Today's Events

We woke up this morning and headed to The Little Gym for our regular Monday morning class.  Madelyn has missed class for the past two weeks.  She was sick week 1 and in Austin week 2.  Needless to say, she was so excited to be back in her super fun class and even more excited to see Mrs. Delinda and her buddies, Braden, Riley, & Lilly! 

After class we decided to get Madelyn's FIRST HAIRCUT!!!  Her bangs were hanging down in her eyes, so I just wanted them trimmed.  Well, we left with more than we bargained for.  Her hair looks awful!!!

The sweet lady cut her bangs straight across, extremely uneven, and about an inch to high!  If you've ever seen the movie Dumb & Dumber, imagine Jim Carey's haircut and that's what her's looks like!  If you've never seen the movie, here is a picture for you to fully understand....Sigh!

I know it will grow back and she is still absolutely beautiful, but she's just going to look a little funny in the meantime.  Poor child!

We came home to eat lunch and take a short nap and then headed to Dr. Naylor's office for Madelyn's 15 month check up.  The last few times we've been to the doctor's office, Madelyn has thrown an absolute fit.  I had prepared myself for another fun filled, temper tantrum throwing office visit, but she did much better than I ever imagined she would!  Maybe it's because her daddy was there to comfort her this time!

She was being so sweet and loving.  I felt so bad that she had to get two shots, but I know it's for the best.  She only cried for a second and then she was back to her happy self again!

Here are her stats as of today:

Weight: 23.8 lbs (50%)

Height: 32 inches (90%!!!)

Head Circumference: 46.25 cm (60%)

Our little girl is getting so big!  She is so much fun and continues to amaze us everyday!  We are truly BLESSED!!!



Chicago Changes Everything

Garrett had to make a last minute work trip to Chicago last week.  He told me he would be gone for at least a week, so I decided to throw all plans out the window and take a road trip of my own.  Madelyn, Trooper, and I packed up and headed to Waco.  This was my first time to make the long 7 hour drive by myself.  I was a little worried that Madelyn would have a meltdown while we were in the middle of nowhere, but she did GREAT!!!  I was so proud of her!!!  We spent 4 days in Waco and 4 days in Austin!  I had such a good time and it was so nice to see so many friends and family that I had not seen in quite awhile. 

Because of our trip, I've fallen behind on my blogging!  Sorry! 

Madelyn has her 15 month check up on Monday...yes, I know I'm way late on her check up, but she was sick and then we left town, so this Monday was the first day I could take her in!  So, I plan on getting back on track with blogging on Monday! 

Where does the time go?!?!?  I feel like I can't keep up with life lately!  Is it really almost October, Geez!

Labor Day Weekend

My parents came down on Friday to spend the holiday weekend with us.  It was great to have them here.  We really enjoyed spending quality time with them and Madelyn enjoyed the constant attention!!! 

My Mom and I spent the majority of the weekend shopping and finding all of the good Labor Day sales while Dad and Garrett watched lots and lots of football!!!  Madelyn stayed home with my Dad and Garrett while we were out shopping...Although I missed her, it was very nice to be able to get things done and not have to worry about her getting tired, hungry, grumpy, bored, etc.  I know she had a much better time at home playing with her Daddy and her Poppy than she would have if she had been out shopping with me. 

On Sunday night , Garrett and I had our first official "date night" since Madelyn was born.  Yes, I know, it took us almost 15 months to find an opportunity for a night out, but when you don't have any family around it's hard to find good babysitters.  Garrett and I had a wonderful evening and are very thankful for the opportunity to spend some quality time together. 

Mom and Dad headed back to Waco today and Garrett and I spent the afternoon cleaning up around the house, doing laundry, and getting ready for Tropical Storm Hermine.  I don't think it will be a bad storm at all....probably just a lot of rain, but it's always good to be prepared. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! 

Weekend O' Fun

We ventured to San Antonio last weekend for a fun-filled weekend with Daddy G & Kekal (AKA: Greg & Crystal).

We spent our weekend shopping at La Cantera and the Quarry, eating delicious food, and exploring San Antonio, but the highlight of the weekend was our trip to Sea World.  Garrett and I were not quite sure how Madelyn would handle an entire day at an amusement park, but she LOVED IT!!! 

We started out the day by watching a great show!  It was filled with tons of fun:  music, dolphins, beluga whales, crazy divers, and more, but Madelyn's favorite part was the BIRDS!  The girl loves birds!  Periodically throughout the show they would release birds into the arena.  They would fly around in a circle above the crowd a couple of times and then return to their cage.  Madelyn was amazed (and so were her parents!)  I have no idea how they trained those birds, but it was amazing!

After the show, we walked around and explored the rest of Sea World.  We saw penguins, puffins, birds, fish, etc., but Madelyn's favorite was the sea lion exhibit.  She really enjoyed listening to them make their loud noises and, at times, she even confused their "barking" for a dog's bark.  She kept saying "daaa"...which in her language, means Dog!  I understand her confusion though...they do "bark" AND they kind of look like her dog, Trooper, too....why wouldn't she think they were dogs?!?!  We bought some fish to feed to the sea lions and Madelyn thought it was hilarious when her Daddy would throw the fish into the water and the sea lions would chase after it.  Mommy, however was a nervous wreck because I was terrified that she was going to fall over the big wall and go swimming with the sea lions! 

We also had a great time feeding nectar to the beautiful birds!  Madelyn really wanted to "hold them", but I had to refrain her from giving them kisses and trying to pull all of their feathers out!

After a long day of walking around in the Texas heat, we headed to Lost Lagoon to end our day.  We all needed to cool off a bit...it was sooooo HOT!  Madelyn had so much fun playing with all of the other kids at the water park.  She found a few slides that she went down no less than 50 times each and even found a cute little sea-turtle to play with, too!

As we were on our way out of the park, Madelyn fell asleep in her stroller and conked out for the remainder of the evening!  Needless to say, she had a super-duper fun time!  Thank you to Daddy G & Kekal for a GREAT weekend!

BIG News

Madelyn learned how to drink from a straw today!!!!!!!!  Okay, okay....maybe this is not "big news" for most of you, but for me....it's HUGE!  I've been working with her for a long time on drinking through a straw and she just wasn't interested.  All of my friend's babies around Madleyn's age were doing it, so I wanted my child to do it too...OK?!?!? 

I've tried cherry Icees, caramel frappuccinos, chocolate milkshakes, and sippy cups with straws....nothing tempted her....until today!  After running some errands this afternoon, I made a pit-stop at McAlisters to pick up a sweet tea.  Madelyn had already gulped down a large sippy cup full of water, so I decided to let her have a sip of my tea.  I started out by giving her little drops of tea from the straw, just as I had done with all of the other drinks.  After a couple of straws full, I put the straw back into the cup and offered it to her again and she went to town!!!!!  The girl loves tea!  What can I say...she is MY child...why wouldn't she love sweet tea?!?!  Needless to say, I am so proud of her.  I don't know why drinking out of a straw was so important to me, but as far as I'm concernerd, today's feat was a major accomplishment!

Other than today's big news, things have been pretty mellow around here.  We've been going to The Little Gym on Mondays with a few of my friends and their little ones.  Madelyn LOVES her class, but she especially loves the playdates we have after class each Monday.  She has so much fun playing with her friends, and I enjoy the time with other mommies.  I am so thankful to have found such a great group of girls to spend time with!

Madelyn is in the process of getting all of her molars in at one time and she is biting/chewing on everything!  A few days ago, Madelyn was in her playroom and she bit a hole her ball pit which caused the entire thing to deflate.  I went to Target yesterday and bought her a new pit thinking it was the same size as the old one...WRONG!!!  This is what we wound up with...

You can't really tell from the pictures, but this thing is HUGE!  Way bigger than I ever expected!  Oh well, she likes it and that's really all that matters.  Now we just need to get more balls...the poor pit looks pathetic right now!

Weddings, Baptisms, Moves, Oh my!!!

Wow!  It's been awhile, but not for lack of anything to say......we have just been SUPER busy lately and this is my first chance to sit down and blog about it.

We headed to San Angelo the last weekend in June for Bryan and Brityn's wedding. 

It was wonderful to be in San Angelo because we had not been there since Thanksgiving!  We were able to see everyone in Garrett's HUGE family and that definitely is a feat in itself. 

All Of The Cousins

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we are so happy for Mr. & Mrs. Bryan Black!  Madelyn had the time of her life at the reception!  She danced the night away and at times, she was the center of attention in the middle of the dance floor.  

Our child LOVES having all eyes on her.  She was having so much fun that we didn't even realize how late it had gotten.  We finally swooped her up from the dance floor somewhere around midnight and took her home to get some much needed sleep. 

The next day we went out to Spring Creek for Madelyn's baptism.  Spring Creek has been a part of Garrett's family for many, many years, so we thought it would be very special to have her baptized there.  My parents and grandmothers drove in from Waco and most of Garrett's family was there as well. 

It was an absolutely beautiful setting for a very important day in our lives.  I can't imagine a more perfect place for Madelyn to accept the Lord into her life.

Us with Brother Tommy & Madelyn's God Parents- Chad & Jill

We returned to McAllen the following Tuesday and have been busy with playdates, swimming, shopping, cleaning, laundry, birthday parties, and so much more ever since we returned!!!  It's good to be busy though...It makes the days here in the Valley go by much faster!

One last note:

Our good friends Carla & David found out they were finally getting the transfer they have been praying for and they have officially moved to Hurst (which is near Ft. Worth!) 

Their move is extremely bittersweet for us, but we couldn't be happier for them.  Carla and I became the best of friends over these past 2 years and I am sad to see her go!  She is truly one of the sweetest, most loving, angelic, people I know and I will miss her dearly.  I have a feeling we will be making lots of trips to the Metroplex in the near future!  Now we have an excuse to go to Rangers Games, Cowboys Games, Shopping, etc!!!  YAY!

Busy Bees

Last Thursday, Madelyn had her first playdate with sweet Meredith.  Meredith's mom, Lela, is the vice principal at the school I taught at last year.  She and I were both pregnant at the same time and Meredith was born about 3 weeks after Madelyn.  We have been trying to get the girls together ever since they were born, but our schedules just never worked out.  Luckily, we were finally able to arrange a get-together last week and I am so glad we did.  The girls had so much fun together!!! 

It was so nice to see Madelyn interacting with someone her age.  Garrett and I don't know many people here, so it's hard to find good opportunites for her to interact with other children of the same age group.  The girls had a great time in our playroom while I spent MUCH needed time visiting with another mommy!  It was so cute to watch them play.  Madelyn had a bit of a hard time understanding why someone else was playing with HER toys, but overall, she did a good job sharing her things.  It was nice for Lela and I to sit and talk about the joys and struggles of being mothers of toddlers.  They are soooo much work, but we both agree that wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!!!

On Friday, we packed up and headed to Austin for the weekend.  On the way, we dropped Garrett off in New Braunfels for David's bachelor party weekend.  The guys had a fun weekend of floating the river, cooking out, and doing "guy stuff".  Madelyn and I stayed at Grant and Missy's and Janet (Nettie) came and spent the weekend with us. 

Missy, Janet, and I spent Saturday afternoon shopping for dresses for upcoming weddings and I left Madelyn with a babysitter for the FIRST time!  I'm not going to lie....I was VERY nervous, but it went great!  She had her cousins, Ava and Grayson there to keep her company and from what the sitter said, they all had a wonderful time!

While we were at Grant and Missy's, Madelyn got to take her first "cousin bath!"  We thought it was so cute, but Grayson was not quite as pleased with the situation!  Hehe!  He got over it real quick though and we have some super cute pictures to document the cute experience.

Madelyn had a wonderful time playing with Ava and Grayson all weekend and all of their cool "grown up" toys!  I love watching her play with her cousins...it makes my heart happy.  It's always such fun visiting our family, but it is soooo hard to leave.  We miss living near our families so much, but we know that God has a plan for us and we will be living somewhere near them again someday!