Yesterday to get my daughter out of the car without throwing a tantrum I bribed her with a sucker.

I think she's winning.

Weekend In the Zoo

Jeff and I cruised back to Missoula this weekend to party it up at Stephanie’s wedding reception. Steph and Joel got married in Mexico a couple weeks ago and unfortunately Jeff and I couldn’t make the wedding. So being the awesome person that Steph is, she decided to have a reception in Missoula for all of us that couldn’t make it to the actual wedding. She looked beautiful in her dress by the way!

My parents met us in Helena and took Avery for the night. They debated on going to the reception and just watching Avery in the hotel room but since the reception started at seven and the kid crashes at eight we decided that wasn’t the best idea. Handing my kid off to spend the night with the Grandparents in Great Falls proved the better option. I hate being away from Avery even for a day, so it was hard to send her away to another town but it ended up being a fantastic idea that I might just do again sometime.

Jeff and I made the exchange Sat morning and then off we went for an adult date in the Zoo. We had lunch at Sushi Hanna, which I love, then checked into the hotel. That’s when I realized that like an idiot, I had left my outfit laid out on a chair (so as not to wrinkle it) in Butte. Glad it didn’t get wrinkled! So off to the mall hubby and I went and to my amazement, he helped me shop for a new outfit and didn’t tell me to hurry up even once. I swear being in Missoula instantly relaxed both of us. We met up with Jill and her husband Ken for appetizers and wine and then headed off to the reception. We had a BLAST!!! I drank way too much and danced to every dumb song that came on. I loved it. Afterwards we went with Jill and Ken to the Mo Club, which was crazy packed. Apparently some guy stepped on my pinkie toe and I kind of think it might be broken? I say apparently because I don’t remember much after we left the reception and Jeff doesn’t either. We did, however, manage to walk back to our hotel. Neither of us felt great the next morning, a little hung over, but it was so worth it. I can’t even remember the last time I let loose like that. It felt good. Jeff and I both needed a break.

We picked up Avery Sunday around two, which was about perfect. I was starting to miss her… a lot. I guess she had a great time in Great Falls. My parents invited the family over for a bar-b-que and everyone got some great Avery time. Apparently she was in top form. When we got back to Butte I told Avery I missed her and she started saying, “ I miss you Mommy, I miss you.” Then she gave me a hug and did the same to her Daddy. It was too cute. As much as I love the little munchkin, I think it’s good to have some time alone. If nothing else it makes me appreciate her even more.

Thanks for giving us an excuse to get away Steph and thanks Mom and Dad for watching the small one!


Here's Avery with her new tea pot, an early birthday gift from Aunt Lynnie! I guess everyone at my parents had to drink tea and if they didn't hold the cup by the handle, she'd take it away from them.

Update On The Small One!

She’s growing up my little one

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The other day we got a catalog in the mail full of Fisher Price toys. The first few pages were the little people brand toys. I tossed the catalog on the coffee table and figured I’d finger through it later.

About an hour later Jeff and I were talking and all the sudden we heard Avery saying, “I wan dat, I wan dat, Mommy I wan dees.”

She had discovered the catalog and was pointing at the Little People. Jeff and I cracked up, it was the first time she had ever asked for a toy or really shown any interest in a catalog.

Our morning and evening ritual when I either take Avery or pick her up from daycare is to plop her in her car seat with juice and then we put on Dora or Sponge Bob in the car DVD player. She really likes this Dora cartoon about the Mermaid Kingdom and has been watching that one a lot lately. Sometimes she’ll sing along to parts of the songs but yesterday she actually started repeating the video almost word for word. I was amazed! Just more proof that my child is a genius!

My car keys have been missing for about a week. I’ve been hoping they would just show up. This morning while putting frog to sleep in Avery’s stroller for the day (it’s a morning ritual to put frog to sleep for the day in various places in our house) I discovered my keys lying under her doll who is also “seeping” in the stroller?

The small one has learned another song. So far the only song she’s really good at repeating is Twinkle Twinkle. Avery’s rendition goes something like this (imagine her singing this to the Twinkle Twinkle tune):

Winkle Winkle …. STAR

Wonder….. ARE

Up abova….. HIGH

……………. SKY

Her latest song is the map song from Dora. For those of you that don’t know, the map song pretty much says Map over and over again with a few more words thrown in. Avery’s rendition is the exact same tune as the map song except ever word is Map. There is one part of the song were map says, “What’s my Name, the map, say it again, the map, I’m the map I’m the map I’m the map…” You can imagine the rest. Avery’s version goes something like this….

Name….. Map

Name….. Map

Map, Map, Map, Map, Map, Map, Map

Name…. Map

Name….. Map

Over and over again. It’s pretty funny! Yesterday she sung it the entire time she was in the shower or showee as she likes to call it.

Avery’s obsessed with driving the car right now. The other day, Daddy let Avery sit in the front seat and drive the car while it was parked in the garage. She had the hugest grin on her face, looked over at us and said very firmly “shut a door” and we watched her threw the window while she “drove” for like five minutes. When we tried to get the small one to come inside she threw a tantrum.

Now every day when I get home from work I have to work fast to get her out of her car seat and the car before she climbs up to the front seat. The whole time I’m taking her out of the car she’s wining “driving” and basically the kid stays pissed off at me for about a half hour after we get inside for not letting her drive. I figure even if I let her drive she’ll throw a tantrum when I try to pry her away from the wheel so at least this way I forgo standing in the garage staring at her through the window for minutes on end. I’d like to personally thank my husband for coming up with this idea (note the sarcasm).

Have a great weekend everyone. The Kline’s are off to Missoula for sushi, shopping and a wedding reception!

Wednesday Bitchfest!

What’s the deal with kids and colds?! I swear I have been sick more since I’ve had Avery than all my 30 years combined. Well maybe not that much but sometimes it seems like it. It just occurred to me today that I have had three colds in the last six months, all occurring within a day or two of Avery getting a cold. That’s way over my average two colds per year. I’ve pretty much become reserved to the fact that if Avery gets sick, I am going to follow. For some reason my dear husband doesn’t seem to get afflicted even half as much as I do. What’s up with that!? It probably has something to do with the fact that he doesn’t usually sleep with her or stay home with her when she’s sick. I end up getting sneezed or coughed on all night. With this last cold the small one even shoved her thumb sucking saliva covered fingers into my mouth twice for no apparent reason while I was trying to rock her to sleep. WTF! So I have become reserved to the fact that if the kid gets sick, I’m screwed. I didn’t even attempt the Xicam or Airborne this last run since it didn’t help much with the previous two colds. Oh what I would give to be able to open my windows and air out my germ infested house. Man I am so ready for spring, unfortunately in Butte MT it’s still like three months away!

Weekend Update!

Valentines weekend was nice except for the fact that both Avery and I were sick for some part of it. Avery got sick last Thurs and by Sunday I had her bug. I think it’s a cold and yes I still feel like crap but since I took two days off last week I’m stuck at work feeling like crap. Enough about that though back to V-day. Jeff and I decided to try out our new fondue pot and we made cheese and chocolate fondue. The cheese was good but a little too rich for me. The chocolate fondue was TO DIE for! We dipped pound cake and strawberries in it. Avery had a blast. Stupid me I forgot to take pictures so you’ll just have to imagine the yummy goodness. I think we might do it again for Jeff’s birthday instead of a cake and I’ll be sure to post pictures of that one. I wonder if anyone would notice if I crawled under my desk to take a nap! Maybe I’ll just go get a triple latte instead.

Hadyn is here!

My cousin Mandy finally had her baby. Introducing Hadyn James. The little chunk was 7lbs 3 oz and 18 inches long. So far I don't have a ton of pictures but I'll post more when I get them. Congrats Mandy what a beautiful baby!

The Kitchen Remodle has Begun - dun dun dun!

It's started again. I'm not happy about it but it's time for the Kline's to take on another house project. This time we are focused on the kitchen. As you may recall we put tile down in the kitchen and bathroom last Feb, then got the bathroom almost finished last summer, when a leak caused the ceiling to cave in. We haven't fixed the ceiling yet and haven't touched the kitchen, can you say LAZY! Our plan get started on the kitchen and then finish the bathroom. The idiots that owned our house last put in a totally tacky drop ceiling that we ripped down. We're going to raise the ceiling back to almost ten feet, sheetrock it, put in new lights (since the flourescent ones we currently have are super ugly), replace the countertop, sink, garbage disposal, fix the walls and then paint the whole thing. Yikes. This time though we have a plan. Grandpa Bubba aka Jeff's Dad came down last weekend to jump start things and we're working straight until it's all done, hopefully by the end of spring break! Unfortunately we can't afford to replace the cupboards so I'm thinking this summer I'm going to take them all down and repaint them since the last time I painted them I was on a time crunch and didn't do the best job. Last weekend we got as far as fixing a plumbing issue that the prior owner caused and then we (or Jeff and Larry) contemplated the wiring for like five hours. The prior owner also did some funky electrical work. It's always fun to fix someone else's F-ups! But hey we're on our way. I can't wait to see the finished product. Wish us luck and I'll keep everyone updated with pictures!!
PS - While Jeff and Larry worked thier butts off, Avery, Grandma Lara and I hung out and played the Wii! Sometimes it's good to not be able to contribute. Thanks again for coming down Grandpa Bubba and Grandma Lara!

It's Official!

For some reason I’ve been waiting to make this post and I’m not even sure why? Maybe because once I post it, it is truly official, and for some reason that’s taken me awhile to come to terms with. I think, however, it is time to make the big announcement. Most of you already know what I’m going to say but here goes anyways. The Kline’s are moving to Norway next winter for a duration of no less than 2.5 years.

Jeff has been accepted at NTNU with a research fellowship to study in the area of slag kinetics. Don’t ask me about slag kinetics because the extent of my knowledge in this area is slim to say the least. Jeff actually explained it really well to me the other night, yet listening to an explanation and trying to explain it myself are two different beasts. So lets just leave it at this… he is trying to find a more efficient and cost effective way to do slag diffusion, whatever the hell that is. That’s dumbing it down a lot so if you want to know more you’ll have to go to the source, i.e. my hubby. I’m so proud of Jeff. Sixty applicants from around the world tried for the same fellowship and he was chosen. I’ll have to admit that sometimes my husband’s brain in the area of Math and Science amazes me, however, to keep him humble I try not to say this too often. Plus I’m still better at writing so there!

At first when Jeff came to me with the idea of making a move to Europe I freaked and instantly thought of all the negative aspects of the move. I actually didn’t talk to him for like an entire day. After much discussion and some major soul searching I am actually getting excited about the idea. For one I won’t have to work unless I choose to. For the last two years I have fought with the guilt of leaving my child at daycare everyday and finally I will have the freedom to stay home with Avery! Also we’ll get to explore Europe and see all the sites that you always hear about. Knowing that we won’t be over there forever makes it that much more exciting. How many times in a person’s life do they get the opportunity for such a grand adventure. For the rest of my life I’ll be able to tell people about the years we spent in Norway while Jeff completed his PHD. Plus I’ll be married to a Dr., how cool is that! While I’ll miss everyone dearly, I am so glad that in this age of computers and cell phones, people are only a call or a click away. I have a feeling I’m going to become best friends with my computer. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE is invited to come visit and stay with us! So start up your Norway vacation funds now – I’m not kidding, start them up!!

Oh and the town we're moving to is called Trondheim in case you'd like to google it!

Jacob Miles Hatzenbeller is Here!

Rosanne had her baby yesterday! I just wanted to post a couple pics I stole off her facebook site :) He was 9 lbs 2 oz. I can't wait to meet him!! Congratulations Rosanne and Lance!
Here's a picture of the family with their Dr. Damn she looks good for just having a baby!