Happy Boxing Day!

Merry Christmas, fans! Instead of starting at the beginning, may I ask you to scroll down to the bottom of this post? Blogger still uploads pictures backwards and I didn't feel like exerting a ton of brain power. I am in a food coma, after all. So please, scroll to the bottom and work your way up.

19. Well, I apologize if there are a lot of mistakes and spaces and numbers out of order. Its hard working with this crappy website. Especially when you have no mouse and you are using a PC. They are just not good.

Well, thats it from me! Hope you all had a great Christmas and we'll see you in January. I hope!
19. And finally, Avery watching the sword fight and being glad that shes immobile and protected by her dad. She's not a big sword fighting fan.

18. Sword fighting with Gpa. I'm not sure if anyone won. I know those of us who were NOT playing didn't enjoy it. WHACK! ow!

17. Dylan opening his stocking.

17. Avery enjoying a new toy from Auntie Kacie, Uncle Fast Eddie and Easter Bunny Hanson.

16. Dylan oo-ing and ah-ing at a shirt he received.

15. Out of order, but oh well. The fam again.

The Christmas tree. It had a rough beginning, what with falling out of the pickup and all.

13. Avery's first time in tights! I pitied her. Poor thing - tights suck! Dylan got to wear sweatpants to church b/c according to him, "these pants are too floppy!" He was talking about his jeans. Clearly, we have him in sweatpants too often.

11. Avery having fun in her saucer

10. The Fam. Eric just HAD to sit like that. Not to mention that he has no pants on.

8. How come no one wiped this boy's face? Geez.

7. All the cousins with Gma and Gpa

6. At Maple Lake - all the cousins posing together in front of the tree at Gma's request.

6. Dad joined him on the ice to help him and film him with our new Flip! (my xmas present)

5. Slappin the puck around on the ice

4. Avery hanging with mom and watching her big brother skate!

3.Dylan before he got on the ice for his first hockey practice.

2. Dylan opening more presents. Not sure what was in this one, but I'm sure it was awesome!

1. Start here. Well, before we left for the Wikoff Family Christmas at Maple Lake, we opened presents at home. Dylan was pretty excited to receive this new hockey stick. He's quite the skater now!

Just under the wire!

Phew! Got a November post in before it was too late!! Just happened to click on our blog to see what we are up to and to my surprise, there was no post for November. Thot to myself - "well, I must fix that!" So to fill the void of November, a lame post. At least, I predict it will be lame.

Lets see, what have we been up to...hmmm.....well, we just got back from a week-long visit to Gma and Gpa Puppy's house in Aberdeen. Uncle Tommy was the only sibling to join us for the weekend. He spent a good portion of it asleep on the couch. : ) The kids had fun. Avery is sitting up now, so thats been a fun development. Dylan had a good time going to "C.C. Deville Park" (aka, C.C. Lee Elementary's playground - I bet you can guess who told him that it was called CeeCee Deville Park, can't you?) with his dad and riding his bike to see the snowman shrine down the street from Gma and Gpa's house. Eric and I had fun playing with Gpa's teeny tiny video camera and I am even more convinced now that the Flip is THE Christmas present for me! Santa has been notified. : ) We took lots of video, so look for a "Thanksgiving 2009" dvd at a home theatre near you. Well, that is, if Gpa Puppy figures out how to burn it. Gma Puppy was supposed to be coming to our house tomorrow to help out while Eric has knee surgery on Wednesday, but she is now sick and unable to come. Her laptop with the videos was to arrive with her so that I could just do the dvd myself (gpa was having troubles), but it is looking like the release date for "Thanksgiving 2009" is going to be pushed back. Dang, huh? I know you were all look forward to catching that flick! It includes clips of CeeCee Deville AND the snowman cult! I bet you are even more bummed, now aren't you?!

Well, I'll wrap this up with a reminder to you all that the annual Christmas letter is currently at the press, so be looking for it in a mailbox near you!

Here's a picture to hold you all over until then!

Dylan and Avery

: )

All things Avery!

To celebrate a huge milestone that was reached this past weekend, I've posted 10 pictures of Miss A for your viewing pleasure. What milestone, you ask? Well, Avery FINALLY slept in her own crib for the night! On Saturday night she slept from 10pm to 5am ALL. BY. HERSELF. No boob. No mommy. No mommy and daddy's bed. Just her, her bunny and her crib. All by themselves. In addition to that HUGE deal, she also took a 2.5 hour nap earlier in the day! It was a glorious, glorious day indeed. Without further adieu, here are the pictures:

Smiling at Auntie Kelli (Gma Beans, Gpa Danny and Kelli were here this weekend. I know, not shocking that Gpa was here, since he lives here every weekend.)

Purdy eyelashes!

Look at that face! Oh I could just eat her up!!!

And here she is sleeping with Kelli.

I got out the high chair this past weekend. Avery is a big fan of food (you can't tell by looking at her tho, can you!? I insist tho, she IS fattening up. I can tell because I no longer have to roll the waist of her pants to get them to stay up!), so I figured it was time for her to have a proper chair.

And finally, she wanted to show off her new clothes. This outfit was from Auntie Renae and Uncle Jon. She thought it deserved its own photo shoot!

Hmmm...what to do next....

Changed my mind! Photoshoot OVER!

Well, thats about it for now. I must go tend to some duties before she wakes up again. Hey - I never said that this sleeping in her crib thing was going to be the way it is from now on...there are still some wrinkles to be ironed out. She'll get there! Besides, as per usual, Eric has contracted some sort of illness, so I'm sleeping downstairs and like I really want to be going up and down the stairs all night putting her back in her crib a million times. All in good time, people. All in good time.

4 months old!

Hello loyal fans and followers!

Avery is now 4 months old! We made it past her "dark days" and things are looking brighter, as you can see by her pics. She still has her moments, but we know more about what she likes and dislikes, so we try to make sure that she is pleased with her surroundings, toys, the noise level and so on. I have no idea what her stats are b/c we dont go to the dr until next week. She did, however, fit in a 6 month sleeper yesterday, so thats progress! Mainly it fit b/c shes so long. It was roomy everywhere but the length! Shes starting to rock the baby mullet like Dylan did at this age. I cut his hair when he was 5 months old. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with hers. Well, thats about all I can think of. Please visit our Shuttercal for more pictures. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of Avery from yesterday!

Its 1999 again!

Guess who's driving a CR-V again? Me! I'm the proud new owner of a 2004 Mojave Mist Honda CR-V( In 1999, I drove a 1998 Honda CR-V - color: green.) Anyway, we shall be calling him Mojavier. Or Mojave. Is that the correct spelling, Eric? I guessed. We got Mojavier from my parents. Eric cleaned him up really, really well and he is now free of dirt, grime and dog smell. Dylan and Avery seem to like him, so thats good. Now that I'm typing that he is a "he" I'm not so sure. Might be a she. I'll have to think on that.

We went to the zoo yesterday in Little Falls. Dylan really enjoyed it. Avery even seemed to enjoy herself. No crying at all! Here is a funny progression of photos. Dylan was chasing down a group of peacocks when finally he got one cornered. She didn't appreciate it. Heres what happened:
Here he is yelling, "Mom! Theres one right in front of you! He's smiling! Get his picture!"

Bound and determined to GET THAT PEACOCK!

WHOA! Peacocks FLY!!?

He left them alone after that. Right before he chased them down, he decided that he had to pee and just whipped it out right there at the zoo. Eric was walking a ways behind us with Avery in the Bjorn carrier and promptly turned around when he saw D peeing and pretended like he didn't know us. I hope that no one saw!

Here's your Avery update: We've started sleep training her again. Its not going very well. She cries and cries and cries. If you go in and check on her, you'll find that shes curled up on her side, eyes shut, mouth open and little sobs are coming out of her mouth. Almost like shes crying in her sleep. I'm trying to remain hopeful that it will start working soon, but I dont know. Shes tough. Last night though, she slept for an hour by herself! A miracle! So heres to hoping it happens more and more. Poor little thing needs her sleep! I was reading on a website that high needs babies should really be called, "sleep deprived babies" b/c thats probably whats causing them to be so high needs. Probably true for Miss A. She sleeps like crap.

Well, since Avery is up crying in her bed, Dylan is begging me to come play, so I must end this. Please check out our Shuttercal for more recent photos of the Wikoff fam! Adios!

The baby is growing up!

Well, Avery is just shy of 3 months old, and as predicted by all baby advice columns and baby info books, she is now coming out of her shell and showing us her personality. We are so happy that this day has come! She still fusses now and then, but not NEARLY as much as she did. She is MUCH more fun to be around now and gives us lots of smiles and gurgles every day. She had her 2 month well child visit recently and was 8 pounds, 12 ounces - so exactly 2 pounds up from birth weight. This puts her in the 15th percentile for weight. Its funny, cuz Dylan was 2 pounds heavier at 2 months too. She was 21 1/4 inches long according to their measurements. I don't buy it. According to our measurements (she doesn't straighten her legs for just any old nurse!) she is 23 inches. And she looks it for sure! Her 3 month clothes fit her length perfectly. Actually, the jammies she is wearing right now are 3 month size and her little toes are poking through! Uh oh! 6 month size will be waaaay too big at this point! She might just have to wear pants to bed! She still sleeps only in the wrap or in bed with us. We're working on it though. I refuse to just give up! This morning she slept for a whole 10 minutes alone before waking up! Woohoo! Last week though, she slept for close to an hour by herself in the swing. It. Was. Awesome. I had no idea what to do with myself and honestly kept thinking, "is she breathing??" We'll get there. I hope.

The garage is coming along nicely. The garage doors went up this past weekend, so its really starting to feel like its getting closer to completion. Insulation, siding and sheet rock remain. Oh and the roof is still leaking, so that must be re-shingled too. Other than that, its about done! And its pretty sweeeeet! Big thanks to Gpa Danny for all his help with it!

Well, I better get off my bouncy ball and start walking before Miss Sleeps in Wrap wakes up. She's stirring, so I better get moving if I want this nap to continue! Ahhh the things we do for our children! To see some recent pics, visit our shuttercal site!

Happenings...

Well, this past weekend I said goodbye to a dear friend of mine. She saw me through it all. Snowstorms, jerk drivers, rain, sleet, ice, maybe a little liquor consumption (rarely though, mom and dad. RARELY!). My lucky lady Liberty "Libby" was my go to gal for gettin' around Minneapolis as a single gal in the city. And now that we've got our two babes, we need more room than my Libby could provide for us. So it was with careful consideration that we chose Auntie Kelli to become Miss Libby's new companion. I know that they will get along well and that Libby will bring lots of luck and love to Kelli, as she did for me. Have fun girls! I want to hear all about what you crazy kids are up to and live vicariously through you! To see pics of the passing of Lady Liberty's torch, please visit our Shuttercal.

That is all for this week! One of these weeks, my little Squares will grow up and start napping by herself and I will have my life back to do with it what I please. Which I guess could mean that this blog could still possibly be neglected??? We'll see. ; )

Shuttercal has been updated!

No time or energy for a real post, just thought I'd let you all know that I caught up on our Shuttercal this evening. Go check it out! Maybe someday I'll regain enough free time to squeeze in a real update on here. But until then, my very limited free time is used on showers, eating...ya know, the essentials. Adios!

Cass Lake and other musings

Well, if you are surprised to see an update from me, you wouldn't be the only one! I took a couple weeks off and wasn't sure I'd ever get one done again! But here I am. Please be sure to check out our shuttercal page too. It has daily photos (not updated daily, of course) that depict our lives on a more regular basis. I am going to TRY to do an album on Facebook as well. If I do, I'll let ya know. Without further adieu, the pics:

Little Squares

The first truss going up

One of the last trusses going up

Sullivan Lake sunset

Dylan finally riding his tricycle! Unassisted!

And here we are at Cass Lake. Married for one year and one day. Added one baby and many pounds. Yay.

Here marks the end of Dylan's tubing days. Give him some mean bumps and hes DONE!

Driving the boat!

Squares giving me the look.

Squares giving D the look.

Eric and his little friend.

And finally, Squares enjoying a snuggle in our new wrap. She seems to like it and it is nicer on my back than a sling version.

Well, Cass Lake with a baby proved to be not so much fun. For me, anyway. Everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves though. Dylan had a fun time picking on his cousins, eating junk food and getting extremely dirty. He played hard every day and slept hard every night. He also enjoyed having a sleep over party with Grandpa and Grandma each night in their motorhome. One morning he woke up and was chatting with Grandpa who had sat down on the edge of the bed. Well, he must have sat on Grandma's side b/c Dylan said, "Don't sit on your Grandma!" They thought that was pretty funny. Everyone also decided to call Dylan "Steve" all week b/c of the way he behaves and treats his cousins - recklessly. Apparently Eric's cousin Steve was much the same way. Oh well! Until Easton, Addi, Daniel and Squares get bigger, I'm afraid that there isn't anyone who is going to give D a run for his money. Time will tell which of his cousins (or his sister) will push/kick/throw sand or dirt back at him!

Well, the Sheriff is crying, so it looks like I better wrap this up! So much for starting a Facebook album tonight! : (