Madeline Eve and Emersyn Kate

From easy baby to crazy toddler...overnight!

2012-01-05T23:27:00.001-05:00

It really seems like one day I was saying to someone, "Emersyn is such a dream. She is so good, so easy, so chill and goes with the flow" and the next day I was saying, "Who is this crazy toddler? She's a monkey, she's into everything, and really knows what she wants!" Now I know all parents feel this way and are amazed at the transformation from baby to toddler. I think I just really had myself fooled that Emmie would continue to be a piece of cake. And in the big picture she is still soooo good and soooo sweet. But she is cracking us up lately with her determination to do everything that Maddie does, her histerics when she doesn't get what she wants, and her ability to turn everything into a climbing apparatus. I see a Fisher Price car garage toy, she sees a jungle gym! She is still a pipsqueak, but she's trying so hard to be big She is full of shenanigans. Here are some highlights that I don't want to forget. She has crawled up onto the kitchen table, stood on the kitchen desk and living room end table, hangs from the refridgerator handle and the bar in my parents' bathtub, and we found her sleeping last night in nothing but a diaper. She managed to get off her one-piece footed pj's! She loves to put shoes on in the house, but insists on taking them off in the car and outside. She managed to get one sock on all by herself the other day. She loves to take showers and brush her teeth. She loves playing with my phone and actually unlocked it and messed with my keyboard settings. She really wants to do everything Maddie is doing, especially coloring! And speaking of Maddie, I cannot say enough about how proud I am of her in her role as big sister. She often shows more patience with Emmie than the rest of us! She is understanding and nuturing in a way that is beyond her 5 years. Now, don't get me wrong, she gets frustrated with her whining at times, but often Maddie can cheer her up if she's in a mood. Maddie was talking so much more at this age, but each day Emmie is saying more and more. She just can't tell us exactly what she wants so it often ends up as "eh, eh, eh!" And lastly, I have to document her absolute obsession with her belly and her thumb. She started sucking her left thumb last winter, but then over the summer added rubbing the belly along with thumb sucking. Whenever she needs to soothe herself, the left thumb goes in the mouth and right hand goes to the belly. We even cut slits in her one-piece pj's so she can rub her belly and keep her onesies unsnapped when she's at home. Sound familiar Mia?

Here is Emmie doing her new dance spin move and of course the thumb and belly routine.

Oh Emmie, no matter what new tricks you have up your sleeve, you will always be my sweet baby. Just look at that face, so lovable!

December 2011

2012-01-05T19:47:00.001-05:00

It was an action-packed December with visits to Santa, a visit from our Elf on the Shelf "Pop Pop", parties and of course the actual holidays.

Santa rides through our neighborhood on a fire truck every year and we have missed it in recent years. This year we got together with a bunch of neighbors and it was so cute to see the kids get all giddy and scream with excitement to see Santa!

Last year was our first year that we had an Elf on a Shelf. Maddie named it Pop Pop and she liked it and it was cute. For anyone who doesn't know, the Elf comes with a book that explains he came from the North Pole and has magic and flies back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa if you've been good or bad. Each morning he is in a new spot in our house and we have to find him. So it is obviously a good behavior motivator. Well this year, the Elf was a big deal. The day we decorated the house Chris talked about Pop Pop from last year and wondered if he would come back. Well, Pop Pop arrived back at our house on December 1st and his first spot was in Maddie's bed on the pillow next to hers. She went up to her room and found him and came running downstairs out of breath and screaming, "Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, he's here, he's here, he's REALLY here! I can't believe he's here!" And burst into tears. Literally, tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking. It brought tears to my eyes, it was such a magical and special moment and Chris and I just looked at each other in awe. Every day finding him was fun and Emmie even knew his name and would say "Pa Pa" when she saw him.

Here is Chris reading the book to Maddie

Here is Pop Pop in our tree next to Pandora, the bird (see story below).

We were at Pier 1 picking out an ornament for an ornament party that I was going to and Maddie asked to get a new ornament for her tree in her room. I agreed and she picked this lovely, large bird and named her Pandora. The rest of the day and night she played with it like it was her pet and wanted to put it all over the house. I finally convinced her that the bird was meant to be an ornament and she remained on our main tree the rest of the season.

What's a Christmas season without a gingerbread house? Chris is so good at stuff like this so I was happy to let him be the supervisor of decorating. Em of course had to get in there too!

We had quite the experience going to see "The Real Santa." There is a Santa at Merrifield Gardens in Falls Church who has been there for 30+ years and delivers a very beautiful message about the true meaning of Christmas. His story is really cool and we heard about him through Paul and Michelle who went to see him with their kids. Paul had gone to see him when he was a kid! We heard it was busy and crowded so we planned to go on a Tuesday evening instead of a weekend. Best quote of the season was by Chris when he said, "Isn't there a Santa in Loudoun County we could see?" But I talked him into it. Well it was neat, but WAY more crowded than we expected for a Tuesday. And after waiting more than an hour and a half, watching Santa take his very sweet time with each family, we played the baby card and went to the "those with babies" line in front. Otherwise we literally would have been there until 10 pm. I was a bit distracted by the time we got up there and Santa scolded me for not paying attention! He gave Madeline very specific instructions to put an apple in her shirt under the tree and he would place a present there in its place. Luckily, she was able to repeat the instructions to me!

CHRISTMAS EVE!

We went to my parents' house on Christmas Eve. The lack of pictures is a direct result of Emersyn's new facination with climbing on the kitchen chairs. We were opening gifts in the family room and Emmie was more interested in the pita chips and sitting on the big chair so I did a lot walking back and forth. She was very tired by the end of the night and did the funniest thing. She is super flexible and crawled into an empty shirt box and curled herself up like a cat and started sucking her thumb. She repeated this the next night at the Moskal's house (see picture and video below). This kid is developing quite the personality!

Getting milk and cookies ready for Santa

NOT!

CHRISTMAS DAY!

Christmas morning started off in a very non-Normal Rockwell kind of way. Chris and I stayed up late because he got a call from work due to an alarm going off at his office. Then he got another call at 6a.m. and decided he needed to go in. So I just stayed awake and waited for the girls to wake up. Luckily he got home just before they woke up! We did our stockings first and Emmie got yogurt snacks in hers. When Maddie took the package out of her hand to open it for her, she lost it. Cried solidly for a good 5 minutes. So instead of smiles, laughter, and joy on Christmas morning, for a brief moment we were sleep-deprived, crying, and waiting patiently for little sister to zip it so we could open more presents! Once she had the whole bag to herself, not just a handful, Emmie was fine and peace was restored. Again, she didn't care much about the gifts, just sat in the new cardboard castle and ate her yogurt snacks. We went to mass with my parents and had brunch here afterwards.

Before....

After...

Look at that handsome Grandpa! Looking good Dad. Best Christmas gift was having everyone healthy and at home this year!

First order of business at the Moskal house that evening was skyping with Kim who is in Iraq. Kim spoiled the girls once again and we got to open her gifts while skyping which was so fun. Emersyn was really into it and had lots to say in her own little language. She loved it!

There she is on the screen. Kim, you made it into the family Christmas pictures! :)

Dress up outfits from Aunt Kim

Samie is right...we need to save this next picture for her rehearsal dinner someday!

Cozy in the box!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night (in a box)!

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION AT GREAT NANA'S

The fun continued on the 26th at my Nana's. It was just our family, my parents, and the Flemings and for a Riordan family gathering, that is considered a small group (only 14)! Aunt Lorraine brought over her new golden-doodle puppy Riley and he is so cute. And my cousin Ruby got engaged just before Christmas! So happy for her, she deserves so much happiness!

More boxes, yipee!

"Oh Nana, you look more comfy than a silly box!"

NEW YEAR'S EVE

We had a chill New Year's Eve this year which was perfect for us. We went to the Baumgartner's and had pizza, some good seasonal and home brew beer, a dance party with Liv and Mads, put the kids to bed, hung out on their beautiful 3-season porch, and pretty much missed the actual turn of midnight because we were opening the champagne!

November...LOTS of pictures!

2011-12-01T20:24:00.001-05:00

So apparently I was in a picture-taking mood this month because when I looked back, I took lots. I also started (finally) playing with Photoshop which Chris gave me LAST year for Christmas. So before this Christmas, I figured I should learn a few things. I have barely scratched the surface of all Photoshop has to offer and I have a lot to learn, but it was fun to start editing some pictures.

I headed to the Baumgartners one Sunday afternoon to pick Maddie up after playing and decided to get some pictures of the kids with the last little bit of Fall color left on the trees. They have a great big yard with pretty views so it was a nice setting. The kids were less than interested in pictures and preferred to just climb on the rocks, but I managed to get some good shots. Emersyn is wearing my favorite combo - her "jeggings" (denim leggings) and boots!

These pictures are not edited.

These are the edited pictures

Mid-month we headed up to PA for my Nana's birthday and the Penn State vs. Nebraska game. My Aunt Lorraine got us tickets, so Chris and I enjoyed a kid-free day with Lorraine and Jeff tailgating in the RV, while the girls kept my aunts Patti and Marie on their toes at my Nana's house. They had a very busy day raking leaves, sliding down the big hill out back on trash bags, and playing with cousin Aiden. Maddie cried when we left saying she wished she lived at Great Nana's house. When I asked her why she said, "because I love the couch!" Oh, it's the small things. I hardly took any pictures, but I did get one of the great-grandkids with Great Nana on her birthday.

Bonus: Nebraska beat Penn State so Chris was happy!

Touchdown!

Some fun in the backyard on another nice November day. It cracked me up because both girls' outfits matched the playset they were playing on!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed to Lake Anna and stayed at Dre's parents' lake house. We did this the same weekend about 4 years ago and it was just 4 kids Marissa, Kaitlyn, Madeline, and Livia. This time we had all 9 kids Marissa (7), Kaitlyn (5), Madeline (5), Livia (4), Siyeh and Austin (almost 2), Weston (20 months), Emersyn (17 months), and Landon (6 months)! The kids are so good together. There was no fighting and other than keeping the toddlers from injuring themselves and arguing with the big kids about having their 5th cookie before dinner :) all went smoothly! We missed Paul B. who couldn't be there. Props to Michelle for braving it solo. But like we all say..."it takes a village"...so we all tried to help out. Thanks again Marcoulliers/Reeds for letting us enjoy your slice of paradise!

And finally, Thanksgiving weekend. Mary (Grandma), Samie, and I headed to a local winery the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was so warm and we had a good time hanging out. The girls and I were dressed and ready for VirginiaTech to once again beat UVA that afternoon!

If we put the above picture in Em's future application to UVA, surely they would admit her right?!

Littlest Hokie fan, already trained to watch the game seriously!

October Fun!

2011-11-01T20:28:00.002-05:00

So I have not been as on top of posting, so I may as well just group all these together into one post for the month of October. It was an interesting weather month with very warm days and as seen here, even SNOW! Yes, the weekend before Halloween it snowed enough to stick to the green grass. Then it warmed up a bit for trick-or-treating thank goodness. The Baumgartners followed tradition and came to our neighborhood for the parade and trick-or-treating. Geordie, Mary, and Andie came and held down the fort and handed out candy. The kids were adorable, very well-behaved, and in bed before 8pm since it was a school night. Impressive. Earlier in the month Mary and I took the 3 cousins for portraits in their costumes. Emmie wore Maddie's pink leopard costume and we lucked out and borrowed a matching costume for Maddie in her size. Had to have them match while I can still get away with it! And baby Andie had the cutest little cat costume as well. We got some great shots, all three were very cooperative.

Some casual shots out of costume too!

Emersyn has discovered the piano and loves to sit up on the bench like a big girl. She has become quite the ham, breaking out in a cheesy grin when the camera comes out.

Serious face...

Sporting her Nebraska sweatsuit for game day. Which I might add is size 6-12 months and was a Christmas gift last year and still fits!

We spent a beautiful Fall afternoon at a local pumpkin patch for some fun and pumpkin picking. Apparently, Maddie didn't stop moving long enough for me to get a picture of her!

Here are pictures of the snow and a video of Emersyn in her gear. She wore the winter coat, snow pants, and boots that were Maddie's at her age for the first time and they are so big on her, she had trouble moving.

I love the orange leaves against the white snow.

We carved our pumpkin the next day and it still had snow on it. Unfortunately, Maddie was sick so Chris had to take over carving duties.

Halloween Night!

Weston and "Onnie" (as We-Jo calls her) have become quite the little buddies. Michelle and I are always amazed at how much they interact for their ages. Chris caught them walking hand in hand before the parade. Would an arranged marriage be possible for these two? :)

Dance Party!

2011-09-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

Oh my, should we be worried? Maddie did a Musical Theater dance camp this summer. Sounds benign right? Wholesome, nothing inappropriate for a 5 year-old to pick up. BUT, in the room next door at the dance studio was a Hip Hop dance camp with some older girls/boys. She clearly picked up a few of their moves as this video shows. When I asked her where she learned the moves (specifically the chest pump, body roll), she said at hip hop camp! There is no denying this girl likes to break it down. Anyone who has been following this blog knows that. And of course now, little sister Emmie is joining in the dance parties now that she can walk. Her latest move is a squat with a little twist. All joking aside, we do have so much fun rockin' out to Kidz Bop. Emersyn's favorite is the Kidz Bop version of Britney Spears' Till the World Ends and she will walk around with her hands up and say, "oh oh oh uh uh uh" like the song. This particular night, we just had to get out the camera. And I could not contain my laughter as you'll hear. Oh, how I love my girls!

First Day of Kindergarten!

2011-08-31T21:24:00.000-05:00

Madeline's first day of school went off without a hitch! Wish I could say the same for her third day (the day I am writing this), when her bus driver drove right past her stop even though Chris was standing there waiting! Yikes! He quickly drove to the next stop and got her off. Hopefully all the kinks will be worked out and that won't happen again. But that aside, her teacher is new, but seems great and very sweet. I think she'll have a good year. She gets on the bus in the morning with all the big kids and it's been funny to watch her. She knows a lot of the older kids and so far they are taking good care of her. Last night, our neighbor Nick asked her if he could sit with her on the bus tomorrow. She told him, "If I find you, then yes I will." He said, "Ok, well save me a seat." He's a 2nd grader; it cracks me up that he's asking to sit with her. You go girl! And Tuesday morning, she asked a little girl Kaitlyn to sit with her and said, "Let's hold hands Kaitlyn!" And they did. I'm sure I'll have more stories to post about her school days, but for now here are her first day pictures.

The Duellman boys, ready to walk with her to the bus stop!

There goes our big girl!

Summer Fun!

2011-08-28T20:48:00.007-05:00

We had a great summer. It was busy, but a good kind of busy (see all the previous posts below!) Here are some pictures of some recent fun in August.

We were able to have a quick visit with Mia, Nora, and James in Williamsburg at Mia's best friend Amy's house. It was great to see them and Maddie loved playing with all of Amy's boys' toys (she has 3 boys!). I realized we need some more cars and superhero stuff in our house. Mia has been so good about coming back to the East Coast since moving to Colorado. Maddie and Nora have been together just about once every summer. They are so much alike, it's pretty funny. Wish they lived closer!!

Madeline and Livia did a musical theater dance camp one week where they learned a routine to Mulan music and had speaking lines. It was cute!

Emmie's first time in the Barbie mustang convertible!

Loving life outside now that she can walk!

Maddie's 5!

2011-07-30T19:36:00.015-05:00

A big milestone, Maddie is 5! To celebrate turning 5 and starting school in the Fall, she wanted to get her ears pierced, so that was her big gift. I went to the mall on the Saturday before her birthday to check out the place to get ears pierced and asked when they would have two people to do it. They told me there would be two people there all day and not again during the week, so I came home and told Maddie that if she wanted to get them pierced, she could do it that day. I then realized that I never told her it was going to hurt. So I had to explain that it would feel like a shot and be over quickly and then she started to have second thoughts. So I told her that she didn't have to do it and could wait until she's older and she said she'd wait. I told her I would ask her again when Emmie woke up from her nap. When Emersyn woke up, I asked her if she wanted to go and she looked at me and said, "I think I'll wait. No (then paused)....let's go, let's do it, let's go right now!" It was as if she wanted to go real quickly before she changed her mind. She did great, closed her eyes, squeezed my hands and did not cry. She got pretty butterfly earrings and loves them. We had our families over on the weekend before and then had a little ice cream party with a few friends during the week and went to the waterpark on her actual birthday. Then Grandma had a little party for her at their house the day after. Once again, Maddie had a week-long celebration for her "day"!

Our favorite party guest, baby Andie!

Doctor Moskal in her personalized lab coat from Aunt Kim!

Ice cream party with the girls

Dress up, of course. What is Maddie?! A sleeping beauty reindeer? Hmmm..

Emersyn One Year and Madeline 5 Year Pictures

2011-07-30T19:13:00.002-05:00

Baby Andie Marie has arrived!

2011-07-21T20:22:00.002-05:00

We are so excited to have a niece and baby cousin in the family!!! Andie Marie arrived safe and sound on July 17th early in the morning. On the 16th, Chris and I went with Geordie and Mary to DC to see Rock of Ages at the National Theater and went out to dinner. Mary was 13 days away from her due date and looked amazing and did not seem a bit like labor was about to start. We almost got their car locked in the parking garage, not realizing it had closed at 6 pm (oops). By the grace of God, the parking attendant answered the phone number that was posted and came and let us get the car out. Lucky for all of us, we were able to get home by 9:30, but especially lucky for Mary and Geordie since Mary's water broke around 1 a.m. After an uneventful labor and delivery, she came out perfectly! We can't wait to watch her grow up, being so close to our girls. We love you Andie!

Have you ever seen a more glowing, beautiful post-delivery mother and baby?

The proud Papa

So alert, day 1!

Our visit, the day they came home. Maddie loves her baby cousin!

Andie at one month

As you can see, she's a real high maintenance baby. She is very content and so sweet!

California Trip

2011-07-15T09:34:00.013-05:00

We had a great family trip to California in July. Chris's cousin Michaela got married and the wedding wat at his Aunt Liz's house in Fallbrook, CA. It was BEAUTIFUL! It felt like we were in Tuscany, their house and property are amazing. It was a non-stop trip with the rehearsal dinner, a winery, Legoland, San Diego, Carlsbad Beach, Disneyland, Huntington Beach, and Hollywood! Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it! It was a 9 day long adventure with the girls which included some creative solutions such as Emmie sleeping in her pack-n-play in the hotel bathroom (it was very spacious!) so that she slept longer/better. They both did great and it was wonderful to see all of the Cronins (Chris's mom's side of the family) and spend lots of time with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Samie. The highlight of Maddie's trip was spending time with Cece and Justina, Chris's cousins. They hit it off right away and Maddie was so sad to say goodbye to them. We spent one day at Disneyland with them which was surely one of our best days!

Look out Charlie's Angels!

Rehearsal dinner at a beautiful restaurant on the water at sunset

Chris's Uncle Terry and his wife Marisa (Cece and Justina's parents)

Love this picture of Chris's Aunt Maureen, mother of the bride. She looked beautiful and had such an adoring look on her face when her daughter walked down the aisle.

Emmie played in this car for about 30 minutes at the reception. One of the perks of a backyard wedding for those of us with kids there :)

We spent a day in San Diego at Balboa Park, drove around to see amazing views of the coast, and ended up at Carlsbad Beach

Pictures on the beach near our hotel

Check out this guy paddle boarding with 3 dogs on his board!!!

First night in Anaheim at the Rainforest Cafe (we were trying on silly hats)

Our first day at the parks we had a Princess breakfast at Ariel's Grotto with the Cronins

Coolin' off

We tested everyone's endurance by staying ALL day until fireworks...and they were still smiling :)

Our second day at the park started with another character breakfast. We saw so many it was great, although this time Emmie was not so crazy about the big fluffy ones. She's never acted scared of anything before, it was sort of funny to see.

Pixie Hollow to see the Fairies

Fawn

Vidya and Tink

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Chinese theater in Hollywood

Big sister, Little sister love

Our last night before flying home.

p.s. Emersyn did not sleep at all on the plane to CA and slept for 30 minutes on the way home. Made for a long flight, but no real crying thank goodness!

Emersyn is 1!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-13T08:49:00.002-05:00

What a year it has been! I truly believe Emersyn was sent to us by God to be the bright spot in an otherwise difficult, emotional year. She has been sooooo sweet, sooooo happy, and sooooo much fun. Madeline has been the BEST big sister and if I could, I would press rewind and start her first year over again. But, unfortunately that is not possible, so we'll just savor the moments of babyhood that are left. We had a nice celebration with our families on Saturday and then we went to the waterpark on her actual birthday, just the four of us. I made her a really cool rainbow cake (Maddie helped) and she enjoyed eating it.

Still crawling everywhere...not yet walking!

Grandma and her girls

Cheesy grin

Rainbow cake

Easter Portraits

2011-04-27T20:26:00.000-05:00

I took the girls to our favorite portrait place for pictures. At Christmas, Emersyn was all smiles in just about every single picture. But Madeline had either a cheesy smile, her eyes closed, or just a goofy face in a lot of them, so it made it easier to choose. Well this time, Maddie smiled so naturally the whole time, but our little smiley Emmie was Miss Serious. She wasn't upset, just sucking on her bottom lip and staring at the photographer with concentration. So again, it was somewhat easy to choose. We got Emmie to crack lots of smiles despite her serious mood by singing our version of Justin Bieber's song, "Baby, baby, baby, Emmie...baby, baby, baby, Emmie!" Here are my favorites!

Oh, Where Did the Last 3 Months Go?

2011-04-16T22:13:00.001-05:00

I just looked at the date from my last post and it was almost exactly 3 months ago. I cannot believe it. I decided to do just one big catch-up post. I was so good about documenting all of Madeline's milestones, funny stories, etc. So I need to record some of Emersyn's highlights so I won't forget. She continues to be an absolutely delightful, happy baby. She isn't quite as mellow and quiet as she used to be, but happy, happy, happy. She has found her voice and tries to compete with Maddie (usually in the car or at the dinner table), but has a way to go since Maddie continues to be a chatterbox. She says "guess what" just about every time she tells us something and is very into saying "watch this" all day long to show us a new dance move, a karate kick, a drawing, anything. And if I had a dime for every time she said, "pretend", we'd be rich!
Emersyn, in the last 3 months, has learned lots of new things. She claps, waves, is now crawling all over, puts her hands up over her head for "so big!", blows kisses and LOVES to eat real food. We made our own pureed baby food for her this time around and we're having trouble finishing it all, because she just wants to feed herself finger foods. Sometimes it seems like she'll keep on eating if we keep on giving it to her.
Madeline continues to be the sweetest big sister. She really loves Emmie and is amazingly tolerant of getting her hair pulled, shares her toys, and makes Em giggle lots. She is also a big help by alerting me when Emersyn is doing anything that might possibly be a no-no. Here are some pictures from the past 3 months. It seems like I always take pictures on Sunday mornings when we're just hanging out, so they're always in their PJ's.

Meeting baby Avery Grace! Such an angel!

Here's a picture of Maddie in this same outfit!

Yep...same baby 10 months ago....sigh

Loves to scrunch her nose when she smiles

Sooooo big!

"Even though I'm moving lots now, I'm still a rolly, polly!" Check out those rubber band wrists!

In My Daughter's Eyes

2011-01-17T22:44:00.002-05:00

This has been one of the most up and down times of my life for sure. I seem to be constantly switching hats these days from Mom, to PT, to wife, to daughter and each of these roles brings with it joy, stress, bliss, worry, frustration, peace, gratitude, and the list of feelings and emotions goes on. There is no doubt about it though, I am so blessed to have the best husband, an amazing family, supportive friends and coworkers, a wonderful boss, and of course Madeline and Emersyn. Many people have said that dealing with my dad being in the hospital must be so difficult with two small children and yes, it is a juggling act, but they have kept us going lately. It's hard to not smile when you see these faces and hear these giggles.

My dad and I both love Martina McBride and today I listened to the song "In My Daughter's Eyes" and it sums up perfectly how the girls give me strength, faith, and joy and keep me smiling no matter what. If you have a daughter and don't know this song, check it out here.

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I want to be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes
Everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light
And the world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
Gives me strength when I'm weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
Is had enough
It's givin' more when you feel like givin' up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

Eating Solids and Rolling!

2011-01-05T22:44:00.003-05:00

Emersyn started solids and just loves being able to finally sit at the table with us and actually get to eat. She is also now on the move! She used to just stay put on her playmat and now she's rolling all over. One day I left her for literally less than 2 minutes in the middle of the floor in Maddie's room. I told Maddie to call me if she rolled toward her toys. Within that 2 minutes, Maddie yelled, "Mommy, come quick, Emmie rolled under my bed!" I went in and Emersyn was completely under the bed, I lifted the bedskirt and found her facing out into the room, smiling. I still don't know how she did it so fast. Here are some pictures and a video of her first solid feeding and some pics of rolling around.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T21:08:00.003-05:00

It was quite a memorable Christmas with it being Emersyn's first and yet at the same time one we'd like to forget with my dad in the hospital. Thank God for the Moskals, we did get to have a very nice Christmas Eve with them and there was even a visit from Santa! When he was leaving, I said, "Maddie say goodbye to Santa" and she replied, "Bye Santa!" then turned to me and said, "Mommy, that's just Grandpa." Oh well, so much for fooling the four year-old! One of my favorite things this year was dressing the girls in their matching PJ's and dresses. Chris summed it up by giving me a cool wooden plaque to hang in the family room that says, 'Thank heaven for little girls!" I love it!

We went up to PA with Geordie and Mary on the 26th to see my Nana and family. Here is Maddie with her 2nd cousin Aiden.

Lights, Camera, Smiles!

2010-12-20T20:24:00.001-05:00

I took the girls to get Christmas pictures and some portraits now that Emersyn is sitting up. Life has been so busy that I actually scheduled pictures the same day as Emersyn's 6 month check-up which includes shots. And yes, pictures after the shots. Well I decided to go with it and hope for the best and here's what happened. We left the house in a mad rush (as we often do) for Emmie's doctor appointment and I got pulled over for speeding in a construction zone near our house. The road has always been 35 mph, but they purposely dropped it to 25 mph to get people to slow down. Well on autopilot, I went my normal speed (ok, maybe a little faster, see part above about being in a rush) and got caught. The cop turned out to be a pretty nice guy and dropped the charge to "failure to obey a highway sign." Well needless to say, we missed the doctor's appointment in the morning. I was able to reschedule to later in the day and we moved the picture appointment earlier. So Emersyn was her happy self since she hadn't had her shots yet and she just smiled the entire time. Maddie did great too; she's a pro by now. So other than the cost of the ticket, I guess it worked out! Here are some of my favorites.

Just for Fun

2010-11-27T20:56:00.000-05:00

I put Emersyn back in her Christening dress to take some pictures in her room. Aunt Kim sent Emmie and Maddie these adorable personalized quilts as baptism gifts, so we got them in the shots. Maddie is always my little assistant when we take pictures. For some reason though, she's always in her PJ's and then wants to get in too!

Emersyn's Baptism

2010-11-16T22:34:00.000-05:00

We had Emersyn baptized this past Sunday and it was a wonderful celebration. The week leading up to her baptism was a very tough week as I mourned the sudden loss of my coworker and close friend Kelley, my boss Suzan's daughter. As I hugged Suzan at the service, I'll never forget her words, "Go home and hug those little girls and never stop hugging them." I will try every day from here on out to take her advice and honor Kelley's memory by not taking life for granted and appreciating the blessings that we have in Madeline and Emersyn. It was very nice to have a celebration of life at the baptism and we do feel so blessed!

Emersyn is 4 Months....Wait, Make That 5 Months!!!

2010-11-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

It is so hard to believe that the last time I posted pictures, Emersyn was 3 months! It was funny to read what I wrote just 2 short months ago. Little Emmie has become quite the chill, easy, happy baby. So much so that I wish we could freeze time at this age. I feel like with Madeline, we were always looking ahead to the next phase like starting solids, crawling, first tooth, walking, etc. This time around, I know all those things will come way too quickly and before we know it, Emersyn will be 4 years old! Emmie continues to be easily entertained by anyone and everyone, but especially by Maddie. Her smile just melts our hearts. It has been a pretty crazy few months with lots of ups and downs and Emersyn has been the bright spot through it all. She is sleeping through the night, sometimes more than 12 hours. Maddie loves her baby sister and says often and spontaneously, "Mommy, I'm so glad I have a baby sister." Here are some random pictures from the last 2 months.

The Princess and the Pea

2010-11-16T20:30:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures from our Halloween. It was pretty uneventful, but nice. I barely made it down the street before turning around and taking Emersyn home to bed because it was cold and late. So Chris continued with Maddie and she really loved trick-or-treating this year. Madeline was Belle (after changing he mind a few times) and Emersyn wore the same Sweet Pea outfit that her big sister wore 4 years ago. It was just too cute to not use again. So yes, together they were the Princess and the Pea! Let's play a game: I've inserted 2 pictures of Madeline. Can you figure out which ones? Answer at the bottom! Hint: We didn't have as nice a camera 4 years ago.

Answer: Pictures 4 and 6 are Maddie!

"You Belong With Me" (and apparently Maddie belongs on stage)

2010-09-16T20:26:00.000-05:00

This video will never get old for us to watch. This is by far the "song of the year" in our household. Maddie loves the whole Taylor Swift CD, but really loves this song in particular. She knows all the words and loves to dance to it. The CD came with a DVD of videos and she loves watching this song's video too. One night, Chris caught her on video in rare form.

Now, I must also explain why it's even funnier to us because of what she's wearing. She is wearing Disney princess PJ's that shrunk when they were washed and, as you can see, are a little snug fitting. The PJ's were bought by Grandma Mary the day that Emersyn was born. Maddie stayed with Grandma while we were in the hospital and they went shopping. Grandma thought she was buying her play clothes, not realizing they were PJ's. So the next day when they came to visit us, Maddie wore her new "outfit." She walked in the room and Chris and I knew right away that she was wearing PJ's. Chris called his mom out saying, "those are PJ's Mom" and we all had a good laugh about it and continue to laugh every time she wears them.

So now onto the videos! I had to separate them into three different videos because of the length. I'm not sure where Maddie learned some of these moves. I mean, I know I could shake it back in the day, but I certainly don't dance like this around the house now! I've had to start telling her to not shake her booty so much, that it's inappropriate since she's a little girl. And she's wearing the glasses because Taylor wears dorky glasses in the video. Hopefully someday she'll be a member of glee club (show choir) like Mommy! But for now, we'll just have dance parties in our PJ's :)

3 Months Old!

2010-09-12T20:51:00.000-05:00

Emersyn turned three months old today and so the 4th trimester (as they say) is over! It's been a roller coaster these past 3 months with highs and lows. Emersyn was an easy breezy baby the first month (as was Maddie) and then she had some feeding issues (reflux, cow's milk intolerance, etc.) which made her more fussy (as was Maddie). We seem to be over the hump now and feedings are going much better. She is still a bit unpredictable at night, sometimes only waking up once, and often waking up 2-3 times. But her little personality is coming out and the smiles make it all worth it and help me deal with being sleep deprived. She has really started to take everything in, especially her goofy big sister. Maddie is finding new ways to make her smile each day and she is so sweet to her. Emmie continues to grow, but hopefully her rapid weight gain is slowing down a bit. She has gained about 8 lbs. since she was born. Here are some pictures from the last week or two and you can see how deliciously chubby she is!

Sitting pretty in the bumbo!

Sporting their UD shirts, courtesy of my coworker Abbey (a fellow alum)

Wearing a beautiful gown with her name embroidered (a gift from my dad's college buddy Dabber and his wife Marcia)

At the butterfly pavillion at the Smithsonian in DC. It was so cool! See the one on my head?

Soccer!

2010-09-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

We enrolled Maddie in soccer for the Fall and she had her first practice/"game". It is called Mini Soccer and she's on a U5 team, meaning under 5. It was very cute and funny to see the kids run around with no clue, run toward the wrong goal, kick the ball sideways, or even refuse to play (not Maddie, another little girl). The funniest was a little boy who scored a goal and then pointed at another boy and yelled, "in your face!" His parents were mortified! Hopefully by the end of the season they'll at least be able to move the ball in the right direction. She looked pretty cute though in her soccer gear and she had fun. We'll see if she takes after her Daddy and Aunt Samie and keeps it up, or takes after me and quits after getting hit in the head with the ball and decides gymanstics sounds better. Time will tell!

Lake Vacation

2010-09-01T19:22:00.001-05:00

We were so lucky in August to be able to spend a week at Deep Creek Lake. My coworker generously let us use her house since it wasn't rented and it was a wonderful change of scenery. It wasn't the year to spend a lot of money on a vacation with a new baby, so it was very nice to have the opportunity to get away and spend time together. We kayaked, hiked, went on the mountain coaster at Wisp, sat around the firepit at night and relaxed in the hot tub. It was just the four of us for the first four days and then my parents and Geordie and Mary joined us for the weekend. We were there for our 9th anniversary and my mom's birthday, so we celebrated both. We had a lot of down time, so I took lots of pictures of the girls together. One morning, the fog on the lake was so cool and Chris got some good pictures. I again slacked on getting pictures of everyone. Ahhh next time. Here are some of the pictures we did take.

Trip to Buffalo

2010-08-15T20:33:00.001-05:00

We hit the road in August and went to visit family in Buffalo. The girls did great in the car, we only had to stop once each way. (Not counting the two quick stops we had to make on the side of the road because Maddie got car sick!) My cousin Katie graduated from high school and we went to her graduation/going off to college party at Club Woj (that's what we call my Aunt Joanne's house with the pool and hot tub). I was terrible about taking pictures, but did manage to get one of my Grandma with Emersyn. Too bad she was hungry and tired and on her way to bed, hence the face!

Here is a sweet picture of Emmie and Great Aunt Mary Beth

Chris got a hold of the camera and took some goofy pictures of Maddie and a cpuple of Emersyn and me snuggling!

Thanks to the Woj family for having us and for a great weekend!

Maddie's Quote of the Day

2010-08-12T08:33:00.000-05:00

We had Chris's friend from work over for dinner last night and he is leaving for Seattle today. As he was leaving, I was giving Maddie a bath upstairs. Here's how the conversation went:

Chris's friend: "See ya Kelly, thanks for dinner!"
Me: "Ok, bye, have a great trip!"
Maddie: "Where's he going?"
Me: "He's going to Seattle."
Maddie: "Who's Attle?"

Get it? He's going to see Attle? Too funny.

Look at that face....so sweet and so chubby!

2010-08-05T21:03:00.001-05:00

I just couldn't resist taking a picture of this the other night. Emersyn was so content and you can see she is really filling out! The first picture reminds me of a picture of me as a baby that we affectionately refer to as the "bulldog picture". Emmie looks cuter than I did :)

And here are said "bulldog pictures" courtesy of my Dad and a scanner!

Madeline's 4th Birthday

2010-08-05T20:49:00.001-05:00

Maddie had quite a birthday (or should I say birth week) this year. We celebrated with our families on Saturday, she had an overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's on Sunday, went shopping with Grandma and had a little party with them on Monday, went to the waterpark and County fair with us on Tuesday (her actual birthday), and then had a party at a park with friends. I don't know who was more tired after it all, me or her! We wanted to make sure this year she felt special on her day given the new baby in the house and I think we succeeded. She had a Strawberry Shortcake party and the girls were decked out in their strawberry themed outfits for both parties. It's so much fun dressing two girls now. It's hard to believe that Maddie is 4, but she does seem so big now compared to little Emmie! Some days it seems like she's 4, going on 14. But she's still our little girl and we love her so much!

Here are pictures from the family celebration

And some cute ones from the party with her friends

First Bottle and Visit with Great Nana

2010-07-17T20:26:00.001-05:00

Emmie took her first bottle no problem and then Maddie enjoyed giving her a bottle too. She did a great job.

Here are just some pictures of Emersyn chillin' with Daddy outside on the porch. She is getting so much more alert and focusing on things.

We went up to Pennsylvania one Saturday to visit with Great Nana and swim in the pool at Great Aunt Lorraine's house. I would have had some great pictures of her beautiful pool and Maddie swimming in it, but I managed to slip on the wet floor and fall (with Emersyn in my arms), catching myself with my elbow and ended up at urgent care to get 2 stitches. I was on my way to get the camera, so obviously I didn't get the pictures! Thanks be to God, Emersyn was fine!

Snuggling with Mommy

Visit with Shelley, Lourdes, Jennie and Jackson

2010-07-14T19:44:00.002-05:00

We were so lucky to have Shelley and Lourdes come up from South Carolina to visit when Emersyn was almost 4 weeks old. Jennie and Jackson came out to stay at our house for the weekend. It was great having Maddie and Lourdes together again and Jackson loved hanging with the big girls. He is quite the little charmer with those baby blues. We had a lot of fun just being together. Lourdes loved holding Emersyn, but not as much as her mommy Shelley did. Every time Emersyn was done eating (meaning I didn't have to be holding her, Shelley would take her). I wish they could always be here! Here are some sweet moments from the weekend. I didn't take nearly enough pictures, the time went too fast!

One month old!

2010-07-13T12:43:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe that Emersyn is one month old already and even harder to believe that I don't have a recent picture to post at the time that I'm writing this. Hopefully I'll have one to add by the end of the day, but if not I'll just put one of Maddie and see if I can fool anyone, because they look so much alike! (Finally added picture on 8/5/10!)
Emmie had her one month check up and she weighs 8 lbs. 7 oz. which means she's gained 3 whole lbs. since we brought her home. The pediatrician said, "it's almost illegal how quickly she's gaining weight!" The pediatrician is a lovely Dutch woman, so it was funnier when she said it with a Dutch accent. We are trying to figure out if Emersyn has reflux, a milk protein sensitivity or possibly both. She's had episodes of being pretty uncomfortable so we're hoping to have that figured out so that she can remain the content little baby that she's been so far!

We got the rest of the family/newborn pictures from the photographer and she put together a nice slideshow and here's the link:

http://www.photodex.com/share/kimberlyc/6b9w8mg4

Newborn Portraits

2010-06-29T12:42:00.003-05:00

We had a neighbor who is a photographer take some pictures for us to capture Emersyn when she's still tiny. She posted some previews of the pictures on her blog at
http://www.kcoughlinphotoblog.com/?p=1353
We're looking forward to seeing all the pictures!

Weeks 1 and 2

2010-06-26T20:07:00.001-05:00

I had hoped to have a new blog up and running by now, but it hasn't happened. So for now, Emersyn Kate will have to share the blog with Madeline Eve. This is actually pretty accurate, because despite the typical demands of a newborn (frequent feedings and diaper changes), Madeline's presence is typically more obvious than Emersyn's. She has been a wonderful baby so far and not too demanding. Maddie on the other hand still likes to be entertained with never-ending games of pretend play, dress up, etc. Luckily, she's had lots of fun things to do, thanks to friends and family for keeping her busy! Maddie loves her baby sister and has said several times spontaneously, "Mommy, I'm really really really glad we have a baby!" So sweet! Here are some pictures we've taken since we brought little Emmie home!

Maddie of course had to accesorize Emmie with a headband!

She's Here!!!!

2010-06-13T14:21:00.003-05:00

Emersyn Kate Moskal has arrived! She was born on June 12th at 11:50 a.m., weighed 5lbs. 15 oz. and is 19 1/2 inches long. After a natural delivery without an epidural, I feel great and Emersyn is doing very well! Here are just a few pictures from the first day. I will be sure to follow up with more. Madeline has been a very sweet big sister so far and we're excitd to all be home together. Thanks for all the love and support from everyone...we did it!

Check out these new tricks!

2010-06-09T17:42:00.003-05:00

Maddie has been LOVING riding her bike this Spring and is getting very fast. She's been riding with training wheels on and I've started to get nervous that she's going to wipe out because she goes so fast. So I was curious to see how she could do riding without the training wheels. Tonight, she asked Chris to take off her training wheels and she did pretty well! It's a start at least and I think with some practice she'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. She seems to have a good reflex to brake and put her foot down when she gets off balance. Pretty cool!

Madeline is also having a blast at the pool so far. It's only been open a little over a week and I think she's been swimming about 5 times. At the beginning she was very resistant to putting her face in the water, but has since become quite comfortable doing it. Here are two videos from the same day. The first one is in the baby pool and she tenatively puts her face in. The second is her jumping into the big pool all by herself (with a vest on) and going under water. I'm excited to see what she can do by the end of the summer! Oh and these videos are all taken on our new Flip Video camera that Chris gave me for my birthday! It's a little HD video camera that is so much better than taking video on our old digital camera. I love it!

Family Pictures on Mother's Day

2010-05-09T18:19:00.002-05:00

This year for Mother's Day, we did what any pregnant mom would logically choose to do...go to a winery! Ok, so it doesn't make the most sense, but it was my choice. We are so lucky to have beautiful, scenic wineries in Loudoun County and we realized last year how nice it is to have a picnic, be outside, relax, and enjoy wine (if possible). This year we went to one we've never been to before and it did not disappoint. We took some family pictures since it was a great setting and we were really bad about taking pictures when I was pregnant with Madeline. I vowed we would do better this time. Here are some of our favorites.

We met Chris's family there to celebrate Mother's Day and put Samie to work as photographer for the three of us. Thanks Sam!

Next time we take family pictures, we will be a family of four!!!!!!

Belly Picture

2010-04-21T18:52:00.003-05:00

My very sweet neighbors were kind enough to throw me a baby shower this past Sunday. Even though it's our second child and another girl, they insisted. We decided to take some pictures after the shower of my big belly. I am bigger this pregnancy than with Maddie and can't believe I'm only 28 weeks in these pictures. My latest ultrasound estimated the baby to be in the 73rd percentile for 28 1/2 weeks, so she's growing fast. We'll see when she makes her arrival and whether or not she'll start off a peanut like her big sister.

One of the cutest gifts I got at the shower was a "Sisters" basket with a Big Sis shirt for Maddie and a Lil Sis onesie for the baby along with matching big sis/lil sis bows and a big sis/lil sis picture frame.

Our guitar hero

2010-04-21T18:42:00.003-05:00

We are borrowing Kim's Wii for a little while and Maddie has enjoyed playing with the guitar for Guitar Hero. One morning, she dressed up in a wild outfit (think bumble bee meets Madonna) and was rockin' out. Then one night Chris played the game and she had fun just sitting beside him pretending to play. Too funny!

It's a......

2010-02-28T17:13:00.004-05:00

GIRL! Yes, another girl for us. Madeline is going to have a little sister. I am excited for her and of course for us. I'm hoping that with 4 years between them, they will be buddies. Maddie has been saying, "Mommy, when the baby gets bigger, she's going to be my friend." I think she will be a good teacher, although maybe a little bossy at times. But most importantly, everything looked good at the ultrasound! Here are a couple pictures. They didn't give us many, but here is a profile picture and the girl picture.

The Future Big Sister

2010-02-16T15:32:00.004-05:00

Mommy's sweetheart on Valentine's Day (19 weeks pregnant)

We told Maddie the news that she is going to be a big sister on Christmas Eve! We told her she could open two presents on Christmas Eve from us and one was a Dora nightgown (we always do new PJ's on Christmas Eve) and a Big Sister shirt. When asked about her gift later that evening (in reference to becoming a big sister), she only seemed to remember the Dora nightgown. Initially it didn't really sink in, but in the past few weeks Madeline has been asking more questions about the baby and planning lots of things for when the baby arrives. At first she was insistent that it's a girl. Then she changed her mind and said it's a boy and we will name him Cosmo. Now she flip flops every day. One day she said, "Mommy, I know what we can name the baby...Lisa." I told her that was a nice name, but we probably wouldn't name the baby Lisa and she said with the straightest face....."Well, Cosmo it is." I just know she is going to be a great big sister, whether it's a boy or girl. And we plan to find out on Feb. 23rd, so stay tuned!

Blizzard #2 and #3!

2010-02-15T15:43:00.000-05:00

Usually in Virginia we get a blizzard every few years. This year, Mother Nature has blessed us with not one, not two, but three blizzards in one winter. I won't go on and on about it, I feel like I just did a post like this (oh right, because I did)! Basically, Saturday's storm dumped nearly 3 ft. on us and then we got hit again with another foot on Wednesday. I got the whole week off work so Maddie and I had lots of quality time together. She was really well-behaved and didn't seem to get cabin fever, amazingly. Thanks to my neighbor who is always up for a social event, we had little outings for sledding, dinner, breakfast, and wine (water for me) right across the street to keep us sane!

This is our deck after the first storm, believe it or not!

Look closely at my neighbor's yard, the snow is almost as high as the fence!

Maddie is literally chest deep in the snow. She was kind of stuck and being the great mom that I am, I had to get a picture first before getting her out. That is why she wouldn't look at the camera!

Yes, that's Maddie in her bike helmet. She tried to ride her bike the day after the first storm. She didn't get very far.

During the day of the second storm, Chris found a leak from our roof. Good times. This is the point when I decided it was enough snow and started to get a little cranky. The good news is, it was in the future baby's room so it forced us to clear it out. And since we haven't painted yet it's not a big deal.

So lucky to have a handy husband! And good at multi-tasking. He was on a conference call, moving the computer out of the room, cutting into the drywall and getting into the attic to investigate the source of the leak!

Blizzard of '09!

2009-12-24T07:35:00.003-05:00

We had a huge snow storm that dumped about 2 feet of snow on us. It was over the weekend which was nice. Chris spent much of the weekend shoveling and even shoveled the deck because he was worried about the weight of the snow on the deck. He ended up with a big pile in the yard below and could not pass up the opportunity to have a little fun, Chris-style. It's not exactly like doing a flip on a snowboard, but it satisfied his urge to have some x-treme winter fun!

First Visit with Santa....worth the wait!

2009-12-24T07:30:00.003-05:00

This is Maddie's 4th Christmas and we have never taken her to sit on Santa's lap. The first year it seemed crazy to wait in line with a 5 month-old, the second year Maddie definitely would have cried, last year she said she didn't want to and I respected that, thinking if we traumatized her at 2 1/2 we might never get a picture with Santa. This year, she was game. Especially when I told her she would get a candy cane at the end. We went the week of Thanksgiving and didn't wait at all and got a great picture with a great Santa!

Fun in the leaves!

2009-12-13T12:30:00.005-05:00

Usually around Thanksgiving or my Nana's birthday we help rake the leaves at her house in PA. This year we went up for my Nana's birthday and Maddie and I played in the leaves and she was being quite a ham for the camera. I got some funny shots.

Giving the birthday queen a kiss!

Oh, so dramatic! Nothing was wrong, she was just acting.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T21:17:00.004-05:00

What fun, having Halloween on a Saturday this year! As usual, we had the big gathering and parade on our street and the Baums joined us for dinner and trick-or-treating. Madeline and Livia are so sweet together. They get along great. Maddie was a bumble bee this year. She started saying in January that she wanted to be a bumble bee and despite being so into princess things, she wanted to be a bee. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the night.

Bumble Bee with an attitude!

There's my sweet girl!

Prayers

2009-11-02T21:01:00.002-05:00

We have put Maddie's wonderful memory to good use and taught her some prayers. She now says the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Now I lay me down to sleep every night at bedtime. Then we pray for all of our family and friends. Maddie likes to add in "God bless Bailey (Kim's dog), and God bless my toys, and God bless the light and the fan," and basically anything else that pops into her mind. I love hearing her say them, it's my favorite part of bedtime! I wanted to capture it on video. She has some trouble getting the words just right. But didn't we all think for the longest time as kids that "forwhichitstands" was one word?

A funny little conversation...

2009-10-22T18:44:00.002-05:00

Maddie cracks me up daily and I need to be better about writing some of the things she is saying down so I don't forget. Here was our conversation in the car on the way home tonight:
Me: Maddie, what animals did you see at the zoo today? (Nana took her to the Reston Zoo)
Maddie: I saw goats, and sheep, and a camel, and a cantelope!
Me: Oh Maddie, you mean an antelope?
Maddie: Yes Mommy, an antelope. Antelope.....Cantaloupe....that rhymes!
Me: Yes it does honey. Good job!
Maddie: Hmmmm (thinking).... Veggie...Wedgie.....that rhymes too!

Fall Fun

2009-10-08T19:22:00.010-05:00

I love this time of year and always realize that I love the change of seasons. As much as I love summer, it has been refreshing to have cooler temperatures this Fall. We recently traded in the Pathfinder. I almost cried because I loved that car and it was our first car together, but we couldn't pass up the incentives. We got a new Toyota Tacoma truck. Chris won the truck vs. SUV battle and I have to say it's nice to have a truck. We are able to throw the bikes and the bike trailer in the back of the truck and we've taken advantage of it a few times and gone for rides on the C&O Canal, which is a bike trail that goes along the Potomac river. I didn't get any bike shots, but I did take some pictures down by the river.

On a Friday in September, we went with Chris's parents and dear friends Larry and Nerita (who were visiting from Nebraska) to see Samie play soccer at Georgetown. Villanova plays Georgetown every year and this year the game was in D.C. so we went and had a great time.

Then, the last weekend of September, we spent a weekend at Deep Creek Lake with my family. We didn't get a chance to all get away together in the summer, so when my coworker offered her amazing lake house to us, we decided to get away for a little R&R. I really rested because I ended up getting strep throat the night before we left. And the weather was pretty miserable, cold and rainy. But somehow, despite the weather and illness, we had a great weekend. I guess that says a lot for how much I love my family! We did manage to get outside on Saturday and went for a little hike at a state park there called Swallow Falls. Chris and I have been there before to camp with friends, the first time in 1994 and the second time in 1999. So it is a place near and dear to our hearts. I was able to use our new scanner to scan an old picture from our second trip. The scenery there is so beautiful and we all agree that another trip to the Deep Creek Lake area is a must!

The Little Ballerina

2009-09-20T19:10:00.001-05:00

I was deciding between signing Maddie up for ballet class or soccer this fall and while soccer talen definitely runs in the Moskal family, I think I made the right decision. Maddie loves dressing up right now. She loves princesses, loves music, and loves dancing. So when I found a princess ballet class in which they have different dresses every week for them to wear and the whole class is princess themed, I had to do it. My little girl may not be girly forever, so I thought I would take advantage of this very girly phase she's in. She loves it and all the little girls are so cute! Maddie has turned the word "ballet" into a verb. So she likes to say, "Mommy, I love ballet-ing" or "Are we going ballet-ing today?" or "I want to put on my ballet dress and do some ballet-ing." I can't correct her yet, it's too sweet!

Making a wish as Snow White

Mommy's Little Helper

2009-09-17T20:59:00.002-05:00

Madeline is becoming very interested in helping me clean. I found the perfect thing for her to do, the Swiffer. We had music on while we were cleaning and I decided to get out the camera and record her dancing and cleaning at the same time. I tried to record her talking since that's all she seems to do these days, so the video is kind of long. And of course, she didn't talk a whole lot because she was so busy dancing and cleaning. It's fun to have her help. I have such vivid and fond memories of helping my mom clean when I was growing up in New York and we used to listen to Air Supply! It's fun to be making those memories again with my own daughter.

First Week of Preschool

2009-09-17T20:29:00.003-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I put a lot of thought into big decisions. Thorough analysis runs in my family. It's in my blood. So when it came time to decide on a preschool for Maddie, all factors were considered. Was it a clean, safe, fun place? What days would she go? Where is it? Will it work for both me and my mom to take her and pick her up? Etc., etc., etc. I was very pleased with our decision on a preschool and excited for her to start. It is a 2 day program, Mondays and Tuesdays from 9-12. My mom will do one day (I work on Mondays) and I will do the other. The location is centrally located between our house and my parents'. Perfect!!!

I hate to focus on the negative part of this first week of school, but her first day is one I'll never forget. Despite all my perfect planning, the first morning did not exactly go smoothly. I decided to take the morning off so that I could take her myself. It was a short day from 9-10:30 and she would meet her teacher, see the classroom and get acquainted. I had my mom meet us there since she'll be doing Monday preschool. The most direct route to the preschool is not the normal route I take in the mornings when I work because I always drop Madeline at my parents' house first. I anticipated traffic and left at 8:15, allowing 45 minutes to go 10 miles. It's Northern Virginia, there's lots of traffic. I HAVE NEVER SEEN TRAFFIC LIKE THIS IN MY 8 YEARS LIVING IN LEESBURG!!!! That morning it took me 1 hour and 25 minutes to go 10 miles! Maddie and I arrived 40 minutes late to her first day! I started getting upset on the phone with my mom who was giving me the play-by-play of what we were missing (which wasn't really much to tell the truth). Maddie could tell I was upset, so then she got upset and started weeping and saying, "Mommy, I'm sad that we can't get to my preschool." It was so pitiful. But long story short, I pulled myself together for her sake and when we got there, she caught up quickly and was very comfortable right away.

The second day I left at 7:45 and paid $4 to take the toll road and skip the traffic. We arrived with enough time to spare to go to Target nearby and we were still the first ones in the door once it opened! What's most important is that Madeline had a great time and so far seems to like it. I was warned that there would be tears when she goes to school, I just didn't think the tears would be over traffic! But in the grand scheme of things, I'd rather have us both shed a tear or two over traffic than have Maddie or me crying over leaving her there :)

The Lake (again!)

2009-09-17T20:20:00.003-05:00

We had one last fun weekend at the lake with the gang in August. Kaitlyn and Maddie were two peas in a pod with their matching bathing suits and Laura and Andy are adorably excited about their two peas in a pod (they are expecting twins)!! And Maddie went on her first jet ski ride with Daddy and loved it! The lake is definitely one of our favorite weekend getaways and we are so grateful to be welcomed there every summer!

Buffalo Trip

2009-09-16T18:56:00.009-05:00

In August, Maddie and I went on a road trip to Buffalo with my parents. Sigh.....yes I survived the car trip being the member of the sandwich generation (having my parents and my child with me)! Maddie just watched videos the whole time, didn't sleep a wink, but she is a great little traveller. And other than getting a lecture once on where the cooler goes in the car, I had a great time with my parents. It's been a while since we've had 9 hours together to just chat. I dare say the car ride was even enjoyable.

We went up there to visit my Grandma and my dad's Uncle John who was visiting from Brazil. We stayed with my Aunt Joanne and her family and visited with my Aunt Mary Beth and my cousins. Everyone has a pool in Buffalo. When the weather's warm, they know how to enjoy it since it's rare! Maddie's buddy the whole weekend was Uncle Mark (Joanne's hubby) who brought home toys from his fun place of employment, Fisher Price. He also played with her lots in the pool. Mark says that Maddie reminds him so much of my cousin (his daughter) Katie at age 3, who is now looking at colleges!

Fun with Nana in the pool

Napping in the pool? Nope, just a good actress. She had some people fooled for a few minutes....but I know my girl. She would never fall asleep instead of having fun :) But it was convincing.

Uncle Mark

Aunt Joanne

Great Grandma and Great Uncle John (the priest)

Kissing cousins!

I was playing around with my camera settings and had some fun. Joanne and Mark's yard is so beautifully landscaped and made for a good background.

The Water Park

2009-09-15T18:52:00.002-05:00

We have a great new water park in Leesburg with lots of fun slides, play areas, and a lazy river. We went there on Maddie's actual birthday. I had to post these two cute pictures of Maddie and her buddy Nicholas, our neighbor. He is almost 6 years old, but despite the age difference, they play so well together. Maddie adores him. And lucky for me, his mom Amy is a great friend. We are so lucky to have such a fun neighborhood!

Birthday Fun!

2009-09-15T14:25:00.006-05:00

We had lots of fun celebrating Madeline's birthday this year. We had our parents and siblings over for dinner and cake. One highlight for me was Maddie's excitement over the homemade pink princess cake I made. Nothing fancy at all. One box of yellow cake mix $1.89; one container of pink funfetti icing $2.29; party store Disney princess cake topper $8.99......Your daughter waking up from her nap and seeing her birthday cake and saying, "Mommy, I love my cake! Isn't it beautiful? It's amazing!" over and over.....Priceless!
She also LOVED the musical cards everyone gave her and the two pairs of flip-flops. She insisted on wearing one pink and one blue flip-flop. This kid is easy to please.

The best part of the evening however, was Maddie putting on a dance/singing show for everyone. We had Disney music on in the background and before we knew it she was dancing and singing while everyone watched. Well everyone except Samie, who danced with her. We took a couple videos. For those who have seen Maddie dance, you know she spins. So here's some more spinning. They are a little long, but I just couldn't stop recording!

Disney World

2009-07-27T06:01:00.024-05:00

We had an amazing vacation in Florida. We spent a week there in a beautiful time share (thanks to Chris's parents) and did 4 days at Disney, and 2 days at the beach. Not a single nap was had by anyone the whole week, but we had a GREAT time! Maddie is very into all things Disney right now, especially the princesses. So it was truly a magical experience to see her take it all in. Our favorite things were the character meals including breakfast with the Little Einsteins and Pooh & friends, as well as dinner in Cinderella's castle; riding on Thunder mountain with Maddie, she was just tall enough and came off and said, "that was awesome!"; the Everest and Aerosmith roller coasters (Maddie was too small for them); the Lion King show; the parades and the fireworks; meeting the princesses and other characters; Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood playground; and Ariel's Grotto water play area. We got very lucky avoiding long lines and kept cool with a spray bottle and by getting drenched one day at Magic Kingdom in the rain!

I have to put this video first. It was our first morning at Magic Kingdom (we did 2 days there) and we got to the park before it opened for a character breakfast. There was music playing and Maddie just started dancing with the castle in the background. It made for such a precious moment I had to catch it on video. Simply magical....

Here are some pictures from the 3 parks we visited.

First was Hollyood Studios: Pictures are of Breakfast with June and Leo from Little Einsteins, character greetings, outside the Muppet 3D movie (which was the ONLY thing that scared her the whole week), and with Daddy at the fountain. We also loved all the shows at Hollywood Studios, the Ariel show, the Belle show, the Disney playhouse show, and the American Idol Experience.

Next, Magic Kingdom: Character breakfast with Pooh & Friends, meeting the Princesses, Ariel's Grotto, dinner at Cinderella's castle where the Fairy Godmother sang Happy Birthday, the Hundred Acre Wood and Toontown playgrounds, watching the nightime parade and fireworks (to name a few!!)

She is not asleep in this picture, just closing her eyes during the fireworks. She did not fall asleep until we got back to the hotel at 11:30 and that was with no nap that day! She didn't want to miss a thing!

We also went to Animal Kingdom and Maddie got to meet Minnie Mouse!

In addition to the parks, we also took two day trips to the coast. We spent one day North of Disney in Palm Coast at my Uncle Ken and Aunt Cindy's beautiful house. Chris went golfing with Ken, Cindy and my Uncle Greg, while Maddie and I went to the beach with my Aunt Patti.

We also spent one day South of Disney at Sarah and Rob's house in Indian Harbour Beach. She just had baby Vance on July 8th and we were so thrilled to be able to meet him when he was one week old! He is so precious! We relaxed, swam in the their pool, and then went to the beach in the evening and saw the shuttle launch from Kenney Space Center. It was a wonderful day!

It was a really fun week and we made lots of great memories. Seeing Disney through Maddie's eyes really was like seeing it for the first time. She may not remember it in years to come, but I know Chris and I will never forget it!

Madeline is 3!

2009-07-27T05:25:00.004-05:00

I'm sitting here writing this, the morning of July 27th, 2009. Maddie is 3 today. 3 years ago today, at this time of morning, Chris was racing home from work because my water broke. We thought we'd be in for a long day of labor, but within 3 hours of being at the hospital, Madeline was born. She was ready to be out. She was early, she came fast. Ever since that morning, beginning with her fast delivery, time has seemed to move at a much faster pace.

I remember in college, a good friend and I reflected on the advice to "enjoy college....they're the best years of your life." We thought that was kind of depressing because that meant it was all downhill from there. We both agreed that we hoped college was not the best time in our lives, because then we'd have nothing to look forward to!

Well I've decided that since college, and especially since Maddie was born, it has been downhill....on the fastest, most fun roller coaster I've ever been on. "It's all downhill" has taken on a new meaning for me and it means the following:

1. It goes by faster (life didn't move this fast in college, maybe because I was always waiting for the next time I could see Chris!)

2. At times it can be scary (am I doing the right thing as a parent?)

3. It is more fun than ever (everyone knows the downhill part of a roller coaster is the best part)!

It sounds so cliche to say that the last year has flown by, but it really has. I now understand why the 0-3 years for a child are so critical. They change so much in the first 3 years, it's amazing. It's hard for us to believe that those first 3 years are over, but we are so proud, in love and in awe of the little person who is sleeping down the hall right now. I know that on this roller coaster of life, love, and parenting there are ups and downs, but we are enjoying the ride. Did I mention she rode Thunder mountain at Disney World? (and loved it!)

4th of July

2009-07-10T20:24:00.001-05:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend at the lake with the Marcoulliers. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast swimming, riding on the boat and seeing the fireworks. It was our first time seeing the fireworks from a boat in the middle of Lake Anna and it was beautiful. It was also Maddie's first time seeing/hearing fireworks at all. As long as her ears were covered, she loved seeing them.

The girls were waiting anxiously at the window to go swimming.

Marissa and Maddie getting tossed in the water (don't worry they were caught too)!

We spent some time over at Chris's parents' property at the lake and had lots of fun!

Sarah's Baby Shower

2009-06-05T19:53:00.000-05:00

Maddie and I flew down to Florida at the end of May for Sarah's baby shower. We all waited a very long time to celebrate this wonderful gift and the weekend was so fun. Jess and Carson came from CO; Shelley came from SC with Lourdes and lil Landon; and Jennie and Jackson flew with us from DC. We somehow managed to pull off a lovely baby shower at a beachside pavilion with 4 of us planning/preparing with 5 kids.

We sat all the kids down for a picture in their UVA shirts and it was so comical. The boys just were not happy about it. We got a couple shots off before the boys all lost it. Then we tried again with Sarah's belly in the picture with a tiny UVA onesie on and this time Landon stole the show with his histerics.

Jennie's son Jackson has gorgeous long hair and the girls (little and big) had fun playing with it. We gave him some pigtails and he was a good sport about it!

Jess shared some words about how happy we all are for Sarah and their baby boy!

Landon was happy......as long as mama was around. Lucky for Shelley (ha!) he developed a strong stranger/separation anxiety just in time for this weekend. She is such a great mom and handled it in stride and with grace as usual. He is such a sweetie!

Shelley, Lourdes, Sarah, Maddie and I snuck in a quick walk to the beach the morning we left. The weekend was so busy that we didn't get a chance to swim at the beach, but we did get to at least walk on it and see it!

Best pals: Lourdes and Maddie hugged each other for a solid minute as we were saying goodbye. We wish we all lived closer!!!

New Haircut!

2009-05-26T18:16:00.005-05:00

Maddie's hair was getting long and some days I really liked it long and other days it seemed to just look messy. So I took her to get a cute bob style. The stylist insisted on going short so here's the outcome! I did cringe a little when about 5 inches fell to the floor with her first cut (she cut the underneath part a little shorter). But it is cute and it should grow out nicely now. Her bangs are finally long enough that they are pretty much even with the rest.

BEFORE

AFTER

Odds and Ends

2009-05-26T18:01:00.006-05:00

This post has no theme, just some funny pics and a video from the past week.

Maddie and I are going to FL for Sarah's baby shower in a few days, so I had put some outfits of hers in her closet in preparation for packing. I told her what they were for and then during "quiet time" (translation: playing in her room instead of napping...but staying in her room at least) she put ALL of her books from upstairs in the closet. When I went in to check on what she was doing she said, "I'm packing all my books to take to Florida."

One morning this past weekend it was so beautiful. So I was sitting on the porch reading the paper while we ate breakfast. Maddie said, "Mommy, can you please give me my newspaper?" So I handed her the comics and she read her paper at her table. It was so peaceful and quiet :)

Here is the little dare devil jumping off the landing of our stairs to Chris. I make sure to emphasize that she only does this for Daddy, not Mommy or Nana, and NOT by herself. She loves it.

Happy Birthday Chris!

2009-05-25T17:40:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Chris's birthday today. Here is a video of Maddie singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candle for him. I got him his favorite Cold Stone ice cream and Maddie enjoyed some before an early bedtime. We were too full from dinner to have some with her! Happy Birthday Chris, you are the most amazing husband and father. Maddie and I love you!

Some favorite pictures of mine of Maddie and Daddy

Goodbye Gibbes

2009-05-11T19:52:00.008-05:00

It may seem a little strange for me to be blogging about this. But if you've ever cared about someone so much, that your heart aches for them when they are hurting, you will understand why I am writing this post.

Anyone who knows my dear friend Shelley (one of the Fab Five from college), knows that she is a dog lover. And I don't mean she thinks they are cute, she LOVES dogs. She loves the way their ears smell, loves big dogs, little dogs, loves their kisses, loves them. When we graduated from college, Shelley moved to Charleston to begin her nursing career and start her post-college life without knowing anyone. So the first thing she did was get a dog. While walking her new puppy Lucy, she met another puppy named Gibbes and soon fell in love with him and his owner Brian. Shelley and Brian got married and Gibbes was no longer just Brian's, he was Shelley's too. I have always felt that the two dogs were responsible for bringing them together.

Gibbes was the sweetest golden retriever and always had a knack for knowing who was most allergic (me) to his long coat! He always wanted to snuggle and be petted and even though he made me sneeze and made my eyes itch, I couldn't resist giving him some love. Maddie got to meet him and Lucy in February when we visited and she continues to talk about Lourdes' dogs "Gibbes the big dog" and "Lucy, the little dog" long after our visit.

Recently, Gibbes became sick and on Saturday Shelley sent me a text saying that Gibbes was gone. I was totally caught off guard and started to cry. Maddie was very concerned and asked what was wrong. So I had to explain to her that Gibbes got sick and he went to sleep forever and is now in doggie heaven. She kept saying things like, "Mommy, Gibbes can be okay, I will give him a doggie lollipop and he can be okay." Then she'd ask, "Mommy, where doggie heaven? Where Gibbes? Gibbes is sick Mommy?" I knew Shelley wasn't up for talking, so I called Jennie (another fab fiver) and when she answered, she was crying too. We were both so sad for our friend.

So, in summary, the reason for this post is twofold. First, it was a significant moment in Maddie's life, because other than explaining that Daddy had to kill a mouse in the garage, it was the first time I had to explain death to her. It was kind of hard. What does an almost 3 year-old understand about something so abstract? What should she be told at this age? What was so sweet was the matter-of-fact outlook she had, but also the concern that she showed. And I know that Lourdes is helping Shelley and Brian get through this with the same simple outlook and concern.

The other significant thing was that it made me realize what an amazing friendship and bond the five of us share. Our friend's happiness is our happiness, and her sadness is our sadness.

So Gibbes, Roo, Gibbedaboo, Roo Roo, I know I speak for Maddie and the other girls....we will miss you! And we love you Shelley!