Yesterday

Our incredible art project :)

Yesterday was a fun, though exhausting day! I got to spend the morning with Emma at her preschool where we worked on an art project together (a gorgeous turkey breadbasket made out of a paper grocery bag...I wonder if Aunt Eileen will let us use it at the dinner table on Thanksgiving??), listened to Mrs. Bewalda read a story and of course had a snack. All the kids were just precious and seemed so excited to have a parent or grandparent with them at school. I wish I could bottle this time in Emma's life and use it later on when she is a teenager and undoubtedly won't want anything to do with me...



After my morning at school I had two doctor's appointments between which I ran a bunch of errands. Both doctors told me that the babies and I are doing just fine! Even though I was sure this would be the outcome it was still nice to hear it out loud from the experts :)



While I was running my errands yesterday I started to panic a bit, thinking about all the gifts I have to buy and the increasing length of my to do list. I think a little bit of panic is common this time of year, at least for me, but it is still not a good feeling. So what did I do? Today I sat down and made a "master list" of things that I need to do, things I need to buy, etc. Somehow that made me feel better, even though I didn't get to cross a single thing of my list. At least I have everything in black on white...is that strange?? Anyway, it will all get done - eventually.


Emma turned into a mouse at preschool the other day.

Looking back....June

So to catch up a bit we have to start all the way back in June when we went to Seattle to visit Sofia and her family. This was our first trip since Emma's diagnosis in October of last year so we were all very excited about it. Emma and Henry had a wonderful time playing with their cousins and we all enjoyed visiting with the family. My parents and Fredrik and Pilar visited at the same time so it was quite the family reunion!




While we were in the Seattle area, Dan and I took the kids to Bainbridge Island for a little day trip. The kids loved the ferry ride over and we had a very nice lunch and stroll around the picturesque island. It was a great place to take some sweet pictures of Emma and Henry!

The main reason for our trip to Seattle was the Rock 'n Roll Seattle Half Marathon that Sofia and I participated in on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. We raised money for a very important cause, got in better shape through all that training and had a wonderful time running in our first race! Almost immediately after we finished we were talking about doing it again - maybe even trying a full marathon next time! I sincerely hope we can make that happen!! I was so excited to have Emma, along with the entire family, there to cheer us on. It was a truly incredible experience all around! Looking back, and being 5 months pregnant, it is almost surreal to think that I actually ran 13.1 miles...

Back home again... I wish I could set this collage to music! Henry has been obsessed with the song "I Like To Move It" from Madagascar 2 for a long time. Whenever he hears it he starts dancing his funny little dance while singing along. I love it! These pictures were taken at a baseball game tailgate where the dj played Henry's favorite song. So cute :)

How to start anew?

After such a long time of neglecting this poor blog, I don't even know where to begin to catch up. Do I even try? Should I just start with today and move forward? That just doesn't seem right. There have been a lot of fun things happening around here these last few months and it would be a shame to just ignore them like they didn't even happen! So starting tomorrow, we will be catching up - we will start with a trip back to the summer.

Hokies Win!

We had a fun time watching the Hokies beat Nebraska with some friends. There are actually some VT alums in our little town! Who knew?!

I couldn't quite get the right orange and maroon colors for the icing...oh well, you get the idea...

Wow!

So do you see the cool little widget there to the right? The one that has two babies and shows you a countdown of the days left until their due date? Well, those represent our little miracles...yes, we are expecting twins! It is still a bit unbelievable and we haven't quite gotten used to the idea of doubling the number of little ones in our family but obviously we couldn't be more excited!!

Emma can't wait to have two babies in the house but Henry, of course, doesn't understand what is happening. He'll find out soon enough, when his entire life is turned upside down!

Emma's First Day of School

We have been waiting for this day for such a long time, just short of a year actually. Emma is finally back in school! Needless to say, there has been much excitement in our house leading up to this day. To say Emma has been looking forward to her first day of 4 year-old preschool is an understatement! She woke up bright and early yesterday and the first thing she said was, "I have to get dressed for school!" I had no problem getting her motivated to eat breakfast, brush teeth and take the prerequisite first day of school pictures. Emma was ready to go!
Once at school, she ran into the classroom with a casual wave and barely a look back at me. I had to call her back so I could get my hug - maybe she didn't need it, but I sure did!

Emma's excitement had not diminished when I picked her up a short two and a half hours later. She bolted out the door into my arms (I didn't have to ask for a hug this time :)) and started telling me about everything they had done. She was speaking very fast but I think I got the gist of it - they had glued popcorn kernels to their initials on a piece of paper, had a snack (cookies because it was a little boy's birthday!) and had read stories and sung songs. What a great day - it was absolutely incredible to see Emma so happy!!

Henry had his second day of school yesterday. My little man tried so hard not to cry :( As soon as turned to corner to leave, I heard him start crying. He wanted to be brave...but it isn't easy being 2-and-a-half...

I had a very nice morning all by myself. This was a new experience for me. It almost felt like I had forgotten my kids somewhere....

Henry's First Day of Preschool

Today was a beautiful, sunny day - perfect for the first day of school. Henry was ready with his backpack and excited to go to preschool for the first time. Actually, I think Mamma, Daddy and Emma were very excited for Henry to go to preschool. I don't think Henry had any idea what this really meant. Since he can't remember Emma going to school (she hasn't been going to school for almost a full year), he had no point of reference at all.
After a somewhat stressful morning (we really need to get the routine down again - none of us - except maybe Dan - is used to rushing out the door in the mornings) we made it to school. Henry was all smiles and immediately started playing with all the toys. Emma was happy to see her old school and made sure everyone knew she is now 4 years old! Unfortunately Henry's smiles vanished when I gave him a hug and said goodbye. The tears started rolling down his cheeks and he looked oh so sad. Poor little guy! The nice teacher picked him up and carried him, still crying, to where the other kids were and Emma and I left. I knew Henry would be just fine as soon as we walked out the door but it was still hard seeing my baby so upset.
As predicted, when we came back to pick him up, the big smiles were back - we could hear him chatting up a storm as we walked in the room (that boy is such a talker!). I got a big hug and he started telling me all about his day. According to Henry, his first day ever of school went like this: He played with puzzles, went down the slide, pushed buttons and went potty. Not a bad day!
Hopefully there won't be any tears when he goes back on Monday.