Dead Toad

I've spent the afternoon cleaning off my computer's hard drive and in the process, came across this photo:

Klaasen loved making this face when he was younger. It always made me laugh because it reminded me of a dead toad!

Sesame Street Live

Last Friday, we went with Maida's preschool to Sesame Street Live. It was a negative 14 degrees and walking from the parking ramp to the Target Center was a bit chilly! I totally forgot there was a skyway, so we went a different way back to the car after the show, which was a lot warmer!

The show started off great with lots of lights, music, dancing, and flying confetti, but as intermission approached, we were ready to get up and get some cotton candy! Skogen had no idea what the fluffy stuff was and refused to put it in his mouth at first. He just kept ripping it off and throwing it on the ground! Soon we convinced him to put some in his mouth and he was surprised at how yummy it was. We downed the cotton candy within the first ten minutes of the second half of the show, and all three of us had a hard time sitting still for the second half. I'm so glad that we got half price tickets because it really wasn't worth the money. We were very disappointed. However, getting to know the other kids and parents from preschool made our trip worth it.

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Klaasen Says, "Mama"

About a week ago, Klaasen started saying, "Mama." It is the cutest thing I've ever heard! I just love it! I have taken a couple videos of him talking, and the one below isn't the best, but I'm not going to have a computer for the next two weeks, so thought I should post one. This was the only one I remembered to transfer from the camera to the computer. And just for the baby book (in case I don't get around to updating it any time soon), Klaasen rolled over for the first time (from his back to his tummy) on January 17th and waved bye-bye to Grandma on January 20th. He's growing up sooooo quickly! He will be six months on the 27th of January. I can't believe he's been a part of our life for SIX months, already!!!

I figured it was about time

I finally put all of our Christmas pictures online! Some of them Erik's Uncle Gregg took and some are from Mema and Deda, but most of them are from our phone cameras, which don't take very clear pictures when the kids move so fast! (Our camera broke in September and we still haven't gotten it replaced.)

We spent Christmas in Oklahoma, between interviews, with Erik's family, however, we were able to stop and see my cousins while we were there, too. There are way too many fun memories to document here. It would take me all day! I hope the pictures can convey the love, joy, and happiness we felt this Christmas with our family and friends in Oklahoma.

Click here for Christmas Pictures

Caleb Hawley

From the little barefoot, dirty boy at camp, who could hold his own on the whiffle ball field to potential rockstar, our friend Caleb made it to Hollywood last night on American Idol!!! I have known several people who have tried out for American Idol, but I have never known anyone to actually make it on TV, and then make it to Hollywood. I am soooooooooo excited for him and his whole family, who Erik and I have grown up with!

You can also go check this link out and vote for Caleb!

http://newsroom.mtv.com/2011/01/20/steven-tyler-american-idol-poll-3/

One Day at a Time

I'm sitting here in my toy-filled living room looking out the window into the front yard, spice tea in hand and blanket on my lap, on this bitterly cold January day. Sounds of Maida reading Cinderella to her naked "Sadie Babby," echo down the hall from her room, interrupted by an occasional, "NOOO!" as Skogen, I'm sure, is either running his car into her or trying to turn the pages of her book, or both. Klaasen is snugged beside me in his stripped footed pajamas, examining the paper that Maida colored in her last Sunday School class and attempting to eat as much of it as he can get into his mouth. None of us are one bit startled by the sounds of the nail gun coming up the stairs or the pounding we feel frequently on the floor beneath us. The sounds of renovation are all too familiar, now, in fact the tile layer came in the house this morning and was working for an hour before I even work up.

I woke up this morning to my phone ringing. It was the mechanic calling from where we had dropped off our van last night. As I answered, he said, "Ms. Scharrer, I'm calling you with very unfortunate news." A call that begins like that never ends good. So, I as sit here three hours later, sipping my spice tea, and marveling at how the snow sparkles as the sun hits it just right, I'm nervously anticipating what these next few weeks will bring. New car? New basement! New town? New baby crawling! Doctor appointments... Birthdays... Weddings... Spring... Graduation... Ah! My mind is spinning as I anticipate my already-crazy-life getting THAT much crazier. How will everything fall into place? I don't even know how tomorrow will fall into place. One day at a time...

Football with Daddy

Watching football with Daddy is so much fun!

I get really excited when he lets me hold the remote.

But sometimes I can't figure out which buttons to push.

My Daddy is really nice, though, and says, "That's okay. Let's just lay here and talk instead."

And, boy, do I have a lot to say!

Klaasen Talking with Daddy from Kara Scharrer on Vimeo.

Interview Trail: Rochester, MN (Mayo Clinic)

After a week at home following our three-week-long trip, we really hadn't given our future plans much thought. So, on Monday when we realized that Friday was quickly approaching, and Erik was scheduled for an interview at Mayo in Rochester, we decided that we better try to find a babysitter really fast if I was going to go with him. Luckily, my mom is retired and doesn't mind dropping everything for her grandchildren, and driving three hours! With just a quick call to her, she was in the car the next day, and on her way to watch our kiddos.

It was nice to leave the two older ones at home... not as much packing to do, not as much entertaining to do in the car, not as much work figuring out where every one was going to sleep, no making beds on the floor, no fights, no whining, no temper tantrums or car sickness, and the biggest plus of them staying home, was that I was able to attend the night before dinner with Erik! This was only the second time, out of all of the interviews, that I was able to go with him.

We had a great time getting to know some of the residents and other applicants over a really nice (and very yummy!) dinner. I enjoyed talking to a couple of the spouses of the residents and learning more about the program and the city. They were super good at selling their program to me, and by the time we left Rochester the next day, I was almost convinced that we were meant to be there for the next three years. However, I also realized that, (1) if would have been able to attend the other programs' night-before dinners, I probably would have been just as convinced that their program was my favorite, and (2) no matter how much I like a program, there are a lot of other (and more important) factors involved in this process. Drowning in a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts about our life and just how up-in-the-air it is right now, I sincerely welcomed yet another snow storm on the way home. Keeping the car on the road was just enough to keep my mind off of the emotions surrounding the unknown of residency.

Basement Progress

Here is what we started with...

Here is the progress over the last month...

We can't wait until it's all finished! Only about one more month to go!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the kids together from the last few weeks...

At a hotel swimming pool in Omaha, Nebraska

In front of a big Christmas tree at Nana's work

(photo taken by her co-worker, Tammy)

Christmas Eve day

(photo taken by Erik's Uncle Gregg)

Christmas morning in matching pajamas, after opening presents

New Year's Day, at Bumpa and Grandma's house in matching camo outfits from Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jay

Christmas Present from Maida

Today was Maida's first day of preschool since way before Christmas, so we had a lot of papers and projects to bring home with us. One of the things we brought home was the Christmas present that Maida has been making with her teachers for Erik and I. This is one of the first times she has made us something like this and kept it a secret. She was so happy and excited to give it to us and it really made me feel so blessed and happy. I know (and hope) that I'm not going to be the type of mom to save every little thing my kids make growing up, however I'm hoping that I can snap some pictures of the special projects and put them on the blog, which will last forever.

A Quick Wrap Up

December in 150 words...

Spice tea

Christmas decorations

Real [dead, shedding] Christmas tree

Basement framed

Plumbing

Electrical

Sheet rock

Interview trail – Detroit, Omaha

Priceline deals

Swimming

Continental breakfasts

Back injury

Urgent Care

Pain meds

Weather, from storms in the Northwest to sun in Oklahoma

Brandon and Karlie’s

Talks

Food

Love

Time with Kinley

Sonic

Hobby Lobby

Mardell, new Bible

Pictures, lunch with Nana

Mema and Deda’s

Christmas Eve

Milk and cookies for Santa

Magic rose Aunt Susie made

Matching pajamas

Klaasen’s first Christmas

Beaded serving spoons

“Snowman Soup”

Laughs

Food

Smiles

Aunt Lola’s horse

Kara’s cousins

Worship

Fun family pictures

“Salad Bowl”

Icky colds

Long drive home

Ran out of gas 30 miles from home

Erik pushed car to gas station

Kara’s parents, surprise visit

Maida and Skogen home with Bumpa and Grandma

Five days without kids

Christmas decorations put away

House cleaned

Date nights, Scrabble

13 loads of laundry

New Years, Kara’s family

Healthy or Unhealthy?

Interview Trail: Kalamazoo & Detroit

Knowing that it was supposed to be bad, but not quite understanding exactly how bad was "bad," we set off for Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the middle of one of the biggest snow storms in Minnesota. With already at least a foot of freshly fallen snow on the ground, our neighbor had to plow us out of our driveway, and then we were on our way. The kids snacked on Cheerios and raisins (without a care in the world) while Erik slowly made our way out onto the freeway. The road was only partially plowed and most of the on and off ramps were not even touched, making getting on or off the freeway almost impossible. Luckily we made it on and with hardly any visibility, we slowly made our way to Michigan.

The journey seemed to take forever and that's probably because we never knew where we were. We couldn't see signs and could hardly see the road. Thank goodness for GPS! In this picture (below), you can barely make out the sign on the right side of the road. It was so bad! You didn't even know that you were approaching a car until you were practically on top of them! Very dangerous conditions. The thought of stopping and staying over night crossed my mind, but I knew that it would be just as bad in the morning, and Erik had an interview dinner that night that he really needed to try to make.

I was so thankful for Erik and for all of the experience he has had driving in snow and ice. There was one time when a semi caused us to fishtail on a bridge and if I would have been driving, I'm 100% sure that we would be dead. However, Erik was able to get things under control and I have no idea how he did it and stayed so calm in the process! It was such a wild ride that Skogen got car sick and threw up all over the car, himself, and me a few minutes later. I stripped both of us down and we kept trucking along, Skogen in his diaper, me in my undies. There were several accidents along the way, the worst involving a bus and a semi. I actually couldn't believe that there weren't more and I feel that there is nothing I could say that would accurately portray or describe this experience.

We stopped to eat lunch in Madison, Wisconsin, where the snow had finally let up. I cleaned up a bit, fed Klaasen, we ate lunch, and gassed up. When we got back on the road an hour later, the car started acting very funny. It was acting like we were running out of gas, however we had just gassed up. We made a call to my dad who knew exactly what was wrong and he suggested that we add something called, "Heet," to the gas tank. We stopped at the next truck stop to get some Heet and while Erik was in there purchasing some, the car actually died. Ah! This was not the time for car troubles! Erik added the Heat to the gas tank and the car started right up. My dad told us that it would take a while for the Heet to take effect, so I took over the driving while Erik took over the napping. I slowly noticed the car getting better and better the further we went. I got us to Chicago, where we switched drivers again. Erik then took us into Kalamazoo where we checked into a very nice Radisson (thank you, Kalamazoo EM program!) in pouring down rain and Erik was only 30 minutes late to his dinner!

After one night in Kalamazoo and a day of interviews, the storm found us again! Just in time for us to head out and go to Detroit for Erik's next two interviews, it started snowing. The snow, mixed with the ice from all the rain the day before, made for a miserable drive to Detroit. Erik did a great job, again, of getting us there safely, despite all the challenges the weather provided. Honestly, I have never felt so scared driving in a snow storm before.

We are now in Detroit and have been here for two nights. Erik is interviewing at two different hospitals here and then tomorrow we will head off again! Our next stop will be Omaha and I'm praying for better weather and driving conditions. The kids have been perfect through everything. They are great at entertaining themselves and have really enjoyed using the swimming pools and hot tubs in the hotels. They have also been sleeping very well at night and have actually slept in until 11:00 both of the last two mornings! Erik has had to be up by 5:30 to get ready for interviews, but I have been able to wake up with him and then go back to sleep. It's been great catching up on my sleep!

Four Month Appointment

Klaasen was 23 pounds, 2 ounces and 27 3/4 inches long at his last appointment. Our pediatrician said that he's a perfect breasted baby! They should gain all of their weight in the first three months and then start plateau-ing off. She was impressed with his sitting skills and not one bit worried that he can't roll over, yet. She was okay with him sleeping on his tummy and didn't mind that I don't give him vitamins (do any of you breastfeeding moms do vitamins?). Because of his weight, we decided to wait on starting food until five or six months.

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Ever wonder

...why Erik's nice dress shoes are always so scuffed up?

Now you know why...

Interview Trail: St. Lous

Early Sunday morning, November 28th, Erik, Klaasen, and I set off for St. Louis. Maida and Skogen were still tucked tightly in their beds, along with Bumpa and Grandma, who stayed with them while we were gone. Erik's interview was scheduled for Sunday night and Monday morning, so we were praying for a quick, safe trip down.

The weather, the roads, the baby - everything that could have caused problems, went perfect! We cruised right on down, got our hotel room, ran across the street to Jimmy John's for dinner, and then I had an evening alone with Klaas in our hotel room while Erik went to meet some of the residents. While Erik was gone, I started feel a little dizzy and jittery, however I thought it was just because I drank a coffee earlier in the day and maybe the caffeine was starting to affect me. Erik got home a few hours later, I took a shower, Erik did some studying, Klaasen went to sleep, and I followed shortly after.

4:00am came way too early, especially since Klaasen was was up screaming at midnight. I never did find out what was wrong, but it seemed like he had a tummy ache and after puking, he fell back to sleep. After feeding Klaasen at four, I woke Erik up to start getting ready, then I laid back down for a few more hours of sleep.

At 6:45, I dropped Erik off at the hospital, went back to the hotel for contintntal breakfast, took a little nap, packed things up, and then set out exploring. I was impressed with the neighborhood where our hotel was, but really didn't like any of the surrounding areas. I thought the houses looked run down, small, and not exactly where I wanted to live. Before picking Erik up at the hospital, I stopped at Walmart to get some 7-Up because my tummy was feeling icky. On the way back to the car, a nice looking woman approached me. She asked if I had any money for a bus fare for her, her sister, and niece. I appologized sayimg that all I had was a credit card and that I was on vacation. I felt really bad about not giving her money, even though all I really had was a credit card. I sat in my car for a few minutes, sipping my 7-Up, watching this lady approach everyone walking through the parking lot. I felt really bad for her.

After picking Erik up from the hospital in the pouring rain, we drove down to see the St. Louis Arch. By this time I was feeling really sick and really not wanting to be in the car. Erik tried to convince me to go up in the arch, but I knew I was going to puke at any minute, so much to Erik's dissapointment, we headed on home.

At some point on the way home I started puking. I don't remember much, other than Erik running into a gas station to get plastic bags for me to puke into (and reminding me to double bag), me begging Erik for some ice chips and IV fluids, and Klaasen having a tummy ache and not wanting to be in his car seat. All he wanted to do is lay on his tummy. Erik drove the whole way while I begged him to stop the car as often as he could. The last hour of the trip was so hard because I was so dehydrated, Erik was so tired, and it had started sleeting. We made, it though, and found when we got home that Skogen had been puking while we were gone and my mom had just gotten it, too. Yuck.

Basement Finish (#1)

Today they start on our basement! It should take about 50 days from start to finish and we couldn't be more ready to have it done! It will be so nice to have double the living space.

Here is our future master bedroom (the egress window was put in last month):

I'll try to keep you posted on the progress...

First Time Sitting in the Shopping Cart

He pretty much felt like a stud.

Holiday Cards

It’s my favorite time of year. It’s the time we all send out Christmas cards to close friends and family, telling them about our year, updating each other on life, death, new jobs, old jobs, pregnancies, births, achievements, and the sort. My favorite holiday cards are those with pictures (and those with multiple pictures are even better!)! Ever since the first year we were married, we’ve sent out a picture holiday card with an update on our life, written to the tune of a holiday song. With all the work I put into taking the picture (which is a little harder now with three kids and a dog!) and writing a song (Erik actually does most of the thinking!), I don’t want to have to spend hours putting together a Christmas card, which is why I have used Shutterfly for the past four years. I have actually not only used Shutterfly for my Christmas cards, but for my birth announcements, birthday invitations, and photo development, too! Shutterfly has rewarded me for my business with a couple free photo books and calendars, also.

I haven’t started writing our Christmas song, yet, but I have already been browsing Shutterfly’s website in search of the perfect picture card. In my opinion, Shutterfly has the cutest designs and such a variety to choose from, too. I have never been stuck with nothing, I always seem to have the opposite problem – there are too many that I like and I can’t decide on just one! I really appreciate their customer service, too. There have been two years in a row when we haven’t been happy with how the cards turn out (one year I accidentally used the wrong picture and the other year I cropped it wrong on the website and without previewing it before ordering, I ordered the picture with Erik's head cut off!), and in both cases, Shutterfly was totally willing to reprint new cards for us absolutely free (they paid for all the shipping, too)! This year, however, I’m hoping to get it right on the first try. With Shutterfly’s easy to use program and always improving, customer-friendly site, I’m pretty sure I’ll have nothing to worry about!

Another great perk of Shutterfly is how you are able to customize what is printed on the back of your pictures. It’s always nice to have the kids’ names and ages printed on the back, especially if you're sending them to friends and family.

As Christmas quickly approaches, I look forward to the Christmas cards that await me in the mailbox each day and I hope that our cards bring others as much joy this holiday season, too. Happy card making! :)