5 on Friday

1. I officially became another year older on Saturday.   To celebrate we went on a family run, relaxed, went to the mall and had a Dairy Queen ice cream cake!   I also got the perfect present from Nick and the girls, my very own "Samantha" American Girl Doll.  It may seem a little odd, but I always wanted one as a child (but really didn't need one).  This way I have my very own doll to play with when Ellie and I play dolls (and Neve when she gets older).   Of course the minute I got it Ellie asked if she could play with it.   I shared my doll with her.   Good job on the surprise gift, Nick!

2. Nick had a bike ride on Sunday, so the girls and I went to the mall after nap-time.   We always get lots of compliments on our Chariot stroller/bike trailer when we are out and about (including our trip on Sunday).  We love the Chariot, as it fits both girls side by side, isn't too big, and works for biking and walking.   We got the sling attachment, so Neve can still use it until she is able to sit up a little better.   After we had the fire we went from 4 different strollers to one (although we had the Chariot before the fire, so we just did not replace the other 3 strollers).   To give credit where credit is due: Nick picked it out.  

3. I introduced Ellie to "Cinderella" this week.  Since she is not a fan of movies with scary characters in it, I thought this would be a good princess movie for her.   She only lasts 20 minutes before she wants me to turn it off, but she does ask to watch it the next day.   I am glad she likes it.

4. Neve got sick starting on Tuesday.  Poor baby was just sick last week!   She had a fever and really bad cold.   This is the first time she has been really cuddly and not at all like her normal self for an extended period of time.  I love the cuddles but am glad she is feeling a little better today.

5.We have furniture being delivered to the house on the 13th.   We are counting down the days.

5 on Friday

1. We had a busy weekend with a Fisher Price House Party play-date Saturday morning, baby shower Saturday afternoon and visitation for my Uncle on Sunday afternoon.  

2.  My Uncle's funeral was on Monday here in West Des Moines, with the burial in West Bend, Iowa.   My brothers, sister and I made the trip to West Bend in one car, leaving the spouses at home to take care of the kiddos.  While it was a sad occasion, it was really nice to be able to spend  time with just the four of us--- I do not remember the last time that happened.

3. Genevieve came down with a slight fever Monday afternoon.   She was fine, but it was high enough that Nick had to pick her up from day-care early.   She stayed home from day-care on Tuesday.  I think she just wanted to spend time with Daddy on her "six-month Birthday."

4. Yup, we have a 6-month old!   I cannot believe how fast the past 6 months have gone, Genevieve has grown up so much!   She is at such a fun stage.  Old enough to smile, giggle and interact, but young enough that she still gives cuddles and can be held in my arms.  LOVE that little girl!

5.  Ellie's response to my Uncle passing and seeing my Aunt, "I will give her a hug...  I will give her two hugs.  Then she will be happy."   If only it were that easy.  Although, hugs from a 2.5 year old do help.

5 on Friday

1. Genevieve started eating cereal on Sunday.   On Thursday she had her first taste of sweet peas.   She loves them both!

2. I had a great time at Stamp Club on Tuesday.  We made some really cute candy related items and I got some wonderful ideas for party favors, one of which I plan to use for Ellie's 3rd birthday.

3. On Thursday I received an unexpected call that my uncle, Craig, had passed away.  As Ellie asked why I missed my uncle, I thought how the first time Nick met the Yoch Family, Uncle Craig had him refilling his red wine glass most of the morning/early afternoon... Uncle Craig loved his red wine.   And how Uncle Craig was so eager to kiss my feet at our wedding after my brothers' kissed my nieces' feet (it was a version of "how you kiss is how we kiss".) And how Uncle Craig enjoyed watching Bloomberg TV, who else besides me and my co-workers enjoy watching Bloomberg TV?!   And the list could go on.   The point is, I miss him and am sad for the loss because he gave me/us so many wonderful memories when he was here on earth with us, and there will not be any more new memories.   That being said, he made an impact on me and I cherish the time I had with him.   We will meet again, and until then he will be enjoying cocktail hour in heaven with Grandpa Yoch.

4. Last weekend Nick, the girls and I went on a family run together.  It was a great time.

5. Before I left on Tuesday night, I told Ellie to make sure that Daddy fed Genevieve (since we had just started introducing cereal and I thought Nick might get busy playing and forget).   I guess Ellie took her responsibility to heart, as she asked Daddy constantly if they could feed Neve her cereal.   Of course when they did go to feed Neve, Daddy did not know where the bibs were.  No worries, Ellie showed him!

Where do we live?

It amazes me how much Ellie knows.   She knows that Mommy's name is Kara and Daddy's name is Nick.   She knows her numbers (up to 20 when she wants to), ABC's, and will regularly point out the letter "E" on various signs around town.  "E" for Ellie, and Elizabeth (a girl in her day-care class) and Elmo.  

She also knows that she lives in Waukee (sort of).   She has been asking where everyone lives... Grandma and Grandpa with the marbles live in Ames, Grandma and Grandpa with the pool table/kitchen set also live in Ames, Aunt Megan, Mike and Liam live in Ankeny, Sophia and family live in Waukee (this one she didn't have to ask, she knew and informed us about) and Henry and his family live in Des Moines.   We tried to explain to Ellie that her house is in Waukee, but the condo she is living in right now is in West Des Moines.  I am not sure if she understood how that all works.   But it got me thinking... over the past year we have lived in:

Norwalk
Johnston
Waukee
Ankeny
West Des Moines

... and hopefully soon back in Waukee.   That is a lot of different places to live in over the course of a year, and even more crazy is that we had a baby during that period of time as well.   I am ready to live in Waukee and not move for a long time.

The point of the post: I think my daughter is pretty smart.  And I am tired of moving around. 

Special Person's/Grandparent's Day

A few pictures my mom took at Day-care's Grandparent's Day celebration the other week:

The event was the day before the ISU/Iowa game.

Ellie and Neve wore Iowa attire.

Grandma and Grandpa wore ISU.

Working on the Bike

Ellie is following in Daddy's footsteps and has started working on bikes.  She even looks like she knows what she is doing!

IA State Fair

We took a family trip to the Iowa State Fair for Farm Bureau's annual "Day at the Fair."   We did not get off of work until noon, so our trip hit right at nap-time.    I tried to get Ellie to take a nap in the car... she was too excited for the fair.   Needless to say, we lasted a couple hours and were headed home for some sleep.   Here are our adventures of the day:

Genevieve and I on the bus ride to the fairgrounds

Daddy and Ellie on the bus

Daddy and Ellie on the Giant Slide (they are the two in the yellow area on the top of the slide.

Ellie is not sure sure about the horse.

Ellie's 1st tattoo... a Hawkeye one, of course!

Neve taking a nap, while I am getting a yard stick.  We lost a couple in the fire, so we needed a replacement.  At the time I had not seen them for sale in the store, but I did see one at Jo Ann's the other day--- for $7!

Ellie and her cookie face after enjoying a few oven fresh cookies.

On our way home.  Ellie's favorite part of the fair", "Riding the bus!"

A 5 second video of Ellie and Nick on the slide.