So happy together

Hailey can not get enough of her big sister.

We were outside tonight and Hailey walked over to this car. 

She opened the door and then yelled to Hannah.

Of course you couldn't tell what she was saying but Hannah must have known because she walked right over and hopped in.

Hailey then walked herself (holding on) around to the back of the car and started pushing Hannah around the driveway, both of them giggling the whole time.

It is moments like this that parents live for...

Baby, Baby, Baby

Meet the newest addition to our family.

She has been called baby, Soda, new talking baby, bouncer baby, and (most recently) push the hand to talk baby.

Hannah was getting her dressed the other day and while she was working Push-the-hand-to-talk-baby's hand into the shirt I heard her say "Oh Baby, you look like a princess!"

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Three years ago today, my life was changed forever.

Brian and I were given the opportunity to become parents. 

It took us three years and some intervention to become pregnant.

You were worth the wait.

You have taught us so much about what it means to love.

You have taught us about the important things in life.

I love the way your smile can light up a room. 

I love the way your laugh can bring me to tears.

I love the way your eyes sparkle when you are happy.

Happy Birthday Bean Machine!

Like sister, like sister

Hannah got a Tag Junior for Christmas.  To use the Tag Junior you use the special books and that white thing that Hannah is holding in the picture. When she holds it on the book multiple things happen.  Depending on where on the page you hold it, it will either play music, read the words on the page, ask her a question (Can you find the red fruit?), things like that.  Up until now she really wasn't too interested in it. 
She has been playing with it a lot lately and a lot of times Hailey will sit next to her soaking it all in.

I always wonder at those times what Hailey is thinking.  Then I walk into Hannah's room to see this.

Hailey on the floor with this book on her lap.  She found a purple piece from another toy adn was holding on the book.  Copying her sister.

I think she is soaking it all in.

The Event

For the last three weeks I have been getting emails from my dad inviting me to attend The Event.  These emails were always pretty vague....sometimes they would come with a picture attached.  The picture would look something like a puppet.
This morning I recieved my last reminder.  Tonight, 7:30 pm.  See you then.

We had a little trouble getting logged in.  First, I needed to download Skype on my new netbook.  My new netbook also came with a webcam attached to the lid but for some reason we could not get it to work.
We finally got logged in with our laptop and eventually were greeted by Jennie, welcoming us to 'The Grandpa Dan Show'!

Hannah's eyes lit up and she giggled.

Grandpa Dan put on a puppet show.  It included singing and dancing!

At the end of the show Kristin, Jennie, Kim, and Grandma Chris showed up!  Hannah could not stop talking about the show all night.  She loved it!

Her favorite was Stinky Sock.

P.S.  I caught her at the table later this evening, with her baby, waiting for the 'show' (notice the 'webcam' hanging from the screen)

Thanks guys for a special event!

Divas

We went to Tammy and Josh's with the Busta's tonight.  We decided to play Fantasy Football.  Well....Tammy, Josh, Stacey, and Shane decided to play Fantasy Football with the kids and Brian and I got invited to join them (Thank you!). 

  It is always a good time getting together with our families.  These three girls are just too much!  We caught them in front of the fireplace, checking themselves out in the reflection getting themselves 'ready' for their weddings.  They were doing their hair, putting on makeup, and every so often you could catch one of them doing a little dance.  Times like these I wish I would have carried along my real camera.

Celebrating with Chuck E Cheese

Today was Hannah's 3rd Birthday party!

We celebrated at Chuck E Cheese.  The party included 12 children and 19 adults.

The party package included tokens, pizzas, and drinks for the kids.  A reserved table, tableware, a balloon, a blow up candle crown, a Chuck E Cheese medallion necklace, the ticket blaster experience, and a surprise visit and special appearance from Chuck E Cheese himself!

We ordered pizza and drinks for the adults and had a very chocolate Chuck E Cheese birthday cake.

Hannah really enjoyed opening her presents and having a day celebrating her!

Grandpa Dan:  finger puppets and a book that has her picture in it, showing her as different professions

Grandma Chris:  Radio and lots of CDs of kids music and a puzzle

Jennie (& Tom), Kim (unable to join us), Kristin:  Bouncin' Baby (quickly named : Soda, the new talking baby), a Dora Guitar and package of baby accessories

Grandma and Bob:  Doggie shirt and jumper dress

Grandma Judy and Grandpa Denny:  My Click Start computer (with games) and a Dora movie

Jennifer, Tom, Courtney, Justin, Adam:  New Tag Junior books and a Dora movie

Stacey, Shane, Tyler, Carter, Maddie:  Pots and Pans and Uno barnyard game

Gretchen, Troy, Lindsay, Kiley:  doll clothes, outfit for Hannah, jacket for Hannah

Tammy, Josh, Riley, Noah, Chloe:  Minnie Baby (quickly named : Soda, with the Minnie ears) and a Mickey Tag game

Hailey: a Vikings shirt, Hello Kitty rainboots and Dora slippers

Mom and Dad:  Disney Princess Scooter

(hope I didn't forget anything)

The two most memorable moments of the day...

1.  Watching Hannah in the ticket blaster.  This pod was filled with tickets.  The lady turned the air on and it was like a tornado with the tickets flying everywhere.  Hannah asked Justin to go in there with her and it was a good thing she did.  She could not stop giggling the whole time she was in there!  She did happen to get a handfull of tickets and shoved them in her pockets :-) 

2.  Hearing 30 people that were in attendance sing Happy Birthday to her.  I started to cry during the Happy Birthday song....thinking of all of those people, there to celebrate her.   

Am I suppose to understand this??

I don't even know where to begin with this one.

You would think that with all of the inventions and technology that we have in this modern world....it floors me that we still don't have a way to keep the bolt cover on the toilet to cover that annoying bolt.

Nobody has thought of a way to lock that thing down?

It is annoying that it moves, comes off and 'hides' behind the toilet but it also makes the absolute WORST household task- cleaning the bottom of the toilet- even more frustrating!

Better yet....how often do you move a toilet?  Once you bolt it down, it is probably pretty permanent, right?!  So, if you install the toilet, then decide you need to move it, would you really care if you had to break off that cover to get to the bolt to remove the toilet?  Chances are that toilet is either being replaced or will just end up in your front yard with flowers in it anyways...

Listening to myself here, I should probably just invest in some super glue.

Glad we didn't go to Target

Tonight Brian is at the Busta's doing his Fantasy Football draft.  Hannah was really upset that she couldn't go with him.  When she first found out he was going, she kept asking him to get on his knees so she could whisper a secret to him.  He would bend over and she would cover her mouth and whisper "After dinner, we going to madagascar's (her voice trailing up as she approaches the end of the statement- referring to Maddie as madagscar's....why?  no clue)
Brian checked with Shane and found out that the kids were not going to be home tonight.  He broke the news to Hannah and she started to cry.  I asked her if she wanted to go and order her Birthday cake tonight.  She stopped crying.  We started packing up and were getting ready to go when all of sudden this happened...

Within 30 minutes, the rain stopped and we were able to go to Target.   Didn't end up ordering her cake...need to remember to do that tomorrow!

Backseat Conversations

Mom:  "Hannah, how was your day today?  What did you do at Jackie's?"

Hannah: "It was fire drill day."

Mom:  "That's right, September 1st.  Tell me about it."

Hannah:  "We had a fire drill.   If you have a fire, you call 9-1-1.  You stay in your room and wait if you see fire out your room.  You should yell "Help, I am in here".  And then call 1-1-1.  The police will answer and help you."

Mom:  "Wow, that is some good information, Sweetheart.  What should you do if your clothes catch fire?"

Hannah:  "I not Sweetie-Heart.  I Hannah Elizabeth Parmley.  If you clothes have the fire you stop, drop, and roll (said while pointing to me with her middle finger and head titled as if actually giving me instructions that I wasn't aware of).  And wiggle your booty back and forth like this (insert demonstration)."

Mom:  "Did you talk about what to do if there is a storm?"

Hannah:  "Yes.  If there is a storm, you will hear 'Wooo, wooo, wooo', then you go downstairs and cover your head like this (insert demonstration)."

Mom:  *smile*  (wiping tears from eyes while watching her in amazement)

The Great Minnesota Get Together

When : tonight after work

Where: MN State Fair

Who:  Tammy, Bett, Jodi, and I

What:  Deep fried cheeseburger, fried pickles, cheese curds, diet coke, deep fried oreos, milk, deep fried fruit on a stick, pot roast sundae, Sweet Martha's Chocolate Chip Cookies, Hawiian Shaved Ice, deep fried mac n cheese, smores, and french fries.  (I hope I remembered everything)

How:   The key is to go to the fair with many people so you only have to take 1-2 bites of everything you get and everyone shares.

I really needed the trip to the fair tonight.  A night to just hang out with some friends without worrying about work or all the things that I should be doing that I wasn't.  The weather was decent and the crowds were perfect. 

You are killing me...

The only thing bad about following a blog is when you are looking forward to your daily dose and you get to the page to find nothing.   

The end of an era

We have bought our last can of formula (at least for now). 
I bet you know where this is going...I am starting to sound like a broken record, huh?

Hailey can start drinking whole milk at 12 months. Since she will be just a week or two shy when this formula is done so instead of buying one more can, we will transition her to milk.  (she already steals swigs of Hannah's milk whenever she gets a chance so we know that her stomach can handle it)

For only $11.96 I could delay this next chapter in her life for another 7-10 days but that's all it would be, a delay. 

So, for the next week, each time I make a bottle I will think about how fast life is moving.  How quickly-just one year ago-that our lives were blessed with Miss Hailey Renee. 

The chalk road

How fun is it to play with chalk? 

This weekend, Hannah drew a road with chalk on the driveway. 

I added trees, houses, buildings, and a stop light.

It was such a nice weekend with such beautiful weather.

The Chalk Family

Tonight we were hanging out with the neighbors in the driveway.  The neighbors grandson, Brody, comes over and we sit and hang out.  The kids usually ride their bikes, blow bubbles, draw with chalk, and of course eat plenty of snacks.

Hannah layed down on the driveway adn asked me to trace her.  She finished it off by drawing some eyes and a mouth.  Happy to see that it was a smiley face.

Then it was my turn.  She wanted to trace me...

Don't take out this garbage

Took the garbage out of the cupboard to take it outside to put in the garbage can and came back inside to find this.  At first I didn't know where she went.  I had asked Hannah to keep an eye on her...well, Hannah was around the corner giggling waiting for me to come back inside to see just where her sister had gone to.  It was pretty cute watching her peek outside of the door and smile at us knowing that she was 'getting away with something'.

This is the job that never ends

It just goes on and on my friends

Sometimes I start to clean it up, not knowing what's in store

and then within a day I'm cleaning it some more

This is the job that never ends

It just goes on and on my friends...

Why is it that your kitchen counters become the 'catch all' to everything in your house.  This day the center island contained a gallon of paint (to finish that bedroom redecorate project), paint rollers, a computer, formula container, 2 deodorants, a note pad, a box of dog bones, a purse, a container of peanuts, hairspray, a dish rag, 35 cents, and a box of fruit snacks.

I could clean it off but it will just collect more stuff tomorrow.

Bubbles, Bubbles, are so fun

I love this picture.

That look on her face is just pure joy! 

She is so proud of herself now that she isn't using a bath seat anymore.

And I am so proud of this adorable little face!!  (look at her mouth...AUGH I just want to be kissing it!!)

Patiently waiting....or was she?

Yesterday we were going to Tammy's house for a Tastefully Simple Stop and Shop.  When we were finally ready to go, I told Hannah that I needed to get a new shirt on, then get Hailey in her seat, give the dog a bone, then I would be ready to go.  She informed me that she would be fine waiting in the car.  I think her words were "I will go to the car and wait for you.  I can start to get buckled."

I come out to the garage and sure enough she got herself into the car but she wasn't sitting in her seat....instead she was exploring....the lights, wipers, radio, cruise control, hazard lights, and right blinker were on when I started the car.  Good thing I had the keys in the house with me or she may have just taken off down the driveway.

Never good when you shirt ends up in the sink

Not a good sign when your shirt ends up soaking in the sink.

Picked Hailey up out of her highchair tonight, brought her into the bathroom to get her clothes off so she could take a bath.  Noticed something on her shoulder, looked like mushed up puffcorn so I wiped it up with a Kleenex and continued to squeeze and hug her- while waiting for the bathtub to fill with water.  Just then I looked down to see that the mushed up puffcorn from Hailey's shoulder was all over the front of my shirt!  All over.  I think by now I don't have to tell you that it wasn't really puffcorn.  Nope.  It wasn't.

Hannah Elizabeth

Mom:  "Hey ________ (insert term of endearment here)!  I sure do love you!"

Hannah:  "I not __________ (whatever I called her (usually Honey or Sweetie)).  I Hannah Elizabeth Parmley!"

The spoon

For some reason Hailey has been carrying around this spoon.  It has been about a week.  She holds onto it when she crawls, when she eats, brings it into the bath, brings it along when she rides in the car... you get the hint.  Maybe this is her 'Dankie'?

Just hanging out with my sister

Now that Hailey is mobile she wants to be everywhere that Hannah is.

She is also mastering the ability to climb so I was not surprised when I saw her climb up on the bench and sit next to Hannah on Grandma's bench.

Hannah was talking to Grandma (not sure which one but whomever it was was telling her real funny jokes).

Hello, nice to meet you

Meet my new toy.

The HP Mini netbook*. 

Cute, isn't he?

*I placed the bottle next to it so you could get a sense of just how mini this thing is.

Is it that obvious?

I went out with some friends for dinner tonight.

Pretty obvious, huh?

Get this thing off of me!

I guess Hailey didn't like this shirt. 

All day she would be crawling and then stop, scream, and lift the shirt up as if trying to pull it off.

When she took off crawling again, I was able to see the problem.  The shirt is a little long and as she would crawl, the shirt would get tucked up under her knees and slow her down.

Devestation

Today was suppose to be a good day.   We met Denny, Judy, Jennifer, Tom, and the kids (along with Tom's parents, sister, her husband, and their daughter) at Cascade Bay in Eagan.  We were celebrating Adam's Birthday.  It was a little cold and windy that day.    Tom left the waterpark before us to get pizza.  We were going back to their house to eat and open presents.  As we were driving back to their house, we saw tons of police.  Brian and I made some comments that soemthing big must be going on (little did we know what we were about to see).  As we got closer to their house we saw smoke in the air (we were still 1/2 mile or so away), then we were passed by fire trucks driving down the road.  The closer we got, the more we were able to see that the smoke looked awfully close to where we were heading.  We were talking about how that fire must be right by their house, must be the neighbors house.  We turned down the road and saw that Jennifer and Tom's street was blocked off.  We couldn't see anything except police and fire trucks down the block.  We drove around the block and came around to the other end.  At that time we looked down the street and saw that Jennifer was talking to the police.  OH NO!  We could see that their house was on fire. 

Brian let me out of the car and I ran down to see what was going on.  As I was running up to the house I saw the firemen breaking down their front door, I could hear them around the house breaking their windows.  Looking at the house we could see that there was smoke coming out of the attic as well.  A few minutes later a fireman came out of the house carrying a kennel....I could see Angel moving inside and knew that she was alive.  No one was in the house and everyone is ok.

The next three hours were surreal. 

The kids were at the neighbors house, pretty oblivious as to what was happening.  Jan got the the pizzas from Tom's truck and as the firemen worked on putting the fire and 'hot spots' out, we ate pizza-picnic style in the neighbor's back yard.

Saturday night Tom and Jennifer had a fire in their portable fire pit.  When they were done, Tom poured water over the fire, he is always real careful.  Sunday morning they moved the firepit closer to the house.  Apparently the coals were hot enough and with the wind that day, it was enough to somehow catch fire.

This week they will be put up in a hotel and eventually moved to a more 'temporary permanent' place.  The fire cheif told them that they could be out of their house for up to 6 months.  During this week there will be plenty of clean up to do and the insurance people will go through their things to determine what can be saved, what needs to be thrown, what can be cleaned, etc.

I will miss you most

Kari,

I will miss you the most when you leave.
I will miss being able to just talk to you.  I will miss taking little road trips and having a few moments alone with you to just talk about random things (well, actually, can you hear Hannah talking to us in the background...?).  I will miss your facial expressions and your excitement over the smallest things.  The things that as you grew up you took for granted or didn't even care that they exsisted.  I will miss your passion for reading.  Not because I necessarily enjoy sitting at the library waiting for you to touch everything you need to touch but for the simple fact that as I grab my gadgets (computer, phone, etc) you still just want to read.  That is my sister.

Andy,

I will miss you the most when you leave.

I will miss watching you interact with your boys.  You are a great dad and your boys are lucky to have someone who is so invested in them.  I will miss your sense of humor and your ability to add laughter to any story that is being told.  I will miss your passion for shopping and keeping track of the 'cravings' that you arrived with and assuring that within your time here you space them out as to not overload your senses.

I will especially miss your love for ice cream.  When you are around is the only time that I have someone who also believes that ice cream makes the best breakfast.

Agustin,

I will miss you the most when you leave.
I will miss your voice.  I will miss your personality and the way that you leave your mark with every comment you make.  I will miss your creative spirit and your ability to keep yourself busy....anywhere at anytime.  I will miss your vision of noticing that anything could be blown up and within the blink of an eye "Pkkksssspppsssshh (boom!)" things are gone, just like that.  "What?  I am just playing."
I will especially miss watching you interact with Hailey.  You were so sweet with her and I would often find you following her around, just watching her as you would pat her on the head.

Kas,

I will miss you the most when you leave.

I will miss the perfect mixture of my children.  Your appearance reminds me of Hailey and your personality is just like Hannah's.  How much more perfect could you get?

I will miss your angelic face.  I will miss your wisdom and phrases.  I will miss watching you watch everyone else and soaking in everything that is happening around you.

I will especially miss watching you play with Hannah.  The freezie monsters. 

Cousins by chance, friends by choice

These kids sure had fun together over the past three weeks.

The parents had fun watching them play together.

In just a few days, the boys will head back home and life will get back to 'normal'.  I think we would rather have them here...

The countdown starts again

The countdown starts again.
This time instead of counting the number of days before Kari and Andy get home, we are dreading the few days that we have left.
No matter how much time we have together, it never seems like enough.

Today everyone came over to our house.  The kids swam at 'Parmley Park' again and at the end of the day ended up on the couch baking cakes. 

De-Lish

Hailey has transitioned from eating mostly rice cereal and baby food to eating finger foods and solids.

She is a huge fan of mac 'n cheese, bananas, 'wet' toast, and fish sticks.

I remember when Hannah was little and started eating solids.  I was so exciting to stop feeding her baby food.  I was so excited for her to be feeding herself and I loved watching her pick up the food with her little pincher fingers and then shove the food into her face.  With Hailey...not so much.

Don't get me wrong, she is ADORABLE!  She probably has the cutest little face ever made and those cheeks were made for storing handfuls of noodles.  The problem is that this poor child has to deal with a mom who already saw how fast time goes by and has already watched one child grow up and become independent and isn't ready for her baby to get any older.

You are getting the hint. 

You've heard me say it before.

I appreciate the fact that my girls are growing up and learning new things and I am looking forward to the days when things get a little easier but I am going to miss them at this age.  I am going to miss Hailey's chubby legs.  I am going to miss her gums. 

I am looking forward to watching her grow and seeing who she becomes but can't I just feed her baby food for a little while longer?

Until she's like 16?

Bumps on a log...or house

Came outside to put my car away tonight.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something on the house. 

Three big spots.

My heart stopped.  I wanted to look but I didn't want to know what it was.

It was probably just a huge moth or something.

Maybe it was just some dirt.

Better yet, maybe a shadow. Could it be?

Got in a little closer and my stomach jumped into my throat!

Three HUGE (about the size of a half dollar- at least) frogs/toads, whatever - nasty either way, were hanging on the side of the house.  Even though I knew that it was probably very unlikely that they would jump off of the house and onto my face, that is all that I could picture happening next.  My skin was crawling.

I went into the house to get my camera and when I came out and started getting close to the side, I noticed something hanging on the side of one of the flowers...

Now, inside the house, looking at these pictures, I kind of wish that I would have gotten my big lens and taken some cool pictures of these guys but I kinda hated them. 

I was even having trouble looking through the camera view finder to snap them for fear that I would be attacked.

Manic Monday

Back to work.

It has been such a frustrating summer of commuting.  I can usually handle the commute pretty well but this year, the construction is making me crazy!

I just feel like ANYWHERE I try to drive to I run into a detour or lane closures.  It is frustrating enough to be in bumper to bumper traffic but then to see orange cones and signs everywhere....it sure can ruin your day.