Yumm-o

So this is our biggest mess yet. Maddy had her first taste of a biter biscuit. She loved it, so much that she cried when I tried to remove its slimy remnants from her hands. I don't know how well you can see the photo below, but the tray, her face, her bib and her sleeves are covered in mush. After dinner we put her right in the bath tub. I don't think we had any choice. She had mushy biscuit on the back of her head for goodness sakes!

mg

The "Gesa"

Maddy is sporting a hair style she learned from my best friend Jeanne's neice Gesa. (hence the name) It is a semi-mohawk to the side of course. Because Maddy has some curl to her hair it looks a little like an ocean wave. Look at those eyes! how can you resit such a cute little girl!?!?


mg

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day everybody! Although WG fell to Kirkwood, we were still able to have a wonderful celebration with Kevin's family. We will be celebrating with my family tomorrow, although Elliot and Kathy are in Rochester, MN celebrating with her family this year.

This has been quite the year. We feel like we have so much to be thankful for. Of course, first and foremost our new baby girl. I feel so lucky to have had a rather uneventful pregnancy, delivery and first six months. In just the last year I have two friends who have had children prematurely. I have seen their struggles and ups and downs and I am amazed by their strength, courage and faith. All three babies (one single and a set of twins) are doing very well despite their early arrivals, but I count my blessings everyday that I am home with Maddy.

Which leads me to the next thing I am thankful for. I left my job in August to stay at home with Maddy full time. Although it was a difficult decision, and I had my doubts I am so thankful for the opportunity to be with Madeline during these early months. She is growing so quickly and I love watching her grow right before my eyes each and everyday. I know that someday she will be all grown up, and I will have to be a grown-up again too and return to work. But for now I thank Kevin for working so hard so that I can take this time to be with our daughter and I thank Madeline for making everyday a little bit better than the last.

So to all our wonderful family and friends (for whom we are also very thankful) Happy Thanksgiving! Below is the real reason you logged onto this blog!

My mommy says I look like a porcelain doll in this photo! I think it's the dress.

I am so cute I can hardly stand it!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I don't know how I feel about this Turkey stuff.

From top to bottom my Thanksgiving dinner was: Turkey in Turkey gravy, homemade Sweet Potatoes and Oatmeal with Pears and Cinnamon for desert. Yum yummy!

Do cats use body language?

If they do this cat is saying, "Get that loud, grabby thing away from me."

And she's off

Further proof that Maddy is growing up very very fast, she is up on all fours now. She rocks back and forth and then slides back onto the ground but she is getting so close to moving it is kinda scary. Not that I don't want our little baby to become more self sufficient and self propelled; it is just that now we are going to have to watch every move she makes. Before we could have a glass of water sitting on the floor a couple of feet from where Maddy was playing, now WATCH OUT, or that water will be on the floor!

She really is a cutie as she scoots across the floor getting so close to crawling. Maybe by Christmas? (Oh, crap, the Christmas tree!)

We call this one downward facing Madeline.

My First...

...case of bed head!

Maddy on the morning of November 8th.

Who doesn't love a smiley happy baby in the morning?!?!

mg

Only....

And counting...

Granny Molly made Maddy this really cool hat! It matches her fleece so well! She was very warm and cozy today... the coldest day of her life so far!

mg

Fall project(s)

So one of our (read Kevin's) fall projects was to strip and repaint the front door of the house. The fruits of Kev's two day labor are documented below!

Our house before the door project. (I didn't think to take a closer photo before Kev actually started the paint stripping process!)

At the end of day one this is what the door looked like. There were at least three different colors on the door, white, off-white and mint green! Kevin was frustrated by the performance of the chemicals he used. So we bought a different brand and within no time on day two the door looked like this:

Isn't it sharp!

This is a view from inside the living room with the door open.

Our 6 month old!

Madeline is officially six months old!!! Can you believe it? The last six months have flown past for us. It seems like only yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital.

We had our six month check up at the doctor on Thursday. Madeline is officially 16 lbs. 9 oz. and 26 3/4 inches long. That means she is in the 90th percentile for height and in the 75th for weight. She is eating all kinds of yummy pureed foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, squash, peaches, bananas, apples and pears. She seems to like them all, so it is no wonder she is growing strong! Here are some photos from her 6 month celebration!

I'm half a year old!!! And darn cute too!!

Momma made me a 1/2 birthday cake. (Chocolate with vanilla icing!) I didn't get to have any this time but she says I can have some at my next Birthday party!
That is uncle Bryan in the background... I let him have my piece!

Mom, can't you see I'm busy at work!
(and yes, she is bent in half not laying on her tummy. Even if we put the toy closer, she still pushes it away and bends over!!!)

Look at me drinking out of a sippy cup! I'm so grown up!

Momma gave me a carrot stick to gum on. Let's just say I am not a fan and I will stick to the pureed version!

mg

Making the rounds!

Last weekend Madeline and I were invited to Janine's for lunch along with our other grad school companion, Colene. At first Maddy was a little shy and didn't want to say hello to Janine's dog Bailey, but as you can see below, she warmed up eventually! Thanks for a wonderful lunch Janine! (And thanks to Bailey for all the puppy "kisses"!!)