Benjamin - 10 months

Happy New Year to our friends and family! I'm going to try my best to get caught up on posts (still haven't done Halloween yet!) But first I need to start with this little guy...he's 10 months old now! Actually, technically he is 10 months and 1 week but ehhh...I'm trying here!

Although we did not travel home for Christmas break it was still a busy month for you. You've gotten pretty good about keeping yourself busy while I am trying to get things done around the house. Here you're just doing a little low weight, hi-rep exercise while I put away clean clothes.

 And here, keeping a close eye on the laundry cycle. Spinning clothes are so fascinating.

But more and more, keeping yourself busy really means getting into EVERYTHING! Especially if its potentially dangerous or makes a huge mess. So more and more I find myself pulling things out of your mouth (what is the obsession with eating toilet paper about!?) and racing you across the room to make it to whatever item you've set your sights on. And man! You can move pretty dang fast!

You're also very eager to help with the morning cooking but I think daddy/chef has all the help he can handle for now!

Sleep. What a rare a precious thing. You struggle my little B. But it's coming along. Slowly but surely you are sleeping through the night more often than not. Although the crazy Norwegian winter storms we've had the past few weeks haven't helped matters. 

Case in point...10pm...Christmas night...not sleeping! UGH!

You took your 3rd international trip this month to Prague. And, just like every international trip we've EVER taken with kids, you decided to pop out a tooth while we were there. So that means, no sleeping, lots of being cranky, and lots of wine for mommy...I mean whining...or do I?

 I'll be doing a whole Prague post later but unfortunately this is one of the few pictures I took of you while there. In a pub no less lol! But it was very cold and so most of the time you were bundled up in your stroller.

Once we got home from Prague we realized we needed to take a last minute mad dash to get a few more Christmas presents for you and Xander. The best part of taking a baby to a toy store is that there are no EPIC meltdowns when we don't end up going home with something totally random. You were a gem and it was fun getting to spend time just the three of us.

Christmas eve we decided to have a little adventure, brave the wind and rain, and go to Stavanger Cathedral for a Christmas Carol service. We stopped by Starbucks on the way in to grab hot chocolate, and let you both eat dinner during the service. You were pretty good and really seemed to enjoy the music...and listening to your voice echo when everyone else was being silent! 

You had your first Christmas and although it was quiet, just the 4 of us, wait....who am I kidding!? Quiet!? No way! More relaxed maybe but you two are never quiet. Anyway, it was really special for us to spend it together and your dad and I enjoyed watching you two play with each other and with your gifts. 

We also celebrated New Years Eve as a family...with a special dinner made by your dad and a toast. Which sadly you did not get to partake in. And by some insane miracle you slept through the local neighborhood firework show...which was pretty loud and intense for a good 45 minutes. I have NO IDEA how a squeaky floor board can wake you but NYE fireworks go off for nearly an hour and you never stirred!

My silly little B...you are such a spitfire. You hold your own and ALWAYS make your voice heard (which is a lot to say when you're competing with a toddler.) You keep us laughing and on our toes and definitely keep me from sleeping but I love you to the moon and back anyway!

Texas Trip

It has taken me an embarrassingly long time to get this post up. So without further ado...

We traveled to Texas in June this past summer. It was our first flight to the US with two kids.

Just hours after landing in Texas, Arthur and I hit up my other love...TARGET! Clearly he shared my enthusiasm!

We spent some time at my best friend's lake house. And Xander spent some quality time with his little buddy Maci.

This is our little brood...each time we see each other it's grown! I love this wild bunch so much!

Nana and Papa were in heaving having their two grandsons back in Texas.

We celebrated Xander's birthday with all our family. My mom made him the most amazing cake modeled after his favorite monster truck. He still talks about that cake!

Papa set up an amazing outdoor play area for Xander complete with a toddler swimming pool and an endless pile of rocks to throw in the water to his heart's content.

It was REALLY hot in Texas so we had to get out in the morning while the temperature was still tolerable. We went out to Papa's school to help him water the plants and check out the playground.

Quality time with Oma

Because it was so hot we spent most of our evenings in the pool. This was Benjamin's first time in the water and he loved it!

Arthur and I literally ate breakfast tacos and Tex-Mex for all but about 3 meals while in Texas. I don't regret it one bit!

 Xander enjoyed watched the birds on the feeder at Nana and Papa's house.

BBQ with Nana and Mimi!

Xander was the CUTEST little ring bearer at his Aunt Charlotte's wedding.

Unfortunately, it was INSANELY hot and Benjamin was being difficult so I don't have any other pictures of his adorable outfit. 

More cuddles for Papa. 

Train ride at the San Antonio zoo.

My parents took us all out for some amazing BBQ and beer after the train ride.

My brother and his lovely bride joined us too! The root beer was good but the craft beer was DELISH!

And this is real life with 2 kids. Toddler acting a fool, baby being rocked in the stroller. And Arthur...ever the calm in the middle of the storm!

Even my bestie Aunt Kim made the trip down to see us. I LOVED having her close!

Cuddles for Mimi

Happy Birthday Mason!

Poor Kelsey had to read Xander ALL THE BOOKS! She was so patient and tolerant of Xander even though he practically Velcro'd himself to her!

Mason and Xander :)

We were in Texas for a little less than 2 week and although it's always a whirlwind trip when we go back, somehow this time felt even crazier. Maybe it was because we now had 2 kids or that we seemed to be constantly in the middle of some large celebration (Xander's birthday, Mason's birthday, 4th of July, Charlotte's wedding, Benjamin's baptism... whew!) But it was an incredible blessing to see our family pour so much love into our boys. Having them so far away from their family is one of the hardest things about living in Norway. There were a lot of tears in the car on the way to the airport...especially when Xander kept saying, "Come'on Nana. Come'on Papa. Play!" But we're so thankful that we had the time with everyone and we can't wait until out next trip.

Italy - Sept 2016 (Part 2)

I've traveled a lot and seen many thing in my life. But nothing yet compares to Rome. It's hard to believe its only the 3rd most visited city in the EU (after London and Paris.) Now, I'm certainly no history buff. In fact, I'm kind of anti-historical stuff when I travel. It's not that I don't appreciate history, it's just that I'm an instant gratification kind of traveler! I want things I can experience in real time. Like food, music, culture, and art. But even I was drawn into the history of Rome. How could you not be!

So where were we? Ah yes...

Day 5: Forget you Buc-ee's (that's for all my Texas peeps!)...this is what Italian gas station food looks like. We stopped at the massive Autogrill before entering Rome. The incredible structure stretched OVER 8 lanes of traffic and housed several restaurants, shopping, and luxurious bathroom facilities. When I imagined gas station food I was thinking greasy, reheated hot dogs and stale Kit-Kats. But this place was insane! A buffet of fresh vegetables, grilled meats, breads, pastas, salad, fruit, deserts, and of course wine. In a country that celebrates meal time so much I don't know why I was so surprised!

After filling our bellies we all loaded back up for the short 10 km drive to our flat in Rome. Short drive! HA! This afternoon goes down as the worst afternoon in our entire trip. I'll spare you the details but it involved 2 hours stuck in downtown Rome rush-hour traffic, me alone in the flat with no food and two very cranky boys, and Arthur out for hours on an impossible mission to get rid of our useless rental car. I did whatever I could to keep the boys happy that afternoon...and this round of music car seats did the trick for all of about 5 minutes.

Day 6: Our flat was in an incredible neighborhood and a very short walk to the Colosseum. And since we have a house full of early risers (the kids...not the adults!) we were lucky enough to make it right as the sun was coming up! This place is incredibly breath taking! You can almost hear the echos of past centuries!

Or maybe that was just the guy trying to sell me a selfie stick for the 40th time! I DON'T NEED NO SELFIE STICK YO! Deep breath...

After nap we headed out to Villa Borghese, Rome's 3rd largest park. The views from the top were stunning!

Our feet tired and we knew it was a huge park so we enlisted the toddler to drive us around in the bike cart.

Just kidding...Arthur did all the work! Notice how carefree the rest of us look while poor Arthur is pedaling the weight of a family of 4 and 2 strollers. Good man!

This park was probably one of my favorite places in Rome. Xander rode a Merry-go-round for the first time in his life. Then rode it 4 more times before we made him stop. Of course an epic tantrum ensued! So we stuffed a polse in his mouth haha. Honest to goodness my little Norwegian child went to Rome, was offered a "hot dog" and asked for a "hot polse" lol. As the sun set we headed back to the metro to catch a quick ride home.

Right...nothing in this trip was ever easy.

For some reason, the metro stairs that we had just walked out of only a few hours early were now gated and locked. And the next closest metro stop? Well, down the Spanish Steps of course. Only the #1 place in Rome to AVOID when you're walking around with 2 strollers. Suffice it to say that Arthur more than got his workout in that day. And at least we got to see the Spanish Steps, which apparently had only reopened after years of renovation the day before! The ride home was another hot mess. A little advice, don't take 2 strollers on the Rome metro on a Friday night. Also, when we finally made it back to our flat our key broke off IN the lock. We made friends by buzzing everyone in the building until someone let us in. So many "great" memories on this trip!

Day 7: This was the Piazza...um...something...is it awful that I don't even know what this one was called? I mean, when there are incredible sights literally around every single curve it's really hard to keep track!

But THIS! THIS is one of my bucket list places to see! THE TREVI FOUNTAIN Y'ALL!!!! Thanks to 2 years of AP Art History, and the near equivalent of an undergraduate minor in Art, this has been a place I've wanted to visit for a long long time! It was incredible! And we made it there early and beat the crowds (which I highly recommend as it was starting to get crazy when we left!)

We stopped for a cappuccino and to rest our feet before our next sight. And you guys...epic moment! Arthur drank a coffee. When in Rome right? (groan...sorry...you know you were waiting for that one!)

Cappuccino for the toddler too! Just kidding, just the sugar at the bottom.

And whatever chocolate pastry his little mischievous heart desired!

Proof that the other half of us were there too :)

Around the next bend...the Pantheon!

Simply amazing.

A quick stop at the Piazza Navona for lunch, where Benjamin caused a small scene with his cuteness!

And again the toddler got whatever he wanted so we could survive the meal. You want juice, in a glass cup, with an orange straw? Coming right up! How about 2?

It was a long, hot, walk home for naps but the streets of Rome were fascinating to see. That afternoon we wondered out to another gelato place for our last evening and grabbed more pizza to eat at home so we could get the kids in bed early. We loaded up the next morning at 4:30 AM in the taxi for our flight back home to Norway.


Now if you've made it this far, round of applause. This was not our easiest or most relaxing trip ever. Arthur and I talked each other off a cliff multiple times every day. And I learned that under no circumstances should you EVER travel with 2 small children without help. And if you must, bring grandparents. And if you can't bring grandparents, go somewhere where the wine is good, cheap, and plentiful. Because you will surely need it!

Ciao Italia! Thanks for all the....um...memories!!!