Maddie's First (that she'll really remember) and Sarah's (actual) First CHRISTMAS!!!!

Monday, December 29, 2014

Well, the end of the year is upon us and we have so much to be grateful for.  It is a little overwhelming to sum up the entire year, and i would be a little redundant in doing so since I have been keeping this blog, so I will refrain.  But, this past month has had its fair share of excitement with a lot of it being in the past week and even more being in the past 24 hours.  

We visited Santa and Mrs. Claus early in the month. Maddie wasn't so sure about Santa.  Sarah didn't have a care in the world. 

We celebrated Christmas with both sides of the family over the course of the past two weeks and had a wonderful time! We exchanged gifts and were overwhelmed by our family’s generosity towards us and our two girls.  They have way too many toys. And all I can really say is that I don't know what's more fun: being a kid on Christmas or being a parent.  We LOVED watching Maddie open her gifts this year since it was the first year that she really understood what was happening.  Plus! It was Sarah'a first Christmas, so that made it extra exciting, too! 

Maddie barely cracked a smile on Christmas morning because she was so focussed on opening all the gifts.  She was so excited and loved it so much! 

LOVE!!!

Phil had given me a book with instructions on how to sew hats earlier in the year and I was so excited about it that I took on the task of making hats for our family members for Christmas.  It took me months to finish them, but I made quite a few. I wish I could have gotten a few more done for some people I missed, but the truth of the matter is I ran out of time and patience.  One hat, in particular, was so frustratingly difficult and painful (physically and emotionally) that, upon breaking 3 needles and drawing blood from pin pricks, I finally called it quits.  I think I did pretty good in the grand scheme of things, though.  You can see pictures of the hats by clicking here.

We saw Phil’s side of the family at a few different events, ate tons of delicious food (I could live off of Nathan’s sweet potato fries, his mock barnaby’s pizza and Phil’s dad’s mac n cheese) and ended one of the days with a bang! Literally, Nathan’s bedroom door “Banged” open after the locksmith worked his magic to free poor little 3-year-old Charlotte from inside. She had accidentally locked herself in the room and, after trying to instruct her on how to turn the key and unlock the door herself, we had to call in the professionals.  Our brave niece was finally out after about 2 hours and we all breathed a sigh of relief.  

Phil sporting his new "Old Man Jacket and his cashmere-lined leather gloves.  

I love my new gold earrings! 

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent’s house and a little time with Phil’s mom. Christmas Day was celebrated at Danielle’s for the second year in a row.  Boy, can she throw a party! Between the two days, I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten better in my life (my dad makes the best lasagna EVER and Danielle can cook a turkey like its nobody’s business). 

Sarah and my Dad on Christmas Eve

Maddie loves her Auntie!

Christmas Eve with Grandma Jones. 

All in all, the holidays were wonderful.  

The girls are doing great.  Little Sarah is growing up so fast! I feel like she is growing even faster than Maddie did.  Every time I look at her she is doing something new and her face is changing from the newborn look into a more developed baby face: adorable! She is smiling ALL THE TIME and seems to respond to her name.  She gets excited when we say “Sarah” and loves making eye contact.  We even got to hear her giggle this past week, which was a truly special treat.  

Someone is happy about her Christmas presents

Within the past 2 days it seems like she is on the verge of rolling over.  It’s funny that I was concerned only 3 weeks ago that Sarah seemed to favor looking to her right side because now she is trying and trying and trying to roll from her back to front by turning to the left.  What an answer to prayer that we won’t have to do any early intervention for tight muscles in her neck!  

I am also pleased to announce that Sarah has successfully taken a bottle for the past 2 days in a row!!! We have been trying for months with no success, but I was finally able to get her to suck a pacifier yesterday, which led us to try the bottle again and it worked! She then took it again today! So, we are hoping that this sticks and we can get her to continue to feed this way so that Phil and I can maybe go out on a date and leave the girls with a babysitter.  Any volunteers????

Another crazy highlight from this month was out flat tire.  :( Thank God it happened about a block away from home and everyone was safe. 

Maddie seems smarter all the time.  She is talking in long sentences now and recounts to me events from the day.  We were able to spend some time with my friend, Erica, and Maddie’s friend, Rory, a few days ago and when we went home, Maddie couldn’t stop taking about Rory, saying her name and telling me about the “burger sandwich” (i.e. cheeseburger) and the choo choo train that we saw at 2Toots.  She kept saying it was, “so so fun.” 

Mads and Rors at 2 Toots

The biggest development that has occurred is our attempt today at potty training.  Wowza. What a day! but, I am going to leave these details for the next blog post lest this one get way way too long.  So, for those of you wondering about the excitement that I mentioned in the "past 24 hours," you will need to wait.  Mwuhahahaha!!!! 

A Month Full of Fun and Hearts Full of Joy

December 5, 2014

I feel like I am getting so bad at keeping up with this blog, but I guess that’s the way it goes when you start adding to the family more and more.  I have less and less time for other things aside from playing with Maddie and her favorite toy/stuffed animal, minnie mouse, having tea parties (we actually pretend it’s coffee), reading books, and nursing little Sarah. Still, although I often feel like the pace is too much and I don’t know how I can keep up with it, I am loving every second of it.  

Maddie and Minnie.  They are inseparable

This past month, we decided that we should start teaching Maddie more about praying.  We always pray before dinner as a family and she started showing some interest in it by wanting to hold our hands and saying, “Amen.” So, we decided to show her how to pray at bedtime, too.  Every night, after putting on her jammies, we all bow down in front of her bed and Daddy prays to God, thanking him for the day and asking for protection while we sleep.  After a few nights of this, we peaked out of our closed eyes to see Maddie trying to pray along with Dad.  It was all nonsense words — toddler talk— but she was trying! 

Daddy turned 31 this year!!!

So, just to summarize the rest of the bedtime routine, since Maddie LOVES routine, we then say “night night, I love you”, Mommy gets a kiss and a hug and Maddie and Daddy turn off the light together, sit in the rocking chair, listen to music and drink milk.  When they are done with the one bedtime song, Maddie gets into bed, she gets two blankets (and she asks for this every night), Minnie Mouse goes in her bed with her and her extra pacifiers and then Daddy says “Night Night” and “Bye Bye,” while leaving the room.  If anything is askew, the whining shall commence! 

She is starting to do some role playing with this now. I love watching it.  She will, over and over, put her doll into her bed, put two blankets on her and then walk out of the room saying, “Night night. I love you” and closes the door.  So adorable.  

Thanksgiving with the Jones Family was fabulous!  

We were all impressed when Phil won the poker hand, but more impressed with Steve's amazing card trick skills!

Another thing I find adorable is how Maddie has found a way of tattling on herself.  When she is doing something wrong and I tell her to stop, if she actually stops and corrects her behavior, I tell her “thank you for listening and obeying.”  So, I now know when she has been doing something she’s not supposed to because she will turn to me with a guilty look in her eye and say, “Thank you.  Thank you.”  I “caught her” one time playing with the humidifier in her room, not by actually witnessing her playing with it, but because I came into her room after her nap one day and she immediately started walking towards me and saying, “Thank you.”  I then noticed the mist from the humidifier was on full blast.  Oh, Maddie.  Haha! This works to my advantage! 

Playing doctor and listening to little Sarah's heart...with a silly face, of course. 

Speaking of nap times, they have been working out pretty nicely with both girls overlapping their naps for at least an hour almost every day.  It’s been fantastic! Sarah is a wonderful sleeper and I really just hope she keeps it up.  Since the doctor gave me the go ahead at her 1 month check-up to let her sleep through the night, she has consistently slept for 5-8 hour stretches every.single.night.  It has been amazing.  She then will wake up to nurse and, for the most part, falls right back to sleep.  

This cutie took her first bottle from Daddy at about 1 month old, then another one a week later, but is boycotting the process now.  It's her way of making sure Mom never leaves the house. 

So, with her being such a calm, sweet, adorable (hey, she does kinda resemble me, so……) and sleepy little baby, I feel like we have adjusted to this two-kid thing pretty well.  I just love me girls so much! 

We took Mads and Sarah to their first movie this month: the Berenstein Bears.  It was so boring I thought I might die.  Sarah was less than amused. Maddie was enthralled, though. 

Sarah has started interacting more with us this past month, too! She gives us HUGE social smiles when we make eye contact and talk to her.  She also grabbed her first toy a couple of weeks ago and has continued to swat at things on her play mat.  She coos and has just the sweetest little voice.  I love watching her develop.  And she loves watching Maddie! Phil thinks that she’s scared of Maddie (who isn’t scared of a 2-year-old, right?), but I have caught those precious moments when I find Sarah just fascinated by Maddie’s movements.  Today, Sarah was crying while I was making lunch, and Maddie sat down in front of her to, again, play with Minnie Mouse, and Sarah calmed down and just observed her big sister.  

Grabbing a ring for the first time! 

Absolutely stunning

I just know that Sarah is going to learn so much from her! And Maddie is going to be such a good big sister, showing her the ropes.  She loves trying to take care of Sarah, wants to help when she is crying, pats her back and tells her, “I know. It’s ok,” imitating her Mama’s words.  

Maddie wanted to hold Sarah to comfort her when she was crying

So, onward to Christmas we go! I am so looking forward to seeing Santa tonight with Maddie and getting our hearts prepared for celebrating our Savior's birth! we taught Maddie the story of Jesus coming to earth and she kept requesting, "more Jesus. More Jesus." My heart is full of joy! 

Putting up the Christmas tree was insane this year! We finally did get it lit and decorated, but we were pulling our hair out in the process.  It turned out beautiful, though. 

Maddie learning from her Daddy about Jesus.

It might get a little crazy in our house (and noisy!), but we are filled with joy and blessed beyond measure! 

Four!!!

Tuesday, Nov 4, 2014

A lot has changed since my last post! Our little Sarah Juliet was born a month ago and we couldn't be more happy! She is the sweetest little bundle, although she was a big girl when born and is growing fast! She was 8 lbs 6 ounces which made my all-natural delivery pretty painful (Read my birth story here). But, she is so worth it.

One month old Sarah

She has a constant look of wonder in her eyes and a sharp, hard, little Molinari nose. She is quiet and loves to sleep, which is great because so do I! We had a few tough nights when we first brought her home, but since then she has been, for all intents and purposes, been sleeping through the night.  Since she is still so young, I still wake her up every 4 hours or so to eat something, but she would probably sleep for 6+ hours if I let her.  She also tends to go right back to sleep after her nighttime feedings, so aside from the 20 minutes or so when she is sucking away, we are all right back to bed pretty quick.

She has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. 

Sarah is already starting to show developmental advances, too. She swats at some toys on her play mat and has a super strong neck.  She was born able to raise her head and look around, but she seems like she's getting stronger and stronger every day.  She also has started to smile more and give us some super sweet baby coos.  Sarah loves to be on her tummy and sleep against my chest, which is nice because I love it, too.

Snoozing on Mama listening to my heartbeat. 

Bringing home Sarah seemed to be an easy adjustment for her, but it was a little tough for Maddie.  For the first 3 weeks or so she started tantrumming and whining much more than she used to and we had a hard time combatting Maddie's hitting, also.  But that behavior seems to be diminishing and Maddie is acting more and more like her sweet, silly, girly self.  It was really helpful to have Phil home from work for a full month to help with the adjustment and to also try out some things as a team before I had to do them on my own (ex: loading the girls into the car and going to the store).

We loaded the girls into the car and took lots of walks, went to the parks around town and visited the petting zoos in the area in the early days to make sure Maddie had some fun stuff to do and to fill Sarah's new baby lungs with lots of fresh air. It was nice for Phil and me to get out of the house, too. 

Day one of just us girls at home. Phil went back to work the day before Halloween.

We carved pumpkins together that evening and...

The next day, we went trick or treating at Dada's work

Maddie loves candy!!!!

Maddie loves her little sister and likes to help us out by bringing me pillows when I'm nursing Sarah or handing us blankets or a burp cloth.  She loves to lay down on the floor next to Sarah and play with the toys and she is great at patting Sarah's back when she needs to burp.  We are teaching her to be gentle and, aside from a time here or there when I had to prevent Maddie from pulling Sarah across the floor by her leg, she's doing a pretty good job.  :) Mads gives really nice kisses on the head, and soft hugs against Sarah's tummy.

Two beauties! 

I was unsure how Maddie would react seeing me feeding the baby. I didn't know if she would remember when she used to do it and get jealous or if she would just find it interesting.  She knows that mama is off-limits when the baby is eating, so when she asks to get "up", she catches herself even before I answer "no" by saying "baby eating.  baby eating."  After seeing me feed Sarah a few times, she was very interested in it and asked if she could, "try?"  Haha!  I told her, "No.   This is only for the baby."  Thankfully she was ok with that answer.

Phil fed Sarah her first bottle of breast milk this past weekend! 

All in all, I think we have all adjusted pretty well to the new family-of-four lifestyle we have.  Maddie is sleeping well at night even when Sarah does cry and we all feel very rested and have fun throughout the day together.  One sweet little story from the first day back from the hospital was that Maddie was very distraught from Sarah's crying at night.  Maddie was having a hard time falling asleep and started crying herself. So, I went into her room and gave her a hug and asked her, "Are you upset because the baby is crying?" Maddie replied, "Yeah." I told her, "It's ok.  The baby is upset because she is having a hard time falling a sleep, but Mama and Dada are taking care of her. Are you sleepy?" She said, " Yeah." I asked her if she wanted to go to sleep and she said, "Yeah."  So, I gave her a kiss, said, "night night." and left the room.  She went straight to sleep.  All she needed was reassurance that the baby was being taken care of. It truly warms my heart to think that from day one, Maddie has been looking out for her little sister.  I think they'll get along just fine.

So precious

I just love my two girls!

Sometimes, You Just Need a Hug

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Last night, Maddie woke up crying and was literally turning in circles on her bed looking for her pacifier, which had fallen on the floor.  She wanted to sleep so badly, but also wanted her paci for comfort.  So, I went into her room, handed her her pacifier and asked her,"Are you still sleepy?" She replied, "Yeah," and reached her little arms out for me. I thought she was going to sit in bed while we hugged, but Maddie used all of her energy and lifted herself into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and resting her head on my shoulder.  We hugged like this for a few minutes while I rubbed her back and gently rocked back and forth before laying her down in bed and telling her it was time to go back to sleep.  She complied and drifted off within a few minutes of me leaving the room, content and comforted.

Some might say it was the pacifier that did it, but I think that sometimes you just need a hug.  I know I sure did.

Sleep! Sleep!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

It seems like every time I tell someone that Maddie has been sleeping well, she regresses and either won’t go down for her nap/bedtime or wakes a million times at night.  So, I am a little terrified to write this post, but at the same time I am very excited about Maddie’s progress and want to share it. 

As most people know, Maddie has never been a good sleeper. I tried “training” her using a few different sleep techniques to no avail until Phil and I finally gave up and decided to continue to rock her to sleep. It has been trying but I think we both came to the conclusion that it would end one day and that we wouldn’t be rocking Maddie to bed in her dorm room at 18.  And, it looks like we were right! 

A few weeks ago, Maddie started giving us some trouble when we would put her in her bed. We would spend up to 45 minutes sometimes rocking her to sleep only for her to cry, sit up and reach for us to rock her more after laying her down on the mattress.  Well, I decided one day that I wasn’t going to pick her back up.  I told her that it was time to take her nap and I left the room. Yes, there was some crying, but after about 20 minutes of me telling her through the monitor’s microphone to lay down and go to sleep, she finally drifted off on her own.  This happened a couple of times during the day, so Phil and I decided that we should try this routine for her at night. And…..it worked! We have been doing this for about 3 weeks now and Maddie, after fussing for a few minutes, will lay herself down and go right to sleep.  We are so grateful that this method seems to be working. And just in time for the new baby’s arrival! It only took 2 years.…  Ha! 

Another notable event:  Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Steve were in town for a couple of days and we spent some time with them down at the Jones' house in Homewood.  We had a nice time eating amazing homemade Indian food courtesy of one of Aunt Jacelya's friends and Maddie laved seeing and playing with her cousins. 

In  other news, our tree in the backyard was struck by lightning last week.  It was so scary! The whole house shook, all of Mads’ toys started making noises at the same time and the living room smelled like smoke. I thought our house was on fire before stepping outside and seeing the damage to the tree. Well, one tree guy has told us that the branch needs to be removed and estimated $750! Eek! I am hoping to talk to a few other guys and get their opinions and estimates before going forward.  It doesn’t look like it will fall anytime soon, so we have some time.  

Auntie Danielle hosted a Birthday BBQ at her house a couple weeks ago.  We celebrated both Danielle's and Maddie's birthdays and had a really great time! The food was delicious and Maddie discovered that she loves the pool.  Maddie requests that we sing to her by saying, "ready?" I then ask her what she wants to sing and she either responds with "Birthday," or, "ABC's," but since the BBQ, she now requests, "Auntie." She then will start rocking from side to side reciting with me the very complicated song that Danielle wrote the words to, "Auntie, Auntie, Auntie, Auntie...." You get the idea.  We are so grateful to Danielle and Mark for opening their home for our celebration so that I didn't need to stress about hosting, cleaning, cooking...etc while so pregnant.  Thank you! 

Our garden this year is doing terribly.  I am still fighting the blight on our tomato plants, but they are still producing fruit, which is good.  The cucumber plants have completely died. :( But, our pepper plants seem to be doing well, so hopefully we’ll have lots to use for pickling  giardinera and jalapeños this year.  

Maddie and Daddy making safety look cool! We bought Maddie her first bike helmet and bring her outside on her "bike" to ride on the sidewalk.  

I’m at 34 weeks now with the pregnancy, so the baby could be here in as little as 3 weeks! (hopefully not sooner).  I am feeling ok. Some days are better than others. But, I have been having contractions in the afternoons that seem to get stronger and more frequent in the evenings.  I am just trying to take it easy and relax to calm my body down. So far, I haven’t had enough to warrant a call to the midwife, but I am just praying that they don’t get any worse.  They are pretty uncomfortable, so it would be nice if they stopped altogether.  


It’s been pretty hot the past couple of weeks which has been good and bad.  Maddie and I have had lots of fun in the pool in the backyard, but my fingers and toes are gigantic from the swelling.  I am glad to have a little taste of summer since it has been so cool and rainy this season, but I am not going to lie; I’m looking forward to the fall. 

Summertime fun in the pool! Maddie loves going down the slide, but it also scares her a little.  Whenever she gets to the bottom, she says, "It's ok. It's ok," before climbing it to go down again.  

Two!!!

Thursday, August 7, 2014
How is it possible that my little girl is two years old today? It seems like just yesterday that I heard her first little cry as she emerged into the world and then felt her smooth skin against my chest. I remember gazing into her dark, almost navy eyes, which have now developed into a soft blue and watching her sleep, a single tear hanging between her eyelid and nose. 

She was so plump that day, swollen and filled with fluid, but today she is thin and tall. She’s lost so much of that baby fat that I loved to squeeze and her face has changed into one of a toddler. Although she is no longer an infant, she will always be my little baby: my first. the one who made me a mother. 

I have been so privileged over the last two year to watch her develop mentally and physically.  She is now beginning to string 3 words together into sentences and asking us, “Where’d it go?” or telling us, “This is doggy. This is kitty cat.” And yesterday, for the first time without asking to tell me she loves me, she responded to my, “I love you,” with her own, “I lulu.” She knows and can point to just about every body part, she can count to ten and sometimes tries to go beyond, and she is learning her ABCs and loves to sing the song, prompting us by asking, “Ready?” 

Maddie has become an excellent climber and yesterday spent a good chunk of time going up the stairs and down the slide at the mall over and over and over again. While I was proud to watch her do it on her own without holding my hand, I did experience the first real twinge of a mother’s heart cracking, watching her become independent and realizing that her self-sufficiency in the world is actually one of our goals. 

Madelynn also loves to run outside and play.  She could spend hours going up and down the sidewalk, she loves to be chased and loves being tickled even more. Her and daddy like to crouch down and walk in funny ways, making each other giggle and she loves it when he plays tag with her, too.  

Our little girl also has recently become very interested in music, singing and dancing along.  She frequently requests that we put a song on by saying, “Music?” and when we sing “patty cake”, or “The wheels on the bus,” she loves to try to do the motions with her hands while chiming in with a few of the words, too. 

Sometimes meals are a little bit difficult, but Maddie definitely goes through stages of what she likes to eat. For the past couple of weeks, she has been obsessed with “samwich”es. It doesn’t matter what is on the sandwich (bologna, turkey, ham, tuna, boca burger, hamburger…etc) as long as it is between two pieces of bread. 

Maddie is also an expert at hugs and kisses now, landing some of the smooches right on our lips and actually wrapping her little arms around us and adding a little pat on the back for hugs.  She laughs and smiles all the time, loves taking pictures and could read books all day long. 

This is our little girl; the one who just 2 years ago couldn’t hold her own head up. Now she is becoming her own little girl with her own precious personality.  But, as far as we get from the day of her birth, I will never forget that moment when she joined us here on earth after having been fearfully and wonderfully knit together in my womb, created to be fully unique and special, yet made in the image of God. 

Happy Birthday, my first daughter! I love you so much! 

Toddler Bed Transition and "Where's the Alligator?"

Thursday, July 27

I can’t believe it is already mid July! In just a few short months, we will have a new little baby in this house and we’ll be a family of 4! Wowza! So, we are starting to prepare as much as we can for the coming bundle.  

We decided that it was time to switch Maddie into a toddler bed at the beginning of this month. I was terrified to do it, but it actually went a lot more smoothly than I expected.  Maddie’s eyes lit up when she saw the bed, which is currently in the nursery next to her crib until we finish getting her big girl room ready.  She immediately climbed onto the bed and put her head against it as if she were giving it a hug.  That was my first indication that this might actually work, although I was still terrified that she would fall out in the middle of the night or use her new freedom to play with her toys at 3am.  I was wrong, though! Maddie slept through the night except one brief wake up in which she needed a little comfort from daddy before drifting back to sleep. 

When she woke up in the morning, I was so glad that I had the video monitor so I could watch her.  She immediately climbed out of bed and, at first, just sat next to it on the ground. She repeatedly would take her pacifier (aka “paci”) out of her mouth and put it on the bed. Then she would pick it back up and put it back into her mouth.  I don’t know if she thought she was sharing with the bed or if she just couldn’t decided whether she wanted it or not. Either way, it was cute. But the adorableness really began when I heard a light tap on the door.  Maddie, without a cry or scream to leave the room, walked to the door and lightly knocked on it and waited for me to open it up. Then she walked around the rest of the room and started knocking on other pieces of furniture.  It was pretty hilarious and adorable. 

So, the bed switch has seemed seamless. Maddie has been sleeping better in the bed than in the crib and it has seemed easier to get her back to sleep if she wakes at night. Naps have been fine, too. I thought for a couple of days that they were all screwed up because she was taking shorter naps, but three days later, she was back to her typical 2 hour sleep sessions. Hooray! 

So, with the bed set up and the small nursery very overpacked with furniture, we decided to get started preparing the “orange room/office” for Maddie. We picked out a pastel pink color and painted over the bright orange paint, which, as terrible as it sounds in writing, we really liked in that room. But, we like the pink even more! We took out all of the huge furniture (and by “we”, I mean “Phil”), disassembled the bed, patched up holes in the walls and painted.  Phil has been such a trooper the past couple of weeks! Painting is a job in and of itself, but moving the big chair, the mattresses and the desk that were in there on his own was no small task.  

Once we had the room cleared out, we started looking for furniture to put in it. What a great find: The dresser we ended up buying was at a resale shop and only cost us $90, saving us hundreds, since the cheapest new piece we could find was $500! We changed out the dated hardware and the dresser looked like new. Plus, it is a heavy, all-wood piece, built very well, which is great because we know if will last, but….poor Phil had some more lifting to do.  Thanks to his Dad for helping to move it out of the car and into the room.  

I love this piece! 

So, we just want to get some things anchored to the walls and get some new window treatments, which I should finish sewing together this week, before giving Maddie full reign in her new room.  So, pray for us that the transition out of her nursery goes as smoothly as the transition out of her crib. We are really hoping to get her used to sleeping in the new room well before Baby-girl #2 arrives so that Maddie doesn’t feel like she is taking over all of her stuff.  

We also found this cute table and chair set and love the bright colors for her big-girl room. 

So, other than preparing those things, we have had a nice few weeks.  The fourth of July was a blast! We had my sisters, Laura and Danielle,  over to our house for a BBQ with their families.  We grilled and ate too much meat and just had a fun time hanging out in the backyard and laughing at Laura for her late arrival covered in chicken juice.  Oh, Laura….. 

Later that night, Phil and I took Maddie to see the fireworks. I didn’t know how she would react, but she ended up loving them! Every time she saw one light up the sky, she would turn to point at it with an open mouth and eyes of excitement and awe.  It is so much fun watching this little girl experience new things. 

Watching the fireworks with mommy....

...and daddy! 

In terms of her development, Maddie is talking talking talking! She has been using 2 words together for months now, but it seems like she is adding more and more every day.  She also says things like, “Where’d it go?” Does that count as her first full sentence? 

Her favorite game is “Where’s the alligator?” Phil and I hide her stuffed alligator when she is out of the room and when she returns, she says, “Where? Where?” while lifting her hands up in a questioning way and looking around the room.  Once she finds the alligator (usually in one of her dresser drawers or under her bed), he comes out from hiding and tickles her or gives her kisses while she runs from the room.  Maddie could play this game for hours! 

Other updates: Phil ran another 5K! He took on the challenge of the Streamwood Stride a couple of weeks ago on a warm summer morning.  It was so much fun watching him run the course and finish with a stomp of achievement. He kept telling me that it was a difficult run and I kept telling him that it was because I thought he had run faster than his usual pace. Sure enough, when the results were posted, Phil had achieved a PR (personal record)! He finished the course with a 9:54/min pace! WOW!!! I’m very proud of him.  

Phil stomping down on the mat at the finish line after a great race!  

Other than that we have enjoyed getting together with some friends and family over the weeks, playing outside int he beautiful, cool, summer weather we have been having, and finding great new toys for Maddie at some garage sales.  Her first chores are mowing the lawn (seen below) and feeding the animals (she helps me put the food in their bowls in the evening and loves every second of it).   

Maddie and Elizabeth playing with Bubbles. 

Jacob and Maddie sharing some lunch

Just like Daddy! 

Enjoying the sand and water table that we found at a garage sale.  Luka like it, too.