Maggie's first solids

It isn't entirely true that today we gave Maggie her first solid food. Last week she gummed a banana I had, and a few days before that we let her lick a potato chip. But today she sat in a high chair all by herself and we offered her some peas.

 At first she wasn't sure what to make of the texture, but at least she didn't choke.

 At least getting your picture taken is fun!

 "These are icky, Mom."

 Hey, what's Philip doing?

 Once I stopped feeding her and let  her play with the texture, she had a lot more fun.

 Cute, even when covered in green. :)

 Towards the end things got a little bit out of control.

Next time, sweet potatoes!

Maggie 2-months

Last week Maggie turned two months! Today I took a few pictures to remember this time. She is a wonderful and adorable baby. At two months she's sleeping through the night, is smiley, and a sweetheart.We love her more and more every day.

Catching up on the important stuff

Well, we have a lot of catching up to do on our blog, but the most important thing is that we welcomed our daughter Margaret Louise at 2:01am on Thursday, September 5, 2013. At 9 pounds and 21 inches, she is a healthy and happy baby! We are all delighted and look forward to this new chapter with our growing family.

Outside!

The weather has finally been nice enough that we can play outside after dinner (we're up to about 19 hours of sunlight a day too, which helps). Philip has been trying to figure out how to blow bubbles. As it turns out, this can be pretty tricky when you're only 2. One of the tricky things is learning how to keep the bubble solution in the bubble bottle.

                                  

No tears over spilled bubbles. 

 

 "Mom, I found a rock!!!!"

 "Dad, I found a rock!!!!!"

 High-five!

Stomping around the bed of the truck with the dogs and daddy. Stomp, stomp, stomp!

Taking and Oreo break...all that stomping, you know, builds an appetite!

Trains

Last weekend the Alaska Railroad held their annual open house. This was the first year that Philip was old enough to be excited, so we were excited to have this little adventure with him. We're also planning a train ride to Denali later this summer, so we wanted to make sure that he liked being on a train and wasn't scare. He LOVED it!

I commented on how nice the Railroad keeps their train cars. Brian said that the ones coming into the Refinery aren't nearly as nice. I suppose they were trying to impress, but everything was clean and polished so it sparkled!

There were free 15 minute train rides- Philip was SO excited.

 And spent most of the time staring out the window.

 Even though he had seen the route 100 times by car. I guess everything is more exciting when you're on a train.

Waiting for the conductor to make his way down the aisle, as he greeted all the families.

 Here's Philip looking a lot like is Grandpa Bickmeier. It any be how Brian did Philip's hair that morning (I was working).

A wonderful family afternoon! Can't wait for our trip to Denali in June! 

2-Years!

Philip turned 2 this last Thursday. We had a small party for him the evening of his birthday and then a larger party this weekend. I didn't get many good pics at either event, so I wanted to do a little photo shoot to show how much this little guy has changed in the last year. His personality is still as sweet as ever, but he's a little boy now, not a baby. He's talking up a storm and goes on adventures whenever the opportunity arises.  

Still looking a lot like his Dad.

All smiles. :)

 And always seems to be thinking.

On days that we're home, there's a lot of reading going on...it is also a good day to stall and not have to go down for a nap or at bedtime. He's a smart kid.

This is Hoots, the owl.  Next to Green, his blanket, Hoots is a very important friend. He generally goes with Philip from room to room, and is being held at the beginning and end of every nap and nighttime. Why an owl, you ask? We have no idea, but the two seem to be inseparable

We're all looking forward to the year ahead (and the addition of a new little sister for Philip in late August)! 

An Artist

Our little artist at work.