A Day in the Water

Sunday we spent much of the afternoon at the lake in Canon Falls with Uncle Clint, Auntie Tammy (or Unkie Tammy as Riley says) and cousin Weston. They had brought along their jet ski ... which Riley LOVES!! Of course Riley had to go out on it a few times and even when it was up near the beach he had to be sitting on it.

Cousin Weston is much like Paige ... growing like a weed. He's still bigger than her but she's a bit more advanced on the movement part. It's fun to see them next to one another. Weston entertained us a few times with his dramatic gagging whenever Tammy put one of Paige's puff cereal pieces into his mouth. It was quite comical and something I should have captured on camera. Maybe next time.

These pictures aren't anything super special ... conditions were a bit rough with full sun ... I couldn't really see what I was getting while we were there. I seem to be missing a couple so I'll have to see if I can dig the other ones up. I have a "fun" one of Ryan holding Paige and Weston (with Paige freaking out over something and Weston looking at her wondering what in the hell her problem is) ... and Riley sitting next to them throwing rocks into the water ... all while Ryan has a look on his face that's just like "Take the dang picture!" ... it's a bit funny.

It's the Red Dress!!

I had an offer for two free photo wrapped canvases so we headed out Saturday around dinner time to see if we could get a couple good shots of the kids (you know, because I didn't have ANY already). I pulled out the red dress for Paige to wear. I fell in love with this dress last year at Gymboree. We had just found out a few weeks before that we were having a girl ... it was full price but once Ryan saw the look in my eye he knew we weren't leaving the store without it. I'm so lucky I have a husband who is willing to give into my need to have such cute clothes for the kids.

Anyway, Paige cooperated REALLY well. She's in that age where she makes faces, still sits in one spot for a little more than two seconds and is just fun. Her brother on the other hand, while he was dressed in a handsome Gymboree vest, didn't want to cooperate. It had been a long day for Riley and mom (growing pains on his part ... thinking he doesn't need to listen to us) and I think we were both a little tired of each other. These pictures have a bit of a blue cast to them that I need to fix but I still had to share them with everyone. I think these will officially be Paiges 9 month pictures.

Enjoy!

What we chose for the canvas for Paige ...





And Riley's canvas picture ...

Puppies in the Tummy!

Last night Riley and I were sitting at the counter eating dinner by ourselves since daddy had school stuff he was at ... and we were talking about how sister had been in my belly ... then about how Riley had been in my tummy ... and all of a sudden he asks me, "Mommy, was Pumba in your tummy too?"

Oh my, oh my!!!

Tiaras Make You Taller

Yes, this is true ... or so says Gymboree. The title for today's post is from a shirt I wanted to get for Paige ... but I don't think her daddy was too impressed. :)

Miss Paige is full of energy and personality these days. She now has 8 teeth that have popped through (see the picture in the post below), is army crawling all over the house ... except for when she wants you to pick her up .. then she expects you to come get HER, and is still loving her brother (and puppy) to death.

I sometimes marvel at what an easy baby she is. She lays down easily for bedtime and naps ... as long as she has her blankie she's usually fine. She really only cries if she's hungry. She doesn't mind grass at all ... we've put her down in the backyard before and she'll just take off crawling without any hesistation. And usually, she's happy to just "go along for the ride" for whatever it is that we're doing.

Her and Riley are still holding hands when they ride in the Xterra. Riley can easily make her laugh so every once in a while we'll hear giggles coming from the backseat. If she's not on the floor getting into her brothers stuff (which STILL hasn't been much of an issue with Riley, yet ... thank heavens!!) she's usually crawling towards Pumba. She LOVES him ... and while he's good with her and will mildly put up with a few pokes from her ... he'll usually get up and leave the attack area. In his mind, she's no good to him unless she's eating!

So below are pictures. The first one is what she looks like when she's saying, "mama" ... it's pretty cute in person.

Camp Knudson

Riley has been asking lately to put the tent up in the backyard and sleep outside ... so him and Ryan put the tent up on Saturday afternoon while I was coordinating a wedding. After I'd gotten home and we got Miss Paige to bed, we all headed outside to experience the "wilderness".

After mommy helped daddy start a fire ( ha ha ), we warmed cheesy hotdogs over the flames for dinner. And of course we couldn't have a fire without smores. Riley did his usual, "Mom, I just want a mushroom" (mushrooms = marshmellows ... I have no idea why ... we don't even eat mushrooms in our house!) and "Mom, I want some crackers" and then ... "Mom, I want some chocolate!" Heaven forbid we actually eat those three things together. BUT THEN, he shocked both Ryan and I when he asked for an actual smore.

Anyway, it started getting dark out so we let the fire die down and the two wilderness campers headed off to the tent (which was partially filled with stuffed animals) for a night of sleeping under the stars. At this point I went inside and tried to go to sleep (but Miss Paige had other plans).

At 6 a.m., Ryan said that Riley popped his head up and said, "Dad, it's morning time!!" Yes, the joys of camping out with a three year old ... if the sun is out, it's time to get up and play. So dad and Riley came back in the house ... I don't fully remember if Riley crawled in bed with us or if he watched cartoons ... I think it was the latter.

Riley thought the whole experience was pretty cool. He told me that him and dad told each other secrets before they went to bed and that there were cars on 14 (the highway a mile or so away) that he could hear ... but it doesn't sound like he was scared at all ... which is a good thing because in three weeks the whole family gets to do it at Auntie Cheryl's and Uncle Kevin's!!

Pictures are below!!

Pictures of the Knudson Campground!

30's are not wanted ... come again some other day.

Yesterday was my birthday ... I've decided to re-do the numbering process ... I'm now only 29 and 12 months. :) I like the sound of that better.

My hubby surprised me with dinner out at the Broadstreet Cafe. It was a delicious dinner. After that we killed some time at Target (wandering around without any kids crying to see toys or needing to use the bathroom is really an experience I'd forgotten!!) before we headed to the movie theater to see "License to Wed" ... a funny but predictable movie.

My sister and Stacy kept both kiddos overnight. They "claimed" that both behaved well. It was Paige's first night away from mom and dad. We walked into Deb's house to pick them up and Riley came flying up the steps to greet us and Paige started army crawling as fast as those big ol' legs would let her to greet us too. As relaxing as it was to have some quiet adult time, the greeting was a VERY welcomed sight too.

So special thanks to my wonderful hubby for the perfect night out ... and to Deb and Stacy for putting up with our rug-rats for a good 20 hours.

Picture Drop-Off ...

Not much to say ... we have a busy few weeks ahead ... 2 wedding (Kristin coordinating), a Good Neighbors Day party, and a weekend of school ... all in the next two weeks!!

Anyway, here are some pictures I realized I hadn't posted ... not all new but still thought you'd enjoy seeing them ...

Paige's toes in the sand/rocks for the first time.

Weekend Highlights ...

Just a few highlights (and one lowlight) from this past weekend ...

• Miss Paige has been scooting her way around the past week or so ... but on Sunday she really took off with the army crawl. She made her way from the living room into the kitchen where I was prepping dinner. Yes, now will really be the test between Riley and Paige as I'm sure she'll be getting into his things.
• Miss Paige has also been a bit cranky because she's getting 5 teeth all at once ... the four front ones across the top and one more on the bottom (she already has her two bottom, center teeth.
• Riley decided he liked using the word "adorable" on Saturday. He told me his sister looked "adorable" in her outfit ... and that something at my moms house was "adorable".
• Miss Paige is out of her infant car carrier. Last Tuesday we bought Riley new seats and gave his old ones to Paige. This means now that we're actually stuck at home during her nap times.
• Riley was (for the most part) a really good kid this past weekend. I was watching him on Sunday and was just amazed at how polite he can be when he wants to. Ryan and I were also commenting on how smart he is ... he can figure out how to do just about anything he puts his mind to (which isn't always the best thing).
• And finally for the lowlight of the weekend ... Riley and I were at the house next door petting "Durby" a beagle who Riley loves. Pumba had followed us over a bit and evidently was a bit peeved that he wasn't getting any attention ... so Pumba "marked" Riley as his. Yes, my dog raised his leg and peed on my son. Riley had pee all over his shoulder and all down his arm. Luckly I saw Pumba doing it right away so there wasn't a ton ... but obviously we had to go in and scrub Rileys shoulder/hands/arm and change clothes. Riley didn't really have much to say about it ... I think he was more shocked than anything.

So there were the highlights of our weekend. It was pretty busy for us ... garage sale at my moms (for which Ryan and I made almost $250), I had two photo shoots and Ryan had school.