Hobby Lobby

Snotty again...no interest in napping. So I decided we'd go look around Hobby Lobby. Again she got to sit in the cart like a big girl. I think we went down about every aisle in the store. I was just trying to kill time and make her sleepy. Her favorite aisle was the mirror aisle. It's just so much fun to see her mommy and herself. Big smiles all the way! Another fun moment was on the Halloween clearance aisle. She practically laid down trying to turn her neck so she could see this woman collecting all the halloween yard decor on sale. I figured for how long we were in there we should at least get something. We ended up picking out a small pumpkin frame. I think I'll take a picture of her in her halloween costume and put it in there. It can be our start of fall decorations. Something I'm looking forward to doing with her is decorating the house for each holiday. I think it will be so much fun!

She fell asleep on the way home, and I wanted her to get at least 30 minutes of sleep in so I ended up driving around our housing development looking at all the new houses they're building while she slept. When we got home she was happy but still sleepy. She played in her high chair while I made ice cream. I noticed she was "working on something" while I was busy. I went to pick her up and poop was everywhere..all down her leg. Thankfully, daddy was working from home, and he came to help. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without him. There was sooo much poop in her pants and on her leg. I guess she had been saving up and maybe this discomfort had also contributed to her lack of napping. I don't know.

Finally around 5 we had napping success. She slept until almost 7:30. Her daddy thought we should wake her up so she would sleep that night. After having her first taste of oatmeal (which she loved), she got a good scrub down tonight!

Snotty

We are both so snotty. Madeline wasn't interested in napping at all today. I think it's because she can't breathe that well. After 30+ minutes of her screaming, playing, screaming some more in her crib, I decided to give up (I was also afraid of the neighbors calling the cops on me...she is so dramatic and loud) and take her to Target. Today, was the first time I put her in the cart like a big girl. I only had my phone to take her picture. She loved being able to look all around. She sat up like such a big girl. She usually fusses while I'm loading the groceries but since she could just turn and look back today she was all smiles. Of course, she fell asleep on the way home and got just enough of a power nap she was ready to play when we got home. I was fearful of church this evening because all she got was maybe 20 minutes of napping. It was 5th Wednesday singing tonight so no Bible class. She did well though. She loves music. The people behind us said they'd like to adopt her as her grandparents. She loves to look back at them and smile and squeal.

Sunday School

Today, I left Madeline in her Sunday school class, and she did great! I was a little worried. I had left her when we were in San Angelo but there were only two other kids in the class and one was her cousin Jonah. This morning there were about eight other babies. Every spot at the table was filled! She was as happy as could be when I went to get her. This makes me so happy. I hear seperation anxiety could rear it's ugly head any time in the next few months.

Also, today I was able to go out to lunch with a couple of friends while Madeline stayed home with her daddy. I hadn't been away from her for more then 30 minutes since July so I was a little apprehensive about it. I felt strange driving in the car without her, but once I got out and started talking to my friends it was nice...strange but nice. I was away for about three hours. She and her daddy got along swell. They always do :)

It's Fall!

Even though the first official day of fall was Thursday, today was the first day it actually felt like fall. We felt bad when we woke up a little chilly this morning and realized Madeline was sleeping in a onesie with no blanket. She moves around so much I kind of gave up on covering her up a few weeks ago. She woke up crying at around 7 so I fed her and put her back down and covered up her chubby little legs. She is just so cute all cuddled up in a little ball. Tonight we're definitely breaking out the footie pajamas. She hasn't worn those since she was a newborn.

Yay for footie jams!

On another note, it hit me AGAIN today that school has started back without me. This has been happening a lot lately. I just get a little sad about not teaching. I always loved this time of year at school. The kids had finally gotten in the routine of things, the weather begins to feel great, and you get to do lots of fun pumpkinny stuff Madeline's not quite big enough to appreciate the weather and do fun pumpkinny stuff with yet. Next year at this time, I'm sure I won't have time to sit and think about the weather or school, I'll be chasing a little girl around the house and doing fun pumpkinny stuff with her :)

Cloth diaper update: Still going great, just wish my wet bag was here!!

It's raining...it's pouring

Madeline and I went to Gainesville to get the work on my car finished today.  Grandma and Grandpa were very happy to see her.  It rained and poured the whole time we were there so we had to just hang out inside.  She didn't mind at all.  In fact, she probably preferred it.  They have a lot of space for her to roll and crawl all over and new toys for her to play with so it was a nice change of scenery for her.  Here are a few pictures of her enjoying all the attention.

Cloth diapers day 2:  Slept in them all night with no leaks.  She pooped right when she woke up.  It was an easy clean up.  She wore disposables while traveling.  I'm not that brave yet!

My old school and her daddy

I'm ready for school!

Today, Madeline woke up with her first snotty nose.  I mean her right nostril was completely clogged with yellow snot.  However, she was all bouncy and smiley.  We sucked the snot right out and she was fine.  We had previously planned to go to Florence Elementary and visit my teacher friends.  They had been wanting to see her so we went ahead and went.  We stayed in the teachers lounge mostly and then walked down with Barb to check out my old room.  I have to stay it was very strange and a little sad, but I'm glad we went.  It was good to see everyone and show them how wonderful Madeline is.  It also made me very glad that I am staying home with her.

On a happier note,   I want to write about how much this little girl loves her daddy.  She lights up every time he walks in the room.  He gets a huge smile and a happy little sound from her.  You can tell by the pictures that he is just as smitten with her as she is with him.  I love to watch them play together.  He is just amazing with her and has been since the day she was born.  I'm so blessed to have these two in my life.

Cloth diaper update: wore them all afternoon and no leaks... so far so good!

My Little Roly Poly

Today has been a day of rolling, rolling rolling for Miss Madeline. She has mastered rolling every which way.  She used to just be able to roll from left to right when on her back.  That meant if she was up next to the side of her crib she would get stuck.  Well, now she has no problem. It seems like every time we get back from a trip she has learned something new.  Last time it was putting her legs up under her into a crawling position and sitting up by herself more steadily.  This time she is rolling multiple times in a roll in all directions.  She loves rolling over half way and then looking up at whoever is near and then rolling over the rest of the way.  She loves rolling so much it's hard for her to settle down and take a nap because all she wants to do is roll.  I would always put her pacifier in her mouth, pat her a few times, and leave.  Now if I stay long enough to do all that she just rolls over to look up at me.  By the end of today we learned to just put her down and leave.  She rolls around for about 10-20 minutes.  When she is tuckered out, she falls asleep.  It's so fun to watch her on the monitor.  Sometimes all you see are those chubby little legs and feet up in the air.  I love my little Roly Poly!

The Journey Home

After a morning of being with her aunties and cousins, it was time to say goodbye and start the journey home.  We stopped in  Abilene for supper and to get in a little more time with Mamaw and O'Pa.  She showed her Mamaw how she is learning to sit up and crawl.

Check out my new paci holder!

 After supper, we also stopped in for a really quick visit with her Great Grandma and Grandpa Betts.   It was super quick because it was close to her bedtime and that huge smile of hers was starting to fade.

I am so proud of this little girl.  This was the longest she's ever been away from her home and never really fell apart once, and also thankfully she slept well (of course she always had to thoroughly inspect her new pack in play,you know make a few circles in it, roll over a few times, scratch the sides, find out where the tags were and taste them).  I always get nervous before we leave for a trip because I know her normal routine will have to be put aside for a few days. I worry how she will handle everything, and I just want her to be happy and relaxed.   I actually think abandoning the routine is harder for me than her.  She seems to just go with the flow.   She is rarely without a smile when going to new places and seeing new people.  She is quite the little traveler!!

Sleepy Sunday

Madeline went to Bible class with her cousin Jonah in San Angelo.  I had decided last Sunday that she was ready to be left in class without me.  I've been leaving her on Wednesday nights and she's done fairly well.  I was a little hesitant to leave her but her Aunt Andrea helped get me out the door.  We checked on them during the last five minutes of class, and she was still in her seat and happy as a clam.  Yay!  That meant only one more obstacle...getting through the worship service.  Before it even started she decided to debut her new squeal/scream.  We don't know where this came from but she decided she liked doing it.  Her daddy thought she needed to be taken out before communion so I let him have the honor with the intent to trade off once the sermon started.  Well right before I was about to go relieve him, he comes and sits down next to me with a sleeping Madeline in his arms.  For those of you who have met Madeline, you know that she never allows herself to miss anything.  Her eyes are almost always wide open and her head and neck are moving and stretching all around.  She's not one of those kids who can just be bounced or rocked to sleep.  She has to either be in her bed or riding in the car.  I was so relieved and happy to see she had finally let herself rest.  She slept in her daddy's arms up until right at the end.  I think his arms were pretty sore, but it was so worth it.  She did great the rest of the day and took great naps. She is just growing and changing so quickly.

Party Time

Pre party time with Uncle Delton and Alyssa

Cake time!

Saturday was Heidi's and Jonah's birthday party.  Heidi turned 3 on Saturday, and Jonah turned 1 on Monday.  We got to San Angelo on Saturday and came home on Monday.  Madeline has become an old pro at attending birthday parties.  There has been at least one a month since she was born.  She did well through the eating part of the party, but got a little tired watching cousin Heidi open presents and had to go nap.  Unfortunately, Heidi got sick after her party so we didn't get to spend much time with her, but Madeline did get to spend time with her cousins Jonah and Alyssa, Mamaw and O'Pa, and her aunts and uncles.

Kicking practice with Mamaw

Story Telling with O'Pa

Playtime with cousins

At the party, it dawned on me that in less than six months it will be Madeline's 1st birthday.  I've already started thinking and looking at ideas online.  Right now I want to go with a ladybug theme.  She loves looking at anything with ladybugs and there are a ton of cute ideas out there.  I also started to count how many people could possibly be there.  I've always just wanted to have a small family party here at our house. However our families just keep growing and growing.  So there is a possibility of 15-20 adults and 5-8 kids.  That's quite a crowd for our little house so we'll have to see.  I know it will be here before I know it!

I love this dress!

Cloth Diapers....

Check out my new diaper :)

Yesterday we went to pick up her new cloth diapers that we ordered.  I've been thinking about doing cloth diapers since before she born.  The place where we took our child birth classes sells them.  After seeing how many disposable diapers she goes through, how much it was costing us, and talking to a lady at the store who uses them, I decided to go for it.  We can help the environment while saving money ;)

I decided to try one out this afternoon.  I'm not sure I got it put on right.  It's a little bulky in the back.  She looks like she has a huge bottom, but it hasn't bothered her or slowed her down any.  I'll keep you posted on how things go.  I plan to officially start using them on Tuesday after we get back from San Angelo.

As you can tell from the pictures, she seems like she's finally getting back to her smiley self.  Yesterday's beauty rest must of done it's job.  Here one last picture to tied you over until next week!!

It looks like she has some junk in her trunk :)

Sleep, sleep, and more sleep

Well, we went ahead and took Madeline to church last night.  She did fine there, but she was so exhausted by the time we got home.  She could barely stay awake long enough to eat and be put to bed.  She usually does a couple of laps around her crib before settling in her corner spot for the night.  Last night, she scooted over maybe an inch or two and was out.  Also, she usually moves around during the night.  All she did last night was turn her head to the other side.  She slept from 9:30 p.m. to 9:15 a.m.  My poor baby :(

She felt much better after her long nap,
but her legs didn't quite want to bend.

Today we needed to do some grocery shopping.  Let me tell you, when you're on a tight budget shopping's even less fun than it was before :(  Anyway, she fell asleep on the way home, woke up long enough to get her lunch and has now been asleep for over four hours.  I'm hoping and guessing it's just from her shots yesterday.  She was running a low grade fever, but I'm starting to get worried.  We're supposed to be leaving tomorrow night for a weekend with Scott's family, celebrating Heidi's 3rd birthday and Jonah's 1st birthday.  I hope she's just storing up some energy for the festivities.

Smiles, Shots, Streaming Tears

Right after the shots :(

Today was Madeline's six month well check.  She did so well considering everything she did .  First she had her eyes tested for lazy eye.  They stuck 3 electroids to her head, turned out the lights, and had her look at pictures flashing on a screen.  Scott said it reminded him of an episode of Lost.  She sat up nice and tall and did well until they took the electroids off her head and left a huge red spot.  She cried a small cry but flashed a big smile as soon as the nurse talked to her.  She passed her exam with flying colors.  I think the word perfect was mentioned :)

Here are her 6 month stats:

Weight: 17 lbs. 6.4 oz.    73 percentile
Height: 2 ft. 1 in.             16 percentile
Head: 17 in.                   64 percentile

Her weight gain has slowed down since she is moving around so much now, and her height measurement might not be too accurate since she's so squirmy on the table.

"How could you let them do this to me?"

Those were the happy times...then the dreaded shots. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it.  She had 4 shots given to her by two nurses.  She went from happy girl to beet red, blood curdling crier in less than a second.  I could only hold her hands and watch her sad little face.  I have never heard a cry so filled with sadness and pain.  One of the nurses talked to her after it was over.  Of course Madeline flashed her huge grin, but then you could just read her mind.  The grin vanished and the cry came back. ( I can just imagine what she was thinking, "Hey you're the one who did this to me. No smile for you.") I think her daddy almost cried with her, but mommy stayed strong.  You can tell from the little tears streaming down her face how unhappy she was.   We were home within 10 minutes of the shots.  I nursed her and she fell right to sleep....finally in a happy place.  I hope she is having sweet dreams now.   We can hardly bear to see her in pain.  We just love her so much!

There's that smile we know and love!

E is for Exercise!!

When I was pregnant with Madeline, I bought a yoga for pregnant ladies DVD.  I think I did it once maybe twice.  I bought it with the best intentions, but I just kept getting bigger and teaching first grade kept getting harder.  When I got home each night, I did well to get my clothes changed and something in the oven before I crashed with my fat feet up on the couch.  Anyway,  that means I went for pretty much a year of my life without running, and I love running, for the most part ;)

Well, my class last year surprised me and gave me the baby jogger I had registered for.  I remember laughing with Scott when I scanned it onto the baby registry saying we'll never get it but might as well try for it, you never know. I couldn't believe my eyes when they wheeled it in.  Then the next day Madeline made her entrance into the world :) A few months passed quickly by, and she's finally big enough to ride in it!!  We started out around our neighborhood.  I'm SO out of shape.  I try to run the straight aways and power walk the corners.  She loves it!

Recently, I found out about a moms group called Stroller Strides.  It's an exercise class you do outside with your baby and stroller.  We went to check it out this morning, and we both enjoyed it a ton.You exercise while singing and playing with your baby.  How great is that?  There's only one problem.  It costs more than we have for us to do it very often, but hopefully with some begging and pleading I can get her daddy to let us go once a week.  It's just so much fun!  I forgot to take a picture of her this morning, but here is a picture of her on the first morning we took her jogger out for a stroll.  She loves facing out and getting to see the world around her.  I don't think she misses a thing with those big blue eyes!

Gainesville Visit

Today we headed to Gainesville for a little visit and to get mommy's car checked out.  We had lunch at Granny's along with Uncle Dave, Grandpa, and Grandma.  Miss Madeline did quite a good job of entertaining the crowd by showing off her jumping, rolling, and crawling abilities. However, she will not nap in Gainesville. I've tried numerous times and techniques, but nothing works.  She will not sleep.  She doesn't cry. She just plays in the pack 'n play.  Every time I went to check on her she was looking around, patting or licking the side, or had rolled over into the corner and was stuck.   After a while it was time to go get my car, and I knew some ladies at the dealership wanted to see her so I gave up on the nap.  When we got there, she was a little unsure of her new surroundings, but in no time she was once again loving being the center of attention.  She smiled, she talked, she giggled, she beamed!!  I don't know where she gets this coming from two parents who just prefer to blend into the background, but I absolutely love it about her!  The first picture is of  four generations: me, mom, granny, and Madeline.  The other is just of her being her trying out Granny's new chair.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Sunday

Madeline loves church, but mostly for the social aspects of it.  She loves going to her bible class, but most of all she loves all the attention she gets before and after the service.  She totally eats it up grinning, laughing, kicking her legs, and sticking out her tongue. The hard parts are the sermon and going home.  She boohoos so hard when we go to put her in the car.  How dare we take her away from her fans?

The first picture is of her this morning when we got home from church hence the title of this post.  The next picture is of us celebrating her making it all the way through the service tonight without having to go out.  It's been a struggle the past few weeks, and mommy hasn't been getting much out of the sermon until tonight.  Today was the first day we tried out the Quiet Book that Mamaw made.  It would have worked this morning had a bad case of hiccups not started when we got to the 2nd page.  Tonight, Madeline totally loved it and made it through with only a few little peeps and squeaks. Mommy was so proud! Thank you Mamaw :)

Half a Year

Our baby girl has been with us for six months today. I can't believe how fast the time has gone or how fast she's growing. Recently, I realized that I need somewhere to put down the memories we're making together before I forget them. I always said I'd never start this but here I go..... Happy six month birthday Madeline! Today we had a great day as a family. After we ate breakfast, we took the baby jogger out for a walk/jog. The rest of the day we just spent hanging out and relaxing. These are the best kind of days!