Making A Picture For Mom & Dad

Today Grandma Judy, Aunt Alyssa and Aunt Melanie got to babysit while mom and dad went to a show in St. Paul. Everyone helped Madeline make a very special Christmas present for us.

They got out all the paints and got their hands (and feet) dirty!

When they were all done they had a pictures of a reindeer made out of handprints and a footprint.

Then it was time for a bath.

Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated two birthdays: Mommy's (Dec. 21st) and Mommy's Goddaughter, Alyshia's (Dec 20th). Alyshia is our cousin and she really liked meeting and playing with Madeline.

We showed her how Madeline plays in her new jumper, and everyone laughed :-)Madeline even got to sit at the big person table to watch us blow out our candles! It was a fun day meeting new relatives and celebrating birthdays :-)

Christmas at Great-Uncle Marv & Great Aunt Kim's

After getting ready at Grandma Judy's house we all went to Marv & Kim's house for a Christmas Party. Madeline's Santa Hat was a hit!

Here she is with Great-Uncle Marv... and Cousin Greta... and Cousin Taylor... and Cousin Lilly! The whole day was soo much fun :-) We played games, exchanged gifts and all of the grown-ups ate way too much. We couldn't imagine a better Christmas!

Madeline's First Christmas!

It's Christmas morning! Madeline was the first to wake up, so she took it upon herself to go around to eveyone's rooms and wake them up, one-by-one! Everyone was still pretty sleepy, but they woke up to see what Santa had brought for everyone.

At Grandma Judy's house Santa alway's hides everyone's stockings, so Madeline had to find hers... It was in the cabinet!

Now it's time to look inside.She got christmas ornaments, Baby Eistien CD's & DVD's and some bows to go in her hair :-)

She also got a ball that lights up, plays music and moves around on it's own.

AND, she got a Christmas outfit from Grandma - it even had a santa hat! We put the hat on her right away. What a perfect outfit for Christmas, everyone thought she was sooo cute :-)

Time to open more gifts!

Soooo many presents!!!!

All this gift opening made her soooo tired. Time for a quick nap before we go to Great-Uncle Marv and Great-Aunt Kim's House to celebrate with more of the family!

Christmas Eve at Grandma Judy's

After 10 hours of driving we finally made it to Grandma Judy's at 4:30AM Christmas Eve morning!

Aunt Melanie couldn't wait to cuddle with Madeline :-)

Later that morning Madeline showed everyone how she could stand up without any help from Dad!

Great Grandma Deutsch came over and she got her two books and some Christmas ornaments :)

That evening we all got together and opened Christmas Presents -

it was sooo fun! Everyone got something

(but we think Madeline took in the biggest pile of presents).

Aunt (Godmother) Alyssa gave her a Xavier hat and a new t-shirt.

Aunt Melanie got her a Vikings dinnerware set!

After we opened some of our gifts it was time to go to church. Madeline slept through most of it - we think all of the beautiful singing helped her sleep :-)

Everyone went to bed when we got home, so that Santa could come while we were sleeping. It's almost Christmas!!!

Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa Frantz'

Today we celebrated Christmas with Granma and Grandpa Frantz at their house in Terre Haute, Indiana. Madeline had a good time hanging out with Grandpa and we got a good picture of them by the Christmas Tree...

Madeline got another Christmas Ornament. I t was a little heavy, but she picked it right up to take a closer look!

Grandma Frantz got Madeline a very cute Chrismas bib and she tried it on right away.

Madeline got so many new things!

She especially liked this new toy because the box was big enough to stand up next to :-)

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Frantz & Great-Grandma Shirley was really fun! Now it's time to get in the car and make the long drive to Minnesota to see Grandma Judy and all of the other Deutsch relatives.

Grandpa & Grandma Frantz'

We made the trip to Grandma & Grandpa Frantz' house last night. Today we're just taking it easy and getting ready to celebrate Christmas tomorrow! Grandpa and Madeline hung out in the kitchen talking to everyone and watching everything that was going on.

Mommy took a break to give Madeline kisses!

After a relaxing day, Grandma helped Madeline get ready for bed.

Time to get a good night's sleep so that tomorrow we can celebrate with everyone

(and open up some presents!)

College Friends

This weekend our good friends from college, Tracey and Nate, came to visit. We had a girl's day to celebrate our birthdays' - we went to see Cats downtown Columbus. The boys did the baby sitting while the girls were out.Tracey was so excited to see Madeline again!

Daycare Open House

Madeline's Daycare Center had an open house tonight. We got to see all of the Holiday art projects she's been working on! She had a wreath made out of a bunch of her handprints that Miss Amy (her primary care provider) cut out.
There was also a snowflake that she made with her footprints and white paint, and a candle that was decorated with snowmen made out of her fingerprints and white paint - VERY cute. Santa Claus was there too and she took a great picture with him :-)

Madeline's New Bathrobe

OK, the bathrobe isn't new - she got it as a gift when she was born, but it finally fits!

She's definately a cutie in the white robe with a bear on the front.