Whoops! This is out of order. But I can't leave out Christmas eve! After celebrating with our little family, we went to Josh & Gretchen's house for Fettucine Alfredo (some with seafood, some without) & goodies. After dinner, Finn & I helped Gretchen & her boys decorate a gingerbread house. This was Finn's first experience with a gingerbread house & he was definitely more interested in eating the treats! We managed to get a few pieces of candy on the house, but most of them came right back off & into Finn's mouth! :)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
more merry-ness
Christmas #1: We celebrated Christmas at our house on Christmas Eve. Very different from last year - Finn was really excited & totally into checking out each & every gift. He mastered the sentence "What is it?" as each person opened a gift. It was fun to see him appreciate each gift, even the jammies! :) Wall-E & Eve were a favorite though...
Finn gets this face from his dad! Kenton often makes a similar expression when opening an exciting gift. :)
A gift from Mama.
I wanted to get Finn a little boy baby doll...to practice with. :) He was very sweet with his little baby: rocking him, covering him with a blanket, & laying him down to "leep."
I wanted to get Finn a little boy baby doll...to practice with. :) He was very sweet with his little baby: rocking him, covering him with a blanket, & laying him down to "leep."
Only one picture from Christmas dinner back at the Henry's. I made a cranberry trifle that was very yummy!
Then today (12/27), we celebrated Christmas with my mom's sister Robin & her family from Portland. This was the annual Stoerman gift exchange - we draw names with the aunts & cousins on my mom's side.
The "Novemberists"
The 3 youngest boy cousins all have birthdays in November & Aunt Robin gave them all cool transformer cars!
The 3 youngest boy cousins all have birthdays in November & Aunt Robin gave them all cool transformer cars!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
merry christmas
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas with those you love. We're looking forward to our double Christmas celebration in the morning, with both of our families, all in one city! This season has been so fun with our two year old & it has been great to experience all of the excitement through his eyes. We feel so very blessed & we wish you great blessings in the New Year!
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A couple of photos of Pre-Christmas Fun!
Kenton, Finley (2) & Katrina (20 weeks pregnant or 5 months)
The Christmas service at church
Gretchen, Becca, Mom & Me
The family all together: Becca, Gretchen, Mom, Papa, Erik & Me
Carolyn & I have a long standing tradition of taking our picture while hugging the Christmas tree. It started about 10 years ago & we didn't make it happen every year, but we still try. :)
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
signs of the season
This year, I was so excited to decorate our new house for Christmas. I couldn't wait to unpack the decorations & also planned a few projects to create some new decorations. It seems like each year I add a few homemade decorations to the collection. This year, I made the ribbon Christmas Trees (top middle) out of white ribbon & Styrofoam cones & the wreath (bottom middle) out of a grapevine wreath (bought at a craft store) & holly from my neighbors holly tree (it hangs over the fence into our yard). I made the stockings a couple of years ago & have extra materials to make a new one for baby#2. I'm still trying to think of how I want to decorate his...
decorating cookies
Our Bible study group met at our house last night for our Christmas celebration. We made yummy calzones & then decorated cookies! The pictures of the kids turned out much cuter than the pictures of the adults, so here they are. :) Ethan & Macey enjoying their Christmas cookies!
I gave Finn a little bit of frosting a lots of sprinkles to "decorate" his cookie. He spent a bit of time on it before devouring the whole thing!
And then he decorated himself!
Notice the snow on the ground outside the sliding glass door. We've been spoiled by a couple of inches of snow that has actually stayed for a few days! It usually melts right away but the temperature has been staying below freezing for 3 days. Today it might warm up enough to rain...or stay cold enough for snow or freezing rain. Then there's more snow in the forecast tomorrow! So we've been enjoying the lovely, white snow & staying warm indoors. :)
Notice the snow on the ground outside the sliding glass door. We've been spoiled by a couple of inches of snow that has actually stayed for a few days! It usually melts right away but the temperature has been staying below freezing for 3 days. Today it might warm up enough to rain...or stay cold enough for snow or freezing rain. Then there's more snow in the forecast tomorrow! So we've been enjoying the lovely, white snow & staying warm indoors. :)
Monday, December 15, 2008
snow day
After waiting patiently for our snow (we had seen snow in the forecast a week ahead), we finally woke up to a blanket of white! Kenton left for work in our car, but after his meeting got cancelled & he'd driven at a snails pace partway to work, he turned around & came home! Yay! Time to play!
Friday, December 12, 2008
it's a boy!
Our little boy, laying on his back, looking up, with his legs crossed above him.
This morning, Kenton & I caught a little glimpse of the baby in my tummy! After some poking & prodding...& a bit of jumping around, he straightened his crossed legs, so we could see for ourselves that we have a little boy on the way! Kenton & I are both a little shocked. I guess neither one of us really thought we would have a second boy. It's pretty amazing to think about what it will be like to have another little boy who is different than Finn. We have no idea what to expect, but are very excited to meet this little person. I am planning to have another C-section & are working on scheduling it for May 1, 2009.
Finn took a long look at the ultrasound photo & really seemed to understand that he was looking at a baby. Whenever he sees a baby, he says "Awwww" & lays his head to the side with a cute grin. He thinks babies are so cute! It's going to be so fun to see him interacting with his little brother. I've been feeling baby #2 moving around in my tummy for about 3 weeks now & just recently felt him kick from the outside. Hopefully, soon Kenton & Finn will get a chance to feel him kick too!
We are so thankful for the healthy baby boy growing in my tummy & pray that my pregnancy continues to progress smoothly through the final 5 months. We can't wait to introduce you to the newest member of our family this May!
Finn took a long look at the ultrasound photo & really seemed to understand that he was looking at a baby. Whenever he sees a baby, he says "Awwww" & lays his head to the side with a cute grin. He thinks babies are so cute! It's going to be so fun to see him interacting with his little brother. I've been feeling baby #2 moving around in my tummy for about 3 weeks now & just recently felt him kick from the outside. Hopefully, soon Kenton & Finn will get a chance to feel him kick too!
We are so thankful for the healthy baby boy growing in my tummy & pray that my pregnancy continues to progress smoothly through the final 5 months. We can't wait to introduce you to the newest member of our family this May!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
signs of a weekend...in december
We seem to be having very busy weekends, lately. Trying to tackle to-do lists that keep growing & growing. It's a little trickier to get things done around here with a very active 2 year old, who doesn't enjoy playing by himself. :) But he is such a good helper...when he wants to be. Here he is "working" with Dad, to hang his curtain rod.
We've been living in the house for a month now & Finn has had a thick, wool, Mexican blanket hanging over his window with thumb tacks...until now. But for some reason, Finn's new bedroom window is a little taller than his old bedroom window. So I won't be sharing any after pictures of his curtains because it's a little more ghetto than I prefer. :P I'll make him new curtains when he's old enough to decide on new decor for his room. For now, he's stuck with slightly ghetto curtains!
We've been living in the house for a month now & Finn has had a thick, wool, Mexican blanket hanging over his window with thumb tacks...until now. But for some reason, Finn's new bedroom window is a little taller than his old bedroom window. So I won't be sharing any after pictures of his curtains because it's a little more ghetto than I prefer. :P I'll make him new curtains when he's old enough to decide on new decor for his room. For now, he's stuck with slightly ghetto curtains!
Our boy has such a great sense of humor. He thought of sticking these plastic googly eyes on his own eyes first...but needed a little help after they started to lose their stickiness.
We keep it just out of reach, for good reason. He's always disappointed that he can't open more than one box each morning. But reminding him at bed time that he gets to open a new box in the morning has helped the routine go a little more smoothly. :)
In other news, Baby Jesus has been found! Hooray!
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Saturday was also Outi's birthday & Finn was so excited about cake. When Kenton called her in the morning to wish her a happy birthday, Finn got a chance to talk & told her "Happy Cake!" Anyway, her gift from us was a home-made apron...the first I've attempted.
In other news, Baby Jesus has been found! Hooray!
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Saturday was also Outi's birthday & Finn was so excited about cake. When Kenton called her in the morning to wish her a happy birthday, Finn got a chance to talk & told her "Happy Cake!" Anyway, her gift from us was a home-made apron...the first I've attempted.