Sunday, December 10, 2017

Christmas Railcar

Last weekend we rode the railcar by Lake Harriet - it was ALL LIT UP for Christmas. We had to wait for 45 minutes to get on this 15 minute ride, but this was fine for a number of reasons: we had just done an advent reading about all the waiting for Jesus to come to earth and all the waiting for him to come back again; the Boyscouts were selling cookies and hot cocoa and we partook; there was a lovely high school choir singing carols; Theo happily slept in his carseat for most of the wait; and anticipation multiplies final enjoyment. 


Waiting. See the purple lights in the background? That's the train coming back!



On the train!!!



Even this small person in his carseat knew something very special worth waiting for was being fulfilled:



This Santa was a funny one. We celebrate Jesus at Christmas but we are not offended by Santa. So when he chortled on up declaring, "Santa's going to photo-bomb that one!" we laughed quietly and Lukas looked away. See the top of Theo's head? He was there too. It was quite cold so he stayed in the carseat the whole time.



All those lights on the left are the train-car. All the lights on the right are the waiting station. There were tealights in white bags lit up all along the tracks, and green red and purple trees all along the way also. This year I'm not doing a Christmas tree, but I am putting lights on everything I possibly can, so I was into the light theme. 




Monday, December 4, 2017

Our Work is Play.

Sporting the softest onesie in the world, from Auntie Ann:



A recent favorite game is "shopping". Lukas got a cash register for his birthday. He isn't 3 yet, but we had the party and this was one of the presents he's spent hours with this week. Here he is calling Bob to ask whether there are any alligators available in back. 




Jesse came with us to meet Daniel on his way home from work. We walked up 11th towards the river since Daniel bikes home via the river. We killed a little time at the park.



A Picnic at the Zoo in Late November!!

Last week it was very nice outside, so we were out as much as possible. Outside is good recovery-therapy for traumatized mothers.



We Are Glad That Lukas Likes to Read.

One of our favorite together activities is reading a good book. We are glad that Lukas also likes to read, and we hope Theo will too. So far he just likes to eat the books. 



Many times I've seen Elias reading to Maia. It is a beautiful sight. Sometimes Lukas wants to read to Theo. This is also a beautiful sight. 




We Are Glad That Theo is Ok.

Last Saturday Theo was complaining of lots of pain. He is very tough so we listen when he complains. In the ER we found out he had Intestinal Intussuseption - his intestines slid up inside themselves. Two of our nurse friends have since declared, "That's a BIG deal." God did lots of kind things during this scary thing:
- He helped us know to take Theo in.
- He helped the doctor to know what was wrong, it was her first guess after examining him!
- He helped the nurses get the IV in. This was the scariest part for Theo's parents. We cried. It took 7 times and 4 nurses and lots of fears about the unknowns if it did go in and the unknowns if it didn't go in.
- He helped the Radiologist to do his job well and fix the problem without having to go into surgery. Theo's mama hugged him.
- He healed Theo's body and it hasn't come back as it sometimes likes to do.

Here is the happy baby after the successful procedure and nursing after 7 hours of crying and sleeping and not wanting to eat:


Here is that baby still happy the next day:


Wednesday, November 15, 2017

The Final Catch-Up Blog Entry

I'm tired of playing catch up so after this it's done. Here are some random ones:


This was nap time on Sunday. Daniel's pretty sure Lukas fell asleep first.



This was our going-away party in Bangladesh. We really liked these people.



 Maddie is a favorite friend:



We started music class in January. Papa came with when he was home on paternity leave.





Lukas did not sleep well last night.

Lukas didn't sleep well last night for two reasons: a new alarm clock, and a near-fatal injury for Bunny.

The alarm clock was a recommendation from the doctor. I asked what to do when he gets up earlier than we would like (other parents of toddlers or just-post toddlers, laugh here). She recommended getting an alarm clock that turns green when it's okay to get out of the room. No buzzing, in case that would wake him from precious sleep. Who could sleep with such an exciting new contraption in his room? Daniel reported that after the bedtime explanation of the contraption, Lukas popped out of bed and said, "It's green! time to get up!"

The second item also caused Mama to lose some sleep. Bunny's near-fatal accident. He was resting on a non-LED light bulb, and we didn't know he was suffering until Daniel smelled it.





Brothers!!

They really like each other. We're very thankful. We're praying they'll be good friends for always. 















October 2017

Mom and Dad live a bit farther out in the country now, and have lots of farm animals all around. As Lukas is currently OBSESSED with all things farm, he loves to go for walks where we can stop and get a close up of these wonderful creatures. We fed a friendly horse some grass. He was hoping for something sweeter, we suspect, because he walked away in a slight, but not threatening, huff. We heard a rooster, which is our favorite sound to make, but we couldn't get an eye on him. But best of all, the neighbors who have the zebra-horse invited us in for feeding time! We were in such awe of the grandeur of the whole situation that we failed to record it properly, and only got a photo of Lukas giving a cookie to the zebra-horses best friend the donkey because Farmer Jackie asked "aren't you going to get a picture of this?!" So here he is with Farmer Jackie and the donkey, but to prove the existence of the zebra-horse you'll have to see for yourself.









All of Lukas' cousins are wonderful, truly, but he probably sees Jesse the most. Here they are "fixing" Lukas' bike together. With his best bud Jesse, being just like his Papa.




Auntie Pat sends him mail: