There's always one favorite gift

Kjell and Noak had a great time at Christmas. Both boys had a wealth of wonderful gifts. We have tons of photos and will put together a slide show soon. But, there is always one gift that seems to stand out as the favorite out of all of the great gifts. For Kjell, that appears to be his Carolina Panthers football uniform. The only time he has changed out of it has been to sleep at night and a few hours ago when he changed into winter clothes to have a snow ball fight with Dad. He even fell asleep wearing the helmet and uniform in his carseat!

Thanksgiving and getting the tree

Halloween and Noak growing up

Kjell the Football Fan

After a brief scare, when Kjell claimed that he preferred the Beavers to the Ducks, Kjell is back on track and loving on some football. We play football at home every day. Our games consist of Kjell running laps of the house carrying the football and telling us when to cheer. It's pretty fun for him and pretty entertaining for his folks. As he's been watching Duck games on TV and in person and after attending one Willamette game, he has started to add to his list of plays. His favorite move is the "spin move" that we learned while in attendance at the Utah vs. Oregon game at Autzen stadium. I have a photo from the game below and a look at the spin move that inspired Kjell below the photo. Kjell was a total trooper at the game. I was hoping that he'd make it to halftime, but he watched the whole game. He told me to stand when everyone else stood so that he could see the game. Then, the next weekend, he was indignant that D'mitri was joining me for the game, rather than Kjell. I'm so proud.

Photos we took around the house ...

Here are a few photos documenting Kjell being 3 and Noak being 1/2. We took them in the living room with our home camera ;)

A Few More Summer Pics Out of Order

Summer Fun, Kjellisms, and Noak's New Tricks

Summer Fun , Kjellisms, and Noak's New Tricks

We've been having a great summer here in Salem. Kjell has been keeping us guessing and giggling with his new tactics of negotiating and his views about life and his future. He's also started having trouble falling asleep. So, he tries to convince us to sleep with him for, "lots of hours." He said, quite seriously the other day. "Mom, your bed is cold. My bed is cozy!"

As I was making breakfast this morning (french toast), Kjell told me that he wasn't up for such jobs when he grows up. He said with conviction, "I'll have my wife do that job Mom. It's messy!"

When I told him that he might have a hard time finding a wife if he expected her to do all the messy work in his family, he said they would "take turns."

I also asked him where he planned on meeting the future Mrs. Kjell Peters. He said that he would, "meet her on a team." I asked him if they would be on the team together. He said quite casually that they would not. She would "show up" at the end of his games when he plays for the Panthers. So, it's settled. Kjell will be working as an NFL player and supporting his old mom and dad in about 20 years. Sounds good to us!

Kjell is also trying to learn the value of a dollar lately. He has the goal of owning a gold Honda just like Daddy's when he is older. He told Jamie he doesn't want to wait to be grown up, but would rather buy one now with his piggy bank. Jamie explained he'd need to save up his money. So, he's been doing chores around the house to earn dimes. He's pretty motivated, so it may not be long before we need a bigger garage.

We had loads of fun on Noak's first camping trip too. Both boys had a really fun time and were troopers. They slept pretty well all told and were pretty adventurous. Kjell, Gram, Dad, and Bop went on few Geo Caches (hope I spelled that correctly), and Kjell used a magnifying glass to find bugs and look at some large plastic bugs that Gram had brought just in case real bugs were scarce at the campground. We'll add some pictures soon.

How Noak and our garden grow

Both our new babies - Noak and our garden - are both growing very quickly. We've already harvested lettuce, radishes and a strawberry from our garden. We're trying a new gardening technique, called "Square foot gardening". Grandpa Bob built our raised beds and got us all going. Also, Noak is now able to sit up in a high chair, and on one ocassion has actually rolled over. He's growing up so fast. Already 4 months!

Visit from Deez and Kjell's 3rd Birthday

We were very lucky to have a visit from our dear friend, Deanne Kissinger. She came to visit ALL THE WAY from England. Wow! I know that our boys are cute, but I never thought they'd pull the ladies over from across the pond.

Also, Kjell had his 3rd birthday on June 1st. It's hard to believe that he's already 3. We had multiple celebrations, one with his little friends from Salem, one with Grandma Penny/Grandma Judy, and another with Grandma Sara.

Some More Spring Break Pics

Spring Break With The Goguens

Spring break 2009 was filled with fun and adventures with our dear friends the Goguens. It had been far too long since we'd seen them, but all of us just picked up where we left off. Benjamin and Kjell especially seemed to have the sense that they've been friends since Kjell was just a little baby, and Tyler joined the clan as a full-fledged big boy. All three raced laps around the house saving the town of Salem from fires and unsafe drivers while using Kjell's firetruck, police car, and recycling truck. At least three times a day the living room was a tornado of toys and boys playing as hard as they could. At bedtime each night there three little people who were tuckered out.
We visited the zoo and the Oregon coast so the boys could say they'd touched their toes on the Pacific's blustery shores. Jamie tried very hard to fly a kite and we all enjoyed the beautiful (if typcially stormy) day. We also enjoyed the preliminary heats at the world famous Salem Soapbox Derby, and rode our friends at the Salem Carousel. During our trip to Portland, we had doughnuts at the quirky Voodoo Doughnuts in a colorful part of town. On the way, we rode the the Max and walked from under the Burnside Bridge. A homeless man with a prolific tic and spastic noises prompted Kjell to ask (at the TOP of his voice) "What is that man doing with his mouth, Mom? Why is he making those noises Mom?" He also was very inquisitive when the proprietor of Voodoo Doughnuts came out of the bathroom putting his pipe and pot paraphenalia away. "What is that stink Mom? Is it is a skunk?" We quietly agreed that it did smell like a skunk and then proceeded on our way past some panhandlers and headed for the zoo.
The Goguens enjoyed Portland and we wished we had more time with them and more time to show them a few more sights, but having stretched three boys as long as we could without naps, we headed home.

It was such a great time and reminded us how much we miss all of our friends in Charlotte. Thank goodness for summer vacations and spring breaks that will allow us to visit and be visited. We still welcome our the friends from the other coast to make the trek out west.

The Adventures of Kjell (and his little sidekick)

We hope you'll enjoy these pictures of Kjell's recent antics. Notice his Bandaid mustache, a gift from his Auntie Pat in Roseburg. It came in the mail and he couldn't wait for a wound to wear it. He thought he was pretty hot stuff . He also enjoys his Spidyglasses, which render him invisible at opportune times.

Noak's First Few Days

Noak is doing well. His first few days have included a trip to the doctor's office to see Dr. Farah, a walk with his Grammie Sara, some good rocking and cuddling with Grammy Judy, and plenty of eating and pooping. He also made a trip to his big bro's school classroom for pick-up time yesterday. Kjell was proud as a peacock and couldn't wait to come and see "Baby Bruzzer."

Noak tries to be quiet at night (which is awfully hard) because Daddy has to be up early for school. He and Daddy look quite alike and they are often found in deep conversations while Noak is on the changing table. So far, Noak has peed on himself about 3 or 4 times, which really riles him up. Mommy is not quick enough on the draw with the fresh diapers.

Kjell has been a big helper. He is sharing his toys (including his prized and beloved cars) with his sweet baby brother. He has tried to nurse his stuffed tiger, Growlers to make sure he is fed like his brother. He also has been doling out the kisses and hugs regularly. Yesterday morning he made Mommy's heart melt when he came back to give Noak a kiss before he left for school. It had slipped his mind at first, but he remembered before he got out to the car with Daddy.

Noak's welcome home video

With the arrival of both of our boys, I have created a little "music video" to welcome them home. Kjell's was never posted to the blog, because we didn't know how to post video to the blog back in the dark ages of 2006. Here are both:

Battle of the Hair...

Noak has a mighty mane of hair, as seen in these photos...


But, he doesn't even come close to the hair that his Dad had at birth and 7 weeks. If the wives' tails are correct, can you imagine how much heartburn Grammie Sara had to endure? Looks like I could have donated my hair to "Locks of Love" before even leaving the hospital:

It took Kjell until he was almost 3 years old to be able to compete follicly with his Dad and baby brother:

He's Here! Introducing Noak Milo

At 6:02 PM PT, Noak Milo Osterholme Peters entered the world. Noak is pronounced like Noah (you know, he of the Ark) plus a 'k' sound at the end. He weighed in at 8lbs. 4 oz. and was about 21 in. long. He has a full head of hair that mostly looks red (who would have guessed?). He and Maija are both doing great, but it was quite a chore getting him here. Maija pushed for 1hr. 40minutes. He was head down, but facing forward, which made it hard for him to make it around all the curves.

We're SO excited to have him here. Noak will get to meet big brother Kjell tomorrow morning.

Here are the first photos, from when he was just minutes old (click on the photos to enlarge):