a Late Merry Christmas

Christmas this year started out with The Cincinnati Zoo lighting festival which we went to. It was fun to see all the animals with all the lights......it almost rivals Temple Square for how beautiful and lit up it was. I couldn't find any pics of it.......not sure if I brought the camera.

Corey then had a work party on a riverboat which went up and down the Ohio river. That was fun but awefully cold. There was eating and a bit of dancing. Corey suprised all his coworkers and put on the moves on the dance floor. Needless to say he is a legend at work.
As per Bjarnson Tradition we have started getting Lars' picture taken with Santa. He did great as you could see from the picture. There was the cutest little girl in front of us in line who Lars was flirting with and she was making him laugh. Well when it was his turn with Santa she stood in front of him and made him laugh. It was great.

We then drove to Utah (36 hours in a car), moving just ahead of a big storm that dropped snow in the double digits in Nebraska, and arriving the afternoon of Christmas eve. It was wonderful to see family and spend time with them. Lars was so happy to be out of the car. Although I must say he was a wonderful road tripper. We began our trip 12:30 pm eastern time, drove all night and all day and it wasn't until 7pm that he hit his wall and was done being in the car seat. Being stopped anyway because I-80 was closed we went to a hotel and let Lars (and the rest of us for that matter) stretch out for an hour or so before we opted to take the detour around I-80. We continued to drive the remainder of the night and arrived in the valley about 11am. Quite the long trip for staying only 4 days and returning by car (another 36 hours) home. Luckily Lars was almost as patient on the drive home.
I am not posting pics of us on our trip because we look bad!! but here are highlights of our christmas. Lars looking at his first Tree and opening a present.

This pic is great with Lars Laughing!.





We did stop by Nauvoo on our way to Utah. I had never been there and it was cool to see the temple. I think we are going to try and go back when we can actually tour the place.

Who does He look like?

Who does he look like? That is the big question. One I get the most often. But honestly I am not sure if he looks like a Bjarnson or a Sloan. However, after taking this picture I got my first clue.

Can you figure out who Lars looks like?

(hint: look at the ears)

Lars is growing so big. He is beginning to crawl (he looks like a worm inching forward) and get into everything. But he is a joy and always happy. Yesterday he was punch drunk happy, laughing and giggling at anything and everything. It was hard to settle him down to go to bed. But i managed to do it without much fuss. He has learned that when he is in his bed, if he lifts up on his hands he can see over the crib bumper........that means i can't stay in there on the rocking chair anymore when he is awake trying to sleep. Darn!

Dragon Lars and the burning Peasant

Once upon a time there was a fiercesome Dragon named Lars. Even though he was little for a dragon he could breath fire. He liked to fly around and blow fire on all the lowly peasants. And when he flew he laughed and giggled.

However much fire he blew on these lowly peasants they still couldn't resist the adorable laughing and giggling that happened when he flew and blew fire. And so it was that Lars would catch all the village on fire but he would laugh and giggle and so he was always forgiven.

The Happenings of late

On Friday for the play group we went to a farm very near where we live. It was awesome and made me a little homesick for the country. It has been a long time since i lived anywhere near where cows live or where houses are more than an 1 acre apart. The farm is about 250 acres and incredibly beautiful. They had a little petting zoo......not too many animals but enough for the kids to enjoy. and then we went on a hay ride and fed the HUGE Angus Cows. I don't know that i have ever seen such large cows before. the ones where i grew up weren't near as big. we asked and they are about 1200 lbs each. ya that isn't a type 1200 pounds. one of them was trying to get an ear of corn from one of the moms in our group and the cows put it's head on her lap. she said it was super heavy. We then went through the corn maze which was a ton of fun. it was pretty intense and we almost got lost. we felt like we were going in circles. The weather was around 40 and freezing and there were some mud puddles so fo course the boys were all dirty by the time we got done. But that is the price for fun!.. The pumpkin patch at the end of the corn maze with my nephew.
in front of the corn maze. Lars is keeping warm in the wrap. but i am freezing. I dont' know what i was thinking wearing a light jacket when it is 40 degrees outside.

Lars on the hay ride. He was getting a bit fussy at this point. and trying to keep warm. I had my jacket wrapped around him to keep him warmer on the hay ride

and yes this is no joke.........they were this close to us. and if they stuck out their tongue i had to move to not get licked

us in front of the goats and sheep. we got to feed them and pet them.

Other pics of late.

Lars laying on my face.

A couple of years ago we went to the MOMA and saw the coolest clock (sold for about $300) so i decided to create our own. It follows the traditional clock but is quite contemporary as a finished product. We love it.

Recently

This evening, Lars was laying on the floor wiggling, i decided to stick my tongue out and blow and sound like a kazoo at him..........well he was very intrigued by it, so I did it a few more times. I went back to putting some stuff away and the next thing i now he is trying to do it back at me. He had his tongue out and instead of blowing and sounding like a kazoo he was using his voice.......it was soooo cute. So of course i kept doing it back and he continued to copy me. He does the same with kisses. He puts my cheek in his mouth and uses his voice and gums my cheek. I hope that makes sense. Ihave yet to get it on film........one of these days.

so here are some recent pics.

We went to see Thomas The Train with Corey's Bro and Sis in Law adn their Son. It was quite the highlight amonst 3-5 year olds. We even got to ride in the train. Whoo hoo!! Too bad lars won't remember it..........we'll have to go again when he is older.

Lars and Lynnea his cousin. Everyone thinks they are twins...but they are 1 month apart.

He is so funny. He loves looking in the mirror. and usually he leans his cheek on mine and we will walk around like that. It is so cute. This one is right before his bath. Classic Look!

And here is Baby GQ!! i was trying to be a photographer. Looking back at the pic it isn't too bad. He is adorable

hilarious

This afternoon Lars and I went to Corey's office to meet his coworkers and show off Lars. As one lady was holding him he started to laugh hilariously! i have never heard him do that before without being tickled. But he just started laughing and laughing and all this lady was doing was holding him. I was in tears laughing back at him.

Home Birth Study

For those that don't know, I had a wonderful experience birthing Lars at home. I have, as a result, become quite the advocate for homebirth and for those that choose that method of birthing. I ran across this article online and thought i would share.

http://www.wxix.com/Global/story.asp?S=11020363 It was a study done stating that "Having your baby at home with a registered midwife is just as safe as a conventional hospital birth, a new study says." Also what i loved in the article is

"The mortality rate per 1,000 births was 0.35 in the home birth group, 0.57 in hospital births attended by midwives, and 0.64 among those attended by physicians, according to the study.
Women who gave birth at home were less likely to need interventions or to have problems such as vaginal tearing or hemorrhaging. These babies were also less likely to need oxygen therapy or resuscitation, the study found.

Because Homebirth is illegal in Kentucky, I have wondered what we will do when we are ready to have a 2nd child. I asked Corey if he would be ok to birth in a hospital with a midwife versus the homebirth experience we so enjoyed. He was definately opposed. Little did I know when I was pregnant with Lars and looking for a midwife that we would choose Homebirth and that Corey would be so supportive of it. He was very unsure at first but the more we studied and learned about childbirth in a hospital versus home the more confindent we became in our decision. And because of our decision we have a very healthy baby boy and a healthy mother that (if birthing in a hospital would have had a c-section) was able to birth vaginally, in spite of there being a few complications.

Can I say More.........I LOVE HOMEBIRTH. And I love watching mine........yes we videoed the whole thing. Course i normally skip to the end where Lars comes into the world. It is incredible to watch and reminds me of my first thoughts of seeing him and marveling at his life.