Sickly Gunnar & One Funny Story

Yesterday I was so confident that Gunnar was feeling better. He was playing, laughing, and enjoying life.

But...this morning Gunnar woke up and had a major mess in his diaper. Not a great way to start the day out. Since this morning, we have probably had at least 8 similar diapers and we are having a hard time keeping any sort of formula or food down him. He doesn't want to play, he wants to be held. He has been sitting on my lap for over an hour and has not moved an inch., if you know Gunnar you know this is not normal! He didn't really take any naps today any longer than 20 minutes because of coughing. Finally he had to give in and fell asleep for a couple hours in the late evening. I tried setting him down during the nap so I could accomplish something, and he would not have it. I love cuddling with him because it rarely happens, but hopefully this nap was not to close to bedtime!

Sorry the picture is blurry, but it was the best we could do. This is all Gunnar has wanted to do today...

Funny Story of the day, it is all on video, but it isn't really appropriate for the world wide web.
I had to leave for about 15 minutes today to let a friend and her mom on post. Before I left Gunnar messed his pants. Kyle told me he would take care of it. He didn't want me to miss out on the fun, so he video taped his adventure. It started out with him opening the diaper and explaining the horrific smell, he then turns away from Gunnar so he can do a close up of the diaper. He turns around to a major mess, he didn't wipe Gunnar's bum before showing me the diaper, so there was now a major mess on the bed. He sets the diaper down to clean the bed and Gunnar up. When he goes to get a wipe, Gunnar goes for the diaper. His little hands get in it and he rubs them all over, he even gets some poo in his mouth (nasty!). Kyle is freaking out and grabs him and you just see a poopy bed for about 5 minutes. When they come back on camera Kyle explains he was cleaning him off in the bathroom. He then tells Gunnar "mom is going to know something is up, I have to give you a clean shirt." At this point Kyle goes to the drawer and I watch as Gunnar does a roll/crawl combo off the bed and into the laundry basket (thankfully it was full and a soft landing). Kyle acts like that is no biggie after everything that had happened before, Gunnar then flip over about 5 times while Kyle tried to get him dressed. The entire time the video is going you keep hearing Kyle say "this is a nightmare." I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe when I watched the video. Hopefully my description does the some things a little justice, but I am pretty sure the video it just priceless.

Sickness & Halloween Pictures

We all survived the weekend. We were all sick, but survived. I took Gunnar to the doctor today just to make sure all is well. The doctor told me that Gunnar might need some anti-depressants. It was a joke because Gunnar was laughing and smiling the entire time (not looking sickly at all). He said we all probably just picked up a virus on good old public transportation during our trip. Not much he can do for us, but he just helped me feel better knowing that we were doing the right things to help Gunnar get better. Now we get to go back on Wednesday for Gunnar's 6 month well baby check-up.
Kyle has till Wednesday off and we are enjoying our time together. I try not to think about him leaving soon, but it is always in the back of my mind. Last night he brought ice cream to bed. He told me he is doing all the things now that he won't be able to do for the next year. Haha, I suppose I should let him be.
Kyle has been a big help with Gunnar the last few days and getting us through this sickness. No one feels good, and he has been awesome about taking time to hold and help me out with Gunnar. Last night he dressed Gunnar after the bath and used so much baby powder and lotion, Gunnar had some silky smooth (maybe a little sticky) skin. He also cleaned the house while I took Gunnar to the doctor, he knew the mess from returning from our trip was driving me crazy. What a great guy, I sure am going to miss him!
Here are some old pictures from Halloween Night. Our great friends Beccy and Barrett are moving back to the states and her family had a little party for them. We had a fun night and enjoyed being with our friends.

Norweign Fjords and Bergen

Wednesday morning we took off and headed to the train station in Oslo, Norway. We then got off at a stop in Myrdal, Norway.  From there our beautiful tour of the Fjords began. We took a train through the mountains, and along the coast. It was beautiful in the winter, and I can only imagine how it would be with all the trees green in the summer, it must be breathtaking.  Our train took us to Flam, Norway. There we had about an hour and half stop so we grabbed a quick lunch before getting on the boat at 1510. We had a 10 minute ride to our stop for the night.
(The Fjord Train)

Well, that 10 minute ride turned out to be about a 2 hour ride. Kyle and I kept thinking the boat was going to stop at any one of the villages it was giving the history about as we knew we were suppose to be getting off and continuing the boat ride in the morning. About 45 minutes into the ride we went and ask what was happening and if we got on the wrong boat. Turns out we were on the correct boat, but they did not notice when checking our tickets that they needed to stop. So because most of the villages had no road access or way for us to return to our hotel we had to continue on the 2 hour boat ride. The good news was that even though it took the boat 2 hours, it only took the bus 30 minutes to return us to our hotel. We got there after 1900, but we were given a huge room and taken great care of.
(In Flam--ready to board the boat, can you sense his excitement!)

In the morning we slept in because we knew the boat would not be there until 1525. Gunnar slept horribly, so I was thankful for the chance to hand him off to Kyle in the morning and get some sleep. Kyle even went and brought me my breakfast in bed.  We went and asked what there was to see, and the hotel guy told us that the city was tiny and not really a lot, especially in the off-season. He let us leave our bags with him, so we could walk around and check things out. We enjoyed awesome bacon burgers (Norwegians love their bacon, which makes me happy. Every place we went had so much American food, it was great). After eating we were frozen so we went back to the hotel to hang out.
(In Aurland, Norway--our stop for the night + Kyle in his undies)

We got on the boat and they were happy to see us again, they got a good laugh out of us and missing our stop. Haha, I wasn't laughing, I had a screaming baby, but I must say they did thier best to take care of us, plus we got to see the Fjords twice!
(The Fjords--view during boat rides)

 

From the boat we took about an hour bus ride, then back on the train for an hour to arrive in Bergen, Norway.We got there at about 2030 so walked straight to our hotel and went to bed. The next morning we basically just walked to the bus stop to go to the airport as Gunnar was not feeling well.
(Bergen, Norway--Pretty much the only picture that turned out from Bergen. It was a beautiful place!)

We had a great time, however, Gunnar was not feeling well, so instead of heading to London, we came home. We were suppose to be in England until Tuesday. While Norway was beautiful I did not enjoy it as much as I would have liked due to Gunnar getting sick. We didn't get to explore much as being out in the cold would not have been good for Gunnar, plus I wasn't getting much sleep because he was waking up in pain every hour or so. I am hoping he is just teething, but I think he has a cold too. We are just praying that he gets better soon and his fever stays down so we don't have to go to the hospital. We also are thankful that it worked out for us to get home so smoothly. Who knew having a 3 hour layover 2 hours from our house could be a great thing.

Olso, Norway

Yesterday we got on an airplane and flew to Olso, Norway. It was a 2 hour flight + about a 45 minute train ride into the capital of Norway, Olso. The city reminds us so much of America, with American stores, 7-11's, and everyone speaks English. It is a beautiful big city.
Today we explored the city a bit. We slept in and then had a $50 breakfast. Apparently this is the most expensive city in Europe and I believe it. We decided after breakfast that it was McDonald's and Burger King for us the rest of the time.  After breakfast we went to watch the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace, but it was pouring rain and we were about 45 minutes early so we decided to keep moving.

We headed to Vigeland Park which contains the life's work of Gustav Vigeland, a famous Norwegian sculptor.It was one of the most interesting parks I have ever been to, but it was so cold, rainy, plus Gunnar was getting hungry. So I went and asked in a coffee shop for some water for the bottle.

At this point we decided it was time for the bus and the Viking Ship museum. Getting to the museum would be a long walk on a sunny day so the bus was a good idea. So we hopped on the bus, and thanks to Kyle's map reading skills quickly got to the museum. It was interesting and we got to check out 3 viking ships.

From there we walked down to the water and we were hoping to check out another museum but they were closed for repairs. So instead we got back on the bus, hit up McDonald's and then got to the hotel.

Now, we had heard that Norway has a lot of Reindeer, but we had no idea how cute they were...

We leave tomorrow to catch an 8:11 train to Flam, and to see the Fjords. Not sure if we will have internet, but possibly. Here are a few pictures from today.

6 months

Wow, I can hardly believe it. Gunnar is 6 months old today. I will be taking lots of pictures tomorrow and today was super crazy, so sorry.
Kyle got home around 8:30 pm at which point 3 of his buddies came over for pizza and dinner. It is now midnight and Kyle is taking them home. It was fun to hangout, but everyone was so exhausted. Two of the guys were laying on the benches at the kitchen table so Kyle went and got the air mattress so they could enjoy the movie on that.
Okay, back to Gunnar:

*He is a little firecracker. He is such a happy boy and we feel so blessed. There is no greater feeling then when we walk up to him and he gives us the biggest smiles.
*He is quite fond of Suesse and loves pulling her hair. He also laughs pretty hard when people play fetch with Suesse, he loves watching her chase the rope, it cracks him up.
*He likes to give me big slobbery kisses. Well, they probably are not kisses, he just likes to put anything he can in his mouth.
*We have started introducing him to baby foods. I make most of them on my own, but have some Gerber food on hand for emergencies and our trip coming up. So far he loves Bananas, applesauce, and pears. He hates carrots actually starts throwing up as soon as the touch his tongue. He also spits his squash all over, and turns his head away from it. We are going to try sweet potatoes tomorrow, hopefully he will enjoy them.
*Gunnar has become a pretty good sleeper. He goes to bed around 9:30 and some days even lets me sleep in until 10am if I wake up and give him a bottle at 7. He is pretty restless after 7, but I do get a little extra sleep. He also is a tummy sleeper, as soon as I lay him down on his back he flips himself over.
*I think Gunnar is pretty close to crawling. He has the rolling and scoot thing down pretty good and I am always amazed at how far he can get.

Well, I think that is it for now. I love my little boy. We are behind on the well-baby visits, so he won't have his 6 month until we are back from Norway and England.

A Busy Monday

Gunnar and I had a great day. This morning he spent about 2 hours with Beccy & Barrett so I could go to the doctor. I went for this pesky wart I have had for years an a mole that we were a little concerned about. He said the mole looked fine, but referred me to a dermatologist for the most stubborn wart in the world and said to have them check the mole just to be safe.
Gunnar and I got home and I had a lot to do, but little got done. Kyle isn't home till Friday, so I have some time to get the things done I wanted. I did have time to organize Gunnar's clothes and separate them by size and pack them up nicely. He played in his crib the entire time I did this.

Doesn't he look so innocent?

We had an interesting bath time. Gunnar loves his tummy tub, but lately he thinks that standing in it is way better then sitting. So it becomes this battle of me making him sit and him standing up over and over again. He is strong for a little guy and gets a hold of the top and refuses to sit. He loves standing and looking over the top of the tub. During our battle of getting him to sit, someone knocked at the door. I went to see who it was and was a little scared to open because I was unsure, but it turned out to be the building coordinator. So I have a naked baby and am being interrogated about if I have laundry downstairs. Thankfully tomorrow I plan on doing laundry, so hopefully he gets the mess sorted out. But it interrupted bath time and I think Gunnar thinks he won the stand/sit battle.
He looks beaten, but really he is just so active he is always bumping his head from tipping over. I do my best to keep him protected, but...

His cute slippers

A Halloween preview of my lil' froggie...

Arranged Marriage

Kyle and I were thrilled when we got the news that Gunnar's future wife had been born. Loralynn Marie Wilson was born on Thursday night and Gunnar had the opportunity to go and meet her Saturday. I wouldn't call it love at first sight, but Gunnar was interested in her ears and thought they would make great toys and be good for pulling on. His daddy also helped him give Loralynn a kiss which she was not a fan of. The fathers of the bride and groom, Dan and Kyle preformed a short ceremony in the hospital to seal their baby love for each other (this is all on video, but for some reason I cannot get it to upload to the blog). As their parents we know that over the years that they will learn to love one another!

All joking aside, we congratulate our friends Dan and Sandra on the birth of their daughter. God has truly blessed them with a beautiful daughter and we couldn't be happier for them!

I am not sure why I didn't get a picture of Sandra or I holding the baby, apparently the boys were baby hogs (or picture hogs). Also Gunnar isn't looking to sure about all of this...he looks so confused.


Here is Gunnar later in the day playing with Suesse. Suesse is so good to him and lets Gunnar poke her and pull her hair. He got her eyeball the other day, which she wasn't a fan of, but she only did a little growl. I think it will be pretty funny to watch the two of them once Gunnar starts crawling, which I am thinking could happen any day now.

Change

What a change...going from a blond to brunette. It is going to be a hard adjustment. But honestly, I am tried of constantly having damaged hair and having to pay tons of money to keep it up. So today, I said "yes" to change and went back to my natural hair color, or at least close to it. They made it about one shade darker and had to add golden hues so it wouldn't turn my hair green (which would have been very bad). Kyle says it looks really good, but honestly I am not sure what he thinks, I am not even really sure what I think of it. Gunnar still loves me, so that is good!

Gunnar loves eating. He gets so excited when he is sitting in his high chair...he knows the good stuff in one its way.

In the picture below I am reminded so much of Kyle. Kyle has this signature look he gives when he looks in the mirror and Gunnar is getting pretty good at the look himself

I am so lucky to have such a happy boy. He only is fussy when his teeth are hurting, he is hungry, or sleepy. I love him so much!

Banana Boy

Gunnar had his first banana today. He enjoyed it very much. We even went out and got him a high chair since he will finally be using one and can eat some fruits/veggies with us while we eat at the table.
The first picture shows how happy he was most of the banana eating experience.

This is a picture showing how Gunnar feels about his daddy counting "1...2...3..." before he takes a picture. Apparently he is against counting.

After he calmed down from the traumatic counting he enjoyed the rest of his banana happily!