I can't believe I haven't posted pics of Matt's garden yet.. I'm really excited this year. We have a few new things and it looks like it's going to be a big success.. last year the pumpkins never panned out but this year Matt tried zucchini and broccoli (or brocky at Maddie calls it) and both are growing big and strong. My mom said she hasn't even been able to plant anything in WI yet, and we're already enjoying sweet peas.. just another great reason to pay a boatload of money to live in sunny CA! :)
Brocky
Zucchini
Carrots and Anaheim Peppers
Sweet Peas
I'll update with more photos as things progress.. the tomatoes look big and strong.. cucumbers I'm not so sure about, but hopefully Matt will keep talking nice to them and we'll be eating good this year.. I love eating from the backyard..
Reason number 203 to have a garden: you get take your kid outside after dinner and proudly show her what you've done and where her food actually comes from.
Yesterday my MOMS Club held their annual Mother's Tea/Fundraiser... yours truly was the auctioneer for the live auction! I had a blast and so did all the other ladies.... and we raised $1,300!!! Not bad for a bunch of stay at home moms! We had approx 13 items for the auction and like 30 raffles... I bid on and won two months at Gymboree (on top of the one month that we won in April at the 5k run so we now have classes throughout the summer). I also won a $40 bottle of wine, a mini-facial, a month at a local gym, and the title of "funniest auctioneer ever"!
We also discovered who our mystery moms were at the Tea... and I can't believe this but I received another gift!! My mystery mom really outdid herself... thank you so much Heidi!!
Here's what came one evening the week before Mother's Day.
This biscotti was soooo good and I'm really sad to say, I ate most of them by myself.. ugh! She also included thee cutest apron for Maddie! I can't wait for Miss Maddie to help me in the kitchen. What great memories we'll create, and daddy will be happy with all the chocolate chip cookies.
This is what she gave me at the tea...
seriously Heidi.. $20 was our gift limit. :) I told her I felt like I had a new boyfriend that was courting me.. flowers, chocolate, Oprah, and now coffee and a journal! She rocks and apparently she knows me really well.
Maddie teaching her baby how to drive
So cute until she decided to eat her face! :)
A gift for Ms. Bonnie. Maddie and I have enjoyed our Horizon Hills Parenting class so much. We joined back in December and have really made some great friends and I learned allot about personalities, playing, and growing (both of us!). We wanted to show her teacher how much we appreciated her and I found a really cute idea online. I was so proud of my work and showed Matt.. he didn't think it much looked like a "B"... 10 minutes later, I realized her was indeed correct and I did it over... MUCH Better! Thanks Lovie!
BEFORE (along with a homemade card)
AFTER (much better!) It's allot harder to make a letter out of crayons than I thought.
I LOVE being a mommy! What a lucky person I am to be Maddie's mommy.
Many days I find myself second guessing decisions and wondering if I'm doing the very best for Maddie. I have a new found respect for my own mom as I realize what a hard job being a good mommy really is. Wheat bread vs white bread, not such a tough decision, but handling tantrums, and "unreasonable" outburts (and aren't they all?! - hee hee) certainly can make for a long day. Soooo when we have day like today, despite no nap, Maddie was shining as the star of the party, it makes all those tears and boogies so worth it. I'm truly impressed with the little girl she's becoming and it seems to be happening so very fast! She's 18 months already, yikes!
I'm glad to have a day like today to reflect on my new life as a mommy and realize my best IS what's best for Maddie. She's such a joy to have and I can't even begin to express the amount of love I have for her. Hopefully one day when she's a mommy she'll realize what I see now. There is no stronger love than between a parent and child. Makes me miss my mom even more. I love you mom!
I received an amazing gift this morning... a HD digital video camera that is sure to survive a one foot toilet drop, some drool, and most anything else a toddler could think to do with it. It's water proof and built for rugged handling. It's a Kodak Playsport and takes pretty good quality videos and still photos (still working on figuring out all the settings though). The best part is it's as small as a cell phone so hopefully I can catch Maddie being her cute self without being caught.. once she sees a camera of any sort, she wants to see photos and video of herself and doesn't care that she's the star of any new videos. One of those new mommy skills is heading off crying fits before they start.. not by giving in but by distracting as best as possible.
Anyhoo, I may not know how to send or receive a text message, but now I can record our lives in HD! :)
We were invited to brunch at Auntie Pam and Alyx's house and Maddie quickly became the bell of the ball as Pam's family fawned over her every quirky smile and word. She was LOVING it! She especially loved seeing her buddy Cobie, their dog. She was quite a funny girl showing them how very smart she is and learning new tricks like the fist bump and perfecting her high five.
She didn't get a nap today and that really started to show just before dinner time, but she did so well for the couple of hours we were there and best of all, she was so busy with everyone else's attention, mommy got a break. :)
Happy Mother's Day (Daddy)!
Yesterday at a Cinco de Mayo party, Crista was telling another friend that Maddie could count to ten.. Yeh right! I laughed at her, until she showed us.. I still can't believe it. Thank you Elmo for teaching her. Elmo is a good mommy too! :)
Now I can't stop asking her to do it! :)
Some more dinner fun.. I call this one "chicken".
We've only sang the ABC's a few times but she catches on fast.. listen closely.
Happy Mother's Day to all my Mommy friends and family!
