WOOHOO!!!!

PTA to VP.

Prolife, mother of 5, her oldest son fighting for his country in Iraq, her youngest son a 6 month old with Downs. LOVE HER!!!

Louie Armstrong would be proud

Ken has been singing "What a Wonderful World" to Madeleine since she was born. The other day she started singing it with him!! My little Angel.

Big fat problem

Not that anyone wants to hear about this. When I got pregnant, I weighed the same as I do now. I lost 15 lbs in my first trimester, gained it back by Thanksgiving, then gained another 15. 2 weeks after Madeleine was born I had lost the entire 30 lbs and was THRILLED with my weight. Now I'm back up 15 lbs. My mom and I have been taking about 3 mile walks on the Monon trail most days. I really hope that helps get me back where I was!

I think when I started drinking milk again (after giving it up for a year) I started porking up again :) Maybe I should give it back up and see what happens.... or maybe I should just make sure I eat as healthy as I feed my kid!

Actually I think my big problem is that I drink my extra calories - iced chais and vanilla frappuccinos. I eat pretty healthy besides that. But I enjoy those drinks SO much....

Random fun summer day

This weekend Ken has been playing guitar with Sarah Bauer at a high school conference, so Madeleine and I have been on our own the past two nights. This morning we went to the 9am Mass at the conference to hear them play. We got there and they were playing some fast praise and worship songs to get the kids moving. Madeleine was loving it and kept pointing up to the stage and saying "Daddy!" and "Where Daddy go?" She was dancing in her stroller. Then she was great for most of mass. Of course they played my favorite song, Blessed be Your Name. I LOVE that song. Then they played Madeleine's favorite song from Sarah's second CD - it's called Psalm 125 and they played that for the responsorial psalm. She calls it "Joy joy joy." When it was over she said (very loudly), "Again!"

On our way home we called my mom, who was out shopping. We decided to meet her and I bought two new pairs of jeans - my very favorite article of clothing. I think fall is my favorite season too. As much as I love summer and spring, I just LOVE jeans and sweater weather.

We got home, Madeleine took a good long nap, and Ken brought me a sandwich and sweet tea from McAllisters, which is pretty much our staple weekend lunch restaurant.

Then we went to swim at Mom and Dad's pool for awhile - we didn't stay in too long since it was really hot - well into the 90s. My mom and dad's water heater is broken, and my dad is scared of cold showers. So I'd say the highlight of the day was watching him take a shower with the hose in his bathing suit! He used shampoo and soap and everything! He laid the hose all out on the deck so the sun would warm up the water. It was pretty hilarious. We called it the "Alabama shower."

Then my friend called and said she had had her baby girl last night! So after supper Ken had to go back to play for Eucharistic Adoration, and Madeleine and I went to visit her. She also has a two year old son who Madeleine LOVES. She was excited about the baby (who is beautiful, by the way), but equally excited about seeing her friend Michael. He was pretty thrilled to see her too :) They kissed and hugged each other goodbye - it was pretty darn cute.

Now I'm just washing diapers, watching the Olympics, and waiting for Ken to come home. It was definitely a nice, relaxing day after my long full week at work!

Every night is bath night

Madeleine LOVES the sandbox these days. She likes to pour sand on her head. It gets all in her hair, her clothes, her shoes. She really likes me to spray her feet and hands off with the hose before we go inside, but somehow she manages to get sand everywhere, in the house, in her carseat, everywhere. That's ok. I'm glad she likes to play outside and she is enjoying this summer. I hope she always loves to play outside.

Lucas Oil Stadium

This stadium was BIG and very impressive! We got there a half hour before we could get in so we stayed outside just taking it all in.

Madeleine (and Eli, her cousin) were all decked out in their Colts Blue.
Grandma spent a lot of time holding her grandkids. Papa too.
The whole thing is open - from the top levels you can see the field from wherever you are. It also has a retractable roof. People in Indiana love their football!
Well, MOST people anyway.....

No pictures and cloth diapers

For some reason, blogger will not let me upload pictures. I was trying to write about going to the grand opening of Lucas Oil Stadium, the new home of the Indianapolis Colts! I'll try again tomorrow.

For now, let me just tell me about the GREAT trade I just made. No one else is going to be excited about this, except me!! Well, this mom had these 18 Under the Nile fitted diapers in size medium for sale for $100. They were used but in excellent condition. That was a great price, but I am banned from buying any more cloth diapers for a while! So I asked her if I could make her something instead, and offered to knit her two year old daughter a wool diaper cover skirt. She graciously accepted my offer! So I made her a beautiful brown and pink alpaca and wool skirt, and I'll be sending it off tomorrow. I got the diapers on Friday, and they are AWESOME. They are by far my favorite. She even threw in an extra fitted diaper and 2 covers! So I think I might throw in an extra skirt tomorrow - it was my first one and I made the rise too big for Madeleine. I think it would fit her daughter. Can I just tell you that I LOVE cloth diapering?? I LOVE it. I love putting nice soft cloth diapers on her bum. I love washing them and they come out of the dryer smelling so good and are so soft! We never have leaks. It's a piece of cake. I never have to worry about running out, and I never have to worry about buying diapers (well, once every 6 months or so!) I can't imagine going back to disposables and I really hope I have a newborn someday so I can start from the very beginning.

SQUIRREL!!!!

What movie is THAT from? Yeah you all know. It was Christmas Vacation around here today! I came home from running a few errands and sat down on my chair to leave a message for my friend. I was minding my own business, and suddenly a CHIPMUNK ran from behind the chair, right next to my foot, and across the room!!! Yes, our house is a wildlife preserve. We also have raccoons and some kind of gopher or groundhog or something in our backyard. Good thing THEY didn't get in!!

Someone might have accidently left the screen porch door open while she was running her errands.....

Anyway, we blocked it in the room with the gates and got the heck out of there! Then we just had to wait for Ken to come home. There was no way I was going back in there! He tried moving the furniture to find it.
He was trying to catch it with a cardboard box. Then my dad came over with his rodent trap. (Don't ask me why he has one of these....)
We decided to set it right by the bookshelf where he preferred to run.
Mom was too scared to come in the house, so she just watched from the window!!
Eventually, Ken chased it out from behind the furniture straight into the trap!!! Way to go, Ken! Then he set it free in the backyard. After all, it may have a family out there :)

I will NOT be leaving that door open anymore!!

Fun Day

I've had to work the past few days - the last few days before school starts on Monday. We had some fun times with the girls - we walked to Bubs (a GREAT hamburger place) for lunch and played at the playground. We spent the days playing in the sandbox and when the little girls went to bed Grace and I watched some of the Olympics - another reason I haven't been on the computer - gotta love that Michael Phelps! Not to mention the gymnastics :)

Anyway, today I did not have to work, so Mom and I took Madeleine to the fair again. There was hardly anyone there, so we walked around and saw (and pet) all the animals again. We ate a corn dog and got some sort of fruit smoothie, we saw the quilts and paintings and other 4H projects. We even saw the Tiger show! Madeleine had a great time and we did too. Last time it was so crowded. Note to self: go on a weekday morning next year too! The rides weren't open, but we didn't care about that.

Then, we went out to my very favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner with some friends. Madeleine's Godparents are moving to Florida tomorrow and we are very sad! Hopefully we'll get to see them a little bit tomorrow too. Tomorrow is my last day off for 2 weeks - I'm not used to working all that much anymore! We are going to enjoy it :)

The Indiana State Fair

I LOVE the State Fair. I love the food, the people watching, the rides, the 4H exhibits, the animals, everything! But this year it was better than ever, because Madeleine got to see all these animals for the very first time. She loves animals, knows all the sounds, can point out all the different kinds. But she had never actually seen these kinds of real animals. She was absolutely THRILLED. Every time we saw a different animal, she'd say "Pet her!" And she did.

The sheep were her favorite (and mine!) I love wool :) I didn't see any alpacas this year, those are my VERY favorite!


She didn't pet this duck though, isn't it the ugliest thing you ever saw??
The fair runs all week - I might take her back later this week in the morning so she can see the animals again (and I can have another corn dog :) It really was so much fun seeing her reaction to seeing and petting these animals for the first time!

25 random things

Brenda and Angela did this one and they had great random things, so I'm going to give it a shot. Mind you it's 10:15pm and I'm getting pretty tired, so these might be VERY random.

1. I absolutely HAVE to sleep with a sheet and comforter on me at night. I think it has something to do with my cat McGee attacking my feet (or any other part of my body that came out of the covers) when I was growing up. This leads to lots of arguments about the temperature at night. I like it COLD so I can cuddle up under the blankets.

2. Speaking of McGee, she was my first pet. She was a Siamese cat we got when I was 4 and she died when I was 21, just after I graduated from college. It was sad.

3. I love that Madeleine has curly hair and blue eyes.

4. On our first date I told Ken I wanted 10 kids.

5. One year I had a great time at the Indianapolis 500. It was my senior year in high school and I went with a few friends. It got rained out and we were sitting in the infield. We ended up sliding down this huge hill on our rain ponchos - it was a great time. I won't say if there was any alcohol involved.

6. I am not a big fan of movies. I just don't like sitting through them. I have to be doing something else - either knitting or on the computer.

7. Pat Conroy is my favorite author, and I've read every one of his books multiple times.

8. I love The Office, especially Dwight and Jim. I also love Lost and American Idol.

9. I've NEVER done illegal drugs, and never will. Even if I go to Amsterdam and it's legal.

10. I would love at least one son who is called to be a priest.

11. I used to teach abstinence education to inner city kids. Hopefully it got through to a few of them.

12. When I was little, we lived in a neighborhood with a forest behind it. We would go out in the forest and play for hours every single day, building forts, finding bugs and animals, and imagining all kinds of fun scenarios. I hardly remember watching TV when we lived in that house. (Except He-man, that was my brother's favorite!)

13. I wasn't really a big sweets person before I got pregnant. Now.... yeah it's bad.

14. My favorite drink is an iced chai. Whenever we drive up to the drive thru, Madeleine yells, Um! Iced Chai please! Thank you! I don't know WHERE she gets this stuff.

15. I don't like pastel colors.

16. When I was little, I never liked to play with dolls or dress them up or anything. I'm making up for it now because I LOVE to dress Madeleine up and can't wait until she has enough hair to actually DO every day.

17. I really want to take Madeleine to Tijuana to introduce her to all "my" Sisters. One of these days I will. And when she is older, we'll be going on LOTS of mission trips there. My 10 or so mission trips that I went on changed my life. Not to mention the two Habitat for Humanity weeks. Great memories.

18. Ken and I both feel called to adopt some children someday.

19. I used to speak Spanish pretty fluently. I think I've lost a lot of it now. I also learned how to box when I worked at the Hispanic Center. I loved it.

20. I used to love to play guitar, especially performing with Sarah Bauer. I haven't really touched it for over a year.

21. I want to be on What not to wear. Just for the 5000 bucks and shopping with Stacy and Clinton. I would SO give away all my clothes for that.

22. I only want one TV in our house... indefinitely. I NEVER want one in any bedroom, including my own.

23. I'm pretty uncoordinated, and unfortunately it is looking like Madeleine inherited this characteristic!

24. I wish I had spent more time at college, especially on weekends, and hadn't dated and visited boyfriends or home as much (not you Ken, of course!) I think I missed out on a lot by leaving a lot of weekends.

25. I had mono my sophomore year of high school. I wasn't too bummed about it because I really hated that school and didn't mind missing a bunch of days :) My mom and I watched a lot of movies. (That was back when I liked movies.)

I'm tagging my sis in law!! And All You Who Hope. And Fuzz and Heather because they need to update their blogs. And anyone else who wants to do it. I'd like Ma Beck to do it, because I really miss her blog!

I have a silly, silly girl

Guess what her new favorite phrase is? Anyone?

Let me give you the story. The other day when we were at Costco, there was a huge flock of Canadian Geese in the big field by the parking lot. The whole parking lot was COVERED with you-know-what. So I told my mom - "Don't step in the goose poop!" Madeleine repeated "Goose Poop!" several times before we got into the store, and she has NOT forgotten it yet.

So several times during the day, whether we are in the car, at the store, having coffee with a friend, she yells, "Goose Poop!" and starts giggling uncontrollably. I can only hope it doesn't happen during church.....

God knew what he was doing

When he made toddlers need an afternoon nap. Sometimes you just need a BREAK.

Can I get an AMEN??? :)

Oh the cuteness!

So cute I can hardly STAND IT!!!! Baby's first pigtails.

Two years!

448 posts later, I can't believe I've been blogging for two years! It started on a whim, and now this blog holds the most treasured memories of my life. I started it just to keep a few friends updated on my pregnancy, even though I hardly told anyone about it! I continued when Madeleine was born, and I'm SO glad I have all of this recorded. I hope I never lose it and can share it with her someday. Reading my old posts takes me right back to the specific memory.

Here's how it all started.