The other night, I was feeling tired. I'm 35 weeks pregnant, I have a 4.5 and 2.5 year old, and life is busy. So, I decided to go to bed a little bit early. Around 9:30, I headed upstairs. Calista was passed out in her bed, but my little man... Craig was happily playing with blocks in the playroom. When he saw me brushing my teeth, he asked if I was going to bed. I told him yes, I was.
"I want to cuddle with you! In your bed!" he exclaimed as he went to grab a blanket. So, crawling into bed after me was Craig. He curled up next to me and grinned.
He pointed to my glasses and said, "I like your glasses." When I took them off, he said, "I like your eyes, too. I like your mouth. Do you like my eyes? Do you like my mouth?" I enthusiastically told him that YES, I love his eyes and mouth. For about 20 minutes, Craig giggled and grinned at me, pointing to different features and telling me that he liked me: "I like your nose. I like your teeth. I like your chin. I like your hair. I like your face..." And I said to myself, I need to remember this moment. I need to remember my sweet little boy, cuddled with me, telling me in his own way, how much he loved me. And I need to tell him I love him! So I let him stay for a while, exhausted as I was. I took semi-unflattering selfies, to help me remember. And we hid under my blanket and giggled. Because he loves me.
Happy Mother's Day. I am so grateful for my two little munchkins who have made me a mother, and for the one still to come. May I remember, especially when things get tough, how much I love them, and how much they love me. I am so thankful for my own mother, and the wonderful example she has set for me, on good days and bad. And thank you Craig, for reminding me what is most important: you.
Sometimes, you have a perfect day. We had a perfect day as a family on Saturday.
It started when Kyler, spur-of-the-moment, suggested Friday afternoon we head to Banff. We decided we could totally go the next day. Normally we plan these things a little more in advance, but we had all evening to get it figured out, so no problems! We picked a hike to do, decided what to bring, and got the kiddos excited for the next day.
Saturday morning, as a gorgeous morning dawned, we left the house around 8 AM, and headed to the national park. First stop, the Grassi Lakes hike. We initially thought we'd just the "easy route" up and down, but decided to try the "hard route" up, and the "easy route" down. I'm so glad we chose to challenge ourselves a bit.
Even at 7 months pregnant...
The hike up was phenomenal. Little streams over the trail, rock staircases to climb up, and a gorgeous waterfall. PLUS, two kiddos who didn't whine. At all.
After a short detour caused by Kyler and I not reading the map properly (whoops...) we made it to Grassi Lakes.
Calista and Craig loved throwing rocks in the lakes.
We walked around the small lakes a little bit, and then headed down, on the "easy route." Again, I'm glad we did.
Partway down, Craig passed out in Kyler's arms, which would've made going down the staircases rather difficult... And yet again, no whining. Statements that we were hungry, or wanted a short break, yes. But no whining!
We got back to the car, Craig still asleep, and headed to get some lunch. We were all pretty hungry, and happily devoured our burgers, fries, and root beer.
This was Calista's favorite part of the day, she said, although she didn't like the smell of the sulfur pools.
Craig also loved the "spooky tunnel" leading to the cave, and Kyler and I enjoyed the building with comfy seats, coloring, books, and toys for the kids.
And finally, we headed back home to rest, relax, and eat some dinner. All in all, a perfect day.
Our Easter celebrations began on Good Friday, also known as the day Jesus was crucified. Kyler suggested we take the kids to the temple grounds that morning, and I was more than agreeable. When we got there, we went for a little stroll around the temple, talking with the children about Christ and the resurrection, and how the temple is the House of the Lord. We were all enjoying ourselves, when Craig decided to take a break, sitting down on a little wall outside the temple. I ask him what's up, and he says,
"Sometimes, you make me sad, Momma."
Oh? Kyler comes over.
"Sometimes, you make me sad, Daddy."
How do we make you sad, Craig?
"You make mistakes... you need to repent."
You're right, Craig.
I love being humbled and chastised by a 2.5 year old. :) But, he's right. I do make mistakes. And because of my Savior, I can repent.
We continued our Easter fun with egg dying on Saturday morning. When I told Kyler it was almost time, Craig ran to the fridge and pulled out two hard boiled eggs, and then enthusiastically "cracked" them together. Isn't he helpful?
Calista wanted her egg to be purple,
and Craig wanted his to be blue.
So we got the dye ready, and kids were thrilled.
Craig did try to drink the egg dye at one point.
I supposed that's why we use stuff like food dye, water, and vinegar in it. So if weird children drink the blue dye, they won't... die.
Hee.
And of course, Easter celebrations continued on Easter Sunday.
Calista got a new dress, hat, and bag - wow!
Craig absolutely refused to put on a tie.
He also didn't want to take any pictures at all, but I bribed him.
All that meant is he sat still-ish. No smiles, though.
After church, they got to see their Easter baskets.
Calista was very excited about her purple bubble wand, red car, and not one, not two, but three chocolate Easter bunnies. (One from me and Kyler, one from a little old lady at church, and one from her primary teacher. Goodness gracious!) She was incredibly sweet, offering to share with each of us.
Craig only got two chocolate Easter bunnies (from us and from the little old lady at church) but he wasn't bothered.
And finally, the Easter egg hunt. It was warm enough that we actually did it outside!
Craig needed some help to find the eggs, and wasn't terribly interested in them once he got them... until he came inside and realized most had chocolate in them.
Calista was a lot more enthusiastic, probably because she knew from experience what wonders the eggs held.
Everyone was pretty happy to play outside for a bit.
Darkness veils the earth no more, Where thy victory, o grave?
So, Calista and Craig are learning to play together really well. Most of the time. Lately, they have been playing SuperHeroes.
They put their their hooded towels on their heads and then they become superheroes, so they say.
They've been doing this several days in a row.
No matter what else they are doing or playing, they have their towels on their heads. Whether it's playing with blocks,
Or making a mess helping me make dinner,
I have superheroes doing it.
Apparently, they even have super powers. I heard them coming down the stairs, and then... THUMP... Then I heard a little Craig voice say, "I'm okay. I'm just a superhero."
And who can argue with that logic?
They even have a theme song. It varies what exactly is said, but it can include:
"We are super heroes, we are super heroes. We will save the day! I am a cat, he is a shark, we will save the day! ... We saved the day, we saved the day, we always save the day!"
See, this is a version of it.
I love my silly awesome children and their silly awesome superhero-ness.
It's that time of year again... school picture time! Although, I always had school pictures in September or October, but whatever. Calista has them at the end of February.
Which means we now get to decide which picture of her to buy... such a tough choice!
This year, she wanted to wear her purple pants for pictures.
I was willing to work with that.
It would seem the $2 I spent on these pants at a thirft store was definitely money well spent.
Since she absolutely loves them.
Also, that princess necklace. She wears it just about every day.
Hey there, gorgeous!
And, for added amusement, her class picture:
Not nearly as crazy as last year, but still amusing.
So, which picture does everyone like best? I like all of them, so it's going to be hard to choose!
In case you missed it, we are expecting an addition to our family soon. As such, we've been preparing.
Calista is thrilled. She routinely asks me to pull out my baby book (my Embryology textbook) and wants to know which picture the baby is now. She gets so excited when the baby gets to move up to the next picture in size. It's adorable. Even more adorable is that she will sometimes ask me if she can hug the baby, which of course I answer in the affirmative, and then Calista gives my tummy a big hug.
Craig had no idea really what is happening, but he absolutely adores babies. He will go up to the babies (usually in carseats) at Calista's preschool while we wait for her, and Craig will smile at the babies, talk to them, try to give them their pacifiers if they fall out, etc.
Both he and Calista have also been playing a Momma/Daddy/Baby game a lot lately, where they have one or two babies that they are taking care of. They both do a great job.
Sometimes during the game, Calista hides a stuffed animal under her shirt and then says "My tummy hurts! I think my baby is trying to get out!" and sure enough, not too much later, she has a "baby" in her arms!
Kyler and I are preparing, too, but in slightly less adorable ways. We do stuff like go to the midwife, test carseat placement in our car, and go to ultrasounds.
Here is Baby Rasmussen #3! This was at the 20-week anatomy scan, which also means, yes, we found out the gender. Would you like to wager a guess...?
How about we just let Calista, Craig, and a volcano tell you, hmm?
For New Year's, we decided to enjoy a relatively warm afternoon (up to 4C/39F!) by bundling up and taking the kids sledding... for the first time. Ever.
Calgary actually has specified "Toboggan Hills" where you are allowed to go. We went to the one closest to us, and it was fairly steep, so we started off with the kiddos going down with Daddy.
Kyler's feet made this huge spray of snow which Calista did not like. Oh well.
Kyler changed his method for Craig, and instead got a mitten full of snow for his fingers. Apparently Kyler just can't win!
Still, in spite of the face full of snow, Calista consented to go down again...
By herself, even! We started up just a little way up the hill, and progressively went further and further up the hill.
Eventually, she started all the way at the top, all by herself! One time as we were walking up the hill, she told me she wanted to go to the very top, and then said, "Will it be scary?" I told her maybe, but she'd have fun, too.
And she definitely did.
Craig didn't really want to go down the hill again, but did get to ride around on the sled a bit.
Calista did an awesome job pulling him, even if Kyler is helping (partially because Craig wouldn't actually hold on for himself).
And even when not on the sled, Craig was pretty happy just to walk in the snow.
"Cheese!" he said.
They had a lot of fun in the snow, and then we went home and put on a movie for them while Kyler and I made dinner and New Year's Eve treats. Apparently sledding was exhausting, because Calista fell asleep!
After grumpily waking up and eating dinner, we got ready for bed and made New Years Resolutions. We decided Calista was old enough to get into the act, and let her pick some resolutions for herself. Some of my favorites of her contributions:
Calista - to not be scared of the dark
Calista - get water by herself
Craig - jump
Family - get stamps on our hands, like at the zoo
Family - watch videos together
Family - go to a new house filled with ladybugs that are nice
Then we had our countdown to 2016.
I bought some "bubbly" (Sprite), and even let the kiddos use fancy goblets.
Christmas is over (for this year), but the blog is not!
We started the season by decorating our Christmas "tree." This poor thing has been around the block a bit, but the kids loved helping to put the ornaments on.
Action shot!
One of the funniest things about the kids decorating the tree?
Where the ornaments (all) end up.
They loved it, and loved to play with the ornaments and the tree afterwards, too...
...maybe a little too much, but oh well. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house!
Which means we have to have it taste like Christmas, too, obviously!
Calista and Craig were excellent helpers.
I think they were looking forward to their reward at the end.
Calista had a Christmas concert at preschool this year.
The couple of short videos I took sound kind of atrocious, so I'm not posting them, but the concert was (mostly) a lot of fun.
Craig loved it, and so did we.
I didn't take too many pictures, mostly because other parents are annoying and I decided to stop worrying and just enjoy the moment. I'm glad I did. Trust me, the concert was cute.
It ended with a visit from Santa and some yummy treats, which we all enjoyed.
Calista insisted she wear her Christmas dress to the concert, and I obliged. Isn't she adorable?
And of course, if we're talking about Christmas outfits, let's do one of the two kiddos together!
Or two pictures.
Silly children!
The last four years we've lived in Calgary, we've been told about a Nativity put on by the church here, but we've always left town too early to see it. This year, Calista saw the handout and begged to go. And since we weren't leaving until after the first day, we went that opening night.
Calista and Craig were so good (and bundled up). I think Calista's favorite part was the alpacas (or were they llamas?) the Wise Man came on. It's much too cold for camels, people! It was a very nice, simple telling of the nativity story, and we enjoyed the tone it set for our holidays.
We went down to Raymond to be with Kyler's family this year, and I had two goals for our trip: first, that Calista and Craig would get to spend time with their cousins; second, that Kyler and I would go on a date celebrating 100 months (hee!) of marriage. I am happy to say we accomplished both of those goals, even at the same time!
Kyler's sister, Kristina, graciously watched Calista and Craig while Kyler and I went on a mini shopping spree for him (he tried on 9 articles of clothing and bought 8 of them - and they look good! Who does that?) and also to go see Star Wars. Fun times were had by all, kiddos included. When we go back from our outing, Calista was actually a little disappointed to see us. She wasn't sure she wanted to leave her cousins... but she got to see them several more times that trip, so we didn't feel too bad for taking her back with us.
One of the times we got to see family was Christmas Eve, obviously. In Kyler's family, that is the big get-together. We had a program with many of the kiddos singing or playing piano and they all did a fantastic job.
The drumset was not part of the program... or on at all.
Calista agreed to sing with Kyler and I, which took a lot of courage for her and I was very proud. We sang Angels We Have Heard On High, with Calista helping with the chorus. She loved singing the "Gloria....."
And, of course, there was also a lot of food and presents (from Grandma Maria and Grandpa Ken, for the grandkids).
The elusive Grandma Maria Squid Sea Captain
I was thrilled that I'm starting to feel better so I got to enjoy almost any of the food I wanted (yay for no more morning sickness!). Calista was thrilled to get an art set with crayons, colored pencils, markers, watercolors, paper... all in a little carrying case.
And Craig loved both his present of a fun car track and also playing with Brock's present of a dinosaur thing, though sometimes Brock was not so certain of the sharing/stealing...
Since the big family get-together was the night before, Christmas itself was pretty chill. We had yummy breakfast, opened lots of presents,
(no really, lots of presents)
and put together the "some assembly required" present.
Or 45 minutes of assembly (with help from the 4 and 2-year-olds) required.
Apparently it was worth it, though.
Still, it was a fun day in pajamas,
playing with presents
(and Grandma's nativity) and culminated with chicken parmesan for dinner. Yum.
Finally, instead of exchanging gifts on the Rasmussen side, we put the money we would have spent towards a big family outing: this year, we went (five pin) bowling.
Craig absolutely loved that he could pick up the ball, and put it on the bowling helper and everything all by himself.
He didn't much care about what happened after that, but he was thrilled with the process. Though, he did end up scoring 103 and 108 on his two games. He beat me (though he DID have bumpers).
Calista wanted to do everything on her own, which we definitely let her... but it meant her ball went down the lane rather slowly.
Okay, incredibly slowly. And one time, not pictured, her ball went down, hit a pin (which fell over), and then the ball lost all momentum and just sat there, while the lane reset the pins. Her ball was just chilling right in front of the pins, not moving. It was hilarious.
All in all, it was a pretty good Christmas season. Hopefully everyone else's was just as good!
Kyler and Jeanette got married on the 25th of August 2007, after knowing each other for four years and being each other's rebound date. It's a healthy relationship.
