I'm Back!

It's been awhile since I've done a blog entry because we spent two weeks in Florida and this past week has been so busy getting back into the swing of things!  We spent the first week in Florida with Dan's entire family.  After they left my parents came back down and just Allie and I stayed a week with them.    It was a wonderful vacation, but it is nice to be back home. Especially since spring has arrived in Saskatoon!

I was terrible at taking pictures, so I need Deanna and Barb to send me some of theirs.  But, I'll share the ones that I did take.  

Allie in her pajamas for the second flight to Sanibel.  She was SO good on all of our flights.

The view that never got old!

The beach!

We rented bike carriers so that we could go on bike rides with the kids. Allie did not like going alone!

Luckily her cousin Brennan was able to cheer her up!

Playing with poppy and gagu's toys. She liked to play right by the door with her babies so that she could keep her eyes on the lizards outside.

Playing water guns with poppy.  

 Allie and poppy washed the car and Allie is still talking about it. She can't wait until it is a little warmer here so that she can wash mommy's car!

We spent most of the week in the pool. 

Thanks for a wonderful trip poppy and gagu!  It was so kind of you to leave your house for a week to give all the Mauer's a vacation that we'll never forget and Allie and I will never forget our week with you. We love you!  

A Girl at a Party with Lots of Frosting!

Allie and I went to a birthday party today for her friend Maya who turned two.  Here Allie is (wearing a butterfly hat) with Maya (the cow) and Maya's older sister Anna (the tiger).  

A girl after her mama's heart, she went straight for the frosting off the cupcakes! :)  

It was a GREAT party and fun way to celebrate sweet little Maya!

Two

This is a very belated post about Allie turning two.  I started this right around her birthday, but just haven't finished.  I'm volunteering my time with a couple of organizations and Allie isn't napping every day anymore, so it has gotten a bit harder to post. I just talked to my younger brother and was told I was slacking a bit on the blog, so I thought I had better get this post up.  At two her stats were:

Height: 33 inches

Weight: 29 pounds

This is a new way for me to do marker post because I could actually ask Allie what I should write and include her input. So fun! At two Allie likes to:

--Count to 13 (she can get to 15, but always forgets 14)

--Sing her ABC's.  It is cute because when she gets to the end she sings "Now I know my ABC's (pause) D, E, F"...all they way through the song again.  It is the never ending song for her.

--Sing Jesus Loves Me (although instead of singing little ones to Him belong, she sings "little monsters to him belong".  Close enough!).

--Play with her baby dolls.  She feeds them, changes them, and sings to them.  Very, very cute.

--Body slam her daddy and practice other wrestling moves with him (we hope she doesn't try these moves on the other kids in the church nursery!).

--Hug, feed, play with, and torture Bella (some things never change).

--She regularly is saying 6-7 word sentences and pretty much communicates with us this way.  It is really fun to hear her thoughts so much.

--She loves to talk about Minnesota. Every plane is coming from Minnesota, every bird is flying to Minnesota. At least a few times a week she tells me she is going to take her suitcase to Minnesota. I just tell her someday we will be back...hopefully sooner rather than later! :)

--She LOVES to go to church. Most mornings I go to get her up and she sits up in her crib and says "Allie is ready for church!"  I love that about her!

--She loves for me to sing her He's Got the Whole World in His Hands at night. We have to sing about every family member, every friend, and every friend's mommy before I can put her to sleep. The song takes awhile to get through, but I don't mind because I get to snuggle with Allie.

--She loves to pick out her own clothes (especially socks) and HATES to wear a coat. This has caused some issues considering we live in Canada. 

Allie is a really wonderful little girl.  She is very particular and likes things a certain way (I wonder where she gets that from!) and now that she can communicate so well, I have some interesting (frustrating?) conversations with her each day.  But I wouldn't change her personality one bit. She is a little bit sassy, but a lot sweet. A little bit stubborn, but also compassionate.  A little bit cautious, but overall very independent, social, and ready to explore her world.  Every day I tell her she's my favorite girl, and she is.  My little buddy and the joy of my life.

If you ask Allie how old she is, she'll say "I'm TWO" and hold up her fingers like this:

My little big two year old!

Happy 2 years Allie! We love you!!!