Key Fobs

I have been making a mental list of things that I want to make with my sewing machine. As I have been searching through projects online, I found these cute key fobs to make. So, tonight I made my first 2. I think they are pretty cute. If you want to make your own, here is a link to the directions. I had a hard time finding the hardware at our fabric stores, so I ordered it from EBay. They are very quick and easy. The ladies from our care group will be making these at our women's night next month. Fun times!

Bows!

So, Madeline might be really into bows now. She asks for bows many times through out the day.

She knows which drawer I keep them in and will open it. She can't reach them yet, so she will just start yelling, "Bow, bow, bow!!!" until someone gets them for her.


As you can see, you can never have too many bows. They are even fun to wrap around your neck.


I'm not sure what she is crying about.


But, it was nothing her paci and Elmo couldn't make better.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Madeline and I headed down to Brookside Gardens this morning for a little St. Patty's Day fun with our MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) group. We took a walk around the park in a very large group. The kids had different little activities to do. Madeline liked to hold her friend, Jillian's hand through the park. Jillian always keeps an eye out for Madeline.

We got to go through their greenhouses. They were extremely humid, so that is why the picture is so foggy. Madeline got to meet this Leprechaun who gave her some green playdough. She also got a Shamrock plant. Very fun!


The flowers were beautiful and they smelled soooooo good. I can't wait for Spring to get here in full force.


Madeline found a fun butterfly bench to check out.


Jillian, Madeline and Faith checking out the little pond.

I hope you have a very exciting St. Patrick's Day. Oh, and Madeline WAS wearing green. It was just cold out, so we had to wear lots of layers. You can see her little green shirt poking out under her jacket.

Madeline's First Trumpet Lesson

Andrew got his trumpet out this past weekend and showed Madeline how to play.

She got to press the buttons while daddy played.


She needed a closer look at what was making all that racket!


Check out her video to the right for her first trumpet solo.

A Fishtank without any Fish in It

"Why is Andrew so sad?" you might ask.

Well it all started one evening when I walked by his small fishtank to get some more paper towels in our laundry room. All of a sudden, I hear a loud pop. I turn around to see what it was and then I see water begin to gush out of this crack on the side of his fish tank. It is hard to see. But, it is a crack from the top of his tank, to the bottom.

I started grabbing buckets and tried to catch the water. It was shooting out of the side of the tank like a hole in a dam. My mom was visiting, so she came up to help as well. The floor was soaking wet!

We had to remove Spot (the fish) and all of Andrew's coral to keep it alive. You can see it all in the buckets on the floor.

Andrew came home a few minutes later from work to his fish tank in buckets on the floor. So, that is why he is so sad in the first picture. But, things are better now. We went out that night to get a new tank so everything wouldn't die. He ended up with a better light that will now support even cooler corals. So, I think he is happy with it.

At least it wasn't the 125 gallon tank!

15 Months Old

Our sweet girl is 15 months old.


She amazes me everyday. She can even spell her name now! Just kidding :) But, she can point to her name on the wall when you ask her where her name is.


She quickly changes obsessions. She is now into her jammies. I have found her inside her jammie drawer several times now. But, usually she likes to grab 2 or 3 and try to put them on. She can get one arm in, but then can't figure out how to get the other arm in. So, I usually help her and then she wears them like a cape flying behind her. This is also the smile you get when you ask her to smile.


Madeline's favorite books right now are Tails and Alphabet by Matthew Van Fleet and her First Birthday book that my brother made for her. But, she enjoys a lot of other books as well. She also calls the Bible, "Bi" and asks to read it at night. She still doesn't always like to sit through an entire story. But, she will clap for herself after it is done.

She really enjoys to take things out and put them back. She has some number cards that she moves from one spot in her room, to another, over and over. She likes to take out all of her crayons and then put them back. Below, she is taking out a bunch of wiggly eyeballs and putting them in a special spot on her garage. They don't always end up back where they are supposed to :)

She really likes to play peek-a-boo. She will hide behind her hands for a long time. But, actually in this picture she is covering her eyes because Granny just took a picture of her with her new flash and it was REALLY bright!

Madeline went for her 15 month checkup this past Wednesday. She still only weighs 19 pounds (4%). She is 31 inches tall (70%). Her head is 46cm (50%).

I love these little piggies!

She has been having a lot of fun with her grandparents lately. As soon as she see's them, she is like, "see ya later, mom!" It is so nice to have people she loves to leave her with.It is so sweet to see her developing these special relationships with her grandparents already.

my mom

Andrew's mom and dad

Other things:

~Madeline has been eating like crazy for the past few weeks. I guess she got over her cold and got her appetite back. She could eat all day long. She loves to eat pancakes, granola bars, oranges, and cheesy noodles. She doesn't seem to like her vegetables at all anymore. She used to love them so much, so I never thought it would be an issue getting her to eat them. But, she has changed her mind.

~She loves to dance. She will grab her dancing bear (a white polar bear) and then look at the IPOD waiting for me to turn on the music.

~She is saying many new words. She can say fly, ball, ma, da, gu (granny), na (nana), bow, and probably some others that I am forgetting. She still uses her signs a little bit. Mostly for milk, bath, sleep, airplane, car, all done and eat. She also babbles a lot. It is really cute. She knows the letters "v", "o" and as of last night, she could say "m". I don't know if she could pick it out though. I know they are kind of random (except for "m").

~She is sleeping great. She usually takes a 2 1/2-3 hour nap in the afternoon and then sleeps for about 12 hours at night from about 7:30pm-7:30am.

~She is certainly getting a lot more giggly. She didn't laugh a whole lot as an infant. But now, she is very ticklish and will laugh while I change her diapers because I accidently tickle her belly. She also gets extremely giggly the more tired she is. So, the evenings before bedtime are usually filled with laughter.

~Madeline really enjoys hats and sunglasses. Sometimes she will find them and just wear them around the house.

~She really likes to watch Elmo and The Wiggles on youtube. So, she usually watches it on the laptop next to me while I check my email and stuff.

We are enjoying Madeline so much. She just gets more and more fun. She is such a blessing to our little family.

Be Our Guest!

For the past 2 days, we have had some extra company. Xandra and Theia came to stay with us while their mom and dad had their little sister, Aliyah.

One of their favorite spots was the ball pit. Xandra loved to just lay in it. I think she liked to dump all the balls out even more!








Little Miss Theia was a happy girl.

The girls also enjoyed jumping on the air mattress upstairs. They jumped off the couch onto it and did lots of sommersaults.

Madeline tried to show them her new dare devil tricks.

Rub a dub dub, 3 girls in a tub. I like how they are not paying attention to each other. :)

We had lots of fun with our live-in playmates! We can't wait to hang out again!