A beautiful day in the neighborhood...

What a beautiful day! We packed the kids up and headed west to the southern unit of the Kettle Moraine--- a great little 1.5 hiking loop--- perfect for our little munchkins!

I hope I remember...

I used to pride myself on having a sharp memory. I made my way through the ridiculous series of 'generals' in college simply because I could memorize useless information. There was a time I could name every customer (and their favorite drink) at the Bear Trap....even if they only visited twice a summer. I could nail the names of all 22 students in my class in about 15 minutes on the first day of school (it's a little tougher as a principal when there are 470 of them!). But there are times now.... where I wonder where half of my brain went (my mom claims that's what happens when you have children-- they suck the brains right out of you).

I think about writing often, to help preserve my memories, but can't seem to make enough time in my day to accomplish all I aspire to do.

As I was putting Madi to bed tonight I laid there alongside her for awhile and thought about some of the highlights of the day and week.... and I wondered how I am ever going to remember all I want to tell her someday.

I hope I remember to tell her that she has much more patience when she has had enough sleep.

I hope I remember to tell her that she used to refuse to go to bed at night unless she had her 5 favorite blankets, Elmo, Ernie and a Little People figurine that she calls baby (he's actually a grown man dressed like a mailman). She'll never know how worried I was when I couldn't find her 'friends' this afternoon... after tearing the house and every toy bin apart, I spent about 30 minutes trying to find a website that sells 3 inch plastic Elmo & Ernie dolls (that came in an Easter egg last year)... only to have her disappear for 2 minutes and reappear with all 3 friends in hand (thank God for secret hiding spots!).

I hope I remember to tell her that she sang Happy 33rd Birthday to her Dadda in the sweetest 2 year old voice we've ever heard... we actually sang it twice to make sure one whole version was on videotape!

I hope I remember to tell her about how we would go to the grocery store and she would try to point to and name every single thing we passed... bananas...apples...tomatoes...watermelon...pizza...cake... and how excited she was when she figured out that you can open the doors in the frozen food section!

I hope I remember to tell her how much she loved to be kissed on the forehead... sometimes a hundred times a day!

I hope I remember to tell her that she loved to pick flowers... especially up north at the lake.... and she counted each petal as she plucked them off! Daisies were her favorite!

I hope I remember to tell her that we used to have a special call (almost like a bird) that meant it was time to go upstairs for the night... it was our secret language when she couldn't understand 'upstairs' yet.

I hope I remember to tell her how much I love to see her smiling face in the morning... the messier the hair the better! My favorite part is when she drags all 5 of her blanket (and her 3 friends) into our room to snuggle and slowly wake up together.

I hope I remember to tell her that her brother has been crazy about her since the day he was born. Tucker's favorite thing to do each day is watch her play and dance and talk.... he can't get enough of her! I hope someday soon she realizes that he's a best friend waiting to happen!

I hope someday I remember to tell her that one of her favorite things to do was lick the back of foam alphabet letters and stick them on everyone's face!

I hope I remember to tell them both how very blessed I feel to be their mother...

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Hanging out with dad when I'm all dressed up (mom did my hair)!

Eating snacks on the boat while we're driving through the channels of Lake Camelot!


Swinging at the park by my house... I could swing all day!

Surprise!

I bet you can hardly believe it-- a new posting! We are actually still living and breathing and stopping every once and a while to capture Madison milestones. This is her 'shocked' look... so I thought it would be perfect for a new post.

It's amazing I don't take the time to blog anymore, because so much of my life actually depends on other people's blogs. I have a somewhat demented routine of scanning through every blog I know before I actually do any work at night on the computer. I'm certain it's simply my brain's way of procrastinating to avoid things that must be done. I even click on some blogs that haven't been updated for over a year... with the faint hope that maybe today is the day. If only I spent this useless time adding to my own!

Life with Madison is flying by.... she finally started to crawl (at almost 11 months... her own sweet time)... and now she's 'cruising' around the furniture and tables (that's the new parent lingo for walking, but hanging on for support). Madison is still the master of the household (I wonder if that will ever change). She laughs and smiles and loves to copy us (especially with tooth brushing-- she loves to copy mom!). She can't stand when people try to help her do something... she must discover how to do it on her own (I can't imagine where that trait comes from). She is working on tooth #10 (even one of her molars came in!) and she loves to eat fruit, chicken noodle anything, and cool whip. Madison continues to be mesmerized by Elmo and will stop and drop everything if she so much as hears his voice!

I somehow survived my first year as principal... and I've only searched for a new job once this past year. Tomorrow is our last official day of school with children. I continue to learn a great deal about my own set of morals and values... as they are constantly challenged. I have also developed the ability to have absolutely no empathy or caring for adults and their personal issues. I've built up an incredible tolerance to detach myself emotionally to situations.... a teacher's throwing up in their classroom, 'oh well... suck it up... we can't get a sub today'. You were in a car accident 2 months ago and your back still hurts... 'oh well... here's some duck tape and an extension cord for your heating pad.' You were up all night because your ex-lover was banging on your door, then followed you to work and you just called 911..... 'sucks to be you, I'll make sure we keep an extra eye on front door security today.... and let me know if you want someone to walk you to your car after your done teaching today.'.... and those are some of my more positive responses :)

Well, princess Madison has just rolled into my back and is requiring some mush time with her mamma.... because yes... she still sleeps in bed with us. It's on one of my 'to do' lists... move Madison into her own sleeping space... so I can have mine back before Baby #2 arrives (at least for a week or 2). But, it obviously isn't too high on the list, because she is 13 months old tomorrow! And in a few years, I'm sure I'll be wishing for the comfort and security of knowing exactly where our little princess is...

Spring Break 2008

Madison's first cross country road trip! We left a day early to avoid the March blizzard in Milwaukee (they were predicting 10-15 inches on Saturday). We made a last minute decision to leave Thursday night after bath time instead of Friday morning. So we bundled Maddie up in her jammies and blanket and headed west. Our goal was to get south and west of the storm... and then play it by ear. Jim and Jamie weren't expecting us until Saturday for dinner.... instead we arrived Friday for lunch! We drove straight through and Madison slept the whole time! There were quick little stops for a diaper change, breakfast, or a break in the 60' Colorado sun!



Madison discovered grass today! She would pick up one piece at a time and examined it (until dad showed her how to pull up a whole bunch and throw it in the air). By the end of our break, Madison had thatched about 9 square feet!

We all caught up on sleep when we arrived about 2pm.... showered.... cooked stakes on the grill... and slept like logs. It was off to Boulder today to hippie watch and shop!

1...2...3... Tickle!

There is nothing cuter than a Madison squeal... thought we'd share one with you!

Camera Happy

We had a lazy Saturday afternoon (after a full morning of shopping). Madison was getting a little fussy, mostly because she was ready for her afternoon snooze. Just as she was about to fuss a little more, and nuzzle her head into mom's shoulder... she noticed dad in the background with a camera. Amazing how our little wiggle worm's face turned to smiles for the camera!

Our little chick...

Madison is having fun dressing up as our little chick for the Easter season. We've tried spring dresses, bunny ears, and easter basket photos... but her favorite is naked with a little puff on the top of her head (let's hope this phase doesn't last long).

We are planning and packing for a trip to Denver-land to visit Jim and Jamie over the spring break. It will be Madison's first real road trip. We've decided to split the trip up and stay in a hotel... not quite sure Madison can do all 15 hours at once. Nanna is driving with us, so we'll rotate between driving, hanging out with Madison, and reading trashy magazines (nothing work related allowed). We're going shopping again today to buy a portable dvd player and seasame street dvd's. Madison absolutely adores Elmo, Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, Grover, and the Grouch. She'll sit on the carpet and smile and laugh through the whole show-- it's priceless! Her favorite is when Mr.Noodle dances and acts silly (it probably reminds her of dad).

We're still working on crawling. She's been up on all 4's and rocking since about Thanksgiving... but still not to the crazy crawling yet. She can easily get herself around by rolling, rocking, scooting backwards, pushing across the hardwood floors, etc.. it's just not the traditional crawling you might expect. Just like the day she was born... I think she'll be one to do things when she's ready... regardless of what her friends are doing... or what the book says....(again, let's hope this phase doesn't last long).

I took my first work trip last week. Fourteen of us went to Denver for the Expeditionary Learning National Conference. We had a blast! It was tough to be away from Madison, but I knew she was in good hands with dad. And dad's confidence sure has grown! He can do morning to night routine.... 5 days in a row... and still survive!

I've also recently passed another milestone in life as we now know it, I've finished my Masters in Educational Leadership program-- yahoo! No more Thursday night classes and Monday night study groups! I"m officially done with the graduate school portion of my life.... and will do everything in my power to stay away for a few years... (I know it sounds sick, but I am a little addicted to school).

I can picture it now...

I can picture it now... 10 years from now Madison will have the same face at one point or another when she doesn't get her way. It's the official 'pout' face for our little cutie. It's amazing to think that there will ever be a day when she doesn't actually get her way seeing as now we pretty much live and breath the 'Madison Way'.

She's growing faster then we can photograph lately. Every time we turn around there's a new change, face, sound, or movement. Her latest thrill is to dance. That's right, she has officially inherited her parents rhythm (you should be laughing right now, especially if you've seen us dance before). She moves her body back and forth every time she hears music and you say, 'dance, dance'.

Madison has also taken a particular liking to Brady.... who licks her every chance he gets!


The cat is also enthralled with Madison... Kitty has finally realized that next to Madison is the place to be if you want attention in this house!