Long overdue

Almost 4 weeks ago (wow - how did that much time pass that quickly?!), Aunt Kate came for a visit. Anyone who was around Madigan for a week and a half before that knew that Aunt Kate was coming to see her. She announced it very excitedly (in other words, very loudly). :) Kate happened to come on a weekend that I went to Memphis with a group of our youth from church, so I really only got to see her for a few hours the whole trip. I did, however, get to hear about her visit for the next...well, I'm still hearing about it! So, though I don't have specific details to go with the pictures, I do know that the visit involved some of the following. (I'll try to convey the excitement by capitalizing the words that are said the loudest when Madigan's telling me about all of the cool things Aunt Kate did).

A fancy TEA PARTY

with REAL tea

that Madigan actually got to DRINK,a TENT

where they got to EAT LUNCH,

toenails painted PURPLE,

decorating HEART shaped cupcakes with ICING and SPRINKLES,

and a trip to the PARK

that has a HUGE SLIDE!!!

Hope you were able to get a grasp on how exciting all of this was! Needless to say, Aunt Kate is the coolest and Madigan had a blast. She was very sad to see Kate go and didn't stop glaring until we got back to the house from dropping Kate off at the airport. Thank you Aunt Kate for coming to see us and for taking such good care of my baby!
About a week after Kate's visit, Madigan received a package from Aunt Kate for Valentine's day. It had a Princess card (that sings...and still sings even though it's been THREE WEEKS NOW- no, that wasn't capitalized to convey excitement), some Little Mermaid window clings, and a book. Apparently, it's the funniest book ever!



Thanks for everything, Aunt Kate!

What do you get when...

1. You buy Princess ice packs at the dollar store?

Answer: Two year old doctors, a little bit of drama, and some highly contagious fake injuries...



2. You leave one of the two year olds from the previous question unsupervised for 3 minutes.

Answer: A newly decorated dining room floor...




3. You leave a laundry basket just laying around?

Answer: The perfect popsicle eating seat...
4. You let the cat in the bathroom during bath time?

Answer: Entertainment galore!

Can you tell she feels better?

If you don't know what I'm referring to, read the post below.


American Idol, here we come...

Crafty Creations

First, a quick health update - For those of you who knew Madigan had a stomach bug for the past few (five) days, I'm happy to report we are now officially back among the living. We have been fever-free for more than 48 hours and throw up-free for more than 24 hours. I'm not sure if it was harder on her or me, but I can definitely say it makes you grateful for the everyday things like eating and sleeping. I'm thankful to God for the fact that Madigan has been a very healthy kiddo and that these sicknesses have been few and far between. I'm also thankful that she feels well enough to do other activities besides watching TV now. I can't tell you how many times we have watched the Princess Sing-A-Long video the past few days. (Don't judge me - it made a sick girl happy and was one of the only things we could do that didn't result in throwing up. However, if I have to watch it one more time, I actually might throw up...) Thanks to those of you who called to check on us - it meant a lot to have adult interaction during the quarantine, even if it was just over the phone!

Now that that's done, I thought I would post some pictures of some of the fun crafts we've done over the past few weeks. You might think this first one is from Christmas time, but you'd be wrong. We actually found this cool gingerbread house kit, complete with one pound of Willy Wonka candy, on clearance for 75% after Christmas. I was very excited... I mean, Madigan was very excited. :) And since she doesn't have a clue that gingerbread houses are associated with Christmas, we were good to go!

Her favorite part was definitely eating the candy. Like mother, like daughter...
I like this picture - Ted was trying to get her to lean toward the house for the picture. Instead it looks like he's shoving her head into the gingerbread house!
The final result - the perfect house for Dora and Boots!
Next Madigan got a Valentine's treat from Grandi and Gramps and in the package was a PINK foam purse with PRINCESS stickers and PINK ribbons to decorate the purse. I tried to talk Madigan into waiting until Daddy got home to make it. She would have none of that. Patience is not one of her strengths.
Can you tell she likes it? She looks like she's on a pink Princess sugar high...

The Front...and the Back. She's carried everything imaginable in the purse. As if that wasn't enough, Gee Gee and Pa sent a Valentine's package and in it was a Rice Krispie Heart-Making Kit. Heart-shaped rice krispie treats would have been cool enough, but this kit also included pink and red icing and candy shaped like eyes!
The baker at work...
The results - I hope you can tell the difference between the ones I made and the ones she made. If not, just don't tell me.
Thanks to the grandparents for sending the boxes of fun!

Madigan's Friends

This entry is dedicated to posting some pictures I took recently of Madigan with three of her good friends.

Jenna

Jenna's mom and I switch out watching the girls while the other one works, so Madigan and Jenna are together 4 days a week (plus church and when we just hang out on weekends). They think they're sisters. And, they act like sisters. They play EXTREMELY well together, which we're all very grateful for. But, of course, they also have moments that revolve around "it's MY toy, no it's MY toy", "ME first, no ME first", "STOP, no YOU stop" and on and on. The funniest part though, is how excited they get when they see each other...even if they were only apart for a few hours - squeals, hugs, yelling the other's name repeatedly, etc. I don't know what they'd do without each other. Here are some pictures of them from the last few weeks.

Playing Dress-Up

"Cheese" to the extreme

Such a cute Dalmation dog

One day a few weeks ago we got to get outside for a bit and play in the leaves. (Yes, we still have leaves in our yard.) The girls had a blast.

The best part was throwing the leaves in the air... and at one another. We love Jenna and are so glad she and Madigan are such good friends.

Joanna and Abigail

The one day a week that Madigan isn't with Jenna, she stays with some of her other good friends, Joanna and Abigail. Madigan loves to play with them both and likes to pretend she's 4 like Joanna. :) They have a wonderful time together and I get to hear lots of stories of the fun Madigan has at their house. But, I don't get pictures of them playing together very often since I'm at work on those days. However, last weekend, Joanna and Abigail got to come to our house and hang out all night while their parents and Ted took the youth from our church on an outing. So, the girls and I took the opportunity to have some fun!

First, everyone claimed a princess gown and I let them watch a Princess sing-a-long video. They were so excited when "their" song came on. :)
Later we made pizzas. Make sure you note that they still have their princess dresses on under the aprons. I tried to get them to take them off, but decided to pick my battle...
Look at the concentration on their faces. You've got to get the pepperonis JUST right.
After scarfing down the pizzas, we had some ice cream on green and pink cones.
Yes, still in the princess dress...
Madigan actually had changed out of her dress...and into a ballerina tutu.
All in all, it was a great night and we're so glad Abigail and Joanna got to come play with us. The girls play SO good together - I think at times it was actually easier to watch them all than it would have been to just have Madigan because they entertained each other so well!

Ted and I have always been grateful for the wonderful group of friends that we've been blessed with since moving to this area. It's even more of a blessing to see Madigan make friends with their kids and know that we're all working together to raise them up to love God and do His will. I believe in the "it takes a village to raise a child" concept and thank God for the "village" he's given us.