Helping to Clean

Summer is my little helper.  I love it hanging out with her whether we are playing or just getting stuff done.  We are getting ready to leave town for a week, so I've been busy cleaning and packing. As I was cleaning bathrooms she helped me put the cleaners in and out of the carrying basket, put away garbage, and any little job I could find for her.  Today while I was cleaning the bathroom, I gave her a paper towel so she could help me clean the lower portion of the mirror while I cleaned the higher portion.  As I moved on to other cleaning, I "caught" her cleaning the stairs....she would pretend to squirt some glass cleaner on a paper towel and then proceed to "wipe" the carpeted stairs with her paper towel.  I almost laughed out loud!  She cleaned away for several minutes, but of course once I came back with the video camera she decided to get shy!

Summer discovered how to squirt herself with Tucker's "disciplinary" water squirt bottle.  She thinks its pretty funny!  Here is a quick clip of my little water baby.

I also should note that today I noticed 3 of 4 "eye" teeth have popped through...which explains the runny nose I noticed two days ago! 

Silly Girl

I took this picture on my cell phone to send to Paul (hence the fuzzy quality).  We ask Summer now to say "Cheeeeeese" before a picture to help her smile, and this picture is taken mid "cheese"!

This post is just my little journal about a few things Summer did today that I want to remember.  I have never been very good at keeping a journal, so this is the spot I think of to write something down if I want to remember it!

Today Summer came to the amazing realization that tigers and Tucker have tails but Summer and Mommy do not have tails.  It was pretty cute to watch her, as she pointed to the tail of the Tiger and said "tail" and then looked to find "Summer's tail" to point to it....we looked for Summer's tail and Mommy's tail, and decided that Mommy and Summer don't have tails.  Then she asked about Tucker, and we decided that he does have a tail.  It was cute to watch her mind work!

When were at Target today, we were walking out of a fitting room stall (she was holding my hand) and the door closed behind us and hit her.   She said "Sorry".  It was sooo cute!  Sometimes when I am holding her and walking around the house doing things, I accidentally bump her into something as we are walking around, and I always say "Sorry" to her for bumping her into something....so she transferred that to saying "Sorry" when the door bumped into her! 

My favorite kiddos

Here is a quick update on my 3 kids  Tucker, Summer, and Baby Brother....one thing that they all have in common is LOTS of energy!


TUCKER
Here are two quick video of Tucker at the dog park yesterday.  While I didn't catch Summer on video as I was busy keeping her from getting run over by big puppies (she didn't seem to mind, but I didn't want her to have a bad experience!) Summer and Tucker both loved running around with all the puppies!

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SUMMER

Summer has been having lots of fun running all over open gym at the community center, going to playgroups, going to library story time, playing peek-a-boo with daddy in the kitchen, and coloring with mommy.  She still loves her play kitchen as much as ever and loves quizzing herself on picture/word flashcards she got from Grandma in her stocking.  Here is a quick video of her pointing out her body parts.  We might need to work on elbows a bit more!

BABY

We are now in week 28 and baby weights 2 1/4 pounds and is about 15 inches long.  He is kicking a ton!  It is pretty cool to feel him move around and I am getting excited to meet him!  We went in for our 28 week appointment yesterday, and Summer was pretty cute listening to baby's heartbeat....her eyes got big and she got a little smile on her face as she said "Baby!"

Christmas 2011 Part V: Fergus Falls

After Summer's nap on the 30th we picked up Daddy at work and took off for Fergus Falls to spend time with Paul's side of the family.  It was so much fun to have everyone together...Uncle Jordan was home from college, Uncle Ty and Auntie Sarah were there, and as always, Summer loved seeing Grandma, "Gumpa", "Bante" (Uncle Javonte), and all the dogs.  Tucker too had fun romping around with dogs Annie and Bode.  We welcomed in the new year together, and then on Sunday, Paul, Sarah, and Jordan sang together during communion---the three siblings sounded so good together!  You can see a video of it below.  Besides celebrating Christmas, and lots of good food, we played lots of team video games and board games!  Another Tommerdahl highlight--Summer got her first mini soccer ball and enjoyed kicking it all over!  We drove home on the afternoon of Monday January 2nd.  Here are a few pictures.

Summer loves playing with the same train Daddy played with when he was little!  You can see it in the background of this picture.

Summer and Grandma

Summer and Grandpa

Playing piano with Auntie Sarah

Summer and Uncle Ty

"Spinning" in the kitchen

Helping Grandma cook

Playing with Kopel

Grandpa's artistic shot amongst the roses he gave Grandma for their 28th anniversary

All the kiddos on the couch

Summer loved wearing the hat she got from GiGi Sandy

Summer got a pack'n play for her dolly

She loved pushing dolly and blankie around in the stroller

Playing cars with Grandpa

Summer thought it was so funny when Grandpa juggled spoons

A little cuddle with Grandma

Summer loved when Grandma gave her key lime yogurt!

A cute shot of Grandma and Grandpa

Paul, Sarah, and Jordan singing together

Christmas 2011 Part IV: Michigan

On the evening of the 27th, after the Obermayer Christmas, we drove the 3-4 hours to my aunts house getting in around 11pm.  Summer made a nice transition from car seat to pack ' n play, and although she probably took about 2 hours to get back to sleep, she was quiet!  Paul and I got to catch up with my Aunt Lynda, Uncle John, Cousin Heather and husband Nick, and Cousin Laura and boyfriend Nealle.  This was such a blessing!  We don't get to see the Michigan folks (dad's side of the family) much because it is 10 hours from our home, and to catch up with them in person was such a treat!

The following day we drove the 1/2 hour to my Grandparents' house to see the rest of the Kirkwood clan.  It was so much fun to get caught up, swap stories and laughs, and hear the exciting news that my cousin Heather will have a boy just 7 weeks after we do!!!    After dinner we headed out to make the 10 hour trip back home, traveling through the night, as Paul had to be at work the next day.  Here are a few pictures.

Showing off our bumps!

The whole gang for dinner

Right before we left, Summer opened her stocking from GiGi-ma and GiGi-pa Kirkwood

The most special present was electronic books read by GiGi-ma and GiGi-pa.

On this one, as Summer turns the page, GiGi-ma's voice reads the story.

On this one, GiGi-pa's voice reads the story.  How special to have the voices forever saved on these books for Summer!

Our drive home was smooth.  Even though Summer woke up at our 1:50am gas stop and never went back to sleep (!) she was content to watch DVD's all the way until 4:30am when we arrived at home.  Then we all went to bed, and Paul got up to go to work two hours later!!!

That evening Paul fixed our oven, which broke the week before.  He somehow figured out what part to order, and it came while we were gone.  Here is the picture of the "bad" piece, and one of the "black boxes" was the bad part.  I am so impressed and thankful that he knows how to do this stuff!

Then, the next day we left for the final leg of our Christmas trip: Fergus Falls!

Christmas 2011 Part III: Chicago

Starting as soon as Summer woke up on the 26th we started our 6 hour drive to Chicago.  I was a little nervous, as Summer does NOT like being in the car for longer than 10 minutes and she loudly lets us know about it!

On this trip, we tried two new things:
1) We turned her carseat to face forwards instead of backwards, and
2) We borrowed my neighbors DVD player and checked out a bunch of DVD's from our library.

That, combined with two meals in the car, me playing in the backseat with her (along with two big bags of toys, books, etc) was enough to keep her happy the ENTIRE 6 hours!!!  I was so happy with how the trip went, that we decided to add a leg onto our trip and go see Michigan relatives since we were already over halfway there (blog post coming shortly!).  Anyway, the drive was great, and we got to our hotel just in time for Summer to take a nice long nap before we headed to dinner with my Grandma.

The next day, the 27th, was our annual yearly Obermayer Christmas celebration (my mom's side of the family).  We had a blast, and Summer loved playing with my cousins' two kids (Rowan 3 and Cruz 1 1/2).  It was so great to see everyone!  That evening at 7pm we left Chicago to start on the next leg of the trip, Part IV: Michigan.  Here are a few pictures of our time in Chicago at the Obermayer family gathering.

Summer, Rowan, and Cruz playing

Showing off our bumps!  My cousin Amanda is due 9 days before me!

Summer, Rowan, and Cruz

The Girl Cousin Table (and Cruz!)

The Boy Cousin Table

The "adult" table!

Yummy!

Opening a baby boy doll...perfect practice for when baby brother comes! (Thanks Aunt Karol!)

ooooh, a toy cell phone! Definitely a favorite!  (Thanks Aunt Nancy!)

Opening a baby girl doll that came with a pacifier and teddy! (Thanks GeeGee!)

Christmas 2011 Part II: Woodury

We arrived in Woodbury on the 24th, just in time for a delicious lunch of sloppy joes!  Summer was ready for a nap after a big morning, and it was GORGEOUS out (above 32 degrees!!!) so Dad, Paul and I headed out for a nice long run.  When Summer woke up, we went to the Christmas Eve Service at New Life Church, and then headed back to the house for the traditional pizza dinner at the coffee table and the reading of the Christmas story by the fire.  The next morning, we opened gifts, had our traditional swiss steak dinner, and enjoyed hanging out and getting caught up on each others' lives before we headed out the next morning for Part III of our Christmas in Chicago.  Here are a few pictures!

Our Family after the Christmas Eve Service

Airplane with Daddy

More Airplane with Daddy

Eating Pizza at the coffee table

Summer's spot

Tucker enjoying the fire

Summer got an Elmo, her favorite character right now!

Some clothes for Baby Brother (Due in April)

Hanging the ornament Summer made for Grandma

Hanging the ornament Summer made for Grandpa

Christmas 2011 Part I: Apple Valley

We started our Christmas celebration at our home, planning our "Christmas Eve" for the 23rd and our "Christmas morning" for the 24th.  We have been trying to think of some traditions we can start that our kids can look back and remember doing when we celebrated as a family.  This year we decided to make a graham cracker house on our designated Christmas Eve, and then we watched a Christmas cartoon about a puppy (Olive the other reindeer).  We hope to make a new house each year with our kids and take pictures of each one :).  Here is Summer next to Graham Cracker House #1.

We took videos to document our designated Christmas morning.  If you would like to relive part of it with us feel free to watch these clips.

Waking Up

Walking Downstairs

An excited little girl is done with breakfast

Waiting for Daddy to finish breakfast.  (Summer is playing with her Christmas toy from last year...  Kind of fun to think back to last year ....)

Spinning with Daddy

Tucker's Stocking

Opening a Mr, Mrs, and Baby Potato Head

(Summer loves to practice saying and pointing to her body parts and this has proved to be a lot of fun for her already!)

Opening a Baby and Animal book

Opening Stocking

We had a fun start to our Christmas!  We then got packed up and ready to head to Part II of our Christmas Celebration: Woodbury.

We are home!

Eating a Cookie in the grocery store

We got home tonight from our last wonderful Christmas celebration.  It was such a blessing to see so many family members in such a short amount of time.  Paul and I enjoyed relaxing together tonight and watching some videos we took of our Christmas morning---I will post some soon!  In the meantime, here is a video I had on the camera from a few weeks ago that I forgot to share....Daddy is reading Summer's "Spider" book (Summer always asks Daddy to read this one) and she has a funny dance she does to this book.  Enjoy!