Letter to SANTA

So, two weeks ago we were at the mall doing a little holiday shopping and I thought we would casually pass by Santa to see Maddy's reaction. Well, she was in awe. She thought the "snow castle" (2 year old speak for the elaborate set up for Santa) was awesome and she just wanted to sit and watch all the kids talk to Santa. She asked where the presents were and I told her that you have to sit with Santa to tell him what you want for Christmas so he knows what presents to bring you. Her response, "Can't you just write him a letter?"

So, we've continued to talk about Santa and Christmas and presents. And tonight we sat down to write our letter so Mommy can take it to the "snow castle" tomorrow and deliver it to Santa. Maddy feels confident that Santa will grant her every wish - good thing for Santa Maddy is very easy to please at the moment. She was rather detailed during this discussion though so in a few years, Santa may be in trouble.

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Maddy's Letter to Santa - 2010

Dear SANTA,

For Christmas this year I would like:

- Purple Dress
- Pink Dress
- Dora Tent
- Jewelry
- New Hair Bands, Brush and Mirror
- New Stickers and Books

I have been a very good girl!

Love, Maddy Hecht

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nana and Papa arrived on Tuesday and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Maddy was able to stay home from school on Wednesday to play. Thursday we all went to Matt's parent's house for a wonderful meal. Such a peaceful day with lots of relaxing and a GREAT meal! Highlight of the day for me....I received a Hecht family recipe for the most amazing wild rice soup on the planet! Haven't made it yet but it's the perfect thing to make and freeze for a cold winter night. Maddy got a little attached to Nana during this trip but it was all smiles when it was time to go because she knew it would only be a few weeks before we see them again in Texas for Christmas!

Grandma, Mommy and Nana

Grandma and Nana with their favorite girl

Maddy almost suffocating Mitch!

Three Generations

Dance Class - Parent Watch Week

Yesterday was Maddy's Saturday dance class and it was the week where they let the parents come in for half the class and watch. If you've read previous posts about dance, you know this is a dream come true for Mommy! I still almost cry every week when I get her dressed because I think she looks so cute. There is something about those little tights and little shoes that gets me every time. Maddy did a great job and we both decided that her crab walk needs a little work at home :)

Stretching before tumbling

Once of the best parts of class - when the teacher gets the tumbling mat and the "wind" blows their hair :)

The crab walk

Preparing for the forward roll

Ta-da!!!

Texas

I'm sure this will upset someone but I saw this picture on another blog that I read and I LOVED it! I realize that I currently reside in the area labeled as awful but Texas is a little piece of Heaven and that's about all I have to say about that.

Birthday Trip - Check!

We had a great time on our trip. For those that don't know, Matt's 30th birthday was last Sunday and I surprised him with a trip to Las Vegas for a few days. Child free relaxation, shows, golf, food and gambling like we don't have a mortgage to pay! It was great. Not sure if we're getting older or if it's this pregnancy but my recovery time from this trip was longer than if I'd been out there on a drinking binge for 4 days. Our body clocks were a little messed up but it was worth it. I'm HORRIBLE with surprises. Just ask my step dad who finds it incredibly annoying that my mom and I both try to open Christmas presents early because we just can't stand it! Having said that, the best part of the trip was the anticipation of surprising Matt. There are very few things in life that can still be a surprise and with the help of quite friends and family, I managed to pull this one off.

Halloween - Take #2

Our Tinkerbell had a great Halloween. We started with a little Trick or Treating at Grandma and Grandpa's House. By little I mean she went to like 3 or 4 houses. She's still not a fan of going from door to door but she said please and thank you and got a load of candy! Later we went to the Fall Festival at our church. She had a blast! She kept saying "I want to go play another game!" We had hot dogs, played games, won cupcakes in the Cake Walk and finished the night with a hay ride under the stars with some great friends.

Halloween - Take #1

Wednesday night was the Fall Festival at Maddy's school. I knew Maddy was excited when I put her to bed Tuesday night. I told her she had to go to bed so she could go to the party the next night and we didn't hear another word out of that child the rest of the night - not normal by the way. Anyway, she was the best Tinker Bell ever! She had a great time "Trick or Treating" and even got her face painted. It was a good practice run for Sunday.

Tinker Bell

Face Painting!

Enjoying some of her candy

Team Sports - Not for us!

What can you learn from an afternoon at the park with your 2 1/2 year old? You can learn that she's not ready for team sports. We took Maddy to the park today because Matt thought a little soccer game and sunshine would be good for all of us. It was and we had a great time but we quickly figured out that Maddy doesn't really want to play soccer with anyone but herself! She kept taking the ball away from Matt and saying it was her ball. She wouldn't kick it away, she would just dive on top of it. Maybe football is her sport? I do think she loves running. I guess maybe all two years old love to run but she would rather run laps around the soccer field than kick the soccer ball :)




In other news - I did learn that my husband is the kite whisperer. He bought Maddy a lady bug kite months ago and finally decided to give it a try at the park today. With little wind, he managed to get it high enough to make Maddy squeal so that's all we needed :)

Happy Birthday Mommy!

I had a great birthday this year! I must say, birthdays are much more fun once your child is old enough to participate in the gift giving. Thursday night Maddy came home to tell me she was going to buy me a pretty candle that smelled good. The result of that shopping trip was 12 tealight candles that smell like a vanilla cupcake. Just what a pregnant girl needs, something else to make me want to eat :)

Phone Conversations

Had to type this before the moment was lost to my pregnant brain. Maddy has an old cell phone of Matt's and she gets it out from time to time to "talk." Tonight she has been calling all over the country to Nana and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa, Memaw and Pawpaw. Here is how the conversation went:

"Hey Nana, I'm just hanging out. Your daughter sent you an email but she's tired. Yeah. My boots are pretty. Can you here me? Are you there? Are you there? I have to go. It's time to chill out."

"I'm off the phone now Mommy but somebodys gonna call me. I need to sit for a minute and chill out."

Random but hysterical for the bystander listening from the other room. Good thing the phone isn't real because she has used a lot of minutes! We're in trouble once she's actually old enough for a real phone. Pre-paid minutes here we come!

20 Weeks!

Officially to the 1/2 way mark with Baby Hannah! Feeling great - the sickness is gone and my biggest problem now is heartburn so I'm grateful! Here are some pictures from the Ultrasound day. Not looking forward to getting big but glad that I'm past that "Is she pregnant?" stage. There is no doubt now :)

Maddy's Little Sister

We are so excited to find out that Maddy will have a little sister sometime in late Feb, 2011. Now that we've made the big announcement to our family, we can announce to the blog world. Maddy's little sister will be Hannah Dean Hecht! Matt and I both love the name Hannah and Dean was my grandmother's middle name. She passed away in January of this year. This was my way of honoring her memory in such a special way. I know she would be so proud. I only hope Hannah can be half of the woman that Ganny was.

Maddy knows that she's going to have a little sister and she seems excited. It's hard to tell with a two year old but she seems happy. We still have to work on the name. She will only say Hannah when it's convenient for her so don't be surprised if you ask her and she says, "I don't know."

The reality has set in for Matt and he is happy to have another little girl. Late yesterday he realized how much money this will save because we have so many things already that we can resuse. Both girls will be going through the same sizes during the same times of the year so hopefully we can use a lot of Maddy's clothes.

We are so excited and can't wait to meet our baby girl!

I'm "official"

This was a quiet weekend but still an important one - Maddy had her first "real" dance class. By "real" I mean that the class is in a studio and not at her school. She is still continuing the dance at school and they have started Jazz so the next few weeks should be interesting. Her weekend dance class went well. We arrived early to purchase $50 worth of shoes. Tap and Ballet. I was so excited and so was she! The best part is she doesn't know what those tap shoes do yet. We were on carpet and they only wore their ballet shoes this week so we can still enjoy another week of her not knowing the noise those things produce. The funniest part was bringing the ballet shoes home and Matt asking if I'd purchased a used pair? Apparently, he's only seen the satin "pretend" ballet shoes before so he didn't understand the real, distressed leather concept. The studio has cameras in the room and a nice little waiting area so you can sit and watch your child not listen to the teacher, while surrounded by the other children's parents. It's great!

The reason I say I'm official is because I finally received my first car magnet! You know, all the cool soccer, dance, band, football, cheer, etc parents have them. It's pretty much a requirement. It's like a game. How many obnoxious magnets can you fit on the back of your gas gusseling SUV? Well, I have my first and I must admit...I normally smirk at those cars but I was PROUD to put that thing on my car this weekend! 1 down, who knows how many to go! I will vow to remove them as Maddy stops participating in those activities. For example, when dance isn't cool anymore and we move on to something else, I will take the dance magnet off my car. I'm pretty sure some of those parents leave the magnets on just so you know their kid is better than your kid because every day of their life is filled with some type of activity, even if they already quit that sport :)

Wedding Weekend!

This past weekend was wonderful! Brent and Heather were married and Maddy was the flower girl. Non-stop activity beginning Friday afternoon and went late Saturday evening. Maddy was beautiful and behaved most of the time. Friday night was rough. She was so hungry so she spent most of the night acting like a you know what. We were desperate so we bribed her with prizes for being a big girl. Saturday morning I reached a place I've never been - I called Nana and asked her to please call back later and have a "talk" with Maddy. Whatever Nana said, it worked. For the rest of the day I would just say "Maddy, do you want me to call Nana" and she would straighten up quick!

Preparing for Rehearsal Dinner Night on Friday

Getting ready with the Bride

"Princess Flower Girl"

Wedding's are always a great opportunity for a nice family photo

Big Girl Bed!

Well, a couple days in and Maddy is a rock star with her Big Girl bed! We keep laughing at the fact that she doesn't seem to realize she can get out. I know that's not true though. I know she's smart enough to realize it, she's either scared to get up or just doesn't want to but either way, we're not complaining.

When you gotta go...

Maddy made it all weekend without a single potty accident so we promised her a prize from the toy store. That just means she gets to go in a pick something out and Mommy has to figure out how to keep her from picking something that costs $50. So, we went to the toy store and she picked out costume jewlery so she could have a ring just like mommy!

After the toy store we decided that while we're in the business of "big girl" moments, let's go buy her toddler bed. Following that purchase in Babies R Us, Maddy says "Mommy, I really need to potty." So, off we go to the parking lot. Parking lot? Yes, a great idea my mom gave me about traveling with the potty while she's still learning because Maddy's still a little scared of the big toilets in public restrooms and frankly, so am I.

So, here we are in the parking lot having a potty break. She actually thought it was cool and I had to make her hurry because I was about to cook in the sun :)

Getting good at this potty thing!

Well, almost two weeks after her first time to use the potty, Maddy went an entire day at school today wearing big girl panties and did not have an accident even ONCE! We are so proud. That was plenty of excitement for one day but then to top it all off, we came home from school and she pooped in the potty too! A very traumatic experience for all involved. Maddy was embarrassed, I tried to comfort her and Matt was a little grossed out. But overall, a HUGE accomplishment and now she gets that going #2 gets more candy than going #1.

We had a great trip to Texas. I will try to post pictures this weekend and blog a little about that. Great time with family and friends!

Starting the countdown - 1 week and 1 day to go before Maddy's Flower Girl debut. Picking up the dress from the alterations place tomorrow so let's hope I can keep it clean and out of sight for an entire week.

Potty Time!

Big Day in the Hecht house. Maddy used her potty today for the 1st time! Very exciting. Unfortunately Daddy wasn't home so he missed but I took a picture for him. I will spare those details here but she definitely went in the potty. So, we rushed to Wal-Mart for big girl panties (Pull-Ups)and some M&M's for the next time she uses the potty. Of course we came home and she proceeded to go in her Pull-Ups so we still have work to do but it was a great first step!

Other news, Maddy can now count to five in Spanish and she's starting to ask me if I want a certain crayon but using the Spanish word for that color. Throws me off sometimes because I'm like, "wait, is that red or blue?" :)

I'm finally starting feel better, hence the blog. I really have not had the desire to blog over the last few weeks. Some nights I was in bed earlier than Maddy. But, it appears to be improving so that's great news - for EVERYONE!

Mommy has a baby in her yummy tummy

Everyone keeps asking if we've told Maddy that we're having a baby. My response is normally that we haven't formally said anything to her but Matt and I talk about it all the time so she much be absorbing some of that. Little did I know how much she was absorbing. One of her teachers at school told me yesterday that Maddy has been telling everyone at school that "Mommy has a baby in her yummy tummy." So, apparently she knows! So, once Matt got home last night we all three sat down and had a conversation about it. This is how it went:

Me: Maddy, do you think Mommy is having a baby boy or baby girl?
Maddy: Baby girl!
Matt: OH @#$%
Me: Maddy, what if Mommy had a baby boy in her belly? Would you like that?
Maddy: Yes I would. Mommy I would love it.
Matt: BIG SMILE!

Time will tell but Maddy now knows we are having a baby and as expected, seems to care less at this point.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

What will it take?

What will it take for people to understand it's not worth it to drive and talk or text? For me, it took loosing a grandmother and a cousin in a car accident due to the irresponsible actions of someone using their cell phone. One split second and many, many, many lives were forever changed. I'm driving home from work today and almost overcome with rage as I watch a young woman in her sporty car chat away with arms waving as she talks. I'm not one to judge about being an animated talker but in the car??? A few days ago I watched a man text while navigating the narrow streets on the way to work downtown. I get it - you're important. The person you're talking to may be important too but do you understand that there is not ONE person on this Earth that is so important it is worth risking your life or the life of someone else for a quick phone call. If you're that important - they will understand when you tell them you are in the car and will call them back. For the 5 people that read this blog, pass this message on. In the months after the wreck, I wrote about things like this out of sadness. Now, I post due to anger. It makes me angry that we drive down the road and think we are special and will stay safe. That's NOT the case! And for those of you that don't text and talk while driving...your friends, family, co-workers and complete strangers are putting your life at risk when they use their phone in the car. That should be enough to get your attention. Please do your part!

3 signs your wife is pregnant...

1. She goes to the kitchen and pours a glass of orange juice. When she's finished, she tries to put it away in the medicine cabinet. (Pregnancy Brain)

2. The dishwasher is full so she starts it before leaving for work on Monday. By Thursday she is still just opening it up to get clean dishes to use instead of unloading it. (Pregnancy Fatigue)

3. She goes to the store for the weekly shopping and comes home with the following: cheese, orange juice and cinnamon rolls. (Pregnancy Stomach)

I'm certainly not guilty of any of these but in case you think your wife may be pregnant - these are obvious signs!

Idle Thoughts

As I sit here watching Maddy, I'm wondering - Do they ever get tired of watching the same show over and over and over? Maddy doesn't watch that much TV but we normally have an episode or two saved to the DVR for those desperate moments when you just need a moment to think. In the past week, Maddy has watched the same episode of The Backyardigans approximately 5 times! Is that normal? Should she be looking at me and saying "duh mom, I've seen this one." I mean, I watch some pretty stupid things on TV and most times I don't want to admit I watched it the first time let alone watch it 5 times in one week!! Maybe it's different with cartoons. I mean, maybe the colors, songs, etc are more entertaining. I know toddlers are like a big sponge so maybe she's noticing new things each time she watches. I just can't imagine watching the same episode of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" 5 times in one week.

Maddy's going to be a BIG SISTER!

It's official! Matt and I are expecting a new baby! We went for our first ultrasound today and the little one is doing great. Estimated due date is February 24th. I've been VERY sick this time around but hoping that will come to an end soon. We are very excited to add to our family. We haven't officially shared the news with Maddy and will probably wait until my tummy starts to get a little bigger. We are open to suggestions on ways to prepare her for the little one's arrival. We will keep you posted. My blog posts will probably take on a new twist!

Love to all,
Matt, Holly, Maddy and little one Hecht

New Name and Time Out

How important is a name really? I consider it very important and my most common name lately is Mommy. However, here lately Maddy has decided that Mommy is her last choice when calling my "name." In the past 24 hours she has called me Holly, Mom and my favorite Mommy May. She uses this one when she is really trying to get my attention and I'm not paying attention. MOMMY MAY! For anyone reading this that doesn't know, my middle name is May and so is Maddy's. Part of me thinks this is hilarious and the other part isn't sure if I should correct her or not. When she calls me Holly, I remind her that my name is Mommy. She's two so in most cases she's yelling, regardless of what she's calling me :)

On another note, Maddy is starting to recognize when she's done something wrong and feels guilty. She puts herself in time out!!!!! Twice this weekend she put herself in time out for talking ugly to Mommy. Hey, I can use the help so I'm letting her roll with it! If she could only learn to change her own diaper we would have it made!

This child can EAT!

We are very lucky to have a child that will eat just about anything you put in front of her and some of her favorites are the things that are so good for you, like vegetables. But tonight, she went to a whole new level in terms of quantity. This was dinner:

Dinner #1: 5:30 pm
1 serving of pasta
3 servings of green beans
4 cherry tomatoes
1 Popsicle for eating such a great dinner

Dinner #2: 7:00 pm (once Daddy got home)
2 servings of pork ribs
2 servings of green beans
Asked for more but it was all gone

I had to take her to the doctor today (don't ask) and they weighed her. 26.3 pounds. What? How is it possible to consume this much food and still weigh the same she did in April?!?! I certainly will not discourage her but at some point I have to tell her that the ability to burn calories fades into a distant memory once she turns 25. :)

Here's to eating 2 dinners!

Starfish!

Today was a big day for Maddy at school. Every Tuesday during the summer they have water play day. They wear their swimsuits and go outside to play in the water. They normally have some type of learning activity or game that involves the water. Today was special. It was beach day and they had a starfish there for the kids to touch. Maddy's teacher said that she loved it! It was still alive and moving around and that didn't seem to bother her one bit. The funny part is that when you ask Maddy about the starfish, she says it was real soft with eggs all over it :) Funny how a two year old visually processes things. Anyway, she had a great time and told me that maybe it would be there tomorrow so I could touch it.

On another note, we've graduated from saying we're mad. Recently, Maddy says she's mad about a lot of things. And she recognizes when I'm mad at her. But today, she said, "Mommy, I'm angry." A little girl at school, we'll call her Susie, took Maddy's blocks as she was leaving today. And on the way home Maddy explained that she was angry with Susie. Except she says that she's angry AT Susie. And then I ask why are you angry and she says, "because I are!" I love these little conversations.

Happy 4th of July!

Great weekend! I made the mistake of telling Maddy on Friday night that we were going Saturday morning to try on her Princess dress for Brent and Heather's wedding. I think it was my way of trying to get her to go to bed but it backfired a little when she woke up at 6:45 am Saturday morning READY TO GO! I had to explain that the store didn't open for another 4 hours (eternity in toddler time) and that we would have to wait. Needless to say we were there when they opened. Maddy tried on her dress and proceeded to parade around the store. There were lots of ladies in there and of course they made a fuss over her so getting the dress off was a difficult task.


Sunday, we went to church and I had a hard time explaining to Maddy that we were just going to church and not for the wedding so she couldn't wear her dress. It's going to be a long 2 months waiting for the wedding :)
After church, Brent and Heather invited us to her parent's lake house for boating, swimming and eating. Maddy had a blast! They bought sand and made a homemade beach area for Maddy to play. It was awesome!


It's amazing what a difference a few weeks can make with Maddy's comfort level in the water. She started getting some experience in Texas but this weekend she really LOVED it! She wore her Tinkerbell life jacket and was swimming all over the lake. By the end of the day, she was jumping off the boat dock!

Still not a fan of fireworks. We knew this so we decided not to waste the energy going to see a big show. On the way home from the lake we saw a few in the sky and she didn't want anything to do with them. Oh well, we can try again next year.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

More Texas Stories

I was talking to my mom yesterday and reminded of another funny Texas story. While Maddy was in Texas, Nana decided to take all the grandkids (6 total, ages 10 months - 10 years)and get their pictures made together. Taking one child for pictures is enough so I give her lots of credit in the bravery department. My future sister-in-law Brandi went too so that was helpful. Anyway, the story goes that they're all dressed in their Red/White/Blue 4th of July best and everyone was being so great...everyone except for Maddy. She wasn't bad, just being her normal stubborn self and she didn't feel like smiling so she just wasn't going to smile. It's as simple as that. This was my biggest fear for these pictures - "Please don't let my kid be the one that ruins the pictures." So, they try everything. Horns, silly toys, etc. Maddy continues to not smile while all the other kids stand there with their faces frozen with a smile for Nana. And then Maddy says to the photographer, "I being a stinker!" Everyone laughed and Maddy started to smile. Pictures were taken and life was good. Apparently, Nana and Papa would tell Maddy that she was being a stinker when she was acting silly or stubborn and she clearly understood the context. So, she decided that picture day would be a great time to practice being a stinker. Nana and Papa are still laughing about that and the pictures came in this week and Mom says they're great! Thank goodness!

A few things Maddy has talked about this week related to Texas:
1. The golf cart - she wishes we had one
2. The boat on the lake - she wishes we had one
3. "Star" the cow - she wishes we had one
4. Puffy chips - Memaw bought puffy cheetos for Maddy and she wants more
5. Her quilt - Memaw is making Maddy a ladybug quilt and Maddy is still talking about it.

Maddy's People

Had to take Maddy to the Dermatologist today. I won't get into all the details but she has some skin issues that have been going on for a few months so I decided to make an appointment. The good news is that it doesn't appear to be anything a prescription steroid won't fix. The bad news is that I have to take the prescription to the pharmacy and I'm sure it's some crazy $200 a bottle thing. Oh well, healthy skin is important, right?

The point of this post is to share Maddy's behavior at the doctor's office. She was great! Funny and great! I guess she wasn't scared because I've been telling her that we were going and I needed her to show the doctor her boo-boos so he could make them all better. So we get there and out of now where, she's starts calling everyone "her peoples." I have NO idea where this came from but every time the doctor and the nurse would leave the room, she would say, "Where my peoples go?" I tried to explain to her that this wasn't a show on MTV/BET and they were not her "people." They are the Doctor and the Nurse and they have names. She didn't care. So, she proceeded to call them her people and when they would come back into the room she would say, "There my people!" Luckily, the staff found it amusing :)

On another note - Maddy called Nana last night and Nana made the mistake of telling Maddy that next time it was time for a visit, Nana and Papa would come to Charlotte to see Maddy. The conversation continued and they hung up. Then Maddy proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes waiting at the door for Nana :( A crying fit started and I had to leave the room. Somehow Matt explained that Nana didn't mean she was coming to visit today. So, lesson learned....we are not at the age where talking about coming to visit makes everyone feel better. Next time we will know.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Best Friend

The terrible two's are just that - terrible. But all that terrible washes away when she says "Mommy, you're my best friend." Maddy thinks her mommy is her best friend!!! Of course, she also thinks Daddy is her best friend so I'm not letting my ego get too big but OH MAN! What a great thing to hear. I know, I know - wait until she's a teenage. I'll just hang on to this post for those days.

Lots of chatting today so just wanted to pass along some thoughts from Maddy:

In the car - Mommy, those cars are too big to pick up - they heavy. Mommy, that truck too big to pick up - it heavy. Daddy heavy, Mommy - you little.

At home - Mommy, I'm mad at you. Now give kiss and we make up.

I would like to frame the first one and the second one makes me think that she got in trouble at school today and had to make up with a friend???

Charlotte, North Carolina!

This deserves it's own post because it cracks me up! So, the entire time Maddy was in Texas, my mom (Nana) would talk about when you go home to North Carolina, when Mommy and Daddy come visit from North Carolina, etc. Nana worked on this for three weeks straight and then really hit it hard in the final days before Maddy left. And if you know Nana, it sounds more like North Caroliiiiiiinnnnnnna when she says it :) So now Maddy says it all the time. On the way home from school she will ask me where we are going and I'll say home and she says, "our home is in Charlotte, North Carolina."

But that's not the funny part. The funny part is that in Maddy speak, it doesn't sound exactly like it should. I'll do my best to spell it out and then you can spend a few minutes saying it to yourself until you think you have it right :)

Charlet, Nort Taraliiiiiiinnnnnnnna

I'm just impressed that she can tell people where she lives now, we'll work on the proper pronunciation later :)

Return from Texas

I'm not sure where to start so this may be a post with multiple parts. I'll start with last Friday. Matt and I arrived in Texas around 1pm (during nap time) so we had some time to rest up before Maddy woke up. Once she did, there were plenty of hugs and kisses to go around. She was happy to see us but it wasn't overwhelming excitement. Within an hour though, she was attached to my leg. Thus began the game of trying to get her to detach from my leg. That's a blog post in itself so I will save that for later.

We had a great weekend watching Maddy play in the pool and teach us all the new things she learned. A few of my favorites: 1. My two year old now gives "bumps." For those not current with the lingo, this is a fist bump. I can't help but laugh every time she does it because I picture her as an NBA player before a game or a 15 year old boy in the hall at school. Just doesn't fit but it sure is cute. The best part is that by the time I picked her up from school Wednesday, all the other two year olds in her class were now experts at the "bump." 2. A new phrase - "Lookey there or Lookey here." So this is now what she says every time she wants to show you something. 3. Tri-lingual - she left speaking English (a little Southern, I admit) and now she will tell you she knows 3 languages - Spanish, Texan and North Carolinian. She had some homework for school while she was gone and had a few Spanish words to practice so now she thinks she fluent.

I've been trying to type this for 3 days now so I'll stop here and tell you more the next time. Maddy had a GREAT time in Texas but we are glad to have her back :)

Summer Camp is coming to an end...

Tomorrow is the day - well technically Friday is the day but we leave tomorrow :) Matt and I are loading up the truck tomorrow for our cross country drive to pick Maddy up from summer camp! Driving is one of those things that sounds like a good idea until it's time to leave. I always think of it as an adventure, family bonding and a chance to see new places. Check back with me early next week to see if my positive ray of light has faded. We will get to Texas Friday morning and spend the weekend. We head back to Charlotte sometime on Monday.

Just today we had two moments when we realized how long she's been gone. 1. I was sitting in the living room and looked over to notice a HUGE cobweb. It's in a place that Maddy plays but I guess it's not a place we frequent because it's collecting dust in her absence. 2. Matt came home from the store tonight and had picked up a few things so we don't have to run out as soon as we get home Tuesday. Maddy has been gone so long the packaging on the pasta she likes has changed! He almost didn't find it in the aisle.

We are both SO excited to see her but I dread leaving on Monday. I'm hoping she smiles and waves goodbye. I'm afraid it's more likely she will scream and claw on the back window as we pull out of Nana's driveway. If you have a free moment, pray that process is as painless as possible for all involved.

I have the empty suitcase ready that Pawpaw requested. Just a few of the extra things coming home with us include - a Dora tent, lots of "jewelry", a new bubble machine, new swimsuit/cover up, new shoes, new pajamas, new clothes, etc. I'm hoping a suitcase is all we need :)

I'm looking forward to a great weekend. We have lots of Father's Day celebrating to do with Pawpaw, Grandad, Papa, Daddy (Matt), Uncle Justin and Uncle Jeremy. We also have birthdays to celebrate with Aunt Brandi and Uncle Jeremy.

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads in our lives. Have a great weekend and I'll update next week!

Weekend Fun

We miss Maddy but we are making the most of our time. Friday I went with our friend Heather to pick out Maddy's flower girl dress for their wedding in September. She's going to be a little princess!

We finished the evening meeting Brent and Matt for dinner. It was actually really funny because around 8pm the lights and the music changed in the restuarant and it turned into Dance Party USA! I guess we've never stayed there long enough to see this change when the sun goes down because we're normally at home getting Maddy ready for bed! We're really living life on the edge this week!

Saturday was Dave and Amanda's wedding. We had a blast dancing on an uptown rooftop. SUPER hot outside but that didn't stop the party!

Sunday was a cookout at Kenny and Cristina's house. Again it was VERY hot but they had great food, good music and some fun games. We came home last night and it took everything I had not to go to bed at 7:30 pm.

All in all a great (busy) weekend

Summer Camp (aka Parent's Honeymoon) Update

Well, 11 days into summer camp and all is well in Texas. Maddy could care less that we're not around and we have come to accept that. She is getting much better at talking on the phone to us so that is a lot of fun. It's good practice for when she comes back to North Carlolina and can hopefully talk on the phone more to our family. She's been at Nana and Papa's house for the past week and has now moved to Memaw and Pawpaw's house for a few days. I just received a text message from Pawpaw informing me that I need to bring an extra (empty) suitcase when we come to get her. :) That text message was then followed with another one that quoted the following conversation:

Pawpaw: Maddy, here's your babies high chair. You can sit your babies bottle there or your sippy cup.
Maddy: Or my beer

Not sure of the guilty party just yet but wanted to make sure to document here for future reference :)

Other notable events from the past week:
- Washing the golf cart
- Riding in the golf cart
- Washing the plane
- Riding in the golf cart
- Swimming
- Riding in the golf cart

You get the point! She's happy and enjoying her time. Still haven't determined if summer camp means she gets a t-shirt but from the sound of things, we will be coming home with much more than a camp t-shirt!

Happy Monday!

Some more beach photos

Matt and I at the beach house

Just the Girls!

Time to relax!

Group Photo!

Beach Weekend and Sweet Dumpling

Matt and I returned today from a couples beach trip for the Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time with 3 other couples. Great weather and fun times. We will now spend this next 5 days recovering from our sun burn. We called Maddy twice a day and talked to her a couple of times. Most of the time she was too busy playing to pause and say hello. She has gone since Thursday now without her pacifier and doesn't seem to care. I think she's been too busy and probably too tired at night to even think about it. We are very excited about that! We've been distracted all weekend so it will be interesting to see how we do this week once we get back into our routine and our little monster isn't here. She has learned a new phrase - Nana was calling Maddy "sweet dumpling" and Maddy thinks that is very funny and was repeating it for us. She got on the phone and said "Sweet dum-pli-ng Daddy!" We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Summer Camp Update

Quick Update - I spoke to Nana this morning and found out that Maddy slept all night without her pacifier!!! Woo-hoo. Apparently Nana "lost" the pacifier at the airport and Maddy seemed to find that excuse acceptable.

Summer Camp - in TEXAS!

It's official, Maddy is gone for her 3 week summer camp in Texas. Mom (Nana) landed in Charlotte Wednesday night and took off Thursday morning with Maddy, a car seat, a stroller and a Dora suitcase! We've always known that summers would be split between North Carolina and Texas and once Maddy's school told us that we wouldn't have to pay tuition while she's away, we booked her flight :)

There are lots of exciting events planned during Grandparent summer camp and the best part is that Mommy and Daddy don't have to pay the typical summer activity fee! I'm not sure if she gets a free t-shirt though.

Matt and I have both handled this experience differently. Matt didn't look forward to it - he knows Maddy will have a blast and he's happy that my family is getting some quality time but it's still a LONG time to be without his little Monster. I, on the other hand, planned every last day of the three weeks down to the minute with all the productive things I want to accomplish! Then the time came for her to actually leave and the tables turned a little. What if she gets homesick? What if she really gets sick? What if she gets mad at us when we make her come back home? Is it possible for Nana to keep Maddy on her schedule? All these things hit me in one 24 hour period. I'm sure I was thinking them all along but blocked them out. So, yesterday was a rough day for Mommy and Daddy. Maddy was a trooper at the airport and I actually had to make her kiss me good-bye. 24 hours have past and she has yet to even ask about us. That is great news! While I would love for her to miss me - one of my biggest fears in all of this was that she would get homesick or be sad in some way - so I'm RELIEVED that at least in the short term she could care less that we're not there.

Some people look at me like I'm a horrible person when I say this but it's the truth. You always miss your kids. You don't want to be away from them for extended periods of time but when you get to sleep in an hour later, fold laundry and actually make the bed before work - it feels good! I miss my little peanut but I plan to use this time to recharge, get organized and make time for me/us!

I will continue to post while Maddy's away and update on her adventures (as I hear them) and we'll see if my tune changes over the next few weeks.

Matt and I are headed to the beach tonight with friends for the holiday weekend so I'm hoping that keeps us distracted for a few days :)

Happy Holidays!

Poop Break

Clearly by the title, this is not one of those blogs everyone will want to read. Actually nobody probably wants to read it but it's just another day with another funny moment I feel like sharing with EVERYONE :) Plus, it will make for a great thing for Matt to read to Maddy's boyfriends one day - isn't that the reason for this blog??????

Today was Wednesday so that means dance. She loves it and walked out of school on her tip toes flapping like a butterfly. We came home and I think Matt and I were both feeling a little lazy so we decided we didn't want to cook and would go out for dinner. It's great now because you can say Maddy do you want chicken or pasta and she will actually tell you what she wants! I love that! Tonight I did not give her a choice but asked her if she wanted a grilled cheese and green beans and she said, "Yes,I do - I want green beans." I also love almost complete sentences. We are past the babble talk at this point and she's stringing together many words which makes life so much easier.

Anyway, we were almost finished with dinner when she pushed her food away and started trying to stand up in the highchair. I did the normal thing which is tell her to sit on her bottom and she said, "No, I trying to poop!" Of course we're in a restaurant with like 5 people so the embarrassment was minimal but still made my face a little red. She then proceeds to grunt as she squats in her chair. It took a while of this process and the whole time she's grunting and saying she's pooping - while we're at the dinner table! Once she finished, she announces that she needs a new diaper. I told her we would get one as soon as we got home (we were like a mile down the road) and she said that she needed one now :) Needless to say, Maddy and I went to the car while Matt paid the bill (I should actually have Maddy use this trick more often :)) It was only once we were in the car with a clean diaper she started to cry because she didn't finish her dinner. Apparently the reason she pushed her food away was not because she was done but because she needed a poop break!

As strange as it is, these are the little moments I was hoping to capture on this blog. How funny that in a few short years my life has gone from Wednesday night karaoke bars to poop breaks during dinner. The best part about that - I wouldn't change one single second of it!

Until the next poop break...

Random

I don't really have anything specific to post tonight but thought I would talk about the random events from the past few days. We've been really busy and haven't had much time to talk to anyone so I may have missed cute moments to pass along.

1. Maddy is obsessed with flys. She calls them Bug Flys and follows them around the house which has to make her dizzy. She gets real quite and trys to pounce on them while their still. Not sure how long it will take for her to figure out the art of the fly swatter but once she does, it's one of two things...a really bad thing for the fly or a really bad thing for Maddy once she realizes they die.

2. She is now officially old enough that mosquito bites are a problem because I can't find a good way to keep her from itching them.

3. Had to cover her bedroom window with a blanket this weekend so the lightening wouldn't be so obvious in her room during the storms. Now every night before bed she makes us "cover up the sunshine." Made it through a weekend of storms during bedtime by explaining to her that the rain and thunder would help our strawberries grow in our garden. Now if I can just figure out what to tell her when she realizes the strawberries aren't growing :)

4. There is no denying Maddy is a two year old now. She has really tested our patience the past few days. We know we are so lucky though because 95% of the time, she's great. It's that 5% that make me need a prescription medication. She's a FIRECRACKER - don't know where she gets that. We have figured out that she seems to respond better when we explain things to her instead of just saying no or do this, do that. When we explain, she actually does what we're asking. Maybe it helps her or maybe she's listening to us thinking, "these idiots think I care so I'm going to let them waste their energy explaining it!" :) I'm going to go with the idea that she's really smart and just wants the details!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Thunder!

We were able to make it two years before a thunderstorm scared Maddy. She has slept like a rock through some really rough weather but last night she woke up at 11:30 pm during a thunderstorm and the rest of the night is a bit of a blur. The storm itself lasted less than 30 minutes but for the rest of the night, she woke up on an hourly basis crying that she was scared. So, in an effort to have at least one of us sleep, I decided to make a bed on her floor so that when she woke up, she could see me and hopefully calm down faster. Matt suggested I bring her into our bed.

Here are my thoughts on that. We've done really well from day 1 with Maddy NOT being in our bed for any reason. My thought is - what if this isn't the last time she gets scared? If we put her in our bed, everytime she's scared she will think she can get in our bed and then it quickly becomes not our bed anymore. I'm not a fan of that. I've heard too many stories of parents that really struggle with getting their children to stay in their own rooms. Is that crazy? Am I being silly about one night in our bed? Any suggestions on ways you have handled little ones that are afraid of the dark, thunderstorms, etc?

I say all of this to say that Mommy spent last night NOT sleeping on Maddy's floor. She has carpet but we must have gone for the cheap padding because it was hard as a rock! :) The past hour has been spent adjusting my mood to trick myself into thinking I slept in a warm, soft bed last night!

My wish for today is that the thunderstorms we are scheduled to have this weekend will occur during the day and not between the hours of 7:30 pm - 7:30 am!

Milestone! (for me - not Maddy)

I will mark the date on my calendar. As of Monday, May 10th, 2010 - I officially own my car!!! Whoo-hoo! Made the last payment yesterday and what a great feeling. I'm not sure what I was expecting (maybe the auto loan company would send me some flowers or something)but it came and went with little celebration - except for me and Matt! We certainly noticed it and our bank account will notice it next month :) This is the 2005 White Mazda Tribute that I purchased 1 month before moving to Charlotte in May 2005 and it's finally mine. It was my first BIG step toward independence. It was my way of telling the world that I could do anything I wanted...move across the country - SURE! Buy a new car - SURE! You couldn't stop me! (haha!) It's important to mention that while I was inching toward independence, I still needed Don's help in making the purchase. I'd still have 2 years left to pay on it if he hadn't handled the negotiations!

My little Tribute has been on a journey - started in Texas, rode on an semi to Charlotte, received new NC license plates(I cried that day) and has treated me well for the past five years. I'm proud to say she's mine!

I promise to write about Maddy for the next post but I couldn't let this moment pass without documenting!

Hope everyone's having a great week.

Don't Touch!

It's been a great week! Maddy's dance class went really well and she LOVED it! She learned new moves and when I got home (late) that night, she said "Mommy, I flap like a butterfly and I bend!" Yesterday was a Tea Party for Mother's Day at Maddy's school so I went and had cookies and participated in Circle Time - that's another blog for another day! Today was the St. Jude Trike a Thon at her school and she got to meet "Bear Care." I'm not really sure that's his real name but he's a bear that travels to schools to teach the kids about bike and car safety. Suprisingly, she was more excited about the sticker he gave her than actually talking to the bear.

Tonight we went to a great little shopping area and had dinner and walked and people watched. It's amazing how long she can stay entertained just watching other people. Now if I could just get her to stop pointing and saying "Mommy, what him doing?"

As part of this evening, we needed to run into a nice little shop with LOTS of breakable items. So, as we walked to the store Matt and I gave Maddy the riot act about not touching anything, just look - everything's breakable. She nodded her head as though she understood. So, we walk in and 30 seconds later Matt goes to pick up one of these items and Maddy yells "Daddy DON'T TOUCH, just look!" Half of me was embarrassed and half of me was impressed :)

Oh - I'll almost forgot. A new discovery in the car today. When you think they aren't really listening/understanding but they are....I'm constantly talking to her in the car and not really sure how much she's absorbing but lately she's fascinated with school buses and a few days ago I went into this 10 minutes explanation about the difference between a school bus and a city bus. Kids riding to school vs. Adults riding to work, etc. Tonight we're in the car and she's says "Look Daddy - City Bus."

Until the next blog moment occurs - I hope all the great Moms we know have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I'm hoping mine includes Mimosas and some quality time at Hobby Lobby!

Dance! Dance!

Tomorrow is a big day for Maddy (and Mommy). Wednesday, May 5th is Maddy's first day of DANCE class!!! Her school is great about offering extracurricular activities as part of the day so parents can still allow their children to participate in activities without driving them all over town everyday. So, Maddy is signed up for dance class. My confession is that I've been dreaming of this since the day she was born. I will be ok if she doesn't enjoy it but based on her love of music so far, I'm thinking we will have to drag her out of class each week. Even if that's not the case, I'm excited for her to try it.

We've known for about a month that she was taking dance class and in a weak moment a couple weeks back I did what many parents do - I held it over her head. I explained to her that she wasn't being a good listener (as she darted from my car in the grocery store parking lot) and told her that she was signed up for dance class but could only go if she was a good listener. Then later that night she acted up again and I told her she wasn't being a good listener and she started crying "class dance, class dance." I know, I should feel guilty about that but we all have our weak moments and truth be told - It worked so I've used it to my advantage for the past two weeks.

Now the day has arrived and we made a big trip to Target on Saturday to pick up shoes, tights and leotards. We tried them on tonight and she was SO excited. She did a LOT of spinning with her little skirt.
Exciting and crazy to think my baby is a two year old getting ready to go to dance class.

I've always thought Madelyn was a great name for a Ballerina! :)

Happy MAY!

Wow! I'm having a hard time writing the date on things - I can't believe it's MAY already! Last week was a busy one so there wasn't time to blog every time I had a thought so I've missed documenting a few funny things. To save on time and energy, I will just say we had a great week and summarize:

1. Maddy is convinced that when I say Okey, Dokey....I'm really saying Okey, Donkey!
2. Matt and I are lacking in the nursery rhyme department so we decided one night this week to Google a few songs for Maddy so we could learn the words. Needless to say, I'm glad she's only two and had no idea what she was watching. There are people in the world that have WAY too much time on their hands and choose to spend it making inappropriate versions of children's music online.
3. While watching the nursery rhyme videos, Matt has decided that Maddy is a children's music groupie. She sits there and sways her head with this far off look - Matt says he's glad they don't have drummers or we would be in trouble.
4. Matt and I finally figured out two songs that Maddy's been singing for a month. She would just mumble a few words and we had no idea how to fill in the blanks. After a little investigating, we determined she's singing "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree" and "Baby Bumblebee." Cute songs but bugs and animals die in both. Not sure how I feel about that. Both the bees and the monkeys deserve it for acting so ugly but I'm a little unsure about my daughter happily singing about crocodiles snapping monkeys out of trees :)

Matt and I took a day of vacation on Friday and went to the Quail Hollow Golf Tournament. Absolutely a great way to spend a Friday. Saw a little bit of Phil and Tiger, enjoyed the sunshine (a little too much) and were given suite tickets by some friends so we lived the life for the day. Great day!

The first week of May is proving to be a busy one. Maddy's first dance class is Wednesday! Went to buy her "uniform" this weekend and can't wait to see her in those little shoes. Duke's Annual Shareholders Meeting is Thursday morning and I'm serving as a volunteer so looking forward to that and hoping the protesters behave themselves. Thursday afternoon is an afternoon tea for Mother's Day at Maddy's school. The weekend will be spent celebrating all things Mommy! YAY! Matt continues to do A LOT of work around the outside of our house. We now have a garden, fresh mulch and rock around our back deck. Looks great and really excited to see everything looking so nice!

Happy First week of May - I'll try to do better with my blogging :)

Melting Mommy's Heart

Today was one of those days - a melt your heart day. A little background first. Matt had a dinner to go to for work tonight so it was going to be me and Maddy for the night. It's so beautiful today and I hated to just pick her up from school and come home so I decided we would take a little picnic to the park and try to feed a few ducks. By picnic, I mean we went to Chick-fil-A for nuggets and apple juice. We took our food and headed to the park. After we found the perfect place, we sat and had the most peaceful dinner EVER! Someone even walked by and asked how old Maddy was and when I said two, they couldn't believe she was sitting still for so long. It was the greatest thing. Mommy and Maddy, sitting in the sunshine enjoying dinner while watching the ducks in the water.
After dinner, we decided to walk and see if we could find a duck. We did and luckily Mommy brought an old loaf of bread and Maddy loved it! She was throwing bread to the ducks and saying "Mommy, they quacken me!" There were a few not so pleasant moments when the word started to spread to the geese. I'm convinved most of them are evil and that slow walk they do toward you...I just kept thinking "oh man, this is going to end up on funniest home videos when one of these things chases me into the water." Anyway, we managed to escape and as we walked away, my sweet girl, holding her apple juice said, "Mommy, I happy." I could've died right there. So nice to have a moment like that when it's clear Maddy was appreaciating the moment, only the way a two year old can.
We made it home and I promised her blueberries for dessert. She's obsessed with blueberries and we have to cut her off because I'm afraid she will make herself sick. While I was washing them off, she stopped and said "Mommy, you want to share with me?" Again, could've died. We've really been pushing the sharing concept so that was a great moment.
A great day with quality moments. Happy Friday!

**Update - While I waited to upload these pictures I was in the process of putting Maddy to bed. I gave her a big hug and told her how much fun I had with her today and then asked her if she had fun - she said no. Ugh! Mommy's heart is done melting for the day.