Bouncy!!!

Last Friday, Chris was off and we took Maddie to a new moonbounce place in Ashburn. She was definitely more interested in playing with the basketballs than playing on the moonbounce, but we had a good time. She did enjoy the slides and Chris even took her on the BIG slide for BIG kids. I emphasize BIG, because there is a designated section for toddlers only to keep the little ones safe. But apparently our toddler is ready for the BIG slide! Chris went down with her once and she loved it. They went up again and what I tought he said was, "get ready with the camera!" But what he really said was "get ready to catch her!" So there I was, poised and ready, when all of a sudden here comes our LITTLE girl (and I emphasize LITTLE) down this big slide all by herself!! I nearly dropped the camera, but apparently got a shot off just in time (see last picture). She was fine and wanted to go again. Not wanting Maddie to become the newest patient at our clinic, I was not keen on that idea. Looks like she may be a thrill seeker like her Daddy....God help me!

Checking out the BIG slide

Going down the LITTLE slide..weeee!
Going down the BIG slide....yes that's her in a heap at the bottom!

Counting

I captured Madeline on video counting today. She usually repeats the numbers when we count or needs our help, but today she just started counting very fast herself. I barely got the camera in time. She can't seem to remember 8 or 9 though, she's too excited about saying, "TEN"!!!!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

SNOW!!!

We finally got some decent snow yesterday and it was beautiful. I finished early at work, picked up Maddie and went home to play in the snow for the first time. She LOVED it! We even got to go sledding with the neighbors. I LOVED it (haven't been sledding in years) and of course Maddie enjoyed herself too. She had a little trouble manuevering in her big snowsuit, but she managed.

Getting all ready.....

A New Year, A New Do

So they say in marriage you should pick your battles, right? Well I got a good lesson in this recently. We were noticing that Maddie's hair was getting a little out of control and uneven and I mentioned that maybe we should take her for her first haircut. Chris INSISTED that this was a crazy idea and that WE should be the ones to give her her first haircut. I was sure that we would butcher it, but he finally convinced me. And quite frankly I was touched that he cared so much and that he really wanted to do it. So I let him do the honors and with a little touching up by me, we didn't do such a bad job. To fully appreciate it, here are the before and after shots. He may have won the battle, but I will win the war and take her to a professional for her next haircut! Maybe :)

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

The funky, flipped out look! It got a little wild while she was dancing!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This may be the longest post I've ever done, but I have lots of catching up to do. We had a wonderful holiday season this year with our families and friends. I decided to share some pictures in order of events.

CHRISTMAS with NANA, PA, GEORDIE AND MIMI
This was the first Christmas that Geordie was away since he and Mary went to Texas. So we celebrated early with my family. Maddie was the center of attention (imagine that) handing out presents to everyone and saying "oh boy" and "ooooooo" whenever anyone opened something. She quickly got the hang of opening the gifts and had a great time.

CHRISTMAS EVE with GRANDMA, GRANDPA, KIM, AND SAM
Well the day didn't start so great on Christmas Eve. Maddie got her first ear infection and we ended up in urgent care. I knew something was wrong so I took her in. After 4 hours of crying, she finally got some relief with ear drops. So we picked up her antibiotics and headed to Chantilly. She rallied and started acting like herself again and we had a great time at Chris's parents' house. Maddie even met Santa (Grandpa) and again had a great time opening gifts. She got her first baby doll and lots of fun things from everyone.

CHRISTMAS DAY
We spent Christmas morning here, just relaxing before we went to my Nana's later that day. Maddie got a stroller for her dolly from Santa and TMX Elmo, among other little things. She is one lucky little girl!

CHICAGO, CHICAGO....(think Frank Sinatra)
The weekend after Christmas, we went with Chris's family to the suburbs of Chicago for his cousin Heather's wedding. It was great to see everyone and we had a great time staying with Chris's aunt Sandy and her boys. Everyone was so sweet with Maddie and she tried to keep up with the big kids. The highlight of the trip for her though was seeing real big snow flakes for the first time. Grandpa was happy to take her outside during the reception, but she didn't want to come back in! She kept leaning against the window and saying "snow!"

This picture is not in Chicago, but she's all ready for some more snow in her beautiful new snowsuit from Aunt Kim. I just love this picture that my mom took of the little snowbunny!

NEW YEAR'S EVE

We had a great NYE this year at Paul and Michelle's house. We successfully got all four girls (under the age of 4) down to bed by 7:30 and then enjoyed each other's company. They did a wine and cheese theme and Paul successfully got us all a little snockered by midnight....we almost missed it! As you can see in the picture, we tasted LOTS of wines! It was a great time and even included a conga line!