it.  Fast forward a few months and he noticed it one night while lifting weights as it had grown to the size of a ping pong ball.  To make a long story short his Dr. wanted him to have an MRI.  His diagnosis was a fatty benign tumor called Lipoma.  We are so thankful!  Dan is still going to see a surgeon to get his/her opinion on it and he may still get a second opinion.  From the research we did Lipomas are squishy and movable under the skin and not fast growing.  Dan's is hard, doesn't move, and grew quickly.  We just hope the diagnosis is correct:)

Kieran's next test is a week and a half away.  We're still hopeful that nothing is wrong with his hearing or maybe he just has some slight hearing loss.  We are also preparing ourselves for the worst case scenario of not being able to hear at all and we'll just pray and deal with it as it comes.  It would make some parts of his life more difficult, but it wouldn't stop him from living a happy and healthy one. We are also starting some sleep training with him...little stinker is just waking up to snuggle:)

On a good note, Svea stayed in her bed after waking up for the first time this morning.  She called out to Daddy and didn't get out of bed until he came and got her.  She can now count to 13 and knows 15+ songs.  She likes to make up her own songs to melodies she already knows.  "Apple Fruit Bar, I Love You," was the title of one this morning. I don't want to forget all of this stuff:)  If I can catch her with some video I will post! Remember this dress?  It's a size 12 months, but it was WAY too big for her last winter.  I never thought it would fit like a glove this winter. It was either sized horrible wrong or just way too big.  The cute little winter sweater from Grandma D went perfect with it.  And, can you believe it!  We made it to church last Sunday and my Mom wasn't even in town.  Svea ran down the middle aisle to Daddy while he was giving announcements.  We then sat in the pew with him for 3 minutes until she hung on his leg during the beginning of his sermon.  I had arranged for Jackie to be with her in the nursery in case that happened so she enjoyed some play time with her.  We are so thankful for Jackie!

I forgot to post about the referendum within my school district.  It passed, which means that the likelihood that they'll cut my position next year is very small.  Fast Forward to yesterday and I became aware that the state level government is possibly trying to cut Gifted Education funding, which could still impact my job in some small or large way.  I'm not too worried about it.  If I lost my job I would be pushed back into the classroom, but then I'd have to work full time (gasp) and I just don't wan to do that if I don't have to right now when the kids are small.  Plus, I LOVE my job.  The activities and challenges I get to do with my students are so much fun.  I love getting to be creative all day long.  The iPads that we use daily don't hurt either:)

Kieran 4 Month Dr. Appt.

Dan took Kieran into the clinic today for his 4 month check-up.  The Dr. said he's growing fine and looking good! He weighed 14 lbs. 2 oz. (21%) and was 25.5 inches long (61%).  He is slowly moving down the percentile charts in height, which we assumed would happen.  Sorry dude!  The Dr. also said he appeared to be a "very strong little boy" and was holding up his head and doing tummy time like a champ.  I have noticed something with Kieran that we are able to do with him that we couldn't with Svea at this point.  We can carry him on our hip already and likes to sit with support from us.  Dan said he cried for about 30 seconds and Daddy's arms and his paci soothed him.  He was quite fussy this afternoon for Dan and needed a little Tylenol.  The Dr. also said that he is ready for sleeping training and "playing us" when he's waking up as much as he is at night.  We knew that already, but sleep training sometimes means less sleep and I keep telling myself, "next weekend" we'll start.  Then my heartstrings pull and I think he's just too little.  Then we give up on it at 3a.m. and Dan brings him in to snuggle with me in bed and I MELT!  He fussed and fussed last night for Dan and as soon as he started walking to our room he quit crying.  He literally was in bed with me for a second and was out like a light.  Sigh....I love my boy:) And lastly his head is about the same, but the P.T. was ready to dismiss us if we wanted.  She felt very confident that his head will round out all of the way, but we're going to see her one more time in six weeks to make sure it's at least making progress.

UPDATE!!!  Kieran's First Giggles caught on tape!

I had just updated his baby book and wrote that we were still waiting to hear his first giggles and then he did this:)

Random Moments

The other morning Svea wanted me to take pictures of her posing with some of her toys.  Here she is with the "baby" Jesus, the first item we pulled out of our 24 days of Christmas activity. 

Svea got some watercolor markers from my Mom and she loves to hop up to the table and color. Ok, her fake smile just cracks me up.  We try to get her to smile normally, but it's hard to catch because she always wants to make this face;)

Kieran and I hanging out one night before we all put Svea to bed.  Kieran has his 4 month dr. appointment tomorrow.  Dan will take him.  I feel so bad, I hate not being there:( He was up last night I think three times.  I was so tired I kept him with me all night and fed him every time he woke up.  I just didn't have the energy to soothe him back to sleep.  I am hoping for a better night:)

Svea in her big girl bed!  She's doing really well.  At night she does not leave her crib when we leave her and in the morning she is getting the idea that she needs to stay and call for us before getting out.  So far she sometimes creeps to her door and opens and shuts it, but she won't leave her room at least.  I love calling to her to get back in bed and then watching her dive back in through the video monitor.  The other day for nap time she knew not to get out and I watched her lean half her body over the side, but keep her feet in to reach for something on the floor.  Every time we tuck her in she says, "I wait for Mommy and Daddy to get me".  She's been so good this weekend.  She had a crazy rough day at daycare the other day and we had two really rough nights. She is one stubborn little girl, but then when she "gets" our limits and boundaries she just wants to please.

Christmas Decorating 2012

I had so much fun decorating this year.  Since we barely put anything up last year I was feeling nostalgic and asked Dan to put the tree up on Thanksgiving! We also got a new one last season and it is so much nicer than our old Charlie Brown Tree...that's what I called it anyway:)

We decided to do red, silver, and gray this year with a little bit of brown/burlap mixed in.  

The mini tree had to go up high again this year.  It has pointy sides and falls over easily.  For some reason a certain 2 year old isn't to be trusted.  We have enough policing to do with the big tree!

The nativity scene also got a high placement this year as well.

Please disregard the toys in the corner.  Sorry, I know this will drive Dan crazy:) We're still looking for stockings for the kids.  I know, our poor daughter is celebrating her third Christmas and doesn't even have a stocking.  She doesn't know about Santa yet though, so I think it's ok:)

A place for Christmas cards! We've already gotten a few! I love getting them!  One that don't fit in here I attach to some silver ribbon on the back of our closet door.

I bought this countdown to Christmas when Svea was just one month old.  The purpose is to put something small into each number to teach about Christmas.  Yesterday, Svea found a baby Jesus Little People and we talked about the fact that "Christmas is coming" and "God gave us Baby Jesus"!  Sometimes that got confused with Gaga gave us Baby Jesus, but we're working on it:)

Don't you love a pre-lit tree and a scrabble style Peace ornament to go with it?

We added a few winter pillows and new cream throw blankets that will work the whole year through.  They are SO soft and Kieran loves to lay on them.

And another view.  Notice that there are many ornaments missing from the bottom of the tree.  We are working very hard every day to remember that only Mommy and Daddy touch the tree.  I think I won the little tree debate for Svea.  We are now going to get her one, but put it up high at night.  She can take her own ornaments off and on as much as she likes.  I'll post a picture once we actually get one.