Maddy's 3rd Birthday - Part 2

Thank You Sandi, for capturing some fantastic moments on Madelyn's Birthday.   The pictures turned out wonderful.   Here is just a few that I can't resist sharing.   It was a great day, wasn't it?!

 

 

Photo Credit:  Sandi Heinrich

Cousins

Michael's Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ray came into town this week. They are taking quite the driving trip around the US, and happen to be up in our corner of the map. So to add to the party, his cousin, Rebecca and her family flew in from North Carolina for a visit. It made for quite fun week.

Rebecca and her husband Devin, have 3 boys - Mason, Aaron, and Ryan. (Forgive me if I don't have those names spelled correctly) Maddy and Makena were in heaven with the 3 boys to play with. I am not sure how the boys felt about my squealing little wild child....but I know I saw Aaron throwing a few smiles at Makena. The week was busy with trips to Seattle for thetouristy stuff, a day long trip to Mt. Rainier, family BBQs, and much more. It was fun to watch all of them together and we all thoroughly enjoyed their time here.

"Did you hear that?"

Oh my gosh, do they get any cuter than this?

They came, they saw, they hiked. Next stop, REI.

Makena giving some love to Meme.

Lily finding out that ice cream is a good thing!

Rebecca and Aaron on playing on Uncle David's PET vehicle,

part of a large project his gives time too.

We are sad to see them go. They are working on us to come out next summer for their annual beach trip to the North Carolina coast. Whereabouts? I'm not sure. I'm still stuck on the part where I get on a plane with 2 kids, ages 2 and 4...strap myself in for a 5-6 hour ride, preferably non-stop. I have a full year to get up the courage. I'll need it.

Preschool

Ms. Madelyn started preschool this week. The preschool we enrolled in has a summer camp, which is brilliant from this mom's perspective. Mostly because she definitely needs some kind of camp to run off some off that non-stop energy. She was excited for the first day and nervous. We went back and forth from shrieks of laughter about starting preschool to "No, no, no, no, no, no....I don't wanna go to preschool!!"

We had many conversations about it and at the moment of truth..she was all smiles and left mom in her dust as she got a glimmer of what awaited her on the other side of the door. Well that and her friend Scarlett was there...which made it even that much better!

Maddy and Scarlett. All smiles.

They took no time in finding the bracelet beading project and immediately getting started.

And her face when mom came back to pick her up, as promised.

Three Years Old

My baby was born 3 years ago on July 8th. It was a quite the event, with a surprise complication in that Ms. Maddy didn't seem to want to breathe. Alarms were pushed, NICU specialists came running..and she was whisked away. I was in shock and trying to recover. All was happy in the end, she just needed a little help to get started.

3 years later my baby is getting a bit bigger...just a wee bit.... and just a wee bit livelier. And louder. Most of all, she knows how to work it. See that Popsicle...that's proof right there.

But she's grown into this adorable thing. I can barely believe it and think back upon it all..but only for a second, because any quiet time is usually quickly interrupted with some urgent dramatic need.

We had a fantastic birthday celebration at a local park. Strawberry Shortcake theme with homemade decorated cupcakes, which is almost a miracle...as decorating cakes of any sort isn't my forte. Sandi Heinrich came down to photography our event, so more pics to come of these big day.

There is a good chance my hubby will seek revenge upon me for posting this picture. But it just couldn't be helped. This pic says it all. It shows exactly, to the intricate detail, how we felt as parents after the big birthday party event. EXHAUSTED. We opened presents after Maddy's Nap, and ..you can just tell we are trying to hold on by a thread to get to the beloved bedtime. Big day. Lots of work. But so worth it.

Happy Birthday Madelyn~


The latest things from Maddy:

"I wanna be a dog" (When ask why she stepped in dog doo and smeared it all over the grass)

"I love Mom, I love Dad, I love Makena, I love Wyatt, I love me."

"Mom, your my hero (where do they get this stuff?)"

"I do it all by myself (usually in quite the whining voice)"

"Mom, I've got some work to do."

4th of July

Despite a dismal 4th of July with typical Seattle weather, we had a great day. I love 4th of July, not for the fireworks but more for our neighborhood party and the do nothing type of day. We have a great neighbor behind us who puts on huge fireworks shows and BBQs each year. Its fantastic to walk out our backdoor, have some good eats, let the kids play and as evening arrives watch some fireworks

We invited our friends Melissa and Molly in the afternoon to join our neighborhood party. Maddy was beyond excited to have Molly over and the screaming started pretty much as soon as Molly walked through the door. Those two can 'whoop' it up, as Michael says. We had them outside in very quickly, and they had endless fun running all over the yard. The were covered in grass on a kind of dreary day and didn't seem to feel the weather at all. To be three and so in the moment! They were two little peas in a pod.

Molly being silly. Love the stylish look with those goggles!

Michael and Maddy started off the day with a trip to the local fire station for a pancake breakfast. I hear the place was more than crowded, but Maddy did get to play around the firetrucks. And isn't that the whole point? Who cares about pancakes...its really about the firetrucks!

Makena is walking more and more each day. She is just thrilled with this new found skill and looks back for cheers from Mom & Dad. Something about watching your little one learning to walk that brings me huge smiles of joy. Its just so cute.

More steps, huge smiles

Maddy playing dress-up in Dad's clothes

Random Summer Pics

Just a few random summer pics. No blog inspiration tonight. Soon maybe...

Big Sister and Little Sister. Happy Sister and Scared Sister. More to come, i'm sure.

Fancy face painting during after a trip to the local Farmers Market.

Can you tell how pleased she is?

Starting to walk....ever so cautious...every day a few more steps

This is what happens when you don't take your afternoon nap.

Love the snack trap still in full grasp.

Ahhh, the sunglasses. Is there any better toy?

Seaweed, Crabs, and Sand Castles

We spent Sunday afternoon at the beach in Edmonds. It was a gorgeous day and a very low-tide. Michael had checked the tide-charts on Friday and said we should hit the beach over the weekend, since we'd see some good stuff. We'd never seen the tide so low at Edmonds. It was quite fun with Dad picking up shells, crabs, and other stuff as we went. The girls were loving it and it felt great to be out on the water.

Big Girl Bed

Madelyn moved into a twin bed over the weekend. It was big news and a huge step in our house. The child who in the past has not done well with change, is now asking for new things and new experiences. I'm continually shocked on how much she is changing and realizing she is becoming this Little Girl and not a toddler anymore.

I admit, part of this was mom's subtle doing in planting the idea in Maddy's head. But she was off and running with it and couldn't stop talking about getting a 'Big Girl Bed'. So on Saturday Maddy and I, headed down to Ikea to pick out a bed. The trip was exhausting but Maddy was really good. Just hard wrangling her inside a big store with so many items to touch and see. We checked out our options, had some "discussions" and found one that was just right. Headed to the warehouse, where Mom soon found out how hard it was to hold onto a bunch of small stuff, track the child, and load large boxes onto carts. It was a workout, at one point holding two carts with a 35lb child inside one. But we did it, paid for it and headed home.

Making her bed and setting up all her 'fussies'

Dad had the bed set-up by late afternoon and then the true test began. Was she really going to sleep in it? And thankfully yes, she did. Bedtime took a bit longer with more stories, songs, and a threat of a move back into the crib...but she did go to sleep in her bed. All night long. I am amazed and she is so very proud....and its just about all she talks about. This morning she told me she didn't feel very good and was going back to bed. Okay, I said, head on up. It didn't last too long, but she is thrilled with that bed. Nap times have been more interesting. I found her sleeping on the floor, at the end of the bed, with her fussies. Not sure how she ended up there...and was very shocked when she woke up. And as long as she stays in that room, I don't care where she sleeps!

One Year Old

We are a little behind on the blog. Check back for posts in May.

Makena Hope is One Year Old. Its so hard to believe how fast it comes up, yet there are so many moments in the last year we felt like we were stuck in time. My sweet little baby is supposedly no longer a baby and now a Toddler. You can see her changing almost daily. Her reactions to new things, and giggles to others...and the way she interacts with Sister.

Then - 10 days old

Now - 1 year old

We celebrated her birthday with a small party of family and friends, thrilled she is turning one year old...and mostly so happy to have made it through this year. I'm excited to see her start walking and move into the next few months. I remember it was a good age for Madelyn, so we'll see what it brings for Makena.

Makena was having nothing to do with her cake. Big Sister tried to show her how its done, but Makena wasn't convinced. Funny thing is Maddy was the same way but worse!

We made it to the big One. The kids look a bit glassy eyed, but we did it.

Maddy and Meme sharing a moment.

Makena is not walking yet, but cruising from furniture to chair and around the room...and standing on her own for bits of time. She has only 5 teeth so far, and we are still trying to move her onto table foods. She seems to be picky about foods, just like Big Sister. I'm holding out hope this will change. She is now sleeping through the night, which feels miraculous. I almost hate to put it in writing because I'm sure I've cursed it. She had her One Year check-up last week and she is doing great. She weighs 22.13oz and is in the 75% for weight, and 31" long and in the 95% for height.

Next big hurdles - walking and more table foods. Sooner, than later we hope!