Riding My Tricycle and Such

We've really been enjoying every minute of the cool weather! Madelyn and Elsie want to stay outside!Shane and I have been working on teaching Maddie how to ride her tricycle. She understands that she has to push the pedals but she does not understand that they need to make a full rotation. She gets the right pedal to go all the way up then pushes back down in the same direction....The pedals never make a full cycle around;)

Other news...Our friend Brad from San Antonio has come to same with us for a month while he is doing an internship at Vanderbilt University. He is working in Pediatrics with the infectious disease team. Brad wanted me to take this picture to show his wife a picture of Elsie. (I told him how to get her to put her front paws on his shoulders.)
Brad got to our house on Sunday afternoon...After diner I told Madelyn to go to our bathroom so she could get a bath. She ran into my bedroom without the light on and ran into our bed foot post with her face! She was screaming and blood was going everywhere! I grabbed her up and ran into the hallway where Shane and Brad met me. After cleaning the blood up enough to see, Brad took a look at her mouth. She had busted her top lip on the inside and the outside and on top of that she ripped the piece of skin that connects your top lip to your gums..(OUCH!) Good news is though, Madelyn did not need stitches nor did she lose her front teeth!!! By Wed. it was looking a lot better! (Good things there's a doc in the house)!

Also Jenny and I came up with the idea for a Halloween shirt. It's a black and white Damask kitty with an orange bow. I think it turned pretty cute without being overly Halloween.
In this picture Maddie was mad at me for putting jeans on her...2 year old...

"Where's Daddy?"

On a hunt for the perfect pumpkin!

The Ivey gals all went to the Farmers Market down town on Thursday. It's funny how much fun the little girls got out of playing with their small pumpkins!Madelyn and Addy Grace getting ready for a photo op. believe me...they are used to it!

She got rather warm sitting in the stroller, and it was humid that day! That's why she looks sweaty!

Sniffing the mums...She told me that they smelled "yummy"...but I know better;)

Thanks Nino for our Pumpkins!

Weekend visit with Beebs!

Sarabeth came home for the weekend. We had so much fun visiting her and hearing all about her first few weeks of college! Madelyn was So super excited to see her! She ran up to her and screamed "Beebs Home!" then began showing her everything including a piece of paper...! Kids are so funny! We love you Beebs and can't wait to see you again!

Maddie showing off her new fall dress. She kept saying "Aww, Mommy! Mott's dress is pretty!"
{Mott is what she calls herself.}

"No Wonder That Its Mary That We Love!"

Two weeks ago I would have told you that Madelyn would/could not sit down and watch Marry Poppins. Well she LOVES it! She has asked to watch it every day since! She especially likes the part when they jump into the painting! I even hear her singing some of the songs!! It's just one of those movies that I could watch along with her and enjoy every minute! It truly is a timeless classic!

"Our Fine Two Year Old"

Things that I love about Madelyn at this age:
~She sings herself to sleep(it last about 15-20 mins) Our alarm clock in the morning is our daughter singing! We hear it over our monitor.
(by the way she still gets up between 8:00 to 8:30!)

~She prays A LOT! She starts off by saying "derh Gaud"(very guttural sounding)
she does this while her hands are together and is peeking all around the room!
She may pray 4 or 5 rounds a night!
(many of us included in these prayers may need it this many times!)

~She loves Mary Poppins! She calls her "Maer Hoppins"

~She calls yogurt "ice cream" She made this up herself...and I've not tried to tell her otherwise!

~ She'll ask "Otay Mommy? Otay?" while patting my back
(she is showing concern. It makes her feel better to know that everyone is happy)

~Walks like a cowboy when she is "dirty"!(We're working on the potty thing)

~I love watching her roll play with her animals! She puts them to bed (a shoebox) then places a blanket (piece of fabric) on them!

~She'll go into my closet and puts on my high hills. It's just too cute! She's practiced so much, she's probably better than I am wearing them! HA!

~Her favorite thing to eat right now is peanut butter and jelly.
She'll sing the song while eating it!

~I think it's funny when she hollers "LOOK Momma, Ticky Mouse!" while standing in line at the grocery store! Everyone turns and grins at us;)
{side note: I believe that she could say "Micky" but I like hearing "Ticky" too much to correct her!}

~Tries to talk me into going outside by saying
"Outside in a little bit, eh hem"{you can tell what she's been told SO many times}

~Funny Story: Maddie and I were leaving Publix(grocery store) and had a young fellow to push our buggy to the car. (Madelyn was sitting in the child's seat in the buggy) I am walking along side them and she looks up at me and says
"Bad Guy, Momma!" (with a very strait and serious face)
the guy understood her and just laughed. I assured her that he wasn't...

On the flip side, she IS a 2 year old and there ARE things that drive me nuts!
~She kicks and stomps at the cat!...poor Miles...{She has yet to be scratched...a miracle in itself!}

~She has Minitis {This is an episode on Sesame Street} Everything is "MINE!"

~She can be really loud in the car and tries to overpower whomever is talking .

~Dumps Elsie's water all over the carpet!(This only happened twice before she figured out it was a big NO NO!) I still catch her playing in her water though...

~One day she decided that her art work should be in our bedroom too. She found some bright rose lipstick (still have NO clue where it came from)
and smeared it on the wall and carpet behind the rocking chair!
{two bottles of stain remover and it's still there...not bad though}

~She is VERY independent!!!
-won't hardly let me help her brush her teeth
-she likes to buckle herself in(bad if we're in a hurry)
-won't hold my hand in parking lots/ public places
-Hates changing clothes
-Hates having her hair brush (you should see it in the morning)

At the end of the day Shane and I peek at her sleeping in her bed and know that we are truly blessed that we have a happy, healthy, very energetic daughter that we can't imagine our lives without!

"Rain, Rain go Away, Come again another day!"

(I love the lip...)

All Things Bright and Beautiful

All Things Bright and Beautiful
~Cecil Frances Alexander

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset, and the morning,
That brightens up the sky;

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell,
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

Labor Day

We had a great time swimming all day! Madelyn has just gotten up from her nap..
She looks a little dazed!

By the way...She LOVES to swim now! She will jump off into the water and kick around the pool!

Shane and I are So proud of her!

The only real problem she's having is she won't close her mouth! She giggles the entire time!

Great job Madelyn!!

Visit to the Zoo!

First off, I will never apologize for not posting...life happens! We've been pretty busy lately.

Madelyn was SO excited to see her favorite animal, the newt! Not sure why she likes that critter so much..She giggles every time she sees one!

We love going into the petting area! The goats were SO much fun!

the baby goats=so cute!

My favorite, the giraffes! and they were SO close!

Mommy and Madelyn

It doesn't matter how many times I get to go, I am always So amazed at Gods animals. I had a wonderful day! Lastly, I leave you a poem.


The Zoo
~William Makepeace Thackeray

First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;
Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw;
Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw;
Then I saw the elephant a-waving of his trunk;
Then I saw the monkeys-mercy, how unpleasantly they-smelt!