The Berggrens + 1

Must be football season!

2010-08-02T17:28:00.003-06:00

It's the start of training camp...and Madisyn's gearing up for the upcoming Packer season. As of right now she's still in contract negotiations (we're holding out for more guaranteed money), but her agent thinks it shouldn't be long before she signs and is in camp. Go Pack!

The Staniak's

2010-06-09T20:36:00.007-06:00

Earlier this summer (late spring I guess) the Staniak's came for a visit. Luckily we had awesome weather and were able to hang out outside. The kids had great time playing at the park. And aside from the failed 'sleepovers' Madisyn was so excited to see Reese and Chase again (Jenny and Ryan too).

Um....is this the definition of 'flower child'? Peace sign....for real?

BFFs

Check out those straight teeth!!

I'm back!

2010-06-08T19:32:00.005-06:00

It's only been 4 months, but the mounting harassment was starting to get unbearable. Just kidding. In any case, here's to my summer resolution to start getting some pictures back up here every now and again. Wish me luck! I have a lot to catch up on so stay tuned (fingers crossed)!

Elton John eat your heart out!

Riley asked I update his photo too.

Goodbye 2...Hello 3!

2010-02-11T22:15:00.004-06:00

Happy Birthday! The terrible two's are history. Its smooth sailing from her on out right? So far so good (Only if its been one day). Happy birthday little munchkin! We love you little squirt!!
- Mom, Dad, & Riley

The last of the 2's

2010-02-10T21:03:00.005-06:00

Tonight is Madisyn's last night of being 2. Tomorrow's the big day...and probably one the biggest for our little munchkin. Its crazy to think how fast time has gone. 3 years since that little one blessed out lives. I can't imagine life without her. Its so funny to see how excited she is for her birthday too this year. Supposedly the Happy Joe's pizza party is all her and her friend Simon can talk about at day care. Here's to hoping it lives up to the hype. In any case, it will be a blast, but kinda sad to think she's already another year more grown up.

This last weekend Madisyn got to meet Baby Jack (Amie's cousin's Son). She was actually the one to get him to stop crying too. She really enjoyed the time with the little guy.

Stay tuned to see how the birthday celebrations go!

Bowl-a-thon!

2010-02-01T20:28:00.007-06:00

err....one game I mean. This weekend we ventured out to the lanes for Madisyn's first bowling extravaganza. Team Berggren's vs. Team Mellenthin (Dave, Penny & Parker) in the first ever Bowling Battle of the Block. Not really sure who ended up winning....or outlasting...the battle. But what I do know is the kids had a blast. First thing this morning Madisyn asked "Can we go bowling agian." It was so funny seeing how independent the kids were. How they wanted to carry their balls, line up the ramp (which btw is a brilliant bowling alley invention) and I'm pretty sure they would have even kept score if we had the old fashion score sheets. Then after those 10 full frames of fun, we headed to Sammy's for a little pizza. A great end to fun weekend.

.What concentration!

A little help from the pro. Golf might be my thing...but bowling looks to be Amie's (The winner of the day)

Sweet kicks! Even came with the freaky bowling alley spray stuff in 'em.

That's a big ball. 7lbs to be exact.

French fries seemed to be a highlight of the day.

Bowlin' Buds.

Poopie crumbs.

2010-01-13T19:41:00.002-06:00

No pictures for this one. Believe me...you wouldn't want them. Just had to post it, because after Madisyn went #2 tonight, she said "But Daddy....there are still poopie crumbs in there" referring to some little bits that didn't go down. It truly is amazing what these kids say....just cracks me up!

Aloha 25!!

2009-12-21T17:00:00.001-06:00

Some pics from the surprise 25th anniversary party for Amie's Aunt Susie and Uncle Jay.

Ho Ho Holiday

2009-12-19T19:00:00.001-06:00

Tis the season for all the fun that goes along with Christmas.

Tree trimming.

Rock Banding.

And Madisyn showing us it's only 1 partridge in the pear tree. Or something like that. So funny I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Homesick!

2009-12-18T20:29:00.003-06:00

Madisyn had the pleasure of bringing home a little 24 hour flu bug. Luckily, Dad was the only one to not get it! Mom did however. Not fun. I'm all for Madisyn learning new things, but how to properly throw up wasn't fun. I guess it never is. Anyway.....the next morning she was starting to become herself again and a day of rest seemed to remedy the problem.

Starting to feel a little better.

Riley stayed right by Madisyn's side throughout the whole thing. What a good 'buddyhead.'

Double Trouble.

2009-11-04T21:37:00.004-06:00

Actually....it was anything but. This weekend we were seeing double. And those doubles were the Wilson boys. As Mom (Meghan) and the family went to check out Brett's return the Titletown, Aiden and Brody came to hang out for the day. We had a blast watching the little dudes, and as a result have a new appreciation to those family with 2+ kids of the same age. Not due to any behavioral things, but just to the fact that one goes one way and the other goes the other. Crazy stuff. Like I said it was fun. Madisyn thought it was great to have two little guys in the house and was a huge help rounding up the rascals and helping out with diaper changes. Baked Mostacholi seemed to be a hit as you can see and in an effort to help out with laundry duties at the Wilson's decided to go shirts and skins. Can't wait to see you guys again!

The gang.

Aidan.

Brody keepin' clean.

Brody demonstrated he can already put shoes on......just not his own. Pretty funny stuff.

Brody blue pants as he was known that day. The only request I had of them coming over, was Mom dress them in distinguishable clothes so I could tell them apart. Come to find out there really is no mistaking the two at this age.

Yup....That's Aiden!

That's better!

Trick and Treats.

2009-11-02T20:29:00.005-06:00

This year we decided to let Madisyn pick out what she wanted to be for Halloween. And after many trips to the costume aisle at Target she (with a little help from her parents) decided on being a Puppy. So...we had that part figured out, then when we asked her what she wanted her name to be. BoBo was the first choice from where we'll never know, but then she decided she wanted to be Riley. So Madisyn was Riley for Halloween. She played the part pretty well with a convincing bark and some very believable panting. Trick or treating went fairly well. We went around the neighborhood with Buzz (aka Parker) and did pretty well. It took a few houses to warm up to the idea, but after that she had it down. Although everytime we walked past a kid in a mask, she did want to go "uppie." So now...all that's left is eating all that yummy candy. Or bringing it to work. We'll see.

Getting ready for a big day....

Madisyn especially liked "Shakin her tail"

Madisyn's heroic sidekick Parker....I mean.....Buzz Lighter Space Ranger!

Not bad for Madisyn's first real pumpkins.

Fall Fun.

2009-10-25T18:45:00.004-06:00

After a nice Packer whoopin' the family headed outside to some fall yard work, then we decided to go hunt down some pumpkins. Madisyn was a great 'waker.'

Congrat's....

2009-10-22T18:37:00.003-06:00

....to the Berggren's of the North. Scott (Brian's Cousin) & Kim welcomed baby Weston Scott (like the name!) on October 21st! Way to go guys! We can't wait to meet him!

An apple a day.....

2009-10-11T18:29:00.009-06:00

...will last us at least a month I think. Thanks to my great little helper, we managed to bag a wompin' 13.5 lbs of apples picking apples this weekend. We went with the Dax's, and despite it actually snowing on us....had a great time! And even gave Mom the main ingredient she needed to make some yummy apple crisp.

The Dax's scopin' out some keepers.

Madisyn measuring up. Looks to be about 3' 2" this year.

a little taste testing.

A good little helper unloading the picker reacher thingy.

Lola playing in the train keepin' those hands warm. It got all the way up to 37 I think.

Veronica and Frida grabbing some of the low hanging fruit.

Now that would be a handful!

Update

2009-10-07T18:13:00.006-06:00

So...I thought it was finally time for an update. In the time since the last post, not much has been going on. Madisyn passed her driver's test, only getting 3 points taken off. No...just kidding...but with the amount of time between this and my last point, its not too far off. Anyway...the summer is over, but that doesn't mean we didn't have one heck of a time watching it go. Boating, Zooing, 30th Birthday parties, Packer games, S'mores, and tons of fun. Anyways...below is a smattering of events since the last post, I know which should be tons...but at least its a start of getting back on the blogging train.

Rhinelander

2009-08-29T09:33:00.004-06:00

We made our annual (or what's become annual) trek up to the Parolini's (Amie's aunt and uncle) cottage in Rhinelander. It was a great time. Madisyn went swimming, played testicle toss, had her first canoe trip, caught her first fish and chased the dogs around. Mom ventured into a three round game of beer pong (floaty style) with her cousin and Aunt. Dad attempted water skiing, and was successful once as well as was introduced to the first family of duck hunting by Fran. Riley played with Sam, did some swimming, tried to flush some birds and got made fun of for his 'fancy' tail. It was a great time and as it seems every year....was way to short. Thanks to the Parolini's for hospitality and fishing guidance! Can't wait til next year.

Summer Fun!

2009-08-10T19:28:00.002-06:00

With the heat this weekend, it was a perfect weekend to get a little wet and wild. We took a little trip with our neighbors Penny, Dave and Parker to a local park for a little water fun.

The kids were pretty brave. Madisyn did better than expected.

Madisyn's bud Parker.

Taking a little drink.

Madisyn showin' off a little booty.

Dog Days? Everybody was getting into the action.

Chase-Buddy Birthday Bash!

2009-08-07T06:02:00.006-06:00

Last weekend we headed down to Chase's first birthday. It was so much fun. We went to a Schaumburg Flyers baseball game, which was a first a for Madisyn. She seemed to like it. Everything but the fireworks. After the game there was a pretty good firework display, and a one point I turned to look at Madisyn and see how she was doing. At first, I had thought she fell asleep and was like what kid falls asleep during fireworks, only to see her eyes pop open and ask mommy to 'cover my ears.' It was pretty cute. The kids had a great time playing together. Madisyn loved being around all of them. Especially hangin' with the birthday boy. Happy Birthday Chase! You're getting so big!

It was great to see our friends down there...can't wait to do it again!

The birthday boy!

Reese and Madisyn. If this isn't a BFF shot, I don't know what is!

Nice work Ry...one of Amie's new "Favorites!"

Madisyn chillin' with Jackson (Jen and Jonathan)

Noah sporting the awesome shirts the boys had!

Madisyn playing dress up with Reese. I think she was a little freaked out by the dress. As was her dad.

Avery being shy. What a cutie!

Reese and her model shot. More Fan....More Fan!

Picnic in the Park.

2009-07-23T17:46:00.005-06:00

Well....kinda. If you consider Thai takeout to be a picnic, then yeah. It was a beautiful night so we headed down to a local park on the river in Green Bay. Madisyn loved watching all the boats and was pretty amazed when the bridge went up for the big boat. A beautiful night with my girls. What more could a guy ask for!

Beach Bummin'

2009-07-22T20:35:00.005-06:00

Ah...a relaxing trip to the beach. Finally. It seems like summer is almost over already. In any case...we had a great time. Can't wait to do it again!

The kid's getting their shovel on!

Guess how the water was?

Actually it was nice....when you got used to it (Isn't that always the answer?)

Seriously....how old are you?

Adolfo pondering if he really has what it takes to make it in professional sand castling.

A dirty kid can be a cute kid. Proof.

And lastly....Paul proves why Veronica handles the grilling duties!

A trip North.

2009-07-12T21:13:00.006-06:00

For the 4th we headed up to Door County for the weekend. We had beautiful weather and it was a much needed relaxing weekend. The only problem was I let the camera battery die on multiple occasions. I still managed to get a few shots of the little rug rat.

We visit with some friend Sarah and Simon (Big Simon) who's parent live up in Door County. This is the view form Simon's mom's deck. Not bad. Death's Door as they refer to it.

Sarah and Simon have 2 St. Bernards. Madisyn refers to Norbert and McKinley as the 'Lions'

A glimpse of what Sarah and Simon deal with day in a day out.

Madisyn turned into a little fish in the pool.

Visitors

2009-06-28T20:42:00.005-06:00

This weekend Aunt Sarah was home from Cincy, so she, Grandpa, and Grandma came up for a little cookout and get together on Saturday. Luckily the weather held off and we were able to enjoy some time outside. So good to see my little sis again.

Madisyn catching some wind in the big pinwheel Grandma brought her.

Madisyn in her favorite spot on the patio

Playin' some catch with Grandpa

Headin' out to the back 9 I guess.

I think it was about 23 years ago I was in a similar situation.

I'm at it again....

2009-06-24T19:24:00.009-06:00

A million years between posts th. My bad. No excuses. Well....here's what you all come to see...or used to come to see. Hopefully you still check in once in a while.

BFFs
The Staniak's came to visit. It was so fun to see the kids playing together. Reese and Madisyn are two peas in a pod. I know Madisyn was pretty excited for Reesey and Baby Chase to come visit.

What a cute family!

I Scream....U Sceam.....

Class of '09
One of Madisyn's best bud Taylor graduated from High School this year. Last weekend we celebrated at his grad party. Madisyn made sure walked around to everyone at the party and show them a picture of herself and Taylor. It was pretty funny and quite out of character for the normally shy little girl. She had a blast and got to stay up way, way past her bedtime.

Madisyn and Aunt Susie

Aunt Cathy, Madisyn, and Aunt Susie

Madisyn even learned to play washers.....sorta.

Madisyn and Gramps

Mad and the Grad. Congrats T!!

Close Shave.

Madisyn's new thing to do in the bathtub is shaving. Her bubble beard that is.

A Day for Dad's
On father's day this year, the kid's (or kid's moms) 'constructed' a great breakfast for us dads. It was a nice, relaxing, tasteful morning. Always good to hang with the gang (Paul, Veronica, Lola, Frida, Adolfo, Jeni, Simon and Oliver).

Memorial Day

2009-05-27T20:10:00.007-06:00

We had a great, long Memorial Day weekend. Lots of yard work and lots of fun (those two don't necessarily go hand in hand). Madisyn was a great helper as we tried to get the back yard in order for the summer. We got lots done and its starting to come together. Madisyn also met a couple new friends from the neighborhood this weekend which is sure to make this summer a blast.

On Memorial Day we went and watched the parade. We weren't really sure how Madisyn would do with all the sirens, but all the dogs seemed to distract her.

It was pretty neat seeing all the vetrans walk by. A good reminder of what the day is all about.

Madisyn getting into it with her flag.

There were horses....

And Shriners on a bike....

And even a dog humping a rocket.

Simon showed up too enjoying a piece of candy hurled from one of the floats (Hurled prolly wasn't the best word to use there).

Madisyn's favorite part....the dog Ollie she met.

Here's a couple pics from the yard work. Well...the breaks between yard work I guess.

A helping Hand.

2009-05-05T17:30:00.002-06:00

With the nice weather comes that oh so fun yard work. Although...looks like this year we might have a helper.

Madisyn 'weeding,' although I think there was more 'dirting' going on than weeding.

...once she figures out this work glove thing.

"What do you mean figure it out....I've got it just fine DAD!"

Go Fly a Kite!

2009-05-03T19:35:00.008-06:00

This weekend we decided it was time to try something new. The wind was up, the air was warm (fairly) and Dora was itchin' to take flight. So we headed over to Lola's Grandpa and Grandpa's house to try our hand at Kite Flyin.'

Madisyn (with a bit of help) got Dora off the ground in no time.

Everything seemed to being going fairly well....

...until Madisyn started to get a little freaked out about how high Dora was getting, and how she was "flying away."

So we reeled her back in.

But that was only after Grandma Dax was nice enough to watch Lola and Madisyn well Dad and Paul contined flying the kites.

Its pretty safe to say the Dads had more fun with the kites than the kids did.

Dora vs. The Flying Fish

Then the real fun began....

Paul (the novice) engaging in Operation Kite Rescue - Code named Flyin' Flounder.

Lola wondering what her Papa is doing with the tree trimmer.

Success. Mission Completed. And we only had to cut down 3/4 of the tree. JK.

Whoever knew $1.99 bought so much fun! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma.....err.....I mean the easter bunny!

Easter Eggin'

2009-04-26T09:26:00.015-06:00

Yeah...it was a while ago, but here's a quick little timeline of our Easter events:

We decorated Easter eggs.

Stickers went just about everywhere.....

...except the eggs.

We seached for Eggs.

Then we went to Simon, Oliver, Jeni and Adolfo's house for an easter egg hunt in the park. It was so much fun and luckily we have a really nice day for it.

The kids had their special egg finding glasses on and were rarin' to go!

"I need balls"

2009-04-09T20:56:00.006-06:00

Surprise! Yeah...we're still here despite what you may think. Things have been crazy lately but with all the e-mails I've been getting I figured I better get something up here quick. That or I'm quickly going to find myself on the naughty list come Christmas. Anywho....to the munchkin at hand. So Madisyn made her dad very proud today. Dad was watching the Masters, and in the spirit of things decided today was as good of day as any for the clubs to migrate from the basement to the trunk. So Dad went downstairs and found the clubs under the piles of stuff that had built up on them over the winter and brought them upstairs. Right away...Madisyn looks at them and says "Golf Clubs." Bravo little one....1 point. Then she says she wants her golf clubs, which she promptly retrieves from the toy box. Point 2. She starts doing a little dance and banging them on the floor which makes me think...wait that's not right...then, only to think of her Dad in his younger years pounding his clubs into the ground..but that was in frustration. Hers was excitement rather than frustration. 3 Points . Then came the kicker which brought quite a laugh from the gallery (Aunt Courtney and Dad), Madisyn started walking around saying "I need balls, I need balls." Priceless. Most dad's wouldn't be proud of their daughter if they were prancing around asking for balls....but in this case....Dad couldn't be more proud. It's going to be a great summer!

(P.S. Thanks for all those who are reading this and have stuck with us through the drought.)

Madisyn sporting the pig tails. Hair's quite a bit longer since the last post I'm guessing.

Just a little pic or Riley...he's been a little bummed out by the lack of opportunity to run in the backyard due to the wetness. It looks like things are shaping up though....now if he'd clean up his #2 from the winter, we'd be in great shape.

Our little Leprechaun!

2009-03-21T07:47:00.003-06:00

Here's Madisyn on St. Patrick's day showing off her hat she made a daycare. I guess she loved it so much she wore it around all day. I think she's even got a pot of gold hidden under that shirt!!

YOU'VE GOT 2 WHAT!?!

2009-03-06T06:32:00.009-06:00

Well, since we last chat, Madisyn's moved up into the Dalmatian room at her daycare. It's pretty exiting because now she starts using the potties. Which hopefully will be a quick transition. She's been doing pretty good at going at home, still not telling us when she has to go, but when we ask her if she wants to 'Go potty on Dora' (Dora is on her litte potty seat) she usually obliges. Although she hasn't been a fan of going #2. But we'll work on it. Speaking of number two, and daycare, Madisyn surprised us with another little tidbit of her own the other day. Since moving to her new room she's been seperated from her 'boyfriend' and longtime daycare buddy Hayden. She still talks about him a lot and actully has referred to him as her boyfried. But just last night Madisyn informed us she has 2 Boyfriends now. Whoa whoa whoa little girl. Back this train up. I know your 2 now, but if you were 22 Dad would frown upon such actions. I haven't really seen how to handle this one in those parenting guides so we'll have to just go by the seat of our pants. But Dad is definitely going keep an eye on this one. 2 Boyfriends?! I mean....who does she think she is....the Bachelor (Or Bachelorette I guess it would be)?

Anyway, here are some pics fromt he last month. Madisyn's birthday MONTH has officially come to a close. I'm pretty sure she's gonna think she presents the whole month of Feb. now. Thanks to all those that have celebrated her birthday with us over the course of the last month. We really appreciate it!

One of Madisyn's newest favorites things to do is help cook. Here she is in action.

Here she is Making 'Birthday' Pizza on her real Feb. 11 birthday!

"Another birthday cake! Wow, this is AWESOME!"
Too bad it really wasn't that awesome to her, the DQ ice cream cake was a bit too cold for her liking. She instead celebrated with 12 M&M's most of which she put in her mouth at once.

Here we are getting ready to go to Disney on Ice. Minnie in hand for the show!

Here's Madisyn debating "Do I go with the $10 Cotton candy, or go for the $12 SnoCone"
I wasn't totally aware I'd need a second mortgage on the house to attend this thing. Just kidding...it wasn't too bad. I mean....the cotton candy did come with cheap plastic ears:)

The show was actually pretty neat! Madisyn loved it when Mickey and Minnie would come out, so much she almost flailed out of mom's lap at one point.

Oh boy...nice hat.

Madisyn sitting with 'Baby Gabe' at yet another birthday soiree.

I'm 2, I'm 2!

2009-02-11T21:43:00.003-06:00

It's hard to believe its been two years already since we sat in that hospital room and watched the biggest little life changer come into this world. Wow. People always tell me 'they grow up quick' and man do they. Looking back I can't believe it's been two years. But I can honestly say, it's been the greatest, most gratifying, sometimes trying, but always worth it two years of our lives. Happy Birthday Squirt. We love ya!

Mo. Mo. Mo. P.

2009-02-10T21:09:00.002-06:00

Birthday Bash!

2009-02-09T21:19:00.009-06:00

This last weekend we celebrated Madisyn's 2nd birthday a little bit early. Simon (and family) and Lola (and family) and Aunt Courtney came over and had a great little time. Madisyn got great gifts from her buds, and they had a blast playing with all the toys and balloons.

The kids all helped Madisyn open her gifts!

She got a cute new outfit from Lola (and fam.)

...a shiny new cash register from Simon (and fam.)

...and a fruit basket to run thru the checkout line.

Then it was time to sit down at the kiddie table for a little din din.

It obviously wasn't enough food for Lola, who wanted to snack on some fries.

Then it was time for cake. Dad made, or attempted to make, a Mickey cake. Not really sure how to make black frosting we substituted brown. Its a bit more of a 'retro' Mickey than you may be used to seeing. Nothing a little sideburn trim wouldn't fix. When I asked Madisyn who it was, she said Mickey....which totally made me feel better. Ace of Cakes I'm not. They make it look a lot easier on TV. It was kind of funny and sad at the same time, we were passing out cake, and Madisyn kept asking...."Where'd Mickey's ear go." Not the easiest question to answer.

Mommy and the birthday girl.

Aunt Courtney helped Madisyn blow out her 2 candles.

The cake eating started off dainty and clean...

But quickly led to what kids do. It was a great day and thanks to our friends for coming over to celebrate with us.

Buds.

2009-02-05T21:58:00.003-06:00

Nothing like a little Handy Manny to bring friends together! Simon (and Adolfo) came over the other night for pizza and bananas. The kids had a great time running around, doing some shoveling, and just being kids. Its so crazy how far these kids have come in such a short time. Only another week or so until the big numero 2. Crazy.

Long Lost Post.

2009-01-22T22:44:00.005-06:00

And I was doing so well....for a week at least. Anyway, it won't be long, and it wasn't lost. I just didn't do it. But here's a couple pictures from the last couple weeks. Just being goofy, new pjs, and some just being cute.

I don't know for sure, but I think these might the Dr. Seuss signature series.

Here was the Happy Birthday Courtney Party/Surprise Birhtday Party Cathy party. Hope you guys had fun!

Sleddin' (& Eatin')

2009-01-09T18:23:00.006-06:00

"Going for a new, amateur-recreational- saucer-sled land-speed record...Madisyn R. Berggren"

Daddy almost dumpin' her. Nice. What a daredevil.

Someone found the deliciousness of that little thing called snow.

How'd I forget.

2009-01-07T19:17:00.005-06:00

I guess somebody was a good little kid this year. Man...Madisyn made out! Here's what awaited her Christmas morning. I promise this is the last of the Christmas posts too. I can't believe I forgot Christmas morning. I mean really...what kind of blogging parent am I.

Madisyn opening Pluto or "Poo-toe" (Ugh...that's kinda gross)

Gangsta isn't she!

A Dora robe!

...and a Dora Blanket to go a giant little pink chair.

Wow....a bit of a better Christmas looking back at last year. That was not fun.

Another Christmas.

2009-01-06T19:57:00.004-06:00

Due to scheduling conflicts, we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Berggren, Great Grampa & Nana, Uncle Andy and Mandy, and Sarah (via iChat) the weekend after Christmas. It a nice relaxing day with some great food and great gifts.

"There Uncle Andy...you made the blog"

Opening Sarah's present via iChat

With her baby from Grandma

Feeding the baby

The last supper...

2009-01-06T19:46:00.003-06:00

...or December 26th, 2008. We had a little get together with Simon, Adolfo, Jeni, Baby Garcia2B, Lola, Paul, Veronica, and Baby Dax2B. It was fun. The kids exchanged gifts. Madisyn made out with a Palm Pilot and a TuTu. What's better than that. We had good food and better company. Plus Brian, Paul, and Adolfo discussed all the new found joys of homeownership. Stuff like Co2 detectors, Radon tests, Ice shoves and like. I bet you wish you were there!

What a crew! They're so big now.

More Christmas...

2009-01-06T19:39:00.003-06:00

Christmas day we stopped by my Aunt and Uncle's for a bit to celebrate with my side of the family. Filled with Taco Roll-ups, stocking's from Uncle Wirehead and the always popular Hungry Hungry Hippo. Oh yeah...and some DELICIOUS peanut butter balls. Mmmm.

Hx3 with Aunt Judy, Jess, Gavin and Madisyn. Madisyn was pink of course.

Madisyn and Baby Gabe

Christmas Eve

2009-01-02T16:13:00.005-06:00

Christmas eve we ventured down to Appleton for a celebration with Amie's side of the family. It was a great, 14 bottles of wine kinda time!! Many thanks to everyone for making it worth it that we have a decent sized SUV, and here's to thinking we should maybe get something bigger for next year!

Madisyn's own 'Rock Band' guitar

Shake it like a salt shaka, shake it like a salt shaka!

"Theses peppermint spoons from Crate and Barrel are delicious!"
(Shameless plug for Aunt Sarah and Uncle Andy's store)

C is for cookie!

2009-01-02T15:49:00.005-06:00

So...I'm a bit behind on the Christmas postings... here we go. Before Christmas Madisyn made some cookies with Grandma and Grandpa. She seemed to really enjoy it. See if you can figure out what her favorite part was. More Xmas posts to come...

"These do taste good!!"

That's a lot of cookies!

Getting into the Xmas Spirit

2008-12-14T21:45:00.004-06:00

Holy Hair Batman. Yikes. The world can now see Madisyn's bedhead. This was the morning after St. Nick came to visit. I think Madisyn was a fan. She got a Mikey Mouse, Mickey Mouse's Christmas, some Playdoh and a bunch of other things. I guess she was a good girl this year.

Why am I up this early again?

That sunday we decorated the tree. It was so much fun to have an additional helper this year. Even if she wanted to put all the ornaments in the same spot. Mom took care of spacing them out.

Auntie Courtney came over to help. That or just wanted some Egg Nog.

Madisyn helped dad with the light situation. She even figured out why they were blinking.

The final result.

Thankful...

2008-12-09T20:35:00.011-06:00

...for Pyrex, Bingo and RockBand. Just kidding....well, kinda. But most of all we're thankful for family and friends. (I know the Thanksgiving post is way behind, but whatev!) We had a great thanksgiving with tons of fun and even more tons of good food (even if we did have to watch for glass shardes). Here's a glimpse of the day.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble up all that good food!

The tragedy. When the favorite potatoes were set down on the stove to cool, the Pyrex dish exploded. After much discussion and careful inspection of the tots, the crew still braved the glass for their beloved potatos. Well, we scraped what we could off the top. Delich!

B-7 I-18 N 27. BINGO!

A new tradtion, BINGO began this year. And it seemed to be a crowd pleaser. Well....until the first winner (Taylor) wasn't old enough to collect his prize. Don't worry T, we'll take care of ya!
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Prizes went to Court, Grandma Schultz and Great Grandma Schultz. Good Stuff. The 'booby' prize of the night, although I think it could have been renamed, went to ME. Woo Hoo.....a half drank bottle of tequila in a sketchy looking bottle.

DUDE!...what's with pose Brian. DORK!

ROCK ON!!
Appearing live this Thanksgiving - "Tryptoband"
So then it was time for new tradtion number two.....Rock Band!

Tryptoband

Whit on lead vocals

Gina on Bass

C-Bizzle on gee-tar

Who's that hot blonde on the mic?

R.I.T. (Rockstar in training)

Madisyn and Great Gramps (and Wally Wabash)

A few cheerio's to end a great thanksgiving. Please pass the gravy!

Way behind.

2008-12-08T23:35:00.006-06:00

Once again I've dropped the ball. My bad. I guess I'll all I can do now is as Carl Lewis did and try to make up for it. I know...its an uphill battle but here's a start.

A while back Lola (and Paul), Simon (and Jeni), and Madisyn (Brian, Amie and Courtney) went to the 'lighting ceremony' down on Broadway St. It was....cold to say the least. But the kiddies did great. They even went to their first art opening (as far as I know, Jeni and Paul can correct me if I'm wrong.) at Vacant. The kids loved seeing the horses and the live window displays were....well, kinda awkward. All three of the them did great and seemed to have a good time.

Contrary to what you may believe, these actaully are our kids as opposed to 3 kids from the 1920s.

"Serious guys....they're lights...I mean....C'mon on! It's freezing out here!"

New Hat, Simon Says, and Madisyn Potato Head

2008-11-19T21:22:00.009-06:00

New Hat.
The other day we were heading out into the chilly Green Bay night, so I went to Madisyn's pink winter hat on. "New Hat" she says. Umm....okay I thought. So...what's in the closet. Ah...dad's packer hat. "Do you want to wear this one" I asked? "Yeah" So...the Packer hat it was. Must have had something to do with the thumping the Packers put on the Bears this last weekend. I guess Madisyn was just feeling a little hometown pride. That's okay by me. Go Pack!

Simon Says.
"Pizza Pizza." Tonight we got together with Jeni and Simon and went out for pizza. It was fun...we had good pizza, then they came over to play for a little while. It was pretty funny trying to get the two of them on the chair for a picture. Its funny to see them actually both get onto the chairs by themself. It seems like just the other day we had to 'arrange' them for pictures. Its true...they do grow up fast.
.

I'm pretty sure Simon's thinking "You got to be kidding me."

Madisyn Potato Heads.
One of Madisyn's favorite new things seems to be wearing Mr. Potato Head's glasses. Despite them being a bit too small. I guess there's really nothing to fear, unless of course she starts to try to store them in her bottom.

What Mr. or Mrs. Potato head would do for blue eyes like that.

Wedding Bliss!

2008-11-17T20:22:00.003-06:00

Last weekend we packed up the old family truckster and headed down to Genesse Depot (near Waukesha) for Amie's cousin Alexandra's wedding. It was a very beautiful wedding. A few too many missed turns for my liking as well as those passengers and followers but we made it, and we had a blast. Here are some of the highlights from the dance floor.

Madi x2 (Madisyn and Amie's cousin Madelyn)

Gramps showin' off some moves

Madisyn doing her best to keep up to Gramps.

The two most beautiful girls there!

Boo Zoo

2008-10-19T19:36:00.010-06:00

Sorry for the delay in the commentary..(Not that anyone was anxiously awaiting). Last weekend with went with the Dax's to Boo Zoo at the New Zoo. It was really fun. Madisyn wore her little pumpkin costume for I guess you could say second time. The first time was when she tried it on at Target and insisted on wearing until checkout. Anyway, the zoo was great, candy stations for all the kids, tons of kids in cute costumes, and the majority of the animals were actually out. Must have been the cooler temperatures as compared to when we've gone in the summer.

My little pumpkin.

Lola, the cutest ladybug I've seen.

"No more tootsie rolls....what"

Two cute pumpkins

I think the Reindeer was a little upset. I guess probably because this wasn't his holiday.

The fox was dressed in his bear costume.

Squirmy little bugs

"You look weird. No, You look weird. No you do. No you do."

The cutest new additions to the zoo. Absolutely adorable.

This may have been the scariest thing at the zoo that day.

Punkin' Patchin' and HOF 2008

2008-10-14T20:23:00.014-06:00

This past weekend we ventured to Hortonville to go to the pumpkin patch and pick out some pumpkins. It was huge. I was thinking we were in for a little farm. When we got there, there were a ton of cars. They had all kinds of things. hay rides, bunnies, pumpkins, gourds, corn maze, haybail critters, haybail slides and a bunch more. It was crazy.

So many pumpkins, how can one person decide.

Here's the actual pumpkin patch that we took a hayride out to.

One of the haybail pumpkins we passed on the way out.

"I found one....wait...this thing is heavy!"

"Here's one more my size!"

"Dir-tee" (Such a girly girl!)

Nice pumpkin pose Court...real nice!

On Saturday night we went to Steven's Point where Amie's basketball team was being inducted into the UWSP hall of fame. It was a great night. Madisyn and Daddy were so proud of Mom.

The newly enducted Hall of Famers

Madisyn thought it was fun game to stick all the name tags on Aunt Cathy!

Not so fun anymore. "Uh oh."

It was a bit of a long night....thanks to Gramps for giving Madisyn a place to snuggle up.

"It was long, exhausting but fun weekend.....just ask my parents!"

Odds n' Ends

2008-10-05T19:50:00.007-06:00

It's been a little bit since I updated this blog thingy. Here's a little insight into what Madisyn's been up to as of late.

It was Mommy's birthday a couple of weeks ago. Don't really know what the deal is with Madisyn's 'smile.' Must have something to do with knowing that it's mom's last birthday celebration in the 20's.

Bon Voyage!
We had a little going away party for Aunt Sarah as she moves out to Cincy! Good Luck and we'll miss ya. Keep in touch!

New Diggs

Well not really new....just updated I guess. It was about a month ago we decided to move Madisyn up from her crib to her 'big girl bed.' So far so good. We did have one little incident, but it was nothing a little help from Marc and I couldn't fix with a little ingenuity at work. (We had to make a rail for the bottom of the bed. I think it turned out even better than the one we bought)

What's This?

A. An 18 volt battery
B. Useless (becasue Dad didn't put it back in the charger
C. A Boat
D. All of the above

If you answered D. You're correct. I'm constantly amazed at how smart these little kids are. They honestly just crack me up with how creative they can be. Some of you may have read about Noah's little hair dryer story. If not....you should...it's absolutely hilarious. It wasn't nearly as funny, but we had a similar little expierience the other night. I was in our room putting up a new ceiling fan and had the recharable flashlight up there, along with the battery that I had died because I didn't put it in the charger. When I finished up and turned the power back on, Mom and Madisyn came up to inspect my work. It was then Madisyn made us laugh as we saw her over on the floor with the battery, sliding it across the floor, saying "BOAT" "BOAT." It was pretty funny...and you know what...it does look awfully similar. Funny stuff.

In another funny little story. The other day Madisyn was rummaging thru my bedside table as she does pretty regularly does. I looked over and saw she pulled out my ipod headphones. The next part is what really amazed me....she was actually trying to put the earbuds into her ears. I guess I'll have to find out what she wants on her playlist.

Da Bears Country

2008-09-24T21:17:00.009-06:00

This past weekend we loaded up the old family truckster and headed down south of the boarder to visit the Staniaks. It was a great weekend as usual. The girls played together, the moms talked together and the dads drank together (a little). Ryan even learned a bit about the Ryder Cup. It happened to be the weekend Chase was being baptised, so we ended up with quite a feast on Sunday before the drive home. Good Stuff. One of the best parts of the entire weekend was sitting with my fellow Wisconsinites (Ryan's Fam) watching a house full of bears fans lose in OT. (Yes I know the Packers loss too). Here's some pics from the weekend.

A quick bath before the trip.

We started the weekend with a trip to the Cosley Zoo. It was a really nice little zoo. The perfect size actually. The kids got to see the animals, and we weren't there all day.

Ryan was really excited to show the girls the ducks.

Ha Ha. Gotcha!

Madisyn checking out El Burro

Reese checking out a couple of horseys.

Oh dear!

Sorry I didn't get any closer. I was scared. I mean seriously....what do they feed these rabbits. That thing is as big as Riley!

Yeah I know Madisyn's pose is a bit sassy...Don't know if she was trying to show off for Chase or what...but it was the picture that she was smiling.

Chase Patrick Staniak. Chaser. C-Patch. C-Pup.

The girls in the double stroller going for a walk. Man there are a lot of no outlet streets by your house.

The girls kindly offered to babysit Chase well the Moms and Dads went out for a dinner and drinks.

And then there was the photoshoot...

Reese was excited. (I guess Madisyn is just used to it.)

Picking flowers...or weeds...or rocks.

BFFs

Here's Looking at You!

2008-09-13T08:29:00.003-06:00

On a recent trip out, Madisyn wanted to try on some new glasses. I wonder if this is how Elton John started.

Oh and the princess wearing her crown. That or Madisyn doing her best Statue of Liberty impersonation.

Go Pack Go!

2008-09-08T21:24:00.006-06:00

With all our blog friends wearing and bragging their bears clothing, how could we, up in the land of the frozen tunda and cheese, not come out with our own. So here's Madisyn wearing her Packers gear....and celebrating Mr. Rodgers and his Lambeau leap. Brett who!? (Kidding Brett...we still love you.) So here we are...after week one...atop the standings with that team from Illinois....setting the stage for a big rivalry game! HA.

A little nervous at the beginning.....I mean....all I've ever known is Brett Favre!

TOUCHDOWN! Wooo Whooo!!

Watching the game with friends Paul (not pictured), Lola, and the cheeto providing Adolfo.

Oh...and just a cute pic on a rare occasion where Madisyn let us put not one, but two hair thingy's in. For a little while at least.

Beach Bums.

2008-09-07T19:39:00.004-06:00

It wasn't this past weekend, but here are some pictures from a weekend when we went up the beach. For all those who knew about Madisyn's beach fiasco in Mexico (not wanting her feet to touch the sand, and crying when they did) she did much better. This time she walked on the sand saying 'hot' 'hot.' It was a great beach (where Madisyn enjoyed busting sand castles), and even better water. Fairly warm, no weeds, and not very deep at all. Perfect for the little rascals.

He showed up....splashin' around.

2008-08-27T15:28:00.003-06:00

So ever since Madisyn has started daycare she's had a 'kiddie crush' on a boy named Hayden. Thanks to some cute pictures from daycare, I think you can see what we mean.

Hangin' with the Hodag

2008-08-20T06:15:00.006-06:00

This weekend we were lucky enough to head up to Rhinelander to Parolini's (Amie's Aunt Cathy and Uncle Fran) cottage. We had an AWESOME time. We did some swimming, fishing, jet skiing, tanning (or sunburning), reading, and just relaxing. We were sad to see sunday come and head back to reality. Dad's gotta run to work, but wanted to get a post up so we don't run the risk of being kicked off you know who's blog again, so here are some pics from the weekend.

We don't want to go 'Bye-Bye'

2008-08-13T20:26:00.013-06:00

In an effort to not lose our position, or go "bye-bye" from the Staniak's blog, here's our post (If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the comments from the last post). Not that that should be a reason to post, but whatever. Anyway, to give an update it looks like Madisyn's bound for gold. Or....at least she thinks she is. I guess in the Olympic spirit, Madisyn's decided she's got a shot at the US Gymnastics team in what would be the 2024 Olympic Games. We had the gymnastics on the other night and Madisyn started running around, waving her arms, jumping (well, what she considers jumping. She does everything correctly, except for actually leaving the ground), and even trying to do a somersault. It was pretty crazy. I wish I could have got video of it. I'll try to get some 'jumping' video if I can. Aside from that, Madisyn moved up to the Circus room at daycare (maybe thats where she's getting the tumbling routine from). She seems to be fine with the transition as she was reunited with her tiny town boyfriend Hayden. Hopefully we get the cute pictures of the two of them from daycare so you guys can all meet him. Here's some pics, since no one comes to these just to read right?

Bubble Time!
(Thanks Aunt Cathy!)

Bubbles must not taste as bad these days as I remeber. We're working on her technique.

Ouside. Ouside.

2008-08-04T20:25:00.006-06:00

One of Madisyn newest words is 'ouside.' And thanks to the nice weather lately, along with the work we've been doing to the yard, we've had a chance to be out there quite a bit. Madisyn's lovin' it too as she gets better navigating the patio to lawn transition. Here's a few pics from when we made it out to the grass.

One of this guy too.

Hi.

2008-07-26T18:47:00.002-06:00

Just a quick pic to let you know I'm still around. I'll try to tell my dad to post more but he's always working in the backyard.

Hola Amigos!

2008-06-22T20:32:00.047-06:00

Yup...its been a while as usual...but we've been resting up from the long, but GREAT trip. Madisyn's officially a world traveler now. The trip to Mexico was a hit. Despite the iffy weather, we all had a great time. All the people at the resort were great with Madisyn. If I only had a peso for every Hola Nina I heard. It was hard to leave...but hopefully we'll go back sometime. Madisyn wants 'more.' Ha.

Checking out Madisyn's First airplane.

"I flew in yesterday and man are my arms (and the rest of me) tired."

What a view.

Um.....I don't know about this!

"Higher Daddy!"

La Palapa, the great restaurant we at downtown. Beats Carl's Jr. huh Whit?

Madisyn and her great buddy for the trip, Taylor.

View from our room. Not too bad.

Madisyn loved the pools, but was terrified of the sand, and not a real big fan of the ocean. I guess I don't have to worry about getting her a sandbox this summer.

Then only 'sun' we saw the first 5 days!

Even Madisyn got in on the Drinks....she loved the Daiqari's

Stylin'

Dad!

Siestas! Nice!

Is that actually the sun!?

La Famila

The rest of the weekend....

2008-05-27T20:46:00.011-06:00

It was a nice long weekend, to sit back, relax, and have some fun.

Rockin' it at Celebrate DePere.

Some tunnel time at Simon's. (Madisyn was finally brave enough to give it a shot.)

In search of the right sunglasses for Mexico.

What about these?

Popsicle time. Mmmmm.

And finally, making mommy proud, Madisyn made her first basketball shot. Up to this point she's got a career 100% shooting percentage.

A Sad, but Loving Goodbye.

2008-05-27T20:27:00.006-06:00

This memorial day weekend started off on a sad note as we said goodbye to Great Great (In Madisyn's case) Grandma Vi Friday night. She was a super grandma and will be missed greatly. We're all glad we had as much time with her as we did. And being 102 we had plenty of good years with her. It's crazy to think that there was 100 year difference between Madisyn and her Great Great Grandma.

Weekend Retreat

2008-05-22T05:13:00.015-06:00

Its been a while since we were able to see friends Jenny, Ryan, and Reese so we planned a get together in Racine this past weekend. We all had a great time especially the little girls. We met up at Apple Holler just off the highway, a place we've driven by countless times since being kids. It was fun to see the goats, rabbits, llamas and donkey, but I think as Ryan said, we were there "off season."

Then it was off to the harbour (harbor) to have lunch and just catch up. The mom's talked, the kids ran around, and the dad's had a few beers.

Dad...you finished another one.

Sunday we stopped by the outlet malls where all of us made out pretty well getting the necessities for Mexico in a few weeks. Madisyn even got into the shopping spirit, lucky for us she doesn't have a credit card yet. Not that it matters though.

Madisyn making goofy faces in the car

Lastly, we stopped in Milwaukee to have lunch with Uncle Andy and Aunt Sarah. Sorry...no pics, but it was some yummy pizza.

Also, Madisyn decided she likes her ASU SunDevil horns she got for her birthday, and now wants to put them on whenever she sees them.

Catching up.

2008-05-04T19:51:00.018-06:00

Where's my big hat?
We watched the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Madisyn went crazy when she saw all the horses. It was pretty hilarious. It might have been the two sippy cups of mint julips though...who knows.

Nap time on Madisyn's 'stay home from daycare sickday.'

Last weekend we celebrated Simon's first birthday. It was a blast. Madisyn was pretty interested in what Simon got and volunteered to help try things out if he needs help.

Madisyn LOVES to color and draw now. Thanks to Simon (Jeni and Adolofo) for the party gift of crayons.

Here's Madisyn at her table drawing agian. She really seem to like it. She seems to go thru paper pretty quick. Dad was a little disappointed that she looks to be a right hander. Oh well.

More drawing.

Here's the gang at Simon's 1st birthday party. We all had a great time. Free wagon rides thanks to Simon's Uncle Fredrick and Grandma Harkness.

Simon's friend Liam trailing behind the little ones on the chopper.

Madisyn doing her best "Ben Hur"

The new 1 yr old himself - Simon.

L. O. L. A. ~ Lola.

The gang together to celebrate Veronica's ____th birthday!

Happy Birthday Veronica! Great monkeybread cake!!

Walk this Way.

2008-04-20T06:45:00.004-06:00

Well, Madisyn has proven she CAN walk, the question is now is she brave enough to try it on a regular basis. I think she's getting more and more confident as each day comes. Here's some video of WobblesMcGint.

Howdy.

2008-04-07T19:39:00.011-06:00

Were all starting to get better after our latest bouts with illness. Not a ton of new news. Madisyn continues to work on her walking. She's getting better and braver (if that's a word). She's been taking a few steps between mom and dad and just today we caught her practicing her balance in the hallway. More teeth are on the way too, leading to less sleep for all of us along with a consistent stream of drool from the munchkin's mouth. Hopefully we'll have some walking pictures soon! We'll work on it.

A plastic penny saved is....well, still a plastic penny.

Mmmmmmetal. We know...weird.

"Look Mom....No hands!"

Our favorite little sausage, trying to bring the brew crew good luck on opening day.

Smile.

This is what Madisyn does now when you ask her to smile.

Just checking my wee-mail.

What!?

Not So Hoppy Easter.

2008-03-25T19:16:00.011-06:00

Well, another holiday another sick day. First Christmas, now Easter. Yeah...the Berggren's were all sick again for yet another holiday. It sucked to be honest. Our easter dinner that was so promising turned into grilled cheese. And while it was a good grilled cheese. it didn't compare to the ham we were supposed to have. We were so sick, that even Riley had to make a trip to the doctor today because he seems to have caught the cough we all had. Not fun. But...here are a couple new shots at least. Thanks to Tinytown for the Easter pic, which turned out to be our only one.

Just waiting for nicer weather!

Comin' to get ya!

Dude...where were we?

2008-03-09T19:41:00.009-06:00

So...again my apologies for the lack of postings. To catch you up on whats been going on. Madisyn's continuing to work on her 'walking.' She got some pretty spiffy new shoes that will hopefully help with it. I think it will still be a little bit yet. We'll keep working on it. She's starting to say certain words...just in her own way. She also moved up to the next room at daycare. It was pretty hard for Amie and I to leave her in there the first couple of days because she just looked like she had no clue where she was. They said said she did okay though....so thats comforting. Its pretty crazy though , she went from napping in a pack and play, to now sleeping on a mat on the floor. We'll see how it goes. As you can see from the picture below though, she's starting to take a liking to laying on the floor. Hopefully it won't be too long before you hear from us again.

Waiting for the big bath to fill up.

It's time to start taking care of those pearly whites. All 4 of them. Madisyn's taking a liking to brushing her teeth. Or...as she does it...she slurps the water off of the bristles. Most of the time at least.

Birthday Party 1.2

2008-02-19T07:14:00.010-06:00

Madisyn had party number 2 for birthday number 1 this weekend. It was another crazy one with tons of people in our house. But as Madisyn says, that means more presents. Thanks for everyone who came. Hope you had a good time.

Madisyn with one of her favorite gifts, an Elmo balloon...

Even better....CASH! Cash puts a smile on any girl's face I guess.

Stylin'

MORE CAKE! Mmmmmm......

Gavin came and finally got his Christmas present.

Running up those cell phone minutes to tell all her friends what she got.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T07:24:00.002-06:00