05.13.12 - Happy Mothers' Day!

01.07.12 - Kitchen assistants

Maddie got to bake cookies with Mommy again today. And she made my favorite - raisin bran! (That's what she calls oatmeal raisin.)


When Maddie mixes flour, a good amount ends up on the floor and on Harley.

06.02.11 - "It's raining!"

That's what Maddie kept saying as she chased Nate with the garden hose. To his credit, Nate didn't mind a bit. He actually thought it was quite funny, which is good because Maddie wasn't about to share it.

03.26.11 - Learning to read

Never to early to start reading!

02.13.11 - Valentine cookies

In honor of Valentine's Day, Maddie spent the afternoon decorating some heart-shaped sugar cookies that Angie made.


Of course you gotta eat 'em! Perhaps we let her have one too many cookies!


She's a big fan of the icing!


In fact, she tried to get all the icing off this one before putting a single M&M in the middle.


Maddie, will you be my Valentine?!!

01.12.11 - Baking cookies

Maddie enjoys helping Angie bake cookies after dinner. She enjoyed eating them, too! And if her "big smile" isn't cute enough, when they spilled a little baking powder on the floor, Maddie was quick to the rescue. "I have a broom!" she exclaimed, and grabbed her broom and dust pan to clean it up.

12.18.10 - Shhh, Santa!

It took a little coaxing but Maddie met Santa (again) tonight.

11.21.10 - That was for me

Angie decided she wanted chocolate chip bagels for breakfast this morning and everyone was more than ready for breakfast when I returned from the store. Angie broke off a few pieces for Maddie but she insisted on having her own half. Angie was a little disappointed. "Hey, that was for me!"

11.20.10 - First haircut at the salon

10.16.10 - Headin' to the Punk Patch

In what's becoming an annual tradition, Gramma Karen and Grampy Keith treated us to an outing to the "punk" patch. This year, Gramma Karen won four free tickets to Applejack Pumpkin Patch. It's the only one we've been to but so far it's our favorite! It's located on Kellogg between Andover and Augusta. Maddie loved walking all over the place. In fact, most of the pictures I have of her are from behind because she wouldn't stay interested in anything longer than five seconds and I couldn't always predict where she was gonna go!


She found several that she liked although she ended up getting one from the patch with Grampy Keith.


There were a ton of activities and games in addition to the patch. While most kids were mesmerized by actually trying to push a plastic duck from one end of the water ramp to the other, our daughter was busy splashing in the water tanks below. "Wha-der! Wha-der! Wha-der!"


Really, she was only interested in walking. And walking. And walking some more. We switched shirts at this point because it felt more like summer than fall.


We photographed Maddie in front of this sign last year but, as you might have guessed, she's have none of that standing still nonsense long enough for me to get a photo of her this year. Nate, on the other hand, did great with a little help from his mommy.

08.24.10 - Another milestone

Maddie is 20 months old today. Today also marks the one-year anniversary that Maddie has been going to daycare at Lisa's house. One year ago, Angie had to hold on to her so she wouldn't fall over. Today she had to hold on to her so she wouldn't run away!

08.12.10 - I wear my sunglasses at night

Maddie likes to play with Angie's sunglasses.

08.06.10 - Royals with the Swearingens

Our friends Brian and Emily, and their boys Cayden and Carter, met up with us in Kansas City last weekend for a Royals game. Here are a few snaps from our seats in the upper deck and hotel. Be sure to check out this photo of Nate watching the fireworks after the game. Check back soon and I'll share some photos of Maddie swimming at the family reunion.

08.04.10 - But Dad ...

Why don't you update my blog anymore!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Actually, she was crying during the Royals game last weekend. Who could blame her? It IS the Royals. And it was hot. And late. Hopefully by this weekend, I'll have time to upload some more photos from our weekend in Kansas City. Despite the look on her face in this photo, we had a pretty good time!

07.13.10 - Sprinkler mats, garden hoses and fountains, oh my!

You mean water shoots out of the ground, too?

To say Maddie has been into water play lately would be an understatement. Tonight she frolicked in the fountains at NewMarket Square.

04.24.10 - Another trip to the zoo

Today's trip to the zoo found us in Africa. We're pretty sure this Gorilla was just sleeping!


Hey, Mr. Gorilla! Wake up!


Lions, oh my!


Do you see any resemblance to anyone you know?


At one point, someone commented that this was the cutest hat they'd seen. Hey! What about the little girl wearing it?!!


Maddie did well riding in her umbrella stroller for most of the outing. But near the end she got fidgety so we let her walk to the exit.

04.11.10 - Buffalo Park

We took Maddie to Buffalo Park today. It was her first time to visit a park. She led the way just like she new what she was doing!


Angie shares a moment with Maddie while pushing her on the swings!


Daddy's turn!


An afternoon at the park can make you really thirsty!

03.31.10 - What a great day!

And busy, too! Angie and the kids went over to Nan and Pop's before picking me up at work to go to Maddie's 15-month and Nate's two-month checkup. Maddie was all smiles in the waiting room but was anything but when it was time for Dr. Green to examine her! She's doing well, though, measuring about 31 inches tall and 20 pounds, or the 85th percentile and tenth percentile, respectively. She's gonna be a tall skinny minnie, as we like to say. Nate, on the other hand, is a chunk! He weighs 12 pounds, 12 ounces and has grown to about 23.5 inches. Both are at the upper ends of the percentiles for those measurements.


After we left Dr. Green's office, we headed back to Nan and Pop's house as they'd invited us for dinner. Maddie enjoyed a story with Pop, her great-grandpa, before we ate. It's only been in the last month or so that Maddie wanted anything to do with him. Now she'll read stories and share snacks with him.


Because the weather was so nice and because we always eat too much at Nan's house, after dinner we took another walk around the lake. I think Maddie enjoys it more than Nan but I'm not quite sure on that!


I just love this silhouette of Nan pulling Maddie. This probably would have been an acceptable stand-alone weather feature back in my newspaper days but photographs like this mean more to me now that I'm able to include in them the people I love. Click here to see the entire entourage over on Nate's blog.

03.18.10 - Alfalfa

Angie gave Maddie a bath tonight. She has a little more fun with it than I do, apparently.

03.06.10 - Maddie's first time at the zoo!

The weather wasn't as nice as we'd hoped for but nevertheless we loaded up the kids this morning and set out for the zoo! We spent most of our time in the American Farm exhibit which features horses, goats, sheep, cows and, well, anything you'd find on an American Farm, really.


We made it a point to feed the goats. I believe this goat is named Harley.


Maddie wasn't so sure she wanted anything to do with it!


She came around when we went to feed the sheep. We quickly found ourselves surrounded by sheep. Maddie did much better with these animals and actually gave a couple of pieces without losing any fingers.


Petting zoo food: $.75
Stroller rental: $5
Season pass: $55
Maddie's first trip to the zoo: Priceless!