scooters

As I mentioned in the Christmas post, the girls got new scooters for Christmas. And the most amazing thing was that they got to test them out outside.

When I mentioned to Nana that I thought the girls would like scooters (we were trying to think of something that they could use next summer since their birthday and Christmas are so close together), I thought that we would just store them in the garage and test them out in May. I didn't think they would be "ready" for them until then anyway so it seemed like a good gift idea.

But then Mother Nature decided on a brown Christmas this year and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to test the scooters out outside, especially since the girls were scooting around on them all over Nana's house. 

I'll have to admit that I was quite surprised at how well they did with the scooters! We didn't have the girls' helmets with us so we tried to keep the scooting contained, but the girls were having a blast rolling down the driveway. They were using their instincts to figure out how to move around on the scooters and while steering is still difficult for them, they are trying.

Once we returned to our house, we got the helmets out and tried scooting along the sidewalk. The scooters are going to be amazing this summer when head to the park every day! 

We discovered that Little Bird is a natural and that Little Pie is more like me (clumping along but trying just as hard). We also learned that we have to be careful when we talk about the girls' abilities in front of them. Rob and I were discussing Little Bird's natural ability within her earshot, and she proudly proclaimed "I'm better at the scooter". Uh oh! 

Check out the girls' talents!

our christmas

Our Christmas was pretty spectacular. First of all, I couldn't believe how LONG last week seemed. I think I was as anxious for Christmas as I was when I was a kid.

I'm also excited that we started some traditions that we can continue over the years. I remember as a kid, anticipating Christmas and all the things we did every year at that time. It was hard to grow up because those things changed. Now I'm excited for our girls to anticipate our traditions.

Our first tradition is for all of us to get our jammies on (it took a bit to convince Rob to put his on since it was only 5:30pm) and drive around looking at Christmas lights. We chose some neighborhoods that we don't typically drive through and found some great displays. When we drove through the million dollar homes' neighborhood and saw all the beautiful professionally done displays, Little Pie proclaimed "those lights are incredible!". (She really did say that!). Our final destination was a gaudy display in Plymouth that is basically every single light display you can think of set to music (you tune into the music on your car radio). We laughed at how unbelievable it was and agreed that if there was a theme, it would have been much more neat. The girls didn't want to go home, but when we did they went to bed easily and Rob and I could enjoy our annual viewing of Love Actually.

Our next tradition is to wake up on Christmas Eve morning, pop some French toast in the oven and open a few gifts from each other. Rob and I gave the girls some things for their rooms including a new picture to hang on the wall and a duvet for their toddler beds that I had made (thanks for the help Erin!). The girls gave Rob and I some new jammies (thanks Target's 40% off sale) and they gave each other some "beauty supplies" toys. 

After my awesome French toast (yes, I'm bragging), we skyped Gramma, Grandpa and Uncle Rye who are in Arizona so that we could open presents with them. The girls got some great dress up dolls and they were excited to watch Gramma and Grandpa open their gifts from us. 

We cleaned up and got dressed up in our Christmas best and packed the car for Faribault. On the way we stopped at Best Buy so I could get my new dSLR camera (with the Christmas money that I had asked for)! I'm so excited for the pictures I'll take from now on! (note: the pictures on this entry were taken with my new camera. I'm still learning so don't judge!).

After goofing off for a bit, we headed to church. Nana sang and Papa and Uncle Drew were ushers so the girls had fun keeping track of what they were doing throughout the service. After Nana would sing and sit back down, Little Pie would whisper "good singing Nana". Little Bird had a great time checking out the baby Jesus when the service was over.

When we got home the girls got to open one present from Nana and Papa while we waited to get dinner on the table. They kept busy with the cool new building blocks. Since it was past their bed time, they didn't eat really well and actually didn't make it to dessert. We got jammies on and picked out some cookies to set out for Santa. Little Pie started to get nervous with the thought of Santa coming in the house.

The girls putting out cookies and milk for Santa. They were so serious because they were so unsure. Little Pie wouldn't get too close to the fireplace.

Why so serious? Little Pie gave up on standing by the fireplace in fear of Santa coming down the chimney at that very moment.

We were all very surprised that the girls went right to sleep and that we didn't hear from them until the next morning. They waited for their owls to turn green and then they were ready to get up. It made it nice for the rest of us to be able to sleep until 7!

The girls were a little hesitant to check out the stockings in the morning and were again so serious about it. I think I was more excited about them opening their gifts!

Little Bird asked Santa for a purse and a frog and she couldn't believe he brought it!

Little Pie asked Santa for a purse and a Tinkerbell and he brought it!

We had a leisurely morning of opening and playing with presents. The girls got scooters from Nana and Papa and they actually got to test them out outside (I guess there is a plus for a brown Christmas).

Little Bird had to test out her scooter with her new Keens from Uncle Drew.

Daredevils!

After testing out the scooters, we went to Boompa and Magramma's house for Christmas dinner. The girls played really well and had fun goofing off with Lobo. We had lots of fun with everyone that came and Magramma and a fun present exchange game for us to play. The girls were in awe watching all of the adults get crazy and loud! It was a full and fun day!

We feel so blessed to be able to spend Christmas with family and to establish some traditions that the girls can appreciate for many more years!

a christmasy weekend

It feels so good to be done with all of our Christmas shopping. It means that we I get to enjoy the season! No rushing to stores to pick up something for someone. I hope that after all these years, I've finally convinced Rob that that is why I want to get shopping done right away.

So because we are free from Holiday stress, on Saturday, we headed downtown Minneapolis for the Holidazzle Parade. The girls were really excited because they are "in to" parades now and were really anxious to see Santa again (Little Pie was excited because I said we would only be able to wave at Santa). 

First we had a quick dinner at Noodles. Little Pie was feeling especially snuggly and wrapped her arms around Rob and asked me to take their picture.

The girls talked the entire way downtown, asking a million questions and making a million observations. It was a perfect night because it wasn't cold, a mild 35 degrees. We didn't get the greatest spot, but the girls were ready for the action and did their best to wait patiently for the parade to start.

Little Bird had a hard time understanding that I needed to rest and couldn't hold her for so long (knowing I would have to lift her up to see the parade when it started). I kept having to pick her up and put her down and trying to hold an almost 30 pound girl dressed in slippery snowpants was quite a challenge.

Rob saw me struggling and thought he could hold both girls.

Ha! That lasted the time it took to take the picture!

But once the parade started the girls had so much fun seeing what was coming down the street. Little Bird and I got separated a little bit from Rob and Little Pie but I could here her yelling to me, "I see ____ Mommy!!" about every float that came by.

In the car on the way home the girls were talking about wanting to see the parade again.

LB: I want to see the parade!

Me: It was fun, wasn't it? Should we come back next year?

LB: I want to come back when I'm 18.

Rob (laughing hysterically): When will that be?

LB: In 7 minutes!   

On Sunday, the girls got dressed in their Christmas outfits because it was their turn to sing with their Sunday school class during church. They were both pretty excited, but Little Pie was concerned that she needed to practice first.

We sat at the end of the pew, hoping to see them walk down the aisle to the front. They both saw us and put on beaming proud faces. I didn't realize that it would be OK to take video/pictures so I didn't bring my camera, but I did sneak up front with some other parents and took a video with my phone. The girls stood by BFF so her mama sent me a picture that she took from the other side. The girls had fun!

peef! and santa!

The girls got dressed up in their Christmas best to attend their first stage production. We met Nana at the Stages Theater in Hopkins to see "A Silent Night for Peef". Little Bird brought along our stuffed Peef thinking he might like to see the show too. 

As predicted, Little Pie was very nervous. While she was very excited on the way there and even as we walked into the theater, she was very quiet and reserved sitting in her little booster chair waiting for the show to begin. Little Bird was all set, even "reading" the program before the show started. 

As the lights dimmed, I could see Little Pie reach for Nana's hand. Little Bird was craning to see every piece of the stage. I believe both girls loved the dancing and singing elves (performed by children). I also believe both girls were a little scared of the talking, singing, and dancing life-sized Peef bear. But after each girl ended up in one of our laps, we could tell they were enjoying the show. 

I'm very proud of them for trying something new (sitting in a dark theater is a big accomplishment for Little Pie). Both girls sat very well, only getting a little bit antsy at the end. They even whispered their questions to me (although I could hardly hear them!). And shockingly, Little Pie went right up to the live Peef for a big hug!

It was an adorable show and we can't wait to take them back for another production.

 

After the show, we met Papa and Uncle Drew for lunch at Panera. Then we headed to the mall to see Santa. (We got really lucky, arriving just before it was time for him to go feed his reindeer!). 

As predicted, Little Pie did not sit on his lap, but Little Bird happily climbed on. Little Pie told him very quietly that she wanted a purse and a Tinkerbell for Christmas. Little Bird said (loud enough!) that she wanted a purse and a frog for Christmas. 

And again, I was proud of Little Pie for stepping out of her shell and trying really hard to smile for the picture even though she didn't want to be there at all. (I mean, I'm going to be paying $22 for it!).

Christmas is so fun this year!!

countdown to christmas and december birthdays

This month the girls are really starting to get the idea of time and days of the week and days of the month.

Magramma got the girls a super cute Advent "calendar". It's actually an Ark with little doors that open. Each day the girls pull out one of a pair of animals that Noah brought on the Ark. (there's even a Noah).

Each morning they get really excited to open up the next doors to see what animal comes out. We talk over and over about how when all the doors open, it will be Christmas.

To help us out with the long wait until Christmas, we are also counting down the days to the many December birthdays. First it was Gramma on the 5th. They were so excited to open the door because that meant we could call Gramma and sing her Happy Birthday. Then it was me on the 11th. Again they couldn't wait to open the door so they could sing to me. (In fact they sang to me 15 times before the morning was over). Then, Uncle Chuck on the 13th. After opening that door, they got to work on making cards to bring to him at Taylor's basketball game that night. Then it will be Katie's and Big Joel's on the 15th. (I'm sure we will again and post it on her FB page).

It's actually quite helpful that so many people have birthdays in December. It really gets the girls ready for the big finale...Jesus' Birthday!

And finally I will leave you with the best Birthday present I received last Sunday...

tis the season of giving

Now that the girls are 3 and can understand more of what the Christmas season is about, I'm trying hard to make sure that they understand the importance of giving.

They know that Christmas means, decorating trees, Jesus' birthday, seeing Santa everywhere, telling Santa what they want for Christmas, watching Frosty the Snowman, looking for Tinker (our Elf on the Shelf), looking for beautiful Christmas light displays, and getting presents.

What I want them to also understand is that it is also the time to give.

So this season we have gone to Target to pick out specific toys to bring for Toys for Tots. The girls decided to give Hi-Ho-Cherry-O and Candyland because they enjoy those games a lot.

We also went to Target (on a separate occasion of course) to pick out sets of hats, mittens and scarves to give to kids who need them. Little Pie picked out a purple set and Little Bird picked out a pink. We brought them to one of our MOMS club outings where we also colored Christmas cards to send to servicemen/women overseas.

Yesterday we went through the girls toys and picked out some that they don't play with anymore. We talked about how nice it would be to give them to some other kids to play with. They both agreed that other kids would sure like their toys. They filled five grocery bags with their stuff.

While I know they definitely understand the getting part more than the giving, I think we are off to the right start of understanding the Christmas season. As the years go by, I hope that we have been successful at instilling the right values of this season so that the girls don't need reminding of what it's all about.

3 year stats and schedule

Stats:

The girls had their 3 year check up appointment today and things went smoothly. They were very concerned that they would be getting a shot, but since we had gone in a couple of months ago for their flu shots, there were none to give today! They were very relieved and were willing to be a bit more cooperative.

Little Pie's stats:

- Height: 37 3/4", 50-75%

- Weight: 32.1 lb, 50%

Little Bird's stats:

- Height: 37 1/8", 50%

- Weight: 29.9 lb, 25-50%

(Funny story: When we were boarding our plane last week, the gate agent asked if the girls were twins. She said she wasn't sure because Little Bird "looked bigger". Since that comment by the gate agent, Little Bird goes around telling everyone that she is bigger than her sister. Better not show her these stats.)

The girls did well getting their eyes, ears and tummies checked. I was even impressed with how well they did on the eye test. The nurse asked them to match the letters she was pointing to, but instead the girls just told her what they were. Given they have a dad with very poor eye sight, this is good!

---

Schedule:

In addition to looking back at how the girls have grown over the past year, I also thought it might be fun to look back at what our days were like when they were freshly 3.

6:30-7AM: I try to get up and showered before the girls, but many times, Little Pie wakes up first and comes and snuggles in my bed with me.

7-8AM: Little Pie and I start breakfast. At some point Little Bird will roll out of bed. I'm so proud of her because now she takes her diaper off, goes potty, gets undies and puts them on and comes downstairs all by herself. So independent!

8-10AM: Play, check email, clean up breakfast, get dressed, start laundry or cleaning.

10AM-Noon: Out for morning activity. Monday - playdate with BFF and Ms. E, Tuesday - swimming lessons (starting Jan. 2), Wednesday - gymnastics with H&M, Thursday - library storytime, Friday - errands.

Noon'ish: Lunch

1-3pm: Out for afternoon activity. We either play outside or go to the gym. Starting next week, we will start going to Taylor's basketball games.

3-5pm: Home for snack and more play time. Finish laundry and/or cleaning. Many times the girls will watch Team Umizumi while I start dinner.

5:30pm: Eat dinner.

6pm: Clean up and play Hi-Ho Cherry-O

6:30pm: Bath and books.

7pm: Bed

The girls haven't napped in a long time, and I gave up on having "quiet time" in their rooms. This schedule works out well for us and even though 12 hours straight with no downtime for myself can get really long, we manage to have a good time together. 

With the weather getting colder, I imagine our afternoons outside will be brief. Today the girls had a hilarious time playing at the park in their snowsuits. They discovered they can go really fast down the slides!

elf on the *shade*

We have started our Elf on the Shelf tradition this week and I think it's going to be great! As we read the book for the first time, I watched the girls' eyes get bigger and bigger. I was pretty impressed with how well they followed along. 

When it came time to name our Elf, "Tinkerbell" was excitedly suggested. I suggested we modify it to "Tinker" since the Elf is a boy. We read the story again before bed, and Rob and I reminded the girls that Tinker would be watching them all the next day to see if they were good or bad. They both just *knew* they would be good.

They came downstairs the next morning to find Tinker sitting atop their dollhouse. They knew not to touch him and at first they played kind of nervously around him. 

I had to make a few reminders about what Tinker's presence was all about, but behavior was quickly modified after the reminders.

And then I looked up from whatever I was doing in the kitchen to find the girls holding the family room lamp, shade all smashed. How they managed to get it off the table and smash the shade without making a loud noise is beyond me. 

I (as well as Tinker!) was SO MAD! 

So this morning Tinker was found sitting on top of the bent shade (I can't get it reshaped, in fact, I made it much worse).

No little hands even attempted to approach this lamp today!

an arizona thanksgiving

We broke from tradition and spent the entire week of Thanksgiving out of the cold and bluster and in the sun and warmth of Arizona. We stayed with Gramma and Grandpa at their beautiful house and had a terrific time.

The girls are great airplane riders and we had no problems with the 3.5 hour flight. Both girls even used the potty on the airplane like they were old pros. 

They were pretty impressed that "sunny" was out when we arrived in AZ and they very quickly spotted the saguaros. (last year they had much difficulty pronouncing saguaro so we allowed them to say cactus. This time they were very good about trying to say the difficult word.)

The girls had a blast running around Gramma's house and basically taking over the place. They quickly found their room that had their own twin beds. (We pushed them up against the wall and put a dining room chair and pillow on the other side. They slept perfectly!). They also determined which chair they would sit in for meals and they used the big potty the entire week without any complaints (or accidents!). They played in the living room in the cool mornings and then quickly moved out onto the patio after sunny had warmed it up. 

Unfortunately the girls got sick with those icky coughs they seem to get. We had one rough night of sleeplessness, but after that the girls really "powered through" their colds, not wanting to give up playing.

I think the girls' favorite activity at Gramma's was driving around in Grandpa's golf cart. Little Bird was convinced she was actually driving and the girls practiced identifying left and right turns. The "little car" was a huge hit!

Since the girls were sick, we didn't take them out to do too many activities. We did, however, take them to the really fun train park in Scottsdale that we visited last year. This time it was no different; Little Bird was really excited about the train ride and merry-go-round and Little Pie could do without it. Thankfully she did get on the train with us and ended up loving it but we couldn't convince her to get on the merry-go-round. Little Bird offered to go on the merry-go-round a second time because she thought Daddy should have a chance to go.

In addition to the train ride and merry-go-round, the place has a huge playground and the girls had been dying to play at a park for days. Even though they were still sniffling and coughing, they went crazy at the park, showing Daddy how they can climb up anything and slide down anything. We had no complaints being outside on a sunny and warm (80 degrees!) day in November.

We also took the girls to the White Tank Mountains regional park for some hiking and exploring. They have a GREAT trail that anyone (young or old) can hike and at the end of the mile long trail is a beautiful (dried up) waterfall. The girls thought they were so big going out for a hike with us, and they stopped at every sign along the way to "read". We saw petroglyphs and all types of cactus. We looked around for other types of plants and talked about what kind of animals live out in the mountains. The girls were wondering if Frank and Larry (the coyotes in a book Uncle Drew gave them) lived up in these particular "high desert ledges". We decided that they must! We were so proud of the girls for hiking almost the entire 2 miles. They were very good about staying on the trail and maneuvering their way through some of the rocks they had to climb. I can't wait to hike with them some more!

Thanksgiving day was the only day that sunny didn't make an appearance, but that was OK. We spent the day as a family and eating a yummy Thanksgiving meal. Why these girls don't like mashed potatoes is big wonder to us all, but why the devoured the pumpkin pie is of no question. Football was on the (new!) TV and we had fun hanging out. 

It was a wonderful week and we are so proud of the girls for being such good travelers. They adjusted well to everything and we are so glad that it was a breeze to be on vacation with them. We are looking forward to going back to AZ in February. 

And now, it's time for Christmas! I'm so excited to be back home and getting ready for the best time of the year! I think it's going to be so much more fun this year because the girls now seem to "get it". We are going to have so much fun setting up new traditions!

3 year old pictures

As you can see from the new blog header, the girls had their three year pictures taken. Actually, they were taken the Friday I left for NYC. Nana and Papa had to take the girls there, and while I wish I could have been there so I could have "control", the shoot went very well and I'm happy with the results.

The images are by honeybeeandpeony.com.

jumping through hoops

The girls have been asking for hula hoops for some time now. I haven't gotten them any because I didn't know what we would do with them. Surely they are too little to actually hula the hoop. 

But last week at gymnastics, I learned a great new game to play with a hula hoop so, because today is surely going to be the last nice day to play outside, I went to get them one.

First we tested them out by literally jumping in and out of them and jumping back and forth between them.

Then we dragged our hoops to the park so we had could use the soccer field as a nice big open space for our "hoop game".

The game is really simple. I roll the hoop out into the field and the girls chase after it to try and catch it At gymnastics it's really fun and very doable. The girls had so much fun and were so impressed with themselves. Today, it seemed harder to run in the grass to chase them, especially while wearing hats, mittens and big warm vests. But they had so much fun. Little Bird said, "I'm screaming because I love my hoop!". Little Pie tried to get me to chase the hoop as well, but soon realized she couldn't push it as far as I could so she told me to push it and then chase it!

Check out the action! (Note: the game went much better when I wasn't trying to video tape at the same time!)

3 years, 3 days - Happy Birthday Girls!

Today is my beautiful girls 3rd birthday. THREE! I can't believe how the time flies. They have been waiting for weeks for this day to come. Now that they are this old, they get so excited to turn another year older. Remember when it was so exciting to say you were the next year older? I forget when that excitement changes...

Somehow this year, as the girls turned three, we managed to celebrate their birthday for three days. 

On Sunday, our family came over to celebrate with a chili lunch, football on the TV and enthusiastic play of joy from the girls. Nana, Papa, Uncle Drew, Gramcracker, Magrandma, Boompa, Brenda, Erin, Cody, Gramma, Grandpa, Uncle Rye, Kelly and Taylor all came to celebrate with us. The girls couldn't believe everyone was there for them and they had so much fun opening presents, goofing off with everyone and singing happy birthday (they sang to themselves). (Let me just say that I was proud of my girls, for at three years old, they are already quite polite, opening cards first and thanking gift givers with the best eye contact they can manage.)

The princess dress up dresses were a HUGE hit and Little Bird was really happy when people called her Belle. The dollhouse was also a super big hit (and I think Erin and I might like it just as much since we had too much fun designing the master 'spa' bath.)

Some people are serious about their cupcakes.

We are so happy to have so much family that come to celebrate the girls.

---

On Monday, we had a little lunch party for some of the girls' friends. We typically do a playdate on Monday mornings, so it worked out really well. Since it was a Mickey/Minnie Mouse theme, I made some Mickey/Minnie ears for the kids, we colored some big Mickey Clubhouse pictures, played "Pin the Bow on Minnie" and did some Mickey/Minnie bowling.

The kids had a blast with the pin the bow on Minnie. Although a lot of them wanted to cheat! (See Little Bird in the bottom right!).

Bowling was pretty fun too. We do need to work on rolling the ball instead of throwing it!

After games, we enjoyed some gifts, pizza, fruit and veggies, and cake!

**Special thanks to the moms: Rob was supposed to be at the party but at the last minute went to work. Needless to say this mama got really stressed, but as moms do, they stepped right in to help.

The girls thought it was really special that their friends came to celebrate their birthday with them.

---

Today (the 8th) is the girls actual birthday. When they woke up, I said "Happy Birthday, today is November 8!". I think it was only at that point that they finally realized they were three. They were pretty excited! 

We had pancakes for breakfast and then we looked at pictures from when they were born. They liked hearing the stories I would tell about the pictures and seeing their family members holding them when they were babies. It was so adorable to hear them ooh and aah over their cute baby pictures.

We called Gramma (who is still in town) and went with her to the park. How awesome is it that the girls got to play at a park outside on their birthday!?! They were SO EXCITED!

When Little Pie got too cold (note her dramatic face!), we headed to lunch at 3 Squares (how perfect for three year olds!). The girls behaved very well and we enjoyed a very yummy meal together. 

A very rare picture of me with my little ladies. (I love how Little Pie puts her glasses on her head like me.)

I ended their special third birthday by reading "On the Night You Were Born" and singing Happy Birthday to them. When I started tearing up while singing, they looked at me with concern, but I just snuggled them closer. They both gave me sweet kisses and I knew that each year that passes, their birthday will be more and more special.

These girls are just so special that I really want to thank all the friends and family that love them and want to celebrate them. I especially want to thank the two grandmas who have really helped over the last few weeks. With Rob gone and missing almost all of the celebrations, I really appreciate their help and the fact that they are always here for me and the girls. The girls REALLY love their grandmas!