Merry Christmas

WOW! Time gets away from me when I'm having fun. Maddox, Eric, and I have been busy celebrating the holidays traveling around to all our family. Last weekend we went up to Aurora to have an early Christmas with Grammy, Grandpa Dick and Great Grandma Berg. Unfortunately Maddox developed a double ear infection just 12 hours before we left. But, with a little amoxicillin on board she was a trooper. Maddox was spoiled by Grammy and Grandpa Dick with fun bath toys, talking books, and 18 month old clothes ( she was up to 20 pounds 14 ounces at the ear infection appointment). We had a great time and Maddox left their tree alone, just like she does ours. I can't quite figure that out because she is in to every other thing that doesn't move in our house. But, she hasn't ONCE touched the tree or any of the ornaments....hmmmm? Makes ya wonder. We got to see Grammy sing in the choir at church and hear the bells. But, not too long after the service started Maddox was ready to hit the nursery. This past week I worked 3 long days but we were lucky enough to have Grandma Jean come over to watch Maddox on Thursday AND she is coming back on Tuesday. Eric, Maddox and I spent Christmas at home just the three of us. Eric ended up having to snow blow the driveway 2 times because of all the snow we got on Christmas Eve. I think we ended up getting another 7 or so inches on top of what we already had. Thank goodness for snow blowers this year! Eric and I kept it pretty low key with presents. We got Maddox just 2 things that were under the tree when she woke up Saturday AM (unwrapped....from SANTA) They both involve music. She LOVES music. One of them is a Fisher Price piano that she stands up and plays. It hooks up to the TV so she can learn her numbers, colors, letters etc. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet but with a little more practice it will come. She didn't seem to understand much about Christmas day other than both Eric and I were home all day long which of course is nice. And we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and went out for a Christmas lights drive just before bed. It was a really nice day, just the three of us. The Sunday after Christmas we traveled to Washington to celebrate with Grandma Jean, Grandpa Jim, and Great Grandma Reta. AND BOY did we celebrate. Maddox received so MANY nice things. Her little eyes were as big as quarters when we walked in and saw all the gifts under the tree, MUCH different than the way our tree had looked just several hours earlier! She got a Leap Pad Pet Pal Scout and a Leap Pad Inch Worm, both sort of computerized talking toys that help her learn letters, numbers, colors etc. She also got some SNOW boots so we'll be saying good bye to the plastic bags and tennis shoes! Although they came in handy on Christmas Day. Maddox and I went outside to explore all the snow and she really enjoyed it so much more this time. She crawled around and even ate some of the snow this time. So thanks Grandpa and Grandma Knowles for the boots. The way this winter is going they will definitely come in handy. Maddox enjoyed watching Grandpa Jim's birds come in to feed on their feeder on the deck AND she got to have Great Grandma Reta's banana cream pie! YUM. It was a fun day. Then from Washington we drove down to Keokuk to have a quick Christmas celebration. It is always a TREAT for Maddox when we got to Keokuk because there are SO MANY cousins to play with. And this time the cousin closest to her, Nicole, was there and Nicole LOVES to play with Maddox. Maddox was in heaven with all the kids. She is a social little bug and was holding her hands up to anyone and everyone, aunts, uncles etc to pick her up. She is a friendly little gal. Hopefully she'll continue to be friendly when baby number 2 arrives. Maddox again got lots of nice things from the Kies family....a puzzle, a book and of course some really cute clothes. It was a quick trip down to Keokuk because both Eric and I are working tomorrow. But, WOW what a nice week we've had celebrating with all of our family. We are lucky to have everyone close enough to see every holiday. Thanks for all the goodies but most importantly your love! We love you all.

Finally got some pictures!

You can see from a couple of them she is RIGHT on top of me, trying to get at the camera. Enjoy!

Brrr.....cold Sunday

I don't have too much to update you on because Eric, Maddox and I haven't been doing too much with the freezin' cold and blizzard conditions. We didn't leave the house yesterday ( Sunday) with the wind blowing the snow around and the cold conditions. It is only like 2 degrees right now with a windchill of 18 below or something. Normally I wouldn't take Maddox out today either but we are both starting to get a little stir crazy so we might venture out to Walmart today for a quick trip. The last time we were out of the house was Saturday evening for church. And boy did Maddox have a good night. There weren't any other kids in the nursery so she had run of the mill of all of the toys. But, she played the most on the slide. We have this sort of Noah's Ark thing in the nursery that has 2 slides that come out of it. It is really cool, built out of wood right into the side of the wall. She had never really explored the slides before until Saturday night and she had a hay day! She tried to climb up the slide like she had seen the other kids do but she quickly learned that was impossible and she would go around and walk up the two steps to access the top of the slide instead. It was really fun. Her little eyes were like saucers exploring all the toys. Although I have to say she'd probably have liked at least one other little kid there. She really loves people and gets excited to play with other kids/adults, besides Eric and I. I went to the first half of church and then we switched and Eric went to the second half. It was a good Saturday night and good to get out of the house a bit. I don't have any pictures to post because I literally can't get any good ones. Maddox is OBSESSED with both the camera and the laptops. Right now I'm on my work laptop typing away while she sits on my lap watching a slide show of pictures of her on the MAC. She throws a temper tantrum if you get either the camera or the computers out and she doesn't get to have it in her hands or watch something on the screen which makes for getting pictures entirely difficult. I"ll keep trying later today and see if I can get some posted. She woke up with a cold Saturday AM but has generally been in good humor luckily and with the slide experience on Saturday night at church she slept in till 7.30AMon Sunday and has been taking good naps. I had a baby number 2 check up on Thursday and all is well. Good blood pressure numbers and good baby heart beat running at about 150 to 160 BPM. I go back again in 3 weeks and then 3 weeks after that we'll have another ultrasound. This baby seems to be getting bigger quicker. Don't know if it is physically going to be bigger or if everything is just stretching out more easily this time around. We'll have to wait and see. I'll try to post some pictures later.....Maddox permitting!

Christmas Tree 2010

Eric, Maddox and I went out to northwest Davenport to chop down our Christmas tree yesterday. Despite it being cloudy it was pretty with the fresh snow and it was even still snowing a bit on our way there. We always go to the same place, Up North Pines. It is sort of on the way to Walcott and is never super busy and they have great Fir trees for a great price ( $35.00). Once we started walking to the field we discovered it was a bit windy and Maddox was going to get cold really fast, despite all her winter clothes. So we actually ended up cuttin' down the first one we saw, which is a complete rarity with me!! It is really nice. Eric and I put it in the stand last night and we are hoping to get it decorated today. Maddox has only been somewhat interested in it so far. But we'll see after we get it decorated.

Maddox's First Snow

It has really been snowing here since Friday afternoon. They said we were only supposed to get like 1 to 3 inches but I think their first prediction of the year IS a little off because it is still snowing and it looks like there is at least 5 inches on our grill on the back deck. We are very happy this year we decided to finally take of advantage of the great snow blower that Grandpa Jim gave us a few years back that we unfortunately neglected and didn't use. We picked 'er up from K and K this AM and she is working perfectly!! They did a little overhauling on the carburetor or something....and it appears to be in working order....well at least for today anyhow! We figured with Maddox needing a little more supervision this year, compared to the last snow season, and with baby number 2 on the way, that we should get the thing going. I took Maddox out this AM to see what all this white stuff was about. She really didn't seem all that interested the first few minutes but, when our neighbor Asher came over ( 2 1/2 years old) she really got excited. Unfortunately she couldn't really move in her snow suit, her shoes that are really probably 1 size too big, and the snow but, it was really cute seeing her get all excited to try to get to him. She really likes other kids, and adults for that matter. She is a friendly girl and does not appear to be too shy right now. We didn't stay out too long. Her little nose started to get red and I figured it was time to go inside. She didn't really even touch the snow...but in time I'm sure she'll figure it out.

Disney on Ice

WOW! We have had a busy few days. Wednesday Maddox, Eric, and I met our friends Nash and Nolan and their mom and dad, Megan and Jason, and Megan's sister Whitney, her boyfriend Evan, and Megan's mom Peg ( phew) at the IWireless center for Disney on Ice. It was a great show....although both Nolan and Maddox could have probably been entertained with just the first half. I think Maddox was so tired she knew she had to keep herself moving to stay awake. She would jump from lap to lap moving down the row to anyone who was willing to hold her. She loved the show though, clapped and yelled out at the characters. There was a lot to see and a lot of movement which kept her entertained. I was only slightly disappointed that they didn't play the "Hot Diggity Dog" song at the end of the show. Thanks for inviting us Megan! Then Thursday evening we had The Planning Center's open house. Maddox ( and I) had a new dress to wear. We got all dressed up and went over to meet many of Eric's clients. Maddox had a great time exploring the office and showing off for the many people that were entertained by her. Grammy Marti and Grandpa Dick came over for the open house too....another available set of hands to manage Maddox...than you! We had a good time. Then last night Eric and I went out to The Planning Center's Christmas party at the Outting Club in Davenport. Maddox stayed with one of our sitters Jen. Jen said she was good but threw a little fight when it was time for bed so she 'HAD' to rock her....you little stinker Maddox....we haven't rocked you to sleep since you were like 3 months old!! Needless to say Jen loved rocking her. Her boys are both in their 20's, I think, so it has been a while since she was able to rock a little one. We are very thankful to have a handful of great sitters so Eric and I can get a break. It is beautiful here. It looks like we got about 5 inches, sitting here looking out at the grill....which I think is a little more than they predicted.....and it is still snowing. I am anxious to take Maddox out after her AM nap to see what she thinks of the snow. Eric has a client appointment late AM so it will be a perfect opportunity for Maddox and I to do a little playing. However, I just realized yesterday we really don't have any snow boots for her. We have a great snowsuit, hat and gloves...but no boots. I think we'll just go with baggies on her legs and her heaviest pair of tennies. Something tells me we won't be out for long. I"ll try to get some shots of her exploring the snow. Check out in one of the Disney pictures Nash ( 2.5years old) has his arm around his little brother Nolan ( 1 year old)...... I hope Maddox and Baby Kies have the same kind of relationship. So cute. I'll post snow pictures hopefully later this weekend.

NO more bottle!

Well, after about a week I think we can say we have progressed off the bottle. Dr. Anderson wanted us off it by the time we returned for her next check up ( 12.27.10) and I was getting fearful that we weren't going to make it. She LOVES her AM and PM bottle and it was very routine for her. But, I think it was last Monday or so that we literally ran out of bottle liners and I thought that was a perfect opportunity to go ahead and try switching her over. It was like temper tantrum city that first morning ( and really the entire first day or so) we brought her downstairs, put her on her usual pink pillow, turned on the Disney channel and handed her THE CUP instead of the BOTTLE. She threw a fit....kicking her legs, throwin' her arms up and screaming out. Madder than hops! We had to really coax her to take the cup with the milk the first few days but slowly she has become accustomed to it. Eric said this AM she took the entire thing by herself holding it up and everything. So phew...I think we made it. So she just gets kind of a combo of milk and water throughout the day with her meals and with snacks. Lately she has been EXTREMELY interested in all the cupboards so we finally broke down and got some locks. Much to my dismay she figured out how to get them off the handles literally 10 seconds after I got them on. So for now we are going the old fashioned route just using rubber bands around the handles till I can get back to the store to get a different style. She LOVES the baking cabinet playing with the cupcake papers and pulling down the vanilla bottle and the canola oil bottle.....that is short lived though because one of these days she is going to spill something....so I"m constantly re directing her to the Tupperware cabinet which is much safer. She is doing well with her walking. I got a bit of a video. She'll walk all the way across our office and across the living room into the kitchen but do you think she'll do it when I have the camera ready...NOPE. I am typing this blog incognito....she loves the computer and loves to look at pictures of herself on the computer. So anytime it is out she throws a fit to see it....hard to get anything done. We have a busy rest of the week. Tonight we are going to the IWireless center with Nash and Nolan and their family to see Disney on Ice. Tomorrow night we have The Planning Center open house. I'm going to bring Maddox over for the open house this year. Last year she was too young. But, she'll go along to meet some of Eric's clients. We got a pretty dress to wear! Then Friday night we have The Planning Center Christmas party so Maddox is staying home with Jennifer, one of our great sitters! Busy...busy...! I"ll hopefully post pictures of Disney on Ice.