Where has March gone?

Cheese!

Hello! Well, we are not so good about taking pictures anymore and when we do... yes Papa, I am in my Pj's! Thing were pretty routine this week with a few exciting exceptions. Our friends Roman and Teresa were here (Teresa took my pictures in England). They are moving to New Mexico and Roman's parents live a hour and half away from Abilene so they came up for the afternoon and dinner on Wednesday night. I proudly showed them what dinner out was like with a 16-month old- hmmm, wonder if they still want kids now? Yep, dinner out is a whole new challenge! I am soooooo busy saying hi to everyone and climbing all over Mommy actually said we may have to stay home for a while. I don't know, I also heard rumor of a "babysitter" and them going out without me... They wouldn't dare!

Love hats! :)

Well, Teresa also took a break from family festivities and came up again on Sunday. Daddy had to work all weekend so us girls did a little shopping and went to dinner again (Brave, I know). It was so good seeing her though. Mommy wishes she could move all her friends to our little world here, but we are so blessed they all love us enough to visit in the mean time.

This weekend, I also went to a birthday party. It was for a four-year-old, but there was lots of kids from 7 mos to 2 years and I enjoyed chasing after all of them, eating cake, and jumping in their bouncy castle (there were pic attempts here - didn't turn out :(

My tunnel!

*** I keep forgetting to share a few funny stories/ developments!
1) I am very good at throwing tantrums now whenever something doesn't go quite my way. I take my head and dramatically throw it down to the floor (carefully) and bang it (just once). However, the other day.... I quite cleverly went into my scene - paused- moved to the rug, and completed the act. For some reason, Mommy was laughing... a lot.

2) I walk around everywhere and proudly show my belly. At the Commissary the other day, I was insistent on saying hello to this boy... walked right up to him, said "hi" lifted my shirt and waited for a reply. His Mommy laughed and reminded my Mommy we were okay....until I get older. :) I also proudly lifted my shirt in Target yesterday, tucked it under my chin and pushed the cart around the store for several minutes before I forgot about my shirt again.

3) I excitedly was shouting "hat, hat, hat" while pounding my head after Mommy picked me up from daycare Friday. You see, Daddy picks me up most days and I wear his hat home while we talk about the cars and airplanes etc. The nerve Mommy had to show up without a hat! (Which is why I got one at the store the next day :)

4) Not only have I been walking backward for some time, I now have figured out I can prance around on my tip-toes on occasion.

5) I'm getting better at brushing my teeth and letting Mommy fix my hair.

Okay... that is all I can remember for now. I'll try to be better sharing these things!


In Daddy news... He got a medal from out last base for Joint Commendation for serving in a job with multiple armed forces (the Navy in our case). Not very many people get that opportunity. Daddy is also looking into possibilities for his back. He has been having good/ bad days and it is time to figure what is going on and what more we can do.... second opinions please!
Mommy has been enjoying her job and is getting super busy! She says it makes the days go by fast though. She has a nice mix of patients from 2 years to 70 years and loves every one of them! It is still hard to leave me every day, but I think we are both adjusting (slowly).

I leave you with a video of me and my antics again this week!
Love to you all!!! xoxo

Glimmer of Hope...

I know a lot has happened this week, but unfortunately Mommy was really bad with the camera. Not much to see in the events anyway...

I suffered from Night Terrors through the weekend and had a rough start on Monday. Daycare called Mommy just after 11 a.m. and told her that I was fussin and crying all morning, only calming as they would hold me. Well, with 9 other kids, they unfortunately couldn't hold me non-stop like I wanted. Daddy came to get me until Mommy finished up with patients and then Mommy and I spent the afternoon together. I got a good nap in my own bed, played with Mommy all afternoon and went to bed early. I am happy to report that the night terrors have subsided.

Tuesday was a FABULOUS day with me barely fussing as Mommy said good-bye (for the 1st time since starting daycare!). Then Wednesday came and with it a temperature of 102! Daddy was originally going to stay home but his bosses said "nope" because they had too many people gone already. Mommy made some calls, got her patients sorted and we hung out all day. A visit to the doctor that afternoon revealed a bilateral ear infection and off to the pharmacy we went. Well I'm feeling great now, still on antibiotics, and the rest of the week went without a hitch.

In other news... On Wednesday, Ms. Amber called saying my new daycare could take me on April 5th instead of the 26th as we originally thought. Mommy was very excited, especially because we received the call just after getting home from the doctor. Of course, I am finally getting settled into the daycare I'm in, but Mommy says I will get a lot more attention and learn a lot of new stuff at the new place. She says I am very smart and would hate for me to be bored :)

The weekend was eventful with us meeting new friends. A colleague of Daddy's came over with his wife and children (3 yr. old boy, 2 yr. old girl). It was a lot of fun and I think I get to go to Evan's 4th birthday party this weekend! Daddy has to work, but Mommy looks forward to meeting some new people too!

Well, I hope all of you are well. We miss you lots and hope to start planning a trip or two to see some family/ friends for the summer. Mommy just really needs to earn some leave at this new job! I leave you with a video of me eating... all we captured all week :) This is some yummy potato/veg soup my Daddy made. Of course eating is my favorite thing to do so enjoy!!

Love You!
Madelyn et. al.

16 Months!

Mmm, Cheetos!

Yep (one of my new favorite words), I turned 16 months on Wednesday. With that came a doctor check-up. I was suppose to go in for 15 months, but with all the moving and settling in I postponed it. I am 33 inches (95%ile), 22.5 lbs (33%), and my head is 46 cm (44%ile). Thank you extended family for my height... I obviously didn't get that from Momma and Dadda :) I am also finally feeling a little better, except for this cough I've developed. The Doc thinks it is a virus and tells me that it is going around right now so I guess I just have to hang in there. (BTW, we LOVE our new Pediatrician!!)

Mommy and Maddy.

Daycare was a little better this week. I seemed to be a bit more active and Mommy learned about some really tough stuff going on with the director there, possibly throwing the staff off. If I didn't mention it before, my daycare is church based. It is smaller and they are very close knit with most of the employees being church members. Having said that, we also interviewed at a home-based daycare this week. It is actually a wife of one of Daddy's co-workers. She is very nice and all her kids are in the 2 year-old range. There are only 6 kids. She runs it like a preschool with activities including art, gross motor, fine motor, Kinder-music, outside time, and more! Unfortunately, like any daycare, Mommy has some adjusting to do with time schedules and still is getting used to someone else taking care of me so much. We are working together on this though. So it looks like we will be making a big change April 26th. Mommy says I will learn so much more at the new daycare.

The ladybug was cool, but putting rocks on it and throwing them was fun too!

Finally, the most exciting news of the week... our great friends The King Family visited for the weekend. They were in Texas visiting family and made time for us this weekend before heading back to SD! I had so much fun playing with Alex and Eva and the weather turned out Beautiful - in fact, the nicest and warmest we've had since being in Texas! We made time for a little shopping and the zoo too!

Alex and the Ladybug.

Eva! How adorable (I forgot how easy it is to photo a non-moving child :)

The girls.

The Daddy's and their first-born ;-)

Other than getting over being sick, I have also been waking with inconsolable crying the last few nights. Crazy. Mommy can't figure out what is wrong or how to calm me down with out time and patience... anybody have any ideas to this? I've heard of night-terrors, but know nothing about them? Maybe a little separation anxiety with daycare? Dunno....

Finally we leave you with a short video this week. After the Kings left today, I found Maddy in their room looking for them. We carried on a brief conversation before she was ready to move on... to the closet :)

Love to you all!

Daycare blah

Coloring with Daddy!

Well I had my first week of daycare (and Mommy's first week of work). Let's say Mommy's was better than mine. I really like playing with the kids, but we've had some ups and downs at daycare. Originally, Daddy was taking me but was late for work so Mommy started. Well, I definitely make it hard for Mommy to walk away. I'm sure this is just something I have to get used to.... she has always come back so far! I've also been VERY tired all week. I have long days with one nap and am so busy during the day that I was a bit cranky the first few nights.

Although the teachers really seem to care about me and take good care of me, I do watch a lot of t.v. while there. At least, that is what I'm doing every time Mommy or Daddy come to get me (varying times during the week). We are working on a solution to this... is this really what daycare is about?

Finally, Friday brought bad news. I was "off" when Mommy picked me up that afternoon and as I continued to feel and look worse, they took me to the clinic up the street. Yep, first week of daycare brought me a yucky nose, the start of an ear infection, and PINK EYE. Yuck! Luckily, after a couple doses of antibiotics I was feeling much better and enjoyed my Saturday home. Sunday brought on an upset tummy though with everything I have going on. I finally overcame all of it and was a happy healthier girl all of Sunday afternoon and evening. Whew, hopefully all germs are at bay and I don't find anything new this week in daycare (although, I'm likely safe the full 10 days I'm on antibiotics at this point).

I LOVE my Daisy! And she loves me (obviously), letting me do whatever I want to her ;)
In other news... Mommy got to finish my room! I LOVE IT!

"Flowers", "tree", "green", and "yellow" are all daily vocabulary I explore when I'm getting ready or getting a diaper change.

The playroom is also complete. We are lucky enough to have a "formal dining room" in our house off the living room. Specific home buying requirements were to have a room like this. Mommy finally feels like everything has a place. I just love tearing it apart! I also show Daddy the animals every day :)
We look forward to seeing the King Family next weekend (after we sanitize all my toys) and hope the rest of you have a great week. By the way, with Mommy working now, the camera only came out once this week... Recovery day. So yes, I spent All day in my jammies :)

Sometimes a girl has just got to lay down!

Love to you all,
Madelyn et. al.

1st Day!

Sorry all. This week is a Mommy blog ;-)

Day One of work went well. It was all orientation, a.k.a. boring but needed information. Day 2 through 5 will be more filled with therapy and getting my new schedule set up. For Madelyn, Day 1 was a little overwhelming. Although I couldn't be there to really get full insight, I know that after a rough night and a full day of daycare, she was EXTREMELY exhausted. The teacher report is that "Madelyn cried off and on, but that is normal until she gets used to everything" and that "she is a really smart little girl" :) Ah, proud Mommy and Daddy moment... Of course, we already knew that!

Our last week at home together was pretty uneventful. Lots of little odds and ends trying to get the house set up (and its still not finished). As excited as I was to finish Madelyn's room, it is half way there. Hopefully you'll all get to see it very soon. Unfortunately, a 15-month old does not let you do "as planned" most days. She has been fighting her molars for weeks now. With fevers and lots of evident pain, both the top ones are part-way through; however, we fear this may continue for some time yet. All this also made for a rough way to start out in daycare - poor baby.

One successful project was the toy shelf that Maddy happily took part in. It is a great space for all those toys we seem to have accumulated though!

Happily put the screws in those lil holes. So talented!

Right here Mommy?

Madelyn plays in 2 kitchen cupboards and
apparently thought we built this one just for her too! :)

Again, Madelyn is up to antics with all those babies. She is always placing one or two in this walker, and desperately wanted them all in there. With a little help from Daddy, she was very proud of this success!
Finally, we thought we'd share a bit of our Sunday routine lately. This is the only day we've really had any "down" time lately. Shaye gets the morning paper and we enjoy some coffee and breakfast over the paper and sale ads. Well, this week, Madelyn really wanted to take part!

She's gonna be a bargain shopper ;-)

Off to bed for this working lady! We will see you all more next week and may seriously need to consider posting these on Sundays now...

Our love to you all,
Jody, Shaye, Madelyn, and Daisy