Spontaneous Fun! :)

The weekend before halloween, some friends came over and we carved pumpkins. We also had some spontaneous fun including this:

Photoshoot!

Our good old Ford was totalled in a minor rear-ending accident - our fault, everyone's ok; the person whose car we hit was fine, so we didn't have to pay for damages. Ultimately, we became in sudden need of a car. So we decided we needed to go bigger....not quite minivan bigger just yet....but station wagon bigger. It actually happened that my cousin, who sells cars, just got a 2004 Volkswagen Passat wagon in GREAT condition with LITTLE miles on it for a LOW price. He said he doesn't see deals like this very often and suggested we jump on it, so that's just what we did! He lives in Chicago, so we went there to get it last week! The girls and I went back with my mom on Tuesday, and then Joey joined us for the weekend. On Saturday, we got the new car, and we LOVE it! It is in great condition and has more room for our growing family!

While we were in Chicago, my good friend Erin came by and did a photo shoot of me and the girls! It was awesome, and she did a great job! I had to wake Ellie from her nap to get some pics in the daylight, and as a result she was a little crabby and hard to deal with, but Erin got some great pics despite that! I'm really glad we have these pictures! It was too bad Joey couldn't be there! But maybe we can convince her to come by again when Joey's around! :) Thanks, Erin!

Here are just a few of the wonderful pictures she took!

Photo Shoot with Erin Nov. 2009

What I learned in nursing school...

When working with children we were taught a very strategic way to get kids to do things they MUST do but didn't want to do. For nurses an example would be getting a child to take their medicine. I specifically remember a time in nursing school clinicals where I didn't use this strategy and had a screaming toddler who wouldn't take her medicine for over an hour! Bad move. I've since used this strategy and it has proven successful over and over (mostly for the toddler age, however older kids will go for this too, they just can't be "tricked" as easily). And I have now discovered this strategy can even work with your own children! :)

I'm sure many of you have learned this strategy naturally. Survival of the fittest. If you don't figure out a way to get your kids to do things they need to do but won't, you just won't make it! Thankfully I had nursing school to teach me. But for those who didn't go through nursing school and haven't figured it out yet, here's the strategy:

It's all about choices. Children want choices, but it's up do YOU to give them realistic choices to choose from. So here is an example of "The Strategy" working successfully with Ellie:

Me: Ellie, it's time to eat your breakfast.

Ellie: No, momma! (playing with toys in other room)

M: Ellie, do you want me to hold you and bring you to the table? Or do you want to go there by yourself?

E: Myself (starts RUNNING to table)

M: Good girl, Ellie! Here's your oatmeal! (Big smile!)

That's it folks! Give them choices surrounding the activity you want them to perform and they are happy to make a decision! :)

Ellie Singing and Sweet Siri

This video is not the perfect depiction of Ellie's singing capabilities, but you get the idea!

She's a little distracted but that was the only way I could get her to sing for the camera! :)

So amidst all of this Ellie blogging, I suppose I should give a little attention to Siri! She is a SWEET little baby! She has been so good and in my humble opinion, she is so cute! :) Siri is getting so big these days! There's just not a whole lot going on with her as she mostly sleeps, though she is becoming more awake and social! She's smiled a few times, but I haven't gotten that on camera yet! I feel bad because I know I had gotten Ellie smiling on camera the first time she did it, but as you moms know, it's a little more difficult with a 2 year old running around! :( Sorry Siri! But if you're anything like most middle children (except me, of course) you will like not having the spotlight! ;)

Thanks Scott Torgersons!

A little while ago now we received a package from Scott and Karen Torgerson with extremely cute stuff and we have captured Ellie opening it on video. So this is for them:

oops!

I never posted any pictures of Steve and Merrilee's visit during Siri's second week of life! So here they are:

Steve and Ellie:

Joey went with Ellie and his parents to the park which gave me a little break at home with Siri:

Here's a cute sequence of pics of Ellie and Siri:

Hanging out at home:

Merrilee spent an entire week with us! On this day they went to the nursery across the street where they had a little hay maze:

And pumpkins!

On our way to church! Sorry, Merrilee!

Gardening:

And after Merrilee left, my mom came back to help out. Then my grandparents came to visit (most of the pics are on my mom's camera!):

Siri's first bottle

While I was going to get my first professional massage* ever, Joey was home with Ellie and Siri giving Siri her first bottle.

SOOO Cute! I'm SO glad he got that on camera! Nice job, Joey! I had forgotten to ask him to PLEASE film Siri's first bottle but HE DID!! :)

*So my massage if you're wondering....I had gotten a gift certificate to The Face and The Body a year ago and it was going to expire on Nov. 5th. I felt I had to get something I wouldn't normally get. I didn't want to get a haircut, cause I would get one anyway! And I didn't want to get a facial because of so many hormonal changes. So I decided I should get a massage and Joey was ALL for it!

It was extremely nice! I enjoyed it a lot and felt very relaxed. I actually think God was in on this one because during the quietness I realized it had been a while since I prayed/meditated/sat still in silence (even falling asleep these days isn't silent as there is a little one I listen to breathe). Ellie's naps these days I occupy with a nap of my own! So this one hour massage was a great chance for me to sit in silence and reflect. It was wonderful and VERY needed! I realize I NEED to do that more often (not necessarily in massage form). So thank-you 8th grade volleyball team from last year! I thoroughly enjoyed my gift! :)

Siri Birth Video

Last night I was working on our home videos with Kim and ended up staying up late making Siri a little birth video. I hope you enjoy it!

The weeks of Siri

A friend from work told me that for the first year of her son's life she took a picture of him every week and made a book of all the pictures.  I thought it was a great idea, so I did that with Ellie.  It's SO fun to look at and see how Ellie has grown. We're especially glad to have that book as now we can compare Ellie's looks and changes to Siri's.  

I am now making a book for Siri and have 4 weeks done already!! Can you believe it?  Siri is already 4 weeks old!  She is definitely becoming more aware of her surroundings.  She has more awake periods and requires a little more effort to be put to sleep.  The other night we didn't time our bedtime very well and ended up awake with Siri for an hour before she decided it was time for her to sleep as well.  So instead of the intended early bedtime of 10:30, we ended up asleep at 11:30 as usual!  I am thankful to say that in that hour we were not dealing with a crying baby, just an awake baby.  We have been blessed with a pretty calm baby.....for now! ;)

Anyway, here are the pictures I have picked out for Siri's book so far...

Day of Life 1:

Week 1 (yes, that's Ellie's hand on Siri's foot.  You can always find Ellie close to her sister!):

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Man-Made Music, October Edition

Here's the next installment of Man-Made Music. This song was written a few years ago, but I re-recorded it recently. Please feel free to share any thoughts or questions! Lyrics are below. Happy listening!

It falls apart

and it would all go our way

if we'd have done that right, done that different,

but these are my old ways

Something's changed around here;

this old path to nowhere

cuts right down through here

splits us down through here

When the rain comes

It all goes right here

Don't wash on by

Won't you wash me?

It's dark out here, and they

say that hell is cold

well here's the hell in me

here's the hell that I control

So be ashamed of me afraid of me

oh never lose me

This path is broad my path is clear

it's full of lies but lies are marked and clear

When the rain comes

It all goes right here

Don't wash on by

Won't you wash me?

I say that I want peace,

and I hate like this

Please hate me, but don't hate me

because I just want peace

When the rain comes

It all goes right here

Don't wash on by

Won't you wash me?

2 weeks today!

I suppose a little update on our newest addition to the family is in order.  Siri is doing awesome!  She just had a 2 week check-up and all is well!  She is now weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz!! Here are her weights from birth:

Birth 9/22/09: 7 lbs

9/23/09: 6 lbs 14 oz

9/24/09: 6 lbs 9 oz

9/25/09: 6 lbs 6 oz

9/26/09: 6lbs 9 oz

Two days post hospital discharge 9/28/09: 6 lbs 13 oz

Two week check-up 10/6/09: 7 lbs 11 oz

YAY Siri!  

So anyway, Siri is doing wonderfully!  She is nursing well and sleeping well!  She usually has a 5 hour stretch at night of sleep before waking quietly to eat.  I usually awake to her stirring and rooting.  It's pretty cute!  She is looking bigger everyday!  

Ellie LOVES her so much!  When she sees her she gets very cute and cuddly and says, "baby siri" over and over.  She loves giving her lots of kisses and hugs.  Ellie does, however have moments of defiance towards me.  She is all in all a good girl, but has acted out a few times to get our attention.  I'm just glad she's not taking it out on Siri!  We've also had lots of visitors which can get Ellie a little over excited at times. 

Joey's been quite busy with school and volleyball coaching.  He took off a total of 6 school days which was about 1 1/2wks and had a lot of catch up to do as a result.  Thankfully, we've had lots of help here at home.  My parents were here the week Siri was born and took total care of Ellie while I was in the hospital and Joey stayed overnight with me.  Then they left and Steve and Merrilee came to visit.  Steve spent about 2 days here and Merrilee stayed a full week!  And now my mom is here with me for this week!  We've had lots of help which has made this transition very smooth and easy.  We ALSO received meals for 6 nights last week from friends from church!  I can't tell you how awesome that was!  So thank-you to everyone who has helped us with our new little one, we couldn't have done it without you!

For pictures from the hospital, click here!

Siri is Born!

Siri Ann Torgerson was born on September 22, 2009, at 10:16AM. She was 7 lbs and 20.5 inches. Kim is doing very well, and Siri is great at nursing! We're very happy, to say the least, about our new little girl, and we can't wait to go home from the hospital on Saturday! Thanks for all of your prayers. Here are some pictures:

Make way for Siri Ann!

We officially have only 2 more nights of peaceful sleeping (though really only two of the three of us have been peacefully sleeping lately).  Siri Ann is coming Tuesday (if not sooner) and we couldn't be more excited!  Things are still going well and the c-section is still on the schedule for Tuesday morning at 9:30am.  So weird to think about!  So please pray for us all: my surgery, Siri coming into the world, Ellie adjusting to the new sister in town, Joey attempting to help me, Siri AND Ellie recover and get adjusted, and my parents who are coming into town to watch and take care of Ellie so Joey can take care of me and Siri!  I have already bought Siri and Ellie matching outfits for the trip home and my mom has already gotten Ellie and Siri a few matching things as well! We are definitely excited!

We've got a new double stroller that we've tested out!

And my good friend Sarah (the mother of Gabe) took me as a surprise to a spa to get a "mommy-to-be" Manicure and pedicure and then took me out to lunch and surprised me with lots of friends and a baby shower! I couldn't have been more surprised!  I don't have any pics as I didn't have a camera and was completely surprised, but it was so much fun! Thanks, everyone for coming and for all the gifts and thanks, Sarah for being such a great friend and making these last days more than tolerable! :)

how much longer....really!?

Ok folks, there are 12 more days to go before our lives will be changed dramatically, once again! Now to all of you, I'm sure, 12 days does not seem very long. However to the pregnant women still attempting to carry her 25 lb, 21 mth old, 12 days is VERY long! So now that I am officially 38 wks the prayers have become stronger that I will go into labor a teeny bit earlier than Sept 22nd (though that is still a full week of pregnancy less than I had with Ellie).  

It's getting tough over here.  All of my ligaments are stretching and loosening (as I suppose they should) causing sever discomfort mostly in the lower back/hip area.  Lifting Ellie in and out of her carseat is actually painful (like sharp, stabbing pains....painful)! UGH!  Thankfully, I only have 2 more shifts of work left!  Those 12 hour days are hard to do these days and usually end in me limping to the car, literally limping! 

Ellie has been fairly kind to me I must say.  She understands that I have "owies on my back" and therefore can not hold her, however she seems to take advantage of the fact that I can't run over and physically stop her from doing things she's not supposed to do.  Needless to say, she is learning how to respond to and obey verbal commands.  This makes nap time and bed time extremely important as any amount of awake time over the tolerated amount results in defiance which equals LOTS of frustration for mom.

I do believe this discomfort is necessary however.  Who in their right mind would happily welcome labor and child birth into their lives otherwise?  Or in my case, who would gladly say, "yes, please cut me open while I am awake and rip through my abdominal muscles and pull this baby out!" but a horribly uncomfortable pregnant women?  So now you know where I'm at, ready and willing to be ripped open even knowing the recovery I face.....bring it on!

Growing up so fast!

Development Tracker Time:

This post is for my own personal reference (and your viewing pleasure) as a guide for me to know where Ellie is at these days developmentally.  So for a list of things Ellie can do:

1. Lots and LOTS of words.  She recognizes lots of things including: foods, animals, books, toys and other common household objects.  She is now saying little phrases as well like: "hold the railing," "xiao xin" (that's her only Chinese phrase), "calling mama" and "big owies".  Ellie seems to understand even more than she can say.  I'm impressed with her ability to follow commands.  She seems to understand too that there are multiple words sometimes for the same thing (that's probably completely normal but it never ceases to amaze me).

1-a Ellie also understands many pronouns like I, You, Me, Her, Him etc.

2. She is singing lots! She started this sometime at the beginning of this summer and has gotten lots better.  Her favorite songs (that she will sing along with) include: "Great is Thy Faithfulness", "You are my sunshine", "Abc's (which she knows up until P as evidenced by the video--sorta)", "Twinkle Twinkle", "Jesus Loves Me", "It is Well with My Soul" and "God is So Good" (her first song she sang).

3.  Climbing!  Ellie has gotten quite good at getting onto couches and chairs by herself.  She is still very cautious, however and knows fairly well her limitations.  She can go up stairs by herself using the stair above her as support; it's a little more sophisticated than a crawl up the stairs.  She can actually go down stairs holding a railing quite well, though I don't let her do it alone and she doesn't always have the confidence to do it alone either.  She can tell the difference between little and big steps.  She will go down little ones without holding anything, but won't attempt big ones by herself.

4. Eating by herself, kind of.  I have begun to give her full reign of her breakfast in the morning.  She eats a banana all by herself (she's been doing that since she was 6 mths) but she has also begun to eat with a spoon.  So I now give her her oatmeal and spoon and she devours it alone. Though if I don't sit and watch her, she reverts to using her hands only (which does work with oatmeal).  So I usually have to guide her a little in order to use a spoon.  Side note: She also prefers to pray before she eats:

5. Colors.  Ok Ellie doesn't really know her colors extremely well and if any of you were to come over and have me prove her colors ability, I would probably look dumb.  I guess all I can say in this area is on occasion she can pick something out and call it by the right color.  She has a ring of plastic keys on it and she is getting pretty good at knowing which key is which color, but she can't seem to extend her color abilities to other objects, except her purple shoes!

6.  Counting.  Ellie can count to three.  Joey has been working very hard with Ellie on this one.  He is trying to get her to understand "how many" things there are (from 1-3).  She usually comes up with the same answer, "two".  I can say however, she will often have two things and say unsolicited, "moma, two", but won't say it unless there are only two.  It's only when we ask her how many that she gets it wrong.

7.  Time outs.  This July we've begun using time-outs with Ellie and she has really responded to them.  When she is being disobedient usually the threat of a time-out is now enough.  Though on occasion she still will need a time-out.  We usually put her in the hallway and make her sit for about 2 minutes and it seems to do the trick.  We then talk to her and she has to say, "sorry" and then go and do whatever she was doing properly (for example to clean up the toy).

8. Dress.  Ellie has begun attempting to take her clothes off and put shoes on and off (though she's been taking shoes off for a LONG time).  She is very helpful with getting dressed and often tries to do it herself, though is a ways away from actually being successful in getting dressed or undressed. Here's a video.

9.  Naps.  Ellie is now officially down to one nap a day.  This began sometime mid-August.  She now goes down for a nap after lunch somewhere between 12:30 and 1:30.  She then sleeps for at least two hours (today she's finishing hour number 3).  She then usually goes to bed at about 7p and wakes about 8am.  She's still a great sleeper!

10. Social Skills.  Ellie is still extremely self-centered and desires things for herself only!  Though she has begun to understand the concept of share, but doesn't want to do it.  She is also becoming sensitive to other people/babies crying.  She usually will come up to a crying person she knows and at least look at them sympathetically.  When Joey or I pretend to cry she usually comes up to comfort us.  When she herself is crying, she will often stop mid-cry and announce that she is crying and that her eyes are wet.  It's actually quite humorous.  She also recognizes and calls by name lots of her friends and family.

11. Teeth.  Ellie has grown three molars this summer but has not added to the 6 in front.  She still has 4 teeth on top and two on bottom in addition to one new molar on the bottom right and one new molar on the top left and top right.

12. Coloring.  Ellie can hold a crayon/pencil fairly well and likes to color/scribble.

13. Books.  Ellie has begun showing and increased interest in books.  She still prefers to look at them herself, but is beginning to let us read her stories.  (She had been through a phase where she has no patience for us reading to her.)

I guess that's it for now! Thanks for reading (if you made it this far).

Man-Made Music, September Edition

Yes, I have remained faithful to my blogger-promise and now offer Part Deux of man-made music. I'm trying to stretch myself a bit in this hobby of mine, so please bear with me in my experimentation, and please feel free to offer your thoughts or critique. I really enjoy writing music but don't have much at stake in it (album sales aren't really an issue), so I won't be offended by disapproval, dislike, or honest criticism. I also won't be angry if you'd rather just listen to the homemade song and not comment at all (though it will certainly make me feel less special).

Here are the lyrics.

Poros and Penia

I still have the night

When you stood in the door and lingered

And both of us seemed right

When you opened up your eyes

I still have your stare

When I looked in your heart

And we both knew from the start

That both of us were wrong about something

And one of us knew but wouldn't say

That he stood on the stairs

As I reached for your hands

He watched and he waited

And love is all you wanted

To forget when pleasure showed his face

And you turned and walked your other way

And distance offered empty space

I still have the night

When you stood on the stairs and lingered

And both of us were right

About standing still in want about something

And, oh, the words in your mouth

Were lying in the folds of your dress

And waiting for the winds of the evening

To blow them away

or breathe into me

And only one of us knew

That he waited in your room

To guide you to your tomb

And show you how to cover up something

And show you love was only for something

And love is all you wanted

To forget when pleasure showed his face

And he laughed and let down your hair

Took off your clothes and dressed you in disgrace

And love is all you wanted

To forget when pleasure showed his face

And you laughed when he let down your hair

And distance offered empty space

Note: I decided on Poros and Penia because they were, as Socrates is told in Plato's Symposium, the parents of Love. The former is representative of abundance, the latter of need or poverty. The song isn't about the story from Plato, but the idea of Love having such parentage is what I'm trying to get at.

Ellie sings the ABC's....sort of

August Happenings...

1.) Some new decorations in our NEW apartment!

2.) Ellie has learned to smile and say, "cheese"

3.) Ellie in an outfit from Aunt Karen (with "dada's" shoe):

4.) An older grandma Merrilee outfit:

5.) New Grandma Merrilee outfits (and playing with her new train and train-book):

6.) Dada being creative:

Thank-you Grandma Merrilee and Grandpa Steve!

This is a video for Grandma Merrilee. Thank-you for the clothes and Thomas the Train stuff! Ellie loves it! :)

Man-made Music

Amazingly, I think this is the first time I (Joey) have posted on our Blogger blog! It seems one of us is more responsible when it comes to keeping in touch... Anyway, I was going to title this entry Monthly Music, but Kim laughed at me and told me it was a silly idea because I would never follow through with it. I was planning on writing that I would try to write and post a song once a month this year for your listening enjoyment and because writing music is selfishly therapeutic for me. But Kim's probably right, so I'll just post one song now and then maybe one or two more some time in the distant future. I can't figure out how to just upload a song, so I made a video (sneaky sneaky) with a picture of a cloister in Norwich, England, where we visited with Jesse and Kelly. Also, I recorded this on the wonderful Mac software of GarageBand (which I actually really love), so apologies for the rough recording (and the occasionally flat and/or weird backup vocals).

The lyrics, as requested by Mom:

In dawns and breeze

and summer streams

We wake our means

We shake our dreams

In moons and leaves

and fallen trees

We rest our heads

We make our beds

And down the sun will go

and east the wind will blow

and streams will flow toward

the ocean indistinguishable

We drown, we drown

It's hope, belief

It's fantasy

You lift your head

As moons turn red

And death, she's free

and broken knees

Will fill like trees

Will tumble like leaves

We walk down her streets unseen

We feign invincibility

And laugh out loud as if we'd

never know her crushing defeats

We drown, we drown

I plead for relief

In death is peace

My God is inextinguishable

My heart stops beating

And down the sun will go

and east the wind will blow

and streams will flow toward

the ocean indistinguishable

We drown, we drown

And down my sun will go

and east my wind will blow

and streams will flow toward

my ocean indistinguishable

I drown, I drown

In other news, things are going well for us. I'm just winding up with my summer classes and getting mentally ready to get back into the swing of things with school. I'm teaching Western Civ still and am excited about Round 2! I'm also coaching 9th grade volleyball in the fall, which should be interesting considering I know next to nothing about coaching volleyball. Good thing I took a volleyball class in college!

Navajo vacation bible school-Hardrock, Arizona

Here are a few pictures from our missions trip we took as a family to Hardrock, Arizona.  We stayed on Navajo mission compound on a Navajo reservation for a week and helped run a VBS for the Navajo kids and adults.  My job was babysitter of Ellie, Gabe and another little girl, Addy (occasionally) so their parents could help run the VBS.  They were very nice to me and gave me an easy job as I am quite pregnant these days! :)

Joey was in charge of one of the adult bible studies which included about 12-15 adults between 20 and 30 years old with a few older than that.  Our pictures are somewhat sparse as the camera was in our trailer (which was air-conditioned unlike many of the other houses on the compound other workers from our church stayed at) most of the time, but hopefully you can get the idea.

Here we are on our way (our day started at 4:45am and we went to bed at about 11pm that night):

The Tao's sat across from us on the plane ride over.  We tried to keep the babies together for entertainment sake and so that screaming babies would be limited to one area! :)  Though I must say both babies did extremely well!

This is the cafeteria where we ate all of our meals:

Here are a few pictures of the compound we stayed on.  It currently acts as a church.  I believe almost everyone who works for the church lives on the compound.  This VBS we did has been run by our church from St. Louis and another church from California for about 10 years now.

The cafeteria and multi-purpose building-yes, that's a horse running through there:

The Chapel:

The compound and some of the housing:

The area surrounding the compound was pretty deserted:

This is what Ellie did most of the trip:

And this is Joey's class working on their final project:

They studied Nehemiah and this was their wall:

Joey's class also made baskets the entire week for the second half of class.  Here are some of the older women making their baskets (they're from the older adult class which was completely translated into their tribal language from English):

Here are some of the kids on the last day during lunch:

We usually had most of the afternoon off after lunch, so one afternoon the three of us took a trip across the street to the water hole.  This is where many of the Navajo who don't get running water to their homes come for water:

As you can see from Ellie's face it was extremely hot there.  Ellie and I would usually get comments that we looked sunburnt after being outside for only seconds because we both get flushed easily in the heat.

On Saturday morning at 5am Joey and some others from our church along with a few Navajo from the church went hunting! Yes, hunting...with real guns which kinda made me nervous (can you tell I'm from the city?)

We were going to go to the Grand Canyon later that day but they were experiencing record highs of 115 degrees, so we didn't end up going.  I was actually quite thankful for that! :)

And finally Sunday, bright and early again we were on our way home!

It was a great trip overall with great experiences.  I must say I was quite exhausted most of the trip, but was happy to experience a missions trip with my family.  I know Joey had an amazing time and I know Ellie loved it too!  It did take some adjusting for Ellie to not spend every waking moment with Gabe, but I think she's learning to adjust. ;)  We had a great turn-out of Navajo kids.  Many of whom our church group have gotten to know over the years because they keep coming back.  What we loved about the trip was that the relationships that we made and the conversations we had with some of these kids about Jesus will be followed up by the people that go to that church and live on the compound.  These kids come from all different backgrounds.  Some of their parents are active members in Christian churches and some of are active in Navajo traditions which includes the worship of gods other than The God.  So pray for these kids and their families!