Farewell...

Tonight we had a farewell picnic at Children's Choice daycare. It started with a pre-school graduation, and then the party continued!  All of the parents, kids, and other siblings ate together, laughed, and shared hugs until it was time to head home for bed. Delainey has learned so much from the wonderful caregivers at Children's Choice, and next week we move on to start a new journey at a new daycare. Delainey has made some great friends within the past nine months, and several of them will be at the new daycare!

Next Tuesday's agenda: same friends, same time, different place...

Delainey gave hugs to all of the great gals before heading home.

Jenny always had a spare hug at the end of the day!

Reggie was the greeter in the early morning to start our day off right! And... she fixed Delainey's
 hair so cute in the afternoons!

There's Angie... the Queen of Children's Choice!
We will miss the entire Hanson clan!

Michelle had a mountain of patience and took time to listen to everyone's stories, one at a time!

Amanda was always a ray of sunshine! She sent us off each night with a smile!

There they are... the jewels of Children's Choice!!

All of the good-byes can exhaust anyone... even a panda bear!

Garden

Tonight we went on an adventure that we will go on numerous times this summer.  We went out to Bryce and Josh's house to help plant the garden. This year we are co-gardening with Shaun's brother since they have a nice huge yard that is perfect for a garden spot!  I can't wait for fresh produce this summer!  Delainey was already getting down in the dirt tonight; she will be a big helper.  I wish I would have had the camera tonight as Josh and Delainey walked hand in hand to the garden. They are already best buds! Instead I have some bath time pictures which will frequently come after a night in the garden!

Coolest bath toy ever!  See the kid faucet in the background? We got it as a Christmas gift from our other cousins Kannon and Brinnley.  It is a big hit - every kid should have one!

Clean as a whistle!

First Egg Hunt

Easter Sunday was a fun day for all!  We started out getting dressed up and going to church with Grandma and Grandpa Falken. 

After church Delainey found her basket left by the Easter bunny with some new treasurers to play with. 

The Easter bunny brought her a magna-doodle and what a hit. Delainey loves it! 

After having a great morning in church and breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa, we were off to Milbank for dinner with the Spindler clan!  We snagged a few snacks and got on the road. Delainey knows right where to find her favorite snacks at Grandma and Grandpa's house!  :) 

We had a great dinner at aunt Theresa's house with lots of delicious food. After dinner came the always entertaining egg hunt! This was the first year Delainey really participated, and the older cousins really were good sports and left a few hanging around for Delainey to find. She had a blast!



We had such a wonderful day with everyone. The sun was out, the weather was beautiful, and we all spent time outside visiting and soaking in the sun! :)

We had a wonderful day! As we started off for home, our backseat was very quiet...

Delainey was counting sheep... or maybe bunnies!



AMAZED

Delainey is 21 months old, and so far every age has been my favorite.  I am amazed at what a precious little girl she already has become.

These are some of the things she does to amaze me lately.

• She hands me a book and tells me to sit
• She turns her Twilight Turtle on with her toe… just like Mommy and Daddy
• She wakes up happy
• She already loves shoes!  She loves her own, she loves Mommy’s, and she loves Daddy’s

• She loves her “Woof Woof” aka Dags… she wipes his nose with a Kleenex
• She helps Mommy and Daddy with any project

• She tries to repeat everything
• She blows kisses, but not on command :)
• She loves Daddy's hats

• She gives the greatest hugs, the most exciting high-fives, and has the sweetest smile

• She loves “Ring Around The Rosie”

This weekend as we visited Great-Grandma and Grandpa Spindler, Delainey reached to Grandma Peggie to hold hands. Then she reached for Great-Grandma Del, and they held hands. Delainey then said to me, “Mama, Rosie?” I joined in and the four Louises sang and played “Ring Around The Rosie”. 

How amazing.

Warm Days

We have been blessed with warm weather this week, and we all have enjoyed it! As we headed out each morning this week, we didn't get the "take your breath away" feeling from the bitter cold. Instead we walked a little slower to the car after daycare, we soaked up the sun, and took a deep breath of fresh air. We can't wait for spring and summer!

Since the weather warmed up, we finally got to take Delainey sledding for the first time. We stayed in our front yard, but it was still very exciting and fun! We have more snow this year than I can ever remember. Some has already melted and it is still higher than Delainey.

Looks like she's walking in a tunnel!

This week we also celebrated Valentine's Day! Delainey gave and received several valentine's from daycare, and she even tried giving one to Dags. He wasn't too interested, maybe next year?

"Dags, please be my Valentine?"

Horses

"Horse" is one of Delainey's clearest words.  See the video below, and please ignore the second part of the video. We had a disagreement on who was suppose to hold the camera. :)

The word first came out as we played with puzzles. A horse and a dog seem to be on nearly half of our puzzles, so we talk about them a lot. We really don't know which animals Delainey loves more dogs or horses, but we know these are two of her favoites! 

 

This love will come in handy when playing with her cousins, Maya and Elliot, who both love horses.  What is it with this animal?  As a little girl I also had a love for horses.  I planned to save my allowance and buy one someday, but I'm glad I switched my focus.  I would probably still be saving!  However, I still do love horses; they are strong and beautiful and perhaps I will ride one with Delainey someday! :)

18 months and growing!

Delainey is changing by leaps and bounds these days! She is adding more words to her vocabulary daily. A few of the favorite words are horse, sock, car, hat, please, duck, and dats (which means dad, mom, or whoever else will answer)  :)  There is still a lot of jibber jabber within the words which is always fun to listen to as well. She even leaned in to tell a secret last night before bed.  I was reading her a book, and she leaned in, looked me in the eye, and said something very serious in a sweet, soft voice.  It made us giggle!

Kicking back on the new couch

Another fun thing Delainey has been doing lately is picking up after Shaun and I.  She brings the remotes to Shaun wherever he is in the house. Also, she carries our drink glasses to us if we leave them behind. There have been a few spilled glasses of water, but that is an easy mess to clean up!

We have had a few fun nights of snacking on popcorn together!  I think Delainey enjoys it almost as much as I do!

Loving the popcorn!

Delainey's imagination is already in full swing, she entertains herself so well. It is fun to watch and listen to her turn into a "toddler"!  She recieved a baby for Christmas, but it wasn't until recently that she has treated it like a real baby. I think she has been watching the daycare ladies with the newborn that just started coming to our daycare.  Now she feeds her baby a bottle, burps the baby, rocks the baby, and kisses the baby's forehead. It's so precious.

Big girl playing with her hair pieces

Last weekend we went to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Spindler. Delainey played with grandma's tupperware cupboard and had a blast!

She was also very excited to be able to color the newspaper. Life is good! :)