More Pictures...

Well, I think Maddox had a blast on his 18 month birthday. This is post playing in the rain & bathtime. Isn't he just a heartbreaker?

Don't you just love his new PJs? We got him a bunch on sale at Gap in 3T. They just look so cute on him.

Here he is splashing in the puddles. He actually almost laid down in one and said, "swim, swim". Oh, the things he needs to learn, eh?

We spent the evening cleaning up the rest of our garage. Here's Maddox enjoying his old swing and eating some Cheddar Bunnies. He actually likes the swing now. Not so much when he was a baby.
Oh, I almost forgot to update some of Maddox's latest tricks:

Spelling his name: "M D O X" - I'm not sure why he forgets the A & 2nd D. Someday.

Alphabet - he pretty much fills in wherever you stop with the next phrase. Thank you Sesame Street!

Counting - "1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10" - again, missing some here, but he'll get there. 3 & 4 must not be his favorite numbers.

Maddox is also stringing so many words/phrases together. It's like we're having a regular conversation. He's just so much fun to hang out with!

He's 18 Months Old!!!!!

My little guys is 18 months old today!!!! I can hardly believe it. He is just absolutely SO much fun now that all I want to do is hang out with him. Sometimes I don't put him to bed until 10pm because we're having so much fun! Here's a cute series of pictures from an outdoor adventure the other day when it was nice out. It's amazing what he can find in our neighborhood.

Here he is showing me the old, rusty screw he found on the ground. He kept holding it up for more pictures saying, "screw, screw".

And then he found a pencil from all of the construction too...

...and a cigarette butt. Disgusting!

We spent 2 1/2 hours at the park yesterday too, but I forgot my camera. Maddox spent his time climbing up the tunnel, going down the slide, and swinging. He also was playing with some dogs at the park and hugging unexpecting children. He has no sense of personal space. I knew it was time to go back for a nap when he was dozing in the swing. It was a beautiful day!

Today we spend the morning at "bring your kid to work day" at Corey's work. It was fun showing him to everyone and going out to lunch. I forgot the camera for this one too, but Corey took some pics with his phone. I'll try to add them later.

Oh, and Molly now has a new home!!! We found an adorable lady that was SO excited to take her in. Her long-haired cat passed away 3 weeks ago and she wanted a new one badly. She frequently takes in cats with behavioral problems and tends to their every need. She's updated me of Molly's progress and she's adjusted wonderfully.

So Sweet!

Alright, isn't he the sweetest thing ever! I can't believe that I can say that after I've been trying to get him to take a nap since 1:00 and it's now 3:00, but who could resist that face.
I can't believe someday he'll be too big for this bed!

I Didn't Do it!

Doesn't Maddox look especially mischievous in this photo. He's becoming quite the character now with a huge vocabulary. He now says a sassy "No!" to almost everything followed up by "Why?" No matter how many times I explain why he continues with "Why?" We've been quite busy the past few weeks hitting the park at least 3-4 times a week. Now that's a workout! Maddox has mastered the slide and loves to climb thru the tunnel. Swinging is probably one of his favorites too.
Look, I'm domestic! Thanks to my great friend Amy, I learned how to sew on Wednesday, so I finally made Maddox his duvet cover and pillow sham along with two pillow cases for his new cute little flat pillow from Ikea. Didn't it turn out so cute? He slept in it for the first time last night with his new pillow and Duvet. He looked so sweet and like such a big kid. He loves his little pillow!
I'm so proud of my self and super excited to take on more projects.Smoothie time! Everyday when it's smoothie-making time Maddox gets to hop in the sling and see Mommy at work.
"Say Cheese!"
Here he is sneaking a peak at Corey trying to get an action shot.
Corey told Maddox to snuggle Mommy. So sweet.


Tickle Attack! I'm a sucker for a kid giggling.

Alright, having only one blanky is posing to be a problem during laundry time. Maddox is upset thru the whole washing and drying saying "Laundry, laundry. All done! All done!" while standing by the laundry room door. After it was done and I dumped all the laundry on the rug he wrestled thru to find his pride and joy.
He laid on it saying "warm" for about 10 minutes.
And pretended to sleep.
Random, I know.
Alright, now that my kid is becoming a crazy toddler and trying to get into everything he's had quite a few bumps and bruises. Here's an incident while I was sleeping (it always seems to happen then...um, Corey?). Anyhoo, I heard this huge crash. I threw myself out of bed and ran down stairs. Halfway down all I hear is, "Oh my God, I think it's broken!" Um, yep then I started crying. Maddox had pulled the table at the back of the couch onto his tiny little foot. This is the bruising 4 days later. It was so swollen he couldn't wear shoes for 2 days. Poor little guy!
Well, we're almost at the 18 month mark! Wow, time flies. Maddox now has 14 teeth. We're pretty sure he's missing the two teeth that would be next to the two middle ones on the top. My mom and brother are missing the same ones (thanks Mom). I think I see braces in his future. Anyhoo, we're going to be taking him in for an 18 month visit on the 28th, so we'll have some updated stats. We haven't had him officially weighed since he was a year, but on the scale at Lifetime Fitness he's about 30 lbs. Potty "training", if you want to call it that, is going well for his age. He likes to poop on the potty if we can catch him in time and loves to take his morning pee there. Otherwise, it's hit or miss throughout the day. He's eating like a champ lately! He loves scrambled eggs w/ avocado, chicken dogs, peas, broccoli, pears, apples, pineapple, turkey, chicken, steak, O cereal, cheddar bunnies, dried fruits (esp mango & cherries), frozen blueberries, smoothies (we have that everyday), and so much more. He still nurses mid-morning (if we're home - he's too distracted when we're out), before his nap, mid-evening and at bedtime. If we're home all day it may be more. I'm hoping to nurse him until he's 2 and I think he's definitely on board with that plan.

All-in-all everything is great at our house. We're getting farther and farther into decorating and unpacking. There are just a few random things in the garage and then next time Corey and I have a day off together we're going to tackle that.

Oh, I almost forgot. As you can see I did a little facelift on our blog thanks to Auntie Jenna and others with some website suggestions. Here they are:

Background - http://cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com/

Header (has to be 648 pixels wide to fit) - http://scrapblog.com/

Long time no see...

Alright, I've been working a lot with Jenna on spring break this week and Scott on spring break last week I ended up picking up a lot of shifts. The paycheck was great! Thanks Uncle Scott & Auntie Jenna!!!! Anyhoo, all is well here. Maddox is growing and developing by leaps and bounds talking up a storm and getting into everything. Now, if I can't understand what he's trying to say he does gestures or says other similar words to help me figure it out. Yesterday we went to lunch with Angie, Rowan, & Grandma Michelle and he wanted this toy horse. He kept saying it, but I couldn't figure it out. Then he said, "Neigh!". I got it after that. It's so cute to see him get frustrated and try to solve how to tell me what he's trying to say. Alright here's the last few weeks in recap:

Wednesday night I had to run an end-of-the-year meeting for volleyball, so Maddox headed to Bumpa's house for the evening while Corey was at a Twins game for work. Maddox had an absolute blast that night. As soon as he heard the garage door he went running for Grandpa and gave his a hug that lasted several minutes. It was so sweet!

Grandpa is in a beard growing contest at church and Maddox has grown quite fond of his whiskers.

Kiss! Maddox finally after checking out the beard for several minutes gave in and gave Bumpa a kiss.
Swimming Lessons! Well, Maddox has moved up to Dolphin Pups 2 now and he's lovin' every minute of it. This past Monday Jenna & I went to watch the boys in action.
Here's Maddox patiently waiting for class to start.

Here's some terrific videos for your entertainment. Doesn't he look so tiny in the water?


Kylie & Maddox at Black Sheep Cafe! We were going to go to an indoor water park, but they were doing yearly maintenance, so we ended up drinking coffee, playing and eating into the afternoon hours.Don't they almost look like brother and sister?
You could definitely tell who was the boy and who was the girl. Poor Kylie was trying to pick up the blocks, but Maddox kept dumping them everywhere and crashing thru them. It's so crazy how male & female behaviors can be so inate.
Playin' at the park with Daddy!
SNOW! Maddox is obsessed with snow.
Of course, playing outside always entails finding dirt, leaves, and sticks.

Easter evening at Corey's family's house. It was just the immediate family and was nice and relaxing. Maddox was quite busy though as usual.

"Hey, who are you taking a picture of?"
Boogie to Beat Breast Cancer! We had our 2ND annual event the other weekend and it was a SUCCESS! We raised a lot of money and boogied the night away. They silent auction went well and the band was terrific. Thanks to everyone who supported us!
My cousin Bekki is the lead singer in the band and Maddox was obsessed with getting on stage and having Bekki hold him. She was so sweet to bring him up there for one song. Thanks Beks!
Here's Maddox trying on my pink shades!

Angie & Rowan out on the dance floor.
And Amy & Hunter gettin' down and boogieing!
Easter on my mom's side. Here's us getting the kids together for a picture. Miley looked so adorable in her little pink Easter dress.
Rowan, Maddox & Miley


Here's Maddox hiding from me after he found his Easter basket from Grandma & Grandpa.

Here's Maddox drumming downstairs on the cement. He was a little wild so it was a good think he still had his helmet on from his motorcycle ride.

Cool dude in shades!
Our first time playing outside at our new house. A few weeks ago when it warmed up nicely we went out on a walk as a family. It was a blast and Maddox just wanted to RUN!

Here's Maddox running around outside. That's our house in the background.

Afterwards, when we got back to our house we all snuggled up on the couch for a little Elmo. We were all asleep in 5 minutes. Corey woke up a while later and took a picture of us sleeping. Nothing like a little fresh air to wear a family out.