Dancing Queen

Madelynne started dance in the middle of January and it is so adorable to hear her going around the house saying "plie, plie". We have our own little dancing queen!

MLK Day

In Cleveland on Martin Luther King Day several of the local museums will have free admission for the day. We decided to take advantage of the offer and go to the Natural History Museum. Madelynne especially liked seeing the animals, but didn't care so much for the dinosaur bones. They scared her. Afterwards, we went to our favorite bakery in Little Italy, Presti's, to see if they had any Peanut Butter Brownies (they are to die for!). Unfortunately, for the second visit in a row they were all out! Good thing the brownies are so good-licious or we might write them off...no we couldn't do that we love it there too much!!!

Hosting Lunch Bunch

I hosted lunch bunch in January. Lunch was a simple affair of Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Raspberry Streusel Muffins and Apple Cake for dessert. The table setting was a classic black and white with silver.

Candyland

At the beginning of January we went to the life-size Candyland at Penitentiary Glen. Madelynne loved it. At the end of the game there is a gingerbread playhouse that has a slide. This was Madelynne's favorite part.




Before we went inside to the Candyland exhibit we walked around outside and visited the birds. It was so cold the falcon was trying to hide it's head in his wings.
















Madelynne making her own gingerbread man to take home.

Growing Up

Madelynne and Jackson both had check-ups in December. Here are the stats:


Madelynne at age 3:
Weight: 32 lbs. 50th percentile
Height: 39 inches 95th percentile


Jackson at four months:
Weight: 15 lbs 13 oz 75th percentile
Height: 25 3/4 inches 90th percentile
Head circumference: 16 5/8 50th percentile

A Very Merry Christmas

We celebrated Christmas at home this year with our little family of four. After opening presents we enjoyed yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Yes, the picture is an actual sample of the goodness of Christmas morning!


Santa's little helper. All tuckered out from a busy first Christmas!



We enjoyed sharing Christmas dinner with our friends Tom and Melissa. When you don't get to spend Christmas with your extended family it is nice to share it with your friends; your chosen family. I cooked a turkey and we had all the trimmings to go along with it: mashed potatoes, stuffing, salad and rolls. Yum! This is the first turkey I have ever cooked for Matt. Every other occasion that calls for cooking a turkey we have actually spent with family and someone else cooked the turkey. I can't believe I got away with not making a turkey for seven and a half years!

The Winners Are...

We held the drawing for the snowman ornaments and are pleased to announce the following winners:

Adrianne from Kentucky
Collette from Colorado
Andrea from Utah

Thank you to all who participated and congratulations to all our winners! Look for your ornaments in the mail!