April 2011 - April snow, Calla's 1st foods, Ayla turns 2, Easter, & more...

Well, the end of the fabulous but very busy summer means a few free minutes to blog! I've been going back and forth on whether I should try my best to catch up, or just start afresh in the present with posts, but I've decided that I don't want to let several important months get lost, so... here are a bunch of pictures from our April. I have the pictures for the next several months and through the summer loaded and saved for future posts, it's just finding the time to write!

Sweet, sweet Calla... where do I even start about her? She is happy, happy, happy and smiles all day long.  Here she is at 5 months old wearing the same Eiffel Tower onesie that Mckenna wore when she was this age.  Liz, our good friend and coworker, got this for baby Mckenna when she was on a trip to France with her son Sam in 2008.  We have this exact same picture of Mckenna at the same age, and the girls look very similar - definitely sisters!

Taking a neighborhood walk with the girls in the still-chilly April weather.  They have fun sitting next to each other in the double stroller!

We're lucky to have two very smiley girls!  :)

I had the pleasure to go as a chaperone with the Minnehaha Bloomington campus (K-5) students and faculty to an April MN Twins game at the awesome Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.  The weather forecast threatened rain, but it actually turned out to be very sunny and warm.  The kids were excited to be there, and I was also really excited as it was my first official Twins game that I'd see at the new field - it only took me two seasons!  :)  It didn't disappoint... we all had a great time.

These MA boys were cracking us up... every time music came on (which seems like every minute), they would jump up from their seats, throw their arms around each other, and start dancing around and singing.  Funny!

Unfortunately the good old Twins couldn't pull off a win that day.  Oh well, we still had fun watching... and Matt had fun eating.  (I know those of you that know Matt well are surprised by that.)  ;)

We have taken Mckenna and Calla to a local pet store a few times for some fun "field trips" to see the various pets they have there.  Mckenna loves it!  The fish...

A snake... (I think that's her brave, I'm-not-going-to-be-scared face!)  After this picture was taken she pet the snake, so I guess she wasn't that scared of it.

Fuzzy ferrets...

Cute parakeets...

Another cute pic of sweet Calla.  She's wearing a pretty handmade dress that my Aunt Barb knit for Mckenna.  So, so cute!

6-month pediatrican check-up time! Gotta get the scale picture...

And the head measurement... Calla's stats at her 6-month wellness check - weight: 14 lbs, 13 oz (26th percentile), height: 26 inches (61%), and head circumference: 17 inches (71%) - she is a healthy little girl!

Smiley girl, even at the doctor's office!

Daddy and baby, both are all smiles.  :)

And of course I had to get a picture of the April snow.  Yes, when it is pleasant, warm springtime weather in other parts of the country, MN can for sure still get some snow.  But unlike in the dead of winter, the spring snow usually melts fairly quickly - thank goodness.  By the time April rolls around, most all Minnesotans are ready for the snow and cold to be done and the sun and warm weather to come.

We took Kristi out for her birthday.  The girls love their Auntie!

Mckenna has a small obsession with garbage day - mainly with the fact that, as she puts it, "on Thursdays the garbage truck comes to pick up our dirty diapers!"  (Kids say the darndest things!) Also, whenever we see the same company's garbage trucks around town, she recognizes it and says, "Hey, there's our garbage truck!"  So when we got home from dinner with Kristi on a Thursday, even though it was raining pretty hard, Mckenna insisted that we both go out to the curb and bring in the garbage can to the garage. 

And then back out to get the recycling can.  (Another funny thing, Mckenna loves to help us recycle various items... cute.)  When I suggested that we could wait since it was raining, she started to have a minor meltdown, so I really had no choice!

My parents, Kristi, and Matt took Mckenna and Calla to a small petting zoo on Easter weekend.  I had to run some errands nearby, so I dropped them off at the petting zoo.  I was happy to not go because I've always gotten terrible allergy attacks at those things - not fun.

As I heard, Mckenna was pretty brave going up to most of the animals, although she was a bit cautious too when the excited animals would come right up to her.

Ayla turned two in April!  We went to a fun family birthday party for her the day before Easter.  Abby's sister Libby made this cool rainbow cake - so creative!

 Cousins!  Mckenna and Sarah - they love each other so much, it's really cute.

Mckenna and Sarah really wanted to help Ayla try out her new pink Radio Flyer trike - fun!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ayla - WE LOVE YOU!

The next morning we did all of the Easter activities at church.  We always start the morning with the Easter breakfast, which is put on by the Sr. High youth group each year as a fundraiser for their summer trip.  This summer they went on a missions trip to New Orleans, and as always, they did a wonderful job with the breakfast.  Mckenna absolutely loves pancakes, so she was one happy girl that morning.  Look at little Calla in that big high chair - cute!

Before the service started, we made attempt #1 at a family Easter picture... (attempt #2 below.)

Mckenna usually does a good job entertaining herself during the service.

After the service, a picture with Grandma and Grandpa.

Attempt #2!

And a picture with Aunt Kristi - cute.

Later that day, we went to Dan and Abby's house again for a great Easter family dinner.  They were so nice to host two big events two days in a row.  We had a fun Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  The kids had a blast!

Jacob and Mckenna.

Little Miss Cutie-Pie, Calla.

Thomas, Sarah, and Mckenna.

And here are a few pics of some of Calla's first ever bites of baby food...

...she likes it!  :)

March 2011 - sister time, haircuts, and more!

I can't believe I'm just now posting about March. Honestly, it kind of bothers me because I like being on top of things (like posting more frequently!), but I guess busy life has other ideas. So... here is our March 2011 in a nutshell!

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! :)