Our "baby" is almost 4!

In just a few days Madelyn turns 4! I cannot believe it. She is so excited about her upcoming birthday. We'll celebrate Sunday by having a bowling party with preschool friends and her best friend, Claire. On Monday I'll take cookies to preschool and we'll take her out to lunch at Red Robin. Later that night we'll have Nonna and Papa over for dinner/dessert. She wanted a Tinkerbell cake, so that it is!

Caroline has started standing alone lately and is pretty close to walking. It's so much fun to watch her. She's such a ham and Madelyn really enjoys playing with her. Caroline doesn't always agree with this and will cry at her or hit on her. Hmmm, sisterly love!

Madelyn is with Nonna today making Valentines cookies (homemade at that)! She takes her every Thursday so this gives Caroline and I some quiet time together. I love spending one on one time with each girl.

We've had awesome spring like weather lately---in the high 60's and low 70's. We've enjoyed the park several days this week! Madelyn had her preschool Valentine Party yesterday, so we joined her for that. The kids were adorable and made flowers, had cookies, and exchanged Valentine cards.

Danny and I will go out this weekend for Valentine's Day and Nonna will babysit! Yay! We'll probably just go to the movies, which will be nice!

Where has the time gone?

I really wish I was better at blogging! It is so hard for me to remember to do it and my pictures aren't loaded onto my laptop, so that makes it harder!

Caroline turned 1 in December and is a riot! She is so different from Madelyn and we love her personality. She is quite the climber and loves adventure, which is nothing like Madelyn. Caroline is into everything and I really can't turn my head from her. She's already climbed the stairs alone, turned over Madelyn's nightstand (thank goodness she wasn't hurt), and many more things. She says several words, but the one that steals my heart is "Mama". She loves to play with Madelyn and pull her hair, which we are working on that :). She is a great sleeper and even better napper than her big sis.

Madelyn turns 4 in a couple of weeks and we'll celebrate by having a bowling party! We also registered her for the 4 year old/transition class for next year and she'll go 5 days. She is a smart gal and is starting to show interest in reading skills. She is very curious about beginning/ending sounds, which as a teacher I love :)!! She can make rhyming words and is starting to sound out simple 3 letter words. She writes her name, although she'd rather not, but she can do it! She loves to play her favorite Wii game, Mario Kart. The girl beats me!

She loves playing with Caroline and is anxious to go in her room in the mornings. They both love when Danny gets home at night from work.

We stay busy during the week by going to playdates, lunch with friends, especially Claire, and Madelyn going to preschool. Madelyn is still in dance (ballet/tap) and will be in her first recital in June! I hear she is wearing a monkey leotard...hmmm???

It's a busy time of year...

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! We are finally settling into our new house and loving it! We've been unpacked for a while, so that has been great.

Caroline turns one in two weeks!! Yikes! Where did the time go? I feel like this year has just flown by us all. She just started standing up this week and now says "bye"! I love this age! :)

Madelyn loves preschool and goes 3 days a week. I'm really happy with her school. She has made so many friends. We still get together with her best friend, Claire, weekly. She is still sassy as ever and a little smart for her own good! :) She is learning her letter sounds and sign language at preschool. I'm so proud of her...

I've started selling Southern Living at Home and love it. It is great extra income and I love, love, love their products! Danny is still busy working and we go to hockey games when we have the chance.

More to write later. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

We finally moved!

It has been the longest 8 months of my life, I promise! We closed on our new house this past week and are loving it! The girls have adjusted so well. Madelyn loves everything about it but probably most of all her new princess sheets she got us to buy! It was a long road, but so worth it in the end. We only moved 10 minutes from our other house. I'll post pictures one day when it is presentable!!


Madelyn and I took a trip to Dollywood with Paw-Paw, Great Grandma, Aunt Amy, and her cousins. We had a wonderful time together! I have learned that 7 of us in a van for 5 hours can make you very test-y!! It was great, though. Madelyn LOVED riding the rides. Her favorite was the scrambler. Who would have thought? We came home and then moved 4 days later. It was a whirl-wind!


Madelyn also started pre-school today at a new place. She of course loved it. She is also in dance once a week with her best friend, Claire.


Caroline now has 6 teeth!! She just broke 3 over the past week! Maybe that explains the 4 am wakings??? She is so mobile, but not crawling! She rolls everywhere! We have hardwoods now so she is extra cautious when she rolls. It's quite comical! She loves to play and is a great napper. (Yay!) She loves to pull Madelyn's hair, too. I'm not sure Madelyn loves it:).


We are headed to the beach this weekend for a week with Nana, Gary, Aunt Amy, and cousins. We are looking forward to a relaxing week!

Is it really almost September?

I am terrible at this blogging idea. I had great intentions, really I did! It is so hard to keep up with, take care of 2 little ones, pack, etc! Yes, I said pack! Our house finally went under contract at the beginning of July. We move next Thursday!! I am so excited. It has been the longest year. We found a great new house that was built and we cannot wait to get in! I love everything about the house. The kitchen is going to be my favorite room...it has everything I really wanted.

Madelyn is now 3.5 and something else! She has grown so much over the summer. She seriously talks like this little old lady at times. She has started a new chore chart (well it's called a responsibility chart) and is earning magnets each day. She earns a dollar a week and boy she can't wait to blow it at Target. She hits up the dollar bin quite often! She starts dance today and cannot wait. I can't wait to see her move around. She has already tested out the new leotard and ballet slippers. She will also take tap with it. She is going to wear Aunt Marissa's tap shoes. How cute! She loves on Caroline every day, although jealousy has started. Once I go to Caroline to play with her, she pounces right on top of us! She also is very possessive over her things. Oh well, I knew it would come!

Caroline is now 8.5 months old! Can you believe it? Amazing! She is starting to 'talk', well babble. She loves to play on the floor, look at her hands, play with her blocks, try to crawl (although she's not), and roll all over the floor. She adores her big sister. She also gives Daddy the biggest smiles ever. She still has her eyelid hemangioma and we are waiting until October to see if it grows anymore. It didn't grow from the last time, so maybe it will start to go down. She still has the blocked tear duct in the same eye. We're also waiting until 10 months to make a decision on that.

We are headed to Dollywood this week. Well, Madelyn and I are. We are going with Paw-Paw, Jordan, Jeremy, Jalen, Great Grandma, and Aunt Amy. It should be a riot all riding in the van together!

In two weeks we head to the beach with Nana and Papa Gary. We can't wait for a family beach trip!!! Aunt Amy and her kids will also join us!

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll keep up with this more once we are settled!

Another month has come & almost gone...

Time really flies! I cannot believe it is almost June already! We have been so busy trying to keep this house up and showing it often. I really want it to sale already! Madelyn's last week of preschool is this week, although she is signed up for summer session. We have a party on Friday to celebrate! She has truly blossomed this year in preschool & loves it. She has made many friends, including her dearest one, Claire. She talks about her all the time.

Madelyn is getting smarter all the time! She is really into rhyming words all of the sudden. She will make them up and if I ask her if two words rhyme she will answer. Of course I try to trick her with two silly ones that do not rhyme and she knows it! She knows pretty much all of her letters and has recently started learning the lowercase ones. I try to do sounds with her, but she really doesn't have any interest! That's okay...plenty of time for that later!

We are really working on the sassiness that comes with a 3 year old. If she doesn't clean up her toys we tell her they go in a bag for later and can't play with them that day. Yesterday, Daddy told her they were going in the bag and she didn't miss a beat, "That's okay, I'll get them back tomorrow." Lately, she has been telling me I am going to get a time out. Honestly, I'd love a mommy time out once in a while!!! She will count 1, 2, 3...and say, "Now hear me." AHHHHH.
Really, you have to take deep breaths.

Caroline is almost 6 months old and is the cutest thing ever!! She is now eating cereal, pears, green peas, apples, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I think sweet potatoes are her favorite with carrots being in dead last! She has not been getting a bottle anymore in the middle of the night, instead we just have to go in and find her paci for her. We'll take that over feeding a 4 o'clock bottle! She loves bouncing in her jumperoo and hanging out in the exersaucer. She also enjoys swinging outside. She is starting to get on a schedule of naps, which is terrific!

There isn't much else to report from us! Hopefully when I write next our house will be under contract??!!

Time is surely flying by! I cannot believe it is almost the end of April. We are still trying to sell our house....ahhhh. It is becoming more & more frustrating! Have you ever tried to keep a house clean with 2 little ones & a wild dog?! But, we are managing!
Madelyn is getting smarter every day & a little sassy! :) She doesn't hold back telling you what she thinks!! But, she can be the sweetest girl, too! She is learning her ABC's & knows most of them. She has been taking to rhyming words and loves making her own! It's fun to watch her learn and get excited!
I love, love, love when she tells me how much she loves me! It makes me smile. The other thing she tells me is that I am her best friend. I hope she still tells me that in 10 years!
Caroline is almost 5 months old. Wow! She loves to coo at Madelyn and she makes her giggle all the time. Madelyn wakes up and the first thing she wants to do is go see Caroline. It is wonderful! Caroline has to go back to the eye doctor soon in June for her hemangioma. We think it is growing some more, but it's really hard to tell. Poor baby :(. Caroline has been waking up more at night....oh well. What can you do?! She also started rice cereal this week & is doing well with it! She'll be crawling before we know it!
We've been busy going to playdates and Madelyn going to preschool. We try to do something everyday, but we also love our down time! We usually eat at Chick Fil A once a week...can you imagine? Madelyn loves playing with her friend, Claire, from preschool. She told me yesterday that she was her best friend and loves her.
Next weekend we will have Caroline baptized, so that will be exciting. Their Grandma & Papa Frank are coming from Florida. It will be their first time meeting little Caroline. I'm so excited!

I think that's it for now! Take care!