Fancy Nancy in Williamsburg

Yesterday, we took a little road trip to Williamsburg for a Fancy Nancy Lunch.  Fancy Nancy is one of Madelyn's favorite storybook characters so it's such a treat to dress up fancy and attend this lunch.  Last year, Nana and I took Madelyn to the lunch and it was such a nice day. This year, we invited Madelyn's friend Isabella and her mom and Aunt Doris even came along for the fun.  The lunch was very simple with little sandwiches and cupcakes, they did a photo shoot with a complimentary picture and Mrs. Claus read a Fancy Nancy book at the end.  It's perfect for little girls and we even fit in some outlet shopping at the end.  Madelyn and Isabella loved getting all dolled up for the lunch and were very well behaved all day.  They acted so grown up which was cute to watch.  It was a treat for them to have an outing without the younger siblings tagging along.  We are looking forward to going again next year! 

Wearing the clip-on earrings and gloves that Nana and Aunt Doris brought!

Madelyn and Isabella's favorite part was the mini-cupcakes!

Reading the story with Mrs. Claus!





11 months old!

Ellie is growing up so fast and I can't believe that in another month we will be celebrating her 1st birthday.  This month, Ellie has decided that she wants to move.  She's no longer content sitting and playing with her toys.  She wants to walk around, cruise and explore.  At 11 months, Ellie

• Weights around 19 pounds. As you can see in the picture below, I don't think we have to worry about her weight anymore. 
• Decided to skip crawling and go right to walking.  She wants you to hold her hands and walk around the house all day long. 
• Is cruising along beds, chairs, couches and tables.  She loves to explore and make her way along the furniture.
• Loves all kinds of food.  I can't even keep track of what she's eating anymore.  Her favorite foods are macaroni and cheese and banana.
• Loves to hum and sing.  Her favorite song is "Wheels on the Bus"
• Likes to watch Dora the Explorer with Madelyn and two of her new words are "Dora" and "Backpack"
• Loves to dance and moves her head back and forth whenever she hears music. 
• Has become very attached to her Daddy this month.  She watches him like a hawk and gets so excited when he gets home from work.  She is becoming a Daddy's girl like her sister!

Preschool Friends

On Friday, we invited two of Madelyn's little preschool friends over to play.  The girls had a really good time playing inside and outside (the temp hit the upper 70's yesterday!). The girls interact really well and all three have very similar calm personalities.   It was fun for me to watch because these are the first friends that Madelyn has made on her own without the help of playgroups or my friend's children.  Madelyn has really enjoyed preschool this year.  She loves her teachers and has made some good friends.  She is looking forward to going to school 3 days a week next year! 

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope everyone had a special Valentine's Day!  We had a great weekend and Valentine's Day.  With the nice weather and Bill done with busy season, we were able to spend a lot of time as a family which was really nice.   We didn't have a ton of errands and scheduled events which made the weekend seem a lot more relaxing.  On Saturday, we spent the morning in Carytown for lunch and window shopping. Madelyn's favorite part was picking out jellybeans from the candy shop. She thought it was so much fun picking out her favorite colors!  That evening, we went out to dinner for Hibachi with Nana and Pop.  They gave the girls their Valentine's gifts which made it extra special.  On Sunday, Bill and Madelyn went to mass while Ellie took a nap, we had a birthday party and then spent the rest of the day doing some yardwork, relaxing and playing outside.  On Valentine's Day, the girls and I went to music class, visited Meme, took naps and then played outside with friends.  It was such a beautiful day and we didn't even have to wear coats which felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders as we got in and out of the van.  It feels like Spring is just around the corner...Yeah!



Ellie is getting quite the little personality!





 



My sweet girls all ready to go! 

Madelyn really wants to take ballet lessons and is obsessed with wearing her hair in a bun.

Ellie loves to stand by the back door and look out the window. 

She can stand their for 30 minutes just tapping on the window and laughing!

Valentine's Day Morning

Reading her card from Grandpa and Vera

Madelyn's card from Grandpa and Vera sang the song from Beauty and the Beast.  Madelyn listened to it over and over again with a huge smile on her face!  Tonight, I even caught her dancing with the card while wearing her Belle dress.

New Princess nightgown from Mommy and Daddy

Ellie practicing her walking as usual.  She's not very happy these days unless she's standing or walking with assistance!



Learning to Walk

Since Ellie has not even attempted to crawl, she has decided to put all her focus on walking.  Ellie is by no means walking on her own, but she loves to hold on to your hands and walk.   She has even stood by herself for about 30 seconds until she realizes what she's doing, panics and falls down.  She wants to practice walking all of the time so we spend most of our time at home walking around and around.  This morning, Aunt Amy and Cora came over to play and eat lunch.  The girls had a great time running around and playing together.  Since everyone has been sick lately, they haven't had much time to play to this was a special treat.  They had a blast and Ellie practiced her walking as usual.  Here are a couple photos from our morning:

Sweet Ellie at almost 11 months!



Practice makes perfect!



These three little girls are going to be trouble one day!

Heart Rock Benefit

As many of you know, we have a family friend who has recently received an artificial heart and is on the list for a heart transplant ( http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jarrodrussell and http://www.kickstartmyheartfoundation.org/ ).  A benefit was held on Sunday for the Russell Family at the Hat Factory downtown.  There were live bands and lots of raffles to help raise money for the family.  Madelyn and I went to the benefit and had a ton of fun.  Madelyn played the entire time with the Russell girls (Kaley and Camdyn) and they danced the night away.  That being said, they danced until it got too loud and we all felt guilty that the girls were going to damage their hearing.  It was a good time had by all!  Since Jarrod has recently been put on a the Freedom Driver, he was able to leave the hospital for a couple of hours and surprised everyone at the event.  It was amazing that a little backpack was able to keep his artificial heart pumping.  He looked great!  There are very few people in the world on the freedom driver right now so he's become a celebrity in the medical field and was even featured in the Richmond Times Dispatch last week.  Please keep the Russell Family in your prayers as they have a long road ahead of them!

Tis the Season

January is always the time of the year for illness in our house.  We held strong with no illness (even with Madelyn's starting preschool in the Fall) but our luck ran out about 3 weeks ago.   Madelyn started the trend with an ear infection and cold which lasted about a week.  Ellie then caught the cold and ended up with RSV.  She was on nebulizer treatments 4 times a day for over a week.  I avoided the cold which is a miracle but this past Sunday, I came down with the 24 stomach bug.   I would have much rather had a cold!  Luckily, things are better this week and we are really looking forward to March when it starts getting warm again!  We had a breath of fresh air yesterday with temperatures close to 70.  It was marvelous and I even opened some windows!  The girls and I played outside for 2 hours and I felt so good when we got back inside.  We even splurged and had Bill pick up pizza for dinner. It was a fantastic afternoon!  Here are some photos from our playroom which is where we have spent a lot of time lately.  I've also included some photos of our afternoon of Springtime!

Ellie sporting her early birthday gift from the Schaefer Family.  She loves her new hat!

Ellie's first experience with the red car.  She loved it and was even able to move herself along the driveway with her feet.  Madelyn also enjoyed pushing her little sister and filling the car up with gas for Ellie.