Mom's Group Family Picnic

Yesterday, we had our 2nd annual family picnic with our mom's group at Fish Lake Park in Maple Grove. I always forget about this park, but it is wonderful!  There are lots of picnic tables, plenty of shade, a good breeze, no play equipment, & a great beach with a shower & easily accessible bathrooms.  The kids had tons of fun.  Baylee was on her best behavior this year; last year, she threw temper tantrums the entire time & hoarded a bag of Sun Chips.  Livy ate a lot of food & tried to keep up with the big kids.

Here are some pictures of our evening, complements of my friend Emily.

Beach fun!

Livy trying to keep up with the big kids

      

Daddy playing soccer with his girls 

Livy eating her first hamburger

June Wrap-up

We have had a crazy start to our "summer."  Mike had to travel for work & was gone the first week of June.  When he came back, he went off to Canada for 10 days for his yearly fishing trip .  This year was with his dad & his dad's friend, Dana.  They had a great time & caught a ton of smallmouth.  While Mike was away, Po-po & Ye-ye visited the girls.  We would have done more fun things with them, but my car battery died & needed to be replaced.  Thank goodness they were here because being stuck without a car with 2 little ones kind of stinks.

Two of Livy's friends turned 1 in June, so we had birthday parties the first two weekends in June.  I can't believe these babies are already 1!  Time has flown by way too quickly.  It's fun to see the girls' friends grow up & to see Livy interact with them more now that they aren't "blobs."

I rejoined the gym so I'm trying to get the girls used to the daycare.  They are doing pretty good.  I usually try to coordinate with friends so the girls have someone they know in there to play with them.  I try to do yoga & Zumba once or twice a week.  I prefer group classes to slogging along on the elliptical. It doesn't make it seem like you're working out as much.

Here are some recent pictures of the girls.  We had their 3 1/2 & 18 month photos taken recently.

 

Baylee's Last Day of Preschool

Today was Baylee's last day of preschool for this year.  :(  She loves going to Miss Rosie's, & I'm going to miss my mornings semi-off.  She's come a long way since the beginning of the school year.  Next year, B will go three days a week with maybe one extended day.  The kids showed off their art work & gave us a mini performance.  Baylee participated more this time around than at Christmas.  Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch.  Livy was very fired up about the big kid swing in the backyard.

May Update

Where has time gone?  Sorry I have been MIA in updating the blog, but we've had a busy late spring.  In late April, my SUV's service engine light popped up.  I thought maybe it was because I was overdue for a oil change, but it turned out the O2 sensor was going.  On top of that, my struts & ball joints were shot.  It was going to cost us $3K+ to fix everything that was wrong, so we decided to bite the bullet & get a "newer" car.  After almost 2 weeks of car hunting, we got this:

It's about the same size as Mike's car, but it only has 32,000 miles on it & has never seen a winter!  It's been in Texas up until now.  Hopefully, I can drive it for a few years & then we can get an SUV with a third row for when we will do some serious carpooling.

The girls are doing well.  Well, I should say individually, they are doing well.  Together, they are like oil & water these days.  Livy has decided she's tired of being the beta child.  She's resorted to hair pulling (Baylee, not me) to get what she wants.  Half the time, I'm playing referee to these two!  Hopefully they get their aggression out when they are little & will be best buds when they are older.  I can dream right?

The fishing opener was 2 weekends ago, so Mike has been trying out his inflatable pontoon & scoping out some area lakes.  He's excited to be outdoors again now that the weather is at least warmer.  We've had some crazy storms & tornado watches the past 2 weekends.  We're just keeping our fingers crossed the weather is on the up & up.

Now that I'm done car hunting, I've been keeping busy with the girls doing lots of playdates with their friends.  I've had some bow orders to fill, so in my spare time I'm trying to catch up.  :)  I have Hayden's baptism headband to finish, some sports bows to make, & a tutu & matching headbands to make.  The girls have some summer birthday parties to attend, so I will be making some dresses & headbands as presents.

Here are some recent pictures of the girls:

 

 

 

 

Spring, where did you go?

The weather in MN has taken a turn again.  We got snow this past weekend & supposed to get another light dusting this week.  Grrr...  All I want to do is pack away our winter clothes for good!

This past week has been busy for us.  I got rid of some baby stuff at the Just Between Friends (JBF) Sale in Maple Grove this past week.  It's a huge consignment sale where you can buy & sell children stuff.  Since I'm not sure when Stephy or Katie are having kids, I decided to just unload some big toys & gear (exersaucer, cradle swing, ride on toys, walker, baby gate, etc.).  I made almost $150, & I'll have more stuff to sell for fall & winter.  I volunteered 8 hours so I was able to go to the presales, which was great.  I got one of my friends a Burley double bike trailer for $150 & another a Peg Perego Aria double stroller for $115.  It was kind of fun to bargain hunt & spend other people's money.  :P  I picked up a couple of new swimsuits for the girls & a paint with water activity book that Baylee is obsessed with.

Livy was so fussy this weekend & randomly spiked a fever on & off Saturday & Sunday.  I took her to open clinic this morning & it turns out she has an ear infection!  Poor girl.  I had no clue (no ear pulling), but it explains the fever.  She is miserable.  She's now on antibiotics, so hopefully they kick in quickly.

One of my friends thinks that Baylee is going to be the next Vera Wang or Vivianne Westwood.  Check out her latest fashion trends.

Hot pink birdie shirt, pink leopard print skirt with red tights.

5 different shades of pink between her hoodie, pettiskirt, & legwarmers!

Hot pink New Zealand tee shirt with fuschia tiered skirt, hot pink leggings, & green socks pulled all the way up.

Not sure where B is picking up her fashion sense from, but you can see, she has an affinity for tiered skirts.  Particularly in shades of pink.  Can you tell what her favorite color is?  :P

Back to Reality

I had a wonderful time at Grand View Lodge this past weekend.  Our room was phenomenal.  You can check it out here.  Mike let me off the hook early Saturday, so I went with my friend Kriss to get some pastries at a new French bakery.  We got into Nisswa around 1:30, grabbed some lunch at a cute diner in "downtown" Nisswa, & checked into our room, then headed in for our massages.  I knew our room was going to be nice, but I was blown away by the size.  We had a kitchen upstairs & a game area with a pool area downstairs.  It was nice to not have one of the girls need my attention & to be able to think!  We all slept in & enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.  Hopefully we can getaway for 2 nights in the fall!

Mike did well with the girls, or at least from his report, it seems like the girls were good for him.  They are starting to play more with one another, which is nice.  Mike took them out to the park both mornings, did some walks, & just marched them around.  Livy was worn out, so she took some nice long naps.  They had a grill out with Elizabeth & her dad, Erik, since Emily was with me in Nisswa.  I'm sure it helped pass the afternoon/evening.

Livy did a funny thing this morning.  We were all in Baylee's bedroom.  I was changing Baylee's diaper on the floor & getting her into an outfit.  Livy was off to the side watching us.  I set aside Baylee's dirty diaper & Livy came over, scooped it up, & ran out the door with it.  I was in the middle of helping B get into a pair of tights, so I listened intently.  Livy took the diaper into the bathroom (I could hear her little feet on the tile), climbed up on the stool next to the toilet, & threw the diaper away!  To make sure that's what she did, I changed Livy's diaper, gave her the wrapped up diaper, & lo & behold, she threw it away in the garbage can.  Baylee & I gave her a big round of applause & she had the biggest smile on her face.    I think I have another little helper on my hands!

Week of April 4th, 2011

SPRING HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!  It's been so nice these past few days that almost all the snow has melted away.  We even took the girls to the park this past weekend.  Livy was super fired up.  She LOVES the swing & giggles like crazy.  She hasn't been on a swing since last fall.

Livy woke up Monday morning sounding like she had croup.  She also had a super runny nose so we used our pediatrician's open clinic hours to have her checked out.  Her lungs were clear, so the ped. seems to think it's just a cold.  However, it seems like there's only been 1 week since winter that her nose hasn't been runny.  The ped. made a note in her chart that Livy may have allergies since I have them really badly.  Allergies would seem to make more sense since Baylee hasn't had a single cold all winter.  Another mom's boy has similar symptoms as Livy, so we're keeping tabs on one another.  Her boy is 3, so he's going in for allergy testing.

Baylee headed back to Miss Rosie's this week.  It was a rough transition for the kids, but they were excited to play outside.  Baylee & her friend, Makayla, from preschool are signed up to take a summer dance class together.  I hope they have fun!  Makayla has taken dance classes all school year & loved it, so I hope Baylee does okay with it.

Baylee's outfit choice post-nap.

Livy has been talking a LOT lately!  Her newest words are read, bubble, up, here, there, & night night.  Of course, you have to listen really carefully, but she's definitely saying words.  The poor girl is still teething I think.  She has a big bulge on the right side of her mouth that's been there for a few weeks now.  She's also started sticking her fingers in the back of her mouth & chomping again, so I think she might be getting her 2-year molars?  Seems a bit early, but it feels like she just keeps getting teeth in slowly.  Livy's also now running!  She moves so quickly & she loves to throw the ball at us.  She's also starting to tantrum when she doesn't get her way.  I think she'll get over that quickly when she learns words to tell us what she wants.

Mike's been working really long hours with the budget & forecast due at ev3.  He's been itching to fish & I think he'll finally be able to do so soon.  The lakes are finally starting to melt, so at least he'll be able to fish from shore.

This upcoming weekend is my spa getaway!  I'm really excited.  I'm heading back to Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, but this time, I convinced 3 other friends to come up with me.  It's only for one night, but we'll leave early Saturday & come home late Sunday.  We're all scheduled for massages.  I'm looking forward to sleeping in & enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning.  One of my friends moved to Nisswa last spring, so we'll meet up with her & just hang out.

Grandma Sue Visits & Spring Break

We were lucky & had back-to-back visits from the grandparents.  Grandma Sue came down for a quick visit the last week of March.  Baylee was all prepped for her visit & super excited to see her.  Grandma thoroughly entertained her, & B has a new favorite book, "Splat the Cat."  The girls are also excited about their new basketball hoop as is daddy.  Livy loves to retrieve the ball & Baylee can shoot the ball & make a basket.

The Monday after Sue returned back to Iowa, we made our first trip to the Minnesota Zoo with our friends.  It's about a 35 minute drive from our house, but the girls were good in the car & enjoyed looking at all the animals.  It was a little tricky keeping them in the double stroller; they both wanted to run around.  I don't think I would ever attempt a solo trip to the zoo.  Most of our friends have zoo memberships, so we'll have to think about getting one.

While Baylee was on spring break, we had a "Llama Llama Red Pajama" Playdate at our house.  We invited our friends over & I read them the girls' favorite book.  After the reading, the kids made llama brown paper bag puppets.  It was fun for everyone.

Here are some of the latest pics of the girls at Miss Margaret's daycare.  They seem to be having fun, & some days they luck out & have their friends there too.

Livy "reading" a book.

Happy girl with her lovie

St. Patrick's Day at Miss Margaret's.  Baylee showing off her shamrock tree & standing next to her boyfriend, Jackson

Livy giving her friend P a kiss.

Great big smile from Baylee

Livy playing in the playhouse