A Dream come True

Last night Ryan and I saw Wicked, and as cheesy as it sounds, it was seriously a dream come true. I have wanted to see this musical for almost 5 years...I have all the songs memorized.I was bracing myself for disappointment last night because my expectations were through the roof. Let's just say I was about as far from disappointment as you can get.

When we got to the musical, we found our seats, which by some miracle were on the second row (What? We got the cheapest seats possible! $25 tickets and we were on the second row?)

I was in awe the entire time. I could have thrown a piece of popcorn and pegged Elphaba in the nose! She has always been my favorite character in the musical, and she was stunning last night, as were all the others. I just kept thinking, "What would it be like to have a voice that beautiful and powerful?" I was blown away. If you get a chance to see this, I highly recommend it!

Special thanks to both sets of parents for the great b-day gift and to Matt and Erin being so kind to watch the kids for us!

I'm already planning a future girls' weekend with my sisters in NYC---in the distant future, of course--Wicked will be on the agenda.

Ode to a Honey Crisp

Have you tasted a Honey Crisp apple? I'm convinced they were once the forbidden fruit---sinfully delicious. We headed north to the Center Grove Apple Orchard with some friends this morning. It is one of my favorite Iowa fun spots, and this year did not disappoint. We swam in the corn pool, jumped on a gigantic air pillow, rode tricycle tractors, and drank apple cider slush and ate a raspberry caramel. The kids had a great time and I came home with 1/2 a peck (6 lbs.) of Honey Crisp Apples. Doesn't get much better than that.

Once she got her turn on the tractor, she wasn't going to give it up for anything...notice the "shadow" lurking close behind her.

Maddie with her buddy, getting ready to jump into the corn pool.

Pretty sure she's having a good time.

This picture reminded me so much of one I took of Isaac just last year in the same location...

Quite similar, don't you think?

She couldn't get over how the corn felt between her toes.

Neither could he.

We're Growing!

We're too excited to keep it a secret any longer--the newest addition to our family will be arriving early next spring!

*Confession: The ultrasound picture is one I swiped off of Google images because frankly, I'm too lazy to scan the pictures of our baby into the computer. This one gets the point across, right? Just know that our baby looks similar to the one in the photo above, except that their profile is much cuter and their brain is much bigger.

Miss Maddie at 15 Months

This picture, courtesy of the talented Chrissy Jo, is my current favorite of Maddie.

Here are a few updates on what Maddie is up to and in to these days:

• Still fearless as ever--she loves the park and climbs all over everything and dives down the tallest slides, face first, by herself--giggling the whole way down. Just yesterday we went to a park near our house and she insisted on climbing up the stairs to the gigantic tunnel slide(I followed very anxiously right behind her) and diving down it without any hesitation. I cannot remember the last time I saw this girl show any sign of fear about anything--that makes me very afraid.
• Wants to be doing anything that Isaac does. She follows him around like a shadow and he loves it. If he is singing "Wheels on the Bus," she does her own version right along with him, adding a "Beep! Beep!" at the end of every verse. They are really starting to entertain each other more and more every day.
• Because she is Isaac's shadow, she is convinced that she can do anything that he does and is just as big as him. This causes her to take a lot of tumbles--notice the bruise below her right eye in the photo above--those are ever present these days.
• She's learning new words every day and she yells them at the top of her lungs to communicate whatever it is she wants you to know. Her articulation needs a little work, though. For example, I have heard her say "gacias!" for "gracias" several times, but she prefers instead to just say "ga!"---it's easier and she can yell it louder if it's only one syllable, I suppose.
• Of all the words she knows, "no!" is still her favorite, and whenever she says it, she means it.
• She loves Elmo, baby dolls, Dora the Explorer books, Karen Katz books, cars, balls, and anything she can push around (strollers, ride-on cars, etc.)
• She insists on feeding herself and yanks the spoon out of my hand if I try to help her.
• She will throw a fit if you take something from her, but if you say, "Maddie, can I have that please?", 9 times out of 10 she will hand it right over (we drill this into Isaac's head on a daily basis).
• She is anything but shy and will say hi to almost anyone who makes eye contact with her. One of her favorite pastimes is standing on the deck outside our apartment, greeting everyone she sees coming and going from the complex.
• If she wants milk, she will stand next to the refrigerator and yell "leche!!!!" at the top of her lungs until I open the door for her. I always make her bark "por favor!" a couple of times before I'll give it to her. Some one's gotta teach this girl manners.
• Maddie still loves the water. I'm pretty sure I saved her from drowning a hundred times this summer at the wading pool where we spent a good chunk of our days. Just yesterday she submerged her head into the water and started blowing bubbles while taking a bath.
• She has more spunk, sass, attitude and personality than ever before and we don't know what we'd do without her.

Family Pictures

My sister-in-law, Becky, just sent me some family pictures that were taken during our reunion this summer. I love how they turned out so I wanted to share them.

Becky got some great candid shots of these two playing around in a field after taking the family picture.

Little House on the Prairie, anyone?

Just like kissing your sister...

While we were in Colorado, we spent a morning at Garden of the Gods. It turned out to be a great backdrop for the family photo. Thanks again, Becky!