Sheinah turns three

We celebrated Sheinah's third birthday at the Children's Museum again. Sheinah got to sit in the special birthday chair and be the birthday princess (with a special hat and wand). She picked out her dress that she wanted to wear and was adamant that she get to wear her hair down. She had tons of fun and we learned several important lessons:



1. Eight kids aged three to five are much louder and full of energy compared to three two-year-olds



2. The parenting styles of Sheinah's classmates at pre-school are different from our's in many ways which makes partytime a little more interesting.



3. It's hard to take pictures and chase kids at the same time :)



Sheinah really enjoyed herself with so many of her friends from preschool. Scott and Brandee Davis caught a flight up to Duluth for the day so that Avery could attend the party also. It was such a blessing to see them for a few hours. Seriously though, when Sheinah turns four, there will be fewer kids at her party!



Check out this video of her blowing out the candles.

Spokane WA

While visting Spokane Washington to build a business relationship with http://www.tourfactory.com/ , I took an evening to watch the sunset over the Spokane river.

Maternity Photo Shoot

When we were pregnant with Sheinah, we had intended to to get some photos taken professionally, but she came a little sooner than we expected so we never got around to it. This time, we decided to let Travis' blossoming photography skills take a stab at maternity photos. We did a Google search to find some poses we liked and then set up shop in the living room. We had purchased some fabric to use as a backdrop and figured this would be a good a time as any to try it out. Two hours and a little photoshop later, and we got some amazing shots. Given that these photos are of Melissa's belly, we won't be sharing most of them publically. However, this one was too cool not to share.

Magic Braids

One of Sheinah's teachers at preschool as really long hair that she always wears in braids. Sheinah has been having Melissa braid her hair so she can look like "teacher Dani" for about a week now. The cool part about wearing braids is the awesome bumpy waves that show up when you take out the braids. Check out these pics we snapped in the bathroom while we were fixing up her hair.

The Almost Pony Ride

We took Sheinah to the Fall Festival at Chester Bowl today specifically so that she could go for a pony ride. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, it was finally her turn. She picked out which pony she wanted to ride and it happened to be one standing next to a big pile of poop. Melissa called Travis' attention to the poop so he wouldn't step in it and it apparently distracted Sheinah enough that she used that as an excuse not to ride. She wouldn't let Travis move away enough for us to get a good picture of the few seconds she actually sat on the horse, but at least she tried. She told us that she would try again when she was bigger...after she turns 3. There is a place to ride ponies at the Apple Festival in Bayfield. We'll be going on her birthday weekend in 2 weeks so we'll see if she will give it another go.

32 Weeks

We had our 32 week check up today and got a clean bill of health. Melissa's blood pressure is good and she is measuring the right size. She is up to 17 pounds gained and Travis has lost about 12 pounds so all is well in that department as well. Joining the gym at the University has really helped Travis find time to work out...he drops Melissa and Sheinah off at school and then goes to the gym. It's very convenient. He's looking quite studly!!

I'm a Mommy Too

Sheinah has enjoyed playing with baby dolls for awhile now. Recently, she has started telling us that she "is a mommy too" and very carefully wrapping up her babies, feeding them, pushing them in a stroller, etc. Today, Travis put together the crib in the babies room. We also went to the fabric store and bought fabric to make the baby two little fleece blankets and to make Sheinah a new princess blanket for her room. Travis left Sheinah alone in the baby's room to clean up the mess of putting together the crib and came back to find this (see picture). Sheinah had put her "horsey baby" to sleep in the crib. You'll notice that she made a pillow for the horsey out of a burb cloth. Apparently, she can reach in there by standing on the stool she uses to reach the sink in the bathroom. We'll have to teach her not to play with the baby's crib really soon!