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!!!!!!!!

Mini Me . . .

Another long week has come to a close, well almost! Pat was in CA this week and Maddie and I had the house to ourselves! It is never an easy job holding down the fort by yourself for a week, but we survived. I have also learned just how much of am impact I am having on Miss Maddie.

Example #1 -

Me -"Maddie, what do you want to do today?"

Maddie - "Go to Y, sleep, Elmo, Pedi"

First of all, she already knows our schedule by heart! Secondly, what 2 year old requests a pedi daily? Yes, I have painted her toes before, but every time I ask her what she wants to do, she requests one! I may have to start charging her!

Example #2 -

Me - "Maddie lets go to the grocery store!"

Maddie - "Wait Mama, I need my purse!"

I dont carry a purse around much anymore. If I am heading to work I just bring a small pouch with my license in it, so she doesnt see me with a purse all the time. HOWEVER, when she saw me and my purse ready to go to the store, she dug through her toy bin and found hers. I put her in her car seat and she starts digging through her purse searching for something. . . . .finally she says to me, "Mama, I drive!" She pulled out her plastic set of keys!

Example #3

Without Pat being here to keep her occupied, I rely on Mickey and Elmo to entertain her so that I can get ready for work! (dont judge!) Apparently they were not doing a good job, because I found Maddie in the bathroom with her step stool starting at me. I asked her if she needed something and she says, "No mama, I just want to watch you!" She climbed up her stool and stood there as I put on my make-up and did my hair. When I was finished. . . . "Oh mama. . .beautiful!!" Melts my heart every time.

Where does she get that stubborn, sassy, loving behavior from . . .ME! She is my little mini-me!

Spunky lil' rascal!

DIVA

Now this is one thing I didnt teach her how to do . . .EAT! She is messy like her daddy!

Maddie - 23 Months

This is the last Maddie update before she turns 2, hardly seems possible if you ask me. She finds a way to amaze me each and every day, and this month she has managed to take my breath away on a few occasions!

Favorite Foods at the Moment -

*Chips w/ Dip (salsa)

*HOT DOGS

*Pickles

*Choc Pudding

*Crackers

*Grilled Chicken

*Baked potato w/ dip (sour cream)

*Spaghetti w/ sprinkles (parm cheese)

All about Maddie. . . .

*Beast (aka - Beauty and the Beast) is still #1 in this house, but we have gotten her to watch Cinderella now and she is liking that! And of course Mickey and Elmo. . . .but if the Beast is on, she WILL sit still for the entire movie! And what is a movie w/o popcorn!

*She would live in her bathtub right now if we let her. . . .why might you ask? Well, because her bath water is colored to her liking and she has bathtub crayons to draw all over the place!

*She loves to sing, and her newest song is her ABC's . . . .she can do the entire thing!

*For Christmas Maddie got a puzzle of the USA, she will now show you where Papa lives (Florida), Aunt Crazy (Traci) lives (Colorado) and where she lives with mommy an daddy (WI)

*She is making little friends at the Y and it melts my heart. There is one little girl there that screams when I drop Maddie off and Maddie does the same. They run to one another and exchange the biggest smiles. . .it is precious!

*Little Miss Sassy Pants loves to repeat what you say, but not right away. The other day she tossed cereal on the floor and I yelled at her. . . . her reply. . . ."Chill out Mama!" I have told her to chill out before when she was getting all worked up! That one came back to bite me didnt it!?

I think that I am having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that Maddie is going to transition to a big girl bed sometime soon. After what happened this past week, it may happen sooner than we had planned! I got up early Tuesday morning and was enjoying a cup of coffee in the living room when I heard Maddie start to talk in her crib. She normally does this every morning for a good 5-10 minutes and then I go get her. Well, her talking lasted about 3 minutes and then it was followed by a LOUD THUD!!!!!!! I went running into her room to find her standing in the middle of her room smiling. "I ok mama, I just climbing!" I think my jaw was on the bedroom floor! That little ___ found a way to get out of her crib! I was shocked. . . .I didnt know what to say. . . .and she walked right past me and proceeded to the living room like nothing happened. This chain of events made me nervous for her nap after lunch! I decided to go about our normal routine when it was time for her to go down for her nap. Instead of running downstairs to workout, I sat in the living room holding her baby monitor like it was my first day home from the hospital with her listening to any sound that she made. Sure enough. . . . . .THUD!!!! I took off running again and was greeted by the same smiling toddler I saw earlier that day! Out of fear I raised my voice and scared her too. . . . .but I was scared! Its funny and cute that she is trying to escape, but what if she landed the wrong way and got hurt? I gave her a big hug and told her that it wasnt ok to jump out of her crib. . . .and while I was holding her so tight, I saw who helped her get out. . . . .her doggy pillow!!! She had him angled on the frame of the crib and walked right up his back. How the heck does a 23mo old know how to do that!?!? Needless to say, she hasnt tried to escape again, but I make sure she is out cold before I run off to get things done around the house!

This past month has been hectic with it being a busy time at my job, but I am doing everything I can to soak up all of the hugs, kisses, and love she shows me each and every day. There are days when I am stressed out, but picking her up after her nap and hearing, "I missed you mama" makes everything seem so right. . . .thank you for keeping me grounded baby girl. I love you so much! Time to start planning the party of a very special 2yr old. . . .

Waddling like a duck around the house

She insisted I see the top so I knew she was a duck!

Getting ready to run errands, notice her purse that HAD TO come with us. DIVA!

Like mother. . . .like daughter! Pedis!

GO PACK GO!

An early bday present from Nana and Papa

Look at the size of her eyes. . .she was so excited!