As we were in Arizona for Annie's actual birthday, this past weekend, we celebrated Annie's birthday with Minnesota friends and family. All of April has been beautiful in Minnesota--sunny, mild days, apple trees blossoming and all the different shades of green spring has to offer. Of course, in the wee morning hours of birthday party day, it began raining, and continued to rain throughout the day. So, instead of having her party at one of her favorite parks, we squeezed everyone into our house and had a wonderful time.
We moved some furniture around in the basement so Annie and friends could do some dancing, had a cozy picnic in the living room, and made use of every square inch of the playroom. It was fun to get to celebrate here, too, and to spend time with everyone.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Settling In
We've spent the last week and half getting settled into life at home. We were happy to find spring had arrived in Minnesota when we returned and have spent a lot of time at parks, on walks, in the backyard.
Siri is becoming quite adept at pulling up and cruising. She is getting very sturdy on her feet, and has even begun to find stairs fascinating...
Annie and Siri are having a blast playing with each other these days. Annie will often ask Siri to tell her a story, and then Siri will babble away. They crawl all over the house, and Annie is quite determined to involve her in her play (most of those time, of course there are those times when she is even more determined to play all by herself). Siri is at the wonderful phase where you can see her brain taking everything in, she points at all sorts of things and wants you to name them. "Duck" and "Dog" are some of her favorite things to see, and she gets quite excited whenever she sees either. She is a pro at waving good-bye, and sometimes even says it quite clearly.
Annie hit a milestone last week with her first trip to the dentist.
She was quite excited to go, and though a little uncertain at the beginning, settled right in and seemed to enjoy herself, especially enjoying the suction part. She had insisted on wearing the sunglasses into the office, and then was delighted when the dentist said it was great idea to wear them under the bright lights. She loved picking out a sticker, toothbrush and floss, and has proceeded to floss her teeth multiple times of day.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A Week of Firsts
Eric had to leave to go back to work last week, but before he left, we all went to the zoo.
This is one of Annie's favorite things to do in Phoenix, and Siri has enjoyed it as well.
It was the first visit, though, for cousin Lisa's new baby Natalie.
Among other things,
Siri enjoyed seeing the turtles and ducks...
Annie enjoyed a shoulder ride from Grandpa at the end of a full morning.
And, Siri had her own first:
Her first ride on a merry-go-round.
She loved it.
as did Annie.
Then, it was time for a first for Annie:
her first hair cut.
Since she was about one, she's had sweet little curls.
But, no more. Her hair had grown all the way down her back, and
was in much need of a clean up. So, Annie practiced sitting still, and
we talked about how birds were going to love having her soft hair for their nests.
The curls themselves are in an envelope, of course.
She celebrated by planting some watermelons with Grandpa
while Siri played in the grass.
Another first for Siri this week is black beans. She loves them.
She's entered the phase where she does not want to be fed, and so the mess
has really begun.
I know you can't see most of her face, but you can see the smile.
Another item on Annie's "must-do-in-Arizona" is going to "the train park." A city park not far from my parents' house, it has a little train that encircles it. We get to cross a bridge, circle a pond, go through a tunnel...Annie has always enjoyed it, and
this time, Siri did, too.
On Sunday evening, we got to meet cousin Micah's new baby, Caleb.
Here's Siri exploring and climbing, one of her new favorite past times.
On Thursday, I get to have a first, too. It will be my first time to fly alone with two girls.
I must say there are firsts that I've been more excited about.
But, its worth it to get to spend here.
We sure have enjoyed the warmth, the sun, and family and friends.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Easter Weekend
Saturday morning, we dyed Easter eggs outside...
Saturday evening, some cousins from California arrived, so Annie enjoyed hunting for her
Easter basket with them before church.
We headed of to church, Siri and I actually spent most of the service walking around the campus of ASU while she slept (the trumpets and timpani seemed to be disturbing her sleep, amazingly enough).
We met up with everyone for cookies in the Fellowship Hall afterwards.
Siri is wearing one of my old Easter dresses, which has a duck on it. Ducks are one of her favorite things these days, so it seemed especially fitting.

After church, we returned to my parents' house for an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Annie searched...
Siri enjoyed playing with her find...

Then, we had some time to relax together in the backyard before heading to my Aunt and Uncle's for Easter Dinner.


(Here Annie and her second cousins once removed or something like that are going on a bunny hunt. Lucky for the bunny, he escaped over the garden fence. The look on Annie's face remained all weekend, she quite enjoyed playing with the big girls.)
At Easter dinner, Siri enjoyed playing with Uncle Lynn.
And, we all enjoyed a wonderful Easter meal with four generations and various degrees of cousins.
Uncle Lynn helped get Siri to sleep, then Grandpa held her for her Easter nap.
It refreshed her enough that when we arrived home, she wanted to practice her favorite new trick, walking.

Our California cousins stayed through Monday, so we got to celebrate Karaline's birthday with her.
Here is Annie, all worn out and ready for bed?!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Eric at 772 Months
Just in case any of you were wondering, Eric is doing fine, too. He's communicating quite well, having fun playing in the sun, and impresses us all with his walking skills (and Annie's new favorite trick, doing push-ups while she sits on his back).
We are all enjoying our time in Arizona very much. Besides enjoying time with extended family and time in BEAUTIFUL Arizona, it's nice for our little family to get some extended time together. We've done lots of playing in the backyard...
We went to a spring training game, Eric and my Dad went for a hike in the Superstition Mountains and encountered a rattle snake on the trail!
We've visited some friends' who have a great little hobby farm in their backyard.
Our friends Amy and Maddie joined us at the farm, and Maddie and Annie had a great time exploring the garden (lots of sweet peas and snow peas to pick), feeding the goats and chickens, finding eggs, and talking with bunny rabbits.

After all their hard work, they enjoyed relaxing together in the shade...
We are excited to paint eggs this morning and celebrate Easter tomorrow.
Happy Easter, everyone!
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