Our first try with Video

So this video is really outdated but this is our first try to get it up. Mike helped us out to get this on here. This video is actually from the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving. Simone, Jaclynn, and Maddy were leaving to visit Aundrea and fam the next day. This is Maddy's first time she laughed hysterically. It's pretty funny to watch.
PS. Dad's first blog even though it's under Mom's name.
Click here to watch the video.

8 Months...

and walking

Well, this week has been an extremely exciting one for our family. Maddy really started gaining confidence in her balance skills and has adventured off into the world of walking. Obviously at this point she falls a lot but every once and awhile she will do really well and walk across the room. She can stand for quite awhile now too. She is just so amazing! I'm not sure where she gets her athleticism.

Anyway, today is her 8 month birthday so we had to take pictures, as we do every month on the 23rd. As you can see from the picture above it isn't so easy now because she just wants to walk right at the camera. We did get a few cute ones though...




Mike, Marnie, and Kendal came over for fish fry. Yummy! Jason and I have been waiting a year for our church's lenten fish fry. Maddy and Kendal ate lemons!

Marnie bought the girls easter flower headbands. Kendal loved hers and smiled pretty for the camera. Maddy on the other hand wasn't liking it, probably because it wouldn't stay on her irregularly shaped head.

After dinner we let the girls play. It was so funny because at one point they both wanted the walker/rider. Kendal loves to ride cars while Maddy loves to push it and walk around the house.

It got pretty ugly. Maddy didn't like Kendal poking her and pulling her hair so she decided to head bang her. It ended with both of them crying.
We have some funny video from the two of them fighting. I'll have Jason edit it and get it up maybe this weekend. We'll post some video of her walking then too. Hopefully, I'll get the Hawaii posts up too. Ugh...there's so much to do.

Fifth Tooth; Bananas; Biscuits

Maddy is just cutting teeth left and right lately and her mood has been a direct reflection. She has been very moody and crabby during the days, but then in the evening much happier. In fact, this week during the evenings she has really been trying to walk by herself. She can walk between Jason and I a few steps but then falls forward. Tonight I counted 6-7 steps. A few times she even was able to stop herself and then start again before falling. This morning she pulled herself up from a seated position all by herself too. I think she is really ready to start moving. Jason and I really need to safe guard the house.

Last week in Hawaii we started giving Maddy fresh fruit. We didn't get any pictures though so I took one of her with a banana this week. I had one of her with the whole banana in her mouth but it was a bit pornographic appearing so I deleted it. So instead I've settled for one of her dropping it in her lap, which happens a lot because the banana is so slippery.


One more quick picture of Maddy from the other night. She was eating a biscuit and it quickly became a mess. She had biscuit slime everywhere, including her hair. Luckily, bath time was on the agenda right after dessert.

Cousins

Here are a bunch of pictures of Maddy with all her cousins from this weekend up north.

Izzy and new day old cousin Jack

Cousin Brooke showing Maddy how to play with a toy

Maddy and Izzy love their new cousin Addisyn
I wonder is Izzy will be that excited about her new baby brother or sister that's soon to arrive

Maddy, Izzy, and myself admiring baby Addisyn
Jaelyn isn't so interested in her sister

Maddy, Izzy, and John V taking a bath before church

Jack Michael Kriegl

The Kriegl's finally got another boy. Now the girl:boy ratio is at 6:2, so lil' John has a buddy to play with. We are all so thrilled that Joe has a son. Jack Michael was born on Friday morning, February 16th at 12:30 am after a long and miserable labor for Laura. He weighed in at 7 lb 7 oz and measured 19 in.

Jack Michael

Proud sister Jordyn with new brother Jack

Another New Cousin

Joe and Laura had a BABY BOY either last night or early this morning. Joe called us at 2 am our time to share the news. Obviously, since I was out of it and Joe was tired after being up 2 nights in a row our conversation was short. All I really caught was both Laura and our new baby boy are doing well. I will post the rest of the details after we return from our visit up north to meet the 2 new babies.

One more quick piece of info...Maddy's fourth tooth has broken through.

Maddy's First Valentines Day

Maddy says, "Happy Valentines Day!"
and sends lots of hugs and kisses to all her valentines.

Here she is showing off her new monkey Miss Dangles, her valentine's day present from her godparents.

Good thing Brooke and Brad spoil her because with us just getting home last night Jason and I didn't have anything for her. Thanks Brooke and Brad!

Well, as I said we returned home from Kauai last night. We were lucky to have made it since the midwest was hit with a huge snow storm and most airports were cancelling flights. It was so depressing first of all that our vacation was over, but that much worse coming home to a storm. Here's what Maddy thinks of coming home:

"Oh, its so cold...I hate this weather and snow!
Where did the sun, beach, palm trees, and green grass go?"

"Seriously...take me back to Hawaii...NOW...PLEASE!

Maddy did pretty well last night considering the time change. We put her to bed at about 9:30 pm and she woke up at 12:30 am just screaming. I wasn't sure what to think...that is 7:30 pm Hawaii time so I wasn't sure if she thought she was waking up from a nap or what. Anyway, I decided to feed her a bottle to see if she would go back down, which always seems to work. She did fall back asleep and then slept until 9:30 am, which was kinda nice because I got to sleep in. She's doing well today but tomorrow she has to get up early for daycare so I'm a little apprehensive.

Laura is being induced tonight so Maddy should have a new cousin tomorrow. We are really excited to get the news. We are headed up north this weekend to see the two new babies in the family as long as Maddy adjusts okay to the time change. Stay posted for the baby news and hopefully I can start getting posts up from our vacation soon.

Kauai: Last Day

Where did the time go? I can't believe our trip is about over. Since our flight didn't leave until until 11 pm, we got to enjoy the entire day. We spent time swimming in the pool, shopping for gifts and souvenirs in Poipu, eating Puku dogs and lemonade (which made Grandma sick), sharing shaved ice on the beach right before sunset, and then enjoying our last sunset. Our trip was absolutely wonderful. It was great vacationing with my parents and with Madelynn. I love Kauai and can't wait to go back.

Kauai: Day 9

After such a long day yesterday, we decided today we would lay low and just enjoy the scenery. We spent a good part of the day down at the pool. The weather was perfect for relaxing and playing cribbage. Maddy broke out in a really bad rash on her face this morning though. I don't know what its from but it looks really painful.

We knew our opportunities to enjoy the sunsets we becoming slim to none, so we took advantage of the beautiful sky and enjoyed the sunset down at the Beach House Restaurant.

Kauai: Day 8

Today Jason, my dad, Dan, and I were off to Oahu for the Pro Bowl. Maddy must have known that she was going to be without mom and dad today, because she woke up at 5:30 am and didn't want to go back to sleep. Jason and I were actually okay with it because we got to play with her for an hour before we had to leave for the airport.

We flew into Honolulu and then took a bus to the Aloha Stadium in Pearl City, Oahu. We got to the stadium a few hours before the gates even opened so we walked around the parking lot and went to the free tail gate to look around and buy t-shirts. We tried to go in as soon as the gates opened, however, Jason and I had a problem because we accidentally had our video camera in our bag and they were prohibited. So we had to go to security and check it in. Needless to say the extra time it took us to get through security caused us to miss the NFC players entering the field right by our seats with their street clothes on. What a bummer.

The game was a lot of fun. The AFC won 31-29 though. It was really hot in the stadium and the sun was on us the entire game. Dan actually ended up with heat stroke he thinks. It started to rain just as we were leaving the game and getting on the bus. It was neat because there was a bright rainbow behind the stadium.

I was really missing Maddy, so I was happy when we were able to jump on a flight back to Kauai an hour early. I think I missed Maddy more than she missed me. She apparently had a great day with Grandma and Wendy. I think they spoiled her a bit. She was happy to see mom and dad though at the end of the day.

Kauai: Day 7

Tonight was our big Luau, so we spent most of the day relaxing in preparation. Maddy even slept in until 6:30 am and then played some with Grandma and Grandpa. First thing in the morning we noticed that a monk seal was up on the beach sun bathing. We had to go see the seal up close. They rope them off so people can't touch them though so you can't get that close. They are actually an endangered animal. (See the seal above Maddy's head?)

For lunch everyone went into Poipu for puku dogs (an Italian sausage with tropical relish of choice). Maddy and I passed and instead went down to swim at the pool. It was too nice out to be indoors.

Jason and my dad decided to go play miniature golf in the afternoon. Maddy needed a nap though so I stayed with her. When she woke up we went back down to the beach. She was hungry for some sand.

Prior to the sun set, we headed over to the Sheraton in Poipu for our luau. Maddy had some fresh pineapple again and really seemed to like it. The food was wonderful as was the entertainment. There were some great hula dancers and an awesome fire thrower. Maddy made it through the first half of the show, but then fell asleep. She was trying really hard to keep her eyes open because she really liked watching the dancers.

On the way home we had the biggest spider I've ever seen crawl across the windshield of our van. I was so scared to get out of the van and have it fall on my head. I had nightmares all night. Ugh.

Kauai: Day 6

We weren't as lucky as yesterday to have Maddy sleep until 6 am. She woke up at 4:30, so we gave her a bottle and she fell back asleep until 6:30 am. Jason and I got to sleep in until 7:30 am though because Grandma and Grandpa took her into their bedroom and played with her for an hour. Maddy then enjoyed some breakfast on the lanai.

After breakfast, Jason and I took Maddy for a walk along the beach to a bay where some sea turtles usually hang out. We unfortunately did not see any sea turtles but Maddy still enjoyed looking at the lava rocks and walking in the water.

We then walked back down to the harbor to help my dad pick more glass. There was an unbelievable amount of glass that was being washed up to shore so we were there for a few hours. My mom met up with us as we passed the resort on the way to the harbor, so she walked with us but then continued up to the Spouting Horn instead of stopping to pick glass. So after we finished picking glass, we jumped in the van with my dad and headed up to the Spouting Horn to look for my mom. She was browsing at the craft tables so we joined her and bought some jewelry. When we got home Maddy did some whale watching with grandpa.

Jason and I took Maddy swimming when we got back for a few hours. We had to leave around 2 pm for our Captain Andy's sunset cruise so we wanted to spend time with her before we left her with grandma and grandpa, since infants weren't allowed.

Our cruise was supposed to go to the Napali Coast but due to high surf they rerouted us along the south shore. So we ended up on the water outside our resort. The dinner cruise was awesome. We enjoyed a great dinner, with a spectacular marine life show. We saw 3 different pods of spinner dolphins...hundreds of them putting on a show. They would swim around and under our catamaran and jump up out of the water and spin. It was so fun to watch. We saw a dozen or more whales too. The highlights were 2 that breached and 2 other ones that were blowing and diving less than 100 ft. from our boat. It was really cool to see the whales close up as compared to from the balcony. I would take either though. We also saw flying fish and an unbelievably beautiful sunset. It was just a perfect evening, except that we weren't enjoying it with Maddy.