Date Night

We've started date nights once a month with our friends the Medranos.  It's so much fun!  Their boys are 2 1/2 and 5 months old so Amelia loves to get together with them. 

This month the boys were dropped off at our house while the other couple went out for a couple of hours.  They came back to watch the kids while Lucas and I went out. 

 We went to Grizzly's to eat which is where we had our first date.  Then we did something else we would always do as a newer couple.  Drive around and look at cars.  It was always fun to look and dream. 

This time we found something we decided would fit well with our family.  So on Monday morning we went in to buy it.  I love it!  It is so nice to have the extra space for carrying things plus Amelia.  Lucas is also excited because he upgraded from his grandpa's old car to my Taurus. 

Schaefer's Easter

One week later we had Easter with the Schaefers.  It was freezing! 

 Here Amelia is wondering why Grandpa is picking up her candy that she dropped. 

After everyone went home Amelia and Daddy used the table as a fort and read books. 

Kleinschmidt's Easter

Easter day was beautiful this year.  I have to say that I've never had a Lent and Easter season quite like this year.  I had been struggling for the past month but God really comforted me.

Our friends joined us at my parents and Caroline brought things for an Easter egg hunt. 

Amelia loved the egg hunt!  I didn't think she was old enough to enjoy it.  Boy she proved me wrong.

 Millie looking for her pink eggs.

 Poor Garrett.  A lot of his eggs seemed to be up pretty high!

 Zach's eggs were all in the ravine. 

 The best picture of my girl and I. sigh.

 Amelia chasing Bien as always. 

Birthday Party

I finally got the pictures off of my Dad's computer and I found these extras.  They're from some other birthday party but I can't remember who's. 

My brother was wanting to get rid of this kitchen set so Grandma took it to her house.  Amelia loves it!  She plays with it so much I'm thinking I'll have to find a kitchen for our basement when it is finished.

On to the birthday party.  The theme was Amelia's Ice Cream Parlor. 

You already saw her outfit with the ice cream cone on it.  Instead of cake I baked cupcakes in ice cream cones and had a sundae bar with tons of toppings.  It was a big hit!

 The first present she opened was this bunny.  Of course she didn't want to open anymore after that. 

 So Daddy had to help keep her focused on the task.

 She got lots of clothes.  Have I mentioned that she loves clothes?  She adores them and loves to carry them around.  She also likes helping me pick out her outfit for the day. 

Then opened a stroller and was in heaven pushing her bunny around.

I don't let her have very many sweets (actually as a family we try to eat as little sugar as possible) so when she gets them she is super excited.  She kept her cupcake smashed to her face until it was almost gone.  I'm sure she was concerned I would try to take it away from her. 

It was a wonderful 1st birthday and I'm not sure we can top it for year 2.

Spring?

We're still around!  This last month has flown by.  As soon as Amelia's birthday party was over I had to focus on the quilt show for the local quilt guild I'm in.  I was co-chair with someone else, meaning I was in charge.  It was a lot of work but in the end was very successful.  I was so busy at the show the entire weekend that I forgot to take pictures.  Oops.

 For Amelia's birthday I knit her this sweater and kitty.  I still have to get the party pictures off of my Dad's camera.  It's so convenient to have his camera right there but I always forget to get a copy of the pictures.

We've been trying to enjoy the outdoors in between the rain and snow.  It's starting to feel like spring and summer will never be here!  Walking outside has really helped Amelia's balance and we had to get her hard sole shoes.  She loves them and "shoe" is her new word.  She also likes to show off her shoes to people and carry them around if she isn't wearing them.  Yeah, she's a pretty girly girl. 

Here she was not happy that I wouldn't let her see the back of the camera.  In addition to "shoe", she now says, "go, go, go", and "hi."  She is trying really hard to say other words.  Kitty sounds more like "giggle" and she likes to say "tickle" while she is tickling me or herself.  Her signing has also expanded.  She now signs milk, more, eat, and diaper.  I think she signs all done and drink but it's not consistent like the others.  She likes to play peek-a-boo and will hide her face with her hands.  This week she has also been saying something like "boo" while playing. 

I got her a baby pool which I set up for her inside so she could practice getting in and out.  She thought this was awesome and I can hardly wait for her to find out that it's really to hold water.

We went to a baby wearing group and they helped me figure out how to wrap Amelia up on my back.  This meant I had to buy some fabric to make a wrap (hee hee) and I've been practicing every chance I get.  She's helped me make dinner a few times while watching from my back.  I'm thinking this will be a great thing to know how to do for camping this summer.

I haven't been able to sew lately.  My sewing room is right next to Amelia's bedroom so I've been waking her up.  If she's already awake she needs to be in the same room as Mommy and cries if I shut the door.  Well there are way too many things for her to pull down and get into in my room so Lucas and I decided it was time to finish off some of the basement.  We're leaving half unfinished for utilities and storage while the other half will be my new space.  I'm going to split this up with one side Mommy's things and the other side Amelia's things.  I'm so excited to have a new space!  This whole project had to begin with me organizing the basement and getting rid of a bunch of stuff.  I think I got rid of five or six boxes of stuff.  Construction is slowly but surely coming along. 

While waiting for warmer weather I've been planning and researching for my garden.  I convinced Lucas to dig up the lilac bushes that were in the backyard and move them to the side of the house in order to expand my garden space.  I'll have more than double the amount of garden this year!  I've also planned out all of the things I want to can and preserve.  I can't wait!  I got my seeds started and everything is growing very nicely, now I'm just waiting for the threat of frost to be gone to transplant everything outside. 

In my spare time (ha ha ha) I've been knitting a lot since I can't sew.  I have to have a creative outlet somewhere!  I made this lace shawl.

Wool cabled sweater vest. 

 and re-knit this bolero.  The yarn stretched out like crazy when I washed it the first time around.  I was not happy and am praying it doesn't happen again.

That's it for updates now.  I'll post about Amelia's birthday party and Easter later this week.

1st Birthday!

My little sweetheart is 1 year old today!

Her personailty changes in the last month have been amazing!

She gets very excited about everything and is a very curious baby.  In fact we call her our Curious Amelia since she reminds us of Curious George so much.  Curious George also happens to be her favorite show to watch and she very much enjoys snuggling Daddy or Mommy in the morning while watching an episode.  

 She likes to say "what's that?" when she hears different noises during the day and usually tries to find the source of such noises.  I didn't realize how often trains travel through Mankato until this last month with her always pausing to wonder what that noise is.  She has also started using the "what" gesture.  When she falls her hands will immediately raise up as if  to say why?

One morning while I was eating breakfast she began pulling up the rug.  I scolded her and began to get up from the table.  She proceeded to drop the rug and give me the "what?" gesture.  This lasted several times with me trying not to laugh and finally directing her to something else. 

 She just started blowing kisses this week.  This is a byproduct of her favorite song Baby Bumble Bee.  We buzz the bee, catch it wave it around in the air, and then it stings us so we have to kiss our hands.  She follows along with all of the motions beautifully and tries to sing along with me.

She also raises her hands straight up in the air and screams.  It's her version of saying yippee! 

She has finally gotten pretty good at walking and is trying to move on to running.  She doesn't have to hold her arms straight out in front of herself anymore (much like a zombie) and completely enjoys the fact that she is able to wave her arms like a bird while she walks.

She discovered the baby strollers at school and looks like a race car driver while pushing them around.  I know she really likes to push them because she can go fast without falling down. 

Amelia has also started signing to me!  We both love this!  Mealtime is a lot more enjoyable now that she can tell me that she wants more and what it is she wants more of.  If she doesn't want what I'm trying to give her she will mutter "no,no" and wave her hand in front of herself as if saying take it away.  Otherwise she'll grin and say yeah, yeah.  She figured out how to drink out of a sippy cup and is so proud she will drink and entire cup full of water and every meal. 

She likes to check out lights wherever we go and will point them out to you if you ask.  She is trying to say light but only Daddy and I recognize what she is saying.  She also likes to poke her eye out and say "iiiiiii"  I'm trying to get her to learn her nose so her poor eyes get a break!

Daddy really really wanted me to put her hair in pigtails.  It worked for two days but her hair is still a little short and too fine for them to stay in.  Plus I'm just not fast enough!

I've been finding her caught in her crib like this quite a bit lately.  It's no surprise since she has become obsessed with sticking her leg through the gate by the kitchen. 

Amelia is part of the Barnes and Noble Kids Club so this week she got to go have a free cupcake.  As you can see she enjoyed it very very much and was upset that it was all gone.  She wouldn't even take a drink of water the entire time we were there.  I'm sure it's because she thought she wouldn't get anymore cake.   

We are looking forward to her birthday party next weekend!