Happy Thanksgiving

We had such a great first Thanksgiving with Madelyn. We spent lunch at my mom's house and dinner at Chris' parents house. Lots of good food. I indulged in all my favorite dishes! Now this may seem obvious but a few days before Thanksgiving I discovered that Madelyn's milk allergy had NOT resolved yet! I was soo upset... I was really hoping that it was over. I knew I had to quit dairy again, but I decided that I would break the rules for the holiday... and it was great!! I was really stressed out about what would happen to all the milk I have saved in the deep freeze if Madelyn never gets over this allergy. But I have since learned that I can donate the milk which brings such peace to my heart to know that it can still be useful. We will see. Here is a few pics from Thanksgiving:

My daddy...the shopper

If Madelyn could talk.....

My Daddy is such the shopper. He got off work early for the Thanksgiving Holiday and took me to the outlet while Mommy was working. We had such a great time. I really love that my Daddy has such great fashion sense. Check out my new PJ's..


I love them..especially the ladybugs on the feet!! Thanks Daddy!!

Don't Try This at Home...

Last night Chris had a great idea (or so he thought) to feed Madelyn in a different way. Lately she has not wanted to eat her night time cereal. Chris thought tonight he would feed her in the bathroom in front of the mirror so she could see herself eat.

Here we are getting ready to try this "idea":



Now, Chris is realizing this is harder than it looks, feeding a wild little child backwards in a mirror:


One more try:


Ok, well Madelyn had more fun getting messy. I think more cereal went all over her and Chris than in her tummy:


Lesson learned: this is not a good idea but it was worth a try!! I love you sweetie crazy ideas and all!!

Been a while.....

Wow how time flies! We have been a busy family lately with Maddy experiencing lots of firsts. I am finally learning to venture out a little with her. Maddy has had her first play date. We were able to meet up with our Sunday School one Tuesday and Maddy loved it. She is learning to be social with other babies. She does seem to be a toy stealer and hair puller (sorry Caroline)!! She also was able to have a day with her friend Dylan (despite the bad weather). We had another round of shots and learned that Maddy is now 24 inches and 14 pounds! I know she is a little one, but I kinda like it that way. No new teeth yet.

Although she may be teething again, the nighttime has become a little difficult. Things were going great, but recently she wakes in the night and screams bloody murder until you pick her up! She is such a good crawler....she now pulls up and is trying to walk. This may sound fun, but in the middle of the night pulling up and trying to climb out of her crib makes her wide awake and hard to get back to sleep!! Maddy and I have been saying a lot of prayers for strength and singing lots of praise songs in the wee hours of the night. I have learned another application of why women say only God's strength got them through. Right now that is the only thing that keeps me in one piece in the night...I am not sure why things were going great and now all of a sudden we are back to rough night times! I am gonna blame teething!!

Some good news, it seems Madelyn may be over the milk allergy. I went 2 months without dairy (another example of God giving me the strength) and this week I started to eat some cheese (and so far so good). I am still eating in moderation to try and test her, but I have compiled a list of the food I want as soon as I am sure she can handle it: cheese enchiladas with queso on top at Gringos, a loaded baked potato, Brownie Batter Blizzard at DQ, lasagna at Johnny Carinos, and cheesecake!! Balancing work and family is going ok, still having its ups and downs but I still feel like that is where God wants me to be.

Maddy got to travel to the country this weekend. She had a great time. I even let her ride on the four wheeler with her daddy (those that know me may be shocked.. I know I was too!!)


Apparently I am a little behind introducing Maddy to new foods, so this week we advanced to Stage 2. We also tried Mum Mum at a friend's house. She loved them! Thanks Kelly!


We have also had our first bruise of which I am sure there are many more to come. She is trying to walk so quickly and her little legs are not sure what to do. She also has no fear and keeps trying over and over falling every time. Poor little thing. It breaks my heart but I know that is part of growing up!

Halloween

Our little Madelyn was a ladybug for her first Halloween. We went over to my mothers and handed out candy. Maddy got to see her cousin Abby and her friend Emma who happened to be a lady bug too!

Quack, Quack, Quack....

Madelyn usually enjoys her evening bath, but tonight she was kicking and splashing all over the place. Her latest "task" is to stand up in the bathtub and make the water splash when she kicks. Crazy kid!

...10 years ago today

As some of you know, I’ve got a pretty good memory when it comes to numbers, dates, stats, etc., so here is a story about a special date….

Around the beginning of the 1998 Fall Semester at Texas A&M, I was hanging out at Cavender’s and a cute little freshman girl caught my eye. I saw that she was with a girl that I've known for a few years. I didn't talk to her that day, but I made sure to introduce myself the next time I saw her. Over the next couple of weeks, we would meet at Hurricane Harry’s and dance a few songs (yes, I was quite the dancer) and chat each night. Well on October 8th, I got up enough nerve to ask this cute girl with an amazing smile and beautiful eyes out on a date the following night. On Saturday, A&M would be hosting the #2 team in the nation (Nebraska Cornhuskers) in football (and if you know Aggie traditions….that meant there would be a Midnight Yell practice on Friday). She agreed to go out with me, so I wanted to make sure everything was perfect.

October 9, 1998…..I called Bethany up to see when she would be ready. She notified me that she only needed to take a shower and get ready. I was thinking that I would be waiting forever before I picked her up. Well a few minutes later, Bethany calls me up and says she is ready. I am shocked. This is awesome……a girl that doesn’t take hours to get ready for a date? YEEEESSSSSS!!! I picked her up at the dorm (she looked beautiful in her jeans and plaid shirt). We go to see the movie “Simon Burch” at the local movie theater. After the movie, we go to Chili’s and have a great conversation while eating. We head to Midnight Yell and have a great time (for those wondering…only a kiss on the cheek when the lights went out.…hey, I’m a gentleman!). I dropped her off at her dorm and thanked her for the wonderful night. I had a feeling that she was different than the other girls.

The next day, the Fightin’ Texas Aggies beat #2 Nebraska 28-21. We meet up at Hurricane Harry’s that evening and spend the night dancing (and making fun of the fact that I had no voice and a sunburned face). Ten years later…..we’ve been married for over five years and have a beautiful six month-old girl!