Happy Birthday!

My dear little Madeline,

Happy, happy Birthday to you! I can hardly believe that it was 2 years ago that you entered this world and forever changed my life. I have been a daughter, a sister and a wife; but it was you that made me a mommy and that was the most beautiful gift ever!

Your daddy and I have loved watching you grow into this spunky, cheerful and smart little girl that you are today. It is so refreshing to see the world through your eyes, how the simplest little things bring you so much joy, how the things we don't take the time to see make you so curious and how the mundane things can bring out your genuine laughter. I love how you will listen so intently to what we say, trying to comprehend what it means and then repeat it back to us. It is so fun to watch you discover something that makes us laugh and then experiment to make it funnier and test our reaction. I love watching you concentrate on your art or puzzles, knowing that your little mind is growing and developing each day. I laugh when I think how excited you get to go swimming and I smile when I see you so seriously caring for your babies. How fun it has been to watch you learn about, explore and work to comprehend your world.

On Sunday night you fell asleep in my arms as I was putting you to bed. This doesn't happen much anymore and I took the time to sit there rocking you, listening to your little snores and sighs and watching your little smiles. It was a tad bittersweet as I reflected on the past two years, knowing that my little baby is growing up--your little body that once fit perfectly into the crook of my arms, has morped into this sharp little girl with long hair, beautiful blue eyes and strong legs that keep you running about. The days of sitting and holding you for hours have been replaced by chasing you down hoping I can catch a quick snuggle or hug. While it is sad to think that the days of your babyhood are gone, I am so excited about all the adventures that you have ahead of you.

Your daddy and I love you so very, very much, and we can't wait to continue to explore the world with you. Happy 2nd Birthday, Madeline!

Love,

Mommy

Since I'm out of town until Friday, we are waiting to do her Birthday celebration until Sat and then again with the Grandparents when we travel to MT.

Here is a picture Brian took of the sign her teachers made for her

and one of her enjoying her morning Birthday donuts with daddy

I can't wait to see her on Friday!!

A day at the winery

It was our 6 year anniversary this weekend! We didn't have any plans for the day on Saturday, so were excited when some friends invited us to head over to Haak winery for their harvest festival. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived we missed the harvest and the grape stomping, but we were still there in time for some wine tasting and music. Of course, the day was steamy but luckily there was plenty of shade for the adults and the heat sure didn't slow down the kiddos.

They enjoyed the 'tunnel' of wine barrels in the cellar



Playing in puddles is always fun!


Rehydrating!

Madeline was quite excited by this plastic baby donkey

Exploring in the vineyard




It was a fun day way to celebrate our Anniversary!

Pigtails!

Look whose hair is long enough for pigtails!

Happy 4th of July!

Here are some pictures to show you what we were up to this weekend...

Madeline was in her first parade on Friday. Her daycare had a little 4th of July celebration and invited the parents to watch the parade. Madeline proudly marched while waving her flag. She had so much fun, that she wanted to recreate the parade throughout the weekend, wearing her hat and marching around the house. As you can see, she takes her patriotic parade duties quite seriously!






As expected, the weather was HOT, HOT, HOT this weekend. That meant we ended up spending more time than we would have liked indoors. Madeline has been so into 'art' lately and loves having her hands traced, so I thought it might be fun to try out some finger painting. I think it was a big hit. Here is the sequence of events....






And, when you're even too dirty for a bath, it makes you thankful for the HOT weather, because you can just hose off!



(check out her sprinter's form!)



We have two monster tomato plants this year and have tomatoes coming out of our ears. Madeline loves picking the fixings for a fresh caprese salad, now if we could only get her to eat them!


To finish the weekend, Madeline received her first flowers from a boy!! Her buddy Theron walked right in the door with all the confidence in world and presented her with these flowers. She was a bit overwhelmed and then they both got super shy and wouldn't pose for a photo! They had a super fun playdate, though!



All in all it was a great weekend and Madeline had so much fun!

Day at the lake

It is about time that I catch up on some posts....

We spent the day before Father's Day at Lake Livingston where Taly and Hadar were incredible hosts, once again. Madeline is such a water girl and spent nearly 5 hours straight in the lake. As the littlest one there, she had such a fun time hanging with all the big girls!







Happy Belated Father's Day post, daddy!

(Taly gets credit for this great photo!)