Misser Tater Head

One of Madi's friends gave her a Mister Potato Head. This one has so many more parts than I remember him ever having! Still included are the glasses...


and no I did not ask her to do this because I thought it would make a cute picture. If you look closely, you can see that she is going cross-eyed to look through the holes.

Birthday number 2

So last year for Madi's birthday we went to a Mexican restaurant. We had a great time, so we thought we would make it a tradition. Somehow this year didn't go over as well as last year. She wanted nothing to do with the big birthday hat or the singing...(I know this picture looks like something out of a dream sequence but we realized that Madi had gotten hold of the camera and put her fingerprints on the lens. At least it was an inexpensive fix.)



The cupcake was a big hit (sans candles...of course. I guess it is a good thing that my kid doesn't like fire at this point in her life and mine.)



The presents seemed to go over well this time around as well.





We can hardly believe that Madi is two! Time has flown by. We love our little Ms. Independent.

A week with Grandma

Madi was able to have her grandma stay with her this week. Grandma got to join us for all sorts of fun things. So many fun things in fact that we neglected to take pictures of them! One of the fun things we got to do was go to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Cactus Gardens.


We got to celebrate Madi's birthday with Grandma while she was here. Madi wasn't too thrilled with the idea of a birthday party, until she realized that it meant she got to eat a birthday cupcake. She didn't like the candles or the singing - or the idea of presents at first.





Thanks for a fun visit Grandma!

The Ongoing War...

The battle over rest continues at the Nelson house. Madi has resulted to a laundry list of concerns or problems when put in her crib. Some of the items on her laundry list include:

1 - I dropped my milk
2 - I dropped my bear/blanket/book/etc
3 - More Milk/chocolate milk/water
4 - I pooped (yes, she does say this...)
5 - I just need my diaper changed
6 - All done sleeping (sounds more like sweeping...but those "l"s are hard sounds to make...)

This afternoons battle was a hard fought but ultimately futile effort on her part. I have gotten to the point that I stop listening to whatever it is she dropped or needs if she is screaming. When she finally calmed down enough to sleep I went in to check on her. I realized as I walked in exactly what she had been saying...



"I dropped my bear, I dropped the milk, I dropped the duck..." you get the picture. At least she is telling the truth...she did drop all the things she said she did.



I guess she ran out of things to throw out of her crib and just gave up. Hopefully she will soon learn that sleep really would be best. Then again she has both parents stubborn influence. Boy are we in for trouble...

Family Outing with Friends

It has been rather hot here in the desert. (*I know, "imagine that"...) Saturday morning we decided to beat the heat and head for the hills. We ended up heading to Mount Charleston for a picnic. We got a late start but got to clean out our Fridge for sandwiches. I'd call that a good day despite the bad tempered toddlers and light rain showers. Here are a few pictures of our outing.

Here is the beginning of our trip...with both kids happy and in the very back of the car. (Smart idea dad!)



Here is our little hiker. This kid wanted to climb all the way to the top of this mountain path. I was impressed.



Here is the path from the bottom.



Pudding or dirt...?



Both kids finally fell asleep in the back of the car on the way home. Brad would slow down and both their heads would bob forward and snap back into place. I didn't get a picture of it...although I wish I had.

110 degrees...no problem...

These pictures make 110 degrees a little easier to live with...





My brain is fried so I have no whitty captions...

San Diego Zoo & Grandma's house

We decided to spend Independence Day Weekend at Grandma's house. We all had a good time. We were able to go to the San Diego Zoo. It was good weather and that not too many other people had the same idea as us, so the zoo wasn't that crowded. Here are a few shots of the day...




We were a little busy making sure that she didn't walk into people or cross under the railings and such to remember to take pictures of her looking at the animals, so we had a photo shoot when we had lunch.

After a very long day, Madi decided that Grandpa made the best bed and fell asleep. Grandpa decided that he had a long day and the best thing for him to do was fall asleep too.