Christmas 2015

Christmas 2015 was a huge SUCCESS! For the better part of a week we had Nana Terry, Bumpa Larry, Grammie Kim, Grammie Merlene, Papa Rick, Great Aunt Linda, Great Uncle Bob, Bob's sister Jane, Uncle Dan, Aunt Nicole, Cousins Hayden & Paisley, Julie, Ted and Maddy. Oh, plus 7 dogs!

The week was filled with cooking, playing cribbage, laughing, playing with toys, watching TV, smiling and so much more. We opened tons of presents, made cookies, made pies, ate and ate and ate, and overall just enjoyed each other's company. We missed a few special folks who are no longer with us but forever live in our hearts.

Here are quite a few photos to show off our fun!

Decorating for Christmas

There are a couple of factors that have lead us to go a little crazy with our Christmas decorations this year.

1. Last year we closed on our new house on December 8 which meant we moved December 9-13 and then were out of town much of the remainder of the month. Alas we did not have a tree, decorations, or really any mention of Christmas in our house (we were at my parents for Christmas itself which had many decorations, so we weren't totally deprived).

2. This year we are hosting Christmas in Washington for the first time ever! That means Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Great Aunts, Great Uncles, and Cousins will be joining us in our house.

So why not go all out if you are making up for two years and you have a whole brood of family to help you celebrate!

We started decorating right after Thanksgiving, and took advantage of some awesome Black Friday sales to stock up on more lights and decorations. Maddy was very into decorating and was a huge help. It was so fun to decorate as a family. This week has been mostly focused on the outside and then we'll move to the inside (to coincide with rain coming into town).

Maddy and the Rock

About six weeks ago Ted got a call from daycare telling us that Maddy had put a rock in her ear. After a visit to the pediatrician and then an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist it was confirmed that she had a small rock in her right ear that they couldn't get out. We tried special ear drops for a week with no luck. The rock wasn't hurting her, more annoying than anything. After a follow-up with the ENT we scheduled surgery for November 16.

That morning we arrived at the hospital super early and got all checked in. We had to wait for a while until surgery began but luckily the Children's Hospital had lots of fun toys and games. Finally it was time to go back to surgery. Maddy was not thrilled to leave mom and dad but before we knew it the doctor was out to tell us everything was fine. He gave us the tiny rock (maybe we'll make it into a necklace for Maddy to wear). 

Maddy came out of the anesthesia with no issues and was quickly eating Popsicles and crackers. She has told us many times now that she's not going to put anything else in her ears. Fingers crossed!

Ted's 40th Birthday

On November 14, Ted turned 40! We had a fun party at our house to celebrate. We had a ton of awesome appetizers, more drinks than anyone could count, and so much fun! Ted's Mom even wrote a sort of poem to recount all of Ted's milestones and adventures over the years. Congrats to 40 amazing years Ted!

Julie In New York

Earlier this month I took advantage of a mid-week day off and hopped on a plane to New York where two of my good friends live. I got to see Gina in Poughkeepsie and Kendra in Albany. I drove around New York and Connecticut quite a bit seeing friends in multiple locations. 

The highlight was Kendra and I took the train into New York City. We got to ride the subway, have lunch in the Upper East Side, go to St. Patrick's Church and hang out in the rain in Central Park. 

Four Year Check-up

Maddy went to the doctor last month for her four year check-up. She did really well and boy has she grown. She is now 40.3 inches tall (in the 61st percentile) and weighs 36lbs (in the 59th percentile). That means she grew 3 inches and gained 5lbs since her three year check-up.

She got to wear a paper gown for the first time which looked so cute on her. Of course after the photo she decided she'd rather not wear it and was just in her underwear by the time the doctor came in (so much for modesty).

She had to get her flu shot at the end which did not go well even though we had been preparing her for the possibility and she had even watched a cartoon show about the main character getting a shot and being brave. Oh well, at least it's only once a year. We went and got ice cream after to celebrate!

Maddy's Birthday Party

On October 14 we celebrated Maddy's fourth birthday. This includes a week of birthday fun for Maddy. Since Mom spent the week of (and unfortunately day of) Maddy's birthday at a work training in Baltimore, her birthday was very spread out.

On Wednesday was her actual birthday and Ted kicked off the day by filing her bedroom with balloons for her to wake up to. He took mini cupcakes to her class so she could celebrate at school. He wrapped up the day by taking her to Chuck-E-Cheese which she loved! 

Mom came home on Friday and Mom and Maddy went to Build-A-Bear in the afternoon together and then we did our Davis family party with Grammie, Papa, Uncle Max and Andrea (and tons of presents). 

Saturday was Maddy's actual party with 11 of her friends at the Tacoma Children's Museum. Here are some photos of her birthday party fun!

Crazy Week!

I was really hoping to post every Monday but a busy weekend that lead into a Maddy sick day made that tough and so here it is Wednesday. 

We had an extremely busy weekend full of soccer practice and not one, not two, but three birthday parties. Yowza! Then Sunday night (at birthday party 3) Maddy started complaining about an ear ache. Yep, another ear infection (only been a month since the last one, although it was a year since the time before that).

Here's some photos of our adventures: 

1) Maddy resting on the couch after visiting the doctor, 2) Maddy and her teammates warming up at soccer, 3) Maddy and her BFFs Savannah and Sophia at a classmate's birthday party.

In other news, guess who can write her own name?!?!? She's been working on her letters and writing in some preschool workbooks I got her but it came as quite a surprise when she signed her own name on a birthday card this weekend. Go Maddy!

Fall Pre-K Soccer

Maddy had so much fun playing soccer last spring that we signed her up again this fall. We also intentionally signed up with two of her teammates from our last team. The mom of one of them agreed to be the coach of their team and I am her assistant.

Saturday was our first practice and it was a blast (although wrangling eleven 3-4 year olds was a chore)! Maddy really liked having me be involved on the field with her. 

Here are some photos of our team. Maddy is in the pink shirt. Her friends Landon and Aaron from last season are in the green shirts. Go soccer!

Maddy Photos - 2015

Earlier this month we had outdoor photos taken of Maddy at the Country Club which is right on a lake (we got married there too!). We had a great afternoon with our photographer who had tons of photo ideas. Maddy had a blast posing and acting goofy. 

She looks so grown up! We can't believe that she's technically only three (although very close to four)!

Here are our favorites!

We're Back & Maddy Starts Preschool

Wow what a hiatus! I had been pretty good at blogging for about 3 years but 2015 proved to be too much. A new house, a new degree, new sports for Maddy, it was a lot and blogging moved to pretty low on my priority list. While I didn't always miss writing or feeling obligated to update the blog, I do miss the regular account of our lives. I miss visually seeing Maddy grow up and master new milestones. I miss a chronological account of our successes and challenges. So I'm back, for as long as that makes sense for me/us.

It seems fitting to jump in to my first blog post in 9 months by sharing the start to a new school year. 

Maddy moved to the 4 year old class at daycare today which more officially begins pre school since next year will be pre kindergarten and then kindergarten the fall of 2017 (thank you fall birthday for that little delay). 

Maddy has been working on the transition to the 4's class (what they call it at her school) for a few weeks now, spending half days with the new teachers in the new class. Maddy is kind of an all or nothing kid so it's been a little torturous for her that she couldn't just jump right into the new class, leaving the 3's behind. But alas the day has finally come. Her cubby has been moved, her art folder has been moved, and she's all ready to be an even bigger kid! Luckily many of her closest friends, including her BFF Savannah, are moving too.

One of my friends posted photos this week of her kids starting school and included a couple of questions she asked them to highlight their views on life. I stole them and asked Maddy. Here are her responses:

What are you most looking forward to in the 4's class?

I'm excited about the new toys I get to play with!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A chef! I love cooking with mommy and daddy!

She could barely contain her excitement for her new class. And of course she had to add a silly face photo up in the reading loft.

New House

Well it's official, we have a new house. We offered at the end of October and closed the beginning of December. It was quite an adventure and one I'm glad we won't have to do again anytime soon. We love the house and are so happy.

We moved in about a week before a lot of travel, so we are just now getting unpacked and settled but it's all coming together. It's over 1000 sq. ft. bigger than our townhouse was and is on .25 of an acre which means Maddy and Bailey are ecstatic about all of the outdoor space. We are so glad it all worked out. Here are some of the listing photos. I'll share some more personalized ones once we finish unpacking and decorating.

Top 5 Things I Love About the New House
1. Separate family and living rooms which means Maddy's toys are contained and out of our main living space
2. Tons of cabinets and counter space in the kitchen
3. 2 1/2 bathrooms including our own master suite which means no more bath toys in our shower
4. Yard, yard, yard enough said
5. Quiet neighborhood with neighbors who bring you banana bread to welcome you to the neighborhood