Our little train conductor!

Macy went and got this hat out of her basket today and wanted to put it on. I helped her, and she walked around so proud. I thought she looked like she should be driving a train! Our little baby isn't so little anymore! She is getting very independent. She now flushes the toilet, can turn light switches on and off, helps pick up laundry that has fallen on the floor when I'm folding, can follow directions like, "Dance!" "Put it back," and "Bring me a book." It's crazy how things are starting to click for Macy and how fun she is with games and music. She still loves going places and I think this is something she will do a lot with her Dad.

Gabe and Macy's expedition yesterday was a smashing success. I was shocked. Costco? AND the bank? And another store and he wasn't exhausted?! :) She was! Today he went for round two and took Macy to Hardware Sales and Home Depot and Walmart. What a guy! This extra time alone has been awesome! I've been on the treadmill 2 days in a row, caught up on Bible Study, laundry, even vacuumed today. I'm going to be sad when Friday comes and I don't have Gabe home helping me for awhile.

Off to the bank with Daddy.

I am having a very slow start today. Macy got up at 5:45 AM and I got her at 6 AM. Thank goodness Gabe is off this week! He's been great this morning, helping out with chores and odd jobs and playing with Macy. I was still in pajamas at 10 AM and he had a list of stuff to get at different places. Gabe mentioned that we still needed to set up a bank account for Macy and offered to do that with her today! What a special little Daddy and her outing!
She was just thrilled to hold this piggy bank. I never let her touch it and she always beelines to it in her room when she's on the loose!
I am sitting here blogging in a quiet house, (still in pajamas) listening to the washer and dryer work and really enjoying some alone time knowing Gabe and Macy are bonding alone together. I don't think Gabe knows how tired he will be after hitting the bank, Albertsons, and Costco with a 14 month old but I'm sure he'll have stories to tell me. Oops. Forgot to tell him to park near a cart-return. :)

Silliness with Great Grandma Millie.

After church, Gabe, Macy and I went over to Mom and Dad's for lunch. Macy really liked this scarf I wore and played with it throughout the day.

She also discovered Great-Grandma's new cane and wouldn't leave it alone!

Macy FINALLY has pig tails!!!!

I have waited a long time for this day, folks! Macy and I went to Rite Aid this morning to get some weekly deals (and scored by the way) and I finally remembered to pick up some baby rubber bands and hair clips. We were on our way to mom's to meet Heidi and Abbie for a play date! I am really bad with hair. I have the hardest time doing little kid's hair, I am very insecure about it and have often wondered if God gave me a beautiful little girl so I have to learn the skill of doing hair. :)

I was SO PROUD of these piggies! I got them straight the first time, and did them completely by myself! Macy held still and didn't cry when I was putting them in, and even left them alone all day! We kept calling her Shrek, but she looked so cute!
Abbie was so excited to play with her cousin!!!! They are hilarious together, Abbie takes care of Macy, and kind of hovers over her and Macy does everything Abbie does! Such a fun friend.
Can you see those pig tails? :)
Macy was so excited she would just burst out dancing all morning!
Abbie taking Macy for a train ride...

Then Abbie, like the triplet she is, said, "My turn!"

Such darling girls!!!! Thanks for playing with us today Abber Dabbers, you're the BEST!

Our trip to Bellvue

This picture is of my Mom's college roommate, Lisa Moller. They have been friends a looong time and have a very special relationship. Lisa doesn't have a very big family, and when she had each of her 4 children my Mom would go to Vancouver and take care of her for 5 days. (Clean her house, care for the baby, cook meals, take care of the older kids...) It became a tradition and I got to go when Nathan and James were born. I love that their friendship is based on care. Both of these women know how to show love to the other and their kids. I admire that.

So, today Mom, Macy and I packed up and went to meet a very special little baby. :) Lisa's oldest daughter Lindsay had a baby girl 5 weeks ago and they named her Lydia! The Moller's hadn't met Macy yet, either, so we decided to meet half-way and have lunch all together. It was the perfect trip. We left at Macy's nap time, she slept the whole way there and the whole way home. As a bonus, Mom took Macy home with her so Gabe and I could have date night tonight! (Dinner at Cedars in Ferndale and then we're going to see his cousin Gretta perform in Beauty and the Beast!)

Lindsay, Lisa, Lydia, Macy, Mom, Molly. :) 3 generations.

Look at Macy's face! Do you think she was having a good time or what? :)
James is Lisa's youngest and we love him. He is very smart, and funny and is entering college next year at barely 17 years old! Can't believe how grown up he is. Macy loved James today. She flirted with him all day and we got this smile the first try. :)

Macy and Shrute...a love affair.

It was quiet for too long this afternoon and as I thought Macy was probably choking on some leftover waffle bites that she found under her high chair or something, I went over to find her and she was just staring out the sliding glass door at Shrute. He was preening around for her! So funny! When I went to take her picture, she turned and made this exact face. :)

She stood here, squatted here, paced near here for 45 minutes today!

Happy Birthday Auntie Kate!

We had Katie's Birthday Party Celebration tonight! It was my kind of party. Little Caesar's Pizza, Crazy Bread, a delicious home-made caesar salad and chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert! Katie picked the menu (except the cake which Mom surprised her with) and I loved it. Easy, yummy and a quick clean up! Katie also voted to have it at my house (for once, hooray!) so Macy could be comfortable and go to bed when she needed to.

Remember this time last year? I just looked up this picture and couldn't believe how Macy has changed.

It's interesting what difference a year makes. In the picture above, we were laughing so hard because my Grammy had picked out a Hannah Montana card to give to Katie. She kept saying, "It's the only one that held money inside! What is so funny?" Katie couldn't stop laughing. Here she is, a renown opera singer who sings around the world for 1000's of people, is 31 years old and her Grammy gives her a Hannah Montana card. I'll never forget it. The best part was that after awhile Grammy started laughing too. That's just how she was. Not easily offended and loved to be part of things. She was such an awesome lady. Birthdays won't be the same without her.

This year, my Mom and Dad gave Katie a very special present. It was an opal ring from my Grammy that she said Katie would get when she died. Mom had it fixed (it was missing a stone) and cleaned and gave it to Katie and it is just beautiful. It fits her perfectly and is equal parts gorgeous and treasure. As pretty as that ring is, though, I'm sure that faced with the choice, Katie would much rather have another Disney character card and my Grammy's laughter ringing around our table. :)

Macy was clapping along with us singing Happy Birthday and then cheering for Katie. She thought she was hot stuff getting to be that close to fire!!!!
Since Macy's own birthday party was such a bust this year (she threw up before she even had the chance to have cake for the first time) Katie said we should have a do-over with her cake tonight! I would have predicted she go crazy for chocolate cake. She loves having bites of anyone's dessert...
Instead, she patted the cake, touched the sprinkles, mushed the frosting...
Katie finally put her hand in her mouth so she could taste it and figure out that this cake was food! I don't think I've ever let Macy get really dirty. She's never played in dirt or outside really, since she just started walking a couple weeks ago and I try to keep meals as mess-free as possible. I mean, spaghetti is a whole other story, but generally she is pretty clean. I think that was the highlight for Macy tonight. She really enjoyed making a huge mess without being stopped.
I think she ate 2 sprinkles and one smear of frosting in about 10 minutes. Where did the cake go you ask? Well, mostly in her crotch area, down her socks, ALL OVER the floor, highchair and her face and hair and pretty much everywhere else you can imagine except her mouth. About this point she started freaking out I think because she didn't want to be dirty anymore! Bless my mom. She scooped her up, stripped her down and put her in the bathtub while I cleaned the chair/floor/kitchen.

Katie leaves for Kansas City in about 5 hours. I'm going to miss her terribly. I shut the door after saying goodbye to her tonight and said to Gabe, "I miss her already." I do. She is the most fun, easygoing, hilarious friend. I adore her. Happy Birthday to the best sister a girl could ask for, we LOVE you Auntie Kate!