If only every day were crazy hair day

Many more birthday pics!

12 months

What a busy month it has been for all of us! Dylan has been extremely busy with school (by the way, I'm blaming him for hogging the computer each night and not letting me update the blog - which is more important, the blog or homework?!). Work has been super crazy. We are about two months away from trial and I'm not sure things could get any busier there. Madison is really the ray of sunshine in our lives and always re-energizes us after a long, busy day at work. Picking her up from daycare is the highlight of our days - there's nothing like walking in and seeing the excitement on her face as she makes her way over to us as fast as she can. She is becoming such a big girl so fast! She is doing so many new things it is hard to keep up. She definitely keeps us on our toes these days - trying to push all the limits and to see just how much she can do. Here are a few pictures of our little munchkin the past couple of weeks.

Another trip to Iowa!

I'm very late getting these pictures up but about a month ago, Madison and I made a quick trip to Iowa with my mom, Katie and Katie's boyfriend, Terry, where Madison got to meet new aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, cousins and lots of others on the Daman side. It was so nice to see everyone - unfortunately, it had been years since I saw a lot of them too. We're just all so spread out across the U.S. that it makes it hard to see everyone frequently. Some of you hear a lot about my family in Iowa, so now you can put faces with names.

The five of us (from left to right):

Chad (being a dork), Charity, Christina, Cathryn, Chase
Charity will probably hate me for adding this, but Chad and Charity are out of age order. :)

Us with Madison and Addison. Missing Landon (Katie's little boy), Skylar (Chad's baby boy), and Charity's twins, Hunter and Harrison.

Madison with her sweet cousin Addison! How cute is that??!

My dad's favorite pizza: Ham, hamburger and bacon..... Yikes!

Eating at Pascouli's Pizza, my dad's favorite pizza joint in Humboldt, IA.

Our cousin, Tyler, and Chase.

Chase's mom, Menen, and Madi.

Chase's artwork (from left to right): Katie, Chase, Tyler

Yes, this one would be me. See Madison on my hip? :)

Aunt Katie making Madison laugh.

Trying to survive the longest road trip made in the shortest amount of time EVER!

....and she did SOOOO good!

My new baby doll

Our Little Birthday Girl

We had a fabulous PINK party to celebrate Madison's 1st birthday! So many of our friends and family were able to make it. We had a full house just as we had hoped! Madison wasn't feeling well Saturday morning, and I think she was a little unsure of the reason for the celebration, but she was a trooper and really did well. She got so many wonderful gifts - lots of fun toys, which keep her busy these days, some really cute clothes and even some new earrings!

We just can't get over the fact that our little angel is already a year old! It was a life-changing year for us, all for the best, and was worth every bit of the celebration.

1 more week...and I'll be one!

We are getting SOOO excited about Madison's birthday party next weekend. EVERYTHING is going to be some shade of pink. I imagine it will look as though we had a pink explosion in our house, but that is the goal! The theme: FUN, FANCY, and PINK Princess party! I don't want to share all the details...you'll just have to COME or wait to see pics! :)

In the meantime, here are a few recent pictures of Madison with her new hat on - it reads: "My first fishing hat." SO CUTE!

Madison and Landon in my new hammock - one of the many great birthday presents I got this year!

Soft, cuddly piggy.

Swings still a little too big...

Madi Videos

Madison's walking! Here is a video of her taking a few steps a couple of weeks ago. She has made lots of progress since then and gets pretty much wherever she wants to go al by herself! By the way, she LOVES her chair. She wants to sit in it all the time...but also enjoys standing in it and waiting for us to tell her to sit.

Blowing kisses to daddy...

Momma's (that's me!) Birthday Weekend

I had the greatest birthday this year!! Everyone went out of their way to make it a special day for me. I couldn't be more blessed.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that weekend - spending time with Dylan, Madi, Katie, Terry, Landon and the Wiltshires. We had tons of fun!