first (fun) snow

matt went to akron this weekend to drive his car over and sign the lease on our apartment since he was going to already be in town. unfortunately it was our first decent snow this weekend too. madelyn was just itching to get out and "shovel". i was going to let her come out with me while i cleared the driveway, but i just couldn't get mason and maddux down at the same time for us to go out and clear away the snow. she had to wait for daddy to come home. as a compromise, i bundled up her and mason and let them play in the snow on the deck.
they had so much fun that i let them out twice on saturday. madelyn remembered everything fun about snow and mason was just marveling at it. madelyn taught him how to shovel it, make and throw snowballs, make a snow angel, make a snowman, and they both tried eating it too. mason didn't like how it stuck to his mittens and bit it off instead. unfortunately, madelyn thought that using her mouth to get the stuck on snow off her shovel was a good idea...

one neat moment was when hundreds of geese flew overhead. as madelyn says, "they don't like the snow and are flying south for the winter".

i was so happy that they would play on the deck because i didn't see how i would be able to care for maddux if i had to go outside with them. this way i could watch them and get things done in the house too. love.

brotherly love

mason laid down next to a sleeping maddux to pet him, hug him, "shhh" him, and try to give him his pacifier. but mostly he laid next to him and watched him sleep. love.

swinging to sleep

first madelyn swung herself to sleep on friday afternoon...














and then she almost swung mason to sleep on sunday.

she actually scared me when she was asleep in there by herself because it looked so uncomfortable, but her face is not wedged in at all - she had lots of breathing room. i would say that she slept like that for around an hour before we woke her up to go to a potluck good-bye party our small group hosted for us that night. love.

mommy's helper

mason likes to help me in the kitchen by wearing the oven mits and he just gets so happy about it.today we had many of our neighbors over for a farewell play date but i failed to take any pictures. if i make enough progress with packing i am going to try and have everyone over again next week. we are really going to miss our friends here. love.

first (walking) snow

yesterday was the first day of falling snow he has ever seen as far as mason was concerned. he was so excited when he looked outside that he was banging on the window and pointing at the falling snow. and when i got out his snow boots he really got excited and ran to get his coat (so we could leave). i let mason and madelyn stand out in the falling snow for a little while before taking madelyn to school. that was when it occurred to me that he couldn't walk (or even crawl) last winter so this was super exciting for him and a "first" of sorts.


madelyn was showing him how to pick it up and throw it. she really, really, really wanted to get out her shovel to clear the driveway but i told her that it wasn't enough snow and that we needed to get to school. there wasn't any accumulation of snow, just what would be considered a dusting, but it was pretty falling most of the day as flurries.


i just had to note this since he was so excited. i also guess that this was technically maddux' first snow too. he will probably enjoy next winter a little more. love.

showings = fun

last night we had a showing at dinner time so i loaded up the kids and took all three up to mcdonalds for dinner and playplace fun while daddy cleaned and staged the house before joining us. this is not the first time we have utilized the playplace for a showing, but this is the first time that i had all three on my own. it was snowing lightly when i went up there and it was pretty windy. getting in the door was the most difficult part of the whole outing. madelyn was trying to catch snow on her tongue while accidentally pulling open the sunshade on the stroller that i was using to block maddux from the wind which caused the burp cloth to blow off the carrier. and then mason would not walk through the door. i practically pushed him through the door with the stroller trying to get in out of the cold. thankfully, it was only 4:30 so mcdonalds wasn't busy at all and the sole other customer came over to hold the door and help me in. and then God must have sent the girl behind the counter who not only knew what madelyn was talking about when she showed off her "larry" t-shirt, but she even knew about the "hairbrush" song! even madelyn was surprised. she is so used to people not understanding who larry is that she did a double take at the lady behind the counter. and just to make it a little better, she carried the tray of food to the table for me! i can't even tell you the last time a fast food employee smiled, let alone provided above and beyond service. it totally made my night!

after daddy finished up his dinner we took the kids for a surprise drive through country springs christmas light display. i thought that it would be a good way to kill some time while we waited for the showing to be completed. madelyn just kept saying "i love it!" mason was pretty excited too and pointed things out for the first few minutes before falling into wide-eyed-wonder quiet observation. it was a great night to go because it was a $6 off coupon night, there was no one behind us, and the weather was fine - cold, but fine.

after driving through the light display (i thought that this was the best year yet) we went in to see the trains and "bethleham" displays. both kids really enjoyed the displays. i think mason's favorite was the robotic polar bears. he just kept pointing and staring at them. we almost had to drag him away. they were both pretty excited about the "baby jesus" too. i am fairly certain that mason says jesus too. it sounds like "gees". i thought that he was saying it when we were reading a birth of jesus book the other night and then when he saw the figure last night he pointed and said the same thing (after madelyn pointed and called it "baby jesus").

it was a fun way to pass the time for a showing. we are always hopeful that it will be the last one we need. all the feedback on the house has been super positive. we have had one offer (didn't work out) and are currently working on a lease to own situation. with any luck we will be able to leave without worrying about our house here. now we just have to pick up the pace with our packing. i think that the blogging is going to get pretty spotty here for the next three weeks or so. i am going to try and stay up on pictures since maddux changes almost daily and christmas is on its way but there may not be much in the way of posts. wish us luck! love.

2-week appointment at 3-weeks

maddux' 2-week well check was postponed until after the holiday so he actually was seen one day short of being 3 weeks old. here are his stats from yesterday:

height - 23.75 inches (98th percentile)
weight - 11lbs. 7oz. (94th percentile)
head circumference - ?cm (55th percentile)

i didn't catch what the head circumference was but it measured smaller than birth and obviously had not shrunk so it was just chalked up as human error. the doctor said i should "bottle" whatever i am doing because he put on a very impressive amount of weight since his last appointment. she didn't think that he would make it back to his birth weight (11lbs.) by this appointment given how much he lost at first. any way, great check-up. as our pediatrician put it, "he is perfect. absolutely perfect."

we also said good-bye to dr. delisle. we have loved having her as a pediatrician and am sorry that we can't bring our kids to see her any more. love.