Welcome Annabelle!

Annabelle Marie arrived on Monday December 13th at 5:31 am. She weighed 7 lbs even and is 20.5 inches long.

Andrew, Mommy & Annabelle getting ready to go home soon.
(not a random picture, but part of the story)...

So in case you're living in a cave, we got a record snow fall on Saturday. This picture was taken Saturday. Ironically, we traded in the Saturn Vue on Saturday (yes, the vehicle with 4 wheel drive) and I got a new Chevy Malibu. I prayed all day Saturday that I wouldn't go into labor since the major of the city streets couldn't get plowed until Sunday. Chaska's snow fall was 21 inches. Ugh! I went into labor on Sunday afternoon, we checked into the hospital at 11pm on Sunday and Annabelle was here at 5:31 Monday morning.
Andrew is completely in love with his new little sister. All of our lives center around her. He can't wait to get home from preschool everyday and see her. He always wants to know what she's doing and what all of her noises mean. He stood up in front of his class yesterday and told everyone all about her. We were even invited to bring her in for show and tell.
Here's Daddy and Annabelle just moments after her arrival.

Snow-nami!!!

Winter has officially kicked off in Minnesota. We enjoyed temps in the 70's last week and yesterday we got dumped with almost a foot of snow. Andrew loves the snow so he is happy to see it here. Of course it speeds along the whole "the baby is coming" timeframe for him. Maybe we didn't think this through enough. In April when we told him a baby was coming we thought by telling him he had to wait until Christmas and wintertime would make sense for him, but now the snow is here and there are Christmas trees in every store, but no baby yet. Andrew will have to be patient for 6 more weeks. The doctor put the timeframe back on track with the due date of December 28th. Of course, we think the baby has other plans, considering the daily contractions. It probably just doesn't want to miss out on Christmas!

Wish we could share some of our snow with you! Enjoy the picture!

Happy Halloween

As usual we had a blast at Halloween. We did our annual trip to the Chaska Community Center for their Halloween Festival. Andrew's favorite part of the trip is getting up on stage with the other kids and dancing the night away.
This year Mommy had to skip trick or treating, but Daddy got really into it and dressed up as a bunch of grapes. All of the neighborhood kids loved it. Here's the grapes and Buzz Lightyear (aka Andrew). Andrew was very excited to dress up as Buzz. It was pretty funny when we picked it out cause Andrew had never seen the Toy Story movie, but definately wanted to be Buzz. We later got the movie so he would know who he was dressing up as.

Here's the gang - Dan, Bella, Dave, Andrew and Melina. The trick or treatin' crew. They definately cleaned house. Andrew came home with a bucket filled with treats. We'll be eating candy until Christmas, at least!

Andrew is eagarly awaiting baby's arrival. At my last doctor's appointment, baby was measuring 3 weeks ahead of schedule. We'll find out more at next week's appointment. We'll fill you in then! Have a good one!!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Andrew's birthday was more than just a day of celebration, it was closer to a week! Grandma and Grandpa R. came into town on Wednesday and we had a mini-party on Thursday, with cup cakes and family presents. We took the day off work and preschool on Friday and went to the pumpkin patch. Andrew picks out his pumpkins similar to how a person would test the air in a tire. A good kick or two and you know it's good.
Last weekend we went to the open house at the Chaska Fire Station. Andrew had a blast! We all got to go for a ride on a fire truck. They even honked the horn at Andrew's request. Later in the afternoon a helicopter landed in the nearby field. I think the parents were more entertained by that than the kids.

Back to birthday week... On Saturday we had a birthday party for Mr. Andrew. Lots of friends and family came.

The theme of the party was "Dora" at Andrew's request. Thankfully they make an orange and green Dora cake.

Here's Melina, Andrew and Tyler enjoying the cake.

We had so much fun and Andrew was completely exhausted by the end of the day. He even told me "Mommy, my birthday is over" (and I sensed a little relief in his voice).

Andrew is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his new baby brother or sister. We are coming up on the 30 week mark of my pregnancy. Not too long now. Andrew's story is now "we have to get a Christmas tree and then the baby will come." He associates the baby with Christmas. I think he thinks the baby is going to come out of Mommy walking and talking and ready to play with him.

We are all looking forward to spending the holidays in Minnesota and having a quiet couple of months before baby. As always we welcome visitors!!!

State Fair

We went to the State Fair over Labor Day weekend. We were fortunate that the day we picked to go had highs in the 70's, so the weather was absolutely perfect. Unfortunately about 300,000 other people decided to go that day, so it was pretty crowded. One of the biggest draws is the Birthing Center with all the baby animals. Andrew got to pet a baby pig and a baby lamb. So cute. Mommy got scared out of the Birthing Center when they announced a pig was ready to deliver and the word "placenta" was thrown out. It's a little to early to hear words like that. ahhh! Daddy's favorite fair food was "Big Fat Bacon on a stick". Mommy loves the mini-donuts. And Andrew loves the "Potato Chip Mountain" (not sure if that's the official name, but that's definately what it looks like). It's in the bottom left corner of this picture.
We stopped to say Hi to a friend that was working at the fair and Andrew and Jacob got to run around and play on the trucks. They loved the snow plow the most. We spent a good 1/2 hour watching them run underneath it.

Silly boys!

Here's a picture from our trip to "Touch a Truck". Our city puts on an event every year where they bring out all the city vehicles and let the kids play on them. I couldn't tell you which one was Andrew's favorite. He seemed to love them all. Here he is in the police car, feet up on the wheel.

Enjoy!!

Tractors!

Yesterday, despite the heat and humidity we ventured out to the County Fair. Andrew absolutely loved the fair. He got to see cows, horses, pigs and many more animals. By far the best part was playing with the tractors.

We took a few days off in early August and headed up to Door County. We did all the traditional stops: Wilson's Restaurant, Al Johnson's (Andrew loved the goats on the roof), the Confectionary, Peninsula State Park.

On our way back to Green Bay we stopped at the Wildlife Sanctuary and fed the ducks. Of course Andrew broke out his famous phrase and told the geese "Hey gooses, go back to Canada!" Here in Minnesota the geese are a bit of a nusance, making a mess all over our streets and sidewalks, so we are not fans of them.

At Nicollet Beach - Peninsula State Park.

Unfortunately our trip to Green Bay was our last for a while, but we are looking forward to some extended time at home. As always, we love to have visitors!

We are still staying busy throughout this hot and humid summer. The heat has no bearing on Mr. Andrew. He still loves being outside every minute of the day. We recently entered the dreaded, but long awaited stage of potty training. Surprisingly Andrew is doing very well at it. Last Monday was his first days of wearing underpants to day care. We've had many accident free days. He enjoys walking around the house in only his underpants and reminding us every 5 minutes of who's on his underpants. Some days it's Lighning McQueen, Mater, Nemo, etc. We are glad to be moving away from diapers, but don't really enjoy having to go to the bathroom with Andrew every hour. Even though I'm pregnant, he still goes more than me.
Baby Update: We saw the doctor last week for our 17 week appointment. Baby is growing "perfectly" (the doctor's words, not mine). This baby is growing faster than Andrew did. We have our ultrasound on August 12. Andrew is still convinced we are having a girl.
Here's some pictures from our 4th of July weekend. The park in downtown Chaska hosts bands on Friday nights. Andrew marched right up on stage to dance along with the band. We had to tear him away at the end of the evening.
Still dancing, with Bella and Melina.

Our neighborhood association hosted a 4th of July event including a parade, petting zoo and family fun day. Andrew got an elephant hat. Cute huh?

They had a great little petting zoo. All of the animals were so friendly. We even got to pet a turkey. That was a first for Mom and Dad.

The cow seemed like a big puppy. She loved her back and ears scratched.

Enjoy your August and pray for cooler weather!

Busy Start to the Summer

We have had a busy start to our summer months. Inbetween Mommy's bouts of morning sickness we try to sneak out for some fun in the sun. We recently spent the afternoon at the Splash Pad. It was pretty crowded when we first arrived so Andrew was a little timid to go in the water. Mom and Dad had to walk him around in the water, until he saw Reesey. Reesey is a girl from Andrew's class. As soon as he spotted her, he walked straight through the pool to sit next to her. They played together the rest of the time we were there. Andrew's been practicing his baseball skills. After he got bored hitting baseballs, he tried to make the game a little more challenging. Mom and Dad got a good laugh when he tried this. We're not sure where his ideas come from.

Over Father's Day weekend we went to the Classic Car show in St. Paul. Andrew LOVED all the cars (Daddy too). This was Andrew's favorite car. (It was closer to purple in real life).

We spend a lot of time hanging out with our neighbors. Andrew recently moved to the preschool room at day care. Prior to moving he was in the toddler room with Melina (our neighbor), but now he shares the preschool room with Bella (Melina's sister). The 3 of them play together just about every weekend and week night. We think they're the reason why Andrew wants a sister. Here's Andrew and Melina sharing the chair. Melina and Bella just got back from vacation and while they were gone Andrew was responsible for turtle-sitting Zoey. Zoey lives under a tree in Melina's backyard. Andrew had to check on Zoey everyday and every 3 days he had to feed Zoey his worm, some lettuce and a strawberry.

We are heading out to our 4th of July festivities. Hopefully we'll have some more pictures to post soon. Happy 4th!!!

Twinkle Twinkle

Andrew's "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" / Laughing Attack.

(he's so good he even adds in a drum solo)

A B C's

We are definately overdue for a new post, but we have a good excuse for our tardiness.

A few weeks back we found out that our family will be expanding this year. Yes, we're pregnant. Well, Beth is pregnant and much like her pregnancy with Andrew the first trimester has been a rough one. Thankfully we've known what to expect and have been able to apply our anti-nausea tricks earlier, so there is a bit less suffering. We are now 12 weeks and hopefully reaching the end of the morning sickness (technically all day sickness, not just mornings). The official due date is December 28th.

Andrew is very excited to welcome his little sister (we don't know what we're having, but Andrew thinks its a girl.) We've tried to get him excited that it may be a boy, but he insists it's a girl. He points at his tummy and says "there's a baby in there."

Enjoy the video of Andrew and his ABC's. His other favorite song to sing is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We'll try to catch that on video and post it soon.

Happy Belated Easter!

Happy Easter, a little late. We spent the weekend before Easter visiting the Timmermans in Fairmont, MN. We had a great time. Andrew loved "the puppy's house". When we woke up in the morning at their house I asked Andrew, where are you? His reply while half asleep, "at the puppy's house". The puppy would be Charlie and yes, he definately rules the house. haha!
Andrew got to touch a bear while at Jeff's house. It was a bear skin rug that was hanging on the wall. The first day we were there he wouldn't even walk in the room where it was, but by the last day he had to say "Goodbye" to the bear and touch the bear's nose, ears, nails, tail, etc. And then he told everyone "I touched the bear".

Here's some pictures from our Easter weekend in Green Bay.
Miss Maya hunting for her Easter Eggs.

Auntie Kattie, Andrew and Maya hunting for eggs.

Trying to stay warm at Auntie Katie's rugby game. A sport you will definately never see me playing. A little too rough (and scary).

Bubble time. Andrew is completely obsessed with bubbles. We've limited bubble blowing to 3 places: outside, in the bath tub and while on the potty (so far it's helping with the toilet training).

Hanging out at the Wilson's on Easter.

Have a great April. We are enjoying our strangely warm weather here in Minnesota. We even hit 80 degrees one day before Easter. I don't think that has ever happened as long as we've lived here.

Happy March!

Daddy & Mommy loved this two-toned Beetle.

These are our pictures from the "Car Show". It was a much anticipated event in our house. Andrew would walk around the house and say "We go car show.... downtown.... yay!". I'm not sure it lived up to the hype. It didn't have a single Lightening McQueen or Toe-Mater. But, either way, we had lots of fun pointing out all the different colored cars and saying "Car Show" a thousand times.

Here's Andrew in Mommy's boots.

Yay! March is finally here. We are in the home stretch. Today was absolutely beautiful today. It was mid-40's so we got out for a nice long walk.

Andrew has been very busy over the past month. He learns something new every day (literally).

Early this morning he counted to ten for us. "1, 2... 4, 5, 6, 7..... 9, Count to 10." That's exactly how he says it. So Cute.

Today we asked him these questions, and here are his answers:

What does Koko say? "Meow, Meow"

What does Mocha say? "Hissssss"

What does a rooster say? "Cock-a-do-do"

What does Daddy say? (he tried to make the loud elephant noise that Daddy does so well, but ended up just spitting on us"

What does Mommy say? "Careful" (Hey - at least he listens to me.)

Well it's time for bed in our house, so G'night!

Have a great week!

Compromise

I owe you a picture, so I'm delivering it along with a life lesson.

Compromise.... It may not be pretty, but it's absolutely necessary to survive the day and keep your sanity.

Case Study #1: Mr. Andrew insisted on wearing his swimming suit on Sunday, but Mommy insisted he wear pants to keep warm. The compromise... swimming suit over pants.

Due for a New Post

We are due for a new post, but we haven't taken any pictures of Andrew since Christmas. The month of January has flown by.
Andrew is fully recovered from his surgery. We are meeting with the doctor this week for his post-op appointment. He just has a small mark on his lower belly - he calls it his "ou-wee".
Last weekend we visited the community center's indoor pool/splash pad. We all had a blast. Andrew is ready to go back, so much so, that he's wearing his swimming suit today and saying "water, water".
We had a warm stretch of weather for 2 weeks in mid-January and it felt great! It was actually bearable to live in Minnesota in the winter time. It was well into the 30's for over a week and even hit 40 one day.
We've been off and on sick over the past month, with colds and most recently "pink eye", but all in all everyone is doing great.
Mom and Dad took a big step in their parenting development and found a great babysitter for Andrew. She lives down the block and Andrew has a bit of a toddler-crush on her. He's so excited when Angie comes to babysit. She came two weekends in a row, so Mom and Dad could get out and spend some time together.
Grandma and Grandpa R. came to visit this past weekend. We visited the Mall of America and did some shopping with them. They got to experience Andrew's large vocabulary which now includes "Grandma" and "Grandpa".
We are looking forward to our trip home for Easter. We'll post some new pictures soon.
Have a great week!