Maddy is 35 months old

Only one more month until Maddy is officially 3 years old. Wow! Madeline Eva weighs 37 pounds and is 37 3/4 inches tall. She is now in 4T or size 4 clothing exclusively. Shoe size is 9W. Do we have a basketball player on our hands?

September was an extremely busy month. The campground closed on Sept. 18th and then the winterizing began. In the midst of winterizing, Debbie's dad, Jack, passed away. He died on Sept. 27th after a valiant battle with asbestos-related lung cancer. There are way too many emotions and details to discuss surrounding this event. Maddy still asks about her grandpa and doesn't quite grasp what has happened. We all miss him terribly.

Another major event was the removal of the old campground store. It was a 16' x 32' building that served it's purpose for over 20 years, but the walls and floor were separating. The floor was also soft to say the least. It took a ride down the road to be a hunting shack. We will be using a brand new park trailer as the new store. It's already in place on a concrete slab. We moved the decks, ice cooler and all the contents of the store which was "labor intensive". We still need to extend the decks so that they can accommodate a new screened room in the spring. Stairs are on the agenda too.

Back to Maddy - Potty training is now in session! She is doing very well and will "go" on the small potty or the toilet. She did have reservations about "#2" and the toilet, but bravely conquered her fears with the help of "incentives" (AKA bribes). She wanted a toy so every time she went she earned a dollar toward the toy. That worked really well. Maddy still needs a diaper or Pull Up at nap time and night time, but during the daytime she is making great progress.

Halloween was the usual picking and carving of pumpkins along with trick or treating. Maddy has told us all year that she wanted to be a black kitty cat for Halloween so that's exactly what she dressed as. Candy, popcorn, fortune cookies, Dairy Queen ice cream coupon and even a photo button from one business were examples of treats that she received. With Halloween over and Thanksgiving in 3 weeks, the holiday season is in full swing. We will be hosting the Huseby Thanksgiving get-together this year. It will be physically at Debbie's mom's house because she has the much needed space, but we will be purchasing food and other supplies. We are very thankful to be able to be together as a family so everything else is just details. We hope you are able to enjoy Thanksgiving with family and friends too. Gobble, gobble and then shop, shop!

Debbie's 41st birthday - Grandma Escherich & Maddy coloring together.

Maddy in pigtails and polka dots as wells as pink overalls.

T-shirt says it all! Maddy's 1st bike.

Maddy was a black cat for Halloween this year.

She also picked pumpkins at her Uncle Dewey & Auntie Carmen's patch.

Elmo live performing & Elmo "watching Maddy's back".

Fun outing at a the local community center.

Chocolate mustache - Maddy "dresses up".

Madeline is 32 months old

Madeline Eva is now 37 1/4 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds. She is in size 3T, but some 4T clothing fits depending on the brand. She is growing at such a quick pace. We are ever thankful to friends and family for their generous hand-me-downs. Matt & I are in awe of her growth. She is not only growing leaps and bounds physically, but socially and mentally too. Maddy is much more adept at puzzles, self help skills like zippers, taking off shoes, brushing teeth, washing hands, etc. Coloring is more about "staying in the lines" and drawing yields more recognizable figures. She is also starting to mimic writing with zig zags and squiggles. She knows most of her letters and can spell her first name. She counts to 20, but keeps forgetting the number 13. Due to the generosity of Maddy's Uncle Dewey and Aunt Carmen, we received fresh sweet corn a plenty so Maddy learned to shuck corn like a pro. Maddy went to her first circus. She loved it, but couldn't sit through the entire performance. Luckily, there was a playground behind the circus tent which provided the rest of the evenings entertainment for her.

The campground closes on Sunday, Sept. 18th so we are getting ready to winterize everything. Maybe we can get one last boat ride in before pulling the dock, lift and boat off the lake. We also hope to visit a local orchard with Maddy before the snow flies. We hope you enjoy the fruits of autumn and look forward to jumping in leaf piles galore!

Water ballet - Toes under the water.

Teeter totter - petting zoo

Patriotic dresses for the 4th of July weekend.

Fun in the grass at daycare.

Fun at the beach - close up and personal

Playing at the park. Castle made of blocks.

Bucket head. LOL

First swim in her pool.

Maddy is 30 months old

This blog post has pictures from May and June 2011. We have been quite busy and didn't post anything for May. We think Maddy is done teething and has her 3 year molars now. She is 36 5/8 inches tall and weighs 32.6 pounds. Her 2T clothes are all too small and are packed away. Through kind generosity from a cousin and friend, she has 3T clothing to wear.

Maddy is extremely social and loves playing with the campground kids. She says hi to everyone she meets and tells them, "My name is Maddy". Her vocabulary keeps expanding too. Her famous line after we finish combing her hair is, "I'm gorgeous". She has also entered the world of retail. After so many weeks witnessing our transactions in the campground store, she now pushes buttons on a calculator and then holds out her hand while saying, "Here's your change". Madeline is happiest when she is outside. She is fascinated by turtles, fish, frogs, geese, birds, insects, rabbits, chipmunks, etc. She is an active toddler to say the least!

We are gearing up for America's birthday. We hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July.

Cousin BlakeLynn with Maddy - First swim in the pool

Looking pretty - Wearing Mommy's garden shoes

Just 5 more minutes please - Maddy & Heidi

Happy to be changed - Snuggling in bed

1st boat ride of 2011 - car swing

Maddy is 28 months old

April has been unseasonably cold and snowy. We were very lucky that Easter was later this year because we had some sunshine to warm things up that day. Even as we complete this blog entry, the temperatures are in the 40s and it is raining. We haven't been able to do as much as we would've liked to get the campground ready, but hopefully we will be ready to open on Friday, May 6th. Our biggest concern is turning on the water and having the pipes freeze in the ground.

Maddy had a wonderful Easter! She colored eggs for the first time. Maddy loved finding the eggs and her Easter basket on Easter morning. We enjoyed lunch at Grandma Huseby's place along with a candy hunt. Then Grandma and Grandpa Escherich hosted supper where she was blessed with another egg hunt, Easter basket and a classic Coupe car. Both sets of Godparents also spoiled Maddy with Easter baskets. She is such a lucky girl!

Madeline's height and weight continue to climb at a steady pace. She is 36 1/8 inches tall and weighs 31.6 pounds. She has inherited Debbie's wide feet and wears a size 8 wide shoe so we purchase shoes at StrideRite. It is one of the only shoe stores with a selection of wide width shoes. Maddy is also continuing to cut her 3 year molars as was mentioned last month.

Maddy is trying to master her RadioFlyer trike that her cousin passed down to her. A newly acquired skill this week is climbing the rock wall on the Rainbow playset. She and Matt have been practicing and she can finally do it all by herself. Her independence continues to amaze and frighten us at the same time. We'll cross our fingers for all the warm weather and May flowers to come quickly! Happy Spring everyone!

Sleeping Beauty - Ta Daa!

First ride on the Tricycle - Playing Hide and Go Seek

Princess Madeline

We finished the Make a Bear Worshop present from Christmas.

Pajama time - Sitting pretty.

Easter Baskets

Huseby Easter candy hunt.

Easter present - Easter dress