Weekend Guests

This weekend, Eric and I got a glimpse into what life would be like if we had 3 kids down the road...Tegan and Cainan spent the weekend with us! Madison was so excited to have her cousins spend the weekend and had a great time playing with them. 

Friday night, Michael brought the kids to my school to join my mom and I for movie night. Tegan and Cainan enjoyed watching Despicable Me 2, getting to see my school and snacking on M&M's. After movie night, Uncle Eric surprised us all by taking us to get frozen yogurt, aka my dinner for the night. By the time we got home, we were all tired and went to bed quickly. 

*Cainan was moving so fast he looks like a blur!

Saturday morning we had girls and guys time. Eric and Cainan went to play putt putt and arcade games at Main Event, ate lunch and went to the park to play frisbee. Tegan, Madison, my mom and I went to the outlet mall. Tegan got some adorable things from the Justice outlet store. Funny side note...when my mom was checking out, the cashier told her if they spent $2 more, she would get. $30 coupon to use in the future. After that, Tegan told my dad all her clothes only cost $2!  We then moved on the Carter's and started building Madison's summer wardrobe, full is pink,teal and flamingos! 

By the time we left the mall, we were all starving so we went to Panera Bread, which is a favorite of all of ours! In the afternoon, Eric and I felt like parenting winners...we managed to get all kids to nap/rest at the same time and took part in nap time ourselves! After nap time we went back to the park and to eat Chinese food for dinner. These kids are obsessed with orange chicken!

Sunday morning, the kids were so excited to go fishing at my parents house. Their fishing was short lived before they moved on to art time and watching Ice Age. We met Heather and the twins for lunch before they headed home. I am always amazed at Heather and the fact that she has 4 kids. After lunch, Eric and I were definitely ready for another nap! 

It was so nice to have the kids with us this weekend and for Madison to have some cousin time. She was so excited each morning when she realized Tegan and Cainan were still at the house. Michael, Heather and the kids are moving to Austin in about a month, so we were so thankful to have this weekend with Tegan and Cainan. 

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday friends! This week has been crazy busy at work, so it has flown by. Instead of doing Five on Friday today, I want to do one sweet moment from last night. As a teacher, we often encourage students to zoom in on an event and write a small moment story about a specific part of the event. Yesterday afternoon I found myself in my own small moment. 

Tuesday and Thursday evenings are hard for me and usually somewhat stressful. Eric doesn't get home until 7:30-8:00, so it can be challenging to balance getting home from work late, playing with Madison, feeding and bathing her and trying to start dinner. I often tell myself "just keep going" to get to a point where I can finally relax and play with Madison before she goes to bed. 

Something different happened this Thursday...when we got home I suddenly felt a total sense of calm after a high stress and high anxiety day. When we got inside, Madison was crying a cry I have only heard when she is sick. I knew she was tired so we sat in the recliner while I tried to calm her down. As we sat there, she fell asleep within minutes. I sat there thinking about my day, looking around the living room covered with toys and tried to take in every little part of the moment. I am so thankful to have toys on the floor, a basket full of dirty baby clothes and a sink full of empty bottles at the end of the day. 

After a few minutes, I put Madison in her swing and we both took a nap. It was exactly what we both needed. Time to slow down, not worry about tomorrow and the never ending to do list, just time to sleep. I only rested for about 15 minutes, but it gave me the extra boost I needed to feel refreshed. While Madison napped I cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen, unloaded the dishwasher and took a shower. After we ate dinner, Madison was still not ready to wake up. I got her out of her swing and she snuggled into my neck...I melted. She hardly ever does that and it was the best feeling ever. All day I felt like my merry go round of life was spinning faster than I wanted and I was not in control. I am so thankful the feeling passed when we got home and I could enjoy this sweet moment. 

Madison's New Rug

Last Saturday we bought a new rug for our living room...also known as a new rug for Madison! 

When we moved into our house 2 years ago, we were never able to find a rug we liked for our living room. Our living room is tile, so we needed something to make the space seem cozy. When my parents moved out of their house that summer, they let us use their rug until they moved into their new house. Here we are a year and half later and we ended up keeping their rug! Before they gave it to us, they had the rug for about 4-5 years. Here is a picture of the old rug:

I had mentioned to Eric that we probably needed to think about looking at rugs again in the next couple months since Madison would start crawling. The rug we had was in good shape still, but we wanted something new and soft. 

Thinking it would take us a while to find a rug, we went last weekend to Home Depot and Lowes. We actually found a rug at Lowes and ended up buying it! On Sunday, we cleared out the living room, vacuumed the floors and laid out the new rug. We also moved the coffee table out of the living room so Madiosn would have more room to roll...totally logical, right?!  When Madison woke up from her nap, we put her on the new rug and she loved it. She hasn't stopped rolling since! Here are aome pictures of the new rug and Madison's rolling skills...she moved this far in a matter of minutes!

Roll baby, roll!

This is a little more realistic view of our living room on a daily basis. 

We are loving our new soft rug! 

http://m.lowes.com/product?langId=-1&storeId=10702&catalogId=10051&productId=3362320&store=595&view=detail&nValue=SEARCH

Adventures in Daycare

During the day when I am at work, Madison goes to a daycare close to our house. She has been there for about 2.5 months and it is amazing how well she has settled in. Eric drops her off in the morning and I pick her up. There is nothing better than walking into her class at the end of the day and seeing her smile and squeal when she sees me. We could not be happier with her teachers and the school in general. Over the past week, we have had some funny experiences that have made us giggle. 

Every now and then I can get the cameras in her class to work on my phone. The first time last week, she was guarding the door and making sure to check out everyone that walked in the room. This week she was hanging out with her teacher, being a teachers pet. 

Tuesday, when I went to pick her up, 3 of the babies were laying on their stomachs in a circle. One little girl was "roaring". Each time she would do it, Madison and another boy would giggle. The little girl loved the reaction, so they all went back and forth a few times. 

We also got a call from the "principal" on Tuesday...as Eric told me on the phone, Madison got in a fight at school. Haha! What really happened was that she scratched her face with her nail, but they were calling to tell us. They were so worried, but I called them back to reassure her teachers they did nothing wrong and we were not upset. 

Wednesday afternoon, I got to her school later than normal. Her afternoon teacher said they had a different teacher helping out this morning and it sounds like Madison was trying to pull a fast one on the substitute...she somehow convinced the sub that she needed to drink her bottle an hour earlier than usual. This girl is already trying to put one past new people!

All of a sudden this week, Madison figured out how to roll around the house and push herself forward. This afternoon, her teacher said she rolled over another baby...OMG! 

Eric and I have a good laugh each night talking about the daily happenings of Madison. We are so thankful to have such a wonderful place to send Madison to each day. She lights up when she sees her teachers and they take such good care of her. 

{Five on Friday:Valentine's Day}

Happy Valentines Day!  Hope you get to spend some time with the friends and family you love.  I am looking forward to dinner at home with Madison and Eric tonight.

1. Happy Valentine's Day from the best Valentine a mom could ask for!  Madison is having a small "party" in her class this afternoon and she is so excited!  I am excited that we have early dismissal at school today, so hopefully I will be able to leave school a little earlier than normal.

2. Madison made Valentine's cards and gifts for her friends to let them know how sweet they are to her.  She picked sweet potatoes since they are one of her favorite foods.

3. Madison also wanted to thank her teachers a "latte" for all they do each day.  They are so sweet to her.  I can tell they genuinely like her and look forward to seeing her each day.

4. This week Madison finally mastered rolling in both directions and is quickly discovering rolling can get her places.  She gets so excited when she rolls over.  The funny part is that she will only roll to her right side, so she will often get up against the couch and not understand why she can't roll over anymore.

5.  After a long day at school, Madison wasn't able to stay awake for dinner.  She started to look sleepy in her high chair one night while I was feeding her.  Once she fell asleep, she kept waking up to take a bite, but finally gave in and took a cat nap in her high chair.