6-month pictures

today i took the kids out on my own for a photo session at jcp and a few other errands. i don't know what i was thinking scheduling it for 10:20am when mason likes to nap. it was also unfortunate that the photographer didn't really get that 6-month-olds don't really take direction well. she kept telling him to stop drooling and biting his hands. and to hold still.

then we put madelyn in too and tried to get her to hold a wiggling mason. she cried a few times when the photographer had her get so close to mason that he bumped her in the face with his head. madelyn did a great job and was trying really hard to do what she was told. i don't think that it helped that the photographer was a little stressed and the room was crazy hot! i was getting a little stressed out too but we got a few keepers anyway.


here is a selection of some of the best ones. you can't really tell, but several of them were too blurry to order because of the kids moving.

after pictures at the mall we loaded back into the car for some lunch. we went to mcdonalds (which was packed) because madelyn wanted chicken nuggets. we circled the parking lot three times before finding a car that was leaving. once i parked i realized that mason had fallen asleep. since he was sleeping we left the parking spot and went through the drive thru instead. madelyn really wanted to get out of the car so i told her that we got to have a special car picnic before going shopping at target.

mason woke up while we were eating so i nursed him in the parking lot while madelyn was finishing her lunch. we had a lovely time at target. once our shopping was complete we bundled up and headed back out to the car. as a special treat for madelyn we went to get milkshakes. she has never had one before. while we were in the drive thru line madelyn announced that she needed to go potty. i told her that there was nothing i could do now and she would have to hold it. she said okay but a few minutes later she asked again. and then started crying saying, "i can't!" then she stopped and said that she went in her underwear a little. i told her to wait and she said okay before crying again. she was trying so hard not to go but couldn't hold it any more (the drive through was taking forever). the poor kid went through this four times before saying that she was done. i was so sad for her because she really, really tried not to go in her car seat. i let her have her milkshake, but wouldn't let her listen to her veggietales music.

i was spent after our outing and once i fed mason his lunch i told madelyn that she was taking a nap because mommy needed some alone time today (and she was so tired that she had fallen asleep while talking to me in the car on the way home - she fell asleep mid-sentence). so everyone is sleeping and i am catching up on posts. nap time for mommy now. love.

the phone call

yesterday madelyn was speaking to grandma on the phone and asked her if she could speak with annabell (grandma was babysitting annabell one time when madelyn spoke to her on the phone). since annabell wasn't with grandma we called annabell's house so that madelyn could speak to her. it was the first social phone call for both girls. enjoy this edited version! love.

duck box

i had forgotten to mention mason's favorite christmas present - a duck box. well, i don't really know what else to call it. it is a box with a duck face, wings, and tail painted on the outside. then when you open it up there is a little cube duck in a nest sitting inside. the duck doesn't make any noise or anything special other than push down a little. but mason loves it! oddly enough he likes to use it for chewing on (it isn't really very friendly for that because of its shape) and stops crying the moment he sees it. you never know what they will like.

i am so determined to have mason crawl that we have been working on it everyday and i won't let him even lay on his back. i really don't like the back scooting and it is making it so that he won't sit up without throwing himself backwards. it has also complicated diaper changes because he hops his butt whenever he is on his back. if i help him pick his hips up he will tuck his knees under and rock a little. he gets up on his knees all on his own when he is chewing on his duck box.

not having a schedule this week is really throwing me off, but i have been able to take care of some projects that i just haven't had time for. i got some space saver cube bags for christmas (i asked for them) and finally had the time to go through all of the girl clothes madelyn has outgrown because it is getting out of control. i was able to take 6 large storage bins down to two space saver bags that take up the space of only one storage bin! i am in love with the space saver bags! and i highly recommend them. after the success i had with madelyn's clothes i decided to also reduce down my maternity clothes too.

i was also happy that i went through madelyn's old clothes because while in storage a lot of them had developed some yellow stains! it must have been from spit up because they were all on the neck, chest, and sleeves of the shirts. i put them through the sanitary cycle on my washer and almost all of them came out. it was fun to look back at all of madelyn's old clothes and marvel at the sheer volume. that girl had more clothes in her first 6-months of life than i have probably had in the past 5 years.

anyway, i am trying to relax and enjoy my time off with the kids this week. madelyn keeps asking if i have to work because she is not used to having so much time with me during the day. it has been really nice to not to have to tell her to wait and play by herself.



we have also been out running errands. mason really likes being able to sit in the basket seat of the shopping cart where he can see more of what is going on around him. madelyn was really excited to go to sams where they could sit in the cart together. she was not that interested in having her picture taken but i was able to sneak a quick one while she was sampling some popcorn. love.

beyond christmas

there has been so much going on here the past few days that i needed to do a miscellaneous post.

- mason has really committed to scooting around on his back (i should really get some video. it is pretty funny looking). so much so that today he would practically refuse to sit up. he would just throw himself back so that he could scoot.

- i was working on getting mason to crawl on all fours today and talking to him. i was saying, "mason, you need to learn how to sit, and crawl, and..." but before i could finish madelyn added excitedly, "and play!"

- madelyn got a few chapter books for christmas. i thought that with her attention span and active imagination she would like having them read to her. last night we started charlotte's web. she took to it even better than i thought! she paid close attention and asked questions. i am really looking forward to this addition to our routine.

- there has been a real shift to madelyn using the bathroom "by myself". sometimes she is too independent and we have to take her back for another try at wiping, but she is really proud that she can do it all on her own. she doesn't even need a step stool anymore.

- my new nickname for mason is "monks". madelyn was asking me about it the other day so i guess it might stick. monks is short for monkey.

- madelyn got a veggietales lullaby cd for christmas. she just has an ipod dock in her room so we loaded it for her and let mason use the actual cd for his nap. madelyn heard the music coming from mason's room - she never misses a veggietales detail - and asked what it was. i told her that it was the lullaby cd. after mason's nap we heard madelyn singing to him, "love-aby, love-aby". she told me that she was singing him to sleep.

- mason stopped nursing to sleep on christmas eve. he just doesn't nurse at bed time. he still sleeps all night too. we are most excited about the flexibility this gives us at bed time. since mason will not take milk from a bottle matt always has to put madelyn down and misses that time with mason. now he can read books and have quiet time with mason at night too.

- there have been a few things recently that have lead to madelyn being really interested about getting her adult teeth and the tooth fairy. we recently read a book about the tooth fairy and mason getting his new teeth have lead to her telling us often that she is getting big/new teeth soon. the funny part is that she got a few tinkle bell gifts for christmas and she refers to her as the "tooth fairy".

- probably the most popular gift madelyn received is an old school water ring game. (the ones where you push buttons on the bottom to force the water up to float the rings on to the 'sticks'. it is shaped like a cell phone so madelyn calls it her "phone" and has barely put it down.

- we have been working with madelyn on not coming out of her room until 7am. if she gets up at 6:30 we take her back to bed as if it were 3am - she has to wait until 7. at first she was having trouble and would cry that her "clock has a 7". i finally realized that she was looking at the minutes and not the hour! after explaining, again, where she needed to see a 7 we have had a lot more success. and she is usually in our room by 7:01. we let her up a little early on christmas. plus, i had already woken matt up because i was so excited.

and that is everything. love.

jesus' birthday

my whole life i have gotten so excited about christmas that i don't sleep much on christmas eve. i think i finally fell asleep a little after 1am and was up by 6am. it worked out perfect though because i fed mason, got the battery back into the camera (it had been charging over night), and back into bed before madelyn woke up a little before 7am. here is her wake up to christmas morning and opening her stocking. it is pretty long, but she had so many cute little moments that i couldn't edit it down too much.

she probably would have been totally content with nothing but the contents of her stocking. not that we stopped there. santa brought her what she asked him for and the extras in her stocking. i think she got everything she knew existed and more than a few things she didn't. matt said that christmas made him feel like the kids had eight sets of grandparents instead of just two.

we will be working on eliminating some of the old toys this week. i am excited because i found a local woman's shelter that accepts stuffed animal donations. i hate to just throw them away when they have barely been used (if at all) and most places won't take them. back to christmas morning...

for your viewing pleasure, i present a video montage.

i think at least half the presents under the tree were for madelyn. not that mason didn't have his fair share and lucky for him his sister was more than willing to help him open his too. matt and i didn't exchange gifts this year (we exchanged i.o.u.s for when our mortgage is paid off - it was actually a lot of fun), but i found a loophole in our plan where the kids can buy gifts for daddy. although my gifts to daddy were a lot more conservative than the ones daddy helped them pick out for me. madelyn got me a necklace and three charms (a fish, a red bead, and an "i heart mom" block). she complemented me on it all day. the best was at dinner when she said, "i love your beautiful necklace, mom...that i picked out". it might have been the way she said it that cracked matt and i up but we both found it to be hysterical.

mason was really in to his presents. madelyn was more into the wrapping paper and boxes at her first christmas than the presents, but mason really wanted to check out all the new toys and books. he is just a studious sort of guy and likes to take in every detail.

after all the presents were open and mason was down his nap. madelyn got to take the dogs their presents that she picked out for them. little did she know that santa had left an extra surprise for her and mason downstairs. i love that after finding it she still took the time to give the dogs their gifts before playing with hers. she really, really loves the dogs.

after i got our turkey into the oven, madelyn and i got started on decorating our "happy birthday, jesus" cake. we had baked the cake and poured on the green (melon fusion) and red (strawberry) jello for the "poke cake" layers on christmas eve, but still needed to 'ice' it with cool whip and decorate it.

taking a cue from madelyn's excitement from making her 'hand'painted wreath we made a wreath cake for jesus. madelyn sprinkled the green sugar in a circle and then we used red hot-type candy to make "berries" on the wreath. as you will see in the video it was a very good thing that this cake was only for our family. (she usually doesn't lick her fingers when cooking. i don't know what her deal was today.)

madelyn even found time in her busy day to talk on the phone to her grandparents and skype to show them all her new presents. matt just loves how she passes around while talking on the phone and took this picture. i think it is funny because she is holding the phone with her new oven mitt.

she always tells everyone what she sees when talking on the phone. i keep telling her that they can't see what she sees, she needs to give them more details than just, "see it?"

and if you can stand any more, here is a slide show with some of our pictures from the day. merry christmas. love.

teeth

i forgot mention that mason got tooth number two yesterday in all the excitement! we were really excited that it finally made an appearance because we have been able to see it clearly for a few weeks now, but it just hadn't popped on through yet.

madelyn has a large collection of toothbrushes (like seven) and she selects a different one each night. tonight the selection criteria was which one best matched her new pajamas! she couldn't find a perfect match, but she found one that came close enough to "go". so silly. love.

christmas eve

i think that today was the greatest christmas eve. madelyn was so excited that daddy and mommy weren't working today. she loves it when daddy gets to stay home with us too. (i really love that part too.)

mason got into the presents first thing this morning (with some scooting and rolling) - i caught him red handed.

daddy made us breakfast (and cleaned it up), so i got to enjoy some time chatting with madelyn at the table. as has become routine, madelyn was asking where we were going today. i told her that we were going to make a cake for jesus, go church, and then put out our reindeer food and cookies for santa. she said, "no, not that church, CHURCH!" if you listen in the video you can tell the difference of inflection. i guess she meant that today was super special church.

we had about four inches of snow last night and madelyn went out to help daddy clear the drive way. i think she misses having daddy actually shovel. the snow thrower is cool but she doesn't like how she has to stay away the whole time and that daddy walks "really far away" down the sidewalks while clearing the snow. i have to stand at the front door so that she doesn't feel like she is all alone and matt doesn't have to worry about not being able to see/hear her.

while they were out in the snow, mason and i stayed in where it was warm.

while mason took his nap madelyn and i watched christmas movies and worked on our birthday cake for jesus (more on that tomorrow). madelyn is really, really excited that it is baby jesus' birthday and has been singing "happy birthday, jesus" all month. i guess baking the cake today made her think about his presents. she was very concerned that there were no presents under the tree for baby jesus, so she started to pick out some of hers to give him. i was so touched and proud. here is some video of me trying to ask her about what she had been telling us.

i had to work in the nursery for the 3:00 service so i left matt to fend for himself and get both kids dressed and ready for the 4:30 service on his own. the crazy thing was that it was pouring out - as in rain! we went from lots of snow to around an inch of rain. i just hope it turns back into snow tomorrow so that i get a "white christmas" (that is one of the best parts of living in the north). here are pictures of the kids after church.

madelyn brought home reindeer food (glitter and oatmeal) from school a few weeks ago and has been waiting patiently to use it. she and daddy went to sprinkle it on the snow/yard tonight after dinner, but madelyn mainly threw it on the sidewalk.

before bed we did one of our traditions - opening christmas jammies! madelyn was so happy to finally open a present from under the tree and we let her help mason open his too. i think she was more excited about mason's jammies than her own though...

then cookie and milk for santa, carrots for the reindeer, into new jammies, and off to bed. i can't wait for all the excitement tomorrow! love.

basement fun

madelyn plays in the basement while i work during the day. and she loves it! for some reason she has been wearing a pair for our adult snow boots while playing down there. thankfully, she hasn't fallen down wearing them while running around with the dogs. i thought that she looked cute today in her oversized t-shirt, leggings, and huge snow boots - almost like a caricature.


she loves playing with the dogs. she tries to feed them their food and today was trying to give them their water (it was a big mess). she doesn't always go to "their side" of the basement. sometimes she sits at the gate and shows them things she finds in the office or reads them books. today she picked a few books off the bookshelf and took them over to the dogs' side to read to them. the funny thing is that she chose to read about "uncle josh". i have no idea where the idea of uncle josh came from since we weren't looking at pictures or talking about him or anything recently (i cut it off a little too soon since she decided to say 'bye' all on her own).

usually she 'reads' to the dog a story about a girl in the forest that she makes up. today she added to the story. here is what she has:

"once upon a time there was a little girl who went into the forest. she ate a lollipop."

isn't that a nice story? i usually hear it over and over again as she plays with the dogs.

madelyn has quite the imagination. she is always pretending to find animals all over the house. today she kept falling out of her chair during lunch because she was trying to feed the "puppy" under her chair. or this week we have been running from alligators. she also pretends that friend is her baby. today she put him on the changing table to change his diaper. luckily, i had one newborn diaper left for him to wear. she mimics everything that i do with mason, but not while i am doing it to/with mason. today i heard her trying to teach friend to speak, "ma-ma", "da-da", "mason", etc.

her imagination also goes with her to school because when i ask her teacher about things that madelyn says happened we find out that she is making things up. the funny thing is that she is making up stories that make her sound mean or disobedient. her teacher assured me that madelyn is a very sweet girl and doesn't push people down. madelyn was certain that she pushed down her friend, ava, in the snow and talked about it all weekend. i asked her teacher about it and was told that not only did that never happen, but madelyn and ava are the best of friends and always hugging each other. love.

last day of school until 2010

after mason's doctor appointment we went to pick up madelyn from school. since it was the last day before the winter break she had a lot to bring home. i had to ask the teacher to help be combine everything to fit in the two bags i send to school with her because i was having trouble holding mason and stuffing everything in. (remember she has snow boots, snowsuit, hat, and gloves in one back and then a backpack with the state required two blankets, her lunch box, and water cup.)

madelyn was really excited about the wreath she had made "with berries on it" and couldn't stop talking about it. she wasn't nearly as excited about the gift she had made for us. i don't know what is in the bag (and, honestly, it doesn't seem that madelyn knows either) but it is under the tree for christmas morning.

the other surprise was a print of her picture with santa that they took last week. its actually not that bad of a picture. i think madelyn was more excited about the candy cane in the picture than santa. for her the picture brought back fond memories of sitting at our kitchen table and eating the candy cane last week.

she won't go back to school until january 4. i know it will be hard for her to be out that long but at least i will be off from work and able to give her more attention. love.

6-month mason

mason had his 6-month check-up yesterday afternoon. i didn't get a picture of him so i took this one this morning.

the appointment went really well. mason is healthy, happy, and barely cried at all when he got his shots. i thought for sure he would wail because he was way past nap time and starting to get a little fussy. any way, here are his 6-month stats:


height: 29" (98.84 percentile) - the exact height madelyn was at her 6-month appointment
weight: 19lbs. 13oz. (87.55 percentile) - madelyn was 16lbs. 5oz.
head circumference: 45.7 (94 percentile)
bmi: 34th percentile


i guess the weight difference is what makes such a difference in the way madelyn's hand-me-downs fit. and mason is in no way chubby. even the doctor said that he is actually pretty slim for his height. he just has a bigger build than madelyn. i thought for sure that he would measure out taller, but the weight difference is pretty substantial. and he eats for every ounce of it! the doctor couldn't believe how much food he eats a day - especially when she saw his weight. here is a rundown of the foods he has eaten up to this point:


sweet potatoes, bananas, avocados, pears, peaches, apricots, plum, oatmeal, brown rice, barley, raspberries, prunes, and apples


he also did really well with her "sitting game". he is sitting up really well and sits up surprisingly straight. he is also starting to reach for toys laying in front of him without falling over. when he does start to fall he does nothing to catch himself and seems to like to throw his head back when he starts to fall to the side. he will get the hang of it eventually.


he wasn't quite old enough for the flu shot, so we are going to try and go back in january for that. and that is everything i can think of from the appointment. love.

bethlehem marketplace

madelyn was so excited to have mason reach out while in the car today so that they could hold hands. she was also concerned about how long his finger nails were (even though i cut them just this week). she kept saying that mason was cutting her, but it was okay because he didn't mean to - it was an accident.

while they were holding hands, we were on our way to "bethlehem marketplace" at a local church. matt had been told about it at work and i ordered us some tickets online. all of the times were sold out except for tonight at 5 and this was a few days ago. we didn't really know what to expect beyond baby jesus and live animals, but with how much madelyn loves the nativity sets we thought that it would be fun.

we were able to take a few pictures while waiting in line for our time to start. this was not a stroller friendly event so mason rode on mommy tonight. he is getting to be a big boy but it wasn't so bad even though it took about an hour to walk through the whole thing. mason was just kicking his legs non-stop and smiling at everyone. there was a lot to see.













the concept was to be transported back to bethlehem the night jesus was born. first you sign in with the census takers, then you are given some coins for the marketplace but are told to watch out for the tax collectors. we got to walk around the 'marketplace' to visit different vendors. madelyn liked being able to buy bracelets from a jewelry stand and then a leather stand. it was kind of fun to see everyone acting in period.


madelyn just kept asking, "where did the baby jesus go?" from the time we got out of the car. she was really excited about the whole thing. when she got play money to buy things she was sold on the whole thing. there were also kids walking around with live ducks and chickens for people to pet. madelyn was really in to that part. i really should have taken some video of the marketplace. there were a few places where the line moved really, really slowly but things freed up a little towards the end.

and then we saw the star and she knew what that meant - baby jesus. i said later that it seemed anti-climatic by the time we got to the baby jesus. then it struck me that it is probably how it was, sort of ordinary but extraordinary all the same.

they had a real baby jesus and madelyn was able to give him her 'gift' - some coins. they had frankincense and myrrh in the marketplace and it occurred to me that we probably should have gotten some to give to jesus.

when asked what the highlights were she said the bracelets she bought, baby jesus, mary, joseph, apples and cheese (snacks she bought in the market).

after our fun in bethlehem, we headed over to drive through a local neighborhood christmas light display for charity. madelyn could hardly take it all in. while she was very impressed, she is just as impressed by houses that have one, sad strain of crooked lights in a bush. i love that she can appreciate even the simplest things with an "ooo, it's pretty."

we got home pretty close to bedtime and i was working on getting madelyn's gear ready for school tomorrow. she didn't know what to do with her bracelets so i told her that she could hang them on the new hooks as some place special where she could find them in the morning before school.

we had such a great weekend! i can't wait for christmas this week! love.

good-bye, baby carrier!

this might be one of my favorite milestones - the day we say good-bye to the baby carrier! my test for the transition is a successful shopping trip sitting in a cart. friday madelyn and i took mason to ride in the cart while we went to the pet store to look at the animals (fish and birds), buy dog food, and pick out christmas presents for our two dogs. mason did really great. i almost forgot to take a picture of his first ride and had to take the picture out in the cold wind right before putting him back into the car. at least he was still sitting up nice and straight without crying. he was really tired and hungry by the time we were ready to head home. we had already been to the library, to deliver christmas cards in the neighborhood, and to music class before heading to the pet store.


mason really likes his new seat and madelyn is glad for the upgrade too. she especially likes the armrests that go up and down. mason is excited that he can kick the mirror i use to see him with his feet. it has music and lights that turn on with a button towards to bottom of it so he can turn it off and on with his feet and that just adds to the kicking fun. we ended up with two of these, so madelyn requested that the other one be hung up for her to see and play with - between the two of them it looks and sounds like a disco back there when we drive around at night. after church we went for a drive around to look at christmas lights. i had to turn off the entertainment so that the kids would see the lights outside of the car.

this is how i found mason after his nap yesterday. it made me laugh because he looks like a happy little prisoner clinging to the bar. mason is sleeping through the night. and when i say sleeping through the night i am talking about 7:30-8 or so. on wednesday i had to wake him up at 9 because i wanted to feed him before taking madelyn to school. napping sort of depends on when he wakes up in the morning. if he wakes up before 8am, he takes two naps (9 and 2) for a couple hours each. if he wakes up after 8 he only takes one nap going down between 11 and 1 and then sleeping for 3-4 hours. the one nap actually works out really well with madelyn's school schedule and usually has him sleeping the whole time she is away so i can get a lot of work done. i have even had a few nights with both kids staying down and quiet all night. i have taken to going to sleep at 9:30 because i am so tired with no time for naps. the uninterrupted sleep has done wonders for me!

last night madelyn got up twice (asking for her music to be turned back on and then an hour later to blow her nose). somehow i never heard mason wake up this morning and matt did - this is really unheard of - so matt let me sleep in a little until mason just couldn't wait any longer. and just to make the morning extra special, matt made us all cinnamon rolls. i guess he appreciated me letting him sleep in yesterday. after breakfast daddy and madelyn worked on hanging coat hooks in the laundry room. with all the snow gear and madelyn being able to take her own stuff on and off we end up quite a large pile of gear just inside the garage door. now we won't have to navigate the wet gear on the way to the playroom either. thanks, daddy and madelyn! love.

surprise, mommy!

when i downloaded the pictures from the camera tonight i found a few surprises.

i thought that i had heard a camera turn on when i was out of the room, but i had assumed that it was our old digital camera. she is just full of surprises... love.

i love my teeth

after a short period of struggles with teeth brushing, madelyn has come back with a vengeance. matt says that we have created a monster - one who flosses. there are things that could be worse. madelyn insists on flossing her teeth every night and asks (insists) daddy to floss along with her (i told her that daddy was the expert on flossing to avoid doing it during the day). she uses a flossing pick (i don't know what else to call it - it is pre-strung with the floss). the first couple of times she cried when we told her that it was time to stop flossing and throw it away. who knew? love.

come to the playroom

madelyn and mason are getting to be the best of buds. he laughs at almost every noise and face she makes for him and she is very willing to entertain him. she is almost always able to make him stop crying and loves to tell him about what he is eating.

now that he can sit up for short periods of time she tries to bring him bigger and better toys. she also frequently tells me that mason wants to come play in the playroom. i think mason gets a little overwhelmed with all the colors and toys in the room. he just looks around the room as far as he can get his head to turn in each direction over and over - almost in a state of shock or amazement.


i try to encourage him to try new things. today i sat him in front of what we call the "american idol toy" because he really likes to look in mirrors and laugh at his reflection. madelyn got really excited to see him looking at something she likes too and came right over to turn it on and show him how to push the buttons.














as a last random note for the day, madelyn repeats almost everything she hears from toys (songs too), but she doesn't always get them right and it is impossible to convince her of the correct words. here are some of my favorite misunderstandings:

1. real - "a rescue attempt would be illogical"; madelyn - "a rescue attempt would be a lunchbox"
2. real - "orange, orange" (in a very southern twang); madelyn - "around, around" (she spins around while singing this one)
3. real - "in and out, in and out, that's what dump trucks are about"; madelyn - "in and down, in and down..."

i love it! love.

knife skills

madelyn is getting really good with using a knife. i wish i had video of the night before this dinner prep when she was using her knife and fork to cut and eat her dinner - she looked so lady-like and well mannered. i didn't get video because it was just me and the kids because matt was at a work event.

cooking is something madelyn is pretty interested in; mainly because it leads to eating. we were making pretend cookies in her play kitchen and madelyn named out the ingredients all on her own - milk, 3 eggs, sugar, butter. i was pretty impressed that she remembered so many.

here is some video of a new level of participation - touching the raw meat. love.

christmas card phtoto 2009

getting a picture of two kids was a lot more difficult than just one. i knew that it would be, but in accepting defeat i finally got the one that made the card. here are the best from the 150 that weren't included in our card this year...

i tried taking individual pictures of them each first thinking that it would be nice to have a face shot of each of them and then one of them together. madelyn still does her crazy "smile" when asked to smile for a picture so i was telling her not to smile but to say "merry christmas" instead so that she would look more natural. and then i was clicking my tongue to get mason to smile because he thinks that sound is really funny. i was also dealing with the fact that madelyn did not want to hold mason or be close to the tree. the only was we got her near the tree was to let her sit under a christmas blanket. then i spread the blanket out and thankfully she would lay on her belly next to mason. but then the problem was that she would scoot closer and closer to the camera until her face was so huge in the foreground while mason was fading into the background. i kept having to ask her to scoot back. and then poor matt was trying to help me get the kids to smile but then they were looking at him and not the camera which wasn't working either. he finally gave up when madelyn was jumping all over the place playing peek-a-boo leaving me with a blur for a daughter in the pictures. after about a half hour of trying to get them to pose, giving madelyn instructions on how to not smile, and clicking my tongue for mason i felt like a raving lunatic so i, literally, hung my head in defeat. when i looked up, both kids were looking at me and relieved that i was okay. and there you have the one picture that made it on our card this year... maybe i should have given up sooner. love.