Ice skating

It was definately an adventure, but we took Regan ice skating for the very first time today (thanks to Hope and Cheryl for the skates at Christmas!). Here's how it went....

Daddy and Regan walking towards the ice, nervous and excited!

Regan screaming and crying in fear "I want mommy!" (only because I was not on the ice where she was feeling all out of sorts!)....Oh, the days of "forced fun".

Poor Sidney is always the spectator these days; from gymnastics to dance and now ice skating, she's just too little to participate.

Look at our little skater!

By the end she was a pro! (as long as daddy wasn't too far behind!).

And yes, she's excited to go back so there will be more ice skating in her future :)

Two peas in a pod

I don't think Sidney knew entirely what she was doing, but Regan had food and that was enough to convince her to sit down and watch a movie for a few minutes before we left the house the other night. What was even cuter is that they were dressed alike that day :)

Go Vikes!!

Happy Birthday to me!

I got to celebrate my birthday at the waterpark today....sure felt like a kid again! We had a wonderful time going down slides, hanging out in the lazy river and watching the girls swim. It turned sour when my camera was stolen. Thankfully grandma Sheri is borrowing an old camera of mine (she broke hers on Monday!) so we were still able to get some good shots.

Lesson learned, never leave a camera unattended, even covered up in a swim bag. Guess I'm getting myself a birthday present this year :(

Sidney made this face every time the gigantic water bucket would pour down water into the kiddie area! It's priceless!!

She's like a fish in the water, kicking her legs, jumping off the edge and wanting to swim all day long.

What trip to Duluth is complete without a stop in Canal Park for some photos by the lake! It was a little windy, can you tell?!

Hello from Duluth!

Despite the freezing rain, we ventured, along with Grandma/pa Friederich to Duluth! Our hotel has a water park and although it took the girls a bit to warm up, they're having a blast now!

Sidney getting some help down the kiddie slide from me!

Grandma Sheri introducing Regan to the kiddie slide; and that's daddy next to them with his legs in the air trying to convince Regan it really is fun!! Thanks dad, it made for a great photo :)

Winter fun

While dad enjoys the sporting events during the winter months (hockey today, football tomorrow), the girls and I took advantage of today's gorgeous weather and headed outside in the snow! Regan had much more fun than Sidney; poor girl got another snow wash and was ready to come inside before that! Regan doesn't mind at all when the sled tips, she thinks it's hilarious no matter what! She thought it was the most fun, when I took a digger into the 3 foot snow drift and hadn't put on my snow pants because I didn't think I'd need them! Lesson of the day: always wear snow pants when taking the kids out sledding.

Sidney's surgery

Sidney's surgery today was a success :) It was a very early morning for all of us: up by 5am, Regan to school by 6am and the rest of us to Children's by 6:30am. The staff was amazing and Sidney did well; getting the most upset while going under anesthesia and waking up again. By 11am, she was pretty close to her usual self and it was so wonderful to see! We hope having these tubes will prevent any further infection in her poor ears.

Cupcakes!

Grandma Sheri left us some yummy peanut butter frosting cupcakes and, as you can see, Sidney likes the frosting the best! The peanut butter was literally sliding down her chin and we had to hurry to take the picture before it landed on her shirt :) First thing Ryan said when she was finished was "I'm not cleaning her up! I said it first!" I'm so lucky :)

16 months old!

Sidney is now 16 months old! She's an absolute joy to our family and we love her to pieces. She's starting to talk a little more, but that's hard to do in this family, especially when big sister, Regan, takes over a lot and talks for her. Unfortunately, she doesn't sleep through the night these days, but it's likely due to her ears. She's had fluid in her little ears for approximately 8 weeks and 7 infections in 5 months. We made the decision to have tubes placed in her ears and so she will have that done on Thursday. We are all hoping she will feel much better after it's over. Other than that, she is a happy little girl, quick to defend herself when feeling threatened (someone stealing a toy, etc). She enjoys dancing, singing along (she does the signs, we do the singing), following her big sister, and of course, EATING!

Snuggles

It's not very often that these two cuties sit still, and at the same time. So when they decided to snuggle up and watch a movie, I couldn't resist but get a picture. Plus we were watching the movie, Annie, one of my favorite childhood movies!! What could be better?!

Bubble blower

The girls got a bubble blower for Christmas and they love to take their baths with it!!! Granted, it quickly goes through shampoo/bubble solution and batteries, but it's so much fun that no one cares!

Cousin Paxton

We got to meet baby Paxton on Saturday and he sure is a hit for the girls! They argued all night over who got to hold him. Regan definately held him the longest of anyone! She asked if we could have a baby like him, but a girl!

Love to help....

Apparently roughly 13-15 months old is the time for the girls to love the swiffer....

Sidney helping me just this week

Regan helping me in 2007
(with a big scrape on her nose from the stairs)

New moves

Sidney's got a few new moves up her sleeve :) Stay patient with her on this video, it took her a moment to warm up to me videotaping. Our favorite move is when she moves her left arm up/down almost like a chicken! It's so adorable!

Future Bulldog!

If daddy had his way, both the girls would be attending UMD in their future. He's trying to steer them in that direction by purchasing adorable UMD clothing!

Sisterly love

Sidney is unbelievably scared of the vacumm and although we have mostly hardwood floors, we still have to pull out the vaccumm regularly. Last night, instead of asking me to hold her (and vaccumm), she ran and clung to Regan. It was so darn adorable but I had to keep the vaccumm running while I took the picture for fear they'd break apart :)

What do we do it's too cold outside? We use blankets as sleds and the hardwood floors as snow! It works great and the girls think it's so much fun!


Notice Regan's new "accessories" aka glasses. It's our latest attempt to teach her to use her eyes together all of the time. We've been seeing a pediatric opthamologist for about 18 months and although it hasn't gotten dramatically worse, her eyes tend to wander out (not crossed) when she's tired or angry. Since it's not affecting her vision, we're reluctant to put her through surgery. For now, she'll wear glasses. And they make her look so much older! She's done well tonight wearing them, only took them off to bathe and eat (she feared they'd get dirty at dinner!).

That's not your mittens!

I told Regan to grab her mittens from the bench in the entry way....and this is what she came back with; in her mouth and everything! (We store Mr. Snowman's stuff in the same bench, can you tell?!).

Curlz!-----Take 2

Looks like someone is going to take after her big sister!

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!! We spent NYE at a very kid-friendly party, the only way to go these days! And wouldn't you know it, all the other kiddos there were GIRLS!!!! 7 girls and 0 boys; FUN!

By 10:30, Sidney told us it was time to go so we got a quick picture of the kids celebrating New Year's a little early. They loved the noise makers and hats!

Dress up

Daddy and the girls with their John Deer hats!

This is what happens when Handy Manny's Tools meet with the bag of dress up stuff...

Look, it's Elton John! Can you tell that daddy thought this was hilarious!?

Ned

This is Ned. He moved in after Christmas. Everyone in the house likes Ned and he has silly icky crazy things in his head like a loose screw, a dirty Q-tip and even a poopy diaper!

More Christmas fun

Hunter helped keep Regan entertained all night long; thank you!

Logan had her hands full between playing with Sidney and chasing after Hudson! Pretty soon it won't take Sidney 90 minutes to warm up to her cousins and she'll be off and playing as soon as we walk in the door.

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had as wonderful of a Christmas as we did! Thank you to our wonderful families for the great food, presents and laughs this Christmas season! We love you :)

Sidney all decked out ready for the Christmas eve Children's Mass.

Regan enjoying what might be her favorite present of the year, a harmonica! Thankfully it's not a loud musical instrument and she plays a pretty good tune.
Thanks Grandma Jan and Papa!

Our annual tradition is to get a family photo in front of Grandma Sheri's tree :) It's getting harder to find room to stand with all those presents underneath!

Yea for Santa!

Santa did show up, and he ate the cookies and brought presents just like he promised! Regan couldn't believe that all he left were the crumbs on the plate....but she was quick to point out that there were no crumbs on the floor, just the plate (I'm teaching her well!). The girls had a lot of fun opening all their presents. Little did they know, it was just the start of a present filled weekend. After our own Christmas morning, we hurried off to New Ulm in hopes of missing the bad weather. Thankfully we did, because the snow never let up but we made it safe and sound!

Waiting.....

In hopes to make it to New Ulm tomorrow for all the festivities, Santa is coming tonight! The girls set out cookies for him, one from each of them. Regan nearly leaped into bed tonight saying "he's in the chimney, I have to get into bed!".

Como Holiday Display

I love Como, not just for the zoo and the amusement park, but for the Conservatory as well. I couldn't wait to get ready this morning, put the girls in their Christmas dresses and head over to see the holiday display. Regan was a little bummed that the flowers don't smell very much; but was more than excited to watch the fish!

In awe, wishing we could get a koi pond of our own.

Gingerbread house

'Tis the season to make Gingerbread Houses! We bought one of our own, built it and then said "now what?". As in, "now what are we supposed to do with this oversized sugar filled gingerbread cookie?". Regan has a plan....take a piece of candy, a sucker or a chunck of cookie everytime she passes it. Good thing we have watchful eyes or she would've eaten all the candies already!

Regan hard at work eating, I mean placing, all the candies into their own spot.

Our final product; not bad I must say!

Sledding!

I took the girls sledding today, and Regan realized that sledding is a lot of work! We opted to walk only 2 blocks and sled at our neighborhood park. This turned out to be a not so great idea since the girls wanted to go down the slides instead of the hill! Once they figured it out, we had some fun, until.....Sidney tipped and got a snow wash. Fun over. Regan couldn't help but laugh at Sidney's face covered in snow, despite Sidney's cries. Not to worry, I was quick with a dry scarf to wipe her down :) Next time, we'll bring dad to help.

Jingle Bells...Regan style!

This is Regan's version of Jingle Bells; cracks me up! Listen carefully ("oh mac fun easter ride" in place of "oh what fun it is to ride")!

The best school ever!

It's official, the girls go to the best school ever!! Today they got to give Santa's sleigh a test drive, powered with, of course, 2 reindeer! Regan was in complete awe when she saw the reindeer and couldn't take her eyes off them. Given the frigid temps, it was hard to smile, but she must have had the time of her life!

Our little peanut

Sidney had her 15 month well baby check up today; only she's not exactly a "well baby". She has yet another ear infection, and her doctor is now suggesting tubes. We knew it was only a matter of time. Poor baby. We're not willing to try tubes just yet, the idea of putting her under scares the daylights out of both of us. So any experiences people have about putting their little ones under anesthesia, we're all ears. Email or comment.

As for percentiles, well, she continues to be our peanut. She weighs 20 lbs 15 oz (20th percentile) and is 30 inches tall (30th percentile). Of course, she has lots of brains and her melon comes in at 65th percentile! That's our girl :)

We're doing a different course of antibiotics now, 3 days of injections and then 30 days of a low dose oral. She's not at all liking the injections...and neither are we.

In the grand scheme of things, she's healthy. But as for her ears, well, that's a different story. Guess it explains our lack of sleeping for the last 6 weeks.