Tent

Reagan and I started to get the winter blahs one early February morning and decided that we needed to spice things up. So we built a tent to play in using all our blankets, couch, pillows and coffee table. She was jumping up and down with excitement as I built it.







I couldn't stop laughing about the static electricity that was in her hair.

Big Month

January was a big month for Avery! By mid month she had really started blowing raspberries, she found her feet and loves to put the in her mouth and started to roll over from her back to her tummy. She doesn't like being on her tummy very much so she needed to figure out how to roll back to her back quickly. She is drooling all the time but still no teeth!

After bath time and ready for bed.


I found my feet!


Taking a cat nap on the couch.

Playing in the Snow!

We had several little snow storms towards the end of January. Luckily, it was nice enough so Reagan could go outside with Adam to play a couple of days. She thinks its fun to get all her winter gear on to go and play. She calls her snow boots her "big boots". She had a blast throwing snow balls for Ellie and helping Adam clear the driveway. Making footprints in the snow is a lot of fun but not nearly as fun as eating the snow!!

January 2011

Some pictures of the girls to kick off January 2011!

Check out my big smile, cheeks and eyes!




Playing with the pom-poms that we got at a UNI game...go PANTHERS! Or as Reagan would say TC! She loves the panther mascot, TC.


Avery is trying to figure out how all of these toys work on her exersaucer.


The next three pictures were taken of Reagan playing with snow that I brought in the house. She had so much fun eating it and throwing it on the kitchen floor.


I LOVE this picture of Reagan, too bad she was in her Santa PJ's.




Lounging in our PJ's one morning.




Avery got Sophie the Giraffe for Christmas. It is suppose be the number one teething toy, she loves chewing on his legs and head so much she cuddled with it as she fell asleep one day.

Welcome 2011!

Well another year has quickly come and gone. I am not really one to make new year resolutions but try to reflect on the days and months that just passed. We really were blessed in 2010. The birth of another healthy little girl obviously tops the list. Having a roof over our heads and food to eat is also at the top of my list. We are so quick to want better and more these days that we often forget those who are far less fortunate. I look forward sharing about our family trips, time spent with family and friends and the big things that the girls are doing with all of you in 2011. Here's wishing you a year full of many blessings!

Christmas Day

We were able to spend Christmas Day with Adam's family in Cedar Rapids this year. We spent the day at Matt and Tammi's. It was great to have everyone together for lots of laughs, some cousin play time and great food! We missed our annual Phase 10 game (ok, some of us did) but we will save that for next year when Ben is with us again.

Reagan and Avery got a lot of neat toys and have had fun playing with them! Reagan got a new trampoline that she loves to jump on in the basement. It is a great energy burner:) She also got two new Little People toys along with an Aquadoodle pad that she loves to color on. Avery got a new exersaucer, I am not sure who likes
this one more Avery or Reagan!

A few pictures from our afternoon.







Can you tell we had two tired little girls? We had a 15 minute drive across town and I think they were both out in the first two minutes!




Thanks for hosting Christmas this year Matt and Tammi, it worked out great!

Christmas Eve

We headed to Cedar Rapids early again this year trying to beat another winter storm. We were happy we did when we woke up on Christmas Eve to several inches of snow on the ground and the forecast of 6-9 inches total.

We spent the day at my parents house getting ready for Santa to come. We have talked a lot about what our Christmas traditions will look like in the future and what we will tell the girls about Santa. We both have very fond childhood memories and can't wait to make these memories with the girls. Santa always came to my house when we went to church on Christmas Eve. Looking back on it, my mom always forgot her purse or had to use the bathroom while my dad had us outside looking for Rudolphs nose. Adam's family always traveled to AZ where his mom's family lived. They made a week long trip in the big blue van and Santa always came at night. They would run into the living room in the morning to find toys under the tree. Oh the magic of Christmas, it brings a smile to my face. Obviously Reagan was still a little too young to understand the concept of Santa but next year she will really get into it. This year she just said that Santa brought presents/toys. Opening presents was also a little difficult because she wanted to play with the toy that she just opened. By her third Christmas on Sunday she was starting to understand the concept.

We waited to open gifts with Dustin and Beth and their kids until Sunday. The flu bug hit their house last week and in hopes of not giving it to our family they were nice enough to hold off a couple of extra days to open gifts...THANKS!!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve and Sunday's gathering with my family.

Santa left just a few gifts!


One tradition that I didn't mention is that when we got home from church and before we could open gifts we had to take pictures in front of the Christmas tree. We actually got a couple good shots!









Opening presents!
Reagan got a Dance Star Mickey from my parents. She had the reaction I knew she would have, she loved him! Here is a picture of her hugging him.