The girls and I went to MN last week.  Even though I was outnumbered on the airplane, the flight went better than expected.  We had so much fun seeing family and friends.  Mia was so excited for this trip and had a blast in Minnesota. Naomi was a little nervous being in a different environment and needed lots of TLC.

At the airport.

On the airplane.

After we arrived, we went over to my friend, Katie's parent's house since Katie and her family were also visiting MN from Maryland.  I'm not sure our kids even noticed each other but we still had so much fun hanging out and catching up.  We have been friends since 4th grade and it's so amazing that we have kids so close in age; too bad we live on opposite sides of the US!  After I put the girls to bed, Katie, Nicki (friend from high school) and I all got together and had so much fun reminiscing about the past.  I can't believe our 10 year high school reunion is this June!

The next morning we went to the Mall of America so Mia could go on rides at the amusement park.  She had so much fun and went on almost all of the toddler rides.  

Auntie Karla and Naomi hung out together while Mia was going on rides.

Mia's favorite was jumping in the giant jump house.

My brothers and I went on one of the roller coasters...it was fun but I was so dizzy after! Does that mean I'm getting old?!?

 Mia LOVED the Lego/Duplo area!

The next day, we went to an indoor play area with Great Aunt Elizabeth and cousins, Diana and Selene.

 The girls had so much fun playing together!

Mia had a lot of fun playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  My mom found lots of Duplos from when my brothers were little and Mia was in heaven. Building with Uncle Cody (above).

Mia and Uncle Colton made a super tall tower.

Building a house with Grandpa.

Playing with Uncle Brad.

We also went to a trampoline park with Grandma, Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Elizabeth, Diana and Selene.  The girls had a blast bouncing all around!

 

Mia and Diana really bonded on this trip...it was really sweet.

 Grandma Kathy and Auntie Em (Joe's mom and sister) braved a blizzard to come see us.  

 

Visiting with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma. (Mia didn't want to take her picture.)

 Mike and Elizabeth hosted a family dinner which gave the girls another opportunity to play together.

The girls had a blast playing at their house.  Their playroom has a swing and see-saw...how cool is that!

 

cousins

 Mia (2), Diana (4), Naomi (9 months), and Selene (2)

 Love.

Uncle Cody and Uncle Cody and the girlies.

Saying goodbye at the airport!  

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The girls and I are leaving for MN this morning...I have a lot of great posts that will be posted when we get back.  Here are a few random pics from our trip to the zoo last week...

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Naomi Kate

Height: 28'' (65%)

Weight: 19lbs 2.6oz (56%)

Head circumference: 43.4cm (32%)

Diapers: Size 4

Clothing:12-18 months

Food: Breastmilk,baby food, avocado, banana, bread, pasta, pears, Cheerios

Nicknames: Omi, Om (both with the long o sound)

 Naomi is the sweetest baby.

She loves cuddles, nursing and kisses.

She loves to play shy when you ask her for a kiss even though she loves it when you kiss her.

Naomi is super active and crawling all over.

We used a basket to take her pictures so we could keep her in one place (my moms idea).

She can climb up the stairs and crawls over to them several times a day;

I think it's now a game because she knows she isn't supposed to climb up by herself.

  Naomi is also pulling herself up to a standing position, she sometimes has trouble getting back down and usually ends up plopping to the floor.

 She makes lots of sounds, mostly copying her sister, but only says one word, mama or mom mom mom.  I love that she is a mommy's girl and that even though she is super active, she loves being in my arms.

Naomi also loves to clap and will do so if she hears you say clap, if anyone is clapping or if she hears someone cheering...baby claps are quite possibly the cutest thing ever.

Naomi- You are the PERFECT addition to our family.  I love you so much but I think you already know that.    

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All of these books are toddler friendly. If your toddler has a short attention span and won't sit through, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, The Best Mouse Cookie is a great, shorter alternative!  If you don't already own, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, you should probably go buy it because it's a classic that teaches about a caterpillars life cycle, counting and days of the week. 

C is for Clouds

Cc printable

C is for Cat

Grandma came to visit and did this project with Mia...isn't it cute!

C is for Caterpillar

These Do A Dot markers are super fun and easy for toddler hands. Plus, there are tons of free printables  on the web to use with them!

Caterpillar worksheet

Mia and I worked together to create a large caterpillar to help with number recognition.  Before hanging it on the wall, we played a "game" where I said the number and Mia had to give me the circle with the corresponding number. This would also be really fun to incorporate gross motor skills and have your child jump on the number (I would have done that but didn't want to wrinkle our caterpillar!)

 

Our finished caterpillar...a perfect addition to our reading area.

The original plan for this project was to make a caterpillar in the shape of the letter C but Mia was having so much fun gluing the circles independently that it became a piece of paper with circles all over it.  Remember...art with toddlers is about the process, not necessarily the end product!

 C is for Cookie

The ingredients: shaving cream and brown paint

 

Stir, stir, stir

Plop it onto a paper plate (preferably white)

 

If you're wondering what Naomi does when we are doing activities...

I had good intentions of baking cookies this week but when it came down to it...I didn't feel like consuming a days worth of calories in cookie dough and cleaning up the mess.  : /

Link to Puffy Paint Cookies

 C is for Castle

This was so fun!  And, it turned out really cute!

Link to shape castle

 Up next week...Hh

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