My brother-in-law (Amanda's husband) is doing well so far in Iraq. If you feel so inclined, I'd love to encourage you to send him a card in the mail to thank him and his brigade for their service!
He's only a little bit bigger than Madeline was at the same age. We're having so much fun seeing his little personality come out.
The 4 of us, along with Erik and Chelsea, participated in the March of Dimes walk on Sunday. It was forecasted to be a cold day, but we ended up having a sunny 45 degree walk around the Lake of the Isles that was actually quite pleasant. We walked with a college friend, Kelly Schuna and her family, whose son Gavin was born at 29 weeks old gestation. Fortunately, Gavin is doing great, and we were happy to support this great cause that strives to provide research and education in order to reduce premature births and birth defects. 
(I couldn't get Madeline to look at the camera - so frustrating! Then I figured out it was because she dropped her sucker on the ground and couldn't reach it amidst all of us standing there.)
Thanks to everyone who supported our team!
Madeline loves to put on lipstick and get her nails painted. Here are two of our recent "beauty shop" experiences. 
I got her the pink cowboy hat -- because every girl needs a pink cowboy hat! -- during my recent trip to Arizona with some dear sorority friends of mine who I don't get to see nearly enough because we live way too far away from each other. Nathan didn't even flinch when I asked if I could run away for 4 days and leave him to play Mr. Mom. It's a role he's great at, so I wasn't worried at all. And it was a nice little 30th birthday present for me! Anyway, back to the pink hat. Isn't it cute? Madeline says she's a "cowboy-girl."
We recently joined the Maple Grove Community Center, which gets us access to a great indoor and outdoor pool, open basketball gyms, an ice skating rink, and the most important part - the MAZE! Madeline just loves this thing. It's HUGE and she gets to climb all over. I thought for sure that she'd be afraid of the big slide, but she could go down it over and over again. 
We recently met up with Erik and Chelsea so that they could experience the magic of the maze. We even convinced Uncle Erik that he would have a really, really, really great time if he went up there with Madeline. And, of course, he loved it - right, E?
Henry is 5 months old now, so we decided to start him on oatmeal cereal. He was not overjoyed by it and spit most of it back out. After 2 nights of the cereal, I decided to just go for it and gave him pears last night. He seemed to be much better at swallowing the pears, but again, he didn't know what to think of it.
After struggling to get Madeline to eat the plain cereal, I don't think we're going to work very hard on just cereal. Besides, the expressions with the fruits and vegetables are much more fun!
We had an indoor Easter egg hunt this year... Madeline is getting much better about holding Henry - before it was "he's too heavy" - so it was suprisingly easy to get a picture of the two of them together.