qotd

Maddie was singing Jesus Loves Me and was trying to do the motion for 'love' as she sang. She couldn't quite get it right so she stopped singing and worked really hard to get her arms crossed just right. When she was finally satisfied, she looked down again at her arms, paused a moment, and then her face lit up--"Mommy! It's a pretzel, I made a pretzel!"

blueberry picking

Thursday morning I took Maddie blueberry picking. We met Jonalee and her kids and Amy and her kids there at the farm. I left Caleb with my mom and had some special time with Madeleine. Can I just say she LOVED picking blueberries! We outlasted our friends and stayed well over an hour picking about 6 pounds of blueberries. Maddie stood near me picking "only the blue ones" off the bushes, putting one in her bucket for about every 10 or so she ate. Every now and then I'd hear her humming--"Hmm...hmmmm...hmmm." "What are you humming, Maddie?" "I don't know, a song." It was really cute. She was hot, sweaty and dirty by the end, but even then I had to convince her to go. We took the few berries Maddie had picked over to Carson, who couldn't come with us because he had gotten stitches the night before.

I didn't bring my camera but Jonalee shared this photo with me--thanks! :)

qotd

I don't have a mother because I have a mommy.

...and so the questions begin!

Last night at dinner, "What's in the mustard, Daddy?"

Bubs's update

Caleb went to the doctor for his 12 mos check-up. He did MUCH better than his past few visits to the doctor. His most hated thing has been when our Dr. looks in his ears. Caleb has SCREAMED the past few times (both healthy and sick visits). This time he took it all in stride--he didn't like it, but he didn't cry either. He did cry over his shots, but that would be expected. Poor buddy--one in each leg. It's all for good, though, and much better than the alternative of diseases.

Caleb once again was 75% for height--which he's been pretty consistently from birth. We all know he's not getting that from me! At 23 1/2 pounds, Caleb was between 50 & 75% in weight. I like to joke that that makes him skinny. :) His weight too has been pretty consistent for him, along with his head size which is just a bit above average. All in all he's a healthy boy, for which we're very grateful!

a day at the park

qotd

After knocking at my mom's front door for about 30 seconds without my mom answering, "Mommy, this door is NOT working."

Happy Day!

Happy Birthday, Caleb! We had a fun time celebrating Caleb's first birthday. We had the family over to our house for a cookout out back. As Maddie says, we had "hammembers" and hotdogs. (Susie, if you're reading this, can you send me the family picture we took so I can add it?)

Maddie got to blow out the candle for Caleb. Here she is offering her little "ff."

With a little help from Daddy she finally blew it out! Yay!

Time for cake! ...Do I really have to eat this stuff?

Fine, I'll try it.

Nope, don't like it!
Apparently we don't do first birthday cakes well. Maddie cried over hers and Caleb was not interested in anything but getting out of the high chair.

However, Maddie has since figured out that cake is good!

Besides blowing out the candle, Maddie also got to help open the gifts...

...and play with the toys....

I think Maddie gets two birthdays this year!

Here is Maddie giving Caleb the gift she picked out at the store.

And here's Caleb doing his celebratory birthday stand with Maddie cheering him on.

for moms

(For the moms who peek at my blog, go to our cooking blog for a fun food activity I did with Maddie that you might enjoy doing with your kiddos.)

Li'l Bobe update

Just in the past two weeks Caleb has finally begun to stand up on his own. He's been standing without help, but I mean standing up on his own from the floor without the assistance of objects. He's been very intentional about it, and he is SO pleased with himself when he succeeds--it's really cute to watch.

I think I'm going to stand up.

Here I go!

Woops! That's the wrong way!

Okay, I think I've got it now.

Balance is the key to success!

boxes

This is more than it appears to be! If my children are playing in boxes, it means that I have finally been able to unpack enough that there ARE boxes for my kids to play in!

Where's God?

We were driving home this morning listening to music. Maddie asked what music it was, and I told her it was a song about God. That started her off on conversation with herself that went something like this:
"There's God. I see Him!...Uh oh, where did He go?...I can't see God...where is He?...Oh there He is! I found God!"

qotd

In order for the following to make sense, I have to give a little background. For about 6 months or more, Maddie has been crying whenever she gets her hair washed. We've talked to her a lot about this and tried all sorts of things to help her, all with only periodic successes.

Well, this morning I went to get Maddie from her room. I had recently taken a shower so my hair was still damp. She felt my hair and said, "Oh, you took a bath, Mommy." Then her face lit up, and she leaned forward to give me a hug while she said in an extra encouraging voice, "You didn't cry! Good job, Mommy! You didn't cry!"

carseat driver

I never thought I'd have a backseat driver in a carseat, but I've got one. At two and a half, Maddie is all over the red and green lights. "Stop, Mommy, stop that car! The light, it's red!...Go, go, go, it's green!"

Now she also has to know 'what happened'. The problem is most of the time nothing has happened. Like yesterday we were driving to the store, and as we slowed a bit to let the car in front of us turn into a shopping center, Maddie blurted out,
"What happened?! What happened, Mommy?!"
"The car in front of us is turning into the shopping center."
"Oh, that's awful. Just awful!"

qotd

Yesterday we were celebrating my birthday with my family. We started to eat birthday cake my sister had made, and I said to Maddie, "Do you like the cake?"
"Uh-huh."
"Do you know who made the cake?"
"Uh-huh. Jesus made the cake."

a maddie-ism

I haven't posted one of these in quite some time, but here's one of my current favorites. Often when Caleb fusses Maddie says, "He don't wikes it, Mommy. He don't wikes it."

a special treat?

After I had Caleb, my mother-in-law gave me this workout video in good humor that she picked up at a consignment store for a quarter. For some reason I never threw it out and it sat around in our videos and dvds. I scanned the cover for you so you could get an idea as to what it's like...think 1991 with leotards, big hair, really bad computer graphics and girls named 'Coral' and 'Chelsea.'

Well, one afternoon a few months ago when I was tired and the kids were cranky, I was desperate--I saw the video sitting there in the pile and I threw it in on a whim hoping it might occupy Maddie. Well, that began "The Mommies and the Kids" craze. Maddie LOVES this video...and frankly it drives me crazy! The lady has got some good ideas, but, among other things, as a workout it has got to be the WORST workout I've ever seen. However, she has succeeded in capturing Maddie's attention with her rhymes and active adventures for Maddie to participate in.

All this long background is leading up to something...another fun quote of Maddie's. I threw a huge yardsale this morning and carted the leftovers to the consignment store, and I am tired! I said to Maddie a few minutes ago, "Maddie, how about a video?" She not surprisingly replied, "The 'Mommies and the Kids!'" I said okay, and she threw her hands together with excitement and said, "Oh! This is such a treat for me! It's such a treat, Mommy!"

family

Recently Braden and I stopped over at his uncle's on our way to a conference. We enjoyed visiting with them and seeing their new house. Thad and Louise, thanks for your hospitality!

Here are the ladies on the laptops.

Louise and Tarrah

Thad's a little hard to get in a photo.

But we got him in the end! :)

the terwit

Maddie was sitting on the potty and her skirt began to slip down into the bowl. She quickly grabbed it and said, "Help, Mommy! My skirt, it's falling into the terwit!"

qotd

Co-co, Braden's parents' dog, was chasing Maddie and licking her--which she does not like. Maddie said, "No licking, Co-co! Mommy Co-co lick me on my back, on my side of my shoulder!"

asleep and awake

Maddie just came home from spending 2 nights with her grandparents. I picked her up this morning and as usual she was rambling on about her time away. She told me that Gair was asleep still and so was Tarrah and Granny. Then she began to count on her fingers as she said, "Maddie is awake, Caleb is awake, Bubbi is awake, Poppop is awake, see three things!" Of course it was 4 and not 3, but it's fun watching her try to make sense of things.

namecalling

Maddie has two cousins named Greer and McLaren, both family last names. They were just here visiting again, and I realized Maddie was having a little trouble processing the fact that her last name is the same as her cousin's first name when she began calling both girls "the McLarens." Well, today in the car out of nowhere she says, "My name is Greer. The big one, hers is Greer too." I guess she's been thinking things through!

snaggletooth

I've been trying to catch a picture of Caleb's new tooth. When he smiles you can see his snaggletooth. He is following in Maddie's footsteps by cutting his bottom two teeth first and then--instead of his upper two teeth--he is cutting the two teeth on either side. Some of you might remember our Christmas cards in 2005 featuring Maddie and 'all she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth' (which she got by the way, right around the new year)...


Well I've been trying to catch Caleb smiling--and I did...just without showing teeth.


I finally caught a picture with a glimpse of his teeth. You might want to click on it to enlarge it to really see the teeth. I'm hoping to get a really good photo when both are well in.

forgotten quote from the beach

One of the days we were there, we were out on the patio in the evening and I asked Maddie what she did earlier when we were down on the beach. "I played in the sand and the big water!"

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This morning I heard Maddie holler from the potty: Hey, Mommy, I looking at a maddiekeen! (That would be 'magazine.')

family photos from the beach

With a 2 year old and a 10 month old, we had to set our expectations low. :) We are pretty pleased with these two photos.

Well, all we can say is we gave it our best shot...

And what would a photo session on the beach be without some bad pictures! Here's one of the best of the worst.