Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's Day yesterday. First off, Cameron bought me a box of chocolates, which I love! I like trying every one of them! So, I asked him to get me a small box. Well, he got me a box, but it's a little bigger than I wish. I say this because I know I will eat the whole box...won't take me very long. I have such a weakness when it comes to yummy chocolate with assorted fillings. So, at least I only get a box of chocolates once a year...otherwise my jeans would not fit, I'm sure!

Madilyn made her daddy a card, with my help of course. It made his day. :0) He's such a great daddy! Then, Madilyn decided (LOL) that we needed to make Daddy his favorite cookies, so we baked heart shaped sugar cookies. They turned out delicious! I didn't have a recipe for them, so I went to allrecipes.com and found an excellent one! This is definitely a recipe I will use for Valentine's Days in the future.

Ahhhhhh...the day of love! LOL No, really, we decided to not take a date night on Valentine's Day because it's NOT romantic at all!!! There are always thousands of people rushing around town, crowding restaurants, and standing in lines for movies all at the same time...and the majority of this crowd are teenagers who can't keep their hands off of each other. Yuck. We decided to go on a date on Friday night instead. Say what you will, but I think it's more romantic when you are with the one you love...not with the whole city!

Baby Food...Everywhere!!!

Well, this morning Madilyn and I were playing while Cameron slept (he worked last night). I decided to scoop her up and fly her like an airplane above my head. Apparently, she wanted to let me know it was time for me to take a shower because as soon as she got up there, out came the formula...all over the chair, my hair and my glasses! It was so gross it was hilarious! I started laughing so hard, trying to be quiet, and I HAD to take a picture so Cameron could see what happened! You know you're a mom when...you get puked on, and you take a picture! LOL
Well, she definitely made her point! I took a shower, and she got a bath! She loves her bathtimes! Here is a picture of her playing in her bath towel. I caught her! :0)

We started rice cereal a couple of weeks ago. She didn't like it at first, but the dr. told us we could put a drop of Karo Syrup in it so it doesn't constipate her...and it makes it taste better! She now cries after her cereal is gone...no matter how much I feed her! I keep adding more, thinking maybe she's still hungry, but it doesn't matter how much she gets, it's not enough. She also grabs the spoon right when it gets to her mouth, so by the time she's finished eating, I have rice cereal all over my arms and she has it on her hands, face, neck, and pretty much everywhere she can get it! She's so ready to do all of her eating from a spoon! She absolutely LOVES it! I'm so proud of how she's growing and developing. She amazes us everyday! (She kinda looks like Santa Claus! LOL)

Reflecting

Well, today I turned big 27! Yay! I absolutely love celebrating my birthday...it's probably my favorite day of the year. It's the only day that one can justify picking EVERY activity and EVERY meal without feeling selfish. :0) LOL Anyway, my family made it a very special day.

However, as I think back to all that has happened in the past year, it made me realize that last year, on my 26th birthday, Cameron and I told my family that we were expecting a baby. My how one year can totally transform a lifestyle! Now we have a beautiful baby girl who's already 4 months old! All I can say is I look forward to what God has in store for this year...lots can happen in 365 days...and God's plans are so amazing!

Family

You never realize how much you're missing, until you have kids. Madilyn has just brought Cameron and I so much closer together as a couple...

I'm loving having her here! What a tremendous blessing it is to be a parent.

Tummy Time & Growing Up

Well, as you well know, most babies sleep and really do everything on their backs...since this has reduced the risk of SIDS. Which, of course I'm all for keeping my baby safe...so she sleeps on her back.


But, in doing so, she doesn't get very much "tummy time." This is important to develop her muscles and all that. However, each time I put her on her tummy, she gets mad. It's like I'm torturing her. And, believe it or not, for a while I would only do it about 2 or 3 minutes a day because it made her so mad. Being a new mom, you do whatever you can to try to not have a crying baby! It's the truth!

One day I was on a baby website, and it said that "By now, she should be having up to 20 min. of tummy time per day." Whoa! We were not doing that much at all!!!

I am pleased to let you know that now (she's almost 4 months old!), we're able to have more "tummy time" without her crying.

So, here are a few pictures of her this week, having tummy time and not crying! Yay!!!
She's getting SO BIG! I can't believe it's almost been 4 months since we welcomed her into this world. In some ways, it seems like just yesterday, and as far as sleep goes, it feels like I haven't been rested in 2 years! LOL But, all in all, we are so blessed to have her with us. I'm already teary-eyed when I think about her growing up and going to school and all that. Whew! I just can't think about it right now...she's such a huge blessing. I can't wait to see what God has in store for her life and our lives as a family.

Here is her first 3 month size outfit to wear. It was a gift from our friends Thomas and Amity. I had to take her picture because I am amazed that she's just now fitting into it (at the ripe old age of 4 months)!

Also, last night after this picture was taken, we were playing in her floor and she starting screaming!!! LOUD! I've never heard her do that before. I couldn't tell if she was mad or just overly excited. But, I'm guessing she was mad because an hour later when I was changing her diaper and getting her pj's on, she was thrashing her arms around and jerking her head around and throwing a FIT! Wow! Praise God for healthy lungs! LOL It ended up being that she was just really tired, and as soon as I swaddled her and fed her she was OUT for the night. It's so fun to see her growing and changing...and I figure that she can't talk yet, so all she has is her whining, crying, and (NOW) screaming to let me know how she feels. So, it's acceptable for now. However, when she learns to talk it will be a much different story. :0) Oh, the joys of motherhood! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

Little Miss Personality!

Here is our little Madilyn Kate, almost 4 months old! It's so hard to believe! Time really flies, and I'm already getting sad about her growing up...but also very excited at the same time. She has started smiling and laughing at us...

The other day, I was rocking her to sleep and she was fighting it and crying. I caught her attention and said, "You've gotta go to sleep little girl," and she started cracking up! Well, as you can imagine, I started laughing, too. I kept repeating the phrase and she would just laugh and laugh and laugh. As you can imagine, sleeping didn't happen for a while!

Field Trips

Oh, the glorious Field Trips. Today, we went to Palo Duro Canyon. One of my students asked the Park Ranger if she could catch a prairie dog and keep it. He said NO and so did I! :0) Then, we found out prairie dogs don't live in the Canyon...they live on the prairie. Duh, right?

Then, the Park Ranger proceeded to tell us to watch for Rattlesnakes and wild pigs. He said that the wild pigs would charge you if they saw you...and that if they caught you, they would proceed to eat you. Thanks a lot, Park Ranger! All I had was a group of 11 third graders and a tube of sunscreen. I guess I could've tried to aim for the pigs' eyes, right?

Then, we cooked hot dogs. The greatest comment of the day? "Will you tell that guy to cook my hot dog medium rare?" Oh, goodness!

It's time for summer! LOL