Valentines

Love these guys!

I told Anders all I wanted for Valentine's Day was a picture of him with his sister. And he agreed!

Trains

We went to a model train exhibit at The River Center. It was way overpriced and overcrowded but Brian was out of town for the weekend and it got me out of the house so totally worth it.

Kids loved the Choo Choo Bob Show.

Loooooong line for a lame train ride!

Flaming football for Super Bowl weekend.

Sassy cousins.

This was actually pretty cool, you had to pump your car to make the train go. Anders started in front and had fun catching the back of the train.

Two Months

Month two was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Amelia found her voice and wasn't afraid to use it to get attention but balanced that by smiling and cooing.

Anders seems to be willing to hold his sister about once a month :) He did tell me he likes her more and more every day. Not sure I have witnessed it yet.

Amelia Jane showing off her sassy side.

Can't believe it has already been two months.

Matching Cousins

Harper and Amelia showing off their matching outfits.

Their size difference reminds me of Elise and Anders back in the day.

Speaking of those two we went to see Elise dance on family night. Anders asked me if it was a dance practice or a dance game :) Then he was quick to point out that dance was only for girls. It is the first time I have heard him do this and it made me sad as he was dancing along from the side.

So I was happy that he willingly joined in when they asked for volunteers.

Arrrrrrgh!

I had to attend a couple too many funerals this year. During one of them Anders went to a pirate party hosted by the Shriners.

Keeping Busy

It has been a challenge to keep this guy busy during a winter maternity leave. We are stuck at home around my pumping schedule and not able to play outside in the cold weather. I have felt more than a little guilty.

I've been super impressed with how much more independent he has become in the last two months. He is getting much better at finding ways to play independently.

Also thankful that Brian is able to give him some undivided attention after work even though I know he is exhausted.

He still goes to preschool twice a week because Kindergarten is right around the corner. This is my big guy at Kindergarten registration. We toured his school and met the teachers. Anders and I are both going to have a hard time that first day!

January threw us a bone with some 40 degree weather so we could walk to the park.

So thankful that Grandma still takes him once a week too!

Babysitters

Auntie Maren was Amelia's first babysitter.

She sent us these pictures while we were playing Bunco with my high school friends.

Hannah can't wait to babysit but Amelia might have to be potty trained because she is a little scared of changing diapers. Don't blame her a bit!

And Grandma Dorla is hopefully enjoying my maternity leave. She has still agreed to take the kids once a week when I go back to work.

Baby Boom

When I was going through infertility treatments nothing bothered me more than when someone would say, "there must be something in the water" when more than one person was pregnant at a time. Never mind that I work with 70 women mostly in their 20s and 30s.

There was a bit of a baby boom on station 31 last year. Six babies in three months. Not all of it was water related though, Tanner joined the 31 babies through adoption. This was taken at Carrie's shower to celebrate him. It was painful to watch her go through the process but fun to see a happy ending!