10 Months

When I started to post pictures to Madelyn's 10 month blog, I realized I had only taken two good pictures ALL month. Such a contrast to the amount of pictures I took her first month. I guess now I spend more of my time cleaning up her messes and less time capturing the moment.

Thanks to my parents' contribution I am able to post a few more pictures this month:

Messes are now her specialty. I guess that's
the end of the diaper drawer. 

We officially have a crawler on our hands.
She is still a bit awkward, but she
can move it across a room now.

She is also getting pretty good at standing up
while holding on.

Baby spent this past weekend with Nana, Grandad, and Uncle
Mikey while Daddy and Mommy took a trip to the beach for
a wedding. First weekend trip away and she did great!

She loves some attention. If you aren't paying attention to her,
she lets out this high pitched scream. Then when you look over
at her, she flashes a huge smile.

Uncle Mikey teaching Baby the fundamentals
of basic drumming.

"Is this really ALL the water I am going to get?"

"Can someone please tell me why I'm in a bucket?"

"I'm saving THIS cheerio for later."

Happy 10 Months, Sweet Girl!

Nine Months

Madelyn has been busy this month. She finally got her first tooth! I tried to get a picture, but she was not going to have it. She has added "ma ma" to her babble vocabulary and has actually become quite the little talker. I am really in for it when her babbles become words and her words become sentences. She is good at making decisions for herself and recently decided that she only wants to drink from her sippy cup, no bottles for her!

Here is what she has been up to lately:

Driving her car, which Dad pretends is
a dirt bike.

Miss Attitude. This baby knows what she wants when she
wants it and there is no changing her mind.
Not sure where she gets that from!?

She loves to swing at the park. Daddy and Papa hung a
swing under our deck, so now she can enjoy it every day.

Miss Serious looking at the geese with Daddy.

Applauding herself for accomplishing so
much this past month.

Happy Nine Months!

8 Months: Life with DestrucTOR

If any of you know Eric well, you know he never calls anyone by his or her real name. Madelyn had two to three different nicknames before she was born, and she now currently holds about six different names.

After I gathered all of her pictures from this past month, I noticed a theme. Only one name sticks out the most: DestrucTOR. I'll just let the pictures do the talking:

"Take that, little birdie."

"No toy is too big for ME to eat."

"And I'll do to you what I just did to my blueberry smoothie!"

"Excuse me B, but I need to destroy your jacket."
And poor B just wanted to point out the pretty butterfly.

The paper towel roll didn't even stand a chance.

Little stinker loves to tear up Daddy's newspaper.

Scheming up her next destruction.
Thanks Aunt Karen, she loves her chair!

Happy 8 Months, DestrucTOR.  I love you!

Madelyn Saying "No"

Madelyn is really starting to get a personality, or maybe it's just an attitude....

"S"even Months

Madelyn has had a very busy month. On New Year's Eve she started sitting-up on her own. And soon after that, she started eating solids and is now eating solids three times a day. I was hesitant to start solids because it was one more thing I had to add to our daily routine, but the first night I fed her solids, she finally slept through the night. Well worth the effort! She loves to say, "da da" but hasn't put a face to a name quit yet. She can also spit (make raspberries), spin around in a circle while on her belly, and shake her head "no." She obviously likes the letter "S" this month.

Sweet Girl. I love this baby so much!

Our favorite bedtime story is "Nite Nite".

Still not bigger than her pig. Grandma got Baby this when
she was a newborn because she used to snort every time
she cried.

Finally! Eric tried all month to get this picture.

Showing off her new skills.

And last but most certainly not least, my new favorite video of M-Dog!

Happy 7 months, Baby! Life with you just keeps getting better and better!

Eric's contribution this month.
The view outside our front door one early Sunday morning.

Winter Storm: 2011

Today is day four of snow covered grounds and icy roads. It's been funny reading friends' blogs and Facebook posts. Everyone is starting to go crazy and experiencing a little "cabin fever" from being trapped at home for four days. Eric is definitely having a hard time. I, on the other hand, already went through all of this six months ago when Madelyn showed me that staying home all day was now how I would spend most of my weeks. It was very hard at first, and it did take me a while to adjust to the new schedule, but I did adjust. So these four days have been nothing new to me. I have actually enjoyed them because Eric has been home, well until HE started going crazy, and then I was glad he ventured out for a bit.

The snow came down in buckets, or so I heard because I was fast asleep on Sunday night. A total of six inches was on the ground when we awoke Monday morning. Madelyn was too young to enjoy the snow, but Eric and I used her as an excuse to be kids again. We all got bundled up and spent the days sledding with the neighbors. Madelyn was wearing Cousin Sammi's winter gear that was three sizes too big, and I was finally able to wear the ski pants that I bought on sale three years ago. Before heading outside, Eric and I each grabbed our own idea of the "perfect" makeshift sled. I was determined to make a large foil pan work, but Eric brought his boogie board and completely put my foil pan to shame. His boogie board was definitely a hit! We had ALL the neighbors out sledding.

Here is me getting my turn. This was actually more dangerous than it looks. You really had no control over the board and those trees came up very fast and were often barely missed. Of course Eric banged himself up a few times. The guy has no fear. He slammed right into a tree once and broke our camera. I was thankful he broke the camera instead of his ribs, so I figured it was a good trade off. When Madelyn got too cold, I would take her over to the neighbor's house, who also has a little boy, while the guys stayed out a little longer. Later we would either have homemade hot pudding or hot chocolate, turn on the fire, and watch movies. I loved it all! We were forced to do things we normally wouldn't do because we had no other option, but it's weeks like these that are much needed to make us slow down and enjoy life's simplest pleasures. 

Seven Years and Four Left Feet

When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way.-  Wayne Dyer

Today, Eric and I have been married seven years, and including our time dating, we've been together for ten years. That's an entire decade! Our sweet Madelyn joined us this last year, and I must say, it has been the best year of our marriage and the hardest.

It has been the best because I have seen a whole new side of Eric. I have watched Eric grow from an uncertain, inexperienced dad to a confident, knowledgeable dad. There has been so much I have loved about watching Eric as a dad, but to just name a few: I love how Madelyn smiles so big at him when he gets home from work; I love how he is the one to give her a bath each night; I love how he fights with me to be the one who gets her up from her naps; I love his willingness to give up so much, so I can stay home with her; I love that he goes to her doctor's appointments with me; and I especially love that she is daddy's little girl. It really has been a true joy watching him with her these last six months.

It also has been the hardest because, plain and simple, having a baby is hard! I know that we argued more those first four months after Madelyn than the combined six years before her. We are both learning and growing as parents; we have never done this before. We are tired most nights and don't have much "us" time anymore, but through it all, our relationship has become stronger and it has only made me love him even more. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband.

I am not sure how it really started, but since the beginning of our marriage, dancing has always been something we have done together. Which is kind of ironic, if you know Eric or I, because we both are REALLY bad dancers. But our marriage is like our dancing. We don't dance for any reason except for the enjoyment of each others company. As cheesy as it sounds, my hope for our marriage is that we always dance. That we can always look each other in the eye and not feel uncomfortable as though we are strangers, and with the busyness of life and having a child, I hope we always continue to put our marriage first. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better man, husband, or baby daddy.

Happy Anniversary, Eric.  I love you! I look forward to a lifetime of dancing.

Taken at Karen's 30th birthday party,
pre-pregnancy, which feels like a
lifetime ago.