HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!!

Madison is 2 - where did the time go?! She even got 2 birthday parties this year. We went out to Pratt to celebrate on Saturday and then celebrated here in Andover on Sunday. She opened presents better this year, but still wasn't sure about blowing out the candles.

Here on some pictures from Pratt's celebration:

Daddy showing her how to work her new mixer - it came with 2 eggs and a stick of butter. She usually says she's making tea. I haven't tried her special tea yet. ;)

Checkin' out her new alphabet set - she likes to dance to the song.

Showing off EACH pair of her big girl panties.

Yummy Elmo cake!!

"Dang, this cake and ice cream is GOOD!!!" She was piling it in!




And here's some pictures from the Andover celebration:

Trying to figure out her very own camera.

Taking pictures of the scrapbook she got.

Checking out the new bath paints.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Last Summer Vacation Part 2

Tuesday we went down to Branson Landing and looked at a few shops for the morning. We went back and hung out at the lake and the pool. Our "resort" had 3 different pools and we stayed right in the middle of them all. At the lake we took Madison out on the paddle boats (she wasn't too sure about this) and then Mark took her out on a kayak (I think she liked it, probably wasn't sure about this either) - This was the first time she had been at a lake.

Branson Landing.

On the tube with Daddy.

Kayaking with Daddy.

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Swimming with Mommy.

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Wednesday (Mark and I's 3rd anniversary - August 12) we slept in a little and got all packed up - headed to St. Louis. We were going to a Cardinal game that night at 7. They had autographs from two current players for anyone 20 and under, so of course Madison fits in that catagory - so we went. ;) Madison did really well until the last inning and a half - but she fell asleep when I started walking with her, so Mark got to carry her on our 2o minute walk back to the hotel; she woke up right when we were across from the hotel. ;)

Maddy and Daddy.

All 3 of us .. technically, I guess 4. ;)

Getting autographs..

Thursday we headed home, Mark had to go to work Friday, but wished he could have had a vacation from our vacation!

Last Summer Vacation Part 1

We took this year's last summer vacation/3rd anniversary trip the first week of August. We left on a Saturday and spent the night with Mark's aunt and uncle in Springfield, MO.

We got up on Sunday morning and went to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. It was the last day of kids fest. That was a long day, lots of walking! We walked around checking everything out, saw a Veggie Tale show, and took Madison over to the kid rides, but she was still just a little to small and had fallen asleep anyway. So we went to the "resort" about 4:30 that afternoon - relaxed and grilled dinner. Mark took Madison to one of the pools at 9 pm. She LOVED it.

Playing with the foam at Kids Fest.



Coloring on the giant board they had at Kids Fest.



Wearing a princess hat.

"Fishing" for a stuffed animal with Daddy.

On a train ride, trying to cool off and relax for a minute.

Poor Madison was sleepy after that train ride!

Monday we slept in - went to the Toy Musesum, the Titanic, and had lunch and played at Grand Country. The toy museum had an insane number of toys, Madison wasn't to interested in just looking at them, she'd rather play with it all. The Titanic was really cool!! I wish Madison was in a better mood for that. At Grand Country, we just got pizza for lunch and took Madison up to the toddler play area, we had to drag her out of that - and we tried to get her to play glow-in-the-dark mini golf. She did good the first half, but after that lost interest, plus waiting on other families is hard for a two year old to do. We just went back and relaxed after that and Mark grilled dinner for us!

Playing at the Toy Museum.

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Toddler area at Grand Country...



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Glow-in-the-dark mini golf.



Mommy helping Madison.

At the end of the golf course.

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Belly Pictures

We have not been good about taking belly pictures this time around! :( I think these are the three different times we have taken pictures. This pregnancy has flown by!! As of today, we have just under 7 weeks left - Madison is going to have her second birthday in just under 4 weeks!! I can't believe where the time has gone.





16 weeks









25 weeks - July 4th weekend







33 weeks - only 7 weeks until due date!! Probably a week before Madison's birthday or around her birthday we'll see how big Sydney is - back when we did baby waves they said she was pretty big for how far along we were. For some reason I have thought we'd go early - maybe its just wishful thinking, I don't know. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself into going late! :( We (Mark and I) are starting to watch my wieght, blood pressure, and swelling pretty carefully - hoping I don't get preeclampsia again. I got this with Madison which caused us to be induced, but only a week early. So far so good, weight is 25 pounds under where I ended up with Madison - surely I won't gain that much in 7 weeks, right?! ... ... And I can still wear my wedding ring, I know I wasn't wearing it this far into the pregnancy last time!!

Recent Pictures

We better get ready for this, I guess. I had this out when I was babysitting, Madison thought it was a new toy for her. I've had the little car seat out because I got it all cleaned up after being in the garage for a year - she loves to sit in it (I'll have to let her do it one more time to get a picture, it'd be really cute compared to when she first came home). She got my attention once and I just gave her a look - she smiled and said "stinker" - she can already read my mind!

Madison is SOOO ready to help with her little sister. It is so funny to watch her with her baby. She takes care of it so well - rocks her, 'shh's' her, acts like she is changing her diaper, and even trys to feed her her food (we'll have to watch her very carefully, she's given her baby cheerio's and strawberry's - which get stuck in the mouth and we have to dig out with toothpicks).

At Lake Afton, swimming with Daddy -thanks!! (Mommy is more of a pool kind of girl.) ;) We spent an afternoon there with our class from church - New Beginnings. Daddy was fishing and caught several small fish too.

Uncle Jordan came over and spent all afternoon with us a week or so ago - yea!! Madison had been 'scared' of him for the longest time. I am sooo happy she finally isn't so scared - it still takes her a little bit to warm up, but its like that with everyone. By the time he left, he said he was just a jungle gym. I told him a BIG thanks for that - I'm ususally the jungle gym all day long!!

This last weekend we had a neighborhood social. They had a moon bounce, Mark took Madison in while there were only a couple other kids. She just stood there for the longest time, but she finally got into it and LOVED it!! She did a few face plants, but it didn't seem to bother her! ;) She did NOT want to get out, but there were about five more kids who climbed in and don't really watch out for an almost two year old.

So Madison played with Daddy for a while with the other toys they had laying around and did some bubbles too.

Mommy and Madison - excuse how mommy looks, we had been working around the house this day.

Daddy and Maddy

Zoo Day

On one of Mark's days off we went to the zoo. Madison seemed to enjoy it! ... This was a couple months ago, around July 4th weekend I think; if we went now, I think she'd really love it. In the last couple of weeks, she is learning a lot of animal names and likes to look at books with animals to point them out and tell me what they are. .. .. Here are some pictures from that first trip a while ago....





Maddy and Daddy




Maddy and Mommy







We went to visit Madison's family!! Haha






Our little monkey right at home! ;)







I can do that too!!









I guess she got tired of being pulled around and wanted to pull Paige around for a while. Wish I could have gotten a ride! ;)







Man, it's getting hot out here, how does this thing work??