Florida 2010

At the end of March we went on spring break to Florida. We first traveled to New Smyrna Beach to relax near the ocean and then we headed to Orlando to visit Mickey and Minnie. The girls traveled suprisingly well. They were troopers on the airplane and with the switching of schedules. They both loved swimming and meeting Mickey and Minnie. Maddie got to meet Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland her two favorite characters so she was very excited. We went to Sea World, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. The girls liked all three parks. It was a nice trip to spend time with our family and my parents and Noey went with so we had help wherever we went which was so nice. I will post some pics of our trip.

Almost spring

We have been busy with parties and fun activities the past few months. Jeremy (Unky Punky) had a swimming birthday party for his 32nd birthday. Madison was star of the week in dance class and is very proud of that. We just had Hailey Mae's dedication at church. We have also been enjoying the nice sunny weather the past few days in MN. We have been going on our long walks again and both of the girls are very good riders in the double stroller. We are excited to be going to Florida soon to be in even warmer and sunnier weather for a week. Maddie has been talking about going to Florida for months and is very excited to see Mickey and the other characters. Wish us luck on our travels, it should be very interesting with two little ones.:)

Dec.2009-Feb.2010

I have not updated the blog since Christmas so I will quickly fill you in on the events of our December, January, and beginning of February. We had a busy Christmas break going to several family gatherings in the Cities and up north. Both of the girls loved Christmas, especially Maddie. She is starting to understand the birth of Jesus and Santa. She loved playing with her nativity and reading the nativity books and learning about Jesus's birthday. She also was quite impressed with the gifts Santa brought her and his ability to get them into our stockings.:) Hailey liked playing with the wrapping paper the most.

A very happy event took place when we were up north celebrating Christmas. Our nephew, Owen, was born to Josh's younger brother and wife. He is a cutie and it was so fun to get to see our first nephew and first cousin in the hospital. We have seen him several times since then at his baby shower and last weekend at his baptism. We have been traveling a lot.

Hailey is now 7 months old as of Feb. 1st. She is growing and changing so much. I have noticed how much faster time flies with the second baby. Hailey is such a sweet and happy girl. She smiles all the time. I am not exagerating either. She is sitting up and is pushing up on her knees. We know she will be crawling soon. She has been rolling like a wild woman for many months now. We have to really watch her because she rolls to get places and gets stuck under tables. She is starting to verbalize a lot also and says hi, dada, mama, and nana. She loves watching her sister play and wants to join in the fun.

Maddie is almost 3 1/2 now. She loves daycare with her little friend Ella and at her Grandma Penny's , and visiting her Grandma Debbie at the farm. She is still in dance class and seems to enjoy it. She is very excited to start preschool. She has visited her preschool that she will start in Sept. and she keeps saying, " I am older now. I am going to school." because I have been telling her that she will go to school when she is older. She says so many funny/cute things it is hard to remember them all but I will share a few of them with you now.

I told her that she was being so good and I asked her where did you come from? She replied," I came from Canada." I later found out she meant Kansas "like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz."

She was overly tired one day and was crying and said," I'm so grumpy!".

"I'm going to give Shelby a tiny bit of pretzel, just a tiny bit, don't worry it has vitamins in it.",

" I love mommy AND daddy." I asked her why? "because you keep me safe.

That is all I can think of right now. I will post some pics of the girls too.

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.:)