Weekly Wrap-up: Sunny Weekend!

This week we had to say goodbye to Grandma. :-( It seems that since we've movedoverseas and especially since I've become a mother, goodbyes are getting harder and harder each time. (Any other expats feel that way!?) We enjoyed Grandma's visit so much and are so grateful she was able to come out and see us!

The weather this weekend could not have been more perfect! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all sunny and warm! We took advantage and got outside as much as we could. :-)

Saturday afternoon the COP Spouse Club had an Easter Egg Hunt. Madi got her first egg!

And then heaven forbid Mommy try to get Madi to sit in her chair and take a picture. Total. Meltdown.

Sunday morning we let Madi sleep in since she had a rough night Saturday. She's usually a fabulous sleeper, but recently she has been waking up a few times and struggling to go back to sleep. She's pulling at her ears a lot and struggling to eat, but she doesn't have a fever at all. We took her to the doctor a week or so ago and she didn't have an infection then, but are thinking we might take her back. Please pray that her pain goes away and it's not a lot of pressure built up that requires tubes or anything. :-/

Late this morning we went for a walk with Madi's BFF Adeline and her parents around Stokka. The girls did great and had fun playing in the grass when we took a break to enjoy the beautiful views around us.

If you're my friend on Facebook, then you might have seen this picture I posted a couple weeks ago. It's all of Madi's baby proofing stuff that a co-worker of mine brought over for us.

We invited him over to dinner to thank him and I've decided he is a baby whisperer. He got Madi to laugh (which she's not really done for anyone else besides Mommy and Daddy) and obviously wore her out because she fell asleep at the dinner table. ;-)

Now we're ending our weekend with a glass of wine and one of our favorite TV shows. I hope you have a fabulous week! :-)

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Weekly Wrap-up!

This was a busy and eventful which (a rarity for us of course ;-) ). So here we go with the weekly wrap-up!

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Monday with our cute "The Leprechauns made me do it" shirt our friends got in Ireland. On Tuesday we celebrated Daddy's birthday with a chocolate cake and his favorite thin mints!

On Monday, Grandma came to visit!! She watched Madi the whole week and will be staying through until Thursday this week. We are so grateful that she could come visit and she's definitely enjoyed her Madi time!

Grandma brought Madi a new toy that she LOVES - her fish tank! Miss Madi also turned nine months this week and is celebrating by getting a little too comfortable standing on her own. She consistently is letting go and standing alone and has even stood up without holding on to anything! I'd say our time before steps is very short... Mad is getting so big! Grandma has taught her to raise her arms above her head when you ask her how big she is and tell her she's so big. Madi loves it! :-)

This weekend we had Madi's swim lessons and then took advantage of some sun in the afternoon to go feed the ducks at Stokka!

Madi loves playing peek-a-boo pretty much anywhere these days! I had fun playing with her using a blanket on the sofa. And afterwards getting some Madi cuddles. :-)

Then after bedtime I was able to get kitten cuddles - bonus! And spy on Madi passed out in the crib. Love having a baby monitor, hehe.

We hope you have a wonderful week!!

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Madi: Nine Months

- Your vocabulary has grown and you make all sorts of sounds! Your favorite word though is still Da Da. However, you can also say Ba, Ma, Hi, Mmm (when you are eating), and even Daddy! We still don't have a Ma Ma though. :-(
- You got two more teeth up top! That's now a total of six teeth missy!
- You began your swim lessons this month and are enjoying them! You are not a fan of having water poured over your head and you cannot stand laying on your back in the water (although to be fair you've always hated being on your back, even since you were really little!). However, you love "swimming" to the toys and grabbing them.

- You now understand the concept of peek-a-boo. You liked playing last month, but now you will hold a toy, blanket, or hide yourself when we play peek-a-boo! It's adorable to watch you play. You are just too smart little one!! :-)
- Crawling. You are super fast when you want to be now! You still sometimes crawl a little funny like you are trying to stand.
- You have begun dancing this month. You will hold onto something and move up and down. You've also started to shake in your high chair when you're sitting and wave your arms around. You are too funny!

- You've gotten very good working your finger and thumb to pick up things. Particularly your favorite new snacks - puffs! You adore them and are so cute to watch picking them up and eating them. :-)
- Walking. Fortunately, ahem, you have not yet taken actual steps. But you have gotten a little too close for comfort. It's a regular activity for you to barely use something to stand up and will stand alone for a good 20-25 seconds. Once you realize you are standing without holding on to something you will then either squat down or grab a hold of whatever's nearby. You also have become quite the expert at walking with a walker and most recently walking holding on to just one finger of Mommy, Daddy, or Grandma.

- Tickling. You aren't super ticklish, but if we can catch you at the right moment, you laugh and laugh and laugh. You seem to enjoy being tickled for a few seconds and then you are over it and stop laughing. Almost like you are just enduring your silly parents... ;-)
- It's a good thing you have all those teeth because you're still enjoying meal times with Daddy and Mommy in the evening and every meal over the weekends. (Part of me wonders if your teeth coming in was a result of you chewing on real food as part of the baby-led weaning...like your body sending the message to go ahead with the teeth because you were attempting to chew). Anyway, you love steak, chicken, and all carbs. We're still giving you vegetables, but most of the time you try them and throw them to the side and find the meats and breads. We love that we've chosen this method and that you enjoy it because it's so much more pleasant than one of us having to spoon-feed you and take turns eating. :-)

- Speaking of Grandma, we got a semi-last minute visit from her this month! Sally, our nanny, had to fly back to Australia to be with her family. We couldn't take off work, but Grandma was able so she flew out here on Monday to play with you for the next week and a half! You two are having a blast together and I know she's cherishing this time with you.
- We moved this month and have gotten settled nicely in our new home. You love having two playrooms and more space to walk and play.

Madi -

You have blossomed into such a fun, active, happy, smart, and beautiful baby girl. There are definitely more outtakes than usable pictures this month because you do not want to be sitting still, haha! We love hearing you laugh and we can't get enough playtime with you. You definitely wear us out in the evening and on the weekends, but it's so worth it! (And we know it's only going to get worse when you officially start walking!) It's so neat to see your sweet personality developing more and more each month!

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

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Tananger House: Part 2

If you missed the first part of the house, you can get caught up here.

We left off showing the dining room. You probably saw the beautiful handmade sign hanging on Madi's door. The two bedrooms upstairs are off of the kitchen/dining room area.

Madi's Bedroom

Since we had more space in Madi's room we were able to put her rocker in here rather than out in the living room. We used the same decorations that she had in her room at the apartment and added a dresser to help store her clothes.

Master Bedroom

Right next to Madi's room is our master bedroom. We have an on-suite (a rarity for Europe) and a bathtub, which we wanted for Madi. The bathroom is about the same size as the one in the apartment, but this time we don't have to share it with guests! :-)

Basement

Going down the staircase off of the playroom, there's a bookshelf providing some great storage. You can see the front entryway when you are standing on the stairs, which we also like. There's a lot of rooms downstairs - a bathroom, bedroom, playroom with bedroom/craft room, pantry, laundry room, hobby room, and storage rooms.

Guest bathroom

Guest room

Downstairs Playroom

This is a bedroom/craft room off of the playroom. I think it was intended to be a bedroom and then this area a sitting room, maybe. We have a twin bed in there and got a free desk for my sewing machine and scrapbooking stuff.

Pantry, Laundry, Hobby Room, and Storage

The basement just keeps going and going. Next to the playroom is the pantry with the deep freezer and storage area for stockpile. :-)

Off of that room is the laundry room. There's even a chute built-in so we don't have to haul clothes through the house! Oh and there's also a sauna. Although I don't think we will be taking advantage of that feature since neither of us are big sauna fans.

There's a door to the left just before the double hamper and that leads to a hobby room, complete with a tool bench, and two big storage rooms. There's also a separate back staircase from the outside of the house. We can close off this area of the house completely and do that so the cats don't get trapped back there.

Yard

Jumping back to off of the dining room is the patio. You can get to the yard through a door on the side and there's lots of play room. We are starting to see some beautiful flowers come through as spring tries to make its way to Norway. :-)

We hope you enjoyed the tour and if you are ever in the Stavanger area let us know and you'll have a bed to sleep in! :-)

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