Can You Tell By The Look ...

...that she wasn't fond of Santa?!! We had talked about Santa coming to Daddy's work all week and she was so excited to tell him to, "Peas, Peas, bring a Barbie!!" and then she totally clamed up. When we walked into the Y there were reindeer hoof prints on the floor and she looked everywhere but couldn't find any reindeer so we opted to make reindeer "food" aka dry oatmeal with red sprinkles. When the line for Santa dwindled a little, she got brave enough to go up but then with each step forward she squeezed my hand tighter and tighter. Eventually Matt had to sit on the couch with Santa (thank goodness it was his work) and she was able to super quietly tell Santa she wants a Barbie. Oh well, I am never hopeful for good pictures at things like this so I skipped the cute holiday dress she would have thrown a fit to put on. It is as if the child thinks to herself, "hmmm, I bet Mommy would like a pretty picture now, I think not!"

Catchin' Up

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We were fortunate to spend some quality time with family. I'm just trying to catch up on some of the photos and events from the last month and ran across these.

Madelyn loves playing with blocks these days. We build castles for all her dolls.

We soaked up the last rays of the fall sun several weeks ago. Here are some photos I took. It's hard to believe a year ago this particular playground was a little too big for her and now she mastered even the really big slide by herself!

Concentrate, Concentrate

Silly Faces!

Look who got into Mommy's Make-up. We can't keep her out of my jewelry armoire either.

Window crayons are a wonderful invention. They keep Madelyn busy while I'm cooking dinner.

Helping Mommy make Kool-aid

Stress Relief

A couple of weeks ago several of my best college girlfiends and enjoyed a relaxing day at the spa!! We decided that in honor of our 30th birthdays we would celebrate in style. So we drove out to good ole' Hays, Kansas and had a wonderful time at Rock Haven Spa. We were treated like royalty and pampered with a dip in the hot tub complete with champagne and a platter of yummy treats. Then we sweated away our worries in the steam bath with aromatherapy scrub. And finally we each had 1 hour massages. It was awesome to spend some quality girl time together. It was a perfect way to celebrate!!

Mindy, Beth, Sara, and I all awaiting our massages!

Chillin' after our appointments, don't we looked relaxed!


Yummy Treats while in the hot tub!


Thanks girls for an amazing time! We should make this a yearly event!

Morning Melodies

Since I spend ALOT of time in the car each week with Madelyn we have to make the most of the time we have. Sometimes we recap what they played and ate at daycare that day, sometimes we talk about the plans for the weekend (especially if it is something exciting), sometimes we argue over whether or not she can have a piece of candy when we get home, and sometimes we belt out nursery rhymes and songs. My particiular favorite is when she starts with the abc's and at the letter q she switches to Humpty Dumpty and after that she starts in with Twinkle, Twinkle (aka Krinkle, Krinkle). The big finale is yelling out the words, "I'd don't know" over and over again to the tune Hot Crossed Buns!! Eventually we both end up in a fit of giggles and it all starts over again. Oh to be two again!!

Happy Halloween

We had an interesting time this year deciding on a Halloween costume for Madelyn. When we asked her what she wanted to dress up as she always replied, "a baseball." Matt claims he had nothing to do with this. Anyhow, I gave her the option of being Cinderella, Ariel, or Snow White and she chose Snow White.

On Friday we went to the Y for Trunk or Treat. They had lots of fun games: bean bag toss, throw the spiders on the web, and fishing for fake spiders. Madelyn is always super shy and had to really take it in before she gets started. But once she figured out the they were handing out candy at each station she was all about it!!!

Then on Saturday we Trick-or-Treated our neighborhood. At first Madelyn wanted us to go up with her to each door but as more kids were out and about she would go up with them. For the most part she was whispering the words trick-or-treat and thank you. It was really cute. She wanted to stop at each driveway and eat the candy she just received so we had to make sure she knew there was more candy at the next house. I would say she loves all candy, especially suckers and smarties!!
















Enjoying all the yummy treats before bedtime!

Fall Fun!

I LOVE FALL!!! Pumpkin patches, warm colors, roasting s'mores, etc. This year we were able to visit the pumpkin patch once with my family and again on Halloween because it was such a beautiful day. I think all the adults enjoy it just as much as Madelyn does!

Ugh, so heavy!


Madelyn with some of our homegrown pumpkins!









Posing with Aunt Courtney, Daddy, and even Mommy.