"Actually"

Paige has added a new word to her vocabulary and it totally cracks me up. She even seems to use it in the right context. We were painting rocks outside and I gave her a rock from the pile she said "no, actually I want that one"...she's getting so big! We had a good day, she's been challenging me a lot lately but today was different, we had conversations instead of her whining to get her way. Things are ever-changing with my sweet girl.
We went shoe shopping today and she's wearing a size 8.5! We found some tennis shoes and she had her eyes set on some cute fashion boots...she kept saying "they're so cute."

 Toddler Toes!

We enjoyed the hot weather this afternoon by filling up Paige's pool, we soon realized that it had another hole. It's probably the last time we'll use it this year. By the time I took the pictures there was only a tiny bit of water left but Paige didn't seem to mind...she had fun and so did mommy.

Frog Hunt

Paige and Eliot went on a frog hunt yesterday and they found one! It was a little green tree frog and they were both so excited. They put it in the bug container and took turns holding it around their neck. Eliot was really brave and let it crawl all over his arms, Paige on the other hand just touched it with her pointer finger. We set him free, I'm sure we'll find him again soon!

25 months old

Sunflowers

I have NEVER seen sunflowers this big! Note Paige is on Ryan's shoulders and they are still WAY above the top of her head. Pretty cool to see them in person. Grandpa must have given them miracle grow or something, they are so beautiful! Notice the pumpkins are already orange, I guess the hot and humid summer has them ripening at a faster rate then normal. Grandma keeps saying we'll have to carve them in mid september. Let's hope that they just keep getting bigger and bigger AND that the deer leave them alone. Check out the pictures:

Oh, and we played a little basketball...fun was had by all!

Nana and Grandpa's New House

We've been hearing all the exciting things happening at the sight of Nana and Grandpa's new house that we had to see it for ourselves! We drove up to Isle this morning, it was cloudy and Paige watched Sesame Street the entire drive (this is a first). We played at Nana and Grandpa's rental for a while before driving to the new place. Wow, what a sight...such a pretty setting and it's already coming together. Paige had fun running around "inside" the house...then outside the house. Nana and Grandpa had fun cleaning all the muddy clay off Paige's shoes..ha...ha...ha...! It was great to see their place, so many exciting things for them in the coming months!

More Pictures...

I love that my sweet girl is willing to put up with me. I love to take her picture and I only had to bribe her with fruit snacks do a little photo shoot, it didn't last long but she was willing to smile as long as she had a "gummy bear". She's so sweet and getting so big, the other day she set up her little camera on the couch and told Ryan and I to come stand with her across the room. She was pretending to set the timer on her little camera and would do a group picture of the family, after the lights were done blinking on her toy camera she would say "good one guys". She has a great imagination!

Watch out world!

Watch out world, there's a new driver in town! The funny thing is that she doesn't want us to turn the jeep on, she'd rather open the doors and get in and out. Sometimes she puts the seatbelt on and other time she just pretends she's going over bumps and steering. Maybe next summer she can ride with her buddy Ava from across the street, Ava has a fancy pink Escalade! I can see them having a blast together!

P.S. her daddy bought this for her at a garage sale

Bedtime...

I must say I was dreading the transition of bedtime after our family vacation. We decided to try the "sleep training" technique to teach Paige to stay in her bed and fall asleep on her own. We were doing all the things I never thought we'd do as parents...rubbing her back, laying on the floor of her room until she fell asleep...repeat. It was a long process, sometimes up to 45 minutes! Then in the middle of the night it would happen again, let me tell you sleeping on the floor at age 34 is much different then it was when I was a kid! I would often fall asleep out of complete exhaustion and wake up hours later with a horrible hip ache or major kink in my back. I'm hopeful that those days are over! Tonight it only took one time of her getting out of bed, and me leading her back to her bed...so proud of her. I can tell she's sleeping better too, here's to hoping she'll sleep in tomorrow!

Smile!

I LOVE this little smile!

B-I-N-G-O

We were in the car today and out of the blue Paige started singing "there was a farmer had a dog and bingo was his name o...b-i-n-g-o". I know that she's heard this song, it's on a CD that she likes but I've never heard her sing it all by herself. More proof that she's growing up and absorbing so much every day. We have to be careful what we say in front of her....she loves to repeat things. We were in the car earlier this week and I was trying to find a store, I said "hmmm, that's weird I thought that store was right here". Paige immediately said "hmmm...that's weird" and giggled over and over. After the giggles stopped she quietly said "mommy, that's NOT weird". She cracks me up!
She's been showing her true toddler independence lately and she's been trying to push mommy's buttons (and often does a great job.)  I have to remind myself that she's only 2, not to let her control my feelings or reactions and not let her get me worked up...easier said then done. She's growing up so quick, learning so much and I couldn't love her more. I'm one proud mama!
I'll try to get a video of the BINGO song, it's pretty cute!

Update:
Here's a video...poor kid, I made her sing for the camera.

The Zoo On Vacation

I forgot to post some pictures from the awesome "petting zoo" in Hayward, WI. This was one of the highlights of Paige's vacation! Check out the cool animals!

Paige's First Haircut!

I've been debating getting Paige's hair cut for while now. I noticed a new "Kids Kuts" in town and we decided to do it this morning. I thought she would be upset, but she didn't care at all...as long as there was a sucker involved she was happy! She walked right up to the chair, and let the lady cut away. I think I was more nervous, I kept saying "just clean up the ends, I don't want much off". She looks beautiful and hopefully it will start growing in faster now. The lady even gave Paige a french braid, look how great she did!

 Before

After

And Everything In Between!

Gilmore Lake, WI - Ottenstroer Vacation

What a nice week, lots of memories made and fun was had by all! We stayed at a new cabin this year, it's owned by a family friend and it was a great place. There was a main cabin that we all kept getting lost in and a small guest cabin that the Carlson family stayed in. Paige was a very good girl and slept in her pack n' play, I was a little worried about the sleeping situation since we just transitioned to a big girl bed. Every morning we would wait until 7:30 before we went to the big house, we wanted to let everyone sleep. Grandma was always waiting for us, she's an early riser too. Paige loved to fish and swim, we had 2 warm days and Paige spent most of that time in the water or on the dock. She even let us take her for one slow boat ride (thanks to Grandpa for driving so slow). There was a scavenger hunt every morning and Andy & Alice were quick to find everything, we'll have to make it harder next year!
Paige and Alice did a lot of coloring and play doh at a table on the porch overlooking the lake. We even went to a petting zoo in Hayward with TONS of animals, everyone loved it! Paige thought she was in heaven, there were deer everywhere and the little animals would eat out of your hand. We were thankful that the tiger, cougar, bears and all the other large scary animals were locked up! Andy was a permeant fixture on the dock, you could find him day or night fishing his little heart out. Thanks to Andy's hard work Grandpa had a fish fry for us and it was delicious! There were 3-4 eagles at our cabin every day, they would hang out in the tree above our cabin and their "singing" woke us up almost every morning. Seeing deer at the feeder was another favorite sight, the kids usually spotted them at least once a day. What more could you ask for? Thanks to everyone for making it a great vacation!