What 'cha doin' Papa?

Family photo

We took a trip to New Ulm to visit the grandparent's, celebrate Grandma Sheri's birthday as well as Paxton's baptism. It was a very busy weekend! And to top it off, Sidney's teething; just look at her rosey cheeks. All 4 eye teeth are making their entrance; two have cut through just the tips and the other two are still little bumps beneath the surface. Poor kid! Poor mommy! Last night she/I were up from 4:30am-6am before finally getting comfortable and going back to sleep.

Art night.

Regan's not real interested in toys. In fact, 3/4's of the toys in our home are never played with. She prefers books and arts so when Santa brought a crayon maker and Uncle Shane/Aunt Amy gave her 3D spin art for her birthday, she was in her glory! We've done a lot of arts/crafts lately and the other night decided to do them both at once. Crayons take 30-40 minutes to make so you can imagine how many pieces of art from spin art we created :) {Pardon the blury photo, had to turn off the flash}

My big helper!

The other day I had brought up a basket of laundry to fold and while vaccumming the bedrooms, Regan started in on the laundry! She had separated out the socks and started folding the wash cloths, all on her own. I only noticed it when she ran past me with a pile of clothes and was putting them away! What a wonderful helper she is :) Now if only she remembers this in 10 years.

Those curls are coming!

I know I've been saying this for a very long time, but at some point, Sidney's curls will last longer than bathtime! Tonight Regan was styling Sidney's hair in the tub and both girls forgot to pay attention to the bubbler who just kept spitting out bubbles behind Sidney! Made for a great picture with mountains of bubbles and crazy hair!

Gymnastics

Tonight was Regan's final class of the winter session at TAGS gymnastics! She was awarded a ribbon for participation and each child had a little "ta da!" moment! It was pretty cute; unfortunately I was chasing after Sidney and had no time for photos. The next session starts next week already so Regan doesn't quite understand why she got a ribbon; tough one to explain. She's doing well in class, able to master some of the 'tricks' and working hard on others. Practicing gymnastics inside our house isn't easy so for now, we'll just encourage practice at TAGS.

Stuck in the snow

**UPDATE: I had a minor error in the link; it's been working for me tonight. Good luck! Worth the wait on this one :)

Anyone remember Randy from "A Christmas Story?"; Regan looked a lot like him today! Thank goodness I had my camera.

Sorry I was forced to link this to YouTube; wonderful blogger is not uploading my video tonight. Hope it works this way!

Click the link, then type "Stuck in the snow" and click search.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqnVM-UmJsk

Regan's 4th Birthday!

Today Regan turned 4 years old! To celebrate, both mom and dad stayed home from work to do fun 4 year old things! We started off the morning with Regan's birthday surprise...a trip to Build A Bear where she picked out Hello Kitty wearing a Belle dress :) That's our girl!

Then it was off to Nikelodeon Universe for some rides!

After nap and a few presents at home, we headed to the birthday gathering spot...Chuck E Cheese!

Regan is pretty excited to be 4 years old! She said it was a GREAT birthday! She was a little sad though realizing her legs are still short; she said this "but mom, I still don't touch the ground" {apparently she thought that by turning 4, her legs would instantly touch the ground while she was in her car seat}!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. We sure did!, spent the entire day together, making breakfast, going bowling and having a fire tonight before bed while we watched the Olympics! It was truly a wonderful day!

Regan showing off her heart shaped pancakes

Sidney's favorite gift was actually just the Elmo bag; she carried it around all morning saying "Elmo"

The girls helping me throw the bowling ball down the alley; what a treat!

My job got easier when we found this little hill; and the girls loved it!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Ready to learn!!!

Now I just need to get in the mood to train. Here we go!

Big sister wannabe

Sidney wants nothing more than to be a big sister, so she's using Paxton as her baby :) She gets mad when someone else, especially Regan, holds him and then begs to hold him.

....maybe if she would ever start sleeping through the night or taking a decent afternoon nap we'd consider a number 3!

Birthday party!

Regan celebrated her 4th birthday today! She was a little confused/upset because she knows we're going to Chuck E Cheese on her actual birthday and couldn't understand why we were having a party at home today. She got over it quickly! She loved having all the company (espeically holding baby Paxton), eating yummy food (especially cotton candy ice cream) and opening presents (too many to mention)!

Regan and her Ariel birthday cake

Opening her snow globe from Grandma Jan

The 4 young ones; we had little cooperation but love them nonetheless!

Valentine's Day parties!

The girls each had their Valentine's Day parties at school yesterday; Sidney is finally old enough that her class now has parties too! We supplied some of the cupcakes, let's just say we won't claim that to any of the parents. Those kids were SOOOO messy! We don't normally go to school on Fridays and Sidney wasn't real happy about being there so she insisted on sitting on my lap the whole time, making sure I wasn't going to leave. Amazingly I fit in that pint sized chair without breaking it!

Regan is sitting next to her classmate, Ben (bottom of the picture). He insisted on giving each of the girls TWO pieces of Valentine's candy and claimed "I'm going to marry all of you!". Then he had to get his picture taken with him and all the girls. We better look out for that boy!

17 months old

Little Sidney is 17 months old today! She's still pretty little as far as we're concerned, but she's definately growing up. Her favorite things to do are run around naked before bath, coloring, playing with babies and doing whatever Regan is doing....oh yea, and she still has a thing for pooping in the tub. YUCK! She's interested in potty training and I've been telling her she's too little, but I'm about to change that thought because on Monday, she pooped in the toilet!! Grandma Jan decided to give in to her requests and sat her on the toilet and Sidney finished the job like a big girl! Yea Sidney!!!

Waiting for spring....

What a ham!

Regan had her 4 yr pictures taken today by Penney's and once again, she did well!

Snow, snow and more snow

I admit it, I'm tired of the snow; then again, I was tired of it after just 2 days! But we know it's been a long (and incredbly cold!) winter when the girls ditch their sleds for the regular outdoor toys! It worked well though, I shoveled, they played!

Finally, a winter day above 20 with fresh snow!

Growing up

It's hard to believe my little girl is about to be 4 years old! In less than 2 weeks we will celebrate (although Regan was busy yesterday making cupcakes with Grandma Sheri....we celebrate all month long!). She's growing up and I simply am amazed at how much she's grown in the last year.

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)