Happy Holidays!!

We've had a few busy weeks here (as I'm sure everyone has)...

Madeline went for her one year check up on the 15th. She's now 29-1/2 inches tall and weighs 26 pounds. The doctor said that she's doing well. Matt and I are just glad that she has now reached the age and weight requirement so we could turn her carseat around to face forward. I'm sure Maddie would rather look out the front window than stare at the backseat.

She is saying more words as well. She's gotten "uh oh" down to a science. She will drop something and say "uh oh." It's the cutest. She says mama, dada, and "buh bye." She says it in the sweetest voice. She also waves hello and good bye which is really cute.

Christmas morning was spent with Grandma Peggy and Aunt Lauren at our house. Madeline must have been a good girl this year because Santa really spoiled her (so did Mommy and Daddy). She didn't seem interested in the gifts, but she loved the ribbon! She played with the ribbon more than the toys. She loves putting things on her head and shoulders, so she wrapped herself up in ribbon whenever she had the chance.

The afternoon was spent with the Amicos/Brummels. Maddie had fun playing with Francesca and Vincent and loved playing around the Christmas tree.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and wish you all have a wonderful New Year!

Here are some pictures from Christmas...

Grandma Peggy bought Madeline a new chair...she loves it!

Madeline and Mommy at Nickey & John's

Happy Birthday to Madeline!!

We cannot believe that Madeline is now a year old. Where did the time go?!? She's been walking for almost 2 months now and has begun jogging through the house. She's talking all the time and we wake up to the little songs she sings when she gets up.

Madeline's birthday was Friday and her party was Saturday. We had quite a turnout!! We were so happy that so many of you were able to come and celebrate her birthday with us. Thank you to the grandmas and aunts who helped us set up and clean up for the party!

Considering Madeline only had a 20 minute nap that day, she did surprisingly well with the number of people who attended. We also found out that she loves balloons! She still has a few at the house that she plays with. Most of the toys she received are now set up and being played with. We need to buy a bigger house!

There were so many cute pictures from the day, I couldn't post them all. Here are some of my favorites:

Madeline and her cousin Hannah

Happy Thanksgiving!

Of course, this Happy Thanksgiving is a little late...we had a very busy week! We went to our cousin Nickey & John's for Thanksgiving and had a small celebration. Aunt Lauren flew in from Washington DC this year, and it's been awhile since she's seen Madeline.

Madeline still doesn't like solid meat, but she sure loved the mashed potatoes! She had cranberry sauce for the first time and didn't seem to mind them. She also tried pumpkin pie and shared a piece with me.

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks...it's been awhile since I've posted any.

She loves this blanket her great grandma knitted for her...

She is definitely an animal lover!

And Now She's Walking!

Two weeks ago today, Madeline took her first steps. It's funny how it happened. The day before I had mentioned to Matt that I would be upset if I weren't around when she took her first steps because she was at daycare. Well, the next night she took her first step and I was there to see it. She actually took three steps in a row, got up, and did it again.

Now she's walking all the time, only crawling when she falls and needs to reach something to help her stand. Last night she stood from a sitting position for the first time. We are amazed how fast she is learning. She's walking so fast now, she walks circles in our living room, smiling and talking along the way.

First Trip to the Orchard

As a kid, my mom always took my sisters and me to Edwards Apple Orchard in Poplar Grove...it's a huge orchard where they have pick your own apples, pumpkins, raspberries, and THE BEST cider donuts you've ever had. They bake them right there and you get them right out of the oven. To keep with tradition, Matt and I plan on taking Maddie there each year.

Since the weather was so beautiful on Saturday, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go. Of course hundreds of other people had the same idea. The lines weren't too horrible and Maddie did pretty well considering it was so warm. She was pretty excited to see her first pumpkin, but didn't know what to make of it. She loved the cider donuts as much as mom and dad. Near the end of the day, she was getting cranky, so we headed home.

The Wedding

Maddie met a lot of new people yesterday...including her great-grandma, her great aunts and uncles. We were able to visit with my great-aunt Karen and my grandparents at my aunt's house in Troy. It was nice seeing everyone again...we haven't seen them since our wedding almost three years ago. Maddie was able to crawl after Karen's dogs and squealed as she crawled across their wood floor. I think she liked the sound her hands made when she smacked the floor.

Maddie did well at the reception. The reception started at 7:00, and she didn't start to get crabby until about 9:00. She was overtired and we were surprised she was so tired considering she had a two hour nap late in the afternoon. During dinner she even let my Aunt Donna hold her while we made our plates at the buffet line. Very impressive, no tears or anything.

Grandma Peggy bought Maddie her dress for the wedding, and I knew I had to post these pictures today because she's dying to see what she looked like in her dress. We were surprised that she didn't mind the dress, the tights or the shoes. She didn't pull at them or anything. Here's our little princess in her new dress...

Maddie's favorite game is peek-a-boo. She was playing with her bib when we got this picture...

She looked so adorable...

First Time in a "real pool"

Maddie had previously only been in her little kiddy pool in our front yard, so we weren't sure how she would take to a larger pool that wasn't as warm as the pool at home. Matt and I found a baby intertube at Sports Authority (gotta love the end of the season sales), and it turns out, Maddie loved the water. We carried her into the pool at first, and then put her in the intertube. She was kicking her legs and smiling. She loved it. She was splashing and didn't mind getting water in her face. She slept really well that night too.

This one was taken at night...

This was the following day...

Maddie's First Road Trip

Well, last weekend our cousin Troy got married. This weekend, our cousin Adam got married. Madeline got to do some new things. She got to go on a road trip, she stayed at a hotel, swam in a pool, and got to meet some new family members...

My cousin Adam lives in the St. Louis area, where most of my mom's side of the family lives. They haven't had a chance to meet Madeline due to the long drive, and I found out that my Grandma from Oklahoma was coming, so we knew we had to go.

We left for the wedding on Friday morning, and we knew that it would be a long drive down. Maddie has only been in a car for 2 hours at most, so we weren't sure how she would take it. She did really well. She slept for an hour when we first got into the car, and then took another 2 hour nap later in the afternoon. We made it down in less than 6 hours, with only two stops, and on one tank of gas. Not too shabby. The way back wasn't too bad...she did get a little crabby here and there, but she napped really well. Take a look....

Catching Up...the first ER visit

It's been awhile since we have posted...Maddie has been keeping us busy. Maddie made her first trip to the ER. On September 20th (the day of our cousin Troy's wedding) Maddie wasn't feeling very well. She seemed warm, and her "bodily functions" weren't normal. She seemed warm and slept most of the day, so we gave her some baby Tylenol and hoped she would be better by the time we had to leave for the wedding. When that time came, she still felt warm, so I told Matt to go ahead to the wedding and I would stay home.

Maddie slept most of the day and about an hour after Matt left, I took her temperature and it was 103.6. Needless to say, I began freaking out and called Matt to tell him we were going to the hospital. I got her dressed and drove to the hospital. The down side? The closest hospital is in Lake Forest, which is about a 1/2 hour drive.

Making a long story short, after waiting over an hour and a half for the ER doctor to come in, it turned out that Maddie had a throat virus, which caused the fever and the other symptoms. Since it was a virus, there was nothing that they could give her, just motrin for the pain and tylenol for the fever. Of course, easier said than done. It hurt Maddie to eat, talk, and swallow, therefore, it hurt for her to take her medicine. She was up the next few nights crying and screaming, and of course we felt helpless because there was nothing we could do. Luckily, she's over the infection and feeling much better.

Nine Months Old Today

Madeline is 9 months old today. She is growing up so fast...we don't know where the time has gone. She is crawling everywhere and is getting faster by the day. She is able to stand on her own and has begun to walk sidestep along tables and window sills. We know that it will be a short time before she's walking on her own.

We took her for her 9 month check up today and she didn't have to get a shot, which was a bonus. Matt and I were betting with the doctor how much she weighed, and Dr. McGowan was a lot closer than we were! She is now 22 pounds, 12 ounces, and is 29 inches long. She has grown 2-1/2 inches since her 6 month check up. The doctor said that she's doing very well and is in the 90th percentile for both weight and height. He doesn't doubt that she'll be walking soon.

Life continues to be busy with work and Madeline. She absolutely loves daycare and there are a few kids her age that she plays with. Pat says that she's the easiest of all the kids to take care of. She's always in a good mood and she's eating her solid food well, etc. She's not a fan of veggies, but loves sweet potatoes and squash. We can get her to eat peas here and there, but she's getting better. She loves bananas and pretty much every kind of fruit.

Here are some recent pictures of her that we took at the park last week, along with some pictures from today.

She loves to swing at the park

She also is rid of her fear of grass

I found these pj's and thought they were so cute!

Have a great Labor Day!

Eighth Month Update

Life has been busy around here lately! Our weekends have been full of parties, BBQ's and family visits.

Madeline is now 8 months old if you can believe it. Where does the time go?!? She gets more mobile by the day. Less than a week after crawling, she was pulling herself up to a standing position by pulling on mom or dad's clothes. Now she can crawl up to anything (couch, coffee tables, stairs) and she can pull herself into a standing position. She now lets go of the furniture and stands for a brief second before falling on her butt. The cutest...she gets excited when mom or dad stands across the room and she smiles, crawls to you, and uses your pant leg to stand up.

She's been learning so much lately. In the past three weeks she has crawled, pulled herself into a standing position, sits up from a lying position, and claps her hands. Our daycare person said that Maddie is a people watcher, and when Pat plays patty-cake with the other kids, Maddie watches. Next thing we now, she's clapping herself!

We hate to admit that she's growing up, but we had to accept it the other day when we had to completely lower her crib mattress. She is able to stand in her crib and has learned that she can jump and bounce on the mattress.

Another update...she now has two lower front teeth!

Here are some newer pictures of our little one...

She loves cell phones. Her favorite toy is Matt's old cell phone.

Of course, the one in the picture is mommy's current phone.

She loves popsicles...cherry is her favorite

Maddie is able to balance on her knees without holding on.

She's going to be walking before we know it!

We had to completely lower the mattress on her crib.

She loves bouncing on her bed.

Madeline's On The Move...

Madeline has now begun to crawl. Over the past month or so, she has been able to get into the crawling position, but instead of moving her arms and legs, she would rock back and forth and then get upset that she wasn't moving forward. Over the past week, she has been able to get some smaller crawling steps in. But Sunday, she took some bigger crawling steps. She is becoming more consistent, but when she wants something, she'll still get on her tummy and army crawl. Today, she crawled across her room to get to a toy. Now comes the fun part - baby proofing the house!

She has another cold, this is the worst yet. She has a runny nose, cough, and a fever. To add to it, she is also teething, so she's been a little crabby...but who can blame her. She still smiles and plays, but she spent most of today sleeping. Matt was able to watch her since he could work from home, and I will be taking her to the doctor tomorrow, and taking the day off. I'm sure it's just something that needs to take its course, so hopefully she'll be ok in a few days.

Low Key 4th of July

Sorry for all the posts! I've got some catching up to do...

Since last weekend was so busy, and the next coming weekends are going to be super busy as well, we decided to have a low-key 4th. It was nice having a three day weekend (and the best part...we still have tomorrow!)

Friday was spent shopping in Vernon Hills. Matt said that "We need to buy Maddie a toy" so we stopped at Babies R Us, and of course we had to get her 2 toys...not just one. Amazingly enough...I didn't buy her any clothes. This is hard for me because there are so many cute outfits. But, Maddie has a ton of clothes, so I didn't even look. I think I even surprsied Matt! We were out shopping for about 4-1/2 hours...Maddie loves shopping and looking at all the items on the shelves.

When we got home, we took her to the park. We found out at my company picnic that she loves to swing in the baby "bucket" swing. She laughs and scunches her nose. Luckily there are a few parks in our area that we can walk to!

What we've been up to lately...

Things have been very busy with us lately. I can now officially say that I'm used to working full time again. I really like my job and my boss is super nice. It's still hard to drop Maddie off from time to time, but she really loves the kids at her daycare, and I know that she's well taken care of.

The past couple of weeks have been so busy! Last Friday (6/27) was my company softball/BBQ outing. Matt and Maddie came with and got to meet everyone that I work with. Maddie was so good, she only cried once because she was hungry. I was surprised she did so well since it was so warm and humid. She slept through a large part of the party, which was surprising because everyone was so loud.

The 28th was another BBQ with a co-worker of Matt's. There were a lot of kids at this party...I think there were more strollers than chairs! We got rained on a little, but the weather cleared up and it ended up being a nice day. Luckily Maddie slept in the car to and from the party, so she was in a good mood most of the day.

And then the 29th was Matt's birthday. He went for a motorcycle ride in the morning, and then Peggy came over and we went to a nice steakhouse for dinner. We kept it pretty low-key since our weekend was so busy to begin with.

Seven Month Update

Madeline turned 7 months old on June 28th. We can't believe how big she's gotten! She is now 20 pounds, 3 ounces. She is talking more and more, and laughs all the time. Matt and I are very lucky that we have such a happy baby.

Madeline is almost crawling. She can get into the crawling position, and then she rocks back and forth. She took 2 crawling "steps" the other day, but we know that she'll be crawling before we know it! She still doesn't have any teeth, but we're expecting those any day now as well. She's been sitting on her own for quite awhile now, and has very good balance. She can't get herself into a sitting position if she's laying down, but we know that will be coming with time as well.

She has been doing great at daycare. Everyone there just seems to love her. One of the ladies that works with our daycare person came up to us at Chili's the other day and told us what a great baby she was...always so happy. Madeline loves to people watch, and she also loves to giggle at our dog.

Father's Day Weekend

Well, Father's Day weekend wasn't too spectacular around here. Madeline came down with a stomach virus and ended up at the doctor on Thursday. She really wasn't eating and our daycare person said she was crying for mama all morning, so she thought it was best for us to take her home. The doctor wasn't concerned, just said to give her Pedialite and if she came down with a fever, we were supposed to take her to the hospital. Grandma Peggy watched her Friday morning while we went to work. Matt left work early on Friday to watch Maddie for the rest of the day. She's fine now, back at daycare and back to her usual self.


Saturday, since Maddie was feeling better and the weather was so beautiful, we decided to put Maddie in her pool. She loves the bathtub, but the pool took some getting used to. After awhile she was splashing and talking (she now says mama).

This is before...

This is after...

Father's Day wasn't too exciting. Matt came down with the stomach bug that Maddie had, so we just took it easy. Matt got to spend a lot of time with Maddie while I ran errands.

These are for Daddy

Since Daddy up and left us for a week (motorcycle trip with neighbor/friend Sean), it's a Mommy and Me week. She's been doing well...I put Matt on the speaker phone and she just stared at the phone. Matt is able to check email/blog while on his trip, so I promised to post some pictures.


Here's some new pictures Daddy!

Our cat Charlie, loves attention...

...even if it means having fur pulled out by a baby!!

Our friend Sean is updating his blog as he and Matt make their trip. Anyone interested in seeing it can visit his website:

http://razorsride.blogspot.com/

Six Month Check Up

Time has certainly flown by around here. Madeline had her six month check up last Friday. She is now 18 pounds, 14 ounces, and is 26-1/2 inches long. The doctor said that she is doing great. Just one shot in the leg this time, and we were on our way. She was crabby at daycare, but we knew it was due to the shot.
Madeline is also able to start solid foods. We started her on carrots first. The face says it all.

She likes carrots mixed in with her cereal. I tried sweet potatoes with her today and she absolutely loves them. We'll see how she does with the green vegetables later this week!