Just when the weather warmed up for a week and gave us a hint of "spring", a huge storm moved in this morning and covered everything in white again! Ahhh, February and March, the months that can't make up their minds as to whether they want to be winter or spring. As you might guess, winter always seems to win out.

It's been a strange couple of weeks for me, weeks that have made me realize how very lucky I am and how good we have it. I've been in jury duty on a murder (that's right, I said MURDER!) trial in Minneapolis and have seen the worst of the worst connected to this case file through the courtroom and give their testimonies. MAN! There's some crazy stuff happening out there right in our backyards basically. I feel so grateful for the "normal" upbringing I had and the stability we are able to provide to our kids. On the bright side, I have met some cool people and am learning a ton about the jury system, a system which was formerly shrouded in a veil of mystery. I also have a new-found appreciation for both prosecution and defense attorneys!

Addison starts both swim and dance lessons in a couple of weeks and we're really looking forward to seeing how that goes. Nana is actually taking one for the team and will be "escorting" Addison to both classes since they happen on mornings during the week. Addison is typically kind of hesitant to try new things, so Nana may have her work cut out for her. BUT, Judith (Nana) has the patience of a SAINT, so if anyone can handle this it's her. Thanks in advance Nana, you (oh, and Addison too) will do great!

Isla is starting to do cute little things such as clap her hands, wave "bye bye" and shake her head back and forth as if to say "no." She still hasn't popped a tooth, nor has she figured out how to crawl, but I'm actually OK with that. She sits so nicely for long stretches of time and plays with toys on her own...I'm not ready to give that up yet.

Family...just a reminder that the big 4-0 is coming up for DJ on Feb 25th! Be sure to shoot him an email (danabarat@yahoo.com) or give him a call to say Happy Birthday on Friday!!!! We have a kid-free weekend next weekend with some fun things planned to celebrate. What we are most looking forward to though is sleeping in past 6:30am!!! Wow, won't even know what to do with ourselves. :)

Me and my girls

Playing dress up with Ba - what a sport!

Story time

Taking a walk in the freshly falling snow this afternoon

Addison "reading" to Isla

The head shake

First finger food!



I had no idea she could count in Spanish! She busted it out in the shower this morning, so I made her repeat it here.

Isla Montage

Here are a few pictures and video clips that are mostly of Isla. She's 8 1/2 months at this point, an age that I absolutely love! She's wanting to crawl, but not quite there yet. She loves to hear her voice and is constantly making funny sounds and noises. Compared to Addison at this age, Isla is a lovey-dovey snuggle bug who will lie in bed with us and fall asleep in 3.5 seconds. Addison had NO patience for any of that and always wanted her space. It's fun to notice the emerging differences in the two of them, but despite the differences, they adore each other...most of the time.

Dinnertime meltdown

They both sit in our bed on the weekday mornings while we get ready for work. Addison's newest thing is bringing every book from Isla's room and "reading" to her. She likes to control what Isla plays with, when she plays with it, and for how long she plays. THAT won't last too long - Isla will be fighting back soon, I'm sure.

Like here - she'd like to slug Addison with the Dora bat!

Obsessed with barns and farm animals

clap clap!

REEEEACH!

Sesame Street Live

On Saturday night Addison experienced her first live show! It wasn't Annie, or Mary Poppins, or even The Lion King. No, it wasn't any of the classics, it was the ONE, the ONLY.....Sesame Street Live; Elmo's Healthy Heroes!!! It was, in fact, as corny as it sounds, but she and her buddies, Kellen and Sawyer, were totally jazzed.

We started the excursion with a trip to the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Minneapolis, which is right across the street from the venue (Target Center, whoot whoot!) where Elmo was being held. Addison and I picked up Kellen and his mom, Nicole and met Sawyer, and his mom Leah, there. The kids chowed on mac 'n cheese while the moms enjoyed a pre-Elmo cocktail. Every last person in the joint was on the same plan we were, and the servers looked like they wanted to poke their eyes out - not the night you wanted to be working I presume.

Addison and Kellen are like two little devil children when they're together. They feed off of each other (and they were actually, literally feeding each other too), which really means that Addison acts as ring-leader and Kellen follows whatever she's doing. If Addison is screeching "There's a car in the ceiling, there's a car in the ceiling!" and shaking her head back and forth so her hair flies wild then Kellen follows suit. If Addison takes her milk and dumps it on the table, Kellen feels compelled to do the same. If Addison charges off running through the crowded skyway like a bat out of hell....well, you get the picture. She was so out of her mind thrilled, dancing around, talking gibberish like she does when she's excited and Kellen was the same. Sawyer Malkerson on the other hand, is like a little angel sent from above...always has been. These 3 have been hanging out since they were born and their personalities shone through early on. Sawyer stays right with his mom at all times, hold her hand lovingly, speaks in a quiet, polite tone and he looks on at Addison and Kellen as if they're heathens. We like to joke that Sawyer has a British accent, wears an ascot and carries his passport with him at all times just in case he needs to catch the next flight to Paris - he's like a little man.

So anyway, we finally got out of the Hard Rock (and I was reminded why I never go there) and made our way to our AWESOME seats in the Target Center, but not before passing scores of merchandise ladden kiosks luring children in with shiny toys and cotton candy. Funny that we were there to see Elmo's "Healthy" Heroes yet here they were serving spun sugar to toddlers. Go figure. As Addison and Kellen jumped up and down screaming "ELMO! ELMO!" on the quest to obtain the over-priced light-up Elmo wands displayed at merchandise central, Sawyer stood quietly by and looked up at his mother as if to say (in a British accent of course) "Could I possibly have a toy too, mother?" Wands in hand, we got settled into our seats, the lights went down and the kids were mesmerized. Life sized Sesame Street characters singing and dancing on a stage of color and lights? What more could you ask for? Well, if you're Sawyer you sit patiently through full 2 hour movies in the theater as well as live football and basketball games (I'm not kidding), so he may have been asking for more, but they all truly loved it. Except for getting pissed that the $10 balloon she HAD to have at intermission needed to stay under the seat during the show, I think Addison did a great job on her first trip to see a show; one that she remembers anyway.

Next up?

Les Miserable! ;)

At the Hard Rock, freaking out about another little girl's Elmo balloon - the little girl had been at the earlier show

Sawyer the Angel Child

Mesmerized

See how Kellen is about to peg the girl in front of him with his wand while Sawyer looks on in disdain? Par for the course. :)
Addison and Kellen with their loot

Tired and happy - time to go home

Happy Isla - 8 months old on Jan 25th! Addison has taken to calling her "Boo-boo"

Trying her new fave - sweet potato, parsnips and carrots, made with love by dad!

January Blues

From Thanksgiving through New Year's Day, the cold weather, snow and icicles have an idyllic charm here in the heartland. Houses are decorated in twinkling lights, sparkly Christmas trees peek through front windows and garlands dress fireplaces as flames glow brightly within. I can handle this. I actually enjoy this a lot. But come January 2nd after the lights come down and the festivities are over, I'm done with winter. This is not ideal because January is when the real winter begins. The temperatures drop to sub zero, neighbors hunker down and disappear into their homes and things get icy and blaaahhh - January Blues. Luckily we have our two little munchkins to keep us smiling and entertained and time flies by faster than we'd prefer. In this sense, Spring is just around the corner! At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

Isla will be 8 months old this month and Addison is on the fast track to 3. We love watching the girls continue to interact with each other and although we're busy bees over here, we enjoy every minute we get to spend with them.

We had plans with friends on NYE, but alas, Addison came down with a cold. No one appreciates a sick child being carted around to a party with other children to pass the germs to, so we had Ba and Nana over, made lobster, prime rib and french green beans, put the kids to bed and toasted the new year. Mellow, but nice. My, how things have changed! Right after New Year's we had a post-Christmas brunch celebration with Heather, Guy, Cassie and Carly - yum!

Carly and Isla

The gang - Carly, Isla, Addison and Cassie
They have a swing in their playroom for winter indoor fun!

This is Isla's post in the mornings when we're getting ready for work. She sits there with a bucket of toys in front of her and goes to town digging through it.

Addison discovered my "workout mix" on my iPod docked in Isla's room and wants to dance to it every chance she gets. Girl's got moves!

Another Great Photo from Nana...

Another great shot by Judith. We love this one, thanks Nana! I think it should be in a magazine or something, it' s just too cute!

Santa Baby

How gorgeous is this photograph of baby Isla? Judith snapped this precious picture while the girls were at her house one afternoon and I just had to get it up here. If you can't tell, Isla's wearing a pink Santa hat in front of a fun silver Chrstimas tree. This one's going in a frame on the wall for sure! Thanks Judith! (otherwise known as Nana).

Christmas 2010!

This was the first Christmas that Addison really knew what was going on and I think we ALL took advantage of that by spoiling her rotten! It was a fun and festive holiday with lots of toys and treats, maybe a bit too many, but it was all worth it! Gramma Pam was here for a week and really enjoyed spending time with the girls and witnessing the excitement of a traditional Christmas morning. We spent Christmas Eve at Ba and Nana's with a delicious meal and some present opening. Addison got some really cool things including a real wooden block set, a turtle that acts like a night-light and throws stars and a moon on her ceiling and a Good Night Moon memory game. Isla loaded up on cute clothes (yay! something other than Addison's hand-me-downs!) and baby toys. We got home that night and left cookies, that Addison had made earlier, and milk out for Santa Clause and read "The Night Before Christmas" before the kids hit the sack. Then the fun began - hauling up loads and loads of presents to place under the tree. When we were done there was a mountain of goods (including a rather large stuffed horse) spilling out into the living room.

When the girls woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning we were able to keep Addison downstairs long enough for us to make coffee and collect ourselves so we could really be in the moment when she first walked into the living room. When that moment arrived, the first thing she did was squeal and say "OH!!!!! A HORSE!!!" There were other exclamations about Santa, and lots of treats, and tiny reindeer and such, but I can imagine the whole thing was a bit of a whirlwind for her. Ba and Nana arrived around 9am, after Addison opened everyone's stockings, and we proceeded to open gifts until 12:30pm. That's right, 12:30pm, when we finally broke for brunch! That will give an idea of the amount of presents for the kids - meaning Addison. With 3 sets of grandparents and their generosity, it was completely mad. There were books and toys and games and dinosaurs and Chuck the Truck and a V-Tech reader with a carryng pack and books to go with it, puzzles and stuffed animals and DVDs, coloring books and more. When it was all said and done, we separated things into piles for our house, Brenda's house, Ba and Nana's house and things to store away to take out throughout the year. We are still thinking of new ideas for creative storage, always a challenge in a house with children and all their stuff!

It's been SO nice for DJ and I to have time off of work to spend with our girls and it's truly felt like a nice long break. We can't believe the new year is here (where did 2010 go?) and it's back to reality on Monday morning. We're looking forward to a healthy and happy year with our precious girls, and wish the same to all of you and yours!!!

High chair pals

Addison grabs Isla's hand and sings this song saying "Up already" or something like that when they are in their high chairs together. Not sure what that means, but it's cute.

Making cookies with Gramma

Christmas Eve at Ba and Nana's

Christmas morning

Eating Santa's cookies

Brunch! Finally...

Christmas night