Swimming, Park, Picnic, Oh What FUN!

Late this afternoon and early evening, Elyse and I had the privilege to hang out with two of our favorite people, Jenny and Aiden. Jenny had a great idea to take the kiddos to a kiddy pool, play at the connected park and eat a picnic dinner. Well that's exactly what we did and had a blast doing it. Elyse LOVED and I mean loved the pool. That's probably because whether she was sitting, walking or laying down, her head was always above water. I have a feeling we will be going there a lot more the rest of the summer. I didn't get any pictures of the two at the park or during their picnic, but you'll have to take my word, they are so attached to one another. At one point they began holding hands while walking without Jenny or I having to even suggest it. I can't get over how perfect the time was today. Thank you Jenny and Aiden for a great time and we look forward to seeing you both again REAL SOON.

Can It Really Be That Easy?

A few weeks ago Nate finished Elyse's toddler bed by making a side rail. I think it turned out really nice. Who would have ever guessed her bed cost NOTHING?!?! Anyway, everyday we have asked Elyse if she wants to sleep in her new big girl bed or crib. Her response has been crib every time, however today was totally different. While asking today I told her she could keep her paces. After saying "paci" she voluntarily jumped in and laid down. I told her when she wakes up she had to stay in bed until she said "Mama" and I open the door. Well her nap was just over 1.5 hours (30 minutes shy of normal) but she did it. She got up, said "Mama", I left her in there for 5 minutes to see what she would do, opened the door and found her sitting up waiting patiently. I then gave her books and ran to the get the camera to capture my baby's first nap out of her crib. I don't know if it was a one time occurrence, but we aren't pushing her right now. Just praising her for making the first step on her own today. In fact, I believe it was harder for me than her, as I found myself shedding a few tears when the nursery was empty at 1:30. Although as I have said it before, my baby is no longer a baby.

Grandpa and Grandma Visit

This past weekend Nate's parents headed north to visit us. We are so thankful they came and had a really nice and relaxing weekend. The weather was beautiful so we took many opportunities to get outdoors. We went to the zoo, played with bubbles, went for walks, saw the Coon Rapids' Dam and most importantly for Elyse, spent sometime at the park. Time just flew by and we look forward to doing it again soon. Thanks for everything you two, we love you guys!

Happy Father's Day

I love you Dada! Thank you for being silly, gentle, and my Dada.
Hope you have a Happy Father's Day.
love you always, Elyse

Below is Elyse's special Father's Day gift to Nate:


Hope all Dads reading this have a great and blessed Father's Day too.

Bubble Fun

Elyse loves bubbles, period. Hence, I am so thankful that I spent a whopping $0.25 last year at a garage sale for this bubble machine. She just loves to watch them fly, and with it being so windy today, it's perfect. All I need now is to go stock up at Sam's Club for dish soap and batteries. I am refilling it constantly (soap and water is all it requires). The simple joys of summer.

Cabin Magic

I thought the title was only fitting. Jenny's blog title is "Cabin Magic" and I believe there must have been a little magic at her family's cabin for me to capture so many great pictures of Elyse at one time. Here are just a few.

Blessed and Perfect

Nate, Elyse and I are so blessed to have Tom, Jenny and Aiden in our lives. We just love their friendship and never get tired of hanging out. Well yesterday, on such a cool and cloudy Sunday we could have thought of nothing more fun and perfect than what we did. We headed north to Jenny's parents' cabin. (A special thank you to Kent and Dixie for having us, we really appreciated everything.)

Us ladies spent the day playing with our little loves
We also had time to go on a fun and cold jet ski ride. As Jenny said, "I think I went numb."
The guys did some great kayaking
They even tried it for a while with the little ones
Even though us adults enjoyed ourselves, I believe the kiddos had the greatest time

My favorite and the perfect picture of the two captured by Jenny.

Thanks again, Tom, Jenny, Aiden, Kent and Dixie, we really had a great time and look forward to doing it again soon with sun :)

Oh yeah, I took some great pictures of Elyse and will post those later this week.

Love of Puppies

I found this toy puppy for Elyse and she really has come to enjoy playing with it. It walks, sits and barks all by remote. I don't know if she believes it's real or not, but it's the only puppy that is going to bark here in this house for a few years.

Hide n' Seek

We spent much of our night playing hide n'seek. Even though Elyse cheats while counting (doesn't count all the way and peeks), she's got the right idea. Eventually she will want to hide and I will then get to decide how long I will count to before I go find her ;) (just kidding).

Blossomed

Today Nate, Elyse and I went to celebrate a good friend's graduation. While there Nate and I were saying how in no time we will be throwing Elyse her graduation party. Then tonight while Nate and I were playing with Elyse, I sat back to watch her. I watched her interact in ways I have never seen, heard her say sentences I have never heard and saw not a 20 month old, but a 3 year old. Just recently Elyse has blossomed into a little girl. I love her even more today than when we brought her home, but just feel she is growing up way too fast. I'm under the assumption I am not the only parent that feels this way, but inside my heart aches a little knowing how fast time really goes.

Remodeling is Complete

After many days of hard work by my husband (and his friends), waiting on furniture and miscellaneous stuff to get completed, the home remodeling project is complete. There are minor things that still need to be done, but overall, it's finished and perfect! A special thanks to my amazing husband for doing such great work and making our nice house and beautiful home!

By the way, any suggestions on what color to paint the brown wall now that we have a great brown couch? Only other color for the couch was red, and didn't know how that would go in the future, paint is an easy fix.

BEFORE
AFTER
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Memorial Weekend

Nate, Elyse, my mom and I packed up our car and headed east this Memorial weekend to go visit my brother and sister-in-law in Michigan. Besides getting a flat tire in the first 45 minutes of the 11 hour car ride, everything went really smoothly. We spent our time going on walks, being outside, visiting with Kim's family, going to a parade, playing cards, and celebrating the upcoming arrival of our new niece/nephew in September. Even though I have only been away a day, I miss them already and look forward to seeing them again real soon.

Elyse spent quite sometime riding Papa John's (Kim's dad) tractor.
Thanks for such a great vacation you two! Love you both lots.