A Wedding Weekend

This weekend, I had the privilege of standing up for my good friend Sara in her wedding. The wedding took place at St. Olaf which was the perfect opportunity to introduce Amelia to her future institute of higher learning. Hopefully, in 17 years :), both Graham and Amelia will be living the fantastic life of an Ole on the hill so Jeff and I always love the chance to take them around campus. Both Amelia and Graham did a fantastic job sitting through the beautiful ceremony. The highlight for both of them though was having a quick visit with Sara before she walked down the aisle. Sara is dearly loved by both of our kids. In fact, Graham usually greets her with a giant "Sara! Hooray!" I don't know too many brides who would welcome two toddlers into the brides room just minutes before the biggest moment in her life. Sara sure is a special friend to all of us!

Congratulations Sara and Chris!!! Your wedding was just gorgeous and we couldn't be happier for you!!!

Amelia is getting one last kiss from the beautiful bride before she walked down the aisle

After the ceremony, I thought it was the perfect time for us to get a nice family picture. We were all dressed up and the kids were in good moods, so I was hopeful that something would work. As you can see, successfully getting a family photo with two young children is quite the challenge. But you can't say that we didn't give it a really good shot!

This was much easier... At least I have a nice picture of Amelia and I

Since we were on campus on such a beautiful, sunny day, we had to follow tradition and have the kids sit in the giant chairs that are scattered around campus. Each time we visit Northfield, we stick them in these chairs. Years from now, we'll have quite the collection and it will be fun for us to see them growing up at St. Olaf! Here is Amelia's first 'Big Chair' picture...

An attempt at pigtails....

I know this isn't huge news, but Amelia sat still long enough for me to get not one, but two, teeny, tiny hair binders into her baby fine hair this morning. They're not very even, and her hair sure isn't very long, but here is our first attempt at pigtails. Her new 'do' is a bit hard to see in this picture since her dark hair doesn't show up very well with our furniture as the background, but at least she's sharing a nice smile! :)



This picture I have to share just because I think it's funny. This is Amelia being VERY frustrated with Graham for taking a toy away from her. It's really too bad you can't hear the high pitched squeal that goes along with this frustrated face!

This is Amelia's "I'm really, really mad at Graham!" face

A new playroom...

Today we visited with our friends Amy and Alexandra. A lot has changed since our last play date....they've since moved to a new house and we've welcomed Miss Amelia into our family. Alex was a wonderful host-eagerly showing off her new bedroom and sharing all her toys in her fantastic new playroom complete with jungle gym and swing hanging from the ceiling! As exciting as all the new toys were, Amelia seemed to most enjoy riding around on a green bug and Graham went back to the wooden tool set which happens to be an old favorite of his.

After working up an appetite playing all morning it was time for lunch. This wasn't just any meal though, we made our kids (at least the two older ones) work for their food! Well, not really, but they did have a great time assembling and and ultimately indulging in their own pizza. Thanks for a great morning Amy and Alex, we all had a great time!

Life is Good

In our family, the beginning of summer is usually signaled by cruising around the lake for the first time of the season. This past winter felt unusually long, and we were all anxious to get back out on the water. Even Graham got caught up in the excitement...the night before we left, we told him that when he woke up we were going up to the lake. Well, when he woke up at 3 am demanding the 'lake house' he was quite upset when we insisted he go back to sleep. After spending last summer battling Graham's sleeping issues up at the lake, we were understandably a apprehensive at the thought of having two little ones missing their very own cribs though. But, I'm pleased to report that both Amelia slept through the night (all the nights) without making a peep! Both of them were in great moods, were tantrum free, and took nice long naps...Life is good...and with that, we welcome summer!

Can you tell by the size of Amelia's tummy that she really enjoyed her dinner??? :)

Very determined to conquer the slide

It was a bit windy for Amelia's first boat ride so she spent some time bundled in a blanket

Taking break from playing on the boat for some ice cold water

Enjoying a morning tour of the yard...wagon ride compliments of Grandpa

What a way to end a great weekend...curled up with Daddy to take a morning nap

Retirement Party!

Amelia and Graham's Halmoni is a superstar elementary teacher and her official teaching career is quickly coming to an end. She's retiring in just a few weeks, and today, some of her past and present students honored her with a party! Of course, we had to attend to show our support to her, and also let her show of her two adorable (I know, I know, I'm a bit biased) grandchildren. This was the first time Amelia was really in the middle of a crowd in an unfamiliar environment so she stayed in the baby carrier to help her feel secure. I could tell she was a bit uneasy for a while with all the attention she was receiving when people were 'oohing and aahing' over her, but she really did a great job hanging in there. After the party ended, we continued with our own family party and went out for dinner where Amelia discovered one of her Mama's favorite treats...a hot fudge malt! For the great majority of the meal, Amelia sat contentedly in her highchair munching on cheerios and goldfish crackers. Once I offered her a taste of malt though, she became very vocal because I wasn't spooning it in fast enough. It's safe to say that my girl is a true chocolate lover!

Graham decided that he needed to be on my lap while eating his ice cream at the party. I guess there is room for everyone on Mama's lap! Amelia was trying to figure out why she was suddenly so squished!

Posing with the party guest of honor

Just Swinging

This morning we packed up and drove to an enclosed park. Not enclosed as in it has a roof, but enclosed as in it is completely fenced in. This is crucial, as Graham loves to run off and it's a bit difficult to chase him down when I have Amelia strapped to my chest in a baby carrier. Eventually, I did give my back and shoulders a break by sticking Amelia into a swing. I love how expressive her face is....pure joy!

A visit to the Zoo

Today, along with my Mom, we paid the Minnesota Zoo a visit. After the surprise party this past weekend, all Graham can talk about are goats, so the farm exhibit was just what he needed to get his 'goat fix'. Amelia was again not so sure about them and I can't say I really disagree with her. Although the little ones are pretty cute, big or small, goats are pretty stinky and loud. I was very surprised to see that the large cows absolutely freaked Amelia out though. She was not a happy camper in the cow barn, so that pretty much put an end to our farm visit. I think we've got a city girl on our hands!




Graham and Amelia are still learning the fine art of 'keeping your hands to yourself' in the side-by-side double stroller. Amelia likes to lean waaaaaaay back and stick her feet in Graham's face and Graham loves to pull out her hair bow. Even when they're contained in a stroller, I'm still playing the roll of The Referee Mama! After a few hours of roaming the zoo in the heat and getting into each others personal space, Graham and Amelia were extremely tired. Amelia fell asleep mid-tropical fish display and Graham was fast asleep not five minutes later. Judging by their level of exhaustion, I would say today's visit to the zoo was a success!

On a completely different note, but I'm guessing of interest to some, we were able to get a weight update on Amelia this evening. When we first arrived home from Korea and took Amelia for her check-up, her pediatrician wanted some routine blood work done. Since Amelia had just been in the hospital hooked up to an IV, we didn't want to traumatize her again so soon, so we decided to wait a bit. Well, we waited until tonight....Jeff was the unlucky one to escort Amelia and he's more than relieved it's over. It took three nurses holding Amelia down and Jeff standing in the hallway to get the necessary vials of blood. Poor Amelia and poor Daddy! But, we did find out that Amelia is definitely gaining weight. When we left Korea on April 2, Amelia weighed 19 pounds 2 ounces and tonight she weighed 21 pounds 8 ounces! I guess baby food agrees with our little princess!