The Latest News!

Well, we just haven't gotten around to posting a blog about it, but I am now 13+ weeks pregnant! We're very excited, most of all Madelyn. When she learned that there was a baby in Mama's tummy, she thought about it for just a few seconds before kissing up my belly. She has been crawling into bed early (!) in the morning to whisper little messages to her baby brother or sister, and has already decided that she would like to be called "Sis" when the baby is born.

Mike will tell you that this picture just shows my Thai food dinner, but from my perspective, this baby popped out fairly early. They say that's the way of #2s... Early pregnancy has been pretty mild, not much sickness, and not feeling as wiped out as I did when pregnant with Madelyn. I'm thinking it's because the last two-3 years has taught me to function with a pretty high level of exhaustion, so it's all become normal:)

Due date is at the end of June, which should get me though the school year, and perhaps a few months off in the fall!

Christmas business

What fun to have Grandma Jude, Grandpa Jeff, and Unkie David in the holiday mix! We've been BUSY, to say the least. Madelyn is perfectly content to stay in jammies all day and play inside with her new-found captive audience. Library story-time, art openings, cookie baking, swimming at the rec center, airport trips, holiday lunch, new toys, etc.

Holidays!

Happy Solstice, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza and Festivus to all! Lisa's folks and brother are here for a Holiday visit. Maddie has had lots of fun hanging with them and showing them the local hot spots, like storytime at the library, the local sledding hills, playgrounds, rec center ect.

Here is some footage of Maddie and her sister "Ella"! They are reading a book together and chatting with G'ma.

Another of Maddie and her new matching/memory game!

More to come later!

The world of pretend!

Madelyn has been in the world of pretend for quite some time, but we are noticing her imaginary play become even more creative and entertaining (for us!). This first picture is of Madelyn waiting at the "airport" with her luggage... she's headed to Mexico! She would walk into the living room (Mexico) and announce, "Hello Mexico!" To which the only proper response from us was "Hola Maddie!" We heard all about how heavy her luggage was, what she packed, what she would do in Mexico... Can't wait to ACTUALLY go to Mexico with this kid, she apparently knows how to travel!!


Her favorite thing to do with blocks and leggos is not to build, but to pretend that they are other things. This next clip is of Madelyn directing (!!) the creation of some dinner pies. This is clearly a girl with VISION that can not be swayed by anyone or thing! It's a long one, but I was entertained so I thought you might be too...


And, at random, here's a picture of Madelyn all bundled up in her snow clothes, ready for a night-time sledding adventure around the block. How in the world did MY child end up so pink!??!

Week (or so) in review

Whew, that week got away from me! I went to put pictures on the blog and saw some from T-day weekend that hadn't quite made it yet.

We've had great snow in the past week - Madelyn went sledding with her friends Leah and Benji over T-day weekend. And, we got out and about one night around the neighborhood via sled to scout holiday lights. They're just starting to trickle on around here...




Michael and Madelyn set up the Christmas tree this week - it was fun to look through all of the ornaments and find all of our personal favorites and tell Maddie the stories behind them. Most have come from Michael's grandma, and a few are from my childhood. My current favorite is a cardboard tree that my brother made at age 5 - it's decorated with random uncooked pasta squiggles (featured in the bottom of the picture of Madelyn with tree). There appear to be a few missing, which make me think that one of us picked them off and crunched them up as a kid:) LOVE that "genre" of Christmas ornaments!



Other big news - we said goodbye to our little Lady Bug (Subaru Impreza)... the first item of joint ownership we ever had, before we were even married! Alas, it was too small for us at this point in life, and starting down the slippery slope of becoming a money pit. Michael did a load of research and came up with a beauty - a 2009 black Subaru Forester! Needless to say, we feel like it's a MASSIVE upgrade, stylish beyond reason! Oh so spacious and sleek looking! WIll get pictures up at some point...

2 and a half more weeks of school until Break! Let the countdown begin!

A partial snow day!

Today we had a partial snow-day, unheard of in these parts! Kelly kids (and teachers) were sent home early due to a TON of snow up North - they were afraid we'd get stuck if we didn't leave early, and that's just no way to start the Thanksgiving break! Things weren't quite as nasty in town, but there's still quite a bit of snow.

After a little snow play this afternoon, we came in and had hot chocolate - Madelyn was besides herself, what a TREAT!;) The hermit crabs are home for the vacation and Madelyn's happy to have them visit again. They're not going to know what hit them- only 2 hours in our house and she's redone their tank, taken them out for play time, and asked to feed them about every little crumb she comes across!

What a performer!

Madelyn had an evening full of performing last night... she gave a piano concert, a puppet show, and then gave each stuffed animal a personal concert and lessons in clapping. Busy, but self entertained!

My favorite part in this clip is Madelyn personalizing each song for her animals - the doggy got "Bingo," Madelyn told Bunny that she new a song about getting carrots at the store, and Moose got a Papa moose song and clapping lessons with hooves. They were a great audience!

Back up and at 'em.

Have been out for the last week or so with a nasty cold... 17 conferences and a few nights of little sleep knocked me out and down I went. Mike and Madelyn were busy being super-heros to the sick these past few days...chicken soup, putting mama to bed early, lots of nap time...! Sorry no blog posts grandparents...

During that time, Laura and baby Catherine visited!! I was sorry I couldn't love them up properly, but it certainly didn't stop Madelyn - Woolfy, I hope you two made it home germ-free!! What a treat to get to visit, even in a sickened state. Madelyn could not get enough of Cate, she had been talking about exactly which blanket she would offer to Cate, what toys we might want to put out for their visit, etc. Not many pictures of the last week, but here are a few of Madelyn doing her best to manhandle Catherine into the bumbo!

Madelyn is "Star of the Week" at school this week. She gets to tell every on about her family and pets, likes, etc. Here she is posing with her pets, for the picture wall.


This morning Madelyn came waddling into our bedroom at 3:30 in the morning, peeping. I asked her what she was saying and she squeaked, "I'm a baby dinosaur!" and crawled into bed with us for the rest of the night. The 3:30am visits are tough, and we've never been great co-sleepers, but one of those moments I wouldn't trade for the world:)

Domino Fun

Madelyn pulled out her dominos tonight and had fun playing with Michael! I took a big long video of it for you grandparents... the word "fragile" is obviously something Madelyn hears frequently, as in, "please don't bang on that, it's fragile...." Those little sponges!

Goo-goo goggles!

I just took the quietest bath I've ever experienced with Madelyn! Because... she had on her goggles and was under the water for the majority of the time! We were at the pool a few days ago and a generous little girl let Madelyn try on her goggles - she was HOOKED! Michael brought home a pair as a surprise tonight, and right into the tub we went.

Here are a few family portraits of the last few days...

Halloween 2010

Well, at the last minute, I decided to take Madelyn out trick-or-treating, even though she has no candy concept associated with the holiday. I packed a few "treats" (fruit leather and Laura Bars) in my pocket and we went to two neighbors. I quickly passed off our treats to them as soon as the door opened so that they could fill Maddie's bag up with delicious and nutritious treats. I know, this will be something she moans about when she's older, but so it is. She did manage to get one sour ball in her bag at Josh's house...knowing her tastes, she'll probably take one lick and spit it out!

Pumpkins and Snow play

This week brought snow! It snowed on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and has been bright and beautiful of the later half of the week. Here are a few movies of the week - Madelyn playing in her "new" snow clothes for the first time (yikes, pink?!), and the evolution of our pumpkin. Sorry, little editing, I just put it all out there.

Mike and I were both out with nasty bouts of the stomach bug, and through it all, Madelyn was a huge helper! She went to bed early with no fuss, and kindly asked every morning if we were feeling better and if "our tummies were still ouchy?" A trooper to say the least!

Play date with Tate!

Madelyn was eagerly anticipating a morning with her buddy Tate... she was waiting by the window for a good half-hour before he arrived. The two immediately went downstairs and did some serious jumping on the bed! We went for a nice long walk, played on the bike, visited the neighbor's back-hoe (of particular interest to Tate) and worked up quite a thirst!






After a long nap for both Madelyn and Mama, we went swimming! Madelyn has been away from the pool all summer because it's just too nice to be indoors. We got wet last week, and this week, Madelyn was a converted fish! She's now throwing herself underwater and "swimming," excited to launch off our legs into deep water and see how far she gets, and to do the little slide by herself. Did I write this last week? I can't remember:) Needless to say, Madelyn zonked out early today!

Granite Hot Springs!

I must have forgotten to upload last weekend's post! We went to Granite Hot Springs! It's about an hour drive South of town and down a long bumpy road... and SO worth it! We got there at about 10:00 am and although it was a blue-sky day, there was still a bit of frosty nip in the air - perfect for soaking! The Springs are up against the mountain side - I tried to get pictures, but the steam made it hard to see. They overlook some beautiful scenery as well.

Madelyn was feeling very independent, and enjoyed roaming the shallow end with a found "floaty turtle." Our friend Megan came with us too - we all hopped out for a delicious gourmet picnic (still in wet suits) before one last final soak. We will certainly be going back more often! It's open all year round, but in the winter you have to ski, snow mobile, or dog sled in. Could be worth the adventure...!

Pumpkins!

It's that time of year again, Pumpkin's on the Town Square! Every year one of the local elementary schools puts out hundreds of pumpkins for sale as a fund raiser and I can't resist the photo op and fun:) Here's Madelyn scoping out the perfect pumpkin.



Of course, we had to make an event of it, so we walked to the park and caught the bus from there (walking to the park gives us a whole extra stop to enjoy the bus ride!). Here we are at the bus stop -Madelyn is modeling her new winter hat that Mama knit... it's a bit big, in fact it fits everyone in the family!

A Fall Play Day

Fall fun in the park with Leah today!

Harvest Fest

Last weekend we went to Harvest Fest - lots of local farmer vendors, hand made items, and local restaurants featuring some delicious food. Here's Madelyn painting a pumpkin, and loving up her buddy Tate (she watched Tate get his face painted like a lion and had to have the same as well!)

A fiddler in the making!

Last night we went to the Shuptrine's for a garden celebration, and our little friend Flynn gave Maddie his tiny violin!! What a great gift! Flynn's parents assured me it wasn't more than a few bucks on e-bay, so we need not worry about Madelyn's handling of it... that said, it looks and sounds great for a beginner's instrument! Flynn put a sticky note on the case reminding Madelyn to rosin her bow before playing, and just now in our last little "jam session," Madelyn has rosined at least 3 times! Too much fun to watch her play and make up songs!








Here are also some pictures from a fun time last night. Madelyn and Flynn were kindred spirits in playing with the hoses and tempting fate with the sprayers!