M's First Road Trip!

The weekend before Christmas we took M on her very first overnight road trip up to St. Michael, MN to visit family.

*To say I was anxious about how M would travel and sleep in a new place is an understatement.* I'm pretty sure my good friend, Laura, and Josh, and anyone else who'd listen to me were pretty tired of me talking about it the week leading up to the trip.

However, she did AWESOME! :) And, I was soooo glad. She slept well and behaved very well. We had a fantastic time and our hosts, The Fuerstenberg's were super welcoming and very accommodating! M had her own room with a pac-n-play (she took over our 14 yr. old cousin's video game room...THANKS, Cam!), and I brought her sound machine and video monitor to set up.

We left around 5 in the morning on Friday so she'd sleep for at least half of the 6 hour drive. After she woke up around 8am, we stopped for a break, then Josh fed her breakfast in van and we kept on driving.

M enjoying a movie in the van.

We stopped one more time at a Super Target right outside of Mpls because she was getting antsy again (and because I forgot diapers...geesh!). We finally arrived around noon!

We spent Friday and Saturday with the family just visiting, laughing, baking, and letting the kids play. And, we headed back home Sunday. Here's just a few pictures from the weekend.

Here's M with her cousins Lexy, Kendyl, and Kiera. I adore this picture!

M playing with Kendyl, Matthew, Lexy, Kiera, and Dominic.

M playing with Crosby. She loves this little dog!

Checking out her 3 month old baby cousin, Kinley.

Oooh...and special treat from Daddy...a sucker...her favorite messy treat. (I warned him what was going to happen once she started touching it and making a mess....)

And, this is what happens when you take it away because she's too sticky and needs her face and hands wiped.

More fun with Dominic.

And, play time with a baby doll. I hate baby dolls. She apparently loves them.

And, she also attended her first hockey game and had fun watching her cousin, Lexy play.

We had SOOOO much fun! Can't wait to visit again...probably in July for Shirley and John's Annual 4th of July pool party!

Where will we travel next? Who knows?!

Foto Friday - It's Official...

I'm a MINI-VAN MOM!

Josh asks me everyday if he's "fullfilled my van-tasy." I don't know how to answer that.

After much debate, research, budgeting, thinking, comparing...and more debate, we became proud new owner's of a 2012 Honda Odyssey.

More to come in a future post regarding my thoughts of owning a van.

Holiday Card 2011

Picture Our Year Holiday Card

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Foto Friday - Jengo and Sushi

We've had these cats out in the shop for a few weeks now.

Meet Jengo.

And here's Sushi.

We adopted them both from shelters and just kept their names.

Sushi is super scared of everything.

Jango is super fluffy.

Neither of them like Josh, but love M and me. :)

The end.

O Christmas Tree

A couple Fridays ago we headed to Trees and Traditions in Le Claire, IA to pick out and cut down our Christmas tree.

It was pretty wet outside, so no hayrack ride out to the trees. Madison was happy to have a ride from Daddy.

I tried to cut it down...

But realized it wasn't gonna happen...so I let Josh take over.

M wasn't sure what to think about the snow under her feet! This was her first realization that snow existed!

After careful inspection, M approved our tree!

M's favorite part of the day was chasing Daddy and the tree back to the main area so we could get it wrapped and paid for.

Josh claims he can make this snowman for me. I am documenting this here so someday maybe I can hold him to it.

In the main barn area they have a warm fire and a great set up for photos. The wife of the couple who owns this place took our picture.

M wanted down to explore. I'm sure that was more exciting than taking a picture with her Mama.

Once we were home, it was time to decorate!

I'm not sure what I was thinking letting M try and help me. She was way into everything too much. So, I finished decorating it later that day once she was napping.

Ta-dah! It's a bit sparse on ornaments...but I assume we will accumulate more over the years.

Merry Christmas!

16 Months

"WHOA! I'm HOW old?"

I feel the same way, little girl!

The months keep sneaking up on me now. I almost didn't realize that she was 16 months on Tuesday until someone asked me how old she was on Monday. Whoa...I had to say, "She'll be 16 months tomorrow."

She was in a great mood yesterday for her photos. It probably had to do with the fact that I let her run around outside and play. The girl loves running and playing outside.

Our very first photo. Proof she can follow directions. I let her explore for a few minutes while I set up Winnie and her sign. Then I simply asked her, "Madison, will you go and sit by Winnie so Mommy can take your picture, please." And by golly...she did exactly that. She does look a bit irritated that I interrupted her play, but oh well.

This was her reaction when I said, "Thanks, baby! Now you can get up and play!"

"Hey, what's this sign say?"

I was chasing her here. She LOVES being chased and chasing people.

The blurry stick down in the lower left was what she was smiling about since I was shaking it.

Ok...now on to some updates.

Our biggest news is probably that M is NOT nursing anymore! She had a bad cold the week after Thanksgiving...and wasn't interested in nursing before bed as much since she was congested, so one night I just skipped it and put her to bed and that was that! She never even seemed bothered by it. I don't even give her milk or water right before bed (didn't want to create another habit to break if I could avoid it). So, her bedtime routine now is just lotion, books, jammies, hugs & kisses, and bed!

She still doesn't like meat...so her diet hasn't changed too much. Her favorite food group is definitely fruit. She loves raspberries and blueberries. She's not as obsessed with Goldfish anymore. She also loves Nilla Wafers.

She can successfully use a fork and spoon. Although she's still pretty messy.

She is still napping twice a day. But, I've been thinking about considering dropping her one a day. I'm hoping I can hold off for a few more months yet. However, she just boycotted her morning nap today...so...who knows?!

No new teeth...STILL only her front 8.

She's around 26 lbs. and 32.5 inches tall. She's in 18 mo. and getting into 24 mo./2T clothes. She is in the 98th percentile for height and 95th percentile for weight.

She is great at following directions, such as putting things where I ask her or retrieving things. She knows many objects and enjoys pointing out things to me in her picture books and with her flashcards.

She loves her two kitties we have out in the shop now.

I'm fairly certain her favorite part of the day (besides meal times!) is the start of her bedtime routine which includes some fun play/"rough-housing" with her Daddy on our bed. She's one wild girl at night!

She has figured out how to go down stairs and get off the couches safely (rolling to her belly to go down feet first).

New words this month are, "Daisy," and "Daaaave." My Dad told her to call him Dave (kind of as a joke since she is no where near saying grandpa). Although she now gets "Daisy" and "Daaave" mixed up sometimes. I told Dad that he's gonna have to accept being called "Daisy!" :) She learned Daisy from watching The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She loves that show.

She also says, "no," a lot, although I'm not sure if she means it all the time she says it. I'll ask her if she wants something and she'll say no and then take it anyways. Josh says that's just part of being a girl and being confusing! Oh, Josh!

Other words she says (documenting this for my sake):

Ba -for Banana

Ba - for Mama - she calls me Ba a lot...not sure why!
Daddy

Kitty

Dog

Hi

Cheese

Ha Ha

Ow

Mom

Mou - for Mouse and Mouth

Ni-Ni - Night

Baa - when asked what a sheep says

Neigh - when asked what a horse says

Shhhh - while putting her finger to her lips

Num

Ball

Not sure what else to update on...so, I'll end with another picture.

Our beautiful girl!

A Day In Our Life

Wanna know our every move this past Monday?

Then, check me out over at:

I'm the guest post on Ashley's blog today! :)

2nd Annual Holiday Baking Day

With M's G'ma Tracy and Great G'ma Bev of course!

Last year we baked at Tracy's. This year at Bev's. It was a day filled with love, sugar, lots of laughs, great memories, more sugar, oh, and cookies. I'm so glad M has two wonderful G'mas that have started this tradition with her.

On another note...I need to become a better photographer. But with that said...I'll let a few of my favorite shots do most of the talking.

M started her afternoon making G'ma Tracy's Chocolate Covered Cherry cookies.

Dry ingredients first!

She discovered she could dip her spoon into the sugar!

Mmmmm!

Then, it was time for some Gingerbread cut outs with Great G'ma Bev.

She even rolled her own dough!

Back to finishing the CCC cookies with G'ma.

And...ending her (very busy) afternoon with helping GG'ma Bev decorate a gingerbread house for her Daddy.

Giving GG'ma Bev a hug after she gave her a piece of the candy to eat.

Clearly, M's favortie part of the day was all the SUGAR! :)