Welcome Max!

Maximus Lee joined us at 11:50 AM Wednesday, Aug. 29th. He was 22 inches long and 10 pounds 3 ounces, with a head full of hair. Mommy and Max are both doing wonderful and we all feel extremely fortunate to have been in such great care. The staff at the Reedsburg Area Medical Center treated us exceptionally well and are all fabulous! Thank you all so much! Madison and Macy have not quite learned the name yet and continue to call him Jackson or Sam, both names of some friends' boys. Very cute! We have all been preparing for the trip home, even Ginger. She really misses mommy. Soon, Ging, soon!

Almost Baby Time!!!!

It is Sat., the 25th, my sister's birthday! I have been having pretty steady contractions...could be the day! We took some last minute belly/baby shots that we wanted to share. Hopefully, we'll have more news to come shortly!!! My official due date is tomorrow, so we'll see what happens! Wish us luck!

Fluffy's new haircut

We shaved Fluffy yesterday, and Madison LOVES his new haircut. She's been loving him up!

Gymnastics with Madelyn

This was the last week for gymnastics

class. Madelyn came to play before class on Weds., and the girls put these handbands on all by themselves! Jesse got them to "show their muscles!" We were all laughing so hard! They wore them for awhile at gymnastics, too. On the last day, each student got to go on top of the podium and receive a "prize." Definitely an activity to think about for the future!

cute sis pics

The girls are so cute when playing nicely together. Macy has been lost without Madison in the same room. She is constantly calling out for Maddie and continues to bring all of her blankets and pillows to Madison's bed and hops right in! Madison has already had a sleeping bag, and Daddy is taking them camping with some friends next weekend, so Macy got hers, and we "practiced" in the living room!

Oschner Park in Baraboo

We had such a fun day yesterday. After our friends stopped by, we met some co-workers at the Pizza Ranch in Baraboo, and then off to Oschner Park to see the animals and play on the playground. We all had so much fun together! The kids loved seeing the animals, and enjoyed playing at the park. They especially loved the big black bear, sitting in the swing. It was a perfect day, nice and cool. Madison stayed on the swings for almost the whole time! They fell asleep on the way home, so Jesse was able to finish the last of our painting!!!!! Yeah!!!! Now we can start putting the house back together before baby arrives! Wish us luck!

Friend times!

Although she wouldn't look at the camera, Macy enjoyed having her "boyfriend" Braden over to play yesterday!!! They were both dressed in their badger apparel...too cute! They loved coloring and sending mail. We will get to see Joy and Braden this Friday, too! Yeah!!!

2 weeks to go

We have 2 weeks to go for baby #3. We are getting excited to meet the new little one, especially the girls. I have had contractions pretty regularly now, but not enough to go in. Last Thurs. I was 75% effaced and not quite 2 cm dilated...going in the right direction!!!!

Big girl bed

Macy has had many changes the last week, one of them sleeping in the toddler bed! Jesse got her going in it, and she has done great! The only bad thing is when she wakes up, she goes into Madison's room and wakes her up! She has gone over a week without her mi-mi (nuki), and she has her own room. What a good girl!

Gymnastics

Madison started

gymnastics last Weds.

She absolutely loves it!
Her favorite is the bars...she actually runs and jumps up on them all by herself!

Phone call

Macy loves the phone. She is constantly picking up play and real phones, and says, "A phone, yeah, um hum, yeah," etc. When you ask who she is talking to, she ALWAYS says bumpa, and then also talks to Nana. This happens at least once a day, so a couple weeks back, I finally got a little video of her. For some reason she says "sorry Bumpa" a couple of times...who knows what that is all about!

Good friends

While the daddies went to the Brewer/Cub game at Wrigley Field, the girls got together to hang out! The girls enjoyed the pool for awhile until lunch, and then thankfully went back in to wash up from the jello dessert! They are all so cute together and we can't imagine summer without Madelyn and Alayna!

July 4th

We had a great time at the Weiss family July 4th party with a bunch of friends. They always have such a wonderful turn out and the kids all play so nice together. Both girls made it to the fireworks! Maddie kept saying, "Look at the shooting star (over and over again)" and Macy kept saying, "Oh Wow, Cool!" The motorized vechicle was by far the favorite toy for our girls, I missed the picture of both of them together in the jeep. Madison also loved hula hooping! We finally bought her one, but I think it is a little too big because the one last night was smaller and she seemed to do much better. Enjoy the video, and we hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July!!!

New purple room

When we got back from Milwaukee, we were in the painting mood. Let's just call it, a bad case of nesting, for both Jesse and I. We decided to move our room downstairs (the old pansy room) and let Madison have our room. We painted the downstairs room first, then the kitchen, then her purple room, and the majority of the living room. All this starting on Monday and finishing yesterday (Sat.)! I'm just as shocked as everyone else that this baby hasn't come out with all the moving of furniture and painting, etc. Madison loves her new room and slept great last night for nap and bedtime, and again today. Macy kept calling for Maddie when she laid down for her nap, but eventually fell asleep (we also took away her nuk when it broke - lots of changes in one day)! We'll see how they both do. The next time people come to visit, they will be amazed at the difference of all the painting. We still have to finish one wall of the living room (we need to move the fish tank first) and paint the upstairs stairway and hallway. Hopefully before baby comes? We'll see!

The crazy water

After the family reunion, we drove to Milwaukee to stay the night with Bumpa and Nana. We went to the Bayshore Town Center and played in the water. The girls were enjoying it, Madison a little more brave then Macy. Katelyn and Lauren joined us after a bit, and they all had a blast. Leave it to Bumpa to join the grandgirls! I think Katelyn talked him into going through the water with her, and the next thing you know, they are all going through! We even took the girls swimming at their place right when we got home. It was a very busy day, with lots of fun and exciting things. We took the girls, along with Nana, Katelyn, and Lauren, to Children's fest on Monday. They all enjoyed the free tattoos and "treasure hunt," along with the parks on the summerfest grounds. We got very lucky with a nice day, so crowded, though!

New quilt

We had the Monte side reunion in Orangeville, IL, on Sunday the 21st. The girls enjoyed "hamming it up" for the family members and Daddy even took them to a fun park for awhile. Grandpa Monte gave Madison this purple pansy quilt for her birthday and she loved it so much! Even though it was close to 80 degrees and very hot in the van, she insisted on putting the quilt over her, snuggled up, and fell fast asleep! When we put it on her new bed, Macy even touched the quilt and kept saying "Thank you, Grandpa, thank you, Grandpa!" How sweet!

Babysit Maya

We watched Baby Maya for an hour the other day, and the girls loved every minute of it! Madison got right up close and read stories. Macy kept trying to bring her toys (she actually didn't get jealous when I held her - a first for everything)! It will be really interesting to see how they do in a couple of weeks. I told Keely that we need to do this a couple more times before our new one comes! Baby Maya loved watching the girls.

New frog pool

The girls have been enjoying their new frog pool. We usually set that one and their old blue one up (for Ginger and the slide). The frog also can have a sprinkler effect that they enjoy when it's really hot out. I'm sure this will be a favorite activity this summer!

Butterfest 2K run/walk

On Sat. June 20, Reedsburg held their 2 mi. Butterfest Run/Walk. Jesse and I decided at the last minute to participate. I even jogged the finished! I could here spectators at the end saying "good for her!" Not bad for 35 weeks pregnant!!!! This will definitely be an annual event for us if we're in town, the girls loved it, and I'm sure Maddie would be able to walk/run it herself next year! After the race, we watched the parade with some friends. What a great day!