February 2015: Extravaganza & Charlye's First Trip

Charlye's first traveling experience happened back in January when she traveled with me to a work conference in Detroit. This is an annual conference for those who work with and in Youth Ministry in the ELCA, as I do. Since I am still nursing Charlye, it would have been hard/impossible to leave her home for 5 days so we brought her with...she was a champ! Her first plane ride was pretty uneventful...hurray for another good flyer!

 

 

And Charlye even had her friend Lucy to enjoy the extravaganza with! (My friend Sarah's baby girl).

 

 

Yep, Charlye was a champ all weekend! She got to learn about the book of Mark from a great story teller (and one of Michael's old professors from TLU)...

 

 

And she got to hang out with Michael from Lost and Found, which is a music group that I thoroughly enjoy (they sadly are retiring after this year! Nooooo!!!).

 

She got changed right in the middle of the conference...(hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go...and the Hyatt Detroit isn't so great about having changing tables in their public bathrooms).

 

She got to endure the daily Starbucks trip...

 

 

She got to hear Bishop Eaton speak (the current presiding bishop of the ELCA)

 

And she got to hang out with lots of friends and co-workers!

 

 

While Detroit wasn't my favorite place that this conference has been held, it was good to go and see where we would be bringing youth this summer for the ELCA's National Youth Gathering. Charlye approved.

 

Next year's conference is back in Anaheim, CA (one of my favorite places that it's held)...and this baby will be staying with Gramma:)

 

 

July 2014: Adelyn is 3!

Did I mention this girl is 3?? (ok, so she's been 3 for over a month now, but I'm going to press on and pretend that I don't suck at blogging right now and that my life is not insane right now...)

This year has been a year of growing! Adelyn, you have grown so much and it is amazing to me how much you have accomplished and learned (and developed into your own person!) in this past year! 

Adelyn, you always keep us on our toes! You have developed into a beautiful child who always remembers to use her manners, yet is determined and stubborn all at the same time!

You love dresses (you will ONLY wear dresses...even to bed), and you care for your many dolls! You love purses and sorting cups, blocks, bowls, anything you can sort and organize. You are strong-willed, always telling us what YOU want to eat, to wear, and to do (and making sure to throw a fit for at least a little bit if you don't get your way). 

You've discovered the word "Why?" and are always eager to learn how things work and to know why things are done the way they are. You love to learn! You know your ABC's, you can count to 20, and you recognize letters and you love to know people's names!

You love to be outside, to swim, to explore, and to play! This past year you have been enthralled by the likes of Daniel Tiger, Curious George, Super Why, Care Bears, Beauty and the Beast, Pitch Perfect, and Frozen.  You love to go to Church, Sunday School, and even VBS! You are convinced that anyone who works does so in a church, and can't figure out why anyone would NOT want to work at the church...(sorry about that).

You could dance the night away (and you have at a few weddings this past year), and you love to sing songs (Jesus loves me, ABC song, and Wheels on the bus are some of your favorites to belt out at the top of your lungs)! You're laugh is contagious and you are constantly shocking us with your crazy phrases that you say. "What the heck??" "Knock it off" "That's ok. haha" and "Oh my goodness" are some of your favorites that we hear over and over again. 

You are still a very picky eater, and like to stick to the foods you know you like: Mac n' cheese, cinnamon toast, fruit, pancakes, cheese, and peach water! (We were shocked this year when you ate 1/2 of a quesidilla!). However, you always eat your lunch at "school" (aka daycare) and there you eat things like chicken pot pie, chicken nuggets, and tomato soup (things that you will NEVER touch at home! Believe me...we've tried!)

You amaze us every day with your humor, your wittiness, and your determination! Adelyn you continue to amaze us and are absolutely beautiful inside and out! 

July 2014: A July Birthday Party...or is it parties??

It's possibly one of the busiest weeks of the year for me (work wise), so I thought I would take a break and do some blogging (because, hey - why not??). I've taken a hiatus. Sorry about that...well, actually I'm not because as you'll see over the next few posts, it's been a pretty great month or so for us around here. But I'm picking up where I left off...

We kicked off our birthday celebrations with Adelyn a week or so early when we threw a cousin's July Birthday bash for Adelyn and 3 of her other cousins! It was a blast! Our theme was "ice cream party" and lots of family and friends came to celebrate Adelyn turning 3!!! All the kids enjoyed the playground, the yard to play in, the bouncy house, the bubbles and wagon rides...there was never a dull moment (thanks to my Aunt Mary & Uncle Ward for hosting this great party!)

And for the birthday treat...we had nothing else but an ice cream party!! (Make your own ice cream sundae). Here are the birthday crew...from Left to Right is Sydney who turned 2, Ryley who turned 2, Adelyn who turned 3, and Madi who turned 9!! All of us cousins had our kiddos within just a couple of weeks of each other (different years of course)

EVERYONE sure did enjoy some birthday ice cream treats!! 

And as you can imagine with celebrating 4 birthdays at once, present opening time was crazy...so we just decided to let it be crazy and told the kids, "ready...go!" And just like that it was present opening time! 

And the celebrating has begun! Adelyn is turning 3!!!

June 2014: Olivya Walks!!!

It's official (actually has been for a couple of weeks now...) This girls is on the move!!! (And it's about time!!)

And because walking is such a huge milestone, I think this milestone deserves its very own post. 

Yay Livy!! Way to go!! 

April 2014: Olivya's 1 Year Photo Shoot

Better late than never, but here are some reflections on Olivya's first year (along with her 1st Year Photo Shoot)...

Our precious daughter...you are (for the most part) laid back, and often serious...(though you're becoming more silly now that we got tubes recently put in your ears! And you're sleeping like a champ!! That not something we have seen much of during your first year...It may be for the first time in your life, you are no longer in pain! After 8 ear infections within 10 months, we decided that tubes was the best option for you, and I think we were right).

You LOVE to explore, be outside, and are so content just doing any and everything! You're definitely a "go with the flow" baby...

Your favorite games to play are "so big", the Itsy bits spider, and patty-cake! Keeping in true form to your sister, you aren't very anxious to walk. You've mastered crawling, and going up and down the stiars, and pushing things around while walking (even holding a finger while you walk) but you just have no desire to do it on your own.

You notice textures all the time and it takes you a minute to be ok with a "different" texture, whether it be something you feel or taste. So far, you are a pretty good eater and LOVE fruit, tomato soup, frozen peas, and popcorn.

You're belly laugh is out of this world contagious, your personality is starting to come out (you like to be silly and make people laugh!) and you've gotten the nickname "stinker" by your big sister adelyn because of the mischief that you get into (especially getting into Sami's water dish and food...and you love to make messes of all sorts!)

You still are a little cuddle bud...you love your blankie and nuk and have also begun a liking for stuffed animals! You have blessed our lives every day this year and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you (who knows...based on these last two pictures, it seems possible that you may be following in your mama's footsteps...bahahahaha. so cute!)

I can't believe how much you have grown this year and how fast the year has gone! We love you Olivya Ann!!

April 2014: Happy 1st Birthday Olivya!!!

Well, it's official. Olivya turned 1!!! What a blessed and crazy year it has been.

The night before Olivya's birthday, we headed to the cities in anticipation of our Carmack/Texas family flying into Minneapolis to celebrate. After picking them up from the airport, we checked into a hotel for a long weekend, took a quick swim in the pool, and then headed to my parent's house for a birthday dinner for Olivya, complete with her first experience with an ice cream cake!

(I had to take it away for a second to slice her a piece so the rest of us could enjoy some cake too, and this is the reaction that I got...)

But she calmed down quickly and waiting in anticipation as she got her cake back...

Finally!! My cake!! Yum:) 

The Saturday after Olivya's birthday, we lucked out with a gorgeous day for her birthday party!!! We held her birthday party at Teddy Bear Park (and had a Teddy Bear Picnic)  in Stillwater, and it was a great day celebrating this wonderful girl...we were so blessed by our amazing friends and family who came out to celebrate...

After some great playing and enjoying good food and company, we realized that we forgot the candles at home!!! (You can't have a 1st birthday without the birthday cake experience)! So luckily, we have some pretty amazing friends who went on an adventure downtown Stillwater to find some candles and matches (thanks SueLynn & Aaron!!), so that we could all see how Olivya would react to her 1st birthday cake experience...

Contemplating...

Testing the cake...

...And going for the kill! 

Success!!!! Olivya fell asleep shortly after this cake experience, so of course Dada had to come to the rescue and help her out...

And Adelyn made sure to get her fair share too...

Happy 1st Birthday to this sweet, loving, cuddly, and determined little girl!! We love you Olivya and are so blessed to have you in our lives!!