fun with food

cherry creek mall has this play area that is all breakfast food. we have gone twice now and the kids love it. unfortunately, every other toddler in town does too-it can get pretty crowded. but it's still fun and when aunt susu was here we went one morning. there are sausages, eggs sunny side up, waffles with pats of butter, a bowl of shredded wheat, banana slices, strawberries, and bacon. always makes me hungry. one of those giant pretzel places is nearby so that is my treat. :)

what did you say ?

the rolfs are here-yea! this morning at the breakfast table james said, "thank you aunt janis" and right after that townsend looked up at me and said,"thank you, janis!" it sounded so weird. but funny. :)

at the zoo

well, my camera has not been working well, so during aunt susu's visit-2 weeks!-i didn't take many pics. susan took lots and i just have to get them downloaded onto the computer. thus, not many new blogs. i did manage a couple of pictures from the zoo, though. it was a beautiful thursday morning, so after marin woke from her nap we loaded the car and headed down the road. along with half of denver! everyone was at the zoo! fortunately it is a huge place and once we were inside the gates it wasn't so bad. we didn't even get to see everything because we ran out of time and the kids needed their naps. we saw bears, elephants, monkeys, rhinos, penguins, lions-townsend loved it! ellory and marin were in the stroller and couldn't always see everything. i think the thing that townsend got most excited about though, was the train that went around part of the zoo. we sat on a bench for lunch and it passed by every 5 minutes or so. townsend loved waving and letting us know that the train was coming. he is really into trains these days. before we left we went into the gift shop where aunt susu got townsend a baby rhino, ellory a baby giraffe, and marin a zoo kids plate. they're not spoiled or anything. :)

birthday present from the rolfs

we just opened a package from aunt ann and found a beautiful outfit for mare bear for her first birthday. for some reason marin wasn't in the most smiley mood but i had to put it on her right away and take some pictures. it is so adorable with the bear on the front and paws on the back. thank you ann! and james, julia and uncle jim! we are very excited because the rolf family will be here next week for a day or two. should make for some crazy times here!

yet another milestone!

this may look like just a can of formula to the untrained eye. to those of us "in the know" it has another name-liquid gold. when marin was about 2 weeks old and not doing so well breastfeeding the doctor noticed some blood in her stool. diagnosis-milk protein sensitivity. prescription-very expensive formula for at least a year. these little bitty cans cost us $25 each-and they only lasted for about 5 days. fortunately, we found some good deals on ebay throughout the year. obviously we would pay whatever we needed to help marin but it was a bit of an expense. so about a month ago we started the weaning process. each week we gave her more milk and less formula until february 14, 2009. on that day we finished this last can of formula and now marin is totally on milk! and doing fine! praise God! we are very grateful for her good health and for the pay raise. :)

townsend funny

aunt susu bought the kids an elmo video called "wild wild west." obviously there are horses and cowboys and such in the video. so townsend heard the cowboys saying "yee-haw!" and now he goes around saying, "hee-haw!" so cute.

marin's first shoes

the day after your birthday we took a trip to stride rite shoes to get you your first pair of shoes. you started walking independently about a week before your birthday so i figured it was time. they seem a little big but i guess you'll grow into them. of course, ellory has had to try them on too. she loves putting on shoes. you aren't into the "my" stage so it hasn't bothered you yet. you are already trying to walk down the little steps in our living room. we just can't believe what a big girl you are!