Happy 3rd Birthday, Maren!

Our baby girl is three today! Where did one and two go... and how did they sneak by so quickly? I took the day off and we celebrated with birthday muffins for breakfast and a trip to Austin for a new bike, helmet, and lunch at McDonalds. She also got a few fun presents this morning when she woke up: an outfit, nail polish, stickers, and make up brushes - just like Grandma's (No Make-up!! - She's a great pretender!) Grandma also brought over some new clothes for Bitty Baby.



~Maren loves to play make believe, especially with her babies: Clara and Bitty. She is usually the Mom, and Cale is either the Dad or Son. Ryan and I get in on the fun occasionally, too. She cooks food for us in the play kitchen.
~She also loves to color and do stickers. She colored a mothers day card for me this year - it was a beautiful bouqet of flowers in all black! :)
~She loves to be outside on her "park", swinging and going down the slide.
~She'll also get in and play ball whenever she gets the chance. She often plays catcher in baseball. If you ask her brother, she needs a little practice in soccer - she uses her hands too much! ;)
~As I write this, she's finishing up her big day with a tackle football game with Cale.
~She's like a fish in the pool. There is no fear near the water for this girl, and she'll stay in as long as we let her.
~She loves to play games: Memory and Zingo are her two favorites.
~She's a great helper and quite the little Miss Independent. We often hear: "I want to do it by myself!"
~She loves to tell stories and always starts them with: "Listen to me, guys."
~I also think she's going to be somewhat of a class clown. She loves getting a laugh out of us, and she does a great job at it.
~She was fully potty-trained at 2 1/2 and just occasionally has an accident for waiting too long - so it usually happens as she's getting on the potty! ugh! She has never had a night time accident, and that totally amazes me! Girls really ARE easier!!
~She's already mastering her skills of negotiation. Yikes!
~She loves her brother and fights with her brother frequently...she tries to copy everything that he does, and they entertain each other quite easily.
~She loves to sing, and her current favorite is: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.
~And we all love her to pieces!!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! Sorry, I mean, Big Girl!



On Saturday, we'll be celebrating more by having a "Butterfly Birthday" with family.

**If you have time to go back, I've finally added pictures to Cale's birthday post!

Copy Cat

Last night, the kids and I were playing a friendly game of Zingo (fabulous game if you're looking for one). At one point, the competition gets heated and Cale gives Maren a little push....

Maren's reaction: "CALE! That is not necessary!!" - shouted as well as an almost 3 year-old can say, necessary. :)

Ryan and I look at each other and just laugh.

SuMmEr VaCaTiOn 2009!

We found a deal for a 3 night stay up North, at Chase on the Lake, that we couldn't pass up. One word: AWESOME!

First, we stopped at the MN Zoo with some old friends. Thanks for the fun, Stockdales & Charpentiers!

We arrived at our condotel on Sunday. The accomodations were well above our expectations, and this was the amazing view from our balcony.

While we were there, we enjoyed a morning out on the boat - although it was a bit chilly!

a lot of fishing - Ryan was a bit disappointed with the size, but we did catch quite a bit! Leech Lake is the 3rd largest lake in MN, so it's not real easy to go out on a boat and search for the best fishing spots.....without the fear of getting lost! We stuck pretty close to what we knew, and actually, Ryan's biggest catch was off the docks by the resort - of course, I didn't get a picture of that! Cale's favorite things were casting and throwing the fish back, but nothing is better than checking out Dad's tackle box - he could look in there for hours! I was constantly saying, be careful - those are SHARP!

In this picture, Cale is using Maren's Barbie fishing pole because he could cast that better. Towards the end of the trip, he was casting like a pro with his big SUPERman pole!

The kids had a blast on the beach...

...especially Maren - we made sure she wore her swimming suit after this!

We also enjoyed the indoor pool (the water was so warm!), city park & shops in Walker, and all of the beautiful scenery and wildlife. I especially enjoyed watching and listening to the Loons - a rare experience for this SE Minnesota girl! We hope we're lucky enough to return to Chase on the Lake next year -- and stay for a week!!

What we've been up to...

In May, we went to Dora Live and spent a few nights at a Holiday Inn waterpark in Owatonna.





On June 1, Maren turned 2! TWO - ALREADY! She's not a baby anymore!
*She loves playing babies and polly pockets - polly pockies, in two year-old slang.
*She's really getting into pretend play with the play kitchen - her specialties are mac and cheese and coocoos (cookies)... and when she's the Mom, she always has plenty of Dora fruit snacks for everyone!
*She's very much into: "me, mine, myself, my do it!"
*She finally has hair so she's into ponies (pony tails) and pretties (barrettes). And she loves wearing her pretty dresses and sandals, too!
*Her favorite thing to do right now is probably copy her big brother -- good in some ways - not so good in others (see previous post).
*We've started potty training but haven't gotten too serious yet. We tried underwear one day - 15 minutes, 3 changes...I think it was too early! :-)




In July, we've been relaxing and having fun:






As of yet, we don't have any big summer vacation plans, but we've been tossing out a few possibilities. North Shore? Dells? Maybe we'll just stick around here and save up for another time? I've finally taken up golf again, and I'm loving it...so we've been on the course as often as we can - taking days off here and there to take advantage of the irresistably nice days. All in all - Life is good!

Yeah, we're still here...

So, it's been awhile. We've been busy trying to effectively discipline a 4 year old and trying to prevent a 2 year old from copying the aforementioned 4 year old. Seriously, Y'all (that's for you, my southern friends), Parenting is hard work! Cale's latest logic: since Grandma and Grandpa are my Mom and Dad, that means I'm still a kid.... so, he doesn't have to listen to me! HA - good try, Honeybun!!

My guess on the latest score:
4 year old - 50
Parents - 5, but those 5 victories are oh-so-sweet!

It's kinda like golf: total frustration one minute, and the next, utter satisfaction! One of these days, we'll consistently hit it in the fairway, figure out how to chip, and sink the putts....Right?? Practice makes perfect - and lately, we've had A LOT of practice!

So, needless to say, the kids are growing up way too fast!!

**Apologies to my husband & family for not keeping up with the posts. I will strive to do better, I promise!

Gopher Fans...

Sometimes it's hard being a Gopher fan, but we'll always love Goldy!


















Jenna (3), Maren (19 months), Kendall (6 months), Cale (4)

Piggies!

Another first this weekend - Maren finally has enough hair for piggies (kind of!) :)

Merry Christmas!

*We hope you're all experiencing the excitement and anticipation of Christmas as we are! Cale was so animated last year, I really can't wait to see him open his gifts this year. Maren will probably be interested in the first gift she opens and get bored with it after that. Cale keeps asking if he can help Maren open her gifts. Of course, she says "No" to everything you ask her, so we'll just have to wait and see.

*Only 2 days left on our sticker Advent calendar until Jesus' birthday! I can't tell you how many times we've heard "Happy Birthday to you" in the last month. It's part of Cale's class part for the Sunday School program, which was postponed on Sunday due to the weather. Guess we'll have to keep practicing those lines! Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you....

*Enjoy your families and have a blessed Christmas!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Maren has recently shown us her singing skills. This was taken on my phone so you can obviously hear me (yeah, sorry about that) a lot more than her, but you can see her lips moving to the words, as she interprets them.

Breakfast with Santa

As we walked toward Santa, Maren clung to Ryan for dear life and screamed as if we were going to drop her there and run! Cale, of course, was all talk beforehand but was hiding behind me as we made our approach. So, this year, a family picture with Santa… and probably next year, too!

Christmas Card Picture

Ha Ha Ha! My friend, Sarah, posted yesterday about trying to get a good picture for their Christmas Card. Great minds think alike - I attempted the same thing.

This pretty much sums up our success:

Big Girl bed fall-out, take one:

We knew it was bound to happen. The bed we have for Maren can't have a bed rail on it - and really, what good is a bed rail if your child was trying to climb the crib rail??

2:30 AM - I heard a couple of "smack! bams!" (see Burggraaf blog - thanks for the terms, Zach!) and then cries. She's a tough one! After I picked her up, she was ready to go back to sleep.

We survived take one.

Sleeping Beauty

A couple of Maren stories

Friday night we carved pumpkins - fun!
It was getting late so Ryan didn't put Maren's pants back on after changing her diaper - jammies would be on soon. I was cleaning up the pumpkin mess at the table when Maren walked up to me. She handed me a diaper and said "pee". I wasn't really paying attention but as she walked away, I lifted her shirt and noticed she didn't have a diaper on - then I checked the diaper - it was definitely wet. I couldn't believe it! Is it time for potty training already? At her 15 month check-up, the doctor said anytime now. I shook my head yes as I said "yeah right" in my mind since Cale wasn't trained until last December. They always say girls are easier, and she has shown interest in the toilet... Maybe?
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Last night was the first night Maren slept in her big girl bed from bed time until morning - and no one was laying with her. YEAH, Maren! We put her bed up a couple of weeks ago because I walked into her room and saw her with one leg over the top of the crib. She hadn't been too sure about it, but I asked her last night if she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed and she nodded, and she stayed. :) This morning she got down on her own and walked into our bedroom. I was in the shower but heard the steps. I asked Ryan if he went to get her - she just walked in. He actually thought it was Cale. Our baby girl is growing up!
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Pictures coming soon, I promise!