Pretend

Madeline is really starting to pretend these days. This morning she started by helping Mr. Lion go to the bathroom in the upstairs bathroom of her dollhouse.

Mr. Lion went Peepee in the potty!


Then she had to put on her make-up while I did mine.

Then she was ready to take care of her babies. In case you didn't know, she has twins. They certainly aren't identical twins though. One is Baby Stella. The other is Elmo. She thought that Baby's face was a little dry so she put some lotion on her.

Then it was time for the babies to have a snack. So, she worked very hard at getting them to sit up in her booster seat.

Then they were ready to go to Target. We don't have a carseat for them (obviously), so Madeline just held them in her lap the whole time. And then they rode in the buggy around Target with her as well. I don't know how she keeps up with two of them!

Once we got back from Target, we were all very hungry for lunch. While I was fixing her lunch, she managed to get them in her highchair like this and get her milk out of the diaper bag for them. I'm not sure how she got them in there so well.

Then, it was time to blow bubbles with our new spill-proof bubbles that we got at Target. Madeline was a great teacher and showed Elmo how to blow.

And of course it helps to model for your kids how to do something.


The babies got very dirty while we were blowing bubbles, so Madeline thought they needed a bath. So, I got out her old baby bath and she gave them a bath.

And what good mother wouldn't climb right on in the tub when she realizes that her babies are not happy in there?

They got very clean!

Then it was time to read some books before naptime. (I guess Elmo already went to sleep since he isn't part of storytime.)

Isn't she such a sweet mommy snuggling with her baby before naptime.

Oh how I love this sweet little girl. It is so fun to watch her learn and grow!

Jason and Jeni Weissman

Tracee getting her hair done.

Cory, Jeni's sister did Jeni's makeup.


A little bridesmaid fun!


Marianne and I

Andrew and I

Chris and Jenny

More bridesmaid fun...

4 roommates from college; Cristen, Krisha, me and Jenny

Jason wishing the show would get started

Jason

Jeni and the Father of the Bride coming over the bridge

Prayer

Exchanging rings

Sand ceremony

Husband and wife

Mr. and Mrs. Jason Weissman


Madeline dancing on the dance floor

Enjoying a little dinner

First Dance

Chase had a long night. He was sleepy.

Tossing the garter.

Farewell with sparklers.

Wedding Rehearsal

We headed down to Corolla Beach in North Carolina this past weekend for one of my college roommate's wedding.

This is the bride, Jeni.


She had the wedding at the Whaleshead Club right next to the sound and light house. It was beautiful.


Madeline getting a little attention while we are waiting instructions from the wedding coordinator.


Playing around a little bit.

The bride and groom.

The wedding party.

Johnny and Cristen in front of the lighthouse.

Jackson (Johnny and Cristen's youngest son) was happy in his stroller during the rehearsal.

After the rehearsal, we headed to Jeni's parents' beachhouse for a cookout. So yummy! More pictures to come of the wedding...

16 Months Old

Madeline is 16 months old today. She is sweet, full of energy, beautiful and loving.

I am sorry for the lack of posts lately. It has been really hard to get pictures of her. I usually get a look like this...


or sometimes this...

Or she just comes and plops into my lap and wants to look at the pictures on the camera. (Which I think is sweet, but I don't get many pictures of her then.)

So, what has she been up to this month? Well, she really likes to carry around bags like purses. She will take thing out of them and put them back for a long time. She also loves bracelets and necklaces. Well actually, she loves all things girly; shoes, bows, jewelry, purses, wallets. Let's just say, I don't think she should ever get a credit card from daddy. (She still has that sweet sleepy look from her nap in this picture. Yet, she also looks very mischevious.)


She is really enjoying her MegaBlocks.


And she is very happy to do them with someone else.


She loves to put blankets on her head and walk around. She will walk very slowly so that she doesn't bump really hard into something. But, she certainly does not look at where she is going.


She is learning so much. She is trying to snap in this picture after she saw Andrew snapping.

She tries to say new words all the time. I am having a hard time keeping a list of her words now. But, some of the new ones include; jacket, shoe, amen, book, vroom, uh-oh, up, gooodbye, happy, soap and ball. She does not forget anything. She will remember that there is an owl on a certain page of one of her books. So, she will find the book and say, "Who", until we find that page.

She has been enjoying eating the bubbles in her bath lately. She doesn't mind the taste at all :)

Speaking of the bathroom, she has been very interested in the potty this month. Whenever I go to the bathroom, she likes to go as well. So, when I am finished, I sit her on the potty and then she gets a square of toilet paper, wipes and then throws it in the potty. That is about as far as the interest goes. But, hey, at least she is interested. We bought her a little potty. But, she would much rather sit on the big one.

She has been developing some friendships with kids in our care group. She will give them hugs, play with them and be excited to see them. It is really sweet to see. She is also getting better at us leaving her alone with "strangers". She will cry momentarily when we drop her off at the nursery and then she gets over it.

She also had her first slumber party with mommy and daddy. A few weeks ago, while we were in Roanoke, she was having a hard time falling asleep in her pack'n'play. (She has a hard time in new places). It was really late, so I finally picked her up and she snuggled with me in bed for a little bit. She eventually fell asleep and didn't move until the morning. It was pretty sweet. She is certainly getting a lot more snuggly these days. She loves to cuddle in my lap and read books or watch movies.

Another pretty new thing this month have been her tantrums. She went through a week or so where she would just melt down over being told no. One morning, Andrew told her that she couldn't watch an Elmo video on youtube and she cried for about 45 minutes. Nothing would distract her. So, we finally got in the car and went shopping and she eventually calmed down. Who knew a 15 month old could be that long winded? She has not been throwing tantrums like that in the past few weeks. But, she certainly likes to test us. She will do something she isn't supposed to and then look at us to see what we will do and even smile about it. It is hard to discipline her sometimes because it is actually pretty funny.

Despite her little bouts with authority, we are crazy in love with this girl. She is such a joy to our lives. We pray constantly for wisdom in raising her and thank God that he has blessed us with such a wonderful daughter.