A Home for the Holidays!!!

2011 has been a very interesting yet trying year. Jamie and I have had numerous changes take place over the last year! Maddie is getting so big and smart and is loving her preschool class she takes at the YMCA two days a week. We have been blessed to have the family and friends that are in our lives. With the upcoming holidays we have had some time to reflect and lots of time for Joy, which is always easy when you just look at Maddie. She sees the world in such a different prism that makes us realized how blessed we are.

They saying/song goes I'll be home for the holidays. Our current theme/

song is "A Home for the Holidays". For those of you that dont know Jamie, Maddie and I have been living in cramped two bedroom apartment for the last 6 months. I am pleased to now say that we will be finally moving into our new home! A home for the holidays.... Couldn't be any better than that!

We wished it would have been sooner but most of that is driven by wanting to celebrate the Christmas spirit with Maddie. She sees all the lights outside of houses and sees that some of our neighbors at the apartment have Christmas trees up and she asks "Daddy... Mommy... Can we have one of those??!!". So of course being the proud Daddy that wrapped around his baby's finger I promised her that we would have a tree up before Christmas came! So now we have to move and immediately after that I have to put up a Christmas tree! :) Anything for that little girl.

So we are to move in this weekend! Our new address is:

The Froh's

W173N10024 Meadow Creek Way

Germantown, WI 53022

We look forward to many memories, holidays and get together's at the new house!! We can't wait! Thank you to all of the family and friends helping to get us into the house and to those who have helped throughout the process. We love you all very much!

An older picture of the house:

What are the Holidays?

The quickest answer is the following:

The holidays would be nothing without the ones you love. The true spirit behind all of the holidays is to stop the hustle and bustle and to remember whats the most important thing in life, what is the thing that makes you the happiest, what is the one thing that you live and die for... Family.

My holidays would be boring, gray, dark, gloomy, vanilla, emotionless etc. etc. without my girls. Both of them have the ability to walk into the room and make it glow. They both have the ability to look at you and say something or make a face and melt your heart. They both cant sit still even if you ask them too. They both are determined to help you regardless. They both have attitude and spunk. They both have the ability to give you a hug and make you feel like nothing else matters.

At the end of the day nothing else matters besides them and their happiness. That is what makes me happy. That is why the holidays matter and thats what the holidays are supposed to be about... Family!

Love you girls with all my heart. You are my everything and my only thing!

PF

Oh So Tired

Maddie and I were driving and she was a little tired. She zonked out within 15 minutes of the ride. I had to take the picture though because she at least went out with style....

Love ya BooBoo Chicken,

Daddy

Time Flies

It feels like it was just the other day we put up a new post.... Well several weeks have gone by and here we are. Crazy to think that time is flying this fast. There have been a lot of ups and downs over the last several weeks.

We had to say goodbye to Grandpa T a couple weeks ago. It was a bitter sweet situation. We know he is no longer in pain or uncomfortable. But we weren't ready to see him go. He was always one to strike up conversation with anyone, even if he didn't know your name! He was a great family man and a pinnacle of the church. He will be missed. Its helpful to know that he is finally at Home with Grandma T. You will be missed!

Maddie is getting so big and so talkative... of course she has been talkative since she was born but now she is using so many different words, phrases, and expressions that its hard to keep up with them all. The other day I picked her up from the YMCA and she asked where I parked. I told her way up over here.... She turns and looks at me and says "Are you kidding me, Daddy!" "You got to be kidding me... way over there!".... I didn't know what to say or do so I said "No, I am not kidding you we are way over here"..... "Silly Daddy you are kidding me".

She is enjoying her days attending the preschool classes twice a week at the YMCA. She is also in KinderGym and Tumbling class. She is so excited about all of them.

On top of Maddie's schedule Jamie and I have been having a lot of different activities with work. I typically am traveling all over the place and this month was somewhat of an enigma. I had customers in town every week so I didn't leave to go anywhere. Jamie is continuing to kick butt and take names at the YMCA and it is very apparent that many people are taking notice. She is a true asset to the organization.

Of course through all of this we found the time to build a house. There has been a growing appreciation for living a house over the last several weeks as we have been caged in a small apartment with Maddie's toys taking up the majority of the room :).

Below are a few different pictures of the last several weeks....

Maddie at the Zoo!

Maddie and her cousins at a family wedding

Maddie decked out in her Badger gear!!!!

Front of Home

Back of Home

A month of funny. . . .

There have been a lot of funny things coming out the mouth of this 2yr old lately. Sometimes we sit and scratch our heads wondering how she comes up with these things.

Potty training has been frustrating at times, but we both find ourselves laughing constantly. Maddie has been doing very well for the past week and half, but it was an interesting start. She loves wearing her new underwear, but it did take her a few days to get used to making it to the bathroom in time. We may or may not have had a few accidents on the carpet! Oh well right, its all apart of the experience. One of the more interesting stories is a trip to McDonalds as a treat for potty training going so well. After Maddie ate her lunch she went to play in the toy area and before we knew it, she had pee dripping down her leg!!! Needless to say, the 16yr old worker behind the counter was not too trilled at the fact that Maddie just went tinkles in the playland. Oops! But, Im happy to report that she hasnt had an accident since. (knock on wood) Lets hope it continues!!

Pat had an intersting encounter with Maddie recently that had us both in tears laughing so hard. She says to him. . . ."daddy, where is your tail?" Pat replies, "daddy doesnt have a tail Maddie!" She then looks at him frustrated and points to his middle section and says, "yes you do daddy, its by your butt!" He changed the subject. . . . .

Here are a few funny one-liners. . .

1) (during lunch) "Mama, Im not playing any jokes, Im not napping today!"

2) "Come on mama, suits on already - I need ta swim"

3) "I pooped and it really stinks!"

4) "Bye guys, Im going to the store with my piggy to buy chips, see ya later"

5) "Are you kidding me right now?"

6) (while pooping on the toilet) "ahhhhh, it wont come out. ahhhhh, its ok. . . .I will pray for it to"

7) "Mama, Im telling daddy that you are being sassy to me!"

Here she is, 2 1/2 and full of spunk!!

A visit to see Great Grandpa T

A trip to the zoo with her buddy Grant

Little America with her cousins

Typical Maddie

Summer Fun

Wow, is it really July already?? We have had a lot of things going on, as usual, but I have been getting requests for some new pictures of Miss Maddie. Here is a summary of the last month or so. . . .

2 things to note here, 1) Maddie LOVES the Home Depot shopping cart 2) She wants to wear her lace head band like her mommy does with her workout bands

Zoo Fun, it wouldnt be a summer without time spent at the zoo!
I ran my first 5k at the zoo and set the bar high for my next one.

I took Maddie to the beach for the first time, she LOVED seeing all of the planes flying over head.

Us at home getting ready for the beach.

Here is the new addition to Maddie's room. Since our house sold so fast, Maddie had to say goodbye to her buddy Yogi. Our neighbors framed a picture of Yogi for Maddie to have.

A weekend in MI for our friends Jenny and Jordans wedding.

Our little fashionista!

Maddie is full of new words, sayings, sass, and affection. It is hard to listen to her some days because she sounds like a little person (duh Jamie, she is), but she knows way too much!

A few of her favorite things right now -

*going to the library with her backpack on to check out new books to bring home. She has been picking lots of animal books lately, and is now obsessed with firetrucks and firefighters.

*playing t-ball, this kid would swing the bat and play all day if you let her

*PUZZLES, and lots of them

*Manis & Pedis - who doesnt like those!?!?

*She is very much into pretend right now. She will walk around the house talking on the phone, serve you HOT HOT coffee with her set, and play make believe with her dolls.

We have a lot more summer fun to come!

To The Love of My Life

You came along
and change my world.
When everything was dark
you created the spark.

I never thought I would meet
such a gentle love.
My love, when you appear
I never thought about love.

The softness in your voice
whenever you speak to me,
make me think this was my best choice
and I knew I wouldn't resist.

You took me by hand
and lead me to your world
where everything changed
and where you make me yours.

I close my eyes, and take a step
you take my waist and I hold my breath.
Your lips on mine, there's nothing like that,
I wish for this moment every second of my life.

I love you, and you know
and that's the most important of all.
No matter how wrong it could go
you loved me, and I know.

The Ramblings of a Traveling Man

Oh the glorious life of a traveling man. Its always one of glitz and glam. At least that is what most people think about when they hear that I get to travel for my job. Its always the same comments no matter where they come from, " you get to eat out", "you get to see cool places", "you get to entertain" etc etc etc.

Well I will admit it was exciting and flashy at the beginning. But truth behind it all is its a job. Its not glamorous. It often times sucks. Imagine getting up at 4:00am to get ready and get to the airport to fly out by 6:30 to catch a layover in a different city. Finally you get to your destination on the west coast.... you have traveled now for 8 hours and your day is starting out in your territory.... oh and by the way its only 12 noon. You get the privilege of spending the next 6 hours making says calls and finally getting to your hotel for the night. Maybe you have to do dinner with a customer or sales rep or you are lucky and you get to sit alone at a restaurant again. You finally get to crash after being up and running for what amounts to be close to 20hours.

You get glimpses of home through phone calls, emails, and picture messages. Those things help to make the week go by but it always leaves you longing for more. You want to see your family, you want to be there when things aren't going the best. You want to be there more.

I chose this profession and this job. I chose it because it allows for me to provide for my family in a manner that dramatically better than anything I have done before. But it comes at a cost. A cost of missing pretty much half of everything. It is roughly 26 weeks into the year and I have been gone away from home for 13 of them. Excluding the weekends that is about 60 days so far that I have been gone from home. Gone from seeing my daughter grow up, gone from my wife, gone from my home and other responsibilities and last but not least gone from my own bed.

The glitz and glam has warn off. The going out to eat and entertaining gets old. I would prefer to be at home with my family. I would prefer to eat the home made food and their leftovers on a daily basis. I would prefer to be at home every night. But I wouldn't be able to provide for my family like I am now. My wife bears a lot of the burden when I am gone. She is the only married/single mom I know. Having a husband but raising your daughter 75% of the time on your own is quite frustrating, demanding, and often hell. She is amazing that she is able to handle it. She is amazing that she keeps things running as smoothly as they are. Thank you to my wife for being the center point of our family!

Oh the glitz and Glam.

Mother's Day!!!!!

We have had a lot of big changes taking place lately that I was looking forward to a Sunday to kick back and try not to think of everything that is going on! Maddie and Pat woke me up with lots of fun pictures and cards that Maddie made and told me that we needed to get cleaned up and head downtown! We spent the morning at the Milwaukee Museum. . . . .Maddie saw it on Curious George and decided she need to take me there too! After that, we headed over to Rock Bottom for lunch, hit up a park for some fun, and ended the day grilling out! It was a wonderful day!!!!

Maddie loves the swings!!!!!

Pat purchased this kite for Maddie, but he has been OBSESSED with it for weeks. I honestly think he got it for himself!

Us on the riverwalk downtown after lunch!

Happy Mothers Day to all the mommys out there!!!

Easter!

I know I know. . . a few weeks late on this one!!! It was a fun Easter this year for us with Maddie really getting into it. Like Santa, we used the Easter Bunny as much as we could to encourage good behavior! (don't judge!) We visited him at the mall a few times, and even ran into him at the zoo!!! Like usual, Maddie made out like a bandit!!!

Basket #1

Basket #2

Look what I did with the grass from #2. . . .

Basket #3

Easter Bunny at the zoo!

Those are 3 of the 7 baskets she got! Also had goodies from Nana right before Easter, GG, us, and her friend Ali from the Y. Spoiled much?!?

She knows what she wants!!!!!!!!!!

Where to begin? This little lady has been making us laugh harder and harder each and every day. Both Pat and Maddie needed haircuts BAD so I thought it would be quickest and easiest to pop into a great clips and get them both done at the same time. Maddie was super excited about getting her haircut so I thought that this was going to be a piece of cake. . . .WRONG! She took one look around and said to me, "Mama, where is my Barbie car???" I tried explaining to her that this hair place didnt have one but that it would still be fun. She looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "I dont want my haircut anymore!" I caved and took her to her little salon a few days later and she got to sit in her Barbie car!

After her haircut we let her rock out for awhile. Can you guess what will be on her Xmas/Bday list next? Guitar and microphone!

She has turned into quite the little mommy lately. She has to bring her new backpack filled with baby stuff everywhere. It is amazing watching the little things that she has picked up on watching me and other people.

Last weekend we got to spend a little time with my friend Jill and Maddie noticed she had a "picture" on her foot. (her new tattoo) What does Maddie say next, "I like it, I want picture too!" Good ol' Auntie Jill provided me with a "picture" for Maddie and this kid thinks she is the coolest thing!

Little Miss Personality

I have been having a lot of fun with Little Miss since we got back from Vacation. A day doesnt go by that something smart and witty doesn't come out of her mouth. She is this little person absorbing everything around her. She has had a fun couple of weeks hanging out with family and playing pretend!

Papa and his girls!

Nana's turn!!

Here is that personality shining through!!!!!

Papa and Maddie at the airport!

Here are a few highlights that took place over the past few days. . .because I could post on here DAILY the crazy stuff that she does and says.

Pat and I were having a conversation about his dining experiences when he travels for work, and Maddie decided to throw her two cents in.

Me: Gosh, I could go for a nice dinner out . . .but you dont want to because you eat out all the time for work.

Pat: I will take you out to eat and we can find a babysitter, I will wine and dine you.

Maddie: I come too guys!

Me: No Maddie, mommy and daddy are going to go to a fancy restaurant and you are going to stay home and play with a babysitter!

Maddie: *in a crying voice* But I want to come with you guys to DONALDS!!!!!!!

So her version of fancy consists of McDonalds - good grief!!!

Her other new trick. . . . if she doesnt want to answer you, she will close her eyes and snore. How the heck did she learn that? We were driving home from the Y today and I asked her waht she wanted for lunch! Next thing I know she is snoring and her head is tilted to the side. This kid. . . .

I did it!

I am a big fan of to-do lists and goals. There is something inside of me that bursts with excitement when I can set myself up for a challenge and accomplish it. My bucket list consists of completing a triathlon, and since I like to push myself, I decided that I need to check this "task" off of my bucket list at some point this year! A few months ago I was talking with a woman at my Y about training for one and getting myself ready. She asked me what was stopping me. "Well, I don't like running. . . .I am terrible at it! I have never been a runner and don't have the desire to do it. I could strap my shoes on and walk all day, but running - yuck!" Her response to my upbeat and positive answer was this . . ."When you start to show me a desire to run and an ambition to run, then we will go from there!" OUCH! But she was right. Even thought I didn't like running in the past didn't mean I couldn't start right? Towards the end of January I started running. . . .and then increasing a little bit at a time. In February the Y announced that they were holding an event in March to challenge individuals to be consistent with their workouts. For the month of March you had to complete the following - 112mi Bike 26mi Run 2.4mi Swim (or additional 7mi run) This was the perfect thing for me to work on my running, but there was 1 problem. I was going to be in Mexico for 8 days in March. Already feeling at a disadvantage, I took 2 weeks to decide. . . . . . .that I could do it. . . .and if I did, I would reward myself! I'm happy to say that I was able to complete all of my distances!!! My two rewards for accomplishing this - **My brand new Ipod (I'm loving it - never realized how motivating music can be) **A jogging stroller (will be mine very soon) At the end of the day I could have gone out and purchased these items on my own, but it feels so better to earn them. The past month has taught me that I CAN accomplish more than I give myself credit for. Next on the chopping block. . . . .my first 5k run at the Milwaukee zoo!

Life after Vacation

Pat and I had an amazing opportunity to get away with some people to sunny Mexico for a week! It was fantastic to get away and not have to worry about much of anything. I think the toughest decisions we had to make were -

Do we eat at the buffet today or grab a burger poolside?

What do you want to drink? Margarita, Bahama Mama, Dirty Monkey, etc

It was nice to kick back and not have to worry about ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting ready to snorkel

Hanging out after dinner

Fishing

Kari and I before fishing

Leaving Maddie for that long was harder than we both thought. Pat was gone for work the 3 weeks before we left for Mexico, so he was having a hard time right from the start. I have not been away from her for 8 nights before, so it was also an adjustment for me. Calling to check in and hear her little voice was great! "Hi mama, where are u?"

Then we came home. . . . . .and we were surprised to see how she was. She was so excited to see us and gave us endless hugs and kisses! If either one of us would leave the room, she would freak out and chase after us. Luckily she was so tired that she crashed HARD the first night we were back (and we did too). She wouldn't go to bed at night for us and would cry in her crib, "Daddy, are you still here? Daddy? Please come by me daddy!" Pat would rock her to sleep and then in the morning I would hear, "Mama, u there? I want to come by you mama!" The poor thing thought that we were going to leave her again! There were a few mornings that I ended up going and getting her and bringing her to bed with me because 5:30am is a tad early for me!! Drop offs at kid care while I worked were tough as well because she didn't want me to leave. We knew that she would miss us, but we didn't realize it would affect her this much.

There have been lots of snuggle time, plenty of Disney movies played, and endless hours playing with her non-stop in an effort to make her feel comfortable again.

Here is one of my favorite mornings last week. . . .

While laying in bed with her one morning this is what was said . . .

Maddie: "Mama. . . .mama, u sleeping mama?"

Me: "Yes Maddie, now you go back to sleep to." **my eyes still closed**

Maddie: "I cant mama, it hurts."

Me: "What hurts Maddie?" **eyes are slightly open looking at her**

Maddie: **picking her nose**

Me: "Maddie please don't pick your nose, its yucky"

Maddie: "But I have boogies mama"

Me: "Even if you have boogies you shouldn't pick your nose, its gross"

Maddie: "Fine mama, you pick it then!"

I could not stop laughing after she said that! Needless to say, neither of us slept any more than morning!

Things are starting to get back to normal, but this past week has been a hard one for all of us! With Pat gone this week for work, we are curious to see how the adjustment will be when he gets home Friday!

A HUGE THANK YOU to my parents and Pat's mom for watching her while we were gone. She was spoiled rotten and loved every minute of it! She even ratted them out on what they gave her after we got home.

"Nana took me for burger and fries and choc milk and toys"

"Grandma fed me french fries and pizza and. . . . . . ."

Thank you again for taking such good care of her, we love you guys!!!

Im TWO!!! . . .and almost 1 month

Well, a month ago she was anyway! I cant believe that I have not been on here with updates for a MONTH! Woops! Can you tell things are a tad busy? Anyway. . . .back to being TWO!

With so much to do for the party, I sent Pat and Maddie to the Dr for her 2 year check-up! This is the first appt that I have ever missed, but it was necessary to divide things up in order for us to get anything done! Here is the report I got back from Pat. . ..

Weight - 26ish - ish? 30 percentile for her age

Height - Not really sure, but it is 70th percentile

Head - ??? what ??? 80th percentile

That is what you get when you send the man! But most importantly, she is healthy and doing great!!

Favorite foods -

**apples
**burgers and fries (Mama, I want burgers and fries)

**sausage

**pizza

**mexican food

**hot dogs

**DILL DIP - wants it every day! I can make it with my eyes closed and 1 hand tied behind my back now

**condiments, red dip (ketchup) yellow dip (mustard), sprinkles (parm cheese), ranch. . .the kid goes a tad over board

Things she is into -

**Elmo and Sesame Street

**Disney movies

**Mickey Mouse/Oso/Handy Manny

**Tumbling class at the Y

**Music and singing

Here are a few pictures from her party!

Lots of Elmo cupcakes

Showing the entire room what she got everytime she opened something

She had to try her dress-up stuff on RIGHT AWAY!

The Froh Cousins

Growing up way too fast!!

My Princess

It has been a while where I have put something out here.... But it has been hard for me to believe that this Friday my princess will be 2 years old. It is hard to believe this blog has been around for 3 years now. It feels like yesterday I was keeping vigil over the blog letting everyone know that the induction didn't work out like we planned the first time and then we had to go back etc. I remember updating everyone the day that Maddie forever changed our lives.

She is going to be 2!!!!!!!! The hardest part for me is that I travel a lot for my job. I bust my butt flying all over the west half of the US to give my Princess and my Queen anything they want. As I am doing this I miss out on a lot. The last year has had so many changes. When I would leave in the beginning of the week and return on Friday I can see that Maddie's face had change, her hair got longer, she got taller, she says new words, she has new tricks, she eats new foods, she has new friends, she has new classes, she has a new favorite movie, she went to the potty, or she can say "Daddy was on an airplane or Daddy is in Cali".

When I return from these trips I have to spend as much time with my princess because as silly as it sounds I feel like she will forget me if I don't. She is my big girl. She is my Princess. Happy Birthday in Advance Babygirl!
Love,
Dad

My BIG girl!

I took our BIG girl to her first class today at the Y without me being in the room with her. She is now an official "Teddy Tumbler." I assumed that she would be ok, but you never know when you get 6 2-year olds in one room! I walked away like I normally do when I leave her in kidcare so she wouldnt think anything different. It was a different feeling for me this time though. . . .I know that it is only a 30 minute class, but this is one step closer to dropping her off at preschool for a few HOURS!! (for the record, preschool starts in Sept!) I got some work done while she was in there, but came back to watch the end of class. I watched her and the teacher jumping on the trampoline and when Maddie jumped off, she screamed "I DID IT!" Hearing and seeing her excitement filled me with so much mom pride that I couldnt help but stand there smiling from ear to ear. Maddie managed to see me watching her out of the corner of her eye and ran to the door to say hi.

Maddie - "OH, HI Mama!!!"

Me - waving back at her

Miss Ann (her teacher) - "Maddie, come back to class please"

Maddie - "But thats my mama out there!"

Miss Ann - "We are almost done Maddie"

Maddie - "Mama, I be back!"

The other parents sitting there were laughing at my little, excuse me, BIG girl! She sure knows how to make me smile.

Whenever we make a drastic change in our lives, I stress about it and wonder if we made the right decision?!?! Today proved to me once again that Pat and I made the right choice for me to be at home with Maddie and find a part-time job that we could all benefit from. During the last few minutes of class I had multiple people come and stand next to me so excited to see Maddie having so much fun in class. Those are the same people that have stood next to Maddie and I as we started utilizing the Y when she was 6 months old. I joke around all the time that Maddie walks around like she owns the place. . . . .when I said that today, one of my co-workers responded with, "Jamie, she has spent the past year and a half here and has so many people that adore her!" Hearing that filled me with so much joy. I am blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people at the Y.

After class we spent the day shopping and hanging out since daddy is in Cali (as Maddie would say). Who heads to the mall and doesnt get a shake for good behavior?!

Germs/Bdays/Haircuts/V-Day

Well, the last 4 days have been packed full!!! I hate to say it, but Pat's walk into the house on Friday after being gone for a week was not what he wanted to walk into. The smell of barf in the air. . . .a sick little girl on the floor. . . . .and a stressed out wife! We headed straight to urgent care to have Maddie checked out. After tests and chest x-rays, we found out that she had pneumonia. If there is a silver lining to this, it would have to be the way Miss Maddie handled the chest xrays! She was strapped into this machine and the woman warned us that ALL kids scream. Maddie was confused for the first film, but then when the woman said, "ok I am going to take the 2nd picture" Maddie decided to turn around and smile for the "camera." Both Pat and I couldnt help but burst out laughing. . . .thats our girl!!!

Snuggles at Urgent Care

After a good night sleep we took Maddie to Horicon for "Hama" (aka Grandma) and "Hampa" (aka Grandpa) to watch her so that we could go to dinner to celebrate my birthday! It was not an easy decision to hand off a sick kiddo, but we knew that she was in good hands! **THANK YOU MOM AND DAD**

Birthday Dinner

Sunday we got our little critter back and were so excited for her first haircut!! She was so excited and thought she was getting the royal treatment in her Barbie car!



The Urgent Care Dr we saw Friday wanted us to follow up with our normal Doc on Monday to see how Miss Maddie was doing. . . . . .well, she told us that she has a double ear infection! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?! Off to Walgreens we went for more drugs. . .with a little girl under the weather I decided that there was only one thing to do. . .make cookies for daddy's Valentines Gift! I think my silly idea came from lack of sleep and Dr Office insomnia. I should have taken the opportunity to put in a movie and snuggle with the monkey. . .but that would be WAY too easy!!!

Maddie with part of her valentine from mom and dad!



Let the MESS begin!!!

The finished product!!!!!!!!!!!


Here is hoping that this week is BORING!!!!!!!!