So many big-girl things!

The most exciting news lately... our girls are growing up!!! Olive has decided to get two front teeth on the bottom (which I cannot get a picture of because she is so stingy with her smiles!), and Emma has decided to ride her bike without training wheels!!!!!!! BIG GIRLS THINGS! Olive's teeth have been coming in for a couple of weeks, and I think she handled it pretty well, just a couple of doses of Tylenol, a few teething tablets, and they were in. Emma, on the other hand was a little bit faster on the whole learning to ride with two wheels on her bike. Monday afternoon we went for a bike ride/walk and her training wheels were so bent she had to lean to the side of her bike! I suggested she just take off the training wheels. She told me she wasn't ready. No biggie, she is only going to be 5 in a few weeks. But, as I was leaving to meet all the neighborhood women (10 all together that night!) for dinner, I told Elliott about it. As I was leaving the training wheels were coming off, and when I got home two hours later I saw the video of her riding on her own!!!!!!! She still needs a little help getting on and off/stopping, but she is ALL on her own. So many milestones this spring, it is so exciting to see her accomplish things and to feel so proud of herself! Love it...

Our quirky girl LOVES icicles, and found this giant one in her sled a couple of weeks ago - she saved it in the freezer and ate on it for a few days!

I took the girls to go visit my Dad and Jackie in Michigan finally (it had been two years!), and as always it was wonderful to be there. Nana is amazing with babies, so it is always so comforting to see her interplay with Olive.

Papa and Olive - only took a couple of days for her to get used to him, I suppose it helped that I was around the whole time? In general, she is not a fan of men!

Papa and Nana live on a pond and feed the ducks and birds daily, so Emma HAD to ge the binoculars out and check every few minutes to see what was out there. Actually, she became obsessed with them the third day we were there! They came with us to the store and to the butterfly museum/arboretum.

Olive investigating one of the butterfly's, in Nana's arms. Of course Olive was pretty mellow and went along with the flow, allowing Nana to hold her a good portion of the time that we looked at butterflies.

My mom has Olive two days a week when I am working, and took these beautiful images of Olive at 5 months. I think they are just stunning! Too bad Emma put a sticker on Olive's leg in the top one!

I know I am just a little biased, but I think she is a beauty!

I have given Olive cereal a couple of times now, and of course Emma wants to help! She is such a little mom, it is a bit overwhelming to say the least, even though I know she means so well! I swear she would stay at home with Olive if we let her. Olive isn't quite sure what to think of the food, and I am in no hurry! Isn;t that terrible? It just means one more thing I need to do in the day - silly, huh? I better get going though, she will be 6 months before I know it.

Poor Goldie finally died. He was a Koi that we had for a good 9 months (that's a long time in our house!!!). He was a meanie, however, and I glad he is gone and that we can put the fish tank in storage - don't tell. Anyway, we had to have a burial for him. Emma and Elliott gave a little eulogy and prayer! The neighbor girls helped out - there are 19 kids in 8 houses, 2 baby's on the way, 5 kids moving in next door, and a good 8 houses left to be built on our street!!!!!

Emma had to say a few words...

Olive and I spend a lot of time on the front porch while Emma plays with the kids. Somehow the norm here is for the parents to sit out in the driveways while ALL of the kids play up and down the street! We are so lucky to have moved in here!

Look at those cheeks!!!!!!

I am choreographing the flying monkeys for the ballet The Wizard of Oz, on Sunday evenings, so Elliott has the girls for a couple of hours. Here he is getting ready to take Olive over to the neighbor's for a little outdoor b-day party. She could not figure out who was holding her and would crane her head all the way back to try and see! She usually cries for Elliott the whole time I am gone, but she is SLOWLY changing her ways!

More to come... Love to all....

Holy Crap - if you only knew what it took to get this post done.....

OK, Forgive this post please!!! If you only knew how many times I started it and then lost it, and had to start over, you would understand why it looks the way it does. I promise to be more on top of this for those of you far away!!!!! This time though, you just gotta deal:)

OK ok OK, I know! It has been over a month. Finally I sat down last night to catch up and as I fell asleep at the computer typing, I somehow lost the whole post! Argh...
So, here we are with an almost 5 year old - who I am registering for KINDERGARDEN today - and almost 5 month old. Where does the time go?
I went back to work on Feb 6th, teaching dance at Gustavus College, in Saint Peter, MN. Thankfully my mom was willing to watch Olive during the day and then pick Emma up from daycare, and Elliott watches the girls from 5-8pm. However, poor him (or poor Olive?), Olive often cries the whole three hours! Double argh!
I have enjoyed every minute of being back in the studio, even with the pumping and the 2 1/2 hour total drive time each day.
So... to catch up...

Here is sweet Emma in a crazy outfit concoction that she came up with at my mom's place. Of course it was taken so long ago I do not even remember why we were there! Emma has had a real breakthrough lately, slowly getting over being so mad at me for having to split my time between her and Olive. Don't get me wrong, she LOVES Olive and dotes on her all the time. I am certain she would happily take care of Olive all on her own if we would let her. She laments daily about how much she loves being a big sister - but her behavior towards me in the past four months would suggest I have broken her heart!

Before I went back to work I took my mom and the girls to American Girl Store for dinner - they all had to wear the matching dresses that my mom made them for Christmas.


Emma surprised us with a loose tooth!!! She was telling me in the car one night, how her tooth was wiggling. After many previous false alarms, I didn't really believe her. When we got into my mom's house that night I was SO surprised to feel it actually wiggle!!! It was such a fun moment, to be part of that milestone. Above is a picture of Elliott getting ready to tie some thread around her tooth to pull it out. Emma decided she wasn't quite ready:)

Olive officially 4 months old and roley-poley! 95th percentile for weight and height, very similar to Emma. I finally bough her some 9 month PJ's today (she is almost 5 months old now that I post this blog!) and they have some room for her to grow, but fit nicely!

Finally, Valentine's morning, Emma lost her tooth! Actually, she pulled it out after the root broke free when she was eating heart shaped pancakes. She was so excited! Apparently the Tooth Fairy was not prepared that day, because not only did she leave Emma's tooth for her, but she also left $10!!!! How ridiculous is that? The Tooth Fairy told Emma she would be better prepared next time, and the rest of her teeth would not bring so much money. Fortunately, Emma was more excited that the Fairy LEFT her tooth for her, just like the other kids at Carol's house!

A rare quiet moment...

DATE NIGHT!!!! THIS NEVER HAPPENS!!!!!

The "Spy Kids"...
Olive, turning 5 months next week (and Emma 5 years this month!!!) has finally figured out rolling back to front, but can't get herself back to her back, much to her anger:) This past week she finally found her feet and toes - and they immediately go in her mouth or at least her hands the moment I put her on the floor. She is also a real talker, making noises just about all the time. If she is quiet it usually means she has positioned herself so she can see the TV (not my intention of course!). She has smiles but does not give them away too freely, and her laugh is one grunt that /i work very hard for. She laughs the most at silly Emma, and even then it is more like a grunt than a laugh!
Emma is becoming such a big girl - very sensitive to all that is happening around her. She tried to put her hat on oer her bike helmet the other day and I laughed. She immediately took it off and said she didn't want the other kids to laugh at her:( Currently (at 6:45 am) she is in the basement riding on the new Razor scooter I bought her as a surprise yesterday! She was SOOOO EXCITED! All the kids in the neighborhood gather and ply each afternoon, and I thought Emma was ready for something more than her $5 garage sale princess one with a wobbly wheel:)!!!!
We are waiting to find out if Emma will get to go to the STEM Magnet school next year, she is number 7 on the waiting list. We think it is something she could really sink her teeth in to and the curriculum is very hands on.
More current pictures to follow soon - I PROMISE!!!

LOVE TO ALL

Emma had a surprise from Santa the week after Christmas (has it been this long since I have posted! ugh! sorry!). She got the stable to go with her horse for her American Girl Doll. As Emma does with all things, the first few days it was all she would play with!

I found Big and Little Sister shirts for the girls for Christmas. I can;t believe I am buying them matching clothes! Emma, Olive, and Em's doll even all have matching outfits from Grandma Loerch that we will have to break in next week I think.

Elliott's mom and Grandma came to visit the first weekend in January, and Elliott thought it would be a good idea to get a tent to watch movies in! So, of course he found one on Craigslist - Emma was ecstatic and it worked just perfectly, as a matter of fact.

Emma got ice skates form Grandma Loerch and I signed her up for lessons - here she is before the first one. How dang cute is she??? I was actually so proud of her, she went out on the ice on her own and got right back up when she fell down. I think she is doing well and can make it all the way across with out falling. She told me, "I think I am getting the hang of this!"

Great Grams, Grams and Emma

Olive's adorable crying face - and look at those cheeks!

Olive straining as much as she can to see the TV!!!! I swear she is going to pull a muscle she tries so hard to see the TV...

Officially THREE MONTHS!!!

She is such a sweet girl, and I am always getting comments from strangers on how adorable she is (I know that is out and out bragging - I know - but you can't really Tell from these pictures just how sweet she looks!) but in these pictures she looks a bit goon-ey:)

This is her sitting in the Bumbo that Holly sent. Of course Em was the one who thought to bring it out. Olive doesn't really like it yet - maybe she is so big it is uncomfortable?

I took the girls to visit Elliott in Sunnyvale, Ca this week, a part of Silicon Valley. We had such a blast! Long story short we were supposed to fly out Friday night, but there were so many delays it would have been 1am our time byt the time we got there. Fortunately we were able to change our tickets to the following morning, and my mom was able to come pick us up and take us back in the morning! Emma was good as can be on the plane ride out - such a big helper and such a great listener.

Of course only the Minnesotans would be swimming in the pool when it was 56 out! It was heated to 84 however, and Daddy was such a good sport! I surprised Em with this new swimsuit which she was half excited about (but really wanted the Hello Kitty one we saw Costco:( )

We drove in to San Francisco on Sunday, and had plans to meet my dear old friend Liz and her 22 month old daughter. We were early so went to see some Redwoods at Muir National Forest - this is Elliott changing Olive on my lap! I nursed her in the car while Em and El went to look around - and get SOAKING wet in the rain (had to change em's pants and shoes!).

The family - minus O!

Emma leading/pulling/mothering sweet Violet, Liz's daughter. We went to the California Academy of Sciences - an AMAZING science like museum with an aquarium, penguins, a live rain forest, an albino alligator, etc. It was a really treat, someplace we would go all the time if we lived there!

We had so much fun in CA we hope to go back when Elliott has training again in February. I will say we sure do miss him. It is so different having him gone, now that he is usually home!! Emma misses him like crazy and cried so hard when we left for the airport, then she had a MAJOR meltdown on the airplane home. We are all still recovering - she fell asleep at 5pm tonight and I assume she will sleep through the night as it is now 10:30 and she is still out.

Emma and Olive continue to be the best girls, Olive so easy going and go with the flow, Emma a real firecracker that makes us laugh, keeps us on our toes, and is always good for a snuggle!

love to all

Christmas Time....

Finally!!! It is 53 degrees outside and I am writing about Christmas! What is wrong with this picture?? Oh well, can;t wait for the 20 inches of snow that we will probably get in March!

We had a lovely Christmas holiday surrounded by most of our family (missed the Patterson side!!!) and best of all, Emma got to wake up Christmas morning in our new house (we were excited about that tradition starting:))

On Christmas Eve we had my mom and Denny over, and my Dad and Jackie (as they had arrived at our house, to stay, in our guest bed room, with a real bed!), for our tradition crab leg dinner. Below is Denny holding little/big Olive

Papa Jim, ever the good sport, letting Emma pretend to cut his hair! Notice the Fancy Nancy blanket - I MADE it for Emma! And, I made a matching one for Olive, and for Emma's new American Girl Doll that Santa brought. Thanks to my mom or I never would have accomplished the blankets (well, almost accomplished as they still aren't finished on the one side!).

CRAB LEGS!!!!

Emma took such a long hard nap during the day on Christmas Eve that when she woke up she thought it was morning, so wanted to some PJ's on to go downstairs:)

Emma and Daddy putting food out on the lawn for Santa's Reindeer - a cute idea that my mom brought for Emma

The whole fam-damily!

Emma Christmas morning at 6am... holding the present that she was CERTAIN was the American Girl Doll she asked Santa for - LOVE that smile!

Patiently listening to the letter Santa wrote back to her. The night before she "accidentally" tore open a gift and saw what it was, and was VERY disappointed that she found out! From then on she realized she really didn't want to know what was inside ahead of time (good lesson learned!).

One of two mid-air shots we got of Emma! The joy of Christmas morning with a young child cannot be matched.

Everyone was a wore out from the early morning rise and all of the excitement that came with opening gifts - Papa Jim and Olive sound asleep.

Emma with Nana Jackie and the Easy Bake Oven they got for her. Looks a little different than when I had on all those years ago!

This one is actually from Christmas dinner, the girls in matching outfits, and Emma's new doll and horse (yes, she is spoiled, I know - talk to her dad!!!).

Second mid-air shot from when she unwrapped the horse!

Emma runs like a heater, just like her Dad, and often it is just easier to take the top off. Wonder how long we'll get away with that? This is her, after Christmas dinner, opening a few more gifts.

We had Christmas at my Mom's house on Monday, arriving about 9:30 to open stocking and have brunch. My mom made matching hats for Emma and Olive - CUTE!

Olive and Grandma Loerch

Daddy and Olive

This fall Emma told both Elliott and my mom that she wanted a locket (a la Ramona and Beezus, I think) so that when I died she could put my picture in it!!! Well, thankfully I am still alive and she got a locket from Grandma Loerch that has my, El, her, and Olive all in it!!! She was THRILLED and said, "I was dreaming of getting this!!!!"

The grand kids, all in hats my mom made for them. Emma, Landon and Olive... We were LUCKY to even get this picture! Poor Landon (we found out two days later) had a double ear infection AND Roseola (fever followed by rash), and did not nap at all that day!!! Becca and Chris were troopers:)

Hope everyone had a happy holiday... And a joyful New Year!

More to come... I must get caught up!

Love to all...

Where is the S-N-O-W?

Elliott was so excited to buy a snow blower!!! He spent literally DAYS researching and looking at them, finally bought one, to take it back and get another! The next day, after considering taking it back and getting yet a third, her said, he had to stop, it was getting out of control:) BUT we do now have one... now we need the snow. I think it is the first time I have ever heard him ask day after day, where is the snow:) Emma was so excited to get out and help him (pushing her three wheeler).

Emma and her "babies" the other morning... which is the real baby???

Elliott suggested Emma and I spend some special one on one time together, so I bought us tickets to go see the Nutcracker. We spent a good portion of the day at Cabella's, getting matching snow boots for the family ) El's idea! And the sweet girl did not get the two hour nap I was hoping she would... Basically the 45 minute nap in the car was not enough to prepare her for the night:( We went to Panera for dinner and she could barely concentrate on eating she was already exhausted. When Emma is tired she can barely sit still, so I knew we were in for it at the performance! She enjoyed the first half, but I knew we could go at intermission and we'd both be happier in the long run, but I didn't want her to miss the show, and I didn't want to miss it either! Long story short, after a small breakdown in the bathroom about 15 minutes before the end of the show I called it a night (poor girl was heartbroken) - and she was asleep about 5 minutes after we got into the truck! That all said, I can't wait for the two of us to do something special again, I miss our time together so much.

Olive has really become active in the past week! She has started coo-ing and ooh-ing, gurgling and gug-ing! She loves the lights on the ceiling and best of all the ceiling fan! Here she is getting so exciting looking up at the one in the family room.

"Cheeks" here had her two month check-up yesterday and it is official - she is a roley-poley Buddha baby! She is 97th percentile for weight (13lb) and 90th percentile for height (23 1/2 inches). The doctor asked, "are these rolls all from nursing?" - "yes, yes they are"!!!! She seriously has two sets of inner thighs and I have to work hard to get all the nooks and crannies clean all over her body - especially her arm pits and neck. She has been such an easy baby, sleeping a few hours at a time if she is in her car seat, and at least a couple of hours at a time at night, sometimes us to four hours! And honestly, she does not nurse as much as Emma did, so I feel I have a bit of a break there.

Emma continues to love her big sister, and loves being a big sister (she mentions often how much likes both!). She wants to hold her and talks to her just like I do - she is such a care taker in training!!!

That's all for now... Much love

Big Sister

Emma has been dying to give Olive a bottle! She'll run over to the freezer and pull out the milk, begging to do it. Finally, when Grandma Patterson was here, Emma got her chance. First, El's mom offered to watch Olive so we could have some desperately needed one on one time with Emma. So we took Emma to see Happy Feet 2 (she loves her sister but was thrilled to have us to herself!). When we got home Olive still hadn't eaten yet - perfect opportunity for Emma! You can see the proud look and elated smile she has on her face. We are so proud of Emma! She has been so sweet, and often says "I love being a big sister!"

Now, this doesn't mean she doesn't have her moments when she is mad at me!! But, we are getting there and continuing to all work on our new family of four!

We had the first snowfall a couple of weeks ago. The picture is Emma outside at 8am because she just couldn't wait!

Old Tom - he's found a new favorite place to sleep!!!