Our sweet Madison

Our cute little Madison has decided she doesn't need hands or handrails to go up or Down steps. Well, some steps. She is a smart cookie so she'll only go down wide steps and last steps when there is plenty of room to correct a bit of wobble. We were all totally amazing since going down stairs with no support is usually a 2-3 year old skill. Check it out!

We were definitely grateful for our friends pool net. Madison also decided to test it out by walking right into it. She got wet, but no one else did trying to fish her out! lol The only part of her that got wet was her knees and a little of her shorts.

If you are hanging out with me and are looking for a little baby love Please pick Madison. She seems to have the need to be held about 1/2 of every day now. What's up with that? She is definitely our Little Lumpa Love!

Her bangs are getting long enough I really need to start pulling them back every day. She pulls hair bows out right away, but will leave a rubber band in longer. The other day I switched her earrings out, and she was really pleased when only she received the special earring treatment & pretty compliments on them. Hmmm, maybe I'll start making a big deal about the hair clips. Blogging is often so good for organizing ones thoughts.

Madison loves to sing. She loves dry snacky foods like pretzels, goldfish and corn chex. She'd rather drink milk then eat anytime, and breakfast is not her favorite meal. Madison can repeat almost any word I ask her to say, but she rarely talks to say something. Her feelings are very easily injured, but she does not want to stop doing something just because I tell her no. No matter how badly Blake hurts her in his exuberance she loves him unconditionally and will always be in site of him unless she is in our arms or asleep.

Speaking of asleep. I'm off to bed! Madison will not nap in the car unless it is an hours long ride. She also takes her time going to sleep. We knew she took a while to go to sleep, but with the supervision needed due to the toddler beds we see how long it takes her. I love watching the process she goes through. We now are leaving the door open instead of sitting in the room with them. Maybe by next week well be able to just shut the door after telling them to go to sleep.

Do I remember how to blog?

Hey my family, friends and followers! It really has been almost a month since I posted anything. So many things have happened the last month. Once again many blog posts were written in my mind with no one to appreciate them, but me. Aaahhhhh, oh well.



October was my busiest work month ever {and I mean ever}. It has taught me that limits need to be set. I've decided to only make up to 3 appointments a week in the future so this amount of drama and stress doesn't happen again. By drama I mean for us as a family, because mommy and wifey were way too busy working much of the time.

These kangaroo outfits I had made for the kids are the cats meow! Love them. In case I neglected to mention it months ago our babies are officially dual citizens with citizenship in both the United States and Australia. We think it will give them options when they are making life decisions.


Our cute little Aussie's! Yes, Madison really does have a red face. It gets red whenever she is active or someone so much as hints at touching her. Unfortunately she just has sensitive skin. I only edit it out in the pictures I print and not even all of those. It's a part of who she is.


We converted the cribs into toddler beds this week. The first night was amazing! We could not believe they just went to sleep without getting out of their beds. Naps and night night the next three days required us to sit in there with them as a visual reminder to stay still. Within 2-10 minutes they were out every time. Madison has been inspired to learn how to open their door with this change. The first time after a nap I just thought it was a fluke. But the next morning and then this morning proved this is just not the case. The little stinker is so smart.


The kids love to bring us shoes! Their shoes or ours. It doesn't matter. They are really persistent about us taking those shoes when they are offering too.


"Really, dad, you Want the shoes!" ~ Blake



Tonight was a whole new level of drama when it came to the toddler beds.

It started out with me deciding we needed to move on to the next step of leaving the room immediately after getting them into bed. Madison was so quite I didn't even hear her get out of bed.
After only a few minutes I went in to look at one full and one empty bed. I found her sitting on the air vent behind the chair playing with the just unplugged night light. I told her she needed to get into bed for night night, only to meet with a major crying jag. m a j o r .
She calmed down after a minute so I left. I hear a little something in there, and go in to find Madison sitting on Blake's back. Another meltdown being put into her own bed.
This time I was a lot harsher with her saying she had better stay in bed and shut the door as I left {it now has a cover over the handle}. She cried and cried then quieted. Then she cried, cried right by the door and then quieted. The third time she cried, cried by the door and quieted I went back in.
We were cuddling in the recliner when I hear some not so happy whiny sounds from Blake as he's moving around. I thought maybe one of them dropped a bomb. Nope. I cuddled them both sitting on the floor for a minute. When Blake moved around and got off my lap I asked if he would like to go back to bed. He said, 'Yes' while moving to get in, but started crying as he did it. Pulling him back out just made him cry harder as he obviously wanted to go to sleep.
I felt along his legs to find yet another charlie horse! Man this kid gets knotted muscles way too much.
Madison was just trying to let me know her brother needed help. Oh, I can't wait until they can just tell me what they need and want. After spending an additional 30 minutes to work out the knot & give them a snack & cuddle we totaled two full hours of them 'going' to sleep tonight.

Fun & Rain

It's a perfect day to post about this day back in August. I had to reschedule today's photo shoot because it was 100% chance of rain. When is it ever 100% chance? lol Luckily their schedule will also be good for tomorrow. Cool rainy days are my favorite. I love the chill & gloominess with the sound of soft rain. There is just nothing more calm and homey to me. Grabbing a blanket & a book was the old way to enjoy such days. Now I have the super cuddly Madison who also thoroughly enjoys the fantastic feel of a blanket!

The Con Agra plant that had an explosion this summer is right by us in the town Guy works for. They had a huge picnic for the employees & their families as well as the town employees. We saw some friends there who made great companions to enjoy the meal. We met David when we hosted him in our home for a month while his family was in the process of moving here, and we fell in love with their sweet family. Nicole keeps everyone entertained almost anywhere she goes. She also sweetly brought over some clothes this week to donate to Blake's wardrobe.

While we were out on the playground after eating the rain started spitting at us. To me the clouds didn't look so bad. Luckily, Blake and I were close to the pavilion when the clouds unloaded. Not so much for Guy & Madison! It was a mad scramble for them to make it to dryness. Once again I was wrong when Guy suggested we leave & I thought it would all let up soon. We barely made it into the car when the heavy rain started again! It's a good think I listen to Guy's suggestions most of the time. He's like my mom, usually right...

Busy October - One more way the kids are like puppies

This is definitely the busiest I have ever been in my life. I cannot think of any other time I have had so much to do. Ever. Guy has been a super star too! We only have about three more very busy weeks to get through. Right on. Sometimes my brain has felt fractured lately. Surprisingly it is all manageable.

The kids are learning more every day. They each learned at least 3-4 words today. Madison also learned to play patty cake, and she could climb in and out of some things at Marbles museum she couldn't do the last time we were there. Blake is a spaz. Yep, a total ball of energy with a great big smacky kiss, big hugs & wild antics. They love to be given a task. Take an item to the garbage, put something away or anything else we can dream up will get them to stop anything they were doing just to do what we ask. They even notice what needs to be done. If there is a piece of paper, dirty dish or dirty diaper they will ask to put it where it belongs. Too bad it wont last very long as any more experienced mom is probably thinking right now.

When will I ever stop thinking of Blake as the small twin? I pulled out a pair of pants just as big and long as Madison's knowing they would be too long and big. They fit perfect! lol He definitely still eats more then her.

The next pictures waiting in line to be blogged about just happened to be these little gems. I think they follow the last post about about the kiddos being like puppies rather well.

Why my kids are like puppies...

They chew on things they aren't supposed to.


They greet us like we have been apart forever.


They are completely dependent.


We have to clean up their poo.


They pant when they get really excited.


They scramble to get to where they are going no matter how often they loose their footing, fall, veer sideways or run into something.


They love to cuddle.


They love to be petted.


They love to lick stuff & me.


They like to go for walks.


They howl when they are upset.


They howl when they are happy.


They want what you have.


They want what each other has.


They pin each other down.


They hop on each others backs.


They play together.


They snarl & yap at each other.


They follow each other around.


They follow us around.


They work together to get things done.


They beg for food.


They beg to be picked up.


They love no matter what.


They hate to get in trouble.


They get in trouble often.


They love to nap.


They learn quickly.


They will stop everything to kiss on each other.


They love to stretch.


Did I mention they love! love! love! love! love! each other and us?


They love to get into the bath.


They pee whenever the mood strikes.


They jump and run away whenever you catch them doing something bad.


They scratch themselves.



They sneak around to do stuff they know is bad.


They are curious about everything.


They drool.


They grow too quickly.






Actually our dog was better behaved.
(He Lives in Georgia now)


Hope this post gave you a good giggle! It took me all day to rustle up these photos.