Smiling Baby

I was able to capture Piper's smile today. So cute!
Here's Piper and her cousin Madi, who was born on the same day as Piper. It's going to be fun watching them grow! >

Piper's room...

...aka, Lindsay Daniel's Photo Gallery! We had Lyndsay, a local photographer take maternity pictures of me and newborn pictures of Piper. My favorite is a series of three of Piper. I couldn't find a frame ready-made, so had it matted and framed at a local framing store. After I hung it on the wall, I realized that all of the pictures in the room were taken by Lyndsay! You can check out her stuff here.
The series of three over Piper's crib. It doesn't match her room right now, but we're guessing she won't have a safari-themed room forever!

and a close up. She looks so little. the blanket she's laying on was knitted by her great-grandma, who gave it to us the day before she was born!

a close up of two maternity pictures, along with a figurine and cross that are from Piper's grandpa J and grandma Becky. although you can't see it, these objects are sitting on a trunk that Piper's great-great grandfather used to come to America from Norway.

The sideboard came from Eddy's uncle in New York. Although I don't know the specifics, it's been in the family for a long time.

And last but not least, a picture of me holding Piper's feet, with Eddy and my wedding rings on her toes!

Some New Pictures

Well, it's after 10pm, which means it's past my bedtime (stop laughing!), but I wanted to put up a few new pictures.

My parents came up on Sunday for the day and brought my grandparents (my dad's parents) with them. They haven't been to our new (well, not so new anymore) house. We gave them a tour of the house, ate lunch, and headed over to UWS to watch Eddy's team practice. The weather was beautiful and we had a great day!

Here's Piper's almost-96-year-old great grandpa holding her...he has the magic touch!

Apparently Isaac's not too impressed with Grandpa J's reading!

Enjoying the sun, watching the team play a game.

Isaac put on his chef's hat, but the way he did it made it look like a bonnet. I just had to snap a picture!

Piper's not doing so well with lifting her head when she's on her tummy. This is what happens nearly every time!

A Picnic Supper at the Big Lake

Eddy had fall ball yesterday afternoon/evening, so I decided to take the kids down to Lake Superior for a picnic supper. Who knows how many more times we'll be able to spend time there before it snows, so I wanted to take advantage of the nice evening. After throwing rocks in the water and eating our BP&J sandwhiches, I tried to play photographer. I remembered I have a "sports" function on my camera, which allows me to take multiple shots in a matter of seconds. Isaac was a good subject, except when he thought it'd be funny to let his sister's head fall. Oh, it's a good thing that we don't have me on video during this photo shoot!

Back to the Grind

Well, I went back to work yesterday. I cannot believe how fast maternity leave went. Dropping Piper off wasn't as difficult as it was to drop Isaac off for the first time. We're comfortable with our daycare provider now that we've known her for three years. Not to mention, with Isaac I was starting a brand new job. I'm comfortable in my job, so also makes going back easier. But there were a few tears. But she did great. It's Isaac who's adjusting. Daycare used to be his domain, and now he has to share. He acted out a little and had two wetting his pants accidents, which he hasn't done at daycare for a long time. We'll figure out this new routine soon.

My sister came for a visit this past week. We had a great time. She got Piper this shirt when she was born. It says "My Auntie is the best". It was a newborn size and seemed so big on her the first time she wore it...she wore it one last time for this picture. It wasn't snapped at the bottom!
Isaac is learning how to pedal a bike. And let's not forget about the stylish Yellowjackets baseball helmet!
Moments like this melt my heart.

New Pictures & Video

Last time my parents were up, I captured my dad getting Piper to smile. It's so fun to see her smile! The Duluth Children's Museum had a Bubble Festival on Sunday. There were a bunch of activities centered around bubbles for kids to do. My mom and I took the kids down there. Isaac had a blast! Isaac saw one of his friends, Myla at the festival. Isaac and Myla had a great time dancing.

I was able to capture a little bit of Piper "talking"

Piper fell asleep in Grandma Becky's arms.

Choo choo!

Last week I packed up both kids (and a picnic lunch) and headed down to the North Shore Scenic Railroad to ride the train. I had talked it up all morning and Isaac was very excited. Not to mention I was pretty pleased with myself to take both kids somewhere by myself! So, we got in the car and drove down. Once there, I got Piper in the front carrier and off we went. There were a bunch of people waiting for the train. We got to the ticket booth and there was a sign saying the 12:30 train was SOLD OUT. Oh crap. What the hell was I going to do? I really considered asking the ticket lady to explain to my 3 year old why he couldn't ride the train. I decided to get tickets for the 3pm train. We headed back outside and it wasn't until we were walking away from the train that Isaac realized something was wrong. And immediately started screaming "train mamma. ride the train" and trying to pull be back toward the train. I tried explaining that we would ride the train later that day, but of course he didn't get it. I felf aweful. I decided to go over to UWS to have lunch at Eddy's office. Isaac screamed the whole way...and I mean the whole way. We finally distracted him and he settled down. Fast forward to 2:30pm and we get in the car to head back to the train. Isaac says "I no ride train, mama. Just watch it". Uh, I don't think so. In my head I was screaming "YOU'RE GOING TO RIDE THE TRAIN AND YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE IT, DAMMIT". Once we got there, the previous few hours were forgotten and we had a great time. :)

Getting ready to ride the train


My very cautious child held my hand for the first 20 minutes of the ride


When the train blew it's whistle, Isaac said it was "too loud" (imagine that!)


Isaac loved the train


At the end of the trip, Isaac said "come again, mama". What an adventure.