Madeline's First 5 Years

Okay so I know it's been way too long since I have posted anything, I've gotten sucked into the Facebook vortex and have been failing to post anything on my blog so I apologize.  But here is a little tribute to Madeline and her first 5 years!  It was really hard but I chose some of my favorite pictures of her from birth to present so I hope you enjoy!  The very first picture is from the sonogram we had when I was about 20 weeks pregnant and the last picture is from the day of her 5th birthday!  I can hardly believe how big she is and can't begin to put into words the immeasurable joy she has brought to our lives.

A Big Surprise

At least once a day I hear, "I want my grandma."  It usually comes after I've told one of the girls they can't do something they want to do or to do something they don't want to do, but a lot of times it just comes out of the blue without anything to prompt them but just their longing for her.  So when my mom called to tell me when she was coming to visit Brett and I decided that we weren't going to tell the girls.  One because I just thought it would be a really fun surprise but two because I didn't want to hear every hour for the next 3 weeks, "is it almost time for grandma to be here?" and all the other impatient questions along those lines.  

At the beginning of the week I told the girls that there was going to be a very big surprise at the end of the week and we needed to work really hard to get the house cleaned and picked-up.  The girls were very excited and of course wanted to know what it was - a new necklace? new barrettes? new headbands? - wow was their world going to be rocked.  Mom got in late last night and the girls were already asleep when I got her back to the house.  So Brett and I went into the girls' room this morning to wake them up and get them dressed for church and well, here's the video:

It wasn't quite the response we thought we would get, but the girls were still half asleep from being up late last night and the hour time change but truthfully I was so excited about them seeing her that I couldn't wait for them to be more awake.  Later this morning Madeline said to me, "Wow mom that was a great surprise!"

Mom got to come to church with us the morning which was so fun to have her there and introduce her to our amazing church family!  The weather is beautiful so after church we came home and had some outdoor activity time before lunch and now Grandma is listening to story time before we all go down for naps.  Below is a picture of Grandma and the girls with the tiaras the girls made.  Grandpa don't you worry, there's a visor already in Grandma's suitcase for her to bring home to you!

Obviously with Grandma here there will be lots of pictures to come and I hope to do a couple posts while she's here so that Grandpa can keep up and live vicariously through them because we love and miss him tons too!   Can't wait for the day when ALL my family gets to come out here.

A Valiant Effort!

I often find myself thinking, "I need to apologize to my parents for putting them through this." Monday night was one of those nights.  It began as soon as I pulled the chinese take-out out of the bag and Ella watched as I prepared her plate with Sweet and Sour Chicken and some Vegetable Lo Mein, complete with a single broccoli floret.  The moment she saw it come out of the box and make its way to the plate she made it quite clear to me that she had no intention of eating it.  Mind you that a little over a week ago she ate a full serving with not so much as a word about it.  But not this night.  No, this night, as the three of us girls sat down to eat, Ella broadcast to anyone who would listen that she did not want to eat her broccoli.  I did my best to not give her the "you will because I say you will and you're not getting down until you do now suck it up and eat that one stupid piece" line, but after the 6th or 7th announcement of her refusal she got it.  Of course, that tender little heart of hers was broken and the waterworks started.  Then what's that I hear?  The jingle of keys, the turn of the lock . . . IT'S DADDY!  I was more excited than the girls on this particular night as he is the professional in handling such matters.  And after her first informative statement of unwillingness to eat it, daddy echoed my "suck it up."   And then it came, the greatest line of all time, the line I wish I could have coined as my own, one I wish I had thought of as a kid . . . are you ready for it?  So Ella looks at daddy, her misty puppy dog little eyes and in her soft sweet voice declares, "I can't, my mouth is too tired."  I couldn't help it, I had to laugh and was seriously considering letting her win this battle.  Then daddy reminded her of what usually happens in these circumstances - mommy goes to work, Madeline and daddy eat their dinner and go upstairs to play and have fun while Ella sits at the table alone and inevitably ends up eating whatever it is she has decided she doesn't want to.  So with that very reasonable reminder she picks up that one little piece of broccoli puts it in her mouth chews it and looks to me waiting for praise and adoration.  Are you kidding me?  Daddy's home for 2 minutes and he has her eating the single piece of broccoli I have been listening to her declare abstinence from for the last 28 minutes!  A valiant effort was made by all that night but alas daddy was the victor!

Mommy's Little Helper

The last week or so Ella has been such a good helper.  Each morning when I'm emptying the dishwasher she comes to ask if she can help so we usually pull up a chair to the silverware drawer and she helps put them away.  When she's done with that she asks me to start the water and put in the soap so she can put the clothes in the washing machine for me.  It's great not only to have the help but she doesn't expect anything in return for it and often when she asks to help it prompts Madeline to do the same.

Fun times with Jude and Tirzah!

I continue to enjoy more and more our Wednesday morning playtime/mommy alone time with Miss Rebekah, Tirzah and Jude.  It's so fun to watch the kids' friendships grow and of course I deeply appreciate the time I get to myself every other week.  The weather was finally nice enough for us to play outside this past week.  The kids had a great time playing golf and tee ball.

Just needs to straighten that left arm a bit and she's got herself a good start to a great back swing.  Now daddy needs to work on her club selection a bit.

A nice little chip shot - with his driver - good form but again we need to work on his club selection.

Ella was all decked-out for the outting in her finest - because anytime is the perfect time for princess attire.  She apparently is anticipating only hitting home runs given her shoe selection.

Another great attire and shoe choice by Tirzah.

Then on Saturday the aquarium was offering its members a free viewing of the new IMAX movie "Under the Sea in 3D".  The girls and I met up with Rebekah and the kids and enjoyed a very cool movie.  It was fun to watch the kids interact with the 3D images, plus they looked SO cool in their 3D glasses.

Atlanta Zoo

Last weekend the girls and I joined Brett in Atlanta for a practice management conference he had.  We got up early Saturday morning and were on the road by 6:30!  The girls were great on the trip down there (still pretty sleepy but never did go back to sleep).  We dropped daddy off at the hotel where we would be staying later and where his conference was being held.  The girls and I ventured to Target to get come snacks for our trip to the zoo as well as a notepad and some cool pencils to draw and write about all the things we would see at there!  We arrived at the zoo around 10:30 or so and didn't get back to the hotel until around 4:00.  It was such a beautiful day and with as cold as the past couple of weeks had been it was so nice to be outside all day!  Here are some pictures from our adventures there at the zoo.  Again, there's lots of pictures and some lengthy captions so you might want to use some manual controls on the slideshow.

Kung Fu Madeline

Madeline loves to "practice" in her "fighting robe."  This keeps her busy for a good 30 - 45 minutes each day, at least she's getting her exercise.  As you will see in the video it is becoming quite apparent that she has her white momma's vertical!