32 Years Young

...and looking good.  Happy Birthday, Dad!

Rainbow Umbrellas and a Magic Bus

We know how to party even when there's crappy weather and summer seems like it's never going to start.

Dance the Night Away

Two recital performances.  Friday night, May 13th and Saturday the 14th.  What can I say?  The girls were adorable.  Mia danced to "Mr. Golden Sun" and Ali did "Bouncy the Clown."  Classic.

And TWO seconds later, two months have gone by...

Charlie, thriving.

He's incredibly strong (and handsome!).

He smiles with his eyes like the girls.

And giggles. And already a droolin' fool.

Such a big boy.

2 month stats:

15 lbs., 2 oz. (98th %)

26 in. long (100th %)

More Funny Alice

3/4 - Pretty much every day since we went to the zoo last (on 2/17) she randomly asks if I remember "the little boy pushed her at the LOO last time?" It is SO stinkin' cute, and SO funny to hear her say it.

She also likes to do her "lipper" on her coat all by herself and gets really upset if it isn't "lipped" all the way to the tip-top. Mia used to say "wh" for zipper. So Mia would say, "Mom, whip it up!" and Ali says, "Mom, lip it up!"

3/3 - "Mom, help! My hippo is itchy!!" (HIP, in case you didn't get that.)

4/25 - "The summer is in my eyes" (the sun)

**Update-the piggybank in the Toy Story movies is called "Porkchop." We were watching it (again) the other day, and I had one of those ah-ha moments.

**She still calls her hips her "hippos," and she still has her "ankle bumps." (4/25/11)

Charlie

3/31/11 - he now looks at you with his big bright blue eyes, and follows! SO cute!

He's a gassy little stinker, but seriously the BEST baby. Love him!

4/5/11 - 1 month check-up stats:

12 lbs., 10.5 oz.

23.5 in.

Doing very well.

oh BOY!

Charles Harlan Dahl

Born March 5, 2011

7:55 pm

9 lbs., 10 oz.

22.5 in.

We were thrilled to welcome Mia and Ali's baby brother, Charlie, into the world on Saturday evening. We're all madly in love with him. Expect many many pictures and stories. And, thank you for all the warm wishes, kind thoughts, gifts, and meals. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful friends and families.

Funny Alice

Apparently Ali calls her piggybank "porkchop" now. We have no idea where she came up with this, but JD and I cracked up. Funny Alice.

Our vacation-the good, the bad, the ugly:

Christmas night, 9:30 pm, we set out. Our course, a "new" route, took us down I35 trough Iowa (instead of the usual I94 through Wisconsin/Illinois). Despite the fact that it was the middle of the night and really shouldn't have mattered where we were, let me just say it is NOT fun driving through Iowa. A state of vast nothingness as far as we could see-which wasn't far, thanks to the lack of any lighting on the roads, the blistering wind, blowing snow, and uncleared second lane. There is no place to stop. Not even a rest area, for HOURS. Hours and hours and hours. JD was driving, but pregnant people have to pee-and sometimes pretty often. And, our girls are restless, thrashy sleepers, so being strapped into carseats and trying to sleep in a confined sitting position did not go over well. They took turns waking up crying - I'm sure because they were both uncomfortable, and superduper uber tired from coming off the biggest holiday weekend of the year! T\So that wasn't a great night. But, as the story unfolds, you'll soon realize-it wasn't, by far, the worst of the trip. We stopped for a nice breakfast, stretched our legs a bit, and got back on the road. Day-time driving was much better indeed! The girls were relatively occupied with all their in-the-car activities we'd brought along. And, oh! the portable DVD player. God-sent. The next night we decided to stop-we'd made it through Atlanta and were about 7 to 8 hours from Orlando. Kind of dingy "hotel" but, cheap. And a decent free breakfast. Score. Then, on the road again. We made it into Orlando in record time and set up shop in our plush accommodations at the Embassy Suites with an indoor pool. (Thank goodness, because it was cold in Orlando!) The pool was awesome! Amazing for kids. Shallow enough for Mia to touch on both ends of the pool, a sweet jumping ledge all the way around, two sets of stairs on each end. We swam and swam and swam. Wore the girls out, too, because they both passed out before we were able to eat dinner. We did thoroughly enjoy the complimentary happy hour, though, so at least the girls got a little nourishment :) Chips and salsa, crackers, and popcorn... two Shirley Temples, a couple of diet cokes, and a Manhattan! Love the Embassy. So back to the two sleepyheads-Ali didn't even make it to the restaurant, she crashed hard in the car on the way there (it was less than 3 minutes from the hotel, literally). Mia fell asleep on the booth before her meal came. That was funny.

And (drum roll, please) NOW, for the really good part...we woke the girls up at 6AM (they were STILL dead tired-but perked up right away because they knew what was in store-getting ready to visit DISNEY WORLD). Embassy Suites has a delicious cook-to-order breakfast, again, complimentary. Omelets, potatoes, fruit, cereals, pastries, juices, coffee. Yum, yum, yum. Did I mention that I love the Embassy? Then we drove into Disney World, to the Magic Kingdom. And, it was magical. Amazing, and magical, and perfect-except that it was so cold. It warmed up for a few good hours when the sun was out in full force, which was nice, but the morning, and the late afternoon/evening/night was downright cold. Even for us (used-to-it) Minnesotans. We bought some gloves, which helped tremendously. And, for the most part, the cold didn't matter. Mia and Ali loved the castle. Loved, loved, loved it! And we got to see a lot of the princesses. Sleeping Beauty and Belle. Cinderella was noticeably absent-but we did catch a good glimpse of her with Prince Charming during Mickey's Chirstmastime parade. The girls had their autograph books out and ready to go. Pretty cool stuff. We saw almost every character you can think of in the parades-we also caught the Electric light-up parade later in the evening. But the girls got to meet in person Pinocchio, Daisy Duck, Sleeping Beauty and Belle, Peter Pan, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Ariel. We missed the line for Jasmine and Aladdin twice, but we did see them in the parade. We saw Piglet, and Tigger, and Pooh. And the Toy Story characters-Dwessie!! And Mary Poppins and Jiminy Cricket...and everyone! The parades were a big hit! We loved the parades. We did a few rides, too. And the girls loved the rides, and were surprisingly patient in line. The Carousel was first-classic, then the flying Dumbo ride. Riding "It's a Small World" brought me right back to probably the last time I was at Disney World-when my sister was maybe 4-and she could not get enough of that ride. She loved it, and we rode it over and over and over again... with Kristen belting out the tune as loud as she could the entire ride, each and every time. We, of course, still talk about that trip and laugh. While the girls didn't share this same exuberant experience, they, too, loved the ride. And it is still just so pretty and amazing, all those little details...

We also rode Peter Pan, and The Pirates of the Caribbean. Disney was so much fun. Best of all-the incredible fireworks display and the real-life Tinkerbelle, lit-up and flying from the castle to get the show started. Pictures and video to be posted ASAP.

We (meaning, JD-of course!) drove straight to Pompano. We got in L A T E-around 3:30 AM. Quickly maneuvered everyone from the car into bed, and woke up to sunshine and the sound of the ocean and the salty smell that lets you know you're in heaven. Pompano is heaven to me.

We had a couple really fun days, and then the puking started. Mia puked, and puked, and puked. For days. And when she was finished, Alice puked. And puked, and and puked. Five times as much as Mia, maybe more. The WORST night of it, Alice threw up maybe 15 times. But puking wasn't the ugliest part. Suffice it to say we resorted to pull ups. For both girls, in fact. And about halfway through Ali's puking spell-that lasted for 7 days-all of the rest of us (except Kenny) got the bug. JD experienced the worst of it on his plane ride home. Poor guy. YUCK.

He had to get back to work, so he had to leave about 10 days before us. I had so been looking forward to the l o n g vacation, but we spent our remaining days feeling crummy. There were a few short moments when no one was puking that we were able to enjoy the beach and the pool, and play shuffleboard. We caught a few rays of sunshine, which were glorious. And, even when you're sick, you can't beat the scenery. Pompano. Amazing. Pretty much as soon as we started feeling better, the weather took a turn for the worse, and we cut our losses and packed for the drive home. Kristen, Kenny and BDama had an early morning flight, and we left later that evening. Made it about a mile before we made our first stop... for a car wash, of all things. It set the tone for the rest of the very, very, very long drive home. I think the girls quickly figured out that the whole "I have to go potty thing" got them out of the car for a little while-and possibly a treat or two from the gas station. So we stopped. A lot. And we spent a few good hours one night sleeping at a rest area in Georgia. And then we stopped the next night in a hotel. The girls just really couldn't sleep in the car, and Mom, Dad and I just really couldn't deal with the ramifications of them not sleeping. And, eventually, we made it home. Home, sweet home.

I sure hope we get to go back to Florida next year. But, I think we'll try to fly :)

Picture Post Coming!

a LOT to be thankful for

An amazing family. Two beautiful little girls. The constant entertainment that children provide. A healthy third pregnancy. Fantastic friends. Better than anyone could dream of. A warm, cozy roof over our heads. Food that satisfies.

Speaking of which, it was Thanksgiving. And, we ate well. Very, very well. We started the day off at Toast Wine Bar with the Davis side of the Dahl clan. Wonderful spread, and even better company! Too bad I couldn't partake in any of the wines being poured... I told Scott that he'd better stock up come March! Then we headed over to my mom and dad's for our second feast. Delicious. I'm sure I've said it before, and I probably will again-but my mom makes the world's best. mashed. potatoes. One of my most favorite things to eat. I love mashed potatoes. But, everything was super tasty, as always... squash, wild rice... Yum. Yum. Yum. We discovered that Mia and Ali LOVE turkey. I wish that I could better describe the way Alice demanded more "twoykey" at the table. She gobbled. And gobbled. And gobbled. Oh, Alice. Which reminds me-another thing I'm thankful for: a potty-trained two year old. Alice is all big girl undies, no pullups now. She's doing great, and it's sooooooooooooooo awesome not dealing with (or paying for) diapers/pullups/wipes/whatnot. Makes me so happy! And, she is so proud of herself. Which also makes me happy.

This Thanksgiving weekend was jam-packed with activities and fun stuff for us.

Turkey Day festivities. Then, "Black Friday," my sister's 21st birthday! A (virgin) strawberry daquiri for me, and one for each of the girls, too, and we're talking p-a-r-t-y! Earlier in the day, Gorgeous, Great Grandma, Mom and I all got our nails done at this cute little shop in the Mendota Village. Lunch at Axel's. More delicious food-what can I say? Home to pick up the fam, and wrap the present, and the evening was topped off by a birthday dinner feast and chocolate cake! Birthday aside, it was a special day for Miss Swiss. She got engaged!! We are super excited for her and Kenny!!! I think they'll wait a while on the wedding details-but, still, what fun!!

Saturday evening the girls and I went with Mom and Great Grandma to see Annie at the Phipps. Mia and Ali LOVE the movie Annie, and they LOVED seeing "Annie on stage." Not that they didn't before, but ever since, they've been belting out "The sun will come out tomorrow, get your bottom dollar..." (I love that they say "get" for "bet" and they both do it, everytime. Precious.) and "it's a knock knock life..." (though Mia says "hard knock") and "Dumb dog, why are you following me?..." (one of my favorites, especially since they force Maggie to play Annie with them all the time, and Ali always refers to her as dumb dog. If Mia says "Sandy" then Al says, "no! that's my dumb dog." It is very funny.)

Just a very few of the other things I'm thankful for this year:

The dijon yellow Le Creuset pot I picked up while shopping Albertville with Miss Natalie. LOVE.

Finding the time to read a book or two.

A new cookbook. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Exciting!

Schwann's delivery. Who doesn't love ice cream sandwiches and bomb pops delivered to right your front door?

The Best Day Ever

This morning we woke up to snow - and LOTS of it! Ali and I were giddy! We were up first, and we crept outside in our jammies and boots to check it out and tromp around a little bit. Alice was beside herself she was so excited. Mia woke up shortly thereafter, a little grumpy as usual. She stopped at the end of the hallway, pouting a tad... so I said, "Mia, did you look outside?" And she got up, and went to the deck door. She got this huge smile on her face, and as she flung open the door (and stepped out barefoot!) exclaimed, "SNOW! Mom, is it Christmas?!?!" I got to thinking, you know, it is a little like Christmas today. First snow of the season, Ben & Joey's birthday party-not to mention the fact that it's at Pump It Up!-a sleepover with PoppaDama. Man, we were all set up for the best day ever.

Both girls couldn't WAIT to wake up Daddy so he could see the snow. I adore their sheer excitement for little tiny things that we totally take for granted. Snow, snowflakes. Blades of grass they pick for me, or dandelions, that I can "keep at home forever and ever."

We watched while Daddy plowed and shoveled the very heavy wet snow, and then made our way through the unplowed streets to the party-and had a blast! Ben picked Mia & Ali's present as the first gift he opened, which Mia was VERY excited about :)

This evening the girls got their sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa and we got to have a delicious dinner with some of our most favorite people, to celebrate Nic's birthday. It was a fantastic day.

Fair Warning

There are a LOT of pictures, here. OK, so you've been warned.

I asked Mia to take "a couple" of pictures of me and Ali during Ali's swimming lessons... when I downloaded my camera, THIS is what I found:

I found it hilarious! So, I decided to include all 32 pictures in this post. Quite the little budding photographer, isn't she? The pics of the ceiling hangings (not sure if that was intentional?)... the toy bucket, and then the close up of the rubber duckie. The photos of her mixed in. AWESOME.

Some are blurry, some dark. Her head is cut off in a couple. But I don't think I could have done any better myself honestly! All of these pictures were taken in probably less than 5 minutes-then she put away the camera and started on her sticker book.