jump around

The only piece of baby equipment we've ever been without is a jumper. Elsa was always so content to simply sit and observe; she was practically sitting alone by the time she was 4 months old. Lila can't sit still. I try to make her sit and she flies backward, forward, sideways! I finally bit the bullet and bought a Jumperoo off Craigslist. She loves it. Here's some video. Note that her tongue is always out, like a little puppy. Maybe a teething thing?


Ahhh, yes. A sign of what's to come, minus the,"Mah-om! Elsa's using me as a hat rack again!".


Sleeping babies are my favorite kind.


Elsa knows the camera, and therefore knows it's more fun to run from it. I got her! Our holiday photo shoot should be interesting.


Lila has been playing with her feet for months, but finally - just today - started chomping on them. It's funny to watch her get her hand in there and get her thumb and toes confused for a minute.


The sisters. Now more than ever, when I look at pictures of them together at this age I can barely tell them apart. I'd better get this stuff marked so I know what's up when I'm 80.

holiday weekend

This weekend we celebrated the holidays early. We headed to Richfield for Thanksgiving with my family, and on the way we stopped in Edina to see Santa at the mall. There was no line, yet it took us a full hour to get out of there. Right away we had to hit the family bathroom with both kids, where I was introduced to the toddler stall. Check it out:

Elsa in the fancy toddler bathroom at Southdale.


Elsa's jacket was hastily thrown into the sink, where it "automatically" soaked it through without us noticing. Then I ended up forgetting my jacket in the stall... it was a mess. Two kids are definitely more distracting than one.

With Santa. I guess he was feeling weekend casual.


Elsa with the fun wax lips grandma brought.


Lila suddenly digs car rides.


She's also very adept in the art of hair grabbing.


Lila in her squirrel outfit. How can she look any cuter? Grab feet!

Duluth

Last weekend, Tim and I headed to Duluth for a wedding. We left the kids with my parents overnight. It was hard leaving, but to be honest, once we left we had so much fun and so many distractions that we didn't worry about them much. And it turns out they were so good, there was no need. We had a great time! The wedding and reception were beautiful. Here are a few photos of the ballroom where the reception was held:

The lobby.


Tim at dinner. Check out the ceiling!


Us girls at our table - note the excessive glassware.


All of my pictures of the bride and groom turned out super dark, but trust me, pictures don't do them justice anyway. Congrats to Matt and Krista!

And of course, here's some pics of the kids. Elsa at school on her favorite teeter-totter thingy on the playground.


We put her lawn chair away in the garage, but she found it and sat in it and stared at the lawn mower. I feel the same way - summer lives on.


Lila likes to lean out of her bouncy chair and see what's happenin'. We should probably retire it soon before she falls out. She's an active one. Hi-ya!


Lila feels lucky to be sitting in her Bumbo chair. Usually Elsa claims it as hers, and can actually fit in it really well.

11-4-08

Halloween recap

Halloween day. We had a conflict of interest. Tim wanted us to eat the delicious breakfast he'd just made, I wanted Elsa to sit on the potty, and Elsa wanted to watch the special Halloween episode of Super Why. We compromised. Elsa ate breakfast while sitting on the potty and watching Super Why. Everyone's happy.


Halloween Eve. We're running late. We quickly eat dinner, then Tim rushes to carve pumpkins with Elsa. She loved watching and looking at the "guts".


You think you know someone, then you realize you have no idea they can carve two pretty awesome pumpkins in less than 10 minutes. Impressive.


Lila with the pumpkins.


Elsa trick-or-treating. The plan was to go to just a few houses since she doesn't really eat candy. It ended up being too fun, so we stayed out for 1 1/2 hours! It was a beautiful night. She had a couple pieces of candy and liked it, but said her favorite part was the nighttime stars.