Christmas

We had a very nice, and quiet Christmas at home this year... We weren't quite ready to take Maija traveling in all the loveliness that is winter, but we will hopefully venture out more when she gets a little bigger and the weather is a little more agreeable! This weekend, we are lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Ojanen as well as Auntie Sarah, Uncle Brett and the kids coming out here to Moorhead to visit and celebrate a late Christmas with us! Should be fun!

Here are some pictures from the Saari Christmas!:

Big (big) Brothers

The Saari boys have informed us that Caleb is the "big big brother", Brady is the "big brother", and Maija is Caleb's "little, little sister", and Brady's "little sister"... It's an interesting way to look at it!

Random pictures...

Here is our beautiful tree! Merry Christmas!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Big brother Brady!

Brady taking a snooze underneath the couch cushions

Maija loves being in her tub...

Yep. It's winter...

Well, winter arrived with a bang this year. Granted, we've actually had winter-like temps and dabs of snow here and there for the past month or so...however this past weekend, we like MANY others here in the upper Midwest were pounded by BLIZZARD conditions consisting of temps well below the freezing mark, 50 mph wind gusts with a windchill of -40 which blew around the 10 inches of snow that fell in our area into big drifts and piles... Yep. It's winter. It stinks.

This was the lovely scene viewed from our living room window:

As you can (or can't) see...this is our front yard... You can almost see our neighbor's house directly across the street. Yep. It's winter.

This is the view from the deck:

And this is the spectacular snow drift that graced itself on our front steps:

Maija meets Micah!

The Gunderson crew came visiting to Moorhead the day after Thanksgiving...(yes, I realize that was a while ago already) and we all got to meet the newest Gunderson, Micah James. Micah is quite a sight to behold! At two months old, he is a whopper of a boy! He's got the biggest cheeks I've ever seen, which are oh so kissable, and is solid from head to toe! We couldn't resist taking a picture of little miss peanut girl (who is only 8 days old in this picture) with her baby cousin...

Here she is!

Caleb and Brady would like to introduce you to their new sister!!!

Maija Nicole Saari
arrived on Thursday, Nov. 20

at 1:16 pm
8 lbs. 1 oz. - 20 3/4 in.

I realize Maija is two weeks old today, and I apologize for not getting some pictures up sooner... However, the last two weeks have been a little hectic around the Saari household. Not only have we been adjusting to a new baby in the house and everything that entails...but Maija has been having some great fun with jaundice. Daily heal pokes to check her bilirubin level, a week long stint on a fiber-optic bili-blanket, weight checks, walk-in clinic fun and a paranoid, worried, emotionally charged Mommy. It's been quite a beginning for our sweet girl! Thankfully, she seems to be on the road to recovery...tomorrow she will have her two week check up, and hopefully we will have only good news to report!

Here are a few pics from the last two weeks!:

Caleb & Brady meet Maija for the first time!

Caleb & Brady hear Maija cry for the first time!

Our little glow worm baby...

This is the much disliked bili-blanket.