Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

More Pumpkin Patch Fun!

We had to leave the pumpkin patch soon after our photo shoot with Stefani so that Anthony could get to work. We wanted to go back the next morning, but since it rained all that night, we decided to wait it out and go the next weekend (i.e. after the mud dried out!). We finally made it back out there yesterday evening. Our pics are nowhere near as awesome as Stefani's, but we are proud of them, nonetheless. We had so much fun with our sweet girl, and we are definitely going to make this an annual family event!





Check me out!





I was this tall this fall!

This pic is for Uncle Bill and our little buddy Bradley! We miss you both so much!

The good witch


We read a lot of Dr. Seuss books, so we had to take our picture here!

Not so sure this ghost would scare anyone...

Our Pumpkin

Two weekends ago we went to a local pumpkin patch for some photos by the wonderful Stefani Marcus. Madelyn was so fascinated with the pumpkins and all the people around her that she didn't smile much, but we still got some awesome pictures!

One of my nicknames for her is punkin' pie. :)

I also call her Chubby Cheekers (I know, I'm hilarious, right?)

And she got a kick out of picking the grass. Who cares about the camera in my face - there's grass out here!

Our family :)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sara's Story

A few weeks ago, I came across this blog, and it struck a chord with me. I sat at my computer one afternoon and read the entire blog from the beginning, and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with feelings of sadness, joy, anger and happiness.

I have never met these people, yet I feel so drawn to them. Maybe it's because Sara was my age. Maybe it is because Sarah also just had a beautiful baby girl. Maybe it's because her birthday is one day after mine. Maybe it's because I feel like I know her, just by reading about her.

This woman had an awesome spirit, and she lived her life to the fullest up until the end. She was and is an inspiration to her family, her friends and even to complete strangers like me. I hope you are able to find some inspiration in her story, too.

Watch the video.

We all get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and take so much for granted. I know I do sometimes (well, a lot of times...). You never know how one day can change your life until that "one day" happens. I hope and pray that I am able to do some kind of good in this world, be it for my child, my family, my friends or strangers alike. I'm sure we all want to leave this world a better place. I don't think Sara could have ever imagined how much of a better place she would leave this world. But she did.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

A few of my fellow blogger mom friends do a "Wordless Wednesday" post to show off new pics and accomplishments of their kiddos. I'm jumping on the bandwagon, now, too. Well, jumping on the bandwagon for this week, at least. Let's hope I can keep it up!

Our first Wordless Wednesday...


:)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

6 Month Update!

Man, time sure is flying by, but we are having more and more fun with our sweet girl with each passing moment. She has really begun to show us more of her personality lately, and I can't say enough just how much we love her and absolutely and utterly enjoy being her parents.

This last month has been full of exciting stuff! First of all, Madelyn can now sit up on her own! It feels like it just happened overnight, and she's gotten great at it so quickly! She also is loving her food. We're still doing simple veggies like butternut squash, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots and avacado, and we're slowly adding in different fruits. So far we've tried bananas and apple sauce. I plan on making some plums this week. I really wanted to make all of her food, but finding the time to do so has been difficult. I'm sure the mixture of homeade and some store bought won't hurt her. ;)

In the last month, Madelyn has become quite the little talker. She really gets to talking when we're changing her diaper. She'll just lie there and carry on an entire conversation and won't let you get a word in edgewise. Not sure where she gets that from! When she's talking, she mainly makes da, ya and nya sounds. The latter of the three shows up when she's tired or upset. Her cries have gone from sweet little wah's to loud "nya-nya-nya-nya's!!!" While her cries have changed, her laugh has, too. It has increased tenfold. She LOVES to laugh and smile. We have been blessed with such a happy baby. I seriously don't know how we lucked out, but we did. The only time she really cries or fusses is if she's tired or we're not getting her fed fast enough. Other than that, she is constantly smiling, which is awesome (except for when we've just spooned veggies or cereal in her mouth - well, okay, that's pretty funny and cute, too!). She giggles when we laugh, and she gets a kick out of getting close to the mirror. She also loves to "jump" on the bed while Mommy sings her orignal jumping on the bed song. Okay, so maybe she's just laughing at my singing...

Our sweet Madie Kate has also become so much more aware of her surroundings and is constantly taking everything in and studying everything. One of her favorite things to study is her Zoe. No matter what we are doing, if she hears Zoe running around or barking, she looks for her. When we're eating in the kitchen and my little vacuum cleaner is sitting below us, Madelyn is stretching her neck looking for Zoe. It is so sweet! Zoe is still a little apprehensive about getting too close to Madie, but she is definitely her little protector. She lies right by Madelyn's door when we're in her room, she follows us around constantly when we're holding her, and she wants to be right beside her when we're playing or reading or having tummy time in the floor. She's never shown one bit of aggression toward Madelyn, and I'm so excited for them to become good buddies!

Speaking of tummy time, our girl is getting better every day! She's finally figured out that those arms and hands are good for something, so she'll prop herself up on her elbows and look around and hang out. We also pulled out some more advanced toys we received as gifts, and those really serve as a good distraction for her. I guess she was bored with looking at us and her silly little tiny baby toys and stuffed animals. She is also now using her hands much more. She is still not really "playing" with her toys, but she does grab at them and study them (with eyebrows curled, of course - it is too funny!), and she is now starting to put things in her mouth. I have a feeling that's where everything will go from here on out! Last night she took a big girl bath for the first time, and every single toy she picked up when straight for the mouth. The ducky's bill went especially fast. :)

At her 6 month check up, her doctor suggested that we start her on 3 meals a day, so we're slowly starting that process. He also wanted us to try to start her on a sippy cup. He recommends having her completely off the bottle by one year, so introducing the sippy cup now should help us reach that goal. I introduced it to her on Sunday night, and by Monday, she already had it halfway figured out. She's not getting a ton of milk out of it, but she knows what's going on. She's a smart cookie, I tell ya.

I've noticed myself now calling my sweet baby girl my "big girl." I guess it's one of those things of being a parent. You want them to stay little forever, but you also want them to grow and learn and experience all the good things the world has to offer. I melt when I see the sparkle in her eye when she's discovered something new or finally "gets" how something works. Children are amazing.

I could just go on and on and on about all her accomplishments and likes (there aren't really any dislikes!), but I guess I should get to what you really want to see - the 6 month stats (of the mini me!) and pictures.

15 pounds, 13 ounces (50th percentile)
27 inches (90th percentile)
head circumference - 75 percentile


We're easily distracted these days.

Madie Long Legs (well, she really has a long body, but Madie Long Legs sounds better!)



I told you we get distracted pretty easily.

One of these days she'll stop chewing on her right pointer finger. Probably when she gets teeth... ;)

Can you stop with the pictures already?!

This is the eyebrow look we get quite often...

Who is 6 months? ME!!

Checking out her Zoe

And then there's the lip. Poor baby. :(


Behold, children are a gift from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. -Psalms 127:3

We are so blessed.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Sneak Peek

of what we did this morning...


We had to leave after our picture session so Anthony could get to work, so we're going back tomorrow morning for more fun and to pick out our pumpkin!