Bike, Run, Swim

OK, so it's not the usual swim-bike-run. Bike-Run-Swim is what Madeleine (and us) have been up to the last week or so.

2 weekends ago, Madeleine and I made another trip to Grant's Farm via Grant's Trail. She really loves the trailer these days and I love towing her around in it. I get a good workout and she gets to check everything out along our route. It's win-win for sure. We got really lucky this particular weekend as one of the "baby" Clydesdales at Grant's Farm walked right over to us at the fence and Madeleine got to pet her (or him?) a number of times. I would have snapped a picture if not for the worry that he/she might mistake her little hand for an apple.

Work's been super busy the last couple of months but last Friday I finished my last appointment somewhat early so Erin and I decided to walk the girls to Webster for dinner. Llywelyn's outside patio was our plan but on this especially nice weekend evening their patio was packed. Wanting to dine outdoors, we ended up at C.J. Muggs instead. Then Madeleine ended up trying to walk the whole way back to Larson Park, our side trip on the way home. Our house to Llywelyn's is just over a mile so she must have done close to that before plopping in the middle of a driveway just short of the park so she could take off her shoes!

On Saturday, we made our first family trip to the Zoo with Hadley. Erin and I thought our big night out on Friday would have had Madeleine riding with her little sister in our new-to-us double stroller, but Madeleine had different plans. She walked from the car to the ticket booth, through the River Scene, and to the Train... then most of the way back from Big Cat Country to the car! I have to admit I'm happy she's not lazy!

Bike Content: Sunday I got in my first MTB ride of 2009. I rode 2 laps of next weekend's race course at Castlewood. I stopped between laps to talk to Bob and Mike and ran into Dave early into lap 2. I felt tired and slow and am sure to get it handed to me this weekend. Oh well, at least I'll have something to work towards.

Tonight Madeleine had her 3rd swim lesson at the Webster Y. After last week's test of the swim diaper, I let Erin do this one for a change.

A few pics:

Grant's Farm Clydesdale's:


Walking home from Webster:


Free Hadley Photo:


Helping Mom get Zoo train tickets:


"Just like Uncle Dave, I like fish too!"


Pockets!


"I'm just going to go over there behind that rock and take care of business."


Riding the train with Dad:


Swim lesson with Mom:

10 Years

It is hard to believe that in May it will have been 10 years since I graduated from William and Mary. I am hoping I can make it to Homecoming in October but for now we had a mini William and Mary reunion over the weekend at the lake. Our friends, Holly and Nathan and their daughter Abby, came from Fort Leavenworth. Tara, Hadley's godmother, flew in from Virginia and came with Holly and Nathan. We were all very excited to meet Abby who is only 2 1/2 weeks older than Hadley.

We set off Friday morning and had an easy car ride until we were about 30 minutes from the lake. Then Hadley started to fuss so Jim started to drive a little faster. Big Mistake. Apparently Madeleine and going 70 on twisty country roads do not mix. Let's just say the car didn't smell so great for the last 30 minutes of the drive. Everyone else arrived later Friday night... shortly after that Jim and Nathan headed down to the dock for some fishing (or maybe beer drinking). The girls stayed up talking until Hadley finally fell asleep which was about 12:30.

Saturday morning started off with some more fishing for the guys... I had a feeling before we went on this trip the guys were going to do a lot of fishing and the girls were going to do a lot of caring for the baby girls up at the house. I think Madeleine was surprised to wake up Saturday morning and see that there were now two dogs and two babies at the house. She made fast friends with Tara and was her buddy all weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day so after Madeleine's nap we headed to the state park. With Madeleine in the backpack and Hadley and Abby in chest packs we went for a nice hike around the lake. We grilled some yummy kabobs for dinner and then the boys went fishing again. This time Madeleine went along in the backpack. I usually get bored after 10 minutes of watching Jim fish but Madeleine seemed to enjoy it. She is going to be fishing on her own soon after receiving her first fishing pole from Holly and Nathan. Saturday night after some arm twisting we sat down for a game of Apples to Apples. Nathan who did not want to play won both rounds. You would have thought that it was Nathan and Jim that spent four years together in college as they seemed to be on the same exact wave length for everything... or maybe they just share the same guy humor.

In typical Missouri weather, Sunday was freezing! Holly, Tara and I headed to the outlets for some quick shopping while Jim and Nathan held down the fort. I think they were hoping we would take all the kids but we only took Hadley so they each only had responsibility for one. We all said good-bye in the afternoon. It was a great weekend and fun to catch up with everyone.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

The Cute and the Not-So-Cute

Last night after park time, Madeleine discovered the joy of smashing one's face into a window. It was really cute, boogers and all.

Tonight she took a poop in the tub during bathtime. That was not-so-cute.

A few pics of the cute:

Go Mizzou!

Tomorrow Mizzou will be facing Memphis in the Sweet Sixteen and we are all very excited. It has been a little challenging trying to watch the games with Madeleine and Hadley but we have gotten to see the exciting moments. Thankfully Madeleine loves tv and basketball so she will sit through some of it. Her love of basketball comes from watching our 7th grade neighbor who has his friends over almost everyday to play. She really enjoys watching them and says basketball very cute. I'm sure they love having a 1 1/2 year old staring at them while they play! Here is us watching Mizzou win the Big 12 Championship.


In other Krewet news, I made my first trip alone with both of the girls besides going for a walk or picking Madeleine up at school. The thought of taking them both to a store was a little daunting but I could not pass up the chance to get to the Alpine Shop clearance sale right when they opened. Every year we have gotten great deals there and who can resist Patagonia 50% off the already marked down price. With Hadley in the Baby Bjorn and Madeleine on the loose, we picked up the only size 3T Patagonia coat, some 3T Patagonia pants, two Patagonia coats for me and one Cloudveil jacket for Jim all for the price of one of the Patagonia coats for me. The girls did great and today I braved the park with the two of them. That went well until it was time to leave. Madeleine kept telling me she needed "More Slide".


As the weather has been improving we have been spending more time outside. Madeleine absolutely loves being outside. I think she might be developing a little crush on the 3 yr old boy next door... either that or she is using him for his swing :) It is so cute to see her running around the yard this year. Madeleine's talking has really taken off in the last few weeks too. She repeats everything you say... thankfully she has not repeated Jim cussing yet. She also said her first sentence which happened to be "I need more". This sentence can be used for almost about anything including bathtime, milk, puffs, lotion and books.

Madeleine pushing Hadley in the swing... she says "Ready Go" just like Jim does to her. I got this picture right before I told her she really needed to stop pushing the swing.

Hadley at 5 weeks... hard to believe it has been 5 weeks already... also 5 weeks since I have slept more than 3 hrs in a row.

At the zoo

Madeleine dressed up Jim and Hadley in hats

Spring!

We have been enjoying some really nice weather the last few days. I definitely have needed it and wish it could stay like this but it looks like winter will be returning later in the week. It has been so nice to be able to get out of the house. The only bad weather we have had over the last few days happened to be this morning right after we got to the park. Thanks to my careful attention to the sky (or paranoia as Jim might call it) we got both girls loaded up in the car right as the heavy rain started to fall. Madeleine was upset to be ripped from the swing so quickly. She is addicted to swinging right now and it is really hard to get her out of it to do anything else at the park. She also enjoys climbing and sliding but tends to forget that when she is swinging. Yesterday, Madeleine got to go to two parks, ride in the bike trailer and ride her bike. It was a big outside day.

Hadley is doing good... she just needs to understand that sleeping at night is much better than sleeping all day. I think it is improving but I have a hard time at 2 in the morning when she is all alert and I just want to get back to sleep.

Here are a few pics from the last week or so.

Madeleine joining Hadley during tummy time. They looked so cute.



What is wrong with this picture? Who is supposed to be wearing the helmet?

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this.

Not only does Madeleine enjoy wearing Daddy's hat, she is also really into his sunglasses!

Hadley's little legs and big feet.

Sleeping in the carseat... she like this much more than her bed.

Who Needs Sleep?

That song kept running through my head last night as apparently Hadley did not need to sleep! After Jim and I were saying last night that Hadley has been such a good baby so far and very easy, she decided to tell us we spoke to soon. Let's just say I think I slept for possibly 2 hours and it was not two consecutive hours . Hadley did decide to sleep for 3.5 hrs this morning. Of course, that was negated by the fact that she fell asleep right after Madeleine woke up. Hopefully tonight will be better!

Madeleine is doing fairly well adjusting to having a baby sister. In fact, she might be adjusting too well. At first she was scared to touch Hadley but now we are really having to stress being "gentle". She loves to get right in her face and yell "Hi Baby". It really is too cute. It is also cracking me up that she can say Hadley so well but really can't say her own name. Gracie came home today and Madeleine is making sure she does not get too close to Hadley. Madeleine was getting quite upset at Gracie and telling her to move when Gracie was investigating Jim holding the newest member of our household. The hardest thing has been that I can't lift Madeleine yet. It is so sad to see her walking around with her arms up and having to tell her that I can't hold her... which is usually followed by Madeleine laying down on the floor in tears. But we have been able to distract her from that fairly easily and I'm feeling better everyday so I don't think holding her is that far off.

Well I started this post on Saturday when both girls were sleeping but did not get to actually post because two girls sleeping can only last for so long. I am happy to report that Hadley did sleep last night and I did get one stretch of 2 hours in a row and only one long awake period.

Here are a few more pictures. Madeleine did not like the bouncy seat attachment bar when she was an infant but she sure is fascinated by it now.

Home At Last

Erin's c-section kept us in the hospital for the mandatory 4 night stay, so our family has been split up since Saturday. Grandpa and Grandma Miltenberger watched Madeleine Saturday and Sunday nights while Butch and D tried to keep up Monday and Tuesday. But it sounds like everyone had a great time and rumor has it Butch actually made it home from work the last 2 nights by 5:30!

Meanwhile, Gracie has been sleeping in beds, getting bathed, eating who-knows-what, and being spoiled rotten by kids at Bart and Tanya's. I'll be picking her up this weekend. Or maybe not.

Everyone was supposed to arrive home earlier today, but Hadley's temp dropped a little this morning so our departure was delayed. An hour under a warmer and she was back to normal, if not a little overheated. We hung out at the hospital until 5:00 for a few more temp checks just to be safe, then found a wired Madeleine waiting for us at my folks on our way home.

Unsure on what to think at first, Madeleine seems to be warming up to her little sister and can already say 'Hadley' pretty well. Of course, "Hadley's" gift of a baby stroller (strikingly similar to the one Bart and Tanya gave her for her birthday and hidden until now) didn't seem to hurt.

A few pics from today: