Happy Spring...

...from the snowman on my front deck.

Oh So Sassy

I wanted to tell you about the Oh So Sassy, Etsy shop (if you don't already know about it). I made Madelyn this darling little dress. It was $18 including shipping. Yes, you can probably find a cheaper dress on sale somewhere, but if you are in the mood to make something for your little one this is a great choice. The instructions were very easy to follow. I love the material, and there are more so cute options.
And now I have a little Easter dress for her to wear. So fun.

This morning...

...I started to do the ironing while Madelyn ate her breakfast. It wasn't too long before this little girl had followed me, with her oatmeal, into the laundry room (where I had been standing literally 10 feet away from her). As you can see, she made a little table for herself with the laundry basket.
The other day, while Madelyn was eating her "cakes", or pancakes, I went upstairs to grab something. About 20 seconds after entering my bedroom in walked Madelyn with her plate of syrupy pancakes. She had gotten that plate of pancakes all the way up the stairs. I immediately wondered how much syrup had gotten on the carpet, though I wasn't able to see any (oh well, I guess we'll just get the carpets cleaned at some point).

She follows me everywhere. I must just be a really wonderful mom (that, or she doesn't know any better). What ever the case may be, she is a fun little pal.

For a Sweet Treat...

...go here to the Sister's Cafe. Yummy yummy.

Tuesday Shannon and I made the Oreo truffles featured below. So easy. It was a great time hanging out as sisters and making Valentines treats.

This yummy thing was for Valentine's dessert on Sunday. Look under Strawberries on the right side bar of the above link.
Love new recipes. So fun.

"I Help"

A couple of weeks ago I started sitting Madelyn in the kitchen window seal while I made dinner. One alternative would have been to hold her on my hip with one arm wrapped around her while attempting to cook with my free hand. before the "window seal days" Madelyn would push herself between me and the cupboard and say, "hold you, hold you" while slightly bouncing up and down and reaching up to me as far as she could.

Sometimes while I made dinner she would briefly play with her toys or have a snack at the table, but for the most part Madelyn just wanted to be where her mommy was, doing what her mommy was doing.

The first night of window seal sitting worked out rather well. Madelyn sat contently in the window seal and I gave her a snack and talked with her. She was happy being near me and I was happy having a little cooking pal. i loved that I was cooking with my little daughter.

Slowly she started to explore the window seal area. She now knows that the crackers and cereal are located slightly to her right in the cupboard that she can open because there are no child safety latches. She knows that she can get the canister of wheat open if she just holds onto the latch and shakes it, and that if she pokes hard enough in the candle her little finger will make a dent. From the window seal she can reach the hand sanitizer and soap and says, "hands, hands" while holding her hand under the dispenser and waiting for me to dispense some soap into her chubby, squishy, little hand. She then washes that chubby, squishy, little hand and proceeds to turn the water on and off, and on and off, and then trickle and full blast, and then on and off. You get the idea.

Last night she says, "I help". She squatted down by the half mixed biscuit dough and with a measuring spoon in hand she spooned flour onto the floor and counter while attempting to get it back in the bowl. She then got a chunk of the actual dough in her spoon and it flew with a plop onto the floor. I briefly got her to stop "helping" by reverting her attention back to the yummy cheerios that I had originally placed in the window seal. I hurried as fast as I could to get the biscuits into the oven so that there was nothing left to "help" with (good thing they were drop biscuits).

And so goes my life, one little mommy and one little "helper" right by her side.

Ohia Love

Well, it wasn't really Ohio that we loved. Other than the Airport, Wal-Mart and the local Costco we didn't see much of Ohio (from what I hear there really isn't much to see). What we did see was Ty (my brother), Meghan (my sister-in-law), Mckinlay (my darling niece), and one of the newest Loveless cousins, Eliza (another darling niece). We spent about a week running around with three little girls doing things like, playing with plastic food, watching my little pony movies and getting naps in when necessary. The trip was just fabulous. We were all a little sleep deprived (you know how it is trying to travel with a little child), but I really didn't mind. It was just so great to see Ty's family.

We made lots of good food which included an amazing meal for Ty's 30th birthday that was complete with an Ina Garten cheese cake without a single crack on the top. I was impressed with Ty and Meg's great food. I came home with four new recipes that i am so excited to make. (Maybe I'll share in another post... they are good.)

Meghan and I made matching Valentine outfits for the girls. I must say that my sister Meghan is one crafty woman. We were at the fabric store buying material to make blankets (which we also did while in Ohio) when Meghan suggested we make matching Valentines outfits for the girls. By that evening we had three little skirts with matching shirts. How fun and cute.
I loved hearing about Ty's day when he got home from work. I loved getting to know Meghan and my little nieces better. I loved that Madelyn got to make cookies with Mckinlay and Grandma. I can't wait to see them all again.

Thanks again for a wonderful trip. See you in May!

As of Late

As of late Madelyn will sometime insist on reading books herself as opposed to sitting on my lap and being read to. She just wants me to stand by her and replenish her book supply when she is finished with her current stack of books.

I do my house work in increments of minutes. Yesterday I was trying to sweep and wash the kitchen floor and it took me about three times as long as it would have if I didn't have a little helper who had one hand on the broom while I swept. Per Madelyn's instructions, we would sweep for a few seconds and then sweep the dirt into the dust pan and empty it into the trash...literally every few seconds. After sweeping Madelyn was done cleaning. No washing the floor for her. We then played kitchen and I would sneak away to try to finish washing the floor whenever she wasn't looking, but she would soon catch me and pull me back into the make believe world of plastic food and little plastic utensils.

A few days ago I put Madelyn at the table with some saltine crackers. I went upstairs for a few minutes to check something on the computer. when I was finished, I came down to crackers crunched all over the table and floor. The below picture doesn't do it justice. But the little angel helped clean up the mess. I don't mind her messes. She doesn't make that many (the below mess is a rare occurrence), and I love it when she will help me clean up when I ask her to.

We got to go to the aquarium with our cousins. Kylan (in the picture below) is a couple months older than Madelyn. I love these pictures of them together. I want her to be close with her cousins, so I love when we get to do things with them.

And last, but definitely not least are these pictures of daddy and Madelyn. Last Saturday morning Madelyn woke up earlier than usual. I went in to check on her and see if I could get her to go back to sleep. I was rocking her when we both heard her daddy come out of our bedroom. I heard him sit down at the top of the stairs and knew that he was waiting to see if Madelyn would go back to sleep or if he would get to hold her. Madelyn was looking at me as if to say, "So can I go get daddy or what?" I set her down and she went straight to her daddy who was waiting at the top of the stairs. I was happy that the camera was just a few feet away so I could grab this picture. These two love each other a lot.