A Couple of Firsts

Logan had his first bite of rice cereal this week. This was his first response. And second response. And third... The boy wasn't too fond of the ole' rice!

But, as always, this happy little baby was a good sport!

EDIT: Logan also rolled over for the first time last night. He even rolled over for us several times while we video taped him!

This little young lady started Mother's Day Out again this week. I got her all dolled up on Tuesday. She even let me put a little bow in her hair!

I asked her to please smile for her so I could take a picture and guess what?!! She did!!!

Logan's first day of MDO was today. I was a little worried about him because he has never been great at taking a bottle. I nurse him every chance I can and the only time he normally has a bottle is when he is in the nursery at church or is at one our parents' houses. When I picked him up, they said he did great with the bottle...guzzled them down. That made me feel a lot better! They also said he was such a good baby...because he is!

Momma thoroughly enjoyed her time during MDO today. I feel like a brand new woman. I was able to run several errands and go out to lunch. It's amazing how fast you can get in and out of a store without an infant carrier! I'm so thankful for MDO!

My cousin Jennifer was up in AR visiting this past week and came by to play with the kids on Monday. Madison enjoyed walking around in her boots! She loves Jennifer...or any visitor who stops by to see her for that matter.

I missed the last couple of monthly birthday posts with pics/stats, but I just can't keep up with that. So, that may have to discontinue. I still need to blog a little more on Christmas...I'll get around to it eventually.

5 Christmases...Part I

We had five Christmases this year. (What a statment! And it so describes our busy life!) We had Christmas with just our family, with my family, with Gabe's family, and with both sets of my grandparents in Texas. I'm STILL unpacking from Texas. I believe I only have the kids suitcase left to unpack. It is just so hard to get things done with two little ones. And yes, my Christmas decorations are still up. Hopefully they will get taken down this weekend.

I'll begin with our family Christmas. We weren't sure when to have ours since we would be in TX on Christmas day, so we decided to just have it after we returned home. We celebrated our family Christmas the morning after we returned. Gabe put together Madison's kitchen and I laid out all of her presents around the tree the night before. The next morning she was quite excited! We went and got her from her room and told her it was time to open up her presents. This is her running into the living room. Playing with her new kitchen...Betty Crocker in training!

Logan enjoyed watching...

Her kitchen came with a telephone. Madison wasted no time. She had friends to call!

We gave Madison two adorable outfits, several snowman items (because she LOVES snowmen right now), a few stocking stuffers, and a froggy potty. Potty training is in the near future! I'm not going to rush it, but I thought it was probably time to have a potty sitting in the bathroom just in case!

Stay tuned for 5 Christmases, Part II...

Happy New Year!

Started off the New Year with a bang by running a 5k this morning with a group from church. This year was the 1st annual Resolution Run. It was bitter cold, but I had fun running with friends. My running partner, Megon, is around 18 weeks pregnant. Props to her for completing the race. She's one fast momma!

Last night, we rung in 2011 at the Kirtley's. I figured we'd be gone by around 9:30pm, but the kids had a lot of fun playing (aka running around the house) and lasted until a little after 11pm. Wow!

The Frey Fam

Cale, Madison, & Bennett

The 3 Musketeers plus Logan

Have a blessed year!

Update on the Crib Climber...

EDIT: Here is the pic of the coverted crib that I mentioned earlier.

Well, I'm sure you are all dying to know what the "crib climber" has been up to lately. We had planned on converting her crib to a toddler bed the night after she climbed out of her crib for the first time, but time got away from us and it didn't get converted. We decided to let her sleep in her crib again and just put a baby gate at the door. So we did. And guess what? The little toot climbed OVER the baby gate the next morning when she woke up and pranced to our room to greet us. The good news is she slept in her bed all night until morning. The bad news is she is VERY smart!

We saw a taller gate at Wal-Mart and I went back and bought it. We were going to put it up right before we went to bed and realized that you had to mount it to the wall, which we were not about to do. So, we just closed her door almost all the way, but left a little crack. She slept all night in her bed and then greeted us in our room the next morning.

Sunday afternoon, Gabe finally was able to covert her crib. It's still a crib, but the front has a toddler rail instead of the regular front crib panel. It's pretty cute, and she really likes it. She still tries to climb out of it the old way, but that will soon get old. I'm not afraid of her getting hurt because she's a monkey at heart, and can climb her way up or down almost anything.

Last night she slept in her converted bed all night long, but came and greeted us this morning. That's just part of it. She's waking up earlier and instead of talking and playing in her crib, she comes to greet us. Yay us! I wondered how naptime would go, but she's down now for a nap and didn't make a fuss. Now, I don't know if she stayed in her bed because the door is closed, but I know she's asleep and has been for a while.

So, maybe it's not so bad after all. Check back later for a pic of her new converted crib! I'm not about to wake my sleeping beauty.

Toddler on the Loose!

This morning as I was sleeping, I heard someone walk into my room. Several, soft footsteps. I immediately knew who it was and thought to myself, unbelievable! She be bopped in like it was no big deal. Normal. Oh, my. What are we going to do with her?

Yes, she. Miss Priss. She climbed out of her crib, walked across the house, and into my room. This was a first. She's climbed in and out of the crib before, but only with me sitting in the rocking chair next to the crib. I had playfully assisted her in and out of her crib as she climbed all over me while I was nursing her Bubba.

I thought maybe she would forget about her new trick come nap time. Well, she didn't. I put her in her crib a little before noon and went into the living room to nurse Logan. I was sitting on the couch when I heard what sounded like someone running into a door. I thought to myself, "Could it be?" I dismissed the idea until I heard her playing with the door knob trying to open the door. "Mama"... "Mama".... followed by frustrated cries. I couldn't believe it. The little toot had climbed out of her crib again. She had mastered her trick and there was no turning back. I went into her room, put her back into the crib, and told her I'd go get her some more juice. As I came back to her room, I peeked in the crack in the doorway and watched her throw her leg over the side of the crib, lower herself down on her stomach, put her feet in between the bars of her crib onto her mattress, and gracefully lower herself down to the ground.

Unbelievable!

She never took a nap. Don't know if she ever will again. And I just thought motherhood was hard! Merry Christmas, Momma!

D.P.T.

Congratulations, Gabe Matthew Freyaldenhoven, D.P.T.

I'm so proud of you Gabe! You have spent NUMEROUS hours reading, studying, taking tests, and completing projects over the past year and a half, and you have finally graduated with your doctorate in Physical Therapy! Way to go! I think you deserve this...

(Garmin running watch w/heart rate monitor that he's had his eye on!)

I'm so ready to have my baby daddy back. Being a single mom is NO FUN!

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7

Christmas Parade

We decided last minute to take Madison to the Christmas Parade tonight. I drove her around our neighborhood a little the other night to show her Christmas lights and in Madison words, she "loved it!" At each house she would say, "I love it!" Since she liked the lights so much, we figured she would love the parade...

...and she did!

She saw several snowmen, Santa, a monkey, several bands, and LOTS of lights!

She loved it!