Christmas #1

Last weekend my family celebrated Christmas.  Since everyone got married, having Christmas on Christmas day became a little rushed and hectic.  So, now we have Christmas the weekend before – for a whole day and sometimes longer.  There is always a plentitude of food – my mom is an excellent cook, and especially a fantastic bread baker; my sister-in-laws are also fantastic cooks, some of them specializing in candy treats.  Beyond that, it is loud – filled with laughter, kids shouting, people talking, and paper ripping.  I love it, and I am exhausted at all the same time.  So, here a few little pictures and highlights of that time….

Madison started “walking” with this awesome shopping cart, and sharing? with her cousin, Landen.

                         

Family Photos

                    

Trying to get pics in the matching pjs…. you take what you can get! 

                            

Not Much

I don't have a whole lot to blog. Parent Teacher conferences came and went. Madison joined me there til about 5:30 since Jeremy was still at work and my first conference wasn't til 6pm. It was fun to have her there, but I once again realized how dirty the school's floors can get. Friday, Tara, Grace, Madison, and I went walking. I had some getting lost drama/stress, but was able to walk it out. It was good to see Tara and Grace; it had been a few weeks. Friday was actually a very comfortable day weather-wise. Jeremy and I watched Ramona and Beezus on Saturday. It is a very cute movie. My favorite line: "Who will love a girl named Beezus? Ramona- "umm... Jesus" So funny... and true! That's about it. Madison is being Madison - removing every scrap of paper from any surface she can reach, moving along the furniture, pulling up on everything, "talking" a mile a minute, clapping, singing, etc. Basically, she is still the ball of fun we love. We look forward to Christmas... just have to get a few things together. Blessings in the coming week.

Sunglasses and Snowmen

Madison and I were reading her new beach book.  One of the pages had a picture of sunglasses on it, so we got out her sunglasses.  This is the first time she has tolerated them - and enjoyed them!  I like the contrast between the snowman on her shirt with her summer shades.  Note all her teeth showing!

 

The Best Toy

So, I know I just posted, but we found a really cool toy – one that she can’t hurt, and it doesn’t hurt her … it is safe, but oh, so boring to monitor her here.  Don’t know what it is?  Obviously, it is the bathroom sink.  We sat her in it, and she played with our loose sink handle and watched herself in the mirror for a good 20 minutes.  She threw a fit the first time I tried to take her out, so I thought, “Who is this hurting?  My job as a parent to sit on the toilet lid and watch her; it is super easy”…. and you have to admit (after viewing the pictures) she was pretty darn cute to look at.  :) Have a great Monday!

 

Getting into trouble

It is getting to be hard to keep Madison out of things.  I have realized that our house is full of things.  I would say there are few things she can actually break or be in serious danger with, but there are things that I just don’t prefer her to mess with – pads of paper, pens, folded clothes, and the list goes on.  We obviously can’t move everything out of her reach…. she just keeps growing; so, we just keep an eye on her.  One word to describe that – exhausting (and she’s not even walking!).  She has “permission” to get into the tupperware cabinet and the pots and pans; so, while I cook, these are her go to spots.  She has somehow had some trouble crawling lately and watching where she is going at the same time.  Just today she ran into the chair leg (a bruise on her cheek is starting to show from this attack) and the door frame.  She may have just been tired; who knows?  Here are a few pics of her antics:

                

Jeremy starts his new job with the Ohio EPA on Monday.  Please pray for confidence in the abilities God has given him as well as a good transition to a new workplace and co-workers.  My parents come Monday-Tuesday; book club on Wednesday; and Parent Teacher Conf on Thursday = busy week.  (What I am saying is you may not see many blogs this week…..)  I hope everyone has a great week ahead.

Thanksgiving

So, Thanksgiving was about a week ago, but here is the post.  We went to the Thanksgiving Day sale at church on Thursday morning and then headed to my parents for lunch.  It was, as always, fun, loud, and perfect.  (I say perfect, but I just mean that’s what all the family commotion is to me; although I would like more adult conversations at times…) Here are the first Thanksgiving food pictures

       

And one of cousin Landan laughing at his cousins… what a cutie!

Madison took a short afternoon nap which was a bummer because we were headed to the Bricker Thanksgiving, and we were hoping for a well-rested little lady.  She was quite shy and fussy for the beginning, but eventually branched out a little bit.  Here is her exploring Great-Grandpa’s glass end tables.

   

I stayed until Sunday morning.  On Friday, my younger brothers and I worked on my parents’ yard.  It felt good to be out in the fresh, crisp air.  Friday night they came back with their families for dinner and the evening.  It was good to hang out again.  Jeremy went home on Friday evening, so he could work the OSU vs Michigan game on Saturday.  On Saturday, Madison hung out with Grandma and Grandpa while I tried to find some pants (tried… and failed).  Sandy, Steph, and I went to see a movie that afternoon (Love and Other Drugs) – not worth your money unless you like seeing too much of Anne Hathaway and being verbally abused with language.  The story could have been good without all that stuff, but it was ruined with all that in there.  Disappointment!  Saturday night, we had some more family time; here is Madison getting to know Helen, my doll from when I was little. 

 

That night, Jeremy returned.  We had a delicious breakfast on Sunday morning – scrambled eggs and English Muffin Bread – before returning home.  It is good to be home….

Grandparents Visit

Jeremy's parents came down to visit today. It was good to see them because I haven't seen them for more than a month. (Jeremy stopped by a week or so ago.) They got to enjoy Madison while Jeremy planted some trees, and I went grocery shopping and baked cookies. She really likes her little car. We have to help her on it and push her, but she gets so excited it makes it worth it. Here is a picture of Grandpa and Madison.

Wedding Date

The family went to a wedding of some old old-coworkers of Jeremy’s.  I also play volleyball with the bride on Thursday nights.  I really liked her centerpieces – straight vases with roses sunk in the water and a candle floating on top.  We sat at a table with two other couples with kids.  Madison was very well-behaved.  She gets a little noisy because she is pretty social and wants people to be interacting with her.  Some of the little girls at the table enjoyed her, as well as entertaining Jeremy with their family history :)  Here are a few pictures.

The family picture

Exhausted….

 

Fun at home

I haven’t posted for awhile, so it is always a good excuse to get out the camera.  Here are some pictures from tonight… typical things – going up in the air with daddy, reading books with mommy, laughing under the table, practicing standing, and posing for the camera. 

   

              

                         

Life is going well.  I can’t believe it is almost Thanksgiving and then in a little over a month Madison will turn 1 – yikes!  Time really does fly.  I know this one is short, but at least you got some pictures and a post :)  Have a great week.

And the award for ...

smartest baby goes to MADISON!!!! (Yes, I know some of you out their will say your baby is the smartest - we're both right!) Tonight Madison and I were sitting in her rocker before bed reading a story titled "Monkeys" - a thrilling board book. As I was reading, counting monkeys, and making monkey noises, Madison was listening intently ... until she wasn't. She started squirming forward and looking somewhere else; I thought she wanted to get down to play. So, I pulled her back on my lap and continued reading. She started leaning forward and looking elsewhere again. I finally followed her line of sight and saw..... A MONKEY on her mobile. I was so impressed that she made the connection between the mobile monkey and book monkey. It has been ages since we made the animal noises for her mobile animals; I wonder if she still remembers that. At any rate, I thought it was pretty cool she made this connection. In other Madison news, she has learned (just tonight) how to pull up on the couch. And she is starting to "cruise" - a little recklessly - along the couch and tables. She seems happier now that she can do it herself and not wait on us to help her stand all the time. Cool.  As an added bonus, here are some cell phone pictures from the last bit…

            

Visiting

On Saturday, our friends who are expecting a baby at the end of December volunteered to come watch Madison for the afternoon if we wanted to get out for a bit.  We went out to eat at a new (to us) restaurant, then went to a very busy Dick’s to get shoes (I gave up when there was no salesman to be spotted among the throng of people in the shoe department), then to Babies R Us to look for the next car seat we’ll need.  We were gone about 3 hours, and it was good.  Madison did a great job with them, too.  I said I wanted to go visit my parents after we got home.  My mom had been in Oklahoma and my dad not feeling so hot.  It just made me a little homesick.  I like living in Columbus, but wish that I was closer sometimes.  So, my very awesome husband said he would be willing to go spur-of-the-moment to their house.  We got in around 7pm Saturday night.  On Sunday we relaxed some, mom and I walked, and we did a little leaf raking.  Madison was able to play in the leaves a little too!  I am glad we went; I think my parents and I needed it.

          

         

Enjoying the Fall Foliage

Here is Madison enjoying the fall leaves.  She LOVES being outside and getting dirty.  A little dirt don’t hurt, right?

 

Madison

Here is the Madison update:

• She went to her eye doctor appointment today.  It was fun to be a part of.  She did a great job and was complimented by the doctor numerous times.  She passed with flying colors – her eyes looked healthy and ready to go for a few more years :)  If you want to know the details, I’ll tell you about it later.
• She is officially 10 months old as of yesterday.  She does this cute hand to the head thing that we tried to catch on camera, but just got this face instead!
• She finally cut her other top tooth!  I think she might be working on some more bottom ones
• She loves, loves, loves eating.  The sitter’s note today (her first – all big people food day) said he was very entertaining – double fisting the food and clapping.  She had some of our pasta and sauce today, and we captured this photo.
• I think she attempts to growl like a lion. 
• She splashed like a banshee in the bathtub tonight.  Then, she tipped over backward landing her head right in the blue bowl.  When I pulled her up, I started laughing because it stuck on her head just like a hat.  Funny. 
• Basically, we think she is the coolest thing in the world.  If you haven’t hung out with her lately, you should! 

Jeremy’s Big Trip

Jeremy was able to go to Minneapolis over the weekend to visit his brother and do fun things without his wife and daughter.  We got to stay home and play together.  Here are some photos that I picked out from the multitude he took.  (I am sure that he would pick different ones, but since I am the primary blogger….) 

They were able to tour Twins Target Stadium.  I am sure Jeremy really enjoyed this because he loves baseball stadiums.  It looked like a lot of fun, I have to admit to go to the dugout, the locker room, use the phone in the dug out, etc – so many pics I didn’t include.  Photos from left to right (my interpretation): 

            “We have a deal then…”                                 “Here we are.  Standing on the field.” 

        

“The mitt (glove?) is massive.  I feel as small as Madison”      “That’s gonna leave a mark.” 

      

They also went to the sculpture garden.  I had a chance to go there a number of years ago, and enjoyed it.  Here is the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry and another Jeremy was playing on.

          

On top of everything, they got to go to the OSU vs Minneasota game – and they had really good seats (see first image).  Here are just a few from that evening.  Jeremy said although it wasn’t much of a game after the first quarter or so, they were well entertained by all the students dressed in costumes (not many pictures of that though).

        Here are the awesome seats.                             An alternate view from the end zone.

   

       The team warming up/huddling up.                     The game – in action

  

                                        TBDBITL  -  can I hear O-H-I-O

                                   

And there you have it.