Cheese!

I was taking some pictures of N this week with some of his favorite toys that he got for his birthday and realized he wasn't quite getting the "cheese" concept. I told him that when he says "cheese" it is supposed to be a smile(most of the pictures were looking a little goofy because he was just doing the "ch" part). These pics are an improvement, though a little cheesy and exaggerated! :)

Before some coaching....

And after! This is his super cool helicopter he got for his birthday from his buddy TJ. He loves it! He can make the blades go and a compartment drops down for a car to ride along. Doesn't get much better than that!

Trying a little too hard maybe? He saw this one and said "Oh Mommy that one is so silly!"

And here is one of his other new prized possessions....his new fire truck from Grancy! It has many miles on it already!

I must be slipping(could be the cold I have been fighting this week), but this is the only picture I had of our little sweetie girl. She is doing great, growing like a weed! She is very giggly, which is definitely my most favorite sound in the whole world and has also mastered the art of blowing raspberries. She will go back and forth with you and is quite proud of herself! I think her cute buns pretty well sum things up though! Other than my cold, life is good! Here's to hoping I can keep it to myself!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Love,

P, S, N, and Miss M

Happy Birthday to P...she's just turned 30!

That's right! I am now 30. Can't say it feels much different. :) Grancy was nice enough to have our whole family over for a birthday party on the night of my birthday. It was actually a party for me, Little N, and Granny, who's birthday was last Sunday. October is a busy month of birthdays, that's for sure! Here are some pics from the party. We had a lot of fun with everyone. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I really think my family is super fun and am so glad they all came to have dinner with us!

Here is Little N and AN, playing a little game of catch. AN is sooo good with all the kids! They just love him! :) I'm glad he's not too cool to still hang with us.

Here is C, J, L, and S. Chatting about the delicious beef stew we ate I'm sure!

The only person I have met that rivals Miss M in smile time is this little guy. Little K is such a happy little guy and I just love his dimples! Hard not to smile right along with him.

Little N and Auntie L were best buds for the night. The wrestled, danced, and were just overall silly!

And a party is not complete without some birthday cake! Thanks Aunt D for the cake! So yummy and of course Little N was very happy to blow out those candles for us!

Miss M attended the party as well, but missed out on the picture taking because she was snoozin'.

Here's to hoping for a little down time now that all the birthday festivities are out of the way!

Happy Birthday to me....I climbed in a tree!

We had a tree climbing, slip-sliding, birthday party for Little N on Sunday. It was at Edinbourough Park, which for those of you who haven't been there is an indoor park in Edina. They have a 37 foot tall play "tree" that is full of obstacles, tunnels, slides, jumpers, you name it! It is fantastic! A bunch of Little N's friends and cousins came to play. It was only two hours and I'm guessing all those kids slept good that night! They would go in and we were lucky to catch a glimpse of them as they climbed around and had a blast! Here are some pics of the fun:

Little N, anxiously awaiting his friends so he could go play!

N climbing in the tree

N and his friend MM, who he followed everywhere all day!

Silly kids! Nice of them to pose for a pic though since it was almost impossible for me to get any of kids I knew! :)

AM up at the very top! Yep! Adults can play too!

Little TJ, peeking out at us!

TJ's Daddy, MJ, joining in the fun

Miss J and Auntie A, supporting the Vikes!

Here is N and MM again!

Blowing out the candles! One of his favorite things to do....check out the sweet Lightning McQueen cake!

Mmm....red frosting!

And green frosting!!

Auntie A and Miss M. Little Miss S was there too, but she was snoozing the whole time and I forgot to snap a pic of the little cutie.

As you can see, we had a blast! Thanks to all that came!

Love,

P, S, N , and Miss M

Oh how time flies!

On Friday, October 9th, our baby(big??) boy turned 3! I cannot believe how big he is getting. He just seems so grown up now. It's been a big year for Little N! He learned to pedal his tricycle, and swim with his water wings on, and of course one huge milestone was the potty training. We also did lots of traveling...Montana, St. Louis, Yellowstone, South Dakota, and now we can add Florida! For Little N's birthday, he got to go to Disneyworld!! What more could a three year old boy want than to meet Mickey Mouse on his birthday! P is a huge fan of Disneyworld, in fact this was not N's first time there. So, I thought that since in 2009, if you go to Disneyworld on your actual birthday, you get in free, that it seemed like just the push I needed to head on down! Little N talked about it for weeks and how he was going to Mickey Mouse's house, which I am sure those weeks seemed like an eternity for a little boy, but finally, the big day came! He had soooo much fun and so did P, Miss M, and Grancy, who all went along! Poor S had to work, but we are hoping to go next year for more than a day and take S along with us! Here are some pics of our big day!

If you go to Disneyworld on your birthday, you get to wear a button that says Happy Birthday and it has your name on it and all day long, all the people who work at Disney say "Happy Birthday Nathan!" It was such a cool experience!

Finally! The moment he has been waiting for! We went to Mickey Mouse's house and there in the back yard was Mickey himself and N got to meet him and Minnie and get his picture taken. I think he was a little star struck! :) He didn't have too much to say, but gave them hugs.

Mmm...a Mickey ice cream bar while we wait for the parade to start.

There's Mickey again! What a great parade and a great day!

Miss M also had a blast! She got a little Minnie Mouse doll that she has been cuddling(and eating) ever since we got her.

It was one looooong day, but what a blast we all had! N was very excited about everything we did, which made it all the more fun for P and Grancy. P and N went on a race car ride(his favorite thing of the day) and he got to drive the car. Oh if you could have seen the look on his face when he found out he could drive! He got off the ride and told Grancy "now I can drive your car!" When she asked him how old he was he said "sixteen!" and she said, "you can be 16 today in Disneyworld, but when we go back home, you will need to be 3 again." It was a great time of year to go. The lines were not bad at all and we got in so many fun things! We rode the Dumbo ride, Aladdin's Magic carpets, the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Small World, the carousel, the race cars, and some others. We cannot wait to go back!

Little N, you are more fun every day and we feel so very lucky to have such a great little boy in our lives! Happy Birthday and we love you lots and lots!!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, and Miss M

Fore! Or is it Four??

It's both! Last weekend, while we were in Missoula, S was on a guys golfing weekend with some friends from his softball team. It just so happens that also last weekend, Miss M turned four months! Where does the time go?? This little girl is growing up by leaps and bounds right before our eyes and too fast if you ask me! Here are her stats from the doc:

Weight-16lbs 4 oz
Length-25 inches
Head-17 inches

M is now back on the charts! (She was off on pretty much everything at her 2 month appointment) She got a few shots too and was a real champ! There were only tears for about a minute. :)

We pulled out N's baby book the other day and he did not reach 16 lbs. until he was 6 months old, but at 4 months old he was a whole inch longer. Two very different little kids!

We love you sweet girl!

J & B Welded

Last weekend, P, the kids, and Grancy went to visit J & B. It was so much fun! We got to see their house where they are living now, a Grizzly's volleyball game, and spent lots of fun time just hanging out and having fun. It was J's birthday last Friday, so we thought it would be fun to go visit and help celebrate the occasion. Since flights weren't looking so good for us to come home out of Missoula, we drove to Helena on Sunday night and all stayed in a hotel. Talk about fun! As you will see from the pics, there was lots going on...swimming pillow fights, and though the pictures don't show it, there was also snow!


N & Uncle J doing the dishes


Grancy & N singing us a song


Swimming at the hotel


N & B wrestling at the hotel


Pillow fight!
Miss M found Uncle J very funny!

What a silly guy! We had so much fun guys! Wish you lived closer!

Love,

P, N, and Miss M

Getting chilly!

This week, we have been bundling up a bit more in the mornings as we head out to daycare. I usually sets out the kids clothes the night before to try to save time in the morning. It wasn't until we were all ready to go one morning this week that I realized the kids were coordinated in their fleece vests, so since we were already running late, I figured what's a couple more minutes and had them pose for a couple pictures!


She's just so smiley, I can't seem to stop taking pictures of her!

This was a different day...it turns out Miss M has been practicing tricks when we weren't looking. She was in her swing one afternoon, playing with her maraca(TR2, best present ever! Both kids love these!) and all of a sudden, she was sleeping with it balancing upside down on her shoulder, while still swinging! Such a talented little girl.

That's all for now! Off to Missoula this weekend to visit J & B. Should be a great time! Happy Birthday J! We love you!

Love,

P, S, Little N, and Miss M

Kiddos

Here are a few pics of the kids from the last couple weeks. We haven't bee doing too much. Grancy and P have been working on Miss M's room quite a bit. We hope to post pictures soon, but it's been so busy that we have been only getting done a little at a time. There is carpeting now though, which is very exciting and we got all the trim painted and attached.

Little N is more and more into Miss M every day. Now he loves to lay with her and talk to her. He is always kissing her "nosey." It is a pretty cute little nosey I guess! :)

Our sweet boy

Sweetie girl

This is what Daddy calls her "Rainbow Brite" outfit.

Back in the olden days

Last weekend, Grancy, Little N, P and Miss M went on a little afternoon adventure. We rode the streetcar! You can ride the streetcar between Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun and back. Grancy was debating doing this as part of a trip for work and wanted to try it out first. As she looked into it, she knew Little N would love it...and he did! We rode twice because when we got back the first time he wanted to go again!


N spent most if his ride with his head hanging out the window!

P and Miss M, along for the ride!

The driver

On our second ride, the driver let N go to the back with him and ring the bell. It was a button on the floor that you had to stomp on with your foot....took a few tries, but we got a couple faint rings out!