That Will Be a Sad Day

So I used to run a couple of miles every few days. I quit that long ago. Probably about a month ago, Elias and I walked to the park to play, but I felt like I barely made it back. Just yesterday we only walked 5 blocks to the school to play, and I still had trouble making it home. How long until I can't make it to the car? That will be a sad day.

Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Eve baking cookies for Santa. Elias wasn't that disciplined about cutting them out with the cookie cutters, so we manned the decoration station using the sprinkles. Turns out Elias doesn't like sugar cookies all that much. Lucky for him, Santa does.

On Christmas morning, Elias woke up a tad after 5:00 and wanted breakfast. Seems he forgot all about Santa and his cookies. After breakfast, we headed to the tree for present opening! There were WAY too many presents under the tree...for Elias, Matt and me.

First it was the stocking. An orange in the bottom, of course.

Hey, what's that all about?

Then Elias, not versed in the ways of Christmas morning, wanted to play with all of his toys from Santa before moving on to opening other presents. We played a little, but he is a fast learner. Soon, we convinced him to see what else he got.

Aquadoodle pens from Santa.

Marjie and Paul sent way too many gifts. Here are some neat puzzles Elias got. We'll have to work on the picture posing a bit. Aunt Serena and Uncle Justin also sent Elias some great puzzles!

Elias got a lot of books this year too. Good thing that's what he asked for from Santa. Here is a Todd Parr book from his Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Doug, and cousins Ethan and Tate.

Lucky for us, it was the year of homemade gifts. These are our favorite kinds. Grandma Darleen made Elias a super-duper soft pillow case. He carried it around like a blanket most of the day, and it took some convincing to let me put it on his pillow for sleeping that night.


Unfortunately our camera died in the middle of present opening (and there was no stopping the opening now), so I didn't get any pictures of the wonderful stuff Matt and I got. To name a few things: Homemade birdfeeder, homemade knife sharpener, a small tree for displaying Serena's ornaments, a hand carved oven rack slider, photographs of the 4 seasons, a Serena painting masterpiece, some great donations to charities.

Back to Elias. He got a dog (that we named Blue) from Grandpa Don along with some more great books and a t-shirt for this summer. Plus a savings bond...for many summers from now.


Elias got a neat Peter Pan Pop-up book with songs from Aunt Nikki, Uncle Dan, and cousins Gavin and Cohen.


These are just the things I managed to get in pictures. Elias wound up with four neat new games to play too. I think there was even more, but why write about it when we could be playing with everything. Gotta go!

An Official Cheapskate

For those that really know me, it comes as no surprise that I am a cheapskate. Or perhaps a nicer way to put it is I am very practical. It definitely showed through on Christmas Eve. Elias had been talking about seeing Santa, so we went to the ritzy mall near our house to finally get the chance. We went right as it opened, so we only had to wait about 20 minutes in line. It weaved though a giant add for the new Narnia movie, an ice castle, throne (see the above picture), fake snow, and giant television screens showing a preview for the movie. I think the snow was Elias' favorite part (we haven't had any snow for many, many weeks here in Denver). As we neared Santa, I saw a woman asking for orders before people even got to the big man himself. Hmf, I thought. Do you have to buy the pictures before you even see them? I was going to be pretty peeved if we were required to spend $20 for Elias to sit on Santa's lap when I wasn't sure he was really all that interested, and I knew the pictures weren't going to be good. When it was our turn, I asked if we had to buy something beforehand. The woman said we could just visit. Sign us up for the visit only please...yes, I'm the cheap one. I'm pretty sure we were one of a very few people all day who didn't get their child's photo with Santa (no personal cameras allowed, of course). Elias told Santa he wanted a book for Christmas (I gave him that idea when we were in line), but that was about all he said. Once he was done, he couldn't wait to get back to the indoor playground they had. In fact, back at home, he mostly talked about how neat riding the glass elevator was. Santa didn't even come up. But luckily Santa still visited our house that night...good thing I waited to post this until now.

Baby Brother

Today, as Elias was still waking up from his extra long afternoon nap (I hope he doesn't get up before 5 tomorrow!), he said, "I want my baby brother." I told him he would have to wait 3 weeks (let's hope that's true). He said, "He's going to wiggle, and he's going to cry." I said, "Yep, and you are going to help me take care of him, right?" Let this be witness, Elias said, "Yes."

Sgabhetti

Matt got a gift certificate to the Macaroni Grill from his boss at work. Not our favorite place (plus not really near our house), but we decided to try going out to eat last night. It was a huge success. I brought Elias four tofu chicken nuggets which he wolfed down (he must have been hungry), and Matt ordered him some spaghetti off of the kids menu. He tried it (amazing) and liked it (unbelievable). He ate a little of that, but it took him the whole meal since he picks up each noodle by hand and eats from the middle out. Today, at lunch, he wanted some more sgabhetti. Matt is going to have to perfect a Macaroni Grill spaghetti recipe soon!

The Un-Shower

Taken by Elias

My good friends Carissa, Noah and Shari planned a baby shower for us, that wasn't really a shower, but just a get together with a bunch of great friends. They cooked marvelous food, we mingled, Elias took tons of pictures with the camera (although most of them people's shoes), and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.

After most folks had gone home, we played a fun game that is a twist on the telephone game. Each person writes down a setence, then passes it to the left. That person draws a picture of the sentence and folds the sentence down, so that the next person can't see the sentence, they can only see the picture. The paper is then passed to the left again. The next person tries to determine what the original sentence was and writes it down...etc, etc, etc. It carries on for as long as you want, or until you run out of room on the paper. The theme was, "Something to do with the Ecklund/Kiefer family and the new baby." People came up with some interesting stuff. A sampling below (It's too bad I can't provide the pictures):

Original sentence: Baby boy Kiefer-Ecklund will complete calculus proof by age 3.
Final sentence: Erica is sad because she is going to have another baby.

Original sentence: Erica's belly is filled with magic and DIAMONDS.
Final sentence: Mom deserves a diamond after the tornado Elias has made.

Original sentence: Elias thinks his brother should be named "Boy."
Final sentence: Elias can't wait to punch his little brother in the face.

Original sentence: Matt was having name indecision.
Final sentence: Matt wanted a baby; Erica wanted a cat.

The only down side to the party is that Elias ate too much chocolate and threw up all night long. I guess the good news was that I got to stay late at the party, so Matt had to clean most of it up!

The Cabriolet

The last few times we have gone up to our condo in Fraser, Elias and I have caught the bus to the bottom of the ski runs at Winter Park. What is the main attraction? The cabriolet. The cabriolet is a free lift that takes people from the paring lot to the ski area. The ride only lasts about 2.5 minutes, but Elias loves it. Whether you ask him or not, Elias is quick to let you know that we are on our way to ride the cabriolet. Then I pull him in a little red wagon to the lodge, and we watch the skiers. After a short stay, we reverse and head back for one last ride in the cabriolet before we take the bus back to the condo. It makes for a great morning out on the town.

Uncle David

Uncle David stopped by on his long drive from Missouri to California. It was great to see him. Elias had fun playing with him, even though his visit was so short. Matt and I even scored with a puzzle of the Winter Park Ski runs. How cool is that?

A Mini's Concert

Elias' teachers at school put on a Holiday concert last week. I can't imagine trying to get 20 two to three-year-olds to try and sings songs together. They sang The Snowman song, Dradle and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. One girl even had a solo of Frosty the Snowman. So cute. It lasted only about 10 minutes, but it was still fun. They had snacks afterward in their decorated classroom.

Oh Tannenbaum

The Christmas tree is up! Elias enjoyed the handmade ornaments and stockings the best (Check out our new, beautiful tree skirt). In fact, he snuggles and plays with his stocking all the time. If it has his name on it, Elias loves it.

Elias keeps talking about opening presents on Christmas and meeting Santa. He is very, very excited. I think we all are.

Every Day...Really?

I know it is winter. It is getting colder outside. It gets dark earlier. But do the kids really have to paint at school every day? Elias' clothes and I aren't sure we can take EVERY day.

Out on the Town

Last weekend Matt and I went out...together...without Elias...two nights in a row! We haven't both been out together in a very long time. On Friday, my new work had a holiday dinner, and on Saturday, my old work had a holiday dinner. Mika was our baby sitter (hard to believe...I remember when she was just 6). Friday didn't scare her away, so luckily she came back on Saturday (Thanks for dropping her off Shari!). It was a huge success. We are going to have to start doing this more often.

Not So Much

Probably the most frequent comment I get these days is, "I bet you are more than ready for the new baby to arrive." I'm sure people are thinking that I am probably uncomfortable (and remember, most people think I look huge) and tired of all of the pregnancy side effects. It is hard to think of a good response to this comment. Do I really want to have a crying newborn in the house, waking me up every few hours, stealing attention away from Elias and making him cranky? Is that somehow going to be better than what I've got now?

"So you are due in about 6 weeks? Probably be better if it was more like 4, huh?"

Not so much.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated our Thanksgiving on Friday with our good friends Noah and Carissa. Lucky for us, Noah's family was also in town. Doubly lucky for us, there are yet no grandkids for Noah's Mom, Barbara, to keep entertained. I think both Elias and Barbara had a wonderful time. So that, of course, means that Matt and I had a great time too. We had a huge spread of mushroom spinach pie, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, butternut squash casserole, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce and homemade focaccia. There were chocolate covered pretzels (an Elias favorite...along with the chocolate coin he got), fudge, homemade candied nuts, pumpkin pie and apple strudel. Yummy yum yum. Man I'm getting hungry.

Happy Hanukkah

I know it is sideways. I have no idea how to turn it (I always hate when people post crap that isn't formatted right...oh well).