January update

Haven't blogged much this month...here's what's been keeping me busy!

Hair hair hair. I'm learning more about taking care of Matea's hair - and honestly getting a little frustrated at times. My styles don't last very long and it takes me quite a while to do them. Regardless, I am learning and getting better each time I do Matea's hair. She has A TON of hair, its unreal! I love the way it looks right after I wash and condition it - it has these beautiful ringlets that are just gorgeous. Someday we'll figure out how to get those ringlets to stay after her hair dries (I think!). In the meantime, here is her hair after a few days of it being free...and my first time doing bantu knots!


We moved Matea into a toddler bed about a month ago...she loves it (can't you tell by the picture). She hasn't tried getting out yet when she isn't supposed to, which has been great!

We took a quick 4 day trip to Missouri with Jesse and Jodi to visit Aaron's grandma for her 90th birthday. It was REALLY fun and really really good to see Grandma Grace! I am so glad we could make it down for the party - it was really special to us that Grandma got to spend some time getting to know Matea.
Aaron got me a new external flash for Christmas and I also got Lightroom for the computer to work on some photo editing stuff - my brain has literally been on overload trying to learn things. I finally figured out I need to just learn one thing at a time, so I am slowly starting to figure things out.

Took Matea to the MD today for her 2 year appt - she grew 3.5" in the last 6 months - which would explain why we keep thinking she is looking so much like a KID and not a TODDLER. The doctor said she has the language of a 4 year old - but she's a bit behind in the gross motor skills. Nothing to worry about though...we decided we'll start playing Twister. :-)

I also put in my "i'm quitting" notice for my job - so my last day will be May 1 unless they find a replacement sooner. I'm not moving to a new job, I'm just going to be done and stay home! Aaron's business has picked up quite a bit and we feel this'll be a really good move for our family. So...there you have it!

Christmas

Christmas was great this year! We headed to Frederic on Wednesday afternoon and then on Christmas Eve went to Coon Rapids for a few days. It was such a relaxing few days and we completely missed having to travel in any bad weather! It was great! The only downside of the entire few days was coming home to our driveway which was completely covered in almost 2 feet of packed down nasty frozen snow. Thankfully Jesse was around - it took Aaron and Jesse 3 hours with 2 snowblowers to clear our driveway!!

Above: our makeshift sled (a boogey board)
Below: A cute picture of my mom and matea

Bentleyville

Saturday found us with nothing to do - and a visit to Bentleyville to be checked off our list - so we picked up Brandon and headed down to the light display in Bayfront Festival Park. Personally, I think the display was talked up a bit much, but it was completely worth it to go. We think it is great that the display - and cookies, popcorn, marshmallows, cocoa, and coffee - are all FREE to EVERYONE. Thanks Mr. Bentley and Duluth! We were a bit chilled after spending an hour outside looking at lights so of course we had to stop at Starbucks on our walk back to the car!

Christmas City of the North Parade

Friday was the Christmas City of the North Parade in Duluth! Aaron and I haven't gone for a few years (too lazy, too cold, too boring...) but we headed down there this year with a bunch of our friends. The weather was PERFECT - low 30s, no wind. Anna brought cookies and we could actually see what was going on! Matea and Kylie (the youngest kids in our group) hung tight and did great until 8:45 when we FINALLY saw the end of the parade.

The highlight of the parade was a toss up between Matea seeing a gigantic Curious George on the PBS float or seeing our friend Jon, who was in the parade with his work, handing out carebeaners (I'm sure that isn't spelled right) in the shape of dollar signs. Yes, he is a banker. :-)

shaving cream

Matea needed a bath the other day, so we decided to let her "finger paint" with shaving cream. Which turned into a "cover your entire head with shaving cream." This video might only be interesting to family. :-)

cornrows!

Well, after getting some tips from Juli (braid UNDER not OVER) I gave cornrows an attempt! Here it is - they are short, loose, and messy but I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I need to practice. Matea's hair was damp when I braided it today, I think dry would be easier, but I have no idea really. She was a pretty good sport which was helpful because it sure took me long enough to do these. I am excited to continue practicing - hopefully I'll get good at this and we'll have another go-to hairstyle that'll last a long time!

Jack-lyn

Last Wednsesday Jodi was over for dinner and we decided to carve our pumpkin. It was a little disappointing - there weren't that many seeds and our pumpkin was starting to rot even though we bought it on Sunday! Anyway, Matea was surprisingly really excited to stick her hand in the pumpkin and grab all the gunk that was in there. Aaron carved the pumpkin with a KNIFE - I was surprised he was able to make the face! Growing up we always used those little pumpkin saws.

Anyway....Matea couldn't say "Jack-o-lantern" so "Jacklyn" sat out on our step - and was still there this morning!!!

Happy November everyone!