Maddy and Me

Priceless Moments

2009-06-26T08:26:00.002-05:00

So everyone knows about those priceless moments that you just wish you had your camera with at that very second. Well that definitely happened Thursday night as I was fixing supper in the kitchen. It's very unusual if Maddy is not right there as i'm fixing it wanting to help, and she wasn't.... and then the realization hit me that, hmmmmmmm, I haven't heard her making any noise..... So I went to investigate... and found her in the computer room. this is also the room in which I keep all of my scrapbooking things (as I have been working at getting caught up on Maddy's).

There on the floor sits Maddy. With the floor covered in pictures. As she has gotten up on the table in the room, gone through the drawers and has gotten out.............. pictures, my picture/paper cutter, glue, paper and stickers.. and by no means there is not a mess on the table. She obviously knew exactly where each of those things were and got them out. She looks up at me and says "i'm strapbootin (scrapbooking) see" . and all I could do was laugh... She was pretending to cut the pictures and then putting glue on the back and sticking them to the paper she had picked out!!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes... My 2 year old had gotten out the things she had needed to scrapbook and was actually putting glue on the back of the pictures.... which just a little bit of glue... I mean I work with 5 and 6 year olds who can't figure out a glue stick and Maddy was doing great...

She never fails to amaze me on all the things that she picks up on and even says!!!! It's like I have a 5 year old in a 2 year old body!!!!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T10:33:00.001-05:00

Happy Father's Day to all the great dad's.. Here's just a few that I tend to love :)

To a Daddy of three beautiful girls :)

My Daddy and Me at college graduation!!

Papa and his favorite littlest girl!

Papa and his favorite littlest guy!! Proud Daddy Erik!! And to a Daddy who's always lots of Fun!!

Family Day

2009-06-21T10:26:00.007-05:00

Saturday we packed up the car with Grandma and Papa and headed to Neponset to visit Aunt Melissa, Uncle Erik, and Jackson. Maddy was super excited and couldn't wait to get there... and when we did get there, she was so excited to get in the house and took off running.. and ended up with a scraped knee and a bandaid to start the afternoon :(

But we still had tons of fun playing and hanging out!!!! Maddy got her wish to help hold Jackson and Mommy even got to put Maddy's hair in piggytails (I need a little bit more practice) and Maddy wore her pretty new dress just for Jackson! :) If there were only more pictures to post; Aunt Melissa has not held up her end of the deal to put her pictures on Facebook, so we'll work with the ones from my camera.

Swim Swim Swim

2009-06-21T10:16:00.007-05:00

Since 0ur summer vacation has finally begun.. that is, for Maddy and Me. We are starting off the summer with lots of.............................. yes, softball....... but swimming too. Some of our friends have an inground pool and threw the offer out to come and visit anyday and anytime since they have the excitement of working all day, so we took them up on their offer. One of my college friends and her sister came along. And since Maddy just loves Erin, she let her put piggytails in her hair (something she has never let her mother do)!!!!!One of her favorite things to do in the pool is jumping to someone, as long as you don't let her go underwater AT ALL!!!!! She has never been a big fan in the bathtub of getting her face wet or having water dumped on her head, so it doesn't really surprise me that she doesn't care for going underwater. Here are some pictures of our fun swimmng day (with hopefully lots more of these to come in the next month and a half).

Happy Belated Birthday Aunt Melissa !!

2009-05-31T09:28:00.006-05:00

Maddy and I don't always get on here to update and put up new things. Yesterday was a day of events which started from about 7:30 AM. I had a sand volleyball tournament that I played in with friends, which lasted all day until 5:30 pm. We got 3rd place out of about 12 teams which is great for a 4 on 4 tournament. Got home, showered and got Maddy and I ready for a Bachelorette Dinner with some friends and then ended up asleep about 9:30.

Most importantly yesterday was Aunt Melissa's Birthday.. She's one year away from the huge 30!!!!! And we're so excited for that :)

GO CUBS GO

2009-05-15T22:55:00.005-05:00

By request, here is Maddy.. in her pj's with breakfast face and all singing her adorable little heart out!!!!!! All you Cubs fans should enjoy.. she's making Papa proud!!!!!

New Toys

2009-05-15T22:48:00.006-05:00

Now that the warm weather has finally started, when it's not raining, we have a new toy at our house to play on. Grandma and Papa brought over the rest of Maddy's birthday present: A New Swingset!!! and boy does she love it already!!! As you can see before it was even off the trailer and set up she was pretty excited.

Of course when we finally got it to the backyard and decided where to put it, she was all worried that Papa was not putting her swing up first.. completely did not understand that the rest of the swingset needed to go up first so she could swing... She kept bringing it right beside Papa and telling him to put it up, then decided that she should just go get the tools and do it herself.. too cute..

Some of the Best Mommies!!

2009-05-10T12:36:00.010-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the beautiful Mommies Today!!!!

Vote For Maddy !!!!!!

2009-04-23T17:39:00.004-05:00

So I just thought I would throw it out there for everyone to see and pass along to all their friends. The Clinton Herald is having a Cutest Baby Contest. So really i'm pretty biased and want Maddy to win ;). So here's the link so you can got and vote. You can vote as many times as you want!!!!!!!!! Voting starts May 11th, so don't forget to tell everyone!!

https://www.communitynewscontest.com/entries.php?contestid=65

Happy Birthday to Me; Happy Easter to You

2009-04-12T20:56:00.006-05:00

So today not only do I get to celebrate my 25th birthday, but Maddy celebrates her 3rd Easter.... We celebrated this weekend, at my parents house on Friday with family pictures, lots of egg coloring, and some cake. Saturday we celebrated again with more time at my parents and more egg coloring. Today we celebrated Easter by finding eggs over and over again inside and outside the house, finding eggs and baskets at grandma and papa's house, supper at the Wild Rose Casino and more egg hunting!!! What a fun filled Easter and birthday!!!!!

2 Year old Debut

2009-03-31T18:32:00.003-05:00

Maddy (and Mommy) thought we should show off a little bit since she is 2 now!!! Yyyyaayyyyy!!! We decided that we'd start the week with a clip of Maddy and her awesome ability to identify her shapes... and I should remind you again that she only just turned 2 on Sunday.. Now how many 2 year olds do you really know that know their 8 basic shapes??? She is a smarty huh :)

Birthday with My Family

2009-03-28T20:16:00.006-05:00

Today we shared Maddy's birthday with my mom's side of the family. We started out with all sorts of family love, opened lots of present, and filled ourselves with Sweetheart Bakery Cake... Turned out to be a perfect day, except for the yucky weather and sleet!!

Maddy got to see her favorite cousin :) Which made her soooo happy, cause she loves him so much!!

Maddy's version of smiling pretty for the camera...

Birthday with the Hensel's

2009-03-28T20:09:00.005-05:00

On Friday, we started out our weekend of birthday events for Maddy...... who turns 2 on Sunday!!!! Here's a shot with DaddyRiding the horses at Happy Joes!

And Maddy with one of her presents..

The Start of a Scrapbook

2009-03-18T21:35:00.008-05:00

So with some minutes here and there I have started putting together a scrapbook for Maddy..... and yes we're starting all the way from day 1. Really i've just started putted some basic pages together and then as I get going hope to add some more detail and pizzazz to each page. There aren't pictures on the pages, but i've resulted to looking for the ones I want on my computer and marking them, and then as I get more pages done then the pictures are being printed and then put in. I definitely have a long ways to go, but thought i'd share the start with everyone.........

Who Says Rain Isn't Fun

2009-03-07T11:25:00.004-06:00

Even though it was cold this morning, Maddy thought she needed to go out and check out the rain. We were happy that it wasn't snow, like we've seen for the last 4 months so we got all bundled up with our Kitty rainboots and umbrellas and walked around in the driveway. We didn't stay out long, but she had lots of fun.

~HaPpY BiRtHdAy~

2009-03-03T20:27:00.008-06:00

We're wishing Aunt Kelly a Happy Birthday today. We Love you cause you're so much fun!!!!!

~New Bed~

2009-03-01T09:00:00.005-06:00

After two days of taking naps on the floor and two nights of camping on the floor on her sleeping bag, we decided that it was time Maddy has officially grown out of her crib. We waited as long as we could, dealing with the climbing in and climbing out, since it wasn't in the middle of the night or anything.... just when she wanted to play during the day. So Maddy made the choice really easy for us when she kept telling us she didn't like her crib anymore that she wanted to sleep on the floor. Which amazingly went well too; put her sleeping bag down one night with blankets and the next night we tried the mattress with blankets and told her she had to stay on the blankets, not get up and walk around; if she needed something she needed to yell (we still have the monitor going). Both nights she didn't get up until the morning so the baby gate on her door didn't have to get put to use at all. Saturday we took the front part of her crib off, so she could have a big girl bed.. And boy was she EXCITED!!!! The greatest part: Maddy getting on her bed, running over to give me a hug, getting back on her bed, running back over to Mike to give him a hug and back to me and back to her bed... .it was hilarious!!I honestly think all morning long she layed in her bed watching movies... We've only had a few run ins with jumping on the new bed. and for now have to make some kind of railing for the side so there's no falling out until the new one comes; since believe it or not stores don't really have railings that fit convertible cribs that are safe or fit them. Thank goodness for customer reviews or I think I'd be constantly returning ones that didn't fit her crib!!! So here's Maddy in her new bed after we switched it!!

The Contents of My Purse

2009-02-21T09:23:00.005-06:00

I was tagged by my lovely sister Kelly to share my purse with you....Here's the rules:

1. Post a picture of whatever bag you are wearing today - not last weekend when you and your hubby went out to that fabulous restaurant. No cheating!!!

2. Tell us how much it cost. This is a no-judgment zone -- there will be no ridiculing or eye rolling here. And, if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I'd love to hear it.

3. Now tag some fellow bloggers and link back to this post so people know why you are posting pictures of your bag.

My lovely winter purse... of course Coach :) $50.00. got it from Bama & Heather's shop in Clinton. Said to be a genuine, not fake Coach bag... probably shouldn't share where they get them from!!!! This is my 2nd coach bag from there.. They get new purses in weekly so occassionally I stop in and check them out.

The contents in my purse... so there's a lot..

1. my wallet... money, credit cards, stamps, checkbook, and pictures

2. my phone

3. sunglasses

4. fruit snacks... I try not to carry a diaper bag at the store.. so when Maddy comes with I have to have some bribery if I want her to stay in the cart and not run around the store.. or away from me.

5. pens

6. black eyeliner... never know when you'll need it

7. carmex & soft lips.. gotta have chapstick

8. tic tacs

9. Old Navy Bucks.. my favorite store

10. gift cards to Bath & Body Works & Outback

11. Bank Deposit Receipt

12. work paycheck stub from the last month

13. Lotion: Bath & Body Works Vanilla & Brown Sugar

14. Deodorant: always nice to smell good

15. Scope.. don't want to have bad breath

16. clear fingernail polish..

17. Cucumber Melon Antibacterial handwash.. germs germs germs..

18. Victoria Secret Amber Romance Body Spray

19. Burberry Brit Perfume

So all in all.. I have lots of things that make me good.. body sprays, perfume, deo, lotion, handwash, scope, tictacs.... or make me look okay eyeliner, nailpolish, chaptstick... This is probably not the contents of most people's purse... These are actually things that are always in my purse and not by accident...

The other items floating around like gift cards, paycheck, and bank receipt were just the miscellaneous just floating around....

So there you have it... the contents of my current purse!!!!! Now if we were to check out the diaper bag that would be lots of fun.... might just have to do that and compare it to my other sisters bag :)

Saturday at Mama and Papas

2009-01-17T19:53:00.006-06:00

With temperatures up above Zero finally, Maddy and I traveled over to Mama and Papa's house for some Wii fun and some fun outside in the snow. Inside, I created some Mii's for Mama and Papa and dominated Papa at some baseball, bowling, and tennis :) while Maddy and Mama watched.... Mama getting beat'n by a spoon and hit the whole time....hmmmmmm.. interesting new phase. Outside we had some fun. Maddy was pulled around on her new sled and we took some turns riding the snowmobile. It also seems Maddy has a new follower, not Fluffy, but Spike.

Piggy tails

2009-01-17T19:48:00.002-06:00

Maddy is not one for letting people do her hair. Even if you manage to get her hair cute enough, she manages to rip it out in about 2 minutes. On one of our snow days earlier this week, we managed to get her hair into pigtails for about 10 minutes while she was watching some snow outside..... but of course, she took them out... it even looks like she has some big blue eyes in this picture

Christmas in January

2009-01-03T15:01:00.006-06:00

Friday morning Maddy and I ventured to Bloomington with Grandma and Papa to have Christmas in January. We met Kelly, Ron, Melissa, Erik, and of course my brand new newphew Jackson in Bloomington. This is the 1st time that Maddy and I would meet him :) Maddy did really well being nice and sharing with Jackson. Sharing toys and sharing attention!!!! She helped hold him and always made sure that someone had his pacifier or his bottle just in case. we even got Jackson to hang out in his bouncer. After a lil safety check, taking off any toys that might clang Jackson in the head, we got him situated and he didn't suffer any injuries.. pheewwww... and we didn't have to get out his new ice pack :) Saturday morning I even pushed the limits and we got Jackson content in his swing and got him sleeping .... Boy i'm good :)

The Wii

2008-12-29T08:46:00.004-06:00

Last year we were able to try out the Wii at Mike's family Christmas with the Determan's which Maddy was very interested in.

At Christmas this year, we were able to play some Wii with Kelly, Ron, Grandpa and Maddy. Maddy is learning more and more and wanting to do some playing on her own...

She is also getting very good at the drums!!!!

Christmas

2008-12-29T08:23:00.009-06:00

Here's a few shots of Maddy at Christmas this year with our family and Mike's family. We have finally bribed her enough to let us put on dresses and jumpers on different days :)

Even though Christmas last year was quite exciting being Maddy's very 1st.. this year proved to be even better. She was actually able to get presents from under the tree to open, tear into them, and check out what the presents were. Even though she didn't know what some were right away, she figured out what they were or how to play with them. In all the excitement she even chose to play with each toy for a little bit before moving on to opening the next. On Christmas Eve we even set out some cookies for Santa and some milk. To Maddy's amazement in the morning they were all gone!!!!!! She just couldn't believe it and couldn't wait to tell Daddy that Santa ate her cookies on the plate. Which made Santa "Naughty, Naughy". gotta love this child. Even better the next day, when Maddy woke up, she insisted that we go check the table again to see if Santa ate more cookies!!!!!! So here's a picture of Maddy from last Christmas and this Christmas.

We also spent some time with Mike's family... Here are Maddy and Evan finally getting along with each other and interacting at Christmas.

Softball

2008-09-11T04:00:00.004-05:00

Most of the ENTIRE SUMMER has been spent at various softball games on league nights and tournaments most of the weekends. Really the only night we aren't at a softball game is Tuesdays and Thursdays... of course an occassional Friday if there is no tournament. Maddy is getting pretty accustomed to knowing her way around the diamonds and beginning to wander a little bit farther and farther each time she starts to play. But I guess that also goes with knowing all the people sitting in the stands too. Little miss social butterfly has to make her rounds and say hi and bye and give a little wave to everyone.. A trip to the diamonds is not complete if this doesn't happen. Here's Maddy at the latest tournament right in front of the bleachers so she can be the center of everyone's attention.

What softball post wouldn't be complete if you didn't get to see the 2 families that we spend most of the summer with.

Time is flying by

2008-09-10T20:26:00.006-05:00

Time seems to be flying by lately. With the start of school, it seems to have left me little to no time to be talking on the phone or even updating on the computer!!! Most mornings are spent getting Maddy and myself ready for the day before I leave at 7:45 and nights are spent getting Maddy picked up at 4, home to start supper, and spend as much time with Maddy as possible. Though it's been getting colder we've been spending most nights trying to be outside for as long as we can. We've been especially busy at the parks because Maddy loves to run around and swing and of course go down the slides 1,000 times!!! But I guess this is just a sign of all the fun to come now that Maddy is getting older..

A Little Behind and A Little Busy

2008-08-15T07:17:00.005-05:00

So it's the midst of the weeks of my last days of vacation..... I have totally slacked on posting anything... and have been reminded again and again to keep everyone updated. Really the month of August has been jam packed full of slowpitch softball for Mike. That pretty much takes up Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday for most of the week. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings for 2 hours I have been working with the 21st Century Program in Clinton to do some fun stuff to get the kids back into the groove of going to school, but without a doubt, don't think i'm doing it without getting paid. Who can't pass up 21.50 an hour!!!!!!! My afternoons have been spent getting my room ready for the upcoming school year, which starts on the 21st of August. I just received my class list of 23 students, so most of the afternoon today will be filled with calling each one of the them to set up a time to meet and let their child come to the room next Wednesday before school starts.

Don't be fooled.. I haven't given up all my time with Maddy. She's been coming to school with me and playing in my room and is getting to know the people in my building.. which is good, considering she is a future Whittier kid :) She loves going outside to play on the playground and has managed to go all the way down the twirly slide with no help!!!!! Because I've been slacking we'll just post some pictures of Maddy from the past few weeks :)

Saturday's Zoo Trip

2008-07-28T06:41:00.008-05:00

So life with us has been pretty slow lately. Really just enjoying time that is left of summer vacation before August 18th. On Saturday Maddy and I enjoyed a trip to Niabi Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa. Wherever Maddy pointed, that's where we went. She even got away with riding the carousel two times... just because she pointed and walked back over there :) Here are some pictures from our Zoo Trip!!!!!!

I'm a Poser

2008-07-15T20:11:00.006-05:00

As always, our excitement includes getting dressed up and going out in public for lunch or to the store. My little poser today was pretty funny before we left; blowing kisses, smiling, and basically cheese'n it up.

The funniest was right before we left, she decided she needed to take my nice Coach purse and use it as her own to go out with today.

Couldn't Miss Posting This Picture

2008-07-14T14:08:00.003-05:00

Just like every other day Maddy and I get to spend lots and lots of quality time together. On Friday, her excitement was playing with Grandma's doll. Usually it's feeding it or giving it a bottle, but Friday was a little bit different. She started sharing her toys and wrapping the doll up in a blanket and telling us to "Shhhhh". Well here is my absolute new favorite picture of Maddy. She was soooooo darn excited to get the doll sitting on her zebra and was even more happy when she was making the zebra go, giving the doll a ride.This is the best face of all time!!!! And like most other days this summer we decided to go out to eat with some friends and catch up for lunch. We sat by the window. Big Mistake!!!! Maddy took it upon herself to wave at EVERYONE that walked by and everyone inside the restaurant we were at. She would wave, and they would wave back and smile. And then she'd give us one of these looks...... Yah kid, I don't know them either, but you waved first!!!

Maddy's Latest Accomplishment

2008-07-11T07:56:00.005-05:00

After a long weekend, we have a finally got to relax all week at home. But in this week, Maddy has accomplished one more thing. To my amazement, as I walked out of my room Thursday Maddy was sitting in her seat showing me what she had done. She was holding up her leg and pointing to her foot, showing me that she has put on both of her own shoes. Of course, they weren't on the right feet, but that's okay. So yesterday and so far today all she's wanted to do is put on shoes!!!!!!!

Monday at Grandma's House

2008-07-07T19:04:00.004-05:00

We can't go too long without seeing Grandma and Grandpa around this house so we ventured out to Morrison today for some fun. Of course we can't take a trip to Grandma and Papa's without having some ice cream.

Not only did we eat ice cream, but had to do some playing too.

After doing some playing inside, we did some riding on the Kabota and Maddy got her tractor ride with Papa. Maddy's got this thing with wanting to wear her sunglasses. Today after wearing them around, she decided BooBoo needed to wear them too. BooBoo didn't quite agree with what Maddy had in mind though.

4th of July

2008-07-05T08:06:00.002-05:00

Thought we better give everyone an up to date picture of Maddy celebrating her 2nd Fourth of July in 2008.

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T16:01:00.001-05:00

A little flashback to last year....

Swimming

2008-07-03T21:06:00.000-05:00

We played in the pool today.