our little monkey at target

As I posted before, Annika is not a fan of socks and shoes (because she can't pick at her toes when her feet are covered!) so whenever she gets the chance. . . off they go! Even at Target. . .

cars, kicks and calories

We are proud owners of a minivan! I always said I would NEVER own a minivan. . . but having said those words before kids I had no idea how wonderful a van would be for family life (and as "they" say. . . never say never!). We needed a vehicle that would fit 3 car seats and the only other option we considered was an SUV with a third row, but I wanted the doors to open at the push of a button, so a minivan it is! We found a beautiful used 07 KIA Sedona EX with only 14k miles on it. . . fully loaded which helps ease the 'pain' of becoming an official minivan driver. We pick the van up on Tuesday and I am down counting the hours! Thanks to everyone for your wonderful advice as we did our research.

Lars felt Baby Three kick this week! I thought it was too early for him to even try and since *I* have hardly even felt the baby (that darn anterior placenta!) I didn't think he would be able to. . . but he did!! That is such an amazing moment for Dad's and I think one of the first times they are able to fully connect with the baby . . . as Moms we are incredibly lucky to experience pregnancy (all the good and bad that comes with it) but I think Dad's feel a little disconnected to the growing new life until they have THAT moment when it becomes so real for them. I am so glad he got to feel him/her!!

I have been working REALLY hard trying to get Annika to drink milk and eat higher calorie foods. While much of my efforts continue to fail (she still hardly eats any cheese, she won't eat a cracker with butter on it, and she still refuses to eat most bowls of ice cream. . .even with chocolate on it!), she has started to drink *some* whole milk. I don't have an accurate count of how much each day, but I think I get in about 4-6oz! That is a HUGE improvement. . . and hopefully just a start to her drinking more and more. Another thing I have tried repeatedly to feed her is eggs, which she is now finally eating! I always add whole milk and cheese to fatten them up a bit. . . and for two days she has had a scrambled egg or two. I just remind myself that it will take baby steps to grow her palate. . . but I WILL get some meat on her bones!

the reason for the season

It may seem a bit odd for me to post this video after my last post. . . Santa is pretty much the epitome of Christmas commercialism! But, like so many things in life, moderation is key. And while I don't want to remove the magic of Santa at Christmas, I think it is important to remind ourselves what is the real reason for the season.

More and more I hear of families doing a "giftless Christmas" - either not exchanging gifts between adults (of course the kidlets still get presents!) or instead they give to charities on behalf of another family member.

Not only is this because of the challenging economy, but there seems to be a real movement afoot that is challenging what Christmas has become (materialism), reflecting on what it should really be about (giving back), and then taking action to make change happen to bring it about (see video below).

ho, ho, ho

We had a great visit with Santa this past weekend at our local community center. I had no clue how Annika would react to sitting on a strangers lap. . . especially one dressed as funny as Santa and Mrs Claus. . . but she did great. She cried when I took her off Mrs Claus' lap (which I thought was going to happen when I put her ON her lap), but other than that she was just trying to figure out what was going on!

Bergen had a great chat with Santa and was able to tell him what he would like for Christmas. . . a game. He also got his face painted which he loved - but was sad when it came off in the bath as he thought it was more like a tattoo that would stick around for a while. . .

All in all, a GREAT Santa visit this year!

20 weeks and counting

Whoa. . . that was fast. I can't believe we are half way today! We had our "big" ultrasound today and while we were hoping to find out the gender, our little one was a little too modest and decided to have his/her legs crossed. The tech said she couldn't tell with any certainty what the gender is of our baby even with all my pleading to keep looking. We get another chance around 28 weeks when I have to go back to do another placenta check. . . it is "low-lying" which I had with Annika and they just need to make sure it moves up into place. They also discovered that I have an anterior placenta which explains why I really haven't felt this baby much! I felt both Bergen and Annika during my 17th week and this one I have barely felt at all. . . s/he just has a little too much to kick through for me to feel it!

Above all, we learned learned that our baby looks perfect and healthy and we couldn't be happier!

I am up a total of 4lbs and am starting to looking more pregnant these days, but I think I was bigger this time around when pregnant with Annika. I guess it helps when you have a very busy 16-month-old to chase all day long. We did take a belly shot - it didn't turn out great, but you can see my bump!