Puzzles

The girls got quite a few puzzles for Christmas this year and Adam has been so good to do them with the girls on almost a daily basis. Sweet daddy, sweet girlies. Life is good.

G-ma's Napping Spot

The dog bed. I thought that this was kind of funny. The fire was on and my mom was cold... what better place to take a little snooze than right there on the dog bed in front of the fire? Of course, a basenji had to curl up next to her. :)

The One-eyed 3 yr-old Snowman

For Michigan, this winter has been disappointing. Well, western MI has been dumped on multiple times, but eastern MI barely has the grass covered. My theory is, if its going to be this cold, there might as well be enough snow on the ground to play with! It has been weird too that we only get 1 inch at a time. Adam has loved that. I am pretty sure that during the last two weeks, while he has been on vacation, that he would have rather shoveled 6 inches in one shot off of our long driveway than 1 inch every other day. It seems like he has been suiting up to shovel more in the last few weeks than ever.

The good thing is that Adalin LOVES to go outside and play in the snow. She will even get herself all suited up without asking for help because she loves it so much. Fine with me. Adam and I had a conversation a while ago about how we want our kids to like playing outside in the winter. We did it and so should they. I remember playing outside for hours as a child in the winter, building networks of caves and snow slides. Fun times.

A few days ago, after Ad shoveled another measly inch, they decided to stop waiting for the good MI snow dumping and just build a snowman.

He is small. The smallest snowman I think I have ever had standing in my yard. But what can you do when you don't have the snow for a big monster snowman? Build a mini one. I told the girls that he is 3 because he is shorter than Adalin (4) but taller than Kira (2). They agreed. Yes, he is definitely 3.

Well, this is an interesting sitting position, for a dog.

Sometimes I wonder why we have dogs in the first place and then I snap a picture like this and I am grateful they are around. Isn't this hilarious? Sorry if you find Indi a little too relaxed in this picture for your taste. :)

Christmas Eve PJs

Our kids always open a gift (new pajamas) on Christmas Eve. Here they are in all their goofiness sporting their new pjs.

My Birthday 11.28.09

Decorated our Christmas tree!

After going out to eat with my sisters, I came home to find this on the stairs. I couldn't take them off the stairs for a few days after either. I think that this was my favorite part of the whole day. :)

My girls and the birthday cake they made me.

Of course, they had a good finger (and face)-lickin' time making and frosting the cake.

Patience is a virtue; one that I don't have right now.

I told Adam in the car today that if I was having the baby tomorrow, I could deal with that but 6 days seems too far away. I know, I know, stop complaining...

We ran some errands this morning. I ran into the grocery store to return a redbox movie, took the girls to the library for some new books and mailed a forgotten pillow back to its owner at the PO. Afterwards I felt like I ran a half marathon, or worse. I seriously felt better after running 13.1miles than I did today getting in and out of the car a few times. For some, pregnancy isn't bad. If fact some women love being pregnant. It has rewarding moments, I know, like when I lay down at night and the baby wiggles like a basenji with tape stuck on its back. And don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that I am able to have children, unlike so many women who want to and can't. And, of course, the end result, a beautiful newborn baby, makes the entire 40 weeks all worth it. But I seriously feel like I am 93 years old right now. Simple things that I used to not even think were difficult, simple parts of life, like bending over for instance, are getting just too difficult. The fact that I am very impatient to meet this little one doesn't help my frustration.

So I'm pretty much miserable. So let me harp for just 193 characters:

My hips feel like they are out of joint and kill when I walk. I am always out of breath. I can't sit or stand for extended periods of time (I will spare you the details of that one.) The baby is in my ribs and it hurts! I am SO tired. My feet hurt.

WHAAAA, WHAAAAA, WHAAAA!

Ok, I'm done. 6 days, 6 days, 6 days... that's all.

I guess I just needed to express some frustration today. Don't feel sorry for me or feel the need to encourage me to "hang in there." I know that it will be over soon and that this is what every pregnant woman feels during the last week of pregnancy. At least I haven't had heartburn for a few days, right?

The Greatest Gift

Our Christmas list this year wasn't all that extensive. A few kitchen gadgets for me, some workout stuff for Adam (he's getting a little soft around the middle :) ) and a few toys for the girls to play with. I even put at the bottom of the list: Dogs- brains. They could use some more of those from jolly ol' Saint Nick.

We just got something though that wasn't even on our written list that, in so many ways, is the greatest gift we could have asked anyone for. Money could have bought it, I suppose. This gift, however, we received as an answer to a lot of prayers. Period. And not just our prayers but the prayers and hopes of our parents, families and friends. It's something that, at times over the last 5 months, we didn't think we had a chance at getting. There was a little glimmer of hope though, shining through in the moments when things just wouldn't go right.

While waiting, we have learned faith. I have always known what faith is and how it grows but such a trial of faith has never been existent in my life. I have had to completely put my trust in God, which wasn't easy. In addition I had to submit my own will, what I wanted the outcome of our lives to be, and be OK with the plan that God had for us. Not easy at all, especially when so much was invested the plan I had for my family.

So what's the gift?

An orthopedic residency spot at Genesys Hospital.

Take all my other Christmas gifts back to the store and I would be happy still.

Thanks for all your hopes and prayers.

Christmas Update 2009

It is that time of year once again to send out a yearly update of our little family and all that is going on here in Michigan. We have much to report from 2009 and much to anticipate in the next few months, so here it goes!

In less that 3 weeks we are going to welcome our third little girl to our crazy home. January 5th is when she is scheduled to arrive. We have hung a purple paper chain in our dining room counting down the days until she’s here, for a couple of reasons: first because we have two extremely excited little girls around here just itching to hold, wipe, burp and rock the new baby and secondly because we have two adults in the house that are quite anxious for the many joys of pregnancy to be over and done with. Enough said! We’ll send pictures.

Our second and almost equally exciting bit of news is that Adam is graduating from medical school mid-May. We are excited to be so close to finishing medical school; it has been a long, difficult and refining road for us. We will know if Adam’s hope to specialize in Orthopedic surgery will become a reality early February when the programs he applied to make their final decisions. We hope to stay here in MI for residency, which will be 5 years beginning in July.

Adalin is almost 5 and is enjoying preschool 4 days per week. She has a few good friends who she looks forward to seeing there, all of which are boys. She loves puzzles, helping me in the kitchen, corralling her little sister to play with her and pretending to be an adult.

Kira will be 3 in March and is a sweet, yet very independent child. She still is lacking a bit in the hair department, but has a sufficient amount that people ceased mistaking her for a boy earlier this year. A relief. She loves to sing solos for visiting family members and friends and has the cutest voice that can actually hold a decent tune.

We had the pleasure this summer to visit Adam’s hometown of Farmington, Maine. I had never been to the state before and it was high time we all went to visit the place where so many stories and good times were born for Adam in his early years. Talk about green trees, windy roads, beautiful mountains, waterfalls and rivers! We also thoroughly enjoyed Acadia NP with all its mountains, waves, rocks and sand. We enjoyed briefly visiting Boston, NYC and Philadelphia while we were driving up and down the East Coast for 3 weeks.

We love you all and pray for your happiness and prosperity this next year. We dearly miss those of you that live far from us and feel blessed to be near those of you close by. Let us all remember our Savior, Jesus Christ , not only during this season, but always and make our best efforts to emulate His life. Merry Christmas!

Kira A Little Bit Franson

Silly girl.

In the car on our way home from our church Christmas party we ask Kira, "What's your whole name?"

She replies, "Kira."

"No, it actually is Kira Elizabeth Franson. Say it."

Silence.

"Say Kira Elizabeth Franson..."

"Kira Elitta, Elibaza, Elittaba... Kira A Little Bit Franson."

We crack up and Kira feels a little embarrassed. It was cute.

It was also quite funny when she came into our room 2 nights ago (in the middle of the night) asking me to take her ponytails out. She says, "Mommy, can you take my ponytails out, they are just so soggy." Good description for loose ponytails, I suppose.