Summer Fun

I know the title isn't very creative, but that's what we've been having lately. The last few weeks have included a much-needed vacation (!) for Frank and I. Maddie had a vacation too -- with Grandmama and Grandaddy. I'm not sure who had more fun.....but I know who had more naps -- Mommy!

Part I -- Frank and Janet's Vacation

Indulge me while I post a few pics from our trip. We had such a great time in Sanibel Island, FL. We stayed at the same inn we stayed in on our honeymoon 10 years ago!! Something I've wanted to do for years and Frank surprised me with the trip a few months ago. Since we will have a newborn at the time of our actual anniversary in October, we made the trip now.


Sanibel is so beautiful. There really isn't much to do there but gather shells (lots of them), eat seafood, lie in the sun and take naps...it was perfect!

I'm not sure what I was looking at here....

Oh, and they have a "famous" lighthouse that we (gasp!) rode our bikes to visit. I will never, ever ride a bike again while pregnant....Never....Ever....

On our way out to dinner and a "bar" at the only place on the island with live music. We went back the next night also! Note the clock in the background is broken; it wasn't really 4:30!

Bye Sanibel! Maybe we'll see you again in 10 years! The view from our room...

Part II -- Maddie's Vacation
Oh, that's right, I don't have any photos of this because I WAS ON VACATION!!


Part III -- Memorial Day weekend

Cheezing it up before church.

Since I'm the last Mom to post pics of the event at Noah's house to my blog, I'll also say that between the other three Mom's and me, we captured some pretty silly stuff. Robin and Waylon had a BBQ on Sunday afternoon. There was pulled pork, tons of kids, lots of water fun and chairs for the tired parents! Oh, and lots and lots of desserts (smile)!

Running around the yard in between dips in the pool.

Maddie and Stella Dot are actually playing catch, but you can't see either one's face
because of the sun-shielding hats!

Maddie and the pool gang: Noah, Stella Dot and new friend Eli in the front. They all had such a blast and there were very few "mines" called on the toys.

All aboard!! Frank was recruited by Maddie to pull the three-seater wagon extraordinaire! We still don't know who it belonged to -- maybe the family with triplets?? But Frank ended up running around the yard until he almost passed out with Maddie, Noah and Eli laughing it up!

I think Noah is checking out Maddie's sprinkler moves.

What you see here is a huge Mommy mistake. Apparently Pull-Ups are NOT the same as swim diapers...they absorb lots more water. How was I supposed to know that?? When Maddie began having trouble running because of the load (of water) she was carrying in her diaper, we decided enough was enough and pulled the diaper off. "I no pee-pee," she kept saying. I know honey, but Mommy is an idiot and you can barely move with that thing on.

Shortly after this sad photo was taken, Maddie fell on the sprinkler head, screamed, cried, was soothed with a cookie and we all went home. After she had played for four (4!) hours in the water!

We all slept very well that night!

Mother's Day and recent happenings

Maddie has kept us very busy lately, and so have our jobs. Just like everyone else, but for some reason, I'm too exhausted to sit down at night, write a blog and share like I should. So again, here's some catchup stuff.

A week or so ago, Maddie's class had class photos taken. I took extra time with her hair and even ironed (gasp!) her new shirt to wear....but who knows what the photographer ended up with (smile).


Since most of you or all of you already know, we thought it was time to tell Maddie also that we are expecting another baby in September. We had to prepare her for a while, because she has been jealous of babies in the past. Easter with my cousin's new baby was a great test and she was excited and interested. So we told her last weekend and explained to her that it meant she could teach the new baby how to play and crawl and walk. So far, so good. She's even kissed my tummy a few times.


She also has demanded on more than one occasion to see the baby. I finally caved in and showed her the latest ultrasound pictures. She seemed satisfied for the moment!

Also, we found out a few weeks ago that we are having a boy! So telling her what the baby will be was helpful, we think. At least she won't have to compete to retain her title of Drama Queen!

Last week, Maddie moved up to the Two's class at daycare. She left behind her friends Stella Dot and Noah in Cruisers, but she was at a standstill with several big milestones and needed a change and some older kids to show her how it's done (potty, etc.). She seems to have made the transition well. The Cruisers and Two's share a playground so having the same friends to play with has been helpful.

She has been really testing her boundaries lately. If I wasn't sure before, I'm sure now that she's entered and is wallowing with glee in the the terrible two's stage. One minute she's oozing sweetness and the next, she's hit someone or something.

A small-scale example of the lows and highs we are experiencing.

High: Mommy's "sweetness"

Low: "Maddie, you spilled frozen vegetables in the bathroom." Maddie is crying because she made a mess. She then tries to eat the frozen vegetables off the bathroom floor...


We did have a fun weekend for a change. Maddie saw both Noah and Stella Dot for a little playtime. On Saturday, our neighborhood had several yard sales and we visited Robin and Waylon and Noah to hang out for a while. Of course, we also ended up buying something!!

Later we invited Amy and Stella Dot over for dinner. Amy had the brilliant idea of bringing a sprinkler for the girls. We suited them up and waited for the fun. But we think only one of them had fun.


I take that back. I think Stella Dot enjoyed seeing Maddie laugh and squeal hysterically. She just did not want any part of it.


Maddie chased her, tugged her, tried to reason with her. But Stella Dot is her own woman, as Amy said.

"Stella Dot, come play in the water...."

So she enjoyed the water mostly by herself. Amy and Frank and I all had a run through the sprinkler, but only a few times. We didn't stick our tongue out like some people (see above)!!

For Mother's Day today, Frank and Maddie gave me a wonderfully-colored card. And since I wanted to go to the Farmer's Market for brunch and some plant shopping, that's what we did. Amy and Stella Dot had planned to go too, so we met them there.

The restaurant gave red roses to all the Mommies. Maddie and Stella Dot wanted them for themselves, of course. See Amy's blog with hilarious pic of this.
It was a bit stressful with Maddie the squealer in tow, but we made it work. At home, we even managed to plant the veggies and herbs before dark!



Tonight we had some drawing lessons. We asked Maddie to draw Big Bird and the result is above. He has legs and arms and a head. Maybe even a feather or two. We were pretty impressed!

Happy Mother's Day to me!! Hope yours was a good one!!

A lot can happen in a month...

I know it's been a full month since we've (I've) posted. I could give all sorts of truthful excuses: sickness, visiting family, general laziness...but I won't ;-)

I'll spare you the entire recap of the last four weeks -- although I was really tempted to post Maddie's St. Patrick's Day get up from March 17 (She had green polka dot hair ribbons!!). But I do have way too many pics in this posting...

One of the few playdate pics from the last few weeks -- playdoh fun
with Stella Dot.

Most of the memorable and fun events from the last few weeks involved the Easter holiday and family time. Frank's parent's took their first vacation of the year, and stayed with us for a few weeks.

Lots of photos with Oma and Opa follow. Maddie misses them but kisses their photo often.

Maddie insists on seeing the photos after they are taken. "Let me see!!"

Opa is still charmed by her demands.

Um, are those sausages?? No, they are portabello mushrooms?? What gives?

During a visit to the Farmer's Market a few weekends ago, we bought some pastries (from the Bavarian bakery of course). Maddie's treat was a pink icing bunny cookie!

She seems unsure if eating the bunny's ears is really the right thing to do...

But she gets over this quickly!

Also worth mentioning here is Maddie's new obsession with "hot tea." Oma and Mommy consumed massive amounts of tea in the past weeks, due to serious coughs/colds/sinus junk. Maddie loves Mommy's peach tea with honey...
a little too much!!

On to Easter weekend. At daycare, Oma and Opa were so proud of Maddie and her egg-collecting abilities..LOL.
Here, she and Stella Dot check out and share the loot. Will it be chocolate or stickers?
Um, Mommy is rooting for stickers.

Beware the barette bandit! You never know when she'll strike!

Making homemade icing with Oma. Maddie liked lots of lime juice, so we added more.

Maddie put the "eggs" on top of the cupcakes. I think she ate half a bag of jelly beans.

Easter morning. Oma made Maddie a twig tree with butterflies, birds and eggs.
Mommy bought Maddie some pink peeps...

Maddie found two of her Easter baskets that morning and had a blast pulling out and putting back everything in them! No good photos of the basket-finding though!

Later Easter day, we went to visit Great Grandmama and all my relatives in my hometown. We have an annual egg hunt and this year, Maddie had some competition. My cousin has a new baby, Brendan, and Maddie met him for the first time.

"Hey, nice hat kid."
"Yeah, cool glasses, girlie. Are those 3-D?"

You've heard of bluetooth...but are you familiar with bluelips?
It's only warning sign is a toddler left unattended with a bag of malted Robin's eggs.

Hunting eggs.

Some downtime with Mommy.

Fast forward to today. Oma and Opa left us all sorts of spring decorations. Maddie insisted on taking them all down off the shelves. Can you tell which one is Maddie?

Daddy was indecisive with Maddie's hair today.
But the folks at the flea market didn't seem to mind.

Till next week...