Cruisin' On...

Well, it looks like it's a big time for Miss Madi right now!! Yesterday it was 2 steps. Today she has figured out that she can cruise along the furniture and get places! She will also transfer from the coffee table to the couch that's upstairs in the bonus room. They are pretty close together, but when you are small, it seems a little further apart! haha. She will hold the table with one hand and then look and look at the couch to decide if she can turn herself all the way to the couch. It's pretty cute. Lots of concentration involved!! haha. I had been standing her up to hold on to the coffee table, but she really didn't like it before. I guess taking her first steps has made her a brave little girl! haha.

It's one big accomplishment after another here. So proud of my little girl!!

FIRST STEPS!!!!!!!

YAY for Madi!!! She took her first steps today...2 to be exact :) Heehee. I'm so proud of her and so excited as a mommy :) I know soon I'll be wondering why I wanted her to walk so soon, but for now it's all excitement.

She has been walking holding our hands for about a month now. She refuses to crawl, so we have been working on the walking thing some cuz she gets so mad not being able to go anywhere :) She's been standing by herself, but then will just plop down. She had started to take steps, but would take one or two and then fall into us, so we didn't count those cuz she just lunges and falls. Today, though, she took 2 steps and stayed standing up!!!! She just smiled and smiled when Scott and I got so excited.

Ok, that's all. Just had to note the big accomplishment today :)

MY 1st MOTHER'S DAY!!!

First Trip to the Pool

Madi had her first pool experience today! We were really excited about taking her cuz she loves a bath so much, we figured she would like the pool. Well, she does!! :) She had the best time. We got her a float to sit in, and she just layed back and enjoyed the pool :) She's still a little small for the float, so we have to hold her bottom a little so she doesn't drink the pool, but she absolutely loved it. She loved to splash in the water too. She would squeal and kick while in the water. It was the cutest thing. I think I might have me a water baby on my hands! I don't have a swimsuit for her yet, but I'm gonna be out looking for one now :) heehee. It's gonna be hard to keep her out of the water as she gets older.

It's so nice to have the pool in the neighborhood! It's a really big pool. Lots of space, chairs, and tables, and the pool even has a slide for the kids! We will definitely be using this to our advantage, especially on those hot summer days!! :)

9 MONTHS OLD

Hello all! Madi turned 9 months old on April 24th and her her 9mon check up today since we were out-of-town last week. Dr. Graham put her in the "Pixie" Club today since she's so 'tiny' right now. haha. She weighed 16lb 10oz and was 27inches long. So, she was only 9th percentile for weight (heehee) and 23rd for height. It's funny that she's only 9th for weight, cuz the girl loves to eat all the time! Dr. Graham wasn't worried at all, just said that she's gonna be a petite little thing. We'll see how that changes as she gets older :)

So, since I've been back to work, Madi has been staying with Fran or Jessica if Scott's working. She has done wonderful with them! When I drop her off at Fran's in the mornings, she doesn't even cry, and she always talks about how wonderful she did all day. They go for stroller rides, play with their dog Sully, swing, and do all sorts of fun stuff. Jessica keeps her over here, and when I get home from work, I almost always here her squealing while playing....if they are not napping when I get there :) This has helped me tonz going back to work, knowing that she's happy and doing well while I'm gone. Again, we are lucky to have 2 such wonderful people to keep her on the days we both have to work!

Here are her milestones over the past month:

** Madi now uses her fingers to pick up her own snacks :) She has a good little pincer grasp. It's funny watching her concentrate on picking something up. She likes the gerber puffs and she likes biscuits too!

** Madi is walking well while holding onto our hands! She still LOVES, LOVES to walk, which my back does not LOVE, LOVE!! haha. I might be permanently bent over if Madi doesn't learn this walking thing by herself soon. haha. She still won't crawl, though, or try to crawl. Funny girl :)

** She pulled herself up to standing all by herself for the first time too! She was playing with her play table, had fallen down, and then pulled herself up while holding onto it. She put all she had into it! haha.

** Madi also now stands alone very well. She will stand for about 10 secs or so before she sits down or lunges for me :) She's so happy when she's standing there. It's like she knows she's doing something awesome! :)

** Oh, and last, Madi loves to drink from a straw!! She can down a drink with a straw! She can't use a sippy cup, but she learned how to use a straw in about 2 days! She loves to drink my water from my big insulated cup with the straw, and when we go out to dinner, she wants our drink with the straw. haha. Good thing I found sippy cups with straws! I'll just use these for now till we learn how to turn up a sippy cup :)

Well, I think that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well!

Talladega!

Here are some pics from our fun-filled Dega day :) Don't worry.....we didn't take Madi with us....this time :) She stayed with my cousin, Bethany and my Aunt Bea and Uncle Bobby. My parents, Scott, me, Gregory, and his dad went to the race. The day of the race was also Madi's very first night to stay away from home!!!!!! I was so sad. She didn't care and had a blast with her Great Aunt and Uncle! I couldn't be more thankful for them letting her stay. When we left after the race, the traffic was so bad it took us forever to get home and by the time we made it to B'ham it was late and would've been even later once I got to pick Madi up, so I just let her be comfy sleeping. My Aunt and Uncle really enjoyed it too :)


Scott and his best friend Gregory gearing up for race day.




Scott LOVES finding all the mullet people! haha


My 'man' #24 Jeff Gordon :) -- he had a throw-back Pepsi paint scheme for the race.


BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY, LET'S GO RACING BOYS!!!!!

Strawberry Festival

We went to the Strawberry Festival yesterday. Boone Hall Plantation grows fresh strawberries and you can come and pick them yourselves. I am sooo excited about this. How fun to pick and eat frest strawberries! It was so funny to see kids leaving with dirty mouths, hands, and clothes from picking the strawberries and eating them right away! I can see this being Madi in a few years! :)

HAPPY EASTER!

This weekend one of Scott's co-workers in B'ham and her husband came to Charleston to visit (Sarah & Evandre). Sarahs finishing her fellowship in B'ham and we're hoping they might want to join us here in Charleston :) It was a beautiful Easter weekend for them to visit and we were excited to have them here. We showed them around Charleson and went to some fun, local places for dinner. We also took a nice walk on the beach. Scott had to work, so he wasn't able to join the beach fun :( It was pretty neat, though, to be able to "entice" someone who might come here with the fact that they could easily take walks on the beach at any time :) Evandre put Madi's feet n the water for the first time and she LOVED it! She was smiling and squealing and kepting wanting to walk back to the water. Yes, the water was freezing, but she didn't seem to care :)

Spring/Family Pictures

FIRST....a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Madilyn's Aunt Jessi!!!! Jessica is one very special girl and in every way that counts a sister to me!! I love you girl and I hope you have a wonderful day! Madilyn and I love and miss you very, very much!!!

Ok, here are pics that we had taken while my parents were in town.

Good Luck to Scott!

Scott flew to Chicago today to prepare for his Pediatric Emergency boards test that he takes on Monday. This is really big for him and he's done a wonderful job staying focused and studying. I know he'll do great!! He'll come home on Tuesday, so it's just Madi, me, and the dogs through the weekend. My parents are coming to visit on Monday, so we are excited about that. THey will be here for a week, and we are looking forward to fun times with them.

8 MONTHS OLD

Madi is 8 months old today! She is getting so much of a little personality now and it's too cute! :) She has now started to pull to standing when holding my hands. She does most of the work, I'm just their for support :) She rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time on Saturday! There might actually be hope for crawling! haha. When she did it herself she didn't mind so much being on her stomach, but still not her favorite thing :)

She still loves, loves standing. I try to hold her hands and walk with her some, but she doesn't have the balance :) She likes it when we try though. We let her try bites of our food when we eat, and she loves it all! haha. Right now it doesn't look like we will have too many problems with getting her to eat. She always wants more, more, more! haha.

Well, that's all for now. I'll update you on more milestones next month if not before. Take care everyone! :)

Back to Work!

Yup, that's right....I'm back to work! It actually feels kinda good. I'm sure it won't take long for that to wear off! I got a part-time job at MUSC Children's Hospital and just finished a week of orientation classes. It will definitely be an adjustment getting back to work, but I'm excited. It will be good for both Madi and me. It was hard leaving her, but comforting to know that she is staying with either Scott or people we know and trust. Jessica, who is a Child Life Specialist and works in the ED with Scott is watching her some and Fran is also keepin her. We are very lucky to have such wonderful people to offer to keep her when needed.

Being away from Madi was definitely harder for me than her! She would be happy and squealing when I would get home, and Jess and Fran both talked about how great she did during the day. As for my job, I will be working whenever needed on the different inpatient pediatric units. I make my own schedule, which is great and allows Scott and I to work my schedule around his, Fran's, and Jessica's. I sign up for the days and shifts I'm available and they place me on a floor that needs me. My only requirement is to work/sign-up for 24 hours in a 4 week period.

I'm a little nervous about going back to the floor, but ready to get back in to the swing of things. It's een 7 1/2 months since I've worked, which is kinda hard to believe! I have my first days on the floor next week, so we'll see how it goes :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

How lucky are Scott and I to have this beautiful baby girl to love and watch grow and develop?!!!!

Bubble Bath Fun