Back on the swings again!

We've had rain for the last few days. But before that we had a couple of days that really felt like spring. It was so nice! Of course we spent some time playing outside.

I don't know when kids are able to actually "pump" on the swing. I feel like Morgan is old enough to get it. However my lessons don't seem to be getting us anywhere.

It's hard to know what she is actually able to do. The problem is that Morgan is very good at acting like she can't do something to get us to help her. Then later I will catch her doing it fine.

Grrrrrrr.

I guess Adrienne isn't the only stinker in the house. :)

So for now I continue to give hundreds of pushes when we play on the swings. I guess the smiles are worth it.

Adrienne was busy soaking it all in. She will have to learn what it means to be outside without being bundled up and confined to the stroller. These next few months are going to be fun!

I added this picture because I think the look she is giving Dave is funny. Even though it doesn't look like it she really liked the swing. She squealed with delight with every push.



Adreinne also loved the slide. She especially liked being greeted by Morgan at the end of the ride!

Walkin' machine

We have been seeing a lot of this around here lately.

With every new day comes more confidence.

I love to see the look on her face. She is so proud of herself! :)

Big Day - part II

On to part II of our day.

I'll call this never say never.

We now are the proud owners of a minivan.

If you remember, I recently did a post entitled 25 things about me. In that post I told you all something most of you probably already knew about me - I hoped I didn't ever have to drive a minivan. I should have clarified and added realistically I knew some day I most likely would. I just didn't have any idea the day would be here so soon.

Here I am with my girls and my lovely Accord. This was taken as we said our last good-byes. Dave is the practical one in our relationship. He just doesn't understand my hang-ups with driving the minivan. Morgan has been really excited about the new van. It wasn't until this morning that she realized that if we got the van it meant that we weren't going to have the car anymore. As she threw her mini fit about getting rid of the car Dave asked her if I had been talking to her. :)

What can I say, it's a great car.

Like I said, Dave doesn't get it. The other day he asked me "Is it that you think you aren't going to be cool anymore? Because we are going to have 3 kids under the age 4. We aren't cool!"

Did you get that?

Let me spell it out.

We found out a couple weeks ago that we are getting a surprise blessing - we are pregnant and due October 20th.

We were able to see a strong heartbeat through an ultrasound on Friday. Now that we know things are going as they should be, we are excited, and a little nervous, about the upcoming changes. For the most part I have been feeling good. I have had some of the minor side affects that go with being prego. But with our history, we see that as reassurance that things are going well.

So here we are. We have now crossed over to the other side. Tucked safely in our garage is our Honda Odyssey. The inside is awesome. I'm sure it will take me several months to figure out everything. But what I will have to get used to is the outside package. I will now be the mom in the parking lot looking for her minivan.

Be patient with me ... it will come.

Big Day - part I

Today was a big day!

I'll just call this part one of our big day - the play date.

We were lucky enough to have two of my good friends from college (and their cuties) at our house today. It's always great to get together with old friends. It's extra special to watch our kids play and become friends. Leah and Sam, and their little boy Will live in Indianapolis. I have been able to see her quite a few times since college and we always have a great time together, no matter how long we go in between visits. Liz and her husband Ben along with their girls Audra and Phebe live in Wisconsin. I haven't seen Liz much since college. Thanks to the wonderful world of blogging we have recently been able to reconnect and keep up with each other's worlds. It is truly amazing how similar our lives often seem to be now that we are both caring for two lively daughters. :)

If you have been to our house for a play date then you have been introduced to the "slide". It's a great idea that only our babysitter could have come up with. Morgan is always excited to share the "slide" with her guests, and today was no different. Everyone always has a great time, and it is truly the best ice breaker ever. Audra and Morgan weren't really talking before the "slide". We brought out the slide and they are best friends!

As you can see Audra caught on quickly and had a blast.

Somehow I was the lucky one that didn't have to go anywhere.

Thanks so much for making the drive ladies!

We all had a great time!

I am grateful...

As I create this post I do so with a freshly blown nose, washed hands and only a slight sinus headache. That being said, as the title says I have decided to focus on the things I am grateful for during this season of pukes, diarrhea, body aches, headaches and canceled play dates.

I am grateful for my wonderful husband Dave.

Dave works hard every day at his job so I am able to stay at home with the girls. What I am most grateful for though is the way he arrives at home when his work day is through. He is ready to play with his girls and give them all the daddy love they wait all day for. And in these days where I feel like I have felt sick more often than I have felt well, he is quick to offer to get supper around, get groceries, and even make a big pot of chili to help us through some meals.

Now that is a real man!

I love you Dave!

I am grateful for my parents.

After Adrienne's birthday party the girls and I headed to Iowa with my parents for a week of fun on the farm. My parents are redecorating their family room. Since they only do this every 20 years or so, I wanted to be a part of the process. :) That first night my mom came and woke me up at 10:30 pm telling me that Morgan had thrown up in her bed. Mom helped me clean Morgan up and make her a bed on the floor of my room. Long story short, Morgan continued to throw up all night, I joined her some, and Adrienne did the next day. So all three of us ended up being sick the WHOLE week! My parents were such a huge help, both during the night and during the day. I know it wasn't the week they had in mind when they invited us out there, but I don't know what I would have done without them.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Also, thanks to Hillary, who continues to inspire me as I follow her year of gratitude.

Adrienne's 1st Birthday Party

The morning of Adrienne's party Morgan and I had fun decorating the house. As soon as I got out the ribbon and started blowing up the balloons the room filled with giggles. While we worked, Adrienne was entertained with the endless amounts of ribbon.

I found these cute 1st birthday decorations and decided to go with the cupcake theme. Pre-kids I would have never thought that I would be a mom who tries to get creative with birthday cakes. But here I am 3 + years into the job, making giant cupcake cakes.

Life is funny like that!

We had a great time with all our family and friends who were able to join us for the afternoon.

We had to move fast through the gifts to keep Adrienne's attention. She had a lot of fun playing with all her new toys later on once I freed them from all the twisty wire toy handcuffs.

I tried to weed out some of the cake pictures. That is really hard! So believe it or not, I could have included many more.

The part of the story that the pictures leave out is that she burned her finger on the blown out candle. I thought I was holding it far enough away. She is SO fast! So there were real, big tears. It took some time, but eventually I got her to try the cake.

Being the social girl she is, she was more than willing to share her cake with her big sister Morgan. :)

Abbey thought she would try begging too. Luckily Adrienne didn't see her. I'm sure she would have shared with her too.

All done!

In case you can't tell from the picture, Morgan had a great time at the party. Grandmas, Grandpas and cake - you know Morgan was in heaven!

We had a great day!

Thanks to everyone who was able to help us make Adrienne's 1st birthday special.

Well, it's official - little Miss Lemonadrienne is 1 year old. We had a great time helping her celebrate her 1st birthday today. Morgan and I greeted her this morning by singing Happy Birthday to her for the 1st of many times. She of course loved it, dancing and smiling through the whole song. I lost count, but I know we sang to her many, many times today. It never seemed to get old.

Heidi stopped by with Theo and Adam to give her a birthday balloon (and sing Happy Birthday). She had a great time playing with the balloon. It wasn't a big surprise that after shaking it around she settled in to chew on the ribbon.

For weeks Morgan has been talking about making Adrienne a Zebra cake for her birthday. I'm not sure where the idea came from, but it seemed to be here to stay. From the first mention of it being Adrienne's birthday this morning, Morgan was asking when we were going to make her zebra cake. Now is it time Mama?! I tried to explain that her party wasn't today and we weren't going to make the cake until the day of her party. I explained it many times, many ways. She didn't get it. So finally at 5:00 pm when she asked me for the 100th time I decided that we might as well make a birthday cake for her today. So we created a zebra cake out of a marble cake mix and some high-tech swirling of white and chocolate frosting ... Morgan was happy. So after supper we sang to Adrienne, again, and let her dive in.

She LOVED it!
This is her face after Dave put the 2nd helping of cake in front of her.

At one year old Adrienne has become a master crawler and cruiser. When she sees something she wants she takes off at an amazing speed. She often makes her way around with something clenched in her hand. The choice object for the moment is taken along on her discoveries, and of course chewed on during the down time.

She is also getting really good at standing on her own - especially when she's focused on a toy and doesn't realize she's doing it. Standing seems to be easy. The hard part is deciding which toy to chew on first. :)

At one year old Adrienne ...

is very social, smiling and "talking" to people freely.

squeals with delight when Dave or I return home.

is almost always happy - but also has a drama queen streak.

knows what she is not supposed to get in to, but that doesn't stop her, it only makes her move that much faster. (the toilet, toilet paper, recycling, and Abbey's food bowl)

has mastered: crawling and cruising

is starting to: sit for some select books, tease and play games with us, stand on her own and take a few steps.

continues to LOVE: chewing on everything and will bite if you aren't careful, playing peek-a-boo, dancing to music, peas, and anything involving Morgan.

We love you Adrienne!