Funny story

Well, I've been working on filing our income taxes online for the past couple of hours and decided to take a break and post a quick story about this evening. I guess I really took a break because Madison woke up hungry at about 8:00...which is unusual for us. She is normally in bed by 7 or 7:30 for the night and doesn't wake up again until around 3 a.m. Tonight though, she fell asleep in my arms around 6. We didn't try to keep her up like we normally do because she hasn't been sleeping well and has been pretty fussy so we just decided to let her go to sleep early (I'm thinking it is the two bottom teeth that are still trying to come through that are bothering her). I'll probably suffer the consequences tonight though!

Anyway, as I was feeding her supper - peas and applesauce - she got excited and knocked over her little nursery rhyme CD player that we usually keep near the high chair and as I reached over to catch it so it didn't hit the floor, I splattered peas all over the kitchen wall! It was actually kind of funny and I decided to just deal with it later... Then, along comes Brody (our middle child) and cleans up the mess. Turns out he likes peas too... He was probably hoping that would get him off the hook for him and his brother making lots of messes on our carpet!! News flash - it doesn't! I hope to blogging about wood floors soon...

Baby Bear

The Reveal

Ok, so I know this blog is supposed to be all about Madison, but since I mentioned it...

We finally finished the work we were doing in our bathroom! It took us quite a few weekends and some week nights (we made the mirrors, which took awhile for that alone), but we're pleased with the results. Just in case you were wondering, Madison approves too.

BEFORE

...or, I should say, DEMO in progress...

I didn't get any true "before pics" when the old light fixtures were still in above the mirror.

AFTER

Our little Republican

I bought this onesie for Dylan for Fathers' Day before Madison was born. For those of you who know Dylan well, you understand why he would consider this a nice gift. Let's just say that Madison will probably get a larger dose of politics than she will probably care to have over her lifetime. President Madison Hogue? It does have a nice ring to it. Afterall, Madison is a fairly "presidential" name... ;o)

Here's Madison making her daddy proud.

Playtime with Yara

Last weekend Roxanne and Jason invited us over for dinner and playtime for the baby girls and Elijah, their 5 year old son. We all had a great time! The adults rocked out a little on Guitar Hero, which Dylan and I are not the greatest at. ;o) Jason plays guitar (the real thing) so rocks at it (no pun intended). The babies played together and Elijah kept us all entertained! He's such a smart little boy and is too cute!

Here are a few pictures of Madison and Yara. Yara is on the verge of crawling...it won't be long!!

Gratitude

In my old age ;o), one of the most important things that I think I have come to realize is how powerful the words that we speak are (well, that as much as our internal monologue). So much of how we see things in life or how we feel about things is a result of the things that we tell ourselves or a reflection of the words that we speak. I've heard a lot lately about people keeping gratitude journals - in which they write down things that they are grateful for everyday - and the idea is that doing so keeps your spirits high, increases your level of happiness, and some even believe that it will draw more great things your way. Whatever your belief, I think it is just important to focus on the positive and always express the things that you are grateful for in life.

I thought about this in the middle of the night last night (funny enough). Madison is just a sweetheart and is such a good baby. Dylan and I have so much to be thankful for. Because she is so good, and makes everything so easy on us in the evenings during the week (eats dinner with us, plays a little, has a bath and wants to go to bed around 7 p.m. or even before - not to mention that she goes right to sleep without a fuss when you lay her in her crib) we end up feeling like we don't get to spend as much time with her in the evenings as we would like. So, whereas frequent night wakening drains me, I have begun to look forward to the one middle of the night feeding. Last night I didn't even want to put her back in her crib after feeding her. I stood in the middle of her room holding her for quite awhile before deciding I had better get a couple more hours of sleep. So, that's that...I'm so grateful to be Madison's mommy (and Dylan's wife, of course, but most of you have heard all about that already!!).

What's new with Madison

Madison is quickly approaching the half year mark!! :o) She'll be six months a week from Saturday. We're really beginning to see her turn into her own little person - showing lots of personality, expressing her likes and dislikes and seeming to understand a lot more of what is going on around her. It is truly amazing to watch the changes that take place - even daily. I thought I had better make a note of some of the things she has started doing so that I can use this as a reminder when I get back around to writing in her baby book!!! So, here goes....

She gets scared or startled VERY easy. :o( We started noticing this right before Christmas - she gets scared and very upset when certain people that she does not know or has not seen in awhile talk to her. It is the most pitiful thing you have ever seen. She does the whole sad bottom lip thing and tears start rolling immediately! It has almost brought me to tears a couple of times myself. ...well, I say almost, but there was an incident that has to do with me trying a Christmas dress on her that she apparently did not like...which followed by both a Madison AND mommy "meltdown". I just felt horrible for upsetting her so... Needless to say, we did not buy that dress.

She's trying to pull her knees up under her when on her tummy. This started around Christmas time too.

She's sitting up all by herself without support. This is not to say that she never topples over, but can sit and play for long periods of time with no problem. Of course, she's been getting better at it over the past couple of months, but we really starting noticing a big change right after the new year.

She's rolling with more ease.

She has had it with the car seat!! No longer is she going to just sit back and let us strap her into that mean thing...at least not without a fight. Ok, so that may be a little dramatic, but she really doesn't seem to like it much anymore. Before you can get her strapped in, she arches her back and tries to buck out of it. Once she realizes she can't get out, she starts to fuss a little...which usually stops once we start driving. It has been cold lately, so we have more layers on her (including a coat) so I almost wonder if she just feels stuffed in there and doesn't like that feeling. Who knows, but I'm sure it will pass.

And, on a lighter note, here are a couple of new things that Madison thinks are funny:

- Mommy's hiccups
- Cobber and Brody playing with their toys
- Cobber coughing (or choking on something???)

Sneaky little bunny

Madison's bunny-foot poking out for a picture. :o)

Such talent

We caught one of Madison's silly tricks on camera and wanted to share. This was taken a couple of weeks ago when we first started noticing that blowing raspberries was becoming very popular with her. Most of the noises are coming from her daddy, who was egging her on, but you can see her working really hard at it....she's a pro now. ;o)

I was in the middle of feeding her too, so it was even funnier and rather messy...

PAUSE MUSIC (RIGHT COLUMN) BEFORE PLAYING VIDEO :)

Having too much fun

It's been awhile since I have posted some updated pictures. We've taken quite a few here and there of Madison playing over the past few weeks, so I've put them all together in a slide show.

She is such a silly girl, yet has some very serious moments where you can tell she is just taking everything in. She's a smart little booger, if I may say so myself. :o) Besides blowing bubbles and making raspberries constantly, she has this new thing that she does where she sticks her tongue WAY out and does this fake cough. We think she may be imitating a sound another baby makes at school?? It's pretty funny though because the more Dylan and I laugh at her, the more she will do it with a big grin on her face.

Such a good eater!

Well, Madison definitely has eating solids down! She has now tasted applesauce, pears, peaches, bananas, green beans, carrots, peas and sweet potatoes. Her favorites are sweet potatoes, applesauce and peas (of all things)!! She loves rice cereal too. It has been so much fun introducing her to all these new things and, for the most part, she seems to really enjoy getting to eat like a big girl. More and more, she is watching Dylan and me eat, opening her mouth as if she is eating something too, and grabbing for our food. She is really at that point where she grabs for anything and everything though - no more putting her on our lap near things on the table...it will definitely be grabbed and thrown on the floor. :o)

Party Animals

Last weekend

I'm a little late posting about last weekend, but have some pictures from the weekend that we wanted to share. Last Saturday, the 5th, was Matthew Leal's 3rd birthday and he celebrated with a herd of animals, literally! :o) The Leal's turned their backyard into a petting zoo...there was a big potbelly pig (not exactly attractive in terms of petting), llama, emu, pony, sheep, baby goat and some others. The kids had a blast feeding them...some even enjoyed the food themselves. :o) When it was time for the animals to go, Matthew was such a cutie, herding them all to the trailer they came in and telling them bye in a very authoritative way.

The kids also played some games, had sack races, ate chili dogs and cake and got lots of goodies and prizes. It was such a cute little party.

After the party, Madison and I went over to hang out with Roxanne and Yara. We got to see Yara's nursery, which is super cute, and the girls got to play a little. :o) We all started getting hungry, so ended up grabbing Dylan and meeting Roxanne, Jason, Yara and Elijah at Buffalo Wild Wings. Turns out they are just as big of fans of wings as Dylan is! Of course, I enjoy them too, I just try and limit how often I eat that kind of stuff!!

On Sunday, Dylan and I begin DEMO in our bathroom!! We started a project that has yet to be completed... It has actually turned out to be a bigger project than we had anticipated, but we think it may still turn out ok. :o) We'll share pictures when the project is complete!

Stay tuned for some pics from the party...

Raspberries

Madison has a new trick. The past week or so she has really been working hard to do something with her mouth. Until this morning, I thought she was trying to make the "B" sound. She puts her lips together tightly and kind of buzzes. Dylan and I thought it was so cute, but after a few days I started to wonder if it was really that hard for a baby to make that sound. She looks like she is working so hard at it!! Anyway, a lot of times she ends up blowing bubbles and spitting! :o) We kept making the sounds and faces back at her and just thought it was the cutest thing. This morning when I dropped her off at daycare, I asked Ms. Rosie if she has been spitting and blowing bubbles for them. Ms. Rosie immediately said she has and said it was probably her fault because she has been trying to teach Madison to do "raspberries". You know, kind of what you do when you blow on a baby's belly.... That makes it even cuter!! I think this might be the first thing that we can say she has watched someone do and has tried to imitate! ...besides maybe her laugh. I'm pretty sure that she that one of her (many) laughs is an imitation of sounds I have been making to her since about when she started smiling.

Are you my mother?

5 months

Our sweet baby turned 5 months yesterday! Time flies when you're having fun. Or as Dylan would say, it snowballs!

Madison is becoming such a big girl. Dylan and I just sit and watch her in awe. She is really pushing up and tolerating tummy time great! She plays for quite awhile on her tummy without any complaints. Her teachers sent home a note recently that she was the "star student" during tummy time! :o) She is even beginning to pull her knees up to where she is almost on all fours, but doesn't have it down just yet.

She is now pulling her feet all the way to her mouth and sucking on her toes. She wants to chew and mouth something CONSTANTLY and she's obviously not picky about what that something is. :o)

Yesterday, Dylan and I noticed that she is trying to say consonants and not just the vowel sounds. She tries so hard to make sounds with her lips closed together tightly. It is so cute!