Brrrr!!!

For some reason it's taken me until today to realize that it will most likely be REALLY cold in Idaho when we're there over Christmas. I guess there will probably be snow on the ground, too. So, I spent part of the day gathering/buying cozy, warm winter attire for Madeline.

winter coat - check
mittens - check
hat - check
boots - check
fleece-lined jeans - check
snow pants - still need

Freezing cold Idaho - Here we come!

Thanksgiving

I find that I am perpetually a couple of weeks late in my posts. So here, finally, is what we did for Thanksgiving. We made our first long car ride with the baby (5 1/2 hours) to Alexandria, Louisiana, where Scott's Aunt Jo lives. We've been there twice to visit since we moved to Dallas, but the last time was a couple of years ago. It was high time to see her again, and we had a wonderful visit.


We arrived in Louisiana pretty much just in time to go to bed on Wednesday evening. We had our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday afternoon. I don't think you can see all of the food she had prepared in the above picture, but you can get the general idea. It was probably enough food to feed 20 people, but there were only 6 of us. Even Madeline ate her fair share of the food. She loved everything but the mashed potatoes. That girl will NOT eat potatoes in any way, shape, or form.

After dinner, I was talked into something that I'm slightly embarrassed to reveal. Scott, Madeline, and I went for a ride around Aunt Jo's land on one of their four wheelers. And, no, my child is not wearing a helmet. I'm probably a bad mom, especially considering all of the children I take care of in the hospital that have sustained horrible injuries from ATV accidents. There is only one person in the world I would trust to take my baby on a four wheeler, and that's my husband (who is so safe, it's almost a fault of his).

We had a great time seeing the horses, hunting dogs, forest, and lots of huge fire ant hills.

On Friday I got talked into something else I wasn't so sure about doing. Aunt Jo wanted to take care of Madeline for a few hours that day so that Scott and I could spend some time alone. I was nervous about leaving her for so long in the middle of the day with someone she doesn't really know, but it ended up working out well for everyone. Scott and I drove an hour north to Natchitoches, which is the oldest town in Louisiana. It's where the film Steel Magnolias takes place. It is a beautiful town with a French flair. We went window shopping on Front Street in the Historic District, which overlooks a river. There were lots of fun, quaint little shops to browse through. We went to lunch at a delicious cajun restaurant. It was so nice to spend some time with my husband alone!

On Friday night I spent a very relaxing evening reading, watching old movies, drinking wassail, and thinking about how glad I was to not be at work. We left Saturday morning feeling very renewed.

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On a different note, we've spent this past weekend taking care of a sick baby. Madeline came down with a fever on Friday afternoon, and remained febrile until this (Monday) morning. It actually made our weekend quite pleasant because we spent most of it snuggling with our sweet baby. She is usually not cuddly at all, so it was a nice treat for us. She spent many hours on Saturday sleeping on Scott's chest on the couch. I spent many hours rocking with her on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. It gave me a chance to admire what a wonderful little person she is becoming, and to reflect on how much my life has changed over the last 9 1/2 months with her in it. I am so grateful for all she has taught me, and the joy she brings to our family.

Curious

We have a very curious and active little girl. She's figured out how to climb all the way INTO her toybox to find what she wants at the bottom.

I now find myself saying things that I never would have imagined I would need to say. One such occation occured on Saturday afternoon, when these words came out of my mouth, "Madeline, we don't eat our poop!!!" Enough said.

Hair Milestones

We have hit a major milestone. Madeline now has enough hair to wear alligator clip bows. Not everyone may agree with the designation of this as a milestone, but it is to me.

When I found out I was going to have a baby girl, one of the first things I thought about was all of the cute bows I would put in her hair. You may need a little background on my childhood to fully appreciate where I'm coming from. I learned how to braid my cabbage patch doll's hair at the age of 3. I did my own hair everyday from about first grade on. I would go to school early in elementary school so I could do my friends' hair before school. I guess I was passionate/slightly obsessed with hair. So... I bought cute little clips and ribbon for my unborn child because I was sure she would come into this world with a full head of black hair, like I did. I thought I'd be putting clips in her hair from day 1. Imagine my surprise when this is what I saw...

I thought, this can't possibly be my baby! Where is all of her hair? I have to say, though, that she was still the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I'm looking forward to the days of curlers, ponytails, and braids. But for now, we're pretty exited about the alligator clips.

Halloween Mania

We went to the Dallas Arboretum last week with some friends, mostly as an excuse to dress our babies up in their Halloween costumes and take cute pictures.

Madeline loved Natalie's tutu!

It was the first time I'd been to the Dallas Arboretum, and it was really beautiful. I decided that day that we really need to take advantage of the opportunities for fun in DFW. I'm amazed at how little we've done in the 2 1/2 years we've been here.

Scott and I carved a pumpkin the night before Halloween after we put Madeline to bed. Most of my motivation came from wanting to roast the seeds. Unfortunately, I roasted them a little bit too long, although they were still edible. I figured if I was going to cut the top of the pumpkin off to get the seeds, I might as well carve a face on it. Madeline was pretty exited to see the Jack'o'lantern in the middle of our living room floor when she got up in the morning. She spent a lot of time playing with it that day.

We also went to vote on Halloween. I have no desire to wait in a long line with a baby on Tuesday. There was still a line on Friday, but the whole process only took about 40 minutes, which was reasonable. I'm exited for election season to be over.

On Saturday night we went to our ward's Harvest Carnival, which provided yet another venue for Madeline to wear her costume. She tried chili for the first time while we were there, and it was a hit!

Double bubble, toil and trouble

I'm not sure why babies are attracted to the grossest things. I was talking to my mom on the phone one day and I guess I wasn't watching Madeline close enough. I turned around to see her eating mud from the wheels of her stroller. The worst part was that as I was trying to wash her hands off in the sink, she was trying to shove more mud into her mouth! I wasn't aware that mud was so tasty.

Scott and I thought we moved our DVD collection to a place she couldn't get to. Madeline proved us wrong this week.

This is Madeline's puppy Halloween costume. She has had and will continue to have the joy of wearing it several times this week. She's actually been pretty good about keeping it on. More pics to follow!

Pumpkin Patch

Is it so wrong for a mom to want to take her baby to the pumpkin patch for her first taste of autumn?

Well, apparently it is.

We had finally gotten Madeline on a good napping schedule earlier that week. I decided that the pumpkin patch was more important than her morning nap, not realizing that decision would have dire consequences. She reverted back to taking 30 minute catnaps after our little outing, for several days. That is extremely exhausing for a mother that works nights! Luckily, my friend Erin took some beautiful pictures of Madeline while we were at the pumpkin patch, otherwise it would have been SO not worth it.

Busy with grandma

Scott went to a chiropractic seminar in San Francisco last week. Since I still needed to work the weekend, my mom flew in to visit and take care of Madeline. She arrived on Wednesday, which was a good move because Madeline wasn't too sure about her at first. By Friday she had warmed up to her pretty well.

I saved several projects for us to do together while she was here. We got more done in a couple of days than I would have finished in months. This is a picture of Madeline taking a bath in the kitchen sink because we had re-caulked the bathtub and it was still drying.


We did laundry, made baby food, sold some old jewelry, cleaned the baseboards, etc. Of course, we also shopped - hey, I had to spend the money I made from the jewelry.

I had been complaining about Madeline's hook-on-the-table highchair for a while. Feeding her was always a fight because it was too big and she was constantly trying to climb out of it. I had my mom try and feed her in it, and she agreed that it just wouldn't do. We got her a new highchair that sits on one of our dining room chairs. It works so much better! Feeding her can actually be enjoyable now. She is learning that I'M in charge of the spoon.

After shopping, we had to reorganize Madeline's clothes. She thought it would be helpful to climb up and down the box as we tried to sort through her clothes.

Madeline and Grandma are pretty good friends now.

Thanks for all of the help mom!

Seven months

Madeline turned 7 months old last Friday. This milestone in particular has made me realize how fast she's growing up. She changes so much every month. She learns how to do new things everyday. She's having a lot of fun with life now, and making life more fun for me as well. She was playing in the laundry basket a couple of weeks ago, and fell out just as I was taking the second picture. She definitely gets hurt more often than she used to.

Last week we went to the park for a picnic as a family. Madeline loves to be outside. She had a great time digging in the dirt and trying to eat leaves. I pulled leaves and grass out of her hands MANY times as she was trying to put them in her mouth.

Madeline and daddy are getting to be pretty good friends!

We have pizza for dinner every Saturday night before I go into work. Madeline was trying to suck on Scott's pizza while he was eating it, and was pretty successful. She would rather eat our food than hers.

She's been pulling herself up to our furniture for almost two weeks now. She's figured out how to take the lid off of her toybox, reaches in, and grabs the toys she wants to play with. This morning she learned how to turn the volume up on our receiver. Daddy will be so pleased! Sometimes she's nothing but trouble! We still love her, though.

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Grateful

I am feeling so grateful for several things this week that I would like to share.

1. I'm grateful that my child is now sleeping through the night. She dropped her 5 am feeding this weekend, and it is so wonderful to get that extra bit of sleep. She has also started taking normal-length naps. I feel so much more productive during the day, and Madeline is happier. It was definitely an answer to my prayers.

2. I'm grateful for the chance to hear Elder Bednar speak in our chapel yesterday. I felt like his message was directed at my family. It was just what I needed to hear. I loved his straightforwardness and the personal experiences he shared. I'm glad I was able to hear most of the talk, even though Madeline had decided by that time that she was sick of being at church. I left feeling renewed and inspired to be a better wife and mother. I am enjoying my responsibilities a little bit more today, because "happiness is not the absense of the load, it is packing the right load". I felt such a sweet spirit as we sang the closing hymn. I found special meaning in the words of the verses we sang, so I will include them here. Take a minute to read them, even if you've sung it a hundred times.

How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!

What more can he say than to you he hath said,

Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

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In every condition - in sickness, in health,

In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth,

At home or abroad, on the land or the sea -

As thy days may demand, so thy succor shal be.

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Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

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The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I'll never, no never, no never forsake!

3. I am grateful for a forgiving husband, who was not angry at me for not using the gym membership I had signed up for a month ago. He agreed to let me cancel the membership and buy a jogging stroller instead, which is what I should have done in the first place.

4. I'm grateful that the weather is cooling off here in Texas. We went for a run this morning before Scott left for school (with our new stroller that I love) and it was so beautiful. The air was crisp and clear. Madeline and I also spent some time outside in the grass this afternoon for a much needed break from our apartment.

5. I'm grateful that Scott has finished Part I Boards. His exams were last Friday and Saturday. He studied extrememly hard and I think was well prepared. We'll get his scores in a few weeks, and I hope all of the preparation pays off. I am looking forward to spending more time with my sweet husband.

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This is a video of Madeline doing what I call her "happy cereal dance". I took the video about a month ago, but had trouble figuring out how to post it on the blog.

We love to eat!

Madeline loves to eat pretty much anything we give her. She's learning to pick up little crackers. She gets them in her little fist and then puts her whole hand in her mouth. About half the time the cracker actually makes it in her mouth.

I woke up from my nap on Sunday to see Madeline sucking on orange peels Scott had left on the floor for her. It worked out ok until she broke off little chunks and tried to eat them.

Out of all of the food we've given her, we got the best reaction last night from...BROCCOLI! She was smiling and laughing so hard she could hardly swallow. Can she possible be my daughter? She also loves green beans. I wouldn't even touch broccoli or green beans until, embarrasingly, a couple years ago.

Getting Around

Madeline has learned how to get around pretty well now. She's found lots of "new" fun things to play with around our apartment, including the blinds, computer cables, and paper. She's taken a particular interest in our furniture, which I don't really understand because they seem pretty boring to me.

She's turned into a bit of a "mama's girl", and thinks she always needs to be in the same room I'm in. Luckily she's learning how to crawl and find me.

I had a bad parent moment on Sunday. I put Madeline down for her morning nap and heard her playing around in her crib. We hadn't lowered her crib matress yet because she had never pulled herself up on anything. I decided to peek in on her and watched her pull herself up from her knees to her feet. Then she proceeded to hang half of her body over the side of the crib in an attempt to escape her cage. I ran in and grabbed her in time. Unfortunately Scott was at school all day and I didn't have the energy after working all night to figure out how to lower the matress myself. Madeline napped with me in our bed that day and took longer naps than she has had in MONTHS. We won't make that a habit, but it sure was nice for both of us to get our much needed sleep.

We are constantly amazed at how fast our little baby is growing up!