1st B-day boy!

 Dane had his one year doctor appointment on his birthday.  Happy B-day Dane and here are your shots...poor baby!  He handles them really well fortunately. 

12 Month Stats:
Weight - 18 lbs. 7 oz. (3-5%)
Length - 29.23" (25-50%)
Head Circ. 29.23" (30-50%)

He eats a ton and is very active! 

 We celebrated Dane's B-day by heading to our favorite Mexican restaurant in downtown PR.  It was such a beautiful evening, so we walked there and met Laura, Claire and Allie.  It was a little crazy, but fun and festive!  They brought Dane an ice cream treat to celebrate and all of the kids shared it.  So sweet!

 Maddie really liked using the candle as a spoon to eat the ice cream.  Needless to say, I don't think she put a big dent in it!

We headed to auntie's house for some DQ ice cream cake - yum!  Dane got into the icing and then the big girls had to join in on the fun.

What a great day!

 Auntie Laura cracked Dane up by singing and dancing to her birthday song.

 Dane's birthday party - another beauty!  It was so nice spending so much time outside!

 Mads LOVES our neighbors and they are so great with her!

 Maddie, Claire and William at the kiddie table!

Dane loves his fun grammie!

 Maddie and Aubriana kept sticking their fingers in the cake.  They just couldn't help themselves!

 Dane DEVOURED his cupcake.  I seriously think it was down in less than a minute!

Maddie couldn't resist the huge pretzels!

 

 Dane has so many people who love him!  He is quite easy to love!  We feel so blessed for such a wonderful family and dear friends.

Dane is 1!

Our baby boy is a year old! How can this be?!!! He has been SUCH a joy this past year and is so so so good. He really is too easy and so loving. He is a great eater. His favorite foods are fruits (his #1 favorite is banana), chicken and pasta noodles.  When we put him down to sleep he doesn't protest, but lays down, sucks his thumb and is it out in minuets. He LOVES playing with balls and ball is his favorite word. He also likes books (lift the flap ones especially) and likes ride on toys and bikes. He is a climber and can pull himself up on the couch. He has to be watched because he can work himself up onto tables in a matter of seconds! He will still cuddle which is the best! Today he was saying "ELMO" and I then noticed he was pointing at him on the placemat. He has been catching me off guard these days with his talking and it is just so sweet! He gives us HUGE, mouth open smiles all of the time.  He is very easy going and we just love him to pieces.

Dane Train

Where does time go?  Dane wonders and we do too!

Maddie and Dane love to play Peek A Boo together!  It's one of Dane's favorite things to do!

I can't believe how much Dane has changed this past month. He has been standing a bunch (been doing for months) and starting to take steps. We think it is just a matter of days until he will be all over the place (although he already is). Maddie likes to pick him up and help him walk. She is becoming a bit more possesive of her things. She knows he is growing up and doesn't treat him like a baby anymore!

He has been saying more and more and it's so fun to hear him say words and make connections. Maddie likes to teach him words and have him repeat after her.



Purdue

We headed to West Lafayette for the ND game last Saturday.  We had a great time tailgating and spending time with friends and family.  Dane was a bit unsteady with the hill, but it didn't stop him from crawling all over the place!

 Maddie just loves her Grandma and Grandpa!  We had a great day in Kokomo on Sunday too!

Princess Maddie

Maddie participated in the Homecoming assembly at my school last Friday.  When I told her about it, she said she wanted to be Cinderella.  Then she changed her mind (she does that a lot) and wanted to be Snow White.  We praticed all week, but I wasn't sure how she would do.  Grammie brought her and Dane to my school and Matt came to watch too.  The kids all checked in and Maddie had a few tears and said she didn't want to do it.  We then sat in the bleachers and watched the cheerleaders.  When it was time to line up, she acted fine and went and did her thing.  She was great and we were proud of her!  It was so fun to have her at school with me!  Dane loved the assembly too and bounced on my lap most of the time! 

 A little nervous, but daddy was there to help!

 Maddie presented the sash to the Homecoming Queen

Walking on and off the gym floor in front of 3,000 students!  Go Maddie!



ASU vs. U of I

What a beautiful day!  We had such a great day with Uncle Billy, Aunt Tami, Kaylee, G-pa and G-ma Welke, Grammie and Papo.  We left at noon and went straight to the apple orchard.  The kids loved it!  Maddie rode Pee Wee and she said that riding him was the highlight of her day.  Dane....well, he wasn't so sure about it!  We picked apples and then went to the game.  Aunt Tami got us all player tickets and and had to go on a bit of a wild goose chase to pick them up!  We were sent to the wrong place by the ticket takers, waited in line and were then told to go elsewhere.  Tami and Papo lead the way and we all got spread out.  Twenty min. later we were all there...except for G-pa and Dane.  They got a bit behind and then we were out of view.  So, it was pretty funny and surprisingly we were all there by kickoff!  The kids were decked out in ASU gear thanks to Aunt Tami and Kaylee.  The Illini came out victorious and the game was entertaining.  Maddie and Dane were so great and well behaved.  Maddie got to meet the ASU dancers and Daddy made sure that happened!  It was such a fun day and THANKS AUNT TAMI FOR MAKING THIS WONDERFUL WEEKEND POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

2's on the Move!!

Maddie had "school" last week and she did great!  It was adorable to see her and Claire go into the classroom.  Maddie said, "School was cool and I learned about the letter W."  We meet auntie and Claire at school and I take Allie to grammie and papo's house with Dane.  I then pick up the babies and head over to the Newton's.  We change into dance clothes and head to dance class.  Our Mondays are quite busy!

Loving on Mimi

We headed to Kokomo last weekend for a wedding and to see Mimi!  We had the wedding on Friday, so grandpa and grandma got to babysit.  Saturday was beautiful and we took Maddie to the park and to watch grandpa play tennis.  I headed to the store without kids and enjoyed every minute of it!  I got a great deal on Purdue apparel for the entire family!  We had a delicious dinner and had a campfire that night to celebrate Mimi's arrival.  It is always wonderful seeing her!  She is just the sweetest.  We took a couple of golf cart rides and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.

 Maddie sometimes eats tomatoes like apples.  This girl has always loved her tomatoes!!!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a wonderful time in Michigan!  We headed to New Buffalo on Saturday and then to Paw Paw lake on Sunday.  We got home late Sunday night and had an easy going Monday.  It was chilly, but nice!  We had a park outing that night.  Things have been crazy busy, but fun!  Our poor Daney got sick with Rosiola and had a high fever.  He was just not himself, but fortunalty, he was back to himself in no time. 

 We took a late night boat cruise and the kids loved it! 

Maddie LOVES her Daney!

They just love to play! 

Claire's Party!!!

OUCHIE!!!

I wasn't sure if I was going to post this, but decided it was a memory, so it made the cut.  Mads had an incident on my first day back at work.  She was on the ride on scooter, hit the curb and took a face plant.  She did not even look like herself for a couple of days.  The amazing part of it all is how fast it healed.  She was constantly reminding us to be gentle when wiping her face because of her "poor lip."

Catching Up....Still More From Kokomo

 Maddie and Addison are BEST  BUDDIES!!  It is so cute to see them together.  Maddie adores Addison and is always doing what Addison is doing!  Good thing Addison is an adorable, well behaved, fun little girl.  Go ahead Maddie, act just like Addie! :)

 Ava is too cute!!!  Dane and Ava got some quality time with Grandpa.

 Someone discovered the sun roof and she thinks she is pretty cool!  Addie and Maddie love ice cream!  Sprinkles even take the excitement of ice cream up a notch!

Where does she come up with these names?  This is very typical Maddie!