We made it!!

The news is finally in!! We have hoped and prayed and worked really really hard to get a dermatology residency (well, Paul did most of the working). It seemed so out of reach when we first started going for it. It seemed way too good to be possible. I never thought in my wildest dreams I was marrying a dermatologist, but we got the official acceptance yesterday! We have a spot here in Michigan. It's an amazing blessing and we still haven't really wrapped our brains around what it means yet. Dr. Grekin put his arm around Paul the other day and said, "You don't know what I have done for you yet, but you will." We decided 2 years ago it was Dermatology in Michigan or bust. I'm so proud of Paul. We are so glad we won't have to move. We love our friends here and are looking forward to 3 more years of Michigan.

Paul cracks me up how often he turns to me and says, "I'm going to be a dermatologist." We are both still figuring out what that means.

One of Paul's dreams just came true. And another one is just 3 months away. Since we got married, Paul has yearned for a dog. Being the dog hater I have always been, I have not consented..... until now. I knew the day would come that I would be outnumbered, that Paul's sad puppy dog face and my love for my boys would overcome my lack of interest in the canine type. Luckily Paul has picked for his one and only choice one of the prettiest dogs I've ever seen, and the easy going.est, and the best with children breeds. The Bernese Mountain Dog.


Paul found a breeder and is making the preparations. The litter is due in Jan, so about March we will become parents to a puppy. Now this dog is not small. It's HUGE! I have NO experience with ANY dogs whatsoever. I have never owned a dog. I have never taken care of a dog or wanted to. I have always hated dog hair, dog smell, dog food smell, dog grooming... anyway. You can see this will be a challenge for me. But I know my boys will all LOVE this dog. Every time we are around a dog my three boys go into a state of complete "happy". I know dogs teach children confidence, responsibility, they become a friend and companion. I might have been much improved as a child by having a dog. I know the issues I have with dogs can be overcome as i open my heart to love him. I will have to pray a lot, (and please pray for me) but I really believe that learning to love a dog will help me to be less selfish, (We all know I could use some help with that), more charitable and more loving. I think I will find that the dog will fill a part of my heart that I don't know is missing. I will need a lot of help. I once offered that Paul could get a dog before and then I backed out. It almost broke his heart to pieces. I can't back out. I'm in this. Any advice you have I will accept. I know I can do it. (right?)

He has me wrapped around his finger

The boys were getting to bed late last night because of choir practice and I was in no mood for re-tucking kids over and over again. Yet, Eirik snuck out of his bed again and found me in the hall. He saw the anger on my face and then I visibly calmed myself down, counted to five and walked him back to bed. When he was safely tucked in again he said, "Mom, I'm really proud of you. I could tell you were really upset out there, but you calmed down and controlled your temperature." Then he said, "do you think you could sing us one song. You have such a pretty voice."

Is he for real? And is he manipulating me, because I sang more than one song and I even liked it.

Eirik's secret hideout

Do you remember how in a previous post I said that my house was in a state of repair and things were as I like them? Also, do you remember how much of a hit the beans were from Joren's dinosaur party a month ago?

Well, photographs A, B and C demonstrate the sheer awesome willpower of Tadpole 1. He has cornered out a "secret hideout" in our living room for all of his special things. In it he keeps his favorite things like knives, screwdrivers, swords.. you know, important stuff. And he hides these special things in .. yes.. you guessed it.. the BEANS! The beans have migrated to all corners of my house. I guess I'm ok with it for all the fun they are having. It just goes to show how much control you give up to be a mom. Isn't he cute being so possessive of "his" corner!

Fish Tank

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you how gorgeous this is. We're having to thin things back since everything is growing so well!

Joren is 2!

Our little Joren loves all things Dinosaur. For weeks now he has loved saying, "Guess what mama?" "What Joren?" "Dinosaur!"
He repeats this interaction over and over. I love how enthusiastic he is. He also has this cute habit of answering any of my questions with the phrase, "because the dinosaurs are sleeping." Try it, it works really well as a distraction. IE: "Joren, why did you take your food in the living room?" "because the dinosaurs are sleeping." See.

Well, we just had to have a dinosaur birthday party, and since Eirik had one at 2, we were already experienced. Dinosaur party #2 was far superior to #1 if I do say so myself. (Sorry Eirik.)
My friend Leah is the best party planner I have ever known and she emailed me an entire page of game ideas which were all awesome. The boys had a blast.

1st he got all things dinosaur for his birthday.

We played chase and slay the dinosaur with balloon swords. (Paul got to be T-rex)
We played Dinosaur cave and tunnel and the kids all came out growling like dinos.
We grew dinosaurs from eggs and from the little pills that expand.
Paul told a long dinosaur story with our dino felt set. It was enthralling. The kids were holding on to his every word!

We had a bucket of beans where we let them dig for dino bones. This was a real hit!


We drew dino tracks in chalk up the front walk.
The dino fondant cake from Eirik's party was so cute, but the kids were really confused and didn't really know what to do with all that fondant. Kids really want their own dinosaur cupcake, so that's what they got!





Joren got a blue ribbon and when I asked him how big he was he stuck out his GREAT BIG tummy just as far a it would go.



I LOVE this adorable kid!

Christmas has transormed our tiny space

Paul grew up cutting a tree every year so tradition lives on. Paul and I had a great time choosing our tree, but our boys... well... They pretty much whined and cried through the whole experience. I guess Momma didn't dress them warm enough or something. (Babies! Bah!)

They did love decorating it though, in the warmth of our own home. Eirik got all his favorite stuffed animals and let them live in the tree. They were both so fun with their "helping".

Every once in a while my house looks just how I want it to. For a few minutes this week, it was in a state of complete repair and I had to take some pictures to record the moment before the inevitable chaos ensued. I love decorating for Christmas.


I discovered that my white metal snowflake ornaments look really cool in my big dark stained pressbox. This will be a repeat tradition I think.

I got my new family photos (taken by the ever talented Ashley Pace) framed and hung. It was more of a project than I expected. I had to rearrange all of the art in my house to make room for them, but I love how it turned out.


Eirik has been so excited about Santa coming. He has been listing all the things he wants from Santa over and over again. He made this letter to Santa and decorated it by himself (except I cut out the candy cane). The black feathers are the dark night sky. He wrote his name mostly by himself and dictated all the words. He loved dropping it in the big red Santa mailbox at the library.

Magic lunch dust

Some magic dust of some kind settled on my house today at lunchtime. Eirik's picky eating has been about to get the best of me the past few weeks. But today, both of my boys ate a big handful of raw spinach dipped in ranch, then a handful of frozen blueberries, then each of them drank a cup of water and had a half of a banana, a vitamin and then filled up their tummies on fish sticks. I felt, for a moment like a really good mom. It probably helps that Eirik has not eaten anything except toast and milk for 2 days since he has not liked anything I have made for meals. And when Eirik eats something, Joren usually will too. Eirik is very vocal about what he dislikes (ie: everything) and Joren has started saying, "I hate spaghetti (or whatever we are eating)" while shoveling it by the handful into his mouth. He doesn't understand what hate means, but he knows it gets a reaction when Eirik says it.
I had another euphoric mealtime moment a few weeks ago when Joren ate a whole bowlful of tortilla soup! I was so excited, but tried to stay calm so as not to jinx the moment. Eirik has never, in my recollection eaten something that I actually like to eat that is a "meal". Eirik won't touch foods that are combined or spiced or have a sauce beside ketchup or ranch. He likes pizza with only pepperoni- no cheese. He like tortillas with nothing on them. He likes rice crispies. He likes instant oatmeal and eggs and pancakes and most fruit. umm... hmmm... he'll sometimes eat brocolli or lettuce or carrots, but never cooked, and he will always eat hot dog. It's disgusting really how few foods he will actually eat.
Joren has been eating great. He's actually fun to cook for. He is growing really fast right now and constantly hungry. He likes to eat on the go though. It's like the table is a perpetual jungle gym and he won't sit down. He's either standing on his chair or the table, or getting stuck while climbing through his chair or turning his chair on it's side and balancing on it or climbing under the table or trying to steal the food off of Eirik's plate. Between the "I hate" rants and the jungle gym adventures mealtimes are never tame. And the mess is getting more under control, but it is still exquisite. Will Joren ever learn to drink from a cup?

Anyway, lunch was so nice I wanted to record that once, they actually ate what I prepared and liked it and didn't whine or cry and actually thanked me! The magic dust made my day and whoever sprinkled it.. thank you.