More Christmas Gifts!

Thanks to everyone for all the great gifts!

Putting on the necklace Santa brought.

Wow! This Barbie talks!

Madison finally decided to test out the microphone. It works.

Christmas Morning

Madison had a hard time choosing between Grandpa and Santa's gifts this morning!

Christmas Eve

Leaving the cookies and milk for Santa by the Christmas tree.

With Grandpa before church.

The family dressed up for church.

Visit with Santa

Despite the blizzard, we managed to make it to Spencer Saturday so Madison could see Santa. She wasn't too sure about him at first, but she did manage to tell him she wanted a Barbie and that she had been a good girl this year. She also gave Santa a hug, but as you can see from the picture, she was not really that interested in hanging out with Santa for too long. Can't say I blame her. She grabbed her Christmas coloring book and we were out of there!

Post Nap Entertainment

Put a bowl of cheesey popcorn in front of this kid and she'll do whatever you ask. Please excuse the crazy after-nap hair do.

Sorry for all the laughing...she cracked me up! I'm pretty sure she wants 2 chairs, a "puter" (computer), a table, a comb, boys and girls, and Barbies.

A little singing for your viewing pleasure.

Winter Fun

As I post this it is -4 degrees and snowing. Yuck.

Madison has become quite fond of wearing my sleep shirts and t-shirts. She thinks they are pretty...plus, she can get them on all by herself. Today, while I took a shower, she helped herself to a pair of my socks as well.

On Saturday we went to a free movie in Spencer...Alvin and the Chipmunks. I figured it was best to take a 2 year old to her first movie when no one in the whole theatre had to pay for a ticket. There were lots of kids there and she did great...thanks mostly to Niki's huge bucket of popcorn. Left to right: Haley Berends, Jack Berends, and Madison behind the popcorn.

Tis the season for cookies, candy and chex mix. Here is Madison in her apron helping me measure the cereal. She liked to help me cook. Lucky for me, Barney came on right when I started the peanut clusters...I don't think her help would have been as welcome with hot, melted chocolate.

A little this and that...

Madison is all decked out in her snow gear to go outside with Daddy. Mommy doesn't do snow.

Daddy, Madison, and Cash outside. I went out long enough to take a couple pictures. Cash loves to run and jump and dig in snow drifts and Madison enjoyed watching him. She refrained from running and jumping in the drifts herself...this time.

Hamming it up in her jammies!

A little nesting is taking place. I got out all the tiny baby gender neutral stuff and washed it. I used regular Tide becuase I thought I could resist the urge to buy Dreft detergent with this kid. Nope. The Tide just didn't cut it. Dreft is on the shopping list and I think I'll probably wash these all over again. I know, I'm psycho. It's the hormones.

Christmas Decorations

Here's the tree in the living room. Scott should get credit for it's beauty...he did the majority of the decorating. The perfectly color-coordinated packages underneath are all my doing! We all have a little Martha Stewart inside us!

Close up of the top. No angel or star because the tree touches the ceiling.

My favorite...the Boyd's Bear Nativity.

Here's the tree in the den. We just got it last year. I love it because it is untraditional...decorated with pheasant feathers, pinecone balls, and grassy stuff. It fits nicely with the rustic hunting/man room decor and looks really pretty at night through the sliding door.

Reading

Madison likes to hide out in her room every now and then. I decided to take the camera up to see what she was up to. Much to my surprise, there was no mess...just a kid enjoying her space book.

Trip to Garden City

We had a nice long trip to GC last week. We enjoyed hanging out with Gpa and Uncle Andrew and Aunt Briggs.

Crazy Uncle Andrew and the Pipe Cleaner glasses/

Gpa surprised Madison with a new baby high chair.

We had a yummy meal at Great Gma McVey's on Saturday night. Madison and Wren enjoyed playing together.

Wren and Madison styling Whitney's hair.

Scott's Mule Deer

Scott hunted mule deer in Kansas for the first time this year. He was so excited to get a nice buck on Wednesday.

Kenny, Scott, and Dylan with the deer. Thanks Linenbergers for the great hunt!

Decorating

We decorated the house for Christmas the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Madison was a great helper!

I just realized I didn't take any after pictures. Maybe later.

Madison's New Room

Madison's new room has been completed for a couple months, but she just moved up last week.

Waking up from the first nap in her new room.

Thanks to Gpa Geier for donating the dresser and desk/hutch. They were mine when I was a kid. We painted them white instead of keeping the 1980's pee yellow color.

30 Weeks

30 weeks pregnant on Thanksgiving Day. I enjoyed pigging out in my maternity pants...or, as Joey from Friends would call them, Turkey Eating Pants!

Unfortunatley, I had stomach flu so bad Friday that I lost 5 pounds. Back to the land of the living today, so all is well.

Playing at Home

We broke out the new dress-up clothes Madison got for her birthday. She likes them but she can't get them on and off herself, so it is kind of a pain for me...but isn't she cute??

Designer shoes are hard to walk in!

The gloves are a little big, but still an important element to the outfit.

Snow White. This one is a hand-me-down from Kaitlyn and Ashley.

On Sunday I went Christmas shopping in Sioux Falls. Scott taught Madison the art of reclining and snuggling up with a blankie. I'm sure they both had alot of practice throughout the day.

Operation: Take Back the Night

Madison has had a little trouble sleeping at night. Okay, not a little...alot. Let's start at the beginning...

• Tuesday night: Madison goes to bed at 8:30pm. All is normal for a few minutes, then crying begins. This is very unusual...Madison is a good sleeper at night. We try nice guy, we try mean guy...nothing is working. We decide to ignore her...still crying after 1 hour. Scott goes in again to find that she has barfed all over her room. I clean kid. Scott cleans bed, floor, glider, starts laundry. We feel like a couple of boobs. Madison proceeds to yak about 4 more times before she crashes in the recliner at midnight. Wakes up several more times in the night due to illness...we rock her and comfort her as we feel like idiots for ignoring her at the beginning of the night.
• Wednesday night: Madison crashes with only a couple crying spells at 8:30pm. Doped up on Motrin. Crys a few times in the night. I try to get her back to sleep. Nothing works. I rock her again.
• Thursday night: All is well with Madison...no more flu. Back to normal except for sleep deprived (that goes for all of us). Tensions are high as we put Madison to bed at 8:30pm. She cries and cries...comes out of her room a million times...sits in the glider in her room. Naughty. Scott and I are tired. Madison finally falls asleep at 10:30pm in the glider in her room. Wakes up at 1:30am. I sit in her room and wait for her to fall asleep...go back to bed at 2:30am. Wakes at 3:30am and is standing in our room. Scott puts her in bed with us (the thing we said we'd never do).
• Friday: Day from Hell. Madison and I are at each other's throats. She refuses to potty. She refuses to get dressed. We leave the house and go shopping with a friend (in hopes that an outing might make the day a little easier) and Madison has several melt downs. I even cried once. Plan for the night: Lock Madison in her room (glider removed) and never look back. 8:30pm rolls around...she goes in and cries for about 30 minutes...then silence. We check her at 10pm...asleep in bed. High-fives exchanged between Scott and I. 4:00am...the monster awakes. She cries and cries and tries everything she can to get us in there. "I haf ta go potty." "I haf ta go poo-y." "I need to rock." "I need Joe and blankie." "I need to rock in the living room." "I need to cover up." Then, as if she has a lightbulb moment, she remembers her manners at about 5am. "I need to rock in the living room PLEASE." It is funny now, but I was almost in tears last night. So finally, at 5:30am, she is quiet again. I go to bed. She sleeps till 8:10am.
• Saturday night: We have a babysitter! YAY! Good luck Kelsie! :-)

Cute Little Wildcat

Madison survived a 24 hour stomach flu bug and is almost back to her old self today. Here she is posing in her K-State shirt. Thanks Grandpa Geier!

Whoa girl! You are a little too young for the Delta Upsilon Women of K-State calendar!

Another pose attempt. I think I told her to put her hands on her hips, but I got this instead.

Nebraska Deer Slaughter 2008

Scott and Madison with the deer.

Scott's deer. Madison said, "Shhh...he's sleeping."

Hanging out with Uncle Coach.

Madison and her favorite hunting buddy, Lilly Harris. They were so cute together. They played so nicely and shared lots of snacks.

Nothing cuter than a couple little kids hugging each other.

Uncle Steve with his deer.

Uncle Steve's deer up close and personal.