Simply Mel(Formerly Mama Monoblogs)

Madelyn's First Haircut

Madelyn got her first haircut on her birthday. My friend Jen kindly agreed to cut her hair for me. I had waited this long because I just loved the little curls that she had. But her hair was really starting to look straggly and unkempt. So it was time for a haircut. She hated it. She screamed and cried through the whole thing.(As you'll see in the pictures). The quality of the haircutting pictures is terrible. Jen was cutting Madelyn's hair in front of our front door, which has window panels(viewing panels?) in them. So there was a huge glare!(And, of course, we would never think of pulling the shades down!)

The back......

Now before we move on to the final product I want you to take a look at these pictures of my sister when she was around the same age as Maddy now .......

And try to tell me they don't look like Madelyn.......

Pardon the runny nose.....

 

 

I'm still editing and going through 300+ pictures from Madelyn's birthday party.That's right...three HUNDRED.Mike took over the picture taking for a bit and, unfortunately, he's a terrible photographer! I can't tell you how many I've deleted so far and I'm only half way through. Those will be coming soon. We're getting ready this week for our (most likely) last church cookout of the summer on Sunday. We enjoy them but they are a lot of work. Thankfully the house has stayed relatively clean from our work last week so their shouldn't be that much to do. And frankly, I just don't care anymore!

Madelina Ballerina

Who needs a "Pet Peeve Of The Day" post or a " Love Dare recap" when you can feast your eyes on all of this cuteness? Those posts are coming but maybe not this week. We are going to round 2 of VBS this week and it's at my in laws church this time.(Speaking of which, VBS is going to get a post all it's own!) So that is making for a busy week. I'm up for "light", easy, and fun posts this week.

Can you believe this little girl is going to be TWO in a little under two weeks? I can't. She sure is a ball of fun. Her quirky little personality makes me laugh every day. It's so different than Katelyn's yet they play so well together(usually). She definitely has more of a"dry" personality and sense of humor than diva Katelyn does. Where Katelyn is all out volatile on some days, Madelyn is more steady. She does have a temper and has been throwing some terrible- two fits here lately, but those are usually rare. And only when she's tired. She brings us so much joy and we love her to pieces!

 

 

 

Faith Like A Child

Matthew 18:2-4

Then Jesus called a little child to Him,set him in the midst of them
and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The setting: My kitchen. I'm doing dishes. Katelyn comes in the kitchen as starts talking all about her block creations(see pictures below) and going to a planetarium and this and that. Talking my ears off! Then suddenly she stops and we start this conversation.(Written from the best of my memory from two days ago! Ah!)

K: Mama, is Jesus going to take me to Heaven?
Me: Well, Jesus is going to take everyone who believes in Him to Heaven
K: I want to believe in Jesus so He can take me to Heaven
Me: Ok! You can believe in Jesus. All you have to do is tell Jesus you believe in Him and ask Him into your heart
K: Ok, I want to do that right now.( Then she closed her eyes, folded her hands.)
K: Jesus, I believe in you. And I want you to come into my heart and take me to Heaven. And I love you very, very much.
Me(crying tears of joy but trying not to show her so she won't be concerned): Sweetie! That's great! I'm so happy! Jesus is soo happy too!
K: Is Jesus going to take me to Heaven now?
Me: He will take you to Heaven when it's the right time.

And so the conversation went. I was so amazed and inspired by her simple, child-like faith. It was so pure and innocent. Just the way Jesus asks our faith to be. There were no strings attached. No doubts. Just pure faith that if she believed in Jesus He would take her to Heaven.

What a blessing it was to see that and be a part of that. What a great lesson to us jaded adults.

I added some videos from that day for your(meaning my mom's) enjoyment.

Have a blessed day. I hope this post blessed your heart today.

Splish Splash!

I didn't have a "Love Dare" recap this week because last week was kinda crazy and I didn't do so well at reading the chapters and completing the dares. Next week I will have a recap you guys to check out. I continue to be amazed at how this little book is convicting me.

Here are the pictures from our first time in my in laws pool this "summer". The weather has been terrible here in MA so we've only been in the pool three times so far. Katelyn is a regular fish and this was Maddy's first time not using the floaty ring that she used last year. You know, when she was just a baby.

 

 

 

 

What A Week It's Been....

As most of you know we ended up in the ER last night with Madelyn. While I was getting my back adjusted at the Chiropractor's office yesterday (for my bulging disc) Madelyn tripped and fell face first into an air conditioning vent in the floor at the office, slicing her forehead. When I picked her up and saw the blood pouring out I knew we were headed for the emergency room. Thankfully it wasn't serious or super deep. The ER doc suggested a skin  glue called Dermabond instead of stitches because the glue is less invasive. The glue will come off on it's own and we shouldn't touch it or try to peel it. The wound should be mostly healed in about five days. Madelyn was doing fine until they wrapped her in a sheet to hold her down. Then she started flipping out and screaming hysterically. The gluing process took about ten minutes or so but felt much longer with her hysterical screaming. She was gurgling, straining and yelling "Mama, I'm stuck! Mama, I'm sttuuuccck!". That was heart breaking and I was having to hold back the tears. I was amazed at how speedy the whole night went. They took Madelyn in right about and were there a little over an hour. That is unheard of in an ER!! When I started carrying her away Madelyn turned around and half called, half cried-"Papa are you comin'?" Of course, my FIL jumped up and went into the exam room with us. Since I was not prepared for an ER visit(who is? right?) my MIL brought snacks, diapers, wipes, toys and CANDY to hold us over  for our in determined stay in the ER. The lollipops and candy bracelets were like a drug to Madelyn. As long as she had those, she was fine. Unfortunately, the doctor wouldn't let her have those during the gluing process in case of choking.

Good thinking.

Except that I'm sure if Madelyn had been able to have her candy bracelet during the process there probably would have been a lot less screaming.

Just sayin'...

Anyway, after she was stitched glued up she was fine. We had dinner out last night, came home, and let the girls stay up late to watch the rest of "So You Think You Can Dance".  I gave Maddy some Tylenol and the girls went to bed about 10:00 and they didn't budge until 9:30 this morning!

So far today Maddy is doing fine and Katelyn is being very gentle with her. I just thank the Lord it wasn't worse. Praise God.

Here's the damage...

So, to recap our week of injuries/ailments so far:

On Sunday I injured my back while playing volleyball and ending with a bulging disc

Mike's eye started really bothering him by the end of the day and Tuesday found out he has conjunctivitis in both eyes.

And, of course, yesterday Madelyn sliced her forehead.

I'm putting Katelyn in a bubble for the rest of the week.

Stay tuned for my Pet Peeve Of The Day post coming soon. And it has nothing, whatsoever to do with anything medical.

A Girl And Her Makeup

She takes after her mommy. That's for sure.

Updates and A Prayer Request

 

I've mentioned prayer requests on my blog a few times, most of them for people I'm only acquainted with through blogs. This time I would like to ask a prayer request for my in real life friend Kim and her husband Gregg. Gregg went into the hospital on the 10th of this month to have spinal surgery. Gregg has some severe back problems and has been living in pain for awhile now. What was supposed to be a 5  hour surgery turned into a 7 1/2 hour surgery. There were many complications and Gregg started bleeding. He bled 2 L of blood and had to have a blood transfusion. They ended up having to "make do" with screws and moving nerves around. Gregg is still in the hospital and in terrible pain. He still needs this surgery to be finished. Needless to say Kim is very upset, exhausted and worried. They have three small children at home. Please keep them in your prayers. I haven't heard back from Kim on what has progressed since around Thursday but I'll post some more news once I hear back from her.

Now for a couple of updates..

- My neurology appointment was moved up to this Friday, the 19th. I don't know if my neurologist will allow me to start driving this Friday or if he will, indeed, make me wait until the 27th. It would be sooo awesome if I could drive home from this appointment! My original appointment was supposed to be the 23rd but his secretary called me last week and said we had to change it. At first she wanted to change it to July 22!! I  told her that was fine as long as Dr. Ross didn't mind me driving before the appointment. So then she wanted to move it to the first week of July and said " That's only, like, a week and half later. Do you have some commitments or something that you need to drive for?" I replied " No, I just REALLY WANT TO START DRIVING AGAIN!!". So, she moved it to this Friday. If I have to wait until the 27th there's nothing  I can do about it but pray he allows me to start this Friday.

-I'm excited at the possibility that Katelyn may be able to start a Pre-K program this fall! My mother in law has a friend at church(Roberta) who teaches  at a small, private school called "The Faulkner School" close to where my in laws live. It's a very old school(one hundred years old or something like that. I could be exaggerating a bit, but you get the idea) and is run by a foundation that was set up for it many years ago. They have one preschool, one pre-k and one kindergarten class. Since the foundation covers the cost of the school and teachers, only a monthly donation of whatever you can afford is required for your child to go there. It has a huge waiting list and they don't want people registering their children there just for monetary reasons. Anyway, Roberta had heard that I wanted to send Katelyn somewhere but really couldn't afford a regular preschool so she spoke with her boss about us. We know Roberta well and she knows us well so she was very kind in trying to get an "in" for us. Her boss said there is a waiting list for the Fall but spots usually open up by the end of the summer so Katelyn would be the first one to be considered if a spot opened. Even though Katelyn is on the younger end for Pre-K she would be allowed to do two years of Pre-K or two years of Kindergarten there.(I can't believe we were actually discussing KINDERGARTEN plans for Katelyn already!! AH!!) Anyway, her hours would be TWTH 11:00-2:30. Roberta told me what their day is like and it sounds wonderful. It's very structured with a little bit of free play. Katelyn gets plenty of free play so I am all about the structure. I am praying that there will be a spot for her. I know my mother in law is excited about the possibility too. She has even mentioned that I could drop Katelyn off and they would pick her up. I think this would be a WONDERFUL experience for Katelyn. She would have somewhere to expend her mental, physical and vocal energy!! lol Knowing her, she would cry on the days she didn't get to go to school! I'm praying that everything will work out for her to be able to go to this school.

So, there's my update post! Please keep these things in your prayers if you can.

Lazy Afternoon Fun

Coloring....

Playing with "mud".....

Playing in the kiddie pool..

Yep, this all equals some pretty fun and lazy( and sometimes not-so-lazy)afternoons at our house.

Madelyn ,My Almost Big "Goowel"

Ahhh Madelyn. My free-spirited, not-so-laid-back anymore,adorable, cuddly, silly, smart, photo taking hater, gabbing, chocolate milk loving, stubborn, great sleeping second born. She's 21 months old and growing too fast. She loves her big sister "Tee-Dee" and likes to copy her. If she's away from "Tee-Dee" for too long she'll ask "Where Tee-Dee go?" and "Go pay(play) Tee-dee?".

She has really taken off in her speech lately and is starting to speak in complete sentences. Her newest thing is to yell "Heelllppp" any time she needs something or wants to get down from somewhere she's climbed on. She also enjoys to yelling "heelllpp" at the top of her lungs while we are in the grocery store. Makes for interesting grocery shopping. I love it that people think I could possibly be kid-napping this child.

She has also started asking to sit on the potty. Since I feel as if I started way too soon with Katelyn I sit her on the big potty upstairs when she asks or whenever I think about it. I haven't pulled out the potty chair for her to use yet. She has not actually done anything on the potty yet but enjoys sitting on it and reading books. And looking utterly adorable while doing it.

She calls our pastor's wife, Carolyn, and her daughter, Hannah, both, "Hannah". She calls their sons, Caleb, and Stephen "Caleb".

She calls herself "Mah-yeen".

She calls every dog "Benny" or "Rowfie"

She still calls uncle Waylon "uncle Weeney"

She's fascinated by me clipping her nails and any sort of hangnail (be it the tiniest sharp edge on her nail) needs to be clipped off  IMMEDIATELY. She comes running and says "Would you cut nail, peas? Would you cut it?"

Every time she finishes looking at a book  she slams it shut and  says a resounding "AMEN!"

She also likes to tell me to "Close eyes" and when I do she'll pull something out from behind her back and yell " Suh-pise!!"

She likes to play "Which Hand" but never has anything in her hand. And when you point to one closed fist she always opens both of them. And thinks it's hysterical.

She can now count to 10 consistently and sometimes makes it to 12. She loves to count anything and everything.

Here are some of the things she's been saying:

" I do it!"
"I big goowel" (I'm a big girl)
" Not now,Tee-Dee. Not now"
" I beessee" (I'm busy)
"Mama, I want chawky-milk" ( chocolate milk)
"Maamaaa, Tee-Dee not sharing(insert toy) me" ( Katelyn's not sharing with me)
"Me too! Me too!"
"Rosie not hungy!" (she's copying a line from "Caillou". Speaking of which, her and Katelyn actually act out certain scenes from "Caillou" and Katelyn takes on "Caillou" and Madelyn takes on his little sister "Rosie". It's actually quite comical.
"Is nana/papa/uncle Bob come oofer?"(over)
" I pell down!!" (fell)

"Mama, it's punny" (she says her f's like p's a lot)
"Mama, watch Doo-ra?" (Dora)
"Mama, go nana papa house" ( I want to go to nana and papa's house)
"I wuf you" (I love you)
"Seet deems" (sweet dreams)
" Again! Again!"
" Maama, my pinger, I hurt my pinger" (I hurt my finger)
" Suh-pise! Happy Boopy!!" (surprise, happy birthday!)
"Mmm, Mama, this is good! This is good, Mama"

Yes, sniff, my baby will be two years old in a couple of months and is headed to be a gabber just like her sister. And I love her to pieces too.

Meet Plakey and Ploka

Who are Plakey and Ploka you ask? Why, they are the pet caterpillars we had. I say "had" because we've let them go and I'm just getting around to posting pictures of them.

 

It was love at first sight

p.s You can see my old, ugly walls in the background of some of these photos. I'm so happy we've painted them since then!