At the beginning of March our church took part in a Bloomington community effort called B. Town Beyond Our Borders, a mobile packing event for Feed My Starving Children at the Mall of America. Matt and I have enjoyed packing at FMSC in the past, so we were looking forward to doing this. Abby and Dan were fabulous and took the girls for the morning while we headed out to MOA.
My mom and Matt.
Action shot!
When we were done at MOA, we went back to Dan and Abby's to get the girls. We found Mckenna and Ayla playing dress up, it was very cute. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of Mckenna and Ayla together to add to the blog.
Mckenna absolutely LOVES to get all dolled up, and it was hard to get her to take off her fancy outfit!
Bathtime!
Could these little girls be any cuter?
It's been really fun to see a sweet sister relationship between Mckenna and Calla forming so early on. Mckenna wants to be near Calla and talk to her, entertain her, and make her smile. Calla is so enthralled with Mckenna and loves to watch her every move. They are so cute together - so fun to watch! Mckenna put this washcloth on Calla's head and exclaimed, "Calla's wearing a washcloth hat!" and then waited for us to laugh. :)
Calla has really outgrown her no-movement baby phase and is very active these days. In this picture she is 5 months old and is enjoying being on her tummy and playing with her toys. Now as I type this, at 7 months old, she is scooting around (the army crawl so far, not quite crawling yet) and moving all over the place. They grow so fast!
Like most parents of little ones, we love all of Calla's sweet little features... her pretty blue eyes, cute little nose and lips, yummy little cheeks, sweet little ears that stick out just a tiny bit but not too much, her soft skin, perfectly round and bald head, little baby double chin, her calm, sweet, smiley nature, and the list goes on. She is perfect to us, and we love her so much!
Mckenna watching her "Toddler Tunes" video with Nemo. Cute! She calls it her "Wheels on the Bus" video because that's the first (of many) songs that they sing - she absolutely loves it! Now that I think of it, I think we had a picture in a post last summer of her watching the same DVD on the plane to Mexico... funny.
All the little girls... Nemo is pretty protective of her sisters!
Mckenna loves Calla so much! Like I said above, Matt and I really like watching them together.
More tummy time! A few months ago she would enjoy staying in this position for quite awhile, but now, when we turn our back, she's off to another part of the room. Watch out, here comes Calla!
And now she's enjoying moving around in her activity jumper too!
Time for a haircut for Mckenna. She loves to "cut hair" at daycare (they have a little beauty parlor among all the fun toys), so getting her haircut is a fun event for her. The cartoons playing while she sits in the chair definitely help too and keep her still.
It was St. Patrick's Day week, so all the stylists had green streaks in their hair and green nail polish - a cute touch at a kid's hair salon.
Calla and my mom came with Mckenna and I. Of course Calla was watching Mckenna closely the entire time. "What's my sister doing?" :)
I had to laugh... the girl cutting Mckenna's hair looked like she could have been one of my high school students - she was really nice and had fun with Mckenna. As you can see, Mckenna is enjoying herself! :)
Also in March, I took my business class on a field trip to United Healthcare to meet our eMentors. It is a fabulous program that the students always really enjoy, and one afternoon during the 7-week eMentors program we get to go and meet the mentors and have lunch with them, and take a tour of the corporate building. I always look forward to this afternoon, and I'm always proud of my students - how smart, professional, and mature they are! :)
My business class and their eMentors from United Healthcare.
A random afternoon out to lunch at the Olive Garden, one of Matt's favorites (probably because of the all you can eat factor at lunch, hahaha.) We've been lucky that it's been pretty easy to take the girls out - they are well behaved and generally in good moods.
Another fun event in March was that both the Minnehaha girls and boys basketball teams made it to the state tournament! Last year the girls team won the state title, so it was exciting to be there again. Between Matt and I, there are several girls on the team that we have currently or have had in class. Fun to see them in this athletic competition mode!
They won the semi-finals game... moving on in the state tournament again for the third year in a row and ready to defend their champs title!
We brought Mckenna to the state championship game, which I was a bit nervous about. It was somewhat during her usual nap time, and I was wondering if she'd stay entertained or if we would have a restless/crabby 2-year old on our hands. Because she likes to get fancy, I made a production out of writing "I heart MA" on her cheeks in red lipstick - she seemed to really like that.
These pictures were taken just as we got inside the Target Center and sat down. She seemed to be just taking it all in for a few minutes... all the people, the noise, the basketball players warming up on the court... a lot to look at!
After her initial few minutes of over-stimulation coma, she was back to her fun, busy self. Between watching the game, waving her UMN pom pom and yelling "Go Redhawks!", she had fun coloring...
... and playing with her good friend Liz who sat next to us (this was taken by a school photographer all the way down on the court floor - nice long-range lens!)
She also liked sitting on Matt's shoulders, pretending he was wearing a wig. She has a great imagination!
But sadly, a 2011 state title was not in the cards. The girls played hard and it was a fun game to watch.
2nd place in state - an awesome accomplishment!
A classy and faithful team... praying and thanking God in the midst of defeat.
My sister Kristi was nice enough to stay home with Calla while we went to the game. When we got home, Kristi was doing a little photo shoot with Calla. She is definitely a cute subject! She is 5-months old here...
The funny too-large headband shot - gotta get at least one of those! ;)
Calla was dedicated at Bloomington Covenant on Sunday, March 27th. It was a very special day for all of us, especially because several of our close family and friends were there to celebrate with us, including our neighbors, the Roushs, and our good friend and co-worker, Liz. Cam and Gwen were able to come from Chicago for the weekend (thanks, you guys!) and Mckenna LOVED having her cousin around! Linnea and Sonja stayed home to take it easy... Mckenna and Calla's newest cousin, Naomi Linnea Johnson, would be born in just a few short weeks! We missed them, but were so glad they could stay home and rest for a few days.
Dedication Sunday - family pictures after a group lunch at our house...
Matt's parents were able to be in town too - so nice to have them with us! And the girls just adore their grandparents. I think Grandma and Grandpa like them too. :)
Calla and Grandma Mary, Mckenna and Grandpa Bob.
I really hope to get to April and May pictures sooner than later! The end of the school year is such a busy time, so we'll see if I can sneak in some blogging sometime in all that craziness. We hope everyone has had a nice spring and is looking forward to the summer ahead as much as we are! :)
