Raptors!

The weather has been unseasonably cold lately. Alena's swim lessons were canceled on Saturday because it was too cold. Fortunately, it makes for perfect weather to go on a hike and have a picnic. We met Grandma and Grandpa at the Raptor Center to check out owls and raptors that had been injured and couldn't return to the wild. Alena wanted the birds to "make sounds." An eagle obliged and Alena jumped away from the cage scared. Be careful what you wish for.

Alena dressed "self." She always puts her shirt on backwards when she does that. She is wearing her owl shirt for the occasion. Alena also learned how to pee in the woods, which is a valuable skill. Now she wants to pee in the grass in our yard instead of going in to the potty. She is working hard on potty training and showed several neighbors her new big girl underwear last night. They were impressed.

Three generations of cool

Baby Nora slept the entire hike.

Eagles are big!

Mommy's little helpers

Nora helps check my email

Alena helps make monster cookies. Whenever we cook together, she samples every ingredient and says how it tastes: flour, not good; butter, good. Here she is sampling peanut butter (yes, good.) Cooking usually ends up with her grabbing a handful of whatever is in the bowl and shoving it in her mouth as fast as she can. Which leads to her having to get down.

Abs of steel

The amazing tongue. I don't know if Nora ever keeps it in her mouth! She loves when you blow raspberries at her. She smiles and smiles, then sticks her tongue out like she wants to give it a try.

One more from the weekend

The big news over the weekend was the birth of sweet little cousin Lucie. Nora no longer looks like a tiny baby--she is about three pounds heavier than her new cousin. Swim lessons started on Saturday for Alena. She is taking them with Daddy and Brielle, Kaelyn, and Tillie. She is excited for another summer in the water and was happy to run straight into the pool. Nora has been sleeping well lately and slept 9 hours straight Sunday night. She fell asleep in the car from Grandma and Grandpa's house and I moved her from the car seat straight to her crib. She was exhausted. Last night she kicked and smiled herself to sleep. There is nothing cuter than a baby who smiles herself to sleep (and then sleeps 8 hours.) Great Grandma Grace would have approved.

The love bug hanging out in her chair and vibrating

Mama Kitty is so fat and cuddly now after her spa treatment

We had a fun weekend with Angela, Lily, and Finn, plus Nora got to meet Julianne and Sam for the first time which she really enjoyed!

The big kids ran through the sprinkler

The toddlers blew bubbles (and Alena rubbed bubble stuff all over herself)

Nora didn't get to play, but she had plenty of people who wanted to hold her and didn't seem to mind!

A party isn't complete without some homemade ice cream!

Aunt Julianne meets Nora. Can't you tell those are her hands?

The red couch

Jessica, Charlee, Kaden, Alena, Nora, and me. It was hard to get the kids to all look at the camera, but Jessica and I look good!

Alena and Maren built a house out of all of our toys and blankets to keep out monsters.

Cute stuff

In her sleeping bag getting ready for bed--but Nora is not tired!

Looking at stuff

Holding big sister's hand makes her happy

That crazy tongue is always sticking out

Nack

One of Alena's favorite new nacks: apples. She would eat the core if you let her.

It was raining, but she wanted to eat her apple outside on her new Dora chair.

She finally relocated to the garage where we waited for Daddy to get the food going on the grill.

Growing bigger

Nora has grown out of her newborn clothes. Hopefully we get some nice weather so she can wear all of her cute new summer outfits.

Jones is still significantly bigger.

Her first time in the Bumbo. It was a lot of work to hold her head up while sitting in it but she liked being able to look around.

Our other baby

Nora never wanted to sleep in the bassinet, so we put it down in the basement. When she is not eating a pair of my shoes, it is Ruby's favorite place to hang out. What a sweet little baby!

Sisters

Alena and Nora have been getting along pretty well. Nora's favorite person is definitely her big sister, and Alena likes to get on the ground and kick next to Nora.

Finally, she will hold my hand!

This is a much more entertaining way to eat

Now what is big sister up to?

Ooh, opening presents! I hope she lets me keep this one.

While you were sleeping...

While Nora enjoyed a nice nap...

...Alena raided her closet. She really had to stuff herself into these newborn shorts.

Happy Mother's Day!

The big day has come and gone. Here I am with my two sweet girls. Today is Nora's 4 week birthday. What a big girl!

Nora's first art opening

Nora finally made it to her first art opening. I know, what took her so long? She seemed to enjoy meeting the artists though she slept through it all. Alena is an old hat at these things by now. She knows that you have to hit the snack table early if you want strawberries, but you can keep coming back if you just want cheese cubes.

All of those music classes finally are paying off (there were drumsticks for people to hit the sculpture with.)

Hmmm

Daddy won a trophy for all of his "patients." Is he teaching art or healing the sick? Hey, these are art majors, not English majors! Alena was happy to accept the award for him.

Baby Nora's achievements

Baby Nora (as she is called around this house) has really been growing. She has only been out in the real world for two weeks, but she has already accomplished a lot! On Easter, she rolled over from her belly to her back three times in a row. We have it on video, but I can't get the video to work on the blog. I swear, it's true!

She had her two week check up on Tuesday. She has gained a pound since leaving the hospital and is up to 7 lbs, 1 oz. The doctor said she is really strong. She laughed when Nora could hold up herself by just grasping the Dr's fingers and said that wasn't something many newborns can do and not to be surprised if she is an early crawler.

Nora has been sleeping fine for the most part. The other night she got her first bottle and Daddy took the night shift. This was also the only time she slept for 5 hours straight. We are going to have to have Daddy take the night shift more often!

Nora is also very alert. She loves to look around and see what is going on. I think her favorite subject is big sis. Daddy's nickname for her is "bright eyes."

She is definitely a super sucker. Don't get a finger near her mouth or you might lose it. A game she plays is "eat the hand," where she tries to extract as much milk as possible from her mittened fist. She is not easily discouraged!

She is a big eater, just like big sister (this is apparent from her large weight gain.) She also likes to eat quickly. She is done with a meal in 5-10 minutes. It looks like I will be the only slow eater in the family.

Alena thought she might want a doll

Baby lounge chair

Her entire forehead has to move to get her eyes open. Tongue out and blowing bubbles--her favorite look.

Alena Mae update

What Alena has been up to:

Reading books for two hours when she is supposed to be napping

Learning how to spit

Throwing away Nora's dirty diapers

Making forts out of pillows

Telling stories about monsters (Daddy will protect her from the robot monster on his shave gel)

Eating mint eggs

Having a fun time staying home with Mommy and Nora--really, she doesn't want to go anywhere

Spitting water

Sleeping on a pile of pillows in her crib--see the bed on the left? She can move from one to the other with ease and always chooses to sleep in the crib.