Christmas Letter

Brian suggested last year we just post our letter on the blog. I really was not on board with this idea, but this year I am all for it. It just makes sense. Most of our family reads our blog, I don't have to go to Kinko's and make copies, and I don't have to buy more stamps. All in all it makes my to do list shorter. So without further ado here is our letter and recap of 2011:

As we approach Christmas and the end of 2011 we are enjoying looking back through our pictures and remembering all that has happened this past year. For Rachel it has been a year of many firsts and new experiences – learning to crawl walk and now run, first words, first teeth, first airplane ride, and the list goes on. This year has been a good one full of God’s blessings. Here are some of our highlights.

In March Brian got hired to work for Pearson Education on their program called Powerschool. For those of you who don’t know about it, it is an amazing program that school districts use to keep track of student information. So far Brian has enjoyed working there and we have all enjoyed the perks including trick or treating at Halloween and a formal Christmas party. Rebekah is also working. She went back to work for Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District in September, and works three hours a week. You may recall this is the district she worked for before Rachel was born. While Rebekah is at work Rachel enjoys spending time with her Grammy Bjork. She looks forward to seeing Grammy, going to the park, and playing with Grammy’s necklaces and toy ducks.

Besides work most of our life revolves around Rachel. She is a joy to raise. It is so much fun to watch her learn and experience new things. She experienced her first big trip and plane ride in April when we traveled to Arizona for Rebekah’s sister’s wedding. Rachel did a great job traveling which was appreciated since Rebekah left a couple days before Brian. It was a beautiful and snowy wedding.

In August we braved a weekend camping with Rachel. It was not nearly as bad as Rebekah was worried it would be. Rachel loved it and stayed pretty clean. We enjoyed the time away fellowshipping with friends - both old and new.

Rachel turned one in September. To celebrate we had a ladybug themed birthday party. Planning to party was almost as much fun as the party. It was wonderful to see so many family members, even some from out of town come and shower Rachel with love.

In October we once again hit the skies and flew down to Disneyland. We enjoyed the trip with Brian’s parents and uncle. This was a much slower paced trip than our previous race through Disney in a day trips. We enjoyed taking in the park over two and a half days and seeing it through Rachel’s eyes. She loved every minute of it including all the rides and characters. The only thing she didn’t love was the food, but we brought enough baby food pouches with us to keep her from starving.

This year we again hosted Thanksgiving. We enjoy being able to host the meal and the location seems to work well for all involved. Because it was at our house we were able to let Rachel run around somewhat unsupervised while we visited with family. After attending other parties this year where we spent the whole time chasing her around we have come to appreciate how nice that is. Unlike last year the turkey got cooked;. However, Thanksgiving would be boring without some sort of excitement, so this year Rebekah created a volcano by accidentally adding baking soda instead of cornstarch to the gravy.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, the Bjorks

Enjoy some pictures from our December happenings. I had some more I was going to poast, but Picassa was giving me trouble, so you get my top three December pictures.

From Life with the Bjorks

From Life with the Bjorks

From Life with the Bjorks

15 Months Old Already

From Life with the Bjorks

Rachel turned 15 months old today. It has gone so fast, and she has already changed so much. She is filled with so much joy and determination. She is full of life and opinions. She loves to interact with those around and is always ready to play with anyone who is willing to play with her (except Santa). I love that she is uninhibited, innocent, and full of self-confidence. If I could bottle that up until later in life when she will inevitably struggle at least some with self doubt, I would. Sadly I cannot, but instead I can try to teach her that whatever her talents and passions are they are worthwhile and her worth comes from God not those around her. I want her to be the best Rachel she can be and love who she is.

Besides these wonderful character traits, Rachel continues to change and grow in other areas. She is 19 lbs and wears 9-12 month clothes. She signs more, please, all done, milk, eat, dog, and waves bye bye. She says hello, daddy, mama, night night, book, that, eye, Ila (which is her cousin's name and Rachel's current label for all pictures of babies, can we say over generalization),woof, and pants like a dog. She now has 3 teeth which all came in during the last 3 weeks. I thought her toothless grin was adorable, but the teeth just added to her cuteness. In fact, I think she is the cutest toddler around, not that I am biased or anything.

Rachel does NOT like Santa

From Life with the Bjorks

First time in Santa's lap, and Rachel just started crying. Good thing we didn't have to pay! We all enjoyed our train ride though Hagen park.

Turkey Day

From Life with the Bjorks

Once again we hosted Thanksgiving. We enjoy hosting it and discovered just how nice it is to have it at our house with an active toddler. After spending almost the whole time chasing and supervising Rachel at a party we recently went to it was really nice to be able to actually visit with our family and know Rachel was safe even when she was out of sight. It seems to be becoming a tradition that something noticeable does not go according to plan. Last year it was the turkey not cooking. This year I created a baking soda volcano. While talking and attempting to make gravy I grabbed the baking soda instead of the cornstarch box. They are similar and size and located next to each other on the shelf. No one else noticed my mistake either until all the sudden the gravy bubbled over the top of the pot. Had I not been trying to get dinner on the table for 11 1/2 people it would have been very cool. Who know turkey juice and baking soda would create a volcano. Well luckily I had gotten tired of suctioning juice out of the turkey bag during my first gravy making attempt and there was enough left when combined with a little chicken broth to make plenty of gravy. Dinner was tasty and it seemed like everyone had a good time.

Raking Leaves

From Life with the Bjorks

Raking leaves seems like less of a chore when you are using them as a prop for a fall picture of your adorable child.

From Life with the Bjorks

Christmas Came Early (For One Of Us)

From Life with the Bjorks

Christmas came early for Rachel. Her grandma and grandpa bought her a slide. We opted to put it together earlier this month because who wants a giant box sitting in the living room for almost 2 months, and really Rachel is not going to sit, open, and fully appreciate all of her presents if she has to do all of them in one sitting.

From Life with the Bjorks

Putting together the slide took longer than we expected. I guess all the reviews on Amazon were correct when they said the slide was a. hard to put together, b. required power tools, and c. the pieces did not fit quite right. I kind of hoped maybe those writing the reviews were just lacking skills in the area of toy assembly unlike my fabulous husband. Wishful thinking. It took a couple hours to assemble, two adults forcing pieces together, one power screw driver (that doesn't sound like the correct name???), and an X-acto knife to shave down some of the plastic. Yes, my husband is very skilled in the area of toy assembly as well as other things, but quality control got in the way of what should have been an easy to assemble toy. Oh, and I forget to mention a toddler trying to grab everything and climb on the slide might have been a little less than helpful. When we were finally through Rachel had a blast climbing, driving, and sliding. Bedtime was pushed back a little so Rachel could enjoy her new toy.

From Life with the Bjorks

Disneyland through Rachel's Eyes

Well we're a little behind on our blog posts, so lets see if we can remedy that. Sometimes I feel like I am constantly playing catch up. I have felt this way since we left for Disneyland last month. Every weekend has been jam packed with activities.

From Life with the Bjorks

Anyway, we had a blast at Disneyland last month. It was so much fun to experience it with Rachel. It wasn't just about running from ride to ride trying to hit all our favorites at least two or three times in a single day. This trip was slower and more relaxed. We stayed at the Grand Californian and enjoyed the both Disneyland and California Adventure over two and a half days. It was such an amazing experience to watch Rachel take in everything for the first time. There was so much to take in she barely blinked or napped.

We experienced things we had never taken the time to experience before like Toon Town. Because we stayed on site we got to enter Toon Town an hour early one morning. Entering early made all the difference for Rachel being able to safely walk around and experience the character's homes. While everyone was at the town hall meeting we were able to explore the virtually empty homes of Goofy, Donald, and Chip and Dale. This was perfect for a toddling 13 month old because she had room to explore and fall without big kids running around and over her. Oh, and, did you know Disneyland has a goat petting zoo. I didn't until this trip. Big Thunder Ranch is located on the path between Fantasyland and Frontierland. Rachel enjoyed going from goat to goat petting each one. She loved that the goats just laid there while she petted them. This also wasn't that crowded.

Besides experiencing new places we also went on rides, rides, and more rides. She loved just about every ride we went on. I think her favorites were the Jungle Cruise and the teacups. That girl loves wild rides and animals. She also loved the characters. They were like life sized stuffed animal. It was precious to watch her hug them, pet them, and give them kisses. I think she could have spent hours with each one, but sadly she had to share them with other kids. Sharing can be challenging.

The trip was magical, fun, and virtually stress free. All three of us are ready to go back, maybe with the other grandparents next time?

Happy Halloween!

Thunder Mountain Railroad, Here She Comes!

Brian here,

As you can see, Rachel is further preparing herself to go to DisneyLand to ride roller coasters. She already knows how to put her hands up to show everyone she isn't scared!

Practicing for Disneyland

I remember this one time while waiting in line or something my mom said, "We are practicing for Disneyland (or World)." Okay so I can't remember the exact situation or the quote, but I remember the general point. Anyway I thought I would use this tactic with Rachel. Never to young to start learning patience or to visit Disneyland :). Here is how we have been practicing:

From Life with the Bjorks

We talk about going on an airplane and fly our airplane around the room.

From Life with the Bjorks

Rachel sits in her stroller and tries not to fuss about it. This tends to be most successful when the stroller is moving and there is lots to see, so I think we may be okay in Disneyland.

From Life with the Bjorks

Our ride practice includes spinning with Daddy (Mommy does not spin), going upside down (also a Daddy and Rachel thing), and riding our rocking horse.

She probably won't get the patience part or even understand the idea of "practicing" for a couple years, but she can definitely enjoy Disneyland now. We are headed down there very very soon, and I think we are all ready!

Test Post

Brian here,

Some of you may have noticed that several of our pictures aren't showing up on the blog anymore. The pictures are still there, but the link names got changed during a Lightroom 3 update. (See Dad, software is a pain for me too)

I'm now doing a test post for using Picasa instead of Flikr. I'll edit it tomorrow in Lightroom and republish and see if it holds the link.

From Life with the Bjorks

EDIT: All righty, It looks like image links on Picasa don't get changed when edits are made from our image editor: Lightroom 3.

I Think She Was Messing With Me

Yesterday Rachel and I shared some grapes for a snack. She LOVES fruit! After we were done she became very interested in the stems. I explained that we do not eat the stems just in case she was thinking, "Mmmm, grapes are good, so maybe the stems are good too." As I expected the stems headed towards her mouth. As I was getting ready to gently remind her that the stems are not for eating she gave me a sly look and the stems quickly took a detour to the top of her head. Then she did it again, but this time they found their way to her ear and then a third time toward her eyes. At this point I began to laugh hysterically because it appeared that Rachel was teasing me. Following my lead she too began to laugh, and I was left to wonder how on earth did she learn to tease like that. She never ceases to amaze and entertain me.

RachelBug Turns 1

Last week Rachel turned one. To honor this momentous occasion we had a lady bug themed birthday party. When we started planning the party we thought it would just include both sets of grandparents, but we were honored to have other family members share the special day with us. As you can see I had lots of fun making decorations and food. Rachel and her 2 1/2 year old cousin provided the entertainment. What is more fun than watching and playing with little ones?

Rachel has grown and changed so much in this past year, and I love being her mommy. Here are 10 interesting (at least in my opinion) facts about Rachel:
1. She wears 6-9 month clothes
2. She weighs 18 lbs 1 oz with her cloth diaper on
3. She is 29 inches tall
4. She can walk
5. She has yet to come down with a cold or any illness
6. She still sports a toothless grin
7. She loves peekaboo, books, and going upside down
8. Her favorite animal is a dog
9. She loves fruit
10. She signs more independently and will imitate the signs for dog, please, and milk

Picture Perfect

Since Rachel's 1st birthday is this week I thought we needed to get some photos of her, so yesterday we packed up a couple of outfits and the camera and headed over to Capital Park. Here are some of our favorites:

Guess What Rachel Just Did?

Rachel just took 32 steps!!!

Hi Ho Hi Ho Its Off To Work I Go

Last week I started working again, and I love it! God blessed me with a job that fit my needs, desires, and passions. Can you imagine working as a speech therapist at a school three hours a week and not having to do any IEPs? Well, neither could I. All I have to do is show up and do therapy, the best part of the job. Because we share clients, the other therapist at the site is taking care of the IEPs. As of right now this position is only through December, but we will see if that changes. Everything just fell in to place with a little patience and prayer. I truly believe God provided this tailor made position for me.

You might be thinking this sounds perfect, well here is the downside in one word - Rachel. She is no totally thrilled with this change. Her grammy watches her. It is a blessing to have them so close and Rachel loves spending time with her Grammy and Grandpa. In the morning I have to get ready for work which includes getting dressed, making sure I have all my materials, and making lunch for both of us. While I still have time to sit and play with Rachel for most of the morning, she notices that about an hour before we leave she no longer has my undivided attention. She tends to become whiny and clingy. Also she refuses to nap at Grammy's house so by the time I pick her up she is exhausted and makes it about halfway home before she is out cold till almost dinner time. By the time she wakes up she is beside herself with mommy deprivation. The rest of the evening is filled with fussiness, tears, and needing extra hugs and cuddles interspersed with some play. I am praying and telling myself it will get better and Rachel will adjust, but the guilt still creeps in as I question my decision. Am I being selfish? It is not like I have to work. We have set up our lifestyle to comfortably live on a single income. Because I truly believe God has provided this opportunity for me it is time for me to have faith that all the kinks will resolve and to remain in communication with God about my concerns. He will make my path clear.

First Steps

Check out Miss Rachel's first steps!



There were like 10 in a row, but who's counting. I am one proud mama.

Look Mom, no hands!

Rachel has reached yet another milestone. She is able to pull up on something, let go, and stand there for a short time. Pretty impressive. She has even taken a couple steps. Walking is just around the corner. I am excited for each new milestone she reaches, but some of them leave me a little sad because I know certain things must end. I love her 1 knee 1 foot speedy crawl. It is cute and efficient and I am not ready to say good bye to it even though I want her to learn to walk and to keep developing new skills. Watching her stand a take a couple steps reminds me yet again to treasure every moment because she is changing so fast.

Happy Birthday Rebekah

DSC_5171.jpg, originally uploaded by Brian Bjork.

Rachel and I hope you have a special day today Rebekah. We love you!

1st Camping Trip

We just returned from Rachel's first camping trip. Rachel loved it. There were trees, dogs, water, and dirt which are some of her favorite things. See previous post to learn how much she loves dirt. Camping with a crawling baby was not a bad as I thought it would be. She enjoyed crawling around and exploring the site, but a lot of the time she was content just to sit on my lap and watch everything going on. I left saying I could definitely do this again which is a very good thing. Things I learned (or was reminded of again): dirt washes off, vault toilets are not a fate worse than death, even if it is warm when you fall asleep it will get cold, Rachel sometimes has a plan of her own, and sadly my somewhat pleasant smelling natural bug spray is not nearly as effective as the icky stinky chemical ones (although it seemed to work fine for Brian and Rachel).


I love the ears! I think she looks like a baby Ewok.


Water is really fun...


Especially upside down!


I love the look of wonder on her face and the peaceful feeling in this picture.

Dirt

Rachel really likes dirt. Touching it, digging in it, picking it up, tossing it, and trying to taste it all top her list of fun things to do with dirt. I do not like dirt. It is, well, dirty. It tops my list of things to avoid playing with. A friend once said something along the lines of my kids would go over to her house to get dirty and then she would send them home to me. She knows me so well. However, I have chosen not to impose my neurosis on Rachel and am allowing her to play with dirt. A little dirt never hurt anyone unless maybe one eats it.



The sprinkler adds a whole new level of fun to dirt.



Hosing off all the mud. I will put my foot down to tracking mud in the house.

5 Years and Counting

Brian and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary. I like to get creative with celebrations and have a theme. For 5 years the traditional gift is wood. Wood, what could I do with that? Make decorations out of sticks and pine cones? Um no, that is not where my creative passions lie. Then the phrase, "This anniversary brought to you by the number five" popped into my head and a theme was born. Sesame Street! Who doesn't love Sesame Street. Sesame Street may not scream romance, but it does scream fun which matches our personalities better. Don't misread and think there is no romance because there is, but we have never been a candlelight dinner with a dozen long stem roses kind of couple. So the week long decoration making began. A week sounds like a long time, but when nap time is the only time I actually get to sit down and work it comes out to about 4 hours (Nap time is also dedicated to completing household chores).

The theme included ABC streamers, Sesame Street Quotes, a big number 5, 5 gifts, and of course cookies.







Oh, and we also went on a baby free bike ride the next morning.

Good Enough for the Blog...Finally

I bought Rachel a previously loved lion walker toy about a month ago since she was getting pretty good at cruising along furniture. I though she might enjoy expanding her cruising possibilities. Brian and I have tried more times than we can count on a single hand to capture video of her sumo wrestler style cruise across the living room, but every time the camera appeared she sat her little tush down and crawled over to the camera to investigate. Finally, tonight we captured it on video, and Brian was right it was good enough for the blog. In fact, she did about 5 laps before moving on to another toy. Please ignore the messy room. Tornado Rachel strikes daily and rarely cleans up after herself.

Brian's Annual Birthday Bash

Every year Brian's parents are kind enough to let us host Brian's Annual Birthday Bash at their fabulous house. They have a pool, volleyball net, and enough room for all the kids to run around. Really Brian's birthday is just an excuse to throw a party. This year it was cooler than it has been in the past which meant it was pretty comfortable sitting in the grass, but a little cool in the pool. However, none of the kids seemed to mind the chilly water. Even Miss Rachel got in on the splashing fun; although we stayed in the spa where it was a little warmer. Once again I neglected to take pictures of Brian at his party. I probably only remember to snag the camera and take his picture every other year which means next year we can all look forward to pictures of Brian at Brian's Annual Birthday Bash.

Vacation and Staycation

Powerschool 7 released on time! And why was this important you ask? Because it meant Brian got a well deserved week off. We spent the first half of the week visiting my parents and the rest of the week playing locally. Brian and I even enjoyed a date night without Miss Rachel. It was nice to spend time together as a family.


Hiking in Fern Canyon


Rachel's New Buddy (He didn't like her very much)


Playing with Grandma


Enjoying the Zoo


Playing with Daddy

There's No Stopping Her Now

Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we traveled down to southern California for a friend's wedding. Attending the wedding was the perfect excuse we needed to get a way and spend time together as a family. Because Brian's job is in crunch time right now we have not spent a lot of time together for the past month. It has been an adjustment, but he does a great job of really trying to spend time with us and help out around the house in spite of his long hours. The wedding was surprisingly baby friendly because it was at a park and everything moved quickly giving Rachel freedom to move around and explore. Plus she really loves grass. Thanks to the grass Rachel's crawling skills really improved this weekend. The excitement over touching blades of grass, pulling up fistfuls of grass, and eating grass (if Mommy and Daddy didn't catch her first) was just too much to keep Rachel seated on her blanket with all of her normally entertaining toys. Besides the wedding we visited my Grandma, cousin, and Brian's uncle, walked along Harbor Cove Beach in Ventura (Miss Rachel does not like sand), played in Alameda Park and Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens in Santa Barbara, saw the chalk paintings at Mission Santa Barbara, and attended Santa Barbara Community Church.