2007

So far, the best

year
of
my
life!
Happy New Year!

Vacation is busier than real life!

We've been so busy relaxing, shopping for babyproofing supplies, etc, that I haven't had much time to post. I did want to share a picture of my new baby nephew's Christmas present which I mentioned previously. It was my first try and I was really pleased with how it came out.

In just a week, Madeleine went from barely moving to crawling everywhere (fast!), pulling up on her knees (and even balancing with no hands!), and yesterday she even pulled up to her feet! Now every time we go to get her in her crib, she's kneeling up and holding onto the bars. She also has a special knack for getting into things she is not supposed to. I'm not sure we'll be able to fully babyproof this house. She is really happy that she can move now - it's a whole new world to explore!

More where that came from...

Grandma with all her Great Grandchildren:

Jordan holding Isaac, Leah holding Madeleine (modest little thing), Grandma holding Hannah, Thomas, and Jacob.

Madeleine liked the bag of dog treats better than any other present. I know. Weird.
The best family picture we could get - Ken didn't know he was in the picture.
Opening presents at our house Christmas morning.
After all the presents, she was a pro at unwrapping!

Madeleine's First Christmas

It's officially the last year I can try out for American Idol...

I better get on that!

Really, my birthday started out with a BANG. Literally. On the way home from Mass this morning we stopped at the grocery store for some last minute ingredients. It was EXTREMELY windy, and when I opened the door, it got away from me and hit the car next to us. It left a big dent in their car. So just as I was leaving a note for her to call my cell phone, she came out. She was SO nice - she had just come from the 8am mass too. We exchanged information. This is really going to cost me. We do have a glimmer of hope though. Our insurance waives the deductible if we're coming to or from church. Hopefully this counts.

The rest of the day was much better. We went to Barnes and Nobles for our date, then to Mom and Dad's house for lunch and the Colts game (they won!) After Madeleine went to bed Ken made me a hot bath and surprised me with a gift card to my very favorite yarn store! The card was folded up in the towel he laid out for me :)

Now we're going to watch a Christmas movie and relax! I had lots of fun being 27. Now I'm ready for 28!

Yes you were, little Angel

Yes you were.

Vacation!!!

We are on our 12 DAY CHRISTMAS VACATION!!! I'm so excited. Ken is off almost the whole time too. I'm SO looking forward to spending all that time as a family.

And our job this vacation is babyproofing! Madeleine is crawling EVERYWHERE!! I can't believe it. 2 days ago she couldn't do it, and now she just figured it out. She's getting into everything too. Today she knocked over two different trash cans and started playing with the paper. She thought that was the coolest thing in the world.

She also opened her very first Christmas present today from the kiddos. She loved it - especially the paper :)

The kid will eat anything.
Grace and Ava liked their presents too!

And they also gave me a beautiful wool winter coat. I didn't have a coat since I stretched my other one out so much last winter from being pregnant, and I had gotten that one for my 20th birthday! So it was way past time to retire it. In fact, my mom said that if I wore it this winter she wasn't going to go anywhere with me! So Ken was going to get me one for my birthday, but then, you know, I ran over the camera, so the new one was my birthday present. They are so generous and the coat is perfect - it's exactly like what I would have picked out for myself!

The camera saga continues

Man do I wish I hadn't run over that stupid camera.

Circuit City said I had to pay a 15% restocking fee if I bought another camera that wasn't equal or greater value. That was going to be $30! I didn't want to give them the satisfaction, but I wanted my old camera back! So, the next upgrade was only $170, not enough. The NEXT upgrade of the same camera was $229! So I decided that if I had to pay $30 anyway, I wanted to put it toward a better camera and not just give it to them! So I ended up with this one. It better be good.

I'm taking the camera back

Yesterday the salesman talked me into upgrading from our old camera, which was only 6 months old. He said this one had face recognition which is good for taking pictures of kids. But I did not like it! The screen was smaller and fuzzy, the menu was much harder to navigate. So I'm taking it back and getting my old one, which is about $50 cheaper!

I love this camera. The screen is huge and clear, it takes great pictures, and the menu is so easy to navigate. I think I'll stick with the old one.

We got a new camera today

Why, you may ask, since we just got the other one in June? A perfectly good one too.

Because someone around here MAY have accidently dropped it on the garage floor and ran over it. :(

Oh well, it can be my birthday/Christmas present. Ken was nice about it too.

*On a side note, look how much she has changed since June! Amazing.

Mobile

Madeleine crawled forward for the first time today!

Go Baby Go!

Ava and I were playing "tea party" on the floor (with pretend chai - she's a girl after my own heart!) And Madeleine was going after the tea set. She REALLY wanted to play too!

Hm... what to do about all the Christmas presents I just wrapped and put under the tree yesterday? Good thing she isn't very fast yet!

We finally got her stocking yesterday. It says "Baby's First Christmas." Mom is making a stocking for her but she said she doesn't think it'll be done before Christmas, so we decided to get this one and then we can use it for all the babies (God willing there will be lots more!)

After reading Kathryn's post yesterday, I have a new goal. What do you think, Ken? :)

Day off!

I took the day off today. Here are my accomplishments:

Shopping 100% done.
Wrapping 90% done
Christmas card writing 25% done
My new nephew's Christmas present 50% done

Laundry, dishes, vaccuuming, cleaning 0%

What did you think I was going to say? I'm not a miracle worker you know :)

Keepin' it real

This morning, Madeleine was in bed with us and Ken got up to take a shower. She was awake, but he had put a pillow on his side of the bed. I was kind of dozing off, and then I heard a big thud - she fell off the bed! I grabbed her immediately and she just started talking and smiling. She didn't even cry at all. But I felt horrible! Poor thing. I had heard lots of stories of this happening, but of course never thought it would happen to us. I told Ava's mom this morning and she said, "Oh I've done that hundreds of times." That made me feel a little better. Am I a horrible mom or what?!

In other, much better news, Ken got a nice bonus and a great compliment from his boss. He said that he was doing a great job and really deserved it. Congratulations Ken! And now we can pay off some credit cards and get a stove that isn't older than me :)

Santa's little helper

My kid's a genius

She had a BIG weekend!

She got her two bottom teeth.

She started crawling (well, backwards!)

AND...

She said her first word! I held up a little rubber duck, and told her what it was. She said, "Duck!" At first I thought it was a coincidence, but she said it several more times when we had different ducks (she loves them - so we have several different colors)

Then, today, after her dinner, I did the sign and said "All done" and she said "Done!"
She's a genius I tell you!

We had her nine month doctor appointment today.

17 lbs 3 oz
27 1/2 inches

I thought she would be closer to twenty pounds. But I am happy because I can keep her in her infant carseat a little while longer!

How to burn 500 calories in one hour

Take a 9 month old to mass.

It's like an hour long wrestling match.

And we did it twice this weekend!!

And a new trick

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More things she does at nine months. She says Mama and Dada - and knows who we are too! She plays peek-a-boo - we put a blanket on her face and say "where's Madeleine?!" and she pulls it off and giggles! Then if we stop before she's ready, she'll try to pull the blanket back up! The noise I'm trying to get her to make she does ALL the time. Especially during Mass.

And of course she does this new trick....

And the big news of the day..... she got her first tooth!!!! The other bottom one looks like it's going to pop through any minute too. Finally!

9 months old!

Madeleine got much more mobile this month! She is not crawling yet, but she can get anywhere she wants to go - she is an expert roller! She also can scoot herself backwards and around in a circle. She is really good at getting up on her hands and knees, but she hasn't moved yet from this position.

She saw her first snow today! I'm sure she can't wait to get out and play in it.

She still does not have a tooth! She's eating lots of fruits and vegetables, and she loves the Gerber puffs, and she LOVES canned mango. That is her absolute favorite treat.

She is still very grabby. I can hardly do anything if I'm holding her - if I'm writing she grabs the pen, if I'm having a drink she has to have a drink, if I'm eating she grabs off of my plate! She also loves to grab my nose, mouth, and hair.

I left her for 3 hours last Sunday with my Mom. That is the longest I've ever left her and I missed her the whole time! She was perfectly fine though - she loves my mom since she sees her almost every day!

She's doing much better sleeping now too. She takes a one hour nap in the morning, and a one and a half to two hour nap in the afternoon (the same time as Ava's nap - YAY!) She has a few little silky "lovies" that she holds right up to her face when she's sucking her thumb and going to sleep. (Yes, she still sucks her thumb 24/7!) She goes to sleep between 7 and 7:30 every night and she's been sleeping until about 4, sometimes even 5am! We still bring her into our bed when she wakes up, and she goes back to sleep until about 6:30. I love waking up with her. She is always in a great mood when she wakes up.

I know every mom says this, but she really has something special about her. She seems to just radiate love and joy. Everyone always wants to be around her. People actually fight over who gets to check us out at the grocery store. I just love her more and more every day and think she is the best baby in the whole world!

Playdate

Today the Jehovah's Witness was supposed to come back, to explain to me from the bible why God allows suffering in the world. I had a good plan. I invited my friend and her 3 kids over for a playdate. She has a degree in Theology from Steubenville and said she would love to talk to the JW. Well, she did not show up! She usually comes on Tuesdays so I will ask my friend to come back next week.

Here was our plan: (from Envoy Magazine)


1. Be friendly at all times, and never lose your temper. Punching is not an effective strategy for evangelism. Witnesses are used to people treating them very rudely. They’ll be surprised and impressed if you greet them with Christian kindness and charity. And, it’ll improve the chances that they’ll stick around when you bring out the big apologetics guns. (I have done this every time she has come. I think she's pleasantly surprised. I really like talking to them.)

2. Control the conversation. They’ll try to start in with a prepared presentation; don’t let them. It’s best to start the discussion off with a question. Then, make sure you’ve got the momentum to keep them from getting you back in their court. (She's pretty good at controlling the conversation. That's why I invited my friend over. I needed back-up.)

3.Begin the discussion by concentrating on the failed prophecies of the Watchtower Society. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the Society is God’s prophetic voice on earth. For this reason, they’ll automatically discount any scriptural argument you offer, in favor of the Society’s interpretation. In order to get anywhere scripturally, you need to first shake their confidence in the honesty of the Society. Luckily for you, that shouldn’t be hard. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, "God’s prophetic voice," has uttered some serious false prophecies in its 100 years. For example, they declared Armageddon would come in 1914, 1918, 1925 and, to a lesser extent, 1975. Raise this issue with them, and show them Deuteronomy 18:21-22:"And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ — when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him."Going by this test, the Watchtower Society is a false prophet; you need not fear it, much less listen to it. Often, it helps to have photocopies of the actual pages of The Watchtower containing the false prophecies. Otherwise, the Witness may not believe you. A search of the Internet will turn up numerous websites where you can print out these pages.

4. When you discuss a scriptural topic with them, make sure it’s a relevant one (the Deity of Christ, the immortal soul, the reality of the Holy Spirit, etc.). It’s easy to waste time
on minor points (why they don’t vote or celebrate birthdays). When they leave, you want them to be questioning an important tenet of their theology. Also, prepare your position ahead of time. The premiere issue of Envoy has a great Nuts and Bolts on how to prove the deity of Christ. You can pick up that issue by calling 1-800-55-ENVOY. (I need to study up on these things!)

5. Give them your personal testimony about what Christ has done in your life. If you have any stories about miraculous answers to prayer, share them. This will definitely throw them off, since they’ll have a hard time understanding how a non-Christian (which is what you are to them) could have such dramatic results from God. Add to this the fact that many Witnesses don’t feel any real intimacy with the Father, much less Jesus. Often, the personal testimony is the most effective way to evangelize one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (I have some good stuff. God is good!)

6. Pray before and after the Witnesses come, but don’t pray with them. They’re taught not to pray with non-Witnesses; this could cause a huge faux paus, and possibly cause them to leave. (Weird.)

7. Last but not least, as you’re walking them to the door, bid them farewell, and leave them with the clincher statement: "If there’s ever anything I can do for you, please call, day or night." That will give them something to think about as they’re walking to the car. When a Witness is considering leaving the organization, they often have no-one to turn to. By letting them know they can turn to you, it will give them at least a small sense of security should they decide to leave the Society behind.


I thought numbers 3 and 5 were especially interesting. Good stuff. Too bad we haven't been able to use it yet.

Bye Nick

Sorry I did not say "bye" to you when we left Alabama last week. I didn't think you'd want me to wake you up at 5am, especially after your "beverages" the previous day! :)

We enjoyed seeing you though and you need to make a trip up to Indiana to meet all my single Catholic Hottie friends soon!!