Crumpets

Recently, I made a comment about wanting crumpets to Eric. He said that he wasn't sure if he'd ever had a crumpet. WHAT?? Really? Wow. OK, I had to fix that right away; being married to a crumpet virgin just wouldn't do. Of course, I decided that making my own crumpets would be a great new challenge. I turned to the Internet for recipe guidance and quickly found a crumpet recipe on the BBC's website (how perfect!). I whipped up a batch and found it to be a bit easier than expected, but the crumpets had a stronger yeast taste than I'm used to with the storebought crumpets I've enjoyed over the years. I'm not sure if that's the difference between homemade and purchased crumpets or due to the recipe. I'll hunt down another recipe for the sake of comparison and will keep you posted!

Assembling the ingredients


Batter after the 1-hour rising period


Cooking, cooking, cooking

The prettiest one

Conor's 1 month old

Amazingly, a month has passed since Conor made his grand debut. It is astounding to think that he's already been an active member of our family for a month. In his first month of life, Conor has learned what it means to be a little brother to a big sister who LOVES to give him kisses and pats. He has also learned how to sleep through spells of barking dogs, to roll his eyes (and head) at the goofy things his parents say and do, and has learned that he really likes to be held. His mommy and daddy have learned the true meanings of sleep deprivation, time management, and the multi-tasking. Annika has learned (err... is learning) how to share her mommy's lap with another child and how much fun it is to have a little "brudder" - especially when that doesn't entail sharing her momm's lap.

One thing I wish I'd done with Annika was take a photo each month during her first year to track her growth. In all honesty, the idea didn't even occur to me until she was about 6 months old. So, I'll take what I learned from that experience and apply it to Conor. His first picture is below.

Eric, the modern father

Recently, I witnessed an interesting conversation between my mom and one of her lifelong friends. They proclaimed how proud they are that their kids are such good parents and how parenting has changed so much from when they were raising little ones. True. For example, it was the exception, not the rule, to have children in seat belts as they rode in a car when we were little. Now, we wouldn't think of stepping near a car without our kids in their 5-point harness car seats. Eric and I frequently laugh about how different things are now compared to when we were little and wonder what things we're doing now that will cause our kids to roll their eyes at once they're parents to their own children.

While moving pictures from our camera to the computer, I ran across pictures of Eric wearing Conor. Let's face it - slings weren't very common until fairly recently and I can't imagine very many dads in past generations happily carrying their infants around in them. The idea of my father (and most of his counterparts) lugging any of his kids around in a sling makes me laugh; it simply wouldn't have happened. That generation of father (typically) was less hands on than modern dads. Each time I see Eric with our kids, I fall in love with him even more and smile just a bit wider.

Eric... the modern man, the modern father.

New baby portraits

When Conor was a week old, we had part 2 of our time with photographer Jamie Neilsen. Yet again, we are very happy with the images that Jamie captured with her camera. Click on her name to take a peek at a few of them. Enjoy!

New pictures

It is so hard to believe that Conor has been with our family for a week already. Since his arrival, we've quickly discovered that he is a very snuggily baby and Annika is very keen on helping us take care of him.

On Saturday, we had our follow-up photo session with the same photographer who took our prenatal family pictures. This time, Jamie came to our house to take pictures of our family; our last session with her was at a local beach. She took pictures of our entire crew, but definitely focused on capturing Conor in all of his cuddily baby splendor. Annika was VERY intrigued with the beanbag chair that Jamie brought as a prop... I think a trip to Target is in our future so Annika can have one of her own. We are very excited to see the images that Jamie captured; will share some as soon as we see them (stay tuned).

We have, unfortunately, realized that our family has established a tradition that we'd like to break .... that tradition is being sick on holidays. Last Halloween, Annika had the flu. Last Christmas, the three of us were incapacitated with nasty colds that resulted in us canceling all of our holiday plans. Yesterday (Easter), Annika wound up with a tummy bug that seems to have carried over into today. A holiday without germs and general yuck would be a welcome change! That said, a yucky tummy didn't stop Annika from enjoying the fun items in her Easter basket, however.

Annika modeling some of her Easter goodies


Conor taking a snooze in his swing


The Olson Four

He's here!

Introducing Conor!

Conor Wells Olson made his grand debut on 3/28/10 at 6:13 AM. He weighed in at a whopping 7 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long. He surprised everyone with a rather speedy arrival (the doctors and nurses had to step up their prep time a bit because Conor was going to wait for no one!). He sports a very full head of dark hair, which is the topic of many conversations and comments.

We came home from the hospital on the 29th, which was Eric's birthday (talk about a birthday to remember) and, while grateful for the amazing care we received at the hospital, were very glad to come home and learn what our new "normal" entails.

Conor has already proven himself to be a very sweet baby; he loves to curl up with whoever is holding him. Big sister Annika is quite impressed with her little brother and wants to help Mommy and Daddy do things like feed and burp the baby, as well as soothe him when he cries.

We are working out a few kinks in terms of Annika's willingness to share Mommy and Daddy, but fully expected this time of adjustment for all of us.

Fortunately, Conor has proven himself to be a good sleeper thus far (knock on wood), so we're all at least somewhat rested and ready for what each day has for us.

Mommy & Conor

Daddy & Conor

Annika and Conor meeting each other

Annika checking out her baby "brudder"

Still Not Boiling

No news on the baby front. Apparently, this little guy is QUITE happy to remain in his current living quarters. Eviction may be our only option.

This morning, I came up with a theory about why the baby hasn't arrived yet. It goes a little something like this: One of my brothers is on a business trip in Europe and will return Saturday. I'm beginning to wonder if my brother somehow bribed the baby to stay put until he's back in the good ol' U.S.A. Hmmm.... conspiracy? I'm starting to think so! (Troy - if you offer to get bumped or stay an extra day in Europe and actually HAVE bribed this child to wait until you get home, there will be hell to pay!) ;)