T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Finally...this darling baby is into any & everything! My goodness. It was exactly 4 Saturday mornings ago we woke up and came downstairs. She wiggled out of my arms and was off to explore. Has hardly looked back ever since.

She found a yogurt container that Noelle had left on the table. She made mess but had such a good time, I did not have the heart to take it away. I love seeing her explore, squishing things between her fingers and feelings different textures.

You can almost see her brain working and absorbing information.

Christmastime #2

Noelle has had her Christmas list for Santa memorized for weeks and we often talk about it. Today at school they wrote letters to Santa. I guess she changed her mind last minute:

Yesterday Madeleine and I went on a frosty morning run. She looked like Rudolph pulling the sleigh (jogging stroller.)

Christmastime

Tonight we went to our Church's annual Creche display. It huge and it's beautiful! Hundreds and hundreds of different Nativity scenes of all different shapes, colors and sizes. There was even a teeny-tiny one squeezed into half of a pistachio shell. This event is put on by our church but it is totally non-denominational. Each night they have music by different choirs and musicians. Tonight is the last night and the parking lot was packed.

This year I feel like I have been doing nothing but running in circles. I'm so busy, I'm hardly enjoying myself. But I sure am trying to make it special for my darling Noelle and she is loving it. She really is 'getting' it more this year and there are no words to explain seeing the joy of Christmas through your child's eyes.

As we were getting ready to head over to the church tonight I was talking to Noelle about how we celebrate Christmas becuse it's Jesus' birthday. I know she's heard it before but this time her little face lit up, she caught her breath, broke into a huge smile and said, "Jesus and I both have birthday's in December!" Then as we were looking at all the nativity scenes, in the corner there was a Swedish puppet show (sounds weird but was neat) she saw baby Jesus in the manger and said, "Look Jesus is a baby like my sister and I was a baby, too." She was so excited by these little epiphanies.

And when she came downstairs this morning and saw all the lights and garland hung around the house she let out a big gasp and told me that the house looked, "Beautiful!"

I love her so much and I'm so glad she's mine.

Good Time Girls

Poor little Madeleine-Girl.

It takes forever for the water to heat up in the shower

so I always turn it on and then get our clothes ready.

This unsuspecting girl crawled right in.

Luckily it was mostly warm.

Last night before bed Noelle started pushing Madeleine

around on her new toy that we got her for her birthday.

They had the best time!

Noelle got going way too fast for my taste

but the night ended with no injuries or crying so I can't complain.

Our One Year Old

Our darling baby girl is no longer considered an infant.

It is so very, very bittersweet.

I was up the night before until 2:00 am getting things ready. By 7:00am I was in the kitchen, back at it again. We got over to Auntie's by 2:00 and the power had just gone out. We finally got the generator going (yea for camping!) and the cooking back on track. We finally ate and I must say it was the BEST thanksgiving meal I have ever had. It was a great meal to share with our dear family that we love so much. It was a fantastic day!

Next was onto the birthday party! My poor girl was so tired and would not take a nap so we just went fast so we could get her to bed. I was so excited for her cake and although it did turn out cute, it was nothing like I had envisioned.

I just had too much to do given her birthday and the holiday.

I don't think she knew what to do when we put this huge thing in front of her. She just kept licking it. After we cut it and she got a piece she loved squishing it in between her fingers. Such a wonderful mess!

Lastly, it was presents. We got a couple of fun toys, an outfit and couple of stuffed animals. One of which sings Happy Birthday in Grandma Honey's voice. So cute.

All in all, it was such a great day! The power outage threw things off and sort of messed a few things up. I didn't get to put up all the cute birthday decorations I got and we were so rushed but there is so, so, so much to be Thankful for and we are blessed beyond words! By 6:30 I was literally dead on my feet. We went home and went to bed

Here are some facts about our precious girl:

• She smiles and waves at everyone.
• Gives kisses on command (albeit sometimes they are open mouthed & WET!)
• She is a lover of ALL things food! Fruit, crackers, meat, bread, yogurt, cereal, vegetables.
• Her favorite toys are those that open and close. So intriguing.
• She has the best laugh.
• Has a great set of chompers and bites her Mama. I've got little bruises everywhere.
• She loves her family. Anytime Mommy, Daddy or Sister walk in the room she lights up.
• She loves to climb the stairs, it makes her Mommy panic.
• Very early riser. Ugh.
• Has quite a temper and an angry squeal.
• Is a snuggle bear.
• Is a pianist. Crawls over the the piano and reaches up to tap the keys.
• No walking yet but she's taken her time doing everything else, too.
• Says: Mama, Dada, Nana, and Uh-Oh
• I could go on for days....
  

There are no words to tell you, Madeleine, how much we love you!

You've brought so much joy to us and made us a family unit. We're excited to watch you grow and develop. There is no greater blessing than being your parents. You are an absolute dream come true.

Thank you for picking me to be your Mommy, Madeleine Gracie-Girl!

Oh, what a difference a year makes!

STATS:

Height: 29 1/4 inches - 53%

Weight: 21 lbs 12 oz - 62%

Cookie Time X 2

Noelle saw these cookies on TV and wanted to make them REALLY bad. So we got together with our friends and got to work. It was FUN! We are so blessed to have such good friends that we have such a good time with.

We love, love, love Sundays around here. It's our one and only day out of the week that we usually don't plan anything (except church!) and spend the day as a family. But, I remember Sundays being SOOOOOO boring when I was a kid - there was nothing to do and my parents napped. I don't want Noelle to fall into the TV trap for hours. So, we are always trying to find ways to keep ourselves busy with so many consecutive hours at home. Yesterday was number cookies.

While the dough was chilling Daddy and Noelle started in on some of the frosting. Little Stinkers. Even Sweet M got her first taste of frosting (which I wasn't happy about!)

Then came time for the real deal.

Is there anything better than all that yumminess while wearing your jammies?

Murmuring Update

Yesterday we went and saw the Pediatric Cardiologist (Dr. Leong) to have Madeleine's murmur checked.

She is 100% healthy and her health is NOT being affected by any of this. It will require some follow up.

She has two things going on: First off she has a small leak in her Mitral Valve. No biggie. Common. Second: As I mentioned before when she was born her PDA failed to close right away, it was still open when they did an echo, still could be heard at one week, and could no longer be heard by two weeks. But, Dr. Leong could see on the echo that it is not completely closed. Again, it is a very small narrowing and not affecting her at all but it is very uncommon for this to happen.

These things just cause her heart to be a little less efficient. Say for example it is causing 1% of her blood volume to leak out where it is not supposed to. Let's also say that her heart should beat at 100 beats per minute but now has to beat at 101 bpm to make up the difference. This will not cause any negative affects at this point.

He spent a lot of time talking to me gave me loads and loads of information that I will spare you all. We will go back in 6 months to make sure they have gone away or stayed the same.

Both My Babies

Yesterday afternoon Unc called and asked if Noelle could come over for a sleep over. It took us all of about .03 seconds to respond, "YES!" It has been a while and they were long over due for some quality time.

After he came to pick her up, M went down for a nap. I closed my bedroom door on my messy, dirty house and did the same. It felt goooooood.

Then Aaron came home from work early, Liz watched M, and we went to see a movie. Can you believe it!? In the theatre. Not from our couch. On a Wednesday night. We walked into the theatre holding hands and not worrying about anything else. It was fantastic. We have not been on a solo date since child #2. Ridiculous.

The highlight of my story:

When I picked up Noelle today she heard me coming and came running into my arms. When I picked her up she started rubbing my arm with her little hand and said, "Oh, mommy now you have both of your babies again."

Totally Irresponsible...

Yep, that's me!

The last thing I should have done was to buy myself a new camera. But I did it anyway.

I've been desperately wanting one for a good year. I've scrimped everywhere possible while saving my babysitting money and pulled a few strings...

Thanks to my darling husband who helped make it happen.

The pictures are amazing and I've yet to spend time learning.

Yesterday playing in the backyard...

I love it when I can just hang back, observe and watch them play.

My favorite part was when Noelle looked up and said, "Look Mommy! The Sky has polka dots!"

My Grandma had her shoulder replaced so she spent a few days at a rehabilitation facility, while we were outside visiting Noelle was jumping and dancing around.

Oh, how I love the care free life she is able to live

Madeleine LOVES apples.

She doesn't want little baby pieces, either.

Give her the whole things and she will work it to death.

Our ward had the Primary Program on Sunday. It was awesome. All the kids did great!

Noelle's line was, "Mothers nurture the family."

I seriously need professional help. I knew her turn was coming...I saw her step up to the microphone and heard her sweet little voice. I almost lost it. I looked over at Aaron - his lip was quivering and his eyes were brimming with tears. He whispered,"Oh, Mom. She's getting too big."

Little stinker would not cooperate for pictures...these are the best I could do.

I actually think they're pretty funny.

11 Months

On the October 26th Madeleine turned 11 months old.

In 3 weeks, on Thanksgiving Day, she will be one year. Unbelievable!

We are so in love with this darling girl.

She has the sweetest face, softest skin, and is just plain irresistible.

Want to know what else? She waves. Constantly. At everyone.

It all began when we were saying good-bye to Amy & Joseph in Texas...she waved good-bye to them. So tender. A week or so before it I thought she did it to someone else but had yet to do it again. Then as we were walking through the airport she was waving at all the people walking by. On the plane as people were coming down the aisle, once again, her little hand flapped up and down at each person. Precious is a huge understatement.

Now, no matter where we are as soon as someone starts cooing at her, looking her way, smiling or whatever she starts her wave. If she doesn't, I tell her to say, "Hi!" She breaks into a big grin and starts waving. Some old ladies have even gotten teary over her.

Sleeping has been a challenge lately, plus daylight savings. Let's just say I have not slept past 5:00am in almost two weeks. Some mornings it has been 4:00am. But, she 's so funny and cute it's hard to hold it against her. Even Aaron who HATES mornings starts to laugh when she crawls on top of him (in the dark), starts her giggle/growl and pulls on his nose.

She is getting even better about going off and playing on her own, even made a few messes along the way! But still follows me around crying while I try to side step her a lot of the time. Sometimes I just have to get a few things done! But eventually she gets a hold of the back of my legs, pulls herself up and I am stuck. She'll be walking soon!

We love you Sunshine Girl!

Thank you for all the love, fun, and laughs.