this sunday

does this mean i was on the right path today? i had one of those awfully difficult days when having kids all seems a little bit too hard. we went off to church as usual and joseph started to yell when they passed the sacrament and did not stop. eventually i took him out as it got louder and louder, but as he wouldn't calm down, i missed the rest of the meeting. and sunday school because he went ballistic when he realised i had left him in nursery and all but the last 20 minutes of relief society when doug took over. sigh. the bit i did get was amazing though, i can't wait to have some time to myself and read through the lesson (it was chapter 3 of the teachings of the president: howard w. hunter manual, adversity- part of god's plan for our eternal progress) i am so glad for sundays. even when it seems hard... it's the best place to be, because everything i hear, seems to be what i need to hear.

and look at these kids! seriously. who could be angry for more than 20 minutes anyway... they are even prettier when they are asleep hahahaha.

someone asked me last week why i take a photo of my children every sunday... it started because dougs parents and my brothers all lived so far away, then mum and dad went on their mission, then dominique went on hers and kept asking me to send photos of the kids and it just kept going... it's so fun to look back on the pics of them all dressed up though. one thing is for sure, we will never be lacking photos of these kids, not with how snap happy their mother is!

happy sunday my friends! xx

sunday love

she is a big four year old now... and although i never need an excuse to take more photos on a sunday, that was as good a one as any. presenting miss madeline kendall, a princess with her castle. how i hope she sees it as that as she continues to learn and grow.

and this barrel of energy? priceless. not a day goes by when he doesn't make me laugh. i mean seriously, look at those facial expressions. he is just the sweetest.

but this photo truly took the cake... the look of absolute disgust on joseph's face, that only a younger sibling can wear when being assisted by their older sibling. i can't stop laughing every time i see it.

the sweetest kids in the world... and they are all mine. ♥

hanging with the milne girls

i am so happy to be seeing madeline and doug late tomorrow night... but i am so sad to be leaving queensland for the last time in i don't know how long, especially when i have seen these three kids absolutely loving every minute they have spent together.

the girls have made joseph laugh and laugh and have played and chatted and loved it all. and i have loved watching it. if only we lived closer, i am sure our children would be the best of friends. but for now, as we say goodbye again, it's simply, til we meet again.

we love you milne family!

a long week

it's going to be a long week. 

we are house bound and can't go anywhere (which i will explain later) - and i am certainly learning patience at the hands of my children. 

patience and deep breaths. there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

reindeer noses

i spent one night this week making a special gift for my primary children to give to them all after singing time on christmas sunday (what my family has always referred to the closest sunday before christmas as)

i have seen the idea of reindeer noses on pinterest quite a few times and loved it... so wanted to make my own. i hunted around a little and found this gorgeous free template over at overthebigmoon.com (thankyouthankyouthankyou!!) which was exactly what i had in mind (i love it when you find exactly what you are after!) so had them colour printed at officeworks on some light card, popped 8 malteasers and a jaffa (for rudolph of course) into a cute little polka dot bag and got to work with a stapler. 

i could not have been any happier with the final product and i am sure the kids are going to love them! cheap and cute, can't beat that!

primary presentation 2014

(theme photo courtesy of latterdaychatter.blogspot.com)

a big sigh of relief, our primary presentation "families are forever" is over. phew. all the hard work that our kids have put in over the last year has come to this... and they were amazing! i am not just saying that... they really did put in a lot of effort and this big fat softie looked at them during one of the songs and got completely overwhelmed and emotional... and had to hold back the tears (which of course set off another one of the leaders...) i can't help it, i just love them all so much.

it was especially amazing to hear the two "music leader choice" songs that i picked myself "the things jesus asks of me" which you can buy here and "teach me about the temple" which you can get here. they are such beautiful songs and i am so grateful for people who spend their time writing music for us to sing praises to our father in heaven. there are very few things sweeter than hearing children sing. 

i am feeling so inspired now and couldn't wait to get into next years music and see what we'll be doing... one of the pick your own song themes is "jesus christ is the son of god, and he is a god of miracles" i did a bit of hunting and came across a song called "the miracle" by shawna edwards - which i have purchased for our primary to sing. it is amazing. i listened to it once and can't get it out of my head... go and have a listen here. i am so excited to teach it to them. i can't wait to get into the new music! :) bring on 2015!

dragons are frightened of princesses

i thought it was about time i updated you all about our little madeline. what a bombshell. she certainly lives up to the feisty redhead reputation. she is sassy and likes to now everything that's going on, no secrets allowed. what are you doing mum? where are you going? she is bossy as, and loves to tell us all what to do... or maybe she just knows she's always right (yeah, right.) she's always organising everything exactly how she likes it and heaven forbid you touch or move a thing from where she put it. she adores playing "shopping" and will move around the house putting random things in her little bags or pram loading them up until things fall out, then bringing them to me and pulling them out one by one to show me what she has. she loves to play with her dolls and make them chat to each other, she loves to play baby (mostly when she is tired, it's a dead giveaway haha) and she loves her baby brother. she is always chatting to him, passing him things, patting him and just generally loving him. she is obsessed with kinder eggs and sometimes is so excited to open them that she forgets to eat the chocolate haha.

she still loves the disney princesses and always tells me all about them as she moves them around her castle, she has even learned the names of their boyfriends and talks about them being married. haha. i think i'd be safe saying her current favourite is aurora from sleeping beauty, she always chooses her from the bandaid tin (i buy a few different kinds of character bandaids and let her choose according to her mood) although this week she chose one of the fingers she sucks on and had to lose the bandaid after a few minutes. i found it discarded with her toys. we saw mulan for the first time this month and she has added her to her endless stories, not that i blame her... i loved her too, what a hero. she also loves hello kitty after my friend started the craze buying her a "blind bag" and we now have the whole set. they are very cute! she wants to show every single person that comes to our house, "my bedroom that mummy made for me" thank goodness she likes it.

madeline still loves nursery and tried to tell me the other day that she couldn't wear the dress i had chosen to church because "sister currie won't like it" (side note, sister currie did like it) she has some lovely leaders and there are some sweet children in there with her. she has made firm friends with leigh and leiara, our friends daughters and spends all day telling me that she is going to their house to play with them and jump on the trampoline. 

she is still quite petite and wears size 2 without any problems, we are definitely not ready for all 3's just yet, although we've moved into some just for length. she still doesn't have much hair and i look enviously at all our friends girls, waiting for her hair to grow. she is a sweet smiley girl, who wants to befriend everyone she meets.

we had a few issues with bedtime as madeline was a little afraid of the dark - i heard a few things that could be hiding in her room including lions and dragons... i suggested she wear her crown to bed because dragons are frightened of princesses. she went off to sleep and was quite happy, then the following night i checked on her again and there she was fast asleep with it on, she'd climbed out of bed and gotten her crown to wear. we now of course have to wear it every night, fine by me... at least she feels safe.

she is still as funny as ever, every ready with a cheeky grin - and we love her for it. i can't imagine life without her sassiness.

choose to be grateful

it's sunday and i am ever so grateful. it is by far my favourite day of the week. getting to go to church and feel the sweet spirit there with my little family, is far better than anything else in life.

i love to see how happy these two are at church... and how excited madeline is everytime we drive there. she sits in the back seat keeping an eye out for moroni on top of the temple and joyfully exclaims, "there he is!" as she sees him. i love that she is growing up with a love for the gospel in her heart - and the chance to know the temple so well, as it's in the back lot of our chapel! how blessed we are.

it's sunday, and i choose to be grateful. 

no matter what.

gidgegannup show

we had a family fun day today at the gidgegannup show! gidgegannup is a small town about 45 mins from perth, heading towards toodyay. each year they have a small agricultural show, we went last year and decided to go again this time. jen and her mum had a stall for their ma & me shop, which was super cute, they sold lots of their cute handmade things, including 6 pairs of earrings to me!

joseph was happy to be in his car seat and heading off somewhere - and maddie was so excited to know there would be stalls and animals and rides and aunty jen!

she insisted on wearing my sunglasses in the car and chatted away to us all the way there about everything she was going to do. she is so funny!

madeline had a turn on one of the kiddy rides, "the lost temple" which was a big bouncy castle with egyptian style themes throughout and a large inflated slide. unfortunately she didn't work out the slide until their turn was almost up, but she got to go down it twice much to her glee.

she is a huge fan of the emperors new groove, the disney movie about the emperor that gets turned into a llama and his adventures that follow... so she was so excited to see these llamas (um they're actually alpacas maddie...) and watch them sauntering about in their enclosure. they are the cutest animals!

we also took advantage of the free face painting on offer and madeline had her face done as a fairy. we had the most hilarious conversation in the bathroom a few minutes later... "mum i can't go to the toilet, because fairies don't wee." "well what do they do then? how do they get rid of the water they drink? do they fling it off their wings into the garden and it becomes dew in the mornings?" big sigh and no further comments from madeline, she just looked at me like i was stupid as she flushed. oh she's hysterical, a threenager alright.

i love family days, they are the best! ♥

our boy is eight months

this baby has a killer smile. he obviously doesn't have much to be unhappy about, because we see it most of the day. if he's hungry or tired would be the main reason it disappears for a little while. but it'll always be back with that deep giggle i love so much.

i feel like so much has changed with joseph since we got back from samoa and he's suddenly grown up so very much. he is sitting up unassisted now (he still can't get himself into a sitting position unassisted but can balance and stay up on his own...) and can raise yourself up if someone leaves you propped up on something like a pillow. he's also starting to burp without help sometimes (after all the drama we had with colic for so long, this makes me happier than i could ever explain here...)

this month, j started reaching up for me to pick him up when i held my arms out. this is my favourite thing. nothing makes me happier as a mum than to know that he wants me. if i am gone from the room for too long, he will start to cry and call me "mummmma, mummmm" he still isn't saying any other words, but there is plenty of time for that, madeline talks enough for 6 kids anyway. yes i know what you are thinking, and i am sure she gets it from me.

he will reach for toys that are around him, like the football below (tell you what, that picture made daddy very happy) and is very careful when he picks them up with a look of great concentration. he also will get up ajd rock back and forwards on his hands and knees, but isn't ready to crawl just yet. it can't be far away though. he's fallen onto his face a few times when he's moved his hands, but has recovered quickly with a cuddle or two - or ten. ♥

joseph has his own room now that aunty has moved back to queensland (room tours to come, stay tuned...) and has taken beautifully to sleeping in his cot, probably because there was no room left in his bassinet - he's a tank! he's loving his solids... (not so much in samoa, he spent most of his time with heat rash and teething and i had to clean up a lotttt of puke) and has tried lots of mashed fruit and vegetables as well as some chopped fruit pieces to grab more recently. he loves his rusk sticks too and gnaws down on them. nom nom nom.

he's our baby boy and he's growing up far too quickly, but he is enchanting us and everyone around him as he does.

why you shouldn't travel with children

there a million reasons why you shouldn't travel with children. we got home today after 18 days away and i am very ready to tell you a few of them.

1. so much luggage. 3 suitcases, 2 car seats, a pram, a cot, and a carry on each. i am sure you can imagine that there was even more on the way home... 

2. they can't sit still. 6 hour flights? somebody shoot me

3. they can't be quiet. i told madeline i had changed my name and wasn't going to be mummy anymore, so then i had to hear why? why? why? instead

4. everywhere you go, you have to take a bag. a big one. nappies, wipes, toys, water, change of clothes... to start with

5. they don't want to sleep. ever. if they fall asleep for a minute, they might miss something important.

6. they never want to eat anything you put in front of them. "i don't like that."

7. they won't go to anyone but you. "i don't want you. i don't like you. i want my mummmm!" luckily nanna has 4 children and 7 other grandchildren and wasn't offended

8. you can't do all the fun stuff. no mountain climbing, no volcanic crater exploring, so sliding rocks... but let's play in the playground... yay.

9. they can't keep their clothes clean. insert washing every day of our holiday here.

10. they get sick. joseph cut a tooth the first day we were gone, vomited all except for maybe one day, both kids got heat rash and madeline had a fever.

but...

1. they are the cutest

2. the sweetest

3. the cuddliest

4. the best

5. i can't deal with being away from them for more than an hour

6. their smiles make me smile

7. their laughs make me overjoyed

8. when they are asleep in my arms i forget every single thing about them that ever annoyed me

9. i love their little clothes and shoes and feet and toes and hands and faces and everything

10. it would not have been even the littlest bit of fun without them. i wouldn't have even considered leaving them behind. i love my babies and i can't live without them.

but anyone that's ever traveled with children will read this, laugh and say - yep. that's exactly why. why you shouldn't travel with children.

besties...

these kids are besties, no doubt. i frequently find maddie 10cms away from wherever i have left joseph chatting away to him, passing him toys, smiling at him and giggling away, which he now does back. she is obsessed with making him laugh, which makes my heart so, so happy. 

when he was smaller she would always take his dummy away so she could lay next to him and get close to him. it would be so hard to get her away from him. she still loves to have him close and will always check his bed a million times when she is waiting for him to wake up, cause "he wants to play with me!" she also reminds me over and over that he's crying when i can't rush straight to him. thanks love, i have my own ears...

i really hope they remain close as they make each other so happy.

i saw this beautiful frame necklace for sale online at the lovely bird (a gorgeous store on the sunshine coast in queensland - can't wait to check it out when we are over for a few days on our way back from samoa next month) and snapped it up with the thoughts of putting a pic of my babies in it. i could not have wished for a better picture and i am stoked to be able to wear them close to my heart.

i love them both - and am so glad they love each other. ♥

i'm just a mother

being the primary music leader i don't often get to go to relief society at all, but today i obviously arrived at the perfect time, and got so much out of the lesson! the lesson was about the blessings of motherhood and sometimes it's something we need to hear. 

the sister giving the lesson read from a book called "i am a mother" by jane clayson johnson (which you can buy here... but she so kindly loaned to me to read.) johnson tells of how she had a promising career in television and was watched by millions each day in her job as an anchor on a major network, but gave it up after following a prompting to do so, to be a mother. she met many "you must be crazy's" and even a little ridicule from co-workers, who assured her she would never again be given the opportunity she had. but it didn't matter, motherhood is an opportunity not given to all, which also must be taken when you have the chance.

she attended a function with her husband on one occasion and was asked, along with the other couples attending to introduce herself. she recalls listening as each woman got up beside their husband, and offered a little about themselves, most saying almost apologetically, "oh, i'm just a mother" "my life isn't very exciting right now, i'm just raising our children" or something of the likes. even before the excerpt from the book was finished i already knew what was wrong. there is no such thing as just a mother.

i have been guilty of that myself, when asked, i often tell people i am on maternity leave from my position in the funeral home where i have worked for almost the last ten years and i am trying to decide if i will return to work. or i simply say, i am a funeral director. never, "i am a mother." there's certainly no shame in being a mother and i know that, but it seems to be the way of the world to not want to be "just" that. i right then and there made a mental note to tell the next person who asked, "i am a mother."

there have been many times when i have asked young children what they want to be when they grow up. most tell of something outrageous... i think last time i asked my daughter madeline, she wanted to be a princess, the time before, an ice dancer, (we had just been to disney on ice, mind you) and the time before that a doctor (i am fairly certain we were playing with a doctors kit that day.) but every time i have asked my niece grace (by name and nature...) she has always answered that she wants to be a mother. even before i had children, i knew this was the most beautiful answer. i remember the day her father laid his hands upon her head to give her a blessing and told her she would one day be a mother. it was such a simple, but beautiful promise for her.

not all women are mothers directly to children they have grown in their womb or given birth to. we know of the blessings of adoption, of fostering... and for those not blessed with children, of being an example to nieces and nephews, young cousins and the children of other family members and close friends. it has often been said that "it takes a village to raise a child" and i must admit, with the love and support shown within the confines of the gospel, i think it often takes a ward to raise a child.  

being blessed with two children of my own, i have never felt the pain of not being blessed with children, that i know is only too real for so many women. i admire those who have not been blessed with children that do not allow it to consume them. that do not allow it to make them bitter, as i do not know if i could be so strong. i am thankful for those who have that to bear, yet show kindness and love to the children of others amongst that pain. 

i know some days i find myself muttering under my breath when my children are being difficult. some days i even find myself wishing they weren't there, only to feel terribly guilty two minutes later because i can't even imagine life without them. but being a mum isn't always easy. sometimes it's horrid. no one tells you about how hard it will be. it's not always smiles and laughter and pretty clothes. sometimes it's being awake all night, cleaning up after sickness, hearing your name being called 5000000000000 times (i don't even know if that's enough zeros) in one day, tantrums, mess, jealousy and many other things. but like any mother, i'll take them all, for even 5 minutes of my babies in my lap sleeping, laughing or just being with me.

i am a mother. it's hard. but it's worth it.

my mother's day...

this year brought my first mothers day with two kids. me. i have two kids. and i haven't killed or seriously injured either one of them yet, i guess that brings a cause for celebration, i'm actually doing okay at this whole mum thing! i have always wondered about these people who say that their kids are their whole life... i love my children and wouldn't give them up for anything in the world, but they are certainly not my whole life. i am a realistic mother (i think...) i love to look at them, spend time with them, be around them, cuddle them, play with them, read to them, sing to them, laugh with them... but i am many other things besides a mum. (i am a wife too and my husband deserves a lot of my time and attention too, after all without him i wouldn't have children would i?)  being a mum takes up more than my time than anything else though, so i am glad they give us mums a day to celebrate...

i got some lovely chocolates (lindt raspberries and cream - if you haven't tried them you need to... run, don't walk - they might sell out - to me - in the meantime!) new pyjamas, with babushkas on the pants - wayyyy cute, and a bunch of irises, my absolute favourite flowers and the only ones i really enjoy having in the house. they are so lovely, my husband knows well what ones i like. good boy.

and these two babes gave me kisses and cuddles all the day long... poor joseph doesn't have a choice, he is exclusively breastfed, so he is in my arms most of the day and i just kept smooching him, and for once maddie was very obliging. she made me a card in her nursery class at church and then got mad because i wanted to keep it. so funny. i love the way little minds think (most of the time...!) 

sometimes i get sick of hearing mummy mummy mummymummymummy all day long and sometimes i want to hide under the sheets for the day, but these little people are the light of my life and sometimes when i see them sleeping i have an overwhelming desire to wake them up for cuddles. then i remember what a dumb thing that would be to do and keep cleaning the house, or cooking, or blogging, or doing washing in the very short time i will have to myself. haha. i remember reading once online just before maddie was born, a short quote which said, "sleep when the baby sleeps? oh shall i cook and clean when he does too?" classic.

i am so grateful to them both for making me a mum and for just being mine. i know that there is no greater role in this life for a woman than motherhood and i wouldn't change it for a thing. sure i'd like to pee in peace every now and then, but i hear that they move out when they're 20 or so, so i'll just keep looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel.

happy mothers day to all the crazy mums like me out there!!

i don't want to be a mum

i remember just before madeline was born, a lady in our ward told me that if i didn't ever have a day when i wanted to throw my baby out the window, that i wasn't doing it right. being a mother of four children herself, i was more than happy to take her advice, especially seeing as she has her head on right and her kids are lovely and well mannered. i know what she meant by it anyway... that every mum has bad days... and this week i've had a lot of them.

i can honestly say that this week i have thought more than once that i don't want to be a mother... i am trying to toilet train madeline and it's not going well. i know that the best possible way to do it is to let them run in undies and when they have accidents that they'll learn to run for the toilet. so we bought some peppa undies for the little miss and gave it a go. she does not want to use the toilet and i am getting so frustrated. she knows when she needs to pee, i know that for sure, cause it's when she comes to me and asks for her nappy. she has peed once on the toilet, when she had asked me for her nappy so many times that i sat her on there and just wouldn't leave. she cried and cried and begged for one the other day to the point where i cried too, then the poor love peed on the floor right in front of me and then cried some more. then she held it for the rest of the day. sigh. she also keeps telling me that she has a sore tummy (obviously because she needs to poo) but waits until we put a nappy on her for bed and then goes. she has asked me a few times to go to bed at 6:30 and once as early as 5, so it wasn't hard to work out why. i guess it's all about perseverance and i'll just have to keep trying. 

then we have joseph who kept not burping and eventually vomiting up all his milk after i'd fed him. this went on and on and on, until i finally went to the chemist, where they told me he must be colicy, gave me two different medicines for him and thankfully it's helped... cause i was over the vom like i can't even tell you. hopefully they'll continue to settle his tummy.

i know i am lucky. i know it. i have two beautiful children, some people don't even have one and yearn for them. my children are healthy - and most days things are great. not perfect, but great. but just so people don't think that i have it all sorted... i felt like i needed to write this. i don't have it all together. i may never have it all together. but i am trying. heaven knows i am trying. and i'll keep trying until i do. 

but this week i don't want to be a mum. i honestly would love to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head and sleep for more than three hours at a time. thinking of my teenage years when i could sleep until lunchtime make my mouth water... but seeing as i love my babies and was willing to give all that up for them, i guess it's back to work. ♥

it's coronation day!

it's coronation day!

the king has arrived!

jonas stanley goodlet arrived this morning at 9:11am in london, england to my very proud brother aaron and his beautiful wife katja, weighing 2735g (6lb even for those of you who don't speak metric...)

what a beautiful baby... we are so excited that he is here and maddie is loving looking at photos of her baby cousin and telling us about jonassss, my cousin! hearing her say names is hilarious (we are still stuck on jofiss...) but she can say jonas perfectly!

the little sweetheart eventually had to arrive via c-section so he is lovely and perfect and not at all squished like some babies are... i am completely and utterly smitten already. proud aunty here.

my big brother with his bundle of joy, i have never in my life seen a smile like that on him! this picture makes me so, so happy.

and here she is! my gorgeous sister in law, who aaron reports handled the whole thing like a queen, with her fresh out of the oven baby boy. i am so proud of her, what a legend... and what a ridiculously good looking child. coming from those parents, there is pretty much no chance he could possibly not be! most genetically blessed child i know, he may as well be a celebrity! haha.

and one more of the boys. so excited. especially for joseph to have a cousin that's exactly the same age as him. i can hardly wait for a facetime date to see his gorgeous little face. welcome to the world baby jonas!

maddie is two and a half!

this sassy little girl is two and a half today! i can barely believe it, especially being as i will have two children in just over a month! such a crazy realisation. lucky maddie is so cute... hopefully the next one will be too. aunty niques took this picture of her recently, and i love the attitude in it, it's so well captured, i almost feel as though it should be blown up and put on a wall somewhere. 

i've often had people say to me that children need to be in daycare for at least one day a week so they get the necessary interaction with other children - if i may, i respectfully disagree... our church offers a nursery class (most of you may know this as a creche) for two hours every sunday and it has been so wonderful for little miss maddie. she has plenty of interaction with other kids her own age, playing, singing and dancing... 

she has such a little personality and i love to watch her dancing around the house, "look mummy, i ballerina!" hear her singing her favourite songs, her current favourite is the song from tangled "and at last i see the loight... and it's loike the sky has lifted...." repeat a million times - katy perry's eye of the tiger "oive got the oiye of the toiger, the foighter..." and her newest effort at a primary song, "mummy i love you, mummy i doooo, father in heaven has sent me to yooooou. when i am near you, i love to hear you, singing so softly that yooooou love me too! mummy i love you, i love you, i dooooo!" so super cute! i love also to hear her throwing anything she is currently thinking of into the song to convince me that she needs it. popcorn i love you, popcorn i dooooo. 'punzel i love you, 'punzel i dooooo... and so on. 

how cute is she when she's sleeping? we have a new before bed ritual... 

she suddenly adores telling stories, and rattles off the most hilarious things without even thinking... "once upon a time... there was a biiiiig dragon! carrots, something something, thank you tayla, yourrrrre welcome! queen, in a castle... yadda yadda yadda and so on... thhhhhhe end!" once when she said that there was a big dragon i gasped and said, "a dragon? i'm scared!" to which she rushed to my side, patted my arm and said, "don't worry mummy - i'm scared too!" oh well, at least i have a two year old to comfort me, defend me and rush to my aid! haha. i feel completely safe now. :)

as you have seen from previous posts, she has a love hate relationship with water. but asks at the most random times if we can "go to the pool mummy?" ummmm sure, cause there's one conveniently located nearby. nottt.

she also thankfully adores wearing "pretty dresses!" and loves to smile sweetly for pictures, although annoyingly enough, hates to stay still. she also is suddenly obsessed with hair clips and bowwws and always wants one in her hair. yay! score for mummy! i got what every girl wants, a girly little girl! 

the newest bow in madeline's collection 

we have been telling madeline for months that there is a baby arriving soon, and she has been especially attentive in the last few months to her "baby" a baby doll that she has had for quite some time... she carries it around and cuddles it non stop, which is lovely for us to see. hopefully she will be as attentive when the baby arrives in the next few weeks. fingers crossed! 

there are few things i love more than having this little girl snuggle in my bed. she is so sweet and to be totally honest, i wish i could convince her to more often, but she is becoming far too independent too quickly, sob! 

lovely aunty donna bought this adorable "bummmmblebeee" outfit for maddie and she was delighted beyond compare when i let her wear it for an entire day... now she wants to wear it everyday, every when it's in the wash. so sweet.

she is growing up so fast, faster than i could ever imagine, right before our very eyes and there seems to be nothing i can do to stop it, or even slow it down. i guess i'll have to be content with enjoying this little miss while i can. we have been a few places lately and had random strangers ask how old she is and then compliment us on how well she speaks and how many words she knows, so i guess we must be doing something right. 

she is a little doll and i feel so lucky, every single day, that she is mine!