October 2012

Emma and her GOLD MEDAL from playing soccer this fall.  We loved, and she loved, the team she was on.  The boys and girls meshed so well and Emma now goes to school with a number of them  The other girl on her team is actually her locker mate at school, and one of the boy's, Carter, holds a very special place in her heart!

We decided to get away for the weekend Oct. 11th - Emma had Friday off -so we headed up to Duluth for two nights.  I got us a place right on the lake, in the Canal Park area, and it had a separate sleeping area with a giant whirlpool tub, plus breakfast (which is nice so if one of the girls wakes up early I can take them down to get something while everyone else sleeps!).  We had a beautiful cool and sunny Friday to spend in the "park".  Harry the Horse took us on a carriage ride around Canal Park.  Thank goodness for this picture - proof that I was actually on the trip:)

Part of the reason I love staying at Canal Park is because of the rocky shore along Lake Superior.  The shore has teeny tiny pebbles soften by years of wear from the lake, and then they have brought in yards and yards of giant boulders that you can climb on and explore, along the coast line (I am sure they are a break for the water as well!).

Olive and Daddy walkinng together.

We took Olive to the toy store at the end of our afternoon walk, so she could pick something out for her first birthday.  She has only two stuffed animals, and I thought she needed something special of her own.

What I did not mention was that by unforseen circumstances we did not get to our hotel until almost 10pm Thursday night.  The plan was 7:30!!!!  So Emma was EXHAUSTED most of the day Friday, and Olive was not in her prime, for sure.  For lunch that day Emma ate apple sauce (didn't even touch her mac-n-cheese) and could barely contain herself during dinner.  When she gets tired she is constantly on the move, because God Forbid she actually admit to being tired! :)

So when we called it an evening at 5:00 Em was hungry, and well Olive will just about always have a little bite to eat.  So we all headed in to the beautiful sitting area of the hotel, like a 4 season porch of sorts, and I walked Emma over to Caribou Coffee to get a snack.  The girls shared maple brown sugar oatmeal and a grilled cheese sandwich (Ok, I may have had a few bites too!).

Both Emma and Olive were SOUND ASLEEP in the hotel room by 7:15!  Elliott and I sat next to each other on the couch and enjoyed each other's company, watched TV - no kids programs! - for a few hours.  It was heavenly!!!!  No other responsibilities, nothing else to accomplish, no dogs to let out....  We will most certainly go again for the weekend, very soon!

 The above picture is of Emma and Olive, the morning of Olive's Birthday.  Emma LOVES being a big sister, and while they can BOTH pester the other, Olive lights up when Emma is around.

 We had planned to spend the whole day (the 13th - Olive's birthday) in Duluth, but we woke up to rain!  So, we headed back home after check-out and Elliott called my Mom and Denny on the way home to see if they wanted to come over for dinner.  I figured if we were having a small family dinner we HAD to celebrate at least with cup cakes!  So I made lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  You can see she LOVED them and scooped the frosting in to her mouth!!!

It is so fun to watch Emma start to interact with Olive, and in a way that both of them can really be a part of!  The other day I walked in to the toy room and there was Olive sitting at the kiddie table.  Emma had sat her there and given her tea, a spoon and a donut, and Olive was as happy as could be.  It is so fun - Emma is such a little mom, if not a little overbearing, I am always certain she loves being a big sister.

Cousins Landon, Olive and Emma dancing at Olive's "official" birthday party.  We were so happy to have Becca, Landon and Chris join us, with my Mom and Denny as well.  Olive received a piano from Nana and Papa Jim for her birthday and she is OBSESSED with dancing to the music!  I love it.  I seriously think it is from me dancing until I was almost 8 months pregnant.  She has a pavlovian response to music and cannot contain herself:)

She REALLY enjoyed her pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting:)  

Tired Olive, who is quite the snuggler, with Daddy and her new bunny from Grandma Loerch.

And ...  matching hat!

We had a wonderful first birthday with Olive.  It is so fun to see all that she is learning and exploring.  She has been waving goodbye for quite a while now, and she is most certainly saying "hi", usually if there is a phone involved (!).  She will stand up on her own and walk many steps unaided, so that is just a matter of time and her desire.  She still loves the salty foods, and mac-n-cheese especially, brown rice and soup, also bananas, apple squeeze packs, strawberries and waffles!

She is a bit of a picky eater, has no interest in a bottle (I've quite trying!) and does not really like milk either. 

Elliott and Emma got a little building bug over the weekend.  Elliott ended up building this beautiful bird feeder, went to the antique store to get the milk jug, and took Emma and the digs to the puppy park to get found wood for the outside!  I LOVE IT!

My mom and I took Olive out to Whole Foods for lunch the other day - eating mac-n-cheese of course!

My favorite Olive picture this far....

Oh, did I mention that she has started screaming to get her point across?  If she wants some water, she will scream until she gets it.  If she wants to play with something, she will scream until she gets over to it.  If she wants some breakfast, she will scream until the food is in front of her....  awesome.

:)

September 2012

 Emma's first Friday of school - notice the shoes!!!  They light up on the ties when she walks - that's what $60 will get you these days.  Ridiculous!

Emma has played soccer this fall, on a fantastic team.  It is so fun to watch them play boy sand girls together right now.  Emma has a number of friends on the team who go to school with her.  She is especially fond of Carter - a small little blondie, very sweet boy.  We were driving the other and she was telling me something about Carter (who also rides her bus!) and I said, well he sure seems like a nice boy. She replied, "Yeah, and he's cute!"  Oh man!!!!  Not ready for that:)  However, I have loved the whole starting school thing.  I love waiting for the bus to go by and drop her off every afternoon, I can;t wait to hear about what her day was like.  That is like pulling teeth however, and I learning how I need to ask the right questions to actually hear what she is learning about!  I LOVE seeing what she brings home in her yellow take home folder.  I love hearing about recess, the monkey bars and hoola- hoops.  She has become so much more interested in reading and writing, and will certainly be reading on her own by the end of the year.  She is already figuring out sight words, sounding out words, reading the pictures...  She is sounding out words as she writes, and often wants to play school.  I feel very blessed to have two healthy children, willing and able to learn, grown, explore and play.

 Sweet Olive is almost one!  She LOVES to swing, and just giggles and giggles, kicks her legs, and loves every minute of it.  We try to go to the park after Emma's soccer games.

 Last weekend was FREEZING - of course in MN it has gone from summer to late fall.  No himming and hawing or slowly moving form season to season!  We had to bundle up for Em's soccer game the other morning and I thought Olive was adorable in her coat and hat!

 Olive is on the move and climbing up on to every single thing she can get to lately!  In to the middle of the bar stools is a favorite, or under, over and through the dining room table and chairs, in the middle of her high chair, and ALWAYS up the stairs.  If she is playing on the main level while I am working the kitchen, cleaning, or generally getting something accomplished, as soon as I hear her babbling I go check to see if she is half way up the stairs.  Usually, she is!  

 We took Emma, her friend Lizzy, OG, and my mom and Denny to pick apples at Emma Krumbee's last weekend,  It is a tradition here since we moved back, however there were hardly any apples left in the tree's this year and we are thinking we will try some where new next fall.  However, we still had a fantastic time!  Grandma and Grandpa fed her chicken and dumplings for lunch!

 Emma and Lizzy having Cotton Candy Ice Cream for lunch.  Elliott thought this would be a good idea - I did go back and get them corn dogs!

 Olive is finally happy with Daddy, reaches for him and will often not want to come back to me once she is with him - yay!

 Ugh - we were SO unhappy with the apple orchard!  There were literally no apples on the trees and we were looking for a ladder!  Elliott had to lift the girls on his shoulders or put them up on a branch so they could throw down the apples for us.  It was also 84 degrees, not the best apple picking weather.  That was last saturday, and this saturday the high was 42.

 Sweet Olive...  Our porr girl had her second trip to the Children's Hospital ER Friday night.  The first trip was on her 9th day home form the hospital, when she'd gotten a virus and had to spend the whole weekend in the hospital.  

We have all had colds this fall already, once school stated again, and back to daycare.  Olive developed a second cold on Thursday, and by Friday she was getting a cough and a bit wheezy.  Before bed time (which is really dinner time!) Friday night she cried for almost an hour (VERY unlike her!) and was trying to give her her nebulizer but I couldn't get it to work.  Ugh!  Elliott finally got it to work part way.  Got Emma to sleep but Olive kept waking up making a terrible noise.  I finally went in to hold her and hse was wheezing and breathing was so labored.  This was about 10pm and I called in to the pediatrician because I was worried.  She asked the skin was sucking in around Olive's ribs and neck - sure enough it was - that was out sign to take her Children's Hospital.  So I put my big girl pants on and took Olive down to the ER on my own, so we didn't have to wake Emma up in the middle of the night.  Poor girl OG just wanted to snuggle in to me, was crying when anyone new would come near her.  She had two nebulizer treatments wich have a little kick of something added to them, and she was also given steroids.  It was amazing the difference in a matter of two hours!  Basically, moving forward she is going to need the nebulizer at the first sign of a cold.  Since she had RSV when she was 3 months old, she is susceptible to a virus induced asthma of sorts.  Poor girl...

 Grandma Loerch, a sleeping Olive, and happy Emma

 Emma and Daddy hard at work!  How sweet is she?  SHe was busy answering phones, typing away - her active imagine always working.

 Olive is becoming quite the picky little eater!  I am never sure when she is going to eat her food or not. It is almost a guarantee however that she will eat whatever meat we put in front of her, especially chicken.  She also loves stir fry, fried rice, mac-n-cheese, pancakes, toast with butter, string cheese, and Pirates Booty - ALL SALTY FOODS!  She still has no interest in a bottle!  Maybe she will never take one?!  

She is also becoming very interested in eating on her own, after watching us eat.  I finally gave in the other night when, after being sick and not eating, she wanted to try the yogurt with a spoon on her own.  Elliott said I was being a "yes mom":)  She had yogurt all over me and her!

Olive is ALMOST walking - a few steps on her own here and there - all the time with a grown-ups hand!  She is also a CLIMBER!  I can;t keep her off the stairs, the dish washer, the hearth of the fireplace, the rocks outside, the drawer under the stove!