What to expect when what you expected isn't what you get

Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.

C. S. Lewis

Truthfully, when I dreamt about landing in Washington state I saw all the avenues that I would take to immerse myself in our new stomping grounds. I saw myself walking in unexplored parks, volunteering for different activities that I am interested in, and joining the meet up groups that I had started researching when we got to Oregon.  I do not feel safe about life unless there is at least a semblance of a plan in place and I knew that part of moving out here and not being miserable would be the establishment of a new social circle and lots of fun activities for us as a family. 

And then we found out we were going to have a baby.  Holy bejeezus…a baby.  Andrew and I had talked about this possibility over the summer.  I had fallen even more in love with Andrew’s amazing family as well as the time spent with my brother and his family combined to inspire in me a want to continue our family’s legacy.  There’s some pretty good breeding possibilities happening here, am I right?  

We were open to the idea of expanding our family but we weren’t really going out of our way to become pregnant.  I was still monitoring my monthly cycle and really didn’t think that we would be able to get pregnant right away, even if we did try.  I’ve been on so many medications over the last year, my health is not the best, we both drink a ton of caffeine and I’m not exactly the prime age for conception.  At best, I was thinking it might take us six months to a year before we were able to conceive. 

As the saying goes, it only takes once and that one time happened and now…well…

Here's our baby...hands up by face for a sweet little profile picture. 

Backs of the legs and little femurs growing!!! 

A second profile picture of the baby. 

That’s our baby.  She was very squirmy yesterday and really made the ultrasound tech chase her around to get all the images they wanted.  We were able to see her brain, bladder, little heart…so amazing!  I never had early ultrasounds done when I was pregnant with Aydan so I didn’t get to see him when he was this tiny.  I can’t help but think of how different this pregnancy is from my first but how amazing to have had each of the experiences I have had.  Aydan is getting more excited about his sibling all the time.  I know that this is just going to add to the strength and beauty that is already so strongly present in our family.  This is just one more layer of Henning-Kolberg awesome J

The pregnancy has left me very ill for the last month and a half but I am slowly starting to come out of the sickly state and am hoping for the improvements to continue as the pregnancy moves forward.  I am happy that the ultrasounds show the baby is developing exactly as she should.  I had been very concerned that being so sick would maybe make the baby smaller than she should be but she’s actually three days larger than she should be and while that doesn’t seem like much, in tiny baby land that feels like a good sign to me.   Needless to say, lack of energy and the ever present tummy distress has left me pretty much home bound.  I have found random things to keep me entertained – my current obsession is documentaries about the United Kingdom from about the 1500’s to present day and maybe too many shows on Netflix.  I have also started working on paper crafts which has been an excellent time filler with a purpose. 

Sitting still for too long is a struggle but I am taking this time to absorb some life lessons that I haven’t fully integrated in the past.  The biggest one is trying not to say things like “I can’t wait for…”.  I find that I live too often in the future while not fully enjoying the present.  Now isn’t that silly?  I don’t really know what other things I’m working on because this one requires an awful lot of effort…but I am learning each day. 

On the good days, I have actually managed to get OUT!  And we have had some very positive encounters that help me keep my hope for the future.  There are certainly people that have already captured my interest and once I start having more good days than bad, I can start feeding my social, active lifestyle again.

This was two weekends ago but a gorgeous day to just find a place and go...

And this is the place we found.  It's maybe 10 minutes from the house, Richmond Beach Park.  So pretty.

Love this picture of Andrew :) 

I love living so close to a BEACH where people go and walk around and hang out even in January...because they can! 

One bit of clarification real quick: we don't know the sex of the baby yet.  I say she because that's how I have felt I should address the baby since I had the first inkling that I might be pregnant.  We won't know for sure about the sex of the baby until 20 weeks.  At that time we will have another ultra sound done and will know what we are expecting.  Mama Nora will hopefully get to be with us when we find out!  How nice to have her so close!  

And now for some more pictures...because I hope you guys like seeing what we are up to as much as I enjoy sharing :) 

Rosie is a weirdo dog...

Content pups and content boy. 

Sometimes Andrew lays on the floor and Crumpets wonders what the heck he's doing...

Have I mentioned my love of receiving mail??? Agatha, we miss you and LOVE you! 

LOVE MAIL!!! 

This is my new distraction attempt.  Rolled paper can be turned into baskets and bowls and other things and I figured, why not?  First batch of rolled paper. 

First completed bowl. 

This is the project I am working on now.  I haven't made this yet but I am starting work on it...

These are some of the little circles I have made so far.  I probably have close to 20 or 30 more done at this time and I feel like I'm getting pretty quick at getting them done. 

So there’s at least a bit of an update for everyone.  Maybe someday this will become more habit and something I actually can accomplish on a regular basis.  Still more and more changes happening for our family

Henning-Kolberg Christmas letter!

I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.

Fred Rogers

Back in the day I always wondered why my mom included a letter to each family member she sent a Christmas card to.  Before the advantages of a computer and re-prints of the same letter for multiple people, she handwrote her Christmas letter to each person she sent a card to.  We have a LARGE family so this was most certainly a labor of love…and much frustration and a little pain, I’m sure, for my mother. 

As an adult that has moved away from family and friends, I now understand my mother’s desire for that letter each year.  It was probably the only letter she sent out all year and, in some cases, it was the only update on our family that others received from us.  Well, thankfully, that is not the case at this time.  The blog has allowed us to share stories about the family and I am SO thankful for that medium.  I should certainly be using it more than I do…perhaps now that we are settled, that will become easier. 

SO!  HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!! We will be sending out Christmas cards but I think I will save at least a few trees and keep our Christmas letter even more up to the minute with the use of technology and share our family update on the blog.  The opportunity to share photos is so much greater this way and I do so love sharing our photos :)  

Have I mentioned my total love for Christmas?  I love decorating for Christmas and picking out gifts and baking and BEST of all, for me, is the Christmas tree.  I have countless memories of Christmases with my family.  Chopping down live trees when we were kids, hopping from chair to chair with my mom making sure we got the lights on the tree just right while watching (and singing with) White Christmas, the pile of presents and the boisterous racket that comes with family laughter, gratitude and one or two tempers that would flare up and just as quickly dissipate.  We are a family after all.  How I miss those days...each year my Christmas tree is a tribute to the memories of my family I hold dear and the backdrop for memories to be made in the present.  

A refrigerator is the ideal canvas for family art.  Coloring pages, note pages with scribbles on them, cards from loved ones, magnets from friends far away, and photos of dear faces are the way I make the view of our fridge an exercise in smiles.  We have been receiving a few extra pieces of art and photos to add to it our exhibit here and would welcome more for sure!  We could also use more magnets so if anyone is looking for something to send our way that would be a great one.    

I think maybe it's a mild winter?  I don't know.  Today the sky is silvery gray, cloudy but still bright and welcoming - to me anyway.  This photo was taken from our balcony earlier this month and just blows me away.  I love the region we live in and that the weather can still be inviting in December. 

Decorating the tree. 

A bit of a wider view of the living room.  I love our little apartment...there will be lots of photos of our new home so I will try not to go on too many tangents about how thankful I am for where we found a place to live...but I am exceedingly grateful!  I am also amazed at how easy and inexpensive it was for us to furnish the apartment. The goodwill in Lynnwood was/is awesome and they have GREAT prices on their furniture. We got really lucky...once again.

A real mantle over a real fire place HAD to host Aydan's fabulous nutcracker collection.  He has been receiving one a year four about well...four years now, this will be the fifth year.  Wow.  Megan, my dearest bestiest best friend, is the gift giver for these fun guys.  I know there's another one coming this year and I am eagerly looking forward to seeing it...

Christmas tree hunting the beginning of December and Aydan is in a hoodie and the scarf is really just for festive decoration.  It was windy that day but nothing too bad.  We were able to wander the tree farm with the dogs, which was great, and find the tree that was just right for our wallet and for our decorating desires.  This was my first year with a douglas fir and so far I am loving this tree.  It sheds more than the trees we've gotten in the past but I love how full it is and how it looks like we threw the ornaments on there and they just got caught up in the needles.  

Sadly, no train and no Megan, Monty, and Agatha.  This is one of the few years we haven't been together for tree getting, and before going to the tree farm with Megs and the kiddos, we went with my mom and dad.  Establishing new traditions feels strange and will take time.  I am looking forward to seeing what we will discover along the way. 

Andrew and Aydan get the tree secured to the top of the truck.  Love having a truck. 

Crumpets loves being so involved with her family.  This trip and our new lifestyle has made it so that the dogs are more a part of  what we do regardless of what that thing is.  Part of it is our desire to monitor their behavior pretty much all the time and the other part is that even when they aren't with us, we think they are, so being away from them feels strange.  I like being in this place with the pups.  I adore their little fuzzy faces.  They are family. 

Oh Rosie...I just love the way she's sitting there...

This is absolutely one of the BEST features of the apartment.  I'd say it's pretty much tied with the dishwasher.  Oh, dishwasher!  I love you.  I hate doing dishes, just hate it, but I love working in the kitchen...first world problems? Hmmmhhh...anyway, One of my very favorite things to do is to sit in front of the fire place and lay a fire.  I keep it going, enjoy the heat and ambiance it provides.  I have wanted a woodburning fireplace like this for...well...gosh, ever.  And now I have one.  That is worth a sigh of happiness.  Sigh. 

Thanksgiving was delicious.  Super traditional.  The guys pretty much created the menu and I can totally crank out that Betty Crocker Thanksgiving but I do like to do it my way and keep things as healthy as I can...I'm also pretty lazy so this year Trader Joe's was a total life saver and didn't completely break our budget for food.  While I may sound like an advertisement for TJs...well, I guess I am.  And I don't really mind.  So far, I'm totally digging having one close by.  Need to check out the company a bit more but so far I like them...Anyway, the turkey was from there and was already brined for us.  Leah had brined the turkey last year and it was SO good so I had high hopes for this bird.  Not disappointed.  Yum.  It was also lovingly served up on the stellar bicentennial platter that was a gift from dear Michael Hensley, another person who I can't extract from my thoughts of thanksgiving and food preparation.  So thankful for good people and good cooks that are part of my life. 

Super traditional.  Pumpkin pie.  YUM.  Really proud of how this bad boy turned out.  We did do homemade whipped cream with nutmeg and a dash of sugar.  I would go so far as to say EXTRA yum.  

Aydan's room came together quickly and extremely well.  Thanks to Nora we were able to save a lot of the items that are important to us and that would include a box or two of Aydan's legos.  And of course that means at some point Aydan and Andrew will be hanging out together putting together legos.  I am so so thankful for the relationship my husband and my son have with each other.  They are still finding their way to communicate but thankfully that's what they have me around for.  I'm a good liaison between them and I can see that this relationship is just going to continue to strengthen as it grows.  

This seems like a highly appropriate picture of Andrew to share.  Drinking coffee and working on a project. Reminds me of my dad. I found this idea for floating bookshelves on pinterest and we got the few supplies needed to do it and...

how cool is that???  Andrew did a really good job and it was super fun creating a frame like that around that amazing painting from Nora.  I LOVE this painting.  She exudes serenity.  It's a perfect vibe to feel in your home.  

I love that we were able to bring things with us.  It's been so helpful in making us feel connected to the chapter of our life that we had before.  The collage of photos is like, five years old and I can't really think of changing it too much.  The framed pieces above and below were gifts from Miss Maggie for my birthday and had been meant for my office in Fort Wayne but now have a perfect place to hang in our apartment.

Living room, mostly together. As you may have noticed we are going backwards in time (we can think of it as time travel!) from where we are now to when we moved into the apartment a little over a month ago. I could have flipped the order but this seemed more fun...and easier :) 

First piece of art we hung in the apartment.

I found these sweet mini roses and decided I needed them for the window of my office at work...and then I decided, with the help of the people I respect, that I couldn't stay at that job. So the roses stayed home but sadly did not have enough sunlight here.  It was sad when I realized they weren't going to make it but I now only have plants that survive in mostly shade :)  That I can provide :) 

From the back left corner of our apartment - dining room to living room.  This was definitely still the first night or two we were in our apartment.

The beginning of organization. 

Aydan is just silly.  He really is one of my favorite people to hang out with.  What a guy :) 

Panorama photo of the kitchen.  I love my kitchen.  I think this is one of the best kitchens I've ever had.  I could go for a gas stove and a different faucet set up (that is easy enough to do) but other than that...dishwasher, lots of counter space and cabinets.  perfect!  

I love the pieces of my life and how beautifully they come together...

I love this close up.  My life is an amazing gift.

Our bathroom.  Exciting right?  But I have really been considering getting acrylics and using this shower curtain as a page in a coloring book...I'll send out an updated photo if that happens.

Art from friends in the fort. Even found in the bathroom.

I've been a Norman Rockwell fan since I was a girl.  This is my new favorite coffee mug.

More apartment in disarray.

One of my sweetest gifts.  Megan and me. Opening boxes and finding things like this is pure happiness. Having little pieces of me, my family, my friends back up on the walls and on shelves is what brings a level of peace and continuity to my life.  Somethings never change...

Starting to feel like home...

All our stuff from Nora's packed and on its way from Oregon to Washington.  We were surprised at how much stuff we had but it turns out it was just the right amount and we were able to use the trailer again when we went to Goodwill to pick up a couch and coffee table I had already purchased, and then found two book shelves and a big fluffy chair to bring home as well. We knocked out the majority of our furniture purchases the same night we moved into our apartment.  We were all EXHAUSTED that night and slept well that first night in our new home.

Scenic and thankfully clear of snow for our cross over the mountains.  Our one big worry completely avoided.

Love this kid and this dog. 

SO!  Wow...I told myself I would get this knocked out today and I did!  Woo hoo!  Now I just need to sit down and get those Christmas cards done!  I may also see if I can't get the guys to rally behind the idea of a walk at a park, something I would never suggest doing in December while living in Indiana.  I love that being in the outdoors is still possible and not unbearable for me!! Hooray!

Love to all!!! Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!