7 Year Itch

As many of you know, several of our friends and family have been having some very serious relationship issues in the last two years. Apparently our female friends can't seem to be faithful. This has been a huge source of stress and concern for us. But in a way, it's helped us talk through some things in hopes of preventing our marriage from being another statistic. December 27 marked our 7th wedding anniversary. I can't even believe that it's been that long already. We were able to celebrate by having lunch together and hanging out a little in the afternoon. For dinner we took our first trip to Sullivan's Steakhouse, where we gorged ourselves on delicious steak. Since we are child free this week, it was actually nice to be able to go out to dinner without worrying about getting home quickly. I can honestly say that Brad and I are best friends. I love him more than I ever thought possible and can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together. The only itch I have is to have more time together.

(Please note how skinny I was and how chubby Brad was.  Oh how things have changed!)

Letting Go

This week has been one of the longest ever. Why, you ask? Our babysitter is on vacation all week and we really didn't have a good option for childcare this week, so we decided to have Madeline stay with Brad's mom. This is huge, as I have only ever spent 1 night away from her. Donna and Maddie adore each other, so I'm sure they're having a blast. For Christmas we got both sets of parents a webcam and set them up on Skype so that we can video chat more often. This has been a huge blessing this week since I can at least see her for a little bit. I call every morning just to say hi. I hate it though. I miss hearing her laugh and snuggling at bed time. I actually miss her whirlwind antics through the house. I have even developed a very serious eye twitch this week.  However, I have gotten a lot done in the evenings and been really productive.....I want my baby back!

Polar Bear Express

Tonight we took Madeline on her first train ride on the Polar Bear Express. (It also happened to be my first train ride. What a sheltered life I lead...)  It started with a story about a train before we actually got on.  This did not go well.  Madeline was far more interested in making a spectacle of herself than listening to the story. 

Fortunately once we got on the train, she was content to watch the landscape roll by and eat all the goodies. 

There was a giant polar bear walking around, which she proceeded to ignore by covering her eyes. 

 Mrs. Claus was a big hit and she even talked to her and smiled. 

Santa actually caused her to unzip her coat and bury herslef in it like a turtle. I think she doesn't like strange men. Smart kid.

  Over all, we had a lot of fun!

Addiction?

I am a complete addict to chapstick.  It's seriously out of control. I've been this way for as long as I can remember.  I am not proud of it. I cannot stop.

Lately Madeline has found a peaceful activity while we cook dinner. She takes the cup of spare pens and other random stuff like drywall screws and sorts it and counts it.  Apparently there was some chapstick in there. I watched in utter amazement as she opened it, applied, and closed it back up. And then repeated about 15 times.  I've inadvertently created a monster! (But I'm impressed with the dexterity involved in this task!)

Colts Fan

Despite a season plagued with injuries (Bob Sanders, I still love you!), we're still cheering for the Colts this season.

Another interception Peyton? Really?

Go Colts!

Disclaimer: The better the Colts do, the more jeans and sneakers days I get at work!

BFFs

Clara and Maddie enjoying a leisurely dinner. How cute are they?

Potty Mouth

I decided a long time ago that I was going to be super laid back when it came to potty training.  I wasn't going to make a big deal about it or force the issue. When my child was good and ready, it would happen and that was fine. 

HA. 

That backfired big time.  So in June, at the ripe old age of 16 month, Madeline became obsessed with the potty.  Taking about it, talking about what you do in it.  Trying to sit on it. 

So I caved and bought her a potty.  She's pretty little so I figured she'd need one her size.  And lo and behold. She used it!  Quite well even.  She even stays dry during nap time and will wake up and go pee right away.   The down side is that until we get her "issues" (see previous post) worked out, we can't really proceed on with this life event. 

Besides, running all over town on Saturday morning is a lot easier with diapers!

Freaked Out

So if you know Madeline in person or just read this blog, you probably know that she has a little bit of a growing problem.  As in she doesn't gain weight. Pretty much at all.  In addition to this, there have been some other issues, primarily of the backside nature.  So after months of stool tests and blood tests and probiotics and dairy-free diets, we were referred to a pediatric gastrointestinal specialists.  And after waiting MONTHS to see said doctor, we finally got in.  I spent the days leading up to this visit, including the drive there, telling myself that I was just making too big of a deal about all of this.  However, the doctor was definitely in agreeance that something is wrong.  It appears she is not absorbing food, hence her ability to out-eat me on any given day while maintaining her girlish figure.  So the next step is to take a peek at what's going on inside. As in...gulp....a colonoscopy.  Yes, someone wants to shove a tube inside of my child.  And not just a colonoscopy, but an endoscopy and biopsy of the colon.  And they want me to watch the whole thing.  Anxiety, anyone?  The doctor said it would probably be worse on me than her.  I think this may be true.  This whole plan goes down on Tuesday so please keep all of us in your prayers!

Big Girl Bed

The last few weeks have been a little unstable due to some major deviations in my sleep schedule. Yes, let's talk about that.  It was completely my plan to keep Madeline in her crib until kindergarten.  Or at least until age 3.  And she's never given any indication that she was interested in getting out of her crib.  That was until one lovely Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago when Brad put her down for a nap...and found her wandering around upstairs.  Turns out she managed to make an Olympic sport out of this feat, dismount and all.  This led to the realization that we did NOT have the right piece to convert our crib into a toddler bed, nor does Babies R Us.  In the mean time, Madeline determined that sleeping on her mattress on the floor was not going to be an option.  She spent that first night, waking up every 45 minutes in complete panic mode.  Neither of us slept at all.  Fortunately the Handshoes loaned us their pack n play while we tried to figure out the crib situation.  After hours and hours of phone calls to every organization that has ever been involved with our crib, we finally got the right piece.  And it only took a week of putting Maddie in her "big girl bed" for her to stop flipping out every single night.  Right about the time we got things smoothed out on the bed time side....enter Daylight Saving Time! 5 AM wake up every morning.  Here's the thing- I'm up at 5 every morning.  But that's MY time.  MY TIME!  The good news is that we seem to have found normal again.  This proves my theory though that we can never have another child because that child won't be a good sleeper like Madeline has always been. And then I may not love said child as much.

This was our first attempt at nap time without a containment system. Ugh.

Barcalounger

um yeah...I ordered a pizza over an hour ago...

Trunk or Treat



After last year's smash hit Halloween costume, we were feeling a little pressured to keep up.  We decided a fun costume for this year would be "Madeline" the famous french orphan. 



Seriously, how cute is she?

For whatever reason, Madeline spent the first half of Trunk or Treat bawling.  The more candy she got, the more she cried. Even despite the safety of Spiderman!

Eventually she figured it out!

We spent the rest of the night walking around our neighborhood in the wagon and handing out candy at our house.  The beauty of this was that Madeline never figured out that you're supposed to EAT the candy, she was just happy to count it and put it in her bag.  Eventually we ran out of Reese's cups to hand out, so we just gave away her stash. Genius idea. No sugared up kid - No extra calories for these parents!

Zoo Boo

So after a failed attempt last weekend, we finally made it to Zoo Boo! We even picked up a couple of hitchhikers (namely Clara and Jenny. Poor Jenny had to sit between the 2 car seats in the back our jeep. Ouch).  It was a gorgeous fall day to be at the zoo....which is probably why there were 30,000 people there.  Have I mentioned how much I hate crowds?  This was only exacerbated by the fact that Madeline did NOT want to cooperate at all. She didn't want to ride in her stroller. She didn't want to walk.  She didn't want to be carried. I think she wanted to swim in the shark petting pool and that was it.  We still managed to have a fun evening though!

Not too many pictures due to the fact that stopping for more than 5 seconds was prohibited by the crowd.

Madeline ditched her costume relatively early on. It did make her less angry though.  She REALLY like petting this goat.  

  I think they're fixated on a cow.  We really did got to the ZOO, not a farm....

End of Radiation Celebration!

It was a beautiful night for some fall fun at the Bales Farm.  We also celebrated the end of radiation treatments for Clara!

Hopefully she's a better driver than her mother.

Picking apples with Ryne. And eating them.

(See that bag in the back? Apparently Brad has some notion of making applesauce?)

Hay ride!

And now there's some fresh pressed cider in the fridge. I love fall.

Ninja

Lately our friends have been referring to Maddie as "the ninja."  Why you ask?  Because she's sneaky. Really really sneaky.  She just waits for everyone to get distracted and then before you know it, she is doing something that she's not supposed to.  Here are some examples from tonight:

Like stealing blue cupcakes.

"Hey Clara, that's a nice necklace you've got there..."

"Victory is mine!"

Seriously, she's really sneaky.

Clara

We have lived next door to our friends, the Handshoes, for over 5 years now.  They were some of our very first friends in Indiana.  Jenny and I were very excited to find out we were pregnant together, and even more excited when we found out we were both having baby girls.  Clara was born 5 weeks after Madeline.  They go to the same babysitter, play in the church nursery, and hang out because that's what neighbors do.  Maddie really likes Clara's Elmo couch as seen here.

This summer we were devastated when we found out that Clara had a cancerous brain tumor.  Devastated really doesn't begin to cover it.  Picture me, person who never cries, completely sobbing in the middle of a hospital lobby.  And at work.  And in the car.  And climbing into Madeline's crib every night for weeks just so I could hold her a little longer.  I just couldn't quite get my head wrapped around the idea that this sweet, little girl that I've babysat for and is so much like my daughter, had a brain tumor.  It hit a little too close to home.  Of the things that have literally brought me to my knees in prayer, this is at the top of the list.     

One of the scariest nights of my life was the night I sat at Riley Children's hospital, hanging out with the Handshoes and trying to be of some service.  Every hour the nurse came out with an update.  Hours and hours of surgery.  But the awesome thing was to see how much peace we all had knowing that God was in control of the situation.  Had we not been there under those circumstances, it would have been a pretty good night hanging out with friends. 

Fortunately the surgery went amazing, as have the treatments in the months that followed.  We are all so thankful that Clara and the whole Handshoe family have pulled through this like troopers.  It is incredible to watch the church pull together like the family it's meant to be and to support one another.  Thank you for all our friends in Ohio who prayed for what was happening.  Our prayers have been answered in so many ways. 

Tomorrow we're going to the End of Radiation Celebration!

We're going to celebrate this amazing little girl and thank the God of peace, hope, and unfathomable love.

Fall Pictures with Leaves!

Ok seriously we're swimming in fall pictures. I love it!

This had better be the only tree hugging I catch....

She LOVED the leaves.

We love watching her discover.

More Fall Pictures

Ok so we wound up having family pictures taken twice this year...don't ask.  But the good news is that we have lots of great pictures! Here's a sneak peek from our most recent session:

Gross, Disgusting, Yucky

Those were the words coming out of Madeline's mouth after a nice afternoon of making mud pies. (Of course, she was only repeating me!)  We decided to sit outside and enjoy the goregous 70 degree October weather.  A little innocent scratching at the dirt turned into this...

Thus 3 baths in 24 hours. Sigh.

Why so serious?

This picture made me smile.  This little girl can be so expressive. 

P.S. If anyone knows how to make my video box on the side smaller so it doesn't float in the wings, please let me know.

Random Updates

I love my child.  I mean seriously love her unlike I've ever loved anything or anyone before. She's just so....cool.  Just listening to her laugh makes me happy.  I think if she were my age, we'd be good friends.  But since she's not, I will be her mother, not her friend, and help her to turn into an awesome woman.  Some people don't seem to appreciate the fact that they have children.  Which is really dumb.  Because you never know when something is going to happen and you won't be able to hug them one more time.  Just saying.  Ok that was kind of rambly....

So she still doesn't have her canine teeth in.  Her new favorite phrase is "I do it!"  (I have no idea where she gets that independent streak. ha.)  The words are flying and starting to become more consistent.  Her comprehension is unbelievable.  A little too good. I have to spell words like "cookie" now.  

I am officially an MBA student now.  This means that Brad is Mr. Mom quite a bit.  He's doing an awesome job.  You should be jealous that your husband is not as incredible as mine.   

Madeline still hasn't gained weight. We're going to a pediatric GI specialist in November.  I automatically assume this will involve a colonoscopy.  Scary.

Sneak Peak

We had some family pictures taken in the beautiful fall weather.  I think there's a possibility that my hair is whipping across my face in 90% of them.  Here's a sneak peak of what we got:

These were taken by our good buddy Chad Dumbris of M&R Photography. If you live in Indiana, you should call him.  But only for pictures.  No funny business.

Pictures with the Grandparents

Here are some random pictures from various visits with Grandma and Grandpa Webb this summer. Unfortunately their camera is pretty crappy so the pictures aren't very good quality. Oh well and enjoy.

She love love LOVES those red shoes.

I love that her hair will go back in pigtails now.