Fall is in the air.

It's Labor Day weekend already!

We had a great summer filled with playing outside, trips to the zoo, a baseball game, grilling and getting together with friends and family.



Eric and I even got to get away for a few days. I love my girls, but it was fabulous to just be with Eric and relax by the ocean. The fruity cocktails were delicious and the dolphin watching was fun!

The summer is ending with Lydia turning one and Caitlyn heading into 7th grade. Wow! My baby is looking more and more like a toddler and my little girl is looking like a tween. Eek! I just can't get over how fast they really do grow.

Like all Minnesota summers, it went way too fast. The long, bitter cold winter will be here soon. Blech!

Lydia's First Birthday!

August 13th was Lydia's 1st birthday!

Where in the world has the year gone? She is growing into quite the amazing little person. It's so fun to just sit back and watch her discover the world. Lydia loves to copy us. From the words she says to the funny faces, she picks up on stuff so quick!

We gave her a practice cupcake after dinner on the 13th. She loved hearing us sing happy birthday to her and gobbling up that delicious treat!

Her party was on the 14th and she loved it. We had so much fun watching her be the ham we love.

Mmmmmm....loving the practice cupcake!

Full belly!

Party time!

Twins Game

One of the guys that I do daycare for asked if we'd be interested in FREE tickets to a Twins game. Uh, yeah!!!! He gets them through his work and they were the best seats we have ever sat in! The new stadium is awesome. We sat 3 rows up from the 3rd base line. Foul balls were flying at us and outfielders were chasing them into our seats. It was so cool!

Lydia did great for not being able to get down for 3 hours. She munched on cheerios, had a bottle and did some flirting with the people around us. She's such a good baby.

Caitlyn even got to run the bases after the game. It was really fun to be able to walk around on the field!

We had a great day!


Lydia is ready to go!

Matching daddy and sister!

Hanging out on the field!

Best. Seats. Ever. !!

A short video of Caitlyn rounding the bases....

Caitlyn is 12 years old!

Wow! It just seems crazy that she is 12 years old and almost done with 6th grade. She is such a fun kid. Caitlyn is doing an awesome job in school and is sounding great on the trumpet. I'm impressed with all of her musical talents! She loves to play the piano and just got a guitar for her birthday. Her plan is to try out for American Idol in a few years! lol! I'm sure she'll win first place.



We had Eric's family over on Saturday. Caitlyn requested a t-bone steak, so that's what her dad grilled up for her! We also baked a cake and some cupcakes. I'm not typically a baker, so that just shows how much I love her! She decorated these beautiful cupcakes herself.

On Monday (her actual birthday.) we went to the ymca. They have an outdoor splash park. Both her and her sister had fun with that!



The celebration isn't over yet! We are taking her and a couple of her friends to see Shrek 4 on Saturday. In case you haven't caught on.....birthday's are kind of a big deal around here. :-)

Lydia's 9 month stats

Miss Lydia is over 9 months old now. She went to the doctor last week and is doing great! She weighs 21lbs 90z and is 28 1/2 inches long. Crawling is now a piece of cake and I don't think it'll be long before she starts walking! It's been great to be able to get outside with her and she loves it!

She's also been doing a ton of talking. I just think it is so amazing to see them form those first words and sentences! So far she can say: hi, daddy, mommy, what's that, sister, and done. She's also waving and clapping. I can't believe she is doing all of this stuff already. Things are just happening too fast!

1st Anniversary, today!

I welcomed my first daycare family into our home on this date last year. My business has slowly been growing and is doing quite well on it's 1 year anniversary. I love the balance I get from working from home. Watching babies grow and pre-schoolers learn is so much fun! Having 7 kids in my house can get crazy at times, but I wouldn't trade this job for any other. Two of my families are part-time, so that helps. I only have the full boat 1-2 days/week.

Tax season was awesome this year, thanks to the write-offs!

Hopefully things will continue to go well until I win the lottery;-)

Lemonade Day and Home Improvement Updates....

Yesterday was National Lemonade Day. Did you have your 2 glasses of Lemonade?!?

I heard about this on the news and thought it sounded like a great thing for Caitlyn to do. I'm all about teaching my kid the entrepreneur spirit! Eric helped her bring the lemonade stand design to life and it turned out awesome! I have a feeling this lemonade stand will be getting a ton of use this summer.



Caitlyn has also been busy decorating her new room. All of the sheet rocking is done and we've been having fun making it pretty!

Eric and I also started what will some day be a kitchenette in our lower level. We tiled this area in a weekend!

Before:

After:

The home improvement projects are slowly but surely getting done. The new carpet goes in on Saturday. I am SO excited! This stuff is a lot of work, but it's fun to make our house a home.

Lydia is 8 months old and Caitlyn is a genius!

Lydia is learning many new things lately. She is eating some real food, saying some words, throwing things and really trying to crawl! Typing that just makes me want to cry! My last baby is just growing up too fast.



Caitlyn is also doing an awesome job! Her latest report card was fabulous. Her GPA was 3.7. Way to go! She'll be 12 next month. What?!?! How did that happen?



Here's a few pictures of Lydia and a video of her trying to figure out this crawling stuff.