Heidi Sue, Corey and Maddox

Trying to catch up...

2010-03-02T17:03:00.001-06:00

Bare with me! I'm working on catching up on the blog! I've gotten enough flack from people, so I will see if I can get caught up for you all and since this is the only "baby book" I have I'd better get rolling, right? Ha! Well, here's a start...

Happy 3rd Birthday Maddox!

2010-03-02T16:12:00.006-06:00

As usual, we did our Halloween themed birthday party for Maddox and everyone came dressed to impress! Maddox was Buzz Lightyear, his favorite character of the year for sure!

His other favorite movie is Shrek, so Grandpa Robby came as Shrek, Grandma Michelle as Princess Fiona and Uncle Scott as the Donkey

Halloween treat cakes!

Present time!

I was Heidi, the German Bar Maid

Princess Fiona

Shrek

"Happy Birthday to you...."

Corey thought it'd be good to get a picture of me serving up the milk....maybe it should have been in those jumbo mugs.

Uncle Andy working with Maddox to put together his new lego car.

Grandma Jane and Auntie Jenna playing a little Candyland.

To infinity and beyond!

Well, my baby's 3! I can't believe it! Before I know it, he's gonna be 6 ft tall and out weigh me! Yikes!

Hot fall in the neighborhood

2010-03-02T16:05:00.002-06:00

Evan, Caleb and Maddox enjoying a hot fall day outside after the Vikings game, too cute with their shirts off!

Caleb is a bit bigger than Maddox...

Hanging out with Jacob, Caleb's little brother.

Maddox swimming in one of the local lakes at the park.

2009 Breast Cancer 3-day!

2010-03-02T15:57:00.005-06:00

Corey brought Maddox out to cheer on his mama and everyone else on the DuBar Dolls 3-day team and he had a blast!

He also got to hang out with our best cheering crew, Uncle Steve, Mindy and Miley. Two cuties in pink!

Maddox came to visit the team this year in camp!

We did it!!! Another 60 miles done!

Cheers to 2009! Here we come 2010!!!

How Maddox eats a cookie!

2010-03-02T15:56:00.001-06:00

Colonel Colvill!

2010-03-02T15:50:00.003-06:00

Corey took Maddox out to see Colonel Colvill this summer in Cannon Falls since it's so close to Grandma Jane and Grandpa Chuck's house

Of course, a typical boy, Maddox found a stick to play with while he was there.

It's a little bigger than him I think.

Random 2009 Summer Happenings

2010-03-02T15:43:00.004-06:00

This past summer, Maddox took to my passion for cookie dough, so we made many batches of cookie dough, but really not very many cookies! :)

Maddox also did a lot of golfing with his daddy. I think we have a little golpher on our hands. All winter Maddox has been asking when the grass will be green again so he can go out golfing.

Sibling picture just before we went out to a movie for Scott's birthday back in July

July week at the cabin!

2009-08-16T21:50:00.019-05:00

Sorry it's been a while....I've been a little busy. Here's the pics from our July week as a family up at the cabin!

Maddox practicing fishing in the little pool

Rowan trying to catch Maddox, "I'm outta here!"

4th of July - my little man!

My dad and I almost won the water balloon toss....but not quite.

But we did win this barnyard game - we were team Jackass!

Karaoke night! Elvis even made an appearance!

And so did this guy....props and all!

My mom and I and our infamous Vikings mugs!

Mom & Dad

Me and my sis

The girls

"Um, my auntie Angie is a bit odd"

We have a future buck hunter on our hands...I hope!

Nothin' like lunch out on the patio.

Um, breakfast with Wimbledon went a little long this particular morning (what a final match!). Needless to say, someone was anxious to get dressed and get outside, so he did what he could to get our attention.

All you can eat crab legs night!

Me and my little man!

Say cheese!

The crab leg eating crew!

Yum!

Um, yeah. He doesn't eat crab legs.

Too cute!

Me and my daddy

Who wants a skillet scramble made by yours truly?

Morning coffee and cookies in Nisswa

Then off to mini golf...

Rowan contemplating a very serious shot

Maddox has become quite the golfer this year thanks to his daddy. Corey takes him out almost every week!

My little California Dude!

Who's up for grilling some meat? Filet night!!!

Perfectly cooked.....my dad grills a mean filet.

Yea, no words for this one.

My mom's new favorite wine....she bought a case!!!

The cob on top was eaten my Corey and the cob on the bottom by myself....I rest my case. I don't waste a single bite of corn!

Crappies!

We only caught one this night, but I promised my mom that I'd clean it....they're her favorite!

My fish cleaning buddy!

Done.

My mom's 49th birthday party!

And your present is...

A portable outdoor firepit!!!

Maddox helped me put the frame together....such a little helper. He loves tools.

Taco night at the legion!

My mom paid for everyone's dinner....she won big on pull tabs!

It's always great to be the birthday girl!

Margarita's from scratch with Patron...priceless!

Out fishing!

"Maddox, look at all the fish!"

Nice dad.
Goofy little toddlers!

Sibling pic - this was when we got together at my house for some cake and headed to the new Harry Potter flick for my little brother's birthday. Happy birthday Scott!

Happy Daddy's Day!!!!

2009-06-20T21:14:00.003-05:00

Maddox would like to say, Happy Daddy's Day to the best daddy in the whole world!

Tonight we relaxed as a family in our backyard having a campfire, roasting marshmallows, and just enjoying this beautiful evening.
Maddox was a little wild with his roasting and pretty much got every marshmallow all full of ash, but he did his best and had a terrific time trying.

Can I just say that I LOVE my stamped concrete patio!!!

Here we are working the coals for that perfect golden brown....I'm a perfectionist.

Maddox learning the ropes of being around a fire all over again this year.....I think it's going to take him a while to completely get it.

Ready to try one all on his own.
Cherries! One of my favorites in the spring/summer is definitely Bing and Rainer cherries. YUM! Maddox just can't get enough too....like mother like son in this case.

Eating cherries is quite hilarious.
Alright, time for a bath and bedtime. Hope everyone is enjoying their Father's Day weekend! I LOVE YOU DADDY AND MISS YOU!!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO CELEBRATE WHEN YOU GET HOME FROM THE CABIN!!!!

Minnesota Zoo - Again!

2009-06-16T12:42:00.005-05:00

Maddox and I hit up the Minnesota Zoo again the other week and the weather was PERFECT! It was a gorgeous day out and the zoo was packed.

We went to the bird show and Maddox was quite involved calling out the bird's names and listening so closely to the speaker. It was so cute! He really wanted to be the volunteer that held a dollar and a bird came up and took it, but they wanted an adult. He was disappointed.

Here he is listening to the after the show questioning. I think he's ready for school.

The Bald Eagle! So beautiful.

The new Africa exhibit was great! Highly recommended.

Here's Maddox letting loose in the splash park area....he was soaked, but the continuous giggling was totally worth the mess!

Can you just hear the giggles?

Priceless!

And we're done. A little recharge granola bar and we hit the road.

Random Summer Update!

2009-06-16T12:14:00.004-05:00

Are you ready for some football? I think Maddox is. Maddox had a blast going to all of the grad parties on the weekends playing with all of his relatives. He would say, "what party are we going to next" every time we got in the car.

I think Corey had fun playing with the kids too!

Phebe's going away party! Maddox's little cousin Phebe moved back to Florida last Monday to move back in with her mom...she will be greatly missed! I love this picture. Cheesy, but adorable.
New member of the family - Crosby! Jenna and Andy got a little 8 week old puppy to join their family and he's just so sweet.

Maddox and Phebe playing Little Miss Pet Shop one more time before she leaves.Aren't they just so cute?

We're going to miss you Phebe....come visit us soon!

Oh Cooper.

Here's a great series of Maddox trying to dress himself. He usually does pretty well, but is having a little trouble with the arm hole this time.

Um, I think I've got too many body parts thru the neck hole...

Alright, let me try that again...

Oops! Too far.....can I get some help here?

Maddox's new pet - Maddox found a fly that must have been slightly wounded or something because it let him do whatever he wanted with it, but Maddox was quite gentle.

Cooper had to check out the action as well.

I'm just waiting for the day when Maddox brings other insects, reptiles, and animals to the front stoop....oh the joys of having a boy.

Corey turns 30!

2009-06-03T16:58:00.006-05:00

Well, I am now married to an old man. Corey officially turned 30 on June 2nd! We celebrated with all of Corey's favorite things: Golfing, Dudley's pizza and Dairy Inn ice cream (and Maddox and I, of course).

Family picture taking my yours truly.This one got a little squishy, but I love Maddox's expression so I had to add it.
PIZZA!!! Nothing compares to a perfectly cooked pizza from Dudley's.

"Enough already!"

Maddox went with Corey golfing and just had a blast. Corey said that his shot is actually getting pretty good. Maybe we have a little Tiger Woods on our hands. I sure hope he picks golf over football....an intact cranium is a must!

Maddox chillin' outside eating an ice cream cone.

Um, yeah. Maddox decided to try on my make-up. Can you see the mascara smear on his right eye (your left)? He's watched me put make-up on so many times he knew right were to put it. I don't think he'll be a make-up artist in the future though.

Our New Tree and Memorial Weekend!

2009-05-29T00:00:00.009-05:00

Well, for Corey and my 5 year anniversary (which is today by the way) our parents bought us an Autumn Blaze Maple tree to plant in our backyard. My parents called me up last Monday and said I had to pick Tuesday or Wednesday for them to come up and plant it. Here it is!

Naturally, my dad had a creative method for getting it down the hill to the backyard....a sled.

Cutting out the sod and digging the hole...

Maddox was the foreman of the project.He did, however, keep getting distracted from his duties.

The whole family in the hole! Random family picture opportunity, I know.

Our neighbors, Dustin and Evan, came over to check out the project.

Maddox actually took this and the above picture. Pretty good, eh?

The finished product. Pretty nice if I do say so myself. Thank you so much!!!!

And thanks to my little bro, Scott, for coming up and helping too!

Weekend at the Cabin! Of course, there were projects to do. The guys dug down and worked on re-encasing some water pipes Saturday morning. It was quite the project and there were many ideas on how to get it done.

Maddox and the ladies watching the work get done.

I'm embarrassed to say I never took a picture of the finished product. Maybe next time I'm up. It looks good and the guys did a great job.

My mom and I spent Saturday doing yard work and getting the cabin ready for the weekend.

Alright, projects are done and the lawn is mowed.....it's FISHING TIME!!! Here's Dad getting the boys ready for their first fishing outing of the season. Notice Maddox has a bag of pink twister tails.....my favorite for obvious reasons.

Maddox and Grandpa getting all the tackle ready and organized.

Isn't this priceless!

I just can hardly stand how cute this is. I'm going to have to crop in and frame one of these for the cabin.
All geared up and waiting for the big one!

Got one! Here's Maddox's first fish of the year, a largemouth bass. He reeled it in all by himself! I'm hoping he catches on to my love for fishing so he can be my little fishing buddy.

Maddox playing 500 with us (with the 2's and 3's - at least he thought he was playing).

Here he is checking out Daddy's amazing hand.

"Um, what kind of snack should I have next?" "Twizzlers I think".

Mother's Day & More

2009-05-11T14:52:00.007-05:00

Happy Mother's Day! Corey and Maddox let me sleep in Sunday morning after working 16 1/2 hours the day before, so it was much needed and felt great. Then they took me to Rudy's Redeye for their buffet and it was DELICIOUS!

I also got a pretty terrific present....and iPod Nano! As most of you know I do not spend money on myself for things like that as it took me years to finally get a cell phone (and remember to bring it with me). I'm super excited about my iPod though and I've already put all of my old CDs on there along with a few songs I've bought. It's sort of addicting...I'm kind of embarrassed.

Family picture at Rudy's.

Me and my chocolate covered boy....there were way too many goodies on the buffet. They had a whole dessert section with a chocolate fountain. Yum!

Cheese!

Um, yep. Maddox is definitely a boy...gross. We're working on it.

He finds picking his nose to be quite hilarious...even as I'm telling him how gross it is.

It doesn't stop me from kissing him though. He's just too cute!

Maddox looks a little drunk with chocolate here.

Mouth full!
Grandma Jane! - here are all of the people she's helped to create.
Phebe and Maddox had a blast playing in Jenna & Andy's backyard.

Here's Corey trying to get a picture of Jane and I. Seriously, just wait until I'm finished chewing please.
Mother-in-law & Daughet-in-law

My mom and dad were at the cabin, so we didn't get to see them, but my mom did get a Happy Mother's Day call from us.

Heading to Hunter's 2nd birthday! Maddox and Corey went to Hunter's birthday while I worked on Saturday and had a great time. Maddox was very excited to give Hunter the present they picked out.

Maddox's first Twins game!

Friday night we went to the Twins game and it was a BLAST! The Twins won 11-0 which made it a lot of fun and there were 5 homeruns!

We took the train to and from the MOA. Maddox found this to be quite entertaining.
To cute!

Footlong Chicago Dog! As most of you know who have been to the Dome with me, my regular meal above. It was delicious from beginning to end.

Maddox ate a giant pretzel, ice cream sundae and a water.

Maddox riding a motorcycle at the park.

Here's Maddox trying to snuggle with me last Tuesday. I worked Monday night and stayed awake with him all day....I was exhausted!

All showered and teeth brushed getting ready for bed.

Maddox's first golf outing with his Daddy! He was so excited when the grass started to turn green because Corey would tell him that when the grass is green then they can go golfing together.

Maddox and Corey golfed the executive course at Gopher and Maddox putted on all the greens.

I'm sure this is the 1st of many more golfing adventures...

3rd Annual Boogie!

2009-05-08T11:43:00.003-05:00

Here's our beautiful team all decked out in pink and black for a terrific night! We raised almost $4000 that night and had an amazing time doing it. Thank you to everyone who came, donated and supported us. A special thanks to the Loose Cannons for some great music!

Work Girls! - Amy, Kimberly and I
Maddox and I tearing up the dance floor.

Buddies! - Hunter and Maddox played all night. Thanks to Amy they had lots of toys to play with.

The boys conversing.

All-in-all another perfect fundraiser. Only a few more to go and we'll be walking 60 miles again! I can't wait!

We're Back!

2009-05-01T12:13:00.004-05:00

Alright, we're back. Sorry, I've been a little busy and, well, distracted lately. Lots going on in life. Finally, here are pictures from the Children's Museum and some randoms. The Boogie to Beat Breast Cancer to come....stay tuned.

This is the 4th time Maddox has been to the Children's Museum and I'm pretty sure he has more fun each and every time he goes.

He absolutely loved splashing in the water here.

His new favorite thing to do is to climb up slides and thanks to his super grippy shoes he can. We're working on breaking that habit. Let's just say he's collided with people that are coming down.

Going down...

Here's Miss Phebe being a turtle.

Maddox just loves snakes. Uncle Andy has one, so he's learned lots about them.

He made sure to point out how snakes smell with their tongue. Smart little guy we have on our hands.
Phebe hard at work.

Me relaxing on the bench. I realized I have probably 2-3 pictures of myself in the last 2 1/2 years. We've really got to start taking family pictures more regularily.

Maddox working on filling up Clifford's dog dish with bones.

Clifford! When Maddox first walked into this exhibit, he ran straight for Clifford yelling, "That's Clifford....the big red dog".

Then it was followed by, "Hey mom, there's Emily Elizabeth". So articulate
My little construction worker getting all dressed for the part.

"Look at me!"

It was just so cute how hard he would concentrate on his "job".

Showing Daddy his skills.

Just to show you that Maddox is obsessed with sleeping with all of his stuffed animals. After he falls asleep, I have to sneak in and clear some of them out.

Sittin' on his skateboard playing trains.

And finally me working for my dad. My dad thought he'd be funny and take a picture of me hard at work. I keep telling him that I have a "real job", but I still seem to keep coming back for more. I guess I just love my dad.

Well, there's the update. More to come...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T11:21:00.004-05:00

Maddox is healthier than ever and had a blast over Easter weekend. We took him to the Children's Museum on Saturday with Corey's family (pictures to come because I forgot my camera at my parent's house). Sunday we spent the morning going to church with my family and then headed up to Ted & Pat's for an Easter egg hunt and dinner celebration.Here's Maddox on his very first Easter egg hunt. It was funny because we were telling him we were going to have an Easter egg hunt and here was his response:

"Well, you're going to need a big gun and I'm going to need a little gun." Apparently his only reference to hunting includes a gun. Too funny!

The hunting crew: Matthew, Phebe & Maddox

Maddox also got a new bike from Grandma Michelle & Grandpa Robby, which he was pretty excited about. As you can tell, so was Corey.
Sibling picture!

While I was shopping before Vegas, Corey took Maddox to the amusement park at the MOA for the first time.

They had a blast!

Merry-go-round.

I guess this post is a little "to be continued" since I'm missing my camera, but I wanted you all to see that Maddox is now healthy since people keep telling me they can't stand clicking on our blog and seeing his sad little face.

Still miserable...

2009-04-02T14:08:00.002-05:00

Maddox is still feeling terrible. He woke up at 2am with wet pants, but it wasn't pee. Then he's had 3 bouts of diarrhea this morning. Once he stood up too soon and shot the wall. I have a picture because I didn't think Corey would believe me, but I thought I'd spare you all. Now he has this rash on his forehead and temples with blood-shot eyes. I've talked to our doctor and she thought it was just fever related, but we're not giving motrin anymore since this is the first time he's ever had it just in case.

Maddox has slept most of the day, but he's still drinking a lot and peeing, so hopefully we'll avoid an IV. We were close yesterday because he went 13 hours without peeing. He's sleeping on the couch right now (see above). This is the first time he's fallen asleep not on me, so I can actually get off of the couch myself.
This was post diarrhea explosion. I thought it was a good time for a bath. Please send Maddox well wishes in hopes that this blows over soon!!!

Maddox update

2009-04-01T23:45:00.004-05:00

Well, this is how Maddox spent the entire day today. He woke up around 5am calling out from his room only to find a pile of vomit on his bed. He specifically told me he was "not sick". He hates when we say he's sick. He then proceeded to puke 6+ more times in the next 4 hours.

After that he spiked a few fevers today - 102.4 & 103.5

Then he was feeling a little better this evening, so he took a bath and got all cleaned up. All of the clean sheets required a clean kid to crawl in them.
Now the bug is working it's way thru his system and coming on out. Thank God he uses the toilet!

Cooper has been at his side all day long. So sweet.

My dad emailed some pics of the weekend Maddox spent at their house. Here's their trip to the Minnesota Zoo to see the new farm babies.

Maddox was apparently quite interested in the piglets nursing. We tapered off and stopped nursing as of last week before we left for Vegas, so I think he was a little jealous. He did point out though that the piglets were babies and that's why they got to nurse.

Apparently riding a pig?

Just having too much fun!

Poor little guy. Almost riding a live goat.

Riding a turtle.

This is just an adorable picture. If I had the original I would have cropped in. Cute!

Having fun at Grandma's house with Auntie Kris.

Vegas Baby (and more)

2009-03-31T13:09:00.006-05:00

Excalibur! - I'm pretty sure this was the oddest looking hotel on the strip, but it was our hotel none-the-less. Corey and I joined Mark, Sheri, Bekah, Lucy & Kyle in Las Vegas Friday thru Monday and it was a blast. It was my first time in Vegas and I definitely will be back.

Um, we don't exactly have a lot of pictures as there was a lot of drinking and late nights, so the camera wasn't exactly our focus. Our camera wouldn't fit into our pockets. Hopefully Beks or Sheri & Mark may have more. Anyway, here's a shot of us all ready and heading out for dinner. After dinner, the girls hit up the Thunder Down Under - Yum!

We spent our days at the pool drinking buckets of beer, swimming, and watching basketball. It was so relaxing! Again, no pictures at the pool, but this is us either before or after. I did discover that I really could care less about gambling, but there was so much more to Vegas than that. Corey got in a good 10 hour stint of poker though. He played with $100 and ended up winning $50 after 10 hours from 3am to 1pm the next day. Breasts of Hazzard - Volley to Beat Breast Cancer

As many of you know, we had a volleyball tourney to raise money for our DuBar Dolls 3-day team. Here's my team! We played well, but couldn't make it to the finals. At least we look good, right?

Here are the actions shots.

And our little guy. Maddox survived his first time away from both of his parents. It was my first time ever not seeing Maddox for a day or more. Even during the 3-day I would get to see Maddox each day and he was with Corey, so this experience was definitely strange, but Maddox did great and had a pretty terrific time with Grandma & Grandpa - Thanks Mom & Dad!!!! He's said multiple times today that he misses you both and Uncle Scott.

Happy Birthday! This month we celebrated Auntie Jenna's 26th birthday. We went to a drumline show to reminisce and then headed to our house for appetizers and cake. It was a relaxing day.
Maddox slept thru the whole party until the end, but then did get to enjoy a plate full of yummy food.

Chicken Pox? Not sure what we had going on here, but it's gone now.

Dinner gathering - Corey's friend from high school, Peter, and his wife Julie came over for dinner the other night and brought their little 1 1/2 year old Evan. Maddox and Evan had a great time on Maddox's new skateboard. Here they are hugging. Maddox sort of looks like he's giving the choke hold, but it's all with love, right?

Cheese!

Sweet Home Colorado

2009-03-19T18:37:00.011-05:00

Well, since I haven't blogged for over a year, and everyone has been asking to see the pictures from my little snowboarding adventure in Colorado, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to jump back into the blogesphere. (I think I used that term correctly)

2/24/09: Day 1 consisted of waking up early (4:00am), loading up Mark's Ford Escape and hitting the open road.

Few of you may know this, but February 24th is actually National Pancake Day, so of course we had to make a pit stop at the International House of Pancakes (that's IHOP for all of you breakfast lovers) where they were giving away free short stacks. We found an IHOP just outside of Des Moines Iowa and stopped in to show our support for N.P.D, but who can eat just a short stack, of course you have to order a side of eggs, bacon and orange juice to complete the meal. With our bellies filled and our minds in the mountains, we jumped back in the car for the next leg of our 15 hour ride.

2/25/09: Breckenridge Colorado, Mark (left) and Seth (right) riding the gondola to the base of the mountain. Mark lived in Breck for a year after graduating college and still has a few friends living there who were gracious enough to give us a place to stay after arriving in to town.

"Top of the World"

This is an amazing picture of my right boot, oh yeah and a couple of mountains in the background.

"Roads, where we're going we don't need roads"

Sometimes if you want to get the fresh tracks, you have to hike a little bit. Scroll down to see where we're headed. (Did you notice the absence of trees? We are roughly 12,000+ feet above sea level)

"Diamonds are a Man's Best Friend"

So this is where we were walking to. I haven't seen this many diamonds in one place since I was shopping for a wedding ring.

"Chef Coreyardee"

After a long day on the slopes, we checked in to our condo. Way too nice of a place for us three snow bums. We also did a little grocery shopping, which I have to admit, is a bit amusing watching us three guys walk around a grocery store trying to think of everything they need for a week. Let's just say we had to make at least two more trips back to the store to purchase things we forgot. In the picture above, you can see our first nights dinner. I whipped up a little Three Cheese Stuffed Shells, garlic bread and Cesar Salad.

2/26/09: This is how we all felt the next morning. A combination of the altitude, a day on the slopes and possibly a little alcohol, it was a rough start to day three but, we were headed to Vail, so it didn't take too long before we were back on our feet and ready to go.

"Are We There Yet?"

If you have never skied/snowboarded out West, the runs are quite a bit longer then we're used to in the Mid-West. Mid slope breaks are quite common, here's Seth and I catching our respective breaths preparing for the rest of the way down slope.

"Lover's Leap"

Ummm......yeah. So, we went down this run, and although it's sort of difficult to see, that is about a 5 - 8 foot vertical drop on the right side of the picture which is the start of this shoot. After that, it doesn't get too much easier, but boy was it a blast.

2/27/09: Beaver Creek - Oh how I could go on and on about Beaver Creek, but I can pretty much sum it up in one word - AMAZING. It was snowing like crazy this morning and the wind was howling which is a brutal combination at 11,000 feet, but we were able to find some relief on a run on the back side of the mountain called "The Glades"

"Who Goes There?"

So about half way down the run, we noticed this little sign. Oops. We actually missed the GIANT sign at the top that said something to the effect of "You are now entering an un-patrolled area, ski at your own risk...blah...blah...blah.

"I Didn't Know Darth Vader Snowboards"

So at this point it was snowing so hard, that by the time we went down the mountain, road the chair back up, all of our previous tracks were filled in with fresh snow. I have never boarded in powder like that in my life, it was unbelievable.

"Is That All You Got?"

Ok, so there is a long story that goes along with this picture. It's a story about a man, his snowboard, a tree and a cliff. I won't go into all the details, but as you can see, I made it down. We'll leave it at that. If you ever want to know the entire story ask me sometime, just make sure Heidi is not around.

Later in the day the sun came out and it was absolutely gorgeous. I highly recommend Beaver Creek to anyone that is making a trip out to Colorado. Plus, I hear it's the new hang out for movie stars, which I'm sure people mistook us for while we were there.

2/28/09

"Roll Back The Clocks - It's For a Good Cause"

As I mentioned above, Mark still has some friends out in Breckenridge and they happened to have signed up for a benefit to raise money for Cancer research. They had some open slots on their team and asked us if we wanted to join. We said sure, little did we know that their team name was "Breckenrad" and their theme was a throwback to the 80's era of skiing. We found a used sporting goods store and helped outfit ourselves and the rest of the team in some radical once piece snow suits. I have no explanation for the pink hair.

"Fly Like an Eagle"

Here's Mark doing his best Spread Eagle, the ultimate in 80's freestyle skiing. Although you can't see it in this picture there was probably at least 50 people standing at the bottom of this hill watching his Gracefulness catch massive air.

You know how after a trip to the casino, people say that breaking even is like winning. I would have to say any ski/snowboard trip that you can return from on your own two feet, was a successful trip. There were some bumps and bruises along the way, but all and all we pretty much came home unscathed and had a fantastic time in the process.

That pretty much says it all, of course I left out the boring parts and the parts I don't want want published on the Internet, but other then that, there ya go a blog post.

Corey

3rd Annual Boogie!

2009-03-10T14:21:00.003-05:00

Hello Family & Friends -

Our 3rd Annual Boogie to Beat Breast Cancer event with live music, drinks, dancing and of course the silent auction will be held at Grandpa's Event Center April 25th in Cannon Falls this year.

Since some of you have donated items to our silent auction in the past I thought I'd put up a post to see if anyone would like to do it again. We're trying to do themed baskets this year for the smaller items (ie: Coffee Basket, Movie Night Basket, Spa Basket, etc - get creative so we have variety), so if your interested in donating a themed basket or items to go in one or just interested in donating a larger, stand-alone item please leave a comment, email me or call me or anyone on the team.

We also hope to see lots of friends and family at the event - more info to come.

Thanks! Heidi Sue

Check out our blog!

2009-03-04T13:42:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone-

The DuBar Dolls are gearing up for another Breast Cancer 3-Day walk this year. The blog has been updated and there will be new content a few times a week. Angie's blogging about her "Couch to 5K" journey! If you want to join her and others to train for our 5K June 13th, join us and get into shape!!!

Angie said it best: Stop by, drop us a line and -- most of all -- consider making a donation to one of our walkers! My mom will be thrilled (read: bawling hysterically) if her husband and all three kids can be by her side at the finish!

http://dubardolls.blogspot.com

Lots of Love & Thanks!
Heidi Sue

What have I done?

2009-03-03T10:16:00.003-06:00

Alright, mister independent now thinks he can head to the bathroom, pull down his pants, and pee all by himself. Needless to say, he's not exactly tall enough to get his business above the rim, so it's quite the mess, but he's so proud of himself when he's all done. He comes running out and yells, "I did it!". It's hard to punish the behavior since it is what we've taught him and it's so funny. I got him a step stool yesterday at Target, so he went this morning by himself when I was rotating the laundry and most of the pee actually made it into the toilet. Progress, I hope.

Accidents this week+ have been none during the day at all except two poops - all pees were in the toilet (or at least around it anyway - see above). We haven't had any peeing accidents since the 25th and we've only had 2 total since potty learning Valentine weekend. He's got that down. The pooping thing has been hard for him though, so I have now bought the poop presents yesterday too. I'll let you know if that helps. We've also had 2 incidents around 2:30 am where he woke up wet. This is a first for him. Both times were evenings when he had a lot of fluid right before bed, so I'm hoping that won't happen in the future if we make sure he doesn't have a ton to drink at bedtime. We'll try to make sure he doesn't have much about 2 hours prior to bedtime and pees right before going to bed to see if we prevent it from happening again. Here's to progress...

Oh, sorry no pictures yet, but Corey was in Breckenridge, Colorado for a week and had the camera. I'll make him post his trip and start taking pictures to post soon.

Potty Update

2009-02-24T12:03:00.002-06:00

Well, it's been a week and a half and Maddox has been doing great with going potty. He's had 4 total accidents in the last week - 2 pees (one a ECFE on our first outing; one at Angie's at our first time there since learning - Tues & Wed last week) and 2 poops (random times). The peeing thing I think he's definitely got down now since it's been almost a week since an accident in that department and HE ASKED MISS NANCY TO GO PEE TODAY AT ECFE - WOOHOO!!! The pooping thing I think is the whole fear of going. He seems to be holding it (he's only gone 4 times since his first poop on the potty last Sunday, so it's been an every other day or so thing. He use to be so regular, but I think he's avoiding it. The two times he did go on the potty I had to take his pants/undies off when I could tell he had to go, so he wouldn't have anything to go into. Then he kept saying, "I have to poop". I'd put him on the potty and he'd say he didn't have to go. We'd go back and forth doing that a few times until his body just kind of took over and he went without much thought on the potty. I'm thinking of getting some small presents and wrapping them up and putting them on the counter. Then when he goes poop on the potty he can pick one out until they're all gone. Hopefully by the time they're gone he won't be afraid to go on the potty. All-in-all I haven't washed a diaper in a week and a half. YAY!!!!

We did it!!!

2009-02-16T10:04:00.003-06:00

Potty Learning - DONE!

Maddox, Corey & I spent the whole weekend hanging out at home making going pee and poo on the potty the most exciting big boy adventure ever and IT WORKED!!!

We packed up all of Maddox's diapers and bought all new undies. Can you believe the adorableness of Hanes Boxer Briefs? Love them!
Here was Maddox's post weekend success photo shoot to show everyone what a big boy he was.

He even has been pooing on the potty too! The deal was that after he pooped on the potty we would head out as a family and pick out a new toy for him for being such a brave big boy. We headed out last night to CVS and he picked out a basketball hoop and ball for his room.

He's been quite proud of himself and he's woken up dry for 3 days now with his underwear on all night. We jump and dance around and make it quite the hoopla!

Love this picture! Very JCrew for 2 year olds.

Oh, and do you notice his Guido - Pit Stop socks. He got to pick those out in the dollar isle at Target for asking to pee and making it to the potty in Target.

Ah yes, and he still loves to dress up in my shoes...

Potty Learning - Day 1

2009-02-04T22:09:00.003-06:00

Alright, we officially took the plunge today and started potty learning with Maddox. This morning he put on his Mater undies on (from the movie Cars). He started to pee in them - just a spot and then said "I'm getting all wet". Then he finished peeing on the toilet. After that point he just ran around naked all day. He went on the potty 8 times today. While I was at volleyball though, Corey ended up putting him in a diaper to poo. He was walking wierd and pacing by his poo spot. He tried several times to put him on the potty, but Maddox just refused. So, 8 pees today, but one poo in his diaper. I'd say that's pretty good for day 1!!!

2009-02-04T11:15:00.004-06:00

I'm not sure Maddox will forgive me for this when he's a teenager, but I couldn't resist. Maddox has been spending a lot of time naked potty learning lately at home (3 pees in the toilet this am and just a spot in his Cars undies this am - woohoo!). Being that he's been naked he's been spending a lot of time in my accessory bin in the closet. Here are some of his looks. My favorite is the socks with my dress shoes. These are his favorite shoes.

Here he's heading to the mirror. He loves to admire his looks.

He's even very good at getting the shoes on right with the strap between his toes.

As you can see, Corey's in the background with his arms folded. I'm not sure he enjoys the dressing up. Something about his manhood. Doesn't he look tall and lanky in this picture?

Purses and bags have become a new cool thing around here too.
Maddox also enjoys dressing up like Daddy when he snowboards.

New undies!!! Maddox and Corey were at Target the other day and Maddox wanted to buy undies just like Rowan. This is what started the whole interest in potty learning. We figured since he's now so interested in it that we'd give it a shot. Here's to hoping. Any potty advice from experienced parents would be helpful.
Maddox put Elmo together all by himself, so here he is all proud of his accomplishments!!!

All ready to go. Doesn't he look ready for school. This is us heading out to ECFE, which he calls his "class". We are there on Tuesdays from 9-11:30 and from 10:00-11:00 we are in seperate rooms and have our own little classes. We talk about parenting challenges and they do organized activities and have a snack. Maddox LOVES IT!!!

Well, that catches you up on our lives lately, well Maddox's anyway. I'll try to be a better blogger, but it's been harder because now Maddox and I are going to Rowan's on Mondays & Thursdays to take care of him while Angie & Kyle work.

2008 Wrap-up

2009-01-13T21:31:00.006-06:00

Alright, here's Christmas Eve at my house. I took over the Christmas Eve brunch duties because my mom was at work that morning. We made build-your-own omelette's, fresh fruit and cinnamon rolls. Delicious! This picture is Maddox & Rowan post-nap getting ready for the rest of their Christmas Eve events.

Corey's immediate family present opening on Christmas Eve evening. We always squeeze in a celebration at Corey's parent's house in between church services.

That's where Maddox got his train set. And Maddox and Phebe got a sled to share when they're at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Corey thought he should try it out too.

Of course, other people received gifts besides Maddox. Thanks everyone for a great evening.

I worked Christmas Eve night, so here's Corey & Maddox getting their letter and cookies out for Santa. Maddox wanted to leave something for Rudolph too, so that's what the carrot is for.

Christmas Day at Chuck & Jane's again. This time it was the extended family. I missed out because I was sleeping, but it sounded like a blast.

The cousins opening presents.

Christmas at Grandma Adeline's on Jan 3rd. Here's Maddox waiting for Santa Claus.

He absolutely loved it this year. He smiled and loved to sit on his lap...

...and of course get his present. Hot cocoa! This is Maddox's new favorite treat. He gets it every time Daddy does when he's done shoveling the driveway, which seems like every day lately.
Oh, he needed his bangs cut really bad too, so hence the bobby pin. Cute eh?

Colds! Maddox and I each got a cold last week, which was no fun, so there was a lot of sleeping last week.

Here's Maddox's new favorite toy thanks to Auntie Jenna. Unfortunately, the pool has sprung a leak, so we may need to break down and buy a new one.

I think that wraps up 2008 and onto 2009. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Jan 12th thru the 16th

2009-01-12T09:32:00.000-06:00

Anyone still contemplating joining our 2009 DuBar Dolls team, now is the time.

Save $25 off of registration (normally $90 total - will be $65 with discount).

Use Code: NEWYEAR

Good thru January 12th thru the 16th.

We're up to 9 walkers strong so far and HOPE TO SEE MORE WALKERS JOIN!!!!

The DuBar Dolls Team

Holiday Gatherings!

2009-01-02T14:58:00.009-06:00

Well, I had to start with the random pictures because this picture because is just so adorable. This is Maddox getting all ready for holiday shopping at Target. I was putting on my make-up and I hear from our bedroom, "Mommy, I just like you". I had to get a picture.
Here's some pictures of Maddox & Phebe having a bedtime snack when Phebe spent the evening at our house to play while Grandpa Chuck & Grandma Jane went out for Chuck's birthday.

Merry Christmas!
Snack Time!
Here's Christmas on my mom's side of the family. Rose, my cousin, passed down some great beanie babies to the boys and Maddox is loving them, especially the monkey.

Rowan got quite the stash from Rose too. Thank you Rosie!!!

The boys also opened a present that was brought for them by Santa Claus himself.
Maddox was all over his and the boys sat down to watch Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
Good morning? Well, the boys look a little tired here, but don't be fooled, they were bouncing off the ceilings waiting to open presents.
This one's a little better, right?It's FINALLY present time!

It was more enjoyable to do presents this year because they actually wanted to open more after they received their first one. Last year it was hard to get them to move on and keep opening.
Maddox's Tool Box/Workbench
This is the best toy EVER! Maddox has been obsessed with it since he opened it. I think it's all the pounding with the hammer.
Maddox also got some great construction vehicles and he has all the names and their noises down.
Here's Maddox and Grandpa Rob fixing a broken part to his crane. Nothing a little Elmer's glue can't fix.

We spent the whole weekend before Christmas at my parent's house, so on Saturday we made dozens of cookies (well, Grandma Michelle made them and the boys decorated). You can see Maddox concentrating hard. It's so cute because as he does it he says, "Tap, tap, tap" as he taps the little shaker of sprinkles. You'll also notice that when he has to concentrate on something he sticks his tongue out. So cute!

Stay tuned for more Christmas pictures from Christmas Eve & Day...time for bed.

Happy Holidays!!!

2008-12-09T09:00:00.005-06:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house lately. We decorated the tree and put lights up outside. Maddox is having a blast with all of our decorating traditions because this year he can participate!
Here's Maddox hanging his BABY ornament!

You can't see his face, but he's beaming from ear to ear.

It's still his favorite ornament to check on to make sure Cooper hasn't knocked it down.
Here's Maddox putting on the tiny glass ball ornaments and he's showing you how he's VERY careful.

Here's Maddox and I doing the tinsel.
I've learned well from my father about doing 1 strand at a time and now Maddox has taken on the same task. He was so meticulous about it.
I like the pictures without the flash because you can see how nice the tree looks. Sorry we're so blurry.
Cheese!

Maddox trying on our stockings.

Pizza party picnic in the living room!

Maddox has been enjoying all of the snow quite a bit. He goes out with Daddy every evening and shovels (he uses his little shovel from the summer).
It sure wears a kid out!
Then he always needs a snack recharge - CHEESE!

Alright, I couldn't resist. Here's how I found my boys when I came to bed. Corey was too lazy to put Maddox to bed this night because he was so tired himself. I think Maddox ruled the king-sized bed this night since he has an entire king sized pillow to himself and his daddy is about to fall off the edge of the bed! Don't worry, I moved Maddox when I came to bed.

Well, I loved Angie's post about Rowan's picture taking skills, so I thought I'd show Maddox's skills too. He only likes to take pictures of himself and his mommy.

Maddox and I have been doing a lot of holiday shopping together and it's been a blast. He likes buying things for other people and when he sees their presents lying around he will tell me who each one is for.

Alright, I better do a little bit of bragging here. Maddox, thanks to Auntie Jenna's game, recognizes all the letters of the alphabet and can put them in the correct word board on his new letter game. He absolutely loves this game. I'm actually getting sick of playing it, but not him. He talks like he's 5 and he's just a blast to hang out with most of the time. Sometimes I run away when Corey gets home and take a bath by myself for a little break, but most of the time he's great.

Check it out!!!

2008-12-03T12:24:00.002-06:00

Please visit our DuBar Dolls blog and check out our video recap of our 2008 walk.

Also, don't forget to sign-up to join our team by December 8th to use the code LEGACY for $35 off of the registration fee!!!!!

Heidi Sue

Too Cute!

2008-11-24T17:42:00.008-06:00

Alright already, I gave in a trimmed up Maddox's hair. He sat nice and still and watched Elmo. What a great sport, eh?

Here's Maddox patiently waiting for Grandma & Grandpa B to pick us up to go out for dinner. I think he's a little sick of the paparazzi mother.

A little sass...
The best $1.00 spent! Maddox and I found the cutest thing in the dollar isle at Target the other day. They had a plant your own Christmas tree pot. How cute is that? Maddox had a blast planting his very own Christmas tree and it's just his size.

All done!
Now we just have to wait for it to grow.

Play Doh! Uncle Scott was a terrific sport over Deer Camp weekend and played with Maddox for over an hour. Play Doh can be so much fun!

Deer Camp! Here's the crew this year: Brian, Corey, Drew, Scott, Maddox and Robby (my dad). I'm the one obviously taking the picture...

...and here's the cook doing the dishes (thanks for all the yummy food Mom).

Isn't this picture great!
Here's Maddox bidding Brian a farewell with a hand shake.
Of course, Drew got one too.

Daddy's deer! Maddox was quite proud of his daddy and the "Big Buck" as he proceeded to talk about all day.

It's butchering time!

The whole crew just before we got to work.

After we got the chops out I cut them up and cooked them right there just like my Grandpa DuBar did every year. I don't know if I did as good of a job as Gramps, but I did my best. I miss you Bumpa!!!!!
Well, yes, my dad has a torch. He was torching off the stray hairs that were clinging to the meat.
We ended up with lots of meat in the freezer and lots of deer sticks made up by Greg's Meats - DELICIOUS!

Well, that's all that's new around hear, so we hope everyone has a terrific Thanksgiving!!!

Halloween and more!

2008-11-12T05:34:00.006-06:00

Trick-or-Treat!

Here's Maddox all ready to head out for his first real trick-or-treat extravaganza.

Ratatouilli part 2!

Here's Maddox on his way over to Evan's house to pick him up for trick-or-treating.

Checking out each other's buckets - they ended up trading buckets because they both liked the other.

Cheese!

Lindsey is in the background holding the newest member of the neighborhood, Kamrynn.

The first stop - they boys did great!

Onto the next house!
After walking around the cul-de-sac, the boys hopped into the wagon and toured the neighborhood with their daddy's.

Daddy trying to take Maddox's candy!

The poor kid finally gets to eat a piece of candy....a SUCKER! Doesn't he look so excited?

Maddox and I spent the other 70 degree day outside getting everything ready for Winter.

Maddox took his final spin on his bike before we put it away for next year.

Winter Wonderland! Here's Maddox checking out the first snow of the season. We went outside and he took off thru the snow and I had to go chase him. We were on our way to Rowan's house and I assured Maddox they'd have snow too. I guess I'm not too much of a city kid because much to my surprise there was nothing on the ground that accumulated up there and Maddox was a bit disappointed. Everything was fine when he saw Rowan though and they were off to play.

My baby is 2!!!

2008-10-28T10:27:00.009-05:00

Can you believe it? Maddox turned 2 on Friday, October 24th.

We got him some Halloween pjs for his birthday.

We had a combo birthday party for Rowan (3), Phebe (6) and Maddox(2) last Friday that was a Halloween themed party.

Here are the kids all dressed up! Phebe the Cat, Avery the Cat, Rowan the Artist, & Maddox as Ratatouille. Cheese!

Maddox and Grandpa Chuck hanging out.

Elmo even came to visit at the birthday party!

Rowan, Maddox & Elmo

Phebe & Elmo

All of the kids with Elmo

The birthday kids and their parents too.

Maddox just really wanted to eat his birthday cake, so he dug right it.

He did, however, feel like Daddy needed a taste too.

This is Maddox trying to eat his cake like a dog.

Elmo's back by request. We were opening presents when Maddox says, "Can Elmo come back a little bit?" So sweet Grandma Michelle couldn't resist.

More presents!

Maddox's first doctor kit.

Checking out Mommy's ears.

And of course his own ears.

Great Grandma Adeline with the grand kids and Elmo.

Ratatouille! Daddy was themed with Maddox for the movie.

Maddox got his first putter and was super excited about it. Now he has a real driver and putter. It's for 3-5 year olds so he'll have to grow into them.

Carving pumpkins!Yuck! Look at all the guts. We did roast the pumpkin seeds that night too and they were quite yummy.

Maddox working on his pumpkin design.

The final product - a daddy, mommy and baby pumpkin.

Maddox really enjoyed taking the tops off of the pumpkins and looking at the flame in amazement.All lit up for the evening.

Man, a birthday and pumpkin carving all in one weekend can really wear a kid out!

Doctor's visit for Maddox's 2 year check-up. Maddox checked out perfect. He's still in the 90th percentile for everything and as healthy as can be.

Vacation!

2008-10-22T11:21:00.016-05:00

Over MEA weekend Corey's whole family headed up to Duluth/Two Harbors for a family vacation. Here's our stop at Canal Park in Duluth.

Maddox had a blast throwing rocks into Lake Superior

I think Daddy had fun skipping rocks too.

Here's Phebe & Maddox trying to break into the lighthouse. It was all locked up, but they were pretty determined to get in.

Friday we headed to Tettagouche State Park for some hiking.
Family Picture!
Of course Maddox wanted to do more of the same, throwing rocks.

Then he was on to climbing rocks and finding "BIG sticks".

Wow! What a view, eh?

This was Maddox's mode of travel on most of our hikes.

Diaper changing on the trail. Maddox said, "Mom, I peed" so stop we must.
And we're off again.

Maddox and Phebe have become quite the buds lately.

Maddox and I took the afternoon off for a nap while everyone else headed to Palisade. Yikes!

Friday night we played Uno with the kids. It was Maddox's first time.

He actually won!!! He was quite excited and vocal with enthusiasm.
The cheering went on for about 5 minutes, but it was quite cute.

Saturday we headed to Gooseberry Falls.

Be careful Andy!!! This was not a relaxing moment for any of us.

More skipping rocks.
This time Maddox spent a lot of time pushing sand around.
And getting a bit dirty.

The falls!

Just relaxing on some rocks.

Let's just say Saturday wore Maddox out.Here he is waiting for his lunch. Every time the waitress would walk by he would say, "she bringing my lunch?"

He always had that hopeful look on his face...
...but it took a little longer than he had hoped. I thought he was going to fall asleep right there at the table, but he got his food, ate and then we headed back for a nap.
Saturday evening we at pizza at Great Grandma Flo's house. The kids played Simon Says (well I guess Jenna's not really a kid).

I think Maddox hoped he'd be able to play, but he did enjoy watching. He doesn't quite have an attention span for a game like that yet.
HUGS! Thanks for hosting Grandma Flo!

Off to bed. Here's the kids reading with Auntie Jenna before bed Saturday night.

Sunday morning we headed back home. Goodbye vacation!

2008-10-14T14:21:00.004-05:00

Smile!

Look at my skinny kid!!! He's 30lbs 11oz according to the doctor's visit the other day. That means he's gained pretty much nothing in a year. Look at his legs!!!

Dessert time!
Maddox thoroughly enjoyed his chocolate-covered raspberries with chocolate swirled yogurt dip.
"Mama, there's no time for pictures. I'm busy eating here."Sling time! Maddox decided today that he wanted to put his bear, monkey and baby Damp all in his sling at the same time. As you can see he was quite proud of this.
Having a snack with Daddy on the counter AGAIN!!! Seriously, doesn't this make anyone else nervous? I have tiled floors. That does not make a soft landing for toddler's heads.

Um....here's what I found when I entered the kitchen after putting some clothes in the dryer. I guess I see why people child-proof their cabinets, but we've never really had an issue. I guess that changed today!
Doesn't he just look so sweet?
GUILTY! - He doesn't look so happy as he has to stand there and not move while he watches me clean the kitchen up.
Cooper even got a little flour on his face. He looks a little guilty too.

We've been better...

2008-10-07T12:02:00.010-05:00

Maddox has been sick on and off for over a week now with a sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, throwing up at night gagging on his post-nasal drip, and all-in-all sleeping terribly. He started out with pink eye last weekend and progressed into this viral something last Tuesday night when he spiked a fever. I think he's getting better, but sleeping still is terrible.
He's pretty perky when he's not sleeping and Corey's been bringing him outside for an hour or so each evening to get some fresh air. As you can see, he LOVES to be outside.

I've also been quite sick. I got sick in the middle of the night last Wednesday night when I woke up with a fever myself. I'm not really sure I feel much better today, but at least no fever since Friday! Maddox has been cuddling me quite a bit taking care of his mama.
Here's a nice shot of us cuddling with is finger up his nose. Oh the joys!

Needless to say, I've washed Maddox's sheets probably a dozen times this past week and a half and ours about 6 times. Maddox even slept thru a bloody nose one night. His bed looked like a massacre. Maddox has been loving all of the laundry snuggle time. He just loves when his blanky comes out all warm and cozy.
"I build a tower!" Maddox has become quite the builder lately. He loves building towers with his wooden blocks. I was working on the computer and turned around to find this! Color coordinated and everything! He can even tell you all of the colors.
Here he's giving the thumbs up on a job well done.

Here are some videos of his work.

And this is how Maddox falls asleep. Maddox usually plays for a while when I put him down for his nap. He rarely gets out out of bed and alway falls asleep in an unconventional way. The other day I found him with his head on his kick ball. How comfortable is that? I always go in a few minutes after he's silent and adjust him for comfort.
Pink Eye!!! Here's a shot of Maddox up close and personal before we started his antibiotic drops for his pink eye.
New cozy outfit! Isn't it so cute?
Maddox's football stance. God help us that he doesn't love football. I would appreciate his head to be intact until he's old and gray.
Well, that's our household's update for the past few weeks, so I hope everyone is doing well and is a little healthier than us lately.

Who's Walking?

2008-09-30T14:59:00.001-05:00

Alright, our 2009 DuBar Dolls Breast Cancer 3-day is forming. We are looking to expand our team!!! Go to http://the3day.org/ and click on the link on the bottom of the page to join the DuBar Dolls team!!!!! Use the code is LEGACY and is good until December 8th. It gives you a 35 dollar discount so the entry is $55 instead of $90. Spread the word with others that might want to walk so we can build our team.

PLEASE JOIN US!!! It's a BLAST!!!

Two posts in one day!!!!

2008-09-24T23:54:00.001-05:00

Check out more 3-day pictures on the DuBar Dolls blog (link on right).

Another 60 miles!

2008-09-24T23:35:00.006-05:00

Well, we accomplished the 2nd annual Breast Cancer 3-day for the DuBar Dolls Sept 19-21. All 10 of us walked every step and Hollie cheered us on. Here's a shot of us at Titty Town, one of the pit stops. Every 3 miles or so there's a pit stop with snacks, drinks, and lots of port-a-potties!
Here I am all set for the walk!
This is us arriving at one of the cheering stations. As you can see, Kris and I were excited to see Miley & Maddox.
I even brought him a sucker.

I shared a tent with Amy.

Lovin' up Miley at a Pit Stop.
Our 2nd annual family picture post 3-day.
Maddox relaxin' with his "Uncle Scottie", as he calls him.
Maddox was handing out hugs left and right to everyone congratulating us on our "good walkin'". Maddox now refers to walkin' as work. If I say I'm going to work, he asks if I'm going walking.
Hugs for Grandma Michelle too!

I was beat when I got home. Corey was giving me a foot massage and after he got up from the couch Maddox took over. So sweet!
He didn't think I needed socks on though...

...he also found my blisters on my pinkie toes.
And we're done.

2009 here we come! So, who's joining us next year?

So busy...

2008-09-24T09:42:00.003-05:00

Here's some cute random pictures of Maddox from the past weeks.

Still a blanky baby! He also now loves the doll that we got him for his 1st birthday. I got home from work last night around midnight and went in to give him a kiss and he was all snuggled into "Damp". Yep, he named the baby Damp. Where do kids come up with this stuff?

Here's some pictures of Maddox in his pj's one morning when we lounged around. He still loves to say cheese!

I also thought I should take a picture of Cooper since I haven't for a while and he gets neglected a little more now with Maddox around. Isn't he sweet?

Well, I walked in the Breast Cancer 3-day this past weekend and I'm working on putting that post together so stay tuned...

A Mustache?

2008-09-11T20:05:00.003-05:00

Alright, funny little moment with Maddox.

Jenna & Andy came over this past Monday for the Vikings game. Maddox was playing with Andy and here's how the conversation went:

"Button?" Maddox says as he preceeds to lift up Andy's shirt.

"Yep, here it is." Andy nicely shows him.

Maddox stares at it intently for quite a while and then says,

"Mustache on there?"

You could just tell the wheels were turning in there and he was trying to figure it out. So innocent and sweet. Thankfully Andy was a good sport about it. Now Maddox knows that there are babies in girls bellies and mustaches on boys bellies. Oh, what to teach him next?

Soon Two!

2008-09-09T21:58:00.005-05:00

Grammy & Grampy (what Maddox now calls my parents) taught Maddox that he will be "soon two", so when he's asked how old he is that's what he says. Isn't he an adorable little toddler. I always have to remind myself of how sweet he is when he drops down on the ground and throws a tantrum in the middle of Target's checkout lane. Oh the joys...

More projects! I laid the stepping stones in our landscaping in the front today. Man those stones weigh a lot. I would have loved to see a video of how ridiculous I looked trying to handle all of the stones myself.
Cute, eh?
Oh, and here are the chairs and tables along with the firepit (I forgot to uncover it for the picture). Who wants to come over for a campfire?

Maddox watching Sesame Street this morning laying in a fresh pile of clean laundry. He loves the warmth out of the dryer.
Sleeping in the car. He was eating a snack seconds before this and was chewing with his eyes closed. I have a cute video of it, but I recorded it sideways. Oops.
Dudley's Pizza! Maddox and I met Corey & Scott Monday for lunch at Dudley's Pizza. They golfed in the morning and we had gymnastics. The pizza was great!
Corey decided to try to clean the pizza sauce off of Maddox's face mid picture-taking.
Trying on my shoes.

Maddox & Daddy hanging out this evening after swimming lessons. They were watching How to Eat Fried Worms. This is Maddox's absolute favorite movie right now.

Well, not too much going on around here. We're getting ready for Maddox's birthday and the Breast Cancer 3-day coming up. We've been enjoying the cooler weather hanging out outside with all of our neighbors. Maddox and Evan (the little boy right next to us - he's going to be 2 in December) have become quite the buds. They gave each other a hug and kiss last night before going inside to bed. So sweet! We're enjoying our neighborhood and all of the young boys for Maddox to play with. There are 5 boys between 18 months and 3 years old! I'm sure they'll be the boys in the woods poking at dead animals with sticks before we know it.

We're Back...

2008-08-31T23:02:00.006-05:00

State Fair! Maddox and I went to the State Fair twice this year and he had a blast both times. Here's us at the fair with Katie, Bekah, Jamie & Dane this morning:

Tractors, diggers and lawn mowers! What more could a boy ask for?

Maddox, Corey & Bekah getting ready to ride the big slide - they're at the top.
Cute picture opportunity next to some Porky food booth.
This is Maddox making an "oink" snort with his nose. Apparently it requires him to have his mouth wide open too.
Um, not too sure about the cows.

Um, my lets were getting tired.

And I think that's enough of the State Fair. "Maddox, can you smile?""Cheese."
Maddox's new fall outerwear from Grandma Michelle.

"Cheese!" After swimming lessons Maddox gets to pick a sucker from the bucket. Usually we steer clear of the blue ones (for obvious reasons), but this day he got a hold of one.
Well, I got an amazing deal on some unfinished Adirondack chairs from Menard's, so here I am taking on the feat of staining them. I'll get a picture up of them all finished and put together from tomorrow's fantasy football draft.Maddox tried to join in on the fun, but his idea of fun was putting our telephone in the can of stain. Sorry if anyone has been trying to call us on our home phone. It's been out of commission. The funny thing was it was actually ringing a few hours later. I didn't attempt to answer it though. Oh, Menard's also had a 77 cent deal on a bucket of sidewalk chalk. Corey enjoyed this one more than Maddox did.
Maddox folding his diapers. What a great helper!

Well, almost a month of no pictures taken, but we're trying to make up for it. I'll get some pictures of the new patio furniture and Maddox's bedroom furniture ASAP.

Bonding Primer

2008-08-21T05:01:00.003-05:00

Alright, since I don't have a camera I might as well tell a lovely story, eh?

So, I've been trying to Trading Spaces it lately and prime and paint a dresser, nightstand, and book shelf for Maddox's new grown-up room. A few months ago I primed it with 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint that Corey picked out (it looked like diarrhea), and another 2 coats of paint that I picket out (a nice deep chocolate). Yes, 6 coats later I noticed as I screwed on the knobs that the paint was easily peeling off. This is when I discovered that I must have done something wrong. 3 1/2 hours later of scraping off old paint and talking to Hirschfield's (not the new guy this time) I discovered that I should have used something called Bonding Primer. I bought the lovely stuff and started again. For anyone who hasn't used this horrific stuff, it smells like you've destroyed your entire brain with one wiff and it's like putting on thick, white glue that is drying as you are stroking. I even got light-headed and then looked at the can, which required me to take a "15 minute break in a well vented area". What was I using? I immediately took all of the furniture out of the garage and onto our driveway to finish up my work. I'm sure I've shortened my life expectancy by several years not to mention destroyed my breastmilk. Maybe the can should read "be sure to pump and dump two feedings following use". Pictures to follow...

Need a NEW CAMERA!!!

2008-08-18T14:34:00.003-05:00

Yes, that's right, our camera is out of commission. Hence, the failure to post for a few weeks now not to mention I've worked pretty much every day since the last post. We're in the process of either fixing our camera or getting a new one, so if you have any suggestions for your favorite camera please let us know.

Stories and pictures to follow....

July Update!!!

2008-07-26T19:38:00.015-05:00

Landscaping Projects Complete!

Alright, I couldn't stand it. I had to get the front yard completed this summer. I just wanted to be able to drive up and think, Ah, home. Doesn't it look cute? Corey, Maddox & I spent 3 hours at Pahl's picking out all of the plants during their Twilight sale last Wednesday. I was able to do it all for under $300. I thought that was pretty good. There are Dark Horse Weigela, Daylilies, Concorde Barberry, Autumn Joy & Neon Sedum, Prairiefire Switchgrass, and Arborvitae. Of course, our little Newport Plum is still there too.
Thursday Maddox and I spend the day planting. Maddox was actually quite well behaved and allowed me to plant 5 plants in the morning with him, 8 while he slept and another 3 while he helped again. Corey got home at 7pm and I planted 3 more. Then it was past 9pm, so I had to get ready for work (I know, I know, yes I had to work that night - poor planning I guess). I planted the 20th plant Friday evening and today Maddox and Corey picked up the last 3 and I could hardly stand it, so I woke up at 1:30pm and planted the rest. It was just too exciting that I could hardly sleep. I'm sure I'll regret that tonight at work. Ugh.
Here's 4 of the 5 Maddox and I planted in the morning on the right side of the house. It's a Wine & Rose Weigela and Rosy Return & Stella D' Oro Daylilies.
Corey also mowed our new sod for the first time today (Saturday) with our new FREE lawn mower from Corey's Uncle Ted & Aunt Pat. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Here's the completed look from the front this evening.

And the side.

I'm really tempted to finish up the back with plants too, but I am holding out and waiting until after the deck gets done next spring. It will just be easier that way, but I thought I'd take a few pictures of our stamped concrete patio.

There's a 14' circle that we're planning on putting a movable fire pit in the center of with chairs around it. You can also see our Spring Snow Crabapple too.

This is the part that will be under the deck. You can even see one of the circles where a footing is for the future deck (there are 7 footings under all of the rock and patio).
Alright, on to my pride and joy, Maddox.
Maddox has been pretty much status quo. He's still talking more and more each day. Sometimes it surprises me what comes out of his mouth. Anyhoo, as you can see I splurged the other day at Target and bought him his first tricycle. It's a Radio Flyer one and he loves it!

About a week ago, Rowan spent two days with us while Angie & Kyle had a much needed vacation. It was the first time they were away from Rowan overnight and Rowan did GREAT!!!

He came Thursday night and I had already had plans to go down to Cannon to see Beks because she was home for a visit, so I packed up the boys and we headed to Mill Street. They shared a grilled cheese, chips, some blueberries and milk. They were quite well behaved. We got home around 9:30 and had movie night (Happy Feet - that's always their choice) and then we went to bed. Rowan slept from 10:15-8:15 - way to go Rowan! I didn't even hear a peep out of him.

Friday morning we had breakfast and headed to the splash park for a terrific time!!!

It was a HOT day, so we had to take frequent beverage breaks.

The boys had a blast playing in the sprayers and at the playground. It's a great place to relax and cool down.

That night we went to the Ugly Mug for dinner after Corey got home. Then we headed back to the house for Movie Night part II.
This is just the crazy boys after bath time.
Movie Night II included some delicious popcorn. Notice Cooper on the right trying to sneak a few bites.

Here are Maddox & Rowan doing the "Happy Feet Dance". There are a few spots in the movie where they always seem compelled to dance.
Saturday morning we had a delicious pancake breakfast with blueberries.
The boys loved it!!!
Cheese! Saturday after nap time we headed down to Cannon for the 150th anniversary of Spring Garden Church and stayed at Mom & Dad's for all of the festivities. I forgot my camera.

Here's Maddox & Rowan being silly Saturday morning after breakfast.
The weekend before above Corey & Maddox went to the lake while I slept (work weekend). They just had a blast!

Here's Maddox wrapped up in Corey's shirt. Apparently he said he was cold, so he held Corey's shirt on like a cape.
There were fish EVERYWHERE and Maddox got to touch them while he swam.
We've found many uses for the shovels & rakes Grandma Michelle bought from landscaping.

And I'll conclude with this lovely shot of Maddox's EXTREMELY FULL diaper (thank God he didn't sit down!!!). I'm glad to say I was not home for this one!!!!

Final Two Fundraiser Events!!!

2008-07-18T10:24:00.002-05:00

We've posted our final two fundraisers for the DuBar Dolls Breast Cancer 3-day fundraising efforts. We might raise enough to be able to have my dad walk with us too, so get your running shoes and chef's hat on! We're doing a First Annual 5K in Cannon Falls and we're also doing another Pampered Chef catalog party with 30% of sales going towards the team (there's also a FREE pinch bowl set with an order of $60 or more). Check out the DuBar Dolls Blog for details!!!

Landscaping!!!!

2008-07-07T10:49:00.007-05:00

Well, it's looking more and more like a real home. We assembled quite a crew last weekend and got all of our landscape edging/plastic/rock installed along with a Newport Plum and Spring Snow Crab Apple tree. It was a lot of work, but it all looks great. Here's Andy standing next to my cute little plum tree.

We also had a 325 sq ft stamped concrete patio installed in the back. I love it!!! Here's a couple of pics where you can kind of see it. I'll try to get better ones soon.
Maddox got a rake & shovel set to play with for the day from Grandma Michelle. He was having a blast working in the dirt.

Like father, like son.

There's the crab apple tree in the back.
Eatin' pizza for lunch. I suppose everyone needs a break sometime, right?

Isn't this cute! Jenna was so proud that she got both grandmas jumping in their shovels at the same time.

Here's the right side of the house. Not too exciting, but doesn't it look nice. We now have sod, so I'll have to get a picture of that too.
And the left side. As we add more plants and our sod grows there will be updates.

Drivin' the "digger" is Maddox's favorite thing to do with Grandpa.

Thanks to all of our TERRIFIC family members that helped to get all of our landscaping projects done. We couldn't have done it without you!!

After working all day, Corey mustered up the energy to head to an 80's party down in Cannon.

Meet Grady James!!!! Katie & Danny delivered a beautiful baby boy on the 3rd on July. Aren't they a cute little family?
Maddox wasn't into us trying to get another shot of him in the bassinet.
4th of July!!!

We went to the Apple Valley parade.Maddox had a blast listening to all of the music and seeing the horses.
He did a lot of waving at whatever went by.
BBQ!!! Saturday evening we went over to Angie & Kyle's for dinner. The boys played in the pool (hence Maddox being naked - we didn't bring his trunks).

After dinner we took the boys on a walk around the neighborhood. It was such a gorgeous night.

Pictures of the boys at dinner. Aren't they both just adorable?

Well, not much new to update for our family lately. Just hanging out post vacation and working on our house. Lots of outdoor projects done, so hopefully not too many more to go.

Maddox is doing great as always. He's busy with swimming lessons & gymnastics classes this summer and loves them both. He's almost 21 months!!!

Off to the cabin...

2008-06-25T22:09:00.010-05:00

Thursday, June 12th we headed to the cabin for 10 days of vacation. It was much needed and we were super excited. Maddox did great on the ride up because he had his Grandma Michelle in the back seat with him. He was awake from Maple Grove all the way to Pequot Lakes! He didn't whine once.

Then we got to the cabin around 10:30pm, unpacked and headed to be.
Maddox wanted to stay in bed with Grandma.
The first day was the coolest, maybe upper 60's and we headed outside to whip the yard into shape and get ready for 10 days of fun.
Maddox started his vacation right away. After all that yard work, we got all cleaned up, went out to eat at the Old Milwaukee Club and relaxed while we waited for Dad & Scott and Angie, Kyle & Rowan to come up later that night. I know, but it's too cute. Potty training even on vacation!

Just a cute post bathtime pic.
The rest of the gang arrived late Friday night, so Saturday morning began the fun. Squirters! Maddox and Rowan had a blast with these, but they weren't strong enough to push the lever with their fingers, so they had to turn it around and use their thumbs.

This led to them just squirting their own faces.
Oh well, it was still fun.

Maddox and Rowan shooting hoops. While we were up this time we finished the basketball hoop and played a lot of PIG. The boys would mimic us on their little hoop.
Just a cute pic.
We also ate two gallons of Summers Dream Schwanns ice cream while we were up. This became Rowan's new favorite flavor and Maddox liked it too.
Maddox did, however, have trouble keeping it to himself. He accidentally shared with Grandpa's cheek.
Family picture.

Grandpa did a great job playing with the boys at the cabin, but boy can they wear a guy out.
Just enjoying a sucker from the Chocolate Ox.
Sisters.
Maddox and Rowan enjoying the swing set. Rowan is doing it a little unconventionally, but still fun.
I know this one's a little blurry, but I had to include a picture of Gordy because Maddox loved him while we were there. He would ask for Gordy daily.

Maddox relaxing with Grandpa at the campfire for happy hour.
Don't you just love the relaxed look on Maddox's bike.

We all stayed quite active all 10 days running, biking and keeping up with all of our strength training. I even ran my first 5k!!! Here's Maddox supervising Dad with his push-ups.
Tackling Grandpa!

We took Maddox out on the boat fishing and he LOVED it. He didn't really care much about holding his Scooby pole yet, but the minnow bucket was pure entertainment. In the above pic, Maddox is playing with a minnow in the cup and transfering it to and from the scooper.

He was actually pretty good at catching them in the bucket.

"I got one!"
"Look Grandpa!"

"Alright, I'll put it back."

Alright, no babies were hurt in this taking of this picture. Maddox just totally collapsed in his chair, but he got up just fine on his own. Corey couldn't resist taking a picture of the struggle. Poor kid!
Swimming!!! The water was a bit cold still down at the lake, so we bought a little pool to have in the yard. The boys loved it on those 80 degree days!
No, I didn't buy Maddox a speedo, but that is his swim diaper and that's all we put on one evening because it was just too cute.

Isn't he just adorable!

Swinging. Maddox was obsessed with swinging at the cabin. Everytime we were outside he would stand at the edge of the patio and look at the nearest person begging to "fwing".
Big boy trike.
Corey and I hung out with the boys one night while everyone else fished. Here they are post bath having their evening snack of sliced apples and yogurt while watching Happy Feet.
Oh, what a relaxing evening.

Vacation was a blast filled with eating lost of yummy food, golfing, reading, running, biking, cards, basketball, movies, shopping and so much more. It was a terrific time with the family.
...And then we were home.

Here's some post vacation just woke up pictures. Maddox has many expressions.

Well, the cabin was wonderful as usual, but we're also glad to be home. Our patio has been poured and will be finished Friday. Saturday is landscape edging, plastic, and mulch. Tuesday is irrigation. And Wednesday is SOD!!!! Then we'll have a yard, YAY!!!

Rain & HAIL!!!!

2008-06-11T16:41:00.006-05:00

Alright, I am embarrassed to say I have no pictures of Corey's birthday. Corey took the day off of work and we headed to the mall for some shopping and then I surprised Corey with Jenna coming over to take Maddox to swimming lessons so we could go out for dinner ALONE! It was kind of weird to be by ourselves and just relax. Thanks Auntie Jenna! The sweetest part of the whole day was that Maddox can sing Happy Birthday. He sings, "happy birthday to you" in the sweetest little voice. He's now sang it to my entire family just because it's too sweet.

Here's a cute shot of our little 19 1/2 month old!

Alright, I thought I should start off with this afternoon's events - Rain & Hail!!!
Hopefully there's no damage on my car since it was parked on the street.

Here's Maddox brushing his teeth this morning getting ready to go down to see Grandpa Robby. He loves to brush now because he actually gets a little toothpaste. After we give him his toothbrush he instantly says, "more toothpaste, more toothpaste".

Here he's totally hamming it up for the camera. Too cute. Maddox is becoming quite the character now and so verbal! We have total conversations more and more. Here he is doing all of his emotions for me. The above is HAPPY!

Surprised!

Weird!

Sad.

And Happy again for good measure.

I heard some noise over by the closet the other morning when Corey and I were getting stuff ready to go somewhere. I went to look and found Maddox getting all geared up in Corey's stuff. He has a think for headsets. Maddox has brought so much fun to our lives. Maddox is so independent and thinks he's oh probably at least 3 years old. He says so many phrases and groups them to tell you a story or tell you what he wants or what he's thinking. It's so fun to hear all of this creative stuff come out. We're working on colors and ABC's now and he knows Pink & Blue pretty well and Green sometimes. He really likes anything pink (he's his mother's child). He'll also fill in the blanks with the ABC's fairly well and can tell me what most of the letters on his wall are. Counting and spelling are still the same. There is still no "A" in his name according to him and he doesn't seem to like the number 3 still, but we're getting there. He's now on a Curious George kick. The movie is excellent if you haven't seen it yet. Well, we're off on vacation for the next week and a half with my side of the family. Hopefully the weather will cooperate up north!

May Update!

2008-05-28T10:04:00.009-05:00

Well, we headed to the cabin for Memorial Weekend and had a blast as usual. We spent our time golfing, fishing, playing outside, cooking/eating, & working on some projects. Maddox broke out his new fishing pole and Grandpa taught him all he knows

Maddox really liked reeling in that cute little plastic orange fish. I can't wait until he catches one for real!

Maddox also practiced his basketball skills on the old hoop. He loves to dunk. Everytime he sees a basketball he starts yelling "DUNK! DUNK!"

This weekends project was putting up the new basketball hoop. Maddox just liked taking a ride in the wheelbarrow.

Here we are digging out the hole and putting in the frame for the cement.
Maddox was the foreman.
He tested out the hole when we were done digging to make sure it passed his inspection.
It was cute because he actually cried when we took him out. I think he kind of liked it in there.
After that though he did require a bath.
Baby Emma! Here's Maddox checking out 5 month old baby Emma, Meaghan & Tony's little girl.
He gave her lots of kisses.
Penguin walk! Here's how Maddox demonstrates how he walks like a penguin. This was prompted by one of his new favorite movies, Happy Feet. Trip to the Minnesota Zoo. I renewed our season pass to the zoo and Amy & I took the boys the other day. It as beautiful out and all of the babies were out at the farm.
Here's a goat sneaking a nibble of Maddox's fingers.

Maddox is obsessed with tractors, diggers and pretty much anything that looks like a machine/tractor of any sort.

"Hey, I'm over here."

Diaper changing time!

Here's a cute shot of Hunter cooling off in the afternoon. Look at that belly!

Dinner is served...I've been trying to take after some work friends and plan my meals & shopping lists out ahead of time each week. It's been fun to actually have ingredients for whole recipes. I've discovered that I like cooking more than I thought.
Maddox likes it too!
Eggs with Daddy for breakfast.
The joys of having a boy. Maddox's legs look terrible these days. He is quite fearless and has gotten a number of bumps and bruises. I guess that's what you get for going down slides head first, backwards, forwards and every which way. My son has no fear of anything and thinks he's 5. I run my tail off at the playground trying to protect him from any major injuries, but we have a blast.

So much to update...

2008-05-11T10:26:00.012-05:00

Well, Hunter turned 1! Last night we headed to Amy & Brad's for Hunter's 1st birthday celebration. Maddox had a blast with everyone and enjoyed his birthday cupcake.

Hunter got quite into it himself and almost finished a WHOLE cupcake!
Maddox wasn't sure about making a mess so much, so he asked for a fork.

Hunter just kept shoveling it in, so he spent a while washing everything down too.

Which naturally led to bathtime...

...and of course birthday kisses!

Here's Maddox trying on Hunter's helmet.
PARK DAY! I watched Rowan last Thursday while Angie worked since Kyle was in New York. We spent 2 hours at the park and then headed to the Java Train for another 1 1/2 hours for lunch and more fun.

Here's we're heading back home and Rowan was getting a bit tired, so I turned the stroller into a double stroller. This was found to be quite hilarious by the boys.

Day at Como Zoo! Last Wednesday Grandma & Grandpa had Rowan, so Maddox & I joined them for a day at the zoo. Here's a nice shot of how close we were able to see the tigers. Maddox kept making each animal sound as we went through the zoo.

Peeking at all of the fish!

Lunch! It was actually quite chilly when we were sitting outside, but the boys were troopers.

Dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings with Jenna & Andy. Maddox got to eat chicken legs/wings. He actually enjoyed them quite a bit.

I think they were a bit spicy at times because he would make this face and say, "Spicy!"
"Can I get a drink of water?"

With all of the sewing I've been doing Maddox & Cooper have gotten quite into it too. As you can see, we're all concentrating quite seriously on this pillow project.

Finished!
Now I better get some sleep!

More Pictures...

2008-04-24T22:31:00.004-05:00

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!!!!!

2008-04-23T15:52:00.007-05:00

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!

2008-04-18T14:51:00.002-05:00

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!