TWO

We celebrated Madeline's 2nd birthday last Friday. We threw a little party for her at home. It was a crazy morning in our small apartment, but she had a great time. Everyday since she has told me about the friends that came to a party at her house for her birthday. And she certainly can't forget about the cupcake and candles.

That night we celebrated again with our friends from Austin, the Falkes. The big present of the evening was a bike. Madeline's been obsessed with bikes for a few months now. When we were in Lousiana for Thanksgiving, Scott's Aunt gave us a little bike for Madeline. We were happy to take it off of her hands, but it needed some tender loving care. Scott and I scrubbed it down, took the dirty decals off, fixed the back tire, put on some training wheels, and added a little flower horn (not shown in the pic). She adores it. She doesn't care at all that she doesn't know how to ride it - she's completely content just sitting on it and rocking.

I can't believe how grown up this girl has become. I am so grateful that we can enjoy her wonderful, loving spirit in our home. I am a different person now than I was before I became a mother, and that's a good thing. Our family has grown in so many ways since she has become a part of it.

I am constantly amazed by all of the things she's learning, and I just hope I'm teaching her the right things. I'm exited to see what year 3 will bring!

"Nope! Hold you."

I really, really needed Madeline to be good at Walmart today. She was horrible while we were grocery shopping last week, and I certainly didn't want a repeat. I also had a lot more I had to shop for today. This was a good day for a little old fashioned bribery. I try to save it for desperate situations and it always works like a charm. I told Madeline all the way to the store that she could have cookies if she sat IN the cart without any crying. These weren't just any cookies, they were to-die-for little chocolate chip Sweet Tomatoes cookies.

I put her in the cart and got out the cookies. She promptly said, "Nope! Hold you". I guess delicious cookies aren't worth the boredom of sitting in the cart.

Am I back in Wisconsin?

I can't believe we're actually still in Dallas with this weather. We woke up to REAL snow yesterday morning. Apparently, it snowed from 4 am yesterday until 4 am this morning, for a total of 12.5 inches in 24 hours. We loved every second of it. I'm not so into snow for 5 months, but snow for one day is great! Scott's school was cancelled yesterday afternoon and today, which made it even better.

After Madeline's nap, we went outside and played in the snow wearing layers and layers of clothes. It was so heavy and wet that it didn't take much effort at all to build a big snowman. Madeline was in heaven. She loves snowmen right now. She didn't care much about Santa during the Christmas season - she was all about the snowmen. I had a few snowmen Christmas decorations and those were by far the favorites. She goes to bed with a little stuffed snowman most nights. So, she really enjoyed our real snowman. So did all of the cars that stopped to watch us. I guess people around here don't see snowmen very often. The snowball fight between Scott and I didn't go over as well with the little one.

Oh, my.

Have you ever been asked what your most embarrassing moment was? Do you know exactly what moment was your MOST embarrassing, or do you fumble around trying to think of the worst one? I'm usually a fumbler - not that I haven't had embarrassing things happen, but there's never ONE that really stands apart from the rest as the MOST embarrassing. I will no longer be a fumbler. I now know what my most embarrassing moment is. It happened to me today.

I put Madeline down for a nap this afternoon and got in the shower. I was expecting Scott to come home at any minute from the clinic. A couple of minutes after I got in the shower I heard him talking really loud in the living room. It had taken me longer than usual to get Madeline down for her nap, and naps are sacred things in this family. I was afraid he would wake her up, so I jumped out of the shower and ran out to tell him to be quiet.

Only it wasn't Scott. It was the pest control man.

It's a Miracle!

We truly enjoyed a miraculous morning today. Our day did not begin until the wonderful hour of 7:35!!! For those who don't know what a typical morning is like in the Serr household, it begins between 5:30 and 6 am. We have been getting up before the crack of dawn since Madeline was 4 months old. She just decided one Sunday morning that she was going to get up before 6, and has continued to every morning with the exception of a few 6:15-6:30s. Every morning I wake up to her insistent cries, drag myself out of bed, groggily walk into her room, and bring her back to our bed or lay on the couch until I'm awake enough to grumpily make breakfast. We have tried EVERYTHING to get her to sleep longer. To bed later, earlier, putting her in our bed, letting her cry, not letting her cry, feeding her more, blackout curtains, white noise, turning the heat up, turning the heat down, etc, etc.

This morning, she cried at 5:50, and I groaned as I thought about getting up. But before I got out of bed, she stopped. At 6:50, I looked at the clock and could hardly believe my eyes. At 7:15 I asked Scott if he thought she was ok. I was seriously considering going to check on her because this was so abnormal. I resisted the urge, and we didn't hear anything from her until after 7:30. I took her right to the patio door and showed her that it was light outside. I said, "Look Madeline!!! It's morning!!!" She replied, "Yay, mowing!". I promptly and happily started on a nice breakfast.

This may sound like a really boring post, but to me it was a miracle.