My strong willed child

Last night at supper Paige refused to eat. She pushed her plate away and gave us these scowly faces. Not quite sure how to handle it. We tried not to laugh, unsuccessfully. It was just too funny. Then she started smiling, but could go right back into the frown. She is definitely starting to press us on what we will tolerate. She is strong willed, but has an equally strong willed mommy. I'm sure we have many challenges ahead of us.

This is Paige telling me "NO". She always swings her arm like she's going to hit me. Or she hits the table or the floor or anything that is right in front of her. This, I do not find funny at all. I'm still trying to figure out how to stop this behavior. Any suggestions out there?

Baby Pics

Here are my two babes at roughly the same age. They don't look as much alike as I thought they did, but still are obviously sisters!

Ok, so I thought that I would add Mark and my baby pics to the mix. I think we must all be about the same age. Mark is the baby in the pic of him and his brother. The girls pics are in the previous post. I added these as a second thought. Enjoy!

Paige Elizabeth

Last night at supper Paige said her first prayer all by herself. Up until now she has always repeated what we say. I always ask her if she wants to pray and she says yes, but then silence. That is, until last night. She didn't say it loud, but in the sweetest little voice came, "Jesus. . . park. . .friends. . . Amen." I guess those are the things that are most important to her right now. I loved it. It was so special to hear her thoughts.

And for another first. . .Paige is sleeping in her big girl bed!!!! I guess it had to be her choice. We tried to get Paige to sleep in her bed before Alaina was born. She had none of it. After many, many hours of crying, we put her back in her crib and there she has stayed until two nights ago. Every night we would ask which bed she wanted to sleep in, and last night she decided she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed and has done great. I asked her who should sleep in her crib now and she told me "Awaina". I haven't moved the crib out of her room and don't really want to until I'm sure this will last. But so far so good. She goes right to sleep both at bedtime and naptime and doesn't get up until I go in to get her. It's amazing! I never thought the transition would be this easy. I guess I'm probably asking for it and tonight will be horrible, but we'll see. Way to go, Paige!

Alaina Kate

Here is my 4 month old up on her hands and feet! Can you believe this kiddo is already wanting to crawl.

On her knees and elbows. Alaina can pretty much already get to where she wants to go. She rolls and scoots her way there.

One more. Crazy girl!

Back to the Grind

Well, it seems as though everything is back to normal. Mark got home from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) on Saturday. It sounds like they had a great trip. Bugs were only bad two nights and the weather was gorgeous. They caught lots of fish and had tons of fun. I have to say that I am a bit jealous of their adventure. Maybe in a couple years we can take the girls up there.

I spent the week they were gone with my parents in Fort Dodge. In fact, I got home only shortly before Mark did. It was a good week, but it's nice to be home and in our own beds. I am thankful for the help I got from my parents. They are so good about getting up in the morning with the girls and letting me get a little extra sleep, no matter how early the girls decide to get up. Plus, I didn't have to think about meals the whole week, or things that I should be doing, but don't have time to do with 2 little ones. Thanks Mom and Dad for everything you did to help me.

Now we are busy getting back into the swing of things. I can't believe school has started already. It doesn't mean much to me other than summer is ending. I am staying busy working on MOPS stuff. It starts in September, so there is much to do before that first meeting. I'm so looking forward to this year. I feel that I'm finally into the swing of motherhood. Specifically, being a mother of two. I just love MOPS!

Here are a couple random pics from the end of our stay with Nana and Papa.

Nana giving Alaina a bath in the sink.

Papa playing basketball with Paige's bathtub toys.

Paige "parking" her car next to Papa's convertible.

Must Love Dogs! (and tomatoes)

Paige loves grape or cherry tomatoes. Her favorite is to help pick them, though she likes to pick the green ones, too. Here she is after helping Papa pick from his garden.

Paige thinks that Aunt Amber's dog "Wucky" (Lucky) is her own personal toy. She tells Lucky to come, sit, and then picks her up like she's one of her dolls. It's really quite adorable and Lucky is a good sport. Too bad she won't stay that size forever.

Aunt Amber, Paige, and "Wucky"

This is Paige's 2nd cousin Tiffany. Tiffany is about 6 months younger than Paige. They play so well together. It's fun that Paige has a friend to come to Nana and Papa's house.

Sherel and I took Paige and Tiffany to the new Splash Pads in Fort Dodge. The girls had a blast.

The pictures are a little dark, but Paige sure did enjoy herself.

More fun in the sun.

Paige crawled up on the couch next to Papa and sat just like him. Isn't that cute!

We took Paige to the park. She loves to swing and get underdogs from Papa. Aunt Amber and Nana apparantly love to swing, too.

Family Weekend

Mark went to the Boundary Waters on a week long guys' trip, so I went to Fort Dodge to visit my parents for a few days. My Grandma Vigneron (my dad's mom), Aunt Lou, and cousin Cameron came from Kansas to meet Alaina and see the rest of us for a couple days. Paige loved her Great Grandma and led her around the whole time she was here. She especially liked her to read stories to her. It was very precious and I'm so happy that I got to spend some time with them. We don't get to see them very often, so it was nice they drove up.

Great Grandma Vigneron reading to Paige.

Great Grandpa Garber (my mom's dad) swinging with Alaina. Paige and Alaina are his Pony Girls! He gives them rides on his knees. They both love it.

Cousin Cameron and Aunt Amber swinging Paige at Oleson Park.

Aunt Lou and Alaina. Aren't they sweet?!

Nana and Alaina, me and Paige, and Great Grandma V.

Cousin Cameron, Paige, and Aunt Amber went down the trail to feed the deer. It was pretty funny watching them try to climb back up. It was super steep.

Home Grown, Iowa Proud

Paige eating her first ever home grown Iowa corn on the cob. There's just nothing like it. She loved it! We had my favorite meal of BLT's with tomatoes from our garden, and corn on the cob that Mark got from a co-worker. It was delicious!!!!

All smiles! Alaina still has her blue eyes. I don't remember when Paige's turned brown. But it seemed like they were already murky by this time. Mark has brown eyes and I have hazel. But we both have a parent with blue eyes. Maybe there's a recessive gene in him somewhere. Only time will tell.

Happy Girl!

We always have to strap Alaina into everything or she arches her back and can get herself out.

No camara's please!

Our Superstar reading with Daddy!

Fun in the Sun!

What a gorgeous day this is. We were invited over to Emily's house to play in their slip 'n slide, pool, and on their swingset. Paige just loves playing with her friends and it's nice to get out of the house and visit with adults. This is the second day in a row that we did this and at first Paige was reluctant to walk down the slip 'n slide. I think it may have something to do with being the firstborn and needing control. She much prefers to wade into the pool. But after watching Ellie walk down it with her tongue hanging out, "drinking" the water, she thought maybe she should give it a try. And now she loves it. She really needs to have something modeled to her before she'll try it and decide it's ok. And luckily my friends' kids are happy to model all kinds of activities for her. It brings me great joy to watch her have fun and interact with her friends. She is growing up before my eyes.

Hannah pulling Paige down the slip 'n slide.

"Are you watching, Mommy?"

Ellie and Paige! Aren't they so sweet?

Pool time!

Just chillin'! (Paige is in the middle)

Flowers!

Yesterday, my husband brought this bouquet flowers home for me (and Paige). He's so great.

• I love my husband because. . .
• He brings be flowers!
• He loves me despite me!
• He is a man of God!
• He's my best friend!
• He makes me laugh!
• He's the best Daddy our kids could ever have!
• He helps me clean and do the laundry!
• He sings to Paige every night!
• He's not afraid to try new things!
• He's Al handy! (not Tim Taylor, from Home Improvement)
• He loves the outdoors!
• He's a great athlete!
• He's hot!

I love you Honey! Thanks for marrying me!

Exciting Lunch

Today during lunch we kept hearing a plane that sounded super close. As we were looking out the window to try to see it, it flew right over our neighbors house. It was a Crop Duster and was dusting the fields surrounding us. We quickly went out to the deck to watch and I ran to get the camara. Paige really liked it until it flew, no joke, like 20 yards directly above our house, and therefore, us. I wanted to get Paige in the pics, but it freaked her out too much. She was stuck like glue to my side, but we enjoyed watching for a while.

That's the corner of our house!
The field next to the park behind our yard.

Looking out over the park from our deck!

Plane is over the field, our deck is on the left.

Family Bike Ride

One of our favorite activities is riding bikes. We found a way, don't judge us too harshly on safety, to take both girls. Paige just loves it. I asked her after supper if she wanted to go for a bike ride and she said, "Yea, bike ride" and clapped her hands. Alaina actually does well, also for a kid that normally hates her car seat. She does like to be outdoors, though, and as you can see, she fell fast asleep. We rode to Isaac's Creamery and all shared a double dish of Monster Mash and Strawberry icecream. It was nummy!