Date Night

Andy & I experienced a much needed night out on Saturday night. DMU had the annual Winter Gala. Liz came to babysit Marie so we could fully enjoy our evening. We had a great dinner at Bravo which included eating SLOWLY, good conversation, and some delicious wine. Next we went to the Gala to devour the dessert bar and share some good times with good friends. So, here is a rare picture of just the two of us getting ready to head out for our big date!

too cute...

Marie with her dog and reading her favorite dog book.

Marie & Char share a quick hug before bed.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Most of you all know how important our dog Charlie is to us. He had a difficult start to life - roaming the ditches of N'West Iowa. Thanks to a family friend, he came to live with us in May of 2005. Because we don't know his birthday exactly, we gave him the birthday of February 15th. So he is now officially 5 years old! I can't believe he has been with us that long. He was our first kid - that is for sure. Since the addition of Marie, he has had to take a back seat on several occasions. When we announced we were pregnant, there were several concerned that Charlie would have a difficult time being a big brother...well, I will just let the following pictures do the talking....

Happy Birthday Charlie - we love you so much!

the good stuff

I know the coloring of this photo is less than impeccable, and I know that I shouldn't have used the flash with the the light coming in through the open window, but I had to snap this shot as fast as possible before Marie was on the go again. It snowed all day here on Sunday. Charlie was out enjoying the new fluffy layer to the yard and Marie & Daddy were enjoying some quality time together making up songs. Just one of those moments that makes me smile...

exciting news!

Marie's first tooth FINALLY poked through!!! Last night in the bath tub, Marie was moaning and rubbing her bottom gums on ANYTHING she could find. She was going back and forth on the side of the tub and everything. Then while I was getting her dressed, I was putting some relief cream on her gums and wah lah - a tooth was scratching me!!! You would have thought she had just scored the winning basket in the championship game or something....we were that excited! (well, I was.) I am just so happy that all that whining, drooling, chewing is worth it all in the end. What big girl we have :)

just another weekend...

There is no rhyme or reason to this post, but I just wanted to share our simple, yet fabulous weekend with everyone. We did a lot of playing and rolling around on the ground. Marie is in this stage where she laughs, talks, sings and giggles over just about everything! She is literally growing up more and more every day and it is hard to catch all of her feats with just a camera. Andy & I just sit there every day and we keep saying, "This is happening too fast!" We want to remember everything, but that is not possible...we are doing the best we can however. Anyway, here are a few pics of our girly from the weekend. Saturday night we spent the day singing, baking banana bread, dancing, and napping. Sunday was recovery day. After church, everyone took a nap. We also took her out for a walk with Char, yes it was cold, but she is starting to get cabin fever...this girl is used to being outdoors more often and we are getting antsy for a random warm day. We also had to get her mind off her teeth. Her 2 bottom teeth are pushing their way out, but they are taking awhile.

Crawlin' Fool

Marie can crawl!!!!
For those of you who have seen Marie lately, you know that she has been getting herself into a lot of yoga poses, bouncing, and even trying to pull herself up; but she just couldn't get the crawling down. Suddenly, on a cold January day, Marie decided to move her hands and wah - lah - she was crawling! Now, we can't stop her. We have officially covered the outlets, moved furniture around, and even hid cords because she is on the move. She really likes to go to the kitchen entryway to feel the difference between the tile floor and carpet. I think she is just enjoying the sense of freedom and independence that comes with mobility :)

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. Andy is busy with school, Kelly has had MORE snow days, (she is now working until June 8), and Charlie is figuring out how to balance brother-hood and his nap schedule.

Sledding Day

This weekend started with a trip to urgent care - Marie has another double ear infection. But we couldn't let the Saturday 40 degree weather go to waste...a perfect day for sledding! After a few doses of meds, Marie was ready to roll. At first she seemed a little concerned, but it didn't take long to get a smile on her face...however I couldn't get her to smile for the camera. She was too busy feeling the zipper with her tongue...