Happy 2nd Birthday Madelyn!

We celebrated Madelyn's 2nd birthday the last couple of days. It seems like yesterday when she came into our lives. She is a true toddler now with such a sweet demeanor and makes us laugh every day! She loves to sing and is speaking in sentences now which is really fun and hilarious. She's very girly and loves pretend play with her dolls, new kitchen set, and Little People. On Tuesday, Madelyn had her 2 year appointment with Dr. Goradia and it went really well. She weighs 25 lbs (28th percentile) and is 33 inches long (29th percentile). This is the first visit we've had in a very long time where Madelyn did not cry. She even let them prick her finger and watched the entire thing. I couldn't believe it!

On Saturday, we had a family party to celebrate the big day. The theme was Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street and decorated the house in pink and purple. I even attempted to make a cake in order to save some money. It turned out o.k. as long as you don't look too close. On Monday and Wednesday, we had parties for our two playgroups and enjoyed some yummy cupcakes. Madelyn loved celebrating her birthday this year and especially enjoyed eating cake/cupcakes while wearing her Abby Cadabby party hat. She's also had a ton of fun playing with all her new toys. Her big gifts were a kitchen set from Grandpa and a Cozy Coupe car from Nana and Pop. Our house is getting pretty full of toys. I don't know what we're going to do when we add the baby gear to the mix! Here are some pictures from the last couple of days:

Madelyn in complete awe when she woke up from her nap and saw the kitchen sent from Grandpa! Getting ready for the family party!

Cora loved wearing the Abby Cadabby party hat!

Madelyn is obsessed with her new car from Nana and Pop!

Playing with the Little People plane given to her from Aunt Erin!

Eating her yummy hot dog birthday dinner!

Blowing out the candles!

Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Madelyn loves the slippers given to her by Jacob and Judah. Only Madelyn would be obsessed with slippers at the age of 2... she wears them constantly!

Bunko Playgroup party. Madelyn sitting at the table with all the boys in their pink hats. Adeline and Delia are hiding somewhere!

The DeHaven boys sporting their pink hats!

Cute little Adeline eating her cupcake!

Playing with all her toys!

Stroller Strides playgroup eating their pizza! Mostly the girls sat and ate their pizza. Liam was the only boy...So cute!

The rest of the boys playing kitchen while everyone else ate their lunch!

Singing happy birthday before our camera's memory card became full! Oh well!

It's Another Girl!

We found out yesterday at our 20 week ultrasound that we are having another girl! We are very excited and can now start preparing for the new baby girl to arrive and Madelyn has really started saying and kind of understanding that she's going to have a little sister. I'm so excited to buy the girls coordinating outfits and I hope this new baby has enough hair for bows!

We visited a firehouse with one of our playgroups last week. Madelyn made me hold her the entire time, but I think she liked looking at everything. I guess she could have freaked out and cried, but my arms were about ready to fall off after the tour. Last Thursday, Madelyn and I went up to Ashburn, VA with some friends to visit the Baskettes who are getting ready to have a baby boy in a couple of weeks. All the kids really enjoyed playing together and we had a great time during our visit! Here are some pictures from the last week. Again, for some reason blogger won't let me re-arrange pictures so everything is out of order.

Madelyn and the boys watching TV in their PJ's before bed! Picture of me 20 weeks pregnant. It's a horrible picture, but I felt guilty because I haven't taken any pregnancy pictures with this baby.

During our ultrasound yesterday, Nana took Madelyn to Build a Bear for her birthday. She loves her new bear and named her bear Katie. She loves taking the clothes and shoes on and off which has been a little annoying for me:) Madelyn really enjoyed her birthday outing with Nana!

Wearing the belly dancing outfit that Nana and Pop brought back from Turkey. They just got home from a month of traveling to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon and went on a Mediterranean cruise. She loves her new costume!

Watching TV with her one of her many boyfriends, Jacob!

I thought this was a funny picture!

The kids eating dinner. Madelyn thought she was such a big girl with no highchair or booster!

Firehouse #10. I think the Mom's were more entertained than the toddlers!

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures from Halloween. Our computer is on it's last leg (we have a new one in-transit) so it won't let me rearrange the pictures, etc. so everything is out of order.

Madelyn insisted on wearing her costume the next morning! Madelyn hanging out with her buddy the lion, Judah!

Madelyn and the Moore boys!

Madelyn trick or treating with her friend the Fozzy the bear, Liam!

Trick or treating at Carolyn and Rick's house!

We brought our wagon, but Madelyn insisted on walking everywhere. The wagon ended up being a recycling bin for beer bottles and held the cooler. We were a little behind the rest of the crowd, but Madelyn didn't care at all!

As Madelyn would say, she was "taking turns" in this picture.

All ready to go!

The group getting ready to leave!

Eating dinner at the Robinson's house. We had wonderful chili, cornbread, and pumpkin pie!

All ready and heading out to our neighbor's house for dinner!

We had a great Halloween this year and it was extra fun because Madelyn somewhat understood the concept of trick or treating. The forecast called for rain so a couple of our after trick or treating plans were rained out, but we had a great time having diner with friends and trick or treating.

We started the night at our neighbor's house with a wonderful dinner of chili, cornbread, and yummy pumpkin pie. It was so nice for the Robinson's to have us over beforehand and hang out with some of our neighbors.

We left to go trick or treating around 6:30 and Madelyn loved it! We brought the wagon, but she insisted on walking by herself. She loved putting the candy in her pumpkin. The funny thing was that she didn't understand that you can eat the candy so she just took it in and out of her pumpkin and carried it around the house. It's hysterical!

After our neighborhood, we walked to to the neighborhood next door and met up with some more friends, including the Moore family. Madelyn was so excited to see her friends Jacob and Judah all dressed up. It was a very fun night and we didn't get home until close to 9. This morning, Madelyn insisted on putting her costume on again as soon as she woke up!

Apple Donuts and more

We took advantage of this beautiful fall day and drove up to Carter Mountain to go apple picking. We went with our friends the Gauchers and everyone had a great time. We were all supposed to go to an apple festival last weekend, but it was rained out. It was a very pretty drive because the leaves in Richmond have finally changed colors and it looks like fall. At Carter Mountain, we ate apple donuts (they were so good I had 3), went apple picking, rode on a hay ride, and had a picnic lunch in the orchard. It was so nice to relax and have a picnic lunch. Everyone else, except me and the kids, even enjoyed a couple glasses of wine. I was so jealous!

The walk to the fugi apples was pretty long, but once we got there the apples were delicious. The apples were at the top of the trees so Bill had to push them off with a stick which was petty funny. We are so glad we took this day trip before the weather turns and we are stuck inside!

Eating apple donuts with Cole and Davis!

It took Madelyn a while to eat her donut, but we think she really enjoyed it!

Cheese!

Hanging out in the pumpkins!

Finally got a smile!

Yummy apple!

Trying to be like her Daddy picking apples off with a stick!

Finally got it on tape!

Madelyn has become quite the little singer in the last couple of months. We've been trying so hard to get it on video for Grandpa especially, but it has been nearly impossible because she's obsessed with the camera and wants to see herself before she even finishes her song.

Last night, we were at Nana and Pop's eating dinner and she was in quite the singing mood. Bill grabbed my iPhone and taped her without her realizing. The quality isn't the best (ignore Pop's hearing aid at the beginning), but we're so thrilled we got her favorite songs on video to remember!

Go Dukes and I guess, Spiders!

This weekend we headed up to Harrisonburg for the JMU vs. UR game with some friends from Deloitte. It was Madelyn's first football game so we didn't really know what to expect, especially since there was a chance of rain. After the Red Sox game in August, we were expecting the worst at the actual game. We ended up having a great time tailgating and at the actual game. It rained a little bit during our tailgate, but it was sunny during the game. Our seats were on the front row so Madelyn and Becca were able to stand against a concrete wall and watch the game in front of us. It was perfect for them! Madelyn loves loud noises and cheering so she was right there in the middle of everything. However, she shouted Go Dukes, Go Spiders, Go Sox, and Youk throughout the game and called the game a baseball game the entire time. It was really funny!

It was a close game but UR won. Oh well, it was very exciting and Madelyn is all ready to go see the Hokies next year with Nana and Pop!

Here are some pictures from Saturday:

I must put on my new shades for this game!Miss Hollywood is ready!!!Madelyn and I in our JMU attire!Watching the game with Daddy! She's a little confused because she's holding a spider pom pom.
Cheering on the Dukes!

Go Sox!

You can do it Dukes!

Having fun watching the game with Becca!

Madelyn loved the Spider but hated the Duke Dog. I think she was a little confused. We need to work on that for next year!