Sunday fun...

We don't let Madeline watch TV, but we are guilty of having the morning shows on while we eat breakfast and get ready in the morning. The past few mornings, this new GE commercial with a dancing baby elephant has come on and Madeline goes crazy. I caught her on film this morning. I must admit, the tune is quite catchy and the dancing elephant is pretty cute. Madeline sure thinks so!


It was a gorgeous weekend here, so we decided to make a trip down to Brazos Bend State Park to visit the alligators. It was a successful trip, as we stopped counting after we spotted 20 alligators. We also saw tons of turtles and Madeline enjoyed pointing out all the ducks. Here are a couple of pics from the day:



These two big guys were sunning themselves right next to the trail. It was a bit unnerving walking by with a toddler and a small dog!

Silly swamp monster:

How to put babies to sleep...

Madeline has been very into babies lately and today she was demonstrating the steps in putting a baby to sleep:

1. Lay the baby face down on a blanket-if there are multiple babies you should line them up
2. Pat the babies on the back
3. Tell the babies "Shhhhh, shhhhhhh"
4. If the babies don't fall asleep they may need a kiss or two

Happy Valentine's Day!

We took Madeline for an evening stroll to the park in honor of Valentine's day. As always, she loved both the slide and the swings, or the 'wheeeeess' as she calls them.




She was not happy when we decided to leave the park and cried, "Wheeee, wheeee, wheeee" all the way home (and not in her happy voice, either!) Brian and I laughed, as we now understood how and why the little pig cries "Whee, wheee, wheee, wheee, all the way home" in the nursery rhyme!

After dinner Madeline had a gift to open from Grandma and Grandpa Handl and was very excited by the pretty bag.

Hmmm, what could this be?

She was a bit apprehensive at first, as she didn't know what to make of this chili pepper. When it first started singing and dancing, she darted straight for daddy's lap:

By the second or third time the chili pepper sang, she was getting a bit into it:


After assessing the situation from the safety of daddy's lap, and deciding that all way okay, this is what ensued:





I hope your cupid brought you as much laughter and love as ours did this Valentine's Day!

Choo-choooooo

Madeline has been very into trains this weekend. She has discovered where I keep her train tent that Grandma and Grandpa James gave her for Christmas. She'll go over, pull it out and exclaim, "Choo-choo, choo-chooo" while waiting for it to be set up. Then yesterday, one of the neighborhood kids had a birthday party where they rented a train that kept circling the block while blowing its horn. Each time it would go by, Madeline would run to the window and say, "Choo-choo." So, with a train obsessed little one on our hands, we decided it was time to take our inaugural ride on the Hermann Park train.

Waiting for the train to arrive at the station:


Here is is....all aboard!

(This sideways glance just makes me laugh!)

Big girl, ready for her first train ride!

All aboard....

Checking to make sure that daddy is enjoying the ride:


She was pretty serious through the whole ride, but I think she had a fun time and she really enjoyed waving at everyone and pointing out all the doggies in the park!

It was a beautiful day to run and play in the park.




At dinner tonight we were recounting the train ride...this is what Madeline remembered:

Happy 50th Grandma & Grandpa!!!

We spent last weekend in Tucson for a wonderful gathering of the James family in celebration of Marv & Kay's 50th wedding anniversary. Madeline loved being the little cousin of the group and having all of her older cousins dote on her. She was quite fond of them as well!

Girl cousins and their mommies:

The boys:

All the cousins (Bet you can't guess who didn't want to be in the picture!)

Grandma & Grandpa with their kids

Preparing for the toast:

Grandma & Grandpa with their six grandchildren

Madeline always likes a good reason to boogie!

Congratulations Grandma & Grandpa. Happy 50th Anniversary and may you have many more!