Christmas 2007

Well hello again to all. As you have probably guessed by now, we didn't send out a Christmas picture or letter this year. We had good intentions to do so, but time just ran out on us. So, this is going to be our "letter" for the year -- more of a follow-up to our Christmas season this year. I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families and friends, that Santa was good to you, and that you gained the standard 10 pounds that I did from all the goodies! As I write I'm going to mention some past Christmas memories that I have as well -- this time of year always has me remembering some specific events. Also, please take a few minutes to view the Christmas slide show below.

We started off our "season" the first weekend in December. We'd arranged to get Twila (my mom's sister) and her daughter Molly out here for the Buum Christmas -- it's something I'd wanted to do for years, and had talked about, but just hadn't gotten done until this year. I remember years past when we'd all be at Owen and Adele's house and we'd make a call to the New Yorkers', and all the siblings and "outlaws", as we call them on the Buum side, would get a chance to say "hi", and every time we'd hear talk of wishing she could be with us. We finally made it happen this year! Anyway, we spent the whole weekend hanging with the Buum crew, which included trips to the Spink Cafe, the Nora Store for some caroling, and ended at the fire station in Alcester for, you guessed it, more food! We also managed to get up to the nursing home in Alcester to sing to the residents and spread some Christmas cheer! Twila and Molly got the opportunity to participate in the traditional 12 Days of Christmas -- a song that we've been singing to Twila on the telephone for years, only to find out that she hates it!?! We loved having them there nonetheless, and created many new memories to go along with the ones that we reminisce about every year.

We got up early on Sunday morning to head down to Sioux City to spend some time with Angela's family. It had been a long time since we'd spent a good amount of time with them, so it was nice to be able to relax and visit, rather than just eat, open gifts and run. The girls really got some good bonding time with Grandpa and Grandma Nelson and Andrea and Armin. We also got to spend some time with Grandma Lee (AKA, Grandma "Hoyle") -- the best card player I know. She's also one of the smartest people I know -- just ask her! We always love seeing her and you can't help but feel good when you're around her. Sofia had a blast playing with Viola and Paisley, and they made a lot of cookies. Half the frosting and sprinkles went on the cookies, and the other half directly into Sofia's mouth! Ang got to see some relatives that she hadn't seen for some time and we all binged on Cathy's treats. We spent the night and got up in the morning to head back to MN.

The following weekend was the Limoges' Christmas at Mike's. We unfortunately couldn't make it -- Ang had to work, and both girls were under the weather mid-week, so we decided not to make the trip back. I thought about them all day Saturday, wishing I were there, remembering years past -- singing Christmas songs, and rock songs -- everyone singing along. I remember making the trips down to Yankton on Christmas Eve night when Grandma and Grandpa lived down there. The trips down were filled with Christmas music playing on the radio and excitement about seeing everyone when we got there. Grandma always made enough food to feed an NFL team! I remember Pee Wee's first year @ the Limoges' Christmas -- I suppose I was five or six. I had gotten a boom box from Santa and Mom and Dad pleaded with me to call it that when we got there...I didn't -- I slipped up and called it what I'd always called it. ('bad, tasteless, not politically correct word' box") I locked myself in the bathroom for 20 minutes. I'm sure my parents felt worse about it than I did. Pee Wee handled it amazingly! To this day I'm still trying to figure out how I spent 20 minutes in the bathroom during a Limoges' Christmas!!! Well, back to 2007 -- my parents reported that the Limoges' Christmas was again a success, and that there were very few people that weren't there. While I'm bummed I missed it, I know that a great time was had by all, and that's the most important thing!

Sofia had her Montessori "Holiday Concert" a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was so damn cute to see her standing up there singing. She knew all the words and did a wonderful job. They went through the last few months and sang about things they'd learned about -- Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims, a couple Jewish songs, Kwanzaa, and of course some old Christmas standards. Mom and Dad came up and Sofia (as always) was tickled to see them. There are a couple of videos of her concert on the sidebar if you're interested in watching them. The first one is about the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria --we all know the fate of those first two -- they "capsized *gasp*" -- watch it and you'll know what I'm talking about!

The weekend before Christmas, Dodie, Dalton, and Damon came up to stay with us. They brought their Nintendo Wii, including Guitar Hero, so you can imagine what we spent most of our time doing! It was great to have them up here! We'd had plans for a long time to go to the Redskins vs. Vikings game, and of course my Skins won! Willie also was up for the game so I got to see him for a bit and buy him a birthday drink. One of my favorite Christmas stories about Dodie is when Angela was in high school and opened up all her gifts to see what they were before Christmas. Well, let's just say that Angela isn't the best present wrapper, much less re-wrapper and was caught red-handed when she left pieces of scotch tape on the floor! Ooops!

On Christmas Eve we drove down to my parents' place. As always it was great to see them during the holidays. We spent much of the day eating again on Monday, and Marty and Karen came out for dinner and a couple drinks. We ended the night with a couple of presents, and then got the kids to sleep and prepared for Santa. Christmas morning we woke up and spent a long time opening gifts. The girls of course made quite the haul! I continued my goal to gain weight and ate nearly everything in sight for the rest of the day, until I'd had enough and we had to leave. It was Mom and Dad's 2nd Christmas here in MN and in their new house, but right when we got there again this year, it felt like home -- proof that "home" isn't made up of bricks or wood -- it's made up of memories, family, and love.

Stella's first Christmas with us will always be cherished. She taught me an important lesson this year. Just when you think you don't have any more love in your heart to give, someone comes along and it's like your heart grows. I guess that's the way it was intended -- when we allow our minds to be open to new things, we often surprise ourselves and are rewarded in ways that were previously unimaginable! When I was young I used to hear people say that it was better to give than to receive, and now I get it. When you give from the heart, you're heart gets much more in return than it gave. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that it was filled with memories, old and new, and that those that you hold most dear to you were with you, at least in spirit. May your 2008 be the best year yet!

Xmas Memories 2007

Halloween!!!

Stella as our little piggy!


Sofia as Princess Belle!


The girls together by their pumpkins!

Fall Family Update

Once again it’s been a long time since my last entry. I have a valid excuse this time however; my hard drive crashed about 6 weeks ago. My computer wouldn’t even turn on – it was bad! I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done a back-up., and the only disc that I had backed up some info on was also ruined. It was a tense couple of weeks as I didn’t know if I had ANY of the digital photos/videos that I’d taken over the past 3 ½ years. Pretty much Sofia’s whole life up to that point was lost. Fortunately, I found an economical data recovery specialist online and he was able to access my hard drive and get all of my photos back. I couldn’t have been more relieved then he called and told me that he’d recovered them. So, let this be a lesson to any of you who have pictures stored on your computer – BACK IT UP OFTEN!
Since my last entry we’ve had a ton of stuff going on. I thought having one child kept one busy! I’m going to try to update you on a few of the things that have been going on lately, with hopes to catch you up a bit on our family.

Stella is growing FAST! It seems that the months have gone by much more quickly with her than they did when Sofia was a baby. It’s likely because we’ve been so busy, but she all of a sudden is turning into a toddler before our eyes. She’s certainly the most chilled baby I’ve been around. We literally never hear her cry! She smiles, laughs, talks (3 languages, none of which we understand), and just chills the majority of the time. It’s so much fun to see Stella and Sofia interact. Stella could watch her big sister all day long and be happy. Sometimes she gets yanked around a bit more than she’d prefer, but for the most part, Sofia is fairly gentle with her. For the first few months it was obvious that Sofia loved Stella, but now that Stella is interacting and laughing at her, Sof seems to look at her as someone to play with, or at least entertain. It’s such an amazing feeling to have Sofia greet Stella first thing in the morning with a "Hi Sella!" in a very high-pitched voice – mimicking the way that her mom talks to Stella now and then. It just makes you feel like there’s nothing else in the world at that moment, but your happy little family.

Sofia started Montessori school in September and absolutely loves it. She goes from 8:30 to 3:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She seems to really be into the social side of it. She loves her teacher Miss Jackie, and has some great little friends that she talks about all the time. One in particular, a little boy named Soren, is officially her self-proclaimed "boyfriend". That’s a nauseating feeling for a dad, as you may imagine. It’s not like I’m going to have a talk with him yet ;) but if he pushes Sofia down or something , I may have to beat up Soren’s dad just to teach them a lesson! Anyway, I digress…Sof’s learning a ton at school. Montessori is a very unique type of teaching, one that’s very individualized and gives the children a lot of choices with what they want to learn. From the time we first visited, I was amazed how they were able to get 12 three year olds to sit nicely and quietly at the tables to eat a snack. I assumed they must be lacing their juice with Ritalin or something! I’m sure that sitting quietly has changed since Sof started – she’s kind of a social butterfly! She always says that she didn’t do "anything" at school when we ask, but then proceeds to surprise us each night with something new, whether it’s a new song about Christopher Columbus coming to America, or talking about "Space" including mention of "planets" and "Mercury". It’s crazy how quickly they pick things up. Sofia also started gymnastics a couple of months ago. Her first 8 week class went very well. Her motor skills are very good – pretty coordinated and very strong. She does the splits and holds herself up on the rings and bars – it’s damn cute. Not surprisingly she’s picked up a pretty good little attitude as well – stubborn as her grandpa!

Ang and I have pretty much been status quo for the past few months. Ang loves her work schedule – who wouldn’t like a 17 hours-a-week schedule!?! In all seriousness, she’s doing great, and continues to be the best and only mother that I’d ever want for my girls. One interesting trip back in history a bit – back to Oct. 23rd, 1992. Ang was just about to be picked up to head home after school – it was a Friday, and we were standing in front of the old "Total Stop" in Alcester. I nervously asked her to "go out with me", and she answered, "I’ll think about it!", with a big smile on her face. I wonder now if she wishes she’d have "thought about it" for a longer time? So it was 15 years on Tuesday since that day. Pretty amazing that we’ve been together for over half our lives and she still gives me that same feeling I had on that day 15 years ago! I’ve been blessed again and again throughout my life, yet it continues to get better every day.

I hope you enjoy the pics that I’ve put up and will continue to link. Thanks for visiting our family’s site.

Summer Fun!

Hello all! My apologies for the lag in posting. This summer has been very busy for us. We're trying to squeeze as much as possible in, and most importantly, trying to do so while enjoying ourselves and creating memories that we'll have forever! We've been on a couple trips -- both times to the lake. Once in Crosslake with Mike, Erin, and Jack, and then back to SD for a week in Yankton with some family. So a few quick updates on each of my girls, and then some pics...FINALLY!

Angela has had a great summer home with the girls. They've spent a lot of time outside playing with the neighbors and hitting the park during the day. She's become quite the "at home" manager, doing all the mom stuff and still finding time to keep the house from looking like a trainwreck. She's even begun to do some cooking!?! For a chick that had a hard time making a hot dog in the microwave at one point, she's turning out to be quite good, and fires up the grill now and then as well! She goes back to work this week -- part time for now. We're going to see if we can make things work without having daycare!

Sofia...our precious...little...TOMBOY! Where there's dirt, there's Fia. She'd live outside if she could, and has even adopted a new pet -- a toad that lives in the ground by our house. It comes out every night, and she calls it Snoozy -- she's very into Snow White currently. She's going to be a pretty athletic kid I think -- she likes to throw stuff...usually at me, and seldom misses, and boy is she a quick one. We chase each other around the yard and she can scoot! She caught her first fish this year up at Crosslake. It was a nice little bass. The picture is below! She starts Montessori School in September (2 days a week) -- I'm really thinking that it'll be good for her -- she's a very social person and loves being around other kids.

Stella (Stella-bella as Sofia likes to call her) is doing wonderfully as well. She's our brown-eyed girl. I'd never have guessed that she's stay so laid back, but she has. She goes with the flow, and doesn't complain much at all. She's much bigger than Sofia was at 12 weeks -- she's already growing out of her 3 month clothes and is at the 90th percentile for height and weight. She's a happy baby, and with Ang and I as her parents, one would never have guessed that we'd raise a "morning person", but she's all smiles when she wakes up. I can't think of a much better way to start the day than to see her big smile -- makes it pretty easy to put a smile on as well.

Me? Well, I wake up every morning, kiss my girls before I head to work, and then think about them all day. I come home, and kiss them again. It's a very simple and fulfilling lifestyle and I couldn't be happier! I hope you all take time now and then to just enjoy life too -- God knows it goes by way too fast. See you all at Davestock!

Memorial Day Weekend

Well hello again! I don't have a lot to say (for once) but I wanted to post a few pics so that you could all see what we've been up to lately. We had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Friday, I worked until about noon, and Mom came up to spend the day with us. We ended up going to the zoo -- Stella's 1st time! We had a great time, as the weather was perfect, and Mom's a big fan of the zoo. She and "Fia" (Jack's nickname for Sofia -- we all use it now too) went on the carousel -- see pics below. It's SO nice to have my parents so close so that they can watch the girls grow! Mom left around dinner time, and the "the girls" and I went over to Sell and Em's place so that they could play with their new friend Marley. They made us dinner, which was outstanding, and we got to catch up with them -- it'd been awhile!

Saturday we kind of just hung around home. Ang did a ton of cleaning and Sofia and I went to the gym. After I worked out, I took her swimming. She's a big fan of the water now, which is great, because I plan to take her to the sand-bottom pool here in Shakopee often this summer. I was on water skis when I was 5, and I'm preparing her tubing over the 4th of July, as we'll be heading back to Yankton to camp. We can't wait!

Sunday Mom came up to hang with the girls again, and Dad, Marty, James and I hit the Twins game. It was good to have a day out with the guys -- we don't do that often enough! I'm sure Ang was happy to get rid of me for a few hours as well. The girls played with Grandma most of the day. We spent the evening inside and hit the sack early.

Memorial Day we got up and did a little shopping. Sofia loves to play in the kid's area at Eden Prairie Center -- we returned a couple of things and just watched her climb around. She's incredibly agile and loves to climb. Apparently Ang was a big climber when she was young too -- maybe all the stretching will help her grow into some long legs like her mom? We'd planned to grill when we got home from the mall, but decided we were far too hungry so we got a pizza and crashed on the couch! We did end up going for a walk & to the park, where one of the pics below was taken.

Whew -- I guess I did have a lot to say. You're probably thinking, "Boy, he sure didn't have much to say about Stella!" Truth is, she's perfect! She's eating well, sleeping well, travelling well, playing at the park well -- she hardly makes a peep. She just chills all the time. At this point, we're thinking that she may be the "laid back sister"? I can't wait to find out!

Hugs to all -- hope to see some more of you soon! I hope you enjoy the pics. Oh, and if you visit the site, please leave a comment -- I type 8 paragraphs and you can't even say "hello"? Come on...

Jer, Ang, Fia and Stella

Family of Four

After a brief blog-world hiatus, I'm back for a quick post. Obviously, "free time" is no longer -- that's my only excuse. We're all settling in well to this new life with a 'family of four'. Below is an update on everyone!

Stella is incredible. Parents of multiple children will likely all tell you that prior to having their 2nd, they wondered how they'd ever love another child as much as they did their first. Then, BAM, the 2nd arrives and you've all of a sudden got more love in you than you ever imagined. Stella is a great baby thus far. She's sleeping like we're feeding her alcohol before she goes to bed! She's a spitting image of Sofia when she was a baby.

Sofia is a great big sister and a constant reminder that you can't smile too much -- she makes us laugh often! At 3, she's testing us all the time, and I'm told by my parents that she's exactly the way that I was as a toddler. It's clear now why mom broke a wooden paddle over my ass when I was a kid. That said, I wouldn't ask for her to be any different -- she knows what she wants, and God bless her, she'll negotiate her way into, or out of anything. Maybe she'll be a lawyer?

After my last rave about my wife, I won't do it again (although I could), but she's doing great! She's staying home for about 12 weeks and is enjoying it! She's feeling and looking great. I still can't believe that things went so well for her (us) with Stella's birth. The doctor and nurses told her she should have more kids, and that her body is made for having kids. I kicked them out of our birthing suite shortly after!

Me? My life is quite normal again, considering. Angela has allowed me to continue to spend an hour each day at the gym, which I'm thankful for. Sofia likes to go to the gym with me. She goes to 'Kid's Club', the Gold's Gym daycare center. She says that she goes to "work out" too though, and isn't afraid to flex her muscles to show them off. On a "gym" side note, Dad has also caught the workout itch, and is doing great! I'm very proud of him and his decision to change his lifestyle.

We spent mother's day in Waseca at the folk's ranch. It was a nice day. Mom and Dad wanted to plant their garden with the grandkids. We had big plans to get a number of good pics of this, but Sofia spent a lot more time running around their yard than she did in the garden. Keep an eye out here though for footage of "the Constant Gardener" -- I got some video of Dad's unique gardening techniques that I think you'll all enjoy! It'll be your YouTube debut Dad!

Well, there you go...many of you had complained that it'd been awhile. There are a few pictures below -- I'll do my best to get some new pics uploaded this weekend. For those of you that are attending the family graduations this weekend, have a blast, and congrats to the graduates!

Home Sweet Home

Whew -- what an exciting and exhausting last few days. After spending the day with Sofia on her birthday (Wednesday), and coaxing little Stella into the world (Thursday), we're finally back home and allowing a little normalcy back into our lives -- as normal as a huge, life-changing event like this can be anyway. It feels so good to be home, sleeping in our own bed, and just spending time together!

I seem to be spending a lot of my days reminding Angela that she just had a baby -- she's an incredible woman, mother, and wife -- a true "ROCKSTAR" (see pic)! As amazing as she is with kids, I think babies are her specialty! She's in complete control juggling time between giving needed attention to both girls -- all on only a few hours of good sleep a day. It makes me very proud to tell people that she's my wife, and even more proud to say that she's the mother of my daughters. I don't know how I could be more happy. Sure, I think about the years ahead and my head spins -- 1st days of school, boys (hate em), proms (hate boys more), paying for college and a wedding twice -- but I know that the joy they will bring me throughout the years will be well worth all the estrogen I'll have to try to grow accustomed to living with. It's times like these, where it's easy to sit back and count your blessings.

Stella has arrived!

Well, after months of waiting, she's finally here! Stella Marie was born today @ 11:54 AM, weighing 7 lbs and 13 oz. At 21 1/2" long, we're assuming that she'll either be walking the catwalks or playing in the WNBA someday. The delivery went well -- we got to Southdale hospital at about 8 AM, and things progressed nicely. We sat around for a couple hours, and after only about 5-10 minutes of pushing, she was here with us and ready to play with her big sister Sofia! Check back often, as we'll be updating this site with more pictures.

PARTY!!!

Sofia's 3rd b-day party turned out great -- perfect weather, fun, friends, and food! We got a "moonwalk" for the kids, and they had a ball! Sofia got a lot of great gifts and really enjoyed spending the day with her 'buddies'. It was a princess themed party -- including a castle-shaped cake and Disney princess themed balloons, plates and napkins. "Princess Sofia" was very tuckered out by the end of the evening, but had just enough energy to cuddle with Grandpa and Grandma while watching a movie to finish the night off -- a perfect end to a perfect day!

Here are some pictures from our trip to Disneyland in February. We had a blast!

Toddler Idol Anyone?

What would you expect to read about on our blog? Well...our kid(s) of course! We're eagerly awaiting our new arrival! Sofia is set on a name, and argues if you call the new baby anything but ******. It's not really a big secret, but for those of you who DON'T know, I'll keep it that way. At our last doc's appt. (Friday), Angela was dilated to a "3", so things are progressing. She was @ a 2 with Sofia though for a couple of weeks -- we're (at least me) not holding our breaths though. We'll be sure to post pictures here for you as soon as we have them. I look forward to sharing the news with all of you. In the meantime, have a peek at Sofia's first music video. It's likely that this will be shown over and over when she makes it big. As you'll see, she's not up for a band -- she wants to do the singing! Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyfF093dlnE