A short intro to the pictures...

Congrats to Jaime and Trevor! The wedding was downright gorgeous, and too much fun. Kara was kind enough to watch my babies so Chris and I could party, so after nearly an hour of arguing with Mia about whether or not she was going to sleep (I won), and getting Ella settled with Kara (which took about three seconds....Kara's clearly her new fav!) I was back at the party dancing myself silly. Actually I danced myself into the recognition that I dance just like my mother! I find comfort in the fact that not only does DeEtte always seem to be having a great time while she dances, but Ginger also professed to the same crime!


You can see from the pics that I took the plunge and cut my hair... It hasn't been this short since I was 12 I don't think - but I love it.

Easter and Wedding Pics

"Look Mama....Sand!"

Ella's sandbox if FINALLY clear of snow and ice....and she spent a good hour digging and raking today, happy as a clam (why is it that we assume clams are happy?). It was a beautiful day around here, we played at the park with some friends in the morning, after which I plopped Mia in the grass so I could hang up some clothes. She loved it so much, and was content not to crawl around the entire yard, that I moved her spot so she was next to the sand box, gave her a plastic rake and let the two of them play for a while. Both were quite happy. Ella filled many a bucket and truck with sand and even went back out for a short second round in the late afternoon. And she got to go back to the park after dinner while I put Mia to bed.

Chris is in Chicago for the night, so it's just me and the girls, Mia's already out and L's watching "puppies" (one hundred and one dalmations). She has a good 20 minutes until I institute bedtime.

Mia's adjusting to live in the mobile realm. Her crawl, which I thought might forever be odd, has evened out and she nows takes big "steps" with her hands and scoots her little knees right up behind. She's even found herself able to crawl on slick surfaces (laminate/wood/etc.). She tried to follow me a few times today, but mostly chases whatever toys Ella is currently playing with. If big missy is doing puzzles, so is little missy...when big missy wants to play Mr. Potato head, so does Miss Mia. And Ella's hating it. Mia also seems to show a clear preference to table food over baby food. Which is fine with me, but it makes meal times long, it's much easier to shove spoonfuls of puree in her than let her smash it around in her mouth for five minutes before swallowing!

Lots coming up, as always....Jaime and Trevor's wedding this weekend, then DeEtte comes midweek for a friend's Pampered Chef party....just before Aunt Heather is coming to stay with us for a weekend. We're very excited, haven't seen Heather since Christmas...it'll be fun to show off all our new tricks! I'm running a race the next weekend....another 3 miler here in town, same route as my turkey trot so I'll be able to see if I've gotten any better. Any bets? We're passing on the St. Thomas Ball that night in leui of offering to take care of all the kids here. Should be a good time for the toddlers. Our next activity after that is our Texas trip a few weeks later. I think we're all already excited. We've got a zoo trip planned, and KC is the end of May. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

My plans tonight include ironing, trying to coerse a friend to bring me a soda since I'm trapped here with my sleeping kids and have none in the house, and watching the newest episode of Top Chef. I love that show.

It's The End of the World As We Know It...

Mia started crawling last week...she has a bizzare method, but it seems to work for her. I have video, but alas it is stranded in my camera, which was neglectfully left in Nebraska. Ella seemed to have a great time with Nana and Papa....and Bergen and Tanyn. But she was clearly ready to come home. When Nana told her she'd have to come back and stay again another time she said no she wanted to go to her house. Precious.

My new favorite Ella quote:
L: Pooh Dress
Mom: OK, whatever
L: Pooh Dress
Mom: OK (thinking, what the heck is she talking about...who has a pooh dress)
L: I want Pooh Dress Mama
Mom: I don't know what you're talking about peanut....
L: You know.... "Devil with a Pooh Dress, Pooh Dress, Pooh Dress....Devil with a Pooh Dress On!"

Bunnies, chicks, tubs and toys!

The Coveted Alone Time....

Feels oddly loney. Chris is gone, fishing in Texas...Mia is long past in bed....and my dear sweet Ella, after nearly a year of scheduling snafus and untimely illnesses, is spending a few days with Nana and Papa. And me? I am so glad Chris gets to go fishing....he so deserves a vacation, some guy time, an opportunity to do what he loves. And I am so glad L is spending a few days in Lincoln, I am so excited to hear the stories, and I know she is going to have an exceptional time. But I miss her. I missed her before she was gone. But to my sweet peanut: Have a ball, mama will see you soon.

We met my mom at the mall in Des Moines today to find a dress for me to wear to Jaime and Trevor's wedidng (the most anticipated event of the spring of course!), and to make the "switch." Mia and I came back to our empty house, save the dog and cat, and played for a few hours before she drifte off to snooze city. I picked up the house, did some dishes, and am now doing this....and it isn't even eight o'clock! I should take advantage of my current state of lessened responsibilty to clean my house and iron the basketful of clothes in my bedroom, but I think tonight I will watch tv and eat greasy frozen food. How often do I get the chance to do that? :)

Since my last spotting here miss Ella developed a bladder infection. She's getting better. She's also battling a "fever" bug that's traversing our town....mostly it presents as a low grade fever and nothing else. So it was off to Lincoln with a bottle of Tylenol and a bottle of antibiotics. She would have it no other way. My tough toddler acts as if the fever is little more than a nusance and goes about her business, refusing to even acknoewledge the power of germs.

Mia is still not crawling. She's much more mobile though, and has a funny little "crawl-like" motion whereby she shoves one knee underneath her and puts her other foot down beside her, falls and sort of "rolls" forward. She's more interested, it would seem, in pulling herself up (not on high surfaces, but low thigns like my leg or the side of the tub), and attempting to "cruise" along the couch or coffee table. She doesn't gain much ground, nor is she very quick, but she eventually moves a few feet.

Hope you enjoyed the slideshow!

The Best Time of the Year

17 Days later and March has finally arrived. Bring on the Madness, it's time to dance!

How Mia Moves

For those of you with the patience to watch a few minutes I give you another amateur video.

Yee-Haw!!!

Turns out we were all too busy square dancing to actually TAKE pictures of the square dancing. Darn.

My Babies are Getting So Big!

My apologies for the obscene delay in posting. I don't know where my time or energy goes, but I find myself collapsing at night.

There've been lots of goings on around these parts lately. Last Wednesday it would seem I completely crossed the crazy line and fashioned a fully functioning, real sand sand box in my basement for a "summer" party for the kids.

Believe it or not it all went over pretty well, as most of the sand stayed nearby the sand box (which to this day remains wrapped up in the tarp and apparantly secured to the cement floor of my basement!) We had root beer floats (or just basic ice cream for most of the kids), good times, and some good adult company.

Even the babies got into the action!

We had some great weather last week, which allowed for Ella and Delainey to get outside and enjoy the ever mounting snow we have here in central Iowa. They found some "creative" ways to enjoy the snow. And not just the bikes, either....they demanded water in the "paint" bucket. I obliged, but watched closely enough to prevent Ella from dunking her head in the water.

They turned out to be great scoopers....A task I rewarded with the opportunity to fashion their own bird feeders (I'm in to "projects"). Please try and look past the pantlessness.

That night Chris and I did some shopping at the "Western Edge" in Ames in order to properly outfit outselves for Jaime and Trevor's HoDown! A hat for each of us, boots for Chris and a shirt for me. Ella was kind enough to try out my hat for me....what do you think?

Thursday night was Chris and I's first date night in who knows how long....we called up our babysitter of choice - Nick from across the street - and, Webster City Bucks in tow (refernce previous post to discover origination of said "bucks"), the two of us took ourselves down the Second Street Emporium and had a fabulous, quiet dinner. Dinner was absolutely fantastic, and I so enjoyed an evening with my husband whom I adore, and don't spend nearly enough time with.

The night is darkened only because we went home and I fell in bed with what was the start of 36 hours of fever, headache and sore throat. Thank God that we have fabuslous friends and I had multiple optoins for child care on Friday because this kid was surely not caring for her kids. I slept pretty much straight through until Saturday morning, at which point I decided enough was enough and I was going on with life as if I was well.

We packed up the "Merck-sadies" (did ya catch the play on words?) and traveresed the Iowan landscape once again in order to attend the aforementioned HoDown. What a great time we had. The kiddos all stayed at the Harms' because Mattie was having a "party" and we adults did the same. What fun. We square danced for a full hour, which until you've done it doens't sound like such a big deal. Everyone agreed it was a full on workout. No wonder cowgirls are skinny....this is what they do for fun! It was great to see everyone, and we couldn't be happier for Trevor and Jaime. We are reliant on Frosty for pictures, so until then....use your imagination.

And speaking of the "Happies..." CONGRATS and constant prayers to Seth and Linsey. They are expecting Matie's baby sibling in September. I have found that of all the things in the world to be horrible at, I am bad at constant prayer. But this has thrust upon me the perfect reason to practice this discipline. I have determined that with each thought of your precious gift I will offer an immediate and very conscious prayer for all four of you.

We stayed with Seth and Linz after the shower and what fun it was to find Mattie and Ella waking up in the same bed and chatting. Again, pictures will have to follow when someone is kind enough to send them to me.

Now...concerning the title of this post. We attended an Open House for Ella's Preschool tonight. That's right, our baby is going to be starting preschool in the fall. How much fun is this?!? It was great. I have no false hopes that preschool will somehow change my kids' lives, or establish their paths forever, setting them on the fast track to success...but I am SO glad Ella will be attending next year. I'm not a big believer in preschool insofar as today's culture is putting all it's hopes and dreams in the choice of preschool for their children. Let's not lie....she's 3! But I so think Miss L needs to learn to sit in circle time, and stand in line, and God Help Me if she would please LISTEN!!! :) Just kidding, but I'm excited for her to experience the classroom setting. I am grateful that we have an opportunity to send our kids to a preschool where I know the teacher will love them (she babysits for us occasionally....as does her son). What an exciting time.

And Mia, well Mia continues to attempt movement, she's still stuck on moving in circles, although her circles seem to be getting MUCH quicker and MUCH more determinate. She's also started babbling quite a bit...."mamamamamama and dadadadada" mostly with a few "bababababa" and the occasional "geeeeee" thrown in for good measure and to remind us that she has not yet found a label for her mother and father. She's into feeding herself, which means I give her a wheel during meals to convince her she's playing an active part in her nurishment.

That must be it for the Web City report. Hope you endured the drought, and that this flood that follows was both adequate and short of overwhelming! The closing is my first attempt at uploading a movie....I still don't have what I need to transfer from my video recorder so these are just from my still camera, I thusly offer my regrets concerning quality.