The Arctic Vortex

In his emails to teachers and staff, Dr. Quick (the superintendent) refers to the weather system causing the school cancellations and delays as "The Arctic Vortex." I swear. Its seems slightly dramatic. And yet, after 5 snow days, countless 2-hour delays, multiple feet of snow and weeks upon weeks of below zero temps it's starting to seem more accurate. I tried to find the record for the number of coldest days in a row, but didn't have any luck. Anywho - I think it got down to -20 degrees for a few days. And that didn't include the windchill. We've basically been hermits since Christmas. It's just so flipping cold I hate to even take the girls out in it if I don't have to. Which, I must say, is a major perk to my job. I can enjoy the beautiful snow from my inside my warm house, wearing fleece pants.

Being hermits does have it's challenges. Like entertaining a three year old and a one year old with endless amounts of energy in a house that's too small. I have to say I've kind of gotten used to it. I definitely get stir crazy. But our house is soooo clean. For lack of anything better to do. Adam's had so much extra time off we've cleaned out every single closet in the house. Reorganized the office and pantry. Rearranged our furniture. It's amazing. It's also been a great excuse for us to get creative and play as a family.



we've played lots of dress-up




Abi says she is Mary and this is Baby Jesus. I must say,
I never pictured Mary dressed quite like that.




We've built some forts. Which produced some awesome hair static.

Had some adventures with playdough. Abi said she made a "pokey-pine." Love it.

 


I've done some baking with the assistance of my sous chefs. And boy are they helpful.

  

and made lots and lots of crafts

 

We signed Abi up for a weekly gymnastics class at Foundation For Youth
in hopes of burning off some energy. She loves it and it's been a great chance for her
to work on *ahem* listening and following directions.

 

We did venture out in the snow a couple times when it was warmer.
And when I say warmer, I mean 30 degrees.
Middle pic - Poor Madi. She didn't have any snow pants or boots yet here.

 

One day a couple weeks ago, it got up to about 40 degrees. Downright balmy.

  

We braved the cold last week for Abi's dentist appointment.
She did so awesome. I could not have been more proud of her. She laid super still and never
made a sound during the whole cleaning. I was so proud of her I bought her her first
milkshake on the way home. Not sure if this makes me the worst mother in the world or the best.



A Case of the 'Whys'

One of Abi’s Great Aunts makes jewelry. I recently bought a rosary bracelet from her and Abi loves it so much Aunt Linda made one for her in her size. She loves it and wears it all the time. Since it’s a rosary bracelet, it has a crucifix charm on it. Abi already knows what a cross is and that it’s Jesus on the crucifix. As she’s admiring her bracelet we have this conversation:

“Mommy, why is Jesus on the cross?”

“Because he died on the cross.”

“Why did Jesus die on the cross?”

“Well…Jesus had to die for our sins so that we can go to heaven someday.”

“Why did he have to do that?”

“Well….because he is our savior.”

“But when are we going to go to heaven?”

“I don’t know. No one knows when they will go to heaven.”

“But Jack is in heaven.”

“Yes, he is.”

“What happened after Jesus went to heaven?”

“He lives there with God and he watches over us and keeps us safe.”

“Why does he do that?”

“Because he loves us.”

Shew. That girl is full of ‘whys’ lately. ‘Why is Grandma Jean laying in that bed?’ (a casket) ‘Why isn’t she waking up?’ ‘Why is it cloudy?’ ‘Why is the snow melting?’ ‘Why are my eyes blue?’ ‘Why did all the leaves fall off the trees?’ ‘Why do zebras have stripes?’ ‘Why do I have to go to bed?’ ‘Why do I have to take a bath?’ ‘Why can’t I stick my finger in the outlet?’ ‘Why can’t I eat snow off the bottom of my shoe?’ ‘why does that lady have such a big bottom?’

Most of the time I am happy to explain ‘why.’ That’s how she learns about the world and I always want her to be inquisitive and thoughtful. I want my girls to think for themselves, to ask questions and make up their own minds about things. If we dismiss her questions as silly or annoying will she eventually stop asking ‘why?’  But some days after the 147^th ‘why’ of the day I just want to scream the dreaded “BECAUSE I SAID SO!” Or even better, “go ask your dad.”

I pray for patience on those days. And wisdom. Because let's get real here, I have no clue what I'm doing. But mostly I pray that God will give me the words to explain the hard questions like ‘why did Jesus die on the cross?’ That’s something I don’t think I completely understand. How can I explain it to my 3 year old? And ok, I know she truly cannot understand any of that at her age anyway. But when she’s older she will.

Right now she thinks Adam and I know everything. We are her source for right, wrong, heaven, hell and everything in between. What an awesome (and terrifying) responsibility. Someday she will probably think we don’t know anything about anything.  Or worse, that she’s smarter than us.

2013 Top Ten

Last year I did a 2012 Top Ten Post. It was really fun to look back at the year as a whole and remind myself how blessed we are and how much fun we had. So I decided to make it a tradition. It’s been another great year with lots of memories to choose from.

And now the 2013 Top Ten:

10. 60^th & 30^th Surprise Party

I like to call 2013 “The Year of Parties.” Just in 2013 I planned a diaper party, a bridal shower, a baby shower, a bachelorette party, birthday parties for both girls, and a surprise party for Adam and his dad. We hosted 100 people at the surprise party and despite the rain, it was a success. They each thought the party was for each other and I think they were both surprised. We loved being able to show these two great guys how loved they are. It was touching how many friends and family came out to celebrate with us.

9. Adam Drove a Lamborghini

For his 30^th birthday, I surprised Adam with a chance to drive a Lamborghini (one of his favorite cars of all time) around the Indianapolis Speedway. It was an amazing once in a lifetime experience. He was totally giddy. Adam works so hard and the girls and I are so lucky to have him. He deserved a dream come true. I’m sure he has something just as awesome planned for my 30^th this year. Hint, hint sweetie. Just kidding. Well, not really, but kind of. ;)

8. Halloween

This year was, by far, my favorite Halloween ever. Weeks before Halloween I asked Abi what she wanted to be and she proclaimed she wanted to be a black jaguar (We had just been reading an animal book earlier that day). We laughed and assumed she would change her mind. But she didn’t.  Which was fine by me because it was the world’s easiest Halloween costume. Madi was a zebra because I thought they should both be animals. Also a super easy costume. I’m all about easy these days. When Abi put her costume on she was soooo excited and wouldn’t take it off the entire day. She even wanted to wear it during her nap. Mask and all. And I totally let her because it was the sweetest thing ever. I took the girls around to family during the day so that we could trick-or-treat in our neighborhood at night. Which we have never done before. And actually neither Adam or I had ever walked around trick-or-treating either because we grew up in the country. And it was so awesome! We had so much fun walking around and seeing all the costumes. Abi just couldn’t believe all she had to do was say “trick-or-treat!” and people gave her free candy.

7. New Years Eve

The second part of this year has been great because we have emerged from the infant phase. Both girls sleep through the night, eat table food and I’m not breastfeeding. Which makes getting away so much easier and much less stressful. We’ve been able to do more things with our friends and with each other. I think New Year’s Eve was the most “kid-free” fun we’ve had in awhile.

6. Abe Martin Lodge

Over spring break we spent a night at Abe Martin Lodge. We swam, ate some yummy food and walked around Little Nashville. It was a great little break from the dreary winter weather.

5. Mr. & Mrs. Hurley

Kristen & Matt got married on July 20^th. It was a beautiful wedding. Abi was an awesome flower girl. But most importantly, I survived my speech. Which I worried about from the day Kristen asked me to be her maid of honor. It rained most of the day, which they say is good luck. But really I thought it was a nice analogy (or is it metaphor?) of marriage. Sometimes the sun shines, sometimes it rains. But you love each other through it all. And you can’t let it stop you from enjoying the day.

4. Michigan Vacation

Ahhhh….Michigan. I don’t think I could ever get tired of visiting you. Your beaches, your weather, your food, your wineries and beautiful sunsets. Taking a babysitter, Kyleigh, on vacation is the best idea ever. And I think we will continue that for years to come.

3. Baby Eve

 I thought it was the cruelest April Fool’s joke ever when Aaron called on April 1^st and said Sarah’s water had broken. But it turned out to be the very quick arrival of our first niece. Baby Eve is the cutest, sweetest and happiest baby. We just love her to pieces.

2. Madi Learned to Walk

Really, Madi hit a lot of milestones this year. But walking always seems like the most memorable one. I was starting to wonder if she would ever do it. We worked with her for months, even bribing her with snacks. But she was not going to walk until she was ready. Which we are noticing as an emerging theme with our children. They don’t do anything until they’re ready. And that leads me to #1……….

1.       Abi Finally, Finally, Finally Gets Potty Trained!!!

I am currently drafting my letter to the Vatican to have the potty training of Abigail Grace considered for a miracle. Just a couple weeks shy of her 3^rd birthday we decided it was time to force her because she was never going to do it on her own. After a couple weeks of anxiety (on my part), not leaving the house and too much poop and pee where it didn’t belong, she did it. Everyone told me she would but I didn’t believe them. I consider it my greatest victory as a parent. And possibly of my adult life.

Christmas & Grandma Jean

Each year Christmas becomes more fun as Abi “gets it” a little more every year. She was really excited about Santa coming this year and loved baking cookies. Whenever we asked her what she wanted for Christmas she would always say something different and usually she just named something she had just played with or that she could see in the room. But I think my favorite request was that she wanted Santa to bring her a basket of eggs. What? Wrong holiday kid. I taught her a few Christmas songs and she loved watching Polar Express, Elf, Rudolf and Frosty. Madi, of course, has no clue what is happening, but she was a big fan of opening presents.

Christmas is hands down my favorite time of year. I love the decorations, the music, the movies, the baking, the crafts and spending time with family. But here’s my confession about Christmas: sometimes I hate it. It seems like we’re flooded with Christmas as soon as the Halloween candy has been passed out. No one even talks about Thanksgiving anymore. We are blessed to have a lot of family close to us. But sometimes it gets to be overwhelming. We went to EIGHT Christmas parties/gift exchanges/gatherings, whatever you want to call them. And that’s after we skipped one, one was postponed and one is this weekend.  We have so many people to buy gifts for. And so many people buy gifts for us. We are grateful beyond measure for the generous people in our lives. But our small house can only hold so much stuff. Our kids only need so much stuff. And that’s what it starts to feel like Christmas is about. Stuff. Not Christ. No giving to those without.

We try to reduce. But we don’t want to miss seeing our families and friends. And after five straight days of cookies, candy, an abundance of gifts, no naps and no routines we are left with two very tired, very cranky, and seemingly ungrateful kids because they just doubled the amount of stuff they own in a few days time.

We try to make Christmas about Christ. This year I made my own advent calendar. Each day Abi opened an envelope and instead of a piece of candy or another small toy that will just turn into clutter, there was scripture for us to read and a small activity for us to do as a family like do a puzzle, make hot chocolate, drive around and look for Christmas lights, etc. The girls had their own nativity scene to play with and we discussed the Christmas story pretty much daily.

We try to make Christmas about giving. We picked a child from the giving tree at church and Abi helped pick out clothes and toys for him. We tried to explain not every child is as lucky as she is to get lots of presents. I don’t think she really understood, but she’s still only three. Abi and I rang the salvation army bell with some friends. Again, we tried to explain what the money would be used for. She rang her bell with gusto for about five minutes and then proclaimed she was ready to go home. And again, she’s three.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking Abi must have gotten a ton of amazing presents and that she would have a lot of trouble picking her favorite. Her new sled? New stable? Stroller? Craft supplies? Monsters University? No to all. Her favorite gift? Chapstick.   

We are beyond blessed and made lots of wonderful memories.



the bell ringers



This year Abi and I made eight pans of homemade cinnamon rolls....mmmmmm.



cookie decorating

 



more cookies!

 

 

Christmas cuties





We actually had Christmas Day at our house on the 23rd. We wanted to
be able to open presents and just enjoy the day without having anywhere to go.
Plus the girls don't know the difference. It was great.



the aftermath




trying out her new shopping cart

 

fireman costume!



Santa brought Madi her own reading chair

 

Abi got the Playmobil horse stable from Grandma & Grandpa. It's super cute
but has lots of tiny pieces. So adam built her this table so she could keep in set up in
the office and away from Madi. She thinks its so cool to go in there by herself and play.




Christmas night at Dan & Jans. All the kids were wiped out.
Popcorn and a movie it is.



love these two



so sweet





The "babies." Stuffing their faces. Per usual.



Christmas Eve Mass



The best out of several attempts to photograph four adorable coordinating
kids under 3 years old at 9:30pm.



Mom gave each of the girls an apple juice in their stockings. And I realized Madi
had never had juice before. We let her have it and she was a big fan. She guzzled the
whole thing in about one minute!



new snow boots





Then three days after Christmas my Great-Grandma Jean passed away. She would have been 94 this month.  She lived a very long and very happy life. Her health had been failing the past few years and I’m glad that she is no longer in pain. And that she and Grandpa Homer are together again. My Grandma Jean, she was a special lady. She and Grandpa Homer were married over 65 years before he passed away. She was a farmer’s wife. If you know any farmers you know what that says about her. She has four daughters, eight grandchildren, fifteen great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren (Abi & Madi). Being part of five generations is such a rare and special treasure. It makes me so sad to think my girls probably won’t have any memories of her. They asked for people to share memories at her funeral, but I just couldn’t get my thoughts together enough.

Whenever we came to visit Grandma Jean would always have a snack for us. She always gave us cranberry juice and graham crackers. I could never eat those two things without thinking of her. If we were lucky enough to go at meal time you could count on chicken and dumplins. The best.

Once when I was about eight years old (I think) we were at a wedding, or a dance or something. I can’t remember. But people were dancing. I looked out on the dance floor and all of a sudden there were Grandma Jean and Grandpa Homer dancing. Square dancing. And they were good. And they were smiling and laughing, but taking it pretty seriously at the same time. I asked my mom about it and she told me that they used to do square dancing competitions and would even wear matching outfits. I was so shocked. Shocked in the way kids are to learn the adults they love have other sides to them than the ones they know. Like when I would run into students at the store and they would ask why I wasn’t at school. I remember watching them and thinking, “wow, I didn’t know old people could have fun together.” They were probably in their 60’s at the time. I still think about that as an example of how important it is to enjoy life with your spouse. There is no doubt that helped sustain their love for 65 years.

Her funeral was New Year’s Eve in the morning. Not exactly the way you want to ring in the new year. We had plans that evening (which you’ve already read about) and I didn’t know if I would even be able to enjoy myself. But Adam said he didn’t think Grandma Jean would want me to not have fun because of her. And he was right. I never heard her say a bad thing about anyone. She was an example of Christ to anyone who knew her. She always took time to talk with everyone and to write a special note in cards. I consider myself so blessed to have had a great grandma until I was almost thirty. You will be greatly missed, Grandma Jean.



Madi and Grandma Jean last Thanksgiving




Five generations

 

Madelyn at 15 Months

At her 15 month well-check Madelyn weighed 28lbs 4oz and was 31in long. 95^th percentile for weight and 78^th percentile for length. For the record, Abi, who is 2 years older than her sister, weighs 30lbs. And they now wear the same size for the most part. Which is actually really convenient. She can say a fairly good amount of words and phrases now: mama, dada, Abi, dog, uh-oh, thank you, all done, stuck, ball, truck, cracker. Mostly she just jibber-jabbers or points and grunts. She is very unlike Abi in this way. Who started talking at 9 months and hasn’t closed her mouth since. I asked the doctor about it and he said some kids develop all their motor skills first and then verbal skills later on. He is explaining this to me as Madi is trying to dive head first off the exam table, climb the chairs and use me as her personal jungle gym. “This,” he says, “seems to be the case here.” Yeeaahhhh. If you only knew, bub.



Sassy Molassy at her 15 Month Well-Check



She finally started walking at 14 months, right before Halloween. Well, starting walking isn’t really accurate. Starting running is more appropriate. She did the newborn baby giraffe walk for about two days and then she just took off. And hasn’t stopped since. She runs, empties cabinets, pulls down the curtains, stands on top of the dining room table, goes head first down the stairs, jumps on Abi’s bed, thinks window sills are foot holds for climbing and can scale the back of the couch. She is a wild woman. And while it is exhausting and she gives me a daily heart attack, it is hilarious. She is so fearless and determined. I just know she will be this way her whole life and we’ll be in the ER with her more than the rest of us combined.

First (of many I'm sure) black eye. This picture does not even
come close to doing it justice. The whole right side of her face was
a combination of black/purple/green/yellow.

To match her fearless approach to life, Madi has also developed a new sassy baskets attitude. The look that girl gives you when you tell her ‘no’ is ridiculous. My mom is always saying she can’t wait to hear what will come out of her mouth once she learns to talk.



The 'no' face because I wouldn't let her dive head first over the 3 foot edge of the trampoline



 Despite all this, she continues to be an extremely happy and snuggly kid. She had been a little fussy the week before her well-check and had had a runny nose for a couple weeks. I could see teeth coming in and assumed that was the cause. Then the doctor informed me that she had a double ear infection and a sinus infection. “Oh, is this where I sign stating I’m the worst mother ever? Great, I’ll just go fill up her sippy cup with Mountain Dew now.” Then on top of that she had to get shots. And God bless her, you would have hardly known she didn’t feel good. About a week after her appointment she broke out in the most horrible rash I have ever seen all over her body. We thought maybe she was allergic to the amoxicillin and promptly took her back in. When I called, the nurse said to bring her through the side door in case it wasn’t an allergic reaction and it was something contagious. Side door!? I didn’t even know there WAS a side door. I was good an anxious just to find out she was having a reaction to her MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. And she just looked like she had measles. It apparently happens to 1/20 kids and went away in a few days. And bless her heart, she never fussed then either.  



In case you ever wondered what measles looks like.
But it was all over her entire body.



Her blanket and her thumb. She LOVES her blanket and it goes everywhere with her.
And of course, she can't suck her thumb without clutching her blanket.

You are a spit fire Madelyn Joy. You are wild, make huge messes, can eat more than your dad and scare me to death every day. But you are also sweet, snuggly, and absolutely hilarious. We laugh out loud at you every single day. Life would certainly be boring without you!

a little naked reading

daddy's girl all the way

I asked Abi to hand Madi a toy and this was her interpretation

Madi's first craft

happy girl :)



oh, that face!