Scary

Well this weekend was certainly an eventful one. Daddy left for camping Friday evening for Jason's birthday-along with most of our local friends. Madison and Mommy went to Gymboree for open play with Spencer, Ryan, and Caleb- then enjoyed dinner with the crew. When we got home the fun began. Mommy lost part of her mucus plug and started having minor contractions. The doctor said to monitor the contractions to make sure there weren't 6 an our and everything would be ok. Of course Mommy was scared. Luckily her great friend Megan Snee was home and happy to be of assistance. She was so great while Daddy was gone- calming Mommy down with kind and reassuring words. Neither Madison, nor Mommy slept well Friday night (maybe Madison sensed Mommy's worry- or maybe she's just in the midst of terrible twos and teething....Hmmmm) Saturday everything seemed ok, but Mommy was stubborn as usual and vacuum and steam cleaned the whole house as previously planned. Sierra was a bad girl- another story entirely and Madison refused to nap. Needless to say, Mommy was VERY happy when Daddy decided to cut his camping trip short and come home Saturday afternoon.
Sunday morning Mommy woke up and could barely move her muscles were so sore everywhere. We go to the doctor tomorrow for a checkup to make sure everything is A-OK.
Keep praying Miss Pickle keeps cooking, and Miss Madison starts sleeping again!

A day at the Farm

Yesterday Madison went to Underwood Farm with Spencer, Ryan, and Caleb. We had such an amazing time feeding the animals, picking strawberries, and running around playing. Madison was so proud of herself after she gave the pony a carrot, she turned around and said, 'dood job', and clapped.

The farm is a local farm/ranch where you can pick your own produce. Apparently it has changed quite a bit over the years as a new owner took over. The prices aren't so great for picking all produce anymore, but the animals and new kid section are GREAT. They even have wooden wagons to pull the kids around the big fields. Plus children under 2 are FREE! Can't beat that. We picked our own strawberries for $1.99/lb- a steal of a deal compared to our local markets.

Most importantly Madison had a great time with her friends. Here are a few of our favorite photos since (as usual) photobucket is working for me. Arg! Madison is riding in the wagon with Spencer's cousin, Caleb. Spencer is picking strawberries with his mommy, Megan. Madison had a great time climbing the big tower of hay bails too!

Flashback

I was going thru old pictures today during nap time and stumbled on this one. I don't remember seeing it before, but I took it- so what does that say? HA

This photo was taken last fall, September 27th. Madison was a little over a year old. Look at what a big Georgia fan she was! She has the #1 and big yell down pat! Too funny. This fall should be an adventure with the addition of our newest little bulldog. Can't wait!

Madison is 20 months old

Every month we talk about how much the Doodle has grown. This month is no different. She is changing and growing up like crazy. Her vocabulary continues to impress us everyday. Most everyone we come in contact with now talks about how much Madison talks. Looks like we have a little chatter box on our hands!
All day long she walks around asking me where things went. Daddy comes home for lunch and when he leaves she walks around looking for him with her arms out in question and saying, 'Where's Daddy, where's Daddy?'. Then she asks , 'Where's Dem?' (Gramm) and has now learned the answer to the question 'At her house'. So she says, 'Where's Dem? House.' It's great, she even answers her own questions now. tee hee
She is growing nicely too. Still in size 4 diapers- and we are not planning to potty train until after the baby is born. She does tell us after she poops though. She usually wakes up from her nap and points to her pants saying, 'Poop'. Most of her clothes are 24 months now, although a few of her 18 month outfits still work. Not quite to that 2t mark yet.
She LOVES playing in her new backyard oasis. We have all sorts of great toys out there, from her pool, to her sandbox, to her little tool bench. Unfortunately on a windy day her boat pool we used to fill with balls (like a ball pit) flew to the back of the yard and had a little encounter with a cactus. There were too many holes to patch so we had to 'retire' that one. She doesn't seem to miss it though. Now her balls fill the blow up car they came with and she is fine with that.
Transition to the big girl bed is still going well. Whe put a baby gate up at her door and when she wakes up she just stands at the gate saying, 'Mommy Up, Mommy Up' until I let her out. We're still working on teaching Madison Mommy can't pick her up anymore. It's a slow learning process for both of us. More often than not I just give in. Our big girl doesn't like to rock at night anymore, she just runs down the hall at bed/nap time and says, 'Ni Ni Bed' and climbs in to bed. Kind of sad missing out on that cuddle time, but we have Miss Pickle to rock for months to come!
Madison also learned to climb in and out of her high chair, and into the car (with a little help usually). Just this week she started climbing into her car seat too. This is all great news as Mommy is just getting bigger and bigger it continues to put more strain on Miss Pickle to lift Madison. It's wonderful that she is embracing her independence...we'll see if Mommy and Daddy still feel this way about Independence as we continue to approach the terrible twos!

Great Grandma

Madison's Great Grandma Lackey (Mommy's paternal Grandma) passed away this morning. She was in her 80's and had cancer. She's been very sick the last several months and now isn't hurting anymore. Here is a picture of Madison when she was smaller with her Great Grandma. We hope she is with the angels in Heaven now.

Madison and her 'Siser'

Madison already loves her baby sister. She sits on her daily- NOT fun for Mommy. The best part is, when you point to Mommy's tummy and ask Madison who's there she regularly says 'Siser' now. She only used to do it if we showed her bare skin. Thankfully she learned the trick with Mommy's shirt down too. She loves to kiss her sister, but insists on bare skin for that one.

Notice Madison's rose bush outside her window is blooming like crazy.

Pickle- 22 weeks

Mommy and Pickle are growing away. Only 18 weeks until her due date. For those keeping up...we are still working on names. The current top three are Bailey, Charlotte, and Kennedy. Potential Middle names are Grace and Mae.

She's an active little girl-kicking and wiggling around like crazy. Is this an indication of things to come? If so, she'll be an active child just like her Daddy!

Pool Day!

Today was a nice warm day. By that I mean, not too hot, but hot enough to play in the pool. I cleaned it out this morning and Madison helped me refill it. She got to wear her new bathing suit and swim hat while playing in the water today. She had so much fun with her 'rain', which is what she calls the water coming out of the hose. Oh, and she decided to put her adirondack chair in the pool to sit down while she played. Princess of the Pool! Looking forward to summer and more lazy outside days.

Kate's Chuckie Cheese Birthday

Sunday we went to Chuckie Cheese to help Kate celebrate her 4th birthday. Hard to believe Miss Kate is so BIG now! Madison had a great time watching the 'mouse' (Chuckie Cheese) walk around and tell all the birthday kids to have a happy day. She LOVED playing skee ball with Daddy. He let her walk up the ramp and put the balls in the holes. Luckily she could only reach the very bottom numbers so even though she was clearly cheating- no one had a fit over it. Daddy is such a bad influence. All and all it was a great day of playing. Happy 4th, Kate!

Gymboree

Last week Gymboree opened a new play place at our mall. To celebrate they had free classes and free 'free play' all week. Madison took 3 classes with her friend Spencer Snee. Music Tuesday, Art Wednesday, and Core Friday. Ryan joined us Friday at Core too. Friday was by far the best day for all the kids. They LOVED running around the main gym, playing with bubbles, the parachute, and of course Gymbo the clown. Madison had a really great time in Art class too. We finger painted and played with cars in the rice table. It was such a great week- we decided to try it out for a month. Our Core play class starts next week. Stay tuned for more photos of play time.

Big Girl!

Since Mommy is no longer allowed to pick up Madison and we needed to start the transition soon anyway, Madison got her new big girl bed this weekend! Daddy went and picked it up Saturday and we put it together after nap time. Madison had great fun 'helping' and could not wait to 'dump' aka JUMP on the bed when we were finished! Note: she also has foam paint brushes in her hands. She was 'painting' with her dry brush all over her bed as we were putting it together.

Thus far we've had one night and one nap in the new bed. She transitioned like a star! We removed anything (or put it out of reach) that might be a problem if she gets up in the middle of the night, crayons, nice books, q-tips, etc...We also put a baby gate at her door in case she wakes up and decides to go roaming. No worries thus far. When she wakes up she gets out of bed and stands at the gate making a little noise until we go get her. We moved her Laugh and Learn kitchen and some other toys into her room in case she decides she just needs to play in the middle of the night. Better to have toys than go hunting for mischeif!

Gramm ordered Madison's new bedding before she left town and it should be here late this week. For now we are just using warm blankets for our cool nights. We'll be sure to post more pics when all the linens are changed over. I can't believe our little girl is in a BIG girl bed already!

Mommy has to rest

Mommy went to an unscheduled doctor's appointment today because she had unfamiliar pain and muscle cramping in her lower abdomen. The doctor completed an exam and a few quick tests to rule out any big problems. THe good news is no labor- cervix in tact, no infections, Pickle has a great heartbeat, etc. The bad news, the verdict is NO MORE picking up Madison and rest all weekend. No standing, walking, lifting, moving stuff, you get the point. Actually the doctor said- no lifting Madison, no cooking, no shopping, no re-arranging, no Super Momming. We'll re-evaluate early next week if the pain is still there. Looks like we may be on a mission to get Madison her toddler bed earlier than we thought!
Keep us in your prayers!!

'Dem' Comes to Town

Gramm came to town Wednesday after Easter for her Spring Break visit. Madison had a little trouble saying Gramm so she calls her 'Dem' for now. When Gramm first came to town Madison's congestion in her nose got worse and she woke up in the night crying because she couldn't breathe. Gramm got to meet Madison's favorite pediatrician, Dr Pattan when we took her in Friday to find out she has Rinusitis (sp?). After a few days of antibiotics and decongestant Madison was back to her running, dancing, jumping, and singing self.

Madison had a great time playing in the new turtle sandbox Gramm got for her. She really likes it when 'Dem' makes 'eggs' by filling a bucket with sand and turning it over. I guess because eggs are fresh in her head from Easter, Madison thought the round sand bucket looked like an egg.

One of her favorite night time activites was snuggling with Gramm at night watching 'Cindewadi' (Cinderella). Of course, Madison must have her 'Horsie' with her at all times these days-one of the two My Little Pony horsies Aunt Abby and Uncle Daniel got her for her birthday.

Madison was excited to go back to the airport and see all the 'Panes', but as soon as Gramm closed the car door Madison started crying, 'Where's Dem, where's dem' half way home. She asked all afternoon and evening. She's so confused by the whole leaving process. Thankfully we'll be back with 'Dem' in June when we fly to FL for Daniel's wedding.