Back in the Swing of Things

A lot has happened this past month. The biggest event is when Mady started walking! I can't give you a specific date or even a story about her first steps...it seems like she just decided one morning to walk and there she went! Its so cute to see her walking around. More than before, she looks like a little grown up. Michael keeps commenting on how weird it is when she just walks into the room. I love it! The other night, Michael couldn't get her to go to sleep so he comes walking out of her room in a huff...and Mady came trailing behind him smiling and pointing to her nose.

Thats something else that she's taken to...she keeps pointing to her nose. She has a Baby Einstein video that sings 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes'. It also features kids dancing to the song...so when she sees the kids dancing and pointing to their nose, I think she thinks its a dance move. Whenever she dances she bobs up and down and points at her nose...so cute!

Hmmm....I guess we can catch up on Christmas. As Michael told you, Madalyn got sick shortly before Christmas. It turns out that she had strep throat. She never really acted like she was in pain or anything, it just kind of slowed her down. Since she was contagious, we stayed at a hotel in McAlester so Mady wouldn't get my grandpa sick. It was so sad, she was watching tv with Michael and would reach for his arm, which was under the pillow, so she could hold his hand. Poor little thing! The next day her fever broke as I was putting her down for a nap. It was weird because I noticed how clammy she was and then the fever was gone.

After her medicine took care of the strep, Mady got a horrible rash. It covered her from her head to her toes and looked awful! She didn't even notice that she had it while it was breaking my heart to see her with red bumps all over her body. I took her back to the pediatrician but they said it would just go away on its own. I kept bugging them about giving her something to help and the PA finally told me I could give her some Benadryl if I saw her scratching. I think she told me that just so I would leave her alone. I was that mom freaking out in the doctors office and Mady was playing in the mirror ignoring my concern.

Since Christmas we have just been trying to get back into the swing of things. Michael's parents came down for his ordination service. We all had a good time and Vivian got lots of babysitting time. Today we were back to our routine. Breakfast, nap, lunch, nap, playtime then bath...then bed. Tomorrow is Storytime!

"Let It Snow, Baby. Let It Reindeer"

Jenn has been doing most of the blogging lately, but I've got to get this one off my chest.

It's amazing how things hit you sometimes. All Christmas (sorry Holiday) Season, we've been so busy with a hundred different things that it really hasn't felt like Christmas. Sure, we got the tree up and the lights on the house, but that feeling in your gut that accompanies this time of year just wasn't really there.

This morning, I was driving home from running some errands and a song came on the radio by a christian group named "Relient K". Now, when you hear most of their music it wouldn't strike you as something that carries a heavy message, but I've always had a special place in my heart for the lyrics written by Relient K. In their Christmas album, titled "Let It Snow, Baby. Let It Reindeer" they have a song called "I Celebrate The Day". HERE is a link to the song and the lyrics are written below.

And with this Christmas wish is missed

The point I could convey

If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life

Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve

And from a lack of my persistency

We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time

That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior

And the first breath that left Your lips

Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years

To what this midnight made so clear

That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that

This baby would one day save me

In the hope that what You did

That you were born so I might live

To look back and think that

This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day

That You were born to die

So I could one day pray for You to save my life

This has been a really hard year for our family. My job has been somewhat unstable, I haven't worked a 40 hour week in months. To say we've been tight financially is a gross understatement. It is so easy to get bogged down and bitter about everything we've been going through. Yet, hearing this song made me remember my little girl. She's a little more than a year old now and I was thinking back to last Christmas when I felt like we were very special, getting to have this little baby around the time that we celebrate Mary giving birth to The Savior of The World, like we were in some special club or something. Even though things have been hard, our health has been fine. We haven't lost anything or anyone, we just have had to get a little tighter.

Madalyn is sick today and we are taking her to the doctor later this afternoon and then will be heading out for our annual Christmas traveling. And I realized, this is really the first time she's ever been really sick. Like fever, can't sleep kind of sick. First time ever. I can't even begin to tell you how fortunate that makes me feel.

I love that little girl more than anything I've ever done or seen or been in my entire life. Which makes me love our God even that much more. I'm very sorry to all of you, but if I had to let my daughter die in your place, you'd all be screwed. Because I don't have that kind of love for you. But God does. He loved you so much that He allowed his ONLY SON to come down and be ridiculed, beaten, abandoned, and killed - all for people who at the very least are indifferent towards Him. Think about your own children - would you give them up to save someone like that?

In this Christmas Season, you've been told it's about Santa, it's about presents, it's about Baby Jesus. But, this year, what if it was about you? What if Christmas wasn't a season to celebrate the Jesus that we only talk to on Sundays and the occasional Wednesday? Like the song says, "From the lack of my persistency, we're less than half as close as I want to be". This Christmas, think of the sacrifice it would take for you to make the same choice that God made and realize the abundance of His love for us.

A God that will protect me at any cost, even the death of His own Son? Now, that's a God I can get behind.

Merry Christmas everyone!

First Birthday Party Fun

I am so behind on updating this blog that I'm going to have to catch it up in shifts...this time I will write about Mady's birthday party and later I will write about her actual birthday and Thanksgiving. BUT FIRST...her party.

Here's the thing...I'm kind of a closet snob. I want my kid to have the best clothes, the cutest shoes and, apparently, the best party. I wanted it to be one of those picture perfect nights where everyone came and had the best time ever. I guess I want Mady to have 'super childhood'. To accomplish this goal, I booked Mady's party at Gymboree. If you've never been there, its pretty cool. Its a whole play area made out of squooshy toys and climbing things...all for kids. When you book a party with them, they provide everything except food and invitations. There is even a person that comes to lead the party-goers in games and other fun activities. Its great! You get the most out of the party with the least amount of preparation.

So, I got off early on Friday (I work on Fridays while Michael stays home) and went to get the cookies. I love these cookies. I got them from my favorite bakery in OKC. I ordered pink and blue flowers (they matched the invitations) and they turned out perfectly! While I was there, I also bought a cupcake. It was too cute and I wanted to have something to put Mady's candle in. I can't explain why, but I almost cried when I saw the cookies and the cupcake. I can't believe Mady is a year old!!! It seems like I just blinked and she turned from a little baby who grunted like a pirate into a toddler that can point to her nose and dances like a pro. Too crazy.

When I got home, Michael and Mady were playing in the living room. While I was going to check the mail, I heard a thud and then a scream. Mady had crawled up to the window to see me and as she was reaching for the window sill, she missed it with her hands and hit it with her head. It was horrible! She had two large red spots that surrounded the place where the sill hit. Of course she would get a huge bruise on her HEAD the day of her party. I'm so glad she had enough hair to cover it up! We got Mady ready and off we went. It was perfect, Mady fell asleep on the way so she would be perfectly refreshed for the party...right?!

We went to pick up the balloons. I ordered one for every kid and and a silver 1 that was taller than Mady. As I'm trying to shove this HUGE bouquet of balloons into the car, Mady wakes up and is totally freaked out by the large shiny objects that were seemingly attacking her. She immediately started crying. Can you imagine waking up to 20 balloons in your face...it was all she could see! It would be so frightening. By the time we got to the party place, she was a little leery of this whole party idea. I don't think that she fully recovered from the balloon attack. She was in an okay mood, but she wasn't her normal perky self.

The party went well. I think everyone had a good time. Mady liked seeing everyone and some of the games she really got into. She loved bubble time but HATED the parachute. She also loved the cupcake. She really dug into it. I finally took it away when she was about to put a very large blob of icing in her mouth. The thought disgusted me so I took the rest of the cupcake away immediately.

I think her party was a success. Now, I'm worried about how we're going to top it next year.

Geez, has it been a month since I last posted something? That's dumb. I'm sorry everyone. I'm also sorry that I'm sitting down with nothing really planned for this post. I just knew I needed to write something.

Mady has been doing great lately. She is growing up SO fast. She now has three teeth. I just discovered one more this morning. It makes sense, she has been a little grumpy lately and hasn't been sleeping very well. That reminds me of something new I've discovered about myself...

When Mady was a newborn I could wake up as many times as she needed and it didn't bother me. I had an endless supply of compassion for her in the middle of the night. Somewhere along the way I have lost that midnight-compassion and it has been replaced with 'Just go back to sleep already! I'm tired!' I'm not really proud of myself but I feel like honesty is important so I'm sharing it with you. Maybe there's a young mother that will discover my blog and find comfort in knowing she's not the only mother who loves her little one but is passionate about getting more sleep. So, instead of sitting up with Mady and rocking her until she drifts peacefully back to sleep, I bring her to bed with me and Michael. NOT a good idea. Now, instead of her being awake in her room, she's laying next to poor Michael who has to get up in two hours. Mady loves her dad so much that she has a hard time leaving him alone. Usually, she punches Michael in the eye as a 'Hey dad! I'm here to play!' announcement. If she's not wanting to play, she will just flop around trying to get comfortable. Finally, usually after about an hour of trying to get her to be still, I get up, even more frustrated, and take her back to her room where she falls asleep quickly but only for a short while.

The other night, after fighting with Mady for an hour, I got up in a huff and told Michael how tired I was. He said to me, 'You know why you can't sleep? Because you keep bringing Mady to bed with you!' I wish I could report that this statement was in a loving tone, but it wasn't. I guess I say all of this to get to the conclusion: I'm ready for Mady to not be teething anymore so she (and as a result, the rest of the family) can get some good sleep.

Other new developments include Mady learning where her head is. She's been watching a Baby Einstein video that sings the 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' song. Now, when she hears head, she puts both of her hands on her head. Its pretty cute. She has also developed hand signals for the song she wants you to sing. She claps her hands if she wants Patty Cake and she wiggles her fingers if she wants Itsy Bitsy Spider. I love that! She isn't walking yet...that we've seen. Heather, a frequent nursery worker at church, says that Mady has been taking one step at a time. It makes me so mad that Heather gets to see her walk! Mady has always done stuff in nursery before she does it at home. So, I quit working so I could witness all of Mady's milestones and she accomplishes them during the two hours a week that I'm not around. Great. Oh, Mady also knows 'Hi' and 'Bye'. She can't say the words but when she hears them she knows

to wave. Her wave is pretty funny, she lets her hand dangle lifelessly and just shakes her arm.

Oh! Mady's first Halloween! We had a great time. Actually, Noble and Norman did their trick or treating the day before Halloween so I forgot to put her in her costume on the actual holiday. Ooops. No big deal though, she was Pebbles for storytime and the church party on Wednesday and on Friday for a Halloween party and to pass out candy.

At the church party, we forgot the bone that I made for her hair. I ran to the resource room to try to make a stand-in. I was kind of freaking out and Michael said to me, 'Jen, she'll have a good time without the bone in her hair. Lets just go let her play.' It was then that I realized how important to ME it was that she have the bone. I put so much time working on her costume that I wanted it to be perfect. For that few moments I let myself be the baby! I figure I only have a small amount of time to get things my way before she starts giving me her opinion. I'm clinging to this time when I can pick out her outfits and do her hair how I want. Its fun and she's so beautiful...I guess I will gradually start giving that up though.

Warning... Shameless Bragging Ahead!

Nothing makes me more happy than someone gushing over my pretty little girl. You know, when you have a child you think they are the most beautiful creature God has ever created...even if they look like Elmer Fudd. Before I had Mady I was worried she would come out looking like a little old man, bald and wrinkle covered with exaggerated features. You know, when men get

older their nose and ears don't stop growing, so eventually those parts become way too big for their face. Don't pretend you don't notice when babies have the same issue...it happens.

Well, I was greatly relieved when Mady was born not only looking like a girl, but when I saw her pretty features too. Don't get me wrong, I know that some people told us how pretty she was just out of that awkward obligation you have when you meet a new baby, but as she's grown, I've noticed people going out of their way to comment on her looks. We were at Wal-Mart the other day and as we were loading Mady in her stroller a man driving by stopped his truck, rolled down his window and said, "That sure is a pretty baby!" He didn't have to do that...so that leads me to

believe that she really is pretty. Not only that, but Michael says that similar things happen to him all the time when he's out with Madalyn. One day Michael told me that 10 people stopped him at the store and commented on Mady. I'm so proud to be sharing this!

One day Mady was particularly cute so I took some pictures. Here are a couple:

I just love that kid! She also has many new things that she does to establish her cuteness. She blows raspberries, kisses cheeks, she waves (she actually knows the word wave), says 'yes' with a little lisp, and squeals when Michael tickles her (or when you sing Itsy Bitsy Spider to her...her favorite song). Yeah, she's the cutest.

Friday I was having a meltdown so I blew off work and we took Mady to the Zoo for the first time. It was lots of fun! Mady was perfect the whole time. She even left her hat on for some of trip!

Mady with a bear in the background.

We had tons of fun. Actually, it was the perfect weekend. God is so good to us.