To my first born son

Birthday Party fun!
Opening your birthday presents
Happy 4th Birthday!
Happy 3rd Birthday William!
Happy 2nd Birthday!
Happy 1rst Birthday!
Welcome William.....best gift ever.
Your Birthday! So little.....but so strong.
Oh William. Four whole years. That doesn't seem possible. I can close my eyes and remeber the day we first met you. There were tears on that day as well. William, you know you made me wait in misery for days, to meet you. And then the world shifted, and you could no longer wait to meet us, not one more minute. Your heart was beating so slowly, and if I had known what I know now I would have been terrified, but we were so excited to meet you face to face. We knew all along you would be whisked off to the warmer, where there was a team of ladies waiting to meet you and make sure all was well. So I was suprised when you were born and set on my tummy. I was a nurse before I was ever your mom, and on your video I can hear myself telling your daddy to cut the chord so they could help you on that warmer. I didn't hear "It's a boy" or compliments on how cute you were, or even your cry. I heard talk of your heart rate, of what size tube to use, and I remember my OB telling me she had become an aunt earlier that same day. I remember telling your daddy to take a few pictures of you before they replaced the breathing tube. It's funny how it all came out of my mouth without even thinking of it, it just made sense. Those pics were a favorite with your cousins who didn't care for all of the tubes it took to help you. You have demanded our attention since the very day we met you, and we wouldn't have it any other way. That determination is why you are here, and not to be taken for granted. You are so strong, I am so proud of you. If they haven't heard your story, no one would believe how much you have overcome. You have only one small physical scar (on your hand from a PICC line) to remind us of your NICU stay. Another birthday my dear boy, to remind us just what a beautiful gift you are, how thankful we are to have you here with us, and that you continue to teach me how precious life is.
This year you have grown so much. You talk (alot)and we understand you. You don't even weigh five pounds more than your little brother. You have become the picky eater most moms talk about, and claim not to like things before you even see them. You love soup, and popsicles (which still sounds like pockle;) You have fallen in love with chocolate this year, and prefer you smores as a bar of chocolate and bag of marshmallows. You enjoy art, especially drawing and painting. You love everything Iron Man or Transformers. You can ride your bike all by yourself. You are totally potty trained, not a single accident after going to big boy underwear for good. Your favorite outfit is any pair of superhero underwear and nothing else. Except gloves, you still love gloves, even in August. You have become the best big brother this year. You have the biggest heart. I feel sorry for the first kid who picks on your little brother. Tristan thinks you are the best thing around.....and he's right! You are starting to really enjoy cooking, and enjoy helping out your daddy with supper. You really like Legos, and have quite the imagination. You have been looking forward to this birthday since March when we celebrated Grandpa Dauner's & Mommy's birthdays. You are convinced you have enough birthday money to buy a toy store.
You are the best present ever William. How did we ever get so lucky? Happy Fourth Birthday William.

Summer Fun

Just a few pics of our beautiful boys at the playground and beach. William LOVES the water. Tristan LOVES the sand.
I love these two so much!

Happy Easter

Hope that all of you readers had a happy Easter weekend! We started the celebrating the weekend before Easter. We took the boys to see "Hop" which they both enjoyed. It had some pretty good music & I think they both liked Easter Island (which is where all the CANDY is made for Easter :). We let the boys open their Easter baskets from both of their sets of grandparents. Our children don't want for anything~ if anything I would call them slightly spoiled! Then I worked Easter weekend, but luckily it was a quiet weekend. I was blessed with the day off on Sunday so we got to spend the day together. The boys & I dyed Easter eggs together. Here's Tristan learning how to dye Easter eggs. He didn't care for the egg holder, it just went right into his mouth. Notice the yellow-green fingers, and lips~ silly boy! He must think vinegar tastes good, because he tried to taste a few of the colors. He would roll the egg with his fingers, dip them in the color and then look around before licking them off. He thought he was pretty funny!


William is an egg dying pro. He strongly believes that he should get as much color on each egg as possible. He did a great job, and had a great time doing so. William is wearing his favorite outfit in these pictures. He is totally a three year old boy and prefers to wear as little as possible. Of course we have the weather on our side now, as he loves to be outside, and obviously has to wear clothes to be outdoors.


The end result: Eight beautiful eggs!

We had blueberry pancakes and ham for Easter brunch. Of course there were a few pancake bunnies after I asked if that was what he was making us! We were very lucky to be able to have breakfast all together~ and to have Jeremy cook for us!

Then the boys got to search for their easter eggs in the backyard, they had a blast! This was Tristan's first year finding eggs, but he caught on pretty quickly. He was very interested in what was in each egg so he had alot less eggs in his basket than William. He was really proud & happy when he found the last few eggs though. Tristan got the biggest smile for the egg that looked like a soccer ball, and he put it right down to kick it. William remembered what to do and after some encouragement was helping Tristan pick up eggs. William was really proud of all the eggs he crawled around to find! And really excited for CANDY!!






We spent the afternoon hiking at WhiteWater State Park. It was a beautiful day. Finally it may be springtime!!





Before bed the boys found their Easter baskets, making that #4 for each of them. Oh yeah there was plenty of candy, toys and books to be had for all. They were both excited about their new superhero t-shirts and videos, turns out the Easter bunny has good taste!
So all in all it was a lovely day that we weren't expecting to be spending together which made it even more special. Hope you also had a blessed Easter.

Hiking Fun

We took our first hiking trip out at WhiteWater State Park this spring. We had a great trip. Now if Spring would only come to stay! This time Tristan was very interested in everything & enjoyed running around and exploring after he was released from the backpack. He loves the ride & doesn't complain at all, but has finally decided it is fun to move around on his own. William is alot more daring this year & thought we should take the "shortcut" down the hill, which is basically a ravine you could fall down. You would quickly get to the bottom, but I'm pretty sure that's not a preferred trail there! He was not so easily convinced otherwise. He also likes to walk a few steps and then jump, so I nearly had a million heart attacks. Jeremy would probably say I was over reacting, but I really prefer none of us take the "shortcuts" down the hill!
A hike down memory lane



I thought the last time we had been hiking at WhiteWater State Park was last fall, but apparently it was the beginning of May 2010. It doesn't seem that long ago but here are two pics from almost a year ago! I don't usually post pics where I look so terrible, but I guess at least I can say it was a year ago. This was our first time hiking with both boys. My crazy husband carried Tristan in the Bjorn & William in the backpack. I did end up carrying William because he had fallen asleep & I didn't want to wake him to put him in the pack. It was a short nap and he was back to running along with us. What a difference a year makes!

Obviously I can't believe how quickly time goes by! A few words about the kids for those of you wondering:
Tristan is now 15monts old. I don't think that's even possible but we were in for his checkup so I guess it's for real! He weighs 28lbs, but has been that heavy for the past 4 months. He's a great eater, but is becoming a toddler and doesn't eat everything in front of him. If he likes what he's offered, he can eat as much as his Mamma(and usually way more than his brother) but if he doesn't, the plate will promptly be dumped on the floor. He can say a few words, Mamma, Dadda, All done, NONONO. Sometimes it feels like I am saying the last word continuously between him & his brother, I have to try to say it in other words. He's really taken off walking this month & can even stagger a run. Tristan aka"the terror" loves to empty everything, take things apart, and pick things up again. He is happy and always laughing. He may have gotten my sarcasm though because he laughs at some bizarre things. He is going to be our super villian and loves the movie Despicable Me....he just can't stop laughing, it's too cute.

William is three and a half already.....crazy! He's very three years old. Any of you with 3yr olds know exactly what I mean! His vocabulary has bloomed this year. He doesn't hesitate to tell you exactly what he wants, even though it's unlikely that he's going to get it. This month he LOVES the toystore, but is still upset that we forgot Captain America's sisters (aka fellow superheroes) there. Even when I explain we left them there on purpose, it's not the end of it. He is going to be Spiderman, Iron Man or a PowerRanger when he grows up. Only when he's not using his superhero powers he's going to be wearing a stethoscope? I'm not sure about that, he doesn't truly understand what I do when I go to work, and he does NOT like the doctor (even though the nurses give the shots :). His favorite color is green, but don't buy him anything green because that really means he LOVES red. William is excited for spring so he can play tball & soccer in the backyard.

Jeremy and I are doing well. Mostly working & living the life with the kids. We are so blessed. We are excited for spring so we won't be cooped up in the house all day long, everyday! Maybe sometime soon! Hopefully it won't be so long before the next update but I can't promise anything.

Icefishing

IMG_3091, originally uploaded by annette_dauner.

January 2011. That's crazy. Here's my three favorite boys out for our first icefishing trip. The boys were good, the fishing not so much. Good times! Good thing it hasn't been more than half of a year since I have been here. There obviously isn't enough time to update you on everything that's gone on. At least not in this update! Hopefully this year I will be visiting here much more frequently. And you all too! Thanks for continuing to check in on us! I will be back again to tell you more :)

Time flies when you're having fun!!

Well I would start with, oh my gosh is it April already? But it looks like I used something too similiar for February! I can't believe that was two months ago already. It's true, time definitely does pass faster the older you get!

What can I say about William?? He's TOTALLY TWO. That's for sure. We've been working on potty training and he has his good and bad days. When he decides he wants too, it will be done like that. So far we spend alot of time and energy trying to convince him it's a good idea, but he's usually not so sure. Unless it gets him out of going to bed, or timeout and then he's totally potty trained. Haha if only that wasn't totally true!! It's amazing how quickly children learn how to use things to their benefit. William is enjoying the warm weather....we've taken a few walks, and he's had his trike out a few times. He loves it outside and it really wears him out to play so hard. William's had kind of a rough winter with the respiratory flu bugs. He is just recovering with his third episode of febrile respiratory bugs. This last one ended up as an ear infection....his first one ever. Thankfully some antibiotics are helping to make him feel like a new man. He's still a pretty good eater but has his days. Sometimes he'll eat as much as I do and sometimes he'll get up in his chair, look at his plate, and say "Um, NO!" and get back down. He has a new friend in our house....it's the time out chair. It can be any chair in any room of the house depending on where he's throwing things or hitting people. It's hard because he looks so pitiful sitting down in it but we really only give him timeout for purposefully doing something we've told him not to, which could usually cause harm to somebody else. This last few weeks have been especially trying as I went back to work, and then we all got sick, so nobody had much patience. He is typically a very active, fun, happy little boy. When did my oldest baby turn into a boy? I must have blinked!

Tristan is turning into our little chunk. He weighed 16lb 9 oz at the Dr last week, and he's only 3 months old! I said "At this rate pretty soon he'll weigh as much as William!" and the nurse said that actually isn't uncommon by the time the baby's a year old! Crazy. Tristan is: an awesome eater, obviously. If I had posted this last week he would also be an awesome sleeper, but that's on vacation this week as he's caught Will's respiratory bug. I swear our dr thinks I'm stalking her as often as we've been in the past 10 days! He's got bronchiolitis, which makes babies breathe faster and harder than normal. He has a terrible cough with this round, which makes it even worse. He can't keep his paci in his mouth coughing until he's retching. I think he's finally turning the corner, and will be breathing easy again soon. Tristan is a very HAPPY baby. He's full of smiles and laughs. He loves to look at his brother and almost always ends up giving a heart breaking smile to him. They sure love each other! Tristan has found his hands. He likes to chew on the top of his left hand. He's often found watching people with his hands held together across his big round tummy. He also enjoys watching our new big TV....it's terrible, they shouldn't learn our habits quite so fast! Tristan is turning into quite the little chatterbox...cooing, and making sounds, it's lots of fun having chats with him. Just for grandma~ NO he is not eating pizza & cake yet...sorry! Don't leave him on any flat surface on his tummy because he'll roll over, or off in about five seconds....he does NOT love tummytime :) Tristan is generally a very happy pleasant baby, and a beautiful addition to the family!

I myself have almost been back to work for a month. That doesn't even seem possible! It doesn't even feel possible either, but mostly because I did miss a whole week sick with the boy's illness. That was most unpleasant to say the least. I was nervous to be back at work, but it was alot like coming home. I fit right back in, and some days it doesn't feel like I was even gone. I sure enjoy my job caring for other people's sick kids. I hope that my husband isn't going crazy as this was my first week of night shifts since coming back, and both of the boys have been awakening alot at night since they're not really feeling well. I love my children dearly but have to admit it was good to get out of the house. And for those of you who know me, that's how much fun it was being trapped at home with them (or at the dr) all last week....I'm excited to go to work on a night shift. That is how much fun it was. Anyways thankfully we're all starting to feel better!

Jeremy is doing well. I'm not sure how he managed to miss the flu bug, but I think it's totally unfair. But I guess one of us had to be well & continue working. He was a little sad to see the ice melting on the lakes, but has already commented on taking the canoe out fishing. I'm not sure what I think about that. I just commented back how much fun it will be to take the two boys out & be trapped on a lake with them....priceless I'm sure!

I hope that everybody is enjoying this spring weather, it's been such a bizarre year! Sending happy Easter wishes out to everyone. I hope you get to spend some quality time with your families! Thank you for continuing to check in on us! Sorry it takes me so long to update! Maybe next time it won't be as long, but I can't make any promises....Hugs to you all!

February already?

Crazy Tristan turned one month almost a month ago! Maybe I'll always be a month behind now :) My neighbor says she can't really remember the first year after she had their second child, it was so busy. She also says you get a routine going :) One can only hope.

Tristan at one month:
Is an awesome eater going every three to four hours during the day and six to eight hours at night so we get some sleep.
Is usually sleeping at least one four to six hour stretch per night.
Is a snuggler, which means he is starting to really think he should be held at all times while awake.
Is wearing three month old clothes and size 1 diapers. Amazing how they grow!
Has been icefishing and is a pretty good sport about it.
Doesn't love his carseat, especially if the car isn't moving.
Is starting to have more time during the day being awake & showing off his big brown eyes. No question what color they'll be when he grows up :)
Takes all kind of love from his big brother, including attempts at wrestling which has so far been caught before really occuring.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

William is doing really well at being the big brother. He does tend to act out when you're holding Tristan, especially if you're feeding him, Will's just trying to test the boundaries. So far though we've been really lucky and it's been pretty smooth. Except maybe for the sleeping thru the night in his own bed. Thank goodness Tristan appreciates his sleep because I think it might be what's keeping me sane some nights. William is enjoying going to daycare , he loves his friends there. He gets so excited when you pull into their drive, it's too cute :) He has a special little girlfriend there, Mel, who he talks about the most, she's three. Julie said one day she checked on the kids at naptime and Will wasn't in his car bed but she found him curled up next to Mel's mat. Precious! William is really starting to talk, and knows lots of words now. His favorite fruit this month is apples and I think he'ld eat them for every meal if he got his choice. He's very two years old, that's for sure.

We have been doing well. I'm enjoying my maternity leave and have about a month left. It's funny because I love being at home with Tristan but still kind of miss work. I'm sure I'll be back soon enough though. Well I'm hoping it won't take as long to get our next update and photos out, but I can't promise anything. The boys have been sick with a respiratory bug, first William, then Jeremy & now Tristan has it :( They called it bronchiolitis at the clinic today, it's a little hard for him to breathe but they're hopeful he should be getting over it soon. If you could keep him in your thoughts that would be great, it would be great to all feel better soon. Thanks for continuing to check up on us!

Introducing Tristan Christ

Well obviously it's been awhile since I posted. I didn't realize last time while writing to my youngest son, I would meet him that weekend! Tristan Christ was born December 13, at 5:13 PM. He weighed 8 lb & was 19 3/4 inches tall. While his older brother is often talked about for his birth & hospitalization, Tristan wanted to be known for his quick labor, and the 24 minutes we spent in the hospital before meeting him. Thankfully everything went well, and he arrived happy & healthy which is what we were hoping for.
Tristan on his birthday

We didn't have much time to worry about who would watch William, as Tristan was in a hurry to meet us all. William watched a movie and ate a cherry popsicle with the triage nurse at the nurses station for what felt like only a few minutes. He was a very good sport, and is turning into an awesome big brother. William has lots of kisses for Tristan, and has learned how to say Tristan rather understandably. Yesterday Tristan started crying and before I had gotten to him, William was standing over him patting his tummy saying "It's okay, it's okay". He's just too precious.
Just the 4 of us!!

Tristan will be one month old tomorrow already! We've been up to alot in that four weeks, and I'll post more pictures later. We got out of the hospital after 3 days, and the first few nights were rough. Between the two boys waking up it felt like we were all zombies. We weren't planning on going home to Bemidji for Christmas (as we were planning on going in Jan) but Jeremy had a death in the family. It's funny how things work out sometimes, we ended up home for Christmas after all. We had a nice Christmas with both of our families. Then we spent a few days back home, and Jeremy did alot of work on Tristan's bedroom. By the time that was done three weeks had gone by and Jeremy went back to work. It's crazy how time flies. Of course he only worked 2 days before we went back to Bemidji for his fishing trip to Baudette with the guys. Somehow in our time off we did manage to take the boys to Alvin & the Chipmunks (William was dancing, he loved the music, it was too cute.), have Christmas ourselves at home, and get out icefishing twice (Tristan & I just joined the guys for a few minutes after they were all set up in the warm house.)
Going home from the hospital

We have lots of pictures to share in good time. We are enjoying all being together. Tristan is a very good baby. He's a good eater, and seems to be growing already. But more importantly (to mom's sanity) he's a very good sleeper, and will sleep 4 to sometimes even 7 hours overnight. Now if I could get him to teach his brother how to do that we'ld be in business! Thanks to everyone who has been thinking about us and anticipating Tristan's arrival! We appreciated you all, and everything you do for us! We'll write again soon....

To my youngest son

Hello baby boy~ We could be meeting any day now! What an exciting thought. So many people have such great hopes for you. As your birthday approaches I find myself thinking of your big brother's entrance into the world. As you've probably heard me say a million times during this past nine monhths, it was not so smooth. I hope for a smooth greeting for you sweetheart. I hope for no breathing tubes and oscillators. I hope for no cardiologists at your bedside doing tests (although we are so thankful for you) when I meet you face to face. I hope for no threatened helicopter rides that have anything to do with taking blood out of your sweet body, fixing it and givig it back to you. I hope for no narcotics and medicines that paralyze and hold you still for days on end. I hope for all of these things for you and yet in the same breathe I am so very thankful they exist and helped to save your big brother, William. I hope you don't need to know any of these things, but if you do, I hope that this experience also helps to make me a better mom & nurse. But Mom first :) I hope that you find great joy in your big brother. He can be such a sweetheart, kissing owies & patting my shoulder after hugs. And yet in the blink of an eye he can be such a little devil. I hope he doesn't carry you like his baby doll, usually very nice and cuddly but occasionally by the leg swinging him, hitting his head on anything possible. I hope he will find great joy in you too, you'll recognize him: he's the one blowing you kisses and then poking at you mercilessly. I hope you don't get offended when he calls you "baby" because that's your name so far to him. I hope you are born to enjoy hunting and fishing, because your dad is already talking about taking you out icefishing. I told him maybe not this year, you'll be pretty little this winter. I hope you love him the way Will does, we think he makes the world go around. I hope for a short hospital stay and a safe trip to your new home (I hope we finish your room someday :). I hope for days full of happiness when we all get to meet and get to know each other. I hope you are warm and safe where you are, and that soon enough you'll be warm & safe at home with us. With it snowing outside, and no doubt your brother will sound lounder, and everything will look brighter. I hope to see you soon, when you're ready sweet baby.



And of course a sweet welcome to our new nephew Colton!! We can't wait to see you sweetheart!

Boy oh Boy

So this morning I wasn't totally concentrating when I finished my post. I meant to eand with:

So we're obviously thinking of names for our newest little boy, tell us what you think William's little brother's name should be. You can post anonymously if you so desire. Can't wait to hear what you guys like!

What happened to the summer?

Oh my gosh, I logged on to update the site, and realized it's been two whole months since I've been chatting on here! Boy have I been taking it easy. I have been procrastinating about getting our home internet up and running, mostly due to previous computer problems which are 95% fixed now. Now I just need some time to have them out to the house when a little two year old won't drive us crazy, and will let us get it done.

So anyways the camping trip went well, we had a blast. Time goes to fast, especially when you have to drive six hours there & back but it was also good to get home and have some time together. We had a good time with both of our families and even some time with the cousins. We have a ton of great pics I'll have to get up once we have internet....

We have been busy getting settled into our new home. For those of you who haven't been there, or seen pics, we have a bit of a wallpaper problem which will slowly be repaired one room at a time :) So we started with William's room to be...and have now finished one room. I should say once we have new curtains for the boy we'll be done and moving the crib into his room. We have ordered some furnitre for our bedroom & the living room to be, which should be here next week so that's exciting as well. There is alot of empty space now~ if you can imagine a two bedroom apartment filling up a four bedroom house, hahaha or leaving it mosly empty :)

Our little baby turned two on August 8th. How crazy is that?? Pretty crazy I think. What has William been up to? William is now running like crazy. He's got a great throwing arm on him, and always picks up multiple different balls while shopping at the store. He is learning to love cars (or vroom according to him), and sometimes trains( which are choo-choos). He can actually say train but chooses not to say car or truck because he likes to go Vroom! William is finally learning more words you can understand. He says eat, drink, please (more like peas) and thank you (ank u) is learning lots of animals and their sounds. He can say pee for potty and is usually right about when he should go, whether he refuses to go into the bathroom or not (hopefully it's not at a time he's diaperless). He is a great eater, and especially loves fruit (or fwoot as he says it) but has learned how to ask for treats (tweets) He has know how to say NO for a long time but his new favorite phrase is "I want toooo" and two could be anything from going outside to a drink, sometimes who knows :) He has definitely learned how to turn on the waterworks and can make the whole Target store look at you like an abuser. Thankfully most people who comment say things like "it won't always be your son", or "we could never even take my son out to the store".

We're excited to announce that William is going to be a big brother in December. He's going to be having a baby brother around December 28th and we couldn't be more excited. When the internet is fixed we'll put up the little guys first photos. For those of you wondering I feel pretty good, but it hasn't always been this good :) Once William's room is finished, we'll start working on the nursery to be, where he's currently residing.

I could write alot more but I figure that's enough big news for one morning. I'll same some for another day! Thanks for checking up on us, and sorry I've been delinquent. Hopefully it will get better here shortly.