My 18 month old girl

At 18 months, Madeleine is pretty amazing. She's talking in complete sentences. She can pretty much get across any idea she is thinking. She remembers things from earlier in the day and tells me or her dad about them later. It's really just amazing how much she talks. She is getting an independent streak and frequently says "Mannet do dit!" (Madeleine do it!) She has a great sense of humor and loves to make us laugh. She is sweet and loving. She is smiley and loves to play with other kids - and their toys. She LOVES animals. She loves our morning walks with Grandma. Speaking of Grandma, I think she is her favorite person in the whole world.

One of her favorite activities is buckling things. That's a whole different post! She loves to be outside, in the sandbox or on the playground. She loves to play in the yard, and to pick up leaves. Every time she sees a leaf she says, "Leaf! No bite!" because once she put a leaf in her mouth and that is what Grandma told her. She has a great memory!
Daddy was making her laugh on the changing table. She has the greatest giggle! I just now switched her over to 18 month clothes, even though she still fits into most of her 12 month stuff. I just bought her new shoes, size 4 1/2. They are still a tad big on her. She has all 4 of her molars, as you can see in this picture!
She is usually a good eater, but sometimes is frustrating at meal times when she refuses to eat anything! She also STILL throws food. When is she going to outgrow this?! I don't even put the vaccuum away anymore, just leave it by the table. I can't complain too much, because she really is a good eater. She loves vegetables, fruits, chicken, spaghetti with meat sauce, pretty much anything we give her. She loves these fruit leather bars that Daddy gets her from Trader Joes. I think pickles and olives are still her favorite foods!
We are very blessed, and these 18 months have gone by way too fast~ We officially have a toddler on our hands! She is a tough little thing - clumsy, but tough. She falls ALL time time. She loves to climb up on a chair or the couch and she falls off. She falls when she is just walking. She trips over everything. But she hardly EVER cries.
We love you, Little Angel!!

Our Father and Hail Mary at 17 months

Election Novena

This is from priestsforlife.org, and we're supposed to say it for nine weeks - from today until election day, November 4. Please pray with us!

O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord,
Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.
We thank you for the privilege
Of being able to organize ourselves politically
And of knowing that political loyalty
Does not have to mean disloyalty to you.
We thank you for your law,
Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged
And recognized as higher than any human law.
We thank you for the opportunity that this election year puts before us,
To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote
,But to influence countless others to vote,
And to vote correctly.
Lord, we pray that your people may be awakened.
Let them realize that while politics is not their salvation,
Their response to you requires that they be politically active.
Awaken your people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world
But rather a community of faith renewing the world.
Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to you in prayer
Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;
That the same eyes that read your Word
Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot,
And that they do not cease to be Christians
When they enter the voting booth.
Awaken your people to a commitment to justice
To the sanctity of marriage and the family,
To the dignity of each individual human life,
And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin,
And not one moment later.
Lord, we rejoice today
That we are citizens of your kingdom.
May that make us all the more committed
To being faithful citizens on earth.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

OH come on!!

Leave the poor girl alone!!!

Sorry, but a 17 year old pregnant girl is NOT all day national news. She is making the right choice!!! She's letting her little baby live. Her parents are doing the right thing. I just heard something on Fox News that made a lot of sense. Feminists were never for WOMEN, they were for LIBERAL WOMEN. If this girl was having an abortion, the media would say, "Good for her! She's making the right choice." Can you imagine - this poor 17 year old girl plastered all over the national news. I think we should pray for her and her baby. This makes me respect John McCain more - for knowing about this before and still choosing her.

Oh this election makes me so nervous.

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.

Blessed

Today I didn't get to sit down.

My Grandma and several Aunts and cousins are coming to town on Saturday. My mom and I went to Costco this morning to buy a bunch of food, then we went to mom's house for lunch, and I came home to put Madeleine down for a nap.

After she went to sleep, I got busy. I had to bake a cake for Saturday. I had to look through all my dairy-free/vegan cookbooks so that Madeleine could have a piece. I settled on a recipe and got to work. If it tastes half as good as my kitchen smelled, I think we're in for a treat! While the cake was baking, I cleaned up the kitchen, did two loads of dishes, three loads of laundry, folded diapers and put them away, put all the clothes away, and vacuumed underneath the table where food was thrown from breakfast. Then I steamed and pureed some carrots and cut up some sweet potatoes fries for dinner. I heated up a snack and ate it while I cooked. I picked up a sippy cup to move it out of my way and it hit me. Not too long ago I wasn't sure I'd ever have a baby. Ken was always optimistic, but sometimes I wasn't sure. (He likes to point this out to me now too!) I get to move sippy cups out of the way. I am privileged to have to bake dairy free cakes and cookies for my daughter. I get to stay home a lot now so I can cook and clean and help out my mom. Wow.

After all of this, I was just about to sit down on the couch when I heard a sweet little voice through the monitor. "Mama! Mama!" the voice said. And she was calling for ME. I am so blessed.

Hail Mary at 16 months

She sure impressed everyone with this this weekend!

Frassati Conference 2008

This past weekend was the Frassati Conference. We had a great time! I decided to bring Madeleine for the day on Saturday and then leave her with my mom on Sunday. I was a little nervous about bringing her, but she did GREAT! I did have lots of help though. Two very good friends of mine came - one of them was a speaker at the conference and one of the best! Madeleine just loves them. She also loves my friend Jenny. She gets so excited when she sees her! Of course she always lets Madeleine wear her jewelry - that could be part of it. Jenny was in charge of the whole conference but still found time to spend with Madeleine :) Jenny especially loves showing off her "Catholic tricks" which I'm trying to get on video! She loved Father Dan too.

If you ever have a chance to hear Deacon John Lozano speak - don't miss it. He was really great. I felt renewed after hearing him. It was so much fun seeing all the Seminarians and new priests.

This is Dominic - he's one of our favorite Seminarians, who has been praying for Madeleine since before she was born!

I did not get many good pictures but I enjoyed this one. She kind of yapped through some of the talks but when I gave her the sunglasses it kept her quiet for a while!

I was a little worried about her nap on Saturday, but it turned out that I didn't have to be. I had to introduce one of the speakers after lunch, so about 15 minutes before his talk, I decided to lay her down in her stroller with her silky and walk her around the block. She was fast asleep before I got halfway across the parking lot! So I just parked her in the corner of the room and got to listen to his talk in peace. She slept there for about an hour and a half!

I made her a shirt that said "Frassati girl" and it was a hit, but unfortunately I did not get a picture! Anyway, we had a great weekend, especially spending time with our friends after the conference was over. Thanks for hanging out with us!

Madeleine demonstrating her kissing skills

This is her friend Kallyn from Atlanta. We went to Sakura (sushi restaurant) where we learned that Madeleine loves miso soup with rice, AND edamame. You might remember the last time we went to this restaurant with Kallyn. Madeleine is a kissin' fool. Whenever we leave anywhere and say "bye," she wants to give a kiss. The financial guy at the car place, the checkout girl at Michael's today, the cat, the frightening froggy, the toilet. The kid is free with her kisses!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

32 years! Pretty good so far :)

Hello

Here's the new ride. I really like it! Of course we had to see how it worked through the drive thru Starbucks today, and how my iced chai fit in the cupholder. I'm happy to report that it passed both tests! Also, I do have to report that whenever we go through the Starbucks drive thru (more than we need to, I know), we pull up and Madeleine yells "Iced Chai!!!" She is hilarious!

Yes, it was snowing in that last van picture! We had it "on the market" since January. It finally sold for what we wanted - so we were free and clear to buy this one with no negative equity! Woohoo!

My good friend asked to see the "frightening froggy." One day this froggy, which is supposed to protect little heads from falls on the faucet, got wet in the tub. I put it up in the window to dry out. Madeleine saw it later and freaked out like I've never seen. She was actually shaking she was so scared of that froggy. So we had to give it LOTS of kisses and hugs and show her how "nice" it is. Now she's half scared/ half obsessed with it. She likes it to be in the window at all times, and every time we go up or down the stairs she has to give it a kiss and hug. She does NOT like it to be in the tub when she's taking a bath. She asks for it, I get it down and then she says "Window! Window! Please!" Weird kid. I think he looks pretty friendly, myself.

So long.....

It's been nice knowin' ya! Unfortunately, you were bleeding us dry, so we had to get rid of you! :)

Ken picked me out a great used Chrysler Town and Country. We picked it up tonight and it drives really nicely! I think I'm going to like it a lot. It'll fit both carseats and a single and double stroller, which was a requirement. It also has automatic doors, which is a definite plus! The VERY best part.... we cut our payment by over $250/month!!! Oh yes, Dave Ramsay would be proud.

Another phrase

To add to the list of things I never thought I'd EVER say before I had a kid.

Last night, Madeleine went to the potty, and then followed Ken into the bathroom while he was pouring it out. As they walked into the bathroom, this is what came out of my mouth,

"Don't let her kiss the toilet!"

You see, whenever we say "Bye bye pee, or bye bye poo," she says "Kiss" and "Hug" and tries to kiss the hug the toilet, making that phrase a necessity at our house.

Wordless Wednesday

TMI warning

OK, remember how you all encouraged me to "encourage" my 16 month old on the potty? "Go for it" you said. Well, here's what happened today.

We went to the grocery store and when we got home, I put my groceries on the floor in the kitchen and then Madeleine said "Poo poo Mama!" So I sat her on the potty and read her a book, and nothing happened. So I let her run around without a diaper for just a FEW minutes while I put the groceries away. Then I gated her in the family room with me - with the potty and just a shirt on. A few minutes later a friend called me and I answered the phone - still in the same room with little naked girl. All of a sudden, she comes over and HANDS me a little piece of POOP. I hang up the phone immediately and survey the scene. She has poop on her shoe and a little on her dress, but I couldn't find the rest of it. So I sat her on the potty and stripped her down. Nothing happened so I cleaned her up, put a diaper on her and went on a poop hunt. Yes this is what my life is like these days. Remember it was on her shoe, so all I had to do was follow the POOP footprints. Yes you read that right. Little footprints from the family room, through the dining room, through the kitchen, through the living room, where I found the offending pile, next to the garage door, IN MY SHOE.

There will be no more "naked time" for a while.

Could she BE any more excited?

We went to a friend's wedding last night. She was up past her bedtime - can you tell?

However, she was VERY good. She kept running after the little boys and girls and trying to kiss and hug them! One little boy was running away from her unwanted advances! I hope this is not a sign of things to come....

It's Saturday Morning

Around 7:30. Everyone is still asleep. Madeleine went on the potty 3 times yesterday. It's raining outside and so I think we won't make it to the Farmer's market. Maybe we'll hit Confession instead.

Could you all please pray for my Grandma Irene? She fell and broke her hip on Wednesday and she had surgery yesterday. Her heart is really weak but they said risking the surgery was better than NOT doing it. Anyway the surgeon said that she did well. I'm not sure the recovery time or anything, but I do know they said she'd have to use a walker for 6 months and she's already giving them a hard time about that!

Day of firsts

Today Madeleine tried to make the Sign of the Cross for the first time. It was SO cute. She also tried to say our prayer before meals. She always says "Amen" but this was the first time she's tried to say the prayer.

Today, every time I handed her something, she said, "Thank you Mommy." She always says Thank you, and she usually calls me Mama. I thought this was so endearing that I just wanted to grab her and hug and kiss her whenever she said that today!

We went to Story hour today, then over to Grandma's house for lunch. On the way home, she said Poo poo. I said, "Try to wait until we get home and you can sit on the potty and go poo poo." She said Okay! And when we got home, she went on the potty!!! Sorry if this is TMI, but I of course made a huge deal out of it, and we carried the little bowl into the bathroom, dumped it in the toilet and said "Bye Bye Poo poo!" And because the purpose of this blog is to record my memories of this time with my baby, I'll tell you what she said next.

"Kiss."

(This is what she says when we say Bye Bye to anything or anyone. She wants to give them/it a kiss.)

I called Ken and told him, and he was wondering what the purpose of getting her to go on the potty was... he said he thought dealing with poop on a diaper was better than dealing with it in the potty. Plus he wasn't too happy that I just ordered a dozen more diapers. Oh well!

So, should I really try to potty train her? I mean, I didn't even know a 16 month old COULD be potty trained! She's interested though.

Again!

She did it again! I took pictures. She'll thank me later :)

As you can see, she enjoys reading books on the potty. Like someone else in our family - I won't mention WHO.

I can't believe it.

Today, Madeleine told me she had to go potty. So I took off her diaper, sat her on the potty, and she WENT!!!!

16 months old. Pretty darn good if you ask me :)

16 months old!

I can't believe it, but my baby is 16 months old today! This kid gets cuter and and funnier every day! Here are some new things she is doing. She has a little table next to her crib - between her crib and our rocking chair. We keep a pile of books on the table to read before bed (and when she gets up too!) She has been getting books into her crib somehow. So last night I watched her through the crack in the door. She reaches through the slats as far as she can, uses her fingers to pull the book closer, picks it up and then has to turn it a certain way to get it through the slats. She read them all, then when she was ready to go to bed she put each one back on the table!

She can say SO many words. She especially loves animals. I bought her a Little People jungle with an animal for each letter of the alphabet. She can say elephant, giraffe, flamingo, rhino, hippo, penguin, yak, zebra, etc. It's just amazing.

She loves to hug and kiss everything - when we tell her something is nice, she kisses and hugs it and then says "Aw!" Sometimes if she really loves a book she likes to kiss every page as we're reading it! Reading books is still her favorite thing in the world. She'd read books all day.

She finally graduated to facing forward in the car today! Surely she's over 20 lbs now? If not, close enough.
She loves to talk on the phone, well, at least have pretend conversations! She'll pick up my phone and say "Hello?" and then proceed to have an entire conversation. Whenever I ask her who she's talking to, she usually says Ava or Grace!
We went to McAllisters today. They have the BEST sweet tea, although I wouldn't go THIS far....

This year

Sorry, didn't get any good ones today! But it's funny, I think her face in the first one looks just like the one in the last post :)

Happy 4th!!!

We're doing compare and contrast today. This was last year, and we're going to a little festival tonight so later you'll get a picture from today! Hope everyone has a great day!

Madeleine made a new friend

Well, it looks like my kid knows a good guy when she sees one! My cousin Nick stayed with us for the past few days, and Madeleine LOVED him. She learned quickly how to say his name, and it seems to be her new favorite word. Last night she gave him all her little animals and you can see what he did with them! She was fascinated by him and asked for him all day today. Nick says he doesn't want kids - we're hoping to change his mind! He'd be a great dad. You can see my kid working her magic!


She does NOT go to just anyone - especially someone she's just met. She knows you're special, Nick!! He looks a little more comfortable here than he did here, doesn't he? :)

6 great years

Happy Anniversary Ken :)

How did we get to 6 years already??

I'm such a slacker!

Sorry about the lack of posting lately! I had to work the last two days of last week, and I have to work Monday but then I have LOTs of time off - until the end of July! My Grandma and cousin Nick are coming tomorrow from Alabama and I can't wait to see them. Nick is staying with us - woohoo! He's my FAVORITE cousin. We might possibly be flying to DC on Thursday to the National Right to Life conference, and hopefully we'll get to meet Kathryn from Little Men. I think that would be the highlight of the trip!!

And not that I'm turning this TOO much into a craft blog, but I did finish another skirt - for the Fourth of July.

And we had a playdate with Quinn - she is so cute and funny!

And we did use the first skirt as our diaper cover all day today. I lanolized it and it took forever to dry. But I am happy to report that it worked GREAT!! It was dry all day, and we just used prefolds and changed her frequently (which we should do anyway!) She looked adorable in it too. Even after reading about all the benefits of wool, I was really surprised that it actually worked, but I'm about to order several more prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers. I actually think we might do this more often! After all, I have the stuff to make at least 3 more of these little skirts :)

Quick picture of the new skirt

This was just for "trying on" purposes last night. It fits her almost perfectly, next time I will make the rise in the diaper cover a little shorter, but everything else looks great. I lanolized it last night hoping she could wear it today but it's not dry yet!

I have so many ideas if this wool diaper cover thing actually works. Like - a little Colts cheerleader skirt for football season.... I worked a lot on it but it only took 4 days from start to finish - working a little during naps and after she went to bed. Not bad!

Haven't been on the computer in a few days

And that's because I got this great pattern and I haven't been able to keep my hands off of it!!

I am almost done with the first skirt and this afternoon I am going to the yarn store to get more wool. Don't tell Ken :) But they are having a big sale! I'm thinking she needs a red, white and blue one for the 4th of July....

Here are some new developments over the past week. I have been off work since last Tuesday, and it's been great! Madeleine is walking EVERYWHERE. She doesn't even crawl at all anymore. She is doing great, although still looks like a little drunken sailor when she walks. Now, she likes to hug and kiss everything. If you tell her something is "nice" she will smack her lips together and say "Kiss! Nice." It's so cute. And when we lay her in her crib she'll say "Kiss! Hug!" Also even when I leave her to go to the bathroom. I'll say, "Mommy will be right back!" She'll say "Kiss!" It sounds more like "Keese!"

It's getting hard to take her anywhere because now that she knows she can walk, she doesn't want to be confined to the cart or stroller. Most of the time she still likes her sling though - she especially enjoyed riding on my back in her Mei Tai last weekend when we went for a hike! Hopefully the extra 19 lbs will help me burn some more calories!!

Fun in the Sandbox

This will be my kid someday

Yesterday my friend called me with this story, which happened last week up by South Bend.

Her friend's sister works for a preschool, and last week they took the kids to the zoo. They were having a great day when suddenly they noticed that one of the little 4 year old boys was missing. His mother was there as one of the chaperones, and they couldn't find him anywhere. So they ended up calling the police and they searched the zoo for him. Finally after about 20 minutes he came walking back to the group. His mom and the other chaperones and the police tried to ask where he'd been or what happened to him, but he was acting really funny and wouldn't talk at all, say where he'd been or what happened to him. Everyone was getting really worried. Finally his mom said she was just going to take him home and maybe she could get him to talk to her there. On the way home, they stopped at McDonalds for lunch. When they got out of the car, the little boy insisted on taking his backpack with him. His mom said, "No, just leave it in the car." But he was very insistent and acting really weird. Finally his mom opened his backpack......and there was a penguin in it!!!!

Yes, the 4 year old boy somehow got into the penguin exhibit, caught one of them, stuffed it in his backpack, zipped it up, and kept it quiet while being questioned by the police, his teachers, and his mom. Apparently he really wanted to have a penguin for a pet.

Anyway, the poor penguin got out and started running around inside the van. They called the zoo, and they said DO NOT drive anywhere with that penguin. They came and got it, the penguin is fine, and I bet that boy will not be going to the zoo anytime soon!

Happy Feast day, St. Anthony

Most of you probably know my St. Anthony story, but since it's his feast day, I'll tell it again.

Two years ago in early June, after trying to conceive for 2 years with no luck, Ken suggested that we pray a novena to St. Anthony. St. Anthony? I thought that was kind of random but he had found the novena online and printed it out so of course I agreed! We started it and prayed specifically that God would give us a child. On the last day of the novena, I was listening to Catholic radio and they mentioned it was St. Anthony's feast day. What?! No coincidences, my friends. Two weeks later I took my first ever positive pregnancy test. And you know the rest of the story.

So THANK YOU for your prayers, St. Anthony. And happy feast day!

Freecycling is great

Today we got a free sandbox in the shape of a big crab. Then I went to Lowes and got 250 lbs of sand to put in it. I think we lost about 25 lbs on the way home in the van. Too bad we couldn't try it out today - it's been thunderstorming all day!

I made her Cinnamon French toast for breakfast yesterday, and Banana Pancakes today. She loved both of them and ate like a little piglet! I am getting good at Milk free baking! And she can have eggs! Yay!

I forgot to mention that the other day at Borders I got a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie and without thinking gave Madeleine a bite. Pretty much immediately she started scratching her neck and it looked like she had a little rash or hives or something. I got a little nervous and pretty much stripped her down right there in the cafe to see if it was spreading. She was ok and I gave her some benadryl when we got home. So I told the doctor about this and he said that we should keep her away from all nuts and any further exposure could be worse, so we are getting an Epi Pen Junior tomorrow. The rash might not have been from the cookie, but we're getting one just in case because she's shown a propensity for food allergies. Poor thing. It makes me nervous and I hope this epi pen thing comes with directions, because I have no idea how to use it. And I REALLY hope she doesn't have a nut allergy. That will make her life hard (and make me worry a lot.)

Anyway, we're going to a birthday party tonight! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

What a great day!!!

I don't think I will EVER, EVER get tired of being a stay at home mom. It's my dream come true.

15 Month Stats

Any guesses?........

Weight 19.6 lbs, still 5th percentile
Height 30.75 inches, 50th percentile

She's doing great! She said a bunch of her words for the doc, and he was VERY impressed. He said he's only impressed about once every 6 months :) (He's a funny one.)

She had 3 shots today, which was really sad, but she recovered quickly and had fun all day. She had a little fever tonight though.

We're supposed to keep her away from dairy and all nuts until her two year old appointment, at which point he'll recommend some allergy testing. He said the longer we wait the more accurate the tests are.

So, starting tomorrow I am officially a PART TIME STAY AT HOME MOM!! I honestly had been dreading the past 5 days of work, since I'd have all three kids and none of them had anything to do, but it wasn't bad at all. But I'm now on a 4 day weekend and now my work days are starting to get fewer and farther between. I can't believe it's actually here! I'm really really happy. It seems like I've been waiting for this forever. I'm planning on letting Madeleine sleep in tomorrow, reading her LOTS of books in her pajamas, and then making her her favorite banana pancakes. Maybe we'll go for a walk, maybe we'll go get her favorite sorbet (she can't have ice cream, so that's as close as she can get, and she loves it!), maybe we'll hit the library, maybe we'll go hang out at my mom's pool. Whatever we do, we get to be together and we get to make our own schedule!!! *big sigh of relief*

Summer is kicking my butt

I'm exhausted. I'm sunburned. All this fun in the sun. Extra kids. Swimming, chasing this new little walker. I need a nap......ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

At 15 months

You are getting really good at walking - and you LOVE to walk. Whenever you're being carried or are sitting on someone's lap, you say "Alk!"

You have beautiful bright blue eyes with incredibly long eyelashes - everyone who meets you comments on your eyes. You have beautiful curly reddish brown hair.

You have a great smile which you give freely. You are very social - always talking to everyone. You say probably 200 words, and pretty much amaze everyone you talk to. You can even say giraffe and elephant! You've started to put a few words together. You've said things like "I dropped it" and "book fall down." Also, whenever you drop something, you say "Get it! Please!"

You still have your thumb in your mouth ALL the time, and love your "silkies." You like to have them in the car, when we're reading books, and when you go to sleep.

Speaking of books, they are your favorite things. You love to read books - and you even read to us! Whenever we're in the car, you have to have a book. When you get tired of one, you throw it on the floor and say "Book!" until we give you another one. You are not interested at all in TV. (that is good!)

Your favorite book is Good Night Gorilla. We read that one at least 10 times/day. If you can't find it, you say, "Illa! Where ARE you?" and look around until you find it.

Your favorite song is Baby Beluga. You LOVE this song. Whenever I start singing another song to you, you say "Uga!" and whenever we get in the car, you say "Uga!" as soon as you get in your carseat. Then again as soon as the song ends. You love it and you can say the last word of every line perfectly.

You have been sleeping through the night for a few months now, and Mommy sure loves that! You also usually take a good 2 hour nap in the afternoon. You are always happy, and have a great time wherever you go.

You are still pretty tiny - we'll see at your 15 month appointment if you've hit the 20 pound mark yet, and then you'll finally get to face forward in the car. You are in 12 month clothes, and even some of them are too big.

You LOVE playing outside - swinging, climbing on the playground, and playing in the sandbox. You're a great traveller too.

Every day Daddy and Mommy talk about how beautiful and smart you are, and how lucky we are to have you.

We love you Madeleine!

My Angel at 15 Months

She's a genius, I tell you.

My ladybug

My good friend needed a ladybug with a carseat strap. Here's what I came up with. What do you think? Ken edited it a little. I was pretty proud of it! And by the way, today was my first day off!! Even though this day included a pap smear and a pelvic exam (one year checkup, sorry TMI!) it was a great day. We had a playdate with my friend Susan and her three great boys. Madeleine kept kissing one of them! They'll be in the same class at school so we tried to capture a picture but she was too fast. Too bad - it would have been fun to show them that picture around 8th grade :)

We start 'em early around here

Enlarge to see the title of the book. And obviously that date is not correct on the picture, since she wasn't born yet. For some reason, Madeleine really likes religious books with no pictures. I tested it out one day - got her a religious book and a book that looked the same but wasn't religious - and she threw that one on the floor! The religious one she "read" for 15 minutes. She is especially partial to our Chaplet of Divine Mercy book.

Little Christopher

Yesterday I went to a Memorial Mass for the son of a good friend of mine. The baby died at 16 weeks gestation, so his parents were blessed to deliver him and get to hold him for a while. The mass was beautiful. Sad, but beautiful.

I was blessed last night to get to spend some time with his mother, and hear the stories of how, in his short life, he touched many people's lives. One example is the doctor who delivered him came to the memorial mass. She is Catholic, but doesn't have a church that she attends regularly. Now she knows she's welcome at our parish, and knows the priest who was with them at the hospital and said the mass. How amazing - this little boy could be the person who brings her back to the church!

I also got to see a picture of him, and he was so tiny, but perfectly and beautifully made. I am really sad for his family, his parents and brothers and sister. Please say a prayer for them, that they will be comforted in this time of grief.