Madelyn's First Trip to Georgia

Well Miss Maddie has had her first trip to Georgia. She even traveled better than we had expected. We stopped at Mammoth Caves National Park in KY on the way down to break up the trip a little. We took Brendan and Madelyn on a cave tour. Maddie fell asleep and Brendan didn't really like having to walk the whole time but other than that it was really neat.Once we made it to Georgia it was all Papa Tatz and then Aunt Ashley once she got there for 5 whole days.

Brendan and Madelyn got Baptized while we were down there. And of course there was good food and time with the family. More to come later, so stay tuned. :)

Secret Revealed

Here it is. If you knew where it was at, I would be giving away the source of our fishing success. This is our fishing hole.

I took the photo from the road, and from the road you really can't even see it. Way out, it eventually opens up into a pond. But, all the stuff in the foreground is really shallow. I guess we have such good luck there because nobody goes out there. They must figure that they are not sure if they can make it out, or if there is even anything out there worthwhile. Here it is......

Madelyn

Our computer was down for a couple of days and then the blog site was down but we are up and running again.

Here is Miss Madelyn posing in her bathing suit that we got to get ready for our trip to GA in a couple of weeks. She is getting really good at holding her head up but just needs a little support. Here is another of her at bath time. She is finally beginning to enjoy her baths.

Brendan, Maddy, and Jen

I was moving an outdoor photo set outdoors to use. I decided to take a quick photo of the family. I did a few things wrong on this one, but at least you get to see everyone.

Soccer is Over

Brendan had his last soccer game on Saturday. He actually improved a lot towards the end of the season. When it began, he was good at ball handling on his own, but when it came to the game, he just wanted to follow the pack of kids running, and not the ball. After he figured out that if he had the ball, everyone would be chasing him we were good.

Except for the fact that Brendan didn't like the ball taken away from him, by anybody, including his own team (3 year olds are not good at teamwork, and passing and stuff yet). Therefore, if the ball got taken away, usually there were going to be a pile of kids on the ground.

Here is an action shot from one of the last games.

6 Week Photos

Here is a pre-view of Madelyn's 6 week photos that we took. At the present time Miss Maddie doesn't like to have her picture taken, either that or she still doesn't like to have her clothes off. Or just a combanantion of the two. Who knows. It took us 3 different times photographing to get these. So hopefully by 3 months we will have a more willing model.

Soccer

At Brendan's second soccer game he got to be goalie.
At his games there are about 10 3-4 year olds on the field chasing this one soccer ball, it isn't even a full sized ball, no they also come in sizes for those of you who didn't know this. So we have 10 kids on a field, 1 small(er) soccer ball and a mob of kids following. Now not all the kids are following this ball some are off just standing around of playing in a dirt circle that just happens to be in the middle of the field (very distracting for 3-4 year olds).

On each team there are only a couple of kids who actually know what to do, Brendan is in between, he knows to kick the ball and does a great job of getting it from one end of the field to the other, it is just the getting it into the goal and getting in the middle of the said mob to get the ball that he has a problem with.

Back to being goalie. This is a hard job for a 3 or 4 year old, why watch the game when they have this cool net thing behind them? Brendan blocked 2 of 3 balls while he was goalie, the last one the net proved to be more fun.

But here is our soccer goalie in action. (One he had stopped)

Papa & Grandma Tatz

Papa and Grandma Tatz came up from Georgia for a visit and to meet little Maddie. We had a wonderful visit. We went to the Zoo, Brendan had his first soccer game, we went to the park and spent a wonderful couple of days together.

Brendan loved playing outside with his papa Tatz.
Here are a couple of photos from when they were here. This first one is a picture that Brendan took all by himself. I guess it runs in the family. :)
And here is Grandma Tatz with both of her grandbabies.

Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny of course left eggs out for Mister Brendan. He is so quick at finding eggs. He runs from one egg to another, but in doing this he passes a couple of eggs as well.
Brendan is loading up on Easter Baskets. He got three again this year. What is a good use for a left over Easter Basket? Here is the one that he get at home, beach toys, a new basket ball and of course candy. Just what every three year old needs. :)
After lunch we went to visit and have dinner up in Flint with Brian's parents. There Brendan and Madelyn both got Easter Baskets and everyone was excited to hold little Maddie. Brendan and Daddy helped Grandpa Andrews deep-fry the turkey (which is mommies & daddies favorite way to eat a turkey).

Easter Eggs

Brendan and daddy dyed the Easter Eggs while Madelyn watch on from her high chair.
Brendan is an old pro at this. Mommy went a bit over board and bought the huge deluxe egg dying kit while all Brendan used was the dye and the clear crayon. Oh well now we know better for next year.

Big Fishin....

Today, Brendan and I got out fishing, and we did great! We caught bluegills, perch, and crappie. I don't think I have ever caught crappie this size. We found a new favorite spot.

Brendan's First Soccer Pratice

On Tuesday we had Brendan's first soccer pratice. It was something to watch 10 3-4 year olds chase after one soccer ball. They are easily distracted and sometime don't know which goal to go towards, they get stuck by the fence and can't seem to be able to kick to one another yet. A couple have the basic's of don't touch the ball with your hands and when they are goalie's they can't seem to pay attention to get ready for when the ball comes at them. Brendan is the one in the darker green shirt with the maroon hat.
Brendan did pretty good, he didn't know what was going on and wasn't too sure to go to and listen to the coach's to start with. But I think that is a good thing that he just won't go and listen to just anybody. But being that this was Brendan's first year and most of the children were returning from last summer I would say that he did very good. Brian has been praticing with him on kicking the ball, running with the ball and not using your hands so that wasn't the problem. Now we just have to get him used to kicking towards the goal and running after the ball where ever it goes.

Tummy Time

Brendan like to be my big helper. He gets me a new diaper when I am changing her, he is really good at putting her binky back into her mouth when she shoots it out (yes she needs a binky) and he like to talk to her and entertain her while she lays on her tummy. Here she is hanging out while we watch t.v.

New Bike

Brendan got his big boy bike and a nice Spider-Man helment with matching knee & elbow pads. It was supposed to his Easter present but Brian can't keep a sercet. Oh well. Brendan loves to ride his new bike, we even took Madelyn for a walk to the park this week.

Brendan and Madelyn

Brendan loves holding his baby :) Jen got a couple photos of him holding her last night.

Soccer is coming soon......

Tuesday is Brendan's first day of soccer practice. So, we had to get him all the gear he would need today. The team provides the jersey (not this one). So, we had to get shorts, socks, cleats, and shin guards. He is so excited about his shoes :)

For a 3 year old, he is actually quite good. We have worked on kicking the ball hard, kicking the ball hard while running, dribbling (running around the yard while controlling the ball), scoring on each other, and playing keep away from each other. The whole time we play keep away Brendan can't stop giggling.

Nature Center - 3/29

Wednesday was so nice, we wanted to do something to get outside. Without going too far with the new baby, we went to a local nature center. Brendan has been here before with his 3 year old class, but I had not been.

It also turns out that there was a geocaching "treasure" hidden in the nature center. Hence the GPS in the photo below. Just thought I wouldlet you know in case you thought I brought it because I was afraid of getting lost at a fenced in nature center with paved pathways :)

























Here is a photo of Brendan, Mom and baby Madelyn.




















Unfortunately, our "treasure" was hidden on the one path that was closed because they were cutting up down trees. No treasure today.




















Brendan's favorite riding spot.

Madelyn Violet is Here

Most everybody has probably already heard the news. But, Madelyn Violet joined us at 1pm on March 23. She weighed 6lbs 11oz, and was 20 inches long. These pictures are from the day after. Brendan is a very proud big brother, and loves to hold her (so far). She doesn't really cry (yet) and Brendan is interested to see what is going on everytime she squeaks.

Geocaching

Today we tried something new and different. Geocaching (www.geocaching.com). It was a sport designed to test and practice your navigational skills. In a nutshell, it boils down to people hiding weatherproof containers with goodies inside (their cache). There is usually a logbook and other toys and trinkets. You can take something, if you replace it with another item. The owner of the cache publishes GPS coordinates for the cache at www.geocaching.com.

It is not as easy as it may sound. Punching in GPS coordinates and walking to it. Once you get close, the GPS accuracy can be off by 30 feet or more. That makes locating the actual container more difficult than it seems. We used a combination of the GPS with a compass, and were able to find our first two containers pretty easy.

Of course, we tell Brendan that we are Treasure Hunting. Here we are at our first cache, on a nature trail in Troy.



















Brendan exchanged a matchbox car for a orange-haired mermaid.
























Our second treasure of the day was located in a park in Royal Oak. This one was pretty well hidden between stumps and leaves, but Jen found it.
























Here Brendan exchanged a truck for what we thought was an action figure. Turns out, the action figure was a travel bug. Travel bugs basically have a serial number on a dogtag used for tracking its whereabouts. This one has been from New York to New Mexico. We have to hurry and return it to another cache so it can continue its travels.
























We are considering making up a new cache to place locally next weekend. So, look for more updates on Brendan's treasure hunting.

Ultra Sound

On February 22nd Jennifer had another ultra sound done to check the position of baby.
Here is the photo that we got. It is really hard to make anything out but it is her profile with her hand on her forehead. The nurse thought that it was cute that she was making a dramatic pose but Brian said that anything this baby does is going to happen with a dramatic flair. I wonder where she is getting that from? Hum.
One the picture I tried to draw lines to help point things out. Just above the Face arrow is her eye with her nose being the first bump under her hand and her lips sticking out being the next two. You may have to look at it for a minute for it to make sense.