mom, santa brought presents!

Since we are heading for Kansas on Christmas Eve, we asked Santa to come this last Saturday night so we could celebrate Christmas here at home before we head out. I don't think Madison really understood what was going on, but she loved all the new toys. Santa got her a little people town, thomas the train set, tricycle, Play-doh and other stocking stuffers. The Little Mermaid doll was from Rick and I. She loved all of it, although we have to do the tricycle in small doses because she gets frustrated and doesn't understand how to make it work. Kids really do make Christmas better.

snacktime

After the park we had a cheese and cracker snack on the couch. Normally we eat at the table, but she did really good keeping the plate on her lap.

big kid at the park

Two weekends ago we had a nice 70 degree day. It was windy, but warm. So we went to the park for the first time in a while. Madison has decided lately that she had to do everything by herself. So she had to get on the big swing and swing herself. Then she had to slide down the slide all by herself. If we came to close she would shake her figure at us and say "no.no,no".

may the force be with you

Madison and her dad both had on their Star Wars shirts on two weekends ago.

trains at northpark

A couple of weekends ago we went to Northpark mall to check out the trains. We watched the Scrooge puppet show first. I'm not sure Madison knew what was going on. Then we went to the train exhibit. She loved watching all the trains. Although I think the Thomas and Percy trains where the favorites. The pictures don't do it justice, it was an elaborate set-up with towns, lakes, bridges and at least 40 train sets, if not more.

pigtails

More fun in the bathtub. I guess we need to start giving her pigtails more.

japanese maple

Our Japanese Maple tree in our courtyard is beautiful right now, so I had to include a picture.

decorating part 2

The weekend after Thanksgiving we decorated for Christmas. Madison did her best to help us decorate the tree with the non-breakable ornaments on the bottom of the tree.

we've created a monster

We let Madison pull a chair up to the counter one night while we were cooking dinner. Now she only wants to stand on the chair by the counter. She even wants to eat there. She used to get mad when we made her eat at the table with us, but she is getting better about it now. She does love to stand here.

mohawk, sort-of

Rick tried to give a Madison a mohawk in the bath but her hair is too long.

fun with the laundry basket

One night after Thanksgiving, Madison decided she needed to play in the laundry basket with her friends. She likes to attach a belt to the basket and have us pull her in a circle around the living room.

more thanksgiving

Here are some pics of Madison and her third cousins (I think that's right). My second cousin's kids. Ally, Anna, Vanessa and Madison and the kids table.

decorating part 1

Saturday we helped my mom decorate her tree. Madison was very interested in the breakable ornaments and in climbing the step stool. She finally got into putting ornaments on the tree, but she would just show Ashley where to hang them and then move on to the next one.

chilly day

On Saturday Madison insisted on going outside and playing for a little while. Luckily Rick was okay with taking her out. Madison is still fascinated with the camera as you can see.

princesses

I think this was Friday morning. Madison had on her princess pjs and her princess slippers.

Thanksgiving

We went to Wichita this year for Thanksgiving. We had a great time on Thursday with all the cousins. Thanksgiving for the Posts typical means seeing our second cousins, but not our first cousins. Its great because Jenny and Stephanie have kids a little older than Madison. And she loves to try to play with them. We didn't get any good shots of the group (Rick failed at his job). But I did get Madison playing with the centerpiece and showing off her ponytail. Her hair is getting really long!