The Year Gone By and The One to Come

Well, this last year has been one filled with a lot of challenges and even more joys. I feel as though I've aged 10 years over this one year, but that the year has ended on a very positive note. My children are happy and healthy, we have our home, Jake has his job and we have our friends and family. We know we're lucky to have all of those things and that the challenges we faced over the last year have made us a stronger family, couple and people. I'm not going to pretend that I didn't bawl my eyes out or want to pull out my hair on numerous occasions, but those times were outnumbered by the moments that brought a smile to my face or warmed my heart.

In the year to come, we have a lot to look forward to. The first big thing on our plate is Emmy's surgery in January. This will mean that Emmy will no longer have a colostomy bag. We are very excited to have a flat bellied baby and to start the next steps in her care. Hopefully we won't be looking at another surgery for at least another year and a half. That would be a dream come true! We have two new babies joining our extended family in 2009. Jake's youngest brother and his wife are expecting a baby boy in April and one of his older brothers and his wife (who happens to be my BFF, I've known her since we were 6) are expecting a baby in July. This means a couple of more cross stitch projects in the new year. We're also hoping to head to the Black Hills for a vacation over the summer. So the year ahead looks to be filled with LOTS of joy.

In other news, I had my appointment with the orthopedist yesterday and finally have a diagnosis. WA-HOO! The one that everyone knows about is the pubic symphysis disruption. The reason I'm still having issues is that my tendons and ligaments didn't return back to normal and are still loose and stretched out from the pregnancy. Because of this I have SI joint dysfunction. Essentially this means that when a normal person's pelvis rotates from to back a little bit, mine moves loosely and way further then it's supposed to. As a result it causes extreme pain while walking and sometimes it will cause the bone to rub my sciatic nerve and cause severe pain through my entire left leg, side and back. I will be starting physical therapy and hopefully be on the road to recovery. My doctor told me that it will be a long process and I will be dealing with the pain for awhile, but that it WILL get better. If it doesn't with physical therapy, there is the option of injections, but she doesn't think that will be necessary.

I hope you all are looking forward to the new year. Let's hope for a less eventful year to come. :)

I Feel Pretty

Oh So Pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright!

Ha ha ha. I currently sound like a 70 year old life time smoker. You know, that really pretty voice you get when for some reason you can't talk, but your throat doesn't hurt either. I even tried a cough drop to see if that would help, but alas, I am destined to sound like this.

I'm really hoping that I feel better by tomorrow. I have some congestion, but I didn't think I would sound like this. As the day has gone on, I just start sounding prettier and prettier.

I can't help but laugh at myself. I have to work tomorrow, and that means answering phones....could be interesting.

I hope every one is having a good holiday season. We are close to a new year, new goals and new starts.

Pederson Side Christmas 2008

Yesterday we celebrated our final Christmas with my family. We headed up there and ate brunch. The littlest girls took a nap and then we opened gifts and had our pasta bar dinner. YUM-O! It was a good time and nice to spend a quiet day just hanging out with the family. Here are some pictures, in no particular order.

Jake with the girls after Emmy opened her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse from Grandpa and Grandma. She was in complete awe.

Jake with both girls on his lap. They were getting tired and fighting....notice Emmy biting Mari on the head?

Me with a tool kit for my Cricut that I got last week. WA-HOO!

Emmy and me looking at the painted bell that I got.

Jake with his new cake decorating supplies. He was very excited about all the tools that were in it.

Peder with one of his favorite presents, a Handy Manny Truck and Tool Bench.

Jake with his new safety glasses and mechanic's gloves. He was happy with these.

Mari being a superstar with her new sunglasses.

Emmy checking out the new kitchen she and Mari got.

Chanda and Randy looking at the 2009 Year in Review scrapbook I made them.

Mom and Dad looking at the 2009 Calendar I made them.

Chanda, Randy and Mari opening one of Mari's presents. A very cool phone.

Peder and Grandma having a chat.

What we did until the girls woke up from their nap and we could open presents. Notice it's called Puzzles for Dummies? The backs of the pieces were numbered, but we didn't cheat. :)

Emmy and Mari looking at one of Grandma's scrapbooks with Auntie Chanda.

Peder, Grandma and Mari dancing to the singing Santa.

Mari with Grandma, getting some snuggle time.

Emmy with Grandpa....she ditched me several times throughout the day for him.

The girls playing puzzles with Auntie Chanda.

Peder in his new dressy Christmas outfit.

Mari in her cute Christmas skirt.

Emmy in her sparkly new outfit. Aren't all the kids so cute?

Christmas on the Early Side 2008

We spent Christmas Day with Jake's family. It was a good day with good food and BIG news from two couples. We have a nephew due in April and another baby due in July. I'm going to be busy working on cross stitch birth announcements during the coming months. I was wondering what project I was going to work on next. Here are some of the pictures we took during the celebration.

Jake and Peder listening to the Christmas story being read from the Bible.


Emmy and Mari during the Christmas story. Marissa and Jenna have all kinds of cool doll toys.


Mari with Uncle John....she was quite the social butterfly.

Peder hanging out with John, Nick and Marissa. He retreated to the couch when Marissa kept trying to put him to bed. :)

Mari playing with Auntie Jill. Once again a very social girl.

Emmy playing INSIDE the doll house that Marissa and Jenna got for Christmas. She liked climbing in and playing with the door.

Peder playing with his new backhoe. Very exciting!

Peder loves this toy. He loves flying this around.

Mari loving her new Care Bear and pillow. What a snuggler.

Our girls love stuffed animals and dolls and are always giving them lots of love.

As you can see by Emmy giving a kiss to the orange Care Bear

Emmy with some of her new books. This girl loves to read.

This picture isn't Christmas related, but I thought it was too cute not to post. Jake's brother Nick came over to hang out for a bit while in town from Chicago. Mari took very good care of him. She snuggled with him, sat on his lap and forced crackers down his throat every chance she got...even after he had said "All done" numerous times. She just likes to take care of others.

Our Little Family's Christmas

We had a wonderful little Christmas here on Christmas Eve. Here are some pictures from our morning and gift opening.

All of our stockings stuffed with goodies and waiting for children to discover them.

All three kids in their chairs. The girls got theirs for Christmas and immediately sat down in them when they got up in the morning....no one even noticed the stockings.

Peder discovering his stocking and dumping out the contents. He was SO excited to see Annie and Clarabel (from Thomas the Tank Engine) in there that he ran across the room to show Daddy.

Emmy digging things out of her stocking. She immediately handed one of her candy canes to Peder for him to have. Such a sweetie.

Mari with her stocking. Like her Mommy she is slow to wake and it takes her awhile to get going.

Emmy opening her first present. She was very good at tearing open her presents.

Mari tearing in to a present. Notice the red shoes? She got those in her first present and put them on right away.

Mari opening up her favorite present, a Little People Princess Doll House.

Emmy on her favorite present, a rocking unicorn that sings and makes noises.

Peder with one of his favorite presents. When I asked him what his favorite presents were he said his guitar and harmonica....he loves all things musical.

Jake opening his favorite present, a reciprocating saw. (Notice a haze starting?)

Me with my present from the kiddos, a computer program for my scrapbooking die-cutting machine. It's AWESOME!

Mari in the present aftermath....what a mess! And see how the haze is a lot thicker?

It's because of this. I made homemade caramel rolls in a bundt pan that separates apart. The caramel dripped onto the bottom of the oven. I stuck a cookie sheet under it, but not before it was too late and the house was filled with smoke. Lesson learned!

Peder with some of his new hard hat, tool belt and some of his new tools.

We had a very Merry Christmas and hope the rest of you did too. I'll post pictures from our other two celebrations in the days to come!