The Girls' Birthday Party

The girls celebrated their birthday this past weekend with their friends & Mike's aunt L & uncle J.  Mike's parents were supposed to come up Saturday, but their plans got derailed by the crazy snow storm we got the day before.  To make matters worse, they got freezing rain the morning of the party.  Despite the bad luck with weather, the girls did get to see their grandparents on Sunday.

All of the girls' friends were able to come to their party, so that was nice for them.  We rented a Tumble Fun Bus to come right up to the house to entertain the kids.  It's this really cool school bus that has been completely gutted, padded, & equipped with some gymnastic equipment.  There's a zipline, ball pit, rings, bars, climbing mountain, & so forth.  The kids LOVED it!  It's such a great idea, especially for winter birthdays.

Tumble Fun Bus on our driveway!

After the Tumble Bus Fun, we had pizza for dinner, did Baylee's princess castle pinata, did the girls' birthday cakes, & open presents.  We got Grandma & Grandpa on Skype so they could watch the girls' blow out their candles.  The girls' made out with some really great presents!  Some of our friends chipped in & got us a family membership to the Children's Museum.  We'll look forward to using it, especially since it looks like a really long cold winter!

The two cakes--Baylee's princess cake & Livy's free 1 year cake from Lunds!

Daddy helping B blow out her candles.  It took them a little while...

Livy sampling her first piece of cake.

Baylee with her best girl friend from preschool, M.  M is just 8 days younger than B!

Baylee's princess wand

We did Christmas with Mike's family while they were up here.  Given that we've already had 20" of snow dumped on us & the girls' behavior in the car, it's highly unlikely we'd make it anywhere for the holidays.  I hope the girls don't think the entire month of December is a present fest!

Happy Birthday Baylee!

Baylee is 3 today!  I can't believe it--it seems like yesterday when we were rushing off to the hospital because my water broke.  Miss Birthday Girl spent the morning at preschool with her friends & shared cupcakes with her classmates.  She had a great day at school, playing with her bff M, & got to pick 2 books out as a present.  We're looking forward to having our family & friends over this weekend for a birthday blowout for the girls.

I just realized I haven't updated in a while.  We've been down on our luck in the health department.  The girls got a stomach bug, which they gladly shared with us.  Mike had pneumonia & the bug.  Livy gave me a cold & the doctor just gave me some antibiotics because the cold became a sinus infection.  We're just a sickly bunch this year.  Here's hoping the new year brings us good health!

Other than that, I throughly enjoyed my spa weekend over Thanksgiving weekend.  I went up to Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN.  It's about 2 1/2 hours from the Twin Cities.  The resort is right on Gull Lake,  & would be beautiful during the fall.  I just enjoyed sleeping in & relaxing.  The girls were pretty good for Mike, so I'll have to do another getaway in the spring.  :)

Our December calendar is quickly filling up.  The girls have lots of friends with birthdays coming up, so our weekends will be busy!  Good thing is that it makes the winter months pass by quickly.

I Can't Believe It's Almost Thanksgiving

We finally got our first snow fall in MN.  Last year, we got snow in October, but it quickly melted & was a pleasant November.  This year, it looks like winter is upon us already.

Things have been pretty routine for us here.  Mike had pneumonia for a while.  Thank goodness, pneumonia is very hard to catch, but the rest of us managed to stay healthy.  Mike's finally on the up & up thanks to some antibiotics & codeine laced cough medicine.

Baylee is doing FABULOUS in preschool these days.  No tears, transitions well between activities, & she's been playing with her new BFF Makayla at preschool.  Makayla happens to be 8 days younger than B.  Ironically, Makayla's younger sister Kelsey is 8 days younger than Livy!  It's very cute.  On the bright side, I've been getting Baylee to nap almost every other day.  They aren't short naps either; they're good 3 hour naps.  Baylee knows better than to mess with mom about sleep!

I've been teaching Livy a few "tricks" since my last post.  Livy can now do a "high five," blow a kiss, & give kisses.  Today she took 10 really quick steps.  Mike might be right & she may be walking before her 1st birthday!  I think she will be an earlier talker too.  In the past week, it seems like she's a little bit more independent, or at least doesn't need me to hold her 24/7.  Now, if only I could get her to sleep like her big sister.

I've been planning the girls' birthday, preparing for a craft show, & plotting a break for myself.  The OB diagnosed me with postpartum depression.  I'm not depressed by the traditional definition.  PPD for me is mostly an exhaustion & guilt issue.  I'm tired because Baylee is a demanding 2 year old & Livy is a needy baby.  On most days, I'm a high functioning depressed person.  I definitely did not anticipate how hard having 2 kids 2 years apart would be.  Mike thinks my expectations as a wife & mother are too high.  Right now, I'm taking Zoloft & seeing a therapist.  The medication is to get me out of the rut & to help me focus on the big picture vs. freaking out over the little things.  The therapist is to help me figure out how to ask for help when I need it.  Hopefully things get better soon.  I did just book my Thanksgiving getaway to the spa, so I will have 2 blissful nights of sleeping in & enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning.  I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that Mike can handle both girls on his own for those 2 days.  :P

Livy Taking Baby Steps & Princess Baylee

Livy took 2 steps today while we were at Baylee's parent-teacher conference!  She took a small step the day before, but I don't think she realized it.  Livy also said "bye bye" & waved (hand to her face of course) to bye bye to Miss Rosie when we left.  Big milestones.  I think Livy may talk earlier than Baylee.  Or at least she's figured out that she needs to be pretty vocal to overcome big sister's personality!

Baylee's preschool evaluation went well.  She has excellent gross motor skills, but we need to help her with fine motor skills like using scissors.  I think B knows more than she's letting Miss Rosie in on.  She did shapes & colors with flying colors, but I didn't get a good evaluation on numbers & letters.  Baylee does know the letter B, but we need to work on other letters & numbers.  She's counted to 14 for me, but wouldn't even count to 3 for Miss Rosie.  She did do good tracing shapes, but I think she got bored or distracted after doing 3.  Socially, she's doing MUCH better than when she started.  Not perfect, but infinitely better.

On the bright side, both girls are napping this afternoon.  :)  I just got an order for 6 necktie applique tee shirts, so I should take advantage of the downtime.

Baylee modeling her princess shoes

Halloween Fun 2010

This year for Halloween we went over to Baylee & Livy's friends R & G's house.  They have a good neighborhood for little kids to trick-or-treat in & lots of cul de sacs.  Last year, B didn't really get trick-or-treating, but this year was she in to it!  After the first house, she was chanting "trick-or-treat" in between houses.  She would ring the doorbell & if the person didn't come to the door fast enough, she would start pounding on the door.  If that didn't work, then she would try to open the front door!  All for a piece of candy.  Livy calmly followed her older sister around in the carrier.

Here are some pictures from that night:

Can you see the glee in her eyes?

Playing ball with S.  S has taken an interest in Livy.  He likes to pet Livy's hair.

Sharing the drum with her bff, J.

Livy looking chubby.

The girls climbing up on daddy.  Baylee thought the bucket would make a nice hat.

Mid-October Update

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  Mike had a good trip to Paris & the girls had a good visit with Po-po & Ye-ye.  We've been keeping busy with our usual playdates & school.  My craft show went well & I made money.  I thought I only broke even, but I forgot that I pulled a lot of change.

The weather here has been really weird.  We had the lowest barometric pressure in MN History earlier this week.  Mike & I didn't know what that meant, but we found out later that day.  CRAZY winds!  We lost all power from 6:00pm-8:45pm & then from midnight until 8:30pm the next day.  Of course, it was during the girls' bath time too.  All things considered, the girls did pretty good without power.  We found enough flashlights for Baylee to appease her fear of the dark.  Unfortunately, the winds even uprooted our beautiful evergreen tree in the front yard.  I remember hearing a weird snap around 2pm that afternoon, but didn't look out the window.  If I had, I would have seen our tree falling I'm sure.

Baylee is doing better every week at preschool.  Today, Mike went in for part of their Halloween Party.  Baylee still makes a small fuss during the first circle time, but participates in everything else.  I'm just glad she's getting better.  Given B's personality, Miss Rosie's is probably the best preschool I could have picked for her.  It is very structured & routine & that's what B needs.  She would do horribly in a Montessori setting.

Livy is almost 11 months now!  I can't believe it.  She's saying more words "Ma ma ma ma MA" & "Da."  I swear she's also saying "bye" or at least she does a hand wave & says something that sounds like bye.  She's still eating everything & crawling up a storm.  Mike still thinks she'll walk before she turns one, but I think she's going to hold out because she gets around so well crawling.

Columbus Day Weekend 2010

We've had a very busy fall.  It seems like we have something going every weekend, which is good.  Keeps us all on our toes!  This past weekend, we went to L & J's cabin in Wisconsin for our Grove family weekend.  Our time up there was very short, but we had fun & ate some yummy food.  We had a painful drive up & back with the girls.  Livy has a 30-minute shelf life in the car & refuses to nap in her carseat, so we had to deal with her scream fest for a good chunk of the drive.  Baylee was mostly good; she gets a bit more demanding when dad is in the car too, but for the most part, her demands are pretty easily met.  It was beautiful up north & we lucked out by having some beautiful sunny weather.  I'm sure that will all change in a heartbeat.  Baylee & Livy got spoiled with attention from grandma & Aunt K.  It was nice not to have to hold Livy 24/7.  I'm not sure what Livy's deal is.  At home with just me, she cries unconsolably if I'm not holding her (actual arms around her & not in the baby carrier).  When we're with other people or if I leave her with someone, she's fine.  It's very frustrating & makes it hard to get anything done.  Both girls are still going through withdrawal & hate going back to sharing mom.

Mike has been super busy at work this week & has been putting in some long hours.  He has to prep for his Paris work trip this weekend.  Thank goodness, Po-po & Ye-ye are able to come up for some reinforcements.  I'm already needing some time away from the girls.

Baylee has been doing better in preschool!  This past Tues., I had to drop her off & go because I had no one to watch Livy for me.  I stayed for 5 minutes to get her adjusted, but then did my spiel, handed her Ellie & we left.  She fussed for a little while, but then played with the toys.  She didn't do so well with the first circle time--threwdown & then stood outside the door, but she did her art project, participated in the second circle time, lined up & washed her hands before lunch, climbed up to her seat, & drank her milk.  Still not eating lunch, but I'm not surprised since she won't eat for me either.  The fact that she sits at preschool is a huge step.

Livy is starting to wave, but hasn't quite grasped waving "hi."  She still eats like a champ.  The other day she stole a piece of bread that was en route to my mouth & shoved it into her mouth.  She's getting up onto her feet really quickly these days, so I'm sure she could walk if she really put her mind to it.  I think she's going to crawl for a while though.  She's comfortable doing it & it gets her from point A to point B.  Her other trick is stairs.  If she spies a staircase, she's on it like white on rice.  Loves climbing up our stairs!

I'm prepping for my first craft show this Saturday.  I'm hoping it goes well, but it could go horribly too.  My goal is to break even with the entry fee.  I'm bringing my supplies so I can make bows there.  I'm going bring a decent supply stash, but I don't have time to make a ton of bows either.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

Preschool Success!

This week we begin scaling back on how long I spend at preschool with Baylee.  I stayed for 45 minutes today.  I was a little bit nervous, but Baylee waved "hi" to Miss Rosie this morning when we came in & had no problems going downstairs to play.  We "played" next to Makayla & Ved, two fellow classmates that are about the same age as B.  They were all sharing the Duplo blocks.  When we moved to the first circle/story time, B started being clingy.  She wanted to sit in my lap, but she followed along with the songs & story.  After story time, B had the choice of either playing some more or doing the art project.  It was at this time I decided to leave.  B did NOT want me to go, but I gave her Ellie & told her that mommy loves you & I always come back.  I handed her off to Miss Rosie & scrambled out.


I thought I would surely get called to retrieve B when I left because I could hear some very loud protesting, but she was really good!  She cried for 5-10 minutes, then stood there for a little while taking it all in & then she went off to play.  She didn't want to wear the paint smock to do the art project, but she didn't throw down either.  Miss Rosie said she really wanted to paint, but just didn't want to wear the shirt.  Ahhh...our little strongwilled child.  She joined in happily for the second circle time & then lined up to wash her hands, climbed up to her chair for lunch.  Didn't want to eat her pb&j sandwich, but also didn't cry or throw food.  YAY!!!  Success!


Livy stayed with my friend Catherine & her little boy, Colton.  On a side note, her hubby now works at ev3 with Mike too.  Livy had good & bad moments.  She got really upset when I left, but was very happy when the music was playing & they did a dance off.  She also happily munched on a banana.  The child LOVES to eat.  She's very vocal & loud, but I think that's her way of letting us all know that she's there.


Hopefully, Baylee does well on Thurs.  I'm looking to use that time to pack for our cabin weekend!


p.s.-Miss Rosie also mentioned that Baylee is staying dry for long periods of time, so she's probably ready to be potty trained.  I just have to see if she's willing to sit on the toilet for me.  :P  I have to use Pull-Ups for school, but at home I would probably just use underwear.