The Wickard Family

Trying to update

2008-12-26T08:25:00.000-08:00

Tim and Maddie looking for eggs

Madison with her Easter eggs

Tim and I in NYC

Madison in Aunt Amanda's swing.. she didn't want to stop!

Hollywoods on Valentine's Day

Madison's 1st birhday (and no she didn't eat this)

I have gotten REALLY bad at this blogging thing! I guess we've been busy with life and I kinda forgot we had one (seeing that the last pictures were from the fall).

Maddie is now almost 16 mo. old., time has flown!! She has been busy walking (started just after she turned 1) and getting into everything. I would have to say that this is my favorite age so far though! She has such a personality and is so fun! She is very cuddly, loves giving kisses and hugs, and dancing. Maddie has a priceless "mean" face that she can give on command. Her favorite word right now would probably be "bubble".

Tim and I got to take a trip during spring break to New York for a late Valentine's Day present. It was a great trip and we saw everything! When we got back Tim had lasik eye surgery and is still trying to completely recover from that. They said it would take about 6-8 weeks for him to be able to see completely perfect... let's pray it works! We are keeping busy as we start to wrap up school. We're not done until the end of May, but whose counting =)

Hopefully I will post again soon and it won't be 7 months later! I forgot how these pictures post, so they are backwards... I'm not spending forever changing them.. sorry!

Here is a video of Maddie looking for Easter eggs. She wasn't too thrilled about it. She would find two, one for each hand and be done. She never really got the concept of putting the eggs in the basket, she didn't want us taking them away from her.

Football Season is FINALLY HERE!!

2008-09-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

Wearing the Purple for BD
Posing at the Stadium
Mommy and Maddie
A View of Downtown at the Stadium
Maddie and Daddy
Maddie and her Nebraska Chair
Grandma and Maddie on Gameday Morning
GO BIG RED!!
A Close-up While She Sits with Aunt Heidi and Played with Her Dogs
Maddie is Watching the Game, Already Hooked:)

Tim has been waiting since Madison was born for football season to arrive (we watched the National Championship Game at the Hospital). Here are some pictures of Madison's first official Nebraska game. All the family was here and we watched it at Heidi and Dan's house. We hope Madison will bring a little more success to the team this year. We also have been attending the Ben Davis games (it is the high school in the township that Tim works at). Here are some pictures of us at a game at the new Indianapolis Colts Stadium. Ben Davis played there last night and we were able to attend with some friends. Hope you enjoy!

Our little eater

2008-08-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since we've blogged... it's been super busy around here. Just wanted to post a video of Maddie eating dinner. She has no problem eating anything we put in front of her (except peas and green beans... who can blame her). She has given our poor babysitter trouble in the eating department!! Who knows with this girl! Thanks for all your patience Jennie... we appreciate it!

It's been a busy summer!

2008-07-13T13:02:00.001-07:00

Madison with her cousins
Aunt Sandy

Ready for our hike
We made it to the top of Harney Peak (7242 ft)!!At Grandpa and Grandma's trailor

In my jumperoo!!! Full of energy... she didn't have to hike 6 miles

Maddie liked Uncle Pete's hat
4th of July
Great Grandma Kingslien

Story time
6 months
Eli was telling her a story
4th of July
Visiting Aunt Hannah driving the train

(The pictures are out of order... sorry!! We are just glad to have them posted)

Things are finally starting to slow down a little, so maybe I can keep up on posting. We ended June by travelling to South Dakota for family camp. The week before we left Tim got an interview for an assistant principal job. His callback interview ended up being the Thursday before camp started. SO Madison and I made the drive out to South Dakota and Tim flew out to meet us. It was a VERY long drive but worth it because Tim got the job!!! He is now the assistant principal of Stout Field Elementary!! WOOHOO TIM!!!!

On our trip we were able to stop and stay at Amy and Chris' in Wisconsin. Then we drove to the Grandpa and Grandma Wickards in Mina and were able to visit with Aunt Sandy, Carrie and the kids. We decided that everyone would hike to the top of Harney Peak. Aunt Hannah carried Maddie up in her pack and the whole way down!! She would not have made it if it was up to me... I could barely make it myself =) Camp went well and afterwards we celebrated the 4th of July in Aberdeen. Tim played A LOT of golf and Maddie had fun hanging out with everyone and watching the fireworks. We were sad to leave, but got a chance to see Rob, Amanda, Zach and Eli when we stopped in Wisconsin on the way home. We were only there for one night, but it was lots of fun to see everyone.

Tim is back to work and Maddie and I are enjoying our last few weeks of summer before its back to kindergarten and the babysitter during the day.

Father's Day

2008-06-18T20:30:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day!! For Tim's first father's day Maddie and I took him out to lunch and got him a trimmer. (I know not super exciting, but needed) Here are a couple of the pictures we took.

Vacation to Florida

2008-06-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

5 months today
Mom and Maddie on the beach

Swimming in the pool
View from our condo
Whole family picture
Feeling the sand and sucking on mom's hand
Family on the beach

Hollywoods
Walking on the beach
Swimming with uncle Pete
Nap time
Maddie loves the water

Madison's raft and daily position for a nap
Laying out starts early
Bumbo time
I LOVE VACATION!!
I love my dad

Vacation, Vacation, Vacation!! We took a Wickard trip to Palm Coast Florida. Madison did great flying, and even got bumped up to first class on the way back. Madison ended up loving the time on the beach, pool and in the condo. She had sooo much fun seeing aunts, uncles, grammy and grandpa for so long! These are a few of the MANY pictures we took!

Rolling Over

2008-05-15T17:44:00.001-07:00

We are getting closer. This is as close as she is getting to rolling over on her own! Check it out!

Mother's Day Weekend

2008-05-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Mommy and Me on Mother's Day
I'm a Bill's Fan!!!

Madison's 4 Month B-Day
Mother's Day Picture with Daddy

Family Picture
Flying Baby (Watch out for the drool)

Ok we are getting a little more frequent, or at least trying to. These are some fun pictures of Andrea's and Madison's first Mother's Day Weekend!!! We had lots of fun staying out of the rainy cold weather. We went to church and dad got to spend it in the foyer because Madison didn't want to sleep or sit quietly. Then we went to Mcalister's Deli for lunch, (One of Andrea's Favorites). Came home took a long nap and hung out with some good friends in the evening!

First time we have done video. Hopefully it works. Madison's new thing is spitting bubbles at mom. This is a small portion of her bubble spitting!

4 months now!

2008-05-08T17:08:00.000-07:00

What Can I Lick Next?
Enjoying the Nice Weather
Little Confused?

Lots of Laughs
Reading Sports Illustrated with Dad on a Saturday Morning

Smiling at Mom
More Smiles
Tummy Time
Finally Nice Enough Weather to go Outside

Culvers in Wisconsin
Spring Break in SD
Picture with Grandpa and Grandma in SD
Visiting Great Grandma
Looking Pretty in my Dress from Aunt Amy

Easter at Great Grandma's Church

Easter Picture
Easter Photo Shoot
Hanging with the Cousins on Easter

So it's been a while! Many things have changed since we've last blogged. We traveled to Ohio for Maddie's first Easter. We had fun surprising Great Grandpa and Grandma at church. Great Grandma was busy showing Maddie off! We also had fun with cousins, uncle/aunt, and grandparents.

Madison took her first trip to Wisconsin and South Dakota. We drove out there for our spring break at the end of March. It was great to see Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris! We spent 3 days in Wisconsin and the rest of the time we spent in SD. It was great to introduce Madison to lots of friends there, and she also got to see Great Grandma Kingslien for the first time!

Andrea has started back to work, and Madison is adjusting to our wonderful babysitter. She has a four year old girl who is Madison's new friend and a seven year old son who wishes he could see Madison more, but school is more important! They have been an answer to prayer and we are very thankful for them!

Yesterday was Maddie's four month birthday. She is getting more fun each day. She is smiling constantly, laughing, licking everything, and she loves to scoot on her back. She is close to rolling over, and is finally loving her tummy time.

Hope you enjoy some of the pictures, we will try to keep up in the summer!

Weekend in Ohio

2008-02-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

We went to Columbus this weekend. Maddie got to see her Great Grandparents for the first time! They loved seeing her and we spent a few hours with them on Friday night! God protected us on some icy roads and we had a wonderful time! We spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Kaufman, and Rob, Amanda and the boys came over to play!

We also got to stop and see "aunt heidi" (Andrea's Best Friend) and her new house. Then we stopped by Dayton and saw new little Ben Pierson, and Steve and Kandi's new home. We wish we could make the weekends longer, but it was lots of fun!

Shelly's Pictures

2008-02-20T17:48:00.000-08:00

Shelly was so kind and came to our house to take more pictures. She did an amazing job, and the pictures turned out beautiful. We are so thankful! If you want to see more pictures you can check out her blog at http://www.shellyvalentine.blogspot.com/!

"Cousins"

2008-02-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

These are some fun pictures from when the "cousins" came to visit. Madison loved seeing her Uncle Rob, Aunt Amanda, and her cousins Zach and Eli. Zach and Eli were so nice to her. They sang her lots of songs and kept her company the entire time! She misses them already!

2008-02-09T18:39:00.000-08:00

These are some pictures from a Saturday morning photo shoot with Aunt Amy:) Madison loves having her picture taken, and Amy loves taking pictures! It was fun to put all the fun clothes on her that Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris had purchased while they were here!

Visitors

2008-02-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

Happy 1 week Madison
Grandma Wickard
Grandpa Wickard
Grandma Kaufman
Grandpa Kaufman
Aunt Hannah
Uncle Pete
Uncle Dan and Aunt Heidi
Aunt Amy
Uncle Chris

Madison has had many visitors. Just a part of having family spread all over the country. She sure does have a lot of people that love her and we are sure she will grow up a world travelor.

After the initial visitors at the hospital, Grandma and Grandpa Wickard came to visit. They stayed from January 12 - 15. She was on her Bilirubin blanket, so we just sat around and held her most of the time. It was a lot of fun for her to get to see Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandpa loved having mornings to hang out with her when she was wide awake in the morning. Mom and dad loved that too because that meant we could sleep in. Grandma was excited to get to celebrate Madison's first week birthday! We all enjoyed a wonderful ice cream cake.

Maddie's next visitors were Grandma and Grandpa Kaufman. They were here from January 16 - 20. Although she was off of her blanket, we still stayed inside and out of the freezing cold weather. She got pretty used to getting held and sleeping all day! Grandma and Grandpa K. brought lots of food and helped around the house a lot, which made life easier for everybody. She misses both sets of Grandparents very much and is excited to see them again soon.

Aunt Hannah just couldn't wait to come see her little niece. However, because of her busy basketball season she had to find a time to sneak away. She came January 24-27th. She held her as much as she could in the short time she had, and had lots of pictures to prove it. Hannah hadn't been here in a while so she also got a chance to hang out with some of our friends. Uncle Pete, Aunt Heidi and Uncle Dan even came down to hang out with everybody too!

Our most recent visitors came in from Wisconsin on February 7th, (Madison's one month birthday). Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris drove all night on Wednesday to try to get here to see little Maddie. They got stuck in stopped traffic for 3 hours on Wednesday night and didn't get much sleep, but finally arrived and Madison was so happy to see them. We didn't think anyone could take more pictures than the first sets of visitors, however Aunt Amy might have single handedly taken more pictures than everyone combined.

Our visitors aren't over yet. Rob, Amanda, Zach and Eli are coming this weekend to see Maddie for the first time since they saw her for a short time at the hospital. The cousins are very excited to hang out, and we are looking forward to having them. Hopefully they are going to get a chance to babysit little Maddie so we can go out for Valentine's Day!

God has blessed this season of life for us, and we look forward to more visitors! Our family has been so great to Madison and she has lots of gifts, clothes and pictures to prove it. She is never short of hugs and kisses, and she wishes everyone lived closer. We are thankful for safe travel, and the wonderful blessing of having a house that works well for visitors!

Our little girl is here....

2008-02-01T18:54:00.000-08:00

All of these are thanks to our good friend Shelly!

Since our little girl arrived we thought we'd join the Blog-o-sphere thanks to the help of Jessica Siegelin. I did get her stuck on Myspace....so it only seemed fair. Well for starters you can visit Shelly Valentine's Blog to vew pictures of Madison in her first few days. Shelly did an AMAZING job in capturing the emotion of those first days. (You may have to scroll down to see the pictures....look around the January 8th date).

Well life with Madison has been absolutley amazing....a little sleepless, but amazing!!!! She is getting early lessons in shopping already and is growing like a weed!!!! Here are a few pics of our little one......more well follow in the days to come:

The above photo is taken by Shelly Valentine Photography.