Christmas

It's almost Christmas and things are going fast. Mom hasn't been feeling well since she found out she was pregnant! YIKES! I love you girls with all my heart and can't imagine a new little person in our lives. But you are going to be such great big sisters, it's going to be awesome! Mom has been really anxious and worrying about how everything will work out.

You girls are so excited for Christmas this year. Mali, you wrote Santa and asked for a Fur Berry. Keely you asked for a Space Camp Barbie. Hope he bring them! :)

That's about all I can write for now. Please know that I love you girls with all my heart. I can't wait to see you grow up and become big sisters! I love you, I love you, I love you!
Love,
Mom

two wheelin'

Hip hip HORRAY!! Keely learned to ride her bike on 2 wheels!! She learned on Mali's bike actually and she took off! I was so proud of her and really REALLY excited! I think I was almost as excited as she was! She stuck to it and kept practicing and she got it. She even had a pretty bad crash a couple days later and scraped up her arm. But she got back on about 10 minutes after and went again. What a girl!

Mali had her 1/2 birthday yesterday so she is now offically 3 1/2. My babies are not babies anymore! But I can still think that! :)

Halloween was super fun this year. The costumes turned out great and both girls had a wonderful time. We went "down the town" to see aunt Mel and her co-workers all had candy for the girls. One of the guys even came and made balloon dogs for them. Mali kept saying, "This is the best day of my life!" Which she also said yesterday when she got a kid sized snow shovel. So easy to please at this age! I love it!

I love you girls. More than anything!
Love,
Mom

Way too fast...

Well, it's almost Halloween again...Geez, growing up is going by so fast! Keely has decided to be a spider fairy this year and has a really cute costume. Mali wanted to be a blueberry for some reason and has not wavered from her decsion. We did talk her into being a basket of bluberries for an easier costume. Plus it involves balloons which are her favorite! It will be fun to trick or treat again. Keely has been over sensitive again about monsters and scary things. We watched the first 15 minutes of Monsters Inc (the Disney movie) and she had problems going to sleep for a week. Worried about monsters in her closet. She has such a vivid imagination, I'm sure it scares her a lot, but she also has to learn. It's hard. Mali could care less....

Since Keely's birthday, Mali has been saving her money to go buy something that she really wants. It was so hard for her to watch Keely get all the presents and fun stuff. She held together pretty well, but has been counting the days until she turns 4 and can have her birthday. Both the girls have been praying about having a fun 4th and 6th birthday party. Mali as even been praying that she will get certain presents on her 4th birthday (a fur-berry). Tonight I told them that we are not going to pray for presents anymore...we don't ask God for presents, we ask Santa. Mali was very quiet for the rest of prayers tonight after I said that. At the very end, she told me she had to ask God one more thing. Then she said, "And please help Santa to bring me a fur-berry and all the presents I want." What a smart little stinker that girl...

Mali has had her swimming camp all this week and next. She LOVES it. She cannot wait to get there and swim. She is very good and does a wonderful job in the water. Keely is a great swimmer as well and I'm so proud of how well she listens and behaves during class. The girls are both pretty competitive, but Keely is REALLY competitive. If I praise Mali, she gets upset that I don't praise her. I'm not sure how to handle it. I don't want her to feel left out, but I also want Mali to feel special too. Being fair is so hard...

I love you girls so much. You still make me laugh every day. You are my angels.
Love,
Mom

Keely's 5th Birthday

My dearest Keely,
I truly, truly, truly cannot believe that you are 5 years old. I remember waiting for you to be born for so long and we waited and waited and finally, 10 days late, you arrived. You were perfect and beautiful and I loved you more than I ever thought I could love a person. You are my first baby and will always be so speical to me. Dad and I were remembering when we were still in the hospital with you. You were laying in your bassinett between us and we were trying to sleep. But you kept whimpering and Dad and I would jump up and see what you were doing and make sure you were ok. What an experience!!

You are so smart and so talented and so loving. You are a beautiful little girl and have to much to offer the world at only the age of 5! Thank you for being so wonderful. I look forward to seeing you grow more and more. And even though that means you will not be needing me as much, I will always be here for you. ALWAYS.

I love you with all that I have. Thank you for making me a mom 5 years ago.
Happy Birthday Keely!
I love you,
Mom

September...where did the time go?

It's the middle of September....How did this year go so fast already? More important, how did the last 5 years go so fast? My baby Keely will be turning 5 on Thursday and she is so excited! I cannot believe it's been 5 years since she was born. WOAH! She got to start preschool this fall and really, REALLY loves it. The first day she got back into the car after school and said, "mom, I LOVE school!" She has 10 kids in her class and looks forward to going all the time! The second week of school, she asked me if I could "drop her off at the corner and not walk her in". WHAT? She just wants to be independant. I couldn't love her more, but somehow I do everyday! She has also started swimming lessons at Foss again and is so good. She loves the water which is so great! Mali will be starting swimming in October and is already a fish! Lessons will be fun for her too!

Mali has also started ballet and tap class. She has only had one class, but REALLY loves it! On the way home after the first day she said, "Mom, I had so much fun at dance, I almost forgot I was there!" It took us about 15 minutes to walk to the car because she wanted to stop and show me all her dance moves she learned. She cracks me up everyday!

I can't get over how smart the girls are. Good thing they have Jeff's genius genes! Keely is still reading amazingly well. Can read pretty much anything, but long books don't keep her interest much. She mostly likes the level 1 and 2 books, which are for kids age 6-8. WHEW! I don't think Mali will be too far behind her as she loves books too! Both girls are learning Spanish as well. They know most of their colors in Spanish and can sing a song or two. We got a Spanish / English tape at the library and they want to listen to it all the time. It's so hard to get those darn songs out of your head!

I love you girls to bit and pieces! You are my life!
Love,
Mom

End of July

The summer is flying by and we are busy with lots of fun stuff. T-ball has been a blast and both girls love it a lot. Keely had her very first game last week. They had all the kid bat from the team and run to first base, then to second when the next batter hit etc... When it was Keely's turn, she hit the ball hard and ran to first, then to second, then third, then home, passing all of the other kids on the bases for a home run!! She was so proud! (even though she was supposed to stay on first!) It was funny! The next time she hit, the coaches had to tell her to STOP at first!

We had our very first trip to Valleyfair in July. You girls had a BLAST! Grandma and Grandpa went with and we all had fun. We were only planning on staying for a couple hours, but ended up there the entire day! You rode all the rides you could and had a new favorite ride everytime anyone asked. At the end of the day, I got you lollipops and from then on, that was your favorite part of the day! When we were leaving, Keely told Grandpa to "work some more so we could go to Valleyfair again!"

Today we went to visit Daddy at work and on our way home, we saw some Somali women walking in their scarves. I pointed them out to the girls and mentioned their beautiful scarves and said that they were from Somalia. So, they would be called "Somali's". Mali got a strange look on her face and said, "Some-Mali's? Mom, you say funny things" We all had a good laugh about it. Especially mom!

You girls have been up to a lot of bickering these past few weeks also. Mali is all about tattling on Keely and Keely thinks it's really funny to pick on Mali. Not sure how to handle it yet, as nothing I'm doing seems to work. I'm afraid it will only get worse and I"ll just have to pray harder! I think that is what they call "sisterly love!"

You girls are so fun and so funny and I just love to hang out with you! I cherish this time I get with you and worry that you are growing up too fast! You are not my babies anymore! But, secretly, you will ALWAYS be my babies!! (I just won't tell you until later!)
I love you so much!
Love,
Mom

Summer activities

Summer is in full swing here and I think you girls are really enjoying it! We have been really busy with activities and it's so exciting to watch you both! Keely had vacation bible school at our church for a whole week. Every morning from 9-12 she would be at church learning new and cool things. She was very excited but came home with a new worry everyday. Oh how I wish she were not like me in that way. She gets so nervous and anxious about new things, but she is trying really hard to be brave. Keely also started t-ball this week. It's fun to see her learn to throw better and even catch the ball in her glove!! She doesn't like to drop it and gets grumpy when she doesn't do it perfect! (a little bit of her perfectionist father I think!! gotta love them!) Mali has started soccer and t-ball. They have a sampler class that she really likes so far. She got to pick out her favorite color t-shirt to wear for her jersey. (blue of course!) She loves to "trap" the ball and do a "sweep" kick and "pencil" kick. She really is very good and so independent compared to the other 3 and 4 year olds on her team.

This summer is just full of steps that are making the girls more independant from mom. We are both going to have quite and adjustment! Mali had her 3 year check up at the Dr this month. She did so great and Jeff and I were so proud of her! When I was talking to the girls about Mali going to the doctor, Keely asked, "Mom, is Mali going to get a booster?" I asked her what a booster was and she said, "you know, a SHOT" Only she whispered it to me so Mali wouldn't hear. So funny! Mali did end up getting a shot, but not one tear fell from her eye. She wanted to and was trying to be so brave. What a trooper! She passed the hearing and vision test with flying colors and the doctor was really impressed that she could write, not only her name, but mom, dad and Keely's as well.

We are battling with sibling rivalry right now. If I praise one girl, the other is jealous that I'm not praising her as well. It's going to be hard growing up! I can only pray that God gives me the patience and guidance to help them be self confidant, but not boastful. Respectful also, but not a push over! It's so hard! Keely has a little friend that is going to all the summer activities with her. It's great for her to have a friend and someone she is comfortable with, but she is too comfortable with him and forgets what the task is and tends to misbehave. This is hard too...explaining to a 4 year old why some kids get to act out while she has to behave. How do you say, "well, honey, they just have different rules at their house!" Yet another thing to pray for guidance about.

We got to get away to the cottage for a couple days in June. It was fun for the girls to be there, but the bug situation was not good. Keely and Mali are both afraid of bugs and don't want to be anywhere that bugs are. So, it's hard to be at the cottage! Hopefully this will pass also.

My mom and dad went to South Dakota to visit family and friends for a week this month. My brother just moved there and Mali doesn't quite understand the meaning of "move" She is still waiting for him to come home!! When I told her that grandma and grandpa were going to SD on vacation, she got a very worried look on her face and aske me, "Are they coming back?" Boy do you girls love your grandparents!

I love you girls so so so much. You give me the greatest life ever!
Love, Mom

Summer?

Well, it's officially June, but we have yet to see much summer weather. We had a couple of warm days, but it's now back in the 50's and 60's. We did get a new pool for our yard thanks to grandma. It's WAY fun for you girls and you love to play in it! We had our first big storm of the season last Saturday. We got a lot of hail, about quarter size. Both girls were standing at the window laughing as the hail hit the ground and bounced back up "like popcorn." We then saw the brightest rainbow and it was all good! Before the storm hit, mom and dad were wandering outside looking at the sky. Mali would come out and take mom's hand and tell me to come back inside before it rained! She doesn't like it when "Jesus bowls" or when "somebody takes her picture". Just like her mommy!

Keely had her last day of swimming lessons today at Foss swim school. She really is quite the little swimmer and loves the water. I hope she continues to love this as she grows. I also hope some of the excitment of lessons rubs off on Mali when it is her turn!

We recently traveled to Mitchell, SD again for my other cousin Kayla's wedding. Mali was the flower girl this time and did amazing, just like Keely did back in October. Mali was so proud of herself when she threw her petals and everyone was watching her. Good thing Keely did it first to show her how it was done. You girls both LOVE to dance at weddings and you learned the "cha cha slide" especially for this wedding. It is so fun to watch you!!

Unfortunately, your Uncle Brian moved back to SD and you both miss him like crazy. Mali asks me almost everyday when he is coming home. I always tell her that "Uncle Brian lives in SD now, not at grandma's anymore." One time, she banged her fist on the table and said, "HUMPH! Uncle Brian NEVER comes home!" He is her best buddy!

Daddy has also been gone a lot this week with work meetings and school. It's hard to have him gone so much and you girls certainly miss him when he is not home. He works so hard for our family and we are so SO proud of him and thankful for all he does.

I love you girls! You continue to make me smile and laugh and learn everyday! You are my sunshines!!!!
Love always,
Mom

Mali turns 3

My dearest baby Mali-
I cannot beleive you are 3 years old today. I've been thinking about the day you were born for the past few days now. Remembering the detials of your labor and birth and after. You were a gorgeous baby right from the start. You have the same rosy cheeks today as you did when you were born. I remember Keely coming to the hospital to visit you and remembering how big she was compared to you. And now you both are almost the same size! The past 3 years with you have been such a blessing Mali. Your smiles and hugs and laughs are music to my heart. My life is so much better because of you. You remind me to laugh and smile and not take my days so seriously. To hear you say, "I love you Mommy" makes me want to melt. You are such a big girl now and wanting to do everything on your own. I'm not sure I'm ready for that! I want you to be my baby forever, yet I can't wait to see you grow and learn. I love you so very much.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALI!
All my love,
Mom

Funny Stuff

Oh my goodness! You girls are my smiles everyday! Yesterday you were both playing "mailman". One of you sits under the kitchen table while the other one writes notes and puts them down the crack in the table. Mali was being the writer this time and Keely was the reciever. Mali wrote a note to Keely (which had Mali's name on it) and Keely opened it and asked what it said. Mali told her that it was her name and Keely paused and said, "In CHINESE?" Mali did not respond so Keely got very excited and said, "MOM! Mali knows how to write her name in CHINESE!" I looked over and Mali was just sitting at the table grinning as if to say, "Yup! I sure can!" It was sooooooooooooo funny!

Keely is also learning to read. She can probably read at a 1st grade level right now. Or close to it. Too bad Kindergarden is still a year and a half away. Mali has learned to chew gum recently and is very proud of herself. We are extremely proud of both of them. They are very excited to be starting t-ball and soccer this summer. It's going to be fun fun fun!

I love you girls with all my heart. You are the lights of my life!
Love,
Mom

too long! Feb 13, 2008

OH my goodness! It's been so long since I journaled last! We have had so much fun in the past few months. Christmas in South Dakota, Daddy's b-day trip to....DISNEY WORLD! Too much to write about! My most memorable moment during Christmas was opening presents from Santa in South Dakota. Santa had left Mali "all the animals" like she asked for. Santa left Keely a doodle bear. (not what she asked for) And all Mali said to Keely was, "I'm sorry Santa didn't bring you your Dora Vanity!" (which is what Keely did ask for) It was so sincere and sweet. Santa did leave the Dora Vanity at our house in Maple Grove, so that was a relief! He got her letter after all!

On Jan, 18th we left the COLD and FRIGID state of MN for sunny Florida. It was SO MUCH FUN! We went to the Magic Kingdom, Sea World, Downtown Disney and other fun shops and restaurants. We had so much fun seeing the expressions on the girls' faces. Seeing Keely meet her favorite princess "Ariel" was a favorite of mine. All she could say to her was "I've seen your movie" So funny! Mali had a great conversation with Ariel about "Crocs" Also too funny! I think Mali's favorite part was seeing "Shamu the Orca Whale" She could hardly contain her excitement when we went to his show. She also liked the lunch with Winnie the Pooh and friends at the Magic Kingdom. Mom and Dad and Buggy and Sarge had tons of fun as well! What a great and memorable trip! We will definitely be doing that again someday!

We have also been researching preschools for Keely. I'm not so sure I'm ready to let my baby go off to school quite yet. But Keely is more than ready and will be a great student! I am looking forward to some Mali and Mommy time while Keely is at school. Even though it won't be the same without her around all the time, we will be excited to pick her up each day she is there and hear all the stories!

Valentine's day is tomorrow and the girls are more than prepared. Mali asks me about every 20 mintues if I will be her Valentine. What a sweetheart! They also both have a wealth of new jokes they like to tell. Mali's favorite is "Why did the cookie go to the doctor? Because he felt CRUMMY!" Keely likes, "What do you call a pig who does karate? A pork chop!"

Life is so full of love with two girls like ours. I love you so much Keely and Mali. Always know that!!!
Love,
Mom