The Burley's Maiden Voyage

We recently purchased a Burley bike trailer for Ella (& Gracie soon too) to ride in when we go on bike rides. Ella & Daddy tested it out for a few spins around the neighborhood. Ella was quite excited to wear her new pink bike helmet!

Daddy putting on Ella's new helmet

Ella in the Burley

Let's hit the road, Dad!

Gracie praying for Ella's safe return

Off they go!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend back in Green Bay. The girls got to meet the Easter bunny, have a playdate with some of Mommy's friends from high school and their daughters, and hang out with their grandparents, uncles and aunt. The Easter Bunny did not disappoint and Ella did quite well with her first Easter egg hunt. She even helped find all of Gracie's eggs.

Ella coloring Easter eggs

Gracie with her new Easter bunny

Ella hunting for eggs

Reading new Easter books with Daddy

Gracie loves her Bumbo!

Ella enjoying a Cadbury egg

Playdate with friends

Gracie is 5 months old!

We had an exciting month full of "firsts" for little Gracie. For one, she is rolling in both directions now (back to belly and belly to back). She also had her first taste of rice cereal and loved it! We also introduced sweet potatoes and they are also a big hit. Grace is now enjoying sitting in the Bumbo seat and the exersaucer, and continues to love lying on her activity mat. She is very smiley and giggles a lot now too, especially when her belly is tickled or when Ella talks to her.
First taste of rice cereal

Gracie loves the exersaucer!

Ella appointed Grace to assistant chef in her kitchen

Happy after a meal of rice cereal... yum!

Visit from Ben & Jack

Angie, Marc, Ben & Jack visited us earlier this month and we had a blast! Gracie enjoyed playing on the floor with the boys and Ella especially enjoyed trying to guess which baby was which.

Grace & Jack playing on the activity mat

Now its Ben's turn

Grace is 4 months old and Happy 30th Birthday Jeff!

Gracie turned 4 months old on March 6th. At her checkup on Tuesday, she weighed in at 13 lbs, 8 oz and measured 24 1/2 inches long...she's really growing! She is such a laid back and happy little girl and loves her big sister! She also started noticing the dog and scoots herself around the room.

We had a lot of visitors over the last few weeks. Dan, Julianna & Drew visited in late February. Ella and Drew had a lot of fun playing together, especially in the ball pit. We also ventured out to the Mall of America with the kids. Ella's favorite part was the escalator rides, which was a new thing for her.

Ella & Drew in the ball pit.......... Shopping at Mall of America

Grace helps Daddy shop........Ella & Daddy on the escalator


My dear hubby celebrated his 30th birthday on March 1st. We celebrated with Dan & Julianna while they were visiting and also had a date night to Ruth's Chris (yummy!). Check out all the candles on the cake, we almost started a fire! And notice how smoky the room got after blowing out all those candles. What an old man! :)

"Grammie" & "Grampa" Van visited last weekend. The girls had a blast playing with them and Jeff appreciated the extra help while I had to work. Ella & Grammie took advantage of the nice weather and took a wagon ride outside.

Miscellaneous Pictures:

Ella & her deer antlers from "Grampa"

"A little more salt dad"...helping Dad make mashed potatoes

Ella ready to play in the snow

Ella likes to serve Lambeau food in her kitchen

Happy Valentines Day

We had a busy but fun Valentine's Day. Ella had a Valentines party at her school and made her own Valentines to pass out to her classmates. We then babysat her friend Kyle on Valentine's Day evening so Ella had a little Valentine playdate. Kyle even brought her a heart ring, which Ella loved! Ella's favorite thing these days is "Jammie Day" so occasionally she'll get to stay in her jammies all day if we have nothing going on.

Ella making Valentine's for her classmates (look at all that concentration!)

Grace observing the Valentine-making process

Ella playing with her friend Kyle in the ball pit and him giving her a ride in the stroller...so cute!

Ella loves pigtails these days!

Gracie hanging out with the other babies....Ella didn't want her to feel lonely!

Everyone watching Sesame Street on our "Jammie Day"

Ella is TWO! Grace is 3 months old!

The big event that has occured with us lately is that Ella turned TWO on January 29th. We had a bumblebee birthday party with her friends from ECFE school and playgroup and she had a blast! Ella continues to amaze us daily with new phrases and words and her memory is unbelievable...sometimes a little too good!

Grace is growing so fast! She turned 3 months old on February 6th. She is smiling all the time now, having coo-ing conversations with us and sleeping through the night (between 9-12 hours)...which has been so wonderful for Mommy! She is such a little sweetheart and we all just love the new addition to our family.

I'm now back at work and that is going well. I'm only part time, which give me the perfect balance between being a Mommy and an NNP. Jeff has been enjoying his job and recently traveled to Taiwan, Singapore and Seattle for work.

Here are some pictures of Ella enjoying some of her fun birthday presents:

Ella ironing

Grace isn't too sure about Ella's new ball pit

Gotta love the static hair!