The Lange Family

Footloose and Fancy Free

2012-01-29T12:03:00.000-08:00

I think fancy free is a good way to describe how Charlotte has been feeling now that she can WALK! Charlotte started taking a couple of steps a few days before her birthday. Well, last week she started taking 5-6 steps and I captured this on the video below. Since last week, she has gotten even faster and seems to be choosing walking over crawling more and more. The older girls aren't used to her new skills as they are always saying, "Mommy, look Charlotte is WALKING!"

Just one of those days....

2012-01-26T12:16:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was CERTAIN it had to be a full moon. It seemed like if one of the girls wasn't crying, the other one was. Let's just say I was more EXCITED than normal for Ben to come home. Then I realized it was only 10 a.m. :) Thankfully, by the end of the day things had turned around.

How can you not smile at this?

Addison showing me via facial expressions how she acted all day long:)

Emelia showing me how she acted all day long:)

And then they go and do this and make Mommy forget about all the other stuff....

Well, Mommy I want to show you how I was acting too!

Sister train....

Charlotte's Party

2012-01-21T19:16:00.000-08:00

We had our family over to help us celebrate Charlotte's 1st birthday today. She had fun showing off her 2-3 step walking skills, getting lots of attention, and eating her smash cake. Thank you to all of our family that joined us, and to those that didn't we were thinking of you. Oh and thanks Uncle Cannon for face timing with us!

The #1 cake I made in honor of her 1st birthday party.

Smash Cake

The little rocker she got from Grandma and Grandpa Dolan

A helmet to ride with Mommy on her bike - thank you to Uncle TJ and Katie for the helmet and Gma and Papa Lange for the bike seat. We are soooo excited to try it out. Come on 50 degree weather!

A musical card from Aunt Aubrey and Uncle Chase. She of course LOVED it.

Singing Happy Birthday to my baby

What? This is for me?

This is the best way to eat cake

The Uh-Oh Jar

2012-01-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

I got the idea for an Uh-Oh jar from Pinterest. The idea is that every time the girls do something naughty I would give them a time out and then make them pick something from the Uh-Oh jar. The girls and I sat down one night and talked about what we would put in the Uh-Oh jar. I included things like, "Unload the dishwasher," "help take out the recycling," "pick up your toys," and "help Mommy dust." We have been doing this for 3 days now and I have realized there is one problem with it. They LIKE it. In fact, Emelia was stepping on a toy the other day trying to break it so she got a time-out and had to pick something out of the jar. Two minutes later Addison was over doing the same thing and said, "Mommy, don't I need to pick something out of the Uh-Oh jar?" They both now ask this at every little minor incidence too. Yesterday, while they were fighting over the vacuum...yes, you read that correctly. They were fighting over who was going to vacuum out the crevices between the wall and the hardwood floor. Ben said, "This seems to really be working Kelly. Good punishment." Well, let's just say I am hoping the newness and love for the Uh-Oh jar wears off soon or else I'm going to have to come up with something else.

Cupcake Love

2012-01-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

The pictures tell it all....:)

A new singing dump truck. She LOVES music!

1st Birthday

2012-01-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Charlotte.

Last day as my "baby"

2012-01-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

My girls will always be my babies. Even when they are 42 with 3 kids of their own, they will always be my babies. But tomorrow is Charlotte's 1st birthday and I will admit that Mommy is a little sad. I am very thankful and blessed to have three beautiful girls that are healthy, but I feel sad that they are getting so big so fast. This year has gone by so quickly and I am so thankful that I have been home every single day of Charlotte's life. Just this week she started taking 2-3 steps. They are REALLY wobbly steps, and she prefers to wrap her chubby little fingers around mine, but she is still taking steps and smiling her cheesy grin after she does it. She also FINALLY started signing to me this week. I have been signing with her since she was 6 months old and yesterday she signed, "All done" back to me. I smiled.

We spent this beautiful day riding around in my new bike trailer, making cupcakes for Charlotte's birthday, playing at the Falcon Center with the Peck kids, and building a fort to color in. It was a great day!

Nothing like a little hummus and stickers all over your face!

Emelia helping with the cupcakes

Pony Ride

2012-01-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

The girls had their first pony ride last night thanks to Aunt Katie. They really had fun and Addison thought Mommy should ride too, so I obliged her.

Addison's first ride

Emelia's first ride...the helmet may be a little big for her:)

Charlotte sat on the horse...out of focus

Mommy!

31

2012-01-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

So, I turned 31 this week...I am officially INTO my 30's. It was the first birthday that I ever remember it being 50 degrees. My memories of birthdays past include slumber parties on the farm with Dad running the snowmobile and pulling my friends and I behind in the toboggan. This year, the girls made it really special because they were SO excited, especially Addison. Her and Ben went to Walmart the night before my birthday to go shopping. Apparently she wanted to buy me some clothes there, but Ben convinced her that they should just get some food to make for supper the next night. Every idea Ben had for supper, Addison shot down saying, "Mommy wouldn't like that." "There's too much sugar in that." etc. Ben said it was like shopping with me. Finally, she decided that I would like a salad so they came home with apples, spinach leaves, tomatoes, avocados, and croutons.

Here are some pictures from the past few days...

January 11th (this was Charlotte's due date one year ago!) and she is now climbing on chairs but she can't get down so she screams until I help her.

The sign my Mom, Addison, and Emelia made for me.

Ben and the girls bought me flowers

Sisters are awesome

Charlotte's first time sledding

Snow Angels

She has gone from licking the utensils in the dishwasher to climbing into it.

A birthday card came from Uncle Cannon today and a present from the Korbmachers for Charlotte's birthday.

I will have to say, she wouldn't put the card down. It had a picture of a baby on it that she wouldn't stop staring at and it sings the song Baby Love. She wanted to take it to bed with her.

I'm sure when we get the Korbmachers gift open she will love that just as much as her card:)

Root Veggie Fries

2012-01-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to get different types of vegetables into the kids diet (Ben and mine too). I came across this recipe for Root Veggie Fries in my Clean Food recipe book and they was pretty good. A nice change up from our sweet potato fries. The girls and I preferred the parsnips over the carrots and rutabagas as they are a little bit sweeter. I will double those up next time and decrease the others.

1 rutabaga peeled
4 carrots
4 parsnips, peeled
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cayenne pepper

Set oven to broil

Cut vegetables into sticks and steam them for 3-4 minutes. Place them in a large bowl and coat with oil and toss them in cornmeal, salt, nutmeg and cayenne. Spread them on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Broil 3 minutes, remove from the oven and flip fries and then broil another 3 minutes until they start to brown.

Independence is a small step closer...

2012-01-09T18:47:00.000-08:00

Addison learned how to tie her shoes in about an hour tonight. It couldn't have taken her much longer than that because I was gone working out for a little over an hour and when I got home she had a pile of shoes she had already tied! All I can think is she is just one step closer to becoming independent and all of the other things that have to do with growing up. The past few months she has just looked so much older. My Mom has said several times, "She looks like the kindergarteners at school." Even the Fareway cashier said she couldn't believe how tall Addison has gotten. My baby is too big. I know this is inevitable and I need to just get used to it, but it is still hard for me.

We have also still been enjoying the great weather we are having here in January! We drew pictures with sidewalk chalk and went to a park today and it's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow!

This was last week when it was almost 60 degrees. We did our normal "summer" fun walk...to the ice cream shop!

Then I decided no naps for the older girls. It was just too nice! We were able to play outside without our coats on. This is simply unreal in Iowa...in January.

Ice Cream Mustache

I am in need of some sun!

Strutting her stuff for the camera:)

The pile of shoes she tied! I am so proud of her!

Channeling that warm weather back....please????

2012-01-02T19:57:00.000-08:00

Below are some pictures I took of the girls last week. One day we went on a walk, the next we headed to the park...it was wonderful to be outside at the end of December and not be freezing! Well, the past two days have been very different. I know it's January now, the coldest month of the year in Iowa, but I am still posting these pictures hoping to bring that warm weather back. I see the forecast has some warmer weather in store for us...let's hope it stays that way!

Emelia with her clay puppy

Addison made a pig and a sheep

Our walk...in December...its been AWESOME!

Addison was really enjoying her new scooter!

In this picture Emelia is screaming, "Addie I want to be first. Mommmmmyyyyy, Addie won't let me be first." You will have your day Miss Emelia, I am sure of it:)

Iowa Caucus

2011-12-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

So, the Iowa Caucus is January 3rd and I am officially a caucus captain for Sentator Santorum. I'm not sure how I got myself into this, but I will be reading a 2 page letter to my fellow caucus goers in my precinct trying to encourage those undecideds to please vote for Rick. If my kids had anything to say about it, they would be encouraging you to vote for Rick too. In fact, they came along with Ben and I to talk to Sentator Santorum in Cedar Rapids. He had a great crowd and we had fun talking to him. My kids, of course, had to leave part way through the Senators speech and roam around the building but that's what happens when you have a 4, 3, and 11 month old.

A Very Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas with both the Lange side and the Dolan side. It is always nice to see family. My kids had so much fun this year with Christmas and were so excited for Santa Claus, I loved it! They got the Barbie house they had been asking for and I can say it only took 25 "elf hours" of painting on the part of my parents, Ben's Mom, Ben, and myself. We thank you guys for your help with it.

Uncle Cannon was home....so the girls must be thrown into the air. This is Emelia's turn...

Addison's turn...

The girls love the iPad

Ben's parents and their new dog Beau

My girls before Christmas Eve Mass

The girls setting out the milk and cookies for Santa

Christmas morning with the Barbie house

Having fun

Charlotte and Aunt Emily

Will and Aunt Aubrey

My Charlotte's first Christmas

Must take advantage of the amazing weather in Iowa on December 25th!

Our traditional Christmas picture...we keep adding children:)

Ben and his Charly

Addison's scooter was a big hit

Apparently Luke had his former coat since junior high? I'm certainly glad he got a new one this year since that's been a good 17 years or so!

My Mom opening one of her gifts

I had to include the next 10-15 pictures...these were ALL taken by ADDISON and I think it's hilarious the way everyone reacted to her:) This sums up Christmas at our house! Addison is quite the photographer and was taking shots of the fireplace, Christmas tree, carpet and more...but I thought those pictures may be a little boring.

We love to go bowling the day after Christmas. It's the only day the whole year we seem to make it there! This year we went with the Cannon's. Unfortunately I only have a few pictures of it.

Will taking his turn

Grandpa Dolan and Charlotte Kay

Uncle Cannon

2011-12-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

Uncle Cannon had only landed in Iowa 11 hours before, and look what the girls are already putting him up to. We got a tiny bit of snow last night, but not enough to actually sled down a hill by themselves. Enter Cannon. Yep, he pulled them up and down the hills. Over and over again. Good thing he is in good shape. This guy works out twice a day. Truthfully.

Charlotte enjoying the snow

Addison was loving it!

Ok, I'm done Mom. Please pick me up.

Uncle Cannon is getting tired.

More More More Sledding!

This is how it worked...

Still going...

Grandpa stopped to watch and warm up Charlotte.

Santa won't be going hungry around here!

2011-12-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Santa sent the girls Christmas letters in response to the letters they sent to him. In the letters it said, "P.S. Make sure you set out some cookies and milk because I get hungry delivering all the presents." Addison's response to this when I read her the letter was, "Mommy, but cookies won't fill him up." :) She is her mother's daughter. I am ALWAYS telling the kids when they say they are hungry that sweets and cookies will not fill them up but healthy food will. So when Santa stops at our house this weekend you will find broccoli and ONE cookie per Addison.

The girls and I had fun baking the cookies, but we made quite a mess!

The aftermath

We might not be able to sell these, but we had fun making them and it only took Ben and I about 45 minutes to clean it all up:)

11 months old

2011-12-17T19:20:00.000-08:00

Today is Charlotte's 11 month birthday and what a big girl she is! At her 9 month check up she was 23 pounds, so you can imagine what my back feels like these days as I guarantee she has put on a few more. In the past month she has started saying, "Dada, Mama, HHHHH (hot), and Bah (ball)." She also loves to clap her hands and raise her arms as high as she can when you say, "How big is Charlotte?" This past 11 months has flown by, and it seems like it went by so much faster than the other two girls. I think it's because we are so busy all day long everyday and just go-go-go.

As for the big girls, they are good too. Addison asked Ben and I tonight "How do you spell Facebook?" I am quite certain this was a question that Ben and I never asked our parents:)

Cruising along the couch

Maybe a lefty?

Crafting at the library

My 11 month old

Loving life!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

2011-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

I asked the girls this question this morning. At 4 Addison told me she wants "to be an airplane driver." I then asked Emelia, 3, and she responded, "A person. A worker doing stuff. I want to clean and use my flashlight." I can't wait to see what their future brings.

Here is Emelia and Ben watching a Christmas movie together. I thought it was especially cute.

A follow-up story regarding our afternoon at the park:)

2011-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

Only in a small town do you go on a walk with your kids and when you get home you realize that your 4 year old dropped her glove. So, while you are loading them into the car to back track the walk you just took to find the missing glove, your husband calls you and says, "Kelly, did you or one of the girls lose a glove." Me, "Ummmm what? How did you know that? Where are you? Aren't you at work?" (I was slightly creeped out). Ben's response, "Well, someone from Dunlaps (local car dealership) called me and said he thought that you and girls walked by and they saw a glove out on the sidewalk after that." I am laughing at this point realizing how crazy it is that they called my husband while he was at work before I had even realized the glove was missing. Thanks to Dunlaps, they saved me from spending a good 30 minutes scoping out the sidewalks in town with 3 hungry kids in the backseat.

Possibly a first...

2011-12-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

We hit the park today. On December 13th. This could possibly be a first for us, but how could we resist when the temperature was into the 40's! However, I will say that I am hoping for a little snow before Christmas. It just doesn't seem like the Christmas season without the beautiful white stuff.

This is my crew walking home from the park.

I had to include this picture too. Emelia was being awfully quiet upstairs this morning and I found out why. She had blue "princess lipstick" smeared not just on her lips but her nose, forehead, in her eyebrows, her hair, and other places. She is quite the girl.

You are my Sunshine

2011-12-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

She is my sunshine when skies are grey. Well, one of my three little sunshines....

Keeping Busy

2011-12-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

This week we had nothing in particular to do, which was pretty nice. We stayed busy doing crafts, painting, meeting the Peck kids at the Falcon Center, and I even bundled the kids up and made them go on a walk with me so I wouldn't go crazy:) We have also read all of our Christmas books and enjoyed a few Christmas movies too. Here are some pictures from our week:

Emelia with her sock snowman

Addison and her snowman

I was busy in the kitchen and when I walked into the living room I found Emelia had stuffed her hat and gloves up Charlotte's shirt. Emelia told me Charlotte was having a baby:)

Poor Charlotte

Her favorite place...the dirty dishwasher...yuck

Painting

Addison practicing her B's

This is where you can find Charlotte these days when she is not in the dishwasher...at my feet begging to be held.

Letters to Santa

2011-12-04T20:17:00.000-08:00

The girls and I sat down to write Santa their letters yesterday. I love that Addison can address the envelope by herself. This year Addison asked for an airplane, a rocketship, a Barbie house, a Barbie bed, some Barbie clothes, a bottle of chocolate milk(?) and some high heels. Emelia asked for a Barbie house, a Barbie bed, a big green tractor, and some hee-haws (high heels) for her Barbie. They also would like Santa to bring Charlotte a Barbie she cannot swallow and a new doll.

I love this picture...

Santa came and visited our neighbor and we were lucky enough to get to meet him again!

Can you tell Charlotte was not too excited?

Tis the Season

2011-12-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Growing up I remember going with my family to the window walk in downtown Manchester, so when I was reading the paper a few weeks ago I saw an advertisement for it and knew I had to take the girls. So last Thursday night Mom and I took the girls up and down the streets so they could look into each window and see various Christmas scenes from baby Jesus to singing angels. There were also camels, goats, a donkey, wise men, puppies, chickens and some singing puppets they seemed to really enjoy.

The singing puppets

Charlotte was a trooper

Ready to head home!

Baby it's Cold Outside

2011-12-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

Wow, in the teens this morning...a little chilly for Mommy. I'm supposed to run a 5K again on Saturday and I haven't run for 10 days because I just can't bring myself to be outside in the freezing cold. I need to move south. :) Thankfully, my kids don't feel the cold as much as I do. In fact, it was 11 degrees outside on Friday morning and they asked to go outside to play house. Charlotte was napping so I stood at the window, drinking my hot tea, and watched them while they played out there for a good 30 minutes. Good for them and good for Mommy. Indoor activities have begun so we have been painting, building lots of forts, making a Gingerbread House, and spending time in the toy room.

I told them not to rub the paint all over themselves, but Emelia told me, "I have princess gloves on now Mommy."

Charlotte seemed to enjoy painting with her pudding

The Gingerbread House...Ben and I set it up, I put frosting on it and let the girls take it over from there!

It doesn't exactly look like the picture on the box, but I thought they did a good job!

7 years of wedded bliss

2011-11-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

That is what Ben says when he tells people we just had our 7 year anniversary. I am sure he doesn't necessarily think it's all blissful, but we have certainly had fun! We have moved 5 times in 7 years...to St. Paul, then to Lakeville, then to Virginia, then Quasky and now Independence. We have also had 3 beautiful girls who keep our life interesting and incredibly busy! Of course, I don't have any recent pictures of just Ben and I but here are some pictures I took over the weekend.

This is from Thankgiving Day. Our dryer is broken AGAIN so I was hanging laundry out on the line on November 24th! Ben made the girls this makeshift laundry line for them to hang up clothes on too.

Ben and his mini-me

I can't remember what face they were making here?

Me and my girls Thanksgiving Day 2011

Charlotte's 1st Thanksgiving

O Christmas Tree

2011-11-29T13:00:00.000-08:00

You guessed it...we have it up and decorated! It seems to have become a tradition of ours now, the day after Thanksgiving we literally wait in line (for about 10 minutes) at the Wapsie Tree Farm to pick out our Christmas tree. We let the girls run around and try to pick one and I don't think it's a good sign that Addison picked THE BIGGEST AND MOST EXPENSIVE tree in the lot. I can picture it now, "Daddy, please please please buy me those $199.00 jeans...I really want them." Thankfully, the tree she picked out was about 5 feet too high for our ceilings so we "helped" her choose a smaller one. Next, the girls talked to Santa. No sitting on his lap, except for Charlotte but she had no choice:) My kids are always scared of him. They did, however, give him a few ideas of what they wanted him to bring them. Addison said, "A rocketship and an airplane." Emelia said, "A Barbie house and a Barbie bed." I have no idea where Addison got those ideas as they girls really only play with Barbies and dolls but we will see what he can come up with.

Look who is ready to meet Santa for the first time! :)

Aunt Aubrey was helping Grandma and Grandpa Dolan pick their tree out too.

Addison wouldn't get any closer to Santa, or move her head

Not liking this so much!

Setting up the tree!

Addison putting the angel on the tree

Emelia putting the angel on the tree. Yes, we had to do it twice. Next year we will probably have to do it three times.

We are Thankful....

2011-11-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

This morning while Charlotte was taking her nap, the girls and I made a Thanksgiving tree. While we were making it I was trying to explain to them why we have Thanksgiving and that it is a time to be thankful for what we have, our family, and our health. After we had it made, I asked them to list some things they were thankful for and I would write it on the tree. Here are a few of the things they came up with:

Addison:
"My dress up clothes and shoes."
"All my stuff and all my family."
"My scissors."

Emelia:
"The big green tractor that Grandpa has."
"Daddy, Mommy, Charlotte, and Addie." (That's my sweetie pie, always thinking of others)
"New shoes."

Some of the things they came up with were very interesting:) I added a few things like, "My 3 beautiful girls, our Family, the food we have, and our books that we love to read."

Here is where you will find Charlotte spending a lot of her time...playing with the shoes? :)

The girls with their Thanksgiving Tree

Charlotte is 10 months!

2011-11-21T12:59:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it, but last week Charlotte turned 10 months old! She was not interested in taking any pictures and kept trying to pull the "10 month" sticker off of her shirt.

Homemade Shampoo & Bodywash

2011-11-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

Shortly after Addison was born I started reading about all of the hidden carcinogens and other chemicals associated with everyday personal products, makeup, etc. I became immediately concerned about my kids and what they were exposed to everyday. I know there are many things that I can't prevent them from being exposed to, but what I put on their skin and body I can definitely control. I first used California Baby products, which I love, but I think is really expensive. I then started thinking about making my own products and came across several "recipes" online and a few in the book, "Do It Gorgeously" by Sophie Uliano. Due to the essential oils, I use one mixture on Charlotte and the other on the older girls. Once Charlotte is a little older I will only have to use one product. Now, these products have no detergents in them and they will not lather like the regular shampoos we are used to. This took me quite awhile to get used to, I just felt like they weren't actually getting clean when really they are much cleaner than they were when I was using the other products.

Charlotte's Baby Wash:

1 cup of filtered water

2 tbsp of liquid castile soap (I use the Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild Soap)

1 tbsp. of vegetable glycerin

6 drops of Roman chamomile essential oil

Here are the products I use, the majority of them I ordered from Mountain Rose Herbs. You can get Dr. Bronner's at Target now too.

Pour the water into the bottle

1 tbsp of vegetable glycerin

Castile Soap

2 Tbsp of castile soap

Essential Oil

One bottle of body wash/shampoo that will last Charlotte several months!

Now, for the older girls I do a little different concoction, and I change it all the time.

Addie & Emee's Shampoo and Bodywash
1 cup of Dr. Bronner's Lavender Liquid castile soap
1/2 tsp. of jojoba oil
a few drops of lavender essential oil
a few drops of grapefruit essential oil
Mix the ingredients together in a bottle and voila - homemade Shampoo/Bodywash

Products I used

Pour in the castile soap

Measure out the jojoba oil and pour in

Drop in the essential oils

This small amount will last my two girls at least a month

I couldn't resist

2011-11-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist posting these pictures of my kids. It was 60 degrees yesterday and they were having fun with each other. Awesome.

Just a few pictures...

2011-11-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

Addison loves Charlotte so much. She is always wanting to hold her, feed her, and simply be around her. She is such a big helper!

Charlotte just started standing for a good 3-5 seconds on her own! Possibly walking before Christmas? We will see! Below she was enjoying watching the snow outside the other morning. It is so cute, she stands at the windows and hits it over and over.

My Girl...

Kale Chips...they're not just for Grownups

2011-11-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, I do not know any grown ups personally who actually eat kale chips, but I am on a quest to add "super foods" to my kids' diets and kale is one of these super foods we have been working on for a few months now. I have always made my kids baby food, and the cookbook I used during that time always said to keep introducing foods to your kids over and over again, even if they don't like it. Well, kale just happens to be one of the foods that requires reintroduction. After about 3 months of giving them kale "chips" once/week we are finally eating them without hesitation! Now, Addison still said, "What? Kale chips again? we ALLLLLWAYS eat those." And yes, she says it quite dramatically and somehow manages to throw in an eye roll or two. (I was unaware 4 year olds even knew how to roll their eyes. She can't even wink yet?) I digress. So, kale chips, yes, we eat them. Ben even eats them and says, "They're not too bad." Try them. They are so good for you. Here's how I do it.

1.) Throughly wash your kale and then remove the leaves from the stems.

Always wash your kale first, it's not only a superfood, it's always supposedly one of the dirtiest foods.

2.) Put on a cookie sheet, toss with a little olive oil and sea salt and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Watch them carefully, they do NOT taste very good once they start to burn.

Kale chips. Yes, you may have to convince your kids they are chips:)

Even Charlotte eats Kale chips!

Doesn't she look excited to be eating them?

Emelia's First Day of Preschool

2011-11-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

Emelia's 2nd day of preschool was today, and she seems to be enjoying it. We are on a trial basis through this month, but I would guess she is going to do just fine. I took some pictures last week on her first day and forgot to post them, so here is my big 3 year old's first day of preschool photos. I also included some from a walk we went on last week when it was 70 degrees. This morning it was 29 degrees. My how things change quickly around here.

Ready for her 1st day of school

Addison, not so excited???

Heading in to Kate's house

November 1st, we took a walk to the ice cream shop:)

Sisters

Snow

2011-11-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe that just Monday we were out walking with no coats on! Well, I knew it wouldn't last:( On the upside, the girls were very excited, asking if they could go sledding and even eating the snow off their picnic table (gross:)

Excited for the snow!

Having a little taste

Pretending to be puppies. It's their new thing. I don't get it.

Poor Charlotte...they stuck stickers to her head???

Now, with all the snow, blowing wind, and slush I went to my happy place without even leaving my house....I made myself a pumpkin latte...yummo

Thankful for this Lovely day

2011-11-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

November 7th and going for a walk without a coat? For me, someone who really doesn't enjoy the cold, this is a blessing. Plus, I saw the forecast for tomorrow and the rest of the week and it doesn't look good. I'm sure the girls are sick of hearing me say, "Girls this is probably the last nice day of the year, we need to get out and enjoy it." I'm just glad I have gotten to say it so many times! So today we have been busy at the park with Kreighton, Clara, and Kael and then went on a walk after lunch.

My love bug

Emelia and Kreigton

The girls - Emelia is hiding behind them:)

She is getting really good on her trike!

I LOVE that she can pull the wagon and I don't have to:)

Lots of pictures!

2011-11-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the camera came Friday. I don't know 1/10 of everything it can do, but I know it takes better pictures then my old camera! Here are a few shots from the last 24 hours (I've been taking a lot:)

Visiting Katie's new horse barn

First time with a sucker...it was bribery to keep her quiet!

She loves her baths

They wanted to do a silly picture

This is where you can find her these days - standing up and trying to walk!

She is one silly girl!

Daddy was blowing leaves at them

How can you resist...

2011-11-03T13:02:00.001-07:00

these cheeks?

Charlotte @ 9 months

Excited Mommy

2011-11-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

So today I am excited for a few reasons: 1.) I should be getting a new camera tomorrow! Emily found me a nice used Canon SLR camera. It will probably be way over my head, but I am a quick learner! My camera has been broken for a few weeks now and I have been borrowing my Mom's, which just isn't cutting it. So a woman that lives in Mankato, MN is sending me her old camera! 2.) Emelia started preschool 1 day/week as of this morning and she did AWESOME (so far). She walked right in like she had been doing it forever. We are doing it on a trial basis for now to see how she does. I have gone back and forth about whether or not she is ready, but when I had to literally drag her out of the place after dropping Addison off at preschool yesterday, I decided she must be ready. She is 3, she had been potty trained for a year, and I think she gets bored every morning with just Mommy while Charlotte is napping and Addison is at preschool. At least now this will give her a little more kid interaction. Plus, it gives Mommy more time to fold laundry - yay! and 3.) I found this picture below online. Ben and I have been meeting with an architect about building our dream house. I have been going back and forth between 1 story or 2? 2 story or 1? I had always figured we'd build 2, but then I went on the Parade of Homes and saw a lot of great 1 story houses. Well, I think after seeing this picture I am leaning more towards 2 stories (at least today). I love the shutters on the upstairs hallway!

I found this picture on Pinterest and I'm not sure who took it!

Wanted

2011-11-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

Looking for two cute 3-4 year old girls who enjoy stuffing, stamping, and licking envelopes. Will pay with kisses and hugs.

Working on Daddy's Exploratory Committee...it's a family affair

Emelia's Birthday Recap

2011-11-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Emelia's birthday with extended family on Saturday. She originally wanted a Barbie cake, and I had already done the doll in the cake thing last year so I was on the search for a Barbie pan. Apparently they are discontinued and the only pans I could find were on Amazon for over $30...So, fast forward to the week before her birthday and she told me she wanted a Tiana cake. For those that don't know, Tiana is the princess in Princess and the Frog. So, I found a small Tiana cake topper (because they don't have a cake pan of Tiana yet either), spent a few hours decorating, and she LOVED it! She got lots of great presents including clothes, toys, and an Amelia Bedelia book from Aunt Aubrey and Uncle Chase. Thank you everyone!

This is supposed to be a scene from the Louisiana bayou...so there is water, lilly pads, etc. I am clearly not a professional cake maker:)

Princess and the Frog

Charlotte is crawling everywhere!

and eating cheese sticks

Dylan and Emelia riding the gator.

Emelia with her cake

My girl

Opening presents

Princess Emelia

Candyland

2011-11-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

Being a stay at home Mom again has definitely had it's perks, for both the girls and me. For one, while I find our everyday life may be chaotic most of the time, I think I am actually more organized. This summer I went through all of the girls books and sorted out the "holiday" books and put them away so I can get them out during that particular "holiday." I didn't know if I would actually remember to do it, but so far so good. A month ago I got out all the pumpkin/Fall/Halloween books and put them on the shelf so we have been enjoying reading about "Seeds to Pumpkins," changing seasons etc. Halloween was finally here so we read through all of our Halloween books including, "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and really got into the spirit of it all before heading out Trick or Treating.

Addison and Emelia went as Bees for Halloween this year. They had 132 different costume ideas over the course of the past month, but after a trip to Old Navy and seeing the Bumblebee costumes there, they finally settled on those. I was happy because they were age appropriate and I could easily put warm clothes under the costumes. Charlotte had both a pumpkin and a ladybug costume this year. Addison and Emelia were adamant that she wear the ladybug, so of course that is what we went with. The girls had a great time trick or treating downtown at the area businesses, stopping in Quasky at Mugzy and Papa's, visiting with Grandma Dolan, and hitting our neighbors and their old babysitter in town. They then settled down last night and watched "Hocus Pocus" to finish out Halloween 2011. Overall it was a successful holiday for them, but not so much for Mommy as it's not even 9:00 a.m. and I have already eaten two of their fun size Snickers bars. Good thing I am up to 4 miles on my training, I'm going to need it this week.

The night before Halloween we carved pumpkins, Addison refused to touch the insides with her hands.

Emelia on the other hand digs right in!

The Bumblebees and the Ladybug

Happy First Halloween Lotte BUG:)

Grandma Dolan was a cat! Grandpa was out combining so we didn't get to see him today.

Moving!

2011-10-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Charlotte was sick ALL last week...but thankfully that is ALL over. She is not only crawling now but also pulling herself up onto things and walking along them. Who is this kid? My other two didn't walk until 15 months so I was naturally just expecting her to take her sweet time too. She obviously has other plans! This is how I found her after her nap the other day:

Emelia is 3!

2011-10-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

Today our day started with birthday cake and presents. If only every day could start like that! Three years ago today our second baby girl was born. Ben and I were reminiscing about her birth last night. (Really, that's just me reminding him of exactly what happened. He remembers the big things, but Mommy remembers every little detail of course). October 28, 2008 I had a regular visit with my midwife who said to me, "You are going to have a baby today Kelly, you are 8 cm dilated!" Let's just say I was surprised:) My next question was ridiculous, which I now realize, but I asked her, "So can I go back to work?" I now wonder, "What was I thinking? 8 cm and I wanted to go back to work?" I wasn't feeling any contractions so felt perfectly fine. Instead, I told her I would go get myself a sandwich and meet her at the hospital. Once Ben arrived at the hospital Kim (midwife) broke my water and an hour later and 2 pushes my Emelia Ann was born. She is a bright light in our world. She is so funny and smiles all the time. She was just as excited about her birthday today. She has told me 150 things "she wanted for her birthday" over the past two months. I think she was happy with her haul!

Making cupcakes last night

October 28, 2011 - 3 years old

I will say, I never thought I would have a blondie!

Emelia and her new Ballerina Barbie

Cake for breakfast!

Sister love - Addison 4 1/2, Emelia 3

She dresses herself

This little one found the spatula we frosted the cupcakes with. Her first taste of sugar and she loved it. I bet I will be finding her at the dishwasher all the time now!

Halloween Buzz

2011-10-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

The girls have been enjoying getting into the Halloween spirit. They have their costumes picked out, we've made cheesecake brownies in various Halloween shapes, visited a pumpkin farm, and have even done a few orange colored crafts! :) Oh, we also made Witch's Brew and have had some visits from the Witch too. Here is the recipe we use:

Witch's Brew a.k.a. Mulled Cider

Ingredients
4 cups water
2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
Dash ground cloves
1 gallon apple cider or unsweetened apple juice
1 can (12 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1 individual tea bag

Directions
In a large kettle, combine the water, allspice, cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients. Return just to a boil. Discard cinnamon stick and tea bag. Stir and serve warm. Yield: 18 servings (4-1/2 quarts).

Pretty bright on our trip to the Pumpkin Farm

My little ghost

Jumping around in a big orange pumpkin!

Hay Ride

Giant jumping pillow with Daddy!

Whooo hoo Witch's Brew!

A little taste test

Our Halloween craft

House full of Sickness!

2011-10-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

All 5 of us have had a cold for the past 5 days, but Charlotte has gotten the brunt of the sickness in our house. She has had an off and on fever for the past 3 days. She has been cranky, tired, and restless at night. We went to the doctor yesterday and she had a VERY sore throat, but luckily the first strep test has come back negative. We will know tomorrow if anything else showed up in the culture. Poor baby has been sleeping on me for the past 3 nights in a row too, which is oh so very tiring for Mommy. I have tried to enjoy it, however exhausted I may be. She is obviously past that baby stage where she falls asleep in random places and sleeps in my arms at the drop of a hat. Well, the past few days that is exactly what she has been doing, so even at 3 a.m. when she will only sleep while I am sitting up rocking her, I have been trying to enjoy it. I know there are many parents out there missing their babies and wishing they could be up with their sick kids. The doctor said the fever could last 5 days...so two more to go, wish me luck...

All about Lotte

2011-10-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

This post is all about my Lotte bear, partly because I forgot to post about her turning 9 months old 6 days ago, and partly because today WAS all about my Lotte. My baby has been sick since yesterday, snotty nose, sore throat (I am pretty sure) and a temperature of 103 last night:( She wouldn't let me even put her down today except for the one time she got a popsicle. That popsicle allowed me to clean up her partially eaten lunch and wipe the counters down. Other than that, my house was a disaster! Thankfully, her older sisters spent the afternoon driving with Grandma and Grandpa to Ames to have lunch with Aunt Aubrey because it's her birthday TODAY!! Happy Birthday Aubrey! I don't know if I would have been able to take care of all three of them with no free arms.

What? More pictures Mommy?

This picture reminds me of Ben...this is HIS signature smile...

Addison wanted to get in this picture

Combining with Grandpa

2011-10-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

The girls spent the afternoon with Grandpa in the combine. Addison has been begging me to take her out to combine for the past two weeks, so Addison and Emelia spent close to 3 hours riding around and they even had supper in there too!

Heading out to combine

Addison LOVES it!

Charlotte's first time

Emelia is ALWAYS happy:)

Grandpa and his grand girls

4 going on 14

2011-10-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

Addison seems like she has really grown up in the past 9 months, really since Charlotte was born. Possibly having a baby in the house makes your older kids grow up a little bit. She is always so helpful around the house and entertains Charlotte for me whenever I need to prepare a meal or clean lunch up.
Recently, Addison has also been wanting to have friends come over to play. I know from reading books about the way children develop, that this is the first step to her becoming more independent. While Ben and I are still very important to her at age 4, her friends are becoming "cool" (she actually uses that word). Ben and I also have noticed how polite, friendly, and happy she is when her friends are around. She is like this at home too, but when her friends are there it is astounding! We joked that she is smart enough to understand her friends aren't going to deal with the whining and back talking that gets her into trouble around the house. It is fun to watch her interact with other kids and have actual conversations about things too. One result of the Saturday playdate is that "she must have the sketcher light up boots that Aly had on." So, I guess I won't be picking her winter boots out this year!

Here are a few pictures with her friend:

Lunch Lady Land

2011-10-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

Ben introduced the girls to Adam Sandler's "Lunch Lady Land" on YouTube, so all day what did I hear around the house? "Hoagies and Grinders, Hoagies and Grinders...Navy Beans Navy Beans...Sloppy Joes...Sloppy Sloppy Joes." Ahhh life is so simple when you spend your day singing Lunch Lady Land over and over!

I also had lots of questions from Addison about hair nets, moles, and other things related to the song:) Gross, I know.

Fall has Arrived!

2011-10-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, today reminded me of why I want to winter in the south! :) Yes, I realize it even made it into the 50's so we have many colder days to go before Spring. We took advantage of Emily spending a few days in Iowa and had her take some more pictures of the five of us. Unfortunately, my camera is no longer in commission so I have no pictures to share of the girls with their cousins. Check out Emily's blog www.korbmacherfamily.blogspot.com to see some of the kids having fun together! I also need some new camera suggestions please.

2012

2011-10-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Ben decided to form an Exploratory Committee to decide whether or not he will run for Congress again in 2012. You can visit his website at www.langeforcongress.com

Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago that our friend Cody took:

Who is Christopher Columbus?

2011-10-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried explaining Columbus Day to a 4 year old? Well, I did yesterday and it went something like this, "Mommy why didn't we get any mail today?" "Well, the mailman doesn't have to work today because it's Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus discovered the United States of America and so we celebrate that today." Addison's response was, "Our mailman's name is Christopher Columbus?" I then realized this was a little over the head of a 4 year old!

Wagon Rides and Pumpkins

2011-10-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

The past week has been wonderful! We have been loving the 75-80 degree October weather by going on walks, trips to the parks, eating outside, and just soaking up the sun because we know what the next months will bring.

Taking a wagon ride with the pumpkins

My little girls

Enjoying some outdoor time while Addison is at preschool

Trying to crawl

My girls

Photography by Emelia

Another cute comment...

2011-10-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

So, my kids have just been saying the darndest things the last few days! Addison was brushing my hair tonight and asked me if I wanted straight hair. I explained to her that a long time ago I wished I had straight hair but then I realized that God made me with curly hair and I am happy about it, it doesn't really matter if it's curly or straight. She looked right at me and said, "Just like Tiana." "Ummm ok, how is that?" I asked and she began singing, "Doesn't matter what you look like...it doesn't matter what you wear." I guess Disney shows really can teach your kids something!

Emee-isms

2011-10-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

Today after already having two snacks Miss Emelia was demanding a 3rd. "Nope," I said, "We are going to eat lunch in an hour and half." Emelia is quick on her feet as she responds, "Mommy, Jesus is watching you." "oh really?" I say. "Yes, and he says he wants you to give me another snack." She certainly plays her cards well.

Another cute comment she made was on the way home from a wedding this weekend. When we were leaving she asked me, "Mommy is the Princess leaving too?" It took me a second to realize she was talking about the bride. She also asked me why I didn't dance with the Prince. Her world is just full of fairy tales, how wonderful to be almost 3!

Moser School of Dance and Gymnastics

2011-10-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

Over 20 years ago Emily and I started tap and tumbling with Moser. I remember driving to Manchester every week and going into the basement of one of the banks in town to take tap and tumbling. I remember Mom making us each a bag with our names on it to keep our uniforms in. Mine was pink and Emily's was blue. The things you remember from your childhood. Well, fast forward almost 25 years and my two girls are attending Moser and have the SAME teacher Emily and I did...Miss Debbie Moser and wow does she look great 25 years later! Today was the first Visitor's Day and the girls did great. It is so cute to watch them tap around in their shoes, do bear crawls and somersaults. I am sure Charlotte is going to want to join in soon enough.

My little Emelia..

2011-10-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

My little Emelia is our little "hoarder" right now and so I feel like we are constantly in search of something. I have found several random items in her purse just this week including a television remote control, my cell phone (which I had spent several hours wondering where that was), random cash, and a half eaten apple. We have been looking for Ben's bluetooth for the past week and it still is missing. She finally said to her Daddy, "Daddy you KEEP asking me where your bluetooth is...I don't know Daddy." She is so used to getting everything taken from her by BOTH of her sisters that she has resorted to hiding things. This month is her birthday and she will be 3. I can't believe how much she has grown up in the past 6 months. She has such a funny personality and is ALWAYS smiling and laughing. She even laughs when she is getting in trouble, which drives me crazy:) Yet, she is my girl. She loves her Momma and will tell you that. She doesn't like to leave my side EVER and if I'm not going with you can forget about her going. "I want my Momma and my Momma's not going" was her response when she didn't want to go get her nails done with her Grandma Mugzy and Addison. Ah, I know I will look back on this time of her life and smile because she loves me so much right now and freely expresses it with lots of kisses, hugs, and smiles for me...and always the question, "Are you going Mommy?" :) My little Emelia....

Here would be another one of her chosen outfits for the park...

Another Happy Birthday...

2011-09-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

The girls love to dress themselves...and most of the time I let them express that however they want (weather appropriate:)

Charlotte checking out some garden produce

She is pulling herself up to her knees now

Happy Birthday to Mugzy! My Mom and Ben's Moms birthdays are 1 week apart...

Tire swinging with Aunt Katie

This girl loves to swing!

Eating Addison's sock:)

Having some fun while Addison is at preschool

A pumpkin from our patch

This one is just Charlotte's size!

Blueberry pancakes

From the mouths of babes...

2011-09-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't uploaded any new pictures so have none to share right now, but a funny Addie-ism. Right before getting into the tub tonight she blurts out, "Anybody out there wanna have a cold beer kick it til the morning light." I asked her, "Where have you heard that?" "On the radio" was her response. She is a SPONGE. Thankfully she hasn't quite gotten the next line yet:)

Happy Birthday to MY MOMMA!

2011-09-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

My Mom's birthday was yesterday - Happy Birthday! We enjoyed it with her by having dinner and Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Oh and Charlotte was 8 months old on Saturday...life is just flying by....

Addison HAD to hold Kael most of the time he was here!

4 kids for 2 hours...

My baby is 8 months old!

Mom's birthday

The Lion King

2011-09-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

What a fun day we had! Maggie and I took the girls to see the Lion King in 3D. It is my favorite Disney movie of all time so I was excited to share this with the girls. They loved it, especially the music, and probably more because I let them have a tiny glass of Sprite and they are never allowed soda pop:) They were singing "Hukana Matata" all the way up to bed.

The life of the Lange girls...

2011-09-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

Meeting baby Kael!

It's amazing how much kids can grow in 7 months! Charlotte looks like a giant compared to Kael.

enjoying the wonderful weather we've been having!

my crazy girls

the marching band marches down our street everyday right before naps...so here are my two marching down the sidewalk!

Labor Day

2011-09-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Not many photos were taken this weekend...here are a few we captured...

I bought Charlotte a toothbrush so here she is learning to brush her teeth!

Wow! Some pictures of Mommy and her girls! :)

3 for 3!

2011-09-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

So far all 3 of our girls are more than happy to eat tomatoes right out of the garden...I wish we could keep this wonderful produce all winter long:(

The first week of preschool in photos...

2011-08-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

Kate sent us pictures from the first week of preschool! It looks like they had fun...

4 year old preschool

2011-08-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

Addison started 4 year old preschool on Monday. She will be going three days a week this year instead of two. She seemed excited to go, which makes me wonder if she is getting bored at home with Mommy and her sisters?? Friends are always more fun I guess!

Here are some first day pictures:

Where have we been?

2011-08-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

I have not posted a blog for awhile...we have been busy! We had a great trip to Adventureland, then spent some time in Geneva for Will's first birthday party! We have been soaking up some rays (with sunscreen on of course) at the pool and are sad that it closed today...what are we going to do every afternoon? We have hit every park in town and have been picking LOTS of vegetables out at the garden.

Charlotte started sitting up this past month!

Lots of bike riding

Lots of park time - here we are at the park in Oelwein after checking out the Amish!

She loves her new trick - sitting up!

She turned 7 months on August 17th!

Mommy, "give me the camera!"

She doesn't like me to feed her with a spoon...so messy face/neck/hands/etc. happens ALL the time now!

Picnic! Daddy met us for lunch too!

Trip to Geneva

One year old!

Loving the sand

Addie the night of her preschool open house

Adventureland

2011-08-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

I'm having a hard time figuring out how to post pictures with my iPad of our trip...here are a few...

A few words from vacation...

2011-08-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

As I type this I am holed up in the hotel room with my two littlest children (it's nap time) and no lights on except for the light coming from this iPad. Please keep sleeping kids, you need it. We are at Adventureland and they are loving it. I just talked to Ben and he and Addison just went on the tornado and sat in the front row! I haven't figured out how to copy pictures from the iPad to the blogpost so no pictures right now...

Strawberry Jam

2011-07-26T19:45:00.001-07:00

The girls and I enjoyed picking strawberries a few weeks ago, which we froze in quarts as well as made lots of strawberry jam. If you are looking for a low sugar alternative, as most jam recipes call for more sugar than fruit, you need to check out www.pomonapectin.com. I found Pomona's Universal Pectin at Roots Market in Cedar Falls, but if you can't find it near you order it online. It is preservative free and activated by calcium! There are also directions included with the pectin if you don't know how to make it. We now have about 8 quarts frozen in the deep freezer and 5 pints of strawberry jam. I really got into the jam sessions so we also made 3 quarts of peach jam while we are at it.

picking strawberries

Emelia ate more strawberries than she picked!

the girls with some of our strawberry jam

Who doesn't love cousins?!?!

2011-07-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend the kids got to spend time with their 2nd cousins...or maybe it's 2nd cousins once removed? Either way, they had fun. It took them only 20 minutes or so to warm up and before I knew it they were off playing in the basement or outside and not paying ANY attention to Mommy or Daddy (really, it was kind of nice:) They played ball, caught fireflies, painted nails and just ran around. They were tired little girls when we headed home!

Emelia, Addison, Leo, Dolan, Leo, Hailey, Charlotte and Grace

Fireflies! Apparently they don't have these in the city?

My cousin Molly and Charlotte

Always changing...

2011-07-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

Being a mother for over 4 years now I have realized that things are always changing when it comes to my kids. This week we have had two BIG changes! First Charlotte is FINALLY sleeping at night! Two nights ago she slept for 12 hours straight, last night she slept for 6 hours, got up to eat and then back to sleep for another 5 hours - YES! I have been sleep deprived for over 6 months now and it is about time. The 2nd big change is no more crib for Emelia. I easily could have moved her out of her crib a few months ago but we just never got around to doing it. Well, while we were in Minnesota we found the perfect bunk bed for the girls and so today Ben put it up and Emelia is officially a big girl! In other news, Charlotte is also 6 months old today and it is 90 degrees warmer than when we brought her home from the hospital!

6 months old for Charlotte today and it's so darn hot my camera lens fogged up when we went outside!

6 months old!

She loves her new bed...

just a picture i thought was cute:)

Gull Lake

2011-07-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

We went up to Minnesota for 6 days with Ben's family. During that time we visited Como Zoo which the girls loved! We also had ice cream on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. This is just a few blocks from where Ben and I lived when we first got married. After one night in the cities, we headed up to Gull Lake which is near Brainerd. We spent the next few days swimming, boating, fishing, wakeboarding, shopping, and EATING! :) We ate so much Ben and I went on a "detox" for two days after we got home!

Charlotte is a Mommy's girl

Lets just say she HATED the lifejacket...can you blame her?

Going on a bear hunt....the marshmellows are for the bears

Emelia's hair was pretty wild while we were there - hey it was vacation. Papa was tired of the craziness and decided to brush it himself!

Roasting a hotdog

Addison roasting a marshmellow

Daddy and Charly

Best family picture we could capture

This is on the ride home...it's tough to keep a 5.5 month old entertained for a 6 hour drive...I found food helps!

On the boat

at the zoo

My monkeys LOVED the monkeys

My littlest monkey at the zoo

getting a picture with the polar bears

We can't leave a zoo w/o cotton candy!

more boat action...she is ready for the sun!

Mommy and Daddy...this is what we did while the kids were napping!

Ben doing a cartwheel off the trampoline - impressive!

my baby

just doing a little kayaking

Emelia's first fish!

Charlotte with a little sand on her face


Addie's fish!

Summertime

2011-07-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

We have been having fun this summer...I think these pictures explain it all.

messy face

park time

snacks at the park

Charlotte loves the park too

my lovebug

Charlotte at the ice cream shop

Emelia enjoying a strawberry ice cream cone

Addison enjoying a cotton candy cone

playing in the Wapsi

Climbing trees

Something New

2011-06-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

These girls can't wait until they can get a dog - they spent the last 3 days playing fetch with our neighbor's dog, Brodie. They love to throw the frisbee and have him run after it.


Something new for Charlotte - the jumper

Charlotte Kay - and yes she is always soaked because it's spit up. My kids spit up ALL. THE. TIME

Father's Day

2011-06-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to my Dad and to my kid's Dad...they are both GREAT Father's and we are blessed to have both in our lives!

My "Lotte Bear" is 5 months old

2011-06-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Charlotte (also referred to as Charly and Lotte by her family) is 5 months old! She is such a happy baby now and did an awesome job on our trip to Geneva. She hardly cried and made the car ride a breeze. Now, if we could just get her to sleep all night - maybe when she starts on solid food she will sleep? Maybe? I doubt it, but I can always hope!

just a swinging

What? I'm 5 months? yay!

Addison enjoying taking pictures of her little sister

Geneva

2011-06-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

This week Mom, the girls and I headed to Geneva, IL to visit my sister and her family. They just bought their first house and this was the girls and my first time seeing it. It's a great house with so much space so they can expect more visits from us! The girls had fun playing with their cousins, going to the "Jump Zone," and the pool. I took quite a few pictures with Emily's camera so I don't have too many with mine:(

The cousins tried a slumber party but after an hour and a half and they were still up and jumping around I had to separate them:)

Emelia at the jump zone

the cousins and a friend they made

Addison at the jump zone

Dancing Princesses

2011-06-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

The girls have been busy the past week with park time, play dates with Addison's preschool playmates and last night a wedding. They LOVE to dance and got to stay out way past their bedtime!

Charlotte - 4.5 months

The girls getting ready for the park

just a little sister smooch

Addison

Emelia

Charlotte and Mommy hanging out at the park

Look who came in with the laundry

Dancing at the Steffen wedding

Sister Love

We were saying "hello" to Uncle Cannon and Aunt Emily

Aunt Aubrey shared a few dances with the girls too

Taking a break from dancing with Gma Dolan

Mommy and her big girls

Getting a ride from Daddy as we leave - they were tired!