Messes!!

This amazing box has been so great! We decided to finger paint inside it for FHE one night! Madi absolutely loved it.

 It started like this.....

 And just kept getting messier and messier...

 Dad showed her how..

 Uh-oh and then Dad got it!

 The final products. :)

 So that is finger painting with Madi.


I would say Madi is the master of getting into something she is not suppose to be into and making a mess faster than you can say, "Madison, where did you go?" She has discovered where I keep my make-up and has a fetish with it. :( Such a water-proof mess....

 You probably think I don't supervise my child....

 She looks like she knows what she is doing! Ha ha ha

So proud of what she did....

By the time I got this cleaned off, I went to finish the dishes... and wouldn't you know it she snuck right back in my room and this time got into the eyeliner and had lines all over her face.... Needless to say I didn't take pictures that time, and I also didn't clean it off... thinking maybe then she wouldn't feel the need to put more on again. And I shut the bedroom door... That was the clencher... :)



A little update on our potty training experience:
This has been the hardest thing I have ever had to work with her on. She is SO stubborn and determined to do it her way.... Honestly I actually don't know what her hold up is... that is my guess..... but truthfully i'm at a loss. I would say 75-80 % of the time she goes in the potty, but the other 20-25% of the time is going to kick my trash.... She can go on really long streaks with no accidents and then a nice little "I'll show you whose really boss" streak as she makes mess after mess.... I have read tons of articles online and asked lots of moms, and I have some really good advice, but none of it seems to work for her. I know every child is different, but man.... you would think some child development researcher could find a trend for that 10% of the "difficult" child. Anyways, we have done presents, candy, stickers, markers, books, play-doh.... hopefully soon I can find what she really wants, and once I have that maybe we can cut the 20-25% down to 5%. I'm convinced children are not potty trained for years. I think people are crazy that say their child was potty trained in a week or less..... Maybe they knew what to do and were able to do it most of the time... but i'm pretty sure they all had accidents... (maybe some really do have wonderful children that do what they are asked and get it figured out! To those parents I say kudos!! I'm so happy for you!) And for me... while my child can do it most of the time, that is not potty trained... potty trained is when I don't have to clean up anymore accidents, and she can reach the sink to wash her hands by herself so overall when she goes to the bathroom, I don't even know it happened!! :) Ha ha ha... so alas... I have years until my child will be potty trained.
People say you are going to miss this, and I think they forgot how exhausting it was to change the bed sheets every day or more than that on those bad streaks, constantly be washing peed on clothes, and giving 2 or more baths a day! I am sure I will miss this age in general and I will miss how much fun she is when we are playing or doing something that isn't related to the bathroom, BUT I don't think I will miss potty training. I think when that gets checked off the list I will say good bye and good riddance!! :) And please don't tell me you miss potty training... if you do please just keep that your little secret until I have no more children that have to be potty trained. :) ha ha ha unless you really feel the need....

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

We had a great holiday season! It was very relaxing and it was great to stay home. We didn't travel at all, and since we have been married this is the first year we have stayed put. It was a very fun year as Madi has figured out how to rip into presents and learned that behind all that neat shiny paper there were even cooler things!! It was so much fun. Because Brian and I have tried to combine our families traditions we have come up with our own that are tweaked enough to fit us both. Brian likes opening all presents on Christmas Eve, I don't think any presents should be opened until Christmas morning... so what we do is we open one gift on Christmas Eve... and it has to be P.J's (mostly so I can take some nice pictures the next morning... even though it has yet to work in my favor). Anyways below are some pictures of our Christmas holiday!!

 Dashingly Handsome wouldn't you say?? Hee hee he would kill me if he ever knew i put this on here... :)

 Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree!! My favorite part is the chain.. Madi and I made that one day... it was more fun than I thought it was going to be!

 I think I will start a new tradition... On Christmas Eve we cleaned out Madi's room to get rid of old toys and make room for the new ones coming... On Christmas Day this is what it looked like after the new toys "took their place"... Makes me sad knowing it won't ever be this clean/ organized again. ha ha ha

 Madi loves her dress up shoes and necklaces... she has a love/hate relationship with the dresses though...

 I'm sure your wondering why she has her p.j's on and wet hair... well she was so excited about other presents it took her literally ALL day to open her gifts... It's not like we had 50 presents for her... but she loved playing with her new toy or whatever and didn't want to open more so we let her run the day...

 Her Christmas p.j's!! Brian found these! i think they are adorable... I love her face in this picture....

 She got to play with Daddy's remote control car... She was loving it... She packed her turtle around everywhere with her too!!

The Beautiful Weather!!

Because it has been SO nice here we have taken advantage of it and gone to the park quite a bit... I finally took my camera and I got some great pictures of Madi!! They are pretty self explanatory so I will just let you enjoy!

 

 Winter Mischief.....

Madi decided to not only draw and color herself with a pen... (lets be hones that happens a lot...) But this time she broke the tip off so it exploded everywhere and she thought it was SO fantastic!! Here was the result.

 After Bathtime..... comes the craziness....

After her bath she usually goes crazy right up until we force her into her bed, hurry and turn off the lights and run out the door and shut it. We even have to take out the light bulb at night because otherwise she would stand on some toy and turn it on and off... on and off.. on and off... you get the idea... on and off.. :) Anyways she is usually crazy and has some pretty good faces... I got a few on camera! :)

 And a homemade park... :) 

At least that is what Madi calls it. We turned this huge box into a slide for her and she LOVES it... I'm not sure how long I can take it because it is huge and we don't have a big house so it takes up a good portion of our living room... but she climbs up, slides down, giggles and does it all over again... all the while saying "park!" "park!" So I haven't had the heart to take it away yet... plus it works as a great fort when we put blankets over the top and she climbs under... and I turned her loose with crayons inside.... It has been a great box! ha ha ha

 Oh and I forgot to mention that we have been potty training... I tried the beginning of November and she did great until I took her on a month long road trip/ hotel stay. Then it all went down hill... but I didn't want to change any diapers in 2012 so I started again the last few weeks of December.. and I haven't changed any diapers... i've changed quite a few bed sheets and washed a lot of clothes... but no diapers! ha ha ... no she is actually doing really well... except for nightime.. but I was prepared for that so I know it will take some time but other than night she is pretty much doing her business on the "pot".... Not sure why she doesn't call it potty... no one here calls it the pot... ha ha ha

Anyways give her some praise next time you talk to her... because for a while I was beginning to think it was a miracle any of us are potty trained! 

Best wishes for 2012!!