Her 2nd Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas with Madeline. She has changed so much in a year! Last Christmas, she was crawling backward and mostly liked the boxes her gifts came in. This year, she was walking, or course TALKING, and was doing tons of imaginative play with all of her gifts. She was so much fun to watch! On Christmas Eve, Pa spent the night. We had dinner and opened gag gifts. Then on Christmas day, Santa came, we went to Danville to open gifts with Uncle Rich, then headed to Nana and Grandad's for more gifts. Madeline's fifth round of presents came the night after Christmas with Grandad's side of the family. They hadn't seen her since she was 6 weeks old! They were so surprised at all she can do now! We are thankful for a great Christmas 2008!

Snow and Cookies

Since we had a snow day today, it was a great day to bake cookies! We started a Christmas tradition for Madeline. We made Christmas cookies using Grandmother's cookie cutters. It was Maddie's first cookie making! She loved the sprinkles. After the cookies were finished, she said, "Mama, can I have star please?" She was asking for a star-shaped cookie! Guess those are her favorite! We had a great day together.

Her Own Tree

Daddy bought Madeline a pink Christmas tree for her room, so Friday after school, we got her some snowman ornaments. (She calls them 'do-mans!') We decorated her tree on Friday night, and had our Christmas with Pa, Aunt Jane and Dale on Saturday night. Madeline opened her first Christmas presents of the year-- and much to her surprise, Aunt Jane got her the Hallmark singing snowmen she had been wanting so badly! She saw them the day after Thanksgiving, but Mommy wouldn't buy them! Thank goodness for Aunt Jane! Madeline of course enjoyed being the center of attention on Saturday night. She also had a big time playing in one of the gift boxes!

Santa Train

We took Madeline to Bardstown on Saturday to ride the Santa Train with Reese and Noah. It was like the Polar Express- the kids wore pj's,got hot chocolate and cookies, and saw Santa. We had a great time!

Thanksgiving Fun

We had a lot of fun at Nana and Grandad's house over Thanksgiving Break. Madeline was spoiled rotten, of course! She got new clothes, early Christmas presents, got to play Monopoly with the adults, and of course ate Nana's great cooking! She definitely does not like mashed potatoes! Macaroni and cheese was her favorite Thanksgiving food by far! She also liked pumpkin bread. We also put up the Christmas tree! Madeline picked out her favorite ornament very quickly! We are so thankful for our family and friends this holiday season!

Our Little Carrie??

We've had the CMA awards on the DVR for a couple of weeks now, so I decided to watch the end of them tonight. Madeline got her microphone and started singing during Carrie Underwood's song! Then she asked her Daddy to dance! It was so cute! She loves music!!

Chef Madeline

The Princess decided that she wanted to cook tonight!
That made one of us!

First Trick or Treat!

Madeline had a great time trick or treating Friday night. She was such an adorable fairy! We were so surprised when she actually would say 'trick or treat' to complete strangers, followed by 'thank you' when they would give her some candy. We had a great Halloween! Thanks to Donna, Loren and Bo for celebrating it with us!

Fall Pictures at Waveland

We took Madeline to Waveland late this afternoon to get some good fall pictures. Here are a few of them. She had a great time! As long as she's moving, she's happy!

More Adventures with MJ

Here's what the Princess did today while she was helping me with laundry. I told her, "Stay right here while I get the laundry basket." This is her creative way of following directions! And yes, her arm is out of her sleeve. Don't ask me how she managed to do that!

Matching Onesies!

On Friday afternoon, Madeline and I went to Emmi and Jeff's to visit Kylie Hope. This was my third visit with the baby, but it was Madeline's first. So, we put the girls in their matching monogrammed onesies, and tried to get some cute pics of them. Kylie slept like an angel through the whole photo shoot. Madeline had to do a circle around the living room after each picture we took. She truly did realize that Kylie was a real person, and not a doll. She kept looking at her and saying, "Eyes! Fingernails! Hairs! Nose! Baby!" I thought Madeline was very gentle with Kylie considering she's never been around a newborn before. I am so proud of our girls, and am so happy for our friends Emmi and Jeff. Kylie Hope is a miracle baby. She is beautiful. Madeline and I discussed their future playdates in the car on the way home from their house!

Our Punkin

Here are some fall pictures Ms. Sherry took of our Punkin last week. Our babysitter this year is truly a blessing from God. I never imagined being able to leave my daughter with someone who would love her and care for her so much. As rotten as this school year has been, at least I don't have to worry about Madeline during the workday. And she somehow manages to get her to smile for pictures... something I'm not always successful with these days!

Fall Break Fun!

Madeline enjoyed being at home for a whole week! We had a lot of fun. She went for her 18 month check up and we were told that she is going great. She got her 18 month pictures made, went shopping, spent lots of time with family, and got spoiled a lot! It was nice that Jerrod was able to take off for most of the week so we could all be together.

Bi-Water Farm

We took Madeline to the pumpkin patch in Georgetown today. It was perfect weather. She went on a hayride, rode on the train, fed some animals, picked out a pumpkin, and played hopscotch. She was so cute! There was definitely more for kids to do at Bi-Water than at Boyd's Orchard.

JELV Hoe Down

Madeline went to Family Fun Night on Thursday night. She helped Mommy sell T-shirts, watched the live music, and played with Elyse. She looked so adorable in her pumpkin outfit! She did really well, thanks to empty T-shirt boxes, pizza, and Potato Heads!

Cutie

I know I should feel badly about taking Madeline's picture this morning at 7 am. She had only been awake for 15 minutes! I couldn't help myself because she was such a cutie in her Halloween shirt. It's hard to believe she's already 18 months old!

"Stickers!"

Last night Madeline went into Jerrod's office and came out with stamps all over her pajama shirt! She found them on his desk and helped herself! She came running into the family room saying, "STICKERS!" She's the cutest piece of mail we've ever seen!

The Park

Who needs tailgating when you can play at the park before the football game?

Princess Baby

Jerrod got Madeline the book Princess Baby by Karen Katz because the little girl in the book looks just like her. So when it came in the mail today, we pointed to the girl on the cover and asked Maddie, "Who's that?" She smiled and said, "Madeline!" It was like she knew exactly what we were thinking! Here she is after we finished reading it. She loves it! We think it was written just for her because she definitely has already found her princess side!!

Weekend Trip

We took a trip to Henderson to see Nana and Grandad this weekend. Madeline got to go to the zoo for the first time, and had a blast. We think she liked the hippo and bird the best. She was so good all weekend. She played ball with Toby and ended up in his swimming pool with him! That meant that she had to get in the jacuzzi tub for a bath afterward. She loved it! We all had a great time! She is so much fun right now!