News Flash

A brief update...Max our geriatric weiner dog went to Doggie Heaven just a few days before thanksgiving...miss him dearly. Thanksgiving was celebrated in Gig Harbor with G-ma & G-pa Woodworth...great food, family, and of course a killer game of Yahtzee. Lilja is now sick for the first time in 18 months (well, technically the 2nd, but the first one was a minor cold eons ago). Snotty nose, running eyes, and a fever, oh and NO SLEEP. Good times. Poor little girl. Rollie is Rollie...rock eatin Rollie. 3 more rocks have been ingested and "uningested" this week. Looks like he'll be back to wearing his mouth guard (i.e., basket muzzle) when he is alone in the yard. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, this year is going to be so much more fun having a toddler around. Last but not least, we (Kris and I) had our first date night in over a year. Geesh, has it been that long?

I hope to post more updates and pictures this week, after we are all back to our healthy selves!

Much to be thankful for!

Since thanksgiving is this week, I think it is appropriate to give thanks for what we and I personally have been blessed with.

I am thankful for...

• my loving husband who has proven himself to be an amazing father!
• my little Lilja. I hope I can be the kind of mother she needs!
  
• my parents who are always giving of their time and knowledge, and have been wonderful grandparents.
• my in-laws (and my sister-in-law). Even though we don't see them as often as we would like, they too have been so generous to us and have been loving grandparents (and auntie) to LJ.
• my faith. My higher power has given me all that I am thankful for! I feel blessed.
  
• my sister. I don't see her nearly enough, but she's a best friend, and someone to look up to.
• all my pets (my 2 dogs, Rollie and Max, and my horse, Riki). Animals make life a little better on the days you don't feel so great. They love you unconditionally and don't care if you haven't showered in a couple days or are having a bad hair day.
• my friends. They make me laugh, cry, and everything in between!
  

So, now that I've gotten the "mushy" part over, I can update you on Lilja! We had our 18 mo. appt last week. Clean bill of health. Finally we got out of the one-digit percentiles! She is in the 25th percentile for her height. Yes folks...I kid you not. Looks like we may have a supermodel on our hands! As for weight, she is in the 8th percentile. So tall and skinny...just like...uuuhhh...well, no on in this household that I can think of. Maybe she'll start a new trend. She is very much into being fashionable. She loves to dress herself up in a sweater, a hat and carry a bag around. Sometimes we can't do anything without a hat on. From the minute she wakes up, she'll say "uh-oh" and pat her head (that's her way of saying hat) til it's time for bed, she'll have had at least 4-5 different hats on for the day. She's quite the character and totally a mimic. I must do a lot of cleaning in front of her, as she loves to get a baby wipe and copy me. The other day she was scrubbing the walls with it and then she decided that "horsey" (her blanket) was dirty, so she gave him a good wipe too. Never too young to learn to be tidy!

She loves the swings at the park!

The new sweater/hat combo that Grandma W. made. She's outside sweeping the porch.

Here she decided she could move her chair so she could climb up and reach the cheese & crackers I was preparing for her snack. Clearly, I was taking too long!

Yet another hat. My new helmet arrived and she had to be the first one to try it on.

Cutie pie at the park...watching the other kids play.

We wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. I'll be sure to post pics of Lilja carving the turkey!

Swim Time

No time to blog right now, but at least I can offer you a new picture to look at. I will try to get back here tomorrow during naptime to give you an update on LJ.

Swim class w/ Daddy

"Nice bubbles Daddy-o!"

Uh Ohhhhh...

So the mini-pumpkin didn't make it to Halloween or even close to Thanksgiving thanks to one big black dog in this household. Pretty sure I don't need to name names.

Fall is here...and I've fallen behind!!

I'm finding that life w/ a toddler doesn't allow much time for blogging! I'll try to bring you up to speed on the most recent happenings in the life of Lilja and the rest of us in her house! At 17.5 months, we still aren't hearing much in the actual word department, but she's picking up new sign language words all the time. I'm trying not to panic, as I'm sure she will talk when she's good and ready. Plus it just means less noise in an already noisy household! Her latest sign is "pizza" (even though I swear she actually said it sometime ago...now she just signs it) and she loves to sign to Rollie "no no". Which is really helpful, since Rollie listens so well to begin with! I'm thinking at this point that she may become a trapeze artist as she loves to climb on things and seems to have no fear of falling. This of course isn't so "cool" with me. I thought we'd baby-proofed, but she will carry her little chair around and place it so that she can climb to get whatever it is she wants. My horse magazines seem to get the brunt of her escapades! Other facts of note, she has 1 molar completely in, and 2 others poking through. She will be starting swimming lessons in mid-November, although at 18 months, is it really "swimming"???

Helping mama in the kitchen


Showing off her teeth!


Stealing the decorative towels, note the guilty look on her face!

September was a busy month, and brought Amma and Afi Bjarnason out to Seattle for a visit. They also brought beautiful sunny weather with them! Nice enough to enjoy some deck time! We shopped, ate some good food (SALTY'S...YUM!), and just hung out. It was great!

I think she forgot to swallow.

Afi and Lilja


If Amma's in town, that means the ladies are going shoppin!
Here Lilja is checkin out the "goods"!

I'm sure other stuff happened in September, but my memory fails me, so on to October. We made a trek to Bozeman, Montana and met up with Grandma & Grandpa Woodworth, who were coming home from visiting KK & Paul in CO. Our hotel had a nice pool, of course, Lilja wanted to partake in some water-time. I've felt warmer pools, but that didn't stop LJ, even with chattering teeth she was not keen on getting out. And if a 17-month old doesn't want to do something, they are REALLLL good about letting you know. She was a major trooper though on our way home (and the way out). We actually made it from Bozeman to Seattle, with only 2 stops (the driver wouldn't let us stop more than that), in one day. I think after the first 6 hours, she was resigned to the fact that she wasn't getting out of that car seat anytime soon.

Free from the carseat!

Grandpa tossing her in!

Climbing out so she can get back in!


If this bag wasn't homemade, I'm sure it would have a warning label that said "Not a toy, child can suffocate" or something like that. It was keeping her happy, so we were livin on the edge! I'm sure CPS would approve.


See??? Happy as can be!

November is almost here which means there is an election coming up! Lilja is encouraging everyone to vote...and not for the old guy (not that she has anything against older people)! :)

These 2 love to play with that mini pumpkin. What you can't see is that Rollie has chewed off the stem, and Lilja has thrown it to him so many times, there are bruises on it!

Hiking...piece of cake!

For some of us, it was easier than others. LJ had the luxury of riding in style in her nice pack, while I had 20+ pounds of baby and gear to haul. Worth every minute of it though, as we all had a great time. I don't get a picture of Mt. Rainier (don't know why), but it was out in all its glory that day for us to ooh and aah at. Gramps did some fishing (well, actually only got to cast a few times since someone was anxious to keep moving, and Rollie wanted to play in the water where he was casting) and LJ and I tried to keep the skeeters from landing on us. Can't wait for the next hike, maybe one more before the snow comes.

Ridin in style

The first clue she wanted to keep going!

Rollie checkin out the fishing prospects

GW on the casting rock

Then and Now!

This is me at 3 months!

This is me at 16 months!

(These aren't the same pajamas, because I have grown, they were my favorite, so my mommy found them for me in a bigger size!)

WANTED

APB ALERT
This suspect is wanted for theft in the W. Seattle area. Suspect appears to be harmless. If you see this suspect approach with extreme caution. Don't be fooled by the "baby" facade. Was last seen with a rather large, rock eating, suicidal Doberman.

Lilja Bjarnason
AKA The Mad Hatter Bandit


REWARD MAY BE OFFERED IF BROUGHT IN UNHARMED

Finally a new blog update!

I'm sorry to those who have been waiting for an update, it's annoying when you anticipate some new exciting blog from the Bjarnason's, and you get there and... nada...zero...zip. Same ol' blog you saw last time. Can't promise this will be lengthy and/or wordy, but I have lots of pics to share.

August came and went, with a new deck, a visit from KK and a new entertainment center (it only took Kris 15 months to finish!). The weeks before Kerala's visit we had incredible weather, which you know didn't last when she got here. We had a party planned and of course it poured the entire time. But that didn't stop the bbqing or the fun!

Good thing GW brought a tarp to put over the pergola! Great use of the bleach too!

Lilja's still obsessed with hats (pictures to prove my point below). So far, we still don't have too many discernible words being said. I swear one day she said "pizza" but maybe I'm just hearing what I want to hear, because what mom doesn't want pizza to be their kids first REAL word. I must say her sign language skills have proved very useful for all of us. I'm pretty sure in some foreign country she would be considered completely fluent, as it certainly sounds like she is saying something! One day I hope to learn that language.

Hat #1

Hat #2 (it's on backwards...and that's how she likes it)

Hat #3
"my name is LJ Bjarnason,
i'd like to rap for you but i got to run..."


Hat #4

Even Rollie gets in on the hat action

I had cleaned out her drawers of clothing that didn't fit anymore, and she was kind enough to help me resort through them...notice she's made 2 piles. I'm sure in her mind there was a reason for both, but I wasn't getting it. Imagine what her room will look like as a teenager if it's in this shape at 15 months!

"Rollie double dog dared me to try it...really"

Never too many horses to love!

our precious little LJ

Bathtime at grandma's and lovin every minute of it!

She is able to mount and dismount her rocking horse all on her own! And the instructions said it wasn't for kids under 2! HA!

On the dog bed, because she doesn't have enough toys of her own

And by far, my favorite picture, and my favorite expression that LJ "performs". Not sure where she picked it up from, but it makes me laugh everytime!

"uh-oh!!!!"

Walking, Camping, Vacuuming, and More

Shame on me for not posting anything sooner...somehow my spare computer time is a thing of the past now that Lilja is napping only once a day (on most days) and walking. Most of you probably have heard the news that she's officially a toddler now. It's been just over a month or so that she decided it was time to walk. On vacation in Canada, she walked a bit for us, but I think it was just a teaser, as when we got home there wasn't much interest in continuing to remain upright. And then a few weeks later, one day I was checking email and she was sitting on the floor next to me and she up and walked out of the room. No turning back now, she's a full-time walker.

Last week we went camping over on the Olympic Peninsula. Grandma & Grandpa Woodworth, Kona, our family of 3 and 2 dogs packed up the vehicles and geared up for some good times! We had great weather thankfully, because none of us really came prepared for rain (and we've lived here how long???). Lilja loved the tent and getting downright dirty (the kind of filth where you don't even want to pick her up dirty). Kris, GW and I (plus Kona & Rollie) went off hiking one day while Grandma and Lilja (and Max) held down the fort at camp. Our camp neighbors had 2 children and Lilja loved to play with them and their rubber raft on dry land!

Playing in the tent with Daddy (he's under there somewhere)

Hiking up Marmot Pass (dogs are dog-tired!)


Tongue hanging out just like her daddy

Lilja's personality is really starting to emerge. She's definitely got her mother's keen sense of humor. Once she realizes she did something funny she'll keep doing it to show off. Kris and I love to listen to her laugh...it's my favorite new sound. Her latest thing is putting on all her hats (and she has many). Remember when I used to complain she wouldn't keep a hat on?? Now I can't keep the hats off!

She put her Elmer Fudd hat on for some light reading

I was trying to vacuum the other day, and lo and behold I had a helper. Makes it a little more difficult when you have 20 pounds extra to pull around!


When it comes to thirst, she got the Woodworth gene!


Lilja's new quilt that Grandma surprised us with at the big Seattle Quilt Show!


Riding Riki with Mommy!


The Little Lady in Red


And last, but not least, the new deck! Done just in time for KK's arrival (and party).