Black Friday

Instead of going out shopping at 4 AM like I attempted to last year, Maddy and I slept in till 6:30! At about 11 AM we drove to Grandma Babe's house for brunch. The family group consisted of Aunt Nat, Uncle Lance, Sydney, Tyler, Sako (their chocolate lab), Aunt Paula, Uncle Geoff, Hannah, Miles, Uncle Neal, Emma, Haden, Haden's friend from college, Grandma Sarah, Grandpa Aaron, Chandler, Uncle Tim, Crim, Grandma Babe, Maddy and me. Maddy took a particular interest in Sako the chocolate lab.

At first I was a little nervous about Maddy playing with Sako because Maddy isn't always gentle. But Sako has been trained well and is very familiar with little ones. Our nephew Tyler will turn four in December and she lets him wrestle with her and love on her as only kids can. She is such an amazingly well tempered dog! Not only did she let Maddy pet her, she let her climb on her, snuggle with her, and stick her hands inside of her mouth! What a great dog!

Our day was filled with catching up, good food, dancing, and singing. In fact the girls (Hannah, Emma, & Sydney) did an amazing job playing the piano and singing a song from Journey. Maddy even joined in on the fun.

Maddy's First Thanksgiving

Today was Maddy's very first Thanksgiving. We had two main stops planned for the day. First we were going to visit Grandma Betty in the morning and then we were heading to McKittrick to spend the rest of Thanksgiving Day with daddy. But, as life would have it our sweet little Maddy came down with the stomach flu on Tuesday. I thought that she was almost over it on Wednesday when I put her to bed but then midnight rolled around and it was back with vengeance. The poor baby was miserable (I'll spare you the details). Due to this unexpected turn of events I had to cancel our morning date with Grandma Betty so that we could catch up on much needed sleep. And after lots of rest and many small bottles of Pedialite Maddy seemed to be back to her old self. So, at noon we headed out. First we went to Albertsons for more Pedialite and then we went to Grandma Betty's house.

We were the first to arrive. Boeboe (Grandma's doggie) always gets a bit excited when new people come around, but Maddy was different. He barked and barked at her. We think that he was a bit jealous because Grandma was paying lots of attention to Maddy. I took a picture of him barking at her. She doesn't seem fazed only a bit amused.

We had dinner with Grandma Betty, Reno, Kyle, Uncle Steve, Aunt Lori, and Boeboe. Maddy even got to eat off of Uncle Steve's plate! He let her pick up green beans and then drop them on his lap! He even let her move on to his mashed potatoes and stuffing. She had a couple of tastes of the stuffing and seemed to really like it.

Boeboe running around and barking at Maddy.

Here is Maddy enjoying some of Uncle Steve's Thanksgiving dinner... just look at her taking over his plate. What a great uncle!

Maddy was able to take a nap on our way to Daddy's fire station in McKittrick. When we arrived we met Engineer Teddy, Firefighter Fred, and Fred's fiancee Megan. Maddy and I had just come from a delicious Thanksgiving feast and we were greeted with another. There was a deep fried turkey, gravy, green bean casserole, potato salad, stuffing, apple crumble, and homemade cheesecake! Maddy had a great time pushing around the dining room chairs (on rollers) and talking to Teddy. Even though I brought numerous toys to entertain her with she was fascinated by Teddy. After dinner he was in one of the offices in the station on a computer and she would walk in and just babble away at him. Then he'd talk back and she would babble some more. It was really cute. I'm not sure how cute Teddy thought it was but he played along anyway.

By 7:45 PM Maddy was ready to hit the road.

More bows...

This morning I decided to pull out all of Maddy's bows, organize them, and make some more. Thanks to Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Fred, Maddy already has her Christmas dress and matching shoes! So, today I decided that I'd make matching Christmas bows for the girls. I am not sure if these bows have an official name but if they don't they should be called simple'n easy bows!

The Loopy Bow

Okay. So, my friend Jill made these really cute bows called "loopy bows" a few weeks ago. So, I decided that while Maddy was sleeping and Nick was at work I'd try to make a couple... actually I thought I'd make four or five... ha ha. It has been about 45 minutes and I've only completed ONE!

It's official...

Maddy is walking! I can hardly believe it. She is really walking! She walks across our living room to retrieve a toy or down the hall when she's looking for Rei. I guess I was in denial before because my friend Stacy said that "walking" is when she takes more than three steps without my assistance or guidance. I guess I was under the impression that "walking" meant steps without falling. So, she's technically been "walking" for a while now. I am going to say that she officially began "walking" at eleven months because that's when she could take 20+ steps without falling.

Maddy's New Toys

Maddy has four new toys that I bought from our yard sale fundraiser. I actually bought them the day that my friend Kathy donated them... oh the perks of helping to organize an event! Plus all four toys look brand new... I can't believe that they went through three little girls already! Anyway, Maddy absolutely loves her new toys. It seems that her favorite toy is a reading chair that reads a puppy story and sings. Maddy is such a little climber so this chair was perfect. She loves to stand upon the chair. I tried to get a picture of her standing but she saw me with the camera and instantly had a new objective... get the camera. So, I took a couple of pictures later of her playing with her reading chair.

One of the other toys is a push toy that makes popcorn noises. She can ride on it while Rei or I push her around the house or she can push it around herself. Today Reilly was pushing Maddy around our kitchen island a little too fast and dumped Maddy onto the floor. Poor baby is going to be a tough little cookie from all the rough-housing that she gets from Rei.

Reilly is constantly preventing Maddy from crawling places by holding down her legs or arms. Maddy usually screams at the top of her lungs but today she bit Reilly and left teeth marks and a bruise. Reilly said that she wasn't doing anything but then moments later Maddy was standing on her own and Reilly pushed her to the ground with her foot by taping Maddy from behind. And I say again, Maddy is going to be tough!

Weekend Fun...

We had a jam-packed fun filled weekend! On Friday night we hung out with the Routh Family. We had dinner at their beautiful home and the girls (Reilly and Kennedy) had a fabulous time playing together.

On Saturday the girls and I left the house at 5:45 a.m. to help with the yard sale that my women's bible study was putting on. Our yard sale raised over $740! We are planning on using that money to adopt a family or two at Christmas time. While the girls and I were wheeling and dealing, Nick was at West High playing in the flag football tournament put on by LBC. I was under the impression that flag football meant "no contact"... apparently it means "less contact" because Nick was clobbered by the same guy that clobbered him last year (an ex-blitz football player). Nick's team consisted of guys that he knew from high school (Sparky aka Zanutto), college (Big Dan), and the fire department... the girls and I wish that we could have been there!

At 11:00 a.m. the girls and I headed back across town to the American Kids complex for Reilly's gymnastic lesson. Both of our girls were troopers. Reilly played hard at the yard sale with three other little girls, kept an eye on Mads, and had an hour of gymnastics. When we got home at 12:45 we were all exhausted. After Maddy went down for her nap Rei and I fell asleep on the couch. That evening after Nick got home and showered off all the caked on mud clinging to his legs and arms, we made our favorite dinner (tacos) and invited Devin and Jake over to watch Kung Fu Panda.

Happy 11 Months Maddy!

Maddy turned 11 months old today. She weighs 20 pounds & 6 ounces. She has six teeth, four on top and two below. She thankfully isn't walking on her own yet but she manages to get into everything that she shouldn't. If it doesn't belong to her she wants it and will do her best to try and reach it. I've locked down the kitchen with cabinet and drawer latches but I still need to install latches in our bathrooms. Her new thing is climbing. She loves to climb onto anything. For example, today I brought in one of our Rubbermaid tubs from the garage and placed it next to the bench in our entryway. She climbed onto the tub and then onto the bench. She didn't know what to do after that so she started screaming so that I'd help her down. Usually she'll find something to climb onto that will help her get onto our couch or she'll use my legs or Nick's legs to stand upon and then get herself on top of our coffee table. Though she keeps me on my toes, she is truly a wonderful baby. She's always happy (unless she's hungry or extremely tired), she has a contagious laugh, and she has the sweetest little smile. I can hardly believe that it's been 11 months but it has. I thank the Lord for blessing our family with sweet Madeleine.

Happy Veterans Day Grandpa Chippie!

Reilly, along with every other school aged child across the country didn't have school today. So, during breakfast Reilly and I made a list of fun activities that she wanted to do today.

1. Go to store for craft materials

2. Write a letter to Aidan

3. Work on a craft project for Daddy

4. Make turkey bows

5. Drive out to Buttonwillow and ride on the fire engine

(After I made those Christmas tree and snail bows Reilly said that she wanted to make some bows with me next time. So, we took full advantage of her day off from school. Reilly's turkey is on the left, she did a fabulous job! Next time she said she wants to make a puppy bow... I am so excited that she is "into" bow making!)

We had a great day. After Maddy's very first ride on a fire engine (and I didn't have my camera) Reilly helped Firefighter Pete take down and fold the flags. Rei ended our visit out to Buttonwillow with a phone call to Grandpa Chippie... she left him a message thanking him for being a Veteran... Thank you Grandpa Chippie for serving our country! We love you!

WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!

Bows...

Christmas Tree Bows

Snail Bow

Maddy's 1st Ponytail & 1st Pair of Converse Shoes

This past Friday, Maddy and I were getting ready to meet Nick at a meeting and we happened to have a few extra minutes (we never seem to have a few extra minutes... ever). So, I decided to put Maddy's hair in a ponytail. To my surprise she actually let me and then she even posed for pictures! What a sweet baby!Check out Maddy's cool new Converse shoes. She isn't walking yet but she loves to stand and walk with assistance. In fact when we are out on the town she always wants to be put down on the ground and walk or stand. So now when we go any where these days she is sporting a pair of shoes that either Grandma Barbara or Grandpa Fred picked up for her. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

USC Game

Last Saturday (Nov. 1) we went to the USC vs. Washington game. We've gone three years in a row thanks to Tim. USC is his almamater as well as Caitlin's. Anyway it was not only homecoming but it was Maddy's first game so I felt it appropriate to dress the girls accordingly. I found a little USC pink and white jersey for Maddy and a gold and burgundy USC t-shirt for Rei. I made Reilly a matching bow and off we went. We caravaned down to L.A. with Tim and the Kelsey family. It rained during the majority of our drive to the Colosseum but it stopped by the time we were ready to unload and begin tailgating.

Caitlin and Billy met us there with some amazingly decorated cookies. After we got everything set up Jill and I walked around with the kiddos while Heath cooked and Tim, Nick, Billy, and Caitlin played cards. We had a really great time. Oh yeah, and there was a TV crew that was filming several of the tailgating set ups. They stopped by ours and filmed Maddy and Ria in their USC attire. They also wanted to know how family friendly the pregame activities were and why we liked coming out with the kids. Tim was amused that they interviewed me because it was after all, "only my third game ever"!

Just as we were packing up it started to rain again, but it was short lived and the weather stayed dry throughout the game. USC beat Washington 56 - 0.

Thanks for taking us Tim we had a fabulous time!

Bragging on Reilly...

Nick and I are so proud of our little Reilly. She is growing up so quickly. We can hardly believe that she is in second grade! She is a fabulous little reader, writer and artist. The state of California requires second grade students to be able to write a letter and a narrative story. The following two writing samples are letters to her teacher. She will be practicing narrative writing in the quarters to come.