Happy Birthday Claire!

Annabel and Caroline celebrated Claire's 2nd birthday with her and friends at Gymboree on Saturday. Annabel was out of sorts and even passed up a cupcake, but after an hour of warming up to the place, she finally started having fun jumping and climbing. Thanks to the other mommies for helping us out. And Happy Birthday Claire!!

See you soon Grandma!!

Grandma was here for ten days helping out mommy and daddy and taking good care of us. We had lots of fun with her and already miss her very much. We miss Grandpa too. We love you!!

I'm 11 months old!

And I'm soooooo big! I know I said it last month, but now I can show you.

This is just one of my many recent accomplishments, or as mommy and daddy say, "tricks." I'm also doing all this stuff:

• I love to splash, splash, splash. In between baths, I play in Sophie's bowl. And I grab a little snack while I'm in the area.
• One of my top teeth is finally poking through. The other one is really close!!
• I can walk behind my riding toy, my baskets, my toy piano, and some of Annabel's toys too. I can also walk with Annabel holding one hand and mommy holding the other.
• I'm still a very good sleeper, and when I wake up, I like to read a book or play with a toy in my crib. My parents have asked me to teach this to my sister, but she really doesn't listen to me.
• I'm training to be a gymnast. Right now, I just practicing my flips on the changing table until I can get into a gym. If that doesn't work out, I'm pretty sure I could be a wrestler. Right now I'm getting pinned more than I want, but my sister *is* in a different weight class.

1-2-3 Cheese!

Playdate with Gracie, Kingsley and Claire

Everyone's getting so big!

More Merry Christmas!

Two days after Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa B arrived from Denver after having Christmas with Uncle Ev, Aunt Shannon, Wyatt and Georgia. Uncle Stu came out to the burbs from the city, and we celebrated all over again.

Annabel enjoyed her dress up clothes from her Denver cousins and also liked dressing down with Grandma's rollers and cell phone.




The girls had fun playing on Annabel's new big girl bed put together by Grandpa and Daddy. Maybe Mommy and Daddy will get a good night's sleep now!

The girls say bye-bye and kisses to Grandma and Grandpa. We love you!

10 Months (and one day) old!

I'm getting soooo big! I can pull up on everthing and cruise around anything, even Sophie. I am a very fast crawler and I can climb over all sorts of obstacles. I am involved in everything my big sister does - if she reads, I read, if she plays with her dolly, I play with her dolly. She taught me two new words - Mine and No!

I hid this from Mommy and Daddy for awhile - I can climb stairs. I probably shouldn't have hidden it since I can't stay on stairs that well, and I got my first bloody nose. Now there are more gates than ever!

I'm still happy as ever, and hungry as ever. I've started eating bananas, goldfish, noodles, and puffed rice in addition to my yogurt, cereal, and baby food. Sometimes I'm so hungry I can't even wait until morning to eat. I still only have two teeth, but one of my top ones is getting close to poking out. Hope it's here soon!

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, we went to a beautiful service at church with Scott's dad. I was so happy to sing loudly all of my favorite carols. The girls did lots of clapping. Afterwards, we came home and had a nice meal. Before she went to bed, Annabel blew kisses to our 12' inflatable front-yard Santa.

Next year, I think Annabel (and maybe Caroline?) will be able to understand more of the Christmas' true meaning, and I'm looking forward to continuing a tradition I grew up with where we read Luke's account of Jesus' birth.

Christmas morning was fun! Annabel loved tearing open the packages, and Caroline loved eating the wrapping paper. They had great fun with their new piano and blocks.

Christmas took an unexpected turn around 11am. Scott was making waffles, and I was cutting potatoes into 1/4" slices when I remembered I had a mandolin. It was sure to make the job easier. It was also sure to slice off the side of my thumb and top of my index finger. Scott wrapped my wounds in a burp cloth, and I sat on the steps outside the kitchen since I felt woozy. Next thing I know I'm waking up under the Christmas tree with my head in the trash can as Scott's finishing up a frantic call to 911. Since I lost consciousness, I was taken to the ER in style, complete with oxygen in the ambulance and and in the waiting room. The nurse told me I was the third mandolin-related incident that morning.

The Ramsey PD, the Allendale Ambulance Corps, and the Valley Hospital staff and doctors were all great and I was back at home in my new Snuggy before 2pm.

I always wondered who it was eating Chinese food on Christmas evening, and now I know.

Merry Christmas everyone!!