Happy 31 Dan!

Dan turned 31! We surprised him with a cake and a couple gifts. He works so hard and school has been rather stressful for him, so it was nice to celebrate and have a little fun.

He requested a German chocolate cake. I made it from scratch and it was fantastic! If I do say so myself.
Look at Jade's face in this picture. :)
Happy Birthday babe!

We love to read

Every week Jade and I (and now Chloe) take the shuttle bus from our apartment complex over to the library for story time. She can't be bothered to sit still for all those stories though, with a toy kitchen/restaurant calling her name. She will run back over to the story time area though if she hears music. She likes to bust a move.

We've always enjoyed reading to Jade and really encouraged her to spend time with books. Dan and I both like to read and hope to pass that on to our girls.

Jade's latest favorite book from the library is, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems.

It's hilarious! The book is cheeky and fun. Although, I think it has started a new round of selfishness in our house. Everything is "MINE". Check it out! (Ha Ha, get it? Check it out?)

Sisters

When I found out I was having another girl I was so thrilled that Jade would have a sister. I know how much I love my sisters and wanted that for her. Dan snapped a picture of them all cuddled up after having a bath together. Jade has been so helpful and feels very sad when Chloe cries. She'll be a great, big sister!

Jade starts preschool!

Jade started preschool on Wednesday! She was so excited. Certainly more excited than I was. Because Jade struggles with her speech she gets to attend a preschool in a fantastic school district and receive one on one help with speech and well as getting to be in a typical preschool setting. I'm really excited for her.

I felt really nervous sending her off on the school bus. I mean, who ever heard of a 3 year old riding the bus to school on their own? But seeing as how we only have one car and Dan is in school five days a week, all day long, over an hour away from our house, we didn't really have any other option if we wanted her to attend. I was relieved to hear that the bus has seat belts and that there is another adult (other than the driver) who assists the kids while on the bus. Here she is, all buckled in and ready to go. She got a small pouty face when I said goodbye, but once I was off the bus and waved at her through the window she waved back.

She came home even more happy then when she left. She had made a "doctor bag" at school, she got to play in the gym (because it was 2 degrees outside), and read a story about doctors. My baby girl is getting so big!

Sweet Dreams

Tonight, as I leaned down to kiss Jade good night, she wrapped her arms around my neck and said "I love you". I whispered "I love you too. Sweet dreams" and as I went to stand up she hugged me tighter. This was one of the first times that she has spontaneously said "I love you" and it melted my heart. Love my little angel.

Apple Jacks Orchard

Every fall, (ok, last year, and this year) we've gone to Apple Jacks to enjoy the fall weather. Last year we picked delicious apples (ok, pilfered fallen apples from the trees). But this year there were no apples on the trees because of an early frost. So we bought some apple cider doughnuts and enjoyed the scenery.

Jade went on a pony ride, which was really short, but she had so much fun.
We had such a great time with our friends and Jade had a great time trying to feed the goats and staring at the turkeys. Sadly, it feels like fall is almost on its way out.

Jade turns 3!!

My beautiful baby is 3! Jade is the most fantastic child! She makes it very easy to be a parent. We are so lucky to have her in our family. She is developing quite a sense of humor. She laughs to herself when she's watching shows, like if Curious George does something extra silly. :)

Her birthday party wasn't scheduled until the weekend after her birthday so on her actual birthday we wanted to take her out for something fun. We asked her where she wanted to go and she said "Ikea". She loves that place.
Here we are getting ready to head down to her party, which we had at the club house at our apartment complex.
We brought the CD player down so that the kids could dance to The Wiggles. Or just run around like maniacs, you know, whatever works.
We had pizza and hot dogs, pineapple, and chips. It was so fantastic and delicious.
We got the cake from Costco and it was super delicious! Jade was so excited to blow out the candle and loved/got shy when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her. (If you can't tell, the Oreos on the cake are supposed to look like mickey mouse ears).

Jade's Dental Surgery

Jade got my bad teeth genes. I took her for her first dental checkup a few weeks ago. They confirmed what I was dreading. She had two cavities on her lower molars. Because she's so young and wouldn't be able to hold still long enough to have the cavities filled they wanted to put her under.

Here's a picture of her in the waiting room. She wasn't allowed any food that morning and I felt so bad for her because the whole way to the surgery center she kept saying "eat, eat". Once we got there and she saw the room full of new toys she seemed to forget how hungry she was.

Here she is, in her cool hospital jammies. She didn't seem nervous or anything, although, I'm not sure how much she really understood what was going to happen. Dan was able to be there with her while she fell asleep. We waited in the waiting room for about an hour and a half and she was done. When we came into her recovery room she was just staring at the wall. She didn't seem overly happy to see us but I think she was still kind of out of it. She kind of freaked out when she saw the IV in her hand. I held her while she ate three pink otter pops and watched Sesame Street.

30 weeks

I haven't been very diligent at getting pictures of my belly. But this is one that I took today, I have about 10 weeks left and I'm feeling really well. Except for some nagging back pain. So excited to have another baby girl join our family.

Minnesota State Fair

It was cold and rainy but we couldn't pass up the Minnesota State Fair. We met our friends there and let the feasting begin.

Here is a picture of Jade downing her first glass of all-you-can-drink chocolate milk. After telling her she could get some chocolate milk while driving to the fair, that's all she talked about the whole way there.

She was so excited about going on the rides! We let her ride the carousel and she had a great time, even though this picture might not look like it. She actually looked pretty nervous the whole time but when we asked if she had fun she said "Yeah!".
Jade and Ava, wearing their Pronto Pup hats. The Pronto Pups must be a Minnesota thing because I didn't think they were all that great. I'd rather have just had a corn dog. Oh well. Cool hats.

Wicked!

Dan and I got to go see Wicked with our friends the Smiths. We had such a nice afternoon out! And the show was fantastic! The Opheum theater is really neat, very ornate, with a huge chandelier. The music is fantastic and the costumes and choreography were awesome as well.

Chuck E Cheese

So what do you do on a lazy Saturday? Take your "spoiled" daughter to Chuck E. Cheese, of course!! We didn't have anything planned for the day and had just received a coupon in the mail for some pizza, so we enjoyed! (p.s. The pizza is probably better than you remember it. At least it was for me.)

Whack-a-mole, or whack-a-shark. Whatever. Just whack!
This was my favorite ride at Chuck E. Cheese as a kid. After Dan got Jade down he said "well, that was dumb". Oh well.
Jade and Daddy riding a big kid roller coaster ride. She's reaching for his hand. She's too cute!!
Enjoying the sucker, and holding her bracelet, that she won with her tickets.

It's a girl!!

We are so excited to announce that we'll be adding another baby girl to our family in November! She looks healthy and is growing right on schedule. She loves to move around, which is fun, for now. :)

We're so excited for Jade to have a little sister. I'm not sure how much she really grasps but she seems pretty excited. She loves to talk to baby sister, but that of course means lifting up my shirt, which isn't so much fun in the grocery store. She'll be such a great helper. We can't wait!

Arbor Lakes Family Fest

Last weekend we had a good time at the Arbor Lakes Family Fest in Maple Grove. They had some fun stuff for kids to do. Jade made a fruit loop bracelet.

She wanted to show it off. I was surpised at how long it lasted. I don't think she realized it was made of edible materials. Of course, as soon as she knew she could eat it, it was gone.
She met one of her favorite cartoon characters, Curious George. She's always laughing at how goofy he is on the cartoon. It's very cute to see her spontaneously laugh at stuff that she thinks is funny.
They had a "petting zoo". It consisted of: a camel, a tortoise, two bunnies, a guinea pig, two fawns, and a baby goat. It was really fun though because they were all easy to pet.

Miss Independent

This is my little independent diva. She loves sitting in a big chair, and she asked me to help her get more cereal but apparently I was taking too long so she took matters in to her own hands. Love her!

Lumberjack Days

We got to enjoy Lumberjack Days in Stillwater, MN this year. It was pretty cool. Not as much lumberjacking as I thought there would be but we had a great time with our friends the Kunz's.

Jade and Dan watched some kids playing on the rolling logs in the water while we waited for the festivities to start.

This is Jade and her buddy Ava.

Once the competition began Jade sort of flipped out. She hated the cheering crowd and wanted me to cover her ears. I felt bad for her but it was also kind of a bummer since we'd been waiting to watch it for a couple hours. We had some delicious fair-type food, that suprisingly, we didn't get any pictures of.
All in all, we had a good time hanging out with our friends and enjoying the food.

Happy 4th of July

I want to start by saying how blessed I feel to live in this country. I'm also really grateful for those men and women who are over seas fighting for the many freedoms that we enjoy here. Jade and I were in Pocatello, Idaho for the 4th. We went to visit Dan's mom (Dan had school), we had a really good time. My family came up from Utah to hang out with me for the first two days that I was there.

Here's Jade waving our flag at a concert in the park.

Jade and Joshua, enjoying the music, the free ice cream, and the sun beating down on them.
Here's our group. It was a nice concert but pretty hot.
Here's my brother, Michael, enjoying the sparklers just a bit too much.
Josh and Christopher were helping Jade enjoy some sparklers. She was pretty scared of any other type of firework.
My mom stayed home with Jade so that I could go with the rest of my fam, and LouAnn, to the Pocatello firework show. It was really fantastic! This is my best shot.
The boys played so well with Jade. They wanted to do whatever she wanted to do. They were at her beck and call, she just had to walk in to a room and say "pum, pum" (translation: come, come).
We couldn't pass up a chance to have a pregnant sister picture. My sister, Cassandra, is due at the first of September, and I'm due at the end of November. I felt like a midget next to her.
Just a regular, non-pregnant, sister picture.
All of my younger brothers, with Jade.
Nathanael was helping Jade get a drink at the park. Her shirt ended up soaked, but whatever, it was hot. The next day, after my mom and the boys had already left, we went back to the park and Jade said "Paul here?". She was, I think, trying to ask if the boys were there. (My younger brother is named Paul).
I took Jade to the Pocatello mall and she had fun playing. That mall is super depressing now. Most, well not really most, but it feels that way, of the stores are closed and the only people in there are mall walkers.
Chawny and Jade. Jade had fun in the backyard, chasing Chawny around, filling up her water bowl, and trying to sneak up and give her hugs across the back.
We got to visit with our old buddies, Dave and Jen, and their kids. The three of them played so well together. Thanks guys.
Jade and Grandma Lou. Grandma got that adorable hat for Jade and the Rexburg farmers' market. Which, in case anyone was wondering, is really good, as far as farmers' markets go. We had yummy mexican corn, you know, with mayonnaise and parmesan cheese and chili powder on it. I got some cool gnome magnets.
Thanks for the nice trip Grandma Lou. And thanks family, for coming up from Utah to see me. And thanks to the Randalls who drove Jade and I too and from Idaho. I'm sure you got your fill of Dora and Barney songs.