How Much Cuteness Can You Fit In One Swing?

My friend, Amanda and I took our kids to Pioneer Park in Stillwater for a picnic and some playing last week, the hot spot was definitely the swings. Who would have known you could fit so many cute chubby appendages into a single baby swing. Yum!

Would it really surprise anyone to know that the drinking fountain was the funnest part of the park?

Yeah, I didn't think so! :)

Rock Climbing In A Dress

Does anyone else feel like summer could be gone at any time? I mean if you want to call this summer. Because really, at least here in the Midwest, it has been questionable....to say the least. O-well what you can you do, besides complain a little and try to enjoy the few really nice warm days there is left. :) So that's what we're trying to do before summer leaves us and school starts for Matt...just make the most of what's left. Last weekend we spent a day picnicing at the river and then went to Teddy Bear Park. Here's a few of my favorite pictures from the park...

Daddy and Alexa went rock climbing.

Braden tried too.

I actually don't mind the milder summer weather, if we had it all year! :)

Here Fishy Fishy

Alexa has been having a rough past couple of weeks. We aren't sure exactly why but we think it's just her growing up and changing and also probably a teensy weensy part has to do with Braden getting older and moving and wanting to play with toys now. I think it's been hard for her lately to listen to us and share with Braden and, you know, all those not so fun things that we want our 2 1/2 year old to do. So we are tyring to change up our parenting ways a little and find some new approaches to take (any suggestions on getting kids to listen would be gold!) with her. One thing that we are trying to incorporate is some one on one time with her, so she is going to be going on a weekly date with either Mommy or Daddy. It doesn't have to be anything too fancy just some good quality time alone with one of us for a little bit. Today was our first date night and we decided to go to the pet store and see what we could find. And guess what? We just happened to find a little something.

Meet our new (official very first Bignell family pet) fish: Inky-Do

She was so excited and just kept talking and talking...

"Mommy, is this the way to our date?"

"Are we on our date now?"

"I'm going to pick out a fish all by myself!"

"My fishy is going to be a girl."

"Her name is going to be Inky-Do, Mommy."

"Mommy, I loooooove you!"

"Where's my microphone?"

"I can't hear this song, I can't hear the song on the radio!"

Here's Alexa calling Grampa and Gramma and telling them ALL about her new pet on the way home. I'm not even sure they knew what she was talking about because there was just a lot of yelling going on.

Welcome to the family Inky-Do!

P.S. Please don't die tonight! Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday

Braden at ONE

Today we had Braden's one year check-up. He did very well as we waited for the nurse and then the doctor...and even came out with a pretty cool dinosaur tattoo. There were no concerns or issues and he seems to be right on track for his age. And I'm also pretty sure our pediatrician told us he was the cutest little boy he has ever seen...or maybe not, I can't remember. :) Anyway, here are the stats on his growth:

Height - 30.5 inches (69th percentile)
Weight - 26 pounds (87th percentile)
Head Circumference - 19.5 inches (99th percentile)

Apparently he has been losing weight the past 3 months, which is not a big surprise with how nonstop he is at all waking moments. Also, large head.

Braden -

At 12 months old you:

Have 6 teeth with 2 more getting close.
Talk all the time.
Yell a lot with a high pitch squeal.

Point at everything and everyone.
Wave HELLO and GOODBYE.
Clap when you are excited.

Make your mouth into a circle and say "Ohhhhh"

Greet Daddy at the gate when he comes home.

(He loves that!)

Cover your eyes when we say “where’s Braden”

Love to eat and are trying new things all the time.
Nursing 3 times a day.
Tried Whole Milk but don’t like it...yet.

Bounce up and down when you “dance”
Like to put your finger up your nose.
Love playing peek-a-boo.
Sometimes have separation anxiety from mom.
Shake your head if you hear the word 'no'
Love your blue blanky.

Like taking baths.
Can actually flirt with girls already.

(We’re in trouble!)
Are becoming more independent when you play.
Love banging things on the hard furniture.
Go to sleep around 8pm.
Wake up about 6am.
Take 2 naps a day – about 1 to 2 hours each.

Have many nicknames including:

Baby Guy, Lil B, Brad-O, & Buddy.
Stand by yourself very well.

Just took your very first step. (Aug. 23)
Have such blonde hair that seems to get lighter all the time.
Love watching Alexa and are starting to want to play with her.

Still very ticklish.
Don’t like to lay still to be changed.
Found your “boy parts”
Climb up on everything you can.
Are still a huge Mama’s boy.

Laugh a lot – such a happy baby.
Love any toy that has a ball.
Enjoy being outside, especially swinging or going on walks.

Signs:
More
All done
Milk (cutest thing ever!)

Words:
Mama
Mom
Dada
Bob
Bawwwh (ball)
bah-bah (bye-bye)
Hah (hi)

We can't believe you have been with us for a year already. Time seems to be flying by but we are enjoying every second of it with you. We love you more than you will ever know and we are so blessed to be your parents!
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

It's Not Easy Being A Princess

But for real, this girl is dedicated to the job.

And since just telling everyone all the time what a princess she is doesn't seem to be enough, she must also always look the part.

So, here she is dressed for our lunch date this past week....head to toe...all princess.

And of course it should not have surprised me to find her later napping like this:

Doesn't every princess sleep with her tiara on?

Yup, she takes her job pretty serious! :)

Flashback Friday

It's almost time for the MN State Fair! YAY!

You want to know how I know this (besides the fact that it is the same 10 days before Labor Day every year) - because Kare 11 started their really annoying State Fair jingle that plays about every other commercial. If you live in MN you know what I mean! :)

Anyway, I don't know why I always get so excited about the fair it's not like we participate in anything there or go for any specific reason (besides cheese curds of course) but it's just one of our traditions we like to do. I think we have gone every year for the past 4 years and we plan on taking the kids every year until they just won't go with us anymore! :) Things we don't pass up there include, but are not limited to, cheese curds, corn on the cob, ice cream (needless to say the healthy eating goes out the door for the day), the horribly smelly barns, the big slide and (now that the kids are older) the kiddie rides.

Last year on the rides.

This is usually how we finish the day. If only we could all crawl in there! :)

And of course last year was Braden's first time there at a whole 2 weeks old.

Does everyone have a state fair? Is it a big deal? I know every time we go it is just packed, some areas are hard to even move around in especially with a stroller!

Signed. Sealed. Delivered.

Paper work is all signed and sent.

It's official, this little girl....

Is starting school this fall!

And she is SO excited about it!

We weren't really sure if we should get her into school yet considering she won't even be 3 for a couple more months but she is just so ready, and really, who are we to hold her back from becoming as smart as she can be. :) We went and toured quite a few schools and talked to many different teachers and figured that she is just at a good point developmentally to start. I didn't think we would ever be doing the whole school thing so early but I have to say I am actually really excited about it and for her. Alexa talks about going to school every day, she just can't wait! She absolutely loved going to "school" (aka daycare) before when I was working because she loved seeing all her friends and doing all kind of projects and singing and reading. Besides she listens and learns so much better for her teachers than for me...how do homeschooling moms do it? :) As much as I would love to do that it is just so not for us, at least not right now however we did found out after we moved to our little town that it is like the third best district in the state which is pretty cool. Not sure what that means but it sounds good, right! :) So now we need to pack up her little backpack with all her supplies and pick out her first day outfit and this little princess will be heading off to preschool! FUN!

We're Gonna Party Like It's Your Birthday

It already seems like forever ago that we had Braden's birthday party but it seriously took a couple days to recover then we had to play with all the new toys and now our entire house is sick. Just awesome, right!? Yeah, not really. Well at least we were healthy last weekend! Anyway, Braden's party was great! I think everyone had a good time, especially all the kids and that's what counts. We had almost the perfect day and everyone was able to play outside, perfect!

Here's the handsome little ONE year old.

These cookies made by the incredibly talented Amanda were a HUGE hit! At first I had a hard time even letting people eat them, they were just way too cute!

We had some pretty sweet slip-n-slide races going on.

And the little guys stayed safe in the pool.

There was also lots of jumping on our new bouncy castle. One of the best purchases ever!

(Menard's has ALL their summer outside stuff on sale right now, we got this for over 50% off...amazing! If you're looking for outside games, toys etc. that is the place to go!)

Braden checking out all his presents.

Braden cruising around on his new motorcycle, so cute!

We had so much fun! Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate! :)

We Believe In Fairies

When we were kids my mom always had the "Balloon Fariy" come the morning of our birthdays. We would wake up and there be balloons all over our rooms. I always knew this was one tradition I would definitely pass on to my kids. And the look on their little faces when they wake up to a room full of balloons is just priceless and absolutley worth the hours of blowing them up and the horrible dizzy headache that follows! I think I will probably do this until they are about 25 or they beg me to stop...what ever comes first. Seriously, if you have young kids you should for sure start doing this for them...it's basically awesome. Plus you get like a whole week of fun with the balloons after.

Flashback Friday

Like you didn't see this coming. :)

Today's flashback is when Braden was born, I still can't believe it has been a year. It really doesn't feel like it has been that long since they placed that tiny little baby with that big cone head on my chest. Will it always feel like this? Like you were just holding a little baby and all the sudden they are all grown up? I hope so. I love still having those moments so fresh in my mind!

Here's our very first family picture.

Just seconds after he was born.

I just couldn't believe how cute he was and I couldn't stop touching him!

Don't laugh, I do realize how horrible I look here but after all I did just give birth. However, I just love this picture because it just reminds me how instantly I was so madly in love with him. I am going to go out on a limb here and hope I'm not the only one that felt like this but I was really afraid about the whole second child thing. I was scared that I couldn't or wouldn't love him as much as Alexa or that it would just be different in some way. Boy was I surprised! I was so head over heels for this little boy it was just crazy! So there you have it, the love of a mother has no end. I can only imagine if we have another that I will love that baby just as much as the first two! :)

Here's Alexa meeting her "baby brudder" for the first time. She was fascinated by his little face and toes.

Me and my babies...I think I could have bursted with happiness!

First bath.

I am in love with this picture.

I think the expression on Matt's face says it all!

Going home.

Okay, now I really want another one! :)