It was a week....

 I took this picture about 8:00 am on a recent Wednesday.

Both kids were on a tear and just started dumping toys.

Normally, I try to stay ahead of them, but this was

just "one of those days".   The week also included

me locking myself out on Scott's patio with the

2 kids inside (!)and a field trip to the park with

both kids...first time out in the car with both

of them....went fine.

 Jesse bought this onesie for Everleigh at Disney World right after

she was born.  She is just growing into it now.  Her Gma

Paula and her Schumacher cousins (and their parents)

are headed to WDW this week.

Ami captured this picture on Sunday when we

gathered at Sue's new lake place to celebrate

Sue's birthday.  Brody is 15 months. 

Everleigh is 19 months and Andrew is just

over 12 months. Cousins Claire and Max

had just left but we'll get them in the

wagon next time.  It turned out to be a

decent afternoon (finally) so we enjoyed

being out on the lawn and on the lake.

updates from Andrew and Everleigh

 Andrew and Olive can totally do this for long stretches of time...

just look out the front door window and watch the world.

  Brody (Cousin Beth's little boy) says to Andrew,

" So to totally drive them crazy I ....."

 I realize I already posted some Easter pictures, but

this dress of Everleigh's was so cute...

And...Everleigh has a special message on her t-shirt....

Happy Birthday, Andrew Paul!

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/projectshareewelcome/l=12881306008/p=61481304868546124/g=31296570/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SPBKlink/

A Few Steps in the Right Direction...

A morning walk in Andrew's room

Birthday girls

 Grown-ups-only dinner to celebrate my birthday...

good, relaxed conversation (mostly about the

babies) but still....nice!  Thanks, Greg!

 Saturday was Becky Swenson's birthday as well

and she celebrated by hosting a 1st birthday

party for Evelyn who turned one on April 25.

So nice to see everyone!

Evelyn takes her new babies for a spin in her

stroller...so cute!

Look who's talking

Here's a partial list of Everleigh's words/phrases:

mommy

daddy

whassat?

whosat?

I'm so sad. (furrowed brow)

I'm so happy. (big smile)

Baby go night-night.

animal sounds for lion, tiger, cow, horse, chicken, monkey, snake

  sheep, pig, bird, duck, kitten, dog, owl and probably more

baco, where are you?  (she calls me when we're playing hide and seek)

dodo and go go for Dora and Diego

boots and oh, man (for Swiper)

Elmo

Ozzy & mo-mo (her cats)

Baby Adoo (andrew)

Ben, Ra-Ra and papa for some family members

She is also recognizing the colors pink (of course!), blue, yellow

She knows shapes circle, triangle, star, rectangle, square and can name them.

She loves Clifford, the Dog books, anything with Dora and Diego or the Wonder Pets

I usually have Andrew with me when I arrive and she always runs to greet us, but

  Thursday I came alone and she asked "Where's Baby?"

She can say some foods:  cheese, juice, baba (for bottle), apple (any fruit) and cookie.

She is really stringing together other words to make phrases and sentences...as many as 5

  at a time which is really fun to listen to.

Andrew, on the other hand, is taking quite a few steps at one time.  He walks between

furniture but will also venture out across a room.  If he goes down, he just crawls the rest

of the way.  Sometimes he will walk quite far and today he was almost ready to stand

back up after going down.  Mobility is good but he is so curious I'm wondering if I'll be

able to keep up with him.  He is also fascinated by repetitive actions.  The other day

he was moving his blocks from a box to his night stand over and over.  And he loves to

stand at the door and look outside (usually with Olive right beside him).

Springtime in Minnesota

Last week....For my Florida grandsons....this is what April can

look like in Minnesota...pretty in December,

YUCKY in April!

My birthday with Everleigh and Andrew and yes,

I'm 61!

Easter Sunday with Jesse, Andrew and Ben

So Handsome!

Everleigh was in pink for Easter...of course!  and she carried

around my little pink bunny calling it "pink"!

It was 62 degrees on Easter Sunday!  Nice enough for outdoor pix!

Scott, Everleigh and Ami...Easter 2011

Everleigh changed outfits to get into her
"dancing queen" motif!
It was a busy month...We welcomed GG home
from AZ with a gathering at Sue's new lake place,
celebrated Scott's birthday with lunch at the Rueb,
went to a birthday party for 2 year old Claire,
noted my birthday on the 21st, hosted a bridal
shower for a friend's daughter, celebrated Easter
with my family including Steve and Peggy from
Council Bluffs and then dinner at our house
with the kids, attended a Celtic Women
concert at the State Theatre (wonderful) and
still have a birthday dinner for me with the
kids Friday night and a birthday party in Winona for
one-year-old Evelyn, Andrew's Swenson cousin.
We're also planning on getting our camper to the
river campground soon and then there's Andreew's
birthday and Mother's Day coming up.  The
weather has finally warmed enough for outdoor
walks and playtimes, but as usual with Minnesota
spring, it's two steps forward, one step back.