Misc. July pictures

I had a few extra July pictures I wanted to put up! 

Here is Monroe on July 13th - she is sporting my all time favorite outfit!  I got this when Presley was a baby - it's a Tommy Hilfiger halter top and shorts.  Presley, Madison, and Monroe all wore it.  This will definitely go in my save pile.  She loves it too!

Presley started this plant in March during her 1st grade year.  We kept it going until July 16.  Then it was time to throw it.  Took this quick picture of her with it.

Jason, my dad, my brother, my brother-in-law, Presley, Madison, and Mersaydes

went golfing on July 21.  I sent the camera with Jason and he took these 2 pictures. 

That was more then I thought he would take! 

Trip to the MOA and a Twins Game!

We decided to make a long weekend out of Natasha and Jarod's wedding and come home through the cities on Saturday, stop at the Mall of America and then go to a Twins game on Sunday. 

Last year my dad treated us to a hotel room and paid for all of our Twins tickets.  We were excited when he offered it to all of us again this year.  Eric and Missy opted to not do it this year and Amber and Kevin were crazy busy with just moving to Aberdeen, Kevin starting his new job and Amber taking 20+ wedding pictures this summer so they didn't think they could do it either.  This weekend worked for my dad so that's what we did! 

We drove to the cities on Saturday late morning and early afternoon.  We underestimated the distance (we were thinking 4 hours but it ended up being 5).  We got there around 4 p.m.  Here is a picture of Monroe in the car.  All 3 girls did amazing during our very long trip on Thursday to Thief River Falls and then to the cities on Saturday.

Our first stop was the MOA!  Madison had brought her Build-a-Bear.  She washed her up and then got her a new outfit!

As part of Presley's 8th birthday gift, we told her we would get her American Girl doll's hair done.  This is a neat thing they do.  Here are the girls watching Carly get her hair done.  She also got a new gymastics outfit for her girl.

We had to take a picture of Monroe as this was her first trip to MOA!

She loved it! 

On Sunday, July 29, we headed to the Twins game. 

Here is Monroe riding in her stroller on the train.

We got to the field with plenty of time for pictures!  I love all the statues you can take pictures by. 

It was fun to get to see a win by the Twins!

Now it was time to make the trip back home.  We ended up getting home around 9 p.m. on Sunday night.  A special thanks to my dad for treating us to the hotel and for paying for our tickets! 

The weekend ended up being such a wonderful time!   

Natasha's Wedding!

The last weekend in July, we headed up to Thief River Falls, MN (6 hours away) for my good friend Natasha's wedding!  I was incredibly honored to get her call last fall asking if I would be a bridesmaid in her wedding!  Her exact words were "I know we don't talk as much as we would like but you are my closest friend from back home and I would love for you to be a bridesmaid in my wedding!"  Insert tears here!  A little background - her and I met in 3rd grade.  We were in the same class together.  She had a tough year because all of her grandparents passed away that year.  We became friends then and were very close all through school.  Like she said, we don't talk as much as we would like and only see each other a couple times a year, but her and I will always be friends!

We got to Thief River Falls on Thursday, July 26 around 3 p.m.  The rehearsal was to start at 6 and the supper was at her sister-in-law and brother-in-law's house after.  We checked into our motel room and got ready.  It all went really well!  Here are a couple pictures of Natasha and her dad, Natasha and Jarod and me and the guy I walked with (I can't think of his name now for the life of me!)

We got up Friday, July 27 to get our hair done!  She had 9 bridesmaids so it took quite a while to get us all done.  Natasha's hair turned out absolutely beautiful.  She has the longest hair on a bride I have ever seen!  Madison kept calling her "Tangled" from the Disney Repunzel movie. 

Time to get dressed with the help of her 2 sisters!

Natasha and me!  One of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

The 5 of us!  I love this picture! 

Me and my girls!

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked.  We had our hands full with being in the wedding and the 3 girls!  A special thanks to my amazing hubby who did a great job with them while I was busy all day Friday.  He took the girls swimming at our hotel pool and got them all ready for the wedding. 

It was such a fun wedding and reception!  My sister was the photographer for the wedding so it was fun to have her and Kevin at the wedding with us!  The reception was at a huge arena which was awesome!  They had a candy bar which the girls loved.  They served taco's that were so good.  Another fun part was the live band they had for their dance.  Very fun!  We left around 11 p.m.  We were all ready for bed.

Congrats to Natasha and Jarod!  And thank you for honoring me with being a part of your special day! 

Monroe turns 8 months old!

Happy 8 Months to Monroe Rae!

 Her 8 month milestones -


Weight - 19 lbs, 8 oz.

Sleeping patterns - She sleeps 20-30 min. in the morning and 1-2 hours in the afternoon. She goes to bed between 10 - 11 p.m. and gets up 1-2 times a night.

Eating habits - She eats rice or oatmeal cereal in the morning and step 1 Gerber baby food for lunch and supper. She eats 2 vege's a meal but doesn't care much for fruits yet. She had bananas, peaches, and applies so far but only 2-3 bites at a meal. We will increase her to Step 2 this month. She is still nursing really well. She drinks appr. 12-16 oz. at daycare during the day and nurses 3-4 times in the evenings and during the night.

New Discoveries - She knows her momma! She isn't too excited about being held by anyone else right now, especially people she doesn't know well. She will tolerate it for about 10 seconds and then that's it!

Her Accomplishments - She is starting to stand next to furniture a little bit. She advanced to size 3 Pampers diapers now. We brought up her high chair and will probably sell her Bumbo seat as her legs don't fit in it very good anymore. She really likes to sit in her exersaucer in the kitchen and watch what we are doing. She has 3 teeth so far (2 are through and one just appeared).

We decided to try a pony and a barrett in her hair today!  She isn't thrilled about the barrett but left the pony alone!  She is our little unicorn!