Zoey Dances the Night Away!

Last Friday, Grandma and Grandpa Nyhlen came and we all (except Tyler) piled into my car and started driving down to Peroria, Illinois to attend my cousin Matt's wedding. I was nervous about driving with an almost two year old, but of course Zoey performed like a rockstar and was not one lick of trouble. She slept for a good couple of hours and then played quietly in her car seat for the rest of the trip. It was great to see all my mom's side of the family again and we had a great time!Zoey mastered the art of blowing bubbles just in time to celebrate Matt and Molly's wedding as they came out of the church.



Zoey once again had some big sister practice with Melissa's little boy Max. She wanted to hug and kiss him all the time!


These pictures show the highlight of Zoey's trip. If you ask her what she did this weekend, she will say, "I had yellow muffin!" Instead of the traditional wedding cake, Matt and Molly had cupcakes for all the guests and Zoey got to pick out the exact one she wanted to eat and carry it all the way back to the table.


Unlike last year at Amy's wedding, Zoey was able to stay up and enjoy the party and even dance with Grandpa (although, admittedly, she was mosre interested in running around on the floor)
She danced with Grandma. And of course she dragged me out on the dance floor quite a bit also--just didn't get many pictures of that.

Zoey paid her dollar for the Dollar Dance and was able to dance with Cousin Matt.


The look on Zoey's face below basically sums up the whole evening. She enjoyed playing with the other kids and dancing and running around. It was precious to witness such pure joy and excitement.
This picture of her feet is one of my favorites, although it doesn't do justice to how dirty her feet truly got from all the running and playing around.



She tried to do the Electric Slide with everyone, but instead decided to coach them instead. "Move to the right, to the right."

We also got to spend some time with Great Grandma and Grandpa Somogyi both at the wedding and the hotel.

So there you have the highlight of Zoey's weekend with family. She slept hard that night and is still working at getting back to normal life. She sure was happy to see all her daycare friends today. When I asked her how Mary was doing (her daycare provider) she responded, "She ouchy knee." So Mary--we are delighted to be back to our regular schedule and hope that you recover well and quickly!

Baby Hazel

For the last stint of our family daycare service, I stayed home with Zoey for a couple of days. Last Thursday, she and I drove out to Mayer, MN to visit our good friends Roz and Kevin and their new addition, Hazel. Hazel is about 3 weeks old. I thought it would be good practice for Zoey to be around a little one and see how she reacted. She immediately took on the big sister role and was very gentle and kind. She wanted desperately to give Hazel her pacifier and all of her toys, but Hazel slept most of the time.

Nana Day Care

Nana Day Care: Fun with Zoey Ten hours a day for three days in a row -- a Nana's dream come true. Our little sweety, Zoey, loves Elmo, Big Bird, Sesame Street and asks for them ALL day long. She thinks that Nana can only make only one meal -- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a little oatmeal on the side. But she tried Mango for the first time and loved it. We went to Story Time at the Roseville Library, Target, and Maplewood Mall to ride on the Carousel for the first time. It went "up and down".




Thank goodness for nap time.













Multi-tasking.

Another Red Carpet Moment

Zoey has been wanting to do a lot of things by herself lately. Today it was dress herself. Yikes!

A Livingston Easter

After church this morning we went over to Nanna and Poppa's house for Easter dinner. It was fun to hang out with family. Zoey enjoyed showing off all her new found toddler energy.


Zoey loves her Elmo video from the ND Easter Bunny. Thank you!

Here she is enjoying a few of the many items in her basket.

Auntie Tammy and Eric finally got some Zoey time toward the end of our visit.

The story of how Zoey's Easter Basket got so BIG. . .

Once upon a time I was a pregnant mom who couldn't remember anything. On Saturday, while cleaning the house I remembered that I had picked up some special things for Zoey's Easter Basket--as a favor to the Easter Bunny of course. For the life of me I couldn't find this bag. I asked my husband many times if he had seen the bag of stuff--he hadn't of course--and didn't seem to care that much that I had lost it. By about 4pm, I had given up and went to brave the crowds of last minute Easter Basket fillers at Target. I picked up different things just in case the other bag was found. The Easter Bunny came later that night to fill up Zoey's basket. Tyler and I were laying in bed that night and all of a sudden I had a realization. I asked Tyler if he recalled me telling him earlier that week, "Don't let me forget that I put the Easter stuff in the TV cabinet." he had no recollection. He innocently asked, "What was I doing when you told me that?" Watching TV. Problem Solved. . . I went to retrieve the basket items from under the TV and filled up the basket even more. I never meant for Zoey to get so much stuff for easter, but I liked everything that the Easter Bunny and I got for her--so I guess my mistake is her gain. Lucky girl!

Happy Easter!

When we went up to Grand Forks, Zoey and I stopped at the mall in Fargo for a long break from the car. After we had eaten and played in the playland, we started to walk around. Zoey made eyes with the Easter Bunny who wasn't that busy on a Thursday afternoon. She was intrigued and wanted to go closer. So we went up and shook hands with the bunny and Zoey was amazed that she was touching this big bunny! We walked away for a little while, but some how found our way back. I finally decided to let her get her picture taken--half way thinking that she wouldn't want to actually sit in the bunny's lap, but I was proved wrong. She climbed right into the bunny's lap and really didn't want to leave. When we got our picture, she was very proud of it and wanted to hold it. She has been obsessed with the Easter Bunny ever since.

The beginning of Easter Weekend

Zoey's daycare hosted an Easter egg hunt on Thursday after work. It was a lot of fun to show Zoey how to hunt for eggs. She filled her bucket--with some help of the helpful older kids.


Here is a picture of Zoey and her partner in crime at daycare, Sean.

A Trip to Grand Forks and Kylie's Birthday Party

Zoey and I traveled North during my spring break to visit Grandma and Grandpa. On Friday, we went an visited both Poppa and G-ah at work. Above is a picture of Zoey working at the kidney table in my mom's classroom. She did such a nice job of entertaining herself while I went around and tagged all the things I wanted after my mom retires this year. She also made friends with quite a few staff members. One of my favorite moments was when she had realized that she had stepped on an animal cracker. She was quite upset that she had made a mess. But, fear not, she knew what to do. She found a broom in the corner and went and swept the crumbs into the carpet so no one would see them. All better!

On Saturday we went down to Fargo to celebrate Kylie's 1st birthday! Zoey had a great time with her cousin. Kylie didn't quite get the whole birthday cake concept--Zoey on the other hand should have been close by to show her how to gobble up cake and ice cream--"Sugar Rush" is one way of putting it.

Zoey was glad to help Kylie learn how to use some of her new presents. Zoey gave Kylie an alphabet puzzle--a favorite toy of Zoey. We hope that Klyie enjoys it as much.

Zoey also tried to show Kylie all about touch and feel books.

I think that Zoey is practicing the art of being a big sister-so far so good.