Closer Than My (Stale Easter) Peeps You Are To Me!

Madeline got to have a couple of friends over this week for some playdate fun! Isabelle finds a rogue Easter Egg!

Why are you eating the ball Isabelle?

Want to ride on my sweet whip?

Friday, Emily and Gabby came over to play. Need some butter Emily??

Peek a BOO!

Gabby LOVED the slide!

The Baby has 2 mommies! Gabby let her special baby spend the night with Madeline on Friday! The baby enjoyed a dip in the hot tub, played some pool with Steve, and made a s'more in the fire! I know Gabby was glad to see her baby again on Saturday!

O Pioneers!

I am going to sound like the world's biggest SNOB....but I just don't know how the pioneers did it! Seriously... like, their children had sticks and rocks to play with. No Baby Einstein, no Sand and Water Tables, no miniature kitchens. (What would those have even looked like? Miniature hearths and fires? ha ha)

A little while back Steve and I purchased the above monitor. (Yay ebay!) Of course, as soon as we got it we were all, "How did we live before this???" It did stink to try to sneak into her room and check on her, sometimes hitting the deck so fast any Navy Admiral would have been proud. It's especially hard when she'll wake up and cry and you don't know if it's because she's stuck in the crib railing or because she just wants picked up. The first few nights we just stood and watched it forever! It's soooooooooooo nice to just have an "eye in the sky" to be able to tell what she's doing. I never knew that simply watching my baby sleep would enthrall me so much.

Sorry, pioneers - My Indian and I have it quite easy compared to you guys!

In One Basket

Madeline and I joined Daddy on Thursday for the Ball State Egg Hunt! It was Madeline's first egg hunt so we were very excited! Chillin' with Garfield

Getting the hang of it...

Checking out her loot!

Ready to go home!

It was a cute event that was *supposed* to be broken up by age. (e.g. she would only have been hunting eggs with children from 1-2 years old.) That didn't happen and it made me feel my first ever bit of real "mom anger." I was like "WHO LET THE SIX YEAR OLDS IN?" I didn't yell that, though I wanted to. I wanted my little girl to have a fun and safe time at her first hunt, not be mowed over by big kids. There was one point when she and Steve were walking toward an egg and a big kig came in and swooped it up. You can hear me on the video saying, "Look Madeline! Here is an egg!" Then in comes the kid swiping it and I say, "Oh never mind, that kid just stole it from you."

Oh no! I am turning into one of *those* parents!! ;)

Nonetheless, I think she had a good time. She enjoyed 2 more egg hunts over the weekend with each set of Grandparents!

Yum

As a general rule Steve and I monitor Madeline's diet very closely, but on a day that was filled with lots of teething tears and Mommy trying to get lots of cooking done for Easter, I let Madda live a little. :)

Hot dog Hot dog Hot diggity dog!

Madeline loves tickling anything and everything with bare feet (Thanks, Mom!) so she decided to tickle Austin this morning. (Apparently after listening to his heart and reading him some books.)

Think Think Think!

You know you're a mom when you hear the words "Super Sleuth" on the news and think of this:

Crusin' Together

Madeline went for a little ride with Daddy in his Camaro up and down the driveway! Madda loved crusin' around with Daddy and felt super cool!

Don't let the baby boys see you in this cool car Madeline!

Madeline's Mumblings

Madeline has been constantly saying "Badu." I don't know what it means. She'll hold something up and say, "badu!" She'll say it to herself and I'll overhear it.

So, all I can figure is that she wants to listen to some Erika Badu music - of which I have none. Sorry Madeline!

While Baby Naps...

Funny things happen when the parents assemble toys when their children are asleep! I'm going to have Steve make a little strip of paper that says "Trader Joe's" to go over the WalMart sticker. ;)

Oh, and Steve wasn't really going to push Sugar Baby down the slide.

My toys bring all the boys to the (play) yard!

So, Mommy thinks Madeline needs some new toys. She didn't get that many toys for Christmas so she is SUPER bored with her toys and ends up playing with batteries and wooden spoons all day. Poor baby! :( Daddy however, thinks Madeline has plenty of toys. However, Daddy isn't home with a bored baby all day! Plus. I just put away tons of her "baby" toys and now she has even fewer than ever!

Here are some of the toys I want to get her. What other good ideas do you have for new toys?

Play Kitchen: I like this one because it looks "real" like what she's used to seeing Mommy use.
But I love this retro kitchen too. (However, it's obscenely expensive.) I couldn't feel good about spending that much money on ONE toy!

Dr. Set: I happen to think that if we "play" doctor, then maybe she won't scream at the doctor's office so much! I like this one because I also want to get her a baby doll.

Outdoor Table: Hopefully we'll be eating lots of meals out under the new Pergola so here Madda can enjoy it with us! Ok, not a toy.....

I'd like to get her a Mr Potato Head because she LOVES putting little things in holes. Go figure! And perhaps these blocks and this vaccuum but I've decided that she can't have a Dyson until Mommy does! lol!

So what are some other toys we should think about/ talk Daddy into buying?

Oh, aren't you impressed with my hyperlinking? Go me!

Throwback

I don't know why I'm really in to looking at Madeline's old pictures of when she was teeny tiny but I thought you might enjoy them too. I love this one because I thought she looked just like Daddy. I think this was her first swing ride!