Ready for Christmas

Our little Christmas Elf has been asking every day lately, "Is it Christmas yet?"

Last week when I told her we still had another week before our trip, the next morning she woke up & said, "Is it a week yet?" Sigh. It's so hard -- I know how she feels because when I am ready for something to happen, I want it to happen RIGHT NOW and it's hard to factor in the concept of time when you, well, don't understand time yet. (And I pretend not to understand time.) But now it is right around the corner and we are leaving on Friday for our trip. I am looking forward to the break and seeing Daddy. :) I wanted to wish everyone happy holidays, happy birthdays (you know who I am talking to), merry Christmas, happy New Year, and I'll talk to you next year!!!!!!

This One's for Slackdaddy

Happy Turkey Day!

~ Hope everyone had a good turkey day ~

Here we are after cooking our all-organic grass-fed free-range locally-grown 18-lb turkey after 5+ hours in the oven! :) It was tasty!

Also~ we put up our Christmas decorations & Christmas tree already!

And yes, I am one of those people who has a Santa hat for their cat...........

Rocktober

Hi, faithful blog readers! I think I still have a few peeps out there who still read this! :)

Sorry about the lapse in blogging. I love writing on here but just forget sometimes. Anyway, it's been a busy month. Todd's parents came out to visit for a week when I went on my girls' trip to California, and Madison got in some quality Nana & Pawpaw time.

Madison is really into Tinkerbell and princess things right now, and when I got back, she had a new Tinkerbell movie and book from the Nana & Pawpaw fairy! One of her favorite parts in the movie is in the "special features" - a Selena Gomez video for the theme song. Complete with interpretive dancing, twirly dress, flower picking, and of course singing, it is a princess/fairy's dream come true. She'll sing and dance along to the video, picking imaginary flowers, etc. She is so into it w/ her facial expressions, etc, it is pretty funny to watch.

Another recent discovery is read-along books. We bought a book/CD combo at some point and forgot about it, but Madison rediscovered it and *loves* to "read along" and turn the pages at appropriate times. She'll do the same book over & over & over! I'm just happy she's found someone other than Mommy & Daddy who will read her the same book 10 times in a row.......

For Halloween, she alternated between Cinderella and Snow White (thanks Maria!) but ultimately chose Cinderella for the real deal on Halloween. Let's just say I was more than happy to send the Snow White costume back to Sadie, and hope we can focus on wearing "real clothes" once again now that Halloween has passed.....

Here are some pictures from Halloween and my trip. I had SO much fun in Scott's Valley and San Francisco, and am SO glad we are continuing the CLUB tradition!!!! We rock!!!!

Elf in the Pumpkin Patch!

And I just wanted to say a big "thanks!" to Nana & Pawpaw for coming out to visit while I go on my California trip! Thank you!!! Can't wait for my girls' trip! =)

Nature and a train ride!

Some recent videos-

Owl in our backyard

Bighorn sheep on Guenella Pass

Riding in the caboose in Georgetown

Thanks, Cuz

We had a great visit with Madison's cousins in Virginia, despite us both getting bronchitis and Madison getting an ear infection. Sigh. I'm pretty sure she got sick on the plane, because she seemed like she was coming down with something within a couple days of getting there. Nothing like being on vacation with a crabby/cranky/clingy sick two-year-old! And at the beach, no less. Oh well, as fate would have it, I got it too, only mine was much worse I'm sure!!
I was happy, though, that we got to meet the latest Kennedy cousin, Joseph, and that Todd & I could be there for his baptism and become Godparents. Little Joseph was on his best behavior in the church and didn't make a peep! The same can't exactly be said for the other kids........
Here are some pictures from the trip!

Another one bites the dust

Another of our kitties has sadly been attacked by the bully cat in our neighborhood (a.k.a. Gimley). Both times it happened on our front porch and this is starting to get ridiculous with vet bills. I told the owners about it the first time (with Solly's tail) but they didn't seem too concerned, and I haven't said anything about Isa yet. Needless to say, we've been keeping them in more, and they seem perfectly happy staying inside. Madison was a good little veterinarian's helper and below is Isa with her bandaged paw (which has since been licked off). She seems fine now and got the all-clear from the vet. Hopefully we are done with cat drama for a while!

Toddler 911

So, think back to allll the things that people warned you about when you were having a baby, regarding child safety. Stuff you would need: cabinet latches, outlet covers, baby gates, that kind of thing. And if you were like me, you were surprised when those things actually came in handy (wow, they really do work)! Of course, they can't prevent every childhood mishap along the way. Madison has had her fair share of bumps & bruises so far, but she is in general a pretty "grown up" two-year-old and sometimes I forget that she is just that, two years old. So you can imagine my surprise the other morning when she managed to lock herself in the bathroom. "Just turn the lock, honey," I said, expecting her to be out of there in no time. Nothing. "Do you see the lock that you turned in the first place?" "Yes." "Well, turn it the other way." "Um, I can't." "Why not?" "It's too hard." And this proceeded to go on for the next few minutes before I realized I better act a little more quickly. Todd was out and I called a locksmith, and they dispatched someone right away. In the meantime, I got out the bobby pins and tried to pick the lock, while getting regular updates from Madison like, "I'm washing my hands now!" Luckily Todd came home and managed to get it open with some sort of little tool. Phew!!! Big sigh of relief. Madison was unscathed, I called the locksmith back and told them we got it open, and they said no biggie. They said if there is ever a situation with a child locked in a car or a room, etc, there is no charge. Good to know for the future!!! But hoping it doesn't happen again!

Never gets old....

Our water baby, having fun in the pool.....

Newest babes in tha house

I wanted to share with everyone the latest and greatest babes in my life -- my sister-in-law and one of my best friends both recently had babies!
Below meet baby Joseph and baby Emma ~ born June 29 & July 7, respectively.
Congrats, proud mamas & papas!

Also, I don't know how much everyone likes videos (I personally am not a big fan...) but sometimes I take them on my phone & text them to my mom. Usually just Madison being her silly self. Here are a few recent ones... unedited & uncut! (i.e. kinda choppy!) but hopefully quick to load since they are small.

Patriotic People

Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July!

Quotes o' th' Week

Upon seeing a biker-looking dude crossing the street w/ some sort of logo on his jacket:

"Mommy, that man has Mrs. Potts on his shirt!!!"

While watching Pocohontas:

"Mommy, I don't like the white man."

She is learning young. And yes, we watch a lot of Disney.

Summer Fun

A few pictures of our water baby having some fun in the sun.....
Along with some other recent action shots!

And one of the healing tail!

For those of you who were wondering, Solly get her tail bitten in a catfight with one of our new neighbors' cats... :( And unfortunately the bone was broken. We took her to the vet, where they suggested amputating her tail halfway down, but we ultimately decided not to. And it has turned into the miracle tail - she is holding it up again just like normal. Now fingers crossed she has learned her lesson to keep out of catfights!

A Morning in the Life

I had my cell phone when I went in to get Madison up the other morning, so I took some fun morning pictures.
This is typically how we start our day: it was almost 9am and I went in to get her up... She was sprawled across her big-girl bed, arms up, poppy in, wrapped up in her blankie.Approx 15 minutes later, still in "morning mode," laying around wanting to read books and not wanting to get dressed! She would wear her nightgown all day if we let her....

Ok, finally downstairs, dressed and fed, and saying bye to Solly before leaving for the day...

But first we stopped to get coffee on the way to daycare, which means whipped cream for Madison!

I deal with this slowpoke every morning, but I can't say I am any better.... I guess if she gets it from someone, it's not from her daddy....

In other news, Solly's tail seems to be healing nicely and she is back to her old antics as the alpha cat. If you look closely you can see where the vet shaved her tail in one spot (in the middle). But she seems to have full use of it still and we are sure glad we didn't get it amputated!

KC wedding

There were lots of fun pictures taken at Jen & Erik's wedding in Kansas City a few weeks ago, but here were a few of my favorites :)
Luckily daddy & daughter were safe at home, away from all this mayhem.....