Madeleine talking

Madeleine clues me in

Piano player girl

Wow...time really does fly!

Well lets see here...last time i was telling you about how we were moving. well we moved and now we are still kind of settling in. I am getting creative on finding new homes for all our stuff. baskets here, hanging pockets there...But the real fun is the decorating! I am almost finished with a project that i started two weeks before moving. re-covering the sofa. Now this may seem like an easy feat, however it has proven to be the definition of "the hardest project i have ever attempted".

I am using a dark toffee velvet and tufting the back cushions. I should be done after the weekend and then i'll have to figure out how to get pictures from my phone up here to show you. its pretty awesome!

Madeleine has her own room (that she also sleeps in) for the first time ever. i just made her a roman shade last night with this super cute floral fabric that i'm in love with! We are working on night time potty training that is so tiring that i don't blame people at all for putting if off. aye de mi! She is a sassafrass all day every day and wears us out. she is like the Olivia book character who tries on everything she owns and is stubborn and a chatty kathy. But she is also the sweetest and most cuddly kid I've ever met. She still says things like, "I love you sooooooo much" and "you are a cutie pie mommy" I love it.

Andrew is loving his Garage. He hasn't had one since our house in Seattle so he spends a lot of time out there. Oh, and working on his Eurovan...(don't tell him but I secretly want to go trade her in for a newer model) he loves it but it does not love me...if she hears me talk badly of her, something breaks. and i never thought cars had personalities before, but now i believe it. Anyway, andrew is very excited for his trip out to Boise Idaho next weekend for his cousins wedding and family reunion. I think its going to be be amazing with a full on bike parade to the reception. I wish we could all go, but we were sticker shocked by the plane tickets, so madi and i are going to sit this one out. I have been saving for a trip to go visit my Oma in germany in October and I am going to remember that when I miss Andrew and wish we were there.

This week was a big week for Melo! We were in the paper http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20100616_Portrait_of_an_Artist__Their_bright_idea__Eco-friendly_candles.html#axzz0r1O4Yalw
and had a meeting at Urban Outfitters Inc with the buyers of Terrain. www.terrainathome.com Who want to sell our candles! I am so so excited because this is my favorite store in the world...picture yourself eating local organic gourmet food in anthropology, but instead of clothes everywhere, there are plants and the most amazing house goods you will ever come across....

Madeleine is 3, we're moving again, and andrew just discovered where the terrible smell was coming from...details below!

So last week, April 7th, Madi turned 3! Unbelievable! I feel like it was yesterday that I was standing in the shower having contractions and calling Andrew in to talk about if it was time to head over to see the midwife. next morning, Madeleine Mae was born!

Now she such a little lady saying things like, "Actually, they are my tights." when our neighbor incorrectly said she liked madis socks. and "Normally, I have my oatmeal in the ceramic bowl." what a little ham! Frustrating and seriously are her other big words she uses on a daily basis. When I was little I liked to say words like "fart". So who knows!

Next....we are on to "phase 3 philly". We thought we would yet again move to be out where we want to buy a house in the future. So we are off to the cute little town of Swarthmore. It should be called Mayfair or some other quintessential Main Street town name. We rented an apartment straight out of I Love Lucy that is vintage and lovely, oh and tiny. But its above the yarn shop and across from the Library and food co-op. The coffee shop is a block away which may become a big problem. Madis pre-school is three blocks away, and the train station is seen from our window. We move in a week and a half and i am a little worried about getting packed in time. Cross your fingers!

Oh, and the smell was a big pot of water that I had cooked crab legs in a few days ago and somehow got put aside with the lid on....(eekkkk! not a proud moment for me)

I will post pics when i get a new camera because my poor little guy bit the dust :(

dreaming of the islands.....

enough is enough. we have 2 feet of lingering ground snow and now i hear our last snow storm is soon to come. i love snow, i do. but it feels like spring is never going to come! Madeleine is going to be three in 6 weeks and last year we had this fun day of playing in the backyard with her friends, eatting bumble bee cake, and wearing LIGHT jackets and party dresses. This year we may have a ski party!

Okay, anyway, we have been busy planning our "phase 3 philadelphia" move. First was our blind cross country move to a senior housing like apartment in philly. Then we moved to our currant home which is great,,and in a great school district, but in an unrealistic area to afford to buy a home next year. So we have decided that when we buy a house next spring 2011, it will be in one of two school districts 25 minutes out.

So madi is going to one of two preschools out there and we havedecided to head out there already and rent till we buy. Not only do we want to start madi in school with the kids she'll always be with, but our landlord is also going to put this house up for sale and i really don't want to be thrown out. I'd rather leave now. So I just started the apartment hunt and hopefully we'll be moving May 1st!

a few more....

Happy Thanksgiving!

sorry its been so long! i got a new computer finally and just uploaded a ton of pictures! these are from yesterday and last week. I want to take some craft photos like the wreath I made yesterday, because I made Madeleine a really cute candy cane dress and some fabulous mantle decorations! Enjoy!

sugar

Today Madi said to me: "mommy, you make me feel better."
and yesterday morning when we woke up, she looked over at me and said,
"i love your eyes."

I think i got a really sweet one...

Raspberry Girl with Bed Head

i think i need to get madi this shirt.

she is obsessed with taking pictures! if i ever need to make a business call or email, i just hand her the camera and off she goes.

pool par-tay + madis point of view!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LITTLE PIXIE!!!

madi is 2 today! she woke up to find a vase on the dining room table with 2 goldfish in it. we will be trying to come up with names for them today. any ideas?

what next? i can take it!

So if you haven't talked to me lately I would love to fill you in on why i an sitting here at my computer, madi napping for the first time in days, and why a very unpleasant aroma is wafting past my nose.

It all began a week and a half ago when i just couldn't bear the smell down in the basement by the washer and dryer. andrew looked everywhere for a dead mouse (or cat) which is what i was expecting. but found nothing. i sent him back out to look, and after opening a little window under the back of the house, he found the source of the nastiness. a lake of sewer water sitting in the crawl space.

nothing was turning out to be easy since the sewer cleanup people couldn't get in there. so we had to empty out the pinball room. (not an easy task) they pry-bared up the wood floors and ran the poop hose through our house to the room. we left before that began and first stayed with tammy for two nights and then we stayed in a hotel in ocean city NJ trying to make the best of being displaced. It rained almost the whole time. but we did go the aquarium and rain forest cafe on the Atlantic city boardwalk which was different.

it was just too depressing to stay down the shore in the off season any longer plus andrew had to get back to philly for work. so we stayed downtown philly at the sheraton for the next 3 nights. we should have stayed longer since there still isn't a floor in the pinball room and the pinball machines are in our bedroom. oh and like i said, still an unpleasant aroma.

we were supposed to have madeleines 2 year birthday party here tomorrow, but i just postponed it til Sunday hoping the situation improves here. while i was baking her cake today, a sudden thunder storm and downpour occured and the party was going to be a backyard picnic party. i may need to turn it into a swimming party...

sick, sick, we're all sick...

i'm too lazy to take a picture and upload it for you to see, but i am staring at the most beautiful ginormous bouquet of flowers with a little pineapple on a stem that andrew got me yesterday for our 5 year wedding anniversary.

we are celebrating later today by going to the movies to see duplicity and then to Rx which is a restaurant we've been wanting to try for a while now that is in an old apothecary and still has the old jars and supplies on the shelves. the food is local and organic and eclectic. sounds like a grand 'ol time.

we are going to pretend that we're not sick even though we have tissues shoved up our sleeves and sneeze every 2 minutes. we'd postpone it but tomorrow i have to work all day.

my petite fleur!

A new chapter, a new job

this past week has been a mentally challenging one. last friday, andrew came home normal time from work, and told me that he had been laid off from his job at M.O.
he didn't see it coming and they just let him finish the day. but i'm sure you know that andrew has always wanted to start his own business eventually. so now he has to. so he has been talking to his sidework clients and scheduling weekday work, and i have been putting his business cards on every cork board in philly.

you know, the first thought that crossed my mind when he said he didn't have a job anymore was {hmm...maybe we could move to vienna}

sunny with snow

miss madi and i are soooo ready for spring. and if i hear right, its supposed to be 65-70 this weekend, sweet! we've been keeping busy, one of our favorite activities is going to the tree house play cafe which we are going to today. we are just waiting for our friends fei and yiechen to pick us up.

i can not believe that madeleine is going to be 2 in a month from saturday! here a few photos from the last month or so.

this weather is frickin awesome!

today is so much fun, i am loving it! this morning stephanie picked me and madi up and we went to the gym for a pilates kick ass class while madi and hugh had fun playing with the kids in the nursery. then we went to the park and playground for the first time in months. then we ate lunch outside on the front porch savoring every moment. while madi napped i had a delicious chai and watched ellen. (if you want to laugh, her show will accomplish that) then we played with the boys next door, visited the kitties upstairs and now madi is helping popy unload his tools. now i am pondering what to do for dinner when all i want to do is bake valentines cookies...