Happy Halloween!

Remember last year. . . .

Well, this year Madi decided to go a little more on the cutesy side!!

Last night was the annual ward Trunk-or-Treat! Madi had such a great time walking from car to car, collecting candy! This was a whole new concept for her. When she was handed a treat she'd put it right into her bag and then ask for "more". What a FUN night- it made me that much more excited for tonight!!

Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

16 Months

DISCLAIMER: My monthly "Madi" updates might seem a little excessive in details and rather uninteresting to some of you; However I use my blog as a family journal as well. Thus, I like to include examples that will help us remember this stage of Madi's life in the years to come. I'm not trying to be one of those "overly obsessed, braggy moms". While I know I have the perfect child, I don't want you all to think that is what I'm thinking. Hahahah! Totally kidding! I just want Madilyn to be able to look back and know what she was like when she was too young to remember! :)


Madi's now 16 months old and as sweet as ever! I know that every month I'm always saying how great of a stage this is, but seriously it just gets better and better! I am constantly in awe with how much she learns every day! Being a late walker, I think Madi has over-compensated with being an early talker. She's big into mimicking right now, repeating anything we ask her to say. Some words are harder, and not said as clear as others, but she always gives it her best attempt. It's fun to hear her saying so many words, but it's also caused me to be cautious with what I say. The other day I was in the car with Madi and I said, "Oh geez" and from the back seat I hear, "Geeez"! Not a big deal, but it just made me realize how she's listening to everything we say. Three of her favorite phrases right now are:
"He ya go"= here ya go
"I see it"- usually when I'm asking her if she sees an airplane
"I peeping"= I'm pooping (she honestly said this the other after she let out a huge fart and I asked her if she was pooping).

Maid's now added please and thank you to her most commonly used signs. She's quickly learned how much her dad and I love it when she says "please", because she seriously says it 100 times a day. When she wants something, she'll throw a "peeeease" in there and we usually cannot resist!

She loves giving hugs and kisses, but is quite choosy with when she'll give them. Spencer will ask Madi for a kiss and she'll either lean in to give him one, or she'll pause, think about it, and then say "no" while shaking her head. While Spencer feels rejected, I think it's pretty funny! Madi always finds a way to redeem herself though. Many times at bedtime Spencer will kiss her goodnight while I'm still reading bedtime stories, and as he walks out of the room, Madi will beg, "more" (while signing it). One night Spencer came back 10 times for "more" kisses! Madi sure knows how to melt her daddy!

I've been working on getting Madi to understand how old she is, but for some reason she insists that she's 2. Every time I ask her how old she is she replies, "two". I correct her and tell her to say one, to which she responds, "No, two". I don't have a clue where this obsession with the number 2 started, but she also notices when things are in twos. Tonight I showed her yogurt and applesauce and told her to pick which one her wanted. She replied, "two". Interesting! Was this a fluke? Probably, but she again said "two" while looking at a picture of herself from the pumpkin patch with 2 pumpkins. What a smart little girl (so we like to think)!

Pumpkin Pickin'

For our Friday family outing this week, Spencer insisted that we go and pick a pumpkin. So, to Butler's Orchard we went. Seems to be what everyone else is doing these days too, because the pumpkin patch had been cleaned out pretty good. Our pickins were slim!

As soon as we got out of the car, Madi ran over to these two pumpkins and began struggling to pick them up. We then had to inform her that it's best to look around a little in order to pick the perfect pumpkin! She was a good sport and seemed to understand.


She and Spencer went right to work finding our perfect pumpkin!




"Over here Dad! I think i've found it!"


Spencer and Madi carefully compared three of their top picks.


They both seemed to agree that this was the one!


Yipee!


After letting mom get a picture with Madi, we left the orchards and headed down to the market to pay for our pumpkin.


Down by the market there were hundreds of other pumpkins!


We all agreed to look around for a few minutes to see if we could find a better one. Madi quickly became intrigued. She really liked the stem on this one.



We did end up choosing a different one- a nice, round, 14 pounder! The color is perfect and we can hardly wait until Monday night to carve our pumpkin!

Things I get excited about. . .

I know it's pretty lame of me to post this, but as of lately I've become obsessed with gas prices! When we got back from our summer in California (and paying almost $5 a gallon) I was SUPER excited to see this when I pulled in to get gas (so excited that I had taken a picture)!


Then just today (only 2 months later) I gased up at $2.65! Pretty exciting if you ask me!

Leaves are falling all around!

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Spencer turned 29 today!!! He's now one year closer to the big 3-0!!! Since I know that I'm going to have to plan something AWESOME for next year, Spencer had a pretty layed back birthday celebration this year. We went birthday shopping on Saturday, which he actually had success with. He spent the money sent from both our parents and got himself some new shoes and 2 hoodies (thanks mom and dad)! Then this morning I let him sleep in, waking him up for a yummy birthday breakfast of french toast.

Spencer's last class ended at 3pm, and Madi and I decided that it'd be fun to pick him up at school instead of at the Metro. This gave us a nice long afternoon/evening together. We celebrated by going out to dinner and dessert.


I made Spencer's special birthday dessert last night- which Madi sure seemed to enjoy!


With a weekend full of fun (and an early celebration with his family last week), I think we brought in his 29th year of life with a BANG!!! Happy Birthday Babe! I Love you!

The Best of Friends!

This is Madi with her friend Lexi, out for a walk! Tends to be a daily occurrence with the weather so nice these past few weeks.


Madi and Lexi had a forced relationship when they were babies.........


But now have "grown" to become quite the little friends.



This past week, Madi has started to become super excited when she sees Lexi. When we meet up with them at a park or to go for a walk, Madi now smiles real big and waves! I love it! I've been wondering when it is that kids begin to recognize their friends and call them by name. Madi hasn't asked about any of her friends yet, but just yesterday she said Lexi's name- "Nicey". Then the girls had a great time playing together outside in the tennis courts.



Madi got a kick out of pushing Lexi around in the baby doll stroller. Then the girls had to switch so that Madi could have a turn! It was so cute watching them make each other laugh.



BIG thanks to Lexi's mom, my very talented friend- Melissa, who takes such amazing pictures! I never have to worry about getting my camera out when we've got them around!

Day 6: White House & Bureau of Engraving and Printing

For the sixth and final day of Dad, Mom and Jocelyn's visit, we got up bright and early to head into DC for an 8:30 am tour of the White House! I'd heard that the White House wasn't the most exciting tour (and my friends who warned me were right!), but I would seriously be mad at myself if I moved away without doing it. Living this close to so many amazing things, I figured I should take advantage of every opportunity I get!


After touring the White House (or should I say a wing of the White House), we headed over to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing so that we could see how money is made! The tour walked us step by step through the process of currency production- beginning with large, blank sheets of paper and ending with wallet-ready bills! It was cool to watch this entire process through glass windows from above.

Madi already has a great love for money! We teach our daughter well!



We all had to take a turn to measure our height in $100 bills! Madi was worth the most! :)



After our BEP tour was over, Madi was ready for a nap and I knew she wasn't going to make it- being out all day again. This complicated things a bit. I couldn't drive mom and dad rental, and Spencer had our car parked at his school. So, Dad volunteered to lug Madi's car seat from our parking spot next to the BEP all the way to the Metro Station where we'd hop on and meet Spencer at his school for lunch. Mom and Jocelyn stayed behind for more site-seeing and lunch at Union Station while Spencer's dad and I headed for AU.


After a busy afternoon of seeing all the last minute things that they wanted to see, everyone made it safely back home around 6:30pm so that we could enjoy one last dinner together and a relaxing evening before their flight out in the morning. Thanks Dad, Mom, and Jocelyn for the fun visit! We loved having you here! As for the rest of you- we DO LOVE visitors and you're welcome anytime!

Day 5: Peter and Bekah's Wedding

Aside from coming to see us, another reason for Mom, Dad, and Jocelyn's trip out here was to join the Nelson Family in celebrating Peter and Bekah's wedding! After our visit out to New Hampshire in May, Spencer and I were extra excited to see everyone! With Bekah's family being from Great Falls, VA the wedding was close by, at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. What a beautiful wedding it was! We were really excited to be able to celebrate with the happy couple!


Following the ceremony, the couple went out to take pictures. I couldn't resist going out and getting a few pictures as well (thanks Jocelyn for being a photographer for Spencer, Madi, and I).




After pictures, we came back in for some cultural entertainment, followed by dinner and dancing.




After dinner Madi was definitely exhausted. As neither Spencer or I wanted to leave, we tried several things to keep her entertained. Luckily, we remembered her binky and Pendleton. She went from cuddling with me, back and forth to cuddling with Spencer.



I ended up leaving early with Madilyn. She fell asleep on the way home and didn't even wake up when I moved her from the car to her bed (that's a first)! Here's a few more pictures with the rest of the gang near the end of the evening.

The cousins- left to right: Joyce (proud mother of the groom), Spencer's Dad, and Fred (proud uncle of the groom)


Pete and Spencer


Jocelyn, Mom, Spencer, and Dad with the newly married couple!

Joel, Joyce, and Fred with the rest of the gang!


Congratulations Pete and Bekah!!! We're so excited for you guys and glad that we were able to be there to celebrate with you! Have fun in Greece!