Gosh, I can't believe a whole month has gone by since I've done an update. I've really been slacking. You would think I would have tons to write about but I just don't. I spent a week in Baltimore in mid--July. They had record heat out there and temps were over 100 degrees. If you've ever been to Baltimore, you can also appreciate just how humid it was too. I managed to make it to Camden Yards to see the Twins play the Orioles. I've been to Camden Yards a number of times but never when the Twins happen to be in town. So that was fun. We whipped up a Circle Me Bert sign after we were done working just for the fun of it and I just so happen to have made it on Circle Me Bert! Man was it hot though - I left the game with a soaked butt. It looked like I peed my pants. But everyone else was a hot mess too so it didn't really matter.

Somehow we are just three weeks away from Meredith's 3rd birthday. It's really fun this year because she gets what it is and is super excited. She asked me to make her a party hat (she sees this on Elmo's World) so I made her a really cute monkey party hat that she will wear. She is SO EXCITED. And so am I!

Here are a few pictures from an outing with friends at Bryant Lake Park in Eden Prairie.

This is Mer playing with her friend Brody.

She is obsessed with her bucket and dumping water everywhere.

This is Mer's friend Ry-Guy

They went to the playground together and she kept chasing after him saying "Where is Ry-Guy?"

This is such a cute picture. Too bad Ryan is so dark. Too bad I don't know how to take good pictures.

This weekend Meredith will be attending her first Twins game so stay tuned for pictures of that.

4th of July

4th of July weekend was spent up at the Cabin. Meredith spent her first night away from BOTH mom and dad. Grandma Schwake took her up to the cabin on Friday night and Greg and I followed suit on Saturday. Usually when we go to the cabin, we just take day trips. The cabin isn't exactly 'luxury' or 'modern' nor does it offer a lot of space when there are 10 other people there. But it is a great spot on the lake!

I decided that it would be a great idea to set up a tent and stay overnight. In theory this would have been a great idea but the wind was blowing at hurricane strength and all we could hear all night long was the tent flapping in the wind. Then it started to rain and one of the walls kept blowing down. So at about 3:30 a.m. (no sleep at this point) we decided to vacate the tent and head inside. Greg slept on an air mattress on the floor and I slept on a couch that was far too small. I think I got about 1.5 hours of sleep that night.

But we had fun and it was great to see my family, cousins, aunts, and uncles. And Meredith had a blast.

Robin got a new toy that they took out on the choppy water. We decided to take Mer out the next day when it wasn't so windy.

We're all waving goodbye as they leave for their boat ride.

Mer played a bit in the water. See those waves?

This is what happens when I'm in charge of making sure no one cheats during a breath holding contest. Notice how one is in the water and one is out of the water???

Mer started having a meltdown at about 3:00 p.m. She fell asleep and took a nap!

Mer was fascinated with the dog leash. She spent a good part of the day insisting that it be tied around her waist and she ran around like a dog. Here she was actually walking the dog.

It's been a while

I haven't updated in a long time. I'm working on uploading some pictures from this past 4th of July weekend but it will be a day or two before I get a post done. In the meantime, here are some cute pictures from last week at the park.

Racetrack

We had a very busy weekend. We started it off by going to the Twins game on Thursday. We had seats in the overlook in right field. Great spot - a home run landed just five seats down from me (but it was for the other team). It certainly is a whole different experience going to a game in an outdoor stadium. It was nice. The weather was kind of rainy so I didn't bring my camera to take pictures. On Friday, we met up with Greg's parents and went to Nickelodeon Universe so Meredith could go on some rides and had dinner at Famous Daves. On Saturday, we went to my baby cousins' graduation party (congrats Jeremy and MJ). That night we had tickets for a suite from RBC where Greg works. It was great - we got free parking, free food, free beer, and had great seats to watch the game. They even bring around a dessert cart in the middle of the game. I brought my camera but of course the battery was dead so once again, I have no pictures of the ball park. On Sunday, we went out the Canterbury Park to watch some horse races. Meredith to to go on pony rides, pet animals, and get her face painted.

It was a fun and busy weekend. If you don't count the fact that Meredith has been acting like the spawn of Satan lately. Where did my sweet child go? Who replaced her with this girl I have now? If you see my daugter, please send her my way.


Meredith getting her face painted (she picked out a purple fishy):

Oh, how happy she was when she looked in the mirror. You can't tell by this photo, but she squealed.

Here is a good shot of it.

Soooooo happy!

She got to pet animals!
She impatiently waited for a pony ride.
She got to ride on the biggest one!

Cute sayings

I have no new pictures to post this week but I thought I would share some of the funny/cute things Meredith has been saying lately. She's now at the stage where she says full sentences and some of the things she says are just so random!

Last night, she had to go potty before she went to bed. She went into the bathroom and accidentally turned on the fan. When it came on, she said "that one if for Uncle Chris". Bwaaaaaahahahahahahahaha!

This past weekend we made plans to go to the Mall of America and go on a few rides since it was raining. She was playing with her Lego Duplo zoo set and had the alligator in her hand as we had this conversation:

Mer: I want to to to the mall and ride on the alligator.
Me: You want to go on the alligator ride? I'm not sure if there is an alligator ride, honey.
Mer: Yes, I want to go on the alligator ride and go up and down.
Me: (thinking long and hard this time) I'm not sure which one is the alligator ride.
Mer: I want to push the buttons.
Me: (light goes on in my head) Oh, you want to ride on the elevator? Yes, sweetie, we can ride on the elevator.
Mer: Yes, I want to ride on the alligator and go up and down and push buttons.

Now, she can say elevator properly. I think she was too distracted by the alligator in her hands.

Memorial weekend

We had a wonderful 5-day weekend as a family although Meredith is getting really testy with us and sassy and we are struggling with trying to deal with that. Everything causes a meltdown with her and she never listens. Her favorite word is "no" and I swear she does it just to be a pain in the rear. Bedtime is a 1.5 hour ordeal. Last night it ended with Greg laying in bed with her for over a half hour. Then I heard him yelling and a door slam. I went upstairs and saw him holding on to the door handle so she couldn't get out of her room. At that point I marched into her room and in my most authoritative voice possible, I told her to "get into bed right now". I think she knew she had pushed the limits with me because she immediately stopped crying, got up and went into her bed without even saying a word. I feel like we go through this too many times in a day.

Yesterday on the car ride home, we took her to McDonalds for dinner. We got her the McNuggets Happy Meal and she ate all but one of the McNuggets. I asked her four times if she wanted it and she said no. So Daddy ate it. Well then, she decided she wanted it. So the rest of the car ride home we had to listen to (imagine the whiniest voice you have ever heard) "I want my chicken nugget. I'm still hungry".

Anyway, on Friday we took Meredith to the zoo in the morning. Then we spent the afternoon out at the pool (which she loves).

She was so excited (this is pre-meltdown).

She wanted to see the dolphins first this time. So excited here.
See the dolphin in the background?
I know I post pictures that look exactly like this EVERY year but she just loves those darn goats.

On the way home. Notice how daddy is carrying her? Meltdown.
On Monday, we headed down to Iowa to visit some of Greg's relatives and we got to see Mer's Grandma and Grandpa Carlson that live in Florida.

This picture below is Greg's aunt Shirley. We got to pick a bucket full of juicy ripe straberries from her garden!
And of course, Grandma and Grandpa Carlson.
This picture is SO cute or Mer and Grandma.
Look at this cute face! It's hard to believe she doesn't seem to ever behave herself.
She rode on a vintage tricycle (or tried to at least).

Big girl room - finished!

Since we didn't go to Paris on Friday like we were supposed, Greg and I worked on getting Meredith's big girl finished while she was at daycare. We surprised her with it when she got home. She did wonderful considering she moved right from her crib to the twin bed. She was so excited for it. She giggled and squealed and tried to jump on the bed. And she picked the colors and bedding out all on her own so we embraced that to it's full extent I think.

Here is the new bed:

The nightstand and curtains:

Close-up of the wall decal:

The bedding:

The bookcase:

The dresser (we're still undecided about what to do with this corner).

The stuffed animal holder that doesn't hang straight:

And finally, the big girl in her big girl bed!

The foot - a week later

We officially cancelled the trip to Paris :-( We didn't think it was going to work with my foot.

Here are some pictures of it one week later.

I think my cankle is going away a bit finally! I see a glimpse of my ankle in this one.

Broken

Yesterday I was enjoying the beautiful weather with Meredith outside. We ventured out to our neighborhood playground which just happens to be right next to the pool. I was focusing on the pool because it appeared that it was filled and ready to be used for the season. As I was walking I happened to step in a hole and the next thing I knew I was in the ground and in lots of pain.

I tried to keep my cool so Meredith wouldn't think something was wrong. I managed to make it up to the playground and back home.

With this trip to Europe coming up in just five days, I decided to go get it looked at to see if I fractured it. Low and behold, there is a broken bone in my foot. So now I sit here wondering what to do with this trip. We're supposed to leave on Friday and I have a broken foot bone. I have to wear a walking boot for six weeks which is not easy to get around in. Without the boot I am limping.

And now the ash cloud from that volcano is supposed to be spreading towards France later this week.

I just don't know if this trip was meant to be. We're seriously contemplating canceling. I just don't know how we're going to make this work :-(

Here's a picture in case you wanted a visual. I realize it looks like a dead body.

Sneak peek of the big girl room

Meredith can not get out of her crib. It is so low that she has just never tried so we have never thought about converting it to a toddler bed. After she potty trained a couple months ago, she has become such a big girl and we decided it's time for her to move to a big girl room. We gave her the option of staying in her current room or moving to the guest room and surprisingly she picked the guest room. So, that began the whole process of getting her new room ready.

We ordered her a twin bed, and bought a book shelf, a dresser, and a night table. I had big plans to paint it pastel yellow and have some pretty gingham bedding but she really wanted nothing to do with that. She wanted monkeys and pink walls.

Per that request, here is what we have done so far. We hope to have this project finished by the end of Memorial Day weekend (assuming the bed arrives when it's supposed to).