Easter

The Easter Bunny recently visited our house..... And left goodies for good girls and boys.

Spring Break 2012

We headed up north again this year for Spring Break. We spent several days in the Lutsen area with our dear friends, the Frasers, at their family's home away from home.

The weather was a bit chilly, but the sunshine was warm. We didn't get any skiing in (since the snow had almost completely melted) but we did get to play at the resort, visit Grand Marais, swim, hike and just enjoy the time away. Enjoy!

What Goes Around.....

Comes around right? After we had Andrew we were all done having kids (I'm sure MOST of you have heard this part of the story before). So, after that I started getting rid of all of our baby 'stuff'. I gave away and donated just about everything including most of the clothes that both kids had. As soon as they grew out of something, it was gone. So once we found out we were having our darling Madeline, I started looking, searching to see if I had accidentally missed any of those bags of old clothes and toys. And as it turns out I had! I didn't find much, but I did find a few things that for one reason or another I hadn't parted with. Recently Madeline grew into one of my all time favorite outfits that Cailin used to wear. Here's Madeline just this week.

And here is Cailin, just a few years back.

Too bad I still don't have those shoes. Since Madeline is walking full-time now, I need to get something solid onto her feet. Off to the shoe store we go!

Enjoying the Weather

This weekend, we are experiencing very warm weather for our parts....

So we had to play outside. We pulled all the summer outside toys out and got some time to play!

The wind was blowing, but the sunshine was warm.


Turns out Madeline loves to be outside just like her big sister and brother. And we've got plenty of loot to play with out there to keep everyone busy.


Welcome Spring!!!

The Kids - February 2012

Here they are - One, two and three.

Moving, moving, moving

Madeline has been very busy.

She spent most of the Christmas holidays sick. Sadly, she had strep throat, then a few colds, which turned into RSV and a stubborn ear infection. After a bad reaction to some potent antibiotics, and a lot of recovery time later....she seems to be back on track. And making up for lost time.

She started to crawl about two weeks ago. Then she quickly learned the beauty of crawling TO something and pulling herself to standing.


So that's what she spends most of her time doing these days.

Crawling. Even under her crib.


Standing.

Walking.

Watching the dog.


Moving.

She can open the fridge and helps herself to whatever she finds....
And she is determined. WOW!

Christmas Photo

As many of you know, this was our "official" Christmas photo this year. Amazing how many pictures it took to actually get this shot....but it was worth it!

Sunset

We had the most beautiful sunset the other day....

This picture doesn't even do it justice.....

But WOW it was amazing......

Sledding

So far this fall/winter we haven't had very much for snow. But recently, we did get a small snowfall - maybe four inches or so but thought we ought to go outside and try some sledding.

Cailin used her new sled from last year and Andrew used his new sled from this year...(it might have been an early Christmas present or something, I can't remember....)

This was also Madeline's first time...

She thought it was pretty cool.

That and the dog chased them up and down the hill and she thought that was pretty funny.....

Buddies

Both of the big kids have LOVED adding Madeline to our family. They both love to hold her, play with her and feed her. And they are both very kind and gentle with her as well.

However, it seems that at this point, Andrew and Madeline are tight. He spends a lot of time with her and she is mesmerized by his presence. He can make her giggle and smile just about all the time. It's wonderful to see Andrew in this new role (of big brother). He's always been a follower of his big sister (which he still enjoys immensely as well) but seeing him as a big brother has been really fun.

They sure are buddies.....

She's lucky to have that boy as her big brother.

Tubby Time

Madeline loves her tubs. Ever since she had her first bath - she has always loved it. She is still in the infant/toddler tub that goes into the sink. But not for long, since she is getting so big and tall.

She has always loved taking a bath. Now she will kick and splash on command. Andrew will stand next to us and help us entertain her - not that it's really needed. But she loves her big brother and will do as he directs. He'll say "KICK!" and she will. Then they both laugh, that kind of huge belly laugh. And then they repeat it over and over and over and over......

It's awesome.....

Halloween 2011

The kids were really excited about Halloween this year. The weather was fantastic (for Minnesota standards...) and the kids were ready to go trick-or-treating as soon as they got home.

Cailin was going to be a cowgirl again (I think she figured out how easy it was to wear that costume...)

Andrew was going to be a Transformer named Optimus Prime. Apparently he's a good guy. We found the costume at Target on the FIRST DAY they put costumes out in September. Andrew carried the mask around for weeks, wanting to 'try it on' repeatedly.

And Madeline, although not going trick or treating, was dressed up as a Ladybug.

The kids had a party at daycare during the day where they got to dress up in their costumes and 'trick-or-treat' at daycare with each other handing out treat bags. Then in the evening, the biggins got to go trick-or-treating with our neighbors and great friends, the Frasers. The four biggins had fun with the moms going to every house in the neighborhood.

Madeline helped hand out candy with Dad at home.

It was wonderful, you looked down the block and all you could see and hear were happy, laughing children running around from house to house with their friends. It was one of those wonderful evenings that you wish wouldn't end.

But alas, the kids did the usual sorting of the candy at home. Cailin was proud to announce that she had collected 67 pieces of candy, three juice boxes and 15 miscellaneous snacks. Not that she was keeping track or anything....

Madeline's Baptism

Madeline was baptized last weekend. She was quite a trooper. They were doing two baptisms and they also had the confirmation ceremony in the same service.




She was all smiles for the baptism part, then as soon as 'her' part was over and we were seated, she was out. cold. naps do a baby good!


Happy Baby!


Her Godparents are Kayla and Christopher - They will be GREAT at it too!



It was a wonderful day!