The Dells/Father's Day Weekend

We headed to the Dells for a Welke family reunion and had a wonderful time!We spent all day Saturday on the boat and hanging out at the little beach.

 Dane even took a little nap!

 Daddy with his kiddos! 

 Maddie and Dane were the youngest kids by far.  Everyone was so sweet with them!

 We went to the deer park and Maddie loved it!  I was a bit nervous, but she had no fear!  She loved feeding all of the animals.  Later on, we went to a cat retreat and saw lots of tigers and lions.  We didn't make it to any water parks, but we saw plenty of animals!

Maddie's Boo Boo's

Maddie's face was a bit scraped up at her Bye Bye Diaper Party.  Our little Maddie was at the lake the Saturday prior to her party.  She was fishing and having a great time.  She even caught a fish and was so excited about it.  A bit later, Maddie was fishing and she lost her balance.  She fell off the pier and landed on rocks in the water.  It was so scary.  I was RIGHT THERE, but couldn't catch her.  I pulled her up and Matt swept her up into his arms.  She had a bloody nose and needed to be cleaned and dried off.  She was excited that she got a popsicle and that made me feel better.  She took it like a trooper, but I was very drained after the "incident."

Bye Bye Diapers!

How lucky for Maddie that she had special visitors in town for her bye bye diaper party!  It worked for the pacifier (or as Maddie called it, her "ba"), so we tried it once again.  It took about a week for her to see how this was all going to work.  She had one accident at the library that really upset her.  Then we went to the Dells for the weekend and she didn't really want to try all that often, although she did go a few times.  As soon as we got home, something clicked and she only uses a pull up for naps and at night and has had no accidents.  She is doing awesome!!!  We are so proud of her!  Today I took her shopping for her potty trained gift - I told her she could pick anything from CostCo.  We looked at everything (Princess activity sets, scooters, glitter glue art box (totally thought she would pick that) and she decided on a $10 bucket of sand/water beach toys.  I asked her if she was sure and she was 100%.  She played with her new toys in her bath tonight and she was loving it!

Maddie and Addie show off their big girl undies!



Maddie - 2 1/2 Years!

Oh Maddie!  We just adore our strong willed, super fun, goofy, creative, book loving little girl!!! She loves to dance and wants to do everything on her own.  People always think she is older due to her long hair and nonstop talking!  She is also super observant.  She catches things that we don't and she can't be tricked!  She surprises us each and everyday and I always have plenty of Maddie stories to share when he comes home from work. 

Dane at 8 Months

Wow!  I can't believe that my little baby is growing up so quickly!  At 8 months, he started doing all sorts of "tricks!"  He stood in his crib (just shy of 8 months) for the first time and days later, he was crawling and walking with the help of furniture.  He is so fun and sweet and is simply all over the place!  Fortunately, he still loves to be held too, so I take advantage of that whenever I can!  He is a pretty good eater.  He loves rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas and applesauce.  He is hot and cold with veggies, but he keeps getting them! Sometimes I have to add some rice and milk to get him to eat them.  He also loves steak!  We had flank steak tonight and he could not get enough!

 Dane standing for the first time in his crib.  Maddie was there to greet him! :)

He has also gotten good at walking with the walker!

Fun Times With Cousins!

The Cesta's came for a quick visit the first week of June.  Uncle Joe had a business meeting in Chicago and the entire family came along.  We sure wish that would happen more often!!!  As always, we loved being with them!  Addison makes us laugh - she is too cute and funny.  Ava is such a sweetie and gives the best smiles.

When Addison and Madeline were not wearing princess dresses, they were in their underwear!

 Claire was in for some fun too!

Last Week of May

So I am a bit behind on posting!  We had a wonderful visit with Heidi and Beau and loved getting to spend some time with them and get to know them better.  Mimi surprised them and flew in from California for a visit too!  We went to the Chicago Botanical Garden with the entire crew before everyone headed their own way. 

 Maddie and Dane both enjoyed Heidi and Beau!

 Grammie and Papo had us over for a nice dinner.  There was only one color of icing that I didn't want Maddie to have.  Of course, that is what she picked and she devoured it!

 Mimi and her grandson! 

Such a sweet pair! :)

 So many flowers and plants to look at!

What a great day!!!