The Princess & The Potty

The only thing that would make me love this picture any more is if she were really USING the potty! She likes to sit on it & wipe with toilet paper, but so far there has been no success to potty training Madison! She thinks she is doing something, just by sitting there! I'm not sure how to teach her that she's not really accomplishing anything...she is very headstrong & stubborn, so I'm sure when she's good and ready, she'll do it. She is 2 years & 4 months old. Mackenzie was 2 1/2 exactly when she was potty trained, so we still have a few months before I feel like I am behind. Things have been so crazy this summer that I really just haven't had a chance to be very consistent with Madison. Once things calm down & we get back into a routine, I'm sure she will learn. In the meantime, she just likes to take off her diaper & run around the house naked. I am constantly finding her discarded diapers...she likes to be free!

Wishing for Rain...

Well, we are definitely wishing for rain around here...we are in the middle of a pretty bad drought. The temperatures have been in the 100's for about 2 weeks now. Even reaching up to 115 degrees...crazy! That really has nothing to do with these pictures at all, but I just thought it was a cute blog title, and a cute picture, so it worked for me! We were at home for a couple nights by ourselves before Brian got home from Brazil. I tucked the girls in bed with me, and we made it just fine. They slept great...I just kinda tossed and turned. I don't sleep well when Brian is gone. The girls play together more than ever...they entertain each other for hours on end. I just love listening to them! (As long as they aren't fighting, which happens often too!)

Happy Birthday, Bailey & Cole!

We had such a great time at Bailey & Cole's bowling Birthday party! Mackenzie was SO excited about this! All of our kids are growing up way too fast. We drove home from Newcastle Saturday morning, before the party that afternoon. We really missed Daddy...he wasn't home from Brazil yet. When we first got there, Madison wasn't too sure about things. She is very timid in new places, and is very much a Momma's Girl! I wanted her to get in the picture above, with all of the kids, but that was not about to happen. No way was she going to stand 5 steps away from me! She did loosen up after a while, and the real fun began when it was time to bowl. I never dreamed they would have bowling shoes in her size, but they did and they were SO cute! Madison was so proud & happy that she got to be like the big kids and bowl. I took so many pictures of it, because it was just so cute. Collin was her bowling partner. He would help her with her ball & they would push it down the ramp together. Madison didn't even watch to see if she knocked down any pins most of the time. She was too excited to go give everyone high fives! The funny thing is that she beat everyone on her lane! (Yes, probably because she had bumpers & used the ramp...but still, she has natural talent!) After bowling, we played some arcade games, and then headed home. It was a ton of fun, but I was exhausted by the time it was over! Is this picture of the girls cute, or what?! These cousins really love each other.

Happy 6th Birthday, Cole! Happy 7th Birthday, BaileyYes, there are like 10 pictures of Madison in her bowling shoes...it really could not be helped. It was the cutest thing ever!I think what made it so cute is that she was so happy & excited about it! She just kept looking at them!I couldn't help but think about how much Grandma Jean would have loved this! She and Poppa Jim bowled for a lot of years. I have many, many memories of going to the bowling alley with them and playing Pac-Man for hours on end as a little girl. I called Poppa as soon as we left the bowling alley to tell him about it. He loved it too!100% CUTENESSCollin was such a wonderful helper!Such cute pictures of Madison with Grandpa Baldwin! I SOOO wish Brian would have been here to see Madi bowl for the first time. Mackenzie could have bowled on her own, without the ramp, but she didn't like the loud noise the ball made when it hit the floor... Bailey & Mackenzie were pretty much inseperable the whole time.
Bailey liked helping Mackenzie bowl!Here they go... Love the expressions....watching to see how many pins they knocked down......and the celebrations...they must have knocked some down! Ha,ha,ha!The final scoreboard...Madison blew everyone away! =0)

Playing With Pa

Pa is such a good sport! He lets the girls pretty much do anything they want to him! And they obviously have so much fun doing it. During our visit while Brian was in Brazil, Dad felt so good. He even babysat the girls one day while Mom and I went shopping. Madison slept most of the time, but he and Mack watched a movie & colored a bunch. When we came home, they were all three in the bedroom floor playing dollhouse. One night at bedtime, Madison was yelling "PA!" over and over from her bed, because she just knew he would come rescue her. (He didn't, because I said not to, but he would have if I would've let him!) Mackenzie LOVES playing with G-Ma's jewelry. A lot of it was G.G.'s and I know she would love it that the girls play with it. We rented a lot of movies during this trip. The girls watched their movies in Pa & G-Ma's room, and we watched Harry Potter in the living room. Dad had never seen any of them, so we decided to have a "Harry Potter Marathon!" It was a lot of fun! We made it through all 7 movies before the week was over. This was our longest trip of the summer. We were there for 9 nights. That seems like such a long time, but it always goes by so quickly. We didn't spend hardly any time outside because it was so hot...in the 100's every day. I will be glad when Fall gets here, just so it will cool off a little! We went over to Jimmy & Sara's house to celebrate Sara's birthday on Monday night. That is something Mackenzie will probably remember for a long time, because they let her wade around in thier pond and stream in the backyard. She LOVED it! I'm just glad she didn't fall in completely. Also on Monday, we went down to Anadarko to put flowers on Grandma Jean's grave. It is hard to believe she has been gone 4 years now. I still miss her so much & I think the thing that hurts the most is how much she would ADORE & LOVE the girls. Again, I was just reminded that we should make the most of every moment we are given, and thank God for the good things in our life!
That's a lap full of love, right there! The girls made a "train" and packed lots of things to take on their "trip." Oh, to have the imagination of a child!This is a blurry picture that I took with my phone, but I love it anyway.

Sweet Smiles & Short Hair

It has been SOOOO hot that I decided to get my hair cut short, for a change. On this day, the girls and I had lunch with my good friend, Kelley & her daughter Lauren at McDonald's. Then, we came back to the house to hang out. We did a lot of relaxing, watching movies, and coloring & playing during this trip to Newcastle. I had my camera out in the bedroom, and we just started playing & taking silly pictures. I love these pictures, because both of the girls were so happy & thought it was so fun to take pictures & then look at themselves! I am so blessed to be their Momma! I love my precious girls SO much!Our silly faces! This picture really makes me laugh!My baby surely cannot be almost 5 years old...I love watching her grow up, but I am so sad that it is going by so fast.Mack's LOOOOONG hair & my SHOOOOORT hair! I have never had my hair this short...yikes!

"Po-E's!!!"

I don't know what the deal was, but during our last visit to Pa & G-Ma's house, there were Roly Poly's EVERYWHERE...inside & out! One morning, it was actually cool enough to sit outside (at like, 8:00 a.m.) and the girls had a blast finding "Po-e's!" Every time Madison would see one, she would get all excited and say "PO-E!" and take off running for it. The poor little things never knew what hit them! The girls literally filled up the bottom of this pitcher completely with roly poly's...ewww! A few times, Madison found ants & she would step on them. It was so funny! This was such a great morning, sitting on the front porch with Pa & G-Ma. They enjoy the girls so much! Pa tried to convince Mackenzie that we should go in and have Poly's for breakfast...she just shakes her head at him and says, "Paaaaa!" because she knows he is teasing her! One time, she told me, "Mommy, Pa is getting on my last nerd!" (nerve) These are good times, for sure.Her little fingers were just the right size for scooping up those Poly's!Love this expression! She was showing me how many "Po-E's" she had found! It was just very, very exciting!