Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2006 was a landmark year for our family, due in large part to the birth of our fourth daughter Anne Marit on April 4. We now have the same number of children as many of our grandparents had two generations ago, something we never would have imagined when we got married in 1994! It feels large—like a farm family should, we once would have thought. But in our cozy Minneapolis home, it also feels wonderful…yet big enough, that’s for sure. So don’t anticipate a fifth child from us: Anne has the special designation of being our final child! And she is doing very well—she is an especially happy and good-natured baby, though she was also rather challenging in that she refused to nurse from a bottle until she was eight months old. (!) A sign of independence, or perhaps a sophisticated preference for only what is authentic? Who knows…we admit, it’s hard to spin that to the positive…it was a trying eight months indeed!

Our next oldest, Emma, turned 3 on March 31, so she is fast approaching four at the end of 2006. She is in many ways the most mysterious of our four girls. She can be shy one moment and exuberant the next. Her cryptic pronouncements (her speech is still rather unclear) make for interesting stories and conversation. And she is undeniably sweet most of the time, even though she has recently been going through some Terrible Three moments this fall (a belated Terrible Twos?). In spite of this, Emma also had a great year, and it’s hard to believe that after this school year she will have only one more year of pre-school before starting kindergarten in fall 2008! She also started swimming lessons this year, so it can be a busy pool at the YMCA with all of the Layon girls in it at once.

Grace, who turned 6 on July 21, had some dramatic moments in 2006. She finished kindergarten last May, started to loose her baby teeth, learned to ride her bike without training wheels in August, and has recently been growing like a weed (a full inch during one six-week period this fall!). Her reading has also taken huge strides—it is so thrilling to have her read to us at bedtime now! She is also our most spontaneous child: very theatrical, and with a powerful and lyrical voice. At this point, we should mention that our home could often be mistaken for a theater school—there is nearly always singing, acting, or other role-playing events taking place. Grace is often leading such creative excursions; she even fancies herself a conductor, and was seen trying to direct a string quartet at our church this fall (mercifully, they didn’t appear to be distracted by her waving arms).

And Sarah, who turned 9 on November 17, is in fourth grade at our neighborhood school. She is a crossing guard, takes piano and flute lessons, and recently participated for the second year in her school’s “Kids on Broadway” production for 3-5 graders. She had a brief solo part in Hairspray, and was also an ensemble singer for other musical selections including songs from Wicked, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, West Side Story, and Singing in the Rain. In August, Sarah also completed her second children’s triathlon, and in November she graduated to a new multi-geared bike with 24” wheels. Somehow she also had some time to play soccer (as did Grace), and sing in choir at church. It’s safe to say that she lives life richly, and is also growing up faster than we had ever imagined children could!

Of course, keeping up with all of this has also meant a busy year for us, too. Our very favorite jobs (as tiring as they are!) are being parents to our girls. The job descriptions include many tasks: washing, driving, packing lunches, giving baths, helping with homework, overseeing music rehearsals, and tackling a pile of laundry that seems to never, ever work its way down to being completely gone (are there clothes at the very bottom that have been dirty for several months, if not years?) And in addition to that, we also each continue to pursue careers; Kris as a web designer (and adjunct design instructor) and at the University of Minnesota, and Katie is an emergency physician at Fairview Southdale Hospital. And to help keep things balanced, Katie works 60%, which helps a great deal with keeping up with many of the domestic tasks listed above—she certainly deserves most of the credit for keeping our house in order, children on time, tummies full, and pantry stocked!

Finally, in addition to the everyday victories of family life, Kris set a huge goal for 2006 and met it: to run and finish Grandma’s Marathon. Starting last winter he trained three times per week, and successfully crossed the finish line of Grandma’s on June 17, 2006, with a time of 5 hours and 2 minutes. It was a big day, made even more exciting by the challenging race conditions (hot and humid), it being the 30th anniversary of the race, and it also being Sharon’s (Kris’s mom’s) birthday!

So it’s been a very blessed year for our family, and we hope that your year has been a good one as well. May your 2007 be filled with good health, peace, and opportunities to see each other and share good cheer.

Sincerely,

Kris & Katie (and Sarah, Grace, Emma, and Anne)

P.S. - For some photos from 2006, please visit our photo site at pbase.com.

Annie in NYC

Katie had a medical conference in New York last week and I wanted to go along, so we left the older girls in care of their grandparents and took Annie along to the Big Apple.

I will get around to posting more photos later, but here are two. The trip was great, though it was cut a half-day short due to us not feeling well on Sunday morning. =(

She Drinks

Okay, first apologies...because I'm sure my readership is in the millions, so there must be many uphappy readers out there who haven't had *anything interesting* to read online since last summer...

So what, exactly, does it take to get me back into the blogging hotseat?

Anne finally drank from a bottle last night!

Please remember: she is nearly eight months old.

I can't tell you how great it felt to be able to feed my own daughter. It was amazing.

Gracie Rides Her Bike!

It's a big first...Grace conquers her bike without training wheels, and thus it's an occasion to add video to this entry!

And please note that the jet engine sounds are from airplanes flying overhead...not from Grace and her bike. =)

BWCA 2006

Sarah went on her first canoe trip this summer with Kent and I. We left July 27 and returned on July 30, and spent our entire time on Lake Saganaga due to the forest fire some miles to the south and west. Typically we would paddle from lake to lake, starting at Seagull Lake, but the fire remained enough of a threat that I did not want to canoe in its direction, so we headed away from it. Because we start on the eastern side of the BWCA to begin with, this didn't allow us to go eastward any farther without going into Canada. (which we still did, but only a few yards and very unofficially!)

A selection of photos from this year's trip can be viewed here.

Sarah's Second Triathlon

Yesterday Sarah was in her second Miracle Kids Triathlon, held each August in Chanhassen. The children who participate, aged 7-17, race for other children who have cancer and are unable to compete in such events. Sarah raced for a boy named Jesse and did well, finishing in 25 minutes (100 yard swim, 3 mile bike, 0.5 mile run).

Sarah also raised some money for the Miracles of Mitch Foundation, which was founded by a 10-year-old boy, Mitch Chepokas, who died of cancer in 2003. Shortly before that, however, he asked his parents to start this foundation for the benefit of other families with children who have cancer.

It is a very nice, well-staged, and awe-inspiring event. And I should also mention that last year's triathlon, Sarah's first, motivated me to run my first marathon this past June!

Fragments from a Weekend in Chicago

A few interesting details from our family trip to Chicago last weekend:

• Upon checking into our hotel, Sarah proudly announced, "I just figured something out, all by myself! Chicago's time zone is exactly ten minutes ahead of ours...look at the clock!"


• Yes, we finally broke down and visited American Girl Place and yes, it is just as exhausting as you might imagine!


• Millennium Park is fabulous...check out the Anish Kapoor and Jaume Plensa sculptures.


• Okay, okay...so it took us 6 years to visit Millennium Park! We're busy! =)

Annie's Baptism

Anne was baptized on Sunday at our church, and it was a wonderful day--- easily the most fun baptism I've ever attended. For starters, Monroe Crossing, a bluegrass band that visits our church every summer, played at the service. It couldn't have been more perfect! What will now go down in our family history as our only "bluegrass baptism" was a toe-tapping great time, and their version of "Jesus Loves Me" (prefaced by a brief acknowledgement of the baptism) was a beautiful way to conclude that portion of the service.

Afterwards, we had over 50 people over to our house for a brunch to celebrate Annie and her special event. It was a perfect Minnesota summer day--- sunny, sweltering, and to top it off, it was also the final day of the Tour de France.

5:02:38

I ran (and finished) my first marathon! And it was on my mom's birthday. I finished in 5:02:38, which was about 30 minutes slower than I had hoped. But it was hot, humid, and sunny, so I'm quite happy given the challenging conditions.

I suppose this topic falls somewhat outside the theme of this blog. On the other hand, to run Grandma's Marathon (grandmothers are girls...), and with my mom in attendance as well as Katie and the four girls, it's still somewhat topical. In fact, the highlight was having three generations of the girls in my family all there--- very special. (note: Katie's mom also made it to town, but due to cellular network outages, we weren't able to meet until well after the race)

Some photos from this great day:

Titties (and Titty Tats)

Every now and then, your children help you re-learn the value of something you otherwise just take for granted.

Like consonants, for example.

Emma has a knack for being able to speak entire paragraphs without using hardly any consonants. In fact, at age 3, we're starting to get mildly concerned and might have her checked out by a speech therapist. But in the mean time, we have the interesting challenge of trying to figure out what she's talking about.

Lately, she's been extremely interested in cats...or kitties. Or, in her case, titties. It's an interesting situation, as she's *always* talking about titties. And heck, she's even using consonants this time...just not the right ones!

So if anyone hears Emma's titty talk, please don't blush or criticize...she's just talking cats.

And making me yearn for the day that she picks up a few other consonants in her bag of tricks. Because for goodness sake, they're pretty important after all.

Up Late

There's something about being up late with your baby that can be really fun, even if you're normally not prone to waking up randomly for an hour or so each night.

As you can tell by the photo on the left (click to enlarge), Annie can be quite enthusiastic about being up late. She pumps her fists in the air, makes lots of joyful noises, and is even starting to grin now and then. (this last detail might be random, but still, how can you not see it as a sign of happiness?)

I, of course, don't wake up quite as joyfully as she does. But in time, I have to admit that I really enjoy these moments. Each night that goes by, that I can spend holding her, I feel that this is most precious time--- time that you never really get once they're grown. And I know this--- I've even tried waking up our older girls, to sit quietly in the living room and listen to The Jazz Image on the radio late on a Saturday night. So far, I've not been successful in getting them to wake up, so that time tends to remain a solo activity, which is fine.

But Annie's showing me that she is probably up for it. Babies and jazz...the improvised movements and expressions...I guess they go together real fine.

The Jitters

Sunday afternoons are often pretty relaxing for us, as we lazily spend time at my mother-in-law's house having brunch, and then often a few hours afterwards letting the kids do their thing while we visit or nap. It's a lot like the Sundays I spent at my grandparents' homes near Duluth when I was growing up.

Yesterday was a little different, though. After brunch, my hands started to get sweaty and I felt a lump growing in my stomach. I was clearly feeling nervous. Something was about to happen.

Sarah's piano recital.

It's funny how your own child's performances can have you relive your own performance anxieties--- it certainly is the case with me. I used to be extremely scared of my piano recitals and dreaded them. In hindsight, I don't know what I was so worried about. They were almost always in my piano teacher's home, so they were small in scale, and I usually did pretty well.

Sarah's recitals are in a small recital hall at Schmitt Music in Edina. There's a real stage with spotlights and everything. Maybe that's what gets me so nervous; the child piano player in me equates it with Carnegie Hall, and starts to get all stressed out about it ahead of time.

But Sarah acts pretty cool and doesn't seem to be that nervous. She calmly listens to the other pianists, goes up when it's her turn and plays a near-perfect performance, and returns to her seat. The jaded pro.

While I sit there wringing my hands and trying to keep those butterflies calm in my stomach.

3+1

Last night was one of Annie's first bad nights...not horrible, but she was awake enough that I got to share in the burden. (I was immune from this until recently, when she started to take a bottle a little...but just enough that nighttime feedings are no longer just the domain of mother and daughter)

As I cradled her in the big reading chair that we have upstairs, Anne just stared at me. She has started to fix her gaze upon things a little more, and last night, it really seemed like she was trying to stare me down. And maybe give me a message.

You see, this time around, I was much more scared of having a 4th child. I went through much of the pregnancy with a mixture of denial, regret, fear, and apprehension. I would think of all the reasons that we shouldn't have gotten pregnant: kids are expensive, weren't three enough?, we're going to become insanely busy, resources are scarce as they are, do we have enough space?, there are too many children in the world already, weren't three enough?, and, in fact, weren't two enough...and weren't we already one over our limit?

So last night seemed to be my night of reckoning. Annie threw enough of a fit to get me out of bed and hold her, so she could stare me down. (at 3 a.m., of course....what's wrong with the afternoon?) She fixed those large eyes on me and stared, unblinking. She looked, and looked, and finally, the words that I think she was thinking were entering my mind...

So, you think I'm one too many, huh?

And that you had enough children before me?

And maybe the world had too many children already?

Uh...Annie...look, I didn't mean any of it...

Sure, dad, those eyes seemed to say.

So do you also think there are already enough songs in the world? Maybe enough art, too? Should people stop singing and painting, because we already have enough of that?

Errr...Annie, now wait a minute...

How about books? Surely, we have more than enough to read already...too much, in fact. No one has time to read all of the books in the world! And books aren't doing much for the trees, are they? Terrible, that people keep writing books and ruining forests.

* silence *

Well, anyway, here I am...you've got me now. Just like all those books on your book shelf. Are we too many, or just enough, or what?

---

I am still somewhat scared by having this little girl in our house, scared to have this 4th child to feed, care for, and raise. But she's an awfully beautiful little baby. And of course she's right--- I would be even more scared of a world where we already decided that we had enough of everything that is precious, and that we decided to stop creating more. Sure, there are plenty of children in the world already...plenty of music...plenty of books...plenty of everything. And we continue to soil the planet by making, writing, and recording more of our creations. And I suppose we really don't need any of it. But then again, the world didn't need me or you either, dear reader.

Fortunately for us, some people thought otherwise, and so here we are.

Thanks, Annie, for setting me straight at last.

Leprechaun

Okay, he's a boy, but Lepi needs an entry because he's (nearly) as cute as my daughters are.

Why Girl Wirld?

I must admit, for someone who loves to write and usually has a lot to say, I have been a most lazy and late-coming blogger. But I think I finally figured out why...I've never bothered to blog about what I love the most, and spend most of my time doing: being with girls.

My girls, that is. Three of them, soon to be four. (or four, soon to be five, including my wife...yes, I better count her, too!)

My girls are the joy of my life. And, sometimes, the bane of my existence. And except for me and my trusty male companion, a beagle named Leprechaun, there is precious little maleness in my home. So hanging out with girls (my girls) pretty much defines my existence much of the time.

And not that I'm an ultra-masculine, hairy, weight-lifting, beer-drinking, blue-streak-cussing alpha male...this isn't really about whining (really!). But it is a simple fact, truth be told, that my window on the world is tinted slightly pink (and would be saturated pink if Grace had anything to do with it...). So I may as well wrap my arms around this fact and make the best of it, and start writing about it. Because most of the time, it's a rather fun life to live.

And when it is not, I may as well complain about it in public, and hope for some understanding comments!