Snow Carving at the St. Paul Winter Carnival

We headed out to the state fair grounds to see the winter carnival snow sculptures yesterday. My friend, Shannon, has done it in the past and entered the new amateur category this year. She has 3 kids and 8 hours is much more manageable than 60.  This was the carving the entrance that was in progress.

They have a snow maze, snow pile and snow slide for kids (and adults) to enjoy.

I wasn't sure how Parker would do on the slide. He was a little scared of the scaffold stairs, but was excited once we got to the top. We ended up only needing 1 ticket per sled so Jimmy got to go down with him as well.

Teams still had about 10 hours remaining to finish, but they were looking pretty good. 

The baby was a little creepy, but impressive none the less.

Shannon's team made a Lego gnome! 

The c-shapes hands were spot on! Hopefully we will get to see pictures of the rest of the finished sculptures. 

Here are Esme's weekly pictures from yesterday as well. She is definitely on the mend, but is still being a finicky eater. Sleep has been much better the last few nights, which helps the whole family!

Hope you have a great week!

Friendsgiving 2017

Our friends Daisy and Kyle hosted Friendsgiving last weekend.  We did a similar gathering with our church friends in 2012, but our group has grown quite a bit making it tougher to get together.  They moved in to a new house last summer that has a great open floor plan that works great for our large group.  We had 11 adults and 13 kids.  Mary was immediately drawn to Esme and it was so fun to watch them interact.  She was hugging, kissing, and poking in the most adorable way.

 The kids ran around and played while the adults got to chat it up!

 It was a potluck dinner with the hosts making the turkey.

There wasn't a table seat for everyone, but we made it work...

 And the kids had so much fun playing!  I hope we can do this again next year! (Wink wink Daisy and thanks for hosting!)

Catching Up Again...

Esme has been fighting a nasty cold this week and is crying it out a bit right now as I type.  I will probably have to take a break and tend to her.  She was up from 2:30-4:00am Tuesday and it took 2 hours to calm her and get her down Tuesday night.  She went to bed better last night and I think she has turned the corner towards getting better.  She still has a cough and wheezy breathing, but hasn't had a fever and is in much better spirits.  It has been a neglectful few weeks for me on the blog, but I am trying.  I realized I was so caught up in her 9 month post that I post her 39 week pictures, so here are the last two week's worth.

 On Friday we watched Trump's inaugural address and some of the other festivities.  It's been an interesting first week of his presidency, but we are staying optimistic that good things will come from him being in office.  If you just want to forget about the last week here is a baby in sunglasses, who can resist that?!?!?

It's been a rough week here so I am happy that Friday is almost here! What are your weekend plans?

More 9 Month Pictures and Family Outings

I did a little outdoor photo shoot with Esme on Sunday.  We took Parker's 9 month pictures at my parents (in August) so I thought it would be fun to do Esme's there too.  She loved riding in the sled!

 We took an outing to the Mall of America on Saturday.  We normally go on Friday nights, so it was a lot busier than we are used to.  Parker loved these little robot dogs, but the barking would drive mom and dad crazy!

 It's not the mall without a stop at the Children's Museum.  We can't even walk by without going in or Parker will start crying.  Their current rotating exhibit is the Amazing Castle.

Esme had her 9 month well child visit on Monday, which was a piece of cake.  Official measurements are: 21 lbs (88%), 28.25" (73%), 17.75" head circumference (82%).  There were no shots this trip and no crying!  Our pediatrician will be on maternity leave for her 1 year appointment, which made me sad, but we get to see her husband and grill him about the new baby!

Tonight we made a run to Costco and Babies R Us to get a new carseat for Parker since Esme will be moving to his in the next couple months.  This heartwarming interaction too place as we were getting ready to leave.  Parker has been more intentional with Esme so much lately.  This will never get old.

They had some really cute moments in the cart, but wouldn't let us capture them holding hands...this confused picture will have to do.

Happy hump day, have a great week!

Esme June - Nine Months Old

Esme is 9 months old today. She is sitting most of the time now.  Either on the floor or in her exersaucer.  She likes to be on her tummy as well so she can pivot and scoot around.  Her favorite things to play with are remotes and baby wipes.  She likes to play with real toys as well, but Parker takes them away just as she gets really in to it.  She is back to sleeping better and has been going down closer to 8:00.  She still wakes up in the middle of the night to chat with herself, but I sleep right through it so you'll have to ask Jimmy how that goes. 

By our home measurements she is 21.6 lbs. and 27.5" long, but we will get official numbers on Monday. (Update: 21 lbs and 28.25")  She is in all 12 month clothes now and is wearing size 4 diapers during the day and at night.  She is eating 8 oz of formula 5 times a day and has at least one meal of purees each day.  So far she has tried squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, chicken, peaches, applesauce, yogurt, and oatmeal.  We have a pretty large stash of food right now so we won't be adding too many other things for a while.

Seeing her personality come out is so much fun.  She is almost always happy, but is starting to express frustration when she drops a toy or something is taken away from her.  She hasn't been making much noise lately so I always wonder if she is getting in to trouble, but hasn't yet.  I am going to try to get in a photo shoot tomorrow with some fun pictures.  Here are her official ones from today and a comparison to Parker.

More Catch-Up

Not much to say tonight, mostly pictures.  First, Esme's pictures from two weeks ago.  

I dressed the kids up for the last Vikings game of the year.  I hadn't done that in months so you can blame me for how the season went.

Esme isn't crawling yet, but she can move around by pivoting her body and she scoots backwards a bit.

Esme got some great new outfits including this adorable one.  The shirt has a crab and says "Oh, Snap!"  Her vest was hanging in the living room and Parker decided to put it on!  Definitely a rock star look!

Esme has been loving our electronics lately as well, especially our watches.  She has even sent her first couple text messages.

We had an impromptu off week date night while the kids were with my parents.  We went to Cheesecake Factory and played cheesecake roulette!  We asked the server to box up her favorite slice to go, then we get surprised at home.  This is the second time we have done this and it's so much fun.  We got Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch this time!

We started giving Esme and Parker baths together last week.  She is finally stable enough to sit up, but we stay close by in case she tumbles (or is knocked over.)

Lastly, Esme's pictures from last week and a blooper.  I am really proud that I have been able to get pictures every week.  The blocks only go up to 39 weeks, so I may have to do some photoshopping soon.

Hope you are having a great week!