Just a short update...

I am up early this morning…it’s Shaun’s day off but he had an early dentist appointment. Lucky him! I would have slept in but Nat has been waking up early lately (any time between 6:30 and 7am) which is frustrating because I am trying to get her on a one nap schedule. But this is impossible because she gets so cranky and needs two naps when she wakes up that early. One of these days I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and have a cranky baby who has a VERY long afternoon nap and then goes to bed early in the evening. Although…I just put her back in her crib because she was being such a fuss bug and she’s stopped crying…maybe she’ll go back to sleep!

About her blood work…we got a call on Monday from the pediatrician saying that everything is normal except for her metabolic rate (does anyone know what this means?), so they wanted us to have her blood retested. Lovely. So I went back and again they had to dig around in her arm for a minute before finding the vein. It was terrible. I wish they could’ve just taken my blood instead! Well we got a call yesterday that everything is normal…phew. Praise the Lord! Now we just need to get her to eat more so she can start gaining more weight. Anyone have any ideas???

In other news…last week was HUGE drama at our house. Last Thursday I decided to organize our desk/office area and came across some papers that reminded me about our passports. Suddenly I realized I hadn’t seen them in awhile and I should probably find it just to know I have them in a safe place. Well…I looked EVERYWHERE…through the whole entire house. I looked for 7 hours and couldn’t find it. I was miserable…Shaun came home and I burst into tears because I was so worried and disappointed. After ALL the things we had done already to get my passport last month and now I couldn’t find them?!?! If I didn’t find them then we would not be going to Indonesia!!! Shaun calmed me down and walked me through the house. One place that I hadn’t looked was behind the drawers of the desk because I couldn’t pull them out all the way. Shaun found a flashlight and managed to get the drawer open enough to shine light down there and see…our passports!!! PRAISE THE LORD! Seriously, it was terrible.

I am thoroughly enjoying being home with Nat these days. She truly seems like a more content little girl. I think I have gotten more cuddles, hugs, and kisses this week then ever. She is becoming more testy though (like opening the cabinets when I’ve said no 300,000 times!) and sometimes throws little fits…we’re working on these things. =)

By the way…in ONE WEEK I’m leaving to fly to Canada…and then off to INDONESIA!!! Woo hoo!!!!

And so much for Nat sleeping again…she’s up now…time for a “Praise Baby” and some breakfast.

Have a great weekend!

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5 Responses to “Just a short update…”

1. so excited for your trip!

   Friends with tiny toddlers and concerned doctors have used pediasure milkshake drinks, avacados and other foods high in fats or proteins. (B loves whole red beans and eats them like candy) With all the busy that happens I sometimes forget that she needs lots of tiny meals per day and can be guilty for just giving her dry cereal or crackers when she whines with hunger.

   shannon said this on July 27, 2007 at 12:20 pm | Reply (edit)

2. Hey there!! Just an FYI…I think the metabolic rate is basically how fast your body burns calories. IE: those really skinny people that can eat a ton of food usually have fast metabolisms! =) I’m excited for your upcoming trip!! Miss you-

   Julie said this on July 28, 2007 at 9:20 pm | Reply (edit)

3. Hi Kristal, i graduated with Benji and that is how i know who you are> I was just snooping through your blog..sorry, and I read yuor latest quote about sleeping and nap with Nat. Well my daughter Janae is 16 months and seh is not a good sleeper. She goes to bed aorund 7:30 adn wakes up usually twice a night(with bottle!ugh!) and then is awake at 6:30am! She goes down for one nap at 11:30 and sleeps at least half an hour maybe an hour if I am lucky and then she is done. She get’s pretty miserabl aroung 4 so it’s pretty hard to make dinner. I dont’ know what to do cause she just won’t sleep and she is pretty whiny all day and I think that is because she sin’t sleeping well. The last two ngiht she has slept through the night and has had a least an hour and half nap. I noticed that her one eye tooth has finnaly broken thorugh so i am hoping teething is the cause of horrible sleeping, so once the other three come in she has no excuse!! Our girls are pretty close in age, so if you find some amazing solution let me know. I heary ou are going to indonesia, I wonder how she will manage with that! Good luck to you on the plane!! And the whole vacation!
   Christy Jefremow(Gunther)

   Christy said this on July 29, 2007 at 9:09 pm | Reply (edit)

4. Hey Kris,
   I’ve given up on the one nap thing for now…I think that I’ll work on it after summer is over. I think that Jack just isn’t quite ready for it yet…even though I am.
   Love you,
   Alison

   Alison said this on July 30, 2007 at 10:52 am | Reply (edit)

5. Pancakes. Kids like pancakes. I have a friend who has a book called First Foods (First Meals?) it has lots of good ideas. You can find it on amazon.
   Have an great trip.
   Joanne M

   joanne said this on July 30, 2007 at 8:15 pm | Reply (edit)

In other news...

I am officially DONE working at the bank!!! This makes me a VERY happy girl…which makes Shaun a VERY happy guy and Nat a VERY happy little girl. Whew…it is wonderful to be together. Today is our official first day off together since I would normally work Friday.

So we haven’t spent a ton of time together today because Shaun went to help some friends move this morning and as soon as he came home I headed to get a massage…yes, I said GET A MASSAGE! This was my Mother’s Day gift from Shaun & the monkey and I finally had the opportunity to use it (without paying a sitter to watch Natalie). It was WONDERFUL! I literally was in la-la land! After the massage I headed to the gym to work out…

Yes, you’re right…I said work out! Now this may come as a surprise to most of you because if you know me you know that I hate working out! Well I joined a gym last week and I actually must say I am enjoying it! I think the major misconception I’ve had about gyms/working out is that you feel like you can’t breathe and you’re going to throw up the whole time! Well I have met an amazing new friend (more on her later) who has totally encouraged me and is keeping me accountable with watching my calories and we are going to the gym together. Basically I have learned that I can speed walk on the treadmill for 30 – 45 minutes and burn 200-300 calories! And I also have been doing weights…I am already seeing results! I have been at the gym 6 times since last Wednesday!

The eating is going well too…I lost over a pound this last week. Honestly I expected to lose more since I have been working so hard but I guess when I’m expecting my friend to visit this week and when I am gaining muscle weight that explains a bit. No worries…I am sticking to it!

So about Elizabeth (my new friend/workout buddy)…the Lord has really brought this amazing woman into my life! Her and her husband, Jason, just moved here from Southern California because Jason just got a job at Central. She is the same age as me and they have been married almost a year. She is just so passionate about the Lord, it’s contagious! Just full of life and so much fun. Really, she’s a huge answer to prayer because I have been a bit lonely recently.

Hmmm…what else…I have 5 piano students set for the fall (so far) and they are all on Tuesday, which is nice! I am still hoping for more, or at least something else I can do from home to bring in a bit more income starting in the fall. I am thinking about watching a baby part-time or something. We’ll see…need prayers about that.

Tonight Shaun & I are going on a date! Our great friend Melissa has offered to watch Nat so we’re going to get dinner and see a movie. Yay!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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5 Responses to “In other news…”

1. I love your new look on your blog. Very nice. Your little sweetie pie is just so adorable.
   Happy you had your last day at the baak . .woo hoo.
   Great to catch up with you.

   Lovella said this on July 22, 2007 at 4:40 pm | Reply (edit)

2. Good for you!! I know that going to the gym and working out has never beem your favorite thing, so it’s great to hear that you are having more positive experiences working out! Having a workout buddy really helps. Cheers to the gym and staying healthy!!

   PS. I sent you a note on facebook – did you get it?!

   Bonnie said this on July 22, 2007 at 4:46 pm | Reply (edit)

3. thanks for the updates and stuff on natalie… seems like she is growing up so quickly. i guess that happens when we don’t live near eachother. sorry to hear about all the tests. we have to do the same tests for ben… i guess they are looking for the same stuff. and that is awesome that you have made a new friend that can encourage you with going to the gym… just getting motivated to go is a huge part of the battle.

   Andrea said this on July 22, 2007 at 9:17 pm | Reply (edit)

4. Wow! you quit working at the bank! I thought that you liked it? Natalie is sooo cute! I too really like the new look of your blog.

   Danna said this on July 23, 2007 at 9:08 am | Reply (edit)

5. Danna…I DID like working at the bank…but I DIDN’T like leaving Natalie and never seeing Shaun. And I’m gonna be teaching piano in the fall…so it should all work out. =)

   Kristal said this on July 23, 2007 at 9:18 am | Reply (edit)

Our little monkey...

Literally…she’s little! We had Natalie’s 15 month check up last week and here are her stats:

18 lbs 4 ounces, 29 3/4 inches long

Her head is a good size but I can’t remember what it is at the moment. The doctor we saw was the slightest bit concerned about her weight, since she is only in the 2nd percentile for her age. Yikes…that’s small! He recommended a blood test and urine sample just to make sure that there is nothing wrong and to ease my concern that I’m feeding her enough! He said there was a 99.9% chance that everything would be clear and she’s just petite but we want to be absolutely positive.

So the urine test…we tried twice but it never happened. Basically they stick a plastic bag on her girlie area and wait for her to pee. She HATED it and kept saying “Ah-wee” (aka owee!) and finally they sent me home with a bag to try for her the next morning. So I attempted…it was on for 2 hours and she even napped with it on…and refused to pee. So much for that!

Then this last week I took her for her blood test. Poor girl! I had to hold her down and they dug around in her arm for at least 30 seconds before finding the vein, and then they took 2 viles of blood! Seriously, she is so little I thought she couldn’t have much more blood than that in there! Again, she was screaming “Ah-wee!” the WHOLE time…it was awful. So now we just wait for the results. Hopefully we’ll hear soon.

I feel like I haven’t given you all much of an update on our sweet girl…here are some of her words:

- Mama, Dada, Baby (her favorite cuddle toy/doll), Guh-guh (which is her soother said while her soother is in her mouth, so it’s a real throat sound!), Puppy (sometimes she interchanges this with baby by mistake), Bah (ball), Buh (bug…she is terrified of them!), Duh (duck). She also says Mimi (when I ask her to say Grammy), Bah-pa (when I ask her to say Papa or Grumpa), and Uh-ma (when I ask her to say Grandma).

Some of the cute things she’s doing these days:

- She freely gives kisses (when she wants to!) and 99% of the time it is closed mouth…we’ve taught her well! =)

- She can tell you what a puppy, ducky, birdie, and baby gorilla say

- She runs and walks everywhere with no problems

- She loves it when we say “I’m gonna get you!” or “I’m gonna tickle you!” She pretends to run away but then stops and screeches with excitement while she waits for us to “get her”!

- She knows when she’s tired…we ask her if it’s time for “night night” and she runs to the stairs. Same thing happens if we ask her if she wants her bath.

- She LOVES Baby Einstein (particularly the Baby MacDonald which has a bunch of animals) and she also loves her Praise Baby DVD.

- She is no longer drinking from a bottle (as of a couple weeks ago!)…woo hoo! Now instead she drinks her milk out of a sippy cup!

- She loves rummaging through our cupboards, especially underneath my sink where she enjoys playing with my bottles of perfumes, body sprays, and hairspray!

- She loves fruit! And she LOVES Grammy’s jam…I think she could eat it on anything!

- She climbs up and down the stairs.

- She loves drinking whatever we are drinking…from our cups everything tastes better!

- Her favorite song is “Running Over” and she can do all the actions!

- She loves to dance…every and anytime she hears music. She’s got this great shoulder thing going on. It’s actually quite hilarious!

That’s all I can think of at the moment…she’s such a girl already it’s hard to believe we don’t have a baby anymore! =)

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One Response to “Our little monkey…”

1. She’s such a little cutie! I wouldn’t worry too much about her size – I couldn’t fins Faith’s 15 month measurements, but at 16 1/2 months she was only 19lb 5 oz and 75 cm (about 29 1/2 inches) Sometimes we just have petite Princesses!!! (silas on the other hand, is gonna be my big man! Not sure of his weight right now, but he’s already pushing 26 1/2 inches!)

   Paula said this on July 20, 2007 at 11:20 pm | Reply (edit)

New Pictures!

Pictures from FITS

Check it out!

Fourth of July

Natalie's Celebrating Too!

I just had to add this picture I just took of our little American girl!

Her shirt says “Daddy’s Little Sparkler”…too cute!

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2 Responses to “Natalie’s Celebrating too!”

1. Happy belated 4th of July! That must have been some celebration last night!
   Did you have fireworks? I’m thinking of the fact that you’re not by the water and it’s so hot. Summer has finally arrived here too! (Kristal, we leave in 1 month!) I love Natalie’s smile!

   Mom said this on July 5, 2007 at 9:53 am | Reply (edit)

2. SO cute!!!!

   kelly said this on July 6, 2007 at 1:14 pm | Reply (edit)

Happy 4th of July!!!

Well it’s Independence Day here in the good ol’ US of A…kinda nice to have a holiday in the middle of the week.

We just got back from Reagan’s 1st birthday party and Natalie’s having her afternoon nap. Shaun is off to church to set up for the big FITS (Fire In The Sky) celebration. He’s playing guitar onstage and he’s pretty nervous as they are expecting over 20,000 people there tonight! It’s a pretty big shabang! Now if only it weren’t so hot outside…it is supposed to get up to 115 F today (which is around 41 C for all you Canadians out there). So it’s hot. We’ll be sure to bring lots of water! I’ll also be sure to get some good pics for you of Shaun being a rockstar. =)

This past weekend Shaun had off so the three of us headed down to San Diego for the weekend. It was wonderful! We left on Thursday afternoon and came back on Sunday. Shaun’s parents drove down and met us there and we spent the time together going to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. It was oh so much fun! Natalie loved it too! Here are just a few pictures for now (until I can get the other ones into the web album)…

We had so much fun and we were not quite ready to come home!

Besides all the excitement things are going well…Shaun was formally announced as a permanent staff member at the church. He is the “Student Ministries Director for Worship & Programming”! Wooohoo!!! In other exciting news for my job…I officially put in my two weeks notice on Monday which means I am DONE work on the 16th! I am SO excited that Shaun and I will finally actually see each other and have regular days off together…and Natalie gets to stay home with me! =)

Well…I should go get some things done around the house before the big event tonight. Happy 4th everyone!!!

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4 Responses to “Happy 4th of July!!!”

1. Congradulations!!!! that is FABULOUS news!!! looks like you guys had a great trip. I love natalie’s hair… so cute!!!

   Andrea said this on July 5, 2007 at 7:24 am | Reply (edit)

2. What a beautiful family! I love the pic of you 3 from the side where you are all thoroughly enjoying the Seaworld show. Nice new look on the blog! And need i say it again? Natalie is SOOOO CUTE!

   Jules said this on July 5, 2007 at 6:20 pm | Reply (edit)

3. Kristal you have a beautiful family, I love reading your blog, also Julene’s and Bonnie’s. It is a nice way of keeping in touch with the Friesen gang. Wishing you and your mom a great trip, may God grant you a safe trip and may he bless your time with Julene.

   Tante Alvina said this on July 5, 2007 at 8:10 pm | Reply (edit)

4. Hey Kristal,
   The pics of your Seaworld adventure are so adorable!! I can’t belive how big Natalie has gotten!
   I’m glad you shared your blog link with me, I’ll add it to my favorites now

   Krissy Duley said this on July 20, 2007 at 10:06 am | Reply (edit)