Eight Months Old!!!

Dear Maddie,
Eight months?! Where's my tiny baby going?? You are SO stinkin' cute and SO much fun to be around! You have been up to so much this month, I can hardly keep up with how fast you are growing!

You started waving hi/bye this month. Unfortunately the cuteness of it only lasted a couple weeks because for some reason you just kind of quit doing it. Oh well, it'll be back soon I'm sure.

You LOVE the camera! It is not hard at all to get you to smile! In fact, you pretty much do it as soon as you see the camera/phone come out...it's like you just know or something.

You are so close to crawling. You get like this as if you are heading off to the races and then sit back down. I always laugh because if we watch you closely, it looks like you never actually move. Then all of a sudden we'll realize you're on the other side of the room from where you started! You are the fastest baby at moving really slow!

You have also just started pulling yourself up on things and clapping! Geeze, baby girl...you are getting so big! You look adorable just standing there by your little chair. I love that sweet face and smile like you know you are a cutie pie!

Well, I guess I can't slow you down from growing up. You are becoming so active and curious about the world around you. There's just no stopping you! I can't believe that very soon you are going to be one year old! *tear* I love you sweet Madison!

Big hugs and lots of kisses,
Mommy

Seven Months Old!

Dear Maddie,
I'm trying to be a good Mommy and catch up with your monthly posts! I feel like time is flying by SO fast!! *tear* I was looking back at your early monthly pictures and just can't believe how big you are getting! Every single day is a blast with you, but I do get a little sad when I realize your tiny baby days are pretty much done. Then, I see this sweet little smile and can't help but get happy again:

I feel like this past month you have grown so much! You've always rolled around a little bit, but now you really use rolling as your main source of transportation. If you see something you want, you just roll however many times it takes to go and get it! It's SUPER adorable when you roll around so you can get to us!

You have graduated to the level 2 foods. You are still a very good eater and though we give you them with caution, you do love you some prunes! Not sure you get that from any of us. You also have started spinning your bottle when you are eating. We can't figure out why, but you seen to enjoy it thoroughly!

You are really good at playing independently and keeping yourself entertained. I may have shed a little tear the day you didn't want to play with me at all. You just wanted to be left alone with all your fun toys. *tear again* AND you finally made the move to your own bedroom. You caught on really quick, and lucky for my emotions we didn't have to let you cry it out much at all. Whew!

So there you have it...growing up right before our very eyes! We love you so much, Madison!! You are such a beautiful and happy baby! Thanks for being such a joy!!

xoxo
Mommy

Project 365

So my friend Sarah has been doing Project 365, and I was determined to start it this year. Now it's mid January, and I'm just now starting it. :( Oh well...better late than never. Guess I'll just be doing Project 341. ;)

For now, here are a couple pics from this year. Be ready...I'll be taking a picture a day!









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Six Months Old!!

Dear Sweet Maddie,
Six months?!?! I can't believe a half of a year has already gone by! You have brought SO much excitment into our lives we can't even keep track of time! This month your personality has really started shining through. Everyone constantly says how happy you are and with big smiles like this, how could anyone doubt that?

You are officially sitting up completely on your own without being propped up. Every now and then you get a little too wobbly and fall over. Don't worry, soon enough you'll be able to get yourself back up! Until then it's mommy to the rescue!

Like I said before, you are such a happy baby. You smile all.the.time! Taking pictures is a breeze with you because it is so easy to get you going for the camera. As you can see from your last two pictures, you have been into the big open mouthed smile lately. It's the cutest little toothless grin we've ever seen!!

You are growing so well, too! At your 6 month appointment, you checked in at 15 pounds and 25 1/2 inches! That means you've grown half a foot since birth! Go, Maddie, Go!

You have started eating a jar of baby food at every meal now, and you haven't met a food you don't like...that's my girl! You even impress me with how clean you are when you eat. Most of the time the mess on your bib isn't even from you, it's from me spilling food on it! :)

Here's a little of your personality coming out to play! Haha...actually you are very good about keeping your headband on. You must know how obsessed I am cute you look in them! Grandpa Kurt thought it would be funny take it off and let you play with it...you thought it was some mighty good fun! ;)

We love you so much baby girl! JOY doesn't even begin to cover how we feel about our little family of three.

XOXO
Mommy

Pre-Christmas Pics

I wanted to take some cute pictures of Maddie for our Christmas cards, so I sat her in a red bucket, stuck a Santa hat on her, and surrounded her with ornaments. She started off in her Christmas dress and ended up in nothing but a diaper. I'm no professional at.all. but I think they turned out pretty cute!!

I am so excited to see what she's going to be like on Christmas morning!



5 Generations Trip

I have been meaning to post this for sooooo long, but time has just gotten away from me. We are so lucky to have five generations of women on my mom's side, and since my great-grandmother is not able to travel easily, we thought it would be great to go see her. In order to have everyone there, my grandmother met us there, and to help make it even more special, we went on my great-grandma's 90th birthday!

This was Maddie's first plane ride, and I was extremely nervous. Not so much for her health or saftey, but simply because I just didn't know what to expect. I consider myself to pretty much be a traveling expert just because I have always traveled a lot, but with a baby? Completely different story.
Like I said, I have been meaning to post this for a loooong time. We did this trip back in early September. That made Maddie a little over 3 months old. Our first leg of the trip was getting from Waco to Houston (an almost 3 hour drive.) She slept the entire way- Round 1= win! The next day we headed to the airport. We parked, took a shuttle to the airport, checked our bags, made it through security and to our gate with not a single problem from her- Round 2= win! The part I was most concerned about, the plane ride, was coming up. Here's a shot of her on the plane before take off. Look how excited she is!

So....the plane ride. Utilizing several tips from friends who have also traveled with babies (thank you Sarah and Jeni) we started the trip with a bottle that she drank during take-off. Then she napped, and napped some more, and napped a little more after that. This is how we spent the majority of the flight:

(no, that picture was not staged...how dare you ask!)

She woke up just in time for the descent which included a bottle for her to drink on the way down. Then we landed. Yep- that's how eventful it was. No crying.at.all. I was completely amazed- Round 3= total win!!
Once we finally made it to great-grandma's house, Maddie was ready to be done traveling and just visit. She got in lots of great-grandma time and great-great-grandma time.

We had a wonderful trip, and Maddie was so happy to get to know all her grandmas. She is one lucky little girl!! We of course took advantage of this amazing photo op! I can't wait to get these framed!

I was super excited to capture this last picture. Until this one, I didn't have a super cute pic with both of us smiling!

So, the beginning of the trip was a success, as was the actual trip itself...now for the plane ride home. Dun, dun, dun.... (is that how you spell the scary movie sound?) Check out the picture below. She either looked like this or like the one where she's asleep on me above.

No lie...the plane ride coming back was just as successful as the one going. She is seriously one great travel buddy!! She couldn't have been more of a joy on the trip, and it meant so much to my grandma and great-grandma to have been able to meet their new little bundle of happiness!!

Maddie loves you guys so much! She misses you and can't wait to see you again (same goes for me) Lots of hugs and kisses your way great-grandma and great-great-grandma!

Five Months Old!!

Dear Maddie,
Oh my goodness, time is flying by! You have been keeping me so busy, I almost forgot to post your 5 month update! Shame on mommy!!

You are continuing to grow on schedule. We took you in for a check-up because you had a little dry spot on your leg which I was obsessing over just a tad concerned about, and you weighed in at 14.5 pounds! Almost 2 pounds growth in 1 month. It was sad, but we finally said goodbye to the stage 1 diapers. *tear*

You love to sit up. You can't officially stay up on your own, but you do love to be propped up or sit in your bumbo seat. You still roll around, but when we put you on your tummy or back, you whine until we prop you up. I guess you just want to see the world or something. :)

Everything, and I mean everything, goes into your mouth. If there aren't toys around, then you try to stuff your whole hand in there! That combined with the jealous look you give whenever we eat food led us to start you on solid foods. You were a pro even on the first day! I couldn't believe how not messy you were- until you reached for the spoon or kicked the jar, that is. We started you on veggies, and if there was a sweet potato in the room I don't think it would survive against you! You LOVE LOVE LOVE them!! Now peas and green beans- that's a completely different story. Not your fav. We also started you on fruits, and though it appears you pretty much like them all, bananas are the enemy to your tummy, so we are saying goodbye to them for a little while.

You still very much love your toys, and are already a little picky as to which one you want to play with at times. It is so fun to watch you explore the world around you. Oh, and can I tell you one of the best things we are totally loving right now...you like to grab our neck and pull your face into ours- it's just like you are giving us a hug and a kiss! Awww! So sweet! We LOVE every single sloppy little kiss! Keep them coming...

I guess that's all the big stuff for now. Thanks so much for being such a happy and loving baby! You bring joy to us every single day! We love you!

XOXO
Mommy