Park and Grass Play

I was pretty set that we were staying in this evening. Until Amelia made our bed into a slide. That's when I realized we needed to go to the park. Again.

We went and she had a blast. As usual. Well, until some older boys started throwing wood chips at her. She came to me and asked me to play with her. I asked why, even though I knew why, and in the end she grabbed two handfuls of wood chips and marched right up to the boys and threw them at the offenders.

Yes, that's my daughter. We had a talk about not throwing things at people. Even if they throw things at you. The boys' mother heard and apologized and made them apologize. It was too late. Amelia was already running saying, "I go to my house." Before we left the school grounds we stopped to smell some flowers and let Joe have his first, real grass experience.

I think he enjoyed it :)

While Joe explored, Amelia tried to climb this tree. With no luck.

Happy Wednesday!

Chair of the Day

Amelia's chair choice of the day was her mini Poang Chair from Ikea!  We let daddy sleep in this morning because he let me sleep most of Sunday.  Seriously, all I did was eat sleep and nurse Joe all day upon returning home from work.  I felt lazy but I needed it!  We've been passing some sort of bug around our house and I am just barely keeping it at bay.  Jason hasn't been so lucky so we let him get some extra sleep today.

I was a softie this morning and let Amelia eat her breakfast in the living room while she watched Bubble Guppies.  She had a " baby blueberry cake" which is just a blueberry muffin.  I am totally fine with her thinking that it is cake :)

My choice for breakfast impacted dinner - which I had not counted on...

When I told Amelia that it was time to eat dinner she drug her Poang chair into the kitchen and placed it at the head of the table, sat down and started drinking her milk. When I asked her how she would reach the table to eat her hot dog she made it very clear that she had a plan. She just stood right up and started to eat. I am hopeful that she doesn't try this tomorrow because this isn't something we will allow long-term! It was cute for today though :)  

Just for fun - a picture of the kids at the park this evening :) I am so glad the warmer weather is back so we can spend time outside again!

Picture Catch-Up

I have taken lots of pictures with the intent of sharing them in several posts! Each night once the kids are in bed, I am ready for bed as well so I haven't shared them yet. So, here are some just to catch up on what we've been up to - all in one post!

Joey has been working on sitting up :)

I love this shot because he was so excited, started to tip and I caught him falling over and my hand going to grab him. This picture just makes me chuckle!

Amelia is back into bananas. She was never really not into them but for awhile there she would only eat a bite or two and now she finishes them again :)

Joey takes this funny paci during diaper changes...usually. This is one of two pacis that we have had a little bit of luck with. I'd be ok if he never took one but at the same time he wants to pacify so I'd love for him to finally figure out that that's what pacis are for!

Amelia closed her door one afternoon while I was nursing Joe. When he was finished I went into her room to discover this:

She had Morrison trapped under a crate! I remember when my sister and I used to do this to our cats growing up. The only difference was that we used laundry baskets :)

When I set up Amelia's room I put this rocking chair between her bookshelf and her book crate. I had always envisioned her sitting in the chair, reading. It finally happened! She was listening to the Lion King soundtrack on her new Dora CD player Nana found at Goodwill and she got herself a Disney look-and-find book, found the Lion King page and looked at it while listening to her CD!

One evening while I was doing dishes Joe was fussing. I asked Amelia to find him a toy so I could hopefully finish up the dishes. This is what I turned around to find:

Joe buried under a ton of toys! That Amelia, such a little helper.

Yesterday morning Amelia and Jason watched Ratatouille together :)

Yesterday evening Amelia and I stepped outside to blow bubbles before dinner and somehow we ended up at the park. I had not intended for us to leave our parking lot so she was in her pajamas from the night before with a winter hat, I was in sweats and a nursing tank and luckily I had Joe in the Baby Bjorn.

This guy is growing like a weed!

We hope everyone is having a good week!

We-Haw's Birthday

**We-Haw is what Amelia calls my sister. It started out as Ah-Hee, then it went to He-Haw and now it is We-Haw. No one is sure why.

Friday was my sister's 25th birthday! She came over to visit the kids and I. We went on a walk and ended up at the park :) Amelia could have stayed there all night swinging!

Joey had his first taste of playground fun in a tunnel!

We stayed at the park longer than we thought so we ordered pizzas for dinner. We seem to end up doing that almost every time Kim visits us...

Saturday afternoon we had lunch with my parents and Kim to celebrate her birthday as a family. We went to her favorite, the Mongolian BBQ in Stillwater. Joe sat in a high chair for the first time!

After our late lunch we went to a park in Bayport that we used to go to as kids (Jason did too!) Amelia is getting braver and braver at the park. This was the second day in a row that she climbed a rope ladder, alone!

Joe had his first taste of swinging. He thought it was great!

After the park we went back to my parent's house for cake and ice cream.

After cake Amelia and my dad fed the animals outside and then went to the school playground down the road. They were gone until dark. In fact, they were gone so long that we went out looking for them, fearing that something had happened! Everything was fine though. They were taking their time walking home and looking at the stars.

Sunday afternoon we went over to Jason's sister's house for a grill out with their grandma and a couple of their friends. Everything was so good! Liz puts out a good spread every time we are invited for dinner. We had to get our shopping done for the week on our way home so we didn't stay too late but we had a good time visiting!

All in all we had a busy weekend! It went by way too fast.

Weekend Walks

We had some nice weather this weekend! By nice, I mean mid-thirties... We took advantage of the "warm" weather and went on a couple of family walks. Joey stayed all warm and cozy in his stroller on our walk to the school playground Saturday afternoon.

While at the playground we found a few playground balls that were left out and Amelia had fun playing "be-bah" (baseball) with them. Her version of baseball involved a soccer net so I am not sure what she was actually playing but she had fun!

Sunday afternoon we went over to my parent's house and broke in the kids' wagon that Santa brought them. I forgot to pack Joe's snowsuit so he rode in his carseat in the stroller and Amelia had the wagon all to herself. I think she preferred it that way! We walked nearly two miles!

After our walk we had BLT sandwiches! Amelia discovered a love for Cheeto puffs...her dinner was yogurt and probably a dozen Cheeto puffs! We're slowly working on expanding her taste buds. This weekend she re-discovered peas and was asking for them at meals. That's progress! She used to love them and just fell out of it somewhere between one and two. In fact, between one and two she became a pretty picky eater. Some nights all we can hope for is that she'll eat something - anything!

We had a good weekend! Hopefully that will set us up for a good week :)

Life at Full Speed

Now that I am working again our days are so busy! This week has been packed with full days for us. I wasn't sure I would like getting up at 3 AM for work but it has been working out pretty great so far...as long as I nap when Amelia does that is. Today is actually a trial for me to see how I do with no nap and I am pretty beat but the hope is that I will be ready for bed earlier than 11 or 12 PM.

What have we been up to. Well, more like what haven't we been up to! I haven't been very good at taking pictures this week but Amelia had a swimming and raspberry picking playdate with her friend Maddie, we spent time outside naked (her, not me) to air out her bottom to heal a pretty severe rash, played with puppies, tried out PB & J for the first time,


she took an inaugural ride in the wagon found in grandpa's garage when it was cleaned out this weekend,


she marvelled at bubbles,


she wore an insane amount of Mardi Gras beads around,



we spent time hanging at the park,



she made some funny faces,



she did a little whining here and there,


but mostly we have just been busy doing anything and everything!

I am excited for work next week because the work I will be doing means I get to sleep in a little...until 5 AM, woohoo! The rest of July is looking pretty busy for us with 2 family reunions on Jason's side, my birthday, our first trip to Target Field to see Jason's Twins and more. Yep, this has been one busy, busy month. Hopefully August slows down a little.

Saturday Fun

We had another full day here. I worked the 4 AM shift again this morning and Jason has been at work since 8 AM. He is working a double. Grandpa Peterson had his first try at watching Amelia this morning after Jason left and I wasn't home yet. It went well!

Amelia and I napped together again this afternoon which I am loving. After our nap we got ready and met Liz and Kory to head over to a graduation party at the marina for Robert (Liz and Jason's cousin). Before we left we introduced Amelia to one of Liz and Kory's new puppies, Pecan.


Amelia really wasn't a fan. She kept trying to push Pecan off her lap. Luckily she wasn't able to! At the marina, Amelia found an air vent and stood right on it, blowing her skirt up:


After the graduation party we all headed back to grandpa's house to take a swim! Not before Amelia ran through the house with a few of the Mardi Gras beads she has been collecting.


She is so silly! We didn't swim too long since the pool area was in the shade since it was evening. The puppies joined us. I want one!!!






Sorry for all the puppy pictures but aren't they adorable! They are all miniature Dachshunds. Here's Amelia and the puppy parents aka Auntie Liz and Uncle Kory:


After swimming we went on a walk with my family to the playground and to get ice cream. As always, she had a blast!


Amelia is a little wired right now, probably because of the ice cream. She is all over and into everything at nana's house right now! Hopefully she crashes soon!

We hope everyone had a great Saturday!

First Week Home

Our first week home has been a busy one! We have been seeing family and friends and getting settled in at Grandpa's house. We haven't been taking a lot of pictures but here are some of Amelia from the park the other night!





Now that the rain has finally cleared (it rained 12 out of the first 14 days of this month here) we have been enjoying some time outside. Amelia cracks me up outside because she just stands there and doesn't move!


I think she is confused by her surroundings. It is quite different here than in Milwaukee, that is for sure!

Well, that is all for now!