Going Private

Since I started this blog about 3.5 years ago, it has been a public blog...meaning anyone on the internet can see photos of my kids, my house, etc. I've felt somewhat uncomfortable about this since the beginning, so I've decided that I should make it a private blog.  It looks like in order to make it private, I need to add your email address to my list so you can access the blog.  I plan to activate these settings this weekend, so if you would like to continue to have access to this blog, just send me an email (lisa.m.mauer@gmail.com) and I will add you to the list.

Thanks!

Summer Fun (and 100 photos)!

We have been having a wonderful, busy summer. Today we started packing up for our move into our house which will happen this Friday.  We are very excited that we are so close to living in our dream home! 

I was thankful that we had a week of vacation to help make the time pass more quickly.  We spent 4.5 days at Love Lake and 3 days at Dead Lake with Dan's parents.  It was so much fun!

Here are all of the cousins on the March side (excluding the little guy in Sarah's tummy, due in November).

Mercy, Allie, Daniel, Josiah, Cammie, and Caleb

And Allie with just her MN cousins.

Allie and Mercy getting ready for the annual 4th of July parade at Love Lake. Unfortunately, my phone died right after this picture, so I have no other photos of the parade, but I assure you the kids had a blast! :)

Another tradition at Love Lake is to make a flag cake with Aunt Robbie. I did it growing up and it was fun to watch Allie decorate it this year.  It was very cool that my mom (with Sarah's help) made a "Daniel safe" cake to decorate.  My nephew Daniel has life threatening allergies to a lot of foods and environmental allergens, so making a cake that he can safely eat is no small challenge.  It was worth the  effort to see the joy on his face while eating the cake, which was really tasty for the rest of us too! 

My mom and Sarah hard at work.

The team of decorators.

The final product.

The last Love Lake tradition that I captured with pictures was the making of ice cream with poppy.  All the grandkids LOVE to make ice cream with poppy and all the adults love to eat it!

This was the first 4th of July in my lifetime that my uncle Art wasn't in attendance.  He passed away last August and he was deeply missed this year.  I remember him most while at Love Lake and am thankful for all the traditions, family members, and love that we share up there. 

After Love Lake we headed to Dead Lake where Allie continued to play all day in the water.  She is turning out to be our little fish!

Allie had a best Dead Lake buddy, Gabby.  They were so cute playing together.  Their favorite game was to play "baby". Gabby was the mommy and proceeded to pick Allie up and carry her like a baby. Please note that Gabby is only 4 and about Allie's size.  Allie would try to wrap her legs around Gabby's waist.  I was shocked that they actually accomplished many times every day!

I cannot believe it, but those are the only photos I have of Dead Lake. I mostly left my phone in the cabin, so I just didn't have it close by.  But, it was a wonderful few days with Barb and Craig, and long time friends. Dan and Craig were able to fish for hours each day, and we got to celebrate Barb's birthday on Monday.  We really had a great time...and great weather!

Here are photos of Cammie in her ballerina outfit that my friend Jordan gave her. Could she be any cuter? I'm her mother, so I have to say that, but who doesn't think a baby in a tutu is cute?

Here are a few more of my smiley baby!

Allie LOVES to play princess.  Poor Cammie is forced to play already!

Dan got suckered in too! 

One of my very best friends, Annica, came to MN for a 3 week visit.  She is originally from MN but is currently living in Portland with her family.  She has a son about 6 months younger than Allie and a baby 3 months older than Cammie.  Here are Cammie and Holden meeting for the first time.  So cute!

In late June we were also able to swing by the Minneapolis airport and spend about an hour and a half with some of our best friends from Canada. They were the other American (and Cargill) family up there with us and we miss them so much. Sadly, this was the best photo of the group.

When we left Canada they were a family of 4 and we were a family of 3. Their little guy is just 3 months older than Cammie.  Here is the best shot of Cammie and Kian meeting for the first time.

We love summer SO much! Allie especially loves anything to do with water. Here she is playing with one of her best buds, Kaycee.

Some of my favorite sister photos.

 

I love this photo of Dan, Bella, and Cammie in a deep conversation.

And, if you are still with me I have one house photo.  It is of the wallpaper in our dining room, which I LOVE! The wallpaper guy called it wild, and then later he said it was bold.  I think it is both, but I still think it is perfect for us!

Hope you all are enjoying summer as much as we are. Next time I blog it will be from our new house!  I will post photos soon!

Father's Day

We had a great day celebrating Dan today. The biggest highlight was going to the Twins game for the first time as a family of four.  Both the girls did really well. Cammie never made a peep and Allie cheered at the top of her lungs, especially for Joe Mauer!  I think these two might have very different personalities.

This was taken at the beginning of the game. Cammie was mesmerized! :)

Allie was in heaven with cotton candy.  We won the parents of the year award when we allowed her to have cotton candy ice cream at Coldstone after dinner tonight.  Oh well, Father's Day only happens once a year! :)

Here is Allie cheering for Joe Mauer.  She would yell GO JOE MAUER at the top of her lungs.  She must have asked Dan about fifty times if Joe Mauer was up to bat. She would also cheer GO TWINS! At a couple different points in the game people in our section joined Allie in her chant. It was so cute. Maybe we have a future cheerleader in our midst!

At some point Cammie actually woke up. She literally never made a sound, but she was taking in all the action in the stadium.

This is what happened about three minutes into our car ride home!

It was a wonderful Father's Day and I am SO thankful to married to such an amazing dad. These girls are pretty fortunate to have Dan as their dad!

We have one month until we move into our house. It is looking great. I'll share just a few photos of the progress.

We had our dock put in yesterday and her is the south view of the lake from the dock.

Here is the view as you walk in the house of the living room, kitchen/informal dining room, and sunroom.

The study. I found a design similar to this on Houzz and had to copy it. I LOVE how they turned out!

The kitchen. The fridge is blocking the other half of the kitchen, but I love it!

This is the view from my kitchen sink. I think I love it more than the actual kitchen.  I don't think I'll mind doing dishes as much with this view to look at.

We are getting so excited to move and have started the official countdown!

Life Lately

Lately life has been a whirlwind. I'm beginning to think this is our new reality with two kids and an active golden retriever!  I am finally feeling like I'm into the swing of things with Cammie.  It took about 7 weeks until I was over all of my issues (mastitis, allergic reactions, illness, serious issues breast feeding, etc.), and now that she is 8 weeks, I am feeling pretty good. I am so thankful to be enjoying my sweet little baby a little more.

Allie continues to be a wonderful big sister. The only issues we have is that she is sometimes too enthusiastic with Cammie and I worry she could accidentally hurt her.  Allie finished her first year of preschool last week. She had a great year and especially loved one of her teacher's, Miss Marylin and also meeting her best friend Claire. I was proud of the feedback we received about Allie from her teachers.  They said she was the best cleaner upper in class, that she was very compassionate with all of her classmates, that she was a very verbal and smart child, and that they wish they could teach kids like Allie every year! It was a really fun year for her and we are sad not to be returning to that preschool in the fall. But, Allie will be going to a school just 3 miles from our new house.

Friday night was uncle Dave's wedding.  We are so thankful he found such a great girl and that Vanessa is officially part of the family!

Here is our little flower girl!

Her cousins, Brennan and Gavin, were the ring bearers. So cute!

How cute is this sweet girl? She is such a mellow and content baby!  Last night she slept from 7:00 PM to 4:30 AM, so she has a mellow and content mommy too! :)

The cheeks! I love her cheeks!  For being such a tiny peanut, she sure has gained a lot of weight. The biggest indications of this weight gain are the rolls on her legs, the big cheeks, and the double chin! :)

I took this picture just after I suctioned a bunch of snot out of her nose.  Allie SCREAMED bloody murder anytime I suctioned her nose.  Cammie didn't cry at all and once I was done she started giggling, so I had to take this picture.

My cousins Christina and Alyssa hosted a sip and see last week for Cammie. Aunt Robbie gave Allie a pink headband (among other adorable gifts). Allie loves it so much that she had to let Bella have a turn wearing it. I'm not sure Bella loved it as much as Allie! :)

We've had lots of fun play dates recently.  Here is Allie with her buddy Murphy.  Murphy is older and wiser than Allie, but they play SO well together!  Murphy's mommy is one of my best friends from college, Katie. We met freshman year and were both Thetas together.  I'm so thankful that our girls are such great friends and that we both live in the Twin Cities. I look forward to many mommy daughter dates with Murphy and her mommy in the future. 

And here is Allie with her buddy Will.  Will lived across the street from us before we moved to Canada and he ended up being in the same preschool class as Allie this year.  It has been really fun to reconnect.

Lastly, just 5 weeks until we can move into our house!!!! Can't wait.  I'll post more photos sometime soon, but for now, here is the view from our basement. Not bad, eh? :)