Early, Early Morning...

being silly with Daddy

rear view

being wild with Tuck (look at her little curls :)

Yes, it's true that I'm posting at 6:50am on a Sunday :( Gabe went to stock the store early and was trying to be sooooooooo quiet as he shut the front door; but immediately, she started crying to let me know that she's done with this sleeping thing. Oh, and by the way, it was only 5:45am at that point. So, we're up and Teletubbies are on and her snack is keeping her happy, and I can blog. Today should be cold and rainy here-we'll just stay in doors, thank you very much. Probably web-cam-it a few times with the fam :) But, Gabe, is heading to the Redskins game. He's very excited and I told him I'll even try to watch at least half of the game; that made him happy. The picture above is from last night. Maddie got a new pj outfit from Nonnie and Grand Jer and it's too cute. That's what the pic is. She was so funny last night because the feet of the pj's have little sticky treads on the bottom and when she walks on the hardwood, it sort of sticks and she just cannot figure it out. I told Gabe I need to video tape it because it would be fun to watch with her when she's older. Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve and then it sort of feels like life can get back to normal. Holidays really mess me up with days and time. I feel like everything's a blur and that I never know what day it is. You probably feel the same. So, that's all that's happening here currently. We're well and ready for the week.

We're alive!

Hello All,
Sorry it's taken so long, but we are finally on the mend and feeling more like ourselves. Maddie is DEFINITELY teething though, so we're still dealing with a cranky baby lots of the time. We've been laying low and getting rest and now we're better. Today is my Mom and Jer's wedding anniversary and it's also Gabe's Mom, Sandy's, birthday. So, lot's to celebrate today! This weekend doesn't really have any plans for Maddie and I, but Gabe is going to the Redskins game on Sunday. He's excited and then New Year's Eve we are going to this restaurant in DC that we went to a couple of years ago. It's sort of a piano bar/restaurant with great food. We made a reservation and we're excited because as you all know this holiday season has not gone according to plan! So, now we have something to look forward to. Yeah :)

Where to begin?....

Well, as our family knows, we have had the toughest 3 days of our lives. Let me start by saying that Gabe, Maddie and I are all home...in Virginia :( Not that we don't love our home, just that our plans have been drastically changed. Let's see, in the past 72 hours we have: watched Maddie projectile vomit on a plane from Baltimore to Oakland(Thursday)-but which stopped (thank God) in Kansas City, Missouri, been seen by the paramedics at said airport, checked into a Hilton to watch her, taken her to the emergency room at Saint Luke's hospital in Kansas City, rented a car, found out she had ear infections in both ears as well as a 100 degree fever, decided to drive home to Virginia, visited 2 different Walmart's to get baby stuff (antibiotics) for the long road trip, drove as long as we could on such little sleep, watched Maddie start throwing up again in the car, stopped for the night in Booneville, Missouri to stay at a Holiday Inn, where Maddie only slept for 6 hours, woke up and began driving to Virginia again, realized it was going to be such a LONG drive, called airline and booked tickets back to Baltimore that day (Friday) from Saint Louis, waited in that airport for over 2 hours for our flight, flew home (she slept; thank God), came to our house and tried to rest, woke up the next day (Saturday) and watched her all day until around 7pm when she started violently vomiting (very scary) at which point we called the pediatrician's after hours number, while waiting for them to call back (took forever) we decided to load Maddie in the car and take her to the hospital, she vomited again-major, so we called 911 and they sent an ambulance. I sat in the ambulance with her and Gabe followed in my car. We were taken to Alexandria Hospital (where she was born) and she was seen. It was determined after several hours, medicines, more throwing up, diarrhea, a failed attempt to catheter her to check her urine, that she may just have a bad tummy bug. We were sent home at around 10pm last night and we put her to bed. I went out to find a 24 hour pharmacy to get her medicine. The end to yet another very loooong day. Currently, she is sleeping and taking an anti nausea medicine that they give Chemo patients (safe for babies) and I am finally having a cup of coffee and trying to process all of this.
Let me say this; I never knew I had it in me to deal with so much. From being incredibly sad about not being with my family over Christmas, to letting people down that we planned on seeing, from watching Maddie be hunched over, so sick and looking at me for help and there's nothing I could do, to the total sleep deprivation I'm experiencing-I just didn't think I had this in me. People tell you that when you have kids and they get sick, you are able to deal with it because it's your instinct, and I've come to learn how true that is. I also couldn't stop thinking that if something was really terribly wrong with Maddie (more serious than a stomach bug), how would I even deal with that? It makes me really feel for people that have had sick babies and have had to watch them be poked and scared at hospitals. It's the most horrible thing to watch and hear-your baby crying for you to help them and you can't. So, here we are. In Virginia and if today goes well (no vomiting or visits to the ER) then I'm hoping to get in the Christmas spirit. Just not quite feeling that way right now. Thank you so much to Gabe, Mom, Jer, Dad, Claudia, Lizzy, Justin, Dan, Jen, for all of your advice, thoughts and prayers. You couldn't mean more to me.

Life of the....

PARTY! That's Maddie. We just got home from the Dog School Christmas party and it was a really nice time. Maddie had a blast. She was visiting, carrying around large dog water bowls that were for sale, carrying various bags of dog treats, stopping to visit me for a snack, and then off again. Let's just say, she's not too shy :) It was fun to see everyone and the food that Gabe chose was awesome. Lot's of fun and now off to bed. More packing to do in the morning, and Gymboree too. Oh, and the treadmill was great! We'll see how sore I am in the morning :)

GameDay/Family Day

Hello All,
We are having a nice quiet Sunday at home together. We ran errands this morning (Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Safeway) for new sheets (to help with Gabe's sleeping prob.'s) and ingredients for my chili that is cooking in the crock pot as I blog. Yesterday, Gabe worked his booty off (biggest retail day of the year for Dog School) and Maddie and I hung out and watched the treadmill assembly guy put the new treadmill together. Yeah! Can't wait to use it tomorrow! So, it's chili and cornbread for dinner and then maybe watch a movie-well, I'll watch a movie and Gabe will be watching the Redskins. Oh, did I mention that this morning when we were out running errands, he dressed Maddie in her Redskins sweater/jacket and that he was in a matching shirt? Here's the picture just so you can see what I see :) We leave for CA in a few days and we're so excited. We've started doing the laundry and packing.

12-10-07 (Very loooooooooong post)

Maddie is 14 months old today :) We had a good weekend. On Friday night, Gabe's parents watched Maddie for us so that we could go out to dinner and to a movie. Dinner was fabulous. We didn't know where we were going to eat, but we found a really great restaurant and were pleasantly surprised at how much we liked it. Then, we went to see "Fred Claus." What a mistake! The movie itself was pretty funny; at least from what I saw. As we were entering the theater we noticed that the majority of patrons were teens, but not ones that drive. The ones that got dropped off by their mom's or older sisters and they're meeting up with boys that I'm sure their mother's don't know about. It was EYE OPENING! And not in a good way. We saw the worst display of manners in kids and it made me think. It made me wonder what happened to the world? When did teens (who definitely should know better) decide that being mindful of others around them doesn't matter? I know teens are selfish and immature (hey, I was one of them) but I don't remember being a total jerk in public. If you know me at all, I'm always concerned about the type of person Maddie will grow up to be. She's beautiful and I'm always thinking of how I will convey to her that how she looks on the outside needs to match her inside. At the forefront of my mind is the fact that it's my job to teach Maddie to think of others before herself, help when she can (even in the smallest way), and say "please and thank you." As I watched these teen girls wearing low cut shirts and very tight jeans, I thought how scary that age is for their mothers. How do mothers deal with this?!? I'm so very protective of Maddie and seeing these kids with so much freedom... Then, Gabe and I talked and we remembered being out at movies at that age and not acting that way. These kids were on cell phones during the movie, talking, running up and down the aisles, changing seats constantly; needless to say, it was incredibly distracting and Gabe and I finally decided to leave. We didn't ask for our money back-we were just ready to get home. On the walk to the car, Gabe said "That's why Maddie's going to private school." I know that wouldn't solve anything-but it was a funny thought. It made me really see how much things have changed since I was a young teen. Strange. Well, we hadn't been to a movie in probably 6 months and now we remember that 7:30pm movies on weekend nights are not worth it!
On Saturday, Maddie and I drove out to visit Alexa, Andy and Ella at their house. The girls played and had fun and then Maddie and I headed home. Gabe had to work. I'm sure you can imagine how busy he is with the Christmas season here. Sunday was pretty relaxed. Gabe went to open the store for a few hours, Maddie napped and I went to church. We had a great lunch together and later Maddie and I ran to Michael's for more art supplies. When there, we ran into a teacher I used to work with. She was always one of the ones I didn't really get along with. She's very gossipy and nosy. She also sort of turns every conversation into a negative and even though I only talked to her for 10 minutes, her negativity shined through. She made me uncomfortable when I worked with her, and she did it again last night. When we first ran into her, Maddie started crying her eyes out (which is very rare) but they say that children can sense if people are good or not, and I thought that was really telling. Plus, this woman asked me "So, what have you been up to?" And, I sort of looked at Maddie and said "She keeps me pretty busy." She looked back at us and said "What else have you been doing?" And, I felt dumbfounded. Like, what do you think? She has always sort of acted like a martyr for having a child and then choosing to work, but like many of us know in today's world-it's not a competition between working mom outside of the home, or working mom inside of the home. Either way, it's work. Some things never change, but I felt like it was God's way of reminding me why I don't miss working at that school. That's right, I still don't miss it!

Snow

It's snowing in Virginia today! Love it. It's been snowing here since around 10am and it's still coming down. It's about 30 degrees outside, but that is nice because it feels like winter. Maddie is pretty enamored with the snow. She was laughing and pointing out the sliding glass door. She thought it was really funny when Tucker was out in the snow :) We went to her dr. for her 2nd dose of the flu shot. It went fine. She cried very little and then we went to the grocery store. On the way to the doctor, a car was next to us that had a very interesting license plate.
If you have trouble seeing it, it said "NOHNIE" which sounds a lot like Nonnie, which is what Maddie calls my mom! How funny is that? So, Maddie was very bundled in the car. And that looked like this:
Love you all.

Anatomy of a sneeze :)

ACHOO!!!!!!

Ticket

Hello All,
I got a ticket yesterday for the first time in a long time! So frustrating; especially when you have a baby and two dogs in the car! I got pulled over for "evading a traffic light" which in normal words means that I cut through an abandoned parking lot to avoid the light that takes 200 years to turn green. I want to add here that Gabe taught me this trick and had it not been for him, I'd never had tried to use the parking lot in the first place. He felt bad when I called to tell him. So, I got a $50 ticket. Bummer. Today Gabe is going to the Redskins game with our friend Zac. It's the first game since Sean Taylor got killed and Gabe keeps saying he feels like he's going to a funeral and not a football game. Afterwards, he's bringing Zac home where a bunch of us will be waiting to yell "Surprise!" It's his 30th birthday and his wife, Faith, has put this together. I'm bringing Maddie and hoping she'll be a good girl. It starts at 5, and Gabe and I figure we'll leave around 8pm and she can sleep in the car on the way home. So, that's our day today. Have a great Sunday!!!

We got our Christmas Tree tonight :)

Hello All,
We took it upon ourselves to go out and choose our Christmas tree tonight. We had fun. But, we're very tired, so we put the lights on it and the tree top and now we are relaxing. We'll do ornaments and string popcorn tomorrow. Maddie had a blast. She liked the lights on the tree. We had to corral the tree because she's VERY interested at this point. I'll have to teach her to try and leave it alone. Plus, Tucker has always enjoyed a bite of Christmas when he thinks no one is looking. So, to us, the Christmas season has begun and I'm liking it. We listened to Kenny and Dolly's Christmas the whole drive home :) Gabe said that if someone would have told him 3 years ago that he'd be driving home with a wife, baby, Christmas tree and listening to Dolly and Kenny's country Christmas album, he'd have said they were "bat shit crazy." I thought that was funny-sorry for the language...

Stuck

Hello All,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We did. Just stayed around the house, ate leftovers and enjoyed the weather. Today we went to Gymboree and the teacher told me that Maddie will be ready to move up to the next class in January when she's 15 months; so a bit earlier than normal. It's a class that starts at 16 months usually, but she said that since Maddie crawled and walked early, she'd be ready for it. It's just more active of a class; which is hard to picture because the whole time we're there now Maddie's active :) So, the title of this post is "stuck" because I'm having a block as to how to make this card business work. I bought the camera and I've been messing around with it-really fun-and uploading my pic's to my computer and tweaking them there. But, the problem is getting it from looking awesome on my computer screen to printing it well. I have a nice, new printer that prints photo's really well, but printing a photograph onto a card material is difficult. The picture loses detail and comes out looking like a card made at home (which it is, but that's not the look I'm going for). Plus, producing cards (ink, paper, etc) can't cost more than I'll make on the cards themselves-otherwise it's a hobby and not a money earning business venture! Not sure what to do here. Dog School has a printer person who prints all of their business cards-Gabe says I need to talk to him. I'm stuck because if I upload my pic's to a website that will print them and then send them to me, they aren't going to print with my logo on the back-it will be the logo of the company that printed them-which I couldn't sell then...I'm stuck. Comment with any ideas and if you're confused, that makes 2 of us :)

Black Friday

Good Morning All,
Today is "Black Friday" because of all the sales at retail stores and I don't know if it's just me, but I'm not drawn to going shopping whatsoever. Are you? I don't even like going to the mall on the weekends because of the crowds! They always show all the people on the news going through huge bins of "stuff" like vultures and it makes you think: "Do they really need all of that?" Strange. Yesterday was a great Thanksgiving and I hope yours was too. Ours was very relaxed and the food turned out amazing-thanks to Gabe. He outdid himself. Our dogs had Thanksgiving dinner too! They make a dog food in the can called Thanksgiving dinner and they loved it; licked their bowls clean :) We were home at our house by 6:30pm and got to get in our pajamas and just relax. I missed being with my family, but that's the one thing about being here for Thanksgiving; no traveling. Today it's back to the grind; Gabe's going to work, our dog's are getting groomed, and Maddie and I are going to try to go to Gymboree. If you have the day off today-enjoy it and if not, then remember that tomorrow is Saturday :) Oh, and it's officially the start of the Christmas season which can mean only one thing-it's time to pop that Dolly and Kenny Christmas CD in the CD player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Afternoon Adventure

Hello,
Well, Siobhan, Aibha, Maddie and I took a metro ride into DC this afternoon to watch Macy's unveil their Christmas windows and really kick off the holiday season. It was great. First, we thought we'd arrived late, only to find that the newspaper had been a half an hour early about the time-so we were right on time. We had a great view of a couple of windows, plus the man on stilts, the helpful elves that passed balloons out and the highschool dance team. Quickly, I need to say here, that while the dancers were trying very hard, they danced very sexy considering the environment and also their age. I was sort of thinking this and then I turned to Siobhan and she had the best way to sum it up. She said "It's like dirty dancing gone strange." And that's my favorite quote of the day. It was a very celebratory atmosphere. Santa stopped by to welcome us, a band played and the windows were exposed for all to see. They were beautiful and reminded me of Macy's Union Square windows last year when I saw them before Elisabeth's wedding. After the windows were shown, we went inside to have hot apple cider and cookies. The girl's seemed to really like it. It was entertaining and Siobhan and I both felt like we were being good mom's and taking them to create a memory-that we will probably only remember. The photo collage above tells the whole story. The last 4 pictures are of Maddie (but not from today) riding a train in the mall last week, her and Aibha shopping (which they seem to do a lot lately), Maddie hiding from me (can you find her? :) and Maddie with her warm, bunny hat. It was a great time and worth the effort! Now it's time for tea and bed.

Still here...

Sorry that it seems like I haven't been as on top of my blogging lately as I used to be. There's a lot going on around here. Maddie is super busy and doesn't really appreciate when I'm online and not paying attention to her. So, I usually have to blog once she's down for a nap and lately during those naps, I've felt selfish with my "me time." As a stay-at-home-mom, the "me time" thing is so coveted; you tend to day dream about it during your child's awake hours :) It's necessary for the sanity factor and often I want to read, take a long shower, make tea and something to eat-and just be unplugged. In order to be unplugged and really enjoy my time, it has put the blogging on the back burner. But, I'm still here. And, as most of you know, I still have plenty to say. I will post newer pic's of Maddie soon, but I'm in the market for a new camera (a high-tech, fancy one) for a new venture I'm pursuing. Only a handful of people know what I mean, but I'm still working on it and then I'll post about it. I know, the suspense is killing you. Let's just say it has to do with photo's and dogs (shocker). Leave it at that.
So, Thanksgiving is upon us and it really is a time to reflect on all that you're thankful for. To be honest, I really try to remember often all that I'm thankful for and not just leave it for one turkey-stuffing-cranberry day a year. This year I'm thankful for:

• the church I've found (very comfortable fit for me)
  
• family (all types-not just the ones related by blood)
• patience (I've used up more this year than I even thought I had)
• books (a private other world that you can get to through quiet)
• cinnamon sugar cookies and tea (the BEST afternoon and evening treat)

There's so much more, but this is what I felt like sharing now. It's a funny thing with blogging; when you're sitting here typing these words, you feel like you can be as open as you want, but if you let your mind really think about it, you become more restrained in what you say. Strange. Hey, if you read this and you're going to comment-tell us a few things you're thankful for.

I normally wouldn't complain, but...

I did. I meant to blog about this yesterday, but time got away from me. Plus, Gabe came home early and I didn't want to waste that time blogging. So, yesterday, Maddie and I stopped at the grocery store, Giant, in Hayfield on our way home from Gymboree. It's on the way home and I normally don't like Giant (the one near our house is pretty ghetto), but this one is actually nice and Gabe and I have been there several times before. The checkers are usually really nice and helpful and the store is clean and well stocked. Well, yesterday was a different story. Maddie and I had finished our shopping and picked lane 5 to pay for our groceries. We were 2nd in line and I kept reminding myself that I want to ask for paper bags (I have to remind myself to ask for this, as well as if I have any coupons because often I get caught up with the baby, or finding my wallet, and I forget). So, it was my turn, and the woman was ringing me up (strange saying) and halfway through, I realized I forgot to say "paper please." I want to note here that there used to be a time when you, as the customer, were asked "paper or plastic?" Remember that? Now, it's just assumed that you want plastic, even though the facts are that it takes about 500 years for that bag to disintegrate at a landfill. Don't get me wrong. I, too, have plenty of plastic bags-they are very useful for poopy diapers :) Anyways, I tell the woman "Oh, I'm sorry . I meant to ask for paper bags. You don't have to re-bag the items already in plastic, but could you please bag the rest in paper bags?" If looks could kill. This woman was sooooooooooooooooooooo put out by the fact that I dare ask for paper bags! This really pissed me off because isn't my choice? She acted like I had totally put her out and she continued to not only ignore me when I thanked her, but she bagged my groceries the way Maddie would do it; not in any sort of order and without thought to how heavy they were. She basically threw my groceries into the bags (including dropping my apples). It left me with a TERRIBLE taste in my mouth and as I drove home I debated calling the manager of the store. I thought to myself, "she's just having a bad day." But then I decided, "that's not my problem." So, when we got home and I put Maddie down for her nap, I called the manager. He was pleasant and listened to what I said. He said he'd take care of it and I did feel better. Whether he talks to her or not-I did feel better because the level of service in many industries is terrible and I think I'm sort of done dealing with that. Especially in the name of the environment. It got me thinking that there should really be a way for grocery stores and stores like Target, to promote paper bags instead. I know many are thinking that this takes trees, but if you reuse or recycle the paper bags then it's a win-win situation. I encourage you all to ask for paper from now on. At some stores it's a little less convenient because they don't have the paper bags with handles-but it's worth it. Or, better yet, bring your own reusable bags. They sell them at almost all stores for like $.99. That's my rant/opinion for the day. Discuss amongst yourselves...

Monday

Hello,
Sorry that I haven't blogged in a while! I tried to upload a video of Maddie wearing her new coat on Friday (see picture), but I got frustrated with our internet. We've been having problems. I even had the Geek Squad people out here last week and yet starting again last night, it's not working properly. I'm able to be online now via our wireless card, but it's much slower than our DSL-so another phone call to Verizon is in store. So, it's Monday and it's raining and pretty cold. It's 46 degrees here, but it's nice. I love the rain. Siobhan, Aibha, Maddie and I are supposed to walk this morning-which will be fun because we haven't seen them in a week :) Later, I'm having an eye exam because I'm having trouble seeing clearly. I feel like a lot of things are hazy; so we'll see. I need new glasses anyways. Gabe will be home early to watch the baby-so I'll have a break. I never thought I'd look at a visit to the optometrist as a "break." Funny.
This week isn't too busy. We'll have Gymboree, our neighbors (Sean and Rita) over for dinner on Thursday and depending on weather, Maddie and I may visit a museum this week. The National Gallery of Art has an Edward Hopper exhibit that I really want to see. The last time Maddie and I went to look at art, she wasn't a walker. We shall see how she does. I'm watching the news and the oil spill in SF Bay is a nightmare! I can't believe that happened. It's hard to watch them clean the birds and they showed air footage of the sea lions that live in the bay. Very sad. Oh, and I'm reading a really good book. It's called "The Rest of Her Life" by Laura Moriarty. Very good. It just came out, so it's hardback. She wrote the book "The Center of Everything" which I really liked and this is her second book. Maddie is getting into drawers in the dog's closet-so I gotta go :)

Much Better and feeling "Green"

We woke up (albeit quite early) and are feeling much better! Yeah! We needed to feel better today because it was starting to become depressing. You know that feeling? When you've been couped up in the house, sick and just dying to get out and do something. Well, we were at that point yesterday and then last night when Gabe and I were hanging out after the baby went to sleep, I realized that I was feeling good enough to joke around. That feeling is awesome. When you know you're coming out of the sickness. I'm happy to feel better. Plus, Maddie is also feeling better and that makes life a lot easier. Sick babies are no fun. So, today is Gymboree and we're going. I might be a Purel fanatic because I have a sinking suspicion that we got sick from Gymbo last Tuesday. But, we need to get out and do something-so we're going! I'm waiting for a guy from the Geek Squad to come out to the house this morning to check our Internet. It's been not working since a few weeks ago-but since we have a wireless card, we've been using that to get online. So, we'll see what this guy can do. Tomorrow we have our flu shots. Yuck. I've never had one and neither has Gabe and neither has Maddie; so it should be an experience. I talked to Alexa last night and she said she's gotten the flu shot for many years and never feels bad afterwards-so that's promising. I think older people don't feel well after the shot; so I'm expecting us to be fine. Gabe leaves at the crack of dawn on Friday morning for a dog show a few hours away. It's for one night and Maddie and I had planned to go, but then I got to thinking that I don't feel like packing and getting all ready just for one night. It's too much to do, plus in a hotel, she sleeps in our room and that is very difficult with her being such a light sleeper; we need our space. So, her and I and the dogs will be here and Gabe will go.
We're getting into Thanksgiving mode. We'll be over at Gabe's parents' house for it and I think it's just us, them and his sister Janie. Nice and mellow-which I like. No traveling-which I like also :) Gabe called and ordered our turkey the other day-free range and organic (Mom, you're proud) but not a Willie Bird. We got something local (Mom, you're proud again). When I was just home visiting, my mom talked about being a seasonal eater. Basically, you only buy/eat produce that's in season for the region in which you live-for example, you don't buy strawberries right now because they're out of season in North America. They're imported from other countries and I think the thinking is that we don't really know what pesticides/regulations there are on foods from other countries-so it's just safer to not eat them. Plus, getting produce from your local farmers market, ensures that you know the food source (which definitely is safer). I like this way of thinking. It matches all of our "green" light bulbs. (change your light bulbs people-it's worth it and it's easy to do)

Still Sick :(

It's Sunday and we're watching 60 minutes (more depressing news about why we're at war). Anyways, we're still sick and I'm going to try and take her to the dr. tomorrow. I'm not well at all. I've had a headache for 3 days and also some nausea. Not fun. Gabe thinks he's coming down with it now...We shall see how the week goes. I'll keep you posted.

Sick Morning :(

Hello,
Well, let's see. This morning has not been great. Since Maddie woke up and drank her bottle, she's been throwing up! I mean, real throw up. Not baby spit up. It's a nightmare. She is sick. I called the doctor since this is one of the first times she's actually been sick and they said if she can't even keep water down by noon, then I have to bring her in. Well, she kept a little water down and now she's having her morning nap, so we'll see. To top it off, we are scheduled to have our flu shots tomorrow :( The doctor said that if she's still throwing up later, then she shouldn't have her flu shot tomorrow. So, hopefully she's ok and we can just get that shot over with. Not looking forward to it. Plus, Gabe and I are both getting the shot also. Never had one before, but it's highly recommended, so we're doing it. I'll keep you updated.

Halloween

Hello,
Well, Trick-or-Treating was successful. We had a blast. Siobhan, Greg, Aibha and Siobhan's sister Klina joined Maddie, Gabe, Sandy and I. We went to the houses across the street from Gabe's parents' house and it was the perfect neighborhood to be in. Lot's of kids and friendly people. Aibha really knew how it worked. She'd knock, say "trick-or-treat" and grab 2 treats-one for her and one for Maddie. It was really cute. She was dressed as a lady bug and Maddie was a pumpkin. Yesterday Maddie and I went to the library and checked out some books. They had a play room with books for her age in it, plus puzzles to do also. It was fun and probably going to become a weekly trip! She's still off with the time change from California time, but today I'm making an effort to try and get us both back on the right schedule. So far, so good. Tonight is The Office and I'm excited to see it. It's November-can you believe it?

We're Back!

Good Morning,
We made it home safely last night and this morning we are very off from the time change. Maddie is still sleeping and it's almost 8:30am (which has never happened before). We will take it easy today and hopefully make it to Gymbo. I need to upload the pic's of the trip and then I'll put them up on the blog. If you're wondering about the flight, it was stressful. Gabe and I tried to keep a good attitude and Maddie wasn't being bad, she was just really frustrated and at a certain point, just really sick of being on a plane (I can't blame her, I was feeling the same way). We are already worried about our flight at Christmas-but what can you do? More to come later...

Gabe is on his way :)

Hello All,
We are having a great time. I just got done baking the Elmo cake for her party on Sat. I'm going to frost it in a day or so, but so far so good. The cake is chocolate and looks pretty cute. Went out to lunch at my favorite sushi restaurant here today and my sister's good friend AZ was our waitress. Small town. Maddie did not have sushi-she ate grapes, cheese and some pasta we brought from home. They seated us in front of the aquarium and she loved looking at the fish. My mom and I are taking her to a park this afternoon. I'll take lots of pic's. I just tracked Gabe's flight and he's flying over Wyoming right now. Only 2 and a half hours til he lands. Can't wait.
So, we're having a blast, and feeling that it will be very hard for me to leave California this time...

Day 5

Good Morning,
Maddie and I made it as you can see and we finally adjusted to the time change :) Yeah. We've been pretty busy since we got here, but today is going to be more like normal, with errands to run and food to eat. I've taken some pic's here, and I will try to upload them soon. We're busy today getting party things together for her birthday party on Saturday-Elmo themed. Alexa sent me the pic's from Maddie's 1st party in Virginia, so if you'd like to see them, then click on the link below. Have a great Tuesday...

http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/newstart20/Maddie%20Birthday/

California or Bust!

Well, it's about time for me to go to bed because I'm getting up at 3am! Our flight leaves at 6:30am out of Dulles and I want to leave plenty of time. This time tomorrow night, I'll be in CA. So excited, but nervous about flying with Ms. Squirmy Pants. Think of me early in the morning as I'm making my way across the country. And if you pray, pray for us :) I'll blog and hopefully post pic's of our trip as it's happening. See ya in 10 days VA...

Clothes, Books and Rocking Horses-Oh My...

Hello,
Maddie had her birthday party on Saturday and I think I've finally recovered :) It was A LOT of work-but Gabe and I really wanted to make it special-even though she'll never remember it! WE had about 20 people here in our small living room, but it was a blast. Maddie was napping as people were arriving, but she woke in time for her daddy's excellent BBQ chicken and baked mac & cheese (made from scratch). I made her 2 butterfly cakes (1 of which is still in the kitchen). I forgot to take a picture of the one we all ate, so the picture you see is of the 2nd cake. They turned out really well-I was determined. We opened presents and Maddie got a lot of warm clothes (we really needed), some toys, a book and a very special rocking horse named Velvet from her Aunt Janie and Aunt Patrice. She likes to pet his mane and she likes to ride him, but she needs help because her feet can't touch the ground yet! Tucker was pretty interested in Velvet too...I think he thinks we got another dog :) We tried to put her party hat on her, but she really hates to wear things on her head. Also, other people took pic's because I was so busy, so the pictures I have are few. Alexa is supposed to send me the ones she got online soon and then I'll post those.
We leave for California in 4 days and I'm excited, but also a bit nervous for the flight. We leave really early in the morning, so I'm hoping she feels tired and can rest. She has her new car seat now (thanks Nonni) and she'll be able to ride facing forward on the plane, so hopefully I can keep her occupied :) Gabe will meet us there about 6 days after we leave and then fly back home with us on the 29th. Just in time for Halloween. Maddie's costume came in the mail the other day and it's so cute. She's going to be a pumpkin (but the costume is a silky material) and it's really nice. I'm excited for her to dress up. I think that night we will be trick-or-treating with Siobhan, Aibha and Greg. Aibha will be a ladybug this year. I'm sure we'll have lot's of pictures from that.
So, we have a busy week ahead of us. Lot's to do to get ready to leave and I even want to try and fit in a pumpkin patch excursion :)

Big Scare :(

Hello All,
I'll start by telling you that Maddie is fine, but yesterday we did have a big scare. Gabe's Mom, Sandy, and I took Maddie to her 1 year appointment for a check-up and shots. Well, I already knew it would be a hard day because it's really hard to see and hear your baby cry (especially when they cry like that). The check-up was great. Maddie is now 18lbs 9oz, and 28" long. She's still in the 10th percentile (she's miniature). But, she's met every milestone and has even exceeded some, so the doctor was pleased. At her 1 year appt. she is supposed to have her finger pricked for the first time to look at her blood. That was pretty terrible. She flipped out and hated the woman who was doing it. So, the visit was over and we left and went on with our day.
Maddie and I were shopping for her new car seat when I got the call. It was the doctor from the morning saying that the number for Maddie's white blood cell count was really low and she needed us to come back so they could take her blood again and re-check it. Okay, "breathe" I thought. I seriously had a moment where it felt like a dream/nightmare; "this isn't happening." I asked her what "low white blood cells could mean", and she said "the first thing is to retest, and if that produces the same results then we need to find out why her bone marrow isn't making enough white blood cells." I told the doctor I would rush there with Maddie and I called Gabe to leave work and meet me.
The drive to the doctor was unlike anything I've ever felt. The worst ran through my head-"does she have cancer? is it because I've heated her bottles in the microwave? how will I be able to handle this?" I started to cry and pray "please let her be okay...she needs to be okay...please let her be okay...she has to be okay..." I felt like I was going to throw up and to be honest have NEVER been so scared in my whole life. She's so healthy and watching her get shots that morning had been incredibly stressful; I couldn't imagine watching a child go through any kind of medical treatment for a disease.
Maddie and I got to the doctor's quickly and they saw us right away. The doctor kept saying she was sorry to worry me and that Maddie seems so healthy, so it's probably nothing, but we need to retest to be sure. So, off we went to get her finger pricked again. That was a nightmare. As soon as Maddie saw the woman who pricked her finger earlier, she started to scream. She already knew what was going to happen. They took the blood and Maddie and I waited in the waiting room for the results and for Gabe. Gabe got there, and we waited for 15 minutes while Maddie played with another baby who shared her birthday. We made small talk with other parents, but I couldn't get my mind off of the results we were waiting for. I continued to pray in my head "she has to be okay..."
The doctor came out of the lab room and she gave us the thumbs up! "thank you, Lord," was my first thought. She came and told us that the number was totally normal and that it must have been a lab problem (like her blood clotted too soon in the tube before it was tested). She said the number is exactly what it should be and there's no need to retest in the future or follow up with anything. She's completely healthy.
I think facing that yesterday should remind us of several realities. I think we all take our health and the health of our children for granted, that life is truly fragile, and that the outcome of things is out of our hands. I'm so thankful today that she is a healthy little girl.

Pictures from last night's celebration...

Hello All, sorry no video from last night because we used our video camera instead and I think that's too long to upload, but I can take a look later. We went to Sandy and Carlos' last night for dinner, presents, a bath, and cake. It was fun. She liked looking at the candle when it was lit, and then she went straight for those raspberries; in fact, she ate them all! She liked them better than the cake itself :) What can I say, she loves fruit... We are getting ready right now to go to the Pediatrician's office for her shots :( It's scheduled around the time she get's tired, so I'm hoping she falls asleep on the ride home and wakes up happy so that we can go to Open Gym and see Aibha and Siobhan. We have lots to do to get ready for her party on Saturday, so I'm sure that will fill our next 2 days. Have a great Thursday!

Madeline is 1 Today

Maddie & Mommy 6:00am (just woke up!)

Good Morning to Everyone! Well, it's finally here. Maddie turned 1 this morning at 2:16am. Wow, how fast a year has flown by. I have to admit that last night I was SUPER emotional about today. I remember being in the hospital like it was yesterday and I'm sure I'll say that every time she has a birthday, even when she's turning 30 :) I was crying last night because I was feeling like she's no longer a baby-sort of like grieving her babyhood. I called my mom and she reminded me that even though Maddie is 1 now, she still needs me for a lot and has a lot of growing up to do. But, it's that whole blink of an eye thing that keeps getting me. We are only here for such a short time in the grand scheme of things. It's hard to see it fly by so quickly because it reminds me that as she gets older, I too am getting older. I mean, I have wanted to be a mom ALL my life, and the fact that I'm living that right now is wonderful, amazing, hard at times, etc. I guess I'm feeling like her and I were made for each other and what happens when she's grown up? I know, I know, you're thinking, "Sarah, she's only 1; get a grip." Well, here she is. This little person I had a part in creating. It's pretty amazing to have her in our lives and it's also hard to remember a life without her. I really believe that she is the best thing that's ever happened to me; without a doubt. She fills my days, makes me laugh, brightens my world, reduces me to tears and pushes my buttons.
For those of you that love her, thank you. Thank you for caring about her-I couldn't ask for anything more.
Happy 1st Birthday, Madeline Elisabeth...It's going to be a great year.

The Weekend is here...

Good Friday Morning to you! I'm here at the computer while Maddie is upstairs trying to fall asleep for her morning nap-wait, there's silence :) I think she fell asleep (yeah). We had a busy week. We've taken walks, been to Target (a million times), went to the grocery store, played at Gymboree twice, walked around the mall with Siobhan and Aibha, picked up my wedding ring (so pretty and now the wedding band is soldered to the engagement ring-much better), talked on the phone to Grammy Sandy in the hospital, went to doctor and discovered I have strep-throat, had sofa and chair steam cleaned, and many other things I'm sure I'm forgetting. In case you're reading this and don't know, Gabe's mom, Sandy, had knee replacement surgery on Wednesday and she gets out of the hospital today (finger's crossed). It went well, and she's there recovering, but they have her on a lot of drugs, so she's feeling pretty out of it. Gabe's been going to see her each day, but because I have strep and the baby isn't 12 years old (rules at the hospital) we aren't allowed to go see her. We plan to see her at the house tomorrow and keep her company for a while. Gabe's been really busy at work. Early mornings and later evenings than we're used to. Tomorrow he'll work and I need to figure out a cake recipe for Maddie's b-day next week. Cannot believe she's almost one. I'm going to save the sappy stuff for her actual day, but I've been going over it in my head. Sunday, Gabe is off to the Redskins game with his buddy Alex. Maddie and I are on our own. We are probably going to see Alexa and Ella once we decide what we want to do together. So, not much going on for us. We'll be around. There's only 5 days til' her birthday, and only 14 days til' we're back in California!!!!

Bathtime (Click play to watch)

Short Video

Only 8 days til' she's ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chilli, Cookies and Cornbread

Good Morning,
It's Monday and Maddie has decided to sleep in a bit (Yeah). It's 7:22am and not a peep, yet... Saturday was nice. Gabe was gone the whole day (sad)-he had to work and then to dog show and then back to work to bathe the show dog, and then home. Maddie and I got up early and went to the Farmer's Market in Old Town. We bought one large tomato, two apples, a loaf of sandwich bread, a mini blueberry bread, and a basket of brussel sprouts. I know, none of the items seem to go together, but that's sort of how the farmer's market is. Plus, it was fun to see how the selections have changed now that it's supposedly fall here. I say supposedly because even though the calendar says it's fall, sometimes the temperature says summer. Anyways, Maddie and I came home and hung out and then went on a nice long walk in the afternoon. It was a nice day. On Sunday, I woke up early and went to church. It was a good service and once again I was thankful that I could get there. I say that because often on Sundays, something will come up that will make it impossible for me to get to church-dog show, out of town, etc. I decided later in the day to make chili. I made it in the slow cooker and also made some cornbread to go along with it. Then I still had time and Maddie was napping and Gabe wasn't home, so I decided to make Halloween sugar cookies-and then decorate them with frosting and sprinkles. We took the food over to Gabe's parents house and fed everyone and they were saying that I had been "very domestic" that day. I said, "yeah, that and I was trying to fill my day..." Have a great week!

Dog Show

Today was a fun day. Gabe is showing a new bitch (dog lingo) named El Sea (get it, she's a Portuguese Water Dog), and Maddie, Aibha, Siobhan and I went to watch. The drive was a little longer than I had anticipated and in the middle of nowhere. But it was beautiful. It's always amazing to me that you can drive about 30 miles outside of DC and totally be in the country-we're talking few homes, lots of beautiful land, fences for miles-kind of country. It was great. Siobhan, the girls and I showed up just in time to see Gabe in the ring and win the puppy class with El Sea. Before you get too excited, he won because he was the only one in the ring, but I'm sure he also won because of his handling skills :) He didn't win "best of breed" so he was done pretty quickly. He had to head back to work and Siobhan, the girls and I stayed for a little while and walked around and looked at some of the other dogs that were being shown. Then we headed back to Alexandria. The girls were tired and a little cranky at that point, but they did well and Maddie was sound asleep for her nap when we pulled up at home. Gabe has dog shows for the rest of the weekend and depending on how I feel, Maddie and I may brave going out there one more time. We'll see. We don't have any other real plans for the weekend-hopefully just some time together and time to relax. We'll see...

How Many...

times a day can this child get hurt???? I will say that it's tough on the Mom when the baby becomes a walker because they get hurt sooooooooooooooooo much more often! Maddie had a big fall yesterday and now has a bump/bruise/scrape on the top of her forehead. I was scared after she fell, so I called the doctor and they told me to just watch her-but she's been fine since it happened, so no worries. Phew! Today we are going to see Siobhan and Aibha at Open Gym at Gymboree. That will be fun because the girl's haven't seen eachother in a couple of weeks and neither have the moms :) The pictures I've put up are just of Maddie and the past week or so. I can't believe her birthday is so close. Yesterday we went and got stuff for her party in Virginia. It should be fun and maybe Maddie's older friends, Ella & Aibha, can show her how to blow out a candle! Oh, and tonight, The Office, is back on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's an hour long (9-10pm) and I'm really excited. Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy are back on tonight too...very busy TV watching schedule :)

still just 2 teeth

Mad and Tuck...

doing what they do best...

she climbs on him and he doesn't care!

Favorite morning pasttime (tossing newspapers around)

Tuesday

Hello,
This morning was really cute with Maddie. She just LOVES the dogs and it's fun to watch. She likes to take the pillows off the couch and put them on the ground and pretend to go "nigh-nigh" on them. The dogs were laying right next to her and Tucker was licking her head and Zora was licking her foot :) It made her pause from all her movement and smile. Very cute to watch. I'm really noticing how she's becoming so much more like a kid than a baby. She'll be 1 very soon and her personality (comedian) is shining through. I can see the ways she's getting smarter too. Like, my flip-flops were off yesterday and she went and picked them up, brought them over to me and tried to put them on my feet. It's that whole thing where she understands but she can't talk yet. She says "Dada" all the time and says it to Gabe, but also to the dogs, garbage can, paper, etc. She says "nigh-nigh" when tired, but that can get confused with "num-num" which she says when she's hungry for food (not a bottle). She's learned to clap and loves to do it when music comes on. As her mom, I find the way she thinks and learns to be so interesting-probably more than most of you reading this, but I wanted to chronicle it so that I can remember it. When you're having a baby everyone tells you that it "will fly by" and I'm finding that to be so true. I'm really nostalgic lately for what last year at this time was like. I was VERY pregnant and so excited to meet her and so sick of being pregnant. But, a year later, I miss those feelings...

Home from Las Vegas

Okay, so we landed late last night and picked the baby up and came home and crashed. But, the highlight of our trip to Vegas is in the above video. Yesterday, on our final day in Vegas I wanted to go play my Wheel of Fortune slot machine over at the Venetian. Well, I played for a couple rounds and then we decided to get some breakfast. When we were done, the machine called to me. I went back and put $10 in. I played for a while and all of the sudden, I hit the jackpot!!! I won 1800 quarters or $450!!! It was awesome. Gabe and I were so happy and we left so that we didn't blow our winnings. Best trip ever!!! In Vegas, we also went to dinner at Tom Collichio's restaurant (the guy from TopChef) called Craftsteak, where I had the best lobster ever. We went to see Penn & Teller's magic show and took pic's with them and got autographs after the show. We went to the trade show for pet stuff (the main reason we went to Vegas) and we gambled. As we were leaving the hotel (The Wynn-which I HIGHLY recommend) John O'Hurley (Elaine's boss on Seinfeld) passed us as we waited for our bags in the foyer of the Wynn's Tower Suites! So much fun. We just had a really good time and while I really missed Maddie, it was a nice break. Today, we are back to the grind :)

Video & Recap of our weekend

Gabe and I were away on Saturday and Saturday night. We went to a beautiful wedding about an hour away and Maddie stayed with Sandy and Carlos. She did great-which is good, because we leave at 4:30am tomorrow morning for Vegas and they will be watching her again. We are headed there for a trade show and to have some fun. I'm writing this while trying to upload a new short video of Maddie from this morning. I spent a lot of time on Friday trying to upload a much longer video, but it took forever and then timed out! Frustrating. So, Siobhan, I'm trying :) Today, I have a lot to do. Laundry, take a walk (it FINALLY feels like Fall here :), play, clean, get the house ready for our house-sitters, pack, etc.
Back to the wedding. It was really amazing. Gabe's good friend since high school got married at her Dad's 300+ acre estate in Easton, MD. It was awesome. It was the first Jewish wedding I've ever attended, and I really enjoyed the ceremony. There was great food, a cocktail hour that included a sushi bar as well as passed hors d'oeuvres, then onto the reception. There were white flip flops available for every woman to wear instead of their heels (Thank God), a candy bar where you could choose any candy to take home with you, a live band that were sooooo good and lots of dancing. We had a blast.
Yeah, the video worked!! I have another one of her eating that I may try to put up too!

Wednesday 9-12-07

Hello All,
Well, I remember this day last year very well. I was 9 months pregnant and driving to visit Alexa and her new baby Ella when I got the call. My brother Dan and his wife Jen had a baby boy and named him Logan. I remember crying tears of happiness on the drive (very emotional when preggers) and just being so happy for them to have had a healthy little boy. It felt exciting and reminded me once again, that many women I know had had babies and in less than a month I would too. So, happy 1st birthday to my nephew Logan John!!! Today, Maddie, Gabe and I are going to the memorial service for their family friend who passed away over the weekend. Then it's home to do laundry while Maddie naps and hopefully finish the movie I started yesterday called "Desk Set." Lizzy loves classic movies and I always want to watch them, but I want to know ahead of time if they will be good. Well, she made me an extensive list and I've started ordering them through Netflix and I'm halfway through my first one. Lizzy, so far I LOVE it. Good choice. That's all for now. We're getting ready around here to leave Maddie on Saturday for the night (we are going to a wedding an hour away and staying there) and then we come home for 2 days and leave her again (we're going to Vegas for a trade show from next Tues-Thurs) so there seems to be a lot to do to get ready. I'm not so happy to be leaving her-in fact I'm sad, but I keep telling myself she won't remember this. Plus, it should all be very fun. Enjoy your day...

Season Opener

Hello All,
Hope you've had a great weekend. Sorry it's taken me so long to blog, but for some reason this week got really busy. Now we can relax. The pic above, is me today, tailgating with Gabe before the Redskins Season Opener. It was fun. I'm trying to hold up the chip I was eating to show you that it's in the shape of Idaho. I thought it was funny. Redskins won in overtime and normally I wouldn't care that much, but I've made a decision to try and not hate football so much. So, to help me not hate it, I'm trying to pay attention to it more. However, due to the +90 degree heat and humidity today, I spent a lot of time indoors in air conditioning. I now have a slight sunburn and feel pretty dehydrated. I tried to drink a bunch of water and only had a couple of beers, but it was way too hot for me. The point is that I spent a lot of time thinking about how hot I was feeling (and what ways I could alleviate that uncomfortable-ness) that I had a hard time understanding a lot of what happened in the game. Gabe understands and has admitted that I'm "kind of" a trooper. Guess that's better than nothing :)
So, looking at the week ahead. A close friend of Gabe's family passed away yesterday morning and so I know we will have his memorial service to attend-just not sure when. We also have to get ready to go out of town to a wedding next weekend-Maddie is staying with Carlos and Sandy overnight, so I need to get a few things ready for that as well. Elisabeth's birthday is tomorrow and Logan's is Wednesday and Jen's is next Sunday! Lot's of September birthday's in my family. I'm finishing up with my physical therapy this week (only 3 more sessions!!!) and then they discharge me until/unless I need more help for my neck. But, that brings to mind that another thing I need to do this week is find out where I can get acupuncture for my neck issue. I'm really interested in trying it out. Lot's of people swear by it. So, that's the week so far. We will also be doing Gymboree and seeing Siobhan and Aibha (our buddies). Sounds pretty full. I promise to blog many more times this week...

Check this out...

Here's Maddie walking this afternoon! Enjoy.

Worth a thousand words....

Sick!

Hello All,
We had a very uneventful Labor day because all 3 of us are SICK! Maddie has been fighting this for a week or so, and now Gabe and I have it. Yesterday was the worst. We were both bed and couch bound, low energy, nauseous, coughing, runny nosed...you get the picture. We were supposed to do a BBQ at Sandy and Carlos' house, but that plan didn't work out. We took lots of Dayquil and then Nyquil to help us feel better today. Gabe went to work and I'm home with the baby, and our plan is to take it easy. Bummed because it's Gymboree today, but we won't go and make everyone else sick too! We may venture out to the grocery store, but that's looking like that's all we'll do today. Sorry there's not much going on for me to blog about. Hope you all had a fun Labor day and I'll write when there's more to say. Oh, and many of you know (either because I've talked to you on the phone or I've seen you in person) but Maddie is walking. She's been walking for about 2 weeks or so-but she's really gotten the hang of it (and chooses it generally over crawling) for the past week. It's really cute because she's small and still looks so much like a baby-I think it surprises people.

Sunday, 9/2/07

Hello,
Well, I'm barely awake. I had the luxury of sleeping in (7:14am) while Gabe got the baby, fed her, walked dogs, fed dogs, unloaded the dishwasher and made coffee!!! Yesterday afternoon we had some friends over for a BBQ and to hang out since we hadn't seen them in a while. Zach, Faith and Alex all came and we had Cherry Cola Ribs and TONS of other food. It was a lot of fun. We found out that Zach and Faith are pregnant and due in March-which was really exciting as they have been trying for a while. It was great news because now maybe we will see more of them. It's hard with a lot of Gabe's friends, because we are the only one's with a child. With my friends it's different-everyone seems to have at least one :) Not sure why; probably girls vs. guys. Many of Gabe's friends aren't even married-so we both understand why we don't see them all that often. Although, Gabe's excited because he and Alex are going golfing when I get home from church. They spent a lot of time yesterday re-gripping Gabe's clubs and now he can't wait to try them out. As for me, I'm off to church, then home with the baby. Later, Sandy will take her and I'm going shopping for a dress for the wedding we're going to in 2 weeks. It's a really fancy wedding (I've heard) and Siobhan lent me a dress (thank you) but Gabe didn't think it was fancy enough-so the hunt is on. It's too hard to shop for and try on dresses with Maddie with me because now that she's a walker, she only will be happy in the stroller if it's moving-otherwise she figures, "let me out! I wanna walk!" She is getting so coordinated at walking and I love her determination. She falls (a lot) but she always gets up again-I hope this will be her take on life :) Happy Labor Day (tomorrow) for those of you that work and those of us who've gone through labor :) :)

Maddie today & yesterday

Maddie's walking in her new bell bottoms which I
love and am so sad because they are only going
to fit her for a little while. Then what will
we do?

Headed towards a destination with a
little help from the wall.

She made it and beautifully I might add!
Did you notice the baby gate that she
knocked down? She's a tricky one :)

8-29-07

Hey All,
We're on our way to dinner, but I have 2 cute pic's of Maddie to post. I'll do it when I get home.
I put this on a comment page, but we're on our way to Langosta Roja. Can you translate espanol to English???

Monday, Monday

Hello,
Sorry it took so long to write, but I've had a hurt back for the last 2 days. I know, I know, I seem like I'm 80 or something. But, with lifting the baby from the crib, carrying her around, heaving the stroller into the back of the car, leaning over to bathe her and then lift her out of the tub...the list goes on. I'm surprised more mom's don't have sore backs. Not to mention the very long car trip we took to Charlottesville on Saturday. It was a beautiful baptism. Baby Grayson and Maddie are only 4 days apart in age (Grayson is older) and they do share some similarities. Basically you can tell they are related in some way. One random thing that happened there. I was talking to the minister (a very old gentleman) and he asked me where I was from. I told him "Sonoma County." He asked me "Where in Sonoma County?" I told him the Santa Rosa/Sebastopol area. He then told me that he and his wife lived in Santa Rosa and Berkeley for many years. And, when they lived in Santa Rosa, he worked at the Press Democrat!! That's crazy because my mom and Jer both worked there for many years; that's where they met and fell in love. Small world is right.
Maddie and I were semi-busy today. We played, straightened up, made a mess, visited my neck doctor for a check-up, and rested. The check-up went well in that she could tell how well I've responded to physical therapy; (ie) my neck can actually turn. She informed me that since I'm doing so much better we don't really need to talk surgery (thank God), but that in old age, I will most likely suffer from some painful arthritis in my neck (something to look forward to :(
So, that's if for now. Tomorrow Maddie has Gymboree and we are going to the class that's the next one up from where she is now. But, since she's mostly walking (be it wobbly) I think it will be more fun for her. The class she's leaving has many babies who aren't even crawling yet, so sometimes she seems bored and restless; Oh, and so am I :)

Maddie wears shoes now!!!

Maddie started wearing shoes today! (You can click on the pictures to see them closer). Every time we're in public, she wants to get down, out of my arms and cruise around. She did this yesterday at dog school and I felt like she needed shoes. So, now she wears them. She wasn't too sure at first, but now she doesn't even notice them. The other 2 pic's are her this morning reading her favorite dog book! Today at lunchtime, she ate some red grapes (cut very small) and a little couscous! She's adventurous :) Also, for those of you who want to know, my trip home in October is from the 19th-29th. Hopefully Maddie and I can see a lot of you!!

"I'm going home...to the place where I belong..."

Did I just reference Daughtry? Ha ha. Anyways, I am going home, with the baby, in October and Gabe will be meeting us there too! Maddie is a bi-coastal baby, so why wouldn't she have bi-coastal first birthday parties? It's funny. I asked Gabe last night if whenever we have a second baby, will he/she get the same treatment (ie) 2 first birthday parties? He said, "probably not." And I responded that that was sad for that baby. Gabe and I are both first born children and I know from talking to both of our mom's that we were definitely spoiled in terms of attention. I know Maddie is this way too. I mean, she's the first baby girl grandchild on both sides-so that in itself makes her pretty special. I really want to commit right now that I will be the mom who tries to take just as many pic's of the next baby as I do of her. I know Lizzy (being the 3rd child) always feels she got the shaft in this department. But, guess what? Then you grow up and your older sister names her baby after you! :) Maddie and I will be in Northern CA for 10 days in October, and then Gabe will join us about 6 days into our trip to help celebrate her birthday out in Sebastopol. I'm already excited and it's still 2 months away :0
Today was busy. Maddie and I decided to go with Gabe's Mom, Sandy, to the mall to pick out some presents for Maddie's 2nd cousin, Grayson. She get's baptised tomorrow in Charlottesville and we're making the trek. Nevermind the fact that the forecast is 107 degrees with 100% humidity!!! Nightmare. We plan to stay inside A LOT. It's a bit of a drive, but it will be family time with just Gabe, Maddie and I on the drive and that will be fun. Plus, Maddie and Grayson are only a week apart in age, and it will be fun to watch how they are similar and different. I'll keep you posted tomorrow on how it all goes, unless I melt first!

A Day at the Museum

I am blogging between phone calls, laundry, and enjoying some long lost peace and quiet. It's been one of those days. Well, not entirely. Maddie and I decided we needed an adventure today. So, together we braved DC. We headed to the Hirshhorn Museum (Smithsonian) of Modern Art. It was really cool-some pieces were a little too cool (read weird) for me. There were some installation pieces that were made out of flourescent lights and loud sounds-we weren't into those. These pic's are a few that we did enjoy. The first is cool because it was so big and so bright-and come on, it's kid colors! The next one, I really liked. It's a painting by Alex Katz called Ada and Vincent in the Car and for some reason it struck me as interesting and beautiful. The third pic is here because Madeline was really interested in it. It's by Jean Debuffet and it's called Three Masks: Rene Pontier, Andre Claude, Robert Polguere, 1935. She kept looking at the masks and laughing. We obviously have different tastes, but we had fun.
After the museum, we walked through the garden they have there. I fed her some food and then we headed home. She slept for a total of 15 minutes this whole afternoon! Once we got home, she wanted to continue practicing walking-therefore, no nap. Needless to say, she is in bed now and Gabe is home. Time to eat dinner :)