As I say every time I blog, it's been a busy week...in this case 2 weeks! Last week was Vacation Bible School at our church so that consumed much of my time last week. Danika and Haddie hung out with dad and Great Grandma most of the evenings while I was at VBS, but Danika still got in on the fun during our final evening program. She danced on stage like she learned and had practiced the songs all week long!

Last weekend we went to the Colfax fair to see Chloe show her calf...unfortunatley we got there right at the end, but we were glad we got to see a little bit! Then we looked at some of the other animals and went on a few rides....

We also celebrated Father's Day with Daren. It's hard to tell from the picture below, but we surprised him with a sprinkler system! It was something we talked about, but I went ahead without telling him to make it somehwhat of a surprise...So Danika helpe me draw soem sprinklers and grass on the driveway and we wrote 'Happy Father's Day' so he could see it when he drove in!

The day they came to install Daren was able to take off work and so he enjoyed watching them. They came around 7:30am and were completely finished by 1pm.

Lovin' it:) 

Daddy and his girls:) 

Ms. Haddie also turned 3 months old! She is doing great and changing every day! She weighs about 14 lbs 2 oz. now- She's a little thinner than Danika was at this age, but still has those healthy chunky cheeks like her sister did:)

"I just want to roll over mama!"

She is rolling all the time now! I can't keep the girl on her back! She rolls both from back-to-belly and belly-to-back, but she usually only goes over her left shoulder.

Her neck is getting so strong now too and she keeps her head up for extended periods when she's on her belly:) 

Ridin' in the tractor with dad cutting hay:)

Swimming! 

Danika the Diva!

She has been SO animated lately and really remembering details and things you tell her. She LOVES to sing and dance and she makes up all kinds of new songs...I really want to get that on video to share, but everytime I try to turn it on she stops performing...hopefully someday I can catch her in action without noticing me!

We are currently in the process of some intense potty training at our house. We've been slowly introducing it since December and she used to sit on it really well for us- Then along came Haddie and it all went downhill:/ She would still go 3-5 times at daycare, but she'd refuse to sit on the potty for us at home. After taking some advice from friends about what's worked for them, we went straight to underwear on Monday and are sitting on the potty every 20 minutes! We had 6 accidents the first day (including one on the carpet at the public library) so it's a pee-all-over-my-house week! She ended up going twice on her potty and once so far today, so we'll hope it only gets better. She usually goes in her underwear about 5-10 minutes after we have tried on the potty, so we may have to adjust our timing... She's been more willing since we pulled out her little potty again vs. sitting on the big one and she can choose where she wants to sit on it, and she also gets to suck on a sucker while she's trying to go (nice bribery huh?!?!)

Here's a desperate moment from yesterday- She woke up from nap VERY grumpy and completely refused to sit on the potty, but I knew she had to go because her pants were dry, so we compromised- she could watch one episode of Cat in the Hat if she sat on the potty- so of course the potty had to be ON the counter near the TV:)  Say what you want...at least I got her to try! 

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer and the great weather!

Until next time...

The Dummer's

Haddie's Big Day!

The highlight of our past week was Haddie's baptism yesterday. This little peanut is growing and changing every day! We couldn't feel more blessed to have her (and her big sis). Not a lot of words today, but here's a look at our week in pictures:)

Danika, the cool cat entertaining her sister:) 

While Daren and I cleaned for the baptism party we had to move the chairs off the kitchen floor, so he showed Danika how he used to play school bus and he got out the Wii wheel and she had a blast driving her babies and friends around in the school bus of chairs:) 

Saturday night we were lucky to have the Percy gang stay at our house so Danika enjoyed her time with her cousins. She even hopped into bed with them on Sunday morning and we had to get Haddie in there too...it was too cute of a picture opportunity! 

Sunday was Haddie's big day! She was a pretty good girl, like most days:) Our guest pastor at church, Dr. Martinson did a great job with the service.

Haddie's godparents are my sister Heidi and Daren's brother David. She is lucky to have them and we are honored and grateful they agreed to be her godparents! 

Our attempt at a family picture...Danika was in quite the mood yesterday:/ Sorry to anyone who experienced her wrath of moodiness! She eventually came around once the party started:) 

Lovin' her Coldstone ice cream cake...who wouldn't?!?! 

As we all know, Daren is as much of a kid as the actualy kids:) He not only got right into playing with them, but he started the water fight with the hose! 

Uncle Daren with the nieces and nephews (and Danika too!) 

One final thing for this week's short and sweet blog post...Danika loves to play the piano and lately she's been belting out her favorite songs while she pounds on the keys...Jesus Loves Me was the favorite this morning, so I had to catch it on video...enjoy!

Love,

The Dummers

  

Summer Sun and Fun!

Last week was such a short week with Memorial day and Daren took off on Tuesday, that it flew by and I didn't get a chance to share pictures! Sorry for the picture overload this week...we've been having fun with the warmer weather so there have been lots of cute pictures to share:)

The highlight of the last week was a special package Danika recieved in the mail from her cousin Chloe...The box itself was exciting and could have been present enough:) It was colored pretty with lots of Dora stickers- When Danika saw it on the door step her eyes got huge and she was very excited. Then when she opened the box and saw  Dora and Boots blow-up dolls and a small stuffed Dora, she was SUPER excited! She kept saying "I love it!" It was adorable...

So, they've gone everywhere in the house with her and done just about everything too (Even using the potty, which she found out that little Dora is too small for her potty seat!)

Thank you again Chloe for parting with them...Danika loves them!

Here she is, so proud with Dora!

Danika, the Dora's and Boots having a picnic:)

Just chillin', talking on the phone (notice who is sitting with her:) 

Papa and Grandma Lynn came over for a visit last week too- Daren gave Papa a hair cut so Grandma Lynn and Danika sat in the hallway and watched:)

Then they enjoyed some popcorn....

They stopped by again another night, just in time to read some bedtime stories...

Haddie is loving the weather and some fresh air... 

On Memorial Day we went for a visit to Lori and Mike's house and then went for a drive with them to visit the Percys' new house in Northfield, MN. We didn't take the camera to Northfield, but we did get some cute pictures of our day at Lori and Mikes... Danika wanted to try fishing, so her and Uncle Mike went to dig up some worms:) 

We couldn't catch anything dockside, so we went out for a ride in the pontoon and threw in the pole...unfortunatley, still no bites, but Danika still had a blast! 

Enjoying the park on a beautiful day...

Daren's dad (Papa as he is usually referred to by Danika) had some vein surgery and so he wasn't able to milk the cows much. So this weekend Daren asked if I'd help out, and I was happy to. I used to (kind of) help once in a while when we were dating, just to show him I could hack it, but really haven't since:) It was actually kind of fun to spend some time with him, even if it was in the barn:)

He had to take a picture as 'proof' that I was there!

And of course we had our little farm girl help out a little at the end both nights too. She was so stinkin' cute in her farm clothes and when she helped shoo the cows out she would yell "Go Cows! Shoo!"

The strawberry's are in season now and so we decided to go picking yesterday! Danika was such a trooper and actually a good helper at picking them. I had keep reminding her to only pick the big red ones..she really must have felt bad for the little guys that just weren't ready yet, because we got a handful of those in our basket too! She didn't even try to eat one and then when I told her she could eat a few, there was no turning back-She still helped pick the berries, they just didn't make it in the basket, rather in her tummy:) We left with an exhausted, red stained face 2 year old!  

We finally decided Danika was ready for a big girl bed so we ordered it a few weeks ago and they came to set it up yesterday. She's had a twin mattress since about December, but it was just on the floor in her bedroom. She was so excited after they put it in her room! She has had 1 nap and 1 bedtime in it and so far so good. She stays right in the middle:)

And of course we can't forget about Haddie. She had a great week to! She's still such a great baby and is sleeping a good 7 or 8 hour stretch at night pretty consistently! Yay!

And......

WE'VE GOT A ROLLER!

When she lays on her back, she has been arching it and turning on her side for quite a while now- a week or so ago she started being able to flip over when she was propped up on a pillow or something...She started crying after napping yesterday so I went in her room and found her no longer on her back, but on her belly! She's discovered she likes it I guess because she keeps on doing it! Now we've really got to watch where and how we lay her!

That pretty much sums up our last 2 weeks...That's all for now!

Love,

The Dummers

All about Ms. H

Guess who's 2 months old?!?!

This week Haddie gets to steal the blog spotlight!

Where did the last 2 months go? Last Wednesday Haddie turned 2 months old already! She is such a little person and I can't get enough of her smiles and coos! She loves to look and listen to mommy and Danika, and is starting to get more familiar with dad's voice too now that he's able to spend more time wtih her!

At her 2 month well-baby check today she got an A+... she's healthy as can be and growing like a weed!

She is in the 83rd percentile for both her weight and length. She is now 12 pounds 7 oz. and is 23 1/2 inches long. Compared to Danika she is about the same weight at this age, but she is much longer, so maybe she'll be taller than her big sister?

The downside of the check up was she started her rounds of shots:( 3 shots in her little legs... she was not so happy about it...she slept most of the morning and now this afternoon she has been less than happy- not her usual self. Lots of shrieking and shrill cries, which completely breaks my heart! Hopefully tomorrow she's feeling better and not so sore.

Other than the shots, she is such a calm, happy baby girl:) We love our little Ms. H and feel SO blessed every day to have our healthy, happy girls!

She LOVES that thumb! 

Here's some frequently asked questions we've had the last two months:

"Is Haddie a lot like Danika was as a baby?" Yes and no. She has a lot of the same routine things, such as being a good napper and sleeper for the most part, but she already has a different personality. Danika never liked to be held and snuggled from the beginning and Haddie seems to enjoy being rocked to sleep and snuggling:)

"Do Danika and Haddie look alike?"  Not really at all! She has the same little nose and upper lip, but otherwise her eye and face shape are completely different. Plus, she has so much more hair than Danika did at this age! They did both inherate their father's toenails though- sounds wierd and you may be asking how do you know? but trust me, I know! They don't grow out like normal, they grow UP! Yep, up! Poor girls probably aren't going to have much to paint when we have mommy/daughter pedicures when they grow up!

"Do you have to go back to work?" Not for this school year, but yes, I will go back midAugust for the new school year. So I get 5 full months at home with this little bundle and her big sis! Can't believe 2 of those months are already gone! We're going to make the most of the next 3 months, that's for sure. We really debated and talked about me possibly working part time and job sharing in the future, but it just wouldn't have been worth it, and I do love my job and can't imagine not teaching, so we will enjoy our summer's together and be thankful for my teacher's schedule to have as much time at home as I do.

"Does Danika's daycare provider have room for Haddie too?" Yes! Luckily, both girls will be able to go to Amy's house and we love Amy so we are very happy! Danika has a friend named Allie that is only a few weeks younger and it's been so great to watch them grow up there together these last few years...One of my friend/co-workers babies will also be going there in the Fall so Haddie will have a partner in crime too- Good luck Amy!

Daddy and his girls!

Here's a look at Danika's week...

You didn't really think I'd leave her out this week did you?!?!

She's her usual spunky self! LOVING the warm weather so she can play with her water table and be outside as often as possible.

She decided to empty the entire pantry practically and pack it in the cooler for a picnic:)

Catching bubbles! 

Mom and my girls 

Daddy's big girl helper who can do it all by herself:)

That's all for now....

Love,

The Dummer Crew