2008 in Review

We had a quite a year, and recently reminicsed about all that happened.  I figured I'd capture it for posterity... 

We started the year by checking into the hospital on January 3 to wait for the girls' arrival. Matt moved into the hospital with me, and walked to/from work each day.  We sampled Capitol Hill's local fare and watched TV and movies.  It was a stressful time, but we were also grateful to be in the great hands of the doctors and nurses who took care of all of us.

 

The girls arrived on February 28, which was our goal birthdate for them.  We proudly introduced Emma and Mia to family and friends! After a brief stay in the NICU, the girls graduated to the ISCU nursery. Megan used this time to recuperate from her C-section, we moved our stuff back into our house, and tried to get some sleep. After three weeks the girls were eating on their own and strong enough to go home.  They came home (for the first time) on March 18. 

On March 20, we made our first 911 call because we found Mia choking in her bed.  After spending the night at Children's, she was dismissed with a sleeping wedge to help with what they determined to be reflux problems. The next night, March 21, both girls had choking episodes and we made our second 911 call.  About 20 emergency workers showed up at our home, and neighbors gathered outside.  An ambulance took all four of us to Children's Hospital, where we stayed on and off through the end of April.  On April 28, the four of us came home for good. This was a big relief after spending the first 1/3 of the year living in hospitals.

While we were at Children's, our basement flooded.  We were fortunate that Grandma and Grandpa Lund were staying at our house, and noticed the problem and helped us take care of it.  While not the greatest timing for many reasons, we took the opportunity to replace a very old pipe under our house to prevent future problems, paint the rooms, get new carpet and tile.  As a result, it's a much cozier space for the girls and us.

Finally at home on our own, we faced new challenges and anxieties and sleep deprivation caring for the girls. But we took advantage of the summer to get out and have some fun.  We met up with friends for playdates and went on lots of walks in the neighborhood. We had family and friends over for a Syttende Mai celebration on May 17.  Megan surprised her mom (Grammy) with a quick trip to San Diego for her retirement party.  And we made two family trips to San Diego to spend time with Megan's family and be part of our friends' wedding over Labor Day weekend. The girls got to meet many extended family and friends, including their great Grandma and Grandpa Goodson.

In August, Megan returned to work, Matt started up with school again, and the girls started daycare. This was another big adjustment, but we eased into it and were ecstatic that the girls' started sleeping through the night after their long days of playing with other kids. We were feeling good enough to make a road trip over to Richland.  We were able to visit Grandma and Grandpa Lund and Uncle Pete over Grandma's birthday weekend.  

When fall arrived we took advantage of the festivities and took the girls to a pumpkin patch and farm.  Grammy and Bob were in town for this, and before she left Grammy told us she and Bob were in engaged! We're very excited for them and look forward to celebrating in May.

November 4 was an historic day that we will never forget!  We elected Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States.  What an exciting time in history!  We felt lucky to be a part of it.  

The girls' first Thanksgiving was lots of fun.  We had a full house and were thankful everyone came to see us.  And that we had plenty of extra hands to help out over the long weekend!

December brought a big snow storm in the weeks before Christmas.  Grammy got to experience it with us, as she came to town to celebrate Christmas early.  While it altered plans a bit, we had a great time being snowed in.We were lucky that the weather didn't keep Matt's family from joining us for Christmas Eve & Day.  Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Pete, Great Aunt Janis and cousin Cary all joined us to celebrate. The girls loved the ornaments, lights, paper and ribbon.  What fun to see their smiling faces!  

Over the course of the year, several friends and family celebrated weddings and new babies, and we congratulate all of them. On the flip side, we were sad to lose three important people in our lives - Megan's Grandpa George, Matt's Aunt Bernice and Megan's longtime family friend, Curt. They will all be missed.

It was a dismal year for Seattle sports, with Husky Football going 0-12, the Mariner's and Seahawks not doing well, and we lost the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City.  With a new Husky football coach and a promising husky basketball team, it's bound to improve in 2009!

The most important thing to us this year was the tremendous support we received from our family and friends. Our family doesn't live in the immediate area, but all of them traveled to be with us and help out.  Friends volunteered to help out with errands, chores at the house, and even brought us lovely dinners.  We are so grateful! 

As we close a monumental year in our lives, we're looking forward to 2009 and the exciting milestones and events it will bring. Happy New Year!

The Lund Girls are 10 Months Old!

It's getting harder and harder to get the girls to sit still for a picture on the chaise lounge. Emma was happy sitting in her spot, but Mia was on a mission to grab the camera.

Today Emma and Mia reached the 10-month mark.  It's hard to believe how close they're getting to the 1-year mark!  We didn't do much to celebrate, although they went on a walk with their dad and stopped for frozen yogurt, which they loved!  I was home with them earlier in the day and they both showed off their new skill of holding their own bottle.  I have to say it was a beautiful sight!

The girls continue to be a total joy for us.  They are the best of friends and it's just about the cutest thing ever when they look at each other and start giggling.  They also have times of conflict, however, when they both want to play with the same toy.  For the most part they pass the toys back and forth without issue, but sometimes one of them gets upset. 

At 10 months old, their hair seems to finally be growing faster.  It looks golden blonde in the sunlight, and a little darker otherwise - just like Dad.  Their eyes appear to be brown like mine.  Time will tell!  Matt keeps swearing they look exactly like me, but I don't usually see it. I finally popped in our wedding montage DVD (thanks, Christine!) which had pictures of me as a little girl. There were a couple where I could see the resemblance.  We could also see the resemblance to Matt and his brother Pete. 

The girls' personalities are so distinct and different from one another. Emma is the talker.  She babbles all day and is starting to incorporate new consonant/vowel combinations. She seems fairly content to stay in one place to play. She moves around while she's on her tummy, and tries to pull up from sitting.  But she doesn't yet get around like her sister.  

Mia, on the other hand, is the mover.  She has been army crawling for quite some time - mostly backward. Now she easily gets up on all fours and moves forward.  Today she pulled herself up on some of our living room furniture. It definitely is not as easy to park them in the living room to play and walk away for a second.  She can cross the room quickly! 

The interesting thing is that in the womb, Emma settled early and was content, while Mia was constantly running around.  It's funny how that has carried through to their personalities today.

EMMA

New tricks - playing ball (she'll roll the ball back and forth with us), playing games while she's eating (she tries - and succeeds in - slapping our hands when we're feeding her with the spoon), holding her own bottle

Likes - teething biscuits, carrots, sugar cookies (her Christmas treat), yogurt, Dad's remote control, reading (okay, looking at) books in the bath tub

Dislikes - Cheerios, peas, green beans, rolling over without being prompted

Close-up of Emma playing.

Emma can feed herself!

MIA

New tricks - crawling!, pulling herself up on furniture and us, blowing raspberries like crazy to get a laugh (she's quite the comedian!), holding her own bottle

Likes - splashing in the bath tub, banana and strawberry yogurt, carrots, her binky, bouncing, Mom's camera

Dislikes - peas, green beans, eye drops

Mia is poised to take off on all fours.

Mia holds her own bottle.

More Christmas Fun!

Emma is excited to open this gift.  Now she just needs to take it away from Mia.

Mia (who traded her Santa hat for Dad's Norwegian hat) wonders what her present could be?!

Emma loves her new shoes!

What a compromise - Mia gets the wrapping paper; Emma gets the neat new book.

Mia loves to bounce, and lucky for her, cousin Cary was happy to oblige. (While Grandpa snoozes in the background.)

The Girls' First Christmas

Mia and Emma are so excited on Christmas morning!

It's hard to believe the girls' first Christmas is here!  They definitely knew something was different when they woke up this morning.  We came upstairs and saw the glowing Christmas tree.  When we set them down in front of it, they started playing with ornaments and grabbing packages.  Emma picked up a small gift and shook it like she was trying to figure out what it was.  Mia found one and started banging it on the floor.  They both loved the ribbons and when we showed them how to rip the paper, they loved that too. 

Mia and Emma tear into their package.

Emma loves Christmas! 

Mia loves presents!  The paper and ribbon, mostly.

After the girls' morning nap, Great Aunt Janis and cousin Cary arrived from the even snowier Olympia. We all sat down at the table for a nice brunch - girls included.  They happily ate their teething biscuits until they decided they wanted to sample some other fare.  Grandma Lund snuck them some Christmas cookies to try.  Emma tried one yesterday, so she knew what they were all about and was very excited.  Mia sucked on hers to soothe her gums. 

While the girls napped again, the adults went bowling and played baseball and boxing on the Wii.  We also had a family book exchange this year to keep Christmas simple.  We'd all submitted lists of books we wanted, but we didn't know who was shopping for us or which book we'd get.  This way we all got something we wanted, and it was fun and easy. This could become a tradition!

And the girls gave Mom & Dad the perfect gift - sleep!  We're at a week (and counting) of full nights of sleep.  It's amazing how much more energy we have during the day now. 

Speaking of sleep, the girls were completely tuckered out and in bed by 6pm. Janis and Cary are back home in Olympia. The the rest of us are relaxing in the living room, and will likely head to bed soon. 

What an exciting day - one of many memorable Christmases to come! 

White Christmas

In addition to this being the girls' first Christmas, it is also my first "white" Christmas, thanks to the last week+ of snow. I feel like the last week has been Christmas since we've spent so much time together at home -- decorating, listening to music, and baking. In some ways I think our unusual weather was a little extra nudge to help me slow down and just enjoy the holiday season with my family.  I would normally be out fighting crowds at the mall and post office and staying up late wrapping presents, but this year the snow threw off my routine.  And I have to say, it was a very relaxing and wonderful Christmas! 

While I've enjoyed how pretty everything looks in the snow and how peaceful it is, it will be nice for it to melt so we can get back to normal.  After all, I'm sure there are some great after-Christmas sales I could hit up!

Snowy Christmas Eve

We had a very nice Christmas Eve at home. Grandma and Grandpa Lund and Uncle Pete were with us.  It was snowy and rainy and windy, so we stayed inside for the most part.  The girls loved playing with all their visitors! And those of us over the age of 10 months also had fun playing -- with the Wii. Several games of bowling took place.  

We ended the day with the Lunds' traditional Christmas meal of Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and lefse.  We were very full at the end of the meal and promptly collapsed on the couch and fell asleep in front of the TV. Here are some snapshots from the day...

Emma convinces Grandma Lund to let her try a Christmas cookie.  She even has that "hand caught in the cookie jar" look on her face.

Emma checks out the cool rain stick Mia is playing with. 

The girls play together on Christmas Eve in their festive outfits.

Mia is on the move!

"Ha!  I got Daddy's remote!  Now I can watch whatever I want," says Emma.

Emma and Mia enjoy their teething biscuits.

Snow Days

Mia and Emma check out the snow up close with Mom. 

The five of us were basically homebound for the last 4 days. And we're still smiling! Well, the adults anyway. Mia is looking up at the tree and Emma is just skeptical about the whole thing.

Our house Sunday morning. More snow was on its way - it snowed from 11am to 11pm!  We estimated 6-8" total over for the last several days.  That's a LOT for Seattle - especially Ballard!

Our front steps and walkway Sunday morning. 

Snow-covered branches in our backyard. 

Braving the Cold

Since we stayed inside most of the day yesterday, we decided to brave the cold, snow and ice to walk down to Market Street. First we had to get all bundled up... 

Mia and Emma bundle up to go out for a walk to fight cabin fever.

Mia is less than amused by her cold weather gear.

Remember that scene in "A Christmas Story" when the kid licks the frozen pole on a dare?  Emma is warming up.

Friday morning shot of the house as we headed out for our walk. There was plenty of snow left over from Thursday but the streets were clear. 

After a little local shopping in downtown Ballard, we take a break for lunch.  Grammy has a hold on Emma (note tongue is still out) while Mia lunges for the camera.

The girls are all tuckered out after our big adventure in the snow.

Teaser Photo

Mia and Emma get bundled up for school.

I finally got our photo program fixed,  but realized I'd lost the USB cord for the camera to import the photos.  We got a new one so now I have no excuse.  There are many photos I'd like to share from the past month, but seeing as it's 10:30pm and sleep sounds pretty good, I'll just post one teaser photo for now.  Enjoy!

Snow Angels

We woke up this morning to snow!   I had to snap a few photos of the girls in their first big snowfall.  We dressed them in their warm, one-piece suits and stepped out into the backyard.  I snapped quickly as it was cold and wet!