Snow!!

The weatherman finally got it right --- it snowed here in Columbia. About 4:00 PM on Friday, the flakes began to fall and didn't stop until sometime overnight. We were so excited! Eric was home from work early, and we didn't have a stitch of plans for the evening. It was a perfect ending to an interesting day (see previous post).

These first few pictures are about 30 minutes into the snowfall. It was perfect, fluffy, powdery snow not the wet/icy/sleety snow that South Carolina usually gets.

When Madeline got up from her nap, we donned our warmest coats and ventured outside. No my child does not have gloves nor does she have a really functional winter coat, so needless to say, she was not dressed properly for this adventure. But, that's okay because she had a blast in the snow. As a matter of fact, we brought her in because her little hands were like ice blocks and bright red, her shoes were soaked, and it was just time to come inside to get warm. Our very independent child who has a mind of her own very loudly let us know she was not happy about coming inside...a dramatic ending to the snow adventure.

Madeline had zero interest in being held for photos. All she wanted to do was get down and explore.

Later on in the evening...it was really coming down. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

Even later that evening...it really started to pile up.

Saturday morning...a winter wonderland!

Madeline stood by the door all morning and just kept saying, "Snoooww." over and over.

A look down the street...

It was fun while it lasted, and I'm sure we won't see anything like this for a long time.

Just Another Day at the Office...
is what my reply was to my husband when he arrived home (early!) from work today and asked how our day had been. Please continue reading for your own comic relief and keep in mind this all happened before 12:30 this afternoon...

The day started with the coffee maker overflowing with grounds, water, and coffee everywhere. I think it took me almost an entire roll of paper towels to clean up the mess. Since we set the timer, we have no idea what exactly happened to make this disaster occur. However, it was a disaster for two reasons -- I had a HUGE mess to clean up, & I didn't get my morning cup of joe first thing.

Madeline threw a tantrum-esque fit when it was time to get into the car to go to the gym because I wouldn't let her carry my "delicates" on her arm like a purse. Seriously! I let a lot go because it's not worth the battle, but she is not strolling into the gym with my delicates on her arm acting as her purse! I felt like I didn't need to go workout after wrangling my angry 17 month old into her car seat.

Madeline fussed and whined the entire way home from the gym because it was lunch time. I get it, she was hungry, but patience my dear, patience. And to make matters worse, her juice sippy cup was wedged in her car seat funny, so she could see it but not get it to drink from it.

Then the doozy that requires a little scene set up ~ Madeline was eating her much anticipated lunch, and apparently, she was unhappy about something because she was whining and banging her hands on the table. I was mentally preparing for another freak out fit about something. I checked on her & tried to offer her a fruit and veggie side item in addition to what she already had on her plate. She refused my offer, so I let her be. After all, she was still putting food into her mouth and eating, so I assumed she was just aggravated that she has to eat at the table. She hates being confined to the table to eat her meal.

Meanwhile, I'm at the sink washing up some dishes, and out of the corner of my eye, I see her pick up her plate while she was looking at me. I blinked. She THREW her entire plate of food onto the floor to show me how mad she was for a reason I'm still not sure of! I was fuming, but I took a deep breath before I reacted. I scolded her like she's never heard me scold before. Lots of crying and screaming coming from the wee one as I am cleaning up the mess. Once the mess was cleaned up, she was all hugs for me, so once again, we had another 'talk'. This time, she wouldn't look me in the eye. Perhaps, she really knew I was hot about this one? We moved past the incident, read a few books, and went for a nap.

She was out like a light instantly, and this Mama took the hottest, longest shower to relax. Like I said, just another day at the office!

Disclaimer --- I feel I must say that I love my job and wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm not complaining, but it's been an interesting day to say the least. And, who couldn't love this cute face even if she's letting me know that she has a mind of her own?

Sharing 101

How ironic is it that in the last post I discussed Madeline's sharing issue and today, well, today happened?

On a sad note, Madeline had her first public time-out today at the gym nursery. Boo hiss. Apparently, Madeline and another little girl about her age were playing famously together the entire time until....the other little girl had "the coveted toy"! Madeline pulled this little girl's hair today because she wanted the toy the other little girl had, and of course, the other little girl was not giving it up. Rightfully so, she had it first. Yes, Madeline's first major public offense took place today, and I was mortified when the lady told me about it.

I wanted to beat her little fanny (well, not really!!!!!), and I KNOW that is not the appropriate thing to do in this situation especially since Madeline had long forgotten about the incident. However, the teacher in me came out, and when I fastened her in her car seat, we had a 'come to Jesus meeting' right there in the Gold's Gym parking lot as if I had just taken her into the hallway out of the classroom to have a 'chat'. Even though Madeline had no idea what I was discussing, I felt better for very firmly explaining the concept of sharing and not being ugly to our friends.

When it was all said and done, Madeline smiled, waved, and said "HI" after I was finished lecturing her about pulling hair and sharing toys. Nice. It was all I could do not to laugh. Of course, I bit my cheeks and kept my poker face.

The concept of sharing has definitely moved up on the syllabus for the "Madeline life lessons 101 class" here on Millhouse Lane.

Little Artist

Madeline's first masterpiece --- Mommy was coloring too in hopes of "showing" Madeline how two people can SHARE the same four crayons.
Madeline loves to color. She requests, "Color!" several times a day.

We only color at the table...crayons don't leave the table. Madeline is not terribly fond of this rule, but crayons in Madeline's hands while roaming around, is probably not the best idea.

Notice how she keeps hold of as many crayons in her hands as possible. Let's just say that we are working on the concept of sharing.

So far, coloring, reading, playing with the vacuum/mop/duster, and dressing up in Mommy's shoes are Madeline's favorite pastimes.

Transitions


The Stewart household is adjusting to a new home, a new area, and Eric's new job. Yes, Eric received a wonderful, challenging promotion back in October, 2009! Eric loves it and seems to really enjoy the new challenges this job presents to him. However, it does require him to travel a lot. We were prepared for this, so we are making the best of it.

Unfortunately, Madeline doesn't quite get it, so she's a little more clingy these days. It may be a case of separation anxiety made worse by the fact that her Daddy is gone all week on some weeks, only a portion of the week on other weeks, and yet on the occasional week, he won't travel overnight at all. I'm sure it's confusing to her. It breaks my heart when I drop her at the gym nursery, a place she previously strolled into as if she ruled the roost, and she clings to me for dear life. I've never seen this child get so upset when I leave her, and I know she calms down shortly after I leave, but it still makes me sad for her. I'm sure it doesn't help that I have been going to both Golds, our old one and the one closer to us.

Speaking of the gym and adjustments to our new area, I'm struggling with the Golds closest to our house (I refer to this one as our 'new Golds'). First and foremost, the ladies that work in the nursery are awesome! They are completely different than the ladies who work at our old Golds, but I can't say enough wonderful things about them. Each Golds has a nursery that I am completely comfortable with Madeline residing there for 2 hours each day, and for that, I am grateful. However, our 'new Golds' just isn't all that great for me. While the cardio equipment is abundant, I don't care for many of the styles of ellipticals and stair climbers they offer. Big boo hiss for me since I do about an hour of cardio each day. The weight room is okay as far as variety, and that has given me the opportunity to change up my weight work-out a little bit. My biggest beef with the weight area is that it's not well kept, and I blame the manager for that. It irks me that a piece of trash was in the same spot for an entire week or weight machines are sweaty-dirty looking ...picky, I know, but EWW. At my 'old Golds', that never would be the case. It just seems silly to drive 20 minutes to my old Gold's when I have access to the one about 8 minutes from our house, but I'm just not sold on my 'new Golds' for more than the just a couple of reasons I've mentioned here. I'll spare you of the laundry list of things I dislike about it. I've yet to abandon my old Golds. I just can't do it right now.

My other big adjustment has been GROCERY shopping. Yikes!! I loathed that rental house we lived in for 6 months, but I became spoiled living about 5 minutes from a lovely, brand new Publix. Now, the closest Publix is about 20 minutes away, and it's ALWAYS packed regardless of what time I go. I just can't shop there. Our closest grocery is a run-down, older Food Lion, and to be honest, it's not terrible for a quick milk, eggs, and paper towel run. However, it's not great for my big shopping. I was just getting my grocery game down to a science, and I was saving good money when we lived in the rental house. (However, I've heard through the grapevine that a brand spankin' new Publix is going in not far from us, and glory be the day that joint opens up! Happy Mama Stewart!) So for now, guess what I do? I make a big morning of it, and I go to the 'old Gold's' and then hit the beloved Publix near our rental house. Yes, I know, silly, but it's a good day when I workout in my familiar gym, and then push my grocery cart around my familiar grocery store.

So, we are in transition. Do we love our new house (pictured at the top) in our new part of town? Absolutely. Is it taking some getting used to living this area? Absolutely. At the end of the day, we know we made the right choices for our family, and it will all be okay with a little time to adjust to Eric's job demands and our new area.

How Could I Forget My ALL-time Favorite Madeline Funny?

Madeline loves to point out buttons on her clothes as well as other's clothes. Except when she says the word "BUTTON", it sounds like, "Butts!"

It just makes me giggle every time she says it. We do correct her, but we love her version of the word "button".

Some Madeline Funnies...

1. When Madeline is eating, it never fails that something falls to the floor. I always just do a quick clean-up post meal. Lately, Madeline has become obsessed with "the mess". She will yell out and continue to do so until I clean it up, "OH NO! What a mess!" all the while pointing to the floor. She cannot consume another bite until I get a paper towel to wipe it up.

2. As a follow up to the first Madeline-ism, if she notices the least tiny speck of anything on the floor, she will scream out, "OH NO! A mess!", pick it up, and insist we go to the trash can immediately. Or, if there is a spot of liquid on the floor (lately it's been her drool from teething molars), she grabs my hand, walks us to the paper towels in the kitchen, points to the paper towels, and is not satisfied until I've wiped up the spot of liquid.

3. Everyday about 9 or 9:30 AM, we head out for the gym, errands, etc., and it's as if her inner clock goes off because without fail, Madeline will head toward the garage, scream out, "Alright, bye bye!", and try to open the door to leave. Typically, she has something draped across her left arm acting as her purse. Anytime we leave the house, I have my purse draped over my left arm, and apparently, I say the words, "Alright. Let's go bye-bye."

4. At nap time and bedtime, when Madeline is ready for bed, she cries out, "Nigh Nigh." It's great how she just puts herself to bed these days.

5. When Madeline is hungry for lunch or dinner, she will walk me to the fridge, and repeat, "Hawt dogg. Hawt dogg." When she is ready for breakfast, she does something similar except she repeats, "Waufffle!" (It doesn't matter what she eats at her meals, but she associates waffles for breakfast & hot dogs with lunch and dinner.)

6. Madeline thinks anything round is a ball, so you can imagine how loudly she screams out, "BALL!" when we ride through the produce section of the grocery store. We get quite a few chuckles from passers by.

7. Madeline's daddy has a very visible mole on his arm, and she has always rubbed her little finger over it. Well, Eric has always said, "mole" when she'd rub her finger over it. So, now Madeline is very aware of moles. We were in the grocery line the other day, and the man behind us had a mole on his face. Yes, she screamed out, "MOLE!" I was so thankful that she did NOT accompany the yelling out of mole with a finger point. The cashier just looked bewildered, and thank goodness the man behind us didn't seem to notice Madeline yelling out that he had a mole on his face.

8. Madeline is always right near me when we are home. She can be playing, but she's always right there. As many of you moms out there know, this also can include when you go to the potty. So, even when I have to take a tinkle, Madeline is right there in the bathroom with me watching my every move like a hawk. Now, anytime we are in the bathroom (I could be emptying trash or putting towels away.), Madeline says, "Mama! Tee tee! Tee tee!"

Yesterday Trying, Today a Sweet Muffin...

Oh, how I love this child. Yesterday, this sweet little face tried my EVERY LAST NERVE. Yet, somehow, I managed to keep my cool, told my traveling husband all about it over the phone that evening via cell phone in between his meetings, and hit the sack early to start fresh today.

Today, nothing but love, hugs, and kisses from this dear little girl. It's as if she knew how much Mama needed a "love-licious" day. And, it was a superb day! Oh, how I love her dearly, and I wouldn't trade motherhood for the world, but some days certainly are better than others...

(Please excuse the fuzzy pics...I had the setting wrong on my camera!)

Madeline's First Fashion Faux Pas...

In my mind, the pictures speak for themselves.

OH, and she's doing a little jig in the above photo!

For her nap, I removed her tights, shoes, and sweater dress. Since we weren't going anywhere, I left her in the purple onesie post-nap. I thought she would be more comfy to play.

Apparently, Madeline felt as though she needed some accessories---she dug in the dirty clothes basket and sought out her tights from this morning & went to her closet to pick out these shoes. She came to me carrying both with her "UHHHH" noise which means "I want to you to put these things on me RIGHT NOW!" Tights over the onesie since I had already buttoned her up and changed her post nap and SHOES to wear around the house!!! It might have been funnier to see in person, but I found myself laughing out loud with her outfit of choice. When she can really demand her clothes choice, I'm concerned. :)

In MY defense, the outfit looked something like this (except it was more fitted and cute since this picture was when she was 14 months old).

Madeline is 17 Months Old!

Another month has come and gone, and Madeline has changed so much in just a short month. She is definitely all toddler & no more baby. Her little social butterfly personality just continues to make us laugh and make our days brighter.

Madeline has really shown us her laid back, adaptable attitude over the last 6 months. She did really well moving from our Irmo home to the rental house to the new house. She quickly learned her boundaries in each new location and made herself comfy in each new environment. I've been taking her to the Gold's Gym on this side of town, and again, she walked into that kids' care like she owned the joint. Madeline has not missed a beat with all of this change, and for that, we are so thankful.

Madeline still loves her books, and those are her first "toys" of choice when she's playing by herself.

However, she's getting into her shape sorter and figuring out how the shapes fit into their coordinating shape to go in the box, and she's playing more with her dolls. Barbie is a new word for her. (Yay!)

Of course, the tupperware cabinet, my Shark sweeper & broom, my Swiffer, and the mop continue to be a big hit.

Peeking into the diaper pail is a new fascination, and I can only assume it's related to the fact that she is very well aware of her diaper situation now. If she's made a stinky diaper, she will grab at it, and say, "Stinky!" while scrunching her face up. She likes to dispose of her dirty diapers into the diaper pail.

Her vocabulary is ridiculous. It seems everyday she belts out a word that I had no idea that she knew. It's crazy how much she's trying to say. Communicating with her is definitely interesting, and she understands so much more than I realize. She knows all parts of her face including eyelashes. She actually said eyelash before ears which was just funny to us. I can't even begin to list here all the words she says or all the animal noises she does, but it's pretty amazing to watch her absorb the world. "OH NO!" is one of her favorite phrases, and she spends much of her day putting toys, books, etc. under furniture all the while yelling out, "OH NO!" and looking for it as caught on camera below.

Peek-a-boo has reached a whole new level now that she can open closet doors and jump out from behind them screaming "BOO!" Being chased or chasing is also a latest favorite.

On the food front, Madeline is still pretty picky, but I'm continuing with my quest of "Mama is not a short order cook." Madeline is not much of a meat eater, but Madeline LOVES ham. She will eat ham straight out of the container which we caught on camera. This particular night, she ate no side items --- just ham out of the tupperware. I'd say she ate more than half of that container in one dinner sitting. (And, yes, she was moved to her seat to eat. I had her on the counter while I was getting the rest of her meal ready.)

She still loves pasta, yogurt, hot dogs, eggs, cheese, green beans, Cheerios, blueberry Nutri-grain bars, waffles, and oranges. Peas and blueberries are a new favorite side item. Madeline still loves junk food, so I have to be sure to keep the chips out of sight and reach. However, Madeline loves her milk too. She guzzles milk like I've never seen...I'm sure her sodium levels are a little high considering ham and cheese are in her top choices for meals.

Discipline wise Madeline keeps us on our toes --- she can be a little stinker. We call it "Madeline time" --- she wants to do things on her terms and in her own time frame, and unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. Her stubborn little attitude pokes through & a nasty tantrum will ensue. She is sure to let me know that she is not happy about whatever it is that I'm making her do. Luckily for all of us, she gets over it quickly. I think she's figuring out that I don't give into the tantrum, and I certainly don't try to console her when she acts out. I typically walk away from her, and she realizes that her behavior is getting no attention whatsoever...most of the time that works. Sometimes she does follow me all the while she's screaming and carrying on, but again, I just ignore her as much as possible until she simmers down. Since we've been in the new house, we have not put cabinet locks on any of our cabinets because Madeline is really good about not getting into cabinets, draws, etc., and if she opens a drawer that I don't want her to mess with, she will actually push it shut when I tell her to do so. I love her compliant little attitude. She is still really well behaved regarding not bothering the TV, table tops, outlets, etc. I like that I can take her places, and she will not bother things. Oh, and Miss Madeline has decided that slapping faces is her all out way to let us know she's mad. Let's just say that we are SERIOUSLY working on that one, and it's not pretty especially when Daddy is on the receiving end of the slap.

Madeline makes our little family complete, and we continue to realize how blessed we are to be her Mommy and Daddy.

You Know Your Hubby Is Out of Town When...

• you have 3 medium sized UHAUL boxes worth of stuff to take to Goodwill TOMORROW (since he flies into Columbia at 6:45 PM)
• you shred SEVEN kitchen trash bags worth of old bills, old insurance statements, and old bank statements
• you have TEN overstuffed file folders of STUFF that you'd like to shred but won't JUST IN CASE stacked up waiting to be looked at and okay-ed to shred at a later date

And, you do it all while watching (ie = listening to in the background) the Texas vs. Alabama game.

[NANA, You should appreciate this post...you KNOW how Eric doesn't get rid of ANYTHING! :)]

AHHHH, I feel organized and settled!

New Year's Eve, 2009

We all know from previous posts that Eric and I closed on December 28 and started moving immediately. Miss Madeline graciously spent 3 days with my mom and dad so that we could get the bulk of our move done sans 16 month old in the mix. Needless to say, New Year's Eve was not at the top of our minds this year. We love a good toast, but we were exhausted and excited to get situated. Our friends, John & Shay, felt our excitement & lack of doing anything "fancy" for New Year's, so they ventured out our way to spend New Year's with us in the new digs. I became super motivated to get the house looking "guest ready" since I had a goal of having friends come to spend New Year's with us!

We had a wonderful time --- after all, we do spend a week at Fripp with them each summer, so we knew good times were to be had with this crowd. They have two children, Drew (3) and Emily (1), and after this visit I decided that Drew should live with us a few times a week. (Shay said we were welcome to his "pseudo-older-sibling-fun services anytime!) Madeline could NOT get enough of him. She LOVED him. Madeline and Emily took a bath together, and again, Madeline apparently needs siblings because she LOVED having a bath playmate. (Eric and I need to get on the ball in the sibling department after seeing how much Madeline loves other children in the house.)

Anyway, Happy 2010 from our NEW home to yours! May all of you have a blessed year. I know that I am truly a blessed woman for my dear, sweet, hard-working husband, my spunky child, my family, and my friends. What more could I want or possibly wish for?

(Captions are under the pictures in this post.)

Cheers! Happy New Year! The wine saver that my brother and his wife gave to me. So Anne. :)

Our attempt at getting the four of us in a photo --- obviously, we thought we were hilarious and were racing to get situated before the timer went off, but the picture turned out okay!

While Eric and Shay were having a dance party/rock band KISS moment, John and I were cheering them on from the sidelines. This was getting close to midnight. We were having a good time.

Again, John and I were watching our spouses have a dance party.

So typical of the Stewart-Lansche functions.

More dance party...

Pre-dance party --- making sure all of our kids were taken care of. Miss Madeline was about to snatch that bottle from Emily's little lips.

Our girls having a fun bath together --- Madeline 16 months, Emily 12 months

While we all commented that we wouldn't have dreamed of spending our New Year's like this (hanging out at home with 3 kids running around) five years ago, we certainly wouldn't change a thing now. My, how things have changed, but how wonderful is this change --- Good friends, good kids, good food, good beverages, and just plain old fun! Happy 2010!