Okay, here’s a question. Does anyone know how much sand a person can safely ingest? Because we’re really not sure how much sand Morgan actually swallowed earlier this week. It’s funny all the little things you forget that you have to teach these little ones….for instance, if your piece of peanut butter & jelly sandwich falls in the sand, it’s best to just toss it & reach for a new piece instead. You assume that the child will see that it’s “dirty” and just hand it over like she does everything else that falls on the floor lately. But, to a hungry 18-month old child….all they think is “Okay, my sandwich fell onto that grey stuff…I’m hungry.…give me my sandwich back…..NOW.” So….said child reaches down and shoves the sand-coated sandwich in her mouth faster than we can lunge at her to grab it. Sigh. What do you do? Hope for the best it seems. And guess what…the mouth full of sand wasn’t enough to deter her either….the attempts to grab sand-coated food away from her resulted in a lot of screaming…but eventually she was so fascinated by playing in the sand, that she no longer cared about the food!
So the fun part….she LOVED playing in the sand! Macy was having fun searching for sea glass and throwing rocks in the water with Dad, but Morgan was all about the sand, the shovels, the bucket, and the mountain that we were making in the sand. And you know what…I really get why it was so fun. After snapping several pictures, I put away the camera, kicked off my shoes, and started digging right alongside Morgan. And you know what? It was so relaxing, and mesmerizing for some reason. We must have dug in the sand together for the better part of 45 minutes. Digging and digging, and scooping, and dumping the sand….we made some really big holes and some really big sand-mountains. Who knew that playing in the sand was so fun? Actually…I think I *knew* that it was, but sometimes it’s good to just jump in and get dirty, and remember just how fun it is to be a little kid. :) It was a fun afternoon. Hmmm...I wonder why this tastes so crunchy?
This morning, I was looking around Morgan's closet trying to decide what to dress her in, and given the forecast for a cloudy & rainy weekend, I put her in a sweater and some pants. So what a surprise when she woke up from her morning nap, and it was already in the mid-70's! We did a quick change into a sundress, and it reached nearly 80 degrees this afternoon! Yay! We were going to put the boat in the water for the weekend, but decided not to, since it was supposed to be fairly cold all weekend - so what a surprise that we were still able to enjoy being outside all day. It was wonderful...and the girls played out on the deck all afternoon! It was so fun and relaxing....Gregg was actually home on a Saturday, we were able to enjoy lunch & dinner outside & we BBQ'd out on the deck tonight, and the girls were so happy playing outside all day....it was great. Here are some pictures from earlier today: Okay, I have to share this next picture too, because it just makes me laugh. :) The girls were playing with their sand & water table for much of the day, and Morgan kept dumping water down the front of herself. She finally came over to me with a sad face and pointed at her drenched dress, and when I asked her if she wanted to take it off, she said "Yep." (Her new favorite response) So off came the dress, but she insisted on leaving her sun hat on...so funny... Also...one of Morgan's new favorite things to do...when I bring out the camera, she thinks it's hilarious to charge at the camera and get her face as close as possible to the camera, and then she smiles, makes some sort of loud sound, like she's scaring me, and then laughs and runs off again. A couple of her "close-ups" from earlier this week (and I'm also throwing in a picture of her new swim suit/rash guard, which I think is adorable. :)
Oh, how nice it was to have those nice warm, days last week! Aaaahh….to walk outside without a coat, to close your eyes and feel the sun on your face, and to just be outside feeling warm….so, so nice. Last week, we were getting ready for a little weekend get-a-way, so we quickly blew up the little pool and put it on the deck for the girls to splash around and play in. Last year at this time, we had done the same thing for Morgan – we were so excited to put her in her little swimming suit & get her first “pool pictures” – just as we had done for Macy. Well, Morgan was having none of that at the time. She screamed the second we put her little feet in the water, and screamed louder when we sat her in that cold water. So this year, we weren’t sure what to expect. We put her swimming suit on & let her run across the deck to the pool….she quickly stepped in, sat down right away without flinching, and started splashing around! She had SO much fun. And so did Macy…it was so fun to watch them…and of course I had to pull the camera out. Here are some pictures from their pool party: Also….last weekend involved our big adventure to L.A. to the American Girl store….but that will have to be saved for a whole different post!
“Let’s have a picnic Mom!” Yes, that’s what I’ve heard over the past two days, and Macy was bound & determined that she and her little sister were going to eat outside.
Perhaps I should preface this by saying that we have been waiting to “use” our deck this spring, because we always wait until Gregg stains the deck before we bring out all of our furniture. Well, with this rainy, cold spring we’ve been having, conditions haven’t been optimum for staining, to say the least. So, Macy has patiently waited…and waited…and waited….and finally this past week we got a break in the weather – and Daddy was finally able to stain the deck! Yippee! So, one of the first things he did was get out the girls’ picnic table and umbrella. They were THRILLED. We blocked off the stairs, and I think that Morgan has made approximately 50 laps around the deck over the past few days. She’s just so happy to be out there, and she just stomps around, and around, and then will check in at the door once in awhile to make sure we’re still watching her, and then she continues on her way. :)
So, this afternoon, when she got home from school, Macy bundled herself up, got her shoes on, and ran across the deck to block off the stairs for her sister. Then she set up their princess fold-out chairs, put up the umbrella over the picnic table, and starting going in and out of the house, over and over, carefully setting the table and remembering all of the details that they would both need for lunch. After this, she helped get Morgan’s coat & shoes on, and helped her climb into her own princess chair to prepare lunch. Then, I set up a tray full of food for them, which Macy was VERY excited about, and she carried it outside and “served” her sister lunch. It was very sweet, and cute, I must say.
On my way out the door to join them for lunch, I happened to glance at our thermometer, which read 52 degrees. But they honestly could have cared less. They were just so happy to be outside, and I think Morgan ate a better lunch than I’ve watched her eat all week! The rest of the afternoon involved dragging more and more toys out on to the deck, playing car races, and stomping around in circles yet again….here are just a couple of pics of the girls enjoying their picnic table this week. I also have to share this picture. When I picked Macy up from school this morning, each of the kids came out, one at a time, with a present for their mothers. It involved a hug from each, and an “I love you Mom!”, and then they gave us each these little frames. Have I said that I LOVE Macy’s school? And her teachers? They are fabulous…and always have fun little surprises and great ideas for the kids. What a wonderful surprise….it has already made my Mother’s Day, just a couple of days early.
Too tired to write much tonight, but wanted to share a few pics from this past week. The girls are having so much fun playing outside, when the weather allows, and I brought the camera out to the big toy a few days ago to take these pics. Macy & Morgan are playing together more & more each day - it is so fun to watch! More to share...but it will have to wait for another day. :)
A week and a half ago, we were in Rochester, MN in mid-April, where we woke up to freezing temperatures and snow,. and the girls were able to have a snowball fight! However, a call home to Gregg later that day revealed that it was reading 80 DEGREES on our thermometer at home. In Seattle. In mid-April. Are you kidding me?? So, we fly home a few days later, hopeful that perhaps spring had finally arrived in our area. No such luck. It was raining and stormy, and then the snow followed us home -and we have had the craziest rain/snow/hail/sleet weather over the past 4 days or so. So, yesterday, I happen to look at the national weather and then pull up the weather in Rochester .....76 DEGREES!!
How is that for poor timing???
I look at the calendar, and realize that it's nearly May, and I just can't believe how cold it is outside. I have rare moments of motivation to go outside and dig in the dirt, but after I actually step foot outside the door and shiver, it doesn't make me long to turn around, go back inside, and hang up my coat once again. I keep wanting to buy the beautiful geraniums that I've seen at Costco or start heading to the nurseries to go through my annual planting spree - but I have no desire to step foot outside right now, and I refuse to buy anything unless I'm ready to plant it!
So....I'm going to have to revert to sharing some pictures from some 2+ weeks ago, when the girls were actually able to lounge in the sun outside for a bit, and actually asked me to break out the sunglasses! Crossing my fingers that we can have more days like this soon!! :)
That is, to Minnesota and back home, in a fun-filled, lots of traveling, lots of driving whirlwind trip with two very tired little girls. Brave Grandma Miller accompanied us on this trip – and it would be pretty accurate to say that we were all pushed to new levels of exhaustion. With that said, we all had so much fun – Grandma Miller got to see all of her brothers and sisters at a surprise 50th birthday dinner for Aunt Becky (well, kind of a surprise….but a surprise that all of them made it, right Becky? :), I was able to visit with several of my cousins and spend time with their children, the girls were able to see more cows than they have every seen at any one time, we were able to have a snowball fight in the middle of April, and the girls were able to spend lots of time with their Great Grandma Schultz. I just realized today that, after multiple discussions about our intention to take a 4 generation picture of all of us girls (Great Grandma, my mom, me, and the girls) – we NEVER got one taken. I can’t believe it. Well, actually, when I think about how we were literally running from place to place and/or running to catch Morgan to keep her from constantly injuring herself, I can see how we forgot. But I’m still sad about it. That just means that we’ll have to enjoy another visit soon – and I know the next one will be easier with Morgan being a little bit older!
There are so many stories to tell, and so many more pictures to share (half are on Grandma’s camera – so I’ll have to add those later!), so I’ll just start with a few here.
We left on April 9th, not knowing quite what to expect, as Macy hasn’t flown since she was 21 months old, and has no memory of doing so, and Morgan has never been on an airplane before. I was nervous because Morgan is at the age where she has no reasoning ability, her favorite activity is walking as fast as she can away from anyone that is trying to keep track of her, and her main form of expressing her feelings about something is to yell or whine. Wouldn’t you be nervous?? Luckily, the middle seat next to us was open on our flight to Minneapolis – thank GOODNESS. We got on the plane, I sat her down in her “big girl seat”, latched her seat belt – and, I kid you not, that child sat in the seat for 4 hours without complaining. I was amazed. It took lots of activities, and a little bit of Baby Einstein, but she just did so well. Here is a picture of the “big girl” reading her books in the seat: Macy did wonderful as well. She was sitting next to Grandma in the seats behind us, and was seriously SO EXCITED to get on that airplane. After a few moments of clinging to Grandma’s arm during take-off, she had a blast, and Grandma did a wonderful job of keeping her entertained. My pictures didn’t turn out very well of Macy & Grandma on the plane, but here are a couple of them running around the terminal (our plane was over an hour late in leaving, so we were trying to wear them out in anticipation of perhaps a little nap on the plane? For the record, it didn’t work.) Macy was SO excited to watch a 757 push back from the gate and was beyond excited about the fact that she could actually see the pilots sitting up front. "Daddy sits right there!" she kept saying and pointing, and we even had to call Gregg at one point so that she could tell him all about what she was watching. I'm going to attempt to add a video here too of all of us on the airplane too:
After we arrived in Minneapolis, the girls both crashed out in the rental car on our drive down to Rochester, and Aunt Joanne was gracious enough to entertain us. Joanne, being the experienced Grandma that she is, was fully prepared to entertain the girls with a pretend kitchen, food, and baby dolls and strollers galore. Thank you, thank you Joanne! The twin babies and double stroller made the trip up and down the halls at Great Grandma's many, many times during our stay. :)
The next night was the surprise dinner for Becky, and the girls and I got to have dinner and play with my cousins Jill, Kevin, David and his wife Shannon & their kids. It was so fun to catch up with all of them and to watch all of the kids interact & play together. Two and a half years ago, Jill and I had two little girls between us. That night, we had a total of 5 little girls & a little boy - holy cow! Here is a picture of all the little ones together (Left to right: Brooklyn, Morgan, Macy, Olivia, Hailey & Evan) Here is a picture of Grandma Miller snuggling with Morgan & baby Evan:
After a fun-filled afternoon at a toy store with Aunt Joanne on Friday, we headed out to Norm & Tami's house in St. Charles on Saturday, where Macy & Morgan were entertained all day long by their wonderful girls! The girls had so much fun & did so many things, I can't even begin to recount all of things they were running around doing. My cousin Norm instantly took cranky Morgan out of my arms (being the experienced dad of 3 girls that he is :) and Morgan never flinched and was happy as a clam. When she started getting fussy & tired, Norm scooped her up and brought a movie up on his computer, and she fell asleep in his arms for a desperately needed afternoon nap. Can I tell you what a relief this was to me? Thank you once again Norm & Tami for entertaining & feeding us, Tami for sharing your birthday celebration with me, and thank you Mackenzie, Hannah & Allie Jo for entertaining the little girls and playing endlessly with them - they had so much fun with you guys. Here are a couple of pictures: The fashion show: Macy in her self-described "Mary Poppins" outfit: Allie Jo & Mackenzie showing us how to make bubble pizza (and if you're wondering, Mackenzie was the older of the 2 flower girls at our wedding, and Allie Jo was just a little baby at the time!);
On Sunday, Aunt Barb & Uncle Glenn were nice enough to have us over again, and the girls had so much fun seeing the animals, seeing the "kitties" at the back door, and playing all sorts of fun games with Aunt Barb, Aunt Becky, Grandma Miller, and Great Grandma Schultz. We had made up a game of "soccer bowling", which involved kicking a ball and trying to knock down our "pins" of coffee cans, and even 91-year old Great Grandma got in on this game - and I just have to share this cute video:
One of the most special parts of our visit was all of the time that Macy & Morgan were able to spend with Great Grandma Schultz. Gregg & I often talk of how lucky the girls are that they get to see both sets of their grandparents so frequently, and that they are so involved in their lives, and we both realize how special it is that they have a Great Grandma to spend time with as well. Both girls found time to snuggle with Grandma, as well as play piano with her, and I just love this picture of Macy all cozy with great Grandma while they watched a movie on the DVD player together:
There's more to share, but I'm still recovering and adjusting to the time change, so I need to call it a night.
Thank you again to everyone for being so wonderful to the girls and for entertaining us - it was so great to see all of you & I really wish we could do it more often. That just means that it time for a trip to Seattle for all of you soon - you know that invitation is always open, and that the downstairs apartment at my parents is always available!
That's what we told Morgan when we decided to give it a go with having lunch at the "big girl" table & chairs. She was very pleased with herself, and these pictures just make me laugh. She continues to try her best to contribute to almost every conversation going on in this house - it provides for endless entertainment!
Just wanted to share a picture of the girls & say Happy Easter! The girls enjoyed the excitement of the Easter Bunny's arrival Saturday morning, then played and ran around on Saturday afternoon/evening during a neighborhood Easter egg hunt & party. Today, we enjoyed brunch and another egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa Miller's house, and then went to Grandma & Grandpa Jump's house tonight for an "Easter Feast", as Macy called it, and participated in yet another egg hunt! Macy enjoyed every minute of it, and Morgan really got the hang of it by the end. But, by the time we all walked in the door tonight, the girls were absolutely exhausted and I am so thankful that the bedtime routine did not involve any meltdowns - just the desire to finally go to sleep. :)
Thank you, thank you Grandmas & Grandpas & Aunts & Uncles & Family for all of the yummy food and treats, and for the wonderful gifts & baskets for the girls! They were so excited about everything, and they are just so lucky to have all of their family so close to celebrate and enjoy holidays together!
How can I adequately explain how excited Macy was for Easter this year? Easter, and the Easter Bunny, rank right up there with her birthday and Christmas. She has been counting down to Easter for as long as I can remember. On Thursday of this week, she woke up & came into our room to wake me up, and said “Mom!! Today is my Easter party at school!! The Easter Bunny is coming TONIGHT!” Sill barely coherent, I explained that we still had to wait a couple of more days for the Easter Bunny to visit. Macy’s lower lip starts quivering and she starts stuttering “b..b..b..but mom, NO, he’s coming tonight!” She had a near meltdown over his not coming that night, as she literally had her heart set on it and had obviously been thinking about it since the moment she woke up that morning.
Later that day, Aunt Lori & Grandma Jump picked up Macy to take her to a matinee at the new local theater, and Grandma told us later that, mid-way through the movie, Macy leaned over to her to whisper that “Grandma – my Easter shoes are white with flowers on them!” Out of the blue – in the middle of the movie! Obviously, everything revolving around this “big day” has been on her mind the past several weeks.
So…due to Gregg’s work schedule, the Easter Bunny came to our house one day early this year. Last night, Macy was absolutely beside herself about the Easter Bunny’s arrival in just a matter of HOURS. Seriously….she had her fists clenched and was shaking them excitedly and squealing, racing around to get ready for bed as quickly as possible. Now, those of you who know this child and her bedtime routine – know that everything revolves around reading 2 books for bedtime – everything, every night, always. Last night, as I was getting Morgan down, I told Macy to pick out her 2 books and that I’d meet her in her room in a few minutes. Macy actually said, “Mom? Can I just read one book tonight instead?” And after further questioning, she explained ‘The Easter Bunny is coming and I need to get to bed” Gregg said “wow…..this is serious.”
Needless to say, she came racing in to our room at 7am this morning. For those who know, Macy has a little Tinkerbell digital clock next to her bed, and she comes to get us up once it is 7am – that’s our rule. If she wakes up early, she reads for a bit, but usually she’s up at 7:15am and it doesn’t matter. So later today when I was getting her bed ready for “rest time”, I found her little Tinkerbell clock buried under her covers. I knew instantly what she had done, but asked her about it anyways. “Mom…I woke up really early and kept looking at my clock, so I just put it in my bed to look at it, but I couldn’t go back to sleep…so that’s why I’m so tired today.” And man, oh man, was she ever tired today – she was exhausted. Poor thing, she was SO excited about the Easter Bunny coming that she must have been staring at that clock for at least an hour, or likely more, waiting for it to be time to get up. She also told me first thing that “Mom – I didn’t get up to go potty last night, because I didn’t want the Easter Bunny to think that I was awake!” Yikes. We definitely gave her the go-ahead to go potty no matter what from this point forward.
When she ran down the stairs this morning, her reaction was absolutely priceless. She actually waited for us to get Morgan up & to get her diaper changed before she ran down too – I couldn’t believe it.
Morgan, on the other hand, was not so thrilled at first. She is teething and was cranky, and was mad that someone set her on the floor with a basket in front of her. All she wanted was her high chair, a cup of milk, her cereal, and her banana. She screamed at us, letting us know that she could care less about eggs, a basket, or a new book – just give me my food and keep my routine going please! But, after she watched Macy for a bit and realized that the eggs actually contained food & goodies – she was all about grabbing and opening those eggs. We have two more Easter egg hunts for her tomorrow….so she should be an old pro by the end of the weekend! Here are a few of my favorite pics from this morning:
Look! The Easter Bunny ate the carrots, drank his water, and opened the present I left for him! Hmmm...did Macy find another egg over there? Yum, Yum, Yum!! I like this egg hunting thing! Look at all these eggs I found! If I stand on my tippy toes, I might be able to reach more treats!
This week, Macy has said so many things that have made me laugh, or just smile, so I thought I'd share a few of them!
Plans for the Future....
This was a discussion between Macy and I in the car yesterday.
Macy: "Mom, can I be a teacher when I grow up?"
Me: "Sure honey, you can be a teacher. That's a great idea."
(long pause. Macy's thinking.....)
Macy: "Mom.... can I still be a cook too?"
Me: "Sure honey, you can still be a cook, you can do both if you'd like."
(pause, more thinking)
Macy: "Mom, but I still want to be a ballet dancer and be on stage....... and I want to be a doctor too. I want to do too many things!"
Me: (laughing) "Yes, honey, you are going to be one very busy girl!"
(several minutes later)
Macy: "Mom!! I know what I'll be. I'll be a teacher ON STAGE! Isn't that a great idea?"
Me: (laughing again) "Yes, Macy, that sounds like a perfect plan!" :)
Gratitude
Getting a Happy Meal is a "special treat" in our house, and last week, Macy was very excited that the toy included a princess Ariel "magic wand". She was so excited to get this and talked about it for the rest of the day.
So, fast forward to Thursday, and this tired Mom decides that we're going to get a "special treat" again - anything that involves a drive-through and chicken nuggets at this point. We then took our lunch back to my office, where a co-worker and good friend of ours was there, Stacy, who is the mom of Macy's very good friend Audrey. Morgan, Macy & I are eating in one of the offices, and Macy opens up her Happy Meal box and discovers that she got another Ariel wand. She was still excited about it - but then we talked about how she already has one of these, and maybe we could share this one with someone else. At first I thought she would say Morgan, but then we talked about her friend Audrey.
Macy then got very excited thinking about the prospect of sharing this prized princess item with Audrey, and she then hopped down off her chair and walked over to Stacy's office and handed her the magic wand. "This is for Audrey." she says, and Stacy graciously tells her "Oh my, Audrey will LOVE this! Thank you!" And Macy proceed to explain that she already has one and wants to give Audrey this one.
So, Macy returns to my office and climbs back up on her chair, very pleased with herself...."Mom, Stacy says that Audrey will LOVE it!" I then told Macy that I was really proud of her for thinking of someone else and sharing the magic wand. Macy smiles, keeps eating her chicken nuggets, and then a pauses a moment later and says "Mommy? Thank you for teaching me how to share."
Yes, that one made me smile for quite awhile. :)
Foreign Language
Over the past couple of weeks, Morgan does this thing were she will ramble on and on, pretending that she's talking....it is SO funny. She will join right in on any conversation, and make all of these sounds in her attempt to make "sentences", and she will even sit down and "read" a book from cover to cover with the same sort of rambling. (I'm trying so hard to catch this on video right now - but she's always done by the time i get the camera!)
So, today at Grandma Miller's house, Macy, Morgan, Grandma & Mommy were all enjoying a lunch-time "tea party", sitting in chairs with our little tables in front of us with our food and drinks. We're all talking, and then Morgan breaks out with this "ishbish i washba madada for dis?". Macy turns to look at her and says "Wow Morgan! You really know how to speak Spanish, don't you honey?" :)
Life is full...mother to two busy little girls, married to my high school sweetheart and best friend...and loving every minute of pursuing my career in photography.
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