Maddie's in Love

We got to spend some time with our friends Jim & Jaime this weekend, and their adorable son Preston.  Maddie LOVES "her baby Preston", as she calls him.  They are so cute together!

Miss Madelyn

I thought I'd share some recent pictures of Maddie, and give a quick update on some of her stories.  Maddie is such a fun little girl, and is absolutely hilarious.  She loves to dance (videos to come), and has been known to stop in the middle of whatever she's doing if a good song comes on.  She also likes to sing, and tell stories to her babies.  She's quite a ham when getting her picture taken, as you can see.  She loves to dress up, especially with headbands and sunglasses.  We're definitely into the two's, but not the terrible twos, although she can be quite opinionated and headstrong, especially when picking out what she's going to wear!  She's becoming a little bit of a drama queen (I have no idea where it comes from).  Maddie's quite excited about the upcoming addition to our family - she talks about the baby a lot, and likes to tell people how she also has a baby in her belly.  She's going to be a wonderful big sister. 

This is a sand sculpture that was in the mall in Green Bay after the Packers won the Super Bowl. Notice the cheesy smile - Mommy takes a lot of pictures, and Maddie's used to having to pose!

Showing off her Jessie nightgown.  Toy Story 2 is a favorite movie at our house.

If we're home on the weekends, Maddie knows she can talk Brian into getting her a "nummies doughnut" for breakfast.  A nummies doughnut on a nummies plate...m&m's are obviously the treat of choice in the Fritz household.

We had a 'first' recently...Maddie's first scraped knee.  We were all walking back from the park and Maddie and daddy decided to race.  They tried to stay on the grass, but Maddie got onto the sidewalk and fell.  It was a good example of the drama queen behavior she sometimes exhibits.  She was just devastated, and walked around with a limp for awhile, holding her leg.  This happened last week, and I still get updates: "Mommy, my owie's a little better today", "Mommy, I still have my owie".

 This was right after it happened. She was not happy to be getting her picture taken, but I had to document the occasion.



NYC

 When we found out in December that we were expecting, we knew our traveling days were numbered.  I wouldn't be able to fly after the end of May, then we'd have a newborn, and then we'd have to have serious cash to bribe one of the sets of grandparents to watch a baby and a (very active and entertaining) toddler.  Since I got a trip to Las Vegas for my 30th in November, we decided to take a trip to someplace Brian's always wanted to go, New York City, for his birthday in May.  We were so lucky that a friend of Brian's from college, Drew, who lives in town when he's not traveling all over the world for his NBC Sports job, was in the city at the same time.  He got us tickets for a Yankee game while we were out there, as well as a tour of 30 Rockefeller Center, where he works.  We also got to visit with Brian's cousin Taylor who just moved to SoHo.  We had a blast, walking all over the city and seeing all of the important sites, like Monk's Diner from Seinfeld.  :)  While we missed Maddie a ton, it was so nice to take a trip alone.  We took full advantage - packing light, eating out, staying up late, and sleeping in!

  

I love Glee, so this billboard in Times Square was right up my alley.

My pizza at Mario Batalli's Eately marketplace.  Hands down the best pizza I've ever eaten.  Just wish that glass of water in the corner could have been red wine... 

Brian outside of the deli that inspired Monk's in Seinfeld.  He's a HUGE Seinfeld fan, so this was on our list of places to find.  

Brian got his TV landmark, so I needed mine.  This is the building shown on Friends!  I was SO excited, you would have thought Jennifer Aniston was actually inside.

The famous Wall Street bull.  Notice the people grouped around the bull's tushie (as Maddie would say).  His back end was just as popular of an angle for pictures as the angle we chose. 

The Freedom Tower going up, and Ground Zero.  Easily one of the most moving sites I've ever been to,

especially the memorial across the street.  We were also able to see the churches next to the site that became the bases for the recovery.  It was absolutely amazing, and totally awe-inspiring. 

The view from our first hotel in Times Square.

 

Yankee Stadium!  The game was fun, even though the Yankees lost.  It was like a Packer game atmosphere in a baseball stadium.  Those fans are just as passionate as us cheeseheads!

 So fun! 

The view of our second hotel, in the financial district at the southern tip of Manhattan. 

This is the Hudson River, and Ellis Island. 

Of course, we had to hit up the M&M store in Times Square for Miss Madelyn.  It was 3 stories dedicated to nothing but 'nummies', which Maddie lives for.  She thinks the 'm' on them is for Maddie! 

It was fun to take a trip, but we were more than ready to come home.  We're ready to focus on finishing the home projects, and getting ready for baby!

Is it...for real...is the blog really...updated?!?

Yes, yes it is. Please, try to control yourselves. After some gentle requests (and one or two not-so-gently made demands) for blog updates, we're back. Since it's been a year since my last post, I'll try to quickly sum up the last year of our lives...

We moved back to WI from sunny FL last spring (no, we're not crazy, although it felt that way this past winter!). We're living in Platteville, and loving living back up by family and friends. Just hoping for some nicer weather! We've spent most of the last year working on fixing up our house, learning our way around the thriving metropolis that is P'ville, and watching Maddie get bigger and turn into a little girl. Here are some pics from the last few months...

February brought Maddie's first haircut, as well as her second birthday.

The Packers won the Super Bowl! Maddie and Audrey were very excited. Maddie got her first case of strep throat, and very reluctantly ate ice cream for supper for a few days.

We had a blast at Easter...

and loved all of the treats we got.

Brian did some major demo in the bathroom.

My amazing husband took me on my first trip to Las Vegas for my 30th, which was a blast, and we more recently returned from a trip to NYC for Brian's birthday.

Yankee Stadium!

That's all for now.  I promise to do better on updating, as I've realized that I take a LOT of pictures!  There are some cute ones from the past year that I may try to incorporate into some new posts.  I hope everyone (that's you, Sara, Kristin, and Sarah) is as proud of me as I am of myself!  ;)

The Fritz's in Florida...Update, Part I

So I finally just remembered we even have a blog, hence the lengthy amount of time since the last post. Sorry! I feel as though it will take a few posts to get everyone up to date, so here goes...
We are officially moved to Vero Beach, FL. We've been here for two weeks, and so far so good! My dad was here for the first week (he drove down with Brian), then Brian's parents were here for 5 days. It was so nice to have visitors, and it's felt more like a vacation than a move so far. Maddie absolutely loves it here. The weather has been gorgeous - in the 70's & 80's. A far cry from what we've been hearing from everyone up north! We are coming home next Monday for a week and a half, so we'll get a little reminder of what those good old Wisconsin winters are all about. =)

The latest and greatest on our move

As you may or may not know, we've packed up and are heading to the Sunshine state! We sold our house, quit our jobs, and are staying with some very generous friends. My last day of work is Friday, November 6th, and Brian is already done. We'll be spending the next few weeks traveling between Green Bay, Madison, and Platteville with family and friends before we leave the first week in December. We are very excited, and can't wait to get settled so everyone can start coming down to visit! I won't be working right away, and I've been made to promise to update this blog at least once or twice a week, so come back often and keep tabs on us!

We go for Maddie's 9-month well-check next week, so I'll post her stats and a run-down of her latest accomplishments and milestones then. Until then, here she is, loving her peas!

Cute pics from the last few weekends

Maddie gets her love of popped collars from her daddy I finally got to climb the Platteville M!
At Jackie's weddingAnother night out, this time for Christy's wedding

Maddie was very excited about her Damascus, MD shirt from Matt & Kelly