Christmas letter 2009

Merry Christmas! We have had a lot happen in our family in 2009. Mainly we added a new member to our little family. Miss Hailey Mae was born July 1st, 2009. She is a wonderful addition to our family and we are enjoying watching her grow. We spent most of last winter and spring awaiting her arrival. We tried to go on many outings with Maddie before the baby was born like to MOA to meet the characters, to the movie theater to her first movie, Up!, to the puppet wagon, the pool, and the park. After Hailey was born we slowed down a little while but were able to get away for a family vacation to Two Harbors this Fall. This August we also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.

Hailey Mae arrived the day before her due date and was born quickly once we got to the hospital. She is named after her great grandmother Donna Mae Rosell who passed away last December. Hailey weighed 6lbs. 13oz. and was 20 inches long. She has lots of long blond hair and looks just like her daddy. She was and remains a very healthy and happy girl. She is now 5 months old and is rolling, reaching, and cooing. She loves to watch her big sister play.

Madison turned 3 this September. She has grown so much in the last year physically and developmentally. She is becoming a big helper with her sister. She tells me if she hears Hailey crying and says "Mommy my baby sister needs you." She will bring her toys to help her stop crying. Madison also has been talking away and making us laugh with her outlook on life. Some of her cute sayings are: When something needs batteries she says, "It needs gas." "You gotta put gas in it." She recently started going to Sunday school and is learning about God. She tells us that "God turns the lights off " for night and "God turns the lights on" for day. She also informed me that God's picture is on the quarter. Madison is also taking dance classes this year. She had a hard time transitioning into the tap class the first 10 min. of the first class and she cried in the corner. She was then able to join the class the remaining 45 min. So, when we got home I asked her to tell daddy what she did at dance class and she faked cried "wah! wah" and said" I want my mommy!" Like she did the first 10 min. That is not exactly what I meant but she did do that too. It was a cold day in October and she put on a sundress and said, "I'm ready! I want to go outside and play hopscotch!". She also loves money and especially coins. She found a coin jar at Grammy's house and filled up her pockets with coins and my purse and told Grammy that "my mommy needs money." She is delightful and keeps us busy with her spirit and energy.

Charity just returned back to work Nov. 9th after her child care leave. She is still working at the same elementary school in Oakdale. This is her 6th year teaching special education (autism) there. She is enjoying being back at work. She likes the routine and loves her kids at school. She is very busy taking care of the girls and working full time.

Josh turned 30 this November and celebrated with a surprise party with his friends. Josh continues to work hard at his business, Olson Medical Billing. He is very busy and puts in long hours. He also continues to enjoy his sports activities: softball, football, and basketball. Throughout the year he plays in several church leagues.

Well, that about sums up our year. We hope you all had a great 2009 and have a wonderful 2010.

Love,

Josh, Charity, Madison, & Hailey Olson

Hailey 5 months old

Hailey is now 5 months old! She is changing so quickly and it is fun to watch. She is still trying to move by rolling and lifting her legs and arms at the same time. She is currently teething and keeping us up at night. I am hoping we can get her to sleep so we can catch up. Other than that she is still a peanut and smiley even with the teething. She is such a good natured and happy girl. Her big sister is doing well too. Maddie is loving her daycare with Ella. A mom from our church who has a daughter the same age as Madison is her daycare this year. It has been great for Madison she is learning to share and play and because she is the only other kid there she gets to go on fun field trips and gets lots of attention. I have returned to work and am enjoying that as well. The girls have adjusted well also. Next up is our Christmas update.

Hailey 4 months

Hailey is now 4 months old and had another doctors visit this week. She now weighs 11 1/2 pounds (9th percentile) and is at the 50th percentile for height. Just like her sister. Maddie has always been at the 10th%ile for weight and 50th% for height. She is healthy and well. Other fun facts about Hailey include that she has been rolling over from her tummy to her back for a month now and just started to roll from her back to her tummy. She is very strong and can do push ups. She also has learned how to use her hands and is able to play with her toys. She loves to eat food. She has started eating rice cereal and she cannot get enough. She has also tasted some other foods including an apple which she screamed when I took it away from her. So, I hope she will continue to love all new foods as we start trying the veggies. Madison has started to play with Hailey more now and lays by her and brings her toys when she cries. She is also saying Hailey and not Kaylee. I never thought we would see the day. Mostly she still calls her my baby and sister still. Madison has even begun telling the story of when Hailey was born. It goes a little something like this: she was in my ommy's tummy and we waited and waited and waited and she came out at the hospital and I came to visit with Bumpa and Kinsey and my purple carebear. It is a very cute story. Madison continues to be FULL of energy and very outgoing. Wherever we go she makes friends, young and old. She recently went to a wedding shower and passed herself around the circle to each lady at the shower to hold her and hug her. I don't know where she gets the extraversion from, certainly not me or her daddy. I am going back to work this upcoming week so wish us all luck with the next transition and lets hope it goes smoothly.

Hailey is 3 months old!

Hailey is 3 months old now. I cannot believe how fast she is growing up. I just had to put away all of her 0-3 month clothes and I was actually sad. She is no longer a newborn but I am glad that she is developing and hitting her milestones. She started rolling over last week. She rolls from her tummy to her back. She is a very calm and relaxed baby. She doesn't cry much just when she is hungry or tired or scared. I can tell that she is tender hearted all ready. Josh was watching the Twins game and was yelling/cheering loudly and scared her and she started bawling. So, she is different than her sister in that she doesn't enjoy loud noises.:) Hailey is also laughing a lot now. It is fun to get her going. She also deliberately tries to get my attention and will just stare at me and smile( so sweet!). She is playing with toys now too. She likes to put them in her mouth. Today she got her picture taken with her new tutu and she loved it! She kept touching it and sucking on it.:) She also loves her big sister and watches her wherever she goes. She smiles and laughs at her too. Maddie is getting used to being the big sister and I think she likes it. She was gone for two nights and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and when went to pick her up she didn't hug me but went straight to Hailey and hugged her up. So, even if it's hard to share mommy and daddy she loves her a lot!

I thought this picture was funny. Maddie and I look alike and Hailey and Josh are twins. This was taken at the farm last weekend. Hailey's hair is pretty crazy as usual.:)

Fall update & Madison's 3rd Birthday!

We went to the apple orchard and Madison enjoyed posing for us. the apple orchard

We went on a wagon ride.

Madison's birthday and day 2 of the bouncy castle. She loved it!

Madison also loves her new sand/water table from Grandma & Grandpa Olson and Caleb and Kelly.

We got her a bike for her birthday but I think she is a little small for it still. She likes it though and has a matching princess bike helmet and knee pads.

At her birthday party when everyone was singing to her she was very shy.

Her little princess buddies at the party.

This is the princess bouncy castle. It was pretty fun and big enough for the adults to join the kiddos. We all had fun!

Hailey and Maddie before the party started in their matching Cinderella dresses made by Grandma Penny.

I took out my little tea set that Grandma Rosell gave me and that we used to use with her to have coffee as little girls. It was Maddie's first tea party and she loved. Later that day she said "Thankyou mommy for the tea party" So sweet.

Maddie wanted to make crowns out of paper for everyone in the house. We had craft time and made the crowns and Madison made sure we wore them all day.

Hailey's first Twin's game. She was great! Maybe she will be a fan like her daddy.

We went to a petting zoo near the farm and Maddie got a pony ride.

The deer was eating her shirt and she was not happy. I showed her this picture today and she hit the computer screen and said "he was eating my shirt mmmpph!" She loved the petting zoo. She got to hold a bunny and feed all sorts of animals. She got to jump in a bouncy, play in a corn box, go thru a corn maze, go on a wagon ride, and play on a playground and jump on trampoline all at the same place. It was a great place for her to go.

Maddie is helping Grandma Deb pick eggs from the chicken coop on the farm in her dress and sparkly shoes. Not quite farm attire but what can I say she is girly girl.

In the hay loft looking down at us below.

Feeding the cows apples.

Auntie Angele came over and gave Madison an art lesson on using water colors.



So, as you can see, we have been busy having fun while mommy is still home. I go back to work on Nov. 9th so have a few more weeks left of childcare leave and I am planning to enjoy them.:) The girls are both growing and changing so much. Hailey is smiling, laughing, and cooing all the time. She is also starting to get pretty strong physically and I am just waiting for her to start rolling over. She can lift her head up really well now. Maddie is going to the doctor tomorrow so we will see how she has grown in the past year. She continously makes us laugh with the things she comes up with. She tells me that God turns the lights on ( day) and God turns the lights off (night). She thinks when God turns the lights on that means she needs to wake up or as she says I waked up!. She also told us that God was on the Quarter.:) She just started Sunday school and we have been reading the Bible at night so I think she is trying to figure it all out. I will update again soon. Hope everyone is enjoying Fall.

Hailey is 2 months old!

Hailey just turned two months old Sept. 1st. She went to the doctor and was a good girl. She now weighs 9 lbs. 8oz. (16th percentile) and is 23 inches long( 68th percentile) which is just about where she started at. So she is following her growth curve like she should. She has been sleeping 7-8 hours at night most nights. She has been smiling a lot in the past 3 weeks. She makes a lot of facial expressions and is very alert. She follows us around the room when we walk by. Madison loves to make her smile now and gets right in her face. She has accepted that her baby sisters name is not Kaylee and now just calls her "my baby". She still refuses to call her Hailey. She does want to include her though. If we are leaving the house she will make sure that Josh kisses her baby too. She also has to kiss her baby before going to bed at night. Madison just finished her dance class and will start up again in two weeks. She loves it and listens perfectly. We have been busy with summer activities and going to fairs.

We went to the Parkers Prairie Fall festival and Maddie loved getting candy at the parade and riding a pony. We also went to the fair with both girls and then to the Taste of Woodbury this past weekend all day and the girls did great. Maddie loved the animals and parade. She got a coupon from a fitness place that looked like money and was yellow and she told me she got the golden ticket (charlie and the chocolate factory). She makes us laugh daily. That is the update. Hope you are all doing well.

1 month old

Hailey is now one month old. She is getting bigger and looking older all ready. She is starting to stay awake for longer periods of time and is more alert. She stares at us and tracks us as we move. She also started to smile at us. We have been keeping busy with outings again but with two it takes a lot longer to get out the door. We go on walks, to the pool, shopping, friends houses, and dance class. Madison started dance class last week and loves it. It is amazing how well she follows directions in a group. I wish she listened to her mother that well.:) That is all for now.