A Comparison of Two Saturdays

What a difference a week makes. Last week we were running around so much we barely had time to catch our breaths.

That morning, we went to St. Olaf for the Uff Da Daze parade and lunch. Turnout wasn't the greatest (probably because the weather was crap) but that meant more candy for Ian!



After that, it was off to the wedding of my cousin Maureen and her now hubby Jim. Beautiful wedding (though I spent quite a bit of time trying to keep Ian in the pew and quiet-apparently difficult to do with tractors involved, so I missed parts of it). Her dress was GORGEOUS!!! Just about every time I go to a wedding, I want to get married all over again, because I want to wear another wedding dress.

After the ceremony we hopped back in our car and headed to the reception for Darrin's brother and his wife. They were married last month in Jamaica and we were unable to go. Annaliese was so much better than we anticipated, as she had been fussy all week. Turns out she had an ear infection. As long as she was held, she was fine. Ian barely left the dance floor once he got on it. He had a great time dancing with another little girl, and towards the end of the night, he only wanted to dance with Jodi. He became her little shadow.



Today, however, no parades, weddings, or receptions. Just yard work, cleaning the house, and date night tonight (dinner and movie) for Darrin and I to celebrate our 6-year anniversary.

Happy (early) Father's Day

I got the kids involved this year for Darrin's gift, and discovered it's impossible for a three-year-old to keep a secret when necessary. No sooner had Darrin walked in the door tonight than Ian blurted out, "We have a picture for you." He was about to mention the fact that I had painted his hands, too, but luckily I distracted him with having to sign his name to the card. I might add that painting Ian's hands was no problem at all, but getting Annaliese to uncurl her hands was an Olympic event. We succeeded, though a mid-day bath was necessary.

Another Day of Firsts

Ian's First: Swimming lessons! He made me happy by actually getting in the pool. He surprised me when he let Jill dunk him and he didn't cry! He has to work on blowing bubbles in the water, as he didn't let his face get anywhere near the water except for the dunk, which I don't think he exactly knew was coming. He did lay on his belly (head fully out of the water) and on his back (head resting on Jill's shoulder). I'm curious to see how tomorrow goes, now that he has an idea of what to expect.


Annaliese's First: ear infection :( At least now we know why she was SOOOOOOO fussy this past week. Can't wait until the antibiotics kick in and I have my happy girl back.

My Little Picasso

Ian is going to preschool in the fall, and as we toured one of the possible choices, he became obsessed with the paint easels. He keeps talking about going to preschool and learning to paint. Instead of making him wait til the fall for his first opportunity to paint, I pulled my paints out for him at home the other day and let him have at it. He loved it!

Smiles

I can never get enough of her smiles. We'd act like fools to get them to appear on her face, but thankfully, as soon as she sees us, or we say something to her, one breaks out on her face, so we don't have to pull out the act very often.

Ian and Annaliese

Ian adores Annaliese and he loves to play with her. It's funny for us to listen to him, because we can hear ourselves in some of what he's saying.

(The quality isn't fantastic, I shot this with my phone).

Sears Pictures

We had pictures taken today at Sears for Annaliese's 3-month and Ian's 3-year. Here are some of our favorites:

Annaliese 1

Annaliese 2

Annaliese 3

Annaliese 4

Annaliese 5

Ian 1

Ian 2

Ian 3

Ian 4

Ian 5

Kiddos

Family