Two milestones to report!

Well, this week we have had two more items of interest occur in our house. On Saturday, Greyson attempted his first step. It was kinda interesting. He stood up from the ground (meaning he didn't pull himself up on anything) and then decided to pick up his foot and step toward something. It was almost like he didn't even think about it first - just did it. Then he got this stunned look on his face and dropped back to a sit. It was kinda surreal seeing it happen. He tried it again later, so I think this is the real thing. I can't believe that he is only a few days shy of 10 months old and WALKING!! And climbing.... here is a picture of him on top of our very little climber in the backyard. He climbed up on top of this all by himself! I decided that I wasn't going to help him and see how far he got. And wouldn't you know it! He made it all the way up! He also went head first down the slide part, but don't worry, I caught him before he hit the ground.

Greyson's mountaintop

Looking ready to drive off somewhere.

The other milestone reached in our house - Madelyn got up in the middle of the night last night and went potty all by herself and then just went back to bed. She didn't even try to wake us up. I find this to be a big step! She is still wearing pull-ups at night because she only makes it to the toilet dry about half the time in the morning. Ben isn't too keen on the idea of her getting up in the middle of the night. He was even less happy about her getting out of bed to go potty at 9pm tonight. I don't know exactly where this is heading but I hope that she isn't going to abuse this privelege of getting out of bed! I'm being optimistic and thinking that she won't though, as long as we, the parents, play it cool and don't blow it out of porportion. Anybody have any advice for us?

Madelyn's 3rd birthday

Well, I am now a mother of a 3-year-old. How does this happen.... What a wonderful day, though! Madelyn loved every part of it! The TinkerBell dress, the friends that came over, the presents, the cake, getting to stay up late... she had a GREAT time!!

Check out the glasses, the dress, the new doll ("jasmine") and the shoes. All birthday presents! You can also see Lilly with the new Viewmaster.

Blowing the candles "up and down".

The 3 yr old crew: (clockwise) Madelyn, Joseph (almost 3), Jack, Caleb, and Lilly.

Happy Birthday, Madelyn!

Oops....

I forgot to unlock the July pictures until just now.... Sorry. So, it is ready to view now!! Enjoy!

More pictures - Graduation, June, and July

Hit the "Rhodes Family Pictures" link on the right to see the updated pictures. As for a family update.... it has been a great summer. The kids are growing up WAY TOO FAST! But we are loving it. :) Birthday season is upon us - Madelyn's third birthday is Friday and Ben's 31st birthday is Monday. Madelyn is sooooo excited about her birthday. She has this set script that she says (self-created) whenever she is asked about her birthday. We got it on video and it is pretty funny. She say that she is going to "blow the candles up and down and out and then eat my birthday cake ALL GONE!" So cute! In comparison, Ben is little more laid back about his birthday but is uber-excited about the new Metroid Prime III game that he has ordered for his Wii. Hopefully I be able to get birthday pictures posted pretty quickly.....

Remember when... Madelyn met Tinkerbell

On the 4th of July, Madelyn was having so much fun playing with sparklers.... until she burned her finger. It hurt SO bad that Madelyn was having trouble going to sleep that night. Usually, she has no problem going to sleep after her two bedtime stories and hugs and kisses. This night, however, she laid in her bed and cried for 15 minutes before Mom decided to see if she needed help. Mom went in and laid down with her to see if she could calm Madelyn down, to no avail. Mom tried to tell her a story and tried to hold her and tried to sing to her..... nothing worked. Then, Mom had an idea! She asked Madelyn if she wanted to meet Tinkerbell, a fairy that fixes things. Madelyn said "YES!" Then Madelyn said loudly, "Tinkerbell!" and we watched her fly in and sprinkle her magic dust on Madelyn's burned finger. Suddenly, her finger didn't hurt as bad! Madelyn asked Tinkerbell to sleep with her that night and she held her close all night until morning. Tinkerbell came back for a couple more nights after that to make sure that Madelyn's owie was healing okay too. Thanks Tinkerbell for fixing Madelyn's owie!!

Now, Madelyn is completely hooked on Tinkerbell! Madelyn has invited Tinkerbell to her birthday party. I hope she comes!

Remember when.... Madelyn would say Greyson-own-ya

It took a long time for me to realize why Madelyn would call her brother "Greyson-own-ya". She would always say it in this sweet and loving tone; when she was paying special attention to him. After hearing her call Greyson that for probably months, I started to think about it and it all the sudden dawned on me that she was trying to mimic Ben and I when we call him "Greysonian" (think Smithsonian Museum)! We use it in very much the same way - when we are spending special time with him and speaking softly and lovingly. What a sweet sister Greyson has.....

Bridge Collapse - We are okay....

We have gotten a bunch of calls and emails and blog comments asking if we are okay after the bridge in Minneapolis collapsed yesterday (see article). Yes, we are okay. The first we heard of it was just after we got home - my father called after seeing it on CNN. We usually use this bridge to go to church. Praise God, we didn't have any church functions last night. We don't think we know anyone that was involved in the collapse, either. Please say a prayer to two for the families and people affected though....