The most exciting thing that happened to me today

Left to Tell

Has everyone read Left to Tell? Read it - it will change your life. It is just incredible. I read it in two sittings. I could not put it down. I really can't imagine going through what she went through, and coming out of the experience with such an amazing faith and love. And it reminds me that I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

Next weekend, Immaculee Ilibagiza is coming to our church to speak, and this week I got some tickets! I am so excited to see her. I really hope Madeleine behaves, and I hope I get to meet her!

http://www.lefttotell.com/

Next weekend is also Destination Jesus. I'm not really helping with anything this year, but Ken is playing in the band so I'm sure I'll go hang out and go to Mass. Immaculee is going to speak and lead the rosary there too.

I'm too tired to blog - goodnight!

Naughty!

Yesterday we went to a friend's house who has two very cute and very well behaved little boys - a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Ava was a really good girl, but Madeleine..... she actually kept hitting the 1 year old in the head with toys! I could NOT believe it, and I was SO embarassed (Sorry Susan!)

I immediately picked her up and said NO, and took the toy away, but as soon as I put her back down she went straight over to him and did it again! I didn't know I'd have to discipline her this early. I asked one of my good friends today what to do - she is a GREAT mom and I would love for my kids to turn out like her kids. She told me I need to start working on teaching her "gentle" and "soft." I hope it works... Now I'm a little worried - what I do to her is going to shape what kind of person she is. That is a HUGE responsibility! What if I mess up? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Happy 11 months!

This kid is just growing up way too fast. She started standing up a few days ago and already she's a pro. She pulls up on everything! I am sure she'll be cruising and then walking soon.
She is a very good talker, and adding to her vocabulary every day! She says Mama, Dada, Papa (for the Pope), ball, doll, duck, night-night, and she said Ava once, and also Yi-Yi for Eli. She TRIES to say everything I ask her to - like I asked her to say Madeleine, and she said "Ma-na-na." She usually gets the first consonant and the correct number of syllables. I am trying to teach her to say hello or hi and bye bye, but every time I ask her to say those things, she just waves! Whenever she learns a new skill or word, she giggles and claps for herself.

I have to keep my eye on this kid every second, because she is really fast and still puts everything in her mouth. Now she can reach up on coffee tables and shelves and pull everything off. She actually fell on the base of the swing the other day and got a bruise under her eye!
And it's getting increasingly challenging to change her diaper - she thinks it's really funny to flip over to her tummy when I'm trying to change her. I think it's going to be hard to discipline her too. When she does the flipping thing, I have flipped her back over and said "NO" in what I thought was a firm voice. Unfortunately, she thinks this is hilarious, cracks up and flips again so I will keep doing it!

Even so, she is the joy of my life, and I cherish every minute I get to spend with her!

Really, how many people can say this?

Ken and I played guitar for the Superbowl winning coach and he told us "Good job."

It's true. Tom Coughlin was the coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and I was living at the Newman Center at Ball State. I must have been a junior or senior, because Ken and I were dating, and one Sunday evening Fr. John told us he was saying Mass at the hotel in Muncie where the Jaguars were staying after playing the Colts, and asked us to do the music. Of course we jumped at the chance. We actually had NO time to practice so I doubt if we played well, but Coach Coughlin was very gracious and made a point to come up to us afterwards to thank us and Fr. John, and tell us that we did a good job. Yay for the Giants!

Superbowl Sunday

Who cares? Of course, I'd like the Giants to win, because the Patriots are a bunch of cheaters (Sorry, RI people!! :) Leave me a comment and tell me what you think of THAT comment!

This weekend, Madeleine had her first ride in Daddy's car. Yes, her first. We take the van everywhere, but if you recall, I had a little incident several months ago. I did get the scratches out, but the mirror was not as fortunate. It was hanging by a thread for a while, but it finally fell off. So I was taking it to get it fixed. So we had to ride in Daddy's car. (We're selling BOTH cars, getting cheap ones and doing the Dave Ramsay thing soon.) Madeleine had a VERY cute outfit on today that she got from Ava. Ava's mom bought this really cute shirt and pink corduroy jacket when Ava was tiny. But by the time it got cold enough to wear it, Ava was too big! So Madeleine got it and it is adorable. This is definitely one for the one year old professional pictures. Actually Ava's mom gave us all three outfits I'm going to bring for those pictures. She has GREAT taste!
The BIG news of the day: Madeleine pulled herself up for the first time tonight! And she stood for about 30 seconds! She's crying because she wanted me to pick her up once she stood up - and I was trying to take her picture, so it didn't come out too well. Notice the mess she makes of this room and notice the cat who kind of ignores the whole situation....
And for all the concerned citizens out there, I measured. She has a good 2.5 - 3 inches between her head and the top of the carseat :)
Madeleine also learned to clap this morning. At Mass. During the Eucharistic Prayer. She was very proud of herself and giggled loudly after each clap. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Baby it's cold outside

Name the movie: "(She) looked like a tick about to pop."

He's Here!!!

My beautiful new nephew, Elijah Kent, was born this afternoon!
Congratulations Michael and Jenni - we love you three!!!


Madeleine LOVED her new little cousin - she kept staring at him and wanting to hold him.
Happy Birthday Eli!!!!

Awesome milk-free pudding

Seriously, you'll love this even if you're lucky enough to be able to eat dairy products. We've made it about 5 times in 10 days, and last night Ken said I'm not allowed to make it for a while :)

2 cups soymilk (I use vanilla)
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Whisk the soymilk and cornstarch together until the cornstarch dissolves. Add the sugar and cocoa powder, put it on medium heat, and whisk constantly until it gets thick. It seems like it takes a while but once it starts bubbling, it gets thick really quickly. Then you take it off the heat, add the vanilla and stir. Pour it in bowls and chill for at least an hour - depending on how cold you like it. I like it really cold. It's supposed to be 4 servings but Ken and I can finish this whole recipe off. I won't say who eats the most :)

Try it! It's delicious!

On a MUCH happier note...

My brother and sister in law went to the hospital this morning - looks like my nephew will be born today!!!!!

Random things

We went to the 5:30 mass on Sunday, which was a big mistake. Usually we go to 8am, and she's still just drowsy enough to behave herself. 5:30 - 6:45 at night is not a good time for her. She wasn't BAD, per se. But she yapped and yapped and yapped. The kind of loud yap where you're not sure if she's going to be quiet soon or keep going. So I spent most of mass thinking to myself, "Should I take her out or try to wait and see if she quiets down?" She just learned a new word, Ball, and she was practicing. Here's how it went:

Father: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..."

Madeleine, very loudly, "Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!"

Everyone, "I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters..."

Madeleine, "Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!"

I finally did end up taking her out, and sat in the narthex on the floor in front of a huge picture of Pope Benedict. As soon as she saw the picture, she was enthralled, and kept reaching both arms up to it like she wanted him to pick her up. I told her that was Papa, and she started saying that. "Papa! Papa! Papa!" She's a loud one. I think we're sticking with 8am from now on.

Yesterday, Ken had practice with Sarah. We joined them for dinner (thanks Sarah!) Madeleine likes to flirt with the bass player. She smiles and waves at him, does "So Big" and everything else she can think of to impress him. He was telling us that his 26 year old sister has cancer, and the doctors just told them that they couldn't do anything. Chemo won't work because it's in her liver, and they can't do radiation because it's in all the lymph nodes surrounding her heart. So please pray for their family! When he was talking about this, Madeleine reached up and gave him a hug! She is the sweetest baby ever. Ken and I later thought that she could tell he was sad.

And pray for Ken too. And if anyone knows any attorney jobs around here..... let us know!

Sorry this turned into a depressing post! I'll do better next time!

Peekaboo!

Cute baby with new tricks

Finally!

A night time cloth diaper situation I like! (If you don't care about cloth diapers you can just skip over this post!)

Most of the time I use disposables at night. I tried a bunch of cotton under a wool cover, and it worked, but there were some problems with it. First of all, I don't like her skin feeling wet all night. Second, If she has all of that on, I can't fit pajamas over it, so I end up just putting her in a long sleeved shirt and long socks. This doesn't work now because she pulls her socks off.

So, I ordered some new BumGenius 3.0s with the new Hemp Babies Inserts. Expensive, I know. So I tried it for the first time last night - I used the BumGenius with both inserts it came with (now it comes with an infant insert for up to 10 lbs in addition to the regular one) plus the hemp. She was totally dry this morning and even her skin felt dry! I think we found a winner. I also like that it comes with the smaller infant insert, because I didn't really use these on her until she was about 2 months old - I didn't like the way it was so bulky between her legs. I think this will take care of that and I can use it for a doubler now. And they didn't raise the price - I'm pretty impressed. So now I really have enough diapers to go 3 days and 3 nights without washing. Before I was stretching it. NOW the money saving can begin, Ken (Until I decide I need some more!) :)

Bliss

She slept. From 7:15. TO 5:45!!!!

And since I went to bed at 10pm, I got almost a full 8 hours. That seriously has not happened once in at least a year. Oh my goodness it was wonderful. Especially since she's been adding a midnight wake up call to her regular 4 am lately.

Thank you God for a good night's sleep!

Better

Thank God.

We did go to work yesterday, she took good naps and was up bright and early this morning. So early, in fact, that we very easily made it to 8am Mass and Confession, so that was good. Then she took an hour and a half nap at Barnes and Nobles - so we actually got to read!

She took a good nap in the afternoon, and Ken watched her so I could go shopping for fabric. I am thinking I'm going to open a shop at www.etsy.com and try to sell some of my stuff. I just learned how to make great baby quilts, and actually sold one to Ava's mom for her friend this week. She always tells me I should sell my stuff. I can knit some baby sweaters and hats too. Can anything think of a good name for the shop?

Then, luxury of luxuries - I got to get a haircut BY MYSELF! YAY! It was long overdue and I went shorter than usual. In fact, my hair has gotten shorter and shorter since the kiddo was born. I think it looks pretty good!

Sick

Sorry I've been absent. Madeleine is still sick. I took her back to the doctor yesterday because she just had a really weird cough and looked like she was having trouble getting her breath. Also her voice is so hoarse! It sounds funny. The doc said she just has a nasty virus and basically we have to wait it out. I did work yesterday but this morning I picked her up out of her crib and she coughed so hard that she threw up all over both of us. That was fun. So I am staying home again today. Pray she gets better soon!

She is still the sweetest little thing - hardly cries and just wants me to hold her and rock her. No problem there :)

The Mobile

I kept it on the crib WAY too long. It said it could be used up to 5 months, but I stretched it to 10. See, if I took it down that would be admitting that she is growing up, and it's gone way too fast for me. The other night I laid in bed listening to her through the monitor. She started turning the monitor on and off, on and off, and finally she left it on, listening to it scroll through Bach, Beethoven and Mozart as she drifted off to sleep. I was drifting off to sleep too when it hit me that this could very well be the last time I heard that mobile, and I was sad. I thought about the very moment that I put that mobile on her crib, a few months before she was born. It was the very last thing I did before the nursery was complete. Then I sat down in the rocking chair and thought about the little person kicking me, and wondered what she would be like. And since she was about 3 months old, I turned it on for her when she went to bed. The familiar songs lulled her to sleep, and it was part of our bedtime routine. But now she is too big, she is pulling up and grabbing it, so I had to take it down. How did she get so big so fast?

Before

After

We didn't make it.

Yesterday after the shower, I thought Madeleine felt a little warm. I took her temperature (tip - if you're taking a baby's temperature and you don't have one of those new ear thermometers, give the baby a REALLY good toy - like a remote control, cell phone, or breakable glass thing) and her temp was 102! Poor little thing. She was exhausted too, since she missed her afternoon nap. But she was a trooper. I gave her some tylenol, and she went to bed early. She was up about every 4 hours though, but she slept until 8am.

She still had a temp today even though I was giving her tylenol every 4 hours. So I think I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow. Ava was sick all last week and this morning my mom and I woke up with a sore throat and headache. That kid is spreading the love.

So, I didn't get to go to the other shower, and I was sad. She is a good friend of mine since kindergarten, and she's having a girl. I love girl gifts :) I made her some burp cloths, a quilt, and gave her a little 6-9 month dress. I hope she likes it!

Confession: I did make a little hat, but then I tried it on Madeleine and it looked SO CUTE that I decided to keep it! It was too big for that little baby anyway, and I have enough yarn to make a smaller version. So I will make her one and give it to her when she is born. Then they can match! They're going to be good friends, after all.

Baby Shower Weekend

This weekend we are going to two baby showers. The first one is today, and is for my sister in law Jenni. She's having a baby boy and is due in February. This is Madeleine's first baby shower, not counting her own, of course!

What we're wearing

What we're giving.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Thanks for always reading to me giving the best hugs...
celebrating with me and making me laugh....
and feeding me my very first chocolate cake!!
I love you Grandma! Love, Madeleine

Things they don't tell you in parenting class

Not that we went to a parenting class - we're winging it over here - but if we did, I'm sure this subject would not be covered.

Yesterday Madeleine was crawling around on my newly vaccuumed carpet, playing with toys, getting into things, you know, the usual. Then I saw her start crawling unusually fast toward something. She grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth before I could get there. I tried to fish it out, but she had her jaws clamped shut as tight as they would go, and a little smile on her face like she had a treasure in there. I finally got it out, and it was a DEAD LADYBUG. Yes, you read that right. I fished a dead ladybug out of my daughter's mouth. EWWWW!!!

Vegan Cupcakes take over the world

That is the name of the book I just ordered off Amazon. I looked at it at Barnes and Nobles yesterday - 75 recipes for cupcakes without milk or eggs! They had ALL different kinds - including key lime and margarita, and they all looked delicious! And they had normal ingredients, nothing weird.

Gotta start those one year old birthday preparations, you know. :)

10 months old!

Double digits! Whew - what a month!! Madeleine went from just rolling, not crawling at all to crawling EVERYWHERE, and fast! She crawls, she pulls up to her knees, and a few times she's even pulled up to her feet for a second. She got her two bottom teeth, she started eating finger foods like Ezekiel bread, cooked carrots, peas and green beans, and little pieces of raw fruit like apples, bananas, and pears. She really enjoys picking up food and eating it.
I think she is really smart, because she can follow some directions, and point to things when I ask her. For example, I'll tell her to go play her little piano, and she'll crawl right over and play it. And I can ask her where is the kitty cat or duck in books, and she points right to them.

She says Mama and Dada, also duck and just yesterday she started saying "cat." She points to our cat and says something like "Kitty Cat." (And she gets really excited when she sees her!)

She loves to play "Peekaboo" and does "So Big" and gives high fives. Ken loves to show off her "tricks." :)

"So Big!"
Two little teeth.

One of her favorite things is feeding us - she tries to put something in our mouth (usually something really soggy!) and then she laughs and laughs! I can't believe how big she is getting. She is so sweet and loving and every day Ken and I just talk about how blessed we are to have such a beautiful, happy, fun girl. We love you Madeleine!

And another thing

We fed Madeleine chicken for the first time a few nights ago. I had been putting that off because Ken is allergic to chicken, but her doctor said that we could try it. I thought she was fine - although I kept a very close eye on her for a while after dinner. But unfortunately, yesterday she had a rash all over her arms, legs and tummy. *Sigh* I called her doctor and he said not to give her any more chicken and we'd talk about it at her one year appointment in March. I'm sure she'll have to see an allergist and get some testing.

Food allergies are something I never thought I'd have to deal with. But it's hard. I'm not doing bible study this year because I just can't leave her in the nursery. I've helped in there before, and I know they have goldfish for a snack every time. Even if they don't give her any, she would find one on the floor and put it in her mouth. And I'm even worried about leaving her with a babysitter (not that I'll be doing that anytime soon!) because I'd be worried about what they would feed her. Dairy is in everything, I've found out since I've had to give it up for about the last nine months. Am I going to have to worry about snacks and lunches at school? Are the kids going to make fun of her because she can't eat certain things? I hope not. And what the heck are we going to eat at our house? No pizza, mac and cheese, no chicken, and who knows what else? She got a rash after she had cinnamon one time and I suspect a possible allergy to corn - so we have not tried that yet. Poor little thing. I just hope she does not have a serious reaction to anything. That really scares me.

Hello!

Sorry I have not posted yet this year! My new job is keeping me busy - that is, the job of digging anything and everything out of my daughter's mouth. You see, now that she can move everywhere, she finds the smallest things you can imagine and sticks them right in her mouth. So far this week I've fished out coins, bolts, raisins, pretzels, and today a tiny shard of very sharp plastic - clear plastic! I don't really want to rush any of her stages - I try to make a conscious effort to enjoy whatever age she is. But I have to say, I'll be very happy when she outgrows this "putting everything in her mouth" stage!

Also, Grace has been home from school this week so the time I'm not spending digging stuff out of Madeleine's mouth, I'm trying to keep her busy so she'll be quiet while the girls take their naps! Thank God today is Friday.

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!