Let's see, how can I explain THIS long absence?

I have a bad habit of "shutting down" when I fall far behind on something (i.e. house cleaning, food storage, bathing/feeding my children--kidding, no need to call DCFS--and now...blogging). Bad habit/bad example, I know but here I am thinking that I have a zillion things I'd like to add to my on-line "journal" and little time (code for desire) to catch up. So here are some cliff notes of what's been going on in this family and perhaps I will expound a bit in the future ("perhaps" being the key word.)

#1 For those who haven't been frequenting my sister Julia's blog (I highly recommend it for mother's seeking comic relief), we're having a boy that's due in February...Elise will be officially "boy trapped" (a direct quote from my oldest son, Nicolas.) They pick up the weirdest phrases at school!

#2 Despite being in the thick of morning sickness, we had a fun summer vacation to Island Park, ID and Yellowstone National Park. We stayed with Bjorn's Grandma in her lovely cabin off the lake and got to know Bjorn's cute distant cousin Kimberly. And since Grandma and Kimberly wanted to see Yellowstone, we played the part of hillbillies and stuck our two oldest kids in the "trunk" of the SUV without seat belts. A few highlights: besides carsickness, our kids survived without seat belts as they repeatedly reminded us that we were breaking the law; we saw a couple of elk and several buffalo (one of which was a little too close for comfort...especially after reading the little disclaimer along the boardwalk about how several visitors were gored the previous year.) I had to pull Alexander away while he was making direct eye contact and talking with the beast with only about 20 feet between them. We enjoyed "Oklahoma" at the Playmill and a fun little rodeo in West Yellowstone.

#3 Nicolas' injuries this year: one poked eye on the playground by a girl running around with a stick (grrr...didn't her mom ever tell the "you--or someone else--lose your eyeball if you run around with a stick" lecture, HELLO!) One "we don't see anything wrong with the eyeball/$750 emergency room trip-two doctor visits-a few tears and prayers from a crazed mother-and a blessing from dad-later...he finally stopped seeing double. He also got x-rays a couple months later to make sure he didn't break his nose when he tripped and landed on a hard suitcase while jumping from bed to bed at a hotel. No break--just a lot of blood and tears from him.

#4 Alexander's injuries this year (keep in mind that he's been an injury magnet almost his whole life--see buffalo story in paragraph #2): I blogged about his broken arm already...he fell off the trampoline in the 24 hours that there was no net around the trampoline. Shortly after getting the cast off, I heard the famous scream while he was playing in my parent's backyard. Though he insists that he never let go of the swing, he (according to witnesses) did a 360 in the air and landed forehead first on a teeny strip of concrete. Shortly after getting the "swing" stitches out, I again heard the horrible scream (rumor has it that Alexander had one of the loudest cries that the newborn nurses had ever heard :) when Bjorn called me from their family bike ride. All I heard was "Open garage, Alexander hurt..." I ran outside and heard the cry live. I asked Bjorn what happened...all I heard was "Alexander's finger ripped off." I of course assumed he was exaggerating but when I got closer, the tip of his finger was oozing blood and did actually look shorter than it should. I again went into crazed mother mode and insisted that Bjorn take him to the hospital this time (keep in mind that I had major pregnancy nausea already). He did lose a little skin and his entire fingernail (which the doc sewed back on) but thankfully, his finger is still intact. Mega medical bills later (we have a rather large deductible), we are all--knock on wood--quite healthy.

#5 The kids were off track in September and we were able to use some free flights to see "Tante" Antje in Washington D.C. This trip confirmed that I'm a bit of a crazy lady tourist. I feel like I have to see/do everything when I'm visiting somewhere. We managed to see the Aerospace Museum, Natural History Museum, The National Archives, Museum of Art, Native American museum, botanical gardens, tour the Capital Building, elevator ride in the Washington Monument, WW II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, Mount Vernon, Washington Nationals/NY Mets baseball game, Washington D.C. Temple visitors center, National Zoo,and a temporary Jim Henson exhibit. We also toured around the Navy Yard where Bjorn's sister, Antje works (she's a Navy Sea Chanter in the Navy Band... www.navyband.navy.mil/seachanters.shtml ). The kids LOVED getting to know Antje better. She is quite the doting aunt and she was a GOOD sport to let us stay with her in her cute little condo for a week ;). She even threw a little 8th b-day party for Nicolas. When I asked what Alexander's favorite part of the trip was he quickly replied, "Getting the PEZ candy from Tante Antje." Fun times!