A Beautiful Day

I was up early enough to catch the sunrise...

It was beautiful.

Later Maddie's good friend Noah came over to play.  I loved watching them together.  They still play independently for the most part, but when Maddie woke up from her nap, Noah came back with me to her nursery to get her.  When they saw each other...HUGE grins for both of them!

It was beautiful.

Building Blocks

We have reached a milestone! 

We have had these blocks for over a year now.  We've played with them, but Maddie never really seemed all that interested.  But for the first time yesterday, she took the initiative to build with them!  It seems so simple, but stacking several blocks is a huge fine motor development that eventually leads to developing the balance and strength needed to use scissors or write with a pencil!  We are so excited around here!

It's been fascinating to see Maddie moving through each developmental milestone.  Each step is a "building block" for the next, and for this Child Development major I have loved seeing it all come together bit by bit.  I used to pray for patience, since it seemed like the process was taking longer than I thought it should, but now I revel in the pace because we notice the little things and celebrate BIG time when we hit a milestone!

And THIS is why I Scrapbook

Maddie loves looking at our scrapbooks.  This one was her baby album.  I'm not sure she really understood it was her.  She kept signing "cousin".  I think she thinks all new friends are cousins. : ) 

I have found a "new" way to scrapbook though, and I absolutely love it.  It's called Project Life.  All you need to document an entire year is a picture a day, and I pen; the rest is provided for you in a neat album with a place for each picture and a journal card for each day.  I'm finishing up my 2010 album now, with a little more journaling, and I've ordered in my kit for 2011.  Don't know if I'll ever go back to traditional scrapbooking again!

Maddie vs. The Glasses

We went to the Eye Doctor yesterday.

I'm afraid we are preparing for the battle of the ages:  A re-match.  In corner one: Magnificent Maddie, weighing in at 21 pounds, an extremely independent 2-yr-old with opinions and a will to match the strength of Muhammad Ali.  In the next corner:  The cute, unsuspecting glasses, weighing in at 2 ounces, with the strength of +2 in each lens. 

Picture taken March 2010

Picture taken a few days later in March

Still March, Glasses are in hands more than on face

Glasses have now become a play toy : ( 

So, Round One goes to....Maddie!  These glasses are now too small so we will be buying new ones (boo-hoo).  Hopefully, Glasses the Underdog can pull off a Rocky miracle and defeat the Magnificent Maddie in Round Two!

Introducing Green Smoothies...

When I first heard my brother-in-law and his wife were on a 50% raw food diet, I honestly didn't know what to think.  But when we saw them and they showed us their Vitamix and then made a green smoothie for us, I was more than intrigued.  This particular smoothie had romaine lettuce, flax seed, apples, pears, mangoes, kiwi, raw honey, and dates.  I know it seems like a weird combination, but these smoothies are surprisingly very tasty!

The health benefits are ridiculously amazing.  It's exactly what Kyle and I have been wanting, we just didn't know it.  By the end of the trip, we had already ordered our own Vitamix and we are now anxiously awaiting its arrival!  In the meantime, I have used our blender to create some green smoothies.  We have made spinach, mango, strawberry, pineapple, and peaches smoothie.  Right now Maddie is drinking a swiss chard, beet, strawberry, and blueberry smoothie in her sippy cup (very watered down)! : )  It's a great way to get the littles to "drink" their vegetables.  If you are intrigued like I was, this site and this site are a good places to start.  A toast to health in 2011...now its time for me drink up!

Another Great Visit!

Aah, it's so good to see family and spend a little time catching up.  We only get to see Kyle's brother and his family once a year and I always wish we could see them more often!  We opened presents, brought in the New Year, ate some great food, and learned all about green smoothies (more on that later)!!  Here's some of my favorite pics from the trip...

This is Maddie's new Bilibo...it's tons of fun!

Emmelyn

The makings of eggnog with my brother-in-law Doug and his girlfriend, Shana.

Sweet Brielle and her Momma

This is the general state of Brielle...capturing the previous shot was a rare moment!

Brielle's artwork

 

We also really enjoyed seeing Taylor and Annie.  Maddie loved playing Uno Attack with Annie.

Annie's in the background helping the littles with their presents.

We already miss you guys and can't wait to see you again.  Maybe we will see you more often this year. 

Sweet Gracie-Girl

For my simple things photo challenge this week I chose Gracie, our 7 yr. old pug.  She is such a sweet dog and Maddie's very best friend!  (well, now she's competing with Elmo for the top spot) She traveled with us to Kansas City for New Year's and she did so well.  At one point I almost forgot she was in the car she was so quiet!  I'm grateful for four-legged companions that enrich our lives so much! 

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