Thanksgiving in Sunriver

Guess Who's Who????


Look down for the answer...

Grant is on the top and Will is on the bottom!

Our baby boy is getting so big. Will is now 3 months old! He is working on rolling from his back to his tummy....he does a lot of laying on his side and today got everything but his head rolled over. It won't be long before he will be all over the place.

The boys and I spent a week in Sunriver over the Thanksgiving holiday. We went over with Steve and Cindy on Monday before Thanksgiving and Josh came over for a couple nights for the big dinner. Sharon & Andy came over too. We had a lot of fun, snowball fighting, lounging, playing Wii and just hanging out together.

We got lucky and there was a little snow on the ground when we got there!

This is what we did most of the time....snuggle up in the couch with blankets! Ahhhh....

Although Grant missed his Thanksgiving Feast at Preschool, we brought his "Indian Chief" costume with us and he ran around the house like a wild man!

With the little snow we had on the ground, we were able to make a little sledding work for Grant and his buddy Brady Hottmann.

A Sunriver tradition.....seeing the lighting of the lodge lights and Santa and Mrs. Claus come in on their sled. They did the coolest thing....they had a plane in the night sky flying with a red light on the front (Rudolph's nose) and sparks coming out the back like it was coming in for a landing. Then, shortly after it landed the parade started and Santa came in on his sled. So cool!

Grant and I even got to hop in the sleigh for a picture!

The girls- Sister-in-law Sharon, Mother-in-law Cindy and Me!

The next morning we went to the lodge and had breakfast with Santa! Grant asked Santa for a blue bike with two wheels and a bell on top!

There in nothing like the magic of the holiday through the eyes of an "almost" four year old! The question I hear daily is "How many sleeps until Christmas?" He can't wait.

Almost 3 Months Later....

Wow...having a second does really change the way I spend my time! Blogging just hasn't been on the top of the priority list these days. But now that Baby Will is becoming a little more predictable with his sleep, I feel ok when he gets a head start on me at night.

So for a Will update...his newest trick (performed once for Grant and I) was rolling from his tummy to his back. He hasn't been able to re-enact this trick yet, but I think it is coming soon. He loves to spend time laying on the floor checking out the world around him and he even enjoys his tummy time. He is growing like a weed....at his two month appointment he was 13lbs. 10oz. and 25" long! When the doctor saw him, he said "looks like you have a 4 month old here." Guess we do find the time to feed the guy :-)

Will was diagnosed with a case of acid reflux at about 9 weeks old- so life was a little grumpy until we got him on some good medication that helped out. We also had to adjust to life with less sleep....we don't remember being awake so much with Grant. However this too shall pass and it seems that with a little nudge from his parents, Will is starting to establish some better sleep habits...AMEN! Although for those of us with kids, we know that once they get into a "routine" the only thing you can count on is that it is going to change.

We just love our little Will...he has brought even more happiness into our lives. He is a smiley guy who can light up a room. Time is flying by and I can't even believe that he will be 3 months old in a week.

As for Grant- he is just the most loving, caring and happy little boy! At such a young age he knows just what to say to me to put a smile on my face. From "mommy I love you more than anything" to "mommy you are beautiful." Everything a mom and dad can ask for in a little boy. He is proving to be a gentle big brother too, who just can't wait until Will gets old enough to toss the football with him. Since school started, Grant has been busy with learning more about letters and wanting to spell out everything. With a little help of course! He especially loves this extra class he takes at school called Create n' Play. He is developing great relationships with friends at school and the feedback I get from his teachers makes me so proud. Below is a picture of Grant with his friends at a mommy lead craft day. Those are hand and feet turkeys they are holding. So cute.

Below is a great picture of Grant and Papa Steve with a bunny at his schools Oktoberfest.

We had a fun Halloween...after much thought, Grant decided on the Beaver outfit instead of an astronaut. Good choice since these days he is all about the OSU Beavers. GO BEAVS!

Will was a pea in the pod, which he really wasn't that into! I bought the costume on sale before I was even pregnant and it was fate that I had my own pea to put in the pod for Halloween :-)

In the midst of a newborn and adjusting to a new family of 4, we continue to make progress on our house. You can see this picture was taken when it was still sunny back in October sometime, so it is even farther along now. Siding is going to be complete this week and sheet rock starts tomorrow. We are hoping for a March move in date. Between now and then we have a lot of picking out and elbow grease to put into this project.

When the slab was poured in the garage, we got the troops up early and made sure the we left our mark in the wet cement! Even Will got his feet dirty!

Every house has to have a secret passage way into the playroom! Grant and Papa Steve test it out.

When Will was born, his big brother gift to Grant was a set of real tools to take to the job site. He can really swing a hammer.

Life at the Kolberg House has been full of activity......and we can't wait for more of it with the holidays coming up soon. We'll keep you posted.

Baby Will is here!

It all started on Saturday, August 22nd around 4 something in the morning. I had was feeling pressure and sensed that I might need to head to the hospital....sure enough when we got there I was 5 cm and they immediately got me into labor and delivery for my epidural. As I sat up to get the epidural my water broke and when they checked again I was at 9.5cm and ready to push. It was around 6:45am at this point and my doctor didn't start her shift until 8am! Since Will was in no distress and I felt like I could wait, they let me labor down until Dr. Payne (I know- quite ironic) go there. She came to see me just after 8am and William John was born at 8:17am! Just a few pushes and he was here! He arrived 9 days early, just like his big brother. Here is a shot of the happy family of 4- I am so out numbered! But so blessed to have two amazing little boys.

Will weighed in at 8lb. 8oz. and 21 3/4" and looked like he was in a boxing match...his little face was so bruised from the birth. Poor guy.

It was amazing how quickly the bruising went away and now we no longer have a purple boy! He is happy and healthy at 2 1/2 weeks old.

At his 2 week doctor visit, he weighed in at 9lb. 7oz. So he is growing fast and seems to be following in his brothers mellow footsteps. Crying only when hungry and happy most of the other times.

He truly is our little angel and such a blessing.

Grant is handling the changes like a champ....sometimes enjoying being treated like a baby too. Here you can see we have both boys swaddled!

Grant loves his little brother and is so kind and gentle with him. I can already tell that they will be best buddies.

More to come, but for now I must sleep :-)

Home, Home on the Range

Here comes the ice cream man! Grant can hear the music of "Home on the Range" from miles away. He then starts jumping up and down and asking if he can get an ice cream from the ice cream man. Of course I cave every time- I think it is because I love the novelty of it all too. Growing up in the sticks, there was never a cute little Jeep that drove by an had a selection of frozen treats! Here is Grant posing with our local ice cream man (Grant is his only client on our street).Last night Grant picked out a cotton candy flavored Popsicle- after I talked him out of the creepy Dora the Explorer one with the black gumdrop eyeballs.

Here is proof of his excitement!

Grant savoring the Popsicle on an almost 100 degree night! YUM!

Walls, but no Will!

As you can see from the pictures below, the house is coming along....our contractor (a.k.a- my dad) says that in the next three weeks we will really see progress. Here is a picture from last night- see no walls!Then here is a picture of today around 3:30pm! Walla- WALLS on the first floor! Josh even got in on the action and was recruited to help lift a garage wall into place. It is truly amazing to be able to walk through the main living floor and see it take shape. I am already decorating it in my head :-)

So we have walls, but no Baby Will! He is just super cozy in my belly I guess and has decided to stay put. I have an appointment with Dr. Payne tomorrow and hopefully she can get things moving a little and set an induction date if he doesn't decide to surprise us earlier. So in the meantime, Grant and I are filling our days with fun activities to keep us busy (and my mind off being SO pregnant). Today we met up with Leanne, Reese, Taylor, Shannon, Emmett and Jo at Tanner Park in West Linn for some fun in the fountain and play ground. Here are the bigger kids on the teeter-tatter while Jo watched!

This weekend, we celebrated Multnomah Days with a parade through Multnomah Village. It was Grant's first time seeing a parade and he really loved the candy that they threw. We tried to tell him to wave, but mostly he just stuck his hand out in hopes that they would throw more candy.

We met up with Kate, Sean, Sabina and some other friends at the parade. Sean and Deco (the dog) kicked off the event in the dog parade.

Go Sean and Deco!

Busy Summer!

Ok, so I tried to get all these pictures in chronological order, but messed up! We had a busy July and start to August, which was lots of fun.....as you will see from all the pictures. My blogging will be brief so that you don't get too bored!

Josh and Grant had their first ever camp out...in the backyard. We grilled burger, had a campfire, made smores and the boys slept in the tent. Yes, they made it all night and Grant was never more eager to go to bed. Looks like next year they'll be hitting the real campsite.

Doggie camped out too!

In mid-July we made one final out of town trip to before Will arrives...it was to Seaside with the Carnese Family. Although the weather was typical overcast beach weather we had a great time.

We had lunch and did a little shopping in Cannon Beach. Here are Emma, Sophia and Kirsten at the pizza parlor.
The boys relax with some ice cream after lunch.

We made a trip down to play in the sand.

I wrote Grant's name in the sand, which he thought was pretty cool.

Josh was a trooper and let Grant and I bury him in the sand. Grant thought his head should be covered too!
Emma & Grant were quite the buddies.

Over the 4th of July weekend we had Sydne, Quinn, Luke, Barrett, Heidi, Dan and Baby Clare over to Sunriver. Heidi and Dan got to see some real Oregon sunshine and we got to meet Clare.

Syd and I relaxing at the pool.

Heidi, Dan & Clare! Clare is a true California girl and loved the water.
Luke & Grant hit the links...their Dad's did too the day before!

Happy 4th of July! Heidi, Grant & Clare are in the spirit.
The kids got their faces painted at the Fireman's Picnic.

Supper Club! We hosted the July Supper Club at our place....the theme- Cooking with Liquor! People were really creative...we even initiated our newest members (Molly & Jason) with some flaming Dr. Peppers! Welcome to the Club guys!

Taylor Forseth's 3rd Birthday! It was a super hot, but fun day at the park for Taylor's 3rd birthday party. The kids played in the water.....here are Reese & Taylor!

We all sang Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girl and ate some yummy cake.

Grant was in the water the whole time. That day was also Josh's birthday so he and some buddies (Thomas, Andy and Matt) hit Trysting Tree G.C. for the day.

Grant with Scruffy....his newly created friend from Build-A-Bear! We told Grant that his soon to be born brother Will wanted us to take him to Build-A-Bear and made a stuffed animal. He had so much fun putting in the heart, filling him with fluff, picking out his football uniform, giving him a bath and making him a birth certificate. Scruffy is now his #2 guy to play football with (right after his dad)

Grant also took a Big Brother class at the hospital in early August. He brought his doggie and learned to diaper him, wrap him in a blanket and lots of other useful things about being a big brother.

Grant was very serious about the class and tells me all the time how anxious he his for his "broder" to arrive.

Cindy and Steve had given us a gift certificate to Roots, a restaurant in Camas, several years ago. The certificate was for a cooking class. So finally we scheduled it and had an amazing time. It was a five course meal outside where the owner taught and cooked all the food right in front of us. What a fun time....it also happened to be our first trip to the labor and delivery room at the hospital for a false alarm!

Construction Update:

In the midst of all the summer fun, our house project is under way- full swing. Here are some pictures of the foundation being poured.

Grant thought the BIG concrete pump truck was cool, especially when they let him run the controls!

Foundation is poured and framing has begun....I am told that this stage goes quickly! Can't wait to see the walls go up.

Baby Will Update-

At my 37 week appointment, my doctor said that I was two centimeters dilated and 75% efface...which could mean anything. She thinks that Will wants to stay put another week, but I am hoping she is wrong and he decides to make an appearance any day now. She estimates he is about 8.5 lbs as of this Wednesday! Wow- can't imagine if he stays in there too much long. Come out....come out Baby Will!