The start of a busy summer

Gracie and aunt Marta. Of course she had to help Marta open presents and sit by her most of the afternoon.

Faith went into her bedroom with one binky in her mouth and came out with three. Of course she didn't want to give up any of them. Apparently one in each hand is helpful in case the one in the mouth falls out.

Our little cutie.

Enjoying a beautiful day outside.

Blowing bubbles.

It seems like every week Faith is getting closer to walking. She has taken about a half a step, but can't keep her balance long enough for a whole step with both feet. She wants to be walking instead of crawling so enjoys any toy that she can walk behind. She is also standing on her own. She finally has some teeth! The first one came through and a few days later the second one arrived. Faith is definitely going to be a climber. She tries to crawl on top of anything. The other day she crawled on top of a box that Gracie had put in front of the chair and before I knew it she was up on the chair. I can't let her out of sight!

We are excited to have Marta visiting this week. Sebastian with be coming the end of the week so we'll get to see him too. It was fun to see her pregnant...she looks great! Gracie was so excited to see her again and warmed up right away. For some reason I am just soooo excited for their little one to arrive! I can't wait to see them as parents and am looking forward to having another niece. We are also busy making plans for our trip out to Wyoming for my cousin's wedding party. We are still figuring out what vehicle to drive, but we have everything else planned. I'm looking forward to seeing all my family and going on a road trip with the girls. All nine of my grandparent's great grandchildren will be together. The next few weeks will be busy!

Busy Grace

What Gracie does while mommy is busy:

Gracie's creation while I was on the phone with a friend. I was in the kitchen and she kept running back and forth with toys. When I got off the phone I finally discovered what she was up to. This was a house and was destroyed soon after her sister got up from a nap.

This one took place while I was going to the bathroom. She apparently made a prison for her little sister.

Another angle.

Close up of her house. She lined up all the toys very meticulously. That's my neat and orderly little girl!

Visiting Great Grandpa

Sitting in the fire truck at the Parking Lot Party. They had lots of big trucks and tractors.

We were pretty close to the dugout at the game.

View of downtown.

View from our seats (Joe Mauer warming up).

It seems like the weekends are already starting fill up! Last weekend I helped Sarah with her garage sale. Everyone was teasing me because I think I came home with more then I brought:) I did get the bunk beds from her that Abby and I used when we were kids. They were originally my dad's when he was a kid. They have gotten a bit worn over the years so I'd like to refinish or paint them and then move Gracie into one of them. She is excited to be getting Megan's old bed. I had a good mother's day. Nick got a me a wall hanging that matches some of the painting I did this past fall and winter. Then we dropped the kids off with my parents and headed up to the Twins game with Chuck and Jo Ann. We had great seats and it was a neat experience. Today we went to the Parking Lot Party for the Children's Museum of Southern MN. We also visited Great Grandpa and Grandma.

Spring Fun

Faith with her Easter basket at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Gracie and her Easter basket at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Easter family picture.

Nana and Faith.

Gracie searching for eggs at Nana and Papa's house.

We had to take Nick out to the field and Gracie had to wear her "farm hat".

Nick and Gracie taking the first kyak ride of the year (in our pond).

My smiley little girl.

While I was gone Sunday afternoon Nick built a fort for the girls. It was much better then anything I have ever built. He even moved furniture and got blankets from the closet!

Gracie trying to give Faith hugs.

I haven't been very good at keeping up to date with this lately. I guess we have been busy. So here is a little catch up:

For Easter we spent the day with my family. We went to church with my parents and were over at their house for dinner. Gracie had a blast playing with her cousins as usual. The next day we stopped over at Nick's parents to get Easter baskets for the girls and visit for a little.

Nick has started fieldwork and has all the corn in. He has a little break now until he starts the beans. So this weekend we got to spend some family time together. I have been working on my garden. I'm doubtful it will be great this year, but as long as I improve a little each year. Just so I can keep up with the weeding better then last year.

The girls have been changing so much lately and keeping me very busy.

Gracie is talking much more. She is starting to say sentences and I think some of her words are more clear. She has also turned a corner towards more independence. Her favorite things to say now are "no", "my do" and "all by myself". Lately her favorite game to play is to pretend she, and everyone else, are other people. Her favorite characters to play include a baby (my least favorite character:), Megan or "big Megan" (this goes along with independence and being older), a cat and a dog. Then she usually asigns me the role of Rahrah and Faith the role of Samo.

Faith is crawling, pulling up and trying to walk along the couch. She is getting more brave at letting go of objects, but her balance isn't good yet. She is still such a happy and smiley kid. I can't help but smile when she flashes her beautiful toothless grin (still no teeth yet). Her personality is coming out so much too. She is getting to be more determined and harder to redirect then Gracie was when she was this age!

Spring!!

Okay, this is NOT the order when I tried to upload these pictures. Oh well.

After the haircut. I debated if I should give her bangs, but decided not to.

The after shot.

Our little trouble maker. Since this picture the plant has been moved.

Gracie getting her haircut. She didn't get scared and was so excited after it was done.

It feels like Spring is finally here!!! What a difference it makes to be outside more. Both the girls love to go outside and play. Faith is interested in all the new noises, sights, and tastes (including some leaves and dirt) of spring. Gracie can keep busy by herself so well now. Some of her favorite outside activities include playing in the sandbox and moving small rocks around the yard. Nick had her outside some this weekend. I noticed today that she had hauled our landscaping rocks onto every step of our deck stairs. I am enjoying the weather too and making garden plans. I really enjoy gardening, but I'm not very good yet. Last year the weeds ended up taking over my vegetable garden after Faith was born. I'm hoping to do better this year. Can't wait to get out and get planting!

Weekend Update

We had another busy weekend. Nick was gone Saturday and Sunday at a basketball tournament. They did well, but lost in the championship game. While he was gone the girls and I tried to stay busy. We went over to my parent's house Saturday afternoon and spent some time with Nana. The girls love all the different toys at their house. I went through some of my old doll clothes and took some home for Gracie to play with. I was fun to find ones that I had forgotten about. Great memories! Sunday I had to help set up and take down communion at church so Jo Ann came with us. It was so great to have her there to help with the girls. After church she took us out for one of Gracie's favorite's....pancakes. Nick took today off from work (although of course had one meeting he had to go to. Seems like he seldom gets a complete day off:) We took Gracie in to get her first haircut today. I guess it's something we should have done awhile ago, but just never did. She did so good. I thought she might get scared and not want to do it, but she sat so well. Of course she had her usual reaction to a new situation...quiet with no smiles. She did answer one question that the stylist asked. When asked what her cat's name is she very quietly said "meow". I'll post pictures next time.

Celebrating Nick's birthday. He requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Gracie helped put the candle in.

Grace helping to give Faith her bedtime bottle.

Future basketball players?????

Daddy and his girls.

Helping with the laundry.

Faith getting to be a hand full lately. She is now pulling up by herself. She loves to stand. She also likes to try pulling leaves off my plants. I'm trying to come up with some new places to move them to. Faith is also still struggling with sleeping. She is usually up 1 to 2 times a night and some days it takes awhile for her to get asleep at nap time. Although this week she has been doing great for naps!