Soccer Has Started!!

Melanie's soccer season with the YMCA started yesterday in the late morning. Matt and I were absolutely beside ourselves seeing Melanie literally flip to the other side of the coin as compared to this past fall.

In the fall she had been fearful of running around with other people and wasn't quite sure what to do or how to do it. If the game had entailed only one player on the field she would have been fine. *laughing*.

Melanie has 3 teammates. The coach of the team was clearly familiar with soccer and teaching young children -- which was really great to watch. Melanie took a liking to everyone and was very participatory the whole hour. As I mentioned earlier, this was almost a complete turn around as compared to the last season. We are so happy to see her enjoying it so much more.

Matt took some cute pictures on his cell phone camera but we haven't uploaded them yet. We hope to get them up within the next couple days.

It's been a while.

Here are a few pictures from the last few months. Sorry about the quality, unfortunately my phone takes really bad pictures (and I seem to be taking more video than pictures these days), or it could just be me.

Here is Melanie doing her best superhero impression

We went up to Zionsville for some lunch, to a little boutique cupcake place, and to a park.

Melanie likes to go to Jump n Play in Avon, especially now that they have stuff she can climb.

We went to the motorcycle expo again this year, so she could take a ride on the tiny tots track.

Climbing the rock wall at the motorcycle expo.

For months she was asking for a skateboard, I finally gave in.

More fun at the park.

And last but not least, the latest major development is that Melanie now rides a bike without training wheels.

Fortunately, she is good about wearing her helmet and pads when she rides, which have saved us from any major damage. Just a few scrapes here and there. Of course, to keep up with her, we both had to go get our own bikes.

Happy 4th Birthday, Melanie!!

This past week Melanie had her fourth birthday. Four years.... really?

I believed everyone when they said to savor every moment because time would fly by. No matter how many times she asks me to play CandyLand... I will play. I may not play the "10 times" she shows me by putting up all her fingers, but I will whittle her down to a reasonable 3 or 4 times. The same concept goes for puzzles, talking like a robot, watering the outside plants, pretending she is cooking a meal in her play kitchen for me, etc.

I am not going to lie to you. There are days I am so tired that I don't want to do anything but take a relaxing shower, read a book, and take a long nap. On those days Melanie would gladly sit outside the shower reading her own books just to be close by. That, my dear friends and family, is one of the amazing things about our daughter. She wants to be close.

There will come a day in the hopefully-far-away-future when my adorable, cuddly (yet independent), loving daughter will NOT want to be close to me. There is part of my heart that aches at the thought.

I do not remember everything about my pregnancy 4 years ago. I am sure it is in God's plan for women NOT to remember, which is fine with me. The things I remember warm my heart, bring a tear or two to my eyes, and remind me how precious life is.

I have cherished some pictures over these 4 years. Here they are in no particular order.

Who would have thought that me, miss career oriented, would enjoy motherhood so much.

Happy Birthday, Melanie. I love you.

Get Your Motor Running

Melanie went on her very first motorcycle ride a couple months ago. Here are the pictures of Matt and Melanie hot off the press!!

A day at home

I have so many plans for today... and I'm hopeful that Melanie will come along with me through all of them. It has been a couple weeks since I've been able to spend a whole day with her; Matt will enjoy knowing he can have a day all to himself, too. I promised Melanie we would get her hair cut today... she loves that. Geraniums for the front porch are on the horizon for purchasing. A few groceries are needed; Melanie loves to go to Kroger. A trip to WalMart will likely be required. It is supposed to be somewhat sunny and in the 60's today. If that ends up being true a trip to the park will likely be requested by my darling daughter. Trips to the park almost always require some new pictures to be taken. New pictures mean some new postings on the website... which is good news for all. :)

3 months?

You may be asking yourself... why has it been 3 months since new pictures have been posted? Well.. I have no good excuse. I think you'll find these pictures are worth the wait. :)

Melanie is knawing at the bit for spring weather. She is so into riding her bike. Matt made a mini bike course for her in the garage... here she is tearing it up!!

So why is Melanie smiling like she just had the best day in the world in the next two pictures? Because she DID!! Imagine being asked "Smile if that was awesome!". That is exactly what Matt asked her and then snapped a couple photos... read on for the full story.

A couple weekends ago the Motorcycle and Boat show was in town in Indy at the State Fairgrounds. Matt took Melanie with him for a daddy-daughter day. She got to ride real, true-to-form motorcycles made for toddlers. The cycles even had training wheels so they could steer while accelerating. That's right folks.. our baby girl loves to drive FAST and she was quite a natural!! She steered by herself, controlled the throttle, and gave the attendants a workout!! Enjoy the next few pictures...

Here she is getting her motorcycle helmet removed after riding...

Go go go!!!

For those of you readers who are music fans..... Matt made Melanie some homemade guitars about a month ago. Here she is rocking out!
Smokey couldn't let Melanie rock-out by herself... he is in the background putting in his own beat.
At the beginning of April Melanie is moving up to the next classroom at daycare the "4-year olds" room. Yes, she is not 4. However, they are moving her up with the rest of her class. My fears of her not being to keep up were relieved when I found out she is one of the top ranked in her class. She knows her colors, numbers, alphabet, is counting, and keeping up with the best of them. She is a normal 3 1/2 year old... we are so excited to see her becoming her own person.

They best summary of her personality occurred at the dinner table a couple weeks ago. Matt, Melanie, and I were sitting down together for supper. I was drinking from my glass and spilled. I know, shocker right? Out of Melanie's mouth comes the best advice ever, "Mommy, use two hands and you won't spill". Really? Gosh... why didn't think of that? We couldn't be prouder. Who would have thought two techies/programmers could produce another troubleshooting, analytical thinker? We are truly blessed.

Melanie's arm bone in her left arm (the radius) popped out of the ligament-slot yesterday at daycare. It was a chilling phone call that woke me up in the early afternoon hours. I am glad we live only 10 minutes from her daycare and another 10 minutes to her doctor's office/hospital.

It was the second time her joint had dislocated in the last 6 months. She is such a trooper and hardly ever complains about pain. The first time it happened I rushed her to the doctor after making a call to them on the way there, they took 2 seconds, and her arm was good as new. Yesterday's visit did not go quite so well.

This time it took about 10 to 15 minutes for the doctor to work her arm back into place. Now, that was my estimation in mommy-time. It was more like 2 to 5 minutes. I am generally calm under those situations, but I have never heard her in so much extruciating pain in a short period of time. My tough demeanor cracked a little in that moment. Her poor little limp arm took a beating but it finally popped back into place. We knew the last time it happened that her arm would be more likely to pop out again until the joint matures around 4 to 5 years old. Let me just say that I am glad it all turned out okay.

I had worked the previous two nights in a row. I had only gotten about 1 1/2 hours of sleep when the daycare called me. After her arm got set she was not as happy about it as the last time it happened. I decided to make an afternoon out of it and spend some mommy-daughter time. We went into the main part of the hospital and got a snack from their cafeteria. We stopped in to see my friend, Kari, who works there. Next, we went to get her hair cut. She loves that place because it is kid friendly. After that we drove through the car wash. Melanie loves to see "Bruce" (that's my station wagon's name) get a bath. Before hitting our next stop we picked her cousin, Sara, up from school. We ended the afternoon by going to Debbie's house.

Melanie got to hang out with Debbie, her mother-in-law, and her cousins. Debbie watched Melanie while I ran into work for a meeting. Matt picked her up, took her to the park, and after my meeting I met them for a family supper at IHOP.

I put Melanie to bed, layed down myself and woke up about 3 hours ago. I am wide awake and Melanie will be getting up in 2 hours. At least I haven't lost my night-shift zone even though my sleeping time got interrupted by her injury. It was all worth it to make sure she was okay.

So... good morning everyone. Here is to a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Leading Up to Christmas

Our home is gearing up for the Christmas holiday. One of the most important things to do is prepare for the frolicking in the snow. A recent trip to WalMart did not provide Melanie with a black scarf, gloves, and hat she wanted. Who would have thought that we'd find exactly what she wanted at our local Kroger store. Wow... go figure. She adores her black polar bear hat and scarf. I captured a picture of her with it on along with the matching mittens. The gloves have since been "played with" by Jessie... so Melanie is down to the scarf and hat.

Last evening was Melanie's daycare Christmas program. We were unable to get any good pictures of the program itself. We did capture her enjoying a snack afterwards and then walking up to the front of the auditorium. The program was precious. In true toddler fashion Melanie floated up and down the stands a little bit enjoying some unplanned play time with one of her classmates.

Debbie, Sara, Robbie, and Katie came over for my PartyLite Open House/Clearance sale last weekend. Katie and Melanie enjoyed some fresh snow with a couple spoons and candy.

On Thanksgiving at Debbie's house it started snowing. Katie and Melanie were jumping up and down in giddy enjoyment. You can't tell it from this picture, but there were some large snowflakes coming down outside.

Life in general has been busy for our home. My work is bringing up two hospitals on Cerner so our work schedule is not "normal" until after the Christmas holiday. I have been working some 12-hour night shifts and then working during the days in between. My next 12 hour evening shift is tomorrow evening (Sunday night). It has been exhausting and fun all at the same time. Matt's work is keeping him super busy, also. He was working at home last night on a current project until the wee hours of the morning.

Today we are going to put up our family Christmas tree. Melanie has not done that before so I am pretty sure she will have a great time. I will take some pictures and get them posted soon.

School Pictures

Melanie had school pictures taken a few weeks ago. We just got them, so I thought I should scan them in to share.















We thought they turned out well.

Halloween

Scooby Dooby Boo!

We'll add more later. but had to put one up to share.

Sunday, Oct. 24th, 2010

I will add narrative later... but here are some recent pictures.