21 Months Old

I can not believe my baby will be two in three short months! At 21 months old Madelyn:
is POTTY TRAINED! She is doing so good even at night.
wears Big Girl Panties all the time- no more diapers!!!
wears 18 month clothes
insists on wearing shoes that she has picked out and a bow
likes to pick out her clothes, so I give her two option to choose from
is talking so much, she says a couple of new words a day
loves her new playroom/ craft room/ mommy's office/sewing room 
loves to watch Barney on tv,if Barney is not on she repeats watch Barney watch Barney until it is turned on but then she doesnt really watch it. She will dance to the music
she has turned into a dancing queen, she loves to dance
is such a little helper to mommy
she loves to feed Keyser breakfast and dinner and tries to feed him several times during the day
we started Kindermusik and she loves it. I go with her and I love watching her do all the activities and interact with the other children
she loves to read books before bedtime
still sleeps in her crib and will do so until she starts climbing out
loves to eat all day long
she is so sweet most the time
when she is mad she hits, pinches and sometimes bites so we are working on her "anger issues"
her best friend is Keyser, she loves him so much
she has started to try to ride Keyser, which he is not excited about but I'm so thankful he puts up with her
she loves to take Keyser's rope so he will chase her but screams so loud if he takes her toys
still hates to brush her teeth, I was hoping it would get better since we do it everyday but it's still a daily fight
she is very strong willed
she is such a little priss
loves to say cheese and pose for the camera
she is still calling the people she loves most like I call the dog but now she has added a clicking noise
makes us laugh so much, she is such a funny little girl
We love this little girl so so much and I'm so glad that she loves people and animals and is so sweet natured.

Potty Boot Camp

Last Friday Madelyn and I started the 3 day potty training program. I was a little skeptical at first but I had heard great things about it and decided it would be worth the time to take 3 days and just do it and never have to buy diapers again. It sounded pretty simple, there are two phrases that you say over and over again and your child is potty trained at the end of three days. Well day one was awful. Madelyn was peeing faster than I could clean up. It did not help that she is very stubborn, which she comes by honestly. I can remember my dad telling me on several occasions growing up that I was very hard headed and Spencer always tells me I'm stubborn. So the first day was like two bulls going head to head. I was ready to throw in the towel because I did not think it was going to work. But by the end of day three it just clicked with her. She hasn't had any accidents since Monday except for at night. The accidents at night are because she's stubborn and won't go potty before bed so we are still working on night time. She is so proud of her big girl panties. She is also very proud when she goes potty but not as proud as I am. She is such a big girl all of the sudden. Sometimes she uses her little potty and sometimes she goes on the big potty. It was a rough couple of days and at times she would be so mad and at times I was mad but we got through it and my baby is now potty trained and we don't have to buy diapers anymore!!  I am so so so proud of my little potty princess!!

Big girl in her big girl panties!

Fake smiling for the camera

National Champions

Spencer and I were lucky enough to be able to go out to Arizona and have tickets to the BCS game to cheer Auburn onto a great victory. We left Saturday afternoon for the Bham airport and boarded our charter plane. The plane was full of all Auburn fans going to to Glendale, so it was a fun flight. We got off the plane and right onto big charter buses that took us to our resort and didnt have to worry with our bags. Check in was very fast, we walked around the resort which was huge and then went to our room and our luggage was already there for us. Saturday night we hung around the resort and made some new friends and then we got to sleep in on Sunday morning which was the best thing ever. It was so nice to be able to lay in bed and watch tv (not Barney) and take my time getting ready.

Lazy river pool at the resort

Side note: Madelyn stayed with Mymy and Pop Saturday and Sunday then went to Grandma and Grandpa's house Sunday night.
Sunday we walked around the resort some more and ate lunch poolside. Then we went into Old Town Scottsdale, which was such a cool place. We did some shopping and then met up with Ashley, Terrell (Spencer's cousins) and some of our others friends.

We had a great time hanging out with family and friends. Monday was the big game. We loaded charter buses at the resort and they took us to our tailgate spot in Glendale. They had rented out a great Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed wonderful food and drinks.

Flying in the sky over the restaurant patio

The restaurant was right outside so we were able to walk to the stadium and meet up with some friends.

What a great scene- looking at a beautiful American flag and being surrounded by over 78,000 people singing God Bless America.

 

 

We had great seats surrounded by mostly Auburn fans except for the group of guys right next to us that were Oregon fans but they were really nice and good sports about everything.It was so exciting to be at the game. We yelled and cheered so much our throats hurt but that didnt matter because with 2 seconds left in the tied ball game Auburn scored to win the 2011 BCS National Chamionship game.

War Eagle

It was such a great feeling to be at the game seeing our Auburn Tigers win.
Tuesday we were supposed to leave at 3 for Birmingham back after flight delays, ice storm in Bham, our plane being late and then no gate for our plane to get into we didnt leave Pheonix until after 10. We finally got into Birmingham after 1am and it was so good to be home. We had such an awesome trip and are so thankful to everyone who made this great trip possible for us and for taking care of our sweet baby cakes.

Madelyn's new obsession

would be this...

her new playhouse with swing set that Mymy and Mama Lou got her for Christmas. She loves it. All I hear all day is swing swing. Every morning she goes to the backdoor to make sure it is still there and that's when it starts, "swing swing". She does not care if it's raining, freezing or dark outside she wants to swing. We have been bundling up and swinging in the freezing cold and the dark. I need to get her a mask or something for her little face because it always gets so cold. When I know she's freezing I ask her if she wants to go inside for a little while to warm up and she always says "no swing, push". If she's got going high enough then she says "push push". She knows what she wants to do and she wants to swing high.

 I can't believe she can climb this ladder. Six months ago she couldn't even walk!

She climbs up herself but if I'm standing there she yells "help help".

She loves sliding down and playing in the little house. She looks out the window and yells "I see you"

But she loves to swing the most.

All the neighborhood kids love her new swing set as well. We are going to be a popular house once it warms up. Of course Banner, her friend across the street doesn't mind the cold either, he just wants to play. The first day he saw it he came over and said "oh look what Mr. Spencer built for me, I love it". He is such a funny little boy and we love that he comes to play.

I can't wait for it to warm up some so I don't have to stand in the freezing cold pushing our little princess!

20 Months

Madelyn at 20 months is active. She's wearing 18 month clothes now. Loves to pick out her shoes and her hair bows. She loves animals and just wants to hug on them. She loves to swing on her new swing set, she would stay out there swinging all day if I let her. She amazes us daily. She's talking a lot and knows exactly what she wants. She is very clever and smart. She eats with a spoon and fork most the time unless it's something really good that she needs to eat fast. She is so sweet and loves giving hugs and kisses. When she's sleepy she starts getting naughty-throwing books on the floor, throwing toys and just gets into things she knows she's not supposed to mess with. She is so much fun and is turning into a little girl. She can be very dramatic at times but it doesn't last too long most the time. There have been days that she has made me want to rip my hair out and I'm sure there have been days that I have made her want to rip her hair out but I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with her while she is young and changing so much because I get to see all the little things that she does everyday. The little things that are probably just ordinary to most people but make our lives so extraordinary. So even on days when her and Keyser (aka her partner in crime) are driving me crazy, I would not want to be anywhere but here with my babies driving me crazy!

Christmas pictures

Here are some of the pictures from when we took the girls to have their picture taken.

 Madelyn running out of the picture

 Classic

 Paisley was so sad, not sure what Aubry was doing and I don't know what my child is looking.

 The box was so interesting

Madelyn is about to run in this picture while Aubry gives her sister a sweet pat on the head

Paisley says leave me alone sister!

Some how we did end up getting a few cute pictures of the girls but it was rough. They probably won't let us come back next year!

 There's my sweet smiley girl

Precious sisters

Madelyn had so much fun with her cousins while they were here but now they are back in Brazil. I have one of the pictures up in the living room and when Madelyn sees it she says Paisley and pionts to Paisley, then touches Aubry's face (I guess since she can't say Aubry yet) it's so sweet.

Christmas 2010

Christmas this year was so much fun. We had a great time with all our family, had a blast watching Madelyn's excitement and were spoiled with so many wonderful gifts. Christmas eve Spencer, Madelyn and I opened our presents for each other at our house with Keyser right in the middle of everything.

 Her first My little pony, aka my horsey

So excited to help daddy open his present

My handsome boy

After opening our gifts to each other we packed up, loaded Madelyn and Keyser in the car and went to spend the night at my parents house.My sister and Brian picked up Superior grill for dinner which was super yummy, Dad built a fire, we had a Christmas story on and we just played. Spencer and I saved one more gift for Madelyn to open Christmas eve at my parent's house.

 Getting ALL the wrapping paper off first

 So excited over just the handle

 I wish I was this happy vacuuming

Posing with Grandpa

Madelyn and Aunt Sarah with a little Christmas cheer on their heads!

Madelyn stayed up very late playing and did not want to go to sleep. After she finally went to sleep I finished wrapping all our gifts as we watched hmmm something Christmasy on tv, I don't think anybody was watching because we were all talking too much. I finally got in bed at about 1 only to wake up at 6:15 Christmas morning to get ready for the day. Most people just jump out of bed and stay in their p.j. but since we have different places to be I like to go ahead and get ready for the day or else I wont ever get dressed. I used to be the one that my sister had to drag out of bed kicking and screaming to go see what Santa left us but now I have people to get ready and get going. We had to wake Madelyn up, she was so sleepy but she woke up as soon as she saw meow in the kitchen. She is obsessed with my parents cat, Max and has renamed him to meow. We got Spencer some coffee and Madelyn and I had some bacon and then we were off the Mymy and Pop's house. Everyone was looking at all the great things Santa brought when we got there.

Santa brought Madelyn a jumpy turtle that sings and plays music

 There were a few fights over toys that has to be refereed.

It's so had to share when you are 20 months old. We are working on that.

Madelyn's partner in crime. Madelyn loved playing with her cousins. She thinks Aubry is so funny and cool.

Checking out everyone's presents

After opening a million wonderful presents at MyMy and Pops we were off again, back to my parents house. We opened more presents there. Madelyn did not really care what was inside the boxes she just wanted to hand out gifts and take all the wrapping paper off of hers and then move on to the next one. 

 Madelyn got a Mack truck with trailer to haul all her stuff around from my parents

She the cutest little trucker I have ever seen.

After opening all our great gifts if was time to get ready for lunch. Brian's parents came over and we had a wonderful Christmas lunch together, which Madelyn yelled through because she was tired and did not want to eat. I was so proud. Madelyn took a nap, we ate some more, laid around, ate some more, looked at million dollar houses online and just had a relaxing afternoon and evening. We went back to our house and went to bed because this momma was tired and feeling sick. The next morning Madelyn and Spence went to church and I stayed in bed because I still did not feel good. That afternoon we went back to Mymy and Pops for the entire family Christmas (all of Spencer's cousins, aunts and uncles). Once again we had great food.

Mymy with all three of her babies!

After we all ate and cleaned up it was time to open presents again. I wish a had a picture of the tree with all the presents, no one in this family is spoiled at all! ha ha. We all got more presents than we should have. Sweet Daddy Bob went out and had bought all the women in the family beautiful necklaces for Christmas. I just think it's so sweet that he did that all on his own. I loved all my presents but the one that I am so excited about is my new floor cleaner, it's awesome. I have already used it and it works soo good, I didnt know my floors were so disgusting. I am also excited about all my new clothes and well really I'm excited about all my presents to tell the truth. 

All the family- minus a few

 

Oh and this would be Spencer's favorite present...

 

 

That's right we are going to the National Championship game in Arizona and we are so excited about this once in a lifetime trip. Not only are we excited about cheering on our Auburn tigers but I'm excited to just get away for a few days. I have never been away from Madelyn for over 24 hours if that and mama needs a vacation. Don't get me wrong I'm going to miss my girl every second that we are gone but I need to get away and spend time with just me and my sweet hubby. Spencer is so excited he can't stand it. I love seeing him so happy and excited.