On our way!!!!!

Well, it's finally the time to frantically pack, get little or no sleep, and rush to LAX. We leave EARRRRRRLY tomorrow morning. I'm sure Maddie will be a jewel to be with tomorrow afternoon after waking her so early. We can't wait to see everyone! It seems like it's been a very long time, but we were home in August. One more year to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a pic of our half decorated tree. Pretty funny. Wonder why we had to do that???

Maddie's 1st bangs trim at 16 months old!

Before











After








Maddie turned 16 months old today and Jason just couldn't stand her bangs in her face anymore. I can't say I liked it either, but I didn't really want to cut it yet. I guess that seems like something we would be doing when she got older, a LOT older. I trimmed her bangs and of course kept the wisps in a bag for scrapbooking. She's going to role her eyes at me when she gets older, isn't she? Oh well, that's what moms are for.




Maddie and I went to "Under the Sea" on Friday. It's an indoor play area. I'm not sure why California needs such a thing but it actually rained all day that day. There were tons of kids there. I think it was a bit overwhelming to Mads but she seemed to like it. We met a few more of the stay-at-home moms group there.











Maddie has really enjoyed our plastic Christmas balls this year. Last year we had the brain power enough to buy those for the tree since she would be able to get to them eventually. She loves putting the balls in this shoe box and then dumping them out and flailing her arms to scatter them everywhere. I almost can't bring myself to put them on the tree, not that they'll stay there for long...









On a sad note, Mom's dog Rugby passed away this morning. He's been sick most of his life and she kept him alive by taking such good care of him. Here's an older picture of Rugs at Christmas time. He was 15+ years old.

Thanksgiving and so on...

Well, we had our Thanksgiving here in CA. I had the windows open and not because I burned something... I cheated a bit and got a turkey and the fixins from Ralph's (a.k.a. Krogers). I fixed a 7-layer salad, Petra's stuffing, and two attempts at her chocolate pie. I don't own a double boiler so I improvised and lets just say that it was like hot chocolate and not a pie filling. Oh well, I know what to ask Santa for for Christmas! Petra said she would make one while we're home for Christmas so I can observe.








Jason ended up sick as a dog that night. He thinks he picked up a virus a few days before. I was afraid it was food poisoning. The only thing we didn't both have is gravy. I hate gravy... Thank GOD Maddie and I didn't get it. That's the sickest I've ever seen him. He was improving by the weekend, but now he's in KY and hadn't gotten enough sleep.







Here are a few silly pictures of the Madster in the tub. She's so funny with all her words and facial expressions. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and we can't wait to come home in a few more weeks. 18 more days, I think!

Maddie's 1st real shoes and Mama's birthday

For my birthday we went to a fancy-schmancy mall in Irvine, CA on Saturday 11/3. http://www.southcoastplaza.com/ We didn't have any idea what it would be like but one of Jason's coworkers told him that that's the mall to go to in the area. I've never seen a Tiffany's store or Badgely Mishka, etc... They are already decorated for Christmas and have the biggest Christmas trees I've ever seen! We'll have to go back when Santa is there and get some pictures.

The intent was to go to Stride Rite and get Moo her first shoes. The weird thing is that the malls here close at 8:00p.m. on Saturdays!!! How dumb is that???? Of course, we walked in the store at 8:00 and got ushered out rather quickly. Stupid California!!!! So what made us late was that we ate at the "Rainforest Cafe" http://www.rainforestcafe.com/ (Hey Holly, there's a Maya tiger on here) and also rode Maddie's first carousel. The cafe was absolutely unbelievable. It was all decorated as a rain forest (duh), but it had animatronic gorillas, elephants, alligator, snake, butterflies, and actual rain. It was rather dark in there but every few minutes a thunderstorm would come up and it would lightening and thunder. Pretty wild. Maddie didn't seem to mind it. When I was that age, I would have been terrified. They had people walking around making balloon animals. In the pictures on the carousel, you can see Mad's frog on a limb.

Since we missed Stride Rite, we went to the local Del Amo mall Sunday (my actual b-day). We allowed plenty of time to get Moo's shoes and also mommy got to shop for some jeans as well. I had to take some pictures to scrapbook (some day).

She kept playing with a little puzzle they had at the store. It was just the perfect height. You can see her new little brown shoes.

We ended up eating at Red Lobster and went home for cake. It was a very nice birthday, even if it was my 6th anniversary of my 29th birthday!

Happy Halloween!!!

Here's our motorcycle mama this year. Her cousins gave Maddie this outfit at Christmas last year and it now fits and it's perfect timing. She wondered what in the world I was doing when I slicked her hair down with gel. We went to a few houses but not many people were home or participating. They leave candy in bowls on their front porch with a note to help yourself. Strange! That's not any fun!!! Anyway, Motorcycle Maddie was pretty interested but I couldn't get her to say "trick or treat." Maybe next year!

And if you want to see the cutest costumes and trick-or-treaters you've ever seen, check out Sara's blog for today. http://myfavoritesheep.blogspot.com/

Happy 11th Birthday Lexie

Today is Lexie's 11th birthday so I wanted to do a quick blog for her. She's done really well here but misses her running space. If she didn't act up so bad around other people, we could take her to the beach. Oh well, she'll get back to the country eventually.

Map of fires

I wasn't quite right about the locations of the fires. I found a map to show where we are compared to the fires.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21436901/?gt1=10450

If you look across from Catalina Island, you'll see Rancho Palos Verdes.

Thank you for smoking....?

I haven't seen that movie yet, but the title seemed appropriate here. We can smell the smoke from the Malibu fires but we should be safe. I can't believe all the fire problems Southern Cal has had since last night. I suppose it's like tornadoes in KY, you just never know when they'll hit and what they'll do. I feel really sorry for all those thousands of people having to evacuate their homes not knowing if there will be anything left when they are able to return. Some of the fires were arson, which is despicable. They seem to usually catch the evil people who set them and I really hope they do this time as well. I hope the firefighters can get all of it contained in the next week or so. The "governator" has promised all the help they need.

On another lovely note, Maddie's got a virus. I think she picked it up at a park playground, but who knows for sure? She's got a fever and is cranky, but nothing that warrants antibiotics, thank goodness. I hate giving those to her. We went to the doctor on Saturday morning to make sure she didn't have any ear infections, which she didn't. She should be on the mend, but will miss a Halloween party on Friday that my new SAHM (stay-at-home-moms) group is having. We plan on going to the Los Angeles zoo on the 27th with the group and GRAMMY will be here by then. My mom gets here Thursday afternoon. We can't wait! I haven't seen her since August, but it seems like it's been a LOT longer than a few months. Hopefully we won't get Maddie's virus. We've agreed to absolutely NO doctor or hospital visits this time... Mom is still fighting with the insurance company from her visit in April.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Kitty walks

Now that Maddie is walking pretty well, we take a jaunt to the mailboxes down the street in the afternoon. We also look for Mr. Orange Kitty, the fluffy one and the skinny one, near the mailboxes. The skinny version is so nice and patient with Maddie. The fluffy one is much more skittish and runs away pretty easily. Here is the skinny version Mr. Orange Kitty. He's so sweet and he helps me get some kitty lovin' while we're out here. He's got the longest tail I've ever seen on a cat, but I didn't capture that in these pictures. I'm hoping to get pics of the fluffy one too. I don't know if they're related, but they are almost the exact same color and size (besides the fur). Maddie loves to hear them meow when they walk up to us.

Here's a video of Maddie playing with Mr. Orange Kitty. I have to remind her to be very easy with him. He's had every right to smack her a couple of times and never has. She wants to grab his tail so badly! She does pretty well but I have to keep reminding her to be nice. He sure puts up with her well. At the end of it, she gets stuck on the slight incline of the driveway and I have to abruptly stop the camera so I can help her up. Sorry for the extreme close ups of the kitty, but I had to keep Maddie from pulling his tail or fur.

Dodger game

Jason office chose to go to a Dodgers baseball game for an outside activity for the families. I've never been to a pro game so it was pretty neat. Can't say I could stand to watch it on t.v. or anything but the atmosphere of it all was fun. The game went to 10 innings and LA finally won against the San Diego Giants. Our seats were in the outfield and we could see really well. Here are a few pics with my camera phone (forgot the digital camera). Not the greatest, but I wanted something to scrap one day...

A few birthday pictures... finally!

I've finally gotten the birthday pictures off of Jason's camera. Aunt Amy sent some she took as well. Here are a few. We had a small party on August 1st on her actual birthday and then an open house at our church on August 4th. The kiddos had a big time crawling around the fellowship hall and under the tables. Maddie's cousins, Lilli and Thomas, have a lot of fun together. Maddie LOVES being around other kids and playing. Of course we had a sheepy themed party. This is probably the only year I'll be able to decide on the decorations. Next year she'll be into some character I imagine. Once we got back to CA, mommy and daddy got her a few birthday gifts. We didn't want to take things back on the plane trip so we waited. I guess she had three b-day celebrations. She liked her cakes. Angela made the sheepy cake (the most adorable cake I've ever seen) and the large sheet cake. Grandma Petra made her first little b-day cake and cupcakes for the small gathering. You can see she enjoyed smooshing up the little cake! We still can't believe she's almost 14 months old now.

And last but not least, here's a short video of Maddie's first pool experience. It was on July 22nd so it's been a while.

Walking and talking!

Happy Birthday Pappy ~ and Happy Grandparents Day!!!

Happy Birthday to Maddie's Pappy. He's in KY so we can't celebrate with him. We miss a lot of birthdays and holidays being out here. We were so lucky to be home for Maddie's birthday.

Same ol' going on here. Another huge pile of dirt. More bulldozers. More beeping.

Jason should be back today. He's been in KY since Wednesday. This is my and Maddie's longest stint by ourselves. It hasn't been bad really. Just can't wait for Jason to get here so I can do something without some little person hanging on my leg. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see him too since he's the fun daddy. She's started repeating "no, no" when I tell her to quit doing something. Funny, but not funny.... She has a lot of words she likes to say and is getting quite understandable. Moon, Lexie, ball, night, light, mama, dada, and of course, no no.

By the way, these girls are the bravest people I know. They had a kidney donation procedure between the two of them in August. They are both doing well and I'm so proud to know them. We sure miss them and can't wait to be able to see them in December. We all enjoy stamping and I look forward to a stamping get-together. This picture was before the surgery. Thank God for His blessings on them and on us for having them in our lives.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, be..........

As you probably saw a previous post about the construction behind our house, you know that I'm really thrilled about it and wish I owned a large weapon of some sort. Well, the project manager I spoke with must have completely lied to me. He said they would only be up close to the house for 3 or 4 more days... O.K. It's now aprox. 6 weeks later and they are there TODAY, as they have been every freakin' day since I spoke to him. Oh, and they did stick to their promise of not starting up right behind us until 9:00a.m. but since we've been back from KY on Aug. 7th, they've gone back to 7:00a.m. I seriously understand how some relatively normal person ends up going off the deep end and going "postal." I think they should call it "constructional" instead. That constant beeping sends chills down my spine. I have trouble getting Maddie to nap because of all that %&*($#@ beeping. She probably thinks that the beeping is a normal, everyday occurrence in this world since she's heard it most of her life so far. You can't even escape it unless you leave the house. We used to leave the windows open all day and not run the air conditioner. Now we have to keep the windows closed, not only for the noise, but for all the dust and dirt that gets blown around here.



Here are some more pictures. I hope they think I am documenting for a lawsuit or something. I'm sure they think I'm a crazy woman on her balcony taking pictures of dirt and bulldozers. It will be evidence in my trial once that one last beep cracks my inner cortex and I go after the workers with my extremely sharp Rachel Ray knife. Yes, I'm that crazy right now...

They dump more dirt (as in exhibit B) and then smooth it out or move it around to somewhere else. They've laid this huge concrete pipe (as in exhibit A) all along the periphery of our property lines. Most everyone only has to deal with this on Saturdays--yes they work EVERY Saturday now. I don't think anyone actually understands (except Pam who told me they are doing construction near her house too) and doesn't respect what I'm dealing with every day. I've got to find something I can do to get out of here every once in a while. I've got to get my nerve up and just do it!

On a lighter note.... I haven't gotten Maddie's birthday party pictures transferred to computer yet since they are on Jason's camera, but here are a couple of cutie patootie (literally) of her napping on a quilt.

1 Year Pictures!

Back in sunny CA....

Well, we're back from KY. I must say that a break from the 100 degree heat and humidity is nice, but that's it! One week is just not enough of a visit. Maddie had a wonderful birthday celebration and had her first cake and frozen yogurt. We got to see several friends at her open house on the 4th. She was so worn out after everyone left, she fell asleep in Daddy's arms. As soon as I get a chance I'll post some pics. We also had her 1 year pics done at Sears and I can post those too.


I see there was an earthquake here this morning. I wouldn't have known it if I didn't see it on the news. No problems for us.



Guess I'll go for now. Just wanted to say we're back.

Who needs an earthquake when...

... you have freaking bulldozers in your back yard before 8:00a.m.? This has happened last week and they shook the light bulb in the bathroom loose! Today we're so lucky to have them RIGHT behind the house. I can't believe Maddie is still sleeping. She was up from 2-4:30 a.m. so maybe she's just out of it. I have no idea what her problem was, she's been doing so well sleeping through the night. I usually can sleep through thunderstorms, but not bulldozers evidently. All that dang beep-beep-beep every 5 seconds when it backs up. I hate this place!!!! It's so beautiful and they have to mess it up and have construction the whole time we're going to live here. We're locked into the lease so we can't even get away from it. Of course, I'm the one who gets to listen to it all day. Jason is at work most of the time they are working. It's a very good thing I'm not a gun-toting citizen because I'd be aiming at the fuel tank on that thing right now. I called the project manager and he said they'd only be up here 3 or so days more.... MORE. I told him that I would truly appreciate if they could wait until 9:00a.m. to start rattling the house. I said I have a baby who was up for 2.5 hours last night and the only place I could put here to get away from the noise is in the car in the garage. He claims he's going to talk to the contractor this morning and then call me back, but when you're dealing with millions of dollars, I'm sure they could care less about a big ol' Kentucky hick who's complaining about the noise. Here are some actual pictures of where they are working. Notice the balcony railing? That's how close they are!!!! I would have taken some out our bedroom window on the bottom floor, but I figured I'd scare the driver enough and he might drive right through the wall. I hate this place.... just to make sure you know how I feel about it.