Man of the House

I am feeling sentimental today. It could be from the country tunes I was listening to on the radio, or just because I am hormonal and feel like a time bomb, ready to go off any minute... but nobody knows when.

In any case, I have been thinking lately about how a Dad gets pretty forgotten when a baby is on the way. The Mommy is constantly asked how she is feeling, and she frequently gives her own opinion of how she is feeling (a.k.a. complaining). Baby-to-be gets lots of planning, measuring, and gifting on her behalf... and even Big Sister is worried over and receives special treatment. But Dad just sits on sidelines, expected to listen, soothe, do dishes, rub backs, change diapers, and everything else the Mommy doesn't have energy for. This is all aside from the hard work he does during the day to provide for the needs of his family.

Needless to say, Mike deserves a pat on the back. He works hard for us and comes home with a smile, always ready to play with Maddie, help around the house, work on his calling, and listen to my feelings of the day. I don't tell him enough, but I am a lucky girl. Come to think of it, we're all lucky girls, all 2.9 of us. So here are just a few things we love about him:

He is adventurous

He is zany!

He's got some brains!

(Above accomplishment occurred after spending way too much time HERE!)

He loves kids (something I knew would benefit me eventually)

He can build things!

And fix things!

He is helpful.

He enjoys the outdoors (and carries the load)

He looks good in a suit.
(Incidentally, this was exactly one year ago, 11/11. Isn't it amazing how fast kids change?)


He is a good story reader.

He is fun.

He is fun.

Did I mention he is fun?

He is snuggly.

I could go on and on, but instead YOU help me out! What do you like about our guy?

Hanging out w/ Dad at the Park

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

"Yesterday my dad took me to the park for some fun! I love riding in my bike trailer."

"He didn't tell me that the buckets behind me were filling up with water."
Look out below!!

"Must hold Cheerios in vice-like grip, even if my life is in danger and I have to hold on with only one hand."

I like to make friends with anyone my size. This is Kylee. She let me crawl all over her in the "tube" and slide into her on the slide at a high rate of speed. My dad said something about dislocating her thoracic 5-7 vertebrae, I guess he'll fill me in later.

" Just warming up folks! Go on, say it . . .yes, the technique is without equal"

"Bring on Mt Everest! Sir Edmund Hillary, you ain't got nothing.

Is it colder than Vegas at 29,000 feet?"

"Without any prodding, I suddenly jumped up and started swinging like a monkey. My dad thought I was cool."

"Even while posing, I do not let go of my Cheerios!"

"Later, I thanked my dad for taking me to the park by giving him a facial massage."

"Check out my new hat. Do you think I look like a little Scandinavian girl?"

NOVEMBER

This is a big month for us! First things first... did you VOTE??? Maddie was the cutest and littlest person in line at 6:45 a.m. this morning. Darn time change is getting us up early anyway, so why not go at the crack of dawn?

Oh, then there's that other thing coming up... there are officially 20 days until our baby girl's due date! (the ticker is a little off) We got some newborn diapers, registered at the hospital, and I'm working on deep cleaning my house, reading my nursing/baby books, and holiday shopping... are we ready? WHO KNOWS!!!

Last but not least, November brings Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays. Okay, they're all my favorite, but it's up there. I found the sweetest idea here to help get us in the proper spirit this year (she provides a PDF link that you can print). Every day we are going to think of something we are thankful for, and then something we can do to serve someone else. We have so many blessings... it will do my heart good to better recognize them and share them.

Before I sign off I have to share some more Maddie moments! We love this little girl and can't wait to meet her baby sister.

I think it is time for a dress-up box!

UH-OH. The first writing on the wall incident. Good thing it was just colored pencil and washed off with Windex. She ended up here (Mike took it from far away so as to not distrupt).

She thought this was too funny!

Just hanging out!

We had a mid-day, mid-week picnic with Daddy. Maddie is still talking about it!

Following the leader... or chasing!

New 'do

Saturday we decided it was time for Maddie's
first haircut!
Her curls are darling but the mullet was really getting out of hand.

Before

After

It turned out shorter than I wanted (blasted wet hair always does that!) and I got a little teary eyed when I looked at her. My little girl is growing up!

Look how sweet... My mommy saved my first lock of hair too, and I was only a few months older than Maddie.

All Hallow's Eves

We are tuckered out! We had so many Halloween activities, I am honestly not sorry to put the orange and black away for a year. But now for the costume unveiling...

Maddie the Froggie! She is really good at hopping and saying ribbit!

And here's our bun in the oven. Mike is of course the Bun Maker. You may have seen this when we did it two years ago, but we are in a different area now and had to do it again!

We had multiple Halloween excursions... here is the fam at our church Trunk-or-Treat.

How sweet is that?

Then we visited Dad at work for a Desk-or-treat.

Maddie can't get enough sugar. Good thing I can still hide (and eat) her candy!

And of course there was the official neighborhood Trick-or-Treating! Maddie got the hang of it real quick, although she turned mute at every door. I guess they couldn't resist those blue eyes and froggie freckles!

We took some cute videos--here's the door approach. Mike and I agreed that she seems SO grown up here!

Watch this for a lesson on cleaning up!! :) Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!