pics and interviews

I uploaded some new pics and videos to picasa. try this link


Eric is in Maui (poor boy) for work this week. The boys and I are trying to weather the weather together, but they miss their daddy. Clayton and Jeriah had their first Christmas performance at church and Jeriah had one at preschool. There are some pics and videos posted on picasa of those.
I hope you all are finding time to cherish the true meaning of Christmas this season.
The Therkildsens

walking?

I can't believe I forgot to tell you that Mathias took his first solo step on Saturday.He was trying to get daddy's keys. He aalso is clapping ant trying to wave.

Cookies, Germs, and lies

Last night we hosted our first (Christmas) party in Houghton. We had a good turn out. Any more people and we would have been sitting on each others laps and hard pressed to move.
Unfortunately, I think the party took toll on Clayton. Around midnight Clayton woke up and climbed onto our bed. Immediately I sat up (thank God) and he started tossing his cookies (literally since we had a Christmas party) all over my side of the bed. So Eric and I spent a good hour or so cleaning up and starting laundry and making beds in the middle of the night. He lost it several times after that during the night so i am still tryingto get through all the laundry. He has been fine, just tired, the rest of today.
I think the baby is getting another tooth. Either that or his ears hurt again and he has a cold or maybe again its from teething.

This afternoon I tried to lay down to rest but after 5 or 10 minutes I heard rustling and clanging downstairs. So I trudge down to the kitchen and I find Jeriah squatting in the sink ( a pretty full sink and counter still from the party). He climbed up there looking for crackers or cookies in the cupboard above the sink. He also lied 2 times saying he ate his apples and it was time for a cookie picnic on his new blanket on the kitchen floor. He actually put the apples in the garbage the first time and his cup the second time. That better not become a habit.
Eric is leaving Saturday morning to do some work in Hawaii and hopefully will be back the next weekend to help get ready for our trip downstate for Christmas.
Merry Christmas everyone.

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Since it has hardly stopped snowing in 3 days i cant give a final count on how many inches of snow we have but i am guessing it is at least a foot to foot and a half by now. Lake effect snow is suppossed to continue until at least tomorrow morning.

So, Mathias officially has 8 teeth and,unfortunately, I think he is still working on more. He was up 4 times last night. He also took his first step today! He will be 10 months next week. He is 29" and 20lbs.

We put up a Christmas tree this weekend and the boys are enjoying the lights and decorations. So much so that Mathias tried to eat a red bulb. It did not break but there is not much red on the bulb anymore. I called poison control just to be safe. I had to call them anyway bc i turned on the tea kettle and went in the bathroom and when i came out the burner was not lit and i could smell the gas. I felt nauseous for a little while but I am fine now. Everyone else was upstairs so they were fine.
well, hopefully tomorrow will lack excitement, other than a little fun at our Christmas party. -Sarah

Finally, we are back after the flu, first ER trip, etc.

Well, what did i tell ya. I was right. Since that last post i am now finally getting some stuff done again. Clayton was in bed for 5 or 6 days with the flu and still really tired and a little cough for several days after that. He is still a little tired now but pretty much back to normal. I can tell, because bedtime is becoming difficult again :/ I dont wish sickness on my kids, for sure, but it was kind of nice to have them laying low and quiet and sleeping without any trouble for several days. Jeriah was sick for a couple days then better for a couple and then in bed again for a couple more. The baby managed to avoid the flu, i think, but had 2 ear infections and a nasty cough. I had Jeriah and Mathias get the nasal swab test for the flu bc they could have gotten antiviral meds but it came back negative. I read the test is not very accurate and am sure Jeriah had it. Its a horrible test. Jeriah screamed bloody murder, "aaaaaaaahhhh....let go of me!!!!" it was worse than shots!

Anyway, everyone finally started to get better last weekend and then Saturday night i was unloading groceries and i heard a thump-not very loud so i thought the baby just fell off the first stair. i did not hear any crying. eric and i get to the bottom of the stairs, Mathias is face down not crying. i am waiting for that delayed cry as eric picks him up and turns him face up. He is white, his head/neck is flung backward (like when kids arch their back and head in pain or temper) and he is not breathing. His eyes are open but not registering anything.He started to breath and relax his body after i took him into my arms and told eric to call 9-1-1. But he was not crying or blinking and was just staring at me like he was not computing anything. Then he was closing his eyes like he was going to fall asleep. I managed to keep him awake and within 5 or 10 minutes he was looking "normal" and by the time the dreadfully slow ambulance came (i wont call them again) 1/2 hr later, he was acting pretty normal. Actually, before the paramedics left he was trying to climb the stairs again.:( why cant they learn faster?:( anyway, i took him myself to ER for a CAT scan just to be sure he was ok and he was. no bumps, no bruises and he could not have been more than a couple stairs up but that was enough to scare the heebeegeebees out of us. the ironic thing is that he has fallen down 16 stairs and gotten only a little rugburn, so i dont know how he managed this. Thank God for all the angels he must have surrounding our children!!! And yes, we now have a gate that is working "good enough" at the bottom of our stairs. We have a spindle rail so it is not easy to put a gate there.
On a more positive note, the boys are enjoying school and learning to count to 30 and start to read. Mathias is 9 months now and very mobile and talkative. He does not walk alone but he runs on his knees and stand up alone occassionaly and walks with his push toy with much excitement. He is a very congenial and social little boy. He brings much joy to our family. oh yes, and lets not forget all the teeth. he got two bottom teeth at 4 or 5 months. then at 7 1/2 months he started getting the 2 top ones, then the top incisors which finished coming in this week and guess what? yes, lo and behold, the bottom incisors are about to push through now. that is 6 teeth in like 2 months or less with no break in betweeen any of them!! poor boy. (and poor mommy:))
Well, that is just one week and this post is getting long, so it may take a few days to catch this thing up.
Before I head back to the chaos, here is a brief summary of recent weeks. My grandparents were up here in October for their old church's 45th anniversary. They lived up here for 8 yrs til my dad was a sophmore in highschool. My grandpa was a pastor and they were key instruments in building the church. Eric's mom and aunt Lyn were here also for a few days and we did some hiking and a fall tour to Copper Harbor. The day they left eric had to go out of town last minute (yes like very last minute-he got the call tues night and left wed afternoon). I had planned to take a trip to my sisters in St Paul that weekend with the baby so instead I took all 3 kids and decided last minute to leave Wednesday instead of thursday since everyone else was leaving too. It took us about 7 1/2 hrs which is not bad with kids-they are good travelers. We had fun and surprised my mom who flew in Thursday to visit my sister. We will be heading back to ST Paul this Wednesday, with Eric this time, to spend Thanksgiving with Luke, Grace, and Olivia. We are planning to be in kzoo for Christmas.
oh, Jeriah did a dance class today and clayton a gymnastics class. i think in December they will both do gymnastics which they love. they are also learning to ice skate on sundays. imagine how i felt when clayton came home sunday (the day after Mathias' ER trip)from skating with a bump and bruise on the front of his head!! :(
angels, angels, angels....do not leave us

We were hoping to go to Maui next month with Eric, or possibly in February, but we had to replace the solar water heating system in our Maui house this weekend so that cost may keep us in Michigan awhile longer. We shall see. I am glad to live in Michigan but I really miss my Maui family, especially with so much going on in all of their lives right now. I nice long walk in the sun on the Wailea boardwalk with a mango iced tea at Cafe Chow (??sp?) would be nice too:)

Flu???

Well it might take me longer than i thought to get this updated. Clayton woke up sick so i spent the whole day trying to take care of him and lysol everything and keep everyone away from his germs. Now that they are all asleep i feel like i am going to collapse--no germss no germies no germie no germies! I am not sure if it is the flu or some other virus, but I hope we dont all get it. Eric will be home in an hour or so from his 1 1/2 wk work venture where he successfully played "superman" (just in time for halloween :) ). Just in time for the germ laden family to slobber him with germ-infested kisses :) Lucky him :)

yes we are alive

i know i know, it has been forever but i promise to update this soon. eric has been gone again and we had visitors this month twice,as well as a trip to St Paul,MN to surprise my mom while she was visiting my sister. so i have lots of pics. hopefully this weekend i can put up some more.

Gate

Bought a temporary gate to protect our baby's precious head and all while we wait for the other gate to arrive. :) He is trying to cope with another tooth breaking through. I would not be surprised if it is here in the morning.

aaah. baby!!

Eric returned home Sunday from his 2nd business trip this month. Hopefully this marks one of the last ones as the current project is nearing an end. Unfortunately the end of his work on the project may take up all of December, even through Christmas. :(
This week Clayton wanted to go with Jeriah to his Sunday school class and was all upset because he needed to "play with Jeriah, need to play with my best best friend" :) awwwwwww!
Mathias is still trying to grow up way too fast. He is standing and walking along furniture and trying to eat our food and crawling fast. He even almost climbed into the bathtub Sunday! Unfortunately his advanced development has caught us offguard and unprepared-he has fallen down the stairs twice this week :( We have 16 stairs! Thankfully they are carpeted and the floor at the bottom is not concrete or anything too hard. The first fall was short, i think. He must have slid most of the way down bc i only heard 2 thumps, but today i heard more. i thought eric was skipping down the steps until i heard the baby hit the floor and cry. I'm sure he is fine since he cried harder when i put him to bed than when he fell down the steps and he did not have any marks on him this time. He has a rub burn scab on his nose now from the first incident. Yes, we have a gate, but it does not fit. I ordered one a week or two ago but it has not arrived and he decided to sled down them before we were prepared and of course in the 10 seconds that we were distracted. I may have to hit up Walmart tomorrow and see if they have anything big enough. I expect that he will have two more teeth any day now. Hopefully he does not knock them out anytime soon :/ (sorry, that is kind of ill humor, but trying not to stress out too much)
I hope the next post has only positive remarks.
oh, Clay got to be the "Green Star Student" this week and be the leader and have show and tell. He did a really good job. he likes school and tells me about it when he gets home off the bus. Jeriah is enjoying school also. Tomorrow will be his 3rd day.

pics

 
 
 
 

Growing Like Weeds

The baby is 7 months old tomorrow and growing way too fast. He is off the charts (over 100th percentile)for his height and 75th percentile for his weight-29.5 inches and 18 lbs 14 oz. He is an avid crawler now and standing up all the time and even taking a couple steps along furniture or when holding my hands. He has hair now too and it is growing really fast. Mathias loves the water and tried to crawl back into the bathtub with his brothers several times this evening after I had taken him out. He just never stops moving! Now if I could just get him to stop teething and sleep all night, I think I would be a new woman!
Clayton had his first week of kindergarten this week and Jeriah had his first day of preschool today. They both are enjoying school. They are also still trying to recover from the wasp trauma from last month. Sometimes they are ok outside, but last week they would not go out willingly and whenever they saw a bee or flying insect Jeriah especially, would scream at the top of his lungs. The first time he screamed I thought someone was dying! He saw one at school today and did not flip out but he did run to his teacher and cling for a minute.
Clayton's word of the week is "outrage." He was in trouble for biting and told to stay in his room. He came to the top of the stairs and said, "This is an outrage!" I had to laugh at that one. Apparently it came from his favorite video-Planet Heroes.

Our vacation in Elk Rapids was wonderful. Eric was able to stay the whole time and my sister and brother were there for 4 days. We had a lot of fun in the water and in town. Eric and I did a ropes course that made us a few years younger (or maybe older ??). And I won a round of putt-putt for the first time ever!!
We were able to see uncle Charlie and auntie Kate during their stop in Michigan on their way out to Utah. We also spent a week in Kalamazoo while Eric was in CA on business. yes, again! He is still traveling a lot but hopefully in the next month or 2 that will slow down a lot. Well, i am sure there is a lot more but i am going to bed. Here are a few pics and videos. Here is my first try at posting with picasa. Try this link and let me know if it works. if it does i will add more. these ones are from Mackinac City on our trip back to Houghton on Sunday and Monday.
Sarah

No More Shopping With Daddy

So we were all in Walmart today and twice I left the boys with Eric while I looked for something else and fed Mathias. Twice I here over the intercom that my children are lost! First it was, "Sarah, please come to the courtesy desk. Clayton is waiting for you!" The second time it was, "There are two children lost waiting at the paint counter" and a minute later, "There are two girls..(silence), oh, I mean 2 boys, lost at the paint counter." Ok, so I did cut their hair this week so why are they still mistaken as girls! And how is it that my children got lost/my husband misplaced my children, twice in an hour and a half or so at Walmart?!! I think they were ready to call CPS on us or at least charge us for their services :/ No more family trips to Walmart!

Poor Jeriah woke up in the middle of the night hallucinating that bees were coming after him, for about 20-30 minutes. I finally convinced him it was just lightning bugs and dragonflies and he fell back to sleep next to me. That was strange. We tried 2 different bedrooms and he said the same thing, "they're coming at me...those...what are those?....." it was not shadows, i really think he was hallucinating or something :(

So much in one day to tell!!!

Well, i know it has only been a day or two since I updated this post but soooo much has happened since yesterday that i thought i should tell it all before I forget.
WASP ATTACK
Yesterday Eric took the boys for a hike and they were attacked by a huge nest of wasps. Eric and Clay got stung once but Jeriah got it 5 times!! He was up in a tree stand when they came out. He is doing fine but the one on his shoulder does not look very good. I am attaching a picture of his war wound

BABY STANDS
yes, Mathias pulled himself up to standing today, using the boys' mattress to pull himself up. I will try to get him to do it on camera tomorrow.

MORE FIRSTS
Mathias had his first real bath in the big bathtub and he was super excited. He was so excited to get to the bath stopper and running water that he raced forward in his first regular crawl to get to the other end of the bath tub. he did lots of splashing and moving around as well. That boy is always moving and always on his feet!
We took the boys swimming in Hancock for the first time today and then had dinner and ice cream at Jim's Family restaurant. Mathias scooched himself from the sandy beach all the way to the water with serious intent. I saw another family of 5 there with 3 boys that looked the same age as mine so I had to introduce myself. Their boys are also age 5 and 3 and the youngest is 3 months. I am not the only one, Halleluiah!! :) At dinner after swimming, Mathias just stared at our food in jealousy, moving his lips and tongue around, waiting for his bite (sorry, bud) :)He has had cereal a few times now but i am not in the habit of carrying it with me yet.

Our conversation commentary for the night is this: Clay kept getting out of bed and Eric told him AGAIN to get back in bed. Clayton stood in his doorway frowning and in his pouty/whiny voice said, "I'm tired of this! I am upset!" I could not help but giggle and say the same myself, "I'm tired of this too Clay, now go to bed"

Well, I think I must head to bed myself. More soon. Maybe :)

oh wait, i forgot. our friend dave and skye who also went to tech and live in Maui, have family here still. so skye, and their daughter Tia are visiting right now. Tia is in a couple of these pics with the boys.

6 Months Already!!

WEll, first off I am happy to say that Eric has finally returned after 10 1/2 long days away, and we are all still alive to welcome him home (just barely) :/ Sometimes I am not sure if I should be upset that the Lord has allowed sooo much to be on my plate at all times; or if I should take it as a compliment; or if I should realize I must be a really slow learner and He is still trying to teach me patience, or something :/ (see peanut butter picture above)
Anyway, the best reason for this post is that today is MATHIAS 6 MONTH BIRTHDAY!!!
Wow, time flies. He has had 2 teeth and been working on crawling for about 6 weeks now. He is not crawling across the room yet but he manages to get around pretty quick between his "downward dog" crawl and rolling. He is sitting really well now and has tried baby cereal about 3 times now. He is already starting to instigate trouble with his brothers though :) : I had Clay and Jeriah in bed and quiet and as soon as I started to pray, baby Mathias starts laughing. So of course, the boys start laughing and jumping and doing what they can to get Mathias to laugh again. :) It was funny.

Now that we are getting settled it is about time to pack up and go back downstate for our extended family vacation at Elk Lake. I have not been there in 6 years and am really looking forward to our time there. Now that we have new, regular tires, hopefully we are ready for this trip. Note to all car owners:DONT BUY "RUNFLAT" TIRES!!
Here are some recent pics, including a bike ride, a hike, Jeriah's peanut butter mess, and Clayton and his gecko swinging at McClain Park.
Sarah

We Made it!!

Well, after a very long and traumatic trip (2 popped tires at different times)we finally have made it to the U.P.-Houghton, MI. We are renting a house here and it is amazing how good it feels. I just realized that we have not really ever lived by ourselves! First, student housing, 2nd another apartment,3rd a condo, 4th a house with 3 sets of renters on the property (1 was downstairs), 5th with my parents in their house and now, FINALLY, in a rental house all by our lonesome! I wonder what my preference will be after the winter up here?? :) Anyway, the space and quiet (except traffic and kids of course) is great.
Eric is in Colorado this week, but somehow I managed to get all the furniture we will probably need, all by myself (I mean with the kids "help").
Here are a few pics from our trip (including the big tow truck that took our van the last 30 miles of our trip) and views of and from our home.
More to update soon.
Sarah

Here we go!

Well, we finally bought a truck today. Now we just have to finish sifting and packing up and make the long journey. Our plan is to leave Friday or Saturday and stop in Luther for a family reunion. So my guess is we will arrive in Houghton Sunday or Monday.
Mathias is 5 months, almost crawling and has 2 teeth. He is a very happy boy. Clayton and Jeriah are more talkative and energetic than ever.

5 Months Going on 8

Mathias is 5 months and 1 day old today. As if he were not growing up fast enough already, he decided in the last week that he needed to have teeth and start balancing on his hands and knees to get ready to crawl. Yep, he now has 2 teeth that have broken the surface and today he was rocking back and forth on his hands and knees!! Here is a video of him playing leap frog. I guess he wants to catch up with his brothers. He has had his eyes on our food and drinks as well. He is a very happy boy and very aware of everyone and everything around him.

Clay's 5th birthday pictures

Clay's 5th birthday pictures... we went to bounceland. Lots of fun!!!

Clay 5th Bday wish

Clay birthday is coming up, so what does he want?.... "a transforming super hero crashing cake", of course:) I guess now we just have to figure out where to get one!

Growing and Laughing

Here are some more pics and videos of our 3 growing boys. The baby is almost as big as the other two already!!

Videos

I am posting a couple videos here from around April 20th. Included are Mathias' first laugh, Clayton and Mathias conversation, and Jeriah feeding lucky duck. The one of Jeriah is hilarious and I don't know if I really should post it, but here it is. Enjoy,
Sarah

11 weeks and counting

Baby Mathias is already 11 weeks old, today--man how time flies!! He already has a tooth popping through so we had a lovely day of teething (I mean screaming) on Monday :(
On a happier note, Mathias also laughed for the first time a little over a week ago.
He slept through the night a few times a week or so ago but has definitely not made it a habit yet.
The boys love their baby brother, especially Clayton now. He says, "that is our baby." He is always in the baby's face talking to him and kissing him.
Today Eric asked Jeriah to go upstairs and find his phone. He came back down and Eric asked, "do you have my phone?" Jeriah said, "Yes." Eric said, "Show it to me" and Jeriah held out a toy car and said, "Your phone turned into a car." haha Then Eric asked Clayton to go up to get his phone and Clayton said, "No, I am too busy eating an apple." oh, the honesty of children :)

As for our moving plans, we have a place to rent in Houghton starting June 1st, but I dont know when we will actually get up there since clay has school until June 4 and then Eric has a trip to Las Vegas a couple weeks later.

Mathias is 7 weeks tomorrow. Hard to believe! Today he started to play with his toys and respond to the music and lights and talk while he was playing. Clayton has taken a real liking to "the baby" "Mafias" the last couple weeks. He is always kissing him and asking what the baby is doing...

We took our first long family road trip a week and a half ago. We drove up to Houghton to look for a place to rent. The boys traveled very well, but it was still exhausting. Four 6 1/2 hr trips in 4 days and a lot of driving around to look at houses took its toll. I was sick when we got back but antibiotics worked magically. We have a lease starting June 1st but we probably wont go up until closer to the middle of June.

Sarah

That's not nice!!

A conversation between Eric and Clayton (4 1/2 years old):

Me: "Please get off the couch"
Clay: "No. I don't want to."
Me: "I need you to get off"
Clay: "No"
Me: "1-2-3-4-5. Now get off the couch or time out"
Clay: (getting of the couch. crying) "I don't want you to talk like
that!! That is not nice!!"
Me: "come here"
Clay: (sitting on my lap)
Me: "Why do I have to talk like that?"
Clay: "It not nice! That why we get mad at you. Its not OK."
Me: "Well, there are reasons we ask you to do somthing you need to
listen. The baby is trying to sleep on the couch."
Clay: "The baby needs to wake up. You need to talk nicely."
Me: "I'm sorry. If you would listen I would not have to count. We
have to think about the baby, too. Can you play on the chair?"
Clay: "OK"

Jeriah's phrase for the day: "This is my pee pee sample.....this is my pee pee sample" as he ran around holding a cup to himself down there. At least he had clothes on :) He was with me at the OB for my last visit 2 1/2 weeks ago and for some reason thought about it today and that was the part he remembered.

2 Weeks Old

It is hard to believe Mathias is already 2 weeks old. My how time flys! So far everything is going well. He is a little gasey, but cute. He still sleeps a lot. The boys are enjoying him, especially Jeriah who is always hugging him and saying, "What's the matter baby" or "Its ok baby."
I managed to successfully tote all 3 kids to a doctor appointment and a children's program at church on Wednesday, by myself. The true test of my mother of 3 status, however, will start Sunday when Eric goes to California again for the week. I covet your prayers.
Sarah

Baby has a name

Yes, he finally has a name. We could have stayed in the hospital a few more days trying to decide if they would have let us and if I could have put up with more "yummy" hospital food.
Here he is :
Mathias Kanoa Therkildsen, born Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 601am after a very quick and natural delivery-finally! I guess 3rd times the charm!
Mathias means "Gift of God" and its origin is Hebrew and Greek. Pronunciation: (mah THY ahss)
Kanoa means "the Free one" and its origin is Hawaiian. Pronunciation:(kah NOE ah)
We are home and doing well. The Clayton and Jeriah are enjoying their "baby"
Sarah

Baby #3 is has Arrived!

We found that baby living in my wife's uterus yesterday at 6am (EST).
It was a BOY!!  8 pounds 8 ounces and 22 inches long.  That makes boy
number 3!!!  We are still working on the name...

I have also learned from my 4 year old that the baby currently wants
to eat chicken and he will never want to play with "big boy" toys
because he is going to stay a baby and only sleep, not play with
toys... interesting.

Eric

Photos:Eric making an ice rink (though it is suppossed to be 35-40 degrees again next weekend!)
Sarah at 38 weeks pregnant
Grandma Hokenson with Clayton, Jeriah and cousin Olivia

Not too much to report right now. Just waiting for baby to "pop out" as my children put it. Jeriah just had his 3rd birthday on friday. We had fun playing at Bounceland for a couple hours.
Clayton is really enjoying sledding and Eric just taught him to play "King of the Mountain"
If all goes well, maybe we will see some of you during spring break--we'll see.
Sarah