A long, cold, snowy winter . . .

and I'm not enjoying it. Alisa taught me how to x-country ski and enjoy winter after being a winter hater. But this winter I have to say this stinks. Tons of snow, constant shoveling, cold temps (a colder than average January), and Phoebe seems to have back-to-back colds with terrible coughs.

Anyhoo . . . enough complaining! Again, I've been bad with the updates. I've been playing with my new cell phone too much and not taking good pics of Phoebe. Our phone pics are definately inferior quality, but they capture a good picture in a pinch!

The last entry is a pic I took with Alisa's old cell just minutes after Phoebe's birth. I finally was able to text it to our new phones, which allowed me to save the pic to our files. A good save indeed. This is the only picture I took of her first day of life as our camera was in the car at the hospital.

December Recap

December flew by and I haven't posted since Phoebe's 2nd birthday. So here you go. Pics with Grandma and Phoebe checking out her new playtable (my parents' gift to Phoebe . . . an MCC sale item), Christmas Eve babysitting Eliza while Jane and Jen both had to lead services at their churches, Phoebe wearing her blanky as a coat, and finally her nap at the Westby house on our big snow day last month.

We've finally moved upstairs and are enjoying the house despite the unfinished trimwork. Someday it'll feel more complete. But Phoebe loves "Phoebe's yellow bedroom."

Happy Birthday!

Unfortunately, Alisa had to work today . . . and is still there wrapping up paperwork at 10:15pm. We did have a nice breakfast this morning. Alisa made Pancakes (Phoebe's favorite!) and we gave her the gifts that arrived and that we had bought for her.

Phoebe's babysitter Kami and her daughter Ava gave Phoebe Ava's old Snow White dress. I picked up the puppy winter hat, grandma and papa sent some "starry tights," and Alisa bought some new block-beads. The Martinsons (we assume Laura made it)sent a "stripey puppy" and Oma and Grandpa sent Phoebe a book. Thanks everyone! Phoebe was well spoiled today.

See below for pics matching the following descriptions:
We got plenty of nice snow last night! Phoebe and I shoveled and then did some "tromp-stomp" up the block.

Matthew and I took the crew of kids to the Walker Art Center today. The most interesting thing was clearly the locker storage. After, Micahiah insisted on wearing Phoebe's new dress.

Princess Phoebe

Phoebe has clearly been enjoying her time with Kami, Ava, and William. Kami has been watching Phoebe since Alisa has started work (which we are very grateful for!). Today Alisa arrived to a very pleased princess talking about "some necklesses" that she was wearing.

Ava and Kami were doing Phoebe's hair in "piggy tails" last week when I arrived one day.

Halloween!

Phoebe and I started the week carving a pumpkin. Alisa sewed Phoebe's puppy costume mid-week and Phoebe talked about her "grey hat" and "paws" for the next few days.

Tonight is pretty lively on our street. Right now it sounds a bit like a block party run by 8 year olds out our door. Our neighbors all outdid us with ghosts hanging from trees, steroes blasting spooky sounds out their front doors, and gravestones in their yards. I was proud of our pumpkin.

Across the street, our neighbors have frogs ribbiting on stereo. Phoebe's been asking all night: "Why the pumpkins squeaking?"
We only visited a handful of our immediate neighbors, but Phoebe did a wonderful job of saying "trick or treat," "thank you," and then "bye bye."

It's great to live in a house on a block with such a great sense of community!

Trip to Maine

Alisa and Phoebe travelled out to Maine last Sunday and I joined them Thursday. We had a good chance to see Ben and Leslie's home at the perfect time. The timber frame was up and no panels were up yet. This allowed to see the unique joints used to hold these beams together. Very cool.

Phoebe enjoyed time with Oma and Grandpa as well as her cousins, aunt and uncle, and Glenn and Arlene too. Phoebe got some time with the "Goaties" at the farm too.

Missing Phoebe and Alisa

Alisa and Phoebe left for Maine Sunday morning and overall had a good flight and a safe arrival. I have a 6am flight Thursday and we'll all travel back Sunday.

I've been working like mad to get some painting and other odd jobs done. Most importantly, I'm painting the stairs while they're away . . . for obvious reasons.

The pictures of Phoebe in her pink dress are from Saturday. As we were getting ready to go to Ashley and Doug's wedding Saturday, Katie stopped by with some ladybug jammies for Phoebe. Thanks Katie!

Phoebe's also been into wearing our headlamps lately as you can see.

Guys and Shoes

I've come home from work a few times now to find Phoebe's guys (specifically, pig and cow) settled nicely in Alisa's shoes.

We've been working away and are going to paint Phoebe's room this week. I'm stripping the many layers of paint off the old trim so hopefully we can have a complete bedroom upstairs in about 10 days or so. We're thinking if we get Phoebe's room all set (minus the baseboards, which I dread the thought of after seeing how wavy the floor is in there!), we can finally move our stuff in from our storage unit. We won't be able to fully sleep up there until the other bedrooms are complete, but at least we'll start gaining some rooms around here.

We're also looking forward to not seeing any service guys for a while, despite the fact that they've all been great. Phoebe's taken to discussing the many "guys" who come around: furnace guy, gutter guy, electric guy . . . but no cable guy? Hopefully we'll have ourselves settled up in our bedrooms in November so we can enjoy the winter and the holidays without thinking about any projects (at least major ones).

Micaiah was enjoying pheeding Phoebe the other night when the joined us for dinner. She also enjoyed watching him jump off the stool and has talked about it every day since.

Potty Training!

Alisa was the better parent and saw the opening to start with potty training. Phoebe's been showing an interest in the toilet so Alisa bought a little potty. We've mostly been reading her stories while she sits on it while nothing happens, but there have been a few pees and one nice poop on it. It seems like a start and a good practice, but I'm sure parents with multiple older kids are smiling thinking oh, how ambitious!

Twice now, Phoebe has said "Phoebe pee?" walked over to the potty, sat down, and peed. We were pretty impressed to say the least.

Katie and Michael spent some time up in the Boundary Waters at the Hungry Jack outfitters. Phoebe got a sweatshirt out the deal. Thanks Katie!

Phoebe's "car." The laundry baskets and her wicker crates have been vehicles lately as Phoebe has developed an imagination. Micaiah even got a car ride this week!