New Cousin

This past Saturday (2/5) Martin Robert arrived, and boy were the kids excited about their new cousin! We are very happy for Paul and Larissa and it was fun to meet Martin.

Happy Family:

Paul, Andrew & Martin:

Marty sleeping away (not sure how w/ his cousins in the room!):

Andrew holding Marty (he was so happy holding him, and didn't want to put him down!):

Jenna holding Marty (she did really well - thankfully):

Marty even decided to open his eyes for us, right before we left - what a little cutie!

There have been all kinds of questions at our house concerning Marty. Andrew wants to visit him so he can hold him some more and Jenna has been very concerned that he doesn't have clothes to wear (in the hospital he had a shirt & diaper and was wrapped in a blanket). Convincing her that Paul & Larissa dress him, and don't let him be in a diaper has been a task. She's very concerned he's going to be cold. She's also very concerned that Daisy (their dog) will knock him over, but we keep telling her that won't happen....the things she thinks of!

Meeting Marty has made the excitement over our new arrival increase...it won't be long now. He just needs to wait till next week when my Dr. is back in town!

Hot Air Affair

This past weekend was the Hudson Hot Air Affair, and once again the kids enjoyed seeing the balloons. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very cooperative this year so the balloons did not launch. Some of the balloonist still inflated their balloons for everyone to see, which was very nice of them. Both kids were on the look out for the Wally balloon (it looks like Nemo), but seemed to like the big football too.

Jenna riding around in style:

After enjoying some hot chocolate, cheese curds, and mini doughnuts; the kids hit the playground for a bit; then it was off to Rochester to meet their new cousin.

Ice Skating

Andrew has been out ice skating a few times now this year, and Jenna has been insistent that she can skate too.....so Bruce took them both out, while I sat on the sidelines. Both of them did great. I was impressed by how much Andrew has improved, and Jenna's determination paid off and she did way better than either Bruce or I expected. Here are some pictures that I took from the sidelines:
Towards the end Jenna would climb up on the chair and Bruce and Andrew would push her around. It was pretty cute to watch Andrew skate around the pond all the while pushing Jenna on the chair....then Daddy would take over and give her a big push that would cause her to go sliding across the pond and she'd sit and giggle.
Now they keep asking when I'm going to go skating with them....1st I should probably figure out how to ice skate! Not sure how I managed to live in MN growing up and never learn to skate, but I did.

Painting

The kids have been great helpers when it comes to getting ready for the baby. One of the projects that they've helped with recently was painting....They did great!

Andrew explaining to Jenna what needed to be done:

Hard at work:

After painting they helped put up the wall decals. Andrew also helped move the cradle, dresser, and nightstand into place. It's fun to see them get excited about the arrival of their new sibling.