Mia and Nora's Visit

My good friend Mia and her daughter Nora made their big trip to the East Coast from Colorado and we loved seeing them! We went out to dinner one night and then to a playground with the girls. The first two pictures are from that night. Then we spent all day Friday here at our house hanging out. Darcie and Stacy from work both came and Stacy's daughter Caitlyn joined in the fun. The girls played in the pool and we had a great time. Nora mastered a jump into the pool as if it were 3 ft deep instead of 1 foot and had a bruise on her butt to show for it. We miss them more now that they're back in Colorado. I had to use Mia's pictures for this post....sorry Mia, I didn't get the copyright permission from you :) Her pictures ROCK!

Father's Day Weekend

For Father's Day, Dre's parents were kind enough to let us invade the lake house, yet again! It is so much fun there, we all had a great time. It was Paul, Dre, Marissa and Kaitlyn; Paul, Michelle, and Livia; and the three of us. The guys went golfing very early Saturday morning, but the rest of the time we hung out by the water. We went for a boat ride, went kayaking, swam, floated on rafts, and the girls loved playing together. Livi is walking now and so cute! Kaitlyn and Maddie sat in the swings for literally an hour. Of course, their entertainment was me singing the entire soundtrack to the Sound of Music. They belly laughed a lot and seemed to make each other laugh harder. They even held hands, it was precious! Maddie, Marissa and Kaitlyn disappeared a few times and were found jumping on the bed together! Three little monkeys jumping on the bed....none fell off thank goodness! It was a great weekend get away and we are so lucky to have such great friends. Watching the girls grow up together is going to continue to be lots of fun for sure!

Say Cheese!

Maddie is finally starting to pose for pictures now. The times she really likes to do it are when she's wearing something silly like my hat or my socks. I just had to post these.

A Great Day

My birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, which meant I didn't have to work. Maddie slept in until 8:15 (yipee!) and when I called Chris at work to tell him, he said, "well, she doesn't have any money, that's the only present she can give you!" We spent the day together relaxing (as much as one can with an almost 2 year-old) and playing. Grandma Mary came over that evening so that Chris and I could enjoy a nice dinner out. I took my camera to the playground with us earlier in the day. Maddie is becoming quite agile on the playground, I don't need to help her much anymore. She's able to hang from a bar and pull her legs up. People say, "oh, maybe she'll be a gymnast too..." Not if I have anything to say about it :) For now, we'll just enjoy her playing on the playground!

Go Boston! Go Airplane!

We had been talking about our trip to Boston for my cousin's wedding for a while and Maddie would say, "Go Boston, go airplane." She's still talking about it. I woke her up the other morning and asked where are we going today? The right answer was Grandma's house, but instead she said, "Go Boston, go airplane!" We did love the city, so hopefully we'll go back someday. It was a very fun time, beautiful wedding, amazing food, LOTS of dancing, and time with family. We had a babysitter for the reception and we can't thank Tracy (my aunt Joanne's friend) enough for taking care of Maddie so we could enjoy ourselves. We have never danced that much ever at a wedding!! I relied on others for pictures....I slacked. Thanks Aunt Jo!

The ceremony was at the Harvard chapel. We joked that it was Maddie's first college visit. Here she is enamored with her second cousin William.

The beautiful bride and groom

Our lifesaver and babysitter Tracy, thank you!!!

Busting a move with the cousins.....literally, that was the song playing, hence the funny expressions on our faces. I don't think we stopped singing (at least I didn't) to take this picture.

The Hess Family, we missed you Grandma!

Memorial Day Weekend....Summer is here!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. The weather was beautiful and we were very busy. Saturday we went to Geordie and Mary's for a cookout; Sunday we celebrated Chris's birthday down at the lake with his family; Monday we went on our first long bike ride with Maddie in the trailer with Andy and Laura; and we ended the weekend by celebrating all the birthdays and my parents' anniversary at Nana and Pa's house. Whew! I didn't get pictures of everything and I really need to get some shots of Maddie in her bike helmet, too funny. So here are some of the pictures I actually did take.

Maddie's favorite thing...chasing Geordie and Mary's cats.
Maddie and the Livster...almost walking!

No, she didn't actually go tubing!
But Bailey, Kim's chocolate lab did! He even has his own life jacket!

Maddie loved driving the boat. She kept one hand on the wheel and one on the throttle. She almost fell asleep...notice her heavy eyes. It was almost 5 o'clock, without a nap!

Jennie's Baby Shower

Shelley was in town for Jennie's baby shower and it was a great girls' weekend. Jennie is expecting a boy in August and she is feeling and looking great! Shelley got to see Maddie briefly and get a few hugs and kisses in before the shower festivities. We missed seeing Lulu :( Shelley is also expecting her second in October!

Maddie and Daddy

As I uploaded recent pictures to the computer, I noticed there were a few cute Daddy and Maddie moments. Lately, I just love watching and listening to them together. I don't know who is laughing more most of the time, Maddie or Chris! My favorite is the first one. I was doing something in the kitchen, when I looked in the family room and saw Maddie trying to be just like him.

Mother's Day

Mommy's Girl

Singing "How do you do my partner?" - A Riordan family traditionHugs from Grandma
We had a nice Mother's Day this past weekend. We had both sides of our family over and my Aunt Marie and Aunt Lorraine were here too. Maddie was well entertained by all her aunts, Grandma, and Nana (the guys were watching golf) so she had a fun day. At one point, her Aunt Kim and Aunt Sam started playing dress up with Sam's very high heels. Check this out; too funny. Boy, she is going to have fun with them as she grows up!!!

I especially love the bow about to fall off of her messy head of hair!

Swimming

So we've moved on from gymnastics to swimming. Interesting, those were my two favorite sports that I did growing up. Funny, I just realized that as I wrote it. Anyway....I'm taking Maddie to our rec center for a toddler/parent swim class to get ready for our pool to open. The instructor has given us lots of cute ideas to work on blowing bubbles, paddling, and kicking. Her favorite part, as you'll see, is jumping in from the side. Chris was off last Friday and was able to come with us and he took some pictures. I am so looking forward to this summer. Now that she's walking (running), I think the pool will be lots of fun. Now we just need the water to get warm.......

Madeve!

Chris has been singing the song "My Girl" to Maddie at night when he puts her to bed for a while now. I know, so sweet, what a good Daddy he is! Chris's nickname for her is Madeve (a combo of her first and middle names), so instead of "my girl", they say "Madeve". She really started picking up the words and now sings it better than any other song (other than the ABC song). I was able to get her singing on video, although she got a little distracted by the fun of jumping on our bed. And may I just add, is there anything cuter than a little one in PJ's?