All About Madeline

Here's what Maddy is up to these days:

• Singing ABCs, Baa, Baa Black Sheep, Rock-a-Bye Baby, Tiny Tim (Turtle), Are you Sleeping (Brother John), Bumblebee
• Counting (she surprised me by counting to 14! and I thought she only knew up to 10...)
• Narrating life and surprising us with her vocabulary
• Reading along with us (at least with the books she knows by heart!)
• Thinking any picture of a cow jumping over the moon is "Mrs. Mooley"
• Loving goldfish and milk as a snack
• Eating lots of Noodles, Rice, Yogurt, Bananas and Beans! 
• Giving the best hugs in the world
• Playing "Leader" (Follow the Leader of course) - she holds Kitty and either Steve or I hold Doggie
• Playing with her favorite toys: Kitty, Doggie, Dado (Baby Doll) and Bunny 
• Watching a "Dora" show as a special treat
• Putting puzzles together
• Strutting about with her new baby doll stroller (with or without a rider in the stroller)
• Running and laughing - hard!
• Wearing her sunglasses
• Trying to guess if Kitty, Doggie or Little Teddy Bear might be waiting for her in the car at the end of her school day
• Saying "move to new house!" in an excited way
• Reminding us that when she turns two, Luella (her little friend who is 5 months old) will get her pacifier (we've been telling her this for quite some time!)
• Cuddling at bedtime while we read her "night, night" books (Goodnight Moon and Night, Night Sleepyhead)

We love you, Madeline!

Happy Spring!

Fun - big slide!!

New Faust House!

We are moving!  We are proud to be first time home-owners!  After a somewhat stressful process (it's a seller's market now), we closed on our new house on April 15, 2013.  It is located in the Montavilla neighborhood of Portland and is located about 5 miles from Downtown Portland.  Our bedroom, Maddy's bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen are all on the main level, and the basement is half finished, and includes a family room and spare bedroom.  We have two full baths as well.  We look forward to some visitors!

The kitchen is wonderful as is the back patio and back yard.  We can't wait to move in!  We're in the process now, and will finish up next weekend. Starting Saturday, April 27, 2013 we'll be in our new home.  Hooray!

Maddy keeps saying "moving to new house!" so we know she's clued in, but I wonder if she might think our realtor, Gary, will be there...she often says his name too, when talking about the new house.  We're hoping for a smooth transition for all of us.

Here's the new address:  904 NE 71st Avenue, Portland, OR 97213

Goodbye Brittney!

Brittney at her Goodbye Party

Madeline's classroom has two main teachers: Krystal and Brittney. Krystal is Madeline's primary teacher, but Brittney is right there every day as well.  We are sad to say goodbye to Brittney as she starts her own family and leaves her post as one of Maddy's teachers.  One of the other ChildRoots Class 3 parents made a photo book for Brittney as a gift and it turned out beautifully.  Each family had a page near the end where we signed with a goodbye message.  It was very sweet and Brittney was touched.  Maddy's new teacher is Isha, and we look forward to getting to know her better.

We will miss Brittney dearly, but we wish her well, and I'm sure our paths will cross again soon!

Greta, Krystal and Maddy

Henry, Madeline and Daniel

 

M.S. Walk 2013

Team Kenneya 2013

Saturday, April 13, 2013 was the M.S. Walk.  My team, Team Kenneya, made our goal of $2,000.00 and I was able to raise over $1,150.00 this year!  It was a great walk, but a bit windy.  Maddy was pretty chilly by the half-way point, so we all took turns carrying her until the end.  She was a good sport and loved the extra attention from all our friends. Steve had a work event, so he joined us to meet up at the start, but was unable to walk the 5 km with us.  We missed him!  Thank you to our friends that joined our team: Melissa, Emily, Natasha, Eric S, Christy, Daynia, Eric G, Angie and Olivia.  Way to go Team Kenneya and thank you for your support. 

Daynia with Maddy in the home stretch

Mommy Daughter Photo Shoot

I love my little angel!

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter!!

 We had a wonderful Easter weekend with absolutely gorgeous weather here in Portland.  I was glad to get home after a quick trip to Minneapolis for work (thank you Jeff and Sara for hosting me, and thanks to Mike, Jan, Jeff, Sara, Colin, Jana, Ben, Shelly, Anton, Eli and Leah for lots of family fun time) and leaving snowy Minnesota for 70+ degree, sunny weather made me happy!

Saturday morning Steve, Madeline and I got an early start and headed to the Oregon Zoo for an Easter Egg Hunt.  There was a special category for kids 2 and under, so for once Maddy was one of the bigger kids!   

After the Egg Hunt, we walked around the zoo.  Madeline's favorite animals were the elephants, especially Lily, the baby elephant!  We also saw bears, fish, turtles and lots of other animals too. 

   

We went to Eric and Melissa's for Sunday Easter Brunch and enjoyed lots of yummy food with the Gregoriches and Eric and Emily.  So many sweet and savory treats to enjoy - and Maddy loved everything too (especially all the breads!) After brunch we dyed eggs (Maddy's first time= FUN) and hung out in the warmth of the beautiful spring day.  Madeline soaked up all the extra attention and I'm sure appreciated new voices reading her books. I love how much Maddy enjoys reading and I hope this stays with her forever!

 

All in all it was a wonderful Easter weekend with lots of fun activities and time with good friends.

Some time reading by herself

Maddy's special Easter present: a Baby Stroller!