Christmas time!

We had a great Christmas. Despite not being able to travel and see all of our families, we did have the grandparents and Aunt Mary visit us. Maddie loved having them all come play with her. After months of shying away from both her Papas, she played with them both, let them hold her, gave them kisses and sat on their laps. We all got a lot of nice gifts and really enjoyed spending time with our families. Next time we see everyone, we will have a new family member!

Our Christmas tree just after Santa visited.


Maddie and Grandma


Maddie and Papa (yes, she IS sitting on Papa's lap)


After many years they still dress alike - how cute!


Maddie and Grandma looking at the Dora musical book for the 100th time.


Maddie and one of her favorite gifts - her bracelets.


Maddie and her absolute favorite gift - talking Dora backpack. (thanks Papa Wayne)


Looking for more gifts.

Merry Christmas

Jon, Maddie and I hope all our friends and family had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2006


Christmas 2007


Christmas 2008

Taking Christmas Pictures

Getting Madelyn's Christmas/2 year pictures taken was definitely a stressful event. At the beginning she was not having any part of looking at the camera. She just wanted to play with the props. She would say "cheese" as she looked down at the ground. Then she would get off of the little platform where she was sitting. The lady taking the pictures tried using some tricks but again Madelyn was having no part in it. We thought we were not going to have pictures for this year.
Finally, Madelyn realized that she could see herself as she took her picture. That changed everything! She laughed and smiled, and we got a few good pictures.
Life with a 2 year old is never dull!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Madelyn had a great time celebrating her 2nd birthday. We cannot believe that she is already 2! Time really does fly by! She got a lot of great presents and enjoyed playing with her cousin Alex. She liked putting her hands in her cake but did not want to eat any. She fed her piece to her dad. I guess I shouldn't complain that she doesn't like to eat cake, but who doesn't like cake?
Madelyn loved playing with all of her balloons. She still plays with them everyday. I guess we could have saved some money if we only bought her balloons for her birthday.
Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Early Birthday Celebration

Maddie celebrated her birthday with the Cochs over Thanksgiving. She got a lot of Dora stuff (her favorite). She did not want to eat the cake, so I had her piece as well as mine.
The last picture is of Maddie and her favorite things to wear at Grandma's - rosary beads. Of Course, Grandma loves that!

Thanksgiving

Our second Thanksgiving was spent with Jon's family in Pennsylvania. Maddie had so much fun playing with her cousins, James and Jack (or as Maddie calls him, "Jacket").
The guys spent a lot of time watching football. Grandma and Aunt Mary spent a lot of time watching Mickey Mouse on the computer. Cory and I spent a lot of time shopping. It was so wonderful to all be together because we do not get to see each other a lot over the year.

Cousins

We celebrated Thanksgiving twice this year. Once with my side of the family and then a couple of weeks later with Jon's side. These are two pictures of Maddie and her cousin Alex on our first Thanksgiving.

Funny Girl!

At times it's really difficult to get pictures of Maddie because she runs for the camera and wants to see herself before I can get a picture of her. However, these are a few that she "allowed" me to take.

Halloween

Maddie had a lot of fun Halloween night. She liked taking her candy in and out of her pumpkin but did not ask to eat any. She hasn't figured out what candy is yet!

Pumpkin Patch

These are pictures of Maddie at the pumpkin patch. She had a lot of fun picking out the perfect pumpkins. We ended up coming home with 4!

7 months old!

Madelyn's First 4th of July

Madelyn and mommy

Madelyn and daddy

I'm a big girl now!

Madelyn does pretty well sitting up and playing with her toys

First trip to the pool