"some people stand like this"

i seriously have no idea where she would have seen this, but madelyn wanted her picture taken and said "some people stand like this" before putting her hand on her hip and striking a pose. and then another.  and then another.

seriously, i was cracking up! love.

instinct

this kid has had one bottle in his entire life (and he was about a week old), but i found him sucking away on this play one.  love.

sewing

when we went for story time at barnes and noble this week, they gave us lion coin purse kits to make at home (they have been cleaning out the "craft closet" and sending extra craft items home with us each week).  madelyn has asked to do it every day and today i had the time to help them with it.  i was surprised that mason actually stuck with it and 'sewed' much more himself than madelyn - she just wanted the finished product.  fun (free) craft that killed about 30 minutes - one hour with gluing.  love.

keeping the house clean

i was able to reschedule the kids' dentist appointment to be before we moved. (i was actually rescheduling their appointment while we are in florida next week and they offered the day we are moving into the new house but then came up with a cancelled appointment time for us.)  everyone was just raving over their behavior, especially mason because of his age.

for these good kids (and mommy who is trying to keep the house/apartment clean ahead of our trip) we went to the zoo.  the kids were excited to see that they were already setting up some of the halloween decorations.

they insisted.

there is this whole kid-sized frontier town that the kids love.  this was the first time i was able to get a picture (there are usually too many kids running all over the place).

the old train has been retired to the frontier village.  mason loves to ring the bell and call out "all aboard!".

the kids usually stop by the 'news desk' when we visit the jelly fish exhibit because they like seeing themselves on 't.v.'.  today for some reason madelyn was interested in giving a full weather report.

we always admire the zoo's new train. i guess that the lack of a crowd encouraged me to try taking all three kids for a ride.

mason and madelyn were delighted.

maddux and i had a tighter squeeze.

i am not sure what this thing is but the kids love it.  maybe it is an eagle nest?

i feel so blessed to have a fun place to take the kids for free (well except for the popcorn i seem to be buying almost every time...). now to finish the preparations for our bi-annual trip to florida to visit my family and some friends!  love.

boys

every now and then mason willingly shares with maddux (it is getting more and more frequent).  and they even both looked for a picture!  love.

first family golf outing

in the morning we all went to see meet madelyn's new teacher (miss maryanne) and to let them know that we will be withdrawing her at the end of october when we move.

then daddy went to go to a golf outing for the day, but we all got to go meet up with him afterwords for dinner and putting!  matt and i were both excited for the kids to give 'golf' a try.  madelyn has been worried about not liking golf (i think she just doesn't like that daddy is gone once a week golfing).  i have tried to encourage her to at least be open to it until she tries. and that it is okay if she doesn't like golf after she tries but i think she will like it because it means spending a lot of time with daddy outside.

we all had fun putting.  the kids were disappointed that there weren't actual 'holes' - just flags.  there was one divot (a fancy golf word for missing grass) that they were convinced was the only 'hole' and fought whose ball got to be in it.  madelyn didn't last very long and spent the rest of the time taking pictures for me.  i think that the first two are mine and the last one is hers.  love.

countdown to florida

after a week of "are we going to florida today?", i decided to make a countdown to our trip for madelyn (and mason).  i thought it would be a good idea to plan something for every day too so that she could better identify each day as special. although, it did backfire when i neede to shift a few things around...

game night

none of the kids were in the mood to have their picture taken.  madelyn was being silly about it and this was the only one i was able to get. and it was mere seconds before she turned away and hid her face - again.

we had gone to dinner at the hospital (they had hamburgers and hot dogs with sides for employees) before the game.  then we went over for the akron aeros game!  they were playing the "flying squirrels" of richmond.  madelyn and mason had been to a game with daddy before, but this was my first aeros game and maddux' first baseball game ever! 

the game was also a pediatric cancer survivors night so they all came on the field and released balloons.  it was very pretty, but our kids were really sad to see them all flying away.

somehow madelyn has come home with a ball from just about every baseball game she can remember attending.  and now she expects it.  there were lots of tears after almost every single play because she didn't get a ball.  we had lots of discussion about selfishness and that you can't have everything.  after a few more plays the crying stopped.

before the game, begging for balls

madelyn's favorite pitcher - the one with the barbie backpack

mason and i snuggling as it got later

on our way out we stopped to see the balloon artist.  and we went just in time because the line behind us got crazy long!  the balloons were free too!

madelyn and mason could not take their eyes off the balloon twisting

madelyn's special butterfly - again she knew just what she wanted

mason got a fishing pole and fish - so cute but difficult for him to keep from dragging on the ground.  it made it home without popping.

i love going to the ball park and the kids had a great time too!  i feel so lucky to live this close to a minor league team and still have the indians about a half hour away in cleveland.  love.

earth fare dinner

it is becoming part of our routine for thrusday nights - daddy golfs and the kids and i go to earth fare for dinner.  if you live near an earth fare, check out the "family dinner" on thursday nights.  two kids eat free for every adult meal.  the food is wonderful!  and we do a little grocery shopping after we are done with dinner (which is probably the point). 

there weren't very many people this week but there was face painting! a local company that recycles/re-purposes old tires into mulch was set up with a table and they were doing the face painting.  madelyn could hardly sit still watching everyone else get their face painted while she was busy eating her dinner.  and she knew what she wanted - a red butterfly. 

and once she was done she spent the time mason was getting his face painted speaking with the super nice ladies behind the table.  she told them all about her upcoming trip to florida, which princesses she liked best, her favorite color (red) and what books she likes to 'read'.  the ladies behind the table were a family and they were so friendly and kind to madelyn (and everyone else).  it made me really wish that we hadn't just put down mulch so that we could give them some business.

mason got a basketball (his obsession) and is saying "all gone" about his milk in the picture.

maddux and i were the only ones still at the table (the face painting was right next to our table so it wasn't like the other two were off on their own).  i used this opportunity to get a picture of maddux' new trick of the day - making a 'surprise' face with a big 'o'.  and he loves that he can do it too!  he is happy and then does his 'o' face (almost like a whistle with the blowing air sound too).

seconds before

and the 'o'

madelyn and mason also enjoy maddux' surprise face.  maddux makes it and then laughs at what he can do.  madelyn likes that he throws his hands up too.  love.

maddux 9-months

maddux had his 9-month check up and there isn't anything to report other than his stats...

height: 31.49 inches (99th percentile)
weight: 22 lbs. 1.47oz. (69th percentile)
head circumfreence: 18.5 inches (88th percentile)

all three kids got their flu vaccination (maddux got a shot, but the other two got the 'mist'). madelyn got a 'little mermaid' book, mason got a 'thomas the train' book, and maddux got the poky little puppy which lead to a full afternoon of book reading.

this was our last appointment with this pediatrician since it will be too far once we move.  maddux will have his one year appointment with a new doctor.  now i just have to find one...  love.

more missed teeth

mason has been drooling like there is something wrong with him - i mean we are talking a waterfall out of both corners of his mouth.  after two days of this it occurred to me that i should check for his top molars.  yep.  they were both there!  and mason is now done with 'teething'! (well for now.)  love.

have a seat

 maddux' first time sitting on the scooting toy - he was very happy about it and stayed put for a decent amount of time.  he was even able to do a little 'scooting'.  love.

daddy day

the kids (and i) look forward to the weekend because that means that daddy gets to spend the day with us!  matt needed to install the electric fence at the house (for the dog) so we made a day of it.

we had a picnic lunch at a local park and then spent some time playing on the large playground.  we had to wait for a while to get a turn on the zip line, but it was worth the wait!

here was mason's second attempt.  he was a little too trusting of daddy keeping him up.

and then daddy had to show him how it is done.

and madelyn is just a natural now!

we also hit up the borders store that is closing for some deals (and we got some great ones!). and since the parade was still going on at the house we did some more shopping and had dinner before going over for daddy to get busy.  he didn't quite finish but was able to complete about 70% before we had to leave so that the kids could get into bed.

we just love our daddy days!  (and daddy.)  love.

another friday on the go

time for maddux' 9-month pictures, so of course he and mason have runny noses and red rimmed eyes...erg. i like to get there early enough to nurse maddux (for maximum happiness) and get the boys dressed (why risk any drool or other mess).  unfortunately, this jcp doesn't open as early (for photos) as the one in wisconsin.  oh well.  i nursed maddux in the car while we waited.

we were the first ones in the photo studio.  they asked if i was "amy".  i said, no, i was michelle and we were early.  oh, okay, here you are - it will be just a few minutes.  then the photographer spoke with me about backgrounds, etc. and told us to come on back.

NOTE - i have been writing the post for three days now (because i can only seem to get 5 or 10 mintues) and i finally went to post it - only to loose the whole thing when i tried to post it!  ugh!  i am not going to bother rewriting this because the main point was the pictures, so here is the short version...

it wasn't really our turn at jcp and the family whose appointment it was first were late and complain-y so i told the photographer that we would step out and let them go first.  jcp's computer system was down and we were there for about 3 hours.  since the kids were perfect (other than all looking at the camera and smiling together) i took them to the zoo after lunch.

 

 

we went to the zoo and i only took this one picture of maddux.  we had a really great time on a beautiful day!

after getting cleaned up we went to a 'closed to the public' dinner for the parade of homes and enjoyed a nice (free) meal and got some cute sister/brother pictures during the speeches about the builders.

my original draft was much more entertaining than this version, but the points are the same.  love.

pb&j

in case i haven't mentioned it yet, maddux is eating an entire peanut butter & jelly sandwich at lunch (along with a yogurt, veggie puree, cut fruit, puffs and anything else i will give him).  he has been eating pb&j for maybe a month now.  and this is not an uncommon look for his hair (and face) when he is done.  i have to practically hose him down in the sink most days! at least it cuts down on my prep and spoon feeding time. love.

"telling stories"

madelyn doesn't just "play pretend" - she tells "stories".  what is even better is that mason has gotten the hang of it too.  madelyn pretends to be princesses and other figurines and mason pretends to be cars and trucks.  but they all interact together.  we might build a block house and cinderella might have lightening mcqueen over for tea.

i would say that madelyn spends around 50% of her day "telling stories" (some days much more and some (very few) days not at all).  here is a forced version for the camera.

and mason's version...

and mason was sad that i didn't let him say "bye" too.  love.

political correctness delayed this post

maddux likes to pass the time when i change his diaper making noise.  now, it is a very distinct action and vocal exercise that creates the sound - only i don't know what to call it.  the problem is that it was called an "indian" call/noise when i was little and i don't know what else to call it that would be understood.  i wasn't sure that "native american" call/noise would get the point accross and i haven't been able to get a good video of him doing it because he often stops if something else becomes more interesting (aka the camera).

he often does it with his fist, but has just started doing it with an open hand.  the video isn't great and you can hear the other little 'indians' trying to get him to do it.

i struggle with remembering not to call everything "indian" out of political correctness.  it is no longer "indian style" when you sit with your legs crossed under you - now it is "crisscross applesauce" (much easier once madelyn started school and i found out what the political correct way of referring to sitting like that was).  and i can't sing "1 little, 2 little, 3 little indians", i have to sing "1 little, 2 little, 3 little (insert any other person, animal or thing)".  this one catches me up almost every time!  it is one of those default songs hard wired in my brain that i sort of sing like one would sing a song that gets stuck in your head.  (you are singing it right now, aren't you? sorry.)

i just wish that there was more than a 'list' of can't-say-any-mores; like some sort of understood substitution 'list'.  am i the only one who struggles with this sort of thing?  love.

rainbows everyday

we spent some time at the house today.  we picked daddy up from work, picked up some dinner from chipolte and ate at the house.  the purpose of the trip was for matt to water our new lawn and we all went so that he wouldn't have to miss another night with the kids.

while daddy was taking care of the yard, the kids and i walked through the house discussing where things would go in each room and what activities we would do there.  it was so nice.  it was really the first time i have gotten to take a leisurely stroll through the house and appreciate the details and flow of the floorplan.  it was nice to see maddux crawling all over with us too.

and then we made the most amazing and exciting discovery!  check out the video...

as if madelyn needed one more thing to love about our new house!  rainbows everyday! love.

last on the list

lunch is always the most hectic time at our house because everyone (including me) is starving at the same time.  i can't get lunch on the table fast enough.  madelyn is often asking for seconds before i finish serving everyone their first round.  today i was telling a crying maddux that he was "next on my list" (he was ready for seconds while i was still prepping and serving).  madelyn repeated to maddux that he was next on mommy's list.  and then she added, "mommy, you are last on your list!" yes, i usually am.  which isn't uncommon among moms.

but i can't decide if it bothers me that it is true or that madelyn already notices...  or maybe it doesn't bother me at all.  not sure yet. love.

fresh air

the kids were playing in madelyn and mason's room after breakfast while i was taking care of other tasks around the house.  she came to ask me if i could open their window.  when i asked why she said, "because i think that i really just need to smell some fresh air outside".  a quick check of the outside temperature led to a "yes", turning off the a/c and opening up the few windows we have so that we could all enjoy the "fresh air". 

the kids sat/stood at the window like this for about 30 minutes talking about the cars driving by and the trees blowing in the breeze.  i had to get a picture of them all lined up.  love.

of one mind

this happens all the time! this time we were all on the same color wave because madelyn dressed herself, i dressed maddux and matt dressed mason.  all three were dressed at pretty much the same time so we all must have had the same idea for what color went with the day. 

usually matt and i end up matching (i.e. black shirts with khaki shorts) or i end up matching the boy i dressed.  it makes me crazy but it takes so much effort to get dressed in the first place that it isn't worth changing.  oh well, either people think we are cute or crazy.  love.

house - parade of homes

and the day we have been racing towards is here - the parade of homes.  our house is listed as "the madelyn".  our builder has the family name the floor plan and they had forgotten to ask us what we wanted to name ours.  i asked madelyn what we should name the house and she said "madelyn" - so we did.

we probably won't go out to the house very much from now until we move in (because it is so far and a little weird to see other people in your house), but i wanted to see the refrigerator and completed landscaping.  matt had been out every day this week so he had already seen everything and wasn't that excited about stopping in again but humored me.

front landscaping

'finished' kitchen

you can see one plant in the bed between the garages and the start of the county's fence they just put in this week

the county came out and installed the split rail fence to keep people using the path off of our property

the back yard is just seeded.  i like all of the evergreens on the side of the house too.

we move in about 70 days from now and we cannot wait!  we have a lot going on in september so it should go by quickly with school starting back and starting to transition everything down towards the house (doctors, school, church, etc) prior to the move.  we are so thrilled with how it all turned out.  it still seems hard to believe that we are actually going to live there - soon.  love.

kids' day

our builder told us about a kids' event at a christian bookstore down by the house and i just had to check it out.  i am so glad we did!  it was fantastic!  the kids were each (all three) given a gift bag with a movie (some patriotic thing that i haven't checked out yet), a veggietales cd, veggietales stickers and a pen.  then they each got to pick a "prize" to add to their bag from a large selection of items.  madelyn picked a helicopter that you can pull a string to make the propeller spin, mason picked a cement truck and i picked a veggietales mug for maddux.

while we were waiting to fill out forms for the hourly drawings, madelyn and mason spotted the life-size bob and larry!  they could hardly contain their excitement!  but when we got closer, mason became deathly afraid and would not get any closer than 10 feet and even then he was holding on to us for dear life and crying.  madelyn willingly went up to take a picture but i am so disappointed to see, now, that it is blurry.  bummer.

after the meet and greet with bob and larry, both kids made sparkly 'microphones' for the release of the new veggietales movie "the princess and the pop star".  and then it was off for face painting.  of course they chose bob (mason) and larry (madelyn).  i was proud of how still they sat the entire time.

and that wasn't all!  there were amazing balloon artists.  madelyn went very basic (and mason didn't get anything), but i saw a giraffe hat, a basketball hoop hat complete with a ball on a 'string' and a complex elephant hat.  the sad part was madelyn took it off her head in the parking lot and dropped it to the ground where it instantly popped.  she was so hysterical that a man leaving the bookstore drove down the parking lot to get what was left for her.  (he told me that he didn't realize that it was a popped balloon, he thought that it was a ball or something.)

they also had a wild animal company sharing a silver-back fox, a yellow python, a lemur and a large, white parrot(?) for petting.  next the kids had a free hot dog lunch (adults had to pay $0.50 for theirs). 

so much fun and all for free!  i couldn't believe how few people were there.  we will watch for this again next year!  there were also quite a few sales for the day and we got a few Christmas presents.  love.