Amelia style

Since this week we are planning Amelia's 3rd birthday party I thought it was time for a post with some cute Amelia sayings and happenings.

When asked how old she will be at her next birthday, Amelia answers "Me two now." She does know that 3 comes next but wants to make sure people know her current age.

She still calls Samuel "Baby" We have been trying for months to use his name in sentences. The speech people commented that was what to do. When pressed she will say "mammuel."

Her cousin Isaac taught her to say "O my Gosh." She actually can say it at appropriate times. We are trying to teach her to say "O my goodness" instead.

And the best news of all.... Amelia asked to wear underwear this morning and kept it on (and dry) from 11-1:30 and from 3-8 with no accidents. We did put a pull up on for nap time (where she does her normal poop of the day) We will try again tomorrow (church day) and see how we do. We are all VERY excited!!!

I'm constantly amazed by this girl... her style, abilities, and spirit. She may test us sometimes, but we love her very much!!

Party Day!

Saturday was Samuel's 1st Birthday and the day couldn't have been more beautiful. The weather was perfect. The theme was Zoo animals. The message on the cake read "Have a roaring Birthday!" I had forgotton how busy birthday parties for 1year olds can be.... enough said!

We enjoyed sitting outside. This is the Grandparents table. David's Nonnie was able to join us too.

David helped Samuel open the gifts but he got easily distracted by his new toys. Here he enjoys pushing around a truck he got from my parents. It was a hit with everyone. Amelia actually thinks it is her car too and can often be found putting her barbies and little people in it.
Poor Boy!

After gifts we set Samuel up in his chair to eat (smash) the first piece of cake. He did get a free 8inch round cake but i couldn't let him have the whole thing... who wants to waste free chocolate cake. However, he only looked at the piece. He never even touched it! I tried to give him some frosting and still nothing. We all stood there with video and cameras, and still nothing.

Finally after trying to get numerous pictures this was his response.... enough! He went down for a nap and the rest of us enjoyed cake and icecream.

Thanks everyone for coming! We enjoyed your presence and your presents! Samuel is enjoying all his new toys and is looking forward to wearing his stylish new wardrobe.

Summer Splash

This last Friday was our church's annual Summer Splash (carnival) event. It's such a great neighborhood outreach and we love being part of it. Amelia really looks forward to it now too (except for the clowns). This year she tried to show her brother how to jump in the inflatable. Shortly before we were going to leave I saw her with him in the living room saying "Baby like this... bump, bump, bump." Samuel tried the inflatable but didn't like it so much. Amelia however kept coming back. She is jumping in the background (in blue). This year her little friend from daycare, Alex joined her.

Cousin Isaac performed some musical numbers from his week long time at splash camp. I have closer pictures of him but wanted to show the whole group and stage. They did a great job.

Amelia and David got their hair colored.... Amelia purple and David green. Mommy decided against it because hers is always colored..... blond :)

Grandpa and Grandma Vesta came into town early for Samuel's party on Saturday. Mom helped me clean the house and get ready for the party and then we all went to summer splash. Grandpa took Samuel on the cake walk.

One of my favorite pictures. Amelia is getting her face painted. I love the joy on her face. Her 2 favorite things... playing and church.
We had a hard time convincing her to wash her face that night... "No wash cheek." I insisted as I did not want paint on her pillowcases.

Happy 1st Birthday Samuel!

It's so hard to believe our little boy is 1. Where has the year gone? We have said that a lot this week. Today was the big party day! Actually it has been a big party weekend (more posts on that next week.) Here are a few shots of our day.

All ready for some cake!
Actually there are 2 in the background. One is the free "smash" cake (though I don't let him smash the whole thing) and the one for the rest of us.

1 year ago today.... measuring in at 9lbs 15oz.
What joy and fun you have brought to our lives. We love you so much.
Happy Birthday!

Morning Solitude

Lately I have been getting up early to get some things done and have a few moments of quiet before the kids get up. It seemed for awhile like they were catching on to this and would just get up earlier!! I had decided I was not going to get up before 5 and "test" this theory. There is something to be said for having that organization time in the morning. I always have high ambitions of exercising with my new wii active (somedays I do!), or getting loads of laundry done (I forget how long a load takes.) or catching up on all my scrapbooking (yeah, right). Today I'm enjoying a quiet morning, coffee, and my quiet time. I have realized I should do this first, and if nothing else gets done before the kids get up, that's okay.
Today I was reading in Matthew how the things that come out of our mouth come from the heart. I pray that the words I speak each day to my family, co-workers, friends, and strangers would be reflective of his grace. A good reminder to start my day.
May you have a blessed day!

Garage Sale

This last weekend we headed to Fergus to help my parents with their annual sale. They always have a well organized large sale with lots of "fun" items. This year it worked out that it was during Fergus annual garage sale days. I think it helped to bring in more traffic. It was warm and sticky on Thursday and Friday but Samuel didn't mind supervising from his spot under a table in the driveway.

A view from the street

Amelia enjoyed running up and down the neighbor's hill and collecting the apples that had fallen. She was also pleased to add to her bunny collection with 2 bunnies from her cousin's sale items. For those of you that know Amelia, she has a bunny that she loves to carry around and sleep with. It was given to her by her Uncle Jim (he got it from Circuit city when buying his TV). I guess Isaac and Zachary did not want their bunnies anymore and were going to sell them so now Amelia has a bunny family. We only hope they do not continue to multiply :)

Grandpa and Samuel watch the sale from the steps.

Samuel loves playing with my old set of blocks.

Finally a new background and misc. thoughts on the week

I have been working for 1 hour on trying to change my background and finally got it done by switching to internet explorer. How frustrating!! I got up early to get some things done before the kids wake up and this is all I've accomplished. You can tell that the focus of this week is going to be Samuel. It's his birthday on Saturday and we are in full party planning mode around here. I love a good party. I can't believe my baby is already one! It has been a fun year of watching him grow and change. He is becoming such a interactive little man. He is taking steps (about 5 on his own!), clapping, signing for "more", and loves playing with his sister (who still adores him too.)

I'm watching Isaac some of this week also so will have a busy time. I was able to get off on Friday though so can go to summer splash and finish up party details. It's amazing how I can stress about the details and then it seems to fall perfectly into place.

We had a full weekend in Fergus, helping with the garage sale, going to garage sales, and visiting "papa's church" in Fargo. I'll post pictures of the weekend later today when the kids are sleeping.

Enough ramblings for now. Hope you enjoy the new background.

What we've been up to

The last weeks have been busy with lots of fun events. I don't always remember to capture them with the camera though. Here is an overview of what we have been up to.
We have had a couple of fun playdates. Amelia loves having her friends from church over and mom enjoys talking with other mom's. We have also coordinated a couple of dinners with the dad's involved too (again no pictures of those.)

We have also visited several local parks. Here is one of our favorites (Centennial lakes in Edina) I love how it is in the center of town and yet feels like such a sanctuary with the lakes and the flowers. We like walking, feeding the ducks, watching the boats (what Amelia is doing in the above picture) and going to the concerts. On this day we had just been to a noon performance by a Magician. Amelia was not overly impressed but did sit through it.

Most of our days though are spent outside. They say this summer is cooler but I don't mind one bit! We love hanging out in the backyard swingset or pool. Yesterday was finally warmer and the kids played in the water more. Gotta love summer!