It's a....

BABY!
Okay so that is obvious but I'll give you a chance to try and figure it out first. We'll see if you can make anything out of the grainy snowstorm! I'll give you a hint the head is cut-off from the image but you can make out the arms, heart, and legs.

If you guessed that we are having the first Dahle male heir you are correct! If not, well we won't hold it against you. We are all ecstatic about adding a little boy to our home. Maren is celebrating the upcoming arrival of the 2nd anniversary of her "birthday" by frequently being found running around in her birthday suit. The problem is she has also recently figured out how to get her diaper off in addition to all articles of clothing. No, big accidents yet. But I'm sure she's just waiting until the new carpet is installed!

First snow!

We don't get a lot of snow where we live so it's a big deal when it actually snows. When I walked out of the gym this morning at 6:30 it had just started to snow so I went home and got Whitney up because I was afraid it wouldn't last very long and she would be very disappointed to have missed it. Luckily for the girls it snowed for another almost two hours! Although it did all melt when it hit the ground much to Whitney's dismay. She was really hoping to be able to make a snowman. Nonetheless, they had a blast dancing around outside in the falling snow in their PJ's, hats, and mittens. Afterwards, they came in to warm up with some hot chocolate. It made for a fun adventure this morning though I may have some tired girls later!

Girly girls...

Whitney has been bugging me for the past few days to paint her toenails so we finally get around to doing it tonight. As she is sitting there getting her nails painted, Maren decides she wants in on the action and sits down right next to Whitney so she can be next. We're in for trouble now with two little girly girls here in our house (though they still like to wrestle with Daddy!)

Fall fun...

First of all I have to say that it is a lovely evening here at home. Jim is at work until midnight and the girls were in bed asleep by 7 tonight. An hour earlier than usual but they had a busy day and were getting to be mighty cranky. The peace and quiet is heavenly!

I love this season of the year as the leaves change color and a chill enters the air, there is something about autumn that just speaks to my soul. I don't know what it is but this has always been my favorite season of the year. Maybe it has something to do with the beautiful colors, the comfort foods we eat at this time of year, or the first chance to get cozy with our sweaters and hot cocoa. I feel as though I haven't really had a chance to enjoy this year with all that we've had going on. Maybe the girls and I will have to go for a little hike this week to see more of the beauty than what we see from the windows of the car. Speaking of the car, we seem to spend a lot more time in it now making the 20-30 minute roundtrip twice a day taking Whitney to and from school.

Here's a short rundown of some of our recent fall activities (besides the continuing remodeling which hopefully will be complete the 26th when the carpet is installed). Whitney finished up soccer just before Halloween. She quickly picked up on how to play the game with this being her first season and loved every minute of it. I think her most favorite things were scoring 2 goals, playing goalie, and getting a trophy at the end of the season. One night we sent Whitney to get dressed for her game and when it is almost time to leave we find her dressed only in undies and shinguards and Maren has her soccer jersey on so between the two of them they were close to being ready! Soccer season was quickly followed by the Halloween festivities. My YW at church were in charge of putting on the trunk or treat activity the Wednesday prior and then we joined some friends to trick or treat and go to a party on Halloween night. The girls also enjoyed cleaning and carving the jack-o-lantern. Whitney designed the face this year and carved it with a bit of help.

And lastly proof that they do get along every once in awhile!

Toddler antics...

It's amazing how Maren can so quickly go from this...

to this...

The joys of having a toddler!

Construction zone..

After a week or two of tearing out linoleum, carpet, tack strips, baseboards, and scraping up old adhesive, I finally got the floors all prepped and began laying tile two weeks ago. It's taken awhile to get all 340 ft. laid but it is FINALLY done. My parents flew in to spend five days with us during this time and we all enjoyed being spoiled during their visit and the great help they were with our house projects, taking care of the girls, and keeping up on the house. Unfortunately they had to endure our construction zone. Jim has been a big help when he is off in taking care of the girls and running Whitney to and from school so I can have some uninterrupted time to work. Unfortunately I'm not super speedy partly because I want it to be done well and it takes a bit to get the motivation to get going each day. Here's a few before/after shots (not the best but gives you an idea of how it looks):

The lack of motivation may have something to do with the additional fatigue and occasional nausea I feel from this:

We're excited for the little one that is due to arrive April 21st. Whitney is hoping for a brother but we'll have to wait and see! Maren just walks around and says "baby" all day.

We still have plenty to do with some painting, installing baseboards, kitchen cabinet staining, and getting somebody to install tcarpet. However the largest project by far is now complete! But for now I need to tackle the mess that this house has become after being neglected for past two weeks.

Disney on Ice....

A few weeks ago I took Whitney and we joined some friends for an evening at Disney on Ice. The show included segments on Cars, Lion King, Little Mermaid, and Tinkerbell with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy serving as hosts. The kids seemed to really enjoy the show though none of us were real familiar with the Tinkerbell story. We'll have to read up on that one! They put on a great show with some pretty amazing costumes and scenery. It was fun night out!

Speaking of ice, Jim has been spending a some time on the ice each week. He started to play in a adult ice hockey league with games a few times a week. The girls and I have only been able to go to two of them so far as they start at 9 or 10:15 at night. He's scored a few goals in the games he's played in so far but is mostly excited about being back playing after 9 years off.

Here's a funny picture I got of Maren the other day chilling in the recliner and eating some chocolate she had snuck out of the pantry. What an easy life she leads!