Rock-a-bye a minute

My little Miss Madelyn has her ways of get out of going to bed. It amazes how fast she learned how to make excuses during bed time. Some of her common lines are "I want to snuggle mama" or "I need my kitty" or "I want a story". But my favorite that works every time is "rock-a-bye a minute". I have a wooden rocking chair in her room, so I scoop her up and we will rock until she is almost asleep.

The past two years have flown by. I remember sitting in her room before she was born and couldn't wait to rock my own baby. We have spent a lot of time in that chair and I realize that she is no longer my baby, but a big girl! Now that she is getting a little older, we have great little conversations while we rock. We will often say our prayers or sing a song. Last night as she was getting her blanket positioned just right under nose, and herself into the right position, I just looked at her. What an amazing gift from God that I'm holding! She truly is a miracle and we are so blessed to have a healthy, beautiful little girl. I read a lot of different blogs about kids that are suffering from cancer or other disabilities and I don't want to ever take for granted how blessed we are!

I know the day will be coming soon where our girl will not want to be rocked and cuddled so I guess I will never turn down a "rock-a-bye a minute" and always cherish those precious times.

Our weekend was pretty uneventful so I don't have any fun pictures to post. I actually never took out the camera which is unusual for me. Bob and I were both surprised when we got home from church on Sunday and Maddie decided on her own to take a nap. This was out of the ordinary and we found her snuggled in her bed with her shoes still on. I guess she new what she wanted.

We are looking forward to Bob's family coming up for the weekend. Even though Bob has to work this weekend, Maddie and I will enjoy their company.

Fun at the Park!!!

We are blessed to have fantastic neighbors with young kids. Melanie and Rob live across the street from us and have sweet boys Trevor (5) and Ty (1). Tonight we took the kids to the park and they had a wonderful time! It was fun to watch them chase each other and I got some great pictures along the way!It didn't take her long to figure out how to maneuver through the ropes. Great picture of Trevor!

Moma's boys!!!

Ty eating his push-up! The paper was pretty good too!

Maddie has no fear and will climb and slide on everything. I love her hair in this picture!!

Trevor, coming up!!

You can do it Maddie!!!

Thanks to Trever, he took this picture of the two Melanie's!

Last picture of the day! We had so much fun and we look forward to doing it again!

Thanks Melanie for the play date!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day sweetheart! Maddie is so lucky to have you as her Daddy.2 yrs old~being silly
1 years old~having fun

2 weeks old~snuggle daddy

Maddie is a daddy's girl and I love to watch them together. I always knew that Bob would be an amazing father and am blessed to have such a loving husband.

I also need to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day too! He is a Godly man who adores his family and I'm very thankful to have him as my dad. It doesn't matter how old I get, or where I live, I will always be a daddy's girl! Love you lots!!

Summer!

Finally, I think summer is here!! It was a beautiful day and my friend Robin and her sweet little girl Whitney came by to play. The girls had fun playing on the swing set and we all enjoyed the warm weather!
Ready, set, go!

Robin and Whitney

The girls enjoyed their snacks outside.

It was about 86 outside and Bob brought home a baby pool for Maddie. We started filling it up and she couldn't wait to get in. I couldn't believe that she sat in the pool while filling it with cold water straight from the hose.

My little skinny dipper!

Having a ball!!!

It was time to go in and I just had to take this picture...so cute!

William A Irvin 5k June 19, 2009

I have never been a runner and don't know what I was thinking when I signed up to run the 5k with a few friends from DTCU? I thought it would be fun and had never been apart of such an experience. I have to say that it was a ton of fun even if my legs were a little sore the next day.

I set a goal that I wanted to finish in under 35 minutes. I didn't train like I should have, but gave it my all! I finished in 33.4o and was surprised how much fun I had. There were 1500 runners and lots of support from the crowd. They really motivate you! I amazed at the ones who run the half or full marathons, I could never do it.

The crew before heading down to the race
The weather completely changed by race time. The fog rolled it and the temperature dropped to about 56 degrees. It was perfect for the runner

Yeah!!! We finished!!!

My pal Kim and I after the race. We were glad it was over and ready to go celebrate with

dinner at Little Angie's!

No Nap Maddie!

This is the second time this week that I picked Maddie up from daycare and she didn't have a nap. Maddie's friend Milly came back to daycare this week after her Mom being on maternity leave for a few months. I guess they have had a lot of catching up to do because they were to busy chatting and neither of them took a nap. My girl doesn't function very well with our sleep, she's a little like her Moma. We got home and she wanted her piggy pj's on right away. I knew we were in trouble because everything I tried to do for her, she didn't want and cried. She wanted a waffle for supper and I didn't fight with her. By 6:15 pm she was asleep in her chair and ready for bed.
Poor girl was so tuckered out! I hope that she sleeps through the night!

I added this picture because I thought she looked pretty cute! I LOVE this tutu and I can't wait to get her picture taken in it by a professional this summer.

First Bike Ride

We bought this great stroller from a friend and decided to give Maddie her first ride even if it was only 54 degrees. She LOVED every minute and laughed the whole time. She wasn't so excited about the helmet that I told her she had to wear, but I'm sure she will get used to it! I can't wait for it to warm up so we can go for longer rides together as a family.Waiting patiently for Daddy to get everything hooked up!
Let's go Daddy!

It was time for Momma to drive! Hold on Maddie!!

Fun at the Zoo

We had a nice time at the zoo this morning. The weather was perfect and it was nice to just spend time with each other.It was really warm so the Polar Bear was just hangin' out.

Someone please feed me?

How high can you jump?


Bob and I had a fun date night last night! We first went to a restaurant called Midi and the food was excellent! It was our first time trying it out and we will definitely go back again! I had gotten tickets from work for the play "Doubt" so we went to see it at the Duluth Playhouse. The acting was really good and we enjoyed ourselves. I was lucky to have a friend come over and watch Maddie for us. I think they both had a good time and I'm looking forward to our next date night!

Big Girl Bed

We didn't give in and put her crib back together. She slept in her pack-n-play a few nights and then was ready to go back to her own bed. The first night she woke up around midnight and was sitting outside our room whimpering a bit. Bob put her back to bed and she slept the rest of the night. She's gone to bed much better and now we are slowly working on the potty training. She's showing more interest and soon it will be time for the big girl panties!!

What have we been up to?

***Update*** Maddie did not do well at all in her bed with the toddler rails! She wouldn't even lay down in her bed, it was like she was scared. She ended up sleeping with us and when I tried to lay her down for her nap today, she freaked out! I had to set up her pack-n-play and she went right to sleep. I guess she isn't ready for a toddler bed and Daddy will put her crib back together tonight. *I noticed the last picture wasn't on her so I uploaded it again*

We have been pretty busy the past few days. It finally warmed up a little so it was nice to play outside. Maddie and I had fun playing with sidewalk chalk, even though I was the one doing most of the writing.Thursday, we met Bob's sister's Cece, Jan and nephew Trevor for a afternoon Twins game. We had a great time and the Twins won!!!



Trevor, Cece, Bob and Jan










Maddie didn't go to the game with us, but she looked really cute in her Twins gear!

My girl is getting so big! Today, daddy converted her crib to have rails so she can get in and out. It will be interesting to see if she stays in tonight? Slowly, all of the signs of having a baby around are going away. Some days I really miss the baby stage, but this age is pretty fun too!

Jesus Loves Me

Maddie singing Jesus Loves Me...love it!!!!

Girls night!

Daddy is away, so it's time for the girls to play! I picked Maddie up from day care last night and it was a struggle to make her something that she wanted for dinner. Finally, she agreed on having a waffle and then was a happy girl. She hasn't been a very good eater these days so I was pleased when she ate the whole thing.

After we finished supper, we played play-doh for a while and it's fun to see how her imagination works. She was making cookies, pizza and loved rolling it out with her play rolling-pin. I gave her a quick bath and I painted her little toes for the first time. It was so cute, she kept pointed to her toes saying "pink mama, pink!" I tried to take a few pictures, but they didn't turn out so well. So, no pictures for this post.

The rest of our evening was spent looking at a few books and watching Jon & Kate and The Bachelorette. I know, great show for a two year old, but I was going back an forth. Bed time was another story. Usually she goes to bed great, but for some reason, she was ticked off. She was screaming and jumping in her bed. I tried to rock her a minuet and she still pushed me away. As last resort, I took her in bed with me and she immediately calmed down. I guess she wanted to snuggle a minute and fell asleep with me right away. I love having time with my girl and I know before to long, she wont want to cuddle with me anymore. Hopefully the weather is nice tonight and we will get some time to play outside.

On a side note...Maddie likes to sing her ABC's and Twinkle Little Star, but last night on our way home she started singing "the bible tells me so" from Jesus Loves Me. I love it when she sings...music to my ears!!!