The Baker's

A Heartbreaking Start to the New Year

2012-01-16T09:44:00.010-06:00

As everyone was celebrating the start of a new year, I was watching my first baby go down hill in health rather quickly. A few months ago, Sable started losing patches of hair all along her back. One spot on her side was completely bald. I knew something was wrong but was in denial. I could not handle any bad news about her during Christmas. But, every day, I watched her struggle to stand and even had to carry her up the stairs on the back porch after she went to the bathroom. Some days she would not eat anything (normally she scarfs food down the minute it hits her bowl). But, she was drinking water all day and every time we turned around her huge water bowl was empty.

New Year's Eve, Chip said I was finally going to have to break down and take Sable to the vet. I was just putting off the inevitable. I decided to not take her on Monday since Karlee was still out of school for Christmas break. Taking both girls with me to the vet not knowing what was going to end up happening just wasn't something I was going to tackle alone. So, Tuesday morning, January 3, I loaded Sable up with me and took her to the vet on my way to work. They were going to run a few tests and call me when they had some answers. I cried the entire way to the vet's office and lost it when I was telling Dr. Carson what her symptoms had been. I knew deep down that I was losing my baby.

I was a nervous wreck all morning. The dreaded call came around 11:00. Sable was in liver failure and we only had one option. I called Chip with the news (totally surprised he could even understand my words between all the deep sobs and gasps for air). He picked me up and we discussed what we wanted to do over lunch (trying not to bust out in tears in a restaurant full of people). Our only option was putting her to sleep. She was in a ton of pain and the doctor didn't think she would live much more than a few more days. I was told I could pick Sable up and bring her home to spend time with over night and bring her back the next day, we could let her live out the rest of her days at home, or we could come in and put her to sleep that day. Chip did not want to bring her home and let her die on a day that I was home alone with the girls. I would have been a basket case and Karlee would have seen it and seen Sable dead. I couldn't wrap my hands around bringing her home knowing that I would have to take her back the next day for what was inevitable. I probably would have never taken her back anyway and would have loved on her at home until she passed. We made the decision to end her suffering that day.

Chip and I spent 2 hours on the floor of a room in the vet's office loving on our sweet Sable. We also decided that Karlee did not need to be there for this. She had played with Sable the night before. Also, before she went to Linda's house that morning, she gave Sable a big hug and told her she loved her. I had pre-warned her that Sable was going to the dog hospital and was very sick. I would find a way to tell Karlee what happened some time before seeing her again that night.

I first thought I did not want to be there when they put Sable to sleep. But, I couldn't bare the thought of leaving her at this time so I ended up staying and held her through the whole process. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Sable was 12 and I got her when she was 4 weeks old. She has been with me through everything. She was my roommate in college and sat in my lap as I studied for countless tests. She slept under the cover down by my feet every night until the day I left for our honeymoon. Chip was firm about not having a dog in the bed! I held her and cried as I watched the 9-11 events unfold. She laid on the couch of my trailer and watched Chip propose. She's been there through all my ups and downs and was always the first one I told any of my news to. She always loved me no matter what and was always glad to see me come home. Sable was attached to Karlee from the instant they met and she was the first one I told when I found out I was pregnant with Madelyn, yes, even before Chip! I had to warn her that another crazy child was going to be a part of our family. And boy was I right about crazy!

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about Sable (and cry a little). Karlee tells me she misses Sable every day and it's hard not to cry in front of her when she says it. I miss her like crazy. I forget sometimes and look out the back door to check on her or see if her water bowl needs refilling. A co-worker gave me a sweet book called Dog Heaven that I read to Karlee the night we told her about Sable. One part says that dogs in heaven pick clouds to lie on every day. Karlee remembers this part of the book the best. Every morning when we are driving to school, Karlee picks out the cloud that she thinks Sable is lying on. Then she goes on to tell me what she thinks Sable is doing and how many treats she's eaten that day. Every Monday and Friday as soon as Karlee came in the door from school, she grabbed the treat box and headed outside to "fill Sable's tummy." They were truly best friends. I swear every child should have a dog. The bond between a dog and child is truly remarkable.

I picked a few pictures to post for a walk down memory lane.

Sable snuck in our bedroom for a peak at Karlee the first day she came back from being boarded while we were at the hospital. I love this picture. Sable was Karlee's guardian from this moment on.

We had lots of play time with Sable involved.

We used to have a bed in what is now the playroom. Sable would crawl under there when she was tired of Karlee messing with her, and Karlee would follow right behind her!

Telling Sable bye before Karlee left for her 1st day at Parkway Preschool.

Afternoon picnics on the back porch were always a favorite for Sable. She got to snag whatever food hit the ground.

After school treat time. My parent's dog, Molly, was staying with us during this treat time.

Playing chase, even though Karlee was always the one doing the chasing!

Karlee talked to Sable about everything and Sable just sat and listened.

Sable would sit and just wait for Karlee to drop something or to just hand her something.

Sable was moved from inside the house to the back porch before Madelyn was born. Sable shed more than any other beagle I've ever seen. It was all over everything and not getting to clean as often as usual during tax season made us make the big change. I think this is the first picture I took of Madelyn and Sable.

Getting some smooches.

When Madelyn started crawling, it didn't take her long to find Sable on the back porch.

This picture was taken on Sunday, January 1. My sweet, loving Sable. You can see the difference and how much she changed in a short period of time by looking at the pictures with Madelyn.

It was down in the 20's that weekend. We always bring Sable inside on cold nights. Since she was losing gobs of hair and couldn't walk very well, she was in the kennel to protect her. I didn't want Madelyn grabbing her and hurting her more. Karlee sat beside the kennel and pet Sable until it was time for a bath and bed. I think Karlee knew that Sable was really sick.

Christmas Morning 2011

2012-01-14T06:41:00.008-06:00

I am finally getting around to a Christmas morning post. Better late than never! I will start off by saying this Christmas season was so much fun. Karlee knew it was all about celebrating the birth of Jesus. Some of our conversations about how Jesus celebrates in heaven were ones for the record books. I especially liked the conversation where Karlee told me that Jesus lived in her heart so she had to eat lots of birthday cake to feed her and Jesus. Priceless!!

Chip and I were wide awake around 6:30 (Lord knows why because we had not been in the bed for long!). Both girls woke around 7:15. I got Karlee and Chip got Madelyn (changed diaper and all!). We wanted to walk downstairs together and see their faces at the same time. I don't like leaving everything out on display unwrapped. Well, Santa doesn't like to do that! To me it's a bit overwhelming for them to see everything at once. Once it's seen and touched, it's over. I like Christmas morning to last a while and get to see reactions to each and every gift. Plus, who doesn't like unwrapping lots of presents!

We had so much fun watching both girls open their gifts. Karlee was thrilled with everything, especially the "walking dog" she had been asking for for over 3 months! A scooter was #2 on her list and she was riding it all over the house from the minute she opened it, helmet and all! Sweet Madelyn was just happy to pull paper off the gifts. She would open one and clap after she got all the paper off. She was so proud of herself!

Here are a few pictures of the girls opening their gifts. I put the camera down once we started opening our gifts to each other under the tree so I could enjoy opening my own!! I'm blogging from my favorite gift from Chip, a Macbook Pro laptop. It's super awesome!!!

Karlee's gifts from Santa

Madelyn's gifts from Santa

Wanting to open the big one 1st!

Santa brought the girls a pirate ship water table to both of them. It's still in our living room today and they are loving it. Ready for warm weather so I can move it to the back porch and fill it up with water!

Madelyn didn't waste any time getting to her gifts either.

Santa also brought both the girls the Rockin Elmo. Karlee got the guitar and Madelyn got the keyboard to go with it. We've had some pretty cool jam sessions with Elmo!

Madelyn is dancing a jig to Karlee's music! This was hilarious!!!

Karlee was so excited to get a dress up trunk for her princess dresses. She opened it to find 3 new dresses to add to her collection.

Daddy trying to figure out Karlee's "computer", the Leap Pad. Karlee plays with this for hours every day. Will be a great time consumer for our plane trip at the end of the month!!!

The much anticipated "walking dog"! Karlee was ecstatic!!!!

Madelyn cleared off the presents to sit in her chair. Karlee received one of these chairs for her 1st Christmas and it has been very well used. Now the girls won't fight over one chair since they both have their own. Or, at least that was the intention but they are proving me wrong! Karlee now wants to only sit in the new one.

Once Madelyn opened her Cozy Coupe, she pretty much stayed in it the rest of the day. She would drag toys in there, shut the door, and play all by herself. It was her own space away from the craziness of her big sister!

It didn't take long for my climber to find a way to get on top of Karlee's new dress up trunk!

We managed to set the camera timer and get a family picture on Christmas day before getting ready for bed, though the girls had been in their pjs all day!!

I hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did.

A Busy Christmas Eve

2012-01-06T06:53:00.010-06:00

We woke up early Christmas Eve morning to get our long, fun day started. We began our day with a delicious breakfast at Chip's parents house and then exchanged gifts with them. The last gift Karlee opened was a train set. The funny part about this gift is that it was the one thing that both girls went to first the minute they walked through the door that morning. The track was set up with the train on it and wrapping paper was laid over the top and taped to the bottom of the board Stanley made for the track to go on. Madelyn started patting the paper and all of a sudden it made a noise and started moving, inside the wrapping paper! The look on both of their faces was priceless.

Here are a few pictures from our morning with the Baker's.

Around 2:00, we loaded up and went to my parent's house to eat dinner and exchange gifts with them, Adam, and Erin. My mom was going back and forth with what to fix for dinner so I told her I would handle dinner this year. My chicken marsala was devine!! The second we walked through the front door, the girls saw a gift for both of them right off the bat, and of course had to get on it. Then, Karlee went outside to see what Granpa was doing and found another gift for both the girls! She was a tad bit excited!!!

We gave the girls a bath and put them in their Christmas pjs at my parent's house. We loaded up again and went home to get ready for Santa's big arrival. Karlee was excited to put out her cookies and she thought Santa would like chocolate milk this year. After our long day, we were all ready for bed!

Our tree before Santa even arrived. Sheesh!! We all had a great Christmas!

Teddy Bear Tea

2011-12-30T07:49:00.004-06:00

Last Thursday, Karlee and I attended a Teddy Bear Tea at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center. I have heard about it the past few years but this was our first year to go. We had so much fun on our little date. It was a monsoon outside and I almost said we would just stay home but I am so glad I changed my mind.

We walked in and Karlee immediately went to talk to the big bear. Our hostess showed us to our table and there was a big surprise. Karlee had a new teddy bear sitting in her chair. We had brought one from home because I didn't know she would get one at the tea. So, we had two teddy bears join us for tea!

Karlee had hot chocolate for the first time and she enjoyed loading it up with marshmallows. Our lunch was served and Karlee enjoyed trying all the different tea sandwiches. But, I think her favorite part was when the big bear came and sat at our table with her. She kept hugging him and giving him high fives. It really was sweet.

After lunch was served, the kids gathered around the fireplace and sang Christmas carols. There was an "elf" named Eli that sort of ran the activities. He was phenomenal! He flitted and fluttered around and made me tired just watching him. Then he read two Christmas stories and both happened to be some of Karlee's favorites, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Twas the Night Before Christmas.

After story time, we went back to our table and enjoyed lots of sweet treats. We boxed some of them up to bring home and share with daddy and Madelyn! I hope to be able to attend this next year. Maybe Madelyn will be able to join us and some other friends. We were the only table of two. Karlee asked why she didn't have any friends sitting with us at our table (I actually knew no one else there ... hard to believe!).

First Round of Christmas Gatherings

2011-12-29T22:58:00.005-06:00

On the weekend before Christmas, we kicked off our Christmas celebrations with gatherings for both sides of my parents families. Saturday we headed to my Mawmaw's house for an afternoon of fun with my dad's family. My aunt, uncle, and cousin were here from Louisiana which was a special treat for everyone. We enjoyed yummy food and opened a few presents. My Mawmaw sews really well but has a hard time getting to it these days. She just can't sit for hours on end and finish something like she used to. I have always told her that as long as she is able, I would much rather have something made by her than anything bought in a store. So, I was excited when Karlee opened her gift and found a Christmas apron, a Christmas cookbook (child's cookbook printed on fabric and sewn together), and a regular everyday apron. This is a perfect gift for Karlee because the child is always in the kitchen wanting to help cook and wanting to just create something of her own. Madelyn also received her own Christmas apron, everyday apron, and a Christmas fabric reading book. The excitement continued when I opened a matching Christmas apron and an everyday apron. These are treasures for me that I will keep forever. Now, every Christmas, we can put on our matching aprons and whip up some special treats and always have my Mawmaw with us. Of course the kiddos had to open a toy each too because my mom said they just had to have a toy to open. Like we really need more of those!!

On Sunday afternoon, we spent time with my mom's side of the family at one of my cousins house. This Christmas gathering can get chaotic quick with all the people and all the presents that the aunts, uncles, and cousins always have. This year was different though. The young kids still draw names and the adults play dirty Santa. But, instead of all the aunts and uncles buying gifts for all the kids, we decided to adopt a family. Our entire family is blessed with what we have so our kids do not need all the gifts that they usually come home with from this gathering. We chose a family that has a student in my cousin Jamie's class. Each family contributed whatever they wanted to give and Jamie had a wish list from the family. They did not know the teacher was doing this. Someone from the principal's office just told the family that another family wanted to help them out for Christmas and to please provide a list of the things they most needed. Jamie and Tabatha went shopping on Monday before Christmas and the items were delivered to the family. The fact that our massive family could help a family in need enjoy Christmas was so fulfilling. We can all get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas and not stop to think about the real reason for the season. We were able to spread our joy and love to a family that we have never met. I truly hope we continue this tradition.

My girls enjoyed their gifts and Madelyn was funny figuring out how to unwrap them. She is at such a fun age and her little face lights up with everything.

Caroling on the Porch

2011-12-15T13:54:00.005-06:00

Karlee had her first ever big Christmas program today. She has talked about singing songs for the past few weeks and has belted them out in the car whenever one she knows comes on the radio (I keep it on the Holly station during December). I found out today how she knows the words to "Feliz Navidad" and why she says "she ain't gettin nothin for Christmas"!! The entire program was so cute. It's amazing watching the 3, 4, and 5 year olds together and seeing how much Karlee is going to grow and change over the next 2 years at Indian Pines.

Karlee did great and sang (for the most part) all of the songs and did all of her hand motions. Watching all the kids was just hilarious! They all sat and sang for about 30 minutes and only at the end did a few of them get restless (notice the two boys putting the decorations in each others hair!!).

The class Christmas party is tomorrow and a special visitor is supposed to make an appearance. I bet I know who it will be! Stay tuned ...

Ballerina in the Making

2011-12-15T13:27:00.003-06:00

Last Monday, the parents got to come into the dance class and see what the girls have learned so far. I was very impressed with my little ballerina. After only 2 1/2 months, Karlee was doing very well in her bar routine and floor routine. Plus, she was one of only a few that were listening to the teacher and not cutting up in front of all the parents!!

I didn't get too many pictures because I was trying to video too. I needed more hands. Chip was wrangling Madelyn! I can't wait until the recital in May to see them do their full routines for ballet and tap. My goodness, watching Karlee dance at Nix brings back so many memories from my childhood. I hope she loves to dance as much as I did (and still do!!).

My Special Place

2011-12-07T10:53:00.002-06:00

I absolutely love a Christmas tree, especially a real one. There's just something about the lights in a dark house and the ornaments twinkling in the lights ... and the smell (my favorite part).

After I put the girls to bed, I usually lay on the couch for a little while before heading to bed (catching up on Facebook and Twitter!!). Plus, Chip is usually watching something I could care less about on TV in the bedroom. My night time ritual just has a whole new vibe to it in December.

I couldn't help getting out the camera to capture a pic of our tree a few nights ago. I'm quite fond of it this year. Please take notice of the wrapped boxes along the hearth. This is my best attempt at keeping Madelyn out of the tree (and out of the fireplace!). They are just diaper boxes filled with junk to give them some weight. There is usually a huge box in front of the tree that is an actual present for my dad but I moved it for the picture. That crazy child was getting up on the hearth and walking over to reach the tree. I have no idea how it has not been pulled over before I came up with this idea. Karlee never bothered the tree but Madelyn is a whole different story!

Festive Fun

2011-12-07T10:21:00.005-06:00

I love this time of year. There are lots of things around town to take the kids to. Last week we went to the Auburn Hotel and Conference Center to see the gingerbread houses that the school of architecture builds every year. Karlee loved the trains going around two of them. We met up with the Spratlins and Mason loved the powdered sugar that was all over the tables representing snow! We all stayed and ate at Ariccia afterward. The meal was yummy and we were a sight with 4 kids under the age of 4!!

Little momma telling baby sister "no no" when she wanted to touch (pull off) the ornaments!

Then on Sunday, Chip, Karlee and I headed to Atlanta to see "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at the Fox Theater with the Spratlin family and the Hensarling family. We all left our babies at home to spend one on one time with our first borns. Karlee, Mason, and Tanner had so much fun together. And, we could not have asked for them to be any better behaved than they were. Complete angels the entire day. The musical was fantastic!

After the show, we took Karlee to Lenox mall to see Santa and headed to Magiannos for dinner (one of our favorite Italian restaurants). We had a very long day and this sweet child was a trooper. Lots of fun memories were made that day!!

December 1 ... Special Delivery

2011-12-07T09:46:00.007-06:00

Last Thursday night, Karlee and Madelyn came home from grandmomma's house to find a special delivery had been made. Karlee noticed something shining on the wall upstairs next to her room and went running to see what it was.

She found that someone had put a shining snowman outside of her bedroom.

Karlee then noticed that her bedroom was glowing red. She walked in to find that Mr. Sprinkles had moved her little Christmas tree and was sitting in it holding a note.

Chip read the note (notice Madelyn is very interested in hearing what it says!). Mr. Sprinkles had delivered a big bag of wrapped Christmas books ... 25 to be exact! He told both girls that he had flown around the house and gathered all the Christmas books they already had and Santa included a few more new books straight from the North Pole. The note instructed them to open one book a day to count down the days until Christmas and they had to take turns picking out the book and opening it. Karlee's eyes were as big as quarters and her smile was priceless!

Karlee of course said she was first to pick out the book and open it. She dove right in and came out with "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" first. She was so excited!!

The big bag of books includes Santa and reindeer books, but also includes many books about the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. We have all enjoyed seeing what book will be pulled out each day. We do this at night after bath and it's fun to sit in either of the girls rooms and all read the book together. Madelyn sits for most of it!! Her favorite part is crawling in the big bag and picking a book.

Mr. Sprinkles has to say a big thank you to Pinterest for the idea!!

Griswold's ... I Think Not!

2011-12-01T14:13:00.004-06:00

Karlee has been very excited about decorating for Christmas this year. Driving around town at night, she yells "there's some Christmas lights" every time she sees some in someone's yard. Sunday morning before the rain started, Chip brought down the wreaths from the attic and got out the spotlights to decorate the outside of the house. Karlee helped hang the wreaths and made sure they were straight! She then told us where to put the spotlights and helped stick them in the ground.

I went back inside with Madelyn and about 10 minutes later, Karlee came inside and said she was ready to put the lights on the trees outside. WHAT? I looked at Chip and he said "yep, she wants to put lights outside on the trees." Now, don't take this the wrong way but I'm just not a "light up the neighborhood with our Christmas lights" kind of person. I enjoy seeing it in other people's yards but I just prefer a nice wreath on the windows at my house.

I could not tell that sweet face that was full of excitement "no" so we compromised with just lighting up the bushes by the mailbox so daddy didn't have to drag out the ladder to decorate the trees. We drug a few lights out of the attic and made sure they worked. Karlee helped Chip take them outside and they went to work wrapping them around the small bushes. Notice Karlee has on her work boots (and still in her pjs!). Madelyn had to join in on the fun too.

I'm pretty sure it won't stop with just lit up bushes in the years to come. Once she sees the neighbors with blow up decorations, she'll probably want one of those too. I have to admit I did see a Santa that pops his head out of a Christmas tree the other day and thought it was cute (cute for someone else's house though!!).

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2011-12-01T13:39:00.006-06:00

We ventured out to "pick" our Christmas tree on Friday afternoon. Karlee loved running through all the trees and finally settled on the perfect one. We went smaller than usual this year because I'm very afraid wild child #2 is going to pull it over on top of her before December 25.

We came home and put the girls down for a nap while Chip and I got the tree set up and ready to decorate. When they woke, a special visitor had arrived.

Mr. Sprinkles was waiting outside the door with a package. He made his annual delivery of the box of special ornaments for Karlee and Madelyn to hang on the tree. Karlee was so excited looking through the box and hearing me tell her what the ornament represents.

Chip and I strung the lights while Karlee kept asking if it was time to put the ornaments on yet. It was so much fun to see how excited she was to decorate for Christmas this year. She's really gotten into it all. We let Madelyn get into the bag with the plastic ornaments so she could help also.

I really love our Christmas tree. It's not fancy or any kind of theme. It's almost like a story of our life. I have an ornament that was given to my family when I was young from an elderly lady that lived up the street from us on Clearmont Street named Ms. McCollum. I have ornaments from the year I bought my first home in college and had my very first Christmas tree of my own. I have special ornaments that Chip's Granny hand-made and gave me at a Christmas shower before we were married. She passed away the year after we were married. Of course I have "Our First Christmas Together" from 2002 when Chip and I got married and baby's first Christmas for both the girls. I have a picture ornament of Karlee from each Christmas and one for Madelyn from last year (this year hasn't been made yet!). All the handmade ornaments that Karlee made at Parkway were hung by her this year. Besides the plastic balls (replaced the glass ones this year because of wild child #2!), every ornament on our tree has a story with it. I hope to pass these along to the girls one day and hope they carry the stories along with them. Pulling out all the ornaments is one of the most special times of the Christmas season for me.

The picture above was about half way through. I didn't get a finished version photo because I had my hands full keeping Madelyn from trying to get in the tree! Separate post about this adventure coming later!!

Madelyn's First Year

2011-11-16T13:20:00.002-06:00

Finally had a chance to finish Madelyn's 1 year video. I cried like a baby the whole time making it. Really can't believe this child is already a year old. Turn up your volume and sit back to enjoy a glimpse into her first year.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

12 month stats

2011-11-03T15:28:00.005-05:00

19 pounds 13 ounces
28 3/4 inches

Madelyn had her 12 month check up on her birthday. I know! Terrible mommy for having shots on her birthday. There were only supposed to be 2 but we got the flu shot too while we were there. (Karlee was able to get Flumist this year and no shot!!!)

** Two center bottom teeth and two center top teeth.

** Walking EVERYWHERE!

** On table food. Loves sugar free banana popsicles (thanks to Grandaddy).

** Climbs anything and everything like a monkey.

** Favorite place in the house is INSIDE the kitchen cabinet with the tupperware bowls.

** Will climb the stairs in a heartbeat if the baby gate isn't up.

** Has loved whole milk from the first sip this week. Bye bye formula!!!!

** Says "bobble" when she wants a bottle or sees you fixing one.

** As soon as you pull a shirt over her head, she says "boo" and laughs. Cutest thing ever!

** Says bye bye back to you when you say it to her and waves.

** LOVES her sister and says "sissa" all the time.

** She gets the biggest grin whenever she sees Sable on the back porch and tries to say doggie.

** Will play with something and talk to it the whole time in baby language and range her voice up and down like an actual conversation.

** Usually kicks her covers off and turns around in the bed to lie on top of them.

** Extremely happy child and laughs at anything.

** Chip says she is in 4-wheel drive all day long.

** Naps 2 times a day and sleeps very well at night!!!!

The past year has been one full of many blessings. I really don't know what any of us would do without Madelyn. Now that she is walking, watching her and Karlee play and interact is one of the brightest parts of my day. When it's getting close to bed, Madelyn will crawl in my lap and put her head up on my shoulder. She's a snuggle bug at night time.

I look back at the past year and think how hard the first 6 months were. The C-section had be down and out for 8 weeks (it rocked my world more than I ever thought it would have). Then, major surgery when Madelyn was 6 months old. I would not change a bit of it though. God only gives you what he knows you can handle. We all made it through it and are forever changed because of it. In the end, we have a beautiful, healthy daughter that has brought joy to all of our lives. And, I can't complain at all about that.

Happy First Birthday Madelyn. Mommy, Daddy, and Karlee love you so much.

Happy Birthday Madelyn!!

2011-11-03T14:59:00.012-05:00

Lordy, I just can't believe Madelyn turned 1 on Friday. It was an emotional day for me. I cried while feeding her morning bottle and a few more times during the day. Time has just flown by. My baby is a year old.

We had a little party for her with just our family of 4 on Friday night. I couldn't let her actual birthday go by without a little celebration. The big party was on Sunday. I got us all cupcakes to eat after dinner. Madelyn wasn't quite sure what to do with hers at first but it didn't take her long to dig in.

We let Madelyn open the presents from us afterwards. I took Karlee shopping the week before and let her pick out a special present (ended up picking 20 from her. Madelyn loves ripping up magazines so she was a pro at unwrapping presents!

We had a family and friends Pumpkin Painting Party on Sunday. I was just going to keep it simple with just family but Karlee wanted some friends to play with. So, we invited a few to come paint pumpkins with Karlee.

I think everyone had a great time celebrating Madelyn's first birthday. We ended the day with a nice warm bubble bath!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T11:58:00.007-05:00

We started our Halloween off with Karlee's class party. The parents waited outside and the kids came out and paraded around with cute masks they made. Notice Karlee is wearing a costume and the other kids are not. I just assumed that they were supposed to wear costumes for the party. Obviously not!! Karlee has the sweetest little classmates. They were all so quiet while eating their snacks. I have loved watching their room transform with the Halloween crafts they have made. Miss Weiss and Mrs. Smith even made them all treat bags to take the crafts home in!

I let Karlee skip dance class Monday afternoon so that she and Madelyn could get good naps before a long night of Halloween fun. After transforming into Little Miss Muffett and a spider we headed over to the Dilworth's for a hayride, trick or treating, and the annual soup dinner. We all had so much fun. Karlee was running to every house, saying Trick or Treat every time, and even said Thank You after getting candy. It was funny to see that Karlee chose pencils over candy when someone held out the bowl and told her to choose what she wanted! Madelyn was right along with us the whole night and loved seeing all the costumes. She would point and wave as people passed by. Karlee came home with a bag full of candy. I am trying my best to keep my hands out of it!!!!!

Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-02T11:28:00.003-05:00

Karlee and Chip carved her big pumpkin she picked at the pumpkin patch. Leave it to my husband to use a drill for "carving" the face!

1st Field Trip

2011-10-27T16:46:00.006-05:00

Karlee went on her first field trip last week. Her school went to Jack O Lantern Lane in Lafayette! We both had fun and came home with a BIG pumpkin. Karlee has had to tell everybody in the family how big her pumpkin is. It's cute to watch her get so excited talking about it. I got her to hold off on carving it so pics of that will come later!

Camille, Sarah Elizabeth, Karlee, and Madison (the 4 Musketeers!)

BFF's (Camille has been a great friend since the 1 year old class at Parkway!!)

On the hunt for the best pumpkin!

And, she found it!

Staking claim to her pumpkin.

AU vs. FL 2011

2011-10-27T16:35:00.004-05:00

Chip was fishing a tournament so I loaded up the girls and took them tailgating for the Florida game. My parents were gracious enough to come help me out!

The only thing on Karlee's mind was seeing Aubie so we headed to the Alumni tent to find him.

Karlee also wanted a tiger paw on her hand so we did that too!

The Pumpkin Patch Express

2011-10-27T16:08:00.008-05:00

We have been to Jack O Lantern Lane every year since Karlee was born to pick a pumpkin. This year, I decided to do something different for our family pumpkin patch trip. A few Saturdays ago, we all headed up to Calera to take a ride on the Pumpkin Patch Express. It involved a real train so I knew Karlee would love it. Madelyn had a great time too!

When we arrived at the "pumpkin patch," I started to miss the one in Lafayette. At least it had pumpkins out in a real patch! We walked through the grass and the girls picked out a pumpkin.

There was a hayride, a bounce house, and a maze for the kids to enjoy. After about 30 minutes, we all loaded back up on the train and headed down the track. We came to a spot where the engine detached and came around to reattach to the caboose to pull us back to the train depot. That part was pretty neat to watch!

I'm glad we did something different but it's a trip we will probably not make again. Pumpkins set out in a field of grass is just not our kind of patch!

That night, Karlee was chomping at the bit to carve her pumpkin. I knew it was way too early but we did it anyway (and it has since rotted and been thrown away.) Chip even whittled down a potato for the nose!

Playmates

2011-10-04T10:15:00.004-05:00

Poor Madelyn stands at the back door all the time looking at Sable. Sable will come up and lick the glass (notice the dirty glass) and Madelyn just squeals and bangs on the door.

Since it was nice outside this weekend, I decided to open the kitchen windows and let them play. It lasted for just a minute until Madelyn pulled Sable's ear really hard. Sable found herself a nice spot far from the window and stayed there until I closed them back!

Zoo Trip

2011-10-04T09:58:00.007-05:00

We took advantage of this beautiful Fall weather this weekend and headed to the zoo in Montgomery. The girls had so much fun. This was Madelyn's first zoo trip. I'm looking forward to more fun Fall days to come.

Karlee calling the monkeys.

Madelyn laughing at her crazy big sister!

Trying to get a better look ...

at this beautiful jaguar.

Feeding some very hungry giraffes.

The girls favorite ... riding the train. Karlee was not interested in looking at the camera!

Faces

2011-09-28T10:55:00.004-05:00

I found these pictures of both girls while skimming through my files today. They were taken on the exact same day of their lives, 10 months and 16 days. I just love both of their eyes!

11 months ALREADY!

2011-09-28T10:14:00.010-05:00

Well, this past month has come and gone. I never had a spare second to do a 10 month post for Madelyn. I am at a loss for words today. I just can't believe my baby is 11 months old today.

Just for memory sake, here are a few shots of Madelyn at 10 months.

*Standing on her own with no support.

*Happy all the time!

*First bubble bath (loved it!)

*Finally, two little teeth!

Wow! 11 months. Really? Can someone please tell me where the past 11 months have gone. People say time goes by quicker with the second child. Quicker? They should rephrase that. To what I don't know but quick just doesn't seem to describe it just right!

I will start off by saying that this sweet child melts my heart daily. I could kiss these cheeks right off.

But, she knows she can make a mess in about 2.5 seconds flat!

She is totally infatuated with any kind of electronic, especially the telephone. She turns anything into a phone by putting it to her ear and blabbing away in Chinese!

She has been standing on her own for the past month. But, just last week, she started standing up from a seated position without pulling up on anything. She can now bend down, pick something up, and stand back up without falling forwards onto her face. Her balance has really gotten steady.

Right at 10 months, Madelyn started taking one or two steps every now and then. Now at 11 months, she's really showing more interest in walking. I'm definitely not pushing her to walk. I want her to stay a baby so I'm fine with crawling for now!

Plus, who needs to walk when you have a sister that drags you around all the time anyway!

Speaking of sister. Watching Karlee and Madelyn interact everyday makes me a proud mommy. Karlee is so good with Madelyn. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning when I bring Karlee downstairs, she always says she misses not seeing Madelyn (my work days-she's already gone to grandmomma's house). Though I want Madelyn to stay a baby, I know Karlee is ready for her to be big so they can play more.

Fun with Granna & Granpa

2011-09-28T09:28:00.005-05:00

The girls and I headed to my parents to watch football games a few Saturdays ago (Chip was fishing as usual). After Auburn lost, we headed outside to play and take our minds off of it. Karlee loves sliding down the hill in the front yard. We didn't have a cardboard box this time so we made due with a laundry basket.

The basket worked okay but not as good as a big box. Karlee took a few trips down the hill before disaster struck.

Needless to say, we won't be using a laundry basket again! Karlee then decided to just roll down the hill using her body. It's obvious that this child did not get my motion sickness problems!

Madelyn hung out on a blanket with Granna. And, yes, we still love her (and Chip) even though they are Alabama fans. Everybody has a few black sheep in their family, don't they!

New School Year at a New School

2011-09-28T09:10:00.003-05:00

Karlee started 3 year old preschool at Indian Pines Country Day School on Sept 12. She was so ready to get back in school (and I was equally ready!). Sending her to this new school for a short summer program was the best thing we could have done. Karlee LOVES Indian Pines and did so good on her first day. This is the first year she goes 5 days a week. I hoped she was still loving it by the end of the first week!

We walked in and found her project cubby and her backpack hook. She would not let me hang her backpack. She wanted to do everything herself! She then sat down and started coloring on the marker board. After snapping a few pictures, I said "Bye Karlee. I'll see you this afternoon." She then said, "Bye mommy. Now give me a hug and take Madelyn home with you." Well, I guess she was ready to get her day started (without me or her sister)!

When I picked her up at 12:00, she gave me the biggest hug and said she had so much fun. Of course she was full of sugar too from the pixie sticks they came walking out with!

We are already loving this new school year and the new school. Most mornings when I get Karlee out of the car, she says "I can do it by myself mommy." She takes her backpack and heads to the door. Of course I follow her inside but she makes sure I stay behind her. She hangs her backpack, finds her "name star" and places it on the schoolhouse to check in, and takes a seat all by herself. I'm still wondering when she got so grown. Time is just flying by.

Early Morning Ritual

2011-08-30T11:18:00.004-05:00

On the days I work, I have to get the girls out of bed and dressed to leave the house with Chip by 6:30. With gas prices so high, he takes the girls with him to his mom's house for the day since his office is next door to their house. It beats me having to drive almost to Loachapoka and back to my office in Opelika before 8:00.

I wake Madelyn up around 6:10 and give her a bottle. We then go in Karlee's room and wake her up together. This is one of the top moments of my day (and the reason I am posting it). Our mornings always involve lots of kisses, hugs, and smiles from all three of us (after Karlee rolls around and groans several times!). I then rush to get them dressed and out the door they go. Linda feeds them breakfast! I am very fortunate to have a mother in law that wants to keep them. I know they are both very well loved and taken care of (and spoiled completely rotten!).

Sadly, this ritual will end in a few weeks when Karlee starts back to school. Madelyn will leave with Chip and Karlee will stay home (and get to sleep an hour longer) with me so I can take her to school at 8:30.

Finally...A Family Vacation

2011-08-18T08:38:00.016-05:00

Karlee has been asking all summer when she was going to the beach. She was ready to play in the sand, jump waves, and find seashells. I feel like summer flew by at the speed of lightning. Between summer school, swim lessons, Chip's fishing tournaments, and various other things going on, we finally found a weekend to get away with the girls (and my parents, Adam, and Erin).

Here are a few of the 482 pictures I took over 4 days. Madelyn had a love/hate relationship with the sand. She was fine sitting in it (and eating it) for a bit but then was over it and let you know.

These blue crabs were everywhere in the water. Most of them were full of eggs so we guessed they had come to shore for bedding.

Madelyn took lots of naps in her cabana in front of the fan. Karlee couldn't resist getting in there either. So much for keeping it sand-free!

Adam brought some beach (tailgate) games. The boys played these all day long. Karlee got to join in too!

Karlee was tall enough this time to ride the go carts and bumper boats. Karlee wanted Chip to ride with her on the go carts and me to ride with her on the bumper boats. I think Chip got the better deal!!

Madelyn got to ride a carousel for the first time. This is the same carousel Karlee rode for the first time too!

And, we couldn't leave the beach without getting some white dress pictures! I have come to realize that it's very hard to get 2 kids to look at the camera at the same time.

9 month stats

2011-08-02T09:41:00.003-05:00

A healthy report from Dr. Greer yesterday!

weight: 17 lb 12 oz (25th%)
length: 26 1/2 inches (10th%)

Short and round!

Madelyn only had to get one shot. She did pretty well with it considering Karlee snatched the Gerber Yogurt Melts out of the diaper bag and started shoveling them in Madelyn's mouth as soon as the shot was over! It definitely got Madelyn's attention off the pain. I am blessed to have two healthy girls that are totally smitten with each other. Makes my life a little easier!

And, I forgot to mention in the last post that Madelyn is still an occasional thumb sucker. It only happens when she's getting sleepy or cranky. She doesn't suck it while she sleeps though so she's not dependent on it at all (thank goodness!!!).

E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E at 9 months

2011-07-28T14:36:00.013-05:00

I woke up this morning in total disbelief that Madelyn is 9 months old today. She is the happiest, most laid back baby most of the time. She's growing like a weed and her "talking" sounds are getting more developed. She is saying "da da". Breaks my heart that it's not "ma ma" first. At first I thought she was saying it but didn't know what it meant. Not the case. She looks at, or crawls to, Chip saying "da da". I hold the bottle in front of her and she says "ba ba" sometimes. She may be an early talker like Karlee was.

One of her favorite things to do is "fly" on my knees. It gives me a good ab workout too (which I desperately need)!

Madelyn thinks her sister hangs the moon. She follows Karlee everywhere. Those little hands slap the floor about 100 miles a minute when she's chasing Karlee around the room. They play so well together, even when Karlee torments Madelyn with costumes and playing dress up.

The stairs have been a big issue. It's hard to keep a baby gate up because Karlee goes up and down the stairs to her playroom and bedroom all the time. I keep telling Chip we need to install gates that have a swinging door at the top and bottom of the stairs. He's not convinced that attaching it to the wall and handrails is a good idea. A busted head may change his mind!

Madelyn is pulling up on anything and everything. I pulled a few toys out of the attic and cleaned them up for Madelyn a few weeks ago. She loves the push toy but would rather try to crawl up it than stand behind it. She walks a few steps with it but is still a little wobbly. It won't be long before she's going full force with it (Lord give me the energy to chase 2 kiddos!). She loves the toys that sing and play music. She bounces her little body to the beat! Karlee has enjoyed the "new toys" too.

I finally had a chance to clean (or at least straighten up) the playroom. You don't realize how many small parts come with games and dolls until you have a little one crawling around that puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. All Barbie shoes and accessories, small puzzle pieces, and games pieces are safely stored away in a place that only Karlee can get too. Madelyn now has a new room to roam around in and loves it. Karlee is getting better at sharing and not grabbing everything saying "mine".

I have to keep my eyes wide open all the time to see where Madelyn is. She can slip up on you in a matter of seconds. Her favorite place to get is the dishwasher. It pretty much runs non-stop these days since I'm cooking every night and cups from 2 kids pile up quick. Madelyn thinks moving the racks in and out is funny. She giggles and claps when she pushes them back in. But, when it's time to close it up, she is NOT happy.

The sneaky child is in to absolutely everything. She almost pulled the fire screen on top of her the other day. When I walked out of the room for about 10 seconds to put the screen away, I came back to find Madelyn up on the hearth with her head stuck in the fireplace playing with the little rocks around the gas logs. Looks like I have another active, fearless child on my hands.

As you can see in the above picture, Madelyn still doesn't have a single tooth. I need to write a letter to the tooth fairy! It hasn't slowed her down on eating though. She's on a little bit of table food, only fruits and veggies. Bananas are one of her favorites, but extremely messy. She likes english peas and carrots. I am still only giving her water in a sippy cup. Haven't moved to watered down apple juice yet. She likes water so we're sticking with it.

Madelyn is continuing to sleep well at night. She has even started napping better during the day. Naps are not on a schedule like Karlee's were (and still are). It's hard to have a schedule for the 2nd child. By the time Madelyn gets to sleep, it's just about time to pick Karlee up from summer school or we've been at swim lessons during her nap time. Madelyn has just learned to sleep well in the car and I leave her in the car seat on the floor of her bedroom to continue the nap when we get home. Don't judge me, just trying to survive!

I'll report back with 9 month stats after her check up on Monday.

Karlee Van Gogh

2011-07-28T11:40:00.004-05:00

Karlee's absolute favorite thing to do these days is paint. We usually spread everything out on the kitchen table but it gets burdensome when trying to make her pick everything up to get breakfast, lunch, or dinner on the table. The art table wasn't getting used much in the playroom because I refuse to let her paint on carpet. So, the dining room has been transformed into Karlee's "art center". At least that room is getting used daily now instead of once a year at Christmas!

We made a trip to Hobby Lobby to get an art box to store all the paint, brushes, scissors, stickers, paper, crayons, and color pencils in. I knew having them out would just draw the attention of our little crawler.

While at Hobby Lobby, I picked up a canvas for Karlee to paint. There's a blank spot in her room that I've been trying to think of something to fill the space. Why not let Karlee be the artist for something special to hang in her own room? She started painting with lots of colors. I showed her how to outline the section and color it in so the colors wouldn't run together. She had a ball doing this. I loved watching her little mind think of what color she would use next while rinsing off the brush.

The finished product! Since Karlee can't sign her name yet, I let her mark it with a hand print. Which as you can see turned into 4 hand prints!

I told her we would let it dry during her nap and then hang it later that day. She then told me she wanted to give the painting to her daddy so he could hang it in his office. I was totally not expecting that. But, who am I to argue with the artist! When Chip got home from work, Karlee surprised him with "his" painting. She was so proud. Looks like I will be making another trip to Hobby Lobby for a canvas she can paint for her room.

1st Swim Lessons

2011-07-28T09:47:00.006-05:00

Karlee started swimming lessons on July 8. Since we live in the water all summer long, Chip and I knew it was time to get her some water training. She loves to swim but it has always been with her "ladybug". I had a terrible fear that Karlee would fall in the water somewhere and not know how to get back to safety. Ironically, she jumped in the pool on the 4th of July without her ladybug while playing with friends. Sweet Hudson said "Karlee's under water" and Jay got to her first. (I was inside feeding Madelyn and Chip had turned his back about 10 seconds to put on chap stick.) I was so glad that swim lessons started that same week! Karlee had lessons on Friday and Monday mornings in July.

I chose to put her in private lessons to start off. I have heard of children crying and screaming at group lessons and I didn't want Karlee to see that and think water was scary. Her teacher was Amber Fulford. I have known her a long time (she's my brother's age) and she is so sweet. I knew Karlee would instantly like her; and, she did! The first day, Amber started off seeing what Karlee could do. She already was swimming with her head in the water so Amber taught her to breath out of her nose and keep her body on top of the water. She taught her how to correctly paddle her hands and kick her feet while keeping her head in the water. By the end of the first 30 minute lesson, Karlee was swimming correctly all by herself!

On the second lesson, Amber taught Karlee how to jump in and swim back up to the top of the water and then swim back to the side. This satisfies my fear of knowing what to do if she falls in. They also worked on floating on her back if she gets tired of swimming. No pictures of this because Madelyn was DONE with sitting!

The freestyle technique was taught on the 3rd lesson. Karlee is still so little so her arms don't come far out of the water when bringing them around.

The 4th lesson was rained out so on what was supposed to be the 5th lesson, Amber had Karlee swimming a longer distance. She started at the end of the shallow end and swam by herself to the steps. Then, all of a sudden, she touched the step, turned around, and swam all the way back to Amber. I was so proud and Amber was shocked! At the end of the lesson, we decided not to make up the rained out session and let this be Karlee's last one. Amber and I both felt comfortable that Karlee could get back to safety if she ever needed to. That was my ultimate goal. I mean, she's only 3 so I'm not expecting her to learn how to be an Olympic swimmer (yet!). And, I would never leave her in a pool to swim alone. I am always by her side (with Madelyn on my hip) anytime we are in water.

So, Karlee is officially a fish. Madelyn wanted to get in the water so bad every lesson. She would reach her hands out like she wanted Amber to take her. She already wants to do everything her big sister does. She may learn to swim by the age of 1 if she keeps this up!

White Water

2011-07-26T12:41:00.005-05:00

Saturday morning, I woke up and told Chip that I had the craziest dream. We were at White Water in Atlanta and Karlee was riding all of the water slides. I'm not sure why I had this dream. I guess it's because Karlee talks about riding water slides when she gets bigger all the time. She passes Surfside Water Park every week going to Chip's parents house. We tell her she can go there when she gets bigger!

Later in the day on Saturday, I asked Chip if he thought Karlee would have fun at White Water. He said "probably" so I looked up the age requirements and found out it was based on height (36 inches minimum for several slides). Out came the measuring tape! She was right at 36 inches! Great! We called my parents to see if they could keep Madelyn on Sunday and, of course, they could. The plan was set in motion.

We woke both girls up at 6:30 and headed out the door shortly after breakfast. Karlee was super excited. We told her we were driving a long way to play on lots of water slides all day long.

I didn't take my camera because I knew we would be getting soaking wet all day. But, the look on Karlee's face was absolutely priceless when we walked through the gate. We found the first kids section and she took off. Running and playing in all the water fountains, sliding down the little baby slides, a smile plastered across her face. We then moved to the next kid section with bigger slides and play things. Chip and I took turns going up the playsets while the other stayed down to catch her as she came out of a slide. She'd hit the water and immediately head back up to do it again. Sometimes coming down on her tummy and sometimes on her back. You never knew what end was coming out of the shoot! We then moved on to the Tree House section which was totally cool (even for an adult!) We all 3 made it up the rope wall to check things out. Like before, one of us went down to catch and one stayed up to make sure she got on the slide. These slides were a lot bigger and so was the smile on Karlee's face. All you could see were teeth and eyeballs! Chip and I were drenched from all the water buckets being dumped by other kids and water guns shooting from every direction.

Around the middle of the day, we walked to the big slides to show Karlee some other things to do. There were 3 that she could ride with her height. We stood at the bottom of them and showed her how they worked. She was ready to do all of them with no hesitation. This child is 100% fearless! The photo below (taken from the website) was the first big slide we did.

The 100 Meter Splash. It was an individual ride, meaning no parents could ride with their children. We all grabbed our mats and headed out to the start of the slide. Karlee laid down on her mat like she had done this 1,000,000 times before. A smile still plastered on her face! The lifeguard had to put her foot on the mat to keep Karlee from instantly going down (she didn't weigh enough to keep it still in the running water!). The whistle blew and off we went. Chip and I were on both sides of Karlee the whole way down (6 people ride at a time). It was fast! Karlee hit the bottom and jumped up saying she wanted to do it again, which we did later in the day. Now I know she is 200% fearless!

We rode the other 2 slides too. They were family rides in big rafts down long stretches of winding and tunneled slides. Karlee liked these but the 100 Meter Splash was her favorite.

We ate lunch some time during all of this and played in the kids sections again. I don't know who had more fun, Chip, me, or Karlee! We were all worn out by the time we left (5:00). And, 2.7 seconds after leaving, Karlee looked like this. The chocolate on her face is melted M&M's (her good behavior prize!). She was actually pulling them out of the bag and eating them with her eyes closed and head bobbing up and down. It was hilarious!

We had a blast and will definitely be going back. I'm so glad I had that dream!

Rainy Afternoons

2011-07-14T13:47:00.004-05:00

We are making the most out of these rainy afternoons around here lately. And, my child prefers to wear nothing but panties most of the time. I am learning to pick my battles!

And, yes. I have had Karlee's hair cut since this picture was taken. It was starting to get pretty nappy and stayed in tangles all the time.

Fun 4th Weekend

2011-07-13T16:38:00.010-05:00

Our Independence Day celebrations started on Friday night at the Opelika fireworks. We picked up a pizza from Johnny Bruscos and had a picnic on the grass in front of Southern Union. Karlee crashed a birthday party since she knew everyone that was in attendance and played with all of the kids. She threw her frisbee with Chip and about knocked some people out with her "throwing". Madelyn crawled off the blanket about a dozen times and ate plenty of grass. She enjoyed watching her sister play too. When the fireworks started (at 9:00), I covered Madelyn's ears and she sat through the entire show without making a sound. Karlee decided to cover her ears too! She loves fireworks and didn't want them to end.

We headed to Chip's parents lake house on Saturday morning. We were pretty much lazy there and did a little swimming. Chip's dad got creative and rigged up a water station on the front porch for Karlee to play in. All he wanted to do was sit in the A/C since he's out in the hot sun all week long. Madelyn stayed indoors all day and crawled around everywhere. She eventually found the tupperware drawer and was content pulling out every piece for about 30 minutes.

That night, Chip did something he has been waiting a long time to do. Shoot fireworks with his child like he used to do with his dad. Now, I was a nervous wreck. With my mom being a nurse, I've been told way too many horror stories of fireworks shooting gone bad. Chip eased my mind when he pulled out sparklers first. I should have known he was hiding the big stuff in the bottom of the bag!

A few members of the Kirk clan came over to see our fireworks and Madelyn got to meet Anna Ruth for the first time. I know I've said Madelyn is chunky, but, Anna Ruth is 3 months and 1 day YOUNGER than Madelyn!

Sunday morning, we headed over to my Granny's lake place to hang out with my crazy family. There were people everywhere. Karlee had a great time swimming and playing with all the cousins. Lots of watermelon and BBQ was eaten! Madelyn even enjoyed her piece of watermelon. We had a band this year to celebrate a family friend's 40th birthday. I think the kids had more fun dancing than the adults!

And finally, on Monday the 4th, we headed over to the Dilworth's lake condo for a fun time with friends. The Galimore's were there and we enjoyed grilling, swimming, and lots of laughing. The "big" kids jumped in about 1,000,000 times and I think my "in air" pic is hilarious! At the end of the day, we all got dressed and headed back to Auburn. After dinner at Chili's, the Baker's headed home while the other 2 families headed to the Auburn fireworks. I had to work on Tuesday and Karlee had school. Getting to bed at a decent hour for the first time since Thursday night was my #1 priority!

The sign of a very fun, but very tiring weekend.

I hope you enjoyed your 4th of July celebrations as much as we did.

8 months

2011-06-28T13:28:00.008-05:00

Yep. Madelyn is 8 months old today. I'm just having a hard time believing this. Chip said to me this morning, "goodness, didn't you just have her."

I would like to start off by saying that, finally, Madelyn is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!! I put her down between 8:00-8:30 and she sleeps until I have to wake her at 6:15 on the days I work and until 7:30-8:00 on the days I don't work. It's pure heaven! I can even put her in the bed after her bottle when she's not asleep yet. She lays in the crib, plays with her bear lovie, rolls to her stomach, and goes right to sleep. She sleeps on her tummy now with her arms stretched out above her head like she's being held up by the police. It's funny to see when I wake her in the mornings. She leaves them up when I pick her up and stretches and groans (I feel terrible waking her that early but I have no choice).

We have also lowered Madelyn's crib. I walked in to find her standing one morning. When she saw me, she started bouncing with delight! Very blurry picture from my phone.

I think bath time is Madelyn's favorite part of the day. She loves splashing around and loves it more when Karlee is in there with her. This child doesn't mind water splashing in her face at all. It makes her laugh hard.

After bath, Madelyn covers her face with the towel and pulls it off really fast. I say peek-a-boo and she cackles.

As you can see in the pictures, Madelyn still doesn't have a single tooth. It has worried me a little. Several people have told me instances of children not getting teeth until they are 1 or after. She's gotten pretty good at gumming down food. We have started a little table food, mainly just fruit. She loves peaches, watermelon, strawberries, and cantaloupe. I've given her mashed up english peas but she's not a big fan!

The mobility has picked up from just scooting to full speed crawling. She piddles around just checking these out. But, when she gets something in her eye sight that she wants, she takes off. It's hard to get a good still picture these days. Ignore the bruise on her cheek. That's a weekend wound from her time with her daddy while I was out of town.

The above bubble is the one that I made and smocked. I finally sewed the snaps on the back so Madelyn could wear it before she grows out of it! Take a good look because it will be the one and only bubble I ever make (and possibly last thing I ever smock!).

I was sitting at the table with Karlee eating our breakfast yesterday morning while Madelyn was roaming around. She noticed Sable through the window and bee-lined it to the door. I had to raise the blinds before Madelyn pulled them down trying to get to Sable. They both sat and stared at each other for about 25 minutes before Sable walked off. Madelyn started knocking on the door and grunting for her to come back. It was so cute. I think Sable was looking at her and thinking "so you're the reason I have been moved to the back porch to live."

Patty Cake + A Little Moon

2011-06-23T13:21:00.002-05:00

Trying to get a good video of Madelyn crawling, clapping, or pretty much doing anything is very hard to do when Karlee is in the same room. Stay tuned to the end of this video for the latest stunt Karlee pulled.

Fervent Prayer

2011-06-22T14:09:00.003-05:00

I post mainly about the good times of our life. I leave out the 3 year old tantrums, the bad moods, the day to day struggles I have. I have a friend that has put it all out there and needs your help ASAP.

Please click on Mike Reed's page to the right and read his story. I ask that you join me on this fervent prayer mission. I have known his wife for most of my life and just cannot imagine what she is going through, let alone Mike that is actually living it. April is by far the strongest woman/mother/wife I know (though she probably doesn't realize it).

Hit your knees and lift Mike and his family up in prayer.

Baby Baptism + Another Year Older

2011-06-22T13:17:00.007-05:00

We dedicated Madelyn to the Lord through infant baptism on June 12. It was a special day. Chip and I vowed in front of the church and our family to raise Madelyn in a christian home and teach her the ways of the Lord. My hope for her is that she grows in the Spirit throughout her life.

My laid back child just took it all in. She smiled at Brother George when I handed her over and didn't mind the water on her head one bit. When it was over and the congregation was singing "Jesus Loves Me", she just chewed on her thumb and looked out at everybody.

Thanks to my family for being there to share this special day with us.

We all headed to my parent's house afterwards for lunch and an early birthday celebration for me. Birthdays are just another day at this age but having kids makes it more fun. Karlee helped my dad put 31 candles on the cake (no, it didn't catch the cake on fire!) and helped me blow them out.

After strawberry cake and homemade ice cream (a must for my birthday every year), Karlee hit the baby pool.

Madelyn told us all she wanted to join her big sister in the water.

So, after all the guests left, Granna got her suit on and Madelyn dawned her "birthday suit."

We all had a great day. Wednesday the 15th was my actual birthday. Chip wanted to attempt a nice dinner at Amsterdam (with the girls). It was interesting to say the least! I have learned that getting a good picture of all 3 of us is few and far between but here is a decent one on the back porch at home after dinner.

I'm hoping that one day Chip will surprise me with the New York birthday trip that I didn't get to take on my 30th birthday (pregnant). HINT HINT! WINK WINK!

Mondays and Fridays

2011-06-21T13:34:00.009-05:00

I don't work on Mondays or Fridays, and I LOVE IT! It's my time to spend with the girls and see what kind of fun we can have (and mess we can make!). The days usually start with Madelyn crawling around in just a diaper (why bother with clothes if we are just staying home!) while Karlee and I cook and eat breakfast. Karlee is in an "I want to help" stage. She helps make blueberry muffins, puts chocolate chips in the pancake batter, or pushes the button down on the toaster for Eggos when we are in a hurry.

We then head outside to play in some kind of water around the house. I even con Karlee into helping me wash my car (might as well make good use out of the running water since it's running up the water bill anyway!). And again, why bother with bathing suits when we're just playing at home!

If I don't have Madelyn in the baby pool, then she's hanging out in front of the fan in the garage. She's happy and content playing here for a long while.

When we're not playing at home, we're playing at the pool. I don't have too many pictures of this because my hands are usually on Madelyn. She loves the water as much as Karlee does and splashes around either in my arms or in the baby float. She takes a bottle when we are there and goes out like a light for about 30 minutes.

We have been to the pool only one Saturday and Chip joined us. Adam and Erin were there too so I was able to catch a few pictures of Karlee jumping off the diving board. She was saying "let's do it again" the minute her head popped up out of the water every time!

And, on the very few rainy days we have, the living room turns into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Karlee is Donald, I am Mickie, and Madelyn is Pluto (because she crawls like a dog - Karlee's words, not mine!). It is so much fun watching Madelyn scoot after Karlee and already try to do everything she does. I am definitely going to have my work cut out for me when she starts walking!

New School for the Summer

2011-06-08T15:44:00.004-05:00

Karlee will start Indian Pines Country Day School in the Fall. It's a 5 day a week program. I'm not sure she is going to like going to school 5 days a week but she needs to get used to it some time. The school offers a summer program that is 3 days a week for 8 weeks. I thought it may be a good idea to introduce Karlee to a new school at 3 day intervals rather than being out an entire summer and then starting a new school that will meet 5 days in a row.

The summer program started yesterday. I've been telling Karlee about her new school for a while. We even went by there last week for Karlee to see it and play on the playground. I walked her to the door yesterday and she went in with the rest of the kids. She got a little skittish when the teacher started talking to her but it didn't last long. Everyone headed out to the playground and Karlee took off. She never looked back and didn't even realize I slipped away to the car and sat and watched her play for a little while.

I picked Karlee up on my lunch break and she wasn't ready to leave yet. The teacher (Miss Katherine) said she did great and was really smart. Always good to hear that! I had picked us up lunch and we headed to the airport for a quick picnic before Chip's mom met us to take Karlee back to her house. It was fun hearing Karlee tell me about her day and about some of her new friends. She talked about Camille a lot because she was a previous Parkway friend!

I'm excited about what she'll learn at this new school. The summer program is pretty much play time and art projects related to books they are reading. I'm hoping it's a fun experience for Karlee so she will be excited about the real school session starting in the Fall.

7 months

2011-06-07T15:13:00.009-05:00

In the blink of an eye, Madelyn is 7 months old. She hit this mark last Saturday. I know I say this every month, but time is just flying by. I want her to stay little for a while since she's my last baby. There's just nothing like the smell of a baby, baby coos and giggles, and just plain ole cuddling. She is just like her sister when it comes to picture taking though - complete stone faced. So, I'll just take pics of her back side rolls!

We have had a few milestones this month. Madelyn is finally taking a bottle from me!!!! We are down to one nursing session a day. I'm only pumping to relieve pressure so the milk production is starting to really decrease. I'm at the point where I'm ready for my body to be mine again (and fit into a normal bra size!). Madelyn is taking between 6 and 8 ounces each feeding. She's also on stage 2 baby food twice a day, puffs, and yogurt melts (which we now have to share with her jealous big sister). Food feeding time is quite messy. Madelyn wants to grab the spoon and feed herself. At home, I fight it and keep the spoon myself. But, on a boat where we can just dip her in water to wash off, she can grab all she wants!

We are attempting the sippy cup. Madelyn hasn't quite got the gist of it yet. She prefers to chew on the handle! She is finally taking formula so to throw water in there too is just a little too much change right now. And, water is cold and she likes her bottle really, really warm (almost hot).

I would LOVE to say that Madelyn is finally sleeping through the night, BUT she's not. Crying it out definitely doesn't work for her. I have stopped swaddling and her sleep seems to be getting better. The first two nights of no swaddle were rough. She wasn't really swaddled that much anyway these days. Just her hands were wrapped and the bottom of her legs and feet hung out the bottom of the blanket! She now rolls to her tummy the minute I put her in bed and grabs her bear lovie to cuddle. The last week hasn't been bad. I'll take 8:30-3:30, feed for 20 minutes, then sleep again until 6:30 any day over the several wake up times a night. She sleeps until 7:30-8:00 after feeding at 3:30 on the days I don't work.

The little munchkin is starting to creep. She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth. Her facial expression says I really want to get somewhere and then she just falls on her tummy and rolls to where she wants to go. She's a little steam roller! My house is not ready for a crawler. Karlee has small toys and game pieces all over the place. Madelyn will grab whatever is in front of her in the blink of an eye. She's pretty dang fast. Last week, she grabbed a piece of watermelon off Karlee's plate and had it just about swallowed before I saw it. She obviously liked it because she got MAD when I moved Karlee's plate out of her reach!

Madelyn doesn't have any teeth yet but I think they are close. She is chewing, drooling,and cranky. She has also learned how to make sounds so her tongue is constantly out making blowing noises.

I pulled the doorway jumper out of the attic a few weeks ago and it's an instant favorite (for me and Madelyn)! I can just hang this anywhere I am and Madelyn is content for quite a while. It has made folding laundry and cooking dinner a lot easier. She spends a lot of time in the exersaucer too but this is easier to drag upstairs while holding a basket of clothes on one hip and Madelyn on the other hip!

Memorial Weekend 2011

2011-06-01T13:22:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, Chip and I escaped to Destin with two other couples from Thursday night to Monday afternoon. It was a much needed 4 nights of uninterrupted sleep for me. We went with two couples we've never been anywhere with so I was a little nervous. We had the best time. It was actually one of the funnest couples trips I have ever been on. We have already made plans to do the same thing on the same weekend next year. Hopefully we can keep the tradition considering one couple has only been married 2 months and the other couple is just dating (2 years but no ring yet!). We had a single friend of the guys join us too. We are trying to find him a significant other but no luck yet! I have no pictures from the weekend because I just didn't feel like it. When I was finally going to get a before dinner picture, I realized my memory card wasn't in the camera so I couldn't have taken pictures if I wanted to. None I would have taken would have been postable anyway!

Karlee went to the lake with my parents and Madelyn went to the lake with Chip's parents. I went to my parent's house today at lunch to snag some pictures of what went on with them.

I guess this is proof that they tried to get Karlee to take a nap. Aunt Cyndi must have had the magic touch for both Lila and Karlee.

Karlee got lots of playing time in with her older cousins.

Wrapped up in towels on the boat. I had strict instructions to not let Karlee get sunburned.

Riding the innertube with Clete.

Kayaking with Granna and James Michael.

Besides Karlee running a fever and throwing up Saturday night, I think she had a great time. I think the sickness was too much sun and junk food. Grandparents are known to spoil the grandkids just a little!

I know Chip's parents had fun with Madelyn at their lake house but I don't have pictures from them. They pretty much just sat in the house and ventured to the pier for fishing in the mornings. They had some family stop by to see Madelyn for the first time. I do wish I had pictures of that though.

Baby Recognition

2011-06-01T12:47:00.005-05:00

Sunday, May 22 was baby dedication at Auburn United Methodist Church. They recognized all the babies born over the past year. 54 in our church! Chip was at Lake Guntersville in a fishing tournament and Karlee was at the lake with Chip's parents. So, it was just me and Madelyn standing in front of everyone. She was more interested in the musical instruments and the choir behind us than the congregation of people in front of us!

My parents joined us in church that day so I wasn't totally alone. I kept Madelyn in the sanctuary instead of taking her to the nursery. She was an angel the entire time. She only started making cooing sounds and smiling at the people behind us during the last 10 minutes of the service. Brother George was a little long-winded that day too! Madelyn stayed an angel for us to enjoy a nice meal at Moores Mill afterwards.

Madelyn's baptism is in 2 weeks. EVERYBODY in my family better be there (no fishing that day).

Steelmill Warehouse

2011-06-01T10:21:00.011-05:00

Chip has started a gym in a warehouse building behind his office on Beehive Road. It has been a project in the making for a while. For those that don't know, Chip started a healthier lifestyle in May 2010. He changed his entire eating habits and started working out just about every day at 4:30 in the morning. A year later, he has lost 50+ pounds and is looking pretty dang good! 90% of the weight came off in the first 4 months but he has maintained the weight loss and built muscle mass that I just can't believe. He is skinnier than he was when we met in high school.

After talking with many people in the fitness world and checking out various programs around Auburn (Fitness Together, Cross Fit on the Plains, etc), Chip decided that he could have a fitness center better than both those places and charge WAAAYYYY less for it. He had already started thinking about using his big truck and equipment tires for flipping since they were just lying around the shop. He built a HUGE monkey bar set behind the building and started gathering railroad ties and pipe for farmers walk exercises. It was just going to be a place for strength training and martial art type exercises. He talked to me about it a lot and really wanted to get it off the ground. With the help of his good friend, Rad, some Auburn policemen and Supper Club bouncers started coming out there.

Then, kind of out of the blue, someone contacted Chip about storing gym equipment in his rental buildings. The guy was a personal trainer and had to move his equipment out of his house and needed a place to store them until he found somewhere to put it. Then, another guy contacted Chip needing a place to put equipment he wasn't using in his new gym. Once Chip saw the equipment, he decided to see if the guys would be interested in setting up the equipment to be used in the warehouse. After it was all said and done and the warehouse was cleaned up and rearranged, Steelmill Warehouse was started. Lights have been installed and the power will be hooked up shortly. Eventually, there will be showers and changing areas and 24 hour access will be available. The membership list is growing weekly and we are really excited about the first Ultimate Fitness Challenge being held there August 6-7.

You have to keep in mind, this is a gym in a warehouse with some new and mostly used equipment. You won't find steam rooms and zumba classes! You will, however, break a sweat and get a great workout. Another lucky thing has happened as well. A trainer, Zach Bryan, from one of the other facilities in Auburn thought it was ridiculous what was being charged for training. So, he left and is now the personal trainer at Steelmill! Check out our website for more details on him.

http://steelmillexpo.yolasite.com

We all headed out there a few weekends ago to check on things. Karlee plays out there all the time so she was eager to show me around and how all the equipment worked!

Contact us if you are interested in joining Steelmill or meeting with Zach.

Weekend With One

2011-05-31T13:00:00.009-05:00

Two weekends ago, Chip left for a fishing tournament from Thursday-Sunday. His parent's have been begging to take Karlee to the lake with them for a weekend so I chose that weekend to send her since I still couldn't pick her up much. After Linda came to get Karlee late Friday afternoon, I looked at Madelyn and said "well, it's just you and me for the weekend."

Madelyn and I headed to the lake around 10:00 Saturday morning to meet up with my parents and a few cousins. I knew it was gonna be hot but the water was still gonna be cold. I had Karlee's old blow up baby pool ready for Madelyn to try out. Once her body touched the water she went to splashing and laughing. Cousin Raleigh had to come over and join her for a little bit! Then, Gibson had to come over for some smooches.

The water warmed up just a little bit so I put Madelyn in the baby float and sent her out to cousin Josh who was already in the water. His daughter Lila had to be in the water too since Madelyn was! Little M enjoyed her first lake "swimming" experience.

Sunday after church, lunch, and very short nap, Madelyn and I played on a blanket in the front yard under some shade. I pulled out the little pool again and stripped Madelyn naked. Why bother going inside for a swim diaper and bathing suit? Madelyn had a ball splashing around naked. No different than a bath tub, right? !!

Madelyn eventually made it down to her stomach and tried to drink the water. I had to keep her from doing that because I didn't know how much tee tee was in there! Do you see her getting up on her knee. Yep. She has started trying to crawl. I need to rip a brick off the house and tie it to her feet. This momma is NOT ready for another mobile child yet (nor is my house!).

Last day at Parkway

2011-05-31T12:36:00.003-05:00

May 19 was Karlee's last day of school for the year and her last day ever at Parkway Preschool. She has been there since she was 12 months old. It was a bitter sweet day. Karlee has made so many friends at Parkway. Of which, all are staying there for the next school year. Chip and I made the decision to move Karlee to another preschool. Seeing Karlee hug Hugh Harris on the last day made me tear up bad. Those two have been together since the beginning and have really become friends. His mom and I have already talked about getting them together several times over the summer.

On the 17th, the end of year program was held in the sanctuary. It was short and sweet. The class sang two songs, This Little Light of Mine and If All the Gumdrops, and it was over! I was so proud of Karlee. She stood on stage and sang most of the songs and didn't put her fingers in her mouth a single time. That's a bad habit she has when in front of a lot of people. I only have pictures of before they sang because I was videoing the singing and my camera was acting up.

After the program, I managed to get a quick picture of Karlee with her teachers, Mrs. Kim and Miss Maddee. They have been wonderful and Karlee talks about them all the time. She wanted to color and paint pictures for them every morning before school.

It's hard to believe this was Karlee in August on the first day of school. This year flew by!

Bring out the toys

2011-05-25T11:54:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure who's more excited about the big box of baby toys coming out of the attic, Karlee or Madelyn!

Splishin' and Splashin'

2011-05-25T11:41:00.003-05:00

I was home recovering from surgery for two weeks. On my last Thursday of being off before returning to work, I picked Karlee up from school to have some one on one play time. I knew I had to do something with her that wouldn't require me picking her up, so out came the baby pool (I was able to roll it from under the house-no lifting involved, Mom!). I filled it up before heading to the school so the sun could warm the water a little. After a quick lunch inside, Karlee was ready to put on her swimsuit and hit the water. She had a blast!

And, Karlee can't play anywhere around water without asking for her fishing pole at some point. Her daddy has trained her well!

Silly Nights

2011-05-25T11:10:00.004-05:00

Night time at the Baker house is like a circus most of the time. By the time I get home from work, cook dinner, sit down as a family to eat the dinner, feed Madelyn her baby food, clean the table, and load the dishwasher, I have about 30 minutes to play with the girls before the "getting ready for bed" routine starts.

Last week, Karlee came into the living room holding an arm load of Chip's shirts. She had apparently been playing in his closet! She put them all on the floor and said "Let's dress up like daddy." So, on a shirt went, she danced around (American Idol was on TV), took one off, and put on another. I'm not sure how many she went through but it was A LOT! When she put on a fishing shirt, she ran around the living room acting like she caught a fish.

And, of course, Karlee wanted Madelyn to dress up too!

When I told Karlee it was time to put the shirts up and get ready for a bath, she tried to hide under them and said "you can't find me." She's not a very good hider!

Lake Season Has Begun

2011-05-11T14:13:00.006-05:00

That laugh says it all ... we are excited about lake weather!!!!

We headed to the lake Saturday to boat ride and enjoy the sunshine. I am soooo glad Madelyn loves the boat and her life jacket. We would have to trade her in for a new baby if she didn't!!!!

We enjoyed a nice picnic on the water and just relaxed. It was a fun day. After getting off the boat, Karlee headed straight to the steps and wanted to swim. I was hesitant because the water was still freezing (I mean it's not summer quite yet). But, how can you take a 3 year old in a bathing suit around water and not expect her to want to swim (especially when she's part fish!)? So, in the water she went for a brief swim and got out with teeth chattering. We may be at the doctor's office later this week with pneumonia!

On a sad note, we rode around looking at all the tornado damage from the April 27 storm. Parts of the lake were hit by the super storm of all storms. Total destruction in some parts, debris in the water, sunken boats, it was heart breaking. I literally got a sick feeling in my stomach when I saw it. Lake Martin has a special place in my heart. I just love it. I have literally been spending time there since I was in my mom's tummy. Looking at the total destruction of areas that I have been riding by for 30 years just broke my heart.

By land, the tornado was pretty much across the street from the road my Granny lives on. She, along with my aunt and uncle, were in the living room when the storm hit. To say they got lucky is an understatement. My goodness, if something happened to my family in that way, I just don't know how I would cope with it. I don't know how I would cope with losing that home. That place holds so many memories ... Lord, if those walls could talk! Granny's place is where I met Chip (love at first sight for me) almost 15 years ago; and then he threw me off the wave runner! There have been so many people staying there at one time, that I slept in the back of my dad's truck just to have a place to lie down! I could write a book about the fun times, the drama, the laughs, the tears, the card games, the graduation parties, did I mention the drama! Some of the best parts of my childhood happened at that lake house. I think the good Lord above, and my Papa, were looking out for my Granny that night.

Muffins with Mommy

2011-05-05T12:35:00.003-05:00

I drove for the first time in a week this morning to visit Karlee at school for Muffins with Mommy. I just couldn't bare the thought of not being with her today. Karlee was so excited to bring me in her classroom and made sure to tell me "be careful and don't bend to hurt your boo boos!"

The sweet kiddos started off singing "You are My Sunshine" and it was too cute. Karlee actually sang and I have it on video!!

Then they gave us precious finger painted flower pots with a picture of them as a flower.

We all ate yummy muffins and fruit and had a fun time! I was so glad to be able to be there with Karlee.

9 years + 6 months

2011-05-05T11:28:00.006-05:00

Last Wednesday, April 27, Chip and I celebrated 9 years of marriage. I would like to say it was a romantic day, BUT, it was not. Our day started at 4:30 that morning. I didn't sleep at all the night before and finally got out of bed at 4:30 to shower and clean my tummy very well. I drug Chip out of the bed at 5:15 because I was ready to get the show on the road. My nerves were in full swing and I just couldn't think of anything except getting to the hospital by 6:00 and getting some "night night" meds to calm me down and put me to sleep. It was finally surgery day to have the fibroid tumor removed (my third baby as I now call it). Surgery went well, tumor is gone (along with my uterus), pathology report was normal, and I FEEL GREAT! However, I feel like the tumor needs a name since it was 6 lb 4 oz (see, my third baby!). Any suggestions?? !!!

Now moving on, Madelyn had her 1/2 birthday on Thursday, the 28th. I still can't believe that half of her first year is gone. I feel like the past 6 months have been the fastest, busiest 6 months of my life. Ending maternity leave on the first day of tax season certainly didn't help matters.

Madelyn is the happiest baby on Earth. She laughs at everything, pretty much only cries when she's hungry or tired, and ADORES her big sister (who adores her right back). Karlee can make Madelyn smile just by walking in front of her. The way they hold hands and "talk" to each other just makes my heart full of joy. I cannot imagine our lives without Madelyn. I am so glad Karlee has a sibling to grow up with because there was once talk between me and Chip about only having one child.

At 6 months: weight 14 lb 14 oz length 26 inches

* Madelyn is a big time momma's girl. She can be screaming at the top of her lungs when other people try to console her. Once in my arms, she immediately stops. She has started lifting her arms for me to pick her up or to get her from someone else.

* Madelyn still doesn't sleep through the night consistently or nap much during the day.

* We are starting the weaning process so she has one bottle of formula a day and are about to move to two. This has been hard for me because I know I will never nurse another child again. It has been special to me to be so "blessed" in the milk production department to be able to have this special bond with both of my children.

* Madelyn is eating first foods from a spoon once a day and has loved everything except squash. We are moving to stage 2 foods shortly and twice a day. She grabs the spoon and helps put it in her mouth, makes a huge mess every time she eats, and gets fussy if you don't feed her fast enough.

* Don't put anything in Madelyn's reach if you don't want her to grab it. She pulls my plate half way off the table if I hold her while trying to eat. She pulls my glasses off in the mornings. She grabs Karlee's cup if it gets put too close to her. Madelyn's hand/eye (and straight to mouth) coordination is definitely developing.

* Madelyn is officially a sitter! Karlee loves this now and they play with blocks and other small toys together so well.

* The baby seat has been retired and the tub chair is in full use. This has made for some very fun bath times (and very wet floors!). Madelyn loves the water and reaches over the splash all the time. She definitely doesn't mind water in her face.

* Madelyn's laugh is the most precious sound. She is very ticklish and just cackles when you "get her corn" and tickle her tummy.

Easter 2011

2011-05-03T12:04:00.010-05:00

We kicked off Holy Week with an Easter egg hunt at Phil Clowdus' farm. Karlee remembered exactly what to do and took off when they said "Go." Phil and Julienne have become great friends and treat our girls as their own. They hold a special place in our hearts.

Monday after school, I had eggs boiled and ready to dye. I love dying eggs at Easter and hope this tradition continues. Karlee dropped the eggs in the dye and pulled them out all by herself. She was so excited to see them change color. She even wanted to blow on all of them so they would dry faster!

Thursday morning was Karlee's class party and egg hunt. She was excited to get more eggs (aka candy)!

Thursday afternoon was the 3rd Annual Reetz/Wynn Easter Egg Hunt. This time with friends is always a lot of fun. This year definitely didn't disappoint. When they brought out the baby chicks, Karlee was the first one to stick her hands in the box and pull one out. Her "no fear attitude" towards animals is just amazing. I thought we would be bringing a chick home when she didn't want to put it down to hunt eggs! She finally let the poor thing go and she had a great time hunting eggs again.

I made the decision to start a new tradition this year. The Easter Bunny comes to our house on Saturday morning. We have a hard time getting out the door on a normal day by a certain time. Throwing in a basket full of candy before church just did not sound like fun to me. I would be the stressed out one trying to get me and two other people dressed while Chip sat around watching fishing shows and only getting himself dressed. Karlee checked out her loot and helped Madelyn see all of hers. It was nice to get to relax and enjoy the moment rather than picking everything up and rushing to get dressed and out the door.

We headed to the Memory Gardens after church on Sunday morning to attempt some pics of the girls. I was delighted that both cooperated and I was able to get some good shots.

Later Sunday afternoon, we headed to my cousin's house for the big family lunch gathering and yet another egg hunt. This hunt usually contains money so it's fun for the adults too! Karlee (and I) found the gold egg with $20 in it!

I tried explaining Easter to Karlee but I just don't think she understands just yet. Telling her that someone died just broke her heart and she asked if he was sleeping with my grandaddy's at the dead people place (what she calls the cemetary when we pass by one). I really need to look up ways to tell children about Easter before next year. She totally understood that baby Jesus was born at Christmas and he lives in her heart. Telling her that he died just confused her so much this year.

A Month in Review

2011-05-03T10:31:00.012-05:00

Here is what has been happening around the Baker household over the past month.

Karlee started a Forest Friends program with the Auburn University Forestry Ecology Preserve on Friday mornings. They are learning about dinosaurs, plants and pollen, honey bees, and lots of other things about nature. I don't have any pictures of these classes because it was all I could do to get 3 girls out the door and had Madelyn strapped to my stomach in the baby sling most of the time! I decided to start doing some nature activities at home as well. After a trip to Lowe's, we came home with a pretty red bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder picked out by Karlee. She helped me fill it up and put it beside the sidewalk in front of the house. Both feeders can be seen from the front door and Karlee loves standing and watching the birds come to her feeder. It's all because she did a special bird call when we put the feeders out to let them know we had food for them!

The next Saturday, we all headed out to buy a few flowers to plant in the yard when I got home from work. Yes, it was tax season and I was working on a Saturday. Karlee was more excited to dig in the dirt than to plant flowers. Digging the holes was her job!

We later spent the evening on the back porch. Madelyn hung out in the exersaucer and Karlee hung out with her best friend, Sable.

On Sunday, we all headed to Callaway Gardens to picnic, see the azaleas, and see the butterflies. It was such a fun day! Madelyn was a angel and Karlee loved running around and chasing butterflies. We had to enter the butterfly center 3 different times.

Karlee started soccer at the beginning of April. To see her grow in this sport in just a month has been amazing. Kids can start soccer at the age of 3 in Opelika (4 in Auburn). The 3-4 year olds aren't actually playing soccer. It's really a Spring Soccer Camp that teaches the basics of soccer while playing games like Red Light, Green Light and Sharks & Minnows. It teaches them to kick the ball rather than touch it, kick the ball away from someone trying to get it, kick the ball to a goal, etc. It is the funniest thing to watch! The kids are grouped by birthdays so all of them are on the same learning level and size (except for tiny Karlee!). Notice the size XS jersey is more like a dress than a shirt! And, those have to be the smallest cleats ever made.

Fabulous 5

2011-04-04T10:25:00.004-05:00

Madelyn turned 5 months old last Monday. She's growing like a weed and changing every day. She looks more like the Baker side of the family to me than the Norrell. Karlee started off that way too but now is all Norrell. People always call Madelyn a boy when they see her even though she is decked out in pink. I can't wait for her hair to grow so I can stick a bow in it!

She's eating baby food most nights of the week when we eat dinner. She's had peaches, squash, green peas, and bananas so far and has liked them all. Maybe she won't be a picky eater. Karlee never was and still eats more vegetables than I do. We've done lots of practicing sitting up in the boppy. She's getting pretty sturdy and can sit on her own for a short time before starting to lean over. Karlee is ready for her to sit up so they "can play tea."

The feet are the definite favored toy right now. This is pretty much the position she stays in while lying down. She will scoot herself all the way down in the bouncy seat too to get her feet up in her face.

Karlee can make Madelyn smile just by walking in the room. Watching their interaction brings me so much joy. I really hope they are best friends. Karlee loves for Madelyn to sit with her in the play room and "read" books. These two will literally sit for 30 minutes or more looking at books together and Madelyn is just as content as she can be.

Madelyn is getting better as sleeping at night (not great but better). She'll sleep all night about 3 nights a week and will still wake once or twice the other nights. I think my body and brain have just given up on getting a full night of sleep and have started functioning better. Tax season without good sleep has been rough. I seem to hit a wall around 2:00 every day and just want to lay in the floor and take a nap. The busy part is almost over and I'll get about 2 weeks off for surgery recovery after April 27.

Sunday at the Lake

2011-03-21T10:47:00.007-05:00

My parents took Karlee with them to the lake for the weekend. She was so excited all day Friday waiting on my dad to come pick her up. She was spoiled rotten and had a great time. We joined them on Sunday for a great lunch and some boat riding.

When we arrived, Aunt Suzzanne got some lovin' and Aunt Cyndi waited patiently for her turn.

Do you see the eyes on this one? Can you say jealous?

Madelyn had her first (of many) boat ride. The pontoon boat has not been cleaned up from winter storage so we went out in my dad's fishing boat. It was fun and I remembered Karlee's first boat ride was in this same boat when she was only 12 weeks old. Madelyn fits right in with our lake lovin' family. She didn't mind the life jacket and loved the boat ride.

Do you see this tongue? This is something new Madelyn has started and it drives me crazy. She's like a lizard trying to stick her tongue to everything. It all started Friday night after eating baby food for the first time. I guess she's trying to taste everything around her!

A quick memory pic from Karlee's first boat ride. It seems like it was yesterday.

Feet and Food

2011-03-21T10:29:00.005-05:00

Last week, Madelyn officially found her feet. She will pull them all the way to her mouth and suck on her two big toes. I haven't had the camera handy when she does this but, trust me, it's funny to watch.

Friday night, I pulled out the 1st foods and decided to see if Madelyn liked it. She wants nothing to do with rice cereal. It's a struggle every time I try to get the spoon in her mouth. Not the case with peaches! After the first taste, Madelyn was grabbing my hand and pulling the spoon in her mouth.

It got pretty messy with her pulling the spoon away from me so I just let her have it. She decided it felt like a great teether toy.

Beautiful Charleston

2011-03-21T09:47:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, Chip's college friend Chad got married in Charleston. The original plan was for this to be our first weekend getaway without kids since Madelyn was born. Well, with me being back at work and it also being tax season, my milk storage has dwindled and I'm forgetting to pump on time at work and have totally screwed up the pumped milk supply. So, Karlee stayed home with Chip's parents, Madelyn went with us, and my gracious mom went too to help with Madelyn and keep her during the wedding.

I was so anxious about the LONG drive with a teething 4 month old. Boy did Madelyn surprise us all. She was really good all the way to Lagrange and then she fell asleep all the way to Augusta (a little over 4 hours). When she woke, we stopped for a late lunch and let Madelyn stretch a while before the next leg of the trip. The getting put back in the car seat part was not fun (for any of us.) Madelyn cried for a while and wore herself out before falling back to sleep. She would then wake again, scream, and scream some more. We stopped two more times between Augusta and Charleston. I think 4 hours in a car seat is her limit!

We finally made it to our cute bed and breakfast. Anxiety set in again when I was worried we would get kicked out because of a screaming baby. Madelyn was great the entire weekend. At breakfast, it was nice to hear others say they didn't know a baby was even in the house (especially since Madelyn doesn't sleep through the night).

It was fun being on vacation with just Madelyn and getting to experience firsts with her alone like we did with Karlee. It was also fun spending time with my mom. None of us have ever been to Charleston so we set out early Saturday morning and walked at least 20 miles (in my opinion!)

Madelyn seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.

On the steps of the U.S. Customs House and Madelyn was like a bobble head looking around at everything!

We had to buy a hat at the market because I forgot to pack the kitchen sink and a hat!

We broke the trip home up a little and went through Savannah. My mom has never been there so we ate lunch on River Street and strolled through the historic district and Forsyth Park. St. Patrick's Day is a big deal in Savannah so all of the fountains were already green. I wish the river had been green already so we could have seen that.

Then we journeyed home where Madelyn slept great until we hit the 90 miles to Auburn mark. Then the screaming started and IT DID NOT STOP until we got off the interstate and I told mom to take Madelyn out of the car seat. Once she was out, she was as happy as she could be. I told Chip to drive slow and careful the rest of the way home.

Since we got home so late, Karlee was already in bed so she came home the next morning. She walked right pass me and straight to play with Madelyn. She really missed her sister.

My Little Ballerina

2011-03-08T12:55:00.003-06:00

Last Wednesday was Karlee's last ballet class. The parents finally got to come in to the room and see what the little ballerinas had learned. I was really impressed at what all they learned in such a short period of time.

They performed a dance to "Beauty and the Beast" which is one of Karlee's favorite movies (she's worn out the DVD she got for Christmas already).

Sitting criss-cross applesauce

Pointing her toes

Supposed to be turning around!

Swaying like a tree

I was so proud of Karlee. Notice the cast is off too!!! She loved ballet so I will probably sign her up at Nix Dance next fall. That will be a very proud moment for me since I danced at Nix for 13 years!

4 Month Update

2011-03-08T12:18:00.007-06:00

I just can't believe Madelyn is 4 months old already. I took her in for her checkup last week. She weighs 13 lb 7 oz and is 24 inches long. Dr. Greer said she is way advanced with pulling up and holding her head in front of her body while doing it. He was even more impressed that she was pushing herself up to the standing position while he was just holding her hands.

We have had lots of firsts at 4 months.

* I was taking out spring/summer clothes from the attic one day and pulled the exersaucer out while I was there. I put Madelyn in it just to see how she would do. She was a little wide-eyed at first but realized she had freedom to bounce and turn around. Thank goodness! I now have a new way to keep her entertained while cooking and doing laundry!

* Madelyn had her first experience with rice cereal on the night she turned 4 months. Her facial expressions just said it all. She was not a fan! I'm not surprised because it took her 3 months to get used to a bottle (which she still gives fits with). She prefers to be fed straight from her mommy and nothing else. Karlee loved getting to help feed Madelyn. Since Madelyn doesn't take a bottle at our house at all, Karlee never gets to help me feed her.

* Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'!!!!! Madelyn has become a little rolly polly. She was getting all the way up on her side for a long time but couldn't figure out how to get her arm out from under her. Watching her go over all the way for the first time was hilarious. She had a look on her face like "okay, what did I just do?" Karlee would lay beside Madelyn and say "look Ma-lyn, like this" and would roll across the floor!

* TEETHING - I am screaming this because it is about to do me in. Madelyn is chewing on anything that gets within reaching distance and drooling like a dog. She is perfectly happy and content one second and screaming the next second. Tylenol and night time oragel are never out of my sight. Madelyn has moved out of the cradle in our room and into her crib in the nursery. We did this because she WAS sleeping from 8:30/9:00 - 4:00/4:30, eating and going right back to sleep. Now, she is waking again a few times a night. The dirty diapers that come along with teething are making me wish a 4 month old could be potty-trained! 11 poopies yesterday alone. I really wish the teeth that are causing all this pain would go ahead and make their appearance.

Daddy-Daughter Dance 2011

2011-03-08T12:09:00.003-06:00

Karlee and Chip went to their first daddy/daughter dance on Saturday night before Valentine's Day. Chip gave Karlee her first corsage but Karlee wasn't quite sure why she was wearing a flower on her arm.

This was the best shot I got of the two of them. Karlee wasn't extremely happy with being woken up from her nap to put on dressy clothes.

Chip took her to dinner at Mikata before the dance, which is her favorite restaurant!

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall but mommies are not allowed. Chip said Karlee had fun doing the hokey pokey but got shy when it got crowded. She liked the candy station the best of all!

Warm Sunny Days

2011-03-08T11:50:00.007-06:00

I know I have been MIA on the blog lately. Maternity leave is over and I'm swamped at work. Gotta love coming back at the start of tax season to 3 months of work to be done before I can even start tax returns!

The weather in February was crazy. We went from freezing, icy days to warm, sunny days in a matter of days. We took full advantage of the warm weather while we could though.
My mom was off on a Friday so she joined us at the Monkey Park in Opelika. Karlee loves to slide so she was in hog heaven with all the ones they have there. My dare devil decided that sliding on your bottom was too easy so she went down on her tummy (the cast never seemed to slow her down!).

We spent Saturday playing in the back yard while daddy was at a fishing tournament. Madelyn had her first time in the swing and she LOVED it. She would smile and cackle so loud that Karlee would laugh back at her. I foresee lots of time in the swing this spring!

Sunday, daddy was home and we all went on a picnic at Town Creek Park. Karlee wanted to try out all of the exercise equipment! She loved quacking at the ducks and just running around letting off all the cooped up energy from the cold days we've had. I got her a soccer ball to see how she liked kicking it around. She is signed up for soccer at the Opelika Sportsplex starting in April! Madelyn just slept right through everything. Probably because she has decided to stop sleeping at night again.

Madelyn is growing like a weed. The girls got to wear their first matching outfits! There are many more for spring and summer!!!!

We all went to Anna Wohleb's birthday party at Sandy Stables. Karlee was so excited. She knew she would get to ride a horse again. Words just can't describe now much she loves animals. It's just amazing to me.

Happy Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-14T15:15:00.001-06:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine's Day!

A Bad Boo Boo

2011-02-09T08:41:00.005-06:00

Chip didn't get his first and only cast until his senior year in high school. I had my first and only one in the fifth grade. Karlee reached the ripe ole' age of 3 before getting her first one.

I picked Karlee up from school Monday and was told she got her thumb caught in the door and they put a bandaid on it. Being the good mother I am, I just said okay and walked her out the door. We went to lunch and Karlee fell asleep in the car on the way home. I put her down for a nap and she didn't wake up until 4:30. I didn't really even look at the thumb until it was time for bath and I wanted to take the bandaid off to clean her thumb. Karlee is a drama queen when it comes to boo boo's. She wants a bandaid for ANYTHING even if nothing is there to need a bandaid. I just thought she asked for a bandaid for her thumb like she always does.

Well, there wasn't a scratch but there was a big swollen thumb. I called Chip in the bathroom to look at it and he said it was broke. He wanted me to call the doctor first thing in the morning to have it seen. Again, being the good mother that I am, I got Karlee dressed Tuesday morning and took her to school. She was saying her thumb hurt but I still just thought it was sore (the swelling had not gone down and it was now bruised!). I told her teachers to just be careful with her thumb because she was still saying it hurt. I was then told more detail of what happened on Monday.

Karlee was apparently standing behind the door playing hide and seek with another child (for what reason, I don't know). The little boy headed for the door and somehow the door ended up being shut. Karlee's thumb was stuck in the door hinge side of the door. I'm sure she screamed bloody murder. The teacher took her to the office to put ice on it and a bandaid. I was never called about the accident.

After hearing the trauma that occurred, I then called Orthopaedic Clinic and Karlee was picked up from school early for x-rays. She was such a brave little girl. I still questioned if anything was really wrong with it as I watched her play in the lobby and the room. After x-rays (which Karlee sat really still for and made me proud), Dr. Sheils gave us the report.

The bone is bruised and the joint is crushed. He said that was good news. If the bone had been broken, it would have required surgery for pins. Because Karlee is so tiny, he could not just put her in a splint. So, she is in a cast for at least 2 weeks.

Karlee picked out a green cast (I wanted pink to match her dress for the daddy/daughter dance). She sat so still and watched Joey work on her little hand. When he put the mesh on first, Karlee thought she had a sock on her hand! She is in love with the cast right now and wants to show everybody. We'll see how long that lasts (especially since she can't swim and play in the bath tub)!

Your Laughter

2011-02-07T14:14:00.006-06:00

Your laughter,
a blossoming bud,
eyes like peacock,
vivacious, sweet your laughter,

what are the feelings,
on your faces,
your laughter,
like a melodious rain,
creates sensations in the heart,

your laughter
benumbs the eyes
i pray,
you carry on laughing

~dr. ram sharma

The First Child

2011-02-04T11:17:00.007-06:00

I brought Sable home when she was 4 weeks old in August of 1999. Having two kids in the house now, I have totally abandoned my first child. At least she's staying in the kennel inside right now since the weather is so frigid.

Karlee has been dying to go outside today. It's freezing cold, raining, and she has RSV. I think the poor child is tired of coloring and watching cartoons. To make her happy, I let Sable out of the kennel to play. I know, why is the dog in the kennel inside? The answer is because she sheds more than any dog should be allowed to shed. She can make the slightest of moves and hair just falls off in clumps. When Karlee was born, Sable had always been an inside dog. When Karlee got to crawling, Sable became an outside dog (and it broke my heart). I just couldn't keep the floors clean enough and Karlee's hands were covered in dog hair.

Don't get me wrong, we play with Sable on the back porch all the time and her and Karlee are big buddies. Sable has been protective over Karlee since the first week Karlee was home. This picture is still one of my favorites of all time. And, it shows how much Sable has aged in 3 years.

Karlee was sitting in front of Sable's kennel this morning. When I told her we could get Sable out and play, her sick little eyes just lit up. Her and Sable played chase all around the living room (mainly because Karlee was holding food!). Karlee jumped up on the couch and Sable sat patiently waiting for a treat.

Then she got tired of waiting!

Sable has been introduced to Madelyn but not much. She sniffed around her a little and Madelyn was just intrigued at something walking around on her level.

Sable started barking at Karlee while they were playing chase and I just happened to be taking a picture of Madelyn at the same time. This face really shows that Madelyn was wondering what in the world that loud noise was!

Spring Time Tease

2011-02-02T09:09:00.006-06:00

The weather on Saturday was absolutely beautiful. It just gave us hope of what days will be like in the Spring. It can't get here fast enough. The Baker's are tired of cold weather and are ready to get outside and play.

We took advantage of the warmer weather and played in the backyard. Karlee climbed like a monkey all over her playset. I think she had forgotten that it was in the backyard!

She enjoyed a picnic lunch (took a few bites in between each swoosh down the slide!).

She got tired of the playset and moved on to playing by the pond. We looked up and Karlee was headed to the garage to get her fishing pole. This made her daddy proud!

Karlee did a little box sliding but it was nothing like how it is at Granna's house so it didn't last long. Yes, she fits in a baby wipes box!

The next interest was the boat. She crawled all over it wanting to know what was in each compartment. She then said, "Come on, let's go to the lake" and hoped in the drivers seat. I think Chip won't have a choice but to have a little fishing partner this summer.

And, I can't forget my sweet Madelyn. Her and I laid on a blanket beside the playset and she was just as content as she could be. She kicked and cooed and loved being outside as much as the rest of us. This will pretty much be her hang out for the majority of the spring until she is big enough to sit in the baby swing.

I then got to swing these tired eyes to sleep on the back porch. It was so nice and relaxing. I can't wait for more days like this.