Early Morning Cheerios

I've found that Graham and Amelia get along much better first thing in the morning. At 7 am, Graham isn't annoyed (usually!) with having to share my attention, and Amelia isn't annoyed with Graham having challenges sharing his toys. I think the interaction between the two them in this photo was particularly sweet. You really can't tell from the picture, but Graham pushed a chair up to Amelia's high chair and fed her Cheerios one at a time until they were all gone. That may not sound like a big deal, but 9 times out of 10, when Graham pushes a chair up to the highchair, his mission is to grab the Cheerios, cram them all into his mouth, then run away laughing. For some reason, on this occasion, Graham decided that Amelia must have been hungry. :)

The Spaghetti 'Do'

One of Amelia's favorite meals is spaghetti. She's not quite eating spaghetti like you or I would eat it, rather she still prefers the mashed up Gerber version of the Italian favorite. Not only does she eat her spaghetti with enthusiasm, but there seems to be something about it that drives her to rub it with equal enthusiasm through her shiny hair over. and over. and over again. I thought I was ahead of the game by pulling as much of her hair as I could into a cute little pony. I thought I could prevent her black hair from being coated with an orange sheen and tomato-y smell for the rest of the day. As you can see by these pictures, I was wrong. I now accept the fact that not only does Amelia like to eat spaghetti, but she also likes to wear it.

These are just some fun video clips from the same messy meal. As you can hear, our house is no longer quiet. As much as I do enjoy the occasional quiet time, I'm loving that my house is filled with not only one giggling child, but two!

A trip to the lake...

This past Saturday, Amelia made her first trip up to the lake. Since we drove up north and back home all in the same day it was a very quick trip that unfortunately involved quite a lot of car time. Jeff was lucky enough to get to help put the dock in the water on that blustery, rainy spring day which was the reason for our trip in the first place. Graham was pretty ticked off as he watched the boys in the water...to him it looked like they were swimming and playing with 'big sticks' and he certainly didn't want to miss out. Amelia obviously had no idea what was going on, but she enjoyed exploring and playing with an entirely new set of toys. Now, if only the weather would warm up because we're all more than ready for our lazy, warm days on the boat!!!

Trying out Graham's rocking chair. Judging by Graham's reaction, I think another chair needs to make an appearance

Who says you have to wait until your first birthday to have a cupcake? We were celebrating my Mom's great, fantastic, and wonderful news at Mayo last week and we couldn't leave Amelia out by not offering her a dessert too!

Amelia and her Daddy

Amelia and Mommy

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mama proudly holding her kids!!!

With today being Mother's Day I (Jeff) decided to make the blog entry and give Melissa the day off.....however coming up with witty lines and entertaining captions are not my forte. hmm....this is harder than it looks.

This morning Graham gave mama a Mother's Day present by sleeping until 730. Well almost, he slept until 615 and then called for her and he slept the next hour in between us. When everyone was awake he proudly presented Melissa her Elmo Mother's Day card. Graham was quite proud of his artwork (pen drawings on the front, inside and back of the card). Amelia was also proud of her card and the teeth marks left along the edges and a Gerber puff to go with it.

For lunch we met my parents at a restaurant and Amelia and Graham were on their best behavior. Amelia ate puffs and mum-mums while Graham drew with crayons on his placement. I need to admit that the impressive public behavior of my kids is due to Melissa hard work each and every day. At dinner time we met up with the other set of grandparents and Uncle Peter, Auntie Lynn and cousin Miles. Both kids finished off their meal with some 'iss-cream'...who doesn't like ice cream at the end of the night. As we left, we weren't on the road more than 5-10 minutes before Amelia was fast asleep and Graham was rubbing his eyes. Mother's Day 2009 was busy but being with family makes it all worth it.

One last comment, tonight I learned that writing the blog entry is not as easy as I thought. Financial models and spreadsheets are no match for the creative juices needed to turn out a "Day in the life of the Olson's" For those that think I am kidding, try taking over a blog for a night and let me know what you think.

Friday Already?

I honestly can't believe it's Friday evening already. If I thought the days passed quickly with one child, they absolutely fly by with two! Even when we don't have much scheduled during the day, we're constantly on the move. Amelia's usually racing off somewhere to find a new toy to chew, Graham's chasing close behind to monitor which toy she's going for, and I'm trying to stay on top of both of them to ensure safety for all. Honestly, it's not as easy as it may sound! Even at 10 months old, Amelia has a strong opinion about what she wants, and we all know that Graham definitely has strong opinions so we're trying to find a balance that pleases everyone!

Earlier this week we ventured to General Mills for lunch. Graham loves visiting his Daddy at work and Amelia just appeared to observe all the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria over the lunch hour. Each time someone approached the stroller to say 'hello', Graham was very quick to point to Amelia sitting behind him in the stroller. He wanted to make sure that 'Amel ya ya' received a proper introduction!

Enjoying some Cheerios at lunch. We're lucky her favorite cereal is a General Mills product!

Attempting to get a picture of the the three of them...

Still trying to get that perfect shot....

Still not perfect, but at least we tried!

After lunch we pulled into the garage and I found Amelia with a happy grin

This is how I found Graham when we pulled into the garage. I love the cracker hanging out of his mouth!

This afternoon, both kids seemed rather wound up. Graham was literally running circles through the house yelling and Amelia followed behind trying to imitate Graham's lovely vocals. Amelia finally got tired of chasing Graham and collapsed on the kitchen floor only to lay there and laugh her head off. I really don't know what she found so funny!

Completely hysterical with laughter

Graham and Amelia studying the photo's on the fridge.

Apparently Graham thought it was time for Amelia to have a new diaper...

Enjoying Our Sunny Day

We're enjoying picture perfect weather today so with no real agenda, and two kids with colds that are 99% gone, we were lucky enough to spend most of the day outside enjoying the sunshine. Graham was happy to be reunited with his large outdoor toys and Amelia was happy to explore them for the first time. Their happy faces say it all-after being cooped up in the house for a week with colds, they finally have some freedom outside! YEA!

Amelia climbed to the top of the play structure all alone. Does she look proud of herself or what?

I'm actually surprised she's still smiling here...she was getting a bit ticked with me since I wouldn't let her climb up the slide while Graham was trying to come down.

Here, Graham was repeatedly telling Amelia that it was his slide...we're still working on sharing!

We can't forget about Big Brother Graham who was trying to ride a sand box toy!

Where did the weekend go???

The following picture is something we're overly excited about....Amelia not only continues to sleep through the night, but she also takes two naps each day...all in her crib! The best part though, is that we can lay her down drowsy, she watches us walk out of the room and puts herself to sleep. No more tears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The change in Amelia's sleeping habits have changed so dramatically it's almost like a different girl. Whatever prompted this change, it doesn't matter to me, because I'll take it!

We were so busy this weekend it's almost laughable. Time sure does fly when we're busy! We had a chance to visit with friends and family, do a bit of shopping, Graham enjoyed being able to go swimming at a local indoor pool, multiple trips to the neighborhood park, and a trip to the zoo followed by dinner at McDonald's. We really don't go to McDonald's very often, but Graham knew exactly where we were when we pulled into the parking lot. He let out a very enthusiastic 'Yahoo!!!' that left both Jeff and I laughing. On many occasions this weekend, both Graham and Amelia had Jeff and I cracking up...yes, two kids is twice the work (who am I kidding, it's a TON more work), but it's also twice the fun. We're finally feeling like we're adjusting to our new normal and have a pretty good handle on living as a happy family of four. It's amazing what a few good nights sleep can do!

Amelia getting caught up on ESPN with her Daddy

Amelia enjoys her first spaghetti meal

Daddy and Amelia enjoying the fish at the zoo

Graham and Amelia hanging out in their big stroller at the zoo

Amelia making her 'squishy' face

Since Amelia has been home for a month now, we have to meet with our social worker later this week for our first post-placement visit. We have to give her a family picture and this is what we came up with. The lighting is a bit off, but trying to get two small children to smile at the same time is quite challenging!