A is for August...

Usually January is by far the toughest month for me...what with the cold weather, ice, snow, and the winter blues that usually set in.  
Ever since last year, another month has recently tried to take top honors of the worst month of the year for me and that's August.  
No it's not because it's the beginning of the end of summer.  It's not because it's blazing hot outside everyday.  It's simply because the rows and rows of wonderfully smelling new school supplies are a constant reminder of the job and profession that I love and miss.  
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE being a stay-at-home mom.  And who wouldn't when you get to see this face everyday?

It's that August was always my favorite time of the year when I was teaching.  Most teachers hate setting up their classroom, I LOVE it!  The plastic bins just waiting for my label maker, the smell of a clean room, new floor plans that I've drawn on a sketch pad on ways to "maximize space" and make my room "more efficient"...
I loved getting 3 Really Good Stuff magazines in the mail and dreaming about all the wonderful things I can add to my classroom.   I still get them, but they go straight to the trash...I just can't look at them without getting excited about setting up a classroom I don't have.  
And it's not so much just the setting up of my classroom...it's the anticipation of the new year.  Who's going to be in my class?  What new lesson plans am I going to implement?  How can I teach this standard better?  What challenges am I going to have?  I miss those things.  And now August just seems like another month in the calendar...
I know that as soon as school gets into the swing of things and I see the stress on my teacher friend's faces, and it gets closer to state testing time, it'll be easier not to miss teaching.  But for now, it's hard and I miss it. 
I know I made the right decision and I love spending my days with my little girl.  I am blessed and thankful to be able to be with her each day.  
And to ease the sadness, I sometimes, just sometimes go down the school supply isle, take in the smell of new school supplies, and buy a little, even though we won't need them for 5 more years. 

Weekend Away

A week ago, Jeremy and I went on our first overnight trip without Mady.  We were trying to decide where to go to celebrate our anniversary.  Jeremy wanted me to go to a Bed and Breakfast (because I have never been to one) and this momma didn't want to go very far from her little girl.  So we decided on the Henderson House B&B way out in the middle of nowhere in the small town of Stafford, Kansas.  To make a long story short, the reason we knew about this place is that our realtor who helped us buy our house owns the B&B out there.  
Here are a few pictures of our time together. 

This is the house we stayed at. 

This is the house across the street.  It's gorgeous!

The Old Church in Stafford.  It was really cool inside!  It kind of reminded me of the old church at Tabor.

We went here on Saturday. 

Here is Jeremy bird watching.  I guess Quivira is a known bird watcher's paradise.  We aren't much into looking at birds so we only stayed for a few minutes.

Kansas is DRY!  It was so sad to see fish dead and the swamp area in the preserve completely dried up.

The sign says that it was on a moderate fire danger.  Jeremy and I thought it should be extreme considering how dry it has been!  Jeremy tried to change the sign but it's bolted down...

This is the old train depot in stafford.  We had a great time exploring this and looking in the windows.  I love old buildings like this!

Another picture of the wildlife preserve.  Can you believe there are places like this in Kansas?

We had a great time on our trip!  The best memory that I have and of course didn't take pictures of, is that Jeremy and I drove to Ellinwood.  We took a tunnel tour of the tunnels that run underneath the town.  A wealthy store owner back in the early 1900's preserved part of the tunnels that use to run underneath the town.  We got to see the tunnels exactly as how they were found.  
I'm so glad we took our trip together.  It was nothing fancy but we had a great time together seeing Kansas in ways we ordinarily wouldn't.  

It's been awhile...

since I've blogged and I can't tell you exactly why.  It could be because we've been busy....or that I got behind and then I didn't know exactly where to start and then I freaked out and decided not to start AT ALL for several days...

But...here we are.  I've finally decided to update.  And to ease me back into the routine of regular updates, I won't be talking about our fun trip to a Bed and Breakfast without Mady or how Mady is loving to swim or  that she'll be 8 months in 2 weeks (Yikes!).  Instead I'll just show a few pictures of my sweet girl and you can expect some posts about the previous mentioned topics in a few days:-)

My little reader!  We've been going to the library every other week lately to get new books.  She loves to look at them while she practices sitting up!

Practicing crawling.  We aren't even close to crawling but it helps to strengthen our arms.

We've been working on feeding our self with crackers or cheerios.  The cheerios haven't been successful because they're so small but we sure did love our graham cracker today!  I'm definitely going to have to get use to the mess!

We're a happy girl!  Jeremy and I are truly blessed with such an easy-going happy baby.  She does cry, even though most people don't believe me.  I have video proof:)

Oh yeah...I just remembered why I haven't been blogging....Blogger is making me ANGRY!  I have the hardest time uploading pictures.  Well...it's not the uploading part it's the part that comes when you actually want to put the pictures on the page. It took me about 5 minutes to get these pictures from the uploading screen to the page. I don't know why it won't let me 1/2 the time. Any suggestions?

Sweet Summertime!

Cuddle Time With Dad!

I thought the food was SO good that I wanted to eat the bowl too!

Getting a ride on Daddy's shoulders!

Learning to drink with a sippy cup...we still don't have it mastered.

Practicing sitting up!  (This picture makes her look so grown up!)

Swimming with Daddy.

Having fun in the pool!

7 Months!

Mady is turning into such a BIG girl!  It's hard to believe she is 7 months already!  We had our typical photo shoot but like at 6 months, we just couldn't leave our paper sign out of our mouth!  

Mady has been rolling over in both directions.  We are practicing sitting up but we still don't have the hang out it yet.  

We are currently wearing size 6 month clothing and size 2 diapers.  

We are exploring everything with our mouth.  Eating was going REALLY good until we turned 7 months last week.  It was then that we decided we don't really care much for our formula.  Hmm...  She has been eating all sorts of baby food from meats to fruits.  We are tolerating fruits much better now a days but we still prefer veggies.  

 Mady is such a happy little girl.  She smiles all the time and is making such fun sounds!  We also are so quick to laugh!  Mady is very ticklish especially on her back.  

Mady Girl~ We just love you so much!  You fill our lives everyday with abundant joy!  We are so thankful for you and the blessing God gave us on December 2, 2010.  ~Mom and Dad

7 Month Stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 5 oz (approx. 20%)

Length: Approx. 29 inches (<95%)

YEP!  Tall and Skinny!

 

 

Zoo Fun!

Here are a few pictures from our Zoo Adventure on Monday.

Seeing the baby goats.

This little 1 year old Monkey was hilarious to watch!  He had SO much energy. 

Looking at pretty flowers.

Daddy's Girl!

So sweet!

"My mommy is silly!"

 

4th of July Weekend

I'm a little behind in blogging.  So many things have happened such as Mady turning 7 months, meeting her great-grandpa for the first time, the 4th, zoo trips, and the list goes on and on.  I guess I will just start with our 4th of July weekend and hopefully I'll catch up soon.  

Mady is such a blessed little girl.  Not only does she have both sets of grandparents to love and spoil her, she has several great grandparents that love to do the same.  She has already met my grandmas and grandpa but because Jeremy's grandpa lives in South Dakota, she hadn't met him yet.  It was so much fun seeing them together for the first time!

All of us together on Sunday.

Great Grandpa Olsen meeting Madelyn for the first time!

Playing together!

4 generations

Then on Monday for the 4th, we went to the zoo with Jeremy's parents, uncle and aunt, and of course Great Grandpa.  We had such a fun time!  

 More Zoo Pictures To Come...For Some Reason Blogger is Being Difficult Today....