Henry's 1st Kite

Henry's Starts Preschool

Henry was all fired up and ready to head down the block to our new neighborhood preschool with his lunch bag and Thomas backpack.  He's going full days, three days per week.  So far, he LOVES it.  He runs in the door when we arrive and I have to beg him to come back and give me a kiss goodbye.  He is also downright mad when its time to leave.  I was worried that he wasn't ready for full days as he's only ever been home with Momma and gone to a couple hours of ECFE per week.  At the same time, he is so active and smart that I was unable to provide him with the activity and stimulation he needs.  Well, no worries here.  Hank is doing just fine.

Big Changes

We took it slow and let it happen naturally.  Despite Siri's stubbornness, she is finally weaned.  This makes me wistful.  A bit melancholy, a bit reflective.  Sad and happy at the same time.  On the one hand, I get to have my body to myself after four years of pregnancy and nursing.  On the other hand, I'm not going to have any more babies! 

Siri is very much a toddler now and Henry is a willful soon-to-be preschooler.  He started potty training in earnest on August 14th and has done great.  He rarely has accidents, but is still working on mastering the finer points. 

How did they go from this...

to this, so fast?!

Easter and Lowell's 70th Birthday Party in Pictures

Henry and Shianne had a great time playing together!

Siri looked lovely in her Easter dress

Grampa's Boy

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

The food and cake at Brenda and Scott's house was DELICIOUS!

Siri had her first tractor ride with Grandpa Lowell.  About 5 minutes in, however, she fell asleep!

February

Thanksgiving at the Ness's

Henry teaches Grandma and Grandpa all about PlayDoh

Grandma Carol feeds Siri some cereal

Upon further inspection of Grandma's watch, Siri sees that it is, in fact, bedtime.

Oh, those thighs!

Henry and Siri were both good travelers on the long car ride :)

God Dammit

Well, I've officially failed as a mother.  My two year old son likes to wander about the house, practicing saying "God Dammit" as loud as he can.  He sometimes slows it down, making sure he gets the enunciation juuuuust right.  I have to hand it to the little shit, his usage is flawless.  He drops a cup of milk, "god dammit!" Momma turns off the TV.  "God dammit!" says Hank.  When the new fence went up in the back yard, Hank's reaction?  "GOD DAMMIT!"  We've tried to correct him and get him to say "gosh darnit" or "dag nabbit" but he's too smart for that.  Scold him?  He says it louder.  Ignore him?  He repeats it again and again in a sing-song taunting voice as if to say, "Ha, ha, jackasses!  If you think this is good, wait until I'm 15!"

I blame his father.

Two Singing Alarm Clocks: A Day in the Life

4:15am Siri wakes up. The whole daylight savings thing is messing with us. She inadvertently wakes Henry, too. He gets a nook and goes back to sleep. I bring her into our room where she nurses and goes back to sleep in the bassinet.

4:30am Momma falls back into bed.

6:45am Siri stirs. I pull her into bed with us and she nurses and falls back to sleep.

7:15am Henry and Siri start to sing, simultaneously, from different rooms. This is pleasant and funny and soon we're all up. We haven't set an actual alarm clock in a couple of years now.
The kids both get clean diapers and Henry gets a cup of milk and some playtime in his little kitchen as we make coffee and get the paper.

7:45am Breakfast - Henry is refusing to sit in the booster seat these days so he comes and goes from a grown-up chair (despite our best efforts to keep him seated) slopping Cheerios and milk across much of the dining room. I didn't peel his apple and even though he usually doesn't care, today he's decided to chew up the slices then spit apple peel on the table. Two year olds are gross. Siri, meanwhile, hangs out in the baby papasan chair, singing and chewing on a toy.

8:15am Daddy hits the shower and I gulp down a second cup before fighting Henry into a dry diaper and some clean clothes.

8:30am I set Henry up with some crayons and paper and he colors and practices spelling his name. He says, "H-E-N-Y HENRY!" He cannot yet draw the letters, but can identify them when I do, and when asked his name will say, "Henry Nesje!" While he is busy dumping the entire box of crayons on the floor, I get Siri changed and dressed.

8:45am Nathan is out the door to work. "Bye Daddy!" I quickly brush my teeth then round up the crayons before the dining room wall becomes a mural.

9:00am Henry needs a new distraction so the crayons and paper get put away and the play dough comes out. He hasn't seen play dough in a couple of months so I'm hoping it will entertain him long enough for me to feed the baby. Miraculously, he plays happily with me and the play dough for almost an hour while Siri fusses and eats and goes from the swing to my lap to the exersaucer.

10:00am Siri finally settles down for a nap in her crib. I set Henry up with crackers, juice, a blanket and Sesame Street after we clean up the play dough mess. I start a sink of hot, soapy water for dishes, check my email, then hop in the shower. I wouldn't bother, but it has been a few days and a shower will go a long way in improving my disposition. While I'm in the shower, Henry opens the door to the bedroom and turns on the light but, somehow, Siri remains asleep. He would have crawled into the crib with her, but I'd zipped the tent shut as a means of keeping him out. I manage to get dressed then run around trying to get some chores done like taking the diaper champ out and getting the dirty laundry piled up.

10:45am STREET SWEEPERS! DUMP TRUCKS! Suddenly our street is awesome. Since its a beautiful day, I open the living room window and Henry nearly loses his mind watching the cleaning parade outside. I get Siri up and suddenly we're all in shoes and sweatshirts outside. I load both kids and the diaper bag into the double stroller and we go a block over so Henry can watch the sweepers take another pass. He nearly waves his arm off when the driver of one of the street sweepers waves and smiles at him. He covers his ears and yells "LOUD!" while smiling.

11am Since its really, really nice out (SUNNY and 65!) I decide to head to the park on Almond and Arona. Halfway there I call Nathan and he meets us at Nelson's Cheese Shop, where we procure lunch. Sadly, Nathan is busy and has to run back to work, so I head to the park with the kids for a picnic. Henry wolfs down half of the hot dog with ketchup I got for him and then drops the other half on the ground. He has a few sips of milk and then takes off for the swings. I manage to get half my sandwich down before I have to run and help him. Lest I forget I'm in the city, I notice some darling graffitti on the table we've just eaten on, something scrawled in what looks to be blood. Yum. Also on the same table is some less interesting vandalism. I mean, if you are going to deface a public picnic table, try to come up with something better than I (heart) weed. I mean, really. We all do. You're just stating the obvious. But, I digress.

12pm Henry blissfully traverses the playground. Climbing and investigating everything. Siri, good naturedly, watches from the stroller. When she starts to fuss I carry her a bit. A group of moms and kids around H's age appear and he runs over and joins right in, chasing balls and taking toys that aren't his. He plops himself down at a table full of kids and moms and scores himself a cupcake. Fortunately, its a group of mom's I've met before! I nurse Siri whilst simultaneously following Hank around, making sure he doesn't fall off the top of the play structure he's managed to scale like a ninja.

1pm Toddler melt-down is imminent. Cautious coaxing of the boy toward the stroller where Siri is already strapped in is necessary. He WILL NOT be buckled in, thank you very much, Momma. I end up carrying him a block then bribing him by giving him the milk carton from lunch. Finally he's strapped in and ready to roll. I take a 15 minute work call on my iPhone while pushing both kids in the stroller with one hand on the way back home. Siri falls asleep. Henry dumps milk all over himself, soaking his pants, shirt and the stroller.

1:15pm Once inside the gate, I transfer Siri to her crib than go back out to retrieve milk-butt. I strip him down to naked, give him a quick wash and get him in a dry diaper and onesie. I get him in his crib, and with both kids down, I head back outside with a bowl of warm soapy water to wash down the stroller.

1:30pm I sit down to eat the other half of my sandwich from lunch.

1:31pm Siri wakes up. I am not making this up.

1:32pm I nurse Siri and she falls back asleep.

1:45pm I finally, actually, eat the rest of my sandwich and open my laptop to try and get some work done.

2:00pm Siri is awake, singing at the top of her lungs and playing with a stuffed goose. I try, in vain, to get her back to sleep.

2:30pm Having given up on getting any work done, I shut down my laptop.

2:32pm Siri now decides to fall into a deep, relaxing, snoring slumber. I restart my laptop.

3:00pm I run around the house trying to think of something to make for dinner. This involves grabbing some random meat from the freezer and surveying the half-rotted vegetables in the fridge. No great inspiration is coming to me so I return to trying to work.

4:15pm Naptime is over for Miss S so I change her and get her situated in the exersaucer in the kitchen. I drain the now icy-cold water from the dirty dishes. Recall me starting them hours ago? Yeah, I never got around to actually doing them. I fill the sink back up with hot and start some water for tea.

4:30pm Jeopardy is on and I hope to watch it and drink some tea. Siri is fussy, however, and Henry is just waking up. S screams for 10 minutes while I try and get H changed out of a massively poopy diaper. H gets a snack, S gets the boob, I slam some tea and a handful of leftover Halloween candy.

5:00pm Everyone is just dandy when Daddy walks in the door. However, being a bad housewife, I have yet to muster any sort of dinner plan.

5:30pm I'm starving. I throw a bowl of leftovers in the microwave, make up a plate of this and that for Henry and leave Nathan to fend for himself. Henry is still refusing to sit anywhere near is booster seat, so dinner involves a few bites here and there in between wrestling with H, including a tear-inducing time out after he climbs on top of the table. Siri gets some rice cereal a few bites at a time and, eventually, I finish a bowl of cold leftovers. Nathan kindly brings me a beer.

6:00pm Siri has an explosive poopy blowout that involves me stripping her naked, cleaning her up and putting her in clean jammies. Nathan corrals Henry.

6:30pm Nathan protects the baby from the toddler as I go to the laundry room to wash poopy out of baby clothes and fold a load. I refill our beers at the kegerator while I'm down there. I finish the dishes once back upstairs and take 5 minutes to quietly watch Henry play in his little kitchen. He methodically puts things in and takes them out and tries them again. Jabbering to himself without noticing that I'm watching.

7:00pm Siri is fussy so I nurse her and try to calm her. Both kids are snotty and I've been chasing them with tissues and the bulb syringe aka "booger sucker" all day.

7:15pm Nathan gets Henry into the bath. As they wash/play, I nurse Siri some more and she falls asleep. She is awake and fussy and asleep again three more times in the next 45 minutes. N reads to H.

8:00pm Both kids are asleep. Nathan and I fall into the couch with our beers and dig into the remaining Halloween candy.

8:30pm I fall into bed, exhausted, to read but end up staring at the TV until I fall asleep.

9:45pm I awake to the sound of Siri screaming. The virus has really settled in and she is having a hard time breathing. Rather than wake Henry, we bring her into our room. It will be a long, bumpy and sleepless night. *sigh*

Our very own Halloween Pumpkins

For days leading up to Halloween, I tried, unsuccessfully, to get Henry to wear the pumpkin costume I'd aquired for him. He ran at the sight of it. Then, on the big day, with the promise of candy, we managed to get him into it. Siri really had no choice about her costume. She's still to small to fight us off. Once fully decked out, Hank realized that this whole costume = candy equation was a good deal and remained in the groove the rest of the night. In fact, he had WAY more fun handing candy out to the other Trick or Treaters that stopped at our house than going himself, so we ended up hanging out with him on the front steps until all the candy was gone. Henry shouted "Hello Friends!" or "Hi, Kid!" to everyone that came by and enthusiastically shoveled handfuls of candy into their open bags, saying "take a piece!" His candy intake: 2 Three Muskateers minis, one tootsie pop (red, of course) and a small pack of M&Ms. Mom and Dad's candy intake: more than we'd like to admit.

Henry's 2nd Birthday!

It was a big, big weekend for Henry! We celebrated his birthday for two days straight. He brought cupcakes to his Friday morning play group. Later he woke up from his nap to find a house full of grandparents and a new play kitchen of his very own. We had a birthday dinner and cake for both him and Grandma Ann on Friday night. And on Saturday, his friends came over for a little party in the newly fenced-in backyard. Sooooooo much excitement! Here are the highlights:

Shadow Play

I stood at the sink washing dishes this morning while two quiet and content babies played at my feet. I stopped a moment to reflect on how lucky I am. The days are long and being a full-time mom to two babies is constant, back-wrenching, feet-aching manual labor. The skin on my hands is scaly and tender from all the washing and scrubbing and folding and sanitizing. Its feels good to be this tired and I feel no shame in drinking a well-earned beer in bed at 8:45pm.Henry has discovered his shadow! Shadow play can be very fun and the late summer sun comes through the windows at great angles. Park time has also become a lot of fun as the manic toddler needs to run like a border collie daily so he'll nap. We're putting a fence in. I can't wait. Siri is 3 months old today and smiling, cooing, giggling and sleeping through the night. Good girl!

That's all for now. Our mundane day to day is hard and often dull, but extremely sweet and happy at the same time.

Time Flies - August Already!

The days and weeks of summer are flying by ever so quickly. Nathan is in the middle of a run of 9 shows in 10 days and this leaves me to the challenge of wrangling the oh-so-busy toddler and the infant on my own. I'll just say that some days are better than others. Henry is becoming a big boy now and has started to use the potty. This is monumental news for us. Having two babies in diapers at once is stinky and costly and stinky. We are not getting too excited, however, as he is really two young yet to use the potty with any reliability. Still, a step in the right direction. Siri is two months old already and is off the charts for height and weight, clocking in at 24 inches and nearly 15 pounds. She slept seven hours in-a-row(!) last night and another four after that, making for an almost normal night of sleep for me. She is also a coo-coo-ca-chooing up a storm and winning over friends and neighbors alike with her charming smile.

I am looking forward to fall already as the past two weeks of god-awful hot, humid weather have had me cranky. I can't wait for cooler temps and delicious fall breezes. I am also looking forward to potentially getting back to work a bit with some contracting and to continuing work on my Masters degree. The real question being, of course, whether or not I can juggle it all. Time will tell.

The above photo was taken by my cousin Vicki, whom I love unconditionally, and wish I saw more often. She stopped by for a quick visit last weekend with my Aunt Paulette and Uncle Ron. My folks were also here, so it was a really nice weekend of family time. I love that my children are getting to spend so much time with both sets of their grandparents!

The Piglet and the Beach Bum

Siri is growing by leaps and bounds. Her rolls have rolls. Good baby!

Henry starts swimming lessons with Daddy today. They are going to the Aqua Tots class at the YWCA. Good thing, too, because the kid loves the water!

Chef Henry

Despite a lack of classical training, Chef Henry is a bit of a culinary prodigy. He is a proponent of using fresh, locally sourced ingredients and, in particular, a fan of organic broccoli and fresh strawberries. Chef Henry's whisking skills are particularly good, so he whipped up some heavy cream, powdered sugar and cream cheese yesterday to make an airy and lovely frosting for his new favorite dessert, a poppy seed-strawberry cake. It's heavenly, Chef Henry!

Who doesn't love to lick the beaters?

The finished product, in a word, delicious!

Billowing Strawberry Poppy Seed Layer Cake
From Dishing with Kathy Casey

Cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 tbls (1 stick) salted butter, softened
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbls poppy seeds

Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups cream

Filling
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 pint strawberries, sliced very thin

Topping
1 pint strawberries, cut in half

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer or other large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the softened butter. Using an electric mixer, mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add half of the milk and mix for 2 minutes more to cream the batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and add the remaining milk, eggs, and vanilla. Continue mixing on medium speed for 2 more minutes. Stir in the poppy seeds.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each cake layer and turn in out onto a rack to cool thoroughly.

Meanwhile, make the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the softened cream cheese and vanilla on medium speed for 1 minute. Turn the speed to high and mix for 1 minute. Stop the mixer, add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Repeat twice, until all the powdered sugar had been added, then increase the mixer speed to high and whip for 3 minutes.

In another bowl, whip the cream until stiff, then fold it gently into the cream cheese mixture until just incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to frost the cake.

To make the filling: In a medium bowl, stir the strawberry jam until smooth, then gently fold in the strawberries. Set aside until ready to fill the cake.

To assemble and frost the cake: On a large cake plate, place 1 layer of the cake. Spoon one-half of the strawberry filling in the center, then spread it out to 3/4 inch from the edge. Top with 1 cup of the frosting and spread the frosting to 3/4 inch from the edge. Place another layer of cake on top and repeat. Place the final layer of cake on top, then press down gently on the cake layers to stabilize them.

With a large rubber or cake spatula, mound half of the remaining frosting on the top of the cake. Spread the other half around the sides of the cake, covering up all cake and swirling the frosting decoratively. Smooth out the frosting on top of the cake. Let the frosting dry a little before garnishing the cake.

Stem the garnish berries, and cut them in half lengthwise. Place, cut sides down, around the top edge of the cake. Arrange any extra strawberries in a small pattern in the middle of the cake. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.

Great American Summer Pastime

It's no secret that Nathan and I are baseball fans. We've had season tickets to the Twins for 5 or 6 years now. So, it should come as no surprise that we wanted to get the kids out to see the new stadium this season. Hank went to the Metrodome last year and visited the new ballpark early this March when we got to go for a first-look pre-season. Siri also went in utero this spring and I enjoyed the looks I got while I enjoyed my n/a beer in the Town Ball Tavern. Siri made her first game, officially, at two and a half weeks old and did very well. We took Henry just last week and while he only managed to sit on our seats for about an inning, he did charm everyone in both Sections 105 and 106 as well as a few in the Twins Pub and the upper deck as he did laps around the stadium at break neck toddler speed. He also got to ride the train for the first time which was almost more exciting to him than having nearly 41,000 people sing the "baseball song" to him during the seventh inning stretch!

April 20, 2010 - 7 months pregnant with Siri
Siri's first game - July 1, 2010Henry's first game at Target Field - July 21, 2010
Riding the TRAIN!

Siri Comes Home

What's Hank been up to, you say?

*Click on the photos to see larger versions*Art Class

Burgeoning Artiste

Ice cream on the lawn

Hanging at the clubhouse with the posse

Picnic

Investigating fluid dynamics

Out hiking at Dodge Nature Center

Playing on the patio

Morning coffee talk with Grandpa Lowell