Life's a Zoo

We have had a nightmare contractor experience. We hired somebody to paint our house. He turned out to be CRAZY, worked as few hours a day as possible, drank on the job, and also was doing a crappy job when he was here. He lied to us about his license and a few other things, so when we found out and confronted him, he started making up really weird lies. He said that he had an audiotape of me calling him the "N" word and some other term that is derogatory against Hispanic people. Well of course that isn't true...and it doesn't even make sense as he is a white guy! We ended up firing him. Then we lived in fear for a few days that he was going to retaliate either against us or against our house, but so far he has not shown up again. Not even to pick up the stuff that he left here. Unfortunately we had already paid him some money that we will now not get back, but at this point we are willing to cut our losses to just be done with it.

Here is a picture that we took to show how he couldn't even paint a straight line. Also you can see the new color we have chosen for the house. It is called "Thatch Brown." We are actually quite happy with the color. And, in the end things are going to work out just fine, as they always do. Our awesome friend, Michael, is going to paint our house for a very reasonable price, and we feel good about it since he and his family are saving to adopt a child (or children) from Ethiopia.

I am so thankful Maddie has no idea what is going on. Here she is just playing in the yard as we are surveying the house and taking pictures to document everything.

This morning we went to the zoo to take advantage of $2 Tuesday. We met our friends Becca and Jack. We had a great time. We started out seeing the animals of the Pacific northwest, then went to the sea animals, and ended with a live bird show with eagles and hawks flying right over us! Unfortunately Maddie got tired then and let it be known that she was ready to go. NOW! But it was good timing as the zoo gets crazy busy on $2 Tuesday. That is why we go right when the open and leave before it gets too crowded.

Two owlets in the big nest!

Becca with her hands full!

self portrait!

In front of the duck pond.

riding the camel

If I may indulge in a little brag session...Maddie's verbal comprehension skills are taking off!

Today I was trying to entertain Maddie while we were getting ready for the zoo. I was going through all the animals and the noises they make. Right after I did cow, she went into the living room, grabbed her stuffed cow, and brought it to me to make it moo. Smart girl! She also can differentiate between three choices now. I held up three stuffed animals and asked her which one was baby. She picked up the baby and began rocking it. Oh yeah, she has also learned how to hiss like a snake. So cute! AND, she knows where her eyes, ears, head/hair, nose, mouth and belly button are. If you ask her where her belly button is she will lift up her shirt and point!!

One other fun thing you might enjoy. Click here for a link to my friend Sarah's blog. She has a posting dedicated to the BBQ that we hosted for their family last weekend. She captured some great moments!

Sickie

Unfortunately Maddie has been sick for the past two weeks!!

It started off exactly two weeks ago today with a cough and runny nose. At that point she still had energy and it just seemed like a mild cold. Then on Monday of the three day weekend, she developed a fever before bed. When she woke in the morning on Tuesday it had jumped to 102 degrees. I called the nurse and they advised me as long as she wasn't dehydrated to wait it out at home. So all day Tuesday she had a fever and I held her all day long and she took like 6 naps on my chest. Poor thing was burning up and had no energy. That night the fever got up to 104 at one point and they still weren't concerned when I called back again. The next morning the fever was still there and she also was super fussy and seemed uncomfortable like she was in pain. So I made an appt for 10:40 that morning. Wouldn't you know it by about 9:30 her fever broke and when we saw the doctor she was fine. No fever, no ear infection, no nothing. She screamed the whole time the doctor was examining her though and I was feeling like taking her in was a mistake. Then on Thursday her first molar made a tiny bump above the gum line on her lower left side. On Friday the fever came back (but only at 100.8) for another 24 hours. I called the doctor again on Saturday morning and they still weren't concerned.

The fever is now gone, the cough and runny nose are still lingering, and the bottom right molar is also making an appearance. So my best guess is that she is teething and also caught a little virus at the same time. Nothing serious, but enough to make her very uncomfortable and fussy. So we have been giving her lots of extra TLC, especially in the middle of the night when she has been waking up, and a fair amount of Tylenol and Motrin for the pain. I hope we are on the mend. I want to see her feeling 100% soon.

In the mean time, with the exception of the days she had the high fever, we have been getting in a lot of fun play time. Here are some pictures:

I had to pull out the front pack the other day when Maddie was really fussy and I walked her around til she fell asleep. Later she carried her baby in it.

Look at the matching dress and purse made by Mimi!

What's inside the purse?

Maddie's cell phone.

"Hello. Who is it?"

Another fun thing that she has been doing is instead of getting out of bed right away when she wakes up from a nap, she is grabbing all her stuffed animals and playing with them in her crib. It is really cute. I turn on her music CD and we sing and she plays for a good 20 minutes. It gives me time to get ready in the morning!

As if we don't have enough going on right now, we are getting our house and patio awning painted. We are so looking forward to getting rid of the ugly dark trim! We have also been busy in the yard, so we are ready for backyard BBQs this summer!

water baby

We hope everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend!!! We had an awesome 3-day weekend. On Saturday we enjoyed our first round of par 3 golf as a family. Maddie walked the holes with Grammy, stopping to hit balls with her clubs, and play in the sand traps. On Sunday we enjoyed a fabulous day at the Oregon Coast (Lincoln City), and on Monday we hosted a backyard BBQ for some of our friends. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed it to the fullest!

Here are some photos from our beach trip. Maddie started out by playing with her toys in the sand and watching the kites, until she realized there was water. She beelined for the waves and had no fear about getting wet. She and I jumped waves while Tony took pictures (the water was too cold for him) . After each wave I walked her back toward shore to see if she had enough, and she kept pulling me back to the water. It was an awesome moment for us as parents to see her sheer joy and innocence as she played in the waves for the first time.

Maddie played hard and took a good nap in her stroller while we relaxed on a blanket. Tony wanted to rest his eyes while Maddie napped, so to be safe, he tied the tether strap from the stroller to his ankle...I laughed at him, thinking it was such a boy/McGuyver move. Then we left the beach and found place called Regatta Park with the coolest play structure ever!! For those of you who have kids you have to check it out. It was huge wooden play structure with many slides, a tightrope, a xylophone, bouncy bridges, monkey bars, swings. We played there for another hour and a half before we had to eat dinner and head for home. What a fun day!

Maddie crawled a lot in the sand. She found it easier than walking.

I had to hold her back!

She got soaked and she loved it! It was only about 64 degrees but she didn't care. She would have liked to play in the water for longer, but we eventually felt like she needed to dry off and warm up.

"Can we go again....pretty please?"

BBQ

Maddie had her first taste of BBQ this weekend. In fact we had 3 BBQs! She preferred turkey burger with ketchup! (Ignore the fact that she looks like a boy in these pictures. She was wearing her "My Mom's a Fox" shirt.)

One of our BBQ parties was at Grandpa Randy & Robyn's house. After lunch Grandpa and Maddie enjoyed running through the sprinklers.

"All Duh" (Maddie's version of "all done")

Central Oregon & Mother's Day

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Central Oregon. We stayed in a friend's timeshare at Eagle Crest resort. It was a very relaxing trip and we got to spend a lot of good family time together. The first few days we were there it was cold and rainy, but luckily we found an indoor play gym for Maddie. She practiced riding a bike, pushing babies in a stroller, climbing up and down the slide. It was fun and it wore her out!

The next few pictures are from our hike at Smith Rock State Park.

We encountered 3 differnet snakes along the path!!!!!

The following pictures are from two different days, both at the Newberry Volcano park just past Sunriver. There was a nice hike along the river, and we also walked around the perimeter of the cindercone.

We love our new B.O.B stroller! Wish we would have bought it when Maddie was born!

We had to make a lot of stops on all of our hikes for Maddie to get out and walk. She is a little nature girl!

This picture is at the top of the forest fire lookout.

This is the edge of the cindercone.

This picture is at the playground at Eagle Crest on Mother's Day. My mom was able to come join us for Mother's day. We had a nice Mother's Day brunch and then took a hike along the river, and then played at the park before we headed home. As part of my mother's day gift, I was treated to a massage and pedicure at the resort spa on Friday.

Maddie liked all the wildlife. We saw geese, swans, deer, wild rabbits, snakes, chipmunks....

And finally the weather warmed up on our last few days and we got some great views of the mountains.

And yes, I was a nice wife and let Tony golf 3 different courses while we were there. In fact, our good friends John and Shawna came up and the boys golfed while the girls hung out, and then we had a great BBQ afterward....and 4 bottles of wine!!

While it wasn't sunny Palm Springs, it was a much needed vacation and break from our hectic schedules.

Third Time is Tulip Time

For those of you who were wondering about whether or not we made it to the Tulip Festival....we finally did!! Maddie and I went last Friday afternoon. It was a tad bit windy, and a few little rain drops fell, but it wasn't crowded at all and we still got to see and do everything. Next year, however, I have already informed Tony that he is coming too. It was a little difficult trying to take in the beauty, and trying to get pictures while Maddie was eating dirt and pulling petals off the tulips. Also it was interesting navigating the restrooms....I mean outhouses....with a curious toddler.

Gosh we live in a beautiful place!!
"Mom, I don't want to pose for you!"

The prettiest tulip in the festival!

Flowers almost as tall as Maddie.

So I let her touch a little bit...

Some nice tourists offered to take a picture of us together.

Maddie thought the tulips were okay, but it was tough for her to walk over the little dirt hills, and she was much more interested in playing in the dirt and crushed hazelnut shells they had for ground cover. Maddie humored me and walked all the way out to the end of the tulip fields with me, and I humored her and we rode the tram back to the kiddie area. She got to climb hay bales and go down some slides, and do a rubber duck race by pumping a water well. Then as we were walking out, we walked through the garden area where you can picnic (or have a wedding) and hidden in the garden was a child's play house with a picnic table and all kinds of kitchen toys in it. I could hardly drag Maddie away. She loves to play pretend.

Two more cute Maddie updates: Her new phrase is "oh wow" which she says all the time and sometimes it actually sounds like she is commenting on the conversation. Also she has learned what "jump"means. She squats down and then extends her knees, but she doesn't' actually get any air yet. I have to get it on video. It is so darn cute!!

Stay tuned for updates from our Central Oregon vacation.