A Very Merry Christmas!!

If ever we felt the magic of Christmas... it was this year for sure! Maddison has brought so much magic into our home again. When I was younger I always was so excited to open presents from other people and waiting for Santa took FOOOOOREVER!!! Maddison asked everyday about opening a present... so I know she felt the same torture of WAITING. We did let her open 2 early gifts when she hinted that she might be worried that Santa was not coming to her new house.
We started Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house for dinner with family, then we went to church for service, and then back to Grandma's for presents... and SANTA stopped by as well!!!
Seeing Maddison's eyes light up when we plug the tree in, how she squeals with excitement that she is going to see Santa, how she shyly asks Santa for a bike and a Max and Ruby Movie, and how she goes in super-duper excited mode for opening presents.
Mike and I found our biggest and most treasured present was not found all wrapped in pretty paper with a shiny bow on top... but was sleeping in her bed...waiting for Santa to come on such a magical night.
Here are some highlights from Christmas Morning. (I didn't get any pictures of Christmas Eve from family yet, but will add them in later) I cannot get my video of her walking out of her room this morning to upload either :o(

Christmas 2013

A couple days before Christmas, Maddi made Santa a Letter.

The picture did not show the words very well, but here is what it says:

"Dear Santa, I have been a very good girl. All I want for Christmas is a bike and Max and Ruby Movie. Love, Maddison Grace Haley"

She signed it with 2 hand prints!

Santa must have been impressed, because he wrote  Maddison a letter back!

Santa filled Daddy's, Maddi's, and Mommy's stockings!

Santa put Tinkerbell snowflake lights across the fireplace and put Maddi's bike and other presents under the tree! Santa must have noticed what a good girl Maddison has been and wanted to give her lots this year!

(Santa put out all of the presents that was mailed to Maddison from Aunt Sandy, Aunt Coley, 

Aunt Corky, and from the Shelton Family!)

 
                    She opened her sled and says, "Oh, a boat!?"              In her bike gear... feeling cool!

                                                      Riding her BIG GIRL BIKE from Santa!

 What Maddi made Daddy for Christmas!

 Papa Dan got all the grand kids 4 wheelers for christmas... oh joy! 
(where to put this bad boy now???)

Maddison LOVED it and cannot wait for the SNOW TO MELT to take it outside to race Shiloh and Timber!

 After all the presents were opened... the real fun began! 
Papa Vrana and Papa Dan got... MAKEOVERS!!!

Aunt Danielle helped Maddi do their hair and get them BEAUTIFUL!!!

 
One happy and very spoiled Maddison Grace... and her baby!

WEEK 1: Just Mommy, Daddy, and Maddi!!

Mike and I both took time off Maddi's first week of being placed with us.

We reeeeeeally enjoyed this time with Maddison! We learned lots of fun things about Maddison and what life with her will be like. Here are some highlights of our first week together: 

(Please excuse the shots in her panties, we are potty training)

 *** Fort Building with Daddy ***

(She needed her nightlight under there because it was "too dark!")

***Diva Moments***

***Haircut with Mommy***

(Aunt Chris cut a SLIGHT BIT off the ends just to say we "cut it")

***Playing with (Cousin) Baby Alex***

***Fun lunch date and playtime at the South Park Mall***

 

We realized that although Maddi does NOT like to share toys, she makes friends VERY easily. She really took to another little girl named Nevaeh (She called her Nay-a) and they played for the longest time together!

***Daddy trying to teach Maddi how to do a summer-salt***

***Play Dough- This girl LOVES her Play Dough!***

Maddi likes to play with play dough while we clean up and do dishes after dinner. 
She probably would sit there and play forever if we would let her! LOL

Maddison Moves in!!!

As of 12/14/13 Maddison became a permanent family member in the Haley home. (not officially per the court, however she was fully placed on this day) This will count as day one of the 6th month placement period for her adoption to be fully processed and approved.

Teresa brought Maddison to her Great Grandpa and Grandma's house so we could all meet. (Her Great Grandpa and Grandma raised her her first year, so it was important to them that they met us) When we pulled up, Maddison saw us and said "Open this door!" trying to get out of the house to get us. (LOL)
We talked and they watched us play with Maddison in their living room... although she was a bit more enthused with playing with their cat! lol The Great Grandparents gave us a scrapbook that Great Grandma made for Maddison. It was AWESOME seeing her baby pictures... since I missed out on this period of her life. :( It has hand prints, favorite toy pictures, and 1st birthday cake eating pictures lol

After we were done visiting, Maddison jumped in our truck and we traveled home to visit while her Grandma Teresa went to get Papa Michael and all of Maddison's things. I ordered pizza and we all ate and talked together a bit more. Teresa gave me all of Maddison's personal paperwork and medical release statement so I was able to get her records and request medical attention if needed on her behalf. Teresa also included a list of Maddison's favorite foods:

1. Juice (I have been working on this one... we have had more milk and water than juice)
2. Cheese, Rice, Re fried Beans
3. Bananas & Applesauce
4. Biscuits & Gravy, breakfast bars, sausage & egg & cheese sandwiches, and plain sausage
5. Turkey, Tuna sandwiches
6. chicken noodle soup, spaghetti-os, spaghetti, and ravioli
7. mashed potatoes & gravy
8. CHICKEN NUGGETS & FRENCH FIRES!!!! with BBQ sauce and Ketchup
9. Crackers, Chips, & Cookies (I have been buying the veggie chips and vanilla wavers to swap out some sugars and attempt at being a bit healthier)
10. RUDY'S TACOS!!!! (This is a great thing, considering 100% of my family LOVES Rudy's Tacos! :)

I have experimented with some different foods and some have gone over well, and some not so much. But usually if Mike and I are eating, so is she. Once we are done, she is done too. So we are mastering the art of SLOOOOOOOW eating to get her to eat all/most of her food. 

After dinner Teresa helped Maddison move her stuff from their house into her bedroom at our house. I know that had to be hard on both of them, but for the sake of Maddison no tears were spilled in front of her. Teresa, Maddi, and I played with her toys in the toy room some before they left. This was the first time Teresa and Michael left our house where Maddison did not leave with them... I was surprised there were no questions from her about it!?!? She jumped in the bath, daddy read her 2 books, and she went to sleep for the night.

At night we put a child gate up so if she wakes up, she can only get to her bathroom (fully childproof from cleaners and sprays), and our room. This past week she had woken up in the middle of the night and came into our room and turned on the light. We just take her back to bed and tell her it's not time to wake up yet and lay down with her until she falls back to sleep. She falls back to sleep and she comes into our room at the CRACK OF DAWN to wake us up for the day. LOL So we gradually moved the baby gate toward her room each night to teach her that she needs to stay in her bedroom and I also added a CD player (with a Nora Jones CD playing) and this has reeeeally helped her stay asleep all night. We realized with the snow plows and early morning traffic and the dogs on the other side of her wall, she was probably getting woke up. She is now sleeping from 830-9pm to 7-730am. If she wakes up earlier, she now plays quietly in her room with her doll house and stuffed animals while she listens to music. I think she secretly loves it, as she never calls out... she only opens her door and when she doesn't hear us up...she shuts it again and starts playing again. This allows me to get up and jump in our shower and get dressed on mornings Mike is gone to work already.

She is ALWAYS bright and chipper in the morning and when I turn the corner she says "HI MOMMY! I love YOU!"  Hands down... best part of the day! :)

GOOD MORNING FROM MADDI!!!

The Little Light Shinning Bright

Well, it's that time of year where you drive through neighborhoods full of houses with Christmas lights, you see shoppers rushing through the stores to buy gifts, the mailman's arms are full of packages and Christmas cards, and every ornament on the Christmas tree is polished and shinning bright with the twinkling lights reflecting off of them. Your tree might be freshly cut, trimmed, watered, and smelling of pine... or your tree might be unpacked, fluffed, untwisted, and been spritzed with the cool new pine smelling spray (LOL) But no matter what kind of tree you have...I bet if you are like me, you love to turn the lights off and watch the tree glow bright in the dark. 
The holidays can sometimes be a hard time for some people. It reminds us of those that have passed on, hearts that we have broken or may have broken ours, or it can even be a time to reflect on a time that we have failed or fallen short. But, let us remind ourselves that a light shinning bright in the dark is a very powerful thing... even in the very darkest of places.
Past holidays I have sat and stared at my tree and was grateful God gave me Michael, cried for my loved ones that have passed on, praised God for my family and friends, was humbled by memories of my charitable works throughout the year... but most of all I was filled with love of the promise from God that he is always with me. As I stare at my twinkling star at the top of my tree I was always painfully aware that my heart was conflicted with the fact that I had so many things to be thankful for, yet my heart always seemed to still ache. Although the Bible says that God will supply you with only what you need, and not what you want... I KNEW I wanted and NEEDED to be a Mommy.
Maddison has been the answer to so many prayers and the cure to so much heart ache. She has forever changed me in so many ways and for that I am thankful. One day when she reads these posts, I want her to know that this Christmas is THE MOST MAGICAL and PERFECT Christmas.... just because of her!!!
I cannot even begin to put into words the emotional turmoil Mike and I have been through the past 5 years with infertility, but I CAN FOR SURE tell you how OVERCOME with GRATITUDE, JOY, LOVE, and just AWE of the AWESOME POWER God has shown me through Maddison. My heart is at PEACE with the past attempts that lead to  failure, because I now see clearly that this is EXACTLY what God wanted for Mike and Me.  We are now sooooo filled with LOVE it makes us both speechless. Today, my daughter turned to me at the most random times and melted my heart by saying "Mommy, I love you. I love you SO SO much." She makes me fall in love with her everyday... multiple times!
As I sit here blogging in my quite dark living room, staring at my Christmas tree all lit up... I can hear Mike reading Maddison her bed time story. He speaks softly... too soft to hear the actual words all the way from the living room... but I can tell by his tone the story is one Maddi will cherish as she closes her eyes and falls asleep in her nice warm [Tinkerbell] bed to the sound of her Daddy's voice. I love listening to Mike read her bed time stories and I think about all the tears I cried in the past because that is all I ever wanted... sticky fingers, toys in the couch, slobbery kisses, tight squeezed hugs, and the softest dreamy bedtime stories. So tonight, as I unplug my tree for the night... I will still take juuuuuust one more moment to thank God for all of my blessings... especially Maddison making Mike her Daddy and me her Mommy. And the little light shinning bright in our home this Christmas... is Maddison.

How our Christmas Tree became so BEAUTIFUL, and our lives so BLESSED:

Thank you God!!!

Daddy/Daughter night, Grandpa & Grandma Vrana, Christmas Lights & Chicken Nuggets... OH MY!!!

12/06

Maddi missed us all week long. We sent her pictures and videos to help her cope with not seeing us. Teresa does a great job with telling her that we will be back to pick her up at the end of the week and shows Maddi the videos and pictures so she can see us. I hate that she misses us, but at the same time I know that means she is bonding to us really well. I absolutely LOVE when we get to pick her up because she is just SO excited! Since our last visit with Maddi was so short, we were soooooo excited that we had a 3 day weekend with Maddi!!! Daddy picked up Maddi from Grandma Teresa's house at 4pm today and they came to have dinner with Mommy on her lunch break! Daddy's friend Ed joined us for dinner at Chic-filet-a too! I think the best part of Maddi's dinner was that Ed bought Maddi a COOKIE!!!

Here is Maddi being SUPER happy with her cookie

After dinner I had to go back to work until 9pm, so Daddy got to have some bonding time with Maddi without me. *** Mommy was sad she wasn't there, but happy for Maddi and Daddy*** On the way home from work, I didn't know what to expect... was my house going to look like a tornado hit it??? Would Maddi be running around in circles with Daddy trying to catch her to get her to put on her P.J.'s??? Would Maddi have Daddy tied up in a chair and her eating a  bucket of ice cream???

Well...none of the above were true!? I came home to find Mike in the recliner with the dogs on his lap watching a movie.  "Uh.... where is Maddison?"

Maddi was bathed, in her P.J.s, teeth brushed, bed time story read, and in her bed sleeping!!!
WHOA... GOOD JOB DADDY!!!

12/07

We spent the morning and afternoon playing and bonding as just the 3 of us. We lounged in our P.J.s  and just enjoyed the day being silly and learning so much about Maddi.
Late Afternoon we went for a visit to Grandpa Vrana and Grandma Judy's house. I LOVE how Maddi tried to say their names! She pronounces it as Papa Vee-anna and Gramma Jooody. She really enjoyed their house because they did puzzles with her and gave her a HUGE Christmas Teddy Bear that we named Teddy. Maddi shocked us all when she popped the puzzles altogether in no time at all!! We worked all the way up to a 5 year old level puzzle even. She only needed a little help because there was not a frame to the puzzle, and proved a bit too hard. We helped her a bit, but she was determined to put it together... and she did!!!

Here are some pictures of Maddi putting together some puzzles
 and playing with Grandpa & Grandma

At night we invited Mommy and Daddy's friends and their kids over to play. They gave Maddi a really pretty Barbie and their daughter (also named Madison) gave her a homemade ring! Maddi was very impressed with the ring and likes to wear it when she pretends she is going "shopping" or "to the mall". After we played for awhile, we went and drove through Eagle Point Park for the Festival of Lights. It was AWESOME! Maddi thought all of the lights were so pretty and pointed at each one asking me to tell her what they were. We talked about all of the colors and lights! I did make a mistake of mentioning before we left the house that we were going to have chicken nuggets for dinner, and the whole way there and through the park she talked about chicken nuggets!? Even after stopping through the drive thru and getting nuggets, she sang a song she made up all about how she was going to eat her nuggets when she gets home. We were cracking up!!

Here is a picture of some of the lights... We highly recommend you drive through

if you have never seen them before!!

Family Fun at the Family Museum

12/01

We could only take Maddison for a few hours today... so we wanted to make sure we did something FUN!!! We picked her up from her Grandma Teresa's church nursery, and went to lunch with Grandma Sherri and Papa Steve at McDonald's. (Not my favorite place to eat, but it was quick and on the way to the museum)

Once we got to the museum, we found Uncle Nate, Aunt Melissa, and Cousin Cheyenne! I waited to tell Maddi that we were going to see Cheyenne until we were almost done at McDonald's, because she LOVES Cheyenne soooooo much she would ask for her NON STOP! lol In fact, when we bust through the museum door, Maddi was yelling "Cheyenne!? Cheyenne!?" to every little girl trying to find her! :o)

We had a blast with all the fun sensory activities. I took advantage of the learning moments to test Maddi on her colors and numbers, identifying food items, building sentences, and doing activities that she would establish trust with Mike and I both. At this point in our young and fragile relationship, we are starting to notice that she is favoring me and not Daddy as much. So today I tried to stay behind the camera and let Daddy be her "go to guy" building trust and showing her she can depend on him.

Her favorite activities today were  grocery shopping, playing with the buttons on the wall that played songs, pressing the buttons on the jukebox and dancing in dress-up clothes.

     

After we are all done playing, we waited in line to see Santa Claus!!! Maddi was soooooo excited to see Santa, however was not a fan of waiting in line! lol But, for being a 3 year old, she did very well! She cherishes her pictures of her with Santa and Cheyenne on my phone. When she sees the pictures she says, "Awww... there's Cheyenne!? Santa!? And Maddi!?" 

 Thank you Grandma Sherri, Papa Steve, Uncle Nate, Aunt Melissa, Cheyenne, and Santa

 for having such a FUN and EXCITING day with us!!!

Maddi had so much fun, that taking her home did NOT go so well :(

We started driving her back to Grandma Teresa's house and she started to recognize the neighborhood... Here's how our conversation went:

Maddi:  "I go HOME Mommy Daddy?"

Me: "No, not today honey. We are going back to Grandma Teresa's house now."

Maddi: [Whine] "No, I go HOME now Mommy Daddy House!?"

Me: [sad she is so sad, yet "oddly" happy that she wants to go HOME with us] 

        "I'm sorry honey, not tonight...."

Maddi: [Now Whimpering] "Nooooo... I not. I go with Mommy Daddy home see Shiloh and Timber." Maddi: [Starts to cry]

Mike: [Whispers to be "Be strong Mommy"... as I am now looking out my window close to tears.]

Me: [Pointing out the window] "Oooooo, Maddi look at those pretty Christmas lights on that house!!!"

Maddi: [Still Whimpering] "Nooooo..."

Me: "Ohhhhh!!! Those lights are BEAUTIFUL! Look at those!"

Maddi: [No response, but stopped whining]

***We pull up in front of Grandma Teresa and Papa's house and she started to whimper and whine again. Walking up their steps she plopped herself down on the steps with her head down on her hands. Teresa came out and I motioned that she doesn't want to go back...and Teresa started to help me coax her inside.

Once I mentioned that she could show Grandma all the pictures and video we took today, she jumped up and came inside. (This girl LOVES her photos!)

Mike and I stayed and talked with Teresa and Mike while we played with Maddi a bit more. 

Teresa told us that some of Maddi's extended family is having a very hard time with the news of the adoption, and this caused me to worry. Teresa seemed very stressed about it, yet tried to reassure me as best she could, since she could see I was close to tears. After such a great day, this news just broke my heart!! I just kept telling myself over and over: "This is meant to be, God brought us together.This is meant to be." When I tell myself that, all my worries of the unknown melt away, because I know that we are in God's hands, and he is in complete control of what is in store for our family.

Each time we take Maddi back, it is so hard on us because we wish we could have her with us always. Now with this shocking news, and this being the first time that Maddi showed us she feels sad not to stay with us too, I didn't think I was going to make it out the door without crying! But, I held it together for Maddi.

As soon as we got back into the truck to go home, a few tears fell as Mike and I talked about the great day we had.  A few fell when we talked about the extended family disagreeing with the adoption. And a few more fell when we talked about how sad we are that Maddi is so sad. :( 

I called my mom on the way home and vented a bit of my worries, and she understood how I was feeling. she tried to reassure me as well... yet nothing really was helping my "kicked in the gut" feeling I had... until I got home and saw that I had a missed call and a voice mail on my cellphone. It was from Teresa, and she said that she just got a voice mail that the extended family had some time to gather their thoughts and realized that they are happy that Maddi found two loving parents and were happy that Teresa was putting her up for adoption for the best interest of Maddi. :) Talk about a load taken off my shoulders... 

Mommy's Favorite Picture of the day:

(Maddi & Daddy waiting "patiently" to see Santa)

Meeting Maddi... Candid Camera (Part 2)

Meeting Great Aunt Tracy

(On behalf of Tracy, my disclaimer is that she had just gotten out of the shower, so she was not camera ready...lol... but her reaction was so JOYFUL I had to share!!) (Don't be mad at me Tracy! xoxo)

Maddi's second Cousins Josh & Megan and 3rd cousin Madison

(That's right, her name is Madison as well...but, only one "D") :o)

Maddison and Madison playing with Mickey Mouse magnets

while the grown ups did all the cooking.

Great Aunt Stacy and 2nd Cousins Jaylyn and Spencer

*I love how Jay says: "Wow, we have 2 Madison's!"

***Makes me smile that Maddison was immediately referred as part of a "we have" statement... 

Jaylyn's response really shows how much love our family has!***

I reeeeeeeeeeeeally loved capturing most of the reactions from family! Maddison watches them on repeat on my phone every time we have her! She will laugh and point while she announces who is in the video! 

This has really helped her learn everyone's names and faces... bonus!!!

We welcome Maddi to the family....on candid camera (Part 1)

So here it is... THE POST I HAVE BEEN DYING TO UPDATE!!!

The videos of surprising family members that knew NOTHING about the possibility of Maddison as our daughter. I didn't get everyone we surprised on video... but the ones we did capture are PRICELESS!!! Enjoy!

(We brought Mini cupcakes in the shape of an "M" for dessert"

Grandma & Grandpa Vrana

Maddison says: "Gran-ma Judy & Papa Vee-Ana" 

11/23 We had a mini Thanksgiving lunch at our house, Maddi helped us answer the door.

The sun kinda ruined the  picture... but the audio of the surprise is GREAT!!!

Grandpa Dan & Danielle

Maddison: "Papa Dan & Daniel"

11/23 We had a mini Thanksgiving lunch at our house 

*It took Uncle Ryan a few minutes to figure this surprise out*

Uncle Ryan & Aunt Kelly

Maddison: "Uncle Wyan & Aunt Kell-wee"

 11/24 We had a mini Thanksgiving lunch at our house

Uncle Nate, Aunt Melissa, and Cousin Cheyenne

Maddison: "Uncle Nae, Aunt Missa, and Sy-ann"

11/24 We had a mini Thanksgiving lunch at our house

Grandma Sherri, Grandpa Steve, & Great Grandma Mary

Maddison: "Gran-ma Sar-wee, Papa Steve, & Gran-ma Mar-wee"

Hope you enjoyed the great memories caught on video!

Part 2 will be posted tomorrow :o)

Case Worker & Home Study (11/18-11/25)

For those following along with our story of finding Maddison, the story continues:

11/18

I call and get an appointment with a  case worker that my lawyer recommended. When I called him, he said that he has already been in contact with my lawyer and knows we want to start and complete the Home Study ASAP. So we setup for him to come that Thursday.

After talking with Stephen I hopped my bum into my car and drove to the store to stock up on things for Maddi! This is what I bought:

Winter jacket, snow pants, snow boots, hat and gloves, 3 pairs of socks, big girl panties, pull ups, wipes, 4 outfits, 1 pair jammies, pair of black dress shows, purple paint, Tinkerbell wall stickers, Tinkerbell sheet set, a SECOND nightlight for the bathroom, juice, a booster seat, 3 kiddie plates, 3 kiddie bowls, kiddie flat ware, and 4 sippy cups. Boom! :)
The lady at the checkout says "Boy I know some kids that are going to have a very Merry Christmas!?" And I said "Nope, just one little girl.. and it's not for Christmas... We are adopting a little girl and I NEED this stuff! HAHA" She gasped and said "Oh, wow... that is awesome!!"  [This was the first times I told anyone besides family and it kinda made me get choked up a bit!] :)

11/19

I start painting Maddi's room purple and start second guessing my color decision... it was REALLY purple!?

But... once I finished... I LOVE IT!!! :)

I'm still not quite done painting her sayings and putting all the flower stickers up on the walls... but I think once the whirl wind calms down some... I will have Maddi help me choose where she wants her stickers and her letters of her name above her bed. :)

11/21

At 6pm we have Stephen (our case worker) over to our home to start the Home Study. He outlined what we should expect over the whole process and how long it should take. He asked us questions about our childhood, our family life growing up, our past relationships, our story meeting and dating, how our families blend, our jobs, our hobbies, our finances, our goals, our infertility, goals for our children, our opinions on discipline, and how we were disciplined growing up. 2 hours later...LOL... he gave us personal and family background paperwork to fill out, out physicals we each needed to go do, our paperwork for each of us to have a FBI background check, out fingerprinting paperwork to take to our local police station, and an outline of questions to answer on our 2 page essay we each had to write separately.
After going through all of that, he took a tour of the house and we set up a time to meet that following Monday.

11/23 & 11/24

I am going to skip these days for now... they will be my next post full of videos.
These two days we hosted 2 mini Thanksgiving lunches with family... who knew nothing about Maddison... imagine their shock when she helped us answer the door!? LOL Fair warning... the videos are ADORABLE and will prob make you cry! :)

11/25

Stephen came back out to complete the second half of the Home Study. He re asked us some questions he had already talked about .... I think he was testing us to see if we had the same answers...LOL
We gave him all the paperwork except the finger printing and our physicals. With only meeting him 4 days earlier, we were unable to get those 2 things completed in time. This time he talked about certain things we can expect from Maddison while she transitions and even down the line. He even talked about things that family might tend to say or do down the line. He had us answer how we as her parents would respond.
We talked about the visits and overnights we have had with Maddi and showed him pictures and talked about things she has said and done with us. He seemed super impressed that I had her room all painted and had all the "staples" she needs on such a small time table! lol
We talked with him about how Maddi is so comfertable in our home. She now calls Shiloh and Timber "Maddi's Doggies" and her room is "Maddi's Room". He says that combined with how fast and easy she has taken to us and calls us Mommy and Daddy... she seems like she will be ready to transition soon! We also said he knew how badly we wanted to make the transition easy on Maddison, and if moving quicker helped her... then we were willing to do that...
So he left saying after the Thanksgiving holiday, he would call our Lawyer and talk over everything and tell her pending the return of all documents that he does not see any reason why we are not fit for adoption!!! YEY!!!!!!

Here is a picture of our little Maddi in her New Coat, gloves, Hat, Boots, and outfit. She was Loving the Bunny hat...which Mommy was glad... because she thinks it is A-Dorable!!!

Blessing in a Bunny hat!!!

"...I miss Maddi."

 I called Mike today from work and asked him what he was up to..

Mike:  [Sigh] "Oh... just sitting her falling asleep watching T.V."

Me:    "Hahaha... rough night?"

Mike: "No,I was folding a basket of clothes, & at the bottom was a pair of Maddi's clothes... I miss Maddi."

Me:  [LOL] "Aww... that's so sweet! It's okay... you will see her Friday night and have her all weekend."

Mike: "I know... but I wish she was here now... I wouldn't be bored then."

Me: "I know Daddy... I miss her too" :'(

Maddi & Daddy

 Kiss!!

 Love this!! She has him right where she wants him... wrapped around her finger!!!

Good night Maddi & Daddy