Big Girl Bed

My parents bought Maddi her first big girl bed and we got it all put together on Christmas Eve.  I went out and got her a dog/cat bedding set to make it all her own.  She loved it!  I thought for sure I'd read her a book, lay her down, leave the room and she'd be back out in the living room with us in no time, but that didn't happen.  The lack of a nap that day I'm sure had a lot to do with it.  I'm not gonna lie...I was pretty sad she didn't put up a fight. We did, however, get a nice little Christmas morning wake-up when she made her way to our room at 7:30am.

The excitement definitely wore off in no time though.  The next day (Christmas) when we tried to put her down for a nap she wasn't having it.  She'd grab her silky, binky and book and be right back out of bed before we had time to shut the door all the way.  My mom sat with her and rubbed her head until she finally fell asleep.  She only slept for an hour though and I'm sure the ability she had to get up at her leisure had a lot to do with that.  Christmas night was a no-go in the toddler bed.  I sat with her for so long before I gave in and put her down in her crib.

The next night was another no-go.  I finally got her to sleep in it again on the following nght, but again she wanted me to sit there and I could only make my exit when I knew she was completely asleep otherwise the sit and wait process started all over again. She did well through the night and slept until 8:30am which was surprising.

Last night was another no-go, but it was mostly my fault.  We got a late start on our bedtime routine and I couldn't "wait her out".  It was 9pm when I put her in her crib and let her fall asleep.  She didn't make a peep and went right off to Dreamland.

Wish me luck tonight!     

Baby Movement!

I've been feeling little Sydney move around for about a month now (since November 21st to be exact), but tonight Chris was able to feel her move for the first time when he put his hand on my belly.  I was about this far along with Maddi when he felt her for the first time as well.

It's so exciting.  Next comes being able to see the movements!

On another note, middle name options are still being discussed =]

It's a...

GIRL!!!

I'm so excited for Maddi to have a little sister.  I think it'll be so much fun for her (and me).

Now we can seriously think about names.  This is going to be tough.

I wonder if she'll look just like Madison. I really can't picture her any other way. Maybe she'll look more like Chris.

He'd like that =]

Christmas Pictures 2009

Nothing beats the smell of a real tree!

It's almost Christmas and one of my favorite things about this time of year is getting our tree.  I love the way it makes our house smell and I look forward to decorating it every time.  I can't wait for Maddi to be old enough to help and enjoy it just as much as I do.

Ta Da!

My Sweet Ladybug

It's time to go trick-or-treating and Maddi looks SO cute! I'm glad Chris was able to come home for the night and join us. Allie brought Brooke over and we attempted to take pictures of the girls, but they were far too uncooperative. They were such cuties though.

We were actually out for much longer than I anticipated.  I thought we'd make a quick round around the block and then head home to handout candy. Not so much... A few friends we've met through Chris' work came out too and we ended up staying out longer. Madison did so well.  I thought for sure she'd be over it pretty quickly.  She loved being out and walking around, until she'd catch sight of a scary costume.  She was terrified =[  Nothing her Poppa couldn't protect her from though.  She ran straight into his arms each time she was scared <3

We got home and had very few visitors.  We were stuck with tons of candy even after handing out handfuls to the few ghouls and goblins that rang our doorbell.  I'm sure we'll find someone to help get "rid" of it.

Her first REAL owie =[

I got the call at 5:05pm on my way out the door from work. Layne said Maddi had fallen, bumped her head and had a little blood. I could hear Maddi crying and pretty much freaked. I made it home in 2 minutes flat. When I walked in the door, he was sitting with her in his lap and she wasn't crying anymore, but still seemed upset. I noticed it wasn't really her head, more like close to her eye. At first glance, it didn't look too bad, but that's probably why I'm not a Dr. We loaded up and headed to the ER. (This was Rachel's second ER trip while she "vacationed" with us, sorry Rach)

I sent Chris a text on our way out since I knew he'd be off work soon and would want to meet us. He did. Work ran later than he would have liked and didn't make it to the ER until 7:30, which was fine because we were STILL waiting. At around 8:30 we finally got taken back. I was hoping they would be able to close it up just using that super glue, but no such luck. Because of the placement of the cut and the natural creases around her eye they'd have to stitch her up. My poor baby!!

They were very accommodating and even rolled in a TV to keep Maddi entertained while the numbing took effect. She loved Toy Story <3 The time to stitch her up came and I was absolutely not looking forward to it. We had to hold her down. The nurse held her head in place, while Chris faced her and pinned her arms still. He was able to try talking her through it as best he could. She was NOT happy. She was screaming and crying. I had the "pin her knees" job. While I didn't have to see her scared little face I was still heartbroken. I'm not gonna lie, I cried just about the entire time.

It wasn't over as fast as I'd hoped, but it really wasn't that long at all. We were home by 9:30 and 5 days later she'd have her stitches taken out.

She did really well for the next 5 days. The stitches didn't seem to bother her at all. We were able to take her in to see her regular pediatrician for them to be removed. Unfortunately, we had to re-live the baby pinning. Thankfully Erin came with us and was able hold Maddi's legs this time while Chris held her arms. The Dr. was done in less than a minute and Maddi was a happy camper again.

Let's hope this first set of stitches are also her last.

All better in her Daddy's arms.

As official as a referee with a whistle...

We're expecting a second baby blessing!!

We're shocked, excited, nervous, scared, anxious...I'm sure several more emotions would fit.

God has blessed us so much.