24 weeks...Ike, Aggieland, and creeping

Lets start off by saying that my sweet lil' baby is 24 weeks old now! That really does not affect me as much as saying my baby is a 1/2 year old!!! Now that makes me tear up...she is growing up sooooooo fast. As Chris alluded to before, we noticed that her two bottom teeth are coming in at the same time. She is teething really well. In fact, I never would have known if it was not for a few cranky bath sessions that made us wonder what is wrong with her. Chris said to check her mouth and there were two sharp little bottom teeth!


We have learned that Maddy takes after Daddy and has a milk allergy so it seems. I had to quit eating all dairy products and that seems to have worked for her. It has been quite a sacrifice for me because I love cheese. Let me tell you Mexican food is not the same without cheese (poor Chris loves Mexican). I cannot even torture myself to make my favorite meal (baked potato), because what is the fun in that without cheese, butter or sour cream?!?!?! It was very stressful for me to cut all this out of my diet, at times I wanted to quit breastfeeding because that would be easier. Deep down I knew it is the best thing for her. There are so many things with hidden dairy products in them. But here we are, and so far so good for me.

Madelyn is learning to sit up now. She started to demand to sit up for baths which was very difficult with a slippery baby. We found a tub that has a back made for infants and then toddlers so she could sit up. She loves it! BTW, nice rubber ducky placement!



We have been planning in our minds what all we are going to need for Madelyn's first big trip to Dallas. Yes, I am a planner and I am making a list of things for us to pack. Well, Ike decided to make a visit and change those plans. After much thought, we decided to listen to the authorities advice and stay in our home since our area of town would not really flood (just receive high winds and rain). I have not been through a hurricane since I was 3..therefore I do not remember much. As the hurricane came closer, I started to get very nervous. It would not have been a big deal if we did not have a baby. I quickly printed the list of items needed, we filled the tubs, collected water in our pitchers, turned down the AC, turned down the freezers, and cleaned up the house. I had this idea that I wanted everything put in its place in case the windows blew. I hated the fact that it was going to arrive at night, I could not see anything. We followed our normal evening routine with Maddy and had her put to bed by 9. I decided we would all sleep in the closet regardless of what happened. I envisioned the windows breaking and me not having enough time to get Maddy and myself into the closet. So we camped out there. Maddy had the best setup out of all of us.


Chris and I made a pallet on the floor. I brought food, water and a litter box into the closet for our cats. We watched the news until we were tired then off to the closet we went. I slept on and off until 2am when the power went out. The wind was howling outside and I could hear the windows rattling. I did not sleep much at all. Maybe it was the maternal instinct of needing to protect my baby or maybe it was Chris sound asleep next to me (which made me a little mad) or maybe my cat trying to eat the closet door down (which after being sedated she tried to beat up my other cat) or maybe listening to the radio talking about how bad things were getting. Needless to say I did not sleep for 24 hours straight. Adrenaline is a powerful thing. The next day we stayed home watching the rest of the storm blow over.

Then began our travels. It got to be late afternoon and as things began to get dark we realized how dark it really was and dealing with a baby in the dark was going to be quite a challenge. We decided to pack her up (not a small task) and head to a friends house with power. The next night we drove to College Station and stayed with some friends for a couple of nights. (Chris had to make a trip back to the house to save the 2 months worth of breastmilk I had saved in the deep freeze. Thanks honey!!!)

Madelyn had her first visit to Texas A&M!


With our power still out (Day 4) I had to return to work, so we stayed at our house one night. Luckily, the cold front made it bearable (but the darkness was still a little scary). My parents received power the next day, so we relocated to their house. Finally, on Day 7 our house received power again!! We were sooo glad to be home. You would think that our neigborhood would be one of the first to have power.....since the staging site for all the electrical companies was right next door at Sam Houston Racepark!

So here we are with electricity......a clean but empty fridge and freezer, and a relocated deep freeze. I am so thankful that through all this Madelyn did so well with the heat, a stressed out mom, and bouncing all around the city. In the middle of all this Miss Maddy is learning to crawl (started this in College Station).


Here are a few other random pics we have taken recently.