Short Bursts of Blogging!

So, I should be trying to recover my house from company and Christmas and be getting ready for the next round of company and Christmas but instead here I am - but just for one short little bursts at a time.

P.S. these are older non Christmasy pictures.

Sending Love and Joy to you this Christmas season. . . (she didn't want to be Joy OR Love!) :-)

Just conked in her pack-n-play one evening

Goober is what we call this!

she was in this stage where if you squinted at her she'd squint back.

Pretty girl in her pretty dress from Uncle Brad and Aunt Melissa. It's funny how we got all these dresses when she was born and they seemed soooo big I thought she'd never wear them. . .

we're officially done with the baby tub because this was how that worked out the few last times. :/

This, I admit, was a set up. She is not allowed to stand up like this in the tub because she can easily slip and bonk her chin on the edge. Maybe it makes me a bad parent, but. . . I purposely left the room just long enough for her to pull herself up like this then sneaked back in and took a picture before I made her sit back down. :-)

Deck the Halls...

The tree as it's supposed to be. . .

the tree as it is a lot of the time (not as bad since gifts were added)

This year's new ornaments. This one from Lynette

Don't get excited! This is NOT an announcement of any sort it was just too late to make it on last year. (P.S. the due date is off by one day but doesn't really matter anyway since she was SIX days late!)

From Beck

On top of a gift this year. He's like wooden

And my all-time favorite new ornament this year!

I added a bell up by the bow, because bells seem to be one of her favorite things about Christmas this year.

Merry Christmas!!

I have lots and lots of pictures but I'm trying to decide how best to post them... I may end up uploading to an album and posting a link. For now though, Merry Christmas to you all (a day late)!

I Challenge You...

Go to http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/pages/give-a-gift-change-a-life?open?open&campaign=1193519&cmp=KNC-1193519&gccode=animals Spend just a couple minutes looking and tell me you don't want to buy one of everything! It's not a selfish thing in this case. I just did a little "Christmas shopping" there myself. And just for the record... if anyone is stuck as to what to get for me??... Lots of options here! And I can guarantee it'll fit, I don't already have it, and I really will love it! You just can't go wrong!

Women of Faith Pix as promised

First stop Cracker Barrel - Watertown

Just thought it was funny that Heidi was sitting right under a light so when she got her food it was like "WAAA!" right on her plate. You might have had to be there. . .

It was Joy's 16th B-day so she said it was OK if we had them sing to her as long as she got a free dessert. :-)

Madelyn's first hotel stay. . . She was waving at me.

a box lunch for both days was included with the ticket price.

I told Beck she should know better than to take these pictures on my camera because they WILL ALWAYS come back to haunt her!

taking a little down time.

Madelyn was sooooo good the whole time but she just needed to move a little so we found an out of the way corner and letter her down. Yes her white shirt DID come clean.

Olive garden for dinner Friday night. No wait whatsoever it was amazing!

sleeping beauty. (no, she didn't sleep here all night just a little in the morning when she went back to sleep.)

Great picture of everyone but me - go figure!

The end! :/

Mommies Can't Take Sick Days. . .

So how's your day? Mine? You really wanna know? Well, since you asked. . .

Madelyn slept in just a bit this morning (right around an hour longer than usual) then got up with a very wet diaper and wet jammies (pretty common. . . no biggy). I cleaned her up and put clothes on her and put her in her pack n play where she played/fussed because her teeth hurt and she was ready for breakfast. I made her breakfast, fed her (she was pretty good in spite of being pretty hungry), cleaned her face, then gave her Tylenol for her teeth and took a

Sudefedrine myself. i put her down to crawl around and play while I got started on some house straightening and grabbed something to eat (yes she officially crawls a majority of the time now). I had gone in her room to get something when i heard her coughing, so I came out to check on

her and apparently she had eaten something off the floor (my child seems to feel an urgency to get her pound of dirt in before her first birthday!). This, sadly is a normal thing so I didn't stress about it. Most things she figures out on her own are not edible and pulls/spits them back out. This particular item apparently she couldn't get back out though, so she started coughing and eventually threw up part of her breakfast on the floor and her clothes. I tried to grab her carefully and quickly but she still manage to get one hand in it and tried to get the other hand and her feet in it as I picked her up. anyway, I put her, clothes and all, in the tub (no water)and gave her toys to play with while I cleaned the floor.

A couple small bumps to the head later (those bath tubs are slippery!), I had cleaned up the worst of the mess, sprayed the spots, and bathed and dressed and read to a sleepy baby.

And THAT was all before her morning nap! After I rocked her and put her down for her nap I still had to find something to eat and attempt to straighten the house. I know it's not truly a bad day, it's just that, well my energy is low and my head so stuffy it feels like if I blow my nose one more time it'll explode and my nose is getting sore and I need a shower cause I know it'll probably make me feel better but. . . (reference the part about lack of energy above) But alas, she's been sleeping for two hours, which means she'll be up soon, so I MUST go do SOMEthing before then! In the meantime, feel free to offer your sympa. . . er, I mean support. No, I really am not complaining. There is some odd sense of fulfillment even in the midst of just wanting to go to bed and sleep for a week straight. I truly love every minute of being Madelyn's mommy and I find the daily challenges give me a strange thrill. I just wish my head didn't hurt so bad!

Hope Everyone is having a good Monday!

Here are just a few of my favorites from my phone. They wont be very big or high quality, but I thought they were too cute not to share.

Hammin' it up for Mom and the camera! (this is rare cause she usually gets all distracted with my phone.)

First time I walked in and found her STANDING in her bed! 'Bout had a heart attack! Luckily I had my phone in my hand. Se how pleased she is with herself?

One Wednesday before church

Just trying on her new hat that a friend at church made for her.

She thinks she's big stuff looking out the window. She watches cars, snow falling (not much lately) and the neighbor's Christmas lights.