Weekend off for Mike

Mike works a lot and so we don't have a lot of weekends together. So when he isn't working we try and go out and do stuff. Today (actually yesterday) ended up being a REALLY nice day, so we took our time getting ready and let Payton play outside in the morning. Once we were ready we went to Edmonds Beach and Payton played at the playground, and we walked out to the water and found shells, seaweed (payton thought were snakes), and Mike showed Payton how to skip rocks on the water. We went to the mall and Mike and I both got some workout shoes, and Payton got a toy from the Disney store and we also got a Wii game. We came home and Barbequed some steaks, grilled asparagus, roasted potatoes, and I made a big salad. Payton then played "lets dance" (the game we bought) on the Wii. She LOVES it. Totally gets into it. Her favorite song was Hot N' Cold to dance to. It was cute! I then made some cookies for dessert.

On our way to the beach

Beautiful Day

Looking for some good rocks to skip

the girls and I

Ice Caves

We had plans on Monday, the day after Mother's Day to hike up to the Ice Caves. It was supposed to rain so we made other plans to go bowling, and go out for pizza. I really didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn, wake up Payton and go hike up a Mountain with a crazy grumpy 3 year old..just potty trained and won't pee ANYWHERE else but a little potty, an infant in a stroller and 1500 (ok 8) other children under the ages of 10, in the cold, and mud to look at ice. Apparently I was a party pooper.

So I get a call Wednesday late morning. It was my sister from Minneapolis that is here visiting, telling me that they were going to go to the Ice Caves. I told them to go ahead and go without us. Then I realized it was nice out, a good 65 degrees, the sun was shining, and Payton was already up and ready to go out and do stuff. So we drove our little butts out to the ice caves. It was a pretty drive and the hike was fine. I just don't recommend strollers...but it wasn't too bad. Madyson slept pretty much the entire hike and Payton had to sit on the stroller my sister was pushing, but she did walk a little. It was pretty when we reached the Ice "caves". The caves were no longer...they had been avalanched over, so really alls you could see were glaciers at the base of the mountain.

There are 4 Ice Caves / Avalanches at the base of the mountain. This picture doesn't really show how BIG it really was. But they were HUGE. I was pretty far away

On the way back down...

Not everyone was able to go on the day we went. So it was just both of my sisters, their kids, and Jen's husband Brian.

The Girls

Well I am happy to announce that I officially have a potty trained 3 year old. It is about time. I finally just decided to let her decide when she wants to go. And so she did. She only wears pull-ups at night, and LOVES to announce when she goes poopy or pee on the potty. She even makes me go in and look just about EVERY time. The only trouble we are having is her going to the bathroom anywhere but our house, my mom's, or her cousin's. Honey Buckets are out of the question and anything that is a stall or a "Big Potty". Oh well, she will come around..eventually, just maybe not the Honey buckets, I still have a hard time walking in one of those.

Madyson is now almost 10 weeks old. We went to an appt. a few days ago and she weighed 10 lbs 9 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long, she is in the 25% range for her age. She is a petite little thing, with a cute little belly. She is sleeping alllll through the night, which makes me a happy camper. She is a very calm little girl. She only cries when she wants to eat or to be held. She does like to be held a lot though. She likes to cuddle, and smiles all the time for me, especially right when she wakes up. Payton and her look soooo much a like at this age, its crazy. I will have to find 2 pictures to do a side by side. The only difference is the hair. Madyson is totally a red head.

This is Payton at 3 or 4 months...I'm still looking for a good picture of Madyson to compare

Just the other day I took the day to completely clean out Payton's room, re-paint her furniture, and move it around so I had room for the crib. I think it turned out cute. I just need to get letter's and paint them for above Madyson's crib. Payton was soo excited to get to sleep in the same room with her, but she may have changed her mind now that she can't be loud when Madyson is in there sleeping.

Sorry the pictures are so bad, I only really ever use my camera on my phone. My digital camera is about done for.

Announcements.....I NEED ADDRESSES!!!!

I have FINALLY gotten the announcements to send out for Madyson. I ended up taking the pictures myself and then making the collage on the computer. I just have to pick them up from Costco and mail them. So this means I need addresses, that is if you want one :).

Addresses I have recieved already are:
Grandma and Grandpa Schitoskey
Jimmy and Sherry
Kelley and Dean

Haha, sad I know. I don't have a lot as you can see, so send me yours and anyone else's as I want to get them out to all the family and friends as possible. I will get them out this week.

Mother's Day

The weather here has been getting nicer and nicer, and we have been able to spend more time outside and keep our windows open. It was a really nice Mother's Day and we spent it with all of my family. My sister and her family were able to make it from Minneaplolis and spend Mother's Day with us as well. We haven't all been together for a few years, so of course we had to take a family picture. Dinner was yummy. We marinated a turkey and BBQ'd it. We have never done it like that before but it turned out good, so it may end up happening every year.

Mike and Payton cooked me breakfast that morning and I kinda had a lazy day. As lazy as I could with an 8 week old baby. But it was nice that I didn't have to do everything I normally do.

From Left to Right: Lauren, Madyson, Grandma, Hailee, Kaitlyn, Samantha, Grandpa, Lilly, Emma, Payton, Madelyn and Cole.

All the family and wives, husbands, and grandkids all together.