9 Months

Oh, how do I put this little girl into words?
She's just too funny, smart, and emotional for her own good.

You would honestly think this baby is a celebrity the way people stop us on the streets; of course her big blue eyes are what get the most attention, second only to her disposition. They often ask if she is always that happy. The answer is, generally yes, as long as she is getting my undivided attention. Forget putting her down with toys and trying to accomplish anything worthwhile.

Noelle loves her sister to death (almost literally, I sometimes fear) but is sometimes not the best playmate. Madeleine hates it when her toys are taken directly out of her hands (can't say that I blame her) but Noelle is just trying to get in on the fun. Madeleine also has yet to realize that doing steam roller so.much.dang.fun. But, no one can make baby sister smile and giggle like big sister. I love, love, love that they have one another and can't wait to see how their relationship continues to grow and change over time

This wouldn't be complete without putting in a couple of words in for Daddy, too. The best part of every one's day around here is when Daddy's car pulls into the driveway. Oh, the happiness. We usually meet him outside and her little chubby arms can't grab hold of him fast enough and she starts making this laughing noise that I can only liken to a hyena with a sore throat. They have a little game that they play where Daddy bumps his nose against hers and she now is the initiator of what is affectionately known as, "nose, nose, nose" said in a little sing-songy tone.

She is so very close to crawling but hasn't quite figured out the coordination of all the movements. If she would spend more time on that rather than screaming to be rescued she'd been off and moving long ago. For now she backs herself into walls, corners and chairs, which is really no fun for anyone.

This morning she waved, "Hello" to someone for the first time. So darn cute. Her little arm flapping her hand up and down every time I said, "Say Hello."

I set her down on the grass to see what would happen. First she wasn't sure, then she played a little, lastly she cried. I'm sure it was poking her tender skin.

I need to get this on video but always hate to interrupt her impromptu games of peek-a-boo. I could literally eat her.

~

This last one is for you, Amy.

Get ready - this butterball is coming your way!

STATS

Weight: 21 pounds (80%)

Length: 28 inches (57%) don't think this is accurate, kept measuring with different lengths

Head: 17 inches (59%)

Night-Time

It's after 1:00am and I'm up. Really, should be in bed.

I hear a door open and wait for what she's gonna say.

"I haft-a go potty Mommy."

Oh, her sweet sleepy voice
How does she know it's me still up?
I love hearing her little feet pattering upstairs.

I go up to help her and see her sweet sleepy face.

While she's doing her business:

"I was holding your hand so tight. I haft-a hold your hand at Costco."

Her dreams are always too sweet.
The fact that she does has yet to realize that they are not factual events makes them even more endearing.

Get her back in bed and asks if she can sleep on the ground.
Ever known anyone who LOVES to sleep on the ground?

I love this little girl more than life itself.
And that's saying something because I've got a pretty great life.

Beach!

We went to the beach Tuesday and Thursday last week.
SO MUCH FUN!

Carly Jo and Noelle dug a little hole and it filled with water. They had so much fun jumping in to it you'd thought they were jumping off an actual diving board. Too cute.

Madeleine had fun like always! She loved the snacks. First we had some sliced peaches and then I got a little crazy and let her have a Cheeto. MMM...MMM...good.

My kids are lucky to have so many great friends...so am I 'cause I really like their Mama's.

We have our own good time at the beach

Morro Bay

Aaron had some work to do up on the central coast and since Ecolab was footing the bill for a room in Morro Bay, we made it a family affair!

Fist off, this was Noelle's first time in a hotel. She's only stayed at people's houses or been camping - when we actually got hotel rooms she's gotten the shaft and had to stay home. She was silly with excitement about our 'bedroom.' They messed up our reservation so we ended up getting a room with a bed and a pull out sofa but Noelle could not have loved it more. She was up until 11:00 jumping from her bed onto ours.

When we awoke the excitement had not worn off. Noelle still was still smitten with our 'bedroom.' She and Madeleine had all kinds of fun being silly on the bed.

When we arrived at the beach after an incredibly long haul pulling my stroller through the deep, powdery sand (long story), my legs were burning and I was sweaty! Luckily, The beach certainly did not disappoint!

When we broke for a snack and Madeleine was snoozing in the stroller Noelle and I had fun with an impromptu photo shoot. That's right - the fun never stops with me.

I tried a different way leaving the beach as to not have the work out of my life again, it was just a slightly less than the previous work out and I realized the road did not continue the way that I thought it did. I had no idea how to get back to our hotel but I knew it couldn't be far. Check out time was approaching and to make things even more fun one of the back tires on the stroller was flat. At first, my attitude was that this would be a fun adventure but that quickly faded. After some sketchy directions, STEEP hills (where I'm sure some cars driving by saw more of my behind than anyone would have liked), an incredibly heavy stroller over loaded with beach gear and 3 miles in horrible flip flops- we made it!

We showered, got our bags situated, and thwap! thwap! thwapped! our way back to town on our broken down ride and had a fantastic time waiting for Daddy. We walked around, looked in shops, ate fudge & salt water taffy and lastly played at their awesome park.

8 Months

What's the point in writing anything about Madeleine turning 8 months when she's a week away from being 9 months? Too bad. Here are some pictures of her photo shoot from 7/26. Time has gone so fast, I cannot believe that we are on the down hill slide to turning One.

She continues to be cute, cute, cute, and so much fun. Such a stinkin' character.

We love our little: Sunshine Girl, Madeleine Gracey Girl, Facey-Facey-Face, Siiiiiiiister.

Update Overload!

Here we go people...

Our wards monthly activity of family night in the park is always SO MUCH FUN! Here we have Madeleine's first time in the swing. The pictures speak for themselves.

Noelle and Unc playing ball in the front yard. My favorite is the bottom left when she is going to hit it like a golf ball and he is ducking for cover. Noelle and Unc are absolutely best friends. He will play anything with her and always makes whatever they are doing fun.

We were running errands at the Janss mall. The fountains were on and other kids were running through the water. Noelle turned around and gave me this look that I cannot explain but melted my insides. Something to the affect of, "Oh, Mommy that looks like so much fun I can hardly stand it but will you really let me do it?" She was timid at first, avoiding getting wet but after a while she was sticking her head right in.

After the water fun, we got hamburgers at Fuddruckers. Madeleine tasted her first pickle. She wasn't sure what to think of them but kept going back for more.

We usually try to make a couple of Dodger games every season and we ALWAYS go to Mormon night. Unfortunately, my track record stinks...they always lose when I go and this time seemed to be no exception. Until, the bottom of the 9th inning, that is. 2 men on base, Ethier hits a Home Run! It was the BEST! Both of our kids were dead asleep on our laps, but being the true blue fans that we are, we toughed it out and it paid off.

Just a random evening at the pool after Daddy got home from work. Love nights like these.

Noelle found the box of graham crackers left from Yosemite and desperately wanted to have them for breakfast. Alright! Madeleine was not complaining.

At the beach...Noelle eating grapes & Madeleine eating the chair.

That's all for tonight, I'm tired!

~

I can't pick between today's two highs: This morning Noelle saying, "Mommy, I need my Book for Mormon for church. Can you please help me find it?"

Or

After Church Aaron saying, "Thanks for all you do - go take a nap."

Today's Low: This house! I can't keep it clean! Do I clean the dirt and grime or keep things picked up. It seems to be one or the other.

Blogger Blues

I have so many things to blog about but can't get myself to do it. Soon.

8 Months
Pool Days
Beach Days
Baby Showers
Funny Sayings
Funny Pictures
Cute Faces
Dodger Game

Graves Update

I know it's been a long time but since little Madeleine I've obviously had other things to talk about.

There have been some ups and downs over the last 8 months. I saw Dr. Tamagna on Thursday and here is the low down.

First a little education: The thyroid works off what is called a negative feed back loop. The pituitary gland in your brain does many things, one of which is produce a hormone called Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and it does just that...stimulates your thyroid to produce two hormones T3 & T4. When more thyroid hormones are needed your pituitary produces more TSH and when you need less, it produces less. This system in my body is derailed because my immune system produces antibodies called Thyroid Stimulating Antibodies (TSA) which themselves stimulate my thyroid to make way too much T3 & T4. When you have Graves your body realizes this and stops producing TSH.

Usually, when you've been taking anti-thyroid medications for a few months the normal system starts working again and your pituitary starts producing TSH and is back to normal by 6 months. Here we are 14 months since beginning treatment and while the medication has finally gotten my T3 & T4 levels in the normal range - my TSH is at a big fat ZERO. This means the disease is still raging and shows no signs of stopping. Over the last couple of months my gland has actually gotten a little bit bigger and my right eye is measuring bigger, too. Despite my relative high dose of PTU. The Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) is a whole other animal for another day.

What does this mean? It means this all just plain sucks. We have switched to the other anti-thyroid medication called Methimazole, just as a shot in the dark to see if my body responds differently. Normally, PTU is considered safer for pregnancy and nursing but some recent studies show that Methimazole may be better for nursing and there is some question about long-term PTU use causing liver damage.

For the future she thinks I should have my thyroid surgically removed and I will just take thyroid replacement hormones for the rest of my life. Especially if I plan on having any more children. Not a decision I am ready to make as of yet, but we'll see. I left her office feeling a little down, in some weird way my always healthy body has let me down. I guess I just thought this would be treated, I would go into remission and it would fade into the background. But that is not the plan, apparently, so I will just roll with it for now. :)

Hot Air Balloon Festival

Last night we went to the Citrus Classic Hot Air Balloon Festival in Santa Paula with the Meldrum, Wilde, DeVore families. The balloons were beautiful and the kids had a fantastic time! They seriously ran and danced themselves into exhaustion.