Feb 1-8 Insta Style

•  We sold our outdoor furniture before we moved. Camping chairs it is for now.

•  We had an unseasonably beautiful week of 70 degree weather around here. Madelyn and I spent much of the time outside, on the porch and down at the dock.

•  At one point Madelyn said, "I could sit here forever." I don't know how her little brain works, but the words that she says never cease to fascinate me.

•  We've been watching lots of home movies here and there via Apple TV. LOVE it. Madelyn does too. We watched one from the first time Luke held her. She said, "That's Madelyn when my was sick. God made me better." Such truth, yet the amazing thing about her saying that is the simple fact that we have never talked to her about when she was sick.

•  Grandma still makes the trek out to the house after work lots of days even though we are so much further away.

•  Sleeping has been non existent for days. Not for Madelyn or Luke...I listen to them both breath, next to me and through the monitor all night. I need sleep!

• We went out as a family to Home Depot and Target. I didn't want to be afraid of going out at night forever. We had fun, but throwing up in the Target sack on the way home was no fun. Ready to feel normal again.

•  Madelyn likes to dress herself these days. She and I were going shopping with my mom and sister and she INSISTED on wearing her rain boots that are still about three sizes too big. She wore them all day and never complained.

•  We saw these at Dillard's. They took me straight back to 1993. 2nd grade. Stirrup leggings. Oh the memories. Does it mean you're old when they're already bringing back what you wore as a kid????

•  Celebrating the upcoming marriage of a sweet couple. Weddings make me smile. I love seeing others enter in to something so awesome.

•  What do little girls eat when they won't eat their lunch? Cookies of course.

•  It's finally starting to look like we live on the lake around here. The "beach picture is of the dock 12 weeks ago. We have water, folks!

•  Madelyn was in little girl dream land during the Super Bowl. Doll house. Sweet new friends. Baby dolls and a Dora backpack that she wore the entire night.

•  Apparently she felt right at home because when it was time to leave we found her snuggled in the bed with a few new buddies.

•  Snuggle time is the best.

•  I basically invited myself over to Jenna's on Monday. So glad to have friends like her. Madelyn was on cloud nine playing with Karter and Kolson.

•  Check out those muscles.

•  I hope they're always friends.

•  Just a little light toddler reading. One day when she picked up this Corrie Ten Boom book, she looked at the cover and said, "She smiles like Fee". I love that she still thinks of my Grandma and remembers her beautiful smile. I miss her so much.

•  I had the pleasure of joining Allison for Special Friend Day at her school. The kid is a genius. We had so much fun together.

•  I asked her to smile for a picture and she said, "Ugh, ok!" Haha! Such a mess.

•  I love this sweet girl and I am so thankful to share moments like this with just the two of us.

•  Madelyn picked out her whole outfit. She's always so proud so I let her go for it! Right before this picture was taken I was editing some pictures and she was playing on the floor with her dolls. She scurried around to put all her toys away and then said something like, "I put all my toys away, can I watch Netflix on the iPad now?"

•  Grandma loving!

Valentine's Party Aftermath

Madelyn,
You and I, we love to party. We enjoy just about any excuse to decorate and get together with friends or family. This week was weird to say the least, but we decided to have our little happy heart day party we planned anyway!

I, however, took virtually no pictures and did virtually none of the little crafty things I envisioned doing.

I did take these four with my phone:

You laying on the floor waiting for your buddies... 

Lunch time...

Dress up with Hannah...

Ready for a nap after all your friends left...

I did manage ONE picture with my camera while everyone was there...

 

After the last person left and you and I were talking about how much fun we had while cleaning up, I decided I might as well take a few pics of the aftermath; evidence that the 20+ kids and their lovely mommas had an enjoyable morning.

Grandma bought the most delicious chicken salad from Sam's because I didn't have time to make it. It's made from their rotisserie chicken and is so yummy.

 

Fruit pizzas.

Cupcakes.

Juice.

Madelyn's favorite snacks.

And of course, the play room.

You love to paint so I had you paint some manila paper with festive colors. Once it dried I cut the paper into hearts and sewed them together to make garland. It was just about our only decor, but I loved it because it was so you.

Thanks to Grandma, you gave goody bags to all your friends with bubbles, stickers, note pads, fruit snacks and twizzlers stuffed inside.

It was a simple and sweet little party and was the perfect end to a not-so-awesome week. There were car seat carriers lining the walls. Toddlers running wild. Mommies chatting. Oh, and you snuck away to your bed once or twice, requested your party goers leave and tried to go to sleep.

You are precious, Madelyn Kate. I love having sweet little parties with you.

You are my favorite.

Love,
Mommy

baby slumber party

Just one of the things I love about being mom to a sweet little girl.

It wasn't your typical Monday

I woke up Monday morning with high hopes that my sweet pea would be in a little better mood than the previous day. We had plans to meet a friend for breakfast and then run a few errands.

Despite the fact that she was cheerful, she still wasn't herself. She refused to sit in her chair or even stand at the bagel shop. She didn't eat her food. She chose to lay under the chair and make faces at the person sitting behind me. It was embarrassing. I felt awkward and didn't want to make a scene. I knew that it was one of those moments that I would always remember as it was taking place.

Then it got worse. 

We went across the parking lot to a fabric store together. As we were brainstorming a project Madelyn started to hit me and began to pull my hair (a first). When I took her to the back of the store to speak with her about her choices and behavior, she kicked me in the shins. I wanted to cry, but waited until we were in the car on the way home for that.

I prayed that this was due to a lack of sleep from her pacifiers being cut and not the new norm for my girl. I prayed for wisdom. I called Luke and went on and on about how humiliating it was and how heartbroken I was because of her behavior.

I hung up the phone, glanced in the rear view mirror at my child who was growling at me and thought, "I am so ready to be home. This day couldn't get any worse."

We both napped. Not long, but at least it happened. I think I needed it more than her. Then we spent the afternoon walking around the neighborhood to avoid anymore of our issues from earlier in the day and survive until Luke made it home. I desperately wanted her to have an enjoyable afternoon so I gave her as much freedom as possible. I let her guide our walk just about every step of the way.

She picked weeds for me.

 Dug in the dirt.

 Plucked the petals off all the flowers she encountered.

Rubbed dirt all over her creamy white cardigan.

Hopped like a frog.

Sang as she galloped back towards the house.

Went on a "bear hunt" in the field across from our house.

Rolled in the yard.

Then like a hero from a comic book, Daddy came home. 

And considering we desperately needed groceries, I grabbed my keys, said my I-love-yous and was off to town. I ran a few errands then made my way to one of three Wal-Marts in our town (the furthest from my house because I always thought it was the safest) where my mom waited for me. She didn't need a thing but wanted to walk around with me since I live a little further away now and we don't see each other every day anymore. I felt terrible that she waited 30 minutes for me to get there and then walked through the entire store with me. Usually I go to our local grocery store because it's convenient and the produce and meat are so much better there, but we were out of just about everything and I had a few errands to run in town.

As we were walking to our cars, an unfortunate thing happened. Something that saddens me for my own sake and for the people that did it. No details are necessary, even though they were all over local and national news, but it's a very unfortunate thing that has opened my eyes in so many ways to the evil that exists in our world and our desperate need for Jesus. It's been rough, but I know it will only continue to get better from here.

My family and friends have been amazing. The messages from some sweet blog readers who heard it on their news were encouraging.

And I learned my lesson...if I actually thought that my day just couldn't get any worse than my child acting out in a store, I was wrong. Very wrong. But, my friends, tomorrow still comes.