Life in Minnesota

Allie has been settling into a routine in Minnesota very easily. She has school a couple mornings a week, we go to BSF one morning a week, and she has just started taking ballet.  She loves it so much! Here is our little ballerina. 

I wish I could say that our move has gone as smoothly as Allie's transition.  Our stuff was packed up the 2nd of January and sat for two weeks in Canada. It was then split up because there wasn't enough room for all of stuff on the truck (maybe because we were the 7th load on that particular truck!).  When the truck arrived here two days ago the truck driver could not turn the truck into our rental town home development because the truck was too big to make the turn. So, he had to rent U-huals to "shuttle" our stuff from the truck to the U-haul and then the U-haul to the house. The rest of our stuff is supposed to arrive tomorrow, but will need to be shuttled again.  We already know of a lot of damage to our stuff.  I keep reminding myself it is just things, and it really isn't a big deal if we need to replace some things, but I will be happy once this move is over!

In happier news, the progress on our house continues to move very quickly. Allie and I swung by today and we saw the framers working hard.

The other night Allie, Bella and I went to a local park.  We all had a blast, although it was tricky for me and my pregnant belly to run around the play ground with Allie!  We made do and enjoyed a beautiful evening at the park!

Best friends!

First Day of School

Yesterday was Allie's first day of school.  She was so excited, can you tell?

She did GREAT! When I dropped her off she literally never looked back at me. Not even once.  When I picked her up the teachers said she fit in like she had been there the entire year, that she made a new friend (Claire) that Allie kept calling her new best friend, and that she ate a lot.  I'm not surprised by any of this feedback. She is such a social and confident little girl. I am proud of her.

Today we had our first BSF class and I basically got the same feedback.  She fit in like she had been there all year, she followed all the rules, and she was the only child to answer the Bible question they asked. Again, I was proud of her.

It has been a bit of a rough go recently. I was up in Canada moving our stuff out and flew home on Thursday. Once my plane landed I literally drove myself to the hospital because I was so sick and my asthma was really acting up. I was worried for the baby. Allie had been staying with Barb and Craig while we moved out, but they had to go to work Friday, so she ended up sleeping at John and Mary's house since I didn't get released from the hospital until about midnight. Barb and Craig have kept Bella for me and John and Mary have been a big help while I recovered. Dan comes home from Canada tomorrow, and I am feeling pretty good and my breathing is strong. I am so thankful to be around family! It is an amazing feeling to know that we have support and help close by.  Thank you SO much...especially to Barb and Craig and John and Mary.  Now, we just need a driver to be assigned to our stuff so it can actually leave the warehouse in Canada and get to Minnesota so we can move into our rental.  This is the longest move and I CANNOT WAIT to be settled somewhere. 

Tonight I picked up Mercy and we had a girls' dinner out since daddy comes home tomorrow.  We had blast. I love that we can spend time with cousins so often. Do these two look like they were having fun?

Whirlwind

Hello again! It has been almost a month since my last entry and that is because life got busy!  First, I would like to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours! 

This was the front of our Christmas card and quite possibly my favorite picture of the year.  I love these girls so much!

Since my last entry we did phase 1 of our move back to Minnesota. Because Dan's new job wanted him to start December 10, but Cargill couldn't move us until after the first of the year, we moved down to Minnesota in early December and I'm currently back in Canada watching the Cargill packers pack up all of our stuff. I am feeling a bit nostalgic as I watch all of our stuff get loaded into boxes.  After all, this is basically the only house that Allie has lived in, it is where she took her first steps, said her first words, and hit all of her milestones. I will never forget these last few years and what a joy it has been to become a mother and explore a new city and country!

But, if I ever get a bit sad, I just think of our future in Minnesota! I am happy to report ground has broken on our new house.  The existing home was torn down in early December and this week the foundation is being poured. I drove out there before Christmas to check it out and was happy to see progress being made. Check out all of those trees!!!! Saskatoon is prairie, so there are not nearly as many trees as in Minnesota. I LOVE our lot so much, especially the trees and the lake of course! :)

We made it home in time to celebrate Allie's cousin Daniel's birthday. One of the best parts of being back in Minnesota is that we get to watch Allie grow up with all of her cousins (except for baby Caleb. I think his parents should move to Minneapolis so all the cousins can be together)!

Mercy introduced Allie to the sheer joy of princess dresses!  These two are quite the pair!

Baking Christmas cookies with poppy!

Allie and I were able to go to Mercy's Christmas concert. As soon as it was over Allie got on stage with Mercy. Then they held hands down the hallway to get cookies in Mercy's classroom. Cousins are the best!

We celebrated Christmas with Dan's side of the family a few days before December 25th.  To say Allie got some princess gifts is a huge understatement.  Allie is the only girl on this side and I think everyone had fun shopping for her this year.  She was overjoyed at all the princess gifts and her daddy is now an expert at playing princess (and having tea parties!).

In stark contrast to Allie's princess gifts, the boys could not have had toys that were anymore boy.  There were lots of trucks, ogres, dragons, etc.  It was a funny contrast, but Allie loves playing with her boy cousins so much. Especially Gavin who is just six months older than her.

I love Brennan's facial expression here.

Brennan and Gavin sharing. What good boys! 

Daddy looks thrilled that Allie got a princess castle! :)

Daddy and boppa having some tea that Allie lovingly prepared for them. What good sports!

Uncle Scrooge got Dan a "cute" shirt since he always seems to need clarification on what defines a cute shirt.

All the excitement didn't stop Bella from relaxing! One of the best parts of this Christmas was that Bella got to be with us for the first time in three years. It was awesome.

Vanessa and the newest Mauer, baby Declan.  Baby Declan was born in November, our baby girl comes in April, and Dave and Vanessa get married in June. I think 2013 is going to be a great year!

We spent Christmas morning at my parents' house.  Although I am excited that next year Santa will come to our own house for the first time ever, I treasured the morning at my parents' house.

Allie was a very good girl!

Daniel was a very a good boy! 

Mercy and Allie running around the corner to see if Santa came. 

Allie got some princess shoes and princess gloves in her stocking.  She was a happy girl!

I love this photo. Allie and Daniel sharing her new chair.  Allie is relaxing with her princess shoes.

Allie picked out this chicken for Bella as one of her presents.  The pet store assured me it was indestructible.  I think it took Bella about 5 minutes to destroy it.  :)

Because Allie had so much fun playing princess dress up with Mercy, mommy and daddy broke down and bought her 3 princess dresses.  She was in heaven.  Here is Allie Belle, modeling one.

Aunt Mary gave Allie and Mercy shirts that said "My daddy says I can't date until I'm 30."  Allie's daddy says that is still too early.  I think daddy is going to have a rude awakening! :)

It was a wonderful Christmas at home and it was so nice to know that we didn't have to say goodbye to everyone for months! Today the movers are packing us up and tomorrow they load the truck. I fly back to Minnesota tomorrow. Our stuff will arrive sometime in the next week and then we can move into the town home we are renting until our house is completed.  Once we are in the town home, I can finally think about this baby girl that will be arriving in just three months!  Life is busy, but wonderful.

Happy 2013!

Enough with the Snow!

Let me start by saying that I will miss living in Canada. It has been a wonderful almost 3 years and the friends that we've made are more like family.  That being said, I seriously hate the winters! We've had winter since the third week in October and now it won't stop snowing.  All the snow, coupled with the fact that they don't plow very well here, caused my car to get stuck at the end of my street today as I turned onto our street. Picture an almost 22 week pregnant lady, carrying a screaming almost 3 year old in her arms all the way down our block in blizzard like conditions. It was not fun. I'm hoping Dan will be able to get the car unstuck tonight after work.  All the snow is making it easier for me to say goodbye to Canada.  We will still miss it here...just not the snow, wind, and FREEZING cold temperatures.

Here is Allie next to our pile of snow from the snowstorm on Monday.  (By the way, my father-in-law told us last night he had his lawnmower out in MN to clear up some leaves last week. Never again will I complain about a MN winter!!!).  

All the News!

Dan accepted a job with Cargill back in Minneapolis almost two weeks ago. We knew we were going to try to move home before Christmas, but yesterday we found out it will be next week. Yikes!  We head home at the end of the week, so now we are frantically trying to sort through things and donate what we can.  We are also very frantically trying to find a place to rent in Minneapolis while our house is finished being built. Oh yeah, we are building a house on a lake in the west metro of the Twin Cities. It is going to be fabulous, but it is a pain that our dates didn't quite line up.  I am very thankful for my parents in MN who are rental house hunting for us this week! :)

So, we've been busy, and I've been 20+ weeks pregnant, so the plan is that when we do arrive at my parents' house in Minneapolis next week, I'm going to sleep for 48 hours straight because I'm certainly not sleeping well right now! :)

In other news, we tried to take a photo for my parents' Christmas card last weekend. Allie wasn't in the mood to smile and Bella was pretty depressed that we I forced her to wear a hat! It was hysterical and this was the best we could do.

This one was close, but not quite right.

The rest of them were too embarrassing to post! :)

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice!

We had our 20 week ultrasound this morning and I'm thrilled to share that Allie is going to have a little sister!  I always wanted a sister growing up and I'm excited that Allie will get to have one.  The baby was very compliant in this ultrasound and showed us everything we needed to see, unlike her sister Allie who made us go back for three additional ultrasounds to get a good shot of her heart and spine! So, the baby looks healthy and everything looked normal for my placenta and fluid levels, which after  my pregnancy with Allie is also a relief. All in all, great news and more reminders of everything we have to be thankful for in our wonderful lives!

Big sister Allie!

Miss Independent

Allie is growing up and becoming more independent every day. A few weeks ago she potty trained herself!  Late this past summer I bought a bunch of books that I wrapped up for her and promised that she could open a book any time she used the potty.  

In three months, she never opened one book because she never used the potty.  The reason that she wouldn't use the potty is because I asked her to, and she much prefers to make her own decisions about anything! :) I was very careful not to push her, just to ask her every once and awhile if she wanted to try. My very wise sister-in-law Mary, told me not to feel discouraged and that when Allie decided to be potty trained she would do it quickly.  She was right!  

The day before Halloween Allie had her best buddies Anna and Maya over to play.  I heard the three of them talking that afternoon about how Allie was the only one who still wore diapers. After her nap that day, Allie asked to use the potty and literally never wore a diaper again. Once she decided to be potty trained, it was a done deal! I could not believe how easy it was.  

I think her potty training experience sums up who she is pretty accurately. She listens to me and knew what to do on the potty, but nobody was going to get her to try until she was good and ready. And, once she was ready, she did it all on her own...my independent girl!

In other news, we are in the Christmas season up here in Canada. There is a lot of snow and, with Thanksgiving being in early October, people are ready to decorate and get in the holiday spirit. Our neighbors took down their Halloween decorations November 1 and had their Christmas tree up that same day.  I'm not quite ready for Christmas, I am an American after all and need to get through US Thanksgiving first, but I am actually enjoying the snow. 

This one is really enjoying the snow! :)

Allie is getting so big and growing so fast. But one thing that never seems to change is her love obsession with her nuks. Here she is with three in her mouth, and she couldn't be happier!