One Year!

Ophelia Ryan.

You are a firecracker.

You are a snuggle bunny.

I have so enjoyed watching you grow over this past year.

You are so different from your older sister.

She was shy and timid.

You definitely are not.

I am so thankful you were sent to join our family and you fit so perfectly into it.

You challenge me everyday, but you make up for it with all the snuggles and love I want.

I can finally say you are a great napper and sleep well at night.

You are an early bird though. I hope that changes a bit and you learn to sleep in a little bit.

These 5:30 am wake up calls make my day feel way too long!

You still eat pretty much anything we give you.

And absolutely adore your big sister.

You are not walking yet, but you take 3-4 steps here and there.

It will be soon I'm sure.

Happy 1st Birthday Ophelia Ryan.


SIX

Madelyn Claire

I'm just going to go crawl into a corner right now.

I cannot believe what a beautiful, strong, independent girl you are becoming.

You make us proud every day.

You are sweet and silly.

You are determined and strong headed.

We are so proud of you and how hard you work to be a good sister and friend.

Ophelia adores you and I know you do her.

You have so many friends at school and I can see why.

You are still super picky with your food, but luckily we can get you to try one bite of anything we give you. There is a 99% chance you'll say you don't like it, but at least you try.

You are learning safety rules and independence in a new way with all the running around you do with your friends in the neighborhood. Sometimes I have to remind you that you are only 6. Although you seem to be going on 10. You want to do it all and see it all and I am proud of you for being so brave in all that you do.

Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Making Friends

To be a kid again. At least that's what I claim out loud. No adult responsibilities. It would be wonderful! Right?

Then again to watch Madelyn start Kindergarten and now move on to 1st grade I see and I am reminded how hard it can really be to be a kid.

Many 1st days of school to get through.

Trying to make friends.

Learning literally EVERTHING- from how to be a good citizen and human being to math and reading and writing.

To say I am so proud of Madelyn and all she does on a daily basis is an understatement.

Just the other day she came home from school and whispered in my ear:

Madelyn- mommy, guess what, I made a new friend today(all the smiles).

Me- Really!? You did? Where? Is your new friend in your class? Did you make friends at lunch or on the playground? (trying not to hound her with 20 questions- pretty much everyone likes her. She's hard not to like, so this isn't surprising to make a new friend. It's just she seems to have this fear within her to come out of her shell in front of others or even just talk to others)

Anyways- back to the cuteness of our conversation.

Madelyn- she's in my station in class. She asked me if I wanted to be her friend and I said yes(beaming).

Me- I am so proud of you! (Biggest hug)

Seems like such a small thing. But things like this are so big to her and mean a lot.

If only in our adult life we could make friends just by simply asking.

1st Grade- Here she comes

 Off to 1st grade with this one.

Seriously.

How does time do that to you?

She is one of the youngest in her class, but I know she is going to do great things this year!

She is super excited to have her BFF, Aryssa, in her class again and a few others that were in her class last year.

Favorite Backpack every by the way- It is Swiss Army brand. The print is super cute- I don't care for the character backpacks and thankfully Madelyn did not care and loved what I picked out for her.

I wanted this backpack for her in Kindergarten, but didn't want to spend that much at the time- I think it was around $30. Well, thanks to Target sales I was able to snag this backpack for about $7 after school started and they went on a huge clearance. Thanks Target!

Seneca Lake, NY

Our yearly trip to Seneca Lake.

One of the finger lakes in NY.

This year we drove. 

Not sure if that was the smartest idea or not, but flying was going to cost a pretty penny and just to imagine all the things we knew we wanted to pack for the trip- including 2 car seats- we knew flying was probably out of the question.

After our trip to Clearwater, FL where we chose to drive at night so the kids would be sleeping and soon realizing the only person this was benefiting was Ophelia- Madelyn had a tough time sleeping and I don't sleep well in the car because I am too paranoid trying to make sure the driver is attentive and making sure Madelyn is comfortable.

So not only did we decide to drive, but we decided to drive during the day.

People may think we are crazy.

A 14 hour car ride with a 5 year old and 10 month old.

Well, we are.

Not really. It actually turned out to be not too bad. I kept my expectations really low as to not be disappointed which helped. We drove while Ophelia napped and found places to play while she was awake- Target, book stores, playgrounds, etc...

The trip up we drove most of the day and spend the night in a cheap hotel (literally the only place in the area that had a room) and finished up the last few hours we had in the morning.

We spend the next 5 days at the lake swimming, swinging, relaxing in the sun, going for walks, eating ice cream and pretty much just being lazy bums which was wonderful.

 So much history in this house.

It is 147 years old.

And has been in the family since Matt's great grandfather purchased it.

Every year I learn something new about this place.

Ophelia's first dip in Seneca Lake.

 

 Bonfire night.

 'The big boat' that drives by everyday that Madelyn HAS to wave to.

 

 Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Baldauf.

Beautiful little cemetery with so much history.

 

  

 

The trip home we chose to do the same thing because we just could not imagine trying to drive 14 hours at night- no sleep and have to function the next day with a 5 year old and 10 month old.

The drive home we did the same thing- stopped for food and play time- as well as stopped for the night somewhere to finish the trek in the morning.

The trip home was not as pleasant as the way up. The girls did great, but we had reserved a room at a hotel around 7pm at night, knowing about how far we wanted to drive, and arrived at the hotel at about 11:30pm (Ophelia crying on and off the last hour of the drive- but we pushed through knowing that we were just about there). We get in the hotel and the not so friendly receptionist hands me a piece of paper with my name on it and a phone number to call and lets us know that we cannot stay there for the night. They were overbooked. To make a long story short- there were lots of tears- mine- about a 45 minute phone conversation trying to relocate us- everything in the area is booked. At this point we were in the car driving again because we were just killing time standing around in a town where there was no room for us. We finally found a room about and hour to an hour and a half further down the road. The only room they had left was a Jacuzzi room- Matt referred to as the Love Tub. We get to our room. Unpack. Madelyn and Ophelia acting like they are at some sort of party because it is now like one o'clock in the morning. We get a phone call that we need to lower our volume- we are being too loud and all I really want to do is laugh. I have been crying. I am tired. I am mad. Luckily everyone at the hotel was extremely nice and we woke up to a nice hot breakfast before getting back on the road. I've for sure learned my lesson- never trust when booking online. ALWAYS call the hotel to confirm they received your reservation and have room for you- even if you get a confirmation. The worst part was they didn't even try to call to let us know. They had from 7pm to 11:30 pm to let us know they did not have room for us, but they chose to let us know when we arrived- 2 kids and luggage in tow.

 The Harrisburger. Best burgers EVER!

I digress.

Vent over.

Thankful for much sun, great weather and family time.

Thank you Seneca Lake!