Merry Christmas!

We have been so abundantly blessed this year and hope that you, too, are able to count all the many blessings this past year. Thanks so much for taking time to follow our blog and keep up with the antics of the kids. We love sharing their stories with family and friends. Without family and friends to tell us how much they enjoy reading about the kids, this blog would be no fun to write :) Thank you, thank you!

Our holiday wish for you: May the tidings of this Christmas season and the coming new year bring forth peace, love and happiness to you and your families.

We hope you enjoy reading the holiday card above (hint: click on the image and you will get a much bigger, easy to read version!). Merry merry Christmas!!!

Audriana's Two-Year Wellness Check-Up

Well, its that time of year again to update everyone on Audriana's growth stats. I know you all have been waiting on bated breath. So here it is:

Weight: 27.5 lbs (60th percentile)

Height: 37.5 inches (97th percentile)

Head Circumference: I didn't get it. I know...I'm a bad mom. But my suspicion is that she once again a tall skinny kid with a big head. Just a guess.

So our friend, Branden, says that if you measure the height of a female child at age 2 and double the number, it should be the projected height of her adult height. For boys, you measure their height at age 2 years and 6 months and double it. So according to Branden's calculations, it looks like Audriana should grow to be 6'2". Hmmm. Interesting.

Other than that, doctor says that she is super healthy with the exception of the of the milk and ice cream sensitivity thing (terrible to be sensitive to ice cream, isn't it...being an Anderson and all). So we will be going out to get some gummy bear vitamin supplements! Yay!

Audriana did great at with the exam this afternoon, all things considered. I wasn't thinking when I set up the exam because it was during the kids' nap time (or maybe it was because it was the ONLY time the base clinic had available in December for a child wellness check-up). Her favorite part of the exam was when the doctor looked in her ears (seriously, both kids LOVE having the doctor's light shine in their ears and will sit super still with eyes heavily drooped for it. Their mother *might* have been the same way as a kid...and adult).

To reward the kids for a great time at the doctor's office, we tried our hand at making pizza at home rather than partaking in the frozen or delivery variety. Both kids loved helping me stretch the dough, sprinkle the cheese and toss the pepperoni. It was a great time had by all and just as the pizza was done baking in the oven, Daddy walked through the door. So we all got to eat dinner together tonight...the first time in a while. And Haakon got to sit in his sister's booster chair rather than the high chair at dinner. He was as happy as a clam. Audriana got to sit next to me at dinner. I think we'll keep her strapped down to chair during meals for a little while longer. She was having too much fun literally jumping from her chair to mine to take a bite of my dinner. And by 8:03pm, both kids were tucked into bed with stories and songs. A good day!

Audriana's Christmas Pageant

Haakon waiting patiently for his sister's singing debut.

The rest of the parents waiting patiently at our church.

Do you see Audriana?

No one wanted to actually sit on Santa's lap...they both needed Mommy to be a buffer.

Trying to play with big kids after the program and cookies.

I remember when I was in preschool and getting all dressed up for our annual Christmas pageant (yes, I annual...I had to go to preschool twice). I remember how much fun it was to wear my special holiday dress and get up to sing at the church. Now, its hard to believe that I have my own little girl who is doing the same thing. Tonight, we got her in a warm Christmas outfit (the first of many) for her school's Christmas pageant. She did an awesome job of singing and made sure to sit right next to her teacher. After the pageant, we all got to sit on Santa's lap (including Mommy) and take our first Santa picture. It was shortly rewarded with a small sip of punch (to which they both puckered because of the tartness and the carbonation) and a giant Christmas tree sugar cookie. A fun night for all.

Audriana turns two!

Audriana could hardly contain herself with all the singing and candles...

Her first attempt at blowing out the candles....

Leaning in closer...those darn candles just won't go out.

Time to get up off her seat to increase the air power...

Our family photo...Audriana had taken a little swipe of the frosting to make sure that it was acceptable to serve to her friends. Notice that Haakon looks pretty happy. Its because he knows what is next: BIRTHDAY CAKE!!

It is so hard to believe that it was only two years ago that Audriana waltzed into our lives. She continues to develop into a beautiful little girl--both inside and out. She thoroughly enjoys her role as big sister to Haakon and jockey to her "horshey," Scout. Our lives have been so enriched by her curiosity and impish little smile. She is constantly on the move and wants to do everything that Mommy and Daddy are doing. She loves to help out in the kitchen (especially scrambling eggs) and try on new clothes (on the weekends, we could have anywhere between 2-5 outfit changes). She loves to play Mommy to her baby, Bitty, and push Haakon around in her stroller car seat. Her new favorite thing has been singing "Happy Birthday" to herself and to Jesus (since His birthday is just around the corner from hers...and they have been practicing His birthday song at school for the Christmas program). She makes us laugh constantly and is extremely generous at throwing hugs and kisses our way.

Enjoy the pictures from Saturday night. Now that Audriana is two, it means that we've got T-minus 29 until Haakon turns ONE!! Our babies are growing up too fast :)

Kids playing

Audriana and Haakon fighting over the plane rocker

Walking away with her Bitty Baby

Do you see the mess in the background? Hurricanes Audriana and Haakon have been through...

So I was letting the kids play quietly in the toy and flex rooms the other morning while I was reading in the living room. After about 45 minutes, I hear a little wimpering coming from the toy room. I rush to see what was going on as I was sure that Audriana had duped her brother into doing something that they were not suppose to do. Well, Audriana was playing with her kitchen in the flex room and Haakon had climbed into their make-shift toybox in the toy room and gotten himself stuck. I think Haakon had been watching his sister do this for a while and finally decided that it was time he gave it whirl. Unfortunately for him, his sister is little bit more coordinated and is able to get herself in and out of the box quite easily. He has yet to master it as you can see....monkey see, monkey do.

Haakon's nap

Yesterday, Haakon and Audriana started off their morning with Daddy since I had a doctor's appointment. I forgot to tell Daddy that Haakon usually needs to go down for his morning nap around 9:30-ish or 10AM. Unfortunately, Haakon also forgot to tell his daddy. So instead of going down at that time, they partied together in the toy room, racing trucks, reading books and playing pretend. So when lunch rolled around (and Daddy had already left for work), we had two kids happily eating pizza for lunch. Then I turn away for one second and return to see this:

Do you see the little nose on the right ever so patiently waiting for food to "accidentally" drop?

One tired little puppy!

MN Pictures

Post Thanksgiving

What a whirlwind these last few months have been for us! Since September, we have been able to take three trips back to Minnesota with the kids for our friends' and family weddings and for the highly beloved Turkey day. We are so blessed to have the generosity of the doting grandparents to help make each of these trips back home as painless as possible through the use of their cars, infant and carseats, fully stocked pantry of kid-friendly snacks, baby food, juices, special milks, and of course, diapers and wipes. Not to mention, the cribs (there are three at any given time ready to go), bedding, clothes, strollers, toys, books and hours and hours of time spent entertaining the grandkids so that Bjorn and I could take some time to visit with friends. We are incredibly blessed to have such selfless grandparents (and parents).

Our last trip to Minnesota for Thanksgiving was longer than our last two trips home. We were able to spend a week at home enjoying the frigid weather and the beautiful snowfall. It was Haakon's first time seeing and touching snow. He was pretty confused as to what to do with the white stuff. Both kids were stuffed into their brand new snowsuits and boots. Audriana hated all the winter gear. It was lots of bribing to get her to put it on the first time around. We spent all of 10 minutes in all the winter gear so that we could snap a few pictures. There were no smiles for the camera. Apparently, the kids are fair weather models :)

Because it had been years since we've been able to make it home for Thanksgiving and at the festivities, we decided to milk it for all its worth. We had an afternoon Thanksgiving with the Tes at 1:30. We found out that Audriana and Haakon, like their mother, dislike turkey and mash potatoes, but LOVE stuffing! They could not get enough of it (and neither could I). Both kids were passed around from one great-uncle and great-aunt to another. They loved all the attention and didn't seem to care that these were all new faces to them. I think all of my aunts and uncles were just tickled that the kids were so friendly.

Afterwards, we rounded up the kids, bundled them in blankets and went to the Anderson's Thanksgiving at our family friends, Jean and Jim's house. Grandma Anderson thought ahead and brought two high chairs for the kids and had it all set up. Jean and Jim were so gracious to open their home to two messy-eating kids and didn't bat an eye when food was thrown on the floor. My kids are fruit fiends. So when they saw that there were fresh strawberries in the spinach salad, nothing else would satisfy them since they had already loaded up on stuffing at my family's house. Unfortunately for everyone else at dinner that night, there might have been a shortage of strawberry to compliment their spinach in the salad. Despite that, it was so lovely to see everyone on the Anderson side, including cousins we have not seen for a while and a few significant others that we had only heard about! Lots of fun!

This year, none of the grandparents will be able to make it down for either one of the kids' birthdays. To kick start the festivities, my parents threw a little party for the kids. Audriana and Haakon LOVED it all! The night before the party, we practiced with Audriana on how to blow out birthday candles so that she would know what to do the next day. When the time came at the party, the smile on her face grew bigger and bigger as she realized that the ENTIRE room was singing happy birthday to her (and her brother, too) and that she got to blow out the candles on her cupcake. Audriana did fantastic job of blowing out her birthday candles as well as her brother's. Both kids demolished Grandma Anderson's birthday cupcakes for them. Haakon inhaled his first cupcake and was looking around for a second. Unfortunately for the birthday boy, he only got one. When it came to opening presents, Audriana hammed it up for everyone! She ooohed and ahhhed and "wow" at all the right moments when she saw all the gifts she and her brother had received...she really worked her audience. I think this little girl really enjoys being in the spotlight....

All in all, it was a wonderful trip back home to Minnesota that made us cherish the time we spend with family, friends and of course, snow! Thank you to every single one of you who made time out of your busy schedules to come shower the children with gifts, eat, celebrate and be merry with us this Thanksgiving break.

Cruella and the Puppies!

We managed to catch one dalmatian puppy!

Then he escaped!

We kept trying to catch this puppy all day long...

She even tried to escaped our grasp by car... smart little puppy!

Once again this year, we opted to do a family-themed costume! And who would make cuter dalmatian puppies than our own Audriana and Haakon? So to complete the theme, I dressed up as Cruella DeVille and Bjorn as Cruella's tall skinny henchman.

Our look this year could not have been possible without the handiwork of Grandma Te. She whipped these costumes up for the kids in less than a day without using a pattern at all! What a talented and special grandma...THANK YOU!! And a special shout-out to my friend, Ann Marie. During our last trip to MN, I left my camera there and have been without a camera since. So these pictures are courtesy of Ann Marie! THANK YOU!!

Our October Trip to Minnesota

Haakon in his carseat on the way to the orchard.

Audriana and Grandma Kris enjoying a tractor-trailer ride around the orchard. By that smile on her face, its clear that she is a farmer's granddaughter!

My 30th Birthday Dinner

Audriana in her new trike at Grandma and Grandpa Te

Baby Haakon...happy as a clam snuggling close to Mommy at the Apple Orchard

Sochenda, Brad and the newest addition to their family: Buckley. He is ALMOST as adorable as Mr. Scout. Buckley did a FANTASTIC job of entertaining/babysitting the kids at my birthday dinner!

Audriana leading the way out of the corn maze at the apple orchard!

What an AWESOME time in Minnesota! We had a wonderful time at Mike and Vicki's wedding. The ceremony was very sweet and followed by a traditional Chinese wedding banquet. What a celebration! It was so much fun to renew relationships and introduce Haakon and Audriana to the extended Anderson family. Because having children has made me somewhat of a scatterbrain, I left my uncharged and dead camera in Minnesota after the last trip and the charger in Florida this trip. So as soon as I am able to get pictures from other family members, I will post wedding pictures.

While in Minnesota, we also got to celebrate my 30th birthday. We had a delicious grilled salmon dinner at my parents' house. Bjorn did a fabulous job of preparing and grilling the fish. It was one of the most memorable and truly pleasant birthday celebrations have ever had. Thank you so much to Grandma and Grandpa Te for hosting such a beautiful and wonderful dinner for me. And thank you to everyone who was there...your presence at my birthday dinner celebration made my day even more special and memorable. Until next time...Happy Fall!

Kitchen Renovations

BEFORE

As you can see in this picture above, Bjorn just removed the bar and is about to cut it down for a peninsula counter.

Did you notice the outlets? Bjorn had to relocate those outlet boxes to pillars. He did an AMAZING JOB and the electrician came out to inspect and said that Bjorn did good work!

This wall previously had 4x4 white ceramic tiles. Bjorn had to demo it.

Bjorn and our friend, Nate, working on installing the apron sink, retrofitting the base sink cabinet, and plumbing. A BIG thanks to Nate for all his pushes, nudges and kicks

(and of course, his tools)!

A "before" look of the piping jungle underneath the sink!

AFTER

The best sink ever! I highly recommend it!

Didn't Bjorn do an amazing job?? For those of you wondering, we had to relocate the disposer because the sink is a single bowl with a rear right drain.

We will be tiling the columns...

After many requests, I am finally putting up pictures of our kitchen renovation despite the fact that it is not complete yet. We have our copper apron sink in, the granite installed and the walls painted. The only thing left to do is tile the back splash. We will be doing that at the end of the month so that we can take a breather! So when the kitchen is completely complete, I will post pictures.

Nap Time!

The last few weeks of school for Audriana is becoming routine and she has no problems with me leaving her with her teachers anymore. From her teacher's reports, she excels at eating her hot lunch (every last morsel) :) But in all seriousness, they do learn shapes, colors, familiarity with numbers and letters, and of course, socialization. She's already got artwork displayed on our fridge!

Because of the long day (4 hours as opposed to 3 hours to other nursery schools), Audriana's class is implementing quiet time during the very last part of the day. As such, she needs a nap mat. Unfortunately, Target and Walmart have sold out on all of their nap mats and will not be replenishing their supplies till the next school year. So, what is a mom like me to do? Make one, of course (even if sewing is not strong suit)! Below you will see my rather elaborate nap mat that I made for Audriana during the kids' nap time on Wednesday. It got out of control...

Unfortunately, just like her lunch bag, this nap mat is also much bigger than Audriana!

The mat comes with a pillow and blanket...

...that are attached, of course.

A sturdy strap for easy transport (please pretend you don't see the background...we are renovating our kitchen).

And it rolls up tidy and secure.