Lake Geneva & Gurnee Mills

We went back down to Grandpa & Grandma Mrnak's this weekend, since Ben was going to Grand Geneva for the snowmobile races Saturday. It was a beautiful day!



The girls in their new outfits from Auntie Shelley, thanks :) They are cute and cozy!



Hailey enjoyed her ride around part of Lake Geneva's trail with Grandpa & little Cooper puppy.

Grandpa & Grandma

plus the girls

Mommy & her girls

This swan was right by the edge for the whole time we were there, and his friend the goose.

We met Tim & Mel, Megan & Madi at Gurnee Mills too and had lots of fun... despite being tidal-waved by a "humpback whale" at Bass Pro shop. They were feeding fish and a huge catfish splashed everybody, soaked a couple kids and got some of us pretty wet and stinky too. The girls are ready for their little brother to be born, but not as much as their mommy ;-)

Madi, Taylor, Hailey & Megan

Ballerina Taylor... Friday night.

Wagon Rides, Bike and Playing with the Baby

We really enjoyed our first day of warm weather play yesterday afternoon. Yes, Hailey was only on the back of this bike for the picture :)




Taylor's learning how to pedal now, she's pretty proud of herself when she gets it going.



After Ben came home we went for a wagon ride and walk with Cooper.



Taylor is such a good big sister, always holding onto Hailey to make sure she doesn't fall back.




and Cooper loves the attention!

I love this picture! I started watching a new little guy this week, and the kids love him! Hailey is doing really good with him. She tries to hold his hand all the time, like she holds her dolly's hand.

This was our St. Patrick's Day project. I printed out the template and cut it out. The kids colored and helped me figure out where to glue the parts. It hangs on a doorknob.

Grandma P came over yesterday morning for a couple hours and took the big kids for a wagon ride too. They had lots of fun and she even went and got happy meals for lunch!

Sunday Matching Outfits Again

Taylor pulled these skirts out when I was cleaning their closet yesterday and wanted to wear it. I told her she could wear it to meeting this morning, so the second she woke up she brought it out to me and asked me to help her put it on. Cutie pie.

Hailey has a clip in her hair today! It's right at that point that it's starting to look messy with nothing in it.

P.S. Taylor was crying because she was being corrected by her daddy for not sitting still for the picture. She was fine 2 seconds later.. but of course my batteries died so I couldn't try for another. Oh well, next time.

Hailey's Heart Echo

I'm happy to report that Hailey had another heart echo today and everything looked good! The hole in her heart is a little smaller than 6 months ago, and her heart is growing normally. Dr said it wasn't hurting any of her other organs and she's a very healthy little girl! She was 17 lbs 13 oz today and 27 inches. She did great with the ultrasound too. At first she was wacking at the lady but then sat pretty still for her and only cried once when I was telling the lady about her sister Taylor and then she was looking around for her and couldn't see her. Grandma P came with us and waited in the waiting room with Taylor. Thanks again for that. Anyway, I'm relieved again though I should be trusting a little more. I'm thinking I will sleep much better tonight than last! We don't have to go back for a follow-up until March 2010! Also, Hailey will be 10 months old tomorrow, believe it or not. We'll be celebrating her birthday here before we know it! Crazy.

Gurnee Mills and Madi's Birthday

We stayed down at Grandma & Grandpa Nernik's this weekend and had fun as always. We went to Gurnee Mills Saturday morning, which was tons of fun since we haven't been there in forever! These pictures were taken at Bass Pro Shop... the guys could've spent all day there.




I love this reflection in the glass.




Taylor was running and jumping onto this "pinto" from behind. It was hilarious! Thanks for another fun weekend Grandma & Grandpa and the delicious corned beef, cabbage, potatoes & carrots for lunch today! yummmmm...




We went to Madi's birthday party Saturday evening and the girls had lots of fun playing together. Megan and Madi can't wait to haul around little "Charlie". Hailey was good practice :)







Happy Birthday Madi, thanks for letting us come help you celebrate a bit!

Weekend at Grandma & Grandpa P's

We had a nice weekend at "different Grandma" & Grandpa's house.

Hailey really liked pushing around this baby stroller. She did really well with it, I wasn't sure if it was steady enough for her. Another proof that she really could be walking alone if she had more confidence.




Grandma & Hailey "rocking mama".



Grandpa helping Hailey find some cool new toys.



Swimming at New London pool and Taylor dumping water on Daddy's head.

Sunday girls. Hailey was so tired, but we tried for pictures anyway.

With Grandma & Grandpa. Taylor had fun playing with the slinky on the stairs with Grandpa after lunch for awhile too.

Hailey hasn't had a temperature today (crossing my fingers), so hopefully the temp she's had the past few days was teeth related and is gone. She's just been a little more tired then normal otherwise. Hope you all had a good weekend!

The last few days

Happy Anniversary to my hubby, it's been a fast 4 years! It actually seems like we've been together so much longer since so much has happened in 4 years. I love you!


Here are a few pics from this week.
Hailey was playing so nicely then she bumped her head and Taylor was trying to make her feel all better. Think this was Monday or Tuesday.

Grandma & Grandpa Nernik :) came up for a couple of days, thanks for the fun and help!

Grandma playing ring around the rosie this morning.

and Grandpa reading books.

The kids finger painted today too, so much fun!

I absolutely love these last two pictures. I just took them after Hailey woke up from her nap and Taylor was getting her squeezes in. Hailey had a temp last night of 102.3, 99.4 when she woke up this morning, then up to 101.2 this afternoon. I've been giving her tylenol so hopefully she's just cutting teeth or something!

Oh, and how could I forget the best news by far of the week! Taylor is (cross your fingers now) potty trained!! She's been going by herself during the day for awhile now, but the past few nights have been dry too, and she's going #2 with no arguments! I am so glad this battle is over for awhile. I'm faced with enough diapers every day, it's nice to have one less.