Emmit Sidney Birr

Arrived a few days early! Emmit surprised us on 12/31/09 at 1:24 pm. Here's the measurements:

8 lb 13 oz; 21 inches. I'll have Caryn add details later. I just wanted to get some pics posted and let everyone know that the family is doing very well.

Our 1st Christmas!

Today was a fun day as well! The festivities kept us going once again. We started the morning by sleeping in until 7 (thanks Gerrit!). We opened stockings (bottom right) and then took a break and had breakfast.

I wanted to use my pancake molds which were Christmas shaped and the eggnog flavored pancake mix. Gerrit didn't want to wait so he had a poptart. My attempt at the molds, didn't really work, a broken snowman, 1/2 of a snowflake, and crumbled elf was not quite the Martha Stewart Christmas breakfast I had envisioned. Adam took over and made round pancakes instead. (I'll have to work on perfecting the molds!) We had a yummy breakfast, even if Gerrit didn't each much pancake. He did let us eat and didn't rush us to open gifts.

Following breakfast, we went back to opening the presents that we have for each other and that Santa had left too. Even Grandpa Bob and Grandma Marcy/GG sent a few gifts for Gerrit to open. So of course, Gerrit had a nice ratio of 2:1 to open compared to us but that was fine. He loved opening gifts and wanted to open ours as well. Only having 3 of us to open gifts went by a bit faster than we are use to (it takes all night w/ my large family). It was a nice time for us to relax and see what it is like to open gifts just us (we've never had that before). Only a few gifts need to be returned too which is a nice thing!

Gerrit and Adam headed out to shovel the wet heavy snow/slush that fell over night. We felt like we were in MI today with the rain,sleet,snow mix we had all day. We were a bit disappointed we didn't get the snow like predicted, it was just too warm. If we had, we'd still be shoveling!

Nap time for Gerrit, Adam took a snowshoe walk on the golf course to blaze a trail for skiing, and I hunted down Whipping Cream at the gas station. I had a dessert all planned and then changed my mind after the grocery store closed yesterday. So I checked the gas station and low and behold, they had whipping cream! So Creme' Brulee' it was for dessert tonight! :)

Following nap time we set off to Dahlen's again for a late lunch. A wonderful roast dinner was had by all. We took a break from eating and Adam became brave and joined in on the Rock Band bandwagon. He took his turn at the guitar and drums and even did some solo singing! (I of course, knew better and saved my ego by watching). When we needed a break it was dessert time. I made reg. and Egg Nog Creme' Brulee' and they both turned out well. The boys even liked it and they had never had it before. Gerrit saved me the best part - the crusty sugar!

Here are a few photos from today's festivities:

Starting with the top row: the witching hour, Gerrit letting us know it was time to go home - he wanted the mic but Adam was singing, Gerrit holding the mic thinking he was singing, Gerrit sporting his new football jersey (his MSU one is a bit small), opening his 1st gift - farm equipment from dad.

Bottom row: 'playing' the drums with Paul, Adam relaxing as he sings, Gerrit noticing all the presents that were not there last night when he went to bed, Gerit discovering the stockings left by Santa. He liked the Cars slippers but didn't want to wear them - guess they will be going back to the store!

And there you have it, our 1st Christmas in MN as a family. We have made it a few more days with the little babe still inside which was nice of him. I'm definitely not very comfortable, but knowing we don't have much going on is helpful. I head back to the dr. on Wed and we'll discuss inducing dates if it comes to that (I don't think it will). The dr. doesn't think this babe will be as big as Gerrit - I'm not holding my breath!

Because we have such great friends here, it made being in MN for Christmas that much easier. We love our families, and missed them a lot these last few days, but we are very thankful we have a 'family' that we can spend time with as well. We have a lot to be thankful for and were reminded of it all these past few days.

We hope you had a great Christmas too!

Merry Kissmas!!

(as Gerrit would say)

Christmas Eve

Adam spend most of the morning snow blowing and shoveling. He decided to 'work from home' today. After some help by Gerrit, he went to Julie's so Adam could work and I could do last minute things before the festivities began. We ended up meeting friends for breakfast at Bridgett's, getting new cell phones, and Adam went skiing. (So much for getting any 'work done' today!) I put together the few things we needed to bring to our party and got in a quick little nap.

We were almost late for church and sat in the front row! Surprisingly, Gerrit did very well. It was a nice service and we sang a lot of the good 'ol Christmas hymns. After church we headed to Dahlen's for a gathering of friends. I realized I didn't take many pictures to capture the evening, but basically it was a few of the Team Beat families eating - what we do best (besides the guys biking!)

Top left: Logan home from college, Nathan holding Anders, and Dave - in front of the great spread of food we grazed on all evening. A few gifts were exchanged between the kids. Gerrit got 2 Lightening McQueen's (from the movie Cars) and was in heaven! He also got his first baby from Langley's (his godparents). He knew how to hold it (middle, bottom), feed it (top right) and Pam helped him change his clothes (bottom left). It was very sweet to see how much he knew about holding and feeding a baby. He preferred to feed it the juice instead of the milk! The bottom right is Gerrit drinking from a wine glass (full of sparkling juice!). I thought it was very risky to give him a real glass, but he used 2 hands and did well.

The Dahlen boys got Rock Band so the evening ended with listening to bad singing, poor guitar playing, and off-beat drumming. It was a late night but a lot of fun.

If we couldn't be with our 'real' family, this was the next best thing!

SNOW update: Most of the day the temps were around freezing so we didn't get near the snow they predicted. Not going to be fun to deal with the ice when it does get cold enough!

PS - Adam and I tried Leftse for the 1st time tonight. (A Minn./Scandinavian thing for you Michiganders who don't know what it is). We had it the "german way" (with sugar) and the "norwegian way" (with butter). It wasn't bad; nothing we'd go and snack on, but if it were served, we'd eat it!

It's Almost Here...

Gerrit made this Santa countdown in daycare on Dec. 1. He has faithfully added a cotton ball to Santa's beard each day. Between Santa's beard and 'opening a door' to the Advent calendar, he was pretty busy each day. Rarely did he forget to do either one!

On one of the recent Sat. am donut runs, Gerrit lucked out and got a cookie as well. He finished his donut and wanted his cookie. Why wait? He was going to eat it at some point, so we got it over with...

Above left: how to eat a cookie

Above right: what the cookie looks like when you are all done

The face of a cookie, or should I say, frosting eater...

(He had a shower following this episode)

Shovel, Shovel, Shovel

The title pretty much sums up the next few days around here. We got about 3" the other morning. The community snowblower was slightly out of commission so Adam used the smaller blower (how nice to be able to choose which one to use?). Gerrit was very upset he missed the opportunity to help - he was too busy watching a kid show and eating oatmeal. I promised him he could shovel when he came home from Julie's. Little did he know, there would be a lot of opportunities for him to shovel this weekend. There is probably 6" of fresh snow on the ground with another 4 coming today and another 5-9 tonight. The only problem with Gerrit shoveling is that he takes the snow from the banks and puts it on the driveway or sidewalk - a bit backwards!

Adam bought a bigger sled yesterday so they will be able to go sledding in the next few days too. I think I'll lay low and try and keep this babe inside as long as possible! We don't want to have to push the Subi's limit getting to the cities in this storm! Ideally, I would like to wait till next Thurs as my Dr. will be on call for a few days over the New Year weekend. (Adam would really like next Thurs for the tax break.) I had a dr. apt yesterday and continue to progress - a bit faster than I'd like due to this storm. Luckily we don't have a lot going on so I can relax.

Stay tuned to hear about our Christmas festivities...

Need for Concern?

Gerrit can name mascots and spot them a mile away. He often finds them well before Adam and I can find them! He knows the Vikings are football, Gophers, Michigan State is "go state", etc...

Today we were reading a book on colors and I asked him which lollipop was the red one - he pointed to all the other colors and finally ended with the red one because that was the last one. He may know his sports but we need to work on his colors!

[As much as Adam is hoping for an athletic scholarship and saving money on college, I think we may need to use that money for a tutor so Gerrit will make it to college! :) ]

Reversing Roles

While watching MSU basketball today, Gerrit loves to play on his own hoop. I think he looks at what the guys are doing on TV and then tries to do it himself (he tries to hang on the rim, but gets in trouble when caught - Fisher Price just isn't as strong as a breakaway hoop!). He offered me a chance to shoot today as well which I thought was kind of him. I took a few shots from a seated position on the couch and missed them all. Soon Gerrit took it upon himself to show ME how to make a basket (granted, he was 2 feet from the hoop!). How thoughtful of him to teach his mommy how to shoot a basketball.

Moments before I received my coaching lesson I had to take his band aid off his thumb. It was getting in the way of his shooting!

The Rock

This am while watching Sports Center (after eating his oatmeal), Gerrit said to Adam:

"Throw me the ROCK, dad!"

Watch out - if Gerrit throws his butt into your legs and elbows you - that is because Adam was working on 'boxing out' last night!

A Special Visitor

Z-town was lucky enough to have a special 'sighting' of Santa tonight. We were lucky enough to remember he was going to stop by the library after dinner so we hustled over there to get a quick glimpse of the man.

Before we left, I changed Gerrit's shirt so it would make for a better photo when he went to say hi to Santa. Adam didn't understand why because he knew Gerrit would not go near the guy!

And Adam was right! Maybe next year?

Shaving

We don't know why, but Gerrit calls shoveling 'shaving' and he loves to 'shave'! The shovel he is holding was one I had when I was a kid that my parents gave to us this fall. He would be outside all day holding on to his shovel if we would let him. He tried to shovel the snow (which was on the grass) this weekend. We shoveled after daycare today - I should correct myself and say I shoveled and he watched holding his! It was no wonder he was cold and we were able to go inside - he wasn't doing anything!

Kissmas Time

Gerrit loves to play with the ornaments - unfortunately some have paid their dues because of it. I'm hoping we can make it the rest of the season without anymore needing to be 'retired'. Our tree all trimmed and full of lights. Yes, the star touches the ceiling - couldn't have picked a more perfect height this year! My favorite - the nativity set that Gerrit loves to look at and see baby Jesus (and of course the angle with a basketball).

Gerrit-isms

A few pictures to show you what Gerrit is like these days...

I don't know where he learned to clean the floors or why he shows interest in it because I surely have not been on my knees cleaning it!

If you look closely, you'll see Gerrit tackling the laundry

His 'ramp' for his cars - very clever!

Days After the Blizzard

We are settling in after all of the shoveling from this past week's big storm. It was the single largest snowfall we've yet to experience in Minnesota. It's been quite a transition from the mild weather we had a couple weeks ago.Gerrit's blood is still thickening as after 10 minutes outside he proclamied in a low voice "daddy I'm cold," to which I asked if he wanted to go inside and he responded "yep." As Caryn mentioned, the theater district made a new acquisition. The old snow blower lasted 26 years and served us well. We are very fortunate to have some great neighbors that have taken care of us with hand-me-down snow blowers and a lawn mower. I'll be happy to blow out the entire block with this new toy! Gerrit was fairly impressed as well.

Blizzard 2009

I will retell the happening of the past 24 hours as best I can. Most of the happenings occurred in Z-town...

When I went to bed last night the county in which my school is in was added to the "blizzard warning" which made me think we would not have school today. Just as I was to get up, the phone rang giving us the sweet, sweet message of 'no school' today! So we stayed in bed and tried to sleep a bit longer.

I called Adam around 7 30 to check in and he was trying to take care of the drifts (up to his knees in some parts) so he could bring Gerrit to daycare. Gerrit was a trooper and hung out inside while Adam worked on the driveway. He didn't see much action next door or he would've brought Gerrit there for a bit. By 8 am, Adam said forget it and gunned it to get out of the driveway. He was able to get Gerrit to daycare allowing him a bit more freedom to work on the snow and get some real work done.

Following the daycare drop off, Adam went to Bridgett's for coffee and ran into some towns people that we are aquainted with. He enjoyed his coffee and conversation until a pharmacy worker waved the men across the street. An older gentleman got his car stuck so the guys did their civic duty and helped him out. Before they knew it, the barber shop next to Bridgett's cleared out and those men came over to assist as well! Once they got the car out, they headed back to the coffee shop and asked to pull the shades so no one else could see these men inside and call them out to help!

Adam did one round of snow blowing which included the walks of the neighbors as well as our own. He had a conference call mid morning and during it, the phone rang a few times. Adam was a bit embarrassed to have all this noise in the background while talking to the big wigs in St. Paul!

In the meantime, I was knitting and enjoying morning t.v. and hoping to get my Dr. apt moved up earlier so I could go home. No such luck on the dr. apt so I ran a few errands and then to the dr. All seems well with me and the baby. I won't go into detail, but I'm progressing in the right direction.

Adam went next door to learn about the new purchase for the theater district - a new snow blower! The one the neighbors had was brand new but worked like an 'electric broom' as one of the men said. So they bought a new one and want to store it in our garage. This would mean we would be storing 3 snow blowers! We inherited the old one from the neighbors which works great on our gravel driveway and my parents gave us their old one now that they don't need it in the condo. We don't want to use that one on the gravel and ruin it. (Once we get the driveway paved in the spring, we can get rid of the old one.) Adam was trained in on the new one and it has everything automated and is just shy of hand warmers! Adam said 1.5 swipes (if that is possible) is all that is needed to clear the sidewalks it is so wide! And he only went up to level 4 for speed and said he'd need his running shoes if he were to try the highest speed! I think we will be lending out the other snow blower to friends for a while since we have the posh snow blower now. And our end of the deal? Keep the gas can full and help with the maintenance! What a deal and what great neighbors. During the inservice it was also said that Gerrit can come next door when Adam is alone and needing to take care of the snow - they are retired and can sleep whenever! So call and wake them up was the message.

Following his training, Adam met Dave D. for lunch at Bridgett's. He didn't go in either as he works in Roch too. His boys didn't have school but were at friends and his wife was stranded south last night and possibly tonight too. So both men were bachin' it today. My guess is they had dinner together tonight.

We decided it was best for me to stay here tonight instead of risk the drive home. I probably would be fine, but the wind is pretty strong and there are a lot of flat, open areas I'd be driving through. Of course, I spilled on my shirt today so I will be doing laundry tonight at Sue's (I only took 1 set of new clothes). She's out and about and I have some quiet time at her house. A bit more knitting and early bed is in store for me - its like a little vacation!

The snow has stopped, the cities got about 7.5 inches and Adam guesses they have close to a foot - hard to tell with the drifts. I see that the blizzard warning has expired which means school will be on tomorrow. Despite the cold wind chills (-20 to -30), school will go on...its Minnesota! Luckily I only have a little over a week of the 'winter driving' to and from school and then things should be a bit easier if I can be around to help with the kids if Adam tends to the snow.

What a day Adam had. I asked if he got any work done - a few phone calls and his conference call was all he had time for! He said he could never work from home - too many distractions.

I can think of all these other great things I would've been able to get done had I been home as well, but am thankful I have a great place to stay in case of bad weather. Sue takes care of me and my safety is more important than a few loads of laundry I could've gotten done today.

Update

I've been slacking, I know. I keep thinking I'll download a few pictures but the camera is never near me when I think of it and I'm too lazy to get up and get it. So here I sit, once again without my camera to download the pictures. Oh well, I've got some time so I'll update you on the latest.

Gerrit loves the 'Kissmas tree' and lights (that is how it sounds when he says Christmas). He turns them on in the house and will point out other homes that have lights. For a while there he liked to look at my nativity set by Carol Roeda. He likes looking at baby Jesus. Hopefully he'll get the whole idea of celebrating baby Jesus' birthday as the season progresses. He likes the big blow up Santa that is across the street from daycare and thinks Santa is sleeping when he's not inflated. He made a cute little paper Santa Christmas countdown on Dec. 1 and each day he glues another cotton ball on Santa's beard. I don't think he understands what happens when the beard is full, but he knows he gets to do it every day. Also, the advent box we have as a family is a big deal for him. He knows that after dinner he gets to open another door. Its been a nice way to get him to eat a bit more at dinner too! (He's not a huge dinner fan - more into breakfast.) I have a little tree in his room that has to be lit before he can go to bed as well. Its mostly decorated with sports ornaments which he enjoys looking at and pointing out the various balls/sports. I've enjoyed watching some of the Christmas specials with him too. I don't recall ever seeing the 1970s Santa is Coming to Town special that was on last night so that was fun for me too.

I currently am in the cities at my friend Sue's. We are getting hit with a blizzard in Z-town so I stayed here for fear I wouldn't be able to make the drive in the morning. I have a dr. apt tomorrow afternoon anyways, so even if we get cancelled (here's hoping), I would still need to get up here for the apt. So Adam and Gerrit are bachin' it tonight. I was able to take care of a few Christmas errands and then met up with Sue for dinner. Now we are just hanging out and watching all the school closings. I'm sure Z-town won't have school and can only hope it continues north to call off some schools in the metro. Adam took work home so he doesn't have to do the drive as Rochester is also under a blizzard warning. He can take care of the walks in the 'theater district' as a neighbor calls our houses. Basically, Adam will be doing our driveway as well as our side walk (which is a corner) and the walk of the 2 houses next to us - he can try out the 'new' snow blower we inherited from my parents. We now have 2 snow blowers so the neighbors think he can do all the work!

I'm feeling ok. The baby seems to be sitting on my bladder so I frequent the bathroom or at least have the sensation to go! I'm progressing fine and no signs one way or the other if I'll be going early. Adam has a big meeting on the 7th and a bball game on the 9th so he'd prefer not on those days! I would like a few days of my winter break before the kid comes if I have my way. I head back tomorrow to the dr. as I'm on the every week appointment schedule now.

I'm looking forward to watching Gerrit play in the snow - assuming the temps aren't too low!

Christmas Spirit

The tree is up and decorated as is the rest of the house. Gerrit finds the ornaments fascinating and wants to touch all of them. It took me a bit longer to get the ornaments on this year as I had to strategically put the soft ones near the bottom and make sure all the balls and bicycles were out of his reach! I first tried to decorate the tree with him around and soon found that it wasn't going to work. He broke one ornament and found another one that looked like a ball and thought it was fun to throw it at the tree! So I waited until nap time to finish!

When we came home yesterday, I was busy getting dinner ready and hadn't had a chance to turn the Christmas lights on in the house. Adam was home and I thought he had plugged in the Christmas tree and thought to myself - wow, he's in the Christmas spirit this year. Normally I am the one that is in charge of turning the lights on. This morning the tree was lit again. I thought, wow, Adam must really be in the spirit if he's going to take the time to light the tree in the morning (we are not awake and home long in the mornings to enjoy it).

I finally asked him if he plugged the tree in and I wanted to say how impressed I was that he was doing it lately. He said no. He unplugged them last night and that was it. We both started laughing....our little Christmas spirit is Gerrit! He figured out how to plug the lights in - we witnessed it finally when Adam unplugged the tree and Gerrit didn't like it. Here's hoping the kid doesn't electrocute himself before January!

PS - I have pictures of the tree but didn't download them yet to the computer. I thought I'd try writing this post a minute at school and it worked! (I've never been able to do it at work for some reason... probably b/c its personal and not school related???) Maybe tonight.

O' Christmas Tree...

Today we took the annual trek over to WI to get our Christmas tree. I know many would think we are nuts traveling that far for our tree, but it is the 'experience' that makes it all worth it (and a happy hubby).

We road the wagon to the location of the trees. Gerrit liked this part of the whole day. He even liked 'carrying' the measuring pole. (We smartened up and no longer 'eyeball' the height of the trees - our ceiling appreciates it!) Wearing dad's gloves was another favorite - he even wore them around the house when we got home.

We had the privilege of 'shopping' for a tree for friends. It was fun to find one according to the specifications. Luckily they wanted a Frasier fir as well so we could get both in the same area.

All we had to do was cut the trees and get them back to the wagon area. From there the workers did the res! They were shaken, drilled (the best part of this farm), bailed, loaded on wagon, carried and tied to our car. Talk about no hassle!

After a quick stop for lunch, we headed home. It was a beautiful day, even if we didn't have snow to enhance the whole experience. The tree is now in its stand and ready for decorating. Tomorrow...

Thanksgiving 2009

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Gerrit sporting his hat he made at Julie's yesterday. He didn't want to wear it, or get his picture taken, but with a little help from Adam, I was able to get one!

We had a low key day and all were healthy! (I was sick last year and didn't get to enjoy the time with friends.) I made the same recipe for the turkey (Jewish turkey - it looked better in person than the photo) as last year seeing I didn't get to enjoy it. It was juicy and tasty I must say. Twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and rolls rounded out our main course. Joan brought a yummy apple pie for dessert.

We debated going out for lunch today but figured most places would have a buffet and we didn't want to deal with that and a 2.5 yr old. So we hung out at home and our friend Joan joined us as her family was out of town. Following lunch we took naps and we all slept quite a while too. Watched a little football and then the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving rounded out Gerrit's day.

The Christmas decorations are out of storage and will be slowly put up this weekend. Tomorrow morning we make our annual trek to WI for our tree. Anticipating a busy tree farm but it works best in our schedule so we'll deal with it. No major deals have tempted us to brave the crowds this year so we will stay away from retail shopping tomorrow (I might go out on Sat - we'll see...there are some good deals to be had).

It was great to relax and enjoy the day together (especially healthy!). And not needing to pack for Iowa (bike race) is a welcomed change this year. Here's hoping we have a great rest of our weekend.

We have so much to be thankful for and it is great to take a day and reflect on all the goodness that surrounds our lives.

Good Intentions

Tonight was the annual Thanksgiving Eve service in which our church joins four other local churches in one location (ya, you'd think it was a dutch community with the number or churches we have compared to population). It was held in the church behind our house - a long way to go! We have not worshiped in this church before and was glad we had the opportunity. It is on the historical registrar and is beautiful - we did get a tour our first year in the house. However, it is not quite our style, we'll leave it at that.

We were welcomed by all - even if we were one of the younger couples attending. Many members of the church commented to us about our 'long commute' to church. Adam and I didn't realize we were that well known by the church! I guess when our backyard backs up to the sanctuary windows, we're quite noticeable. (We better mind our Ps and Qs from now on!)

Anyways, we sat in the back in the small pews which are upright and you can only enter from one side - way old school! As the service began, we learned that the pipe organ is the 2nd oldest pipe organ in MN and the oldest one used on a regular basis. Pretty neat to think its in our little town. The service was neatly put together integrating the pastors (Presbyterian, Catholic, Wesleyan, Lutheran, and Congregational) as well as some of the choirs (the Congregational choir has 8 members - quite good for so small). The offering was given to 3 local organizations which help the needy in the area and each organization had a representative speak about the organizations. I liked this because it gave a good perspective as to what the money would be going to.

Why do I say good intentions...well, Gerrit had his own agenda for church tonight. He got the idea that we were going to the one next door and thought the small pews were neat. At one point Adam was worried he was going to launch himself forward at the next pew so he made him get down (he was standing on the seat). Gerrit realized that when he jumped on the floor, it echoed (very old church) and thought that was neat too. He wants to hold the hymnal now too which is quite heavy for him. It was the only one in our pew so we had to share, he didn't like that b/c he wanted to turn the pages himself instead of letting us sing. Adam would hold him during the songs so he could see when we were all standing and Gerrit decided it was fun to hit Adam and even slapped him on the face. He colored a bit until he started putting the crayons in his mouth. We gave him his 'treat' - fruit snacks which didn't take long for him to spill and then pick off the floor and eat. Adam helped him find the ones he dropped and Gerrit either found a fruit snack Adam missed or he found something and decided to eat that too! We are not sure on the last item that went in his mouth. This was all before the message! Adam said at one point that he didn't think Gerrit would make it and was ready to pack up and walk him home. He even suggested letting Gerrit play in the baby's room and crack a window open so he could hear the service. Gerrit played with his magnet book until he started throwing the magnets on the floor and needing to go get them. Luckily the message was short and we did make it through the service without too much noise. During the last song, Adam was distracted and was ready to sing the 1st verse - which was in German!

I had a hard time containing myself tonight. I thought the whole thing was funny - from the loud slap, to the constant stomping on the ground, to the mysterious piece of fruit snack... The idea of being next door to our house and worshipping - the convenience of being so close yet having a child so out of character and trying to get something out of the service just didn't happen. We probably could've left Gerrit at home and went to church and all would have been fine. Or, we could've let Gerrit take his DVD player to church like he asked and he would've sat like a gem.

I think we did walk away gaining a bit more from going to the service and we were glad we went, even if it didn't turn out like we had hoped.

We have one friend coming for lunch tomorrow and that is all we have planned for the day. A little parade watching in the am and Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving in the evening with a little football in between will probably take place too. We are just thankful to be home, healthy, and have some time to rest and be together as a family.

Confirmation

The doc confirmed my feelings...the babe has dropped.

So the next question was: does this mean I'll go early?

Doc: nope

False Alarm

Today Adam picked up Gopher basketball tickets for Jan. when my parents come. He got 2 tickets (Opa and him) and was pretty proud of where the seats are located. [We looked online in Oct when my parents were here and there were not very good seats available at that time.] He lucked out going to the box office. I'm pretty jealous myself, but excited for my dad to finally get to experience a game in 'the barn'. Its against Ohio State which will be a nice change for my dad as he has season tickets to MSU. Anyways, I told Adam to call my dad with the good news before dinner. Its not very often when Adam calls my parents - usually I'll call and he'll talk to them or when they call, he talks to them.

So you can only imagine what went through my mom's head when she answers and it's Adam! He had to quickly explain that there was no baby or one coming in the near future!

When he talked to my dad, my dad said he had to pick my mom off the floor!

We all had a good laugh and I'll laugh even harder if Adam doesn't get to go to the game but my mom does! Either way, my dad will experience the barn on Jan 9. They can come to the hospital after the game if necessary and I won't be offended!

So There ARE a Few Out There

When we found out we were having another boy, I was a bit disappointed - for selfish reasons of course. Having a girl would be easy b/c we had a name, plenty of cute hand me downs, and I had a slew of great patterns I'd been 'saving' to knit for my little girl (and not use as gifts for others). I am ok now with having another boy and realize for many reasons it will be easier having 2 of the same. I was able to find a few new knitting patterns to make for the new guy and the above is one of them.

What little boy doesn't look cute in Chuck Taylors?

The other items I made will have to wait till the little tyke can model them himself! :)

A Step Closer

Tonight before Gerrit's shower, I asked if he needed to go potty (my lame attempt at potty training) and he said yes. So he sat on the toilet and went a little. Then he hopped down and said he had to go - standing up! It cracked me up - he could barely get his penis above the toilet let alone aim properly! (He didn't end up going, but at least knows what he needs to do.) We may not need to work on sitting and going potty - he'll just go straight to standing up. Now if only he would tell me when he had to go....

PS - sorry no photo of this incident - I'm not that mean of a mom! (Deep down, I did want to grab the camera, I'll admit. Plus, I still have the above photo which I'm sure I'll hear about when he's older and cares.)

Seasons Change

Most people know the seasons changed based on the temperature, and nature - leaves change color, snow falls, thunderstorms, etc.

In our home we know that the season changed in a different way:

Yep, we had to bring the basketball hoop to the basement so Gerrit could shoot hoops while watching a game on TV. Yes, football is still on and depending on what is on TV at the time Gerrit will tend to want to play that sport. I am pretty excited bball is starting so we watched a lame OSU game to get us in the mood for the season and Gerrit followed suit.

Photo Update

I posted a few entries last night but it has been a while since I had posted pictures. Here are a few from the last week or so:

Gerrit is into 'coloring' as he calls it. He is very particular how he holds a pen and scribbles quite small. He often says he is writing the letter "A" - it looks nothing like an A though.

{Somehow when I went to make the collage the above photo wasn't included.}

Top left: The gift Gerrit was given from his sponsors on his baptism 2.5 yrs ago. Its Playmobile's Noah's Art - a reminder of the promise God made to us. We left it in the box until tonight. Gerrit saw it and wanted to play with the animals. It says for age 4+ but I opened it anyways and put it together. It was like Christmas - he didn't want to eat dinner and played with it all night - even fought off bed time. We decided we would open presents on Christmas morning so we don't have to fight him to go to bed!

Bottom left: he has show a lot of interest in his Little People's farm. He often lines up the animals so they are looking out of the window and are "looking at Gerrit" as he says.

Middle: Sat. Gerrit spent the day at Dahlen's while Adam and I helped the Rockne's move. Gerrit fell in love with this car (sorry Uncle Jeff - you'll have to get him an F1 car for Christmas!). He took it to Rockne's at the end of the day where we all met up for dinner. He insisted on taking it home too. (The boys didn't care b/c it's broken and they really don't play with it anymore). From there it had to go to bed with him. This is what we saw when we went to check on him before we went to bed.

Right: Friday he fell on some toy at Julie's. It was swollen all day Sat. too. He loved showing people and telling them he got hurt. He even scraped the tops of his hands in the fall. Luckily he did not damage his teeth or cause them to loosen either.

Why I Love My Job

Many people cringe when I tell them I teach middle school. Ya, they are hormonal and you never know what you are going to get, but they make me laugh! Here are a few examples:

1. I have a few siblings in various grades and at the beginning of the year I was the talk at the dinner table. At the beginning of the year, the girls couldn't figure out what was different about me. Finally a few weeks later, one of the sisters came home and told her mom that she figured out what was so different - I was going to have a baby (I mentioned it in class)! The sisters felt much better knowing they figured it out - they were a bit distraught as to why I didn't tell them though. (I thought the kids would figure it out when I was getting a pretty big tummy.)

2. At 6 months pregnant (and looking very pregnant), I mentioned to a class that I didn't do too bad at demonstrating the sit and reach fitness test for a pregnant woman. A 5th grade boy sitting near me said: You're gonna have a baby? I said: do you think I just ate too many Ho Ho?

3. Today I was talking to another teacher who became an Aunt last night to a new nephew. I asked about the name and mentioned a name I liked but Adam didn't. A student sitting in the principals office overheard our conversation and asked: Mrs. Stremler-Birr, did you get a new dog? I asked why? He said: well, what were you talking about names for? My response: I was talking about the baby I'm going to have! The other teacher, a secretary, and I just busted out laughing at the comment by the student! I thanked the student for giving me a good laugh today and he asked if he still owed me a pencil (he broke one of mine for no reason before taking a written test today). I said: yes, you aren't getting off that easily!

How can you not think middle school is fun? Such innocent comments/thoughts like the above few make getting up for work worth while (it has its bad moments too - but what job doesn't?).

Bedtime Nightmare

Gerrit usually goes to bed quite easily for us. It could be because he has a slew of toys/books that he has accumulated in his bed that he tends to play with until he gets tired. Tonight Adam put him to bed as normal and a few minutes later he was screaming bloody murder! (It sounded like bloody murder b/c he rarely cries at bedtime.)

Adam ran to his rescue to learn that he had broken his bike! He has a little bike (from Luke/Paul) that is in bed and the handle bars snapped off. Luckily they snap back on so Adam fixed it and all was silent once again.

We thought he was bit by something or seriously hurt the way he was crying! Thankfully it was just a minor issue but to him it was a nightmare!

Miles Apart But Not Forgotten

I was on the phone with my sister-in-law catching up as it had been a while and she told me a story about the kids:

Max and Ella asked Mia who her buddy was (referring to the older kid in school that is paired up with her to read and say hi in the halls etc)...

Mia responded with: GERRIT, (meaning, cousin Gerrit)

Oh, how we wish we could live closer to the cousins!

Lesson Learned?

Gerrit is getting rougher when it comes to playing "tackle" with Daddy. He think he can kick if necessary. We are working on eliminating this part of tackle and telling him its not a part of football either. In teaching him the lesson on not kicking people, he had learned that he is suppose to say 'sorry' and give a hug.

When Adam was reinforcing the lesson after Gerrit quickly said "Sorry"...

Adam asked: "Sorry for...."

and Gerrit responded with: "Five".

Hey, at least he's working on his counting skills!

Getting Ready for the Big Leagues

We've had some gorgeous weather the past few days, now that it is November. It had been a while since we played outside after work due to the weather. Seeing it was nice out, and Gerrit asked to ride his bike (shocker!) I said fine. He rode his bike and then wanted to play baseball. So we got the bat and ball out and headed to the back yard. Usually baseball consists of me trying to balance the ball on something that can act as a "T" and he can try and swing the bat and hope to hit the ball and not hit me. I decided that seeing the sun was setting, we were not going to be playing baseball very long, I'd just pitch him the ball and watch him miss. Well, surprise, surprise - the kid hit the ball! And it wasn't a fluke thing either - he did this multiple times! He knew how to stand side ways (a skill many of my middle schoolers still can't get right) and choked up on the bat ready for a pitch. He did miss and I threw some bad pitches, but still, the kid can hit a moving target at 2.5 yrs old. Adam came home shortly after we started and was impressed too. The only thing we had to do was remind him to stand sideways once in a while.

Adam and I just shake our heads. We have done very little 'teaching' when it comes to sports and Gerrit. I figured we have plenty of time in the years ahead to teach him proper techniques - plus, what 2 yr old is actually going to remember what he was told weeks ago, let a lone a few minutes ago!

Either we watch way too much Sports Center while eating oatmeal in the mornings or this kid has some natural talent. Either way, he makes his mommy proud. I'll try not to get ahead of myself and hope he can be potty trained and learns how to read and write in a timely manor.

Halloween Week

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Sportin' the festive halloween t-shirt and the spider hat made at daycare.

I was very excited to use my pumpkin muffin mold for treats this year (I had to wait almost a year to use it - bought it on clearance last year). I bought a cool festive cake mix and sprinkles to use too. My thought was to make them for Gerrit's friends at daycare. This is what they looked liked (I figured frosting would take away from the shape):

I didn't want to scare any of the kids and was disappointed in how they looked so I went with plan B:

Of course when I was ready to get in the car, Gerrit grabbed the bag and they shifted and fell over - there went my nice presentation too!

The rest of the week went better than my cupcake debacle.

Monday night was Halloween story time at the library. We've met our friends Abby (Dorthy) and Olivia (witch) the past few years and continued with the tradition. This time Adam came with which was nice - I didn't have to sit on the floor.

Wednesday night was pumpkin carving at our house with Luke and Paul. We had plenty of pumpkins from our 'crop' to use. The only bummer is that they are never very big, but I go for quantity (I hear if you cut some of them off early on, the ones left will grow bigger but I've never had the heart to do it!) I was nervous giving Gerrit a carving knife, but it didn't last long and went on to other things instead of carving.

Friday was the Halloween party at church. Gerrit was more excited to wear Luke's Darth Vader mask than his own helmet. I don't think Luke even wore his mask because Gerrit wouldn't give it to him!

Today was the final festivity for Halloween. (Who would've thought it would be a weeks worth of activities!) We just went to the neighbors and our friends via the car. We tried practicing saying "Trick or Treat" and he caught on to the word TREAT real fast! When we got to a house, he wouldn't say it (of course). I often had to carry his pumpkin too. His favorite treat was at Dahlen's - Anne showed him the car and motorcycle the boys found in the toy room earlier today. Of course he had to put them in his pumpkin and take them home! (They will be returned tomorrow - he's sleeping with them tonight.) When we returned home, we went to our front door and he more than willingly carried his pumpkin and even said "trick or treat"! Of course, when we get home he gets the idea! Gerrit really liked eating the candy once we got home. I don't think he gets the whole idea of trick or treating but I'm sure it won't be long!

Baby Update

I havn't written much about the baby that will be here in roughly 10 weeks! Honestly, I kind of forget that I'm pregnant (not that I don't look it or feel it quite often). I think I get caught up in what needs to be done around the house and with Gerrit that I don't have time to think about it. So I'm trying to take the time to think about who this little guy will be when I get to meet him. Because Gerrit looks so much like me, I wonder if #2 will look more like Adam and what kind of personality he will have. I'm excited just thinking about it.

Gerrit knows where baby brother is and will often give him a kiss and a hug (then he usually pinches me or hits my tummy). He can be real sweet when we talk about his little brother; I'm anxious to see how he responds to sharing our attention come January.

A few gifts have come our way for this new little one which is always fun and exciting. And I just ordered his coming home outfit (thanks Oma) which came in the mail yesterday. Its hard to believe we'll have a little one again in the house; I'm just getting use to life with a 2 yr old! I've got a few things knit for him (and plenty of projects waiting) so he has something new to show off and call his own someday.

We havn't totally decided on a name yet. We are getting closer and I'm hoping to keep the final decision a secret - yes, we will have a secret! We've tossed out a few names to people so the prospects are known, just not the final word yet.

I was at the dr. again today for my normal check up. All seems well from what he can tell. I was measuring big a month ago but now I'm back on track - although he keeps reminding me that I shouldn't plan on a small baby based of how big Gerrit was. I never thought I'd have a small kid - based on the size of his parents! And I know I'm getting closer when I have to come back in 2 weeks.

We just purchased tickets to fly home in Feb. so the rest of the family can meet him and to have the Stremler Christmas party. It's weird to think we will be traveling as a family of 4 then and that we most likely will rent a car (flying into Chicago) b/c we could hardly fit us all, plus our 'driver' in one vehicles! I'm sure before long it will only seem odd that we've lived as a family of 3, just like it seems odd to think we didn't have kids the first 9 years of our marriage!

Adam's mom has been asking for a photo of me. I did not document the 'growing' stages like I did with Gerrit and may regret it someday. But I did take a picture tonight:

30 weeks

I took it myself as Adam is dealing with another cold, poor guy. (Stupid flu shot if you ask him!) I apologize for the poor lighting - bathroom lights, but I was in the mood to blog and felt like taking the picture tonight. I was a bit bummed you couldn't see my hair cut - had that done after school today. Oh well, nothing drastic, it just looks better when someone actually styles it. And I've officially hit the "I know I'm pregnant" feeling because I can't get my wedding ring off! I didn't think my hands were that swollen (especially because its not hot/humid) but last night I tried to take it off to carve pumpkins and I couldn't do it. Maybe with the cold weather approaching, I can get it off then!

My eyes are getting heavy and I have one more day to get through the week. It will be a wild one - the day before Halloween and icky weather are bad a bad mix for middle schoolers! I will be back shortly as I have lots of Halloween festivities that I've documented this week and will post the pictures and stories. The Dahlen boys visit comes to an end tomorrow which will crush Gerrit but like Oma and Opa leaving, he'll get over it.

Until next time...

Wisconsin Revisited

We are all healthy (for now) and thankful. It was a busy week with Adam doing field work and I had conferences. Seems like we traded off being parents all week. This week isn't much better - I still have 1 night of conferences and Adam has field work (if it doesn't rain). But Gerrit is excited because his buddies, Luke and Paul, will be with us for 3 nights while their parents are out of town. So far they have plans to go to the football game and carve pumpkins. Should be a busy week but fun one as well.

Here are the pictures I was looking for from Wisconsin:

Oma and Opa

A glimps into Gerrit's week with Oma and Opa:



Switching out the area rug in the living room, Gerrit enjoying vacuuming (a new job!), playing trucks on the steps with Opa, Sunday after church photo op, Gerrit's new friend: Ramos (yes, he named him!), playing the trumpet during bath time with bubbles.

Like I mentioned in the previous post, Oma and Opa came for a visit. Adam and I took off for a few days to Duluth and left them behind with Gerrit. This was Gerrit's first time away from both of us and he never asked about us! Guess he was having too much fun he didn't have time to miss us. They took care of all the little projects on the list we left, visited the farm auction (twice), went for lunch with the neighbors, breakfast in a nearby town, Rochester a few times and Greg's meats. I guess they did not get bored without us! The weather was not the greatest so there wasn't much playing outside until Sat. when we returned (as did the sun).

Adam and I have a new perspective on what a vacation is - sleeping! We didn't find ourselves running to the tourist booth to do the latest and greatest in Duluth, rather we took advantage of the every day things - w/o a kid. We went shopping, to a movie, ate out, slept in, and relaxed. It didn't help that we are both battling colds (and I'm 6.5 months prego) so the thought of doing much didn't excite us. I think the time away did help us with the colds. We took a nice drive inland with a stop at Betty's Pies on the way (ok, so we did do one touristy thing). I think Adam will humor me and go south next time so we can relax in warmer temps! It won't be for a while seeing I won't be able to leave the baby for very long, but knowing that that is in the future makes me smile. I can't wait!

As my parents pack and get ready to leave in the am, I think Gerrit will go through a mourning period. He loved the attention and all the extra snacks and being spoiled while we were gone. Adam learned that oatmeal in the morning for Gerrit included an oatmeal cookie! No wonder, Gerrit wants to see Opa in the morning and watch Sports Center with him!

We look forward to their return in Jan. when the baby comes (and a new list of projects has been generated!) and will miss them until then.

PS: The scarecrow was spotted in Rochester and Gerrit had to have him. So Oma and Opa bought him and put him in the yard. For some reason, Gerrit named him Ramos and will wave good bye when he leaves and says hi to him upon returning home. We have no idea where the name came from; the only thing we can think of is it is close to Carlos which many of our friends refer to the new baby as based on a stupid movie. (Ask Adam for more details on the movie and name Carlos). And no, Carlos is not on the list of potential names!

House Guests

My parents came Fri. night for the week. The guys ran a few errands and watched football and mom and I went shopping. Sunday my parents went to see Garrison Keillor who was performing across the street from our house (as a fundraiser). They had a wonderful time. Today they spent the day with Gerrit and did chores around the house. I loved it - I came home and my living room was rearranged, my car's oil was changed (finally), odd jobs we put off were done, and dinner was ready! They need to come more often. I can't wait till tomorrow to see what else has been done!

Is this a Sign?

Before bed tonight Adam thought it would be a good idea for Gerrit to say good night to his baby brother. He went over to me on the couch and started talking to the baby and tried to get it to 'kick'. Gerrit came over to me as well except instead of talking and putting his hand on my tummy - he slapped it! He thought it was funny...is this a sign?

Movin' on Up

Today after work I suggested to Gerrit that he ride his bike. Its been pretty rainy and cold lately so its been about a week since he last rode his bike. He jumped at the opportunity (surprise, surprise). After a few minutes he put his push bike back in the garage and came out PEDALING a trike! (he has 2 trikes - both hand me downs) How exciting is that? He has been saying for about a month now that he 'pedals at Julie's ' but when I ask him to pedal, he can't do it. He was pretty proud - a huge smile as he pedaled down the driveway. He was pretty excited to show dad his new trick too when he came home. He's not quite 2.5 and moving right along in his cycling skills. We may have a kid who can ride a 2 wheel bike but not be potty trained! (Let's hope not!)

Training Camp

This weekend we started a new training in our house - training Gerrit to sleep the whole night in his own bed! Yes, he was in the habit of of coming into bed with us at some point in the night. At first we didn't mind because it usually occurred around 5 am, but somehow it moved earlier and earlier. It was easier to let him sleep with us then deal with his crying and he usually slept well between us. Then we'd be reminded when he'd sleep perpendicular to us and either shove his head into my head or kick me, depending which way he was laying. We knew we had to break him of this habit but were too lazy to do anything about it, until this past weekend. My parents come this coming weekend and Adam and I are going away for a few days so we knew he had to be sleeping in his own bed before we left him - imagine him coming in and seeing no one in bed??

Anyways, Friday night was night one of training camp - not the best timing as Adam was dealing with a cold/flu and I was just getting it! With Adam on the couch, I dealt with Gerrit crying for about an hour from 12-1am and then again from 3-4am. Yikes. (Adam says he heard him via the monitor but I'm not buying it that he was up the whole time like I was!) I felt so bad for Gerrit, gating him in his room and telling him to go back to bed. Man, it would've been so easy to just let him in bed with me and we could all get a good night's sleep! Sat. night wasn't much better. At least Adam was back in our bed so I felt like he heard the crying as much as I did. Sunday night was great - only a few minutes of crying and he was back in his own bed! Here's hoping he sleeps the whole night tonight!

Growing Pains

Changing of the seasons is an adjustment, especially when it comes to changing out the wardrobe. I struggle daily to find pants that are long enough for Gerrit. My judgment as to what will fit is a bit off these days; I guess I'm not ready to believe he is getting older!

Left: these jeans are long enough, they just don't stay up!
Right: yep, ankle length overalls - he wouldn't let me change his pants when I realized they were way too short (I was a bit embarrassed to drop him off at daycare that day!)

Sunday he wore khakis and those too were too short, today it was another pair of overalls! So much for my big stock of pants for him this winter; it is getting depleted every day! :) (Don't get me wrong, he still has plenty thanks to hand me downs from his cousin.)