Our Little Maddie

Maddie is 9 months old today. As cliche as it sounds, the time has gone by so fast, yet I can't remember what we ever did without our little princesa. Here are a few facts about Maddie:

• She loves to pull herself up onto anything and everything.
• Her favorite toy is Isaac's toothbrush or anything that Isaac is currently playing with.
• She will entertain herself for an hour if you put her within the vicinity of a toy box.
• She loves to eat just about anything you put in front of her, but especially hummus, guacamole, and vanilla yogurt.
• Lately she screams to express her emotions-all her emotions---happy, sad, angry---it's all the same high-pitched, ear-piercing scream.
• She's our little social butterfly--she solicits attention almost everywhere she goes and she smiles easily at almost everyone. There are only 2 known people that she is afraid of--Matt and Jake. I can't say I blame her, though. Those guys scare me sometimes, too.
• She dances anytime she hears music or anything remotely similar to music. Sadly, I think she inherited my sense of rhythm.
• She loves to click her tongue, give high fives, play peek-a-boo, and if you're really lucky she'll wave at you.
• Anytime anyone is clapping or cheering, she thinks they are cheering and clapping just for her and she starts to dance.
• She loves the swings at the park
• She hates to be left out of anything and will usually burst into tears when we put her down for her late evening nap.
• Loves all lights and will stare at them wherever we go.

Here is a little clip to show you how Maddie reacts when she doesn't get her guacamole fast enough. I had originally intended to get a little clip of Maddie's new found screaming so you could experience the ear-piercing first hand, but I got this instead: Not quite as graceful as her cousin, now is she? We have agreed NEVER to put her up on the counter in her Bumbo--EVER. We learned our lesson with her older bro.

She brings so much joy and happiness into our home and we feel so blessed to have her in our family. We love you, Madelyn!

Iowa Falls

One of my closest friends, Laura, moved to Iowa Falls late last year. Even though we had only known each other a year when she moved, it was really hard to see her leave. She and I had become great friends and she is someone I look up to in so many ways. She is definitely one of my "mommy mentors"---someone I look to often for advice on how to be a better mother. Luckily, Iowa Falls is only an hour or so north of us, so we visit her every once in awhile and we always have a great time.

About a month ago, we decided it was time to have a little girls' night up north, so me and a couple friends left our kids with the hubbies and made the trek to visit Laura. It was just what I needed! Great food, great conversation, and great friends.

Here is Jenni slaving away in the kitchen, making us a gourmet meal (seriously, when I say gourmet, I mean gour-may!). This is the same Jenni that gave me the rockin' salsa recipe.

While Jenni was busy cooking, I was busy documenting the moment behind the camera. Laura and Robyn, on the other hand, were busy doing a whole lot of nothin'.

Just kidding--Robyn and Laura did help in the kitchen--here you find Robyn carrying on an intense conversation while frying up some appetizers at the same time--such a multi-tasker.

Just before heading out four-wheeling

Can you see the excitement on our faces? We drove the four-wheelers across the frozen Iowa River--something everyone should do before they die. I had never been so excited to live somewhere where it gets cold enough that the rivers are frozen solid. The locals actually drive their four-wheelers on the frozen river to get to the grocery store.

Laura is 7 month preggo in this picture (currently 8+ months) and she still maneuvers the machine with ease

You can't tell because I hide my fear so well, but I was shaking in my boots with Robyn behind the wheel. She told me as she was driving a hundred miles an hour (or at least 20 or 30mph) that she felt invincible while driving! I, on the other hand, saw my life flash before my eyes once or twice...

She, too, is one of my "mommy mentors" here in Iowa--hard to believe from this picture alone, I know.

Have I sold you all on Iowa Falls, yet? Anyone up for a day trip? Seriously, it will make you want to live on a farm! We missed you more than ever, Ash!

This and That

Nothing really blog-worthy has happened lately (which isn't always a bad thing), so I thought I would post some random pictures that I have taken over the past few months.

We are all very glad when Daddy comes home each evening, especially Isaac. Every time he hears Ryan's keys in the door his eyes light up and he declares, "It's Papa!"

I love how Maddie looks like she ate way too much turkey in this picture--and the look on her face is classic.

Maddie loves these toys in the children's section of the library.

A Maddie-Isaac-Ryan sandwich

Weekend Getaway

About a month ago I decided I wanted to do something fun for Ryan's birthday like dinner and a hockey game. When I solicited the help of my dear friend, Erin, she generously agreed to take the kids while we hit the town, and even suggested that we go somewhere overnight.

"Seriously, Sara, think about it...we'd be happy to stay over with your kids and you guys totally deserve a night away."

After our conversation, I literally could not stop thinking about it. An entire night away?? How amazing would that be? No dishes, no textbooks, no emails to return, and not even any diapers to change! And she was right, we totally deserved it!

So I took her up on the offer and booked us a night in the booming metropolis of West Des Moines (thank you, Priceline).

We had a great time. We went to dinner at Ryan's favorite El Salvadorian joint, did a little shopping, and had fun gorging ourselves on junk food. I even gave him full control of the remote and pretended to act interested when he wanted to watch ESPN, since it was his birthday and all (even though it was his b-day, he didn't watch it for long).

It was a fun and relaxing night and Ryan couldn't have been more surprised---it was the last thing he expected. Thanks so much to everyone who helped me pull it off, and especially to Erin and Matt for taking such good care of Isaac and Maddie while we were away (we owe you big time). It was Ryan's birthday, but let's face it, I enjoyed the present more than anybody :).

Celebrating with the kids and a little Tres Leches Cake before the get away.

The Games we're Playing

Remember how I told you that Maddie loves to play around on Isaac's car with him? Maddie still loves this toy car, but this morning she took it to a new level. She was playing contentedly on the car when I turned my back----suddenly she was doing a full on "Evil Knievel"---looking like a total dare devil with white knuckles on the handle bars and all. I figured since I pressed my luck with the mid-somersault picture in the last post that I should get her down on the ground instead of opting to take a picture. As soon as I pulled her down though, she climbed right back up again, hands on the handle bars and feet on the seat.

I thought girls were supposed to be more tame than boys! I swear Isaac didn't climb nearly as much as she does at this age (either that or I blocked out those memories...)

Here she is pulling herself up on the entertainment center... ...and attempting to transfer over to the toy basket (somewhat successfully). She is getting her share of bruises these days. Isaac's new favorite game is to stack cars on top of each other and then try to drive them around. He is so proud of himself when he succeeds...and when he isn't successful and the cars tumble to the ground, an inevitable meltdown occurs.

Imagine my joy when I was at a garage sale the other day with a couple of friends and found an entire bag of stackable toy cars/blocks all in one---for a dollar!!! Exactly what I was looking for! I love steals like that! I also found two or three other toys (all a dollar, thank you very much) for Isaac's b-day next month, and one toy that I had been wanting to buy for Maddie (did I mention that it was also only a dollar? I didn't? Only a dollar!) that I almost paid over $20 for at Toys r Us! Seriously, just thinking about it makes me so proud of myself :) One other game we've been playing is "Family Memory." The hardest part about living away from family is thinking that my kids won't have a relationship with their grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins and that they won't remember them. This game eases my mind a little bit. It's two identical pictures of each member of our family that I glued onto tag board. Isaac isn't quite ready to play traditional Memory, but if I show him a picture he tells me the names of the people in it.