Madelyn 3 year pics, Colin 8 months

Madelyn, you're three years old!!  We are so proud of you, you are doing great in your preschool class, you've mastered spelling your last name, our street name and the name of your mommy and daddy really well.  You are a total "mom," at home and at school; you care for Colin like he's your baby and at school when anyone is sad you are quick to their side to try to aid them.  A few weeks ago at school Mommy had her first struggle with leaving you; a boy was crying, you went over to him to ask him if he was OK and wanted to play with you, he pushed you hard (this is when mommy almost pushed a toddler), you came over to me upset but not crying and said, "he's just sad mom, he misses his Mommy and Daddy."  You amaze us Madelyn, every day.  The way you're able to express yourself and your emotions far surpasses our expectations.  To be clear, you're still our "threenager," with the random meltdown and weird episodes of, "my legs aren't working," when you're tired or don't want to do something; but overall it is AMAZING what you pick up on and how you can communicate.  When you're quiet and asked what's wrong you'll say, "I'm tired, I think I need to lay down" or, "I miss my Daddy," you aren't afraid to express yourself or let us know what you need. You have learned and can recite all your favorite nursery rhymes and stories; Hey Diddle Diddle, All the Pretty Little Horses, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Hush a Bye, and many more.  I could go on and on, when you're older it'll be so fun to tell you about this and how loving and smart you were as a toddler. 

MR. COLIN!!!  I mean really, could you be any cuter?  It's like salt in a wound when you have the CUTEST BABY that doesn't sleep and cries a lot.  Luckily we are pretty easy going parents that can take it as it comes because Colin, that's how it goes with you.  We have had a good night where you only wake up twice, and that's happened 2 nights in a row!  And we think, OK, this is it, and then...that's not it.  That said, these frequent night time visits have been some special memories for Mama, you are a snuggler at night, you snuggle up on me and breathe with your mouth wide open, and just when I think you're going to burp, you fart and smile.  You started to clap, and get SO excited when we clap with you!  We have now gotten to the babble stage of the bababababa....but with you it is usually a super loud, BAAABABABABABA, AHHHHH!!!!!  You don't babble all day or frequently at all, but when you decide to talk , you TALK, loud and a steady stream.

Madelyn 3 years, Colin 8 months
You're beautiful, you're handsome, when you look back on this one day just know you were as loved then as you are now; our sweet babies, we love you so much.

Birthday party and princess ball!!

April showers bring cute little girls with umbrellas :)

Zoo weather is here!  Madelyn you loved showing Colin around the zoo, especially in the reptile house where you could both get up close to the lizards and alligator! 

Not Marty McFly, but MR. HANDSOME COLIN!!

Studs in plaid.  "Cousins!"

Happy Easter 2016!!  March 27, 2016; The kids had a great time going through their baskets the bunny brought, we had a great afternoon with the Fodors, Martins and Gma and Gpa Hergott for Easter dinner at our house!

Our beautiful family, we are so blessed to have each other and these 2 cuties

Birthday party time!  Four toddlers bumper bowling couldn't have been any cuter, you guys had a blast!

Madelyn you were a bowling champ getting all sorts of spares and really pushing your princess bowling ball down that ramp!

There was lots of running, dancing and being silly with your friends Maggie, Josh and Will

3 year well child check up - Doctor says you are quite the young lady, super smart and surpassing all the 3 year milestones.

We are park people, chilly temps don't scare us, we bundle up and head out to anywhere with some slides and swings, this was Colin's first time on a swing and WOW Colin, you really enjoyed it.  Madelyn pushed you and you just smiled and laughed the whole time!

"I got him I got him."  This is a phrase we hear frequently around the house now since Colin has been mobile, and Madelyn is so confident in her ability to pick him up and transport him from room to room.  Madelyn you like to protect him so if you see him crawling towards anything you deem unsafe, you scoop him up and carry him just like this to safety.

Standing at EVERYTHING, the furniture, toys, windows, our legs, you pull yourself up everywhere Colin. 

Besties, and we couldn't be more proud of how well you treat your little brother Madelyn he is lucky to have you around and we are so lucky to have you here to help with him!

"More swinging mom!!! Yayyyy, this is way better than rocking in my rocking chair I love the wind on my thighs!"

It's time!  Madelyn has started scooting around on her Strider bike she got from the Kotenkos.  These bikes are the new cool way to learn since they have no peddles kids learn balance faster and skip the training wheels completely.

Happy 8 months Mr. Colin, or as Madelyn calls you (but gives no one else permission to, it's cute because it's just her thing) Colly, Colly Col, Colly want a cracker, Colycolycolycoly.  Your laugh and smile stop time in this house because it's the only thing we can focus on as it's happening.  Your soft hair that still has it's spikey do is adorable and watching it blow in the wind while you ride on the swings or in the stroller is just the sweetest thing.  You have 2 teeth on the bottom, you crawl FAST, faster than I ever remember Madelyn crawling and you pull yourself up to stand on anything and everything, you have no fear and you have sooooo much love.

This was a very special day April 23, 2016, Miss Monica and Calvin were in town from Arizona and came over to spend the afternoon with US!  Mommy's former room-mate and forever best friend has another baby on the way and since she doesn't live in Michigan anymore we don't see much of each other so this picture is a very special one; how our lives have changed!!!

I post pictures of you two hugging all the time and I'd be honest here if these were rare moments caught on film but, they're not, you are hugging ALL THE TIME. 

April 30, 2016 - This was a very special day for one very special girl.  Grandma, Mommy and Madelyn got all dressed up and headed off to a princess ball.  Madelyn in her finest Ariel dress, Grandma and Mommy couldn't find their Disney dresses so settled for a little more simple attire, no one could compare the the beautiful Madelyn all ready to go to meet the Disney princesses and watch them sing and dance!

This is a proud Mama, I loved doing this with you sweetheart, you love to sing and dance so much and know all the Disney songs, seeing the princesses perform them in front of us was a very special thing for us to enjoy. 

Ladies day out!  You talked about it all week, "Daddy and Colin are not going, Mommy, Grandma and Madelyn are going for a ladies day."

Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty came by to chit chat and you were so excited to show her the sparkly butterfly you had painted on your face!  She said she liked sparkles too!

Sofia the First and Madelyn, just a couple of princesses hanging out.

May the 4th be with you.  We like Star Wars just a little bit in this house.

Our new fun toy!  Daddy pulls Madelyn on the bike while Mommy runs like a crazy women pushing Colin in the jogging stroller!  That buggy seats 2 though and soon the kids will ride together in style :)  (with helmets, not pictured here just because it was a test run).

Grandpa and Colin hanging out exchanging stories (I feel like the conversation may have been a little one sided :).

Life is good

Spirit week at school to celebrate Dr. Seuss!  Colin, you had, top hat  Tuesday.  Madelyn, you had Tacky Tuesday!  So we have a total stud and a wacky dressed stylish chick.  Maybe next spirit week school can make it easier on mama and make all the classrooms have the same theme, they're lucky Madelyn didn't show up in a hat and Colin dressed crazy, I actually packed each day extra clothes in case I messed this up! 

Wow.  Handsome, stud, super cool dude.  What else can I say, you are totally cute Colin, however it is annoying to always hear, "HE ALWAYS LOOKS SO HAPPY!"  I guess we all need to wear cameras around the house, or not, don't worry I'll always remember and have no problem telling you about the sleepless nights and stress you caused when you weren't giving us this amazing grin :)

Twinsies!  Couldn't pass up the opportunity to dress you both in some snazzy navy polo shirts.   

You love getting ready with Mama, you use my make up brushes and try to do what I do, you put on, lipstick, every time I do, which is only Chapstick but, you love it.  You are BEAUTIFUL, that said, don't ever forget that your beauty goes so much beyond how you look.  Your intelligence, care for others, sense of humor, and so much more make you the beautiful person that you are and watching all of these things grow is so exciting. 

I remember hanging eggs in trees outside when I was a kid, so this was something I had a blast doing with you.  Colin was sleeping, we put the ribbons in the eggs and went outside to decorate our tree!  You were so excited you had the bag of eggs in hand and were at the door and didn't even have your shoes on yet!  Of course, the day we did this happened to be one of the windiest days of the year, we watched out the window as the eggs blew around the tree and due to mamas superb crafting skills we only lost one egg in the crazy Michigan storm that happened right after the hanging of the eggs!  (The egg was found and later returned to the tree).

3/17/16 Happy St. Patricks Day from these lucky charms!  With you both dressed in your finest green you went off to school to celebrate St. Pattys day!

Happy 7 months buggy!

Madelyn has been saying for over a month now, "my birthdays coming up."  This is the first year she has gone to some friend birthday parties and it has really made the, "birthday," idea set it.  Madelyn has gone to a bounce house party, and a party downtown at the DNR center where she explored all the outdoorsy MI fun indoors with all her friends!  Colin is 7 months and our sweet girl will be 3 in 18 days!!!!!!

Easter is coming!  Colin's first Easter!!!!  The line was long and the people waiting in line near us were...challenging to stand by...but, we waited, we saw, and we took a great picture!  The ride there we told Madelyn, the bunny is bigger than a bunny outside, he's a big bunny.   This may or may not have been a mistake.   Didn't want you scared Madelyn when you saw the big bunny, but, the whole way there and a few times in line you kept saying, "IT'S A BIG BUNNY, I DON'T LIKE THE BIG BUNNY."  As we got closer and you saw him with the other kids you were waving and excited to see him, and let him know you decorated the house so he would find us and bring us treats!  Colin started crying 2 minutes before we got to the bunny because, it was nap time and definitely time to eat, like the champ he is in public he took a great photo!

Can't get much cuter than this, life is good. 

We have a 6 month old and a little lady who is almost 3!

*Little bug, you are 6 months old!!!  You have this WIDE OPEN MOUTH smile that is adorable to see and makes mommy and daddy very happy!

*You love making the noise, AH, AH, AH, AH, sometimes while banging a toy around very hard and fast, daycare calls you little chewy, little Chewbacca because of the noises you make :)

*You had a rough month and got pretty sick, but with lots of snuggles and love from mommy, daddy and Madelyn we had you feeling better.  One day while I was in the kitchen I heard you start to cry, when I went in to check you, Madelyn already had you in her arms rocking you saying, "It's ok Colin, I got you."

*You sit up on your butt, leaning forward and bounce and rock, you really wanna GO GO GO, usually you do this when your sister is running around, you want to chase her!

*You've tried some food, not a huge fan, but we are working on it, you seem to just want to push it around and then out with your tongue.

*Your spiky hair is the talk of everywhere we go, you're easy to fall in love with and that soft spiky hair always catches attention!

*When you nurse you like to try to suck both thumbs at the same time...this is interesting...and I end up putting you in some sort of wrestling hold tucking one arm between my arms and holding the other while I tuck one of your legs between my other arms, luckily this is always in the privacy of our home or people would think we are crazy. 

Story time in Madelyn's room before bed is a part of our nightly routine

Madelyn gets to help feed Colin and as always, gets very concerned about his well being so here she is checking on him to make sure he's doing ok after having some oatmeal; must be some sort of new age medicine to check a patient from the top of the head. 

Happy 6 months Mr. Colin, thanks for all the sweet smiles, now can you please let me sleep? 

Mr. Colin, you and your finicky ways have dropped you from 90% to 30% in your weight...but, don't let that fool anyone, you are SO STRONG.  You are GRABBY.  You grab faces, hair, you lunge forward with your mouth open and just gnaw on chins, cheeks, whatever you can grab with your mouth.  And you love to stand, when put down sometimes we have to physically bend your legs at the waist to force you to sit down because you insist on the straight leg standing position.  Dr. Madelyn even got to help at your 6 month check up, starting her young!

Madelyn, you speak very well, however you still pronounce your V's, more like a B, which is just really cute right now....Super Madelyn runs around yelling, "I'll Sabe you!"  And we get hear, "I lub you," very frequently.  I say it over and over again, but I can't even believe how much a 2, almost 3 year old can help around the house, with Colin, cleaning, cooking, you want to help with it all!  When I clean the bathrooms you get some paper towel and wipe down the sink or help with the shower walls, you swifter vacuum the kitchen floor, dust your room, clean your window; when Colin cries you still stop what your doing to take him a toy, you'll shake a rattle till he stops, or try to give him his pacifier, it's amazing.  You also like to help me bake, this can get messy, but it's fun, and you like the light in the oven turned on so you can watch our yummy treats bake!

Building a snowman!  Even Colin got in on the fun!  In Michigan baby pools are multipurpose and can be used year round as shown here, keeps babies dry and happy while enjoying a fresh snowfall!