Ben's Potty Party

The Gang (L to R: Kreiders, Schmidts, and Abbotts)

Maddy's good friend Ben learned to use the big boy potty last month while on vacation and earned himself a party at Chuck-E-Cheese. We were very lucky to be invited to his celebration and are very proud of him for his accomplishment and doing it in time before his little brother arrives. Everyone had a blast playing games earning tickets, but somehow we earned more than a 100 less tickets then everyone else. I think daddy and Maddy had too much fun on the rides. Oh well, Maddy still got some prizes and we had a ton of fun. Thanks Ben and Good Job Buddy!

Family Photo Booth...First Try

...Second Try

Maddy and Daddy

Maddy and Daddy on the roller coaster

Hang on

Maddy and Kendal on the kids coaster

Maddy riding the air cycle

Hit It Hard!

Maddy's taking notes

Uh guys, if you want to earn tickets...
you need to look at the game you're playing

Big Ben calling Chuck-E-Cheese

Abbotts face-off: My money is on Sarah and Ben

Hayden looking cute in her stroller

Maddy counting the tickets she earned

So that explains how the Schmidts got so many tickets
(Mike did you let Kendal play anything???)

I-pod

So now that the weather is finally warm pretty consistently, I've been trying to get the girls out first thing in the morning for a walk/jog. Jason got me a new double jogger for Mother's day that works awesome for taking both of the girls out.


It has independent reclining seats so I can lay Mylee back and strap her in and she is very content. Maddy is actually the one that is harder to entertain. I found a solution though finally....my i-pod. She loves listening to music and so if I let her use my i-pod and listen to music she is content the entire time. I don't have any kids music downloaded yet so she's been listening to Taylor Swift.

Super Size Her

2 Month Update

Mylee Jo (Smiley, Jo Jo, MJ, Pudge) was 2 months yesterday. I really can't believe how the time has flown. As the saying goes, "Time Flies When You Are Having Fun" and we sure have been having fun so I guess I can believe that Mylee is already 2 months. This girl is a sweet baby...a for sure KEEPER! She is so good to her momma. Since she was 5 weeks old she has been sleeping anywhere from 6-8 hours straight on her first stretch followed by another 3-4 hour stretch. She is so happy to see me in the middle of the night...it's adorable and makes getting woken up out of a dead sleep much less painful. She doesn't have to be rocked to sleep either. We give her a bath every night around 8:30-9 and then I feed her and put her down to sleep in her crib. She is usually still awake, but as long as you leave a dim light on for her so she can look around she will put herself to sleep. Its the same situation during the night. Usually I have to pump after she is done eating so by the time I do that and put the milk away downstairs she is asleep and I can turn off the light. What a sweety, hey?

Here is what Mylee likes at 2 months old:
* Nursing
* Cooing at herself in her swing mirror
* Rocking in her swing (either direction)
* Playing with her bouncy seat in the interactive mode
* Riding in the snugli
* Going for walks in the double jogging stroller
* Tummy time (she has actually rolled over a few times)
* Bath time
* Being carried over your shoulder

Dislikes:
* Bottles (this is quite a struggle right now)
* Cold Milk
* Tylenol


She is really a sweetheart who doesn't really cry much so its hard to know what she doesn't like. She definitely doesn't like being fed by the bottle. I'm a little nervous about this situation so we are going to really have to work on this the next few weeks before I go back to work. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Yesterday Mylee had her 2 month doctor's appointment. Before I left I decided to look up Maddy's stats at 2 months so that I could guess what I thought Mylee's would be. Maddy was 13 lb 7 oz and 24.5 in long. So I was guessing Mylee was probably around that since she grew out of the 0-3 month clothes a few weeks ago. Well I was in for a surprise...

Weight: 14 lb. 10 oz.
Height: 24.5 in.

Oh my gosh...over a pound bigger. I thought Maddy was big, well apparently Mylee wanted to show up her sister. She has gained over 5 lbs. in 6 weeks. Kinda disgusting hey!

She did pretty good with her shots. Actually, Maddy cried longer from watching then Mylee did getting them. I had to soothe Maddy so the nurse had to soothe Mylee. Ugh! She didn't take much of the Rotavirus vaccine though as it is given in an oral suspension. She wants nothing to do with anything in her mouth besides a boob so that didn't go so well. Hence, the tylenol didn't go so well either and I had a crying baby in pain for over an hour in the afternoon while the temp. was over 80 and we both were sweating our tails off. Oh, the joys of motherhood! Her our her 2 month photos...

She's telling you where she's carrying all her weight...

HER THIGHS!

Are you laughing at me???

"I don't care...big is beautiful!"

So Mylee has a new nickname...POUNDER! She is a pounder with a side of fries and don't forget to SUPER SIZE IT!

Oh, who doesn't love a chubby baby?

Mylee's Quilt from Grandma Nancy

Grandma Nancy is a fabulous quilter and has blessed us by making lots of beautiful quilts for us over the years. She made Jason and I one for our wedding, Maddy one (actually two) when she was born, and now Mylee one. Actually Maddy got another one for her baby doll that matches the pattern on Mylee's...too sweet. Grandma doesn't spoil the girls at all. I always look forward to seeing the quilts that she makes. She is so talented and we feel so fortunate to have her make us such special quilts. We definitely cherish them and truly are grateful for her time and effort making them. Thanks Nancy! I wanted to show a few pictures of Mylee enjoying her new quilt and another picture from Grandma's visit.

Mylee sleeping in her favorite position on her new beautiful quilt

Adorable Pattern

Grandma Nancy with the girls before bed

The Momonts Visit

Happy Birthday Chris!

Last weekend the Momonts (my relatives) came to stay at our house while visiting Christopher (my cousin) for his birthday. Christopher attends the U of M and doesn't get home much because of the long haul, so his parents and sister came down to see him and celebrate. We, of course, love having company so it was quite a treat for us as well. Maddy especially loved it! She was obsessed with with my cousin Elizabeth. I actually felt bad for her because Maddy wanted her to be with her all the time. Its nice though to have family down here and spend time with the girls one-on-one because they get a chance to really get to know each other. When we go home there is just too much going on and Maddy wants to be with her cousins so the family doesn't really get to know her. We went for a bike ride/run, walk, played tennis, had a bar-b-que, played cards, and ate lots of ice cream cake. I think we all would agree that our time together last weekend was really special and a lot of fun. Thanks for coming down and spending time with us Momonts! Our door is always open to you.

The Tennis Gang
(Jason, Maddy, Elizabeth, Chris, and Uncle Mike)

Elizabeth with the girls

The Girls Visit Grandpa Jon

This past Saturday we took the girls to visit with Grandpa Jon. He has been asking Jason about the girls a lot lately and Maddy talks about seeing him often so we thought it would be a good day to go see him as well as take Grandma Nancy out for an early Mother's Day brunch. So the day started off by meeting Grandma at Cracker Barrel for a yummy breakfast. Then we went over to grandpa's house for a great visit. Grandpa Jon was thrilled to see the girls...you could see he it in his eyes...he just lit up. Maddy and him have a sweet relationship. Grandpa is always watching her and trying to tickle her or steal her sippy cup. It is quite adorable. Maddy is always concerned about grandpa too. He had an boo-boo on his hand and she wanted to make sure he was okay and not in pain. Maddy, of course, had a great time with Grandma Nancy too. Mylee spent some time with both grandparents too. It was a wonderful, special visit.

Proud Grandparents

Jason showing his dad his little girl

Grandpa Jon holding Mylee

Maddy reading to Grandma and Grandpa

"Cheese"

Grandma and Mylee

Coordinating Wardrobe

Okay so I love putting the girls in coordinating outfits! I don't go out and buy matching outfits, but I do try to find things in their closets that coordinate. I'll confess that I did go out and buy coordinating easter outfits and some t-shirts (for a later post) but that's it. It's pretty fun and I know I won't be able to do it when they are older so I'm taking advantage of it now. I don't do it every day or anything obsessive like that...just once and awhile for church. I'll even confess, since I am sort of letting it all out on the table, that I even coordinate my outfit sometimes. I know...I have a problem!

Orange and Cream Dresses

Green Collared Dresses

Birthday Suits

Pjs

Yellow, orange, and pink day

Green with flowers

Mother's Day

I just love Mother's Day because I have so much to celebrate. First of all, I have two beautiful daughters that just fill my heart with so much love and joy. Maddy and Mylee... I love being your mom and feel so truly blessed for both of you.


Secondly, I have an amazing mom whom I love and admire dearly. Especially now that I am a mom I truly appreciate her as a mother and everything she has taught me about motherhood. Lastly, I have a myriad of moms-to-be, mothers, and grandmothers in my life that I am so grateful for and know that they are sharing the same special day with me. I just want to say I know that I didn't get to talk to everyone on Sunday that I would have liked to to wish a Happy Mother's Day, but know that I was thinking of each and every one of you and am so thankful to have you all in my life.

This mother's day was absolutely terrific. First off, Mylee sleep through the night (9:30 pm - 6:00 am). I really believed that it was her mother's day present to me, but little did I know she had more in store for me. She didn't cry all day and she was full of smiles! It was actually her first day that we felt confident that she was smiling in response to us, not just because she had some intestinal gas, was day dreaming, or was just a random gesture. It was the real thing...over and over and over again. She just melted my heart and what a day to do it.

Caught a smile

We actually all slept in until almost 9 am, which was a treat in itself. I then got a homemade card from the girls and Jason, which was very thoughtful and adorable as Maddy drew a nice picture. We then went to brunch at a nice pub downtown and then came home and took a nice long walk around the subdivision before taking a nice long nap. I actually napped with both of the girls in bed with me for 2.5 hours...it was so special. We then went out to Dairy Queen for ice cream and then finished the day with a trip to the grocery store. We were in the store until after 9 pm...people must have thought we were crazy for having two kids out at that time on mother's day, but it was actually nice for me because the store was empty and Jason was there to help. It was a great Mother's Day. Thank you Maddy, Mylee, and Daddy for making my day so special. I love you guys!

I liked this one of Maddy

I liked this one of Mylee

Lots of kisses