Pictures!

When I was a little kid, this was my apron. Annika wore it for the first time a few days ago when she "helped" me do some baking. Isn't she adorable?? You can't really see it because of her pacifier, but she has a big smile on her face.

I bought this bag to store her bath toys. Apparently, it also makes a great hat!

It is amazing to think that Annika is now old enough to do some "big kid" activities, like looking at books on her own and coloring. Of course, we still need to work on convincing her that crayons aren't a food source. All in due time!

Here's the cake I made for Kate's baby shower.

Annika's newest hobby

As of late, Annika's newest interest is putting lotion on her hands and cheeks. Every time she sees a bottle of lotion (or sees something that resembles a bottle of lotion), she holds up her hands and says, "eye-shh". Interestingly, that's also what she says when she wants an ice cube. Applying lotion has now become a bargaining chip for us. "If you sit down, you can have some lotion." "As soon as we're done changing your diaper, you can have some lotion."

Annika also now regularly does the sign for "again", which we are quite impressed with. She signs it when she wants to do or have something again. She also uses the sign when she wants more of something. (She hasn't quite caught on to the fact there are different signs for "again" and "more".)

Over the past week, Annika has started to walk with her arms behind her - either sticking straight out or with her hands clasped behind her. Until recently, her hands and arms were sticking up when she walked. I guess this means she's becoming more adept at the walking/running skill and no longer relies on her elevated hands for balance. Now she looks like a little old man who is contemplating something instead of someone surrendering as she makes her way from point A to point B.

Riddle Me This...

Eric and I saw this sign a few weeks ago as we drove down the street. (Click the photo to enlarge it.) How is it feasible that something is "new" and "original" all wrapped up into one??



Another sign that caught my eye belongs to the junior high that one of my brothers teaches at. (To his credit, he's in the math department!) The sign reads "Winter Breck". Is being on breck better or worse than being on break??? I'm kicking myself for not snapping a picture of the sign, but alas, I was driving and it wouldn't have been safe. I'll see if I can get someone to swing by and take a picture of it for me. Is there any wonder why I want Annika to go to private schools?!?!

Weekend in Review

On Saturday, I planned on making an adorable baby block cake for my best friend's baby shower. In theory, it was a perfect design. In practice, not so much. I stacjed and then cut three 9x13 cakes in order to make the cube shape. The first issue arose when the tiers started sliding around on the lemon filling, which then started oozing out. Not a good sign. The next major problem reared its ugly head when the cakes started falling apart as I applied the crumb coat of buttercream. This should have been the point in time when I said "forget the buttercream approach, we're going with fondant." The problem is Kate doesn't really care for fondant and it was a cake for her. So, I perservered. Bad idea; this sucker would have been beyond a cake wreck ... and that's an understatement. By 9pm, the cake was in the garbage and I was baking my Plan B cakes. (God bless the Cake Mix Doctor!) At 6 Sunday morning, I was up applying a basketweave to four round chocolate cakes. It looked MUCH better than the first cake. I was counting my lucky stars that I had made a double batch of frosting the day before .... let me tell you!! The cake was completed in plenty of time and the shower was a huge success.



The best part is I can FINALLY post a picture of the baby blanket (pattern by my friend Jen) that I made for Kate's baby boy. I've been itching to post it ever since I finished knitting it, but because Kate reads this blog, posting a picture prior to her baby shower didn't seem like the best choice. :)

Christmas Photos

What's Christmas without pictures??

Annika and her daddy modeling their Santa hats


Annika saying "hello" to her new toy cell phone


Annika "helping" assemble her new shopping cart

Merry Christmas!

To all of our loved ones, we wish you a very merry Christmas. On this very special and sacred day, we wish you a wonderful day and a peaceful new year. We are so grateful to have you in our lives.

We were a bit surprised to see snow falling when we woke up this morning. A white Christmas in Seattle - really! No kidding! In fact, it snowed a good chunk of the day. It was gorgeous.

Eric's parents came over to celebrate the day with us. We ate the Olson family's traditional Christmas Breakfast casserole (yes, Eric, you were right ... we did need to double the recipe to have enough for leftovers) and played card games for quite a few hours. Even though I came in last place in all but one of the games, it was still lots of fun. We laughed and simply enjoyed spending time together.

It's funny how traditions become a topic of thought once children enter the picture. Before we had Annika, we didn't think much about them, but now we realize the importance of finding a balance between holding on to family traditions and starting new ones. Ones we've retained include the aforementioned Christmas Breakfast and going to mass on Christmas Eve. One of our new ones is reading "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" as a family before bed on Christmas Eve. As Annika gets older, we'll incorporate a few more of our longtime traditions, including leaving snacks for Santa, the reindeer, and the house nissen.

Merry Christmas to all .... and to all, a good night.

Still snowy

We're still snowed in here on 2nd Ave. It is a beautiful sight, but also a bit amazing to think that we have received more snow in the past few days than we do in a typical winter.


The dogs had a marvelous time playing on the deck earlier today. Buca thinks snow is nature's play thing and goes into turbo mode when he is in it. Riley seems to enjoy it, too, but in a more reserved manner.

Buca getting ready to pounce



Riley giving the snow a good sniff



Buca doing his impersonation of an ostrich



"Do I have a little something on my face?"



What else does one do while snowed in? Make a gingerbread house, of course! This was yesterday's project. There was a wee bit of repair work to do because of some broken pieces, but all-in-all, it was a very fun project.