The fams' health

After going back and forth wondering whether or not Karsten was really sick we finally realized that he was and whatever he has is contagious because I managed to pick it up as well. I was feeling flu-ish on tuesday so I went home from work early and got a lot of rest and was feeling better on Wednesday and I was planning on going to work but Karsten was still not keeping much of anything down so I couldn't send him to daycare like that. We stayed home on Wednesday and by the end of the night he seemed to be doing much better, he hadn't vomited for over 24 hours and then yesterday it was back in full force. After calling the pediatrician, the nurse suggested that we bring him in just to get him checked out so I left work early again and we all took a trip to the doctor. Turns out this is just a really bad bug that is going around and the vomiting/diarrhea can last as long as 2 weeks. He got a clean bill of health and were told that we are doing everything right so that made us feel good. Our little fatty gained more weight since a month ago - he now weighs a whopping 17lbs 4oz! Yesterday was also our 4th wedding anniversary (I can't believe it's been that long already) and since we had a sick kiddo we decided to stay home. We had planned on dropping him off at grandpa's house so we could go out but I didn't want to drop a sick kid off at his house. We ended up having Chipotle and champagne for dinner (what a combo right?) and then after Karsten went to bed we settled in to watch a movie. After thinking that my bug had completely passed it came back full force - I was up about half of the night parked in the bathroom. By the time I was finally feeling a little better and finding some medicine to take it was almost time for me to actually be at work and I hadn't even showered yet. I ended up crawling back in bed for a while and put in a late day today. I really hope all of this sickness decides to pass by next week because we are taking our annual trip up to the north shore and it's no fun being sick while we are there (I've done that too!) Hoping everyone else is blessed with better health than we have had.

My not so sick boy

Well, my sick kiddo isn't quite as sick as I thought he was going to be today. When I got home he was acting completely normal and actually playing on the floor all by himself (he must have forgotten about crying when we make him play by himself for a while). We were playing for a while and I hadn't even been home a half hour when all of a sudden, he threw up all over me....there is really something about him having to mark his territory when I come home from work! So we both had to get changed again and more laundry went into the washer. At his supper feeding we decided to not let him eat as much and to take a break in between as well as giving him some gas drops since it seems like he has some gas issues too. Then right before his bedtime I gave him a couple more ounces with more gas drops and he finally did a little bit of burping to get the gas out. Hopefully overnight the gas drops will work through his system and he can do some good tooting so it doesn't make him throw up his dinner in the middle of the night. I just feel so bad for him because I really can't do much to make his tummy issues go away.

On my way home from work I took a trip to Target to get a few items and decided to peruse the Easter stuff that was all half off. I have to say that our Target down here must sell out of stuff really fast because there was almost nothing left to buy but I did manage to find a couple things that I like. Of course, I can't leave it sitting around the house because we'll all end up eating way too much so I'll probably take it to work to help other people get fat too ;-) Brice and I had been talking about buying a new set for quite a while but couldn't really find anything that wasn't super spendy or either too large or too small but I found a set today just by walking down the isle with the dining ware (it was on sale too which was even better). So now we actually have enough place settings to go around when we have people over.

The day is finally over, Brice and I are winding down sitting together on the couch and I can hear the bed calling my name. Hopefully we can get a full nights rest and won't have to clean up a sick boy again.

Easter recap

Yesterday found Karsten and I (daddy had to work) taking a trip to Monticello to visit 3 aunts, 2 uncles, grandma and a handful of cousins. We had a good time there except for the fact that Karsten seemd to christen the house with his spit up (he did that A LOT while we were there). We got home in time for both of us to eat dinner and I put Karsten to bed on time for the first time in a few days (he was going to bed about an hour later because of church services being at 7 and usual bed time around 8). Around 11pm I awoke to this awful noise over the baby monitor. I went in to check on him and found that he had thrown up all over. I think he threw up in one place and then managed to roll over because he had it on his back and all down one side of his face. I took all of the sheets off his bed and changed that, changed him and then we went downstairs to see if he would drink a little water since he pretty much lost his whole dinner. In the time we were down there he managed to throw up 2 more times including all of the water I tried to get him to drink which, of course, he got all over himself after I changed him into a new jammies so I had to change him again. He did manage to keep down about a half ounce of water before I put him back to bed. He seemed to have slept soundly the rest of the night. Brice said that this morning he did eat but spit up quite a bit and isn't quite acting like himself. I guess we'll see how today goes and if he isn't feeling better tomorrow we might have to take him to the doctor. I feel so bad because there is nothing I can do (I'm sitting here at work doing nothing but worrying about him) until I get home. Hopefully we can get him to at least keep a little bit down so that he doesn't get dehydrated. Now I'm wondering where he picked up a stomach bug from....

My love for paramedics

For those of you who read Brice's blog know that he responded to an apartment fire last weekend where he witnessed for the first time a person who was very badly burnt and later died because of his injuries. The original video is posted to his blog but today there was a video response - Kare 11 actually ran the story (I think they were the only ones).
My husband is an amazing man. He has the courage to be a hero for not only Karsten and I but for our community as well. He has saved many lives and brought a few lives into the world in just the short amount of time that he has been a paramedic. I am so proud of what he does day in and out and I can boldly say that I am proud to be the wife of this amazing paramedic.

Proof that my child rolls over

Photo album

I managed to finally get around to downloading pictures from the camera onto the computer so I can do some more bragging ;-)

Karsten was making funny faces at me while he was laying on the floor.



Zonked out in his swing with his hand on one of the toys.


He has figured out how to snake out of his carseat (he does this in his bouncy seat too) when we don't strap him in. All of a sudden you'll turn around and see this:


Awwwww, cute!


Waking up from a nap.



Squeaky clean!

It's a small world after all

I ran across this article in the Concordia St. Paul Magazine tonight. It's just amazing how small the world really is....I remember watching this cartoon when I was younger and it's completely amazing knowing that the composer behind the music shares my alma mater.

Another thing that is actually pretty cool is that you can now get a CSP license plate from the state of MN (along with other colleges and universities) just from being an alumnus. I'm totally going to have to get one when I get my new car :-)


Lyricist Turned Rebel Makes Music History

Danny Janssen (’54) deflects the compliment when people praise his work. “I’ve never really felt like I was the one doing anything,” said Janssen. “It’s God working through us.”

The 1954 Concordia alumnus has long practiced the Christian principles he learned at school - as he did when he made entertainment history by integrating a cartoon rock band. The real-estate developer, composer and music producer is still at work writing lyrics imbued with an upbeat message. If you’re not familiar with his name, you know Janssen’s music. His lyrics included tunes for TV’s “The Partridge Family,” “Scooby Doo,” and “Josie and the Pussycats.” This last, a comicbook girl band, became a Saturday morning cartoon show and then a reallife bubble-gum pop recording group, cutting an album and six singles for Capitol Records in 1970.

Thanks to a defiant Janssen, the Pussycats made entertainment history by including an African-American singer, Patrice Holloway. How does a preacher’s kid from Odessa, Minn., get to be an entertainment industry rebel? “God picks out what you do,” said Janssen, “and how we do it.” It happened thus: When animator Hanna-Barbera transformed its cartoon girl group into a real band, Janssen produced the album. Holloway, an established singer, auditioned as one of the Pussycats. Janssen liked her voice and picked her with singers Cathy Dougher and Cherie Moor - later better known as actress Cheryl Ladd.

Hanna-Barbera said no. Holloway was black and the storyboards had white Pussycats. A black Pussycat hadn’t been market-tested. Janssen refused and walked. He would be happy to work with the cartoon giant on another project, he said, but not this one. Not without Holloway. Three weeks later, Hanna-Barbera called back. They took Holloway. When Janssen returned to the studio to produce the Pussycats album after his three-week holdout, the parking lot was so full he had trouble finding a parking space. Why? Elvis had sent his band, and Billy Preston, “the fifth Beatle,” had sent musicians. They were delighted that Janssen had stood up for a black artist.

The album “Josie and the Pussycats” came out in late 1970 and Holloway became the voice of the first African-American cartoon character on television. Later, she returned to her work on background vocals, also writing songs for Neil Young, Ray Conniff and others. She may be best known for co-writing the 1970 Blood Sweat & Tears hit “You Make Me So Very Happy.” She died in 2006.

Janssen denies any heroics. “I always think of myself as just a messenger boy,” he said. “I tell the guys that work for me and the guys that I work with, ‘Take God with you. Let God work with you.’”

A weekend of the sniffles

Friday came and I felt like I was coming down with a head cold and sure enough, by yesterday morning it was definately a head cold. My nose is runny on one side and stuffy on the other (how in the world does that happen?) and have a little bit of a scratchy throat. Thank goodness its not a really bad cold - I can actually handle this one. The bad thing is that somehow Brice has it too (he never gets sick) but Karsten, thank goodness, doesn't seem to have any symptoms of being sick other than a few boogers that we have had to suck out of his nose. Karsten and I were supposed to go out to Monticello for my cousin's Eagle Scout Court of Honor but I decided that sitting at home to rest up and get better was probably better for both of us. So I have downed a lot of tea today and have been resting as much as a 4 month old allows. We did manage to get a good 2 hour nap late this morning which was really nice. This cold seems to be moving on pretty quickly so hopefully by tomorrow we will all be as good as gold.

Yesterday we had an early Easter celebration with Brice's dad and a few others that just happened to be there as well. Of course, Karsten got spoiled with lots of new clothes that he can wear this summer and next fall and some toys and baby dinnerware from Brice's aunt. It was a pretty good haul for his first Easter and I'm sure it won't be the last since he will be seeing my parents in a couple of weeks when we take our annual trip up to the north shore. Brice's dad offered to babysit on the 27th so we can go out for dinner for our anniversary....I think we will be taking him up on that one!

On another note, Karsten cut his very first tooth this week! On Monday it was nothing but a tiny little speck of tooth poking out but it has completely broken through now and we are just waiting for it to grow though. He seems to be doing fairly well with the whole teething process except that he can't figure out how to hold his teething rings up to his mouth to chew on them so we have gone to the next best thing.....washcloths. For some odd reason, he can hold onto the washcloth and/or his bib and suck and chew on that forever. We have realized that paper also does the trick. We were sitting in church on Monday night and the thing that kept him happy while we were there was being able to chew on the bulletin although we have to be a little careful with that because he managed to give himself a paper cut but it didn't even faze him. He has also mastered the art of eating cereal off of a spoon. I'm already amazed at how much cereal this kid can put down - he's going to eat us out of house and home one of these days.

Thats all for now - I haven't had a chance to upload any pictures from the camera to the computer so that will have to wait for another time. I now have to deal with a crying baby that wants me.

Finally! A funny video of Karsten

So, after trying unsucessfully to upload a video of Karsten to a few different places, I finally got one to work! This was taken about a month and a half ago right after Karsten figured out how to suck his thumb. He does this chew, suck, say aye, aye, aye every time!

Remember this?

Brice and I got to talking about Batman tonight and I expressed how much I would LOVE to have the entire 1960's Batman series on DVD. Of course, he made fun of me for it but you have to admit, Batman is classic TV, there has never been anything like it since. A big thanks to my dad for getting me hooked on this when I was younger!

Is it March already?

I honestly can’t believe how fast this winter has gone – of course, being home for as long as I was probably helped it to go faster.  Karsten is now 4 months old and growing like a weed!  We took him to the doctor on Monday for a check up and to get the second round of shots and found out that he weighs 16lbs 8oz already (he’s a super fatty!).  Of course, that trip to the doctor was one that we will probably never forget.  We were caught in the time of day when Karsten is tired and hungry and he was screaming bloody murder the entire time we were there.  He was so loud we couldn’t get a whole lot of questions answered by the doctor and he was having a hard time examining our screamer.  I finally got him to calm down long enough to eat his bottle and when the nurse came back in to give him his shots she just had to mention the set of lungs he is equipped with…..now I’m sure we will be known as the parents with the inconsolable child!  Of course, after being calmed down he got cranky again when he got his shots but didn’t take much longer for him to quiet down.  We made a hasty exit out of the doc’s office and got down to the main entrance to the hospital where we ran into a couple of guys that Brice works with and Karsten ended up falling asleep.  After that, he was a completely different child!  We took a trip to Subway for dinner and he was spitting all over himself – it was so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing at him!  We then went to church, where for once, he was actually a good boy all the way through.  Karsten also started daycare this week.  I had to drop him off yesterday morning for the first time and I was worried about him because he’s never been around people he doesn’t know but he apparently did really well.  When Brice went to pick him up late morning he was apparently very happy and sucking on some kind of ring that was attached to the chair he was sitting in.  I felt better after knowing that.

Well, looks like my short break from work is over – back to the grindstone.  More to come later!