Cupcake Party!

Miriam's 1st Birthday party - May 8, 2010

We celebrated Miriam's 1st birthday this past Saturday afternoon. It was a great day (although the weather could have been nicer). On the left is Miriam's face while we were singing Happy Birthday. On the right is her devouring her first cupcake - which she loved! We had hot roast turkey sandwiches, potato salad, veggies, shrimp salad and, of course, the cupcakes.

I got the cupcakes from Daube's and couldn't decide which flavor, so I got both chocolate & carrot cake - YUM!

She ate all the frosting first and then worked slowly on the cake part.

Our family of 4 one year later!

Eleanor loves cupcakes - anything sweet, actually - and couldn't wait to have her cupcake! I think she wishes it was someone's birthday every day.

Grandma Mari Lee, Bahnka & Grandma Karma Karma

Godparents - Matt & Melissa

Auntie Susie was there too - this was Miriam's favorite birthday gift. A simple ball! Just goes to show...

Mari Lee got Miriam two new bathing suits and we just had to try one of them on! The hat & sunglasses are from Grandpa Pat & Mary, who couldn't make it to the party. I'm taking Miriam this afternoon for her 1 year portraits and I'm really hoping to get some shots of her in the sundress that matches this hat and with the sunglasses - we'll see what happens as she doesn't leave those glasses on for very long!

It was a great day - thanks again to all for your presence and your presents!

(On a side note: My friend Jodi was at the party but I neglected to get a picture of her. She broke her ankle badly a few weeks ago and we were happy to host her for the afternoon. Also, "uncle" Dave was going to attend as well and ended up having a softball tournament rescheduled. Bummer...)

Happy Mother's Day 2010

I got many special cards for Mother's Day, but one in particular said it all. It was from Matt & Melissa and I wanted to share this sentiment with the wonderful mothers (both relatives & friends) that we have in our lives.

Motherhood is watching a sleeping child and not remembering how you were before this tiny miracle came into your life...

It's kissing away sleepy teardrops and singing precious lullabies.

It's being able to fix a broken toy and gently bandage a knee.

It's having a childlike imagination that plans backyard treasure hunts and telling the most wonderful bedtime stories.

Motherhood is the perfect blend of being strong-willed and gentle-hearted, of wisdom, innocence, and love.

I'm so grateful to my mother & mother-in-law for the wonderful examples that have been to Michael and I and our parenting. Now that I'm a mother I appreciate even more all the sacrifices that they made through our childhoods. And, watching them be Grandmothers is very special.

(It was a special weekend for Miriam too as we celebrated her 1st birthday. More pictures from that to come!)

Motherhood is the most important job of all and all the mothers I know do it so well!

Uncle Mark's visit

Last week, for Miriam's birthday, we got a special visit from Uncle Mark and Mari Lee. Mark planned a trip to Minnesota just to see Miriam on her first birthday. He, along with Matt & Melissa are Miriam's godparents. It was great to see him!

He likes to spoil the girls a bit when he comes to visit. Miriam got a really cute toy that has all sorts of buttons to push and plays music. She can also pull herself up to standing and walk with it when she gets to that point. Mark brought Eleanor a new scooter - Disney Princess of course! Michael insisted that she be all decked out in her safety gear before riding. She does really well with this and since she's not quite ready for her bike yet (we're working on it!) this will do nicely for the summer & fall.

We also went out to Olive Garden for a nice dinner. I took some pictures there, but none of them really turned out great. It was a short visit, but we're grateful that Mark was able to see the girls - especially Miriam on her 1st birthday. Thanks again, Mark!

"Big" E-l- "little" e-a-n-o-r

Eleanor's Song from Brynn Culloton on Vimeo.

This is my first attempt with a Vimeo video. Natalie told me how to do it. I was having major troubles uploading videos into Blogger and leave it to my brilliant sister-in-law to figure out a solution! This video is from this winter, but it shows Eleanor singing her song to remember how to spell her name. She's in quite the outfit too - an Ariel mermaid dress, tights & a sweatshirt!

Speaking of the beautiful and talented Natalie - it's her birthday today. Happy Birthday, Natalie!

More of the 1 year old!

4.29.09

4.29.10

Miriam now weighs 20.5 lbs - we took her in this morning for her 1 year appointment. She had to have her blood drawn and she got 3 shots. The blood draw was pretty tramatic. Miriam has blessed our family in infinite ways. I know I use the word sweet a lot, but she is just that - very sweet & content. She has been that way since the day she was born. It will be very interesting to see her personality develop over the next year. She still just has the two bottom teeth and is now crawling at quicker & quicker paces. But, walking will take a bit longer as she's not even pulling herself up yet. She can stand if propped up with some help from Mom or Dad.

We celebrated the day with Grandma Mari Lee and Uncle Mark (more on that later). Here she is having her first taste of ice cream! We're having a party for her on Mother's Day weekend so that most of our family can be there. So, official cake pictures to come!

I think she liked it!

Miriam has completed our family perfectly. She is truly a blessing to us and we love her so.

Mothering God you gave me birth

in the bright morning of this world.

Creator, source of ev'ry breath,

you are my rain,

my wind,

my sun.

LBW 735

1 year

Happy Birthday...

Miriam Grace!

WE LOVE YOU!

The Yogi

Eleanor, through the influence of Gramma Karma, has really taken to yoga. I wish some of this would rub off on me...but, I'm glad she likes it! For Easter, Gramma Karma got her a new yoga mat and a Yoga for Kids DVD. She loves this DVD and ask me almost every day to do it. Here she is doing some of her poses!

THE FENCE!

Ever since we moved into our home six years ago we had talked about a fence. We never actually thought that we could put one in because we're on a corner lot and so essentially we would have to fence in our front yard. We already feel like we live in a fish bowl because we're on a fairly busy street and there are lots of people that go by. But, this spring (as we were on the verge of selling the house for the lack of a yard) we decided to just do it!

Here is the final result - we absolutely love it. We feel like we added another room to our home. We can walk out of either the front door or the porch door and the girls (and Dolly!) are totally safe. (Take note of the post on the corner - I'll explain that in a minute.)

Here is a before picture.

This is a shot of the process. It was really fun to watch the guys put the fence together. Eleanor would often go outside and talk to Brad (the owner of Liberty Fence Co.). He was a really nice guy. OK, so here is the story about the random post in the front and the cut out corner that had to be made. We had a neighbor (no idea who) call the city when they saw the fence going up. There was a lot of curiosity with many of our neighbors about this fence. Brad said he had many people go by and ask questions. Well, one afternoon a city councilman showed up at our door. He was looking for violations. The neighbor who called was concerned about the fence being on the corner where the stop sign is - like it would be an obstruction of view to the street. The fence is only 4 ft. high and it's a picket, so you can see through it pretty well. The councilman said that that wasn't a violation, however, since 1992 all fences have to have clearance if built by a driveway. If we are backing out of our driveway there could potentially be a small child coming along on a bike and we might not be able to see them. So, there has to be a 10 ft. clearance on the corner by the driveway. Unfortunately, Brad had already cemeted in the post on the corner. We were really irritated that someone had called the city on us, but I guess we would rather have the fence built correctly the first time instead of having to go back and fix it. OK, enough about that! :)

We can now finally enjoy our yard with friends! Anne & Grant, Siri and their kids came over the first official night the fence was complete for ice cream treats. Eleanor now asks me every day if she can invite friends over for popsicles!

Eleanor loves to go outside and play with her barbies. Miriam also likes to crawl around out there and is getting more used to the grass. (She was taking a nap when I took these pictures.) Also, let's not forget Dolly! She hasn't played in a yard in six years. She now loves to run out the door and roam around. We're working on her not barking at everybody, but she seems to be getting used to it now.

Here is another shot of Eleanor chillin' in the yard and a final picture of the side of the fence looking down our busy street. We no longer have to worry about traffic anymore. We couldn't be happier with this fence and should have done it 2 years ago! :)

On a side note: Brad is going to be coming by to take out that post. We are then going to put a post closer to our house, but outside the fence, for a new mailbox. That way, the mailman & paperboy won't have to come into the fence for their deliveries.

All about Eleanor...

I know that I've been blogging a lot about Miriam and so, of course, I don't want to forget about Eleanor! As Miriam's first birthday is approaching I'm reminded of how quickly this year also flew by for Eleanor. She has been such a great big sister and we've had very little problems with bringing a new sibling into the house. She often tells Miriam that she loves her and it's so cute to watch the girls together.

This week we got Eleanor officially signed up for preschool in the fall. WOW! It's called Rainbow School and it's at our church (although it's not directly affiliated with Zumbro Lutheran). Here she is wearing her new Rainbow School t-shirt - she's so proud! She got to visit last Thursday and spend some time with the kids and see what activities she'll be doing. The teachers seem great and we're so excited for Eleanor to start in the fall. They even have some summer sessions that we may send her to.

Eleanor loves to go to the "beauty salon" (as she calls it!). We've been taking her to Little Dudes 'N Divas here in town. I'm not thrilled with the name of the place (I hate using the word diva for small children!) but it's a local business and I do like to support local businesses. Obviously, they specialize in haircuts for kids and it's super cute. They have a DVD player at each station and a waiting room full of toys. When we took Miriam in for her first haircut, we got Eleanor a bang trim. She loves getting dolled up!

Sisters...

now & forever.

First Haircut (April 17th)

It was time - we just couldn't wait any longer to get Miriam her first haircut! She wouldn't keep barretts in anymore and she also liked to take out her ponytails. So, the last resort is the scissors! I'm a big believer in not cutting my child's hair - it never looks good. Plus, the first haircut is baby book material! :)

The first comb throughs - she was looking a little apprehensive (and like she was about to swat that comb away!).

To keep her still, I grabbed a sucker. Her first haircut and her first sucker!

Before and after!

All done!

She did great and looks so cute. I remember feeling a little weird after Eleanor got her first haircut. It really changes their look. But, after a couple of days it doesn't look like a fresh haircut anymore and it just becomes them. Of course, either way, she's a sweetie!