Happy 2nd Birthday Meredith!

I little delayed, I know...Happy 2nd Birthday Meredith!!!!

Meredith, I love you sweetheart! You can put a smile on my face like no one else can! You have such an entertaining, dramatic personality, which I love. Your facial expressions crack me up! Here are a few of my favorites......oh, the Meredith eyes

I love how you let everyone hear you!

I love your goofiness!

You are never afraid to try new things and maybe cause a little trouble along the way.

Meredith, I love the strong sides of your personality. You can be so loving and polite. My favorite part of my day is picking you up and having you run full force into my arms and giving me a hug! I love how polite you are and always remember to say, "Tank you mama". Everytime you kiss me, you follow it with, "I whav(love) you too". I appreciate how you think of others and make me kiss Ellie after I kiss you. You love food and are only picky about the kind/color of the plate/cup/fork/spoon you have, but not necessarily about the type of food you have. Your current favorites are watermelon, corn, tomatoes, grapes and cereal (mainly cheerios and Lucky Charms). The ONLY food I have found that you don't like are eggs! I have tried preparing them in everyway and you hate them. You will eat anything else that I give to you. I hope your wonderful eating habits will follow with you for your lifetime. When you are done eating, you prefer to tell us, not with words, but by taking your plate and dumping it upside down on the table. Followed with Meredith eyes at me...then a hurricane of arms attempting to scatter as much food around before I can reach you and remove you from your chair. Your sister takes cover under the table anytime this happens. I then kindly remind you to tell me when you are done next time...you give me the Meredith eyes again, "I done mama".  You also will eat grass, crayons, flowers, dirt! You are starting to outgrow this wonderful habit (I think you do it all for attention), but I still don't trust you yet! You are telling us your favorite color is purple. You love to wear flowers in your hair, especially the small blue one. You love Nemo, Elmo, horses and monkeys. You can climb up any and everything. You truly live by, "Monkey See..Monkey Do". You love to sing and pick up very quickly on the words. No, not Baa baa black sheep or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star....more like Katy Perry's Firework or Justin Beiber's Baby. You are enjoying A-B-Cs though. I believe that some day you will be a performer. You love an audience watching you do anything from singing, dancing, scary faces, sommersaults, fetching a ball like a dog, etc. You love to perform!!! You love your sister and call her "Lo". She is your very best friend! You love for me to hold you in my lap or carry you. You don't like to be left out and want to always be right next to my side. You love to help me in the kitchen. You love for Dad to read books to you. You love to be outside! You have discovered the TV and we have to have it off or you are glued to it..."I watch TD". You do love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and always sing Hey Toodle! It is one of the sweetest things I have ever heard. You are extremely tough, but you always need "ice" (aka teething ring) for any bump/bruise. You want ice in your milk or water. You still suck your thumb at night and as a comfort measure. Ellie is still your BFF, but you allow her to stay in the car and at home now. You give great hugs and kisses! Your wave is made for future royalty. You are on the go non-stop, but you are the world's best sleeper! You require your sleep (preferably 11-12hrs) and like to be by yourself! We read 10-15 books to you, then you "read" them and put yourself to sleep. You love this time by yourself and go to bed easily...and stay asleep and wake up well! You do things your way and on your time. There is no need to change your diaper/clothes unless you are ready to. You know what you want and refuse to do it any other way. Love you sweetie!!!

Here are some pictures from her Birthday Party. We celebrated her birthday with family and friends 2 weeks ago! Everyone had so much fun! Meredith, I was so proud of you by the politeness you displayed! After nicely opening up and thoroughly looking over every gift (flipping through every book, holding up every piece of clothes, etc) you thanked each and every person for the gift that you received. I am so proud of the way you behaved and glad that you had such a fun time! You loved your monkey cake and having everyone sing Happy Birthday!

Our family of four (with an older sister who experienced a sore ankle from jumping over the slide of the bounce house).

We borrowed a jumping house, which was loved by all (including adults). Meredith had so much fun!!!

A Waukee Warrior

Lauren is now an official Waukee Warrior as her 1st day of kindergarten started today! The morning was a little rough as I attempted to handle a stubborn almost 2 year old, a failed attempt of several photos a wanted to document this day, a new day care (for before care) for Lauren and  Lauren's eagerness to learn was dampened by the late start for Kindergartners. She just wanted to get the show on the road. All of her fears subsided when she hopped on the day care van! She just wanted to see Miss Reed! Lauren, I am full of mixed emotions for you on this day. First of all, I have struggled with you the last 2 weeks as you have been testing your limits and misbehaving. My assumption is this behavior is due to your inability to express your excitement, fears and nerves for the upcoming changes (I hope so anyway). You have tested me beyond your and my limits. Yesterday, I was ready to send you to school. Well....today was a different day. My heart went out to you with your hesitation to your new daycare and having to enter several already established friendships! I know that you will make friends, for you are a such a sweet, yet funny girl  that they will all love once they know who you are! As the day care teacher asked you to load into the van, you politely line up next to the door as the other children gathered in a rather rough and tumble way. I am so proud of your politeness and courage to load the van and enter into your new adventure. I see you again at the school and you have no fear amongst the over hundred Kindergartners, their paparazzi parents and your new teachers! You give Miss Reed a hug..you are so excited to see her (yes, you have only met her once) and start this new adventure. You politely stand in line, wave to me with a big smile on your face and walk into your new life! Tears well in my eyes for many reasons. My little girl is growing up before my eyes and at times I want to stop her, but on the other hand, I smile because I am so proud of you. I worry you won't get enough to eat for lunch or won't drink enough water during the day and get dehydrated! I worry you will get lost and not know where you are. I worry you won't be able to find a bathroom. I worry that you won't get on the right bus for home (although Miss Reed assures me that she will get her on the right bus). I worry for the future unfortunate catty life of being a girl. My biggest parenting struggle is trying to raise daughters that are kind to others, yet confidant enough to not let others opinions matter. I worry about the future pain and heartache you will experience. I want to protect you, but I also know these experiences will hopefully transform you into the beautiful, confident woman I know that you can be.  Tears start to fall as I see glimpses of this woman in the form of as a strong, independent 5 year old marches into her new adventure called Kindergarten, without any tears or hand holding. As you march in...I leave to my car...thank goodness for sunglasses to hide the emotions of a Mother today....


Several attempts of photos as home before school, but neither girl would cooperate very well...

Walking up to the school...getting in Miss Reed's line.

So proud of you.

Off you go...

And you made it home!!!!

You had so much fun!!! You said "you never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever want to leave Kindergarten again". I followed with "You don't even want to come home?"  "Yes, I'll want to come home, but as soon as I get up I want to go straight to Kindergarten".   She said "I can't wait until we have a long day" (1st full day is on Friday) .  I learned so much about your day (you have 2 Lily's and an Adam in your class, how you saw some of your friends at recess and lunch, how you had a practice lunch before you ate lunch, how you hoped the Miss Reed had time to separate the stars and books each student brought to class, that you didn't eat a very healthy lunch, you didn't have time for a nap, you will have more recesses starting on Friday)  and I continue to be proud of you as you finished your first day successfully and you can't wait to go back and learn  more. I love that you are eager to learn and don't cause any trouble! I love you Lauren!!!!

Gymnastic Meet

Lauren's gymnastic meet was last Saturday! She did wonderful with her tumbling pass. I didn't get very good pictures due to the lighting, but we are so proud of her! Lauren, you perform so well under pressure and a crowd doesn't seem to bother you. Your little sister was so proud of you and yelled "Hey Lo!" when you were in line. I loved her wave and huge smile on her face when you turned around! So proud of you Lauren!

Nothing Compares

The Iowa State Fair is always fun for us! We like to teach the girls all about our 4-H days and spread a little more agriculture their way! This was Meredith's 1st trip to the fair and she loved it! The girls loved all the baby animals at the Animal Learning Center.

Lauren singing the Birthday Card for the Butter Cow!

Lauren's 1st trip down the slide...all by herself!!!

Mer's 1st time down the slide!

Love John Deere!

We all love the Little Hands on the Farm. Planting seeds.

Picking out vegetables.

Milking the cow.

Corn...Corn...Corn

You must be from Iowa if.....you freeze sweet corn! A lot of work, but it sure pays off in the winter!

Meredith didn't want to wait for it to cook!