Christmas in Norway 2015

This was the first Christmas in my life that I haven't gone "home". Although, now that I'm an adult with a family of my own, the concept of "home" has gotten a little confusing. Where is home really? Home is where I'm from, where I was born, grew up, and where all my family and closest friends are. Home is also where Arthur is from and where his family is. Home used to be our cozy little place in Denton. Well, now home for us is in Norway. And although we missed family terribly and the hustle and bustle of an American holiday, it was nice to have a quiet, peaceful holiday without any jet-lag!

I was so impressed that Xander's class had a Christmas tree with lights and ornaments that the kids helped hang. Keep in mind these kids are aged 1.5 to 3 years old. They said the kids were all good and didn't mess with the tree at all! Xander is in the grey shirt...the one messing with the tree :)

His class also had the equivalent of a Christmas party, called a Julebord.The kids were allowed to pick out what they wanted, family style, and serve themselves. As usual Xander had seconds and thirds. I never worry about this kid going hungry. I only worry how we will afford his teenage years!

 

Xander had so much fun decorating the tree with us. He's at this incredible stage where he loves to help. So if we can figure out a task that he can do independently (like taking ornaments from me to Arthur) he is a happy boy.

Only one ornament was broken in during tree decorating and it was Arthur who broke it! Can't believe my little guy was barely crawling last Christmas and this Christmas he picked out ornaments and hung them all by himself! He can say "tree" and of course is not happy when we forget to turn the lights on. He cracks me up because he will count down to the lights turning on "two two TWO" and then cover his eyes when we switch them on as if they are incredibly bright. Always a bit of drama with this one!

 Another great thing about this age is that we took Xander to the toy store with us when we went Christmas shopping for him. He had no clue that the cool dump truck and bouncy balls he picked out were some of his Christmas presents. He was so good in the store and Arthur had so much fun figuring out the perfect dump truck for his little boy!

Christmas morning takes on a completely different meaning when you've got an excited toddler. I have to say, I was so excited to have Christmas with Xander this year that I was the one waking up at 5 AM! Although he is still too young to really understand what Christmas is, it didn't take him long to realize that there was a lot of cool new stuff from him under that bright Christmas tree. We were SO blessed by friends and family who really surprised us by showering our little family with love and thoughtful gifts! Thank you all for your kindness!

One of the gifts we were most excited about was Xander's play kitchen. He can now cook in the kitchen while his dad cooks! He can say "stir", "whisk", "mix" and knows the proper tools for chopping and baking. He even puts dishes into his pretend oven and will bend down to check if they are ready by peeking in the little window. His imagination and creativity is so much fun to watch! I sometimes wonder if we are raising a little chef!

  The tradition in our family is the youngest passes out the gifts to everyone. Xander's new play shopping cart was extremely helpful in this task!

 

 

 Each time Xander opened a gift he wanted to play with it. In fact, he loved everything he got so much that it took him 3 days to get through all his gifts. I can honestly say that he was grateful and excited about everything he got this year. Even if he had no idea what it was he would say "WHOA!!!" and hold it up for us. My brother, Uncle Mason, got him one of the coolest gifts. A bag of toy cars. This little video shows just how excited he was :)

And you certainty can't have a Christmas without a fabulous Christmas spread. Arthur and my mom, our extraordinary chefs. made us a wonderful meal...fried turkey and gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing and apple crumble a la mode for dessert!

 If the saying is true, that "home is where the heart is", then home is with these lovely folks!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you got to spend it with those that make your heart feel joyful and loved! 

Nana & Papa in Norway - Dec 2015

With holidays approaching we began to realize that yet again my body was not doing well handling pregnancy. Travel is hard on anyone, but at 28 weeks pregnant and barely able to walk a few steps, a travel back home to the US for Christmas was really not even an option. So we were incredibly thankful for the opportunity to have my parents come here! 

The best part of having them here was watching Xander enjoying their attention! He was ALL about Nana and Papa and the feeling was mutual! He loved to read books with Papa.

 He made peperkake cookies with Nana not once but TWICE!

They also made a gingerbread house that turned out REALLY cute. And to my surprise Xander did a really good job not eating too much of the candy during the house construction. Aren't they just the cutest?!

We went to the park one very cold morning to feed the ducks.

Xander made silly faces while I took one too many pictures :)

We treated my parents out to a fun dinner in Stavanger Sentrum to experience an authentic julebord. Xander was so good and sat on Papa's lap for at least half the meal watching the cars go by and the lights in the harbor.

It was another cold windy night in Stavanger

A rare quiet moment with Nana watching "Row Row Your Boat" for the millionth time most likely.

Fun trip to the Candle Factory to enjoy the beautiful drive and the good food and pancakes!

My mom and I even had a chance to sneak away to shop. We contemplated buying matching traditional Norwegian Marius sweaters until we realized they were almost $300 each. And who has use for a heavy wool sweater in Texas anyway!

One last book and cuddle with Papa before they hopped on the plane to head home.

It was hard to say good-bye but we will see them again in Norway again in March. We are so lucky that they're coming back to help when Baby Stautz #2 makes his arrival.

30 weeks - Small Fry #2

See my 30 week post with Alexander HERE

How many weeks: 30!!! (although this post is 2 weeks late...I'm actually 32 weeks now)

What size is baby: head of cabbage, 15.7 inches and 3 lbs. My doctor says he is measuring a little big, at least his torso measurement is very long. I'm OK with another long skinny baby though :)

Movement: Much like his older brother at this point, our little guy is quite the mover. However, since I feel like my ab muscles pretty much gave up the ghost before the pregnancy test dried, he seems to have a little more room to move around than Xander did at this point.

New symptoms: Since I found out I was pregnant I've been dreading these last few weeks. Although my entire first pregnancy was uncomfortable, the last ten weeks (and the months following) were pure torture. The kind of pain I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I've been very proactive this time and taking it VERY easy to avoid rupturing the discs in my back again. My doctors told me that the ligaments and discs that tore previously are weak spots and could basically give out at any point. I've had a ton of soreness and stiffness but so far I'm not as bad as I was last time. I still feel like I'm holding my breath, waiting for it to get really really bad...and it could. But I'm trusting that my body is being held together by God's grace and prayers. My little boys deserve to have me at my best and I'm praying that they'll get to have an active mommy!

Cravings: Sugar...especially sugar and peanut butter. A HUGE thanks to my sister-in-law Charlotte for the peanut butter cookies and peanut brittle. A pregnant woman's DREAM!

Sleep: I would LOVE to be getting 8-9 hours each night but my body wakes me up like clock-work at 7. So if I went to bed at 10 then I'm awake by 5 AM! And my hips ache so much that it's hard to lay in bed for long after I'm awake. Poor Arthur!

Rings on/off: on

Best memory of the week: So my mom and I were too busy playing with Xander to work on the baby room like I had planned. Sorry #2...you're already second in line haha. But she did get to feel him moving a few times while she was here.

Looking forward to: making it to 35 weeks. I feel like every 5 week chunk allows me to relax a bit, that I'm not getting as bad as I was. I'm ready to get this baby out and be on the road to recovery. In case you're wondering...we are 110% certain this is my last pregnancy! We are so thankful for this baby but we're ready to move on from all this!