Day #330

When I pick Maddy up from daycare, I ask her what she did that day and she ALWAYS says, I played with Natalia. She loves Natalia! Today when I went to get her the two of them were playing with blocks. When we were getting ready to leave Natalia came running from across the room to give Maddy a big hug. I love that Maddy has such great friends who she's been in daycare with since she was 5 months old and will grow up with.

Day #329

Grandma Pat moved to a rehab facility on Friday and was less than pleased with not going home. She was pretty grouchy. Ted, Maddy and I went down on Sunday to visit her and try to cheer her up. We stayed for about 2 hours. We brought her a present which was pictures of all of her great grandchildren for her room. Maddy and her played cards. Also Grandma wanted to put on some makeup so of course Maddy wanted some too. It was a really nice visit especially learning that the physical therapists are working with her so much to get her strength back. Hopefully she'll be back at home soon!

Day #328

Ted, Maddy and I joined a few of our friends for dinner tonight. We went to Korean BBQ. You basically have a small grill built into your table and you cook your own meat. You get tons of tasty Korean side dishes (soup, rice, kimchi, etc.) to go with it. Maddy had so much fun! She ate a ton of food including two bowls of soup! 

Day #327

Maddy had a great week in gymnastics. Ted had to work so it was just the two of us but we had a blast. She did the bars and the trampoline and loved them!

Day #326

No surprise that Maddy likes washing herself in the tub. We got her a loofah to make it a little more productive. Here she is with SO many bubbles!

Day #325 - Grandma Pat

Since the time I was very little, I have had a special bond with my Grandma. Some of my earliest memories are spending time at her house in Oregon (back when I was 2). When I got older, I would beg my parents to take me to her house for long weekends and when I started driving, I would often spend weekends and breaks at her house, watching movies (Shirley Temple was our favorite) and going to get milkshakes at Arctic Circle. When I was in Michigan for graduate school, I got special permission to postpone my comprehensive exams (which would allow me to graduate), in order to be with her for open heart surgery. When I found out I was pregnant, she was one of the first people I told and when it came time to name the baby, I didn't hesitate to use Patricia as Maddy's middle name, in her honor. I hoped that one day, my Grandma would be just as important to my daughter. 

On Wednesday I went to Vancouver to visit my Grandma Pat, who has been in the hospital with breathing issues. At the end of the visit, her doctor told us she'd be going home and was excited about the improvements she's made. Linda, Grandma and I were all excited and I left and came home to Tacoma in a really good mood. It had been a great visit and Grandma was doing better. The next day we found out that she would not be going home. That she instead needs to go to a rehabilitation facility to get her strength up and improve her breathing and walking. While we all agree that this is probably the best decision, especially with the ups and downs with her health lately, it's not a fun reality. She really doesn't like being in the hospital and really wants to go home, and it's so hard to go against what she wants when we know that isn't best for her. 

She will be moving to the rehab facility today and will spend the next 1-2 weeks there. She is sad and feeling overwhelmed. Linda is there with her and is doing a good job keeping her spirits up, but it's hard. All I want to do right now is put my arms around her and tell her it will be alright (like she has done with me hundreds of times). I'm trying to balance my life here (family, work, school, etc.) with wanting to move into her hospital room so she isn't lonely or sad or scared. She has offered me so much comfort over the years and I feel like right now I can't reciprocate that the way that I want. 

Last night, I told Maddy that Great Grandma was sick and asked her if she wanted to make some videos to cheer her up. Grandma can't see really well, but she can still hear, and so we made loud exuberant videos that Linda could play to boost her spirits. Maddy shouted, I LUB YOU GRAMMIE, and she sang her ABCs and she said SEE YOU SOON. Linda said Grandma loved them and was really happy listening to Maddy over and over again. I was happy too :) Here are some photos of them "chatting" last night even though they couldn't actually see each other and weren't even in the same part of the state. 

We're planning to go down on Sunday to see Grandma, once she's settled in her rehab facility. We hope that a visit will be just what she needs to get her strength up so she can get better and get back on track. And let's be honest, hopefully it will be just what I need to get my Grandma fix. We love you Grandma! Get well soon!

Day #324

This is what it looks like when your 2 year old wears a silly construction paper hat that she made at daycare, with only 1 shoe (who knows where the other one went), and stands on the steps singing nursery rhymes. This is our life!

Day #323

Grandma Pat is currently in the hospital. I went down yesterday to visit her for the day to help boost her spirits. We had a really nice time and she had a really good day, making good progress. She's even being released today, yay!

Day #322

Maddy still has a little but of Halloween candy left (mostly the stuff Mom and Dad don't really want to eat). Tonight she noticed her candy bowl and was pretty adamant. We told her she could have a sucker if she ate her dinner. She was a great eater tonight, no surprise! Then she got tired of the sucker about halfway through. Win-win!

Day #321

Maddy got a toy a while ago that we hadn't started using. Tonight seemed like the night. It's a bath toy that's musical AND blows bubbles. It's a cute purple octopus and she loves it! 

Day #320

Maddy and I were on our own yesterday while Ted went to the Seahawks game, so we decided to FaceTime with family. Great Grandma (Nana) and Casey were hanging out together so we visited with them for a while. Here's some pics of our convo!

Day #319

What would be a fun Saturday night without playing with princesses with your dog and your Daddy?

Day #318

Maddy had gymnastics again today and she had a great time! She swung on the rope for the first time and even volunteered to walk on the balance beam with Coach Alex as an example for the class.

Day #317

While I cleaned out Maddy's closet today she had fun pulling out toys and trying on random clothes. Here she is in a winter cupcake hat wearing a tutu while pulling one of Mom's old cabbage patch kids in a little wagon. Fun times!

Day #316

Happy Birthday Ted! Today is Ted's birthday and even though we did our big celebrating this past weekend, we will be doing a special dinner at home with presents. I wrapped them yesterday and Maddy has been so excited, shouting DADDY'S PRESENTS! She's all ready to help him open them and blow out the candles. 

Day #315

Tonight Michigan State who was #2 played basketball against the #1 team. Maddy and I put on our MSU gear to cheer them on! They won and are now going to be #1. Go Spartans!

Days #307-314

Well, well, well, I'm behind again. Sometimes I get behind because I don't take pictures, sometimes because I don't want to blog, and sometimes because living life makes it hard. It was definitely the third option this time. The past week was filled with gymnastics, live college football, writing on my dissertation, cleaning the house, driving to visit Great Grammie, having brunch with friends, celebrating Ted's birthday early, going to the park, having work friends over for dinner, and some relaxing (thank goodness). Here's a recap of the past 8 days!

Day #307

Maddy and I went to the park to work off some energy. Yay teeter totter!

Day #308

Maddy really likes helping and it's just easier to let her so here she is adding basil to our bruschetta for our dinner with NAPA folks.

Day #309

We have the tiniest yard but that doesn't mean we don't have to do yard tasks. Ted and Maddy had a blast raking and jumping in the leaves.

Day #310

Gymnastics take 2 was not as much of a success. Even though they got to use the trampoline and the bars, Maddy was really tired and a little grouchy and wasn't into it. We ended up only staying for about 2/3. Hopefully next week is better. 

Day #311

I bought Ted tickets to a UW football game so he could experience the new stadium. We had a great time even though we only stayed for the 1st half since it was cold and they were winning 31-7 (it got even worse after we left).

Day #312

Maddy stayed with Jenn and Paolo overnight while Ted and I did football and birthday celebrating in Seattle. Maddy had a blast with them, slept great, and will be begging to go back in no time! Auntie Jenn even took Maddy to the park.

Day #313

Our friend Paolo is in culinary school and works at a restaurant in Seattle called Revel. We went with Jenn to check out his Sunday brunch and it was amazing. Here's Maddy and I sharing food and using chopsticks. It was a great meal!

Day #314

Maddy and I have been trying to get down to Vancouver more, now that driving by ourselves has gotten easier. We took advantage of Veteran's Day off to take a day trip to visit Great Grammie. We got there in the morning, played, got take out for lunch and then headed back in the afternoon so Maddy could nap in the car. It was a great day!

Day #306

Here's Maddy after dinner, slouched down, with her feet on the table, eating M&Ms. Don't tell Emily Post about her manners :)

Day #305

Ted and I went to the Seahawks game on Sunday (boy was it crazy!) and Maddy stayed home with our new babysitter Norah. Norah has watched Maddy a few times but this was the first time that she didn't get upset when Norah came over and even ran and gave her a huge hug when she came in the door. They were together all day long and we got plenty of picture updates. Maddy and Norah went for a walk in the late morning (with Bailey too) which Maddy always loves. Norah also took her to a coffee shop in the afternoon (yay, another walk) and Maddy had her first hot chocolate. Mom and Dad had a blast at the game and Maddy and Norah had fun too. Double yay!

Day #304

Now that Maddy has turned 2, she is old enough for parent/child gymnastics at the Y. We decided to take a break from swimming this session and just do gymnastics on Saturdays. It was a great decision because we all had a great time. Maddy volunteered to be the example with Coach Alex three times and tried new things in front of the whole class. She did great on the balance beam and even tried the rings. She liked doing somersaults the most and probably did 10 in the course of a few minutes. So excited for gymnastics next week!

Day #303

We went trick-or-treating this year with Maddy (and Bailey). Maddy had a blast and wasn't scared at all. We took her fancy wagon and wheeled around Ted's parents' neighborhood. We hit about 20 houses, 3 of which gave out full-size candy bars! Maddy filled up her pumpkin and had so much fun. She got pretty good at saying trick-or-treat as the night progressed and always shouted THANK YOU after they deposited into her pumpkin.