the world according to madeleine

Madeleine talking

2010-08-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

Madeleine clues me in

2010-08-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

Piano player girl

2010-08-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

Wow...time really does fly!

2010-06-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

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.....

2010-02-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

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....

2009-11-25T10:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-08-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-02T17:34:00.001-07:00

i think i need to get madi this shirt.

2009-05-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LITTLE PIXIE!!!

2009-04-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-04-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

what next? i can take it!

2009-04-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-03-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

A new chapter, a new job

2009-03-12T05:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-05T07:15:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-02-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

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...

i got me some new shoes!

2009-02-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

yes, very excited indeed.

new year, new words

2009-01-27T05:32:00.000-08:00

back to the blog. i apologize for the 3 month pause in updates, but we didn't have a computer while we were in mourning over our ibook.

i recently joined facebook, crazy...i can't believe that i am in touch with some of my best friends from grade school! its so fun to hear what everyone does now...and it sent me into a nastalgic whirlwind of opening old shoe boxes of photos. hopefully i will get back to cleveland soon to see some of you!

since christmas i have been taking more pictures with my new diana+ analog camera and less digitals. i'll try to scan some of these dreamy vingettes later. basicly, the photos are 4x4 squares with a black halo around the edge. the image itself is a little blury which gives a beautiful surreal feeling. i love my diana+!

miss madeleine is talking like a pro. she loves to say, "poor mommy" any time i bump myself on something, "eat me sushi" when she is pretend cooking in her little wood kitchen, and 'honey, honey' when she wants me to play the mama mia soundtack AGAIN.
tiny mo peas and apple duce peas are hourly requests. and her dancing is too funny to even explain but i'll have to post a video of that.

i'm doing yoga and pilates again, trying to tone up...does anyone know of any tips on getting that post pregnant stretch mark ridden deflated balloon belly to go away? so far i've got; eat salmon, use bio oil, do crunches.

little miss chatterbox

2008-10-29T19:15:00.001-07:00

Liar liar pants on fire

2008-10-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

my computer is down again and this iPod just won't due

and we're up and running.

2008-10-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

sorry for that little delay. our computer died, we moved, and now its magically working again. (well actually andrew opened the computer thinking, "well its already broken so i can't do any more damage." and he found a wandering screw,(and he knows screws) put it in its place, and viola!

so...its friday, and by sunday i promise to have up new photos. i am just trying to find my camera cord to upload.

but we are doing great, working a lot, and trying to finish unpacking the kitchen. madi and i go to storytime at the library every friday morning (which we did today) and then her new friend lexy came over to play. its friday so its take out and movie night. and tomorrow i am doing a candle party. every wednesday i drop off madi at hughs house for three hours while i do candle stuff which is amazing. we went to the zoo yesterday and i am REALLY wanting a membership for the Please Touch Museum that just opened last weekend 10 minutes away. here is a link to see its awesomeness.
http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/

i am crocheting and knitting and reading eat pray love on the second attempt.
i quit piper + olive and just focusing on getting WAX wholesale ready. I am still massaging at the spa on sundays, but this weekend will be my first back since a month ago because i had craft fairs and moving everyother sunday. my father dieter came to visit two weeks ago and we had a ball! we ate and drank way too much as we always do on his visits. and now we are getting excited to see Ellen at christmas!

where is my mind...wheeeeeeere is my mind?

2008-09-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

i am wondering this more and more each time someone asks,'what are you doing tomorrow"?
and i'm like this.... So i apologize right now if i seem like a complete space case.
I'm sure that once the move is over, our candles are packaged, and my piper+olive orders are delivered, i will resemble someone more put together.

Oh, Ellen! before i forget, i wanted to tell you that madeleine has chosen her instrument! she LOVES to play the piano! yesterday we were playing at her friend Rubys, and all the sudden madi happened apon their piano (which i have never even showed her) and she went back to it a million times and again today. move over stevie wonder! (she can't see the keys either...she is too short)

she just stepped it up a notch in vocabulary to the two syllable words. Ap-ple Pur-ple and Doc-tor. first syllable always emphisized:)

well its all autumny here all the sudden. monday sucked...it was in the 90's and then tuesday brought the cooler weather, and now its down blankets and hot cups of tea with milk and honey...(i have one right now)

oh, gotta run...andrew and i need to finish disk 4 of season 5 of 24 (its due at the library tomorrow) chao!

runny noses and packing boxes

2008-09-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

wow, it has been super duper busy around these parts. i guess it all began two weekends ago...labor day weekend. my mother rented a moving truck in cleveland and needed me to help her move all her belongings that have been in two storage units for the past year. she moved to philly when she seperated from her husband and has been staying at a friends. well there is a mother-in-law suite at the new house, so she will be living with us and helping watch madi while we are working. so anyway, that friday, my mother and i drove her car to cleveland. (i decided to leave madi at home with andrew since it would be way too much driving for her and would be a great opportunity to quit nursing cold turkey. so off we went and met my brother and his wife emily at the storage units. i could only explain what i saw as "jaw dropping". i had no idea that she kept so much stuff. so for all of saturday we sorted through her boxes, gave away furniture, and loaded the truck. the next morning we drove back to philly. we met andrew and madeleine and unloaded the truck at the new house.

the next two days i was extremely depressed, crying for no reason. well, other then the hormonal struggle going on inside my body from not nursing madeleine. but we did it. and just as i had hoped, she is eating more at meal times, going to bed without crying, and is no longer attatched to the mother ship for half the day. after the saddness of being finished with a big peice of her babyhood, there is only happiness and freedom that i feel. she is a toddler now.

this past weekend we have been checking errands off our list and we worked a lot, and poor little madster has a cold...which now i am starting to feel. but let me tell you...i could not be more excited for this coming season! I LOVE THE AUTUMN!!! it is hands down the best time of the year. not only is it my birthday in a couple weeks :) but the cool winds and decomposing leaf smell make me all warm and fuzzy inside...

hi, its me again.

2008-08-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

I always do this. i neglect blogging for a month or so and then all the sudden i post three in the same hour.

anyway, i just thought that i would share with you madis new word. popicall. pretty easy to understand, right? well, i was so proud of her for saying such a big word that i keep saying, "hey, madi tell (insert anyone that will listen here) what you can say now.." and then she just smiles and pulls me toward the kitchen. i look like a big fat liar. but i swear she said it! twice!

i have also been "trying" to wean her since she was 9 months. and now she puts her hand down my shirt and looks at me and says, "no?" it always makes me give in. i'm a sucker too i guess.

oh, my god...click on my friend charlenes blog over on the right, (its the first one)
you will be very hungry for very bad things once you've read her latest entry!

And the reason I am so late...

2008-08-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

is because we got a new house! Immediately after returning from our trips, I spotted a place on craigslist that I loved. So we looked at a couple houses and decided this one was it! Madeleine loves that she will have her own room and a BACKYARD! I can't wait to start a new garden where an old one has gone to seed, and BIG WEEDS!!! the yard is a jungle in the front, so i'll have to dig out the machete. but we have a fireplace, and a washer and dryer, and a room just for andrews beloved pinball machines...maybe we can buy the place one day...hmm?

Better late, then never!

2008-08-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

food not bombs

2008-07-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

so back when i first met andrew, one of the things i knew about him was that for years he ran the Food Not Bombs in spokane. that was one of the first things on my pro list of reasons why i love this man. i added another today...the man NEVER complains. its amazing! it was 99 outside today, he worked outside in it, then made three trips unloading all his tools,(which belive me, toatally sucks in our long apartment building) and then kissed me goodbye with a smile on his face when i left him to watch madi for the entire night so that i could go buy provisions and a dress for guatemala. he is AMAZING.

so this weekend i am back to my normal work routine of selling my soy candles at the farmers market on saturday and massaging at the spa on sunday. last weekend i mixed it up and volunteered at the Grumblethorpe farm stand on saturday and became Jacks fairy godmother at his baptism on sunday followed with a lot of swimming and hughs 2nd birthday party. i think we slept half of monday.

i am so excited for my brothers wedding next weekend. not only will we be in central america where i have never been, but we will get to see my father, emily (my soon to be sister) and all my new relatives! if i don't get a chance to write again before i go, i'll be thinking of you in this god forsaken heat while we are nice and comfortable in the 72 degree weather there:) (its their winter)

loss of sleep

2008-07-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

i have no idea how long it was that i layed in bed last night thinking of all the things that i should have said to this woman at the pool yesterday. it was the only time that i remember having a negative encounter with a total stranger. and how strange it was. after madeleine and i finished swimming, i took off her wet suit and swim diaper. then i let her hang out next to my lounge chair while we snacked and dried off. (maybe 10 minutes) then this lady that had been giving me the evil eye for no aparent reason, came over and told me to put some clothes on my child. and that she doesn't know where i'm from but in AMERICA we just don't do that. I was shocked...i mean, who looks at a naked baby and says,"OH my god! the indecency!" i told her that it was none of her business how i let my child "run around" and to keep her opinion to herself.

well she didn't. she had the lifegaurd (whom i really like) come over and tell me to dress or cover my baby. so i put a diaper on her. i felt defeated. i wanted to strip off all my clothes and walk out just to make that lady mad.

madeleines 15 month stats

2008-07-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

poor little thing had a terrible time at the doctors, but she needed the hep A vaccine for our our guatemala trip next week. the fish tank in the waiting room helped her forget all about though.

her weight: 19lbs 10oz
height: 2"6'

her vocabulary:
no..no, no no.
moo
meow
baw (ball)
bah (bird)
ba boo (belly button)
boo (boob)
new (nose)
bye bye
hallo (german already!)

we miss the grammy!

2008-07-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

ellen and christian (andrews mother and brother) were here visiting from washington for a very fun packed and baby bonding week. we did tons of fun stuff like going to the tree houses at Longwood Gardens and the miniture trains and buildings at the arboretum, the taste of philly, the zoo, (boyz to men:), and raspberry picking.

beach baby

2008-06-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

madeleine LOVED the beach! she was fearless, running straight for the ocean every chance she got. she was great at digging and wanted us to help her jump the waves. she took naps on the beach everyday...infact, i think she slept better there than at the beach bungalow. she had ice cream almost everyday, she's addicted. (in my defense, there was an ice cream shop one block down, so i had to stop when she saw it!

our last morning, andrew, madi, and i got up early and walked down to the beach. we took a little stroll in the sand and saw this crazy sand buggy FLYING over the beach!

trapeze and vacation

2008-06-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

today is a good day. its the morning after the second night in a row that madi slept through the night. it is also the first day that i am not in pain after my monday evening trapeze class. and today is that fun get packed day because we are driving to the shore in the moring for our family week long vacation at ocean city NJ!

thats right...no more working for this little family. we are going to jump waves and walk to the beach to collect shells, and go to the boardwalk to play skiball and eat ice cream and fudge, and fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves. (or the hum of the A.C.)

so after our return, i will post plenty of pictures and possibly even a movie. and i will brag about all the fun we had!

so long!

haircuts + trouble

2008-06-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

well little miss madi mae refuses to keep a barette in her hair so to the chopping block for those bangs. now shes bangin'! actually she looks like a doll because i had to wrap her up like you do with cats when trying to give them pills, by trapping their flailing arms and legs with a towel, thus making it impossible for them to try anything. so i got one fast clip across the top in before she was tramatized too badly. also i was thinking, hmm...the shorter they are, the longer before we need to do this again.

well imediatley following this, she got us back while i was cutting andrews hair. i should open my own hair salon like queen latifa. (i could use a fourth job.)

summer=ice cream+bikes

2008-05-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

well i no longer have the excuse that i don't have internet, so here we are. us krehbiel-lotz's have been very busy lately. madeleine has been walking everywhere in her little sneakers and stirring up all kinds of trouble. she is petite with her little waist that can't hold up a pair of paints, but don't underestimate her strength. she will pull, lift, and push anything she wants. oh, and she got a bit of the stubborness that runs in my family. but she is a cuddler and snuggler.

ice cream, we all scream! its what we like to do around these parts. and whatever you do...don't try to take a cone out of madis hand. unless you want all hell to break to loose.

we went out on our first bike ride of the season today. the dark clouds were starting to roll in, but i was too excited to try out madis "new" bike seat. (a total score for only five bucks at the thrift store! i just sewed new fabric over the "too hidious to even be under my kid" original seat pad) all was a success except that madi is not too fond of wearing her helmet. when she waddles around the apartment in her diaper and helmet, she looks like a little space creature/robot about to chant, 'take me to your leader'. anyway, i envision a lot more evening rides in the near future.

and we're back!

2008-04-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

hey all! well we are delighted to have been informed by the apple store genius that our computer is OK. it was more of "user error" problems. so here we are hangin with the carnies last light and kickin butt at ski ball. andrews got nothing on me and madi!

wahhh-wahhh

2008-04-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

i am totally bummed right now because my computer is dying a slow death, my kodak photo galery has crashed, and i may be spending the next week crying and hitting myself if the guy at the apple store can't help us retrieve all my photos and videos that i did not back up. (stupid, stupid, stupid!!!)

so, i can not access my photos to post any cute new pictures. sorry.
this will be the lamest blog you read today. sorry again.

my little lovie gets sauced (by mustard)

2008-04-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

today madeleine and i were out on a very long walk hoping for a nap to occur. and after we hit borders, the library, and the pretzel shop, the saucing takes place. i was so excited to have my pretzel dog and madi equally as happy to have her mini pretzel while we are headed home when i take my third bite which ends in total disaster and dissapointment. as i push the stroller with one hand and hold my pretzel dog to my mouth with the other, the hotdog FLYS out the other end of the pretzel which shoots downward leaving a huge mustard line starting on the stroller hood, then madis head, her coat, her hand, her right pantleg, her right shoe, and on the sidewalk where it rolls down to the street. now picture a kid who just lost her ice cream. thats me. so 10 minutes later after madi finally falls asleep....i take her pretzel out from under her hand and eat it.

now you will think i am such a mean mother when you hear how sweet she is and how i steal her pretzels. she has been so lovie dovie lately i can hardly hold in how cute she is without crying and squeezing her too tight. everymorning i find her laying across my belly and when we both open our eyes she smiles and then noozles under my chin and hugs me. then throughout the day she blows me kisses from across the room and kisses my back when i am leaned over on the floor coloring with her. it must be her way of making up for all the pinching she does to the sensitive area on the back of my arms when i cary her!

this time last year, we were just getting to know eachother, laying in bed, staring at each other, learning how to breastfeed and be breastfed. now i am learning her favorite combos of food for bread cassaroles, and she is learning how to eat and drink instead of nursing. i can't believe how fast this year flew by. good thing i have about 5000 pictures and 30 videos of it...

birthdays, balloons, tissues + thermometers

2008-04-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

yesterday madi turned ONE! she had a fun weekend with her OPA here visiting, but had a fever for two days. we thought that we had cleared the winter dodging the colds and flues, and then it hit. for the last week madeleine and i have had all the symptoms of both. but madi has a chance to celebrate her birthday all over again on saturday when we go to the ZOO. she just started making animal noises on command which is hilarious..kitty says meow, lion says roar, and dog says dow...well she knows two out of three:) i made a carrot cake as requested by the opa and this weekend i'll make a strawberry shortcake. mmm....madi LOVES strawberries. following closely in mamas footsteps! (pictures to come soon, for some reason they aren't uploading right now)

i took my first steps today! and i got a new book.

2008-03-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

madeleine had croup over the weekend but is doing much better today. so much better that she was able to WALK away from the chair after she was done nursing!

i'll tell ya, this whole kid thing is crazy. one minute there is a growing belly, and then you blink and you have a walking baby! this is amazing.

weekend whirlwind

2008-03-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

what a weekend,,,i think this is the first time in three days i have had a chance
to sit down (without nursing) and get on the computer. andrew and i took the
train to nyc saturday morning to get away for a "mini anniversary trip". first we went to a few markets and then headed to chelseas market which is AMAZING. There we had ice cream with Amy (who is Siri's sister-inlaw) at the Milk Bar which was so good and Thank you for that super cute egg + avocado shirt. as you can see in the photo, madi is proud to rock your hoods name, though all that rockin really pooped her out.

Then we did a little shopping on our our way back towards Penn Station. so it was a fast but fun trip. Sunday was easter so after church we spent the day at my aunt dianes visiting with family. and eatting...and eatting...

the countdown is on for Dieters visit: 10 days

silly, silly girl...

2008-03-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

this little girl is the laughiest girl i've ever met. you can get her to giggle at anything.
or just ask her where her bellybutton is and she thinks that is a riot! she pulls up her
shirt, pokes her outie with one pointed index finger very carefully and then hee, hee, hee.
which is a quiet and deep sounding little laugh. or she might get really excited if you
start to sing, and then she bounces across the floor on her knees while clapping and
laughing which is a high pitched squeeky laugh. there are many different ones. she
cracks me up.

well, we are getting ready to celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary tomorrow!
so for any of you who had doubts about us when we first got ingaged since we only
dated for 4 months before andrew surprisingly proposed...ha! still going strong!

so normally we celebrate by going to the Kennedy School in Portland, Oregon for
the weekend. but since we are now right coasters, we must forge a new tradition.
so...my mother is going to watch madi all day saturday while andrew and i take the
train to NYC. we don't have any concrete plans for the day other then going to the
Hell's Kitchen Fleamarket. we might go get lunch in greenwich village, that was one
thing on my list to do last year that we never made it to. we have already
done the museums and the ferry ride. we want to stick to walking, and we get dropped
off at penn station. any ideas?

madi-lion is eleven months, roarrrrrrrrrrrrr!

2008-03-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

i am so sorry to all of our weekly blog readers, who are most likely very upset with me
for not posting lately. i have been working in my spare time (when madi sleeps) and
getting together with people now that we have made some friends. i remember when
madi would just play and nurse completly ignoring the computer. now she has a fit anytime she see's
it because ahe would love to do a little typing (pounding) herself. so alas i have a minute
to update you on our lives. so lets see....i take madeleine to a play group every friday
morning at the treehouse cafe which she loves. it looks like an urban rainforest with big
green fabric leaves hanging from the ceiling and wood toys galore. it actually doesn't open
to the public until this week, but the owners have been letting a group of babies/kids meet
there weekly while they have been working on it since its too cold to meet a park. so i think
our playgroup will soon be outside with the treehouse cafe being our rainy day fallback.

andrew has been sewing A LOT. even at this very moment. he makes hats, one after another.
i have a pair of jeans sitting in the sewing room for him to hem, but i think they have been
there for about 2 months now... Lets see...he has been riding his bike downtown to his job
on the fairmont park path, 17 miles i think. it saves on gas for the car and he gets some alone
time before and after work which he likes.

I have been working on plans for madi's birthday, her baptism, and my fathers visit. i have also
been working the past two weeks for PIPER + OLIVE. I drive around to childrens shops and show
them our clothes. then during the week i call and email places and set up appointments for the next weekend.
its fun because i get to spend saturdays out of the house and get to explore
philadelphia a bit. the only thing that is a negative about the job is that i need to excercise very
strong will power not to buy things (and i mean very cute things!) for madi. all those shops are
very tempting!

but since her birthday is aproaching, i have my eyes on a couple of things. she is very into
animals and anything kitchen related. so we are going to take her to the zoo and get her
some of those wood/velcro fruits and veggies.

she took her first step the other day, and none since. but she is super outgoing, waving and
doing her "extreme smile" to everyone who passes. it is hard to catch on film because its fast
but i got a blury example here for you to see.

oh, we have also started baking our bread. so far, we've made 4 different recipies and some biscuts
and muffins. i have to say, it tastes so much better when you've made it yourself. i was always
so hesitant and everytime i passed my bread book for the past 5 years, it just sat there mocking me.
well i decided that i would face my fears head on...and make some bread! and to my surprise,
it is just as easy as making cookies. it also doesn't take all day, just 5 min to mix, 5 min to knead,
i hour to rise, and 35 min to cook. if you want to try, just email me and i'll send you some recipies.

lovechop

2008-02-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

Hip HIp Hooray!

2008-02-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

Bean was born today! well that won't be his name once tammy and keith pick one, but we saw him 15 minutes after he was born and he is CUTE!!! i will post some pictures of him soon, once tammy has had a day to rest i will revisit and take some.

the labor was fast and fabulous, delivered at the birth center naturally and vaginally just like tammy was wanted. yay! i am an auntie and madi has a cousin to spend many fun summers at the beach with! Congrats Tam Tam!

Oh, and HAppy Birthday Christian and Emily!!! wow, three family members with the same birthday!
MAdeleine is ready to party!

Lets take a poll

2008-02-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

who thinks that a babies first word is: the first time the baby uses an actual word to identify something (for example; reaches arms up at me and says "mama") or when the baby just says something that is a word, but uses it out of context? (example; "dada dada dadadadadaada" while looking at a spoon, or licking the sofa)

know that your answer WILL determine whose friend you really are!

10 months tomorrow!

2008-02-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

okay, fine. i'll do it.

2008-01-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

cheeeeeze pleeeease

2008-01-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

saturday is ALMOST over

2008-01-26T18:09:00.000-08:00

today we got up at the crack of dawn to get packed up for the day and load into the car. we drove to the YMCA where madeleine and andrew are taking swim class. but today was a special "meet your neighbors" breakfast that we decided to go to before class. then madi had her weekly fun of kicking and splashing and seeing the kids. then we drove an hour to unionville and met my aunt constance at this really neat woodshop and gallery. (a little fieldtrip for andrew) then we drove another half hour to my mothers in west chester where we hung out for the afternoon eatting hoagies. then we drove home through miles and miles of beautiful rolling hills because we were tired of the same old major roads and it was sooo worth the few extra minutes. theeen we cleaned the house up and made chicken soup and vanilla pudding. now the baby is sleeping and andrew and i are watching seven year itch. but andrews head is bobbing and my vision is getting blury, so it may be time to call it a day.

oh, and yesterday i got a job working for Piper + Olive (piperandolive.com) i'm super excited and start in two weeks or so

summer recap....baby in a box

2008-01-26T18:06:00.000-08:00

search and destroy!

2008-01-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

And in the ninth month there was crawling.

2008-01-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

Thats right, she crawls! On thursday night out of the corner of my eye, i caught her crawl foward once with the left knee, and then once with the right knee. So Andrew and i spent the rest of the evening watching her and coaxing her with treats. but nothing. friday...nothing. and then saturday, she's a pro! its so crazy to see her shuffle across the floor like a little turtle. or a bug. a love bug. so now we're running around trying to babyproof and make sure that there aren't any random little things on the ground that she can get, like a penny or a chunk of dirt from her stroller. but her favorite destination is actually the bookshelf, so after watching grays anatomy lst week where dr bailys little baby gets smooshed by their bookshelf, i'm super paranoid. but i think everything looks safe now with plenty of books she can play with, and her toys. oh ellen, she LOVES the jack in the box with curious george! she starts bobbing up and down which is her way of dancing. its SO cute! we took video of her crawling which i will try to get uploading later today.

Madeleines 9 Month Photo Shoot!

2008-01-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

Madi Mayhem...

2008-01-09T13:32:00.001-08:00

Oops, here is the scarfette on Emily...

2007-12-29T16:45:00.000-08:00

A liitle bit more christmas...

2007-12-29T16:31:00.000-08:00

here is emily wearing a scarfette that i made, along with some more happy bebe pictures. Enjoy! Oh, if you ever need a super quick cookie recipie, try these:

Loafs Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 3/4 cup flour
some walnuts and chocolate chips
cook at 375 for 10 minutes

De-lish!

Madeleines First Christmas

2007-12-29T15:28:00.000-08:00

wow....that went fast. we spent weeks preping and planning for the festivites and now its just over. but we had tons of fun with everyone, including stefan and his fiance emily, my mother and my east coast relatives. we threw a christmas gift swap or white elephant (i think evereyone has a different name for the game where you can steal eachothers gifts if you like someone elses better) we wanted to do some fun activities with stefan and emily, so we took them downtown to Reading termilnal which is a huge indoor farmers market. i had a delicious crepe and fresh squeezed carrot juice, mmm....anyway, we had a lovely holiday and madi has mastered her waving and will do it on command. if she hears hello or bye she gives this cute little sneaky smile with a dainty wave riding sidecar. everyone, including strangers are very impressed.

kussie kussie

2007-12-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

ATE

2007-12-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

I can not even believe that Madeleine is already 8 months old! Time really does fly. She just started pulling herself up on things, and by things i mean us. she also just learned that you can actually rest for a moment and lay your head down while on the belly and knees, but she is not crawling yet. She said "hi" to me the other day. her first word. now i kind of wish that i said hello more rather than hi. but its still cute.

My mother put her in this brown bag and she had a blast! kicking like a mad woman, and pulling down to peek-a-boo. she LOVES to play peek-a-boo. it doesn't matter if you jump out from around the corner or just close your eyes, it will make her crack up every time. tickling also gets her going. oh, and upside down girl. she is super silly!

Fa-lalalala, la, la, la, la.

2007-12-01T06:31:00.000-08:00

here are a few snow day pictures from last year in seattle. jesica with a steamy cup of joe. the sillouettes of siri and cade and sage playing in our yard of fluffy white goodness! also are a couple of new pictures of madeleine. for her fans :)

Tis the season! Oh how I LOVE Christmas! The day after turkey day we got went out in search of a cute little tree. first stop was a tree lot down the street, but poo...only big trees. so we got a cute little mini only a few inches larger than madi from outside the food market. oh well. maybe we will look for a tree farm next year when madi is bigger and we can make more of a day of it. but we have it all decorated and we strung lights around our windows inside. i am now allowed to play the christmas records and my mother brought over cognac to put in our hot cocoa! mmmm...

I have only bought one christmas gift so far, and it is for madi. of course. so i am planning on getting started tomorrow. today i am sick with a terrible sore throat and ears, so i am blogging instead of calling all my friends, to avoid talking. i am very tempted to start shopping on mintd.com or etsy.com but i can't miss the hussle and bustle that lets you know what time of year it is. every year jesica and i always did our holiday shopping together downtown which included a couple stops for chai and apple cider, i miss her a lot right now. but i will have to forge new traditions out here on the right coast (as people here like to call it). next weekend is Art Shop(www.indiecraftshows.com) downtown which is an indie craft and art fair, so i plan on getting some cider and spending some silver.

Mini loaf or roll (AKA madi) has just gotten over her sickness, and so operation sleep is now starting back up. She has been refusing sleep, waking up 5+ times a night and only taking tiny 30-45 min naps. this is not good. i obviously messed up somewhere and now i am paying for it. so if anyone has ANY tips for me, please tell me what to do! I am told to stop nursing at all during the night, and to give her more solids. so she is now eatting couscous with tomato and lime and quinua with avacado and mango. but the pasta and grain does not seem to = sleep. I will now try ANYTHING!

On a less frantic note, i am very excited for our holiday guests to start arriving! my brother stefan and his fiance emily will be here on the 19th and hopefully my father as well. then andrews mother ellen is coming january 3rd. and then jesica will be out sometime that month too. Hooray! I can't wait to see everyone, hopefully it will snow while they are here and we can go sledding over in the park! (i was not allowed to go last year since i was prego, but its ON this year!)

GOBLE, GOBLE.....

2007-11-22T07:37:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Thank you for your love and support as friends and family. You mean a lot to us. Enjoy the turkey and mashed potatos!

teeth

2007-11-20T08:33:00.000-08:00

a close up of the last photo will reveal her teeth!

Little Miss Smarty Pants

2007-11-20T06:52:00.001-08:00

This little baby can figure out anything. I was checking my email and I look over to see that she put andrews hat on her head! funny little baby!

well we are just getting ready for the double thanksgiving celebrations that will happen this week. thats right! two days of one of my favorite meals. mmmmand madi will even get to partake in the goodness. and this is definently a year to be thankful.

I am thankful for having this amazing thing that i love more than anything, Madeleine. I am thankful for this amazing man that loves me unconditionaly, Andrew. I am thankful for having a family that supports and listens and loves us. Thank you Mom, Dad, Ellen & Jeff, Stefan & Emily, Christian. We love you too! And I am so thankful to live by some of my family again, my aunts and unkies and Cousins, Tammy, thank you for being my friend too, i would be so lonely in this new city without having you to hangout with every week!

We wish all of you, friends and family, a wonderful Thanksgiving!
ps. sorry for all the mushiness, but sometimes its necessary;)

7 months + 2 teeth + 2 feet of moving

2007-11-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

madeline is 7 months old today and on the move. there are two things that she ALWAYS wants, besides to be nursed, my cell phone and my camera. so i held up my camera out in front of her like a rabbit at a greyhound race, and taunted her. and it worked. she didn't crawl..she scooted. while in sitting positon, she dug her little heels into the carpet and pulled her bottom foward. again and again for about two feet. then she gave up so i gave her the prize. it was super exciting. but maybe you need to be me to think so. also she has two teeth. bottom front. they hurt. her and i. but ver cute.

tomorrow we begin AQUA EXPLORERS! i like to say that like buzz lightyear says his name.
anyway, madi loves water and i would love to meet some other moms or dads. so i joined the community center which is like a mega sports complex that they have in europe. i hadn't seen such a big fun pool indoors since we lived in vienna. most likely i won't be able to fall asleep tonight because i will be too excited. its our first we-live-here-now-and-joined-something thing. yay!

oh, we also did our photo shoot for Madeleines cover photo for this years christmas card! thats right, you can now expect yearly cheesy holiday cards. and i expect some in return!

happy halloween!

2007-11-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

this was madeleines first holiday, and she did it like a pro! we began the day by stopping at the doctors because she has a cough, and then headed over to pick up emmie (my mom) and then we spent the day at peddlers village. its a cute little village where you peddle your goods, though we did no peddling, we did buying. yummu popcorn soaked in toffee, rose scented soap, and lots of window oodling. then we stopped over at julies (my babysitter growing up) and she just had her third baby chelsea, who is sitting with madi on the couch!

well. we are settling right in now. andrew got a new job at a building firm called mc coubry & obenhauser that he starts tomorrow! he is so excited and i am so proud of him for getting the job that he wanted the most and the first place he even interviewed at. its a lot like JAS was in seattle, high end remodeling lots of finish carpentry. their office is only like 2 minutes from our apartment and they generaly work close by in all the ginormas stone houses around here. we go on walks past these houses and i imagine one day living in a modestly sized stone house around here, with a christmas tree in the window and a fire in the fire place that santa could actualy fit down, and gardening while madeleine plays in the the yard. one day.

now that i don't have to clean my house for showings everyday, or plan a move across the country, i have decided to start enriching my life (and madis) by doing some learning. so.. madi and i start a swim class on thursday evening which she will find to be fantastic, and i bought some yarn and a pattern to knit madi a sweater. also there are two stores and a farmers market that sell local produce and meat, so i am going to teach myself to cook all the recipies that i flip past in my cook books because they look too hard. so i think we are going to have a lovely winter.

trains, no planes, and automobiles

2007-10-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

well, we are here! we left seattle 2 weeks ago on a train, traveled through washington, idaho, montana, north dakota, wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan. we got off the train in ann arbor and stayed at my fathers for a week. we went pumpkin picking and ate lots of yummy food. thanks for the amazing goulash dad! then we bought a car (volvo wagon) and drove to cleveland to see josies new baby braulie (so cute!) we were there for a blink of an eye and then drove the final leg to philadelphia which i was dreading because madeleine despises the car seat, but she was so good and slept more than half of the 7 hours and only decided to have a fit the last 15 minutes while we were driving through our new neighborhood of chestnut hill. yay! unfortunately it has been raining since we got here on wednesday evening so we haven't done too much exploring yet. yesterday we found our favorite new coffee spot and everyone must have known that we are from seattle and used to the rain because we were the only people walking down germantown ave in the pouring rain while drinking our coffees. (madi was snuggled up in the stroller in her winter coat with a rain cover over her) when the sun comes out i will take some pictures of the new hood to share.

Our best friend and my first baby

2007-10-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

Dear little Sage has moved on to her next life...(probrobly as a dalmation that works on a fire truck) the night before we left seattle her stomach flipped upside down, and she was put to sleep. her ashes were scattered in an apple orchard in washington. she wasn't in pain long and she had a great last day spent with us in the VW bus which was her favorite thing to do in the whole wide world. we loved her so much and she was the best dog that i could have ever asked for. We miss you Sage!

SOLD

2007-10-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

we took you under our wing, polished you up, and set you free!
good bye house...

Its a done deal!!!

2007-09-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Thats right, we sold our house! Hooray! After a looong two years + 4mo. we are finished working on this house. Aaaaand we are moving in three weeks! yikes. On October 12th we close and the next day we are leaving seattle. We haven't worked out all the details yet, but we are planning a cross country adventure. Which may or may not include a train, visiting dad and brother, josie and leslie, and landing in Philly.
So we will keep you all updated as things are figured out, but we are as happy as clams. love, us.

Andrew & I have ventured into the crafts again...

2007-09-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

thats right. we are selling Baby Bags on a different blog dedicated to our crafts. so check out http://anivia-babybag.blogspot.com/

Bon Appetit!

2007-09-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

Madeleine has entered the wonderful world of food! She decided she was ready when she grabbed a handful of lemon italian water ice out of my cup and ate it before i could stop her (a girl after my own heart, i LOVE lemon!) So once we returned to seattle, andrew and i rushed off to whole foods to buy her some lovely organic avacados, bananas, and sweet potatoes. mmmmmmm....

faire thee well!

2007-08-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

Madeleine and I are off tonight to Philadelphia! we are going to see my mom who is soooooo excited to see her little granddaughter who she hasn't seen since madi was 2 weeks old. we are going to the shore (ocean city) and then will be visiting friends and family. so here are some pictures to last you the next 2 weeks and we'll be back on september 7th will a whole new load of awesome photos! have a great labor day! LOVE, OLIVIA AND MADI

SLEEP!

2007-08-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

today madi and i went to a family bed meet up with other mamas trying to do the same. It was great getting to meet with these ladies, seeing as how i normally just read what they think through our online group. ps Your babies are adorable! so we got some tips and chatted and talked about sleep in general. by the way andrew and i are making sleep sacks to sell since madis was such a sucess. they will be up for sale in september on our new blog dedicated to things we are making www.anivia-babybag.blogspot.com (we will also post pictures of the exersaucer we are going to attempt)

our little bebe is growing sooo fast!

2007-08-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

well madi has decided that its time to move on, she isn't interested in her bouncy seat much these days, and prefers not to be in her swing (unless its nap time). she just wants to stand and sit straight up. so i think we need to trade out our little baby gear for the next phase. i need to get her a jumper to hang in the doorway and an exersaucer, but heres the thing; i'm a big believer in the "don't over stimulate the baby theory". i do think it causes frustration and crankiness. so i'm having a hard time finding an exersaucer that doesn't do that. there are sooo many toys built onto each one. so i drew up plans to build one. i'm not sure if it will work, but i am going to leave my drawings with andrew while me and madi are in philly and see if he has time to work on it while we are gone. i will let you know how it goes...but i did find an excellent jumper! it is called the airy-fairy baby jumper by haba. its on the pricy side, but it is clothe with a multi-colored paracute canopy that the baby can look up at! it is so neat, and it says 8+ mo.but i beg to differ. i think she'd love it! you can see it on babystyle.com or moolka.com which is where we set up a wish list so that i don't loose track of what we want.(i'll probrobly buy it from babystyle if i can't find it used somewhere because it is $16 cheaper there)

if any of you moms have any advice on good learning gear for this age please let me know, thanks!

the 4 month doctor appointment

2007-08-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

well, madi was a very brave girl yesterday. andrew and i decided two weeks ago (following our ER visit for the petichial rash) that we were going to get her vaccinated for what we think she could be exposed to. after our doctor informed us that the reason we were sent to the ER two weeks ago was because they had a baby a year ago who had the same rash, and he died 3 hours later from a type of menengitis. so that was enough to take her in yesterday. Her stats for the visit was: weight-14 lbs. head-41.2 cm length-25.5 in.(75th-90th percentile!) so thats why she is already wearing 6 month pj's and onsies!

oh, did i mention that madeleine and i are going to philly? yup, in a week and a half we'll be there. august 21st until september 7th. madis first plane trip!

a little birdy told me...

2007-08-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Wanna buy a house?

2007-08-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

for everyone wondering if we have sold our house yet, no. it has been up for sale for 28 days now. we were about 3 weeks too late for the buying frenzy that seattle summers are known for. so we are enjoying living in our finished home, but going crazy wondering when and what and how. i will keep everyone up to date as things happen, but we may need to wait until september when the fish start to bite again. but here is a link to view pictures of our house. we are soooo happy that the work is done!
http://www.windermere.com/tid185770

lists...

2007-08-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I lay in bed at night feeding madi, I make lists in my head. So last night I lay there thinking about what things in life make me happy. And I realized that in my almost 27 years of life, I have learned what I can skimp on and what you need to pay the bucks for. And I think I've narrowed my material item list down to 4 things that i refuse to compromise on; meat, cheese, jeans, and body products.

With that said, I don't want you to think that my money gets dumped into whole foods, nordstroms, or sephora. these are special occasion items for me. on a daily basis i welcome with open arms groccery outlet, consignment stores (bootyland, pregnant pause, buffalo exchange) and my cheap ass car. (i won't even get into that...) but when it comes to meat, i like to know that its natural, i like expensive delicious cheese, i like my jeans to last years staying in perfect shape and make me look better than i do (which i think justifies the price, am i wrong?) and i like to buy yummy smelling products in beautiful packaging. i won't lie, i totally judge a book by its cover. oh, that just reminded me of another item, books. i admit that i get too much joy out of getting a new wonderful book at the bookstore. Going to the library just doesn't do the same thing for me. Now don't get me wrong, I love the library too, but its for a different day, a different mood. So I guess those are the 5 things on my list of material items.

And for my non-material things that make me happy; madeleine laughing, the smell of autumn, cuddling in bed under a down blanket, swimming under water, the sound of the ocean, and looking at old photos.

If anyone wants to email me their lists of happy makers, i'd love to read them!

Laugh Fest 2007

2007-08-03T11:24:00.001-07:00

roll me over.... in the clover!

2007-08-03T10:51:00.001-07:00

madi has been rolling over all week! front to back, back to front, whatever!
she's also teething which is not so fun, we love those frozen washclothes...
shes a big fan of the bumbo seat, thanks tammy! we have also been going to the library and wading pool, i know shes a little young to really enjoy either, but she loves to people watch, so thats what we do. she has taken fondly to the sling, thanks siri! and getting her out of it while asleep,....well i'm working on that.

Feel free to comment again!

2007-07-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

after several people asked me why they can't leave comments, i have finaly looked into
the problem and solved it! just call me nancy drew.

me & my bebe

2007-07-25T14:15:00.000-07:00

papas girl

2007-07-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

we are soooooooo happy to see more of andrew now that the house is finished. (WOW, i thought i'd never hear myself say that about the house) but its true. we're done and now we're just relaxing and waiting for someone to buy it. then we are off to the next adventure, whatever that may be!

so andrew has been doing a lot of father daughter bonding; taking her on walks, playing airplane, baths, changing diapers, and cuddling on the couch. madeleine thinks he's tops! she cracks up when he sings to her, (funny made up songs that would make anyone crack up) but here are some pics of her and papa and one with me and her (which is rare)

i'd really like to view some more blogs, so if any of you can let me know about some good ones, email me! thanks!

My... How Time Flys!

2007-07-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

I was just looking back over all the photos since madeleine was born, and i just can't believe how little she was only a few months ago! she is like a full grown baby now! with little rolls and a huge personality! everyone told me that they grow fast, and boy were they right. just today andrew was telling me how he misses seeing her as a new born. he said that it was so amazing to see her so new, and i think its amazing how everyday now is my most favorite age.

well at any rate, i can't wait for my family to see her again, because last time they saw her she was only 2 weeks and 4 weeks. now she is 3 1/2 months! so here are some pictures from my moms visit at 2-4 weeks when we took madi to the arboretum. (sorry mom! i had to put up the silly picture of you!) and also pictures from when my dad and brother came at 4 weeks. stefan was actually forced to hold her here, but he looks totally natural! and my dad was great with her, looks like i found a babysitter!

play time with evan and a mommie!

2007-07-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

a weekend at grammies

2007-07-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

well, it has been quite a while since i've had a moment to sit down, upload photos and video, and write on our blog. but better now than never. for those of you that i haven't talked to, its been super busy for us getting the house finished and up for sale. but we did it! it listed on wednesday and then there was an open house for brokers on thursday and a public open house on sunday.

we borrowed christians reliable car "billy" and went to spokane from thursday morning until sunday evening. we stayed at my mother-in-laws who lives in a rural area just north of the city on a huge lot that sage loved running around on and chasing deer.
andrew and i rode tubes down the river and drank rootbeer floats. we met jeffs family and visited jill. and on saturday ellen and jeff watched madeleine while andrew and i went to ceour d'alane, idaho to see the musical The Full Montey which ellen got us tickets to. Thank You Ellen! it was hilarious!

Now for the amazing thing that happened. earlier in the day before we left for ceour d'alane, i got a call from my aunt joan who i haven't seen since last summer and lives in colorado and switzerland. she tells me that she's in ceour d'alane! she had talked to my mother earlier in the day who is the only person that knew we were even going there...insane! joan says that she doesn't believe in coincidence and that we were supposed to see eachother. so andrew and i had a lovely dinner with joan and ueli at the Resort on the lake before the play. what a fun day.

so now we are back at home relaxing and talking about our move to hudson, ny.
keep your fingers crossed that the house sells soon!

thanks for the t-shirt katya!

2007-07-16T22:07:00.001-07:00

independance evening

2007-07-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

siri jarred and cade brought the best chicken ever!

dan and rina flipped some tasty burgers.

and john and andrew loved those root beer floats

after a long day of working on the house!

fatty patty

2007-07-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

boy, oh boy

2007-07-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

here are a few pictures from last weeks visit from mara and oliver and siri and cade

new nappys

2007-06-30T13:37:00.001-07:00

bang bang

2007-06-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

so begins sages least favorite week of the year, fourth of july. last night as i finally got to bed after packing until midnight, thinking, hmmm this is nice, baby is asleep, andrew is asleep, and now i will get to sleep, atleast until 2 or 3. well i was wrong. firecrackers from the alley behind the house. lovely.

pepper nose

2007-06-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

well yesterday started out like any other day. a little packing, a walk, checking the email, a nap, and then we went to the farmers market in columbia city. which i recommend everyone to go to because they have a big park next to the market where you can go eat your veggie quesidias and ice cream. (through shear miricale i have had enough will power to resist)
oh, madi is wearing my velour candy jumper from when i was a bebe. anyway, we went to this cute childrens store on the main drag after the park, and i was once again overwhelmed (as was i the the day before after going to clover- another childrens botique) with wanting to live there. yes, you understood correctly. i want to live in a childrens store. its just so...i can't find the words. but i love it. so when i got home, i run to the computer. google. hudson, ny. toy store........nothing! sweet! i run in to andrew, "i've got it! when we get to ny, lets open a childrens store where you can make furniture, well small furniture, and i can finally be a small business owner like i've always dreamed of. madi can go to work with us, because of course its all about the small people."
he paused a moment from nail gunning trim up the wall, and said, "yeah.... we could do that." (you should know that this a positive and GOOD response to the idea. he is so tired right now that he can fall asleep standing up) BRILLIANT!

okay, so a possibly big step made so far. the rest of the day backpeddels from there. i decide that i am going to make a delicious dinner for andrew with goat cheese stuffed peppers and raviolli. and then i am going to clean the kitchen and finally do the dishes. (i can't do dishes whenever madi is sleeping because it is the ONE noise that wakes her up) so i begin cooking and of course try a bite of the cheese which proves to be a tad hotter than i had wanted it. its rolled in pepper. and my next step is to put it in peppers. what was i thinking. well the smell started to make my nose run, and while i was blowing it, got actual pepper from my fingers in there. don't ask. wow, this is starting to hurt. um...andrew? how do i get the burning to stop?! milk. he says. ok. so i dip my fingers in milk and try to put it up there. crap! i forgot to wash my hands! ouwww!!! more burning!!! well this goes on for a while, so i'll skip ahead two hours. we never eat the stuffed peppers. i hate them now. so i'm doing the dishes, and now i burn all my fingers on my left hand with scortching hot water. (note to self, turn the temp down on the water heater) so i decide, i need to go to bed, lets go madi. ouch, why does my big toe suddenly hurt? so i check it out, and i don't know why..but for some reason it is red and swollen and i can't even touch it. day over.

why don't they make these for big people?

2007-06-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

shorter & cuter talking for the g-parents

2007-06-27T15:49:00.001-07:00

madeleine in the morning

2007-06-27T14:40:00.001-07:00