Sorry in the delay on posts. Last weekend we got back after spending almost 2 weeks in Iowa and a week at the Beach! Therefore, we took a break from the blog! It also means we have lots we wanted to post about so I decided to take it one at a time. This post I wanted to show pictures from Madelyn's birthday parties. That is right we all know how much of a diva Madelyn is so the girl didn't have just one but TWO birthday parties:) We had one in Charlotte with family and friends and then thanks to her Nana she had another one in Iowa with friends and family there.
On June 23rd we had a cookout at our house and are so thankful to our friends and family who came to celebrate with us! It was a long day for Madelyn between playing, opening presents and cake she was exhausted by the end of the party!
Here are some pictures from her Charlotte party: As you can see we had a few outfit changes due to lots of spilling :) Luckily Madelyn had a few options!
Party girl all ready!
Hard to believe our baby girl is 1!!
Sure we can get a picture with all 5 kids, we have bubbles and balloons to distract, HAHAHA
With Nanny and Poppy at my party!
Exhausted and not wanting this cake and song, lol!
Hmm, maybe this isn't so bad
Wow, this is tasty!
You mean this is all for me???
For a rough start someone ended up really enjoying their cake!
Opening gifts from Ashley and Phil, one of many favorites
The next week we flew out to Iowa and Madelyn had another birthday party on June 28th at her Nana's house! Just as the first one it was perfect, filled with friends and family. We again were so thankful to have everyone there to celebrate with us and Madelyn was beyond spoiled!!
Nana did such a good job getting everything beautiful!
Aunt Natalia and Elly before the party!
The AWESOME cakes!
Madelyn's favorite part of the whole party, playing with balloons with Beckett!
Just over a year ago we started keeping up with the blog with the intnetion of creating a way to allow all our family and friends, far and near, to keep up with Madelyn. We are so thankful to everyone who loves Madelyn so much and follows her journey through life. However, today as I write this post I have a different intention. Today, I am writing this post for Madelyn for the day she will be able to read back through this blog and memories of her first year.
Madelyn, we want you to know that one year ago you made us the happiest parents on earth! We couldn't have asked for a more amazing baby girl. You have taught us so much in one short year. We never knew we could love so much, or how the sound of a little giggle can melt away any stress or bad day. You taught us what life is about and we love you more than you will ever know. We can't wait to continue to watch you grow and learn!!! (maybe you could slow down a little, this year went WAY to fast!!!)
Thursday, June 6, 2013
How can it already be June! This time last year every extra cramp or feeling Derek and I were anxiously hoping it was time to meet Madelyn! Now here we are almost a year later. I know she won't remember this first birthday coming up however, I see why it is easy to go overboard. It is such a big milestone and hard not to get emotional when reflecting back on the year that has flown by!
I'm going to keep this post short with a few updates and new pictures! With tomorrow (at 10:45 exact) being the start of summer vacation and Derek having summer camps at the Y starting Monday it is a little hectic around here.
Madelyn now is a full time walker. She walks everywhere and isn't falling much anymore. She even is starting to try and speed walk/run (which never works out for her). The past two weeks she loved when we would pretend to chase her but starting this week she now likes to be the chaser and come after you!
Last week she got a bad stomach bug that lasted about a week. It is so hard to watch your child go through something like that because everytime she threw up she looked so scared and you knew she had know idea what was going on. Unfortunately as expected she passed the nice bug to me of course all while Derek is gone! Isn't that how it always works out:) Luckily everyone is back to normal in the house!
Madelyn's new words are baby and cheese. She has a baby doll we always say baby and hand her. Now she loves seeing pictures of other babies or even herself and saying baby. She also loves to say "night-night" and lay down and pretend sleep.
Eating a popsicle while sick (one the only things she could keep down to get fluids in her:( )
Sleeping Beauty
Uncle Carter with the babies after his graduation ceremony from VT. We are so proud of him!
How can you not love this diva!
Here are a few from a few weekends when we took some at the park for her birthday invitations!
Mother's Day has always been an important holiday to me as I am beyond grateful for my amazing mother. However, this year it was such a different holiday being my first as a mother. Though the holiday is intended to show appreciation to mother's I couldn't help but think of it the other way. I am so thankful I am a mother and so happy I get to be the mother to the most amazing little girl who has brought so much joy to our lives. I knew being a mother would change me but never knew this feeling of love until being a mother myself :)
Derek and Madelyn did such a great job planning a day for us. It started with some adorable homemade gifts and breakfast. Since it was such a beautiful day out we were able to go to the park and take some pictures of Mads followed by lunch and shopping! Couldn't have asked for a better day!
Right now life has been crazy here as Derek is now in his busy time for work and school down to the last few weeks for me (YIPEEE!!) I am VERY excited for summer break and to spend the summer with Madelyn. We already have a trip to Iowa, the beach and Florida planned!
As for Madelyn her big accomplishment since last week is WALKING!!! She isn't full on walking but walking about 50% of the time. She is still very wobbly and can go about 5-10 steps and then crashes. It is so fun to watch her learn this big milestone. When we cheer and clap for her each time she looks up at us with a big grin like she is so proud of herself. She is also really trying to communicate with us. She repeats and mimics us often. She also uses pointing and her baby signs to show us what she wants.
Out for ice cream after lunch on Mother's Day!
What loves
Worn out after taking pictures in the park!
Here were our 10 month picture attempts, these picture are quite entertaining these days. As you can see laying on the blanket and smiling is no longer an option! We also started with a pretty bow but apparently Madelyn didn't want a bow this month!
The past two weekends we have been busy celebrating weddings of two good friends. Two weekends ago all of my family was in town to celebrate the beautiful wedding of Ashley and Phil. The wedding was perfect and so much fun to have everyone here. It was nice to get time out knowing we were leaving Madelyn with some of the best babysitters possible. Thank you Aunt Sue who stayed and spoiled Madelyn on Friday so Derek and I could go to rehearsal dinner and thank you to MaryAnn on Saturday. Madelyn loved having her Nanny here to spend the night with :) Derek and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend of being with some of our closest friends and family. However, we paid for it the week after. Apparently being parents has aged us and our ability to stay out late and go off little sleep. As always the weekend flew by and it was hard to see everyone leave!
This past weekend we headed to Gatlinburg, TN to celebrate the wedding of Derek's good friend Darren that he has known since 6th grade. I had heard a lot about Gatlinburg and most of all heard it had fun shopping :) We took Madelyn with us since we didn't get to spend much time with her the weekend before and wanting to spend my birthday with all of us together. The wedding was beautiful and it was really nice to catch up with friends that we just don't seem to get to see often enough.
After, these two crazy weekends we are beyond excited for a weekend at home this coming weekend to relax and play catch up.
As today is May 1st it is almost impossible to believe that next month we will be celebrating Madelyn's 1st birthday, yikes!!! She has developed such a personality that makes us smile and laugh everyday. Here are her recent developments.
Words she currently says:
Mama, Dada,
BO (still her #1 word)
Go (anyone that comes to our house knows we have to yell at Bo to go to the bathoom when we let him out, so now she stands at the door and says GO, lol)
Bye-Bye
Car
Teeth (and will point at your teeth, we think she is going to be a dentist because she LOVES teeth!
Her favorite activities:
opening and closing doors (by far her favorite activity)
chasing Bo (goes on for awhile since everytime she gets to him he isn't about it and moves to a new spot)
will clap and play patty-cake with you
Getting into anything she shouldn't be in (she has become very observant and learns quick. For example this morning she watched Derek step on the lever to open the trash can lid in the kitchen and this afternoon she was all into that and opening it)
Mimicking what we say ( especially weird noises and fake coughing)
giving kisses
She is standing for long periods of time and is trying to figure out how to step and keep her balance. No walking yet though. She has become an eating machine. Thankfully, she is not a picky eater at all anymore. She does a really good job during meals using her baby sign for "more" to let us know how much she wants. She has become a big fan of scrambled eggs!
Here are some pictures and videos...
The Bridal Party at rehearsal
Family picture at rehearsal dinner, minus Dad, Dorice and Aunt Sue :(
With El :)
With the beautiful bride getting hair and make-up
Ashley and Phil's Wedding 4-20-13
Opening all my gifts Aunt Katty brought with, including my new fedora hat!!
April is definitely a busy month for us with a lot of fun things going on. This weekend Kimberly and I hosted a bridal shower for Ashley. The shower went great and was beautiful weather. Ashley's wedding is this coming weekend. Good friends weddings are always fun but when someone has been a friend since the day you were born and is like family, it is even more exciting. This week I have 11 famiy members coming into town for their wedding and we are SO excited. Derek said the excitement of this week reminds him of our wedding, haha!
Today Madelyn went out on her first boat ride on Lake Wiley. Madelyn absolutely loved it. We included some photos and video of the trip. I think Madelyn will be wanting many more trips out on the lake.
This past week Madelyn has been trying to stand on her own a lot. She will hold on to stand up and the slowly let go to stand and try and balance. She also started walking while using a toy she can push and help her. We are thinking walking is coming soon. As of right now the words she can say are; Mama, Dada, Bo, and car. Most of her day she is yelling Bo. However, any dog is now called Bo, lol! I guess we need to start working on dog!
Here are a few pictures from the past week (sorry for the short post, with family coming you now that means lots of cleaning so I need to make the most of my time while Madelyn is sleeping, haha)
Helping Dad with the yard work
9 Months 3/18/13
Dad decide to let me have fun and feed myself
Beautiful bride to-be at the shower
Madelyn playing with Lily & Gracie at the shower (hard to believe they were Maddie's age when I watched them)
Hanging out with Kimberly
Madelyn got Derek's phone with Pandora playing and apparently is ready to trade in the baby phone for an iPhone! LOL
Finally Spring is here and we have been able to get out and enjoy some nice weather! Last week my best friend Kara came to visit over her Spring Break. We loved having her here and Madelyn was spoiled rotten by her. We only wish she lived closer. It was really hard to see her leave:(
This past weekend we headed to Virginia to spend the Easter weekend with Derek's family. Though it was a quick trip we loved getting to see everyone. Of course the weather didn't cooperate on Easter and was rainy but Madelyn still had a great first Easter. She was so well behaved at church and loved her easter basket and eggs.
This week I am off for our Spring Break. The week is filled with getting stuff done around the house, spending lots of snuggle time with Madelyn and lunch dates with Derek. It is making me VERY excited for summer to get to spend more time with Madelyn.
As for Mads lastest updates; she is standing and pulling up on everything. She will walk with you when you hold her hands. I am sure we will be walking before we know it. She also has learned to give kisses. It is a slobbery kiss but well worth the slober :) Her favorite thing right now is Bo and says Bo (or "Bah" as she says it) non-stop. Most mornings it is the first thing she yells. She eats all foods and has become a really good eater.
Here are a some pictures from the last 2 weeks!
Out to lunch!
My new toy vacuum from Kara, I helped Dad clean the carpets (one of the MANY things she bought me)
I love the lines on the carpets just like my OCD Mama!
