Memorial Day weekend

The girls enjoyed the hot weather Memorial day weekend in their swimming pools and with the new swing set. We also celebrated mommy's 30th birthday with the Giesbrechts at the lake. Maddie helped mommy make a patriotic cake.

Hailey 10 months old & Maddie 3 1/2

Hailey is 1o months old and actually almost 11 months old so I thought I had better update the blog before the new month begins. She is crawling like crazy and standing up on everything and everyone. She is talking and babbling away. She loves playing with Maddie and tries to copy everything her big sister does. They laugh together and make noises and sing together and play together now. It is so fun to watch. Hailey also got her first two bottom teeth this month. She didn't fuss very much at all. She is still very good natured and has an easy going temperment. She is still very smiley and happy almost all of the time. We are blessed. Maddie is 3 1/2 going on 16. She says the funniest things and makes us laugh and surprises us daily. She just had her first dance recital and she loved it. She loved performing on stage in front of all the people. She loved getting her hair and makeup done and wearing a pretty costume. She loved the energy behind the show. After I finished doing her hair she looked in the mirror and told me, "I am beautiful! I am stylish!". The other day she asked to put my sunglasses on and then once she did she said," I'm a rockstar!" It is funny to hear how she views the world. We also went on our wedding boat for Maddie's preschool class. She had a blast and loved the boat and all the activities. We are now gearing up for summer and just got swingset that our neighbors generously gave us and have been playing in our pools. Both girls love the water and cannot get enough of the pools and bath time. I will post some pics and another blog soon for 11 months and family news.

Hailey 9 months old

Hailey turned 9 months old in April. She has remained a happy and calm little girl. She is now mobile and scoots, rolls, and crawls in combination to get to where she needs to go. She is trying to open cupboards and get into her sisters stuff. She weighs around 14lbs and is in the 1st percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. Right after I brought her in for her 9 month check up Maddie and Hailey both got the stomach flu for the 3rd time this winter. Hailey had it pretty bad this time and was sick for a week. I brought her in to the doctor twice but they just told me she had a virus. I was concerned that she was dehydrated and about her weight since it is so low all ready. She is now better and feeling good. She just got her first tooth this weekend. She is also verbalizing a lot saying "hi" and waving appropriately, she says "ta-da!" and raises her hands in the air. She will put one arm up if you say "so big" She says, "da da", "ma ma", and "ba ba" mostly appropriately. She also says "bumpa" (grandpa tim). She loves her big sister and belly laughs at her and watches everything she does. They are starting to play together and Maddie is a good big sister. Maddie has also started to help mommy more. If I ask Josh to get a bottle or a diaper, Maddie will quickly volunteer to do it. Madison is talking so much now and says the funniest things. Tonight, I told her she was a lucky girl because her Grandma Deb bought her Sleeping Beauty pull ups and she said very matter of factly, " I am not lucky. My dreams came true. That is my life." Can you tell she has been to Disney World lately where all your dreams come true.:) Another funny saying she told me the other day was "Have a good day mama! Don't be naughty!" I guess she hears that a lot. I will post pics of the girls at Easter which we mostly spent in the airplane and Hailey's 9month pictures.

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