YAY....We have a new laptop!!!

The new laptop came today and it works great! I was bummed we didn't get it yesterday but I have been sick so I probably wouldn't have done much with it anyway. I am sitting in the living room writing this blog and I am so excited!!!!!! I have to transfer a lot of our pictures before I can update the blog but here are a few recent ones that were on my camera!!!

Madelyn loves her rain boots and wants to wear them all the time!!

Madelyn loves her doll bed that Aunt Mary & Uncle Randy gave her. She rocks and sings to her baby dolls every night before bed.

Madelyn's last day of school was Tuesday. She had a great year at Hillcrest and Mrs. Angie and Mrs. Raegan were great teachers.

A Lot Going On.....

I am trying to work on updating the blog….we have had lots of fun stuff happen over the last few months but our computer has been on the fritz so doing anything with pictures is a big challenge!!! On Friday we finally ordered a new laptop and it should be here sometime this week. I don’t know when I will be done catching up but soon there will be blogs about Valentine’s Day, Florida Vacation, Kelsey’s Spring Break, St. Patrick’s Day, Madelyn’s 2nd Birthday, Kasey & Paul’s Wedding, Deanna Rose 2011, Fun Times with Neighbors on 100th St., Allison Marie Connelly, Tax Day, Easter, Ben’s Baptism, & Mother’s Day Weekend.

Just a quick update on Madelyn……
Madelyn continues to amaze us!!! She is talking so much and she says some of the funniest things. At her 2 year visit she measured very tall but very thin, Jim and I wish we had that problem….HAHA! She is such a sweet little girl and still LOVES her baby dolls. This past weekend Aunt Mary & Uncle Randy passed down a wooden doll bed to her and she is in heaven. Last night she rocked all her babies to sleep singing “You are my Sunshine”. Although we have had an extremely cold spring that hasn’t slowed her and the neighborhood kids down from playing outside ALL THE TIME!!! She got a tricycle for her 2nd birthday and she rides it very well. Leo and Hannah are both a year + older then she and they can ride their bikes so she was determined. She still needs if we are going uphill but other than that she can pedal and steer!! Madelyn is just getting over strep throat for the 3rd time in less than 2 months so she has been on heavy antibiotics. They have really done a toll on her so we are so happy she is done with the medicine tomorrow. Tomorrow is Madelyn’s last day of school!! She had such a great first year and it is amazing how much all the kids have grown in her class. In August when they all started most of them had just turned 1 and were still little babies…..now they are all 2, have a definite personality, are talking nonstop and want their INDEPENDENCE!! Madelyn will be attending a new school next year but hopefully we will keep in contact with some of her friends from Hillcrest. She is always talking about Jane and the teachers tell us that her and Jane love to play baby dolls together. Over the summer Madelyn will be attending a summer camp 1 day a week at her new school. We are excited for her new school, new class, and new friends! Madelyn is still taking her gymnastics class once a week. This is her 4th month and it is amazing how much she has improved since her first class. We are thinking at the end of the summer she will move up a class.

Big news about Jim……
Jim accepted a new position at W&R on Thursday. He started interviewing for this position in the middle of April and after 3-4 interviews he got the job!!! He will be a FAD OSJ Specialist (Financial Advisors Division Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction Specialist) for a specific region of the country. This is a big promotion for him and Madelyn and I are so excited and proud of him. Since it was on a Wednesday when he got the good news we celebrated with a picnic outside with Sonic cheeseburgers! Madelyn was so sweet and kept clapping and saying “YAY Daddy”, “Proud of Daddy”, “I Love you Daddy”! Jim is very excited about this new challenge and he can’t wait to get started. He will start the position in a couple of months. He is required to get his Series 7 & Series 24 Licenses so he will be EXTREMELY BUSY studying over the next 2 months. WOOHOO…..GO DADDY!!!

What a week (1/30/2011-2/2/2011)

We found out at the last minute that I was going to have to work from Wichita last week Monday through Wednesday. We were already planning a quick trip to Wichita to visit one of my best girlfriends and her two little boys who were in Wichita visiting from Canada so we packed up Sunday morning headed to Wichita. It was an uneventful and very pretty drive. When we got there we went straight to Jen's house and had a playdate. It was so great to see her and her beautiful little boys! Her youngest Maddoc was in love with Madelyn and her pretty necklace it was to cute! I miss Jen so much and I loved hanging out and having girl time with her :)

Jim has still been working 11-12 hour days so when we found out I was going to be out of town for 3 days we called in back up to help out. Jim's parents picked Jim and Madelyn up in Wichita Sunday evening on there way to KC. I was so thankful Jim and Madelyn were able to come to Wichita for the day, we had so much FUN! After visiting Jen & the boys we went out to dinner and to McDonalds to have ice cream sundaes and play in the playland. When Jim's parents met us at McDonald's I think they were suprised to see there 32 year old son sliding down the slide.

Tuesday KC got a huge snowstorm (14 inches) and Jim's dad did all the shoveling! Jim and I were so appreciative and thankful! While I was in Wichita they got a pretty bad storm as well, not as much snow but horrible winds. They let us go from work Tuesday at 3 and it took me 2 hours to drive 8 miles to the hotel. Once I got to the hotel we had to park in the road and walk because of the snow drifts from the wind. Everything was shut down but at 8:30 pm the hotel brought in some pizza for the hotel guests to eat. I was so happy to come home on Wednesday night but I couldn't believe how much snow lined our driveway!

Thank you so much Mike & Ann for coming to KC and helping us out while I was out of town. I am so sorry you were here in the big snow storm and that you had to shovel our driveway as well as yours when you got home but we are so THANKFUL!!! Madelyn loved having you here and it gave me such peace of mind knowing she was home with Grandma & PaPo while I was out of town and Jim was working.

Gymnastics

We signed Madelyn up for gymnastics and she loved it! She was a little hesitant at first but after about 5 minutes she fit right in. She didn't want to leave when the class was over :)

This is her waiting for the class...she was really excited!

The class is full of little obstacle courses for the kids...below she is suppose the bear walk on the two beans.

Walking across the bean on her tippy toes.

Bringing her feet up to the bar.

At the end of the class they get to climb the rock wall and slide into the foam pit...Madelyn was waving to her Daddy. They also get a stamp at the end of class which she was so excited about!

Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm

Today Jim was having cabin fever and looking for something fun and inexpensive to do on the internet. He came across the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm which is located in Olathe directly on the Santa Fe Trail. It looked like a neat place and because of all the snow we have on the ground they were offering horse drawn sleigh rides for $2 from 12-3. We all bundled up and headed that way! We had a great time and although it was cold it was definately worth it. We were both suprised how fast the horses went..they must have been cold. Madelyn had a great time and was all smiles. Everytime we would go down a small hill or the ride would get bumpy she would yell "WHOA"! Afterwards they offered hot chocolate and a tour of the place. We were invited back next Saturday to celebrate Kansas's 150th birthday.


Waiting for the horses to arrive for the sleigh ride...we waited inside b/c it was cold.



Getting on the sleigh.....




Pictures during the sleigh ride

After the sleigh ride we were allowed to pet the horses.

Madelyn vs. Cody

Santa broght Madelyn a princess couch that she loves.......she sits on it to read, color, play baby dolls, drink her milk and wants us to sit/lay on it as well! It was a great gift from Santa!!!!

After Madelyn goes to bed Cody really enjoys the princess couch....if Madelyn knew she wouldn't be happy and she would say "NO OFF STOP!"

Go Get Happy

Whenever Madelyn doesn't listen, whines or throws tantrums we tell her to go find a spot and get happy. We also tell her that when she is happy to let us know and she can join us again. So far so good, it always works and she always picks the same spot....the bottom step. We never assigned the happy spot as the bottom step it was the place she chose. Sometimes she sits there for a few seconds and other times it is a few minutes. When she is happy she shouts "Mommy/Daddy I HAPPY"! Tonight Jim was able to sneak a picture.

Elmo's Healthy Hero's

My how times have changed. Just a few years ago, I could never have imagined that our big weekend plans would consist of a trip downtown to see Sesame Street Live Elmo's Healthy Hero's, followed by lunch at the Burger King play zone. We didn't have anything else going on and we invited Madelyn's friend Bekah to come with us. I couldn't get over how much clapping, dancing and laughing was done during the show. Trish and I had so much much watching the girls! What a great Saturday!

Daddy's Little Girl

For the last 2 weeks Jim has been working 11 0r 12 hour days and Madelyn does not approve. When Jim started working the overtime we never realized the impact it would have on her. She is used to him picking her up at 4 everyday and them coming home and having FUN time until I get home. She is now staying at daycare until 5 and she is not seeing him until after dinner. She talks about him nonstop and is very sad when he is not home. She has even cried looking at his picture a couple of times. When he gets home she is so mad at him and wants nothing to do with him :( Over the weekends she goes back to her normal happy self which is good but the weekday evenings have been very rough. We called the pediatrician and she said this is very normal when there routine is changed. Next week is week #3 of overtime and we hope things get better. Madelyn loves her Daddy so much and we both miss him in the evenings! Jim is such a hard worker and I admire and respect that! Everynight before bed Jim and Madelyn read stories and below are a couple pics of them reading stories this week! They are so cute!!!!

Snow Angel

Kansas City had its first snowstorm of the season yesterday...it started snowing around 4am and didn't stop until after 7pm. We probably got around 8 inches. We all bundled up and went outside to play when we got home from work. Jim had a lot of shoveling to do so Madelyn and I made snow angels and threw snow balls. We had a really good time but she was definately ready to come inside and warm up after 20 minutes and so was I. We decided to go inside and invite Leo over for a playdate while both Daddy's shoveled! It was a great Monday evening!!!

"All the Single Ladies"

Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy got Madelyn an MP3 player/boombox for Christmas and Madelyn loves it. They downloaded around 100 songs on it. Madelyn enjoys all the nursery rhymes, christmas carols and disney songs but her favorite is "All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce. Everytime she turns the boombox on she goes right to song #7 and starts dancing and it is so cute. She definately has some moves...she must get that from Aunt Kathy! This isn't the best video because she got a little camera shy when she saw me get the recorder out. Hopefully I will get a better one :) We love watching her dance......ENJOY!

Chiefs/Ravens Playoff Game

The fans spelled out Go Chiefs

B-2 Flyover---so cool!

Dad, Connor, Jim & Me!

My Dad and brother flew in Friday night and spent the weekend with us. We had a great time and on Sunday we all went to the Raven's/Chief's playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. The temperature was in the 20's so it was really cold but we all had a great time. The Raven's won so all of my east coast family is happy......my family has had Raven's season tickets for years and years! Jim and I were kind of neutral...we really enjoy seeing the Raven's and Chief's win. I wore a heavy jacket to the game that I have not worn in years and as we were at the game I went to pull my phone out of my pocket and I pulled a ticket stub from a Raven's/Jets game that I attended on Dec. 24th 2000. We all got a chuckle out of that. I wore 6 layers on top, 4 on bottom and 3 pairs of socks and my winter boots. I had a little trouble walking but I was warm :). Thanks Dad and Connor for coming to KC for the game, we had so much fun and were sad to see you leave. Dad we love your 24/7 attitude and we all love having breakfast and fountain sodas waiting for us in the morning! I am so lucky to have such a great Dad and Madelyn is so lucky to have such a great MC!!!!!

Our Last Day in Boston!

We went to New Hampshire this year for Christmas and the day before we were scheduled to leave the whole East Coast was hit with a huge snow storm and heavy winds. Airports were closed and flights were canceled so our trip was extended by 2 days. Our last day we decided to do some touristy stuff in Boston with my brother and sister. We had a great day!!!!!
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We went to the New England Aquarium and saw lots of penguins, seals, jelly fish, sharks, fish and turtles. Madelyn really the aquarium but her favorite was touching the star fish!

We ate a delicious lunch at "Cheers" and had a family cheers with our mugs. Every meal we have Madelyn loves to cheers so we decided that was just the spot for lunch!

We walked around Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

Daddy & Madelyn Weekend 12/2010

Today while I was uploading pictures from the camera I came across all the pictures Jim took of him and Madelyn while I was in Pittsburg the first weekend in December. From the looks of the photo's they had a great daddy/daughter weekend. Madelyn is so blessed to have an amazing father!!!! I am so glad they had a blast while I was gone...see the pics below!!!
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They baked homemade Strawberry bread and it was DELICIOUS!

They went to Wonderscope

They made Texas Matador and watched OU in the Big XII Championship game.

They went to Daddy's work party...Madelyn just wanted to show Santa her balloon she didn't want to sit on his lap.

Madelyn and Daddy suprised me at the airport with balloons, flowers and a sign that Madelyn had made....I am one lucky Mommy!