1000 Books!

We spend most of our Thursday mornings at our local library participating in their weekly Storytime.  Nolan and Livi both enjoy going and we are grateful for the many programs they offer.  Last May, Nolan started the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program and he just finished his thousandth book last week!  (It took about 8 months - which averages 125 books per month, or about 31 books a week, or a little over 4 a day!) It's been fun logging the many books he has read and watching his vocabulary and love of reading blossom.  He is so proud! (Mommy is, too!)

This week was Valentine's week and he got to frost some heart cookies with his buddy, Isaac.  

And by some miracle, I happened to snap a picture of the both of them sitting still after completing their alphabet train puzzle!

Cheers to my favorite little bookworm!  Here's to a lifetime of loving to read and loving to learn!

Children's Museum and Soda Pops

This weekend was Eric's long anticipated Beer and Board Games weekend at the cabin.  Zak, Ricky, Andrew, Lance, and Ray all made the trek to the cabin for the nerdy fun.  I was lucky enough to have Brigid come to help me with the kiddos, and Abby and Ada were in Rhinelander too, staying with Ray's family.  We made a plan to take the kids to the Northwoods Children Museum in Eagle River on Saturday morning.

Nolan was so excited to meet and play with Ada, Ray and Abby's 2 year old daughter.  The two had a great time checking out all the cool exhibits!

Olivia was such a good sport, and quietly and happily took it all in.

Both of the kids had a lot of fun playing in the grocery store.  They both spent a lot of time filling their carts with all the different fruits and veggies and bringing them to Auntie Brigid to check them out.

They also spent some time playing in the tree house.

After the museum, we headed to Soda Pops for lunch.  Nolan and Ada got to sit at their own little table (for a little while, anyway) and we all enjoyed burgers, chicken, cheese fries, cheese curds and malts.  The highlight of the visit was when the waitress brought a balloon for each kiddo to take home!  

It was so fun to have the opportunity to see our friends.  Sometimes it's hard, knowing so many of our friends live so far away.  We see them so little and it can be so hard to stay connected. But when we get together, it's like no time has passed and we have such a good time. We are lucky to have such good friends in our lives and we are grateful for every opportunity we get to spend together.  

Taste of Chocolate

Tonight was a fun girls night out with friends!  We headed downtown for Rhinelander's Taste of Chocolate.  I got to be an honorary Lindner again, and went with Katie, Macie, and Breanne, and their friend Timille.  We stopped at many of the downtown businesses for a chocolate treat and ended the night with a delicious filet at The Brick.  It was so good to get out and have a little time with some friends sans kids.  I'm grateful to be making some friends here in Rhinelander and look forward to many more fun times together!

"It's Not a Tumor..."

This morning Nolan would not let me change him out of his footie pajamas...As I looked closer I looked at him and noticed the huge growth on the side of his leg.  Upon further investigation, I discovered that he had shoved ALL of his plastic play food into his pajama leg and zipped it up.  Such a silly boy...

boy's best friend

We got Miles when Nolan was about 1 and a half years old.  From the beginning, they got along with Miles learning early on to tolerate all the "abuses" of being loved by a toddler boy.  As they both have grown they've really become the best of friends.  When they're outside and Nolan falls down, Miles is right there to see what happened, standing over him until he gets up.  Inside they drive me crazy, because they're like two bear cubs constantly wrestling with each other.  And even though Nolan puts Miles through the ringer with his less than gentle antics, Miles never waivers in his gentleness with him.  This is why I tolerate the sloppy jowls, the stinky farts, the digging up the yard, and the barking.  It just makes me so happy to see the bond they have with each other.

And yes, this weirdo likes to lay under my curtains.  This is a routine thing he does about once a week.  He's strange, but lovable and I'm glad he's part of our family.

Sweet baby girl

It's hard to believe that we've been a family of four for almost six months.  Sometimes it still hasn't sunk in completely.  Olivia is growing and changing all the time and it really seems that lately she's becoming such a big girl. I feel such a mix of nostalgia for that teeny, tiny new baby stage she's leaving and excitement for the moving, talking, little person she's growing into.  That first year of life is just so miraculous in all its changes.

She's been playing on the floor a lot more lately, and is very interested in grabbing her toes.  She can roll both front to back and back to front and can hold herself up in the crawling position.  I remember feeling so anxious for Nolan to crawl, but definitely feel a little more dread with Livi, now that I know the level of baby-proofing and supervision required with a mobile tot!

She is starting to sit on her own, still tipping some but very, very close to having that mastered.

She really loves that same loud kicking toy at Grandma Patti's that Nolan adored, and has already spent hours playing and kicking at it.  She played so hard she fell right asleep!

I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to be a mother of a beautiful, loving daughter.  She brings joy to my life every day and I can't wait to see the amazing person she grows into.  

blessed.

This morning when I got out of the shower, I heard my sweet little Nolan singing "Baby Beluga" with his adorable little boy speech - "Baby Be-wuga in da Deep Boo Sea..."  while he plays with his sticker book and Olivia giggles and smiles at the sound of her big brother's voice....and I know that without a doubt, I am blessed.