Happy Birthday Miss Maddy

Happy 4th Birthday Madison!

Maddy was sure happy to see Kaylee. And as much as she loves her little cousin, she said she didn't want to trade her for her baby brother.

Look Who's Two!

Happy Birthday Maddy!

Little Tikes

We're heading north again this weekend for Madison's birthday. That in itself should be a fun time. She's grown a lot over the last year and its been a blast seeing what she's been learning. In fact, one of her new favorite things is to "call" people on her cell phone. It's pretty darn cute to see her call Jackson and see what he's been doing.

Speaking of Jackson...do to busy schedules and being sick, we haven't had a chance to see the little guy in awhile. The little man is just over 3 months old. With those baby blue eyes, I think he's going to be quite the charmer!

Who's Walking Who?

Lucky for us, we've got the the cutest little dog walker to take care of Abbey while we're gone...


I'm not sure where she get's her sense of style, but I guess a farmgirl has to have her carhart jacket, hunting hat, Hello Kitty boots, and Dora sunglasses :)

A favorite photo for Friday

What to title this photo? Great Minds Think Alike? We're Number One? The possibilities are endless.




Most of our friends have probably seen this on Facebook, but I thought why not share it with the rest of the world too? Believe it or not, Ron is not the mastermind behind this nose-picking shot. He's just taking the lead from his niece. We really need to teach her something else...

So Sweet

Cute kids at our Christmas gathering at Melissa and Erik's yesterday...

I Don't Know

Christmas Day

Christmas day we headed north to my folks house. We got there just in time see my cousins and aunt and uncle. As we were pulling in the drive, my dad was taking the girls and Madison out for a snowmobile ride. Unlike Champaign that was covered in ice when we left, Morrison had lots of snow - perfect for taking out mom's new ride. We had plenty of fun on that in the couple of days we were there.

Madison, Papa, Cassidy and Corrina

Opening gifts was a lot of fun with Madison this year. She was very good at opening, although most of the time, she just wasn't sure what she was getting, but that didn't matter, she loved it all! If I can ever get my sister to update her blog (hint, hint), I'm sure there will be lots of photos and maybe even a video of Madison when she found out that Santa ate her cookies. Too cute.

Carefully opening

Trying out her new plastic food.

Telling her mom to "Get Out" of her new house.

We''ll head to Bloomington on Friday to have a mini-Christmas with Melissa, Erik, and Jackson. I'm sure we'll have lots more to share....but we're so lucky to have such a wonderful family to spend Christmas eve and Christmas day with. The gifts we received were great, but the time spent with the ones we love was wonderful!

Halloween Flashback

I suppose since Halloween was last week I had better share our trick or treat stories before they go out of style.

While at home, the girls took off Sunday afternoon for "The Great Pumpkin Patch" in a neighboring town. Needless to say, we were a little disappointed in its greatness. We really didn't need to buy pumpkins since my parents have their own pumpkin patch and it had been picked clean of the miniature pumpkins, squash, indian corn, popcorn, and of course the gigantic pumpkins we could hardly lift.


Maddy's pumpkin she picked out at Grandma's

But, the Great Pumpkin Patch promised a petting zoo, train rides, maze, haunted house, and more. Well, we were more than disappointed. The train wasn't working and the petting zoo consisted of 2 alpacas, a pony, 3 goats, 2 rabbits, 6 ducks, and a some turkeys. We did get to check some pumpkins out on hayracks and catch a few cute snapshots of Maddy in a little truck. Did I mention the wind was blowing 40+ mph. We didn't stay too long.

Looking at the goats
I think next year we'll have to check out the pumpkin patch Jen and family visited. It looks very cool.

Madison helped me carve some pumpkins for Grandma's house Monday night. Later in the week I carved one for Melissa (she's not allowed to use sharp knives anymore)and baby Jackson who's expected around Christmas. I don't think they turned out too bad.

Getting the icky stuff out

Pumpkins for Jackson, Aunt Kelly, and Madison
And last but not least the Halloween costumes -- cutest goes to Madison in her sweet little kitty costume.

Cute little kitty and Grandpa

Taking a Ride Tuesday

Melissa, Maddy, and Erik taking a ride over the weekend...


"Wave at Grandma"

Fun with Maddy

The weekend wasn't all work and no play. We got plenty of quality time in with Madison. She's growing so fast! She loves to play outside and will take every chance she gets to go to her swingset or sandbox. She definitely understands when you tell her to get her shoes so we can go play outside -- no need to ask twice!

Lots of Maddy photos from the weekend --

We also got to see her follow along with Barney singing the "Itsy-bitsy Spider Song". She's getting it - not to bad for a 14 month old! Sorry its sideways -- I have to figure out how I can rotate it.

Tea Party Anyone?

I couldn't resist posting these pictures. My mom emailed some photos this afternoon of my dad and Madison having a tea party......that's right my dad (referred to as Big Dave by my friends) had a tea party. Let's reiterate..big, tough, farmer Dave was playing make believe. I'd say Madison has done a pretty good job of wrapping Grandpa around her little fingers.....wouldn't you agree? It's still pretty cute though!

Madison's birthday photo book

Lots of photos were taken at Madison's birthday party, but here is a sampling of some favorites.

Happy Birthday Madison!

Madison turns 1 today! Look how big our little niece has grown!

Let them eat cake

When we got to Morrison, Madison and Stacy were at Grandma and Grandpa's which is great, because we haven't seen them since Christmas. Maddy has grown so much! Not only is she walking, but she has definite opinions about wanting to do things herself, and she's developing her own personality.

It was pretty relaxing Friday night - playing in the living room, watching some basketball, and we also had some cake for dessert. Maddy and I shared a piece, and Stacy was more than happy to catch the event on camera. As you'll be able to tell, the cake was pretty good, but the frosting was even better.

Ask and You Shall Receive

I've had a request for a Madison photo...here's two of the latest. What a big girl - first helping grandpa feed one of the calves and then with her "new do"