Full Moon and the Flu

As this past week led up to an amazing full moon, the Jacobsen household battled the flu bug.  The virus moved from Papa to Mama to Lukkas.  Leinna some how lucked out and it avoided her.  Must be her strong-willed-2-year-old personality that scared the flu away from her. 

Being sick didn't slow the kiddos down one bit!  Two days at home - we found ourselves making forts out of kitchen chairs and blankets.  Tried to get Lukkas to turn around, but he was having more fun squealing at Leinna.

By the end of the week, we were all healthy and back to 'normal.'  After not much of an appetite for a couple of days, Lukkas had no patience for Momma to feed him.  The photo did not pick up just how covered he was in cereal - but he had a great time trying to figure out how to feed himself with a spoon.

Looking forward to a healthy week. 

Mini-van? No Thank you... Double stroller- YES please!

Even though Leinna is fully capable of completing a walk on her own, sometimes its just nice for her to have a spot to take a ride.  Santa brought us a double seated stroller.  I must say, I love it!  Leinna can stand or sit in the back - and it's super easy to collapse and get in the car.  Win-win all the way around!

What's better than the double seated stroller?

The box that it came in of course!

 

Want to wrestle?

And it begins...

This is a nightly occurrence in The Land of Leinna and Lukkas - wrestling time!

Back to work this week - so we were all happy to be back in a routine.   Our weather is complete opposite from last winter - we've had rain, rain and more rain.  We are planning a trip down to Wisconsin this summer to see my mom and dad.  If this rain continues all winter - it will sure be a welcomed vacation to see the sunshine!

May you all have a productive week!!

What will 2013 bring?

Happy New Year to all our friends and family.  We had Leif's mom and dad visiting with us for a few days. It was great to spend time with them and be able to watch some of the college bowl games.  Leif's family really enjoys watching football and I just sit back in awe when they watch a game together. The statistics and details of the game that they all know - it's just amazing.  I should not say that I sit back in awe, because things are extremely busy these days with the kiddos.

Lukkas is 9 months old now! When did that happen?  

His check-up went great!  Weighing in at 23.9 pounds and 29 1/2 inches long! What a tank!!

He likes to give you high fives and if you tell him no, he'll shake his head back at you.  He's also very busy trying to walk.  We have a game where I will put him at arms length away and he'll 'walk' back to me.  He loves it - and recently he will pull himself and then push off to see if he can keep his balance. When he does keep his balance, he lets out such a cute giggle.  He's definitely all boy - loves to wrestle around with Leinna and finds things to bang.  Sometimes the word 'hi' or 'da-da' escapes his mouth - but mostly its grunts.

Leinna at 2 1/2 years now, is more verbal than ever.  I keep reminding myself that this is really a blessing that she can express what she needs and understands what we say in return.  She's definitely a parrot right now and has taught us that we really need to be careful of what is being said on tv.  We were recently watching one of our recorded shows, The Voice, when the judges were bantering back and forth and one of the judges said 'bitching.'  Well without a second to go by, Leinna asks, 'Momma, what's bitching?"  Oh dear... well Leinna, its a word that we don't need to say.  She seemed content with the answer and we haven't heard it since. Thank you Lord!  She continues to develop her imaginary play and you will find yourself being "sshh" by Leinna because her baby is sleeping.  Leinna loves to sing songs and you'll likely hear her sing "I'm working on the rail road" as she goes to sleep at night.

So, what will 2013 bring? 

We are hoping for moments and memories that fill our hearts with joy! 

Happy New Year!

Christmas Time

We hope everyone had a blessed time with family and friends this Christmas season.  We spent Christmas Eve and Day starting our own family traditions.  It was great to just hang out as a family of four and enjoy the laughter and time together. 

A Christmas Eve tradition we started this year is to make sugar cookies in the morning. Leinna had a great time helping me make them...

 and enjoyed the fruit of her labor!

Lukkas had his version of helping too!

Christmas morning tradition- kiddos had to have breakfast before we could open presents! We thought it would be best to have happy children opening presents versus hungry kids!  Bailey wasn't too sure about this idea of waiting!

Lukkas had a great time for his first Christmas.  So much fun that we ended up sticking him in his exer-saucer toy so we could manage things a little easier.  Even from there, he found ways to "open" his presents :O)

Leinna had the present opening all figured out... She loved and enjoyed every gift and even wanted to help mom and papa with theirs.  A few of her favorites...

 A camera that actually takes pictures

and her new Minnie Mouse jammies and Mickey Mouse.  I have a feeling her 3rd birthday may be a Mickey Mouse party!

We had a wonderful day and enjoyed a nice turkey dinner. We were all pretty tired and I think everyone was sleeping by 8:30pm!  We had a busy rest of the week - went to Anchorage on the 27th, full day of doctor appointments on the 28th and then back home on the 29th with Grandma and Pope (Leif's mom and dad).  We enjoyed the company as we rang in the New Year! 

"ME"rry Christmas

Okay, okay... not the typical title you'd expect around Christmas time.  This time of year is all about sharing and giving to those wonderful people in your life.  Well, I believe Leinna's gift to me this holiday season is the gift of independence.  Everything these days is, "Me do it!" or "I can do it myself, Momma."  I love that she's gaining independence - just about 100% potty trained, going upstairs to get pj's for both herself and Lukkas at bath time, getting undressed herself, drinking from a big cup, taking her coat and shoes off... the list goes on and on.  The one thing I wasn't expecting was my own personal feelings as she goes through this new stage of development.  I find myself a bit teary-eyed when I know its best for me to let her explore this independence.  Sigh... I'm sure I'll have many teary-eyed moments when the independence becomes more and more.  For now, I'm going to relish in the fact that while we are gaining independence it also means she's gaining in her knowledge of her world and how to function in it. 

So, Christmas time...

 Last week our day care provider took some time off to go see her son wrestle at the state tournament- this was a great thing as I decided that this was the perfect reason to stay home with my kiddos for the day.  We had fun decorating the tree over and over and over.  Yes, the ornaments are kid friendly, so Leinna has fun going over to the tree and moving them around. 

 We even were able to do some self photography in front of the Christmas tree.  A huge thanks to my friend for picking up with kids outfits during a recent trip to Anchorage. They are prefect - not too frilly that the kids can wear the outfits more than just once. No presents under the tree yet, as Lukkas is into everything these days and well, the poor kid probably hears the word "no-no" in his dreams.  Even Leinna goes over and says, "Lukkas, I said no-no," in her best mothering voice.

So, to keep Lukkas away from the tree- just bring out the laundry basket.  The two of them played without any toys for a good 15 minutes - just giggling with each other while they sat in the basket. I'm going to love looking back at memories such as this.  

Finally, if you can't seem to find Lukkas anywhere - just check under the kitchen table chairs.  Our table is a very high table with extra tall chairs.  Just the perfect spot to 'hide' and give momma a bit of a heart attack because she can't find her son anywhere. 

"My cup runnith over" and yet it aches for the families in Conneticut - prayers to the families, friends, and the community as they begin to process and heal from this tragedy.   I know I'm holding my own babies a little longer - may you do the same to the kiddos in your life.

8 Months Old!

8 Months Old - where oh where is the time going?!?

I can already tell this photo is going to be one of my favorites of Mister.  He was hanging out in the kitchen with Leinna when I went to get my camera (or as Leinna calls it the cram-a).  I turned around and Mister saw the camera and did this sweet pose for me. I'm so thankful I had the camera ready to capture the moment.  He's such a climber and will stand up along anything. I have a feeling he's going to be walking much earlier than Leinna did. He continues to be all boy- banging on things and making grunting noises! A few times it's sounded like he's said, "hi" and "da-da" - but that could be my wishful ears. 

Leinna loves to just play - it can be with books, with toys, or just using her imagination.  Our good friends gave Leinna these boots and when she wants to wear them she asks for her "Miss Clara boots".

We've continued to have clear skies this past week.  This has meant some chilly nights, but beautiful sunset and amazing view of the full moon...

I can't believe it's December already.  3 weeks of school and then a much needed Christmas Break!  Hope whenever and wherever you are when you read this, you know that we send our love.