tales from a far-land

As I stated in my last post, we had been looking for a new preschool for Madilyn to attend since we were in the process of moving closer to downtown Phoenix.  Well, we found one and Madi enjoyed her first day of preschool three weeks ago on Monday, June 13th.  She is now the newest student at Anderson Prepatory Academy in Moon Valley.  Josh and I are very pleased with this learning instituion and their educational philosophy.  Madilyn has adapted very well to her new surroundings and teachers.  They have stated she is their ideal child, "Miss Happy-Go-Lucky".  Daily we received a journal report which gives us a glimpse of Madi's day.  So far, she has learned the following: Letters X, Y and Z Colors blue, yellow and green Shapes of cube, cylinder and rectangle And her numbers 1-10 A song that I have not deciphered, as of yet.  She just sways back and forth, singing "oh way, oh way, oh way ..." and then she claps when she is all done. It is so cute, but none

So, Friday was Madilyn's last day at daycare with Yolanda.  We have been looking for a new home closer to downtown and we knew this change was probably very close to happening for our family, so we decided that we should start looking into a preschool in the same location for Madi and for the new little one arriving in August.  It was a very hard decision to make.  Change is never fun!  Yolanda has become part of our family.  She is Madi's "Nana" and Josh's salsa distributor and my confidante.  There is no one more that I could have trusted with my first baby at six weeks old.  One of the things I will miss the *most* are my Madi text updates.  Here is the last one I will ever receive from Yolanda ... she sent it Friday morning.  "My last sad face while she waits for her oatmeal :) Going to miss this routine it happens every morning :) "  I cannot believe how deprived she looks as she waits for food.  But Yolanda loves her anyway, crying or not.  Here

Yesterday, I went to visit my OBGYN for my 30 week check up and 3D ultrasound.  Josh joined me for the ultrasound.  The main purpose of the 30 week ultrasound is to check the weight of the baby.  Well, guess what?  The baby already weighs 4 lbs., 10 ounces.  This is already a BIG baby.  And I still have 10 weeks to go.  Honestly, I am a little freaked out.  The baby is supposed to gain one pound a week during the last month of the pregnancy.  If that is true, then I will have well over a 9 pound baby and that doesn't even account for the six weeks in-between.  Yikes!  I'm scared! So, while we were in the ultrasound room, Josh and I went back and forth on whether or not we wanted to find out the gender of the baby.  I wanted to find out this time since we didn't find out last time.  Josh, on the other hand, still wanted it to be a surprise until the actual birth.  We continued to waiver back and forth until the ultrasound technician decided to write it down on a piece of p

Last Tuesday, Madilyn visited her pediatrician for her 15 month old check-up.  She is developing normally and the doctor was very happy with her growth and development.  She received a couple more vaccinations and only cried for a short bit, especially after Mommy rewarded her with Cheerios. Madilyn's stats as of this visit were: Head circumference - 18" (52nd percentile) Height - 30" (31st percentile) Weight - 22 pounds (62th percentile) Here are a couple of photos that I took while we were waiting for the physician.  Of course, in the last photo, she is munching away at some Cheerios.     Here are some of Madi's favorite things to do right now: Go outside.  Always!  As soon as we get home, she wants to go outside.  She even has started to mimic me by watering the potted flowers with her sippy cup. Throw things.  She thinks it is hilarious to play throw and catch.  She loves to throw balls, stuffed animals, blocks and then see if someone will throw it back