Arm Twins unite!:)

Today was such a great day! Going back a few months to September, I met a women at our Church who came up to me and said she has a daughter just like Maddie. She was such an encouragement to me telling all the things her daughter did and how nothing held her back. She played just about every sport, was a lifeguard, diving coach, and on Homecoming court. She is now married, and has two girls. I left MOPS that morning feeling so thankful that I met Patti. Later that afternoon I wished I had gotten her information not knowing if I would see her again at Church. Months past hoping I would run into her again. Well, just this Wednesday, 8 months later, we had our last MOPS. As I was just getting ready to leave the church building, guess who is walking right behind me? Yes, it was Patti! I told her how I wished I had gotten her information back in September so I could have e-mailed her daughter and hoped to be able to meet her someday. Then she told me her daughter was coming in this weekend and that they would be so happy to meet us, especially Maddie:) So today we went over to her house and met her daughter Cindy, her husband, and her two girls. And what a wonderful day it was!
Here is a picture of Cindy and Maddie. Cindy liked to call them the "stubby twins" because of their matching arms:) She was such a wonderful person to meet. She is super outgoing, and she said absolutely nothing held her back. She did every activity/sport you can think of and was incredible at everything she tried. Plus she gets 50% OFF MANICURES! She was written up in the paper many times for all her accomplishments in sports. She said she wore a prosthetic every day to school, and would play some sports with it, but when she got home it was the first thing she took off. As she got older, she stopped wearing a prosthesis. It was interesting to hear her perspective on this, since we are about to begin our journey on finding the right prothetic for Maddie. She was so glad her parents gave her the option to either wear one or not wear one. It was up to her, which is the same view we have as parents.

Here is a picture of Maddie with her two daughters.
They were as sweet as they look! It was so interesting hearing the stories they told us about their Mom. When they were little they thought all Moms only had one arm. Too cute! When they would see their Barbies or other peoples Barbies missing an arm they thought those were the Mom Barbies:) I love that! They were the sweetest girls, and I wish they lived here so they could baby sit Maddie. Cindy grew up in Oakbrook, so they are back for visits fairly frequent. So blessed to have met this wonderful family and had the opportunity to talk with Cindy. Once again, God and his timing are always perfect. Such a wonderful blessing from God. I love this!

A Couple Adventures!

Even though it's still cold out at least the sun has been out the past couple days! We have enjoyed spending some time outside with friends and doing fun things! Yesterday we decided to take the train to Glen Ellyn with some friends from our small group and their kids. We walked to the train station and made it just in time to catch the train to Glen Ellyn. It was a little nuts getting all 6 kids on the train with 3 strollers, but we did it:) The kids had so much fun riding the "choo, choo." When we got off the train we planned on going to 2Toots, a cute little train restaurant right off the tracks. It's the cutest little place to go with kids, but the line was out the door! 5 kids under the age of 4 don't understand "patience" I mean who would at that age? So we left 2Toots and found a cute little Mexican Restaurant to Eat at. It was a hysterically chaotic meal! After lunch, we headed to the Candy store to get some sweets for the kids before we piled back on the train to Elmhurst. Such a fun day and can't wait to do that again! Here are some pictures from yesterday.
All the kids on the train.
Notice, it's just Maddie and ALL boys.
The whole gang!
Enjoying the yummy food!
The Candy Store
All the kids waiting patiently for the train:)


Today Maddie and I met up with my friend Christine and her two girls, Emma and Shelly! We always have so much fun when we hang out! Since they live in the city and we are in Elmhurst, we don't see eachother as much as we'd like, but when we do we both get a "high" from being together:o) So today we met them at Navy Pier. We had so much fun walking around, eating, doing different kid activities, and just being together! Here are some pictures from our visit! So thankful to only be 20 minutes from the city so Maddie can have every opportunity!

Gotta love those silly mirrors!
Christine and I were having more fun than the girls!

Pointing at someone in a funny costume. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing.
Maddie and Shelly walking around holding hands.
Maddie having fun riding the train! Something she likes to do everywhere we go:)
Such a fun day with great friends! We are looking forward to the next time!!

Here are just a few other pictures of my VERY happy girl!

TWO YEAR OLD PICS!

Maddie was being a little serious during the photo shoot, but we were still able to get some cute shots! Here are some of the pictures of our grown up 2 year old!

It's been a while!

Too many things have happened since Maddie b day (my last post) I don't even know where to begin.

1.The snow storm of 2011 was a blast and we had a wonderful time playing in the snow and hanging out with our neighbors.
2. Lot and lots of playdates with friends and neighbors!
3. MOPS, which we love every other wednesday @ CCOB.
4. Moms day out on friday mornings for 3 1/2 hours, which is time I love to be able to do errands and just have "me" time.
5. Signing Maddie up for preschool starting September 2011. She will go 2 days a week on tuesdays and thursdays:)
6. Bob and I went to Arizona for 5 days, while my Mom watched Maddie back at our house. We had such a blast getting away to warm weather!
7. Trips to the mall so Maddie can ride the Choo Choo.
8. Walks into town for some starbucks.
9. Hanging out at the Elmhurst library and going to Mother Goose.
10. And the best- Watching Maddie grow up and come up with the funniest lines! She is such a "hoot"
11. Maddie has her first trip to the dentist checked by Dr. Matt Jensen and Bumpa Jensen.

Here are some pictures of what has been going on lately:)
I got a little carried away with the hairspray!
Starbucks
Baking cookie bars
blizzard 11'
Uncle Matt, the Dentist
Playdate with Shelley and Emma
I told Maddie to go put her shoes to take a walk outside, and she put on my high heels, and says " Mama, Pretty shoes walk"
Arizona!
Arizona:o)

Here is a short little video of Maddie, our little ham!

BIRTHDAY BASH!

I can't believe our little girl turned 2 years old yesterday!!! Last weekend we started by celebrating by taking Maddie downtown for an overnight and swimming in the pool at the hotel. Maddie enjoyed having the pool all to herself and she also enjoyed warming up the in sauna. It was pretty hysterical how much she enjoyed herself!

Then on her actual birthday, which was yesterday, we had an ELMO party for her at our house with family for a low key evening. We opened gifts, ate some yummy dinner, and then had some Elmo cupcake with cream cheese frosting that I had made. We had a great time of laughs with Maddie as our entertainer! She is one hilarious little girl who loves being around people! I believe she thrives in big groups! Hmmmm I wonder who else in our family likes to be in groups of people? LoL. Like Mother like Daughter. We are so thankful for Madeline Grace's Life and how much joy she has brought to our whole family. She is such a miracle and it has be so incredible how the Lord has blessed her life and how far she has come. I know there are BIG plans for this little one. So, with all that said here are some pictures from her party yesterday:o)