Need a tripod. Cute kids.

Greetings and Salutations!
It's New Year's Eve ya'll!

Its been a few days since I put up some new pictures, so I thought I'd show you some pictures of our "Griswald" holiday lights on our new house. (Sorry about the blur. I need to invest in a tripod for pictures like this.)

As an extra treat, look at Henry and Nora's cool hats, courtesy of Grandma (A-ma) Rommelfanger! We liked this picture enough that we included it on our holiday card this year. I don't mean to geek out (but here I go) -- but we're currently reading the Harry Potter series, and these hats remind me of those that Hermione knitted for the house elves.

Karen & Paul's visit

At long last, I'm posting a whole slew of pictures from the recent visit of Steve's sister Karen and her husband Paul. They'll be relocating from Atlanta to Okinawa next year, so we were really glad they could come before the big move. The slideshow features pictures from a local restaurant, Henry's new Santa costume, our sledding adventure, and holiday decorating.
Enjoy!

A few new ones

I'll try to post the pictures from Karen & Paul's visit real soon.

In the meantime, a few fairly recent pictures, including the long-awaited, sure-to-be embarrassing someday, naked bathtub photo.

Lookit that big ol' tummy!

So You Think You Can Dance?

As many of you know, Ann is quite an accomplished dancer. Now, it appears that we have an astonishing new talent in the family. Dare I say -- even a prodigy? You can be the judge, after you see the video clip below. I know, she's a bit raw, but note the impressive improvisational skills in this duet performance.

Thanksgiving 2007

Here's a whole bunch of photos from our very enjoyable Thanksgiving gathering at the home of Glenn and Mary Clark in Madison. (After you get to the photo album, choose the "slideshow" button).

This was the first time in many years that Thanksgiving wasn't hosted by Grandma Kathy, but we're elated that she could make the trip. The food was wonderful, the Packers won, and we have photographic evidence that the kids had a good time. Many thanks to our hosts for their hospitality and hard work.

First Snow

We welcomed our first snowfall of the year, just before Thanksgiving. I think our house looks pretty nice with a 1.5 inch dusting of snow. I'm gambling a little -- hoping to delay buying a snowblower until after the new year...

Finally, new videos!

Here's a sample of Henry's improving vocal skills!



And here's a look at Henry's abdominal strength. Look at him do those leg lifts! Impressive!

Finally, a few more pictures!

Trip to Madison

We took Henry out of town last weekend for the first time. A quick day trip to Madison to see our good friends Ed & Christine (and Eliot), Liza & Alex (and Mirabelle), and Scott & Allison (and Reuben). The trip was short and sweet, but we had a great time, and Henry travelled well. It's so wild to see our friends starting families and Nora being the eldest child.

Pictured are Christine reading to Eliot and Nora (not sure why Eliot looks so mad), and Ann and Allison showing off their happy new babies.

2 month checkup

Henry had his 2 month-old checkup today. He weighed in at 13 pounds 10 ounces and was 23 3/4 inches long!

He's also getting stronger. Here he is during a workout today. See how he lifts that head! Grrrr! Feel the burn!

Nora's new coat, raking, and playdate

Nora got a new winter coat last year from Grandpa and Grandma R. Now, she's finally big enough to try it out, and you'll be happy to know that she loves it. It also goes quite well with her new Dora hat and gloves.

It's been a pretty mild autumn here, and many of the trees are still full of leaves. Still, there was plenty of raking to do. Dad spent a good deal of time raking leaves into piles while Nora waited patiently to jump into them.









Nora has a good friend named Ellie. They are nearly the same age and have a lot in common. But sometimes conflicts arise, as seen here. Just in case you wondered about some of the hard-hitting issues facing today's 4 year old girl, watch the film. (At the end, you can hear Henry crying, as if to say, "Why can't we all just get along?")

Welcome, cuz!

Congratulations to Ann's brother, Paul, and his wife Meredith on their new baby, Calvin!

We're very excited to have our first nephew/cousin. You can see pictures of the cute guy by clicking the link below.

Calvin Christiansen

Henry *Loves* His Sister

Ann took these undeniably cute pictures this morning.
Henry's really been working on his smiling and flirting skills lately.
He saves the biggest smiles of the day for his sister.

(A special shout-out to Christine for knitting Henry's dashing sweater.)

Oh, Henry!

As many of you know, we had a big scare a couple weeks ago when Henry underwent surgery for a bowel obstruction.

It all started with a few episodes of vomiting. Then he stopped pooping, and his belly became bloated. He looked miserable. Our pediatrician sent us to the emergency room at Children's Hospital (a place I hoped my kids would never have to see). He had a number of tests and was ultimately admitted for close observation. By the next morning, he was looking worse. The tests were inconclusive, so our doctor recommended surgery. Henry was found to have an area of his small intestine that had gotten lodged under an adhesion in his belly (an adhesion is a sort of scar-like tissue forming a band within his abdomen. Although adhesions are common after abdominal surgery, Henry was born with his.)

The surgeon had to make about a 3 inch incision across his belly button. His intestines were twisted and bloated -- nothing could get through. We are very thankful that the operation was done before any permanent damage to the intestines could occur. Basically, all the surgeon had to do was cut through the adhesion and then untwist the intestines.

Henry couldn't eat for 4 days after the operation -- he needed to wait that long for his digestive system to wake up after the surgery. This picture shows the IV line that was placed in his right arm -- he got artificial nutrition through this.

Finally, the 4th night after his surgery, Henry was able to start eating again. We were able to bring him home the next day.

We are extremely thankful to our friends, neighbors, and families for supporting us through this awful, terribly stressful time.

Trick or Treat

Our neighborhood really goes all out for Halloween. We had to preregister and everything. Nora decided to go as Sleeping Beauty this year. I think she got plenty of candy. Probably would have gotten a lot more, except she got a bit scared. "Why is everyone wearing a mask?!"

(Our good friend Teresa watched over Henry while we took Nora out for a little while. )

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

The other morning, Nora came up to me and asked, "Why aren't Pocohontas, Mulan, or Princess Diana on my nightgown?"

11 pounds, 8 ounces

... and 23 inches. That's 95th percentile for height and weight.
This kid is H U G E.

(Please, Karen, no wise comments regarding head circumference.)

At this rate, he'll be wearing adult diapers pretty soon, and Ann will have to eat like an Olympian to maintain her milk supply!

This has been a classic, beautiful fall weekend. Trees are just beyond peak color. Nora and I did a little raking today, and she finally got to experience a leap into a pile of leaves. Since we were working, we did not take pictures of the raking process. We did, however, take some pictures during an outing to a nearby park.


(Disclaimer: no babies were harmed during this photo shoot.)




After a busy day of play, it was nap time for Nora. Again, please note the attention-hogging cat.

That night, Nora's dolls had their first slumber party.

15 October 2007 (part 1)

My apologies for publishing this as four separate posts. I couldn't figure out how to upload all of the photos into the same entry (the program only seems to handle 4 images at a time).

On we go. We'll start things off this week with a display of new clothes! Nora's rocking her new red outfit and hair ribbons. Henry's showing us what a "Sport Champ" looks like




And here's the big sister, showing off her new hat.