Winter Wonderland and Christmas Fun!

We have survived the Holidays - so far anyway! We were invited to a Friends and Family chili feed in Fishtail a couple days before Christmas, and we got to see some friends we hadn't seen since summer, and some I hadn't seen in years. Gunnar had a lot of fun chasing the girls, and Greta snoozed through most of the party. They had a sleigh ride, but conditions weren't great, and it was getting too cold for the mules, so Gunnar missed the ride. I think if it was too cold for the mules though, it was too cold for Gunnar. :o) Am I overprotective?! Here we are at the chili feed.

On the 23rd, we had an early Christmas Eve with Nana & Papa, since they had a busy night ahead of them on the 24th. We got all dressed up and went over for cocktails and dinner. We got some really great photos of the kids, and Gunnar got a rocking chair that is just the right size for him. All summer long, he was trying to squeeze his butt into a rocking chair made for a doll, so this chair was a welcome surprise!

Christmas morning Gunnar got up around 4:45 to see if Santa had been here. I just couldn't function yet, so I walked him back to bed, right past his presents, and he went back to sleep until 6:30. When he got up, he found that Santa had left him some surprises - a Little Einsteins learning laptop, a Play Do kit, and a little 4-wheeler that plays music and makes revving sounds. I think he was pretty excited, but he was ready to pass out by noon that day.

Then we headed over to Nana & Papa's for Christmas Dinner with Great Grandma & Grandpa and Uncle Arden, Aunt Barb and Cousin Sarah. Dinner was amazing, Gunnar was cranky, and Justin had to head to work at 5, so after dessert, we hurried up to visit Little John, Julie and the kids. Greta had it easy, as everyone wanted to hold her, so she slept away in someone's arms the whole time we were there.

We've had some pretty cold weather recently, and it's finally getting back up to the teens and twenties, which surprisingly feels really warm! The dogs survived the -20 degree weather really well - thank goodness Justin built their dog house with a "back room" so they could huddle together and stay warm. We bought them a heated water dish and blanket, but geniuses that they are, they ripped the blanket to shreds after having it for only 2 days.

Gunnar also got to go sledding for the first time this week. Santa dropped a sled off at Nana & Papa's for Gunnar, so we headed over to try it and he had so much fun sledding down the little hill by the back deck. The snow is melting now, so we just have patches of snow left, until the next snow storm, which could be this week. Hopefully next time it snows, it will be warm enough to play in it!

Here are a couple photos of Justin in uniform with his patrol Tahoe.

Gunnar is the best big brother!

We're all starting to adjust to our new addition, and Gunnar absolutely loves Greta. He really enjoys kissing her (especially if there is a camera nearby), and has started sharing his toys with her. He's quite the helper too, when it comes to entertaining her while I do something else. Last night we read a Christmas story (The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas) and while I was reading, Gunnar gave Greta kisses from his stuffed reindeer. Here are some photos of Gunnar and Greta playing on his old playmat (another way he's sharing).

Greta is starting to show her little personality. She's pretty quiet most of the time, unless she feels ignored. :o) She's showing interest in Gunnar's old play mat with the lighted star with music, and likes to stare at us while we talk to her. We can't wait to watch her grow, and to see how much fun she and Gunnar will have together in the future.

We're so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy children. Who could ask for more?!

The Holidays are upon us!

We've entered that time of year when it's so hard to keep up with everything, and the holidays and birthdays hit one after another! Gunnar is finally done with his solid week of celebrating his birthday. I guess we felt like we better make a big deal of his birthday since we didn't want him to feel left out of all the attention Greta was getting. He had a great week though! We had a small birthday party on the big day, and Nana and Papa brought over a cake and some gifts, and Uncle John and Jude brought ice cream and some great books for Gunnar. He also got to open his GeoTrax from us, and we haven't heard the end of it. The train goes on and on, and during the day Gunnar wants us to play "choo choo" for hours at a time. At this very moment, he's trying to play trains with his construction set at my feet by the computer while Greta sleeps. He's such an active guy, and it was amazing how big he seemed when we came home from the hospital. We were only gone for 36 hours, and he seemed to grow up overnight. He's adjusting very well to being a big brother though, and gives Greta kisses and pets her head often. He also tells me she "hunry" when she cries, so I guess he's already taking her side and looking out for her.

Greta is doing great! She's such an easy baby (knock on wood), and eats well, sleeps well, poops well, and can sit and stare like a pro. :o) We've been trying to get rid of her thrush, which I think is now becoming a little uncomfortable for her mouth, but the Dr. tried a new treatment Wednesday, so we're hoping that's the end of the problem. We also had a little scare in the middle of the night last Friday when Greta suddenly couldn't get a breath in. She started thrashing around trying to breathe, and couldn't even cry. Luckily, I brought home a few snot-suckers from the hospital, and I was able to suck her throat clear of the mucous, so she could breathe again, but we took her to the ER anyway to make sure everything was ok. By the time we got there, she was doing fine, and her pediatrician was on call that night, so she saw her regular Dr. anyway, who thought everything looked fine. He said we did everything right, and to make sure we keep those snot-suckers handy. Thankfully, she hasn't had any problems since. She's a very alert baby, and watches us for a good amount of time every day. She has the cutest little dimples, and when her hair is wet, it's very curly with a few little cowlicks here and there. Her cord stump still hasn't fallen off, so it's just sponge baths for her still, but we're looking forward to that first real bath. Hopefully she'll like baths as much as Gunnar does!

Here are a few of the most recent photos we've taken. It seems like we haven't taken enough photos in the past two weeks, but we'll try to do better. :o)

Here are some photos of Gunnar's 2nd Birthday Party - Grandma Smith and Aunt Barbara came out to help celebrate!

Here are a couple recent photos of Greta - the 1st is Gunnar's Beaver suit from Ali & Jeromy, which fits Greta nicely... we definitely need it in the cold out here!

Here's Nana holding Greta while I worked on a project. Look at those long scrawny legs!

Gunnar was refusing to take a nap, so I brought him out to cuddle with Greta and I, at which point both kids crashed. I had to wait for Justin to come back for an errand to help me get Gunnar into his bed. Justin thought it was funny, so I had to wait while he took a photo.

Greta's finally here, and Happy Birthday Gunnar!

I don't have tons of time to spend on this blog entry... plus I'm reduced to typing one-handed while Greta sleeps in my arms. But... I wanted to be sure and post some new photos of Greta, and of Gunnar's 2nd Birthday! Enjoy!

Our first "photo" of Greta... and SNOW!

I finally decided to post an ultrasound photo of Greta on the new blog. It's not as clear as I would have liked, but you can see a little shot of her face profile, and part of her little heart. It was taken around 21 weeks, which seems like forever ago now. We're heading into week 38, which means she can decide to show up anytime now - she's full term! I'm hoping she'll hold out another 2 weeks though, so we can finish the house and have a chance to move in, unpack, and organize before she gets here.

We got a big surprise (for us anyway) this week - SNOW! And lots of it. I think by the end of the storm we had around three feet of snow, and it was a nice crisp snow that's lots of fun to play in. Gunnar has been out in it a few times, and in the nick of time I picked up snow pants and a winter jacket for him. I forgot to get boots, so his tennis shoes get a daily drying-out now, but next time we're in Billings we'll pick up some handy dandy snow boots to get him through the winter. He loved the snow, and insisted on sticking his face directly into the snow to eat it. He also couldn't understand why his lawnmower and truck were stuck. He got pretty frustrated, and got upset when Justin tried to help. He's very into the whole "I'll do it myself" thing these days, and is becoming quite a little helper (when he decides). Here are some photos and a short video of Gunnar and Justin playing in the snow! Enjoy!