We had the fun opportunity for all 4 of us to get dressed up in vintage clothes (1920's era) in late December for some pictures. They even found a vintage dress that could fit Andrea, with her growing belly (which I guess was masked in the pictures)! Kjersten especially really enjoyed the opportunity to do dress-up! :)Other Erickson news... Our good friend/family member Cristiane was able to return to us from Brasil and will be with us again for another 6 months (hopefully longer). Hopefully doors will open for her to obtain something other than a tourist visa so she can be here longer periods of time, etc.
Our 3rd baby is due in another month, and is growing well. Kjersten insists that this baby is a brother. We shall see in another month or so (knowing our history with baby arrivals, this one will probably be late too). It's always fun to wait and see! We hope and pray that this baby will arrive without complications and free of any health problems!
Carl's had a great job for the past year and a half with Three Rivers Park district and recently changed locations and schedule, which frees up Sundays! What a shock!!! We actually have an *entire* day off as a family on a regular basis now! He continues to work nights while Andrea works days. Hopefully this will come to an end and we can have evenings off as a family. But until then we are glad for this extra time we do have!Tianna has been receiving speech therapy since October and has made a lot of progress in that time frame. While before she started she had never made a 'b' or 'p' sound before and inconsistently said other consenants, other than 'n' and some 'm's and 'd's. She now says a variety of consenents, attempts to imitate pretty much everything and can blow sounds out of whistles (even some of the more challenging ones). While sounds aren't all perfect and aren't entirely understood by some people, quite a few people have been able to understand her words when spoken. She is a little sweetie-pie, but at the same time a little daredevil who is not afraid to take risks and climb up on surfaces that aren't very safe.
Tianna *loves* music, and would love any opportunity available to have us sing from her Jesus songbook. She catches onto tunes pretty quickly and sings quite a bit.Kjersten is very talkative and likes to talk about her memories from 'when I was a little girl'. :) She began a tumbling class in October, which went through December, and loved seeing her same friends each week. In January we re-enlisted her in this class (which is wonderfully free, through the Minneapolis parks system. gotto love that!) and she is very happy to see those friends again. She is also now taking another 'class' on saterdays called Kinder Klub, where one of her tumbling friends is also participating, and is getting to play some instruments, do crafts, and play games. It's nice for her to have some regular social and learning opportunities. Kjersten loves to do art (and was fortunate enough to get an art easel and art set for Christmas from her Auntie Pam), music, and dress-up. She also really enjoys playing games, such as Hi-Ho Cherrio, memory, dominoes, and Don't Spill the Beans.
