Uber Cuteness

Camouflage

Can you see me?

Go Huskers!

Football season may be over for the Huskers, but it's never the wrong time of year to show your pride, and it's never too early to start!

Peekaboo!

Chair cheerios are almost as good as floor cheerios.  

Little Big Helper

We snagged a used Learning Tower off of one of the listserves we're on, and it is amazing!  This adjustable wooden device makes it possible for Maddie to "help" in the kitchen while we're cooking and cleaning.  She loooooves it.  And, as a bonus, it can also be used as a giant walker when one feels like pushing it around the kitchen.  Pretty nifty.

Tutu Madness

So after Christmas I got bit by the sewing bug.  It wasn't long before I brought home my awesome Threadbanger 30 sewing machine (it's so cool) and began sewing up a storm.  One of the first things I made was this tutu for Maddie, though very little sewing is actually required.  Her first reaction was...a little less than positive.  But remember, she hasn't napped in weeks.

We tried it again when she was in a better mood and got a much happier response!  

There's a pink one in the works (read: in my mind) for her birthday.  But I also need to finish a quilt for her, make her some birthday flags and a crown, and spell out her name in big plush letters that match her room.  And did I mention she's not napping?  Righto.

Holly and Jolly

On Christmas Eve we sang Christmas carols together...

...and read 'Twas The Night Before Christmas (thanks Aunt Shari and Uncle Ken!)...

...and went to a beautiful Christmas Eve service in the neighborhood.

Maddie opened a few presents on Christmas Eve day and the rest on Christmas morning. It took Maddie about 30 minutes to move from choosing the gift she wanted to open to actually playing with the contents, with many stops along the way to eat the wrapping paper, play with the bows, check out the ornaments, or regale herself with her famous SPOON!

We all had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did, too!

New Tradition

This Christmas (well, the Christmas of a month ago), we decorated the tree and began a new ornament tradition. We got an ornament that represented each of us for the year, and those were the last ornaments to be hung on the tree.

2009 marked my first year as more than a brownie-maker in our house, so:


And this was the year that coffee became not just a tasty beverage, but an essential part of living for Dakota, so:


And of course, the year that Madeleine filled our lives and our home:

Gone?

I didn't disappear, I've just been a bad blogger. But I have excuses, er, reasons! Mainly one. For the past four weeks, Maddie's been on a nap strike. She doesn't have posters or buttons or flyers, and she can't even articulate her discontent with words, but she's made it quite clear: naps are not for her. Hopefully this will change. Soon. Tomorrow.

But until it does, expect me to continue to be a bad blogger!