Twin Cities

After our time on the North Shore with Tom's parents and brother, we headed to the cities to see Uncle Tony and Auntie Dawn. Megan and Nicole loved being with them - and having a few extra playmates around - those of the furry variety.
Everytime Nicole saw Jake (the dog) or one of the cats (BeBe, Bear and Buddy) she would just sit and frantically wave her arms. It was the funniest site - I really thought she might find a way to start hovering.
Megan took up golf while we were there...

Nicole thought it was such a cool game - with a little ball to chase around and a big stick to chew on -that she wanted in on the action.

And when she wasn't golfing... she was out cruising!

Megan kept herself occuplied with her new best friends

And Uncle Tony and Auntie Dawn kept her occupied with a good story changing book...

And Nicole... well she was watching those furry little friends getting ready for her crawling debut.

10 Months

Hard to believe this little blessing has been in our lives for 10 months already. Everyday I am amazed at how much she has grown and all the things she's learning to do daily. From her serious stares, to her giggles, and her funny little crawl to her fly away hair - she's a beautiful little girl, inside and out!

At 10 months, this little one weighed in at 24 lbs and 13 oz and is 29 1/2 inches long. To celebrate her birthday, she got a new tooth... that's 7 if you are trying to keep up. She has 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom.

And she likes to use those teeth - Apples aren't part of her normal diet (at least not in this form, yet) - but if you'll let her try to sink her teeth in them, she will! But since we've pretty much dumped the baby food - she's a trooper and will eat almost anything. Actually there isn't a solid food I've introduced to her that she's refused yet. Green beans are a little iffy - but they are stringy by nature and can make her gag a bit. Her favorite food.... maybe a toss up between carrots and black beans.

My little sweet pea is still a mommy's girl - and I have to admit, I eat it up. It can be exhausting, but she's such a little snugglebug that it's hard to NOT enjoy it too. I know that this too is just a stage and one day she'll be saying, "stop kissing me mommy, that's gross." So for today - I'll kiss her, hug her and remind her what a wonderful creation she is and how blessed we are that God let us be her parents!

Here's a little reminder of big sister Megan when she was 10 months old.

It's so funny to go back and look at Megan's baby book to see what she was doing at this age - Nicole outweighs her at 10 months by 4 lbs and 1 1/4 inches. And I know that outfit that Megan is wearing is a 12 month outfit, however Nicole is currently wearing 18-24 month clothes. At this age, Megan only had 2 teeth to Nicole's 7. It is a clear picture that God creates each of us to be our own unique person. I can't wait to see how Nicole will grow into her personality.

And a note on hair.... people keep asking us if we think Nicole will have curly hair like Megan. As the picture above shows - at 10 months, Megan didn't have curly hair. Nicole's hair is actually longer than Megan's was and when it's wet, it does have curl. Megan's curls really didn't come out till after her 1st birthday - so... we'll see.

More MN

There were so many fun "small" moments during our trip to MN - so many memories tied up in 2 weeks of traveling...

When the past and present run into each other - it always tenderizes the heart. Here's Nicole in the same highchair that her Daddy used when he was a baby. Of course we add a safety component of one of Papa's ties to make sure she didn't slip out. It's also funny to see how safety standards have changed.

Note that Nicole is eating "real" food.... she doesn't like baby and LOVES solid food - so bring on the diced veggies and fruit. She's a good eater when it's not mush.

And Grandma had to take us to Dairy Queen!

Even Nicole got in on that fun!

Megan really took advantage of her one on one Uncle time and got many many many books read (or listened to.... right before we left I taught her how to listen to books on tape - you remember the kind, turn the page when you hear the beep...). One of our last days on the North Shore we got to go visit one of Tom's old high school friend, Scoobie, and while we were there - we got to pick apples from one of his amazing apple trees. Megan loved that!

But she loved eating it even more!

And of course, you have to visit the train musuem while you are there (it's the same train station that you see in the movie Iron Will).

And the train depot shop also has our favorite furry friend... Mr. Moose!

And when on the North Shore of Lake Superior - you have to actually visit the lake!

And try to skip some stones....

It was a bit windy that day - Nicole had her tongue out "tasting the wind" the whole time we were outside.

And we had to go back to the park whenever possible!!!! It even got chilly enough that we needed jackets!

Can you not just eat her up!

Oh Ya, Ya Betcha!

August was a whirlwind in our household.... we loaded up the family and took a road trip out to MN to see the family. The girls were hoping for some adventure - like a snowmobile ride... but this was as close as they got. Megan and Nicole had a great time with Grandma and Papa.

Nicole got to try her hand at Grandma's organ... she loved it! Maybe we'll have a little pianist on our hands.

Nicole was playing and in the background you can see Megan doing a special dance. Every night she put on a little dance recital for everyone, and then modestly accepted her trophy (her lego skills put to the test!).

Uncle Dan brought up a medical kit so that Megan could continue on in her quest to be a Doctor...

She had lots of patients waiting on her expertise...

Megan made sure to love up on Uncle Dan so that he was ready to head back to school.

And even Nicole gave lots of love to her grandparents. This was her first trip to MN so everything was new and exciting.

We had some great days of weather (a nice escape from Atlanta's super hot days) and were able to spend lots of time at the park... one of Megan's all time favorite outings! It's been so hot this summer that she's been in serious park withdrawal! And her little sister is following in her footsteps!!!

Papa got out Tom and Dan's old wagon and the girls got a little spin....

And Megan was even surprised with a little car...

We had lots of fun outside! My girls are definitely outside girls! It was nice to take advantage of some nice Northern MN summer weather... but it's also why I couldn't live there.... I don't think we could handle the stir crazy nature of a winter that lasts half the year. We like being able to go to the park in December and not freezing to death.

OK, MN family - Sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted. It's been a rough week here. I'm hoping it is jsut the transition back home and this will be a better week. HOPEFULLY! I'll have a few more posts with pictures from our trip.