birthday presents

Lilja slept the whole way home from denver, really not feeling good. But when we got home there were some presents waiting. She had gotten some cute mugs from Jasmin with different animals on them, lots of clothes from Opa and Oma, a stick horse from Shawndell, and a water coloring tray from Barb, plus some great books from great Grandma and grandma.. But the one toy Lilja was looking for was this beautiful baby bed.. However, I think Lilja thought it was for her not the little baby..

Lilja was kissing her finger and then beeping the baby's nose.. That's what I do to her every night.. too cute to see her do that.. Night night, Lilja.. Happy birthday girlie, girl!!

Lilja's birthday weekend

Lilja is TWO!!! wow, how fast this year has gone!! and what a year it has been. I am still in awe of Lilja sometimes. She is such a fun smart little girl to be around. Always smiley, lovey and sweet. We are very lucky to have her in our lives.

Like last year, we wanted to celebrate Lilja's birthday with her tummy mommy, Jasmin. This time we met her and her best friend David at the Zoo. David definitely brought some extra fun to the day.. However, the morning started out with Lilja throwing up.. so we were a little weary of the day.. she perked up a little so we decided to go ahead and continue going to the Zoo. We did not know it was Boo at the Zoo that morning and we have never seen so many kids in costumes. Lilja was a little off through out the day but she held out. Ofcourse we had to sing Happy Birthday to her.. this time with a muffin, just so her tummy would not be too upset.





Lilja was a little clingy to both of us, but Jasmin had great patience and I hope she sees what an amazing little girl Lilja is.

These gorillas just walked by and you had a feeling you could just touch them.. impressive!

Snuggles with Daddy

This frog was the highlight of the animals..

Jasmin and Lilja.. We are so glad Jasmin wants to be a part of Lilja's life and it is cute to see them together.. Lilja looks a lot like Jasmin.

Jasmin's friend David came along for the ride.. He definitely brought some color to the day.. Thanks guys for meeting us.. we had a great time!!

The best time was the sea lions again. we waited around for the presentation.. Lilja loved the sea lion..

Well, about 3 pm we said good-bye and went home.. I think we were all ready to have some quiet time.. I have never seen so many people at a ZOO. Unfortunately Lilja got sick again right when we got home.. then we knew she really was sick.. in bed at 6:30 and slept till 7:30.. plus slept all the way home. We were going to go see friends to celebrate Lilja's birthday with them too.. but a sick child around three little boys did not seem like a great idea.. so we went straight home. Next weekend we will have a party for Lilja, then we'll really celebrate with a healthy child..

sunday is French Toast morning..

Octoberfest in Bayfield

Eventhough I was not feeling well, I wanted to get out and not miss the chilli cook-off and pumpkin fest..
There were horse and carriage rides...
and a "paint a pumpkin " event. Lilja was very serious in painting the whole pumpkin. She must have been painting it for about 10 minutes..she chose the colors red, blue and pink.. all her favorites.. except she missed orange.. well, I guess that one is represented in the pumpkin itself ;)


I was impressed how well Lilja controlled her paintbrush and did not make a mess. she did so good!!!

Potty time!!!

OK, there are many theories about potty training and I must have read most of them through out my years of nannying and being a preschool teacher. But when it is going to happen to your own child the theories go out the window. I really wanted to potty train Lilja in the "2 day method" this weekend. She is such a smart cookie that I thought she would catch on pretty fast. However, Aran's thoughts about driving to Denver the next weekend and not wanting to stop every hour put a damper on that idea. But every thing happens for a reason. I'll explain. So I thought, because I (yes I said I) was so ready for this weekend, lets still do just a little bit. Get her used to the pull-ups and her two piece jammies (easier to go potty than the onesies)
and start her going on the potty.. Thursday night we started with the jammies.. Lilja did not want to have anything to do with them.. eventhough they were Dora jammies (her favorite).. she was pretty sad, but we talked to her and after a while she was fine.. Friday morning we started her out to go on the potty right after she woke up.. well... you get the picture.. So i think she is actually needing this slowing down a bit and needs to get used to a new schedule. it is now two days later and Lilja has completely embraced going potty. she has gone twice poop in the potty, but no pee yet.. Lots of stickers for trying..

p.s we have a little potty, but Lilja chose to go on the big potty from the start.. why change..

Lilja and our art work, we all did this poster together.. lots of balloons!!!

dora

Lilja was allowed to watch a "little bit" of Dora this morning.. She has always just sat in her chair and watched.. well, this morning she changed into a toddler..

Matt's blog

When I started this blog, some of you might remember me mentioning the daunting task of keeping it up as one of our friends was so good at it and I follow his blog almost every day. Well, we went to see them and here is his version of the pumpkin carving weekend. Comparing our versions, I realize his blogging skills are far superior than mine.. Thanks Matt and Jacci for making this weekend so special..
http://thefourdares.blogspot.com/

Roasting Marshmellows!!

we were supposed to make a fire and roast marshmellows the night before, but it got pretty late, so... Matt made a fire after breakfast and we roasted marshmellows.. The air was just crisp enough that it was the perfect temperature to sit arounfd the fire in our jammies.. Lilja was very much loving that fire and especially her first marshmellow..

Matt made this pit with his daughter EleanorVery patiently waiting for that marshmellow to get nicely burned!!

Alice enjoyed that marshmellow very, very much!!

Lilja did not like the stickyness that was left on her fingers..

The Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we went to visit our friends Matt and Jacci and their two girls Eleanor and Alice.. It was Lilja's first experience (and mine) to go to a pumpkin patch!! You had to pick out your own pumpkins and they were in this field still on the stem.. those things are heavy!! The girls were great with Lilja and you can see Lilja is really turning into a toddler. She followed the girls around and thy all played so nice together.

Jacci with the girls

Eleanor contemplating if that is THE pumpkin..

Lilja did not miss a beat and found this huge one!!

I don't think she chose it for the best carving surface but the best one to sit on ;)

Opa and Oma show off...

swinging

Lilja's snow suit

As many of you know I love this store called Sprout, which is a consignment store. The owner takes a lot of Lilja's clothes she does not fit anymore and then I wait for some really great things to exchange for the credit.. well, found a great Hanna Anderson (VERY expensive) snowsuit..never been worn and oh so cute.. it fits Lilja perfect and will be great for all those dogwalks we will be doing in the snow..

peekaboo

Lilja has been asking for an owl in her tree for the past week, so here he is.. we should name him...How about 'Henry" or Dudley?







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Our family weekend

we had a great hike with Lilja today.. she just kept running, we were definitely impressed how far she walked.
This was a great start..


she even ran ahead of us.

and balanced on some logs..

but suddenly she sat down and the tired stare started to apear ;)

So she got a ride from daddy..hold on tight to daddy's ears, Lilja!!

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little "vogel"

Meet little "vogeltje" bird.. We found this little guy in one of our bins from storage. Lilja sure likes him. After some hesitation, now they are bestest friends.

hiking

we went on a nice hike today, up top our Forest Lakes Mountain. The colors are not peaking yet, but still it was a beautiful day. We lent out our backpack, so Lilja had to walk most of the way. Not that she complained. We were impressed how far she hiked and ran.