Each night before Madeline goes to bed, we read bedtime stories. She doesn't last long through any book. But, she likes to look at a lot of different books. And she certainly has her favorites. 
It is a sweet time to steal some brief snuggles from our little girl. 
We always read a story from her Bible. She now asks to read her "Bi". We are teaching her to sit still and listen through an entire story. Some nights are better than others. But, she is getting better. :)
I am trying to learn how to use our camera a little better. So, the other night, we had a mini photoshoot with Madeline. The actual pictures didn't turn out very well. Lighting is a very hard to thing to learn. But, Madeline is still cute. So, I am posting a few pictures anyways. 
Today is my sister-in-law, Katherine's birthday. We celebrated on Sunday with a lunch at Red Robin.
Madeline got to meet Katherine's other niece, Beatrice. She is precious!
Happy Birthday, Katherine! We hope you have a wonderful day!
So, I have been tagged (photo tagged) by 2 people now, Lauren and Becky. So, I guess I should get on the ball. This is a picture of my cousin, Abby, from last summer. She, her brother Will and my other cousin, Olivia, came up for the day and went to the pool with Madeline and I. (Did you keep all those people straight?) In this picture, she is taking a little break to eat a snack.
Here are the rules for photo tag:
Go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures.
Pick the 4th picture in that folder.
Explain the picture.
Tag 4 people to do the same.
So, Cristen Sink, Kim Cavanaugh, Katherine Glenn and Kim Wyrick, you are now it!
It has been the tradition, for many years now, to get together with our college friends for New Year's. We usually spend a weekend or a few days together. It is usually the only time during the year that all or most of us can get together. This year, we hung out at The Lookabill's house in Pulaski, VA. It was a lot of fun. Things are quickly changing as more and more kids keep being added to the group. The kids had a great time together. And of course, a bath with Kathryn and Jude is way more fun than by yourself.
Chase all snuggly after his bath. 
Caedmon all ready for bed in his cute froggy pj's. 
Kathryn and Madeline all ready for bed. 
The cool toy that all the kids loved was the Little Tikes car. They did a nice job sharing it. If they couldn't ride in it, then they would help push. (Or ride on top with daddy's help)
Even Caedmon enjoyed it!
After the kiddos went to bed, we played lots of games. We played a little Picturicka, Balderdash and Settlers. 
Jackson got to stay up a little later than the other kids. 
Madeline had a good time playing in the Lookabill's big yard. She liked playing frisby with Andrew. 
She also liked to follow Kathryn around. 
Our last night there, we had a White Elephant gift exchange. Some of the highlights were a 70's colored blanket, lots of unused/unwanted Christmas decorations and a how-to-train-your-cat video. 
After our gift exchange, we played a great game of Fishbowl. I laughed A LOT! We had a great time with our friends. It is getting harder and harder to find places big enough and cheap enough to accomodate all of us. So, we will see what happens next year. For now, I am so happy for the times to get together with such good, lifelong friends.
I am running a little behind on this post. But, better late, than never. Madeline was 13 months old on New Year's Day. It seems like she is growing and changing very quickly.
Something that is starting to stand out to me is her sweet and obedient heart. Now, don't get me wrong, she certainly tests us. But, the majority of the time, she is a good listener. She will put something back when I ask her or not touch things when told. She is really funny when she wants to do something that she knows she shouldn't do. For example, if she wants to touch something that I have told her not to, then she will get close to it and then sometimes she will start squinting her eyes a bunch. I can almost see a conversation going on in her head. "No, no, I shouldn't touch it. But, I want to. But, no, I shouldn't. Oh, but I want to." I know that she will constantly be learning her boundaries and testing us as parents. But, I pray that she will always have this sweet spirit about her and that her heart will be soft and obedient towards the Lord.
She has started to enjoy Swiffering. I should give her a swiffer duster and see what she does with that. My house might actually get cleaned.
She loves the fish accesories in our house. She is not too crazy about the fish themselves anymore. Although, she will point at Spot (a fish) when we ask her where he is. She always wants the fish food. I don't know if she wants to eat it (which I have caught her doing) or if she wants to feed the fish a lot. She does get to feed them with her daddy in the mornings. She also likes to put the fish nets in the water. Sometimes the fish get stuck in the lower filter tank and Andrew has to fish them out. So, Madeline wants to help as well.
She is really enjoying her child sized furniture. She sits in her rocking chair a lot and she sits at this table a lot. A lot of times she eats a snack here. She also plays with her Noah's ark and Zoo and reads books at the table. The reason she has no clothes on in this picture is because she spilled a cup of water all over her. So, I waited until I took the curlers out to put new clothes on her. This was the second attempt at putting curlers in her hair. It went a little better.
It still needs some perfecting though. It's a little weird to see her with curly hair after a year of stick straight hair. But, it is sweet.
