the girlies....almost 8 months old!

Science Museum of Minnesota

On Friday we shared a fun day with the Crowders at the Science Museum of Minnesota!

Ms. Emily with her little ones, Emma and Josiah, and Jonathan

McKinney

Elizabeth

Thank you for all the nice words to Jonathan for his cello practice post!  When we were getting the cello out to practice again he wanted to make another movie!!!  Your encouragement goes a long way & we're so thankful to have such dear people in our lives.  

Last visit to Mayo 16 for helmet checks!

Today we had our very last appointment on Mayo 16 for Elizabeth's helmet! She is completely done & her head shape is beautiful! It really was a joy to go to Mayo 16 - we were blessed to see our good friend Leslie who is a peds. PT and the children's clinic is such a beautiful space themed around Minnesota natural resources. In the pictures above you can see the loons which reminds me of our 1st camping trip together on the North Shore when we saw baby loons riding on the back of the mama loon.

Cello Practice

Teething Biscuits

The girls love to chew on these teething biscuits!  (Look in the background of the picture of McKinney - you can see Jonathan walking around eating one, too!)  They were fun to make....here's the recipe:

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. maple syrup

3 T. unsweetened applesauce

  Preheat oven to 300.  Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until dough begins to hold together.  Knead lightly until dough is smooth.  Roll out with a rolling pin until 1/3 inch thick.  Cut out biscuits (can use an inverted cup & coke bottle cap for the hole).  Transfer biscuits to a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Let cool completely on cookie sheet.  They are ready to eat!  Store for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.  I should mention that these biscuits are hard at first but as they gum on them they soften so, as the original recipe stated, only give to babies under complete adult supervision! :)

It's a cold day!

It's soooo cold outside! We've enjoyed staying home this morning & playing with toys! Pretty soon we are going to bundle up and walk next door to play with our neighbors, the Potters.

this was the temperature at 6:00 this morning......

McKinney Smiles

This picture captures McKinney's bright, beautiful eyes. She is a vivacious little one!
(In this picture she is playing with her new doll from Papa and Mimi. She mostly holds the white ring and chews on it!)

Elizabeth Anne

This is an expression that we see a lot with Elizabeth!  She tucks her bottom lip under and looks around with those big, beautiful blue eyes.  She is such gentleness.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Elizabeth's Appointment

We had an appointment for Elizabeth today at Mayo Clinic.  Her head is growing really well and she is almost done with her helmet!  She's been such a trooper!

Don't you love this t-shirt, Daddy & Uncle Creed!?!

Cello Practice

We're back into routine here at home.  We loved the long 2 week Christmas vacation but it is always a good thing to have a schedule.  

Today Jonathan had a pleasant cello practice!  

We worked on note reading & his new song, "French Folk Song".   

ikea highchairs

On Saturday we made a trip to the cities to pick up highchairs at Ikea, eat at our favorite lunch spot (Edina Grill), and shop at the Mall of America. When we arrived at the mall I shopped at Ann Taylor Loft while Jon took the 3 kiddos and went to make a return at Eddie Bauer. I found a few things and, after the sale prices & my coupon, I bought them for 77%off!...so exciting. :) Then I waited and waited for Jon to return....and then waited and waited some more. I had promised Jon that I would stay at the store because neither of us had our cell phones with us & we didn't want to get separated in this gigantic mall. After waiting and waiting some more I decided to walk out into the mall to look for him while keeping my eye on the entrance to Ann Taylor. I found him! He was standing with Jonathan who had just thrown up on the floor of the mall!! We got everything cleaned up, fed the girlies, and thought the worst part of our day was behind us. Then, walking outside, we realized that it was starting to snow. (If we would have realized how bad the roads were going to get we would have stayed the night in the cities.) As we drove home the temperature dropped and it started to drizzle which created icy roads, frozen windshield wipers, and a frozen windshield. It was scary. All 3 of the children slept in the car (thankfully, Jonathan didn't get sick again!) while Jon drove. We kept passing car accidents, cars in the ditch, and cars that rolled over but there was no place to stop & so we kept driving. I cannot tell you how thankful we were to pull into our garage that evening!
This is our 5th winter in Minnesota and we are still learning. Now we will always check the weather before making even a short day trip to the cities!

Happy New Year

Elizabeth and McKinney love being in their Jumpsters!  We have them mounted in the doorway off of our dining room and so they can both see me while I work in the kitchen.  I took these pictures close to nap time and so M has found her thumb!  Elizabeth loves to jump, jump, jump which made it challenging for me to get her picture!  Precious girls!

Last night we had the Nyman family over for supper.   Jonathan was so excited all day!  Early in the evening  Jon and I talked with Jonathan about enjoying the Nyman's company but not getting too crazy when they arrived.  A little later in the evening I said, "Jonathan are you getting excited?  The Nymans should be here soon!"  Jonathan replied, "YES!. (and then in a very serious voice)...but I'm trying not to be wild".   He loves that family!...we all do!