Christmas 2012

Maddie was up bright and early at 6:30am this morning.  I don't know if she knows it was Christmas but she knew something was up.  She ran down the stairs and saw her new friend, Max (rocking horse) and baby dolly Molly.  She opens her presents slowly, so slowly we didn't finish opening presents until Christmas night.  Every present got her undivided attention.  She was a lucky girl to received so much love from family near and far.  I couldn't tell you which was her favorite gift, OK maybe Max but besides that she loved it all!

Busch Gardens

We took Maddie to Busch Gardens for the first time last weekend and we went back again to this weekend.  The place is perfect for her because it has animals and rides. 

Oh Christmas Tree

We put up the Christmas Tree after Thanksgiving and Maddie is in awe of the tree, bells and lights.

Her hair is getting so long!

One Year Ago Today

Today marks our one year "Gotcha Day" anniversary.  Last year we met our precious Maddie and life has never been the same again.  Maddie is still all smiles, fearless, independent and full of love.  She has taught us so much about ourselves as parents and as people.  She is a little girl full of so much strength and determination.  We don't have any more surgeries schedule until she is around 5 or 6.  She is talking about a storm but her articulation is not that great yet.  She loves to give hugs, watch movies, sing and dance.  Loves to be read to and loves to get her hands dirty during art class. 

We are truly blessed to have this sweet angel in our lives. 

Snow Angel

Thanksgiving was a wonderful feast and gathering with our family.  We had the family over to our house and had a pot luck style dinner.  They next day we took off on a road trip to Stone Mountain, GA.  This was the first time Maddie actually got to experience the changing of the leaves ( so gorgeous in GA) and playing in the snow.  The temperature was just perfect and our little girl showed us the meaning of "no fear".

This weekend we took Maddie back to Glazer Children's Museum.  It is a great place for her because she is able to roam free, climb, dance and just be Maddie.  They have this area where the kids can select what kind of music they want to dance to and Maddie kept picking Latin music. 

There was a chili cook-off right outside the museum, so we decided to check it out.  And we ran into Cau Luan and his friends who were participating in the cook-off. 

A New Hiding Place

This morning Maddie woke up to a new surprise, Daddy had made her a fort to play & hide in. 

Maddie can now count to ten and slowly learning her ABC's.  Tomorrow we have a speech specialist coming over for a evaluation and then we will be starting speech therapy.  

Daddy & Maddie

Maddie has her Daddy tied around her cute little fingers. We bought a big girl bed for her back in August, thinking that now we would get a good night sleep in our own bed.  But it seems like I get our bed to myself.  Daddy puts Maddie to sleep every night and recently the time has gotten later and later.  She gives Mama kisses and hugs and says "night night" while grabbing Daddy's hand.  They turn off the lights and turn on the stars.  I can hear them singing and laughing in her room.  The other night I decided to join them and slept in between them.  Maddie woke up in the middle of the night and climbed over me to snuggle next to her Daddy. 

In the morning when she wakes Daddy is already downstairs working.  She gets out of bed and goes to the stairs and yell "Daddy... Milk"

Oh, Lucy sneaks into Maddie's room to sleep at night too! LOL

Happy Halloween!

This was Maddie's first Halloween and she had fun giving out candy and also strolling around the neighborhood.  She would come up to people's door and say HI and take just 1 piece of candy.  She saw some kids on the sidewalk and proceeded to give them her candy.  You can't say she doesn't share!  This year we dressed both Maddie & Lucy as cows and Maddie LOVED her costume, Lucy on the other hand wasn't very pleased.

Getting Ready for Halloween

Today daddy went out and got some pumpkins for Maddie to paint.  She spent an hour having fun painting away.  She is learning more about her colors now and has started to say red, green and blue.

Her art teacher told me that Maddie has a real talent for art.  She is very focused when it comes to painting ... but I also think she loves the fact that she can get her hands dirty lol!

Hyde Park Trick or Treat

We've been trying to find things to do that Maddie can get good wear out of her Halloween costume.  And this past weekend we went to the "Trick or Treat" party at Hyde Park Village.  It was her first time participating and the "trick or treat" process and by the end of the night she knew what she was doing.

Have you ever seen a cow saying "Meow"? 

Pumpkin Patch Fun

This will be Maddie's first Halloween and she's excited that she will be a cow.  As soon as she saw the costume she wanted it on.  We took her and Bela to  a pumpkin patch and let them roam around to pick out their pumpkins.

A Day at the Farm

This is definitely my favorite season, from the change in the weather to pumpkin everything and I can't wait to show it all to Maddie.  Today we went to an Autumn Festival at Horsepower for Kids.  It's about 15 minutes from the house but felt like we were back in Faribault again.  I found out that there would be pony rides and knew Maddie would be up to that.  While we waited in line the other kids (who were older than Maddie) cried and wanted to get off the pony, while Maddie was trying to wiggle out of daddy's arms to get the ponies.

I love the wave back to us.

Next it was on to a "moo" ride.  We were so proud of Maddie because she sat in cart (with no seat belts) and rode around with the others without else.

After a morning of pony rides, feeding the animals and "moo" rides we headed home and had a 2 1/2 hour nap.  After our little nap we decided to make chocolate chip vanilla cookies.  This was the first time Maddie helped me in the kitchen and it won't be the last time.

Are they done yet Mama?

yes baby they are done! Enjoy!

Maddie is 2!

We've had a blast celebrating Maddie's 2nd Birthday.  We made it BIG this year because we weren't able to celebrate her 1st Birthday with her.  The celebration started in Maple Grove, MN with her Aunts, Uncles & Cousins.

Her actual Birthday was on September 6th.  Grandma bought her a cupcake and we celebrated with her new kitchen set.

The final party was in Tampa, FL.

So, after 4 Birthday cakes, lots of presents, lots of love... it was a great 2nd Birthday for our princess!