Madelyn's THIRD birthday party

We celebrated the big birthday the day before her actual birthday, Saturday, Jan. 8th. This year for Madelyn's birthday she wanted to have a unicorn party. She is really into unicorns, princesses, fairies...that kind of thing. So we went with the unicorn theme. It was a lot of fun because she has been so fascinated by birthdays over this last year so when it came time for her's to arrive, you can bet it was talked about months prior. She wore a very cute little pink "princess dress" for her special day. (which was a christmas gift from the Archer family)

I made cupcakes again this year, nothing special, just pinks and whites with rainbow and strawberry chip cake mix. I also made "fairy wands" (pretzel rod dipped in white chocolate and covered in sprinkles) and butterfly sugar cookies with pink frosting. We had a 6 ft. party sub from Subway, which was a huge hit with everyone, meatballs, chips, trailmix and punch. We had lots of family present and enjoyed being together with everyone to celebrate Madelyn's life.

The highlight of the party, other than playing with all her cousins, was the unicorn pinata we set up in the basement. I didn't get a chance to video tape Madelyn hitting it but was able to get Nic, Noah and Reilynn. It was a lot of fun and Madelyn had us all cracking up with her "HUUUGH!!" each time she would wack the pinata. Noah broke the unicorn in half and then finished it up letting all the candy fall to the ground. The kids swooped in and filled their bags.

She recieved lots of nice gifts from everyone and thanked everyone after opening each gift. When it came time to sing and blow out the candles, she was ALL smiles. She loved the attention and wouldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.
What an amazing (not so) little girl I have and an amazing journey our life with her has been. I love you so very much my Maddy- boo! Happy Birthday babe!

6 weeks

Alyssa @ 1 month

What a whirlwind of a Christmas season we had this year. The month leading up to Christmas this year has been one like no other. It's been an exhausting month but full of blessings.
When we first came home from the hospital, Alyssa was nursing every 3 hours or so (normal) but was waking up every couple of hours in the night. Oh my, I have never been so completely tired in my life. I wasn't getting to bed until 2am at night and then getting sleep for an hour-hour and half at a time for a total of maybe 4 hours a night. A girl cannot function on that little of sleep and expect to steer clear of the winter crud and sicknesses lingering everywhere. I felt the aches and pains throughout my body for the first couple of weeks and then came a horrible head cold/cough that contaminated the Miller Christmas party a week before Christmas. Madelyn developed croup and strep and felt miserable also. Thankfully, Alyssa *and Robert) remained healthy and still is. (knock on wood)
This little girl likes to be held ALL THE TIME. I never wanted to be that parent of a child who cannot be content sitting in a bouncy seat or swing some of the day. I realize now that it is not a result of parenting and that some babies just decide for themselves whether they prefer to snuggle with a human. When she is not being held, she is exercising her vocal cords and my oh my does she have some strong lungs. She will scream her cute little head off until someone comes to pick her up. This makes it very difficult for me to get much done during the day. sooooooooo frustrating at times. However, I am trying to treasure this snuggle time with her while it lasts:)
a few things bullet style:

• weight 10.5-11ish lbs.
• nurses well- every 2-3 hours
• sleeps in 4hour stretches at night
• cannot tolerate caffeine in my diet what-so-ever :( she was screaming for 2-3 hours inconsolably in the evening until I figured this out and cut it out completely.
• is sensitive to some dairy in my diet, still trying to figure that out but it seems to be cheeses. make her belly hurt and she has lots of cottage cheese like spit-up.
• smiles inconsistently while awake but I think they are real smiles, not just gas. (so close!)
• wearing 3 month clothes day after Christmas.
  

2 years old!

I cannot believe how many changes have taken place in my little girl in the recent months. She continues to amaze me daily with all the things she is learning and absorbing. She is constantly talking and typically speaks in 7-8 word sentences. Most likely because she has a mother who likes to talk her ear off :) I am so proud to be her mommy and I pride myself in being the best I can as a mom, a wife and as a person because of her.
We had her appt. with Dr. Williams last Tuesday and she did so well. Last time she was real hesitant when they touched her for anything. This time she had the nurse do all the measurements on her baby and then was great when it was time for her. She thought that was pretty neat to have the baby measured and heart beat checked. She also received the MMR shot, which I had foregone at her 15 month appt. This was her only shot at this visit so that was nice. Other than being a little whiny, irritable that evening, she hasn't had any other unpleasant side effects.
She weighed in at 24.5 lbs (25%tile) , and is 34 inches long (50%tile).

Some of her likes include:
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
BABIES!!!
her kitchen
Singing her fav songs..Twinkle, Twinkle...ABC's, Jesus Loves Me, Jingle Bells, One, Two Buckle my Shoe...
Strollers (for Baby)
Lily (our kitty, or Willy as she refers to her)
Bathtime
gogurt
cheeze-its
blankie (of course)
precious moments babies (has to kiss each one before she goes to bed)
brushing teeth
reading in her tent
wrestling with daddy
jumping on the bed
BFF's Kayleena, Macy (at Penny's)


Accomplishments:
knows all colors (black, brown, blue, red, purple, pink, green, orange, yellow)
knows shapes (triangle, square, circle, star, oval)
orally counts 1-12
one-to-one counts 1,2,3

A Minnie Mouse Party

This year we went with the Minnie Mouse theme for her birthday party. We had the party a week after her birthday on the 15th. Much of her family was here from both sides. She received some nice gifts and enjoyed having everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to her. She also really enjoyed the cupcakes, as last year she would not touch her cake. She knows the taste of sweets now. :) Some of her gifts include: A Graco baby furniture set (stroller, bouncer, playmat, pack-n-play), radio flyer wagon, Big stuffed bear and an animal book, Dora tent, money towards her swingset and her 529 college fund, plus a few very adorable winter and spring outfits. We had pizza, chips and pop to eat along with my homemade cupcakes in a Minnie theme. I really had a lot of fun decorating and getting ready for this party. She talked about it all week as I was planning it. We had a great time!

Madelyn turns 2!

Last Saturday Madelyn turned TWO. For her actual birthday we decided to take her to Splash Universe , which is an indoor waterpark, for the night. we had a great time and enjoyed getting away with just the three of us. She is very into swimming right now and talks about it constantly. Always wanting to go swimming, which we obviously cannot since it is winter and when she is in the bathtub she likes to lay down and say "I'm swimming!" She just so funny. We stayed in a kids bunk house suite because they had a deal going, making it the same price as a king suite. She enjoyed playing on the bunk beds and pretending to go to sleep. Here are some pictures of our adventures!

Nolan comes to visit

Kelli and her little boy came over to our house last weekend so the kids could play and well, so we could have some girl time. I love that Kelli can just come over and hang out for hours on a Saturday afternoon, nothing planned but sitting around and chatting, while the kids play. These pictures are when they were leaving and they are so darn cute. I meant to get some while we were up in Madelyn's room and they were sitting at the table reading together. Of course, my camera was downstairs and I was too lazy to go down and fetch it. haha Oh well.