The Early Family Life

Year in Review - December 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 02:18:00 +0000

Now the last "Year in Review" post. To see what happened through our year, scroll down. It's been quite an adventure!

We took the kids to see Santa.

We decorated a gingerbread house and train....and cookies later in the month.

The kids helped Jake shovel the sidewalks after a big snow fall.

Peder was in his first ever Christmas program at church.

We did our annual trip to the Macy's 8th floor display with Grandpa Warren and Grandma Cindi. (Mari is on Grandpa's shoulders, Emmy is on Grandma's.)

And then went to the Holidazzle parade. Peder is giving me some love in this picture. He's so sweet.

We had a joyous and snowy Christmas celebration.

And we finally got to meet nephew #3, Elias Warren Stevens on December 26th. He was born November 22nd, 2009. Here is Emmy giving her newest cousin some love.

Thanks for traveling with us through 2009. We can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for our family and hope that you can continue on this journey with us.

Year in Review - November 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:59:00 +0000

I sold my paper crafts for the first time ever. It was very successful and I started an etsy shop and have had several custom orders since then.

We did the Walk to End Hunger at the Mall of America on Thanksgiving morning.

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving dinner.

Mari had her first trip to the ER and we dealt with our first set of injury related stitches. I almost passed out after they were done putting the stitches in.

We picked out our Christmas tree.

We also decorated our tree. We loved it!

Year in Review - October 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:27:00 +0000

Mari decided she wasn't quite ready to be done with her bath, after she was dressed for bed.

Peder turned 4. (Can you believe it?)

Jake got to do the public tour of the new football stadium at the U of M. Yes, this was part of our anniversary weekend. Yes, I'm that good of a wife. :)

Peder celebrated his 4th birthday at Pump It Up with some friends from preschool and a couple of cousins.

Jake, once again out did himself with the cake he made for Peder.

We carved pumpkins for Halloween.

And the kids got dressed up all cute to go trick or treating. Mari, the bumblebee, Emmy, the princess and Peder, Woody from Toy Story. They all picked out their own costumes.

Year in Review - September 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:08:00 +0000

Auntie Chanda came to visit from Pennsylvania and we all got to see and touch her baby belly!

My Aunt Debbie and I threw a baby shower for my sister. This is a picture of some of us cousins: Alli, me, Chelsea and my sister, Chanda.

Peder started preschool, officially. He was VERY excited!

We spent a lot of time playing outside.

We did our annual visit to the corn maze. What a blast!

Year in Review - August 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:56:00 +0000

We took our brand spanking new camper up to Hayward for a weekend of camping with Jake's brother and his family.

While we were there Peder made a tie dye t-shirt.

The kids and I went to Marshall with my mom to visit my grandparents. We hung out with Great Grandpa Earl.

Went to the park with Grandma Cindi, Great Grandma Dorene and Great Aunt Jan.

And Peder went for his first ever tractor ride with Great Uncle Jerry and Great Aunt Jan.

At the end of August we spent a week on our first ever family vacation, just the 5 of us. We camped in the Black Hills and had an absolute blast!

Year in Review - July 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:36:00 +0000

We celebrated the 4th of July at my parents' cabin and the girls had their first boat ride ever. It was F-U-N!

Emmy and Mari turned 2.

And celebrated their birthday with family at a local pool and park.

And we welcomed nephew number 2 into the family! Alexander Russell Edward Early was born July 5th, 2009! This is him with his mommy, Jill.

We visited the Como Zoo with the White family.

Year in Review - June 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:27:00 +0000

We went to Grandpa and Grandma's cabin for the annual Pederson family reunion. Peder and Zoey took a nap together.

Peder got his room redecorated into a Cars and Lightning McQueen theme.

Peder went to summer preschool.

Granpda Warren and Grandma Cindi came over to celebrate Father's Day. The girls had mixed reactions to Grandma's singing. :) They both wanted to dance, but Mari was a bit unsure of the noise level. :)

Year in Review - May 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:11:00 +0000

Remember to scroll down to see previous months!

Our annual Mother's Day slumber party.

My adorable kids sitting in our front porch.

We went to the West St. Paul Days parade near our house.

I celebrated my golden birthday, the big 2-9!

We celebrated my birthday by going to see UP at the drive in. What a blast!

Year in Review - April 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:55:00 +0000

April 2009 was a busy and fun month!

We went to an Easter egg hunt in Big Lake.

Mari won a prize, it was VERY exciting!

The first nephew of the year was born. Nathan Andrew Trent the II with proud parents Nathan and Tina.

Grandpa Warren got a time out.

We dyed Easter Eggs.

The kids got all dressed up for Easter. Mari, Peder and Emmy

Peder brought me flowers for the first time ever. He picked them out himself and everything.

Emmy turned Daddy into a princess.

Year in Review - March 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:23:00 +0000

March was filled with fun! Some of my favorite pictures from the month are below.

Peder will probably kill me over this picture in years to come, but right now I love my Princess P. :)

I love this picture of Emmy. She is changing her imaginary colostomy bag. We used to use this tube of powder to prep her skin before we put a new bag on. She went through all the steps and this picture was just a moment in her steps.

This is Emmy after her endoscopy to make sure her intestinal bleed had healed completely. It was the first time she'd ever gotten to go home after one of her procedures and I think she much preferred it to sitting in a hospital room.

Jake celebrated his 31st birthday. Don't you love the kids' cake decorating job?

Peder on the couch tucked in with all his stuffed animals. He loves taking care of his animals.

I got sick and all the kids decided to "take care" of me. Aren't they sweet?

We had a tea party.

Year In Review - February 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:49:00 +0000

Here are some pictures that show how February went. To see pictures from January, scroll down. Some of these are just favorites of mine because they crack me up and show you what our family is like during our free time.

Peder in all of the necessary gear so that he could visit Emmy while she was in PICU. He "fixed" her and was SO happy when we told him that Emmy was getting better and he had helped.

Mari with a diaper on her head. This is a tactic I use to cheer up grumpy kids. I put a diaper on my head and dance around being a goof ball. The child I am cheering up always ends up with the diaper on their heads and a smile on their faces. Yep, it works!

This is how we spent our Valentine's Day. We went to the Minnesota Zoo as a family. We had planned a weekend away to Stillwater just Jake and me, but cancelled it so that we could get some normalcy back into our life. We had a blast at the zoo looking at the animals and just spending time together again.

Peder and I had a slumber party once we were all home again. We spent a lot of time giggling and snuggling. He is my Sweet P.

Year In Review - January 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:00:00 +0000

I decided to do a Year In Review in Pictures for 2009 and because of it, look for multiple posts in one day. We'll start out with January, which was a big month for Emmy. All of our pictures for this month are for Emmy and the roller coaster she went through. This post will be difficult to look at, so if you do not want to see her how she was at her lowest point, please do not read any further.

Emmy had her last colostomy bag change ever. We were ecstatic that she would no longer have to endure the bag changes, the increased susceptibility to illness and the periodic discomfort from the bags.

Emmy, free of her colostomy bag, before the down swing from the high of no longer having her bag.

This is Emmy on January 31st, 2009. That morning she woke up vomiting blood and a diaper full of blood. In the next 24 hours she would have four blood transfusions and one plasma infusion, a endoscopy and a fight for her life. This is still the hardest thing I have ever seen and I am unashamed to admit that I cried a good cry when I saw these pictures again. So here is my soapbox, once again: Donate blood, Save a life like Emmy's. Our church is having a blood drive at the end of January, if you would like to donate in honor of Emmy's life, let me know and I will get you the information you need.

Merry Christmas from the Early Kids

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:26:00 +0000

Emmy, Peder and Mari want to wish all our friends and family a VERY Merry Christmas. We all hope that it is filled with joy and happiness and safe travel.

Emmy, Peder and Mari in their new jammies. They get a pair every year on the 23rd, so they have special new jammies to open their gifts in the next morning.

Reading a very special Christmas story with Daddy before bed. You can see our new couch that was delivered today. The fabric on the pillows is what I picked out for our chairs. It doesn't really do it justice, but we do love our new furniture!

Our Christmas tree all ready for our celebration that starts tomorrow morning. I just love how beautiful and festive it looks!

Photo Challenge: Dangle

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:14:00 +0000

A scrapbooking website that I frequent (Two Peas In A Bucket) hosts a weekly photo challenge. The choose a word and you take and upload a picture that you think fits the word. This week is my first time participating and the word is "dangle."

I took this picture while we were decorating our Christmas tree. Emmy hung this ornament very carefully on the branch and it stayed. I couldn't believe how perfectly it bent the branch and hung from our tree. I had to take a picture.

Do you have an interpretation of dangle in the form of a picture? I'm really liking what I other people are posting on the website, it's great to see interpretation! One is a picture of a kid looking shocked at his tooth hanging from a string. It looks like it was just yanked out of his mouth. Pretty great shot if you ask me.

Early Family Christmas Picture 2009

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:13:00 +0000

It sounds like people are starting to get their Christmas cards from us, so I thought I would post our family picture. Later this week I'll post a picture of the card. I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season and that your hearts are filled with joy and love.

The kiddos from left to right: Mariana (2), Emmarene (2), and Peder (4).

Daddy's Little Helpers

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:04:00 +0000

Over night last night we got several inches of snow, so when Jake got home from work he bundled up all the kids (the kids wouldn't let me help) and they went outside. They all "helped" shovel the sidewalks and ordered me around as I took some pictures.

Peder shoveled our neighbor's yard. I'm sure they appreciated it!

Mari mostly followed Peder around....and got in trouble when she tried to lick the fence.

Emmy was very helpful. When I got outside she was holding on to Jake's shovel while he was shoveling the back sidewalk. She was also the one ordering me around while I was taking pictures.

I'm thinking about doing a Year in Review from now until the new year, with each month having a summary in pictures. It's a great debate for me right now....January was not fun and I don't know if I want to look at some of those pictures, especially during such a joyful time. We'll see....I'll probably decide as I'm writing it. :)

A Fresh Blanket of Snow

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:57:00 +0000

I am SO happy that it snowed. I L-O-V-E our new layer of white all over our world. Jake and Peder shoveled the sidewalk and the snow brought out the wonder in our kids' eyes. It is such a wonderful thing to watch.

I had my financial aid appointment today at the Minnesota School of Business. Jake had to be there too since we file our taxes jointly and that meant all 3 kids came with us too. On our way to the appointment we drove past the airport and it got me thinking about movie portrayals of a Minnesota winter. You know...people step out of the airport and there is blowing snow, it's dark and gloomy and it basically portrays a place no sane person would want to be. I said this to Jake and we started talking about how it should be portrayed: big fluffy snowflakes falling playfully down, when the sun comes out right after a snowfall, the brilliant brightness that fills the world, Christmas lights shining off the snow and kids playing. All the things that I love about winter. One of the reasons I live in Minnesota by choice: we get to experience these seasons. Yes, today was kind of like how we're portrayed in the movies, but I know that I'll get a lot of those good days out of this winter too.

2009 Christmas Cards

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:47:00 +0000

Every free moment that I have had the last couple of days has been spent working on our Christmas cards. This is a picture of my little work station. The stack of cards in that plastic tub are the cards I have made. I had some help from the girls and Mari saw the finished product and said, "PRETTY!" Now I just need to write our annual letter, address the envelopes and get these in the mail. I'm hoping to have them done and in the mail by Friday. Wish me luck!

A Gingerbread House and Train

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:49:00 +0000

Tonight I took a break from figuring out financial aid for school and making Christmas cards to make a gingerbread house and train with the kiddos. This is the first time (at least I think it is) that I've ever decorated a gingerbread house and let me tell you, we had a BLAST!

Emmy is looking forward to a career in baking and decorating. She took this very seriously and when Jake wasn't on top of things, took the bag of icing and started decorating herself. Very cute!

Mari was very intently decorating. And then she realized she could eat what she was decorating with. There were a lot of things that should have been used to decorate but ended up all over Mari's face or in her belly.

Peder was very good at telling me where things needed to go and what I needed to do so he could decorate the house. I think he did a fantastic job!

All three kids with their final products. Happy kids = a very good night!

After 7 years....FINALLY!

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:05:00 +0000

I have lights on the outside of my house! WA-HOO! Jake put them up for me on Friday night and it was COLD! It will be a process, but next year I hope to get him to put lights up the peak of the front of the house.

This is me, with my permagrin, after Jake had put up the lights. I L-O-V-E them! And Jake!

Christmas Shopping

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:02:00 +0000

Today we got a bunch of Christmas shopping done. We took the kids and finished almost all of our Christmas shopping for the extended family. Just one nephew left, but otherwise DONE!

Every year at Jake's work they do a toy drive for a local charity called VEAP. In the past they have done a name drawing and had to buy a gift that the person would have enjoyed as a child. This year they just asked for donations, so we decided that we would take the kids to pick out a gift for the toy drive.

As you can see, all 3 kids picked out a Toy Story item for the toy drive. We know some children will absolutely LOVE these toys, because our kids had a hard time not opening and playing with them.

Annual Christmas Picture

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:10:00 +0000

Every year we take a family Christmas picture to send out in our Christmas card. My parents stopped by Thursday after their dentist appointments to bring me my mom's old sewing machine (WA-HOO!) and we had them do our picture. It took over 15 pictures, but we did get a good one of us. You'll have to wait for that one till after I've mailed out my cards, but here's a couple that we couldn't use.

After we were done my parents wanted a picture with the kids. This is the first picture we took of them. All the kids are behaving, everyone is smiling and it's perfect. What gives? :)

BIG News and More Christmas

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Well, yesterday I went to Minnesota School of Business and talked to them about their Interactive Media and Graphic Design program and have decided to go back to school. I'm REALLY excited about this. I hope to fill out the application in the next day or two and then start in January. With the number of credits I will be taking, I should be able to finish an Associate's Degree in 18 months. There is free continuing ed, you just pay for books or supplies and life time career placement services.

So that's my BIG news right now. Our life is going to change quite a bit for the next 18 months.

Now...on to Christmas. I L-O-V-E Christmas scents and candles. This year I found a new favorite. Bath and Body Works Fresh Balsam candle is a little slice of heaven for me. Before I decorated for Christmas I would just go to my candle shelf in the closet and smell this candle. It lifted my mood and brought back memories of getting Christmas trees when I was a kid. This candle makes me smile and puts me into the holiday spirit.

Meeting Santa

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:43:00 +0000

This morning we took the kids to meet Santa. This is a picture I took of them talking to him during the photo session.

Book Group Christmas Party

melpissa@hotmail.com (Melissa) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:39:00 +0000

Tonight was my church book group's Christmas party. WHAT A BLAST! It was at a member of our group's house (Beth H.) and she was a wonderful hostess. Including me, there were 14 women there, and that means a ton of laughter and a ton of fun. People brought a lot of delicious food and we all enjoyed the special treats.

Beth had her house all decorated. This was on her dining room table....the mood throughout the house was festive and warm. Perfect for a party!

Here is a picture of most of the group. One person wasn't there yet, I'm taking the picture and Beth J. is hiding from the camera. I was nice and didn't post the picture I secretly took of her. :)

We played the dice game and fought over presents. I was lucky enough that I got the present I wanted right away and no one tried to steal mine. :) This picture is Beth J., Beth H. and Leslie participating in the battle for the movie. Carol ended up winning it, but the scramble betweeen these three was hilarious. The whole game had us laughing, especially when people got to steal the gift they really wanted or someone stole that extra special gift. I really haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

The night finally started to wind down at about 9:30p. We were all shocked to see the time. Beth H. was a wonderful hostess and sent us all home with a Poinsettia.

What a great and wonderful way to start out December and the holiday season!