The soon to be Big Sister!

Last weekend, Madelyn took a Siblings Class at St. Mary's Hospital. This class is one of the free classes they offer to expectant mothers and their families so we decided to give it a try. Madelyn learned how to rock a baby, change a diaper, feed a bottle, swaddle (I had to re-learn), and baby safety. Because Madelyn is so obsessed with her baby dolls, she already knew how to do the majority of the things, but she really enjoyed the class anyway. She was a great student and sat in her chair the entire time. Because of the "flu" rules this winter, Madelyn will not be able to come to the hospital when the baby arrives. Every visitor must be 18 years old and the rule isn't lifted until April 1st. Unless I go late, she'll be meeting her new sister when we get home. Oh well! The last couple of weeks, she has really started to grasp the new baby concept and we hope it won't be too bumpy of a transition when Baby Sister arrives at the end of March!

Coloring while waiting for her class to begin!

Feeding the baby a bottle. She is already a pro!

Brave Little Girl

We had a pretty eventful day today because Madelyn had tubes put in her ears by Dr. Brager at Virginia ENT. As many of you know, we have been battling colds and fevers brought on by ear infections since the middle of December. She has been on constant antibiotics because her ears have been full of fluid and get infected the second a small cold hits. Dr. Goradia suggested tubes because they were concerned her hearing would start being impaired.

Madelyn was a very brave girl the entire time. She did well with no fluids or food (we left the house immediately after dressing her), was very brave while we talked to the doctors and signed all the forms, and didn't cry at all when they took her back for surgery. We were very lucky because Mr. Embrey (John Grayson and Delia's grandfather) performed the anesthesia and Madelyn went right to him because he was a familiar face. She has been talking about him all afternoon so he made a good impression on her! After the procedure, Madelyn was a little fussy but was back to her normal self playing away after we got home. Today was a lot easier than I expected. We'll cross our fingers that we have no more ear infections this winter!

Fancy Nancy

On Saturday, Madelyn, Nana and I took a short road trip to Williamsburg to the Fancy Nancy luncheon. For those of you who do not know, Fancy Nancy is a storybook character that Madelyn is completely obsessed with (thank you Schmitt family!). We have collected several Fancy Nancy books and read them before every nap/bedtime. The Yankee Candle shop in Williamsburg had a little luncheon and Mrs. Claus read one of the Fancy Nancy stories. It was perfect for Madelyn!

Madelyn really enjoyed eating her little plate of fancy finger food. She loved the mini cupcakes and ate all of them first and then tried to eat our cupcakes. It wasn't a very healthy lunch for Miss Madelyn! She also enjoyed all the little shops at the Yankee Candle Shop. They have a big clock with bears that move and she loved watching it! After lunch and story, we walked around the Yankee Candle shop a bit and then hit the outlet mall for some shopping. It was a a great girls outing!

On another note, we have 6 more weeks until Baby Girl McGuire arrives. We are busy getting everything organized and Madelyn is kind of starting to understand that big changes are coming as we unpack clothes and put things in the nursery. She has her siblings class on Saturday morning which should be fun!

Madelyn and I getting ready to head out to our Fancy Lunch!

So Fancy!

All ready with her dangly rhinestone clip-on earrings!

Our fancy table!

Fancy Nancy display. Luckily, we got out of there without buying anything. Bill was impressed!

Madelyn eating her fancy finger food with Nana!

Eating our fancy lunch!

Listening to the Fancy Nancy story. She was a little distracted by everything going on!

Snowstorm #2...Can't believe it!

We have had a pretty eventful last couple of weeks. Last week, Madelyn came down with a horrible cold and of course it turned into an ear infection. We have an appointment with an ENT next Friday and will probably be scheduling the procedure for tubes. We are tired of dealing with ear infections every time Madelyn catches a simple cold so we are very eager to meet with Dr. Bragar.

On Saturday, we were hit with the 2nd snowstorm of the winter and got 15 inches on snow. This never happens in Richmond and 3 days later, the kids are still out of school. I would have loved this as a kid, but it's frustrating because everything is cancelled and you feel trapped in the house. Madelyn enjoyed the snow this time around. Instead of forcing her to get in the deep snow, we let her play on the driveway which had about an inch of snow (Bill shovelled the day before) and we waited until the day after the storm to venture out and play. Madelyn loved walking in the driveway and the tire tracks in the street. Jacob and Judah came over for a little while to play and have hot chocolate. That was also a big treat! Bill built a snow tunnel and the kids (except for Madelyn) had fun crawling through it. It's sleeting at the moment and we are expected to get more snow this weekend which should be interesting.

I'm going to get Madelyn's snow attire early next winter so we are prepared. I've realized she needs better gloves and snow pants that are larger than 18 months. At least Bill and I were able to test out our new snow boots this time around!

PlayDoh and hot chocolate are a perfect combination for a snowy winter day!

Jacob and Judah walked over to play in the snow and have hot chocolate!

Madelyn loved "digging" in the snow with her beach toys!

Loved watching Daddy in the snow tunnel!

Silly Daddy!

I didn't realize we matched until I uploaded the pictures!

Too cute! I think Bill is telling her to look at me.

This is so much better than that deep stuff!

Wow, this is fun!

Our road the morning after!

Trying to get through the winter!

During the past several weeks, we have been keeping busy preparing for little baby girl McGuire to arrive in 9 weeks (can't believe it), trying to stay warm, and enjoying some indoor winter activities. This winter has been abnormally cold and rainy for Richmond so we are really looking forward to springtime this year. Bill's busy season has started so we are also looking forward to having him home again for dinner!

Last weekend, we went to the UR basketball game with Nana and Pop. It was the only 4pm game of the season so there was a good crowd with lots of families. I think everyone had the same idea! Madelyn had a great time cheering for the team, yelling "defense", and dancing to the music. Madelyn is obsessed with the UR spider and never took her eyes off of him. There were times when we had no idea where Spidey was and Madelyn could immediately point to him. After dinner, we enjoyed some yummy Mexican food and then headed home. It was a fun afternoon/evening!

Last week, Madelyn went with me to get my haircut and was a perfect angel. I was a little nervous taking a 2-year old to the salon. She is fascinated with hair (not surprising since she's so girly) and watched Crystal cut my hair the entire time while eating her snack. After my haircut, Crystal trimmed Madelyn's hair and curled it with the curling iron. Madelyn loved it and her favorite part was the hairspray and closing her eyes. She's been talking about it all week!

So excited about her curls!The finishing touches!Go Spiders!
Madelyn was so fascinated with Spidey that she sat in her chair forever and wouldn't even take off her coat!

Watching the game with Mommy and Daddy!

A little late but Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed having Bill at home during the week. We spent Christmas Eve at Nana and Pop's house, Christmas day at home and Christmas dinner at Meme's house. Madelyn had been sick for several weeks, but she perked back up right before Christmas Eve which was fantastic. During the week between Christmas and New Years we got together with several groups of friends, organized the house (I'm in full nesting mode), and spent time together as a family which was awesome. We missed seeing our family in CT, but it was nice to be home for the holiday.

Madelyn was really into Christmas his year. She loves playing with her Nativity Scene and understood that it was Jesus's birthday. She loved reading The Night Before Christmas and was super excited to leave cookies and milk for Santa. Christmas morning was so much fun and we stayed in our PJ's until noon.

We are starting to gear up for Baby #2 and will be starting the nursery soon. We are very excited about 2010!

Christmas Eve at Nana and Pop's house! Madelyn loves playing with her cousin Cora!

Madelyn loved playing Santa! However, she didn't really understand the concept of opening presents and handing them out until the end!

Our Family Christmas 2009. In this picture, I am 27 weeks pregnant with Baby Girl #2.

Nana and Pop with their girls!

Madelyn is all ready for a trip!

Loves her new baby doll and carrier!

The stockings were hung...

A new purse!

This was the first thing Madelyn did when she came down on Christmas morning!

Sporting her high heels from Great Aunt Amy. She got 5 pairs in all colors!

Loves her high chair from Grandpa. It sits next to our table at just about every meal!

Christmas night dinner at Meme's house!

Cookies and Snow

We have had a fun but interesting week leading up to Christmas vacation. Madelyn came down with a fever, cold and ear infection last Saturday. She bounced back well during the week other than a runny nose but started feeling bad again last night complaining of her ear hurting and running a fever. I also came down with a bad cold this week, but I am feeling much better today.

Despite all of our illnesses, we have managed to do some fun Christmas/Winter activities. Madelyn and I spent the night at Nana and Pop's house on Tuesday night because Bill was out of town all week. Madelyn made Christmas cookies and we had a very relaxing and fun visit. On Friday night and Saturday, we got a ton of snow. We got over a foot of snow which is very odd for Richmond, especially in December. The news said this is the first time we have had over 10 inches in December since 1917. We are so excited to have some snow on the ground for Christmas!

Yesterday, we played in the snow and walked over to our friend's house to do a little sledding. Now looking back, it probably wasn't the best idea because Madelyn came down with a fever and ear ache hours after our snow adventure. However, it was nice to play in the snow and Madelyn really enjoyed riding in the sled. She's still not a fan of the snow and would much rather ride along while Daddy pulled her along like a horse. I'm thinking one of the reasons she seemed uncomfortable yesterday is because her snow suit was very tight (I only had a 12 - 18 month suit because I didn't think it would snow this early). However, the mitten keepers that Grandpa sent down last week worked great. Thanks Grandpa! Her mittens are on in every picture!

We hope Madelyn's ear infection is better by Christmas Eve because we are very excited about Santa coming. Our shopping is done, presents are wrapped, and we are just waiting for the festivities to begin!

Nana showing Madelyn how to roll the dough in a ball!

Madelyn looking at the finished product!

Madelyn loved using the spatula to get the cookies off the pan!

Madelyn putting the Christmas tree break and bake cookies on the pan. A 2-year old enjoys the simplest of cookies!

Heading to the Moore's house!

Wow, this is better than walking in that nasty cold and wet stuff!

Going down the hill in her sled! We're not sure what she thought!



Jacob enjoying the snow! I think Bill and the other Daddies had more fun the some of the kids!



More sledding fun!

Heading down the street in the snow!