Sicktober

So here is the run down of the last week:

Joe - Bronchitis: zpak x2 and prednisone
Amber - double ear infection and sinus infection (seriously, who knew...best sick baby ever): Amoxicillen
Leah - double pink eye: eye drops (same day x 2hours to get them...with both girls...no fun)
Me - HEALTHY!!!!!


This morning we had a family photo shoot. Leah was great. Very cooperative. Amber, well, she is a stubbern one year old. We did get some good shots after we started to bribe her with candy corn. I think we might have a candy corn fanatic on our hands. Excited to see the results. Very happy we chose to do it with an independent photographer instead of at a store studio...especially since Amber was not in a cooperative mood for pictures.

My baby is 20 months

(double click to enlarge picture)

I know I say this every time I post one of these, but I will say it again. Seriously, where does the time go...my baby is 20 months! Amber is such a darling. She has a magnetic smile as well as a mischievous one!

Here are some of what she has been up to:

**Her vocabulary is growing daily...she has so many words now that I have stopped recording the new ones. She says 2-3 word combinations as well

**Climbs on everything! She still loves to climb

**Adventurous

**Keeps moving, does not like to stay put for too long, but you can have short cuddle sessions **Walking down the steps with railing or hand hold

**Finally sitting in the tub, still hates having her nails clipped

**Sleeps great (about 11 hours at night and 2 hour nap)

**Starting to distinguish animals...if she does not know what the animal is, she now calls it an "animal" (all animals are no longer "puppy")

**Can bark and meow when asked what a dog or cat says

**loves her blankets!

**Loves to play with her big sister and tries to mimic her big sister!

**Usually a very good eater, she is not a picky one - favorite still is sweets: especially chocolate!

**wears 24 month clothing

**brushes her own teeth

**washes her hands

**tells you "poo poo" and sometimes "pee pee," starting to practice sitting on the potty chair (no, she has not had a success yet)

**starting to put some easy puzzles together and recognizing some colors

**loves to sing, does gestures for "itsy bitsy spider," "bumble bee," "wheels on the bus," and more. Asks for "itsy" and "bee" often!

**likes to color with her big sister. She is pretty tough on those poor crayons (likes to pound them into the paper

**DADDY'S girl!!

**loves to be outside

**still possessive of mommy and daddy's lap

**mastered zippers, can take off her coat, can take of shoes and socks (usually in the car when we would prefer she keep them on), working on taking off her shirt (overhead)

**loves to buckle buckles

**MESSY eater!!
**gives the best hugs and kisses!!

Catching up on the weekend!

10/7: Joe completed his first week back to work!
10/8: I got to spend all day Saturday with the ladies scrapbooking! Got a lot done, have much more to do!!
10/8-9: Leah had her first slumbar party for her friend, Haley's 7th birthday
10/9: My mom, Leah, Amber and I went to Aamodt's Apple Farm. What a beautiful day. So nice, in fact, that it was hard to believe that it was October. When we got into the truck, it said 92 degrees- WOW). The girls had a good time, I think. Amber was in a rare mood. She is rarely crabby, but I don't think that a 45 minute nap was enough, and she was a little moody while we were there. Leah was still tired (recovering from her slumber party). But, they seemed to have fun on the riding tractors, seeing the goats, playing in the hay maze, going on the tractor train, and going on a hay ride. Leah climbed her first tree! They had apple donuts - yummy! Leah really wanted to pick out a big pumpkin as well, but, luckily we (okay, my mom) was able to convince her to go with 2 small and 1 medium/small pumpkin!

Enjoying the weather today!

We have had some gorgeous weather this week, so we decided to take a little time this afternoon to enjoy it as it is going to be cold and snowing before we know it!!

Really!!?!!?!!??

So my conversation with Leah today after school went something like this...

Leah: "I know who brings the presents"
Me: "What to you mean?"
Leah: "Well, Santa isn't real and the parents bring the presents"
Me: "What makes you think Santa is not real?"
Leah: "Someone on the bus told me."
Me: "Who told you?"
Leah: "Caden's cousin"
Me: "Do you believe him?"
Leah: "I don't know."
Me: "Well, if you believe in Santa, you will get presents from Santa."

Well, then she got going on something else, and the conversation was done. But, really? Why do other kids have to spoil the fun?

Closing the cabin

So, it is time to come to terms with the fact that summer is over. We closed up the cabin this last weekend. Well, the boys did all of the work, while the girls played. My mom rented us a hotel room (Joe, Amber and I stayed there), so the girls could swim. They certainly did enjoy the pool. Amber was a bit shy of the water on Saturday, but by Sunday, she loved it as well! She started to step about 5 feet back from the edge of the pool, then she proceeded to "run" and jump into the water. It was adorable!! Leah is becoming a little fish. She started work on handstands and somersaults in the water. Thea and Delila also love being in the water. It was a lot of fun to play in the pool with them.

On Saturday, Steve, Linda, Doug and Sara also joined us. We had a fun visit with them.

The girls also enjoyed a slow ride from Joe on the 4-Wheeler we borrowed from friends to make the weekend projects MUCH easier! Amber, again, was hesitant, but, as soon as she saw Leah going on a ride, she was going to go on a ride as well!

It is always a bummer when we have to say goodbye to the cabin for the season. But, at least we had decent weather, and another bonus...the trees were at peak! Beautiful!!

Where did September go????

Okay, it is a good thing that I take lots of pictures, or I might not be able to remember everything that happened in the last month. Seriously, it feels like it went by so fast. I hope this doesn't mean that I am going to blink and it will be Christmas!

Leah is very busy with school, soccer (which I am coaching...with the help of my wonderful friend, Sara), and dance. She is doing well. I just went to lunch with her at school today. I stayed for recess, and I was able to chat a little with her teacher. She told me that Leah is such a sweet girl (yeah)! She is doing well. She typically stays on task, but, right now, she is in the back sitting next to another little girl...well, they like to distract eachother (go figure), so when they move in October, Leah will be near the front! I like that better anyway.

Amber is busy being as cute as can be! She is so adorable (most of the time). Joe did put up his Halloween houses this year (they look great - pictures to come), and she is getting more into trying to play with the pieces. It is hard for her to just leave them alone (again, go figure). She is saying more and more words. She is very adventurous and likes to try anything!

So, here is September in pictures:

9/5: Amber comes home from daycare in pigtails. I would have never guessed that her hair would fit in pigtails!

9/17: Leah, Amber and I went to the Mall of America to see Cousin Ronda (who was there working for a scrapbooking convention), go to the American Girl Store, and Nickoledeon Universe. Leah even got to meet a couple of Viking Cheerleaders! She was very excited about that. They both had a great time on the rides, but Amber would get upset when Leah would go on rides that she was too little to go on. Amber is definitely going to be the daredevil of the two girls. While at Nickoledeon Universe, some of the characters where out for pictures. Amber was pointing to them as if she wanted to get her picture taken (while Leah was trying to walk the other direction). I finally convinced Leah to come with us (she did not have to be in the picture, just stand by the railing where I could see her). Well, our turn came and as we neared the character (to be honest, I wasn't even sure who they were...we are more of a Disney Channel family), Amber started to cry...oh no, does this mean I am going to have another child afraid of character people?
9/24: My mom, Leah, and I along with our friends Deb, Jaclyn and Kaylee went to see "Miss Nelson is Missing" and Stages Children's Theater in Hopkins. We have season tickets this year. This was the first of 7 plays we will get to attend. Leah loved the show (well, we all did)! After the cast does a meet and greet - here is Kaylee and Leah with "Miss Nelson." After the show, we went to get some ice scream at Cold Stone. Yummy! While we were there 3 of the kids from "Miss Nelson's" Class came in as well. Leah and Kaylee were star struck. It was very cute. Leah no longer was interested in her ice cream. She kept staring at the kids. She did attempt to go say hi, but came back to me and said, "I got shy!" One of the girls came up to Leah and gave her a high five...so cool!

Leah had said to me earlier in the day...out of the blue, "Mommy, I am so excited about the play, but I wish that I was on the stage!"

9/25: We enjoyed some playtime outside. Amber has figured out zippers and likes to take off her sweater. The solution? Well, it's an interesting look!

This is the first time that Amber actually got into the sand box and played in the sand. Until now, she has not wanted to touch sand!

9/27: I went to eat lunch with Leah at school. She requested that I stay for recess, so I could see how good she is on the monkey bars! Of course, I had to stay. Lucky for me, I had my camera in my purse, so I took the opportunity to get a picture of Leah and her teacher, Mrs. Bistodeau.