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.