Have you seen him?

"Crackers!"
No one is happier than me when I am at the zoo
about to feed some Giraffes and turtles.

** Oh how I wish my legs were that cute for a nice short outfit in this heat!

The highlight of the week is sadly a misfortune. Daddy doll happily made it home from daycare on Friday (Mommy remembers giving it to me in the garage), but has since disappeared. Mommy thinks I stuck it somewhere but I'm not telling. Hmmm. If I did, I don't remember where. Wonder if he'll ever turn up? ** So far not a huge misfortune. Maddy has asked for it but so far does not have issues with "Mommy can't find him" Disclaimer: Although I am not the best house keeper, we don't have that much stuff. I truly have looked EVERYWHERE! :(

This is what I look like when you talk to me on the phone.
Even with the speaker phone on, I make sure I have it pressed to my ear.

We enjoyed some down time in the backyard, another trip to the zoo and IHOP, a little mall play land time, and trying to catch up on much needed sleep. We hope you enjoy some of our highlight pictures, even though we are starting to do the same things every week. We are very excited to hop on a plane and visit everyone in South Dakota though - break up the routine!

"Dis way Momma, dis way"

Mommy made a trip to base this week to try and find some stuff to help me sleep. They had some good books about Daddy's away and one is my new favorite. Not sure it is making things any easier, but slowly sleep overcomes me. I also got to see pictures that Daddy sent of where he is living right now. He showed me a little of the desert, his bed, and the building he sleeps in. We also have a world map hanging in our garage where Mommy and talk about how far Daddy had to fly. Man, he's a long way from Texas!

Enjoy our videos this week. Mommy and I made pizza this weekend and I loved it! The only part that was sad was me trying to figure out why she had to cook it. I was fine eating it just the way it was! I also played a lot on my slide... I'm so fast!

Love till next week! x

Mmmm, Chocolate Pudding.

Well life in this house is just...day by day. We are still fighting the sleep which means moods are forever unpredictable (for both of us) and we stay busy fighting the heat and wearing ourselves out in order to attempt to sleep more/better. Madelyn is also coming down with a cold. Imagine - how would an over-tired child get sick? Doesn't seem to be bothering her much though - thankfully.

"Gogurt"
Thanks Auntie for this fabulously messy treat!

My little spit-fire is always testing her boundaries. Now I know a lot of this is her age, and then a good bit more because she only has one parent to battle at the moment, but whew... guess you never believe in the "terrible two's" until you're smack in the middle (and we're not even two yet!) So far time out - or even a threat of "one more time and time out" seems to be working. Unfortunately, I feel I say that more than anything else nowadays. Maddy, well she still says "No" and "Mine" really well ;-) This week the prominent phrases that stand out is "da uder one" (when looking for something - one of her shoes or a different toy) and "wat dat Momma, wat dat?" (most commonly things out the window).

Walkin' Daisy.

We have been spending our days in the pool or coloring, and when brave enough venturing out for a walk with Daisy. The humidity has been a little high so a spin around the block is about all any of us girls can handle. Man, Abilene needs a Splash Zone...hmmm, anyone now how to get one in this city... or my backyard...

Well, we hope you all are well and we'll see you soon. x

Video: Yep, I share most everything with my Daisy.

P.S. I cried today when my babysitter painted my daughters nails/toes. I don't know if I'm over-tired or just an emotional Mommy. Seems like every little girl should have her nails first painted with/ by her Momma.

Normal?

Not much to share this week. We are still working on our nights. I gave Mommy one good night on Saturday which she got really excited about, but I think I was just that tired from the whole week that it finally caught up with me. Sunday night I was up again.... not as long, but I just can't go all night without making sure she is still in the next room.

We have went about our normal routine. "Normal" - that is the word we are trying to establish yet again. We talk to Daddy on web cam and I talk about him at work with the airplanes and point at a map on the wall that Mommy uses to help me figure all this out. I have taken to carrying ALL my loveys' everywhere with me. Mommy still makes me keep them out of public places (store), but I take them all to daycare everyday and always in the car with me. You see, I have a separate lovey at school (a duck). I take my Daddy everywhere, and then I have a rabbit lovey and a blankie at home. Well, Ms. Amber has given them their own special chair at daycare as I refuse to part with a single one right now.

**Two parts to the loveys... She is having some emotional separation issues so give her what she needs AND the girl is a toddler. GIVE HER WHAT SHE NEEDS ;-)

I have been very good at being Independent and it causes a few discrepancies between my Mommy and me. Sometimes I win. Mostly she wins. I have become very powerful with "no" and "mine" over the last 2 weeks. Often I say no when I mean yes, but I love that word! I can't wait to see you all and then you can see for yourselves how much I can tell you what to do! haha.

We took some time to BBQ with some friends who just had a new baby. I was so excited about the baby and a littel jealous when Mommy decided to hold her. She is very small (just over 6 pounds) and I did a great job holding her myself. She was a little fussy but I told her "iii o-k baby. iii o-k." as I patted her little tummy.

We also visited the zoo. Yep, best toddler past time in the world. While having a little snack and waiting for the lady to let the Giraffes out (she never did while we were there), we sat outside the Lion pen. He's been a little cranky lately. The Lady Lion had cubs and she hasn't been aloud out in the pen with him for some time now. He roars a lot more now. Well, it doesn't really sound like a ROAR, but here's my best impersonation!

Love till next week! x

Minnesota!

"Cheese"
Girls weekend!

How very lucky were we to get to fly out to Minneapolis to spend a long weekend with Auntie Jessie! THANK YOU JESSIE!!!! I had so much fun at her house... where do I begin?

Well, the airplane was another experience for me. We flew on two planes and Mommy was tempted to get off in Dallas and call it quits but I encouraged her to press on. **Madelyn had a 20 minute (at least) screaming, kicking, arched back tantrum like I've never seen before. Why? Cause she's almost two... The independent stage is hitting us like a giant boulder. Sometimes cute, sometimes not. (Okay, mostly cute ;)

We did so much at Jess's. She took me swimming in her pool. She got Mommy a relaxing massage (while I freaked out in the car due to her sudden disappearance because I was sleeping when she left). We went to a zoo - yes, we love zoos! I got to see Sparky the Sea Lion perform, Polar Bears, a cool butterfly tent, and they even had a Splash Zone! (*** Oh how I wish we could get one of these!!)

My Auntie also had a BBQ with friends. There were 4 other kids for me to play with (ages 5, 3, 22 months, and 21 months). ** Maddy was absolutely a bully. We found her taking food from others and pushing when the toddlers couldn't agree. Being the youngest at a daycare of 2-year-olds I hope we are just learning our bad behaviors early and will outgrow sooner.

"Hi Xavier."

My Auntie's friend Angela taught me a new elephant noise.
I can't quite do it, but it looks something like this....

On the 4th we went to a big parade. After 1.5 hours we left and it was still going... It was a lot of fun! Then we went to a carnival before the fireworks. I got to go on a Carousel with my Auntie and try Cotton Candy for the first time. The fireworks were very exciting - a little loud, but exciting.

Practicing my pageant wave (while eating my sandwich).

Xavier got to watch the fireworks with me. ** All of a sudden I saw this face and heard "Sopping Cart".........

Yes, the girl is obsessed with Shopping Carts!
FIREWORKS!
Yes, I'm using my cool necklace as a teething ring.

I think Minneapolis is a certain repeat. Maybe with Daddy next time. We did have a bit of down time working around my schedule. I carried my poor sleeping to MN with me. Finally, Mommy realized my bottom canine's are coming in and gave me some medicine to help so life has been pretty good since that. On this trip we learned that I am NO WAY ready to be out of my crib (as I do not fall asleep), that I love "Gogurt", that I am VERY attached to Mommy (a little separation anxiety anyone?), and that I think my Auntie is VERY cool. We also learned that I am super excited about the potty and very successful at telling Mommy when I need/want to go - as long as we are at home. **We are not 'officially' potty training, but I think it will come naturally when we do!

We hope all of you are well and enjoy this week's post. Sorry, Mommy couldn't decide which pictures to share and we decided we had to go overboard so Daddy could see it all! Mommy also finally figured out her video mode on her camera! ;) Oh, btw, Mommy has had a full day (and a more successful plane ride home) to not post-pone our trip to SD next month...yet.

Love to you all! x



VIDEOS!!!!!

Splash Zone! Maddy + Water = HAPPY TODDLER!
P.s. You can see her stand up for her bucket in this clip ;)

Parade

"Iceee Keem!" Maddy was totally spoiled with all the sweets while on vacation!

Fireworks! (Pretty dark, but we had to get the reaction on tape for Daddy)