Palm Sunday, "treasure hunting", swinging and QCumbers!

This past Sunday was a great day. A really, really great day. It started with a 5 mile run...farthest I have run since last August and it didn't feel too bad! This half marathon over Memorial Day Weekend is looking more and more doable. I am enjoying finding new routes and using the GPS on our Garmin watch and/or Chris' phone. It's fun to know how far you are going for sure without driving the route first.

Anyways...after the run Linnea and I went to the Palm Sunday church service with my parents. Chris didn't come because he went on his run and had to work after that. The above picture was during the children's sermon. Linnea walked right over to our friend Tom and rested her hand on his knee and gazed up at him. So sweet.

And here she is convinced the entire congregation is singing to her.

I'm not gonna lie, it was quite fun bringing her up to front of the church, and I think she got a kick out of it too.

After church and lunch at my parents house we headed out to Richfield to continue the difficult process of going through my grandparents old house. The house my mom and her family grew up in. There is a lot of stuff in this cute old house! I have found many treasures that I know I will use and better yet, they remind me of my grandparents and their house. I enjoy going over there but it is overwhelming as well. Brian, Megan and their boys came and found some nice things to fill their home with so thats good. Erik, Lisa and Dylan were also able to stop by and find some memorabilia. Also good.

But even with all of us there it was somewhat stressful so we took a break to play at the park down the road, the same park my cousins and I played at many years ago. It is close enough to walk so off we went. As you can see above, Linnea loves swinging, she is doing her full face smile!

And Dylan looks pretty happy as well.

Weeee!

We worked so hard at the house and at the playground that we needed to eat and decided we would attempt Q.Cumbers. A delicious salad bar/hot food/dessert buffet not too far from the grandparents old house. With the two toddlers and one preschooler and us adults it went surprisingly well! Here is Linnea looking out the window since she was done eating.

Playdate

My new parent group had another playdate a few weeks ago. It is so fun to see everyone once a month. All the "babies" are just about walking and really showing their personalities! There is much more playing going on at the playdates now!

We love it! Linnea made it down this little slide all by herself and she especially liked checking on the dog...if her love of animals and dogs especially continues we may have to get one when she is old enough to say she wants one and say she will help with it....

Stacking

So the other morning at breakfast Linnea was squealing away and leaning forward like she really, really, really, wanted something. She was pointing and I was guessing at what it could be. Finally I figured out it was this peanut butter tub. And as you can see from the face, she meant business. She had things to do.

Apparently she wanted to place her mandarin oranges on it.

and then her sippy cup.

and she attempted the binkie but then everything fell down.

It was a great tower while it lasted sweetie! It was so fun to see her stack something all on her own without any guidance from me!

She Walks!

Our lil Linnea has been walking confidently and fairly steady for about two weeks now but we haven't captured a good video of it on our camera until now! Chris has quite few on his phone but we haven't put those on the computer yet.

This one still isn't wonderful but you can see our toddler in action that's for sure!

We had our 15 month appointment today and to my surprise Linnea only really screamed during the shots! We have had many less than fun experiences with doctors in her short life so far so usually she is crying from the moment the nurse weighs her and listens to her heart and takes her temp throughout almost the whole appointment. So I was so happy when Linnea was a big brave girl and let the doctor listen to her breathing and check her body out without many tears! It was a good appointment! Dr says she is right on track and we should get ready to hear an explosion of words anytime now! Cant wait! Linnea weighs 21 lbs and is 29 in long I think. Those stats put her in the 25th percentile for both height and weight. YAY Linnea April!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

These not so Irish eyes were smiling all day!! Nope I'm not a bit Irish but ever since college I have decided to celebrate in one way or another anyways!

Mostly I just love to celebrate any holiday.

We had such a wonderful day yesterday! Since I uploaded these pictures exactly opposite of how our day went you will hear about our day backwards!

We ended it with some lovely green or minty desserts...green rice krispie treats (the leprechauns must have got into them), thin mints and green sprinkled frosted sugar cookies. yum.

And also yummy...my Irish Beef Stew. I made it a few years ago and it was a hit so we make it every year on St. Patrick's Day. I think we should make it more than just this day though...it's so delicious!

Here are two pictures of me and my lucky charm! One in our house after her long nap and before our guests came over to celebrate with green beer, green pistachio pudding, salad, Irish Soda Bread and Irish Stew. And the one below is at the St. Paul St. Patrick's Day Parade where we began our day.

Pig Tails + Shamrock Headband = adorable.

Linnea enjoyed seeing the dogs.

We even saw some green ones. The girl can spot animals from anywhere! When she sees them you know it, because she points, squeals and kicks her legs if she is sitting. It's quite entertaining!

And here is a very excited little Irish boy! He is my friends son who had a blast looking at everyone dressed in St. Patty's Day gear, the "floats" and the cars, but I think the highlight was getting the candy!

And the whole gang, minus my parents who were taking the picture.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

We hope you enjoyed yourselves and had something green!

Bath, Play and Perkins

So it's been about a week and a half since the last blog!

We have sure been busy! I went downhill skiing last Monday with my dad and some of his friends which was sooo much fun! I hadn't been downhill skiing in like 5 years. What a blast! Linnea and I had a playdate with my friend who nanny's and we got to go walking outside since it has been so nice!

Soon I will take her running...as soon as we get a jogger that is! Chris and I have officially signed up for the Stillwater Half Marathon.

Hooray! Time to get back into shape!

We have also been very busy learning to walk...I will be sure to post a video soon! I thought I had one on the camera but can't find it so you get these cute pictures instead!

She is getting very, very good at walking and I LOVE it!

Two Saturdays ago, after my shift at Caribou we decided we would go out to lunch at Perkins. Just the three of us. We realized we had never done that. We have gone with our families and we have both taken her out to eat with our friends, but never just the three of us have gone! It was very fun! She even got to color for her first time...I know the above picture doesn't look like she is enjoying it, but look at our lil artist below:

Good job Linnea!

Another bit about Caribou is that this Saturday will be my last day there, for now at least. I have loved working there and they have been a great company for me. Very flexible with all my other jobs and when I was pregnant and on maternity leave. I gave them my two weeks because I will be selling Twins tickets again this season and also nannying very much full time for an infant starting early to mid June. I didn't feel I could do or needed to do all those jobs and be the kind of mom, wife, daughter and aunt I want to be.

So goodbye free and discounted drinks and coffee and good friends.

But we will come visit!

And on another Twins/baseball note we had our fantasy baseball draft this past Sunday night. Despite the fact that my 10 of the players I really wanted were taken by my brothers I am very happy with my team the St. Paul Snowflakes and think we may win the whole thing!

Your future's so bright, you gotta wear shades!

With the warmer weather here we have been going on plenty of walks and since she is turned forward in the car now we thought it would be a good idea to get her some cute sunglasses!

She is not quite sure about them in the car or our practice round her in the high chair and whips them off, but she keeps them on in the stroller so that's good!

Much happier with them off!

Precious Moments

Last week we finally got to go visit great grandma again!

We used to be really good about going once a week or at least once every two weeks but I think it had been almost 3 weeks since we visited :(

Sorry grandma, we don't know where the time went.

But we will for sure visit again soon. Linnea loved being read to, eating in her stroller and walking around your room. Next time we will have to walk up and down the hallways!

We love you!

Birkie Fever

This past weekend we took what hopefully will become our yearly winter trip to Trego, WI to stay in a huge duplex cabin with family and friends. The above picture is with Linnea at almost 2 months. The picture below she is 14 months! She was a great companion at both ages!

Most of us go to just getaway from the busyness of the city/suburbs and spice up the long winter and have a nice relaxing time...

And then there are my dad and I who really, really, really love to go and cross country ski in the American Birkebeiner events along with 10,000 other skiers.

Not to say the rest of the group doesn't ski and partake in winter activities because they do! The cabin offers sledding, skiing and ice skating. Brian and Megan took their boys sledding more than once and Linnea even got to try our sledding for the first time ever. Our other friends of the families we were with also utilized the cabin's amenities. There were 4 toddlers, 1 infant and three tweens up there with us and we had an absolute blast!

Thousands of people wake up very early to get on a very crowded bus with long skis and poles and get driven to the start of their race in Cable, WI. Some will start and finish in Cable if they are doing the Korteloppet or Prince Haakon 12K. Others will finish in Hayward, WI on Main Street, right in town. It is very exciting!

After lots of thought, I decided to do the 23K Korte and it was wonderful! I actually felt fast again and really really enjoyed myself! I think had I done the fill 50k Birkie again I would have not had as much fun because I just didnt get out and train enough.

Here we are on the bus on the way to the start and below we are waiting to begin our adventure through the Northern Woods of Wisconsin.

Unlike me, my dad did do the full 50K Birkie. There he is below in yellow waving! He started an hour before me so I got to take his picture crossing the starting line. He did awesome! He finished in Hayward, WI in 3 hrs and 28 minutes. I did mine in 1 hour and 28 minutes.

It is a truly amazing time of year up in Cable and Hayward. It is a very special day in February that I hope we can take part in again and again. The cities make everything run very smoothly and everyone is so friendly and helpful, must be part of what some call Birkie fever...

I copied this from Birkie.com...check out the website for more fun stories and songs about the Birkie.

It’s that yearly craving for the excitement, camaraderie and challenge that can only be satisfied by clicking into a pair of skis and lining up at the start line with 7,500 other ski pals from around the world. It’s a lifestyle that keeps you fit and healthy year-round. It’s an annual test of personal endurance. And it’s something no skier wants to shake. Some of the symptoms?

• Your home is filled with Birkie paraphernalia.
• Your television is permanently set to the Weather Channel.
• You think about wave placement in the heat of summer.
• You pray for snow long before winter sets in.
• You register the first day the new entry form is made available.
• You train endlessly, no matter the time of year.
• You notice the “B” word invades conversations within 15 minutes.
• Birkie Fever?

I don't know if any of us have this, but I just thought it was clever and wanted to share! I will admit I may have some of the symptoms...but just some!