Hanging out on break!

Madelyn and Lisa have been having lots of fun these last two weeks! Here is a picture of Madelyn meeting Mom's guitar for the first time - Madelyn was excited to strum along and beat the drums on the side of the guitar.

This is a picture of Madelyn this morning... she has become quite the reader in the last week or so, pulling books off the shelf and sitting down to read them by herself! This morning she couldn't decide which book to read first, so we read a handful of favorites all at once! Top picks this week: Peek-a-boo You and 10 Little Ladybugs (Thank you G'ma and G'pa Sula!) Madelyn goes for these two every time - she knows which ones they are on the bookshelf from the spine alone!

Fav Holiday Picture...

For those of you who don't make it to 3's Company blog too often, here is our favorite holiday picture, taken by Jess (who takes care of Maddie and Co three days a week...) Sorry Jess, I had to steal it right off of your site.

Wyatt, Maddie, and Sita... all chalked full of personality!

Happy Holidays!

What a fun day we had! We woke up to LOTS of snow, which continued to fall all day. Unfortunately, that meant we didn't make it to Mike and Jess' house for Christmas dinner, but we did have some fun of our own. After opening presents, we got out on a great walk... Madelyn sporting her new fleece body-suite that Santa brought. Michael made an apple-raspberry pie which we will dig into as soon as I finish posting this, and we lit the Swedish Angel Chimes that remind Lisa so much of holidays at home (note: next to the chimes is Lisa's make-shift menorah). We got to chat with most of our family and close friends, and while we miss being with family during the holidays, it is really really nice to be at home and avoid the travel scene for the first time in our lives!

Happy Holidays to All!

The Laundry Basket Car

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Well, the question of how to keep a tree away from a little one who grabs/pulls everything was solved by sticking a few loose branches in a tub on the kitchen table. Hello Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!! But, thanks to Madelyn's Great-grandma Moore, it is beautifully decorated!! Strung popcorn and cranberries to come...

a busy week!

Things have been busy this week, including Madelyn! Maddie is pulling up and scooting along everything, crawling double speed, and testing out her standing balance. The days have been getting started rather early (believe it or not, the picture of Lisa and Madelyn napping was taken at 8:00 in the morning!). Lisa is getting excited to wrap up school - only one more week until a nice long 16 day break! Maybe Lisa can convince Madelyn to try sleeping in...!

Christmas Bird Count this weekend! We hope to get out and about!

Thanksgiving at the West Nest

We just returned from Ennis, MT where our friends Margot and Andy's family have a home. The "West Nest" is always a great place to relax, and Thanksgiving proved no different. Aaron and Leah, Margot and Andy, and the three of us spent three days having fun, going on walks, and cooking and eating up a storm. Unfortunately, Mike came down with a nasty cold on day one, which is why you won't see much of him in the pictures (upstairs sleeping and resting!). Madelyn and I were lucky enough to have plenty of Aunties and Uncles to pitch in and love Maddie up! Madelyn had so much fun, she could hardly keep her pants on!

Clapping!

Madelyn has just discovered how fun clapping can be! More like, she has discovered that every time she claps, we ooh and aah! Here's a clip of M clapping for dinner...

Finally!

Finally, Madelyn's first tooth has arrived! Look forward to some pictures of our little "narwhal" soon!

A visit with the Lewis Fam

Yesterday we spent a great afternoon with Jean and Jason, Grady, and Owen. We bundled up before the sun went down and strolled over to visit Owen's new pets: 5 chickens! They are currently living at a friend's shed but will be coming home to the Lewis' garage in a few weeks. Here are some pictures of Maddie and Grady in the stroller, Owen and Jean introducing us to "Elmo," and Maddie and Grady eyeing one of the chicks.

Overalls

Here's Maddie, loving her first pair of Carhartts! Thanks Leah and Aaron! We're thinking a little bottle in the tool pocket would fit just perfectly...
(Sorry Mom, no worthy videos in surplus right now. We'll try tomorrow morning!)

Fridays

Madelyn has been spending Fridays with the Hoovers in Kelly, lucky little girl! Sometimes I'm lucky enough to catch a few glimpses of her in school as Sunny and Amber bring/pick up Dana... Here's Sunny and Maddie in their puffy winter jackets this morning.

Sleep

We just a had a fun quick visit with our friends Anne and Leah... of course, we got to talking about sleep, and how to get more of it! Leah is almost 2 months older than Madelyn and is finally starting to give her parents a great night of sleep. So, to "cry it out" or not? And how do we separate Madelyn's ability to sooth herself from all of the little things that always come up and influence sleep (learning to crawl/sit, teething, stuffy noses, etc)? Many of you are experienced parents, and many of you are parents in "the thick of it." Send us your thoughts in the comment section below!

Just For Fun...

Madelyn's week has been filled with teething biscuits, piano playing, and chewing on everything (Maddie's hands and Moma's hair included!) Also lots of conversations in the highchair. New foods/flavors this week: egg yolks (featured on face in video), cinnamon, dill, and as of tomorrow, yogurt.

Laundry Day

A rainy day in JH... While Michael is trying to navigate the ridiculous instructions for putting up a baby gate, Madelyn and Lisa are busy having some fun with the laundry!

Halloween!

So many fun costumes, and only one big day! Good thing we had a little pre-halloween dress up, thanks to our friend Cindy (see peacock picture). Madelyn came up North to school with me today and was part of the big Kelly School parade and party in the afternoon. Madelyn was dressed as a tadpole and Momma was a frog....

Hello High Chair!

Madelyn's new high chair arrived today -
What a great invention!! No longer am I going through an outfit for both of us at each feeding! We inaugurated the highchair with a meal of bananas and Cheerios and it worked like a champ! Madelyn loved feeling the smooth top, and we love the option to push her into the table or use the tray...

Get Up, Stand Up!

Thank you Bob Marley...

A second chance at Fall

What a beautiful fall day (part 2!). We went to the Town Square this morning to "play" with the pumpkins, and then this afternoon went on a hike in the park with Jess, Mike, and Sam. Michael and Madelyn tried out our new backpack set-up ($28 bucks at Second Helpings!!) -it was great! We spent some time up at Taggert Lake before hiking a tired Madelyn back down.
Oh, these pictures! Is there such a thing as too cute??

Crawling

Well, it was bound to happen - Madelyn is crawling! What a change in our lives this makes! And we thought we were busy before...!! Maddie now pushes up from crawling to sitting, is starting to be interested in pulling herself up on everything, making noise by banging two objects together...pretty amazing to watch unfold!

A Winter Weekend

Winter arrived early!! We've had 24 hours of snow, leaving 5 inches of the white stuff on the ground this morning. This afternoon we bundled Maddie up and went out on a walk - she was quite toasty, and chatted herself to sleep.

Mike came back from Portland on Friday night (see picture of excited Madelyn), Lisa's parents made it to the airport before the snow hit, and we spent yesterday assembling all of our new items for the living room.

Madelyn is now crawling! It's not a fast crawl, but it'll get her across the carpet!! She is into everything within reach, and having fun exploring the "Madelyn friendly" lower portions of our new furniture. Crawling video to come later this week...

Browser's with Grandpa

Madelyn and Jeff have been frequenting Browse N' Buy every few days... look at today's great find! Worth every cent, all 50 of them! Also some pictures from our hike in the fall colors yesterday.

Fun with the G-team

The fun continues with the G-team. Mom and Dad found a "piano" at Orivlles for a buck! After a day or two of playing with it sans batteries, we loaded it up today and got the following video. Also see Maddie having a fun flight in her overalls with Grandpa, new textures with a green ball, and hugs from Grandma.