Heartbeat Post

Hey all!! Just wanted everyone to know we are alive and okay, just crazy busy. (Or maybe just crazy? Hmmmm.....)

Will's mom arrived last Friday while I was at my conference, and we are having a great time with her! She's staying until Tuesday; then, on Thursday, my friend Denise is arriving. She will stay until the following Tuesday, and then my Mom arrives that evening for almost a full week! It's a regular Hotel California, I tell ya.

Let's see:

- Annika is studying the rain forest in school. "People that aren't very nice are trying to kill the rain forest," she says. "But some nice people try to save it." That's right, loggers - you are not nice!

- Will's parents got us a web camera and IT! ROCKS! Okay, it would be a little creepy for talking to friends and whatnot. But for grandparents? It is awesome! Annika loves "talking on the computer" and Daniel is too young to know to hide. :)

- Daniel is just.fine. In fact, he is in markedly good health and has NO signs of illness. I think his daycare assumes that fussy=ear infection because this has happened two or three times where they are willing to bet money he has an ear infection because he is fussy (but he is perfectly healthy when we take him to the doctor). But at least he got a clean bill of health!

- Okay, this might be inappropriate to blog about, but I am so happy that I have been able to keep nursing Daniel this whole time, especially with all of the traveling that I have been doing. However, I am SO excited that he will be a year old in less than two months!!

This and That

Well, we didn't make it to IKEA last weekend. I don't think we had any big outing at all, actually, which is somewhat surprising. Here is what everyone is up to this week:

Will - his grating finally arrived! He got it aligned yesterday and is slowly running data today. Will also did all of the meal planning and grocery shopping this week. That's right - that is the next most exciting thing going on!

Annika - I know I keep repeating this, but I am really enjoying Annika these days. I have really found the whole 4-years-old experience to be delightful, and it keeps getting better and better as she gets closer to 5. I think it is because she is now independent enough that hanging out with her is often fun. She is really enjoying school - yesterday they had a whole day on volcanos and she was bubbling with excitement about all that they learned. Annika also has been asking if it is "kindergarten yet" because in kindergarten, "you learn lots of things."

Daniel - he can now clap his hands on command, without gestures! Who needs to be progressing in solid food when you can do a cool trick like that? He is also pulling up to standing on everything. I also think that watching Daniel and Annika interact now that he is older is just the most joy-filled experience, ever. Remind of that once sibling rivalry has truly reared its ugly head!

Okay, I almost deleted all of this because it all sounds so sappy and pompous. But I need to get back to work and don't want to leave the grandparents hanging! So I would say - even with all of the stress of school/work and deadlines, working too much, and worrying non-stop, I just feel filled with so much joy when I think about our family.