Day of fun and of course wine!

We had a great long weekend with Aunt Kristen, Uncle Mark, and Jack visiting. It was beautiful weather and everyone had an awesome time. We spent Friday morning at the park and the kids played outside in the afternoon while Kristen and Mark went to their 3rd DMB concert of the week. Jack and Madelyn got along great and loved eating their popcicles in the backyard after dinner. It's amazing what can entertain them at this age!

On Saturday morning, we piled in the car and drove up to Charlottesville for a day at the wineries. The first winery we visited, of course, was Blenheim which is owned by Dave Matthews. Unfortunately, we didn't run into Dave, but his cousin poured us our tastings. We thought that was close enough. We had a picnic lunch and had a fabulous morning. After Blenheim, we went over to Kluge winery where the kids enjoyed playing with the glasses and doing "cheers" with each other. The kids lasted until about 3PM and we headed home where the kids (and most adults) took a nap! Overall, it was a great weekend and here are some pictures:

Madelyn and Jack eating popcicles in the backyard!

Madelyn strolling around Blenheim.

The siblings enjoying their wine!

My attempt at getting an updated family picture. It didn't turn out very well.

Cheers!

Madelyn after a VERY long day!

Easter

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! We had a great Easter despite the fact that Madelyn woke up on Easter morning with a rash all over her body. We found out that she is allergic to amoxicillin and had to page the Dr. in the middle of Easter lunch. Other than that, we had a great Easter and the rash was gone within a couple of days. We have had a rough couple weeks between sickness and now the allergic reaction. As of today, we are for the most part healthy and looking forward to Aunt Kristen, Uncle Mark, and Jack coming into town this evening through the weekend.

We spent Easter Sunday at church and then had lunch at Nana and Pop's house. Madelyn had a great time clapping to the music at church and had her first Easter egg hunt. It didn't take long for her to get the hang of finding the eggs with the help of Aunt Amy. She's looking forward to next year when she has a little competition with Baby Cora!

The Easter Bunny brought Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street!

All dressed up for Easter Sunday!

Baby Cora hanging out on Nana and Pop's patio!

Hunting for eggs with Aunt Amy.I'm getting the hang of this egg thing!

I'm not giving up until I have all of them in my bucket!

Crazy but fun weekend in CT

Madelyn and I left last Thursday to visit family in CT and Bill met us up there on Friday evening. It was a crazy weekend between major airport delays on both legs of the trip, Madelyn coming down with a bad cold the day we left, and having to make a trip to the Dr. on Sunday because of an ear infection (no sleep for 2 nights). Despite these factors, we had a great time visiting family. We took a trip to Kid City where Madelyn and Jack had a great time playing and I was able to go to Nikki's (Bill's cousin) bridal shower on Sunday. It was so great to be able to attend a shower because I don't always make it up for those type of events.

Madelyn and Jack had a great time together and played even better than last time. Madelyn thinks that Jack is hilarious and really loved watching Jack play in the car with Grandpa. We are looking forward to Aunt Kristen, Uncle Mark, and Jack visiting during their spring break next week!

Madelyn and Jack playing in the car at Kid City! We can see who has control of the steering wheel:)Jack, Aunt Kristen, and Madelyn playing in the backyard.The stairs were a big source of entertainment for the kids. I haven't been able to keep Madelyn off since we returned home!

Enjoying a cupcake from Nikki's bridal shower!
Yum! Yum!

Grandma and Grandpa with their little grandchildren. We finally got a picture the last day!

Our Cheerleader!

I have been so bad about taking pictures recently and updating our blog! I finally took some pictures this weekend and posted a picture from our trip to Northern Virginia a couple of weeks ago.

I ran in the Monument Avenue 10K this morning and Bill and Madelyn came out to cheer everyone on. Unfortunately, they didn't see me run by, but Madelyn had a good time listening to the bands and cheering everyone else on. I had a great time running the race. I ran a little slower than usual this year and finished at 1:00:16. Hopefully I'll pick up my pace next year. I had a great time training (mostly socializing) with all of my girlfriends and especially enjoyed all of our post-run Starbucks outings.

This afternoon, I went to a 10K celebration party at a friends house and then we watched the NCAA tournament. Madelyn sported her UConn cheerleading outfit in their win over Missouri. Her great Aunt Amy gave her this outfit for her 1st birthday and she loved wearing it this afternoon. Bill and I need to get her a UR and JMU cheerleading outfit for next year!

Madelyn and AJ Baskette eating their snack together at the picnic table. Do we see a budding long distance relationship? Daddy and Madelyn watching the game together!

Go UConn!

This picture is a little fuzzy because Madelyn never stands still for me to get a good picture!

New shoes and some random pics

Here are some pictures from some of the things we've done in the past week. Last Sunday, we went to Saxon to get some new shoes for the spring/summer. Madelyn purchased her first pair of Keds and absolutely loves walking around in them. We've been calling her "Happy Feet" all week.

Madelyn has also figured out how to take off her shirt. On Wednesday, she took her shirt off non-stop so I had to take some pictures. Bill isn't too happy about me posting these pictures, but I thought they were pretty funny.

We have had some company this weekend. Aunt Amy, Uncle Sam, and Baby Cora are staying with us for a bit while they are renovating their kitchen. Madelyn has had so much fun having a "Baby" in the house. It's been such a treat and she's trying to teach Cora all kinds of new things. Madelyn is also trying to mimic Cora while doing tummy time and laying on her back with the baby.

We are heading up to Northern Virginia tomorrow to visit our friends while the daddies are away on business. We'll post some pictures from our trip later on this week!

Madelyn sporting her new Keds!

Madelyn wouldn't keep her shirt on last week!

Madelyn and her cousin Cora!

They are becoming best buddies!

Snow Day

We were so excited on Sunday when it started to snow and actually stuck to the ground! Since it is the first real snowstorm we've gotten since 2005, we all thought it was a big deal here in Richmond. Madelyn didn't know what to think of the snow when we went out yesterday morning. We stood her in the snow on our driveway, she immediately fell over, and that was the end of our playtime in the snow. I had to hold her the rest of the time as we walked through the neighborhood to visit our friends.

I decided to try out the snow again after nap time since Bill had shovelled the driveway and it wasn't quite as cold and windy. Here is a recap of my conversation with Madelyn:

Me: Madelyn, do you want to play in the snow?
Madelyn: No
Me: Madelyn, Do you want to touch the snow?
Madelyn: No
Me: Madelyn, do you want to hold this snowball?
Madelyn: No

Madelyn, was content walking around the driveway looking at the snow. At the end, I decided to sit her in the snow, but that didn't quite work out either. This was Madelyn's reaction:


Needless to say, we had a good time enjoying the snow, but we are really excited about the 60+ degree weather we are getting by the end of the week. We are ready for spring!

Getting ready to go outside and play in the snow!Madelyn right before she fell in the snow and the show was over!Mommy and Madelyn on our walk in the neighborhood.A very happy Madelyn playing on the clean driveway and sidewalk! Madelyn and her friend Liam getting ready to go outside!

Very tired out after a long snow day!

Valentine's Weekend

We don't do much celebrating on Valentine's Day because Bill thinks it's a useless and pointless Hallmark holiday. However, I did use it as an excuse to give Madelyn a new toy and Bill and I made a delicious steak dinner on Saturday night. Here are some pictures from the past week. The first picture is of Madelyn and Baby Cora. Madelyn loves wearing bows (which I'm sure you can tell from all the pictures) and has started sharing her bows with others. She had a great time last week placing her bow on Cora's head and teaching Cora how to wear a bow. We are looking forward to the day when we can introduce Cora to her first bow:)

On Sunday night, we got together with a bunch of our good friends. It's so crazy how we have grown in size over the last several years. Our dinner consisted of 18 people including the kids. It was a lot of fun but very chaotic at the same time!

Madelyn sharing her bow with Cora!

Reading her Valentine from Daddy!

Madelyn playing with her new tunnel!

Madelyn loves her new shopping cart from Nana and Pop. She's taking after her Mommy with her love for shopping!

Notice that Madelyn is the only girl except for Delia in her carrier to the right!

Madelyn and Judah sitting at the picnic table. She thought she was such a big girl sitting at the table!