Welcome Bean #2!

It's been a while, but I'm going to try keeping up with the blog again, so I can have some record of these fleeitng baby and toddler moments before they are gone!

The biggest development since we last checked in? We welcomed a second Bean on October 27: Jameson Lee Tripp!

He is already 6+ weeks old and is outgrowing his newborn stage. How do I know? As of today he can:

Recognize voices/faces
Smile back at you
Coo and goo
Hold up his head (almost on his own)
Participate in "tummy time"

He also outgrew his newborn onesies.

By far, he is an extremely EASY baby. Only cries (a little) when he's hungry, wet/dirty or a little bored. My maternity leave has been amazing so far, allowing me to bounce back fairly quickly from t
the second (and LAST) c-section.

Maddy is adjusting fairly well (definitely taking the ACTUAL arrival of the baby better than the news of the arrival). She has grown into a smart, high-energy but sweet girl herself, so she will keep us all on our toes for years to come.

Even though life is busy with the two kids, holidays, and going back to work soon, my New Year's resolution is to keep up more with the blog. Enjoy!

How we spent our Michigan summer vacation

Maddy, mommy and daddy made a trip all the way to Midland, MI to visit uncle Mike, aunt Alysia and Talia Mae for the Memorial Day weekend (this was actually our third Memorial Day weekend visit to Michigan, so it's become like a 'new' tradition). Here are some highlights from this year's trip:

Saturday night: Arrived to grandma, pappy, Mike, Alysia and Talia waiting for us on the front lawn! Also came in to great weather (sunny, about 70) and homemade pizza! Maddy tried sleeping over in Talia's big girl bed, but there was too much chatting and giggling for any sleep. 

Sunday: Visited a super cool castle playground (played on the swings, ropes, tires, maizes and even rolled down the nearby hillside). Came home for a quick lunch, some playing outdoors and then headed to a 3:00 Loons game! Maddy and Talia are big fans of Lou E. Loon, and they even got his autograph! We enjoyed great food, drinks, and weather (though it got a little chilly toward the end of the night). Girls had another fun bubble bath with grandma before bed.

Monday: Happy Memorial Day! We packed up and headed to the Saganaw Zoo, where we saw wolves (Maddy's favorite), a bobcat (Talia's favorite), a sea otter, prairie dogs. peacocks, cows, chickens, horses, llamas and more. We event got to ride a train and a merry-go-round (several times over). After our zoo trip, we came home to some delicious barbeque on the grill, outside playing and just soaked up the gorgeous weather (sunny, about 75).

Tuesday: Today, the rain decided to show up! So, we scooted over to the mall for shopping, lunch and indoor playing before heading back to the house for a wagon ride (when the weather cleared), playing with new books/toys and having some Pizza Sam's to wrap up our stay.

Wednesday: We hit the road early in the a.m. and got home around 6 p.m. We were a little sad and missing our family, but we were happy to take with us some fun, new memories from our trip!

Holiday Time 2012

What a fun holiday season Ms. Maddy had this year! It all started with having Pappy, Grandma, Uncle Mike, Aunt Alysia cousin Talia for Thanksgiving. We had so much fun playing toys, going shopping and even visiting the ducks at Tallyrand Park.

The parents got a real treat - getting to see Penn State's final home game of the season - while Grandma and Pappy also got the treat of spending the day with the grand girls.

After Thanksgiving, it was full-on holiday mode. Here are few ways we enjoyed the season:

• Visiting Santa at the mall (X3) 
• Going to see the Nutcracker ballet
• Polar express party (in jammies) at school 
• Making cookies -- lots of cookies -- with mommy 
• Checking out Victorian Christmas in Bellefonte 
• Wrapping and delivering presents for family and friends 
• Decorating the live Christmas tree (Maddy put on the star!) 

Here are a few more photos of our holiday memories

More Birthday celebrations

Later this month, the celebrations for Maddy's third birthday continued with a pile of presents to open on her bday and a visit to Buffalo for another party! Maddy got a beautiful Dora cake with lots of fun Dora decorations and... of course... more presents! A few favorite gifts from this birthday included: *Bounce house *Her own picnic table *Scooter and (Dora) helmet *Dora microphone and bath toys *Pretend wedding cake/pizza toys *Woodzeez (family of owls, beavers, and turtles) *Lorax movie And here are a few new things Maddy can do now that she's three: *Spell her name *Draw faces/"stick" figures *Pedal a bike *Get (mostly) dressed/undressed *Use the potty *Brush her hair/teeth *Went to her first dentist visit *Moved up to the preschool room Here are some more bday pictures from our celebrations...

Third Birthday Celebrations Begin... On Saturday, Sept. 1, we had officially started celebrating Maddy's 3rd birthday with a party with friends and grandma/pappy. The party also revealed Maddy's big birthday surprise this year... her own castle bounce house! Here are some pics from the big day...

First trip to Kiddieland

Although Maddy visited Kennywood once before, she was just a wee little bean (too small to go on much except the train and merry-go-round). This summer, big girl came to ride! We started slow with the kiddie turtles and worked our way up to the little motorcycles, whip, swings and even flying elephants! Here's a few shots of her precious, happy moments.

More Summertime Fun

Here are some more summertime funtime photos with Maddy, taken at the Boalsburg People's Choice Arts Festival. The animals really flocked to her sweet scent at the petting zoo! She also loved riding the train with Daddy and jumping high in the bounce house. To see more photos, click here.