Merry Christmas!

We wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas today!

Curls

I tried to put some curls in Madeline's hair today.



Unfortunately, it didn't go so well. Her hair didn't curl very well. I think I need to put more curlers in her hair. I just didn't know how long I would have with her sitting still. So, I put them in as fast as I could.


It was basically straight in a few minutes. But, we will try again another day.

On another note, we had Madeline's one year doctor's appointment today. She gave the nurse some really dirty looks. But, she was happy to see Dr. Woods. She now weighs 17lbs 12oz, which puts her in the 5th percentile. She is 31 inches tall (90th %). So, she is still tall and skinny. Dr. Woods said that since she doesn't eat too much at a time then we need to give her lots of high calorie foods. So, we are going to start making her cereal with cream instead of milk. We tried to put some peanut butter on her banana today. But, she wasn't too fond of it. She kept trying to pull the peanut butter back out of her mouth. She also got a flu shot, Hep A shot and the chicken pox vaccine. She was not happy at all. She cried until we got home. Poor thing :( But, she was extremely happy tonight. Andrew said we should get her some "happy shots" more often :)

Hung by the Chimney with Care

I have been feeling the need to make something crafty lately. So, my friend, Kim, inspired me to make a stocking for Madeline. I bought Andrew's and mine at Target. But, Madeline needed a special one. So, after Madeline went to bed last night, I dusted off the sewing maching and made a stocking. I finally feel crafty again. Now our stockings are hung by the chimney with care and Madeline's is already filled with goodies.

A Care Group Christmas

Our care group from church had a Christmas party on Thursday night. We all brought food and we had a gift exchange. We ended up with a great CD and a toy for Madeline (or probably another baby since she already has one.) Above is a picture of all the adults and a few of the younger kids. All the bigger kids were downstairs with a babysitter. There are 11 kids in all. Soon to be 13. (Neither of which are being contributed by us. People seem to be getting a little pushy these days about #2 :)

The little kids were entertained by an empty box for quite a while.

Hey! What's over there?

O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

This past Monday, the coldest day of the year, we excitedly waited for Andrew to get home from work so that we could go get our Christmas tree. We bundled Madeline and ourselves up and headed to our local fire department. This is where we have gotten our tree for the past 4 years.

We ended up picking the first tree we saw. It was a little too cold to be too picky.


Our local fireman, who is there every year, helped to load it on the car so we could bring it home.

Madeline got to play with all the lights for a little bit before she had to go to bed.

It took a few days, because we ran out of lights, but we finally have our tree all decorated. It is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas now! Now I need some tape so I can start wrapping the presents.

Blood!

Just kidding! Nobody fell and busted their head open. But, our little precious did find a container of salsa, covered in saran wrap, in the refrigerator. She managed to get all the way to the end up the kitchen floor, trip, and throw it all the way across the living room carpet.

Our lovely little girl is not wearing any clothes because, they too had salsa all over them.


And who can resist touching and walking through the salsa over and over and over while mommy is trying to clean it up?

I Can Do it Myself

A few weeks ago, Madeline started pulling the spoon out of our hands. So, I gave her her own spoon to try. She loved using it. She ate all of her cereal without a problem. The spoon is a little deep, so it is hard to get all the food out of it. But, she managed.

She hasn't been as interested in feeding herself lately. But, I'm sure she will want to again in the near future.

Christopher and Megan Burrow

Last weekend, we headed to South Carolina for my cousin's wedding. We began our festivities at the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. It was at a really neat restaurant called, Red Bone Alley. It was decorated to look like the streets of Charleston, SC. It had an arcade for Madeline to play in and an Ice cream truck with real ice cream in it. Andrew liked that part :).

Saturday afternoon, we headed to the wedding.

Madeline looked beautiful all dressed up.

Daddy and his princess. Madeline and Andrew played in the nursery during the ceremony.

Instead of unity candles, they had unity sand. Megan had white sand and Christopher had red.

Almost hitched!

Their first dance.

Bethany, sister of the groom and a cousin of mine, was also a bridesmaid.

Tossing the bouquet!

Madeline had fun during the reception. She is really into our noses right now, for some reason.

She got to play with Lucky, the church dog...

Granny B...

and Pawpaw even took her outside for a little while.

Second Birthday Party

We had another birthday party at Nana and Papa Paul's house on Monday, Madeline's actual birthday. Nana made a wonderful dinner and then we had cake and opened presents.



Daniel and Katherine joined us!


There was lots of clapping. Madeline took a little power nap in the car on the way to Nana and Papa Paul's. So, she was full of energy for her party.

Madeline got a cool Elmo card...

...and some jammies...

...a stuffed Elmo and a replacement for her favorite lion that we lost.

Madeline also got a Little People doll house and farm. (Our house is full of Little People now!) She also got a teddy bear, some cool fruit snacks and a corn popper. I think she is set with big girl toys for a while now. Oh wait, Christmas is only a few weeks away. Where are we going to put all this stuff?

Yea for birthdays!

First Birthday Party

While we were in Roanoke, we had a slightly early birthday party for Madeline so that family and friends who were in the area could join us.

The balloons were much more exciting than the presents :)

Mom and I made her birthday cake together. It was a 4 tier, yellow cake with buttercream frosting and lots of dots.


(In your best singing voice) Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Madeline. Happy birthday to you!

She hasn't gotten the blowing-out-the-candle thing yet. So, we gave her a little help.

Then, she dug right in like any respecting one-year-old would do.

...mash it around a little...

...give it a taste...

..."do I have to sit here any longer?" Yep, that is as messy as it got. Kind of disappointing, I know. She actually really likes cake, when it is off of our plates. Perhaps she was just a little overwhelmed by the 20 people looking at her.

Madeline had some friends come to her party. Chase, Jude and cousins Will and Abby. She had one more cousin, Austin. But, he is only about a week old, so he couldn't sit on the couch with the other kids yet. Maybe next year. The funny thing about the hats is that they are clearly hats for a first birthday party, hence the big 1 on the front. But, the bag said that they were not appropriate for children under 3. hmmm? So, I am sorry if I put any of your children at risk by putting a hat on them. :)

Then, it was time to open presents! She got lots of wonderful toys.

~2 Melissa and Doug puzzles

~A farm book

~2 Elmo DVDs

~A Little People Noah's Ark, Pet shop and Nativity set (we were excited about Noah getting to visit baby Jesus at the stable.)

~An Elmo washcloth (that expands in the water)

~A See n' Say

~A stuffed Monkey

~Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Suess

~A cool outfit from Old Navy

~$55

~Mega Blocks

And lastly, a cool rocking chair like Mommy's. It has here name on it as well.

Madeline thanked everyone for her gifts and for coming to her party with big kisses!