I'm not sayin'. I'm just sayin'...

15 pounds 9 ounces at two months

A few more shots to share

Yep!  I keep posting photos.  I must be overcompensating for my return to work in one month (on the 18^th), acknowledging that I will rarely post to the blog for the next couple years!

While Pauline was here, we made several attempts one evening at photos of the boys in their matching pajamas.  Some of the photos are loaded to the end of the slideshow from Pauline's visit:  

Early December and Grammy's Visit   

I think the shot below is the best one!

Check out the chunky monkey!  I don't think Lars could be more pleased with himself than when he is bathing or tootin'.  (Don't be fooled, Sue...  His eyes ARE blue!)  Lars the Large continues to enlarge.  

Off to Minnesota in a few days...  

Leif's message to Santa

At preschool, Ms. Carsen had the kids "write" (speak it, of course) a note to Santa.  Leif's letter/request follows...
I want Lightning McQueen and race toys.  They go on a race car track.  Hmm… Maybe… Underwear!  Yah!

Early December and Grammy's Visit

And the boys keep growing.  We can't imagine how big they'll be at sixteen.  Will we be THOSE parents at Costco buying six gallons of milk each week?  And how much bread will they go through each week?  Well, I am looking forward to it.  :)

Life is one giant growth spurt for Lars.  On Tuesday, Lars measured in at 14 pounds 14 ounces, just shy of eight weeks.  At the rate he is eating and sleeping this week, he'll be 15 pounds and change next week and easily 20+ pounds in a couple months.  We have to be careful to clean between the folds in his legs when changing diapers.  

Lars is cooing and smiling now, definitely recognizing his family members.  I think Leif may even gaining a bit of interest in him -- Leif joined Lars at the Gymini yesterday to shake the toys around!  Lars is definitely going to be a blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy.  

Leif updates...  Well, we hope he'll poop in the toilet some day soon.  He was making progress -- pooping in the toilet at school -- until one special day...  He hopped up on the potty to "go", and the lid was on.  He realized the lid was on and then lifted the lidS (note the plural form of the word) and sat down.  Well, in a moment he had fallen INto the toilet.  His teachers heard him shrieking and went in for the rescue and cleanup.  Soooo...  I think we may be buying size 6 diapers (practically fitting him like a thong at this point) for #2 a bit longer.  We're taking donations.  

There are some photos posted below and then some available in a slideshow at the following link:

Early December and Grammy's Visit

We have some more photos to load from the camera, and then I'll update the slideshow.  

"Good morning!" says Lars.

Bob and Toby came over to visit bearing gifts.  A huge alphabet set, and Leif set out on a mission to spell his name for us.  (THANKS, Barb!  ;) )  Here's his Vanna White pose.

Grammy/Pauline came to visit for several days last week to spend some time with our fam, and she was on it!  I had my hands free to work out, run errands, and cook (except for the constant pumping!), and she enjoyed cuddling with and feeding Lars. 


This photo is called "Stuffed Sausage".

Yeah!  A photo of the two boys.  Pauline convinced Leif to pose with Lars.  When asked a couple nights later to hold Lars, Leif said he didn't want to.  When asked why, he stated, "Lars is slimy."  Well...  I can't disagree.  Lars spits up so much that he is sort of slimy!

Anywho...  A great start to photos of the two boys below.  I think they look quite a bit alike!

Group shot on the couch!  Pauline grew quite used to this couch.  

  Lars in slumber. I'll call this photo "I ain't chubby!"

Thanksgiving 2011

The four of us headed up to Minne-SOOOO-ta for Thanksgiving.  It was an energetic family gathering with Ingrid and the kids, Pat and Ron, Queen Irene, and Erv and Sue, Stella and Chloe.  That's a lot of bodies!

Lars' increase in size after just a couple weeks amazed everyone.  And he's continued to increase his girth since then.  He spits up a lot but certainly chows more than he releases.

A few shots are included below, and there are more available in a slideshow at the following link: 

Thanksgiving 2011 

The kids all really enjoy each other's company, but I had no idea how much Berit likes babies!  (Perhaps she could rub off on Leif a bit...  Just a little bit would be an improvement!)  The photo below represents a regular view of Lars that weekend -- surrounded by dolls and resting comfortably, all courtesy of Berit.

Pat, Ron, Mikael, Berit, Anja, Leif, and I headed to the Holidazzle Parade on Nicollet in Minneapolis.  The parade, I think, was pretty okay.  The kids enjoyed the fireworks and bright lights.  I LOVED being in Minneapolis again. 

We do think that the floats need to be updated -- A Dora and Diego float should replace Hansel and Gretel's float.  Times have changed, folks: Let's get with the program!

If you're really lucky, Leif will give you a dog kiss sometime.  He enjoys licking and our squirming!  Both Pat and Sue have been "mauled" by him in this manner.  No shower is needed if he gets a hold of you.

Here's a really nice family photo of Great Grandma/Queen Irene/Grandma (everyone has so many titles!) with her kids -- Bill, Sue, and Pat.  At 95 years of age, Grandma continues to shine!

Love the shot of the kiddos with Great Grandma.  We definitely would have liked to have you in the photo, Svea!  Perhaps next time...?

Here's a shot of our revised view from our rear-view mirror.  While Lars definitely is a sleeper in the car, Leif is not.  This photo, then, is a rare moment of silence in the car.  A successful first road trip in the Subaru!

We did get in a short visit with TT, Kevin, and Anika, but I have no evidence (photo)!  We will return next week  to Friendly Fridley for Christmas.

Leif shots

I am working on the blog right now and thought I'd start off with a string of some cute photos of the big boy -- Lars is not the only blog star right now!  I love Leif's expressions.

Milkin' it

Yeah, baby...!  I took Lars in for his weekly weight check at Finley, and he definitely took home the prize for the biggest baby.  Today he weighed in at 12 pounds 3 ounces.  He's now in size 2 diapers, and clothing in the 6-month size is just around the corner.  At almost five weeks of age, I'd say this is one big kid.  Between feeding Leif and Lars when they are teens, I don't know if Mikael and I will be able to afford to feed ourselves!

Lars continues to be soooo laid back.  He's starting to smile!

Mad sleeper

This little angel woke up only once last night.  Mikael and I got some REAL sleep!

Here he is asleep in my robe about a minute ago.

More photo updates to come later this week.  

Photo album links are now working!

Go to the previous post, and the links to the photo albums will work...  AMEN!!!

No longer a starvin' Marvin!

Today I took Lars in for his three-week appointment, which was really just a weight check to see that he was "thriving".  Last Wednesday he was 8 pounds 5 ounces, and today he weighed in at 9 pounds 13 ounces.  YEAH -- a weight gain of 1.5 pounds in a week!  I guess he's thriving then, eh?

Well, I've been working to load the slide shows in the right column on the blog, and I've given up.  (If anyone uses Blogger and has advice on this, please let me know.)  I think I did, however, figure out how to provide links to the slide shows on Picassa below.  We'll see if it works...

You can access the individual photo albums and then click on "Slideshow".

Before Lars -- Fall 2011

Lars' Arrival

Lars Goes Home

Enjoy!

Future heavy weight

The mystery as to Lars' lack of weight gain is solved!

Lars weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces at his two-week appointment on Wednesday, and the pediatrician and I agreed to start bottle feeding him (after pumping). The nursing just wasn't cutting it. Since then Lars has been pounding the milk -- 4 to 6 ounces per feeding.

On Friday Lars and I met with the lactation counselor again and did a weight check: 8 pounds 14.5 ounces. That's 9.5 ounces in two days. Therefore, the bottle feeding is paying off! She determined that Lars' tongue is attached further than desired for nursing, like Leif's. Unless we clip his tongue (Ummm... Not interested.), nursing is pointless for feeding.

I'm loving the bottle, and the freedom, even if I am pumping. I think the pumping is what is allowing me to eat half a pan of brownies per day and still lose weight. Sign me up for life on that one!

Below is a shot of Mikael doing his own weight check on Lars. Grow, boy, grow!

Lars is sleeping like a champ at night, and while I am still tired during the day (Everyone is with young kids, eh?!), I don't need to nap! Lars is filling out. I expect that he will be at least 9.5 pounds at his three-week appointment.

We still think Lars looks a heck of a lot like Leif!

Catching up

I'm catching up in a couple ways. One might say that I may be catching up on my sleep (yeah, but not really, unless six hours of sleep a night is considered a luxury), but I am most definitely catching up on the blog.

Within a few days there will be three slide shows on the blog -- www.bwadventures.blogspot.com. I put them together a couple days ago, and I couldn't load them. We figure the file sizes are too large; therefore, I need to go back through and resize the photos. Not cool! However, that's where you are going to see the BULK of the photos as I'm only uploading a few in this post.

The boys are doing fairly well. Leif is struggling the most now that he's not center stage at all times, but he is surviving. He is adapting to using an "inside" voice a bit more when he's at home but is still successfully training Lars on how to sleep through chaos. Leif had so much FUN with all the visitors -- Auntie Pat and Uncle Ron, Grandma and Grandpa, and Ingrid and the kids.

He is not interested in "his baby" much at all. Mikael made the mistake of saying "Master Lars" and Leif quickly corrected him -- Leif is the ONLY master in this house. So we'll have to come up with another title for the little man.

Now Leif is wondering WHO STOPPED THE PARTY?! He is waiting for his Grandma to return this weekend. One of his newer lines is, "I don't like you, because I like Mam-ma better." Yep... It's constant rejection for us.

We have been very fortunate to have so many visitors and such a great community of friends and neighbors here in Dubuque. I can't count how many meals have been created for us -- many have been eaten and our freezer is full of meals! Lucky us...

As for the new kid on the block... Lars dropped a pound while at the hospital and has been REALLY slow to put the weight back on. On Wednesday he was only 8 pounds 5 ounces. The challenge has been that he is not much of a nurser (a lot like Leif was). After about 9 days of wrestling with "tools" to help remedy this, I officially gave up and feel GREAT about it. I am now pumping and feeding him via bottle, and the kid is eating up a storm. He'll be back to his Viking self in no time.

And... He is a textbook angel baby so far. LUCKY US!

Some shots follow...

Mikael and Ron created a jack-o-lantern for Leif from a pumpkin Leif picked out at a pumpkin farm. Ron and Mikael took him there for some quality outdoor time, and Leif had a blast. Leif did want to make sure that the jack-o-lantern's face was happy -- none of this scary, spooky stuff for him!

Take a look at the photo below -- I think it should be in a Mini Boden catalog! (Okay, that's my own mama's bias talkin' there.) Mikael got this shot from one of Leif's and my soccer matches. The rules... He kicks the ball, I chase him, we crash, and he always ends up with the ball, tackling it on the ground. I think he's got a new football/soccer hybrid sport going here.

And I can't believe he can throw a spiral with a football to us. WHO taught him that???

A sleepy Lars. What a great snuggler.

A sweet profile shot from the hospital.

I'll put up another post and some slide shows soon. I've got more photos to post and updates to provide.

Sorry for the delay to all of the out-of-towers... Gosh, with all this free time on my hands (hahahaha!) I should have them up by now.

Beaver on the loose!

Here's a very short blog update with photos of our favorite beaver. Tonight he'll be tearing up the neighborhood in search of treats! It may even be a family event, since trick-or-treating starts at 5:30 p.m.

Note the Elmo candy bag... It's going on its third year of use. Elmo refuses to be outgrown!

Furry friends. Here's a shot of Jack as Teddy Bear (Leif's costume last year) and Leif as Beaver. Denise, Jack's mom, asked Jack what he wanted to be for Halloween and he said, "Leif's teddy bear!" So here they are...

If Lars allows me a night with more than three or four hours of sleep this week (Someone, shoot me, please), I'll get around to a larger blog update with photos of the other L.

Note... Contrary to our wish for a great photo of the two boys for a baby announcement/Thanksgiving or holiday card, I don't know that we have one photo yet. Leif just ain't interested!

The labor of Lars

I thought I'd keep the summary of labor with Lars separate from photos of him. Lars -- peaceful, sweet-smelling, relaxed. Labor -- not so much so. Agony and requiring plenty of cleanup.... Let's not mix up the two.

After a lovely Tuesday morning of shopping in Galena with Grandma (Mom), Auntie Pat, and Leif and then a relaxing evening hanging out with the family, Lars grew tired of missing out on the fun. Hehad dropped quite low, and I was having pretty regular contractions (albeit weak ones) all day long. We figured something was up.

And then there was the tablespoon of castor oil I consumed later in the afternoon. Hmmm... That's definitely not an old wives tale!

My water broke around 12:00 a.m. Wednesday while I was sleeping. Mikael was still up getting some stuff done around the house, and he heard me thunder out of bed for the shower. I showered planning that it'd be a while before we headed to the hospital -- when contractions were between three and five minutes apart. Mom was timing them, and I was hoping they were ten or twelve minutes apart. Heck, I had slept only two hours and had a little Nyquil in mysystem. Well, contractions jumped immediately into the three-to-five minute range, and Mikael drove us quickly to the hospital.

The level of pain I was experiencing freaked me out, and I was actually open to an epidural, since labor would be really looooong. Right? Everyone in the room, though, knew that the baby was coming quickly and that receiving an epidural was mere fantasy. I appreciate that no one said it out loud in my desperate times. I stood up for the rest of labor, bent over the bed with Mikael rubbing my back, just wishing to disappear and relocate to my happy place.

Suddenly it was time to push, and our midwives were on the floor with a pillow between them, ready to catch the baby, as I sat on the edge of the bed with Mikael helping hold me up (sort of like playing defense in basketball while placing a little weight on the bed). RELIEF -- Anything was better than the contractions!


Lars' head came out with the first push (and it IS a BIG Berglund/Wolke-sized head!!!). Then a couple pushes later the rest of his body came out. SMOOTH! Grandma had one heck of a view throughout the delivery and even got to cut the cord (with Mikael's blessing -- he was still supporting me).


There was nothing elegant about the delivery, but it was AMAZING. It was so fast -- gotta love gravity! Who ever came up with the idea of delivering babies while lying on our backs in bed...???

Mikael was great support. We are so thankful that Mom and Auntie Pat made it down on Monday! I feel GREAT and am ready to buy some new running shoes!

Helloooooooo, Lars!

The latest addition to our family... Lars Vendel Berglund Wolke. He arrived at 2:54 a.m. on Wednesday, October 19^th at 21 inches and weighing 8 pounds 15.5 ounces. His head was 39 cm around.

He is so calm (or is it that we are a lot calmer the second time around?). The last 30 hours have been really smooth. He knows exactly what to do.

There are definitely strong similarities between Lars and Leif. We are expecting another Viking look-alike.

Here's Lars the Chunk -- nine pounds of fury!

And another one.

More photos soon. I just grabbed a few off of the Mom and Dad's iPad. We did our best to get some good ones with Leif yesterday, but we'll have to keep trying!

Leif showed some love toward Lars but is more interested in climbing the hospital room furniture and cruising the halls of the hospital in search of treats. He doesn't mind the "I'm a big brother" stickers from the nurses and eating the desserts off my meal trays either. Heck, and he's hanging with Grandma and Auntie Pat! He's a satisfied kid.

Preschool days

Leif LOVES going to preschool, and we are really impressed with everything he is learning. Fire fighters visited school yesterday with their fire trucks, and last week the class went to a pumpkin farm. The alphabet, feelings, fire and tornado safety... It's pretty cool.

Leif had preschool photos a couple weeks ago, and below is the result. Angelic, eh? It's hokey but sort of fun at the same time. He just LOVES his Cookie Monster backpack.

Below is a shot of Leif's preschool class. We got a kick out of this!!!


He is Farmer of the Week at preschool this week, and I'll be going to class with him today.

Below is our favorite more current photo of Leif -- a shot from Leif's last days in Miss Kristina's room in June. We'll be sending out copies of this photo to grandparents, aunts, and uncles -- a little somethin' special for your refrigerator!



Well, the next posting will most likely be once #2 arrives. Think EASY birthing thoughts...

Our new bundle of joy

Nope, #2 has not arrived yet, but we do indeed have a new bundle of joy in our lives... It comes in the form of a new vehicle! Today we drove home my dream car -- a Subaru Outback.

We planned to buy a used one, but they were more affordable than we expected. Mikael did a great job lowering the price on a "new" (1000 miles on it) 2011 Limited model, and here we are!


As much as we liked the efficiency of the Prius, it didn't meet our needs for life here in Dubuque. GONE are the days of working from home after a snowstorm or slipping and sliding on the snowy hills of Dubuque. There's plenty of room, too, for road trips for our happy foursome and hauling bikes and skis.

As for our future bundle of joy, well, it just ain't time yet. I'm feeling more and more uncomfortable every day. How can a belly get larger? I hope for a little bit of magic to move this babe along, so that it is born before the due date (October 21^st.

I can almost feel myself running. It's coming!

Leif is getting used to the idea that a baby is coming but is still convinced there is one in his belly as well. Tonight he showed us his belly and where his baby was kicking. Apparently it was pretty painful, too...!

Leif's big-boy room

It's been a while since the last post. Extreme fatigue, the third trimester, and sickness -- my posting rate continues to dwindle. I'll post some additional photos once I'm on maternity leave, October 7^th.

TT (Tara) came to town this weekend to help prep for the baby, and we ended up finishing up Leif's room as well. Here's a shot of Leif's big-boy room. He LOVES it. As he says, "It's BEAUUUUTIFUL!"

He's feeling like a big boy now and is enjoying saying things like, "I'm so excited...", "It's amazing...", and then there's a special saying when something smells. He says, "Phew. That smells like penis!" I let him know that this line will always really turn on the ladies.

Leif also got a hold of Mikael's camera on the tripod this afternoon, so we have a series of self portraits.

The baby's due date is now October 21^st, so in just another month our world will be turned upside down!

So is it a BOY or a GIRL?!?!?

Welcome to our 2011 yard!

Last year (starting in May, perhaps?) we gutted our yard. Every single plant, except for some hostas on the north side, was removed from the ground. No fear -- they all found happy homes and never went in the trash. We had seven-foot-deep trenches and a yard full of mud.

I've received requests to post photos of our yard, so here we go... The longest post ever. I have wanted to document our progress up until this point, and we'll continue to do some more next year AND the new plants will continue to grow. This is the project that never ends. We're not complaining, though!

Here's a shot from the sidewalk by the front door. Maiden grass, weigelas, day lilies, boxwoods, and a mini moss cypress fill the ground. That beautiful tree is a dappled willow -- Queen Irene's tree. It's been home to a couple different families of birds this year.

I've walked around the front yard planter now. The three weigelas (in front of the rocking chairs and small right now) will eventually be four to five feet wide and tall.

As I walk to the south side of the house (really our side yard but THE yard with the area for running), this is my view. We do have neighbors quite close behind us, but fortunately we like them AND the retaining wall is lined with overdam grasses (fifty of them) which will grow to five feet tall and several feet wide next year. That will provide some additional privacy.

Russian sage and coreopsis on the south side of the house. Russian sage is a favorite of mine, but then many of my favorites are in the yard. The landscape designer made sure to include my preferred plants. (Yep, we had a landscape designer help. We were starting with a blank slate, so we wanted to do it right. And for a cost of $125, how could we not?)

The coreopsis then leads to my two favorite planting partners-- Leif and Mikael -- volcano phlox, Marcus salvia, and a blue globe spruce filling the space. (We planted these when Pauline was in town last year.) Above the steps you'll see a HUGE maiden grass, with more Marcus salvia below it, with the grass being several times larger than Leif. It was planted last year, and we'll be planting a few more next year. It's a natural method of providing a little privacy to the "back yard".

Beyond the steps, then, I work my way toward the south end of the retaining wall. There are the overdam grasses, a lovely red bud tree (Pauline's tree), which will grow to have full coverage and be wide and has LOVELY flowers in the spring. At the base are some hostas I transplanted from the north side.

I'm up to the steps now and in our back yard. Truly this is the narrowest back yard we could have found, and we decided (with our landscape designer) to take advantage of the dimensions and have some fun! Where Leif and Mikael are standing is the start to a very funky, one-of-a-kind patio (stained green/gray). Near them are the last of the plants put in the ground last year. Marcus salvia, astilbe, the huge maiden grass, and wonderful catmint. There are three lovely astilbe plants that have pink and purple cone-shaped flowers, but they bloom such a short time. We're doing this section of the yard an injustice by not taking photos when they did bloom.

The right side of the photo is where we started planting this spring/summer. Not much exciting will happen there until next year.

This year's plantings continue -- small until next year -- but check out the cool patio that we finished this year! On the left we've got catmint, a Japanese maple, lamium, and Japanese ferns. To the left of the new patio, there are three more hostas and, beyond that, goats beard. In the "empty" space beyond the hammock will be some large maiden grasses and a weeping Norway spruce next year.

Here is Leif's play area. Actually, putting up the picnic table and sandbox is what prompted the push to continue planting into the summer. It's going to be lovely next year -- more catmint, astilbes, coral bells, day lilies, pig squeak, and hostas. They fill up the right and left sides outside of the viewing area of this photo.

We like to think that there's enough shade back there for these shade plants. We'll see...

And we round the corner toward the north side of the house. Kevin and Mikael put in the flagstone over the 4^th of July. This is going to be gorgeous next year as the grass should grow to be five feet high and wide. Then there are three monks hood, which will grow to be three feet tall with blue flowers. More hostas and then ferns.

Here's Leif showing off his area. I'd say he's got QUITE the setting for playtime back there!

And another shot from the front north side of the house. All of these plants have been in the ground almost a month, and this should be a thick, lush area next year. I think the overdam grass will provide some nice coverage. There is more monks hood planted between the ferns and hostas against the house.

Here is the south side yard -- next year's project. We have some bushes and trees mapped out for planting that will still leave the majority of this yard for running around.

These plants are all low maintenance, and it's been a lot of fun working in the yard. We've even managed to complete the decorating on the main floor of the house. We still can stay busy working on the top floor bathrooms and preparing for the second master of the house.