A Big Tease

So that is what Indiana weather is....a big fat tease. Last weekend was beautiful. It was opening day at the golf course so Ryan hit the links. That left Maddie and I alone to play. And play is what we did.

The sun was shinning and the temperature was in the mid fifties. Still a little cool but a far cry from the two degrees we experienced only a few weeks prior. Last year at this time Madison wasn't even crawling. Now she is running so playing outside is going to be a whole new thing for her.

I put her in her cozy coupe and waited for her to just take off down the driveway.



But nope she preferred to just chill, look cool and take in the scenery.







She surveyed the dashboard, made sure the door opened properly and discovered her horn.





In this moment, she was calm and cool while taking in the fresh winter air.







We eventually moved into the backyard where she roamed wild and free with her bucket.



Take notice...she carries her bucket like a purse. Loves it!



So, yes a beautiful weekend it was. Gave us a peek at what is yet to come and made us anxious for Spring when the flowers begin to bloom and color is restored in the landscaping. But only we live in Indiana so Mother Nature has ripped that dream totally away from us. She brought back the cool chilly air and is even dropping some snow on us this evening. Only three to five inches is expected. I do love the change of the seasons but once it changes, I prefer that it stay that way at least for more than a weekend. So, for now we will continue to bundle up and wait for what is yet to come.

In other Maddie O news, she feeds herself now. We use to let her just do the finger foods on her own but now she does it all. We put it on a plate in front of her, give the gal a spoon and let her have at it.



She does very well actually. Of course she wears a fair amount of her dinner but for the most part she does great. I did catch her dipping her spinach raviolis in some banana yogurt though. Hey, to each their own right?

L.O.V.E.

Monday was Valentine's Day and we celebrated. I even took the day off of work to celebrate with my Valentines. Yes, some people call Valentine's Day a "Hallmark Holiday" and it may possibly be but what is wrong with one day of the year dedicated to show someone how much you love them. I see nothing wrong with it and I do think it calls for celebration and gifts.





We stuck Madison's Valentine surprise in her crib after she was fast asleep on Sunday evening. My thought was that she would see it when she woke up, get all surprised, play with it and when I came it she would show me her surprise. Well, it didn't exactly happen that way. I heard her awake so I grabbed my camera because I wanted to capture her all excited when she showed me what she found in her bed. I went in and there sat the her surprise untouched and exactly where I placed in the night before. She hadn't even noticed her Valentine surprise. I still wonder how she didn't see a fairly sizable ladybug in her bed.



I pointed it out to her and then got to see the excitement I was expecting.







Over the course of the week, Madison received some Valentines. They are now all bent and crinkled from her carrying them around and they are all hers.



We baked and decorated cookies. Alright, I baked and decorated cookies. Madison played with Mickey and a toy airplane.





We then loaded up in the car and headed off to Ryan's work. He had no idea we were coming and I wanted to surprise him. With cookies and M&Ms in tow we headed into his office and surprised he was. I love love and surprises.



After a delicious lunch with Ryan we headed back home and I of course decided we needed some Valentine pictures. I set Madison all up and started snapping away. I've just loaded all of the photos on to my computer from my camera and I am amazed. I'm amazed at all of the faces this child makes. I knew that she had many expression because I see them on a daily basis but to capture so many in a short time frame is amazing. Check them out.















Madison could feel the excitement and love in the air too because she didn't even take a nap. At 5:00 I finally laid her down as Ryan and I enjoyed our annual Valentine dinner of homemade Chicken Parmesan.

It was a good day.

XOXO,
-K

Basketball Fever

Madison has two cousins, Brooke and Logan. Brooke is almost fourteen and Logan is nine. As their aunt, I've always been active in their lives and I couldn't imagine it being any other way. I participate in the completion of homework, the clothes shopping, the drama of the moment, the consoling, the cheering from the sidelines and the loving them to pieces. I have watched my niece and nephew grow. I've lived through Brooke's biting stage and Logan's shyness. I've been a sounding board for my sister and lent my advice when needed. My niece has morphed into a teenager and my nephew is teetering on the edge of the tween stage all the while I've been right there.

I believe Madison was born with a strong instinct to love. It's as if she knows that these people are our family and we love them more than life itself. And she is especially fond of Logan. She has a special place in her heart for him. She loves Du-lu-lu. (When she says Logan is sounds like Du-lu-lu.) She lights up when he walks into the room and if I tell her he is coming over she goes to the front door to wait. She's smitten I tell you.

Last night was one of those nights where we were cheering for the one we love from the sidelines and we wouldn't have missed it for the world.



Logan's team completed the season undefeated thus they moved on to the tournament. It was a big game.



These boys played hard and they were determined.



Unfortunately, though they lost the game but it wasn't for lack of effort.



Maybe it had something to do with the coach? I'm just sayin'. Just kidding Brian. You are a great coach. I guess. Really I don't have any idea but you look good out there. I guess.



Madison watched Du-lu-lu.



For about two minutes.



She much preferred to run across the court and who could blame her.



And she also preferred playing with her aunt Christy who by the way, let her wave, talk and flirt with two boys. She worked it so much that one little fella even made her a valentine. I think it was her beautiful brown eyes that got him all weak in the knees.




I think Ryan picked up on what was going on and got his baby girl away from those boys real quick like. That's his girl and his beautiful brown eyes so he found her a basketball to play with instead of boys. Good job Daddy!








We're proud of our Logan. He had a great season and played hard. Way to go Buddy. We love you!

Sledding Extravaganza

We've got ourselves a little bookworm. Maddie Cakes has been obsessed with her books all week especially her Winnie The Pooh book. We don't read it we turn the pages and she points to Pooh. When we get to a page that doesn't have Pooh on it she shakes her head no and we continue on to the next page. When we get to the end, we start over. This makes me such a proud Mama, we've got a smart little cookie on our hands. But today we took a break from our reading for a bit....



We went outside and hit the slopes. Sort of. Alright not really but we did go sledding. We bundled up and headed out to enjoy the snow and underlying ice that has been falling for days. Living on a golf course does have it's advantages. It's not only beneficial in the warmer months for it's intended purpose of golf but it provides for some great sledding in the winter.





Madison enjoyed being pulled along in her sled.



She was loving the ride and watching us going down the hill.



I think she especially enjoyed watching her cousin Brooke (or "Br" as Maddie says) because we all got a kick out of watching her.



Whoops!



I hadn't been sledding in so long. The snow isn't much fun when you have to go to work and run errands but when it comes time to play in it that's a different story.



Of course, Madison can't go too long without a snack and leave it to her....she found one.





Ryan, a typical male, enjoyed making snowballs and throwing them at us. On the other hand, we did not enjoy having to dodge his snowballs every time we climbed back up the hill too much. Ugh. Boys.



We did attempt to make a snowman. This snow was packing snow. Major packing snow. It almost packed too well. Ryan did a majority of the work on the snowman. I attempted but it was taking too long and I started to get bored. About the time Ryan was done Maddie came over to his masterpiece and about knocked it down. It makes me love her more and more when she does things like this because it is exactly something I wanted to do.



I've been really into the videos lately. So here is one of us in action on the "slopes".



We worked up quite an appetite while sledding so we brought some of the powder in with us and....





added a little bit of sugar, milk, vanilla and a lot of love.



Then Presto! We had some delicious Snow Cream.



We're inside thawing out now. So, until next time....XOXO!